What Could Have Been Part III: The Destined Warriors

Siblings

Luke

"All personal leaving for Onderon, please report to your docking bay. Flight leaves at 0700 hours."

Luke ignored his warning call as his sister's came into view. Rex would wait for him and he had to talk to Leia. There was no telling how long the siblings would be apart.

Using his Force senses, Luke could tell his sister hadn't boarded the Royal Star yet. As he searched the bay for her, he spotted Maya Gaido, Mace Windu's former apprentice who had since become a Jedi Knight. When she saw him she smiled kindly. "Hi Maya," he said with a wave.

"I believe they just called your flight," she said with a smirk. Luke shrugged the thought off with a laugh. "I'm just looking for my sister. Have you seen her?" Maya nodded. "She helping load the cargo ship," nodding to a line of ships behind the Royal Star.

Luke glanced toward the ships. "Thanks," he replied, stuffing his hands in the pockets of his cloak. Maya turned to continue prepping for their take off. "May the Force be with you, Luke."

"You too Maya," Luke said as he started toward the line of ships. Luke found Leia right away. She was carrying a crate up the ramp when he used the Force to pull it out of her hands. "Need a hand?" He asked playfully. Leia raised an eyebrow. "Don't you think you should be getting on your ship? They're gonna leave you," she chastised. Luke smiled widely. "Uncle Rex wouldn't me. I'm his favorite."

Now Leia laughed. "Yeah. Okay." Luke helped his sister load the ship until all of the crates were aboard. He sat down beside her on the cargo ramp. "Mom and Dad talk to you?" He asked casually. Leia nodded slowly. "You?"

Luke hunched his shoulders, looking toward the empty bay where their parents' ship had been before it took off. "Mom cried a lot," he noted plainly.

Leia remained silent as she stared out across the bay. A third of the ship's had already left for Mandalore, leaving part of the landing platform vacant. "I have this weird feeling," Leia began quietly. "That we're not going to see them again."

Luke breathed out heavily. "I know what you mean." It was hard to think of a time when they had been separated from their parents for more than a day. Now they wouldn't even be on the same planet. Luke wondered if Leia was right. Maybe this was goodbye.

"Leia," Luke continued seriously. "Whatever happens out there, whatever happens to us, I just want you to know, you're my sister and..." He paused for a second. The words stuck to his throat as tears threatened his eyes.

"I love you Leia."

Luke was afraid to let his sister see him teary eyed but she didn't seem to notice. She wrapped her arms around his neck and squeezed. "I love you too Luke," she said with a sniffle between her words.

"Luke Ruwee Skywalker if you're not on this ship in three minutes, I'm leaving you behind!"

Luke and Leia snapped from their hug at the sound of Rex's voice. "He doesn't mean that," Luke assured her.

"And I mean it!"

Luke hoisted himself to his feet. Checking his belt one last time to make sure his lightsaber was still secured to his waist, Luke began his walk back to his ship, Circinus. It was time to leave.

"Luke?"

Luke turned back to his sister. Leia stood at the base of the loading ramp. There was nothing but certainty in her eyes as she held her head high. It was easy to forget that nightmare when he looked at his courageous sister. She spoke softly.

"May the Force be with you."

"May the Force be with you, Leia."

Leia

Some people found space travel intriguingly fascinating. They could study the controls for hours, and never get sick of reanalysing the coordinates. People like her brother, found entertainment in piloting.

Leia was not one of those people.

An hour or less into the Royal Star's flight to Felucia, the younger Skywalker child was staring at the ceiling of her dull, cramped corridors. Over and over again, she replayed her conversation with Han from that morning. ...I love you. "I know," she muttered to herself, hearing Han's Corellian accent echo in her mind.

The door slid open, spilling light into her dimly illuminated room. Maya was smiling brightly in the doorway. "You're not going to stay in here the whole flight are you?" Leia rolled over in her bed. "Hypersickness" she fibbed. Maya only shook her head as she joined her on the bed. "Hyperspace has never made you sick." Leia sighed into her pillow as she realized their was no tricking Maya. "Fine. You win," she said, sitting up. "It's Han."

Maya furrowed her eyebrows. "Is this about him getting arrested? What did your dad say?" She asked with concern. Leia shook he head. "No, it's not that. It's just that, this morning, I told him I loved him," she explained dejectedly. Maya's expression grew into an intrigued grin. "And what did he say?" she begged.

Leia dropped back onto her bed. "It's not what he said. It's what he didn't say." Maya was silent for about a minute. Slowly, she stroked Leia's long brown mane of hair. "Don't worry Leia. Han's probably just confused right now. We all are. Nothing like this has happened in years."

Leia raised her head; a puzzled looked present on her face. "What do you mean 'nothing like this'?" she asked. Maya turned away innocently. "Nothing," she replied quickly. Leia sat up and leaned over her friend's shoulder. Something was definitely going on. "Maya," Leia hummed, "What aren't you telling me?"

Maya shifted uncomfortably. "You didn't grow up in the Temple so you wouldn't have heard the stories." An eerie seriousness left Leia hanging on ever word. "What stories?" She pressed. Maya frowned. "During the Clone Wars, a Padawan was expelled from the Order after she was accused of organizing an attack on the Temple."

Now things were beginning to make more sense. Leia remembered the way her father would speak little of the Clone Wars. Maybe the tragedy at the Jedi Temple was why. But there was one more question. "Maya," Leia began cautiously. "Who did they accuse?" It felt like forever before she got an answer.

"She was your father's apprentice."