Authors Note: Thanks go to REV042175 for pointing out a formating error. I have fixed the problem in both Chapter one and this update. Here's your gold star for today.
Part two
Leia
He was in for a final check-up. The two one-bee had declared him almost healed a week ago and Luke should emerge with a clean bill of health today. Leia had been left in charge of his possessions while he was occupied. The sensitive equipment did not like anything metallic in the medical tent, so Luke had left most everything with her. It was only three months since the battle of Yavin. They had moved four times already and were searching for a place to call home.
Ordinarily, he'd have left these things in his quarters or his locker, but they had neither at the moment. This tiny base was nothing more than a way-stop. They would only be here another two days and they were staying in tents, sleeping in shifts. What few long term possesions any of them had were in storage on their freighter. Only the things one couldn't live without were on planet. For Leia, that meant the small briefcase full of holos and datachips that was currently in the command tent. For Luke, aparently, it meant a utility belt full of gear. Leia fingered one gadget after another on the belt. An ancient pair of macro binocs. A blaster, something she'd only recently convinced him to carry. Some assorted tools that she knew fit all the parts on his X-wing fighter. Coming to the last item before the buckle, Leia froze, her fingertips barely touching the cylinder.
Most of the time, Luke was refreshingly naive. His openness and honesty was charming and Leia loved the fact she never had to wonder about him. Most of the time. Sometimes, on some things, Luke was as dark and mysterious as anyone else. This final item on his belt was one of those topics. According to Han Solo, the lightsabre had belonged to Luke's father, who was a Jedi before the clone wars. Apparently, Luke hadn't minded discussing the lightsabre, the Force, or why he left home until General Kenobi had died. Now all three were dead topics.
Unfortunately, the old pirate hadn't paid any attention when Luke was willing to talk so he wasn't much help to Leia now that she wanted to know about her friend. She fingered the weapon, lifting it guiltily off it's hook. She slid down and sat on the ground, settling the heavy belt on her lap. She'd never actually seen one of these before. Just this particular item, and only then from a distance.
Now, she realized it was much heavier than it looked. Grasping it with both hands, the princess examined the smooth metal cylinder carefully. She took note of the tiny red switch set in the side and the tiny dent on the edge of the base, like it had been used to hit something hard. The metal at the bottom of the tube had been melted once by some extreme heat, then smoothed back out. The repair was almost perfect, but Leia couldn't help noticing the tiny, tell-tale marks that betrayed the repair.
The hilt, which had seemed cold at first, quickly warmed to her touch and Leia felt as if the very metal was producing heat in response to her actions. A moment later, Luke settled in front of her on the ground, staring at her hands. Looking at him guiltily, she said, "Luke, I didn't... I just..."
Infuriatingly and soothingly, he smiled at her. "It's okay, Leia. I trust you. I wouldn't have left it with you if I didn't."
Luke reached out and took both Leia's hands in his own. "What were you thinking about?"
"I was curious. I've never seen one before. It's heavier than it looks. And it's, I don't know, warmer."
Smiling at her, he let her roll the hilt between her fingers. "It's been that way since I got it. It's always warm to the touch. I don't know why. It might be the Force, a trace impression left on it by it's previous owner."
"Your father." Leia said matter of factly. Luke nodded.
"You never talk about him."
"I never knew him. I didn't even know he was a Jedi until a few months ago. Ben gave this to me just before I left Tatooine. It's the only thing I have of either of my parents." Luke's admission startled the unflappable princess. Yes, she'd been prying, but she hadn't expected Luke to open up.
Prompting him, Leia continued. "You lived with your Aunt and Uncle, right?"
"Aunt Beru and Uncle Owen. They were the only thing holding me to Tatooine. When they died..." Luke trailed off. The princess understood and he knew it.
"I suppose it doesn't matter how you lose your family, your ties to your past. When they are gone, they're gone."
Luke sighed and nodded his agreement. He smothed his thumb over the 'sabre handle, still not letting go of her hands. "I don't even have anything to remember them by. Just this and that only brings up bad memories. Uncle Owen never wanted to talk about my father. I still don't understand why. Now he's dead too and I may never know."
"At least you know something now. You have a starting point to find out about your father."
Snorting, Luke dropped the princesses hands. "No, I don't. In fact, I have even less chance of finding him now than ever. When he was just a pilot on a spice freighter, I might have tracked him down. The Empire has erased all traces of the Jedi. There is no chance anymore."
Still enthralled by the device in her hands, Leia was listening to Luke, but not looking at him. She still couldn't believe she was holding a lightsabre. Weapons had been forbidden on Alderaan anyway and with the death sentence out for all Jedi, she'd given up all chance of ever seeing one in use.
For a farmboy, Luke was more perceptive than anyone gave him credit for. He smiled and lifted the weapon out of the princesses hands. "Would you like to learn how it works?"
At the expression of pure greed on her face, Luke laughed. "I'll take that as a yes. Okay, stand up." Leia did so and Luke stepped behind her to correct her stance.
"Spread your feet a little more. Now, grip the hilt with both hands, right on the top, left on the bottom. You are right handed, aren't you?"
"Yes."
"Okay, now, oops, turn the handle ninety degrees, you can't reach the activation switch." She complied and Luke adjusted her elbows to make sure the blade would activate far from her body or his. "Now press the activation stud. It's set right now to shut down if you release the stud, for safety."
Leia did as instructed, giddy with anticipation though she stayed studious and professional. She laid her right thumb across the switch and pressed. The light blue blade shot out of the handle and Leia was startled that there was no sense of motion. She'd expected it to kick on activation like a blaster. Luke stepped back several feet and let her play with the weapon. He knew it wasn't a toy, but she was so pleased. This had been a long time dream of hers, he knew. Though how he knew he wasn't sure.
The princess swung the blade in a slow arch, then slashed the air quickly with it. Luke stepped back up to her, speaking loudly so she wouldn't hit him by mistake. "Now, would you like to learn one of the exercises Ben taught me?"
"Please?" Leia asked with a grin and the pilot grinned right back.
"You do this with the sabre shut off. I would hate for you to slip and decapitate yourself."
Leia balked. "Decapitate?"
"I saw Ben's take an arm off in the blink of an eye. Here, let me show you." Luke took the hilt from her and snatched a rock the size of his fist and twice as long off the ground. He handed it to the Princess. "Throw that up in the air a good distance from you."
Luke stepped back and she complied. The sabre flashed through the air and the stone hit the ground in two pieces. Leia stepped forward to examine the halves.
"Careful they may be hot." he cautioned and Leia nodded, fascinated. She touched a bit of her shirt to the stone and when the material didn't melt, she gently tapped the sides up to the cut edge. The stone was still warm, but cooling rapidly. She picked up one side and ran her fingers over the smooth surface.
"This is amazing! I knew they were fascinating, but this... this is unreal. Then block blaster bolts too then?" She'd heard it said...
"Ben said so. I blocked sting shots from a remote, but that isn't the same."
"No, but even so, why don't all of our soldiers have one? That could be immensely useful. Instant cutting torch, instant shield. Just think of the possibilities"
Luke shook his head violently. "No, Leia. These things are dangerous. Deadly. This is a weapon. And it's a difficult one to use at that. Yes, if all the soldiers carried one some might be able to stop blaster bolts, but most would just end up losing a limb and we'd go broke buying prosthetics."
Realizing the truth in that statement, the princess nodded in agreement. "You are probably right. Don't you worry, when you use it?"
He nodded," All the time. Ben just didn't have time to teach me much."
"You two were close, weren't you?"
"Yes, no. I suppose so. I've known him my whole life, but Uncle Owen didn't approve so I did not know him well. I had only just started to know who he was, and then he died." Luke shrugged helplessly and turned too look into the jungle. "And now there's no one left."
"I understand, Luke. I never knew him, but General Kenobi was a good man and a good friend of my father." Leia rested her left hand on his shoulder in an attempt to comfort him. Her other hand held the sabre, deactivated and lowered at her side.
Leia tugged at his shoulder, trying to turn him around so she could see what he'd done to himself now. She did not think she'd hit him that hard, maybe he'd been holding his wrist wrong... Turning around with a big grin on his face he swiped at her and she ducked just in time, bringing her own blade up to deflect the slash.
"Hey, that's cheating!"
"What's cheating, Leia?" Luke asked, concerned at the far-away look in her eyes. She looked as if she might faint, though Luke had never heard of the Princess having a fainting spell. "Leia, what's wrong?"
She closed her eyes and he caught her hand in his, wrapping his other arm around her waist to keep her from falling. In a moment, she was again supporting herself, though she was still unsteady. "I'm alright, I think." She said, eyes still closed. When she opened them, a strange expression crossed her face. "That was... odd."
"What happened, Leia?"
Replaying the image again in her mind, Leia responded. "It was like deja vu, but not really because what I thought happened again hadn't ever happened before. It couldn't have. Does that make any sense?"
"I've heard stranger things. What did you see?"
"You." Shaking her head, Leia said "It's nothing, I'm probably just hungry. C'mon, let's go get lunch."
"Your call." He said, releasing her hand. This time Leia experienced real deja vu when Luke grinned and turned toward the temporary mess. "I'll race you," he called, dashing off.
"Hey, that's cheating!" She called, pausing before she followed. Examining the sabre one more time, she froze. This was the one she'd been holding in her vision. Except, in her vision, the hilt had never been damaged. Both the dent and the repair were non existent. Not willing to think about what that could mean, she raced after Luke, cutting through the command tent and beating him despite his head start.
