Weaving through the second of two braids on either side of her head, Tess Naberrie left her bedroom with a yawn. Her meditation must have been paying off because her stumble had finally become more of a walk. Her body still felt heavy to carry so strolls on the fields would be a bit much, but for now, being able to walk around the house was enough to make Tess proud of her progress.
Han was already up, sipping caf and scrolling through a data pad.
"Morning," Tess greeted. She crossed to the pantry for a ration bar. Normally, she only ate one of those when there was nothing else on the Falcon, but now there was a sort of nostalgia attached to them.
Tess planted herself beside Han, reading over his shoulder about cheaper alternative devices that could replace a hydrospanner.
"Something wrong with the ship?" Tess asked with a mouth full of ration bar. Han shook his head.
"Nah. Just always open to suggestions for improving her." There was a sort of bitterness in his voice, as if she had struck a nerve. Han was a bit sensitive sometimes when it came to the Falcon. Tess thought it best to drop the subject.
"Is Leia still sleeping?"
"She went out early," Han informed her. Tess sucked in her cheek with impatient frustration.
"She's been doing that a lot," she observed. "Alliance business?"
Han's face indicated that Tess asked just the right question to discover yet another change that occurred while she was unconscious. He had to make that face quite a bit these past few days.
"It's the…uh…New Republic now," Han said. His voice was low and he looked like he was subtly bracing himself for impact. Tess' jaw dropped.
"We did it?" she gasped. "We really did it?"
"We're not out of the woods yet," Han reminded her. "There are still rogue Imperials fighting back and commanders and officers trying to rein in a group of buddies to restore the Empire, but as of about a month and a half ago, the New Republic is the new galactic government."
Han tapped through his datapad for a moment, then handed it to Tess to read.
(I swear, this is the actual excerpt from the Declaration of the New Republic. Sound familiar, fellow Americans?)
WE, THE BEINGS OF THE GALAXY, IN ORDER TO FORM A FREE UNION OF PLANETS, ESTABLISH JUSTICE, PROVIDE FOR COMMON PEACE AND PROSPERITY, AND TO SECURE LIBERTY FOR ALL BEINGS; DO ORDAIN AND ESTABLISH THIS NEW REPUBLIC. LET THE STARS SING! LET THE PLANETS SHOUT! LET THE REPUBLIC BEGIN!
As this excerpt from the Declaration of a New Republic was read at the Constitutional Convention, not one being could keep from cheering. The Alliance to Restore the Republic—commonly referred to as the "Rebels" or the "Rebel Alliance"—formed six years ago when the Corellian Treaty was signed. Their goal was to restore a government similar to that of the Old Order. After dealing a devastating blow to the Empire, the Alliance emerged victorious, propelling a great portion of the galaxy into celebration.
The New Republic's several collaborative branches include a civil government, an advisory council of seven Alliance government representatives, a cabinet, allied commands, a military, and Chief of State Mon Mothma.
Tess went on to scan through the list of New Republic founders with her finger.
"Leia isn't mentioned," Han interrupted, knowing exactly what Tess was looking for and saving her the time.
"What?" she exclaimed. "But—Leia's been there since the beginning! She's dedicated her life to the Alliance for six years!"
"It's a long story," Han answered quickly, pushing himself to a stand.
Tess' jaw locked tensely as she met his eyes. "Why can't you just tell me that it's because I had to go and throw myself into a coma?"
"It's not your fault!" Han shot back.
Tess stood up to meet his level as much as her short stature permitted. "Well, excuse me for noticing that our entire world has been flipped upside-down while I was asleep!" She was fuming. "And no one will tell me how I got away from Zkab, why I was in a coma, or why I've been smuggled away to an old Dantooine cottage like an unconscious fugitive!"
"Listen, kid," Han spat, taking Tess by the shoulders. "Besides maybe the carbon freezing, when that purple-haired bastard dragged you away, that was the scariest moment of my life. Or at least I thought so, until what happened afterwards. And you know what, scratch the carbonate—that was a blue milk run compared to this. Believe me when I say that you are lucky as hell that you don't remember, because your sister and I are going to have nightmares of that day for the rest of our lives."
Teeth clenched in stubborn indifference, Tess shook Han's hands off her shoulders.
"No matter how hard you try to keep it from me," she told him with a steady glare. "I'm either going to find out or I'm going to remember. Whether I find out from someone I love and trust is up to you and Leia."
At that, Tess turned towards the front door. Han rushed ahead to stand in her way.
"Where are you going?" he demanded.
"To find my sister."
"No. She said not to let you go out on your own."
"Oh, really?" Tess laughed. "I thought you guys broke up. It's pretty sad that you're still doing everything she tells you to do."
Han gave her a look that clearly said he was on his last threat of self-restraint before slapping that smirk off her face. He had to take a deep breath, then took Tess by the wrist and started dragging her towards her bedroom.
"I answer to your sister on the subject of you, and only you," Han said gruffly. "Because if you haven't noticed, kid, she would give her life for you."
Tess grabbed onto the door hinge like a child throwing a tantrum, but Han ignored her.
"Correction," he added, finally pushing Tess into her room and slamming the door behind her. "Leia has given her life up for you."
Tess threw one powerful bang at the door with both of her fists. She tried the knob after hearing Han leave the doorway, but it was locked from the outside.
Pacing furiously back and forth, Tess contemplated using her lightsaber to cut a hole in the door. It didn't take her long to realize that would be like a toddler running out of their time-out corner just to get dragged back in. She instead crossed to the 'fresher, which fortunately was connected to her bedroom. She ran cool water in the sink, then looked in the mirror at her dripping face. She brought a hand up to touch one of her anger-hot cheeks.
She let out a bone-chilling scream at the sound of the blaster shot. Zkab slapped Tess hard on the side of her face, then roughly grabbed her under the chin. Her jaw bone felt like it could have crushed in his fingers. Tears in her eyes, Tess slowly covered her tender cheek with her hand as Zkab dragged her out of the hangar.
Tess stumbled backwards and ran into the half-open 'fresher door, sending her sprawling flat on her back. She vigorously scooted backwards until she hit the end of her bed. Her hand had not moved from her cheek.
She heard the sound of Han running into the door full-speed before he remembered it was locked. The locks clicked and Han came barreling in. It took him a moment to notice Tess on the floor, and another moment for her to get any words out.
"I'm fine," she reassured him. "But I…I think I remembered something."
Though that clearly worried him, Han's main priority was to get a medpack from the 'fresher. Tess shook her head.
"I told you, I'm fine."
Han ignored her. It wasn't until he urged her to take her hand off her cheek that Tess realized her hands were singed. Han winced, looking at the side of Tess' face.
"You got your cheek, too," he told her. That explained why she thought she could still feel the slap there. Han started wrapping up Tess' hands. By how, he could probably do it blindfolded. "So it happened when you remembered? The lightening?"
"It was more of a flashback," Tess explained softly, still trying to understand it all. "I was washing my face, and then all of a sudden it was like—I was—back at the hangar where I thought you got shot. I screamed. Zkab slapped me, then grabbed me like this." Tess demonstrated as best as she could on her own jaw. "And that was it."
"Nothing else?"
Tess shook her head. She examined her burns with a frown. She had started to think maybe the coma had knocked the lightening out of her.
"I don't remember the lightening," she admitted. "I guess it was just there for the flashback."
Han was listening to Tess and nodding, but he wouldn't look at her. She was beginning to wonder if he and Leia were right. Maybe it would be better if Tess never remembered what happened on Teyr.
Following the remote with her eyes as it moved around the room, Leia Organa whipped her self-constructed blue lightsaber up to block one last blast.
"Good!" Luke encouraged his sister through portable holocom. Leia disengaged her lightsaber and turned the remote off. She shook a tingle out of her hands after pocketing her weapon.
"It's heavy."
"You get used to it."
Leia took the portable holocom off the workbench and let herself slump to the ground of the Jedi Temple ruins. Some walls still held up, but it was mostly in shambles. The Force energy was undeniable, though, even for a novice like Leia.
"How is she?" Luke asked, referring to Tess.
"She's recovering well," Leia informed him with a sigh. "She can walk around the house without too much trouble. And she still doesn't remember anything."
"Do you want her to remember?" Luke asked carefully. Leia pinched the bridge of her nose.
"I don't know…" she confessed. "I know I don't want to tell her myself. But…"
"But what?"
Leia bit her lip. "I can't help but be afraid she'll have to relive it if she remembers on her own. Moment by moment, every feeling, every…" The princess voice trailed off for as second. "Who's to say that won't put her back in that dark place? What if this time she can't come back from it? But if I'm the one to tell her…I don't know…maybe it would prepare her for remembering."
Luke just nodded, showing no opinion on the matter through his expression.
"Why did you ask me to start training you in the Force?"
Leia hated when Luke followed her emotional outpours with a question he already knew the answer to. Regardless, she smothered her frustration and answered.
"So I could understand Tess. Protect her, maybe. Make her feel like she can actually talk to me so she doesn't bottle everything up inside."
Luke nodded. "You love Tess, and you want to help her. But you must find your own place in the Force, too."
"Luke, stop," Leia interjected. "Stop talking to me like I'm your apprentice." Her eyes started to well up with tears, but she didn't let them fall. Her voice softened to a small plea. "I need my brother right now."
Luke's expression modified just a little. He was silent for a moment.
"I'm sorry," he told her sincerely. He couldn't bear to see her sad. Even just looking at her face through the holocom allowed him to feel her pain from planets away. "I'm worried about Tess, too."
"I want to believe that," the princess admitted. "But you left after Endor—after Tess found out about the Emperor—right when she needed you the most. You heard what they did to her on Teyr…and what she did. You still stayed on Tatooine. I gave up my position in the New Republic to stay with her. That was my dream! Kriff, Luke! I had just broken up with Han and even he cared enough about Tess to give up his life and make sure I didn't go crazy watching my sister just lie there lifelessly for two whole months!" Leia was crying shamelessly by now. She glared into the holographic replicas of her brother's eyes. "Han and I were both there when Tess woke up. Where were you?"
Luke didn't have an answer suitable enough to be verbalized. Leia stood up, portable holocom in hand.
"Don't try to contact me again unless you have something to offer besides Force metaphors and predictions of misfortune."
On that note, Leia turned off the portable holocom and stomped out of the ancient ruins of the Jedi Temple.