Ok, I know some of you are bouncing off the walls for the movie, so I can assure you that it will be in the next chapter haha

But first...our Star Wars characters meet the mother...and do some snooping.

Fun fun!

Review and Enjoy, or course haha :D


Aria gestured for the three to wait in the doorway as she crossed the kitchen, rounding the corner into the living room and out of their sight. Her eyes were wary, though she had a light, fake smile plastered on her face. A baby was screaming, and occasionally something in the house rattled as someone jumped around.

"Joshua, sit down right now!" the woman said angrily again.

"I've got her," came Aria's calm voice.

"I've got too much to do, get them both out of my hair! And you, young lady, still have to do your chores, and your bible study. The laundry is already sorted, the dishwasher needs emptied, and the chickens have been starving all day, haven't they? You didn't feed them before you left again. Do you have homework? Joshua, sit down and stop jumping, your shaking the entire house!"

Anakin flinched at the woman's shouted words, glancing at Obi-Wan with raised eyebrows. Aria's calm voice came again.

"I'll get right to it ma'am. I don't have any homework, but we're going to have company."

There was a heartbeat of silence before the woman started off on a new tirade.

"You have too much to do so whatever friend you have coming over last minute without telling me you're just going to have to call and cancel. You don't invite people over whenever you feel like it Aria Grace."

"I didn't invite them willy-nilly Mom, they need a place to stay until they can find a way home."

"We are not a charity house Aria, we can barely keep ourselves out of debt as it is, you can't go inviting strangers to stay at our house!"

"How Christian like of you to say Mother," Aria said sourly. By the tension thick in the air Anakin could tell that what she said had struck a nerve, though Aria rushed through the rest of her statement before anything could happen. "They were here this morning and they're here now, still in the doorway."

There was another short silence, then the sound of shuffling feet. "Why didn't you tell me?" Aria's mother said, her voice eerily pleasant after the conversation she had just come out of.

Aria appeared around the corner first, scowling lightly. In her arms was a sniffling toddler, suddenly calm in her sister's arms as Aria clutched the little one to her protectively, gently rubbing the child's back as the little one rested her head on Aria's shoulder.

Aria's mother appeared around the corner, and Anakin was slightly startled by how small the woman was after the argument he'd heard. She stood an entire head shorter than Aria, dirty blond hair falling in limp curls past her shoulders, hands on her hips, slender yet intimidating as she studied the three in the doorway with sharp green eyes that widened in surprise after a few moments.

"Aria—" she started, though Aria didn't let her finish.

"Let me explain before you jump to any conclusions," Aria said hastily, bouncing the no-longer-crying child on her hip as she came to stand beside the three. "This is not Hayden, Natalie, and Ewan. Mom; meet Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Padme Amidala…and yes they are wearing my clothes."

"That's some rich joke Aria, but I want the truth," Aria's mother said sharply, giving Aria a dangerous look that would have made Anakin shrink—on the inside—had it been directed at him. Aria stared calmly back.

"I am telling the truth. Sure it's a hard to believe truth, but it's the truth," Aria responded coolly.

At that moment, a blonde headed lanky boy that came to his mother's shoulder's skidded around the corner too fast, knocking a glass bowl that had been precariously set on the counter edge to the floor.

"Joshua!" Aria's mother started, though she cut off when she realized that the bowl had never hit the floor. She watched, open-mouthed, as the bowl floated gently back to a much safer spot on the counter. She turned in time to see Anakin lowering his hand, and Aria's smug smile.

"I told you so," Aria said simply.

Anakin shifted uncomfortably under Aria's mother's gaze. The woman was looking at him like he had seven heads and spat venom. Thankfully, Obi-Wan broke the awkward silence and moved to shake Aria's mother's hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Neads," Obi-Wan said politely.

"I…It's Selina," her mother said quietly, still in shock. Aria seemed to be enjoying the woman's loss of words.

The boy—Joshua—came up to Anakin. "You're Anakin Skywalker?" the boy asked incredulously.

Anakin nodded, hating how awkward the entire situation felt. "Yes, I am."

Joshua grinned; the boy had a terrible overbite. "That's so cool! Can I see your lightsaber?"

"No!" Aria said firmly and suddenly. "Knowing you, you'd cut your arm off child. As well as the limbs of anyone standing too close."

"How're they here?" Joshua asked the moment her voice finished off the last syllable of her sentence.

"Yes, that's something I want to know too," Selina said coldly.

Aria sighed. "We don't know. They just showed up in my bedroom last night. I figured the best place for them until we can figure out how they get back was here. The less people that know they're here, the better. They have to stay here Mom. Technically, they already have," she finished, giving her mother a pointed look. Anakin, however, sensed a nervous unrest that came from standing up to her mother.

Selina's lips pursed, but she said nothing more on the matter. "You still have to finish your chores."

Aria sighed. "I will."

Selina looked over the three once again, her gaze lingering on Anakin a little longer than the rest with a look that made him shift uncomfortably once more. "We'll…talk more about this when your father gets home."

Aria nodded. "Thank you mother. By the way, I'm going to show them Episode One…after I finish my chores," she tacked on hastily at the sharp glare her mother had given her.

"Are you sure—"

"I've already thought about it, I know what I'm doing," Aria said, cutting off her mother once more. Obviously, Aria repeatedly cutting Selina off was starting to get on the woman's nerves. Aria changed the topic before the conversation could escalate. "When will Dad be home?"

"Seven thirty, as usual," Selina told her.

Aria nodded. "All right." With a small sigh, Aria turned her attention back to the other three. "There's a television upstairs in the foyer next to my room, we'll watch the movie up there after I finish up with my chores," she told them, already moving to set down the little girl and get started.

We'll just…wait upstairs," Anakin responded evenly, glancing between Aria and her mother.

He didn't really feel like being in such a tension filled room much longer.


"Well that was…interesting."

Anakin sighed, sitting down on Aria's bed and glancing around the room for something to do while they waited. Obi-Wan folded his arms and shook his head at Anakin's statement. "I have the feeling things aren't exactly…pleasant between Aria and Selina."

"You don't need to be Force sensitive to realize that," Padme mused, her hand trailing along a pile of scarves on Aria's dresser. "Though she's such a kind person…I wouldn't have thought there'd be so much…tension and anger at home."

"Things aren't always what they seem," Obi-Wan said wisely. Anakin rolled his eyes, scanning Aria's bookshelves. A certain title caught his eye, as did that entire shelf upon further inspection.

"Master, look at this," Anakin suddenly said, pulling out one of the Star Wars books on Aria's shelf. It was titled Labyrinth of Evil on the front, with Anakin's older self on the front, and Obi-Wan's older self on the back. There was also some evil droid looking guy on the front, though Anakin had no idea who he was.

"She didn't mention any books," Obi-Wan mused. He turned his attention to the books as well, browsing through the titles with Anakin.

Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader…that looks cheery, Anakin thought sarcastically before he skipped onto the next one.

Down the line they went, reading the titles: Republic Commado: True Colors, X-Wing: The Krytos Trap, The New Jedi Order: Vector Prime, The New Jedi Order—Dark Tide I: Onslaught, The New Jedi Order—Dark Tide II: Ruin, Legacy of the Force: Inferno, Jedi Apprentice Special Edition 2: The Followers, Rebel Force:Target, Hostage, Renegade, Firefight, Trapped, and Uprising, Star Wars Journals: The Fight for Justice—Luke Skywalker.

Both Obi-Wan and Anakin froze at the name on the last one at the same time, staring at each other in open shock.

"Luke Skywalker?" Anakin said in surprise. Obi-Wan was already taking the book off of the shelf, starting to read off the back.

"Skywalker Data Pad Entry. Location: Tatooine. In just half a day, my whole world has changed. The farm, my aunt and uncle…They're gone. Destroyed by the Empire. All my life I've been waiting for something to happen to me. Something important. And now that it has, I'm not sure I know how to handle it," Obi-Wan read off, glancing up at Anakin a few times to gauge his reaction.

"Another Tatooine bound Skywalker—What a curious coincidence that Aria hasn't mentioned this," Anakin said, his tone suddenly sour.

"I wonder if any of the others have this Luke Skywalker in them," Obi-Wan said curiously, starting to shuffle through the summaries and hand the books that had Luke in them to Anakin. He pulled out the entire Rebel Force Series; the same blond haired young man was on each book. He pulled out the Dark Tide books, Vector Prime, and Inferno. Obi-Wan pulled out the Jedi Apprentice book, shock flickering across his features. Anakin didn't miss his reaction.

"What's that?" he asked, snatching it out of Obi-Wan's hand before Obi-Wan could do anything about it. Quickly he read the back to himself:

'Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan. Obi-Wan and Anakin. Two Masters. Two Apprentices. One Enemy. Who are the followers of the Sith? Devoted to the study of the dark side of the Force, they live an underground existence…but their threat is growing. Although they do not have Sith power, they are on a constant search for it. Nothing—not even the Jedi—will get in their way. Dr. Lundi is the leader of the Sith followers. As he gets closer to attaining a Sith Holocron, he comes face-to-face with Qui-Gon Jinn and his apprentice Obi-Wan. Ten years later, when the Sith followers reappear, Obi-Wan and his own apprentice, Anakin Skywalker, must rely on Lundi to help them. But he is to be feared, not trusted. The Sith are on the rise. The Jedi must stop them.'

Anakin arched an eyebrow. He could actually see—well, read—what had happened between Lundi, Obi-Wan, and Qui-Gon. He'd been curious for a while…

Obi-Wan took the book back. "I believe we were looking for more on the mysterious Luke Skywalker?" he said evenly.

Anakin sighed, turning his attention back to the shelf. "Right Master."

Curiously, his eyes were drawn to the Dark Lord book. On the backs of some of the books Anakin had caught the name Darth Vader, and he was curious. Besides, it was like the book was calling him, wanting him to read it…

As Anakin reached for the book, Obi-Wan grabbed his wrist. "Anakin, what are you doing?"

Anakin was confused, staring at Obi-Wan blankly as Padme looked on curiously. "I was getting that book…what else?"

Obi-Wan's frown only deepened. "I have a feeling we shouldn't bother that one…"

Anakin just felt bemused. "Really? Because I have a feeling we should at least look at the back. It's like it's…calling…"

He'd stretched out for the book once more, but this time the door opened, and Aria appeared. "I'm almost done, I just have to put the first load of laundry in—"

She suddenly stopped talking, taking in the scene that was unfolding in front of her. With surprising calm despite the pure panic the two Jedi could sense from her, she put the basket nestled on her hip down and crossed the room in a few quick strides. She put a gentle hand on Anakin's shoulder, but snatched the Dark Lord book off of the shelf.

"I see you found my Star Wars books," she said evenly, glancing at their pile of books about Luke on the floor.

Anakin felt a flash of guilt for snooping, but he quickly shoved the guilt aside, addressing the burning question on his mind. "Who's Luke Skywalker?" he asked sharply.

Aria froze, and Anakin could see the gears going as fast as humanly possible in her brain as she thought of how to answer him. She straightened slowly, her gaze guarded and cautious, wary even as she hesitated one more moment before answering. "A…descendent of yours…he's the main character of the half of the Star Wars Saga I told you that you weren't in."

Anakin crossed his arms over his chest, shooting her a look. "And you decided not to tell me why?"

"Because nobody knowing he existed, being anonymous, saved his life for nineteen years before…well…everything," she summed up. Anakin wasn't satisfied. Before he could open his mouth to ask for more information though, Aria cut him off.

She'd been doing that a lot to a lot of people recently.

"Look, I'll tell you what I can about him, but later. Right now I need to start up the laundry, and then we're taking things one step at a time. We'll watch the first movie, and I'll go through my books to see which ones won't compromise anything that needs to be a secret. Then you guys can knock yourselves out reading those."

Obi-Wan cut in before Anakin could argue further. "Deal."

Aria had made it to the door before she stopped, turning around and waving the Dark Lord book at all three of them, Anakin committing the black armored character to memory. "By the way, this book is off limits to all of you. I just have to look at the first line of the summary to know that. I can't even read this book. It's too painful; I just can't get through it. None of you are going near this book. Nothing good will come out of it, just a lot of chaos and suffering. Okay? Okay."

Without any further explanation, Aria left the room, her pace suggesting that she planned on making her trip as quick as possible.

Anakin sighed in frustration. "Now I know I'm not the only one who's certain she's keeping secrets."

"Anakin, that's been obvious since we first got here. She knows our entire futures, remember?" Padme stated softly. Anakin deflated a little.

"Yes, well, I wish I could start getting some real answers and not answers that just lead to more questions," Anakin said in frustration.

"Don't worry, I'm sure the time will come," Obi-Wan assured him.

Anakin wasn't assured. In fact, he was left with more doubts then he'd started with.