Luke awoke abruptly to the ground beneath him shaking and cracking with flashes of light obscuring his vision. What he initially thought was his own head throbbing, turned out to be the thundering of storm clouds which seemed too close for his liking. When his eyes stopped rolling and his vision cleared he realised that he was in fact hanging upsidedown in his fighter which was lodged into the rocks where he had evidently crashed.

Luke only had the optimism to be relieved he had survived get another fighter crash, but that amusement was quickly replaced by panic as he saw - upside down still - a storm on the rocky horizons. The flashes of light which he had just chalked up to him being in a state of unconsciousness was on fact lightning.

The storm looked far away but from the way it seemed to hurtle his way and grow in strength, he realised it wouldn't be long before he would be caught in the storm. Being caught inside a compromised fighter ship (made of metal) was not the ideal place to be, if it had been an intact ship, he probably would have been secure but his fighter was now just a pile of debree.

Untangling himself from his seat and carefully climbing down to the ground, Luke gingerly took a few steps to regain his balance. He had a few bruises, cuts and a burn on his arm which was throbbing and probably needed to be delt with soon, but otherwise, he was alive.

Looking back to the deadly storm about to roll over him, Luke turned back to assess what he could salvage from the pile of junk his ship now was.

Thankfully, the emergency supplies kit which all fighters were equipped with hadn't been damaged that bad. He had rations for at best a month and medical supplies to at least stabilise his wounds. Luke highly doubted this planet was populated, after all the terrain didn't seem to hold any source of life and those storms looked deadly, so Luke searched for some scrap or anything worth while which he could potentially spice together to make a homing beacon.

Pulling his cloak from where it had caught the controls on the cockpit, he wrapped up everything he had and secured it over his shoulder before he turned to try and find shelter. There seemed to be something resembling mountains not far from where he was, hopefully he could get there and find a cave before the storm hit.

Quickly navigating his way across the terrain, the wind picked up and the temperature began to drop rapidly. Now struggling to keep his balance without using the force to ground him as he made his way towards the mountains, he noticed smoke coming up over the next ridge. At first he thought perhaps there was civilization here after all which was protected from the storm, but as he climbed over the ridge he noticed the debree of a ship scattered across the rocks.

It was the Sith Apprentice's ship which had crashed with him. Thinking it was highly likely she had died in the crash, Luke momentarily mourned her as though they had fought many times, he respected her for her skill and it was a shame to kill something with such potential in a simple fighter crash; at least if he had killed her, she would die in a respectful way as all duels between warriors should.

However, as he stretched out with the force, he drew back confused as he sensed she was not in fact dead, he had fought her enough times to know what her force signature felt like. But if her ship was in pieces, on fire and she was alive, why was she still there, why was she not searching for shelter like he was?

Staying completely still and stuck against the rocks, Luke waited a few more minutes as he tentively explored the area with the force. He had initially drew back when he had sensed her because he knew if she detected him she would be there already, trying to kill him. But as Luke stretched out again, he could feel that she was alive but felt a jolt of pain wave through him.

She was alive but unconscious and would likely be dead if left there any longer.

The young Jedi ignored the storm approaching momentarily as he contemplated his next move. She had tried to kill him on multiple occasions and was the second in command to Darth Maul. She embodied the dark side of the force and had played a hand in killing hundred under her command.

But she needed help and Luke, being the selfless Jedi he was, couldn't refuse a cry for help, even if the one in need wanted him dead.

Abandoning his search for shelter, Luke hoped he was not getting himself into something he would later regret as he jumped over the ridge and found himself standing in front of Jade's wrecked fighter with its left wing entirely ablaze now.

Making sure his supplies were secure over his shoulder, Luke approached the ship tentively. He could see her through the glass of the cockpit now which was cracked. Placing his hand over it, with a small burst of energy, the whole pane shattered and fell in pieces to the ground.

Clearing the smoke which had filled the cockpit, Luke could finally assess what had happened to the sith apprentice.

She was slumped awkwardly in her seat with her leg sticking out at a painful angle which Luke concluded meant it was broken. With her hair sticking in all directions and smudged ship oil over her face, she looked like she had been dragged through hell and back. The only notable thing which Luke noted was that at least whilst she was unconscious, she wasn't glaring at him which was a welcome change.

Knowing he didn't have time to delay, Luke untangled her limp form from the seat and hoisted her up onto his shoulder, holding her arm with is right arm and her leg with his left.

Looking back at the storm and swaying slightly in the wind and the added weight, Luke concluded he didn't have time to raid her ship for extra supplies, so he just hoped they could survive on what he already had.

When finally he found a cave big enough and warm enough for them to stay in, Luke sighed deeply when they escaped the freezing cold and the wind which was close to overturning him now.

Making sure they were as far into the cave as they could go, Luke gently and carefully placed a still unconscious Mara Jade down on the floor. Propping her up against the rocks, Luke unbelted her purple lightsaber and clasped it onto his own belt along with his green one; she didn't seem like the type to be greatful for help, especially when it was him who was helping so he just wanted to make sure she didn't have access to her weapon.

Sitting across from her, Luke sighed in relief as he dumped his supplies next to him and slumped to the floor to rest, if even for a few minutes.

***

"I'm gonna shut down everything but the emergency power systems." Han mused as he came back into the cockpit and sat himself down in the pilot's seat across from where Leia and Chewie were still doing repairs.

Another jolt from a bombing run above them shook the entire ship.

"Why are these guys so persistent?" Han huffed in irritation as he went back to the main controls.

"They probably guessed you had a Jedi on board. By now Maul's soldiers have probably ransacked the Hoth Base and checked the last few transmissions, that being you taking me aboard the Falcon." Leia explained in a monotone voice like she was reading something from a manual, something Han seemed curious about; she wasn't as lively as she was earlier.

"Yeah well if these bombing runs keep up, there'll be no asteroid left for us to hide in," Han mused before turning to his Wookie companion, "Chewie check the hyperdrive again, there's gotta be something we're missing."

Chewie nodded and gurgled his approval before exiting the cockpit, leaving the ex-smuggler and the Jedi alone.

Another jolt from a bomb discharge, this one stronger than the last, shook the Falcon again. This time, Leia lost her footing, stumbling back into Han who was pushed into sitting on the seat behind the pilot's seat. He had instinctually reached for her middle to steady her but instead he found himself now with her sat atop him and his arms around her.

"Let go," she insisted immediately.

"Shhh," he prompted, listening to see just how far away that bomb was this time and hoping the enemy wasn't getting closer.

"Let go please," she said again more forceful with a twang of desperation which Han had never heard in Leia's voice before.

"Don't get excited." He shot back, trying to cover up his genuine concern with his nonchalant attitude.

"Captain, being held by you isn't quite enough to get me excited," she gave him a glare as she turned to him, her entire body rigid.

Pulling her up to her feet and following suit, Han let go, knowing she obviously didn't like what he was doing. He may have been a criminal but he had known his boundaries when women - and men - told him bluntly what they did and didn't like. But Han being as coy as ever, just smirked back at Leia who did seem a little flushed, probably out of anger, and made to head out of the room.

"Sorry sweetheart, I haven't got time for anything else."

With that, he flashed her a grin before disappearing out the door to the cockpit. Leia stood there still for a few seconds, trying to collect her bearings and get rid of the pinkness in her cheeks which she had been unable to hide.

Leia had been surprised when she felt his arms around her. She knew he had only done so to keep her from falling to the floor so she should not be mad and yet she was. But she didn't know if he was mad at him or herself; he was only being kind and she had just continued to insult him.

Han had been nothing but kind to her and even when he was making jokes at her, she could tell he only meant to be humourous and not cruel but all she ever did was push him away whenever he tried to get close - mentally and physically.

Sighing in irritation, Leia muttered off curses under her breath as she returned to the repairs, trying to forget the feel of Han's arms around her middle.

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