Episode 1
Chapter 6
His Heart Of Flint That You Shall Love
Luke Skywalker leaned back against the mammoth tree and
devoured a long, voracious breath of Orri Prime's sweet spring air. It was
warmer this day than previous days, and the blue sun glinted off the mountain
peaks and their surrounding forests. He had removed his boots and now dug his
toes into the defrosted soil, enjoying its cool sensation. In the far off
distance, he could see two huge birds of prey the natives called taminaes
circling the peaks of Heavens Brace. He looked over the cliff on which he sat.
I'Lai's palace sprawled majestically below him, a beautiful white granite haven
entirely surrounded by a huge garden that was just starting to awaken to the
kiss of the hemisphere's spring. The palace's space dock was situated about half
a kilometer from the palace, and he could see the tiny figures of mechanics and
droids rustling about, awaiting the return of the Millennium Falcon and its
spoil, the Slave I.
It's so beautiful here, so peaceful, so…unscathed,
Luke mused in his mind. I wish we could just stay here.
"Well, we can't. We've got a lot of work ahead of us
on
Coruscant."
Luke leaned over and peeked around the tree to see Leia standing a few paces behind him, smiling. "Hello, Brother Luke," she said. "Mind if I join you?"
Luke broadly returned her smile, extending his hand. "Of
course,
Sister Skywalker."
Leia giggled as she bounded over and sat on
the ground next to him. "I like it when you call me that."
Luke shot her a sidelong smirk. "When do I get to call you
Mistress Solo?"
Leia laughed. "I don't know—you'll have to ask Master
Solo about that."
The smile faded slightly from Luke's face. "At this
rate I'll be lucky if I get an invitation to the wedding."
Leia sighed
and slumped her shoulders. "Oh Luke! You know what a pig-headed nerfherder Han
can be!" Luke stifled a guffaw through his nose—he loved when Leia called him
that. Leia smiled as she continued. "I understand why you didn't say anything
about Boba Fett and I'Lai. And I think Han will too, eventually. He doesn't stay
mad for very long."
"I hope you're right, Leia."
Leia looked out over
the indigo peaks of Orri Prime's mountains. "You really love this place, don't
you, Luke?"
"Well," Luke snickered, "when you've spent the first twenty
years of your life staring at nothing but sand, mountains and trees and fresh
air are a very welcome change."
They sat quietly together for a while,
gazing upon the magnificent landscape. Luke began to feel an apprehension in
Leia, as though she wanted to say something. "Leia, is there something troubling
you?" he asked.
Leia turned and met Luke's gaze, a sad look in her eyes.
"Actually, yes, there is." She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "I feel
I owe you an apology."
Luke knit his brows.
"Why?"
"Because…because I haven't exactly been sharing in your grief
for…for…"
"For our father, Leia?" Luke volunteered.
Squeezing her
eyes shut, Leia bowed her head and placed her palms against her eyes. Luke could
tell she was fighting back tears. "Luke…I'm so sorry, but…it's going to take me
a long time to come to terms with it. Please forgive me."
Reaching around
her shoulders, Luke drew Leia closer to him, letting her lean her head into the
crook of his arm. "Leia, there is nothing to forgive. These are your feelings,
and one's feelings are never wrong. I am not foolish enough to say you must
forgive Vader…Father immediately, if ever. It will take time.
"But I will
tell you this," he added, his tone growing lower, more serious, "When your
strength in the Force progresses, you will understand what an… overwhelming
temptation the Dark Side can be. I can vouch for that first-hand." Luke could
see the concern growing in Leia's eyes and averted his own for a moment before
he continued. "During our fight on the Death Star, when Vader
threatened to
turn you…I came very close to succumbing myself. Very
close."
Leia
looked up into his face, her eyes becoming enormous. "Luke…I had
no idea."
She reached down and took his hand. "That must have been
terrifying for
you."
"That was the scariest thing about it, Leia. It wasn't terrifying
at all, it was…" Luke took a breath, "almost… liberating. It was alluring,
soothing. It dangled promises of power and dominion in front of my mind. It
offered me everything from leading entire armies into battle to…an embrace from
Padme, our mother. The Dark Side promised me you would never be turned or
harmed, that you would always be safe and content. At that point, I would have
done anything
to protect you." The trace of a bitter smile briefly crossed
Luke's lips. "And all I had to do for all of it was…kill my own father." He
paused, closing his eyes. "The Dark Side made Father seem as if he were nothing
more than an insect under my shoe, just something to kick out of my path to
glory and happiness. It made it seem that easy."
He turned to Leia, who
still stared at him with a mix of pity and horror. "I started my Jedi training
when I was twenty years old. Father started his at the age of nine. So you can
imagine how much more powerful he was in the Force by the time he was my age.
Knowing what the Dark Side promised me, imagine what it offered him." He tilted
his head as he met Leia's gaze. "Do you understand a little more now, Leia?
Father was not born evil. He was just so gifted in the Force that the temptation
was just too great to refuse."
Leia lowered her gaze to the soft earth
under her feet. "I…think I understand, Luke. You mean the stronger one is in the
Force, the greater the Dark Side's temptation?"
Luke nodded. "Yes, that's
right." He paused briefly, weighing his words heavily before adding, "And that
is why I am worried about I'Lai."
Leia gasped. "Luke, you don't honestly
think that I'Lai…?"
"She's…just so powerful, Leia. She is completely
untrained, and yet she harnesses a raw strength in the Force that I could almost
compare to Obi Wan Kenobi, even Master Yoda. Completely resisting Vader's
subconscious invasion? Spontaneous telekinesis? And waking astral projection? I
can't even do that yet."
"But Luke…you can teach her, can't you? You can
train her like you're training me?"
Luke sighed and shook his head as he
started to pull on his boots. "I'll do what I can, but I'm not a Jedi Master by
any means. Not yet. All I can do is teach her how to control her strength until
I become better trained myself...and hope her powers remain hidden from any
remaining followers of the Sith."
Leia tried to shake off the chill that
was running up her spine. She was about to remind Luke that the ways of the Sith
were now passed with the deaths of Vader and the Emperor, only to remind herself
that the Jedi of her mother's generation had mistakenly thought the same thing
about the Sith…
Instead, she stuck to the subject of I'Lai. "Her parents
must have been very strong in the Force," Leia commented as she raised her face
to catch a particularly sweet mountain breeze. "Or at least one of them. But she
has no idea of her parentage, correct?"
Again, Luke shook his head. "No,
not at all. She told me she was brought to the Imperial Courtesan Discipline
when she was a toddler. She has no memory of her parents
whatsoever."
Leia furrowed her brow. "It seems so strange for a child
that exceptional to wind up in the Emperor's brothel. It just doesn't make
sense." She turned to her brother. "But Luke…I don't think you have to worry too
much about her. I'Lai has a heart as big as this galaxy. I have never known
anyone as courageous or as kind as she is…well, except for you." With that, she
leaned up to kiss Luke on the cheek.
Luke smiled and pulled his
sister closer to him. "Just promise me you'll help me keep an eye on
her."
"I will," Leia replied, smiling broadly.
A dull roar in the distance pulled Luke's and Leia's
attention toward the massive peaks of Heaven Brace. They both looked up to see
the Millennium Falcon soar through the peaks' entrance, followed by the smaller
and disturbingly familiar form of Boba Fett's Slave I.
"They're here—come
on, let's go," Leia said as she rose and offered Luke her hand in assistance. As
she helped pull him to his feet, she added, "I hope the med team brought an
extra ice pack for Han's jaw."
Luke squinted at her. "Why, what's
wrong with Han's jaw?"
Leia smirked a sly smile and winked at Luke.
"When I become stronger
in the Force, huh?" She reached up and
rowdily tousled Luke's hair,
then took off sprinting down the dirt path.
"Come on—I'll race you!"
Luke laughed and started running after her. Leia
bent swiftly to grab
a bunch of leaves from the ground, tossing them at
Luke. As they ran
down the tree-lined path, they continued to laugh and play
like the
children they never had a chance to be together.
* *
*
The first thing that infiltrated Boba Fett's waking awareness was the
banging pain in his skull. Every heartbeat gonged against his eardrums from the
inside out. His blood felt like acid in his veins.
He attempted to open his eyes. They
felt thick and opaque. He absently tried to lift his hand to wipe them, only to
growl in agony. Then he remembered
that was the injured shoulder. He switched hands, rubbing the dried crust away
and slowly opening his eyes.
Although the lush curtains were pulled
closed over the window, the room was still too bright for Fett's liking: Without
the visor of his helm, broad daylight was too intense for his altered eyes. He
held his hand as a shield over his brow as he surveyed his surroundings. The
chamber was white, sterile. He painfully turned his head to the side, responding
to the blips of the medical monitors: It was only then when he fully realized he
was lying prone in an infirmary bed,
wearing a patient's robe of soft beige
fabric. He glanced upwards to see two intravenous drip containers dangling from
atop the monitors and followed the tubes to where they were stuck into his
arm.
Fett blinked hard several times and took deep breaths
through his
nose as he ferociously tried to shake his grogginess and
remember how
he came to this place. Soon, images that began fuzzy morphed
into
clearer pictures and sensations. He recalled a fleeting moment of
being strapped down and carried on a stretcher in a space dock and
hearing voices—familiar voices-- over him. He then remembered the
feeling of his armor and suit being cut away from his body as a
blaring
ceiling-mounted surgical light blinded him…
Then his clearest memory
emerged…he had been floating, weightless
yet tethered by tubes and wires and
a breathing mask in the thick viscous
contents of a bacta tank. He
remembered being naked, save for a pair
of short trunks. He remembered
seeing misshapen, watery faces
through the plexiglass wall of the tank as
they stared at his
progress. The faces were those of Luke Skywalker, Leia
Organa, Lando
Calrissian, Han Solo, and an old, white-haired man wearing a
medical
coat…and he remembered pounding the glass with his fist in
rage
and humiliation as he floated there, exposed and vulnerable, wishing his
murderous glare would be enough to snuff out their lives and blind
their
gawking eyes.
It was then another face emerged behind the glass, a face
of pure
ivory surrounded by raven black curls. He found himself staring into
wide, sparkling eyes of teal. The eyes were imploring, concerned, yet
soothing, hypnotic. He saw her rose-hued lips curve slightly up in a
warm smile, and she placed the palm of her slender hand against the
glass. Fett had calmed a little, and he found himself raising his own
hand to press against the glass-shielded palm of hers as he briefly
lost
himself in the tranquil comfort of her eyes…
But his anger and his
arrogance had begun to surge in his blood once
again. Seeing her standing in
the same room as his enemies, the very
ones who had tried to send him to a
thousand year demise, only
reminded him that he was there as a prisoner, the
Rebels'
prisoner--her prisoner. He found that he could no longer bear to look
upon her
any longer. He remembered clenching his pressed hand into a fist
and
furiously turning away from the angelic visage.
After a few
moments, in spite of himself, he had turned his head back
over his shoulder.
The beautiful face with the teal eyes had
disappeared, and all he saw at
that moment were her raven curls
cascading down her back as she hurriedly
fled through the
door…from then on, Fett could recall nothing more.
Lying in his bed, Fett sighed deeply and clenched his eyes
closed
again.
He kept them closed when he heard the chamber door swoosh
open. He
listened to footsteps walk across the room toward the window and
heard the curtains flung open, flooding the room with agonizing
daylight—
"SHUT THEM! SHUT THEM NOW!" Fett yelled, raising his arm
to
shield his eyes.
Poor old Dr. Him'bron nearly jumped out of his
skin. He swung
around, and momentarily clutched his chest. "What! Oh, yes,
your
eyes…I forgot. My apologies." He pulled the curtains closed again,
and
Fett lowered his arm to glare at the doctor. Him'bron ran his
hand
through his white hair and cleared his throat. "Well, we're
awake.
And how are we feeling?"
"Come closer and we'll show you," Fett
sneered.
Him'bron clucked his tongue against his teeth and shook his
head. "I've had my share of difficult patients in my day, but
you, sir,
have won first prize." As he pulled the medical datapad from
his coat and
lowered himself into a chair, he continued to mutter.
"My poor nurse is
sporting a black eye, and I've had to order new
parts for the surgical droid
you damaged—and that was while you were
going under anesthesia! I won't even
discuss what happened when you
came out of it. We had to pump you with enough
sedatives to keep a
Cammendon asleep for a week!"
Fett forced down
the grin trying to spread across his face. He had
obviously put up a good
fight, and he was a little annoyed that he
couldn't remember any of it. "How
long have I been out?"
Him'bron looked up from his datapad for a split
second. "Three days."
"THREE DAYS?" Fett roared. He bolted straight up in
his bed,
but bellowed in agony, clutching his side, and was forced to lie
down
again.
Him'bron struck the datapad with his stylus, utterly
annoyed.
"Now stop that! We fused those ribs and that shoulder back together,
but
the muscles are still highly inflamed, and they need to heal.
Don't
thrash about so! Behave yourself."
"Where is my armor?" Fett demanded
through rasped breaths. "Where is my ship?"
"That will all be covered in
the briefing," Him'bron flatly replied.
Fett narrowed his eyes. "What briefing?"
Him'bron
completely ignored Fett's question. "As I said, we fused all
the broken
bones you had, including the fracture in your skull. The bacta tank has cleared
all signs of infection, surgical nanites have repaired your internal injuries,
and the constant IV drip has replaced most of the nutrients back into your body.
So it seems you are on the road to full recovery." Him'bron glanced up from his
datapad to look Fett directly into his cold stare. "You have had
rather
extensive genetic altering done, particularly in the systems of fast-twitch
muscle growth, connective tissue enhancement and flexibility, and overall cell
regeneration. You know that kind of genetic tampering is illegal outside of
Imperial military parameters."
"So arrest me," Fett replied dully.
Him'bron huffed. "I would hate to meet whatever disreputable
quacks
you paid off to do this. However, it seems this tampering is what
saved your
life. No ordinary man could have survived those injuries
in those conditions
for that long." Him'bron rose from his
chair. "I see that you are still in
pain. I can give you something for it—"
"I don't want
anything."
"It will help you feel better—"
"Are you deaf, old man?
I DON'T WANT ANYTHING!"
"Fine. You don't want anything." Him'bron stuffed
the
datapad back into his coat pocket as he strode toward the door. "By the
way,
the briefing I mentioned is about to start."
Fett turned his head
away from the doctor toward the window.
"I'm not in the mood."
"I'm
afraid, sir, you don't have a choice." With
that, Him'bron opened the door,
nodding to the group waiting on the other side and strode through, mumbling,
"Impossible man…"
As soon as Him'bron had passed, Leia Organa walked in,
followed
by Han Solo, Lando Calrissian, and Luke Skywalker. All wore freshly
crisp Alliance uniforms indicating their rank and position except for
Luke, who still wore the dark tunic and cloak of the Jedi.
Boba Fett
lay back against his pillow as a disgusted sneer crossed
his face. "Well, if
it isn't my judge and jury." His eyes fell upon
Leia, now sitting in the
chair at the foot of his bed. Shooting a
quick stabbing glance at Han
standing beside her, his sneer broadened
somewhat. "But a pleasing judge
nonetheless. You are dressed a
bit more modestly since last I saw you in
Jabba's palace, Princess
Organa."
Leia immediately felt Han's outrage
at the comment and instantly
grabbed Han by the arm as he angrily stepped
forward. Still holding
Han's arm, she firmly met Fett's lascivious glare
with the
light trace of a smile. "As are you from last I saw you in the
bacta
tank, Master Fett," she crooned with feigned innocence. Han and
Lando
both blocked a laugh through their noses as Fett's leer
disintegrated
into a scowl. Luke shot them both a severe look, and they fell
silent.
Leia folded her arms over her chest. "As for being your judge and
jury, Master Fett, we are neither. We are merely representatives of
the
Alliance here to discuss your future."
"My future?" Fett scoffed
indignantly. "That's rich.
And exactly which aspect of my future will we be
discussing, Princess? Lethal
injection or blaster squad?"
Leia sighed
deeply and lowered her eyes. "It pains me that, after
all the years of
bloodshed and suffering this war has caused, that there
are still those like
yourself that confuse the Alliance with the
Empire." She raised her eyes to
meet his again. "We are not
going to execute you, Master
Fett."
"Although there are several hundred on this planet alone
that
would give their right appendage for a ticket to that event," Solo
quipped bitterly.
"Han…" all admonished him in unison. Han merely held up
his
hands apologetically and rolled his eyes.
Leia resumed her
diplomatic tone. "We have discussed your case
with the leaders of the
Alliance Council. Since you hold the rank of free
citizenship and have no
formal position with the defeated Imperials,
you do not fall under the
official Alliance rules as a prisoner of
war. However, the Council feels
that, because of your crimes against
Alliance personnel, you pose too great
a risk to be freed immediately. Therefore, after careful consideration, we have
decided that, under the circumstances of recent events, you will remain here
under Dia-Orri system jurisdiction in the custody of its governor, the Lady
I'Lai."
Leia was taken aback for a split second as she endured the wave
of
mixed raw emotions emanating from Fett at the mention of
I'Lai's name.
But just as quickly as the muddle of resentment, shame, and
longing had hit,
Fett erected a black mental wall within his mind and
shut her out. He
resumed his cold business-like demeanor. "And
how long will I be detained
here?"
Leia paused before answering.
"Indefinitely."
"Indefinitely," Fett repeated. "Or until the
Alliance
decides in committee that I have met their official guidelines as `a
good
boy'."
"You will remain in custody until you no longer pose
any threat
to any member of the Alliance or the newly appointed galactic
government
of the New Republic," Leia corrected him sternly. She
softened
her tone a bit as she continued. "Do you have any
questions?"
"Where is my armor? And my ship?" Fett demanded.
"Your
armor is beyond any repair," replied Lando Calrissian,
the Dia-Orri system's
newly appointed Security Chief. "The
Saarlac's acids completely broke down
the molecular structure of the plating and the systems inside. As for your ship,
it will remain here on Orri Prime
in a storage facility in an undisclosed
location."
Fett remained silent as he stared toward the curtained
windows.
"Do you have any other questions?" Leia asked.
"Just one."
Fett turned his cold stare back to the Princess.
"Where is
I'Lai?"
Leia glanced toward Luke, who had stood silent and stoic
throughout
the briefing. Fett noted that, although no words were verbally
spoken, they seemed to be communicating with each other. He saw
Skywalker nod slightly to Leia, and she turned her attention back to
Fett. "She is tending to your son, Master Fett," Leia replied
softly,
adding, "She was…unsure if you wanted to see her." Both
Luke and Leia heard
Fett's heavy-hearted mental response…
*That makes two of
us.*
Princess Leia smoothed the front of her uniform as she stood from
her
chair. "If you have no other questions, then we will take our
leave.
I must inform you that you will be under constant Alliance guard
until the
Council decides that security may be relaxed. I ask only
for your
cooperation in making this situation more comfortable on all
sides, Master
Fett."
She turned toward the door to leave when Fett's words stopped
her
in her tracks. "You must be very amused by all this, your
Highness,"
he murmured, his face and tone devoid of any particular emotion.
"How
satisfying it must be to see your lover's captor beaten and
broken before
you."
The Princess shot Han Solo a look, pleading with him to hold his
temper. She sighed deeply, taking a moment, before turning to
Fett. "I
take no pleasure whatsoever in others' misfortunes,
Master Fett. I am not
you." With that, she strode proudly through the
door.
Before leaving himself, Han stepped toward the
infirmary bed and
glowered over Fett. "If you ask me, you got off easy, pal.
Just
remember that."
The corner of Boba Fett's mouth curled up into a
sinister smirk
as his eyes bore into Solo's. "We're not done yet, Solo. Not
by a long shot."
Han leaned forward to meet Fett's frosty glare head-on.
"Name
the time and place, Fett. I'll be there."
Fett's smirk grew even
wider. "And who will you bring to fight for you? The Wookiee or the Jedi
farm-boy?"
Han cocked his fist back and lunged toward the bounty
hunter before
being caught and dragged out the door by Lando. "Come on, come
on, let's go, hot shot…"
Fett watched the pair scuffle out the door. He
turned his attention to Luke, who had not yet moved from where he stood and
looked at Fett with calm, almost compassionate eyes. Fett narrowed his own into
deadly black slits. "You have something to say…Jedi?" He spit out the word as if
it were filth in his mouth.
Luke remained undaunted by Fett's hatred. "I
understand you, Boba. I nderstand your anger and why you hate me so much."
Fett's expression remained frigid and dim, but he felt his heart pound
violently in his chest. "You understand nothing, Skywalker."
"I
understand that your grief led you to sell your soul, Boba. But
it's not too
late to buy it back." He stepped forward, never averting
his eyes, sounding
every bit the wizened Jedi. "Vader is dead,
the Emperor is dead, Jabba the
Hutt is dead. The dawn of change is
rising, and you may want to decide
whether to face it or continue to
live in the dark night of your hatred and
vengeance. Maybe someday
you will understand the reasons the Alliance fought
so long and so
hard. Maybe you will decide to join us instead of fight us,
because
we surely could use a man of your genius and fortitude."
Fett
said nothing. Luke continued. "If you and General Solo can keep from
killing each other for five minutes, you may want to ask him how the
love of a good woman changed him for the better."
"Enough,
Skywalker."
Luke sighed. He turned toward the door, the rush of air
billowing his cloak, when he stopped before leaving. "Your father has been dead
for decades, Fett. Let him rest and be with the family you have here and
now."
Coldly, impassively, Boba Fett raised his eyes to Luke Skywalker
and
quietly hissed, "Get out."
Luke bowed respectfully and walked out, leaving Boba Fett
to stare at
the sterile white walls of his room and deal with the raging
black
torment in his heart.
* * *
Lando released his hold on
Han's uniform jacket as they came out into the corridor. Han shook himself
straight and smoothed the creases out on his sleeves when he felt the piercing
stares of Lando and Leia. He looked at them and shrugged. "I can't help it—I
just really hate that guy!"
"Really? I never would have guessed," Leia
replied flatly. Her attention suddenly turned to Wedge Antilles coming down the
corridor of the palace, motioning to her. "I'll be right back—Wedge and I have
to discuss the details regarding our trip to Coruscant." She began to walk
toward Wedge down the hall.
Han turned toward Lando. "So, you're sticking
around here for a few weeks, huh, Security Chief?"
Lando laughed a
little. "Yeah. Orri Prime is going to be a hotbed
for a while. The remaining
Imps will try and rebuild their fleet, and they'll be hurting for durasteel.
We're going to set up new security patrols, a heavier perimeter defense system,
and put the new Orrian militia through boot camp. We're going to make sure this
place is safe. You and Chewie going to Coruscant?"
"Yeah, we'll being
meeting Leia and Luke there. Then the real fun
begins." Han laughed and
shook his head. "I don't know what kind of
politician I'm going to
make."
"My advice to you is…just nod a lot and leave the heavy stuff to
Leia." Lando smiled and playfully punched Han in the arm. "See you later,
General Pirate." With that, Lando Calrissian strode down the corridor toward the
space dock where his shuttle awaited to take him to his new headquarters in the
Southern Hemisphere.
"Han," Leia called as she came back down the hall.
"Wedge and I are
leaving now."
As she approached him, Han gripped
her arm and pulled her into a
recessed doorway. "Come here for a second,
Leia."
Leia was surprised by Han's action. "Han, what is it?"
Han
turned Leia to face him. He looked intensely into her eyes, and very gently,
very lovingly touched her face. "You are…the bravest, most beautiful girl I have
ever known. And I am deeply, madly in love with you." He leaned down and, taking
her face into his hands, pressed his lips to hers in a sweetly passionate kiss.
When he broke from her, he could see the twinkle of tears in her eyes. He
smiled. "I just wanted to tell you that."
Leia smiled through her
tears. She wrapped her small arms around his waist and buried her face into his
chest, breathing in his warm, familiar scent through the stiff fabric of his
uniform.
Han held her tight for a few moments. "Get to your ship.
I'll see you
on Coruscant." He lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it
before
Leia, still beaming, walked down the corridor toward a waiting Wedge
Antilles.
Han stepped out from the doorway to see Luke standing in
the middle of the hall. Things had been tense between the two friends of recent
days. They met each other's gaze with a sense of caution and worry.
Han
placed his hands on his hips, nodding slightly and pursing his lips. "Taking
your X-wing to Coruscant?" he asked Luke in a nonchalant tone.
Luke
quietly nodded.
Han sniffed. "That thing's taken a beating, Luke. When
are you going to get a real ship? Like a cruiser or something?"
Luke
allowed a soft smile to penetrate his austere demeanor. "Eventually, Han. When I
can afford one."
"Well, come with me to Corellia sometime. I got friends
there. I can
get you a good deal."
Luke relaxed his severe Jedi
posture and walked toward Han. He extended his cybernetic hand, and Han took it
in his own in a hearty shake. Suddenly, Han huffed and exclaimed, "Oh—come
here!" and wrapped his arms around Luke in a big bear hug. Luke returned the hug
enthusiastically, patting Han on the back.
Han broke the hug, and the two
comrades-in-arms, beaming from ear to
ear, began to walk down the corridor
together. "Come on, kid--come to
the Falcon and have a drink with Chewie and
me before you go."
"Han, you know I don't drink."
"Then you can watch
me and Chewie drink. That sounds like a good
time, huh?" The friends'
laughter rang through the ivory white corridors as they headed for the palace's
space dock.
* * *
With a long, deep breath, Boba Fett stirred
himself awake. A low, frustrated growl emerged from his throat. He had fallen
asleep—again! Damn it, it seemed all he did was sleep! Him'bron had insisted
that he was no longer administering sedatives, that Fett's chronic need for
sleep was merely his body attempting to heal itself, but…This can't be
normal, Fett thought to himself. I've slept more in
the last four days
than in the last four months! How can I blast myself out of
this place if
all I do is sleep…
He bolted upright in his bed, rubbing the muck out
of his eyes. In doing so, he noted that the pain in his torso and shoulder had
subsided dramatically in the last day. He also noticed his head didn't pound
nearly as much. He faced the curtained windows as he lowered his hand. The early
morning light of dawn broke through the cracks in the curtain, softly
illuminating the white sterile walls of his chamber with a pale azure
hue.
Fett stared blankly toward the window for a moment, then turned his
head to scan his medical monitors…when his gaze stopped cold upon the large
overstuffed chair positioned at the foot of his bed and for an eon of a moment,
he could not find his breath.
There, curled up in perfect sleep, was
I'Lai. Her plush white robe was draped just below her bare shoulders and was
open at her breast and Fett saw a tiny, blanket-wrapped bundle cradled in the
crook of her arm.
Slowly and silently, Fett pulled the blankets off his and
swung his legs over the side of the bed. As he stood, the IV tubes stretched
taut from his arm. Reaching down, he grabbed them and yanked them out,
completely oblivious to the pain the action caused.
Ignoring the ache spreading up his leg from his
healing ankle, he moved quietly toward the sleeping lady, lowering himself to
kneel before her. His eyes drank in every detail of her face, every curl of her
ringlets, every soft breath she took in her slumber. Even in sleep her lips,
moistly parted, seemed to curve in a soft smile. Fett remembered the last time
he saw her on the Executor was just like
this, sleeping and dreamful, and
that had been the image he had carried with him for these many months—but that
image paled to what he saw before him now. Her skin was freshly scrubbed and
radiant, her ebon hair tousled about her shoulders, her expression innocent and
serene. He felt he was truly gazing upon an angel.
He reached up to
gently touch her lips. He ran his finger along the outline of them, being
extremely careful not to disturb her. He touched the alabaster of her cheek,
losing himself in the softness and warmth of her skin.
He became suddenly
startled by the tiny gurgle that emerged from the blanket-wrapped bundle in her
arm. Looking down, he saw a tiny hand break free from the wrap to flex tiny
fingers and reach for I'Lai's breast. The bundle cooed and wriggled closer to
her, and Fett could hear the almost inaudible sound of suckling.
Fett sat
there, frozen and amazed, unable to look away.
I'Lai's eyelids fluttered,
and she stirred with a deep breath. Slowly, she opened her eyes. She lightly
blinked a few times as she focused on the man in front of her. Soon, her drowsy
gaze met his eyes, and her mouth spread into a soft smile.
"Good morning,
Boba," I'Lai whispered.
Just like the very first moment he had laid eyes
on her, Boba Fett could think of
nothing to say.
I'Lai sleepily raised her head from her shoulder and
extended her hand to Fett's face, touching his scarred chin in a gentle caress.
"How are you feeling? Better, I hope?"
"Yes…yes, I'm…better." He shifted
uncomfortably as he struggled to say something to her…anything to her…"Was
it…painful, I'Lai?" He mentally kicked himself for such an idiotic
question.
I'Lai's smile only broadened. "A little, Boba."
Fett
shifted his gaze back to the tiny bundle in her arms. "I…I want to see him."
I'Lai gingerly adjusted the blanket away from the baby's face to allow Fett his
first view of his infant son.
Fett stared into the child's little face,
again taking in every minute detail he saw. He smiled slightly at the tuft of
dark hair on the infant's head, and noted the child's skin was a darker hue,
like his own. He noted the child's strong brow and nose were like his as well.
But what drew his attention most were the baby boy's eyes. They were not dark
like his own, but a sparkling hue of sapphire-jade, like his mother's, and as
they looked up into Fett's eyes, they bore into his very soul.
By the
Slayer, he looks like…he looks like my father.
"Does he…have you
named him?"
"I thought…we could do that together. Would you like to hold
him, Boba?" I'Lai asked softly.
Fett suddenly felt overwhelmed by a rush of
unfamiliar and upsetting emotions. "No…no!" he snapped quietly as he rose to his
feet and moved toward the window. He did not open the curtains, but rather
leaned against the window's edge, furiously running his hand through his hair
and over the healing gash in his scalp.
I'Lai adjusted her robe around
her and rose from the chair, clutching the babe to her breast. "Boba, what is
it? What's wrong?"
Fett remained silent for a moment. I'Lai could see
his shoulders tremble before he turned and faced her. His face was a mixture of
anger, confusion, and anguish. "I do not understand, I'Lai. I do not understand
any of this. The rescue…the baby…why? Why have you done all this?"
For a
moment, I'Lai herself was speechless. She glanced toward the floor, fluttering
her lashes, before raising her eyes to him again and answered, "You apologized
to me."
Fett furrowed his brow in even more confusion.
"What…?"
"That night on the Executor, when you became angry and
frightened me.
You apologized." She held his gaze in the innocent snare of
her eyes. "You had never done that before, had you?"
Fett felt as though
he was going to explode. He wanted to shake her senseless and crush her in his
embrace at the same time. How, how does she know these things about me? What is
this maddening hold she has on me? Why do I yearn so fiercely for her…why does
she make me so weak..?
Once again, he latched onto his familiar tone of
cruelty and arrogance when he spoke this time. "This situation does nothing to
change the fact that I am a prisoner here, does it, Lady?"
I'Lai
blanched. "But, Boba…I assure you, you will have freedom of the palace and its
out skirting areas along with access to all it can provide you—"
"Under
armed guard. Answer me this, Lady--am I or am I not your prisoner?" Fett moved
toward her threateningly when she remained silent. "It is a simple yes or no
answer. If I cannot have my freedom, at least pay me the respect of answering my
question."
Her lip trembling and tears beginning to well in her eyes,
I'Lai calmly replied, "I would rather think of you as…my guest."
"A guest
who cannot leave, correct?" Fett's tone had turned ice cold.
I'Lai
struggled to find a suitable answer. "You will be able to leave…
in time.
When—"
"When your Rebel friends decide I have been broken." Fett swung
around toward the window again, folding his arms. "I want you to leave, I'Lai.
Tend to your son."
"But Boba—"
"LEAVE," Fett snarled with quiet venom.
I'Lai clenched her eyes closed and held her sob in her
throat. Before she went through the door, Fett blurted, "Kai."
I'Lai stopped and turned her tear-drenched face toward
him. "What?"
Fett didn't turn to face her. "I want to name him Kai. Kai Fett.
Now you may leave."
I'Lai nodded. "All right. We'll name him Kai." Holding
her son close to her breast, she turned and walked out the door.
When
she had reached the farthest stretch of the corridor, I'Lai could no longer hold
her anguish. She fell against the wall and slid down, sobbing uncontrollably and
clutching baby Kai to her heart, as though the baby boy could somehow prevent it
from breaking.
When Fett was certain I'Lai was well down the exterior corridor, he turned and with full force punched a hole right through the chamber wall.
* * *
