This isn't exactly Tosche Station, huh?

Luke had been gone far too long--it honestly hadn't occurred to him that anyone would be interested in his friendly X-Wing race with Wedge, and had been absolutely thunderstruck when Wedge insisted that Luke take over command of Rogue Squadron at the conclusion of their match.

"I didn't even beat him by that much," he protested to Leia, who laughed and ruffled his hair.

"You could've," she said. "You didn't honestly think you were going to come back and become just another pilot, did you?"

Luke's blush was enough of an answer. Leia laughed harder. "You're just going to have to get used to a life of leadership, Commander Skywalker," she teased, kissing his cheek.

( Too bad canon decided to screw with him instead )

Luke was bored.

Bored, bored, bored.

After three days, he was tired of staring at the walls. Tired of staring at the ceiling. Tired of being chained up and electrocuted every time he moved. Stupid being kidnapped.

He used the Force to itch his nose, got shocked, then sighed at the other Jedi. "Any ideas how to get out of this?"

After spending some time removing onion dip from Artoo’s internal systems—Force know how that had gotten there—Luke finally reached for his comlink and made a long-delayed transmission.

Leia answered immediately, and Luke chattered happily on about his workshops—and Tori— and some of the new students he’d met, including Bigg’s cousin—and Tori—and why getting bit by a gremlin had been a terrible mistake.

Leia laughed for a solid minute once Luke explained who Siegfried and Roy were. “It sounds like you’re settling right back in,” she said.

Luke nodded, then took a deep breath. “There’s something I need to tell you,” he said quietly. “I shouldn’t have taken this long to do it.”

“What happened to the shuttle?” Leia asked immediately, eyebrows flying up.

“Nothing,” Luke said, “but when I came back to Fandom, I wasn’t alone.”

Then he told her who’d been with him.

Leia’s momentary silence was the dangerous calm of the Tatooine desert before a wind storm kicked up.

“He’s WHAT?! You WHAT?! You waited how long to tell me?!” she exploded, her voice loud enough to be heard down the hallway.

Artoo moaned and rolled into Luke’s closet.

Luke chewed on his lower lip. “I was wrong,” he said quietly.

“’Wrong’ doesn’t come close to describing this, Luke Skywalker,” Leia spat, her image going in and out of his view as she paced. “He stood there on the Death Star and did nothing as Ald…he put Han into…He’s alive?!”

Her eyes finally focused on Luke’s and the anger in them made him flinch backwards. “I’m coming to see him,” she said, every inch the icy royal. “I’ll be there on Friday. We’ll talk about this more when I arrive.”

Her image shut off abruptly and Luke let out a deep sigh.

“I have a bad feeling about this,” he muttered.

From the closet, Artoo wibbled his agreement.

[OOC: Leia was loud, ya'll. Feel free to knock on the door.]

As Luke wiped the sweat from his eyes, he wondered—and not for the first time—if it had really been worth convincing Yoda to let him learn how to be a Jedi.

He felt like he'd hardly had time to breathe since Yoda's cryptic reply of "you will be" to his assertions that he wasn't afraid.

( And then Luke learned about prophecy and lightsaber combat. And bugs. )

Leia was waiting for Luke when he was finally released from the bacta tank.

"You'll never do that again, right?" she said. "Tell me that you won't go up against Darth Vader on your own with a lightsaber and only the vaguest idea of how to work it?"

Luke pouted. "I know how it works," he protested weakly.

Leia crossed her arms over her chest and glared at him. "Do I need to point to the med-droid who just gave you a new hand, Luke?"

Luke sighed. "No."

Leia looked at him for a long moment, then reached over and gave Luke a crushing hug. "Don't scare me like that again," she whispered fiercely in his ear. "I don't like coming back to a hundred frantic messages from you checking up on me and then finding out you tried to kill a Sith Lord by yourself."

Luke's face tightened. "I won't be trying that any time soon," he said finally, "but I have to go."

"Because the ghost of Ben Kenobi told you so?" Leia repeated, looking deeply skeptical. "We don't know what kind of pain killers they had you on in that clinic, Luke."

"He was real," Luke insisted, not for the first time. "And I have to go."

Leia sighed. "You're taking Artoo with you."

Luke blinked. "I am?"

"Someone needs to be able to fly the next time you get yourself into trouble," Leia said with a fond smile and a kiss on his forehead. "The rest of us are heading to the new rendezvous point. Take the ship—and Artoo—when you're cleared for duty." Her eyes darkened. "And call me if anything goes wrong. At the Falcon."

Luke blushed. "Because the comlink signals are blocked from space when you're hiding so the Empire can't find you," he recited sheepishly. "I'll remember next time."

Leia tousled his hair and kissed him again. "Be careful," she said.

Luke nodded. "I will be."

She gave him another lingering look then left the clinic.

Luke blew out a breath. Maybe Artoo would know where the Dagobah system was.

Luke had been up around dawn and had perched himself on his bed where he could see out the window and look at the clouds--clouds! He couldn't see the sun!--with a small smile on his face.

He'd say he was practicing the meditation thing his father had been so fond of. He was really just daydreaming.

[OOC: Locked to the dark, hulking mouth breather. Nebulous vision-thing with permission of the gracious onceaking.]

Carry On Wayward Son - Kansas

It was amazing how much Luke's mood had improved by having someone from home visiting.

That it was Leia who was smokin' gorgeous such a good friend, only made it better. And she had gotten along with Rory, too! After a quick breakfast with Leia, Luke came back to his room to drop off the gift she had helped to pick out for Rory's birthday.

Now he was sitting around and catching his breath for a moment.

[OOC: Open, but the conversation that will eventually occur with master2_whiners is locked to them, please.]