I stood there for a handful of seconds before my body decided to listen to my brain. I ran out into the corridor and called out, "Skywalker!"

The Jedi stopped, but only half-turned his head back towards me.

"Where are you going? Come back and eat," I said dumbly.

He waited a handful of seconds before responding jadedly, "I'm leaving Coruscant for a while. I need to meet with someone about acquiring some new training materials for the Academy. I've been putting it off for too long."

"What, now?"

"Yes, now."

"So you were just going to take off without telling me, is that it?" I accused.

"Since when do I need your permission to do anything, Jade?" A trickle of hostility leaked through his Jedi calm, invoking a reactionary response from myself.

"Fine!" I spat, "You do whatever the hell you like. It's no skin off my teeth if you want to traipse across the galaxy on some crackpot Jedi crusade. It's none of my business where you go or what you do, and you know what? I prefer it that way, I've got my own problems to deal with."

I gave his profile a scalding stare and met his gaze as he turned to face me fully. With my arms crossed in front of me, and my chin held high, I dared him to tell me otherwise.

"Of course you're right," Skywalker replied hotly, then narrowed his eyes, "It must be pretty lonely not caring about anyone, but I bet it leaves you plenty of time to work on your own problems, like you said. Good luck to you."

And with that, Skywalker turned on his heel and disappeared down the corridor.

Fine. Fine, fine, fine! If he wanted to act like a nerf herder and run off on his own, that was his business. I wasn't about to stop him. He needed some time to cool off, anyway.

But then why do I have such a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach?

I scowled, Damn that Jedi. Whenever he goes off on his own, he always manages to screw things up and get himself into trouble. Of course this meant I was going to have to go after him.

I was a few meters down the corridor towards the hangar bay before I realized I needed to change and grab a few things first. My scowl deepened as I stopped and turned around.

Just then my abdomen issued a warning rumble.

What was I thinking? I'm not about to go chasing Skywalker clear across the galaxy simply because of a stomachache. I shook my head slightly to help clear my thoughts, and then headed back into my apartment chalking up the feeling of dread in my stomach simply as hunger pangs.

Back inside, the smell of Beru's Stew enticed another ferocious growl from my waist. I walked straight to my kitchen and took a huge mouthful of Skywalker's desert cuisine.

Wow. Skywalker has been holding out on me. I made a mental note to get the recipe from him when he got back from his pilgrimage.

I finished up the stew and decided to leave the mess for the morning, then headed to bed early.

I couldn't have been sleeping for more than twenty minutes when my comm center beeped; I could tell immediately that it was Organa-Solo by the hailing signal she used. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I glanced at my bedside chrono. What felt like twenty minutes had been more like five hours. I made my way in the dark to the desk and chair in the corner of my living room.

With a sigh, I unceremoniously plopped myself into the chair and hit the key to accept the call. Leia's concerned face materialized on the screen before me and started to speak.

"Oh good, you're up,"

"It's three in the morning, Leia. Of course I'm up." I said with all the sarcasm I could muster at this point.

"Is my brother there? I just wanted to make sure the two of you got back safe,"

"No you didn't, you wanted to be nosy," I replied bluntly, raising an eyebrow.

Leia frowned and wrinkled her forehead in concern, "Alright, call it being nosy if you like, but I'm worried about Luke. Is he there with you? I tried to reach him at his apartment and on his personal comm, but he's either not there or not answering."

I let my eyebrow assume its normal positioning. Skywalker didn't tell his sister he was leaving? It wasn't like him to conceal anything from his twin, and then to not take her calls.

I had no reason to lie, so I told her the truth, "No, Leia. He's not here. He left shortly after we got back from the party. He was leaving Coruscant for a while, he mentioned something about a meeting with someone about the Academy."

Instantly, Leia's look of concern turned to one of shock, "What?"

"Skywalker had some meeting with someone about Jedi stuff."

Organa-Solo turned white, "He didn't tell you."

It wasn't a question. Excuse me? I narrowed my eyes suspiciously and spoke slowly, "Obviously. What didn't he tell me?"

Leia was beginning to look panicked, "Mara, he promised me he was going to talk to you about it. It was so important; I don't know why he didn't…" She trailed off.

"We had an argument before he left," I offered.

Leia's eyes widened even more, and her hand rose to cover her mouth.

"Solo, what didn't he tell me? What the hell is going on?" I repeated, starting to lose my patience.

In a shaky voice she whispered one word, "Callista."

I froze, "No."

Leia nodded.

I refused to believe it, "No, it's not possible. She's gone."

Light glanced off the tear that rolled down the cheek of Skywalker's sister when she froze my heart with her next two words, "She's back."