Luke's squadron turned out to consist of him, Wedge, Tycho and Hobbie—apparently the existing squadrons were at full capacity and Wedge was assembling this one out of new recruits and backup pilots—a lanky man introduced to her as Wes Janson, a Balosar man, a Mirialan woman with a delicate line of diamond tattoos along each cheekbone, and two human women, with a few more pilots under consideration to fill the roster soon, Wedge told her.

Mara lost track of the introductions after Janson, though. Wes—this was the pilot Wedge had considered to teach this class before Luke had effectively volunteered her. She watched him out of the corner of her eye as the other pilots were introduced, trying to assess his possible skill from the way he held himself. Janson noticed her scrutiny and crossed his eyes at her.

Well. She supposed that was where the "undisciplined" aspect came in. This was definitely going to be a change from the Imperial military she was used to.

She enjoyed herself immensely on the sims, making a note to wheedle more simulator opportunities from Wedge later. It had been far too long since she'd flown a fighter. She flew a sim run on a TIE setting, then one on an X-wing—Luke was right, it was an interesting model of ship. She wouldn't mind learning her way around one. Then she sat off to the side and watched the others take their runs, nearly bursting with silent pride when Luke's scores led them all.

Afterward, Wedge led everyone to a clearing outside the base where, he said, they could throw each other around with fewer lasting consequences. "Wes, up front."

Janson tossed him a lazy salute and stepped forward. He was taller than Luke, and a full head taller than her. She saw Hobbie shift uneasily as Janson stood beside her. Luke just grinned.

"Mara, I'd appreciate it if you didn't inflict any permanent damage," Wedge said. "I still need him to fly. But other than that, go to it." He turned toward the others. "Mara and Wes will give us a basic demonstration of what you'll be starting to learn today, then we'll get into some actual practice."

Janson bounced lightly on the balls of his feet as he settled into a wide stance. "Smaller opponent gets first strike, I believe," he offered with a grin.

Mara smiled, settling her own weight easily. "I wouldn't dream of it. After you."

Janson bounced for a moment longer, eyeing her, then struck out with his right fist, aiming for her jaw. Mara stepped swiftly to the left and lifted her own right arm to catch his fist in her open hand while angling herself to hook her left arm over the top of his outstretched one at the elbow. She pulled back and down with her left arm while thrusting her right arm forward, folding Janson's arm back against his own shoulder, then threw her full bodyweight into continuing the push as Janson began to bend backward beneath the assault. A quick bend of her left knee into the back of Janson's right one put an end to his sudden struggle for balance, and a heartbeat later he was on his back on the ground with Mara on top of him, his right arm still captured by her left, with her other arm against his throat and her right knee on his chest.

Janson blinked at her, apparently only just now registering that he'd been downed. Mara ignored the exclamations of their audience to smile coolly at him. "Never underestimate a smaller opponent." She released him and stood, holding a hand out. "But then, you knew that, didn't you?"

He took her hand and she pulled him to his feet. "You have to teach me that move," he said as she did. "But maybe demonstrate it on Wedge this time."

"Oh, no," Wedge said from where he was grinning off to the side. "You're her demonstration partner whether you like it or not. Anyway, you pulled your punch there, didn't you?"

"Yes, he did," Mara said. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Courteous, perhaps, but you were assuming I'd start off easy too. Dangerous. Always assume your opponent will go for the throat."

"Yeah, no worries there," Janson said, rubbing his throat theatrically.

"Okay," Wedge said, "Now Mara's going to show us exactly how she did that. I'm sure you're all convinced of the importance of paying attention now. Even Wes."

Luke was grinning at her again, and Mara returned the smile before turning back to Janson. "Throw that punch again, slower this time."

The rest of the class went surprisingly well, better than Mara would have guessed it would when she had hesitantly offered to teach it. Her inexperience as a teacher was balanced by her bone-deep knowledge of hand-to-hand combat tactics, and the memories of her own rigorous tutors and how they'd explained such things to her. Despite that first exchange, Janson had an entirely respectable knowledge of the subject for an amateur. Luke, Tycho, and Hobbie, as well as Asha, one of the human women, who had been halfway through her academy training before she also defected from the Empire, had all been taught the basics and had a good foundation for learning more. Wedge knew how to throw a decent punch and not much else, but he and all the others were keen learners. Wedge dismissed everyone just before lunch, and Mara promised to let him know when she could teach another session once her own position and schedule had been pinned down.

When lunch was over, Luke headed back with the others for more training and Mara was left to her own devices. Leia and Ben were nowhere to be seen in the mess hall, and while she was pretty sure she could track them down, Mara decided that it could wait for a while. Luke had so far taken the lead in getting them settled, and it was time for her to pull her own weight there.

Back in the apartment, she emptied both their bags on the bed and began sorting. The tiny sonic clothes cleaner in the refresher only held a few items at a time, so while the first cleaning cycle ran, she folded all their still-clean clothes with military precision and laid them in the storage chest, then retrieved the now-clean items and did the same while the next cycle ran, then found places in the refresher for their grooming supplies and folded and put away the last of the clean clothes. Her primary and holdout blasters, their holsters, and her lightsaber fit snugly in her half of the chest; Luke's sketchpad and pencils fit snugly in his. She tucked her stash of credit chips in the center of the chest and set each of their datapads on their respective stacks of clothes.

That left only the holoprojector featuring Luke's aunt and uncle.

She hesitated over that. It didn't seem right to pack them away, unseen, with the rest of their belongings. She glanced over at Luke's bedside table, but it was so small. If she put the projector there, he wouldn't be able to use it for anything else. She wandered into the conversation area, projector in hand. The only real place seemed to be the table in the center of the room, but she didn't like that option, either. It was their only working space, and they would need it. Besides, Luke's family deserved a place of honor in their home.

Mara set the projector carefully down on the table. She needed to go get the caf machine and mugs from the ship anyway. Maybe there was something there that she could repurpose. She picked up her now-empty carryall and headed that direction.

Leia left the base's main building, stepping out into the enveloping warm humidity of Yavin IV. She missed the crisp, fresh air of Aldera, and the familiar sight of snow-capped mountains.

Stop, she told herself firmly. Reality, her father had always said, must be dealt with whether one liked it or not. Wallowing in grief would accomplish nothing at all, and there was a great deal that must be done—and quickly, if at all possible. Alderaan's destruction had set off a determined, fear-tinged frenzy among the Alliance's leaders.

A frenzy without a focus, though. If they hadn't been able to match the Empire's military strength before the Death Star—and they most assuredly hadn't—then what possible course of action remained open to them now?

Leia was trying so hard to think of a workable option that she almost missed the lowered ramp of Mara's ship as she walked past the landing pad. A half dozen steps beyond the ramp, the input from her eyes finally hit her brain, and she paused, looking back. Turning, she cautiously ascended the ramp and peered inside. "Mara? Luke?"

"In here." Mara's voice came from deeper within the ship, from the cabin she and Winter had shared on the way here, Leia thought.

She wandered back that way and stopped at the cabin door, baffled by the sight before her. "What are you doing?"

Mara stood at the far side of the small cabin, with both hands gripping one of the narrow shelves above the fold-down desktop and a foot braced against the wall. She yanked, and stumbled briefly as the shelf popped off the wall. Something small and metallic clattered as it hit the floor and bounced. "There," Mara said with obvious satisfaction. "That last screw was stripped, couldn't get it to turn." She swept her gaze along the cabin floor. "Did you see where it went?"

"No," Leia said. "Maybe under the bunk? Why are you ripping out pieces of the wall?"

"I'm not," Mara answered. "Not anything that would compromise structural integrity, anyway. I just needed a shelf for our apartment." She glanced at Leia, seeming almost shy for a heartbeat before her usual composure reasserted itself. No, Leia thought, she must have imagined that, surely. "I came to get the caf machine, like you suggested, and figured there must be something here I could use."

"Oh," Leia said. That made sense. Sort of. "I was actually on my way to your apartment to see if I could find you. Where's Luke?"

"Training," Mara said, picking a screwdriver up from off the bunk and returning it to the toolbox. Leia stepped aside, and Mara took the toolbox back to its compartment by the kitchen, with Leia following behind. "He's assigned to Rogue Squadron. X-wing."

Leia frowned in thought. "Is that Wedge Antilles's squadron?"

"Yes," Mara said, looking back at her. "I wouldn't have thought the fighter squadrons would come under your purview."

"They don't," Leia agreed. "But Mon Mothma was bringing me up to speed with some of the latest changes, and Antilles's new command was one of them. His record is outstanding; I can't imagine he'd be choosing any but the best for a squadron of his own. Luke must be an excellent pilot."

"He is," Mara said, with such open pride in her eyes that Leia wasn't sure she was even aware of it. She hoisted a carryall over her shoulder and went back to the cabin to retrieve the shelf. "Since you were looking for me anyway, do you want to come back to the apartment with me? Once I set up the caf machine, we can have a cup."

"Sure," Leia said, trailing after her. "Do you want me to carry something?"

"I can manage," Mara replied. "Oh, almost forgot." She opened the drawer under the bunk and pulled out the emergency glowrods, then added them to her bag, picked up the shelf, and turned toward the exit.

Leia raised an eyebrow as they headed down the ramp. "Planning an expedition?"

"No," Mara said. "Bedside lamps." She locked up the ship and turned toward the base. "So why were you looking for me?"

Leia returned the nod of an officer passing them and said, "You've gotten an assignment. Seriously, can I at least carry the shelf? I feel ridiculous with you carrying all that and me with nothing."

Mara looked at her sideways, but handed over the shelf. "You're not like most of the royalty I tended to meet at the Palace."

"I'll take that as a compliment." Leia propped the shelf against her shoulder to keep it out of the way as they walked. "Did you work at the Palace often?"

"Most of the time," Mara said, her voice slightly wistful. "I had regular assignments offworld, but those only started when I was sixteen, and even then, I still spent more time at the Palace, really."

"Homesick?" Leia asked.

Mara blinked suddenly. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—"

"It's okay," Leia interrupted her. "I'm homesick too. No reason we can't be homesick together."

They walked along silently for a few minutes before Mara said, "I didn't mean I was homesick for the Empire—"

"Mara," Leia said, reaching out to touch her arm. "I'm not trying to test your ideological purity, either. A lot has changed for both of us, and very quickly." She gestured at the ancient pyramids, surrounded by thick jungle. "Yavin IV has its own beauty, but it's very different from Aldera or Imperial City. It's okay if it takes us a while to adapt."

They'd reached the apartment door, and Mara keyed in the code and gestured Leia inside before following her and setting her bag on the table in the middle of the front room. "You sound like Luke."

"Do I?" Leia asked. "Well, he seems nice. It's probably not a bad thing to sound like him."

"Not at all," Mara said softly. She pulled the caf machine out of the bag and set it on an upturned crate beside the table, then turned it on. Mugs came out next, then a tube of emergency adhesive. "Could you hand me the shelf?" Leia did, and Mara held it against the wall at shoulder height above the caf machine stand. "Does that look straight?"

Leia took a step back to eye it. "Yes, I think so. Want me to hold it, or apply adhesive?"

Mara tilted the shelf down so that its underside was flat against the wall. "Adhesive, if you could."

Leia picked up the tube and squeezed a line of the tacky liquid along the edge of the shelf that would hold to the wall. Once she was done, Mara tilted the shelf up again and pressed it into place. "Thanks," she said, with another almost shy glance at Leia.

"No problem," Leia said. "What did you need a shelf for?"

"This." Mara picked up a small holoprojector from the table and carefully set it on the shelf. "It's Luke's aunt and uncle, who raised him. They died almost five years ago. It's all he has left of them."

"Oh." Leia blinked back the sudden tears that threatened. "It must be nice for him to be able to talk to Ben about them, then."

"I think it is," Mara agreed, pouring the caf and handing Leia a mug. "You should have heard all the gossip they exchanged on the way here while you and Winter were playing sabacc with Tycho and Hobbie."

Leia sat down with her caf. "Like what?"

Mara sat down across from her on the little couch with her own mug, a glint of mischief sparking in her eyes. "Camie and Fixer got married last year. Jula and Silya Darklighter have had a second daughter, Anya. The Sunber family moved to Mos Espa. The price of bantha milk is shamefully high this season."

Leia laughed. "Scintillating."

Mara smiled and sipped her caf. "You said I had an assignment?"

"Yes," Leia said, leaning back in her chair. "You're assigned to Intelligence."

Mara snorted. "Analysis?"

"Yes," Leia said, tilting her head curiously. "You did have experience in that area, didn't you? I know you did a fair amount of field work, but we're always in need of good analysts."

"Lots of it," Mara said with a shrug. "I always worked alone, though, so I suppose there'll be a learning curve in being part of an actual Intelligence department."

"Well, we can navigate our homesickness and our learning curves together, then," Leia said. "I've also been assigned to Intel."

Mara's eyebrows lifted. "I thought you were a diplomat."

Leia sighed. "Not so much call for that here. I'm being groomed for Command, really. Bail and Breha Organa's daughter, you know."

From the sympathy in Mara's eyes, Leia thought she might in fact understand Leia's own mixed feelings on the matter. "I've seen some of your Senate speeches. And your father's. And I know your mother's record as Queen, and how dedicated she was to education, so I can guess how thoroughly she taught her daughter to eventually succeed her. I imagine it feels like a heavy weight at times, but I think they're right. Command is where you belong."

"I know," Leia said, reaching up to rub her temple briefly. "It is what I was always trained for. I just—" Her voice caught, and she raised her chin defiantly. "I just wasn't expecting it quite so soon. Anyway, I'll be doing training sessions in pretty much every department eventually, but Mon says understanding how the Intel department works and how to analyze the information is especially crucial for any leader, so that's where I'm starting. We both report tomorrow morning. Want to meet up at breakfast and head in together?"

Mara smiled. "I'd like that."

Leia smiled back. "Me too. So, tell me about the other royalty you used to meet in the Palace. I feel like there are probably some good stories there."

They spent more than an hour comparing notes on members of royal houses they'd each encountered, as well as politicians and various admirals. It even turned out that they'd once attended the same reception for the opening of a Senate session, and though neither of them remembered seeing the other, they did both remember the rather pompous Lord Kyto taking a bite of pakarna without realizing how spicy it was, and the faces he made trying to hide his discomfort. They were still laughing at the memory when the door slid open.

"Hello," Luke said, his smile widening considerably at the sight of Mara wiping away tears of laughter. "Having fun?"

Mara looked up at him, almost grinning. "I have an assignment. You'll never guess what it is."

Luke's expression was all exaggerated innocence as he sat down beside her. "Reprogramming the binary load lifters?"

Mara slapped his arm lightly. "No gloating."

"Me? Never. I see you got the caf machine." His eyes drifted to the shelf with the holoprojector, and he smiled. "And did some decorating."

"I didn't want to pack them away with the clothes," Mara said softly. Luke put an arm around her shoulders and leaned over to kiss her temple, murmuring something quiet into her ear. Mara smiled at him, and Leia pretended not to see any of it. "Why are you home so early?"

Luke sat back, but kept his arm around her. "Wedge got called away for some paperwork and told everyone to get lost until tomorrow."

"Huh," Mara said, but Leia didn't miss the sideways glance she gave him, or the slight lift of Luke's eyebrows in return.

She made a show of looking at her chrono, then stood. "I'd better get going. Thanks for the caf, Mara. See you tomorrow morning?"

"Yes," Mara said, with a bright smile. Luke also sent a polite smile her way, but distractedly.

It made Leia feel a little hollow inside as she walked back toward the Command offices. Both of their lives might have been turned upside down, as she'd said earlier, but Mara had Luke to turn to for comfort and support, and the way they looked at each other kindled a tiny spark of jealousy in Leia, deep down. Her parents had looked at each other that way, she remembered, and they had always been so happy together. It might be nice to have something like that in her own life, she thought. To have someone whose eyes lit up when they saw you, someone who would stand by you no matter what.

She blew out a frustrated breath. No, there was more than enough to think about and deal with without adding a distraction like that to the mix. She had Winter and Mon and General Dodonna and Ben and many more on the base who would support her if she needed it, and as long as Palpatine ruled and the Death Star existed, she had the fate of the entire galaxy to worry about. There was definitely no time for anything beyond that, and no one she was interested in, anyway.

Leia turned her mind firmly toward thoughts of military strategy. Someday, when the Empire was defeated and the galaxy was safe, maybe she could think about the more personal aspects of life.

Maybe.