V.E.: (Poking her head up from behind a huge wall that obviously was meant to be a barrier) Hi…..been awhile….how have you all been?
(The barrage of deadly weapons aimed has actually gotten larger, with just about every gun, knife, explosive device, and any fantasy weapon thought possible from the collective consciousness of real life and video games.)
(Wincing) I should really stop asking that question. I'm not going to apologize about the lateness of this update until I'm black and blue this time, frankly I'm just hoping to get this chapter done. As anyone who reads my other fics (and if you don't know I write other stories for this site, I'm questioning your ability to pay attention because I've mentioned it several times in my author's notes which wouldn't be that surprising in retrospect considering almost no one reads these author's notes), I've been basically hitting some roadblocks.
Not to mention, I keep on getting ideas for other stories. I just don't hope I become one of those people who has ten open stories going on with no end in sight. Granted it was that sort of thinking that got this story started, I got an idea and I ran with it. Just goes to show that people will respond if your idea sounds creative.
Quote (Which I am picking out of a hat this time): "Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time."- Thomas A. Edison
After getting a good look around Hoth while searching for Luke for what seemed like hours (though in retrospective it could have been a lot longer), Ahsoka had realized a striking similarity between the icy world and Tatooine: walk around for a little while and you'll have a hard time telling where you came from or whether you've been going around in circles for hours.
Luckily for her and Han, her smuggler captain had the good sense to bring locating equipment along with them just them so they would be able to find their way back to the base.
Said brown haired smuggler looked at her, appropriately suited up for and sitting on one of the Taun Tauns with a questioning expression.
"Sense anything?"
She shook her head, balancing perfectly on her own Taun Taun.
"No, still can't sense anything."
That didn't please Solo as he sighed deeply.
"No offence Ahsoka, but what's the point of that 'Force sensitivity' of yours if it doesn't work when we need it the most?"
She shot an irate glare at him, though mentally her thoughts were very similar to his words. What was the point of her connections to the Force if it couldn't help save those she cared about the most? It was hardly a new thought, one that had been going through her head ever since she started to fight in the Clone Wars with Anakin and lost people she had cared for. But right now, Ahsoka knew it wasn't the time for a pity party.
"What's our position?"
Han's arm went to pack of emergency supplies that had been brought with them, pulling out a rather interesting looking device that happened to be able to place their exact place and could scan for life forms.
"We're starting to get really far from the base. We better find him soon or we might not make it back in time."
Ahsoka felt like groaning, but she kept to herself as she shook her head slowly.
"Great, just great."
Han seemed to share her sentiments.
"Yeah, if the cold or whatever has gotten ahold of Luke hasn't killed us by then, her Royalness will. Even if we do show up with Luke."
"That's just cause she cares."
The smuggler captain rolled his eyes at that.
"Well, sometimes I wish she cared enough to not inflict bodily harm on us when we do come back mostly in one piece."
Ahsoka gave a firm look.
"You know she's upset about you leaving."
A couple of moments passed of silence before Han broke it.
"So, you knew about it."
"When were you going to tell me and Luke? You know, a line of two like 'I'm leaving soon. Hope I'll see you guys around the galaxy sometime'?"
Han grunted.
"I'm not good with goodbyes, most of the time someone ends up trying to shoot me and more often than not ends up hitting my ship."
Ahsoka's tone dripped with sarcasm as she answered.
"Gee, I can hardly imagine why."
Han's glare matched the sarcasm with pure ire.
"You know, that tone is not helping."
She retorted him calmly.
"I don't think my tone really matters since we have no clue where Luke is."
Han sighed with frustration, taking a good look at their surroundings.
"Man, this is one of those times I wish Luke had time to make a trail or something. You guys should really find a way to know where you guys are at any given time."
Ahsoka rolled her eyes good naturedly.
"I'll be sure to get a tracking device sewn into Luke's clothes one of these days when we aren't in immediate mortal peril. Right now, I'd rather try to find him rather than thinking about what we could have done."
Han nodded, still keeping his eye on their tracker.
"Fair enough, still something to consider."
She almost smiled at the thought of the blonde Padawan's opinion.
"Well, Luke definitely wouldn't approve of me..."
But before the Togruta could say exactly what Luke would think of her messing with his clothes in the name of keeping him safe, she heard a shout echoing through her mind that seemed to come from nowhere but she recognized the voice immediately.
Ahsoka!
She clutched her head, leaning forward and gasping at the shock of the sheer amount of force from the bond, but also smiling as she knew Luke was alive.
Han urged his Taun Taun close to her, worry evident on his face at the sudden change.
"What, what happened?!"
Catching her thoughts, Ahsoka's breathing finally settled and she told him.
"I just felt something from Luke, through the Force bond."
Some relief crept onto the smuggler's face though the worry was still there.
"He's okay? Where is he?"
She shook her head.
"I don't know, I'm going to find out though."
Han nodded warily.
"Alright, just try to keep your 'Force talking' inside your head this time."
The Togruta had more things to worry about than rolling her eyes at Han (partially because she knew that he was more than a little freaked out when it looked like she was talking to the air when she Luke were communicating through their Force bond). Instead, she closed her eyes and sent her own message.
Luke, can you hear me?!
Sure enough, he answered right back.
Yeah, I can. Thank the Force you got my message.
And I'm pretty sure I also felt it when you got knocked out, I couldn't reach you after that. Exactly what kind of mess have you gotten yourself into?"
The kind that's big, furry, and is currently eating the remains of my Taun Taun. And has me hanging upside down in an icy cave and I'm also pretty sure I'm next on the menu.
Ahsoka winced at the rather bleak description of the circumstances.
Give me a minute, I need to tell Han this.
She turned to Han who was looking at her expectantly as she took a deep breath to explain.
"Luke got knocked out by some big furry monster that ate his Taun Taun. He's in a cave and he's pretty sure that the thing is still hungry."
Han looked thoughtful as he looked down at the tracker.
"Probably one of those Wampas the guys were talking about back at the base, they're native to Hoth. From these readings, we're not too far from some caves. Tell Luke to improvise and if we're lucky we'll get to him soon enough."
"Was just going to. Give me a minute."
Luke, do you have your light saber with you?
She was pretty sure she felt a wince through the bond before he answered.
Sort of.
What do you mean "sort of"?
It's on the ground where I'm hanging from.
She refrained from groaning as irritation entered her tone.
What have I said about strapping that you firmly? Luke, your weapon...
…is my life, I know! Please Ahsoka, I really just need some help right now.
Taking a deep breath, Ahsoka calmed herself done before going back to the Force bond conversation.
Alright. Listen, remember our lessons last week about using the Force to lift objects?
Already ahead of you.
Good, Han and I are heading out to some of the caves. Hang tight and try not to get eaten until we get there.
Easy for you to say. I'll do my best, but please get here as quick as you can!
Got it, see you soon.
With that last thought sentence, Ahsoka came back to where she was, sitting on her Taun Taun with Han assessing the situation with the tracker for the fourth time. She urged the reigns forward as she turned to Han.
"Come on, let's move!"
Come on, concentrate. It's just like those lessons back at the base.
At least, that's what Luke repeated to himself as he concentrated on his light saber sticking out of a snowy mound. He had already checked his legs, there was no way he could simply get out of hanging from the ceiling just by his strength alone.
Unfortunately, it was not as easy as Ahsoka had made it look and the sense of panic he had about the creature nearby probably didn't help that much with his concentration. The saber didn't even seem to wiggle at that attempt.
Still, he knew that if he simply waited for help he was a goner as he reached out his hand and closed his eyes in focus to attempt it once more. This time, the saber moved and seemed to be inching out of the mound little by little.
However, just as he was having a bit of luck with his light saber, the Wampa had seemed to sense his hanging prey had woken up and had risen from gorging itself on the remains of the Taun Taun. The fur around its mouth stained with blood, the pounding of its steps came closer and closer to Luke who was fully aware of the approaching danger but was putting whatever focus he had left into his light saber.
The light saber leapt into his hands as he quickly swung himself up and cut his legs loose from the icy ceiling. The Jedi in training dropped down to the ground with relatively minor pain from the fall, but he jumped to his feet as the Wampa had reached him.
The snowy creature was unafraid as it lunged sharply towards the blonde human, but Luke was quicker. In one fell swoop, the Wampa's arm was severed from its body as it roared in furious pain.
Not wanting to wait for it to come to its senses and kill him before it succumbed to its wounds, he turned and rushed out the cave into one of the raging snowstorms that Hoth was famous for and just seemed to be starting with gentle flakes that would become bigger as time went on. He stepped lightly in his boots until he tumbled over a snow bank. He got up quickly as he felt the winds pick up and started walking.
He shivered to himself as he looked around at his surroundings, which looked like anywhere else in Hoth that was enough distance from the base.
Just as he was about to give up any measure of hope he had of finding his friends or surviving the landscape on his own, he felt the Force tugging at him as he sensed something familiar.
Once he realized exactly what he was sensing, he smiled as shouted over the winds that were starting to pick up more. Then he sent the same message through the Force bond.
"AHSOKA! HAN! I'M RIGHT HERE!"
I got out! Come and get me, I'm right here!
He stopped to catch his breath, panting as he waited for some sort of a reply.
To his surprise though, he did hear a voice but it certainly wasn't Ahsoka's or Han's.
"Luke…Luke."
Luke turned around to find that this time the voice of Ben Kenobi was accompanied by a ghostly light apparition of the deceased Jedi. Shocked, but still capable of speech as he looked at the Force Ghost in wonder.
"Ben?"
The ghostly form of Obi Wan did not change expression as he spoke once more to Luke.
"Tell Ahsoka that you must go to the Dagobah system."
His reply was full of questions for the Force ghost Jedi.
"Dagobah?"
Obi Wan nodded.
"There you shall meet up with Yoda, one of the finest Jedi to have ever lived and a teacher of mine."
Luke tried to speak over the rising wind as some recognition crossed his face.
"Yoda? Ahsoka talked about him before, but I thought he was probably…."
The Force ghost simply smiled secretively, as Luke noticed some odd noises that sounded like shouting in the background.
"Go now Luke."
Kenobi faded as Luke saw two Taun Taun riders coming at him with great speed, Han's shouting clearly recognizable.
"LUKE!"
Still in surprise at what he had just seen and heard, Luke still waved to the two and shouted.
"HEY!"
Ahsoka and Han came on their Taun Tauns up to where Luke was standing, dismounting in a hurry to check up on their friend. Han the first to ask.
"Are you alright?"
Luke nodded his head, shivering as he did as the desert kid who would never get used to snow.
"Yeah, mostly."
Ahsoka wasn't convinced as touched the obvious scratches on his face, causing the blonde to wince.
"I'd say otherwise. We better get back to the base for treatment."
Han nodded as went back to his Taun Taun.
"Yeah and before it gets closer to nightfall than it already is. As much as I like you guys, I do not want to freeze to death with you tonight."
Ahsoka caught Luke by the shoulder, looking at him with serious concern.
"Hey, think you can ride with me?"
"Yeah, I'm good."
Ahsoka looked at him expectantly as she got herself up onto to her Taun Taun.
"Are you sure you're alright? You look a little shook up."
Luke paused before he answered.
"I'll…tell you about it when we get back to the base."
She stared him down as he got up on the Taun Taun right behind her.
"I'll be expecting a full explanation."
Luke nodded as he hugged her from the back, nodding her to go.
"Alright, everything later. Right now, I'm feeling tired."
A sharp elbow shot any tiredness out Luke as Ahsoka stared him sternly.
"Don't you dare fall asleep out here! I'd rather not bring you back to Leia a frozen corpse."
Han spoke up as he took the lead, the duo's Taun Taun following close behind his.
"Yeah, cause then it wouldn't be a long time before we joined you. Now come on, we're wasting what little daylight we got left."
One of the worst things Leia had to deal with was waiting when she was left behind. She supposed she ought to have gotten used to it by now. Unlike Luke and Ahsoka who were the Rebellion's Jedis or Han who was one of the best pilots she had ever seen, she was the Princess of a destroyed planet. As a result, she wasn't always sent out when it came to missions. In some ways, she felt more like a figurehead, someone meant to inspire people rather than fight in the Rebellion.
And now she couldn't help but feel helpless waiting as those three were out there and it was getting darker by the minute. The odds of surviving the night on Hoth outside of the base was practically impossible and even though all four of them had gone up against some rather unbelievable odds, sooner or later luck tends to run out.
It was a small compensation that she wasn't the only one that felt useless right now. Chewbacca kept his gaze completely on the gates, not straying too far from the Millennium Falcon. R2 had also been outside earlier, trying to get some life readings until 3PO had brought him back in. Even though they were droids, they sounded about as concerned as Leia was herself as R2 seemed to keep his focus on the gate.
Before she could brood on these thoughts anymore, she heard a lieutenant report in to Major Derlin and turned around to hear every word even when the lieutenant lowered his voice.
"Sir, all the patrols are in. There's still no contact from Skywalker or Solo and Tano."
Her sense of dread grew even more at those words as C3PO chimed in his own report.
"Mistress Leia, R2 says he was quite unable to pick up any signals earlier, although he does admit that his own range is far too weak to abandon all hope."
Derlin came over, his words telling the cold and hard facts of the matter.
"Your Highness, there's nothing more we can do tonight. The shield doors must be closed."
Her eyes went down, but deep down she knew what she had to do even if it meant destroying any hope of the three making it back tonight. She nodded.
Having seen the nod, Derlin turned to the lieutenant to give the official order,
"Close the doors."
"Yes, sir."
The lieutenant walked away to tell the ones in charge to begin the closing.
Chewbacca seemed to slump into the ship as he groaned like he was crying, the doors beginning to close.
C3PO was about to say something else to her when R2 beeped frantically alerting the surrounding person as he rolled towards the gates that looked ready to crush him.
Now the golden droid seemed to be questioning his little friend's sanity.
"R2, what has gotten into you?!"
The little silver blue droid seemed to be ignoring his counterpart as he kept rolling towards the doors, even though it looked like if he went any further he would be smashed by the closing doors.
The lieutenant glanced at Princess Leia running with 3PO to the mech droid as he made a spilt second decision and yelled to the ones in charge of the doors.
"Stop the doors!"
The techs in charge managed to stop it just time for the little bot to go outside, leaving a small opening for 3PO and Leia to go through with Chewbacca trailing behind them while grunting in confusion at the bot's actions.
C3PO once again spoke to R2 in an outraged tone.
"R2D2, you were almost crushed back there! Now come back inside right now before you freeze your circuitry and mine along with it!"
The silver blue droid simply beeped excitedly as seemed to balance on its legs in excitement, turning the small group's attention to some dark figures approaching in the distance.
Leia's heart seemed to jump as she craned her neck to get a better look at the approaching figures through the flurry that was around them.
Please…could it really be…?
The figures finally came into view and a great sense of relief came over her as Han and Ahsoka with Luke holding on came up to the doors on the Taun Tauns, looking incredibly cold but otherwise not harmed.
Chewbacca and 3PO were a lot more vocal in their thankfulness, as the Wookie growled in happiness and the protocol droid gushed in complete happiness.
"Oh, Master Luke, Miss Tano, you're both safe! I told R2 you would be alright!"
Luke smiled at the droids from the back of where he was riding, his voice hoarse that leia almost flinched at it.
"Good to see you too guys."
Han urged the small group inside, showing his feelings of the cold by the almost nonstop shivering.
"Come on, let's get inside so they can close the doors and we can start warming up a bit."
Seeing the sense, the group went inside through the crack. Once the technicians saw who had come through, the doors began to close once again as exclamations of relief came from the people around at seeing the three back again.
Dismounting, Han came down and was immediately glomped by Chewbacca while Ahsoka helped Luke steady his feet and Leia pulled the two into their own hug.
After a minute or so, Han broke away from the Wookie.
"Okay, okay, I get it, you were worried. Give me a chance to breathe why don't you?"
The Wookie stepped back, still groaning happily as the smuggler turned to Leia with a cocky smile.
"Well, your Royalness?"
Leia took a deep breath, but couldn't hold in her smile.
"I'm glad you're all alright and in one piece."
Ahsoka shrugged as she pointed out the scratches on Luke's face.
"Well…mostly."
Leia's eyes went wide as Luke smiled sheepishly at the attention.
"What happened?"
"My face got scratched when I was attacked, nothing sometime in the med area won't help."
Ahsoka clapped him on the back then grasped his ear, pulling him along.
"Well, you cut off its arm, I'd say that's more than fair. Now let's get you fixed up, so you can rest and when you're better I can lecture you more about properly fastening your light saber so it doesn't fall out of your pocket!"
Luke winced in slight pain as the Togruta took him in the direction of the medical area.
"Ow! Ow! Ahsoka, don't pull so hard!"
The two walked away with the droids following close behind, leaving Han, Leia, and Chewbacca staring after them.
Han grunted in amusement.
"Man, Luke was right. Her in teacher mode, scary. All the way back, it was like sitting through a mini lecture, and she's still going at it? Yikes."
Leia looked on interest.
"I wouldn't mind it. When I was younger, I couldn't stop asking about my father's stories on the heroics of the Jedi, imaging myself with a light saber right there with them. Besides, I think it just shows how much she cares about him."
Han laughed.
"Well, I'm glad I'm not 'Force gifted.' I've just gotten used to her as a friend, don't think I could handle her as a teacher."
He was still smiling as he met the princess' eyes and for several minutes neither spoke. Chewbacca looked back and forth with a confused growl.
Then Han's smile faded as the memories of earlier caught up with him, turned his back to her and starting walking towards his ship.
"You know where to find me, Princess."
Leia spoke, stopping him in his tracks.
"Han!
He turned at her, half irritated and half confused at her.
"What now?"
She straightened her stance, her gaze sincere as she spoke her next words.
"Thank you."
Han didn't seem to know how to react until he quirked a small smile and waved her off.
"You're welcome."
As he turned, Leia felt something caught in her throat, more she wanted to say and do, but nothing came out as she watched walk back to the ship and her thoughts turned to not only the smuggler, but Ahsoka and Luke as well.
V.E.: Well, this is a bit longer than my last chapter. Of course, my lazy procrastination came up again and delayed the update. For that I apologize and I'm glad I at least got to update on New Year's.
So, no overnight stay and Luke didn't pass out. Not big changes, but still some changes. I hope you guys approve.
Well, some news you might like to hear is that we're getting a glimpse of the past in the next chapter. At least, that's what's planned right now. We'll see how it goes.
Please review and I'll see you next chapter!