Where Am I Going To?

Part Three

Chapter Five

He'd actually been hiding his presence for quite some time, standing there, absorbing the occupants of the room. Tension, excitement, a twinge of fear swiftly crushed by a sense of honor. They sat rapt, listening as Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar and General Madine all finish the run down of the basic idea of why they were headed to Endor.

It was a crazy idea. But it had to work.

Everyone was here, really. The other leaders of the Rebellion were standing behind the speaker, eyes closed, nodding, maybe praying, probably thinking. Squadron leaders, intelligence officials – Oh, there was Wedge! And Lando, and Chewie, and everyone else. Everyone was here.

Leia was here.

Strange, he found that…he didn't regret any of it any more than he already had. He wasn't more depressed because there was nothing more to be depressed about. He'd already given Leia up long before now. The fact she was his sister really changed nothing. Well, no, it changed everything. But not this.

He already had to swallow hard when he looked at her. He already had given up any sort of dream and let her run to Solo when she was in a rare mood to be romantic. There was nothing more to lose, nothing more to gain.

Things were different. But not this.

He still loved her, and he always would. Well, maybe not like that, especially not like that, not anymore. But he'd already known that. She was still his dearest friend and he loved her and-

He had to get off this topic.

"General Solo, is your strike team assembled?"

Strike team? Luke raised an eyebrow, shifting his weight against the door, slowly working his presence back into the room. He was in no hurry to be seen yet, but he felt the opportunity of best advantage would be soon.

"Uh, my team's ready, I don't have a command crew for the shuttle."

Chewie rumbled, and Han smiled weakly at him. "Well, it's going to be rough, pal. I didn't want to speak for you. That's one."

"Uh, General? Count me in."

Luke let the façade drop, looking happy and somehow somber all in the same moment as he called, "I'm with you, too!"

Heads turned briefly in his directions, almost surprised they hadn't heard him coming. But that was nothing new. Leia was grinning, and they rushed to embrace each other as the meeting now began breaking up. He held her at arm's length for a moment, smiling sadly, his blue eyes flickering against the bright whiteness of the room.

Leia blinked, puzzled for a moment by the expression on his face. It was sad, but that didn't really cover it. It was both less and more all in a moment.

He'd never looked at her that way before.

And yet she knew it wasn't with any sort of romantic intention, and squeezed his arms lightly, asking, "What's wrong."

He kept up that melancholy smile, briefly cupping her face in his hands. "Nothing. Nothing at all. Never again."

"Luke-"

"Luke!" Han had clapped him on the back, and he turned, grinning to the smuggler. But his eyes still looked so…heavy. Like he was carrying some massive burden on his shoulders and in his eyes.

"Hi, Han," he whispered. He seemed unable to speak above a whisper, not withstanding his briefly raised voice a moment before. "Chewie," he nodded with a smile.

"What you been up to?"

"Nothing, I suppose. Just look at you, General Solo. Who would have guessed four years ago?"

"We wouldn't have guessed a lot of things four years ago."

Luke paused, swallowed, nodded. "No. I don't suppose we would have."

…

"I've got the transport ship all started up, where's Han?"

"Talking with Lando," Leia responded, idly pulling on her camouflage robe.

"Talking with Lando?" Luke responded, sprawled indolently in the pilot's seat. He was used to these kinds of ships, had even been allowed to fly them on rare occasions between the Executor and wherever he had to take them. Not the nicest of things, nor his personal choice, but they served their purpose. Initially, there'd been talk of letting him fly it, but he and Han both agreed it was unwise. Han wasn't exactly a nobody in the Rebellion, but he could make it much harder to be noticed by an Imperial Officer than Luke ever could. "What for?"

"The Falcon," she explained, handing him his pullover. He wriggled into it, yanking it over his head.

He stared at her for a moment before his eyes went wide. "He's not."

"He's not what?"

"Letting Lando take The Falcon."

"Well, I suppose he is. That's what it sounded like."

Luke stared, jaw agape. "You're kidding!"

"No, why would I be?"

"Han hates when anyone so much as touches her."

"Well he can't use her today. And she was Lando's ship originally…."

Luke closed his jaw, staring off and shaking his head, trying to comprehend it.

No, we wouldn't expect some things four years earlier.

Han came up the ramp, looking very much more down to earth than in his normal moods. "You got her all warmed up?" he grunted, and Luke stepped out of the chair.

"Yeah, she's coming up."

"Alright, then." Chewie was taking his seat as co-pilot, grumbling. "No, I don't think the Empire had Wookies in mind when they designed her, Chewie."

…

"Now we find out if that code is worth the price we paid."

Leia shot Luke a worried glance, and he grimaced, shrugging. All the codes had been switched around. It hadn't taken too many people to realize or piece together or whatever that only someone deep inside the Empire could use the security codes Luke had used to sneak his way into Coruscant.

A few people privately thought that the former Imperial Prince might have had something to do with it.

New codes were going up most everyplace, though he was given to understand many were still the same. But not with the second Death Star. They were taking absolutely no chances this time, and Luke really couldn't blame them. When Han had transferred the code, it had left Luke completely baffled that they'd even come up with something like that.

He knew better than anybody – the Empire left nothing to chance.

"It'll work," Han reassured, almost more for himself than for anybody else. "It'll work."

The Super Star Destroyer they'd commed slunk by them as they made their slow way dancing in wait for the shield to be taken down. There was a sudden feeling of fleeting cold about Luke, giving way to a familiar emotion with no sort of temperature at all. He quivered, sank in his seat, and immediately recognized The Executor.

Oh Force…

He sucked in a shaky breath and whispered, "Vader's on that ship."

Han stoutly denied that, but Luke didn't know what he said, as he wasn't really listening. His eyes were drawn to the ship below, entranced. His father's presence called to him, enticed him, the way it hadn't done since he was Imperial Prince.

He loved his father. He was pulled to him. And he knew quite well that such a feeling was very dangerous.

"I'm endangering the mission," he murmured more to himself than anyone else. "I shouldn't have come."

Leia took his hand and he glanced up at her, gulping, eyes wide. And for a fleeting second, she had to agree with his assessment of the situation.

For a fleeting second…had she felt it?

I have got to keep her away from him.

And Luke didn't know whether he could or should stay or go, was right or wrong. But they were suddenly given clearance, and there was nothing, for the moment, to do but go. And so they went. And Luke was shaking in his boots.

If he'd felt Vader, Vader had felt him. There was no mistake about that.

…

"Should we try and go around?"

Great. They didn't have any time, and there were troopers standing right in their path. Tons of Rebel soldiers, enough of them high ranking to make it a very proud catch, and they couldn't move. Luke pressed his back against the log, eyes shut tight, trying to remain calm with the breath he drew.

"It'll take time. This whole party will be for nothing if they see us."

"That's for sure," Luke agreed with Han, slowly flipping over to see the troops.

"Chewie and I will take care of this. You stay here."

Luke and Leia looked sharply in his direction, certain he was crazy. But there was no stopping Han once he got an idea into his head, and all Luke could think to say was, "Quietly! There might be more of them out there." In fact, he was sure there were more of them out there.

"Hey," he grinned with a shrug. "It's me!"

And off he dashed, leaving the other two to share a look of extreme reprehension. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of."

To Be Continued…

Urgh, my internet broke down so it's taken FOREVER to finally get this chapter up. I like the beginning, but the rest isn't quite what I had in mind. Oh well.

Tap Dancing Widow: Yeah, it's not terribly fair, is it?

Snowgurl54: Thank you.

Stephanie C: Oh, don't worry, I'll explain that!

Spirit White: Oh, thank you so much That's all so kind.

Schnickledooger: The first one I'd written before hand and didn't have time to post. The other two I wrote that day.

Madame Naberrie: No, it's okay, I was hoping people'd get a big laugh out of that.

Meresger: Oh, did he? I was trying to go for detached. But thank you very much, I really appreciate the criticism. It helps me work the next time I have to do that sort of thing.

Jedi X-man Serena Kenobi: Thank you.

denique: Thank you