Chapter 9

Time passed ridiculously slow. Han, Jacen, Anakin and Chewbacca brought lunch trays to Leia and Jaina, who were now sitting cross-legged on the bed and talking in quiet voices. The family gathered onto the mattress together, holding each other and exchanging comforting looks. Chewbacca stood by the window, swaying occasionally from side to side.

"Is it ever going to end, Mom?" Jacen asked, after silence had passed for a good while. His voice sounded sleepy, and Anakin yawned, stretching his feet. He accidentally kicked Jacen's shoulder, where he lay across his father's lap. "Ow!" he growled, and Anakin muttered an apology.

"I don't know, sweetheart. I wish I did," Leia replied sadly. She glanced at her watch…it had been over five hours since the surgery began, and she had been correct about the post poning of it due to the short circuiting droid.

Han eventually blew out his breath in irritation, and slid Jacen off of his lap. "I'm goin' to check things out," he announced, and Leia frowned at him.

"I wouldn't recommend it," she told him, feeling extraordinarly exhausted. The only reason she could think of that made her feel so drained, was the fact that she was not connected to her brother's Force energy. That, and the enormous amount of crying she had done.

"It'll be fine, Leia. It's been pretty long." He kissed her cheek. The kids, who normally made groans of disgust when their parents showed signs of affection to each other, were too cranky and miserable to say anything. Han slid off the bed, and motioned with his arm for the wookiee to join him.

They just reached the corridor, when Han noticed Threepio waddling towards them. The droid was practically bouncing as he walked, his hands raised. "Oh, Captain Solo! Master Luke's surgery is nearly complete!"

Han stared at the droid and blew out his breath, relieved. He was surprised Leia hadn't sensed it, but then again, Luke had gone through a pretty traumatic experience with the first medi droid. That, mixed with the effects of the anesthesia, probably was a prominent point.

"I believe he is going to pull through just fine, sir. Though the medi droid is a bit concerned with Master Luke's temperature."

"Might be having a reaction to the anesthetic," Han muttered, cursing quietly to himself. "Thanks, goldenrod. I owe you one." He continued walking to the med center, his heart racing. He couldn't believe how their vacation was turning out. Not that he could blame Luke entirely, though the Jedi Master's stubbornness had gotten the better of him again.

Luke, Han thought to himself, really does put a whole new meaning on the word impossible. He reached the med center at last, and peered through the glass window. The kid would probably Force choke me if he knew I was here, he thought with a bit of amusement. Luke still lay on the operating table, though the medi droid was in the midst of stitching him up. Splatters of blood covered the robot, as well as the table and the floor.

"Please, kid," Han begged. "You have to pull through this. And not just for Leia," he added, "or for the kids. But for me, too." He touched the door, wanting to sit beside his friend, but sat down on the bench instead. "Life just wouldn't be the same without you, junior." He sighed, fiddling with the sleeve of his shirt. In his mind, he could see the towheaded youth and the old man approaching him and Chewbacca for the first time in the Mois Eisley Cantina. Luke had been so innocent then, so young and nervous, but clearly anxious to get out and see the galaxy.

"What's the cargo?"

"Only passengers. Myself, the boy, two droids. And no questions asked."

"What, are you guys in some kind of local trouble?"

"Let's just say, we'd rather like to avoid any…imperial entanglements."

Han sighed, remembering when his primary focus had been paying off his debt to Jabba the Hutt. He'd only accepted Luke and the old man onto the Falcon, because they'd promised him seventeen thousand…double his asking price. "And yet," he thought aloud, leaning against the wall. "If I hadn't met Luke, I wouldn't be living the life I am now. I wouldn't have a beautiful wife and such wonderful children." He smirked. "So Luke's gone and tricked me. Instead of his owing me, I probably owe him several more debts." He folded his arms, and glanced at Chewbacca, who had been silent the entire time.

"What are you lookin' at?" he asked, and the wookiee gave a snuffle of laughter.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm talking to myself, I know." He sighed. "I'm tempted to break in there. This wait is what's killing us." He cleared his throat and stood, scratching the wookiee's side. Chewie gave a low rawr, which sounded more like a rumble, and Han grinned.

"You said it, Chewie." Han stood. "Well, not much we can do around here. At least Threepio told us he was doing okay."

Chewie gave another low rawr, and Han rolled his eyes. "Yeah, seriously. But even if he is obnoxious, Threepio's always truthful." He led the wookiee away.

Around dinnertime that evening, Threepio waddled into the mess hall, where the Solo family sat eating. "Master Luke is ready to come out of the med center," he explained, and Leia, without even a second glance at her family, leapt up from her seat and dashed out of the room. Han set his fork down, looked at the twins, Anakin and Chewie, and gave a snort.

"Can we…" Jacen began, and Han shook his head. "Let your mother go alone, Jacen. She'll call us when it's a good time." He ruffled his eldest son's hair, receiving a very faint smile.

Leia reached the med center, just as the medi droid was rolling Luke out into the hallway on a clean stretcher. Luke was still unconscious from the anesthesia, though he was dressed in a very thin nightshirt. "Pardon me, Miss," the droid announced, and Leia stopped him.

"That's my brother," she told him. "I'll take it."

"He has a fever that worries me, Miss. I am going to have to administer an IV drip with antibiotic substance until he begins to come to."

Leia nodded. "All right, but I'm still coming with you." She touched Luke's hand, realizing how hot he truly was. "Oh Luke," she breathed. The walk to Luke's quarters seemed to take even longer than usual, and she used the Force to lift him into the air and to move him over to the bed.

"Very impressive in deed, Miss," the droid told her, rolling over to the side of the bed, and Leia hurried over to help him administer the IV fluids. Luke stirred ever so slightly as she eased his body under the covers, and she smoothed his sweaty bangs away from his eyes.

"He will get through this, won't he? I assume the surgery went well enough?" she asked, sitting down on the mattress.

"I am most certain he will get through the recovery period, Miss, though the fever is a bit too high for my liking. Normally, we would administer a fever reducing tablet, but as he is unconscious, an IV drip is the best we can do."

Leia nodded in understanding. Luke, sweetheart. She spoke to him through their mind speech. She still couldn't feel him yet. Well, she was starting to get just a bit of a tremor in the Force, but not the full blown feelings of love and peace she normally received.

"How long will he have to be on bed rest?" she added, holding onto Luke's arm, so the droid could slide the needle into a vein. Again, Luke stirred ever so slightly at the pinch, but it was more of a body twitch than anything else.

"Approximiately twenty two days, miss."

"Oh boy," Leia breathed, raising an eyebrow. No doubt that would seem like torture to her brother, who always seemed to need to be moving. She hoped that once he woke up from the anesthesia, he'd not want to do much more than sleep. He would certainly need as much rest as he could get, that was without question.

Once the IV was set up, the droid told Leia to call for him if Luke had any complications. She thanked him, and went to fill a bowl with cool water from the small bathroom in Luke's quarters. Sitting down on the side of the bed again, Leia began to gently blott her brother's sweaty forehead and cheeks, bending down to kiss his forehead softly.

Leia. He was still in utter darkness, feeling deathly cold. He hadn't seen proper light for hours, and felt his body weakening as a result. He could hear, or thought he could hear, his sister's voice. Leia…where are you? He tried to swallow, but his mouth was so dry.

As Leia continued to sit with her brother, she could have sworn she heard his voice in her head. She blinked, peering down at his still-sleeping form. Her hand was holding tightly onto his, and she could very slowly feel warmth starting to creep into it again.

Luke, sweetheart. I'm here, baby. I'm right here.

Leia…he could see the light now. It wasn't very bright, but it was coming from a distance. He reached his hand towards it, vaguely feeling it's heated energy.

Luke. It wasn't Leia this time. "Mother?" he squinted, seeing an unfamiliar figure gazing at him. She was exactly as Leia had described her…beautiful, but sad. She gave him a very tiny smile, her long, dark curls blowing around her shoulders. Luke.

"Mother…" he reached for her; could feel her hand touching his. It felt so smoothe, and the touch caused his body to tingle.

"Goodbye," she told him, and Luke couldn't understand.

"Where are you going?" he asked, as the light grew brighter.

"Where I can continue to watch over you. Go back to your sister, darling. Goodbye."

Goodbye.

Luke, are you waking up? Luke? Can you hear me?

Can you hear me?

Leia felt her breath catch in her throat as she saw her brother's eyes flutter, and watched as they opened very slowly. "Oh Luke," she choked, pressing his hand against her lips. He turned towards her, his eyes dull.

"Leia," he croaked. "I saw her," he added, and Leia stared at him.

"Saw who, sweetheart?" she asked, smoothing his cheek.

"Our mother." His voice was so weak, that she could barely hear him. She gasped…Luke had been close to dying, then! She lay down beside him, wrapping her arms around his body. He relished in her being close to him, feeding off of her Force energy. He closed his eyes, trying to get used to breathing with the artificial lung. It didn't seem much different than his old one, though he didn't feel the need to cough quite as badly.

"Leia," he whispered, and she stroked his hair.

"I love you," she told him. "Stars, Luke. I don't tell you that often enough. I love you so much. I love you." She kissed his forehead, and he touched her hand.

"I know." He gave her a faint smile.

"You shouldn't be talking," she added quickly. "You need to rest. I'm going to go and tell Han and the kids that you're awake, but I don't think you'll be able to handle seeing them yet."

Luke wanted to see them. He wanted to see his family, and told her so. "Are you sure?" she asked, and he nodded.

"Not for very long tonight, but I think I'd like to see their faces." He took another breath, and she nodded.

"If that's what you want, Luke, then I'll get them. They'll be so relieved. We've been worried sick about you all day." She wasn't sure if she wanted to mention the short circuiting droid to him just yet. Maybe when he's more awake and less feverish, she thought, adjusting the compress on his forehead. He smiled at her, watching as she hurried out of the room.

She fell into Han's arms as soon as she found her husband, and the twins hugged each other, as well as Anakin. "The kids have a confession to make," Han told Leia with a smirk. "Tell her, guys."

Jacen and Jaina blushed, looking at each other. "We said," Jacen began, "if Luke got well, we'd never be bad again."

Leia had to chuckle, covering her mouth with her hand, and Anakin nodded in agreement. "Never ever," he told her.

"Oh dear," she smirked. "I'll have to believe that when I see it." She winked at them. "But Uncle Luke wants to see all of us. However, even though he's awake, he's not feeling very good. So we're going to have to be very quiet when we go in, okay?" she asked, and the children nodded.

"Is he going to be okay? Truly?" asked Jaina, as she and Jacen followed behind their mother. Han carried Anakin, and Chewbacca followed behind the twins.

"I'm sure he will be just fine now," Leia told them. "The medi droid has him on an IV drip to help bring the fever down. He'll have to be on bed rest for two weeks, though. I really don't want to go back to Coruscant until the first bulk of the recovery period is over, Han. I don't think I could bare going back and knowing he might need me."

Han smiled at her, adjusting Anakin on his hip. "Then we'll stay as long as we need to, Leia." She kissed him, grateful for once to hear the twins give "Ewwww's!" of disgust.

When they reached Luke's room, Threepio had just waddled in with Artoo behind him. Luke was talking to the protocol droid in a quiet voice, and when Threepio stopped, he turned around.

"Uncle Luke!" Anakin cried, and Leia placed her finger against her lips in warning for him to be quiet.

Han let Anakin down to the ground, and watched as his youngest son dashed for the bedside. Luke held out his hand for Anakin to take, and smiled faintly as his nephew kissed him. Jacen and Jaina joined their brother, and began talking at once.

"We said we'd be good all the time if you got better!" Jaina explaind, and Jacen added, "We're gonna take good care of you, Uncle Luke!"

Leia wrapped her arm around Han's waist, and felt him squeeze her arm gently.

"Don't crowd him," she warned, and Chewbacca gave a snuffle.

"Does it hurt much?" Jaina asked, noticing the scar down her Uncle's chest. Luke adjusted his body more comfortably on the mattress, cringing.

"Just a little bit, love." He whispered. "I can't talk much," he told them. He glanced at Han, who gave a single wave.

"Hi Han," he whispered, and Leia urged him to go towards Luke. Han awkwardly took Luke's hand, and gave it a squeeze.

"Good to see you awake, Junior."

Luke managed a small chuckle. "I'll never grow up for you, will I, Han?" he asked, and Han snorted.

"Not in my book, pal. But yeah, I think we have to have a talk when you get better. Was thinkin' about some stuff, and I just…I guess I owe you several things." He winked, and Luke smiled at him.

"You don't owe me anything, Han."

"Well, let's go and let Uncle Luke rest," Leia broke in, and the kids groaned.

"Awww, Mom!" Jacen whined.

"Jacen, you Uncle isn't feeling well right now. Maybe in a day he'll be up for more chatter, but he has to rest." She came over, and planted a kiss on her brother's lips.

"Leia, go and rest yourself," Luke told her. "You've been sitting with me all day and worrying."

Leia raised an eyebrow. "All right," she agreed.

"Goodbye, Uncle Luke," the kids told him in unison, and Luke gave a weak wave.

"Goodbye," he told them, and watched as his family disappeared through the double doors again. "I love you," he added, before drifting back to sleep.