Thanks for the support I received for the last chapter. This is once again rather late (but then, you try copying the entirety of Martin Luther King Jr's speech for homework.)

Jaina, while stumbling around, had found her way to the Bongos, where she promptly settled herself in. Of course, she had no way of knowing how to manage it, but if her brothers came by, they could probably help her to bring it away from Otoh-Gunga.

Opening a small cabinet to her left, she pulled out a box of tools and what smelled like a three-day old fish. After throwing the fish out and opening the windows a bit, she set the toolbox down and dropped to her knees. There was no harm in trying things out first, though. She bent her head lower, trying to examine the works. This was an interesting vehicle…

A shout alerted her, and she cautiously stood up to see what it was. Anakin was racing towards the Bongo, Tahiri following closely behind. "Jaina!" he screeched. "We have to get going, and fast!"

She opened the door and let them in, pausing to allow Jar-jar and his son to enter. "New friends, huh?" she asked. "Where's Jacen?"

Anakin pushed her aside, settling himself in the cockpit and starting the Bongo up. "He told us to leave; I'm not sure how he'll be doing but he's got a weapon. Come on!"

"What?" Tahiri lunged towards him, pushing the throttle back into position. "You're not going to just leave him like that?"

"Another rescue-ed mission?" Mansa Musa groaned. "Why does mesa always get into da biggest troubles? I'vesa done my part."

"Fine; I'll go get him." Anakin was about to leap out again when he saw nearly a hundred soldiers leaping out of tunnels and through hallways, all advancing towards his Bongo with a fierce gleam in their eyes.

"On second thought," he said, turning the craft round and starting it up, "We'll go back for him later. Mansa and his father can leave, but we're coming back."

"He could be killed by then! We have no time!"

"Jacen's an expert with his lightsaber, though. If we hurry we can still catch him; does he know where to go?"

Jaina thought about this. "I think so…I told him I'd meet him over here later. Even if he doesn't, we'll go back for him. It'll be the last time, too. No more mess ups."

"It had better be." Tahiri put in. Anakin glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She seemed genuinely concerned about Jacen. Even though she knew fully well that he could look after himself. Involuntarily, he began to wonder about her feelings towards his brother…and what kind of feelings they were.

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After eating some refreshments, completing it with a large swig of beer, Han felt a lot better. Leia had called him up again earlier, assuring him that he would be the first to learn of Luke's condition. Hopefully the kid was going okay.

Lando came into the room, carrying a data pad. "I knew you were going to come back," he said with a knowing look in his eye. "So I made a tally of the animals that I could salvage by myself." He handed the chart to Han, who glanced over it with his eyes wide.

"Um…do you think they're mad at us right now? I mean, we're pretty much overdue…" Lando faltered.

At that point, Han remembered that he had a small slip of paper which detailed the agreement. He had asked for it when they had made the deal, and if he remembered correctly, it was still sitting safely in his pocket. He fished it out, waved it at an astounded Lando, and read it.

When he put it down, he had a sly grin on his face. "I don't remember them setting a time limit. The fact is, we were pushing ourselves when there was actually no deadline stated in the agreement."

"We could wait until Luke is feeling better before we finish. We could even wait till Anakin's married before we finish. There's plenty of time and no limits, plus we have the former Rat hunting champion on our side. Frankly, buddy, there is nothing to lose."

Lando frowned. "Don't be so sure of that yet. I received a call yesterday, and no prizes for guessing who it's from. They said they would be calling you up later, check on your progress and such."

At that precise moment, Han's commlink beeped. "Never a better moment," he muttered as he switched it on.

"Yeah?"

The other end cut right to the point. "Are you done with your quota yet?" the voice hissed. "I know who you are; do not try to hide it."

"Good, because I know you too, chum. Sure, I've got your stuff. Just give me a couple more days to load it up." Han said these words smoothly, as though it was the truth. Lucky for him that not everyone was as force-sensitive as Lukie.

"Hurry up with it, then," the alien said, "It would be so unfortunate if I did not spot you in Taris within the span of three days." The connection went dead.

Han slowly put the commlink down. "Revise that agreement," he said to Lando. "We got three days."

"Think we can make it in time?" Lando asked, pulling out a pen and revising the scrap of paper.

Han mulled over this. "I could always get back into the Sky hopper and get some more. Is it still here?"

"Yeah, in the same place that I found it. It's still a bit dusty from the storm, but still useable. I haven't touched it since yesterday-" here he turned and winked at Han, "-Thought you might want to do the honors."

Han grinned. "Be there. Did Leia leave you anything?"

"Yup, some money to rent a speeder. It's all mine for a couple of days, after that we have to give it back."

"I sure hope the owner won't mind us dirtying it." Han stood up and stretched. "It's time that we got some real work done."

Three hours later, Han's definition of 'real work' had almost been fulfilled. Though the wind had blown strongly, they had made good time. "Thank the Gods that yesterday's bundle wasn't completely wiped," Han called. "We got a lot today, think it should be enough?"

"Well, I'm not going to spend all night counting."

"Okay then…how about if we just bring it back to the farm and leave it there until we find a large ride?"

"I'm not planning on spending another night at the farm." Lando eased himself into the speeder and started it up. "I want to get this load back to Taris as soon as possible, and if it's enough, then I'll catch a ride back home. There's some stuff that really needs to be finished up."

Han blinked. "'Scuse me?"

"Oh, so you thought I'd want to stay on? As I said, I have things to do. I'm a pillar of the Cloud City community. You've got kids and I've got my responsibilities; maybe it's time to go our separate ways."

"Right." Han wasn't in the mood to believe this. "Like I'm going to just let our long-lasting friendship fall apart just because of all this-"

"Not the friendship," Lando said impatiently, waving away Han's discomfort with his hand. "We can keep in touch. All I'm saying is that it might not be a good thing to turn to me for help anymore. I've got no more resources, plus I'm old. Simple as that."

He patted the seat next to him, obviously beckoning for Han to sit down besides him. As they scoured the desert for any extra carcasses, he even began to whistle.

Han didn't say anything.

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Blip…blip…blip…

Luke's mind was a haze of odd, uncategorized memories, but as he opened his eyes to the white glare of an artificial light, the feel of sand once again brushed his skin, and for two seconds he was once again a helpless traveler, caught in the desert of Tatooine.

"Luke…Luke, can you hear me?"

He blinked, clearing away the glare. Leia had just shaken his arm and was now waiting, expectantly. Immediately he scrabbled on the blankets, struggling to sit up…but fell back again. Fear surged through him, and it took all his strength to contain it. Something white was covering his nose and mouth, which he realized was probably an inhalation mask. Yet he could not breathe.

"The medics said that there was a lot of grit in your lungs," Leia said. "They will be doing surgery to try and clean it out…though I do not know how or when." She paused, looked at him more closely. "Is everything all right?

He struggled again, trying to talk, but instead gurgled up a mixture of grit, mucus and blood, coughing it onto the blankets. A nearby nurse screamed before Leia could beat her to it. Suddenly she was being pushed away as medics swarmed around her brother, talking in low voices and apparently readying him for surgery. The mass became so thick that she could not see him anymore, and in the end, she gave up.

Sending a last well-wish to her brother, Leia returned to the waiting room. In a small chair, wedged between a table and a cheap plastic playhouse, Mara was reading a magazine, as though she was merely waiting for her little one to finish up with the doctor. Leia knew better than to believe this. Though she hid her feelings well, Mara wouldn't be caught dead reading Galactic Gossip magazine, particularly not holding it up to her face.

Pushing the publication aside, Leia sat down besides her sister in law and wiped away the tears that had trickled down onto the cheap paper.

"It'll be all right; he'll pull through." Even as she said this, Leia couldn't be sure that her words were true.

"He has to be…" Mara whispered, "He can't leave…it's too early for that."

Leia shivered as cold pain ran down through her spine, and she hugged the woman tighter. "Trust me," she said firmly, "He's weak in body, but his mind is still strong."

Suddenly there was a tremor in the force, one so different from Luke's that you could not mistake it for him. Leia pulled away, realizing that there were now two people in pain.

One of whom was her eldest son.

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Boss Nass had finally given in to his feelings, and had ordered that Jacen be brought into the torture chambers. Two kids who had accidentally gotten lost underwater was one thing. A madman who stomped in and began slaying patriotic Gungans was another.

"Boss!" The Gungan leader turned. Two of his officers had just come into the room. "Hesa be sayin' that he's a relation of Luke Skywalker. Dosan we believe it?"

"What kinds of pain have you subjected tooda him?"

"Oh, sev'rall. Enough to make him look limp round hisan arms and greenish round the face." As if on cue, there was a loud scream from below. Boss Nass winced.

"Ask him more, and den when yousan think he be telling da truth, stop. If he really is a relation, den we do not want to lose him." The officers bowed and hurriedly left.

That night, Boss Nass called a meeting of his advisors and appointed higher-ups. After explaining the situation to them, he presented his question.

"What be yousan thinking about the boy? Hesa brought killing and violence to the peaceful state that we are in. I do not see a reason to trust him."

In the back of the room, a door silently opened. Jar-jar, who had donned a false mustache and elegant costume, thanked the Gods that he had not tripped over his feet for once. He edged his way to the side of the throne room, where he seated himself without too much fuss.

"I say we get rid of him." A lady Gungan, whose body implied that she could have been the underwater version of Jabba the Hutt, straightened her back. "There is no use in keeping him; he is just a ruthless boy." Murmurs arose as the majority of Gungans agreed.

"Still," one person piped up, "It may be true what he says about being a relation of Luke Skywalker. If we hurt him, we may all die."

"Is there a way of proving dat?" the Gungan/Hutt lady retorted. Another scream could be heard from below, presumably belonging to Jacen.

At this point, Jar-jar spoke up. "Excusing me," he said in as low a voice as he could muster, "There may be another way of contacktin' the Jedi."

Boss Nass actually turned and looked at him in the eye. Having been given such an honor, Jar-jar continued to speak.

"Thisen Jedi, they have special power called Da Force. If we could somehow Many-yipulate this, we could talk to Master Skywalker without having to go to da surface. If this boy is really a close relative of him, he should have disen Force too. So…"

"We could be making him to contact Skywalker for us." The Boss stood up. "Stop the torture and bring the boy here," he ordered. "Wesa need him unharmed."