Ben was freezing when the North Entrance of Echo Base came into sight, even with the Rebel parka. He could feel Lumina shivering behind him and urged his tauntaun to move a little faster, which it was quite eager to do.

"I can't believe this," she said, her voice muffled due to her shielding her face behind his thick hood. "We're actually at the Rebel base."

"I know," Ben said. "This is like something out of a dream. We're here, in Star Wars, riding a tauntaun."

Lumina laughed. "Of course that's what your highlight is."

"Well, I'd say it was nice to see the wampa in action, but after Leana..." Ben's voice trailed off, him not knowing the best way to continue that sentence.

Lumina's arms tightened around his waist comfortingly. "Leana's tough. She'll pull through."

"Of course she will," Ben echoed.

Lucas looked back at them from his position between them and Han, his expression a mix of excitement and worry. "We're here. We're here at last. This is real." He grimaced. "Too bad Leana couldn't ride up with us."

"She had her own entrance," Lumina told him. "She's in good hands."

Ben frowned. "Since when are Luke Skywalker's hands good hands?"

Lumina hit him. He couldn't feel it through his coat, but it made her point. "Shush! Not helping!"

"Sorry," Ben muttered. He wasn't good with dealing with emotional topics, and Leana being injured was definitely a touchy subject. She was always the spoken leader of their friend group, and to see her lying unconscious in the snow....

Lucas nodded. "It's fine."

The three followed Han through the Echo Base North Entrance. Several Rebels came towards them, grabbing the bridles of the tauntauns as they came to a halt. One helped Lumina slide off the animal and then Ben dismounted, the action feeling a little more awkward and lopsided than dismounting off of a horse.

Lucas jumped off, ignoring the Rebel ready to help him, and his legs crumbled out from underneath him on landing. "Ouch," he mumbled.

Han dismounted, glancing back at the three. "Come on, get up. Follow me."

Lucas shoved up onto his feet and brushed his jeans off as he trailed after Ben, Lumina, and Han. The hangar bay of the Rebels spread out before them, filled with the ships, starfighters, and speeders of the Rebellion.

"Whoa," Lucas breathed, staring at the Rebel fleet. "This is amazing."

Han grinned back at him. "You think this is something, kid? Wait till you see the Falcon."

Lucas' eyes widened. "Heck, yeah!"

Ben and Lumina glanced at each other and then hurried to catch up with the energetic Lucas and Han. "Good thing we've seen all the movies," Ben muttered.

Lumina gave him a wry look. "Good thing we're absolute nerds, Ben."

The two gazed at the ships as they followed their friend. Speeders, X-Wings, Y-Wings, transports, and more were spread throughout the large space. Rebels glanced up and over at the teens as they walked through the hanger, some looking curious as to the identities of the newcomers.

The Millennium Falcon loomed before them as Ben and Lumina caught up with Lucas and Han. Lucas was staring up at the ship in awe as they came alongside him. "Whoa," he breathed. "The Millennium Falcon."

Han grinned. "The fastest ship in the galaxy."

A muted bark came from above and Chewbacca came into sight, looking down at the four with what appeared to Ben to be a furrowed brow. But it was sort of hard to tell, due to the, well, fur.

"Chewie!" Han called. "How go the repairs?"

Chewbacca rumbled back at Han and Ben listened closely. The Wookiee was telling the smuggler that the repairs would go a lot faster with his help.

Han held up his hands in surrender. "Hey, hey, go easy. I'm coming up. Had to rescue a couple of lost kids."

Lumina and Ben glared at Han, Lucas too busy studying what he could see of the hull of the Falcon. Moving closer, he began to circle the ship. "Marvelous," he muttered. "This is so cool."

Chewbacca barked and Ben waved his hand in greeting before doing his best Shyriiwook version of a "hello." It came out weaker than a typical Wookiee's sound, but Ben was glad it came out understandable.

Chewbacca dropped the tool he was holding.

"You speak Shyriiwook?" Han demanded as Chewbacca disappeared from sight. Ben nodded.

"I'm fluent in quite a few languages," he said.

"Yet you can't speak a word of Spanish," Lumina muttered.

Ben frowned. "Hey, you had it easy. Your mother's from Mexico. You grew up speaking Spanish."

Lumina just rolled her eyes.

The Wookiee suddenly came around the side of the ship, now on the ground. He made a beeline for Ben and went to grab him.

Lumina jumped to the side, mouth gaping open, as Ben's life flashed through his mind. Did I say it wrong? he wondered belatedly. Did I accidently insult his mother? I was sure that one was pronounced differently....Maybe I shouldn't have stuck gum on Josh's keyboard before I left for school today....And shoot, I never got my Phil Collins CD back from Danielle....I'm going to die not remembering if it was actually a Phil Collins CD or a Genesis one....

As the Wookiee's paws alighted on his arms, Ben closed his eyes and prepared to lose both of his arms. I should have known better than to try Wookiee-speak.

But Chewbacca didn't tear off his arms. Instead, he shook Ben in what he, due to the Wookiee's expression, interpreted as a friendly greeting. It didn't feel so friendly, but the being didn't seem too angry.

It also helped that Chewbacca's words were welcoming and friendly.

Han laughed as Chewbacca released the rattled Ben. "He's excited to meet another being who understands Shyriiwook."

Lucas materialized above the group, grinning as he stood on the hull of the Falcon. "This is so awesome!" he called. "Han, if you need some help with the repairs, count me in!"

Han frowned. "What are you doing up there?"

"Just looking," Lucas told him. "No harm in that."

"Not unless you mess up my repairs, kid!" Han said. "Get off of there. You didn't touch anything important, did you?"

Subdued, Lucas shook his head and disappeared from sight. "Not yet," floated back to them.

With an annoyed sigh, Han glanced behind Lumina and Ben and his expression changed from annoyed to annoying. "Looks like your new babysitter's here."

Lumina and Ben turned around and their eyes widened.

Princess Leia was walking towards them, not looking too happy to see Han. Completely ignoring the smuggler, she stopped beside the two teens and smiled at them. "You must the ones Luke was telling me about."

"With Lucas," Ben said, gesturing to their other friend as he came sullenly towards them. "If Han doesn't kill him first."

Chewbacca growled as Lucas walked away from the ship. After giving the Wookiee a cautious look, Lucas gave him a wide berth as he skirted him and approached the others.

"I'm Leia," Leia introduced. "You are?"

"I'm Lumina Duly," Lumina said. "And this is Ben O'Connor and Lucas Skylark. It's an honor to meet you. We've heard so much about what you have done for the Rebel cause."

"You can take care of them now, Princess!" Han called as he and Chewbacca started to walk away.

"I thought you were on your way out of here!" Leia retorted.

"And I will be, just as soon as I finish these repairs!" Han shot back over his shoulder.

"There are two types of people," Ben said philosophically. "Those allied with the Rebel cause, and those who are rebels without a cause."

Lucas snorted as Leia turned back to them. "I'm sorry about that," she said. "Luke sent me to find you and tell you your friend Leana is going to be okay."

All three let out sighs of relief. "Good," Lucas said. "Can we see her?"

"Yes," Leia answered. "They just took her out of the bacta tank. She should be waking up soon. Come with me."

/**/

Sorry this chapter's so late! I've just been so busy lately it took forever to edit and post! But now, it's finally here.

Happy late Star Wars day, everyone! May the Force be with you!!!

Skylar Wittenborn