The rendez-vous point was located above Sullust, and as Luke broke away from the Falcon, his voice rang clear on the comlink.
"I'll meet you back at the fleet," he said. Leia was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, as Chewie was in the back of the ship nursing his wound. Lando sat in the pilot's seat in front of Anna and Han.
"Hurry," she said. "The Alliance should be assembled by now."
"I will," he said.
"Hey, Luke, thanks," Han said, leaning forward in his chair. "Thanks for comin' after me. Now I owe you one."
Even though she wanted to say something, Anna said nothing. Her silence was only starting the circulation of thoughts in Han's head, and as soon as Luke switched off the comlink, he was ready to start bombarding her with questions.
"You seem to already know my name," he said.
"When you're the one frozen in carbonite, you'd be surprised as to how much you hear about that person," she said. "But, I suppose that I should tell you my name to even the tables. I'm Anna."
Han raised his eyebrow. "That's it?" he asked. "Just Anna?"
"It's what most people call me," she said. "It's a shortened name, but that's all you need to know."
Han smiled and leaned back in his chair. "So you smuggled then, eh?" he asked.
"Only when I had to," she said. "Flying endlessly through the galaxy doesn't pay very much."
"So how did you get caught up with the kid?" he asked. Anna smiled, knowing exactly who he was referring to.
"I had to make an emergency landing on Dagobah when he was there," she said. "He found me when I was on the edge of death, and during the week that I was there, I learned that I was Force sensitive, so the Jedi master there instructed both of us. However, we didn't get far far in the training before Vader had set his trap." Anna looked over at him. "Luke was so frantic to get to Cloud City as fast as he could, and I had to go with him. The rest is history."
Han looked out the windows of the Falcon, enjoying finally being able to see his ship. "Are you involved?" he asked.
"Absolutely not," Anna answered, knowing exactly what Han was hinting at. He smiled.
"Why not?" he asked.
"Han, stop," Leia said from in front.
"No, it's fine," Anna said. "I don't because of my own personal reasons. I've not had the best experiences with man in the past, not to mention that this time in the war is critical. I don't need to be caught up in my own personal feelings."
"Not even just a little bit?" Han asked, but he wasn't looking at her. Instead, he was looking straight ahead at Leia. "Sometimes, all you need is a good night with someone to unwind."
"Not in your life, Solo," Leia warned, but Anna could see the former princess grinning to herself.
The Alliance had set up a staging area to keep its relatively small fleet, but they wouldn't be staying on the surface of the planet. Instead, they'd be on the Home One, the Alliance's monster headquarter frigate. Anna had never seen it before, and once she walked out of the Falcon and laid eyes on it for the first time, she was in awe. She had seen ships of its class before, but never before had she been up close to one, let alone inside. Leia looked over at the other girl and smiled.
"She's a beauty, isn't she?" Leia asked.
"That's an understatement," Anna answered as they walked over to the ramp of the Falcon. There were already quite a few members of the Alliance flocking around the ship, walking into it while talking among themselves.
They had landed in one of the bays of the ship, and the Falcon took up a lot of room inside. The only other ship that was noticeable was an Imperial shuttle, and Anna eyed it carefully. She had known why it was there, but it still looked very out of place among the fleet of Rebel ships.
"Once we get in there, go to the left," Leia said. "There's a room there, for us to talk."
Anna nodded, but she was confused. Why did Leia wasn't to talk? Was it something to do with Luke? Was it something else altogether? She had no way of knowing what the former princess' motives were.
The two girls walked into the ship, and as Leia instructed, they dipped off to the left. The meeting was to happen several hours from now, which allowed them to recover and rest for a while. However, judging by the way Leia walked, with her head high and an air of power to her, Anna knew that rest would not happen anytime soon. One thing that she had learned about the former princess was that she was impatient, and that to pass the time, she needed something to do, or to talk about. Now, Anna was going to be that outlet.
Leia walked in front, and turned toward a shut door with a keypad. She quickly typed in a code, and pushed the door open. Anna walked in, seeing that it too was like the inside of the medical frigate, white. Why does everything have to be stark white? She thought to herself. It reminded her too much of control, of blankness. The Empire already had the alternative.
"What did you need to talk to me about?" she asked.
"You're twenty one, correct?" she asked.
"Yes," Anna responded. Her hands were inside the pockets of her cloak, watching Leia carefully.
"Then you would've only known what we live in now," she said. "You wouldn't have known much about Order 66."
"Just from what I've been told," Anna said. "I was born not long after it though. About a year later, what the galaxy was still in turmoil. At least, more than it is now. They were still trying to figure everything out. It marked the beginning of the Jedi Purge, which ended after nearly nineteen years."
"Did that Jedi Master you went to go visit, did he tell you anything?" Leia asked.
"Yes," Anna said. "Why do you need to know?"
"I worry for you, and for Luke," Leia said. "You two are in so much danger now, more than I thought at first. For all we know, you could be the last Jedi Knights left alive."
"We'll be all right," Anna said. "The two of us can take care of ourselves. Just worry about the future."
Leia sighed. "Remember when you were out training?" she asked. Anna nodded. How could she forget?
"I was worried," she said. "I was worried that you wouldn't come back. Not because you would choose not to, but rather, you'd be killed. Your ship would get shot down, the Empire would intercept you, that sort of thing. Luke was much more worried than I was, but I guess that's understandable." She sighed, crossing the room. It was a small living space, obviously meant for highly-respected crew, but it was empty. After all, Leia did rank fairly high in the Alliance and could probably get away with having her own private quarters. Anna just watched, not making a move in any way.
"What do you mean, it makes sense?" she asked, watching as the former princess sat down on the couch at the back of the room. Leia untied her long hair, running her fingers through it.
"You told me that you had feelings for Luke," she said. "He shared them. I'm not blind to what love looks like."
"It's hardly love," Anna said. "Just an attraction." A fatal attraction, but she didn't vocalize that part.
"Tell me something," Leia said. "What are you afraid of with him?"
Anna sighed. "I don't need to be caught up in those feelings when w— the Alliance, is at such a critical moment in the war," she said. Leia noted the stutter in the other girl's voice, but didn't say anything.
"I was once afraid," Leia said. "Han and I were in a similar position, emotionally, that is, and I was almost ready to give up on him. However, the Alliance leader, Mon Mothma, who you will meet during the briefing, told me something that I will never forget. She said 'Don't deny yourself another chance at love because of what the Empire did to them. Don't give Palpatine that victory, too.' She was telling me to not give up on my love for Han. If you give up on your love for Luke, Palpatine will have won another battle, one that we can no longer afford to keep losing." She paused. "Now, I have Han back, and Luke is still here. Granted, he is in danger, as are you, but the two of you need to make it clear that Palpatine will not claim another victory because of your fear that you will become distracted." She stood up, and Anna looked to be lost in thought. She had relaxed, considerably, and Leia knew that something had finally gotten through to the young Jedi Knight.
"That's all I wanted to say," she said, and smiled. Anna raised her eyes, and nodded.
"How much time until the briefing?" she asked.
"Several hours," Leia said. "Try to get some rest."