"Oh, don't worry, Your Highness. I will."
Ferus gathered his strength and pushed out with the Force. The door flew open.
Elad stood inside, staring down at a body.
The princess's body.
Elad met Ferus's eyes. "I was too late."
Han, Luke, and Chewbacca burst into the room, freezing alongside Ferus as they caught sight of Leia. Han's voice was ragged. "Is she-"
"No," Ferus and Luke spoke together. Ferus glanced at the boy, So he was connected enough to the Force-or at least to Leia-that he could sense her still pulsing with life.
However faintly.
"Whatever they did to her, she's still alive," Elad confirmed, "but we have to get her out of here." He had already broken through the restraints pinning her to the table.
Ferus scooped Leia off the table and cradled her gently against his chest. She stirred in his arms, her eyelids flickering. "Father?" she mumbled.
"No," he said softly, hurrying toward the exit. The others covered him. They'd taken out all the Imperials, but you never knew when reinforcements would arrive. "It's just-"
He hesitated, not wanting to say: It's Fess. It's Fess. Not wanting to lie any more. "It's me. Don't worry, you're safe with me." Not wanting to lie any more. "It's me. Don't worry, you're safe with me."
She smiled, and her eyes drifted shut again. "I know."
CHAPTER TWENTY.
Leia hesitated just outside the door to the abandoned schoolhouse. Then she gave herself a little shake, and stepped inside. Luke and Kiro Chen sat side by side, their heads bent together in low conversation.
She cleared her throat.
Luke looked up. "I thought we still had time," he said.
While Fess and Elad had gotten Leia safely out of the medcenter, Han and Luke had ransacked the Imperials' com system. They'd confirmed that there had been no distress call-as far as the Empire was concerned, everything had proceeded as planned. But according to the transmission archives, those plans called for Darth Vader to arrive the next day.
It seemed prudent to blast off the planet before he showed up.
"We do," Leia said. "I just wanted to talk to Kiro before we left." Wanted Wanted, that was wrong. Needed Needed.
Luke stood up. "I'll leave."
"No." She'd had enough of being left alone. "Stay. You're part of this now, too."
Leia sat down across from Kiro. He wouldn't look at her.
"I'm sorry about Halle Dray," she told him. "I know you two were close." Her memories of the kidnapping were strangely fuzzy, as if she'd taken a blow to the head. She remembered little of what had happened after the stormtroopers had taken her away. But she remembered seeing Halle and J'er Nahj hit the ground.
" I'm I'm sorry," Kiro said, still keeping his eyes averted. "You should hate me." sorry," Kiro said, still keeping his eyes averted. "You should hate me."
"Whatever you did, you did it because you loved Alderaan. I could never hate you for that." Leia paused. "What will you do now?"
"Now?" he looked blank, like he couldn't imagine a future.
"Kiro knows he honors her memory by moving forward," Luke said, encouraging him.
"By helping others, the way she wanted to."
Leia frowned. Halle Dray hadn't seemed the type to help anyone. But Kiro had obviously known a different side of her. Or maybe he'd just seen what he wanted to see.
"The Rebel Alliance would welcome you," she said.
"My place is here," Kiro said, drawing himself upright. "With Nahj gone, and Halle...they need leaders." He lowered his eyes. "I know how you feel, Princess. You think it's cowardly not to fight."
"There's more than one way to fight the Empire," Luke assured him.
"Luke's right," Leia agreed. "You can do plenty of good here. And I'll do everything I can to help."
"I know." Kiro pressed his hands to his face. "I'd like to be alone now, please."
"We should go, anyway," Leia said. "It's time for us to leave this place."
Far past time. But a part of her wished she could stay.
Ferus waited for Leia at the spaceport, needing to say goodbye. As soon as she spotted him, she sent Luke off to help Han and Elad with some final repairs, then greeted him warmly. Ever since the rescue, it was as if she'd been trying to make up for the way she'd treated him in the past. Ferus wished that he could enjoy it, finally having her respect after all these years. But he knew it wouldn't last. Not when she heard what he had to say.
"I've been thinking about your offer," Fess said. After thanking him for his part in the rescue, Leia had urged him to throw in his lot with the Rebellion. "I'm afraid I can't join your fight."
"If it's because of the way I've treated you-" Leia smiled ruefully. "Seems like I'm doing a lot of apologizing today. One more can't hurt."
"You've treated me as I deserved," Ferus said.
"I'm beginning to suspect you're not the man I thought you were, Fess. The Rebellion needs all the help it can get-you should join us."
Ferus wanted to. And not just because he missed the days when he could protect her at every turn.
He had turned it over and over in his mind. Obi-Wan had been no help. Search inside Search inside yourself yourself, he said. Know the answer, you do Know the answer, you do.
Even in his frustration, Ferus had smiled, remembering better days when he and the other Padawans had made a game of imitating Jedi Master Yoda's odd speech patterns.
And, frustrated or not, Ferus had followed the older man's advice.
For whatever reason, Vader had taken a special interest in Leia. If he learned about his connection to the princess, or to Luke, nothing would stop him until they were both destroyed.
Or worse, Ferus thought. Until he reclaims his children. Until he reclaims his children.
Luke wasn't ready to be trained as a Jedi yet. He needed to grow stronger on his own before he learned how to access such great power. And Leia...Ferus suspected Leia was strong enough. But training her in the Jedi ways would only make her more of a target.
The stronger she grew, the greater the chance that Vader would sense the Force within her.
Just as he would sense Ferus, if Ferus stayed by her side.
Ferus had been watching and waiting for a long time. He had a new job now: Finding out what Darth Vader was up to.
And stopping him.
But how could he explain any of that to Leia?
"I don't put much faith in groups," he told her instead. "Eventually someone you trust will betray you."
She laughed bitterly. "You sound like Han. Afraid to believe in anything."
"I can't speak to whether Captain Solo is afraid, but I can assure you, I'm I'm not." not."
Is that true? he wondered. he wondered. Or do I still fear repeating the mistakes of my past? Or do I still fear repeating the mistakes of my past? It felt like he was finally taking action; but was he just running away? It felt like he was finally taking action; but was he just running away?
He missed the certainty of his youth with the Jedi, that rock solid knowledge that his choices were right. He saw it in Luke.
Of course, he'd seen it in Anakin, too.
"I support the Rebellion, but I have other priorities right now," he said.
"What could be more important?" she asked angrily.
"You'd be surprised."
"Then go," she spit out. "Don't let me stop you."
"There are other ways to fight the Empire," Ferus pointed out. "I'm told that Kiro Chen-"
"Kiro's choice is not based on cowardice," she snapped. "Yours is."
Ferus told himself she was wrong. "I can't ask you not to be angry with me."
She crossed her arms. "I don't care enough to be angry."
"I can only ask that you trust me. This is the right thing." If it wasn't, if he left her alone and something happened...
He'd forgiven himself so much, but there would be no forgiveness for letting Leia die.
"You should go," she said harshly. "Minister Manaa is meeting me here, and then I'm getting off this planet. The Alliance needs me."
"One more thing, Leia," he said. This was probably a mistake, he knew that. But he couldn't help himself. She was the closest thing he had to a daughter-and she didn't know him at all. "Ferus."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"It's my name," he said. "My real name. You know me as Fess Ilee, but that's a lie. I am Ferus Olin."
And for the first time in a long time, he was.
Even with her eyes closed, she can tell her father is standing in her doorway.
" I'm sorry I ran away, I'm sorry I ran away, " " she says, opening her eyes. There is no point in pretending to she says, opening her eyes. There is no point in pretending to be asleep. "Am I punished? be asleep. "Am I punished? " "
" We'll talk about that in the morning. We'll talk about that in the morning. " " He kisses her forehead. He kisses her forehead. " " I'm just glad Fess I'm just glad Fess brought you home, to me. brought you home, to me. " "
When she hears his name, she gets angry all over again. " " He didn't have to, He didn't have to, " " she she complains. complains. " " I'm no baby. I didn't need his help. I'm no baby. I didn't need his help. " "
" But someday you may, But someday you may, " " her father says. her father says. " " And I want you to remember this night. And I want you to remember this night.
Fess will always be there when you need him. If anything ever happens to me-"
She giggles. Not because it's funny, but because maybe if she laughs, she won't be afraid. afraid. " " Nothing's going to happen to you. Don't be stupid. Nothing's going to happen to you. Don't be stupid. " "
" If it does, and you're in trouble, go to Fess. He'll know what to do. He'll always take If it does, and you're in trouble, go to Fess. He'll know what to do. He'll always take care of you. care of you. " "
Leia shook off the memory. She had believed almost everything her father had ever told her. But she'd never believed that. Fess, Ferus, whoever he was-obviously he wasn't the man Bail Organa had believed him to be. He wasn't anyone Leia could count on. It shouldn't have come as a surprise. It certainly shouldn't have mattered.
So why did she feel like she'd lost her father all over again?
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE.
Every thing always comes down to politics, Han thought in disgust, drawing in a deep breath of the stale air. He knew Leia was in her element, convincing the Prime Minister to do exactly as she wanted. But Han couldn't stand to sit around and watch. Making nice with chuff-sucking leeches-especially ones who'd sold you out to the Empire-just wasn't his thing.
Han wandered slowly through the streets around the spaceport, enjoying the breeze while he could. The air back on Yavin 4 was almost always heavy and still. Sometimes days would go by without a single breath of wind.
Then why am I going back? Just to drop them off, he told himself. Just to drop them off, he told himself. Then I'll get on my Then I'll get on my way. way.
Sometimes Han thought it would just be easier to give in. Join the Rebels. Throw on a uniform. Fight the good fight.
But something always stopped him. He could join the Alliance, sure. But he'd be pretending to be someone he wasn't. Wearing a mask.
And he didn't like masks any more than he liked uniforms.
"Captain Solo!" A scrawny arm popped up out of the crowd, waving furiously. A moment later, Mazi's pale face appeared. The boy rushed toward him, his brothers close behind. "Didn't think we'd see you before we left."
"Going somewhere?" Han asked, surprised by how pleased he was to see the boys again. "And since when do you call me 'Captain'?"