Hey all! Here's the latest chapter. Things are going to get pretty intersing in the next few chapters, so I hope you all enjoy. Just a little tidbit, of info on my daily life. I hate Social Studies, at least right now. Or maybe it's just the teacher... have to think that over. Oh well! As always, please revew:-)

And now for...

CHAPTER 8: TO KNOW YOUR FOE

"You…want…to what?" Laila asked in confusion.

"I want to train you in the ways of a Jedi." Luke said looking slightly embarrassed.

"I don't think so." She said as she got up from the tiny table.

"Wait!" Luke scrambled up, tossing a longing glance at the leftover ice cream. Laila reached the parking lot and began calling for a cab.

"Laila! Wait! You have to understand why though!" he grabbed her arm and spun her around, much like she had, a mere week earlier.

"Why would you want to train me as a Jedi!? They don't even exist anymore!" she yelled at him.

His grip on her arm tightened considerably, "The Jedi are not dead. I'm going to make sure of that." His bright eyes darkened a little as he glared down at her.

"I'm sorry, it's just, I can't be a Jedi, I can't even use the Forcey thing they need!" she said, a little shaken by his quick change in mood; she made a mental note to bring up the failure of the Jedi to get him ticked off.

His let his arm drop and his once again blue eyes started at her, "You see, that's where you're wrong. You see, the other day, when I read your mind, you put up what's called 'mental shields'."

"I did?" she mentally slapped herself for being so foolish, how would she explain that? But she didn't have to, Luke did all for her.

"So, I did some research, and it turns out, people who have never been Force-trained, but are Force-sensitive, can subconsciously do that sort of thing. I bet you had no idea you had done that, did you?" he said smiling at her.

"Nope, no idea!" she heaved a sigh of relief that the Jedi actually believed crap like that. But that still didn't solve her problem.

"Luke, I don't know. I'll have to think about it. Can we just go home now?" she asked suddenly very uncomfortable at the present situation.

Luke sighed and glanced at the on-going traffic then back at her desperate look. "Yeah, sure." He said raking a hand through his hair.

Laila stood outside of Vader's office, her palms sweating at the news she had to tell him. She knew he could sense her and her anxiety so it's not like she could turn around and do this later. Force, she hated the Force sometimes!

After waiting for what seemed like hours she turned the black doorknob and cautiously entered his office.

Thick black carpet went floor to ceiling on all three walls. The fourth wall, behind Vader's desk was a huge window that overlooked the vast emptiness of space. His desk was pure white, not a scratch of imperfection on it. Everything was perfectly organized, down to how his pens were arranged in the pencil cup.

"No, no, I want that shipment here by tomorrow and I don't care who loses a job in the process!" Vader screamed into the phone. There was some groveling on the other end; Vader drummed his fingers impatiently on the smooth desk.

Laila, seeing he was busy turned to leave.

Stay put. I'll be done in a moment. She heard Vader say to her through the Force.

She turned back around and strode over to the stiff chairs and sat down.

"I don't care about your mother's death wish! Get the shipment here by tomorrow!" he slammed the phone down and furiously scribbled something down on the shipment order on his desk.

"Now, what is it my young learner?" he asked her in a much calmer tone.

"It's about my mission, Master. Something's gone wrong." She said slowly.

Vader sat upright. "Wrong? What could possibly have gone wrong?" he replied quickly.

"Well, you see Master, I accidentally put my mental shields up and Luke felt it, so now he knows I can use the Force, but doesn't know I'm a Sith, but now he wants to train me as a Jedi and I don't know what to do! And please don't tell the Emperor!" Laila said hurriedly, almost falling out of her chair.

"Splendid." Vader said.

Laila looked at him, incredulous, "Splendid? How can that be splendid?"

"Didn't I ever tell you how I became such a powerful Sith?"

"No, but I have a feeling I'm going to find out…" she mumbled. She hadn't meant for this to be lecture hour. She scrunched down in her chair as Vader stood up from his.

"The reason the Emperor wanted me so badly was because I was so powerful, as you are. But I had one thing he didn't. I knew the ways of the Jedi. It pays to know your foe. If you know how they train and what they go for, and their weakness, things they skim over in training, you know exactly what to go for, how to anticipate their moves, etc., etc."

"So what does your 'greatness' have to do with Luke wanting me to be a Jedi?" she asked, the sarcasm dripping off her voice.

"Because, if you know how he fights, if there's ever a final battle to bring him to our side, you'll know what to expect and how to better fight back." He said through gritted teeth.

"So, you want me to train as a Jedi?" she asked still questioning his strategies.

"Yes. So go call lover boy now, and tell him training starts tomorrow. Afterwards, you will come to me to show me what you've learned. Got it?" he said, already waving her out of the door.

"Yes, Master. And he's not my lover boy. So shove it." She yelled over her shoulder as she walked back to her room.

Vader closed the door and slowly walked back to his desk. He was getting too old for this. He picked up the data pad a droid had brought in a few minutes ago and popped it into his computer. He watched as Luke and Laila talked about everything under the sun on their first date. He saw them riding in silence to the ice cream stands, felt their emotions. Laughed at Luke taking forever to order. Felt a pang of loss when his son ordered the same thing he had ordered when he had gone there so many years ago. He paused the tape on his son's face, studying it to the closest detail. He was smiling, blue eyes lit up at whatever Laila had been saying, chocolate ring around his mouth. Vader saw himself as a younger man, a Jedi man. Luke obviously was his own image, but as seen through the tapes, he had his mother's personality, her generosity, ability to sucker anyone into anything, her calming presence; everything about him screamed Anakin and Padme.

He saw the way Luke looked at Laila, the baby girl he had kidnapped and watched grow up. He saw the way she laughed when he told the most idiotic jokes. She was wrong; he was her lover boy. Vader sighed and turned the data pad off. Now what? He thought in panic.

Laila made her way back to her room and turned on her comm. link and called Luke.

"Hello?" Luke's face flashed up on Laila's comm. link. He rubbed his head with a towel; he had just gotten out of the shower and was still shirtless. Laila's eyes got the best of her and wondered up and down his toned chest.

"Laila, is that you?" Laila snapped her eyes up to meet his and nodded, a blush rising to her cheeks.

"Yeah. Listen, Luke, I wanted to talk to you about that whole Jedi thing. I decided…I want to do it."

Luke smiled broadly and sat down on the arm of an old chair, "Great! I'm glad you decided to go though with it. We could use all the Jedi we could get. And it means I get to spend more time with you." He said quietly.

"Yeah…can't wait. So, how about I meet you…wherever you are at 5 am sharp? Or is that too early for you, Skywalker?" she smirked.

Luke groaned inwardly, it was too early, but he wasn't going to let her see it, "Nope, not at all! Meet me at the gym, right next to the shop where we met, ok? I'll see you then!" he smiled one last time then cut off the connection.

Laila sat back in her chair, excited and scared beyond belief about tomorrow. She decided to get to bed early, she had a long day ahead of her…

Laila walked into the gym, eyes darting around for Luke. She saw him sitting outside a private room, for therapy sessions. His eyes met hers and he ran over to her.

"Good morning!" he said cheerfully, he had made sure to drink a lot of coffee before he got here. "Ready to begin the next stage of your life?" he pulled her into the room. It was padded with thick mats in case of accidents, precisely why he had reserved this room.

She walked in front of him and surveyed the room. Her eyes were still getting used to the bright lighting when Luke caught her hand, she turned to look up at him. She may be powerful, but she was short. She made even Luke look tall against her.

"Thanks for doing this, Laila. I know it must be hard for you." He said, his voice low.

"Well-" she got cut off when Luke bent towards her and kissed her. Laila felt her mind go blank as her arms wrapped around his neck and his arms went around her waist.

He leaned into her, deepening the kiss. She leaned back and twisted her hands into his hair, not fully knowing what she was doing.

Luke pulled back, his breathing heavy "I think we should get started." He whispered into her hair. He walked over to his bag and pulled out two training sabers.

Laila stood stock still, her breaths ragged. What am I doing?! Her mind screamed. Yet no matter how hard she tried to tell herself what had just transpired between them had been wrong, she couldn't help but smile when she remembered how his lips had felt against hers, or how good his hair felt as it ran through her fingers. She breathed in deeply, trying to calm herself.

"Ready?" Laila twirled around and caught the training saber Luke threw her. He showed her how to ignite it and a few stances and then thought they were ready to test them out.

Laila closed her eyes, trying to make herself calm so as not to go all Sith on him. She mirrored Luke's positions and blocked his blows expertly; just like a Jedi. She now saw Vader's point in learning how your enemy fought. She smiled at Luke's stupidity for a brief moment before laughing has he tripped over his untied shoe.

"Are you ok?" she chuckled as she sat down beside him.

"Yeah. I'm a pretty bug klutz aren't I?" he said laughing at his own befuddlement.

"Have you had enough today, Skywalker?" she said noting the time, 10:30 am, almost 6 hours of training in one morning, and she still had Vader to answer to.

"I think so. You're pretty amazing, you know? I've never seen anyone catch on so quickly." He stated smiling at her.

"And how many Jedi have you trained exactly?" she asked sarcastically.

"Well, none, but if I had, you'd be the best." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. She looked over surprised and he kissed her again, this time on the mouth. It was short lasted as Luke's comm. link went off. He broke off the kiss and sighed. He jumped up and answered.

After a few moments her came grumbling back to Laila.

"Everything all right?" she asked.

"No," he said pushing a hand through his hair, "Some Imperial droids have been spotted and Leia wants me and Han to go check it out. I had wanted to take you out to brunch, but looks like we'll have to save that for next time. Is that ok?"

"Yeah it's fine. I have to get back anyway, I've got some…errands to run." She said standing up.

"Great." He smiled and grabbed their bags and walked out to his speeder. He insisted on giving her a ride home since he had to cut their day short, and she agreed.

Their silence filled the car again as they got caught in traffic, again. Laila leaned heavily against the window, clearly worn out. In a few moments she was fast asleep.

Luke looked over at her sleeping form and smiled lightly. His hand swept over her face and brushed a few stray hairs out of her eyes.

They arrived at the main hanger where he would drop off Laila. He didn't want to wake her up though. He glanced at her again, and around the hanger; it was deserted.

He bent down and brushed his lips up against hers, "I think I may be in love with you Laila." He said, his voice barely audible. He stared at her a moment longer, memorizing her form, loving how the sunlight played off her body then gently woke her up. She grumbled awake and looked at him drowsily.

"Did I fall asleep?" she asked warily.

"Yes, but, you needed it. I'll call you when I get a free morning to continue, ok?" he laughed lightly and kissed her one last time as she stumbled out of the speeder towards the lift.

Laila rode up the lift, watching Luke's speeder fly off. Her hand flew up to her cheek.

"I think I may be in love with you, too" she whispered

And that thought alone scared her to no extent.

Hey again, just wanted to let you all know, in either the next chapter, or the one after that, it will go about a year into the future. If anyone has any objections, just send me an e-mail! Please review:-)