Once again, I get no profit from this and the characters do not belong to me. Many thanks to Kenobifan for being my first ever reviewer and for the encouraging words. Please read and review!

Chapter 2

Leia walked down the familiar halls of the former Imperial Senate where she had served as a girl. She had feared no one, not even Darth Vader. Servants and associates had obeyed her every wish. Senators far older than herself had respected her. How spoiled I was. Luke and Han, whether through the Force or circumstance, had become her first true friends. All others, with the exception of Vader, certainly felt too much awe in her presence to tease her in the way Han or Luke did.

She sighed, viewing the corridors now filled with her new associates trying to bring order back to everything the Emperor had destroyed. The hum of conversations, the shuffle of many feet on the long neglected floors thrilled her. After the disbanding of the Senate this place, this historic cornerstone of the Republic, had fallen into massive disrepair. What had been undone seemingly in an instant would take many people and many hours to return. She hurried to continue with her work.

"In a hurry, your worship?" Han took her arm and pulled her into an alcove.

"Han! Not here," she scolded as he kissed her neck. "This is hardly the place..."

"Sorry. Didn't have time for anything else," he said as he laughed and kissed her soundly. Her annoyance drained away and she kissed him again before firmly shoving him away.

"Are the fires under control?" It seemed every part of Coruscant glittered in flames as the former Rebels had moved in to clear out the last vestiges of Emperor Palpatine's regime. Several frigates had already been christened "The Prison Ships" as storm troopers, guards, and loyalists were rounded up for trials. Restoring power and order to the once beautiful city planet would not be easy. Months after the fall of Endor battles remained a daily occurrence.

"Some of them. I don't think anything was supposed to be left standing," Han sounded very serious now. "Luke is at the Jedi Temple again." The fire there had seemed to be the strongest and Luke could not bear the potential loss. He had worked to control the flames almost non-stop for days.

"He needs rest," she said.

"So do you," Han argued, pulling her along. "Come back with me and eat something. I'm sure Threepio's prepared some ten course dinner that he'll describe in detail before he lets any of us eat it."

"I don't have time. I need to finish some things here and then I want to help Luke."

"Right." She could see Han struggling to control his frustration.

"Let's not go through this again," she sighed. "He's my brother. I want to help him any way I can. Sisters and brothers do that, you know."

"I know," Han dropped her arm. "I just don't know what that makes me." Leia stopped walking and faced him.

"You're the love of my life," she replied simply. He smiled. "So you should understand why I have to help my brother," she added as he moved to kiss her again. He stopped short but he did not seem angry any more.

"I'll see you later then," he said as he walked away. She knew where he was going.

xXx

"Artoo!" Luke yelled, "That should do it, you can stop now." The little astromech droid ceased the spray. Buildings on either side continued to smolder but the work of many had successfully halted the burning of the Jedi temple. Luke felt sick as he looked at the damage and Imperial insignia marring what must have once been a breathtaking building. The fire ships assisting them moved away to begin on another building. Luke wondered idly if the fire ships would ever see an end to the constant inferno Coruscant had become. Will I always smell this acrid blaze?

"Stay back," he commanded his droid. He felt sure that the Emperor and Vader must have set traps here or at the very least left some nasty surprises. Several columns were crumbling and there were pedestals where statuary had been removed. The desecration outside paled in comparison to the interior however. Luke, with the Force as his ally, easily lifted debris from the path but Artoo, completely ignoring Luke's command, rolled slowly through, making his own way.

"You seem familiar with this place," Luke commented more to himself. Artoo whistled something that Luke did not understand.

"I hope someone is," a familiar voice called from behind Luke. A Wookiee yell caused Luke to smile despite the devastation. "You said it, Chewie," Han observed. "What a mess!"

"Not much here," Luke agreed. He tried to focus so he could decide the best way to proceed. Chewie had never been one to sit and wait though and he thundered ahead of the others.

"Chewie, no! Wait!" The memory of Chewie getting them all caught in the Ewok trap remained fresh in Luke's mind. It must have been for Chewie too, because he stopped and roared something down the halls.

"This is really getting to him," Han observed. "What are you going to do here, Luke?"

"Mon Mothma said the Jedi Temple used to have extensive archives. I'd like to find them." Once again Artoo trilled something and began making his way down a corridor.

"Shorty here know something you don't?" Han asked. Artoo chirped something obviously rude but otherwise unintelligible and continued on his way. Han shrugged and followed.

"Would you all follow me please?" Luke pleaded. "You don't know what could happen." What good is it to be a Jedi if no one listens to you?

Nearly a standard hour later, after Luke had rescued Chewie from a small Force cage, and lifted Artoo over several meters of debris they entered the archives. The grand space rose before them. Shelves of information beckoned Luke.

"This is in pretty good shape," Han said in disbelief.

"This is Vader's doing," Luke knew his father must have preserved this space. Why, and whether the Emperor knew his apprentice had done so, he could not guess.

"Well, get whatever it is you came for and let's get out of here," Han obviously felt they should not press their luck.

"It's not that simple," Luke murmured as he looked around. "I'm not exactly sure what I'm looking for."

"I knew you were going to say that," Han's longsuffering tone amused Luke although he knew better than to comment. Artoo wasted no time and he managed to plug into a terminal no one else had noticed. His inquisitive chirp caught Luke's attention.

"See if you can find information about Anakin Skywalker," Luke instructed as he wiped away debris and dust from a vid screen. Intermittent power sparked through the system. Several lights gleamed in the darkness and the vid screen flickered to life.

"Those files seemed to be erased," Luke read Artoo's words to his friends. "There are many missing files."

"I guess your father didn't want you finding out about him," Han's tone betrayed a temper dangerously close to exploding. Luke did not comment.

Some information about Obi-Wan Kenobi, Artoo words helpfullyflickered on the screen.

"Yes, get that please," Luke sighed. He felt old. He needed rest but the mysteries surrounding his past and the fate of the Jedi pressed him to find answers. He wanted to stay and continue searching but he knew that his friends needed rest as well so he turned to Han. "Let's call it a day."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea. I need you to help me get Leia to slow down."

"That would take more than the two of us," Luke laughed as he patted his friend on the back, in his own clumsy way thanking him for his patience and help.

"Well, that's what we've got Chewie for," Han grinned. "A walking carpet comes in handy sometimes."

"Artoo, see if there's a list of Senators, oh, about twenty years before the dissolution," Luke instructed. "And what worlds they represented." Han raised an eyebrow which Luke ignored "And then shut the power down."

They carefully made their way back, everyone following Luke this time. Han and Chewie stood beside Artoo outside the temple as Luke effortlessly lifted several large beams and blocked the entrance they had used. Luke hoped that would be enough to keep the looters at bay or any curiosity seeker from getting hurt. Han breathed a sigh of relief as the kid finally led them away from the deserted temple.

xXx

"Wonderful," Threepio gushed as his humans finally finished their meal. "I had begun to suspect you disliked the provisions I had labored so long over."

"Thank-you Threepio," Leia took the hint. "The food was delicious."

"What's on the agenda for tomorrow?" Luke asked his sister.

"Not much specific. What will you be doing?"

"Trying to unlock the secrets of the Jedi Temple, I guess," Luke sighed.

"I would like to help," Leia offered. "What will you do there?"

"I don't even know where to begin," Luke said and his sigh made him seem older than his years. "I want to completely restore the temple so that a new generation of Jedi may be trained but I suspect it will be some time before that can happen. I'm not even sure how I find people to train." Everyone sat isolated in their own thoughts for several minutes.

"I know my mind will not be focused until I have some answers about...about our parents," Luke admitted reluctantly. Han's face darkened and Lando looked at the ceiling but Leia smiled lightly.

"Questions have been distracting me, too," she comforted. "I'm having trouble listening to anyone and I find my mind wandering at the most...inconvenient times."

"I can confirm that," Han muttered.

"If that's your idea of being helpful..." Leia warned. Lando smiled and stood up.

"Perhaps these are things you'd rather discuss alone. I have a previous engagement to keep. Please excuse me." He winked at Luke and slipped away from Leia's new quarters.

"Why do you have to go digging up trouble?" Han demanded. He looked from Leia to Luke and back again. "Alright, so Darth Vader was your father. Why go looking for stuff that's just going to hurt? I'm not thrilled with the idea of you two being that...that thug's kids but I just leave it alone." Leia looked ready to begin a tirade against this but Luke began speaking first.

"I see what you're saying, Han. Trust me, there's a part of me that wants to ignore the past," he looked at his hands. "But we shouldn't. We can't. The past is part of who we are whether we face it or not so we might as well know the truth." Leia nodded her agreement.

"Trust me, I don't want to know any more about Vader than I already do," she muttered. "But still, it's there."

"If only we knew how to start," Luke mused more to himself than anyone else. Artoo whistled and chirped something far to complicated for his companions to follow.

"Artoo suggests that the planet of Naboo may be of some assistance in your search, Master Luke," Threepio translated. "Although I have no idea what he's talking about. Perhaps there's a glitch in his programming." Luke sat back from the table. Han recognized the familiar sensation that they were all about to embark on some crazy expedition once again.

"Naboo?" Luke asked. Artoo chirped affirmatively. "Did you find something in the archives?" This could not be coincidence, his father and now Artoo both pointing to Naboo.

"He claims to have been there, Master Luke. How he came to that conclusion I really have no idea," Threepio spoke scornfully,"We've never been there."