Chapter Text
It was a planet that anyone could be forgiven for considering uninhabitable. From a distance, it cast a golden glow into space, shining like a third sun in the system. Up close, the endless seas of sand spelled the clear source of that star-like shine, reflecting the relentless bombardment of light from the two large G-type stars the planet orbited. The world was harsh and unforgiving, and to many sentient beings it was, for all intents and purposes, uninhabitable – despite the life it somehow managed to sustain. Those who called this planet home were tough and hardy, stubbornly remaining on a world that seemed resolved to drive them away or grind them into the ground at every turn. For the most part, it produced only a particular type of being, one harsh and coarse as the planet itself, mostly unpleasant, with interests as benign as simple survival or malicious as power and control at any cost. Sharp teeth and thick skin were required to thrive here.
Merciless as the planet seemed, though, it still shone brilliantly, casting its light against the inky backdrop of space, and it was only as his X-wing had drifted towards it that Luke Skywalker realized just how brightly Tatooine blazed. Leaving on the Falcon three years ago, their concern had been primarily with escape, leaving him with little opportunity to consider the way the planet hung in the sky. On his return, there had been no turbolasers firing at him, no imperial ships to dodge, no immediate sense of urgency, and at last he could truly examine the world that he'd spent the better part of two decades toiling on. Its clear radiance seemed so counter to what he knew to be the true nature of the world... and yet, that same radiance seemed to glow not just from the sands, but from the Force itself.
Being on the planet’s surface only made that clearer, the Force singing brightly around him as the Light Side wrapped him in its warm embrace during each day’s meditations. Loath as he’d been to return and urgent as their purpose here was, opening himself up to the Force made him feel at peace here in a way he’d never thought he could on Tatooine.
Maybe it had something to do with their base being set up in Ben’s old hut. The synstone building had been decrepit and picked clean by scavengers and raiders when they arrived, but some of its secrets were untouched, waiting to be uncovered by the right person. Since word had clearly spread that the abandoned hut offered nothing of value, their group had been left mostly undisturbed. Still, despite whatever peace they found, that didn’t mean there wasn’t danger here, and they took no chances. Working in shifts, they could keep watch, head into town to gather any supplies or news that they could, and take some time to rest. Each had a part to play at any given time and their own role to play in the days ahead.
(But really, they all just needed to keep themselves occupied. Stopping for too long meant thinking, and thinking meant confronting the pain of the months since Bespin – something none of them had a particular interest in doing.)
It was Luke’s turn on the rest shift, holing himself up inside the hut while Leia stood watch with the droids and Lando and Chewie kept their ears to the ground in Anchorhead. Rest time for Luke tended to alternate between meditation, training and, his current chosen task, working on his lightsaber. Amidst the hidden secrets in the hut had been instructions, left just for him, outlining the process of building a weapon fit for a Jedi. Some of the required materials had been kept with the journals Ben had tucked away, the rest he’d had to purchase on his trips into town, but he was still missing one very crucial component – the crystal.
Ben’s journals listed several options for that. Most commonly, Jedi Padawans would travel to the caves of Ilum, a planet sacred to the Jedi, but Luke knew that wasn’t an option. He had no idea where the planet was, but if it had been known in the days of the Republic, then it was a good bet that the Empire knew about it and had corrupted it for their own purposes. That left Luke with a few other options. Though they were becoming increasingly rare, other sources of kyber existed throughout the galaxy, and there was a chance, however slight, that he might stumble upon one of them. He could also repurpose a crystal from an existing lightsaber, but he felt a bit odd about that, and would only consider that as a last resort. If he could not find a natural crystal, however, he still had the least conventional method – making a synthetic crystal. Ideally, he’d be able to find a proper source of kyber, but synthetic may very well be his only option.
Trouble was, he didn’t know where to start on one of those.
Construction of the hilt was laid out in great detail within the journals, and they contained some rudimentary information about saber combat and other useful skills, but they were severely lacking instructions for creating a synthetic crystal. Perhaps Ben had assumed he’d be around to help Luke. Perhaps he’d meant to leave him an existing crystal, or assist in acquiring a natural one. Perhaps he’d never needed to facet a synthetic crystal and simply didn’t know how. Whatever the case may be, Luke had reached an impasse.
Glancing down at the parts strewn across the table, he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. He’d made a lot of progress on the hilt so far, but he could not complete it without a crystal. With Lando and Chewie not due back for a while and Luke on the rest shift until then, he considered what to do next. Sleep would not come, he knew, and his mind was far too scattered for meditation at the moment. Running through his saber forms was an option, but as far as he was concerned, he’d already spent far too much time in the hut. With another heavy sigh, he left his work behind and stepped outside.
Hanging low in the sky, the suns cast the dunes in a dim, orange glow, illuminating the endless stretch of wastes surrounding the hut. Silhouetted against the sky, a familiar figure sat atop the roof of the hut with her legs tucked underneath her, dark eyes fixed firmly on the horizon. Leia was dressed in a flowing white tunic and light, airy slacks, her hair pulled back in a loose, braided bun as a few stray strands fell to frame the tension lying just beneath her calm, contemplative expression. Clambering onto the roof, Luke took a seat next to her, crossing his legs and folding his hands in his lap as he turned his own gaze out to the familiar sunset.
“Luke.” Leia’s voice seemed to stem from the sands themselves, her alto warm as the sinking suns. She spoke his name with an ease that seemed to stretch beyond the few years they had known each other, as though it had always held a place upon her lips. From the moment Luke had laid eyes on her, everything about Leia seemed to carry a sort of familiarity. The way she carried herself, the way she spoke and the way she looked at him all echoed in memories he hadn’t even formed yet. Even here, on a planet where she should stick out like a wookiee in a cluster of jawas, she seemed to fit right in like she’d always been here, as though a piece of the desert belonged in her heart, was a very part of her soul. “It’ll be some time before Lando and Chewie get back. You should try to rest a little longer.”
“I’ve gotten about as much rest as I can handle for now.” Even through the peace he felt in the Force, a familiar restlessness had overtaken Luke from the moment they’d landed here, like a conditioned response to the sight of sprawling desert. On Tatooine, it seemed, he could not abide by sitting still and simply waiting, the urge to act becoming almost overwhelming.
Tracing the splashes of colour painting the sky with her gaze for just a moment longer, Leia sighed, long and slow, before turning to face Luke. “I know what you mean.” A thousand unspoken words flickered just below her deep brown eyes, impatience masking the pain they both danced around. They’d known from the start that this would be an exercise in patience, but Leia was radiating frustration at their lack of progress. Leia, who was usually so calm and composed, was displaying the same sort of restlessness Luke felt here – though she was far better at hiding it than he was. Eagerness to complete their mission was the most likely explanation, he was sure, but he couldn’t help but suspect that the planet itself had something to do with it, an aura stemming from its core that either kept you rooted or pushed you towards the sky.
For a moment, the two said nothing, simply holding each other’s gaze and reading the intent flickering in their eyes. There was more that Leia wanted to say, and Luke remained silent to allow her that chance – he would not push her, because she offered him the same courtesy, but he still afforded her the opportunity to speak to her pain, if she chose to take it. Her expression quickly settled, however, masking any trace of agony that might have been etched there just seconds earlier. “I thought you were working on your lightsaber. Have you made much progress?”
It was Luke’s turn to sigh, flicking his eyes towards the sky as he ran his fingers through his blond locks. “I have, yeah, but I won’t be able to get much farther without a crystal.” Disentangling his fingers from his hair and running them down the back of his neck, Luke rested his elbow against his knee and propped his head in his hand, shoulders slumping slightly. “I… have no idea what I’m going to do about it, to be honest.”
Leia snaked her arm across his back and rested her hand on his shoulder, radiating a warmth that stood in stark contrast to the chill that was beginning to permeate the air. “You’ll figure something out. You always do.” There was such tenderness in her voice and so much unflinching faith in her eyes that Luke almost believed her. For a moment, things felt almost right, as though the galaxy hadn’t been turned upside down just a few short months ago. If Leia believed in him then, just maybe, he really was capable of seeing this through.
But Leia didn’t – couldn’t – know the whole truth…
He didn’t deserve her faith. She was placing it in a person she thought she knew, unaware of the shadow hanging over him. She did not know the monster who dominated his destiny, the darkness that rotting at his family tree. If she did, she would never look at him this way again – and perhaps that’s what he deserved. Keeping the truth from her felt selfish, because he did not want to lose her friendship, but he could not afford to push her away while Han was still in danger. He owed them the truth, but he had a job to do first.
Guilt twisted at his stomach as he tore his eyes from Leia’s face and flinched away from her. Leia withdrew her arm, allowing him to move away if he so chose, but her palm lay open in an offering should he decide he needed it. “Luke, is everything alright?”
With a long, slow exhale, Luke reached out to grasp the offered hand and gave it a gentle squeeze, allowing a few moments to tick on in silence as their fingers twined together. Warmth passed between them as they clung to each other, the absolute truth of their pain ringing clear within their wordless grip. A smile that did not reach his eyes formed on Luke’s face, and their charade began once again. “I’m fine, Leia. Really. I’m just frustrated. Something about being back here, on top of everything else…”
As Luke trailed off, Leia nodded absently, gaze fixing on some distant point once again, carrying traces of truth just below her eyes. “There certainly is something about this place. I’m not sure what it is but I’ve felt it since we arrived. Something in me that doesn’t want to settle, as though we should be doing something more.” Tension creased her brow, another brief flash of anguish lining her features before it was replaced with a lopsided smile as she nudged him gently with her elbow. “How did you ever put up with this for nineteen years?”
A dry chuckle rattled in Luke’s throat. “I’m sure if you asked my aunt and uncle, they would have said that I didn’t. I’ve never been able to sit still. That meant always having a project on the go or trying out some new stunt in my skyhopper or finding some new rock formation to climb.”
“You mean to tell me that you weren’t content to sit around and watch the sands blow? I’m shocked.” She wore a grin now, which only brightened when Luke rolled his eyes at her.
“Hard to believe, I know. Drove my uncle crazy. I swore I was gonna stow away on a freighter and ship myself off to the Imperial Academy as cargo, if I had to.” A wistful gleam shone in his eyes as he began to trace Leia’s knuckles with his thumb and swept over the rolling dunes with his eyes. “One time, when I was about thirteen, I got into a huge fight with Uncle Owen. I can’t even remember what it was about anymore – we had so many, they all sort of run together – but I was furious. Packed a bag, took off in the middle of the night, and set off towards Mos Espa to hitch a ride with anyone, to go anywhere that wasn’t here. I didn’t make it very far before the sandstorm hit, though. I got turned around and stumbled right into the nest of a krayt dragon. I had my laser rifle with me, but it didn’t do me much good – hide’s too thick for the blasts to do any real damage. I only got out of there because, as luck would have it, Ben had been keeping an eye on me. Swept in to save me just in time. Dragged me back to the farm. I’d never seen Uncle Owen look as furious or relieved as he was when Ben showed up at the door, carrying me in his arms. I was grounded for a whole month, after that, though my uncle didn’t take away quite as many privileges as usual – I wasn’t allowed to fly my skyhopper, but I was allowed to head into town with Aunt Beru to buy parts for it. But even after that, I never could manage to settle down. I didn’t fit in, here. There was always something pulling me away, urging me to keep moving, to keep running.”
A soft hum vibrated in Leia’s throat as she shifted to lean her weight against Luke’s shoulder. When she spoke, her voice rung crisp and clear, echoing in synchronicity with the twinkling of the emerging stars above their heads. “I ran away a few times as a kid, too. Never for very long, but… I understand feeling like an outsider. Like everyone’s expecting you to be someone you’re not. Much as I loved them, my family drove me crazy, especially my aunts, dressing me and styling my hair and shaping me into their perfect little princess. Part of me just wanted to run, to get out of the city for a little while, climb trees and just do something for myself. But… I had a duty to the galaxy. A job to do. Joining the rebellion put everything into perspective. Suddenly, just the thought of running away seemed petty and childish. Like I couldn’t appreciate what I had. Seeing what the rest of the galaxy had to live with changed everything…”
There was so much more that could be said, but very little that needed to. The past was a topic they discussed somewhat sparingly, reserved for moments of quiet and calm and only discussed at lengths short enough to be handled with ease. It had been nearly three and a half years since that fateful meeting on the death star, and even now, some wounds were still too fresh, would likely never heal completely, and could only handle the briefest of exposure. There was guilt and pain and anger in her that echoed his own, and he did not need to know all of the details to understand or offer his compassion.
Leia’s voice dropped to barely more than a whisper, a gentle murmur that could have easily been swept away by the breeze. “I have no choice but to keep running now, but I can finish what I started. I have to. For their sakes.”
Releasing his grip on Leia’s hand, Luke shifted to drape his arm across her shoulders and rest his head against hers, offering a silent comfort as the two of them basked in the glow of dimming dusklight. “You will. I know you will. But you don’t have to do it alone.”
“I know that. I do. Now more than ever, I think.” She hesitated for a moment, and he could almost hear the frown she wore when she finally continued. “Do you?”
To her credit, Leia did not push him. Certainly, she’d noticed the change in him since Bespin, and this was a conversation they’d had before, but as much as she asked for the truth and offered her sympathy, she would never push too hard. It was that simple fact that had pulled him out of his stupor, little by little, her gentle coaxing drawing him through the haze of nightmares and despair that had begun to haunt his nights. Her understanding was exactly what he needed; all he could do was hope that her patience would hold out until he was ready to tell her everything. “I do. I promise. It’s just… the past. My past, catching up with me. There are some things I have to figure out for myself.”
“It can’t be easy, coming back to a place that holds nothing for you anymore. To the place where you lost everything. The burdens of our pasts are some of the heaviest we’ll ever carry…”
Luke gripped Leia a little tighter, holding her against his side as their breathing fell into a gentle, synchronized rhythm. Her words echoed softly against the cooling air, settling over the two of them as they accepted the burdens resting upon their shoulders. They sat like that – as they had several times before, in those moments where all they needed was some silent comfort – until the last of the suns’ light faded to leave the sky above them a glittering tapestry of starlight against the obsidian backdrop.
Without the light from the suns, the temperature quickly dropped to the point that the warmth of their bodies resting side by side was no longer enough to stave off the chill in the air. Suppressing a shiver, Luke withdrew his arm as Leia shifted away and turned to face him.
“You should head back inside, Luke, try to get some sleep. I can keep watch until morning.”
Before he had the chance to protest, a tingling at the back of his mind accompanying the whirring servos of Threepio and Artoo alerted him to the subtle shifts in the air. “That might not be necessary.”
Leia opened her mouth to question him, but her brief confusion was cut short by the prim voice of the protocol droid punctuated by the beeps of the astromech. “Mistress Leia! Master Luke! There’s a speeder approaching from the East. I do believe it’s Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian.”
“Are you certain, Threepio?” There was a crease lining Leia’s brow as she climbed off the roof of the hut, Luke following close behind. The moment her feet touched the sand, her hand twitched towards the blaster hanging from her belt. “They weren’t due back until tomorrow afternoon.”
“Quite certain – the approaching speeder is the one they left in, after all.” Leia still didn’t look entirely convinced, and she wore even more skepticism as Artoo interjected with several beeps of his own. “Well, I do suppose it’s possible that someone else could have attacked them and taken the speeder, but it’s highly unlikely, what with Chewbacca on guard. Perhaps it’s good news?”
Scowl deepening, Leia rested her hand on her blaster, prepared to draw at a moment’s notice. “Even so…”
The tingling in Luke’s brain hadn’t stopped with the droids’ arrival, and his own brow crinkled slightly as he tried to reach for it, to listen to what it was telling him. “Wait, Leia…” Resting a hand on her arm, he stopped her from drawing the blaster. It hadn’t taken much for Leia to pick up on the dangers of Tatooine, and she had always been well prepared for danger. Whether she would have liked it or not, she would have done just fine, had she grown up here, and if he followed his initial instincts, Luke might have interpreted the edge in his sense the same way as she had. The Force seemed to be trying to tell him something else, though. It lay just beyond his grasp, behind a screen of smoke and sand and fire, but the one certainty he seemed to be able to reach was that whatever was coming, it lay beneath a different sky than this one. “It’s them. I’m sure of it.”
For a second, Leia seemed taken aback, but that same faith she’d worn earlier flooded back into her eyes almost instantly as she nodded. “Well. Perhaps Threepio is right. Maybe they really have come back with good news. I suppose we should just be patient until we have the truth – but be prepared just in case.”
With a gentle smile and a small nod of his own, Luke withdrew his hand and turned his gaze towards the sands. The speeder was Lando and Chewie’s, alright, and their familiar signatures in the Force seemed to glow and flare against the sands and dark sky as they approached. Luke, Leia and the droids stood ready in front of the entrance to the hut as the speeder slowed and stopped, and the brief exchange of greetings quickly gave way to an immediate relief settling over them as the group hustled inside to exchange reports. As they took their respective places within the hut, Lando seemed entirely composed, as usual, with the slightest air of excitement and hope; Chewie, by contrast, seemed agitated and none too happy – which wasn’t much of a change from how he’d been since Bespin, but he seemed especially uncomfortable since their return.
Leia was the first to speak, once they’d settled in, giving their little unofficial meeting an air of formality that, if Luke was being honest, was entirely welcome. The more things felt like routine, the easier it was to forget just how deeply this mission affected them all. “You two are back awfully early – we weren’t expecting you for several hours at least. What is it you found?”
“I think you two are going to like this.” There was a grin in Lando’s voice, even if it didn’t quite reach his face – especially when Chewie interjected with a frustrated growl. Lando promptly ignored the wookiee as he turned his gaze towards Luke and raised a single brow. “Especially you, kid.”
Suppressing a wince at the nickname, Luke followed Lando’s lead and ignored the things he didn’t want to acknowledge. “We’re listening. Do you have news about Han?”
“You bet I do, and it’s good intel, too. We’ll have to act fast if we want to make good on it, though.” The moment Lando paused, Chewie cut in with another rumble, louder this time, moving from his place near the wall to loom closer to the rest of the group. “Yes, yes, I’m aware of how you feel about all of this, but it’s the first good lead we’ve got. If we act fast, we might not have to deal with Jabba at all.”
Despite the years they’d spent in Han and Chewie’s company, neither Luke nor Leia had quite been able to pick up on the finer points of Shyriiwook. There were times when it was generally clear what the wookiee was trying to say, certain things that Luke could understand well – Leia, at the very least, seemed adept at understanding the curse words – but both tended to rely on Han or Threepio to fill in the gaps in their knowledge. Reading the questions in their faces, Lando smirked before turning back to them and continuing.
“A contact of mine – a reliable contact – sent word about a crew of bounty hunters who might have some information we can make use of.” Having retreated back to a somewhat secluded corner of the hut, Chewie let out a soft growl while Lando spoke, but simply crossed his arms across his chest and made no other moves to act. “That’s the bit Chewbacca over there objects to. He doesn’t trust information coming from bounty hunters. But we’ve got a good chance with this group. I can tell you that at least one of them is entirely honourable and, according to my source, they’ve set up their base in what’s left of an ancient Jedi temple over on Pogantu.” Luke’s face must have lit up because Lando’s smirk grew. “I knew you’d like that part.”
Though she spared a quick glance at Luke to acknowledge his interest, Leia’s dark eyes fixed on Lando, boring into him as she seemed to demand answers simply with her gaze. “Do they know where Han is?”
The smirk faded from Lando’s face and his expression grew serious. “I don’t know for sure. What I do know is that they’ve associated with Fett in the past, and they’ve been said to have contact with him recently. My contact wouldn’t say how long it’s been, though, or very much else over holomessage. Anything else we want to know, we’ll only find out in person, so we have to move fast if we want to make good on this.”
“I’ll have Artoo prep my X-wing and take off as soon as I can.” Luke worked to keep the excitement from being too evident in his voice. Maybe things were turning around for them at last, and the Force was granting them a bit of good fortune. If he could find information on both Han and the Jedi at the same time, then they might just be able to wring victory from this war after all.
“I’m coming with you.”
“Leia…”
“Luke.” She was firm as she cut off his protests, a familiar fire crackling beneath her dark eyes. “If it’s bounty hunters we’re dealing with, then money is going to be a factor, and there may be negotiations. You and I both know that I’m better suited for that than you are.”
Years in the senate had made Leia into a debater that Luke was certain he couldn’t match, but he couldn’t shake the bad feeling that prickled down his spine or the way his gut twisted when he considered the possibility of losing her, too. “If it’s bounty hunters we’re dealing with, then our bounties will be a factor. Your bounty’s higher than mine, and mine’s still explicitly alive only. We’ll have to go in undercover, and if we’re found out, it’s better if I’m alone.”
“Deception isn’t exactly your strongest skill. There’s a reason High Command doesn’t send you on many undercover missions. You’re not going alone.”
“I’ll have Artoo – “
“I’m coming with you.”
If he’d tried to read her without knowing her as well as he did, or if he was more easily swayed by the schooled aura of a politician, Luke might have missed the shade of pleading in Leia’s voice or the hint of desperation in her face. She was as restless and desperate to get off this rock as he was, she wanted to save Han as badly as he did, and she wanted to do take action the same way he did. He could not quiet the buzzing warning in the Force, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to stop Leia once she’d made up her mind.
“For what it’s worth,” Lando cut in, “I may not like it, but I agree with the princess. It’s risky, sending the two of you, but I do think Leia is better suited to handling these discussions thank you are, Luke.”
“My negotiation skills aren’t that bad – never mind. Wouldn’t it make more sense for you to come with me and Leia to stay here with Chewie?” Leia’s expression darkened while Chewie growled an agreement, but Luke ignored them both. “If you’ve dealt with these bounty hunters before, wouldn’t that be useful to have around?”
Lando looked sheepish as he rubbed at the back of his neck. “Well, that’s the thing. I’m a known entity to this group, and not a particularly welcome one at that. You’re gonna want to avoid mentioning my name. Tell them my contact, Jas Emari, sent you. I can put together a datapad with everything you’ll need to know that’ll help the two of you can develop your cover from there.”
Though she didn’t look entirely impressed, Leia seemed satisfied with that, and turned to Luke with a single eyebrow raised. “It’s settled, then.”
Glancing at each of his companions in turn, searching for one last argument in hopes of stopping this plan in its tracks and stilling the churning in his gut, Luke finally sighed. “I suppose it is. Let’s gather our stuff and prepare to depart. The sooner we get moving, the better.” All he could do now was to resign himself to trusting in the Force and Leia both to see them through.