Standard Disclaimer: These characters belong to G. Lucas and T. Zahn. In other words: not mine.
Dedication: To anyone who loves hot chocolate.
Rating: M (just to be on the safe side)
Spoilers/Timeline: After The Corellian Trilogy but before "Vision of the Future".
A/N: Do read and review.

Lightheaded
Chapter 3: Slumming It

It looked set to be a gorgeous day. The sun was just beginning to rise when Luke woke up, its early rays bringing the dark Coruscant night slowly through all the shades of blue before bursting forth into a supernova of indigo, orange and yellow. By the time yellow appeared, Luke was already up, breakfasted, and on his way to the institute. As was Leia, except that she was on her way to her office. Han was still sleeping when they exited the apartment.

Deciding to slum it for the day, Luke pulled a cap on and decided to take a public transport to the Institute. 'It's not that far away from here anyway, only about an hour or so,' he thought as he settled into his seat on the inter-city transport shuttle. He rather enjoyed riding about in the transport shuttle anyway; it was different from being in control all the time, where the responsibility of avoiding an accident rested solely on your shoulders as you manoeuvred between the skylanes.

About fifteen minutes had passed before the shuttle pulled into its fifth stop: Coruscant University. Luke spied a familiar figure moving sluggishly through the crowd. Their eyes met, and Isaar's eyes brightened in recognition. Luke quickly put a finger to his lips before Isaar could announce his presence to the whole shuttle. Isaar quickly shut his mouth and made his way toward the Jedi Master, who was saving the newly-vacated seat beside him for his young friend.

"It's a good thing you're quick on the uptake, or I might have been mobbed," Luke joked as Isaar sat down beside him.

"Well, you kind of learn to stay on your toes in the Law Faculty of the school, or you might end up without a practising licence after working your butt off for four years," Isaar retorted. Then yawned. "What are you doing on this shuttle anyway? Aren't you supposed to be on Yavin, and shouldn't you have taken a private shuttle or something?" And yawned again.

"I'm headed for that droid Institute which you helped me with, remember? And I felt like taking the public shuttle." Luke took a closer look at his friend.

"Oh, right, right. Is it time already? Wow, that's amazing, time really does move quickly," Isaar yawned again.

"I'm sorry, am I boring you?" Luke asked in a wry tone. "Where are you going right now anyway? Aren't classes supposed to be on?"

A horrified look came into Isaar's eyes. "Oh no, I didn't mean any disrespect, Master Skywalker! I've been studying all night for an examination tomorrow, and I'm on my way home to crash. I didn't meant that you were boring, honest!"

Luke was taken aback by the sudden change in the youth's behaviour. "Take it easy, Isaar, I was joking. You know, a joke? Like the ones that go, 'a thernbee, a Jedi and a Sith walk into a cantina'? And it's 'Luke', remember?"

Isaar frowned, puzzled. "Joke? 'A thernbee, a Jedi and a Sith walk into a cantina?' Won't they get stuck at the door?"

"Well, I never said it had to be a good joke," Luke shot back. Isaar yawned again. "Master Luke, I'm so sorry to do this to you, but I'm going to take a quick nap right now, could you wake up once we're near your stop? Because that's my stop too…" And with that, Isaar was out like a light.

Luke looked at the sleeping youth and smiled in amusement. "Kids," he thought, as he once again turned to watch Coruscant life pass by his transport shuttle.

-----

Another half hour elapsed before Isaar roused from his power nap. Rubbing his eyes, he turned towards his companion. To his surprise, the Jedi was dozing off as well.

"Well Master Luke, looks like the mind-numbing boredom of public transport has gotten to you as well," Isaar joked.

Luke yawned and shook his head to clear the cobwebs that had begun to gather in his mind. "I've always wondered why people fell asleep on transports. I really enjoyed looking at everything for the first half hour, but after that, it just got…"

"Boring?"

"Monotonous."

"Our stop's coming up in about," Isaar checked the electronic signboard in the shuttle. "Two minutes. Would you like to grab a cup of coffee before I concuss for the next six hours?"

Luke considered the offer for a moment before turning the offer down. "Besides, won't the caffeine keep you up?"

Isaar gave a soft whuff of laughter. "Caffeine? Master Luke, I'm a law underclassman. What do you think?"

Luke made a face. "Right, right, what was I thinking? You probably need to have it injected into you before it has any effect." The shuttle arrived at their stop, and they moved off the transport.

"It was good seeing you, Master Luke. I hope the droid testing goes well." Isaar made ready to leave.

"Wait!" Luke felt a little bad about turning down the invitation for coffee. "How about we have lunch after your nap?"

Isaar looked regretful at the offer. "I'm sorry, Master Luke, but I'll probably be sleeping till midday, and then I've still got to go through a bunch of cases for my exam tomorrow. Could I get a rain check on your offer till after my exams are over?"

"Sure, sure. Now please, don't let me keep you." Luke gave him a slight push. "Go home, sleep, eat, bathe, study. Be a productive member of the New Republic." Isaar waved goodbye to Luke as he exited the shuttle, and Luke walked to the droid testing facility.

-----

Droid testing that day went quicker than the previous day. Everyone was fresh, and the technicians and scientists had all gotten over their awe of the Jedi Master, so much so that a number of them had requested autographs and photographs with him after the day's testing was over. Luke obliged for a while, but excused himself once midday struck, citing his nephew and niece as the reason why he had to leave.

"But I'll be back next year for your next batch of droids, so take that as an incentive to stay in this job, I suppose," he remarked to laughter from the staff.

Turning on his heel, he left the Institute without a second glance, wanting only to return home to Jaina and Jacen. If he concentrated, he thought he could feel their impatience in the Force.

He smiled, and quickened his step.