Hi again!

Wow, Fred say's this is it. The end came kinda suddenly, but all the issues are resolved so the most you might get would be a couple of missing moments. I want you all to know, I've really enjoyed this story. To those of you who enjoyed it enough to tell me...

SeanWH: I'm glad you've been taking time out to read this. Sorry about the Cliffie, but Fre told me to. This is the end, so no more cliffhangers, I promise.

MistiWhitesun: I have really enjoyed chatting with you here, I hope you get your e-mail fixed soon! I have always had the opposite problem, my teachers always said I was too wordy. I spen one year on the school newspaper in high school but I wasn't allowed to stay. I had a problem with deadlines and my articles were always way too long!

I have started on "I no longer have a name" It is a bit confusing at first, but that usually makes the best kind of story. I promise to review and tell you what I think.

I am apparently not getting rid of Fred, he is now coaching me on 'Barok's Story' (that is the working title) I have no Idea what is going to happen there, I only have about two thousand words written so far.

Anyway, thanks for your help and all your wonderful reviews. You actually weren't far off in your suggestion about her illness being related to Leia's first use of the Force. We must think alike. Anyway, I hope you like this, it's really the end this time.

A/N: Okay folks, this is the end. Fred told me to stop here and he's the boss. This chapter is kinda short and it moves pretty fast, just a warning.

I would really appreciate it if you would tell me your final thoughts. Even if you haven't reviewed this story before, let me know what you liked, what you didn't like, what parts you thought I should have done more with and what parts you thought I should have left out. I will respond by E-mail to anyone who gives me theirs, everyone else will just have to assume I got your review.

Fred has currently got me working on 'Barok's Story'. I don't know when it might be posted but it is the story of the Force sensitive junk-yard owner seen in Chapter 4 of this story. Keep watching for it.

Thank's for putting up with me. Now, here's...

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"Isn't Anyone Going to Say Anything?"

Chapter 6

When Han finally called over the intercom that they were approaching the station, Beru couldn't have been more relieved. For the last two hours she had watched her nephew, the boy she'd raised his entire life, fall to pieces as he watched his sister slowly deteriorate. The boy, all grown up now, fumbled with the straps on the bed; picked up the slender woman and carried her, like a baby, to the boarding ramp. She wrapped her arms around his neck and held on, but never stopped chattering at him.

Three doctors were waiting at the bottom of the ramp with a hover bed. One was a young human woman, one a mon Calmari, and the third was an aging human male. None bothered with introductions. Luke laid the senator down and tried to untangle himself from her arms. When he finally released all contact with her, she cried out and tried to stand up, only succeeding in nearly dumping herself on the floor. Luke took her hand again and she calmed instantly. He walked beside the bed as the doctors pushed it down the hallway to an examining room.

He was stopped at the doorway. "You can't come in here, sir. Only family are allowed past this point."

Luke started to protest that he was family and stopped himself just in time. "I'm the closest thing she has. All her family is dead." He said desperately.

The elderly doctor who had helped them bring her in stood behind the nurse who was still blocking the doorway. He said kindly, "I understand, however, this is policy. We can't have the liability. I promise, as soon as we know something, I'll tell you..."

Owen heard the princess, his niece, screaming in the background for Luke to help her and remembered an ancient policy, one he thought the doctor might just be old enough to remember. The man seemed to want to help, if his hands were truly tied, this would give him a way out. Owen debated for a few moments while Luke tried to come up with an argument. Finally, the old farmer made a decision. "He's a Jedi, you have to let him in."

The doctor looked at Owen in surprise. He looked to the other members of the group, who all nodded in confirmation. He smiled, "Well, in that case..." He moved the young nurse from the doorway bodily and waved the Jedi inside. The princess quieted as soon as he was near.

The old doctor disappeared inside the room and closed the door behind himself, leaving the rest of the group standing in the hallway. The young nurse said, "There is a waiting room right through here, you will be notified if anything changes."

In the waiting room, Han turned to Owen in surprise. "Why did the doctor let the kid in?"

Owen looked at him grimly. "You're too young to remember the Republic, son. Thank the stars that doctor isn't. Years ago, when the Jedi protected the galaxy, all the medicenters and hospitals made a policy that any Jedi was to be treated equal to a doctor."

"Why?"

Owen snorted at him. "You really are young, aren't you? The Jedi used to be great healers. That was before the war, of course. It was a gamble, Palpatine made even being a Jedi illegal, but I was hoping the medicenter wouldn't have bothered to cancel the policy. Looks like I was right." The old farmer plopped into a hard plastic chair and his eyes.

Han narrowed his eyes at the man. "This whole Jedi thing isn't any easier on you than it is on him." It wasn't a question.

Beru sat next to her husband and laid a hand on his arm. Owen didn't look up. "No, it isn't."

"Why is this so hard on everyone? So the kid decided to be a Jedi, so what?" Han was tired of mincing words. Not mentioning what Han had come to think of as 'the Jedi issue' was like no one mentioning the rancor standing in the middle of the common room. Everyone knew it was there, and everyone was terrified of it, but no one wanted to talk about it. "Surely this isn't still about Anakin, or Vader or what ever you want to call him?"

Owen cringed and Beru lowered her eyes to the floor.

Han continued. "Do you have any idea what you're doing to the kid? You're driving him crazy, that's what you're doing. Did you know he didn't even write you a letter for four years because he thought you'd be upset with him?"

The old smuggler started pacing the small room as he spoke. He wasn't that upset about this particular issue, but the stress of the last few hours was hanging on him and he couldn't help but vent. "You people ought to be ashamed of yourselves."

"We are." Owen's admission stopped Han in his tracks. "Well, I am. Luke's a good kid, he always has been. All I ever wanted to do was protect him. When Obi Wan brought him to us, I almost sen them both away. Beru took the boy from Obi Wan and handed him to me and do you know that boy just smiled at me. Imagine, two day's old and he smiled at me and held on to my hand.

"You have to understand, I never wanted anything to happen to him. Luke is special, he always had been. He never cried, even as a baby. He was always so happy. He would do anything to help someone who needed it. He was always so naive, I guess we encouraged that though..."

The farmer trailed off, but Beru urged him on. "Don't stop, dear. You need to say this as much as he needs to understand."

Owen looked at her and then at Han, who had taken a seat near the door where he could see if someone was coming. "Anakin was kinda like that. Not exactly, but a little. We, I, was scared. None of us wanted what happened to Anakin to happen to Luke. We should have known better, I should have known better. Luke is nothing like Anakin, he never was. I guess, we got started 'protecting' him and it just became a habit. At first, we worried about Vader finding him, than we worried he'd end up like Anakin, then we were ashamed of ourselves for believing that his perfect child could ever do that, than we were just so in the habit of hiding this, that it became nearly impossible to change.

"Now, it's like a rancor in the common room, and I don't know how to bring the topic up. I know it is hurting Luke, but I can't help it."

Han started at he comparison Owen had used. He decided it could wait and turned the new information around in his head. He wasn't sure where this put him, but he offered the best answer he could to the old farmer. "I understand."

Leia was lost. She wasn't sure when this fog had settled in around her, but now it was so thick she couldn't see or hear anything around her. The universe was whiteness and silence. Except for when the bad man came. She could hear him walking past, he was looking for her. The fog was keeping him from finding her as much as it was keeping her from finding her way home.

Tiny, five-year-old, Leia heard him again and whimpered. Then, she heard Luke's voice. "Luke, Luke help me! He's coming Luke, help me." She ran toward the sound of her brothers voice, knowing he would keep her safe. She couldn't see him in the fog, but she found his large, warm, hand and held on to it. He told her the bad man was gone now. She believed him but she knew the bad man would be back, he always came back.

The princess tried to find someplace to hide, not letting go of her brothers hand. She told Luke stories, hoping that the bad man would hear and know she had help now, that she wasn't alone anymore.

If the bad man knew she wasn't alone he might go away for good. Suddenly, Luke let go. Leia's fear made the fog deepen; now it was hard to even breathe. For just a moment she stood quietly, searching the space around her with her small hands and trying to find him again. Then she heard the bad man coming, heard his heavy footsteps, and she cried out to Luke, who found her hand again. She heard the bad man go away, but he knew where she was now and he would find her again, she had to hide.

Leia tried to run, but Luke held her in place, not letting her run. "He'll get me Luke! We have to hide. Help me Luke!" He didn't answer and she sobbed at him and pulled on his hand with all her strength. "Help me Luke!"

"Sir, you're going to have to step away from her if you want us to help her." One of the nurses said.

"If I let go she'll start screaming and she might hurt herself. Do you want that to happen?"

The nurse shook her head and Luke said, "Good, then let me stay, I won't be in your way, I just need to hold her hand."

"Leave him alone." One of the doctors said, and the nurse went away. "What do you sense, son?"

"She's trying to hide. She thinks someone is trying to find her so she keeps running away from him. She's got some kind of fog around her, it is some kind of defense, I think she did it wrong though."

"What do you mean?" The old doctor asked him. He had worked with Jedi before and, though it had been a while, it was coming back to him.

"I think she's lost in the memory of something that happened when she was very small. A long time ago she was attacked by someone through the Force and she raised this fog to protect herself. When she thought she was being attacked again, she did it again, only this time she got stuck in the fog too and she can't figure out how to get free."

The doctor nodded, it made sense based on what he knew of that sort of thing. "Do you know what caused the hallucination in the first place?"

The Jedi shook his head, still holding tight to the princesses hand. She had fallen silent after they had entered the exam room and aside from the occasional whimper, wasn't saying a word. "She was fine four hours ago. She flew an old T-16, ate dinner, and answered some messages. Then she had some kind of emotional break down and has been getting worse ever since."

The doctor turned to one of his colleagues. While he'd been talking to the Jedi, the other doctors and nurses had been doing some basic tests. "What do you think? Viral?"

"Could be." The younger doctor said. "We haven't found anything obvious. She might have one of the older versions of that Para12 virus. We know it isn't an injury, and it isn't a toxin. That leaves viral, bacterial, or psychological."

"Start with viral. She's an important person, it could be an assassination attempt. Force help us if it's psychological."

Leia was curled up in a ball on the floor. She had one hand in the air, holding on to her brother. Rocking back and forth, she cried and whimpered. She wasn't ready to let go of Luke, but she didn't want to stay in one place very long because the bad man would find her.

The hoarse voice that was pleading with the Jedi to help her run would have made the princess cringe under other circumstances. Right now, she was too frightened to care. "Please help me, Luke. I have to go. He's coming Luke, he'll find me and no one can stop him. Help me hide from him, Luke. Don't let him get me"

The hand she was holding was warm and strong and she was now debating letting go of it. She was that desperately afraid. She had to run and hide and if her brother wouldn't help her, she would have to let go and hope she could do it on her own.

Just as Leia was loosening her grasp, Luke knelt down next to her, suddenly visible through the fog. He wrapped his arms around Leia's child-sized frame. "Don't let go, Leia. Hold on, we'll stop him together."

Leia stood and held on to her brother, her savior. She clutched him and felt warmed by his strength. "Don't leave me Luke. He'll get me if you leave me, I know he will. Help me, Luke, I'm scared." There were tears streaming down her face.

"Be strong, Leia. He can't hurt either of us if we're together."

The older doctor, the one who had allowed Luke into the exam room, joined Han, Owen, and Beru in the waiting room after three hours.

"How is she? What's wrong?"

The doctor cleared his throat and motioned to the chairs. "Sit down. I have good news and bad news." He took one of the chairs himself. "The good news is we know what's making her sick and we can treat it. The Princess has picked up a virus that specifically attacks the memory centers of the brain. This virus, it doesn't have a name, just a classification number, lays dormant until an intense surge of adrenaline jump starts it. Then it goes to work. Symptoms start with intense mood swings, then progress slowly into full blown hallucinations and eventually into loss of motor control and psychological regression.

"Under ordinary circumstances, the virus takes more than a week to reach the point the Princess is at now. It seems that this particular strain grows faster with large doses of adrenaline. This wouldn't be a problem, but according to Jedi Skywalker the Princess has been under a lot of emotional stress lately. That in itself would have caused extreme acceleration of the virus." The doctor paused here as if he was trying to gather his thoughts.

"With this acceleration of the virus's progression, hallucinations started within hours instead of days. Now this is the part I'm not sure I can help with. The Princess is apparently force sensitive. It seems the first hallucination she experienced was a reenactment of some kind of attack she experienced as a child. In real life she hid from her attacker and he eventually went away, but now she's stuck in some kind of memory loop that is being complicated by her Force skills."

Leia's friends had been hanging on the doctors every word. Now that he'd stopped, they had the opportunity to ask questions. Beru spoke first. "What can we do?"

"Not much I'm afraid. We're treating the virus and physically she should recover completely, however, it will be up to her to heal psychologically."

"Can we see her?" Han asked.

The doctor shrugged. "I should be able to arrange it. Right now, Jedi Skywalker is trying to help her out of the memory she's stuck in. They both stopped responding about an hour ago. I'm afraid I don't have much training in Jedi healing. I did, however, spend most of my training years patching up soldiers during the clone wars. I remember treating a few Jedi and for the most part they seemed to get better on their own if you gave them some time."

"Is there anyone we can ask for help?" Beru asked.

He shook his head sadly. "I'm afraid the only one left who might be able to help her already is."

Han chuckled wryly, earning a strange look from Beru. "Yeah, if anyone can do the impossible, Luke can. Sometimes I wonder if there is anything the kid can't do"

"Don't give in to your fear, Leia. You are stronger than him. If you stand up to him, you can win!" Luke told her, holding her at arms length so he could look her in the eye.

The fog was starting to break up as Luke's presence gave the princess courage. Now she could plainly see the floor under her feet. When she got close enough, she could see the walls were made of pink Alderaanian marble, just like the floors. She wondered where she was, but with the fog blocking her vision and Luke keeping her from moving around she couldn't tell.

"But I'm not strong enough."

"Yes you are. You are one of the strongest people I know. You can do this." Luke's words were slowly chasing away her fears. As her fear slackened, the fog broke up more and more. Soon, as Leia's courage built, they could see a long hallway, with doors on either side and high, vaulted ceilings. "Where are we?"

"We're at home, silly."

"Where's home?"

"The Palace. My room is right down there. Mom and Dad's room is across the hall. I'm not supposed to be out here, I'm supposed to get in the closet if bad men come; but the bad man was getting close so I left."

Luke held on to the child's hand, wondering if this was really what his sister had looked like as a child. He kicked himself mentally for his lack of focus and turned back to Leia. "Where did the fog come from, Leia?"

"Mother taught me, She said if I was ever sacred of anybody, I should pretend that there was a bright white fog all around me that keep them from seeing me. It didn't work this time, though. The bad man still saw me anyway so I made the fog go everywhere so at least he couldn't find me. I made a mistake though, I got lost."

The Jedi debated what to do next. He knew that she could come back with him and wake up now that the fog was gone; but what about her 'bad man.' If this mysterious attacker came so quickly to her subconscious it might interfere with her training later. She needed to vanquish this fear before it became debilitating. "You did good Leia, the bad man didn't find you; but now you need to make the bad man go away so you can come with me."

She looked at him in disbelief. "I can't, I've tried. He's too strong."

"No he's not. You don't even have to fight him, just look him in the eye and tell him you're not afraid of him. If you tell him you're not scared he'll go away." Luke silently praised his Aunt Beru for that piece of advice.

"That only works for bad dreams." little Leia told him matter of factly.

Luke gave her his best 'big brother' smile. "Sometimes it works on real bad guys too. Some bad guys only want to hurt you if you're afraid of them."

"Really?"

"Really." He told her. "The bad man is one just like that, if you aren't afraid of him anymore, he'll go away. Do you want to try it and see if it works?"

Her small face set in a look of determination that Luke was all to familiar with. "Let's do it!" She said resolutely. Together, they marched off to find the bad man who was presumably still roaming the palace, searching for the small princess.

For over six hours now, Leia had been lying still on the hospital bed with Luke sitting on a chair right next to her. Four hours ago, both had stopped responding when the doctors tried to get their attention. Three hours ago Beru, Owen, and Han had been allowed to come sit with them. Chewie had stopped by for a while, but had returned to the ship. The space station was only recently out of imperial control and the Wookie's presence in the hospital made many of the xenophobic staff nervous.

When Luke finally opened his eyes, it was to the sight of his family, his aunt, uncle, and best friend, sitting and talking quietly. He turned to Leia, who was just opening her eyes. She whispered with a hoarse voice, "It worked! We did it Luke, you were right."

"You did it Leia, just like I knew you could." She closed her eyes again and drifted off into a quiet sleep.

The trio who had been waiting patiently all this time, didn't even notice. Luke sat and watched them for a few minutes, smiling quietly. They were talking about their favorite foods. By this time the Jedi was slightly annoyed that they hadn't noticed him yet was quite satisfied to see them all start when he said, "I like arabis candy myself."

"You're awake? How's Leia?" Han asked.

"Nice to see you too!" Luke said in mock anger. He laughed, "Leia's going to be fine, she's sleeping off the effects of the virus now. She should be up and about in a couple of days."

"Isn't that my line?" The old Doctor said from the door. He smiled pleasantly. "The nurses saw the monitors spike so they sent me in. It seems they are all a bit spooked by you young man."

"Who me? Why would they be spooked by me?"

The old Doctor laughed. "Don't you know, most of them never met a Jedi before. The moment you stepped off that ship most of them wanted to ask for a date, but now that they know..."

Luke blushed. Han laughed and Beru smiled serenely.

The doctor started scrolling through the data on a display screen. "I don't know what you did son, but she's out of that near-coma she was in. She's sleeping peacefully and she should be up and about in a couple of days."

"Thank you, doctor..." Beru trailed off, only just now realizing she didn't even know the man's name.

"Nakijo. Doctor Gred Nakijo, according to my identification chip."

"Thank you Doctor Nakijo."

"Don't thank me, thank the Jedi. All I did was administer an antiviral."

Luke looked at him sharply. "Doctor, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have had the chance. Leia might have been dead before they let me see her again."

The Doctor shook his head. "Let's call it a team effort. We could be here all day congratulating each other. I just thank the Force that we could help her."

"Me too." said a sleepy Leia. She was lying in the bed, propping herself up on one elbow. Luke hurried to raise the bed for her. "Thanks, Luke."

Han stepped up to her side and brushed her hair aside, never taking his eyes off her. "Hey Sweetheart, how are you feelin'?"

"Tired."

"What happened?" Han asked her.

She grimaced slightly. "I think I got lost, I don't remember it very well, it's kinda like a dream."

Luke turned to her, "Leia, who was the 'bad man'?"

She wrinkled her forehead in thought. "I never really knew. When I was really little, about five years old, a group of terrorists invaded the palace. I was supposed to hide in the closet if anyone ever came to the palace who sacred me but I didn't that time. I remember, I never saw the leader, but I didn't hide in the closet like I was supposed to because he found me there.

"It's funny, I know I never saw the man, but I remember him finding me and I had to run away." She turned to Luke for explanation.

"He was a dark Jedi. Not a Sith, but a Jedi who believed the Dark side was the same as the Light. I don't imagine he was looking for you specifically, but when he sensed your fear he decided to try and find you and use you. Whoever he was, he must have been pretty strong to find you with that fog you created."

Leia blushed slightly. "It may have kept him from finding me that time, but this time it got me lost."

"That was because of the virus confusing you. Ordinarily, that defense probably works very well. You're going to have to show it to me sometime when you're not sick."

"Well, if we're all comfortable with our knowledge of the situation, I suggest you all move this into the hallway or the waiting room so the princess can get some rest." The doctor started to usher them out. Han hesitated.

"I have one question."

"Yes, Han?"

"Why hide in the closet, wouldn't that make you pretty easy to find?"

Leia laughed. " 'The closet' was actually a safe room that could only be accessed through the closet in my bedroom. Only my parents and a couple of trusted friends could access it once I was inside." Han looked embarrassed at his apparently stupid question. Leia saw his face and added, "We always just referred to it as 'the closet' to throw people off. Aside from those who had access, only a handful of people even knew it existed."

Leia yawned and the doctor again started waving them out. "Alright everyone, anything else can wait until the princess is feeling better. Out you go!"

They obeyed and Leia was asleep almost as soon as she was horizontal again.

Relieved, Han went back to the Falcon to tell Chewie the good news and to get away from the smell that seemed to be a requirement in every medicenter in the galaxy. Beru decided to take the opportunity to see the rest of the space station. This left Owen and Luke alone together.

The two walked in comfortable silence down a random corridor for sometime before either spoke.

"Are you sure you're alright, son. You were out of it in there for a long time."

Luke smiled at his uncle. "I'm okay." He said through a yawn. "A bit tired, but otherwise I'm fine." Silence returned.

"It's a good thing you remembered that old rule."

Owen shrugged. "It was a gamble. I couldn't let them keep you out." He stopped and placed one hand on his nephew's shoulder. Now was his chance to say some things that he should have said years ago. At the very least, he should have said them days ago. "You did good today, son."

Luke shrugged, neither realized how very much he looked like his uncle in that instant. "I did what I had to."

"I'm proud of you, and not just about today either. You've done some amazing things, but most importantly, you=ve never given up. Even when it seemed the entire universe was against you and there was now way to do what you wanted, you kept trying. For that, I am proud of you." Owen hugged his nephew, surprising the young Jedi. "I love you son."

"I love you too, Uncle Owen." The young man answered. They both meant it as surely as they ever had.

The first uncomfortable moment in their conversation occurred next. Neither expressed emotion well, so they started walking again. Luke gathered his courage. "I'm glad your not upset with me." he said shyly.

Owen stopped again. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, knowing he had to do this right this time. So many times in the past he'd allowed his boy to think he was a disappointment, a failure. It hurt just to think of all the pain he'd caused the young man in front of him. The old farmer looked into clear blue eyes and felt his heart breaking. The hope and fear in the young man's gaze was enough to start him talking before he was sure what to say.

"I'm sorry, son, I should never have let you think that."

"It's okay..." Luke started, but Owen stopped him.

"No it's not, damn it!" He grabbed both Luke's shoulders and held him at arms length. "I should have told you a long time ago, I have never been disappointed in you. Never!"

"But I..." Owen still wouldn't let him finish a sentence. The confusion in the young man's gaze told him all he needed to know; it gave him the strength to continue.

"I'll admit you scared me a few times. That night when you 'heard' the raiders coming through the fence you 'heard' go down was almost more than I could bear. But I was never upset with you, I was never disappointed. You have done nothing but make me proud since the day Obi Wan brought you to us." He paused here, watching his nephew's face as his expression changed from confusion, to disbelief, to delight. Owen continued.

"Fear does funny things to a person, Luke. From day one I was afraid for you, afraid to lose you. That fear kept me holding you at arms length and for that I am sorry."

Luke hugged his uncle again. He understood. In fact, his uncle made so much sense, Luke couldn't imagine why he'd ever thought otherwise. "I'm sorry, Uncle Owen."

"Whatever for?"

"For believing for even a moment that you didn't care."

Owen ruffled the young man's hair, something he hadn't done in far too long. Luke automatically reached up to straighten it, them dropped his hand and left it that way. They walked down the corridor together. They spent the remainder of the 'day' on the station talking, just talking. It was one of the best day's of Luke's life.

One week later...

"Do you really have to leave?" Beru asked, holding a fully recovered Leia to her tightly. The entire family, Han and Chewie included, was standing at the bottom of the Falcon's boarding ramp.

"I've been away too long already." The princess, back in her senator's clothes, released her newfound aunt only to hug her tightly again. "I promise, I'll come back soon. I might even bring Luke with me." She joked.

"As long as it's not another four years." Owen warned his nephew, pulling the young man into a hug. Over the last week, ever since the conversation at the medicenter, Owen had taken to touching his nephew constantly. Luke couldn't have been happier.

"Never again." Luke promised.

Beru, still in tearful goodbye mode, hugged Han next. "You know, you're welcome here too." She told the smuggler.

"Yes ma'am. I'll be back, I kinda got used to eating real food for a change."

Luke was last in line for a hug from his aunt. "You better get back here soon young man. I missed you when you were gone."

"I'll be back soon Aunt Beru. I promise." The Jedi returned her hug and headed for the ship when she'd released him.

With their bags already stowed on board, the four of them walked almost reluctantly up the ramp. Owen wrapped one arm around Beru, who waved until Han raised the ramp.

Standing there, watching the ship power up Beru remembered the last time she had watched her little boy leave home. Four years ago, Luke Skywalker had left Tatooine to follow in his father's footsteps. It turned out that, instead of following in his father's footsteps, Luke had made a path of his own. He'd beaten the odds, even when there hadn't been anyone there to help him. He'd found his sister and several new friends. Beru was proud of her boy.

But the best part was that after his adventures, he'd come home.

.

The End. (I mean it this time.)