Leana sat cross-legged on the slightly damp floor of Yoda's house, the top of her head brushing against the roof. Luke, being taller than her, had to hunch forward slightly. Yoda was puttering away in the area that passed for a kitchen. After making his bed – rather badly, Leana might add – he was now making something that smelled like mildew.

Leana was not looking forward to eating it – whatever it was.

Luke voiced those thoughts. "Why do we have to eat first? Can't we start training now?"

"Yeah," Leana echoed, wrinkling her nose at the smell.

Yoda turned around to face them, making an annoyed face. "Patience. Jedi have to eat, too. Otherwise, the Sith wouldn't have needed to kill us all off – we'd already be dead! Patience, Luke; patience, Leana. Eat first. If you pass out here from not eating, drinking, or for any other problems, heart-related or not, there is no hospital to take you to. We throw you into the swamp for Henry instead." He picked up two plates. "Here. It's a sandwich! Oh, how I just love these things! I haven't had a deli sandwich in a good twenty years! I have to eat this scrap instead."

The Jedi handed Luke and Leana each a plate with a funky looking sandwich, which was some strange shade of greenish-brown, had goo dripping out of it, and smelled horrible. The two Jedi prospects glanced at each other worriedly.

"Who's Henry?" Leana asked, partially to distract Yoda so he would forget about the food and partially because she was genuinely curious.

"He's the giant serpent that lives in the swamp," Yoda explained. "Henry's a good friend. He eats trespassers."

"Trespassers?" Luke repeated. "Like who? I doubt there are many beings just...you know, dropping in."

"You'd be surprised," Yoda told them. "You know how many Imperial solicitors I get yearly, asking me to subscribe to this or that magazine, or donate to the children stormtrooper fund? I hate Imperials, so I feed most of them to Henry to get them out of my hair."

So, he's like the uncles in Secondhand Lions, but way, way worse.

Somehow, this is not what Leana expected when she imagined going to visit Yoda. She had expected a bit more...canonical version of the Jedi Master. Not to mention one a little more in tune with the Jedi Code, and a little more in tune with intelligence.

"Wait," Luke said slowly. "I think we met Henry, Leana. It tried to eat R4-14."

"Right," Leana realized. And I attacked him with my lightsaber. Yoda's next victim may just escape this time around.

"Okay, now eat your food!" Yoda demanded.

"But what is it?" Luke asked.

"Rootleaf sandwich," Yoda answered.

"Rootleaf?" Leana repeated skeptically.

"Yeah, rootleaf," Yoda said, frowning down at the icky sandwiches. "It's not like there are any delis around here for me to get something more edible. Now eat it! Eat it and like it!"

"But you just said it was scrap," Leana protested.

"Don't quote me to me!" Yoda exclaimed. "Now eat it!"

Leana and Luke exchanged a glance. "No, thanks," Luke said.

"Yeah, I'm not hungry," Leana said. Any appetite she had was destroyed by the sight of that sandwich, anyway.

"I can't teach them," Yoda said irritably, turning away from them and throwing his hands up. "They have no respect for authority."

"That is why they need to be trained." Obi-Wan Kenobi's voice filled the hut, causing both Leana and Luke to jump, despite the fact that Leana should have seen this coming. "The Emperor claims authority over the galaxy and they resist. It is part of their promise."

"But they won't each the sandwich!" Yoda pointed out.

"If you recall, I wouldn't eat the sandwich you tried to make for me, either," Obi-Wan countered. Leana and Luke were glancing all around the hut, but they saw no sign of the Jedi Master. "And that one actually looked edible."

"True," Yoda said grumpily. "All right, I will train them. But both Luke Skywalker and Leana Ganner spend their time looking away to the horizon, missing what lies right in front of them. They think they will be better off being somewhere else, being someone else. A Jedi looks not for those things, but is content in their own skin, in their own times, in their own place. These two, humph! They are not."

"But we need to learn," Luke said, almost pleadingly. "Please, Master Yoda. I've learned so much already. I want to learn more."

"I've always dreamed of being a Jedi," Leana added, hurt by Yoda accusing her of ignoring the present in favor of the future. "And I never thought I would be able to, until today. Master Yoda, this moment is what I have been looking for. I don't need to look ahead anymore."

Yoda just looked at her. "If this moment is what you were looking for, waiting to be in, then why did you not eat the sandwich?"

Leana looked down at the sandwich, but seeing it again definitely set her mind against eating it. There were some things people were just not meant to do, and eating rootleaf sandwiches was one of them.

"Cut them some slack," Obi-Wan advised.

"Will they finish what they begin?" Yoda asked.

"As in the sandwiches or the training?" Luke asked for clarification. "Because I'll finish the training, but that's the only thing I'm committing to."

"Same," Leana said, nodding.

"We aren't afraid," Luke finished.

"You should be," Yoda said, narrowing his eyes at them. "You should be indeed. You will be afraid. In the end, you are all afraid. It is why you fail." He tapped their plates with his cane. "Now, finish the sandwiches."

****

Lumina stared out the cockpit viewport. Leia sat beside her, both of them sitting in silence. Lucas and Han were in the hold with C-3PO and Chewbacca, fixing yet another thing wrong with the Falcon.

Lumina knew it was approaching time for them to discover that they were actually inside a space slug, like she and Lucas had been trying to say all along. And she needed Han to take off sooner rather than later. Not necessarily because the space slug would eat them otherwise – they would just barely make it out – but because the point of being here in the first place was to learn how to change the story of Star Wars, so they could later alter Revenge of the Sith. Ben had died because of them being here. Lumina swore to make his death worth something, anything.

She blinked, refocusing on the walls outside the viewport as she watched for the mynocks that should soon appear. Suddenly, there was movement and Lumina straightened.

"Did you see that?" Leia asked, also sitting up.

"I saw something," Lumina said, standing in anticipation of what was coming.

The mynock they had spotted slammed into the window, making Leia gasp and Lumina turn and run out of the cockpit. Leia quickly followed after her, the two entering the hold.

"Sir, if I may say what I think –" C-3PO was saying.

"Threepio, I'm not really interested in what you think," Han brushed him off.

"Well, I am," Lucas protested. "Don't be rude." He glanced over at Lumina as she came to a stop. "Hey, Lu."

"Captain Solo, there are mynocks out there," Lumina told him.

"Some flying creature," Leia agreed.

"Mynock," Lumina insisted.

"Where?" Han asked, turning to face the girls.

"Outside, in the cave," Leia answered.

Something struck the hull outside, the thud echoing through the hold as the noise came again. "That's it," Lumina confirmed.

"Come on," Han said, taking a breath mask off a rack.

"You're going out there?" Leia demanded. "Are you crazy?"

Han shook his head. "No. Just sensibly insane. I'm not going to let whatever-it-is tear the Falcon apart."

"I said they were mynocks!" Lumina exclaimed in frustration as she and Lucas grabbed masks as well.

"I'll see that for myself, missy," Han snapped. "I'm not trusting you on this."

"Oh, like we haven't been right every time before?" Lucas asked sarcastically. "Like, about the hyperdrive? And the probe droid?"

Han ignored him, slipping his mask on.

"Well, I'm coming," Lucas declared, copying Han.

"Me too," Leia and Lumina echoed simultaneously.

Chewbacca barked as they all put their masks on and left the hold, tramping toward the ramp. C-3PO hovered behind them anxiously. "I think I'll stay here. And guard the ship."

Lumina followed Han and Lucas down the ramp, tensing. She could see Lucas gripping his lightsaber tightly, the one he had stolen from Vader. She still couldn't get over the fact that he had done that and lived to tell about it. Han and Chewbacca held their blaster and bowcaster, respectively, leaving Leia and Lumina weaponless.

"This ground feels strange," Leia said, shifting her weight cautiously. "It doesn't feel like rock."

"That's because it isn't rock," Lucas grumbled, thumbing the switch on his lightsaber. The red blade ignited and cast eerie light on their surroundings, causing Han to jump and lean away from him almost warily.

"There's a lot of moisture in the air," Han pointed out. "Very humid."

"Like South Carolina," Lumina mumbled, glancing around her at the inside of the space slug.

"I don't know," Leia murmured. "I got a bad feeling about this."

"Me, too," Han admitted.

"That's because we're inside a space slug!" Lucas exclaimed. "The moisture, the strange footing – put it together, man!"

"Be prepared to run," Lumina warned.

Chewbacca gave a short bark and gestured to Han, who lifted his blaster and fired. A creature shrieked and fell to the ground, twitching.

"Mynock," Lucas declared as Han knelt to examine it.

"It's mynock all right," Han affirmed, almost reluctantly.

"See?" Lumina said to him, satisfaction tinging her tone. "Told you."

"Let's clean the rest of them off," Han said, rising. "They're chewing on the power cables. Leia, Lumina, go ahead and get inside."

Leia and Lumina started for the ship, Lumina knowing they wouldn't get far. Lucas was already shifting toward them, readying for the swarm they both knew was coming.

The swarm of mynocks appeared out of the darkness and flew around them, Lumina crouching down and covering her head with her arms. Lucas' red blade slashed through the air as he leapt toward them, cutting through one mynock. Han and Chewbacca fired at the mynocks, scoring hits on several as Lucas cut through a couple others, and then one of Chewbacca's laser bolts missed its mark and hit the side of the space slug. The entire slug shook from the sting, causing tremors to ripple through Lumina's body.

"Odd," Han muttered.

"I told you it was a space slug," Lucas said in exasperation, shooting a glance at the smuggler. "Now, how about we get out of here before it decides to not let us leave?"

Lumina looked at Han to see him pointing his blaster at the ground, preparing to fire. She tensed, ready to run. If he fired, the space slug would lurch and they would have to make a speedy escape. But if they could convince Han not to fire....

"Han," Lucas said quietly. "You really want to do that if this is a space slug? Or would you rather leave now, without antagonizing the giant creature whose gullet we're currently sitting in?"

"It's not about whether we're right or not," Lumina added in a low voice. "It's about making it out of here safely. Captain Solo, no one gains anything if you shoot the space slug. We only lose. Please, let's just get out of here."

Han glanced over at Lucas and then to Lumina, his gun still aimed at the ground. Then he holstered the blaster. "Let's go."

Lumina felt like cheering, and one look at Lucas showed her he did, too. But they had no time. Lumina didn't know what changed, now that Han didn't anger the space slug further by shooting it. Would its mouth be open? Closed?

The group hurried up the ramp, Han hitting the panel to close it as they all yanked their masks off. "Pull her up, Chewie! Let's get out of here!"

Okay, so the dialogue didn't change.

Chewbacca and Lucas headed for the cockpit while Han ran into the main hold. "The Empire is still out there," Leia began. "I don't think it's smart to –"

"No time to discuss this in committee," Han interrupted.

"I am not a committee!" Leia insisted, chasing after Han as he took off for the cockpit, Lumina trailing after them. Chewbacca and Lucas were already getting ready for takeoff when they entered the cockpit. Lucas slid out of the pilot's chair and moved behind Lumina's seat as she sat down. She glanced back, assuming he was going to stand behind her again, but then frowned as she saw him leave the cockpit.

"You can't make the jump to lightspeed in an asteroid field!" Leia was protesting to Han, drawing Lumina's attention back to the present situation.

"Relax, sweetheart," Han said. "We're taking off."

"Besides, the hyperdrive still doesn't work," Lumina said. "So we can't make the jump, anyway, no matter where we are."

The Millennium Falcon lifted off, the lights illuminating the inside of the space slug as they headed up the throat. C-3PO came into the cockpit as Chewbacca growled.

"Watch out," Leia warned.

"I see it," Han muttered.

The teeth of the space slug jutted up from the bottom and hung down from the top, forming intimidating obstacles. Lumina's eyes widened as the Falcon moved toward them, for despite Han not shooting the space slug a second time and them getting a head start, the mouth was still closing, the distance between the teeth narrowing too quickly for her taste.

The Falcon sped up, all eyes intent on the closing teeth.

"We're doomed!" C-3PO declared, and in this moment, Lumina was inclined to agree with him.

"The mouth is closing!" Leia exclaimed, looking at Han.

Lumina knew in her heart, as she looked ahead, that there was no way they would make it out.

Then two red laser blasts lit up the space ahead of them, striking at the bottom of the teeth, and the mouth opened suddenly as if the space slug was crying out in pain. The Falcon zipped out of the space slug, hurtling out into the asteroid field as the space slug made a low, shuddering noise as if in pain.

Lumina started up, hurrying out of the cockpit in time to see Lucas climbing out of the gunwale, grinning triumphantly. "You did it!" she yelled, hugging him. "What made you think to do that?"

"Well," Lucas said, drawing back, still grinning widely. "It came to me that if something sharp and painful hit my lower gum, I probably wouldn't close my mouth but would scream in pain. I hoped space slugs shared the same sensibilities."

Lumina laughed as they headed back into the cockpit, for the moment victorious. The rush of adrenaline had made her excited with their near escape, chasing away a bit of her grief over Ben, and Lucas was hailed as a hero by Han, Leia, C-3PO, and Chewbacca on entering the cockpit.

"I misjudged you, kid," Han said, giving him a nod.

And Lumina could tell that Lucas took that as the highest form of praise.