Chapter 86

AN: Thank you to everyone for your reviews. Please continue to read and review. Also, some things mentioned in this chapter are from the Star Wars Radio Dramas that were broadcast on NPR.

Time passed on Arbra base. Ari quickly fell into a routine there. She trained new recruits in the simulation flights as well as with hand to hand combat. She had also been on a few short missions delivering messages and retrieving things the base needed like certain medicines and mechanical parts.

While she had been able to deliver personal messages, including two for Luke, and one for Siri and Taylor, there had been no response. She had been told that the messages would be given to them, and while she had wanted to see them, she knew that it would be hard to coordinate a time and place for such a meeting.

During her free time, Ari meditated and spent her time training as she had before. She made certain to follow Siri's earlier instructions that were on the disk she had left, and go through exercises she and Luke had done. While she and R4 completed their tasks around the base, Taga often accompanied them, often on Ari's shoulder or on top of R4. While the droid still did not seem pleased by Taga, when the Hoojib climbed up and perched on R4's head, there were no more protests like before.

At night, while she got ready for bed and wrote in her journal, Taga often joined her and they would both share stories. Ari of her life and while Taga shared some personal stories, he was more likely to share stories and legends that his species had passed down through generations. Ari wrote a lot of them down so that she would not forget them and so that she could possibly share them later.

Life was going well, and the weeks passed by quickly. In fact, the months seemed to pass quickly and Ari was surprised it had been months when she paused to reflect. She wondered how the others were, wishing she had some news of them. While she knew they were all busy, she just hoped that they were as safe as could be.

One night, after returning from one of her short missions she was told that the General wished to see her. She couldn't think of why he would want to see her late at night unless it was extremely important.

With Taga on her shoulder as a companion, R4 was charging, Ari knocked on the General's door. She waited until she heard his now familiar voice. "Enter."

Stepping in, Ari saw the General sitting at his desk, with another figure on a chair on the other side of the desk. She could only see the person's back, but this woman was familiar. When she turned to face the door, Ari saw it was Taylor. However, that didn't stop her from asking "Taylor?" for confirmation.

The woman nodded with a smile. "Surprise," she greeted the young blonde woman who went over to her and gave her a quick hug. Realizing they might be meeting for a very important Republic matter, Ari pulled back. She had just been so happy to see a familiar, friendly face.

"It is good to see you," Ari told her.

"It is good to see you too. I heard you have been busy," Taylor remarked.

"Very, but it is in a good way. I really feel like I am doing a lot of good," Ari admitted.

"You are," General Palson told her, getting to his feet. "Master Samath, now that we have finished our discussion, you are more than welcome to stay with us."

"I would enjoy that, thank you," Taylor shook his hand as she got to her feet. The General ushered them out of the room, locked the office then bid them both a good night.

"He asked you to come so I could check up on you. He said you were doing well, but I figured I would stay a little while to catch up with you," Taylor explained as they started t walk down one of the hallways.

"I am glad to see you. I was wondering how you and Siri were doing," Ari admitted.

"Oh, we have been busy, but doing well. Siri wanted to come, but she was needed elsewhere."

"I understand. I sent you both disks, I don't know if you received them."

"Oh yes, I almost forgot." Taylor pulled three disks out of an inside pocket of her outer layer of tunics. "I was asked to deliver these. One is from Siri, and the others, well, I don't know. They were waiting for the next person to come here, and since it was me, I volunteered."

"I would like to see these," Ari smiled when she saw them. "Do you mind if we stop in my room?"

"That is fine," Taylor assured her.

I want to see too Taga informed her, batting at a strand of her hair.

"I am sure you can watch them," Taylor spoke up, and then smiled when she saw Ari's surprised look. "Force sensitive beings can pick up telepathy better than those who are not Force sensitive, though it is possible. That means that while you can hear him, he would have a more difficult time talking to those who are not strong in the Force. It would just take some more concentration on his part."

You must be one of those Jedi that Ari told me about Taga replied.

"I am," Taylor nodded as they got to Ari's room. "How much has she told you?"

She has told me many stories, even ones that you have told her. In return, I have told her the stories of my people and how we live Taga replied. He made a sound that was almost like a purr was Ari pet the top of his head affectionately. While many thought Taga was her pet, to Ari, he was a good friend and companion.

Taylor smiled at this and took one disk out of the group. "This one is from Siri, you should watch it later. It is very long. Some personal messages are on there, but there is a lot of training material as well. It is more advanced than the last one." Setting this disk on the nightstand, Taylor put one of the disks into the recorder and Ari joined her.

A command to speak a password appeared and Ari shook her head, taking it out of the machine. That meant that there was some important Rebellion information to look over. She would look at it after Taylor left, since she knew there could be a lot to go over.

Taylor put the third disk in, and a figure appeared. Upon seeing who it was Ari had to smile. Luke looked slightly older than she remembered, but she realized that war could change people. He was dressed in black, unlike the light colored clothing he usually wore on Tatooine, and she saw that he still wore the black glove over his prosthetic hand, even though it was hard to tell the difference between the two. Even though he looked different, she could see his smile, and that was enough to assure her that deep down, the Luke she knew was still there, even after all that had happened.

"Lieutenant Narabe," he gave a mock salute. "Though I guess you should be doing that for me, since I am a Commander." This time, the smile he was wearing faded, and Ari saw that it no longer reached his eyes.

Meanwhile, Taylor was looking at him very closely. Ari thought she heard Taylor say "Looks just like his father," but it was so quiet that the younger of the two women did not say anything as the image continued to speak.

"I am sorry I have been out of contact lately, but I have been busy. In fact, I just took some time off to return home. Nothing has changed here, it looks the way we left it for the most part."

Ari was a bit surprised. He hated Tatooine. Why would he want to return?

"Han was just recently delivered to Jabba the Hutt, still in the carbonite, but he is alive. I am here with Leia, Lando, Chewie and the droids. It is amazing how we all make a full circle and end up where we began."

Is that Luke? Taga asked, having heard a lot about him and the others through Ari. Just giving a nod, Ari did not look away from the message since Luke was speaking again.

"I wish you could be here, but I do understand. Leia is going to talk to the commanding officers to see if they can spare you long enough to help us get Han out. I would say I have been busy getting together a plan, but I think what I have been doing is just as important.

A now familiar snap-hiss sounded and a glowing rod of light appeared. It was green in color and Luke moved the lightsaber slightly, the weapon humming. With a triumphant look on his face he looked at it, and then he deactivated the saber. "I have been at Ben's, looking through the papers he has here. I kept trying to follow the directions, but then I realized that I could not follow them as I did it. I had all the materials and I knew the directions. It was through the Force that I was able to build this. How could I be a Jedi without a lightsaber?"

"A Jedi's weapon is his life," Taylor remarked, and Ari knew that must have been something she had learned while she trained to be a Jedi.

"This means we can start training together with these again. I am going to continue training while we work out a plan to rescue Han. But expect to hear about having some time off to come help us. When you do arrive, we have either been in the Falcon, or at Ben's so it should not be too hard to find us."

A strange look came over Luke's face for a moment, and he paused before speaking. "I hope you are being careful. I realized that we have never been apart this long since we met. I think if you were here, you would understand my sleepless nights and my need for those times to collect my thoughts. While there is not much here, being back has given me a lot to reflect on." For a moment, Ari could almost feel as if Luke could see her.

"I look forward to seeing you soon," he continued. He gave a half smile as he spoke his last line before the recording ended. "Stay safe, and may the Force be with you."