Chapter 3: Skills
"You did well this morning," Leia commented to Luke as they relaxed over lunch onboard her small ship, The HWSS. Leia claimed her ship had been named after Han: Han Wyner Sebastian Solo, or The HWSS for short. But she had later confided to Luke that she had no idea what Han's middle name was, or even if he had one. The initials really meant 'Her Worship's Space Ship.' "If I hadn't known better, I'd say you knew exactly what you were doing."
Luke gave a good natured half smile, and shrugged. He was proud of the way he'd handled himself, even if pride wasn't very Jedi of him. "It was a lot like a briefing for Rogue Squadron." His voice grew wistful as memories once again accosted him. "I always liked leading Rogue Squadron."
"Whatever you did, it was the right thing. Even I'm ready to follow you in an attack on Jabba's Palace, because I know you'll plan the attack well."
Luke's smile turned mischievous. "Actually, I was faking it."
As a response, Leia's expression became affectionately reproving, but she did nothing except swallow another bite of Rebel Hash. "What did you have in mind for the session this afternoon? Planning?"
Luke shook his head. "I want to get a grip on whatever skills they have before I start planning anything. We can do some combat training, then really get into planning a rescue mission that hopefully won't get us all killed."
The Princess rested her fork on the side of her plate for a moment, a look of discomfort on her face. "Luke, I... I want to thank you for... for everything... and to..."
Luke laid a hand atop hers, halting to her stuttering words. "It's the least I can do. Please don't mention being grateful again." Then he grinned. "Besides, if I didn't do anything, and Han was rescued in spite of me, he would make me work on The Falcon for a year for free."
Leia's lips lifted. She didn't quite smile, but her expression lightened. Leia rarely smiled these days; that gesture he'd been gifted with in the war room was the first like it he'd seen from her in weeks. Her Force aura, however, blazed at his mention of Han. "I bet you're right; he would."
A cloud abruptly shrouded the meal. "But are you sure I'm the right person to be in charge?" Luke diffidently asked without meeting her eyes. "Lando might be a better choice; he's more unbiased."
Leia looked completely confused. "But, you're a Jedi."
Luke heaved air, his fork clanging against his plate. "I'm no Jedi."
More confusion clouded her eyes. "But, all that time and training."
Luke confessed, "I've had two months of training. That hardly makes me a Jedi Knight."
Her own meal abandoned as well, Leia carefully studied Luke. "Training where, and from whom?"
Luke's sadness was visceral. "Like I've already said, I can't tell you." His pause was full of the discomfort of withholding information from her. But it was up to him not to give away the secret that Master Yoda was still alive and on Dagobah. Anybody he told might swear not to tell a soul, then someday have that information tortured out of them, and he didn't intend for that to be because of something he'd been unable to conceal, even if it meant keeping Leia in the dark as to his recent activities. "The life of a friend depends on my silence. You understand, don't you?"
Leia gave a brief nod, but the cloud of suspicion never left her eyes. "But I don't understand who could teach you anything about the Jedi when there reportedly aren't any Jedi left in the galaxy." Alarm abruptly invaded her expression. "Surely you didn't find a way to go out of this galaxy!"
That made Luke grin. "No, I didn't leave the galaxy."
"If not in some other galaxy, then..."
"Leia." Luke sighed in exasperation.
"It can't be Obi-Wan... we both saw him die."
Luke latched on to her argument. "But I've told you before that I'm certain I heard Ben talk to me while..."
"At the Death Star, yes, so you've said," Leia finished for him, her voice clipped now in her frustration. "But training is so much more than talking."
Luke rolled his eyes. "You'd be surprised how much talking goes into training new Jedi."
She studied him even closer. "Is that where that saying 'there is no try' came from?"
Luke reddened in a deep blush. "The illustration of that particular lesson is still highly memorable." Yeah, and not a good memory, either.
Princess Leia was silent for a minute as she once again considered his earlier argument. "'There is no try:' I'm not sure I agree with you. It sounds like a harsh decree, something the Empire would come up with."
It's a good thing Master Yoda didn't hear her say that!
Outwardly, Luke shrugged. "You don't have to agree with it, only accept it."
"Isn't acceptance the same as agreement?"
"Not at all."
"Yes, it is."
Again Luke gusted air. He wasn't surprised the princess disagreed with him; this concept had been difficult for him to grasp as well. "I can agree with you that Han was carbonized, though I didn't see it happen. I accept the fact that being carbonized means that he can't move, can't breathe, can't..."
"I know what it means to be carbonized!" Leia looked like the idea sickened her. "When we first got back, I made Lando explain what... what it was probably like..."
"This whole situation is really all my fault," Luke suddenly interjected.
Leia gave her own expression of complete exasperation. "Luke, I've said before that..."
"I know you have, Leia, but hear me out. Vader was after me. If it hadn't been for me, Han would never have been..."
"If it hadn't been for you," Leia now argued back, "Lando would never have been free to capture the stormtroopers guarding us. Chewie and I would have remained prisoners, and Han would have been carbonized, anyway. But now because of you, he's going to be rescued, I'm still alive, Chewie and Lando are still alive. You kept Vader's focus long enough to let us take advantage of his divided attention, even if you didn't know that's what you were doing at the time." Her face fell. "I'm just glad that you only lost a hand. If you hadn't survived, and Han had..." This thought clearly bothered her so much that she was unable to go on, and quickly concealed her sudden tears.
Luke gently reminded her, "Neither Vader nor the Emperor wanted me dead. They just wanted me. It's more likely that I would have been captured, and then probably trained in the Dark Side." Now it was Luke who attempted to conceal how much that possibility bothered him. While Leia looked on, he struggled, fighting to contain his anxieties over how easy it would have been to turn him to the Dark Side of the Force at that point. It was just as Yoda and Ben had predicted. He should have listened to them. Doubt again accosted him, leaving him panting in his effort to hold back the flood.
It was Leia who rescued him from himself. "At least you have proof as to how important you are. The Emperor wouldn't want you if he thought you weren't a threat. Your abilities must be substantial, even after only two months of training." Luke's shrug conceded that she had a point. "Han on the other hand... he was instantly deemed 'expendable.'"
Again Luke rested a hand on hers, this time in instinctive comfort. "We'll get him back, Leia, I promise."
Leia swallowed once more, tears again swimming in her eyes for just a second. Then she seemed to straighten without really moving a muscle, asking in a steady voice, "So, what kind of skills do you have that Palpatine prizes so much?"
Barely a breath later, Luke vaulted out of his seat to the ceiling, where he caught hold of any hand grip he could find, then flipped over backwards, landing on the floor again a heartbeat later. Leia had only blinked once during the entire exhibition.
Luke calmly resumed his seat. "That's how I avoided being carbonized myself in a one way trip to the Emperor."
Leia's brows went up. "Impressive."
That's exactly what his father's opinion had been of that move. Luke again felt the urge to throw up at just the thought of the relationship he shared with Vader. He knew it was true that he couldn't help who his father was, and that it was also true that he wasn't his father, and wouldn't necessarily follow in his footsteps. Yet, he feared that there was enough darkness in him to turn him into a Vader replica that would make the Emperor proud. It was his worst fear, and now the worry nearly overwhelmed him; he was panting again in seconds.
To distract himself from his thoughts, he said, "What I don't understand is since we know that Vader is looking for me to gift-wrap for his Emperor, why don't we just assume that I'll have to face him again at Jabba's Palace?"
Fortunately for Luke, the princess was already shaking her head no. "Vader doesn't consider Han to be of any importance, especially now that he's just a wall decoration. Who would rescue a decoration? Besides, Boba Fett is with Han at Jabba's Palace; his reputation is that he can handle anybody with ease, including you. You'll just be another bounty for him. Is the fact that he's there going to be a problem?"
Luke thoughtfully shook his head. "Boba Fett must be a good bounty hunter, or else he wouldn't still be alive. But even though I only saw him for a moment at Cloud City, I didn't get the impression that he's particularly Force sensitive. I should be able to handle him in spite of his fighting skills."
"We shouldn't underestimate him, though," Leia cautioned. "There must be a reason that Vader has so much faith in him."
"If I'm not mistaken, he's prone to disintegrations, isn't he?"
"That's what he's known for, and I don't want you to give him his one lucky shot, either. It's more important to the Rebellion that you stay alive, not that Han gets rescued, as much as it pains me to say it."
"I'm no more important than Han is," Luke instantly contradicted.
"Yes, you are. You're more important to the war effort than Han is, than Lando, than I am."
"You're wrong, Leia. The Rebel Alliance would be nothing without you, and Han is..."
"He's a good pilot, and has helped us out a number of times. But unfortunately, that's where it ends. He's gruff, irascible, contentious, argumentative... I won't kid myself; as a soldier, I know that his life isn't worth the price we'll most likely pay on this rescue mission."
Luke's look turned gentle. "What does your heart tell you?"
"My heart..." There, Leia paused, at last declaring, "My heart shouldn't have anything to do with this."
"But?"
The princess swallowed uncomfortably, then confessed, "I might live if didn't make every effort to get him back, but I'd... die inside." She turned bleak eyes onto Luke. "Every morning I remind myself that one life can't possibly be worth this much. But... at the same time... Han's is."
A full-fledged smile overtook Luke. "And that is the difference between you and The Emperor."
