This isn't exactly Tosche Station, huh?

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 spent every waking moment since the vision on Tuesday trying to get in touch with Leia on her comm.

And getting nothing but static in return.

It never even occurred to him to leave a message on the Falcon for her.

Now he was perched on the top of his desk, staring out into the darkness with slightly bleary eyes, still hitting the redial.

[OOC: Locked to darthbanthabell, and the images, they won't be happy...]

Everybody's Gotta Learn Sometimes - Beck