Edges of the World

Chapter 39

Leia wiped away her tears, and retrieved the remote that had rolled away. Her hands trembled as she picked up her tools. Biting her lip, she shook out her arm, hoping to regain the fine motor control she would need.

She shut her eyes, breathing in deep, counting the length of each breath. Once she had managed to calm herself back down, just enough, she tried to meditate once more. To refocus on her emotions and process them so she could make her peace and let go.

Somehow she succeeded. Somehow she did it.

The room melted away, and she let herself enter the welcoming embrace of the Force.

Once she had dealt with the most pressing emotional disturbances, she focused on the important task of rebuilding her shields. Of doing what she needed to make sure that would not happen again.

She could have been working on her defenses for moments or for hours, she did not know. She had no idea how much time passed before Luke rejoined her, just that while passable once more, her shields were not yet at full strength.

Luke was standing near the crack he had made when she noticed him in the room with her, gazing at the deep gouge with shock.

It was the same spot his father had occupied before he had vanished seemingly only moments prior.

"Did... did I actually cause that?" Luke asked, voice wavering slightly with worry.

Leia nodded.

"Karabast. How?"

"You lost control."

He ran a hand over the crack, "Stang. I really need to get more training, don't I. I mean what if I like... get upset when I'm flying a mission or something and accidentally crack open my ship? That'd be... " He sighed, turning away from the damage he had done.

"Speaking of, Madine agreed that this trip sounds like a good idea. Mainly you not being here for a bit while High Command figures out what to do about those Leia-is-a-Jedi rumors you started. He didn't seem to care where you went, so long as it wasn't here." Luke smiled, dimples on full display. "You know, you really need to think more about your actions."

"You break a solid cave wall in a tantrum, but somehow I'm the one who messed up." Leia snorted. "You sure you were raised like an only child? You really have the annoying brother thing down pat."

Sheepishly he shrugged, eyes twinkling. "Hey, he's the one who said it, not me."

"Did he really?" She couldn't have really made such a negative impression on the people of this world, could she?

"Yes and no. The General is mad at you about that, yes, but he does have other reasons to want you gone."

"Which are?"

Luke stepped away from the cave wall, sitting next to where she crouched. "He's moving on from this base." He shook his head, "The move was scheduled weeks ago, and his SpecOps troops really are needed elsewhere so they can't put it off 'cause of this. Problem is, well... it isn't like he can leave command of this base's operations in your hands. So you leaving right now, it gives Madine a good excuse to put someone in charge, without having to explain why that person isn't Leia."

"Oh," Leia frowned. She could see why Madine would want her to leave. She wondered if his desire to see her gone was large enough to allow Luke and her to ask the Rebellion to provide supplies for their trip.

Speaking of their trip... Leia surveyed the training remotes she had fixed, thinking of his comments earlier in his bunk.

"Lu, I should have asked this when I first agreed to teach you, and I am sorry I didn't think to do so. Would you mind if I turned these on and watched you train with them? So I can see where you are with forms, really assess what you do and do not know before we reach Master Yoda."