"Sweet heart... you should know... I've been a Jedi since the day I was born... even if I wasn't a part of Luke's Jedi Order... my family have been Jedi since the day Revan redeemed Bastila... but then Revan fell... but Bastila never gave up hope that her husband could turn back to the light..." Rueben said, smiling. "We're almost there... don't worry... we'll reach Korriban in plenty of time... Han will get the others to saftey I'm sure."
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Luke sat on the ground, and opened his eyes, and saw a girl who looked very familiar to him... Hana, one of his previous padawans.

"Hey... Hana... what are you doing on Korriban?" Luke called to her.

Kala rested her head on Rueben's shoulder.

She sighed. "Yeah. I hope you're right. Han and the others will be okay."

When she heard about Rueben being born a Jedi, she looked down, ashamed.

"To tell you the truth... I wasn't born a Jedi. My family lived on Tatooine... where my big brother and I were happy."

Tears fell from her eyes. "Until... Luke turned Ulic over to the Dark Side." She covered her eyes, and bowed her head. "Oh, Shan... I wouldn't know what I would do without you."

Mara Jade Skywalker saw Luke. She went over to him. " I know you were supposed to handle this but you married a restless soul , I'm not good at waiting. " she kissed her husband on the cheek. " Brought a recruit. Her name's Hana , a Grey Jedi Padawan who left the Order."

Darrick had been following Han Solo completing losing track of the others. He had then lost Han as he was faster than him. He soon became a little tiny adult by himself in the underworld of Coruscant. Everytime he would hear a noise he would jump and hide just because of the stories he had heard about the underworld. "Where's the others" he whispered to himself.

He then heard a voice. Darrick.. be safe

He looked around, "Monica is that you? Hello?"

he then murmured in his head, I could have swore that was Monica.

Darrick continued down the alleyways trying to find a way up to the upperworld.

"I don't know what I'd do with out you either." Rueben said, lifting Kala's chin, so they could see eye to eye. "I will try my best to turn your brother..."

Rueben gently kissed Kala... and then started walking again.

"We have to get to Korriban... Luke is waiting on us there." He said.
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Luke looked at his wife. Odd... she just suddenly appeared on Korriban? Hmmm... what if this was a trick... I wonder... could the Assassin or Vashneer be tricking me? Luke asked himself.

" Sheesh you don't believe me.Doesn't take a Force user to see you don't believe it's me. Kinda hurts Luke. You weren't easy to catch up with." Mara sighed." Well until you believe me I'll go help Hana." she kissed him again." Can whatever you believe I am do that." She walked away muttering " I can't believe my own husband doesn't believe me."

As Monica walked along with Rueben and Kala, she heard a faint voice.

"I could have swore that was Monica." That almost sounded like... Darrick's voice!

The young girl got confused. "Hello?"

After their kiss, Kala looked over at Monica. "You okay, young apprentice?" Monica glanced at Kala. "Thought I heard something..."

Darrick still hiding from the person walking past, heard Monica's voice again. "Hello?"

"Monica where are you?" he said in a whisper. "I know it's you. Come out from hiding." The person vanished around a corner and Darrick stepped out into the alley. He needed to get to the upperworld but wanted to find Monica first. He heard her but couldn't find her.

"Monica where are you?" he said in a whisper. "I know it's you. Come out from hiding." It was Darrick again.

She looked around. Then she squinted her eyes, as she continued to walk with Rueben and Kala.

Monica began to think. "Maybe... it's one of those... what'cha-call-it when people communicate with each other from a distance?"

The young girl sighed, and closed her eyes. "Darrick? If you can hear me... we're far apart. I'm on the Upper level, while you're probably in the Lower level. Are you with the others?"

"It's called a Force bond..." Rueben sighed, without turning around. "I was really hoping that wouldn't happen... to anyone from your... planet. It means you two are intimately related... or family. I can hear everything your... boyfriend... and you are saying, unfortunately. I don't want to... but I can't tune it out... it's strange..."

Rueben opened the door to a shop.

"This is it..." Rueben said to Kala and Monica. "This is where we can get a ship!"

Monica glared, after what Rueben said.

"Darrick's not my boyfriend! We're just friends." She began to have red cheeks, which meant that she blushed.

Darrick was a good friend. After all they've been through, he always was there for her, no matter what.

The young girl sighed, and went inside the shop with Kala and Rueben. "I'm sorry, Rueben... or shall I call you... Master Shan? I am your apprentice, after all."

"NO! Do not call me Master Shan... Titles make my skin crawl...." Rueben said. "Besides your my cousin... it'd feel wierd to have you call me that."

Rueben walked up to the Toydarian running the store.

"I need a ship." Rueben said, flatly. "A FAST one."

"Of course, of course." She said. "I've got one that will put all others, including the Falcon, to shame."

"We'll take it!" Rueben said, handing her an arm full load of credits.

"Darrick? If you can hear me... we're far apart. I'm on the Upper level, while you're probably in the Lower level. Are you with the others?"

He then realized that he was hearing her voice through his mind, not from his ears. He looked around and said in his mind. "Monica, is this somekind of force bond?"

Darrick looked around wondering if Monica could hear him.

((You mean "Monica". Not "Lyna", JA. :lol: ))

Monica sighed and smiled. "Okay. Sorry, Rueben." Suddenly, she heard Darrick's voice again.

"Monica, Is this somekind of force Bond?"

The young girl shrugged. "Well... yeah. Rueben told me about it. And can you believe what he said? He called you my "boyfriend"! Isn't that funny?"

Thinking of Darrick as a friend was good for Monica... but was it true what Rueben had said? She glanced at Rueben and glared, smiling and feeling embarrased at what her couin said.

(Oops... it's fixed. :P)

Darrick found a guard that was taking a patrol through the street of the underworld. "Sir can you take me to the upperworld?"

"I'm sorry son, just run to your parents or guardians."

"But that's where they are in the upperworld somewhere."

The man looked confused but thought I was telling the truth. "Fine come with me."

As they were in the elevator, Darick heard Monica, "Well... yeah. Rueben told me about it. And can you believe what he said? He called you my "boyfriend"! Isn't that funny?"

"That is... funny. I remember something on the internet saying that force bonds only happen to relatives? We aren't relatives are we? Hopefully we're having a different kind of force bond."

The guard looked at me once we got out of the elevator and into the upperworld. "You were quiet back there."

"I was just thinking of someone." Darrick looked around.

"Hey Monica, where are you guys?"

At what you... earthlings... would call a pawn shop. Rueben said to Darrick through the Force bond that connected him with Monica, and there for with Darrick. It's not far from where you are... just stay there though... we'll come pick you up.

Rueben looked doubtfully at the ship that the Toydarian had shown him. It looked old, but that wouldn't be a problem when... and IF... they got to Yavin IV. Rueben liked fixing things... especially complex things like ships.

The Toydarian looked at Rueben... "You look familiar from somewhere... have we met before?"

Rueben looked at her and then gasped. "Actually we have... you're one of Han Solo's friends right? Uhhh... Lyndia right?"

"Yeah... oh right... you're that Jedi boy... tell Han I said hi!" Lyndia said, flying away.

Toydarians! Can't live with em... can't live without em. Rueben said to himself, while rolling his eyes.

"Okay... come on... we gotta go pick up Darrick and then we HAVE to get to Korriban... so let's go!" Rueben said, climbing into the captain's seat.

Before Monica could answer Darrick, she suddenly heard Rueben's voice. Was he listening the whole time? Impressive...

When they went out of the shop to get the ship, Monica wondered about her mother. She really wanted to see her parents again. If anything happened to them... she'd take the blame for it.

She closed her eyes, thinking...

Kala held Rueben close. Her head resting on his shoulder. "Boy, I'm tired. Can't wait to sleep on the ship."

Her eyes saddened. "Most of all... I can't wait to save my big brother."

"At what you... earthlings... would call a pawn shop. It's not far from where you are... just stay there though... we'll come pick you up."

"Rueben? Is that you? Wow now its like a radio inside of all of our heads." Darrick grinned as he stopped walking in the middle of the walkway.

"Wait.... How do you know where I am? Plus how you going to pick me up in a walking area?"

Darrick gazed at all the magnificient buildings around him. He never really thought it was this beautiful in the upperworld.

I'm not blind... I can see exactly where you are... through your eyes. I can pick you up in a walkway because we're on offical Jedi buisness... and one last thing... what's a radio? Rueben said.

"There he is..." Rueben said, aloud... pointing to a lone figure standing on the walkway.

Rueben lowered the ship and then lowered the ramp.

Hurry... we have to go... don't sit outside and dawdle! Rueben said to Darrick.

Monica smiled when she saw Darrick. "Darrick? Oh, thank goodness, you're safe!"

She ran out of the ship, and hugged her friend.

When she unwrapped her arms around him, she glanced at the ship. Then back at Darrick.

"Rueben's right. We gotta go."

Darrick hugged Monica, then jumped on after her. "A radio is something like a... commlink." Darrick said as he took a seat.

Monica sat by Darrick on the ship. Then she smiled.

"Man, we got so much to tell you about Earth. Our Milky Way galaxy is full of wonders!" She sighed, thinking about their galaxy.

She turned back to Rueben and Kala. "But we love your galaxy, don't get me wrong!"

Kala smiled warmly. "That's all right, Monica. I mean... Earth does sound like a wonderous place."

"So... a radio can let you communicate with each other?" Rueben asked. "You people... I swear... I don't get your culture one bit." He said, smiling.

The ship took off, and they were set en route to Korriban.

"Next stop... Korriban... you've already been there so you know what to expect right?" Rueben asked. "A dead Sith Academy... the only difference is you're gonna get to meet Luke Skywalker... whether the Darkside will consume him again or not, I fail to see."

Darrick's eyes lit up when he said Luke Skywalker. "Really, we're going to see Luke Skywalker face to face? Hopefully he's on our side."

Monica screamed. She was a big fan of Luke Skywalker.

"LUKE SKYWALKER!! Yes!!" Suddenly, she glanced at Darrick. Then blushed.

"Heh heh. Sorry." Monica grinned.

Darrick kinda jumped from the sudden shock. "Wow And I thought I was a fan of him. How come you never really told me this?"

Monica stood up with Darrick, and smiled brightly. "You're a fan too? Sweet!"

Then she answered his question. "Well... I've been keeping it to myself, because some of the kids at our school kept teasing me about him, saying that I'm 'Luke Skywalker's wife', and all."

She shrugged, and grinned. "I think he's cute too." Her cheeks turned red.

"Then your really cute," that's the first time he ever complimented Monica. He had been really shy in the past few years, but he seems to be more outgoing sinc ethey went into the Star Wars world.

"Don't make me barf." Rueben said, teasingly. "I'd like to know how you know who he is and what he looks like though... uhhh... oh wait... I remember... there was another person from Earth who came to our galaxy... what was his name? Oh yeah... I think it was George Lucas? Hmmmm... is that right... yes... I believe so... wait... did he make a holovid of our... galaxy?"

Rueben looked out into the speeding by stars... then turned around and got a deck of cards.

"Anyone up for a game of Pazzak?" He asked, grinning. "I must warn you however... I'm really good."

"I'm game, but how do ya play?" Darrick sat down near Rueben and waited for the rules.

"Wait, who's driving this metal death trap?"

Kala heard Darrick's question. "I will." She got up, and went over to the cockpit. Sitting down, she focused on flying the ship.

Monica blushed when Darrick said she was cute. It's been so long that they felt something for each other.

The young girl sat by Darrick's side. "So that's how Star Wars was made. George Lucas wanted other people in our Galaxy to see that we weren't alone in the Universe!" She sighed, smiling. "Man... that guy's a genius."

She turned to Darrick. "Darrick? Were you... shy to tell me?"

"A hero to you maybe... but now he's a villian to us. We told him not to tell." Rueben said... rolling his eyes. "I told him myself. But it's not neccessary to do that... it's on auto pilot... I wouldn't be stupid enough to do that... don't take it off of auto pilot though..."

Rueben sat down.

"It's pretty simple... you have this deck." Rueben said, handing him a deck of bluish green cards. "I have a similar deck and also since I'm dealer, I have a deck of yellow cards. You tell me when to stop flipping over cards... all you have to do is get as close to 21 as possible without going over... which is what those blue cards are for... the one's with negative numbers subtract numbers... and the one's with positive numbers add numbers."

Darrick looked at Monica and then to Rueben. "Uhhh.....yeah I was. But it just kinda came out."

"It's pretty simple... you have this deck." Rueben said, handing him a deck of bluish green cards. "I have a similar deck and also since I'm dealer, I have a deck of yellow cards. You tell me when to stop flipping over cards... all you have to do is get as close to 21 as possible without going over... which is what those blue cards are for... the one's with negative numbers subtract numbers... and the one's with positive numbers add numbers."

He then looked back at Rueben, "Sounds easy enough. Let's do it."

Hearing that the ship was on auto pilot, Kala came back with the others.

"Okay, okay, Shan. I'll leave the ship alone... for now." She grinned. "All right! Let's see what you can do, Darrick! I must agree with Rueben though... he is good at this."

Monica sat by Darrick's side at the other side of the table. "He'll take his chances." She smiled at Darrick.

Kala returned the grin as she sat with Rueben. "Bring it on."

Darrick knodded and grinned. "Hit me."

He looked at the card and it showed a +5. "Do I show everybody the card?"

Kala grinned, and glanced at Rueben. She was really excited to see him play Pazzak again. It's been quite some time.

Monica shrugged, and looked over at Rueben's side. "I don't know. Do you, Rueben?"

Although Monica never played cards, she really wanted to pay attention to this kind of game. It looked like real fun.

"Doesn't really matter, this is just a friendly game, but in a real game... you wouldn't want to." Rueben said, flipping over a 5 for Derick and a 3 for himself. "Like right here, I'm going to play a +7 card, once you decided to play it, then you show it to everyone to add to your score. Like I've got a 10 now... and you've got a 5, if you were to play a +5 then we would be even... but if you were to play a -5 then you would be back at 0. But I think you can do math..."

Rueben looked up at Monica and noticed she was paying TOO close attention... he smiled and said playfully, "Now don't you go getting yourself into trouble with gambling... I have a friend in the Galactic Senate who did that, and he nearly lost everything."

Monica shook her head, and looked up at Rueben. The she smiled sheepishly.

"Oh. Okay! I understand that gamble's bad for ya. We have it in our world. Lots of casinos and all."

She blushed. "Although, we never been to one. Only saw them on... how you call it in your Galaxy... holovids."

Monica giggled. "But I think I understand the game now. Proceed." She rested her head on the back of her seat.

"Casinos.... my parents went to one of those. It was in Los Angeles." He remembered now.

That's how I met you, Monica. I went to my grandparent's house and you lived next door. But how did we exactly meet I forgot.

Monica smiled. When Darrick and her first met, it was wonderful. She began to Force bond Darrick back.

"It all started when we were little kids. I was running from one side of the sidewalk, and you ran from the other. When we were rushing to get to our house ... Bang! We collided, and fell on the ground together."

She sighed. "You looked at me, and said, 'Oh man! I'm sorry! Let me help you up.' When you helped me up, I glanced at your eyes. I knew that I found a new friend to count on."

Monica smiled, and looked at Darrick. "That's how we got to know each other... and trust one another." The memory of her and Darrick meeting for the first time made her feel better inside.

Darick rubbed his head, "Yeah that's how, must of knocked my memory from that. You had a really hard head."

He looked at the cards and picked one. +2. He layed the card down, "that makes my score 7 or did I do something wrong?"

Rueben smiled. "No of course not... but I'll be right back, I can feel something dark drawing closer... I think we are near Korriban."

Rueben grimaced as he stood up and went to the cockpit. Rueben looked out the window and gasped, they had completely overshot Korriban... they were on their way to the remains of Malachor V. The ship instantly haulted after Rueben took it off of auto-pilot.

Kala ran by Rueben's side, and held on to his shoulder. "Do you think my brother came here?"

The thought of her brother made Kala feel frightened inside. Although he was a Sith, she loved Vashneer aka Ulic with all her heart. And she'd do anything to save him.

Monica ran by Rueben's other side. "Oooh. Creepy." The looks of Malachor V sent chills through her spines.

Darrick jumped up and ran behind everyone. "Weird. That doesn't look like Korriban. Where are we?" He didn't like the look of the planet they were all looking at.

"Malachor V." Rueben whispered. "Or what's left of it. The Jedi Exile... Jan Seyor... destroyed the planet when she killed her master, Kreia... aka Darth Traya. Well she didn't necessarily destroy the planet, Darth Traya's darkened corpse did that, by making the core explode... the Jedi Exile was rescued by her companions on the Ebon Hawk and her soon to be husband, Atton Rand."

Rueben looked directly at Kala.

"No... I do not believe you're brother has come here... look at Malachor V... it's floating off in 7 different directions... where would he be at?" Rueben asked. "He'd go to a place where it would be obvious to find him. Korriban."

Rueben turned the ship around and sped off, heading back to the Outer Rim. Korriban was the third planet in from where they were.

"Wait a minute!" Monica gasped. "If... 'what's-his-name' is at Korriban, and Luke's on Korriban..."

She panicked. "Oh no! What if Luke gets hurt by that jerk?!" She turned to Kala. "No offense."

Kala shrugged. "It's all right." Then she smiled. "I'm sure Luke's gonna be fine." She closed her eyes, sensing for Luke's presence. Kala opened her eyes again.

"I sense that Mara, his wife, is there too." She scratched her head. "Wonder what Ben's doing? Oh, Ben Skywalker is their son."

"How old is Ben? Is he our age?" Darrick wanted to meet him he hadn't ever heard of Ben.

"At first I thought you were talking about Ben Kenobi." He grinned and smacked his forehead with the palm of his hand.

"Now look what you did... you know we don't talk about Ben anymore... not since he left the Order." Rueben said, sighing at Kala.

Rueben looked at Darrick and Monica...

"What you're not gonna ask me about Malachor V? And here I expected 20 questions." Rueben laughed. "You seem to be curious about everything else... Like Ben."

Rueben glared at Kala...

Thanks a lot, now I'm gonna have to explain a lot to Luke... Rueben said, through the Force bond that linked him and Kala together. You know that they shouldn't know about Ben... that's the reason why the Order is down so many numbers.

Kala rolled her eyes, and smiled at Rueben. "Shan... it's okay! We can trust them. I know that Ben left the Order... but I have a feeling that we can't keep secrets from Monica and Darrick."

She raised an eyebrow. "Especially Monica. I mean... she is the Chosen One to save our Galaxy, right? Her and the golden star locket."

After that, Kala looked down, ashamed. "Sorry, Rueben."

"We're sorry, too. For asking so many questions." Monica rubbed her head sheepishly.

"Why do you say you thought we should have had 20 questions for Malachor?"

He paused and thought. "What's so special about Malachor than any other planet anyway?"