Leia Organa, Jedi Knight
By: Julie the Tall Terror
Timeframe: ESB
Focus: Leia, Luke, Han, Yoda and Vader (notice I didn't say Anakin)
Summary: What would change and what would not if Yoda trained Leia?
http://tallterror.homestead.com
Part 5
~~*~~
Dagobah
~~*~~
Leia's first instinct was to dodge, quickly followed by the realization that she couldn't. Not even with the Force. She knew she wasn't ready to pull on the Force and use it to move herself as well in time. The only thing she could think of was making the blaster shot stop.
Leia threw out her hands into path of the bolt. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see it strike. A burning agony jolted through the palms of her hands and Leia shuddered. Yet, the pain stayed only there. Leia had expected the shot to be full power and pierce right through her.
With a surge of hope, Leia opened her eyes. But the hazy blue aftermath of a stun shot she expected wasn't there. Suspended in the air and brushing her palms was the angry red ball of a full power blaster bolt. At once, Leia poured all of her strength in the Force at it.
The result was instantaneous. With a loud crack, half of the shot ricocheted away into the trees above. Meanwhile, the remainder dispersed across Leia's hands and up her arms. She fell flat on her back, knocking the wind out of her.
For a few seconds, she could only pant to catch her breath. A numbness crept over her as the Force quietly drained down to the normal level she had become accustomed to. Distantly, she heard Threepio wailing.
She rolled over on her side and awkwardly used her elbows to prop herself enough to sit up. Only then did she look at her hands and gasped. Her palms and the underside of her fingers were covered in merely a sunburn with a few small blisters.
"Fooling around, are you?"
Leia jerked her head up at the voice. Yoda was perched on a nearby tree branch. Still in a daze she fumbled to respond. "Master Yoda, I - "
But Yoda held up a hand and righted the panicking droid. Once back on his feet, Threepio immediately stumbled to her, "Please, be all right! Mistress Leia, I am so sorry!"
"Threepio," Leia said weakly.
"I'm nothing but a useless scrap heap and I should never have asked to stay -"
"Threepio! I am fine," Leia staunchly ignored her protesting muscles and stinging hands. "I don't blame you."
Yoda jumped down from the tree and ambled past the droid, who was now thanking Leia profusely. "Hmmm," he looked down at Leia's hands, which she held out carefully.
Leia waited quietly as he took a good look. She knew he was concentrating and hoped that he wouldn't poke the burn. Threepio continued to loudly wallow in guilt.
"Hmm," Yoda repeated. "Absorbed some of it. Hmmm... unexpected." He was nearly whispering. Leia had never seen Yoda surprised like this. "A rare talent, absorbing energy is. Difficult to learn, even more difficult to teach."
Yoda turned to sit on a root and began to chew his gimmer stick in thought. Leia sighed and tried to move her sore arms. It wasn't easy to stand up with using her hands for support, but she managed.
"No," Yoda told her. Leia stifled a groan. He always seemed to know when she was about to get out the medical kit.
"Practice healing?" Leia asked in a raspy voice.
Yoda nodded sternly and Leia could only sit back down with another sigh. The feeling that something was wrong began to bother her again as she set to work. Using the Force to heal even minor cuts and bruises was a very tedious process for her.
"Mistress Leia! Oh, Mistress Leia!" Threepio called out suddenly. He waved his arms in excitement. "We have a transmission."
"What? Oh," Leia tried to not be irritated with him for interrupting her concentration. She frowned, "We aren't supposed to be contacted again for another week."
"Oh, my," Threepio said very primly as he listened to the comlink. "Captain Solo is on his way to visit. He should arrive tomorrow."
Leia was torn between excitement and dread. Whatever was that pirate doing? The last she'd heard, Han was planning on leaving the Alliance and they hadn't parted on good terms. But the prospect of seeing another human again cheered Leia up. Until she remembered how grubby she looked, that is.
The foreboding feeling was now much worse.
~~*~~
"You call this a vacation spot?" Lando asked half to himself.
Han Solo looked warily down at the murky planet outside. When he'd told the General that he needed to talk to Leia, this is not how he'd planned it. To find that Leia had never gone to the rendezvous point at all and that getting a message to her would be difficult had been even more irritating.
The busy bodies in charge had at first told Han and Chewie that they would have to travel on board a cruiser that delivered Leia's supplies. Leia had left strict instructions that the exact location of Dagobah was not to be given out and all transmissions were to be brief and encoded. Han and Chewie had complained loudly, while Lando tried to be persuasive. Despite the emergency, it was finally decided to have the cruiser escort the Millennium Falcon.
And this was the remote planet that Leia was supposedly taking a break from her duties. Even Chewbacca didn't like the look of it.
Though he would never admit it, Han was grateful that the cruiser was out there. The cruiser had supplied the small shuttle they were in and there was no way Han would ever take his Millennium Falcon down on his ball of mud.
The landing was rough, but the beacon Leia had set up led them to a relatively firm bit of dirt wide enough for a ship. Only half of the landing struts sank in the mud. There was little daylight and it was drizzling mournfully outside the windows.
"I thought they were crazy when they said Leia didn't have a shuttle down here," Han grimaced as the cockpit's windows began to fog up. "Now I understand why."
Lando nodded, "Hopefully, the princess will be ready to leave quickly, or they'll have to send another ship after us." Lando flattened himself against the wall as Chewie squeezed past him.
Han suddenly stopped by the hatch and turned back around. "Lando, I want you to understand that acting smooth and suave ain't going to impress Leia. She's a princess, not some floozy who can be flattered by a few fancy words."
"I understand perfectly," Lando answered and looked up when Chewie growled that he wasn't going out there in the rain.
Han took a deep breath and keyed the hatch open. The two of them stepped out into the muck and their feet vanished into the mist clinging to the ground. They had nothing to protect them from the rain and under the nearest substantial tree they could see a light.
Once under its meager protection, Han stared at Leia in shock. "You look like a drowned sqwee."
Leia rolled her eyes, "I already know that, Han."
"Han, you scum!" Lando admonished him and quickly took Leia's hand. "Your highness, I am Lando Calrissian. It is an honor to make your acquaintance."
Lando bowed to her with a roguish smile and would have kissed her hand if Han hadn't hauled him back.
Though irritating, the two men's comments to her didn't really make her angry. Leia had actually expected worse from Han. She had to struggle not to laugh at his friend's attempts to keep the mud off of his fine clothes.
"What are you doing here?" Leia asked in mild exasperation.
Han sobered. "We need you to come back, now." Then Han's voice and expression became softer than Leia had ever seen it, "Luke has been captured by Vader."
At first, Leia could only stare at him. She couldn't breathe and she couldn't think. An awful coldness swept through her and memories of her own capture by Vader began to unwillingly replay in her mind. With a shudder, Leia regained control of herself.
"Most of my camp in still packed up. We can be in space within an hour."
Leia turned briskly around and stopped short. Yoda was sitting on a low branch directly behind her.
Yoda's eyes were half closed as he looked at her, "You must not go."
"Master Yoda," Leia began to try to placate him. "He is my friend and I am one of the few members of the Alliance who knows how to-"
"No!" Yoda smacked his stick against the branch. "Complete your training, you must! Not your place to decide Luke's destiny."
"You knew?" Leia accused in a half whisper.
"Leia," Han interrupted. "What-"
"Quiet Han," she told him and then glared at Yoda. "You knew, didn't you? Somehow you knew that Luke was in danger and you didn't tell me? Vader will kill Luke!"
"No," Yoda shook his head. "Wants his abilities, wants to train Luke in the dark side."
"Even more reason to go," Leia's mind was made up. With her head held high, she marched back towards her camp. Han and Lando followed her uncertainly and Han kept looking suspiciously at the tiny troll.
"If you go now, you will fail!" Yoda yelled at her.
Leia's shoulders stiffened, but she kept walking.
~~*~~
Millennium Falcon
~~*~~
"Are you happy I decided to stay?" Han gave Leia a smirk.
She was sitting at the game table in the Falcon's common room. A stack of data cards about what all had occurred while she was on Dagobah were scattered about. This was the first opportunity that Han had to talk to her since she'd come onboard. She'd spent hours in the ship's 'fresher. Han leaned against the bulkhead and waited for her to answer.
Leia didn't bother to look up from her reading. "I'm sure Luke is grateful, not to mention General Rieekan -"
Han rolled his eyes. "I asked you," he said pointedly.
"I haven't decided if it's worth the trouble, yet." Leia pushed back her long hair over one shoulder. After weeks of having no choice but to keep it in a bun, she'd gladly let down.
Han was flabbergasted. "Not that again! We already argued about this back on Hoth, Your Worship!"
"I have no reason to believe you will actually stay. You can't seem to make up your mind and I'm tired of worr-"
Leia shut her mouth instantly, cutting off her last word. But it was too late, a huge self-satisfied grin was spreading across Han's face. He stopped leaning against the wall and took two lanky steps toward her. Leia stared determinedly at her data pad.
"Why don't you give me a reason?" he said quietly.
Leia resolutely ignored him and her hands clenched her data pad tightly. He walked closer until he was standing over her. Leia visibly stiffened as she anticipated his next move. Before he could place a hand on her shoulder, Leia slid along the seat out of reach.
"I have a lot of work to do, if you don't mind," she told him in her coldest and most princess-like voice.
Leia instantly regretted it. Han reacted as if stung and out of the corner of her eye she saw his face flush. Leia turned her head slightly to let a strand of her hair fall back in front of her face. She didn't want Han to see her fight to control her expression.
"Well, so long, Your Holiness!" Han snapped.
Before he could turn to leave, Leia answered in an almost defeated tone, "Could you please not call me that?"
Han seemed to consider this for a moment before agreeing, "Sure, if you'd answer my question."
Leia sighed and put one hand to her temple. Han took a chance and slid into the curved bench seat beside her.
"Come on, admit it, sometimes you think I'm all right."
"Sometimes," she said with a little smile.
Leia gave him a searching look and out of habit more than anything else, began probing him with the Force. Her relief at sensing Han was genuinely concerned and truly serious was almost overshadowed at once when she realized what she was doing. It didn't seem fair to Han to use the Force on him, even in such a minor way.
She broke eye contact with him and looked down. Leia jumped when she saw that he had taken her hand. Leia had been concentrating so hard she hadn't noticed. But she noticed now and felt her face grow hot.
To her dismay, Han pushed a lock of her hair back over her ear so he could see her now very pink face.
"What are you frightened of?" Han asked in a hoarse whisper.
One of Yoda's many lectures came back to her. Fear is of the dark side.
"If," Leia began forcing herself to look at him. "if I gave you a reason, I'm afraid you would still leave."
An expression of relieved comprehension spread across Han's face. He gave Leia a real smile this time instead of his usual array of smirks. Slowly, so not to startle her Han bent close to her face. Leia briefly considered fleeing, but decided she would rather find out if Han was really going to kiss her. Besides, he still had her hand trapped in his own.
"We've reached the... oh, excuse me," Lando said with a very fake look of apology.
If looks could kill, Lando would be dead. Both Han and Leia glared at him absolute fury. Then Leia sighed and pushed the anger away. Blaming Lando for irritating them was pointless.
"What is it?" she asked.
Lando was still fighting not to grin, "We've reached the rendezvous and we just received a message that Lord Vader has not taken Luke to the Imperial City. One of your generals would like to speak with you, Your Highness."
"Thank you, Lando," Leia said kindly and left for the bridge quickly.
Lando was smiling broadly after her, "Did you hear that? She called me by my first name already!"
His smile faded somewhat when he saw that Han was still glaring silently at him. Lando cleared his throat. "Yes, well. I truly apologize for bursting in like that. I assure you it wasn't intentional, Han old buddy."
"You do know how to use the ship intercom, don't you?" Han nearly growled at him.
"Ah," Lando said cautiously and began to back into the corridor. "I'll be sure to remember that next time." And with that, Lando darted back to the bridge.
~~*~~
End part 5
I love feedback! I never hold readers hostage with demands for reviews - that is just cruel. However, reviews do help encourage (i.e. guilt trip) me into writing new parts quicker! :)
By: Julie the Tall Terror
Timeframe: ESB
Focus: Leia, Luke, Han, Yoda and Vader (notice I didn't say Anakin)
Summary: What would change and what would not if Yoda trained Leia?
http://tallterror.homestead.com
Part 5
~~*~~
Dagobah
~~*~~
Leia's first instinct was to dodge, quickly followed by the realization that she couldn't. Not even with the Force. She knew she wasn't ready to pull on the Force and use it to move herself as well in time. The only thing she could think of was making the blaster shot stop.
Leia threw out her hands into path of the bolt. She squeezed her eyes shut, not wanting to see it strike. A burning agony jolted through the palms of her hands and Leia shuddered. Yet, the pain stayed only there. Leia had expected the shot to be full power and pierce right through her.
With a surge of hope, Leia opened her eyes. But the hazy blue aftermath of a stun shot she expected wasn't there. Suspended in the air and brushing her palms was the angry red ball of a full power blaster bolt. At once, Leia poured all of her strength in the Force at it.
The result was instantaneous. With a loud crack, half of the shot ricocheted away into the trees above. Meanwhile, the remainder dispersed across Leia's hands and up her arms. She fell flat on her back, knocking the wind out of her.
For a few seconds, she could only pant to catch her breath. A numbness crept over her as the Force quietly drained down to the normal level she had become accustomed to. Distantly, she heard Threepio wailing.
She rolled over on her side and awkwardly used her elbows to prop herself enough to sit up. Only then did she look at her hands and gasped. Her palms and the underside of her fingers were covered in merely a sunburn with a few small blisters.
"Fooling around, are you?"
Leia jerked her head up at the voice. Yoda was perched on a nearby tree branch. Still in a daze she fumbled to respond. "Master Yoda, I - "
But Yoda held up a hand and righted the panicking droid. Once back on his feet, Threepio immediately stumbled to her, "Please, be all right! Mistress Leia, I am so sorry!"
"Threepio," Leia said weakly.
"I'm nothing but a useless scrap heap and I should never have asked to stay -"
"Threepio! I am fine," Leia staunchly ignored her protesting muscles and stinging hands. "I don't blame you."
Yoda jumped down from the tree and ambled past the droid, who was now thanking Leia profusely. "Hmmm," he looked down at Leia's hands, which she held out carefully.
Leia waited quietly as he took a good look. She knew he was concentrating and hoped that he wouldn't poke the burn. Threepio continued to loudly wallow in guilt.
"Hmm," Yoda repeated. "Absorbed some of it. Hmmm... unexpected." He was nearly whispering. Leia had never seen Yoda surprised like this. "A rare talent, absorbing energy is. Difficult to learn, even more difficult to teach."
Yoda turned to sit on a root and began to chew his gimmer stick in thought. Leia sighed and tried to move her sore arms. It wasn't easy to stand up with using her hands for support, but she managed.
"No," Yoda told her. Leia stifled a groan. He always seemed to know when she was about to get out the medical kit.
"Practice healing?" Leia asked in a raspy voice.
Yoda nodded sternly and Leia could only sit back down with another sigh. The feeling that something was wrong began to bother her again as she set to work. Using the Force to heal even minor cuts and bruises was a very tedious process for her.
"Mistress Leia! Oh, Mistress Leia!" Threepio called out suddenly. He waved his arms in excitement. "We have a transmission."
"What? Oh," Leia tried to not be irritated with him for interrupting her concentration. She frowned, "We aren't supposed to be contacted again for another week."
"Oh, my," Threepio said very primly as he listened to the comlink. "Captain Solo is on his way to visit. He should arrive tomorrow."
Leia was torn between excitement and dread. Whatever was that pirate doing? The last she'd heard, Han was planning on leaving the Alliance and they hadn't parted on good terms. But the prospect of seeing another human again cheered Leia up. Until she remembered how grubby she looked, that is.
The foreboding feeling was now much worse.
~~*~~
"You call this a vacation spot?" Lando asked half to himself.
Han Solo looked warily down at the murky planet outside. When he'd told the General that he needed to talk to Leia, this is not how he'd planned it. To find that Leia had never gone to the rendezvous point at all and that getting a message to her would be difficult had been even more irritating.
The busy bodies in charge had at first told Han and Chewie that they would have to travel on board a cruiser that delivered Leia's supplies. Leia had left strict instructions that the exact location of Dagobah was not to be given out and all transmissions were to be brief and encoded. Han and Chewie had complained loudly, while Lando tried to be persuasive. Despite the emergency, it was finally decided to have the cruiser escort the Millennium Falcon.
And this was the remote planet that Leia was supposedly taking a break from her duties. Even Chewbacca didn't like the look of it.
Though he would never admit it, Han was grateful that the cruiser was out there. The cruiser had supplied the small shuttle they were in and there was no way Han would ever take his Millennium Falcon down on his ball of mud.
The landing was rough, but the beacon Leia had set up led them to a relatively firm bit of dirt wide enough for a ship. Only half of the landing struts sank in the mud. There was little daylight and it was drizzling mournfully outside the windows.
"I thought they were crazy when they said Leia didn't have a shuttle down here," Han grimaced as the cockpit's windows began to fog up. "Now I understand why."
Lando nodded, "Hopefully, the princess will be ready to leave quickly, or they'll have to send another ship after us." Lando flattened himself against the wall as Chewie squeezed past him.
Han suddenly stopped by the hatch and turned back around. "Lando, I want you to understand that acting smooth and suave ain't going to impress Leia. She's a princess, not some floozy who can be flattered by a few fancy words."
"I understand perfectly," Lando answered and looked up when Chewie growled that he wasn't going out there in the rain.
Han took a deep breath and keyed the hatch open. The two of them stepped out into the muck and their feet vanished into the mist clinging to the ground. They had nothing to protect them from the rain and under the nearest substantial tree they could see a light.
Once under its meager protection, Han stared at Leia in shock. "You look like a drowned sqwee."
Leia rolled her eyes, "I already know that, Han."
"Han, you scum!" Lando admonished him and quickly took Leia's hand. "Your highness, I am Lando Calrissian. It is an honor to make your acquaintance."
Lando bowed to her with a roguish smile and would have kissed her hand if Han hadn't hauled him back.
Though irritating, the two men's comments to her didn't really make her angry. Leia had actually expected worse from Han. She had to struggle not to laugh at his friend's attempts to keep the mud off of his fine clothes.
"What are you doing here?" Leia asked in mild exasperation.
Han sobered. "We need you to come back, now." Then Han's voice and expression became softer than Leia had ever seen it, "Luke has been captured by Vader."
At first, Leia could only stare at him. She couldn't breathe and she couldn't think. An awful coldness swept through her and memories of her own capture by Vader began to unwillingly replay in her mind. With a shudder, Leia regained control of herself.
"Most of my camp in still packed up. We can be in space within an hour."
Leia turned briskly around and stopped short. Yoda was sitting on a low branch directly behind her.
Yoda's eyes were half closed as he looked at her, "You must not go."
"Master Yoda," Leia began to try to placate him. "He is my friend and I am one of the few members of the Alliance who knows how to-"
"No!" Yoda smacked his stick against the branch. "Complete your training, you must! Not your place to decide Luke's destiny."
"You knew?" Leia accused in a half whisper.
"Leia," Han interrupted. "What-"
"Quiet Han," she told him and then glared at Yoda. "You knew, didn't you? Somehow you knew that Luke was in danger and you didn't tell me? Vader will kill Luke!"
"No," Yoda shook his head. "Wants his abilities, wants to train Luke in the dark side."
"Even more reason to go," Leia's mind was made up. With her head held high, she marched back towards her camp. Han and Lando followed her uncertainly and Han kept looking suspiciously at the tiny troll.
"If you go now, you will fail!" Yoda yelled at her.
Leia's shoulders stiffened, but she kept walking.
~~*~~
Millennium Falcon
~~*~~
"Are you happy I decided to stay?" Han gave Leia a smirk.
She was sitting at the game table in the Falcon's common room. A stack of data cards about what all had occurred while she was on Dagobah were scattered about. This was the first opportunity that Han had to talk to her since she'd come onboard. She'd spent hours in the ship's 'fresher. Han leaned against the bulkhead and waited for her to answer.
Leia didn't bother to look up from her reading. "I'm sure Luke is grateful, not to mention General Rieekan -"
Han rolled his eyes. "I asked you," he said pointedly.
"I haven't decided if it's worth the trouble, yet." Leia pushed back her long hair over one shoulder. After weeks of having no choice but to keep it in a bun, she'd gladly let down.
Han was flabbergasted. "Not that again! We already argued about this back on Hoth, Your Worship!"
"I have no reason to believe you will actually stay. You can't seem to make up your mind and I'm tired of worr-"
Leia shut her mouth instantly, cutting off her last word. But it was too late, a huge self-satisfied grin was spreading across Han's face. He stopped leaning against the wall and took two lanky steps toward her. Leia stared determinedly at her data pad.
"Why don't you give me a reason?" he said quietly.
Leia resolutely ignored him and her hands clenched her data pad tightly. He walked closer until he was standing over her. Leia visibly stiffened as she anticipated his next move. Before he could place a hand on her shoulder, Leia slid along the seat out of reach.
"I have a lot of work to do, if you don't mind," she told him in her coldest and most princess-like voice.
Leia instantly regretted it. Han reacted as if stung and out of the corner of her eye she saw his face flush. Leia turned her head slightly to let a strand of her hair fall back in front of her face. She didn't want Han to see her fight to control her expression.
"Well, so long, Your Holiness!" Han snapped.
Before he could turn to leave, Leia answered in an almost defeated tone, "Could you please not call me that?"
Han seemed to consider this for a moment before agreeing, "Sure, if you'd answer my question."
Leia sighed and put one hand to her temple. Han took a chance and slid into the curved bench seat beside her.
"Come on, admit it, sometimes you think I'm all right."
"Sometimes," she said with a little smile.
Leia gave him a searching look and out of habit more than anything else, began probing him with the Force. Her relief at sensing Han was genuinely concerned and truly serious was almost overshadowed at once when she realized what she was doing. It didn't seem fair to Han to use the Force on him, even in such a minor way.
She broke eye contact with him and looked down. Leia jumped when she saw that he had taken her hand. Leia had been concentrating so hard she hadn't noticed. But she noticed now and felt her face grow hot.
To her dismay, Han pushed a lock of her hair back over her ear so he could see her now very pink face.
"What are you frightened of?" Han asked in a hoarse whisper.
One of Yoda's many lectures came back to her. Fear is of the dark side.
"If," Leia began forcing herself to look at him. "if I gave you a reason, I'm afraid you would still leave."
An expression of relieved comprehension spread across Han's face. He gave Leia a real smile this time instead of his usual array of smirks. Slowly, so not to startle her Han bent close to her face. Leia briefly considered fleeing, but decided she would rather find out if Han was really going to kiss her. Besides, he still had her hand trapped in his own.
"We've reached the... oh, excuse me," Lando said with a very fake look of apology.
If looks could kill, Lando would be dead. Both Han and Leia glared at him absolute fury. Then Leia sighed and pushed the anger away. Blaming Lando for irritating them was pointless.
"What is it?" she asked.
Lando was still fighting not to grin, "We've reached the rendezvous and we just received a message that Lord Vader has not taken Luke to the Imperial City. One of your generals would like to speak with you, Your Highness."
"Thank you, Lando," Leia said kindly and left for the bridge quickly.
Lando was smiling broadly after her, "Did you hear that? She called me by my first name already!"
His smile faded somewhat when he saw that Han was still glaring silently at him. Lando cleared his throat. "Yes, well. I truly apologize for bursting in like that. I assure you it wasn't intentional, Han old buddy."
"You do know how to use the ship intercom, don't you?" Han nearly growled at him.
"Ah," Lando said cautiously and began to back into the corridor. "I'll be sure to remember that next time." And with that, Lando darted back to the bridge.
~~*~~
End part 5
I love feedback! I never hold readers hostage with demands for reviews - that is just cruel. However, reviews do help encourage (i.e. guilt trip) me into writing new parts quicker! :)