Chapter 35 - The Tournament

"But Dad! Please," Eleven year old Luke begged.

"No." Anakin responded firmly.

"You're no fair!" Luke kicked a chair that happened to be in the way, then stormed out of the room.

"I'm proud of you. Holding firm like that." Padme rounded the table to hug her husband.

"Why are we doing this again?" Anakin asked.

"Because he needs to have consequences for stealing the Darklighter's Skyhopper. When it's all done we can tell him about Obi-Wan's offer." Padme patted her husband's Jedi robes.

"Yeah, it was my idea. I remember." Anakin nodded.

"Mom, Dad. How do I look?" Leia twirled in front of her parents. She was wearing very traditional Jedi robes.

"Beautiful," Padme said.

"A stunning Jedi," Anakin answered. Though the clothes were designed for simplicity and combat, Leia still managed to look awesome.

She smiled proudly. "And what about Luke. He was going to talk to you about…"

"Luke won't be competing in the tournament." Anakin answered.

"But, has he pointed out that it is unlawful punishment?" Anakin tried to speak but Leia went on, "The skyhopper was in the custody of Biggs all along, so technically it wasn't stolen. Besides, from what I've heard Mr. Darklighter was very forgiving over the whole thing. He hasn't laid any charges."

"Well," Anakin starts. He caught a glimpse of a brief smile on Padme, which she turned her head to hide. It took him a few seconds to form his rebuttal to that argument. "As long as your brother lives under my roof, he will be subject to my rules. If Luke wants to watch the tournament with our family, he may, but he will not be competing." Leia's hands came up to her hips in a defiant stare down. "If you want to compete, you better be ready. We leave in ten minutes." Leia's hands quickly dropped and she scrambled around to find her belongings.

Anakin looked at his wife and sighed. "She gets that from you, you know. Everyone always says she takes after me with her being so stubborn, but I could never form an argument like that."

"Mmm-hmm," Padme kissed Anakin and smiled. "If you say so, honey." Anakin could tell she simply wasn't saying anything to counter his statement, not that she agreed. "I'll meet you at the center later, after Luke takes some time to cool off."

"Alright. Leia, come on. Let's go." Anakin called.


"Are we there yet?" complained the nine year old for the hundredth time.

"Mara," Ahsoka held her breath before she could say something she'd regret. Traveling with children was anything but easy. Then she took a deep breath steadying herself. "We're almost there. Just need to get a little farther away from the city so we can have some privacy."

"But why? Why can't I just have this lesson with Winter back at the palace. And why did you drag me out to the middle of nowhere for a stupid lesson? What lesson could be that important?" Mara spouted off her frustrations.

Ahsoka almost chuckled at the girl. She remembered being in her place a few times when Anakin had tried to teach her a lesson in an out of the box manner. "Almost there. Just over this hill is a cabin that your Parents said would be perfect for our lessons. You can't have these lessons with young Winter because Winter can't learn what I'm going to teach you. And we can't have these lessons in the Palace because if any of your father's enemies learns of them, they'll report it to the empire. What I'm about to show you is very illegal." The nine year old's eyes grew wide. "It was a miracle I got your father to agree to let me teach you, but he wanted you to be able to defend yourself if you ever need to use the Force.

"The Force?" Mara climbed up, hanging on Ahsoka's every breath now. It seemed she got her padawan's attention after all.

'Padawan? Is that what she is? No. I'm not a Jedi anymore. This is just a student-teacher thing.'

"The Force, it's in everything... " Ahsoka started quoting a lecture she heard many times before. Back in a Temple that no longer exists. As a part of a family she no longer is a part of. By an old Creche Master who no longer is a part of this world. The realities of it almost brought a flood of emotions to Ahsoka, but everytime she looked down on her pupil's face, those bright eyes full of interest brought her back.


"Mara, hold still. And keep your elbows off the table." Mrs. Sabé instructed over an etiquette lesson.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Sabé. It's just sooo much to remember, and I'm too excited to sit still. I can't tell you about it, but I'm just sooooooooo excited."

"Well, that being said, if you have trouble remembering, just look over at Winter. Her poise is excellent today."

Winter blushed at the complement. Mara turned towards her and whispered, "I'll tell you later. It's a secret, but I'll tell you anyway."

"Mara," Mrs. Sabé scolded. "I want a paper tonight on why it is inappropriate to whisper while you have guests."

Mara looked like she was resisting an eye roll. "Yes Ma'am."


After their lessons Winter and Mara met up again by crawling under the stairs. They had other places to play, but this secret place was perfect for when they didn't want any adults around. Winter had seen the palace floorplans once in passing, and because of her memory, the girls were able to find this place.

"Okay Mara, it looks like I can stay for a while. My mom said she's got to go into town to get something, even though I know she's just going to visit her artist friend again," Winter said as she crawled into the hiding place. "Why she won't just tell me the truth, I have no idea." the eleven year old rolled her eyes.

"That's great, we've got a lot to talk about." Mara excitedly replied.

"So, what did you want to tell me about that's gotten you so excited?" Winter pulled out some candy bars from a box where they were stored.

"Do you remember earlier, when you were having your self defense classes with Mrs. Sabé, I went out with Ahsoka Tano for some lessons of my own." Young Mara smiled mischievously.

"Do I ever not remember?" Winter replied. "So, Ahsoka Tano is training you to use the force, then."

Mara's eyes went wide. "No fair, I was gonna surprise you! How did you know?"

"Ahsoka used to be a Jedi. She was like a padawan when she left, but she still uses it with her work for the rebellion. And you are Force sensitive. I heard my Mommy say it once. It only stands to reason."

Mara sighed, then turned back animatedly. "So, what do you think? It is a secret, because it's against the law and if my father's enemies found out they could cause him a lot of trouble. But it's really cool, right."

Winter laughed lightly at the child before her. "Yes, it's very cool. So, will you be calling her Master Ahsoka now, or Master Tano?"

Mara looked clueless. "Huh?"

"Jedi, they don't really have teachers, they have a master. You're the Padawan."

"Oh, we didn't really talk about that. I guess I should find out. What else do you know about the Jedi?" Mara unwrapped one of the candy bars as she lay beside her friend and listened. Winter rolled her eyes and leaned back too, as she went into the depths of all that she remembered ever hearing about the Jedi.


Luke sat with his little brother and his parents. He still felt this was unbelievably unfair, and he would still be at home pouting, except that pouting was a child's thing to do, and at eleven, he was so not a child anymore. Besides, his sister was competing, and he at least wanted to make sure she did well.

Leia was doing well so far. She had gone up against two younglings so far, and been a winner in both rounds. In her next round she'd go up against whoever won the current round. Galen Marek was a strong fighter. He and Luke were friends and if it weren't his sister he was going against, Luke would be rooting for him. He was going up against Renny Kholi. Renny was a shy boy and Luke hadn't expected him to do so well, but he was very quick on his feet.

They were going up two for two on saber strikes. One more hit and the round would be over. Renny parried a strike, then knelt down and tried to spin behind Galen. Galen seemed to see it coming and he pulled his practice saber down again to block Renny. This change in movement caused Renny to slip backward, giving Galen an opening. He held his saber out, but then looked up to the masters.

Master Yoda nodded, and Galen deactivated his practice saber. Luke cheered. Galen would be a tough opponent for his sister, but Luke was glad for his friend's achievement.

"For our final round we are ready." Master Yoda announced. "Leia Skywalker and Galen Merak, ready you two are?" Both parties nodded. "On one, two, three, go."

Leia activated her saber and threw it at her opponent. A quick, aggressive start had won her an advantage in other rounds, but Galen caught her saber quickly, then thrust his practice saber into a weak spot she left undefended under her left side. "Aah," leia yelped, moreso out of frustration than pain.

Luke bit his hand in nervousness, but Leia didn't struggle at all to get back into the fight. She swung her saber in several more careful strikes, remembering to defend herself, but she was encroaching on Galen, and he backed up to avoid her strikes. She managed to get in two strikes on him, then Galen turned with a surprising amount of ferocity and nailed a strike against Leia's arm. She turned up the ferocity on her strikes as the look in her eyes almost made his step falter. Leia feint an attack against Galen's left shoulder. It was a trick Luke and she had practiced and Luke saw it coming. Before Galen could right himself again, Leia dropped her saber and used the force to transfer it to her other hand. She then swung again at Galen's right leg.

It was the third strike, and Leia was the winner. Luke cheered even louder. Then as he saw his parents looking happy at him, he folded his arms over his chest and tried to look cross again. He frowned at his seeming inability to fool anybody. 'Just because I'm happy for my sister, doesn't mean I've forgiven you, Old Man.'


'Oh come on Luke. It was one tournament, and you did help take the Darklighter's Skyhopper. You were at least an abettor. There will be other tournaments anyways.' Leia used the bond to communicate with her twin.

Luke turned around and glared at his sister. Leia shook her head at him.

"Good, you have performed," said Yoda as he walked up to her.

"Thank you Master Yoda," Leia replied.

"Hm, hm, hm," Yoda chuckled. "Mustard, you used to call me. Remember this, I do." Leia blushed. He walked with her for a while until they were away from the crowd. "From the Jedi life, what do you want most?"

"Um," Leia couldn't help but feel this was a pop quiz she wasn't prepared for. "Um, I don't really know." Yoda kept walking and he seemed to still be listening, so she went on, "It's like when my mom asks what new class I want to take. There are just so many of them that I don't really know. I want to learn everything. You can ask her. I originally wanted to be a Jedi because my father is one, but he is so not cool sometimes. I mean you're cool, and uncle Ben, but my dad is embarrassing."

Yoda chuckled a barely suppressed laugh, then his eyes returned to Leia's as he urged her to continue.

"Then I wanted to become a Jedi because of the stories I heard. I wanted to be the hero to charge in waving a lightsaber and slaying the monsters to set the people free. But I've learned that is not all a Jedi does. The universe is so full of monsters, and I am actually quite afraid of them. But not too afraid. I feel safe here, with you masters." Leia corrected herself. "I guess, in the end, I don't really know. I just know this is where I'm supposed to be. I feel it."

"Aah, a youngling you still are. In time, answers like this you will learn. What it is not, you have already learned. To learn these things together, I would like. My Padawan, will you be?" Yoda asked.

Leia would like to remember accepting his offer with humility and honor, but really she squealed like a little girl as she threw herself at him in a big hug. "Oh my gosh, Yes!"

Yoda had been getting used to hugs as he lived now in a Tatooine community, more open in expressing emotions than the Jedi ever were. But still he found them awkward at times. Just where were you supposed to put your hands, when you are just a little over two feet tall? But when Leia threw her arms around him, he felt the gesture most natural, as he turned his head his eyes closed in comfort.


"Luke, come over here." Anakin summoned. "Your Uncle Ben wants to have a word with you."

They were still at the center, just after the tournament. Anakin and his Uncle Ben had been talking for a little while, but Luke didn't care what about, until he was summoned over to them.

"Come on Luke. Let's go find somewhere private to talk." Obi-Wan had a smile on his face and he held out a hand.

'Oh boy! What is this about? Is he going to give me a lecture about the skyhopper thing? Are there going to be more consequences?' Luke fretted as they walked.

"Luke, I enjoyed the little lesson I gave you last week." Luke looked at his Uncle with confusion. "The one where we played with the balls and the cups."

"Oh, yeah. I enjoyed that too," Luke replied.

"Good, because I was thinking that I may have more to teach you. If you would be interested in learning."

"Oh, any time, Uncle Ben." Luke gave a sigh of relief. This conversation was going to be easier than he thought.

Obi-Wan smiled as well. "Luke, I want to be your Master."

"Really?" Obi-Wan nodded, and Luke continued, "That sounds great! Yes, Uncle, Master." He gave the man a hug.

"Awe, now you have to know that there will be rules. Not just your father's, but I will have rules too. And no more stealing speeders is one of them."

Luke was too happy to say anything, he just nodded. Then as he pulled out of the hug he asked, "Did Dad know about this?"

"Yes, I told him a week ago," Obi-Wan answered.

"Luke leaned back into a hug again. "Good, because the news my sister has, he's gonna lose his head."


Hello Everyone,

I'm sorry about how long this one took. I started writing a storyline for winter's mother and Ahsoka and it ended up going super long, so I decided to put that bit off to the next chapter, and I kept this one short and cute. The next chapter's gonna be a real tear jerker, so warning.

I'm not very good at action scenes, and I'm not very knowledgeable about the whole lightsaber forms and stuff, so I hope you enjoyed Leia's tournament scene.

I decided to put this chapter immediately after the last one with only a week's time gap. Luke and Leia are still Eleven, as is Winter and Mara is about Nine.