Disclaimer: not mine

Approaching the time of Rogue One and a New Hope now, do not expect what happened in them.

Chapter 25

Luke walked into the tower, Cody at his side, even as he stretched out with the Force before smiling as he sensed both his Father and Leia. He gently nudged his Father's presence to let him know he was home before heading down to his rooms to change out of his uniform into something more casual. Very few people ever saw him in anything but the uniform or his Princely clothes, but he definitely preferred them to Imperial finery, no matter how much he had it drilled into him that certain standards had to be maintained. He grinned as he walked into the garden, seeing Leia on a bench with a datapad, her long hair loose down her back and dressed in loose pants and shirt. "So, did they change dress regulations in the Senate or do you actually have a day off?" he asked teasingly, and her head shot up, eyes wide, before she realised it was him and smiled happily.

"Luke," she quickly stood and moved to his side and then hesitated before deciding to throw decorum to the winds and moved in to hug him, feeling his arms wrap around her in return. "I missed you," she whispered, and he dropped his head down to place a kiss on the top of her head.

"I missed you too, it was torture being out there for so long. Especially when I received Jesse's report," he admitted softly. The tower was regularly swept by their men for surveillance, but it still paid to be careful.

"I'm alright," she assured him, wishing she could have contacted him herself but even Senators weren't allowed to use military channels. "Are you back for long?"

"I don't know," he moved them back to the bench to sit together, dropping his voice even lower. "Have you heard from Mon Mothma?"

"No, why? I saw Senate security outside her offices last week, but I thought she had returned home."

"A warrant for her arrest was issued, somehow she managed to escape before we reached the planet."

Leia blinked, Luke had been sent to arrest one of her mentors? How had she escaped? Then she looked closely and saw the amusement in his eyes and she knew, not how, but she knew Luke had been the one to send the warning. She leant in closer, kissing his cheek. "Thank you," she breathed against his skin, just to be safe.

Only Luke's training kept him from actually shivering at the warmth of her breath on his face. He turned his head and their lips met in a soft kiss. "Tano got her out," he promised before pulling back some. He reached out and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and it hit him suddenly. He more than merely cared for his betrothed, but this was not the time to say it. Not with so many secrets between them still. "If we are planetside long enough, would you like a tour of my new flagship?" he offered at a normal volume and Leia smiled.

"That would be wonderful, thank you."

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Leia jolted awake, unsure what had woken her. She lay still and silent but nothing in her bedroom was out of place, so she threw back the covers and got up, pulling on a robe and shoes before grabbing her holdout blaster and slipping it in her pocket. She slipped into the main room of her quarters and a figure in armour rose.

"Princess?" Havoc asked, grabbing his helmet and settling it into place.

"I don't know...something woke me," she admitted, and he quickly initiated a sensor sweep before doing a physical one himself.

"All clear. A dream maybe?" he offered, not really sure what to do.

"No…" She moved for the door and he hurried after her, calling Jesse to alert the rest of their squad. She got in the turbolift and he got in with her. Leia studied the options and then chose a floor Jesse knew well, it was the General's…was it appropriate for the Princess to show up in the middle of the night in her sleep clothes? He hoped someone higher ranked was there to sort it out because he didn't know. The doors opened, and she walked right up to the General's quarters and hit the door chime. It took a few minutes before the door slid open and Jesse was relieved at the presence of his Commander.

"Princess? The General is indisposed…" to their shock she pushed past him and into the room where she saw Luke on his stomach on a couch, bare to the waist….and covered in blood.

"Luke!" she ran to his side and he turned his head slowly to look at her through pained blue eyes, trying to smile for her. "Shh…lie still," she soothed, gently running her fingers through his hair before looking up and pinning Cody with a glare that almost had him back-stepping. "Why isn't he in medical?" she demanded.

"Orders from the Emperor, Princess," he answered after a second's hesitation.

"What about your own medics?" she asked, and Cody shook his head.

"Jesse call the Embassy and send for my physician please, I think I ate something at dinner that didn't agree with me," she stated firmly, and Jesse quickly made the call, before looking to Cody who nodded so he left to meet them in the hanger.

"Thank you," Cody told her as he went back to gently cleaning the wounds.

"I saw the scars once on Alderaan. Who does this to him?" she asked shakily, adrenaline fading.

"It is better you not ask those questions," he warned, and she nodded, that answered her question fairly well. Soon enough, Cody answered the door again and admitted Winter and Dr. Thendell.

Winter drew her aside as the Doctor went to work, gently wiping the blood form Leia's hands. Once down she went to work on Leia's hair to keep them both occupied. Leia wanted to strangle the Emperor with her bare hands for this, but she knew better than to act on that impulse.

Eventually the doctor stood, pushing back short grey hair as she did. "I've given him a mild sedative, so he will sleep for the rest of the night. The wounds thankfully weren't deep enough to damage muscle, so they should heal without issues. The bacta bandages will need to be changed regularly until the wounds are fully sealed. If he has a fever or begins to bleed heavily again, then call me."

"Thank you," Cody told her in relief and she nodded. Jesse escorted her back to the speeder, but Winter remained with Leia. Cody looked to the Princess, puzzled. "If I may ask, what brought you to see the General this late and attired that way?" he didn't think the Princess was the sort to sleep with anyone, even her Betrothed, before the wedding but he might have been wrong.

"I…don't know. Something woke me, and I just knew I had to come."

Cody frowned, that sounded an awful lot like the Force…had the General reached out for comfort subconsciously and called her? She couldn't be Force sensitive, core worlds had mandatory testing of all children after all. He did not want to imagine what the Emperor would have done to the daughter of the Organa's had she been sensitive. "I suggest not telling anyone else that," he warned, and she nodded. "You should return, I will comm you if there is any change."

She hesitated but then let Winter and Jesse take her back to her own rooms. Cody made himself comfortable on a chair beside his General to keep watch. He liked the Princess, liked the effect she had on his General too. He just prayed to whatever powers were out there that they did not end like another Senator and General he had once known.

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Wedge threw his X-Wing into a spin, dodging a Tie fighter as Red Squadron fought to keep the Imps of the backs of the transport they were escorting. Just their luck to run into Vengeance Squadron which meant facing the Blades, the best pilots outside the 501st. his ship was rocked by a near miss, the shields taking it, and he glanced around, they were badly outnumbered and had already lost Red Three and Eight, but it could be worse…why hadn't they launched more Tie squadrons? It should have been a slaughter. He shook those thoughts off as a Tie slipped behind him and he began evasive manoeuvres. The other pilot was good though, staying with him. In fact, those moves…he had a sudden sinking feeling he knew the pilot on his tail form his days at the Academy. He knew Biggs had been whisked away days before they were going to defect, why would he know be a member of Blade Squadron? He threw his ship into a move they had once practiced together, and the Tie fighter pulled back. He was shocked when his comm let out a staticky squeal and then flicked it over to the frequency.

"Wedge?" Biggs asked as he pulled back from his current opponent, what were the odds? He didn't want to fight his Academy friend, they had planned to join the Rebellion together once.

"Biggs?" Wedge answered cautiously, Biggs' voice wasn't clear since Tie pilots wore full life support gear.

"It's me. Sorry for shooting at you. Pull back to your transport and get out of here." Biggs answered, he knew Luke wouldn't punish him for this. It wasn't like they were truly trying to take the transport out, not when it was full of the injured and refugees.

"Why are you doing this? What happened?"

"Long story and not over an unsecured frequency. Maybe one day we can exchange war stories over some Corellian Brandy. Stay safe." With that he shut the transmission off and peeled off to re-join his wing mate.

Two hours later Biggs was in Luke's office, telling him of Wedge and how close he and Tycho had been with him and another defector, Hobbs. There was no punishment for contacting the enemy in the middle of a battle or anything. Afterwards he returned to the pilots' levels and told Tycho who was relieved their friends had made it and were as safe as possible.

TBC…

Sorry it's so short, swamped by papers and the new job.