Two months earlier

"So this is it, eh?" Leia heard her husband, Han Solo remark in an extremely unimpressed tone as he looked around the little hovel that had once passed for a home.

Leia nodded, silently agreeing with her husband's sentiments. "This is it." They had officially reached the home of Obi-Wan Kenobi, complete with multiple layers of dust and sand from all the years it had stood empty. Luke had claimed to come back several times, in each instance going over the hut with a fine-toothed comb, but it didn't look like anyone had been there in decades. When Leia had told her brother about her dreams, he had insisted that nothing could possibly be there, but those dreams urged her to come again and again. That had only confused Luke, but he and Saba had warned her on many occasions to not ignore force visions, and there was no mistaking that those dreams were indeed force visions. So she'd come.

"Nice place," Han muttered under his breath. Leia let a spark of a smile touch her lips. Jedi "mumbo-jumbo" or not, she was glad he'd come. After all they'd been through, his presence reassured and calmed her. "So, what exactly are we looking for?"

She shook her head. "I have no idea."

"Right. Why am I not surprised? Stupid hokey religion." She knew he didn't mean any of his cynicism. He'd seen people use The Force often enough that couldn't possibly not believe, but he'd seemed to take up the mantra since Jacen... Well, since things had gone so badly. He'd only begun to vocalize it recently, and now it stood as more of a sad joke than anything.

"Oh, quit complaining and help me look," Leia commented, bending down to examine some neatly-stacked crates in one corner.

"Of course, Your Worship." She sent him a deadly gaze, but said nothing as he began to rifle through the visible cupboards. He'd also taken to calling her that again after how many years? Of course, she'd never admit out loud that she found it just as attractive now as she had back then.

Maybe he was finally coming to terms with Anakin and Jacen. Or maybe he was reverting to his old routines to continue dealing with it. Either way, it felt good to have the old Han back.

xXx

Three hours later, they both sat on the lumpy stools that barely passed for furniture, regarding each other and then the hovel around them in quiet turns.

"How could Luke stand living here?" Leia asked, trying to ignore the heat. It probably wasn't affecting her as badly as it was Han, though. At least she could release a great deal of it into The Force. When she saw Saba next, she would thank her immensely for not slacking on that particular area training.

"As I recall, he couldn't," Han muttered, allowing his head to lean against the dry wall. "Always hated this planet myself."

"And we still have no idea why I'm supposed to be here," she muttered, unable to stop her tone from sounding just a touch annoyed. They hadn't found a single thing that Luke hadn't already gone over. No dangerous Jedi secrets, no special message meant for her (or anyone for that matter), not even a scrap of writing as Luke had long since taken any journals or data pads off planet.

After several seconds of silence, Han stood up with some effort, his hair brushing the ceiling and consequently gaining even more dust and sand in the already dirty mess. Leia wondered briefly how long it would take to get it all out. She'd heard Luke's rant on sand often enough to know that it would be a while. He'd claimed to actually still find sand somewhere on his person months after he'd gone within any distance of the substance.

"Well," her husband said, sounding his many years for once. She'd always been amazed at how well they'd both aged, but every now and then, it showed. "Guess we'd better-"

"Let's spend the night," she heard herself blurt suddenly, cutting him off.

He paused, blinking down at her incredulously. "What? You actually want to stay in this piece of-"

"Han," she warned, scowling briefly. He stopped. "Look, just for the night, okay? We have enough rations, and there are places to sleep..."

"You're gonna make me curl up on the floor just to spend a night here on a whim?"

She sighed, wanting to argue, but she did see his point. "Well, you can go back to the town. I'm sure you could find-"

"You think I'd leave you out here on your own?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I can handle myself."

He shook his head. "Yeah, yeah, I know. I'll go get the packs."

She grinned as he walked out. Count on Han to make her smile. The expression faded as she looked around at the mess they'd made. Seemed their work would be cut out for them. Luke would say something about turning this into an exercise and Saba would probably comment on doing the work thoroughly and as soon as possible (probably not in those words, but still). Well, she did need to work on her precision a bit more...

Han returned not five minutes later to see his wife sitting with her eyes closed in the middle of a clean room-well, the floor was clean. Every single speck of dust and dirt had risen into the air and now floated around her in a slow, swirling sort of dance.

"Show off," he muttered to himself, causing her to smirk. Then all of the dirt flew right by him and out into the desert wind, where she released it to be blown away onto the dunes.

"I still had to pick it up in clumps," she muttered when she opened her eyes. "Need to work on that."

"Perfectionist too. I'd say that came from your being raised as royalty, but I've met your brother."

She snickered. "Skywalkers never do things partially."

Han shook his head, "Poor Ben. He inherited all the Skywalker crud and whatever the heck Mara gave him too." Well, at least he had censored himself.

The comment still amused her, and she refused to let any sad thoughts about her sister-in-law mar the mood.

xXx

Leia wasn't sure what woke her up. Truthfully, she couldn't say that she actually felt awake either, but half-way through the night, she somehow found herself trudging out of the doorway and into the surprisingly cool night air.

Something was calling her.

Time passed. She had no idea how much, nor was she in the proper state of mind to care. Somehow, she was aware of the minutes trickling by, but only in a vague, half-dazed sense. It seemed like an eternity and yet the blink of an eye all at once.

A mound of rock came to her mind's eye. It stood cowering with the rest of the weathered sandstone in the area, worn down by eons on the edge of the dune sea.

A cave. A small cave near the top...somehow, she could feel it imploring for her to-

"Leia!" A hand on her shoulder had her jumping fully back to reality. Eyes wide, she looked up to see Han staring down worriedly.

"Han? What...?" Looking around, she couldn't seem to remember what she'd just been doing or how she'd gotten here. They stood a good several meters from their rented vehicle at the edge of several mounds of rock half buried in sand. She could barely see the hut out across the desert, bright moonlight reflecting down on its bleached stone and duraplast.

She didn't remember going anywhere. Had she come here by herself? Then what was Han doing here? Probably had something to do with the still-running speeder. Had she been sleep walking? How far away from the hut were they? A kilometer? Two? Three? She only vaguely remembered walking, how had she gotten this far? And she hadn't even bothered to put her shoes or her jacket on. Thankfully, she'd gone to sleep in her typical Jedi clothes, so she could remain somewhat warm and comfortable.

"It's dangerous out here!" Han exclaimed. "What were you thinking?" Surprisingly, she couldn't answer him. She seriously doubted that if she'd continued her little excursion that she'd run into any Krayt dragons, but the Tuskan Raiders usually hunted and traveled by night. They tended to avoid going near any sort of actual building, but that didn't mean it wasn't risky. Plus Tattooine had its own share of dangerous bugs and small reptiles that also lived by night or slept unsuspecting in the sand, just waiting to be stepped on.

She shook her head, looking down at herself, and noting with a small measure of relief that she had managed to grab her lightsaber at least.

"I...don't know."

The worry lines on his face increased. "You never sleepwalk."

"I just felt...something."

He stared at her for several seconds, as if trying to weigh her words. "Okay, that's enough of this Jedi hooky business. We're leaving, tomorrow. Come on." He reached out to grab her elbow and lead her back to the run-down speeder, but she jerked away.

"No!" The word came out of her mouth before she could stop it. Han looked back at her, still worried and now more than a little perturbed. Strangely enough, the expression made him seem rather attractive in the silvery-gold moonlight. She shook the thought from her head. "There's a cave, up there," she pointed to the top of the rocky hill. "I have to go..."

"Go and what?" Han asked, the annoyance quickly turning into anger.

"I don't know," she said. "But I have to."

Before he could say anything else, she turned and bounded up the side of the relatively smooth slope, using The Force to guide her footfalls.

"Leia!" Han called after her, but she ignored him even as he let out a string of curse words that would have otherwise left him on the couch for a week. She ignored him, eyes focused on where she knew the cave would be. Her once again long hair fell around her when she stopped on a small bulge of rock just under the summit. If she hadn't been looking for the hole, she would not have seen it. And that's exactly what it was: a hole. She'd been expecting some sort of ominous opening that she'd either have to walk or crawl through. What she got was nothing more than the equivalent of an animal burrow.

Carefully, she probed into the opening with The Force. Various creatures had lived there before, she could feel the traces of their force signature implanted on the area, but none did so now. How convenient. Somehow, she didn't think it was a coincidence. She also felt something else in there.

"Leia! What the-"

"Han!" she called back, "I found something."

"What?" The sound of him scrambling up the hill side reached her ears, and she couldn't help but smile. She always felt safe with Han watching her back-almost safer than if a fellow Jedi had been there instead. "What is it?"

"I don't know."

"Do you happen to know anything?"

"I know what it's like to sleep on the couch for a month," she intoned sweetly.

He paused. "Not fair."

Carefully, she reached her hand into the hole. Something hard and square met her hand. Pulling it out slowly, so as not to scrape it or her against the sandstone, she marveled at the realization that this was what she'd come for.

"What is it?" Han's breathless voice caused her to look over at her husband. He'd caught up and now stooped to get a better view of the dirty object in her hand.

"What I came to find."

Han sighed. "Come on, let's get back. It's still dangerous here."

She nodded and began to follow him down towards the speeder. Once they'd reached the vehicle and had started back, Leia took a look at the object more closely.

It was a box, slightly larger than her hand and a good 10 centimeters deep, made of duroplast and covered in a thick layer of dirt and sand. Brushing it off, she found two pressure-sensitive indents. Not knowing what else to do, she pressed one of the slightly concave areas. Nothing happened. She pressed the other one, and a harsh mechanical, but distinctly female voice suddenly spoke up.

"Please produce sample for comparison."

She and Han exchanged glances. He shrugged as if to say, 'Don't ask me,' before turning to keep an eye on the shifting sand in front of them.

"Define sample?" Leia said, hoping that answer had been programmed in. If it wasn't a pre-set question/answer, she'd be out of luck.

"DNA Sample," the voice stated.

Oh. Well that was simple enough. Despite the dirt, she licked her finger and rubbed it along both of the indents. One had to be a receptacle of some kind.

"Sample acquired. Processing." She and Han exchanged glances again.

"That may not have been such a good idea," Han muttered. Leia didn't answer.

After a few seconds, the voice came back. "Leia Organa confirmed. Explosives disarmed. Welcome, Your Highness."

"Explosives?" her eyes widened in surprise. Han had snapped his attention to the box and was now scowling at it as the top popped open.

"Eye on the land, Han. You're driving."

Her surprise came from the idea of Obi-wan programming the greeting for her as 'your highness'. It had been decades since So Obi-wan had known Bail had adopted her.

"Told you this was a bad idea."

"I thought you liked to take a chance," she retorted.

"Been around you and your brother too long," he shot right back.

"Yes," she said dryly, "And we Skywalkers haven't been known for taking risks at all ever."

His scowl deepened. "Look, I just don't like the idea of my wife being blown to bits."

She stared at the opening of the box for several seconds. The lid still stopped her from seeing the interior, as it had simply unlocked and popped up a little.

"I know," she said softly. He was thinking about Chewie and Anakin again probably. That brought a stab of pain to her own heart. No parent should ever outlive their child. "I knew it was safe, though."

He shot her a look that stated rather plainly that he didn't believe her, but knew better than to argue the point. When he didn't respond, she focused her attention on the actual lid, and reached to open it.

Inside she found two objects. One was a piece of flimsy folded in half with the word "instructions" written on the top in basic. The other was a small recording device. It had a simple design, easy to use and obviously not of Imperial make. She hadn't seen that kind of technology for probably a good 30 years...or more if it predated the Empire.

"Well," she said, setting the device on the dashboard. "No time like the present."

"Was that you or Jaina talking?"

Leia smiled. "Force forbid my daughter should sound like me."

Han's expression softened as a sly smile touched his lips. "I was thinking that you sound more like her."

"Shut up and drive," she said, but her voice held no malice. He snickered, and left the smile openly on his face. Meanwhile, she hit the "play" button and watched as the hologram of a middle-aged man appeared in front of them.

"Kenobi," she said, recognizing the bearded Jedi from pictures her father had shown her almost immediately.

"Wait," Han studied the hologram as it began to speak. "Luke's old teacher? He looks younger than-"

"Shhh," she said, half so she could listen to the recording and half to avoid the still somewhat touchy subject.

The hologram continued to speak. "You would know me as General Obi-wan Kenobi, princess." She involuntarily flinched. It had been years since anyone besides Han had referred to her supposedly royal status. "If you are watching this, one of three situations has occurred.

"I hope this finds you in the first and best scenario. You have met Luke Skywalker and either you or he has restored the Jedi Order. If that is the case, you may completely disregard everything that is to follow and the two of you have both my congratulations and thanks for any action you've taken against the Empire. I will also wish blessings of The Force upon youso you may face whatever has compelled you to find this.

"I will address the second, and worst possible result now. You yourself have been trained in the ways of The Force by the Sith." Leia's mouth dropped open, the very implications of this scenario leaving her shocked, and slightly offended. Han looked rather upset himself, the frown now back in place on his handsome features. Obi-wan continued. "If this is the case, I warn you against trying to use any information you find on this recording as I have taken precautions. I reiterate: any use of the Dark Side in this capacity will result in an extremely undesirable situation for yourself or anyone associated with you. You have been warned.

"The third and final scenario is that you are working against a new Sith who has arisen. He is either apprenticed to Vader and they have taken over the Empire, or he has replaced Vader as Palpatine's right hand. If this is the case, then you will find the preparations I have made most effective. I also wish I could help you in your time of need, but if you are listening to this than I have rejoined The Force and will be physically unable to do so.

"I admit that I prepared this recording and the accompanying notes in the event of the third scenario. The groundwork has already been set up in the bedrock under my hovel. All you need do is specify a time or event in your mind and recite the incantation. I have taken the liberty of destroying anything that has to do with making the diagram needed, so if you are indeed associated with the dark side yourself, you will not find the answers you are looking for here. Ironic that any other information on this process was lost when the temple was destroyed." A smug if sad smile touched his face for just a few moments, and then vanished.

"If you are wondering why you have only now come to know of this, then know that you have called out for it. The Force signature would only respond if you are in desperate need of this. It is tuned to only you should the third scenario happen. I can only guess at why you have need of this, but whatever the reason may be, please use this knowledge wisely." With that, he bowed, and the flickering hologram began to fade. "May The Force be with you."

They sat staring at the blank space where the hologram had glowed not moments before. Han had completely forgotten about driving (thankfully not much in the way of obstruction happened to clutter the dune sea). They sat in silence for several seconds before Han spoke up.

"What...was that?"

"Stop asking questions I have no answer to."

"Well, read the-"

"HAN!" Leia cried out, pointing ahead of them. Ben's hut loomed ahead of them, on a direct collision course. Of course the one obstruction in the entire desert, and the best pilot in the galaxy happened to almost hit it. Oh yeah, if they lived, she'd never let him live it down.

They swerved violently, the force of the turn almost sending them both flying. When the speeder came to an abrupt stop, they sat there for several minutes, recovering.

"So good," Han breathed, a grin on his face when he turned to her, "that I get to my destination without even knowing."

"Next time," Leia said, "I'm driving."

Han raised an eyebrow, sending her that lopsided grin that always made her weak in the knees. "Over my dead body."

"Don't tempt me."

"Right, Your Worship."

She rolled her eyes bent down to get the flimsy that had fallen at her feet. That's when she realized the recording was gone. Bending down, she felt around for it, but found nothing. It must have been thrown onto the sand during Han's reckless maneuver.

"Han, the recorder! It's-"

A warning through The Force alerted her to several life signatures closing on their area. Sand people! Apparently their little excursion hadn't gone unnoticed.

"We need to get inside," she hissed, lowering her voice. "Now!"

He recognized the serious tone immediately, and nodded. It didn't take long to lock the speeder up, and then they bolted to the house, locking the duroplast door behind them. Next went the windows, the same material sliding down to cover the openings. Kenobi had obviously done this enough to know how to barricade himself safely inside.

Once they were sure everything had been bolted shut, they sat in the darkness, listening for a few minutes before they heard the shuffling and grunting associated with the native Sand People. Then they heard clanks and bangs as the group attacked the car (and probably the house). Strange, normally they didn't like to go near any sort of civilization.

"Stupid kriffing-" Han started muttering, heading towards the door. They needed that speeder.

"Han," Leia said, her voice taking a slight warning tone at his language as she flopped down on one of the stools in the dark.

He stopped again, but she could feel his frustration. Truthfully, she empathized, half tempted to go out there and fight them all off. But then someone would get hurt, and even though it would probably be the Sand People, the thought still didn't appeal to her. She didn't have to fight.

"So what does the flimsy say?" he asked, sounding thoroughly uninterested. Probably just trying to make conversation to get his mind off of the fact that they were trapped in (for all intents and purposes) a cell, on one of the most desolate planets in the galaxy while a harsh tribe of natives either attacked or passed by.

"Don't know," she said dryly. "I can't exactly read it."

"You have been spending too much time around Jaina," he muttered. She could hear his fingers scrambling for something. "Here."

Something flew through the air at her. Even in the dark, she caught it easily; a small pen-light from the feel of it.

She pressed the button and found the flimsy fairly quickly, bringing it out of one of her pockets and opening it. Six words were written in a language she didn't know. Actually, she couldn't even define the sounds of the different (were those squiggly lines letters?) made. Despite this fact, almost as soon as she saw them, she knew these words, and their pronunciation. She could even come up with a vague meaning.

Below that, a single line caught her attention. One regret may be rectified. Choose wisely.

Han frowned over her shoulder. "Specific old fossil, wasn't he?"

She rolled her eyes. "You don't have to be so sarcastic. Obi-wan Kenobi was a great man."

"Now you sound like your brother."

Leia smirked up at him. "I'd say 'thank you', but I'm not sure it was a compliment."

She felt Han grin slightly. "It wasn't."

"I'll be sure to tell him that," she said playfully.

"So what does this spell-thing do?"

She raised an eyebrow and turned to look at him with a mockingly incredulous expression. "Oh, so you believe now? I see what you're thinking, Han Solo. If nothing happens then you were obviously right about this whole trip. Your comment didn't just suggest, but firmly stated that-"

He moved, and his lips on hers interrupted her speech. After a moment he stepped back, the old lopsided grin on her face. "Always was the best way to shut you up."

"Watch it, Solo," she said, stepping forward, but nothing in her movement suggested a threat. He in turn wrapped an arm around her, welcoming the close movement.

"And there's Mara coming out..."

That quickly, what promised to be a playfully romantic atmosphere fell flat on the floor. Thinking about their sister-in-law still hurt. A lot.

"You know," she said, desperately trying to keep ahold of the somewhat rare mood. "Has it ever occurred to you that I can think on my own? Perhaps I do not copy anyone else, but they copy me."

Han snorted, appreciating the try. "Yeah, right."

Leia swatted him on the arm with a sigh, turning her attention back to the flimsy. "I have no idea what this does." Something we'd like to rectify? Perhaps it shows us the means to make up for something? Some sort of force-trace to a place that could help somehow? It would definitely explain why Obi-wan wouldn't want Dark Side users to find this." It didn't feel quite right, but she couldn't see any other logical explanation. What did it do? And she hadn't heard of many 'diagrams' in her training. Of course, a lot had been lost when the Emperor had tried to destroy all traces of the Jedi, but still.

Han shook his head, hands on hips as he leaned down to look more closely at the paper. "Guess there's only one way to find out."

His wife sighed. "Typical Han; rush into everything head-first, blasters blazing."

"At least it's my own thing," his grin widened.

"Alright, let me contact Luke and let him know what's going on. Maybe he'll have some ideas."

Han scoffed. "Sure. Play it safe."

She just smiled back, just a touch of sadness coming to her face. "Always."

He glanced at the flimsy again. "Do you know this language?"

"No," she replied, "but I know what it says."

"Really?" he asked, eyebrows raised. "What does it say?"

"Mikoy toh tyine ryomit tokh," Leia replied, almost without thinking.

If she had been thinking, she probably wouldn't have said the words a loud. The only warning she got was a flare in The Force, and suddenly it exploded. She gasped as it flowed through her in a way that it never had before. She heard herself repeating the words over and over again, almost like a mantra of some sort. With the rush of The Force, a part of her was swept away, and she began to lose herself.

That quickly, she was no longer a human, but a tube linking The Force to their plain of existence. She felt more connected with the entire universe than she'd ever experienced previously. She could see the entire galaxy as a whole, somehow, but she could also see every little detail on every single planet, asteroid and star in existence. She could feel the pinpricks that were sentient life in the whole galaxy inside of her, all sparkling in an array of colors she could never name as she's never been able to see them before. Her breath stole away from her with the sheer magnificence of it all. She didn't care much for the power she felt. The beauty almost stopped her heart.

She could see the flow and ebb of The Force visible around each and every life form, and for a moment, she ceased to exist. There was no Leia Organa Solo, there was only the Force; only life; only peace. She couldn't even see any hint of the simple black and white she'd always associated with The Force. Everything seemed so vibrantly colorful...so connected.

Oh how she longed to be apart of that connection; that utter beauty and peace so strong that nothing could ever truly shake it. She wanted it with her whole being, and she reached for it-

"LEIA! ANSWER ME! DO YOU HEAR ME? KRIFF! ANSWER ME!" The words seemed distant, but so desperate. "DON'T YOU LEAVE ME TOO!"

"Han?" she asked, vaguely wondering where that had come from. Moving her lips felt like moving lead. She couldn't see him, not conventionally anymore. She could feel him though the force, and she saw his bright signature, more than a little frayed and broken, but still firm and still working. It seemed as if the soul had been patched up time and time again. Old, well-worn, and familiar.

She stopped reaching for The Force, uncertainty beginning to well inside of her.

"Leia!" he sounded relieved. "Leia, come back."

"I...can't," she heard herself say. "Have to go..."

"Go where?"

"The Force..."

"Oh no you don't!" Vaguely she became aware of arms physically wrapping around her mortal shell. The body that held her back from the peace. "You are not going anywhere without me! Do you hear me?"

She smiled. At least she thought she smiled. Every movement felt so distant...so...

"Think about what you want to change!" she suddenly heard him shout.

Change? Why would she change anything? Why...

The sudden image of her sons came to mind. Both of them had been lost to The Force. The sudden sadness that welled inside her seemed to cry out, bringing her even further away from the peace. "No...Dark Side...no Empire..." she muttered. Looking into the force, she could see it now. She could see all of the junctions. Everything had started with the Empire. If only she could change that...change the dark side's hold on the universe. If she could somehow break the galaxy free of that...but how?

A path seemed to open before her in the force. A path through the force.

She seemed to regard it for what felt like an eternity, uncomprehending. "This way," she said finally. She would find peace, and if he did not want to be left behind, she would take him with her. "Come," she whispered, and began to float (for she did not have the body to truly walk) down the path.

"Leia?" she heard Han say, his voice still far away, almost an echo. She reached for that echo and clung to it, holding onto the human galaxy and existence through that echo.

It wasn't long before she began to feel the strain. It started to hurt, but the pain felt off-distant...as distant as that echo. She'd begun to reach her limits. The thought came to her, and it took her a while to really process that. No! She had to reach the end of the path! She had to!

Determination ground at her soul, and she pushed harder, pulling that other voice along with her. He'd grown silent. Did that mean something? She didn't know. She only knew she had to reach the end! So she would!

There! Far ahead, she could see it, feel it! The Force around her shifted, changing and churning in a way she knew she could never truly comprehend. To do so would mean to let go of the echo...let go of him, and she most certainly would NOT do that.

It began to get harder to progress, but she found herself more determined than ever to push on.

She would reach the end! She would! No more than half way there...two thirds...she could feel it calling to her, beckoning...but now the pain had come close. She couldn't see The Force around her anymore. Desperately, she lunged outward, reaching with all her might...

And then she only knew blackness.