Summary: During a family vacation with the Solos, Luke receives terrible visions that seem to be tempting him towards death. Are his worst fears about to be confirmed?

Disclaimer: I would give my spiel about my not owning Star Wars, but hopefully that’s already evident. If I did own it, then things like this story would really happen. Yes… more angst and sorrow…

Chapter One: Exploration

Luke threw another bag over his shoulder, barely feeling the added weight. There was a lot to be carried, and it would be ideal if he could get it all into the house in one trip. He shuffled his shoulders. Okay, so maybe five bags was a little extreme… he deposited two of them back into the trunk.

Leia had insisted that Han not bring the Falcon. In return, Han had insisted that he did bring the Falcon, in case anything bad happened. Leia replied with the fact that nothing bad would happen, for this was to be a family vacation, and bad things simply didn’t happen on those unless you were in a movie. Luke smiled warmly. With the Solo family, nothing was average. Still, the Falcon had been left to stew in its hangar, and a new ship had been offered – one that was a little more ‘family friendly’.

It still made a hidden corner of Luke’s heart grow warm when he was included in his sister’s family functions. Sure, he was her brother, but it still felt as though he shouldn’t be with them all the time. It wasn’t that he didn’t enjoy being around them… he simply felt as though they were trying too hard to make him feel welcome. Maybe it was because he didn’t have his own family…

Shrugging this thought aside, he picked the dropped bags up again, determined not to make too many trips from the ship to the vacation house.

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The planet of Dethor was not only newly discovered, but it was beautiful. Leia couldn’t help but to keep glancing out the window, unconsciously comparing the planet to her destroyed homeland. No wonder her heart ached.

But thoughts of that could wait until later, when she could talk about them with Han and let her husband comfort her. Now was not the opportune moment, as three hyper children were twisting around her feet in circles, probably pretending to be rebel pilots. She reached down and stalled Anakin’s hand, which had transformed into an imaginary laser cannon and was now aimed at his older sister. “ Kids, why don’t you go help your Uncle Luke unpack?”

They smiled and rushed off, and she suspected that there would be little unpacking done. Luke had a soft spot for children, and he was always willing to join in their games. Leia had thought many times that Luke would make an excellent father… it was too bad that every woman that came into a romantic relationship with him had only served to hurt him. Well… maybe that would change… someday.

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“ Uncle Luke! Look at that big hill!”

Jacen pointed along with his sister, eyes full of wonder. “ It’s a mountain! I wonder what’s at the top?”

Anakin was clinging to his Uncle’s hand, and he stared at the mountain with a touch of trepidation. “ It’s big.”

Luke laughed slightly. “ Yes, Anakin. It’s very big. We’re almost done with unpacking, so let’s hurry. After we’re done, we can go on a hike.”

Jaina immedianlty rushed away from the window and dove her hands into a suitcase. “ Hurry up!”

The three children unpacked with a fury that Luke had never seen before. What was it with children and exploring…? Well, he had to admit that it seemed exciting, even to him. Most of the planet was unexplored, but from the reports there were no carnivorous animals, and the ecosystem seemed to point to only herbivores inhabiting the forests. Still… he clipped his lightsaber onto his belt. Better safe than sorry.

In a mere ten minutes the kids had taken everything from the luggage and arranged it in an orderly fashion. They quickly tied on their hiking boots and stood near the door, eager but still waiting for the Uncle’s approval. Luke shook his head. “ If only most children were as determined as you three… alright, we can go. I’ll ask Leia.”

The children yelped in joy and rushed from the room.

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Leia had agreed to their expedition with only one condition: be home before night’s fall. Luke expected that she didn’t want them to miss dinner, and again a strange, lonely feeling stirred in his heart.

This disturbance was quickly banished as the four of them trekked up the hill towards the top of the mountain. There was a lot to look at – most of the trees on the planet were unrecognizable, with very large leaves fringed with shimmering colors. Animals, both small and large, twisted around in the shadows, shy at their visitors. Luke could feel their presence, and they bore no ill will to the humans. To be on such a peaceful planet, where death seemed unnatural…

However, it was anything but peaceful with the Solo children around. Unlike Luke, they did not pay much attention to the scenery, but instead focused on the mountaintop. Their time was spent brainstorming possible discoveries:

“ I bet there’s a secret Imperial base up there! We’ll have to fight off an army of stormtroopers…”

“ This planet is probably ruled by some ancient god! He’ll be upset when we reach the top…”

“ I bet pirates use the mountain to hide their gold! There’s probably be a horde of them waiting for us…”

“ Of course, none of them will have the Force, so we’ll whip them in no time! And then they’ll have cloned their stormtroopers, so there’ll be another army…”

“ I bet his altar is up there, and there’s probably a lot of animal sacrifices lying around. Of course, they’re old, so there’s only bones left…”

“ And we’ll get captured and they’ll make up walk the plank! But Uncle Luke will save us…”

And so it continued, until Luke’s head was whirling with cloned stormtrooper demon-gods that had eye-patches and smelt of bad rum…

It wasn’t until they had reached the top that the talking ceased.

It was evening, and Luke realized with a frown that they wouldn’t be back in time for dinner. As he stared up at the sky, the children gazed in awe at what they saw.

It was a flat clearing, devoid of anything except a group of trees in the center. Before Luke could stop them, the kids were already at the trees, pulling on their branches. He rolled his eyes and went to fetch them. As he wrestled Jaina from tearing leaves from one of the trees, Anakin decided that it would be a clever idea to see what was in the center of the trees. Luke heard his gasp and rushed forward, closely followed by the twins.

It seemed that Jaina’s theory was closest to the truth. Inside the circle of trees was a small step-pyramid, carved of dark green stone. At the top stood a carved head, grotesque with red eyes and long teeth. Jaina stuck her tongue out. “ Eww… it’s ugly.”

“ Should we pray?”

Something was wrong with it. Luke felt his hand go up to his chest, and his breath seemed to grow thin. Maybe it was just the elevation… “ No, Anakin. We shouldn’t pray. We should go home before your mother puts dinner on the table…”

This decision was greeted with three loud groans.

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Well, I hope ya’ll like it so far. Please review with comments and suggestions. This chapter might have seemed a little light-hearted, but I don’t want to give the false front that this is a happy story. I pinky-promise that the next chapter will be darker. Thanks for reading!