Lady Leia and the Prince, Part 9

The first thing she knew was that she was somewhere soft and warm. Her head rested on feathers; the slightly musty scene of goose down and cooking soup filtered into her nostrils. Woven blankets made from thick wool were pulled up to her chin. The pain in her severed wrist was down to a dull ache. A soft pelt leaned into her side. Chewie's hot breath tickled her ears as his snoring jolted her awake. Her slender fingers gently stroked his furry head.

“Is she all right?” Cyril's fussy voice was the first to reach her ears. “And I thought I was the only one to come out of this badly damaged. It's a good thing Chewbacca and Falcon found us when they did. Otherwise, she might have bled to death.”

The gentle voice that replied wasn't familiar. A cool, wet cloth ran across her forehead. “She'll be fine, Cyril. Lando was smart to bring her here. I have fairly strong healing powers. Kanan, Luke, and I should be able to help her hand. Mentally...” the female voice sighed, “that's another subject.”

“Wha...” Leia's eyes finally blinked open. “Where am I? Where's Luke?” She rested on a bed in a small cottage. It was so much like Obi-Wan's old home, she almost thought they'd gone back to Naboo. There was the same cedar chest and shelf of books...but there was also a shelf of tools over the stone fireplace that resembled the ones her father used, and the dresses and robes that hung on a hook near the bed were decidedly feminine. Chewie lay on the floor beside the bed, snoring away. Artello and Cyril sat on hand-made chairs by the fire. Cyril's arm was in a sling, and his face was so covered in bandages, one could barely recognize his long nose.

“Your brother is fine. At least as fine as he can be, under a curse in the daytime. He's outside in my backyard with Falcon, eating wildflowers.” The woman sitting by the bed was wrapped from head to toe in white robes. Hints of a blue and white striped head scarf peeked out from under the hood. She had dusky skin of a red-brown hue and brilliant blue eyes like the summer sky over the treetops. “You were lucky, Leia. Lando, Luke, and the servants got you here just in time. If Luke and I hadn't healed your hand and gotten it wrapped, it might have been infected...or you would have died from blood loss.”

Leia struggled into a sitting position. “How do you know my name?”

“The others told me.” She smiled warmly. “I know more about you than you think. My name is Lady Ahsoka Tano. I was your father's student when he was still with the Jedi Knights.” She chuckled. “Although I learned a great deal from Obi-Wan as well. Almost everything I know about the Force...and about carpentry and planting herbs...I learned from them.”

“Father did say he taught a girl when he was in the Jedi Knight corps. He always said I reminded him a lot of her.” She looked up at the beautiful woman. “That was you?”

“That was me.” Ahsoka frowned. “I don't suppose he talked about me that much. I was accused of treason by another Jedi and left the Order about a year before it was disbanded. After that, I lost touch with everyone. I worked odd jobs for a while in various towns in Naboo before moving up here. It's...peaceful. Quiet. Good place to do what I need to do.”

Leia rubbed at her hand as Ezra and Sabine from Lothal Village came in, carrying baskets filled with greenish fruit. “Are these good enough, Ahsoka?” Sabine held out her basket. “What did you want greenberries for, anyway? They're awfully sour at this time of year.”

“Yes, but they make an excellent healing poultices for bad wounds.” She took the buckets. “Thanks, children. How's Kanan coming along?”

“He's doing what he can with that small forge of yours.” Ezra shrugged. “He says he should be done with the new hand in a few hours.”

Leia blinked. “A new...hand?”

“Yes.” Ahsoka poured the berries into two buckets as the young people went out in the yard to feed the unicorn and horse. “Hera and Kanan Jarrus and their family are friends of mine. They've been here a week. Kanan is an accomplished metal worker. You'll need two hands if you're going to help us rescue Prince Henry and stop Palpatine from overthrowing the royal family.”

The girl in the bed frowned. “Henry...Ahsoka, I saw it. The dragon. Palpatine carried him off, then put him to sleep. That...that sorcerer will do something horrible to him. He's already invaded his mind. I can't let that happen. There has to be a way into Coruscant without him seeing us.”

“We'll figure that out after we've gotten your hand on and you have a new sword.” Ahsoka crushed the berries with a stone grinder. “Kanan can forge it. He made his and Ezra's. We just need to find you a crystal.”

“Where?” Leia rubbed the bandages on the stump where her hand once was. “Where can I find a crystal? Father told me it took him months to find a crystal for his sword that 'spoke' to him. We don't have months. There's only a few days remaining until the Mid-Summer Festival!”

“Whoa, Leia. Calm down.” Ahsoka put up a hand. “These mountains are filled with crystals. Many Jedi used to come up here to find their crystal and meditate. It was part of a growing-up ritual.”

“Then let's go!” She almost leaped out of bed. Ahsoka chuckled. “What's so funny? I have to find a crystal.”

“You're so much like your father.” The tall witch turned to Cyril. “Please tell Kanan and the others that we'll be having lunch as soon as we're back.”

Leia stepped outside, past where Luke and Falcon grazed in the yard. Ahsoka followed her. She climbed through the logs used for fencing. Ahsoka jumped over it easily.

“Show off.” The girl knight rolled her eyes, but she was grinning. “Now, how am I going to find that crystal?”

Ahsoka lead her to the very edge of the mountainside. The view literally took Leia's breath away. The world was all jagged gray granite, glittering crystal, pale green grass, and scrubby pine trees as far as the eyes could see. “Focus, Leia.” The older woman put out her long hands. “Let the mountain speak to you.”

She tried to, holding out her hand to the thin air. Strong, icy winds buffeted her, even in the middle of summer. A few sticky needles from the trees over her head fell onto her hand. Even as she tried to focus on the mountain, too many thoughts whirled through her head like that biting wind. Trying to calm them was like trying to calm a raging fire with a drop of water.

“It has be here somewhere!” Leia stumbled along the edge of the mountain, clutching scrubby bushes with her one good hand. “I feel it. It's here, on this mountain.” She tried not to think of how much fun this would have been with Luke, or to hear Han's voice chuckling at her trying to find a piece of rock for what he saw as a very sharp glow rod.

Her feet caught on a root, sending her tumbling down the mountain. Grass stained her singed red and white dress; thorny bushes scratched her face and tore her twin braids loose. She landed with a thud on a piece of granite jutting out of the side of the mountain. “Leia!” Ahsoka stumbled down the rocks. “Are you all right? That was a nasty fall you took.”

“I'm a little bruised, but I'm no worse off than I was before.” Leia looked up at a small opening amid the cedars and moss, just big enough for her to walk in without banging her head. A soft light danced on the walls within. “Well, looks like this is as good a place as any to find crystals.”

“Let the crystal call you.” Ahsoka gently held up her hand, letting it brush the grainy rock wall at the entrance. “Can you hear it?”

“I'm trying.” She tried to reach out to the rock, but all she could hear was Luke screaming as he transformed into a unicorn, or Han telling her that he knew she loved him. What kind of a reply was that, anyway? “I know.” He could be so arrogant...

“Focus, you must.” She heard the chortles before she saw the green light. “Only way to save the prince and your brother, it is.”

Ahsoka sighed behind her. “Yoda. I should have known you'd be involved in this. You can show yourself. I know who you are.”

“Good to see you it is, Lady Tano.” The light fluttered to the ground before them, swirling upwards until the little green man appeared. “Been a long time, it has.”

“Yes, it has, Master.” Ahsoka nodded at him. “Leia, this is Grand Master Yoda, the oldest surviving member of the Jedi Knights.”

Leia smirked. “We've already met.” She shivered as the wind whistled through her hair. “Master, I've tried to focus on the crystals, but all I can hear are my own thoughts.”

“Into the cave, you must go. Face your fears, you must. Crystal calls to you.” He poked a finger at her. “Fear losing those you love, you do, like your parents. Push past it, you can.”

“I don't know if I can.” Leia waved the stump of her hand. “I couldn't even handle a dragon! How can I do this?”

Ahsoka put her hand on the girl's shoulder. “Leia, let the crystal come to you. Don't force it. You'll hear it in your own good time.”

“All right.” Leia sighed. “I'll give it a try.”

“No!” Yoda stomped his little clawed food. “Try, or try not. Do, or do not. There is no try. Clear your mind on all thoughts. It will come, when you are at calm, at peace.”

Leia made a face. “Calm and I don't get along very well.” Her feet still stepped into the mossy ground of the cave. She had no choice. She was the only one who could save Henry and free her brother from the curse that bound him in an equine form.

As she made her way further into the cave, her hands against the wall, she heard nothing at first. Her heart beat fast in her chest. Water dripped slowly off the roof of the cave further in. The wind continued to howl outside, an occasional blast whistling through the tunnels. Falling crystals, like tinkling chimes, echoed faintly to her right.

“Hello?” Leia closed her eyes, stretching out with her feelings as her fingers felt around the walls. In her mind, she heard it. Faint, at first, but eventually glowing hot and white and bright. The jagged shard felt warm to her touch, smooth, hard, and vital. Even as she tugged at it, she could feel its vivid energy.

It felt like months when she opened her eyes, but if the shadows on the cave were any indication, she'd only been inside a few minutes. The sparkling crystals around her dazzled the eye, in every color of the rainbow. The one in her hand was a pearly pale blue, the palest blue possible, nearly a creamy white. It throbbed in her hand, softly rippling from sky-blue to white as she turned the minerals over in her palm.

“I found them!” Leia emerged from the cave with a triumphant grin on her face. Dust coated her messy brown braids and smudged her cheeks, and there were tears in her red and white skirt when she fell down the mountain, but she couldn't have been happier. She stopped before Yoda, and remembering what her father had said to do if she ever met a master, she bowed. “Master, I found my crystal. I'm prepared to make my new lightsaber.”

“Jedi Karrus will make the hilt, but you must fit it in.” The little green elf gazed upwards at her with critical eyes. “But you will work on it later. Troubled, you are, young Skywalker. Worried for your beloved prince, you are. Afraid for your brother, you are. Such attachments are not the Jedi way.”

Ahsoka made a face. “I never liked that part of the Jedi Order. Perhaps it's time a few things changed, if we're going to revive the group.”

“Wait a minute!” Leia put up her hand. “All I want is to rescue Henry and free Luke from the spell. Let's focus on that, and think of bringing the Jedi back later.”

“Only way to free your brother is to destroy Palpatine.” Yoda frowned. “Not easy, that is. Hundreds of years old, he is, and crafty as a fox. Moves faster than you think he would. His magic is the strongest of all black magicians.”

“What about Henry?” Leia put her hands on her heart. “They're doing something terrible to him and his mother, or they're going to. I can feel it.”

“Why don't we get back to my cottage and have lunch?” Ahsoka put her hand on the young woman's shoulder. “And then, maybe we can work on ways to quiet that mind of yours.”

~*~*~*~*~*~

After they enjoyed a lunch of quail soup with root vegetables, Leia, Ahsoka, Yoda, and Ezra sat in center of the small room in a circle. Most everyone else had gone off on their own business. Sabine was helping Kanan with Leia's metal hand and her new sword. Hera was rocking her son to sleep outside. Cyril, Chopper, and Artello had been ordered to weed Ahsoka's herb garden, mainly to keep them out of trouble. Lando was out gathering firewood. Chewie was likely out hunting.

“It took me a long time to learn how to meditate too, Leia,” Ezra explained. The youth bounced, even as he sat cross-legged on the stone floor. “I'm not great at sitting still for a long time. Kanan's really been helpful to me since my parents died. He showed me how to concentrate on what I want to see.”

“I know how to meditate.” Leia sighed. “It's just never been something I was that good at. It's even worse now. All I can think of is the dragon carrying off Henry.”

“Feel his loss keenly, you do.” Yoda seemed to hover a few inches over the ground as he crossed his little legs. “If you wish to see him, reach out with the Force, you can. Through it, you will see other places. The future, the past. The people you care about.”

Leia closed her eyes as the others did. Thoughts kept invading, memories. Her parents burning, her father's ashes scattered on the ground by her feet. Luke kneeling before the monster, crying for release. Henry...Han...a tormented prisoner in his own mind, then being swept up like child's toy in the arms of the most vile black magic sorcerer in the entire Alliance...

Henry...Han. As she thought about him, her mind drifted...and the visions came with sudden and sharp clarity. She could see them as easily as if she were sitting in the ornate bedroom, next to Henry on the towering black walnut canopy bed...

~*~*~*~*~*~

The bedroom was the most ornate and elaborate in the entire Alliance, save for the rooms belonging to Queen Jania. Everything was done in shades of blood red, black, and the deepest brown. Heavy red and silver tapestries depicted the bloody victories of Naboo with a great deal more realistic gore than was necessary.

Han lay on the plush red brocade comforter on bed. It was so large, Han didn't even take up a quarter of it. His navy cape was gone and they'd taken his mechanical bow and arrows, but otherwise, he seemed to be the same as he was when Palpatine kidnapped him.

She winced as Palpatine glided in. He looked even younger, his dark hair just touched with silver, the blue eyes gleaming maliciously. His black hood had been traded for the red and gold silk robes Naboo nobility. The dark side oozed from every pore in his body. She could feel it, even just in her mind.

His slender fingers were now those of middle age, but they remained winter-white and sharp as nails. The ran through Han's thick brown hair and rubbed around his temples. “Yes, my pretty prince. You may awaken now. I wish to command you.”

Han's hazel eyes fluttered open. “Where am I?” He got up onto one elbow, looking around. “What am I doing here? Last I remembered, some dragon...” His gaze went up to Palpatine as he continued to rub. “You!” He started, trying to pull away. “Damn it to hell, you bastard. I knew it all along. That's part of why I was coming back. To have you arrested and make sure you weren't hurting Mother.” He waved his finger in the chancellor's face. “Where is she? Where's my mother?”

“Shh, boy. She's sleeping in the next room. She's very sick, you know. Always was a delicate creature.” Palpatine pushed his finger away, tsking as he continued rubbing. “You're more like your father. Too clever for your own good. I knew you would have figured out what I was doing when you got tired of playing criminal with Sultan Du Hutt in Tatoonie.”

The chancellor's smirk was a frightening thing to behold, as sharp and deadly as his long digits. “Your mind was so easy to invade. Everyone knows you haven't been happy here since your father's death. You never wanted that responsibility – marriage, running a kingdom.”

“Get out of my head. You're done enough damage. There are parts of my life I still can't remember.” Han roughly shoved his fingers away from his temples.

Palpatine's eyes narrowed. “You're much stronger than you were before. You had help, Henry. Those two children I saw you with.”

It was Han's turn to smirk. “It's a little thing called 'friendship,' Palpy. You might try it sometime. By the way, you're looking too good nowadays. What's your secret? Who did you strip enough magic off of to pass for forty? Everyone in the castle knows you're least six hundred and seventy, give or take a year.”

“I took it from your mother.” The older man laughed as he pressed his fingers against Henry's chest. “Yours is quite strong, too. I could use energy like that. No one knows you're alive, after all. It would be simple to drain you dry...”

Han grabbed Palpatine's sharp fingers. “Don't even think about it.” He managed to get the older man's hands behind his back, shoving him onto the floor. “What did you do to my mother, you old bastard?”

“Such violence!” Palpatine wrinkled his nose. “You are like your father. You may be royalty, but when it comes down to it, you're both criminals at heart. I told Jania it was unwise to marry a common gypsy tramp, but she refused to hear it after he and his clan saved her from bandits.”

“Here's something else I have in common with Papa.” Palpatine may have been able to predict the future...but he couldn't see Han's fist landing in his face. The chancellor's head smacked against the hardwood floor, temporarily rendering him unconscious.

Han had just enough time to dash out of Palpatine's room before he came to and into the next room over. Two guards stood at the door, but he just shoved past them. Queen Jania lay on another canopy bed, this one made of softer wood and trimmed with pale green woven lace. Several physicians stared up at him in shock as he barreled in.

“Ok fellas, break it up.” He shoved them out the door. “I'll take over here.”

“Henry.” It broke his heart to see how fragile Jania was. “I knew you'd come back. You're my sweet little boy...Palpatine was wrong. You'd...never leave me...”

Han squeezed her bony knuckles. Queen Jania had always been frail...but now, she looked like a fragile doll. Her hair, once thick and auburn like her son's, was brittle and silver. Her blue eyes were sunken deep in their sockets and had no life to them. You'd never know she was barely in her sixties. She more closely resembled a grandmother just starting her second century.

“He...Palpatine...” She gasped, coughing. “Energy...wants...magic...can't be trusted...”

“I know, Mother.” Her son gently put his arms around her. “We'll knock him into the next kingdom for you. Me and my friends, and Leia.” His eyes became dreamy. “She's Lord Skywalker's daughter, Mother. You'll like her.”

“My boy...” She gasped as, to Han's horror, light began to flow from her. “Love...you...”

“Yeah, Mother.” He leaned on her chest, thin as an eggshell, as her breath finally left her. “I think I love you, too.”

Palpatine burst into the room as Han cradled his dead mother in his arms, two of his red-clad guards following him. “Our queen is dead.” He nodded at the frail woman. “Take her downstairs. There's a coffin ready for her. She will be buried after the Mid-Summer Festival.”

“You bastard!” Han lunged for Palpatine, but the men held him back. “She told me what you did. You stole her energy! I'll bet you stole Father's, too. Drained 'em until they were too old to fight back!”

“She did have the most delicious energy, my boy. I couldn't help myself.” He laughed. “As for your father, I took care of him.” He ran his fingers down Han's chin, then gently around his neck. “Now, what to do with you? You're too strong for the amnesia spell now.” His eyes fell on a stone pedestal. “Perhaps...yes. That will do nicely.”

Han opened his mouth to demand that Palpatine tell him what was going on...but not a sound emerged. His hand went around his throat in shock as he glared angrily at the old man. He tried to curse, but only his lips moved.

Palpatine's laugh chilled Leia to her core. “You won't be able to tell anyone what you know now, my handsome prince.” His men yanked Han's arms behind his back, even as he struggled wildly. “The Sultan wanted his new slave to be a mere decorative object for his court, something pretty he can look at. Perhaps I'll take him at his word.”

Leia tried to reach out the men dragged Han to the pedestal, but she was rooted to the spot. Then, there was a flash of deep purple lightning in the sky. Palpatine swung his long cape around her and Han...and she saw no more.

~*~*~*~*~*~

“No!” Leia's eyes flew open. “I have to get there!” She leaped to her feet. “The queen is dead. Palpatine has Han...and who knows what he's going to do to him?”

“I agree.” Ahsoka uncrossed her legs. “I felt the Queen's passing. Palpatine will do everything in his power...and everyone else's power...to make sure he gets the throne. We must leave as soon as possible.”

Yoda's eyes flew to Leia. “But all of us, it will be. Travel better in a group, you will. Go off on your own, you must not.”

“I feel bad for the Queen. She looked terrible.” Ezra frowned. “I didn't think she was that old.”

“Old, she was not.” Yoda shook his head. “That is what happens when evil power drains the life from ordinary humans. In a way, it was lucky she died then. Had he continued to drain her, she would have turned to little more than dust.”

“Like my father.” Leia paced the floor. “How are we going to get there? They won't just let a group of Jedi and magic-users and servants in the gate.”

“Not Jedi.” Ahsoka grinned. “How are you with singing, Leia?”

“Mother always said I had a good voice.” Leia shrugged. “Luke does, too. And we can both at least pass muster with the local folk dances. Why?”

“We'll go as a gypsies.” Ahsoka made a puff of glittering white smoke appear. “We'll dance and sing for the crowds, and Ezra, you and Kanan could read minds. Maybe you and I could do sword tricks, Leia.”

“Performer, I am not. Sing and dance, I cannot.” Yoda made a face. “I will go my own way, as a light.”

“Leia?” Kanan poked his head in. “Your hand is ready. The sword hilt is almost there. Should be another hour.”

“Good. That will give us time to pack.” Ahsoka patted Leia's hand. “We'll rescue Prince Henry, Leia. I promise.”

Leia nodded. “So do I.” She finally followed Kanan out the door to have her new metal hand fitted.