This story ties in with the R2 and C-3po stories I have written and I can only hope it to be as entertaining as they were.

Disclaimer~ Everything SW belongs to GL and LFLtd. I am making no money from this. It is intended purely for entertainment purposes only. Please don't sue!!

The Holo

PG-13 By Maara

Ben sat on the couch in the apartment he shared with his parents, bored with the cartoons playing on the holovid. He sat there and looked at R2-D2 and C-3po. His parents were out at meetings and had left him in the care of the droids and the Noghri posted outside the apartment door. Which meant he couldn't do anything. He was 10 after all and wanted to do something besides watch the holovid or play board games. He wanted to go to the gardens but his mom and dad had said not to leave the apartment. They were too busy to take him.

He sighed loudly as the holo played on. C-3po turned to look at him when he sighed. "You are not watching the cartoons. Is there something wrong, Master Ben?"

Ben looked up at the droid. "Yes. I am bored," crossing his arms over his chest. "Can't we go down to the gardens? I want to go outside and play."

"I am sorry, Master Ben, but your parents gave strict orders that you were not to go out until they returned." C-3po watched the expression on the young boy's face turn grumpy. He had seen that look many times on the Solo children over the years; then an idea came over his processors. "Why don't we put on a new holo for you. R2-D2 has many in his memories to choose from."

"I don't want to watch another holo. I want to go outside like other kids do." He balled up his fists and brought them down on the couch cushions for effect.

"Please, Master Ben, I can not disobey your mother. Now, you pick a holo with Artoo and I will make you a snack." He walked toward the kitchen as Artoo rolled up to Ben and beeped at him.

Ben scowled at 3-po's back and turned to face R2-D2. "What kind of holos do you have in memory?

A panel on Artoo's cylindrical body folded out and displayed a list for Ben to see. He watched as it scrolled by when a title caught his eye. "Stop Artoo.go back." He watched as the list scrolled backwards slowly. "Right there."

He looked closer. "What is this one marked with mom and dad's name?" He looked at the data pad that was hooked to him for translation and read as Artoo beeped. "What do you mean just a holo of mom and dad?" He read as the little droid beeped a reply.

Ben waved away the translation on the datapad. "Put that one on. I want to see what it is." He sat back as Artoo beeped rapidly at him.

"C-3po said to pick a holo from your list and I did. I want to see it." Artoo sighed and sat back extending his control arm and inserted it into the holo's data port. As the image appeared on the screen, Ben's eyes widened as his parent's forms sprang to life on the vid screen. They were in bed. Naked! He soon forgot his boredom as he watched his parents kiss and wrestle around on the holo.

Mara walked down the corridor toward the turbolift that would take her to the apartment she shared with her family. Mara smiled to herself as she thought that word again to herself. She finally had a family. For so long she had been alone in the galaxy. After the Emperor, she had wandered the galaxy trying to find a place for herself.

She had lived the life of an assassin, a barmaid in rough cantinas and a smuggler. After all of that she had resolved herself to the fact that she would never have a family of her own. Then she met Luke and after trying to kill him, over the years that followed, she had come to care about and respect him. Then they fell in love; after many years of uncertainty and the darkside influence that had hung over him like a cloud; and now they had a son. A dream come true for both of them.

She entered the lift and dialed her floor, letting her contentment fill her. She decided to take Ben to the Gardens when she got home. She knew he would be restless and thought he would enjoy some fresh air.

As the turbolift doors opened, she felt a sense of shock ripple through Ben and she took off running as soon as the doors were open enough for her to get through.

The Noghri was still outside the door, so she figured that, somehow, whatever it was had slipped right by them. The Noghri on guard turned towards her as she ran up and slapped her hand on the door scanner. "Stay out here!" and she rushed into the apartment sliding to a stop as she saw Ben on the couch with his mouth hanging open in shock.

Confused she made her way to his side and her own jaw dropped as she saw herself and Luke on the vid screen making love. Her mouth worked up and down soundlessly for a moment as C-3po came out of the kitchen carrying a tray. "Mistress Mara, how wonderful to see you." He noticed the look on her face. "Are you alright?

"R2-D2 turn that off right now!!!" Ben shrank back into the couch and Artoo immediately snapped the holo off and retracted his control arm, sealing it quickly inside his body. He correctly determined that she was angry, so he beeped an apology and turned and zipped out of the room before she could react.

"Oh dear me. What happened?" C-3po started walking towards her when she turned a murderous gaze on him. He stopped in his tracks and quickly looked back the way he had come. "Well, I think I should take this to the kitchen." And he was trotting back to the kitchen as fast as his feet could carry him.

Ben looked up at his mother. She was mad. He could feel her anger bubbling inside. She stood there with her eyes closed, taking deep breaths, trying to calm herself down. "Ben I think you should go to your room." She said with eyes still closed and her teeth clenched tightly together. Ben got up and ran to his room slamming the door behind him. He had never seen his mother this mad before. He wondered what would happen next.

Mara stood in the living room alone trying her very best to calm herself and take control of her anger. She took a few more deep; cleansing breaths and some of her anger ebbed. She opened her eyes and tried to figure out just how Artoo had been able to record them making love. She couldn't believe he had let Ben see it.

Just then Luke came rushing through the door. "What is it?" He had felt her emotions churning and ran all the way back home to see what had happened. He grabbed her shoulders. "Mara?"

Mara found it hard to find her voice. "Luke, Artoo was playing a holo for Ben." Luke drew back clearly confused.

"A holo of.what?" He got the feeling the answer would be something he did not want to hear.

Mara looked him right in the eye. "A holo of us." She stared at him pointedly, "making love." She watched the look of horror spread across his face.

"He WHAT!?" He looked down then back up at his wife. "How,,,I mean," he was completely thrown. He did not expect this.

"I have no idea how he recorded it or why he showed it to Ben, but," here Mara hesitated. "I think that maybe you should have a talk with Ben about what he saw."

"First I want to have a chat with Artoo." He let go of Mara's shoulders and ran a hand through his hair.

"I will talk to Artoo, you go talk to Ben." Mara couldn't wait to get her hands on that little droid. "This is a talk he really should have with his father."

Irrational fear shot through him at that thought. "Why can't you talk to him about this?" He knew he would have to do it but tried to get out of it anyway.

"Because he is a boy. If we had a girl I would be the one to explain, but we have a boy so this one is up to you." Mara crossed her arms over her chest and stared him down.

Luke looked at his wife and knew he wasn't getting out of it. He could also see what she wanted to do to the astromech. "Mara don't do anything to him. Just find out how he got that holo and why he showed it to Ben." It was his turn to stare her down.

"Oh alright. I'll just talk to him." She turned and started away then stopped and looked at Luke. "Tell Ben I'm sorry if my anger scared him and that I will go see him later." She looked to their bedroom where Artoo had disappeared. "After I talk to that little." She didn't finish the thought and headed off to find the droid.

Luke shook his head and blew out a breath. He knew he would have to talk to Ben about this but had hoped it would be later on. He paced the room for a few minutes trying to decide how to handle all of this. Rubbing the back of his neck he headed down the hall to have a chat with his son.

When he got to the door. He shook himself mentally and pulled it together before he tentatively knocked on Ben's door. When he walked inside, he saw Ben sitting on his bed looking completely dejected. Luke softened at the sight of his son and went to sit beside him on the bed. "Hey pal. Heard you had an interesting day."

"Yeah, I guess so." He looked at his father. "I guess mom's mad at me, huh?"

Luke leaned back on his elbow and looked at his son. "No. She's not mad at you. She was mad at something else." He was not exactly sure how to proceed but would just wait and see what happened.

"What was she mad at?" Ben was glad she wasn't mad at him but still wanted to understand what was wrong.

"She was mad at Artoo." Luke watched Ben's face to see how he would take that. He loved the little droid after all.

Ben's eyes widened, "Mom won't do anything to him will she?" He made as if to go to protect the droid.

Luke put his hand on his son's arm, stopping and turning him to face him. "No she won't, so calm down." He let go of his arm and leaned back again. "I think maybe we should talk about what you saw on that holo." He hesitated briefly before plunging ahead. "Do you know what it was you saw?"

Ben looked down and shook his head. "I know you were kissing and hugging but I don't really understand what else you were doing." Ben looked at his father. "Was it bad what I saw? Is that why mommy got mad?"

Luke's heart went out to him. He had never seen his mother so angry before so he wasn't sure how to deal with it. "It wasn't bad what we were doing but you watching it wasn't really right." He saw Ben's face at this statement and rushed to explain further. "It wasn't your fault Ben. You didn't know what it was when you played it, but." Here he hesitated. He thought, * how do I explain this without sounding like it was his fault? * He decided to take a different direction. "Let me tell you a little about what you saw and maybe that will help you to understand what I am saying."

Ben thought a moment. "Ok." He turned to give his father his complete attention. "I am curious."

Luke chuckled at this admission. "I am sure you are." He tousled his reddish blonde hair. "What you saw, Ben, was what happens between people who love each other." Luke sat up and leaned back against the headboard to Ben's bed. "When mommy and I fell in love, we got married. When you get married, you are promising to spend your life with that person." Luke kept a close watch on his son's features as he spoke. "Do you understand so far?"

Ben nodded at his father. "Yeah, so far."

"Ok. Well, when people get married they sometimes want to have children." Luke was starting to sweat a bit as he continued. "When we want to have children we perform certain.acts together to do this."

"You mean, like what you were doing in the holo?" Ben asked his now profusely sweating father.

"Yes." Luke took a deep breath, trying to ignore the warmth spreading across his features. "Do you have any questions so far?"

"How exactly does this act make babies, dad?" Luke was hoping he wouldn't have to go too far with an explanation, but knew he had his mother's penchant for asking the tough questions.

"Well, the man," and stopped as Ben interrupted.

"You." He said.

"Yes, Me." he cleared his throat. "He has to put his private part inside the woman to make babies." Luke's face was very warm and very red and he felt his heart pounding and the blood roaring through his ears. "We call that making love."

Ben looked a little confused and Luke could see him glancing down to his own lap. Then he looked up at his father. "You mean you just put it inside.?"

"Well, there is a bit more to it but," Luke tried to think of a good way to explain this. "You see, mommies have eggs inside their bellies and when people want to have a family, the daddy puts his private part inside of her, and helps the egg grow into a baby in the mommy's belly." He hoped Ben understood. This could take quite a while if he didn't.

"So if a daddy does that with a mommy they can make babies?"

Ben seemed to understand. Luke nodded, "yes."

"Why do you call that making love?" Ben was looking directly at Luke while speaking to him, making him a very nervous father.

Luke thought he was home free up until Ben asked that question. "It's called making love because when you do that with someone, it is a way of expressing your love to them."

"You love Aunt Lei." Ben started but did not get far.

"No Ben." Luke stopped and sputtered, "I mean, yes, I love Aunt Leia but not in that way." Luke ran his hand nervously through his hair and tried to think of a way to recover. "Making love is something you only do with your wife or husband. The person you want to spend the rest of your life with." He blew out a breath. "Do you understand?"

"Yeah dad. I think I do." He smiled at his father. Luke breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

"Dad?" Ben asked, "I am curious." This time Ben acted flustered. "Were you making me in that holo?" Ben could feel his father's embarrassment like a lightning bolt and his own crept up inside.

Luke smiled and shook his head. "A baby isn't made every time... people do this." Then he smiled and ruffled his son's hair again. "You were born much later." Luke left it at that, then became serious placing a hand on Ben's shoulder. "Making love is a very private thing between two people who love each other very much. You give yourself to each other and share everything in your lives together. Can you understand now, why mommy was so mad that you had seen that?"

"I guess so." Ben shrugged. "Mommy likes to keep things to herself."

"Yes and that's because we love each other so much that we want what we share to stay just ours." He smiled, "happy memories to keep in our hearts; that make us what we are."

"Ok dad. It will be our secret now. I won't tell anyone." Ben smiled up at his father. He always made everything better.

"Thank you Ben. I am very glad to hear that." Luke stood up and took a few steps to the door before turning back. "And by the way, your mother wanted me to tell you she is not mad at you and is sorry if she scared you." Luke looked at his son closely.

Ben was glad to hear that. He had never felt his mother that angry before and he never wanted to again. "Good."

"Come on. Let's go see if your mother wants to take a walk in the gardens."

"Ok!" Ben jumped down from the bed and pulled on his father's hand. Luke laughed and followed behind his son.

Later that night, Luke and Mara were snuggled together in bed, talking about the holo.

"Did you find out where Artoo got that holo from?" Luke asked and kissed the top of his wife's head.

"Yes, he said he recorded it not long after we got back from Nirauan." She snuggled deeper into his embrace and kissed the nearest piece of flesh. "He was trying to figure out human nature and wanted to know what we were doing so he recorded us to compare with what he was reading."

"Did you watch it?" Luke was curious to see just what Ben had.

"No, I didn't see it, except for the part that Ben saw." Mara twisted and leaned up on her elbow to look at her husband. "Why?" As she looked at her husband her lips curled into a feral grin. "You want to watch it, don't you?"

Luke couldn't help the grin that spread across his face. "Well, I just think we should see what Ben saw. Maybe I can better understand how he felt about it if I saw what he saw." He had a familiar gleam in his eye.

Mara laughed and ran a finger lightly around one of his nipples. "We could call Artoo in here and have him play it for us." She arched her eyebrows playfully at him.

Luke laughed and hugged her tight. "Why not?"

"You got it, Skywalker." Mara got up and slipped into her robe and went to get the droid. Luke laid back in the bed, arms behind his head, and a smile on his face. He and Mara had never watched any kind of adult holos before so this would be a new, hopefully exciting experience for them. His smile widened as Mara came back into their room with Artoo in tow. Luke sat up and arranged their pillows so they could sit up and snuggle together as they watched.

Yes, an exciting experience indeed.

~Finis

Hope you liked it. I had to go there! ^_-