Chapter 2

Luke Skywalker settled himself on the floor, legs crossed, hands loose in his lap, relaxed. He breathed deeply and became passive, opened himself to the Force. There was so much noise here on Coruscant, so many people, so many thoughts and feelings dashing at lightspeed through their minds. . . it was hard to find a still space. He sighed. It's good discipline, he told himself, and began working to cut himself off, create the still space here, inside himself. He concentrated.

Things were quieting down at a satisfying rate when Leia entered his consciousness, bringing enough noise of her own that just wouldn't shut up to make his effort worthless. He had never been able to shut his sister out, and probably, he thought resignedly, never would be able to. Even when he'd been locked in battle with the Emperor and Darth Vader, she'd intruded. He didn't resent it. He just wished she could learn to be a little quieter sometimes.

He smiled. Might as well ask for an ocean on Tatooine. Going to the door, he keyed it open, just as she was about to press the buzzer. He laughed as she jumped in fright.

"I wish you wouldn't do that to me!" she exclaimed. "It's spooky!"

"Sorry," he apologized, unable to hide his amusement. "I always hear you coming. What's biting you this time?"

Leia flopped onto the couch, and began pummelling a cushion. "Blasted New Applications," she growled. "Picked a real beauty this time. It's called Men's World. And it's rich. You can probably guess the rest."

Luke smiled. "And the one-time almost Queen Mother of Hapes doesn't like the idea, huh?"

She shot him a warning look. "Don't, Luke. This is serious. Hapes - well, it's changing already. . . and I don't want to discuss it any further. But this Baros, it's just one small planet, nowhere near the same league as Hapes. . . but its mineral wealth is impressive. . . . They want it for the Republic, but we can't take it on as it is. They want to send an ambassador, but if they do, it has to be a woman."

He frowned. "That's not very diplomatic, Leia."

She frowned back at him. "But don't you see, that's the whole point. They have to understand that we do things differently. If we send a male ambassador, no matter how many times they're told women aren't just housekeepers and mothers, unless they see it with their own eyes, they're not going to believe it."

Luke delved a little deeper into his sister's mind. There was something she wasn't telling him. Beneath the embarrassment at what had happened with Isolder, and her usual determination to help the oppressed, there was something more. She was taking this one more personally, but why? In the few months since her and Han's marriage, she'd changed, but he didn't think it was just because of the marriage itself. The events they'd all experienced on Dathomir had affected her greatly, he knew. But he sensed a new strength in her, an even greater desire to do what was right. He saw her revulsion at the situation on Baros, saw that she too had seen its correlation with Hapes, and Dathomir. . . and that was tied up with how nearly she'd accepted the power imbalances there. . . and been in the situation that men were in on Baros. . . and understood the appeal of such power, from the inside.

"You want to go to Baros," he said quietly. It wasn't a question.

Leia stared at him. "No, no I just. . . ." Her protests trailed off as she realized he was right. "I didn't. . . I didn't think I did. . ." she stammered. "How did you know?" Luke shrugged, and she shook her head. "No - no, stupid question, I'm sorry." She paused, thinking. "You're right, though, Luke. I do want to go. I don't trust anyone else to do what needs to be done."

She looked up at him, her eyes wide, still not fully understanding her own feelings, but knowing he was right. "I need to take this mission," she told him, her voice deadly serious.

Luke rested his hands on her shoulders, looked deep into her eyes. "If it's meant for you, Leia, you'll get it. And I think you will."

* * *

Leia stepped into the elevator, on her way to the hangars. Han hadn't been at home, and a quick computer search had turned him up at somewhere in the hangar area, tinkering with the Falcon, no doubt. She smiled to herself. Sometimes, almost seriously, she wondered if Han had given up his general's commission so he could be with her, or simply so he could spend more time with his ship.

Emerging from the lift, she pulled her jacket closer around her. The hangar areas were always cold, so she walked briskly, knowing her way to the Falcon's berth by heart now. There was no-one outside the ship, but the hatch was open, and light showed from inside, as well as banging and crashing sounds, typical of what passed for maintenance on this particular starship. She walked up the ramp and into the hold, finding it empty. "Han?" she called. "Chewie?"

Chewbacca popped his head out from an overhead hatch, and barked a greeting. "Hi, Chewie," she replied. "Is Han around?"

Chewie barked at length, deliberately speaking as slowly and carefully as possible so Leia could understand him. Even so, she frowned in concentration as she attempted to decipher the Wookiee's speech.

"He. . . was here - is that what you said? But he went off to help with the. . . sorry, I don't know the words." She craned her neck up at the upside-down Wookiee, and he added another sequence of growl-roars, attempting to explain. "The new ships?" Leia asked. "Oh, you mean the new shuttles?" Chewbacca barked an affirmative. "Problems, huh?" she smiled. "Where are they?"

He directed her at length, a speech of which she caught enough, if not all. Chewie's gestures, being upside-down, didn't help much either, but she guessed she could always ask someone along the way. "Thanks, Chewie," she told him finally. "I'll see you later, okay?" The Wookiee's growled farewell echoed down the ramp after her.

In the end, she didn't have much trouble finding her way. The first part of Chewie's directions took her to an area that was fairly open, and from there, she could see the shuttles at the far end of the huge hanger space. Several minutes' walk later, she could make out Han's familiar figure, standing in the middle of a group of four young techs, and, apparently, throwing a tantrum. As she got closer, she began to hear his words.

"But you don't need it!" Han was yelling. "All you need to do is connect this one here. . . see? And that takes care of all of the. . . oh. Leia."

"Hi, Han," she smiled. "I thought Chewie said you were helping, but maybe I got it wrong. Can I speak to you a moment?"

Han turned to the techs, with exaggerated patience. "Why don't you just try it, see how it works? I'll be back in a while." He walked over to Leia. "Blasted kids," he grumbled. "They don't have the first clue. Everything's gotta be by the book." He shook his head. "Sorry, sweetheart. What did you want to talk about?"

She stopped, took his hands. "Han. . . I'm going to Baros."

His jaw dropped. "What? The men's world place? But I thought. .. . I thought you were just gonna try to get them to send a woman, not that it had to be you!"

Leia gave him a tense smile. "I know. It wasn't till I talked to Luke this morning that I realized I wanted to go, but - "

"Luke?" he cut her off. "Oh great - is this more of that Jedi stuff? Can't he find enough trouble to get himself into without trying to find some for you too?"

Leia tugged on his hands, got his attention. "It's not like that, Han. He's right. I do want to go. I need to go. I can't explain right now, but - "

Han pulled away from her. "Here we go again," he said pessimistically. "I know, when you or Luke start talking like that, there's gonna be trouble. Big trouble. Well, don't think you're going without me."

"Han - "

"Forget it, sweetheart. You've told me about this place, remember, and I'm not gonna let you walk in there alone."

"But Han - "

"They call it Men's World. They're not gonna welcome you with open arms. You don't know what you're getting yourself into!"

"HAN!" She was practically stamping her feet in exasperation.

"You've gotta admit I'm right, sweetheart."

"Han," she said, very slowly, very firmly, "listen to me. I was about to ask you to come with me. But if you can't be more diplomatic than that, I might have to reconsider."

"Oh." He looked sheepish, and rightly so, Leia thought. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Oh," he repeated. "Well. . . okay. That's a good plan. Let's go with that, huh?"

Leia couldn't help but laugh. "Okay," she agreed. "Let's go with that. We've got a lot of stuff to organize, though, so as soon as you're done browbeating your techs, I'll need you in my office, okay?"

"All right, I'll see you soon."

She began to leave, then turned back. "Oh, I almost forgot," she said sweetly. "We're gonna need a translator, if half of what I've heard about Baros is true, so Threepio will be coming with us too."

Han said nothing, but as he turned away, could be heard to mumble something that sounded like, "Is this my punishment?"

Leia began the walk to the nearest elevator, laughing.

* * *

When Han reached the office later that afternoon, he found Leia literally swamped with work, seated at a desk covered with all manner of data storage and retrieval systems: data cards, wafers, chips, a couple of datapads, flimsies, and even several old-fashioned booktapes, the contents of one of which she was scowling at on her monitor screen. Threepio was seated in front of another screen, and, although he seemed to be assimilating the information more quickly, he was still surrounded by a similar array of materials.

"What's going on?" he wondered aloud. "I thought Research was supposed to pull this stuff together for you, not just dump all the raw sources in your lap?"

Leia looked up, gave him a weary smile. "Normally, they would," she agreed, "but they're all tied up with the big push on the Grand Admirals, couldn't even spare us a droid to help. And Artoo's busy helping Luke go through the stuff from the Chu'unthor, so it's just us, I'm afraid."

"That's right, Captain Solo," Threepio agreed. "And I must say that, even to a droid, this amount of research material to be organized at such short notice is quite a daunting task."

Leia rubbed her eyes, squinted at the screen. "Exhausting is the word I would use," she said. "That, and tedious. I've never had to wade through so many geological statistics in my life. This report dates back nearly to the beginning of the colony, five hundred years ago," she added, as Han came to look over her shoulder at the screen, "but I've got to go through it, just in case there's something useful here."

Han rested his hands on her shoulders, began to massage them gently. "Take a break," he advised her. "You won't do any good trying to work till you drop, and you need to fill me in on what this mission's all about." Leia stood up and stretched, feeling cramped all over. "I guess you're right," she sighed. She crossed the room to the couch and settled into it comfortably. She didn't spare much time to rest, though.

"The first thing you need to know," she began, before Han had even sat down, "is that we're leaving the day after tomorrow, early morning. It'll take a day and a half to get there, so we can't afford to leave any later. Which is why all this is such a rush job. The confirmation's already been sent to Baros - which reminds me, for the time we're there, I'm to be just Leia Organa." Han regarded her quizzically, not quite understanding. "The Barans' attitude to married women," she explained. "They're seen as mothers and housekeepers, nothing more. If they know I'm your wife, they'll have more of an excuse than they need not to take me seriously." She eyed him searchingly. "You do understand, don't you? If they're as set in their ways as I think they are, it'll be hard enough to deal with them as a woman, let alone as a married woman."

Han shrugged. "You're the ambassador, sweetheart. However you want to play it is fine by me."

Leia gave an inward sigh of relief. She knew Han had a jealous streak, and though she was also aware that he was fighting to control it, she couldn't afford it flaring up on Baros. The last thing she needed, while she was trying to come across as an example of independent womanhood, was Han breaking out in heavy-handed possessiveness. She was pretty sure she could trust him not to. . . she just hoped pretty sure was sure enough.

Still, she didn't want him to get defensive about it, so she said no more. Instead, she returned to the practical arrangements for the trip. "We'll need one of those new shuttles," she told him. "I know the Falcon's still not right after Dathomir, and besides, I think a lot of this trip is going to be about image. We have to make a good impression, so pack your best clothes," she eyed him critically, "get a haircut," she glanced around, "and, Threepio, you get an oil bath and a polish."

"Yes, Mistress Leia," Threepio replied promptly. "Although, I must remind you that it is part of my programming to ensure that I look my best when in any situation where I will be drawing attention to myself - this includes, of course, diplomatic translation duties, and - "

"Okay, Threepio," Leia cut him off. "I should have realized that. I'm sorry."

Han smirked. "It's part of my programming too, you know."

Leia eyed him cynically. "I hadn't noticed." Then she pulled herself together. "Don't sidetrack me, Han! There isn't time. Is there a shuttle ready?"

Han made a noncommital gesture. "Sure, they're ready," he said, in a tone that suggested he was anything but happy about them. "They're nothing special, but they fly. I'm still not happy about the weapons systems, mind you, but - "

Leia waved her hand at him. "Spare me the technicalities. I know you don't feel safe in anything that isn't armed to the teeth, but all I need to know is that it'll get us there in one piece. Now, you're in charge of security, so I need you to talk to NRI, get whatever we need. Minimum weaponry, maximum counterintelligence. Okay?" Han nodded. Leia could practically see him gauging her idea of minimal weaponry against his, figuring out how he could work it to his standard without her realizing. But, again, she said nothing. Sometimes it paid to be overcautious, after all.

"Right," she said finally, crossing to her desk and picking up a datapad, keying a check on certain items as she spoke. "So, you can get on to NRI; requisition us a shuttle - the best one, of course - " she glanced at him, catching his half-grin and smiling in return. "There's a valet droid organizing my wardrobe,so you give him a few pointers and he can do yours too. . . and that's about it." She looked up. "Is that okay?"

"Sure." Han stood up. "So, am I likely to see you at home later, or will you be asleep over the computer?"

Leia smiled, wearily. "No, I'll be home," she said. "There's still tomorrow, after all."

Han hugged her. "Well, don't try and do too much," he counselled her, knowing she probably would anyway. "I'm sure Luke could spare you Artoo for a couple of hours if you needed him."

"His work is important too," Leia sighed. "Probably more important than this. But maybe tomorrow," she conceded. "Now, you'd better go, or I'll never get any work done." She pushed him away gently, and he kissed her forehead. "Take it easy, sweetheart," he told her.

"I wish I could," Leia commented quietly after he'd left, before turning reluctantly back to the computer.

* * *

Leia had just gotten out of what she considered a well-deserved long hot bath when Luke arrived the next evening. So he was waiting in the living room for her when a call came through on the comm. He answered, to be greeted with the face of a young woman he didn't recognize.

The woman looked surprised too. "Commander Skywalker? I'm. . . pleased to meet you. I've heard so much about you."

Luke smiled, somewhat bewilderedly. "Thank you. Were you looking for Leia?"

"Oh, yes, I'm sorry. Could I speak to her? I'm Chia Fortescu."

"I'll see if she's available." He hit the privacy button and called through to Leia in the bedroom. "Do you want to talk to a Chia Fortescu?"

"Uh. . . yeah, okay," she replied. "Put her through."

A few minutes later Leia came into the lounge, and he couldn't contain his curiosity. "Who was that?" he asked, and she raised her eyebrows at him. "Chia? She's a Delegate. Was in the Baros application thing with me. Would you believe she wanted to find out if it was at all possible for her to come on the mission tomorrow?"

Luke grinned. "Just like that?" he asked, and Leia smiled. "She's very keen," she told him, in a tone that suggested she was more amused than annoyed at Chia's presumption. "Enthusiastic. Kind of reminds me of myself when I first joined the Senate. I just hope she doesn't get disillusioned as quickly as I did."

"That's what we set up the New Republic for, isn't it?" Luke reminded her, and she smiled and nodded, conceding the point. "You're right. Actually, if it had been a less difficult mission, I might have considered trying to get her clearance to come along. But we're going to have to tread very carefully, and I'm not convinced she could bite her tongue enough." She smiled again, with a self-deprecating shrug. "I'm not even sure that I can."

She sat down, leaned back in her chair and gratefully took the glass of wine Luke handed her. "So you're all ready?" he asked.

"Well. . . if you can call it that." She sighed deeply. "Han's still fussing over the ship, even though it's already gone to the spaceport. Threepio's finishing off the research stuff; we're going to have to read through it on the journey. But we'll be ready when we get there." She caught his sceptical look, and smiled. "Well, I hope we will. The problem isn't really the amount of information, but the amount of it that's useless. The last Imperial survey was twenty years ago, so who knows how much, or if at all, Baros will have changed in that time? We'll just have to be very, very careful."

"Good luck," Luke grinned.

"I know - we're gonna need it," she smiled.

"No, I'm sure you'll do great," he reassured her. "You know you're a good diplomat. Don't worry about it."

Leia sighed ruefully. "I'm beginning to wish I'd never volunteered for this mission. But let's not talk about it any more. How are you going with the Chu'unthor? Found anything useful?"

Luke nodded. "Artoo's been pulling out some really interesting stuff," he told her. "The history of the Jedi, their training techniques; I've been trying some of them myself and they're really helpful. You should try them."

She looked away. "Oh, I don't know. You know how busy I am."

"Leia," he said reproachfully. "You know that's not the real reason."

She grimaced, sighed. "I don't feel ready, Luke." He just looked at her, holding her gaze with those incredibly clear eyes of his, and she found it impossible, as always, to tell him anything but the truth. "I'm too afraid," she finally admitted, shaking her head. "I. . . don't trust myself. What if I go wrong? What if I fall to the Dark Side? I don't want to end up like. . ." Like Vader. She didn't need to say it, he knew what she meant. He took her hand, said nothing for a moment. He'd sometimes wondered how he himself would have felt about becoming a Jedi if he'd known from the beginning that Darth Vader was his father. He supposed that was another reason why Yoda and Ben had kept that fact from him. And he couldn't say that he, in the same position, wouldn't have felt exactly as Leia felt now.

He sighed. "I wish I could say that wasn't anything to worry about," he told her gently. "But I can't. The Dark Side has always been a problem for the Jedi, and always will." He squeezed her hand. "I won't push you, Leia. Maybe one day you'll feel ready. Maybe the Force will come to you. If it does, don't fight it. Let it work through you. Promise me that?"

She looked at him, her eyes still fearful, and felt his touch on her mind, reassuring her, calming her with his calm. She closed her eyes. "I promise," she said softly.

* * *

Leia woke the next morning to the grating beep of the chrono alarm, feeling like she hadn't slept at all. Her eyelids felt like they were lined with synthrock. She called "off", hoarsely, to the alarm, and attempted to rouse herself, knowing the alarm would go off again if its sensors detected her slipping back to sleep. She rolled over, reaching for her husband. "Han?" she croaked. "It's time to wake up."

Han's smuggling instincts, honed through years of practice, kicked in and he was instantly wide awake and sitting up. Leia rubbed her face. "I feel like I hardly closed my eyes," she complained.

"Oh, you slept, sweetheart," Han reassured her.

"How do you know?" she demanded. He grinned. "Because when you don't sleep, you make sure to toss and turn just enough to make sure I wake up too. And then," he added, "you usually start snoring like a Wookiee."

Leia sighed. "I don't snore, but you're lucky I don't have the energy to argue with you. Now be a nice man and go make some pepper tea."

Han grinned again. "Right away, Your Highnessness," he said, and flipped her a mock salute.

As he left the room, Leia scowled at the alarm. "Full off," she told it, plumping her pillow and snuggling back under the cover to doze till Han returned with the tea.

The hot drink helped her feel a little more awake, but her eyes still felt rough as she dressed. By the time their transport reached the spaceport, however, the early dawn air had helped energize her, and she found she was almost looking forward to the flight. It was a while since she and Han had taken a trip of any length together, and despite the stress she expected when they got to Baros, the day-and-a-half flight would be a welcome chance to relax.

As she stepped off the speeder, she was surprised to see Mon Mothma waiting for them. She hadn't realized the mission was particularly high-profile, certainly not enough to warrant a send-off from the Council leader herself. Han had noticed her too. He caught Leia's eye. "Trouble?" he murmured. Leia shrugged."Don't know. You get the stuff loaded and I'll see what she wants."

She kissed him lightly on the cheek, and, shrugging off the slight nervousness she still always felt at speaking to the older woman in person, approached her, smiling. "Mon Mothma. This is a surprise. I didn't realize you would be coming to see us off."

The Council leader smiled back at her. "Don't worry, Leia. I'm here only in a personal capacity. I heard what you're attempting to take on, and I wanted to wish you luck. And - a word of warning. I know you're going to Baros in the hope of achieving some improvements for the women there, and that's an admirable goal, but go slowly, and be careful what you ask for. Remember, it's quite likely that there are some underground movements of the Baran women already. It's probable that they will come to you, when they can. Be guided by them, Leia - don't impose your own ideas of what are the most important changes."

Leia nodded solemnly. "Thank you, Mon Mothma. I'll try to tread carefully." Mon Mothma smiled. "I have every faith in you, Leia. So now it only remains for me to say may the Force be with you - as I know it will." She took Leia's hands, kissed both her cheeks, and then returned to the speeder she had waiting.

Leia went to rejoin Han, where he was ostensibly loading their luggage onto the ship, but had been covertly watching her conversation with Mon Mothma. "What was that all about?" he asked.

"Oh, nothing much," Leia smiled. "She just wanted to wish us luck, give me a bit of advice - no trouble."

Han looked thoughtfully after Mon Mothma's retreating speeder. "She takes a lot of interest in your work, doesn't she?"

Leia frowned, puzzled. "No more than anyone else's, I don't think. Why?" Han shook his head. "Nothing. Just an observation." But he knew, just as everyone seemed to know - except for Leia herself of course - that Leia was not likely to remain a mere councillor forever. And he greeted that knowledge with mixed feelings, for while he would be proud to see Leia's career progress, at the same time he knew the demands on her time would become even greater, and that was not a prospect he relished. Still, at least for this mission they would be together, and he consoled himself with that thought.

* * *