Yay! A new chapter! Just a note to anyone reading Destiny's Pawn: I have put the story on hiatus, and I don't know if I'll ever pick it up again. It's filled with flaws and I just don't think it's going anywhere and it certainly doesn't have an original idea (not that this one really does, either, but it's less common over here :)). I apologize because I really don't want to leave it unfinished, but there's really no more motivation there. Harry Potter's over for me, but the memories were great. I'm really sorry, though, to anyone who enjoyed it.

Anyway, here's Demands of Fate! I apologize for that little explanation there, but I had to let people know somehow ;)

EDIT: I really changed this one, because I was not happy with the way I wrote it before. Hopefully, this edit is better.

Disclaimer: I always say this, and I'll keep saying it, I do not own Star Wars. Only my OC('s).


Chapter 8: Reunions

Luke could feel his body tremble, the adrenaline still coursing through him after his victory against the Empire. He could not believe that he, a Tatooine farm boy, was the Rebel who destroyed the Death Star. Luke never imagined that he would be the one to destroy it, yet here he was, flying back to the Rebel Base with the Millennium Falcon trailing behind him. It felt almost unreal; after all, he had been living his relatively normal life on Tatooine not long ago, now he was a hero. He was so caught up in his thoughts that he almost didn't realize Leia had contacted him and was congratulating him on his victory.

"And there'll be a lot for you to do once you land. There will be award ceremonies, and we'll have to evacuate the base now that the Empire knows we're here. Funny - I'm not really worried about that. We haven't won a victory like this for a long while, and it's all thanks to you!" She certainly sounded exicited. In fact, Luke could almost picture her, with her face lit up with a smile, softening her features, which usually seemed so tense.

He decided to cut her off. He was sure she would go on forever. "Thanks, Leia. I'm alright. I'll see you down there."

"Luke, I know this will get old really quickly, but thank you. We owe you a lot. I'll see you when you land!" And Leia cut off their transmission.

The sudden silence was stunning. While Leia was speaking, he could hear the commotion going on at the base. He heard Rebels cheering, laughing, and talking, but as soon as the transmission ended, all the noise and distractions ceased. Luke's mind turned to less happy thoughts. He thought of all the pilots who gave their lives in order to bring down the Death Star. While all their deaths had stung, the one that had stung the most was the death of Biggs, his childhood friend. When he heard his friend's final scream, Luke almost gave up. If it wasn't for the fact that Biggs died for the cause, he thought he might have. Still, he couldn't believe he'd forgotten about his friend's sacrifice in all the commotion. Luke felt a rush of guilt, and swore that once the excitement died down, he would properly honor his fallen comrades.

The silence was grating on his nerves, and so he decided to call the only people he knew would cheer him up.

Han picked up instantly, "Kid, you're the luckiest guy alive. Didn't think you could do it."

"Han!"

Luke smiled at the sound of Serena's voice. The sibling's bickering could be quite amusing at times.

"Ignore him." Serena responded after a short exchange of insults, "You did great."

Luke couldn't hold back a beam. Despite having only known her for a short while, there was something about her that just made him...happy, "Just great? I was hoping for something a little better than 'great'."

"Outstanding, superb, amazing! Is that better?"

"It'll do."

"You're unbelievable." She said, while laughing. It was nice to just talk to her in peace. He hadn't been able to since their escape from the Death Star. It hadn't been that long ago, but it certainly felt like it.

"Looks like we're about to reach the base."

Luke jumped, embarassed that he hadn't realized how close they were to the base. He only knew her for a few days and she was already distracting him when his mind was supposed to be elsewhere. She was certainly compelling, with her long, brown hair always pulled back, a few stray hairs framing her face. He had to resist the urge on numerous occasions to brush them out of her face, then maybe 'accidentally' brush his hand against her cheek -

"Luke?"

He hadn't responded to her statement. He sighed, attempting to remember what she said. He flushed, grateful that she could not see him at the moment, and responded, "Sorry, what?"

She sighed, "I said we're approaching the base."

"Ah. Good." He winced at his response, "Hey, I'll see you down there, alright?"

"Alright...Are you okay?" She seemed confused, and worried.

"I'm fine. Look, I'll see you down there." He was secretly pleased that she cared enough to ask about him.

"Alright. Just - You know I'm here if you want to talk, right?"

He smiled, "Yeah. I know."

Their connection was cut off, and he sighed.

Don't even know much about her, and she makes me feel this way. He sighed, and ran his free hand through his hair. I don't know what to do.

He landed his small X-Wing fighter and let out another sigh - he seemed to be doing that a lot - and exited the X-Wing, hoping to forget about the conflicted emotions he felt towards a certain smuggler girl.


"What do you think that was about?" Serena mumbled, leaning back in her seat.

"Look, you can ask him when we land." Han glared, irritated with Serena's constant fretting about Luke. She'd only ended their communication a moment ago, and she was already talking about the kid. Despite her vehement protests, he knew she liked him more than she let on.

"But -"

"Just knock it off, sis. He's probably just tired. Blowin' up a huge space station'll do that to you, y'know."

She crossed her arms, and pouted.

"What are you, three?" He smirked, throwing back the comment she'd made to him not long ago. His sister smiled with realization, and Han continued, "Enough with the poutin'."

"Sorry," She laughed, "I'm just paranoid, I guess."

"You guess?"

"Stop that!" But she continued laughing. He was happy to see his little sister relax a little. She hadn't laughed like that in a while. Neither have I, really.

Chewbacca shook his head at the Solo's, but he could feel the tension slip away. Neither Solo relaxed much, especially since Han got caught up in the smuggling business. Somehow, blowing up a massive space station could get them to relax. The wookiee didn't understand humans, despite living with the two of them for a long while, but he was glad that the two finally had something to celebrate. They certainly deserved it. He was glad that Han turned back, the Solo siblings needed to stop running, at least for a while.

Han carefully maneuvered the Falcon into a large enough space to land, he noticed that, while there were less ships than there had been previously, the pilots didn't try to make as much space for other ships to land, and so it was more difficult to find a landing space.

"Go find your 'farm boy', sis, before somebody else makes a move first."

She rolled her eyes, but Han noticed a faint blush color her cheeks. Then, without so much as a retort, she left the Falcon.

He glanced at the wookiee, "Chewie, what's gotten into her?"

The wookiee ignored Han's question and shook his head, "Humans."


As Serena exited the Millennium Falcon, she paused as she heard the loud cheering and celebrating going on in the base. The atmosphere was so different than it had been previously; while once the Rebels were gearing up for a battle, now they were laughing and cheering. The infectious happiness was not lost on Serena, as she quickly joined the fray. As she weaved through the seemingly endless crowds of Rebels, she scanned for any sign on Luke or Leia. She didn't have to look long, because Luke and Leia were right in the center, hugging and laughing.

"Hey!" She heard Han's voice from behind her. Serena glanced back and smiled as she saw Chewbacca and Han pushing past the cheerful Rebels. Luke and Leia broke their embrace and smiled at the sight of their three smuggler friends. Serena found herself wedged in between Luke and Leia as she was tightly hugged. As Han and Chewbacca approached the group, the hug was broken as Luke and Leia rushed over to hug both the smuggler and the wookiee.

"I knew you'd come back, I just knew it!" Luke told Han after their quick hug.

"Think I'd let you get all the credit?" Han smiled back, and the two hugged once again.

"I knew there was more to you than money!" Leia jumped in and patted both of them on their backs.

Serena and Chewbacca watched the three, smiling deeply. She was glad that they were no longer mad at Han. The victory over the Empire seemed to cause old arguments to end.

After the three ended their hug, Luke turned towards Serena, an infectious smile on his face. She couldn't resist smiling back, and as she did she thought she saw Luke's eyes soften, just a bit. They moved closer and she felt his arms wrap around her, and she hugged him back, feeling inexplicably safe in his arms. She smiled at him, "You seem happier now."

"Yeah, just had a lot on my mind." He said, as they both separated.

She looked up at him, realizing that she hadn't moved far back enough, and she was staring right into his lovely eyes. He blushed a bit, and Serena was sure her face was just as pink as his. She was trying to remain rational - after all, they barely knew each other - but she couldn't resist moving in closer, and she could see he was doing the same -

"Get a room."

Serena jumped back from Luke instantly, as if she were burned. She didn't notice the hurt look in his eyes, but she did notice the smirk growing on her brother's face. She was just about to give him a piece of her mind when Luke's startled gasp caused her to turn back towards the farm boy.

"Oh no," Luke began, staring in horror at the smoking R2-D2, "You can repair him, right?" He questioned, staring at the repairman who was inspecting Artoo.

"-Can you hear me? Say something!" Threepio cried out in horror. Serena felt badly for the golden droid, despite how irritating he could be.

"Threepio, I'm sure he'll be fine." She reassured, gently patting his metallic shoulder.

"We'll get to work on him right away." The mechanic stated, smiling at Threepio in reassurance.

"I hope so. That little droid and I have been through a lot," Then C-3P0 directed his attention towards Luke, "Sir, if any of my gears will help, I'll gladly donate them."

"He'll be fine." Luke said, and walked away from the droid. Serena followed after him, as did Han, Leia, and Chewbacca.

As the five walked through the hanger, Leia was the first to break the silence, "There's going to be a ceremony here, as soon as possible, then we'll be leaving. I hope you all have some nice clothes."

"What?" Serena jumped, "Leia, the nicest clothes I have still aren't nice enough for a ceremony! I have nothing. I can tell you the same for Han," She paused, "The only one who's ready is Chewie, since he doesn't have to worry about that kind of stuff."

Luke ran his hand through his hair, "I don't have any either. I didn't have any time to pack."

Leia laughed at Serena's obvious distress, "Don't worry. You can borrow one of mine. As for you two," She said, gesturing towards Han and Luke, "I'm sure any of the others will let you borrow their nicer uniforms. I'd start checking with Wedge."

The two men looked at each other, shrugged, and turned to leave. Chewbacca followed after them dutifully.

Serena looked at Leia, "So where's your room?"

"Down at the very end of this hall. Don't worry, we'll find you a nice dress."

The two girls walked in comfortable silence. Leia looked straight forward without paying the slightest attention to any of the details in the hallway. Of course, that was to be expected since she'd undoubtedly walked in the hallway many times before. Serena couldn't resist glancing around in curiosity, despite the hallway having little decoration. In all honesty, it was a rather plain hallway, but Serena was still interested in inspecting every detail she possibly could. The hallway was grey with bright lights shining down upon the two girls. Aside from those two things, the only other 'decoration' in the hallway were countless doors, leading to places Serena knew she was not allowed to go.

Leia finally stopped, and opened the door to her room. Serena smiled at the change in decoration, though the room was still quite plain. She imagined that Leia had only just gotten the bedroom, since she now had no other place to go. The room still had grey walls, but at least there was some furniture placed to give it some character. She had a small, but comfortable looking bed, with a table stand resting next to it. In the far left corner stood a wardrobe, no doubt filled with Leia's clothing.

Leia sighed, somewhat sadly, "This was all they could spare after Alderaan was destroyed...but let's not talk about that. This is a happy day."

Serena only nodded, "So, I'm guessing they gave you all this clothing too?"

Leia nodded, "Some of it. I had a few with me, since I had no idea how long I'd be gone." Leia seemed to grow sad again.

"Hey, let's look at some of those dresses, then!" Serena said, trying to sound as enthusiastic as she could, in order to keep Leia's mind off of Alderaan.

After many moments, Leia pulled out a white dress. The dress was beautiful, with a v-neck top and sleeves that tied around her neck. The dress flowed down with many loose layers made of a soft, thin fabric that Serena loved to feel in her hands. To complete the dress, it had sequins plastered around the waist area of the dress. Serena couldn't resist smiling.

"Leia...that's perfect!" She took the dress and was prepared to try it on.

"I'm glad you like it. The ceremony will start in an hour."

"I'll be there." Serena smiled once more, and began to prepare.


Serena smiled at Han, Chewbacca, and Luke as the four waited patiently for the ceremony to begin. Leia told them all to wait behind the door, and they would know to come in when they were signaled. Serena shifted, afraid of being watched by so many rebels.

Luke noticed her nervous shuffle, "Nervous?" He smiled slightly at her.

"Yeah," she nodded, "I don't do well in front of crowds." She took the time to admire him in his new clothing. He certainly looked handsome in his suit. She was also glad that Han cleaned himself up, as he looked much better in his nice new suit, as well.

"You'll be fine." He smiled softly, and Serena felt a fluttering in her stomach.

"I know." She said, returning his smile. Before he could respond, however, the doors opened and Serena glanced nervously at the rows of Rebel pilots, commanders, and leaders. She hoped that they would be impressed by the four of them, instead of shun them.

The group proceeded to walk down the hall towards the smiling face of Princess Leia, looking regal with her hair tied up in a braid and beautiful white gown that complimented her figure nicely.

Why does this feel like it's taking forever? Serena thought, panicking at so many eyes staring at her, Leia isn't that far away.

Mercifully, Serena did not have to worry about the seemingly endless walk towards Leia as the four finally arrived and stopped in front of the Princess. Leia smiled reassuringly at Serena and she felt a bit more relaxed as she realized she had done everything she was supposed to.

Leia was handed a medal and Serena watched as she placed it around Luke's neck. The farm boy couldn't resist beaming at Leia and she saw Leia smile back softly, though she was undoubtedly proud. Leia then made her way towards Han, and Serena noticed her brother smirk as Leia approached. She rolled her eyes, and saw Leia place the medal around Han's neck, as well. They both shared a smile, as well. Finally, Leia approached Serena and placed Serena's own medal around her neck. Serena now understood why Han and Luke smiled so brightly, as she suddenly felt herself do the same. She'd never earned a medal before, and it made her proud to see that she would now be getting one. Leia walked away from Serena and was handed a pin that would stick to Chewie's fur. She gently placed it on, and the wookiee roared softly in thanks, and Leia smiled at him, as well. Serena was also pleasantly surprised to see Artoo, good as new, beep happily, and Threepio sitting next to the other droid.

As the group of friends turned to see the cheering Rebels behind them, Serena realized that she had found a group of friends that would stand by each other, and found herself smiling at the thought, as she stared proudly at the applauding audience.


Alright, there's the chapter. They'll probably most likely be coming once a month, since I'm a slow writer (sorry about that), but the next chapter's gonna have some AU events, so be sure to check it out! :D. As always, reviews are appreciated as they help me improve!)