The Jedi Academy. Typically an active place, with plenty of room to run around and quiet niches to read or study. During class times, the only noises came from the Jedi Masters talking, or from training lightsabers, cutting through the air with neat, searing sounds. Today, however, there was an extra noise coming from the dormitories: The slight beeps and sound effects of a Playstation Gigadvantage.

"You're sure we won't get caught, right?" Ben half whispered as he swiveled his joystick wildly. Anakin's dorm was usually the place where the two boys hung out, since Ben lived in the same apartment with his parents and thus had strict disadvantages. Today, they were trying out a 4-D game, downloaded from an internet pirate server.

Anakin calmly made his character jump several sharp boulders. "Trust me." he said. "Our excuse is legible, we have another hour before the next class, and will probably be able to get to the end of this level before-"

Footsteps suddenly resonated in the hall outside Anakin's room. Both boys froze. Their characters hit enemy droids and died. In a rush, Anakin switched off the wall screen and tried to shut down the buzzing Playstation. Pressing the button several times, he realized that the system was stuck. He cursed, very quietly, so that Ben wouldn't hear. Weren't electronics nowadays supposed to be foolproof?

"Anakin? Your uncle's looking for you!"

Sith. It was his father. What was he doing on the grounds? The fifteen year old frantically looked for a place to hide. Seeing the laundry chute, he immediately grabbed Ben's hand and shoved him towards it.

"No!" his cousin yelped, before he was pushed into the chute head first. Anakin followed suit. He hoped that the laundry droid would be out by the time they-

The thought was wiped out of his head as he fell; face down, onto a pile of dirty sheets. Han Solo opened the door to his son's room, peering around. Nobody was in sight. He pulled the covers off the unmade bed, rifled through the messy closet. Nothing. He sat down on a desk chair, running his fingers through his hair. Despite the circumstances, he had a nagging feeling that somebody had been here before…and had just left.

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Anakin peeled a pair of boxer shorts away from his face. He could already hear his father shouting to his uncle. A grimace materialized on his face as he realized that he had already skipped several classes this week, and many more in the previous terms. Nearly everyone in the Academy had been sent after his trail last time, and a short period of disgrace had followed. He couldn't be caught. Not today, at least.

Ben was still half dazed from his trip. Poor kid; he'd never taken such a fast ride before. Anakin, having to find handy places to dodge into when in trouble, was rather used to it.

He opened the door a crack-and withdrew in terror. A laundry droid was making her way back to the laundry room, armed with a new box of detergent and a package full of dryer sheets. Anakin had never felt so terrified.

Up the laundry chute, then. He caught his cousin by the collar, urging him to move up faster. The way was slippery, and Anakin was afraid that the droid would hear noises and peek up to see what it was. Thankfully, she did not.

The two boys made it safely back to the bedroom. Anakin tensed, his ears alret for any signs that people were coming. He didn't hear anything. For the most part, it was silent. He let out a breath, relief surging through him.

And as though she had hear this sigh of relief, Jaina burst in. For several seconds, neither of them spoke a single word.

Taking a deep breath, Jaina addressed her little brother in a tone that made him shiver.

"You are so in for it."

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Luke snapped his fingers irritably. The boy's eyes were taking on the glazed look of a bored teenager.

"You're not getting with the picture, are you?" He asked quietly. The boy gave no sign of emotion.

His uncle tried again. "Look here, Anakin…I think I've been pretty nice to you. Letting you into the academy was the first thing, and then when you began to get disobedient, I'd turn my back. But you really can't go on like this. And, when I think about it, neither can I."

Anakin's mind was in a tumult as he processed this information. Though his actions had been near to unforgivable, he dearly hoped that he wouldn't be expelled from the Jedi Academy. He loved training; it was the one reason why he stayed. What he didn't like was the long, formal classes. Most times, the lessons were repeats of things he had already read from old books of Jedi lore. Anakin almost snorted. And they thought he didn't know!

"Jacen was asking about you, why you didn't do any work. I told him you were still young and needed to learn, but you obviously-"

"Well, I didn't learn anything, did I?" Anakin exploded. How could Luke be pinpointing his faults when he knew that he had them, too? "Mace Windu's battle with the isn't a lesson anymore, it's a story repeated again and again! I learnt it by heart when I was already eight years old!" He could barely control his anger. Neither could Luke. The Jedi master, though he tried to keep his feelings in check, was angry. You could tell by the way he pressed his lips together.

Perhaps reasoning would help. "Anakin," he began, "as you probably know, your midi-chlorian count is very high. Not many people are as lucky as you." His attempt to make eye contact was futile. No matter how hard he tried, Anakin would not speak to him.

Luke's patience gave way. He stood up, signaling that the meeting was over. "Anakin, if you feel like you've learned enough, then you probably have. Your life at this academy can end, and you can go home."

This seemed to bring results. "What? No, you can't-"

"Or," Luke continued, "You could try it out for a couple of weeks. If you find it to be better, you can move your things completely. Your father is already on the grounds, it might be good to go home with him."

Anakin slumped in his seat. He was being expelled? Had his crimes really been that great? Yes, there had always been conscience nagging at his brain whenever he had skipped classes, but still…

Han Solo opened the door a crack. "Um…" he said uncomfortably, "Is Anakin going or not?" It's getting late and I have to get some supplies back to Leia. She might worry if we're not back before midnight her time."

"He will be ready." The Jedi master made a dismissive gesture to his nephew. "You should pack."

On the way back to his room, Anakin passed his older sister, who had a sympathetic look on her face, and his older brother, who just raised his eyebrows. It seemed like everyone was against him-except for Ben, of course. He was already sitting on Anakin's bed when he arrived, having snuck past Mara in order to visit his cousin before he left.

"You'll come back, right?" The younger boy asked anxiously. Anakin threw several pairs of clothes into his pack, not knowing how to answer him. Cautiously looking around, he rummaged in his desk drawer and pulled out a slender wooden box.

"What's that?" Ben asked curiously, but Anakin didn't reply. He shoved the box all the way to the bottom of his bag, covering it with the rest of his things. On his way out of his room, he patted his cousin on the head.

"Hey, take care of 'Nobi while I'm gone, okay?" he said, referring to a small garden snake that Jacen had given him as a present. "And hopefully, I'll be back in a couple of weeks."

He ran down to the landing strip, where the Millennium Falcon was parked. "Good to see you, kid," Han said, attempting to strike up a conversation. No response. Either he was in a hurry to get home, or he wasn't exactly willing to play friendly, Han reasoned. Well, that was what you got from a teenager. Varying moods and such.

"Make sure he doesn't get into trouble," Luke cautioned.

"Ani? He's always been a good kid. I hope he likes this break. Maybe when he gets back he'll be a bit more submissive."

"I sincerely hope so."

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The smuggler and his son arrived back at Coruscant slightly earlier than expected. Leia greeted them both with a warm welcome, but was secretly surprised that Anakin had arrived back home so abruptly. This changed to worry when her youngest son went to his room without a word.

"He's all right, isn't he?" she asked Han that night.

"Sure…just some troubles with his classes. He's been skipping them lately; apparently, it has to do with boredom."

"Skipping classes? Are they too hard for him?"

"Prob'ly not. Don't you remember when we had him, how high his midi-chlorian count was? A kid as powerful as that wouldn't be struggling with homework."

For several minutes, Leia relived the terrible experience she had almost had when Palpatine had tried to invade her youngest child's body. He wouldn't have done that if Anakin were only an ordinary child, would he?

"You don't have to worry about him, Leia. He'll be fine."

She sighed. "I guess you're right. Let's try to make him feel more comfortable at home. It's been so long since I've seen him last that I hardly even know him anymore."

"It's been a long time since I've known you, too," her husband said softly. Leia turned around in bed to look at him. He was right about that, too. Duties for the senate and worries about her children had almost driven her own life out of her mind. It might be a good choice to bring it back, if only for a while.

A small smile appeared on her lips. "Okay," she half-whispered, and rested her head on his arms.

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Anakin could sense that his parents were enjoying themselves in bed. He grimaced. At least they could try to keep their thoughts in their own heads.

He hadn't been sleeping, after all. Merely waiting.

He picked up his bag and slipped out of the family apartment, down the hall, to what he knew from his childhood to be an old military pilot's place. It was simple business for him to mind trick and re-format the droid guarding the flat, and then direct it to fetch the security key of the pilot's ship. It wasn't a bad thing, that ship was. Small, sleek, perfect for a getaway…

As soon as he had what he needed, he hurried down to the landing platform where several ships stood. Anakin Solo, though he had been raised in Coruscant, did not embrace city life, or any ordinary life, for that matter.

Uncle Luke was wrong, he thought. He picked a helmet from the racks and tucked it into the crook of his arm.

Uncle Luke was wrong, because he was not going to spend his few weeks off in Coruscant.

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Han Solo stretched in bed. It had been a good night, and for the most part, a pleasant one. He was feeling so good that he thought he might take Anakin down to Malastare. Both of them loved pod racing. It was one of the few things they had in common.

He crept over to Anakin's room, planning to surprise him. Maybe he was feeling better this morning.

His fingers curled around the doorknob. He yanked it open-

And found nothing. The bed was made, everything was in order, except for the one thing that was missing.

Anakin.