"You were said to destroy the Sith, not join them!"
"I hate you!"
Ben tossed and turned in his seat, mumbling incoherently in his slumber. It wasn't until the soft touch of a small hand jostled him awake along with a feint call of his name that he became fully aware of the pilot's chair that he sat in. The console before him blinked and hummed as it piloted itself automatically through hyper space. Ben brought his hands to his eyes and attempted to wipe away the sleep.
"You were having a nightmare." Leia stated from behind him.
"I know." Ben groaned.
"Who is Anakin?" She asked inquisitively.
"You are just full of questions, aren't you?" Ben muttered, wincing at the name once again. That name came forward in his mind every time he closed his eyes. He was tormented by this particular dream every night, no matter how hard he tried to push it down and move on. Even when meditating, the thoughts and memories found a way to surface. A Jedi did not dwell on the past. Ben kept telling himself. If only it would bring him some relief. He recalled a time when he advised a particular friend about this same situation. Dreams pass in time. How wrong he had been with his advisement.
"That's what you were mumbling in your sleep." Leia stated, after Ben didn't answer.
"I think we should focus on how we are going to get ourselves out of this mess. Coruscant may be the capital of the Empire, but Naboo has sworn allegiance and is most likely crawling with stormtroopers." Ben explained.
"Leia sat back in her seat and crossed her arms in frustration. "I can't explain why I need to be there. I just know that I do."
"Then try a little exercise with me." Ben began, hoping this wouldn't back-fire on him. "Close your eyes and try to clear your mind. Focus only on that feeling that called you toward Naboo."
Leia closed her eyes and did her best to try to focus. At first, she focused on the hum of the ship, letting the gentle white noise calm her. Then that hum gradually moved toward the background even more. She started to feel a sense of warmth that filled her soul and began to grow and grow before it became so overwhelming that it brought tears to her eyes.
"Do you see anything, Leia?" Ben asked softly.
"Leia shook her head. "No, I can't." She muttered.
"Keep trying." He said before trying to clear his mind. It required the utmost focus on Ben's part, attempting to trust in something that he had lost all hope in. The force was supposed to encompass all good, it was supposed to guide its followers on a peaceful path. How wrong he had been and thus Ben avoided relying on his other sense. However, just from the brief contact with Leia through the force, he knew that she was on a pilgrimage that was inevitable. He focused on the pull of the force that emanated from the seat behind him, depleting some of his strength in doing so. He pushed his own energy towards her, attempting to give her more strength for clarity.
"I see something!" Leia burst with excitement. Her mind began to show her images, images of red flowers carefully tended in a pot. Speckles of different colored lights danced across the soft petals. She tried even harder to focus, tried to pan out the image to find where these flowers rested. She started to see a window of painted glass behind the flowers. Light poured through the window, into what looked like a dark damp concrete room. She poured her concentration into the glass window, the haziness dissipating with every second that it kept her attention. Before long, the window was in focus revealing an image of a woman. This woman stood with her arms clasped in front of her waist and a brilliantly gold crown upon her head. The dress she wore radiated grace and royalty.
"Leia tried her best to describe the window she was seeing before the image vanished from her mind. After given her description to Ben only silence remained in the cockpit of the starfighter. "Ben?" She asked, hoping he would say something.
What Leia was unable to see from her seat was the single tear drop running down the old Jedi's weary face. "I know where we are headed, and it will not be an easy trip."
"Where is it?" Leia asked.
"Theed." Ben answered.
The starfighter engines screeched as it exited hyperspace, coming to a seeming halt above the planet of Naboo. The planet still revealed a mostly green surface from the depths of space. Ben felt it was good to see that the countryside still remained untouched by the destruction of the Empire. Only a single imperial class I star destroyer remained in the planets orbit, ominously floating near the small ship that Ben and Leia sat idly in. Even with the reduced number of threats from space, the star destroyer still posed a formidable danger if they were to engage in battle. Ben quickly turned on the cloaking device on the ship, hoping to drift slowly by unnoticed to the surface. They would have to land in the countryside and travel their way into Theed. The city would most likely have imperial occupation along with Panaka's own forces guarding the capital. Stealth was of the utmost importance. The only trouble was a very unsubtle ten-year-old who sat impatiently behind him, in awe of this new planet.
"Before we go down there, I must stress the danger that you and I find ourselves in. You must follow my lead. Do you understand?" Ben scolded.
"Yes, Sir." Leia stated with a fake salute.
"I mean it, Leia. If you don't listen to me, I will turn this ship around and bring you straight back to Alderaan." It's what he should do anyway. He thought to himself. The star destroyer now loomed over them; the underbelly of the beast now able to be seen from their viewport. Ben could feel sweat beading down his spine as his nerves betrayed him. He watched the giant passing by his jaw was pressed tightly closed and the muscles bulging from the tension.
"Ben, look." Leia said pointing through the viewport. Ben was afraid to look at what she saw, worried that it foiled their plans of stealth. He turned his head slowly and found that his worries had come to fruition. A squad of tie fighters started to drop out of the docking bay on the underside of the giant beast and began flying towards them. His shoulders tensed, but he remained still.
"What are you going to do?" Leia asked. Ben shushed her immediately as he tried to hunker down in his seat. They could hear the screeching of the tie fighter engines growing closer and closer, the ever-looming threat becoming more a reality as the distance between them closed. When blaster fire never came, Ben took a sigh of relief.
"It's going to hit us!" Leia screeched.
Ben immediately turned his head to find a tie fighter at exactly the trajectory so that the wing of the ship would clip the side of the ARC- 170's hull. Ben quickly flicked up the switch for the autopilot and took control of the yoke. By shifting the accelerator into gear, the engines blasted to life and Ben maneuvered the ARC-170 away from the oncoming tie fighter. "Blast it." Cussed Ben as blasters began to fire in their direction. Short beams of green zipped by as Ben swung the ship to and frow to avoid being hit. Leia clutched the side of her seat to steady herself even though she had already strapped herself in.
"Leia!" Ben called. "You have to convert the power from the forward shields to the rear. You should see it on the console on your right." Ben steered the ship in and out of the fire with force sensitive precision, but there were more near misses than he felt comfortable with.
"I got it!" Yelled Leia after a series of beeps rang throughout the cabin.
"Alright, now hold on." Ben once again felt the familiar wanting of his partner beside him, for he had a knack for making the impossible possible. "Focus." Ben said to himself. "Now is not the time to let my mind wander." With a series of dips and dives, Ben flew the ship closer and closer to Naboo's atmosphere.
The ship started to enter the cloud covering of the atmosphere on a very turbulent path. Just as the clouds coated the viewport, Ben felt a blast ripple through the left side of the ship. Ben wasn't sure if this was caused by a blast from the tie fighters or from the ship itself unable to go through the heat from atmospheric descent, but the left wing was ablaze with giant flames that flowed behind them like a tail of a comet. The cabin roared with warning blips and flashing lights upon the front console. Ben tapped into the ships cooling systems in an attempt to control the flames upon the port side of the vessel. He fought with the yoke as the ship tried to spiral out of control. Subtlety was no longer available for their admission to the planet.
Through the viewport, miles of lush grass could be seen with the hint of round topped buildings of Theed in the distance. The ground was coming up much faster than Ben had anticipated. He pulled up on the yoke in an attempt to lengthen the trajectory and hopefully lessen the impact. Before Ben could make any more adjustments, the starship's nose dove into the ground, chunks of earth flying around them. The Ship came to a screaming halt and both Ben and Leia fell back into their seats. Ben gave out a sigh of relief as he found that both Leia and him were safely on the ground. "Another happy landing." Ben muttered.
"You call that a landing?" Leia said breathlessly.
"Come on, we need to get out of here." Ben told her as he released the hatch of the cabin, the fresh air of the Naboo countryside surrounding them. Ben climbed out of the cabin stepping onto the right wing. He extended his arm towards Leia who gratefully accepted his help in exiting the ARC-170. They both planted their feet into the ground, Ben immediately starting to walk toward the buildings in the distance. "We have a lot of ground to cover, young one, and we most likely alerted the empire to our presence with that daring entrance. We should keep moving to avoid another fight."
Ben had to stop in his tracks when he realized that Leia was not beside him. Instead, she stood by the ship staring out into the gorgeous landscape of tall grass and waterfalls. "It's like a dream." She said mesmerized.
Ben could hear the sound of tie fighters in the distance and trotted over the Leia. He firmly grasped her forearm and pulled her toward the direction of Theed. "We need to go." He explained. "Those tie fighters will find the crash site at any moment."
Leia nodded in understanding and began following Ben, trudging through the tall grass. They had a lot of distance to cross before they would even set foot in Theed and the place of Leia's vision would be right in the heart of the city. Ben had no idea why the force would lead a child to the final resting place of her mother, and surely there would be nothing good to follow after they actually got there.
Ben let Leia trot slightly ahead of his pace, she enthusiastically ran toward an inevitable sadness. He realized that with all the secrecy that Bail and he achieved, that Leia never had the chance to grieve her mother, let alone know her. This was a journey she would take, and Ben would try his best to guide her along the path of acceptance. Perhaps through guiding her, he would find acceptance himself.