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Chapter Four: Search

Caylee sat pouting on the loading ramp of the Falcon. She had her hands crossed in front of her as she starred at her father. Luke knew that this was going to be hard for her.

"I'm sorry but it's going to be dangerous." Luke said trying to reason with her. But he was quickly learning that reasoning with a three year old was like trying to reason with an upset Wookie – it just wouldn't work. But at least Caylee wouldn't pull his arms off, like a Wookie could.

"Daddy no go!" she screamed at him.

"But I have to. Don't you want Cray to come home?"

She nodded yes as tears fell down her cheeks.

"Then I have to go find him." Luke said sitting down next to her on the ramp.

"Are you going to come home?" Caylee asked.

"Of course." Luke said hugging her. As he hugged her, he could feel her anxiety through the Force. It was that strong. He knew that she was scared of him leaving her too.

"Who is going to take care of me?"

"Aunt Leia and Winter. Will you behave for them?"

"Yes. Can Artoo stay here too?"

"Sure, if you promise not to cry when we leave tomorrow."

Caylee nodded yes and hugged her father. He hugged her back, stood up, and then picked her up. "Come on. Let's go find your aunt. Uncle Han needs some peace and quiet to finish making repairs to the Falcon."

"I HEARD THAT!!" Han yelled from inside the Falcon.

Caylee giggled as she and her dad left the docking bay.

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That night, Luke watched over Caylee as she slept. Ever since Mara had died, he hadn't been sleeping as much. And Caylee had been sleeping in his room. She just told him that the dark scared her, but he knew better. He knew that she missed having Cray sleep in the same room as her.

As he watched over Caylee, his mind began to wonder back over memories – like before he had met Mara, the longing for someone to love and to love him. Then he remembered their wedding day, then the happiness and completeness he felt when Mara told him that she was pregnant and that they were going to be parents. Then his mind wondered to the day that the twins were born. That was one of the happiest days of his life. He finally had the family that he had always wanted. Finally his mind settled on the past few days events…the last kiss he and Mara shared, his last hug to Cray, Mara's funeral…

The more he thought, the more that fear began to build up inside of him. The fear that Cray may be dead or the fear that whom ever took Cray, would come back after Caylee. Then his fear boiled over to anger and hated towards whoever had done this to his family.

"Fear leads to anger; anger leads to hate; hate leads to suffering; that is the dark side of things…"

Luke could hear Master Yoda's words ring through his head. He couldn't let himself be consumed by his grief – that would leave him down the path of the Dark Side. If he did, he would loose so much that he still had to live for – Leia, Han, Jacen, Jaina, Anakin, Chewie, and Caylee. Especially Caylee.

Right now, Caylee was everything in his life. He couldn't imagine what he would be like if she had been taken from him also.

Deep in his heart, Luke knew that everything was going to be different now. Different in the way that they lived, different in the way that he would go about training Caylee in the ways of the Force, and different in the way the galaxy was, along with how it was going to be in the future.

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"So what are we looking for?" Han asked, as he, Luke, Chewie and Threepio made their final approach to Ord Mantell.

"Odd going ons. There have been several mixed messages coming from the planet. That's what Leia told me."

"What can be odd about Ord Mantell? Did someone actually win the jackpot at the Pink Sky Casino?"

"No. There have just been odd reports. No one can figure them out."

As soon as the Falcon was landed, Han wanted to go to the casinos, but Luke stopped him. "Han we'll come back as soon as we find Cray. I promise."

"I was just kidding with you. Now aren't we supposed to meet someone here?"

"Yeah. I believe the mayor."

"And that would be me," a young female voice said behind them. The trio turned around and saw a young woman. "Hello I am Deba Wal'kei. You must be Master Skywalker and General Solo."

Luke and Han both nodded yes.

"Please follow me this way."

She led them to a speeder that took them to the main office complex in the city. Han was shocked that there were actually government offices on Ord Mantell.

"Now what has been going on here?" Luke asked, as they walked into the building.

"We have noticed that there has been an increase in the numbers of bounty hunters that are on the planet. And from what we have learned is that they all have the same goal."

"Bounty Hunters on Ord Mantell isn't anything new." Han said.

"But when the cargo that they have is children, that is new."

Luke didn't say a word and neither did Han. So Deba continued.

"We've been watching this for several months now. But it recently started getting worse. Instead of a ship a day, its between 8 to 10 a week."

"Do you know how many children are on each ship? Or where they are coming from." Luke asked.

"No. We tried to take over a ship, but it was to no avail. Instead my troops were shot down and the ships escaped."

They entered an office.

"All our information on these bounty hunters is in this computer." Deba said pointing to a computer in a corner.

"Goldenrod have fun." Han said, patting Threepio on the back.

"I wish Artoo was here. He is much better at this." Threepio said as he went into the corner and began working on the information.

Luke turned his attention away from Threepio and back on the mayor. "Thank you Mayor Wal'kei. We'll keep you informed on what we find."

"And we'll send more information as it becomes available," she said in response.

"Is it alright if we leave our droid here, while he gathers the information?" Luke then asked.

"That's perfectly fine. Now if you come with me, we have rooms ready for you at one of our local casinos, if that is aright?"

Han happily agreed to that. "We'll be in our rooms, Threepio." Luke said as the group left the office.

"That's fine Master Luke."

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"You have got to be kidding me!" Leia said shocked through their transmission.

"No sis. Mayor Wal'kei said that this has been going on for a few months, but has just gotten worse in the past few weeks. Threepio is getting us all their information right now."

"Good. Then we'll figure out what the New Republic needs to do. Do you think that these people were part of the group that took Cray?"

"I'm not sure. But it's really disturbing." Luke said pausing, then continuing. "Anyways, how is Caylee?"

"Winter took her to the Courscant Zoo today. She's finally smiling again."

"That's good. Has she been crying anymore?"

"Not really. But over the last two nights, she has had nightmares. I tried everything in the Force to calm her down, but nothing helped her. She wouldn't tell Winter or myself about the nightmares. I let her sleep on the floor in my room last night. And when she woke up this morning, she didn't seem to even be bothered by them."

That concerned Luke. Caylee hadn't had nightmares when he was there. She just was scared of being alone.

"Well we're leaving in the morning. We'll come back to Courscant before we go anywhere else. I want to go over the information with you. And also I need to be with Caylee. I shouldn't have left her so soon."

"That sounds good. Where's that Nerf Herder husband of mine?" Leia asked jokingly.

"Where do you think – the casinos."

Luke watched as Leia just shook her head. "I'll see you in a few days." Leia said ending the call.

Just as Luke ended the call with Leia, Threepio entered the main living room. "I have all the data, sir," the golden droid said.

"Good Threepio. I'm going to go lie down. You can shut down if you'd like." Luke said walking into an adjacent bedroom. Threepio moved into a corner and shut himself down.

Luke lay down on his bed and relaxed. The next thing he could sense was the Force all around him. He searched for answers to his many questions. Why were children being taken from their homes? Where was Cray? Was he still alive? And what was wrong with Caylee?

He knew that the Force was always changing and that whatever he saw could be different the next minute. He searched for his son's life signature, but couldn't find it. But a strange feeling told him that Cray wasn't dead, but alive and to not give up hope about finding him.

But that still left the question about why children were being taken unanswered. But the only thing that the Force showed him was a vision. A vision of two humans fighting – one was a Sith and the other was a Jedi. He knew that this was the nightmare that Caylee had had a few nights before her mother died and Cray was taken. But why was he seeing this now?

Luke snapped back into reality when he heard the door slide open and slide shut from the living room. He got up and saw that Han and Chewie were back from gambling. Han had a smug look on his face.

"Did you win the jackpot?" Luke asked.

"Nope. But I had fun."

Chewie barked something at Han.

"Hush Chewie he doesn't need to know that!"

"What don't I need to know?" Luke asked.

"I lost all that I took with me." Han said looking down at the floor.

Luke just laughed a little. "Hope you've learned your lesson. But I'm going back to bed."

"Sounds like a good idea." Han said going into a different bedroom. Chewie followed suit.

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"Thank you Mayor Wal'kei for everything." Luke said bowing to her.

"My pleasure Master Skywalker. We'll keep the Republic informed of any new ships."

Once again Luke said thank you and boarded the Falcon.

"Ready to go home kid?" Han asked as Luke strapped himself into a seat.

"Yeah. Caylee needs my attention, something is wrong with her."

"Well then better get going," Han said lifting off from the platform. The Falcon soared out of the atmosphere and into the heavens.

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A few days later, Luke, Leia, Han and Chewie all sat around a table in Leia and Han's apartment on Courscant. Winter had taken Caylee out for a speeder ride.

"I can't believe this is going on!" Leia said.

"Neither can I." Luke said. "And I still don't know if Cray was one of the many children abducted. But it seems unlikely. They would have taken more children and not just him."

"If Caylee had been there, they would have gotten her too." Han said quietly. Luke nodded his head in agreement.

"Well this isn't much information to go on," Leia said. "But I will send it to all the planets and if they've gone through the same things, then we will know."

"That seems like the only thing we can do," Luke said sounding somewhat defeated.

Don't worry Cray - - - I'll find you somehow…Luke promised to the Force, hoping that his son would receive his message wherever he was.

Leia looked up at her brother and could feel his despair. She sent a soft nudge to him and reassure him that she was there for him.

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Cray didn't know how long he had been without his parents and sister or where he was. The ship he was on had landed on a planet and Namon had come and gotten him out of his cell.

"Where are we?" Cray asked as Namon carried the young boy off the ship and into the sun.

"This is the planet Galena. This is your new home."

Cray felt a sudden sense wash over him. His parents must really be gone…