The Apartment of Luke and Mara Jade Skywalker

[Mara Jade Skywalker]

"Ready when you are, Luke." Mara turns to the nanny droid standing silent guard in the back of the room. "You know the routine. We'll be back later." She kisses the top of Ben's head and heads toward the door.

[Luke Skywalker]

"Right behind you," Luke kisses Ben good-bye, then turns and follows Mara out the door, headed to the Jedi Library.

[Luke Skywalker]

Luke enters the access code, and he and Mara enter the apartment. Ben is watching a puppet show on the holo vid that is teaching basic letters and numbers. He hears the door, turns around and gets up and runs, "Mommy!"
Ben runs to Mara's waiting arms, and she scoops him up. "Hey there little man. Have you been a good boy?"

Ben nods, "Yes I have. Hi Daddy!"

Luke kisses Ben on the forehead, "Hi there."

Luke heads to the bedroom and packs a travel bag, a couple of changes of clothes, his shoto, and some ration bars. He decides to throw in some extra energy cells for both of his lightsabers and for his blaster.

Luke straps on his belt and holster. He checks the charge of his Blas Tech DL-44, and puts it in his holster. He then attaches his lightsaber to the belt after checking it's power cell. Luke then heads back into the living room.

A few minutes later, the door chimes. It is the force-sensitive attendant that will assist the nanny droid in watching over Ben for the next few days.

"Your turn to pack Red, " says Luke. He sits on the couch with Ben, watching the puppet program while Mara packs.

[Luke Skywalker]

Mara heads to the bedroom, and begins to pack. She packs a few change of clothes, her usual hold out arsenal of thermal detonators, extra power cells, and espionage equipment. She holsters her blaster, attaches her lightsaber to her belt, and holsters her hold out blaster on her left arm.

She heads back into the living room, "All set Farmboy." Mara turns her attention to Ben, "Mommy and Daddy have to go away for a few days. We will miss you very much and will call to check on you." Mara hugs the boy and kisses him.

"Let's go."

Luke kisses Ben, "Bye Ben. See you in a few days."He then comms Artoo, "Start prepping the Shadow for flight. We are on our way."
Luke follows Mara out the door and they head for the Jade's Shadow.

[Luke Skywalker]

The door to the apartment slides open and in walks a golden protocol droid.

"Hello Master Luke? Mistress Mara? Is anybody here?"

The nanny droid comes into the room, "State your intention."

"Oh my. How rude! I am See Threepio, a protocol droid well versed in over six million forms of communication. I am the property of Master Luke Skywalker. Who are you?" said Threepio, sounding almost agitated.

"I am the nanny droid protecting young Ben. Again, state your intention," said the converted YVH-1 droid.

"I'm here to see Master Luke or Mistress Mara. It is of the utmost importance that I speak with them immediately. My business is my own."

"They are not here. You may leave a message."

"No, I was just wondering where a certain R2 unit was," said a dejected Threepio.

"He is with the Skywalkers," replied Whyvee.

"Alright, never-mind," said Threepio. He turned and walked out of the apartment, wishing they would hurry up and come home.

[Mara Jade Skywalker]

Immediately after landing, Mara rushed back to the apartment, but it was still early in the morning by Yavin IV time, and Ben was fast asleep. Not wanting to wake him, she quietly entered his bedroom and knelt next to his bed. She gently ran her fingers through his hair and kissed his cheek, then left the room as quietly as she'd entered. Mara dismissed the caregiver and gave her a generous tip.

[Mara Jade Skywalker]

In the short walk back from the Tap Cafe, Ben had fallen asleep in Mara's arms. She changed him into his pajamas, put him in his bed, and kissed him good night.

"I don't know about you, farmboy, but I am exhausted."

[Luke Skywalker]

"Get out of my head Skywalker," jokes Luke. "But seriously, I am tired too. Let's get to bed."
Mara and Luke quickly change and get ready for bed. She beats him to the bed, but he follows quickly. Both are asleep as soon as their heads touch their pillows.

[Luke Skywalker]

Luke wakes up, and slips out of bed quietly. He grabs a quick sanisteam and dresses. He chooses his usual black outfit, and then finishes dressing. He clips his lightsaber to his belt. Then he grabs a black robe from the closet and puts it on.

Heading to the kitchen, he lightly browns two pieces of bread and spreads butter on them. He writes a note to Red:

"Gone to see if I can discover who is behind yesterday's message. Will catch up with you later today.

Love

Luke"

He leaves it on the kitchen table, finishes his breakfast, then leaves the apartment.

[Luke Skywalker]

Luke and Mara enter the apartment. Ben is already in bed.

"What did you think of him Red?" asks Luke. "I don't think he was lying, but something seemed off. Why don't you check with Kaarde, and I'll check the holonet? Let's see what we can turn up."

[Mara Jade Skywalker]

Mara takes a moment to organize her thoughts on the matter. "Well, I can get that he's telling the truth, at least as far as he knows it, but there is SOMETHING else going on. I just can't put my finger on it. I can contact Karrde in the morning, see if he can shed any light on the subject."

[Luke Skywalker]

"Sounds like a plan," as Luke stretches and yawns. "I don't know about you, but I am beat."

Luke starts checking windows and turning off lights not needed.

[Mara Jade Skywalker]

"Me too." Mara responds, heading for the bedroom. She changes into her sleeping clothes and slips into bed. Yawning, she says, "Good night, Luke."

[Luke Skywalker]

Luke changes into night clothes, and climbs into bed. "Night Red." Luke leans over, kisses her, then settles down and falls asleep.

[Mara Jade Skywalker]

Having been unexplainably awakened a few hours after going to bed, Mara finds herself wide awake. She can't seem to get the injured Carratos man's story off her mind. She keeps thinking about the man's son being trapped in City Hall. Perhaps it is because his name was so close to her own son's name. Not wanting to disturb Luke--he doesn't get enough sleep as it is--she silently slips out of bed, pulls on a robe and enters the living room.

A thought occurs to Mara, and she sits down at the holonet unit, dialing up the familiar comm number of her old boss. After a few minutes, the face of Talon Karrde materializes on the display.

"Karrde, here." Karrde answers the comm, too preoccupied to have looked at the caller's ID.

"Hey, Karrde, it's Mara."

Karrde finally looks up, beaming when he recognizes the caller. "Mara Jade! To what do I owe this pleasure?"

Mara laughs and returns his smile. "It's good to see you too, old man." She teases him. "I happen to be in the market for some information. I hear your prices are the cheapest around."

Karrde chuckles. "For you, my dear, it's on the house. Now, what sort of information are you looking for?"

Mara gets right to the point. "Know anything about a recent event on Carratos?"

Karrde strokes his beard thoughtfully. "Officially, there have been no incidents on Carratos. However," he says slowly. "There has been some upheaval on the planet regarding the RGE. That's all the information I have at this time."

"Right. Thanks, Talon. Keep me updated if you hear anything else?"

"Of course." His holo smiles. "How is young Ben? He's probably twice as big since the last I saw him."

"Growing like a Wroshyr tree!" She laughs lightly. "You need to stop by for a visit next time you're in the sector."

"Will do, Mara. You take care and I'll update you when I get new information." He says. "Oh, and by the way, tell Skywalker I want my second-in-command back." Karrde adds jokingly.

She chuckles. "I will be sure to relay that message. Thanks again, Talon." Mara ends the transmission.

Satisfied that this information is a step to getting answers to Ross Morgavi's story, Mara is able to get back to sleep in no time.