I do not own the characters created by George Lucas, only my own. I also use direct dialogue from the movie, since some scenes are copied from it. I do not claim to own them. Much thanks to the book 'A New Hope' by Ryder Windham to help with the lines and stuff for this one, and to the online scripts I've found. They really help.

Again – I do not, in any way, claim that any lines that have been published before are mine... They are necessary to fit the story.

Vataloni's View

Vataloni's head rested in Obi-Wan's lap as she watched him put Luke through some small, basic drills to get him familiarized with his lightsaber. One of his hands rested leisurely on her head, twirling her long curls around his finger, while the other cupped her head, either keeping her weight off his legs, or straightening out her body so she would be more comfortable. She naturally assumed it as the second one. He suddenly released her hair and placed a hand on his forehead, exhaling sharply. She frowned and sat up, gently touching his arm, "Are you alright?"

"You didn't sense it?" he inquired with a hint of surprise in his voice, "The pain... Don't you feel it?"

She shook her head and pulled his hand away from his forehead, replacing it with hers, "I don't feel anything... What's wrong?"

"It's as if... a million voices suddenly cried out in terror," he stated, his eyes narrowing, "Then were silenced."

"What do you think it was?" Luke asked, pulling up the helmet he had been wearing and resting it against his hip, "Something happening?"

"You're too tuned into the Force," Vataloni suggested, running a hand through his hair affectionately, "Relax a little..."

He sighed as his shoulder slumped down a little, "Maybe... Luke... You better get on with your exercises."

Vataloni returned her head to his lap, casually glancing over at Chewbacca and the droids. R2 had challenged Chewie to a game similar to chess, and was apparently winning. The wookie let out an angry cry and slammed his fist into the table, causing R2 to beep at him in a scolding manner. The wookie groaned and made his move, suddenly grinning as his character threw the droids' off the board. Vataloni grinned, then turned her attention back to Luke. He was handling his seeker droid well, deflecting many of the shots it sent him as it hovered above his head. The difficulty level was set on Easy, but Vataloni was confident he would do better if they challenged him more later on.

They were seated in one of the living areas of the ship, away from the cockpit, where they had left Han Solo. The Imperials stayed directly on their tail once they had gotten into space, and the ship was nearly taken over. Luckily, Han jumped to lightspeed in time, and they managed to escape Imperial clutches. Vataloni worried that the ships codes had been copied. If they had, she was sure all the Imperial ships out there would be on the look out for them.

"Well... I told you I'd do it," Han announced loudly as he entered the room, his stride arrogant, "You can forget about your troubles with those Imperial slugs... Told you I'd outrun them."

Luke was clearly too focused on deflecting blast bolts to notice, and Obi-Wan most likely didn't care. Han slunk down into a chair across from Vataloni, grumbling, "Don't everyone thanks me at once."

"Thank you," Vataloni said finally, shooting Obi-Wan a small glare, "They're thankful too... Just too into the lesson."

Han snorted, "Anyway... We should be arriving in Alderaan at about oh... two hundred hours."

"It's not soon enough," Vataloni sighed, rising from Obi-Wan's lap and curling up on her chair, her legs tucked in neatly underneath her, "I won't feel safe until we arrive."

"What are you running from anyway?" Han asked, taking a small fruit from the basket on the round table beside him and munching on it contently, "You guys seem to have pissed some people off."

Vataloni smirked, "We have a tendency to do that."

"Correction," Obi-Wan muttered, rubbing her back, "You have a tendency to do that... People love me."

She snorted loudly and shot him a look, then rolled her eyes, but jumped when Chewie let out a loud howl, screaming at R2 thunderously. Han seemed undisturbed by the actions, and Obi-Wan merely made a face, annoyed with out it was distracting Luke.

"It was a fair move!" 3PO exclaimed, waving his bent arms in the air, "There's no use screaming about it."

"Let him have it," Han stated, turning back to watch the game, "There's no point in upsetting a wookie."

"Yes... But sir," 3PO replied, "No one ever worries about upsetting a droid."

"That's 'cause droids don't rip peoples arms off when they lose," Han chuckled, reclining in his chair and placing his arms behind his head, shooting Chewie a look. 3PO looked between the two and nodded, "New strategy, R2... Let the wookie win."

Vataloni giggled and used the Force to get herself a fruit that was in the shape of a pear, but when she bit into it, tasted oddly like an apple. She shrugged and continued eating it contently, glancing back at Luke every so often to see how he was doing. Han cleared his throat, "So... You're one of those Jedi, huh?"

"Yup," Vataloni laughed, "Always will be..."

"I heard the Emperor has a price on a Jedi death," he informed her, taking another bite out of his fruit, "So I wouldn't go around tell it to everybody."

"I think I can handle myself," she chuckled, sliding a finger along her lightsaber, "Never do without it."

"Nothing is as good as a blaster by your side," Han disagreed, looking over at Luke. The young man swung out and Vataloni felt Obi-Wan mentally increase the level of bolts shot. As soon as Luke was overwhelmed, his speed lessened and he got hit on the hand, causing him to leap back in shock and shake his hand, looking at it through worried eyes. Vataloni smiled, remembering all the times she had been hit when she first learned to use her lightsaber. Of course, Palpatine had used real blasters then, and not ones that only gave you a shock, which was the main reason why Vataloni used to hate training. Even in her early thirties, she hated doing drills with Obi-Wan. He routinely made her do drills during their stay in Tatooine, stating it would make her skills sharper. She figured he really just had nothing better to do.

"Remember," Obi-Wan said gently, "A Jedi can feel the Force flowing through him!"

"You mean it controls your actions?" Luke inquired, sucking on the side of his hand. Obi-Wan sighed, "Partially... But it also listens to your commands."

"Try again," Vataloni urged, sending him an encouraging smile. He inhaled deeply and brought his lightsaber back up, following the seeker droids every movement, until finally, he missed another shot, and was hit on the opposite hand. Han burst out laughing and tossed the core of his fruit back into the trash can, "I told you... Hokey religions and ancient weapons are no match for agood blaster at your side, kid."

"You don't believe in the Force, do you?" Luke asked, his hands hanging limply at his side. Han smirked, "Listen, kid... I've been from one side of this galaxy to the other, and I've seen a lot of strange stuff, but I've never seen anything to make me believe there's one all-powerful force controlling everything. There's no mystical energy field that controls my destiny. Just a lot of cheap tricks and nonsense."

"We've seen that already," Vataloni commented, shooting him a look, "The Force can save your life, when you know how to properly use it."

"A pretty girl like yourself can get on just fine," he emphasized, "Without your whole Force junk. Bat at someone with those long eyelashes of yours and I'm pretty sure they'd let you go, no matter what you did wrong."

Vataloni rolled her eyes, "Maybe looks works on you, Captain Solo... But not everyone in this universe lets a pretty piece of flesh walk by without any trouble."

"I think you should try once more, Luke," Obi-Wan said loudly, cutting off the argument that was stewing between Vataloni and Han, "But this time... Put the blast shield down on your helmet."

Luke pushed the large shield down and chuckled slightly, blinding reaching out into thin air, "But... But with the blast shield down, I can't see a thing..."

"Eyes can deceive you," Vataloni informed him, remembering the same lecture from Obi-Wan many years ago, "Don't trust them."

"Let go of your instincts, and trust your feelings," Obi-Wan instructed, ignoring the sniggering Han beside Vataloni. Luke raised his lightsaber once more and swung out at the seeker droid, which dropped down low and fired a shot at him. He growled loudly and swung out blindly again. Vataloni rolled her eyes, "Be calm. Use your feelings. Sense the droid."

He finally relaxed and straightened up, his lightsaber mimicking the droids movements perfectly. Vataloni smiled at her ability to teach someone so easily, and let out a happy giggle when Luke deflected several shots, finally getting hit on the upper arm and calling it quits for the day.

"It's just luck," Han reflected loudly. Obi-Wan took Luke's helmet and hung it up on the rack, "In my experience there's no such thing as luck."

"Look going good against remotes is one thing. Going good against the living? That's something else," Han ranted, shooting all three of them a smug look. Vataloni privately agreed with his knowledge. She couldn't wait to see how Luke reacted under heavy fire, something he would no doubted receive once he was in the war.

A little light started flashing over Han's head, and he looked up, "Looks like we're coming up on Alderaan... Come on, Chew."

The two departed quickly to the cockpit, leaving the trio alone for a moment. Luke sent Obi-Wan a broad grin, "You know... I did feel something there!"

"That's good," Vataloni praised, placing a hand on his forearm, "You've taken your first step into a much larger world."

Luke hurried off, and the droids instantly followed him out. Obi-Wan wrapped his arms around her hips and pulled her into him, "I think he'll do well, don't you?"

"Very well," she whispered, standing up taller and walking her fingers up his chest, "With you teaching him... How could he go wrong?"

"Not all my students turned out well," he reminded, looking away sadly. Vataloni pushed her lips up into his and delicately cupped his face. All these years had passed, and she still enjoyed his touch. She broke away, staying close enough that their noses touched lightly, "Just because you had one bad apple, doesn't mean the rest will be sour."

He smiled and gave her another swift kiss, "I love you."

"I love you, too," she purred, winking at him, "Maybe we could-"

The ship violently jerked to the side, causing the couple to tumble over. Obi-Wan clutched the wall desperately to regain his balance, and Vataloni clung to him, trying not to fall over herself. The ship gave another bounce and they fumbled for footing. Obi-Wan groaned, "It's never this rough coming out of lightspeed!"

"We must be off in our calculations," Vataloni guessed, grabbing his hand and dragging him off to the cockpit. They stumbled inside, and Vataloni fell forward onto the back of Luke's chair. She let out a grumble and settled down into a seat, "What's going on!"

"Han says we came out in a meteor shower," Luke explained loudly over the rumbling of the ship. Vataloni glanced up at Obi-Wan, but he seemed preoccupied with something else. She made a face and leaned closer to Han, "Is that what's happening? Where's Alderaan...?"

"There is no Alderaan!" Han shouted over the racket of his shaking ship, "We're flying through it... What's left of it."

"That's impossible!" Luke countered, "You can't just... destroy a planet!"

"It was destroyed," Obi-Wan said suddenly, bringing all attention to him, "By the Empire."

Han shook his head and began frantically flipping through controls, "The entire Starfleet couldn't destroy the whole planet. It'd take a thousand ships with more fire power than I've-"

Han was cut off by an alarm sounding above their heads and he moaned, "Oncoming ship!"

Chewie barked softly and began to check the signal, when suddenly an explosion echoed throughout the ship, causing everyone to grip their seats in order to hold on. A small TIE fighter ship whizzed by, it's trademark scream screeching behind it. Luke glared at the tiny ship, "It followed us!"

"It's a short range fight," Vataloni protested, "There has to be a base out here... There's no way it could get this deep into space!"

"There aren't any bases out here!" Han argued, "How could it get out here?"

"It doesn't matter," Obi-Wan dictated, "What matters is they've seen us, and they'll identify us-"

"Not if I can help it! Chewie, jam its transitions," Han ordered firmly. The wookie nodded and began twisting knobs along the control board. Vataloni wished she had been better at flying, or atleast kept up with her skills. She used to be pretty good, but now she had a feeling she would be useless at flying if she ever gave it another try. Luke moved closer, placing his hand on the headrest of Han's seat, "Maybe he's just gotten lost... Part of a convoy or something."

"Well he won't be around long enough to tell anyone about it!" Han stressed. Vataloni squinted and spotted something in the distance. It was a small, round planet, "Look... He's headed for that moon..."

"I think I can get him before he gets there," Han reasoned, increasing the speed of his ship, "He's almost in range."

Obi-Wan gasped softly behind her and Vataloni looked back. He was staring at the moon, his eyes suddenly going very tired, "That's no moon... That's a space station."

Han shook his head and grunted, "It's too big to be a space station..."

Vataloni's eyes widened. Palpatine had told her about a 'Death Star' that he was going to build, something that was going to make inferior planets bow to his will. At the time, Vataloni brushed it off as rubbish and he just thinking too big. But the station ahead fit the description he had made of it, and Vataloni began to panic. If this was opperational, then it would have the ability to destroy entire planets in a single blast. Perhaps thatw as what happened to Alderaan?

"I have a very bad feeling about this," Luke commented as the Millennium Falcon drew closer to the station. Han stared at the massive construction, his jaw hanging open for a moment, until, "Yeah... Me too... Chewie, full auxiliary in reverse... Full power in reverse!"

Vataloni watched Chewie frantically push the same controls over and over again, but nothing seemed to have any effect on the advancing ship. She began chewing on her lip nervously and shot a look to Obi-Wan. He placed his hand on her shoulder as the ship started to rattle again, clearly trying to fight the pull towards the station. Luke's eyes darted around to the other passengers, "Why are we still moving forward!"

"We're caught in a tractor beam," Han growled, shooting Luke a frustrated glare, "I'm on full power, and there is nothing I can do about it, kid! I'm going to have to shut down... But they aren't taking me without a fight!"

"You can't win," Vataloni sighed, "We're too small."

"There are alternative ways, however," Obi-Wan stated. The group looked back to him and he grinned.

This was why she loved him.

"This must be killing Han to hide like this," Vataloni giggled, snuggling into Obi-Wan's chest when there was a sudden rattle of the ship. Han had shown the crew two storage hold in the floor of the ship, and when Obi-Wan insisted they hid in them, Han made the most disgusted face, but in the end agreed. It was a little difficult getting R2 and 3PO down into the holds, but they managed. While Obi-Wan, Vataloni and the droids squished into one of the holds, Luke, Han and Chewbacca lay silent in the one directly beside it. They had watched through the cockpit windows as the ship was sucked into the hollow dock inside the large, circular space station, and when Han spotted an officer in black checking for people in the windows, everyone was forced to crawl along the floor until they were out of sight.

It was the first time Vataloni had seen and heard Obi-Wan give way to old age. He was nearly out of breath as he jogged along behind the younger men, but Vataloni wondered whether or not it was an act, one he had pulled several times before. A helpless old man is not as much of a threat as one that can actually look after himself.

Loud footsteps suddenly thumped along the top of the compartments, and Vataloni felt the urge to shrink down and into the smallest corner of the compartment. More thunderous footsteps clunked across the floor, and Obi-Wan tightened his grip on her, giving her a distinct hushing sound when she inhaled sharply. Someone was standing directly over their compartment. The person stood for a moment, then carried on, barking orders to lesser officials. They were searching for the passengers, and there was no telling how long they would have to look.