"Oh dear," C-3PO, halfway down the ramp, began to back track, bumping into Luke, who carried a pack of gear.

"Watch it, 3-P0," he warned.

"I am dreadfully sorry, Master Luke. I seemed to have dislodged your pack. I find I am having second thoughts. Somewhat unusual for a droid, but looking at the terrain indicates an environment most detrimental to my physical makeup. I feel it is better if I do not disembark."

"You mean you can't get wet?" Luke commented.

The protocol droid tried his best to help Luke recover the contents of the case. "Precisely, sir."

Chewie crowded with them on the hatchway, sniffing the air. He turned to Luke. "Do you know what Han would call your visit to this place?" he asked Luke, eyes twinkling.

Luke scanned what he could see from the hatch. Dark, wet branches were hints of the large trees submerged in the waters before them. "Swimming lessons?" he guessed.

Chewie laughed. "Good one," he answered.

The protocol droid stood silently, watching the interchange. Sentient beings were not easy to assess. He did not understand why they needed to find humor in situations. And calling this giant swamp of a location was the furthest from swimming lessons any being was going to get. It made no sense.

Luke was his master, but C-3P0 was sorry he lacked the finesse of a linguist. The Princess was a being who possessed excellent language skills, however, especially in Basic. It was as if her brain contained a thesaurus data bank. He recognized immediately why she was so good at negotiations. She not only knew the language, but could use it in a way to manipulate a being's emotions and reactions. She almost did not need him. He found it quite fascinating.

She only seemed to falter against Captain Solo, a human with whom he also had trouble communicating. The Captain treated words like he did mechanical repairs. He gave some dual purpose, bypassed others, had an innate understanding of phrases like he did the way circuits fired on a ship. Then there were the nicknames and sarcasm. The protocol droid was not versed in the figurative use of language, and that seemed the only way Captain Solo spoke to him. A most aggravating human.

And one who caused them to be on this rust-causing planet. "I am at a loss as to how Captain Solo's disappearance brought us to this water-infested planet," 3-P0 added, "but I think it wise if I remain on board."

"That's fine," Luke answered distractedly. At this point he didn't care what the droid did or didn't do.

They had tried several places to land, finding the water too deep or the earth too soft. Finally they had settled on the top of a canopy of trees. The Falcon's mass flattened everything in a heart beat, but Chewie explained it was the only way they would know there was firm terrain. Peering around the corner of the hatch to the outside, Luke could see the landing thrusters holding steady now.

Chewie and Luke brought the packs to dry ground and started to unpack.

"How do you think we'll find Yoda?" Luke asked.

Chewie stood, scanning the forest and swamp. "I think he will find us. We will wait."

"What if we landed on the wrong side of the planet?" Luke suggested. "He could take weeks to reach us."

"Do you not think your Force guided us to make the landing we did? Chewie asked.

"I didn't think of that," Luke said, feeling a little ashamed. He cursed himself for not being open to the Force. He straightened, closed his eyes, and breathed deeply several times. The presence of life was astounding. He thought fleetingly that he'd like to visit Tatooine once more, get a Force sense of it. It had never had much to offer when he was younger. Now he was interested to see how different it felt.

"Hey," he muttered, eyes still closed. Chewie quieted, waiting. The whole planet was alive; Luke saw the Force everywhere, in each leaf and drop of water, rippling in feathers and scales and hairs. It shimmered and hovered, connected to itself in paths he could follow from leaf to stem to trunk to ground to root to water; but an object, full of Force, was moving. It sent waves of Force outward and Luke took a step backward as the waves pushed on him. "There's something-" he started to say but Chewie was laughing at him. He opened his eyes.

At Luke's feet stood a being. Crouched barely taller than his kneecaps, green like the rest of the planet, wrinkled and fibrous with nails like giant thorns on its feet.

"Something I am," the little being declared with a hoot of laughter. "Ah, Chewbacca, so heartened again am I to see you." He and Chewie were trying to greet each other physically. Chewie seemed absolutely delighted and wanted to scoop the little green creature up in his arms and squash him with affection but was deterred when it grabbed his wrists and brought them together in a squeeze.

"Yoda?" Luke asked. He squatted down to get to eye level. "I'm Luke Skywalker. Ben Kenobi sent me." If this being was going to laugh at him like Leia had when he entered her detention cell Luke swore he would just go home and forget everything.

"Obi-Wan," Yoda said. He had forgotten that his old colleague had changed his name. "A good friend was he."

"Yes," Luke responded, meaning it. "He said you would train me in the ways of the Force." He squinted at Yoda suspiciously. "Do you expect me?"

"Yes, yes," the being repeated. "Expect you I do. Train we will. Meet your friend I must," Yoda's singsong made Luke's had bob and he had to think a moment.

"Leia? You want to meet Leia? She's still on the ship."

Yoda nodded. "First, Chewbacca and I together will walk. Much to discuss have we."

Chewie scooped Yoda up onto his shoulder. He called back to Luke to set the camp up and disappeared into the mist of the swamp.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Ah, Chewbacca," Yoda said. The giant Wookiee had immediately set for the trees and climbed. He now straddled a large branch and faced Yoda expectantly. He thought how the years in isolation had not been good for Yoda. He was stiff, hunched, detached. Not quite beaten, but close.

"Much time has passed," Yoda added wearily.

"And pines have given way to oaks," Chewie contributed.

Yoda had no trouble understanding the poetry of the Wookiees. "Yes, much also has changed." He prodded Chewie on the leg with his walking stick. "Struggled, have you. Sorry I am, for what happened."

Chewie had helped Yoda escape Kashyyyk when the Emperor declared the Jedi purge. That delay had cost him his own freedom, as the Imperials took the planet and rounded up the Wookiees into slavery.

Chewie nodded. He told Yoda about being captured, about his enslavement, and his rescue by Han Solo.

Yoda listened attentively. Chewie's account was guileless and blame free. Though both were long-lived species, Yoda was centuries older. He envied the Wookiee's perception, or lack thereof. Sometimes the Force was as much a curse as it was a blessing.

"Much frustration in you yet," he commented as Chewie finished.

"My Life's Work has withered," Chewie answered gravely.

"And mine crumbled," Yoda assented. Vividly he saw the burning spires of the Jedi temple, felt his heart constrict tightly again at all the losses. "Much have we invested."

"You mean gambled," Chewie returned. "I have been waiting for my Life's Work to show himself, as he did to me. I have been patient with him. I was certain the path that intersected us with Kenobi and young Skywalker was the right one, that he would help rebuild the Jedi order. But he is lost."

"Lost, he is not to all," Yoda said. "Correct you are. Closely twined with Luke and the Alderaanian Princess his destiny is. Others will seek to sever it."

Chewie absorbed Yoda's information. He waited for more, certain Yoda knew, but the former general lapsed into silence.

"What do you know of him?" he prompted.

Yoda shook himself out of his reverie. "Speak of him now we will not," he determined.

"He is my Life's Work," Chewie said quietly. "He is a human, but he is better than others I know."

Chewie held humans with little regard. They were dangerous, self-centered, violent and brilliant. They scattered themselves across the galaxy and left their lasting impact in beautiful cities that left little regard for other life forms. Han was the embodiment of all that was human, the good with the bad. But he had been a bit better. He at least saw value in another's life.

"I would not be be here but for him," he told Yoda. "I have brought you the boy, but I must return to my Life's Work."

Yoda considered Chewie, who had the uncomfortable feeling he was being probed. Then Yoda nodded. "So you will. First let us return to the boy. Assess what Kenobi taught him and begin his training."

"Kenobi only introduced Luke to the Force. Luke is adept at reading people, but he has no physical control of the Force."

"If anything like his father he is, control will he easily gain. Come Chewbacca," Yoda stood, tiny against the thick limbs of the tree, "it is time to return to your ship."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Luke stomped his boots of mud at the bottom of the Falcon's hatch. He had finished unloading the gear and the campsite was ready.

"I found Yoda," he told Leia. She was the communications console, very intent on something.

"Great," she told him, and looked around. "So where is he?"

"He and Chewie went to talk. Yoda said he wants to meet you."

Leia frowned. "Me? Why does he need to meet me?"

"I don't know," Luke shrugged. "Maybe he's just being polite."

Leia flinched a little, sensing an underlying dismissal from Luke.

"What are you doing there?" Luke asked. He was glad to see her eyes were full of purpose again.

"Using the encryptor. I'm trying to locate the fleet."

"Who are you contacting?"

"General Rieekan. If I don't hear from him soon, I'll have to try and find one of the cells that's off base in the Inner Rim. I don't want to. It's risky. Not just for us; but more so for them."

Luke nodded in understanding. He had learned a lot about espionage and subterfuge in the last few years.

"How long do you think we'll be here, Luke?" She tried to keep her tone noncommittal but knew she was sending the same signals to Luke as he had done to her. One that said 'my life is more important than yours'. She was immediately sorry, but didn't know how to take it back. To have competition rear its ugly head now, after all this time...something dark was working at them. Was it just Han's absence?

"I don't know," he murmured quietly, his blue eyes watching her guardedly. He sensed the shift in their relationship as well, tried to compensate for it. "It might be a while. You and Chewie can leave if you need to, and I'll contact you when I need a pick up."

Leia nodded. It was fine; they were fine. "No, I'll stay for a while. See what this is all about."

Luke nodded back, grateful.

C-3PO plodded from the cockpit. "Motion detectors are picking up life forms, Master Luke. I believe First Mate Chewbacca and this being you call Yoda have returned."

"Good," Luke answered.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The group gathered in the ship's galley. With the addition of Yoda there weren't as many places to sit, and Leia had perched herself on the counter Han used to prep food. She had seen him use it as a seat also, and remembered his body posture with a pang. Her imitation of him felt like a gesture of connection. It made her miss him terribly.

She was aware of resenting Yoda, and while the group talked was trying to understand why. It wasn't Luke. When she looked at Luke she just wanted to support him, encourage him, help him be all he could and was supposed to be. Yoda was to help him, and yet she snapped angrily whenever she directed conversation at him. Was it because she was identifying with Han right now? Or that she felt someone needed to represent him still? He would most likely be rolling his eyes if he were here now. Actually, now that she thought about it, there was no way any of them would be here if he were the pilot. He wouldn't have brought them.

"Train with us, you should as well," Yoda directed a comment at her. Leia straightened, wondering why she was offended. This was Luke's turf. "Me?" she said, her voice dripping skepticism. "How would I train?"

Luke sat up with interest. "Does Leia have the Force too?"

Yoda noted his eagerness for a partner to share. "In all beings is the Force. It is existence."

"So then," Luke's brow was furrowed as he tried to understand his first lesson with Yoda, "anyone can learn to use it, if they are trained? Could even someone like Han?"

"No," Yoda said shortly. "Not all beings are born even sensing the Force."

"I've never sensed the Force," Leia said.

"Ah," Yoda lifted his ears, "yet use it you have."

"When?" she dared.

"How many could face Vader and give him nothing?" Yoda shot back.

"That wasn't the Force," Leia retorted. "I was prepared to die. I was merely determined."

C-3P0, standing nearby, appreciated her adjective choice.

"Powerful with the Force is Vader. Into one's thoughts can he go. Helpless to stop it one is. Without the Force to prevent him."

Luke was intrigued. He looked at Leia. "Did he try? To… invade your mind?"

Leia shuddered. It was the most violating sensation she'd ever encountered. But she had mentally screamed at him and he got nothing. "He tried," she admitted slowly. "It was the most awful feeling. But I knew he was there. I just didn't let him in."

"And that is the Force," Yoda stated. "Use it you did. Use it now you are. A shield it is, for you."

Leia was shaking her head. "No."

"Protect you, it does," Yoda insisted. "Open your mind and heart and see you will."

"Train Luke," she said firmly. "That's why we're here."

"But Leia," Luke started, "if you're able to access it already, then why -"

"I'm not accessing it, Luke," she said acidly. "I have things to keep me busy while you train. Just do what you have to and worry about yourself."

Luke looked at Yoda, wounded. But he nodded quietly, determined to revisit the matter again, both with Leia and Yoda.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

She and Han were piloting the Death Star through the space lanes of Coruscant. The cockpit looked just like the Millennium Falcon's.

Traffic was terrible. Speeders and cruisers passed them above and to the side but the Death Star seemed to be almost motionless. Leia looked out the cockpit window as the space station's sheer size seemed microns away from the city's buildings.

Han turned to her casually. "Crazy, huh?"

"Why is traffic so bad?" Leia wondered.

"It's us. We're too big. Clogging up the lanes." Han informed her.

"Or an accident?" Leia peered again out the window and into the traffic to detect the reason for the hold up.

"You're gonna be late for the Rebellion," Han told her.

She shook her head. "It's not mine, and it's started. I'm not late. I'm just not getting there when we need to."

"I can fire the guns," he offered. "Make everyone get out of our way."

"No, that wouldn't be fair."

"I know!" Han snapped his fingers. "I have another way we can get there."

He jumped out of his seat and she followed him into the Death Star corridors. They walked side by side freely, the hallways empty of all personnel. Their footsteps echoed on the shiny waxed floors.

He squatted at a trap door and heaved mightily. "Here, attach this to your belt loop."

Suddenly he was wearing the utility belt of a storm trooper's uniform. He tied himself to her waist and tossed the other end out the trap door. "Come on, Princess!" he called gleefully. He grabbed her by her middle and they dropped out the trap door.

Leia's screamed soundlessly as they rushed into open air. She was both exhilarated and terrified. Han was confident and sure, his eyes gleaming, his hair blowing off his face in the stiff wind of their free fall.

They passed a number of surprised speeder pilots and while they were falling they were also moving forward. They were speeding past all traffic and the way was clear.

Han's arm was sure around her and his vitality was electric. She looked into his eyes, eyes so knowing, and meant to give him a kiss like she had to Luke on the Death Star, a quick peck on the cheek for luck, when his own mouth caught hers.

They dropped through the air, locked in an embrace, her hands around his neck and in his hair, his arm snaked around her firmly to press her to him. Their fall whizzed the air past their faces and hair, and their clothing whipped around them while they kissed. He was was wild and alive and she clung to him, terrified he would let go. Forever they could fall, she thought; forever past the gawking faces of traffic; forever, if she could feel this terrified, this excited, this good.