Luke and Leia - Rebels [2]

24: Crossing the Gap

Leia woke up with a gasp, sitting upright and staring at the wall but not really seeing it. Her mind was still reeling from the strange dream she'd just had; one of darkness, musty darkness, and a flash of red and then a flash of blue.

The entire experience was unnerving, and didn't help ease Leia's already anxiety inducing circumstances. At least the Falcon was seemingly a ways away from Imperial activity according to Han who was surveying the scopes before she'd gone to rest awhile. Apparently she'd fallen asleep.

She sighed and rubbed her eyes, hearing a small pitter patter in the distance. She looked back up and frowned, straining her ears to pinpoint its location.

After a few moments Leia still couldn't tell where exactly the noise was coming from, and it grew slightly stronger as she focused in on it. She knew she was crazy for thinking so, but it sounded almost like... Rain? Leia closed her eyes and focused as deeply on the sound as she could.

Luke sighed and stared up at the ceiling, sleep eluding him. His ordeal at the cave several days ago had found some deep place inside his mind and latched onto it, leaving him unable to stop thinking about it.

His ears perked up as the sound of the rain hitting the roof of the hut masked a deeply unnatural sound, a mechanical one. He frowned and sat up, looking over to see Artoo still powered down and wondering where in blazes that sound came from. It sounded like a click, like one inside a ship, but he was nowhere near his X-Wing which was still partially submerged in the swamp.

The rain sound grew stronger until Leia felt it practically right above her. She felt a warmth grow on her left side physically but spiritually she felt the presence of another warmth, a comforting warmth.

Luke's mind started to tingle unexpectedly, and he began to freak out before he realized it was a comforting presence reaching out to him. He reached back out towards it, puzzled but realizing that it felt familiar.

Leia opened her eyes and looked back up across from her, and almost hopped off of the bed with a yelp. Instead of the Falcon she was inside a small hut, and through the firelight she saw Luke sitting across the bed from her and staring in confusion.

He made eye contact with her and froze, eyes popping wide. Hers did the same, and they gaped at each other for the split instance they could see each other. Luke breathed deeply as he felt the comforting warmth of his sister's presence, a presence he missed dearly. Leia blinked as she felt Luke's presence reenter her spirit, making a warm feeling of safety bloom in her chest.

The twins stared at each other, sitting across the bed from one another, until Leia blinked and she was back.

Luke frowned as Leia flickered and faded abruptly, leaning towards her instinctively and wanting to urge her to wait but still not fully wrapping his mind around what just happened.

"Hey, we're almost..." Han trailed off with a frown to see a pale Leia staring at the wall in front of her. "What's wrong? You look like you just saw a ghost."

Leia blinked rapidly and looked up at Han, snapping out of it. "Nothing, I... I'm fine." She stood up and frowned. "We're almost there?"

Han looked at her a moment before responding. "Yeah."

"Alright, I'll be there in a moment."

"You sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, Han. I'll be there in a moment." Leia repeated. Han just shrugged and popped back out of the room, and Leia looked at the edge of the bed where Luke had appeared inside the hut with a small sad frown before leaving.

Luke shook his head slightly and rubbed his eyes again, not believing what he'd just seen. Leia? On Dagobah? But there was no way she was here, she was back at the fleet rendezvous. But why had he just seen her?