Chapter 2

"Stars, it's later than I thought," Captain Jarnet said, as they flew back into the heart of Imperial City. "How about we pick up Ben and go out for dinner?"

"That all-you-can-eat buffet place?" Luke suggested. "No, how about that diner out by the industrial district docking bays?"

"I was thinking somewhere just a little classier, Luke. But let's see what Ben thinks."

When they arrived at the apartment, all the lights were out and there was no sign of Ben anywhere. Captain Jarnet found a message light on the kitchen holo projector, and when he touched it, it lit up with an image of his son.

"Hi. I needed to do some research for my political studies assignment so I'm at the library until late. I already had dinner so don't worry about food."

"Well, let's go tomorrow night," Luke suggested. "Or even next weekend, if I'm not on Mustafar."

Ben's father seemed distracted for a moment, but then he nodded. "Sure thing, Luke. I'll take you back to the palace."

"No, honestly, I could really use a walk," Luke said. "I haven't had fresh air all day."

Calling the air in Imperial City 'fresh' really was a stretch, but it was something. And if he went back to the palace via the mall, he could grab some food there.

But as soon as he came out of an overpass tunnel and joined the walkway leading to the mall south entrance, he could see his plan might not go as smoothly as he hoped. There were dozens of media droids circling the building, and a heavy stormtrooper presence. As the distance to the mall entrance lessened, the possibility of turning back decreased, and he soon found himself being jostled up against the wall opposite some temporary fencing. He soon escaped to safety up a staircase that led to the landing pad on the level above, and there he found a long line of girls pressed up against the security barrier. Many of them were carrying signs and pictures, and two security droids rolled up and down the line.

A pair of Nautolans stood nearby, looking bored, and Luke wandered over, thinking they might be a good bet for finding out what was going on.

"Who are they waiting for?" he asked, gesturing back towards the line of girls.

"Sunny Sy Vesta," the closest one said, pointing up at a vast floating billboard. "It's a launch event for his new fashion line."

"Huh." Luke stared up at the images of Sunny in various outfits, bleached hair carefully styled, and wondered who would ever actually want to spend thousands of credits on clothes that could be bought for much less at the bargain stores in the lower levels. Coruscant was a crazy place.

"Our daughters just wanted to see him," the other Nautolan said, gesturing to the line of girls.

Luke smiled. "Good luck to them."

The crowd was so thick, they'd be lucky to see even a tuft of his bright yellow hair.

He climbed up to another level then, thinking the more distance he put between himself and the landing pad, the more chance he had of actually getting some food without a massive queue. But things were just as bad up here. Even worse, it seemed, as there were no security droids. Luke's eyes widened as he saw two older girls shove a younger one back from the barrier.

"No, I … that's my spot!" the younger one cried.

The crowds began to scream, and Luke glanced down, seeing an elongated speeder arrive, accompanied by escort craft.

"Please!" the younger one said, trying to reclaim her spot. "I just want him to see!"

She was carrying a large piece of poster flimsi, about a meter long on each side. As she made another fruitless attempt to reclaim her space at the barrier, the older girl grabbed the flimsi out of her hands and threw it into a nearby puddle of engine oil.

"NO!"

As the girl dived to save her creation, Luke strode forward, unable to stop himself.

"What is wrong with you?" he asked, tapping the bully on the shoulder. She glanced back, surprised. "Why be so mean? There's room beside you for her as well."

The only response was a suggestion that he go away in the rudest possible terms. Luke frowned and went back to help the girl who was now getting her pants covered in oil while she tried to clean the poster.

"Don't mind those nerfherders," Luke said. "Do you have any easy-off oil stain remover at home? I find that's the best thing for engine oil. It comes in a spray bottle and you could spray this and leave it to dry overnight."

The girl looked up at him, and then her eyes widened. "Luke?"

It took Luke a moment to recognise her.

"Oh, from school, right?" She was in one of the middle year levels, probably around twelve or thirteen, but he wouldn't have a hope of remembering her name, so he said, "I know I should know your name."

"No, you shouldn't. I'm … no one."

"No one, huh? I bet you get teased over that name."

She laughed then. "It's actually Parayla. So you're a fan of Sunny too?"

"Um …" Would be rude to say his opinion had gone from bewildered indifference to outright annoyance in the last ten minutes? "To be honest … I'm just here to grab some food before heading home."

Behind them, the crowd began to dissipate, and Parayla slumped. "I just wanted him to see my painting," she said, miserably.

Luke had another look at the poster and realised it was a hand-painted portrait. "You did this yourself? It's amazing!"

"I spent weeks on it," she said, reaching up to wipe a smudge of oil from the edge.

"Let's see if we can dab it off with a few table napkins in the food court," Luke said, guiding her to walk into the mall. "Where is this launch event anyway?"

"Up on the VIP floor. It's invite only."

"Hey, I have access to the VIP floor." Lev's team at the palace had wide-ranging access to all the exclusive shopping zones in Imperial City, and they'd linked his ID to the pass. But it wasn't something he usually took advantage of. There were no gaming stores on the exclusive level. "Maybe we could wander up. I could say you're my cousin."

Parayla had blondish hair not unlike his, but her skin tone was pink with blue spots. But the security guards didn't usually ask questions.

"Are you serious?!" she said, looking up.

He shrugged. "It's worth a shot."

"Okay. Okay. Uh … let me just go to the refresher first! Could you look after this? Oh!" She made a squealing noise and then ran off towards the nearest refresher. Luke was left holding the oily painting, and he quickly turned it around, lest anyone see him holding it and think he was Sunny's biggest fan.

Parayla spent so long in the refresher, he'd made a fairly good job of cleaning the painting using a stack of napkins from a nearby table, and she beamed when she saw it.

"It almost looks normal again!"

"It's not too bad," Luke agreed. He glanced at her, realizing she'd completely re-done her hair. "Are you here with anyone else? You want to tell them where you are?"

"No, I'm alone. To be honest … " She looked down. "I sort of sneaked out."

Luke smiled. "Well … I did that a fair bit when I was your age too. Come on."

She was rocking back and forth with excitement while they waited for an elevator, and was first out when they arrived at the VIP floor. They were greeted by two staff wearing full suits, and as soon as they scanned Luke's ID, the nearest one said, "Welcome, Mr Skywalker. It's a pleasure to have you and your guest join us this evening. Are you attending the Vesta fashion line launch?"

"I heard it was invite only," Luke said.

The woman looked from him to Parayla, and then tapped something into her computer.

"For you," she said, passing him two event passes.

"Really? Thank you!" Luke said. The staff were so helpful up here. "You wouldn't happen to know where I could get a burger on this floor, would you?"

She smiled, and then pressed a button to summon a serving droid.

"BX-775 will act as your personal shopping assistant and bring you any food and beverages you require."

"Thank you so much," Luke said, handing Parayla the second event pass. She stared around in disbelief as they stepped through the automatic doors into a cavernous foyer filled with chandeliers, couches and displays of luxury goods.

"I know, right?" Luke said, guessing her thoughts. "It's like a secret fantasy world where the super-rich and powerful hang out."

"They … they just let you through! They just … gave you event passes!"

Luke shrugged, not wanting to point out the obvious. Maybe she'd forgotten who his father was. But then she saw all the banners pointing the way to the fashion launch, and Luke had to hold her back to prevent her from running.

When they saw the back of the gathered crowd, Luke began to think he really wasn't dressed well enough to attend this event, but it didn't matter. No one was looking at him. Sunny was standing on a raised platform in the middle of the sea of people, being congratulated by someone who was using words like 'unbelievably inspirational' and 'a natural entrepreneur'. Parayla had frozen, staring up at him with her mouth slightly open, and Luke guided her to a good viewing spot around the side.

"I'll be back there," he said, pointing to an adjacent room with couches and fountains.

She nodded once.

It was a relief to put down the painting, flop down on a couch and tell the shopping assistant droid to bring him a double combo with extra fries. After all the shooting practice, it had been a long day.

A man wandered through a few minutes later, after loud music started playing in the main room beyond, and he smiled when he saw Luke.

"If it isn't young Mr Skywalker!"

Luke grinned, recognising the chief engineer at Sienar. "Hi, Commander Wray."

"Big fan of Sunny, are we?" He gestured to the painting as he sat down opposite him.

"No, no," Luke said, blushing as he turned the painting so it was facing the wall. "Uh … long story. A girl who goes to my school painted this, and she was being bullied down on the landing pads, so I said I'd bring her up here so she could see him. I actually just came here to get a burger on my way back to the palace."

"Ah. So acting as a knight in a shining zip jacket?"

Luke smirked, glancing down at his jacket. "Something like that. How about you?"

"My daughter Erma has holos of this guy all over her room," Commander Wray said. "I was bribed into bringing her tonight."

They were soon talking about the latest starfighter engineering trends, and in the middle of this, the assistant droid returned with a bag full of the food Luke had requested. He was so involved in the conversation, he didn't even notice Parayla had returned until she sat down beside him.

"Event over?" he asked, offering her a packet of fries.

She nodded and handed him the glossy flimsi version of the fashion line promotional book. "I got one of these," she whispered.

Luke flicked through it, seeing endless images of Sunny wearing the over-priced clothes. "Is he still there? Do you want to show him your painting?"

She shrugged. "There's a long line and … I don't know, maybe he'll think it's dumb and I'm a crazy obsessed fan."

Luke stood up and glanced around the doorway, seeing what she meant. There were at least twenty people in line to get his autograph.

"Maybe it will quiet down in a few minutes," he said. "And don't worry about it … I'm sure he'll love it. He … uh … he looks like the kind of person who would like a painting of himself." He turned the frame back around so it was facing outwards.

"Remember that time you tried to get an autograph from that holovid star?" Commander Wray said, pointing at Luke. "And your father nearly killed him!"

Luke frowned. "That was just humiliating."

Parayla had begun stress-eating the leftovers in the takeout bag, and Luke went off to the nearby refresher to wash his hands. When he returned, he found the autograph line had vanished and he couldn't see Sunny anywhere. Erma, Commander Wray's daughter, had appeared now, and she was busy admiring the painting. Just as Luke came up beside her, Sunny himself came around the doorway, accompanied by an entourage. He mimed having a heart attack when he saw the painting.

"Wow! Look at this!" He smiled at Luke. "Is this your work, buddy?"

"No," Luke said, struggling not to roll his eyes. He gestured back towards where Parayla had been sitting, and found she was crouched down and hiding behind the side of the couch. He smiled and walked over to help her stand up.

"Come on, it's okay," he said gently. "Here." He picked up the promotional flimsi. "He'll autograph it for you."

"This is the artist," he said to Sunny, keeping a hand on Parayla's back as he helped her stand up. He could feel her trembling.

"Sweetheart, this is amazing," he said. "What's your name?"

"Pa … ray .. la …" she said, her voice sounding like she was about to burst into tears.

"You have a pretty name, Parayla," Sunny said, picking up the flimsi. He wrote a long message, during which Parayla had to dry her eyes using one of the takeout napkins.

"Gotta fly away now," he said, as his security team began tapping their comlinks. "You take care, Parayla." He handed her the flimsi, and was then herded out a side door. It was at least a minute before Parayla was able to stop crying and actually read the autograph. Unfortunately, whatever he'd written, it only made her cry more.

"Here," Commander Wray said, passing her a clump of tissues from a box on the caf table. "Just breathe slowly."

"What did he write?" Erma asked. "Can I see?"

Parayla was holding the flimsi in a vice-like grip, but she let go enough for the other girl to remove it from her hands and scan the text. But when she'd done so, her face screwed up, and she said, "What a kriffin' sleemo!"

"What?" Luke said. She passed it to him, and he read the words, becoming increasingly horrified.

Parayla,

You're cute and you're a talented artist, but you need to do something about those spots. Get yourself a makeover and next time I see you, I'll invite you to my hotel room.

Hugs and kisses, Sunny

"Stars, what a … I don't believe this," Luke said. "I should take a picture of this and send it to the Enquirer."

"No!" Parayla said, raising a hand as she blew her nose. "He's right! They're so ugly!"

"He's not right," Luke said. "Don't believe this for one second." He began to tear the flimsi, but Parayla dived forward to save it.

"I'd heard he could be quite awful to fans," Commander Wray said, as his daughter repeated the message. "But you'd think he'd be more cautious at an event like this."

"Let's get out of here," Erma said. "I need to go home and destroy all my holos."

The evening was a complete write-off after that. Parayla couldn't stop crying, and Commander Wray said he better fly her back home. Luke came for the ride and went up to her apartment with her, feeling like he should at least make sure she made it to her door. He couldn't help but wish he'd never even seen her on the landing pad, because his attempt to do something nice had resulted in a cruel experience that she was unlikely to ever forget.

He still felt terrible about it on his way to school the following morning. When he stopped at the landing pad to pick up Ben, his friend didn't appear much happier.

"Hey," Luke said, as Ben slid into the passenger seat. "Good weekend?"

Ben shrugged.

"It was okay."

"You'll never guess what happened to me yesterday. It was crazy."

"You had a great time with my father?" Ben asked, in a tone with an undercurrent of resentment.

Luke raised his eyebrows as he took off, accelerating towards the traffic lane.

"I thought you said you were okay with that."

"I am."

"That tone didn't sound like you were okay."

"I'm not a morning person."

"Yes, you are. If you don't want me doing this with your dad, then I won't."

"No, it's fine," Ben said. "I'm just glad he's not making me train for the stupid contest anymore."

"Okay, then," Luke said, carefully.

"So what crazy thing happened to you?"

"I met Sunny Sy Vesta," Luke said. "And turns out … he's a complete nerfherder."

"He was at the firing range?"

"No."

"I thought you spent the whole day there?"

"No. Just a couple of hours in the afternoon."

"It must have been longer than a couple of hours, as he left after lunch, and I didn't get the message to say he'd played my holo until nearly dinner time.'

"You are really not okay with this," Luke said, beginning to feel frustrated. "Fine. I'll tell your father I can't enter the contest."

"Don't you dare!" Ben said, suddenly angry. "You said you'd do this! You can't just back out!"

"Calm down!" Luke said, braking to avoid a speeder that had swerved in front. "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing!" Ben said, struggling to get his temper under control. He remained silent until after they'd landed, and then said, in a calmer tone. "Please enter the contest with my father."

Luke didn't reply. He turned to look at Ben, but his friend only pushed open the passenger door, swung his bag roughly over his shoulder and stalked off towards the locker hall.

"And I thought my father was moody," Luke said to the air, tapping the speeder controls.

The day did not improve after that. Ben continued to waver between being completely silent and something that resembled forced politeness. They spent the lunch break doing homework without speaking, and Luke began counting down the minutes until the school day was over and he could go back to the peace and quiet of his room.

The last class of the day was biology, something that wasn't Luke's favorite, and to make matters worse, it was being held in one of the labs which didn't have any windows.

When their teacher, Ms Triseeta, walked into the room, she looked overly enthused. This was never a good sign. Her species had two primary arms, and two smaller skinny ones, and she was twirling a lighted pointing stick between them.

"Good afternoon, students of discovery," she said. "Guess what week it is?"

"No homework week?" someone in the front row suggested.

"Clever," she said, pointing at them with the stick. "It's biology project week! Are we all excited to meet your team?!"

There was a suitable level of complaining, and then she urged everyone to check under their seats for a colored square. As soon as they saw what color they had, some students quickly tried to swap them behind her back.

Luke glanced down at his own purple square, and then looked at Ben's.

"Also purple," Ben sighed. "They always put me in a group with you."

"Because we're friends?" Luke suggested.

"It's because anyone else would complain if they had to work with a charity case like me," Ben said.

"Come on, that's not true."

"It is true!"

"If you don't want to work with me, then swap," Luke said, gesturing to the girl beside him. "Look. Karla's trying to swap."

"I need orange," she said desperately. "Please, tell me you have orange!"

Ms Triseeta spun around when she reached the front of the classroom, and shone her light pointer at Karla. "No swapping! I've got eyes in my hands, people. Don't even think about it. Now, everyone, turn over your colored square and take note of the number on the bottom. That's your new team."

Everyone groaned at the trick, but Luke turned his over, relieved that he would get a break from Ben's mood after all. But as soon as Ben placed his on the desk, they realized they both said 2.

"I don't believe this," Ben said, looking at the ceiling.

"Come on," Luke sighed, picking up his school bag. Ms Triseeta was drawing a large number 2 on the screen in the top-right corner of the lab.

The room was a mess of confusion and noise as people swapped seats. When they arrived in the Group 2 area, only Greein was there. He grinned when he saw them.

"Hey, Ben, Luke!" he said, enthusiastically. "Perfect!"

Luke was just about to point out to Ben that Greein, the youngest son of an archduke, was more than fine with the idea of working with him, when Ophelia walked up to the table. Her expression switched from indifference to annoyance as she looked around at them.

"Oh, great," she said, sarcastically.

Then a fifth member came up, a brown-furred bothan girl named Juno Lilano, and she took one look at Ophelia and said, "No. No way. Ms Triseeta! I need to swap!"

"No, I need to swap," Ophelia said. "Please, by the Force, let me swap!"

"No one is swapping, my dears," Ms Triseeta said, coming up behind Ophelia and Juno and putting her hands on their shoulders. "What's wrong with you two girls? You used to be good friends last year."

"That was last year," Juno said.

"Then this is a good time to patch things up," she said. "You can start right now by joining hands and pledging not to let personal differences get in the way of the grand pursuit of science."

Both girls gave each other a vaguely hostile look and then turned away.

Luke looked longingly at the group behind him, wondering if Ms Triseeta would notice if he crawled under the tables and popped up on the other side of the classroom.

Vader was standing on the balcony, quietly communing with the Force, when he felt his son's presence beyond the doors. The boy had been doing an excellent job of avoiding him since he'd caught him using a blaster in the hangar workroom last week, but it seemed enough time had now passed that he felt safe enough to venture into his usual close proximity.

He soon appeared beside him, resting with his arms on the railing.

"Hi. Did your mission go okay?"

"Unfortunately, it was a false lead. The Liberator Army remains at large."

"Oh. That's … not good."

"No," Vader agreed. "Did you occupy yourself productively over the weekend?"

Luke started to say something, and then fully slumped onto the balcony wall, chin resting on his arm.

"My entire life is falling apart."

"Really," Vader said, dryly. He glanced down. "You mean the government has collapsed, everyone you love is dead, and your best friend tried to kill you?"

"Well … okay, no, not quite that bad," Luke said, frowning. He sighed then, straightening up. "Listen … I need to talk to my father right now. Not Lord Vader."

Vader was about to make another dry remark, and then he decided to oblige his son's request. He turned towards Luke, giving him his full attention.

"This sounds serious."

"It is. I don't even know how I ended up in this mess. All I tried to do was help people … but I just ended up ruining things. Now Ben is mad at me, and I don't know how to fix it."

"Have you ever heard the phrase 'no good deed goes unpunished'?" Vader asked.

"No. But I have heard that my grandmother liked to say that the biggest problem in the universe is nobody helps each other."

It was unsettling, hearing those words from Luke.

"Did your uncle tell you that?"

Luke nodded.

"How did you try and help your spineless friend?"

"Next week, there's an open day for the palace staff where they can bring their friends and family in for the official tour and some fun competitions. There's a coloring-in contest for the kids. There's also a shooting contest where one member of the palace staff can enter with a friend or family member. So Ben's father wanted to enter with Ben. But Ben isn't good at shooting and after Captain Jarnet saw me shooting, Ben said I should enter with his father instead of him. I didn't really want to but there's some big feud downstairs between Commander Julius and the royal guards, and it's really important to Captain Jarnet to win this thing. Ben insisted he was okay with it, but it's obvious he really isn't. Today he was acting all moody about it and kept insisting it was fine but then wanting to know exactly how much time I had spent practicing with his father."

Vader listened to all this, surprised by how much he could actually follow.

"So your friend is jealous that his father is entering this competition with you?"

"Yes. After it was his idea for me to enter in the first place, and after his father said he would prefer to enter with Ben. I can see now I should have seen this coming and made up some excuse why I couldn't enter. But what can I do now? If I stay in the contest, he'll be mad. If I drop out, he'll be mad."

Vader was about to offer some advice, when Luke slapped the railing.

"And then, if all that wasn't crazy enough, last night I accidentally ruined this poor girl's life when I helped her meet her celebrity idol. Her idol turned out to be a complete and utter nerfherder and now her self-esteem is ruined."

"I can see a pattern," Vader said.

"That I should stop trying to be helpful?"

"You should stop feeling responsible for things outside your control. You cannot control your friend's jealousy. You cannot control how a celebrity behaves."

"But I want Ben to act like my friend again. What can I do to fix it?"

"Nothing. You have to let go and release your desire to control that which cannot be controlled. Your friend needs to follow his own path."

"Oh, stars, now you're going all weird on me," Luke said, raising his arms dramatically. "Not everything is about the cosmic Force."

"I didn't mention the Force."

"You were about to!" Luke said, pointing at him. He turned away then, his movement causing the doors to open. "Forget it."

After he had disappeared back inside, Vader was about to resume his meditation, when the doors hissed open again. Luke popped up on his other side now.

"Can I at least have my HoloNet access back? I need something to distract me from all my problems."

"Tell me what you have learned about responsible behavior with firearms."

Luke sighed in a dramatic way. "That you shouldn't use them in a room with flammable chemicals and things the bolts could bounce off and hurt people. And … practicing should be done on a proper firing range with safety equipment."

Vader remained silent, and Luke traced his finger around the edges of a join in the balcony railing.

"I also apologised to the trooper for borrowing his blaster," Luke said. "We're friends now. His name is Robi."

"I see," Vader said, doing his best not to sound amused.

"That reminds me," Luke said, looking up. "Captain Jarnet wanted to make sure you were okay with me going to a firing range with him." He snapped his fingers then. "Hey, that's it! You say I can't do it, and then I can tell them that I can't be in the contest because of you! That lets me off the hook."

"Son …"

"Perfect solution."

"It is not a solution. It is avoiding the true issue and will not solve the underlying problem."

"Yes, it will!"

"What will you do next time you experience a friend's jealousy and cannot use me as an excuse?"

"I'm just trying to get through this week! We have to work on a biology project together, and he's barely talking to me."

Vader was quiet, analysing what he could sense from Luke. Some of his feelings stirred up long forgotten memories. He had experienced jealousy from other padawans right from his first weeks at the Jedi temple.

"Do you enjoy practicing at the firing range with Ben's father?"

Luke nodded. "The simulations are fun. I made the top ten list on the level 2 moving target simulation downstairs. Captain Jarnet is a professional, so he's taught me things which have improved my accuracy." He shrugged. "If we were just doing this for fun, and Ben was there too, I would love it."

"And you are much better at this than Ben?"

"Ben can barely hit anything. He gets so anxious about it, his hands shake. He's not like that when we're playing virtual reality games in the holo gaming arcades."

"Are there different activities where Ben is more talented than you?"

"Yes! That's a good point. Greein was excited to see Ben joining our biology project team because he knows how good he is at science. I need Ben's help to understand some of the trickier algebra problems in math."

"Would you expect Ben to stop doing something he enjoys because you were jealous of his talent?"

"No, but … maybe this isn't just about me being a better shot than him. Maybe he's worried that his father likes to spend time with me more than him. His father is more athletic and Ben is more academic."

"Perhaps you should ask Ben if he would like to spend some quality time with me to even up the score."

Luke smiled. "Maybe you could help him with his political studies homework."

"He would faint from sheer terror."

"What he really needs to do is talk about this with his father," Luke said, looking down. "Or Captain Jarnet should talk about it with him. If I was feeling insecure, then you would reassure me. I'm sure Ben's father would do the same. But maybe he just doesn't realize that Ben is sensitive about it." He sighed. "Why are friendships so complicated? I just want to go back to how it was before any of this happened."

"If it helps, Son, then you may have your HoloNet access back. Perhaps spending some time in your own company will give you a new perspective."

"Thanks," Luke said. "I'm going to need a lot of alone time to face biology class tomorrow, that's for sure."