Hello, everybody! Before I begin, I want to make you all aware that I call my readers Butterflies. Also, this is my idea of what happens after the events of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, and I'm disregarding the expanded universe (although I do have a lot to learn from it). One last note before I start the chapter: this is the stand alone intro to what I hope will be a trilogy, and I have plans to collab with Blondiebugsie for at least one of the stories. Oh, I forgot! At one point, Leia sings a lullaby; the lullaby is supposed to be sung to the tune of "Across the Stars" from Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones. That's all I've got. Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to Disney.
(3rd Person POV)
In current times in a galaxy far, far away . . .
Shadows of the Past
The Millennium Falcon lands about two meters away from the rubble. The door flies open as Han races out, barely missing the opening door with his head. They've done it. They've finally done it. All Han can think about is his family and about how they've finally done it. Adrenaline rushing and coursing through his veins, he rips away the rubble chunk by chunk, hoping that a miracle has happened.
"Leia! Leia, Chewie, where are you?" Han calls, desperation evident in his voice. Rarely does Han let his guard down and reveal his emotions, but this time is an exception. Han continues to search the rubble for hours, never ceasing to call Leia and Chewie's names. For a long time, he gets no response, and he fears the worst has happened. Suddenly, a flash of dirty white and matted brown give Han hope. He tears away the rubble on top of the two colors, only to discover they are not his family but rather decorations ruined by the rubble. Hopeless, Han sinks to his knees and fights the lump in his throat. He's lost his family and his home. Tears begin welling in his eyes as his face turns red and splotchy. But he doesn't cry. Han Solo never cries.
The sound of a baby crying brings Han back to the nightmare he's living. Forcing himself to stand up, Han tries to locate the source of the cries and starts digging. It takes several more hours, but at long last, he finds the crying the baby. Gently, he picks up the child wrapped in a dark blue blanket and holds it close to his chest. That's when he notices the child's mother, dressed in a ceremonial white robe only a representative would wear and hair done in a bun with four braided loops and one long braid hanging down, sprawled on the ground, majority of her body buried under the rubble.
"Leia," Han whispers mournfully. Then he pulls back the debris and frees Leia. But he dares not move her from where she is for fear of injuries hidden from the naked eye. Immediately, Han calls the nearest medical facility and tells them of the situation; the dispatcher says responders will be there shortly. While he waits, Han continues searching for his best friend and finds him too buried under debris several meters away from Leia and the baby. He can't tell if either Leia or Chewie is alive, so he prepares for the worst and hopes for the best.
The responders soon arrive and transport everyone to the medical facility. There, the medical droids do evaluations as well as actual doctors. When the results of the multiple tests and evaluations come back, they discover Leia has a severe concussion, a broken spine, numerous fractures on both arms, and both legs' bones shattered; she'll have to be transferred to Coruscant where they can better treat her. Meanwhile, Chewie has multiple fractures throughout his body and a severe concussion, but the medical staff can treat him. Han also has them examine the baby, and the results show, thankfully, that the infant suffers from nothing more than some cuts and bruises, which the medical staff clean and bandage. Then several medical emergency transportation droids whisk Han, Leia, and the baby off the Coruscant.
As soon as the ship lands, more medical droids pour out of the facility and rush Leia off to surgery. While waiting for Leia's surgery to end, the baby grows hungry and starts wailing. Unable to feed the baby and having nothing to feed the baby with, Han is unsure of what to do. A human female, a young mother herself, approaches Han and asks if he needs help with the baby. Grateful, Han nods but hesitates to hand over the infant.
"You can trust me," the woman assures Han with a smile. Han sighs and places the baby in the woman's arms. She instantly pulls out a blanket, wraps in around her so that it covers her chest, and holds the child underneath the blanket. The baby stops crying.
"Thank you," Han says quietly.
"It's no trouble. I'm Danica Skywalker, by the way," the woman states nonchalantly, the blanket still wrapped around her. Han asks if she is related to Luke Skywalker, and Danica says that he is her husband. Han almost laughs, but he stops himself. So this is the family he'll be marrying into someday, that is, if Leia survives.
Soon Danica lays a sleeping baby back in Han's arms and leaves without another word. Han decided that he'll need to buy formula for the baby while Leia is in surgery since he certainly can't feed the child and the odds of Danica returning are so little. If only 3PO were here to tell me the odds, Han thinks to himself.
The long wait continues, and Han dozes off several times. The baby continues to sleep soundlessly as well. Suddenly, a sharp pressure on his shoulder awakens Han from his nap. The droid announces Leia's survival of the operation and her current location in the Intensive Care Unit. Then it orders Han to follow it and stalks away at a brisk pace.
Han jumps out of his seat and does all but run to keep up with the droid; it's moving rather quickly for a medical droid. The droid halts abruptly in front of a sealed metal door.
"Representative Leia Organa of Naboo, Room 6713." The droid's metallic voice sounds cold and almost foreboding. Han shoves those feelings aside for the sake of the baby asleep in his arms and for his friend in the room.
The doors slide open as Han approaches, revealing Leia resting on a bed, her hair undone, in a hospital gown, and make up removed; she's covered in wires and patches as well as bandages, and every wire and patch connects to some kind of monitor. The sight is discouraging to Han, but he dons a brave face. Calmly, he settles himself in a chair and watches over Leia. Her location at this moment is recorded in files and droids. If they gain access to that information, she will absolutely die. But he'll do all he can to prevent that.
"Han." The whisper comes an hour later and is inaudible. "Han, wake up." This time the voice is a tad stronger; Han stirs. "Han, I haven't much strength, so wake up and listen carefully." Han's eyes open, but nothing registers, until he hears the cries of the baby.
"You'll sleep through anything, won't you?" Leia, now awake, asks. Han seems a bit dazed until he recognizes that Leia is now awake. "Let me hold the child." Leia reaches tiredly for the baby and snuggles it. Han reaches into his bag for the formula powder he bought while waiting for Leia to get out of surgery. He dumps it in a bottle and adds warm water before mixing it together. Then he walks over to Leia and hands the bottle to her. Leia gently puts the bottle into the crying baby's mouth, and the crying stops. "Have you been feeding the treasure every three hours?" Leia's voice is still weak. Han pauses and nods. Leia raises an eyebrow, and Han assures that he fed the baby every three hours.
Once the baby finishes eating, Leia burps it and starts swinging gently in her arms. While doing so, she sings, her voice rough but soothing. The baby drifts off to sleep to its mother's lullaby.
"Across the stars, across the moons, across the planets my love reaches you. You are loved. You are safe. I will guard you all of your days. Nothing can harm you. It's okay to be scared. Just know you'll be spared. Tomorrow will be here when we least expect it. Daylight will come before we know it. My love . . . reaches beyond the stars, beyond the moons, and beyond the planets . . . we see. My love will stretch across the stars."
Next, Leia motions for Han to step closer to the bed. A pained expression crosses her worn face.
"Go to Luke. He'll protect -" the last word is inaudible, but Han understands. Leia kisses the sleeping baby goodbye and does the same to Han. Then Han takes the baby outside the hospital and hails a speeder cab. The driver asks where Han would like to go, and he replies the Jedi Temple, which is about 32 kilometers away. At first, the driver objects, but she reads the concern on Han's face and agrees to fly him there.
At the Temple, Han is all but welcome. The guards refuse to grant him access without some kind of authorization he doesn't have. Han tries to convince them to let him in and that he needs to see the Grand Master, but the guards tell him that no one sees the Grand Master without proper authorization and prior appointment scheduling.
Han tries calling Luke on his com-link many times, but Luke never answers. He must be in a meeting, Han decides.
About twenty minutes later, Han receives a call on his com-link; it's Luke. Out of spite to the guards, Han puts the com-link on speaker and waits with a smirk for Luke to give him permission to enter. Only, Luke doesn't give him permission. Instead, he tells the guards to please escort Han to "The Fallens' Place," the place where the old Temple had once stood before Order 66 and the Purge brought it down. It is now a memorial to those who died during that time and under the reign of Darth Sidious and Darth Vader. This time the guards don't hesitate to escort Han, and if not for the baby in his arms, probably would have dragged him to The Fallens' Place.
At The Fallens' Place, Luke paces anxiously while he awaits Han's arrival. He has just called a break from the meeting that has been going on for at least a week now. Normally this kind of situation could be resolved quickly, but the person involved is no ordinary person, nor can they find him, which complicates the matter. Finally, Luke gives up and sits down on the ground to meditate on the matter. Perhaps the Force will offer some insight as to what to do. Instead, he gets a vision, a memory from four years ago: the loss of his own son; the memory's triggered by the meeting about a similar event. Despite the pain the memory causes, Luke allows it play out, believing that doing so will aide him now. And then the Force shifts; a life is taken.
"Luke!" Luke opens his eyes to see Han and the guards less than a meter away. Quickly and gracefully, Luke rises to his feet and greets them upon their arrival. The guards return to their stations. Han and Luke discuss the reason Han is on Coruscant.
"I still don't understand, Han," Luke sighs after Han finishes explaining.
"Leia is a representative of Naboo, where we live, in the Galactic Treaty drafting. Someone or some organization opposes the Treaty and is taking out those who do support it. We've been attacked multiple times in the past, but this last time Leia, Chewie, and this little one were at home. Chewie's back on Naboo, and Leia's at the ICU at the hospital about 30 kilometers from here." Luke nods.
"I see. So where do I come in?" This is the part Han had not yet explained.
"Simple. You take the kid and raise it to be a Jedi so it can protect itself."
"Leia is a Jedi too, you know."
"Leia's also attached to over 15 different monitors right now, has shattered both legs, has a severe concussion, and broke her spine protecting the baby. Do you honestly think she is capable of raising a child to be a Jedi?" At this point, Han is shouting at Luke.
"For how long?" Luke asks, his voice calm and soothing.
"As long as you can. With a father named Solo and mother named Organa, this one will need all the training possible." Then Han glances down at his sleeping child and, in a rare moment of true emotion, kisses its forehead before bidding Luke farewell and proceeding to leave with a thanks. He rushes away as fast as he can because he knows what is happening. He is hurting like he's never hurt before, and he doesn't want anyone else to know it or feel it. As he hails a cab and climbs in, he wipes the most miniscule of tears off his face. Not here, not now. He has to be brave for the child he just left in a world he doesn't trust. The door closes, and Han breaks. Forget being strong.
Han is gone. He's just left an infant in Luke's arms with no instruction other than to train her. Decidedly, Luke glances down at the dark blue bundle and pushes it out of the child's face. It's a girl, his two month old niece named Desara, Desara Faith Solo.
That's the end of the Prologue! Yay? I hope you all enjoyed it, even if it was a bit shorter than I had hoped. On that note, my goal is to make each chapter about 3000-4000 words long. Clearly, I fell short for this one, and there will be other times when I fall short; please be understanding and know that I'm doing what I can. That's all I've got, Butterflies, so stay tuned for Chapter 1! I love you all so much. Don't forget to follow, favorite, and review! Bye!
