Thank you so much for your wonderful reviews! Something was wrong with the internet, I couldn't download this next chapter until... well, right now. So, I hope you enjoy!

korrd: Thank you so much! Don't worry about Luke, I've got some plans for him. And Obi-Wan, too. Oh no, he's not out of the picture. At all. Thanks for reviewing!

Chiara Sholuk: Thank you! See you when you get back! From... wherever you're going. Or, I'll know you're back when you review. Thank you!

Strickland-Propane: Thank you for reviewing! I'm glad you like it!

mentalkid: Thank you so much for reviewing my story, I know, I've read some pretty boring Luke/Vader stories, or some really ridiculous ones, and I didn't want mine to be too serious or too humorous. Luke and Leia will meet Vader, in fact, Leia is coming up really soon, and Luke will be coming up later in the story. Obi-Wan haunting Anakin is a great idea, but I've got something special planned for Obi-Wan. Thanks!

Chapter 15

Elena yawned, rolled over on her side and suddenly opened her eyes. "I'm fourteen today," she stated.

After dressing, Geenine rolled into the room, beeping happily.

"Hey Nine, guess what, I'm fourteen years old today!" Elena said brightly, "And we get to have a tour of my house. Doesn't that sound like fun?"

Geenine's top rolled in assent.

"But... I wish Dad would do something with me," she muttered, "It's not gonna be a real birthday without him. Oh well, there's nothing I can do about that, is there?" she put on her jacket and strode out of the room, bringing her backpack with her.

Have a good day at school, Geenine called.

"Thanks!" Elena shouted back.

On her way through the palace, she was stopped numerous times by stormtroopers and guards who wished her a happy birthday. Some even gave her presents, such as a blaster pistol or something like that. Elena was pleased to see that someone actually took the time to get her something, and her mood lightened considerably.

Jenson was waiting for her by the speeder, and handed her something with a big grin. "Happy life day, Lana," he said, and gave her a hug. "Hope you like what I got you. It's not much, but I think you'll like it."

Elena smiled and opened it to reveal a model Star Destroyer. "Wow! This is totally awesome!" she exclaimed, "Thank you so much, you shouldn't have!" She inspected the model carefully, still not believing. "Amazing.." she trailed off, and hugged him again. "Oh, thank you," she said, touched.

"Hey, no problem," Jenson shrugged. "Anything for my little sister." He had started calling her that a while back, since that was how he thought of her. The feeling was mutual.

Grinning from ear to ear, Elena walked to the cafeteria, only to be surprised by Mara, Bece, and Keira, who all jumped up and gave her a large group hug. "Happy life day, Elena!" they said, and handed her a gift from each of them.

"Guys, you shouldn't have," Elena said, choking up. "You are the best friends a girl could ask for."

"Hey, you're our friend, it's the least we could do," Beyonce said, smiling.

"Yeah, you deserve it," Mara put in.

Elena beamed and opened up her presents, which were very nice.

Everyone piled into the bus for the field trip, and Elena was curious to see if they would meet Vader during their tour. She was startled out of her thoughts by Miss Darcin giving instructions to everyone.

"Now, students, there are some serious ground rules I must tell you of. Don't touch anything, no shouting, walk, don't run, no disorderly conduct allowed, and no food or beverages in the palace. Am I understood?"

Everyone nodded obediently, but Elena hid a cookie in her backpack. Mara snickered when she saw that, and Elena grinned at her knowingly. "I am allowed to eat in my own home," she whispered to Mara.

The bus finally stopped at the palace and landed on a platform. The entire class walked out, whispering to each other, and oohing when they entered the palace.

"Now, this is one of the main halls, where I am told Lord Vader meets admirals and other officials here," Miss Darcin spoke up, motioning to their surroundings. The hall was enlarged by a beautiful staircase with a large banister.

"...And that's the banister I like to slide down," Elena whispered to her friends.

"Cool," Keira wistfully said, wishing she could do the same.

Bece shook her head and grinned, staring around her. "Man, we have so got to have a party here," she said, causing the others to laugh.

"Can you imagine my father having a party here?" Elena hissed incredulously, staring at Beyonce. "He'd go out of his mind!"

"Now that I'd like to see," Mara chuckled.

Elena glared at her and elbowed her in the stomach.

"Oaf, hack, hack," Mara coughed, holding her stomach and giving Elena evil eyes.

Miss Darcin turned around and said, "Girls! Behave yourselves at once!"

The four girls nodded sheepishly and tried in vain to hold back grins.

They continued through the palace, with Miss Darcin pointing certain things out to the class, and Elena pointing out different things to her friends.

"Lord Vader's quarters are on my left," Miss Darcin continued, pointing to a doorway, "but that is restricted."

"Aw man," the class groaned.

"And these other doors are offices and storage rooms," Miss Darcin went on, ignoring the students.

Elena saw that her door was thought to be a storage room. "She forgot to mention that my room is right there," she whispered, pointing to a doorway.

"Is it big?" Keira asked.

Elena nodded. "Oh yeah." Suddenly she forgot about the sign she had made on her doorway. "Oh no..."

The class bully, Steven, his cronies, and his girlfriend waltzed over to her door, staring at the sign. "Hey, this is weird," he spoke up in front of the whole class, 'This sign says, "Force sensitive in Training. If you wish to enter, take serious precautions, as there might be random objects flying around the room.'"

Some of the students snickered, while others were interested. "A Force sensitive in training?" Janeera, a Moff's daughter spoke up, "that's odd. Maybe it's a special kind of guard or something."

"But who would make this kind of sign?" Steven chuckled, "That doesn't sound like a serious threat."

"This room was marked to be a storage room," Miss Darcin said, puzzled. "Maybe it's a mistake."

"Can we go in?" the bully's girlfriend asked.

The teacher shrugged. "I don't see why not, it's not restricted," she said, and pressed for the door to open. Elena groaned while the class eagerly piled into the room, anxious to see what was in there.

"Whoa, this isn't an office..." Janeera said, "It's a bedroom!"

"But for who?" the bully asked, confused. "It doesn't look like any kind of guard would live here."

Miss Darcin agreed. "This is rather odd," she remarked.

Suddenly Geenine rolled in, beeping frantically. Elena was nearly hyperventilating by now. OH...NO...

"Ooh look, it's a cute little astro droid!" a girl called out, pointing to Geenine.

Cute? Geenine beeped indignantly. The droid turned to Elena, who was making signs not to come near her. But the astro droid didn't understand and rolled right up to her, beeping harshly.

Elena glanced helplessly at the students, who were watching the entire thing.

"It seems to know you," Miss Darcin said, confused.

"Yeah, how interesting," she laughed weakly. Geenine got too frustrated and rolled away, giving up.

Miss Darcin shrugged and moved the tour on, but not before students gave Elena strange looks. Elena felt like melting into the floor.

Well, that was that chapter. I love the next chapter coming up, so the quicker you review, the quicker I'll post another chapter! Thank you, and Happy New Year!