Playlist:

❶ "Marion's Theme"—Raiders of the Lost Ark OST

Luke scanned the medical chamber as he grasped Naluma's hand. Jannah and Tandolleau sat on the foot of his bed, both as pale as ghosts. Wedge stood to the side in one corner. Luke felt weaker than even after the wampa attack on Hoth.

"Thank you, all of you. I'm still not sure what happened ..." Luke said with a tremulous voice.

Naluma said, "Sh. There'll be time to talk about that later."

Something nagged Luke. If Wedge is here, that means I'm on Freedom. But why is Naluma here? The pressure of his well-wishers compressed his thoughts.

He gazed at Naluma as peace flowed between them. He had never seen her so relieved before. He had to find out what had happened. "Can I have a minute with Jedi Fau, please? Jedi business."

"Luke, you should rest." Naluma's eyes bored into him.

No.

As he headed out the hatch, Wedge said, "Glad you're still with us. When you're feeling up for a visit, have the medtech comm me."

Luke smiled at his old friend. "Will do, Wedge."

Jannah said, "What about our mission?"

Tandolleau grabbed her hand and glared at her.

"You guys did great. Thank you. We'll talk about your mission later." Naluma nodded toward the hatch. "Now, go grab some rack time."

❶ As they left, Luke scooted on his gurney and pulled Naluma to his side. He needed her energy, but he also knew how depleted her resources were. He took her hand back in his, wrapping her arm under his arm. "So, what happened?"

"I don't know everything. What do you remember?"

"Jumping to hyperspace. Meditated for a few hours ... nothing after that." Luke shook his head.

"When your ship came out of hyperspace, you were in deep hypothermia with no life-support and no power. Artoo drained his power to get you here. They towed you in."

"How did you get here? Aren't you supposed to be on a mission on Ruusan?"

"Let's stick with one problem at a time," Naluma said with her lips upturned. "When I got here, the meddroids were ready to pull the plug."

Luke looked at her in question.

"I wouldn't let them." She sniffed a tear away. "Maybe Master Yoda is right. Maybe attachments lead us to wrong decisions."

"Don't say that."

"Oh, Luke, when I felt you die, I couldn't bear the pain. I almost aborted my mission as soon as I arrived because of it."

"But you didn't."

"But the temptation was so strong. It wasn't just losing you as my lo—my friend ... I'm not ready to take over the Order." Naluma took a breath. "If you didn't survive, neither would the Jedi."

He wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled her head to him. "I wasn't ready to lead the Order either when I took you as my Padawan. My father helped. So did some of the other Jedi Masters."

"Luke, if they wouldn't heal you, I was going to disband the Order. What's the point of having all this power if you can't keep those you love alive?"

"They agreed to that?"

"They had no choice. Tandolleau and Jannah threatened to leave as well."

Luke chuckled, which quickly turned into a hacking cough. When it subsided, he said, "You three bullied Master Yoda?"

"You better believe it. Your father helped. The Force-ghosts crowded this room to capacity. You should have seen it." Naluma sniffed again, wiping her tears on the back of her sleeve. "Master Yoda healed you."

"That's why Tandolleau and Jannah were wiped out."

Naluma nodded. "Yeah."

"I thought I was hallucinating. They really were here," Luke said as he tried to comprehend it all.

After a few minutes of silence while they both tried to assimilate everything that had happened in the last few hours, she asked, "So, about your mission ... should we send Jannah and Tandolleau on alone? Or wait for you to recover?"

"I don't know how much longer we can postpone this. Besides, the First Order may change their minds and just execute Frensu. Every moment is another torture for him." Luke closed his eyes as he felt the pilot's anguish through the Force. "You go with them."

"Uh, after today, I don't think anyone's going to let me near a cockpit."

Luke tilted his head at her and raised his eyebrows in question.

"We owe the Republic an X-wing."

"How bad?"

"I crashed into the secondary bay. Half the S-foils gone, nose crunched, damage to the bay," Naluma said with clenched teeth forced into a smile.

Luke sighed. "You're grounded." He kissed the side of her neck.

"Best news I've heard today. I don't ever want to fly again."

"But you're still on the mission. Jannah's almost as good of a pilot as Tandolleau."

"Yeah, but you were going on the mission for the prestige factor. I'm a nobody. It will make no difference if I am there beside Jannah."

"It will. You're our best saber fighter. If things get dicey, they'll need you." Luke nuzzled his head against hers.

"You're better."

"Not by much, and I'm out of commission for a while. You'll do fine." He ran his fingers through the wisps of her hair that had escaped her chignon tie.

Naluma sighed. "All right. I'd rather just blow in there and take him. I'm tired of all these charades."

Luke tilted his head and smirked. "So what happened on your mission? You can skip the part where you crashed the fighter into the cruiser."

"When Wedge sent me a top-secret communication, Colonel Keelu hauled me in and accused me of spying for HQ."

"Sounds like he's guilty."

"I think he's guilty of something, but I don't think it's kidnapping recruits. Maybe marketeering or something like that. Wei'ahtt figured I'd blown my cover. He helped me steal an X-wing. Doing just great until they started firing on me and closed the shields."

"Why didn't you just contact Wedge?"

"No helmet. No communications. From what Wedge said, I assume Ruusan sent out an alert about a stolen X-wing. XO followed standard operating procedure," Naluma said with a tired yawn.

"Wei'ahtt still on the mission?" Luke asked.

"Yeah. I'll have to contact Madine to report this debacle."

"He can wait. I'll report for you once you leave for Castell."

"Do you know what Madine tried to make me do?"

"No. What?"

"Take an enlistment oath. Can you believe that?" Naluma huffed. "If I were a Sith, I would have hurled him against the wall and let him hang there for a couple of hours—upside down."

"That would have been fun to see," Luke said with a smile. He pulled her head to him and kissed her on the forehead. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Love me?"

"Always."

Did you know ...

● Originally, the Force-ghosts were not going to take part in Luke's healing. They just showed up in the last chapter and demanded to be let in. (Characters can be that way sometimes.)

● I wanted to put limitations on the Jedi. They are not above physical injury or illness. Every group goes through shock when their leader is taken out of commission, whether temporarily or permanently. It is these moments that cause them to grow and for potential leaders to step it up a notch.

Tell me what you think ...

● If the Force-ghosts had thought Naluma ready to lead the Jedi Order would they have still saved Luke?

● How has Naluma's attachment to Luke affected her commitment to Jedi doctrine?