I appreciate how much some of you have enjoyed this story so far. Allow me to pick it up where the cliffhanger left off.

Oh, in case anyone was wondering, I did age up the members of the Loud family. Since I made Escobarians live so much longer than humans, here are their approximate ages in Common Years (the standard time unit observed by the galaxy as a whole, no matter how fast or slow time passes on individual planets):

Lynn Sr. - 200
Rita - 200
Lori - 100
Leni - 90
Luna - 80
Luan - 70
Lynn Jr. - 60
Lincoln - 35
Lucy - 25
Lana & Lola - 20
Lisa - 15
Lily - 7

Remember, Escobarians age like humans until the end of puberty, when the aging process slows significantly. The long lifespan would allow for nearly unlimited reproductive opportunities.

Chapter 6

"Lincoln...my son..." Rita whispered while gently caressing Lincoln's face. Lincoln himself, as well as everyone else in the room, was struck dumb by the revelation. Rita turned her attention to Meli and Stella. "We never told you before because we didn't want to reveal too much information to potential spies, but our family name is Loud," she explained. "I should've guessed sooner because Lincoln is the spitting image of my father, but he is our son." She turned to her daughters. "He's not just a Jedi, he's also your brother. I expect you to treat him like family from now on, or I'll tan your hides like eel-hound leather!" she threatened.

"Lincoln? Are you okay?" Stella asked her statue-still friend. Lincoln then cracked a wide smile.

"Most Jedi go their whole lives without ever meeting their biological families. If the Force wills that I be reunited with mine, then so be it!" he said.

...

The next several days were spent helping the Loud family around their rice farm, including tending to what little livestock they possessed. While Meli and Lily gathered eggs from a small flock of winged reptiles, Stella used her smithing skills to repair broken harvesting tools.

One night, Lily stumbled upon one of Lincoln and Meli's training sessions. In trying to imitate her new friend, Lily surprised everyone (including herself) by actually succeeding in making a small stone float a few inches above the floor.

"Force be reckoned with...we have not one, but two members of our family that are Force-sensitive!" exclaimed Lisa.

"Yay! I can be a Jedi, too!" Lily cried with enthusiasm.

"Not so fast, little lady. That decision belongs to your brother," Rita reminded her. Lincoln gulped when he found all eyes suddenly trained on him.

"This is certainly unexpected. I need time to think about this," he said.

And think about it he did, for three days and nights. There was much to consider. On the one hand, a Jedi having more than one Padawan at any one time was considered very unorthodox. On the other hand, times like these meant that orthodoxy was now obsolete. On the other hand, having two Padawans to train and look after would make hiding more difficult in the long run. When the morning of the fourth day came, he finally came to a decision.

But before Lincoln could announce his decision at the breakfast table, there came a fist pounding on the door of the Louds' humble abode. Standing in the entrance were three muscular male Zabraks, all of whom were covered from their horned heads to their leather-shod feet in jagged black tattoos. This small band of the Nightbrothers of Dathomir had apparently visited before, as evidenced by some of the Loud sisters' hands hovering near their holstered blaster pistols.

"The payment is due, Lynnard," the apparent leader said. He was bare-chested, and a large spiked mace hung at his side.

"You took almost all of the free money I have, Jak. I haven't quite had time to gather more. Just give me a few days to harvest my rice and take it to market," Lynn Sr. pleaded.

"What's going on here?" Lincoln whispered to his mother while the exchange was happening.

"Jak Starr and his Nightbrothers have been bullying the entire village into giving them money in exchange for 'protection from thieves.' We're always the first house that they visit," Rita whispered back. Lincoln frowned and stood up to mediate the argument that was becoming increasingly heated.

"Hello there. Jak Starr, was it? I believe there's been some sort of misunderstanding," Lincoln said, tapping into the Force to empower his words. "You see, there is no need to collect payment. The entire village has already paid."

"There is no need to collect payment. The entire village has already paid," all three Nightbrothers echoed in unison, their eyes turning glassy.

"You will go about your own business, and leave us to our own business."

"We will go about our own business, and leave you to your own business." The Nightbrothers turned and walked away, and Lynn Sr. closed the door.

"How did you do that?" Lily asked, her eyes wide with wonder.

"There is more to the Force than telekinesis. You can also exert your will over those with a weaker mind than your own," Lincoln responded. "Most refer to this skill as the Jedi Mind Trick, but I like to call it Force Compulsion." Lincoln rubbed his temples, having developed a slight headache. Taking control of three minds at once was taxing, even for someone of his prowess. "Anyway, what I was going to say before those ruffians came to the door was that I've made up my mind about taking on Lily. It might be breaking more than a few Jedi traditions, but I'm willing to take on a second apprentice."

...

Since they were practically stranded on Escobar anyway, Stella made the decision to gut the ship and reconfigure it into a hut for her, Lincoln, and Meli to live in. This endeavor took nearly a month to complete, but when all was said and done, they were technically the Louds' next-door neighbors. Stella soon set up her smithy and peddled her skills to the rest of the village. While none of the inhabitants were inherently hostile, there was one crotchety three-hundred-fifty-year-old man named Bud Grouse that kept giving Lincoln and his two Padawans suspicious looks.

Some of the female villagers that Lincoln came to know personally seemed to be interested in him romantically, such as the younger sister of Lori's fiancé. Bobby Santiago was a well-meaning but fairly dim-witted man, and Lincoln enjoyed his company. Ronnie Anne, however, was the exact opposite, brash and headstrong. If the need arose, she would be quite formidable on the battlefield. In some ways more noticeable than others, the villagers were all suffering from the Nightbrothers' extortion, which was a problem Lincoln would inevitably have to face.