Chapter 12

I can see there's so much to learn.
It's all so close and yet so far...

"Strangers Like Me" written by Phil Collins

(Off of Disney's Tarzan)

Even though he had the advantage of the Force, he was tired after his journey and his rush to find who he had been sent to locate. The combination of these facts had allowed his senses to dull somewhat. It did not help that he was being forced to breathe in large amounts of smoke. All thoughts of heroism had long since fled his mind, turning the fight into a matter of survival. He could not understand why the Trooper was not trying harder to kill him. All of the blows since the initial one had seemed more intended to injure than to kill. 'Why would he opt to injure me instead of killing me?' he wondered idly. His blocks were getting weaker; the blows he was deflecting seemed more forceful; he knew he had to end this, before he was killed himself. In a last desperate attempt to put an end to the fight, he aimed for the Trooper's neck, leaving himself open for injury to his side and mid-section. With the stroke that ended the Trooper's life, Luke himself found that he had obtained a wound on his side. Checking it briefly, he knew he had to get out of here, but he could not just leave the person he had defended to die. He managed to get her out, but glancing back, saw his lightsaber. Confused, he looked at the one in his hand. This one was different, not much, but he knew that it was not his own. Grabbing his, still holding the one he had found, he stumbled to the exit, only to be surrounded. He knew that he could not defeat all of them, injured as he was, especially since he had barely been able to defeat one of them. He looked around quickly, hoping that the creature he had rescued had managed to get away, but there it was: barely breathing, being restrained unnecessarily by one of the Troopers. Sighing, he decided that he did not have the strength to get away, so he would bide his time, regaining his strength, before attempting to escape-'hopefully I can get this creature out safely, too…'
Lonny threw himself into his efforts to save all three of them, but the youngest appeared to be getting weaker, instead of stronger. Sadly, he realized that he may very well lose this one. The other two, at least, had not gotten any worse, though they had not improved, either. All three were still unconscious, but alive; for that he had to be grateful. He leaned over and dribbled the last few drops of water he had onto their lips, hoping to coat their throats enough that they could breathe a little better in the semi-dry air. Water was precious, necessary, a rare commodity, but he had used most of his canteen to clean off their faces a little and tried to coax some of it down their throats in his efforts to save them. Now, as the last drop landed on the youngest one's lips, he realized that it had been a long time since he had had any to drink for himself. He could not return to the village to get more since he did not know if they had left yet or even if the well had survived intact. He would just have to wait until nightfall and hope for a miracle…
AN: I have been having troubles with getting my chapters to load on the site. As a result, since I am past my planned update, I intend to load more than one chapter this time around. Enjoy!

JadeAlmasyand LVB: Thanks!

REV042175: Sorry if I took too long! (See above.)

seenthelight: Do you have a problem with my work, or the site in general? (I have tried your suggestions for spacing, but it simply won't accept them... Sorry, Evil Twin...)

okanabe: The whole idea of this story is that Luke and Leia are siblings, but they aren't twins... ;)

Altril Narmolanya: Oh? How are we similar? -genuinely curious look- Anyways, some of the POV's are deliberately vague... If they weren't, the story might not flow quite the same way. (In a later chapter, I have a complete section that I wrote -in the middle of the chapter-, but seems to simply fit in at that spot... At the time I wrote it, I wasn't deliberately setting out to write it; it just happened, and now I am glad of it...although it does seem to be pretty vague at first, I think it flows, so I left it... Occasionally, I might have a sentence or two that doesn't seem to fit, but it will all make sense later, I promise.) As for description, I originally wrote it to be somewhat vague, and am currently working on a possible sequel. Due to requests, I am attempting to fill in some of those little 'holes' as I go... Enjoy! (I hope.)

"Friendly Banter", part 3:

JCPuzzler: YOU ARE -SO- EVIL! How -dare- you accuse sweet,
innocent, little ME of being the cause of YOUR evilness! -glares
at accusation, hoping it will melt away- I am most certainly NOT
evil! -tears in sweet, innocent eyes- How could you? -lower
lip quivers in sadness- I am sweet, innocent...angelic... -halo
shining brightly, just above head- Now look what you have done!
You -looks at you- made -sniffles- me -a few tears escape, rolling
silently down cheeks- CRY! -cries-sniffs-

Arami: No more evil than you, my angelic being. Oh, do my eyes deceive me or is your halo tarnished? Tears are not of innocence though but that I would state the obvious truth. -grins/laughing...- Such false pretenses seem below you somewhat, what would the Great Abra think of your "innocent tears and quivering lip, hmmm?" My dear JCPuzzler, there is no method to your madness.