A/N: Thank you for the reviews. I hope you keep it up because without reviews, this story's not going anywhere. It's true. Like the rest of you, I'm happy we've gotten to the part where Vader joins the story. Just so you guys know, I know exactly where I'm taking this story and that's why I think it's getting written fairly quick.

Chapter Six

Lizzian thought the meeting went fairly well. All of the senators agreed it was unfair for the Empire to outlaw aliens just because they weren't the same species as them. She was walking out the door with one of her closer friends, Mon Mothma, when she realized that the boy wasn't waiting outside.

She looked around, thinking maybe she missed him at her first glance, but in a few seconds she succeeded in getting very nervous."Oh dear," she said, still looking around.

"Is there something the matter?" Mothma asked her, seeing the worried expression on her friend's face.

"Oh, no, no, no, he's not here!" Lizzian exclaimed.

"Lizzian, control yourself," Mothma said, keeping her own calmness with ease but inwardly wondering as to the cause of her friend's confusion and worry.

"The boy that Japhonan and I are taking care of," Lizzian said, explaining to Mothma. "He's gone."

"What?" Mothma asked, now reacting a little. "Dear, you never told me that you adopted a child."

Lizzian shook her head. "We didn't adopt him. We're just his foster parents. We just brought him home with us yesterday and thought that exposure around other people would be good for him. I didn't think he'd run off!"

At that moment, Japhonan returned from his meeting and was coming towards them. He noticed that Lizzian was alone and the boy was no where in sight. Well this wasn't good...

"Japhonan!" Lizzian exclaimed. "The boy isn't here, I think he ran off."

Japhonan's eyes were the only thing betraying his inner reaction. He, like Mothma, remained calm. "There's no need to panic, Lizzian. I'm sure he couldn't have gotten far. We just need to split up and look for him."

"If you like, I wouldn't mind searching as well," Mothma said She was willing ready to help her friends, and today she had no other engagements anyway.

"Would you? Oh that would be wonderful," Lizzian said in slight relief.

"Alright," Japhonan said. "You two can go that way, and I'll go this way. If you find him, comm me."

…

It didn't take long to find him. Lizzian and Mothma had only been searching for fifteen minutes when they found the boy hidden behind a large potted plant. It looked like he was hiding.

Lizzian rushed to him. "Oh my, what are you doing?" she asked in a worried tone. "We have been looking everywhere for you and you have no idea how worried I was!"

The boy slowly came out of his hiding place when he saw Lizzian. Apparently, it was her who he was hiding from.

"What were you thinking by running off like that?" Lizzian asked, putting her hands on his shoulders, scolding him in her relief that he hadn't left the building and gotten lost in the streets.

The boy remained with a blank face, blue eyes staring back at her. Lizzian shook her head. "Come on, Japhonan is worried about you too."

After Lizzian commed Japh and told him that they had found the boy, Mothma turned to her. "That boy would never make a good fighter."

Lizzian looked at her friend quizzically. "Why do you say that?"

Mothma gave a superior sigh. "He just doesn't have the makings of a warrior."

…

Back at the house, Luke went directly to his room to and shut the door. Finally he was alone again. Luke was an introvert. He had to be by himself to recuperate and relax. Silence surrounded his life. It was the one thing that still felt like home to him.

Blast those people for making him go to the Senate with them! Because of them, he had just had the scare of his life. He'd actually come face to face with the single most frightening figure the galaxy had ever known. This just hadn't been his day… as always.

In an attempt to forget about his life for a moment, Luke went to the other side of the room and sat down on the sofa. Turning on the hologram unit, he decided to see if anything good was on.

Luke flipped channels for a while and was about to give up when he saw something that caught his attention immediately. It was a live swoop bike race.

It was amazing to him how fast they could go. The maneuvers and stunts they were pulling off were just fantastic. Luke wished he could pilot like that. Someday he would… maybe that would be something to actually look forward to.

…

"Darling, you have to be joking," Lizzian said. "After what happened at the Senate today, do you really want to take him back there?"

"Lizzian, it won't be like last time," Japhonan said. "This is a social gathering, a party. We'll be able to stay at his side every minute. He won't run off if we're watching him the whole time."

For the thousandth time that day, Lizzian shook her head. "I don't think this is a good idea. He needs to rest after what happened today."

"And what exactly did happen today?" Japhonan replied. "What motivation did he have for running off just to hide? It wasn't anything we did."

"Maybe something happened while he was out there by himself," Lizzian suggested.

Japhonan nodded. "Exactly my point. Something happened when we weren't there to watch him. But if we keep an eye on him and make sure nothing happens, he will have no need to run off. Don't you see?"

Lizzian couldn't help but see the logic in this. "I'm just worried he'll be scared. He doesn't do well around other people."

"And if we want to help him, we have to get him to be comfortable around other people. Don't worry, he'll do fine."

…

"… and so we want you to come with us tonight," Japhonan finished.

Luke just stared at him as he always did. They wanted to take him back there? To a huge gathering with tons of people he didn't know? Strangers? What were they thinking? Were they crazy!? Luke didn't want to go back there.

To show them how he felt, Luke let himself glare at them and made no move to stand up from his position on the sofa.

"I told you," Luke heard Lizzian mummer to Japhonan.

Despite this, Japhonan walked toward the sofa and sat down next to Luke. Luke scooted away to the end of the sofa.

"We really want you to come with us," Japhonan said in a tone with a little authority behind it. "There will be other children your age there. You'll have fun."

Luke gave him a look that clearly said, "Are you kidding?"

Apparently, Japhonan wasn't going to let Luke have his way this time. He stood up. "Be ready at six. We'll come up to get you when it's time to go.

Luke narrowed his eyes at them as they left. A social gathering? He did not want to go. There would be lots of high class people there that he wouldn't fit in with. He would stand out and they would point at him and whisper to each other about how he didn't belong there.

He didn't want to go. He refused to go.

Luke continued thinking this as he got into the speeder taking them to the party.

A/N: Ta da! Another chapter created for your enjoyment. Next chapter: the party!