Leia's TIE fighter made it to Tatooine. Barely.

She had set her coordinates for the planet's capital, but her alarms had been sounding before she even entered the system. She was low on fuel, her hyperdrive was failing, and her overall power was running out. She diverted most of the power from her deflector screens to her engine and altered her course to the closer city of Mos Eisley. Even still, it was only just enough.

She half-landed, half-crashed in the outskirts of the city, a little too close for Leia's comfort but in the end she hadn't had much of a choice. As soon as the dust cleared she unlocked her seatbelt and tried to climb out of the cockpit, but it seemed like all of the clips, buckles, and braces that were intended to protect her now seemed to be preventing her from escaping. Finally she succeeded in freeing herself and she climbed to the top of one of the fighter's wings and looked around.

If she stood on her tiptoes she could just see the domed roofs of Mos Eisley in the distance. She suddenly realized that she looked too much like an imperial officer and she quickly removed her jacket and let it drop. She carefully unwound the braids on her head so they hung loose, and ripped the imperial insignia off of her sleeves and tossed them into the fierce desert wind. Her sudden anonymity briefly caused her to panic. Even on Imperial Center her environment had been very tightly controlled. Food, water, shelter...she'd never had to search too hard for anything. For the first time in her life, Leia was going to truly be on her own; she knew she couldn't use her imperial connections without attracting attention. For a moment she fought against the pathetic but overwhelming desire to drop her shields, call out to her father to come get her, cry, and beg for forgiveness. But deep in her heart she knew that she had gone too far; her relationship with her father was irreparably changed, perhaps ruined. She had to keep going.

She leapt down off of her TIE fighter and made her way towards Mos Eisley. As soon as she entered the settlement she felt like she was being watched. She furtively glanced around but didn't see anyone overtly watching her; but the feeling persisted the further she walked into town. She must have still looked too alien to the city. She ducked into the nearest trading post that she saw, and after a quick exchange and a few credits she walked out of the shop dressed in a sand colored tunic, brown pants, and a matching cloak. A few more discreet credits bought the shopkeeper's silence and directions to the nearest cantina. When she got to Chalmun's Cantina she had some serious doubts about her ability to find a pilot to take her to Yavin 4, but the shopkeeper had insisted that some of the best pilots could be found there.

Inside it was hot, dark, and noisy. She squinted as her eyes tried to adjust to the light. A band of Biths were playing a lively tune. Moving inward, she was astounded at the variety of species in the bar. Sure, she had seen beings from other planets while she was in the Senate, but that was always from the safety of her own pod. Now she felt...exposed; her senses were flooded with more smells, sights, and languages than she could possibly comprehend. She spotted a group of rough-looking humans on the far side of the bar. Corellians. They were known for being ace pilots and, more importantly, reputed to be very good at flying under the radar.

She tried to make her way over to the Corellians, but the cantina was very crowded and she had to elbow her way through. In the crush she accidentally stepped on someone's foot and she honestly wouldn't have stopped to apologize if a hairy hand hadn't reached out and grabbed her arm. Hard.

She turned to face her assailant. It was a...well...Leia wasn't really sure what he was. He had a bald head, fur around his jaws, large round eyes, and two enormous tusks that covered much of his mouth. His breath also stank. She'd certainly never seen anyone like him. Behind him was a stocky looking man who looked like he might have been human but at some point had ended up on the wrong side of a knife and now he bore an uncanny resemblance to a rodent. The creature holding Leia's arm was talking rapidly in a language that Leia didn't know.

"He doesn't like you." His companion explained.

"Okay." Leia said, unimpressed. She jerked herself free and turned back to look for the Corellians. The rodent-looking man reached around his friend and grabbed her arm again.

"I don't like you either. I saw you walking into town earlier. We don't hold too well with Imperials around here."

"What makes you think I'm with the Empire?" Leia asked coolly. Her hand slowly moved towards her lightsaber. The man didn't notice.

He scoffed. "Lady, I'm not stupid. Or blind. Your face has been all over the HoloNet all day. Wanted by the Empire."

Leia felt herself go cold. "Excuse me?"

The man leered at her and pulled out his datapad. Sure enough, there was Leia's face with the words "WANTED BY LORD VADER" written above it.

And a two million credit bounty listed below it.

The man tucked his datapad back in his pocket. "Now, this says that he wants you alive, but he didn't specify in one piece. So are you going to come quietly, or are we going to have to make you?"

Leia answered by igniting her lightsaber and swinging. One of the alien's hairy arms suddenly fell to the ground with a lifeless thud. There was instant chaos as the two bounty hunters shrieked and the rodent-looking human pulled his companion out of the bar. A few of the cantina patrons screamed and tried to escape, but after a few moments the majority of them seemed to collectively shrug their shoulders and then returned to their own affairs.

Leia deactivated her lightsaber and clipped it back on her belt with some difficulty. Her hands were shaking.

He had put out a bounty on her.

That explained why she'd felt like she was being watched. Every bounty hunter in the galaxy would be after her for that amount of money. She looked around, but nobody else seemed to be paying her any attention. Yet. She had to get out of there, she knew there was no chance she hadn't already been tracked to Tatooine. She needed to keep moving and she needed to move fast. She turned around to slip out of the cantina…

...and ran right into a Wookiee.

She slowly looked up at the Wookiee with dread. They had a reputation for being both capable of and willing to rip the limbs off of humans, and Leia vividly remembered Luke's stories from his time quashing rebellions on Kashyyyk. Her hand automatically went back to her lightsaber, but this Wookiee just looked down at her with a quizzical expression. He picked Leia up as easily as if she weighed nothing and put her down a few steps away and brushed off her shoulders. She relaxed a little bit. "Sorry." She said slowly.

The Wookiee harrumphed and shrugged his shoulders. She looked at him closely. Her Shyriiwook was decent thanks to her time in the Senate, but she was still relieved that the Wookiee seemed to understand Basic, even if he couldn't speak it. "I need to get to Yavin 4." Leia said in a low voice. "Quickly, and under the radar. Do you know a pilot that can get me there?"

The Wookiee gave a gruff grunt and nodded to his left. Leia followed his gaze to a human male sitting in a booth in the corner. "Him?" She asked.

The Wookiee nodded. He got up and made a gesture that clearly meant he wanted Leia to follow him. She stood, and followed him to the table. The Wookiee sat down next to the human and uttered a series of soft, poignant grunts. The man looked at Leia skeptically.

"Han Solo. I'm captain of the Millennium Falcon. Chewie here says you're looking for passage to Yavin 4?"

Leia nodded. "Yes, if it's a fast and clean ship. No registration, no affiliation with the Empire or any of the major trade guilds."

Solo grinned. "What, some kind of local trouble? You look a little young to have gotten involved in anything too serious."

"Let's just say I'd like to avoid any Imperial entanglements." Leia said smoothly.

"That's always the trick isn't it? Then it'll cost extra. Ten thousand. All in advance." The pilot shot back.

"If you get me there without anyone knowing, I'll give you twenty. Now, can you do it or do I need to keep looking?" Leia trailed off as she looked around the bar and realized that that her options were looking increasingly slim.

Solo winked and put his hands on hers. Leia stiffened at the casual contact. "Relax, sweetheart, you got yourself a ship. Meet me in docking bay 94 as soon as you're ready to depart."

She jerked away from him. "I'm ready now. And don't touch me."

"Whatever you say. So do you have a name, or what?"

She hesitated for only a moment. "Padme. My name is Padme."