-The Greatest of Gifts-

The 20th Anniversary of the Jedi Academy is coming up. To show their gratitude to Master Skywalker for everything that he has done, all of the Knights and students will be doing something for him. But Ben knows what he can give to Master Skywalker that no one else can. The greatest gift he can give, the knowledge of his father and mother.

A period of about six weeks went by before something new happened at the Academy. Master Skywalker had left to speak with the New Republic just that morning and would be gone for a week. I heard him say something about, "Politicians and their love to line their pockets with funding needed elsewhere."

In the evening of that same day, all students of the Academy were called to the Throne Room by Master Jade-Skywalker. This is a little strange. She doesn't usually do many things with the students.

As Tallah, Guild, Ryndell and I walked through the doors of the Throne Room, we saw not only students, but Jedi Knights and Jedi Masters. Every Jedi in the galaxy must be here! As more and more Jedi poured into the quickly filling Throne Room, we all went to sit down at a Bench.

After everyone was all settled in, Master Jade-Skywalker took her place in front of the podium. Close behind her was the entire Skywalker/Solo family. "Hello to all Jedi and Jedi Padawans. As you may or may not beware, one week from today will mark the Twentieth anniversary of the Jedi Academy. On that first day, all this place consisted of was Luke and twelve Jedi-hopefuls. Now, this Throne Room is filled with many Jedi Knights and all of you students who are still working to get there. To show our gratitude to Luke for all that he's worked and sacrificed for, we will be holding a celebration for him. Any of you who would like to be a part of it, we will greet him when he returns from Coruscant. Have anything you plan be ready by then. Thank you."

After she was finished, there was a loud murmur among the students in the Throne Room while all of the Jedi Knights remained relatively quiet. It looks like the students were the only ones who didn't know about this yet.

Ryndell interrupted my thoughts. "So what should we get Master Skywalker?"

I know what I'd like to be able to give him. Knowledge of his family. This is the perfect time to finally be able to tell him. It's been killing me to hold it in. But how will I be able to tell him? How'll I answer him when he asks me how I know this? 'Well, the life of the Skywalker family are six movies where I come from, and I've seen them' is hardly a reasonable answer. Even if it is how I know.

Maybe what I'll have to do is go to Tatooine and Naboo and ask around to people. That way, it'll be like I'm learning as I'm going. Yeah, and that way, maybe I can get some holos of them and give those to Master Skywalker too. This is going to be the greatest gift I could possibly give to him. "I've got an idea."

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"You want to leave the Academy for an entire week without any protection?"

I was talking in private with Master Jade-Skywalker, trying to persuade her to allow me and my friends to go out on our own. "I know that this may seem premature for us to leave on our own, but we won't be gone that long. We're a ways from becoming Jedi Knights, I know, but we're not exactly helpless anymore. And I'll have my lightsaber with me."

"Why is it that you have to leave? What are you going after?"

Man, I was afraid of this. What do I say? "Well...if it's all right, I'd much rather keep it a secret right now."

"Ben, if you're not willing to be open with me, then this conversation is over right now."

"Wait! Okay. Umm...I have reason to believe that I know where I can find information about the lives of Master Skywalker's parents. Through some research, I found some rumors about possible places that Anakin Skywalker and his wife lived. I want to go to their homeworlds, find out about them. Get some disks about them and maybe also get some holos of them. I thought that after all this time, Master Skywalker should know where he came from."

Master Jade-Skywalker was silent for a moment before she said, "All right. I'll allow you all to leave, but I'm putting a homing beacon on your ship so that I know where you are. And I expect you to contact the Academy every twelve hours to let us know that everything is fine. If you're so much as 10 minutes late in contacting Yavin IV, I'll assume something is wrong and send someone out for you. And they will bring you back home. Is that a deal?"

"Yes, it is."

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On most occasions, we would've waited until the next morning before leaving, but since our time was limited, we had everything ready for take off to leave that evening. Like almost all Corellians, Ryndell had a good amount of experience in piloting, so she took the controls to the ship.

It had been a while since the last time Ryndell had flown a ship and anyone could see that she was anxious to be at it again. "Well, we got the coordinates to Tatooine. How about we get out of here?"

"Let's do it." Guild took a seat in the co-pilot's chair, while Tallah and I sat down in the seats behind them.

As the engines roared to life, we took off in the sky and flew above the tall Massassi trees of Yavin. I took it all in as we sailed up higher and out of the atmosphere. In a couple more minutes, we entered hyperspace towards the Outer Rim of the galaxy. Luke's homeworld, Tatooine. For the first time, we're really out here on our own. Master Jade-Skywalker never actually said it, but I know she put me in charge. I hope I'm leader material.

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I never fully understood how hot a planet with two suns could get until we left hyperspace and entered Tatooine's atmosphere. Damn, it's hot on this planet! I can already feel it and we're still in the ship!

Ryndell turned her head towards me and asked, "So when I get to Mos Espa, should I land at the outskirts?"

After thinking it over for a few minutes, I said, "No, that's not necessary. We're not doing anything secretive. But still, don't reveal yourself as a Jedi unless you have to, okay? There's still plenty of people in the galaxy who don't like being around Jedi."

Guild seemed to grumble as he folded his arms. "I still don't get it. After everything the Jedi have done for this galaxy, people still hate us. And still want us dead."

Tallah responded softly to him, "They don't hate us, Guild. They're afraid of us. They don't understand the Force and how it gives us power that they can never use. That scares them. And I think also makes them a bit envious."

"I don't know how you can be so forgiving of them. Their envy of our power doesn't give them the right to treat us as lower life forms."

"No, it doesn't Guild. But if you think about it, it's kind of sad, the way they feel. I feel sorry for them. Most people will never be able to see or know anything beyond what their eyes and ears deliver to them. They can never experience life in the same ways that we can. How can you hate somebody you feel sorry for?"

Guild didn't say anything. He just sat there and nodded. He hadn't completely changed his mind about the people of the galaxy who were anti-Jedi. But it was easy to see that he had another way to look at it.

Tallah's really becoming wise in the ways of the Force. My thoughts were interrupted as Ryndell called out, "There it is on the horizon. Mos Espa."

"The old home of Anakin Skywalker. We all need to stay on our toes and be mindful of everything."

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Ryndell landed the ship into the first docking bay we came across. As we all walked out, we breathed in unison as we were hit even harder by the brutal heat of Tatooine's suns. I made an effort to wear my jacket in a way that hid my lightsaber, hanging at my belt. "Well Tallah, this is your homeworld. Where do you think we should start off?"

After thinking for a moment, Tallah said, "I never spent lots of time in Mos Espa, but I think about ½ of a mile down this way are where the mechanic shops are. If Anakin used to work in one, then maybe there are some older people there that remember him."

I nodded and said, "Good thinking, Tallah. You all heard her. Let's go."

The walk wasn't nearly as long as the runs I took every morning, but with the twin suns pouring down on us, fatigue began sooner than usual. I felt the sweat beginning to build on my face until I had to lift my jacket to my face to wipe away the sweat. Just as I began to wipe my forehead, I felt a hand grab my arm and tug it back to my waist.

I turned to see Guild standing there. "When you lifted your jacket up, you could see your lightsaber hanging there. That could've drawn some unwanted attention."

"Oh, right. Thanks Guild." Some leader. I can't believe I did something that stupid so early in the game.

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We went to shop after shop and as the day drew to a close, we heard the same responses over and over.

"Anakin Skywalker? Nope. Never heard of him."

"Yeah, I think I heard of him. Isn't he the one in charge of that Jedi Academy?"

"Anakin Skywalker...Yeah, I know who he is, but he left long before I got here. Sorry."

As we walked out of the last shop in Mos Espa, I was beginning to think that this was a lost cause. I guess Palpatine just did too thorough of a job wiping out history during his reign.

Guild must've been thinking the same thing I was because he said, "Well, this was all time well spent. Why don't we just go ahead and go home? The heat is driving me crazy."

I was about to agree with him when I felt pain coming from nearby. I turned around to face everybody and said, "You feel that?"

They all nodded quickly and we sprinted off towards the pain. As we got closer, I heard the sound of an old man in pain and some younger men laughing. Every few seconds I heard the sound of a hit. Finally, we came across four young men that didn't look a whole lot older than me. Two of them were as tall as me, one a little taller, and one that was about another head taller. At their feet was an old man lying on the ground. His clothes were torn up a bit and his face was covered in blood. I shouted, "Hey! Leave that old man alone!"

They all turned around at us and stopped laughing. The tallest one, obviously the leader, walked up to me and said very slowly, "This is personal. Turn around and walk away before we have to mess you up too." The rest of his gang walked up in a line right behind him.

Without blinking, I looked right back up at him and said, "I'm making it personal. Leave the old man alone. Looks can be deceiving; you may be beginning a fight you don't want to begin."

He and his friends began to laugh out loud. The one a little taller than I was suddenly lunged at me. Instinctively, Guild threw his hand up and the man stopped in mid air and went back a few feet before hitting the ground. The rest of them turned their heads to see their fallen friend, then turned back around to face us. Guild, Tallah, and Ryndell all lined up right behind me.

Looking around to make sure no one else was around, I threw my jacket back behind me and flashed my lightsaber to them and just stared hard into the leader's eyes. Two of the remaining gang members took a couple steps back, but the leader wouldn't budge. The member on his left put a hand on his shoulder and said, "Rax, come on. Let's get out of here. I don't wanna fight no Jedi."

Rax turned around and yelled, "I don't back down! Ever!"

The member on his right said, "Are you insane? Fighting four Jedi would be like fighting ten normal people! Let's go!"

"I said, I don't back—"

He slowly turned around back to us and saw me with my hand raised up. "What you're feeling right now is called a 'Force Strangle.' Only very loose. Believe me, I can make this a whole lot tighter. Even snap your neck if I feel like it. If you all turn around, pick-up your friend and walk away, I'll let you go. Got it?"

He nodded slowly once. His eyes were full of fear. He turned around and the other gang members picked up their friend and began to walk away. After they were about 10 feet away, I let go and could see his shoulders collapse in relief to be released. Then at once, they took off down another alley. When they were out of sight, we also breathed in relief that we had succeeded.

Ryndell looked at me and said, "I don't know if that was exactly how a Jedi should act, Ben."

I shrugged and said, "I did what needed to be done and no one was hurt."

As we all gathered around the old man, Tallah held him so that he could sit up. The old man moaned in pain and Tallah muttered, "How can people be so cruel to an old man?"

The old man suddenly began to react. "Who is that?" He reached out with his hand and put it on my face. "Who are you?"

I waved my hand in front of his face a few times, but he didn't notice it. The old man is blind. "My name is Ben. I'm with my friends Guild, Tallah, and Ryndell. We're Jedi Padawans."

The old man smiled and said, "Jedi...He went off to be a Jedi...He was the only fun I had as a slave. My friend...My best friend." The old man's smile became a quiet sob.

Oh my god! This is...this is Kitster! Anakin's childhood friend! Wait, play this out right. Make it into a question. "Uh, you might be old enough. Do you remember a boy who used to live here named Anakin Skywalker?"

"Anakin...No, I didn't just know him. He was my best friend."

Softly, Tallah asked, "What's your name, sir?"

"Don't call me sir. I never did anything in my long life to deserve to be called sir by anyone. You may call me Kitster."

Yes! I was right! This is perfect! "We have to get to our ship soon to report in. Would you please come with us so that we can talk? We have some supplies to take care of your wounds."

"What docking bay are you at?"

"We're at docking bay 138."

"That's a long ways from here and I'm afraid I can't go that far."

"It's okay. We'll help you. I don't think you realize how much your existence will mean to somebody very important in this galaxy."

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After we got back to the ship, Tallah began to clean and bandage Kitster's wounds. Ryndell and I went to the cockpit to report in to the Jedi Academy. When Ryndell turned on the com-link and set it to Yavin, a voice came over the speaker." Hello? State your name."

I spoke up and said, "This is Ben, reporting in from Tatooine."

After a minute, another voice came over the speaker. It was Master Jade-Skywalker. "Ben? How are things progressing? Is everyone all right?"

"Yes. Everyone is just fine. We just called it a day and came back to the ship. We're at a docking bay in Mos Espa."

"Have you made any progress yet?"

"Yes, we have. Just as we were calling it a night, we found some gang beating up on an old, blind man. After we got them to leave, we found out that this old man was best friend's with Luke's father when he was a boy."

"What have you found out so far?"

"Nothing yet. Right now, Tallah's dressing his wounds, then we'll talk for a little while before going to sleep."

"Be careful. This isn't somebody you know, so be mindful."

"Don't worry, we will. And I think we can trust him. This is Ben, signing out."

"Good night."

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After reporting in to Master Jade-Skywalker, Ryndell and I left the cockpit. When we entered the sitting room, Kitster was sitting in between Tallah and Guild. Kitster was telling them some story about Anakin. I held back at the doorway and listened for a while.

"—and he was always so talented at everything he did. Especially at fixing things. He was only nine years old and was one of the best pod racers on Tatooine. Of course, he never finished a race because of another racer named Sebulba. He was always very threatened by Anakin and did everything he could while racing to take him out. Up until his last race. The championship race at Boonta Eve. Where he finally got even with Sebulba and took him out of the race and won first place. After he won, we were all so happy that I thought it was the greatest day of my life...but after I heard that he'd been freed and was leaving, it turned into the worst day of my life. The day when I lost the one thing that made my life as a slave a little better." Kitster stopped then and began to sob again.

That's when I stepped in and said, "We don't want to upset you, Kitster. We appreciate that you came here to help us."

"Think nothing of it. But you said something before we left, you said something about me being important to somebody else. I've lived my entire life in Mos Espa. Who could you be talking about?"

"I'm talking about Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa Solo, the former Chief of State to the New Republic; the children of Anakin Skywalker. You very well may be the only person alive with knowledge that these two people need."

"I'll help in any way that I can."

"Thank you, Kitster. It's been a long day, though. How about we get some sleep first?"

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Early the next morning, we went out and rented a landspeeder to go out to the Boonta Eve arena. I wanted to see if there were some old holos of the Boonta Eve podrace where Anakin won his freedom. Maybe even some old articles about the event.

Guild and I hopped out of the speeder as Ryndell brought it to a halt in front of the arena. Tallah got out and took Kitster's hand to help him out of the ship onto the ground. He looked very appreciative of her. "Thank you, young one. I'm not as young as I used to be and being blind makes it that much more difficult to get around."

Guild looked at him and said, "Aren't there any places around here where you could get something to help your eyesight?"

"Yes, I've heard of procedures that have been discovered, but only the rich are able to afford them."

After giving Guild an elbow in the side for his rudeness, I said, "Well, when we get you to Yavin IV, I'm positive that Master Skywalker will do what he can for you." It might not be a good idea to just leave the speeder here unattended. Plus, I don't want to do anything to tire out Kitster too much. "Ryndell, why don't you and Kitster stay here and keep an eye on the speeder?"

Ryndell looked a little disappointed but nodded and said, "Yeah, all right Ben." I whispered so that only she could hear, "I'm doing you a favor. This is going to be a lot of study and research things. I know you hate it, so instead, you can stay with the landspeeder." After that, she seemed more content to wait with the speeder.

As Guild, Tallah and I walked through the entrance of the empty arena, we began to look around for people that might work there. Soon, we saw an old shriveled man walking about and we approached him carefully. "Excuse me," I said and he turned around. "Do you know if there are by any chance somewhere we could go to find old clippings and holos of events that happened here?"

The old man thought for a moment and said in a rough, scratchy voice, "Well, that depends. Exactly how old are we talking here?"

"Uhhh..." I thought for a moment and replied, "About sixty-five years ago."

The old man exhaled loudly and said, "Well, that might be a little tough. We do have an old library of past events, but a lot of the really old stuff was destroyed when the Empire was in control."

Guild pounded a fist into his other hand and said, "Damn Empire!"

"Most of the stuff in there is about forty, forty-five years old. At the most fifty. But if you'd like to look, you could get lucky." He pointed around him in the direction that he was leaving. "It's way down there; you can't miss it. There's a sign that says, 'Record Archives.' Just help yourself. No one's been there for years."

"Thank you very much."

"Sure. Good luck." The old man continued on his way, with Guild and Tallah saying their thanks and good-bye's.

As the doors to the Record Archive creaked open, our mouths dropped open. The room was immensely large and filled with disks of information. The smell of dust was thick in the air. How are we going to find anything in here?

Guild was obviously not too thrilled, either. "Great...how is anybody supposed to look up anything in here?"

Tallah, trying to play the optimist said, "Well, maybe it's all in chronological order."

"But what if it's not? What then?"

After taking a deep breath, I replied, "Well, there's only one way to find out."

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With the pile of checked disks that came up with nothing getting bigger and bigger, we all began to wonder if we'd ever be able to find anything about Anakin Skywalker. After stretching my arms and suppressing a yawn, I asked, "Either of you find anything yet?"

Guild looked up from his computer and said, "What do you think? Of course we haven't! We're never going to find anything. We already have Anakin's childhood friend waiting for us by the speeder, why not move on to Naboo and search for his mother's records?"

I was about to agree with him when Tallah spoke up. "Hold on a minute there. I think I may have found something. A list of past Boonta Eve Podracing champions." After scanning, she got excited and said, "Yes! Here it is! Anakin Skywalker!"

Guild and I jumped up and looked at her screen. Tallah continued reading. "It even has a link to the article that was written about him."

When the article appeared on the screen, it showed a picture of Anakin with his arms raised in the air and a crowd of people around him, cheering. Also in the picture, it showed Anakin sitting on the shoulders of Qui-Gon Jinn. The article read, "LOCAL BOY WINS BOONTA EVE AND FREEDOM."

We all jumped to our feet and began to celebrate. In the excitement, Tallah and I hugged and I kissed her on the cheek. Our eyes locked for a moment before we quickly let go of each other. I felt blood rushing into my face. "Uh, why don't we grab that disk and get out of here?"

Tallah began to blush too and said, "Yeah, I'll do that."

Guild was too excited to notice the nervous tension between Tallah and I. He sprinted out of the room, no doubt getting back to the speeder to tell Ryndell and Kitster. Feeling the awkwardness of being by ourselves, Tallah and I quickly left the room together without saying a word.

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By the time we got back to Mos Espa and returned the landspeeder and got back to our ship, it was nighttime. I figured that since we were done on Tatooine anyway, and that Naboo was going to be a day and a half flight, we should go ahead and get going. That way, we wouldn't be wasting eight hours in a docking bay, when we could be getting closer to Naboo. "We can check-in once we're in hyperspace."

Once Ryndell got the coordinates from the navi-computer, she pulled the lever and put the ship into hyperspace. As everyone began to leave the bridge of the ship, Guild offered to call the Jedi Academy to check-in and let Master Jade-Skywalker know we were all right. I appreciatively agreed. Kitster decided to go to sleep and Ryndell offered to help him to his bed, which he graciously accepted. Ryndell turned to me and said, "I think I'll go to bed too."

When they were gone, I flopped down onto the couch in the main room, exhausted. Tallah came in and sat down on the far end of the couch, as far away from me as she could sit.

After a few moments of silence I asked, "Tallah, could I ask you a question?"

Obviously getting a little tense about that, she answered, "I suppose so. What is it?"

I sat forward and chose my words carefully. "Well, this is your homeworld right? It's just that I assumed that at some point, you would've wanted to visit your family. How come you haven't even brought it up? It must have been a while since you've seen them last. We've been training for six months now."

Tears began to well up in Tallah's eyes, so she looked down at the floor. "It's been a lot longer than six months since I've seen my family. They all died a little over a year ago."

After letting out a sigh, I said, "Oh. Tallah, I'm...I'm sorry."

"No, it's all right. There's no way that you could have known that. I don't like to think about it, much less say it out loud."

"Do you mind if I ask how it happened?"

With difficulty, Tallah cleared her throat and tried to keep her voice from trembling. "They took me on an archaeological dig in the Jundland Wastes. It was just my parents, their assistant, and I. We went into a cave, while their assistant waited outside inspecting some rare kind of flora. We had gone about twenty meters when my dad told me to stop there so that they could inspect a little further to make sure it was all safe. They would call for me if they decided that it was."

Tallah stifled a choke in her voice. "I began to sprint out of the cave a few seconds before they hollered for me to run. A voice in the back of my mind told me that there was danger there. That I had to get out before it was too late. Somehow, I knew that the cave was about to collapse. I made it out of the cave and saw my parents coming. They almost made it out before...before it collapsed and they were crushed to death. If only...if only I had warned them when I could have, they would've gotten out. Despite everything that I've been told, I can't help but feel like it was my fault."

Tallah looked at me and said, "There were some stories that went out about my story in the cave. Several months after that, Master Tionne came to me saying that she had heard about what happened. She tested me for Force potential and invited me to come and train at the Academy." She closed her eyes and said very slowly, "If only I had said something when the realization hit me."

I placed a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her. I said softly, "And no one would have written that story. And Master Tionne would never have found you. And you wouldn't be training to be a Jedi Knight right now. And...I never would have met you. You never would have helped me defeat my Dark Side. I was taught once that a door is never closed without opening a window. Maybe—maybe I'm that window."

Tallah looked at me again, a little surprised. Feeling more confident than before, I pulled in closer to her. I placed my hand behind her neck and placed my lips onto hers.

We began to kiss for a couple of seconds before she suddenly pulled back and jumped to her feet. "What are you doing? We can't, Ben! We just can't! We're going to be Jedi, Ben! How can we have a relationship, knowing that either one of us could be killed at any time?"

I stood up and looked into her eyes. "I know that, Tallah. I understand it, but it's just..." I continued to stare at her. Say it! Just say it, Ben! Take a chance for once in your life! After a sigh, I just said, "Nothing. Never mind. I'm sorry."

I stepped around her and walked to my quarters without another word. Why can't you say what you want to her? Why can't you tell her how much she means to you? What are you afraid of? You don't have anyone making fun of you here and you still have no guts. What the hell's the matter with you?

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We were in the middle of the fourth day of our week to collect all of our information by the time we pulled out of hyperspace near the Naboo system. Time was beginning to press and I was wondering if it was even possible for us to finish on time. And the pain of being rejected by Tallah for a second time didn't make things much easier. She barely said one word to me anymore.

"Well Ben, here we are. Naboo."

"Okay Ryndell, check the map for the coordinates on the palace in Theed."

Guild seemed to realize something and said, "Ben, how exactly are we going to get into Theed palace? They're not expecting us, so all they're going to see are four kids who want to walk around the palace snooping around for information. Just how do you propose that we get in there and find out what we need to know?"

I though for a while and signed, "Well, I guess we're just going to have to walk to the front gate, explain who we are and why we're there. Then, we'll just have to hope for the best."

"Yeah, well what if they won't let us in?"

I shrugged and said, "We can cross that bridge if we have to."

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After we landed the ship, I suggested to Kitster that it might be best if he stayed on the ship. He was more than willing to agree. He said that all of the traveling had left him more tired than usual.

Tallah spoke up, "I can stay with the ship to keep an eye on things."

I said without thinking about what I was saying, "Kitster will be fine on his own. This is a peaceful world. I need you." After Tallah's eyes widened and I realized what I said, I quickly responded with, "I mean, we need you—in the group."

After we got to the front gates of the Theed Palace, we were met by a guard who asked us who we were.

I stood in front of the group and said, "My name is Ben and I'm in charge of this group of Jedi Padawans. We'd like to come in and speak with whoever is in charge."

The guard looked a skeptical eye over us and said, "I'm sorry, but no one comes into the palace that is not expected by Queen Jamilla."

Queen Jamilla?? How can she still be in charge? But you can only serve two four-year terms as queen on Naboo. "Well, perhaps if you allow us to explain ourselves to her why we are here—"

"That would fail the point of no one seeing her without ahead notice, wouldn't it? Go on and get going. Take the field trip someplace else, Padawan."

The way that the guard used the word 'Padawan' would've upset any student at the Jedi academy. It was obvious that he figured any Jedi without the title of 'Knight' couldn't do very much.

Guild had obviously interpreted it in the same way that I did, because he took a few steps toward the guard, fuming and said, "You're in for a real surprise—"

I held up an arm and stopped Guild from doing something that could start some blaster fire. I took my next couple of actions very carefully. I opened my jacket a bit in a way that would make the guard see that I had a lightsaber on my belt. "Listen. Things are getting a little too intense here." I gave the guard a look with a touch of sternness in my eyes. "I'm sure this can all go over very smoothly, while still avoiding any unpleasantness. Can't you just let us speak with her?"

The guard began to sweat a little, I noticed. He nodded a little bit and said, "Well, I can't just let you into the throne room. I can comm. from here and let you speak with her. Then she can decide if she wants to speak with you."

I nodded and said, "That's fair." I let go of my jacket and it fell back over my lightsaber.

The guard's body appeared to relax at that moment and he said, "If you'll excuse me, I have to go make contact. He went over to the radio transmitter and began to push some buttons.

I looked over at Tallah and said, "You have a better way with words than I do. You want to speak with her?"

Tallah looked a little flustered and said, "Are you sure you shouldn't do it? You're the one in charge."

"And you have a better way with words and diplomacy."

Tallah finally nodded and took the com-link from the guard when he came back. The voice of an older woman came through asking, "This is Queen Jamilla, ruler of Naboo. What is it that you wish to speak with me about?"

Tallah said in a loud clear voice, "We are students of the Jedi Master Luke Skywalker. As a gift for all that he has done in replenishing the Jedi Knights in this galaxy, we are collecting as much information about his family as we can. We are now looking for information on his mother, Padmé Amidala-Skywalker. We know that she was once a queen of Naboo and wish to know more about her. If you can spare some of your time to impart any of your knowledge of her, it would be infinitely appreciated."

I smiled and thought, Like I said before, you have a wonderful way with words.

After a few moments, Queen Jamilla responded, "Very well. You will be granted access to the palace. I would be honored to be the one to finally pass down the legacy of Padmé Amidala-Skywalker."

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We all came through the large doorway into the throne room of Theed Palace. It looked more simply decorated than it had been in the days of the Old Republic. I guess that makes sense. After the rule of the Empire fell, some systems are still trying to rebuild to their old days.

As we met Queen Jamilla in her throne, we all bowed our heads and I said, "Your Highness, thank you for allowing us to come and speak with you."

Queen Jamilla nodded and asked, "What is it that you wish to know?"

I smiled and said, "More than there is time to say. But we are willing to trust you in what is most important to know."

Queen Jamilla thought for a moment and said, "She was very devoted to her people. When she was the queen of Naboo, she was such a great and loving queen that the people even tried to amend the laws so that she could stay in office after her two terms were up. That only happened for me, because when the Empire took over, the people of Naboo wanted to make sure that whoever they had as ruler of their system would be someone not on the payroll of the Empire.

"But back to Padmé, after her two terms were up, I asked her to run for senator, which she very easily won. She could have had a very great career in politics...until she met Anakin Skywalker. I never understood how a Jedi could find it within himself to fall in love. They were forbidden from it all their lives. It seems too dangerous for people born with so much power to allow themselves the risks of allowing their passions to run away with their minds."

I looked over at Tallah, who had a very serious and somber look on her face. Obviously, she had been thinking the very same things. Queen Jamilla looked at all of us and smiled, "Oh, do not misunderstand me. I understood why they married. When I saw them, I do not believe I ever saw two people more in love. It is a shame when sometimes, love just simply isn't enough."

As the time passed by, we all sat down and listened to Queen Jamilla tell us more and more about Padmé. When she was done, we all stood up and stretched. Well, I think I'm thoroughly spoiled for Episode III now. "Thank you for all of your help, Your Highness. I don't suppose you have any holos of her and disks of information on her life, do you? As something to give Master Skywalker?"

Queen Jamilla was more than happy to oblige and gave us all that she could spare. After our final thanks, we left the palace and made our way back to the ship. When we got there, we realized that we were just barely going to be in time to check in with Master Jade-Skywalker. After checking in, we decided to go on our way back to Yavin IV. We had everything we'd need.

After taking a seat in the pilot's chair and checking over the coordinates back to Yavin, Ryndell said, "Uh, Ben? We have two days to get back to Yavin and the trip is going about half a day longer than that."

I ran to her and said, "What? We're going to miss the anniversary celebration?"

Reluctantly, Ryndell nodded and said, "That's the way it looks to me."

Guild asked her, "Is there anything we can possibly do?"

Ryndell shook her head and said, "None that I know of."

I sighed and flopped into another seat in the cockpit. I shrugged my shoulders and said, "Well, let's at least back to the academy as soon as we can."

After we went into hyperspace, my face fell into my hands. I failed. My first mission as a Jedi and I ruined everything. God, I'm so stupid!

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As we lowered the ship back into the docking bay on Yavin IV, we walked slowly out of the ship, with Kitster helped out by Tallah. As we walked through the docking bay, a young padawan from our class came running up to us and asked, "Hey, where've you guys been all week? You're missing the celebration!"

Guild looked at him and asked, "What are you talking about? Master Skywalker should have arrived home about ten hours ago."

The padawan said, "Well, Master Skywalker's ship was delayed in Coruscant several hours and did you expect the party to start exactly when he got back? He needed some rest, after all."

We all looked at each other and sprinted our way nonstop to the Throne Room. We walked through in time to see a couple of students holding wooden rods in a mock lightsaber fight. The bigger one was in all black and was obviously supposed to be Darth Vader. They're doing a re-enactment of Darth Vader and Master Skywalker's first duel.

Master Skywalker sat off to the side watching it with a big grin on his face and his chin in his hand, with his elbow propped up on his knee. Nearby was also a stone statue of himself with his lightsaber ignited in a stance of defiance. That has to be a gift of Leia or Mara's.

The fight concluded with the other student shoving his right hand into his sleeve and screaming out in pain. Everyone erupted in laughter and began to clap. The two students bowed to the crowd as Master Skywalker rose up to his feet and clasped a hand on each of their backs.

Master Jade-Skywalker rose up and went to the front of the crowd. You could see that she was trying to hide the fact that she wasn't particularly proud of two students poking fun at the fight that lost her husband's right hand. Nevertheless, she smiled and said "Well, I believed that that's all we have."

I shouted out at that moment, "Wait! We still have our gift!" We walked down to the front of the stage, as everyone turned around to face us. When we reached the stage, Guild and Ryndell handed the holos and disks we received and I went to the podium and said, "As a gift to Master Skywalker, we went on a one week mission to try and piece together the story of how Anakin Skywalker met the woman who would one day become his wife and give birth to Luke and Leia Skywalker. I'm proud to say that we succeeded."

There was a loud chatter in the large room after that. I motioned to the holos that were in Master Skywalker's hands. "We also retrieved several disks of their lives and holos of what they looked like in their youth. I will now tell the story of Anakin Skywalker...and Padmé Amidala."

After clearing my throat I began with, "She was the fourteen year old queen of Naboo; he was a nine year old slave on Tatooine. Who would have thought that two such differing people could ever find love in the other? From Anakin's humble beginnings, he was discovered by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn and his Jedi Apprentice, Obi-Wan Kenobi. As is common knowledge, he was later taken on as an apprentice by Master Kenobi.

"From the moment that Anakin laid eyes on Padmé, he knew that she would be the woman he would spend his life with. But when he finally grew into a man, there was a hard truth that he had to try to accept; Jedi were not allowed to marry. Their love was forbidden. But they were so in love with one another, that nothing else mattered to them..."

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Later that night as I walked through the hallways of the Academy, I heard the voices Master Skywalker and Kitster having a conversation about Anakin. I couldn't help but smile about the fact that I had helped the Skywalker family finish piecing together the last unknowns of their family's history.

I reached my destination at the door of Tallah's quarters. I took a deep breath and let it out before I finally knocked. I could tell that Tallah was surprised to see me at her door. "Ben...what do you want?"

"Well, first could I come in?"

After a few seconds, Tallah agreed and motioned me in. She closed the door and asked me again, "So, what is it?"

"I have a question for you, Tallah." I turned around and looked her right in the eye. "Would it be any easier for you to accept me if I weren't so strong in the Force?"

Tallah looked off guard for that one and said, "Well, you are, so what's the point in discussing it?"

"You're afraid that you could do to me what Padmé did to Anakin Skywalker. I know that's what it is. But it doesn't have to be that way."

Tallah began to get a little upset. "Why are you trying to make this so hard for me?"

"I'm sorry, Tallah. But I remember something you told me once. When I was afraid of becoming a second Darth Vader, trying to overcome my anger. You told me that no Jedi is bound by another's fate. We all make our own choices life. You were right."

"But...what if you have to go somewhere in a week and you get killed? What would all this really add up to?"

I finally mustered up all the courage I could and walked straight up to her as close as I could and put my arms around her waist. I said in a whisper, "It would mean the happiest week of my entire life. And I hope that it would be yours too."

Tears began to well up in Tallah's eyes, but she made no effort to hide them or break free from me. She also whispered, "Do you have any idea how hard it is to try and get you to stop this, even when I don't want you to? How hard it is to have to reject someone that you—"

Tallah stopped herself from saying that last word, but I knew what she was going to say. I nodded and leaned in to kiss her. As we began to kiss, I felt her finish her sentence in her mind. –love.

As we continued to kiss, I felt myself begin to pour out emotions that I had forgotten that I had. When the kiss ended, I looked into her eyes and felt a bit of sadness. She looked at me and asked, "What's wrong?"

I never broke eye contact with her and said, "Well, I have a problem. Now that I've kissed you, I'm never going to be able to let go." We just stood there smiling at each other, because we both knew that no matter what, we never would.

TO BE CONTINUED.

Coming up next is...The Second Arm of the Force I: Battle Dawn