Remnants of the Empire

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars, or any of the characters.

Chapter 1

"Concentrate!" "Remember, a Jedi can feel the Force flowing through them." As Luke said these words, he thought back on the first time Obi-Wan had said the same thing to him. Back than he had really only just met the old Jedi Master, but in the short time he had known him, Obi-Wan had become like a friend and mentor to him. He had never gotten to know the man he had only known as Ben back on Tatooine. Luke's own father had killed him soon after he had started Luke down the path to become a Jedi.

"Luke, stop daydreaming and show me how to do this right!" As Leia's exasperated outburst cut through his thoughts, it was followed by a sharp cry of pain.

"Owww! That remote got me again!" As Luke deactivated the remote through the Force, he looked at Leia seriously.

"You aren't concentrating hard enough!" he reprimanded her. Stretch out with your feelings." He activated the remote again, as Leia ignited Luke's bright emerald green lightsaber with a sigh. Suddenly, the remote fired three quick bursts without warning. Leia reached deeply into the Force, and let it guide her. She twisted the blade around to block the first and second, and dove out of the way of the last bolt.

"See, you can do it!" said Luke encouragingly. "Now, only one more thing before we are done for today."

"Oh no! I'm already exhausted!"

"I know, so we aren't going to do anything too difficult. I'm going to show you how to Force jump, and then we'll be done for today."

"Force jump! That's impossible! It'll take hours!"

"No it won't, it's really easy. You just used the Force to block those bolts." he pointed out. "Don't worry, this will be easy."

"Okay."

"All you need to do is to reach into the Force, jump as high as you can, and the Force will work for you." "Do it a few times and then we will be finished for today."

"That's it?" she said, suspicious of her friend and master, as he always had a challenge for her. Her suspicions were well founded.

"Practice a few times, and then I will try to attack you with a training saber. You can dodge all you want, but you can't block my attacks, try to jump out of the way."

"Oh no, that's not too difficult at all is it?" Leia teased. "Why don't you just lift the entire forest, the training ground and you too, while you're at it?"

As Leia reached into the Force, she felt that familiar sensation of power, peace, and love, mingled together. She bent her legs, and jumped, with the Force propelling her upward. She flew much higher than she could have jumped on her own, even higher than she could have if she had used an electro trampoline. As she started to fall back down, her long brown hair was swept upward, and she struggled to stay straight. Her feet slammed onto the ground. Luke watched her, both of them beaming as she launched herself again into the air, her confidence growing as she felt herself more at peace with the living Force. She was elated at her newly found gift of flying into the air. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Luke preparing to jump as well. She readied herself to dodge his attacks, and she reached farther than she ever had into the living Force, remembering the things that Luke had taught her.

"Remember, a Jedi's strength flows from the Force."

As he swung at her, she ducked under his humming blade, and Force jumped over him. Her eyes shone with exhilaration, and she decided to try something new, something that Luke wouldn't be expecting. As he swung at her again, she flipped over him and his glowing blade. Her legs hit the ground, and she swung to face him again. She was surprised by his lightsaber humming softly, only inches from her throat. As he lowered the blade, he said, "Be mindful of your thoughts, they betray you. I sensed your actions through the Force, and so I knew what you were going to do."

"Now, try it one more time, this time with your training saber."

As Leia called her saber to her through the Force, Luke attacked her quickly, trying to catch her off her guard. She grabbed the saber, ignited it, and quickly blocked his swing at her legs. She pushed him away, and tried to press her advantage, but Luke was too fast for her. She swung at his chest, and he ducked. He jumped over her and tried to bring his blade down onto her head. To his surprise, she flipped backward, faster than he had ever seen her do before, and guarded herself for his next attack.

"Excellent move Leia." He shouted encouragingly. Leia took this as a cue to begin her attack again. She rushed him, hoping to get him off balance. Again he was too quick for her, jumping over her. She swung at his legs, his chest, and his head, all in quick succession, and each time, she was blocked. Simultaneously, they both flipped backwards, both out of the other's reach. For a few seconds, they stared at one another, both gasping for air. Suddenly, they sprang at each other again, and began their duel once more.

Somewhere nearby, a completely different, but equally fierce battle was raging,

"Oh idiot!" 3PO yelled at R2, who answered cheekily with a rude sequence of beeps and blips.

"Fine," he said,"I'm not going to do it that way. If you set the house on fire Master Luke will be very upset with you. I just wanted to give Master Luke and Mistress Leia a nice dinner after their long training practice. You had to come in here and mess it up!"

With that, the food on the pan ignited with a great whoosh, and C-3PO immediately began to berate and hit R2.

"Use your fire extinguisher!" he screamed at the droid. "Oh come on you great lump, the fire is rising!"

R2 used his extinguisher and put the fire out, but the food was charred beyond repair.

"Now look what you've done!" "You've ruined Master Luke's dinner, you've created burn marks on the ceiling, the whole kitchen is coated in extinguisher fluid, and according to my inner computer," 3PO exclaimed. "We have only 25 minutes and 41 seconds before Master Luke comes home."

They fiercely began to clean up the kitchen, but forgot to throw out the food. When Luke and Leia got back, all that was left of the accident was the pan full of a charred mess that used to be chicken, and a smoky odor in the kitchen. When Leia and Luke came in, they were in a playful debate over the outcome of their practice session.

"I almost beat you, and I would have too if…"

"Go on..." said Luke. "If I had let you win you would have." He said jokingly. "And I…" "Is something burning?" "3PO!" he yelled, "what's happening in there?"

"Nothing, Master Luke" he replied, "But, I was wondering do you like dark meat?"

"Sure", he said, "Why in the world would you ask that?"

Ignoring his question, 3PO answered with another question. "I mean really dark meat?"

"Sure", Leia said. "Why?" she replied, shooting a questioning glance at her brother.

"I mean really, really dark meat?"

"Umm, yeah, sure, 3PO. What are we having?"

With a sigh and slouched shoulders, C-3PO answered, "Ashes. It was all R2's fault. I was going to make you a nice dinner, but he ruined it."

Both Luke and Leia burst into laughter, and forgave the two droids while shaking.

"Its ok," he gasped after he could talk again, "I'm sure we have some nutrient tubes around."

After the brother and sister left the kitchen, 3PO remarked to R2, "That'll teach you not to mess things up, having them laugh at you for 10 straight minutes," and with a swift kick, 3PO left.

A few rude beeps and blips showed that R2 thought that was very funny and had every intention of doing it again.

Later that night

"Can you believe what R2 did today?" Leia said, chuckling.

"No, that was pretty funny" said Luke, also chuckling. "I also thought that your performance today was very impressive." He said, in a more serious tone.

"Really? I didn't think so."

"I did. I was so impressed that I think that it is time for you to begin building your own lightsaber."

"NO WAY! Do you really think so!"

"Yes, Leia, I really do. I think you're ready to become my padawan."