Rise (A Star Wars/ Luke Skywalker Fan Fiction) #Wattys2016

Chapter 17

Winters heart stopped beating in her chest. She stood for a moment replaying what Leia had said to her.

"Ella has crash landed."

Winter gulped slightly and brought her eyes to Leia. "Is she alright?"

"Yes from what we understand. For the most part. She has broken her leg but other than that is in perfect health." Leia explained.

"Where is she?" Luke asked.

Leia looked at him. "That's the problem. She is still deep in the jungle awaiting rescue. The only problem is none of our ships can get in there due to all the trees and vines. The terrain is to hard to go over by automobile so the only way to rescue her is by walking."

"Ok so why hasn't anyone gone out there?" Winter asked.

"Many are afraid and some think that Ella will be dead by the time someone gets there. They think It would be a waste of time and resources."

"Well she is not just going to be left for dead, Leia. I'm going after her, with or without permission." And with that, Winter began to walk off. Luke grabbed her arm, however, before she could get to far.

"You're not going alone." Luke stated.

Winter scoffed. "Why not? I can take care of myself."

Luke looked at her, his eyes full of concern and meaningfulness. "I just don't want you to go alone. If you're going after her then I'm coming to." Her turned to Leia. "If you can please get us the necessary supplies that we will need for our journey. Meet us at the Hanger we landed the falcon in."

Leia, although slightly stunned that these two had so willingly volunteered for a mission no one wanted to go on, nodded and left the area. Luke turned to Winter.

"Why? Why do you want to come with me?" Winter asked, slightly irritated.

Luke sighed. "I just... I just want to be there to protect you."

"From what? There is nothing that I couldn't fight. At lest from what I've learned about myself."

"What if your outnumbered, Winter?" What if...oh I don't know you get surrounded by vicious Weviels. I know your strong and a good fight but that doesn't make you invincible." Luke looked away from her. "And I... Well I..."

"What?" She asked.

"I...just don't want you to get hurt. I want to be able to protect you should you need it." Luke explained timidly.Winter turned away from him and paced. While yes she would like some extra company for the trip, she was afraid of putting Luke in danger as well. She sighed aloud

"There is nothing I can say to make you change your mind, is there Skywalker." Winter stated.

"Nope." Luke replied.

"Well then..." Winter began as she started to walk away. She turned back around to see Luke wasn't following her. "Are you coming?"

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Once she made it to her room, with help from Luke, Winter got the fastest and possibly the coldest shower of her life. She watched as the blood and even some grime mix with the water as she throughly scrubbed her hair and skin, almost to the point of rubbing it raw.

After finishing, Winter wrapped a towel around her small body and walked out to the dresser in her room. She opened the drawers to find black and white clothes. Winter decided on a black tank top, black cargo pants and combat boots.