Midnight
a Star Wars story
by Hermione Eveningfall
It wasn't until near midnight when Luke Skywalker opened his eyes. The room was pitch black and quiet...well, with the exception of the ship's heat generator rumbling. Once his vision adjusted to the darkness, he sighed softly.
His numb body was starting to regain feeling to it at last, for he could feel tingles shooting through the ends of his fingers and toes. He could never remember having felt so cold in his life.
A sudden snore from Han in the next bed broke through his thoughts, and he almost immediately felt his nose itching. He rubbed it quickly with the back of his hand, but that only made it worse. Luke struggled to sit up, reaching under his pillow for the small pile of handkerchiefs he kept there for emergencies. He blew softly, his head throbbing afterwards. "Ow..." he muttered, closing his eyes and trying to block out the pain. "Urgh..." he sniffled, shiverin as he bundled beneath the blankets again. "Ib dever goig to Hah...hah..." he buried his face into the pillow, trying to muffle the sneezes. "HehMMMPH! HuhEMMMP!"
He coughed, pounding a fist fitfully against the mattress. He was most definitely getting sick, and that was the last thing he wanted to have happen. What would Master Yoda want with a weakling for Jedi apprentice? //Remember the force, Luke,// Obi-Wan's voice spoke inside of his head, and he sighed heavily.
//Too sick...can't...// Luke wanted nothing more than to lie still.
//Clear your mind...it will help, I promise you. Do you think you are the first Jedi to come down with a cold?//
Luke frowned, fiddling with the edge of his quilt. //I'll try,// he finally complied, knowing how much he wanted to become a true Jedi. He'd gotten this far with his training...he couldn't let one silly chill knock him down. He struggled to sit upright, closing his eyes and trying to clear his mind of everything. Sometimes when he practiced meditation with Yoda, he could block out all sound, and only hear the powerful energy surging through his body.
Sure enough, that's what he felt after five minutes of it. He felt warmth spread through his arms and legs, wishing Obi-Wan had contacted him earlier that day. The Force was incredible...swirls of color formed in his mind, clouds of pastel pinks, blues, and greens.
However, this was to be his shortest meditation period yet....the tickle in his nose was returning. He tried his best to overcome it, to allow the energy to dissolve the feeling, but he was unfortunately still at the training level with this process. "Ehh... hah...SHHHHUUUUUH!" CLANG! CRASH! Luke jumped as hid concentration failed, realizing several items had fallen off of the table across the room. His eyes widened with surprise as he listened to more BANGS throughout the ship, wetting his lips and feeling his cheeks burn with embarrassment.
Outside of the room, several small parts and devices fell from their perches. A manual slid off its shelf in the control center, landing directly on C3PO's head, front cover flopping open to cover the droid's face. Yellow eye lamps immediately lit up, the droid startling out of rest mode. "Goodness gracious, we're under attack! R2, R2!" he instantly stood up, turning this way and that in panic. "Oh! No, wait!" he squeaked, viewing only darkness before him, not realizing his vision was blocked. "R2 hurry! I've gone blind! Oh HELP!" He knocked into the wall as he attempted to leave the room, nearly tripping over R2D2 who was rolling down the hallway. The smaller droid stopped, his eye rotating about at the ridiculous sight before him.
C3PO managed to eventually dislodge the manual in the midst of his flailing, and it bopped R2 on the head before sliding to the floor. C3PO looked down, raising his robotic arms in surprise.
R2 gave a few random bleeps and a whistle, causing C3PO to snap, "I am most certainly am not a dunderpated lunatic, you tin- plated ninnyhammer!"
Back in Luke and Han's bedroom, Luke continued sitting in the same position, trying not to laugh at C3PO's shouts, and staring across the room at Han, who merely shifted in his sleep clearly muttering in a dream-state.
"No...no tap dancing...I got the money...just not with me."
Luke sniffled, raising an eyebrow with amusement. "Had?" he asked, and Han snorted, lifting his head.
"No, later...later, kid." He let out a soft "Ummmph" as he flopped back down against his pillow. Luke sighed with relief, covering himself with his quilt and lying back down, shaking with a new set of chills.
Barely five minutes went by when the door to their room opened, and Leia entered, her eyes wide with worry. "Are you two all right?" she asked, flipping on the light. Han growled in irritation, covering his head with his pillow.
"Cut it out, will ya?" he grumbled, and Leia rolled her eyes, walking over to the bed. Luke peeped out from under his blankets.
"I sdeezed," he replied, and Leia noticed the broken glass on the floor.
"Oh thank goodness," she sighed with relief.
"Thads a good thig?" Luke asked, coughing.
"Of course it is...C3PO was shouting something about an attack... we can never be too sure." She reached over to feel his forehead, frowning deeply. "You have a fever," she told him, just as Han removed the pillow from his face.
"Will you please turn that light off? Do you know what time it is, Princess?" he snarled, and Leia gave him a nasty look.
"Leia...I'b sorry, but I hab to...I hab...YiISHHHH! HuhISHHHHH! Ow... sdneeze agaid..."
"Bless you," Leia told him. "I'm going to find the thermometer and take your temperature.
"Please," Luke whimpered, after clearing his nose with a fresh handkerchief. "I jusd wad to sleeb..."
Han sat up, rubbing his hands over his face. "Kid's still sick, huh?" he asked. Luke had been drifting in and out of consciousness since he'd brought him back to the ship.
"He's getting worse," Leia replied, covering Luke up with the blankets. "I'll be right back...try to stay warm," she ordered, and bustled out of the room, shutting the light out as she did so.
"Ashhhhuh! HuhESHHHH!" Luke sneezed, blew his nose, and coughed in the midst of doing that. Han cringed, shaking his head.
"You okay, kid?" he asked.
"Do I soud ogay?" Luke retorted sarcastically, groaning. "Ugh, everythig hurds..." he sniffed wetly, lying back down.
Han shrugged. "It wasn't my idea to leave the med station before you were better."
Luke sighed. "I doe, Ib sorry. Ib cragy whed Ib sig." He glanced to the side. "So...do you really doe how to tab dadce?" he asked, and Han stared at him.
"What?" Han sat up. "Who told you a thing like that?"
"You did," Luke replied, and Han cocked his head.
"I did?" Now he was stupefied.
"You were dreabig, I thig," Luke added, "bud I dided doe if you really coud tab dadce..."
Han snorted. "Me? Tap dance? Kid, what kind of a guy do you think I am?"
Luke was about to reply when the door re-opened and the light switched on. Instantly he dove under the blankes, curling into a ball at the edge of the bed. Chewbacca followed behind her, letting out a small roar and waddling over to Han, enveloping the man in a great hug.
"Hey Chewy," Han gasped, patting the animal's arm.
"He insisted on coming with me," Leia explained, glancing at Luke's bed. When she didn't see him at first, she turned towards Han. "All right, where did he go?" she asked, and Han managed to point to the trembling ball.
"Luke? Is that you under there?" Leia touched the ball, which moved away from her.
"Go away," he croaked, coughing, and making Chewbacca sway back and forth, whining.
"Oh stop being so silly," Leia told him. "I'm just going to take your temperature...it won't hurt."
"It's too bright..." Luke muttered.
"Go get him, Chewy," Han ordered, and Chewbacca obediently went over to the bed, picking Luke up in his paws.
"Hey, hey, hey, hey!" Luke shouted with surprise, as Chewy held him before Leia, who pulled the blankets apart to see his face. "Stupid fur ball," Luke muttered once Chewbacca set him back on the bed.
"This won't take but two minutes, Luke, and I obviously can't see the results in the dark," Leia told him, thanking Chewy who went back over to Han.
"Waid a bobet..." Luke's face crumpled, and he quicly buried his face into his shoulder. "HuhASHHHHH! EhHUUUUUUSH!" He kept his face there for a moment, in case there were anymore, and removed it when there weren't.
"Bless you," Leia told him thoughtfully, waiting until he'd blown his nose before she could proceed in putting the thermometer into his mouth.
"Hold it under your tongue," she ordered gently, sitting down on the bed beside Luke and rubbing his back. He sat waiting impatiently, his eyes sore from the lights.
"I theel stho sthupid," he mumbled, and she shook her head with a soft "Mmm mmm. Not until you're done."
After the two minutes had gone by, Leia removed the thermometer, her eyes narrowing. "One hundred and two." She looked at Han. "Could you go and grab a bowl of water and a rag for me please?"
Han gave her a look. "Do I look like a nurse?" he asked, and she glared at him.
"It wouldn't hurt to think of someone other than yourself for a change, would it?" Leia snapped, and Han gave her a look. He was about to give her a nasty retort back, when Luke rested his head against Leia's shoulder, looking positively miserable.
"I'll be right back. Come on, Chewy."
The Wookie gave another roar and followed his master away. When they disappeared into the hall, Leia eased Luke back under the covers.
"I hade beig so buch trouble," he told her as she tucked the blankets around his sides so no air pockets would bother him.
"You're not being any trouble, Luke. We're just glad all you have is a cold...you could have died from hypothermia." She kissed his cheek.
"Yeah," Luke replied, chuckling weakly. "I musd loog a preddy big bess, huh?" he looked at the scars that were forming on his hands from the cuts he'd received. He hadn't even seen his face... but wasn't sure if he could stomach that at the moment. Instead, he lay still and waited until Han came back with the bowl.
"Would you like me to sit with you a while? We can turn the light off if you'd prefer it." Leia offered, nodding her thanks to Han as he returned to his cot.
"Feel better, kid," Han told Luke, bundling underneath his own covers.
"Thah...thah...oh doe..." Luke gasped, and Leia backed away. "AsHEEESH! UhCHHHHSH!"
"Bless you!" Leia told him, wetting the wash cloth and squeezing out the excess droplets. She folded it into a rectangular shape, placing it over Luke's warm forehead.
"No problem," Han replied. "Turn that light off, will ya?" he added, and Leia stood up to do so. She made her way through the dark back to her seat, and took Luke's clammy hand in hers.
"Leia?" Luke whispered, once things quieted down again.
"Mmmm?" she heard R2's faint bleeping from outside the door.
"Thag you for takig care of be. I doe Ib dot buch fud whed Ib sig," he told her, and she smiled.
"Of course. But I want you to just sleep now...concentrate only on getting better." She stroked his hair.
"Mmmmhmmm." Luke closed his eyes, his breathing softening, though still full of congestion. "Good dight," he told her quietly, and she nodded.
"Good night, Luke."
I'm so glad all of you enjoyed my Han Solo story so far! I've decided to try my hand at a Luke-centered fic, since yes, I think he might be my favorite ;o) Gee, why doesn't that surprise me? XD Anyway-it's pure fluff again, since yeah-I don't really write anything above PG-13 if that. Set after the incidents on Hoth in Empire Strikes Back. Enjoy! Again, feedback is greatly appreciated. Oh! And used a bit of help with C3PO's character in this story from FrodoBaggins252. Thank you!