Next-to-last chapter. Thank you for all the continued support; you guys are the best!

If, during the time in which this story happened, you were swimming by a small cave near the underwater city of Otoh-Gunga, and decided to peek into it, you would have been up for a surprise. Four beings, two human and two Gungan, had made their residence in there, and were not planning on giving it up until the last of their kind was brought back to them.

On one side of the cavern were weapons, such as spears and throwing nets, mostly primitive technology. These were mostly filched from the Gungan storage rooms. Yet, hanging from the humans' belts were two shining black sheaths. They stood as signs, warning people never to underestimate the power that they held.

The two humans, otherwise known as Tahiri and Anakin, were busily polishing up their lightsabers. Since Jaina had gone, they had been busily preparing themselves for a last visit to Otoh-Gunga. Mansa Musa, upon snooping around, had discovered rumors of a trial concerning Jacen's murders. Anakin had already brought this to Jaina's attention, but he wasn't sure whether she was going to be in time.

"There bein' drumbeats from da city!" Jar-jar stumbled over to them. "Should wesa be goin' now?"

"We still have plenty of time." Anakin thought back to earlier that day, when he had felt Jaina and his uncle coming towards them. Had they been on schedule, they would have arrived around this time as well. Yet there was no sign of anyone coming down into the water.

At least he still had backup plans, though. None of them would have missed the trial for anything. Tahiri and Mansa would be sneaking to the left side of the force field which surrounded the throne room, and he would stay with Jar-jar on the right. If something unexpected happened, one group could grab Jacen while the other could distract the people inside.

There was a loud clunking sound. Tahiri jerked her head up to see a tall figure, fully clad in Gungan body armor. "Mesa finished," came a voice from beneath the layers.

"Oh, Mansa," she laughed, pulling his protective mask off, "You won't be able to move in that thing." Slowly, she helped him out of his ridiculous suit. It was hard not to stare at her, when she was laughing so easily despite the serious circumstances. Somehow, Anakin found it hard not to grin, too.

"Like her?"

Now it was his turn to stare. Jar-jar was behind him, positioned in the way that a person eager to share secrets might stand. Typical adult nosiness. Anakin decided that the best thing to do was to politely inch away from him.

"Nothin' to be worrying youself about. I'm sure she be liken you as well."

This was getting a bit uncomfortable. Maybe he could shift the conversation away from himself without acting rude. "Well…Tahiri and I have just been friends for a long time. It's normal for us to be friendlier than usual." He quickly finished up his lightsaber and hurried over to his friends.

"Jar-jar is right," he said hurriedly. "We should hurry. I don't want to miss anything important." After a brief review of the plan, the four split up.

Anakin dragged Jar-jar to the right end, behind the throne room. Sadly, his natural clumsiness, coupled with his advance in years, made him quite useless. They would lurk here.

Mansa Musa, on the other hand, was the one leading Tahiri through the palace. He knew the floor plan better than she did, anyway. Just outside the throne room were two decorative pieces of coral. They would be able to hide behind them without being spotted easily.

There was a strange creaking sound from behind them. Mansa Musa almost craned his head to look, but his partner held him back. She had sensed it several moments before it happened, and now that it was happening, it was important that she transmitted the message to Anakin before it was too late.

Guards were gathering around the edges of the city, and force-field gates were closing in. Nobody could get in or out. In other words, they were trapped.

C-3PO was busily folding the family laundry when he heard loud stomping noises outside in the apartment hallway. Before he could compute the information required to lock the front door, it was yanked open, and Han Solo stumbled in. Before the golden droid could protest, he grabbed a drink from the cooler, collapsed in a chair, and only then did he remember his promise against alcohol. Quickly, he threw it back in.

"Good day, sir," Threepio intoned politely. "It has been a while since I have seen you last-"

"Where's Leia?" the former smuggler cut in. He had finally realized what was missing from the usual homey atmosphere.

"She's at the medic center, Master Han. I have been in charge for the last few days." There was a tinge of pride in his metallic voice. Only last year, Jaina had programmed him to do household chores as well as translate, and now he was already running the Solo residence. Who knew? Next might be the upkeep of the Millennium Falcon?

Seeing the dreamy look in Threepio's eyes, Han had to chuckle. "Save your dreams for later, Goldenrod. I need to talk to Leia about something; could you please tell me how to get her?"

"You would have to see for yourself, as I am not entirely sure whether she kept her commlink on."

"Damn," Han muttered under his breath. He stood up and flung open the door-

-and saw his wife, standing in the hallway. Apparently, she had also been about to go inside. Mara was coming up behind her with a case full of the kid's clothes. It was strange that she was only bringing those and not the owner himself.

"Where did you put Luke?" he asked, his eyes scanning the women's faces. At last they rested on Mara, whose friendly yet tight-lipped smile revealed most of the story to him. Taking a deep breath, he gestured towards the apartment. "Why don't we sit down and discuss things?" he asked.

An hour later, Han managed to sort things out with his wife. It had taken a considerable amount of begging and reasoning, but in the end she forgave him. Mara sat uncomfortably on a chair, trying not to feel a bit left out. There was no guarantee that she was going to have this kind of conversation with Luke after this, and that in itself was what made her feel uneasy.

"Oh, and concerning Ben…" she cut in, hoping that she hadn't ruined anything, "Have either of you seen him anywhere?"

"Jaina told me that he would be coming here, but I haven't seen him, and neither has Threepio," Han replied. "Could he have snuck past us, or gotten into the wrong apartment?"

"It's possible." Leia was already scanning through her contacts list. "I could call the neighbors, to see if a little boy was passing by their place…he often gets lost like this, so I wouldn't be surprised."

Ben, meanwhile, was wandering around the apartment complex, trying to figure out where his aunt lived. He could remember a bit from the last time he had come; it was on the second floor. But…where exactly was it?

He decided to take a lucky guess. If the force was truly with him, then he would be able to find the residence without too much trouble.

Closing his eyes, he breathed in deeply, hoping that he would find the right one. To his relief, he felt the force flowing through him. So he wasn't that unlucky, after all. It took some concentration, but he finally narrowed it down to a single door, on the far left of the hallway. He walked up to it and rang on the doorbell.

The first thing that came out of the apartment was a bad-smelling cloud. It reminded him of the Jedi academy's laundry room-a mixture of sweat and other odd things. He coughed once, and the cloud cleared to reveal…an old lady, leaning on a cane. "Yes?" she asked.

Ben blinked. He had been so sure…but how had the force been within this household? It was impossible…his family would have felt it, they would have known. A door opened to his left, and Mara Jade stepped out, as though just happening to pass by. Turning to the right, she spotted Ben, who tried in vain to shrink away.

Han stumbled out of the apartment to find Mara already enveloping her son in a hug. The kid could have been suffocating, but the look on his face signaled relief and even a few tears. Smiling, he apologized to the owner of the other apartment.

"'Hem…sorry for bothering you, Mrs. Degrasimo. We had some troubles at home, but they're all solved now." Carefully, he lead Mara away. "Thanks, though," he called behind him.

Mrs. Degrasimo stood in the doorway. The boy had sensed her; his startled look had given it all away. Clearly he was from the Skywalker clan. Her mind raced. Sooner or later, his mother would find out. If she didn't take care, his family would eventually realize…

Shaking her head, she closed the door. Time to pack up her things and move to a different planet.

As soon as they landed, Jaina rummaged in her pockets. Taking out a breather and popping it into Luke's mouth, she said, "Come on, I'll show you the way."

The water was dark and cold, but Luke found it to be a relief from the harsh climate of Tatooine. However, he was still weak from the near-death experience. As a result, his health wasn't up to the best standards.

Jaina was probably the only thing that helped him along, pulling him through the waters and helping him avoid the dangerous underwater creatures.

When they arrived at the Gungan palace, though, the gates were shut. Light shone out of the top, but the sides and the rest were shielded via a strange force field. Furthermore, there were guards stationed everywhere, and they certainly didn't look friendly. How would they get in?

"Stay here," Jaina whispered, "I'll go search for another way in." Luke hid behind the reef while she swam off. He could hear Conch shells being blown, their notes sounding out in a single melancholy sound. Not long after that, drums began to beat. The Gungans were making a big fuss about the whole trial thing.

A sticky hand tapped him on the shoulder. Jumping up in surprise, he immediately cursed himself for being so idiotic. It was only Anakin; he should have known.

"Uncle Luke!" he hissed. "Jacen is in there, and they're ready to begin trying him. I've found a way to get you in there, but we have to hurry!"

"Jaina is still out there; she was trying to find the way in as well."

"Oh…" Anakin glanced over his shoulder, "Tahiri should be getting to her by now. There are only a few more chances to get in, plus the trial has already started. Come on, let's go." He tugged on his uncle's sleeve.

He led him through a side tunnel and several passageways, all the while giving him a brief description of the situation. "How do you know where all these places lead to?" Luke asked. The youth waved his hand. "Oh…I've been here for a while. If you have a good guide, you eventually pick stuff up from him."

"And who might this guide be?"

"Well…hey, we're almost there." Anakin quickly lifted up a soggy patch of sponge, motioning for his uncle to go through. "Just climb up, and you should be able to get into the throne room."

Luke pushed himself through the hole. It was smaller than he had expected, and rather bad-smelling, too. But at last, he found the top. Pulling off the cover, he emerged in the very center of the throne room. Something fell on top of him, and he realized that when coming through, he had tripped Jacen over. The last time Luke had carried him was when he was two years old. Since then, he had certainly gained a lot.

"Ah…Jedi Master Skywalker." Boss Nass lifted himself from his chair. "We were just about to start reading off the sentence." There were titters from all around.

"That's very nice, sir," Luke replied politely, "But that only applies if I don't come. My nephew communicated with me through the force about a day ago, and he requested my presence here. Therefore…I ask you now for the release of Jacen Solo.

Boss Nass laughed. "If you had come a day earlier, we would have. It was a little thing at first. Two children were caught down here, and we just wanted to make sure that they were not spies and confirm the overthrow of the empire. However, hesa-" of course, all eyes were on Jacen at this point, "Was attempting to pull them out before you came, and also killed more than fifteen of our soldiers. You will have to do a lot of convincing to let him go."

Now it was Luke's turn to stare. "Is he telling the truth?" he demanded. Jacen did not answer. So that was the reason why he had been called down here? To bail out a murderer, who also happened to be of his own blood?

After calming himself, he came up with something to say. "I'm sorry for that," he finally said. "Jacen is a Jedi, one who has the force. He should not have done such a thing, and I understand your anger. But please, think of what happened for him. His younger brother was kept in your palace, and he had no other way to bring him out. Jacen came without any knowledge of your customs or plans. What would you have done, if it were your brother?"

Boss Nass's flabby cheeks turned upwards in a menacing grin. It wasn't a pretty sight. "I never had a brother."

"But you must realize that Jacen was simply showing brotherly love-"

The Gungan leader pounded his fist on the arm rest of his throne. "Tell me," he boomed, "Are you indeed who you say, the Jedi Master? The one who trains such youth, that they bring destruction on others?" Behind the coral, Tahiri winced. This was starting to sound ugly.

"I am-"

"And were you the one who destroyed the emperor, eliminated the tyranny?"

"Well…" Most people fancied Luke to be the one that actually dumped Palpatine down the reactor shaft, but in reality, his father had been the one to do it. "I did kill him, though I'm not extremely proud of it." There was no harm in a little white lie every now and then…

"Then we are done. Release the boy." Protests rang from all around, but at that moment, Boss Nass uttered a string of gibberish so violently loud that half of his advisors shrank back in fear.

"Even the most simpleton-ies here shoulda be understanding," he said, after calming down a bit. "The empire is gone. We had no reason to fear the two youngalings who came down here, but we put them into da slime pits anyways. This boy Jacen's reaction was natural. Wouldn't wesa, too, go after one of our kin?" Turning back to Luke, he winked. "Yousan are free to go."