"So you're father was the legendary Darth Vader?"

Luke and Dilaaana sat on the yellow, warm sand by his X-wing. Luke was looking up at Artoo, cross-legged. Dilaaana lay on her side, absent-mindedly picking up and dropping sand.

Luke nodded subtly. "Yes. Well, no. My father was Anakin Skywalker. Darth Vader was evil, but Anakin was different."

"Different," she repeated dreamily, looking into the above sun. Then she looked at Luke, his blue eyes and blonde hair shining brigtly in the light. "If he's different like you, than I think I would like him."

Luke smiled sheepishly and looked away. He felt slightly embarrassed; he didn't know how to react.

Her next comment helped him.

"In fact, I think I might . . . love . . . him."

Luke turned this time, his hair flinging around behind his head. He locked into her eyes, leaning forward....

And they were kissing. Just one, at the beginning. But then Luke reached around her and held her body to his. It was all so strange. He'd known he'd never met her before in her life, but something just made her so familiar.

The kiss seemed to last forever. But it didn't. The eternity, in reality, lasted just several second. Luke pulled away, and looked at her again. His hand pressed to her cheek, he pushed her hair away from her eyes.

"I've never met anyone like you before," he whispered. She looked at him straight on, a little smile formed on her lips... her eyes suddenly moved from him to beyond him. Something behind him. The smile instantly disappeared.

Luke whirled, hand dropped to his belt and searched for his lightsaber. He scrambled to stand. "What?" he asked shakily, eyes darting for an enemy.

Dilaaana stood up softly behind him, and rested her palm on his shoulder. He felt her fear loudly, calling through the Force. She needed reassurance. She was to be protected.

"There was someone there," she announced, tension arising in her voice. "It wasn't a mirage... they're still after the pendant."

Luke glanced back. "Pendant? Is that why they held you up at the cantina?"

She nodded. "Yes. My father was murdered by the Empire." She swallowed, holding back tears of an emotional memory. "I became a slave, serving these misers," she nodded once towards Mos Eisley, "like that one. But I stole a pendant of theirs. It has an inscription that has the formula for some secret weapon on it. Some ancient tribe used it to wipe out another tribe."

"And the Empire wants it to wipe out the New Republic," Luke guessed.

"Yes. Most of the Empire's gone, but those that are left are just enraged. Understandable, huh. We did conquer them in the Battle of Endor."

It made sense. It all started to click slowly. "We conquered?" He paused. He remembered her suddenly. With a gun, in Endor clothing. She stood by somebody real closely, until the Empire captured him in that battle because he found out some secret Imperial information that he never got around to revealing...

Of course, he hadn't been there during that war. He'd been up in the second Death Star with his father. But he remembered!

"You're Commander Frellend's daughter, aren't you!" His voice reflected all of his excitement. They'd interacted before, just far apart. He'd looked at her for an instant and thought how she'd be beautiful, but he'd had no time to reflect then.

He expected excitement back, but she just looked at the ground, nodding slowly. He couldn't see her face; it was so tilted parallel to the ground that-

Water dropped from her face onto the ground. A tear. He turned, and hugged her. "Oh, I'm sorry," he said to her gently. "I didn't realize-"

Suddenly there was a blaster shot from behind. Luke shoved her down to the ground by her shoulders. Then he slowly slid behind his X-wing. He motioned for her to follow. With tear-stained eyes, she reluctantly scurried next to him, fear showing all over her face. He put his right arm around him, and she touched his prosthetic hand gently. For the first time she noticed it.

"What happened?" she asked quietly. Her voice still trembled.

"Just an accident," he replied, not wanting her to know the truth about Darth-or, Anakin Skywalker.

"They've tracked us here through those information sellers." Dilaaana leaned over and glanced under the large ship. "There're ten of 'em, I can see them." She sat up back next to Luke. "They all have blasters."

He sighed. "Alright. I have my lightsaber. They aren't getting the pendant, or you."

She looked up into his face and smiled. "My Jedi hero," she whispered.

They kissed for an instant, then Luke stood up. "I'm going to clean the rampway so we can get out of here." There was a pause. He felt out to the enemies with the Force, touching their presense, waiting for a slight distraction in their continuous survey...

Luke leapt out and stood their for a moment. As a Jedi, his first attempt was to intimidate them so that his fighting wouldn't lead to anything fatal. Killing was only for circumstances where it was either you or them. Here, he felt that with stormtroopers, although in great numbers, were best intimidated.

But at the side of Jlenet, they couldn't run and hide. They shot repeatedly, so that several blaster bolts came towards Luke at the same split second, but using the Force he managed to deflect them. He started forward, gradually increasing step by step. Within moments he would soon be on top of them...

A stormtrooper suddenly yelled in pain and collapsed. Luke had no time to turn his head, but he saw through unseen eyes the figure of Dilaaana squatting by the X-wing, holding up a blaster which she had just produced from an unknown pocket. She looked defiant, and aimed and instant later. Luke stepped forward as another stormtrooper went down.

Yes!

Finally the troopers were within striking distance. They couldn't back up, as their leader was standing behind them, making sure they didn't split as they wanted to. So Luke sliced him down, the next, and went through a couple more. The last weren't so easily wounded. They used more than their blaster and fought with their limbs. Luke was kicked hard in the shins once, but he fought the pain and regained his balance.

One more shot from Dilaaana, one more man down. Two men remained, only one was a stormtrooper. Luke kicked him down and pointed his lightsaber down at him. There was Force swarming all around this one, and something told Luke not to kill him. But Jlenet exclaimed, "Kill him!" and the trooper raised his blaster to shoot. Luke had no choice but defense.

Suddenly Jlenet was the only one remaining. And he looked around very nervously and backed up, staying a good distance away from the Jedi.

"Do I know you?" he snarled, reaching for his blaster.

Luke waved the lightsaber and let its hum convince Jlenet to forget his blaster. "You're a friend of a friend," Luke replied curtly.

"Would you please explain to your friend that I am in no way afflicted with the Empire? That pendant has a religious meaning, one only I can understand. I'm an interpreter. The museum wants that pendant."

Luke held the lightsaber daringly close to the man's chest. "She wouldn't believe you. Neither would I."

The man shook as he looked at the lightsaber held to his chest. "Are you going to turn me in to the Republic for self-defense?"

"Maybe. Or for attempted homicide."

Jlenet seemed to puff up with dignity. "You wouldn't dare. I have an entire Empire standing behind me. I'm surprised you were able to touch me."

Luke found himself very curious. He truly didn't know what to do with this man. He could be turned into the New Republic, but Jlenet was right; the Empire would get him out somehow. He should be just murdered now, but he was defenseless. Yoda would definitely disapprove of murdering an unarmed man. Luke was falling deeper and deeper into a business that he admitted had nothing to do with him.

But it had a lot to do with Dilaaana, so it did, in a way, have everything to do with him. It was best to toy with him until Luke knew exactly where to put him.

"An Empire doesn't consist of a dozen stormtroopers, I'm afraid. And if you're all dead, who'll know to send to the Empire for help."

"Then kill me." Jlenet's words startled Luke. "I know you won't. You're a Jedi, aren't you? I recognized the weapon. A what? Lightsaber, I heard? But Jedi's wouldn't hurt an unarmed man. It would be disapproved."

Startled, Luke slowly lowered his lightsaber. What was going on? And was Dilaaana safe?

"Oh, Dilaaana's quite safe. Turn 'round." Luke slowly whirled, and saw a group of stormtroopers holding blaster rifles at the X-wing.. .why were they pointing guns at the ... they had Dilaaana.

"Look behind the ship- oh, you do see her. Now, see? I always say the best way to get information is from the closest source you can find." With that, he held up a small shiny device inside of his pocket. A wire ran from it all the way to Jlenet's ear.

"A compact mind-analyzer!" Luke exclaimed. "You knew our plans. You knew what I was thinking-"

"Isn't victory sweet?"

The stormtroopers behind the X-wing pushed Dilaaana forward. "Luke, no!" she exclaimed. "Run, get away. Now, fast."

"They're not getting you!" he shouted back.

"Skywalker, it's over," Jlenet muttered. "We have her, you, and the pendant."

"Luke, run!" she cried again. "Trust me- if you get away, they'll only have two of the three!"

What was she talking about? He looked over at her beautiful green eyes and recognized excitement. His hand went into his pocket. The pocket he remembered she'd been reaching into as they were kissing-

He felt a thin disc inside, attached with a long, metal chain.

Run, Luke, run-

But then his paths occured to him: either he ran and saved the New Republic or he stayed and tried to help Dilaaana. The easiest one was not necessarily what he wanted to do...

What he didn't realize at the time was that no matter which path he took, the future had already been planned out.

Back to the creative corner...