* Graduation *
(continued)
by Marjorie Joyce
Kilometers away from the Falcon, a dark gray
ship sat between two gnarl trees.
"See? I told ya we shouldn't have even tried," Zac said as he walked
out of the bog toward the ship. "We had a hard enough time just trying to
land, let alone finding that excuse for a ship. Our sensors are worth
squat here. What a hole this place is!"
Balmat hovered in flight beside him. "Enough of your whining!" the
Toydarian said. "Our problem is that wookiee hanging around the ship.
Wookiees are tricky, yes."
"Tricky!" Zac exclaimed. "Do you know what they do to people they're
mad at?"
"Sure, sure," Balmat said. "They rip people's arms out of their
sockets. You don't actually believe that, do you, human? That's an old
wives tale. I've never seen a wookiee do it."
Zac shook his head. "That's probably because you've never seen a
wookiee before," he said. "It'll be dark soon. Let's get outta here while
the gettin's good."
"Why are you so afraid?" Balmat asked. "I've seen you do far more
stupid things all on your own." Zac shot him a scowl.
"Look, we'll just wait for the wookiee to forage in the morning," the
Toydarian continued. "He's bound to want some fresh meat, and this
planet's full of it, providing he doesn't mind a little slime with it, eh?
Then we get the armor."
"Sure--it's that simple," Zac said. "And how do we get it back to the
ship?"
"Have you not paid attention to anything we've done before?!" Balmat
asked in exasperation. "Anti-grav lifters, moron. No self-respecting parts
dealer would be without them."
"Or junk man," Zac muttered. Balmat whacked him upside his head with a
wing. "OK! OK!" Zac yelled, throwing his arms up over his ears.
"We go in the morning," Balmat said. Jubba birds sang their seeming
agreement from the surrounding trees.
"That's where you had that awful vision of Vader...I
mean...our father?" Leia asked as she stared at the Dark Tree Luke had
brought her to.
"That's right," Luke said. "You can feel its power?" he asked. She
nodded, the portent emanating from the tree rendering her speechless.
"That's good," he continued, sensing her discomfort and steering her
away. "I'm not sure how to train anyone to become a Jedi, but with your
being my first student, I think it's a good sign you can sense the
vergence there."
Leia noted the knee roots that poked up from the bog's uneven surface,
then looked up to see a knobby white spider crawl down a gnarl tree.
"These creatures around here...are they harmful?" she asked, trying not to
curl her lips at the sight of the giant spider trundling off into the
swamp behind them.
"Not really," Luke said, "though a slug did chew on Artoo for a while
when we first landed here. There's a very healthy ecosystem here, despite
its--"
"Less than vibrant appearance?" she suggested, raising her eyebrows.
"Right," he said and laughed. "You get used to it."
"Do I have to?" she asked with a smile.
"No," he smiled back, "you certainly don't have to, anyway. Not
with the skyscrapers, duracrete streets, and bright lights of Coruscant in
your future."
Leia wrapped her arm around Luke as the lights of Yoda's old house
glowed in the distance.
"Thanks, Luke, for talking this Inner Council thing through with me,"
she said.
"Leia, I'm just glad you included me in your decision," he answered.
"I've no intention of our growing apart. We've been apart too long, don't
you think?"
"Absolutely," Leia said. "Now if I can just get on the same page with
our nerfherder...."
"I think you can, Leia," Luke said with a certainty that she was coming
to depend on. "In fact, I think you're already there, if you let it be.
Search your feelings. Let them flow."
Together they ducked through the house's front doorway to see Han
filling another bowl with stew. The twins exchanged glances. 'Bottomless
pit,' they thought to each other.
Han looked up and the sound of their laughter. "What?" he asked. "It's
for Chewie!"
Luke and Leia looked at him in silent, amused disbelief. Kreth, you
couldn't tell even a little white lie around these two and get away with
it.
"Come on," Han said and started to laugh himself, "mindspeak's no fair
here!"
Han snuggled Leia between his shoulder and chin. "You
fit perfect right here," he murmured into her hair. They lay in a bed in
Yoda's old house that took up an entire room and was surprisingly
comfortable.
"I'm glad," she said, running her hand along his torso. "I love it
right here." Han gazed out the tiny room's circle window and into the
foggy night.
"Did the kid warn you about sloths or slugs slithering in here?" Han
asked. "We can stay in the Falcon instead, you know. Face it,
Princess--this place is spooky."
"I know, Han," Leia said, "but I want to spend the night here, see how
it is for Luke." Han nodded, his chin sliding along the top of her head.
"Besides," she added, "it would be rude to not stay with him while we
visited."
"I've gotta argue that one, sweetheart," Han replied. "He's gotta know
this house ain't human-friendly. And the atmosphere doesn't exactly give
you a warm fuzzy."
Leia sighed. "You're right," she said, "but it's just one night.
Please, Han?"
"Fine," he said in mock-exasperation. "Thanks for your cooperation,"
Leia said and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. A cool draft wafted in
through the window and she shivered. Han pulled the blanket up over her
shoulders.
"'Night, Leia," he said. "Love you," they said at the same time then
laughed. Within minutes, they were sound asleep.
Leia was back outside, wandering through the gray damp
mist of the bog. The billows in front of her seemed alive, seemed to reach
for her. She stopped and stared in horror as she realized they were
turning into long knobby legs, and suddenly the giant white spider she'd
seen earlier was before her. A black rage flared up from deep within her;
she hated the spider as she'd hated nothing before. She sneered and
reached for her blaster when the spider turned dark, its spindly legs
merged, and it grew long and slender. Now it was a black mantis, a sacred
insect on Alderaan. She'd been told at an early age in the royal garden
where she'd discovered one that it was actually a crime to kill it despite
its threatening dark, glossy appearance. She dropped her blaster and stood
transfixed. It stood staring at her solemnly, without reaction, demanding
something. Something. Then it faded, shrunk, and sprouted a tail. It was a
white dog now, like the one her friend Winter had when they were growing
up. Its tongue hung out of its mouth and it capered about her, wanting to
play. She felt pure love flowing from it, and couldn't help but adore it.
Instinctively she reached out to it when it stood up on its back legs,
balanced there, and turned into a little girl with white hair. Like
Winter's hair. The girl smiled at her with blue eyes big as saucers.
Leia's heart ached for the child. She started calling her pet names, names
she'd been called as a little girl. She reached out to hug her...
...and woke to the dim Dagobah morning light, hugging Han. He hummed
and hugged her back, then shifted in his sleep. Leia stared out the window
at the freshly thick fog and remembered her dream. The image of the spider
morphing into a mantis cycled in her mind. The little girl's blue eyes
flashed at her between each replay. What she'd hated when it was a spider,
she'd respected when it was a mantis, adored when it was a dog, and loved
when it was a child. But they were all the same being. She knew it. How
could her feelings have run the gamut like that? But they had, and it
scared her.
Brushing her lips against his morning beard, Leia kissed Han, then
gently extricated herself from his arms and got dressed.
"I was cooing at it, Han--the little girl--even though I
knew it had been a spider seconds before," Leia said as she and the
captain-turned-general walked to the Falcon to bring Chewie a
freshly-cooked breakfast. "The whole thing was too bizarre."
Han kept his eyes straight ahead in thought, then looked over at Leia
with a lopsided grin. "Could it have been Luke's stew?" he asked.
Leia elbowed him. "Help me out here," she said. "What do you think it
was all about?"
Han bent a tree branch out of her way as she ducked under it. "If I
didn't know better, Your Dreaminess," he said, "I'd say you were thinking
about having a baby."
Leia stopped in her tracks and stared at him. Could it be? She laughed
and moved to put her arms around him. "Does this mean you want one?" she
asked. This man was full of surprises. But did she want a baby? An image
of the little girl's eyes flashed in her mind's eye. It would be
wonderful. Then she saw the spider. She turned to lean her back against
Han's chest. "When it had been a spider, I hated it," she said, returning
to her dream. "It scared me how much rage I felt."
Han nailed down his agitation at her changing the subject and took a
deep breath. Luke had warned him this Force-charged place was going to put
the right side of Leia's brain in high gear. "There was a time when you
hated the idea of a relationship," Han said into her hair, "which has been
known to bring a few babies into the galaxy."
"Point taken," Leia acceded. "But what about the mantis? And the dog?
Why didn't it just change from a spider to a child?"
"You needed some adjustment time, time to think about your changing
attitude," Han offered.
"Yes," Leia said as she turned to face him again and another
explanation occurred to her. "Or...it could have been...my father." It
still sounded wrong to call the Dark Lord of Sith that. "There was a time
when he was evil incarnate...."
"Some still think that," Han bristled.
"I know," Leia said, laying a hand on his shoulder, "but it's not so
easy for me and Luke to think that way anymore. It's not so...black and
white."
More images flashed through her mind. The white spider. Vader's mask.
The black mantis. Vader's hand on her white-clad shoulder. The white dog.
Stormtroopers. The white-haired child. Blue eyes. Anakin's pale white face
with piercing blue eyes. How did she know what he looked like? She wasn't
there when Luke took his mask off....
Leia nodded to herself. "I think that's it, Han," she said.
The Corellian shrugged. "OK," he said, "but I still say it was about
having a baby."
"Maybe it was about both," she said with a sweet smile, then returned
to the question she'd asked him earlier. "So, you want to be a father?"
Han stared into her eyes. "Yeah, I would...if you want to be a mother,"
he said.
Leia smiled as she imagined the possibility. They'd have a boy and a
girl, maybe more. She wouldn't be sad, not like her mother had been. With
Han Solo around, you could never be sad.
Han admired her as she mused over the idea. She looked simply lovely at
this moment. And as receptive as she was ever going to be about
marriage...and maybe having a family. His impeccable sense of timing,
honed to near perfection by too many rounds of sabacc, told him this was
the time to call her out. He cupped her chin. "Whaddya say, Your
Highness?" he began, "isn't it time you and me--?"
"Don't!" Leia whispered fiercely and froze in his arms.
Han's eyes rounded in alarm. "What's the problem?!" he asked in
exasperation. He was elated she was opening up to her own feelings and him
at last, but these tangents of hers were driving him crazy! "Can't a guy
ask you to--?"
"Don't move, Han!" she said, staring beyond his shoulder. "There's a
man ahead of us, and it's not Luke!"
Han slowly turned his head to see a tall, thin man making his way
through the bog. "What the Kreth would any other human be up to on this
planet?" Han muttered.
"My guess is it's no good," Leia said. "Luke's never mentioned any
neighbors."
"None that walk on two feet anyway," Han added. "OK, Princess," he
said, turning his back to her to keep his eyes on the man ahead, "I want
you to get behind that tree." He pointed to a particularly wide gnarl tree
close by. "I'm gonna call on our new friend, and he doesn't need to know
he's outnumbered just yet. You got your blaster?"
Leia nodded. "Allright," Han said, "if he runs, we follow."
"I love you," she whispered. "I know," he answered with a grin.
"Hey, chief!" Han yelled and waved his arms at the man. "Are ya lost?!"
The man turned around, saw Han, and started running.
"How'd I know that was gonna happen?" Han said over his shoulder to
Leia. "Let's go!" Leia joined him in a scrambling sprint after the
stranger.
Zac bolted through the bog, the surroundings a blur,
careening around tree trunks and leaping over mudpools.
"Wrong place to be in a hurry," he muttered to himself. "I just knew
this wasn't gonna work! Dammit, Balmat, I'm gonna kill you!"
He looked back to see the man who'd yelled at him had someone else with
him now.
"Damn, damn, damn," he cursed to himself, then looked ahead again just
in time to put on the brakes.
The ground abruptly ended in front of him to drop to a ditch, above
which dangled dozens of thick brown aeroots from the canopy of gnarl
trees. The roots came from the white spiders he'd seen crawling all over
the trees. They'd fed on the ground then climbed high back up into them
for protection and hibernation, eventually taking root in the tree limbs
to become trees growing from trees. Without soil, their roots still obeyed
the planet's rules of gravity and grew down, absorbing nutrients from the
rich, moist air instead. Now they were just in Zac's way...or were they?
"Too wide to jump," he said to himself as he eyed the ditch. He looked
up to see the aeroots stretch up into forever. "Can't climb them," he
said, reaching out to touch then tug one. Felt and looked like whuffa
hide. Strong as it, too.
"How 'bout I play jungle gym?" Zac asked himself. He pulled it back as
far as he could, then hoisted himself on to it and swung toward the other
side. As it reached the end of its arc, he reached out and grabbed another
root and brought it back with him as he started swinging back and gaining
momentum for the next swing forward.
With one more root and one more swing he made it to the other side of
the ditch, landing on his oversized feet with a thud. Zac let out a
victory cry and raised his fists above his head. "No problem!" he shouted
and gave a shrill laugh.
In another moment Han and Leia were at the ditch, the
aeroots still swinging from Zac's trip across.
"Yeah, he went over," Han said, grabbing one of the roots. "Let's see
how this works," he said as he pulled it back and jumped on.
In three swings Han was across. "Your turn," he yelled back to Leia.
The Princess pulled back a root and jumped on to swing to the next one.
Balmat hovered with a blaster between the branches of a
gnarl tree on the other side of the ditch. "Stay here, idiot," he yelled
to Zac below as he aimed the weapon at the aeroot Leia was on. "This will
slow them down, eh?"
Leia was enjoying the feeling of flying--the wind in
her free-flowing hair as she approached the last aeroot she'd need to get
across--when the root she was so tightly wrapped around snapped.
The Princess screamed as the feeling of flying was replaced with the
feeling of falling. Han reacted with trademark pilot's reflexes, heaving
an aeroot in front of him toward her. "Grab it!" he yelled.
Leia fought every instinct to keep her arms around the broken root.
Without it she'd fall, but she was falling anyway. She closed her eyes and
envisioned herself letting go and reaching out. Like Luke was teaching her
to do. The aeroot Han flung at Leia had nearly reached its arc and was almost
ready to swing back toward him when she heard and felt it rush at her with
the purpose, meaning, and force of her entire life up until that moment.
She let go the broken root, reached out for the one coming toward her, and
grabbed it.
On it she swung back to the other side of the ditch, avoiding slamming
into the edge only by holding her legs straight out in front of her,
parallel to the ground. Han caught her and she uncurled her fingers from
the aeroot.
"That was closer than it should have been, sweetheart. Sorry," Han said
into her ear, Leia still in his arms.
"Don't be sorry, flyboy," Leia said breathlessly as she pulled back to
look at him with twinkling eyes. "Marry me."
Han wrinkled his forehead. "Marry you?!" he asked. "Uh, I know flying
with me is an exhilarating experience, but isn't this a bit...sudden?"
"Is it?" Leia countered with a growing smile. Han smiled back. No, it
really wasn't. In fact, it had been a long time coming. Five long,
arduous, dangerous, thrilling, glorious years. He stole a glance back into
the trees behind him-- that man was out there somewhere, and with a
blaster.
"I've been training for us since we met," Leia said in a rush. The
dream, the insights--the one back on base and the one here as she swung
across the ditch-- they all made sense now. "I'm ready to be your wife,
for you to be my husband. I'm ready for children. Besides," she added with
a wink, "isn't it time I cash in on all my hard work on you?"
Han laughed. "Look, I'd love to pick out the crystal pattern with you
right now, Princess," he said, "but that was a laser bolt that snapped the
vine you were on. Whaddya say we get the guy behind it first?"
They both stood up and peered into the trees. "OK," Leia said, "just
don't say no."
Just as they'd resumed full speed in their pursuit they saw Chewbacca.
The wookiee was gleefully tying up the man and what looked like a
Toydarian flapping his wings helplessly. Han and Leia looked at each other
and both heaved sighs of relief. Then he gave her a winning smile and took
her hands in his.
"I could never say no to you, beautiful," he said, "I've been right
here waiting for you."
Leia's eyes shone. With the adrenaline of their chase still coursing
through their veins, they grabbed each other and kissed, pulling each
other closer than they'd ever been before, straining to express with arms
and lips all the tumultuous passion of their past and magical
possibilities of their future.
When at last they came up for air, they clung to each other and shook
with tears of joy.
Just as there are places we know by heart, there are
relationships. We know just how people are going to react, what we can
count on them for, and what to not even bother asking them.
Relationships change too, sometimes by choice, sometimes by accident.
Suddenly we've learned all we can, gotten everything we're going to out
of them, and it's time to move on--to let it go, whether it's to leave
it...or deepen it.
"Han, you are definitely the idea man in this
operation," Lando said as they along with Leia, Luke, Chewbacca, and
Winter sat in a small circle and sipped champagne aboard the Lady
Luck. They'd all been there to watch a dying star Luke had helped with
the power of the Force to implode in all its splendor as an early wedding
gift to Han and Leia when the Corellian had perhaps his finest inspiration
ever: for him and the Princess to get married right then and there by
Captain Calrissian. The ceremony had been so perfectly meaningful with
their closest friends there, and they were now free to truly enjoy
themselves the next day at the planned ceremony on Coruscant--a ceremony
that had become a battleground for everyone's agendas but the bride and
groom's, as social weddings inevitably do.
"Now we'll be able to relax tomorrow," Winter said.
Leia sighed brightly. "That's my nerfherder," she said, "always making
my life less stressful."
The group laughed heartily, each recalling their favorite memory of how
Han had purposely or not so purposely pushed Leia's buttons to the point
that she'd thrown her diplomatic training to the wind and let loose her
royal wrath, stormed off in a huff, or both.
"Yup, that's me, Mrs. Solo," Han said, grinning mischievously. "I'm a
sensitive guy."
*Don't you mean 'Mrs. Whuffa Grabber'?* Chewbacca chimed in
good-naturedly.
Luke shook his head as everyone snickered. "Those aeroots on Dagobah
aren't whuffa hide, Chewie," he said. "They just...look like it."
*And smell like it, too,* Chewbacca added with a wookiee smile. His
impeccable olfactory senses were not to be denied, not even for a joke.
"Heroic whuffa grabber, indeed," Leia said as she crossed her legs,
leaned forward, and winked at Han. "It's like that story never happened,
isn't it, handsome?"
"Got that straight, sister," he said. "Now come 'ere." Everyone looked
politely away as the Princess and the nerfherder kissed, then leaned their
foreheads together.
"That baby you dreamed about, sweetheart?" Han whispered with a twinkle
in his eye. "We can start workin' on that now."
Leia shook her head and with a dazzling smile said, "I can't wait."
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You Do Have Your Moments
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