A/N: A friend (whom I deeply thank) dared me to do a Star Wars/Animaniacs crossover. That's how this part came about. Enjoy. :)

Chapter 19: Never Trust a Magic Elf

It was a dark and dreary night, and the being with the pointed ears sighed as he stared into the crackling, dancing flames. He was bored. Nothing of interest had happened in way, way too long, and that just wouldn't do.

As the fire danced and crackled, crackled and danced, he began to doze off and imagine that he was on a high adventure with Lassie and Spyro the Dragon... and then he was startled awake by a sudden sensation on his foot.

Blinking his eyes open, the elf looked down and saw... what appeared to be a very small net, covering his right foot. Holding the net were two mice, one with a big head, and the other tall, with somewhat of an overbite. "Uh..."

The mouse with the big head looked up at him. "We have captured you, Elf."

"Um..." Did capturing mean putting a net on his foot that he could just as easily kick off? "Right... if you say so..."

"I wish to take over the world."

The elf blinked again. "Um... that's a very broad category, Mr. Mouse... Which world?" He had the feeling that cosmic law would somehow end up preventing this plan from coming to fruition, but why not humor the little guy?

The mouse opened up a small book and showed him. "This one."

The elf gently took the booklet and squinted at it. Then he glanced down at the mouse again. "You're sure?"

"Yes."

The elf looked hard at the booklet again, then handed it back to the mouse. "All right... Wish granted."

And without another word, the two mice vanished.

The elf sat there for a few moments, then shook his head and chuckled. That was one for the books... a mouse wishing to take over an alternate reality. Who was he to tell the mouse that the wish was going to backfire?

Mara stood at the stove making breakfast for the two of them and humming a tune to herself while she waited for the bacon to brown. She had somewhat more energy today than she'd had in recent weeks, and felt good, rather than so tired she wanted to fall asleep on her feet.

Hands began to massage and knead her shoulders and she sighed in contentment. "Mmmm... keep doing that..." Slowly, she got the bacon out of the pan, and set it on a serving plate, then reached for the eggs and broke them into the pan.

"Feels good, doesn't it?" the familiar husky voice said into her ear.

"Yes, Luke. Feels wonderful."

"And how are the two of you this morning?"

Mara flipped the eggs and glanced back over her shoulder at him with a smirk. "'We' are fine, Farmboy. Or, rather, I'm fine and the little one is kicking occasionally... Glad you asked, though…"

Luke nodded, then looked over her shoulder. "Want me to take over?"

"No… Just keep massaging my shoulders, or go sit down and wait..." She kissed him on the nose, and then returned her attention to the cooking.

Luke kneeded her shoulders some more, and then had to pause when he felt her tense under his hands and something very much like pain, but not quite, radiate off of her through the Force at the same time... "Mara?"

She ignored him for a moment while she put the eggs on another serving plate, then shook her head. "It's nothing... back spasm." She picked up the plates, then ducked under his hands and went to set the food on the table.

Luke watched her for a long moment... that had not felt like a spasm, but… "All right…" He joined her at the table. "Do you want me to stay home, or..."

She shook her head, then looked at him with a smile. "You have classes, and Elsie's going to meet me later for a shopping excursion. Then we're meeting Leia for lunch."

Luke nodded, then tilted his head in question. "You're having a back spasm like that and you're going shopping?"

Mara shrugged and looked away. "If it gets worse, I can always sit down."

Luke, having learned even more about her temperament over the past several months, simply nodded, took a bite of his breakfast, and did not press the issue further.

Sometimes, when something happens to upset the balance, it is something small. So small that it goes unnoticed at the start. This time was no different.

At a shopping center somewhere in Imperial City, two white mice appeared out of thin air. Being as they were small, no one noticed them... except for the Force.

Now, the Force took note of it, and tried to embrace the newcomers with open, questioning tendrils of awareness. The newcomers didn't notice, and the Force ran into something unfamiliar... there were no midicholrians. None. Instead, there was an energy pattern around both, and the energy pattern kept the Force from touching them. The Force tried harder, and… the energy pattern took notice and pushed back.

A small tug of war ensued, and... both lost.

It's been said before, but here it bares repeating: Of things that seem simple from the start is weirdness begun. This time would be no exception.

It began with Momma wanting a bassinette. No, really... it did. Momma wanted something for the new baby to sleep in when it arrived, and Elsie volunteered to help her look, and because it was a visiting day, I got to go along. I'll never understand why people go shopping when they could just as easily make what they wanted out of thin air if they tried hard enough... Plus, it looks stressful. All that walking around, carrying shopping bags... fretting over this and that...

Oh, right. Sorry. Anyway... Momma and Elsie were admiring this cute little white bassinette when the first weird thing happened. Three beings with black fur and white faces, and tails ran through the baby department of the store, leaving Elsie and Momma to stare after them, and me wondering what had caused three kids to run like that.

"Neesta?"

"Yes, Momma?"

"Did you just see what looked like three small children with tails run through here?"

As an overweight security guard with a butterfly net came running through, puffing with exertion, I nodded. "Yes, Momma."

"Good girl." Momma turned and looked at Elsie, only to find her bewildered. "Elsie? Something wrong?"

"I didn't just imagine that, did I? Tell me I'm seeing after-images again, Neesta. Please tell me I am."

I had to shake my head in the negative. "No. We saw it, too... Is that bad?"

"From a certain point of view." Elsie blinked a few times, then looked at the bassinette they'd been admiring. "I like this one."

"How can you..." Momma began, before Elsie held up a hand to forestall her.

"Easily, Mara. I'm clingling to anything normal while I still can."

"Excuse me..."

I looked down at the sound of the faint voice. Standing at my spectral feet were two white mice, dressed in clothing. I bent down to get a better look at them. "Yes?"

The one with the big head peered up at me. "Can you direct us to the Imperial Palace? We seem to have lost our way and were supposed to be in a meeting with the Emperor to discuss terms for his surrender of all power to... me."

I couldn't help but stare at him. "Um... Elsie?"

"Just give him directions, Neesta," Elsie said absently. "No need to tell him that his plan his doomed."

"Do you know something about this?" Momma asked her.

"Plenty. Admire the pretty bassinette, Mara, and maybe this will be the only weirdness we see today that doesn't involve your daughter."

I blinked again, and looked down at the mice. "Go outside and hang a left. It's sixteen streets to the north, and then a right. Can't miss it."

"Thank you." He turned to his companion. "Now remember, Pinky. Our plan is to walk in and join Palpatine's empire, and then to upsurp his power and take it for our own."

"Narf! Sure thing, Brain."

As I watched the mouse and his companion walk away, I couldn't help but wonder what had brought that on. "Weird."

"You don't know the half of it, Kiddo," Elsie muttered. I stood up, noticing that she was fiddling with the ruffled edge of material, and concentrating on it and nothing else. "This isn't as well made as some I've seen elsewhere, but I like it."

At the sound of a whimper, I turned to find a little girl, her mother... and an animal reluctantly following them, led by a leash. Had the whimper come from the four-legged brown animal? And why did it appear to be absolutely miserable?

"What do you think of it, Mara? Like this one?"

"I think you have some explaining to do."

"No, Mara. The bassinette, not that other stuff."

"Yes, Elsie. I like the bassinette."

"Enough to want it in your apartment?"

I turned back to see Momma shrug and look at it some more. "I guess... why don't you want to tell us what's going on?"

"Say it's name and you destroy it."

I couldn't help but blink at that very odd statement. "What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that I want to leave well enough alone... That, and the last time something like this happened, I ended up seeing music and hearing colors."

"Silence," Momma said suddenly.

Elsie turned to look at her. "Well... yes, but that's not the point."

"How do you see music?" I wondered.

Elsie sighed and looked at the bassinette. "You don't want to know... I really do like this bassinette."

"Now, Mindy... you're not to touch anything in here. Understand?" I turned back and saw the mother bending down and looking into the little girl's eyes.

"Okay, Lady!"

The woman sighed. "It's Mom, Mindy. Call me Mom."

"Okay, Lady!"

The animal looked over at me and whimpered. So that's where the whimpering had some from... Somehow, I couldn't help but feel sympathy for it.

"Oh, no... Mara? Do you want the bassinette or not?"

Momma sounded kind of amused in her reply. "Yes... Why is the sight of a dog making you panic?"

"It's not the dog. The dog is the sane one over there. It's the girl... And aren't we meeting Leia for lunch?"

I turned back again to see Momma checking her chrono. You know, for some reason, Elsie calls that a watch... But why? It's not watching anything! "You mean the girl isn't sane?"

"Oh, I'm sure she will be later on in life, but... There's a reason that dog looks absolutely miserable."

Momma looked up from her chrono. "You're right. We are supposed to be meeting Leia for lunch. Anytime, actually."

"Then, if you want the bassinette..." Elsie trailed off suggestively. Is it a grown-up thing to drop major hints like that?

"Are you trying to talk me into this just because you're avoiding the weirdness?"

"No."

"All right, then."

"I think it's pretty and all babies should have at least one pretty thing at least once."

I was about to say something, but two voices interrupted me: "Helllo Nurse!" Turning, I saw the three beings again, two of them staring at Momma and Elsie with their mouths open. Then they fainted.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Boys. Go fig." She came over and looked at the bassinette. "I agree with what she said about this, though. Pretty is as pretty does."

Elsie appeared to be resisting an outright laugh. "Got away from Ralph so soon, Dot?"

"He's easy to lose..." Dot looked over at me, squinting. "Do you always wear an unflattering jumpsuit?"

I blinked and looked down at my outfit. I hadn't ever worn clothes, and this is what I'd been able to think up when Ailee explained the concept to me. "What's wrong with my jumpsuit?"

"It's not cute. Clothes should be cute. Like me." As I glared at her, Elsie bent down and whispered something in Dot's ear. Dot blinked and looked at her. "What? Really?" As Elsie nodded, Dot turned back to me with wide eyes. "Oh... I'm sorry. I didn't know that. Would you like some help with learning about cute clothes?"

I looked up at Momma. "Can I?"

Momma nodded. "I don't see why not... I feel bad when you watch us eat as it is, and this... person seems all right." She looked at Elsie. "What about the other two?"

"Oh, them? They'll be up about... now. Dot, do try to keep your zany brothers under control, would ya? I know that's not easy, but nothing worth doing ever is."

Dot rolled her eyes. "I'll try."

"What'd they mean by "hello nurse?"" I wondered, as Elsie picked up the bassinette. "Neither you nor Momma is a Nurse."

Elsie paused and looked at Dot. "Perhaps you can explain that one to her?"

Dot nodded. "I think I could do that."

"Okay, then. Have fun, Neesta... and try not to cause any mayhem out of the ordinary."

"Hey!" I yelled. "I do not cause mayhem!"

"Tell me that when you learn to pick something up and not cause a scene."

Momma chuckled. "You are so explaining all of this later."

"Not if I can help it."

As Momma and Elsie walked away, Dot smiled at me. "You know, for a pregnant lady, your mom sure is pretty. My brothers were right to yell that."

I couldn't help but look at her funny. "Huh?"

The elf sat beside the campfire, playing a lute and watching the full moon disappear behind a thick cover of trees. He hadn't told the mouse this, but... his wish granting always went wonky around the time of the full moon. It didn't matter what he did, or what the wish was. Some how, some way, the wishes went a bit wild.

The mouse hadn't been specific, other than the place, when he'd made the wish, so... it was a vague possibility that it had gone somewhat wrong.

'No,' he thought as he looked down at his colorful, hand-knit socks. 'I know it has.'

The elf sighed and returned to playing his lute. He'd have to see about that later... if the situation didn't correct itself when the power of the wish returned to normal with the changing phases of the moon.

'And,' he thought as he glanced down at his socks again, 'I have to remember to thank my mother for the socks. They are very comfy. I love the socks.'

He played his lute long into the night.

Han sighed as he walked through the shopping center with Jacen and Jaina. He'd wanted to make this a family outing, but with Mara set to have the baby at any time, who knew if he'd actually get the chance to take the twins to Ewok Funland on their birthday in a week's time? And so, when Winter had volunteered to babysit Anakin, he had taken the opportunity to do this and treat Jacen and Jaina to something special... even if it meant listening to that droning song all afternoon.

About halfway to the place, Jaina tugged on his hand and he looked down at her. "What is it, Jaina?"

"I'm thirsty, Daddy!"

Han blinked down at her for a moment, then nodded. A thirsty child was never a sign of something good about to happen... "All right..." He looked down at Jacen, and noticed the boy was distracted and not paying attention. "Jacen? Are you thirsty, too?"

"I like those," Jacen said as he pointed with a little finger.

Han followed Jacen's direction and saw two odd-looking, small creatures... Were those mice wearing clothes that vaguely resembled Jedi outfits of old? That made no sense...

"Elelator went down the hole!"

At the sudden, young-sounding, excited voice, Han startled and turned to find a small... green child with an orange bill for a mouth and wearing a diaper. He frowned... were it not for the coloring and the differences in shape, the little one being led away from a lift by what appeared to be it's mother, would have born a heavy resemblance to a Gungan. At least, from what he'd heard about Gungans, anyway.

"Yes, Plucky. The elevator went down the hole," the mother said tiredly.

"Again! Again!"

"No, not today."

"Press buttons! Again!"

Han watched them walk away for a minute, then glanced down when Jaina tugged at his hand again. "Yes?"

"Can we go on the lift and press buttons, Daddy?"

"I thought you were thirsty?"

"I am!"

"Then how about we go get something to drink, do what we came here to do... and if you still want to ride on the lift afterward, we can do that."

Jaina considered that for a long moment, then nodded. "Okay."

Han looked down at Jacen, who was still distracted. "And Jacen?"

"They're lost... Can I have them?" Jacen asked, finally looking up at his father, a pleading expression in his eyes.

"The... oh. Those..." Han watched the two little creatures, then shook his head. "I don't think so..."

"Pinky, I don't think this is our correct destination," Brain said with frustration in his tone. They'd been wandering around inside the building, and nothing appeared to be as it should. "Those directions from that spectral girl were wrong."

Pinky looked around, trying to remember what the blue-glowing, spectral girl had said, and instead was distracted by the glinting off something shiny on a counter. "Narf! Brain, this time we should dance the polka."

Brain glanced at him for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, Pinky. We should make our way outside."

"Okay, Brain, but I don't want to wear the tu-tu."

As they passed a sign that said "Ewok Funland" in basic, neither one saw the snow cone dropped from above.

Han didn't really like this place, but the twins loved it, and that made it bareable... in small doses. He glanced at Jaina and noticed that something was missing. "Jaina? Where's your snow cone?"

Jaina blinked up at him from her slice of pizza. "I dropped it. It was an accident."

"Are you still thirsty?"

Jaina shook her head. "No."

"That's good, then..." Han sat back to watch as the twins ate their pizza, only occasionally lifting a piece with the Force. He still didn't like this place.

In the Skywalker apartment, a black feline with a white patch on its head dozes contentedly by a window in the sunlight.

A noise sounds on the window sill outside, and she immediately becomes aware and looks out the window with narrowed, golden eyes.

Staring back at her are three... birds that seem to be arguing among themselves.

A low growl sounds from the feline's throat, and the birds fly away.

The feline is left to stare out the window for a long while.

Mara glanced back and saw Neesta deep in conversation with Dot. "Do you think it's all right, leaving her with that... girl?"

Elsie nodded. "She'll be fine. If anything, giving Dottie and her brothers something to focus on will keep them out of trouble."

"You're still explaining this later."

They reached the sales counter and Elsie set the bassinette down. "No, I'm not."

The sales lady smiled at them. "Will this be all for today, ladies?"

Mara nodded. "Yes."

The sales lady rang them up, and then looked at Mara. "We can have this delivered to your home, if you desire."

Mara opened her mouth to say something, but was cut off by Elsie's hand on her arm. "What?"

"Don't reject the offer." Elsie smiled at the sales lady. "That will be fine. Thank you."

After giving the sales lady her information, Mara and Elsie walked away from the counter. "Why'd you do that?"

"I don't want to have to carry that bassinette all day." Elsie glanced at Mara, evaluating with her eyes, and raised an eyebrow at Mara favoring her back. "You feeling all right?"

Mara nodded absently as she massaged the small of her back. "Fine... just a spasm."

"Right..." Suppressing a smile, Elsie led the way to the restaurant. Along the way, she noticed a snow cone on the ground and stooped to pick it up. Under the snow cone, embedded in the ice, were two rather familiar mice. She blinked. "What in the... that was fast."

"What?" Mara asked curiously.

Elsie shook her head and watched as they got themselves out of the ice, the taller one waving at her. "Hi, there."

"Never trust a magic elf, Pinky," the one with the big head muttered to his companion. "Never trust a magic elf."

"Zort! Right, Brain!"

"Let us go back to the lab, and prepare for tomorrow night."

"Why, Brain? What we gonna do tomorrow night?"

"Same thing we do every night, Pinky. Try to take over the world!"

Elsie watched as the mice walked off, then stood up, snow cone wrapper still in hand. "Huh... I think that tops all time ways for a Pinky and the Brain plot to get foiled. But... a magic elf? Seriously?" She looked at Mara. "That explains everything, I think. The mouse with a Napolean complex made a wish."

Mara stared at her. "What?"

"Nothing. Let's go meet Leia for lunch." As they approached the restaurant, two creatures came out, one pink, the other... teal?

"Oh, Flavio, that food was wonderful," the pink one said to her companion.

"Yes, Marita, it was simply devine," the teal one replied.

Mara turned and looked at Elsie. "Tell me you can explain that one."

"No, but if they think the food is good, then it must be," Elsie told her with a smirk. She looked into the restaurant, and shook her head as she saw that a manager and two waiters were staring at what used to be a table and some chairs, while Leia watched from the other side of the room. "Hmmm... maybe we should skip lunch..."

"Oh, no you don't. I'm hungry, and I like this place." Mara nudged Elsie in the shoulder and they went in.

Leia stood up when she saw them. "What took you so long?"

"Mara wasn't sure she wanted it, and then there was weirdness," Elsie calmly explained. "And now Dot is teaching Neesta about cute clothing."

Leia frowned as she helped Mara to sit down. "What?"

"You saw part of the weirdness, Madame Chief of State." Elsie motioned to the destroyed chairs and table.

"Oh... I'm not certain I understand, but..."

"In any event, the weirdness shouldn't last too much longer." Elsie sat down, and glanced toward the spectacle. "But if you see a giant chicken dressed in a business suit or something before this is over, I get to say I told you so."

Mara frowned as she stared at Elsie. "A what?"

"Or a mime, or... something like that..." Elsie motioned to the entrance.

Mara turned to see a gray-colored creature wearing a hat with a flower in it, holding a purse, and a little brown furry one that reminded her of Neesta in the way it moved. They stood in the entrance for a long minute, then walked away. "What makes you think that's connected to it?"

"Just trust me on that account..." Elsie picked up a menu and scanned it intently. "Hmm... everything looks good..."

Later on, they were leaving the restaurant, and Mara couldn't help but shake her head, amused about something. "I can't believe you were right about the giant bird."

Elsie laughed. "Funny thing is... I wasn't even expecting it to be a waiter. Poor Chicken Boo, getting fired like that, in the one place where he'd be most accepted."

Leia paused and looked hard at Elsie. "That bird has a name?"

"Doesn't everything?"

"Good point."

Elsie stopped when she noticed Mara's hand go to her back, and rubbing in a circular motion again. "Um... You've been doing that for a while."

Mara glanced at her, confused. "Doing what?"

"Massaging your back... Need I ask this, since I'm not going to read you without your permission, but... Any pain?"

Mara looked at Leia, saw the sudden concern, and shook her head. "No. I'm fine. I've just got a muscle spasm."

Elsie shared a knowing glance with Leia, then accepted that answer. "All right... then I'm going with you to that meeting later."

Mara blinked at her in confusion. "Why?"

"I'm a veterinarian, and better than nothing in a pinch."

"Really, Elsie. I'm fine, and I've gone to lots of intel meetings by myself. One more will make no difference." Mara winced at the wry expression that crossed Elsie's face. Luckily, she was saved by a young voice...

"Gee, Aunt Slappy... this isn't what the forest is supposed to look like. Did we take a wrong turn?"

"You're right, Skippy. There's more buildings in it than the last time I looked... oh well. We can camp out on a roof."

Mara turned to see those two same creatures walking past them again, and blinked. Hadn't they been walking the other way earlier?

"And have a camp fire?"

"Yes, Skippy."

"And sing songs?"

*sigh* "Yes, Skippy."

Mara turned and looked at Elsie. "Did those, whatever they are, just talk?"

"And what are they?" Leia wondered.

Elsie had to hide her smile. "They did indeed talk, yes... And those were squirrels... I think, anyway." She watched as the two creatures wandered away in search of a nice roof and shook her head. Then she glanced at Mara. "I'm still going with you to the meeting."

"You don't have the clearance for an NRI meeting, Elsie."

"I don't?" Here, Elsie frowned and pulled out her identification card and looked it over. "Then what does Security Clearance Gold mean?"

Mara stared at her, almost dumbfounded at that revelation. "How did you..."

"I managed to figure out who killed a senator and turned them in to the NRI. Have been on friendly terms with the head of the NRI ever since." Elsie shrugged. "Oh, and Leia?"

"Yes?"

"You're going to have to find new entertainment for birthday parties held for your kids." Elsie shook her head at Leia's expression. "Just thought I should tell you that, you know... those clown performers? The ones you had at Mon Mothma's birthday bash? They're out of business."

Now Leia stared at Elsie. "What?"

"Just thought you should know is all..." Elsie glanced around, hoping for a distraction as she put her identification card away. Luckily, she found one. "Oh, I just love mimes. Let's go watch."

Leia leaned closer to Mara. "What's a mime?"

Mara nodded toward where Elsie was headed. "I'm guessing we'll find out."

As they walked, the three of them passed Neesta, watching in facination as the three zany warners pulled a game wheel out of nowhere. Elsie paused and shook her head. "Why not?"

"Wheel of morality, turn turn turn, tell us the lesson that we should learn..." Yakko pulled the ticker tape from the slot, and read it. "And the moral of today is... Moral #5: Never moon anyone out of a high rise window."

"But that makes no sense!" Wakko complained.

Elsie turned to look at Mara, smirking. "It does if there are flying cars."

Mara tilted her head in question. "What's a car?"

"Speeder," Elsie clarified.

"Oh." Mara glanced at Leia, shrugging. "Well, it does make sense."

"Right... Are you sure you're all right? You are massaging your back a lot, Mara."

Mara rolled her eyes as they walked away from the group of Yakko, Wakko, Dot, and Neesta, who waved at them as they left. "For the last time, yes. It's just a spasm."

Leia didn't appear to be convinced.

At the academy, Luke was trying to lecture on meditation techniques, but kept getting distracted by sensations through the force. At times, it felt like pain, and, then there was an underlying sense of confusion. He knew it was coming from Mara, and that made him eager to just call a halt to all classes for the day. He couldn't do that, but he really, really wanted to.

Luke was so distracted that he didn't notice his sleeve catching on a nail on the lecturn, nor did he notice that it ripped when he raised his hand to gesture again.

His students, however, noticed and could barely contain their mirth.

Chris opened his apartment door to find his wife standing there with a glazed expression on her face, and Mara standing behind her. He looked from Mara, to Elsie, and back to Mara again. "What happened to her?"

"I'm not sure," Mara answered truthfully. "All these weird things kept happening, and then she started singing a song non-stop."

As if on cue, Elsie starting singing a campfire song. "Kum by ya, my Lord, kum by ya... Oh, Lord, kum by ya..."

Chris blinked, not having expected something like this on their day off, and pulled her into his arms. "Ah, that. I'll take it from here, Mara. Thank you... Come on in, Elsie. Everything is fine."

"Are there cartoons?" She asked him warily, an expression of near-panic in her eyes.

"No."

"Good," Elsie said, shuddering at the thought. Over Elsie's head, Chris nodded to Mara, who nodded back, and walked away, leaving them alone in the doorway. "Chris?"

"What?"

"Call Luke and tell him to cancel the rest of his classes for today."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?"

Chris took in the sudden non-glazed eyes and slowly nodded. "Noticed something, hmm?"

"Was there all the time."

"Better or worse than Jess wanting to patrol while eight and a half months pregnant?"

"Probably worse."

"Great... Are you all right?"

"Just keep me away from cartoon characters and I'll be fine."

Chris stared at her for a very long moment, then nodded slowly. "Right, I remember now. Bad incident during a training trip..."

Elsie shook herself, trying to get rid of the heebee jeebees, while Chris went to go comm the academy. "Yes..."

Mara was in the middle of the NRI meeting when she could no longer lay claim to having back spasms. Slowly, she stood up and bit her tongue to keep her composure. A hand on her elbow made her glance at the person, and she shook her head at General Madine. "It's nothing. I just need some air."

The general watched her go, frowning. That hadn't seemed like nothing...

Outside the meeting room, Mara leaned against the wall to hold herself up and stifled a groan. Of all the times and ways, this hadn't been what she'd expected to be doing... and Elsie had been right. Why hadn't she listened?

As Neesta appeared in front of her with a frown, she suddenly knew why. "Momma? I felt that."

"Get... Elsie."

Neesta nodded and vanished without another word.

Mara looked down and concentrated on the floor, counting the tiles in a somewhat failed effort to keep her mind off the pain. Then it faded and she could focus again. Of course she'd ignored the spasms all day. Why wouldn't she have? A familiar and welcome presence suddenly joined her in the hallway, and she smiled before she saw him. Turning to look down the corridor, she saw Luke rounding the corner and nearly running, and watched as he ran all the way to her. "Hi."

"Chris called me," Luke said as he gently pulled her into his arms and began to help her down the corridor. "Not that he really needed to. My concentration was shot, anyway."

Mara glanced at the arm around her shoulders and noticed a tear in his sleeve. Odd... "Guess I should have listened, huh?"

"I understand why you didn't."

Neesta popped in again, in front of them. "Momma? Elsie says that... Oh. Daddy's here."

"Yes, sweetie. He's here. Go tell her all's well."

"All right..."

Mara chuckled as Neesta faded out again. "Well, at least she can say she was involved."

"That's kind of... odd, only hearing half a conversation," Luke noted.

"You and Leia do that all the time." Mara winced as she felt another contraction come on. "Stop..."

Luke obliged her and stopped, waiting the contraction out. When he felt her posture ease, they continued walking down the corridor.

"Luke?" Mara asked when they got to the end of the corridor.

"Yes?"

"I still dislike jello."

Luke chuckled. "Can't blame you, there..."

Leia sat in the waiting room with Han, glancing at him occasionally and wondering why he seemed tense. "What's wrong?"

"The Ewoks were out to get me," Han said absently.

Leia stared at him. "What?"

"Just what I said... at least the twins had fun."

"Oh..." Leia glanced away and noticed that Elsie and Chris had come to join them. "Hello."

Elsie rolled her eyes. "Hi... Hopefully the invasion's over for now." Just then, she noticed a buxoum blond nurse walk through and frowned. "Or not..."

"Are you feeling better, Elsie?" Leia asked after a long moment of silence.

Han shook himself out of his daze and looked at Elsie, who was nodding her assent. "What happened?"

"Mouse made a..." She saw two mice walk by the waiting room and frowned in thought. "Wish."

"Pinky, this is not the way back to the lab... where is the lab?"

"In the jungle with the fruit, Brain," Pinky answered.

"Oh, for the love of Pete's Dragon," Elsie muttered as she stood up with a sigh. "I'll be right back."

As Elsie left the waiting room to follow Brain and Pinky, Han turned and looked at Chris in question. "What was that about?"

"Don't understand it yet, either," Chris told him. "Apparently, the shopping was odder than usual."

"It was," Leia agreed.

Elsie came back right then with Brain and Pinky in her hands and sat down next to Chris again. "All right, you two. Explain to me why you made a wish to an Elf on the night of the full moon. That's like asking cosmic law it's self for trouble."

Han stared at the mice in Elsie's hands. "Jacen wanted to take them home."

"You don't want to take these two home, General Solo. They'd be trying to overthrow the New Republic every night." Elsie let herself open up and studied Brain, who was staring up at her in silence, and then Elsie's eyes widened in realization. "Oh. Actually, that plan wasn't half bad..."

"It would have worked," Brain told her succinctly.

"If you say so," Elsie said as she handed Pinky to Chris. "Here."

Chris rolled his eyes. "Thanks... makes sense that you were somewhat more than weirded out now." He smiled down at Pinky, who looked up at him with somewhat vacant eyes, and then sat down in his hand.

Elsie nodded. "And Brain?" He continued to glare at her. "You're on Coruscant, not Earth... So trying to find the lab? Impossible."

Right about that moment, a sparkly light lit up the room, and a being with pointed ears, olden clothes, and mismatched socks poking out of his shoes, appeared in front up them with a wry expression. "Figures."

Elsie sighed and handed Brain off to the elf. "This is your fault, you know."

"Not really," the elf said as he collected Pinky from Chris as well. "Powers always go wild with moon phases... hope they weren't too much trouble."

"I am not an obstetrician!" a bald man in a lab coat and glasses said hysterically as he ran past the waiting room. "I am not an obstetrician!" There came a loud crash about ten seconds after he ran by, and a grunt. "I am not... an... Obstetrician!"

Elsie blinked in surprise, then looked at the elf with a smirk. "No, I wouldn't say they were... You might want to reverse the wish, lest Otto remain hysterical like that, though." She suddenly had to laugh at the implications... Mara was down that hall!

The elf stared out the doorway of the waiting room in puzzlement. "Has stuff like that been happening all day?"

"Yes."

The elf blinked and stared down at the mice in his hands, then looked at Leia, then at the mice again... "Oh, right. Force interaction. When it went wonky, the wish got messed up and the literal form of a take over was applied. Got it. Thank you, ma'am. I'll pick the rest up, too."

"Would a wish help?" Chris wondered thoughtfully.

The elf paused, then shook his head. "No. Thank you, but no."

The elf vanished, and Han blinked. "What or who was that?"

"A magic elf," Elsie told him. She frowned. "Jacen wanted to take them home? You were at the shopping center?" Han nodded, and Elsie smiled. "You didn't, perchance, get them anything to eat, did you? Maybe... a snow cone?"

Han blinked. "Yes. Jaina was thirsty."

"Ah." Inside, Elsie was smirking her head off. Jaina had dropped a snow cone on Pinky and the Brain!

Later, everyone was gathered in Mara's hospital room and admiring the baby. Mara looked up at Luke. "I think he looks like you. Has your eyes."

Luke smiled. "And your nose."

Mara rolled her eyes and smiled down at the baby boy in her arms.

Off to the side and out of view, Neesta looked up at her grandfather with a big grin. "I'm a big sister!"

Temaru smiled down at her. "Yes, little one. You are."

Hearing them, Elsie turned and saw the two of them standing there. She stared at Temaru for a long moment, almost in shock at seeing Neesta with anyone else, then nodded in greeting.

Temaru nodded back and held a finger to his lips.

Understanding, Elsie nodded with a smile. Some things were meant to be secret for a while longer.

"His name is Ben," Luke said, drawing her attention back into the circle of friends.

"Nice name," Han told him.

Chris nudged Elsie and looked at her in question. She smiled and shook her head. "All's well?"

"Yes, Chris. All's well."

"Good."

Leia turned to Elsie at that and frowned at her. "You never did explain how you knew what was going on, you know."

"Now is not the..."

"No," Mara interrupted her. "Now is the perfect time. What was with all the weirdness? You said something about cartoon characters, but..."

Elsie sighed and sat down in the uncomfortable plastic chair. "About 35 years ago, we went on a training trip and ended up in some hairy things. One of those was an alternate reality where those creatures that we kept seeing all afternoon actually do exist."

"An alternate reality?" Leia asked skeptically.

"I'm from another dimension, Madame Chief of State. Don't even try to tell me that alternate realities do not exist. Believe me when I say that they do. We had this one right in our own backyard, where five kids went missing suddenly, but really they'd been missing for months and no one noticed until their anchor, a person, was killed... as for the strange creature thing today? That was a walk in the park. I wish they were all like that, but..." Elsie shrugged. "If wishes were horses, beggars would ride."

Mara stared at her for a moment, then blinked and shrugged. "Right..."

Elsie glanced again toward their ghostly visitors and smiled at the approval in the man's eyes. At least someone was happy that she'd spoken her mind...

The elf was once again sitting and watching his campfire burn. Only now, he had visitors. Very strange visitors. "Could you just go? Please?"

"But we want to make a wish!" Yakko argued.

"No."

"Please?" Dot begged.

"No."

"Why not?" Wakko whined.

The elf just glared at them. Eventually, they'd go away, right?

A/N: Ewok Fun Land was courtesy of a friend. Many thanks to him. And, also: This chapter was a Ridiculously Specific Challenges Presentation... right down to Luke snagging his sleeve on a lecturn. Hee.