Monday, August 1, 2011

Still Not Enough Answers...

CHAPTER IV

Hobbie had helped get Leia back to her room, his vomit-covered shoes squeaking as he walked down the hallway. Damn it, if she couldn’t keep some nourishment down, she was never going to be able to get around on her own!

Once her head stopped spinning, she looked up to see Hobbie’s brown eyes mirroring her own. A part of her wanted things to end right now. Once you receive enough bad news, it gets harder and harder to tolerate any more. But she needed to know…

“Hobbie, how long has it been? How long was I gone?”

He looked at the floor before he looked back at her, not sure if he was supposed to keep the information to himself. He quite obviously knew that Princess Leia was not one to sit back and accept silence. “About three standard months,” he said.

Perhaps the news should’ve been surprising, but Leia found herself accepting this truth for what it was, knowing that it had certainly felt like it had been that long. Three months ago she had been with Han in the senate building on Coruscant when the explosion hit. Three months ago she had run to him while he lay unconscious on the floor, his head bleeding from falling debris. Three months ago she had tried desperately to cling to him while she was dragged away by some unknown force, leaving him helpless and alone.

This was why she had been somewhat relieved to learn that she’d been told that Han was missing rather than dead. Although the last image she had of him was face down on the floor, she hoped that whatever fate he had suffered would not be worse than the death she’d feared for him. She knew the kind of life she had endured over the past three months – if you could call it a life. She hoped Han had not had to suffer similarly.

“Are you gonna be all right, Leia?” Hobbie asked, breaking the long silence.

She looked up at the pilot, quickly finding the fiery determination sparking again inside of her. “That depends, Hobbie.”

Right away she could tell he was nervous as to where this was going. “On what?” he asked.

“On how quick you can get me out of here.”

He shook his head immediately. “Oh, no. It’s all over the frigate that you’re supposed to stay right here.”

“Hobbie, I know I’ve been gone for a while, but since when have I been one to follow orders?”

The pilot’s face fell, knowing that there was no way he was going to win this argument. “Will you at least let me change my shoes first?”

Leia smiled, noting that this was the first occasion she’d had to do so in a long time. “Make it quick.”

The young pilot disappeared down the hallway, and Leia walked into the ‘fresher to relieve herself and drink a bit of actual, cold water, thoroughly enjoying the feel of it sliding down her throat and pooling in her still-empty stomach.

Opening the small linen closet in the room, she pulled out a set of light green medical scrubs, throwing them on along with a head covering and a doctor’s mask to completely conceal her identity. The hardest part of all of this was probably going to be staying upright as she attempted to casually walk down the hallway.

“I don’t know. Fly casual!” She winced at the memory that flashed into her brain, seeing Han sitting in front of her leading that heroic mission to Endor. She could almost smell the aftershave he always liked to use, a mix of mountain air and morning dew. For a moment she felt like she could reach out and run her fingers through his hair…

But not yet. This would not be the first time she’d mounted a rescue mission to save Han, but at least that time she had the distinct advantage of knowing where to find him. While the details still remained vague, she wondered if there was more information she wasn’t being told. Whatever the case, she was not going to sit back and let the galaxy move on without her while Han was missing.

“Ready?”

She jumped at the sound of Hobbie in the doorway, wearing a much cleaner pair of shoes.

Having no idea what the next step in her plan might be, she responded anyway: “Let’s go.”


To be continued...

***

Short and sweet one this time. Push's condition for me was: "Leia is not supposed to leave the Medical Frigate. Meaning: orders have been given to keep her on the frigate. Doesn't mean she can't escape or stay put - it's up to you. "

Well, of course she's not going to stay put!


15 comments:

  1. I love Hobbie's shoes squeaking down the hallway! And Leia: since when do I follow orders?

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  2. Thanks. Throughout our writing of this it was kind of funny how neither one of us knew where we were going. So if there was some difficult plot point approaching we'd often leave it to the next person to write :)

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  3. Hmmm.... this isn't garnering much response. We could stop if you guys aren't interested. I promise it starts to get more engaging very soon.

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  4. Oho, no you don't! You've got me wondering about too much stuff now. :P I want to know what the hell is up with Han.

    I'm curious, it seems like Push always has conditions for you. Did you ever have any say it what happens next?

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  5. Of course she did! She could've given me just as many conditions but chose not to!

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  6. Yeah, I was bad at giving conditions. And even when I did give them they weren't particularly demanding. I gave you one after this one, though. Just wait, in another couple of chapters Push gives me a really bad condition!

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  7. Geez, r u still crying about that?!?

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  8. No, we're interested! :)

    Keep it coming! I can't wait to find out what kind of rescue mission Leia manages to come up with when she doesn't even know where she's going!

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  9. I luv when Z guilts everyone into commenting! ;-)

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  10. I'm good at it, right? ;)

    And to people wondering if comments get lost in the fray, Push and I at least get e-mail alerts for new comments, no matter how old the post is. So it's never too late.

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  11. Just read the chapter - can't wait to see how she gets out of the frigate. Poor Han!

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  12. Yes, poor Han. Push was not happy with me when I sent this chapter back to her and she found out that was how Leia last saw Han. That can't be good!

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  13. Oh, so you're finally going to admit that everything wasn't all wine n roses for me? :-)

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  14. You MAY NOT stop this!!! Just kidding, but really, don't stop. I need (okay really want) to know what happens next!

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