Leia Organa had endured some bad headaches in the previous few years, but the current level of pounding and throbbing in her skull was setting a personal record. She groaned, covering her eyes with her hand against the white fluorescence washing over the room.

"You waking up, sweetheart?"

"Han?" Her mouth felt like it was full of cotton as she forced herself to open her eyes. Han's blurry visage hovered over her, and for a brief moment she thought she was safe. Then the rest of the small room came into focus and she cursed, realizing they were sitting in an Imperial detention cell.

"Well, good morning to you too, your highness," Han said, trying to grin at her. "I was beginning to think you weren't going to wake up." He kept his voice light, as though he were joking, but the concerned look in his eyes revealed the true depth of his worry.

"Bastard shot me in the head," Leia told him, the events that preceded her arrival in the cell coming back to her in a rush. Then she looked over at him. "Are you okay?"

"Eh, I'm fine. Started to come to when they were pitching us in here, but I guess they didn't notice."

"How long have we been in here?" She looked around, not knowing what she expected to see. The gray walls and floor were sickeningly familiar, though the cell was smaller than the one she had occupied on the Death Star. "Not that I know where 'here' is."

"Pretty sure we're on a Star Destroyer," Han told her. "It hasn't been real long. I'm guessing it's maybe 0100 or 0200…"

With a nearly invisible nod, she indicated that she had taken his meaning. The strike team would be meeting at the shield generator soon, but without their general. They were capable, competent people, and had gone over the plans for destroying the Death Star's shields until they could repeat it in their sleep. Still, she wrung her hands, wondering if her split second decision to pursue the stormtroopers had doomed the entire operation.

Seeing the sickened look on Leia's face, Han slung an arm over her shoulders and pulled her into his chest. She couldn't verbalize her worries, not with the Imperials presumably monitoring their every word and move, but he knew. Setting a cool hand against her aching head, he closed his eyes, fighting his own despair for no other reason than to stay strong for the princess.

She leaned into him, trying to focus on nothing but the fact that at least they were imprisoned together. If she'd been alone, forced to wonder what was happening, her already fragile sanity might have reached the breaking point. She'd gone through too much just to lose Han again now. Though from experience she was all too aware of how their shared cell might be used as a weapon by the Imperials.

"Promise me," she whispered, "no matter what happens, no matter what they do to me, you won't tell them anything."

Startled, Han squeezed her tightly. He was no fool, and as he sat with Leia's head resting on his lap waiting for the effects of the stun blast to wear off, he'd stroked her cheek and fought a rising panic about whether she'd be harmed in an attempt to get him to spill the details of the Rebel operation. She hadn't breathed a word to him about what was done to her on Bespin as they rushed from Tatooine back to the fleet at Sullust, but he had no reason to believe that the Imperials had changed their existing policy on torturing the young princess. Worse, though he told himself over and over again that he'd stay strong out of respect for her commitment to the Alliance, he just didn't know if he had it in him.

"Yeah," he responded softly. "I'll do my best. You too, okay?"

Leia twisted her head around to look at him. "Han, I mean it. I don't want you to do your best. I want you to promise."

Han turned away, not wanting to catch her eye. "Kriff, Leia…."

"Promise." Her voice was quiet, but firm. "Please."

He took a deep breath, trying to shut out the horrifying pictures that were working to hammer their way into his mind. There were so many times even before they'd finally confessed their feelings for each other that he'd woken her up from the depths of a nightmare about the previous torment she'd suffered at the hands of the Imperials. To this date, she'd refused to share specifics about her memories, but his imagination filled in the gaps, albeit against his will. The prospect of her repeating that experience, when he could stop it with a few words, was unthinkable. But so was letting her down.

"I promise," he said huskily.

"Me too," she told him, squaring her shoulders as she cuddled up against him.

They stayed there in silence, every topic of conversation that came to mind taboo for some reason or another. Leia stared ahead at the solid door, wondering when it would slide open and what would be on the other side when it did. She looked down at Han's strong hands, which were clasped tightly around her. She had considered asking him to strangle her, to put her out of her misery once and for all. But the memory of the look she'd gotten from Luke a lifetime ago when she made a similar request under the imminent threat of capture by Darth Vader stopped her. It wasn't a burden she could put on anyone but herself.

She desperately wanted to talk to Han about Luke, if only to have him offer empty reassurances of Luke's safety down on Endor. She wondered if anyone knew they had been captured, or if the team was even still on track to take out the shield generator. Maybe the rest of them were sitting in cells too.

As though he could sense her train of thought, Han murmured, "Not knowing is the hardest part." She could only nod in response, her voice catching in her throat.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Luke shifted his pack on his shoulders as he brought up the rear of the single file procession towards the scheduled rendezvous at the shield generator. They had spaced out, keeping enough distance between each soldier to avoid the type of group ambush that had befallen them at the hunting site. Next to Luke, Threepio shuffled along, staying silent as ordered as he struggled slightly under the camouflage gear loaned to them by the little creatures—Ewoks, Threepio told him, were what they called themselves.

He hadn't told Derlin that he doubted Han and Leia would be waiting for them at the rendezvous point. No reason to upset the mission now, but he'd sensed a flash of terrified emotions that confirmed what he suspected for hours—that Leia was in terrible danger. Likely Han too.

Luke kept a straight face as they marched along, not wanting to reveal his inner turmoil. Yoda's words so many months ago echoed in his brain…"if you honor what they fight for." But at the same time, Ben's revelation haunted him…"your sister…" He hadn't even had a chance to tell her yet.

A bird's whistle sounded through the trees; their prearranged signal that they had reached their destination. Luke raised a finger to his lips to reinforce the warning to Threepio, and continued through the forest to meet with the other commandos.

Derlin was grimacing as Luke approached. "They aren't here," he said quietly. Chewbacca harned, looking around into the deep woods for his friends. A wave of guilt swept over Luke—he knew he should tell Chewie the truth, but he needed time to think about his own plans first.

The suffocating presence of the Emperor and his father washed over him. They were nearby, and Vader may have even been on the moon itself. Not for the first time since Vader had revealed his heritage, Luke wondered if his mere presence was compromising the mission. Would Vader be able to track their every move through Luke? He considered surrendering himself, getting away from the other commandos before the Sith tracked them down. At the same time, they were already down two people, including their commander. Would his desertion leave them too undermanned to carry out the operation?

Sinking down to the ground to rest his legs, Luke breathed deeply, looking to the Force for answers. Chewbacca watched him carefully, but the rest of the group busied themselves with preparations for the coming attack. The Wookiee knew something was up, but was willing to give Luke time…to a point.

The young Jedi hadn't kept track of the passage of time, and was surprised when he was nudged gently out of his trance by one of the other soldiers. "General Solo's still not back. We're going to reconfigure the operation. Major Derlin is taking command. Luke nodded, pushing himself to his feet.

A furry arm reached out and stopped him from joining the group. Luke's skills in Shyriwook weren't great, but he could generally make out Chewie's words.

"Do you know what's become of Han and the princess?" Chewie rumbled quietly.

"I think they've been captured," Luke admitted. Chewie moaned softly, controlling his urge to start smashing everything around them in rage. "I'm pretty sure they're still alive."

Looking over his shoulder at the assembled commandos, Luke pulled Chewie down closer. "I have to go. I can't stay." The Wookiee gave him a skeptical look. "Vader can sense me here. I'm putting the whole team in danger."

At the sound of the Sith Lord's name, Chewie bared his teeth. Luke put a calming hand on his arm. "I'll tell the others, but please stay with them. I need to do this alone, and they need you."

"And leave Han and Leia to their fate?" Chewbacca roared, tempering his voice only a little. The rest of the group looked over at them. Luke scrunched up his face, not fully understanding the Wookiee but catching the names of their friends.

"The best thing we can do for them right now is win this battle," Luke told him.

"They could be killed!"

"You think I don't know that?" Luke snapped back, surprising Chewie with his uncharacteristic vehemence. "There is a lot more at stake here, you know."

Chewie stepped back, shocked at what seemed to be Luke's casual dismissal of their companions. Luke realized that there had been a misunderstanding, and softened his tone. "I want to save them too. But trust me, there is a greater danger right now, especially for Leia."

Chewie looked at him quizzically and gave an interrogatory bark. "I can't tell you right now. But please, trust me." With a sigh, the Wookiee acceded and followed Luke over to join the gathering.

"Major," he interrupted as Derlin was about to begin giving his new orders. "I'm afraid I can't stay."

"What?" Derlin looked at him as though Luke had just told a sick joke. "What are you talking about?"

He looked into the eyes of his fellow soldiers, trying to put himself in their place as he decided what to tell them. Most of them were young, close to his age, and as ignorant of the Jedi as he had been before Leia's distress call came crashing into his life. The religion of the Force had disappeared from the Core Worlds before many of them were out of diapers, derided as a fairy tale by people disillusioned by the fall of the old order. Citing visions and feelings wasn't going to get him far on the battlefield, but he'd have to try.

"I've been training more as a Jedi," he said quickly, and was relieved when most of them nodded understandingly. "But I guess my presence is stronger in the Force now, and I didn't know that would mean that Darth Vader could sense me." The last bit was of course a lie, but only Chewbacca knew that. Luke was aware that the Wookiee must be wondering why Luke would have volunteered for the mission without thinking of this potential pitfall, but he didn't have time to address that now. He just hoped his friend would understand in the end. "My presence here is putting the whole team at risk."

Derlin sucked his teeth, letting Luke's words sink in. "Where will you go?"

He hadn't yet thought of what to tell them. His plan, which his meditations told him was the right path, was to surrender in hopes of meeting his father and bringing him back from the Dark Side. But sharing that plan would first require him to tell this group of rebel soldiers that Vader was his father, and pure logic dictated that this was not a good idea.

"I'll keep moving away from your operations," Luke said finally. "If they track me, you'll have an easier time completing the mission."

"I don't know if we can spare you…" Derlin said noncommittally.

"There's no other choice," Luke responded firmly. "I wish it wasn't the case." He turned to Chewbacca, removing the pack of gear and weapons, keeping only his lightsaber, and handing them to the Wookiee. "Good luck. May the Force be with you."

"What do we tell General Solo and the Princess if they show up?" Derlin called after him as Luke started back towards the forest. Luke turned and just looked at him sadly before disappearing into the distance.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It didn't take long for Luke to hike back to the scene of their initial confrontation with the Imperials, and, as he anticipated, it was swarming with troops looking for evidence of the Rebels that had taken out the scouts. He approached with his hands up, his lightsaber visible on his belt, hoping that they would indeed arrest him rather than simply shooting him on sight. He made a mental note to tell Han and Leia, should he ever see them again, that he'd had to shout to get the Imperials' attention as he walked towards them. They would be amused.

Five troopers and an officer marched up to him, blasters drawn and aimed at various vulnerable portions of his anatomy. He was quickly bound and the lightsaber snatched away. They didn't bother to ask him name, presumably because they expected to him to refuse to give it, and did a thorough search to make sure he wasn't somehow booby trapped. After enduring the prodding for a few minutes, Luke finally spoke up.

"I'm Luke Skywalker," he said loudly. The officer stood and looked at him closely. "Number one on the Emperor's Top 40?" The man didn't laugh at his attempt at humor, but rather stepped briskly back towards the gaggle of troops and pulled aside one of his lieutenants. Luke couldn't hear him, but prayed to the Force that they were going to contact Vader. He had spent the hike over being terrified about what he was about to attempt, and now he was just anxious to see his father and find out whether Anakin Skywalker still hid behind that mask.

He took a deep breath as he waited, still surrounded by troops, and forced all thoughts of Leia out of his mind. No matter what, he couldn't let Vader or Palpatine find out that she was heir to the same powers as him. His own brushes with the Dark Side were enough to convince him that it would be better if she died than fall under the influence of the Sith. The most recent sense he got of her seemed far away, and he prayed that she wasn't being held on the Death Star.

"Take him to the landing platform," the officer ordered, returning to Luke's side. "You can use the transport over there."

Luke startled when the troopers escorted him towards a small clearing. Next to an array of speeder bikes sat one of the enormous all-terrain attack transports that he'd battled against on Hoth. The machine looked almost comically out of place among the trees on Endor, and Luke fought back a burst of nausea as he saw the trail of felled trees that marked out the path between the AT-AT and the landing platform. They weren't sentient in the strictest sense of the word, but Luke still felt the Force trickling away as the giants slowly succumbed, exhaling the last bits of oxygen into the damp atmosphere and gently dropping their seeds to the rich ground in hopes that a new generation would memorialize the hundreds of years they stood guard over the forest.

The walker was already kneeling with the boarding ramp extended. Luke marched up without protest, letting two of the troopers secure him into a seat in the body of the transport as the rest went to the cockpit. With a sickening swing upwards, the walker straightened and marched off, the vibrations as its feet hit the ground rattling in Luke's teeth.

He sat silently, finding no reason to try to engage his captors, but the appearance of the heavy weaponry worried him. From their briefings, he knew the shield generator was already heavily armored—why then would the Empire need so much additional firepower planetside? A theory struck him like a punch to the gut. The Imperials knew they were coming.

His face emotionless, he concentrated, hoping that somehow the Force would look kindly on him today and let his message get through to his compatriots. Focusing on Chewbacca, on Derlin, on the strike team, on the ships waiting for the planned assault, he silently screamed into the Force.

"It's a trap!"

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx