Rise of the Teenage Conquerors

Episode 1.25

Leana wiped the sweat from her forehead as she descended the rungs of the ladder propped up against her X-Wing. She had just loaded her emergency supply case back into her ship, dressed again in her orange g-suit. The astromech droids were already positioned in their sockets, waiting for takeoff.

Yoda stood on the ground, leaning on his cane as he watched Leana and Luke prepare to depart. "Luke, Leana. You must complete the training. Please? Will you finish your training?"

Leana glanced back at her ship, pausing on the ladder, and rolled her eyes. Yoda had been alternating between pleading with them and threatening them with the wrath of Henry for the past half an hour, and what had started as polite rejections from Luke had turned into very annoyed ones.

"No way, Yoda," Luke said now, a biting edge to his voice as he descended the ladder. "I am going to save the day – and my friends."

"You're gonna save nothing," Leana muttered under her breath, yet she could understand Luke's perspective. Her own friends were in Cloud City, too, and she didn't want them to suffer because of Vader's scheme to lure Luke there.

Would he even torture them? Or would he seek to kill them?

A sharp yet quiet voice cut through Leana's thoughts. "Don't speak to your master that way!"

Luke, Leana, and Yoda slowly turned to see the pale, flickering image of Obi-Wan Kenobi. Leana gasped as she rapidly continued her climb down the ladder, going so quickly she missed a rung and stumbled as she reached the ground. "Obi-Wan!" she exclaimed.

"Old Ben!" Luke echoed, sounded awed to see his old master again.

"Yes," Obi-Wan said, looking from Luke to Leana. Far from looking puzzled to see Leana, he instead looked contemplative. "It is me."

I'm supposing Qui-Gon told him about me. So he wouldn't blow my cover.

"Luke, you must not go," Obi-Wan admonished, his gaze moving to Luke again. "It is too dangerous."

"What about Han and Leia?" Luke demanded. "They'll die!"

"No they won't, Luke," Leana said quietly.

"Luke, you don't know that," Obi-Wan said flatly, ignoring Leana's remark. "Even Yoda doesn't know their fate."

"But I do," Leana insisted.

Obi-Wan, Luke, and Yoda all looked at her, their expressions varying degrees of incredulousness. "No, you don't," Yoda told her, gesturing dismissively at her.

A surge of anger reared its head within Leana, a flash of red hot coloring her vision. She struggled against it, reining it back as best she could. No, I must not succumb to the dark side! "I do, too, know," she insisted, fighting to keep her voice even. "Han and Leia will not die. They will be captured and tortured, yes. But not killed. The Empire is using them. Yes, Luke," she added, at seeing the look of disbelief on Luke's face. "Your friends are bait for the Empire's trap – their trap for you."

Yoda, Luke, and Obi-Wan just looked at her for a long moment, Luke looking incredulous as a touch of sadness colored Obi-Wan's expression. Finally, Yoda broke the silence. "Wow. You must have more potential than I thought, to see all that. How many midi-chlorians do you have? And how come I couldn't see that when I looked? I'm a way better Jedi, after all."

"Leana," Obi-Wan said quietly. "Just because the future looks clear to you doesn't mean it is. There are some things you will be able to rely on, but you should be careful drawing assumptions. Learn to use the Force."

"Leana, if Master Yoda doesn't know their fate, how do you?" Luke asked. "I thought the future was difficult to see."

"It is," Leana said. I want to go to Bespin, too – I just need to be able to convince others that what I know is real. Otherwise, how will I ever be able to change the story? "I just know, trust me on that. You'll see, I guess."