2 Years later...

"Mommy!" Leia exclaimed when Padme and Anakin entered the living room where Mindy was in the process of setting up a movie for the twins to watch. "You look like a princess!"

Padme smiled, glancing down at herself. She had to admit (and Anakin had already told her between heated kisses), that she looked good. Really good. Tonight was the celebration event in honor of Ahsoka and William's return trip from Mars the month before. They had made the trip there and back within three months in Anakin's and Obi-Wan's newly designed faster ship. As a result, NASA was putting on a Gala event to honor their collective achievement, as well as Anakin's and Obi-Wan's involvement in making it possible for NASA to make such leaps and bounds in space exploration.

Because it was a formal event, Padme had wanted an outfit to complement Anakin's black suit with his black, gray, and white striped tie. She picked out a dress that reminded her of starlight: It was floor length, strapless and, according to her husband, hugged her curves in just the right places. The under layer was black, with a shimmering, soft gray fabric over it, embedded with glittering rhinestones which gave the appearance of diamonds in direct light. She had pulled her hair up into an elaborate bun with a jeweled hair clip that sparkled, accenting her updo, and diamond earrings dangled from her ears, a diamond bracelet in white gold adorned her left wrist, with the japor snippet hanging from a delicate silver chain around her neck (as usual). Now that the twins were five and didn't yank on everything they thought looked interesting (most of the time), Padme finally felt comfortable occasionally wearing dangling earrings.

Snapping back to reality, Padme opened her mouth to thank Leia, but Anakin interrupted. "Your mother looks like the queen she is," He said with an obvious hint of pride in his voice, as he put a gentle hand on the small of her back and leaned in to brush a kiss tenderly against her temple.

Luke, who was fiddling with his Lego starship he'd built, looked up at his father with a thoughtful frown. "Mommy is a queen?"

Anakin grinned. "She sure is. Don't you remember the stories I've told you?" Sure enough, Anakin was still telling and retelling the stories of their old galaxy, far, far away, and it enraptured both of their children nightly. They especially loved it when Anakin "pretended" they were in the story.

They still hated the part where "Anakin" turned into Darth Vader. Anakin only told that part of the story once, when the twins had turned three, and the twins still seemed to remember it in perfect detail even two years after it had happened. Maybe it was because of the exploded birthday cake, but they weren't exactly for sure.

"But that's just a story, Daddy." Luke reminded Anakin.

Padme and Anakin glanced at each other knowingly. "Maybe, maybe not." Anakin said, "But your mother will always be my queen." His words made Padme blush, and seeing that, Anakin's grin turned wolfish, and he cast her a wink, making her blush even more.

Turning back to their daughter, Padme told her, "Thank you, Leia." As she did so, Galen came in from the back after having taken Jedi outside.

"Why can't I go with you guys? Will and Peter get to go," Galen frowned, closing the French glass door behind him.

"Because," Anakin explained patiently for what seemed like the gazillionth time, as it was not the first time Galen had begged to go, "The invitation on the fridge specifically states it's for guests eighteen and older. How old are you?"

Galen scowled and rolled his eyes. "Fourteen."

"And, how old are Will and Peter?" Anakin gave his padawan a pointed look, his eyebrows arched.

"Eighteen, but I technically have been an adult before, so…"

Anakin held up a hand, cutting his padawan off. "Not tonight. Besides, Mindy needs your help watching Luke, Leia, and Ella."

Mindy, having just figured out the new state-of-the-art DVD player Anakin had installed, snorted. "Right. Like I need help."

Galen motioned to her. "See? She's got it covered."

"But she won't have it covered if something happens that requires your Force-abilities." Padme shot a glare at Mindy, as if daring her to challenge her in this. Mindy shrugged, but didn't argue.

"But nothing major has happened for years! Not since Grievous and the ballet," Galen pointed out, his jaw clenching with frustration. "I'm not a babysitter, I'm a Jedi!"

"Padawan." Anakin corrected instantly. "Look, we'll go out flying over the weekend, just you and I, okay? I really can't be breaking the rules on this one."

"NASA already puts up with a bunch of his other 'broken' rules," Padme playfully nudged her husband with a smile.

"What? It's not my fault that they didn't tell me that I couldn't take a day trip to the moon whenever I wanted." Anakin gave her an innocent look, to which his wife just smirked and rolled her eyes. Anakin may not have been keen to travel to Mars again given how long it took to get there (by their standards), but that didn't mean he didn't occasionally want to go up into space and just zoom around the Earth. Apparently, that had made other nations nervous, and he'd been politely 'asked' to stop his occasional independent spatial joyrides.

Galen, seeing that there was no way that he was going to win this one, sighed in defeat and flopped down on the couch. "Fine." He muttered, pulling out his phone to play a game.

"We'll be back before you know it." Anakin said, just as the doorbell rang. "That will be Obi-Wan and Satine with Ella." He turned, about to go to the door, but Leia had already beat him to it, crying "Ella!" happily as she went.

Padme turned to Mindy. "If anything goes wrong, don't hesitate to call me." Padme said—the other usual babysitters they used to watch the twins were off on vacation. It was the start of summer, and most people were taking advantage of the first few weeks to travel. Since Mindy was back in town after a particularly long trip to the Jedi Temple in Nepal to help Neeja document more new findings for the archives, she agreed to watch the kids for free.

"Nothing will go wrong." Mindy promised, "And, if it does, Galen and I will take care of it just fine. So, go. Shoo! Have fun."

Leia came running back in the room with three and a half-year-old Ella hot on her heels, both of the girls giggling. Though Luke had stopped hiding in his room whenever Ella came over, Padme still caught him sighing a little bit as he made room on the couch for the two excited girls.

Obi-Wan and Satine entered the kitchen hand-in-hand, Obi-Wan in a dark gray suit and Satine in a lovely light blue, A-line chiffon dress. "Quite the welcome we received at the door," Satine said, smiling and looking at Leia and Ella giggling as they climbed up on the couch.

"Leia heard me say 'Ella' and that was the end of that." Anakin replied with a grin at his daughter's excitement. "Are we ready to go then?"

"No, I thought I would go change out of this suit and use one of yours instead. Does this make me look fat? And I need to spend another hour on my hair. I think I need more mousse," Obi-Wan replied sarcastically, quirking an eyebrow and running a hand over his hair, as he playfully sucked in his flat gut and turned in profile to them.

Anakin rolled his eyes to the ceiling. "Yeah, go change. I think that yellow feathered suit is still in my closet, Mr. Clucky," he smirked, as Obi-Wan scowled. "But, we'll never get to the party at this rate, if you do. Ahsoka will have to celebrate all alone without us. How sad." Padme smirked, trying not to laugh and exchanged a knowing look with a clearly amused Satine, and they rolled their eyes at both of their husbands. Men.

"Go have fun." Mindy said, pressing play on the movie: Frozen. Of course. "Bring me back some champagne and hors d'oeuvres. Oh, and a single hot guy would be nice, too, if you can." She said this deadpan, but both Anakin and Padme knew she wasn't kidding.

Anakin grimaced as the first notes of the opening song began to play. "Yeah, sure, Mindy. Whatever. That's our cue to leave. Like, now," He said as he took his wife's hand and began heading for the door.

"Be good for Mindy and Galen, you two," Padme said, stopping and meeting her children's eyes with a stern look.

"Okay, Mommy," Luke replied, and Padme knew that he would do his best to listen to her. Leia on the other hand…

"Leia," Anakin warned in his 'general' voice, "Be good, Princess."

A sly grin spread across Leia's face, and she batted her doe like eyes at her father. "Okay, Daddy."

"We mean it," Padme said, recognizing the mischievous tone in Leia's voice. Sometimes Padme wondered if Leia purposefully did the opposite of what her parents asked just to amuse herself, knowing it would annoy them. Maybe if they told her to "be difficult" she would turn around and be a perfect angel.

Padme decided she would have to try that one day.

"Let's go." Anakin said, and Padme couldn't help but laugh as Anakin released her hand and looped her arm through his and practically dragged her out the garage door to his truck.

Tonight was their night. Although they would be surrounded by hundreds of important people, tonight they wouldn't worry about what messes their children were making, or if their children would randomly use their Force abilities in front of unsuspecting strangers.

Tonight, it was about them. They were thrilled at the freedom of it. Padme and Anakin meant to make the most of it, too.


Soft music played over the speakers of the grand ballroom when they walked in. They were given the VIP treatment when they arrived, walking up the red carpet as hundreds of camera flashes went off all around them. Padme's arm was linked through Anakin's, smiling politely as various politicians and celebrities approached them to congratulate her husband. There were quite a few—it felt like every time she and Anakin began to head towards their assigned table, they were interrupted...again.

Padme had expected this, however. Her husband had always drawn the attention of everyone around him, either because he was the Chosen One, a brilliant military mastermind, or, in this case, gifted with technological innovation skills beyond that of anyone else on this planet. He'd already been named Time Magazine's ' Person of the Year,' two years ago, and many leading experts around the globe had begun to declare Anakin Skywalker as being the 'smartest man in the world.' It was a title, just like the 'Hero With No Fear,' label from their old galaxy, that Anakin had just laughed at. To Anakin, he was just doing what he loved to do.

Anakin finished talking with Tom Cruise and Tom Hanks and his wife, before pulling Padme a little closer to his side as he made a bee-line for their assigned table, walking briskly between the other white-clothed tables. "What's this?" Padme laughed, "Are you attempting to avoid people?"

"You bet I am." Anakin grumbled under his breath, "We walked in an hour ago, and we have yet to make it to our table, Angel. I'm starving."

"You know, most people would swoon to meet almost everyone in this room," She teased, but as true as her statement was, Anakin had always hated parties. Well, most of them anyway.

"I'm not most people, Sweetheart." They managed to reach their circular table at the front of the ballroom, right in front of the stage that had been erected for the event. Obi-Wan and Satine had managed to avoid a little more of the spotlight (Padme suspected Obi-Wan had used his favorite Jedi-Mind trick on all the celebrities that had approached him), and were already comfortably seated and eating dinner. Ahsoka, William, and Peter were also sitting at the table, the boys looking a bit uncomfortable in their tux's. Ahsoka was rocking it in her deep red, knee-length, satin sleeveless dress and red strappy heels.

"Some party," Ahsoka commented as Anakin held his wife's chair for her before sitting down himself. "Did you see the President over there?" She nodded to a table on the far end that was surrounded by Secret Service agents. "I had no idea our trip was that important."

"For this world, it is." Obi-Wan replied, taking a sip of water. "Honestly, I'm surprised there aren't more foreign dignitaries here."

"Cool! I'm glad to be working for you two if we always have parties like this." Ahsoka grinned.

Anakin grimaced. "Then I'll have you go in my place."

"You don't like parties, Ma—uh, Mr. Skywalker?" William caught himself before calling Anakin "Master" in public. It would seem odd to most normal people if eighteen-year-old's openly called Anakin, Obi-Wan, or Ahsoka 'Master.'

"Fancy parties where you have to force yourself to be whatever image these people want you to be? No, I don't." Anakin replied, poking his fork into his chicken. "Perfect. The food is cold now."

"You don't like cold chicken, Sweetie?" Padme teased, nudging him with her foot beneath the table. A massive grin suddenly spread over his face, and she felt him begin to nudge her foot back.

"Oh, jeez," Ahsoka groaned with a roll of her eyes, "You two aren't playing footsie again, are you?"

"Of course not." Anakin said as he nudged Padme again, and though she tried not to, she couldn't help but giggle.

"They are." Satine calmly noted, taking a sip of her champagne. Both Will and Peter cast each other awkward looks while Ahsoka just shook her head.

"You two are so lovey-dovey it's sickening. You know that?"

"Just you wait till it's you, Snips. And, no, because our love is anything but that." Padme replied, taking a bite of her food. Sure enough, Anakin was right. It was cold. She wondered if she should ask a waiter to heat it up…

The lights suddenly dimmed, and an older man with graying hair and a thick mustache took to the stage. The chattering in the room died down as the guests turned their attention to the man going to the podium and applauded. Padme recognized him as Charles Bolden, the Director of NASA, from the various times he had approached her husband over the last few years about taking an actual job for NASA, rather than just contracting with them. Anakin was never satisfied with the terms he presented, and had yet to accept any of the offers.

"Welcome to tonight's celebration of the recent expansion of space exploration. Tonight we honor the two young astronauts who completed the shortest ever journey to Mars and back, in only three months, as well as the man whose brilliant engineering made it all possible." Charles easily found Anakin with his gaze and smiled tightly. "Perhaps soon we can actually convince him to officially join our team at NASA."

There was a bit of laughter—it was no secret that NASA was trying hard to get Anakin on board. There had been plenty of articles published in magazines, journals, and newspapers that talked about it. Anakin smiled politely and raised his champagne glass slightly in a mock-salute as he leaned in and whispered in Padme's ear, "Remember when that same man told me that my ship was doomed to fail? Now, I'm a brilliant engineer."

Padme couldn't help but smile at the irony.

"We'll first hear from Ahsoka and William who will detail their observations of their trip, and then we will hear from Anakin regarding a future innovation," Wait. What? Padme glanced over at her husband. He hadn't said anything about announcing anything new. Anakin looked sideways at his wife and smiled slyly. "And, following that Ben will come up to answer any questions."

As the room applauded, Padme leaned over. "What exactly are you announcing, Ani?" She asked in a low voice so as not to be overheard by the other tables.

Anakin just grinned. "It's a surprise." He replied, watching as Ahsoka and Will took to the stage, Artoo rolling out from behind the heavy royal blue curtain.

"I thought Artoo was at the shop with Threepio." Padme frowned. Whatever Anakin had planned, it must have been top secret. Any top secret files he dealt with, he always had them stored in Artoo instead of the company's main frame.

"They were—Threepio still is. Artoo was needed for my presentation and Ahsoka's, so I brought him over and set him up behind the stage early this afternoon so he'd be ready." Sure enough, as Ahsoka began to speak, Artoo began to project clear, 3D images from their trip above the crowd's heads, earning quite a few murmurs of amazement. Other droids had been equipped with that technology, but Anakin had reserved the very best for Artoo alone.

Ahsoka and Will took turns describing their experiences for a good half hour, both of them frequently using unfamiliar words that were specific to the mechanics of the ship they'd flown. Padme would always glance questioningly at Anakin, and he would lean into her ear and explain under his breath without missing a beat. By the end of the speech, Padme thanked the stars that she was happy with her law firm. Though she was a very skilled pilot herself, mechanics had never been her expertise.

Finally, Ahsoka declared that she would now be working for Anakin's and Obi-Wan's company full time, having graduated from Stanford with her own degree in Mechanical Engineering, and Will followed up by explaining that he would work there part time while he looked for a college in the States. The announcement was followed by applause, and Ahsoka and Will left the stage and took their seats.

"Phew," Ahsoka muttered, "I hate speaking in front of huge crowds. Maybe I don't want to go to future parties like this after all."

Anakin stood, but not before planting a kiss on Padme's cheek and whispering "Wish me luck," and headed up on stage to thunderous applause. Artoo whistled happily, jostling from one leg to the other, but it was lost in the sound of the crowd's applause. Anakin patted the droid's head affectionately before taking to the podium.

Padme marveled. It was like she was watching a different person than the man she lived with and loved. When Anakin stood up there and began to speak, the whole room quieted, as if entranced by his every word. He reminded Padme of, well, a general giving an uplifting speech to a troop of soldiers. It wasn't as eloquent as a politician's speech, but he had certainly had more than enough experience leading men to draw upon when asked to speak in front of a room of very important people.

He acted as if he was the one leading everyone else in that room, despite the fact that the president was there, the director of NASA, the directors of Homeland Security and the FBI and CIA, and other leaders of Congress, plus various Silicon Valley organizations as well. Anakin was in total command.

Padme could feel a fierce sense of pride welling up in her chest. Anakin had always said that he enjoyed watching her speak in the Galactic Senate, even though he didn't care much for politics. Perhaps, she thought, as he spoke about making more leaps and bounds into space exploration in the coming years, this was what he felt when he watched her deliver speeches or, in this life, take command of a courtroom audience.

As he finished detailing their hopes for a brighter future in space exploration, he paused to allow the applause to die down, before glancing at his wife, a small hint of a smile playing on his lips. "But, the bright future doesn't just start and end in space—it extends to all the people of Earth as well." He motioned to Artoo, who projected…

A speeder.

"We are still working on the logistics with local and federal governments across the planet, but the United States, Great Britain, and Australia have already agreed to help fund and implement this exciting new form of transportation. No longer will we be limited to cars or paying for expensive airfare only to sit in cramped and crowded, ecologically in-efficient airplanes." Artoo displayed a few other speeder models.

"Within the next five years, we will strive to create, and make available, personal aircraft that will not only get us to our destinations faster, but also be cleaner for our environment, and more cost-effective, in manufacturing and for consumers in purchase price and maintenance costs."

Artoo projected the numbers, and Anakin briefly ran through them. As he did so, Padme stared at him in awe. What he was suggesting was simple enough for their old galaxy. But, she had no doubt that Anakin could pull it off on this world. But, to this world, this was something that only existed in Sci-Fi, in fantasies about the far distant future. Here Anakin was, giving Earth the actual ability to now make that fantasy a reality. Her husband was a genius. Sheer genius.

"Now, obviously, we can't just hand people a craft and say 'go fly it.' That would cause chaos. However, we have developed…" Suddenly, Anakin went rigid, at the same instant Ahsoka, Will, Peter, and Obi-Wan went rigid in their seats. Padme watched the slight widening of Anakin's eyes, the subtle shift of his hand towards his belt where she knew, concealed underneath his coat, was his lightsaber.

Padme's heart sank, every nerve in her body coming alive, as she scanned the seemingly inconspicuous ballroom.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

"Which," Anakin continued, his voice just barely strained. She was sure that only those who really knew him would have caught that shift in his voice. "My partner, Ben Kenobi, will now disclose to you." He motioned a hand to Obi-Wan amid a cautious applause. Artoo swiveled his dome towards Anakin—obviously, Artoo had caught on that something was wrong, knowing his master well.

Obi-Wan stood, a smile plastered on his face, but just before he walked on stage, he turned just enough to catch Peter's eye. "Go with them," Was all he said, and he took the stage, Anakin leaving it.

"What's wrong?" Padme asked, trying to keep her voice low. There wasn't any need to make the other guests panic if they could avoid it. Ahsoka opened her mouth to respond, but Anakin was already there at her side.

"We have to leave. Right now!" His voice was low, but urgent. Padme was already standing, looking up into her husband's face…and almost froze. What she saw in his eyes….

Fear.

When was the last time she had seen that look in his eyes? Perhaps when she was giving birth to the twins, but even then, it wasn't like this. As Anakin took her hand and began to lead her from the ballroom, drawing the stares of other guests as they passed, Ahsoka and the boys hot on their heels, Padme whispered, "Ani…? What's going on?" He didn't turn around when he answered, but the impact hit her like being smashed by a speeding train, and she too felt more fear than she had ever felt in her life.

"The twins are in danger."


"No more girl movies!" Luke insisted with a groan, as the credits to Frozen rolled across the screen. "I want Treasure Planet!"

Leia and Ella groaned. "No, I don't like that movie!" Leia insisted, "Let's watch Tangled!"

"No!" Luke argued back, a scowl on his face.

Galen sighed and rubbed his temples. As much as he liked the twins, he didn't particularly enjoy babysitting. He was a Jedi…or he had been and soon would be again. Babysitting was not what Jedi's did.

Padawans, however…

"Leia, you already got to watch your movie. Luke was nice about watching your movie, now be nice about watching his movie." Mindy said, pulling out the Treasure Planet DVD to switch out. It was Luke's favorite movie—Galen had noticed that Luke loved anything that had to do with space or electronics or mechanics. His temperament might have been his mother's, but he was most certainly his father's child in all other aspects. It was almost unnerving for Galen at times.

Leia pouted, getting up off the couch. "I'm going to go play in my room." She announced. "Let's go, Ella." Ella nodded and scooted off of the couch as well, following her little friend out. Galen just shook his head and went back to playing yet another game of Fruit Ninja, using his Force-skills to keep up with slicing the ever quickening fruit across the phone's screen. He had met Leia once in their old galaxy—back when she was Princess Leia Organa of Alderaan. Had he known then that she was really the daughter of his Master, Darth Vader, he wondered what he would have done. This Leia seemed to have no memories of her past life, though Luke sometimes asked questions that made Galen wonder if he did.

It had been a long while, though, since he had viewed Anakin Skywalker as Darth Vader. They were the same person, but almost completely different people at the same time.

As the movie started, Mindy sitting down next to Luke to keep the now lonely boy company, Galen felt a sudden slight tingle on the back of his neck. He paused, and subsequently missed the fruit, causing a "Game Over" screen to pop up. Galen didn't care though. He looked up, frowning, scanning the room.

"Hey," He said, grabbing Mindy's attention. He always viewed Mindy as being a little off, so he avoided her whenever he could, but whenever she was with the twins, she was only kind and gentle with them, a completely different person. "I'm going to make a sweep of the house real quick. I think I sense something..."

Mindy shrugged. "You don't need my permission." She turned back to the TV.

Yeah. If only Master Skywalker saw it that way. He stood, reaching out with the Force, his senses on high alert as he scanned for which way the danger was coming from. His eyes stopped on the back door where Jedi was laying down on the back porch, completely calm. If danger was out there, wouldn't Jedi have reacted? Galen wondered, but nonetheless, he opened the glass door and stepped outside.

No sooner had Galen closed the door, Jedi tensed, his head lifting, ears perked as he stared out into the darkness of the evening. Galen's hand went to his lightsaber, the Force practically screaming danger at him. "What is it boy?" his voice was barely above a whisper. Jedi didn't look back, but a moment later was on his feet, whining, his tail between his legs.

He didn't know what was wrong, but something was certainly not right. He cursed under his breath, turning around to open the door to warn Mindy to get the children to safety…

And a massive weight slammed into his back, sending him crashing through the window.

He hit the living room floor hard, the breath leaving his body ina whoosh, glass shards digging into his skin. Distantly, he could hear Mindy scream and Luke cry out in confusion and fear, while Jedi barked wildly in alarm. Galen opened his eyes to try to orient himself and figure out what was still pressing into his back, but only saw spots of color in his vision. He gasped for air to try to clear it, but there was too much pressure on his chest to clear it enough.

To make matters worse, he heard the tell-tale sound of lightsabers igniting, and felt the heat of it bearing down on his neck.

There was another cry from Luke, though it sounded further away, but that was all it took for Galen to muster what strength he had in the Force. Even though he was disoriented and beginning to feel the pain of the glass shards impaling his skin and what was likely multiple cracked ribs, Master Skywalker's children and Master Kenobi's daughter were in danger. They were entrusted to him to keep safe. This was what he had trained for.

And that is what he would do.

So, with a massive push through the Force, Galen knocked the intruder back off of him and back through the shattered glass door. He gasped for air, forcing himself to his feet, his hand pulling his own lightsaber out and igniting it, as he pivoted to face the attacker.

He came face to face with Grievous, two lightsabers in his metallic hands, as he launched himself at Galen with full fury, a wordless war cry escaping that frightening mask. Instinctively, partly through Master Skywalker's training and partly through his previous training under Darth Vader, Galen immersed himself into the Force, ignoring the pain he was in, and brought his blade up to counter.

He had fought Grievous before, a few years ago at the ballet, but that had been at his Master's side. Now, he faced Grievous' attacks full force and alone, and being injured and only fourteen, it was hard to keep up. But, he managed to do so, lightsabers whirling as they fought in the small enclosed space of the living room, tearing it up as they did so.

Each hit Grievous levied against Galen's lightsaber was hard, with his weight pressed against the blades. Every once in awhile, he would try to sneak in a stab of the second lightsaber beneath Galen's defenses, but Galen easily used the Force to maneuver himself away.

If Mindy had called for help like she was supposed to, Galen thought as he blocked another parry, he could hold out until help arrived. Force, let it arrive!

He didn't account for the fact that Grievous actually had four arms, not just the two that he was using to wield the lightsabers. In a split second, one of the arms split, and before Galen could react in time, slammed into his side, sending him flying into the flat screen TV, knocking him and the TV to the small space between the entertainment center and the wall, the TV cracking clean in two beneath his weight.

Pain shot through Galen's body. Something was definitely broken. Each breath felt like he was sucking in glass, his vision swam, and he could taste blood in his mouth. He struggled to rise, but the TV beneath him started to splinter from the shifting of his weight, wedging him further down into the small space between the entertainment center and the wall.

A shadow crossed his vision, and he looked up to find Grievous standing over him, coughing out a bitter laugh that sent chills up Galen's spine. "It's over, Padawan. You have failed." He lifted a lightsaber, ready for the killing blow, and Galen knew he was done for. He was trapped. His lightsaber had fallen from his hand when he'd been sent careening into the TV.

This was how he met his end.

Suddenly, one of Leia's Barbie dolls went soaring through the air like a bullet, hitting Grievous on the side of the head, making the cyborg pause. Grievous looked down at the Barbie that had hit him. "What?" He snarled, turning in the direction the object had been thrown from. Galen followed his gaze, and his blood turned to ice.

Mindy stood there, a large butcher block knife in her hand, shaking in fear as she glared at Grievous in grim determination. "Leave. Now." She ordered, her voice firm but with an ever so slight wobble in it. Even from here, Galen could feel her fear through the Force, but he felt her resolve as well. She was giving Galen a chance, and if Galen didn't move fast enough, she would end up getting herself killed.

The distraction worked. Too well.

Grievous let out a breath of disbelief, as he turned his body from Galen and took a step towards her. Mindy didn't back up, though her eyes followed his movement, and she brought the useless knife up further as if that would protect her.

"Do you know who I am?" Grievous grumbled.

"No," Mindy admitted, "And, I really don't care, Metal Man. Leave this house. Now."

Another bitter laugh and another step towards her. Galen was using all of his strength to get out of the space. "Foolish woman. A brave woman, but foolish nonetheless." Another step. Galen was out, searching frantically through the torn up living room for his lightsaber.

"I said, get out." He was close to her now, towering over her. Mindy was by no means short, but Grievous made her look tiny and frail and…Galen found his lightsaber, tossed in the corner of the room, and used the Force to call it into his hand. He ignited it, whirling…

"It's a shame you got yourself involved." Grievous said, just before he plunged a lightsaber through Mindy's stomach.


I was going to put this whole sequence into one chapter, but it got super long and since I'm on vacation, it would have been an even longer wait for you guys for an update. So, I'll update this one before I update my other one cuz I know this is a cliffie.

Review!

Love,

Sarah