Author's Note: For disclaimers, see the first chapter.

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Leia woke with a start, clutching Teddy to her. At first she was horribly disoriented – where was Luke? And where was her bed, for that matter?

But then she remembered where she was, and snapped to full alertness. Her gremmel was telling her that someone was coming down the corridor towards the room where she was concealed.

Her gremmel was what she called the little guy who lived in her head and told her things and helped her do stuff. Like when Luke tried to sneak up on her, the gremmel would tell her. The gremmel also helped her get things from across the room without getting up, and she was fairly sure her n'visible trick was her gremmel friend's work.

Lukie had a gremmel, too, but his slept a lot, and he didn't really know it very well. But Luke had been the one to give the gremmels their name. He liked big words, and when Mommy had called him a little gremlin, he'd repeated the word (in his altered version) to Leia, who'd adapted it for the gremmels.

But anyway, her gremmel said there was somebody coming. She was starting to get homesick, and at this rate she might miss her birthday cake and presents!

The door opened, and a "big boy" stepped inside. He must have been at least ten! He was looking around for something, but when he saw Leia he stopped. "Who are you?" he demanded.

"I'm Leia," she said, putting her "dorable" look on, as Mommy called it.

"Why are you on this ship?" the boy asked sternly. The dorable look didn't seem to affect him much.

"I wanted to fly in space – cause it's my birthday," Leia said, hugging Teddy. "And now I want to go home!"

The boy looked at her for a long moment. Then he sighed. "Okay, kid, stay in here and stay out of sight. When we land on Alderaan I'll smuggle you off, but after that you're on your own, okay? Maybe you can stow away on another ship heading back the way you came. What planet did you come from, anyway? We've stopped at at least five on this trip."

She just looked at him.

"Planet? Like…um, the stars are suns, which have systems of planets around them?" At her blank look, he sighed. "Where do you live? Do you know the name of the city?"

"I live with my Mommy and my brother Lukie…Luke," she corrected, hoping that made her seem more grown-up. "And Ben. We live in a big city, but I don't know what it's called."

He sighed again. "Sith. Well, I'll give you directions to the government part of Alderaan's capital. I'm sure they'll help you find your family, or at least give you a home on Alderaan. But while we're in space, you keep out of sight. The captain is not a nice character, and you don't want him to find you."

At the door he turned around again. "You must have had a reason to stow away in the first place, besides just wanting adventure, kid. Weren't you scared?"

She looked at Teddy, then back at him. "Because I was mad at Ben, and because I love space. I've always wanted to fly on a ship, and fly a ship myself. So I wanted a 'venture, and today's my birthday so I decided to make one." Then she came out of her reflective mood, and glared at the boy. "And my name's Leia, not kid."

His eyes had softened at the space-longing he heard in her words. "Okay, Leia, I'll see you soon. Keep out of sight." He got halfway out the door, then turned one last time. "Mine's Han, and you'll be fine," he said, giving her a cheerful smile before disappearing.