Luke Skywalker, the Last Jedi, faces his toughest challenge yet. After taking his Jedi vows, he assumes the misbelief that love has no place in his life. As a result, he denies the love he craves in order to establish the New Jedi Order and maintain...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Luke scanned the medical chamber as he grasped Naluma's hand. Jannah and Tandolleau sat on the foot of his bed, both as pale as ghosts. Wedge stood to the side in one corner. Luke felt weaker than even after the wampa attack on Hoth.
"Thank you, all of you. I'm still not sure what happened ..." Luke said with a tremulous voice.
Naluma said, "Sh. There'll be time to talk about that later."
Something nagged Luke. If Wedge is here, that means I'm on Freedom. But why is Naluma here? The pressure of his well-wishers compressed his thoughts.
He gazed at Naluma as peace flowed between them. He had never seen her so relieved before. He had to find out what had happened. "Can I have a minute with Jedi Fau, please? Jedi business."
"Luke, you should rest." Naluma's eyes bored into him.
No.
As he headed out the hatch, Wedge said, "Glad you're still with us. When you're feeling up for a visit, have the medtech comm me."
Luke smiled at his old friend. "Will do, Wedge."
Jannah said, "What about our mission?"
Tandolleau grabbed her hand and glared at her.
"You guys did great. Thank you. We'll talk about your mission later." Naluma nodded toward the hatch. "Now, go grab some rack time."
❶ As they left, Luke scooted on his gurney and pulled Naluma to his side. He needed her energy, but he also knew how depleted her resources were. He took her hand back in his, wrapping her arm under his arm. "So, what happened?"
"I don't know everything. What do you remember?"
"Jumping to hyperspace. Meditated for a few hours ... nothing after that." Luke shook his head.
"When your ship came out of hyperspace, you were in deep hypothermia with no life-support and no power. Artoo drained his power to get you here. They towed you in."
"How did you get here? Aren't you supposed to be on a mission on Ruusan?"
"Let's stick with one problem at a time," Naluma said with her lips upturned. "When I got here, the meddroids were ready to pull the plug."
Luke looked at her in question.
"I wouldn't let them." She sniffed a tear away. "Maybe Master Yoda is right. Maybe attachments lead us to wrong decisions."
"Don't say that."
"Oh, Luke, when I felt you die, I couldn't bear the pain. I almost aborted my mission as soon as I arrived because of it."
