Chapter Text

Escape From Mapuzo

“Are you the one I’m supposed to meet?” The words came out more unsure than Leia had intended, but she was just realizing that she didn’t know anything about the pilot she was supposed to be meeting. Not a name or even a species.

Tala had left that, now seemingly important, bit of information out, and Leia hadn’t thought to ask. At the time, the only thing that had mattered was the unwavering chill of dread that had flooded her veins, insisting that Ben was in danger. Something in her gut had been screaming at her to go back for him.

The humanoid man before her now scrunched his eyebrows at her words. “I don’t know. Who are you supposed to be?” He asked her right back. His words were not unkind, but she could tell they were guarded, as if he was trying to make her out just as she was doing to him.

He was dressed as a pilot, or at least how she’d expect a pilot to dress. He was wearing a jumpsuit and vest, both of which were littered with grease stains. His face was wide with a softness around the edges, implying he smiled with his eyes, and something in her loosened at the kindness she could sense there.

“I’m-” she began to answer his question, but immediately cut herself off. Suddenly, not sure if she was still supposed to be Luma. Better to move away from that question altogether. “Tala sent me,” She settled on, with a lift of her chin and a strong voice to convey the truth of it.

His eyebrows rose this time, and a quick dread washed over her. Was she not supposed to use Tala’s name, either? Had she mistaken this man’s intentions? She had always been forthright, speaking her mind and thinking little of the consequences. But now the consequences were great. Her life, Ben’s life, and now Tala’s life could be the price paid if she made a mistake. Guilt pooled in her stomach. She needed to be more careful before someone got hurt.

She opened her mouth, not sure of what was going to come out of it, but needing to cover the possible secret she had just spilled. “I- I mean…”

The man’s eyes softened, stilling her words. “It’s okay. I am here waiting for Tala," he confirmed.

Relief flooded Leia, and she sagged a little.

“Where is she?” He questioned further, looking behind her and down the tunnel. “Why are you alone? And aren’t you supposed to be with another?”

“Tala went back to help my… my friend,” she finally settled on. Assuming that since Tala knew she and Ben weren’t father and daughter, then this man had no reason to disagree. “He stayed behind to make sure we weren’t being followed by the inquisiting people.”

“Inquisitors? Here?” His eyes darted behind her and then all around as if expecting someone to be lurking in the shadows. “Okay, quickly,” he said, beckoning her towards the open ramp of the small cargo ship behind him. “Let’s be ready to go when they get here.”

Leia nodded and followed him at a jog to keep up with his long strides.

He turned to look at her over his shoulder as they made their way up the ramp. “I’m Cam, by the way.”

“I’m Leia,” she replied brightly, glad that the initial guardedness between them was done.

Suddenly, the communicator tucked into one of Cam’s many vest pockets started chirping. He fished it out and brought it up to his ear. Leia could tell that the voice on the other side was female. She hoped it was Tala, but the words were too low for her to make out. Cam turned, listening to the words as he punched the ramp control and then jogged to the cockpit. “Copy, leaving now,” he said as he took his seat at the helm.

“But - wait!” Leia cried as she ran after him. “We can’t leave without Ben and Tala!”

“We are going to pick them up,” He said without looking at her as he began flipping switches. “Sit down and buckle up,” he instructed as he engaged the thrusters and the ship began to rumble to life.

Sensing his urgency, she leapt up into the Co-pilot seat beside him. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye as she grabbed the shoulder harness, but he didn’t comment. She had expected him to tell her not to touch anything, as if she didn’t know that, but she was pleasantly surprised when he did not.

As the ship rose from the landing platform and into the dark sky, Leia watched the lights of the tiny outpost as they grew smaller.

“Where are they?” she asked, looking out into the blackness surrounding the town. The planet was mostly scrub brush. How were they ever going to find them in all that darkness?

“I’m tracking Tala’s comm location.” He pointed to a screen in the center console. “They are over by one of the Vintrium mines on the outskirts.”

Leia watched the screen as they approached the flashing red beacon that indicated Tala and Ben’s location. Suddenly, Cam cursed under his breath, causing her head to snap up.

Any question she had died on her lips as she gasped, a wall of fire glowed on the horizon before them.

“Something at the mine must have caught fire. Vintrium is highly flammable before it’s refined,” He said without her even needing to ask the question.

“The mine? But Ben and Tala are at the mine!” Leia exclaimed, straining to see over the instrument panel and out the window at the ground.

Cam again glanced down at Tala’s comm location again and shook his head. “They should be okay. They’re just ahead,” he reassured her as he reduced power to the engines and made a sweeping circle before lowering the ship towards the sand.

Leia was unbuckled and out of her seat before they even touched down.

“Stay on the ship,” Cam called after her as he hit the control to lower the ramp. “We leave as soon as they’re on board.”

Leia halted at the top of the ramp, her body bouncing in place as the metal creaked and groaned before it started lowering. Immediately, she could see smoke rolling into the cargo bay in dark clouds, the smell of it thick in the air. As the opening grew, she could see the glow of the flames tinting the sky orange behind the hill that shielded their ship from the fire. She swore that she could feel the heat of it on her skin from here, despite the chill in the air.

Finally, the ramp edge hit the sand and quieted. Leia was immediately grateful to see NED-B at its base. His back was towards her, with Tala close behind him. “Where’s Ben?” She called down the ramp. Tala’s eyes flicked to her, but she didn’t answer. “Did you find him?” Leia asked again, panic beginning to take hold in her chest. Something was very wrong.

As the two started moving up the ramp, NED-B’s back still towards her, Leia realized that they were carrying something, or rather someone, between them.

“Ben!” Leia cried as she saw his limp body hanging between them. Tala held his legs on either side of her hips while NED-B had him beneath the shoulders. Ben’s chin tucked limply against his chest in unconsciousness.

“Cam, go!” Tala called towards the cockpit as soon as they had crossed the ship’s threshold. “Leia, close the ramp,” she said more gently, but Leia just stood and stared at the man hanging between them, her breath seemingly stuck in her throat. She vaguely saw the ramp closing behind them as the ship quickly ascended into the air. Cam must have done it from the cockpit when she hadn’t responded.

“Lay him there,” Tala told NED-B as she inclined her head towards the middle of the open cargo area just behind the cockpit door. Tala released his legs gently to the floor and then moved to cradle Ben’s head as NED-B lowered his shoulders and stepped away.

“Ben? Ben, can you hear me?” Tala asked softly as she smoothed the hair back from his face, smearing soot across his forehead in the process. Ben didn’t respond, but his body shook bonelessly along with the motions of the ship as they rose through the atmosphere.

The smoky smell that had quickly permeated the small cabin was soon overpowered by something else. Something sickening that finally forced Leia into motion as she placed a hand to her nose and mouth. The smell hit the back of her throat, making her want to gag. It was a burnt smell, but worse. It was acidic and tangy, and Leia realized it was the burnt smell of flesh and hair. She clenched her teeth against the knowledge.

When she finally broke her eyes away from Ben’s face, she realized that his robes were singed black in places and completely burned through in others. It left gaping holes that revealed angry, red, blistering wounds beneath the fabric. Leia jerked her gaze away, the sight clenching her stomach and increasing her desire to vomit.

She tried to take a slow breath to reduce the feel of her heart racing in her chest, but the mouthful of burnt flesh that hit the back of her throat brought tears to her eyes, and she slammed her mouth shut. She could hear Tala calling for the medkit and the sound of NED-B’s hydraulic limbs moving to retrieve it.

Leia just stared at the now closed ramp at the back of the ship as she desperately tried to figure out how to breathe without throwing up.

“Leia,” Tala called softly from her knees at Ben’s side. For a moment, Leia wasn’t sure she could force herself to turn back towards her and Ben’s limp body. Tala must have seen her hesitation, because she continued even more gently than before. “It’s okay. Go and sit in the cockpit with Cam. Ben will be okay. I’ve got him.”

Leia stood there frozen for just another moment before she turned and ran to the cockpit, her eyes fixed to the floor and the sound of her feet pounding against the metal deck plates echoing in her ears.

She wordlessly resumed her place in the Co-pilot’s seat, her hands curling around the cushion’s edges as she fought the tears now blurring her vision.

Her breath hitched once, but she swallowed it down along with the nausea. She had never seen such horrible wounds on anyone before, but to see them on someone she had come to know and care for? The sight of it had stolen her breath and frozen her body, and the tearing at her insides was painful. It was almost as if she had been injured beside him, though she had not.

She forced herself to take a breath. It stuttered in her throat. Everything was a blurred vision of red and black, and she couldn’t see past it. She couldn’t see anything other than his wounds. She took another breath and stiffly uncurled one hand from the chair to search her pocket for L0-LA. The cool metal of the droid beneath her fingers was like an instant balm. She brought the little droid out and activated it with a quick touch, pressing it to her chest as L0-LA trilled a greeting. Leia tucked her chin and closed her eyes. She felt something in her release and relaxed slightly, though the bad taste in her mouth remained. At least the threat of vomiting seemed to pass.

She sat like that for a few minutes, just breathing and looking over L0-LA’s casing, memorizing each rivet, screw, and line of color. Her fingers followed the curve of her edges, feeling the crisp seams and cool metal. It helped to quiet the screaming fear in her chest. When everything else was strange and out of control, at least this was familiar.

“Hey, Kid,” Cam’s voice was surprisingly gentle, and it immediately made her wish for her father. His voice had always made her feel safe, and his words had always soothed her worst fears. “I’m sorry about your friend,” He continued, though she hadn’t responded. She wasn’t doing very well on that at the moment. “But don’t worry. We are headed for Jabiim, where there are good people who will be able to help him. And in the meantime, Tala will watch over him. He’s in good hands.”

Leia looked up at him, L0-LA still tucked against her chest, and she nodded softly. That was the best she could do right now.

After a while of silence, shame began to replace the fear. This man, this Jedi, who Leia had not known before yesterday, had just risked his life to protect hers. Ben had sacrificed himself for her. He had told her to go, to escape with Tala, while he led the bad man away. A person he had very clearly been afraid of. She had seen the fear flash in his eyes as he told her that he would be right behind them. He had been lying. They had both known it, but still she had left him there to face his fears alone. To almost die alone.

A new determination made her lift her chin and look forward at the hyperspace streaking by. Things would change. She wouldn’t let him be alone now, no matter her fear. She could be strong for him, just as he had been for her. It was her turn to look out for him.

She untucked L0-LA from her chest and allowed her to float from her hands as the droid chirped a quick succession of noises. Leia wasn’t exactly sure what she said, but it sounded like encouragement.

“How long until we get to Jabiim?” Leia asked, her voice still slightly thick with the tears she had swallowed back earlier.

Cam took a breath, like he had been tense waiting for her to speak, before he looked at the navigational display. “It will be another twelve hours before we get there,” he said, a bit of an apologetic tone to his voice.

“Twelve Hours?” Leia’s eyes jumped to the navigational display as well. A new fear igniting in her chest. “ But he needs help now! There has to be somewhere closer we can go!”

“Nowhere that we can be sure of. The Empire has no presence on Jabiim. You and your friend will be safe there.”

“Ben,” Leia said with a firmness to her tone. “His name is Ben.” She needed to hear Cam say it, to hear his name being spoken out loud. Proof that Ben was still here, still alive.

“Ben,” Cam nodded, pronouncing the word carefully, “Ben will be safe there.”

Finally, Leia looked back at the hyperspace outside, wishing for them to go faster. Then she nodded at Cam with resignation. “Okay,” she said in a whisper. Ben could make it that long, right? He had to.

With a deep inhale, she lowered her feet to the floor and moved towards the back of the ship, L0-LA trailing behind her.

Ben was still unconscious when she carefully emerged from the cockpit and paused to look him over from afar. From this angle, she couldn’t see any of his burns. His robes looked intact, if not clean, and he could have been mistaken for being asleep. The left side of his body seemed to have been spared from whatever had happened to him.

The burnt smell in the air had cleared some as well. Perhaps the air recyclers were filtering it out, or perhaps she had just gotten used to it. Either way, Leia was thankful for that small mercy.

Tala was on her knees, bent over Ben’s wounded side, so focused on what she was doing that Leia didn’t think she had noticed her standing in the doorway. That was okay for now. Leia wanted to help. She wanted to sit beside Ben and hold his hand. She wanted to be the person who was beside him when he finally woke up, but she needed just a few minutes to take it all in first.

“It’s okay to work your way up to being brave,” her father had told her once. “One step at a time.”

Her father's words flowed through her mind, soothing her anxieties. She missed him and her mother, but she would return home to them soon. For now, she allowed his words to settle around her heart and warm her from the inside out, then finally, she felt ready to step forward.

Her feet moved her silently to Ben’s side, and she slowly settled down onto her knees beside him, across from Tala.

Tala looked up and gave her a small smile, and Leia could tell she was trying to hide the same fear that Leia was feeling. Only Tala had put it aside and worked through her fear, while Leia had fled from hers. Leia stashed that realization away for another time. ‘It's okay to work your way up to being brave,’ she thought to herself again.

“Is he going to be okay?” Leia asked in a whisper.

Tala flicked her eyes down to Ben’s face, which was also thankfully free of burns, Leia noted as her eyes did the same.

“With time,” she nodded. “It’s good that he’s asleep for now. I’m cleaning his wounds, which would be painful if he were awake, so…” She trailed off. The expression on her face was immediately apologetic, like she hadn’t meant to go into such detail with her, but Leia was grateful for her honesty.

“Cam said it’s 12 hours to get to Jabiim. Do you think he’ll sleep until we get there?” Leia asked, unsure what she hoped the answer would be.

Tala pursed her lips as if considering her answer, “If we’re lucky, but probably not.” She looked tired already. “Burns tend to be very painful, but we can try to keep him comfortable with a bit of pain medication when he wakes.”

“Until then,” Tala continued softly. “I just finished cleaning his wounds. Now I can apply some bacta to help start the healing process. He should be okay until we get to Jabiim.”

Leia nodded and looked back down at Ben’s closed eyes. ‘Should.’ That one word made it less of a promise and more of a hope that he would be okay until they reached Jabiim. That made Leia uneasy, but she would work to hold on to the side of hope for Ben, if no one else.

Tala moved to rummage through the medkit and pulled out a small tube of bacta gel.

“Is there more?” Leia questioned.

The regretful expression on Tala’s face told her all she needed to know. “No, this is just a basic medkit. I’ll use it on the worst of the wounds first and see how far it will go. Once we get him to Jabiim, they can submerge him in a bacta tank to fully heal.”

She paused before beginning, and looked up at Leia, “Ben will appreciate that you came to check on him, but you don’t have to stay if you don’t want to.” She was kindly giving Leia an out. Releasing her back to the cockpit guilt-free, but Leia found that she was okay. Her first step had gone well, and now it was time for her second step of being brave.

“I want to stay,” Leia said with a firm nod. And it wasn’t a lie.

Tala smiled again and began squeezing out some bacta onto her gloved fingers, then moved to gently smooth it over the wound at the top of Ben’s shoulder. Leia could see that Tala had cut away the sleeve of Ben’s tunic to allow her better access to the deep, blistering wounds there. They were red and peeling. Some were blackened around the edges, and seeing them up close made Leia’s stomach twist in shared agony.

As Tala smeared a thin layer of the bacta on a particularly angry wound, Ben groaned softly. Tala froze her motions, and they both looked at his face to see if he was waking up. His forehead scrunched in pain and his head lolled to the side, but his eyes stayed closed.

“Shhh,” Tala hushed as her clean hand smoothed over his forehead softly. “You’re okay, Ben.” He seemed to settle slightly.

“He’s waking. I’m going to try to finish this quickly,” she said as her motions sped up, but she maintained as much gentleness as possible. Leia watched Ben’s face for movement as she worked. Every few strokes of the bacta, his face would scrunch, but he still didn’t open his eyes.

He finally came to life with a start when Tala moved to a large wound on his hip.

Tala gasped as Ben’s hand flew out and grabbed her wrist. Leia had jumped back at the sudden movement, but Tala froze.

“Easy, Ben. You’re safe,” Tala reassured softly.

Leia watched as Ben squinted his eyes at her as if unsure of who she was. “Tal’?” Ben mumbled out her name after a moment. At least he recognized her, Leia thought.

“Yes, you were injured, but we’re on our way to Jabiim to get you some help.” Ben released Tala’s wrist and then sagged back onto the deck, eyes slipping closed.

He was breathing hard, like that little bit of movement had exhausted him. He stayed like that for a few minutes, unmoving except for his chest and the grimaces that moved over his face. Tala waited, giving him a moment to catch his breath.

Suddenly, Ben flinched and his eyes shot open, “ ‘ia!” It could have been a word, or it could have been a sigh. Leia wasn’t sure. She looked up at Tala, who shook her head, indicating that she didn’t know what he said either, so they waited.

“Le’a,” He groaned again, looking at Tala. This time it was more of a word. “Where‘s Le’a?” he asked, getting more desperate to get the answer.

Leia’s breath caught in her throat at her name. He was looking for her. He’d just woken up after something terrible had happened to him, and he was worried about her?

“Here!” She was quick to answer now. Anything to remove the desperation from his voice. “I’m here, Ben!” She reached down and grabbed his hand.

Ben’s half-open eyes finally turned to her, and he seemed to relax as he recognized her. He weakly squeezed her fingers.

“You ‘kay?” He asked her breathlessly.

“Yeah,” she smiled. “Yeah, I’m okay.” Her other hand moved to his as well, needing both of her hands to wrap around his much larger one as she pulled it into her lap gently. He gave her an almost imperceptible nod as he closed his eyes again, satisfied.

“Ben,” Tala called to him as she held up a hypo. “I have some pain medication here. Can I give it to you?”

Ben gave her a single dip of his chin, and then she reached out, brushing his hair away from his neck. He flinched at the contact, but didn’t stop her. She depressed the hypo with a hiss and then discarded it to the side.

“I still need to put bacta on your leg, but I’ll give you a few minutes to let the medication start working.” He said nothing, just continued breathing heavily. “I’ll be right back,” she said more to Leia than Ben as she rose and walked to the cockpit.

Leia watched his face as it contorted and relaxed periodically, accompanied by wheezing groans as his breath caught. She felt helpless. Nothing she could say would take away his pain. Only the medication Tala had given him would do that. So she sat and simply held his hand.

He seemed unopposed to her touch, at least, as she stroked her thumb over his skin. Occasionally, he would squeeze her fingers, and she would squeeze back. She wasn't sure if he was aware he was doing it, but it made her feel like she was helping in some small way.

Finally, Tala returned, and by then Ben’s breathing had seemed to ease a bit. Leia hoped that meant the pain was gone.

“Am I okay to continue, Ben?” She asked.

He gave her a grunt that she took as a yes, beginning on his hip again. It was immediately obvious that he was still feeling pain as he tensed and gripped Leia’s hand harder, a soft groan coming from between his clenched teeth.

Ben took a harsh breath as Tala continued, and he gently pulled his hand free from Leia’s. At first, Leia had thought she’d done something wrong and opened her mouth to apologize, but then she watched as he fisted his hand deep into the tunics over his stomach, his finger turning white with the strain. Even now, consumed by pain, he was trying to protect her.

Leia laid her hand on top of his instead, and she could have sworn that his breath hitched at the contact. Something inside her told her that this man had not felt enough kindness in his life, and that hurt her heart. She would fix that, she vowed to herself, but for now she would have to settle for her hand on his.