Disclaimer (I always forget this, and I know it's probably supposed to be at the beginning but too bad I'm sticking it in here): I do not own Star Wars. George Lucas does. I may wish I thought of it first, but there's nothing I can do about that, now is there?
**********************
When Leia woke, the first thing she noticed was a dull, throbbing ache all over her body, but especially in her head. She slowly opened her eyes, the blinked in a feeble attempt to clear the blurriness of the image. "She's awake," whispered a voice she did not recognize.
She felt a warm hand clasp hers. "I was so worried about you. You were out for so long…"
"Biggs?" Leia croaked.
"It's okay, I'm right here."
"I can't see you!"
"Can you see anything?" he asked, sounding very concerned.
She would have shaken her head, but the simple task of moving her lips used up all the energy she had at the moment. "No. It's all just a blur. It's light out and that's about all I can tell."
"That's to be expected," came the strange voice. "You suffered a concussion as well as multiple injuries to your eyes. You're lucky you can see anything."
"Who are you?" she asked. "Where am I?"
"I'm Ben Kenobi, and we're in my home."
"Ben Kenobi?!?"
"Yes," he replied with a hint of laughter in his voice. "That crazy old hermit your uncle probably told you about."
"What happened to me?"
There was a long pause. Then, just when Leia was about to repeat her question, Ben said, "You were attacked by Imperial Stormtroopers."
"Wait a minute," Biggs interrupted. "They were sandpeople, not stormtroopers!"
"That's what they wanted you to think," Ben replied.
Leia gasped. "So they knew we had the plans!" she realized suddenly. She struggled to sit up. "Where's Artoo?" She felt a pain in her head and cried out.
"Leia, don't try to get up," ordered Biggs. "You're not well enough yet."
"Where's Artoo?" she repeated in a worried voice.
Then she heard a series of electronic beeps and whistles and almost cried with relief. "Artoo! You're all right!" Artoo replied with more electronic tones. "What happened?" He beeped more, explaining himself, and Leia demanded, "Biggs, what did you do?"
********************
When Luke was pulled out of hyperspace, he immediately knew something was wrong. "Arbee, what happened?" he asked his R2 unit.
The droid's reply was a series of confused beeps as he tried to figure out what was wrong, then more beeps as he located the problem.
"Something wrong with the hyperdrive?" Luke asked.
Arbee whistled an affirmative reply.
"Can you fix it?"
He replied with a negative.
"The hyperdrive was fine before, what happened?"
More beeping.
"No one could have sabotaged it…could they have?" He'd only made one stop after leaving Dagobah. But no one knew who he was…did they?
He quickly checked what the nearest planet was. Tatooine. Without a functional hyperdrive, it would take him a ridiculously long time to get there. But it was better than sitting in space.
Luke sighed and told Arbee to set the course for Tatooine.
************************
"Leia, you need to rest and get better," said Biggs. "But meanwhile the plans need to get to the Rebel Base. So I copied them from Artoo's memory and I'm going to go alone."
"Biggs, I wanna go too, you can't leave me here! What if you get captured or something? I could--"
"Leia, be realistic! You can't see. You can barely get up out of bed. How would you defend us?"
"But what would happen to the plans if you got caught?"
"When you get better, you need to take Artoo to the Rebel Base. Just in case I didn't make it. But not now. Let yourself recover first."
Leia cried, the hot tears streaming down her cheeks and onto her pillow. She knew Biggs was right, but no matter how injured she was, she didn't want to just lie around doing nothing while he brought the plans to Yavin IV. Of course, there was this extremely annoying fact that she couldn't see.
"When are you going?" she asked.
"Now," he replied.
"Goodbye," she said.
Biggs bent down and kissed her forehead. "We'll see each other again," he promised, even though he knew it was a promise he might not be able to keep.
"I hope so," Leia said; he caught her double meaning but did not reply. Leia heard his footsteps die away as he walked off.
**********************
Luke could sense another ship coming past, leaving Tatooine. That was a stroke of luck. He could contact whoever it was and ask for help. He quickly sent out a distress signal, hoping that whoever it was wouldn't fire on him.
He heard a static crackle from the comm unit, and then a voice: "Stargazer, this is Twin Suns' Fire. I picked up your signal. What seems to be the problem?"
"Hyperdrive," Luke replied. "My R2 unit can't fix it."
"Well, I doubt I could either, but if you want I could give you a lift. Where are you headed?"
"Yavin."
"No kidding! That's where I'm headed too!"
"Really? In that case, I'll accept your offer. I'm not going anywhere on my own."
***********************
**********************
When Leia woke, the first thing she noticed was a dull, throbbing ache all over her body, but especially in her head. She slowly opened her eyes, the blinked in a feeble attempt to clear the blurriness of the image. "She's awake," whispered a voice she did not recognize.
She felt a warm hand clasp hers. "I was so worried about you. You were out for so long…"
"Biggs?" Leia croaked.
"It's okay, I'm right here."
"I can't see you!"
"Can you see anything?" he asked, sounding very concerned.
She would have shaken her head, but the simple task of moving her lips used up all the energy she had at the moment. "No. It's all just a blur. It's light out and that's about all I can tell."
"That's to be expected," came the strange voice. "You suffered a concussion as well as multiple injuries to your eyes. You're lucky you can see anything."
"Who are you?" she asked. "Where am I?"
"I'm Ben Kenobi, and we're in my home."
"Ben Kenobi?!?"
"Yes," he replied with a hint of laughter in his voice. "That crazy old hermit your uncle probably told you about."
"What happened to me?"
There was a long pause. Then, just when Leia was about to repeat her question, Ben said, "You were attacked by Imperial Stormtroopers."
"Wait a minute," Biggs interrupted. "They were sandpeople, not stormtroopers!"
"That's what they wanted you to think," Ben replied.
Leia gasped. "So they knew we had the plans!" she realized suddenly. She struggled to sit up. "Where's Artoo?" She felt a pain in her head and cried out.
"Leia, don't try to get up," ordered Biggs. "You're not well enough yet."
"Where's Artoo?" she repeated in a worried voice.
Then she heard a series of electronic beeps and whistles and almost cried with relief. "Artoo! You're all right!" Artoo replied with more electronic tones. "What happened?" He beeped more, explaining himself, and Leia demanded, "Biggs, what did you do?"
********************
When Luke was pulled out of hyperspace, he immediately knew something was wrong. "Arbee, what happened?" he asked his R2 unit.
The droid's reply was a series of confused beeps as he tried to figure out what was wrong, then more beeps as he located the problem.
"Something wrong with the hyperdrive?" Luke asked.
Arbee whistled an affirmative reply.
"Can you fix it?"
He replied with a negative.
"The hyperdrive was fine before, what happened?"
More beeping.
"No one could have sabotaged it…could they have?" He'd only made one stop after leaving Dagobah. But no one knew who he was…did they?
He quickly checked what the nearest planet was. Tatooine. Without a functional hyperdrive, it would take him a ridiculously long time to get there. But it was better than sitting in space.
Luke sighed and told Arbee to set the course for Tatooine.
************************
"Leia, you need to rest and get better," said Biggs. "But meanwhile the plans need to get to the Rebel Base. So I copied them from Artoo's memory and I'm going to go alone."
"Biggs, I wanna go too, you can't leave me here! What if you get captured or something? I could--"
"Leia, be realistic! You can't see. You can barely get up out of bed. How would you defend us?"
"But what would happen to the plans if you got caught?"
"When you get better, you need to take Artoo to the Rebel Base. Just in case I didn't make it. But not now. Let yourself recover first."
Leia cried, the hot tears streaming down her cheeks and onto her pillow. She knew Biggs was right, but no matter how injured she was, she didn't want to just lie around doing nothing while he brought the plans to Yavin IV. Of course, there was this extremely annoying fact that she couldn't see.
"When are you going?" she asked.
"Now," he replied.
"Goodbye," she said.
Biggs bent down and kissed her forehead. "We'll see each other again," he promised, even though he knew it was a promise he might not be able to keep.
"I hope so," Leia said; he caught her double meaning but did not reply. Leia heard his footsteps die away as he walked off.
**********************
Luke could sense another ship coming past, leaving Tatooine. That was a stroke of luck. He could contact whoever it was and ask for help. He quickly sent out a distress signal, hoping that whoever it was wouldn't fire on him.
He heard a static crackle from the comm unit, and then a voice: "Stargazer, this is Twin Suns' Fire. I picked up your signal. What seems to be the problem?"
"Hyperdrive," Luke replied. "My R2 unit can't fix it."
"Well, I doubt I could either, but if you want I could give you a lift. Where are you headed?"
"Yavin."
"No kidding! That's where I'm headed too!"
"Really? In that case, I'll accept your offer. I'm not going anywhere on my own."
***********************