Sorry for the long wait everyone! I got so busy with a lot of things, and it was hard for me to upload this chapter the past couple days because I was away...

I wanted to bring you this chapter a little earlier because the next few chapters are all going to have like a Christmas-y feel to them, and I don't want anyone to lose that holiday spirit!

Happy holidays everyone! Enjoy this ten-page chapter...


CHAPTER FIFTY-THREE

Anakin woke up to the sound of someone walking around the room hurriedly. He cracked an eye open and was less than surprised to see Padmé stuffing all her clothes into a suitcase.

Anakin ran a hand through his tousled hair and sat up on the bed, "Padmé, we aren't leaving until tonight. Why are we packing now?"

Padmé huffed and stood up, "The earlier we are finished packing, the earlier we can go."

Anakin sighed and got up from the bed. He mumbled a few words about his dislike for packing, and then went into the refresher.


Luke was suspicious.

All morning, Anakin was acting a lot nicer than usual. A lot.

This time, it was Luke who was going to corner Anakin and ask him what was going on. Hadn't Luke and Anakin gotten into a fight yesterday over the fact that Anakin was pretending that Luke never killed his Padawan? It seemed like he didn't learn his lesson, because now he was pretending like that whole little fiasco never happened in the first place.

But Luke was wrong. Anakin was not pretending like last night never happened. There was something else on his mind…

Luke was fine with packing his own clothes, but Padmé insisted she do it for him. Not even able to help, Luke left his room to go downstairs, running into Leia.

Leia looked around the living room suspiciously, "Hey, Luke, do you know what happened to all of the décor in this room?"

Luke shrugged, "Nope."

Leia shook her head, "Maybe Mom moved them or something."

"Maybe." Luke repeated.

Leia looked at her brother, "What's up?"

"Where's your dad?"

Leia turned around to look out the window, "He left a while ago to the Jedi Temple. He should be back soon."

Luke looked out the same window and, sure enough, Anakin's speeder came down and landed on the landing pad only moments after Leia had said so.

Luke gave her an impressed look and then went outside through the kitchen to confront his father.

Anakin climbed out of his speeder and the door shut behind him. The day was cloudy and windy, and his cape billowed in the air. He looked down at his son, "What's up?"

Luke looked up at his father and crossed his arms over his chest, "What's up with you?"

Anakin smiled, "Let's go inside and—"

"No." Luke said, "You need to tell me why you're acting so…weird"

Anakin pursed his lips and looked down at his feet, "There's no easy way to tell you this."

"Tell me what?" Luke said, his voice completely monotone, preparing for the worst.

Anakin clapped his hands together and rubbed them anxiously, "Why don't we go inside, it's getting cold."

"Tell me what?" Luke repeated, not moving a step.

Anakin snapped his head in Luke's direction. Putting on the sternest face he could muster with his son, he just came out and said it: "You're going to train with me to become a Jedi."

Luke opened his mouth, but Anakin held up his hand. "No buts, no exceptions. This is final."

Luke frowned, "This is what the Council wanted you to do? This is why you—"

"The Council doesn't want you to be a Jedi. I do."

Luke opened and closed his mouth several times, unable to find the words he wanted to use. He folded his arms.

Anakin sighed and went inside the house, leaving Luke outside on the landing platform with the wind blowing through his hair.

Me? Luke thought, a Jedi?


It was well into the afternoon when the Skywalker family was finally ready to embark on their trip. The sun was setting, casting a nice golden glow onto Padmé's J-type star skiff. Thankfully, this starship was just big enough to hold the entire family, the droids, and all of the luggage that Leia was bent on taking with her.

Anakin and Padmé went into the cockpit while the twins hung around in the lounge area.

Leia sat across from Luke on a couch. She extended her legs over the caf table in front of her and smiled at her brother.

He just gave her a frown and sat on the couch directly across from Leia's. "What?"

Leia shrugged, "This is gonna be a looong trip, let's play a game!"

Luke shrugged, "Fine, like what?"

Leia drummed her fingers on her chin, "Ahh, how about twenty questions?"

"What's that?"

Leia abruptly sat up, "You've never played twenty questions before?!"

Luke shook his head and Leia let out an overly dramatic gasp, "It's so easy! I'm going to think of a person, place, or thing, and you have twenty questions to figure out what it is. They all have to be yes or no questions, and if you win then you get to go next."

Luke shrugged, "Okay."

Leia smiled and sat back into her couch, "Alright… I'm thinking of a thing."

Luke folded his arms across his chest and extended his own legs across the caf table so that they were right next to his sister's. "Is it big?"

Leia shook her head, "Nope."

"Is it…something you build?"

"Yes."

"Is it a technological device?"

"Uh, no."

"Is it a weapon?"

"Yes!"

"Is it a blaster?"

"Nope!"

"It's a lightsaber."

Leia sat up clapped her hands, "We have a winner!"

Luke chuckled, "Okay, so is it my turn now?"

Leia nodded and slouched back into the couch.

Luke thought for a moment, "I'm thinking of a thing."

Leia bit her lip, "Is it big?"

"Yeah."

"Is it made of technology?"

"Uh-huh."

"Can it communicate with—"

Leia was interrupted by arguing of the two family droids that had just entered the room.

"No, Artoo, I will not! You know how I feel when my circuits are subjected to the harsh cold winters of the lake country. I shall not go sledding with you."

Luke and Leia looked over at the droids. Artoo just swirled around and made a ton of beeping noises.

"No, Artoo, I already told you—"

"Hey!" Leia called out to the golden droid. Threepio spun around and looked at the young mistress.

"Don't you have to go be loud and obnoxious somewhere else?"

This question stumped the poor droid, who stuttered before answering, "Well, Master Ani instructed Artoo and I to inspect the ship's hyperdrive because he was afraid that it might have been—"

"Never mind, Threepio!" Anakin called out, "we fixed it!"

"Yay, so now you can go away." Leia said and Luke snickered.

"Master Ani thought Artoo and I should stay here with you." Threepio said.

Leia groaned and looked back at her brother, "Is it annoying?"

Luke frowned, "Huh?"

"The thing that you're thinking of. Is it—"

"Oh," Luke said, realizing that Leia had come back to playing their game. "Yes, it is very much so."

Leia glared at the golden droid, "Is it Threepio?"

Luke chuckled but didn't negate his sister. Anakin walked in and put his hands on his side, "Why are you two giving Threepio so much trouble?"

Luke's jaw dropped at the accusation and Leia leaped out of her seat, "We're not! It's all your fault we have to deal with him, though. You brought this upon yourself!"

Anakin put a hand out and spoke directly to Leia, "Listen, Threepio is just as much a part of our family as you are. He's one of my lovely creations, just like you two."

Luke put his head in his hands and the look on Leia's face was beyond disgusted.

"Ew, Dad, never say anything like that ever again."

"Yeah," Luke agreed.

Leia just pointed back at the cockpit, "Just go back to where you came from."

"And take your creation with you." Luke added.

Anakin threw his head back and laughed all the way back to the cockpit of the ship. Threepio huffed and shuffled on right behind him.

Artoo gave the twins a questioning look and Luke smiled, "You can stay, Artoo."


By the time they reached Theed, it was evening time on the planet.

It was apparent that winter was in full swing on Naboo, just like Padmé had said. Luke had never seen so much snow on the ground on Corellia before.

"So, who all are we seeing here?" Luke asked Leia as the ship began to land in one of the hangar bays in the city. There were several ships in the hangar, and several people walked about. Luke figured that these were all Nubian people who lived off-world, like Padmé, who came back home for the holidays.

"Aunt Sola and her whole family," Leia began, "Which consists of Ryoo, Pooja, and her husband, Uncle Darred."

Luke mentally groaned. He hated meeting new people. And he didn't feel any better once he realized that this whole 'family get-together' was going to revolve around him.

"Grandma and grandpa," Leia continued. "They'll have all sorts of their friends over during this week."

Luke raised an eyebrow, wondering why his never-before-seen extended family was trying to ruin his life with large gatherings of people.

"This is a very festive season here on Naboo," Leia explained, smiling. "Friends and family all come together to give thanks and celebrate life."

Luke rolled his eyes. Lame.

Padmé soon came into the lounge and took several bags with her. Anakin followed behind, doing the same thing. It was time to leave the ship.

As Luke was following his family out of the ship, he wished that he didn't have to go through the awkwardness of greeting people who would probably cry over him for being a young kidnapped boy. It was weird enough when Padmé and Aunt Sola did it.

Luke was the last one to exit the ship. Padmé was already outside the ship hugging an older man whom Luke figured was Ruwee Naberrie, Padmé's father. Leia ran over and hugged Ryoo and Pooja, all three of them squealing in excitement. Anakin was shaking hands with someone that Luke speculated to be Ryoo and Pooja's father, Uncle Darred.

Luke wasn't even looking when he heard the voice of a man behind him, "Well, look who it is!"

Luke swirled around and stood face-to-face with Padmé's father—his grandfather. He opened his arms wide and engulfed Luke in a back-breaking hug. Thankfully he didn't stay like that too long, and he let go of Luke almost immediately afterwards. But the damage was already done… Ryoo, Pooja, and Leia were all laughing hysterically on the sidelines.

The adults paid no attention to any of that, though. They were all beaming at Luke—Padmé's smile the widest of all. Aunt Sola's husband, Darred Janren, introduced himself to Luke— with, thankfully, only a handshake.

"Last time I saw you," Ruwee smiled, "you were this tall." He measured the air up to his knees. Darred laughed and nodded his head; he looked over at Padmé, "Where have you been hiding him all this time?"

Padmé smiled apologetically and the others laughed.

They all walked over to the roomy transport shuttle that awaited them with all of their luggage. Ryoo and Pooja practically bounced on Luke all the way to the transport, informing him of all the great fun they were going to have while on this vacation.

"Grandma literally made every single dish known to man." Pooja warned. "And if you don't eat at least two servings of everything, then she'll think you don't like her cooking."

Ryoo nodded seriously, "She's been up since the crack of dawn…yesterday."

Luke raised his eyebrows, "Why?"

Ryoo and Pooja exchanged amused glances. "For you, silly!"

Luke groaned and kept walking.


Padmé's family lived just in the outer suburbs of the capital city of Naboo—and what a capital city it was!

Luke was used to Coruscant-style cities. And the metropolis that had served as his home for ten years—Coronet City, the capital of Corellia—was just as urban as the city planet that had become his new home in the past six months. But Naboo… Naboo was nothing like Coruscant.

There were no towering skyscrapers or blinking lights or heavy traffic, the speeder flew as close to the ground as it could without actually touching it, and there was a thin layer of white snow covering the surface of all the rooftops.

Luke could tell that this city would be even more beautiful in the spring, when the flowers could bloom and blossom all over the place. There were vines crawling up and down the outside walls of all these houses, dead from the winter cold. Only the sun could bring them back to life.

There was not much differentiation between these houses, now that they were going out more on the outskirts of the city. Each house was built with the same kind of stone on the exterior, and they all had that garden-y feel to them.

The speeder finally stopped outside one of the bigger houses of the neighborhood and everyone came out.

Luke did not expect the sudden bite of the cold, frosty wind when he stepped out. He looked over at his sister, who was rubbing her hands together and moaning about how she forgot her mittens in one of her other bags.

It was a dark, frigid night—only illuminated by the strings of festive lights strung around the trees and draped across the roofs of all the houses. Their bright shine reflected off of the white hard snow on the ground. The perfect winter wonderland.

The door opened and the well-lit foyer of Padmé's parents' house glowed in contrast to the Naboo night. An older-looking version of Padmé walked out. She stopped at the opening of the front door and then opened her arms out, welcoming her family.

Padmé waved to her excitedly as she grabbed one of the many bags from the transport's hold, but Jobal didn't notice.

Her eyes trailed over to where Luke was standing, and her smile widened.

Sola came out from behind her mother and ran out to the crowd, "Come! Come inside, everyone, it's so cold!"

Nobody made a move to go inside yet, as they were all still getting their luggage.

Luke tried to inconspicuously grab one of Leia's many bags so that he would look occupied, but Anakin snatched it right out of his hands.

"Go say hello to your grandmother." He said, suppressing his smile.

Anakin just liked to see Luke squirm, didn't he?

Before Luke could make a comeback, he was approached by a way-too excited Jobal Naberrie.

So this is where Padmé gets it from…

"Oh, Luke!" She cried, hugging her only grandson. "I was so elated when Sola told me the news!"

Jobal was not hugging her grandson, no; she was squishing him. She was squishing him to the point that he could not even move his arms to hug her back. Next to him, Anakin just laughed.

Luke wanted to just turn around and punch Anakin for laughing at him, but then he felt better when Jobal turned to Anakin next and squished him.

"Mom!" Sola wailed, "It's freezing out here, please! Let's go in the house!"

Jobal reluctantly let go of her Jedi son-in-law and followed the rest of her extended family indoors.

The Skywalkers and Naberries (and Janren) all shuffled inside the house and hung up their coats and whatever.

Jobal clapped her hands once, "Alright, everybody, into the dining room! We jump to dinner straight away!"

Leia sighed in relief, "Good, 'cause I'm starved."

The dining room was right next to the foyer, so the families all went in right away and sat down.

Luke, who was about to sit at the very edge of the table, found himself being led by his grandmother all the way to the middle to sit right next to her.

Luke literally had no say whatsoever in what happened to him during the course of this dinner. His grandmother sat down right next to him and just started piling all the food that could fit onto his plate.

Luke looked around at the type of foods that were made at the table, and he realized that he actually liked everything he saw. In fact, these were all of his favorite foods—and that's really saying something because Luke was not one of those types of boys who just inhaled all the food right in front of him.

He realized that his grandmother must have really put in a lot of thought into this dinner. She must have had a long conversation with Padmé about what foods Luke liked and all. Because, after six months of living together, Padmé was probably more than able to figure out what Luke liked and what he wouldn't even touch.

As everyone finally settled into their seats, the dinner conversations could finally begin.

It amazed Luke at how these people could go months without seeing each other, yet could still converse as if they had just been together yesterday.

And after all the pleasantries ended, the real juicy questions sprang up.

"So, Luke…"

Luke sighed, of course… He looked up at his grandfather who had just spoken and prepared for the series of get-to-know-you questions.

"How do you like Coruscant?"

"Uh," Luke looked over at his father who was sitting right next to him, "It's fine."

Jobal shook her head disapprovingly, "I hate Coruscant and I hate that you all live there."

Padmé tilted her head sideways, "Mother…"

"It's too dangerous." Jobal said, with finality in her voice.

Padmé sighed, not wishing to get into an argument with her mother over dinner. Jobal was right, of course. Coruscant was dangerous. Look at what happened to Anakin. Look at what happened to Luke.

"Just move here," Ruwee suggested.

Padmé sighed, "How many times have we talked about this, Dad? We can't."

"You're reasons are completely unreasonable." Ruwee huffed.

"I have my work there," Padmé began.

Jobal threw her arms in the air, "Senators don't have to always live on Coruscant! You represent Naboo, you might as well live on Naboo!"

Padmé shook her head, "I need to stay there, especially now. Especially now that all these Socialists are trying to take over our lives!"

Jobal shook her head, but Padmé continued, "Even Bail Organa lives on Coruscant full-time. And he has a better reason to stay home on Alderaan than I do. I mean, he has a sick wife to take care of and a whole kingdom to lead."

"We all know you don't have to live on Coruscant, Padmé." Sola said as she took a bite of her roast bantha.

Padmé huffed, "I do. So does Anakin, he has his whole life on Coruscant."

Anakin gave Padmé a look, annoyed that she dragged him into this argument.

Sola laughed, "Oh, Anakin, isn't it true that there are hundreds of Jedi stationed all around the galaxy?"

"Well, yes—"

"I'm sure," Sola continued, "that the people of Naboo would be more than ecstatic if Anakin Skywalker was to take up a permanent residence on the planet."

Padmé shook her head, "Anakin is on the Council, he must be able to attend meetings and—"

"And what don't we have the HoloNet for?" Ruwee exclaimed. "Anakin could participate in every meeting via HoloNet! It's not like it hasn't been done before."

Padmé balled her fists on the table, "You always do this to me; you always find a way to just rile me up and—"

Sola rolled her eyes, "Oh, you know we're right! That's why you're so riled up, because we're right and you know it! You know that everything bad that has ever happened to you has happened on Coruscant, right?"

Padmé frowned.

There was an awkward silence at the table, so Darred decided to fill it by redirecting the course of the conversation.

"We were told that we could not allow you to go snowboarding with us," Darred said to Anakin, smiling.

Anakin chuckled, "I guess that's good for all of you, so I won't make you look bad."

Darred laughed, and so did his eldest daughter Ryoo. She, being the sportier one of the family, was always a competitor to Anakin when they participated in seasonal sports. Anakin, of course, always won.

"What else can I beat Ryoo at, then?" Anakin asked jokingly to his wife, the sarcasm in his voice very apparent to all the others.

Padmé bit her lip, seriously thinking.

Ryoo chuckled, "We could have a snowball fight?"

Anakin smiled, "Of course, snowball fights wouldn't be too—"

Padmé shook her head, "Absolutely not. A snowball could hit you too hard in the stomach, and then—"

The uproar of dissent interrupted Padmé, who was taken aback by all the opposition.

"Mom!" Leia whined, "that's so uncool!"

Sola nodded, "Yes, even I think that you're pushing it."

Padmé shrugged innocently, "He's still not fully healed, I don't want another incident."

"I'm sure a snowball fight isn't enough to bring down the great Anakin Skywalker." Ryoo said with optimum sarcasm. Everyone laughed.

Anakin laughed, too. He looked over at his flustered wife and gave her a smile, "I'm sure she means well. Don't you, Padmé?"

Padmé rolled her eyes, "Whatever, Anakin. If you want to end up in the hospital during your stay here then be my guest."

Everyone else laughed, and Anakin just shook his head as he smiled.


The dinner conversations eventually circled around Luke again, though he really liked it when it didn't.

After the meal, or feast, the whole family split into three factions: the men, the women, and the "kids."

Ryoo and Pooja took the twins upstairs where they could chat and play board games in one of the several bedrooms.

Meanwhile, Padmé had to entertain the thousands of questions presented by her mother—who had just met Luke for the first time ever an hour ago (since he was three). They were in the living room, sipping hot chocolate and whatnot.

Jobal was shaking her head disappointedly, "I can't believe you never told anybody."

Padmé threw her head back in annoyance, "How many times have I said I'm sorry!"

Jobal pouted, "He didn't seem to like talking to us."

Padmé laughed bitterly, "He's always like that. Trust me, he was acting completely normal…for him."

Sola chuckled, "Perhaps he'll warm up to us better once we go up to the lake country and the kids can all play."

"Does he like hanging out with only girls?" Jobal asked worriedly, "I feel bad that he's the only boy here, and…"

Padmé shook her head, "He loves spending time with the girls! Well, he doesn't show it very well, but I know he does. Besides, once we all go up to the lake, he won't feel terribly alone because I know there's a lot of boys that live up there and he can make friends with them. Besides, he'll have Anakin. Anakin is a kid at heart, and he'll play all those silly little games with the kids."

Jobal laughed, but Sola just looked concerned. "Are you sure? Luke didn't seem to be on very good terms with Anakin this evening…"

Jobal frowned and looked at her eldest daughter, "What are you talking about? Luke was practically clinging onto Anakin like a wet napkin."

Sola laughed at the simile, but Padmé just bit her lip. "Luke is typically more comfortable around Anakin, only because he spends all his time with Anakin at the Jedi Temple. However, lately they have been arguing a lot."

"Arguing about what?" Jobal asked, completely naïve about the whole relationship between her grandson and her Jedi son-in-law.

Padmé just shrugged, "A lot of things… Ever since the whole incident with Anakin's stabbing… It's just a lot…"

Sola shook her head, "I still don't fully understand what all happened to Ani."

Padmé sighed, "Well, you know, he was…stabbed."

Jobal nodded, "By Darth Vader."

The other two women looked at her, and Jobal just shrugged, "Leia told me."

Padmé nodded and Sola just frowned, "Darth Vader is a Sith Lord, right? The enemy of the Jedi."

"Yes—"

Sola continued, "Is he the same Vader that ran for president a year after the Clone Wars began—leading the Socialist Revolution on Corellia?"

Padmé sighed and looked away, "Yes."

Jobal raised her eyebrows, "And he's a Sith?"

Padmé shook her head, "He was an undercover Sith, Mom. And he deceived me... I thought he was an honest man—a man who cared about his people."

"And then he kidnaps your son and stabs your husband," Jobal said bitterly. "What's new?"


Ruwee Naberrie, Darred Janren, and Anakin Skywalker were all sitting at the cleared-out dining room table playing sabacc, as per usual during these holiday gatherings.

As they played against each other, the topic of the conversation (and the whole night) revolved around Luke.

"So what does he do with you?" Darred asked, "Does he train?"

Anakin shook his head, "He's not allowed. Er, well, he wasn't allowed. Once the new year starts however, I'll begin training him."

"Wow," Ruwee said, "So he'll be a Jedi?"

Anakin nodded, unable to help the smile that crossed his lips.

"He seems like an interesting boy." Darred stated, "But he's very quiet."

Anakin chuckled, "He doesn't talk much. He's a lot better once you really get to know him though. I suppose he is just shy…"

The other men laughed. "Well, why don't you call him down here and let him play with us?" Ruwee asked. "I'm sure he'd like that better than just hanging out with a bunch of girls."

Anakin chuckled, "Alright."

Anakin got up from the table, slowly so that he wouldn't get a cramp. He went upstairs to the girls' room and knocked on the door.

"Come in!" He heard his daughter's voice ring above all the laughter.

The door swished open and Anakin stepped inside. The twins and his nieces were sprawled across the floor, huddled around a board game.

"Luke," Anakin said, and his son looked up. "Your presence is requested downstairs."

"Yes!" Ryoo said happily.

Anakin gave her an amused look, "You seem happy that he's leaving."

The three girls laughed as Luke got up and joined Anakin at the door.

"It's not like that," Ryoo explained, "It's just that Luke was winning… And I don't like it when other people win."

Luke chuckled and Anakin smiled as he opened the door for him and his son. The two exited and walked down the hallway over to the stairs.

"Your grandfather and uncle want you to play sabacc with them." Anakin told Luke.

Luke crinkled his nose, "Gee, I don't know…"

"It'll be fun," Anakin reassured. "Just make sure you don't win or anything. It wouldn't make me look good if my son won a sabacc game against three older men."

Luke shrugged, "Whatever."

The two arrived to the dining room and approached the table.

"Hello, Luke!" Ruwee said excitedly.

Luke gave a small smile and sat down. Anakin sat down next to him and began dealing the cards.

"Have you ever played this before?" Darred asked.

"Like once or twice," Luke lied.

Once all the cards were dealt, the playing began and the four boys stared at their cards in utter concentration.

"Let me warn you, Luke," Darred said as he studied his cards closely, "I have never lost a game."

"Psh," Anakin scoffed, "You've lost every game you ever played against me."

Darred gave Anakin a dirty look, "That's because you cheat."

Anakin laughed but didn't deny it. He just shrugged, "I don't cheat, I use my natural skills to help me perform better than you."

Darred rolled his eyes and Ruwee laughed. Luke just smiled, totally understanding what Anakin just said.


It was a long game; halfway through, Ruwee "Bombed Out" and had to exit the game. He watched as Darred, Anakin, and Luke all battled for the pure sabacc.

Ruwee looked at the three boys as they all studied the cards in their hands.

"So who won?"

Anakin bit his lip and Darred scratched his chin.

"Come on," Ruwee said impatiently, "I'm hanging on to the edge of my seat here."

Anakin put his cards down, revealing them to Ruwee, Darred, and Luke. They all peered in to get a better look.

Ruwee clapped his hands, "There you go! Negative 23, a pure sabacc!"

Darred chuckled deeply, "Positive 23 always triumphs over negative 23." He put his own cards down to show the others.

Anakin's eyebrows shot up, surprised that he didn't win. "But I always win!"

Darred laughed in his face, "Not today, Master Jedi!"

"What about you, Luke?" Ruwee asked in a nicer tone, preparing to find that the young boy failed miserably at reaching a pure sabacc.

Luke mustered up an innocent pout, "I guess I couldn't get a pure sabacc after all."

Luke put his cards down at the table and the other three men looked down at them.

Anakin's expression was frozen. Ruwee had to rub his eyes to make sure that he was seeing what he was actually seeing.

"Is that—Is that?"

Luke chuckled darkly, "Is that what?"

The tone in Luke's voice made it clear to everyone else that the young boy was not as innocent as he came off as (although Anakin already knew that). Luke was practically goading the others to say it…

"The Idiot's Array," Ruwee said, with amazement in his voice.

Sure enough, Luke had three cards in his hand: The Idiot card, a Two of the Staves suit, and a Three of the Staves suit. The Idiot card, being worth zero, allowed for the value of the cards to literally be read as 023—trumping the pure sabacc of 23.

Darred slammed his hands on the table and stood up, "What? Are you telling me I just lost to a thirteen year-old?!"

Luke laughed and so did Ruwee, but Anakin and Darred couldn't find any amusement in this.

Anakin ran a hand through his hair, "Luke, I told you not to win."

"That doesn't mean anything!" Luke defended, still laughing.

Darred pointed at Luke, "You cheated, didn't you?"

Luke couldn't even answer because he was laughing so hard.

Darred pointed at Anakin next, "You helped him cheat, didn't you Skywalker?"

At this point, Anakin began laughing too. Seeing Darred so riled up over this was enough to make anyone laugh. Poor Darred was so used to losing against Anakin… The one time he thought he won, he actually lost to Anakin's son.

Darred sat back down and took a deep breath. He looked around at the three other players laughing around him and figured it was all a pretty funny situation actually. There was no harm done, and no one lost any money because they didn't bet with real credits. Darred sat back in his chair and began laughing too.

Luke's laughter died and he looked around at the three older men who had laughed along with him. Perhaps this vacation wouldn't be too bad after all.