Chapter #3

Luke Skywalker sat slumped on the Corellian leather couch with his arms folded across his chest. The silence in his Coruscant apartment was only broken by the occasionally sigh of exasperation as he stared at the comm unit.

"It's been six days and he still hasn't returned my call," he muttered.

Mara Jade Skywalker looked up from her technical data pad and smiled. "He'll contact us when he's ready, Luke… or Rachel will. You know how she keeps us up to date on things, especially the hoard."

Luke smiled fondly when he thought of his five grandchildren and the new one on the way. Never had he imagined that he would be grandfather to so many. And yet, it was a bittersweet feeling.

"It's not as if we've ever seen them in person," said Luke frowning. "I thought that for such an important event, he would've made more of an effort."

"Important to whom?" asked Mara, smirking.

"Yeah, you're right…Tatooine, of all places. Why'd they want to go and build a Jedi Academy on such a rotting dust bowl of a planet?"

"Well, you did grow up there," replied Mara, lifting an eyebrow.

"Don't remind me," grumbled Luke. "I don't really care about the Academy being named after me. I was just hoping that they would come to the ceremony and we'd get to see them. He refuses to even let us go there, like the entire planet is off limits to anyone with a lightsaber."

"Now that may be overstating things a bit, don't you think? I know you miss him, my love, so do I," replied Mara softly. "But, he is a man fully grown and has the right to make his own decisions."

Luke could feel her hurt through their Force bond, though he knew she would be reluctant to admit it. His heart ached thinking of Ben, now a grown man. Would he even recognize his own son after all these years? Did Ben hate him so much that a simple comm call was repugnant to him? "When have I ever interfered with him making his own decisions?"

Mara arched her brow cryptically.

Luke knew dangerous men had gone into hiding after receiving such a look from his wife. "Don't give me that," he said pointing his finger. "All I have ever wanted for Ben was his happiness."

"Luke…" she began.

"I know that when it comes to the Force I may see with tunnel vision and I may not have been the most open-minded father. But Stars!" exclaimed Luke. "Ben was so young, Mara. He was still a teenager when he left and wouldn't even tell us where he was going."

"That was the hardest part," agreed Mara, nodding her head. "Not knowing if he was OK, I couldn't even feel him through the Force anymore."

"Of course not, he didn't want anything to do with it…or us." Luke stood and began pacing the room.

"That's not true, Luke, he wasn't trying to get away from us, at least I don't think he was. It's just that we were a part of the Force that he so desperately needed to escape from."

"Oh right. That's why he didn't tell us about his marriage to Rachel. He didn't even invite us!" Luke shouted. "Our son gets married at nineteen years of age and doesn't invite his own parents."

Luke noticed that Mara had no response to that. It had been devastating to discover that he had married without telling them. To this day, they had never even met Rachel face to face, or the children. If not for Ben's wife there would probably be no contact at all.

Mara closed her eyes as if trying to fight for control of her emotions. "If only we knew why," she whispered.

Luke stopped in front of the balcony sliding doors and leaned his forehead against the cool transparisteel. He sighed heavily, suddenly feeling the weight of so much regret. "I shouldn't have pressured you to go with me.

"What?"

"On Borleias, I should have relented and let you stay with Ben when he was just a baby. I had thought with you by my side we'd be stronger, better able to defeat the Vong and the war would be over sooner."

Mara closed her eyes, nodding. "And you were right," she said softly.

"But Ben had to pay the price," sighed Luke bitterly.

"Yes, he did," agreed Mara. "And so did millions of other children whose parents were thrown into the fray. Many never even returned."

"But to a Force sensitive child like Ben, it must have been torture. With no one strong enough to shield him from all that perversion and violence…" Luke shook his head. "I should have listened to you instead of making you go against your better judgment."

Mara met Luke's eyes and smiled, "Since when have you made me do anything?"

Luke returned her smile, sadly. "That was the only time… and I was wrong. Now we have no contact with him, and only messages from his wife."

"You're not blaming Rachel are you?" asked Mara.

"No, of course not. She's the one who first initiated contact with us and continues to do so. I don't even know how Ben feels about that."

"I think she is hoping that someday there will be a reconciliation and is doing everything in her power to help it along, without hurting her husband in the process. She's walking quite a thin line," said Mara, shaking her head.

"I like her," smiled Luke. "She reminds me of you in a way, so strong."

"She would have to be in order to survive being married to a Skywalker," said Mara, as she crossed the room to her husband.

Luke pulled Mara into their familiar embrace and laughed.

"I was just hoping…." he was interrupted by the buzzing of the comm unit.

Mara walked over to the device, her hand flying to her lips as she blinked several times. A slow smile spread across her face, as she turned to her husband and nodded.

"Luke, it's Ben."