Anakin was quick in shuffling his way down the gunport stairs and dropping into the seat behind the quad-laser, but he did not begin shooting immediately. Instead, he stretched his senses out toward his son. He wanted to give the boy a chance to prove himself.
He didn't have to wait very long—the ship's mentally unstable captain soon pulled some quick and reckless move that left Anakin feeling dizzy and the Falcon's opponent sitting right in front of Luke's turret. A few blasts later, Luke had somehow managed to disable both the Skipray Blastboat's engines and guns without harming the ship's occupant.
Solo let out a deranged victory yell and shouted a comment about Luke's marksmanship. Anakin couldn't help but smile. Yes, his son was a kriffin' good shot.
****
As the Falcon moved to pull up beside the disabled starfighter, Chinnatah hurried to the cockpit, where Han was talking with Chewie about their next step.
"Blasted redhead's a nuisance," the space pirate was muttering. "We should have just blown up the whole ship."
"Send a message to Karrde," Chinnatah suggested.
Han's head whipped toward him in disbelief. "What in space are you talkin' about, Kid? She'll come after us again as soon as she can—we shouldn't leave a threat like that at our back."
"Send a message to Karrde," the former Tusken repeated, meeting his friend's gaze stubbornly. He turned his head slightly as his father walked in.
Han opened his mouth—likely to make a sarcastic retort—and then closed it. A strange smile appeared on his face. "You wanna save her, huh?"
Chinnatah gave him a wary look, unsure what to make of the emotions he could sense from the man. "I don't want her to die."
"Uh huh," Han replied, the strange grin becoming even bigger.
"Solo," Anakin said warningly. He took a few steps toward the smuggler.
But Han, amazingly enough, ignored him. "You like her, don't you?"
Chinnatah stared at him, feeling as if there was something important he was missing. "Yes, I like her."
"Do you wanna ki—ow!" Han sputtered, glaring at the hydrospanner that had come out of nowhere and hit him. "What the kreth was that for?"
"The last thing he needs is you putting ideas in his head," Chinnatah's father snarled.
Chinnatah himself switched his gaze from one to the other in confusion. He didn't understand what their problem was...
"So, what—you're saying he hasn't had the talk about the whisper birds and the—Sith!" Han cut off, the hydrospanner hitting his back again and causing a loud thump to resound in the cockpit.
"Might we have this conversation at a more convenient time?" Obi-Wan interjected.
Giving Anakin a venom-filled look, Han gave out a clipped, "Sure." His annoyance still clearly evident, he turned to Chinnatah and told him, "Look, Kid, I'm sure Karrde already knows about our little skirmish here. We need to hit hyperspace before he gets someone up here to come after us. And don't worry, your girlfr—stang! Vader, would you stop with the blasted hydrospanner?" Han sharply turned around to glare blaster bolts at the former Sith Lord.
Chinnatah's eyes were on Han, but his mind had left the ship to reach out to the fuming Mara Jade. He felt hurt yet sorrowful. Why was Mara's attitude so changed? What had happened to the—the friendship they had shared? Had he lost another friend? Their meeting had been so short that it was not really much of a meeting at all...He felt as if in such a large galaxy as this—for he had looked at the Falcon's charts more than once and had seen that there were worlds upon worlds that one could visit—it was very fortunate that he had crossed her path at all. Would the spirits grant him the opportunity to meet her again?
He hoped so...
****
When Karrde was informed of the altercation taking place above Myrkr, his mind had already been racing with fictional scenarios. He knew the Imperials—who had unfortunately moved closer to his side of the planet—wouldn't have missed something so obvious. Two ships taking off from a base to meet in battle was something that was sure to arouse attention.
Drang, one of his pet vornskrs, let out a cackle-purr, perhaps sensing his unease.
"I need to make up a story and inform Mara of it quickly," Karrde told the creature, reaching down a hand to pet him. If possible, he needed to prevent the identity of his escaped prisoners from getting out. He didn't want to think about what Imperial horrors would be rained down upon his base if it were known he had secretly housed people on the Empire's Most Wanted list.
Sturm—his other vornskr—lifted his canine head from the floor, looking up at him lazily.
"Perhaps if I help the Imperials with their business, I will be spared," the smuggler chief murmured, staring at Sturm with a blank face. Knowing who was in command, though, Karrde wasn't quite sure what to expect. And that was something he hated.
****
After the Falcon made the jump to hyperspace, everyone slowly trickled out of the cockpit except for Luke and Han. Luke seemed to be deep in thought, so Han watched him for a few minutes before finally speaking. "Tell me, Kid, has ol' daddy given you the talk about the whisper birds and the raptor-wasps?"
At the other's blank stare, Han specified, "Do you know what men and women do together in private?"
The Kid looked at him for several moments, seeming to contemplate several possible answers. He finally grasped onto the right one, venturing, "Mate?"
The smuggler chuckled in amusement. "Not quite the way I would put it, but you seem to know what I mean."
Luke tilted his head and looked at him expectantly.
"So, you seem pretty interested in Jade..." Han trailed off, carefully watching the younger man.
Luke's expression flickered. "She was my companion on Coruscant..."
"Yeah," Han said casually, giving a slight nod. He messed around with a few knobs on the console in front of him. "You interested in...'mating' with her?" He turned his head so he could see the youth's face.
The Kid's surprise was unmistakable. "M-mate?" he sputtered. "But I have not been assigned a ma—"
"Look, Kid," Han broke in, giving him a weird look, "there ain't nobody around here who's gonna assign you a mate but yourself. If you're interested in a girl, you'll have to pursue her on your own."
"But—" Luke attempted.
Han interrupted again: "Trust me. You don't want your father choosing your girlfriend—stang, I'm still surprised he even had children. If you ever want help in the romance department, you come to me, Kid. Don't let Vader mess it all up for you, all right?"
"All right," the Kid repeated meekly.
****
After exiting hyperspace in front of Dagobah, the Falcon's communications unit began flashing, indicating that they had received a message.
It was a short and cryptic message, and Han reviewed it a few times before he was finally willing to relay it.
"Says here we've got a message," he told his passengers, who looked at him curiously. "It says, 'He is still alive! Please come home immediately. He wants to see you.' It's signed 'Bail.'" He looked around at his passengers and queried, "Anyone know who he's talking about?"
Obi-Wan stirred, his robes rustling quietly. "I suspect I know...But this is a message for Leia. She should read it before I say anything more."
Han shrugged. "Whatever you say, old man." He shifted in his seat to throw a glance at his copilot. "Chewie, get ready to land the ship."
The Wookiee roared an affirmative, his hands already resting on the controls.
Both pilots were tense as they handled the Falcon, remembering the roughness of their first landing on Dagobah. This time, however, they were more fortunate, landing with ease on a spot Obi-Wan indicated.
"Guess the weather's not so bad this time," Han muttered, although somehow he suspected weather was not the reason for their smooth landing. He'd never admit that out loud to the Jedi, though.
****
The walk to Yoda's hut was a lot shorter than it had been previously. Chinnatah believed it was because Yoda had wanted the first time to serve as a sort of trial. Tuskens didn't present trials as nearly-dead womp rats, and Chinnatah didn't think Yoda did either. Trials were meant to be difficult, and that made whatever was at the end worth that much more. Of course, he hadn't been able to enjoy the completion of his Tusken trials...Would he ever be able to face any new trials? Could he trust himself not to flee? He had abandoned the Ghorfa to go with Darth Vader. Then he had left Darth Vader to go with Han. Now, he wasn't sure where exactly he was, but he knew the two old Jedi were wanting to pull him to them.
But would he be able to stick with the Jedi path? Or would he be frightened away from it?
Chinnatah suspected Yoda might somehow have answers for him...But did he want the answers he would receive? Did he want to try to commit his whole life to others? He had been a friendless loner in Tusken society...Would he be able to fit into this strange society which was meant to spread across the entire galaxy?
Yoda and Leia were nowhere in sight, but Obi-Wan said with a gesture, "We will wait here."
Anakin nodded and quickly sat down. He had left the ysalamir on the ship, not yet wanting to completely envelop himself in its Force-less field.
As everyone finished settling in, Chinnatah heard a strange whistling bird call. He turned and saw a reptavian sitting on a branch and staring at him. Upon meeting his eyes, it shook its fuchsia head-crest at him. The reptavian's face was strangely expressive, and he thought it might be smiling at him.
He gave a Tusken handsignal which signified a greeting, and the creature flew over to land on his outstretched arm.
Seeing Han's stare and sensing his skepticism, Chinnatah gave him a smile. "I have a...way with animals."
The blue and white astromech droid let out a few whistles and beeps, the large red eye on his dome resting on Chinnatah and the bird.
Threepio put a golden hand on Artoo, giving the appearance of an emotion Chinnatah suspected was amazement. "You are correct that it is strange, Artoo. Wild jubba birds tend to be very distrustful of strangers."
The jubba bird picked gently at the former Tusken's hair, and Chinnatah reached out to touch a leathery wing. Was the reptavian trying to tell him something?
With a pang of sorrow, he thought back to Vrentlla, the bantha that had been his pillar of strength. Perhaps he hadn't really been a loner after all—he had just found a companion in a different species from the Ghorfa.
He reached out with the Force to touch the jubba bird, sensing a surprising sentience. It sang to him softly, and he whispered, "Friend."
The bird gave him one last affectionate nibble before flying away. Hearing Chewbacca roar a goodbye to it, Chinnatah couldn't help but smile. He lifted his hand in a human gesture of farewell.
Maybe he was meant to have friends after all.
****
It hadn't been too long before Leia began to feel as if she were drowning in restlessness. It was impossible for her to know what exactly was happening in the galaxy around her, and she hated that. Shouldn't she be tending to issues of galactic government instead of rotting on this slimehole? She wanted to leave, but Yoda kept attempting to discourage her and calling her impatient.
Qui-Gon wasn't any help either. He also thought she should stay. He'd tried to explain himself, but she hadn't wanted to listen.
Blasted Jedi. They always had to agree on everything, didn't they?
"Feel the plant, you must," Yoda prompted, only further feeding her bad mood.
She was supposed to be meditating. The galaxy could be falling apart, and she was supposed to be meditating.
"Why, Master Yoda?" she gritted, not even bothering to hide her annoyance. "What is reaching out to plants ever going to do for me? They're plants—they can't think, they can't move. That plant is just about as useful to me as a dead woolly moth—which is to say, not at all."
"Leia," the glimmering spirit of Qui-Gon said in a soothing voice, "you need to learn to feel the Force around you, to know the difference between that plant and another, to understand the species of any being nearby. To be at tune with all living matter is to—"
"—be at one with the Living Force," Leia finished for him. She had started to pace. "But why do I need to do this?" Turn, walk, turn, walk...
"Know the minds of others, a politician must," Yoda inserted. He pointed a finger at Leia, and she stilled upon seeing it. "Learn their weaknesses, you must—have those weaknesses, you could as well. The Jedi did not feel the Emperor's evil—but feel evil in the next Palpatine, perhaps you will." He straightened, that verbal lesson ended without further elaboration. "With your mind, stretch out," he instructed firmly.
Taking in a deep breath to calm herself, Leia closed her eyes. They were right, of course—she needed to learn not to be so angry when that happened...which was, unfortunately, quite frequently.
She touched the plant first, her mind enveloping it in a cocoon of the Force—or perhaps its presence in the Force enveloped her. Regardless, she felt the soothing nature of the plant. She could sense how it simply was.
Then she moved her mind past the plant, to other plants, to some small animals, to a few bigger animals. Then she reached out even more, sensing some giant creature, and then—
Her eyes opened. "They're here!"
Yoda simply nodded, and Qui-Gon smiled at her. "Indeed," the Jedi spirit confirmed. "Shall we go and visit them?"
The young woman had begun to rush off toward Yoda's hut, but then she paused and turned to gaze at the old Jedi Master with a patience she would not have been able to gather to herself before she had met this small Jedi Master. "Master Yoda, may we please go see them?"
The alien gave her a hint of a smile. "See them, we may."
****
Leia first ran up and hugged Obi-Wan; then she turned to hug Luke, who remained standing there uncertainly. She smiled at the droids, and finally her eyes landed on Han and her father. There was a bit of an awkward silence before Obi-Wan spoke.
"We received a message from Bail," Obi-Wan began. Leia's eyes lit up as he continued. "I think it may be about your cousin, though I'm not sure..."
Leia took several steps toward the gray-haired Jedi Master, her heart throbbing in her throat. "What was the message, Obi-Wan?" she managed. Her mouth felt as if it were full of nerf-wool.
Obi-Wan hesitated briefly before speaking. "Bail doesn't say who exactly he is talking about, but he does say that someone is alive and wants to see you."
"What?" she whispered. "Could it be true?"
This couldn't be some cruel jest, could it? Could Nial actually be alive?
"I—" Leia broke off, her voice cracking. She swallowed, moistening her throat. "I must go see him."
"Leia," Qui-Gon's concerned voice said quietly. He wasn't visible, but Leia could feel him nearby.
Ignoring him, she closed her eyes and reached out to the Force, trying desperately to find her cousin's presence. She stretched—stretched—
—and was hit by a hazy vision.
There were two figures standing in a room together. Their forms were blurred—their faces impossible to distinguish—but they seemed to know each other. There was noise, and then—
Two shots, pain, and blackness. Utter blackness.
Leia gasped, her eyes shooting open. "Death, death," she panted, black spots dancing in front of her eyes. She began to waver and almost fall, but someone caught her before she could hit the ground.
Her vision briefly faded out and then in, and she suddenly found herself looking up into Han's concerned face.
"Are you all right?" he asked, worry evident in his voice.
Were the situation different, she might have felt touched. As it was, however, she simply felt desperate. Twisting in the smuggler's arms, Leia's eyes moved quickly around and landed on Yoda. "I saw death," she rasped, trying to let Yoda see how much she needed answers. "Death," she repeated raggedly.
The Jedi Master lowered his head, his ears drooping sadly. "A vision of the future, you saw."
"Master Yoda, who were those two people?"
The Jedi didn't answer. He simply prodded the ground with his gimer stick.
"I—I think one of them was Nial." Leia bit her lip in shock. She hadn't felt it before, but now—she was almost sure it was him...But did that mean—
"Yoda, is he going to die?" Her heart was thudding dully against her chest, and she felt a chill come down over her.
Yoda spoke softly. "Difficult to tell, it is...The future is always in motion, always changing..."
"Can I save him? Master Yoda, tell me, will I be able to save him?" She had broken out of Han's grip by now and was kneeling in front of the elderly Jedi Master, ignoring how everyone was staring at her in surprise. Leia didn't even try to hide her desperation—it was in her voice, in her posture, in her entire being.
"Know that, I do not," Yoda told her, gazing calmly but sorrowfully into her eyes. "See several possible futures, I do...Know which one will pass, I do not."
Leia took in a deep breath, her mind spinning.
"Decide, you must, how to help him most," the Jedi Master said softly. "By leaving now, help him, you could, but you would be going against all we have been striving for. Let your recklessness and impatience guide you, you can, but hurt your growth, it will." He seemed to be pleading with her.
"Yoda, if Nial is in danger, I must go to him," the young woman whispered. "I must see him again."
Neither Obi-Wan nor Qui-Gon said anything. They may have served as her teachers, but Yoda was truly her master. Two beats passed before the small Jedi replied. "If see him again, you do," he said slowly, his eyes wide and sorrowful, "no happiness will you find."
"Then maybe I'm not meant to be happy," Leia said shortly, turning sharply and walking away, her eyes wet with tears.
