Sand. If there was one thing Leia Skywalker never wanted to see again it was that. It was course, it was irritating, and it got everywhere. She grimaced at her own thoughts. Gods, she sounded like such a baby.
It wasn't so much the sand really. It was the ground. It was being tied down by gravity and fate to a life she never would have chosen. A life that compelled her to spend countless hours on manual labor and mere survival when her mind and heart were capable of so much more.
At least that's what she believed. Uncle Owen had a way of making her doubt that belief every time he gave her that blank, bemused stare and shook his head like she was speaking another language.
But, when she was riding along the desert in her speeder, whipping past everything so fast she almost felt like she was flying, she was sure she was right. She could feel it in the rumble of the motor and the tingle in her hands. She could sense it, almost like magic flowing through her veins.
If only she wasn't sixteen. If only, she were older, and bigger, and a boy. When she talked about going to the academy with the other boys, they would laugh at her and ruffle her hair. But they didn't make her leave. They let her tag along even if only to bolster their blossoming male egos. And Leia was fine with that, as long as it got her closer and closer to getting off this planet.
As she neared the town, Leia slowed, sliding along the edge off the city walls to find a shadowed spot for her speeder. She wasn't exactly sneaking out. Uncle Owen was on a trading trip and Aunt Beru hadn't mentioned a thing before going to bed. She'd simply kissed the top of Leia's head, and told her they would have to be up to greet him early in the morning.
Leia had spirited away to her quarters, going through her normal routine of brushing her shoulder-length hair and laying out her things for the next dawn. When Aunt Beru's light had gone out she'd simply gone for a stroll, then stopped to check on the speeder, then thought, "Why the hells not?"
She was too smart for Tatooine. It was too easy to come and go as she pleased. So she did.
Having stashed the speeder, Leia followed a wall, wrapping a scrap of cloth around her head. She was pretty sure she could take care of herself, having preferred tussling with boys for years over playing with rag dolls. But, she still took precautions. The ever-shifting visitors to Mos Eisley tended to pay a bit too much attention to pretty young things.
Leia didn't consider herself pretty, per say, but she'd heard enough crass remarks in the last couple of years to know some sand scum did.
"Want a ride on my speeder, little lady?"
Speaking of, Leia turned to give the leering being in a doorway what for when a loud growl of Weeee-oooollll-rrrrrrGGGHH sounded over her right shoulder.
She turned to find an enormous Wookiee glowering down at what she could seen now was a wheequay. He let out a little squeak and held up his hands, "Only trying to be helpful."
The Wookiee growled again and the wheequay slinked back into the darkness.
Leia squinted up into the dim, craning her neck to see the the Wookiee in full. He glared at the doorway, then glanced down at her, eyes softening.
Rrrrrggg-llllll-nnn
Leia had no idea what the being was saying, but he gestured toward the center of town. Light and music filtered down the alleyway, beckoning all with the promise of something new.
"Thank you," Leia said, "You didn't need to—"
The Wookiee grunted, and he gently nudged her with a paw. With a small nod, Leia started along, a little annoyed and a little relieved to notice the Wookiee was following her a few feet behind. When the spill of light from the cantina hit her, he stayed back, watching as she made her way into the door.
She smiled a little as she turned to watch him go. That was the thing about space ports. For as many bad eggs as you met, there'd always be a decent one. There were as many kinds of spacers are there were stars in the sky.
Leia never knew the Wookiee's name. But, after that evening she would see him around sometimes, usually waiting outside of some bar or junk shop. Once or twice she saw him waving his hands at a shorter man at which point he didn't pay her much notice.
But most of the time he would smile at her, or rather, bare his teeth, which Leia took as a Wookiee version of a smile. Leia never saw him again at night, but she did find that she attracted a little less attention. Maybe word had gotten around about her furry protector.
She was trying not to sneak out quite as much. Uncle Owen was pretty oblivious to it, but Aunt Beru could always tell. She would see Leia sag over her morning meal, hair dipping dangerously close to the blue milk in porridge and her eyes would get all big and sad. Leia hated disappointing her, but she hated moisture farming more.
So, she took to asking Uncle Owen to take her into town. She worked harder on her chores, stayed later, started earlier, just so he would reward her with those trips. Mos Eisley was a different place during the day. She couldn't really decide which version she like better. At night it was light and shadow dancing on the desert plane, a seething pit of possibility and danger. During the day it was blander, brighter, but more alive. This was when Leia could get a good look at everyone rather than slipping past them in the dark.
Today, the town had a different air about it. The citizens spoke in hissed voices, while the visitors hurried with a little more purpose.
"What's your business here?" a masked soldier asked through a ventilator as Uncle Owen pulled his speeder into place at the entrance to town.
"Trade," Owen said. "Just seeing a few buyers."
"Papers," the soldier said, armored arm extending with the air of a tired old droid.
Leia watched in fascination as her Uncle complied. She had never seen a Imperial soldier up close. Would that be what she would wear if she ever made it to the Academy? Something about the suit, its mechanical anonymity perhaps, sent a shiver up her spine.
"Move along through," the soldier said, beckoning them forward.
"Are you carrying your papers, Leia?" her uncle asked, weaving through the crowded streets.
"Yes, Uncle," Leia had had to register on her 16th birthday as a citizen on the Empire. "Why are they asking for them?"
"Riots," Uncle Owen said, "Out west in the Braxt provinces."
Leia frowned, thinking of the rolling farmland she'd only seen holos of. What would they have to riot about?
"Not everyone likes the Empire," Owen said, "but they must be respected. Power must be respected."
Leia's attention was already straying to the colorful stalls of the merchants at market square, but she would remember the echo of those words for years after they were spoken.
Hours later, Leia was tired and happy, for once ready to return to the farm. She'd followed Uncle around all day, making the rounds to different buyers. And though the day hadn't been a particularly good one (he was being undercut by some desperate farmers to the east), Leia had had a ball. She'd even managed to drive a few bargains, noticing with her shrewd eye when the merchants were bluffing about their competition.
Uncle Owen was so impressed he gave her a handful of credits and told her to wander the market while he visited with an old friend in town. In many ways, Leia was unlike those of her sex, but in this one, she was all girl. She'd spent the better part of the hour running her hand along fine space silks, sniffing dried herbs and perfumes, and testing out new gadgets that were more fun than they were practical.
"It will tell you who your suited for," an old merchant woman murmured pointing to translucent ball Leia was eyeing in the center of her display. "Go on," she said, "Works best for virgins."
Leia glared at her, feeling a slight blush tint her cheeks, but couldn't resist the urge reach out and touch it. Something stirred to life in the center of the ball, a reddish pink light, swirling around. Leia smiled, enjoying the show, but her smile slipped a bit as the woman frowned at the glass.
"Never seen it do that," she said.
"How much?" Leia asked.
The old woman cackled a bit, though not unkindly.
"More than you'd make in a year, moisture farmer."
Leia chest puffed as her hackles raised.
"How do you know I'm not a pilot-in-training?"
"Or a princess in disguise?" the old lady countered. "You hands."
Leia looked down at her chapped fingers, palms tinted purple with generator fluid.
"Come back next year, little muffin," the lady said.
Leia turned to go when she heard a familiar gurgle.
Turning, she expected to see the Wookiee, waiting somewhere or wandering the market like she was. But the scene that greeted her wasn't nearly as prosaic as that. Two white-plated soldiers stood in front of him, one holding a scanner of some sort and the other pointing a blaster straight at him.
Leia's mouth fell open, rattled by the open hostility of the scene.
The merchant behind her made a tsking noise. Leia turned to see her shaking her head at the same scene.
"What did he do?" Leia asked.
"Do?" the old woman echoed, "He didn't do nothing. Wookiee's is slaves these days. He probably ran away from a spice mine or the like."
Slaves?
Leia turned as a growl issued from her protector. The white suits seemed to demand more, the blaster pushed into his fury side.
Before she could think too hard, she turned to the merchant.
"What would happen if someone took your crystal?"
"Well, they can't dear, not with soldiers all—"
Without waiting to hear the end, Leia swiped the ball.
"Sorry," she said, before making a mad dash past the soldeirs.
"Theif! THEIF!" The woman cried.
Leia turned to see if the white suits were following, heart racing as fast as her feet, but her face fell as she saw them only glancing in her direction, not even making pursuit.
"WATCH OUT!"
She didn't know what she hit first, the side of the stall or the barrel of groundapples, but it all went down around her in a terrific show. Leia held out her arms, shocked as the beams felt just so around her even as the barrels of ghilbi fruit and lava berries went rolling in every direction.
Leia started crawling out just in time to see the white suits finally heading her way. It only occurred to her then, as she saw their booted feet and blasters heading toward her, what this all meant.
Uncle Owen was going to kill her.
She instinctually scuttled back in the the dim of the produce shop. A droid rattled in the background stuck under a piece of canvas allowing Leia to scurry past it and out the back. She burst into an alleyway, full of beings on pace with a normal market day. She slipped into the crowd, heart hammering loudly in her ears, trying to surreptitiously wipe the sweat from her brow.
A hand grabbed her and pulled her into a door way. Leia let out a scream, instinctual and truly terrified.
"Shhhhhhh," a voice breathed.
She opened her mouth to scream again, but another hand came up to cover it.
"Shut up," a very masculine voice hissed.
Leia was about to use her teeth, survival instincts kicked into high gear, when a squadron of soldiers turned the corner, whipping the traders and travelers into a frenzy.
"You trust me now?" the man said, sarcasm dripping from his tone.
Leia nodded. And he dropped his hand. Leia watched in mute terror as the white suits pushed their way through the crowd and past her door. One of them spoke into his wrist, while the others held their guns at attention, cutting a frightened swath through the beings going about their business.
When she lost sight of them, Leia suddenly became very aware of the other presence she had to deal with. She'd nearly forgotten her rescuer (captor?) with the arrival of the soldiers. She turned into the dappled light of a shuttered stall and took stock.
He was tall, very tall. (Though most beings seemed tall compared with Leia who wasn't even her full measly height yet.) He wore a spacer's get up, casual, devils-may-care all except for the pants which looked newer than the rest of the outfit and had line of bright red horizontal stripes running up the legs. Leia couldn't quite recall what they were, but she was fairly certain they were some kind of big deal.
"Who are you?"
Leia's eyes snapped up to his. Oh. And he was handsome. Very, very—
"You speak basic?"
Leia blinked.
"Yes," she croaked, immediately embarrassed by how timid she sounded. "Yes."
The spacer's face twitched. Suddenly, he didn't look quite as nice. Leia might almost call it dangerous.
"What's your angle?"
She shook her head in confusion. "What do you—"
"What were you trying to do back there? What do you want?"
"I don't—"
"So, you're really just a thief?" Gray-green eyes flicked down her body, causing Leia to feel mightily uncomfortable and just a little bit tingly, "You don't look like a street urchin. Those clothes are new, and you're clean as a whistle. So, I'm asking again, what's your angle."
"I don't have an angle!" Leia burst out, overwhelmed and frankly a little annoyed.
Leia only now realized that she was still holding the little ball. It was warm in her hands and the lights inside were dancing around again, green this time and pulsing toward the stranger.
"You want credits?"
Leia looked up at him.
"For the ball?"
"No," now the spacer looked aggravated, "For the Wookiee. You saved his life. Or at least, saved him from a life not worth living."
Ohhh. Well, that made more sense.
"You know him," Leia said, balancing the ball between two hands a bit nervously.
The spacer's eyes narrowed, "He's my co-pilot."
"So, he got away?" Leia asked, only now realizing the implications of this interaction.
"Yeah," the man said, leaning against the back counter, "Should be waiting for me at our ship."
Leia breathed out a sigh of relief, only to tense back up at the thought of her own danger.
"Why'd you do it?" the man asked. "I saw the whole thing from next door. Was about take them out and bring the whole empire down on our heads."
He stopped talking, seemingly annoyed with himself for the little he'd already said. He made a gesture to her that she couldn't quite translate as rude or encouraging.
"I don't know," Leia said, "I just didn't think it was right."
The spacer frowned. "Right? A Wookiee being arrested?"
"A Wookiee being enslaved," Leia said. "That's what they do to them. Right?"
He stared at her again, his eyes which had seemed opaque before seemed to pierce right through her. He took his own stock, and seemed to come to a decision.
"What's your name?"
"L-Leia," she said, unsure of how to feel after being the recipient of such a stare.
"You got a last name or are you a Wookiee too?"
Leia shifted, hands raising unconsciously to brush back her tangled hair.
"Leia Skywalker," she said, glad she finally sounded sure, "What's yours?"
"Solo," the man said, extending a palm, "Han Solo, captain of the Bria."
The Bria was not much to look at. It was the opposite of sleek, landing somewhere between stubby and scrap. The panelling was all different colors, like the ship had been thrown together in a scrapyard. The wings, if you could call them that, looked like they'd barely keep the thing aloft. But Leia couldn't have been more in love with it.
The Wookiee, Chewbacca as he'd been introduced, sat with her in the cockpit, answering her questions in the best way he could.
"And this would turn on the sublight engines?" Leia asked, after having covered the most obvious of the equipment.
Chewbacca shook his head and pointed to an unassuming gray button that didn't look nearly as interesting as the purple lever Leia had been fondling.
"Hmmm…" she said, running through the possibilities she could conjure, "shield generator?"
He shook his head again, and pointed to a couple of switches up above her head.
"Waste ejection?"
Chewbacca made a snuffling sound which Leia immediately took for laughter. Leia smiled at him and shrugged her shoulders, at a loss for what the lever might do.
The Wookiee rose to his feet, slouching under the low ceiling of the cockpit and attempted a little jump. Leia blinked at him as he put his arms out like a sand surfer and jumped again. Leia shook her head apologetically and Chewbacca let out a little sigh, ruffling her hair with his breath. He reached out and grabbed a pair of goggles from a hook next to his chair and showed them to her before dropping them into her hands. He then took the pair back and dangled them around her head, like a moon around a planosphere.
"Gravity inducer!" Leia cried, finally catching on. Chewbacca let out a happy series of yips.
"What are you two going on about?" a voice cut in. Leia turned to see the Captain of the Bria leaning against the cockpit door. He wisely chose to stay out of the tiny space, instead holding onto the door frame with one hand, setting himself up to great advantage. Leia felt the blood rush to her cheeks, unsure of whether she was happy he'd interrupted or sorry. She suddenly had a hard time concentrating on the ship.
"Chewbacca was showing me around," Leia said, hating the way her voice got all high when she talked to him.
"That right?" Han said, cutting a look to his partner.
Chewbacca said something back to him that made Han look a little sheepish.
"So," he said, "you'll be happy to know you're not going to a work camp anytime soon."
Leia felt the color drain from her face as she remembered why exactly she was here. When the Imps, as Han called them, had cleared out of the area, he had taken her back to his hangar. After a terse back and forth with his hairy co-pilot, Han had told her not to go anywhere while he sorted this whole mess out.
For the first few flicks, Leia had followed his advice. Then as her heartbeat slowed, she realized all at once that she was standing within a few metims of a ship. A real, space-worthy vessel. As much as Leia talked about flying with her friends, as many holos and zines as she had devoured, she had never actually seen a space ship up close. Just mist catchers and speeders, like every other farmer on Tatooine.
Chewbacca had noticed her fascination and had gestured for her to look closer, eventually guiding her around the base of the ship to get a better look at the wings, the gun turrets, and the tail. Leia had held her hand toward that sad looking panelling reverently, and Chewbacca had shaken his head and nudged her closer. Somehow in that moment as she touched her first ship, Leia knew nothing would ever be the same.
"What happened?" she asked Solo, drawing a knee up to her chest, as if making her self smaller would lessen the blow.
"Well," he said, relaxing a bit as the side of his mouth drew up giving him a raffish sort of charm, "first of all, I tend to have a way with lonely women." Chewbacca made a derisive noise, but Han waved him off, "So, I softened her up a bit. Got her laughing, offered her a few credits, and told her Skywalker here is soft in the head."
"You didn't!" Leia cried, even as Chewbacca started a round of woofing laughter again.
"Nah," Han said. "I told her the truth. She's a decent lady." He gave Leia a queer look at this, something between humor and discomfort. Then he dug into his pocket and pulled out the crystal ball.
"She wanted you to have this," he said. "Said you deserved it."
Leia eyes widened as he handed her the bauble, hardly believing this placid turn of events.
"What about the fruit stand?" she said, clutching her prize to her chest.
"That's your problem, sister," Han drawled. "Don't think anyone saw you clearly enough to pin it on you."
Chewbacca spoke now, drawing Han's lips downward again. He shook his head. "We're outta here, Chewie. Tonight. Gotta steer clear till the Imps decide to land on some other dump."
The Wookiee spoke more vociferously this time and Han rolled his eyes.
"Will you be back?" Leia asked, sounding more eager than she meant to. Chewie nodded vigorously, while Han made a noncommittal shrug.
"Can't really avoid it," he said, "Not if we want to eat. And stay in one piece."
Chewie bleated again and Han crossed his arms, "It'll pay off, pal. Besides, we don't got a whole lotta options. And can we stop talking about this in front of the kid?"
The Wookiee answered back and Han froze, mouth pursed. He nodded once, then zeroed in Leia.
"Don't you got somewhere to be? Someone to meet? You didn't drive yourself into town, right?"
It was Leia's turn to blanch as she realized the time. "Oh Gods," she moaned, scrambling out of the captain's chair. "I'm sorry—I. I mean, it was nice to meet you. I guess. And I—"
She paused at the door looking up at Han who was staring down at her like she'd grown another head.
"I hope I'll see you again," she said, meaning both of them, but aiming straight at him.
Han moved out of the way, letting her dash past, calling out a barely audible, "Don't count on it," as she raced out the hatch and landed with a thud on the sandy floor. Her Uncle was waiting, and she'd be grounded for at least a lunar cycle, but she couldn't keep the huge smile from spreading across her face. Everything was in living color, and in the space of one afternoon, it seemed the Galaxy itself had come to her backyard.