Luke Skywalker, the Last Jedi, faces his toughest challenge yet. To rebuild the Jedi Order, he must give up his personal hopes and dreams. Every move is critiqued by not only the New Republic Senate but also the Force-ghost Jedi Council of the past...
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Naluma stumbled across the Senate Chamber to Luke. Tripping over her feet in exhaustion, she collapsed into his arms.
He caressed her face when she reached him. :Alive.: As the emotion overwhelmed them, he pulled her into an embrace. The tendrils of the Force pulsed with each heartbeat.
She winced when his arm grazed her saber wound. He adjusted his embrace as she pressed her head against his sweaty hair. Their shields dropped, opening their bond again.
Naluma watched as Leia and Mon intercepted the emergency crews and directed them to the injured senators and aides. A part of her felt like they should be doing this, cleaning up the aftermath.
Luke shook his head. "Leia and Mon can handle this. We're both spent."
Nodding, she pushed herself to a standing position and held her arm out to Luke.
❶ As the Jedi left the ruined hall, Naluma lumbered in stride with Luke, for the first time not behind him but beside him.
He limped. Her flesh wound burned. And both their heads ached from the concussion blast.
She ducked her head under his arm and supported him as they stumbled back to the shuttle. They were silent the entire way, not a sound, not a thought between them—just the Force-bond wide open.
Luke shuffled to his quarters under his own power, dejected. Naluma followed him as far as the galley to heat some water for the headache powder.
While the nanocooker zapped the liquid, she doctored the flesh wound on her arm. She ripped the left sleeve from her tunic with one sharp tug. With a piece of gauze and antiseptic, she cleansed the wound and applied a layer of bacta salve before slapping a large adhesive bandage over the wound.
She watched through Luke's hatch as he removed his left boot and sock. He gasped as the boot pulled his ankle out of alignment. His swollen ankle turned from red to black-and-blue as she watched.
When the nanocooker beeped, she stirred the powder packets into both mugs, grabbed the medkit, and entered Luke's cabin without so much as a "By your leave." She handed him a mug while she placed the medkit and her mug on the footlocker.
Luke stared at her with his intense blue eyes and nodded his approval. He scooched on his bunk and sat with his back to the port bulkhead.
She perched on the foot of the bunk, settling his foot in her lap. Gagging at the pungent odor, she bathed his foot with sanitizer before wrapping it in a support splint and activating the cooling pack built inside. She grabbed some pillows from the storage locker and placed them under his foot.
