Chapter 64

AN: Real quick, same disclaimer I had before, many chapters back. Just thought I would mention that. Also, thank you to everyone who are continuing to read and review. Please continue to do so!

"Mistress Arianna…" Threepio was moving down the hallway following Ari, who was moving as fast as she could. She was dressed now, having pulled on her boots, coat and gloves, even as Threepio had tried to convince her to stay in bed. That hadn't stopped the young Nubian native as she continued down the seemingly unending ice encased hallway. Her eyes shone with determination, even though her gait was shaky. However, she refused to lean on the wall for support.

Her trek was being monitored by the three droids following her; Threepio, ARTOO-D2 and R4.

"Mistress Arianna, I must-" Threepio started but was cut off by Ari as she twirled around to face him. Her head swam from the sudden movement, but it lasted only a brief moment.

"Listen Threepio, Luke could be in trouble…." She trailed off, her mind racing. It was at that moment that she realized what her feeling had been. It was Luke. He was in trouble now, she was sure of it. "I can't just hang around and do nothing," she continued, almost snapping, frustrated at the ice, the cold, at Luke, but mostly at herself for feeling unable to do anything. She paused, and looked at the three droids, who were all quiet, looking at her. She was sure if they were people, they would have looked surprised. "Sorry," she apologized, and then gave a sigh. "I just have a feeling something really bad happened and I am very worried."

"It is quite alright," Threepio answered as they neared the entrance to the main hanger. It was abuzz with activity as usual, and some of the men gave her a quick salute with a smile, glad to see her up and moving again. "The Princess asked that we confer with you and with Captain Solo to know if either or you had contact with Master Luke."

ARTOO beeped behind him, and Threepio turned, to see another droid approach them. "C-3PO and counterpart ARTOO-D2?" it asked, metallic voice lacking the personality that the other three droids seemed to have.

"Yes?" C-3PO answered.

"I have a request from maintenance. Did you or your counterpart raise the temperature in Princess' Leia's quarters?"

"Of course. It was too cold for a human," C-3PO answered, as if it was the most logical answer in the universe.

"Your lack of logic has caused damage," the other droid answered. "The thermal heater caused the ice walls to melt, causing off of the Princess' personal items, especially clothes, to become wet."

"What?" Threepio turned to ARTOO and hit the domed head of the small droid. "This is all your fault."

ARTOO blew an electronic raspberry at Threepio before beeping a response, before starting to roll away, Threepio following.

"Don't try to blame me. I didn't ask you to turn up the thermal heater. I merely…" Threepio answered and Ari sighed as they moved away from her.

She leaned against the wall slightly, closing her eyes for a few moments. She was trying to collect her thoughts to decide what to do next. Since Threepio and ARTOO had left, she and R4 were on their own again.

She knew that she could talk to the communication crew, to see what they had heard, but didn't feel that would be helpful. In fact, only two people in the entire base came to mind when she wondered who to go to for information. The Princess Leia and Han.

While she knew that the droids were going to speak to Han, she felt she would rather talk to him. If Leia had known more, she wouldn't have sent the droids to inquire with Ari and Han.

Motioning to R4 to follow, she realized that the Falcon was very close to the where the ice cavern expanded into the hanger. She saw Chewie still working hard on the Falcon, with Threepio and ARTOO standing there as well.

Han, who had been working on the Falcon as well, was standing by the ship as well, talking to the deck officer, one hand over Threepio's mouth, or at least where the droid's vocal mechanisms were located.

Curious as to what was going on, Ari came closer.

"It's possible? Why don't you go find out? It's getting dark out there," Han was saying, glancing over the deck officer's shoulder to where the daylight was quickly fading into a bitter, stormy night.

"Yes, Sir," the officer gave a small nod, and then turned to go talk to the others to see if there was any communication with Luke.

"Excuse me, Sir. Might I inquire what is going on?" Threepio asked.

When Han turned, Ari could see that his attention was clearly elsewhere, even though he answered Threepio. "Why not?"

"Impossible man," Threepio replied as Han walked by him. The smuggler stalked down an adjoining hallway, a plan coming to mind. "Come along, Artoo, let's find Princess Leia." The humanoid droid started to walk down the corridor they had just come from. Threepio quickly noted Ari and lowered the volume slightly, as if so Ari couldn't overhear. "Between ourselves, I think Master Luke is in considerable danger."

Frowning at this, Ari quickly started down the hallway that Han had disappeared down. She knew where this led, and she quickly caught onto Han's plan. And she could honestly say that it wasn't a sane plan. However, the same plan had come to her mind as well.

She heard the tauntums before she saw them. There were always a few that were always saddled and ready in case of an emergency. Han was stepping around a few crates and boxes in the way as Ari entered, and she had to follow the same path. There wasn't enough room though, and R4 had to wait off to the side, near a Rebel who was digging through the contents.

While looking around, just needing to move, Han heard another Rebels approach and looked up. Ari couldn't see his face, but knew he probably looked worried. She was also worried, stomach in knots. The feeling was growing more intense now, and she had to force herself not to run out into the snow to try and find him.

"Sir, Commander Skywalker hasn't come in through the south entrance. He might have forgotten to check in," the deck officer was telling Han.

"Not likely. Are the speeders ready?" Han asked

"Not yet. We're having some trouble adapting them to the cold," the officer replied after just the slightest verbal hesitation.

 "Then we'll have to go out on tauntauns," Han answered. Not bothering to wait for the others to agree, he walked past them.

"Sir, the temperature's dropping too rapidly," the deck officer tried to reason with him. There was a storm coming as well, and that made the conditions even more dangerous.

"That's right," Han replied, turning to face him and the other Rebels. "And my friend's out in it."

"I'll cover sector twelve. Have com-control set screen alpha," the assistant deck officer called as Han pushed past the other troops, going to an already saddled tauntaun. It gave a small grunt as Han tested to be sure the saddle was on snug enough.

"Your tauntaun'll freeze before you reach the first marker," the deck officer announced. Ari pushed her way through the troops to catch up with Han before he left.

"Then I'll see you in hell!" Han shouted over his shoulder, urging the tauntaun to move.

Before they could pick up speed, Ari jumped in front of him.

"Ari? What are you doing?" Han asked, surprised to see her, pulling back the reins so that the tauntaun wouldn't step on her.

"If Luke is out there, I want to come to. I can help you look."

Han shook his head. "Kid, Luke would kill me if he knew I let you go outside. You aren't completely better, and you could get sick again or worse. Besides, I don't want to have to worry about you too. I will find Luke and bring him back," Han told her, voice firm.

Sighing, Ari nodded, stepping back so Han could pass. He was right. She hated to admit it, but she would hurt more than she would help. She didn't want to do nothing by just standing around, but knew that there was no other choice.

Han pulled on his mask to cover his eyes, giving her a small nod, before pressing his heels into the tauntaun. The creature gave a small snort, quickly trotting to where the shield doors were open, leading outside.

Ari followed as fast as she could, stopping at the doors, eyes traveling instead, watching Han until he disappeared from sight. Ari stayed there a few moments, hoping to see him returning with Luke in just seconds, but knew it was just wishful thinking.

A blast of cold air hit her and she shivered, wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm. Her eyes then scanned the surrounding area and frowned. While she didn't know much about snow storms, the sky definitely looked threatening, looking like she could reach out her hand and touch part of the blanket of grey clouds that encompassed the entire region as far as the eye could see.

All she could do was stand and wait, hoping that they would make it back before the storm. She had heard how dangerous the storms here could be, and they sounded like the sandstorms on Tatooine. "Come on Han, come on Luke. Hurry back," she murmured as the first few snowflakes started to fall.