✧ Second Rebellion ✧

[borntorebel]

Action - Locked to House 46

[The smell of rotting flesh was heavy in the air. The moans and groans of the injured and dying cut through the silence with a despair that Leia couldn't remember actually being so close to. All she knew was that she had to get the baby in her arms to some place safe so that she could help the child's mother.

Luke and Han... She'd come with them both. It was a mission of peace to help these poor people who'd been attacked by the Third Party. She couldn't see either of them anywhere. In fact, all of the people she'd seen from the Luceti enclosure were just gone.

And the area was silent again, aside from the sound of the child she carried. It made a low mewling, reminding Leia of a cat, that quickly turned into the sound of a familiar and dreaded ventilator. She looked down at her arms, realizing with horror that she was carrying a miniature Darth Vader that clung to her as she tried to throw it from her on reflex.

"Mother..."]

NO!  [Leia sat up, soaked in sweat as she tried to remember the dream she'd just woken up from. Pagoda...a child...Darth Vader...The same nightmare she'd had since she'd returned to her brother's home in the Luceti enclosure.] Of course...

[She looked over at the empty space next to her on the large bed and sighed. The person who was supposed to be there was probably tossing and turning out on the terribly uncomfortable couch in the living room. It had been two weeks since he'd been there and she was starting to cave, but she'd tell him in the morning. Reconciling would require yelling, and she was still very tired.

With an exhausted yawn, she laid back down and closed her eyes, falling back to sleep nearly immediately. Only to find that she was stuck in a very familiar dream. The Death Star, Moff Tarkin and Vader all before the beautiful image of Alderaan seconds before it was blown out of the galaxy, along with everything she'd known in her life.

Instead of waking up with a scream from this one, Leia knew she had tears streaming down her face. She knew because the ache in her chest meant that her heart still existed. She was never going to go back to sleep, not when she could see the sun starting to rise out over the horizon from the window. So, with a stifled sob, she wiped at her face and headed towards the kitchen, looking for something warm to drink.]


Voice- Later in the day (Locked from House 46 residents)

Hello everyone. This might seem like a strange request, but I am looking for someone who is skilled in cooking who'd be willing to teach me and a friend. Perhaps two or three times a week in the afternoons?

Comments

Action

[notsosolo]

[It's no great surprise that Leia moving around wakes Han up. The couch is not exactly conductive to deep sleep. When he sees that it's Leia, and how she walks, he's up in an instant.]

Leia.

[Yes, he knew she was mad at her. But... those were tears. Tears in the middle of the night. He knows what this is. He hurries to her side]

Nightmares?

Action

[borntorebel]

[She stops in her tracks at the sound of Han's voice. When he's there staring down at her with his worried expression she can't help but feel the last of her anger melt away.

It takes a few times for her to work up the ability to talk.]

Yes.

[He'd been there for some of the worse ones after the end of the battle on Endor's moon. So, she smiles harshly as she looks up at him.]

New ones.

Action

[notsosolo]

[Han gathers her up in his arms. He hates that there's almost a routine to this]

Pagoda?

[That place had been a nightmare. It was only natural.]

[borntorebel]

[She doesn't fight him as he pulls her against his warm, strong body. She hates these nightmares with a passion, hates that they seem to be lessened by his presence, hates that she feels the desire to cry again. But this is where she really wants to be when she's so upset.

She takes a moment to just remember what it's like to be held by him before answering the question.]

Partially. Vader. Death. Alderaan.

[notsosolo]

[Han tries to nudge her in the general direction of the couch. It's plenty comfortable for sitting purposes.

The rest of the nightmares were variations on a familiar theme. Though he could certainly think of new turns the Vader nightmares might take given the circumstances.]

I've got you. You're safe here.

voice

[folklorist]

Ah, well, I am helping someone else learn how to cook. If-if you'd like I could also teach you how to as well? [ Helios doesn't mind having more students after all. ]

I run Mythoria Cafe right above Seventh Heaven. Perhaps on the days we practice you could give me a hand there. [ That's the best kind of practice after all. ]

Re: voice

[borntorebel]

[She remembers where Seventh Heaven is, but not this cafe that he's talking about.]

Hm, it sounds very reasonable as a form of payment. However, I've never done something like that before. Will that be an issue? I don't think my friend has either.

[Because what do princesses know about customer service jobs?]

voice

[folklorist]

Ah, well, it shouldn't be an issue, no. I-I mean you'll most be cooking easy things just to help when there's a rush of people. [ Easy things first. It's not like the cafe has gourmet style foods anyway. ]

And your friend is fine with this as well? You can ask them beforehand. I-I wouldn't want to force you into doing anything that makes you uncomfortable!

voice

[borntorebel]

Please don't worry about making me uncomfortable. [No one else does.] I am asking for the favor after all. As for my friend, I will ask her if your terms are agreeable to her.

If there are no problems, when would you like to begin?

Action

[averybadfeeling]

[Obi-Wan has been avoiding House 46 and all his housemates since his return, uncertain how to handle the emotions they conjured. Tonight, however, he had decided it time to come home. He could not run from his emotional instability, nor from the people closest to him.

And so late one night, he returns quietly to the house, past a slumbering form on the couch, and toward the kitchen. He'd brought a new tea on his way home, and-

And that wasn't good. He felt the emotional upheaval from one of the rooms.

A nightmare, perhaps? But as familiar as the presence was, he hadn't met them. He shouldn't intrude, as much as the flash of emotion bothered him. He forces himself to stay out in the kitchen.

Moments later, however, it's a moot point, as a woman emerges from the bedroom. A woman he's seen, briefly, in the past, through Luke and through those odd fictions.

Leia Organa.]

"My apologies, we haven't been introduced yet... Would you perhaps care for some tea?"

ction

[borntorebel]

[Leia looks up at the unfamiliar voice, a little surprised to see him. She's about to ask him who he is, when she realizes that she has seen him before, once. On the Death Star, fighting against Darth Vader, but much older.

General Obi-Wan Kenobi of the Jedi Council. Beardy.]

We may not have been introduced before now, but I know who you are, General Kenobi. You served my father during the Clone Wars. I mean... Bail Organa. My father.

[Though she might be Anakin Skywalker's daughter through birth, she would always think of her father as Bail Organa. However, Luceti makes things very difficult for her and she nods as she enters the kitchen completely.]

Tea would be wonderful, thank you.

[averybadfeeling]

"Ah, we both recognize each other. That does simplify things."

[He offers a slight smile.]

"Senator Organa was a good man."

[For a politician, particularly. Still, probably best not to say that to another politician, so instead he goes about making the tea.]

"You seem troubled, is everything alright?"

[borntorebel]

[To hear someone speak of her father after the nightmare she's just had is like twisting the knife that's already in her heart and she has to turn her head a bit so he can't see just how it's affected her.]

Nightmares. Nothing new. They'll pass.

[The best thing for a time like this is deflection.]

I heard that you were here, but this is hardly the way I thought we'd meet.

Voice

[niceguypose]

To teach you... It would be an honor beyond words!

Voice

[borntorebel]

Lee? Is that you?

Voice

[niceguypose]

That's right! Do you now anyone else who sounds so youthful?

Re: Voice

[borntorebel]

[Is he serious? No one in the entirety of forever sounds like Rock Lee. But he has a habit of not saying his name as well.]

No, I can't say that I do. As far as my request goes, I was under the impression from your own recent messsge to the village that you were a busy man.

[thefinaljedi]

[The sound doesn't wake Luke so much as the outpouring of negative emotions. Luke's already in the kitchen when Leia arrives, preparing a Lando Special. Without turning around, he asks the obvious question?]

Are you alright?

[borntorebel]

[Once upon a time, it 've bothered her that someone else knew her so well. Now, she's just grateful. The fact that she doesn't have to be alone after those nightmares is a huge relief.

She sits down at the table and discreetly wipes the rest of her tears away.]

I'm not sure. I will be in a few minutes.

[thefinaljedi]

[He does some stuff with a microwave, some milk in the fridge, and a powder he stirs up, and a moment later he sets down a steaming mug of hot chocolate on the table in front of her.]

Drink this. Something Lando introduced me to on Ord Mantell.

[borntorebel]

Thank you.

[Questioning Luke never even occurs her, but she does sniff her drink before sipping it. Instead of yhe sharp tang of alcohol that she was almost expecting-and wouldn't've minded-it gives off a rich, thick scent and taste that she's never come across. The fact that it's heated adds to the pleasant sensation.]

Lando introduced you to this but kept it from me, hm? What is it?

Action

[padme_amidala]

( She hears the cry in the night - nightmares are sadly not uncommon in their home - and rises from bed in one graceful motion. Her steps pause for a second to grab her robe and then she is rushing to her daughter's side in the kitchen. )

Leia? ( If the young woman had been in her bedroom, she might have knocked first, but since she is out in the open, Padmé doesn't stop herself from stroking over her hair and embracing her with one arm. )

I heard you. Was it a bad dream?

[borntorebel]

[Leia turns on light feet, ready in case of attack like she'd been trained since her capture by Vader. It's a sign of how jumpy and ramped up she is from the horrible images of her dreams that it takes a moment for her mother's familiar presence to register, both in the Force and in her mind.

The stroking of her hair reminds her so much of Breha that Leia can't help but fight back more tears as she tries to answer the woman whose hazy face had always been a comfort and gift to her growing up.]

Mother, forgive me. I didn't mean to wake you.

[padme_amidala]

I'm glad you woke me. ( Sleeping through nightmares and letting someone she loved suffer isn't acceptable to her. ) Sit down and let me make you some tea.

( She isn't going to pry. Nightmares are personal and sometimes it's easier to let the mind drift away from them rather than focus on them. )

I remember running to my mother and father's room when I had nightmares as a child.

[borntorebel]

[Without much thought, Leia takes a sest at the battered and well-used table like she was told. It's something she would have fought against as a child, but being without any parents or family for the past five years has made her miss certain things.]

Dad...Bail Organa used to let me sneak into his and Queen Breha's bed after some nightmares. But that didn't happen often.

[The really scary stuff came when she reached the age of maturity.]