Chapter One:

Jedi weren't soldiers, but that was what Luke had been trained to be. That was even before he'd lost his aunt and uncle and joined the Rebel Alliance. Tatooine was no place to raise a child. A small mouth to feed was still a mouth to feed. On the farm, everyone had to pull their own weight. Luke had been a good shot, and womp rats could fill a stomach. Beings did what they had to do to survive. Family meant survival. On Tatooine, family was all you had. Everyone else would stab you in the back for a drop of blue milk. Then what remained would be stripped, sold as spare parts, or used as forced labor. No one was above slavery on Tatooine. Especially not towards a Skywalker.

So, when Leia called him to Coruscant, he went, abandoning his exploration, and his search for relics left by masters passed. He paused his scouring of the universe for scraps to cobble together and craft into the new Jedi archives. Suppressed the need to find something, anything to teach to his future pupils (and himself) about the old ways. Forced himself to stop thinking about what could have gone wrong, what caused his father and those like him to fall. What was ultimately the downfall of the old order? Shelved his mission to reconstruct the Jedi order for another day or so. Leia was everything. Because on Tatooine, family was everything, and there weren't any Jedi left to tell him he wasn't allowed to be attached. He came when she called. Despite the fact it had only been mere months since the fall of the second Death Star, and he'd have to drop everything to do so.

He'd been searching through a Sith temple for anything salvageable. Looking through crumbling stone, decaying matter, and following breadcrumb trails to piece together the order's lost history. No place would be left overlooked on Luke's watch. Every planet could have a lead to unlocking another mystery of the force, or a time erased by Palpatine. Above it all, Luke hoped there were masters still out there, and perhaps he'd find one hidden or trapped in a place no one expected. What sane Jedi would hide themselves on a dark, Sith planet? A smart one. Palpatine wouldn't blow up his own history, the egotistical bastard.

That's how Luke found himself there. On this reeking planet of crawling, dark enriched flora and fauna that hunted him as though he were a delectable doe caught in a river of hungry crocodiles. Maybe they realized the threat a Jedi posed to the balance on these planets. After all, another of Luke's goals was to purify the hateful energy that corroded these planets' integrity. It was his job as a Jedi knight to maintain the balance. Negative energies were needed for life, but an over abundance ended up killing what strived to exist. So he continued his journey. Pressing onwards, and following a lead that had led him to this very rotten temple. It was located below a jungle on some Outer Rim planet no soul would be caught dead in. Trapped beneath gigantic trees that moaned with the incessant wind, and polluted the cave-like temple in the sour scent of rot, and molding tree sap. Luke wasn't even breathing the natural air, as a respirator filtered the poisonous air of the planet and made it safe for him to breathe. The dark force warped his perspective. It altered his senses, and made Luke feel like the very atmosphere would corrupt his lungs and cave in his rib cage if he so much as flinched. Wrapping himself in as much light as he could, he sliced his vibrant, green saber through the overgrown entry to the bowels of the temple. With his lightsaber illuminating the halls, he stepped in. Here the darkness seeped, beckoning him with whispers of control and overwhelming power if he simply let go and accepted it. With a sharp inhale, Luke croaked out the mantra he'd been repeating mentally the whole journey. "I am one with the force, and the force is with me." He didn't know why or when he sheathed his lightsaber, but one moment it was in his right hand, and the next it was back at his side.

There is no escape.

Okay, not good. What would his father do? Probably nothing sane. Okay, what would Uncle Ben do? Never mind. His role models were shit examples. Just breathe. He could do this. Get the artifact and get out. "I am one with the force, and the force is with me." Voice choked as he reached for the Sith holocron fixed to a pedestal, an altar.

You do not yet realize the power of the dark side.

"One with the fooorce, and the force is with meeee." He drew out, gritting his teeth hating the fact that Vader's mechanical voice always seemed so much larger than Anakin's ever could be. Luke shuddered, outstretched fingers breaching an invisible field of seductive energy. It lipped at his skin, found the edges of his cloak and tugged teasingly. Inky tendrils slipped beneath the glove of his flesh hand and played with his wrist, pressing scorching nails against his pulse point. "Ooookay…" Perhaps talking to himself wasn't the best of coping mechanisms. He blamed Yoda for fostering in him the green troll's unique brand of insanity.

Join me, and together we shall-

"I am one with the force! And the force is with me!" If he was loud enough, he didn't have to listen to his father's voice utilized as a weapon for temptation. If he couldn't see it, it wasn't there and it couldn't hurt him. Didn't have to feel the tantalizing grip of imaginary fingers. If he was fast enough, he wouldn't hear the crackle and hiss of artificial breaths, and that cruel laughter mingling with sizzling plasma upon his flesh. Because the Dark side always preyed upon his memories, his love, and his enemies. Something buzzed in his pocket, and he wrenched his arm back with a roar of effort.

Then you will die, Jedi.

"Pretty sure… it wasn't… me that… kicked the bucket." He panted, snapping at the invisible voice with as much sass as he could muster given the circumstances. Backing away from the altar as the shadows settled back and away from his Light, he was able to catch his breath. He listened for any sign of danger. It was silent now save for the howling wind. It was deafening, that same silence, and the lack of untarnished life it spoke of. He inhaled Sith corroded air, and exhaled something cold as he slipped half into a meditative trance. The dark wasn't so scary when he knew it was there. If he just reached… drifted along the trench of energies and found the core he could push. Guide the dark away from repression of the light. The dark always gave way to light eventually. Maybe, if he did it oh so carefully, the warmth would come back to this world, waters would flow again, stagnation would turn to action, and with another tug he could tip the dominos of life into-

He didn't get to finish. Another buzz had him startling all over again. He gripped his lightsaber as he was rousted from the deep trance he'd entered. Stones clinked against the floor as the force, gathered into a wave of love, light, action, forward, collapsed softly beneath Luke's yielding will.

His muscles tensed, and his breaths quickened. The Jedi's heart raced to pump adrenaline through his system in preparation for battle. Fists clenched, and cool leather creaked with the minute twitch of his thumb against the lightsaber switch. Prepared to ignite his blade in case there was a Sith creature down here with him, Luke was relieved to realize, "Oh." Gasping for breath, the blue eyed knight fished out his transponder. He always carried his private transceiver on him. It was for emergencies only. So if gods forbid Han or Leia needed him, he'd always be able to answer. Or call for help. That was why they'd given it to him, anyways. Something about him being a trouble magnet. Relief had him relaxing, and calming for but a moment.

Then it dawned on him. A pulse of fear squirmed like a maggot in his chest, the darkness of the Sith planet amplifying any negative emotion. He hadn't been able to reach his sister since arriving here. He'd warned her of that. They'd argued about him exploring anything Sith for a long while. Both her, and Han agreeing he needed time after his surrender to palpatine. Vehemently he'd argued, and finally Leia had relented. The importance of recovering Jedi artifacts and history, the pressure of a destroyed faith upon one man's shoulders finally softening her up.

They knew the consequences of distraction on this mission were great. Already he felt the air trembling with the oppressive force gathered by decay, festering haaaate. The force here wished to reject him, for it had no want to restore itself to the balance of life, death, and renewal. Leia wouldn't have commed him if it wasn't important. Not with how dangerous it could be. Like a man possessed Luke sprinted from the Sith chambers, up to the howling winds of the surface that snapped at his clock with heated fingers of still hot springs and sour milk. Like a man possessed he tore through the foliage of a forest that sought only to destroy him and everything he stood for.

There wasn't anything left in that place anyways. He'd succeeded in his mission partly. Besides, he could come back.

He chucked the acquired Sith holocron haphazardly into his X-wing, launched up and out of the planet's atmosphere, and into hyperspace before he even realized what he was doing. It was all automatic. All the same ingrained, learned habits of a soldier rushing to their general's aid. Preparing to fly back to home base after an intense mission. His hands shook as he felt Leia's presence settle in the back of his mind once more. A secure, warm blanket of love and faith shared only between the two siblings. Sue him for taking a moment to bask in it.

The traces of the dark teasing at the cracks in his defenses finally lessened, and dissipated with the pure goodness that came raw and unfiltered from her. Leia? Luke prodded gently at their connection, tentative and relieved to feel no pain coming from their bond.

Lukka! Her response was immediate, the syllables of his name pressed into his mind with the anxious flavor of paralyzing anxiety, chipped ice upon the tongue and frostbite at the back of his throat.

Swallowing thickly, hands once more shaking he asked gently, sending waves of calm buttercups and honeysuckle sensation along with the question, What's wrong? He was almost surprised by how sure he sounded. How in control. His own needs came second, he had a sister to calm, a princess to reassure, a commander to report to.

It's… it's the Senate Luke. I- A long drawn out pause as their connection dimmed. Something was distracting his sister. The Jedi Knight drummed his fingers along the x-wing's console impatiently. He wished for one second that he'd brought R2-D2 along with him. If only to take the edge off the cold, infinitely isolated gaps of space.

Here all he had was the vague sensation of far away life, too dim to reassure him. Too far away to be of any comfort. It was just him and his thoughts. I'm so sorry Luke. Come to Coruscant, I'll tell you everything once you are here. Her voice was wispy, like that last dollop of cream fading away into the bitter pools of a busier brew.

"Blast it." Exhaling harshly, Luke slammed a button as if that would make his ship fly faster. Well that doesn't tell me anything! Thats unnecessarily ominous! Are you okay? He shot back, worry hardening his words and force sensation into something more cutting. "Cliffhangers don't help no one, Leia!" He said to himself, Tatooine twang emphasized in his worry. Honestly, he was exhausted, impatient and so very done with the day.

There was a stifling silence for a while, and dread had him tugging at their connection again, more insistent, seeping something desperate and scared along the bond. Leia? It was sent so delicately he was afraid she hadn't heard it. The emotions behind it wilted like water lilies left to dry in the hot Jakku sun, abandoned by the rain, trapped among sand. Please? The word hovered between them, riding the feelings the Jedi attempted to suppress and failed.

Fear of abandonment, loss of family and endless burning, burning, burning. At that Leia's end of the bond erupted with love, with acceptance, and with mild exasperation. She didn't have to send the words but luke could hear them all the same. I'm here, big brother. Sit down before you worry a hole in the floor. Jokes on her, he was in his X-wing and already sat down. He felt distant, subdued amusement as his thought carried over their bond, defying both space and time.

It was with relief that his twin finally found a second to focus. He got a bit of projected irritation, but it wasn't towards him. The princess then sent something that smelled like curdled milk, and impatience mixed with the gentle taste of Adderon honey tea stirred in reassurance. Luke smiled, because wherever Leia was, someone was surely getting an earful. That meant his sister was alright, and most likely stuck in a diplomatic meeting between stubborn senators. Twelve hours Leia. May the force and patience be with you. He got the sensation of an exasperated grin back, and the sharp spiking of a fiery temper. Yes, his twin was alright. He sighed and focused on routing his course.

Linebreak

Arriving in a populated planet's atmosphere after the monotone emptiness of space was always jarring. Being bombarded with force signatures and projected feelings not his own tended to make him sick. Even with his tight mental shields cobbled together under Yoda and Ben's tutelage, it was just never enough. Luke felt the force intimately, and how could he not? The force had its favorites, and bad or good it barreled into those who wielded it like an over eager puppy. For Luke, it never stopped coming, always underfoot and always barking, begging for Luke to play with it. With as little training as the young Jedi had, it was easy to trip over the force in its excitement to please, to share. Especially with the world as devoid of active force users as it was. Accidentally treading on its paws was easy, and being tugged along on an invisible leash when the force decided to chase after a squirrel was even easier. He was getting better though, he thought. Just don't look at his trembling hands.

He's fine.

He hopes.

Luke blamed his sperm donor, he could practically still touch anakin's amplified emotions lingering within the force. That brought a smile to his lips, and perhaps a bit of lonely longing. What would it have been like to know his father truly? To be able to see his mother's face for the first time? He didn't have time to begin a needless spiral into depression. Those were clearly thoughts for another sleepless night.

Oh look, the droids. Not his sister, or Han, but both were extremely welcome at that moment. Any distraction was a good distraction when you were carrying a Sith artifact in your backpack. Its force signature was potent, like honeyed mead. Artoo and Threepio were there to escort him before he'd even managed to get out of his ship, let alone his feet on the ground. "Master Luke! Oh this is terrible."

"You okay Threepio?" Luke enquired, raising an eyebrow as he unbuckled himself from the X-wing, and stepped down in front of the golden droid.

Threepio's voice was anguished, despair in every syllable. Times like this Luke wondered who'd made the driod, he felt. That wasn't something most droids were capable of. "They're sending you away, master Luke. Why, you just got back. It's horribly rude. Terribly inconsiderate." Luke's expression pinched, what? He'd resigned, they couldn't send him anywhere. He wasn't a soldier anymore. They couldn't order around a Jedi knight.

'The useless life forms are trying to send you on a suicide mission.' Artoo beeped, his binary dry and rather exasperated. The little astromech droid was clearly sick of the senate. 'Firecracker fights for you. She wishes for me to inform you that they're being rather persuasive. Based on previous data collected, this may mean you are both being blackmailed. My systems also warn me her circuits may be overheating, and that she may need a recharge."

"Oh joy. Thank you Artoo." He had packed light, so with a squeak of his boots he pivoted and snatched his bag up. With a sigh, he was swiftly striding down the halls, Threepio yelling at him to wait. How could he wait? His sister was pregnant, and those probably imperial senators were arguing who knows what. Threatening her with what information? There was only one secret they even had. Who would know that, though? The sneaky, evil bastards. It was probably sidious. Everything always went back to sidious.

The Sith holocron pulsed angrily in his backpack. It was a heady thing that sent smooth, butter soft tendrils of corruption out into the force with Luke's irritation. Being the overprotective older brother that he was, he marched into the senate chambers on a mission. Which, perhaps he shouldn't have with the Dark gliding seductive, warm nails gently across the surface of his skin. Nipping lightly at his ears and begging him to just give in to anger. There was beauty in destruction, and couldn't he just rebuild it all in whatever image he desired?

With a dramatic wave of his hand, he flung the senate doors open with more force than necessary, and a rather satisfying bang. The holocron went quiet. Distracted.

Conversation froze, and in its place the force rang with a mix of emotions. All too loud and too overwhelming for him to decipher. The knight scanned the room as the taps of his boots echoed against the polished floor. Where was his sister? His lightsaber swung at his hip, a comfort as all eyes turned to him. With his shields as tight as they were, he couldn't find Leia in the force. If he opened himself up right then, he'd be at the mercy of a thousand voices shifting the force.

"Knight Skywalker." One of the senators stiffly greeted. Luke barely got himself to focus on words. What was sound when the chorus of life crowed for him? "What a… pleasure it is for you to join us." The way the man said pleasure was off. He was probably an imperial remanent. Which there were a surprising amount of in the current senate. Or he was just jealous of Luke's superior footwear. The blonde settled on the balls of his feet, cocking his head like a curious avian. Both hands coming forwards to clasp easily together at his front.

It wasn't so surprising, after all many planets prospered under Sidious. That was the only way the emperor could even have had an empire. Luke didn't catch who had greeted him, but he wanted a face. It was important to know who his potential enemies were.

Clearing his throat, he allowed his sky blue orbs to scan the auditorium full of senators. What had he walked into? "Good evening Senators, I came as quickly as I could." The Jedi greeted, voice even and calm. His stance eased and relaxed as he adjusted to the cacophonous pounding of a million drumming hearts. Easy breaths, and the centering of his emotions had him looking the picture of peace.

Of course, his expression didn't match the guard dog slowly awakening once again to snarl inside his mind. What had happened during the few short months he'd been away? "Is there something I might be able to assist you with?" Polite, be diplomatic, prove to his masters he was capable of the cordial, smoke up their asses sort of conversation. Anything that had to do with harm and his sister in the same sentence always seemed to throw off his meditative calm.

"Indeed there is, General." Luke tilted his head at that address, lips twitching slightly as he fought to keep the serene smile in place. He wasn't a general anymore. He was supposed to be free. Placating himself, he figured whoever it was that had answered had simply been apart of the rebellion, and were being respectful. "If you remember correctly, the Jedi used to take missions from the senate."

Luke rocked back onto his heels, and let out a neutral, "Yes." voice containing none of the hesitance, or wary apprehension he was actually feeling. They were dragging this out. He just wanted them to rip off the bandaid already. It was too loud here.

Another senator piped up, "We request your aid, Jedi knight." There were uneasy grumblings, a murmur of discontent rustling through the crowd. Luke raised his eyebrows at that. The force hissed with suppressed anger as well, some beings didn't like what was being said, or perhaps how it was said. Heart beats drummed an erratic crescendo through the room. "There have been rumors of super soldiers being engineered in the Mandalorian sector. Ones manufactured with beskar mined straight from the planets once ruled by the mandalorians." Another voice explained, Luke was able to put a face to this voice. A rather slight chagrian spoke with a voice of mellow chamomile. Calming and earthy.

Raising his chin, he looked upon the senate with an expression of quiet caution, and neutral curiosity, "And what would you have me do? Would it be right to send me, a Jedi, into mandalorian territory?"

"We believe it to be wise to send such an… influential figure like yourself. With such emphasis on battle, surely even Mandalore would respect a warrior of your caliber."

Luke couldn't help but to interrupt there. "Or… They'd assume I'm being sent as a message." But he got talked right over.

"Besides there are… rumors of a new Mand'alor." A new mand'alor? Well, that couldn't be good for him. " What's more, they are strong enough to have begun reconquering those lost planets, and bringing the mandalorian peoples back." They couldn't be that stupid, right? "The mandalorians are rebuilding. We need to act fast, Sir Jedi." They were fucking with him. That had the hairs along his arms raising in goosebumps. A rising clan of warrior people who'd hunted the Jedi for sport after Order Sixty-Six. The people with a strong hatred for anything force related, with a history of blood between them. Enemies through time, the Jedi having started it all by massacring them. Lovely. Just what he needed.

He spoke up, "Mand'alor or no, I doubt it would go over well to send a Jedi into the recovering territories, considering our history." More suspiciously agitated rustling occurred through the auditorium.

"Dantooine does not support this line of thinking. If we are to invade a planet simply out of suspicion, what is to stop us from claiming what is not ours to claim? The representative of Dantooine spoke up, their voice warbly like a bird's as it mimicked words not meant for beak and throat.

Luke nodded, expression pinching in concern.

"And who said anything about invading? A messenger isn't a battalion!" A gruff, red skinned sentient argued with a voice quite like a bullfrog's.

"Yet, we would send a… messenger to clean up imperial remnants? You overstep, Vascal." The red skinned humanoid sat down with a rather rude gesture.

Another heavier voice piped up, "As previously stated, the Mandalorians are a warrior people. They are not ones to sit and discuss their problems when they could just be beating them out of one another. Would mandalorians even allow those they don't want to set up shop on their own terf, without their permission? No. It is more than likely they've already aligned themselves with the imperial remnants."

"That accusation is baseless. Where is your evidence to support this claim?" Someone challenged, and Luke saw movement from up high. Where were the Rebellion representatives? Where was Leia?

"We should not be judging without proof!"

"Then perhaps we should be sending the Jedi to get some!"

And it all erupted into chaos. Senators arguing, insults thrown, and hells, how was this discussion exactly? Luke felt like he was in a room full of overgrown toddlers. Maybe this was why the old order fell. Being tied to bickering two year olds in adult bodies like this…

Inhaling deep, his eyes closed. He should say something. Dominate, make them bend. Luke almost choked at the disgusting, slimy feeling of wet warmth against his neck. He wanted to do it. It would be so easy. The holocron, it was just the holocron.

Blue orbs snapped open and glowed with the power of light. He stood at attention. Stance screaming order.

This was chaos, and the dark reveled in it.

"Silence!" The drumming hearts hushed, and the lungs of the universe seemed to take a breath. "I am not some toy to be passed around and placed like a cheap figurine." Ah yes, incensed muttering. How privileged.

The chagrian from earlier took a breath and glanced around. "I'll be honest with you, Knight Skywalker, we cannot risk a war with a rising mandalore. Your concerns have been heard but, we need someone who can gather information without being seen." The chagrian shuffled in his seat, agitated.

"As a jedi you have abilities that a regular person does not. Skills that allow you to go basically undetected, and actions unnoticed. The senate has no right to investigate their planet. We've no right to ask this if you. But, if they are housing imperials and crafting an army…You may just be this galaxy's only hope." At that Luke deflated. He never could abandon someone without hope. However, he stilled himself, and hardened his resolve. This could end up being a death sentence if not played right. It could be political suicide. They did not want nor need Mandalore as their enemy. Besides, Luke wasn't a soldier anymore, he had rights, he had freedom. He was no one's to command.

"If they are only rumors, why hide at all? Has this new mand'alor announced themselves?" At that there was anxious movement. "Furthermore, should they catch me there, on an uncharted planet amidst imperials, it would not even be the question of intent. The old order massacred their people. If I am caught, then what? Jedi or no, you've no right to ask this of me. My days as a soldier are behind me."

The senate was quiet, for a brief moment. Papers were shuffled, hushed conversations were exchanged and heated discussions fired off in rapid succession. Where was Leia when he needed her? She was the smart, diplomatic twin. Luke was the 'wack it with a saber until it worked' twin.

"With all do respect, you need a spy or undercover agent, not a Jedi. Even if I were still in active duty, a soldier, I wouldn't be qualified for this. I've no training in this. Is this a glorified death sentence?" He's really not doing himself any justice. Imagine being socially capable, couldn't be Luke.

"Do you believe you have a choice, Skywalker?" A new voice, slimy and raw like souring carcass left to sit in the sun slithered out from the back with traces of sweet, simpering sugar glaze attracting flies. Specious in every syllable. Luke pinched the meat of his flesh hand between the thumb and forefinger of his prosthetic. The snarky, imbecilic hindbrain of his wished to chirrup out an equally as falsely happy veiled threat, 'Do you believe you can make me?' He refrained from that. Self restraint, Yoda be proud.

The senator was horned, silver in skin color with eyes of tarnished bronze. His robes were of a deep crimson, and they hung from his shoulders, swallowing his frame yet adding to his physique in a way that gave him an intimidating aura. Those horns were wicked, and curved up from his temples to curl back behind his ears into crimson tipped points. This guy had something in Luke's stomach shriveling up and dying.

The Jedi made a show of thinking, chin momentarily resting between his fingers before he made an 'Ah' sort of gesture. "Uh-huh. I'd definitely say I do. Unless of course, there's something I've missed, and this isn't a senate but a dictatorship?" Senators gasped in abject horror at that suggestion. Anakin or Obi-wan… one of them had to be in control of his mouth right now and he had his money on Anakin. It was almost as if he shared the drama king's genes.

"Let me make this clear, so that even you can understand, Skywalker." More uncomfortable mutterings, yet no one interrupted. Why?

And also... Why so patronizing all of a sudden? Double why for how he'd said his last name like it was some incriminating crime on the man's person. The blonde's spine straightened imperceptibly.

"Careful Senator, seems like you're awfully close to making that an order." Luke cautioned, voice suddenly chillingly calm. His confidence in himself and his abilities apparent in the way he held himself. Like a battle hardened warrior, experienced and ready to catch the world as it came crumbling down.

Someone coughed, and the senate froze for a moment. There was a pressure in the air, baring down on everyone present as tensions rose. The man broke it, voice haughty and so matter of fact it hurt to hear. "You will be going to Werda in the Mandalorian system to scout for the illegal beskar mining operation, and find evidence of these supposed troopers." It was an order. He could practically feel the air quotes around troopers, that tone of arrogant all knowing disbelief was palpable. Why was he being sent then, if they doubted there were any troopers being manufactured??

"Objection!"

"Who are you to speak like that?!"

"This is a democracy! The outrage!"

With the utter shock clear on his face, the blond opened his mouth to protest, to pipe up with some sort of witty, highly inappropriate retort when the force practically screamed. Luke was consumed by the waves of ephemeral energies. His vision momentarily went black, and it felt as though someone had shoved fire down his shirt, and wrapped fingers around his throat. The Jedi was falling, and he'd nothing to stop himself with. Everything was scorching, and his clothes felt heavy and stuck to his skin like he'd been dunked in tar. Someone stuffed cotton and barbed wire down his esophagus. He couldn't breathe past the blood that welled there.

Luke vaguely registered the increase in tempo of the living drums. Somehow the shouting, and absolute chaos the senate room had turned into filtered past the images besieging Luke. No one had liked that.

It all shifted, the darkness of nothingness coalesced into something. Standing before him was Leia, and behind her… behind her was a figure. Tall, black, menacing and prowling closer, closer, closer. Snap hiss. His vision flashed red, a cruel hum emanating from the hands of the Sith. The cool rasp of a respirator drowned out all sound, plugging up his ears as though he were trapped beneath the ice of a frozen over lake. Yet it was burning. Hot, his body couldn't seem to cool itself down. Burning. There was ash on his tongue, and magma in his veins. Burning, lungs, skin cracking, bones crumbling

Turn

To

Ash

No!

Then he was back, back in the senate room with the impossible knowledge that someone knew. How he knew that he couldn't tell you. It was the truth, and it rang in the force. They knew Leia was his sister, knew who their father was. They knew the political upheaval that knowledge would cause. How much chaos such a simple unfortunate fact could create. The distrust it would sow in its people. The people's faith in the new republic was already fragile. It wouldn't take much to break it. They were using that information as a bargaining chip. If Luke didn't obey, they'd ruin his sister.

What had the senator even said after that? Why was the atrium suddenly so deathly quiet, like everyone was holding their breaths? Waiting for him to make a decision?

Everyone was watching him warily, some senators were standing, expressions cross and indignant at the sheer balls on the horned senator. It was obvious someone had stood up for him, and another argument had ensued because there were senators on the floor, and guards between a few. Luke had heard none of it, saw none of it. In fact, all he could see now were poisonous green orbs watching him, picking him apart with calculated delight. The man had watched him crumble and found it amusing. Did he know that the force had touched him then?

"Sir Jedi?" A soft voice spoke up, strong, yet hesitant. Luke snapped his eyes towards the sound. "Will you go?" A plea, and hopeful, earnest eyes.

He slipped his hands together and squeezed them, grounding himself in the whir of stressed machinery being compressed by an unnaturally strong grip. "Sure. Yeah." Those two words were whispered under his breath sarcastically. What had the horned man done? What was the plot, who was he, and how did he have that kind of authority? His force signature was blank. There was nothing. What could he do? They were threatening his family.

Angling his head back up, face white as a sheet and eyes glassy he spoke up, "When would I be expected to leave?" It would be incredibly easy to go up there and rifle through the man's mind like it was an open book whose pages were left spread out for the Jedi to look through them.

"As soon as possible, Knight Skywalker." Polite was the reply. It was Knight again. Huh. Minds were not something he had any right to invade. No matter how much he burned to unleash the restless nest of hornets that seemed to be buzzing inside his very flesh with the proximity to the senator.

He turned, nostrils flaring, and marched out of the hall. He couldn't, if he did he'd be no better than them. No one called him back, but tension and worry clung to him as beings of all colors, sizes, and shapes plucked at his force strings like he was a harpsichord for them to tune and play to their own keys. He wouldn't have heard them even if they had. Slow, wary strides took him out into the streets of Coruscant, Luke forced himself not to look back.

Linebreak

Luke wouldn't be able to recall how he'd gotten Artoo, and made it to his apartment. It was all a blur. Where was Leia? Leia? Please? His mental voice was weak, quiet and evanescent in its presence. The blue astromech droid was also quiet, observing him through a lens of utter indifference. Droids were expressionless, both in the force and in body language. Luke was thankful for that. He wouldn't be able to feel or see their judgement, their concern, their pity or worry. He didn't need it. He was fine.

Yet he knew somehow that Artoo was concerned. Maybe because he usually shut down, plugging into his charging port as soon as they were at Luke's apartment. Artoo was a friend, and the driod was showing his support in the only way it could, standing vigil.

There was a knock. Luke's hand instinctively grasped at his saber as he got up and tip toed slowly towards it. Artoo beeped a low note that held no sequence, just a reassuring noise. Reaching out with the force, he tentatively felt the presence lurking on the other side of the wall. Luke.

Leia! He wrenched the door open, and suddenly had his arms full of his sister. Their bond thrummed with utter content, and he lifted her up and spun her. "Leia." He said out loud, breathless and relieved. With a soft sigh, he kissed her forehead, and smoothed her braid back to gaze adoringly into her eyes. "How goes it, sister mine?" She giggled, and wasn't that a sound. Leia always insisted she didn't giggled. Princesses were above that, supposedly.

"Not well Flyboy, and… I know you're the same." She clutched his hands tightly in her own, her rounded belly pulsing warmly with a bright, new signature separate from her own.

He let out another slow breath, and pulled her in close once more. "Oh Leia." She laid her head upon his shoulder, and he felt her shake. There was wetness suddenly where her face was pressed into his neck. "Leia?" A soft question as he just held her tighter. Feeling in that moment that their only comfort was the bond and each other.

"I gave up the force for him." She muttered against his skin, voice watery and form still subtly shaking. That short while ago when she'd put down her saber for the child growing in her womb had broken her heart. "I'd give up everything for him, for you, they threatened our family." Imps weren't above threats, yet what had happened in the auditorium had told Luke everything he needed to know.

"I know." Because he did, they'd melded their minds at one point. Twins were a part of one another, two halves to a whole. It had been an accident during training, such an easy and natural thing to do that they hadn't realized until it happened. Her mind had become his, and they'd been disorientingly one. It had taken a week of meditation to separate once again, to define who was he, and what was she. There was no one else in the universe who knew Luke like Leia did, and vice versa.

"They're sending you away. To werda, Lukka!" There was that name she'd learned within his mind. It never failed to bring a smile to Luke's face, because that was him. Names were important on Tatoooine, and only his sister was left that knew his. "They're sending you to die!" She pulled back, eyes glowing that fiery orange brown as her force signature surged in righteous fury. "You're my brother, Lukka, Lukka you're all I have left I- they have to know, how can they not? Everybody in the rebellion was so worried about you on Hoth." Her voice choked, and she actually sobbed.

At-Ats and blaster fire, frostbite and waking up to sensations of spice and bitter lemon, muted by a liquid that sloshed down his throat and into his ears. He shuddered as he remembered the disorientation of the bacta tank.

Normally he would have attempted to hush her, maybe sit her beside him and guide her through a round of meditation. His energy was already out of wack due to the holocron he'd been in close contact with for a while. Instead he asked, "What did they do, Leia?" His voice was hot, heated as that feeling suppression, his Jedi emotional constipation, began to fail him. He couldn't release his anger into the force with Leia right there, her bright signature rousing his own in stoked bonfire flames flaring in the dark. The smoky, spice like scent lingering just beneath hers revealing her attachment to Han, allowing him to sense the smuggler's own frustration further fueling his wrath. "What did they do?"

She froze, even in her anxious state she knew something wasn't right with her twin. Luke was the calmer one, the one who could shake off everything with an easy going, optimistic smile. He saw the good in everything. Something closed off, her expression shuttered as she attempted to get it together for his sake. What was that? Something wasn't right. Luke raised a questioning eyebrow, and Leia shook her head stubbornly. Closing her eyes, she inhaled deeply and simply pulled him closer. The princess pressed her face into his chest, and he held her, no questions asked. "I can handle it, Luke." She could, she was fire and iron will. Failure was not an option for the ex general.

"Oh… I know you can, but you shouldn't have to. You've got Han junior to care for…" he whispered into her hair, tears beginning to well in his own eyes. "And besides… I'm your older brother, I should be able to protect you."

Leia just sighed, and balled his shirt in her fists. "You know I hate that." Because to her it would always feel like Luke needed the protecting. The Jedi loved to easy, let everyone in with hardly any questions asked. Selfless, forgiving, he'd forgiven their sperm donor, one of them had to make sure they weren't gonna be stabbed in the back.

He chuckled wetly, "Yeah. Can't help it."

"You're my twin. We're equal." She grumbled. There was no truer statement.

Attempting to lighten the mood Luke bantered, "Still born first. Therefore respect your elders."

He could feel her sad smile in the force, "This is why I stole your midichlorians in the womb."

"Mm, is that how that works?" They both knew Luke was stronger in the force.

"Yes. And the brains." Point. Leia always got things before Luke, her precision was surgical and absolutely badass.

"Uh-huh. That's why I'm the pretty twin." That got a giggle out of Leia. Luke grinned, "Don't need intelligence if all you have to do is smile." Leia smacked him.

She rebuked him, "Are you saying I'm not pretty?"

"Are you making your own argument invalid?" He sniped.

She puffed her cheeks out, all twin sister and zero hint of prim and proper princess. "No."

"Then I suppose we're both still equal, then." Leia sighed and laughed.

"I suppose." She agreed breezily, and they were okay. "Himbo."

"I am decidedly not a himbo." It devolved from there until they were both sprawled out on Luke's carpeted floor, staring up at the ceiling. "Also, are you objectifying me?" He put a shocked hand over his heart.

Nodding her head seriously she spoke with utmost sympathy, "Can't help what we are Luke." Rolling over onto his side he stared at Leia for a moment, love and sadness beginning to seep into the force in gentle plums of elderberry sour sweetness. "I wish we could just… stay like this."

Leia looked away, eyes closing as though to shut out the world. "You know something…" Luke finally said, his voice a phantom in the air, barely there as it ghosted into auditory sensors. "Something that's stopping you from-" She shushed him with a finger, eyes wide and frantic. Leia slowly shook her head at him, blinked, and released him.

Luke nodded back, because he may not be the smart twin, but that didn't mean he was stupid. Someone was listening. His apartment was probably seeded. A bone deep sadness emanated from her then, a want so thick it reached towards the furthest edges of the worlds and wished. For what, Luke could only guess, and he wanted whatever it was too.

"They held a blaster to my stomach when they told me." She said instead of agreeing, her voice as pained as she was inside. Because that's all she wanted as well, to sit here and be family. To banter, to have Luke over as she and Han raised their growing boy in the safe city of Coruscant free of imperial remnants. Alas it couldn't be. Maybe there was no true freedom until everyone got a slice of the cake named liberty, and were allowed to respectfully eat their own too.

The tranquil camaraderie was broken at that statement. His outrage was barely contained, spare driod parts and wires shuddered upon their shelves as Luke's emotions surged. "What?"

"Assassins. And don't you give me that look, Luke. We always knew it was just a matter of time. I will be fine. I'm more worried about you. Gods knows what you're going to run into on Werda." She'd put a finger over his mouth once again to shut him up. The princess watched on as his eyebrows pinched together in growing irritation. Her finger didn't move until objects stopped twitching, and Luke was slowly deflating, releasing his anger into the force. Why was he able to dredge up this sort of reaction for everyone but himself? Finally his expression softened.

His voice was low and cooed forth from his chest in a rumbling sensation of fresh baked tiramisu cake and mourning morning doves, "I can't lose you."

"And you won't. Han will be here. Chewie will be here. Lando is keeping an eye out as well." When that didn't placate him, Leia sat up, shifting herself around to hover over him with pure, unconditional love. "I promise I'll be okay, and if I'm not I'll call you. In the force or not so… look at it like a mission from me. A private one, your last one as a rebellion leader. Be safe in werda, leave no one behind, and find them so that when we see one another again we'll be that much closer to raising our family in a world that would love them, never hunt them, and allow them to be free." She gave Luke a hard look, one full of determination and hope. "We'll do this. Together. Come back safe Luke. That's an order, brother."

Luke straightened, having to stop himself from saluting. "Kriffing hell Leia. Come here." He wrapped his limbs around her again, and whispered against her head, "Jee mun uba."

"I love you too." And they lay together until morning, basking in the closeness of siblings found and safe together as family facing another storm.

Luke departed the next morning to a stone faced, righteously fiery sister who was sure to take the senate by storm. R2D2 and C3P0 were to be left with his sister. Rtoo argued in high pitched binary, but Luke was adamant. The droid only calmed once Luke earnestly kneeled down in front of the astromech, caressed the dome of the driod and said, "You're the only one I can trust to keep her safe." The droid quieted, called the blue eyed knight an idiot, but acquiesced.

The twins gave each other one final hug, Leia slipping him a package of ration bars with a knowing glint in her intelligent brown orbs. "For when you forget to eat again. The good ones that don't taste like nothing." When she looked at him, she glanced oddly down at the package and then back up. "You have your commlink?"

"Yup."

"Jacket? Boots?"

"Always." His boots were immaculately shined, thank you very much.

"Okay, Medkit and extra bacta patches?"

"Yuuuup." He popped the P.

"And matches? Your prosthetic kit? I know you don't take proper care of the thing and it's brittle in the cold-"

"Leia?"

"And hot chocolate, I know you don't need it but Werda's day cycle doesn't exist for eighty percent of the year-"

"Leia…"

"Of course that means extra batteries, and a flashlight, you'll have your saber… and don't forget extra socks! Those bantha fur ones I got you for-"

"Leia!" Luke had to practically shout to get past her motherhenning.

She deflated, and smiled. "Sorry." But she wasn't, and Luke found that endearing.

His expression was soft, and open. Golden hair falling into his face as he looked at her with fondness. "Save the gray hairs for the kid."

Leia snorted, eyebrows creasing in a mix of amusement and worry. "Please. Between you and Han I'm surprised I'm not wrinkled and crotchety already."

He raised a questioning eyebrow, "You're not?"

"Lukka!" She swatted at him, indignant, and he dodged laughing.

Her jaw tensed suddenly, clenching in determination. The force vibrated harshly between them as pieces fell into place, and their actions stacked upon each other into a teetering house of cards one breath away from being blown into tipping. Because for some reason Leia wasn't speaking to him through their bond, either. There was a shadow, a heavy cloud or fog descending on them. Luke couldn't pierce it, not alone. Not blind as he was to the approaching future. "You come back in one piece now, you hear?"

The princess was up to something, he tucked the box of ration bars into his X-wing along with his battle pack, and climbed in.

"Yes Mom." He said, saluting with an obnoxious grin. Leia rolled her eyes but smiled nonetheless. He started his engines, the rumbling of his X-wing the calm before the storm.

Star fire blue eyes looked back, and caught the glint of a lightsaber dangling from his sister's hip, and he knew she was going to be okay. So, when he nodded to her in goodbye from within the starting ship, he swore to come back with good news, and a step towards a better future. Because maybe he didn't know what was coming, but he sure as hell was going to be prepared for it.