Precipice by shadowsong26

Part 5: Lessons

Lessons: Chapter 10

Aunt Dorme had picked Luke up from the Palace after spending another afternoon with Lani, right when the sun was going down and flashing through all the buildings.

It had been a good day-they'd spent most of it out on her balcony, and he'd been trying very hard not to think about how easy it would be for the two of them to sneak out that way, if they could just distract her guards a little bit. It didn't look like a very hard climb or anything-but then they'd both be in trouble.

Also, she's really little, I don't want her to fall and get hurt again, like when she hurt herself a couple months ago, he reminded himself.

Still, once he'd sort of seen a way to do it, he really just wanted to get her away from the red guards and the Palace with its unhappy walls and how it all made her seem so small and lonely, so he hadn't exactly managed to talk himself out of thinking about how they could do it.

Even if they probably never would.

He couldn't say any of that to Aunt Dorme, of course. He just watched the sun as they drove back to Mamma's office-not the apartment, 'cause Mamma had promised him that she would wrap things up early and they were going out for ice cream.

"Because we can," Mamma had said that morning. "Besides, who doesn't love ice cream?"

Luke was not about to argue with that. Especially since-well, he wasn't sure, but he thought that Pooja had something she was supposed to do tonight, which meant maybe Mamma had time just for him. 'Cause normally, every couple of weeks, Mamma made sure they had at least one whole morning, or afternoon, or evening like tonight, where it was the two of them spending time together by themselves. Except they hadn't really had a chance since Pooja had gotten here, 'cause she was staying with them, and he loved his cousin and having her here was great but he missed having special time with just him and Mamma a little bit.

So he was hoping, that was all.

Mamma's office, when they got there, was really busy, just like it always was. She was at her desk, bent over a datapad with Threepio hovering next to her, Aunt Sabe was on watch at the door, Pooja was-Luke wasn't exactly sure what Pooja was doing, really, except that it involved scrolling through a really, really long list.

"And this last one needs to be in-uh, one second, Pooja?"

"Western Mountain Ryl, Aunt Padme."

"Western Mountain Ryl, Threepio," Mamma finished. "Thank you."

"Yes, of course, my lady," he said. "Shall I-"

"Just a straight translation this time," she said. "Senator Taa and I already went through the phrasing at length."

From the way she said it, Luke figured Mamma had had at least four or five meetings with the other Senator, who he sort of got the feeling she didn't like very much.

"Very well, my lady," Threepio said. "I shall have it for you to seal and send in the next two hours."

"Tomorrow morning is fine, Threepio," she said, with a brief smile, then caught sight of Luke and Dorme at the door and her smile got bigger and warmer. "Just another minute, sweetheart, okay?"

"Okay," he said, and found his usual seat in a corner with his favorite toy starfighter right where he'd left it.

Mamma went back into her desk, muttering something to herself, then finally signed off of her datapad. "All right, everything else can wait 'til tomorrow-Pooja, you're set for the junior legislator's reception tonight?"

"Yeah," she said. "I just need to go home and change."

"Motee?"

"Ready," she said.

"All right, Pooja, you know the rules," Mamma said.

"Back by eleven, and don't do anything that would make Mom mad at either of us," Pooja said, and grinned. "See you tomorrow, Aunt Padme."

"See you tomorrow," she said, then shooed her and Aunt Motee out the door. "All right, Lulu. Sorry about that, I was running a little late."

"S'okay," he said, and jumped down off his chair to give her a hug, still holding onto his starfighter. "Good day, though?"

"Yep," she said, hugging him close. "Even better now."

"Because ice cream?"

"Because ice cream," she agreed, then took his hand and led him out the door and onto the lift down to the garage, leaving Aunt Elle to lock up, while Aunt Dorme and Aunt Sabe fell in behind them. "What about you? Did you have fun with the princess?"

"Uh-huh," he said. "She's got some really cool vines growing on her balcony. With little blue flowers except they're just buds right now."

"That does sound very nice," Mamma said. "Hopefully next time, they'll be blooming. I think she'll like that, and I know you will."

He nodded. "Yeah! Can I put flowers like that by my window, maybe? Not the same ones, 'cause I dunno exactly which ones she has, but pretty vines with flowers in them?"

"That sounds wonderful," Mamma said. The lift chimed softly, letting them out where Captain Typho was waiting with Mamma's speeder. "After ice cream, we can maybe look at some pictures and you can decide exactly what you want. And, since Pooja's out tonight, I thought we could watch a movie or something, how does that sound?"

Luke beamed up at her, because that meant that she'd managed to clear all night, just like he'd hoped.

"That sounds awesome," he said, climbing into the car next to her and curling close. "Only you should pick the movie. 'Cause I picked last time."

"Okay," she said, double-checking his seatbelt for him. "But first, ice cream. Very important."

"The most important," he agreed solemnly.

She laughed and ruffled his hair, and the speeder started moving underneath them, on what had pretty quickly turned into the best day ever.

Leia and Aunt 'Soka had gotten in really, really late last night; late enough that Aunt Beru had been a little bit mad at them, or at least at Aunt 'Soka. Leia hadn't really paid all that much attention, though; she'd been sort of half asleep the whole time and snuck off to her room as soon as no one was actually paying attention to her anymore.

The trip had been really cool, at least-more tracking and everything like last time, only on a big open plain with so much grass. No trees to climb, but also less likely for them to fall through the ground and land in a cave. It was also, Aunt 'Soka had told her, a good place to learn how to be sneaky and not get caught somewhere it was hard to find places to hide.

Which she sort of already knew, from playing hide and seek in the desert with her friends, but the way she and Aunt 'Soka did it was a lot smarter. And she'd done pretty good at the practice games, too. Or she thought she had, anyway, and Aunt 'Soka would've told her if she hadn't.

So, she'd come home pretty pleased with herself, even if she was really tired and Aunt Beru wasn't very happy. And they'd let her sleep in this morning, too, judging by how hot her room was when she finally woke up.

Plus-

She sat up and tilted her head, concentrating.

Daddy had gotten home sometime after she and Aunt 'Soka had, which was even better.

She grinned and wriggled down onto the floor and made her way over to the kitchen, where the two of them were talking and having caf together.

Daddy broke off mid-sentence when she came in-not secrets or anything, something about this season's racing scores-and smiled.

"Morning, princess," he said, kissing the top of her head when she got close enough. "Sleep well?"

"Uh-huh," she said, climbing into the chair next to him. "What about you?" Up close, he looked tired, and she could see bruises peeking out from under his cloak, which looked a little bit burned.

"Well, I just got here, but I slept a little on the way," he said, raising an eyebrow across the table at Aunt 'Soka, who just shook her head and poured Leia a glass of milk.

"That's good," she said, picking up the glass and leaning into him a little. It was something, anyway. Aunt Beru could yell at him later if he needed it. So could she.

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, and she could feel him relaxing-both outside and in her mind. "Missed you lots."

"Missed you, too," she said. "How long are you here for?" She hoped he'd get to stay for a bit longer this time-his last four visits had been really short, only a day or two each.

"A while," he said, smiling down at her. "Maybe even a whole week, I'm not sure yet. But Uncle Owen asked me to look at a few things next time I was here, and Uncle Obi-Wan can spare me for a bit, so-"

Aunt 'Soka rolled her eyes and muttered something Leia couldn't really hear into her caf.

"I heard that," Daddy said.

"I didn't say anything!" she said, innocently.

"Not out loud, maybe," he said. "But you were definitely thinking it, Snips."

"Oh, that doesn't count," she said, grinning. "Come on, Leia, back me up."

"Well, you did sort of roll your eyes," she said. "But…" She tilted her head. That was mostly what Aunt 'Soka did when Daddy was being dumb. And even if she didn't know for sure… "I dunno, maybe Daddy deserved it."

That made Aunt 'Soka burst out laughing, which made Daddy throw a napkin at her, which she caught.

"Nice try," she said. "Your daughter is wise beyond her years."

He sighed, and rolled his eyes theatrically up at the ceiling. "Well, I'm not gonna argue with both of you," he said.

"What are we even arguing about?" Leia asked.

"Long, boring story," Daddy said easily, ruffling her hair. Which really meant something he didn't want to tell her about. "The point is, I know when it's time to retreat with grace-"

"Since when?"

"And," he went on, completely ignoring Aunt 'Soka and letting go of Leia to push himself up from the table, "I've got work to do, anyway. I'll be out in the garage if you need me."

Leia frowned a little, watching him straighten a little more carefully than she liked. It looked like he was just tired and bruised, but…

"Need a hand?" Aunt 'Soka asked.

"Sure, if you want," he said.

"Can I help?" Leia asked.

He considered for a minute, then nodded. "After you finish all your regular chores. And-do you have homework?"

She shook her head. "Regular lessons don't start 'til next week."

"I knew that," he said. "All right, you can join us once you're done with everything else."

"Okay," she said, and hopped down off her chair to hug him, carefully.

"See you later, princess," he said, hugging back. "And depending on how much I get done today, we can maybe go out to the canyon tomorrow and you can show me some of what you and Aunt Ahsoka were working on. Sound good?"

"Sounds good," she said; and then he let go, ruffled her hair one more time, and headed off toward the garage.

Aunt 'Soka put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed briefly. "He's okay," she assured her. "Or he will be in a day or two. Just a little bit banged up."

"Okay," Leia said, relieved. She'd thought so, but it was nice to hear for sure. Because he'd come home bruised and stiff and achy like this before, but this was-it hadn't been this obvious since her sixth birthday. And even if it wasn't nearly that bad… "Thanks."

"Don't mention it," she said. "See you in a couple hours, kiddo, all right?"

"Yep," Leia said. She'd probably finish up faster than that, but she knew if she actually said it, Aunt 'Soka would just give her that Look-the one she'd obviously learned from Uncle Obi-Wan-and remind her not to rush things when she didn't have to.

Aunt 'Soka flashed her a pointy little grin, then followed Daddy off to the garage, leaving Leia to find Aunt Beru and figure out what was on her list of things to do today.

Original Author's Notes: A little bit of domestic fluff on both sides to close out Part 5. Because they all deserve it.

Part 6, Reunion, will start with the next update!

:)

~shadowsong