"You know what I'm wondering?" Luke mentioned as he watched Lando poke a deep pond with a stick. So far there had been no trace of Palpatine. Had he left? Was Luke wrong? He shouldn't be uncertain, not when the Force was roiling, but he was. Everything he thought he knew he questioned.

He looked at the pond. He still didn't like water, after all these years. Little beetles crawled on the surface- they didn't swim. And submerged, like the detritus of fallen leaves, sunken and not causing a ripple, was Luke's disappointment and horror that it could all go so horribly wrong again.

Lando was no help.

"I'm wondering when I can go home," he said.

Luke ignored him. "This prejudice, this... The Nons," he said. "I wonder if Palpatine is behind that."

"He just got back tonight," Lando objected.

"Oh, to get this far he must have been quietly around a while. It's like him, don't you think?"

Lando thought about it a moment. The Empire's most lasting achievement was the sense of human superiority over other life forms. Not peace, not territory or trade, but the betterment of one species. It had been hard to beat down after the Empire fell. And now, something similar was at work. Those without the Force felt like the Jedi looked down upon them as lesser beings.

"Yes," he agreed, giving the stick a toss and letting it sink. "It does sound like him."

"The only good thing about tonight is since he's much more powerful, he can't hide much longer."

"Beg to differ, Skywalker. That does not sound so good."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

He had lost track of time, the years. Only watched the galaxy change. The banners it flew. Watched as the Force stilled, like a stream after a storm.

Well, he would create a drought.

Nothing; no one would be like he was. He deserved it. He had harnessed it; manipulated it; shaped it, like an artist, until it was his ingenue.

There was so much of it here, in one place. It belonged to him. He was the Force.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Leia had spent the last two hours personally meeting those who had come to her Open House. The contact hadn't lasted long; enough to introduce herself, apologize, thank them for their forbearance. Discuss the tragedy of the photographer. She refrained from releasing details. She refrained from asking if they were Imperialists fifteen years ago.

What if Palpatine did succeed? What if he reformed his Empire? Would he have followers? She was suspicious of everyone. Anxious. Angry. She didn't feel well. When was the last time she'd eaten a proper meal? All she'd had since breakfast was candy, it seemed.

With her, silent and steady, Chewie circled the patio. He was unarmed, but he would do anything to protect the Princess-Senator and her cubs. He had sharp teeth and claws. His species possessed a great strength most others here did not. If Palpatine was indeed back, if he was indeed that wrinkly, rude kid he'd met earlier, then it should be easy to rip him limb to limb. All he had to do was think of his homeworld and the devastation the Empire had caused. All he had to do was part the fur on his arms, his legs, his torso, and locate the scars the slavers had inflicted upon him.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Chewie should have done this search," Han complained. "Why didn't we think of that? He's the natural choice to look in the trees."

"I wonder why Palpatine sprang up there," Mara wondered.

"I gave his cheeks a good healthy squeeze," Han said. "Thought they were rubber. Maybe it hurt."

"He wasn't like that." Mara's voice was thoughtful, minus the toughness she usually presented to Han.
"Before. He didn't make physical use of the Force."

"He hit Luke with lightning. That's pretty damn physical."

"Because it was necessary."

Han heard his voice go up as he exclaimed, "Necessary! Whose side are you on?"

"He preferred others to do his dirty work."

"Like you."

Mara nodded. "It was about the connection he had with you, through the Force. Mind to mind."

Han was disquieted by her attitude. It seemed she was almost nostalgic. "Why don't you, uh, get all physical with the Force now, huh? You know, since Luke's not here. Jump up there. Show Lando 'n me we weren't crazy."

Mara sat down on a mossy patch of ground instead.

"Not in the mood, huh," Han said.

Mara drew her legs into her chest and lowered her head until her forehead rested on her knees. "What if he's learned something that we don't know, that makes him more powerful? What if we lose? The kids- gods, Solo- we brought them into the galaxy. It's all our fault."

Han scratched his forehead. "You're kinda sounding like Threepio. The kids aren't a liability; they're a strength. That's the one thing I learned from Leia and Luke on the Death Star. You can't know what the future holds, and that's what lets you hope. And that's the kids."

Mara hadn't moved and her voice came muffled, "You never saw yourself with children, did you, Solo."

Han looked around the dark woods, as if finding himself there for the first time. "If the old me met this me, he'd faint with surprise."

That made Mara grin faintly. "Same here."

"And now you got little Ben." A thought struck Han. "Luke give you any say in the name? Ben? That wasn't even the real name of his first Force Ghost."

"He wanted to honor the Force, and so did I. I thought to make him Luke, Junior."

Han rolled his eyes. "Luke ever introduce you to Force Ghost Ben?"

Mara shook her head. "No."

"Yeah. He seems to pop up only in emergencies."

"Now would be a good time."

"How many times does that make us agreein' on something tonight, Jade?"

"Scary, isn't it," Mara answered dryly, but she got to her feet, ready to end this night. "Let's keep looking."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It was a slightly awkward situation, the Chief of State guarded by children. The opposite of baby sitting, Mon Mothma thought. Chief of State sitting. If the matter weren't so serious, she might find it funny.

One child was a baby who slept, another was young enough to be distracted by his costume and the candy he collected. The other two wanted to be regarded as adults. They took turns, one standing at her side, the other walking around the room, checking windows and the door.

The Solo children were not well known to the public. They looked like parts of their famous parents, but now, with the green skin tint dripping in clumps due to the warmth, or the wig another wore, or the Jedi costume calling back to another time, these kids could be anyone's children.

"How did the being come to find you?" she asked the older children. She wasn't ready yet to call it Palpatine. She was a generation older than the others; she'd grown up familiar with the Jedi and the concept of the Force, but she didn't want that to be the reason a holophotographer was dead.

"What do you mean?" Jaina scratched at a clump of skin tint on her cheek. "He was just out mischiefing."

"Yes, but did he pick you randomly from other kids on the street, or, since he knew he wanted to come to Senator Organa's house, did he seek Senator Organa's children?"

Jacen and Jaina looked at each other, as if the other helped to clarify details, even when they didn't talk.

"Well," Jacen said slowly, "we were stopped. Anakin kept dumping out his candy."

"And he asked if we were going," Jaina finished.

"We talked about our costumes," Jacen added.

"I told him his was cool," Anakin remembered.

"He was close enough to listen in," Jaina said. "Remember? He asked-"

"Nak's name-"

"- and Dad said he was pushing at Uncle Luke's booth-"

"- and Lando said he was asking about Darth Vader."

"- and Darth Vader's name is the same as Nak's!"

The three children had gathered to face each other, their words tumbling out.

"That's what this is!" Jacen almost shouted.

Mon was caught up in their excitement. "What?"

"The Force. The being- Palpatine, if that's who it is, isn't after you, Chancellor. Isn't even interested in you, I bet, because after he gets the Force..."

"He has everything," Jaina finished.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

So strong here, but so many...

He had come from the core, the center, the beginnings, and as a vapor of energy slipped through it all; then climbed, and then he was here, because it was his desire. Able to walk, to eat, to feel...

But only as a shadow. This was his night, his only chance, when what was real pretended to be something other, when he could be seen, because it wasn't a risk.

He receded into the Force, feeling.

All that he was, was still here. His achievement. Failures, too.

Skywalker.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The last of the guests finally left. The family was tired, disappointed, and horrified that such a thing had happened, and in front of their young children, too.

Leia understood. Most had similar feelings. She felt the same, only the children hadn't really seen anything, just the emergency personnel and craft, but she bit her tongue. She slumped into a chair on the patio and tried to forget the public and all the false and misleading stories the holopress would publish about the night.

*Blue, Princess?* Chewie said.

Leia shook off her fatigue and tried to rally. "No, Chewie, I'm not really feeling blue. Just tired and worried. Very worried. Have you heard anything from the others?"

*No. Actually, I am trying to remember what color Luke said the Force was.*

Leia reached out her Force sense. Her children were a range of emotions, but overall she sensed they were safe. That was good. From the others, not exactly nothing- she knew Luke was on the grounds somewhere, as was Han- she could feel them- but they didn't seem to have an elevated sense of emotion.

"He said it was blue."

*I think I found some.*

Leia jerked her head up to him, amazed and surprised at the calm in such an astounding statement. "What?"

The wookiee pointed toward the gate. *There. Blue. Does it feel like the Force? It reminds me of a lamp.*

Leia found her reaction instinctive, though it wouldn't be the one Luke had. She shrank from it. "I see it."

*Is it... him? How do you capture such a light?*

"That's a good question. I don't know. But-" Leia dared reach out a bit in the Force. "It doesn't seem evil. Unless, I've been corrupted and-" She refused to take the thought further. What Han and Lando saw, who Chewie met at the door, had been a flesh and blood being. Not lamplight. "Let's go take a look."

Together, they walked toward the gate. Leia stayed close to Chewie. Somehow the feeling of the wookiee's warm fur made her feel safe and brave.

The blue light didn't have a source. It was a glow, and bobbed along like a seed on the wind. But as they approached, it stopped moving, and took shape.

Leia gasped. "It's just as bad as him, Chewie. It's Anakin Skywalker."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Han and Mara had reached the property border at the back edge of the woods. They'd gone for long minutes without speaking. Han would say Mara usually enjoyed insulting him as much as he enjoyed sending barbs her way, but the dark of the woods put them both in a somber mood.

"I wonder if anyone found anything yet," Han mused.

"It's been quiet," Mara said. "Ben is waking up from his nap, though."

"Strange," Han said. "To show up, and make a scene-"

"You're the one that grabbed his face."

"And then disappear? He killed one being. Why not go on a spree?"

"I think it was a test, to see if he could. I figure he's been trying, since he took form, to be able to manipulate the Force; not just be in it. And now he can, he can kill, so he's going to really set his plan in motion now."

"Speaking of blue-"

"I said nothing of blue, Solo, don't you even listen?"

"Look."

Before Mara even grasped at what she was seeing, Han had drawn his blaster and shot into the woods. It went through the blue glow, which seemed to put its hands up- it had hands?- and then the bolt hit a tree.

"I think it surrendered," Han said, pleased with himself.

"You can't shoot the Force," Mara muttered. The glow seemed to be getting closer, and Mara noted both she and Han closed the gap without feeling any fear.

The Force glow now had a clear shape. A human man, bearded and robed. "I see your aim is just as sharp, Captain Solo."

"It's General Solo now," Han informed the spectre.

"Really," the ghost seemed pleased. "You stay dead for a few years and look what happens without you."

"It's called life," Mara said.

"That's one way of looking at it," the ghost smiled at her and Han. "Nice place you have here," it said amiably.

"Do you recognize him?" Mara asked Han.

He nodded slowly, stunned. "It's your son's namesake. Old and dead Ben Kenobi."

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Mon Mothma was feeling older than she had earlier in the night. The hoop of her costume's skirt was heavy and pinched too tight. Her feet hurt. And the little baby, Ben, had woken from his nap and was crying again. The Solo children were doing their best to calm him. Jaina bounced him around, hugging him to her chest, Anakin offered him candy, and Jacen hopped behind his sister, making funny faces. In addition to the noise of the Skywalker child, the Solo children were trying to convince her that their mother and uncle were the ones in danger, and they had to warn them.

She rubbed her temples. "Alright!" she said louder than the baby's crying. "We'll go outside. Maybe the fresh air will make him feel better. And if we find your parents, you can tell them your theory."

The three Solo children cheered.

"But first," Chancellor Mothma said sternly, "you will all use the 'fresher. Starting with you, Anakin. Give me Ben, Jaina. I'll check his diaper."

It was when the Chancellor locked herself into the 'fresher that the Force Ghost appeared.

"Hello, younglings," a blue man said.

"Hello," Anakin answered. "Who're you?"

"My name is Qui Gonn. They tell me I'm good with kids."

"Are you?" Jaina asked.

"I'm not sure. Am I?"

"You're okay, I guess," Jacen said. "Did Uncle Luke send you? I don't remember hearing your name. We're with the Chancellor, so we don't really need a baby sitter. Unless you're going to watch Ben, so the rest of us can help Uncle Luke and Mom?"

They heard the latch of the 'fresher, and Mon Mothma emerged. She tossed the metal frame she'd worn under her huge skirt aside as she spoke. "We'll go to the patio. A security officer should give us the location of your-" She stopped dead in her tracks, looking at the children gathered around a glowing blue figure sitting on his knees on the floor, tickling the cheek of baby Ben with his right hand.

"Oh!" she squawked, and fainted.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Lando!" Luke cried excitedly, and he sprinted away down a garden path.

"Wait, Skywalker!" Lando shouted, but the younger man was already out of sight. "You're lucky I got this blue light to see by, or else I don't-" abruptly, Lando shut up. "I got a blue light to see by," he said with a grin.

When he caught up, he was amazed to see Luke sitting on a stone wall gesturing at a blue... being, Lando guessed he'd have to call it, though it was floating above one of the ponds. It was not large, with a round, heavy face; large, ovate ears drooped from the sides of its head and its limbs ended in a few clawed digits.

"This is Master Yoda," Luke introduced the Force Ghost to Lando. "He trained me. I haven't seen him since Endor."

"A long time, that was," the ghost agreed. "Sleeping, was I."

"Master Yoda, tell me what's going on," Luke pressed. "Lando and Han insist they saw Palpatine."

"Child-sized Palpatine," Lando clarified. "I'm General Calrissian." He tried to offer his hand but he would have to lean over the water and he didn't want to fall in. "Can you help us get rid of him?"

"Child-sized not for long," Master Yoda warned. "Become powerful, has he." He seemed to want to poke Luke in the chest. "All your fault this is."

"Now just a minute," Luke said angrily. "If you'd taught me at all in the first place-"

Lando quirked his lips. He had the distinct impression he was caught in a conversation that should have remained private. "Seems we got some unfinished business," he observed.

"We do," Luke agreed. "It's not fair to assign blame so quickly when your generation of Jedi just quit for two decades," he told Yoda. "And anyway, you are feeding exactly into what Palpatine wants. It's easy to defeat us if we're not united."

"Returned to help you, have we," Master Yoda said. "Told me, Obi Wan did, not enough we did for you."

"I'll take that as an apology," Luke said. "And who is we?"

"Your father, and Obi Wan Kenobi. The one who found your father. Qui Gonn, his name is."

"Where are my father and Ben?" Luke asked eagely. "I'd love to see them."

"Assigned to others, are they."

Luke couldn't hide his disappointment. "Oh," he said.

"Stuck with me, you are!" and the odd Force ghost hooted with laughter.

"We're doomed, aren't we," Lando said.

"Followed him out," Yoda continued. "Need our help you will, to put him back."

"I'll be glad to accept your help," Luke said.

"Removed from the Force, he needs be."

"Do you know how?" Luke asked.

"Trust your feelings, and the answer will come."

"So you don't know how," Luke assumed sadly.