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Author	Topic: To Gather Stones Together--Qualified for Best Canon Female and Best Series
cibbler Registered: Aug '06	Date Posted: 1/28/07 9:33am Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--Updated 1/24
	I finished reading cast away stones earlier this weekend and added it to my wow list before I was half way done. And though it didn't have a cliff of point of no return proportions, I so wanted to read more. Glad to have this one here Poor Rieekan, lol, two broken noses courtesy of Leia or probably himself.. Safe to say another story of yours I'm hooked on.
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dm1 Registered: Jun '04	Date Posted: 1/28/07 2:51pm Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--Updated 1/24
	“If you allow us to continue, we can promise that Darth Vader will be eliminated in one way or another,” she explained. “If you require that of someone else, we cannot promise that we won’t stop it.” Oooh, great line! I see their point, but will the High Command? And Rieekan can't let on anything he knows, either. Interesting position for everyone to be in. Keep this going! -----signature----- Internet Mom to HSG! Hey, HSG, watch those explosives, be careful!!
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Araxie Registered: Mar '06	Date Posted: 1/29/07 3:18pm Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--Updated 1/24
	I had a bit of catching up to do. I think you had better put me on a PM list! I loved this line, “He’ll be in a bad enough mood without having to be a backseat pilot to someone else.” And Leia's line at the end of the last Update, -----signature----- story index on profile Every action done in company ought to be with some sign of respect to those that are present. Speak not Evil of the absent for it is unjust. ~George Washington Member of UPR
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RK_Striker_JK_5 Registered: Jul '03	Date Posted: 1/31/07 11:58am Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--Updated 1/24
	Whoa! Didn't know this was updated! See what I get for lollygagging around... Liked Wedge and Luke at the beginning. CLear skies indeed. And Leia? Drop it. Drop the 'tude, dudette. Mon Mothma's full in her rights to have all three of you shot. Great post, as usual. -----signature----- E-married to the wonderful DarthIshtar. Now also her Padawan. Member of the Y.J.K. Revolution Staring into the Darkness http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/27537567/p1/?23
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jasa Registered: Feb '05	Date Posted: 2/7/07 8:36pm Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--Updated 1/24
	is it just me, or does anybody else want to punch Madine? -----signature----- J/J, J/TK, H/L, and L/M Senior year at American University!!! Job searches are fun! --Ambassador Taps
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DountCooku Registered: Jul '06	Date Posted: 2/12/07 10:09am Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--Updated 1/24
	I enjoyed the prequel, and I'm enjoying this one. Please add me to your notification list. Thanks!
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Novahawk9 Registered: Nov '05	Date Posted: 5/2/07 3:53pm Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--Updated 1/24
	Up!
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DarthIshtar Title: Former CR Star Wars Trivia Hostess Registered: Mar '01	Date Posted: 5/2/07 4:16pm Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--Updated 1/24
	I'm working on a post right now and will get this updated within the week. -----signature----- "I feel like a more down-to-earth Pink 5 when I'm writing Leah. Same attitude, less lip gloss." ~Me on how to get in the right mindset for Twilight fanfic.
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owphoenix Registered: Sep '03	Date Posted: 5/2/07 8:29pm Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--Updated 1/24
	All right!
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kateydidnt Registered: Nov '04	Date Posted: 5/4/07 3:41pm Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--Updated 1/24 - Date Edited: 5/4/07 3:47pm (1 edits total) Edited By: kateydidnt
	So I think I much prefer to read your stories after they get finished. That way I don't have to deal with your evil cliffhangers. Or else I could just attack you with my lightsaber in the middle of the night when you're on the futon and somehow pry the rest of the story out of you... yeah I like the sound of that... Or I could just offer to beta since we do live in close proximity and I am an editing minor... Question: I have one basic problem with the premise of this story: how did High Command know about Anakin=Vader in the first place. As far as I know no one knew that, and Vader and Palpatine tried their hardest to make anything about the Jedi, including Anakin, disappear. How would High Command know? I don't see Bail revealing that to them, maybe to Rieekan privately but then I doubt that Rieekan would go blabbing it. I don't think it is a well known fact that Obi-Wan Kenobi was the master of the Jedi who became Darth Vader, otherwise the general galactic population at large would know that Vader was the same person as the hero of the clone wars. Obi-Wan only told that to Luke, counting on the fact that Luke didn't know Obi-Wan only ever had one apprentice. Am I making sense? -----signature----- R2D2: The Swiss-Army Knife of Droids The Outer Rim: Minor Character Index http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=21597215
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DarthIshtar Title: Former CR Star Wars Trivia Hostess Registered: Mar '01	Date Posted: 5/5/07 4:58pm Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--Updated 1/24
	They knew that Anakin=Vader in the first place because of Mon Mothma's ties to Padme as a founding member of the Alliance. Anakin Skywalker was the only person who would credibly be close enough to be Palpatine's right-hand man. Bail wouldn't have. Rieekan was the first to know, just because of his position in the Royal Guard. He only confirmed it. You are making sense, but I didn't explain that. -----signature----- "I feel like a more down-to-earth Pink 5 when I'm writing Leah. Same attitude, less lip gloss." ~Me on how to get in the right mindset for Twilight fanfic.
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Novahawk9 Registered: Nov '05	Date Posted: 6/5/07 8:21pm Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--Updated 1/24
	... Up Personally I really like the way the group dynamic is presented. None of them are stereotypes of the characters we see in the first movie, and the dialog really sounds like them.
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DarthIshtar Title: Former CR Star Wars Trivia Hostess Registered: Mar '01	Date Posted: 7/1/07 10:34pm Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--Updated 1/24
	I am dreadfully sorry for the long delay between updates. I finally have a 14-page reward for you, thanks to SpiritofEowyn, my amazing beta reader. Thanks to her! Thanks to you all for hopefully still being here! A special thanks goes to the brick wall that gave me a concussion this week and gave Luke's scene at the end some authenticity. *** By the time the High Command got around to releasing them, as if they were prisoners who had been held for interrogation rather than loyal members of the Alliance, none of the parties involved was happy. This was mostly due to the fact that few of the questions posed had been assigned answers and even more questions had been posed without satisfactory responses. Then again, the High Command had gone into the situation expecting to deny them their mission and had failed. The soldiers in question had gone in expecting chastisement at best and had not been disappointed. “It’s better than I had expected,” Leia said, ever the diplomatic optimist. “Really,” Han said dryly. “Did you go in there expecting to be arrested?” He was in the pilot’s chair, getting the Falcon prepped for hyperspace, so he didn’t see Leia blanch at that comment, but Luke did. She glanced at him as if warning him to keep his mouth shut, but it wasn’t necessary. “I expected to meet with more resistance,” she clarified. “Well,” Luke reminded, “they’re keeping us on active duty. The mission is on hold, no matter whether we’re on it or not.” Leia glanced his way again, but this time, there was sympathy in that expression. “That’s the prudent way of doing things,” she said. “Even if we wanted to walk up to Vader and start reforming him, we’d have to do weeks of preparation to do so.” “Not to mention we’d probably have to get you two to mind-trick half his officers just to get on the same command bridge,” Han agreed. “Which is why they sent us back in time,” Leia commented. “Even in the first decade of the war, he took more chances and was more vulnerable. We could have...” She sighed heavily and Luke could see her hands clench. He reached out and let his right hand cover both of hers. She nodded almost imperceptibly, then sucked in a long breath. “I don’t know how much of a difference we could have made in the first place,” she lamented. “We went in, not knowing what we were dealing with and did the best we could. Now we know exactly who we’re dealing with, but not how much remains of the man we met in the past.” “It’s like trying to deal with an R2 unit after a memory wipe,” Luke guessed. “You know that he would remember what he was like before given the right circumstances, but chances are he’ll never remember.” “Well, they’re doing what’s supposedly best for the Alliance,” Han groused. “This way, they’re making sure we make a valuable contribution to the war and do their dirty work in our spare time.” Usually, with that sort of comment, Leia would start an argument about the difference between ‘dirty work’ and ‘necessary warfare.’ This time, she simply looked away, further proof of just how much things had changed. “So, for now, we act like good little soldiers and hope we can get around to what we came back for by the end of the war?” Han asked. Both Luke and Leia grimaced at that, but Luke was the one to answer. Most likely, Leia didn’t have anything to say about the matter that was polite enough for her tastes. “Something like that,” he said. “Besides, knowing our luck, the chance we need will come up, whether we’re ready for it or not.” “Well, aren’t you two a pair of optimists,” Han snorted. “That’s half of our job,” Leia confirmed with the first hint of humor that she’d shown since leaving base. “Let’s get home so we can do the rest of it.” *** True to form, by the time they arrived on base, Rieekan had put them on the next day’s duty roster. Leia’s shift did not start until mid-afternoon, however, so she took advantage of the time to get the first decent night’s rest that she’d had since returning to the Alliance. That did not improve her mood, though. She awoke to find that Artoo had helpfully increased the heat in her quarters. That should have improved things, but it meant that everything in her quarters, from her computer to her clothes, had been soaked during the night and then had frozen over. She had been piled under several blankets, so had escaped hypothermia, but she had been forced to raid the quartermaster’s office for clothes that weren’t encrusted with two inches of ice. At least the command center was relatively warm and things were quiet on the sensors. The only sign of activity beyond the atmosphere was the frequent approach of meteors and she simply had to make sure that none of them had drive signatures or life forms on board. An hour before her shift ended, though, she returned from a five-minute break to find Rieekan hovering near her station. “General,” she greeted him formally. “Princess,” he said with equal aloofness. “You missed the afternoon’s entertainment.” She arched an eyebrow, but slid onto her chair without responding and replaced her headset. “Captain Solo came to visit,” Chet explained conspiratorially. “I think you should go sweet-talk him.” The woman had obviously never seen the effects of trying to sweet-talk a smuggler. Then again, she was happily married to a pilot from the Black Deaths and probably thought that all interactions with the male species were uncomplicated. “Why?” Leia asked. “He’s asked for a lift slot before you finish your shift,” Rieekan supplied. “I thought you might be concerned by that.” Concerned was too strong a word for it, but confused was not. It was still a jarring enough thought to keep her from thinking clearly. “Chet can cover your station,” Rieekan said without needing to make it an order. “If you could see what you can do…” Despite the frustration that had kept her from speaking a civil word to her oldest friend, she didn’t need further prompting. She simply tore off her headset and headed for the South passage. Han had nearly reached the auxiliary hangar by the time she caught up to him, but he still paused when she called his name. “Your Highnessness,” he greeted teasingly. “Something bothering you?” Leia folded her arms across her chest, jaw set in a frown. “Han,” she said flatly. “You requested a lift slot?” “I did,” he responded in a like tone. “You have something to say about it?” She had a great many things to say about it, but they could wait until she had the whole story. Unfortunately, it probably wasn’t a story suitable for public announcement. “Let’s go,” she said instead. His jaw dropped slightly in obvious surprise, but he gestured expansively. “After you, Your Worship.” Upon boarding the Falcon, she did not head to her usual seat in the cockpit, but went to the gaming table in the cargo hold instead. Han didn’t argue, only followed her there. He did, however, grab two mugs of water from the galley before heading to the bench opposite her. “You have duties here,” she began as soon as he had taken a seat. “I know.” That was frankly not the answer she had been expecting it, but she had to take it in stride. “You know,” she echoed. “Then, what is this nonsense about a lift slot?” “It’s not nonsense, Leia,” he said with a kind of earnestness that matched Luke’s. “I’ve got duties here and I can’t do them with debts to a Hutt.” “You’ve been doing just fine for the last three years,” she reminded firmly. “Fine,” he echoed. “Having to keep an eye out for both Vader and Fett every time I get off-base? Seeing friends put in danger or even killed just because I put the war first?” She could have reminded him that he was not the only person who had suffered that way. She could have also pointed out that compared to her lot in life, he had it relatively easy. The entire problem lay in the word ‘relatively’ in the first place. She had not asked him to stay. It would have been an insult to him. She simply and diplomatically requested his assistance in one matter after another. If it came to it, she would make this the first time that she actually begged. “You took risks when you stayed with us,” she said quietly. “Perhaps more than many of us.” He didn’t argue with that, only watched her as if waiting for her to tell him something he didn’t know. Still, he wasn’t fighting with her yet and that seemed to be progress. “How permanently are you planning on leaving?” she asked quietly. “Ah,” he grunted. “I was hoping you’d get around to asking that. I can get out and back in five days flat if no one picks a fight.” Including you. “Five days,” he repeated. “And after that, the only bounty hunters we would have to worry about are the ones your favorite asthmatic sends after us when he gets bored.” Perhaps it was the fact that he didn’t refer to the aforementioned asthmatic as her father. Maybe it was because he was usually justified in being this optimistic. Either way, she let him see a cautious smile. “That easy,” she mused. “What makes you think he’ll let you pay off the debt with no strings attached?” Han leaned forward to speak in a conspiratorial whisper. “Solo luck and the fact that I’m not afraid to leave a mess behind.” Leia finally let the cautious smile turn into a grin. “I’ll be counting on that,” she stated. “You’re going to let me go, then?” he asked, not bothering to conceal his surprise. “I don’t think I could stop you,” she retorted. His grin matched hers. “Good point,” he agreed, “but I’m hearing a condition in there.” She shrugged. “Who are you taking with you?” she asked. “The fuzzball,” he said shortly. “I’m not getting anyone else involved.” “Are you sure that’s prudent?” she challenged. “If someone decides to pick a fight…” “Look,” Han groused, “do you want to keep this uncomplicated or not?” She had to fight to keep from laughing, but settled for nodding with a closed-lipped smile. “All right,” she granted. “If you’ll excuse me…” He stood with her, herding her with an expression of curiosity towards the ramp. “Where are you going?” She was satisfied to hear a note of wariness, even apprehension in his voice. Still, she turned a reassuring look on him and stretched up for a quick kiss to the cheek. “Rieekan needs some convincing on when to give you a lift slot,” she explained simply. “I’ll have to see what I can do to help.” *** Rieekan was hunched over a sensor console, muttering orders into a headset’s microphone and looking irate as it was. Leia usually had the common sense to not trifle with him when he was in a foul mood, even more so when she was not on duty. She was not sure, however, what good common sense would do her in their current relationship. Instead of keeping her distance, she strode to his side and stood with her hands folded in front of her. It was a false sign of deference, but one that he would note as respect. Maybe that would swing things in Han’s favor. “Give me some good news,” he barked at her. “If you’re asking me to tell you that Han will be staying,” she said in even tones, “I can’t do that.” “Great,” he snapped. “One of the Heroes of the Rebellion is MIA and another is deserting…” “He’s not deserting,” Leia shot back, fear stirring in her gut, “and what do you mean MIA?” “Just that,” Rieekan muttered, jabbing a finger at the console. “We’ve been tracking Commander Skywalker’s signal since Solo came back. Standard operating procedure when someone’s out there alone. We’ve still got the commsignal on one of the frequencies, broadcasting dead air. On the other hand, we’re not getting life signs anywhere near his signal.” “He probably dropped it,” she said immediately. He would not look at her. “He should have headed back to base by now and a storm’s brewing,” he growled. “I don’t want to send another rider out after him and our speeders aren’t in any shape to deal with the blizzard heading our way.” “How long can we keep the shield doors open?” She wished fervently, for the first time since returning to base, that he would be heartless enough to let her see what he was thinking. Instead, he kept his gaze turned away, still trying to spare her or insult her or something. “Safely,” he postulated, “it could be as soon as another hour. Or, if the storm turns south, we could keep them open until closer to midnight.” “And unsafely?” she challenged. “Leia,” he said impatiently. “We may not have to wait that long,” the comms officer called before Rieekan could say anything more stupid. “We’ve got a message from the hangar chief.” “Skywalker come in?” Rieekan guessed. “No, but now Solo’s out looking for him.” The string of Taiald curses that came out of Rieekan’s mouth at that moment would have made her blush under any other circumstances. Instead, she muttered a few of her own. “Is that what you came to tell me?” Rieekan demanded. “You couldn’t get him to stay so you convinced him to go on a suicide mission?” “You think so little of me?” Leia retorted. “I don’t throw away friendships or even subordinates quite as easily as you do.” She half-expected to be struck--such an insult might have earned that response—-but Rieekan’s hand latched onto her upper arm instead. He yanked her close enough so that even his lowest whisper was audible to her. “I don’t know what you think you’re doing,” he hissed, “but whatever your personal feelings about that mission are, you have no right to publicly disrespect and upbraid your commanding officer.” “You had no right to say that,” she retorted. “Commanding officer or not, you’re not proving worthy of much respect right now.” She wrenched her arm free of his grip and turned her back on him as she addressed Ensign Echal. “Do we have any comm channels open to Captain Solo?” “Working on that right now,” Echal replied. “He’s not responding on any of our frequencies…” “Try 011 mark 6,” Leia suggested, knowing that if Han chewed her out for giving out his personal comm frequency, he’d at least be alive to do so. The crackle of an opening channel was replaced by a low murmur of sound that Leia soon realized was Han cursing under his breath. “Han,” she said sharply, “it’s Leia.” “I know who it is,” he barked. “I’m kinda busy here.” “We noticed,” Leia snapped. “Get back here…” “Give it up, Your Worship,” Han’s voice bellowed over the roar of the wind. “I’ve got a few errands to run before my lift slot.” And then the comm went dead. “You expected anything different?” Rieekan muttered. “I expected him to be less of an idiot than usual,” she snorted. “I want you out,” he said abruptly. “I’m not going anywhere until they’re back,” Leia contested. “Fine,” Rieekan replied impatiently. “You are confined to base, but if necessary, I will get you an MP escort out of the command center.” “General,” Leia said in kind, “I was out of turn, but that is no reason…” “Do you know the meaning of ‘conflict of interest?’” She wanted to argue the point, but instead felt the irrational need to get away. Instead of arguing, she withdrew from him and into herself. Rieekan seemed to recognize the pattern and set his jaw. “Out,” he reiterated. This time, though she couldn’t pinpoint the exact reason why, she obeyed. *** If Han hadn’t been in such a bad mood, he would have never found Luke. Instead of boldly riding off into the middle of the blizzard, he was slogging along and cursing rather vehemently at whatever Corellian gods had convinced him to come out here. Instead of trusting in nothing but his scanners, he was squinting futilely into the distance. He half-thought he was going crazy, since pretty soon he was going to start seeing things or hearing voices. It was better than freezing to death, but that couldn’t be too far off. Still, because he was staring a hole in the landscape in front of him, he managed to find the half-covered figure sprawled on the ground. There was no telling how long Luke had been lying there or if he had gotten there on his own. His breath froze in his lungs and he immediately dismounted, stumbling against the wind until he reached Luke’s position. All that medical field training from the Academy told him he shouldn’t move Luke until he’d made sure there were no spinal injuries, but there wasn’t time for that now. He rolled Luke over, hoping to hear his friend groan in protest. Instead, Luke’s head lolled listlessly to the side. Instinctively, he smacked the kid on the cheek, trying to knock some of the life back into him. “Luke,” he snapped. “C’mon, kid, snap out of it.” No response. Damn. He scowled, bending over so his cheek was next to Luke’s nose and mouth. Even with the piercing sting of the wind, he could feel the puff of Luke’s breath against his cheek. “That’s more like it,” he muttered. “Ben,” Luke groaned hoarsely. “Leia…Dagobah system…Leia…” Okay, so the kid was delirious or seeing things. He was probably far enough gone to be seeing his life flash in front of his eyes, but not dead enough to finish the job. It was Han’s job, as usual, to drag him out of the mess. “We’ll get you back to Her Worship soon enough,” Han said gruffly, “but right now, it’ll have to wait. Now, where’s that shelter…” Before he could make decent work of trying to find it in the pack, the tauntaun keeled over with a massive, phlegm-rattling bray. It was a moment before Han could stop staring, since this was like something out of a bad holo. Next thing he’d know, either they’d be attacked by a mutant Vader clone or Luke would try to kill him. As it was, the tauntaun was dead and not likely to change its mind any time soon. That left only one role for it to fill and Luke wasn’t going to like it. Stars willing, they would both be alive tomorrow to argue about it. Bending over, he snatched the kid’s saber off his belt and fumbled through thick gloves to find the activation switch. Blue plasma shot out from the hilt with a satisfying hiss and he managed to slice open his mount without slicing his foot off. He made short work of clearing out the abdominal cavity so he could stuff Luke unceremoniously in. It wasn’t a pretty result, but it was better than hypothermia. “This may smell bad,” he said rather apologetically, “but it’ll keep you warm until I can get the shelter built.” Luke’s only response was a muffled whimper: “Leia…” Of course. Han was the one off on some suicide rescue mission and Luke was still asking for his sister. That was gratitude for you. Now, if he could just find something to save his own skin, the night wouldn’t be a total loss after all. ***** It wasn’t the first time Leia had waited up for her friends. Too many times, Luke and Han had come back a few hours or entire days past their estimated time of arrival and she’d find a way to be there waiting to tease them about it. Han would usually argue that if she didn’t keep sending them on crazy missions, they’d have an easier time keeping to the schedule. It was the kind of good-natured grousing that they used instead of saying that it was good to see each other again. She would usually give strict orders to both the sensor station officer and the guard on watch to let her know the minute they set their approach vector. In the meantime, she would be holed up in her bedroom with a datapad and unnecessary work or in the base’s recreation center, running off her frustration. Tonight, she could not trivialize her fear by distracting herself. Instead of hiding, she simply wrapped herself in a blanket and took up her own watch from the starboard S-foil of Luke’s X-wing. The advantage of that was that she could avoid being bothered by the deck officers and pilots who frequented the hangar bay at the one time of night when they wouldn’t be bothered. On the other hand, she had no way of inconspicuously eavesdropping on conversations. For the most part, that hardly mattered. There were reports to be made, orders to be issued. None of them had anything to do with the two men stranded on the frozen wastes. When Rieekan entered the hangar, however, she dropped to the floor with a painful jolt. He rarely, if ever, came to the hangar and he was looking more grim than even the last time she had seen him. “All reports are in,” Major Derlin was explaining as she approached. “Still no…” Rieekan held up a hand and Derlin’s voice dropped to a barely audible murmur. It wasn’t necessary—-she would have known if Luke or Han had reported in yet. Rieekan knew this as well as she, which meant there was something else to his visit. “What is it?” she asked bluntly as she approached. Unnaturally wary of speaking to her, he simply nodded at the shield doors. They should have been closed three hours ago, but the deck officer had convinced him to take the risk for two loyal members of the Alliance. After all, the major danger had to do with the cold and the lack of adequate heating meant that it would not make much of a difference to keep the doors shut. Still, for some reason, Rieekan wanted to defy that logic now. “No,” she breathed. “It’s not your call to make,” Rieekan retorted. “The worst of the storm is about to hit us and we can’t take any more risks.” “Why not?” Leia challenged. “Luke and Han are out there because they took risks.” “Risks that were not theirs to take,” Rieekan said firmly, “but that’s not the point.” “What is, then?” she demanded. “Is this some kind of punishment for our having failed in our mission or just personal pique because I fought you on the matter?” “It has nothing to do with you,” Rieekan said, his voice surprisingly calm in the face of such an insult. “I have more people, more equipment to think about than three soldiers, no matter how loyal they have been.” “Would you close the doors if Itzel were out there?” It was a low blow, since Itzel had been the daughter who had survived Alderaan and two years of war only to be taken down in an ambush. The news had come through less than a month before Rieekan had sent his surrogate daughter off to kill Darth Vader. “Absolutely,” he said, though his voice rasped slightly. “I have more people to worry about than those that I care personally for.” That had the ring of truth to it, possibly because it was one of his few philosophies that she still agreed with. Even more importantly, he was saying it in all sincerity, as far as she could tell. She had not been given much of a chance to practice the powers that she shared with Luke, but because she no longer trusted what she knew of Rieekan, she confirmed that suspicion. Still, there were some things that emotion could not explain and she was not leaving those things to guesswork. “Why are you here, then?” she asked. His arms spread in a helpless gesture. “I have to see that the right thing is done,” he explained, “but that right thing also involves looking after you.” “You still think that’s your right, do you?” she challenged, though some of the acerbic tone had gone out of her voice. He could have retorted that she had never questioned his right to protect her before this last mission, but he simply frowned. “It has never been completely my right, but I still believe it is an important priority.” “Then leave those doors open until morning,” she suggested firmly. For the first time since her return, his hand found hers in a gesture of something other than restraint. Though she was not sure why, she allowed him to keep a firm grip on her fingers. “If they were going to find their own way back, they would have been here by now,” he reasoned. “Or at least commed to say where they were,” Derlin added unhelpfully. “If they make it to the doors,” Rieekan pressed on, “they will be in comm range no matter what. You know that we’ll have someone on comm duty all night and the moment we hear even a whimper out of those two, we’ll take action. Until then, there’s nothing more we can do. The shield doors must be closed.” Her lips parted slightly, an instinct borne of being a politician who always had something to argue about, but she found that there was nothing to say. Any contentions she could have caused were futile and, much as she currently hated to admit it, Rieekan had a point. She was too tired by the emotional effort of keeping vigil to put up any more fights right now. Instead, she lowered her gaze to the floor and nodded mutely. Rieekan half-turned and backed into position next to her. Without further warning, he slid an arm around her shoulders. This time, she did not have to fight the instinct to shy away, but did not relax into his grip as had been her habit before. She simply accepted the gesture without comment. “Close the doors,” Rieekan ordered. It had hard enough to breathe before then, but the closing doors seemed to block off all oxygen. It was something of a relief that no one else had been allowed into the hangar this late at night, but she could not bring herself to look at Chewie. Rieekan, in some kind of empathy, did not speak until the doors had clanged shut and Chewie had let out one roar of plaintive defiance. It was the kind of noise that challenged the gods to bring on more anguish, but requested some kind of reprieve. She knew the emotion involved too well, but before she could dwell on that, Rieekan’s arm slid from her shoulders. “Is that S-foil very comfortable?” He was actually considering the possibility of staying with her. She was still too off-put by the fact that he had talked some sense into her to think clearly. “Not at all,” she admitted, “but it was uncomfortable enough to keep me awake. That was the main idea.” He nodded in understanding in her peripheral vision. “Mind if I join you, then?” Finally, her mind caught up to her current mood. “I don’t suppose you would take yes for an answer?” she challenged. “I might,” he assured her, “but I don’t think that’s what you need.” She turned away from the shield doors, but found that staring at Luke’s X-wing was hardly an improvement. She was itching to get moving, to do something productive, but it was getting increasingly difficult to find something that fit the bill. Instead, she resorted to the old standby of being on the move. Rieekan matched his stride to hers as they headed around the X-wings, past the Falcon and towards the landspeeders that were still being modified for the morning’s planned search. “I need my brother,” she said firmly, “and I need Han.” In any other circumstance, he might have smirked at the possible innuendo. He was, after all, on Han’s side much of the time. “What precisely did you not tell the High Command?” he asked quietly. There were quite a few small details that they had left out by mutual consent. What he suspected was anyone’s guess. “What gives you the impression that you have any right to know?” she challenged. “You did not deny it,” he reminded. “Because I’m the one High Commander who still trusts the three of you enough to believe that you know the right thing to do, I need to have some more information.” It was a low blow, but hardly undeserved. She glanced at him, found his expression undiscriminating. He was, for the moment, stating fact. “We left only minor incidents out of the report,” she said honestly. “Minor such as what you three were doing during the first day of the Purges,” he guessed dryly. She set her jaw for just a moment, then cocked her head slightly to the right. “We were trying to get out of saber range in one piece,” she countered. “We weren’t the only ones.” Including Bail. “That’s an interesting phrase,” he observed. “Whose saber range.” “I broke your nose when I realized that Vader is my father,” she hissed as quietly as possible. “Whose saber range do you think?” She had the satisfaction of seeing him shudder, but that didn’t stop him from responding. “Vader suspected you?” “No,” Leia said flatly. “Luke tried to stop the Purges himself without realizing that Vader was personally involved from the start.” “Sweet stars,” Rieekan breathed. “And he got out of there in one piece?” The tension in her arms moved to settle in her shoulders. “Relatively speaking,” she muttered. “If I had found him much later, he wouldn’t have made it back at all.” A few steps later, she found that he was no longer keeping pace with her. She turned to find him standing with his hands at his sides and his eyes closed. His chin was nearly touching his chest and his spine curved slightly forward in a half-bow. It was the traditional Alderaanian stance of penitence, but she could not tell exactly what had prompted it. She did not bother to ask the question. Even as a princess, it was not her place. “I am not sorry that I trusted you enough to send you on that mission,” he confessed, “but I would not have put you through that for anything.” Part of her thrilled at the fact that he was finally admitting to some weakness, but it was a short-lived pleasure. “What hurts the most where you are concerned is that I’m not sure when I’ll start believing that again.” ***** Luke didn’t remember much of anything after escaping the wampa, but he remembered the bone-penetrating cold. He could recall feeling frozen enough that movement was impossible and survival was a default setting. The last thing that had entered his mind was Obi-Wan’s instructions. “Nice of you to survive,” Han called. Luke blinked with some difficulty, his eyes focusing slowly in spite of the stabbing pain in his head. He unwisely tried to move his head and instead felt the urge to vomit. He squeezed his eyes shut and controlled his breathing until it passed. “Survive isn’t the word for it,” Luke groaned. “I’m not sure I’m back from the land of the dead.” “Well, I’m here to keep you company,” Han laughed, moving to face him just as Luke managed to pry his eyes open again. “Still, I’d rather not keep a dead man company, so if you’d stick around mortality for a while, I’d appreciate it.” “I’ll work on it,” Luke promised. “What time is it?” “Oh-four-something,” Han said, barely audible over the rise in the wind. “You’ve been out of it for a while.” “I had a rough night,” Luke insisted. Han gestured expansively with his customary grin. “I noticed, kid. I’m pretty sure your sister’s having one, too.” And, just like that, he had a whole new level of being miserable to deal with. Not that he didn’t deserve it, but it wasn’t as if he’d intented to have a near-death experience. “Only a couple more hours until daylight,” Luke mused. “Think we’re going to make it?” “I don’t think about it,” Han shot back. “Too much thinking can kill you.” “Ah,” Luke grunted, attempting to move into a more comfortable position with little success. “I’ll try not to do it, then. You have anything to eat?” “Frozen dinner,” Han offered. “I tried the reheating supplies, but out here, it’s pretty much pointless.” “Emergency rations?” he suggested. “I’ll get you a protein-sicle,” Han offered. They worked at defrosting dinner for a few minutes, but it was getting harder to stay awake. Instead, he gnawed off as much of the protein bar as he could and shifted the wad of rations to his left cheek. “So,” he said. “I went missing and Leia actually let you go off to look for me?” For the first time in a long while, Han looked sheepish and Luke’s headache got just a bit worse. He shook his head slightly in both amusement and disgust. “You didn’t even tell her?” he chided. “Well,” Han admitted, “I was sort of trying to convince her that I wasn’t really running off on her before that. Going off on another suicide mission probably wasn’t going to be a good idea.” “What do you mean?” Luke challenged. “As soon as I get back, I’m going to go settle some old debts,” he explained. “Leia wasn’t too happy about it.” He managed to grin at that. Leia was probably ready to argue publicly about the entire mission if it meant getting Han to stay around. “I guess not.” “Anyway,” Han pressed on, “I convinced her that I was actually doing this for the good of the Alliance and that I’d be only gone for a few days.” “And you were telling the truth about all that?” Han grinned. “Yeah,” he said. “I even ‘fessed up to some possible complications.” “Good,” Luke sighed, finally settling on his back to stare up at the snow-covered shelter roof. “I don’t think you lied to her once while we were on that mission and if we’re going to stick with our plan, I don’t want you to develop any bad habits.” For some reason, Han laughed at that and Luke scowled slightly. “What’s so funny?” he demanded. “You’re finally acting like the big brother that you’ve always wanted to be,” Han explained. “I’m wondering how long Leia will put up with it.” “Doesn’t matter,” Luke replied. “I’m going to be this way whether she likes it or not. You?” He could hear the grin in Han’s voice, but there was nothing joking about what he said. “You may have had a head start, kid,” he reminded him, “but I’ve been catching up every chance I got.” -----signature----- "I feel like a more down-to-earth Pink 5 when I'm writing Leah. Same attitude, less lip gloss." ~Me on how to get in the right mindset for Twilight fanfic.
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Jade_eyes Registered: Aug '04	Date Posted: 7/2/07 4:08am Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--New post 7/1
	HI!!! Thanks for PM. Glad to see this updated. H/L were terrific, as always. Can't wait to see how the mission unfolds from here. -----signature----- Luke/Mara, my adorable snuggle boos MMM or drabbles--bliss ginchy, Irish, Myriad, Wiffle...you've posted! I can't hold it in! SQUGGLES!
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cibbler Registered: Aug '06	Date Posted: 7/2/07 5:58am Subject: RE: To Gather Stones Together--ESB AU, sequel to To Cast Away Stones--New post 7/1
	Great to see this updated It was quite a tense chapter were Leia and Reeikan are concerned. I knew that to cast away stones and this story began near hoth and the empire strikes back timeline. I think I forgot the events of the movie in regards to this story so the night came a bit as a surprise. Did Ben now tell Luke to bring Leia with him to Dagobah? I kinda went how does he know Luke and Leia know till I remembered the scene from TCAS where an unconcious Luke had a conversation with Obi-Wan's ghost. Leia and Han were well written and I loved Luke's comment at the end. Made me laugh. “You’re finally acting like the big brother that you’ve always wanted to be,” Han explained. “I’m wondering how long Leia will put up with it.” “Doesn’t matter,” Luke replied. “I’m going to be this way whether she likes it or not. You?” great
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