Playlist:

❶ "Luke and Leia"—Return of the Jedi OST

❷ "Lesson One" 0.44–2.12—The Last Jedi OST

⊘ Silence

❸ "The Spark" 0.49–2.15—The Last Jedi OST

After spending a few weeks consumed in Senate debates, Leia sneaked away from the incessant bickering in a back corridor. She rested her head against the corrugated steel wall and closed her eyes.

A prickle warned her. Not today. Please, not today.

The narrow passageway confined her—either back to the Senate or forward to meet her brother. Even at this distance, she could tell Luke was on a mission. She knew he was looking for her, for training.

She pivoted on her heel and bolted for the chamber.

"Leia, stop." The Jedi Master rested his hands on his hips and blocked the corridor.

She halted, glaring at her brother with her teeth clamped together.

"Lock it down, apprentice." He returned the glare.

"Luke, this is neither the time nor the place—" She reversed her path.

"Fine, my shuttle, tomorrow morning, 0600." He clenched his fists and narrowed his eyes. "Don't be late."

The senator marched out of the corridor with a fluttering in her chest. I have enough problems at home and in the Senate. Can't Luke see I need him as a brother, not as a Jedi Master? 

With a gurgle from her stomach, Leia pushed the thought from her mind and quickened her pace toward the refresher.

The next morning Leia rolled over and spewed into the receptacle Threepio had placed by the bed in the night. After wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, she glanced at the other side of the bed.

Han snored as drool dribbled down his chin.

Lovely. She grabbed the bin and hauled it to the commode. She groaned at the memory of her conversation with Luke and with the thought of Jedi training this morning. 0600 is too early. She pulled down the lids of her bloodshot eyes and splashed water on her face.

"Princess Leia," Threepio chimed from the corridor.

Should have closed that hatch. "What, Threepio?"

"Master Luke has sent a communication. He's expecting—"

"Tell him I'm on my way."

"But you're not even dressed—"

"Just tell him."

The fatigued senator pulled on light-gray athletic gear and coiled her braids at the base of her neck. 

Within a few minutes, she was dragging herself through the tall grass surrounding Luke's converted Imperial shuttle.

The white, triangular craft still bore the scorch marks from when it had escaped the exploding Death Star a few weeks earlier. The only thing that was different was a large Jedi Starbird painted in blue on the upper stabilizer.

Shading her eyes from the cresting sun, Leia discovered a blue-and-white astromech droid welding one of the hydraulic lifters on the loading ramp.

The droid beeped a cheerful greeting to the senator and spun its blue dome.

Leia grunted, not ready to face the morning or Luke.

With his arms crossed in front of his chest, Luke waited for her at the top of the ramp. His lightsaber hung from his belt on his left side, his black uniform making him appear even more resolute in his mission. "Good morning, apprentice."

I swear, Luke, if you call me "apprentice" one more time, there won't be a Jedi Order.

She peered into the main cabin. The blue lighting separated the Jedi from the gun-metal gray bulkheads. Otherwise, he would have blended into the decor, with only his face and silver lightsaber visible.

She wrinkled her nose, detecting a whiff of fresh paint hidden beneath the vapors of rocket fuel and welding ozone—a dangerous combination. 

"Good morning, Master Skywalker," Leia said with an edge to her voice and her arms crossed.

❶ His sky-blue eyes scrutinized her.

"Luke, what is it?" she asked, incapable of maintaining her animosity toward her brother for long.

"I'm not sure what, but there's something different about you today."

"Just exhausted." She glared at him. "I'm meeting Mon this morning. Can we get on with this?"

"Not a morning person, huh?"

She furrowed her brow. "What are we working on today?"

"The Force-push." He gestured to the floor. "Take a seat on deck. When learning levitation, you can lose your balance and sometimes your breakfast."

"Ugh, don't even mention food right now." As she sat on the floor, the chill of the metal deck plates cut through to her skin. She shivered.

"Are you set? Good. You've felt the Force tying living things together. Now, I want you to clear your mind and see the Force binding the non-living things as well."

❷ He closed his eyes and inhaled. "The air. Do you feel it?"

"It's cold—"

"Go past the cold. What about the moisture?"

She closed her eyes. "Yes. 

"Go deeper. Beyond the fractal patterns and particles, past the molecules. Can you see the atoms?"

Leia's upper body swayed in a trance. "It's like a rhythm. A heartbeat."

"Deeper. You can only see the Force when you center yourself and become at peace."

She opened her eyes and nodded.

"That's why patience is the cornerstone of Jedi conduct. If we aren't at peace, then we cannot fully tap into the Force—and that is when we are most susceptible to the dark side."

He set a training orb in between them. "We'll start with this sphere. I'm going to set it down over here, and I want you to draw it to you."

She sucked in a gasp of air and exhaled slowly for a few cycles. When she was at peace, she reached out around her with the Force, finding Luke first. She worked her way around the shuttle, discovering how each object felt and was bound with the Force. She stretched out her hand to reach for the remote. It rose a few centimeters before plummeting to the deck.

⊘ She jumped up, reeling in dizziness. She reached the rubbish bin just in time before nausea overcame her.

"I was afraid that would happen." He handed her some water to clean her mouth. "Drink some of this, too. Small sips. The nausea should pass soon."

Leia sipped from the bottle. The room-temperature liquid slid down her throat, washing the bile away. "Thanks, I'm feeling better again."

"Are you sure? It's an uncanny sensation until you get used to it."

"I'm fine. Really. Please, let's resume."

He pressed his lips together. "Okay, but let's keep this by you just in case."

❸ She started again, but the sphere did not even rise an inch before she regurgitated into the bin.

"Leia, take it easy." 

"Maybe you're ri—" she said before heaving again.

He moved beside her to support her through the next wave. However, when he grabbed her arm, his eyes lit up as a corner of his lip lifted. The Jedi Master handed her a towel to wipe her mouth.

"What's so funny?" She wiped her lips, pulling her head back and setting her face stiff in annoyance.

"Nothing. I want you to try one more thing before we quit." He brought his hand to his mouth and turned his head away from her to hide his smile.

She inclined her head toward him. "Do you really think that's wise?"

He smirked, raising his eyebrows and nodding. "Trust me."

"I've got a bad feeling about this." She shook her head.

He extended his hands. "Relax. I want you to count the people in the shuttle."

"Easy, one, two." She pointed to Luke and herself, puffing with impatience. "That's it."

"Not that way. Use the Force. Do you see our Force-signatures? Our auras?"

"Yes, you're blue—brilliant blue." A smile crossed her face for the first time in days.

"What else?"

"I'm a golden amber with a red center." Her smile faded into a grimace.

"You're wrong, Leia. That's not one—"

They both finished in unison, "That's two."

Leia brought her lips together and furrowed her brows with apprehension.

"Congratulations! Wait until I tell Han he's going to be a father!" Luke's eyes blazed as his warm smile ignited the surrounding air.

"No, don't. Please, Luke, let me tell him ... in my own time." She clutched his arm to steady herself.

As the Jedi schooled his emotions, she perceived the peace emanating from him to her, just like in those torturous months while Han was in carbonite. She knew that Luke would be there for her through this, just like he was back then.

"Sure, Leia. Whatever you want. As for training, we'll wait until the morning sickness passes."

"Thanks." She grimaced in return as another wave of nausea passed through her.

A boyish grin crossed his face. He kissed his sister on the cheek and helped her off the floor. "Come on, Sis, I'll escort you home.

Did you know ...

● Ben Solo's birthday falls before the Battle of Jakku, which occurs one year and four days after the Battle of Endor. Leia can be no fewer than two months pregnant right now, which means she conceived within one month of their marriage. 

● The Star Wars galaxy speaks Galactic Basic and writes in an alphabet called Aurebesh.  

● There are many other languages spoken throughout the galaxy, including Huttese, Mando'a, Ewokese, and Shyriiwook. The Jedi imported words into Galactic Basic from many different languages over the millennia.  Words like Padawan and Jedi retain their capitalization but are no longer italicized as foreign words. 

● The words master and knight come directly from Galactic Basic, which follows traditional English capitalization rules and are only capitalized when preceded by Jedi or Sith or when they are followed by a name. 

Examples:  

● Jedi Knight Luke Skywalker
● Jedi Fau
● Padawan Fau
● the knights
● the Padawan
● the Jedi

Tell me what you think ... 

● What do you think having a child this early in their marriage will do to Han and Leia's relationship? Bring them closer together? Separate them? Strain them without separation? Why?