"Still there drips in sleep against the heart
Grief of memory; against
Our pleasure we are temperate."
Agamemnon

Chapter Eleven: Grief of Memory

"I'm going to shut everything down but the emergency power systems." Han reported.

"Good. It's easier to stay hidden that way." Connan replied, reaching forward to help.

Han swatted her hand away. "No machines for you. For the next couple of hours while we're working on the ship, you are going to sit quietly and eat something."

Connan glowered, making Carth sigh. He pulled Connan up and tugged her toward the doorway. "I'll stay with her. I'm good at entertaining her."

Connan opened her mouth to retort when C-3PO interrupted. "Sir, I'm almost afraid to ask, but does that include shutting me down, too?"

Han rolled his eyes. "No. I need you to talk to the Falcon. Find out what's wrong with the hyperdrive."

The ship lurched from side to side. Connan felt her stomach flip before the movement stopped.

There was silence as everyone looked around, keeping as still as possible, in case the ship started to move again.

"Sir, it's quite possible that this asteroid is not entirely stable." C-3PO stated.

Han whipped around to the droid. "Not entirely stable?" He repeated, acid practically dripping from his words. "Well, I'm glad you're here to tell us these things."

Connan snickered, covering her mouth with her hand when Han's glare reached her.

"Chewie, take the professor in the back and plug him into the hyperdrive." Han finished.

Chewbacca grabbed C-3PO's arm and dragged him out of the cockpit.

"Well!" C-3PO cried out, insulted. "Sometimes I just don't understand human behavior. After all, I'm only trying to do my job."

Carth pulled Connan out behind the Wookie and the droid. "Come on," He said. "You can sit on the couch and gripe at Han for doing his job wrong."

Connan grinned. "That I like."

The ship shook again, causing the shelves in the hallway to rattle. Carth pushed Connan up against the wall and covered her, waiting for the shaking to stop.

"You okay?" He asked as it finally settled down. "You look a little green."

"I feel a little green." Connan replied, rubbing her eyes and walking into the main hold. "I think I'm going to make a pit stop to the refresher first."

Carth turned back to the cockpit to inform Han of Connan's condition. He stopped at the door when he saw Han sitting with Leia in his lap.

"Let go, please." Leia pleaded.

"Don't get excited." Han replied.

Leia rolled her eyes. "Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited."

Han stood up, pushing Leia up with him, practically lifting her up off the ground as he did so. "Sorry, sweetheart." He winked at her. "We haven't got time for anything else."

Then he gave a smile, turned, and walked out of the cockpit, completely ignoring Carth. Leia snarled at the doorway before turning to the console and busying herself with work, every now and again muttering a swear word to herself.

Carth grinned.

XXXXX

"All right," Luke stated, dropping his bang and rummaging through them. "That should be the last of it."

"Good." Mission replied. She yanked the small power coupling Luke pulled out from his hands and turned to R2-D2. "Ready for some power?"

"Sure am!"

"All right!" Mission flicked the coupling on and plugged it up to R2. "There you go."

"Now all we have to do is find this Yoda." Luke sighed, rubbing his hands together. "If he even exists."

"Relax. He's here. You worry too much."Mission stated, dragging another bag toward her and pulling out its contents. "This sure is a strange place to find a Jedi Master, though." She opened up a food tray and began nibbling on the contents. She readjusted her lekku and shuddered.

Luke agreed. "This place gives me the creeps." He looked around aimlessly, setting his own food down and fiddling with his blaster. "Still, there's something familiar about this place."

"Familiar?" R2 looked around. "This doesn't look that much like Tatooine."

"What could possibly be familiar about this place?" Mission asked.

"I don't know," Luke shrugged. "I feel like—"

"—Feel like what?"

Luke shoved Mission out of the way, making her sprawl on the ground with an indignant shout, and aimed his blaster at the intruder. The stranger covered his face and looked away, cringing.

"Hey!" Mission cried.

"Like we're being watched." Luke finished.

Mission stared at the strange man sitting on the tree in front of her, wondering if he was really there or not. He looked almost exactly like Master Vandar, one of the Jedi Masters on the Council back in their own time—just as green, and definitely just as tiny. His long ears twitched back and forth at any new sounds. He sat on his haunches, though, and looked horribly old.

"Away put your weapon!" The small man cried. "I mean you no harm."

Mission felt a twinge of compassion. "Put the gun down, Luke."

Luke hesitantly lowered his blaster.

"I am wondering… why are you here?" The old man asked.

"We're looking for someone." Mission replied.

The old man raised an eyebrow. "Looking? Found someone you have, I would say, hmmm?" The small green man chuckled.

"Right." Luke snorted.

"Help you I can. Yes." The man persisted, clacking his cane against the tree trunk.

"I don't think so," Luke chuckled. "We're looking for a great warrior."

"Ah!" The man laughed, making his way down the tree trunk and toward their little camp. "A great warrior. Hah. Wars not make one great!"

Then he reached for Luke's dinner and took a bite.

"Hey! That's my dinner!" Luke cried, snatching the whole meal from the tiny man.

The man grumbled, spitting out what food he'd eaten. "How you get so big eating food of this kind?"

"Hey, it's you!" R2-D2 cried. "You've been living here this whole time? Why didn't you tell anyone? Have I got a story for you—"

"Listen, friend, we didn't mean to land in that puddle." Mission replied. "And if we could get our ship out, we would. But we can't, so why don't you just—"

"Cannot get your ship out!" The man repeated. Then he giggled.

"Hey!" Luke called. "Get out of there!"

The man had crawled into one of their boxes and was fiddling with the equipment. Luke snatched something from the man's hands, causing him to cry out like a child. Then he shrugged and kept looking.

"Hey, you could have broken this." Luke scolded. Then he sighed as he saw more things being chunked out. "Don't do that."

Mission couldn't help but laugh.

"Come on, old man. Are you nine or ninety?"

The man came out with a flashlight-sized lamp. "Neither! Nine-hundred." Then he shined the flashlight in Mission's eyes.

"I'm glad you're having a good time, Mission." Luke grumbled. "He's making a mess!"

"Then we'll pick it up." Mission grinned. "I like this guy."

"Give me that!" Luke demanded, reaching for the lamp.

"Mine!" The man snatched his arm away. "Or I will help you not."

Mission saw R2 reach out with his claw to snatch the lamp.

"I don't want your help. I want my lamp back." Luke retorted. "I'm going to need it to get out of this slimy mudhole."

"Luke!" Mission slapped him upside the head. "Mind your manners."

"Mudhole?" The man asked, incredulous. "Slimy? My home this is!"

R2 clamped onto the lamp and began tugging.

The man gave a shout of surprise and began pulling back with all his strength.

Luke sighed. "R2, let him have it."

The man reach for his cane and began hitting R2 on the head with it.

"Mine!" He shouted. "Mine! Mine! Mine! Mine!"

"Okay, okay!" R2 finally conceded, letting go of the lamp.

The man stuck his tongue out.

"Now will you move along, little fellow?" Luke asked. "We've got a lot of work to do."

"No!" The man replied, moving toward Luke and Mission. "No, no. Stay and help you I will. Find your friend."

Luke sighed, completely exasperated. "I'm not looking for a friend."

Mission nodded. "We're looking for a Jedi Master."

The man's eyes widened. A flash of something not unlike regret passed through his eyes, but a moment later it was gone and the same impish look was back. "Oh. Jedi Master. Yoda. You seek Yoda!"

Luke knelt down to the man's height. "You know him?"

"Mmm-hmm." The man nodded. "Take you to him I will."

R2 beeped, completely confused. "But I thought that—"

"Yes, yes!" The man interrupted. "But now we must eat. Come. Good food. Come."

The man laughed as he walked on.

"Should we actually follow him?" Mission asked. "He seems two clicks off from a spaceport, if you ask me."

"He did say he knows we Yoda is." Luke replied. "Maybe he's telling the truth." He shrugged. "Maybe it's senility. But either way, it's the only lead we've got. We have no other options."

"Come!" The man cried from far off. For a small old man he certainly made good time. "Come."

"R2," Luke called. "Stay and watch after the camp."

"What?!"

Luke and Mission walked off, leaving an annoyed droid behind them.

"Luke? Mission? You're not seriously going to leave me here, are you? I'm hooked up to a power coupling! How am I supposed to defend myself if I'm attacked by a monster or something? Guys? Well, in the words of C-3PO, 'I seem to be made to suffer'." For a moment there was silence, then, "Ah, who am I kidding? I love the danger."

XXXXX

"You are somewhere in the asteroid field, I know." The voice rang through Connan's head. She only tensed in the slightest, causing Carth to frown and shift the position of his arms. "Though our bond is not one that can show me your location, I will have you yet."

Connan sent the impression of her sticking her tongue out to him.

"How mature." He responded.

Connan blew a raspberry at him.

"The sad thing is this is more interesting than listening to my bumbling officers."

Connan raised a thought-eyebrow. "Is that a reminiscent tone I hear, Ani-boy?"

Vader gave a growl. "Not likely." And then he was gone.

"Hey, Connan? Can you hear me?" Carth nudged her again.

They sat on the main hold couch, with Connan tucked neatly next to Carth. He slung an arm over her shoulders and she leaned her head onto his shoulder. At the moment he was staring down at her, his eyes narrowed in thought. Han stood in front of her, waved a hand a few inches from her nose.

"Huh? Oh, yeah. I'm here." Connan replied. She gave him a small smile. "Really."

"You spaced out. We've been trying to get your attention for a full minute."

"Just thinking." Connan shrugged.

Carth raised an eyebrow. "That's some hard thinking."

"I'll get you some food." Han stated. "I managed to bribe someone into stocking up on those small lemon cakes before the battle."

Connan frowned. "But how did you know we were going to end up on your ship?"

Han rolled his eyes. "Are you kidding? Sometimes I think this ship is like a magnet for you." He sighed. "I'll be right back."

For a little while there was nothing. Connan dozed next to Carth and C-3PO examined the computer thoughtfully.

Finally the frustrated droid smacked the computer. "Oh, where is R2 when I need him?" C-3PO cried. He turned to Han, who had just returned to give Connan her food. "Sir, I don't know where your ship learned to communicate, but it has the most peculiar dialect."

"I didn't think ships could speak." Carth thought aloud.

"Makes you wary to say anything around the walls, doesn't it?" Connan laughed. "These walls really do have ears."

"I believe, sir, it says that the power coupling on the negative axis has been polarized. I'm afraid you'll have to replace it." 3PO finished.

"Sure, we'll just stop by the nearby store and pick one up." Connan chided.

Han inspected the coupling. "Well, of course we'll have to replace it." He walked toward the center of the main hold and held a coil of wires toward the ceiling. Chewbacca reached down from his place inside the ceiling and pulled the wires in. "Hey, Chewie?"

"What?" Chewbacca asked, leaning out of the ceiling panel slightly.

Han glanced back at C-3PO and turned back to Chewbacca. "I think we'd better replace the negative power coupling."

As he turned and walked out of the main hold, C-3PO simply stared at him in shock.

Connan laughed, leaning further against Carth and yawning. "I'm tired."

Carth shook his head. "It's almost midnight. You should be tired."

"Why are we still up?"

"You haven't said anything about wanting to go to bed yet."

"I'm saying something now." Connan replied.

"All right, all right." Carth answered. "Let's at least tell Han first, so he doesn't go on a rampage through the place looking for you."

XXXXX

Leia welded the two wires together carefully, so she didn't notice when Han came in. He watched as she took her protective glasses off and reset the panel she was working on, attempting to reset it back into place. She twisted the lever clockwise, but it wouldn't budge. Han reached around to try and help her. She shrugged him off violently.

"Hey, Your Worship, I'm only trying to help." Han groaned.

"Would you please stop calling me that?" Leia replied, twisting the lever one more time.

"Sure, Leia." Han nodded.

Leia sighed, trying to release her frustration. "You make it so difficult sometimes."

"I do." Han agreed. "I really do." He smirked. "You could be a little nicer, though. Come on. Admit it. Sometimes you think I'm all right."

Leia smashed her finger in her last try to twist the lever into place. She gave up and put her finger in her mouth. "Occasionally. Maybe." Han reached out and took Leia's hurt hand, gently rubbing on the damaged finger. Leia turned red. "When you're not acting like a scoundrel."

"Scoundrel?" Han repeated. Leia nodded. "Scoundrel? I like the sound of that."

Leia looked down at her hand and back up at Han. "Stop that."

"Stop what?"

"Stop that. My hands are dirty." Leia persisted.

"My hands are dirty, too. What are you afraid of?"

"Afraid?" Leia asked, puffing up as if challenged.

Han leaned in close, ignoring how Leia seemed to move back against the wall. "You're trembling."

"I'm not trembling."

Han gave a half-smirk, leaning in closer. "You like me because I'm a scoundrel. There aren't enough scoundrels in your life."

"I happen to like nice men."

"I'm a nice man."

"No, you're not. You're—"

Han didn't let her finish. He closed the distance between them, capturing Leia in a kiss. She leaned in closer to him, wrapping an arm around his neck to pull him closer. Han did the same, tugging her by the waist to try and deepen the kiss.

"Sir, sir!" C-3PO called.

Han opened his eyes. He felt the droid poking at his shoulder excitedly. "I've isolated the reverse power flux coupling!"

Han turned around slowly and placed his hands on the doorframe. "Thank you." He said in a sickly-sweet way. "Thank you very much."

With all his attention of 3PO, Han missed Leia's guilty face. She bit her lip and ran off through the other door before Han could notice.

"Oh, you're perfectly welcome, sir." C-3PO acknowledged, not catching Han's sarcasm at all.

Han turned around just as Leia left the room. He stared after her and sighed.

XXXXX

Carth came back into the main hold, where Connan was currently leaning against the wall waiting for him. "Well? What did Han say?"

"I didn't tell him." Carth replied, trying to hold back his laughter as he ushered Connan out of the room.

"What? Why not?" Connan asked. "Why are you laughing?"

"He seemed to be preoccupied." Carth continued, letting out a barking laugh as Connan mentioned it.

"Preoccupied? Preoccupied how?" Connan asked. Carth didn't answer. "Carth!"

"I'll tell you later." Carth replied. "I've been told these walls have ears."

XXXXX

Yeah. That's right. I wrote another filler chapter.

Not like there's anything much going on in this part of the movie, anyway. This chapter was mostly about Han and Leia and Luke and Yoda, anyway.

I just went to Virmire on Mass Effect! How sad is that? I was so sad I had to stop playing for a whole half hour before I could start again. I can't believe I killed Ashley. I liked her. I used her and Kaiden up until that point. Now I wish I hadn't. -.-;;

Oh, and after I finished writing this chapter I went and actually beat the rest of the game. Then I started the same game over again as the same person. How awesome is that, by the way? Mass Effect is now one of my all-time favorite games. I'm going to buy my own 360 so when ME2 comes out I'll have my own system to play it on and I won't have to wait on Sam.

Our homecoming was canceled because of rain. Well, flooding rain, thunder and really, really close lightning. YES!! Band members have a hatred of homecoming that is unmatched in anything else. We were all so happy.

So anyway, I'll be back next week with some actual action. Then the ball gets rolling. I've got tons of ideas for the end of this fic. I just have to pick one.

Until next time, I'm on chapter 25 and I'm 00:52:14 of the way through. See you later!

Amme Moto