Chapter Twenty-Three

“ ‘Terrestrial-class planet’,” Lisa began, reading aloud. “ ‘Twenty-nine thousand kilometers in diameter’.” Beat. “Or eighteen thousand miles.”

She cleared her throat. “ ‘Breathable atmosphere. Terrain consists of hills, forests, mountains, and caves’.”

Luke listened with his eyes closed, focusing. “Forest…” he murmured.

He could almost feel the damp air against his skin.

She looked back at the entry. “Bamboo forests, apparently,” she said.

The fuzzy image from his visions suddenly sharpened, the woody, grass-like stems snapping into focus. Luke’s breathing shifted, just slightly.

“I’m not familiar with the official terms here,” she said, poking the screen, “but the fauna includes ‘arges frogs, kaddyr bugs, kirruks, and mud yaks’.”

In Luke’s memory, he heard buzzing insects and croaking frogs – one-eyed frogs. He tightened his grip on her hand. “The frogs,” he said softly. “Those are the frogs we saw sitting on the lily pads.”

She let out a breath, almost a laugh. Looking down at the screen, she said, “No major settlements. The planet is uninhabited.”

“For now…” he whispered.

The images settled into place.

He let out a small gasp and opened his eyes to look at her. “Yes…” he breathed, squeezing the hand that was holding his. “Lisa…yes!”

He didn’t need to see anything else.

Both grinning, they kissed while Artoo let out some celebratory beeps. Once they parted, Luke shut his eyes again and took a few deep breaths – just because they’d found it didn’t mean he was ready yet. He still had the weakness in his legs to deal with.

Despite that fact, they sent a message to Han and Leia requesting they come to Luke’s room at their earliest convenience, specifying that no, he’s not fully healed yet, but he and Lisa were almost ready to start their journey to rebuild the Jedi Order.

“What do you need from us?” Leia asked after they’d arrived and Luke and Lisa went into more detail.

“I want Lisa and I – ”

Artoo beeped indignantly.

“ – and Artoo to be able to leave as soon as I’m fully healed and 2-1B clears me. Han, will you and Chewie please check on my X-wing?”

“Sure thing, kid,” Han replied while Chewie roared his assent.

“How much longer do you think it will be before you’re fully healed?” asked Leia.

“Hard to say,” said Luke with a shrug. “It’s just a matter of rebuilding the strength in my legs. I’m hoping not too long, but if there’s one thing this recovery has taught me, it’s not to rush anything or push myself too far.”

He felt Lisa’s pride envelop him like a warm blanket. He put his arm around her waist with a small smile.

The others knew very well about his and Lisa’s psychic connection, so they were quite used to what, for them, were facial expressions and affectionate gestures that seemed to come out of nowhere. Now that Leia was aware of her own connection to the Force, it might be less random for her if she strengthened that emotional sense. This was another thing both Luke and Lisa knew not to push – Leia hadn’t taken the news of her parentage very well, and if she wanted to learn the ways of the Force, they would let her come to Luke in her own time.

Lisa, having heard Leia’s thought about it, handed her the portable screen with the data they’d found pulled up. Leia took it and looked it over. “I’ll try to find coordinates or a flight path for you. Artoo, will you come with me? I’ll input anything we find into your memory banks so you can interface with the computer on the X-wing.”

Artoo beeped an affirmative and rolled up to stand beside the princess.

“Thanks, everyone,” said Lisa.

Luke nodded. “We really appreciate it.”

They waved the statement away. “Just get yourself back on your feet,” said Leia.

“Yeah,” said Han with a twinkle in his eye. “I’d hate to have run full checks and diagnostics on your ship for nothing.”

The humans and Lisa laughed while Chewie barked a comment.

Han gave his furry friend a dirty look while Lisa continued to laugh. “You could’ve just asked,” she said to Han, grinning, “if you wanted to check out Luke’s X-wing that much. Other than the extra seat for me, it’s no different from Wedge’s or any other X-wing in the Fleet.”

Now it was Luke’s turn to grin. After the Battle of Yavin and the destruction of the first Death Star, the Alliance had decided to refit his X-wing – lengthen the cockpit and install a second seat behind the pilot chair so Lisa could accompany Luke on his journeys. No one had ever seen a tandem X-wing before; it was a bit of a novelty, and apparently it had piqued Han’s interest, but he hadn’t been able to get a close look at the ship and hadn’t thought of, as Lisa said, just asking.

In his defense, said Lisa’s voice in his head, this is about the first time since the start of the war he could think about it.

True, he agreed, then said aloud, “Feel free to run as many checks on the systems as you like. Treat her as you would the Falcon.”

Han gave his lopsided grin and practically sprinted out of the medical bay, Chewie on his heels. Artoo beeped while the humans and Lisa just shook their heads affectionately.

Leia held up the screen. “I’ll start on this. Take care of yourself.” To Lisa, she added, “Make sure he behaves.”

Luke feigned indignity while Lisa just nodded. “I always do.”

Leia left with a smile, Artoo following, and Luke lay back on his cushion.

“I can always count on my sister,” he gestured to the closing door, “and the woman I love,” he added, glancing at Lisa, “to boost my self-image.”

Lisa snickered and stood beside him to stroke his hair. “We tease because we care,” she said, grinning.

Luke sighed and gave a little shake of his head, leaning into her touch.

“Okay,” he said after a moment. “Help me up. I should walk some more.”

“Just be sure to stretch first.”

End chapter twenty-three

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