Review:

obaona: obaona reviewed MY fic! (dies from happiness) I love you! I haven't reviewed any of your stories under this name, but still! I love you! Thank you for reviewing.

Eek. I hope I didn't come across as a stalker.

Chapter 3

"Luke, Luke, help me!" Saera cried out for him as the hungry birds cornered her, intent on pecking her to death then eating her soul.

"No! No, Luke!" Luke was trying to come through to help her, but the birds turned on him, pecking out his eyes. He drowned beneath their feathers and suddenly she was drowning too. Her chest was heavy, she couldn't breathe.

And then she was sitting as an old lady, looking at a picture of a young Luke and sobbing. Her hands turned to ash when she reached up to wipe the tears and they burned her cheeks like a hot, hot fire--

Saera gasped and sat straight up on the bunk, touching her burning cheek.

"Stop that, don't touch it," a voice she couldn't quite place soothed her. "Just relax, lay down, and I'll fix you up." An image she'd been thinking about a bit then filled her vision, that of Glynn Torshnar.

"You're the-the pilot?"

"Shh, you should rest. And I need you to stay till so I can apply this salve."

"But--what happened?"

Why don't you tell me? I found you slumped on the ground in an alley near the Mos Eisley Cantina. "Suddenly her memory came back to her.

"Oh!" she gasped. "I was following a-a lizard man, you know, with the big teeth and tails. He was taking me to a hotel...should've asked the lady at the desk...led me into the alley, more lizards and a green bug, with knives...I fought...too strong..." She started getting excited, wanting to know how he'd found her.

"Shh, stop it." He pushed her gently onto the bed again. "I've already told you all that I know. And really, I had just dragged you back to the Gaellia when you started screaming about some guy Luke."

"Oh, sorry about that." She averted her dark eyes, embarrassed. "Wait, why would you help me!"

"Hey, it's not like I haven't got a heart!" He protested, making her feel a little silly. He took a gentler tone. "I guess I just happened to walk past at the right moment and saw you laying there...you could've been there for a while."

"Yeah," she agreed, but her mind was on the fact that he had walked past. Someone, something, wanted her to ride on his ship. There was no other way to explain it. She didn't dare to trust the meetings to chance.

Taking a business-like, yet friendlier tone than she had earlier that day, Saera apologized.

"Mr...Torshnar. Uh, I would like to thank you for your kindness and apologize for the way I acted yesterday. It was very immature and not respectful at all."

Taken aback, he followed suit. "Thank you--I mean...yeah. Sorry for how I acted, too. I mean I was having a bad day, but that's no excuse. I shouldn't have taken it out on you."

"No, it was my fault."

Not wanting to make eye contact, he suddenly remembered the salve he had been trying to apply to her cuts.

"Hold still."

She obeyed and warm hands touched her cheeks. What they carried burned, but she realized it was a good, tingly burning of antiseptic and something else, presumably a bacta concentrate.

"How many cuts do I have?"

"Three. Wrist, stomach, cheek. You didn't lose too much blood, though; they aren't very deep, just long. And I don't think you'll get scars with this paste."

Glynn moved to her wrist with the same burning stuff, and she studied his face. He had beautiful eyelashes, the kind she'd always wanted instead of her stubby little ones. And she could see now that his dark red hair shimmered with highlights. His nose was straight and not that large, his chin square but not terribly so. His mouth was down turned as he concentrated on medical attention to her.

"This may hurt more, it's longer than the rest. Saera closed her eyes and there was a great burning on her stomach. But the image of Glynn's perfect eyelashes was imprinted in her mind.

Luke's hardly been dead a couple of days and I'm already looking at other men!

She felt terribly guilty and was suddenly pained by the memory of the last time she'd ever seen him. This was it, she'd told herself, she was going to confess her love. But then his friends had turned up. She couldn't tell him in front of his friends, they'd laugh for sure! She remembered his last smile at her and gasped out a sob.

"Sorry, did I hurt you?"

She gave Glynn a weak smile. "No, no, I'm fine."

There was a sudden loud beep. "What's that?"

"Comm radio. I'm finished here, you should get some rest. I've got to answer that." He put down the salve on a little table in a corner and walked out of the room. Saera watched him go, resisting the urge to comment on his butt to herself.

Glynn left the guest room somewhat confused by his entire encounter with Saera. What had just happened in there? Well, besides patching up her wounds and filling each other in on the accident. At first she seemed somewhat distressed, then cheerful, then all distressed again. He wondered if her really had hurt her with the salve. Oh well, she'd needed it anyway.

Glynn pressed a large red button on the comm terminal. A picture of a light-haired woman he occasionally conversed with filled the screen.

"Glynn?"

"Hey, Taria, what's wrong? You only ever call me when there's trouble."

"Too true," she said wistfully. "This time it's big trouble. You'll never guess what I just learned: Alderaan has been destroyed."

"What?"

"Destroyed. Completely obliterated. Blown to bits. No one on the planet survived."

"How? Why? Who told you?"

"A 'friend' of mine." He knew by that she meant a rebel, but it was just so unsafe to say so on open transmission lines.

"Well, how'd it happen?"

"They say it's some sort of battle station...a death star." She looked around and lowered her voice. "They also say it's already been destroyed in the Yavin system. And that it was some kid from that planet you're on, Tatooine. By the way, good job picking an out-of-the way place, I had a hell of a time trying to find you," she said, irritated.

"Great. Whatever. Tell me more."

"Oh yeah, the kid's name is Luke Skywalker, new hero of the Rebellion."

Luke? Aw that name must have a thousand owners. But how many on Tatooine? It was worth checking out.

Glynn grilled her for the next couple of minutes on the details of Alderaan and the Death Star. Yes, it was Imperial. No, she didn't know if there were any survivors of the station, and so on. After getting all this information and ending the call, Glynn sat in his pilot's chair, contemplating what he's been give.

Even if it's not the same Luke as Saera's, she'll still want to know about Alderaan and the whole situation. I know I would. Well, there's only one way to find out if she knows a war hero.

Glynn got up and walked to the guest quarters.