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the money, just the fun of it.  Don't sue us.
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What Dreams May Come

        In one hand Leia Organa carried her mother's Deianeran sword. In the 
other, she had a handful of her ceremonial gown, lifting it above her 
feet as she ran up the stairs in the Great Hall. She'd had to do the 
same in the street, dodging broken pieces of permacrete lest she trip 
over them as she tried frantically to make her way to the palace, which 
was somehow still whole, unlike the shattered homes on either side of 
the street. She took the steps two at a time, running the sword through 
an attacking Imperial officer as she reached the landing, not even 
thinking in the action. It was all reflex.  Not Jedi reflex, but the old 
Deianeran way... the way the sisterhood had long ago taught her. The way 
her mother had taught her. She paused only long enough to take the head 
off a stormtrooper, then she was dashing down the corridor, which was so 
very familiar to her, bursting through the old-fashioned carved wooden 
door.
        The chamber was covered in blood... *their* blood, she knew 
instinctively, even before she saw the bodies sprawled on the floor, one 
looking as though it had been reaching for the other. 
        "You're too late," a cultured voice said... *his* voice, his death mask 
visage twisting into a cruel smile.  "I have rid the Empire of these 
traitors forever."
        With a scream of outrage, Leia lunged forward and ran the sword cleanly 
through his heart. But she received so satisfaction from his death, felt 
nothing as Grand Moff Wilhuf Tarkin slid to the floor.  
        Then she sank to her knees beside the blood-soaked bodies of her 
beloved parents. A second scream, this one of deepest grief, was torn 
from her throat....

        "Leia!"
        Leia opened her eyes in the dim room she knew to be her own bedchamber, 
and blinked twice before she realized it was her husband who was shaking 
her.  She woke up gasping, thrashing out at the man in the darkness who 
was trying to hold her down.
        "Leia, Leia, it's me, Han."
        Leia suddenly lay still, realizing where she was. She felt the hot 
tears running down her cheeks, and she could feel the sweat sticking to 
her, yet oddly, she was cold. She reached out for her husband in the 
dark.
        He held her to him, and she clung to him for dear life, but she said 
nothing. For a long moment, they just sat there in silence, Han knowing 
she needed time. Finally, after a time, he whispered in to her hair, 
"Another nightmare?"
        Leia sighed shakily, "Yes..."  Nightmares were something they both 
suffered from...at least once every other week, they were in each 
other's arms, comforting each other. Tonight, it was Leia's turn to be 
comforted. 
        "You wanna talk about it?" Han asked.
        "Oh, just a new spin on an old theme...trying to save my family again."
        Han rubbed her back...Leia often had nightmares about Alderaan.  He 
kissed her forehead softly. "Any new revelations?"
        Leia shrugged. "I got to cry this time."
        Han wiped her face gently with his thumbs, "You seem better now." 
        Leia smirked softly, "Maybe because I got to do it in the dream, I 
don't need to now."
        Han smiled more to himself than at her, "There's psychobabble for you."
        He felt her shake her head, "Call it what you like. It makes sense 
though."
        He pulled her closer to him, "I guess." He stroked her hair. "But you 
know there's a reason you're dreaming about Tarkin." 
        Leia sighed. "I don't want to think about it being true.  "Did that 
weird old buddy of yours find out anything?" she asked hesitantly.
        "Jaxxon?" Han smiled. "Yeah, he's weird all right. Let me give him a 
call now. Set your mind at ease."
        Han got out of bed and dialed up the HoloNet connection to his old 
pal, the rocket-ridin' rabbit who was checking out the rumors.  Jaxxon 
looked tired. His whiskers were bent out of shape. 
        "Hey, Jax." Han said. 
        "About Tarkin", the tall green rabbit cut Han off. "I have bad news.  
He's alive. Or maybe a clone."
        Leia was still sitting in the bed. She didn't want to hear the call. It 
must be bad news as Han had just quickly turned down the audio. She 
pulled the covers about her tighter and shivered. This had been the 
worst nightmare of them all. It had all felt so real, the sites, smells, 
sounds ... the blood. She had been there! 
        Leia closed her eyes and tried to relax. With her recent retirement 
from the Presidency she had had the time to go to Luke and truly begin 
her training. It had been so wonderful to spend all that time with her 
brother. Those happy memories filled her mind driving the darkness and 
horror away. Her little niece and nephew were there. Their love for her 
lightening her world. Luke and Mara were so happy together, just like 
she and Han. Leia's children now being grown and away on Jedi 
assignments had left her somehow alone. Maybe that is why these 
nightmares have started.
        Too many questions! 'NO, I won't think about this!' She forced herself 
to return to happier memories and then felt a hand on her shoulder.
        "Feeling any better, Leia," Han asked soothingly?
        Leia opened her eyes and stared up at the man she loved. "Yes, now."
        Leia swung her feet to the floor. She grabbed her robe and quickly 
kissed Han on the cheek. "Better shave," she smirked. "I'll meet you in 
the usual spot for breakfast, ok?"
        Han rubbed his jaw thoughtfully as he watched the retreating form of 
his wife. "Anything for you," he mumbled and headed for the now unused 
children's bathroom.  Han was glad of the time to think about what his 
friend had told him.
        Leia felt her spirits rise and she dropped the eating utensils lightly 
onto the table. This was comfortable, familiar. She wondered what 
strange omelet concoction Han would create this morning.
        The annuciator sounded and Leia walked to the door. She hit the key and 
watched it blur open. Standing in the hall was the source of her 
nightmares, the Grand Moff Tarkin or his clone.
        Leia gasped. Tarkin raised his blaster. "Pity," he said, and fired a 
blast into Leia's chest.
        She screamed...

        Leia sat straight up in bed, the sweat pouring down her face. Her 
breath was fast and panicked, but it slowed as she realized there were 
no holes in her chest. Leia cursed and fell back on her pillow "Not 
again".
        This time Han wasn't in the bed. "When will this end?" she whimpered 
into the air.
        "When you learn" the air answered her.
        "Learn what?"
        There was no answer. Leia rubbed her eyes and tried to think things 
through. It was something to do with Tarkin, with Alderaan, but what?
        "Let's see, I've cried, I've killed him, I've stayed, I've run, Blast 
it, I even stopped him from destroying Alderaan once, so what is it?"
        There was still no answer.
        Leia was beyond being frustrated by it all... there was no word to 
describe what she was feeling.  Except "tired."
        "Exhausted is more like it, I'd say," Grace Dodonna grumbled as she 
checked Leia's chart later that day.
        "How many hours are you sleeping a night?"
"I don't know," Leia confessed, wiping her hand across her eyes.
        "Three or four, tops," Han said quietly from behind her as he continued 
to massage her shoulders. Under normal circumstances, she would have 
resisted his suggestion to see her physician.  But these were not normal 
circumstances, and she would bet Han would have brooked no refusal this 
time.
        "How many times are you dreaming?" Dr. Dodonna asked, eyeing her 
patient critically.
        "I don't know that, either," the princess confessed. "There are dreams 
within dreams within dreams. And every one of them feels so real, I'd 
swear each time that I'm really awake, really *there*."
        Grace pursed her lips in a frown as she punched in some info on Leia's 
chart. "I'm putting you on medical leave," she said. 
        Leia was about to protest, but she realized she couldn't argue the 
point logically.
        "No more Senate work, and no more work on the Alderaanian council, 
either," the medic continued. "I want you home, resting."
Leia snorted at the idea.  If she could rest, she wouldn't be seeing her 
doctor now.
        "I can prescribe a dream suppressant," Grace suggested gently.
        "We've been over *that* one before," Leia answered irritably.
        "I know, I know," Dodonna answered. "But aside from suggesting you have 
Lisa weave you a dream web, I don't know what to tell you."
        Han smirked. "There you go, sweetheart... a Zingali dream web will 
solve the whole problem."
        Leia elbowed him. "Be nice... Lisa believes deeply in that sort of 
thing, and no one has the right to tell her not to."  Leia sighed, 
feeling defeated. No one, it seemed, was going to be able to help her 
solve this problem. Luke would tell her the presence of the Deianeran 
sword was a sign she was clinging to her old way of fighting, her 
reluctance to fully accept the Force's guidance. Lisa would tell her the 
sword meant she should seek the help of the Deianeran sisterhood in 
solving the problem. But Leia just didn't know. 
        Leia shook her head. "I have a better idea. Let's go on vacation."
        Han smiled. That was the best idea he'd heard in years.
        The next day the two of them were headed for Reesa, a resort planet out 
on the rim.

        Shella Norrin, the councilwoman from Alderaan, smiled in satisfaction.
Her efforts were paying off. All reports were that Leia was looking 
haggard and drawn, more each day.  And she wanted Leia to get more and 
more worn down.  A sleepless, tormented Leia would be a Leia who failed 
to do her duties. Such a person could no longer head the council of 
Alderaan's survivors.  And Shella wanted that role, so badly she could 
taste it.  Sometimes she wondered about her ally though.  Was he even 
fully human? Shella wasn't sure. Even now, in the room with him, in 
broad daylight, she couldn't see into his hood.
        "Has Leia left Imperial Center yet?" the mysterious figure asked.
        Shella was distracted. "Yes. this morning." Now that Leia was gone, she 
could take control of the agenda of the council. 
        "Good". the figure seemed satisfied. "Now she will be vulnerable."
        Shella looked sharply at her "friend". 
        "What was that?"
        "Nothing that you need to worry about", he said.  "You will no longer 
be needing me, so I will bid you goodbye..." 
        Shella frowned as her guest rudely departed, but she spent little time 
thinking of him. She had other more important things to tend to. She 
smiled to herself and headed for the door.

        Leia and Han had just made planet fall. This was a truly stunning 
planet, it orbit and rotation gave it 4 full seasons and there was a 
climate and area to suit nearly any species taste.  The main equatorial 
city spread out for miles but without Coruscant's dark towers and 
endless cityscape. There were parks and forest of which Leia had 
commented on during their decent.
        "I think I'd like a long hike through one of those northern forest. 
That one on the southwest of the northern continent looked interesting." 
Han was glad to see her smiling and interested in something other than 
nightmares.
        "Anywhere you want to go, my love." Leia and Han soon contracted for a 
suborbital craft and all the necessary equipment. Han did the packing 
and that evening they were on there way north.
        Little did they know what they would find within those beautiful 
forests...
 
        Han had taken care of the arrangements, but Leia wasn't too surprised 
to discover he had gotten them a little cabin in the woods.  When they 
entered, Leia knew she could find rest in this place. She and Han 
dropped their bags by the couch and went straight to each other's arms. 
"It's so peaceful here," she murmured to him.
        "I'm glad you feel that way," Han warm voice answered her. "I didn't 
even bring a weapon."
        Almost as if someone had touched a switch there was a cold and darkness 
to the air.
        Leia felt her body go on alert. "This isn't right."
        "What is it?" 
        "Outside."
        There was an old-fashioned walking stick next to the door. Han grabbed 
it and motioned for Leia to move further away. He cracked the door open 
and found nothing but the breeze.
        Leia stepped outside, the ill wind was still there.
        Then she saw him, the dark cloaked figure, emerging from the wood. Han 
was beside her grasping his walking stick as if it could ward off a 
hundred armies. 
        The figure stopped, still a good distance off, and pulled back his 
hood.
        "No!" Leia groaned.
        Tarkin's face grinned at her, but she felt frustration instead of fear.
         "Why you?!" 
        She turned to Han with the attitude of someone who'd just realized they 
had gotten worked up over nothing. "It's another dream," she explained 
to him.
        "Then, he can't hurt you," Han said. 
        Leia blinked, surprised by the simplicity yet hopeful, "No, he can't. 
He's dead and he can't hurt me."
        The air shimmered. "Is that it? Is that what I'm supposed to learn?"
        The air was still. Leia felt the weight of a lightsaber into her hand. 
She crossed to the grinning specter and cut him down with a smile of 
closure.
        Leia opened her eyes and found herself back in her own room. "I did 
it."
        She got out of bed and stretched. As she dressed, she enjoyed the 
catharsis. She stepped into the next room where Luke and Daala were 
sharing a kiss.
        "No," she moaned and hit her head against the wall.  "I figured it 
out," she pleaded. "This should be over."
        Nothing. 
        "Closer?" she tried again.
        "Almost," the air answered.

         Kalman'uro'anor, or Kalman, as he was known to his allies in old 
Imperial space, shuddered as he realized Leia had resisted his initial 
efforts to undermine her will through her dreams. The Chiss Force adept 
was not, however, one to give up.
If his people were going to gain a foothold in this area of the galaxy, 
they were going to have to remove the threat of the main Jedi first... 
or at least take their measure and determine what amount of force would 
be needed to overcome them.
         Kalman had thought that Leia's fears about Tarkin would be enough to 
overwhelm her.  He was a dream adept of the third rank, not one to be 
foiled so easily.  The fact remained, however, that she had won past his 
illusions. Was someone helping her? If so...who? 

        "Okay, stop it," Leia said, psychically pushing Daala and Luke apart. 
        Luke looked at her rather dumbly. Daala crossed her arms and scowled, 
"I don't see how..."
        "I'm getting tired!" Leia snapped back at her.  "Where's Tarkin?" Leia 
asked.
        "Huh?" Daala said.
        "Your his ex, I'm sure he's gonna pop up any moment for some reason or 
other."
"Tarkin was a thing long in the past Leia, even I know that," Daala 
sniffed as though embarrassed to have the affair brought up in front of 
Luke."
        "In the past, can't hurt me, dead and so on and so on, what else is 
there to do?"
        "Don't look at me," Luke said. "This isn't my battle. I've fought my 
own battles already."
        "You'd fight for me, wouldn't you?" Daala entreated.
        As if on cue, Tarkin stalked through the door.
        Daala became ashen. "You've betrayed me," Tarkin said coldly. "Formed 
an alliance with rebels! This is unpardonable. I'll have you sliced in 
half for treason!"
         As Leia watched the exchange, something clicked. She knew what she had 
to do, but how could she do it?
         Tarkin was advancing on Daala, raising his hand as if to strike her.
        "Tarkin!" Leia called. He stopped and turned towards her.  "Tarkin you 
murdered, my family, destroyed my home, killed thousand of innocent 
people to test the most monstrous invention in history, and then you 
tried to build something even worse. You deserve every horror your soul 
must be receiving."
        Leia caught her breath. For and a moment it stuck in her throat but 
then slipped out with an ease of self assurance. "And I forgive you."
        "What?" Tarkin hissed.
        "I forgive you."
        The air danced, delighted. As it danced the scene melted away. There 
was nothing left except a lone figure, a Chiss. Taller than Leia, but he 
seemed so much smaller. Somehow, she was able to name him. 
        "Kalman, I forgive you too, but this isn't getting either of us 
anywhere."

        Kalman pulled his hood over his blue skinned face and red eyes, and 
melted into the halls of the city. He had lost this battle, but he would 
try again...

END