As they hurried out of the city, Mansa Musa gave Anakin quick instructions on getting back. "We need to head straight to the surface!" he warned. "A big group like usen may attract attention from da local gooberfish."

"Thanks, Mansa," Anakin replied, and quickly directed the group to do so. As they swam, he turned back and said, "You really helped us a lot. Even though you abandoned me and were the one to rat on Tahiri in the first place, I know that you were just trying to help your dad."

"Yah…you helped me too. Jar-jar Binks, my father, he can go up tooda surface and start over a new life." There was an awkward silence as they both thought about everything they had been through. Finally, the Gungan patted him on the shoulder.

"Maybe I will be seein' you sometime later," he said, and to both his and Anakin's surprise, he awkwardly hugged him. "Miss you, Ani."

"I'll miss you too, Mansa." They had reached the place where Jaina's ship was parked. Jar-jar took his son in the opposite direction, to Naboo. Taking one last look at his friend, Anakin boarded the craft.

The ride back was mostly peaceful. Of course, there had been several problems concerning dry tunics and gelatinous seaweed, but eventually everything had been sorted out. Luke and Jaina took turns flying, leaving Jacen to rest peacefully for the duration of the trip. Tahiri sat in the back with Anakin, quietly discussing what had happened.

"Mansa Musa was good in the end," Tahiri remarked. "Even though he was still a half-witted, dumb Gungan, I guess I forgave him."

"I forgave him as soon as I saw that look of repentance on his face. You really should learn how to find compassion in your heart."

"Hah, that's you all right." She playfully punched him on the shoulder. "Always so soft." Anakin laughed and pushed her over, tickling her on her stomach. "Hey!" Luke called behind him. "She's a girl; at least have some respect for her!"

Suddenly remembering his manners, Anakin sat back, grinning sheepishly at his actions. "I hope I didn't offend you."

"No, it's all right." Tahiri pushed a strand of hair back from her face. "We're friends, aren't we?"

"Yes," he replied, attempting to push all alien thoughts from his mind. They sat side by side, thinking but not saying a word.

'And who knows? One day we might even be something more.'

Almost half of the Jedi academy had gathered outside. The other masters had tried to call them back in, but they were obviously waiting for Luke to come back. Most of the younglings had developed a strong bond with him. Finally, something emerged out of the sky and landed in the hangar bay.

"Luke!" Mara waited until the younglings had cleared away until approaching him. "Did everything go well?" she asked. Her husband grinned and hugged her. "It was a success," he replied. "Jacen is going to spend a few weeks at home, though. He needs some time out of the academy."

Mara laughed. "I thought it was Anakin who was supposed to take a break?"

"Oh…I let him decide whether he wanted to come back or not. I was thinking about it too. Because we were trying to make sure that the younglings finished their training, we neglected the older ones, and their possible development into more Jedi and more hands." He pulled away and held her at arm's length. "Maybe we should re-think our training schedule for the better."

She sighed. "Yes, but do we really have a choice? There are so many students, and we really have too much to handle on our own. Plus-" she glanced over at Ben, "Our own son needs attention, too."

Luke nodded. "I'll keep writing letters to the Senate about our dilemma, they're bound to listen one day. And as soon as Jacen comes back, I'll apprentice him, and find the other students some Masters as well. It's about time for them to learn."

"And one more thing," he said, a spark of light in his eye, "You don't have to worry about my health. I'm fine enough to go on; otherwise I wouldn't have gone down with Jaina. If you think about it, tonight would be a great time to go out."

For the first time in a while, Mara Jade felt her face breaking out into a smile. "Just the two of us?"

"Of course. But to be fair, next time we'll bring Ben."

"Here's the money, all stacked up and folded for you." Han reluctantly imparted the folder to his neighbor, who grinned widely and immediately started to count bills.

"Say, do you want to come in?" he asked. "I recently bought a new case of drinks, directly from the fruits of Naboo-"

"Er…no thanks. I've quit drinking." Quickly, Han escaped back to his apartment, hoping that his neighbor wouldn't figure the truth about the credits. Since he had told Threepio to clean out, was completely sterile of alcohol. His wife was already in bed reading-the excitement had pretty much worn her out. Jacen's room was right down the hall, but he decided not to disturb the kid.

The lights in his bedroom turned off at precisely 10:00. As soon as he could hear Leia snoring, Han sat up in bed and groped around for his clothes. Kissing her quietly on the cheek, he hurried towards the bay window, which he opened as silently as possible. Coruscant was aglow with the lights of the great city that it held, and for several moments, he was almost entranced by them.

"Psst! Are you going to get down here or not?"

Han shook his head, rousing himself out of the stupor. Looking down on the city below, he pushed his body out of the window and jumped.

Being a normal man and not a lunatic, the only reason why he had done so was because Lando had been hovering in a speeder underneath him. A few simple commands and the vehicle was on its way, zooming down the back alleys of Coruscant.

He slowed when they had found one place deserted enough to talk in relative privacy. "Leia…she doesn't know that we met, right?" Lando's face took on a expression of worry.

"Nah, she's sleeping like an angel. We have a couple of hours before I get too tired to talk; it had better be fast."

"Yup." The leader of Cloud City immediately got down to business. "Say…have you given your neighbor the money yet?"

These words brought a grimace to Han's lips. "The guy was so happy with the loot that he didn't even check to see whether it was fake or not. Hopefully he'll gamble it all away or something, he seems like the type of person to do so."

There was a silence between them, and then Lando spoke up again. "Hey, about what I said the other day…you know what I meant, right?"

"Oh yeah." He grinned and pinched Lando on the stomach. "You're not as young as you used to be. No more wacky adventures for you."

"Then don't drag me into them." Another uncomfortable stillness arose, and for a few minutes, neither of them had any idea what to say.

Finally, Han said quietly, "I was thinking of 'retiring' from this business, too. Sneaking around used to have its thrills, but since that incident with Lukie…" he shook his head woefully. "I guess I've finally grown up."

Surprisingly, Lando leaned over and patted him on the shoulder. "We all have to learn some day," he said. "I'll still help you in time of emergencies, but only with one condition."

"Please not money, because if it is I am officially canceling all relations between us-"

His friend held a finger to his lips. "Just don't tell Leia about us, it's that simple. Fine by you?"

Han broke out into a laugh. "You old scoundrel…"

Mrs. Degrasimo was carefully storing her data files in a safe box. They would hide there until she found another place to live. There was a knock at the door, and quickly covering the files with a cloth, she answered it.

"Jacen! But it's so late-"

"You told me to come over whenever I felt like it, and obviously, you're not sleeping yet. My dad doesn't know I went out, but trust me, he won't mind." Jacen sat down on a stool in the foyer. "I just came back from Naboo-my brother turned out to be okay, after all," he added.

"That's good," Mrs. Degrasimo smiled at him. "Was everything all right in the end?"

"Yes…I'm still kind of tired from all that physical work, though." He glanced around at the messy apartment. "Are you doing a paint job or something?"

How would she explain this? "Er, actually, I've decided to move. I don't like staying in one place for too long. The quiet life is too…" she waved a hand, "…quiet for me."

Jacen raised his eyebrows in agreement. "I don't like staying at home for too long, either. Do you know where you will be moving?"

"Not yet. Why?"

The boy scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know…somehow it's calming to talk to you. As though something has been released in me-small but relaxing in its way."

'That must be the aura of Force around me,' Mrs. Degrasimo thought, taking care to put up a mental shield. Thankfully, he did not appear to feel it. "I could give you my commlink number," she suggested, "and you could call whenever you felt like it."

Thirty minutes later, Jacen left feeling warmed by the number in his pocket and the hot cocoa which had been given him to drink. Mrs. Degrasimo resumed packing, all the while meditating about the future.

It was unclear, that was for sure. But many things could happen. Sometimes all it took was a little influence, a slight pressure to turn a chain of events upside down.

Brought to you by Holie-short, a tired fanfic writer

Yup, that's it! Thanks to all who read and reviewed; it was really appreciated. My place is leaving tomorrow, so don't expect anything for a while. I might write another fanfiction spiraling off this one (note the sinister, hinting end), but most likely it will be when I get myself a more efficient way of writing (notebooks are a pain).