After her trip into the cave, Leia felt insecure about herself. It was as if she could feel a dark entity lurking just out of sight, and if she disregarded it for too long, it would attack and overwhelm her. Luke tried to assure her by saying one had to purposefully go over to the Dark Side. It wasn't something that would happen spontaneously. Yet it was the silence from Yoda and his carefully watching that did not allow her to have peace about it. She caught Yoda at times staring off during their training sessions, apparently thinking about past things. He would shudder and sigh but resume their training as if nothing had happened.

In the space of time that they had been training, Leia could not believe the communication she could have with Luke without ever speaking a word. Perhaps it was simply the Force or perhaps it was strengthened by the fact they were twins, but Leia knew their fighting style both in the air and on the ground would surprise anyone who attacked them.

At the thought of fighting in the air, Leia glanced off into the woods in the general direction of her crash site. She had not thought of her ship in sometime, and now she felt guilty for neglecting it and letting it sit in the filthy swamp water of Degobah. She looked over her shoulder to where Luke and Yoda were discussing the differences in styles of light saber combat. Surely they would not miss her for a few minutes.

Taking her blaster for protection against some of the larger and more exotic life forms on this planet, she began crashing through the underbrush. As always, she wondered why Yoda had retired to this rustic planet with no better company other than the creatures that croaked and hissed from the trees. She paused for a moment, doubting her orientation with no points of reference. Something bumped into her legs and whistled an apology.

"Don't worry about it, R2. I'm trying to make it back to the ship. Which direction is it from here?"

R2D2 did a short scan and took off down a path to Leia's right. She followed him without question, only stopping to move obstacles out of his way. Soon there came into sight the same little swamp she had landed in only a short time ago. There was no sign of the ship now. The surface of the water was unbroken except for ripples made by who-knows-what under the surface.

A disappointed sigh escaped from her in the thick air. It seemed fairly hopeless to raise the X-wing. If there had been some part of the ship still sticking out or IF there was some way Luke's ship could get through the dense brush to be close enough to tow it out, but both of those were not feasible. Frustrated, she threw a rock into the water. R2 beeped in sympathy and posed a question.

"How will we get home? Well, we'll just have to ride with Luke- I guess. It'll be tight fit and all, but it shouldn't be—"Then the answer hit her with all the strength and suddenness of sandstorm. She almost laughed at the simplicity. "R2, haven't I been lifting things with the Force almost this whole time? Why not just lift it out with the Force? Of course, it's heavy, but why not tries?"

She closed her eyes, subconsciously reached out with her hand toward the ship. There it was. She could feel its mass under the water. It was much bigger than she remembered. Sending out tendrils of thought around the wings, she began to pull. Sweat broke out almost immediately on her forehead. The X-wing shifted a few inches then a few inches more. A few feet. If she had her eyes open, she would have seen the cockpit break above the surface. Unfortunately, Leia was already too tired to celebrate the victory. Her arm muscles started twitching, and her breathing was labored. The ship began to slide back into its watery grave. Finally, she gave up her hold entirely and gasped for air as the bubbles floated to the surface and then stopped.

"Best effort, it is?"

She whirled around to face Yoda, "I-I tried my best. It's too big. It's too heavy. I should have known I wouldn't be able to lift it."

"Try? No. No. No," he shook his head, "Do or do not. There is no try."

"I'd like to see you do it," she muttered.

"Do it again, you must."

"Again? I'm ready for bed as it is. Another day, Master Yoda," she dismissed him with a hand and began walking back.

"No. I don't have a landing permit," Han spoke distinctly. "I'm trying to reach Lando Calrissian." Upon silence from the other end, a growled question came from Chewie. "No, I'm sure he's forgotten all about that."

After an eternity, the voice came again telling them where they could dock the Millennium Falcon. Mr. Calrissian would be waiting for them.

Han switched the com off. They had already wasted two precious days getting her, and having to repeat himself over and over about his intent on coming to Bespin. One would think this was a top secret military base the way it was guarded. Even now, two smaller ships had come alongside the Falcon to "guide" her to the correct landing area.

Two precious days. In a split second, he had made the decision on which gamble he was going to make. Now he had no choice. Lando was the only one rich enough and smart enough to purchase the Falcon given the price Han would have to ask. He had thought about taking the 7 days to locate Leia and get her to a safe place, but it was a foolish option. Where would they go? Jabba would never give up looking for them, and Han would die before he saw Leia reduced to one of the girl's in Jabba's palace.

With luck, he'd only have to barter with Lando for 1 day, 2 tops. That would give him 3 days to catch an outgoing transport. Chewie didn't know it yet, but he would not be coming back with Han, even if it meant stunning him or having Lando lock him up somewhere. Han knew he would be shown no mercy from Jabba, but at least with the money, Jabba would give up looking for people connected with Han. It was at this point that Han realized he wouldn't be seeing Leia again. He would give Chewie one last message for her. He didn't even have it planned out yet. What could you say to make up for being an idiot? What words could he say to get her to believe he loved her- had always loved her? How could he communicate the change she'd had on his life since the moment she interrupted it?

There wouldn't be enough words in his message, no matter how long it was. He needed a lifetime.