Chapter 4

On the bright side the man, named Han of all things, didn't hurt them. He did, on the other hand, throw them into an empty room and locked the door behind him. Leia had been so worked up about being kidnapped that she was having trouble staying mad at Luke as well, but she'd be able to make up for that as soon as Father bought her freedom and then she'd tell him all about the Emperor's plan and then he would be able to get rid of their dictator and bring the galaxy back to the republic it once was.

She looked over at Luke who was curled up in the corner frowning, at least she didn't have deal with this alone even if it was with the last person she wanted to be with right now. Besides Han, and Darth Vader, and the Emperor of course, alright, Luke wasn't the last person she wanted to be with, but he still had neglected to tell her some very important information for six years. Her eyes darted back to her light haired comrade, she noticed that he was fiddling with something.

"What's that?" she asked scooting over.

He held up a figurine, its paint had started peeling off, but it was undoubtedly the same toy she had given him years ago. In spite of herself she felt a smile come to her lips, "You still have that?"

Luke nodded, "Yeah, Dad doesn't know, he'd probably take it away if he did, but I keep with me, it makes me feel better."

Leia sighed, when she had turned ten, Mother had decided that it was time for her to be a princess not a tomboy. She had been forced to throw out all her old Jedi toys, it was nice to know that at least one of them had made it out alive. As she studied Luke's toy, an idea popped into her head.

"That's it!" she cried jumping up.

Luke stared up at her like she had gone mad, "Umm… what's it?"

"Anakin! He can help us! Oh this couldn't have worked out any less perfectly!" she danced around a little bit, "We can contact Anakin, or any Jedi really, and have them rescue us!"

"We don't need any rescuing Leia," Luke pointed out, "We probably haven't even traveled past the core planets, Han's probably just going in a circle waiting for our parents to send out a reward for us, and we've only been in here, what? A day, probably less? Anyway, all the Jedi are dead."

"Not all of them, that would have been impossible, I bet that there's at least one out there who can rescue us!" Leia insisted.

"Okay say there is a Jedi wandering through the galaxy unnoticed, then what?" he still stared at her like she was crazy, "It's not like their going to send up a flare saying 'Hey all! I'm a Jedi! Wanna get some coffee?'"

"And as far as I've read, Anakin was one of the best Jedi there was, I'm sure that he'd be able to escape," she continued, ignoring him, "If he's alive then there's hope that another Jedi could still be alive!" And then they could ally with Father and help take down the Emperor and Alderaan would be saved, Leia thought happily.

Luke frowned, he didn't like the idea of there being Jedi still alive, toys were fine, but an actual Jedi would be dangerous. "Listen to me, we've been kidnapped for a day, our parents probably sent out their best to try and find us hours ago, we'll be found in no time," he repeated, "Han is greedy enough to take us back to Coruscant as soon as they post a reward for our return, I estimate that we'll be out here in less than two days, no need for a Jedi's help, assuming Mr. Skywalker is actually out there."

Leia's smile twisted into a frown, "Well then Mr. Optimistic, did you think about the fact that once Han returns us to our respective parent he'll also probably get pardoned of all his crimes? He's on a wanted poster Luke and he said your father could help him, that's bad."

"Look Leia, I don't want to stay here any longer than we have to," Luke rolled his eyes, "Repeat after me: there is no need for help!"

She opened her mouth to make a sharp retort, but was sent skidding across the floor alongside Luke as the ship jolted to a stop.

"Aw, sh–" Han's curse was cut off by a wookie yowl.

"What the heck?" Luke cried, trying to twist back into a normal position.

The door clicked and swooshed open. Han stood with an angry look on his face and a glare in his eye, "Come on, we've gotta hurry."

He grabbed Luke and Leia and dragged them out into the main hall. "We were hit by a stray laser from an Imperial ship," he explained.

Luke looked up and mouthed, 'Dad' to Leia, who frowned at him.

"It took out our hyperdrive," Han continued, "And tore a chunk out of our portside, Chewie's got the shields up so we'll be protected from the oxygen sucking space, but they won't last for long."

Leia was shoved into the cockpit with Luke right behind her. Chewbacca growled a greeting or was trying to tell them to hurry up. Han sat down besides his co-pilot and pressed a button to return the ship to manual piloting.

"Where are we going?" Luke asked, "Can't we just go with Da– the Imperials?"

Han shook his head, "I've got some business to attend to on Naboo before I go 'round returnin' kids to their daddy's."

Leia quirked an eyebrow, they were near Naboo? Han was also being suicidal, even if they did make it to Naboo without completely destroying the ship or having the shields go down and suffocating all of them to death, what would they do next? Naboo was a supporter of the empire and Luke was a well-known face throughout the system, he'd be recognized immediately and Han would be detained and put to trial for kidnapping and other crimes he might have committed. Now that she thought about it though, that didn't sound so bad.

The Millennium Falcon entered Naboo's atmosphere and Leia squeezed her eyes shut, sure that this ship wouldn't be able to hold together and that this was the end and pulled Luke close, regretting having given him a black eye and shunning him for most of their terrible trip when they touched down. They landed on the swampy, forest ground (rather smoothly for such a bone-rattling entrance) and she could release Luke safely.

The hatch opened and they shakily walked onto the squishy ground.

"Now I don't want any runnin'," Han said, "You two are gonna stay with me and Chewie while we try to find a new parts and… attend to business." The man waved around his blaster for emphasis.

"Fine," Luke muttered for both of them.

Leia was actually quite fine with following this once feared buffoon; he would lead them to civilization. Civilization meant libraries and records, which meant she could find a Jedi to help her, even if they were on an Imperial planet. This unexpected trip could be a great thing after all.