Summary:
ADVENTURES OF A VISION PART THREE:  PLAGUED ACQUAINTANCE
        Two years later...
        Mara is happily married to her Jedi in shining black robes.  Leia is
having a bit of trouble with a senator from Niori.  The newly wedded couple
is expecting their first child.  Will Luke's vision come true?  Or was it a
dream after all?..dun..dun...dun...
 

    Leia sat in her council Presidential chair and waited for the meeting to
be over.  She stifled a sigh and tapped her gavel gently on the table.  Two
senators-Fey’lya and Dex had started bickering again.  The moment Dex had
gotten reinstated into the council she had never had a quiet moment.  They
never seemed to agree on anything that was brought up by the council.  And
today was no exception.  Leia, frankly was sick of it.  She had had to pull
each senator aside and tell them to settle down of they’d pay for their
childish actions.  They had always made the council meetings much longer than
they had to be.
    “Senator Dex,”  Leia said.  “I will ask you one more time to please stop
your nonsense at once or you and Senator Fey’lya will have your Council’s
rights removed again.”
    The Niorian Senator looked to Leia who was giving him a placid stare.
This man truly annoyed her.
    “As you wish,”  he said.  “I apologize, your Highness.”
    “I’d appreciate it if you would call me by my proper and current title,”
Leia said.  “Not one that died long ago.”
    Dex  nodded solemnly.
    If there was anyway to get him out of here Leia would take it.  But so
far nothing had come up.  Which rather disappointed Leia.  She adjourned the
meeting shortly after and gathered her data cards then began the short walk
back to her private office.  Walking down the halls, she decided it was time
to think just how much she disliked Dex.  He had never agreed with anyone’s
ideas, and that was the main point of all the problems he seemed to cause.
To make things worse, he always was trying to get into a higher position.
Whether it be by campaign or other methods Dex never succeeded.  The only
higher position than those he had tried for was Leia’s position as President.
And Leia wasn’t about to let him have that.
    Another point that made Leia storm with anger was that Dex had strongly
disapproved of Luke’s marriage to Mara Jade.  For the six months before their
wedding, Dex had tried to bring up old laws and make up new ones saying that
Mara Jade should not wed a man of such importance to the New Republic.  He
had wanted to have Mara tried and convicted of the crimes she had committed
as the Emperor’s Hand.  How dare he try to sabotage her brother’s happiness.
The other council members had seen it Leia’s way in the end and had agreed in
letting the marriage continue.
    Leia saw to it personally that Dex made a public apology to both Mara and
Luke.  Even that couldn’t take away the pain he had caused them.  For months
after the wedding, they couldn’t travel anywhere without the press following
them and had to confine themselves in their apartment until Leia had a public
statement said.  Luke had personally come up and asked the people of the New
Republic to respect his and Mara’s privacy and that they were as normal as
any new couple in the way that they didn’t want their entire lives
video-taped for all to see.
    Dex would pay for the pain he’d caused her brother and his wife.
    Leia had shown Dex when they successfully had their marriage work out and
had not only their first, but their second wedding anniversary without
problems.  Leia got to rub in into Dex’s face even more when the new couple
had announced that they were to have their first child.  And Leia got even
happier when Luke and Mara found out they were having twins.
    Leia smiled to herself.  It had been a good year indeed.  For her and
Luke both.  She arrived at her office and put away her data cards.  Finally
she got to go home.  She was about to call Han, when he came bursting through
her office door.
    “Leia,”  Han blurted out.  “I’ve tried to call you, but they said you
were in a meeting--”
    “What’s wrong?”  Leia cut off Han.  “Why are you here?”
    “I’ve been trying to call you,”  Han explained.  “Mara’s at the hospital.
She went into labor early.  I had to take her there because Luke was gone.”

    “Where’s Luke?”  Leia asked, a thousand things spinning in her mind.
“Did you think to call him?”
    “Don’t worry, Mara said he was already on his way.”
    Leia’s mind got whirling.  Mara was more than a month early.  What had
happened to her?
    “Do you know what room she’s in?”
    Han nodded his head and they were gone.  They arrived at the hospital
only to find that they weren’t allowed in to see Mara.
    “What do you mean we can’t go in there to see her?”  Leia practically
yelled at the small nurse standing in the doorway to their waiting room.  The
nurse held up her hands and calmly tried to explain to Leia.
    “Only the father is allowed in at the moment, you may go see her in a few
minutes.”
    Leia and Han ended up waiting an hour before they were able to see her.
Luke came into their waiting room and explained what had happened.
    “The doctor thought it might of been a false alarm seeing as how she’s
more than a month early,”  Luke said.  “But it’s not, and he’s telling Mara
now what could of caused the earliness.  He seems to think the worry and all
the stress that Senator Dex caused might of been it.”
    Leia’s anger flared.  So he finally got to ruin their lives a little
more.  When she got back to those meetings tomorrow she’d...
    Luke looked at his sister with a tired expression on his face.  “Leia,
don’t.  Don’t blame anyone until we have the kids here okay?  Let’s just pray
that the twins are born healthy.”   Leia nodded her head in some
embarrassment.
    “I’m sorry,”  she said quietly.  “But he’s just caused you two so much
trouble.”
    “I know,”  Luke said softly.  “But come on so you can see Mara.  Where
are your kids?  I kind of wanted them to be here.”  Luke said looking around.
    “Well...we left them at home with Chewie,”  Han said from beside Leia.
“I doubt they’d want to come and hear Mara yelling.”
    “Well I meant after the twins were born,”  Luke said.  “They have a
special room they’ll put them in that will let them be seen easily.  It’s
okay...Well let’s go.”
    They walked in to Mara’s and found her with her head and back leaning
against the head board with her eyes closed.   She opened her eyes and smiled
at her visitors.
    “Hi Leia.  Hi Han.  Hi Luke.”  She smiled warmly up at Luke who was
opening a window.  The cool breeze blew against Mara’s face.  “Thank you
Luke.”  She turned to Leia.  “He’s so nice, Leia.”  She motioned for Leia to
come a little closer then whispered conspiratorially in her ear.  “They tell
me he’s the father.”  Mara nodded her head and looked to Luke who had taken
up a seat beside Mara.  She smiled up at him again.
    Leia looked confusedly to Luke.
    “I think your wife’s gone a bit loony, kid,”  Han said while looking at
Mara with wary eyes.
    “Luke...how many painkillers did they give her?”  Leia asked cautiously.
    Luke smiled and laughed.
    “Only one,”  he said.  “But it seems only to relax her, not really take
any pain away.  I told the doctor.  He’s seeing what he can do.”
    Mara suddenly grasped Luke’s hand and hunched forward as pain shot
through her.  He put an arm around her back and shoulders.
    “You okay?”  He asked as bone seemed to crunch beneath Mara’s grip on his
hand.  When all was over, Luke gratefully took his hand back and wiped Mara’s
head with a damp towel then kissed her forehead.  He then took the towel and
wrapped it around his hurting hand.
    “See what I mean?”  Luke said as he sat back down nursing his hand.
    Leia shook her head in amazement.
    “What a way to prove a point.”
 

    An hour later, Luke wished that he had given Mara his artificial hand to
hold and not his left one.  The medic sat at the foot of Mara’s hospital bed.
    “I want you to push...now,”  His calm and clear voice instructed Mara.
    Sith, I am pushing you puff-faced Jawa.  The next time he told her to
push, Mara would reach out and choke him just a little...
    *Mara, calm down*  Luke’s voice echoed through her mind.
    Luke felt Mara’s tired anger radiating towards him.
    *You be quiet or I’ll choke you too.  You’re not so innocent you know.
You’re the one who got me here in the first place.*
    *You’ll get over it*
    *Don’t make me choke you*
    “Okay...this is it.  I want you to push one last time.”
    And here comes the choke...
    *Mara...* Luke warned, but Mara never got to answer back.  Deep inside of
her, Mara felt something tiny and new grasp her mind.  She gasped.  *Hello?*
No, of course they can’t hear you.  They probably don’t even know who you
are.  Then Mara heard the mischievous and playful laughter of a little boy,
but it faded away and she could hear Luke.
    “Keep going Mara...”  Luke smiled and looked at Mara.
    Even though she had her eyes closed, he knew she could hear him.  “It’s a
boy...Nathan?”  Luke asked.  Mara nodded, but couldn’t speak.
    If I can get one more out I’ll be just fine...
    Mara could feel her other child...her baby girl.  Mara felt tears coming
to her eyes.  Her children were finally going to be in her arms.  She would
finally be able to hold the small wonders she and Luke and created on their
own.  She’d know what they looked like in only a few moments...The strongest
sign of Luke and Mara’s love for each other would finally be here.  She felt
her little girl’s warm smile in her mind...it was Luke’s smile...then it
faded away.
    “Almost done...” Luke’s voice said from by her side.  “It’s a
girl...Natalie?”
    Mara let out a huge breath she hadn’t realized she’d been holding and let
herself lean back against the bed and rest for a moment.  She nodded her head
tiredly and let the tears of joy fall.  She didn’t care about Senator Dex
right now.  She only wanted to hold her babies.
    “Ready to hold them?”  a nurse asked.
    Mara opened her eyes and nodded, too tired to speak.
    *I must look like a mess*
    Luke looked over to the new mother...his wife.
    Mara’s hair was damp and sticking to her closely. Her face looked ragged
and she seemed very tired.  Her eyes looked at Luke.  Those beautiful green
eyes still held an energy all their own.  To others, she might of looked a
mess, but to Luke, she was lovely.  She had just given him his first two
children.
    *No you don’t.  You look wonderful.*
    They came and put Mara’s babies in her arms.  Little Nathan had the
makings of his father’s blonde hair and Natalie had her mother’s red mop of a
mess.  Mara laughed and let the tears fall.  Luke had helped her through
every moment to do this.  They loved each other and now they had something
else to love.
    “They’re so small,”  Mara whispered to Luke.  He smiled and she could see
the tears forming in his eyes.  This was something Luke thought he truly
would never be able to do.
    “Yeah...they are,”  Luke said quietly.  “But let them grow strong.
They’ll give everyone a run for their money.”
    “Want to hold one?”  Mara asked Luke quietly.
    He looked at Mara then at his children.
    *I’ll break one.  What if they fall?*
    *They won’t fall Luke.  It’s okay.  Hurry up before they take them away
for treatment.  I want them to at least get a glimpse of their father.*
    Luke was as scared as a Jawa standing next to a rancor, but he held out
his arms and carefully picked up Natalie from Mara’s arms.
    Her little eyes opened up and blinked.  She looked at her father with
those green eyes that were so much like Mara’s.  He let Natalie hold his
pinky finger.  “I love you,” he whispered to his little girl.
    “You don’t look at all like the big bad Jedi Master people make you out
to be,”  Mara teased.
    Luke looked up at her with a proud smile on his face.
    “Thank you,” Mara whispered to Luke.
    He leaned over and softly kissed her.
    “Still want to choke me?”  he asked playfully.
    Mara smiled.  After a few more moments, the nurse came over and took
little Nathan and Natalie  down the hall to be checked on.
 

    The next day, news reporters were repeatedly denied entrance to see the
new Skywalker babies.  Luke and Mara sat together holding their new little
ones in Mara’s assigned room.  Mara was trying to get up and put Natalie back
in her little bed, when Luke stopped her.
    “Let me go, I can get up myself,”  Mara said frustratedly.
    “Mara,”Luke warned.  “The doctor said you should rest for a few days.
I’ll put Natie back.”
    Luke got up carefully and laid Nathan in Mara’s arms.  Then took his
daughter and put her in her little bed.  He looked back to Mara and saw her
once again trying to get out of bed.  But this time she made it.
    Wincing in pain, she waddled over and put Nathan next to his sister.
Luke only gave her a reprimanding look and shook his head.
    “You’re as stubborn as I am.”
    She smiled and walked carefully to the bathroom.
    “Only when I’m motivated,”  She said over her shoulder as she closed the
door to the small bathroom.
    Luke looked down at his twins and savored the moment.  Both were wide
awake, and were gazing out at nothing.  Smiling down at them, he wondered
what their life would be like.  Would they be like him or Mara more?  He
heard the door open and looked up...and froze.  Senator Dex had just come in.
    “How’d you get in here?”  Luke said with a low voice.
    The wormy senator smiled thinly and spread out his hands.
    “Why I was let in of course,”  he said.  “I just wanted to see the new
additions to the Skywalker family.”
    Luke looked beyond him at the open door.  But no one else was visible.
Getting in a protective position in front of his children he spoke.
    “Security!”  He yelled out the door.  Turnign his attention back to Dex,
he spoke.  “I don’t want you anywhere near them.  Now get out.”  Luke said
with a deadly seriousness in his voice.
    Dex smiled once more, but there was nothing nice about it.
    “What?  You think I’ll just go away?  I don’t think so.”    Luke stood
his ground and laid a warm protective barrier over his tiny heirs.  He didn’t
say anything and sent a message to Mara.
    *Mara, don’t get out of the bathroom.  Please stay in there.  Please.
Trust me.*
    *Why?  Okay-nevermind.  I’ll stay.  What’s wrong?*
    *You’ll find out later*
    “Why so silent Master Skywalker?”  Dex asked.
    “Maybe if you forget I’m here you’ll leave,”  Luke retorted.    Dex
laughed and Luke could feel the security he’d called running towards the room.
    “Where’s the little woman?”  Dex asked looking around the room.  “I do so
much enjoy talking to her.”
    “She’s not here right now.”
    A small squad of palace guards came and stood by the door.  The leader
looked at Luke.
    “Is there a problem Master Skywalker?”
    “Could you please help Senator Dex find his way out?”  Luke asked,
keeping his eyes on Dex.  “He seems to have gotten lost.”
    “Yes sir.”  He turned to Dex.  “Senator, if you’ll please follow me.”
    They led him out and Dex turned around to smile devilishly at Luke.
    “Don’t let your guard down Master Skywalker,”  Dex called to him from the
hallway.  He laughed and left.
    “Don’t worry, I won’t,”  Luke said quietly to the door.
    He tried to relax a little and turned around to his children.  They
looked at him with little questioning faces.
    “Sorry you had to see that,”  he apologized.
    Mara stepped out of the bathroom.
    “Who was it?”  she asked stepping toward him.
    Luke looked at her for a moment.
    “It was Dex.”
    Mara’s eyes narrowed to slits.  “What did he want?”  she asked, her voice
low.
    “He wanted to see Natie and Nate.  Then he told me not to let my guard
down.”
    She shook her head.
    “I thought out problems with him were over.”
    A knock came from the door and Luke and Mara looked to see who it was.
    “Come in Leia,” Luke said.
    She stepped in and looked from Luke to Mara.
    “What happened?”  Leia asked.  “I thought I just saw Dex leaving.  He
didn’t come in here did he?  Not after all the trouble he’s caused.”
    “He did,”  Luke confirmed.  “He wanted to see the twins.”   “He’s been
bothering you so much, maybe you two could get a restraining order against
him,”  Leia suggested.
    Luke sighed quietly.
    “No, Leia.  That wouldn’t stop anyone else from doing things for him.  It
wouldn’t solve anything.”
    “Luke’s right,” Mara said walking up slowly towards her husband.
    “You aren't supposed to be up, are you?”  Leia asked eyeing Mara.
    Mara gave Leia a short shake of her head.
    “You Skywalkers are all alike.”
    “Be careful,”  leia warned with a smile.  “You’re one too now.”
    “Ha ha, only by marriage,”  Mara said sardonically.  “And anyway--Luke’s
right.  No matter what we do, Dex will somehow be able to spill his wrath
around us.  Unless of course we all go hide in a hole, but I’m sure he’d just
find that too.”
    Mara and Luke were right, but that didn’t mean that Dex had to keep
bothering them like he was.
    “Did he say anything to you?”  Leia asked Luke.
    “Only that I shouldn’t let my guard down.”
    “Well you shouldn’t anyway,” Leia advised.  “No matter what kind of peace
we’re in, something always pops up.  Anyway, I came to check on you two and
the twins.”
    Luke smiled a little uncomfortably.  “I’m still getting used to that.”
    Leia smiled.
    “Oh trust me, it won’t take that long to get used to it.  Are they over
there?”  she asked pointing to the small bassinet by the bed.
    Luke nodded and Leia walked over to get another glimpse at her niece and
nephew.  She’d gotten to see them last night, but was only able to watch Luke
and Mara holding them from a distance.  Up close, it was much better.  She
reached a hand down and caressed both tiny faces.  Those tiny faces reminded
her so much of Luke and Mara.  Leia was thankful that they didn’t have any
problems.
    Mara came up slowly with Luke beside her.  But Mara wasn’t slow by
choice, she was still a little sore from yesterday.  Mara smiled at Leia.
    “What do you think?”  she asked.
    “Oh Mara, they’re beautiful.  You’ll make a wonderful mother.”
    They stood there for a few minutes until Luke spoke.
    “Mara’s doctor says we can take them home tomorrow,”  Luke said.
    There was no mistaking the air of pride around him.  Luke would make a
loving and dedicated father.
    “I don’t see why he says that,”  Mara objected.  “They’re too small.
Can’t we wait until they’re  a bit bigger?”
    Mara’s worry made Luke laugh.
    “Mara, they’ll do fine,”  he assured her.  “We just have to let them
grow.  I don’t think they’d want to grow up in a hospital.”
    Mara still didn’t look convinced.  Something was bothering her, but she
didn’t know what.
 

    The next afternoon, Leia helped Mara and the twins get settled in at
home.  Mara’s old room had been turned into the nursery, but the twins would
stay in Luke and Mara's bedroom until they were a few months older.
    Luke had gone to the couch for a much needed nap while Leia and Mara
talked in the bedroom.  Mara was holding Nathan and had a sad and troubled
look on her face.  Leia noticed and wondered why she would look so sad when
her babies were finally home.
    “Mara, are you okay?”  Leia asked.
    Mara didn’t look up, but continued to look at Nathan.
    “Mara?”  Leia asked a bit louder.
    Mara shook herself out of her daze and looked at Leia.
    “What?”
    “Are you okay?”  she asked again.  “You looked the same way at the
hospital.”
    Mara wasn’t going to lie to Leia.  Just to Luke.
    “I don’t know,”  she admitted.  “I just have a bad feeling about bringing
the twins home.  I don’t think it has to do with their size though.”  After a
small pause, she continued.  “Leia, do you remember what I told you about
Luke’s dream that one night?”
    Leia had to think for a moment, but she soon found what she was looking
for.
    “Yes, I remember.  Why?”
    “Well don’t tell Luke,”  Mara said her gaze flicking to the door.  “I
think it’ll only upset him, but I think that there’s something wrong about
that dream.”
    “What do you mean?”
    “Like it wasn’t just a dream.”
    Both women were silent for a moment.
    “You should tell Luke,”  Leia said at last.
    “That’s just it,”  Mara said quietly.  “I can’t because it’ll only upset
him.  Remember how much that it hurt him then?  I don’t want that to happen
again.”  Mara looked down for a moment at the tiny one she held.  He looked
so much like Luke...  “And Dex is only making things worse.  Maybe he’s the
one Luke was so afraid of in the vision.”
    “But why would Dex want to take away your children?”
    Mara thought for a moment.
    “Well he seems to hate me so why not hate something I help create?”
    “Mara, you’re being ridiculous,”  Leia said.  “He’d get into trouble if
he did that.  Don’t worry.  I’m sure it’s just that you’re scared for your
kids.  It happened to me all the time.”
    “You’re right,”  Mara agreed.  “I’m probably just worrying over nothing.”
 

    During the evening, after Leia had attended a last minute council
meeting, she discovered Dex trying to catch up with her.
    “Senator Organa Solo, I’d like a word with you if you please.”
    Tired of being followed, Leia turned her head around and gave Dex a
polite smile.
    “Yes Senator Dex?”  she asked politely.
    Glad that she was finally paying him some attention, he spoke.
    “I just wanted to inform you that I will be running with you for the next
presidential election.”
    What is he talking about?  Leia thought.
    “What are you talking about?”  Leia asked.  “We don’t hold presidential
elections in the New Republic.”
    “Well then, when I become president there will be.”
    He really did annoy her.
    “Senator Dex if you have a point, please make it before I lose my temper
on you.”
    “Touchy princess,”  Dex said with a slight smile.  “But I meant what I
said.  I will become president of the New Republic.  One way . . . or
another.”  With a smile he left down the corridor.
    Strange, Leia thought.  But a man like Dex had only motive.  He couldn’t
do anything on his own if he had step by step instructions telling him what
to do.  Without caring for Dex, Leia made the walk down to her apartment.
    Leia wouldn’t know then how much hyer family would pay for her lack of
interest.
 

    “He looks a lot like me, doesn’t he?”  Luke asked Mara holding Nathan.
    Mara was seated with her legs outstretched on the bed she and Luke
shared.  In her arms, Natalie was hungrily eating away.  Mara smiled and
looked up at Luke.
    “He sure does,”  Mara said.  “But Natalie has your smile.”      Luke
smiled and looked down at the toothless little Nathan.
    “Yup,”  Mara said with a smile.  “That’s the one.”
    Mara gazed down at her daughter to see if she was done eating yet.
Trying to shield her thoughts away from the man sitting a ways beside her,
she wondered if she should tell him about what she told Leia.  Maybe he
wouldn’t get that upset if she did...
    “What are you trying to hide from me?”  Luke asked Mara as he eyed her
carefully.
    “Apparently I wasn’t doing a good job at it,”  she said.
    She paused for a moment then regarded Luke with a careful smile.  He was
looking down at her with a worried expression on his face.
    “Mara, are you all right?  You can tell me anything, okay?”
    “I know,”  she said with warmth in her smile.  That’s why I married you.”

    “Oh yeah?  Is that the only reason?”
    “Well that and you’re good looking.”
    Mara made Luke blush a little.
    “But you wanted to know what was wrong,”  Mara said trying to get back to
the subject at hand.
    I guess I’ll live through whatever he does.
    “I was talking with Leia earlier while you were napping.  I told her that
something seemed a little wrong with taking Nathan and Natalie home early.
Or maybe it was just about today, but I don’t know.  And something about Dex
bothered me at the same time.  I think he fits in with it too.”
    “You shouldn’t worry about Dex,”  Luke said from his seat playing with
Nathan’s fingers.  “At least that’s what Leia tells me.”
    Mara could clearly hear the doubt in his voice.
    “But you feel it too, don’t you?”  she asked.  “Like he’s got something
planned?”
    Luke nodded his head while watching Nathan in his lap.
    “Yes I do,”  he said.  “Is that what’s been bothering you?”     Oh boy,
here comes the hard part. . .
    “Well...that’s not all that’s got me upset.  See there’s something else
and I think it fits in with the other two, but you have to promise me that
you won’t get mad.”
    “Mara, what is it?”
    “Promise me first.”
    Luke eyed Mara a little then nodded his head.
    “Okay, I promise you I won’t get mad.”
    Mara sighed.
    “I don’t think that dream you had was just a dream.”
    She could feel Luke’s anger slowly rising, but she gave him a meaningful
glance.
    “You promised,”  she reminded him.
    “Okay, I won’t get mad, but I will say I told you so.  I didn’t want you
to worry, that’s why I didn’t want to tell you.  and when I did, look at you.
You’re worried.”
    “Luke, it could be nothing.  Maybe I’m just a little jumpy.”    She knew
he was doing some job of keeping his temper down.
    “And do you know for sure that it’s nothing?”  he asked, being careful
not to talk too loud.  “What if all our worrying is for a good cause?”
    Mara sighed in resignation.  Natalie had stopped eating and was gazing up
and watching her mommy.
    “I don’t know Luke,”  Mara told him with her eyes on Natalie.  “Come here
and give me Nathan, I think Natalie’s done with her dinner.”
    “More like her post dinner after snack.”  Luke told her as he got up and
switched babies with Mara.
    Nathan didn't seem to be hungry so Mara just held him.
    “I Think I’m going to bed as soon as these two fall asleep,”  Mara said.

    Luke was walking to regain his seat when he felt something grabbing at
his waist.  Luke glanced down and saw Nathan trying to grab for the
lightsaber hanging on his belt.  Luke chuckled.
    “Oh no, not for you,”  he said.  “You’re too young.”
    He unclipped his lightsaber and put it on the nightstand by Mara then
went to his seat.
    “You think Nathan will be as good a swordsman with a lightsaber as his
father?”  Mara asked.
    Luke gave her a grin.
    “What--and be able to beat me?”  he teased.  “I don’t think so.”
    “You’re just a sore loser,”  Mara teased Luke.
    “Oh?  And you aren’t?”
    “When these two fall asleep, don’t be too surprised if I wake you up in
the middle of the night for a practice session.”
    “Yeah, wait until they can’t see you to lose.”
    “I’d throw a pillow, but you have my child in your arms,”  Mara said.
    Luke slowly rocked Natalie in his arms until she fell asleep.   *I think
she’s asleep*  he sent to Mara.
    *So’s Nathan.  Bring her here and help me put them in bed*      Luke got
up quietly and put Natalie in Mara’s arms.  Abruptly he felt a foreign
presence outside the bedroom door.
    “Mara,”  Luke whispered.
    He reached down and put a hand on her arm.
    “Yeah I feel it too,”  she said, her forehead creased with concentration.
“Only one though?”
    Luke nodded.
    There was a loud explosion from the door not too many feet away from him
and Luke had little time to react.
    “Mara!”  he yelled to his wife.  “The kids, cover them!”
    The moment the door had exploded--that was what had exploded,
right?--Luke had ducked, and had been too far away to help Mara.  I should of
helped her, he thought.  At the last moment he sent reassurance to her and
his infants then put a blanket of protection over them, but less than a
second later it was thrown off.
    What are you doing, Mara?  He put it on again and opened his eyes.  The
room was filled with thick gray smoke and Luke couldn’t see Mara.  Or the bed
for that matter.  He felt the barrier of protection he’d put up fall again.
    Luke reached around for the nightstand and the lightsaber he’d left there
not long before.  Maybe if he turned it on he’d get some light.  He bumped
his hand on something then heard something clunking to the floor.
    “Blast,” Luke said as he searched the floor with his hand to find the
saber that would never come.
    “Mara?”  Luke asked.  “Are you all right?”
    But all Luke got in return was an eerie, chilling laughter.  But it
wasn’t Mara laughing . . . was that who had blown out his door?
    “Who are you?”   Luke asked.
    The laughter increased for a moment, then wound down until the person
finally decided to speak.
    “How are you this fine evening Master Skywalker?”  the woman’s smooth
mocking voice said.  A woman who sounded vaguely familiar...
    “Elori?”  Luke asked tentatively.
    “I’m surprised you remember me,”  she said.  “But yes, it is Elori.
Sorry to leave so soon, but I’m done here.  See you later.”
    “Wait!”  Luke said, trying to get her to stay.
    He couldn’t see her, but he knew it wasn’t working.  A pain unexpectedly
shot through his head and the world suddenly went black.
 

    Groggy and in pain--more pain than he was in when he blacked out--Luke
awoke gradually.  The smoke was gone at least, making it much easier to see.
Carefully trying to get up, Luke checked with his senses to make sure Mara,
Nathan, and Natalie were okay.  But he stopped being careful and jolted up
the moment he couldn’t feel the presence of his wife or the two new lives he
was just getting to know.  He looked with his eyes and saw that they weren’t
on the bed he’d last seen them on.
    He went to the bed and felt with his hands to see if his eyes weren’t
lying to him.  He needn’t of tried.  They weren’t lying.  Then he remembered
his dream...Mara’s recent fear at it not being a dream...and Luke realized
that she had been right.  But now Mara was gone and he couldn’t tell her
about it . . . but he could tell Leia.
 

    Leia awoke to the sound of someone knocking terribly loud at her suite’s
door.  Han rolled over in the bed they shared and woke up himself.
    “Leia,”  Han’s sleepy voice said.  “Get the door will you?”
    Leia looked down at her husband and sighed.
    “I’m going, I’m going,”  she said getting up.  “Just get back to bed.”
    Leia got out of bed and wondered who would think to wake her up at this
hour.  She put on a robe and went to the door.  She opened it and Luke burst
into the room jabbering away too fast for her sleep-fogged mind to understand.
    “You have to help me, Leia,”  Luke said.  “Mara and the twins are gone.
We have to stop her.  I know Dex is behind this somehow.  Help me find where
they’ve gone.  If we go now...”  Luke was pacing the room as he spoke.
    Leia went up to her brother and held his arms with her hands.  She spun
him gently towards her.
    “Luke, what’s wrong?”  she asked, still trying to wake up more herself.
“I can’t understand you, go slower.”
    Leia’s much taller brother looked down at her with a confused expression
on his face.
    “No,”  Luke said fiercely shaking his head.  “No Leia, we have to go now.
You have to help me now.”
    Still holding her brother’s arms, she tried to lead him to the couch to
sit down.
    “Luke, just sit down and tell me what’s bothering you okay?”  she asked.
    He jerked away from her like a hurt animal and started to confuse Leia
even more.
    “No!”  Luke protested again.  “No, you don’t understand!  They’re gone,
we have to go get them.”  He started to look around the room as if for ideas.
“They’re gone...”  he mumbled,  “If we go now...they can’t of gone far...but
they’re gone...”
    As if what he was saying had suddenly dawned on him, Luke looked sharply
up at Leia.
    “They’re gone...”  he whispered.
    Luke’s eyes looked haunted and scared.  “Oh no...”
    He went down on his knees and hid his face in his hands and cried.
    Leia knelt down beside Luke and put her arms around his compact form.
Even though she had no clue what was wrong, she held him and let him cry.
    “It’s okay Luke,”  Leia said softly.
    She could feel him pitifully shaking his head against her.
    “No it’s not,”  his muffled and sobb-filled voice said.  “They’re gone.
They’re gone Leia.”
    Where had they gone?  Why had Elori taken his wife and babies?  They’d
done nothing to her.  Luke’s family had been taken away.  Anger filled his
heart.  He had only begun to know his children...why had someone found it
amusing to steal them away from him?  He hadn’t even spent a week with them
and they were gone.
    “Luke, who’s gone?”  Leia asked with confusion.
    Luke picked up his head and looked Leia straight in the eye.  His face
was blotched and streaked with tears.  His hair was a mess.  But in all that
mess, Leia saw her brother, strong and true.  Even if it was the brother she
knew so well, she could see the hidden pain and fear that he never showed to
anyone.  Luke was scared, and she didn’t know why.
    “Mara,”  Luke whispered.  “Mara and my babies, Leia...they’re gone.”
    Oh no, Leia thought.  Don’t let this happen to Luke.  Please not Luke...
    “Are you sure?”  Dumb question to ask, but Leia hadn’t been prepared for
what he had told her.
    “Yes, Leia,”  Luke told her.  “They're not in my apartment.  They’re
gone...And it’s all my fault.  I did nothing to stop her.  Nothing.  It’s my
fault.  My fault!”  Luke said through gritted teeth.
    “Oh Luke, it’s okay,”  she said, trying to get him to calm down more.
    She held him once more and let his tears fall on her.  He felt so
small...so helpless.  “It’s okay.  It’s not your fault.  We’ll find them...I
promise.”
    Please help me find them, she silently prayed.
 
 

TO BE CONTINUED...