A.N: Sorry for such a long wait. I've been updating all my stories back on FictionPress, updating my website... well, you get the idea. So I've been very busy, not to mention that I still do school work these days. Well, enjoy chapter seven!
Chapter Seven: Meetings At Alderaan
Luke wanted to cry. His one chance to help his father totally didn't work out. When the Wookiees saw him crawling all over the buttons, they'd banned him from the cockpit. How was he supposed to tell his father where he was if he didn't even know where he was to begin with?
Luke suddenly noticed a difference in the atmosphere. They were landing! Now he could find out where he was!
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"Okay, we're now only twenty minutes away from Alderaan!" Obi-Wan declared.
"Yes!" Han cheered. "Now I can really get out and do my new moves!"
"Uh-uh!" Obi-Wan said, shaking his finger at Han. "I told you that you can't use a lightsaber in public. Not to mention, that lightsaber isn't yours. Anyway, you can't use it anymore after that incident last night!"
Han gasped. "You really meant it?"
Obi-Wan gave a mock gasp. "Yes, I really did."
"But me and that lightsaber go together!"
"No, you and your blaster go together. This lightsaber belongs to someone else."
"Who?" Han asked, curiously.
"The person we're trying to find."
Han gasped. Obi-Wan had told him about Luke, the kid they were after.
"No fair! How come a five-year-old kid gets to have a lightsaber, and I can't?"
Obi-Wan sighed. "Because this lightsaber was handed down by his now-dead father. Luke needs something to remember his father by."
"Oh. Okay, whatever!" Han paused, and looked out the cockpit window. "Hay, look, we're landing!"
"Good."
Obi-Wan sat down in the pilots' chair, while Han sat in the chair behind Chewie.
At last, they were going to get Luke. Obi-Wan had no idea what he was to do with Luke once he found him. Vader knew about Luke now, so there really wasn't anything to do but hide Luke away somewhere for the rest of his life, but that seemed a bit extreme.
Obi-Wan wished more than anything that he didn't have to keep father and son apart. Oh, how he wished that he could just take Luke and give him to his father without any worries about Luke growing up to be some sort of monster.
Why did Anakin have to turn to the Dark Side? Why didn't he just tell Obi-Wan everything? Did he think that Obi-Wan would turn his back on him? Did he think that Obi-Wan wouldn't help? Gosh, they had practically been brothers! Why didn't Anakin see that what he was doing was wrong? Didn't he know that he was killing Padme by becoming so evil?
I thought Anakin had been smarter than that, but I was wrong. I didn't see what was happening until it was too late.
Obi-Wan shook his head at himself in disapproval. It hadn't been Anakin's fault. It was Obi-Wan's fault more than anyone else's. If only he hadn't gone to find General Grievous. Then he would have been with Anakin when it happened. Yes, that way, he would have been able to do something about…
"Obi-Wan, are you trying to crash us!?" Han's voice came, followed by a growl or two from Chewie.
Obi-Wan focused back on his piloting. Anakin had been able to think and pilot at the same time, but the same could not be said for Obi-Wan.
All this thinking about the mistakes he'd made in the past wasn't going to help him here anyway. He needed to focus on finding Luke. If he was right, Luke had arrived here ten minutes before them.
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As soon as they landed, one of the Wookiees had picked Luke up before they left the ship. Luke was grateful for that. He'd never be able to keep up with the Wookiees if he had to walk!
What was so frustrating for Luke was that he still didn't know where they were. If only the Wookiees could understand what Luke was saying. Then they could just tell him where they were.
Luke looked around to see what this new planet looked like. It was so pretty! They were in a city of some sort. Up ahead, he could see a palace, and way in the distance, he saw mountains. Luke had never seen a mountain before, nor had he ever seen a place so beautiful.
The towns and cities back on Tatooine where dirty and ugly. But this city was so clean and nice looking. All the white buildings just added to the city's charm.
Luke found himself grinning for the first time in days. If only he'd been born here. This would be a fun place to live, and all the people looked so nice. They'd smile at him, and one lady even said hello.
Luke hoped that the Wookiees were planning to stay here a very long time. This was one of the best days in his life.
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Now Luke wouldn't have thought that this was one of the best days of his life if he'd known that at that very moment, Boba Fett was only half an hour away from Alderaan. Yes, Fett was on his way, and he meant business. The Emperor had told him to find the boy, watch him, and report back to the Emperor if anything unusual or important happened.
That Emperor was so darn rich! Palpatine didn't deserve to be so wealthy, much less rule the entire galaxy. All Palps ever did was sit in a comfy chair and give orders to suckers who didn't know any better but to obey.
Fett checked his status to see that he was now only twenty minutes away. Something in the back on his mind was telling him that there was something more to this. What was so special about that kid anyway? He was only five. Only FIVE! What would the Emperor care about a little five-year-old?
Well, it looked like he was about to find out in exactly nineteen minutes. Wow! Another minute had passed!
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"Obi-Wan, sir, what are you doing?" Han asked, when he saw him close his eyes, and stand very still.
"I'm reaching out with the Force so I can locate Luke."
Han turned to Chewie. "Okay, I'm severely freaked out."
Chewie growled his agreement. Fighting with sabers was fairly normal, but 'reaching out' to find someone was just plain weird.
"I've got him!" Obi-Wan said, grinning triumphantly.
"Good for you. So where do we go?"
"Follow me. He's only a few blocks ahead of us now."
Han turned back to Chewie. "As I said; freaky."
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Alderaan! That's where they were! Luke had just heard someone say that they were on Alderaan.
Luke smiled. Now he could tell his father where he was! How did that trick go again? Reach out, try to imagine talking to his father…
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Vader was frustrated. No, he was more then frustrated. He'd had been having a terrible time getting along with the officers, and on top of that, they were still just hanging over Kashyyyk, and Vader had no idea where Luke was!
Suddenly, he felt a ripple in the Force. It was Luke! Maybe Luke was trying to tell him where he was!
"Son?"
"Father! I know where I am!"
Vader smiled. At last! He would find his son!
"Where are you?"
"I'm on Alderaan! We just landed about twenty minutes ago. Are you going to come get me now?"
"Yes, child. I'm coming for you. Let me know if those Wookiees take you somewhere else."
"Okay."
With that, Vader broke the connection. He would like to keep talking to his son, but he had some things to do. With any luck, he should be arriving on Alderaan in a few days.
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Boba Fett finished landing the Slave I, and checked to make sure that he had everything. After all, having lots of cool gadgets was half the fun of being a bounty hunter.
After his final check, he walked out of the ship, and into the streets. That Skywalker kid should be around here somewhere. Hopefully it wouldn't be too difficult to find him…
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Obi-Wan knew he was close. He could feel it. If the Force wasn't playing tricks on him, then Luke should be right in front of him!
No, wait a minute. Up ahead in the crowd, Obi-Wan saw two Wookiees, and one of them was carrying Luke!
Obi-Wan jogged up to the Wookiees, and Chewie and Han ran to catch up.
"Luke!"
Obi-Wan saw Luke spin his head around to see who was talking to him, and Chewie spoke to the other Wookiees, telling them to stop.
/I'm Chewbacca. These are my friends, Han Solo, and Obi-Wan Kenobi. We've been looking for that boy./
/Really? Why?/
Obi-Wan addressed Chewie. "Tell him that I've been watching out for Luke ever since he was a baby."
Chewie repeated this, and the three Wookiees looked at each other. What were they going to do?
/Please give Luke to us,/ Chewie pleaded.
Achabac answered. /We want to make sure that you're telling the truth about all this./
Obi-Wan spoke again. "Ask them if they'd like to join us for lunch, and we can talk about it then."
Chewie extended the offer to the others, and the three Wookiees accepted.
In the meantime, Luke was getting tired of being held. "Can I walk now?"
Obi-Wan smiled. "Sure. Chewie, ask the Wookiee if he'd mind putting Luke down."
Once Luke was happily on the ground, Obi-Wan took his hand, and they began walking for the nearest restaurant.
It didn't take long to find one. There were so many in the city. They were seated inside a rather nice looking restaurant. Han happened to be sitting next to Luke.
"Hay, kid," Han said, addressing Luke.
"Hi!"
"I'm Han Solo."
"I'm Luke."
"Yeah, I know. We've been looking for you for days!"
Luke scrunched his face up in confusion. "Why?"
"I dunno. I guess Obi-Wan wants to look out for ya' since your old man's dead."
"My father's not dead!" Luke declared.
Han shrugged. "Well Obi-Wan seems to think so. What make you think that you're dad's alive?"
"I've talked to him," Luke said proudly.
"Really? So your dad's been raising you then?"
"No. I've never seen him before."
"But you've talked to him? You mean like over the com?"
"No. Through our minds!"
Han looked at Luke strangely. "O-kay. Now it's you who's freaking me out."
"It's true!" Luke said indignantly.
"What's true?" Obi-Wan asked.
Han answered. "Luke thinks that he can talk to his father with his mind."
Obi-Wan's face grew serious. "You mean that you've talked to him through the Force?"
"I… I guess so."
Obi-Wan's eyes grew wide. How could an untrained child at Luke's age be able to do something like that?
"What did he say?"
"He asked me where I was."
"Did you tell him!?" Obi-Wan asked fearfully.
"Y…yes."
"Oh dear."
Blast it! Now Vader knew exactly where Luke was, and now he was probably on his way to claim his son.
"Okay, now I'm confused. You told me that Luke's father was dead," Han said.
"He is, in a manner of speaking."
"Man, you Jedi people freak me out!"
"There's no time to talk! We must leave here immediately! Chewbacca, explain the situation to the other Wookiees."
"What did I do?" Luke asked, his eyes wide with innocence.
"I'll tell you everything you want to know when we're safe in space."
"But I don't want to run away from my father!"
"Luke, this is necessary."
"I want my father!" Luke cried.
"Luke, come on. We must hurry!"
"I'm not coming!" Luke declared.
"Luke, I'm sorry, but you have to."
Obi-Wan picked Luke up, and ran out, followed by Han, Chewie, and the other three Wookiees, who wanted to make sure that 'Sunshine' got off the planet safely, thought they didn't know why he was kicking and screaming.
Luke desperately searched the Force, trying to find his father.
"Father! Father! Help me!"
Feeling Luke's attempts to reach Vader, Obi-Wan gently touched Luke's forehead, and put him to sleep.
"Father! Fath…"
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Meanwhile, a few days away from Alderaan, Vader heard Luke calling him.
"Father! Father! Help me!"
Luke! His son was in trouble!
"Father! Fath…"
Vader's heart froze when the calls suddenly ceased. What happened? Was Luke unconscious? Was he… dead?
No! Not Luke! Not his young, brilliant son. It couldn't be.
Vader searched the Force for Luke. Yes, he was still there. He was still alive, but definitely unconscious.
Vader wished that he could speed up the hyperdrive, get to Alderaan, and make sure that his small child was alright. But then, Luke will probably be off the planet by the time Vader got there.
What was going on? Was someone after his son? Vader couldn't think of anyone who'd be after Luke except for… Palpatine. Had the Emperor found out about Luke? Was it Palpatine who was behind all this?
No matter. Vader would soon find out, and whoever was trying to get his son was going to be in BIG trouble when Vader found culprit. Big trouble.
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To Be Continued…
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A.N: Please review and tell me what you think!