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[Image source: Wookieepedia]
The boy was back in her dreams. His outline materialized on their favorite rock outcropping, staring out towards the horizon. Whatever it was he was looking at, Leia was certain it was a worthwhile sight, so she ran towards him, calling his name and waving her hand in excitement.
“Oh! Hi!” He turned to greet her, and his face split in a sunny smile. “It’s been a while!”
“It has…” she laughed and jumped up and down with glee. Her hands extended, and the boy clasped them in his. Both knew what came next: they spun round and round, until the world turned to a starry blur of colors, and their hearts raced wild. He stumbled, and they stopped, breathless, then dropped on the grass laughing. When the ground ceased threatening to disappear underneath them, and their heads cleared, the boy turned to her with the anticipation of adventure written in his glittering blue eyes.
“So! What do you want to play this time?”
She had thought about it for some days now.
“Do you want to be purrgil, roam our lives in space, and see all star systems?”
“Yes!!” he exclaimed, and Leia beamed with pride. She had known he would love the idea.
“Okay! I will be… a cerulean purrgil - blue, but more teal like a mountain lake - and I will have purple spots on my back like stars, and they will glow when I go to light speed, and my name will be… Novabright!”
The boy furrowed his brow, trying to imagine her in purrgil form. A moment later, he nodded in delight.
“Yes, you look amazing!”
Then, he put a thoughtful finger on his dimpled chin to come up with his own appearance.
“Hm… I will be this huge purrgil, like a Consular-class space cruiser, you know? And I will be orange, and purple, and gold, with stripes of all the colors of the sunset! And my name will be Sandstorm!”
“Whoa! And you can cause sandstorms in space! To throw off our enemies!”
The boy nodded enthusiastically.
“Okay, but then I will be as big as a space cruiser too, and I can spark lightning!”
“Sure thing!” the boy paused, his face drifting to that soft, solemn expression she had come to adore. “And we will be brother and sister purrgil?”
Leia beamed.
“Always.”
His silent happiness spilled over between them, and Leia thought the world seemed brighter for a few moments. The boy took her out of her reverie.
“Well! Should we fly to Imperial Center first, Novabright?”
Leia theatrically extended her arms and puffed up her chest, because purrgil were large and imposing creatures.
“Follow me, brother Sandstorm!”
The boy extended his arms, his white tunic suddenly shifted to all colors of the sunset, and they cast off, racing down the hill. Leia was not sure whether purrgil made sounds, and she was fairly certain that sound waves couldn’t even travel in space, but that didn’t stop the boy from vocalizing his flight like a low atmospheric aircraft, and her from screeching like an Alderaanian sting-bat.
“You ready?” she screamed over his best ionic engine impression.
“Yeah!”
Leia closed her eyes and took them to Coruscant. She relayed her memories in a jumble of feelings and imagery, skyscrapers and spires and space traffic lanes like a tapestry woven of transparisteel and gold. They flew over the Senate, the Imperial Palace, the Ambassadorial Sector of Galactic City’s Senate District - all glittering like gilded jewels in the night. The boy whooped in delight.
Leia paused for a minute to let them admire the cityscape, then exhaled, and returned them to the familiar rocky outcropping they shared.
The boy seemed breathless.
“Oh, that was wonderful!” he clasped his hands.
“Let me show you something too, now. Can you take us to your home, high above the mountains?”
Leia smiled, focused, and they were flying again, this time, over a vast landscape of craggy peaks and pine forests frosted with snow. And things were different… She could feel the flight in a way she never had before, with the passion and joy and freedom of a soaring bird, her belly fluttering wildly with every drop and ascent. It was by far more thrilling than the tallest roller coaster her parents had let her ride on Aldera!
“How… how are you doing this?” she gasped.
“It’s just like when I fly my T-16!… But let’s roam the Galaxy now!” exclaimed the boy and veered higher. Leia followed until they reached the stars, and Alderaan remained a tiny marble far behind.
“Going to light speed!” she bellowed. Her purple stars glowed like supernovas. Lightning enveloped the two purrgil, and the blur of hyperspace welcomed them. She closed her eyes, letting the boy pick the next destination. When she opened them, they were settled in a deep canyon, and the colors of a binary sunset spilled on the rocks like streaks of shimmering paint strokes in crimson, violet, and sunshine. Just like Sandstorm. The boy closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Leia inhaled the elusive scent of desert blossoms.
She looked at him, dressed in white like her, and put an arm around his shoulder.
“It is beautiful.”
They stood in perfect silence for a while, then Leia added:
“I wish you would be there when I wake up.”
The boy cast her a forlorn glance.
“I don’t understand why I am not.”
“We would have breakfast together, and I would ask Chef to make my favorite dessert for you.”
“Oh?! What is it?…”
Leia placed hands on her hips and lifted her chin.
“It is nothing but glorious. And I will tell you all about it!”
The Royal Family of Alderaan habitually took their first meal of the day out on the garden terrace, under the fairy-tale splendor of a twenty-meter high dome carved out of a single Alderaanian mountain crystal. The breakfast table, set on pale grey linen, centered around an artful arrangement of silverspring peonies, was laden with trays of fragrant fruit, the finest selection of warm bread and crumbly pastries, soft cheese cuts and charcuterie, and last but not least, two crystal carafes filled with sparkling water and freshly squeezed starblossom juice. The Queen sipped on her tea from a beloved bone china cup, the Prince Consort cradled his mug of steaming caf, the silverware waited, meticulously arranged, the napkins stood folded like swans - just like the princess liked them - and in fact, the only thing notably missing from this clear-cut scene of familial comfort was the princess herself.
“Bail, have you seen Leia this morning?” Queen Breha Organa stirred her cup restlessly, even though the lone sugar cube inside had long since dissolved.
Bail Organa, Prince Consort, First Chairman and Viceroy of Alderaan, shook his head and was about to reach for his commlink when the girl in question appeared at the long end of the terrace and ran towards them bright-eyed and unguarded while her elderly nanny tried to keep up at a dignified pace.
“Leia! Good morning, my dear!”
“Oh, look at you! You seem so excited today!”
“Mama, papa!” she began before their greetings were over, “I had that dream again - of the boy - and we were flying… we were purrgil!”
Bail Organa cast a knowing look at the Queen, who suppressed a sharp breath intake and tried to cover her reaction by beckoning her daughter over for a hug.
“My sweet girl. It sounds like you had a grand adventure, even if it was just a dream.”
With Leia still sheltered in her embrace, the Queen locked gaze with her consort and couldn’t help the frantic exchange of unspoken fears they did not dare share aloud, not even in the privacy of their most secure holdings. Leia extricated herself from her mother’s arms and took her seat at the table.
“What else do you remember of this dream, sweetheart?” Bail asked as casually as possible, under the guise of arranging some pastries and fruit on his daughter’s sparkling white porcelain plate.
“Oh, I wish I remembered more… It was exhilarating, papa! Though I can never remember how he looks. I do see his face when I dream - clearly… but later, it becomes… just a feeling. Very, very frustrating.” Leia wrinkled her nose as if in deep thought, then sighed and focused on her breakfast.
The Queen and Prince Consort followed suit, each wondering how to change the subject without it appearing untimely. Even at this young age, Leia was very keen.
“But he wears white a lot. Like me!”
She laughed and bit into a piece of pineapple.
“Oh? Perhaps like one of the boys you met at the Junior Legislative Program?” Queen Breha sounded a touch too hopeful.
“No. As I said before, he is not from the Core. His accent is… strange.”
She picked on her fruit for a few moments, then asked with a surprisingly sulky undertone:
“Why don’t I have a brother?”
The Queen managed to turn the most nervous of smiles into a good-natured grin.
“Because… as you know, you are such a handful!” she quipped jokingly and gently stroked Leia’s cheek, but the princess was not appeased, not this time.
“Maybe if I had a brother, I wouldn’t be such a handful!”
“Leia, you know I only said that in jest.”
The princess huffed and stabbed a strawberry. Bail Organa stepped in to diffuse the situation.
“And what are my girl’s plans for today, after her studies, that is?” he inquired over his cup.
“Oh, I am very glad you asked!” beamed Leia. “I want to start taking piloting lessons! What type of craft is a T-16?”
Viceroy Organa abruptly choked on his caf, and the Queen patted his back to help him regain his composure.
“Flying lessons? What for, Leia?”
“Oh, I am sure flying will come in handy one day! After all, you both say that a queen must be well versed in a multitude of areas. If I am taking self-defense lessons, I should take flying lessons as well. Some day, I might just save an entire planet with a single ship!”
“Let’s hope it never comes to that.” Queen Breha raised an eyebrow, then quickly added: “At any rate, you should have an entire fleet of ships at your disposal.”
“Then I must learn how to pilot one, so I can lead them! Besides…” she smiled her most mischievous smile. “Turns out, flying is entirely liberating!”
“Turns out? What have you been flying, Leia?” Bail’s voice suddenly took a higher pitch.
“Nothing, yet. But I felt it… The boy in my dream showed me.”
The Queen was familiar with that particular look of sheer determination on her daughter’s face. She sighed and looked at her consort for support. Who conceded, instead.
“Perhaps… we can begin with a flight simulator? What do you think?”
The princess slammed her ornate silver spoon on the dainty dessert plate, her eyes bright with anticipation.
“Yes! Today?!”
“I will see what I can do, Your Highness.” Bail winked at her, but couldn’t help feeling somehow defeated. He was certain Breha was casting a look of disapproval his way at this very moment.
Later that day, when his Chief of Staff interrupted the Viceroy in the middle of a senatorial prep meeting to request his immediate presence in the simulator hall, Bail Organa knew he had made a Mistake. He swept into the cavernous room and found his daughter, still engaged in her simulator, surrounded by a small crowd of onlookers who observed her intently with a mix of astonishment and trepidation. Finally, he glimpsed Leia’s current score on said simulator and paled.
He stepped in front of the crowd and took a deep breath to find his voice.
“This machine is obviously malfunctioning. Have it replaced!” he ordered the Chief while making sure everyone was within ear distance.
“But sir, it is not the machine, it is…”
“What else can it be, Chief?” He cast the man a withering look, who thankfully got the hint.
“Yes, sir - we will have it taken care of by tomorrow.”
The Viceroy turned to the small crowd, his face a perfect mask of serenity and mild annoyance.
“Aren’t there other objectives you should be dedicating your attention to, ladies and gentlemen? There is nothing further to see here.”
The staff scattered among mutters of apologies and respect.
The Viceroy took another deep breath, approached the operator ingress, and took in the sight of his tiny daughter, sitting on a pillow so she can reach the instruments, her brow furrowed, engulfed in a Nubian N-1 starfighter simulation two levels beyond what a normal human being should be capable of achieving. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up as his deepest fear flared up to consume him. This had been a terrible idea and he should have known better. Bail breathed in and out, slowly, then performed a small visualization exercise to calm himself before addressing his child.
“Leia, my dauntless girl. Join me for a stroll in the gardens?”
Leia’s concentration broke, and her simulation ended with her craft’s inevitable demise a split second later.
“Oof!” She exclaimed, anger flaring. “Not fair! You startled me - my squadron had them pinned!”
“I believe you. But you have been at it for a long time, my dear. Let’s get some fresh air.”
Leia’s anger dissipated under his kind eyes. She took off her helmet, and Bail helped her get out of the simulator.
“I can’t feel my legs!” she laughed. “This was…. amazing! Not as exhilarating as in my dream, but still…” she briskly turned to him. “Was I any good?”
The Viceroy took some time to phrase his response.
“The best.” he answered with a brittle smile. His piloting skills were, after all, legendary. She must have been channeling the Force unknowingly to achieve such performance… What if he had sensed her while she was in this simulator?
“You are teasing me! But I will get better. I can feel it!”
“Indubitably so…” Bail, lost in another series of dreadful thoughts, ruffled the top of her head. “I will have a private simulator installed for you near your quarters - no need to go to the hangar from now on.”
“Really?! Thank you, papa!”
The Viceroy suppressed a shiver, but the next question needed to be asked.
“Leia… Have you seen anyone else in these dreams of yours? An older man, perhaps?”
“An older man? No. Just the boy.” She smiled fondly.
“You will tell me if you ever dream of anything that bothers you, right?”
“Of course, papa.”
She leaned in to hug him, and Bail held her close and reveled at the moment, as fragile and threatened and tender as it was.
Later that night, the Viceroy ordered Leia’s simulator replaced, and shortly after - destroyed, just in case someone decided to dig deeper into her uncanny performance. He made it abundantly clear that a technical fault was uncovered in that particular simulator, and the information was appropriately channeled to all witnesses. And he had the level tracker and mission memory core of Leia’s new private simulator taken offline. Finally, he took the considerable risk of sending General Kenobi a tenfold encrypted message about checking up on Leia’s shields and cover. And the boy’s, as well.
Beru Whitesun Lars was tidying up the last bits of breakfast prep from the kitchen counter, when her beloved nephew burst in, still clad in pyjamas, his hair one wild tangle of blond.
“Luke! Why, you are up early, dear!”
“Oh, auntie! I saw her again - the girl!” Luke slid on the table bench, all the way to the edge closest to her side of the kitchen. His expression held wonder, as if he had just seen something astonishing that he was still trying to process. Beru gave him a knowing smile.
“The girl in white? It has been some time, hasn’t it?”
She poured a glass of cold milk and placed it in front of the boy, followed by a bowl of porridge. Then, to Luke’s delight, she turned around and sprinkled a few shiny bits of prickly pear on top.
“Wow! Thank you, auntie!”
She laughed and ruffled the messy mop of hair on top of his head.
“So, tell me about this dream!”
“I will!” Luke mumbled between bites, and she let him inhale his breakfast in peace. This gentle boy... She wished she could give him much more.
When Luke finished his meal, he put his plate in the sonic dishwasher, then brought his cup of milk over, and jumped on the counter next to her. He looked at her with that serene solemnity she knew so well - so uncanny for such a young age.
“About my dream. I saw Coruscant… Or Imperial Center, whatever. It was breathtaking, auntie - we flew all over it.”
“Over Coruscant?…” an unknown threat suddenly lodged itself between Beru’s eyes, and she pinched the bridge of her nose to make it dissipate.
“Yes! And then we zoomed over her planet of snow-capped mountains and lakes like mirrors, and then I brought her here, in Beggar’s Canyon. We watched the suns go down.”
The boy paused, and his gaze drifted away, reliving the memory. Aunt Beru had long realized that her nephew’s imaginary friend was brought forth by Luke’s desire to explore the Galaxy beyond Tatooine’s atmosphere, and more importantly, it was able to fulfill the boy’s yearning for friendship. There were few kids Luke could play with regularly, all the way out here. So, despite these “dreams” being oddly specific at times, Aunt Beru made it her priority to support Luke’s imagination, and she gently prompted him to continue. He sighed.
“When she is around… it is like a missing piece of me is found, you know - of my Luke puzzle.”
“Oh, Luke…” Beru leaned in, and hugged him. The embrace lasted but a second before Luke pulled back, renewed excitement in his voice:
“And listen, auntie, is there really such a thing as a treat made from milk and ice?”
“Oh! I am sure there is!” Beru decided that she can let the Coruscant worry go, and the entire thing was just another harmless dream after all. No need to worry Owen.
“Ice is very common on many worlds. Perhaps there are planets where they eat everything frozen!”
“Everything frozen?!” Luke’s eyes widened as he tried to imagine the possibilities.
At this moment, Beru’s husband entered the kitchen, the dust of the desert already firmly embedded in his rough-spun tunic.
“Luke! Good, you are up already. We should head out soon, my boy - there might be a storm coming in later.”
“Okay, uncle Owen! I will go and get ready…”
Luke ran off. Beru cast a pensive look at Owen, and he knew he would not like whatever was about to come next.
“Owen, I need you to get something for me today.”
“Oh?”
She beckoned him closer as if about to speak of a grand conspiracy, and Owen leaned in to hear her.
“I need ice.”
He pulled away in shock and threw his arms in the air.
“Ice?! Of all things! What could we possibly need ice for, Beru?”
Beru shushed him and continued in a mere whisper.
“I want to make something for Luke.”
“But…”
She recognized the concern written all over his face.
“Oh, Owen… The boy seldom asks for anything! Just let me do this. We had a good harvest this season. We can afford some ice!”
“Perhaps if I bring the water… just pay to have it frozen….”
She nodded, pleased.
“Yes! And if you can get it broken up… In cubes, preferably. Oh, and some fresh fruit! Something colorful.”
Owen grumbled and straightened his tunic.
“You two will drive us to starve in the desert one day.”
Beru laughed.
“Someday, Owen, but not today. And remember - it is a surprise!”
Luke chose this moment to re-emerge, fully dressed, washed up, and carrying his tool bag. The only thing he had missed was his hair. Aunt Beru sent him back with a chuckle, then minutes later, waved at her family as they hopped on their trusty land speeder and whooshed away in a cloud of sand. It was time to learn how to make what the off-worlders called ice-cream.
Upon their return, Owen had Luke distracted in the hangar while he smuggled the icebox to the kitchen - with cubes inside, just like Beru wanted it - all with minimal grumbling.
“There better be some of whatever you are making left for me too,” he leaned in and kissed her on the forehead. “I love you, Beru.”
He then packed some rations, and took his nephew out for another perimeter check, to give her the time she needed to finish her creation. When Owen brought Luke back later that afternoon, he marched him straight to the coolest chamber in the homestead where his aunt had placed an old smoked glass dome on a table in front of him. Luke examined it with fascination, and before he had time to fire off questions, his uncle handed him one of three spoons he had kept hidden behind his back until that moment.
“But what is it?” Luke exclaimed. “No… It couldn’t be, could it?…”
Aunt Beru grinned and pulled off the dome with a grand gesture.
This was shaping up to be one of the happiest days in Luke’s life, for under this magic dome stood an impossible blue dessert, so cold that the bowl it rested in was sweating, and he could see tiny ice crystals poking through the creamy goodness like silver stars. Bright sprinkles of colorful fruit bits crowned this glorious confectionary achievement, and for a few timeless moments, Luke remained lost for words.
“Are… Are we celebrating something?”
His uncle laughed.
“Just your impractical but golden hearts.”
“Oh, Owen…”
Luke ran around the table misty-eyed and embraced his aunt and uncle. He understood this had probably cost the family more than they would normally spend in a week.
“Thank you…” he whispered.
“Oh my sweet boy, please, do enjoy it! And let’s be quick about it, it’s already beginning to melt!”
The family dished out their shares of this rarest of treats and enjoyed it in blissful silence. When Luke’s bowl went empty first, aunt Beru transferred over some of hers, ignoring his protest, and then uncle Owen followed suit.
“Eat up, Luke! You have much to grow! I need you big and strong, to help me more out on the farm.” he winked at his nephew.
Luke vowed to always remember this perfect moment. He knew he would miss his life here, and his family. Even if he dreamed about his father coming back and taking him to see the Galaxy every single day.
“Do you want to take what is left of the ice cubes and watch the sunset, Luke? We can chill some juice.”
Luke nodded with excitement.
“But we need to hurry,” his aunt laughed. “Or there will be just a warm puddle left by the time we make it to your favorite spot.”
It was hours past midnight on Mustafar, but not for the first time, Lord Vader preferred to stay awake and meditate. The most discomforting dream had accosted him as of late. Not a nightmare, no. But as soon as he would drift off, something powerful… like the will of the Force itself… would prevail upon him to turn into a giant purrgil, of all things, and in this form, he was left bereft in the wild depths of Space with just one frantic, all-consuming thought: he had to, in the most categorical terms, rejoin his missing purrgil pod. Thus, Lord Vader roamed nebulas, circled black holes and pulsars, barged through asteroid belts, and ruthlessly disrupted traffic in hyperspace lanes - all in vain. When he felt like he could go no longer, he usually gleamed the beginning of a sparse trail, made up from exquisite pastries interspersed with sparkling blue ice cubes - left for him like breadcrumbs by his pod to follow. His entire purrgil being filled with the most unbecoming, unbearable surge of hope, but when he made it to the end of the trail, the pod had already completed their jump to hyperspace, and all that was left behind was an ominous cloud of sand (sand!!), streaked with crackling bouts of lightning, among a confetti cluster of twinkling, sequined stars of painfully bright colors. Then, he roared in anguish and woke up, drenched in sweat, ready to break something.
This episodic dream was utterly maddening, for while he could guess that the Force was trying to tell him something crucially important, it made as much sense as a child’s random pretend game. Yes, he would take insomnia to this any day, and meditation continued to be the most prudent course of action at the present.