Chapter XX: Corellia
"I have to admit I'm having second thoughts," the rebel said sitting behind Han Solo. "This ship is not as useless as it looked…"
He smiled at her. "Right? We will soon reach the Corellian system. Which Brother do you want to visit first?"
She sighed. "Whichever we find…" she muttered.
"What?" he faced her with a hard grin.
"I mean…How about the Eldest Brother?"
"Nice place."
For the entire long journey from Yavin 4 to the Corellian system, the rebel had been most of Han's company, apart from Chewbacca. She had talked to him, surprising him as she demonstrated she could have actual conversations, and while Han would've preferred the princess's usual sassy and haughty comments, as well as her recent kisses, he was quite enjoying the rebel's company.
Leia hated to see them together, but she had been unable of stopping it. For most of the trip, she had been sleeping. She couldn't help it, she was just so tired, and she didn't know why.
Her hair and clothes weren't so messy, as she had cleaned herself, but she didn't exactly look like Princess Leia. Her clothes were worn and ripped. Her face looked all but her usual freshness and sweetness. It looked long, sleepy and tired. Her usually braided hair was rebelliously loose. She sat next to C-3PO, too tired to stop the scene, nevertheless wishing she would.
"Do you think she's very pretty, Threepio?" she asked her friend as they watched Solo and the rebel from a distance.
"She's quite beautiful," C-3PO answered truthfully.
Somehow, at that moment, that rebel woman looked more put together and stronger than the princess. Her deep black hair was probably long, but at the moment, it was well concealed in a tight bun. Her clothes weren't very expensive looking, not even very feminine, yet to her mature female body they did wonders. Her skin was very smooth, too. Not pale at all, but very fair. Her face was nothing too extraordinary, except for her eyes: ocean blue and so very bright.
"I don't like her," Leia muttered, her face resting on her hands while her elbows rested on her knees.
"I noticed," 3PO said.
"Do you?"
"Well, Your Majesty. She seems alright."
Traitor! "Do you think Han likes her?"
"Captain Solo seems to enjoy her company. I would say yes,"
I'll kill them! "I have to do something!"
"Like what, princess?"
Um, snap her neck? Pull her hair?
"We'll see."
Leia stood up, she set her eyes on the couple that was bothering her so much, but before she could reach them, her legs trembled till they failed her.
"Oh, Your Majesty!" C-3PO cried, worried.
Solo, the Wookiee and the rebel immediately turned their eyes as the sound of a body hitting the floor reached them.
"Chewie, keep it steady!" Han cried and ran to the princess.
He picked her up and helped her be seated. At least I have his attention again… she thought amidst her faintness.
"What's wrong with you?" Han asked her. "You're becoming too accustomed to the floor, princess."
The rebel stood before them. "She looks terrible," she said.
Leia groaned, angrily.
"When was the last time you ate?" the rebel asked her.
Leia couldn't even remember. "I… I don't know."
"If I recall, you said you didn't eat at all in the rebel base. Did you?"
"No."
"Hmm," the rebel frowned. "How much have you eaten since we left?"
"Enough."
"It doesn't look like it."
"Well," Leia used the short and angry tone the rebel always seemed to cause in her. "It's not like there's a lot to eat here! We almost run out of food. Han and Chewie have to eat the most. They're flying this piece of—the Falcon. Even you need food. I'm fine."
"Leia, have you eaten at all?" the rebel pressed. There was actual concern in her voice.
Leia avoided her glance. It was almost as if Padmé were there scolding her.
"This is so stupid," Han then said. "Leia, me and Chewie can spend a long time without eating. You're a freaking princess! You shouldn't suffer like this."
"Well I am," she admitted before she could stop her words.
There was a silence, the rebel pulled something from her coat and handed it to Leia. It was rebel nutrition bar. Leia almost slapped it away.
"It does not taste very good," the rebel admitted. "But it will give you energy and it will keep you from fainting."
Leia grabbed the bar almost unwillingly, she took a bite and she didn't even recognize its terrible taste. It was so good to have some food in her mouth…
She realized how much her stomach was aching; begging her for more.
Since she finished it all too quickly, the rebel could tell the bar did nothing but increase Leia's hunger. She gave her another one. This time Leia could tell the taste was awful, yet she couldn't stop eating it.
She almost felt like crying when the rebel didn't offer her another one.
"Well princess, this is your time to be useful again," Han said when they were asked by the imperial forces if they had permission to land in Corellia.
The princess stood up, and she walked oh so weakly!
"This is princess Leia of the Galactic Empire," she said slowly, her voice sounding like that of a stranger. Some tired, sad stranger, not Anakin and Padmé's strong daughter.
Of course, Han was wrong, for Leia was not helping them at all. And the imperials were lying, as they never needed to ask them if they had permission to land. No one had it. This planet was, like the rebel had sadly said it, a wasteland. No one could go in and out, if he weren't from the Imperial military.
The Force warned Leia, but she reacted too slowly.
Han saw her tired face become restless. The gest on her face was one of dread, of absolute tiredness and unpreparedness for what was about to happen.
"Han!" she cried when she found her strength. "They are going to fire at us!"
"Of course they are!" the rebel cried amidst clenched teeth.
"Can't you stop them?" Leia heard and there was so much commotion she couldn't tell if the question came from Han or the rebel.
She tried again. "This is princess Leia of the Galactic Empire! Stop firing at this ship. Gentlemen, this is an imperial order!"
Her words meant nothing. Much like in Tatooine, no one believed she was the princess.
Princess Leia was supposedly kidnapped, for her to just casually appear in a planet so conflicted as Corellia, was more than unlikely, it seemed impossible.
Leia wished she could do something other than watch as Han, Chewie and the rebel defended the Falcon, while C-3PO stood crying things in fear next to the other droid.
But she was tired. How long will life be like this? She wondered. Oh when will this end!
"Leia!" She heard and that made her wake up. She turned her face to see who was speaking to her, but everyone was still too busy in their own thing to call her. "Leia!" She heard again and now she thought maybe she had gone mad. "Use the Force, sister!"
Her heart quite literally stopped.
Was that Luke calling out to her? Could it be him? After so long finally reaching out to her? It was not possible—was it?
"Where are you?" she cried through their Force connection, one she had thought was dead. "Please tell me, where have you gone!"
"I don't want you to die," Was the only response she got.
She felt the floor underneath her waver, her whole world shook—but it wasn't her world, it was the Falcon.
"Enough is enough!" she cried, anger giving her the strength she was lacking.
Like with Boba Fett, she used the Force to keep the imperials from firing at them. But unlike the bounty hunter, these imperials weren't so lucky.
Her frustration at her brother, her dread and annoyance at life, her anger at being once again persecuted… it was all too much! All dark emotions mixed within her until they were nothing but anger and fear, and with those strong feelings fueling her—Princess Leia grew powerful.
Them or us, she thought desperately as she reached into the Force, the Dark Side of the Force, to feel each presence inside the enemies' ship, slowly and almost too gladly snapping their necks.
She had never killed like that.
She didn't even know such action was possible.
Han watched in shock as the imperial ship crashed into Coronet City.
He knew better than to land there. So for a while, he flew the Millennium Falcon around the city, till they were out of it; they hid the ship in Corellia's covered in snow lonely mountains.
There was an unusual quiet surrounding every passenger inside the Millennium Falcon.
There was no smile. Not a trace of laughter. No friendliness, not even amongst those who were friends—even less in the ones who were almost lovers.
The princess's strange countenance was affecting all of them, maybe in different ways, but certainly they all suffered with her.
Leia was on the floor, staring at nothing, focusing, trying, seeking… trying and seeking yet always failing and never finding.
She wanted to bring back her connection to her twin brother. She wanted to reach him again, she wanted for Luke to allow her in again, but it was all useless. She could not find him; he had to reach for her again. It was all in his power and that was just another thing that added to her anger and frustration.
"Luke."
"Luke."
"Luke."
She was almost begging.
"Luke!" she at last cried, not through the Force, but in her loud voice, calling everyone's attention on her, especially Han Solo.
She dropped her glance, embarrassed. She hoped no one would speak to her, but of course, someone did.
The first person she would expect to talk to her was Han, but the ship's captain had turned his back on her, confusing her, as she had believed they were growing so close. She couldn't imagine how much she distanced herself from him as she pronounced her brother's name with so much despair.
"Leia," the rebel said, in a quiet whisper. "Have you talked to your brother lately?"
Never in a million years would she had expected such question; and from the rebel of all people? What did she care?
She shook her head.
"Is he…" the rebel spoke still quietly. "Is he alive?"
Leia's eyes opened wide.
"Why do you ask?" Leia asked, narrowing her eyes in confusion.
"I just… I just want to know," was all the rebel offered.
The princess tried to invade the rebel's mind in hope to find some answer, but her mind was far from weak.
"Do you know him?" Leia asked, thinking she already knew the answer to be negative, as there was no way Luke could ever know a rebel.
Her heart beat rapidly as the rebel took a long time to answer.
But when she did answer, she just dodged the question. "I also have a brother," she said. "I haven't seen him in a long time. Since the siege."
Leia's confusion was growing. "How did you," she asked, her voice trembling though she didn't know why. "Survive? If it was so bad… how could you escape intact?"
"Intact?" the rebel's old bitterness and sarcasm returned. "I was not left intact. I mean, physically I recovered quickly since I only got a few bruises and scars. But I… I have not been the same ever since."
"How did you survive?" Leia repeated her question. "How did you escape Corellia last time?"
The rebel let out a deep, long, sad sigh. "A Jedi," she at last confessed. "A Jedi saved me."
Leia was suddenly attacked by an odd feeling, one she could never describe. She felt it deep in her belly; it wasn't the usual soring at being hungry, it was something else… something like fear, but not quite.
"Do you hate the Jedi as much as the Emperor does?" the rebel asked, after what seemed to be hours of silence.
"Yes," Leia quickly said, startled as she realized her answer was mechanical, and not something she actually felt.
"There isn't anything I admire more in the galaxy," the rebel said. "Than the spirit of the Jedi. The order, though long gone, continues to save lives. You do not hate them, Leia. You can't, because you don't know them."
"I know them," Leia muttered, rising from the floor, unaware of how her voice was breaking as tears escaped her sweet brown eyes. "I know them!" she reinforced. "They abused their power. They were always hungry for more! They betrayed the Senate and the galaxy… they—they!"
"My dear," the rebel looked at her with pity. "That is our Emperor speaking. You were only about to be born… you can't possibly imagine all that actually happened!"
"Stop talking," Leia didn't command, she almost… begged?
"You were born as the world seemed to end! You were lucky like that! You didn't have a mind of your own, or a heart to break. The Jedi had dedicated three entire years to the Clone Wars; they had given countless lives to the galaxy…"
"Stop talking."
"They risked everything. They gave everything!"
Han, the Wookiee and droids stayed where they were far from them, yet all eyes were on the woman and girl.
"The Emperor—the Old Emperor, was a Sith Lord. It was never revealed. The Sith and Jedi were enemies. It was one or the other, and oh! Your father won! The galaxy lost! We lost all freedom, all security, all hope till the Jedi came back…"
The rebel's words died before she could finish speaking, an invisible grip now was wrapped around her neck, preventing her from speaking, breathing, living…
"Leia!" Han cried, appalled. "What are you doing?"
She didn't want to scare him, she didn't want him to fear her at all, but she couldn't stop it, she wanted to kill the rebel.
The rebel crumbled to the floor, she gasped for air, she closed her eyes…
"Leia, she saved you!" Han cried, now standing next to her.
The statement made her react, just as she was about to truly end a life. "Rebel," she pronounced. "You never told me your name. I demand you to do it now!"
"Do you…" the rebel breathed on the floor. "Do you want to know the name of your next victim… Sith Lady?"
Leia kneeled by her side so that they could be face to face. "Your name," she said menacingly. "And the name of the Jedi that saved you."
"Will you try to find and kill him?" the rebel groaned. "I thought that was Darth Vader's job—"
Leia slapped her viciously, leaving a reddish palm mark on the rebel's white cheek. "I told you never to mention him again! Answer my questions!"
"My name," she said, out of breath and rubbing her cheek. "Will have no impact on you. I'm Jule…"
"Is that really your name?" Leia pressed.
"You can choose to believe me or not."
"Have you any family?"
"Just, as I told you, my brother."
"What's his name?"
The rebel took a deep breath; Leia noticed the words came with much pain. "Harxsh…" the name escaped her lips at the same time tears escaped her eyes.
"And the Jedi?"
The rebel looked down for a moment. "K-2!" she cried, calling her droid.
Leia was incensed by that. "You will answer my question," Leia paced in circles around her.
"I will," Jule nodded. "But I would like to live after answering you."
Leia passed her hands across her face, then she pulled at her own hair in frustration. "I will not kill you…" she muttered after taking a long breath.
The rebel got in a more comfortable sitting position next to her droid. "Hmm, you think."
Everyone waited for the rebel's actions, a palpable tension covering the air. Leia realized how much the rest of her company were fearing her at the moment, and that pained her. The only person she wanted to fear her in the ship was the one who looked at her with disregard; she tried to soften her features, particularly since Han was watching her, but she simply couldn't.
"Do you fear the truth, at all, Leia?" the rebel at last spoke again.
Leia was silenced.
"I would," she said and a blue hologram started projecting for everyone's view.