Summary: This is part of the Force Bond series, an AU where Vader raises a teenaged Luke, but is a complete story unto itself. It is set in between Force Bond 2 and 3, after 'Imperial Pride'.

After a young celebrity is kidnapped, Vader worries Luke may be next. Meanwhile, a shooting contest causes a friendship crisis for Luke, and this is going to take Skywalker levels of parenting to resolve.

Background: So this one is more on the lighter side of Force Bond, more humor, less angst. A few readers over the years have let me know they enjoy Luke's friend Ben and his father, and his classmate Ophelia, who may have more of a heart than she likes to admit. They both get some time to shine in this one. Vader also gets to be a more confident parent as his skills are put to the test. Long time readers of this series will spot a few side characters and objects making appearances from other interlude fics, plus finally the story of Luke's biology project mentioned in FB4.

There are seven chapters in total and I'll update weekly. It's also on AO3 if you prefer to read there (I'm kittandchips there as well).

Shout out to Deja Know I Been Lookin For Vu. She knows why ;)

Sleepover Dad

Chapter 1

Years of experience on the battlefield had left Darth Vader with a very specialized skill when it came to blaster fire. As he stepped out of the elevator, into his private hangar bay at the Imperial Palace, a sharp choom-choom noise filled the auditory receptors located at the sides of his mask. His mind instantly identified the make and model of the blaster that made that particular sound. BlasTech Industries, E-11 model. Standard issue for Imperial stormtroopers.

What his mind didn't answer was why that blaster was being fired on a weekday afternoon in the middle of what should be a highly secure area.

His senses immediately kicked into fight mode, and his lightsaber was in his hand before he consciously considered it might be needed. Adrenaline flowed as he walked in the direction of the sound, which still filled the air at regular intervals.

Choom-choom. Choom-choom.

Now he could see the red glow of the blaster fire, reflecting off the wing of a ship. It was coming from a workroom. Had the guards backed an intruder into the confined space? Was a sniper droid on the loose?

He was a second away from igniting the lightsaber and lending his own expertise to the dire situation, when he came within view of the doorway, and the reality of the situation was now revealed.

Instead of some enemy intent on invading the heart of the Imperial government, the source of the blaster fire was in fact a gangly teenage boy, standing with his feet apart and his back to Vader. He was shooting at a target that had been mounted on the far wall and repeatedly missing it by a good thirty centimeters. Beside him stood another teenage boy, this one shorter, but with a more confident stance. He was in the middle of shouting instructions in the direction of his friend.

"Okay, you're getting there, but your arms are still shaking! Try and relax."

"I'm trying! But—whoa!"

The blaster flew out of the boy's hands and sailed through the air into Vader's waiting hand. The two miscreants turned around slowly, their general expressions betraying their guilt.

"Oh … hi!" Luke said. "I thought your meeting went for another hour."

Vader stepped into the room, looking up at the wall. There was a still-smoking hole in one place where a shooter had aimed so wide, the shot had even missed the edge of the target board. His gaze lowered to the bench under the target, where a can of highly-flammable paint-stripper sat, without so much as a sheet to cover it.

Ben was already trying to make a break for it by edging around the side, but Vader pointed at him, using the Force to push him back in front of him.

"Explain yourselves," he said, in a quiet, dangerous tone. "Quickly."

Luke raised his hands. "I was just teaching Ben how to shoot straight."

No further explanation was forthcoming, and Vader had to wonder if Luke honestly thought those words somehow justified everything he had just witnessed.

"I wasn't aware the stormtrooper corps had begun drafting sixteen-year-olds."

"It's for the Imperial Palace staff family day," Luke said. "There's a shooting contest and Ben's old enough to enter with his father."

"So you thought it would be a good idea to practice in a room with flammable chemicals and reflective surfaces?!"

Luke glanced around, and then said, "Come on, he's not that bad."

"The wall is still smoking!"

Ben took a step backwards at his tone, visibly shaking.

"We tried to use the proper shooting range downstairs, but Lieutenant Hicks said we needed adult supervision," Luke protested. A moment after he said the words, he seemed to realize he wasn't helping his cause.

Vader was about to demand to know where they had obtained the blaster, when a warning alarm began blaring in the main hangar. Vader turned around and walked around the shuttle to investigate, wondering if the boys had somehow managed to cause another disaster, completely separate from the one he was currently attempting to deal with.

His quest led him to Artoo Detoo, who was releasing a smoke stream directly under a smoke alarm. A second later, he realized he'd been purposely distracted, and turned back to find the boys disappearing into the service elevator. He started to reach out a hand to hold the doors, but it was too late.

"Droid!"

Artoo whistled in an overly innocent way.

He then heard the muffled sounds of Threepio calling for help, and Artoo rolled over to release him from the closet where he'd somehow become trapped.

"I tried to discourage them, sir, I really did," Threepio insisted, servos clicking as he walked out. "But you know how determined Master Luke gets when he wants to help his friends!"

Artoo beeped in agreement.

"You could have stopped them," Vader said, pointing at Artoo.

I only just got here! Artoo protested. I was repairing Luke's HoloNet projector in his bedroom!

Vader was about to suggest he go and unrepair the HoloNet projector, as Luke would not be using it for some time, when a stormtrooper ran out of a nearby elevator, radiating panic. A weary breath passed through the respirator as the man looked around desperately, before catching sight of the resident Sith Lord. This resulted in a hasty attempt at reversing backwards into the elevator.

"Come here, trooper!" Vader said, feeling his frustration increase.

The trooper hesitated, and then began to run towards him, before slowing to a more respectful walk as he approached. He was clearly trembling in his armor.

"Is this yours?" Vader enquired, holding up the blaster by the middle of its barrel.

"I'm sorry, sir! I ... I …"

"I said, is this yours?"

"Yes, sir! I mean … yes, my lord. I'm so sorry! I—"

"Spare me your pitiful apologies," Vader said, pushing the blaster into the trooper's chest. He quickly reached up to take it. "Never let this out of your sight again. It is fortunate I intervened or the entire hangar could have been destroyed."

"Oh, dear," Threepio said.

Artoo made a derisive whistle.

"I swear, Luke, one of these days, he's going to give me a heart attack."

"I've seen him a lot angrier," Luke said, leaning out of the elevator and looking left and right before stepping out. "Come on."

"It's like there's a cloud of fear and intimidation just wafting out of him and filling whatever room he's in."

Luke smirked. "Yeah, I think that's the center switch on his respirator controls."

"You can tell he's barely managing to hold himself back from unleashing all his Sith Lord powers and—" Ben broke off. "Where are we going?"

"This is the secret way out I discovered," Luke said, opening a service hatch along the wall beside the elevator. This was the lowest of the basement hangar bays, where the stormtrooper squads assigned to the palace kept their troop transports, but they didn't have a lot of need for them in recent years. "It's a long walk but it eventually comes out into a lower level service tunnel. From there, you can catch an elevator back to the top." Luke crawled into the hatch, and after a moment, Ben followed him.

Twenty meters along the tunnel, Luke opened another hidden floor hatch, and slid down a long ladder. It dropped him in a corridor with walls that had once been black and shiny, but were now faded and dull with time. He took the multi-tool off his belt, and shone the flashlight back up the ladder as Ben climbed down to join him.

"What is this place?!" Ben asked.

Luke shrugged. "Part of the Jedi Temple back in the day. Built over now. But look at this." He led Ben further down the corridor, stepping over a few cracked floor tiles, and then revealed a wall panel sitting slightly open. "I left a brick here so I could find it again."

"A secret door?!" Ben said, looking at all the internal wiring along the exposed edge. "How did you open it?"

Luke shrugged. "The last person to use it left it unlocked."

That wasn't entirely true. It had actually taken him many hours and multiple attempts to get to this point, and he suspected the Force had been involved in the end, although he didn't want to acknowledge it. He put the flashlight in his mouth as he used both hands to open the door wider.

"After you," he said, words distorted by the obstruction between his teeth.

Ben tentatively stepped forward, climbing down to the rocky tunnel. He made it two steps, and then reared back at the sound of rodents squeaking.

"Luke!"

"I know, it's a little scary," Luke said, jumping down beside Ben with the flashlight in his hand now. "But there's only a few, and once you get past them, it's fine."

Ben gave Luke a look, and then turned around. "No way. I've heard about those giant lower-level mutant rats. I don't care if your father has stationed stormtroopers at every exit and ordered them to take us to the detention center … we're not getting out this way."

"Okay, okay," Luke said. "He's probably forgotten about us and gone to the military headquarters now anyway."

"We'll go out the staff exit near the guard office," Ben said, looking up at the ceiling. "I know the guards there. It should be fine."

"Otherwise, we can just hide out in the security office," Luke said, checking the time on his wrist comlink. "Lieutenant Hicks always has good snacks."

The thought of security office snacks kept Luke energized during the climb back to the top and the crawl towards the basement hangar. From here, they took the stairs up to the level where the palace staff had their offices and approached the exit slowly, keeping an eye out for any stormtroopers. When they went past the security office, Luke hesitated, and then said, "Can we just check if he has some Choco Pebbles today?"

"Yeah, why not," Ben said, pressing the door release.

As soon as they stepped inside, they realized coming here was a big mistake. There was a tense conversation going on between Lieutenant Hicks, Lev and a fully uniformed royal guard. Even without the Force, Luke would have known this was Ben's father based purely on his body language, but Ben didn't catch on until he removed his helmet. His expression was enough to cause the two of them to make a hasty reverse, but Lieutenant Hicks pressed the controls on his desk to lock the office doors.

"Ben. Jarnet." He stepped forward, pointing at him with his force pike. "Please, by all that is good in this galaxy, tell me you didn't steal a stormtrooper's blaster and fire it in a meeting room!"

Ben raised his hands. "Calm down!"

"It wasn't a meeting room!" Luke protested. "It was a workroom in a ship hangar! And we just borrowed the blaster."

Lev sighed, taking a seat on the swivel chair in front of Lieutenant Hicks' desk. "This was your idea, wasn't it?" he said, raising an eyebrow in Luke's direction.

"We didn't damage anything," Luke insisted. "Well … there was a slight mark in the wall, but I'll fix it."

"You've damaged RQ-573," Lieutenant Hicks said. "He's sitting in the break room right now, shaking. It's his first week on the job and he had to go and retrieve his blaster from Lord Vader."

Luke sighed, feeling a rush of guilt. "I didn't think he'd notice it was gone until we brought it back."

"I don't believe this," Captain Jarnet said, shaking his head at Ben.

"I'm sorry!" Ben said. "Please, I've already been terrorised by Luke's dad!"

Lieutenant Hicks smirked. "Luke's dad?"

"First he took the blaster away using the Force, and then I tried to run away and he just waved a hand at me and I couldn't move!" Ben said.

"Luke's dad?" Lieutenant Hicks repeated. He shared a smile with Lev, and then looked back at Ben. "I don't think I've ever heard the supreme commander of the Imperial armed forces reduced to merely being Luke's dad."

"Reduced?" Captain Jarnet said, turning back to the officers. "Merely? Do you have any idea what it's like trying to raise a teenager? I'm sure he considers the Empire the smaller of his two responsibilities."

"Yes, I'd believe it, in Luke's case," Lev said.

Luke rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry," Ben said, looking down. "I just … I know winning this shooting contest is important to you, and I wanted to practice."

Captain Jarnet turned back. "Why didn't you wait until I came off shift?" He sounded less angry now. "We could have practiced at the firing range."

"Wait," Lieutenant Hicks said, raising a finger to point at Captain Jarnet. "You actually think you have a chance of winning the shooting contest?"

Captain Jarnet nodded. "Sure."

"Have you seen Commander Julius shoot?"

"Have you seen me shoot?" Captain Jarnet countered.

"I've heard the last royal guard to challenge her title ended up crying," Lev said.

"Yeah, and she never lets anyone live their loss down," Lieutenant Hicks said. "Don't let that calm professional exterior fool you. She has a competitive streak that could break a Mandalorian."

Ben had been clutching his stomach during this banter, like he was feeling nauseous.

"It's just a fun day for the friends and family of the staff to tour the palace, right? Luke said. "Who cares who wins?"

Lieutenant Hicks shook his head. "No, Luke. The coloring-in contest is for fun. The 'design your own Imperial flag' contest is fun. The shooting contest is a deadly serious test of skill among the Empire's finest."

"So who is she entering with, then?" Luke asked.

"Normally, it's her husband, and he's been training with her since their first date," Lieutenant Hicks said. "But she mentioned her niece is visiting. She's a star athlete in the junior cadet corps."

Ben was sweating by now, and it didn't go past Lev.

"How's your aim, Ben?" he asked.

"Well …" Ben said. "Uh … to be honest …not that great."

Lieutenant Hicks and Lev both looked at Captain Jarnet, who raised his hands. "So we've got a bit of work to do. It won't be a problem. All Jarnet men have been natural sharpshooters, going back to the days when they were hunting nerfs on the plains of Kentrasis. Besides … I've seen him win at those holovid games."

Luke raised an eyebrow. Ben was just about the furthest thing he'd seen from a natural sharpshooter. Even Tank's grandfather, who was only partially sighted in one eye, had better aim. He used to sit outside their Tatooine farm and shoot at womp rats who got too close, and everyone knew not to visit when that was going on.

Captain Jarnet turned back to face them.

"Here's what we're going to do. You are both going to go and apologise to that poor stormtrooper. Meanwhile, I will finish my shift and get changed. Then I will meet you at the firing range in thirty minutes. Understood?"

They both nodded, relieved he seemed to have forgiven them, and then stepped back to allow him to leave the office. Luke sneaked over to grab a handful of Choco Pebbles, before joining Ben in the corridor. He was already shaking his head.

"This is going to be bad."

"I'm sure he's fine," Luke said, looking around. If he remembered right, the break room was down the other end, near the storage lockers.

"Not the stormtrooper," Ben said. "My father. He's going to be devastated when he sees how useless I am."

"You're not useless," Luke said. "You're just new at this. With a bit more practice, who knows?"

"This contest is only two weeks away."

"He should have started you training sooner."

"He did suggest it a month back, but we had that big test coming up in language studies, and I only have so much time. I didn't realize he was going to take it this seriously."

"From what Lev and Lieutenant Hicks said, Commander Julius and her amazing niece are going to win easily anyway. So it doesn't matter how good you are."

"No, it will just mean the end of the glorious line of Jarnet sharpshooters," Ben said.

"No it won't. How about your cousins? Didn't you say Eli was really good at throwing things?"

"Eli is three," Ben said, frowning.

Luke smiled. They had come up on the break room now, and he pushed the door release, leading Ben through into the room filled with long tables. RQ-573 sat in the middle, helmet on the table beside him, and shaking slightly as he studied a mug of hot caf the serving droids had made for him. He didn't seem able to take his eyes off his blaster.

Luke rubbed the back of his neck, feeling even more guilty. He approached slowly, not wanting to startle the man. "Hi there."

The trooper looked up, and Luke realized he was only a few years older than he and Ben.

"Um …" He glanced back to make sure Ben was beside him, and then met the man's gaze. "I'm really sorry we borrowed your blaster without asking you. That was a stupid thing to do."

"Really stupid," Ben agreed.

"It was just … Ben needs to get better at shooting, really fast, because his father wants to win the shooting contest at the palace family day, and it was one of those 'seemed like a good idea at the time' moments," Luke explained.

"If it helps any, Luke's dad terrorised us, too," Ben added.

The trooper looked between them for a moment, looking bewildered. Luke wondered if he was still in a state of shock, but then he spoke.

"You are Lord Vader's son?" he asked, hesitantly.

Luke nodded. "Luke. This is my friend, Ben."

He looked from Ben's face back to Luke, and then said, "And you are apologising to me?"

"Of course," Luke said, wondering why he sounded so confused. "Sorry if my father was mean to you. He gets really moody sometimes."

"Understatement," Ben said.

"If your blaster ever goes missing again, just call me," Luke said. "I'll help you find it."

"Uh … thanks," the trooper said. He looked around. "How did you even know where to find me?"

"Lieutenant Hicks told me," Luke said. "I'm down here all the time." He smiled. "The best people in the palace are based on this floor. So what's your name?"

"RQ-573."

"No, your name," Luke said.

He paused for a little too long, and then said, "Robi."

"See you 'round, Robi," Luke said, giving him a wave.

When they were both back in the corridor, Luke shrugged. "Well, he didn't seem mad at all."

"Luke," Ben sighed.

"What?"

"Never mind. Maybe you can give me a few more pointers before my dad gets off shift."

Over the next three days, Ben was subjected to a crash course in shooting in the royal guard firing range, with Captain Jarnet supervising and providing constant suggestions for improvement. Luke had to hand it to him, though. Never once did he raise his voice, even though his growing frustration was obvious. Luke was more concerned for his friend's mental state, as Ben seemed to be getting worse, especially when other royal guards would come by and watch.

"Don't worry," one of them said, looking sympathetically at Ben's father. "I was pretty bad at sixteen as well."

"Ben is fine," Captain Jarnet said. "Aren't you supposed to be reviewing those incident reports?"

The other royal guard raised his hands and quickly left the room. Luke glanced up from the political studies assignment he was working on, and saw Ben had his face screwed up in concentration, desperately trying to get closer to the center ring on the stationary target board. He was clearly completely over this, and Luke knew a big argument was going to happen sooner or later, and he hoped it wouldn't be when he was around. But for some reason, his father had cut off his room HoloNet access, and Ben had asked him to be here for moral support.

"Arg!" Ben shouted. He'd hit the outer ring again. He tossed the blaster down, swearing in frustration.

"Never throw a blaster!" Captain Jarnet said. "And wash your mouth out. Where did you even learn that?"

Luke waved his hands in a 'no' gesture, but Ben wasn't even looking at him.

"It's only a training blaster," Ben said, kicking the box it had fallen on.

"Doesn't matter. Learning good safety habits is vital. And don't give up just because it's harder than you thought!"

"I never thought this was going to be easy," Ben said, slumping down on the bench. "I need a break."

Captain Jarnet sighed. "Fine. Luke, why don't you have a go?"

"Me?" Luke looked up. "Why?"

"Because it might help Ben to see that he doesn't need to compare himself to my skills. Seeing another amateur will be helpful."

"Luke. An amateur," Ben said, rolling his eyes.

"You've had training?" Captain Jarnet asked, as Luke went to pick up the training blaster.

"No, but I learned to shoot when I was a kid, growing up on a farm. You had to, there. It was that kind of place."

Luke glanced over the computer, and then selected the moving target program, first skill level. A large countdown appeared on the various screens, and then the holographic targets began to pop up and move around the large space in front of him.

The blaster itself only fired low energy bolts, which dissipated when they connected with a hologram. Luke missed the first few targets, and then began to get a feel for this small weapon, and soon he was wracking up his score. He ended with a bonus for his accuracy rate and found himself pressing the button to start the level 2 moving target practice.

After hitting 10 targets in 8 seconds, Ben's father came to stand behind him.

"Wow," he remarked. "You're good."

Luke raised the blaster to hit a circle falling from the ceiling. The bonus light lit up as he hit the glowing bullseye in the center of it.

"Really good," Captain Jarnet corrected.

Luke barely heard him. He was getting into the zone now, feeling the rush of excitement that came with succeeding at a skill he hadn't had a chance to practice in a long time. The simulations were all five minutes long, but it felt like only half a minute later when all the lights lit up and a sound played to indicate Luke had made the top ten list.

"Woo!" Luke said, putting the blaster down so he could enter his name. "This is actually fun!"

"Here's an idea," Ben said, gesturing from his father to Luke. "Why don't you enter this contest with Luke? There's nothing in the rules to say your partner has to be related to you. It's friends and family day."

Captain Jarnet looked from Ben to Luke like he was actually considering this, and Luke hastily raised his hands. "I don't want to enter."

"I would rather you didn't just quit because it's hard," Captain Jarnet said, pointing at Ben. "With a bit of practice, you could shoot like Luke too."

Ben looked dejected. "Sure," he said, sarcastically.

"There's no need to get moody."

"I'm not moody!"

At that moment, the doors to the firing range opened, and Luke silently thanked the Force for the interruption. But he changed his mind when he saw who it was.

"Well, well, well," Commander Julius said, striding towards them. "So. It's true. Captain Jarnet and Junior actually think they can challenge the palace shooting queen."

Captain Jarnet folded his arms. "I haven't yet decided if I have the time to enter."

"Yeah, wouldn't want to waste your time with mere amateurs, right?" Commander Julius said, leaning against the wall. "Did you hear my niece is joining me this year? Three time shooting champion at the junior cadet sector contest."

"I can't believe how seriously you take the palace staff open day shooting contest," Luke said, smirking at her.

"Oh, innocent, young Cupcake," Commander Julius said. "You don't know how many years I had to endure the parade of arrogant royal guards insisting they were the greatest shooters in the galaxy. When I first started working here, they wouldn't allow anyone who wasn't a guard to enter their little shooting contest. The rest of us were considered unworthy."

Luke looked up at Captain Jarnet in surprise. "Is that true?"

"They may have had some restrictive entry requirements in past years," Captain Jarnet admitted, looking aside.

"And as soon as I lose this contest, they'll tighten up those rules again," she continued. "Just so they don't have to suffer the humiliation of losing to a mere security division commander. So no, this isn't just about my ego—which I admit, can be a little inflated when it comes to my shooting—that's what comes from years of seeing royal guards try and fail." She winked at Captain Jarnet on her way out the door. "You think carefully about whether you have the time, Captain."

As soon as the door closed, Captain Jarnet raised both fists in the air, releasing the same word he'd admonished Ben for using earlier.

"Dad," Ben said. "Seriously. Enter with Luke. It's the only chance you'll have."

"I don't actually think you'd have a chance even with me," Luke said. "She's using psychological warfare."

Captain Jarnet gave him a look like he was about to completely lose it, and Luke hastily raised his hands in defeat. "Okay. As long as Ben's okay with it, I can give it a try."

"Of course I'm okay with it," Ben said, rolling his eyes.

"Fine. Luke … do you have time to practice tomorrow?"

It was the weekend tomorrow. His father had left Coruscant that morning, chasing after some anti-Empire group called the 'Liberator Army' who had been leaving graffiti with their name and logo all over the lower levels. Their base was reportedly in the middle of the Icarthi asteroid belt. He hadn't mentioned being back in time to leave for Mustafar.

"Uh … sure. Just let me know when."

"Thank you. I'll bring some Choco Pebbles."

Luke glanced at Ben again, seeing his friend was still looking dejected.

"Ben prefers Nebula Twisters," Luke said. "Could you bring those?"

"Whatever you want," Captain Jarnet said. "We're going to have to practice every day."

Luke glanced back at his homework, but found himself nodding. At least this stupid contest was only two weeks away.

Ben didn't even come to the training session the following morning, which worried Luke at first, until Captain Jarnet said he'd needed to catch up on study and was enjoying having the apartment to himself. They'd booked an hour's timeslot in the firing range, but soon, Luke was having so much fun working his way through the moving target simulations, they went over their booked session time. Another guard had booked for the hour after them, but he was happy just to watch for ten minutes while Luke and Captain Jarnet competed against each other on the level 3 simulation.

"I'll need to find another firing range, one where we won't be disturbed," Captain Jarnet said, as they walked out of the guard training area. "I don't want Commander Julius finding out you're my shooting partner, or she'll try and get you disqualified somehow."

"Won't she find out when you fill in the entry form?"

"I'll do that last minute. You can still enter up to an hour before the contest opens."

He paused to smile at Luke before walking through into his office.

"Thanks for doing this. You really have an amazing talent."

"No problem," Luke said, walking on. He paused on the stairs up to the main floor of the palace, wondering if he should send Ben a message and ask if he wanted to go cruising around the city this afternoon, or play some hologames. It felt a little weird to hang out with his father without him.

But when he finally did send the message, he only received a short reply back, saying he was busy working on an assignment. This comlink silence continued the following day, until Ben's father called to say he'd found a new firing range over the other side of Imperial City, and would pick him up after lunch.

It was aimed at security professionals, and Luke felt self-conscious when the droid at the reception wanted to see his ID. But once they were inside, they were led into a private area that had even more simulations than the room at the Imperial Palace, including various melee weapons and heavy artillery. Luke was soon enjoying himself even more than he expected, and he badgered Captain Jarnet with questions about his royal guard training. He didn't seem to mind this at all, and they were soon involved in a detailed discussion over the relative deadliness of a blaster versus a force pike and different methods of defending against both.

At one stage, one of the staff wandered past, and she paused to watch Luke shoot.

"You're a real natural," she said. "I can tell you haven't had any professional training, but your accuracy rate is phenomenal."

Luke shrugged, smiling shyly. "I grew up on a farm in the middle of a desert. There wasn't a lot to do around there but learn how to shoot properly."

"Have you ever thought about taking a class?" She looked at Captain Jarnet. "He'd suit the advanced junior class, I think. I'll get you a brochure." She returned after a few minutes with a data projector that showed the full catalogue of courses offered by the facility, including a voucher for a free trial class.

Captain Jarnet was so enthusiastic about the idea, he was still talking about it on their way back to the speeder.

"You could find a proper course very helpful, Luke. Or even some one-on-one tutoring."

"I'd have to tell my father before signing up for anything like that," Luke said. "And judging by his reaction when he caught me with the blaster the other day, I don't think he'd say yes anytime soon."

Captain Jarnet paused by the speeder, looking at him in surprise. "Stars, I didn't even think about that. Do you think he'd be okay with this?"

He gestured back into the building.

"I guess so," Luke said. "He's back tomorrow, so I'll let him know." He smiled then. "He's not exactly a pacifist, so I don't think he'll object to me learning how to use a blaster better."

"No," Captain Jarnet agreed. "But I should have made sure it was all right before bringing you here. It's easy to forget sometimes. I always try and treat you like any other friend Ben has had over the years because I know that's what you need, but I can't ignore the complexity of the situation."

Luke felt touched at the words. That was what he needed, but he didn't know Captain Jarnet had put that much thought into it.

"I appreciate that you treat me that way," Luke said, looking down.

Captain Jarnet smiled, briefly putting his hand on his shoulder. "Well, the last thing we want is you turning into another Sunny Sy Vesta."

Sunny Sy Vesta was the seventeen-year-old son of a popular music star and a billionaire cruise ship magnate, and he was also called a word that Luke had never understood the meaning of until he'd lived on Coruscant for a few years. Socialite. He regularly featured on the cover of holo-magazines, and seemed a favorite guest on talk shows, but Luke had never been entirely sure what he actually did to deserve all the attention he got. He seemed famous for being famous.

Luke's classmate, Ophelia Halifax, had caused a big stir by dating him for three months at the beginning of the year, and their break-up had featured in the Coruscant Enquirer, alongside a story about a giant space squid terrorizing passenger ships along the Argas shipping route.

"That will never happen," Luke said, shuddering at the idea.