Alright... I know MANY of you are mad at me for not posting this chapter for several inexcusable months, but I was going through a really difficult time and I just lost all insentive to write. I'm not saying that it's all better now, but hopefully I can dedicate more time to writing now that school is over and I won't have as many distractions.

As usual, with the start of the summer my updates shall (hopefully) be coming much more frequently. Once I get back into full-swing of writing, I'll start posting at least once a week (if not more).

This particular chapter is long and uneventful...for which I apologize. Once the Skywalker family depart from Naboo, the action will significantly pick up. I have really exciting plans for this story and I hope you all stick around to find out.

But before you get on with your reading, I would like to make one correction to the story... I believe that in previous chapters I made Ryoo and Pooja to seem much older than they actually are. In reality, they should be about 22 and 20 (respectively) while Luke and Leia are 13. Hopefully this clears up any confusion.

Enjoy!


CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR

That night, as Anakin lied in bed next to his wife in her old room, he thought about what this vacation could mean to Luke.

"You know what I realized?" Anakin asked.

Padmé put the datapad from which she was reading down on the nightstand next to her, "What?"

"Luke is not a very mushy person."

Padmé raised an eyebrow, "Mushy as in squishy? Or mushy as in sentimental?"

Anakin laughed, "Mushy as in… he doesn't like it when people hug him and tell him they love him."

Padmé laughed out loud, "And you just now realized this? I realized this a minute after I met him."

Anakin laughed too, remembering the awkward moment when he first brought Luke to 500 Republica.

"I think he would be a lot more comfortable if people just stopped mentioning Coruscant and Vader." Anakin continued after his laughter died out.

Padmé nodded, "It should all be over soon… But Mother is having some people over tomorrow night."

Anakin groaned.

"Hopefully we'll all be making it up to the lake after tomorrow though."

Anakin nodded, "Good."

Padmé smiled, "Have you thought about what you're getting the twins for their fourteenth birthday?"

Anakin almost fell out of bed, "What?"

"You forgot, didn't you?"

Anakin ran a hand through his hair, "Oh no, I completely forgot…"

Padmé lied back and smiled distantly, "How could you forget? This is the first birthday they'll be celebrating together in ten years."

Anakin smiled with her, "That's true, huh?"

Padmé smiled sadly, "Poor Leia, we were never really able to ever give her a real birthday, because it was always a painful reminder..."

Anakin nodded, "I wonder if Luke even knows his real birthday."

There was a pause of silence for a moment, and then Padmé spoke. "I got them both comlinks. I think they would really come in handy if anything happened."

Anakin nodded, "Good idea. I'll have to think of something to get them."


Leia was never one to really enjoy sleeping in, even during the winter break. She was up with the sun every morning, and today was no different.

The vacation looked like it would be the best one yet so far, only judging by last night. The news of Luke's win in the sabacc game reached the whole household, and the three men who played against him were all shamed.

Luke and Leia shared a room with two twin beds while Ryoo and Pooja had to take the room with only one queen-sized bed, sharing it.

This made Ryoo and Pooja grumble, but Grandma Jobal said, "The twin beds should be reserved for the twins."

It was now still morning, and still too early for anyone to be awake except for Leia, Pooja, Padmé, Jobal, and Anakin.

The five of them were all sitting in the living room with hot chocolates and blankets and the HoloNews on.

Pooja groaned, "I wish everyone else would just wake up already. It's so boring."

Leia nodded in agreement.

The two girls were sitting together on a loveseat while their grandmother sat on an armchair next to them. Across from them, Anakin and Padmé lounged on the couch.

"I thought you said Luke wakes up early." Pooja said to Leia.

Leia shrugged, "He usually does. He can go days without sleeping. And he usually wakes up about the same time I do."

Anakin scoffed, "Yeah, but other times he sleeps in until dinner."

Everyone else laughed.

"True," Leia acquiesced.

Pooja got up, "Okay, well let's try to wake him up."

Padmé frowned, "I don't think you should do that, Pooja."

Pooja shrugged, "Why not? He won't mind. We'll wake Ryoo up, too."

Leia jumped up, "Let's go."


Luke was sleeping on his belly with his face buried under the pillow and his blanket over his head.

Leia and Pooja came into the room. Pooja opened the window blinds while Leia sat on Luke's bed and shook his back, "Wakey, wakey!"

Luke tugged on the covers even harder, sheilding his squinted eyes from the sun's sudden blast.

"Go… away," He moaned, his voice muffled by the pillow.

Leia looked up to Pooja dejectedly, as if this whole idea was useless.

Pooja just shrugged, "Let's try Ryoo."

They went over to the next room and found Ryoo sleeping in a similar position.

"Get up." Pooja said, slapping her sister on the butt.

Ryoo didn't even groan or yell or anything. She layed there like a dead person.

The two girls gave up and went back to the living room shamefully.

"Do you smell that?" Anakin asked as he saw the girls come in.

"Smell what?" Padmé asked.

"That smell…" Anakin said, "the smell of…failure."

Jobal and Padmé laughed while Pooja and Leia fumed in their seats.

"Not funny, Dad."

"Yeah, not cool." Pooja agreed.

Anakin shrugged, "I don't know what you were thinking, trying to get Ryoo up at this hour."

Jobal chuckled, "If she could, she'd hibernate all winter."


The rest of the family awoke at a more reasonable hour… 0900 hours.

Even Luke got up to join them for breakfast. As everyone was sitting down, Sola became annoyed.

"Has anyone seen Ryoo?"

Leia nodded, "She's still sleeping."

Sola's eyebrows rose, "What? No one woke her up?"

Leia bit her lip, "We tried…"

As Sola was about to get up from her seat at the table, a zombie walked into the dining room.

Ryoo took her seat. Her tangled, bushy hair wrapped around her face. Her pajamas were still on, and they looked messy and wrinkled. Her face was pale and her eyes were squinted.

"Good morning, beautiful." Pooja said to her sister.

Ryoo rolled her eyes and attempted to brush her tousled hair out of her eyes, "Whatever."

They began eating, and Leia looked between Ryoo and Pooja, just studying them.

"What?" Ryoo asked.

Leia shrugged, "Nothing. There's just a stark contrast between you two right now. Pooja's all dressed up and ready to go, and you're…ah…"

Ryoo looked over at her sister, "Yeah, why are you all dressed, Pooj?"

Pooja shrugged, "What, aren't I allowed to dress up if I want?"

Ryoo snickered, "What's the occasion?"

Sola frowned, "We have the Numans coming over, and Pooja's more appropriately dressed than you are, Ryoo."

Padmé smiled, "Oh, I remember them! They have two kids, don't they?"

Leia thought hard for a moment, and then gasped. "Pooja!"

Pooja glared at Leia, warning her not to say another word.

Sola looked between Pooja and Leia confusedly, "What, what's going on?"

Ryoo gasped too, figuring out what it was. "Pooja has a boyfriend!"

Pooja's face turned really red. She scoffed, "No I don't!"

Ryoo chuckled deeply, "Oh yes you do, missy. Don't lie to us."

Pooja put on a stern face, "No, I do not."

Darred tilted his head, "Pooja, no boyfriends until you're thirty. That was the deal."

"I don't have a boyfriend!" Pooja exclaimed, frazzled by all of this attention at breakfast.

Anakin looked over at Darred with an amused look, "No boyfriends until you're thirty?"

Darred shrugged, "It's a reasonable requirement."

Anakin chuckled and looked over at Padmé, "I'm pretty sure I was nineteen when we got married."

Darred and Ryoo laughed. Ruwee frowned, "But Padmé is older than you, so—"

"I was twenty-four." Padmé said, "Not thirty."

"Yeah, Dad." Pooja said half-heartedly. "Aunt Padmé had two kids by the time she was thirty!"

"Psh," Darred scoffed, "They're twins it doesn't count."

Pooja rolled her eyes, "You and Mom were definitely not thirty when you got married."

Darred shrugged, "Times were different back then."

Pooja laughed, "Good one. Look, you're the reason that Ryoo is almost twenty-three and never had a boyfriend."

Ryoo and Darred both frowned.

"It's not my fault!"

"Who said I've never had a boyfriend?"

Pooja rolled her eyes, "Then why are you making fun of me for having a boyfriend?"

Ryoo's eyebrows slowly rose, "You just admitted it, you do have a boyfriend!"

Pooja paused for a moment, and then closed her eyes and groaned.

Leia smiled broadly, "Is it the Numan boy?"

Ryoo gasped, "Hakeem Numan?!"

Pooja rolled her eyes, "Maybe."

Leia clapped enthusiastically, "Oh my Force, I'm so excited!"

Anakin gave his daughter a dirty look, "Leia, how many times have I told you not to say 'oh my Force'?"

Everyone at the table laughed and Leia just reddened.

"Also," Anakin continued, "don't get too excited. You're not allowed to have a boyfriend until you're Pooja's age."

Leia rolled her eyes while everyone at the table chuckled again.

"Whatever."


Finnick and Kynda Numan were well-known in Theed for their wealth and generous philanthropy. Finnick Numan came from a long line of men and women who served as members of Naboo's royal court. He met his wife Kynda at an annual meeting on Coruscant for philanthropists from all around the galaxy. Kynda, too, came from a very wealthy family back from her own homeworld.

They now lived in Theed with their two children, and they were very close friends to the Naberries.

Hakeem was the oldest child and only son of the Numan family, twenty years old. His younger sister, Noura, was seventeen.

Ryoo hated these gatherings; her mother always tried forcing her into some uncomfortabe dress, and Ryoo decided she just couldn't take it anymore. She convinced Luke to sneak out with her to avoid the Numan visit. Luke happily agreed.

As the rest of the family prepared for their guests' arrival, Luke and Ryoo dressed warmly with their coats and gloves and snuck out the back door.


Leia was dressed in one of her best dresses, as instructed by her mother. As she was combing her hair, Padmé walked into her room.

"Is Luke here?"

Leia looked behind her, expecting to see her brother in their shared room. "Uh, no."

Padmé frowned and left the bedroom.

She went into her and Anakin's room and found her husband brushing his hair with his fingers. Padmé rolled her eyes, like father like daughter.

Anakin frowned and turned to Padmé, "Hey!"

Padmé just rolled her eyes and ignored him. "Have you seen Luke?"

Anakin shrugged, "Why do you need him?"

Padmé sighed, "I need to make sure he's wearing the clothes I picked out for him."

Anakin smiled, "Maybe he's hiding from you then."

Padmé groaned and left the room.

"I'm sure you'll find him once the Numans arrive!" Anakin called after her.

Padmé shook her head to herself, "Yes, and by then it will be too late to change."


Ryoo and Luke made it all the way to the other side of Theed. The suburbs were more crowded and less well-off than the Naberrie's side of town.

The houses were closer together, and they looked visibly older than the Naberrie's neihborhood. Small shops and shady nooks scattered the area. Old-fashioned laundry lines hung from the upper story balconies. Children ran around through the crowded lanes. Assorted yells and loud noises rang through the streets. Luke smiled; this was his kind of hood.

Ryoo walked right beside him, her eyes fixed at a townhouse at the end of the road.

"Who are we going to see?" Luke asked.

"Just some old college buddies." Ryoo smiled. "That house down there is the home of my closest friend, Lenna."

As soon as she said it, a young tom-boyish woman stepped out on the balcony of that house. Luke and Ryoo walked over to her.

"Ryoo!" Lenna exclaimed. She ran down the steps of her home and tackled Ryoo with a hug.

Ryoo chuckled and hugged her back, "Jeez, don't act like you missed me so much. We saw each other last week."

Lenna let go and pouted at her friend, "It was a long week."

Ryoo laughed and put an arm around Luke, "Have you met my cousin Luke?"

Lenna's eyebrows shot up, "No! Hello, Luke."

Luke took a moment to study his cousin's friend. She was relatiely tall—the same height as Ryoo. She had dirty blonde hair tied in the back with a ponytail. She looked like the epitome of a sports girl with her ragtag sweatpants and sneakers (a style of clothing generally frowned upon by other higher-class Nubian women). He smiled, "Hello."

Lenna looked over at Ryoo, "Since when do you have another cousin?"

Ryoo hesitated, "He doesn't live here, he lives on Coruscant."

Lenna nodded, "Gotcha."

Ryoo looked around at the neighborhood, "Where is everyone?"

"We're all heading over to the smashpit." Lenna said as she began walking further more down the street.

Ryoo and Luke followed behind, and Luke gave his cousin a questioning look.

"What's a smashpit?"

Lenna looked over at Luke and smiled, "Oh yeah, you're not a Theed native."

Ryoo laughed, "the smashpit is like a slang term that we use to call our field. The field where we play smashball."

Luke chuckled and rolled his eyes.

Lenna raised an eyebrow, "What?"

Luke shrugged, "Nothing."

Lenna smiled broadly, feeling enticed. "No really, what is it?"

Luke shook his head, "Nothing!"

Ryoo smiled too, looking at her younger cousin. "You think there's something funny about smashball?"

Luke shook his head, smiling. "No, it's just a stupid game, that's all."

Lenna nodded slowly, "Uh huh, and why's that?"

"It's just…stupid." Luke shrugged, "It's for kids."

Ryoo chuckled and shook her head slowly, looking away from Luke. "Not here, it isn't."

Lenna nodded, "The smashball we play here is…intense."

"What, you have your own rules?" Luke asked.

Ryoo and Lenna nodded devilishly, "Oh yeah…"


Leia had become increasingly worried over the sudden disapearance of her cousin and twin brother. The Numan family had been at her grandparents' household for more than half an hour now, and Luke and Ryoo were nowhere to be found.

Leia, Pooja, and the Numan children Hakeem and Noura were hanging out on the balcony while all the rest of the adults were inside.

"Where is Ryoo?" Pooja asked impatiently.

"Maybe she is hiding from us," Noura suggested.

"Why would she do that?" Pooja asked, unconvinced.

Noura shrugged, "We should look for them."

Leia hopped off her seat in agreeance, "Yes, let's go find them Noura."

Hakeem got up from his seat too, but Noura shook her head. "Just me and Leia. If we're not back in an hour, then it's your job to come look for us."

Pooja rolled her eyes, "You're making this more dramatic than it needs to be."

Noura and Leia laughed and then stepped out of the balcony. Pooja and Hakeem watched the two younger girls run down the street until they were out of sight.


Ryoo, Lenna, and Luke arrived at the smashpit, which turned out to look like a really run-down field with two markers at either side to signify the endpoints. There were steel bleachers on the edges, rusty from standing out in the rain for several years. Even the field itself looked really weatherd, its grass gone to be more of a field of mud now.

There was a group of older kids standing around at the center of the field. The three walked up to them.

"Hey look, Lenna's here." One of the older girls said.

"Lenna, Ryoo, great, you made it!" Another boy said, "And you brought an extra player, fantastic!"

Ryoo chuckled, "Guys, this is my cousin Luke."

Luke gave a small smile.

"Luke," Ryoo said, preparing to introduce him to her friends. She pointed to the two people who spoke, "This is Rittah Crowsboro, and this is Emre Kormanski."

Rittah smiled and Emre nodded his head.

Ryoo whispered into Luke's ear, "He has this on/off relationship with Lenna."

Lenna rolled her eyes, having heard what Ryoo said. "Emre, did you bring Niko?"

"Niko is his younger brother," Ryoo explained to Luke, "He's about your age, or older."

A shorter version of the tall black-haired, brown-eyed Emre appeared and gave a nod towards Luke. He couldn't shake off how much he resembled Jared.

Ryoo continued introducing her friends, "These are Kamal and Rania, they're brother and sister." She pointed at the two tallest bunch of the group, Kamal sporting a neon jacket and long blonde hair tied in a ponytail at the back. Rania, on the other hand, had dark brown hair braided at the side of her face.

"Isn't your sister here, too?" Lenna asked.

Rania nodded, "Katia is going to be one of the referees."

Ryoo smiled at Luke, "Katia is the oldest of the Buras siblings, and she looks like Rania's identical twin. You won't miss her."

"Besides Luke and Kamal," Emre began, speaking to Lenna, "the only other guy on your team will be Anwar."

Ryoo pointed at a muscular boy wearing white shorts on the other side of the field, "That's Anwar. He likes making vulgar jokes."

Lenna frowned at Emre, "Who all is on your team, then?"

Emre bit his lip, thinking. "We have Niko, Rittah, Rahat, Jidah, Mejda, and Myla."

Lenna raised an eyebrow, "That's seven people in all. We only have six."

As Lenna and Emre continued their argument over teams, Ryoo continued showing Luke her friends.

"Rahat is actually the son of one of my dad's best friends." Ryoo explained, "He's the boy standing next to Anwar over there. His younger sister Sidra usually referees the games with Katia."

Luke nodded, taking this all in.

"Jidah and Mejda are siblings, with Jidah one year older than her sister. She was in my economics class, actually. She's really nice."

"We're not playing with uneven teams, Kormanski!" Lenna raised her voice.

"Chill, chill!" Emre chuckled, "We'll find you another player."

"Do that, or we'll have to ask Myla to sit out." Lenna threatened.

Ryoo gasped, "Oh yeah, Myla." She turned to Luke again, "Myla is that really snarky bitch who's in the same grade as Rittah and Rania at the University. She's that girl over there with the long dark hair."

Luke turned to look. Myla turned around, having been in conversation with Anwar and Rahat. She had the pompous look on her face, instantly reminding Luke of his surrogate sister Aria.

"The reason you guys always win is because you cheat by forming uneven teams!" Lenna said, pointing her finger into Emre's chest to emphasize her point.

"Okay, okay, I'm sorry!" Emre said, not sounding sorry at all.

"Did I hear something about uneven teams?" A girl's voice shouted from the other side of the field.

Everyone turned around and saw two girls walking up to the group. One of them was tall, and the other one was…Leia.

"Leia?" Luke said in disebelief.

"Noura?" Ryoo said, with even more uncertainty.

"If you need an extra player, I'm your girl!" Noura giggled.

Lenna clapped her hands, "Perfect!"

Leia gave her brother a smile and then went to go sit on the bleachers next to some other kids that Luke didn't know.

Emre dragged out the ball bag, and the two refs took out their whistles.

All the players were now on the field, and the spectators were on the bleachers.

"Alright, I want a nice, safe game from all of you today." Katia said, holding one of the balls in her hands. "We don't want a repeat of last time."

Luke frowned, "What happened last time?" he asked quietly.

Lenna let out a loud laugh, tilting her head back. Ryoo just rolled her eyes and leaned into Luke's ear, "Anwar tackled Emre to the ground and threw a rock at his head. We had to take him to the trauma center at the medcenter."

Luke frowned, "There's tackling involved in this game?"

Ryoo's jaw dropped, "Oh my, I totally forgot that you don't know how to play this version."

Katia overheard Ryoo's last statement. "Maybe I should review the rules of the game?"

"Yes, please do." Emre said, looking over at Anwar. "Please review the section of the rules that clearly state that no hard substances may be used to pelt at the other players—"

"Just let it go already!" Anwar exploded, exasperated. The friends all chuckled.

Katia put her hands up, "Alright, settle down! Here are the rules: you must be able to transfer the ball from the middle of the field at its starting position to one of the nets at either end the field to score a goal. Each net shall have a goalie, and only the goalies may hold the ball with their hands inside their respective sections."

Luke frowned, "Sections?"

Katia nodded, "The field is equally divided up into three sections: the blue section, the green section, and the gold section. The gold section is in the middle, and it is commonly referred to as no-man's land. Any player may hold the ball with his or her hands while on no-man's land, and this is often where most of the tackling occurs."

Emre snorted, "Unless your name is Anwar and you tackle people wherever the hell you want—"

"Furthermore," Katia cut in, "when you are in the blue section or the green section, you must kick the ball or find any other way to transport it without using your arms." She turnd to face the rest of the players now, "The captains of the blue and green teams will be Lenna and Emre, respectively."

Lenna nodded, "I'm going to play defense with Ryoo and Rania, and Noura will be goalie. That means Kamal, Anwar, and Luke will play offense."

Emre smiled cheekily at Lenna and then turned to his own team members. "I'll play offense, along with Rittah and Niko. Myla's the goalie, and the defense players will be Rahat, Jidah, and Mejda."

Lenna and Emre shook hands and then went to their positions on the field. The rest followed suit and Katia stood at the center of the field with the ball under her arm and her whistle in her teeth.

The offense players spread out around the referee, eager to catch the ball once it was thrown into the air.

Luke, who literally had no idea how this game worked, was actually excited to play. This was definitely going to be the highlight of the whole trip.

Katia held the ball firmly in her grasp, preparing to toss it into the air. Once she blew the whistle, the game officially began.


The adults at the Naberrie household were all sitting around the living room, mindlessly chatting about this and that—a conversation topic that bored Anakin out of his mind.

At the moment they were talking about the Numan's generous philanthropy. Finnick and Kynda, no matter how generous they were, always basked in the attention of others and constantly bragged about how much they helped various homeless shelters and non-profit organizations to thrive.

"It's the least I can do," Kynda said , putting on her most innocent smile. "My heart aches when I hear the stories of families who spend the winter out on the streets."

Padmé frowned, "But that's not really an issue anymore on Naboo. Or, at least in Theed it's not."

Kynda nodded, "Thankfully, no. But other places in the galaxy suffer from the worst spells of poverty. And I'm not just talking about the savage worlds."

Anakin, never really a fan of Kynda Numan, balled his fists up on his lap and pursed his lips. He grew up on a "savage" world.

Finnick nodded, "Last month we were on a week-long vacation at our home on Corellia—"

"You have a home on Corellia?" Anakin interrupted suddenly.

Padmé gave him a stern look, but Finnick thought nothing of it.

"Of course, Kynda grew up there."

Anakin's eyebrows skyrocketed but said nothing more. No wonder he never liked Kynda…

Sola smiled, "Oh yes, I remember you telling us this before. Do you like it there?"

Kynda let out an airy chuckle, "It's a beautiful planet. The majority of the world is all rural villages and farmlands. However, ever since the revolution, the smaller cities boomed into great metropolises. The industrialization of Corellia tripled in the past fifteen years."

"Because of Vader?" Anakin asked, the words leaving his lips before he could even think about them. Padmé cringed at the name and gave her husband a stern look, as if such a name was taboo to even utter.

Of course, the Numans saw nothing wrong. To the average Corellian, Malek Vader was a household name and a hero.

Kynda actually smiled at the mention of her planet's former president. "Vader indeed instigated much of Corellia's development. He was a strong advocate of a self-dependent economy, and encouraged much of the manufacturing jobs of the Core Worlds region to relocate to Corellia by lowering taxes."

Sola tilted her head, "But Corellia is a socialist government, is it not?"

Kynda nodded.

"So how did he promote the development of large industries? Big companies would never want to relocate to an area with so many government regulations on businesses and wages."

Padmé gave bitter chuckle, "He had his ways. I remember, he used to preach socialism to the rest of us. He found a way to allow the small businesses on Corellia to thrive. You're right, the large business tycoons fled before they lost everything, but the rest of Corellia prospered. Corellia holds the record for having one of the lowest income inequalities among citizens. Only about a tenth of the population lives under the poverty line. Vader's administration actually worked."

Anakin just raised an eyebrow at Padmé, "How do you know so much?"

Padmé shrugged.

Kynda smiled and picked up her cup of caf, "Well it's all true. I remember when the revolution occurred. The Corellian government was weak, and the president had no power over anyone with a few million credits in their pockets. Vader's presidency was the golden age on Corellia."

Finnick chuckled, "You make him sound like a god."

Kynda grinned, "He pretty much—ah!"

Before she could even finish her sentence, the cup of caf exploded in her hand.

Jobal gasped and jumped from her seat, grabbing a napkin to help Kynda clean up the caf off her blouse.

Finnick bent over and picked up the small shards of glass that used to be a cup, "Kynda, what did you do?!"

Padmé bit her lip and glanced over at Anakin, who was running a hand through his hair.

The look on Kynda's face was astounded, "I have no idea, I must have been gripping the glass too firmly or something!"

Anakin stood up from his seat.

"Where are you going, Ani?" Padmé asked.

Ruwee and Darred side glanced at each other, both knowing that it was Anakin who had subconsiously causd the glass to explode in Kynda's grasp.

Anakin shrugged and left the room.


A very worried Pooja paced around the balcony when Anakin found her.

"What's the matter?" Anakin asked.

Pooja bit her lip, "They're not back yet."

"Who?" Anakin asked, immediately fearing the worst.

Hakeem pursed his lips, "Well… Luke and Ryoo were missing ever since we got here. And Leia and my sister went out to find them an hour ago, and they're still not back."

Anakin internally groaned, "Where did they go?"

"No idea." Pooja admitted.

Anakin expelled a deep breath and then went back inside. He headed for the door.

Pooja and Hakeem quickly followed behind.

"Where are you going?" Pooja asked.

"To find them." Anakin said resignedly.


The crowd watching this smashball game was unbelievable. Leia now stood on the bleachers beside dozens of other people, all cheering for different teams. People were standing all around the field, as the space on the bleachers was diminishing.

"Get the ball, get the ball!"

"Look, he's right behind you!"

"Don't let him snatch the ball from right under you!"

"Go Blue!"

Leia laughed at all of the hysteria.

"Hey look!" A kid next to Leia yelled, "Isn't that Anakin Skywalker?!"

Everyone who heard the kid turned their head to look in the direction he was pointing at. Sure enough, that was Anakin standing next to Pooja and Hakeem. Leia's eyes widened and she leapt off the bleachers.

Leia ran over to where her father was standing on the other side of the field. He looked confused, as if he had no idea where he was.

"Dad!" Leia yelled, and Anakin swiftly turned around to face her.

"Dad," Leia repeated, "what are you doing here?"

"I came here to look for you and your…" Anakin trailed off, looking at the field. "Brother?"

Leia quickly looked to see what Anakin was staring at.

Off on the field, Luke was running with the ball in his hand. He must have sensed his sister staring at him intently from the distance, because he looked over at her and then saw Anakin. His run slowed down to a jog and he frowned.

Anakin folded his arms, giving Luke his sternest look.

Luke almost slowed down to a full stop; but then, out of nowhere, one of the older boys on the other team tackled him, forcefully shoving Luke to the ground. Quickly thereafter, another one of the boys from the other team landed on top of them.

The look on Anakin's face was priceless, and Leia let out a huge gasp.

Katia came running to the scene, furiously blowing her whistle. The other boys got off Luke, who appeared to still be holding the ball despite the aggressive efforts to force it out of his hands. Luke got up, brushed some of the dirt and mud off his pants—earning an assortment of chuckles from the spectators—and then passed the ball to one of his teammates.

Leia couldn't help but laugh, and even Anakin cracked a smile.

This trip was turning out to be a lot more promising than first imagined.