"Well, this is it," Anakin said, wringing his hands. "The moment of truth. Time for us to see whether or not it was worth the thirteen thousand credits. Time to sink or swim, kid, sink or swim," he said absently, patting Han on the shoulder.
"No pressure, of course," Leia smirked. "Nervous?"
"Sweetheart, nervous isn't even in my vocabulary," Han drawled. "I've done this a million times, each time better than the last. You really think a little trip to another dinky rock is gonna change that?"
Han checked his calculations, preparing the ship for takeoff. Padme reached out for Anakin's (human) hand, seeking comfort in his firm grip. He gave her a reassuring smile, wishing he could believe it himself. Luke was actually excited for once; even in his Jedi career, he had never gotten the adventure he craved.
"Here we go," Han muttered, and with a soft humming the ship came to life. Looking out the cockpit window, the Skywalkers just managed to glimpse the rocky terrain of Tatooine leaving them behind as the Falcon lifted itself off the ground. Han let out a whoop of excitement; two pairs of chocolate brown eyes did a full circle roll. It was a smooth flight at first, but things started going wrong as soon as they were in the vast star-speckled blackness of space.
"Will you be taking her up to lightspeed now?" Padme asked.
"Yup," Han replied mechanically. "So long as the hyperdrive doesn't cop out on us. It has a tendency to do that," he offered as an explanation to a confused Padme. "But it looks like it should be fine. Just let me calculate this, and…"
Other than a slight clunking sound, nothing happened. "Darn thing's busted…I'll be right back," Han added as he left for the back of the Falcon. "Chewie, you're coming with me." The Wookiee howled, and it must've meant yes, because he followed Han as they left for the rest of the ship.
"I'll take the controls," Anakin offered. "After all, I'm a pretty decent pilot myself. Too bad the ship I have wasn't big enough for all of us, otherwise we wouldn't have had to pay all that money," Anakin chuckled to himself, "or put up with our, ah, captain, if you will."
There was silence. Luke fiddled with his belt, trying to get the lightsaber into a more comfortable position for sitting down. Leia stared wistfully out the window, wishing she could only be meditating or practicing with Master Itho instead of waiting for the hyperdrive to work again.
Padme was leaning over the back of Anakin's seat with her hands on his shoulders, watching him with a serene smile on her face. It was one of the few moments alone, well, almost alone that the couple had in a long time, and she intended to enjoy it. "This brings back memories," she reminisced. "You and me, going to Naboo, you always protecting me…" She massaged the back of his neck and shoulders, her mind going back to the days when they'd first fallen in love.
"You might not want to do that, Mom," Luke teased, "Or else Dad might fall asleep behind the wheel and send us hurtling into a supernova." Padme laughed softly, a melodic sound amid the silence of space.
"I wouldn't do that!" Anakin yelled in mock outrage. "I'd send us hurtling into a planet. Much more entertaining that way," he joked. Luke and Leia laughed; Padme smiled and shook her head.
All of a sudden, the Millennium Falcon tilted unexpectedly, causing Padme to tighten her grip on Anakin's shoulder. Anakin grabbed the controls calmly and fought to keep the Falcon in balance. During this time there were several strange noises; Leia and Luke strained their ears to try to catch what it was. At last the shaking stopped, along with the muffled sounds.
"What do you think it was?" Leia asked, concern on her face.
"We must've entered a small asteroid field," Anakin stated matter-of-factly. "The little ones banged up against the sides, causing the Falcon to tip. We just felt the effects more because of the way she's designed. There isn't any real damage, except for a few scratches, and she wasn't exactly gorgeous to begin with."
"That's not what I meant," she replied, more nervous than ever. "I kept hearing these strange noises. It's good to know everything's okay, but still, I really need to know what the sound was. Han's still not back yet, and I might just be being paranoid, but that doesn't seem like a good sign."
Leia got up and walked back to the area where Han had been working on the hyperdrive. "That's odd," she murmured to herself. Han was nowhere to be seen. Chewbacca was still working on a part of the ship, and Leia was about to ask him where Han was, until she heard the sound of a man's voice, weak with pain. Someone was giving Chewie directions on what needed to be done.
"That oughta do it," he said. Leia followed the voice to across the room, where at last she saw Han. He was slumped awkwardly against the side of the Millennium Falcon, his left hand clutching a spot on his right arm. His face was contorted into a grimace; Leia gasped, seeing dark red blood on his hand. "What are you doing here?" he asked when she approached him.
"I was worried about the noises I kept hearing, so I came back here to check it out," she said while kneeling down beside him. "And I'm glad I did. Your arm looks terrible! It must've happened during the asteroid field," she reasoned, more for her own benefit than for Han's.
"It's just a scratch," Han protested.
Leia pried each of his fingers away from the spot, one by one; Han was proving to be as stubborn as she was, refusing to let go. At last she could see that the injury was a small puncture wound, caused by a tool that had undoubtedly flown through the air and into his arm. "Just a scratch?" she said, raising her eyebrows. Despite Han's constant replies of, "I'm fine, really," Leia proceeded to rip the sleeve of her Jedi robes into several bandages. Wiping the blood clean of the affected area, she grabbed onto the silver end of the tool and pulled.
Han winced; the pain was incredibly sharp, but his arm had stopped throbbing and it was beginning to sink in that Leia had not only helped him out, she wasn't afraid of a little (or a lot of) blood. "There we go," Leia said, tying the bandage around his arm tenderly. Surprised by her sudden compassion, he was almost sorry that it was over.
"Well," Han said, smiling despite his injury. "Looks like I was wrong about you, Leia. At first, I thought that anyone with your emotional capacity surely must be a droid. Perhaps you're human after all. Thanks."
"Thanks?" Leia laughed. "I was expecting more smart remarks from you. I think you could've done much better than that droid line. In fact, I'm almost disappointed."
"Oh, how I hate to disappoint you," Han replied with a smirk. "If we're lucky, maybe this bandage will hold until we get into hyperspace, which shouldn't be more than a few minutes."
"Oh, come on, like you could tie a better knot than that," Leia challenged.
"You're right," he agreed, surprising Leia (and delighting her as well). "We better get going. Chewie fixed the hyperdrive just in time, right as we reached the best route to Coruscant." Han pulled himself up with his good arm, then fell back against the wall; Leia offered him her arm, and at last he managed to stand.
The two of them made their way into the control room, Han still clutching her arm for support; Padme raised her eyebrows but remained silent. "I hate to take away your authority, Master Skywalker," he said as he moved to take his seat back, "but the hyperdrive's just been fixed, and I'll have to send her into lightspeed right away if we want to get there on time."
"Just when I was having fun," Anakin teased, pretending to pout.
Once again Han took over the controls. "Make sure it's all working properly while I make the jump," he yelled to Chewbacca, who gave his usual response of howling unrecognizably. Han flipped a switch, shouted, "Here we go!" and suddenly they were zooming into a tunnel of blue and white, burning like fire.
The family was speechless, eyes locked onto the view; but Han was focusing his attention somewhere else. He was watching Leia as she gazed into the brightness of hyperspace, brown eyes wide with enjoyment. The colors outside of the window were dancing on her face, making her look like something from a painting. Maybe he wasn't so crazy, Han thought, thinking she was beautiful.
But then they were at their destination; for once Han was almost sorry to be on time. The magic was broken, and he was still staring at the side of her head, a soft smile threatening to break out across his face. "What?" Leia snapped, noticing where he was casting his gaze.
"Nothing," Han shot back as the glorious planet of Coruscant came into view.