Hey, everyone! This chapter is a bit on the short side, because I really wanted this to be about Hobbes and the vision that he has. Still not sure now this will all tie in with the third movie, but I had fun writing this! Will Hobbes save Calvin, or will he be forever lost? Bum Bum Buhhh!

Anyways, enjoy.

Compared to other places in the Galaxy, Calvin considered Cloud City to be pretty nice.

He and Hobbes had visited a few other mining planets like Ryloth and Shipbuilding planets like Corellia, and had been rather appalled by some of the conditions miners worked in. Of course, that was nothing compared to spice mines, which crossed the line into slavery. And the various syndicates that controlled those mines were at least sort of affiliated with the Empire, to make it even worse.

But Cloud City, he supposed, was special in that there was no need to swing hammers and operate dangerous machinery, since the main resource of Bespin was tibanna. An important gas across the galaxy, Tibanna was most importantly the main ingredient in blaster ammo. And all a person had to do to get some was collect it straight out of the air, pressurize it, and store it for later use. No slavery involved.

This easy mining process, coupled with the fact that demand for tibanna was way up (see the Empire, Rebellion, and most people in general) meant that cloud city was probably earning some good dough. And the city's luxurious design proved it. Ornate halls, shining glass panes, stylish suits and capes being worn everywhere, spires and spiral lamps, you name it.

"So, how's the gas mine? Is it paying off for you?" Han asked in front of him. Lando sighed in response.

"Oh, not as well as I'd like," he admitted. "We're a small outpost and not very self-sufficient. And I've had supply problems of every kind. I've had labor difficulties…"

As Lando continued talking, he realized that Han was chuckling. "What's so funny?"

"You," Han grinned. "Listen to you - you sound like a businessman, a responsible leader. Who'd have thought that, huh?"

"Why is that funny?" Calvin asked behind them.

"Well, you see, Calvin," Lando explained, "I used to be just like this old smuggler, here. I delivered all kinds of things to all kinds of places, and I even helped Han steal a load of Coaxium straight from Kessel's spice mines."

"No way!" Calvin gasped. Kessel was an impregnable fortress, with only one way in or out via a tunnel through the swirling vortex that surrounded the planet. To steal something from there was suicide.

"Yeah, I was just like Han," Lando nodded. "Until he stole my ship."

"Don't listen to him, kid," Han grinned. "He's just sore over the fact that I gambled it out of him."

"Wait, the Falcon?" Calvin asked.

"Yep," Lando nodded. "He won it in a game of Sabacc. Worked like a charm anytime I encountered the Empire."

He looked at Han for a few seconds, before saying, "You know, seeing you brings back a few things."

"Yeah," Han agreed.

"So yeah, I'm responsible these days," Lando sighed with a small shake of his head. "It's the price you pay for being successful."

As the group walked on, heading towards the room where they would be staying, a straggling 3po slowed down when he saw another protocol droid, silver in design.

"Oh!" he stopped, surprised. "Nice to see a familiar face."

"E chu'ta!" the silver droid buzzed at him, before entering a door on the side of the main hallway.

"...Why, how rude!" 3po shook his head. "Doesn't anyone in the galaxy have any manners?"

About to continue on his way, he stopped when his audio receptors picked up a familiar beeping sound. Chirps and whirrs. Turning again to look at the open door where the sound was coming from, he mused over whether or not to investigate.

"That sounds like an R2 unit in there," he said to himself. "I wonder if…"

Making up his Central Processing Unit (his mind), he walked through the doorway to find a dimly-lit room, hundreds of boxes and crates stacked messily against the walls.

"Hello?" he asked, before noticing the crates and boxes, as well as several weapons propped against them. "How interesting… oh, my."

"Who are you?!" a harsh voice came from his right. Turning his head in surprise, he recoiled, blabbering, "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I... I didn't mean to intrude. No, no, please don't get up. No!"

A single blaster shot sent the poor protocol droid flying back, before crashing to the ground.

The doors slid shut.

Hobbes sat lazily on a cool, mossy rock as Luke practiced with the force. Over the past week, he had improved by an impressive amount. No longer skeptical of his own abilities, he was now able to lift sizable tree trunks, although it still took a rather large amount of effort.

Meditating in a handstand, Luke did his best to reach out and become one with the land around him as Yoda encouraged and guided him. It was rather interesting to watch, and Hobbes was proud of the level of skill that he had managed to reach.

And today was the day. Once Luke's training was done, he promised himself that he would talk to the little Jedi Master, and ask for a Kyber crystal. He knew that Yoda had one, since there was a chest similar to the one that Obi-Wan kept his lightsaber in. And lightsabers needed Kyber to function. It was just so hard for some reason to ask. He kept telling himself excuses.

But not this time, he promised himself.

He hoped that Luke's training would be complete soon, because he was anxious about getting back to Calvin. Yes, he was probably safe with the Rebel fleet, but any number of things could happen. The Empire could find them, Calvin could have gotten in trouble, the DART could have broken, meaning that there was no way home…

Good lord, he missed home. Attending GROSS meetings, pondering philosophical conundrums, fooling around and exploring… yeah, he was gonna ask for that darned crystal today.

And that cave. That dark cave that showed you your greatest fear… it kept beckoning to him. Calling to him. He didn't want to go, but his curiosity was starting to become overwhelming. The urge to find out had been gnawing and biting at him for days, now.

But he didn't need to go! He already knew what his greatest fear was. He was pretty sure, at least.

But wait a minute. Was he really? After all, he was afraid of and for a great many things. He was afraid that the Rebellion would fail. He was afraid that Calvin was in danger. He was afraid that they'd never be able to get home. He was-

That's it, he realized. He was afraid that they would never be able to get home. That Yoda might say no to the Kyber crystal, or that the DART wouldn't work. Wouldn't contain the coaxium.

Well, he'd just have to put faith in Calvin and his creation. He would have to face his fear.

Stretching, he stifled a yawn so as to not distract Luke, and suddenly felt a change in the rock that he was laying on. Hearing an agitated string of beeps, he opened his eyes to find that Luke was using the force to lift up a few supply boxes around him, a comically distressed R2-D2, and- wait a minute.

Looking down, he realized that the rock that he was napping on was slowly rising up into the air, too. Surprised, he clutched onto the thick moss so as to not fall off.

"Feel the Force flow," Yoda was saying. "Yes. Good. Calm, yes. Through the Force, things you will see. Other places. The future… the past. Old friends long gone."

As the rock rose higher and higher, along with everything else, Hobbes noticed that it was starting to shake. Looking down, he saw Luke's face, now filled with pain and worry, and, as the rock began to earnestly tremble, he realized what was going to happen right before it happened and pushed off towards the nearest tree branch.

As he landed, he heard a great splatter as drops of water reached him, the mossy boulder he had just been on having landed in the muddy shoreline of the pond. A scream followed, coming from R2 as he too, fell to the ground along with everything else.

"You okay, Luke?" he asked, jumping down and running over. Luke's visage was one of pain and distress as he recovered from whatever he had just experienced.

"Hmm. Control, control," Yoda shook his head, looking at his protege.

"I saw... I saw a city in the clouds," he grimaced.

"Mmm," Yoda closed his eyes. For a minute he was quiet, before he said, "Friends you have there."

"They were in pain," Luke realized. At that, Hobbes' heartbeat spiked.

"Wait, who do you see?" he asked, kneeling beside his friend. "Do you see Calvin? Han? Leia?"

"I- I'm not sure," Luke sighed. "But they're in danger."

"It is the future you see," Yoda told him.

"Future? Will they die?" Luke asked, at which Yoda closed his eyes again. After a while, he shook his head. " Difficult to see. Always in motion is the future."

"I've got to go to them," Luke said, and stood up, still a bit woozy.

"And I'm goin' with you," Hobbes told him. "If Calvin isn't with the Rebel fleet, then something's happened."

"Decide you must how to serve them best," Yoda's voice, although old, rang out firm and steady. "If you leave now, help them you could. But you would destroy all for which they have fought and suffered."

The words made both of them stop in their tracks. Hobbes' eyes flitted this way and that, in accordance with his brain as it tried to find another way. "Then I'll go," he said. "Luke, stay here and finish your training. I'll-"

"No," Luke shook his head. "They're my friends too. What kind of friend would I be if I didn't help them when they needed it?"

"I'm going," he told Yoda, and ran towards the clay hut to get his stuff.

About to follow, Hobbes suddenly felt a strange pain in his gut and stopped. Something was tugging at him. An all too familiar feeling that he knew from the day Luke went into that cave. Only now, it was an unignorable tugging. A craving need to discover what lay inside.

No! He had to stay strong. He didn't need to know what was in that cave. What he did need to do was to reach Calvin.

But, what was in that cave?

No! He berated himself. Go and help Luke get ready!

"Conflicted, you feel."

About to take a step, Hobbes turned with surprise to see Yoda standing behind him. "Oh, uh, hey… how did you know that I'm feeling- oh, right. Jedi."

"What troubles you?" Yoda asked, and for a moment, Hobbes was considering just asking him to forget about it.

"That darn cave," he said. "The one that Luke went into… it's annoying me! It's- It's calling me to it."

"Do you know why the cave calls to you?"

"Probably so that it can show me my greatest fear," Hobbes shrugged. "But I already know what that is!"

"Do you?" Yoda cackled. "So sure, you are?"

"Well, yeah!" Hobbes nodded. "I need to get back to- I need to get back home. And I'm afraid that I won't be able to."

"Then why does it still call to you? Hmm?" Yoda asked. "For twenty years I have stayed here. And this I know: The cave does not call to those whose greatest fears have already been revealed."

"So, I don't know what my greatest fear is?" Hobbes asked. "But I'm so sure!"

"And feel something wrong, you do not?"

About to say something, Hobbes fell silent. Did he know? Or was he just ignoring it?

"Go and see," Yoda told him.

"But Luke-"

"He will wait for you. Go and see."

For a whole minute Hobbes stood there, thinking. Then he suddenly turned and bounded off towards the place where the black, dead tree curled around the tunnel into the ground. As he did so, the feeling in his gut became stronger and stronger, until he stopped just outside of the entrance.

Taking deep breaths, he gathered up the willpower to take a step towards the mouth of the cave. In the distance, the cawing of birds and strange creatures sounded throughout the swampy forest. Chirping came from a few waterside insects near the pond, which was a couple dozen feet away.

Clearing his head, he started walking into the cave, ducking under a curtain of lianas and heading into the darkness.

Luckily, the cave didn't go too far down, and dim light floated in through cracks and crevices in the walls. Still, his night vision helped him greatly to see. Taking slow tentative steps, he brushed a hand against the green-tinted, mossy walls when he realized with a start that the forest had gone completely silent.

Swiveling his finely tuned ears to pick up a chirrup or warble, he instead heard only the incessant dripping of moisture from the ceiling onto the cave floor. The ground was wet. Cold, and he became aware of every single thing around him as fear gradually rose up inside of him. The smell of the forest. The gentle humidity. The sounds of life- all gone.

Then, he heard a sound. It was faint, coming from somewhere deeper inside of the cave. Somewhere where the light didn't reach down any further, and where the entire tunnel was encompassed by pitch black. Trying to calm his breathing, Hobbes stepped further and further into the tunnel. Suddenly, everything blacked out for a second, even his night vision not helping.

Then there was a faint, orange glow coming from a single direction, and, feeling that he was close to the end, Hobbes rounded a corner to be met by a large, circular room bathed in a fiery haze. In the center, a set of metallic stairs led to a smaller, circular platform at the top, where golden-copper steam flowed out.

Barely daring to breathe with frightened anticipation, Hobbes walked into the room, filled with hissing and the sound of moving parts. Moving up the stairs, he finally stopped at the top, the gnawing in his gut now insufferable.

"Hisss!"

A cloud of smoke and steam suddenly exited the grated metal floor under his feet, making him shudder with the incredible cold it carried. Coughing and trying to shield himself from the sudden attack, it took him a second to realize that something had appeared in front of him.

And what it was made his heart freeze.

In front of him stood a large, rectangular slab of gray, the orange glow of the room having no effect on it. The entire room disappeared around him, fading out of existence section by section until it was only him and the slab.

And then, to his shock and fear, he saw an outline- a figure, trapped in the rectangle as though the Greek monster, Medusa, had frozen them with the sheer power of her frightening visage. The figure looked familiar. No blaster, but wearing a vest and jacket and pants like those of Han-

It was Calvin.

His mind caught up and a thousand emotions rushed through him. Guilt for not realizing his true greatest fear, horror at what stood in front of him, realization that Calvin was in incredible danger-

And unbridled dread.

Suddenly, the nonexistent ground beneath him became truly nonexistent, and he, along with the slab, plunged down into the abyss.

"No!" Hobbes shouted as his eyes snapped open. Trembling and shaking, he looked up at the cave ceiling above him, drops of water dripping onto his face. The sensation calmed him down, and he tried to sit up.

After a few failed attempts, he succeeded, and propped his back against the cave floor. He didn't know for how long he sat there, but slowly, he regained control over his mind, his muscles, and his memory.

It was so vivid. He could see the room, hissing and smoking. He could see Calvin's pained expression, stuck for eternity in an unbreakable slab. Did that already happen?

No, he told himself. No… Yoda said that the future is always in motion. What I saw was… yes, what I saw was the future. Whatever happens, I still have a chance to change it!

Rising, he slowly staggered out of the cave. He could still save Calvin.

Outside, the sounds of the forest reached him, and he embraced the warmth of the outside world. Taking a few more steps, he stopped when he noticed Yoda and Luke sitting near him, waiting.

"Yoda…" he croaked in greeting. "Luke."

"Yoda told me to wait," Luke nodded. "You okay?"

"Yeah…" Hobbes slowly nodded. "Yeah, I'm good… for how long was I in there?"

"A few hours."

Hobbes stopped in surprise. A few hours? With Calvin and everyone else in danger? Why had it taken so long? Still weakened from his vision, he made his way to Yoda's hut as fast as he could.

"Wait, where are you going?" Luke asked him.

"To get my stuff!" Hobbes shouted. "Calvin's in danger- we gotta go!"

"Wait!" Yoda called after him, and he stopped.

"What? I need to go!"

Yoda didn't respond at first- he walked over, and looked up at him with a slight frown. And although anxious to get his stuff and go save his best friends, he realized that what Yoda had to tell him was important.

"Come only to help Luke train, you did not," Yoda told him. "From the moment I saw you, want something, you did."

"Oh," Hobbes remembered. "Right."

"Strange you are," Yoda went on. "Never before have I seen your kind. Never have I met a creature such as you. I was not certain."

"Certain of what?" Hobbes asked.

With a heavy sigh, Yoda leaned on his walking stick. "Dangerous, Kyber is, if in the wrong hands it fell. Many have done terrible things with it. Not certain I was that you could be trusted. That you could protect it."

Hobbes didn't say anything. He waited for Yoda to go on.

"But now I see where you come from," Yoda told him. "I see your struggle… your hardship. You are a creature of kindness. Of loyalty and friendship."

He let out another sigh. "My days of fighting are over. Long gone. Adventure. Hah! I am old, and my days are limited. I have no more use for my lightsaber."

Reaching into his simple robes, Yoda pulled out a lightsaber hilt, made of ornate metal, and opened a small slot. Reaching the three-fingered hand in, he pulled out a crystal- a Kyber crystal, and gave it to Hobbes.

"I…" He didn't know what to say. "I… you- Thank you."

Yoda just smiled and said, "Make it home, I hope you do." With that, he turned to walk toward his hut.

"Wait, Yoda," Hobbes said, his eyes shining slightly, and the Jedi Master stopped. "Can you do me one more favor?"

"Hmm?"

"Please tell Obi-Wan that me and Calvin said hello."

"I will," Yoda promised.

"Thanks."

Now he just had to save Calvin.

:D