A/N: I didn't get many reviews on the last chapter. (frowns) Come on guys, I need a little inspiration here, help me out.

Chapter Four

Japhonan was slightly startled when the lights in the room suddenly lit up signifying that it was morning. He had gotten so used to the dimmed lights that he hadn't even noticed until the lights were turned on.

The boy groaned, apparently woken by the lights. Japhonan withdrew his hand before the boy gained awareness. Japhonan saw the boy blink a few times, then look to the side. It was then that he realized that he wasn't alone and that Japhonan was there. He sat up slowly, glaring at him.

Japhonan smiled. "I'm sorry if I woke you."

Of course the boy didn't speak. He just turned away and pulled himself together after the slight shock he'd just recieved.

A sigh from Japhonan, then, "I came to tell you that I'll be back tomorrow with my wife to take you to our house." This time he got some reaction. The boy turned his head toward him, looking… dare he say horrified? With a mix of question in his expression

Japhonan tried to answer what questions he could find playing across the boy's face. "Yes, we want to take you into foster care."

The boy looked down in a confused state, as if surprised that they were taking him in. He looked confused as if he was trying to figure out why. Japhonan hated for the boy to be confused, but what he hated even more was not knowing his name. It was hard to keep referring to him as "the boy." He decided to try again.

"I… would like to know your name," he said, hinting.

It was no good. The boy's head didn't move, but his eyes did. They found Japhonan's and glared into them as if saying "I'm not telling anyone so get that idea out of your head right now."

Japhonan sighed and stood up. "I'll be back tomorrow to take you home."

…

When the man left, Luke allowed himself to relax and try to sort through his storming thoughts.

They wanted to take him into foster care? After Luke had invaded their home and made a mess in their kitchen, they wanted to take care of him? Why? What did he do to make them want to do this? Of course, Luke immediately expected the worst; that they wanted revenge on him for what he had done to their kitchen. But for some reason, he got the feeling that they weren't those kinds of people.

Then why would they want to take him into foster care? It couldn't be because they simply wanted to help him… no one wanted to help Luke. He was worthless.

Either way, this was going to be like all the other foster homes. Luke just wished it was over already.

…

Japhonan went to Benro and informed him that he and Lizzian were going to come by tomorrow and pick Luke up. Benro gave Japhonan the fee for taking the boy into foster care, and Japhonan decided to go ahead and pay it ahead of time so he wouldn't have to worry about it tomorrow.

After this, he went on to his meeting. He knew that he'd have to tell Lizzian about the sudden decision he had made. Japhonan didn't know why he'd done it. He'd just had a sudden urge to do it. This boy needed help, attention… need he say love? Yes, he needed all those things, and all Japhonan wanted to do was give it.

…

Lizzian couldn't have been happier about the news. She also felt that they were meant to help the boy.

Then next day after breakfast, they canceled their appointments for that day and went together to the Foster Homing Facility. While their chauffeur drove them to FHF, Lizzian voiced her concern over not knowing the boy's name. It was a touchy subject for both of them. They wanted to be able to call him something, but just giving him a name would be like naming a new pet, and that's not how they wanted the boy to feel.

When the speeder landed, they got out and went directly to Benro's office. He was expecting them and followed them to the boy's room, unlocked the door and opened it.

The boy was sitting on the side of the bed, his elbows rested on his knees and his hands were clenching and unclenching as he thought. With the sound of the door opening, he slowly looked up. His eyes looked miserable beneath the overgrown bangs which Lizzian made a note to herself to have cut.

"Come on, boy," Japhonan said as gently as possible. "We're taking you home now."

Home. They're not taking me home, Luke thought. I don't have a home. But he stood up and came to the door. There was no reason to resist. Eventually he'd be made to come anyway, and he decided it was better to come without getting beat up by Benro again. Not that he would do it in front of people.

Japhonan gestured in front of himself, seeing if the boy would like to walk ahead of them. But the boy showed no interest in doing so, so Japhonan went ahead with Lizzian and led the way out of the building toward where their chauffeur with the parked speeder were waiting.

Luke crawled into the back. He was dismayed to see the man sit down on one side, and the woman came in on the other side so that he was unintentionally sitting between them. Luke rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. Perfect, he thought sarcastically.

When they were all in, the chauffeur took off.

There was awkward silence in the speeder. Luke of course, wasn't anywhere near the thought of actually talking to anyone, especially them.

Lizzian looked at her husband, then back at the boy who was sitting silently, slumping down in his seat. She decided to speak up. "I'm sure you're going to love living with us. The apartment is very large; two stories and plenty of space."

Like I didn't know that already, Luke said to himself. It was like she'd forgotten that the first time they had seen Luke was in their house.

She kept talking. "Your room is fairly large too… larger than that high security room they were keeping you in."

Yeah, thanks for bringing up the unpleasant stuff in my life, Luke thought again. He inwardly sighed, wondering why they could just take a hint and shut up.

The man was speaking now. "Hey I know we all got off on the wrong foot, but we'd really like to start new."

Too late for that, Luke thought in response but outwardly, he didn't change his expression or give them the slightest knowledge that he had even been listening.

Lizzian sighed and shared a worried and saddened glance with Japhonan. If the boy would talk then he would always shut out the world forever. He had to learn to open up. Yet he still remained silent.

For the rest of the ride, Japhonan and Lizzian tried uselessly to get the boy to talk to them. When they got to the apartment they got out and walked ahead of Luke inside.

When Luke came inside, he passed the closet he'd been locked in during his first "visit" here. Something inside of him jumped and he walked hurriedly away from that. He looked around and saw the man and woman walking up the stairs.

The woman turned down to him. "Come on, honey. Don't you want to see your room?" she asked, gesturing up to the second floor whose hallway was visible in the airy layout of the apartment.

Luke almost yelled at her to not call him "honey." But then he checked himself and kept his silence as he walked a few feet behind them up the stairs.

No one had ever called him "honey" before. It was annoying. Not the name he'd like anyone to be calling him, not even his biological mother. And it was a new sensation for him anyway.

At the top of the stairs, he came to a continuation of the entrance to the second floor. He followed them in the enclosed hall that continued the first one. A few doors down, they stopped and opened one of the doors. They waited at the entrance for Luke to come and see.

Luke didn't change his slow pace. He wasn't going to hurry for anyone. When he finally came to the room, he took a step inside and looked around. It was the biggest room anyone had ever given him. And also the best by several marks.

For one, the bed looked big enough for four people to sleep on it comfortably. It looked pretty soft too. On either side of it were bedside tables with matching lights on each side. And that was just the right side of the room. The other side had a huge flat screen hologram that he could watch shows, sports, movies, or news on. There was nice sofa and two other chairs all brought together with a large blue area rug and a coffee table. Directly opposite of him, there was a large desk placed neatly against the wall. On the desk he saw a computer… it was a newer model, he could tell. The color scheme in this room was obviously blue and silver. Luke found it hard to admit, but he was going to hate saying goodbye to this room when they sent him back...

"Do you like it?" the lady asked. Of course Luke didn't answer. He heard her sigh behind him, then say, "Well if you need anything, please let me or Japhonan know."

He heard her and her husband close the door and leave. Finally he was alone.

Moving from the spot where he'd been standing in, Luke walked towards the bed and tried it out… it was a wonderful change from the bed back in the high security room at the FHF. This place definitely outdid any other foster home he'd been to. But that was bad. The more you fall in love with a place, the harder it will be when the foster parents send you back.

A/N: Hard as it may be to believe, but I've been working on that chapter ever since the last update. It just takes so long to write a single chapter these days since I'm at school all the time. Well anyway, reviews would be wonderful. (hint, hint.)