Luke sat in the guest seats of the Senate, watching as Senator after Senator made their argument to pass this bill. The bill to create the Imperial Academy, to be better prepared if anyone attempted to strike down the Empire.

It sounded interesting for the eight year old, and that it would help a lot of people…but his mother seemed worried about it. Still the vote hadn't yet been reached and open debate was occurring at that moment. He watched his mother speak, watched other Senators speak after her.

His mommy was the best though.

She was so confident sounding in her speeches and always cared for what was best for the people of the Galaxy, even if it wasn't the most popular thing by the other Senators.

Finally the meeting was adjourned for lunch and Luke stood with Sabé and scampered out of the viewing room. His face brightened when he spotted her.

"Mom!" He called out and Padmé turned just in time for him to meet his hug with her own.

"Hello, Sweetheart!" She stated with a chuckle, pushing his hair back. "Have fun listening to us debate?"

"It was okay. You were the best though." He complimented and she smiled.

"Thank you." She replied, pushing his hair back again. "You were a big boy, weren't you?"

"Mhm!"

"So much so I think someone deserves a sweet." She replied teasingly and the little boy beamed excitedly.

"Woohoo!" He cheered, running past his mother towards the door. "Come on Mommy!"

She chuckled and followed him, him reaching her hand and grabbing it, pulling her after him. She chuckled and offered a quick goodbye to her fellow senators as her young son scampered ahead of her, bouncing on each foot in excitement.

"Come on Mom!"

"I'm coming, I'm coming!" She replied with a laugh following her son as they went to his favorite shop. She ruffled his hair as they ordered, but as they turned to go find a place to sit down, several other senators surrounded her. She sighed, watching as Luke glanced back and offered a tiny smile before scampering away.

It was hard…balancing out the life of a Senator and the life of a mother. She hoped that these would be over soon, so she could at least spend some time with him. Luke sighed as he found a bench outside, giving a view of Courscant. He was there for only a few moments.

"Is this spot taken?"

He looked up startled and blinked as she spotted a strange man standing next to the bench he was at. He wore a red tunic, one arm wrapped in thick black bandages, his pants black as well, though a dark robe covered most of that. He was bald and had the strangest markings on his face…like whiskers.

He didn't look like much a Senator, that was for sure.

"Um…no, I don't suppose it is."

The man smiled and sat down next to him. Luke blinked, feeling uneasy…sick even around this man. He didn't feel like the emperor did, but it was close. Still it was rude to ignore the man.

"So where is your mother?" The man asked and Like blinked.

"Oh she's inside talking. She'll be out soon." He added quickly. The feeling was getting worse as though something was searching through his mind. He tried to ignore it and push back on it.

"I see. And your father?"

"Dead." Luke replied.

"I'm sorry."

"'s alright. You didn't know." Luke responded and the man chuckled.

"Awfully wise little one."

"I guess…I mean that's what my teachers say." Luke responded. And it was true. He exceled in his studies, though some of the ideas of etiquette were lost on him. Still it wasn't something that wasn't noticed by his tutors.

"A student is only as good as his master." The man responded and Luke frowned in confusion, opening his mouth to ask what he meant.

"Luke!"

He turned to see his mother standing there. Her face seemed bloodless and she had a strange expression on her face. He got up from the bench and hurried over to her, confused.

"Hiya Mom!" He remarked and Padmé pulled him to her. "What's wrong?"

"Did he say anything to you?"

"Well we talked." Luke replied confused, not understanding why his mother looked so fearful. The man stood up, brushing away dust and crumbs. He gave a slight bow to Padmé.

"Senator." He remarked and Padmé's grip on Luke became tighter.

"Lord Sahceth."

"I hope I did not make your son tardy."

"No. You didn't." She responded tartly, gripping Luke's hand in a vice. "But we must really be going." She said, giving a slight curtsey before gripping Luke's hand and dragging him away. Luke glanced over his shoulder looking at this Sahceth one more time, who likewise was staring at Luke.

"Come along Luke, you're going home."

"Huh? But the assembly is still going on." Luke stated. "Why would we leave now?"

"Not us. You and Sabé."

"What? But why? Did I do something wrong?" He asked. She shook her head.

"No, but the assembly may take longer than planned." She responded gently, though Luke had a feeling that that was a lie. He bit his lip.

"Will you come back soon?" He asked and she smiled, bending down to his level.

"Luke, the moment the voting is over, I'll be home." She promised.

"Pinky swear!" He exclaimed hotly and she laughed before lifting her pinky and clasping her son's.

"Pinky swear. Now be a good boy for Sabé and 3PO."

Luke groaned.

It was a wonderful day in Naboo. Sunlight filtered through the branches and birds twittered about pleasantly. All in all it was a wonderful day. Incredibly peaceful and quiet in comparison to Courscant.

"Master Luke! MASTER LUKE! Oh good heavens, where are you!"

…Well…almost peaceful.

"What is it Threepio?" Luke called out, poking his head out from his tree house and looking at the golden droid who was on the ground.

"Oh Master Luke, please come down! If you were to get hurt, I'd never forgive myself!"

Luke sighed. He was eight. Not some baby that needed C3P0 to watch over him. Still if he didn't go down, the droid would probably be complaining the entire time until he did.

"Coming Threepio." He called out and then began to trip down, the protocol droid panicking the entire time. "Is Mommy back?"

"Not yet Master Luke, but your friends, Master Mungo and Master Tarja are here, and you mustn't be tardy."

"You don't have to call them Master you know." Luke replied as he brushed himself off. "Just call them Tarja and Mungo."

As Threepio stuttered on how improper that was, Luke and him walked down the brightly sunlit halls of the mansion. Threepio was hurrying after him, lamenting that he had to be careful because he was an organic life form.

The same old thing.

"Luke!"

The called boy grinned and hurried over.

"Tarja! Mungo!" Luke called out excitedly, high-fiving them when all three got close enough.

"Weesa re so happy to see yousa! Weesa miss yousa!"

"What Mungo said. How was Courscant?"

"Well…okay…I guess." Luke replied thinking about the strange encounter with the man. He had never seen his mother so nervous. "It was fun seeing all the senators."

"Probably boring." Tarja remarked and Luke shrugged. Tarja had never been one to go willingly to Courscant and leave Naboo. He would, since he was being trained to be a page to him, but that didn't mean he enjoyed it.

"So what do you want to do?" Luke asked.

"Want to head over to Lake Paonga?" Tarja asked.

"Yousa ganna comein visit! It ganna be funny-funny!" Mungo agreed happily. He always enjoyed when the three of them visited the Gungan City. They couldn't always because they needed him, his parents, or Luke's mother to take them when she was visiting Otoh Gunga for political reasons, but they had all the time in the world.

"Comein on!"

"Do you think Mom would be alright with that though?" Luke asked quietly.

"Hey, she's still on Courscant. What she doesn't know won't hurt her." Tarja reminded him.

"I…guess…"

"Master Luke! Oh, Master Luke!"

"We need to ditch Prim and Proper though." Tarja murmured as both boys looked at the bot that was hurrying towards them.

Luke shrugged.

"Easy enough." Luke responded with a grin. Tarja returned the smile and then both boys counted to three. Then with a grin they took off.

"Master Luke!"

"Threepio, we're going to explore! We'll be back before dinner!"

"Oh really, wait Master Luke, wait!" The protocol droid called out before sighing. "Oh why me?"

"So your mom sent you back?" Tarja asked as they climbed over a few roots. The other boy nodded, glancing at the gungan who was ahead of them.

"I don't know why though…maybe she was upset that I spoke to a stranger or something."

"You aren't a baby anymore, so that shouldn't be the case." Tarja remarked angrily and Luke shrugged.

"I don't know. I think she'll only ever see me as her baby." Luke admitted as they reached Lake Paonga. Mungo gleefully jumped into the lake and the two boys waited. Suddenly, Luke began to feel the similar uneasiness as before, and sensed before hearing the twig snap behind them.

"Well, what do we have here Cosair? A bunch of lost lambs?"

"Dunno Maddox." Another voice said as both boys turned around. Two men stood in the clearing, a third one in the background next to a ship. Both boys shifted uneasily. Something didn't feel right about these men.

"Who are you?" Tarja finally managed to ask and they laughed.

"Such bravery from a little lamb. Whatever the case, which one of you is named Luke?"

"Tarj…" Luke began but Tarja stood in front of Luke.

"Why do you want to know?" Tarja asked in anger and Maddox glared.

"Don't make this harder than it has to be, kid. We don't want to hurt any of you."

"Get lost. You're clearly not any part of Naboo guards." Tarja commanded and the men laughed.

"Oh a big shot, eh? You Luke Amidala?" They questioned. Tarja growled in warning as they advanced towards them.

"Whosa they?" They suddenly heard and turned to see Mungo getting out of the lake.

"Mungo! Run and get help! These-" Luke began to yell, but cried out as Cosair aimed a gun and shot at him, hitting him. He collapsed.

"LUKE!"

Tarja rushed to his friend's side, but was hit as well, collapsing next to Luke.

"Get the Gungan!" Maddox yelled as Mungo began to race back towards the lake. He only managed a few more steps, before he was stunned and fell face first into the lake, ripples the only evidence of how he close he was to freedom.

"Hurry! We don't know who is around!" Maddox hissed, hurrying to the prone bodies of Luke and Tarja. "Get the Gungan!"

"But the boss said-"

"We ain't leaving witnesses, and who knows, the brats might bring us boon!" Maddox remarked, throwing the forms over his shoulders. "Dukan! Get the ship ready! We stop for fuel and then we head out of the system!"

"Right!"

The third man raced towards the ship as Cosair grabbed Mungo, groaning as the young Gungan's tongue flopped side to side as he raced back to the ship. None of them noticed several gungan's heads poke out of the lake's surface watching as the ship rose and then took off into the swamps.

"Yousa let us goin!"

"You think I'll be heart broken if I kill a Gungan. I can assure you, I most certainly won't be."

Luke shifted wearily as the voices echoed in his head, bouncing back and forth through his skull. Did they have to be so loud?

He blinked and saw Tarja and Mungo, sitting on the ground next him, Maddox standing in front of them, a blaster in his hand.

"Wha's goin on?" He murmured, inwardly wincing at his pronunciation. They all turned to look at him and his friends looked relieved.

"Yousa okay!"

"Good morning Sir Amidala. I unfortunately don't have breakfast to serve, but you'll learn to make do."

"You're…Maddox, aren't you?"

"Aren't you the perceptive one?" Maddox remarked with an oily grin. "Yes, that is me."

"What do you want with us?" He asked.

"Classified information, I'm afraid to say." Maddox remarked.

"My mother doesn't take kindly to blackmail you know." Luke warned and Maddox snorted.

"I tremble in my little boots."

Luke glared at the man who hummed.

"Now what should I do with you two? Boss said I shouldn't have brought you along, but you see, you two saw my face. Can't have you identifying me."

Tarja flinched, looking at the blaster as it aimed at him.

"So what should I do with you?"

"Leave them alone!" Luke snapped, struggling to stand and Maddox laughed.

"What are you going to do boy?" Maddox asked with a smirk. "Try to bore me with political debate? Or-"

Luke rushed and slammed into the man before he could say anything else, and Luke tried to keep the man busy.

"Tarja! Mungo run!"

Both boys did so as Maddox yelled for his comrades, running past the struggling two. Luke didn't care about himself. They had been trying to cheer him up. It was his fault. He was going to fix this. He was! Maddox yelped as Luke bit down on his wrist.

"You little-"

Luke barely managed to look up as Maddox swung and smashed the butt of his blaster onto his head. He fell to the ground, listening to Tarja yell his name, and wondering bitterly if he could do anything better than be knocked out as darkness swallowed him up and he sank into the shadows.

He didn't know how long he was out before he heard footsteps echoing down a hallway, and a girl laughing, a masculine voice that sounded familiar talking to the girl. He looked around and stood, wandering in direction of the voices. He continued walking, surprised to hear his mother's voice intermingle with the man's voice. Gentle, soft. As though there was love between them.

Then a new voice rose from the echoes; this one clear.

"So you're giving up?"

Luke looked up and was surprised to see a familiar person, Leia standing there. She was older, and it was surprising that this was the person that he would think of at a time like this.

"What are you doing here?"

"Are you giving up? You feel like you're giving up."

"What can I do? I don't have any weapons, I'm trapped in this room. I can't do anything."

"There's always a way, Luke. You just don't know it." Leia remarked, lifting her hand up pointing at him. "Use that brain of yours to think of something."

"But…"

"Use that brain of yours."

Luke awoke to the vibration of the ship and sat up. Tarja and Mungo following suit.

"Luke are you-"

"What are they doing?"

"They're trying to leave Naboo."

"They do that, and we're as good as dead." Luke exclaimed.

"Well any ideas? It's not like we haven't tried anything."

Luke looked at the lock on the door and then around. There weren't really a lot of options. No windows, the door was locked, there were air ducts, and-

His eyes shot up to the air ducts and an idea sparked.

"I have an idea."

"What?"

"The air ducts. One of us can get in and then get us back down to Naboo soil."

"That's stupid…"

"Any better ideas?"

"Well…no…" Tarja began as Luke began to climb up on the crates. "Luke, are you sure about this? I mean…"

"We need to try something!" Luke exclaimed and Tarja nodded.

"I'll go with-"

"What's going on!? What are you brats talking about!?"

Tarja froze and Luke scrambled up into the air ducts as the door slid open.

"What the he-"

"Now Mungo!"

There was a yell and Luke chanced a look to see that Mungo and Tarja had tackled the man and were wrestling, Mungo's tongue wrapped around his face, while Tarja clung to his neck and wrist, which to Luke's horror held a blaster.

The man aimed towards the air duct and pulled the trigger.

"LUKE!"

Padmé blinked, looking over her shoulder, confused. She could have sworn she had heard Luke yelling for her. But that didn't make sense…Luke was several planets away, why would she have heard him? And any electronic was turned off during the actual session.

Something settled in the pit of her stomach, something that made her queasy and anxious. Something was wrong…she just didn't know what. The rest of the session was a blur for her, unable to shake off the growing worry that was deep in her stomach, boiling and adding the tension to her already worried posture. Finally the session ended and she exited her platform, rubbing her forehead worriedly. What was going on?

"Senator."

She looked up in surprise to see several Naboo guards walking up to her. None were ones that had been with her when she had arrived. Then the nauseating worry returned.

Luke.

"Luke…is Luke alright? Where is he?"

The guards looked at one another, almost goading each other to say something. The older of the two finally sighed and turned back to the Senator.

"Senator…we're not sure. Several Gungan's overheard what sounded like a fight at the surface of Lake Paonga. When they went up to investigate, they saw what looked like your son, and several of his friends being carried into a small cargo ship. When we went to you residence, your protocol droid informed us your son had left hours ago."

Her heard jumped.

"We have reason to believe your son was kidnapped."

And the world seemed to vanish under her feet and wind rushed through her hair that sounded oddly like her screams.

Luke inhaled and exhaled quickly as he scrambled through the shaft, ignoring the pain from his head. The laser blast had missed him by inches. But now he needed to get help. As he found an opening he gingerly grabbed the grate and pulled it away, dropping onto the ground and stumbled forward. He winced as he held his head that throbbed. Warmth covered his hand and it was sticky. Pulling away he saw it was blood.

His lower lip trembled and he had to hold back the tears that so desperately wanted to break free.

He was eight.

Eight year olds didn't cry. They didn't.

"How hard can it be!?"

"We don't leave until we find him!

He looked around trying to find the voices as wiped his eyes and scampered through the cargo car. He didn't know how long he had before those men either caught up with him, left the planet, or hurt Tarja and Mungo.

He needed to get help.

He opened the door a crack and peeked out.

No one was there.

Slowly and timidly, like he had done whenever he was trying to sneak a cookie from under his mother's nose he tiptoed through the opening and towards the entrance. He opened the door and gulped when he saw all the levers, buttons…sure Typho had shown him the basics, but to actually be in control of something like this was something completely different.

He looked around at the controls of the unit, his mind moving a mile a minute. He and his friend's lives depended on it, and he didn't know what to do.

"Luke, don't let your eyes guide you. Use your feelings. What do they say?"

Leia's voice echoed softly in his head. For a dream-girl she was awfully bossy. He blinked and then inhaled and exhaled slowly and then… things began to make sense to him. He knew what each button did and what would happen if he pressed that one. It was a funny feeling that resonated around him and he lifted his hand to a lever and slowly pulled it down. As though he knew that that was the right one to use.

The cargo ship began to descend and slow down and alarms began to blare. He covered his ears and looked up in panic as he heard footsteps. He pulled another lever and the ship began to descend faster.

"Who's at the controls?!"

And at that point logic flew out the window, and button smashing took over. The thing seemed to drop out of the sky now, and he heard yelling and then banging sounds on the ceiling as though bodies have flung upwards. He hoped Tarja and Mungo were secure as he scrambled to a chair and buckled himself in, preparing for a really rough landing.

And boy did it not disappoint.

Screeching metal tore apart, the sky and earth fought for purchase to be on the top, the noise was deafening. And then…eerie silence.

Luke groaned and unbuckled himself, grunting as he hit the roof of the cargo ship. He struggled up and stumbled forward, opening the door.

"T-Tarja…Mungo…" He called out shakily. "Are you alright?" He added as he scrambled weakly over smashed boxes and uprooted metal. There was no answer at first, but then he heard Mungo groan and Tarja whine something about Mungo's foot being in his face. He sighed with relief. They were alive.

That was good.

"You little brat!"

Luke yelped as he was yanked back and slammed into the wall. His cry was cut short as one of the men; Maddox was it, sneered at him in anger.

"You little brat. I don't care if the job was to get you to my employer alive!" He snapped, wrapping his hand around Luke's throat, causing the young boy to gasp, struggling as air eluded him. He squirmed and kicked, trying to free himself, trying to find purchase on anything to fight back. He hit something with his free hand and the wall behind him vanished and both he and Maddox fell out the door, rolling down the hill crashing into rocks, trees, and other debris that had broken apart from the crash. Maddox hit the ground first, Luke landing on him. The boy scrambled up, rushing down a beat up road.

"Come back here boy!"

Luke yelped as his ankle was grabbed and he fell onto the ground, pain radiating through his face as he was dragged back and kicked to roll over on his back and pressed a foot on Luke's neck. The boy gagged, achieving only a whimper as the man aimed a blaster at the boy's head.

"Luke!" Tarja screamed, as Maddox removed the safety. He wouldn't make it. Luke was going to…to...

"I'll bring back your body. Consequences be damned." He snarled but before he could let out a shot another shot from the left impacted the kidnapper's head. Blood splattered and like a puppet whose strings were snipped, Maddox's arm went limp and he crumpled backwards, off of Luke, who scrambled into sitting position, staring at the body as the sound of a speeder bike and seconds later one crested over the hill. Luke watched stunned as Typho jumped off the bike as two more speeders rushed into scene.

"T-Typho?"

"Luke, are you alright?!" Typho called out rushing to the boy and helping him stand.

"T-Tarja…M-Mungo…"

"We'll get them, I promise. But are you alright?"

Luke paused and then nodded, rubbing his head. It hurt a bit, but that wasn't surprising. "My head aches a little bit…but I'm fine." He murmured at Typho's look. The Captain of the Naboo Royal Security Forces nodded and helped Luke to the speeder bike, Luke vaguely seeing Tarja and Mungo being loaded onto the other two bikes. The trip back was a blur for Luke. The waterfalls were all mingled together, the plains just a big green blur, and he couldn't hear any sounds other than rushing wind.

But as it slowed he became aware of people calling out to them and one voice in particular made him perk up and turn to see a young woman in long skirts, her hair wild and free of any hair accessories running towards them, screaming his name. Luke barely let the bike stop before he tumbled off the machine racing to her.

"MOM!"

Seconds later Luke was in Padmé's arms, the woman rocking him and thanking the goddesses over and over again as she kissed Luke's head, sobbing as Luke clung to her.

"Mom…"

"Are you alright? Are you hurt?" She whispered brokenly.

"I-I'm fine…I-" He tried to say, but his voice cracked at the end and he buried his face into her chest. She gripped him hard, kissing his wet cheeks. He was back…her beloved baby was back. She would thank her gods, her goddesses, the force…it didn't matter anymore.

All that mattered was the familiar weight in her arms that was shaking and crying just as hard as she was.

Tada! So I saw Episode 7 of Star Wars! No spoilers, but it was amazing!

So here is a new chapter! All about Luke!