Chapter 31
Coruscant- Solo Residency
Luke sat on the couch at the Solo residency rethinking about the events that just happened. He was free now, the New Republic and his still to be made Jedi Order have made peace. There was no longer any bounty on him, Ahsoka or Sabine. But now Luke was facing another problem. How did Mon Mothma know about Anakin being Vader and his connection to him and Leia? Most importantly who was that... creature that appeared out of nowhere, and why did he warn him about Ahsoka and a long dead sith? Luke was lost in concentration, not noticing when Leia had walked in with a sleeping Ben Solo in her arms.
"Hey", Leia said softly scarring the distracted Luke. "Oh, sorry. I didn't hear you coming", Luke apologized as he got up to help her. "It's fine Luke. What's important is that you don't have the New Republic breathing down your neck now. And you can do anything you want now", Leia smiled as she handed her sleeping baby to Luke. Luke carefully held Ben in his arms, he could feel the immense power coming off from his young nephew. "Where's Han and Chewie? I haven't seen them around" Luke asked in realization. The apartment seemed empty without the scoundrel and his wookiee companion doing who knows what with Threepio or the crazy imaginative adventures they'd be telling Ben to fall asleep. "They're off-world", Leia responded, "Presumably going to Kashyyk to see Chewbacca's family".
"Wait. Chewbacca has a family?", Luke asked in surprise. After years of knowing the wookiee, he never heard Chewbacca mention anything of a family. Perhaps there was more than what meets the eye for the wookiee scoundrel. "I was surprised as you are Luke", Leia responded with as much awe as him. "Why didn't you go with them? You know, to let little Ben see his wookie uncle's family?", Luke asked his twin sister. Leia's face fell when Luke had asked her. Did he forget? He was the reason she was still here after all. "Remember Luke, I had to be present for your trial", Leia said slowly.
Luke's face fell when he heard her words. Of course she had to be here, it was mostly his fault. She should've been with Han, caring for Ben near a beautiful lake on Naboo, or teaching her political apprentice everything she knew about politics. But no, she had to be here for him, for his actions for walking out of the New Republic. That's when his thoughts started coming back. "Leia", Luke said cautiously, "Did you ever tell Mothma about our Father?". Luke knew how sensitive Leia was about the topic of Vader. He remembered that she complained to him when Anakin had visited her a week prior to Ben's early arrival, and how she screamed at her father for torturing her and Han, and for hurting Luke. He remembered the few things Leia had said in the heat of the moment, and they weren't good. "Luke, you know how uncomfortable I am with this subject", Leia responded, "I never told anyone except for Han, Chewbacca and Lando".
Luke took his sisters words in disbelief. If Leia never told Mothma, who did? "Betrayed by the one with the name of Ahsoka Tano", the man's words echoed in his head. Luke shook his head as he tried to clear the voice in his head. Ashoka? She can't be, she didn't even know that I existed, Luke mentally argued. Ben started to stir in his uncle's arms. He must feel my thoughts, Luke thought in realization. He handed Ben back to Leia, who gladly accepted him. "Do you think anyone else knows about, us. And Vader?", Leia asked worriedly. She didn't want anyone else finding out about her being related to Darth Vader. Let alone having her son threatened because of his grandfather. "The only ones to know, outside our little family, is just Ahsoka and Sabine", Luke replied.
"You told them!", Leia shouted in horror. Her sudden outburst had awakened her baby, Ben started crying as Leia desperately tried to calm him down. "They needed to trust me Leia, and Ahsoka found out before we even met", Luke argued defending his actions. "Wait, wait, wait. Ahsoka knew about you? About us, before even meeting you?", Leia suddenly questioned. Luke realized what he just said, it was true. Ahsoka knew about Anakin, once she heard his name, it didn't take long to connect the pieces. "You don't think she told Mothma?", Leia asked again, this time more softly as she successfully calmed Ben down. It was possible, after all she was the first Fulcrum. And the Fulcrum class was known to be loyal to the Rebellion, even killing other rebels just to keep their names clean. But would Ahsoka really do it? As far as Luke knew, Ahsoka cared about him, she wouldn't do anything to hurt him or Leia.
"She desires your death!", the same voice echoed again. Luke mentally pushed the voice to the back of his head, it couldn't be that, it couldn't. Ben started crying again, this time even louder. He must sense the darkness surrounding the voice, Luke thought to himself. It what the voice told him was true, then Luke would need to watch his back. He'll have to postpone his journey to Ahch-to and do his best to protect Leia and Ben. Suddenly C-3PO and R2-D2 came barging in, "Oh dear, Princess! Princess, I bring terrible news!", Threepio said worriedly. "What's the matter Threepio?", Luke quickly asked. Threepio jumped back, not noticing the young jedi. "Oh, I'm dreadfully sorry Master Luke. Forgive me for not noticing you here", Threepio said in a apologetic manner. "It's okay Threepio, what's the matter?", Luke asked the golden protocol droid.
"I have received a transmission from Captain Solo. Apparently, he and Chewbacca have encountered a group of pirates called the Guavian Death Gang. They are causing some trouble to the Kashyyk system. He's been asking for your presence Princess", Threepio explained. "Tell Han I'll be there shortly", Leia responded. Leia walked to her holo-table and requested for Amilyn Holdo. "Why did you asked for Ms. Holdo?", Luke asked confused. "I need someone to watch over Ben for a while, while I'm off-world", Leia explained.
"I could stay here and watch over him", Luke offered. He just became an uncle, wheres the harm in trying to build a little bond? "No offense Luke, but your still new to this whole Uncle thing. And you still need to go with Ahsoka. Even if we don't trust her", Leia remarked. Luke let out a short sigh, Leia was right. He made a promise to them to still be going with them, this time however, he needed to be extra cautious around the Togruta. "You're right Leia. I should be going", Luke said as he gave his sister a soft kiss on the forehead. He did the same to Ben as he headed for the exist. "Be safe on your travel Master Luke", Threepio said as Luke headed out the door. Luke simply winked at the protocol droid he had met all those years ago on Tatooine. "Come on Artoo, we don't want to be late", Luke said to the little blue droid strolling next to him. Artoo let out a worried whimper before following Luke.
Coruscant-Capital Building Landing bay.
Luke and Artoo walked to the platform leading them to Ahsoka's shuttle. Luke was having a hard time going over everything that happened. "She will betray you Skywalker. She awaits until you lower your defenses!", the mans voice echoed through his skull. Get out of my head!, Luke shouted to the man. Artoo noticed that Luke was shaking his head as if he had a headache. Artoo let out a worried beep concerning Luke's health. "I'm fine Artoo", Luke said a little coldly. Luke and Artoo walked through a crowd of running teenagers. The kids started pushing and shoving Luke and Artoo out of the way. "Hey watch it!", Luke yelled at the kids. The teenagers ran past them as they brushed their hands over him. "I hate inner core kids", Luke scolded to himself. Luke suddenly felt his belt has gone lighter. He pat himself down to notice that his lightsaber was gone. "Those bastards!", Luke shouted.
Luke searched everywhere for his lightsaber. How could I be so stupid, Luke mentally argued. Artoo let out a loud chirp to get Luke's attention. Luke turned around to see his little astromech droid shifting side to side as Luke's lightsaber laid on the floor next to him. "Good job Artoo", Luke said in relief. He was about to grab it when a slim hand grabbed it first. Luke looked up to the owner of the hand to see a beautiful young women no older than him. The woman had striking red hair, but most importantly she had striking green eyes. It almost resembled his lightsaber crystal. And although her scarf hid most of her features, Luke noticed that she was quite physically attractive as well. "I'm sorry miss, that belongs to me", Luke said softly. The woman kept her gaze at him, and slowly extending his lightsaber towards. "Its an honor to meet The Luke Skywalker", the woman said in a soft voice. She winked at him before handing the lightsaber to him and walking away. Luke felt himself blush as the red head walked away. Artoo let out a artificial snicker as Luke glared at his companion. "Let's get going Artoo. And don't even think about quoting Lando. The last thing I want to say to someone attractive is comparing them to pilot tales of space angles".
Mara watched as Luke Skywalker walked away with his astromech. Luckily the knights of Ren were able to distract him long enough for her to place a tracking device on his lightsaber. She didn't know why she felt, awkward, around him. She should hate him after all. Pull yourself together Mara, he took away the only family you ever knew, Mara scolded at herself, I shouldn't have these sort of feelings. He is your enemy. She saw how Luke was checking her out, and she even noticed his blush when she winked at him. The knights, still disguised as civilians walked up to her. "Looks like Mr. Jedi over there seems to like you", Kuruk said in a sarcastic tone.
Mara rolled her eyes at the young knight's comment. Why do they have to be so immature?, Mara questioned herself. "Let's go, inform Ren and Ragnos that we placed the tracker", Mara ordered as she walked away.
Coruscant- Landing Platform
Ahsoka and Sabine sat impatiently as they waited for Luke to comeback. "He should be here any minute now Ahsoka", Sabine said as she noticed the Togruta getting worried. "He said he needed to take care of a few things", she added. "That was two hours ago Sabine!", Ahsoka shouted. An immediate silence filled the room. "Sorry, I shouldn't have shouted at you", Ahsoka said apologizing for her sudden outburst, "Its just, I'm worried about him", she said trying to clarify her action. She got up and walked around for a bit, checking the shuttle for anything out of place.
"Hey, he's here", Sabine announced. Ahsoka past her, she was lucky that her thigh was no longer stinging with pain. She noticed the young jedi with a conflicted, yet cold expression. "Luke, there you are. Where were you?", Ahsoka asked. "Somewhere", Luke simply replied. "Hey Luke, just to let you know, to make up for all the rules we broke, we gotta rescue Thrawn as well. Your familiar with him, right?", Sabine asked the jedi as he walked past them. "Artoo will fill me in with his details", Luke said coldly. The two women watched in disarray as Luke simply entered the Jedi Finder with Artoo rolling behind him. "What's up with him?", Sabine asked Ahsoka. Ahsoka simply shrugged, she didn't know why Luke was now acting so cold, when a few hours ago he was the nice and sweet guy. "I don't know, but we should continue on our journey", Ahsoka replied to the mandalorian, "Where's our next stop?".
"Rakata Prime".
