No Greater Plan

Disclaimer: I do not make any money from this, nor do I own any of the official Star Wars Characters or any other character from the movies books etc. I do own the inserted Characters: Zeeana, Teal, Rukia Nathaniel, Darien, Yale and Bathaden and any other randomly inserted Imperial soldier or character not belonging to the mainstream registered bits, that I so choose to shove in here

^_~ Pairings: Teal and Rukia. Darien and Zeeana… eventually

Rating: NC17.

Author: Armitage43

Author’s note: This fic has been the bane of my existence for quite a few years now^^:; There has been so many different unfinished versions, (glances to the 15 different note books on her desk and sweat drops). I will admit I am not the greatest writer in the fandoms that I write in; I could be the worst for all I know, but this is the first time I have ventured into this realm of SW fics… ^^;; I started writing for just my own pleasure and fun. I write because I love to write and I decided to share it with others because I want constructive criticism. Just a main point though, I started writing this when I was a lot younger and this fic does not really follow the books or the movies etc, but it was written for a friend of mine and it’s just how it turned out. I still am writing some chapters that are not finished. So this posting of the fic will now ensure I finish the bloody thing ^^;; he, he, he.

Please be gentle with me and note that Mara may be out of character, as I haven’t really gotten to know her. I added her after Luke and she got married in the comics. Originally, I had Luke and Zee paired off.

Summary ~*~

The distant planet of Callen III is about to become part of the New Republic.

A treaty has been agreed upon by Coruscant’s Head of State Senator Leia Organa-Solo and when members of Callan III’s Senate go missing their youngest member, Zeeana Amaris, a young woman from the town of Maxilon Artica, is chosen by her Senate to represent the planet as their Senate elect to meet with Coruscant’s Head of State.

When Imperials arrive the night before the meeting Zeeana realizes that her brother is part of the faction that knows of the Senates troubles. As the adventure unfolds Zeeana discovers something about her past that will change her life forever.

No Greater Plan.


Chapter one


The yellow orange glare of the sun setting over Maxilon Artica seemed to dance upon the rooftops of the simple homesteads below.

This small farming community was famous throughout the galaxy for its abundance of first grade fruit and vegetable harvests and once a year buyers and traders would come from all over the galaxy just to buy these crops to take back to their own planets to trade and sell.

Harvest time was a welcomed socializing event in Maxilon Artica's small farming community, as the main town of Aleri Minor was more than 250 miles away and company very rarely came. As night settled in most of the crop farmers were already home in their beds, but for one homestead standing alone 15 miles out of Maxilon Artica, one young woman was only just heading home from the fields.

As she neared her homestead, the roar of ship engines made her gaze skyward. She shuddered as a cold feeling swept over her.

Checking her time cell the young woman sighed. Every week for the past year they had been coming to Callen III.

Imperials!

She hated them. They had taken away almost all of those she'd loved most in her life. Sighing again the young woman continued on towards the homestead. Her thoughts were interrupted as the door to the homestead flew open and a young man raced outside looking skyward, watching as the ships flew out of sight.

The young man turned back to face the young woman, their eyes exchanging icy cold stares.

As he walked past her she felt a strange sensation engulf her, and she looked right into his cold brown eyes.

"I will not let you invade my thoughts, Teal,” her voice sounded calm, yet serious. "We both made a promise to father before he died that we would not use our powers; or have you forgotten?"

The young man sauntered up to her, a sly and unkind grin upon his face. "Zee, father has been dead for years now, when are you going to drop all this stupid promise nonsense?"

Her eyes narrowed and she glared at the young man in front of her. "A promise is a promise, brother!"

“A promise is a promise." he mimicked. "For goodness sake, Zeeana… " He continued raising his voice a little. “The only reason we had to make that pathetic promise in the first place was because of you!” he turned and headed towards a land hover a few feet away.

Zeeana's face fell a little and an annoyed look replaced her hard glare. "That isn’t fair, Teal."

"Not fair!?" He laughed sarcastically, whirling around to face her again. ”Not fair on who? You are the one who could not, and still cannot, control her powers, and yet I am expected to keep that stupid promise too. It is not fair all right! Not fair on me!"

A rigid silence reigned for a few moments as the two stood looking at each other. Zeeana knew he was angry. He never used to be that way, but the last 12 months had slowly seen a change in him; and for the worst.

"I suppose that you’re going out again?" Zeeana ventured.

"So, what if I am?” he spat.

"I… I was just asking."The young woman backed up as little, "There's no need to bite my head off."

Teal folded his arms and stood, his eyes piercing hers.

"W- what?" She asked nervously.

He shook his head almost shamefully. "You're so pitiful, you know that, don't you?"

"Look, Teal!" Zeeana began in her own defense. "I'm just worried about you, that's all. Father was worried too. There's so many out there who would happily exploit our powers," she began earnestly, "And you know how dangerous it can be with… " She nodded in the direction the Imperial ships had headed. “…with them around."

Teal laughed at the futile attempt at concern. "I'm a big boy now, Zeeana; I can take care of myself! I don't need you to remind me with one of father's pathetic little lectures."

Zeeana found her fists clenching and she fumed. This was not the brother she thought she once knew and without thinking her outstretched hand connected heavily with her brother's face and she stood, staring at him.

"What the hell was that for?" he yelled, grabbing her by the wrists and squeezing hard.

She continued her silent vigilance, glaring at him angrily.

"If you weren't a woman I'd…"

"You would what?" She shot him a defiant look with the grin to match. "Hit me… Go ahead, Teal; I dare you!" She gasped, closing her eyes as he raised a clenched fist still holding onto her other wrist. . Would he really do it? She waited...

Nothing.

Slowly she opened her eyes and swallowed, his fist only a few centimeters from her face.

Teal stood before her, a sinister smile on his face. His cold and callous eyes sent shivers down her spine and he slowly lowered his fist, keeping a tight grip on her wrist, "Yeah, right!” he laughed. "Like I’m stupid enough to do something like that the day before your first Senate meeting with the New Republics' Head of State." He leant forward, whispering into her ear, "You'd better be careful, Zeeana, or you might be the next one to go missing."

He laughed again and let go of her wrist. "And wouldn't that be a shame if that happened the day before the meeting?” he mocked, heading for the land hover once again.

Once, his voice used to soothe all of her fears, now it formed them. “How do you know about the meeting?” she asked him suspiciously, "It was never announced, only the Senate members knew about that, Teal."

Teal stopped in his stride and assessed his sister’s thoughts before she had the chance to shut them out. "Well now, aren’t you the clever little New Republic sympathizer, " he said, turning around and advancing back towards her, “You could be right, Zee; maybe I have joined up with them." He waved his arms around at the homestead and surrounding grounds, "Maybe I want nothing more to do with this place and everything it stands for. And maybe..."

Zeeana swallowed as he gave her the iciest glare she had ever seen and it sent a shiver gliding down her spine.

"...maybe I don't want anything more to do with you either," he snarled, running a hand down over her cheek.

Zeeana stood her ground, a thousand thoughts racing through her mind, as he walked up to her, leaving less than a half meter between them.

"Personally, " he continued, "I wouldn’t have thought you to be that smart." His voice was cruel and sarcastic, no longer loving and affectionate like the old Teal she knew as her brother.

"Don't think I haven't figured it out, Teal, "She informed him, " I'm not that stupid you know!"

Teal began to walk around her, like a vulture closing in on its prey. "Don't give yourself too much credit, Zee. You're good, but not that good. I know you're only making assumptions right now, but what's going on here is bigger than you can handle, so don't even try and figure this one out on your own, you might hurt yourself."

She said nothing, staring at her brother in awe, trying to find the words to speak.

"Don't stand there gawking at me like a stunned Mulaka... What’s the matter Zee? Run out of things to say for once?"

Zeeana refused to move and stood her ground, not wanting to show any fear, but she knew he could sense it as he continued his slow circling around her.

"I see," he noted, an odd kind of look on his face as he moved closer to her, "You're afraid; scared, aren’t you, Zee?"

She swallowed again, trying to gain some composure, her nervousness a little more to the fore than she would have liked. "What have they done to you, Teal?" she asked, sorrowfully staring into the cold and hardened eyes that were once soft and kind.

Teal stopped circling her and headed back towards the land hover. "Let's face it, Zeeana. You're weak, pathetic," he sighed without turning back. "And, if you continue to think the way you do, you’ll never amount to anything more than the lowly little home girl you already are!"

Zeeana's blood reached boiling point and she stood to her full height, defiantly raising her voice in anger. "The only reason why I haven’t disappeared yet is because you haven't told them about me yet; have you!?" Her brother stopped in his tracks and slowly turned to look back at her his hair flowing down over one eye the other staring straight at her.

"Well don't do me any favors, Teal, because I don't need them. Not from a traitorous Gangar like you!!" Her voice was one of hardened steel and it took him aback a little, but not for long. She didn't move as he moved swiftly back towards her, nor did she flinch as his hand slapped hard against her face. They were even now and it was only when the land hover finally disappeared from sight that Zeeana fell to her knees, head bowed, silent tears falling to the sandy desert floor below.

~*~

Bruised and battle scarred from the many scuffles she had been in, the Millennium Falcon cruised through space, heading out towards a distant planet. Ready to embark on yet another mission, her crew were preparing for the next few days events.

In the rec room, Head of State, Senator Leia Organa-Solo was going through two files, meticulously checking and re-checking the information. Smiling away to herself, she shook her head in amusement. Callen III was still a little behind the times when it came to modern computers and such. The old paper files were very much a thing of the past on Coruscant. Taking a quick break she looked at her time cell. It wouldn't be long before Luke and Mara returned to the Falcon along with the newest recruit for Luke’s Jedi Academy on Yavin 4.

Mara had reassured Luke and Leia that this particular recruit would be an asset; not just to the Academy, but to the mission as well. Leia put the file she had in her hand aside and picked up the second one. This was the one she found herself most intrigued with. She opened it and began reading through it. “About time you got back.”

"Must be the Skywalker genes," Luke replied as he came up behind her.

She smiled up at him at him, "How did it go? Did you pick up our new recruit?"

Luke sat down in the chair next to Leia's and placed his hands behind his head, "Yes everything went according to schedule and I have to say that Mara's right. Lieutenant Saunders is going to come in handy on this mission." He sat upright. "He's strong with the force, and he can hold his own in a fight. "

"I noticed it says in his profile that he's trained without a Jedi master since he was twelve. How did he manage that?"

Luke grinned. "A lot of self discipline over the past ten years, that's for sure, "

"By himself...?" Leia restated. "He must've had a lot of determination.”

"And I still have plenty of that left in me yet," came a voice from behind as a young man entered and stood behind them, a rather cheeky expression on his face. He walked over to Leia and offered her his hand. " I’m Lieutenant Darien Saunders, reporting for duty. "

Leia smiled, shaking the offered hand. "Pleased to meet you, Lieutenant. I'm Senator Leia..."

"Organa-Solo, the New Republics' Head of State," the Lieutenant finished. "I’ve heard quite a lot about you.”

Leia looked over at Luke with a mock expression of suspicion on her face.

"It was all good,” the Lieutenant said with an angelic smile.

"I'm glad to hear it,” she replied, glancing over at her brother.

The Lieutenant walked over to them and motioned to the file that the Senator had just been reading, "May I?” he asked politely.

Leia nodded in confirmation to go ahead and he sat down at the table. As the young man joined them Mara walked into the room. She caught Leia's eye and threw her a nod of acknowledgment, which Leia returned.

Saunders opened the file and glanced at the picture of a young woman. He carefully perused through the woman’s personal information and then stopped, looking up at the Senator. "Isn't she a little young to be Senate elect for this meeting? Especially for Callen III's Senate age policy. I mean, she's only twenty two and the age specification for Callen III’s Senate elect is thirty."

Leia glanced up at Luke. "You're right there Lieutenant. The Senate advised us that they have had some of their key members go missing over the past few months, so even though she's still only in training, Zeeana Amaris is the only member of this Senate left who knows enough about the Planet's policies to conduct the trade and treaty procedures in an official meeting."

"I see. So would it be wrong of me to assume that part of this mission is to protect her?"

"The Senate believes that whomever is behind the disappearances will try to abduct her, either before or after the meeting. It was suggested that this job should be assigned to you, Lieutenant."

Lieutenant Saunders grinned up at Mara. "Are you trying to play matchmaker again Mara?"

"You're twenty five, Saunders, it's about time you had a good woman to keep your feet firmly on the ground."

"And you know where all these good women are I suppose?"

"Of course! For a start, you're looking at one."

"Yes, but you're taken," Luke butted in.

"See, even Luke agrees."

"Yeah, but he's your husband, so bias doesn't count."

"Smartass!"

"That's a good point, Saunders," Luke agreed with a smirk.

"Don't you be agreeing with him, Luke Skywalker."

The clearing of a throat loudly resounded and silence suddenly reigned in the room, "Excuse me, sorry to interrupt this exhilarating conversation but, are you done yet?"

Luke shrugged. "I'm done."

"Same here," Mara replied a little sheepishly

Leia gave the young Lieutenant a quick glance and he made a zipping motion across his lips.

"Good. Well after reading through your file a few times," she glanced from Mara to the Lieutenant. "And despite the warped sense of humor you three all seem to share," she grinned. "I'm more than happy to hand you the reins."

Lieutenant Saunders smiled. "I'll do my best to make sure nothing happens to her while in my care!"

"We appreciate the fact you were willing to help out. If we had have brought the troops in now, it would be too obvious as to what was going on.” She paused glancing back at her time cell. "Well, now that that's sorted out I'm going to catch up on some sleep. There’s twenty hours left before we arrive at the Aleri Minor spaceport. Luke, can you show the Lieutenant to his room?"

"Sure, no problem. This way Lieutenant!" he said walking over and picking up the two bags on the floor over by the hallway through to the cabin quarters.

Mara turned to face Leia as they headed off. "So? What do you think?"

"About Saunders? I think he’ll fit in just fine. As for me.” Leia yawned. ”I'm going to go say good night to Han and Chewie and then get some rest. I think we're all going to need to get some before we get there."

Mara picked up Zeeana's file, glancing at her superior. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"Alright... Now, I'm really worried."

"Because of this?" Mara asked waving the file about.

"No, not at all."

"Then, why?" Mara asked, a little puzzled by her superior's reaction.

Leia chuckled as she headed towards the cockpit. "Because you're starting to sound way too much like my husband."

Placing her hands on her hips, the dark haired woman raised an eyebrow as Leia disappeared from her sight. "I'll take that as a compliment then, shall I?"

"Honey, you can take that any way you want," the Senator replied with a smirk, sticking her head back around the corner.

"In-laws," Mara grinned as she rolled her eyes and wandered off in the direction that her husband had gone.

~*~

Yale was an accomplished man. He'd served his time on many an Imperial ship. His missions were more than successful and it had only taken him two years to reach his present status of Admiral.

His walls were adorned with awards and mementos of past victories, but there was one prize he wanted more than anything... All he had to do now was find it.

A sudden knock on the door of his office brought his thoughts back to the moment. "Yes? "What is it?"

The door opened tentatively and a young Imperial soldier walked into the room, saluting as he came up to his superior. "I apologize for the interruption sir, but Teal Amaris has arrived..."

A smile crept upon the Admiral's face. "Excellent! Send him in."

The soldier saluted again. "Yes, sir!” Then he turned on his heel and left, shutting the door to the Admiral's office behind him.

Admiral Yale sat behind his desk as another more confident knock resounded off the door. "Come in, Ensign Amaris.”

The door opened promptly and the boy walked into the office, also being mindful that the door was closed subsequent to him entering.

Walking over to the Admiral's desk he saluted.

"So, my boy," the Admiral began, "Captain Bathaden said you had something that you wanted to discuss with me?"

Teal nodded. "Yes sir." He baulked momentarily as his father's words played over in his mind. *Teal I want you to look after Zee when I'm gone. The Empire must not find out about her being here, she is a little different from us. You yourself have seen what she has been through, do you hear me, son!? She's vulnerable, she cannot yet control her powers and you, you are the only one I can count on to take care of her. You must not let them take her back, even if it means your life. *

'Stupid old fool', he thought to himself, pushing back the feeling of guilt that crept its way up from the depths of his mind

"Well, boy?” the Admiral asked... "What it is?"

Teal swallowed and took a deep breath. "I never told you this before, sir... but I, I have a sister," He confessed. "Well actually, she’s my half sister. She lives with me on the homestead." His eyes never left the Admiral's as they contacted. "My father, Michael Amaris..."

"Michael Amaris was your father?" the Admiral said sounding a little shocked. "I was informed you were his… nephew"

"Yes, sir. It was done so my sister would be protected from the Empire. My father had informed me that she was *a little* different from us.”

“Oh?” The Admiral inquired curiously, “And why is that?”

“Well you see, sir... apparently she has a power greater than even my own,” he blurted out.

"Greater than yours, boy? But your quite strong yourself."

Teal blushed, embarrassed at admitting such a fact, "Yes, sir, but the difference is, I can control mine, where as my sister has difficulty in controlling hers. Father once said her training was started, but he believed the training methods that were being used on her were cruel!"

Admiral Yale's eyes widened, a little surprised. "I see!” he replied; this was turning out to be lot more fruitful than he'd thought. "This sister of yours… her name is?”

“ Zeeana, sir.”

“Zeeana." His eyebrow raised a little. "I see, and just how old were you when she was born."

Teal swallowed it was too late to go back on this now. He had to finish what he'd started. ”Well sir, I don't really remember all that much. I know she wasn't born at home. She was born in an Imperial hospital base. She wasn't allowed to live with us at first. I'm not sure why and I was ten by the time she came to live with us."

"You said she was your half sister, by which parent?” the Admiral queried

"My mother, but she died.... Thanks to Zeeana!" he said with a bitter tone in his voice.

The Admiral's mind seemed to be working over time. "That's very interesting, Teal.” He paused briefly before making his decision to speak about the next topic. "Now, I feel I should tell you something in return, but you’d better sit down," he informed the young man, pointing to another chair by the far side of the desk

The young man tentatively walked over to the chair, moved it to the front of the desk and then sat.

“I think you’ll find that what I have to say most interesting, Ensign."

Teal swallowed nervously. It was too late now to regret his words for he'd crossed well over the point of no return.

~*~

It had been an extremely early morning start for Zeeana on the Amaris homestead and she was finally heading back from the fields; hungry, tired and annoyed. Teal hadn't returned home last night, and she'd been stuck with his chores as well as her own, which meant she’d had to get up twice as early than usual. Needless to say, she was not exactly over joyed about it.

"Damn you, Teal,” she grumbled to herself as she headed home for breakfast, ”You could have at least come home to do your own chores!” She was nearing the storage shed on the last leg of her journey back to the homestead when she heard the sound of a land hover engine and she stopped just before the edge, peeking around the corner.

Her head pulled back fast. "Oh no!!" she exclaimed as quietly as she could, again glancing cautiously around the corner.

A young blonde haired man around Zeeana’s age was climbing out of the land hover and heading over towards the door of the homestead. Zeeana watched as he knocked on the door and then pulled her head back as he turned to look around the immediate area.

"Gowaygowaygoway!! Please go away!!" she chanted to herself, hoping that he'd turn and go immediately, but he was still there a few moments later when she took another look. She sighed in frustration. He was writing something on a small note pad. She watched as he ripped out a leaf from it, placing it under the door. Only then, much to Zeeana’s relief, did he turn and leave.

Zeeana waited until she heard the land hover speed off into the distance before venturing back out from behind the storage shed and ran the rest of the way back to the homestead, pulling the note out from it’s position under the door

*Zee. Your brother stopped by last night and asked me to check on you this morning to make sure everything is all right. He was a little worried about you; and I was hoping you'd be up. I really want to talk to you! I'd like to sort everything out between us. Well I must be going I have to be somewhere soon so get in touch.

Please. Love... Nathaniel. *

An irritated look spread across her face and she crumpled the note up, throwing it into the mini trash compacter to the side of the house before turning to face the direction in which the land hover had departed and glared after it, "Damn egotistical jerk. The only thing you love is yourself!"

With that she opened the door to the homestead and stormed inside, slamming it shut behind her...

~*~

The Millennium Falcon touched down at the spaceport in Aleri Minor, five hours earlier than scheduled.

Leia had suggested to the crew that they meet with Senator Amaris at home, to get acquainted with her on a more personal level before the Senate meeting.

Luke and Darien had gone out to acquire two land hovers. Han and Chewbacca opted to stay behind to catch up on any minor repairs that needed to be done on the Falcon.

Mara and Leia organized provisions for the journey to the Amaris homestead and as soon as Luke and Darien returned they headed out.

"I hope Senator Amaris won't mind us turning up like this," Darien said, glancing over at Leia, then back out into the desert wasteland before them.

"There's no communication devices out here, Darien, so the only way to notify her would have been by messenger, which would've taken just as long as it would for us to get out there...”

"Good point," the Lieutenant grinned.

Leia smiled "I don't think she’ll mind too much. According to the information in her file there's not much traffic through there except for harvest season, so she doesn't get a lot of company."

"Yeah I read that. She has an interesting life, that’s for sure. Senator two days a week, hard working farm girl the rest. Which reminds me,” he began, his thoughts changing direction a little. ”Luke said he was raised on a farm. He’s filled me in on everything that's happened to you all up until now, and it seems to me that it’s been pretty intense."

"Intense isn't even close,“ she said with a sigh, "More like a nightmare."

"Nightmares aren't fun when you're asleep! I can only imagine what a real one would be like," Darien responded, then changing the subject back to the matter at hand, he continued the previous conversation. "So, how much longer until we get there?"

Leia checked her time cell. "At least another two hours yet. It's a fair way out."

"Talk about a long way from no where,” he grinned.

~*~

Dawn finally broke over the Amaris homestead and the loud clanging of metal against metal echoed throughout the boundaries of the Amaris crop fields.

Just outside of the storage shed, Zeeana, wielding a large metal spanner, was attempting to open the hatch on the combine harvester which once again had failed to start up.

The determination on her face over shadowed the frustration and fatigue as she relentlessly hit at the handle. With one last almighty blow, the handle budged and using as much strength as she could muster, the girl completed her desired task in one final downward movement.

"Damn you, Teal!" she muttered under her breath as she wrenched the hatch open and peered inside, "You were supposed to get this stupid machine fixed two weeks ago!!!" Still mumbling to herself she reached inside, undoing the oil filter clamps and pulled it out of the casing, only to succeed in showering herself with its entire contents.

Rolling her eyes in silent frustration, Zeeana bit her bottom lip and restrained the urge to cuss. Calmly she placed the filter onto a nearby maintenance tray and then reached up onto the combine harvester to retrieve the rags she had placed there earlier.

They weren't there.

Glancing up with a puzzled look on her face, she felt around for them some more, “That’s odd,” she commented to herself, she was beginning to wonder if she wasn’t going crazy.

"Did it again huh?" an inquiring voice almost sang out from behind her...

"Nathaniel!!!" The girl almost choked on the name as she whirled around to come face to face with the boy from earlier this morning, "W, w, what are you doing back here?” she stammered, a questioning look across her surprised face.

"I see you got my note then?“ He smiled sweetly at her.

Zeeana sighed, "Yes, I did. Thank you for stopping by and dropping off the message. Now if you don’t mind I need those thank you very much,”she informed him, grabbing for the rags that he now held in his hand.

“Allow me,” he said as he reached past her hands.

She shied back a little, her own hands resting on his chest, stopping his approach, "W… what are you doing?”

Nathaniel moved closer to her, "What does it look like, silly?" he said as he gently touched the rag to her cheek, wiping the oil away as best he could. "You're a mess... as usual. I don't know why you don't hire some workers to help you run this place, you can afford it." He watched her eyes roll at the idea, "Teal said the crops are running at a profitable level and he doesn't see why you both need to work in the fields."

Zeeana reached for the rags. "May I? " she asked politely, taking the rags from him and wiping as much of the oil off her overalls as possible. "Teal is a lazy jerk, he's been that way for a while now. I mean, you've seen him, Nathaniel, he's become just as bad as you.” She waited for the offended look and the sulking to start.

The reaction she had expected never came.

Nathaniel's eyes softened and he softly ran his hand across her cheek, catching her by surprise. "I'm so glad you haven't changed, Zee."

The girl blushed and gasped as the young man leant forward, gathered her into his arms as if she was some kind of delicate flower, and then kissed her. She struggled a little at first, but the moment swept over her and she relaxed in his arms. Memories of the way things had been between them a year earlier played in her mind and then reality hit her hard and she pulled away. "No, we can't... I can't let this happen, Nathaniel, I don’t feel that way about you any more! I, I’m sorry."

Nathaniel sighed, the hurt in his eyes evident. "But why, Zee? Why can’t you give me another chance? I still love you more than I ever did!"

"You changed too much. Just like Teal has over the past year. Both of you have become cold, lazy and heartless and I can't forgive you two for that." She paused long enough to make strong eye contact. "I know about the Imperial business, Nathaniel. I cannot, and will not, tolerate it.” She waved her hand outwards towards the crop fields. "This, everything that you see before us, is what my father worked so hard for, this place, and the homestead, is all that we have left of him. Teal just doesn’t seem to care any more, but I do, and as long as I remain here I will do everything in my power to keep this place going even if it means I have to do it alone!!"

The girl was passionate about what she believed in, it was one of the reasons Nathaniel had fallen in love with her in the first place. The young woman folded her arms and looked into his eyes and he noticed the sadness carved deep within hers and he listened quietly as she continued.

"You tell me how right that is, that something so evil can replace a home built on the foundations of love. But you two don't even know what that word truly means any more." A tremor took hold of her voice and she turned her back to him. "I think you should head home now, Nathaniel. I need to finish up here."

As an awkward silence fell about them, he reached forward, placing a hand on her shoulder and retracted it as she abruptly pulled away.

"Now, who’s being cold and heartless?" the young man replied walking away.

Zeeana turned back. "I have a valid reason for it, Nathaniel!" Her voice trailed off as he stopped mid step and turned to face her again, a questioning look on his face as their eyes met. "I don't want to get hurt again, it was bad enough the first time around. I refuse to let it happen a second."

~*~

The land hover sped closer to the Amaris homestead. The vast desert wasteland had become scarce and small vegetation growths started to outline the horizon as they continued on, giving wide berth past Aleri Minor

Luke suddenly pulled up his land hover and stood upright looking over towards the city, his face tainted with a serious look. “Imperials!”

Darien pulled his land hover up next to Luke's. "They're here alright. I can sense them too."

Leia nodded towards the direction of the Amaris homestead. "Then we need to hurry, Senator Amaris may be in danger already.”

Luke shook his head. "I don’t think so.” He paused, closing his eyes, his mind focusing on something.

~*~

Zeeana had given up on the combine harvester for now and turned her attention to her own transport. She opened the fuel inspection hatch and a strange feeling washed over her, her face turned white and she suddenly turned weak at the knees. She had to hang onto the side of her land hover in the attempt not to pass out. "Who are you?” she muttered. "My mind is mine to control damn you, I will not let you do this..." She closed her eyes and focused hard on preventing the intruder who had violated her mind from delving any further. Finally, after a few moments, the feeling left as suddenly as it had come and the girl collapsed to the ground on all fours, breathing heavily and exhausted by the intensity of the power she had felt.

It wasn't Teal's, she knew his power all too well and Nathaniel wasn’t as strong as this. Regaining her composure and mustering the rest of her strength, she dragged herself up from the floor. The experience had left her shaken and a little afraid. She glanced around the fields as if looking for an answer as to what had just happened, but to no avail.

She checked the fuel levels on her transport and shut the hatch, tightening the bolts as fast as her shaking hands would allow. She still had to do a boundary sweep before heading back to the safety of the homestead; and that would take at least another hour. Casting aside the thoughts as best she could she headed out towards the first boundary marker.

The sooner she got home the better.

~*~

Admiral Yale sat upright in his chair, behind his desk. That sensation, a tremor in the force, only slight, but it carried similar signatures as his old Jedi master's had.

Could it be?

From what Teal had told him and from what little information he had, maybe this time he’d found what he had been searching for, for the past fifteen years. He smiled inwardly.

One could only hope.

~*~

Luke opened his eyes. “She sensed me!” he said with an amused tone in his voice. "She was calm but yet surprised, a little afraid, yet strong enough to block me out.”

Leia, Mara and Darien all looked over at him almost in perfect synchronization.

"That means," Leia began, a little more than surprised herself. "She has the force!"

Luke nodded, staring straight ahead. "And there are others too, in Aleri Minor!"

Darien bit his lip exchanging glances with Luke. "Just how many prospective Jedi are we dealing with here?” he queried.

"I can sense at least two full Jedi,” Luke began, “Both are strong with the force, then there is one whose strength is not quite as powerful, but there are two more, one I wouldn’t even class as Jedi, quite strong, but not fully trained, and the other that I sense is…”

“Completely untrained, uncontrolled and emotionally unstable." Darien added quickly

Luke looked down at his junior. "That would be the young Senator..."

Leia frowned, a look of concern spread across her face ... "If that's the case, then they may have already sensed her presence too,” she began, as she to glanced towards the city... "She could well be the next one to go missing, and we all know how easy it is to exploit someone who's naive in the force."


Luke nodded in agreement as he sat back down and started up the land hover again. "Let's get moving. We can’t afford to waste any more time."

~*~

A stunned look covered Teal's face as he lay on his bed in his quarters in the Imperial ship, wondering if everything he’d heard from Admiral Yale had been some kind of bizarre dream.

A knock on his door scattered his thoughts, like the breeze on a cool summer's morning.

Teal sat upright and sighed. "Come in, Nathaniel."

The door opened and the other young man walked into the room and sat beside him on the bed.

"So," came the obvious question. "Did you go?"

Nodding, the boy replied. "Yeah I did," a look of pure rejection on his face.

Teal tried not to grin at his friend’s expense. "Said no again, huh?"he replied, trying to sound sympathetic

Nathaniel sighed and gave a shrug of his shoulders. "I was hoping she'd change her mind, but your sister's a lot stronger in sticking to her guns than we thought, my friend."

Teal laughed a little and glanced over at the other youth. "Yeah, tell me about it. She’s been like that for a while now; although..." A pause reigned silently for a moment before he continued, looking quite solemn. “I think I pushed her too far yesterday before I left."

Nathaniel noticed that his friend’s voice was slightly tense with an air of regret about it and glancing across, gave him a puzzled look.

"We fought and it wasn't our usual argument." He stopped and rephrased his last few words. "Well it was, but we hit each other for the first time ever."

Nathaniel’s face fell. "You what!!" the stunned youth asked, hoping he was imagining things. The look on Teal's face told him he wasn't. He gave him a hard stare. “What did you two say to each other that could be that bad?"

Teal lowered his head, "She knows what's going on with the Senate members. I was stupid and let my guard down around her. We both got so mad that we lashed out at different points of the discussion and now the Admiral knows about her."

Nathaniel almost fell off the edge of the bed. ”Whaaaaat!!!!!” the younger man exclaimed loudly, as if he'd just been betrayed himself. "You idiot!! You could at least have kept that promise to your old man, Teal!"

Teal glared at his friend. "I had to tell him, Nathaniel, and it was a good job I did because..." His tone of voice suddenly changed. "Because, he knew about her anyway!"

The other boy was speechless beyond speechless and he stared at the young man in front of him with a look of utter bewilderment.

"That's not the worst of it though." He turned to face his comrade in arms full on.

"W, what's the matter, Teal? You look like you've seen a ghost."

"Nathaniel," he began with the strongest of convictions. "Zeeana could be the Emperor's true heir!"

TBC…