There was no warning prior to being roughly shaken awake by my father before the temple was warm and before there was enough light to do anything beyond meditating without using artificial illumination. I rolled over groggily; pulling the covers over my head briefly before having them yanked down again. I half-opened my eyes, then longed to shut them again; it's not pleasant to see your father's concerned face at any time of day, especially not in the morning.

"Gracie, are you up?" All he got was a moan in response. "Good. Get dressed. I'll leave the room, and then we're leaving." He turned before I could move or ask any questions, so I sighed and did as I was told. I had learned that if anything was going to make people angry and cause myself harm, it could easily be avoided by obedience (in most cases).

Grabbing my lightsaber from the nightstand, I headed into the hall outside the apartment, noting that while it made the tiny and bare room more decorated, it also took up more space. Han was standing outside, displaying typical nervous behavior, at least for his standards. Most of us don't lurk behind pillars while pacing and speaking fluently in the language of things not left intelligible on holoshows.

"What's wrong?" I demanded, pulling him out of his thoughts. "I noticed that my master's lightsaber was gone on my way out, and there's no note or anything to tell me where she…"

He cleared his throat, trying to get past the obvious lump without making it obvious. "She left. Late last night, there was an attack on Alderaan. From what I heard, it was an attempt on a Nubian senator's life. She wanted to go, and she has a way with persuading people, I'll give her that. So she set off for the planet," he sighed.

"Alone?" I thought aloud.

"No, she took a team with her. She's not that crazy," Captain Solo added with a hollow laugh. "Other members of the team reported back, but the transmissions were fuzzy, and we still haven't gotten much information. But I know something they don't. We're running late. We should have headed off a standard hour ago."

"Tell me the rest as we're walking," and we turned down the corridor, taking the lift to save time. I could only imagine what new threat we faced. Whatever had silenced my mother, it had to have been a very powerful force indeed.

"Well," he whispered despite the obvious emptiness of the lift, "a few years back, me and your uncle and your mother faced off against this evil guy who wanted to turn her to the Dark Side. She was just about to slice him to ribbons with her lightsaber when her conscience stopped her and she let him go. I only wish that I'd butted in and finished the job, but I was too scared myself. And the worst part is, no one believes us about the whole deal 'cept for Luke and Anakin and Padme."

"So you think that he's behind this…Padme?" I said suddenly. "Padme Amidala? What does she have to do with any of this?"

"She's your grandma, kid, didn't you know that?" he asked, rather stupidly. "Oh…you didn't. Right, shouldn't have told ya that. Well, she's also the senator that's been attacked for probably the umpteenth time, and I'm thinkin' it's to target Leia. She's a highly powerful Jedi, and she nearly fell to the Dark Side. He could have orchestrated the whole event just for that cause…" He shrugged. "It's a thought."

So we're in the lift, heading down to the lower level hangars, and I've just learned even more that I didn't want to know. My grandmother, the famous senator, has been repeatedly attacked, and my mother is missing. She may be in the clutches of an evil man. She may have already gone to the Dark Side, betrayed the Jedi, and would now be plotting our downfall. The sickness in my stomach was caused more by the drop in my life than in the drop in floors.

Once in the halls leading to where the Falcon was docked, I had to run to keep up with my father's long strides. "Is it just us going?" I asked, panting. I didn't want to tackle this evil alone, especially after hearing that it hadn't taken much for him to turn my master to the Dark Side. Remembering a puzzle one of my many mentors had taught me, I realized my downfall would be just as swift as hers, had it been planned.

"Is it easier to forget your place and kill that which has wronged against you than that which has not?"

"Yes, Master."

"Just as it is easier to bend a mind weakened by worry and fear to serve you. Be careful, Gracie. You harbor your hatred like you harbor your secrets. The more enraged you become, the more blind you are to the plight of those around you."

"No, we're not goin' alone," he answered finally. "A few years ago I hired a mechanic. He was a little street urchin, and he didn't have a family, so I offered him a job. He's real nice, about your age or a little younger. I have faith in him, Gracie. He knows how to use a blaster better than most." When we reached the Falcon, the boy I had met on the balcony was leaning against the hatch. He waved when he saw us approaching. "That's him there now," Captain Solo added. "His name's Ricco."

He didn't run up to us, nor did he talk until we were safely inside where no one could hear. Until then, the only greeting we got was a small smile. "Hyperdrive's been fixed, Captain," Ricco said proudly, still holding a small tool in his hands. "It took me and Chewie to get it working right. But the job's done, and it'll work, and that's what's important, right?"

"Right," Han said, ruffling his hair. "Ricco, this is Gracie, and she's the Padawan of the Jedi who went missing." The boy stuck out his hand after wiping it hastily on his pants; the grease from fixing the miscellaneous parts on the Millennium Falcon wasn't exactly a pleasant greeting. I shook it, then faded into the background while the two of them went into a long conversation about the route they were taking. "We're headed toward a place on Alderaan where we believe Leia disappeared. It won't take too long. Ricco, go get that…just bring back what's on the holochess board." Ricco nodded eagerly and dashed off.

I took the opportunity to pull my father aside. "Does he know about my relation to you, and your relationship with our missing person?" He glared at me, then looked around to make sure we really were alone. There weren't any bugs or listening devices that I could sense, but he didn't know enough of the Force to be able to tell.

"No," he hissed. "And he's not going to know! If you told him…" he ran his fingers through his hair. "There's somethin' you gotta know about that kid, Gracie. He's real enthusiastic, and he gets excited easily. I'd like to call it something other than bloodlust, but that's the best word to describe it. When he gets into a fight, you never know what's gonna…"

It was like a shock running through my brain. "How did you get a lightsaber?" I demanded. "That's Jedi technology, and you can't even use it!" Han looked just about as puzzled as I was. "You told Ricco to get what's on the holochess table, and that's what it was. Did you steal it? That's illegal! I can't believe that my own father's enough of a nerfherder to try and take from the oldest order in the galaxy!" I continued to rant on for some time until he clamped a rough hand over my mouth.

"First of all, I didn't steal it. It's from…well, let's say I know someone who can use it, and he's gonna need it real soon. Second of all…how did you know what he got without looking at it? You were a good distance away." My father removed his hand then looked at me sadly. "I don't want to have to keep things from you, especially not things you deserve to know. But sometimes there'll be situations where the less you know, the better. Can you trust me?"

I nodded. "I don't know how I knew about the lightsaber, though. All of a sudden the thought just occurred to me, and I was too surprised to consider that I was acting on something I couldn't count on being right. It was through the Force or something. Don't worry, though, I'll never use that tactic in a battle."

"You better not," he joked, tugging on my Padawan braid. "Hey, I thought that master of yours would've promoted you by now! Don't tell me she's holding you back. Leave it to her to do that kind of thing." He sighed. "I'm proud of you, Gracie. You've done a hell of a lot more with your life than I'd done when I was your age. And…"

"Captain!" Ricco shouted as he sprinted towards the cockpit, his footsteps echoing loudly, nearly drowning out his words. "It's Master Skywalker, and he's trying to board! He saw me somehow, and now he wants us to stop. This mission isn't authorized. We could get kicked out, and you could lose your positions, both of you!" Han grabbed the kid's shoulder.

"Calm down," he instructed. "Close the hatch, prepare to lift off, and plot the course for Alderaan. Gracie, you get the tools and help Chewie, he's making some repairs down below. Don't worry, we'll warn you before the ship moves. I'll be in the cockpit. Come on now, he'll survive if we're gone, but if we don't leave soon Master Janren might not." He grabbed a box of tools from the corner and handed them to me. "Go!" he shouted as he gave me a push towards my destination. I followed his instructions to where the Wookiee was working.

I was greeted with a furry hug and several howling noises I couldn't comprehend. "Hey, Chewbacca. Good to see you, too," I managed to say through his bone-crushing hug. "The captain needs my help. My mother got kidnapped." At these words, he abruptly let go of me and buried his head against a steel beam. "She's okay, we think," I lied, trying to calm him down. "That's what I'm here for. We need to get this ship off of the ground!"

Chewbacca nodded, and we got to work. I was almost finished with the most important components when I felt the odd sensation again: someone was inside my head! "Gracie!" It was Master Skywalker, contacting me through whatever small bond still connected us. "I demand that you turn this ship around. Going through with this mission is a breech of the Jedi code-"

"Like mother, like daughter," I thought angrily before blocking him from my mind. He only returned with greater force, causing intense pain in my temples. I let out a scream as I fell to the floor writhing in pain. The skill of clouding someone else's thoughts was one I had never quite perfected. Below me, the ship lurched upward, and the pain began to dissipate. Ricco ran down to check on me; my scream had obviously been heard. His presence worked like a subtle healing agent, clearing the pain from my spirit as easily as a bacta patch could mend a cut.

"You okay?" he asked nervously. I gave him a weak nod. Upon moving, I was greeted with another mental spasm. Ricco clutched my pale arm to keep me from falling. "Captain!" he yelled. This time, he stood up, making sure I was okay first. "Captain, Gracie's hurt or somethin'!" Looking back down at me, he mumbled curses under his breath.

My father came down into the hold in a few standard minutes, but they dragged like hours as I lay back down on the floor. "Go on, keep her on course," he instructed Ricco. The brown-haired boy nodded and ran to the cockpit, his skin lighter than usual. Han then turned back to me. "Can you move?"

"Dunno," I said as I tried to sit up, causing another sharp pain. "Why…why did that cause me so much hurt? I've had my mind invaded before…but never like this."

"Here we go," he said softly, lifting me back to my feet. "If you want, we can talk about it once we get into hyperspace."

The rush of the light moving past our craft did nothing to ease the vertigo I still felt from the attack. Sitting down in a chair near my father's, I closed my eyes and waited for the answer. When none came, I took it upon myself to ask. "Dad?" From the sound of things he jolted upright. I looked again for a moment and noted that Ricco was out of the room; he must not be a part of this conversation.

"Well," the captain sighed, "I'm not too sure about this Jedi mind trick business, but I think I know why it was so stressful for you. You see, your grandpa and I were on friendly terms for a time. I was the one who flew his family to Coruscant. But then there were…complications."

"You fell in love with his daughter."

He laughed. "Yeah, and if that wasn't bad enough, it was his Jedi daughter. You gotta understand, Gracie, I had no intentions of taking her away from the life she led. But my feelings were eating me up inside, so I told her how I felt. Which, as it turns out, was a huge mistake, because she then realized, after being held captive by an evil Sith lord, that she had feelings for me as well.

"Padme and Anakin didn't know we married. We kept it secret just as they had. And then, of course, Leia found out she was pregnant with you. She told the Skywalker family. Your uncle's a good man, Gracie, and he stood up for me. Said it wasn't my fault, and that we both acted of our own free will, not that your mother would ever act otherwise. But Anakin…he was mad. He wasn't present at your birth because…because I was gonna be there."

I didn't trust myself to speak, nor did I trust myself to act, so I stared intently at the control panel until I was positive I saw it smoke. "He sounds like a bitter, selfish old man," I said finally when the words had come back to me. "That wasn't right, what he did. He shouldn't have abandoned his daughter just because she made the same mistake he did when he was her age, or even younger!"

Han ran his fingers through his hair, a telltale sign that this conversation was making him very nervous. "I get where he's coming from, but I can't say I agree with what he did. It's true, that ain't right, and I know Leia suffers enough because of the choice we made. She shouldn't have to bear this burden too. I think when he went into your mind, or whatever happened, some of that weight was passed off on you. I don't know. How the hell should I know?"

"I didn't expect you to," I said. "Not that you're not smart, but it's more of a Jedi thing, and you shouldn't feel bad for not knowing. So…" I changed the subject to something a little less depressing. "What are we going to do once we find Mom?"

"Once, not if? I like the way you think. Well, I know I can fight okay, and you've got all that mind trick and lightsaber stuff covered. Ricco's a pretty good shot with a blaster, but they're pretty risky weapons. You don't think…" My father looked at me pleadingly. "Gracie, could you teach Ricco a little Jedi magic or whatever you call that stuff you do, and maybe show him how to use that lightsaber I got? I'd really appreciate it. The kid's a real quick learner."

"But he's not a…" Thinking about it, I had sensed a slight awareness of the Force in him, under the surface. "Why not? It won't do any harm to try, and if it works, that'll be one less thing to worry about."

"Good," he said, nodding. "I have another favor, if you don't mind. Could you maybe fly the Falcon a little? You know, just keep her going in the right direction while I check on our other crew members."

"Sure." It would give me something to do, and more importantly, something to keep my mind off of all that had gone on. The captain got up, and I took his place. Leaning forward slightly before sitting down, I saw my reflection staring back at me. The scar gave me an edgier face than before the injury, and my eyes were hollow and dark. Good, I thought, I should have an exterior to match how I felt.