Chapter 8
Nomi sat staring out of the window of her bedroom. Well technically it wasn't her room. She felt as if she was back home with her father and had been sent to her room. All I did was sit in the cockpit of one of the X-wing. She thought to herself, ok well I did start it up but that doesn't mean I was going to try to fly it. Somehow this had made the Palace Security get mad at her and after much of Leia convincing them, she was at the least confined to the apartment. This is going to drive me crazy!
There was a knock at the door that broke Nomi's concentration. In the hope that it was Luke, she rushed to the door. It was only Mara, to her dismay.
"Hi Mara. Come in." Nomi said not allowing any of her disappointment to slip through her voice.
"Thanks. I've actually never been in here before." Mara commented what she had just realized. The two walked into the kitchenette and sat at the table.
"Would you like something to drink? There isn't much. I think there is some hot chocolate in the cabinet. I can make some real quick," Nomi offered.
"No, I'm fine. So I heard about the X-wing incident this morning. That was, well, interesting," Mara chuckled.
"Oh, that. Yeah, well, I hadn't been warned about the intense security around here. I guess I should've expected it though. I'm just use to doing what I want and suffering the not so harsh consequences. I mean, don't you think putting me in this room and locking the door is a little drastic?"
"Yeah. It is a little more than I'd expect. But then again the New Republic is always finding new ways to surprise me," Mara replied. "How long have you been in here?"
"About twelve hours. I'm going insane. Luke pretty much has nothing to do in here. It's so bare and so, I don't know, plain."
"So, I'm guessing you're a little desperate to get away from here for a little while?"
"Why? What would you have in mind?" Nomi said with a mischievous grin forming on her face.
"Come on. We're getting out of here." Mara said returning the smile.
They walked to the door and Mara stepped out first. There was a guard down by the repulsor lift. Mara told Nomi to stay put while she made a distraction. Mara used the Force to cause an alarm down the hall to sound. As the guard made his way toward the alarm, Mara and Nomi made their own mad dash for the repulsor lift. They rode the lift all the way to the main floor. When the door slid open there were lots of creatures in the corridor. Mara quickly pressed the button to close the door and had the lift headed to level two.
"What are we going to do? That is a rather large amount of people to distract and I'm afraid that the Force can't help you this time," Nomi said to Mara.
"I know. But there is always a plan B." The doors opened and they stepped out of the repulsor lift. A little boy with dark blonde hair, walked by. "Hey kid, come here." The little boy followed as instructed. "I'll give 20 credits if you'll do me a favor."
"Sure, I guess. What do you want me to do?" the little boy responded and accepted the credits Mara placed in his hand.
"I need you to take the emergency stairwell and run down to the main floor. When you get there shout that you just heard an alarm sound from level twelve. It sounded as if it was the fire alarm. I want you to look and sound scared. I want you to make everyone down there look and stare at you."
"Will I get in trouble for lying?" the boy asked with an innocent look upon his face.
"No, I was just on level twelve and the fire alarm just went off. So you're not lying. Now go."
"Yes ma'am." The boy shoved the credits in his pocket and took off running.
Mara and Nomi waited for a minute or two before they stepped into the repulsor lift. They had to give the boy time to run down the stairs. Neither of them said a word as they rode the lift down. The door opened and they slowly stepped out. They and only a few others continued to move as the boy was standing on the counter, telling about the alarm on the twelfth level. They slowly made their way out of the main door. It wasn't until they crossed the road, did Nomi let out a held breath. They walked into an ally. They leaned up against the wall and stopped to decide what was next.
"I hope to the Force they don't realize you're gone," Mara said.
"Why? I thought you threw caution to the wind at least that was the way Luke talked about you." Nomi said knowing that she was pushing a button with Mara.
"I don't care about the police system here on Corusant. I'm more worried about Leia and Luke staring right through me when they ask why I did this." Mara said, "When it comes to something close to Luke, he'll protect it to the fullest extent. I've seen him be that way with others; I just want to keep him on my side. Not to mention what Karrde will say."
Nomi couldn't help but chuckle that was the Luke she knew. "Okay, so where are we headed?" She had heard what Mara said when it comes to something close to Luke. She was going to disregard the comment for now.
Mara, however, noticed she twitched when she said it. She knew there was something Nomi wasn't telling. Even though Mara was not one to pry, she felt she needed to find out what it was Nomi was hiding if only for the safety of her friend. "Let's go to the cantina right around the corner. It's not a place you'd see New Republic officials. No one asks questions, it's an ideal place to hide out."
"Sounds great to me. I could use a drink about now." Nomi said as they began to walk down the side walk.
"So have you been giving them a hard time?" Han asked as he walked into Lando's hospital room.
"Hey, you old pirate! It's about time you got here. Have you talked to Tendra?" Lando was clearly ready to leave and he tried to slip that part in about Tendra without making too much of a big deal about it.
"Don't worry her and Karrde will be here in a few hours." Han replied.
"Hey, Luke. Hey, Chewbacca. Did he drag you along on this?" Lando said referring to Han.
Chewbacca responded with a roar that sounded much like a no.
"I came on my own free will." Luke said laughing it off.
"Why he did I don't know. He has a cute little thing waiting for him back home." Han slipped in there rather sneakily.
"Han!" Luke said rolling his eyes.
"Wait, now, Luke who is this girl?" Lando asked.
"She's an old friend. Now that you know about her, would you mind too much if I left and to make sure she hasn't changed her mind and she isn't gone?"
"Take the Lady Luck. But with how long I've been out you might have to get it out of impound. If you pay for it, I'll pay you back." Lando said.
"Thanks Lando. And Nomi thanks you too." Luke said with his innocent farm boy grin on his face. "I guess I'll see you three back on Corusant. Oh, and Lando, I'm glad your okay."
"Thanks." Lando said as Luke was half way out the door.
Luke got to the impound station and paid the fine for the Lady Luck. He got the necessary permission to leave. He was happily on his way.
Luke thought continually about what he was looking forward to returning to. It would be the third hour in the morning when he would land. He decided he would go to his apartment and surprise Leia, Mara, the kids, and Nomi at breakfast. His thoughts dwelled on Nomi for a while. His dreams had been filled with her lately. He wondered what it could have been that she wanted to talk to him about. The thought was still bothering him.
He knew though, that it was going to continue to bother him until he found out what was going on. Luke decided he would do some meditation to get his mind off the subject.
Jaina was impatiently knocking at the door. There was no answer. She turned to Jacen and gave him a strange look. He took out his key to their Uncle's apartment. They proceeded to go inside. Anakin ran ahead of them and Threepio followed.
"Ms. Nomi, Ms. Nomi," Anakin called out. There was no answer in return.
It was the ninth hour at night, where would she be, Jacen thought. "Something is wrong. We need to go get Mom."
"I think your right, Jacen. Come on, Anakin, Threepio, we have to go. Now!" Jaina ushered her little brother and the droid outside.
Jacen had locked the door and was already running to the repulsor lift. Jaina was catching up to him. Anakin had, to her surprise, passed Jaina in their race to keep up with Jacen. Jacen stepped onto the repulsor lift and pressed the seventeenth button. He held the door long enough for Jaina and Anakin to make it inside.
"What do you think happened?" Jaina asked out of breath.
"I don't know Jacen replied."
"I bet I might." Anakin said and his brother and sister gave him a confused look.
"Come on, it's not that hard. Remember the mysterious fire alarm that sounded on level twelve about three hours ago? Then, when Pody was down stairs, telling everybody in the lobby about it. It makes sense now; she was trying to get away."
"Yeah, just one little flaw in your plan. She is supposed to be waiting for Uncle Luke to come back. Why would she leave?" Jaina said.
"Maybe we should just go talk to Mom, and then figure it out from there." Jacen said. He, even though he would never admit it, was worried about Nomi. She had become a friend of Jacen's and he did enjoy teaching her what he had learned so far.
The door slid open and the three children blasted out of it. They each ran at full speed, dodging senators and their assistants. The three ran into the apartment.
"Mom, come quick." Jacen yelled.
Leia came running to see what would strike such panic in her older son's voice. "What's wrong?"
"Ms...Nomi... she's ...not ...in ...the ...apartment." Jaina responded trying to catch her breath. "Anakin thinks she ...might have tried to run away but ...I don't think so."
"You should call Mara and see if she knows where Nomi is," Jacen added.
"That's a good idea," Anakin put in.
"Where's Threepio?" Leia asked. After they stood there a moment Threepio came shuffling through the door.
Leia went into the bedroom where she had left her commlink. She picked it up and turned it on. "Mara, are you there? Mara? It's Leia, please pick up."
"Hey, Leia. What's wrong?"
"The children just went up to see Nomi and she wasn't in the apartment. Have you seen her by chance?"
"Um, I went and visited her earlier," Mara responded.
"Okay. Thanks let me know if you see her or something." Leia said.
"I will. Leia, don't worry. She's a big girl, I'm pretty sure she can take care of herself."
"Luke asked me to watch after her. If she left he might blame me. I don't want Luke to be angry with me."
"I know, but somehow I have a feeling things will work out. They always do. I have to go. I'll let you know if I find anything."