sidestep↠luke skywalker

IV: Chapter 9

Malia sat on a crate, cleaning off her new blaster. In front of her Han worked on the Millennium Falcon. On his last supply run the cargo had a hard time staying put. She guessed something might be wrong with the Gyroscopic Stabilizer. She wasn't the best pilot, or the best mechanic, but she did have some understanding of how starships functioned. Luke was over to the left practicing with his lightsaber. She didn't see the point in it, there wasn't actually anyone for him to practice against. The young woman would make a comment, but things were tense between her and Luke.

"Hey kid? Could you help me out, I can't fit through the space I need to." Han asked. "I'm not a mechanic. Even though I probably could squeeze through I'd have no clue what I'm doing." She explained. "You don't have to. I'll just tell you what to do." He attempted to reason. "For force's sake fine Han." She stood, carefully setting down her blaster. Luke stopped practicing and walked the few short steps over to the Falcon to see what was going on. "On the count of three jump." Han put his hands on her waist, and she glared tempted to sway them away.

"1,
  2,
  3."

Malia jumped, her torso inside the ship. "What am I looking for?" She twisted her neck and tried to yell downward. Han, who was still holding onto her lower body was struggling a little bit with supporting her. "The Gravity Flux Compensator." he shouted up. "Han you seem to be having some trouble. I can hold her up if you need" Luke offered.

"No,No kid I'm fine. Did you find it?" Han called back up to Malia. Did she hear him right? "Wait a minute Han, I told you the Gyroscopic Stabalizer was wonky, not the Gravity Flux Compensator!" she answered. "Maybe she's right Han." Luke defended. "No one asked you Luke!" She said peeved. "My ship don't got a Gyroscopic Stabilizer! Just look for the Compensator!" He argued. "And quick, I don't know how much longer I can hold you up!" He hollered. "Let me help." Luke persisted.

Han turned to say something to Luke, but lost his grip on Malia due to the rapid movement. She came falling to the ground with a thump. "Nice one laserbrain." The brunette glared. "Are you alright?" Luke fretted. "Just peachy." She responded, wincing as she stood. "I'll only be a little sore." She admitted, elbowing Han in the side causing him to jump a little.

"Let's try it again?" Han tried again. "Get someone else to fix your damn compensator." She grumbled and returned to her spot on the crate. "Hey uh Malia wanna help me practice?I'm sure you could give me a few pointers." Luke asked hopefully. "You're doing just fine kid." She didn't make eye contact, but her hands worked quickly on examining the blaster.

"Malia!" Leia came rushing into the hangar, all three of them looking at her. Approaching all of them she spoke up, "Can I talk to you in private. It's about your job." The scoundrel nodded. "You got a job? When?" Han scoffed. "Last week." She replied as she got up,and tucked her blaster away. Luke frowned at the attention Malia appeared to be giving everyone, but him.

Leia and the younger woman only moved out of an earshot of Han and Luke. "What's this about?" She questioned. "We're going on a mission." Leia responded a little more excited than Malia expected. "That's not my job, or yours." She responded.

"Listen would you? We need to go to Yavin 9. Darth Vader and Imperial troops were spotted there which means that they're getting close to finding the exact location of the base. Our job is to infiltrate their base and destroy it or lead them on a wild bantha chase. It's a great idea." She enthused.

"No it's not. That's a horrible plan. Who came up with that? I'm the strategist, that's my job." Malia said disapprovingly. "I came up with it." Leia began to get defensive. "I don't think we should go. It's not smart. If we destroy the base Darth Vader will suspect something is wrong. If we lead them astray what happens when they don't find us. Someone will realize we lied." the young woman sighed.

"You're just paranoid." Leia tried to reason. "I'm only being practical. No one should go on that mission. Especially not us we're near the top of the Empire's most wanted list." Malia pointed out. "So many things could go wrong if it's not executed perfectly. What if you panic and drop your sheild? Vader could very easily sense both of us. There's more pros than cons." She continued. "You doubt my power." Leia stated with a scoff. "Besides I already accepted the mission for us. You don't really have a choice." She continued. Malia found herself sighing again. "I don't like this." She said truthfully "When are we leaving?"  "Tomorrow night. Don't tell anyone."
 

Leia had to return to whatever business she was doing earlier, but Malia just headed back over to Han and Luke. "What was that about?" Han wondered aloud. "I was just helping her figure some stuff out." she shrugged. "What exactly is your job?" Luke spoke up. "I'm a strategist. I do a lot of stuff." she said. "You should be more busy then." Han added "As soon as the Empire makes a move I will be." The brunette chuckled. "I'm sure you contribute more than you let on." Luke complimented, and Malia shook her head. The comment didn't bother her, but she hadn't a clue why Luke was so unrelenting. Weeks ago he was confident made a move, which was good for him not so good for her. The thing that confused her was why he was back to shy farm boy. She didn't have a problem with it, but she had a hard time figuring out Luke. The only way she would really get to know him was to spend time with him, which wasn't happening any time soon because she needed her space from him right now. Not because he did anything wrong, but because she was so unsure about her feeling towards him and it made her feel uneasy. Besides, she felt guilty when talking to him. Malia had to sit back and let Luke remain blind to the truth, and it killed her inside.