Thanks I love dance, DragonRider2000, and Katie Ladmoore for your reviews! All of you are just amazing! :)

Kelly Clarkson's "Miss Independent" goes with scene 5 and Sarah Brightman's "Deliver Me" is for scene 7…

Living Again

"No!" the desperate man cried, impressively standing up in defiance to the dark lord. "No, I won't do it! However…tempting your…offer is, I won't betray one of my oldest friends." Vader simply stared. "You don't understand! I won't do that! I can't!" Silence reigned as the two leaders faced off.

Boba Fett stood by, satisfied that his target, Captain Solo, was quickly approaching the trap being set for him. All he cared about was Solo. Vader was welcome to the rest: Leia Organa and some Elaina Jinn, whoever that was. He knew of an Elaina Kalonya (nearly a dozen clients over the years had requested her as a bounty, live or dead); however, the name Jinn was beyond him!

Vader finally spoke.

"Would you rather have your little outpost be claimed by the Empire, Calrissian?"

With a scornful sneer, the Baron-Administrator obviously realized his position.

"Fine," he admitted sharply. "Just leave my people out of it!"

"As you wish…"

--

Kelly sat some feet away, dispassionately watching Luke's aerobics. The girl had long discarded her own physical workout. She must have been even more bored than realized, for as Yoda softly approached her, she nearly jumped out of her skin, breaking from the blank daze before nonchalantly clearing her throat.

"Yes, Master?" the brunette queried sweetly as the Jedi quietly chuckled at the ruse.

"Still bored so easily, are you?" he mused, easing onto the log beside her.

"Bored? Me? What makes you think that? I can be even more patient than my sister even since she started interacting more with scientists and Empire-experienced halfwits."

"More training have I for you."

"Thanks. What is it?"

"You are now strong enough to learn what you once could not, I believe."

"All right, enough with the suspense! What is it?"

"Long distance viewing and communication. Told me have you of your greater ease in seeing visions. Ready you are."

"Master, I don't know what to say!"

"Teach you, I will. Time not with me, will you need; rather, time with yourself and the Force."

The next few minutes were spent listening to the creature's wise words, after which Kelly went off to meditate, as was part of the process, an act she had once loathed. Yoda meanwhile proceeded to train Luke in simply focusing, seeing the future, being one with the Force, and all that jazz. The woman could faintly sense through her restive state the objects the boy lifted in his exercise.

"Concentrate," the trainer crooned. "Feel the Force flow. Yes…good. Calm, yes." Though the directions weren't even somewhat directed at her, Kelly couldn't help but be comforted by the gentle guidance. Now, she knew exactly why Elaina had been so proud to have Yoda as her Master (other than his fame). He knew precisely where to hit. She could feel her consciousness fading away from the place.

"Han! Leia!" The distressed calls were like beacons in the night. Kelly instantly snapped out of her respite, nearly jumping to Luke's side when he dropped to the ground, along with everything he had lifted with the Force.

"Control, control…you must learn control!" Yoda cried forcibly, but the girl was far more interested in his probable vision.

"I saw…I saw a city in the clouds," he wondered.

"Mm, friends you have there," the teacher stated knowingly.

"They were in pain!"

"It is the future you see."

"Future? Will they die?!"

Kelly sat back on her haunches, realizing the reason the Yoda's lack of emotion in the matter: they both knew from experience that toying with a possible future nearly always made things worse. Their friends would be better off if they didn't go charging blindly into the fray. Besides, Luke's training was the most important thing in the downfall of the Empire. Little did she know, Ben was invisibly standing by, silently approving her thoughts.

"Difficult to see…always in motion is the future," her old friend had replied.

"I've got to go to them."

"Decide you must how to serve them best. If you leave now, help them you could. But, you would destroy all for which they have fought and suffered."

Luke was standing as if to go and Kelly promptly countered him, taking advantage of all the superior experience and knowledge she possessed.

"Luke, you can't go!" she firmly said. "If you rush like this, you'll almost certainly hurt them rather than help!"

"Kelly," he argued heatedly and quickly, "I didn't just see Han and Leia in that vision. I saw Elaina…and Qui-Gon, too! Elaina looked as if she was about to die!"

"And Qui-Gon?" she asked with only the silence a mother could produce.

"I don't know…he seemed…angry…hurt…"

"Luke, please…I don't like this any more than you do, but at least wait a while. For their sakes, as well as yours."

He hesitated, weighing the odds of her being right.

"One day, then we leave."

--

"I thought you knew this person," Leia doubtfully commented after the escorts had fired upon the ship in a warning to stay on course.

Chewie growled some pointed comment.

"Well, that was a long time ago," the pirate excused. "I'm sure he's forgotten about that."

"About what?" Elaina growled. She seemed to be having even more doubts growing about this Lando person than her mistress.

"Oh, nothing…just a little scuffle we got into a few years back…"

"Mm, who won?"

"Me, of course!"

"What a joy he'll be, if he's anything like you," she snarled under her breath.

The bodyguard scowled at his back in dissatisfaction. Ever since Han had teased her about wanting to know more about his 'old buddy', she had been in a relatively foul mood, only deviating when Chewie or 3PO spoke to her. Evidently, Leia was also not quite in her favor, probably due to the new-found bond between the princess and the rotten man she had turned out to love.

"Permission granted to land on platform 327," the flying escort unexpectedly announced.

"Thank you!" Han rejoiced prior reassuring them (or himself, rather). "There's nothing to worry about. We go way back, Lando and me."

"Who's worried?" Leia muttered, exchanging a more congenial glance with the other woman. Neither of them, however, could help but gape at the golden clouds surrounding them. This planet actually seemed to possess a bit of its own charm.

--

Relin frowned at the blueprints in front of him. Yes, it was ready to be materialized. But what if the machine really worked? Everything they knew about science, about everything, could change in a split second! He didn't know whether to be proud or ashamed to have been part of it.

"Relin, what are you doing?" the blond questioned coarsely, entering the room. "Staring at it won't build it and we can't do that until we're safely back with the fleet. Until then, we have to hide it. Han's got to have a couple of secret compartments other than his cargo hold. We can hide it there."

She really had no idea why he had stuck with the project all this time! It amazed him.

"Aylana, I thought this place we're going to was safe."

"Nowhere is safe, Relin. We have to hide it. It's too important."

While she may have been clueless to his feelings towards her, he could never have fathomed that she was having doubts about ever using the life-changing invention after seeing Leia so happy, so in love.

"All right, I'll hide it and stay with the ship. No one will find it."

"Really?" For once, she seemed delighted. "Oh, Relin, you really don't have to, but…oh, you're such a sweet man!" He just sat there dumbly for a moment when she kissed him on the cheek before trotting out.

--

Elaina thought nothing of the sign of apparent affection she had just shown her coworker. To her, he was the scientist who had helped realize her dream in the form of S.Q.E.A.K. (and, yes, a rather nice, if annoying, man), but not much more than that. Her thoughts, in fact, were on this mysterious Lando Calrissian. She just knew she had had a vision or two of him at some point…but she couldn't place them…consequently making her wish she had paid more attention.

When the woman came smoothly strolling to the ramp, it was apparent to her that Lando didn't have much in stock for hospitality as her companions were, at the moment, simply standing doubtfully at the bottom of the ramp. Something was fishy about this situation. She knew she could do anything she wanted with the Force within just a split second time, and that unlimited feeling seemed to only be around when…no. The Empire wasn't here!

The bodyguard would later regret not second-guessing herself, but at that moment, the building door opened to allow a group of about a dozen people out onto the landing. Elaina merely remained near the ship's entrance upon seeing the guards, warily ready to snap her charge back into the ship and take off if anything bad happened, not that they would get far. Suddenly, the feeling of insecurity was accompanied by a longing for her twin. The trigger-happy Jedi would easily see whatever the older sister overlooked.

From her viewpoint, she could see the probable leader (she wasn't quite close enough to gain a specific profile, especially since Han's body was blocking her view of him) move as if to hit the captain before enveloping him in an abrupt hug, loudly laughing, and all previous tension seemed to disappear. As the two old friends noisily, if briefly, discussed the ship's dilemma, Elaina approached, her presence completely being ignored for the moment.

"Your ship?" Han's query was the first completely audible thing she heard following the princess' voiced doubts. "Hey, remember you lost her to me fair and square."

"How ya doin', Chewbacca?" the charming man asked, earning a friendly whine from the Wookie. "You still hanging around this loser?" Suddenly, his eye caught Leia as she cautiously stationed herself beside Chewie. "Hello, what have we here?" He instantly approached the girl and took her hand warmly, clearly experienced with flirtation. "I'm Lando Calrissian. I'm the Administrator of this facility. And who might you be?"

"Leia," she casually replied as he kissed her hand.

"Welcome, Leia."

"All right, all right!" Han broke in stealing a visibly grateful Leia from the obvious scoundrel. "…you ol' smoothie." The couple backed off, waiting for their host, who was gaping at the princess, as 3PO tried introducing himself. It could have been quite an awkward situation; however, Elaina simply cleared her throat in demand of her charge's release from the stare.

"I'd appreciate it if you refrained from further pursuing Leia," she pointedly noted, raising her eyebrows with folded arms. The man swiveled around and smiled approvingly, at least taking his gaze from the other direction. The guards had long been dismissed. She hadn't realized his breath-taking handsomeness until that moment. He had a dark complexion, dark eyes, black hair, and a dazzling smile. While Kelly would have nearly been able to stand eye-to-eye with him, the top of Elaina's head just passed his shoulder. She quickly cut off any further idle observance.

"And who may you be? Her bodyguard?"

"No, her gardener," the blond sarcastically replied, though her mouth quirked into a slight smile when he raised her hand to his lips. "My name is Elaina." Han's eyes bulged at the name foreign to his ears alone.

"Lando…" His eyes sparkled even more than with Leia and she couldn't help but let her smile grow a bit. What was it about him that got to her? Sure, he was handsome, but that didn't usually send her eyes sparkling as they had with only one man in the past. She didn't know why she allowed it, but Lando easily slipped her arm into his prior to leading the way to the building. "Perhaps you could join me for a drink later. I'd be delighted to give a personal tour of the city."

"Perhaps…" Why had she said that?! Was she insane? But something stopped her from wrenching her arm away from him. Something had happened in those visions which caused her to remain in his tow.

The man kept talking to Han as if she wasn't there, except for his free hand topping her claimed one.

"What's wrong with the Falcon?"

"Hyperdrive," the pirate stated.

"I'll get my people to work on it."

"Good."

"You know," he bragged to Leia, "that ship saved my life quite a few times. She's the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy." This time, he gazed at Elaina. "So, are you really Leia's gardener, or were you just pulling my leg back there?"

"I'm her bodyguard," the woman replied, trying not to look at his eyes.

"You have the look of it." She flushed. What was that supposed to mean? He seemed to read her thoughts. "You're strong." Did he not see her size? Casually, he went on. "I have accommodations free for you to stay in while the ship is repaired. Some of the best in the city!"

"A steam shower?" she couldn't help asking.

"Actually, now that I think of it, the one I was thinking of putting you in does have a steam shower."

"And a balcony?" The room he was describing seemed to be from a vision.

"Well…yes."

She grinned at his confusion. Han instantly entered the conversation.

"How's the gas mine? Is it paying off for you?"

--

Viciously hitting a button to confirm the last count of medical supplies, Jay began rubbing her temples in an effort to calm herself. Right after arriving at the fleet, she had gone to the command center and demanded that they do something about Qui-Gon. Worried about their own problems with supplies and ammunition, the commanders had instantly ordered her to 'tend to' the medical center. Since the main infirmary had been filled with ice, the only medical implements there were from storage and the auxiliary.

"Jay?" Larian queried, suddenly coming upon the doctor and leaning against the table, purposefully blocking the computer screen with her body. "Jay, you've been at it for two hours solid already. Everything's stocked, counted, cleaned, and ready for instant use. I even prepped a table for surgery. Jay, you need your rest! A bath might do you some good, too."

The surgeon looked up exhaustedly, suddenly becoming conscious that she was still wearing the same clothes from her quarantine in the closet freezer.

"I know, Ri, but I just can't stop thinking…"

"…of Commander Qui-Gon?" the other girl finished, smiling knowingly. "I heard all about it from the other nurses when I got back from tending to a splinter. Jay, you can't beat yourself up about it! It's not as if you can go and find Commander Kelly." She coyly looked away.

"You know where they are!" the older girl exclaimed, standing quickly.

"Of course! Officers can be quite gullible when they're having a tiny splinter removed from their finger."

"Ri, that means there's a chance after all!" The despair instantly lifted.

"Exactly!"

"Well, where are they? I can snatch a fighter easily!"

"On one condition…"

"What?"

"If Commander Skywalker's injured, I get to tend to him personally."

"Ri, you're a sly one! That won't be a problem, though."

Her sister grinned ear-to-ear.

"They're in the Dagobah system."

Jay instantly hugged her sibling and ran out. Larian was so much like her. She knew exactly what to say if someone needed help. Distinctively, however, she had more men on her trail than she could count, though Luke Skywalker seemed to be the only one she had eyes for. Larian's popularity, of course, didn't bother Jay a bit. She had Qui-Gon.

--

Elaina emerged from the refresher room in the fresh clothes she had been given, scrubbing her hair into place. With a wicked grin, she looked around as if anyone would be watching and dove onto the plush, cushioned bed with a sigh. Absentmindedly, she played with the hem of her simple dark green, relatively low-cut, sleeveless dress, making sure that the low cut was not overly so, while looking to the giant window at the growing darkness.

What was it really that made Lando so enchanting? It puzzled her, but the confusion did not take on the aggravation of a normal problem. It was almost enjoyable.

The com next to the door buzzed. Someone was at the door. With a roll of the eyes at being interrupted from a moment's peace, the bodyguard rose, straightened her ankle-length garb, yanked the black knee-high slippers on, and went to the door, subconsciously wishing the outfit had space for her weapon. She felt naked without it.

"Administrator!" she addressed the man standing at the doorway, using his formal title.

"Please, Miss, it's Lando, if you don't mind."

"Then, you may call me Elaina, if you don't mind," she demurely responded.

"I hope the accommodations have proved suitable?"

"They're lovely. The first thing I did was look out on the balcony. You have a wonderful city, Lando. It reminds me of Coruscant, when I lived there."

"You lived on Coruscant?"

"For a time, but I traveled quite a lot." What did he find so interesting about her?

The gentleman offered his arm to her. She could do nothing but accept and walk with him down the white halls.

"I assume you already had dinner?"

"Yes, one of the…attendants brought me a most delightful tray, thank you."

"So, a drink then before the tour. The halls are not nearly as crowded at night. It's the best time to venture around the city."

They were silent as they entered the small café. The place had themes of blue, green, and silver with polished black tables and counters and candles everywhere as the only source of light. Graciously, the server placed the newcomers at a small table in the corner with two cushioned stools. Lando raised an eyebrow to her choice of Mandalorian wine. Elaina told him of her mission to the planet years before, which led to many other conversations. She didn't remember ever having been so free with her tongue, especially with someone she had just met, though something was different with this man. She felt as if she could trust him.

An hour passed and they were both laughing at their jointly mistake in trusting two of the same sources at different times. He knew of her queer aging, yet it didn't bother him a bit. She had told him of her capture three years in the past, but all he gave was understanding and compassion. He was just too good to be true! Was he the one who would save her from destruction?

"You are not as complicated as you seem to judge yourself," he finally said, sobering Elaina's giggles. "You're a warrior and always have been. Warriors are simple folk. They fight until they're dead and don't give up even after that, sometimes."

With that line, the girl narrowed her eyes and leaned on the table with a mischievous smirk.

"I wouldn't know. The warrior in me goes to the background any more, ever since Leia's mother died. When that happened, the mother in me came out. Now that she's in love, I don't know what I'll do with myself." The man followed her example in leaning against the table.

"Perhaps I could help you with that. When Leia is no longer in need of your services, I'd be more than happy to have you as my guest."

"I'm flattered," she murmured, looking down.

"Good, I was momentarily worried that I had finally found someone immune to my flattery."

"Have you flattered many women?"

"Oh, I've lost count." Her eyes narrowed again; however, she kept the smile to hide her critical thinking.

"Is that so?"

"None of them held any more of my heart than a passing affection." She doubtfully cocked her head. "Honestly! I have never even come close to falling in love…until now." Elaina's head popped up.

"What do you mean?" His eyes intensely bore into hers. "No. No one can fall in love in a few hours, Lando. It's impossible." She moved to go, but he gently grabbed her wrist. The restraining move sent a chill up her spine that she hated. "What are you doing?" A strange fear went through his eyes.

"Elaina, you must know that…I have to tell you…it's not…"

At that moment, the woman realized a fragment from those visions. She and Lando fell in love!

"I'm sorry. The last relationship I dove into, I broke my own heart. I…I'm afraid of doing that again."

"I think I can help you that, as well." He leaned forward a bit more.

--

Kelly was completely immersed in the Force in her meditative state. She could feel the billions of life-forms around her in the galaxy. Now, all she had to do was find a specific one to contact. There were only two people she wanted to talk to the most at the moment: Qui-Gon and Elaina.

Qui-Gon wouldn't understand the buzzing voice in his head, while Elaina would probably congratulate her on the achievement! With a smile, she sought out her twin. She felt the blonde's blissful confusion…the perfect time to say 'hello'.

Elaina!!!! she called. Elaaaaainaaa. Elaina!

--

Their faces were but an inch apart and getting closer.

"Lando, I…"

Elaina!!!! Elaaaaainaaa. Elaina!

"I can't! Not now!" the girl hissed under her breath, turning away from Lando in the process.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have…" He instantly got up and left, leaving the angry woman to glower at the candle centerpiece.

Kelly, she thought with a snap, do you know what I was just about to do?

She could feel her distant sister reading her thoughts.

Oops. Sorry, the younger twin mumbled.

So, as you may have noticed, I threw off the timeline a bit, temporarily. I always found it odd that Luke came rushing to the rescue so quickly, and yet Leia and Han seemed to have plenty of time to settle in to the hospitality. Thanks for reading and please review!