Chapter Two

They sat the children down. Leia saw Luke eyeing them with interest, as she knew when he was growing up, he hadn't had many children his own age to play with.

Now he was the same age as his niece and nephew.

Jaina scampered over to him. "Hi. I'm Jaina."

Luke nodded gravely. "I'm Luke."

Her eyebrow knitted together in thought. "I have an uncle named Luke. He's a Jedi Knight."

The boy's blue eyes widened. "Really? Cool. He has a lightsaber and everything?"

"Yep," Jaina said proudly. "I'm going to be a Jedi, too. So are my brothers. And so are you."

Luke looked startled. "I am?"

"Yes. You have the Force in you. Really strong, too."

He seemed to ponder that for a moment. "The Force... can it help you find lost things?"

Leia, overhearing him, knelt by his side, placing her hand on his shoulder. Her heart broke a little when she felt him stiffen at the physical contact. "Yes, it can. Why?"

"'Cause maybe that's why I can do that. Other stuff too. But it..." he trailed off.

She looked into his eyes, so young, but still so serious. "But what Luke?"

"But it makes Uncle Owen mad. He doesn't like it when I know stuff before it happens, and so he-"

Leia felt a chill she couldn't account for. "He what Luke?"

"Nothing." the little boy hastily replied.

Standing there silently, Leia decided she wasn't getting anywhere with words.

So she gently probed his mind, counting on the fact that the young Luke Skywalker hadn't built up the virtually impenetrable shields that the elder one had.

He hadn't, but she was surprised though, as it was harder to get in than she anticipated.

But when she finally did was met with...

"The only way you could've known that part was under the couch was if you put it there." Owen Lars was practically snarling.

Luke was standing, practically trembling with fear; yet he held his ground.

He looked at his aunt. "Aunt Beru, I swear I didn't."

Beru glanced at her husband. "Owen, just because Luke found it, doesn't mean that he put it there."

"Well, how else would care to explain it Beru? We were searching high and low for the blasted thing, and he just closes his eyes and says that it's under the damn couch."

Beru gave Owen a look that said the farmer knew exactly how Luke had done it, but Owen Lars was hearing none of it.

"Go pick the mushrooms off the vaporators before it gets dark." he said to his wife.

She hesitated, obviously not wanting to leave Luke alone with her husband.

"Beru! We need them for supper! Now go!"

Sighing, she went.

As soon as she was out of sight, a gleam of rage entered Owen Lars' eyes and he advanced on the small child.

"Got to teach you a lesson 'bout taking things that aren't yours."

"Please, no Uuncle Oowen." Luke was stuttering in fear as his uncle grabbed him.

Then he picked up his utility belt.

Luke wanted to scream, cry, and beg, but he did nothing. One tear of pain escaped as his uncle beat him, but that was all.

When Owen was finally done, Luke could barely stand for the pain.

"You learn your lesson?"

Silently, Luke nodded.

"Good."

Gasping, Leia broke contact with her brother's mind, aware of the tears that were flooding down her face.

"Leia," Han stepped up next to her. "You okay?"

When Han, an adult man, like his uncle, moved to such close proximity, Luke shifted away, his blue eyes wary. So that beating Leia saw couldn't have been the last time. The cautious fear in his eyes made Leia want to go back in time, back to Tatooine, and choke Owen Lars until he was blue in the face.

Taking Han by the hand, she drew him away from the others.

"What's wrong?" he demanded, wiping the tears that were still coursing down her cheeks.

Keeping her voice low; she told him what she had saw and heard in Luke's mind.

Han looked stunned for a moment, sickened, then angry. "Who would do that? To a little kid? And this Lars guy knew it was the Force?"

"Yeah. According to the talks I've had with Luke, that's what made Owen angry. He didn't want nothing to do with it," she shook her head sadly. "But he never mentioned this."

Leia was about to begin talking with the prime minister when she felt a tug on her sleeve.

Startled, she looked down to see the very young face of her brother staring up at her. God, how old was he? Five, maybe six at the most.

"Ma'am?"

"You can call me Leia," she told her brother, feeling very odd indeed. "Do you need something Luke?"

"Yes. An explanation. What's going on? I need to go home now, please." he said, desperation tinging his voice.

"I'm not sure what's going on. Prime Minister Dhan was just about to explain it to me."

"But I need to go home now!"

"When we get this figured out..."

But Luke was beyond listening. He was panicked and angry, and therefore his Force abilities erupted all around them like a volcano.

Chairs, holopads, data chips all began to fly. The lights started to flicker, threatening to explode.

Han grabbed Luke by the shoulders, but was saddened when Luke stiffened and tried to twist away.

"Hey kid, it's okay. Calm down." he murmured in his ear.

"No! Let me go!" and Luke pushed at Han, causing him to lose his grip, and stumble away.

"Han," Leia touched his arm. "Let me try, okay?"

He nodded, more than willing, but a little sad as he gazed down at the terrified little boy.

How could an adult, someone who was supposed to love and take care of him, hurt a little kid like that?

"Luke." Leia said gently, as she crouched down beside him.

He wouldn't look at her; look at anyone. The chairs, data chips, and holopads had came down, but the lights still continued to flicker ominously.

"Luke, it's all right. You're safe here. Nobody's going to hurt you."

He finally dared to look up at her, and her heart broke to see tears glimmering in those blue eyes. "Maybe... but if I get back home..." he didn't finish his sentence.

Leia wanted to reassure him that nothing would happen to him; that he would be safe.

And it killed her that she couldn't.

"Well, we'll worry about that later. But right now, you're safe, and no one will hurt you. Nobody."

He eyed her suspiciously and curiously, wiping the tears that were clinging to his lashes. "Who are you?"

Leia froze. How was she going to explain this?

But she wasn't going to lie. That would make things worse.

"Sit down. This is going to take awhile."

When she was finished, he propped his chin on his hands, his forehead wrinkled in apparent thought.

"So... this is the future?" he asked.

Leia nodded.

"And you're my sister? I have a sister?"

She smiled. "Yes. We don't find each other until we're nineteen-years-old, but yes, we're brother and sister. Twins."

"So they," he gestured to Leia's three children. "Are my nephews and niece?"

"Yes."

"Weird."

"Yes, indeed. So that's why I need to talk to Prime Minister Dhan. He's going to try and explain what happened to you. The adult you, that is."

He appeared to mull it over. "All right. I'll go sit with...?" he glanced at the children.

"The twins are Jaina and Jacen. The younger one is Anakin."

Luke's face lit up. "Anakin was my... our father's name! Did you know that?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes, Luke. His name was Anakin Skywalker. Before..."

He caught the hesitation. "Before what?"

"Before he became Darth Vader."

His little face went perfectly still. "But-but that's not true. He was a n-navigator on a space freighter."

Leia bit her lower lip, searching for the right words. "Your uncle lied to you. He was a Jedi Knight once, but turned to the dark side of the Force."

She added. "You know, you, the adult you, is a Jedi Knight. The head of the new order?" hoping to divert his mind onto something else.

"What is the dark side of the Force?"

Leia blew out a breath. He was so inquisitive! Much more so than either Jaina or Jacen. She needed to talk to the prime minster, but she couldn't simply leave him there reeling with so many questions.

"There are two sides to the Force. The light and the dark side. The light side is what you, the Jedi use. You only use it for knowledge and defense, never for aggression. The dark side is when you let your emotions... anger, fear, and hate lead you."

He nodded. "I know, you need to talk to the prime minister. We'll go play now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I want to know what happened to me," he frowned. "This is kind of weird, huh?"

She ruffled his hair. "More than you think."

(More Coming Up)