"What about the kids?" Leia asked.
"They are better off with Wedge for a bit longer. I will call Wedge and let him know what is going on. I will also tell him that if they get too out of control, or upset to bring them back here." Han paused for a moment, looked her in the eye and said, "Don't worry, Sweetheart, I have everything under control. You just take care of yourself, sleep."
"If you are sure." Leia said, knowing that sleep would ease her mind's worries as well, and make the time go faster.
"I am." Han kissed Leia's forehead. He then turned and left, first going to make sure the door to the guest room was closed so that Arielle could get some sleep undisturbed, and then he went into the main room of their quarters.
Han sat down, putting his head in his hands. The Kid managed to get himself into trouble again. It was getting to be quite a record. Han just hoped that his injuries weren't as bad as last time. Last time was awful. It had taken Luke four bacta trips to recover. Those Imperials were lucky that Luke had been in such bad condition, otherwise he would've stayed until he had gotten every last one for what they had done to Luke.
As Han sat, musing in dark thoughts, the comm. Unit raised the alarm, someone was calling. "Yeah, Solo residence, Han speaking." Han said.
"Captain Solo, I am Doctor Alin from the Med center."
"Yes Doctor." Han said, suddenly alert.
"It seems as though Jedi Skywalker has been able to use some Jedi techniques, he is doing a whole lot better." Dr. Alin said. "We are almost to the point where Bacta can do nothing more for him."
Han was relieved, Bacta could do a lot for people. "Now I am not saying that he is completely better yet, because he is not. He will need to be on virtual bed rest for one week and then heavy rest for another two weeks." Dr. Alin cautioned.
"Thank you. When are you taking him out of the Bacta, my wife and Arielle will want to be there."
"This evening, about 2000 hours. I would like to eke every bit of good out of the bacta as we can."
"Understood, thank you for everything Doctor."
"Just going my job, Coruscant Med Center out."
"Solo out."
Now came the hard part, deciding whether or not to wake Leia. Han decided he should walk her up. After all, he would want to be woken up. Plus, since it was good news she would be happy.
So he walked to their room and woke her up. "Lei, Dr. Alin called."
Leia was up instantaneously. "And-" she said, when he paused to see if she was awake or not.
"Luke is doing better then expected-" Han put up his hand to stop her from saying anymore. "The doctor said that Luke will still be on bed rest for a week, then restrictive reg. But he will taken out of the Bacta tank tonight."
Leia clapped her hands together out of joy. "That is great news, let me go wake Arielle and tell her."
"See if you can get her to say how she knows Luke." Han called to her.
"She is an 'old friend' from Tatooine." Leia said, turning around so Han could see her smirk.
Leia rushed off and awoke Arielle. Han heard excited squeals coming from the guest room. "Good." Han said, he had taken an instantaneous liking to the girl. She was calm, level headed. If she and Luke were an item, she would be good for him.
Han really wanted to press her and find out whether they were or weren't an item, but knew right now was not the time. When Luke was better he would push the issue.
Right now Han went to start some Kaffe… on the other hand, why do we have a droid taking up space and eating my head. "C-3PO." Han called.
"You called, Captain Solo, incidentally, how is Master Luke."
"He is going to be just fine." Han said, being uncharacteristically nice to the droid. "Can you please start a pot of Kaffe."
"It would be my pleasure." C-3PO said.
Han was amazed, here was a conversation with Goldenrod where goldenrod did not completely bore him. But then, C-3PO started up. "Kaffe is good when one is upset a mild stimulant is good. I will be sure to put some soothing herbal textures in there as well. The history of Kaffe-"
"Professor, I don't particularly care for the history of Kaffe. What I do care about is having a pot of Kaffe ready." Han said, his voice dangerous.
"Oh, right, sir, right away." Threepio scurried away as quickly as he could.
Just then Han's stomach grumbled. "Kaffe on an empty stomach?" Han thought.
He went and programmed the food processors to make a big breakfast for the three. Then he changed it to for twenty, Chewie should be in shortly.
"Kaffe is ready." C-3PO said, tottering into the dinning room a little later. "I noticed that the breakfast is ready too."
Han noticed that C-3PO was carrying all the dishes to the table. "Thanks, professor." He said, grudgingly. Then he called out. "Leia, Arielle, breakfast."
"Coming." The girls said, happily.
Arielle and Leia came in a few minutes later and joined Han at the table. "You both look very relieved." Han said, letting his own relief show through.
"Definitely." Arielle said. "Definitely." She repeated, breathing a huge sigh of relief.
"Luke had better have had all the fresh air he needs, because I am going to have him under surveillance all the time." Leia said.
Han laughed, "I am sure right as he remembers what happened, he will be expecting that."
"Speaking of people who need constant surveillance, what about the kids? I am sure they felt my emotions." Leia said. "How are they holding up."
"I just talked to Wedge. Wedge said they had been up almost constantly while we were at Berenda, and they have just fallen asleep. Lando went over to help Wedge, because he knew that Wedge would need the help. So between Wedge and Lando they have it under control. They are going to bring the kids here once we call them to tell them that Luke is home."
"Good." Leia said, relaxing. If the kids had been up all night they would sleep for a good many hours, giving all the adults involved time to assess the situation.
"What time, exactly, are they going to take Luke out of the Bacta tank." Arielle asked.
"2000 hours. Don't worry, I am planning to have us there much in advance." Han answered.
"That is a lot of time." Arielle said, worried a bit about how it would pass. Whatever the Doctor said, she knew that she would worry until she saw Luke's conscious face.
Compassion filled Leia's face. She knew that her own pain paled in comparison to this girl's. Leia had, after all, had had more time with Luke. Arielle had come back to Luke just to find him in this state.
She put her hand on Arielle's shoulder. "He will be fine, he has to be."
Arielle, leaned into her hand a little more, hold it together, Ari, she may be Luke's sister but you still don't know her well enough to cry in front of her and her husband. Still Arielle gratefully drank the warmth from Leia's touch, the comfort.
Leia saw the girl's hesitance to let all her emotions out and gratefully took on the responsibility of making Arielle relax until it was time to go see Luke. Leia sat down and finished her meal as best as she could on wrought nerves.
"All right, Arielle, finish quickly." Leia ordered Arielle who had just been picking at her food. "We are going to go see. Gnik eht fo nruter in the Cineplex. I am going to get us seats." Leia named the longest as well as the most engaging movie that was playing. It is really great luck that this movie is both. .
"Leia, I think I will pass." Arielle tried. "I don't think I am in the mood… You and Han go."
"No, if and but's or whats. We need to get our minds distracted."
"I am going to stay here to manage the com." Han said.
"All right." Leia said.
"I can manage the com." Arielle tried.
"No. Han knows the people who would call, and knows which would be important enough to forward to me right away." Leia said. "Get dressed, we are going."
"All right." Arielle said, realizing that this was not a battle she could win. "But all of my clothes are on my ship."
"No problem." Leia said. "Let me get ready, then we will go to the Cineplex via your ship."
Leia also stopped off at the comm. Unit and asked the manager to arrange for a way for her and a friend to watch the film without being hounded by the holoreporters.
She also called to clear a path for them to go to Arielle's ship. She didn't want anyone trying to judge her actions of going to a film while her brother was in the medcenter, or to risk her saying something she would regret later.
Leia put on an outfit quickly and them headed out to the main area where Arielle was waiting. She had a long cloak ready. "It was tied around my waist." She explained, telling the truth but not offering any more information as to why she had it with her at all times.
"Let's go." Leia said. "You don't need the cloak, if you don't want it. I have called ahead and had our route cleared." At Arielle's questioning look she explained. "I don't use the influence if I don't have to, but in this case I felt it would be best for all of us."
"Good, it is too warm anyways." Arielle said, as she took it off and went to put it away.
"Just leave it on the chair." Leia said. "Threepio will move it later, or it will be there when we get back. We have to hurry if we want to make the beginning."
"Bye Han." Leia called. "Remember-"
"-call me if anything changes, don't worry I know." Han interrupted. "You two go."
Leia and Arielle left. Han sat himself in the form-fitting chair, trying to let the comfort of the chair calm him. He had done a good job of burying his emotions behind a façade of calmness with Leia and Arielle, but now that they were gone, all the emotions were coming crashing back.
He ran an anxious hand through his hair. It would do no one any good for him to crash now. Leia was taken care of, as long as she had someone else to mother, something to do she was fine. Arielle was in good hands. The kids were in good hands. Chewie was concentrating on flying. Luke was… well, not conscious. The only person left to take care of for Han was Han.
But before Han could think about how to calm himself without the Falcon to work on, the door opened. Han craned his neck and saw Chewie come in. "Furball." He said with relief. "Come and sit."
"Luke will be out of Bacta at 2000 hours. Leia has taken Arielle out to the Cineplex in hopes of getting both people's minds off of Luke."
Chewie growled a query. "No, we don't know exactly how Arielle is yet. I felt it wasn't an appropriate time to ask either Leia what she knows, or Arielle herself. We are just going to have to wait until Luke is better."
Chewie asked "So Leia does know something more."
"Yeah, I do think Leia knows more then she is telling. After all, she was with Arielle for longer…. Listen, I am going to go to the Falcon, I need to work off some frustration. Can you keep an eye on the comm. Center for awhile, mainly for any news about Luke. The receptionist droid shouldn't let any call in unless it is an emergency."
"What about the fact that few people know Wookie."
"I will be back soon. And the people who call now should know Wookie." Han said, standing up slightly regretfully, the chair really was comfortable.
Chewie took Han's chair. "The Falcon is in the big docking bay." Chewie said, as he settled in.
Han went to the Falcon, he installed a new weapons shield and took care of some scoring from the battle. He furiously worked and worked out a lot of his anger, frustrations, and insecurities.
Finally his chronometer's alarm went off, telling him it was time to get back to the suite. He had sent his chronometer of 1900 hours so he would be back before Leia, and could get the report from Chewie first and appraise the situation.
"Chewie, anything?"
Chewie growled a negative. "No."
"Good." Han said, deciding in this case no news was good news. "I am going to the refresher to get cleaned up. Leia and Arielle should be back in 15 standard minutes."
Han came back 10 standard minutes later clean and fresh. Arielle and Leia came in a few minutes later. "How was the picture."
"It did get my mind off of Luke." Arielle said, awed. She hadn't thought it would, but had gone long because she knew she had no real choice.
"I am glad." Leia said, sincerely, "Our positive energies help Luke more. Worrying would just have hurt him."
"Um.. Arielle, this is Chewbacca of Kashyyk, Chewie, Arielle."
Arielle bowed, knowing the Wookie's strength could crush her arm.
Chewie bowed back.
That done, the four looked at each other wondering what to do. "Let's sit down and wait." Chewie finally said, sitting down himself.
Leia, Arielle, Han, and Chewie sat for a few minutes, but then Arielle said what was on all of their minds. "Let's just go early and wait there if we have to." She stood up.
The other three stood up in a hurry, relieved that they were finally going to take some action. They went to the medcenter where the staff, who were star struck to see the Chief of State in their office, rushed them into a private waiting room just adjacent to the Bacta removal chambers. "You think they'd be used to us coming in here." Han said to Leia, amused.
"Sadly enough, true." Leia said.
A medidroid came and said, "The Doctor is with Master Skywalker in the Bacta removal chambers, checking Master Skywalker's vitals and seeing if he is ready to be removed. The doctor has instructed me to tell you that you may come in if you wish."
"We would." Leia said, gracefully.
They stepped into the big Bacta removal chambers. They saw other family members clustered around tanks where other doctors were checking vitals. Some where out of the tank, their gurneys being climbed on by excited children. Here people were too much involved in their own problems to care that the Chief of State had just walked in. The medidroid led the group to a Bacta tank in a secluded corner. The doctor paused his work for a moment to bow to Leia. "Madame Chief of State, Captain Solo, Mr. (AN-I can't remember SW honorifics) Chewbacca, Madam."
"Doctor," Leia said, inclining her head gracefully.
The doctor then turned back to the Bacta Tank, but said, "Everything looks right for Bacta removal. Most of his injuries have been healed. He probably will be weak for a few days, though."
The doctor did not wait for any reply but went to the next panel, after he looked at the panel he said. "I am going to start the removal process."
The four braced themselves in their own way. Luke was taken out and put on a gurney. The gurney was programmed to go to the recovery room Luke was assigned to, Leia and Han followed. "Regaining consciousness after Bacta usually takes 2-4 minutes." A programmed recording on the gurney said.
Leia held his right hand as Han positioned himself on Luke's right, and Arielle held his left. Chewie stood by Arielle. "Hi." Luke said, groggily as he regained consciousness.
Luke shook his head to try and rid
himself of the remaining Bacta influence.
Leia smiled with tears in her
eyes. "Feeling better." She asked.
"Thanks to all of you." Luke said, giving his family and friends a warm smile.
"Not really-"Arielle started, but Han interrupted her. "Luke needs to get some rest. All right, so, kid, sleep!."
"Yes General, sir!" Luke saluted as best he could lying down and exhausted. Luke then closed his eyes and let dreams take him. Yet as he drifted off to sleep he thought about Arielle. She still was so beautiful, inside and out… It looked as though Han and Leia had taken to her as well… That was good. It was hard to keep a relationship when your sister disapproved. Especially when the sister is Leia.
Luke awoke a few hours later to find Han, Chewie, Arielle, Wedge, Lando, and Leia sleeping in various places around his room in Leia and Han's apartment. (Han and Leia had set aside a room for Luke. They had tried having Luke have his own apartment on Coruscant, but had found that it just wasn't practical. He wasn't on Coruscant often, and when he was he was either out or with friends.) He also felt a weight on his chest, he looked up to find Anakin sleeping on his chest. He turned his head and saw that Jacen and Jaina were curled up beside him. He smiled gently.
Luke snickered as he surveyed Wedge and Lando, it was obvious from their exhaustion and state of their clothing that they had been the ones tapped to watch the JAJ trio.
Leia awoke a few minutes later, "Luke! How are you feeling."
"Better thanks." He replied honestly.
Leia's voice awoke Arielle and Han. He smiled patiently as they crowded around him asking if he was okay, and Han teasing him about forever getting into trouble. He knew that it was because they cared and had been worried.
"I am doing better. Bacta and Jedi Healing trances work miracles."
"Good." Arielle said, leaning back. "You know you will really have to teach me how to do effective healing trances."
"Definitely." Luke said, looking into Arielle's eyes.
Arielle knew that she should look away, everyone was watching… but his gaze was entrapping.
Lando chose that moment to wake up, ending the moment as he slapped Luke's arm lightly and asked him if he was okay.
"Yes, thank you." Luke said, giving Lando the warmest smile he could muster.
Arielle stayed towards the back of the room as everyone else there chatted with Luke for the next few hours. Then just as she had gotten her courage back and headed to the front of the room to talk to Luke, Han said. "All right, folks, let's give Luke a chance to rest. We don't want him relapsing."
Everyone else murmured their assent and head out after saying their farewells to Luke, so Arielle smiled at him, trying to convey her desire of talking to him at a later time, and then she headed out with everyone else.
Arielle left the door, trying to shake off the emotion she felt when she saw him. Sure he said he loved her, but that was in the heat of battle. He just said it. Luke never just says thing. She closed her eyes and trying to fight her treacherous mind.
"Arielle," Leia said, softly coming out. "I need to talk to you about serious matters."
Arielle's mind was instantly alert. Does she want to talk to me about Luke, warn me away from him… What does she want.
"Listen, I am going to need to talk to the inner council about you."
Arielle's brow creased. "What about me?"
Leia sighed. "You are claiming to be a Jedi-"
Leia put up her hand when she saw Arielle start to protest. "I believe you, but… you have to realize the politics surrounding the Jedi. People are definitely going to use this for their own political gains. Then you are close to Luke, the reclusive Jedi Master, hero of the Rebellion, and head of the Jedi order. Your presence is definitely going to become a debate in front of the Inner Council. It is better if we bring it forward, so we can mold this debate to our advantage."
Arielle shook her head. "Politics still hasn't gone away, huh." She appreciated Leia's emphasis on the word, we. Arielle knew she definitely would need help, she had no expertise in the political arena at all.
"Unfortunately, no." Leia said, trying to smile. "But Arielle, even though I strongly suggest that we bring it up sooner then later, I will not act without your consent."
"I appreciate that." Arielle said. She ran her hand through her hair. Did she really want to subject herself to political scrutiny? Even though later in his life her father had made friends with some politicians, he still had warned her to stay as far away from politics as she could while protecting political interests. "Are you sure they'd come after me?"
"As sure as I am of the nose on my face." Leia said, seriously. "Anything Jedi they go after. Anything that deals with their precious Jedi Master they go after."
"You are sure it will be soon?"
"Definitely, holo feeds caught you and your ship as you came in. I am sure there were holo feeds in the Med center and various points, I will admit I wasn't looking or sensing as I should've been there. I know holo reporters are right outside. The Councilors who would go after you definitely watch the holo feeds." Leia said.
Arielle took a deep breath, and focused her thoughts. "Okay." She said, letting out her breath. "What do you need me to do."
Leia relaxed, "Okay, my strategy is to introduce you as the daughter of a celebrated war hero and premier Jedi, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Do you have anything that your father gave you that would help resurrect the Jedi order?"
"Yeah, he stacked my ship with training manuals, and datacards. The Jedi Council had divided almost everything up between him and Master Yoda, and he gave me most of it for safe-keeping."
Leia smiled. "That will make Luke so happy. One thing he constantly complains about is resurrecting a Jedi order with so little information. It will also help in this political maneuvering. Get Luke to look over some of the documents, say that they are Jedi."
Arielle didn't understand why that was necessary or helpful, but decided that she would just let Leia do what she needed to.
"Okay, I can get them right now." Arielle said.
"No, it is okay. Let's sit down and go over some of the other things that will need to be brought up." Leia said.
Arielle and Leia sat down on the couches. "Okay, where have you been your entire life."
"As a kid I was on Tatooine, then I left to go into hiding from the Empire. I was never in the same place for more then six months until I heard a rumor of a hide-away of sorts in the Mendili cluster. It was out of the way, but as long as you had skills enough to make yourself useful, and didn't want to leave and come back often, you were welcome. No questions asked. I visited and found it, I stayed there for oh gosh, over ten years, until my father came into my dreams and said it was time to go, the Empire had fallen and Luke needed me. He didn't elaborate, but once I left the Mendili cluster I felt Luke's pain. Then I did the same trace method I am sure you did, and here I am."
Leia nodded absent-mindedly. "That works really well. We shouldn't have any problems. We will go over exact strategy the day before your actual presentation."
Something hit Leia right then. "THE AMBASSADORS FROM THE SENEX." She almost screamed. "Excuse me." She said to Arielle as she practically jumped to the communications room.
She called her office. "Madame, Minister of State Bel Iblis took care of the Ambassadors." Her secretary said. "Once you asked me to cancel your appointments, I forwarded the urgent ones to him."
Leia breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness one of us has sense."
"Madame." Her secretary protested. "Your brother was in the clutches of the Empire, even the Ambassadors from the Senex should have understood. The Minister of State certainly did."
"Good. Well, I should call him now." Leia smiled at her secretary warmly. "You really saved an important negotiation."
"Just doing my job." The Secretary said.
"Organa Solo out."
"Salli Lu out."
Leia then called Bel Iblis. "Leia! I was just going to call you, how is Luke?"
"Doing much better, thank you."