Saga Just a dream--A Rebellion-era AU involving Han, Luke and Leia--Completed 4/7

She remembers nothing beyond a few days' time.

Her thoughts are as fragmented as the bones in her legs, but they all suggest that she is in danger. She is simply impotent to do anything about it.

She remembers fire. It is impossible to avoid that memory, since the earliest thing that she can remember is the razor kiss of flames licking her arms, face and chest. Her eyes see nothing because the flames reached there as well, so she remembers too well the way charred flesh smells.

She remembers the way that the shards of durasteel sliced at her arms as she dragged herself free of the wreckage of her ship; by that time, she had endured so much pain that she did not even register the gouges that cut to the bone or the warm rush of her own blood.

She can remember neither the name of the ship nor her travelling companions. She does not know if there were others with her when she crashed or if they are the ones who decided to make sure she survived.

Her rescuers must have arrived at some point and she had attempted to remain conscious in order to identify them, but the pain took control of her failing body too quickly and she only knows the kind murmur of voices.

"You are fortunate that the enemy did not find you," a woman's voice croons in the periphery of her mind.

"Where am I?" she asks stupidly.

She should know where she is. It is certain that she cursed it in every scream that fueled her ability to escape death, but the name of the place is lost in the haze of her agony.

"Coruscant," the woman supplies. "Most these days call it Imperial Center, but you don't need to know that."

"I crashed here?"

A wry laugh. "Of course not, Your Highness. This was simply the only place that could keep you alive."

"Risky," she mutters, though she doesn't know why.

"Of course," the woman responds, "but it is worth the effort. You are still very important to us."

Whoever this person is, she is a friend. For now, that is all the identification that she can handle.

"Is it bad?"

She means to clarify what 'it' is, but she cannot explain it to herself. It is simply a reflexive question that invites answers she will not wish to hear.

"Bad enough," the woman says evasively, obviously reticent to go into further details. "The good news is that you'll live."

She isn't sure at all that it is the good news.
*****
The first sign of trouble had been a sick twisting in Luke's stomach. He had been in the middle of a simulator run with Rogue Flight Three when everything went black. His pilots had come to ridicule him for being an easy kill, only to find him unconscious in his flight seat.

The medics had confirmed that there was nothing wrong with him, much to the relief of Rogue Nine who had been the one to find him, but he had no way of explaining that it was not something wrong with him.

Since Han was safely wedged under a control board somewhere in Bay 12, it could only mean that something had happened to Leia.

"She's probably fine," Han had said dismissively. "You would worry about her if she got a flimsicut."

His casual tone hadn't been able to disguise the way his face drained of color the minute Luke had entered the cockpit, so once Rieekan had verified that they hadn't had contact from her since her last report at Abrax, Han gave Luke official permission to worry.

The Imperials had cleared out of Abrax a mere six hours after she had last reported, so they didn't have too much trouble getting dirtside. The challenge was, of course, narrowing down where she could have last been seen.

Their contact had last found her on the Southern continent, just south of the spaceport, so they could do little more than look for wreckage reports in the surrounding areas.

There was little hope, of course, that she would still be there, since it had been five days since Luke had sensed something wrong, but all they could expect was some indication of where she had gone.

"She was definitely alive enough to drag herself free," Han observed.

He was standing near a bloo

 

very interesting. I wonder who has Leia.. she seems to think that it's a friend...

I'm looking forward to reading more

jcs

 

Interesting AU. Worried about Leia, though.

Looking forward to more.

 

Uh, one of Ish AU... this should be interesting! But please, don't maim Leia or blind her or something horrible, yes?

 

I'll try not to, but she's already blind, in pieces and in pretty disastrous shape. On the other hand, it can only get better, right?

Thanks. This is going to get very odd, I promise.

Yeah, who has Leia will be a very interesting thing to explore. :-D

 

Poor Leia! She may be in good hands currently, but she has an incredibly battered body, and one that I suspect bacta will not be able to fully heal. Love that this is an AU. It means we can't predict where you ultimately are going with this, plus it might mean that the Han/Leia timeframe might move a little quicker than the EU universe.

 

I'm always ready for AU. There are so many possibilities.

Ish, does this mean you're not going to finish Point of No Return or Mitigating Circumstances? I was just wondering... I know I'll love this one too.

 

another Ishy Au. You seem to have lots of bunnies lately. Poor Leia - she's never safe in your stories. She must be your fav.

I can't wait to see how this goes.

 

Oh, I'm most certainly finishing those. I'm finishing all of my stories, just a bit at a time. This is a reward for me finishing a certain other fic. And glad yo ulike this.

Possibly, but there are a few very interesting snags ahead.
*****
She awoke with the touch of lips on her brow. Immediately, the skin forrowed beneath the ministration.

"This is probably an idiotic question," she admitted hoarsely, "but do I know you?"

The voice was as rough but pleasing as the stubble on the man's chin as he laughed. "Not idiotic, sweetheart," he murmured. "You've had a rough week."

"That's a bit of an understatement," she agreed. "At least I feel more coherent."

"I told Mariah that if we just let you sleep it off for a few days, you'd start to feel better," he mused. "I hate to tell you both 'I told you so,' but I did."

The woman from the last time she had regained consciousness laughed. "That you did," Mariah conceded, "but we've all been a bit impatient to get you moving again."

She sucked in a long breath, acutely conscious of the cracked ribs that made the moment very uncomfortable. "I don't think," she rasped, "that I'll be moving any time soon."

"Not on your own power, no," the man admitted, "but we're getting you to a safer place than this tomorrow."

"Safer?" she echoed blankly.

He laughed again and she could feel her cracked lips parting in a smile at her ability to make someone enjoy her company, even if she had yet to figure out who he was.

The lips descended again, this time lingering a little longer near her mouth. Color rose above the spot at the jolt of electricity that went through her.

"There's that smile, finally," he sighed happily. "I wasn't sure you remembered how."

"I'll leave you two alone," Mariah offered and she could hear a hint of a smile in the other woman's voice. "This is too graphic to watch."

Finally, he wrapped his hand around her splinted fingers, squeezing as firmly as he could without hurting her. "She's too kind," he mused. "She's been leaving us alone for four days now, but you just wouldn't stop getting your unneeded beauty rest."

Something in the back of her mind set off a warning, a note to herself that no one who was this affectionate with her should ever do so without bickering, but it seemed like an absurd principle to live by.

"You look worried," he observed.

She shook herself from her reverie and attempted the smile that he liked so much again. "I'm just a bit disoriented," she confessed.

"Still no idea who the guy getting up close and personal with you is," he said wryly.

"Frankly, no," she laughed. "It's rather disconcerting."

"Come on," he teased. "You were the High Princess of Alderaan. You never got accosted by complete strangers before?"

That was another strange thing. She had the impression that the only person she could remember doing this would never use a word like 'accosted.'

She could not, however, tell the difference between disoriented paranoia and hazy memory.

At least it had brought for more information. Whatever this Alderaan was, she had been royalty there.

"True," she said. "Are you going to mock me all night or tell me who you are and what you're doing with me?"

Finally, his teasing lips captured hers with a gentle passion for just a moment, another teasing encounter before he pulled back.

"Leia," he murmured affectionately. "Since you're my

 

"Leia," he murmured affectionately. "Since you're my wife, I'll forgive the memory slip. I'm Tarin Chet and I'm loving the only way I can at the moment."



I wasn't expecting a twist that big!


EDIT: Stupid me, italicized the wrong word.

 

Okay, first off I've bookmarked this. Second off-YOU ARE EVIL! Oh, man! The first part with Leia in the wreckage. And Luke feeling that-ouch! Second post... who is this man? And when can Han beat him to within a millimeter of his life?

Awesome posts, hon!

 

That was a real twisty. Hopefully Leia's memory can jog up a few more vital clues as to why she should be very wary of this man. Her memory just has to remind her of a few more of Han's unorthodox methods of courtship.

 

Oh, man. I'm confused. I'm confused and when they take me away I'm going to blame you for it.

Wait. I think I just quoted a fanfic. Yes, actually, I'm sure I did. That's frightening.

Interesting scenario you've got here. Well, I'm going to assume the Married!Leia part is the AU part. Although I probably shouldn't assume too much, should I? This dude could very well just be lying, either an Imperial wanting her in custody or a Rebel rescuing her. But that would make this story a short one. So I'm just gonna sit here all confused and wait for the drama to insue.

And I loved this line: Something in the back of her mind set off a warning, a note to herself that no one who was this affectionate with her should ever do so without bickering, but it seemed like an absurd principle to live by. ... Yes. Yes, it is a bit insane. Here's the number to my shrink, Leia, hope you'll have better success than I did.

And now I'm going to can the weirdness and end this novel before it engulfs the page.

 

Somebody get a spatular and pry my eyes off the screen. This one kewel fic! Pm?

Cheers_Cazza

 

Hehe, the "sweetheart" at the beginning almost got me... Who is this slug that pretends to be Leia's husband???

 

Ahh...the great ISH is BAAACKKK!! Is Vader going to be in this or not I wonder?

 

Whoa - Leia's married and not to Han!



Or is she?



Talk about getting the readers hooked!

I'm looking forward to more

 

Jigga wha??
(blinks, rubs eyes, blinks)

I am officially confused. Hooked completely, but very very confused...
-SE

 

*blink*

*reads again*

*blinks again*

did I miss something? Or am just normally this confused?

 

Ok Ish
what's going on?! Who's this clown or is it Han's alias?
Another one to bite the nails over?

 

HOLY RESPONSES, batman! I'll respond to the whole lot of you who posted yesterday and then not again for 24 hours at least.

Yeah, that was supposed to make you go WHAT THE HECK?!??!?!?! Blinking works fine, too.

Well, yes, that's the idea. I love the "Jigga wha??" response, by the way.

I've got you all guessing and it's giving me the biggest rush like you would not believe. Leia's married, possibly, or is it something that she doesn't know about?

Oh, he's definitely going to be in this. THere's a very precise reason for all of the stuff in the first two posts.

Wouldn't you like to know? ANd whoever he is, he's done his research, so he knows her triggers.

Chewie-Fan--I'm always ready for AU. There are so many possibilities.

Ish, does this mean you're not going to finish Point of No Return or Mitigating Circumstances? I was just wondering... I know I'll love this one too.

Oh, PONR and MC are both going to be finished. PONR is simply unable to be posted until I'm able to kill characters. And MC needs time to stew so that I can write posts without panicking about them stinking. It will, actually, be updated some time today. Glad you're enjoying this.

RebelMom--another Ishy Au. You seem to have lots of bunnies lately. Poor Leia - she's never safe in your stories. She must be your fav.

I can't wait to see how this goes.

Bunnies by the billions and I'm not indulging very many of them. And Leia's the one that people are the most prone to worry about, so I tend to put her in trouble.

Liesl--"Leia," he murmured affectionately. "Since you're my wife, I'll forgive the memory slip. I'm Tarin Chet and I'm loving the only way I can at the moment."



I wasn't expecting a twist that big!

NO ONE EXPECTS THE SPANISH INQUISITION!

Well, now that I've got that out of my system...

Yeah, that had me giggling in anticipation to see the responses.

RK_Striker_JK_5 --Okay, first off I've bookmarked this. Second off-YOU ARE EVIL! Oh, man! The first part with Leia in the wreckage. And Luke feeling that-ouch! Second post... who is this man? And when can Han beat him to within a millimeter of his life?

Awesome posts, hon!

I have to be evil! It's what makes your experience here worthwhile! And secondly, Tarin Chet was actually my first Intelligence agent, but I'm not telling you which side he was on, whether or not he stayed there or whether or not he deserves to be beaten to within a millimeter of his life.

Solo_Fan --That was a real twisty. Hopefully Leia's memory can jog up a few more vital clues as to why she should be very wary of this man. Her memory just has to remind her of a few more of Han's unorthodox methods of courtship.

Of course it does, but that doesn't mean to say that they'll start making it more complicated for her...

KnightedRogue--Oh, man. I'm confused. I'm confused and when they take me away I'm going to blame you for it.

Wait. I think I just quoted a fanfic. Yes, actually, I'm sure I did. That's frightening.

Interesting scenario you've got here. Well, I'm going to assume the Married!Leia part is the AU part. Although I probably shouldn't assume too much, should I? This dude c

 

you evil evil woman!!!
evil should be utilized more often! this is freakin great.
-mia-

 

*best Mr. Bill voice* OHHHHH NOOOOO!!!! (run, Leia... run!) Ok. I know she's not in any shape to run. So.... find Leia, Han! HURRY!

 

ooohhh, great twist there. An intelligence agent, eh? He's most likely the enemy or Leia would be safe now...He could be a third party too. Leia does have lots of enemies everywhere.

 

Wife? Wife?!!!! Oh, no, no, no... This had better be "Just a dream", Ish. The only husband Leia is allowed to have is Han, right?