Chapter 120
AN: I just want to thank everyone for all your kind reviews!
While it had been hard to tell Luke she could not go, it was not easy to tell Leia and Han that she as not going either. They both asked her to change her mind, but she knew she had to go. Leia was a bit more understanding that the Force was telling her to go to another place, since Han still had trouble understanding the Force, though he had seen it in action.
"Do you think that perhaps you could join us once you are done with all that you need to do?" Leia asked.
"Perhaps, but I do not think that would be the best idea. I am taking my fighter and it might not be good to have a lone ship appearing without any warning," Ari replied and Leia nodded, agreeing with her.
"So the Force is telling you to do this, but you don't know where you are going?" he asked.
"I know where to start," she replied. "If the Force was easy to understand, there would be no need for training," she smiled.
Han gave her a smirk as he tousled Ari's blonde hair with his hand. "Take care of yourself, Kid."
"I will," she smiled as she attempted to brush her hair back down with her fingers, though she did not succeed in getting it all back in place.
"Does Luke know?" Leia asked her. She had always cared about him, but even more so when she found out they were twins.
"Of course. He was there when I realized what I had to do. He wished I could go with all of you, but he understands."
"As do we," Leia replied. "May the Force be with you, Ari."
"And with you as well," Ari replied and offered them a small smile before leaving them. She had to find R4 and then get to two of them to her fighter, which had been used in the battle the day before. She had wanted to say goodbye to the others, but knew that she could wander from one area to the next and miss them repeatedly. She barely managed to say goodbye to a few of the Ewoks that had been nearby when she had walked past on her way to see Han and Leia.
"R4!" she called as her eyes fell on the familiar droid, who beeped in response.
"It is good to see you too," she smiled, patting the droid on the head. "I know you probably still are not fully recharged, but it appears we are going to have to go."
Arfour beeped a question and Ari frowned slightly. She searched her belt for the translator and found it in a small pouch. She glanced at what it said and then shook her head. "No, we are not going to Bakura with the others. We are going to the rendezvous point where the rest of the Rebels are meeting."
The droid took this in before beeping again, following Ari as she started down the walkway again, toward the ladder. "Because that is what the Force is telling me. I know the Force is difficult to compute, but just trust me."
Ari smiled when she read the next thing the droid said to her. Even though the droid did not understand the Force, Arfour trusted her. It was a nice thing to hear. "We make a good team." She patted the droid's head and was awarded by a happy chirp.
When they reached the rope ladder, Ari lowered it carefully to the ground. "Do not worry. I will get you down," she assured her companion. "You just have to promise not to make any movements or loud sounds. It does take concentration."
The droid agreed, though the beep sounded very worried.
Ari started down the ladder until she was about halfway down the ladder. It was be easier to do what she had to at a halfway point. She moved herself so that her arms were wrapped around the course ropes to make sure she would not fall. She slid herself through one of the rungs so she was almost sitting on it.
She closed her eyes and allowed herself to relax slightly, taking deep even breaths. She could feel the Force all around her. It was in all of the animals and beings on Endor. It was in the trees and the plants. She could feel it in the very air she breathed. Smiling slightly, she concentrated on the droid that was waiting patiently above her. She focused on making the droid light as a feather as she used the Force to lift Arfour.
Arfour remembered the order to not move or make loud sounds, but that did not stop some quiet beeps from escaping.
Ari continued to focus solely on the droid. She could feel as Arfour came closer to her. The droid made a small sound and the young woman almost lost her concentration, but that passed in less than a second.
This continued until Arfour was on solid ground again. Ari let out a deep sigh as she slowly opened her eyes. She knew that Jedi of the Republic could most likely have done that without any trouble, but it had been draining.
Ari gave herself a moment to collect herself, she started down the ladder as well. After, lowering a droid that far, climbing down a ladder made of rope did not seem difficult at all. She jumped off the second to last rung, feet making a soft crunching sound on the leaves that covered the ground as she did.
"Are you alright, Arfour?" she asked the droid with a smile. This was enough to allow the droid to ignore the promise to stay quiet. A volley of beeps, chirps and whistles came from the droid and Ari smiled slightly. "The entire time it was safe. I promise."
After a moment, the droid seemed a bit calmer and Ari patted Arfour's metallic head affectionately. "You did great." She smiled at the droid then started through the forest to where her fighter was located.
It was a bit of a hike, but Ari enjoyed it. She wished she could have stayed longer on such a wonderful planet. It felt so full of life and the Force's energy was much higher here than it had been on Tatooine or Hoth. She took a deep breath and let it out, grinning. This was they had fought for. The fight was so that others could look up at the sky, the trees, moons, stars or suns and smile, knowing they were free. Free to enjoy simple moments like these. It would not be easy to rebuild the Republic, but Ari didn't focus on that.
While she did not know what to expect when she reached her destination, she knew it would change her life. A few years back, knowing such a thing might have frightened her. Now she could meet it head on with a spring in her step.
Her family would be happy to know that the Empire was defeated. She was sure that wherever they were now, they were smiling. Humming a song to herself, she reached her fighter without incident. Arfour had suffered a few obstacles by with some help via the Force and Ari, they had not been serious at all.
The fighter had received some new scratches and dents, battle wounds, but they were nothing serious.
"Are you ready to fly, R4?" Ari asked.
The droid beeped happily and this time did not protest to being picked up by the Force. Being set on the wing, Arfour beeped and went to his spot in the fighter as Ari climbed aboard as well.
She stowed her pack behind her and then found her flightsuit and helmet stowed away there. Someone must have done it for her, since she knew someone else had her fighter during the battle. It was a pleasant surprise, since she hadn't even thought of it up until this point.
She slipped the flightsuit on over the rest of her clothing, and then put her helmet on. She was not a fan of what fight pilots had to wear, and while it was most necessary in battle, it was better to be safe than sorry.
Ari glanced over at Arfour who was in place. "Are you ready?" she asked the droid and she received a confirmation in the form of a beep. "Good," she smiled.
She lowered the canopy and belted herself in as Arfour started the engines. The preflight check did not take long because it was almost done automatically by this point. If something was wrong, Ari would have noticed, but everything was fine.
Once she had given the engines a few moments to warm up, she pulled off the ground with ease. She had to maneuver around a few trees as she made her way up and above the trees.
As she broke through the canopy of leaves, she glanced down at the forest moon as it became smaller and smaller. She did not want to leave the others, but she had no choice. While some of the fleet was already in orbit around it, she knew that she would have to travel a bit further to reach her destination.
She cast one last longing look at the green planet. "Be safe," she whispered then turned back to the controls. If she hesitated, there was a chance that she would go back, even though it was not the Force's will.
She calculated the jump the lightspeed once they were out of the gravitational pull of Endor. The coordinates came to her, even though she knew that Arfour had the information stored. She just knew where she had to go and that was all. She did not know what she would find.
"Ready?" she asked Arfour, who was. The droid beeped a few times, happy to be flying again, causing Ari to laugh.
She pulled the lever ever so slightly and the stars and planet disappeared as she jumped into lightspeed. Stars now were mere streaks of light around the fighter and she checked to be sure her lightsaber was still at her side. Once at their destination, she did not know if she would encounter a friend or foe. Either way, she was ready.