*** Chapter sixteen***

When it was time for Padme to leave the office Queen, there was a large contingent of Nabooans that urged for a change in the Planets constitution so that Padme could continue serving after her two terms. She would go down in history as one of the best monarchs in over 3 millennia. Padme would be the chief opposition to the amendment as a student politics, Padme was worried about corruption, not in future monarchs but in herself as well.

The Life and Times of Amidala, the People's Queen, By: Softa Jiane, Oralist and Historian

As the Naboo sun rose up true, Luke pressed his hand into the ground, attempting to determine a direction to go. The goal would be to return to the house where Leia had left a speeder, assuming it was still there and not taken by Palak and Bridge, but really any direction that would bring them back to sentient life would work.

Luke shut his eyes, he could feel Leia, though she was easy to find through the force, not just because she was standing next to him, but because she was kind of like a beacon, though Luke did not know if that was because they were twins or if it was because Leia was also strong in the force or if it was just familiarity. Then Luke extended out, he could feel the trees and the vines and grass the created a mat over the soggy ground. Then, with his mind unfocused, he extended downwards. Under the grass there was an entire ecosystem of bugs and small fish and other amphibious creators, none of them bigger than his thumb nail. His reach through the force continued, but this time he asked to go out wards instead down. The grass and the roots continued kilometers, not one plant exactly, but a network that support each other, talked to each other in way and then, far away, something changed. There was stone that had been worked into a structure, but it was too far for Luke to get a good read on. It was the only thing he felt through the force and he could not push further.

"This way," Luke nodded grimly to Leia as he stood from his crouch.

"What'd you find?"

Luke shrugged and then said, "A house, I think, but it's far away, so I'm not really sure what we are going to find."

Leia nodded, "We have no other option, right."

Luke nodded, and they started their journey through the bouncy forest. Each step using twice as much the usual effort as their feet dropping nearly 15 centimeters beyond the level ground. The tree and brush were adorned by thrones that caught and ripped their clothing. The forest felt virgin and there were no cut paths to make traveling by foot easier.

"Did you see the blond one's tattoo?" Leia asked Luke.

"Yeah, she was the shooter the night we first arrived I think, but Palak has the same tattoo." Luke explained.

"You trusted her knowing she had the same tattoo as the shooter when we arrived the first night?" Leia was understandably confused, she knew Luke had a habit of being overly trusting, left over from living in farm community where trust was a necessity of life, but he was not stupid.

"Not at first, but I asked her about it. She explained that her great-grand mother had been a Queen on Naboo who championed labor rights and the symbol had become sort of the symbol of labor on the planet over the years."

"And you trusted her?" Leia was frustrated, they were in this whole situation because she had sent Luke out on an intelligence mission that he could not handle.

"Yes, she was telling the truth, it's a popular symbol of labor and there was nothing to connect her and the shooter besides for a common tattoo." Luke explained.

"Uhhh, ok, fine, I've seen it before, somewhere else and she was definitely not pro labor." Leia said thinking back to the Chief Officer of the House Madden. She then proceeded to tell Luke about her meeting with Madam Madden.

"Which means, what, the House of Madden wants us dead?" Luke questioned.

"Who knows, I mean, it's only a guess as this point if Palak and Bridge are working with the House of Madden, but it seems like a sound hypothesis."

They had been walking for less than an hour, but already each step on the ground gave Leia's calf muscles a workout she was not used to. In addition, the sleepless night was taking a toll after the long day the she had experienced back in Theeds. She paused for a moment to catch her breath and let her legs rest.

Luke turned around, he was a few paces ahead, he seemed to be able to be able to make the trek with little effort, especially considering just a few hours ago he was half dead and headed for full on anaphylaxis. "You okay?"

"I just need a break for a minute." Leia responded.

Luke turned back around, "Hey, I can show you somethings, with the force, it may make things easier." Luke was tentative. He had never had a conversation with Leia about studying the force, but they knew she had the same potential as Luke or at least close to the same. Regardless of last name, they were both genetically Skywalkers which meant they were equally as sensitive to the force.

"I'm not sure, but I guess I could give it a try." Leia's vice was shaky.

Luke nodded encouragingly and then walked to where Leia was standing. "Place your hands on this tree and close your eyes." Luke improvised, he was just barely a Jedi himself and to start teaching someone when he had yet to fully master the principles which he was teaching seemed inappropriate, but Luke continued, as far he was concerned, he was the last Jedi and he was the only one who would be able to pass along the use of the use of the Force. Ready or not, it was his responsibility to teach.

"Now," Luke adopted the same sort of soothing tone Ben had on the Falcon when he gave Luke his first instruction on the force. "Can you feel the tree. Not with your hands, but with the force."

Leia concentrated, first on the bark against her fingers and then, she could feel the smooth wood underneath. She let this sense continue down through the tree and the roots and then she thought Vader. Could she become that level evil, as leader? Could she become so corrupt that she destroyed the vision of government she had fought so hard for? She pulled away from the tree and closed the part of her that had been able to reach out through the Force.

"Leia, what happened." Luke questioned

"I couldn't do it." Leia lied

Luke looked her; he had felt her reach out to the force. "What's really wrong."

Leia sighed, if anyone would understand it would be Luke. "Do you ever worry that you'll turn into Vader?" She pressed her lips together, waiting for the response from Luke.

"I don't let fear dictate me life. Master Yoda, who I studied with used to say, 'Fear leads to Anger, Anger leads to hate, and hate leads to dark side'. Fearing turning into Vader is exactly what will turn you into Vader." Luke said, again sounding way beyond his years.

Leia looked him but was unable to find the right response. Luke seemed to figure out a way to be comfortable with force and Vader, but then again Luke had never been tortured by Vader for hours. Leia still had nightmares about that moment in time when Vader tortured her on the first Death Star. She would wake up in cold sweat, her breath ragged, and she could still feel the pain brought on by Vader's machine.

Luke returned Leia's stare, thinking again to the night on second death start, the night that still seemed to disturb his sleep from time to time. He should tell Leia, if only he could tell Leia maybe she'd understand, maybe she would be more comfortable with the Force. For the second on this trip, he had the perfect opportunity to tell Leia about the night Vader returned from the dark and reclaimed the light, but even thinking about that elicited the pain he felt with the Emperor almost killed him. No, Luke wasn't ready, not yet.

Luke finally broke the silence, he realized he understood Leia's fear but had yet to communicate the information that would cure it. "We should just get going, we'll take breaks."

Leia nodded, and they again continued their trek through the Lake Country. Periodically, they would stop, at first, it was so Leia could break, and Luke could reach out through the force and check that they were still on track to the little house that Luke could feel was getting progressively closer. Later, hours after the sun peaked and started descent to the other side of the planet, both them required breaks, the force only stretching so far to counter act the biological needs of Humans.

"How much further?" Leia asked, it was not complaint, more of need for information. The sun was getting lower in the sky and they would have to make a call as to if they were going to attempt to make camp and find food or if they would continue to where Luke felt there possibly would be help.

"Just a kilometer or two." Luke confirmed as he lifted his hand away from the ground.

They set off and just as the sun was shedding its last rays on the lake country, they approached a small stone cottage. There were lights in the window and a small well-kept garden outside the front the door. The signs were good that someone was home.