Chapter 113

AN: I apologize for how long this chapter took. I was working on another short Ari/Luke story which takes place when they are eleven years old. It is currently up and is titled "Desert Mishaps".

When Ari arrived at the clearing, she was immediately struck by how much damage there seemed to be. Soon she was once again returning the shots being fired in her direction. While most continued to bounce off and hit the ground or a nearby tree, a few flew back to her assailants, rendering them injured or dead.

She tried not to think about killing the troopers, though it was a lot easier to do with their helmets on, making them all look alike. In fact, with the way their voices sounded through their mouthpieces, they sounded the same as well.

When she could spare a moment, she glanced over and saw that Han was working with something at the terminal. Crossing wires it looked like, which could only mean one thing. Han was going to try to hotwire the doors. If not for the fact that it was a war zone, it could have been almost comical.

Princess Leia was covering him from the troopers who were shooting at them, keeping herself low, which was smart.

Seeing the droids, Ari noticed that they had not been so fortunate. Threepio looked alright, maybe a dent or two more than he had before, though nothing stood out as Ari returned another volley of shots.

Artoo was the one who had fared the worst though. The small droid looked as if he had exploded. His compartment doors were open, revealing appendages and wires. He was smoking somewhat as well. Ari hoped that he could be fixed somehow.

"I got it!" Han shouted and Ari watched in dismay as heard the sound of mechanical gears turning and saw the second blast door close. She almost groaned. It would have been possible to use her lightsaber to cut an opening through one of the blast doors, but two would be very difficult.

A small shout tore Ari's attention away from some of the troopers near herself and she turned to glance at Leia. Even as she did, the Force was moving through her, blade deflecting the shots of the pair that were coming closer to her.

Ari could only watch as Han ducked beside Leia, to see how she was, most likely. When she saw that the smuggler turned general was looking at the Princess's shoulder, Ari felt a bit relieved. It hurt terribly to be shot, however, it had not damaged any organs and was not life threatening.

Ari could only steal glances as two more troopers came up to Han and Leia, weapons raised and she cursed herself for letting herself be kept occupied by the two who were still firing at her. The smell of carbon assaulted her nose, no longer being able to smell the fresh air of the forest and plants.

As she managed to knock down one trooper, causing the other to retreat into the woods, Ari noticed that the troopers that had been about to capture Han and Leia were now lying on the ground, not moving.

The feelings of relief that were felt by the group was short lived as a large walker appeared, guns pointed at the bunker doors as well as the two humans and pair of droids who were all taking shelter there.

Ari started forward, thinking of how she could help defeat the AT-ST. She had a lightsaber and that was known to cut through anything. Perhaps it would work to cut off the legs of the transport.

That plan never came into effect though when she saw the hatch open and Chewie's head appeared. He appeared quite proud of himself, having managed to take control of the walker and Ari could not blame him. She would have to ask him later how he had done that.

"Chewie!" Han called. "Get down here! She's wounded!" he motioned to Leia who was clearly in pain, but she was not even crying. Ari was trotting over to them and could see where the blaster had hit Leia's shoulder. She might need some bacta and some synthaskin, which Ari was sure they had among their supplies. "No, wait," Han called back up and then turned to Leia with a grin. "I got an idea."

"Is it better than the idea of hotwiring the door?" Leia managed to tease with a slightly pained smile.

Han nodded, and Ari was surprised. This was the first time she had not heard Han retort with a similar smart remark. Ari was so used to hearing their banter that it seemed strange not to hear it.

"So what is it?" Ari asked, unable to stay silent as she joined them.

"Good to see you too," Han replied then wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "Every transport has a communication system inside. The Imps inside can't see what is going on out here. So what if they thought the Rebels were running and just a few reinforcements were needed to finish the job?"

Ari thought this over and then smirked. "That is brilliant."

"I think this could work," Leia remarked, nodding as well.

"Of course it will. It's me," Han grinned and Ari had to give a small laugh. Apparently it took more than a year in carbonite to keep Han Solo humbled. He turned become serious again and turned to Ari. "Contact the others and tell them to meet here. Make sure they stay hidden. It will have to be an ambush. Oh and get the little furry Ewoks to help. I didn't think I would ever say this, but we couldn't have gotten this far without them."

Ari nodded and started to contact the other members of their team who were taking care of a few other Imperial troops. They all said they would be coming back in just moments and Ari told them to see if they could get the help of the Ewoks.

"I will talk to them, Mistress Ari. After all, I am fluent in over-"

"Hey, Goldenrod, just talk to them," Han told the protocol droid before turning back to Leia.

"Put your good arm around my neck," he instructed her and she looked at him strangely.

"Why?" she asked.

"Well, if my plan works, there will be a lot of Imperials rushing out here and it wouldn't be a good idea to have you here."

"I can still move on my own," Leia insisted, but winced as she moved her arm ever so slightly to shift so she was sitting up a bit more.

"You are very stubborn," Han shook his head and picked her up more gently than Ari would have guessed. He kept one hand on her back to support her, his other arm going under her knees.

"Han! I can walk!" Leia insisted, starting to struggle in his arms. However, it was clear that moving like that was causing her injury more pain than necessary.

"And you, Your Highness, need to stop fighting those who are trying to help you. If I am not mistaken, that is what happened the moment we met."

"Well, you had cut off our escape route," Leia pointed out. However, she stopped fighting Han and after a moment of hesitation, put her good arm around his neck so it was easier for both of them.

"That won't happen this time," Han replied. "But you will have a good place to view everything," he smirked.

Ari averted her eyes slightly to give the couple at least some semblance of privacy. She looked around the area to see the arriving troops and Ewoks, word apparently spreading quickly. After a few moments of this, she glanced back over at Han and Leia. Han had carefully set Leia down by a tree, a good distance away from the backdoor. She was mostly hidden, by a few fallen tree trunks and a small bush. However, Leia was able to see fairly well from that position, and Ari saw her move her blaster to her other side, in case she needed to shoot at anything near the bunker door.

Ari was not close enough to hear them, but she saw Han lean down and say something to Leia, who replied with a nod.

At that moment, Ari froze and her gaze went to the Death Star that she could see in the sky. She felt something strange coming from there and she knew instantly that it was something she could sense from Luke. Even over this distance, their connection forged from years of friendship and countless hours training together, she could sense a quick feeling. It was one of confusion and conflict. Whatever Luke was going through, it was clearly difficult.

The flicker of emotion that she felt passed just as quickly as it came, but Ari stared at the Death Star until her attention was pulled away by Han. Apparently she had missed his approach as he seemed to appear beside her even though she had been certain she had just seen him with Leia.

"Are you alright, Kid?" he asked, seeing the look on her face. It was one he had seen on Luke a few times. It was the look Han deemed 'the Jedi look', somewhat unnerving, like that old man, Kenobi sometimes looked.

Ari nodded after a second. She blinked a few times to force herself to focus on the task at hand. After all, each moment that passed was a moment that could not just cost lives of Rebel comrades, but it could determine the fate of the galaxy.

"Good," Han gave her a smile as if for reassurance. It worked though and Ari returned it, though it was slightly forced.

An Ewok came up to Han and handed him the helmet from one of the AT-ST pilots, saying something in the native language before hurrying to join the other Ewoks.

Han looked at it for a moment and then glanced over at Ari. "I have already done some impersonations of an Imperial." He put the helmet on his head and then smirked. "Hopefully this will go better than last time."