Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters. They are not mine. That's all I have to say. Reviews are good. Uninformed reviews are...uninformed. I looked back at chapter 2 and found that I have indeed used " and '. But if you didn't see them, that's okay. I don't mind. Like I said--reviews are great. And please bear in mind that I wrote this a while ago. It is not my best writing.
Jacen sat on Jaina's bed, covering his face with his hands. He had heard stories of Empire before, and he knew the horrible sensations the stories gave him. That had been the Empire.
But it made no sense. The Empire was gone. Uncle Luke had said so. How could they be back? Was that what Uncle Luke had been worried about?
And Jaina.
When Jacen had pulled through the mental blanket that had been dropped over him, Jaina was gone. When he drew his mind back to the disturbance, he thought he heard her scream, but only once. Was she dead? Had she been kidnapped? And what not both of them. Jacen almost wished that he had been taken with her, just so he'd know where she was. But what if she was dead? He couldn't put it past the Empire to kill a young girl just because she was a light Jedi trainee, let alone related to Luke Skywalker. But that brought him back to the Empire issue. Was the Empire still around?
What Jacen needed were some real answers. There was one place he could get them. He went to find Uncle Luke.
Jacen found his uncle lying unconscious on the floor of his office.
"Uncle Luke? Are you okay? Uncle Luke?"
Tionne entered the small chamber. She was a Jedi trained by Luke long ago, but had remained at the academy to help Luke and continue learning about the Force.
"Jacen, you're okay!"
"Yes, of course I am."
"There was a disturbance, and you and Jaina were in the center of it."
"Jaina's gone!"
"What!?" Tionne's gentle face was lined with fear and worry.
"Yeah," Jacen explained. "Something weird happened and Jaina disappeared. I came here to find Uncle Luke and he's unconscious."
"Master Skywalker!" Tionne called softly to Luke. "Please come back to us."
Luke didn't stir. Beeping came from the doorway. Artoo came in and hurried to his master's side.
"What is it, Artoo?" Tionne asked, even though Jacen knew she didn't understand the droid's language.
Artoo twittered out a message and shot out one of his arms towards Luke.
The arm emitted a bluish discharge of lightning. When it struck Luke, he moaned struggled to open his eyes.
"Uncle Luke?" Jacen peered at his uncle worriedly.
"Jaina?" his uncle asked.
"It's me, Jacen."
"No. Where is she?"
"Gone," Jacen said. "She's disappeared. I can't sense her anywhere."
Luke sat up quickly. Too quickly. He collapsed.
"Master Skywalker," Tionne said. "You must rest. I will help you to your chambers and Jacen can contact his parents."
"No." Jacen was surprised at the volume and force in Uncle Luke's voice. "I am okay." He sat up more slowly, and then stood. Jacen stood beside him to support Luke's lean frame.
A student raced into the room, and halted suddenly, taken aback by the scene.
"Master Skywalker?" His thin translucent limbs trembled with anxiety. "Are you all right?"
"I will be," Luke's voice was warm and soothing to the nervous trainee. "Is there anything I can do for you?"
"Master Skywalker, a man who says his name is Han is trying to contact you. He was quite forceful. He insists on talking directly to you and at once."
"Of course," Luke said, partially amused. The student reminded him of Threepio. "Don't be alarmed. He's my brother-in-law and he gets like this sometimes. It's okay. I'll go take care of it."
"Me too." Jacen looked up at Luke, his eyes pleading.
"Certainly." Luke smiled reassuringly at his nephew, knowing all the while that Jacen was far beyond the point of reassurance.
Han Solo's holograph was looking extremely angry when Luke and Jacen reached the communications room.
"What kind of idiot refuses to let me talk to you!? You too high and mighty for us now?"
"Han, calm down. I had asked not to be disturbed. I was meditating."
"Yeah sure, kid." His tone was sarcastic.
"What's wrong?" Luke asked.
"Leia says something happened with the Force. She says it was about the kids."
"Yeah," Luke said tiredly. "It was."
"Are they okay?"
"Well—"
"Don't play with me, kid. Are my children okay!?"
Jacen had been hiding behind Luke, but now he pushed out in front of him.
"Jaina's gone, Dad!"
"WHAT!?"
Luke broke in. "Han, I don't know the whole story, but the Emp—you and Leia come out here and we'll talk about it. We have to go get Jaina back and I don't know if this line is tapped."
"Who would tap this line?" Han looked furious with Luke.
"Come out here immediately, okay? We have to talk. It's an emergency."
Something in Luke's voice made Han stop. "Fine. We'll be out there as soon as we can."
Han abruptly cut off the transmission, and Luke leaned against the wall and shut his eyes.
"Uncle Luke?"
"I'm okay, Jacen. You should get some rest, though. You look like bantha fodder."
Jacen gave a weak smile. "Tell me if there's an update on Jaina, okay?"
"Sure." Jacen left and Luke stared after him. He had an amazing bond with Jaina. He wondered if he and Leia had grown up together…
No, he shouldn't think about the past. Be mindful of the past, but not at the expense of the present, Ben Kenobi had once told him. He opened his eyes, ready to deal with the present, with the past in mind.