Chapter 25
"Ari, come on!!! Why don't you ever just listen to me?" Luke cried in exasperation, throwing his hands up in the air.
"Because you're wrong!" Ari shouted back as he caught up to her.
"I'm not wrong, you're wrong!" he insisted.
"I'm wrong?" Ari stopped and turned to him, her hands balled into fists and on her hips. "How am I, Arianna Narabe, wrong Luke Skywalker?"
Luke crossed his arms, matching her icy look with his own. "You are wrong, Arianna Narabe."
"How?" Ari asked simply, trying to hold back her anger.
"You shouldn't be putting yourself in danger...you'll get hurt," Luke answered.
"So will you," Ari argued, as she shifted her weight, hands still on her hips.
"No I won't. I know it," he assured her.
"And why don't you have any faith in my abilities?" she asked, a bit hurt.
"It's not that, Ari...I would just rather I got hurt instead of you..." he responded.
"I would rather neither of us get hurt," Ari replied, seriously.
"Me too. But as it is I'd rather opt for you."
"I am not just going to let my best friend go up there to fight for me," Ari shot back.
"And why not?"
"Because I...you are my best friend!" Ari finished, almost slipping and saying something she was sure she shouldn't have.
"And that means I can't fight for you?" Luke asked, not noticing her hesitation.
"I want to fight for this cause. This is everything we stand for now," Ari answered, stomping her boot on the ground for emphasis.
"Ari, we're going in circles! You never listen when you're like this," Luke muttered with an exasperated sigh.
"Me? You are the one who won't listen to me. You just keep saying no. You know I am a good pilot. And they need good pilots," Ari reminded him
"So what? Ari, you're NOT going!" Luke told her, making sure to put his foot down, hoping she would listen.
"You can't stop me," Ari answered and started back down the hall.
"Ari! I am begging you, please don't go!" Luke pleaded.
"Luke it is my duty. To everyone oppressed and hurt by the Empire."
"And it's my duty to make sure you're not hurt!" Luke countered.
"You can't protect me from all the evils of the galaxy," Ari pointed out
"But I'm sure as anything gonna try!" Luke cried.
"Luke..." Ari's voice softened. "You won't always be there to protect me..."
"But I want to be. Ari, please just say you won't go!" Luke was pleading with her once more.
"I can't promise you that," Ari replied quietly after a moment.
"Ari! I can't believe you!" he exclaimed.
"I am just that amazing huh?" she asked, trying to tease him gently.
"It is amazing to me how thoughtless you're being!" Luke shook his head at her.
"I'm the one being thoughtless? Have you looked a mirror lately?" Ari snapped, wheeling around to face him.
"Me? What have I done?" Luke asked
Ari looked up at him, hands on her hips. "Well first, you left me on Tatooine without letting me say anything," Ari started to number them off on her fingers. "If I hadn't known where you were going, I would have been in trouble. On top of that, you rushed off without probably even a second thought to anything like that. And then you go and volunteer for something I want to do, which you won't let me because I could get hurt and yet you could go get killed!! And that would kill me…"
Luke stared at Ari, his big blue eyes filled with tenderness. "It would kill me to lose you. Please don't go, Ari!" he whispered.
Ari turned her head, biting her lip. "Luke, I have to follow my destiny," she finally whispered.
"I want you to even have a destiny to look forward to," Luke insisted.
"Luke, you have to trust me and my abilities," she told him.
"I do, but you need to trust me in this too!" Luke replied, his eyes locking into hers. "It's too dangerous for you."
"But not too dangerous for you." It was more of a statement than a question.
"Ari...you get hurt more easily than me.." his voice was soft when he said this. "And why is that?" she asked, anger starting to fade.
Luke frowned. "Well...you're a girl."
Ari's blue eyes narrowed. "And what does that have to do with anything?" she asked, anger starting to return.
"You know, Ari..."Luke shrugged..."You just can't do the same things I can..."
"Like what?" she challenged.
"Well...." Luke paused slightly..."You can't even kill a womprat...you're not as strong...you..."
Ari sighed with a roll of her eyes. "I could handle everything that you, Biggs, Fixer, Windy and all the others threw at me," she retorted.
Luke grabbed her arm...not violently, but to make a point. "Ari, I could snap you in two!"
"But you wouldn't," she answered calmly.
"No, of course not, and I don't want anyone else to either!" Luke cried.
"Luke...you can't stop every evil in the galaxy that might happen," Ari replied.
"But I'm sure as hell going try, and that starts with YOU!" he replied, determined.
"Luke, I am eighteen like you. I am responsible for my own actions and the consequences of them," Ari responded.
"Then make a responsible decision! Stay here with Leia..." Luke stated, suddenly catching sight of the Princess on the other side of the hangar. "Hey Leia! Can you come here a moment?"
Leia walked on over. "Is there a problem?" she asked them.
"Can you please tell Ari that she's being irrational?" Luke cried.
Ari let out an exasperated sigh, throwing her hands up in the air. "You are the one being irrational," she answered.
"Umm...about what?" Leia asked, confused.
"Ari won't stay down here on the ground where it's safe...she's insisting on flying...don't you have anything she could do with you?"
Leia looked between the two, hesitant on what to say next. "I am sure we could find something..."
"See, Ari?" Luke turned to her, pointedly.
Ari looked about to protest as Leia continued. "But, you do both know we are always looking for pilots."
"But Ari can't go." Luke answered decidedly.
"And just why not?" Ari asked. "Leia just said they always need pilots."
"I already told you why!" Luke protested.
"They are just excuses not reasons," Ari answered.
Luke's face flushed in frustration. "ARI! They are perfectly good reasons..."
"They are excuses, Luke," Ari answered coolly. She looked at him for a moment. "I have to find Dodonna," she muttered and took off without a second glance.
Her mind was racing but she didn't stop. She wanted to turn around but didn't, not trusting herself to continue if she did. One look into Luke's eyes and he could probably somehow persuade her out of it.
She marched on purposefully to a small office like area and knocked on the door. "General Dodonna?" she asked as she entered, closing the door soundlessly behind her.
AN: Just the same message. R&R guys! J