LUKE SKYWALKER

Leia and Han immediately got out and readied their guns, pointing them at the girl. Luke’s lightsaber followed shortly, its light throwing a green glow on his skin, and emphasizing the planes of his face.

But time stood still for Luke, as he looked over the apparition in the form of a slight girl in front of him. She can’t be more than seventeen years old, he thought, or over five foot one. But he knew not to judge appearances, because, as a certain Ben Kenobi had once told him, “Your eyes can deceive you. Don’t trust them.”

But his eyes weren’t deceiving him completely, of that he was certain. Her hair, which the color of grains during the harvest season on Tatooine, was up in a large bun streaked with over a dozen tiny braids. She had lips that looked like pink flower petals, with rosy cheeks and ivory skin. She wore little makeup, only some eyeliner that accented her dark lashes and violet eyes that held him in a calm, level gaze, and a little shine on her flawless lips. She was what one would call naturally beautiful.

“It’s okay, I’m not a Changeling,” she said, misinterpreting his examination. “And I have no wish or reason to attack you. Now if you can all please lower your weapons, I can take you to my place, where we can talk in a more civilized manner.” A half-smile curled one side of her perfect mouth, and he only just prevented himself from smiling too at the word ‘civilized’. She must have heard their entire conversation.

When no one spoke, she continued. “I have food, and I know that I have at least some of the spare parts you need to fix your ship.”

“How do you know that we need spare parts?” Han asked, clearly suspicious of this girl, Kaylira.

“Well, I do know that we’re surrounded by an asteroid field, that someone was after you and damaged your ship, judging by the exploding asteroids, and that the stratosphere consists of highly flammable gases. Not to mention that I saw that burning hunk of metal crash.”

“Hey! You just watch what you call a burning hunk of metal!” Han took a step forward, and Luke noticed that Kaylira shifted herself ever so slightly, so that she was in a defensive combat position. So, she knew what she was doing.

“We don’t need your help,” Luke said, with maybe a little too much hostility.

“Face it. You people are never going to get off of this moon without my help.” Seeing their skeptical looks, she sighed. “Okay. If you don’t trust me, then you’ll probably all have become one with the Force by the time the sun sets today.”

As if on cue, the growl of some sort of wild beast, probably native to the moon, cut through the air. Luke was unafraid, but then remembered hearing something about the Darkened Moon of Uluno when he was a boy back on Tatooine.

The pilots that stopped in Mos Eisley told stories about how the adventurers who hoped to explore and chart the moon had never returned. Some told of vicious native tribes who left none alive, others recounted the tales of wild beasts, cunning beyond imagination, who would kill you in your sleep, and a few claimed that even the plants were poisonous and carnivorous, or both. It had a generally tarnished reputation.

Han started to deny her proposal, but he butted in. “We accept your offer,” he said, stepping forward. “I am Luke Skywalker, Jedi Knight and a peacekeeper of the New Republic. This is Princess Leia Organa, and Han Solo, the owner of our ship, the Millennium Falcon.”

“Or what’s left of it,” Kaylira said quietly. Han gave her his best Death Stare, but she shrugged it off nonchalantly. Although she was wearing a poncho, which hid most of her features, he imagined that her arms were well muscled from years practicing hand-to-hand combat, and possibly other fighting arts. She could probably take him on, and maybe even win, despite her small size.

Taking on his role as a peacekeeper of the New Republic, he stepped in. “Chewy, stay and guard the ship. Lead the way, Kaylira.”

She looked up at him with shy eyes, and something seemed to spark between Luke and the tiny blond girl. Then, as quickly as it had come, it was gone. She turned her violet eyes away from his and headed soundlessly into the undergrowth.

But Luke had the strangest feeling that he had seen those eyes before.

*Crush much, Luke? :P *