ACROSS THE STARS || STAR WARS AU

Star-Crossed

Despite being the late morning, the sun was already beating down over the desert. Even from under the shade provided by the house, Leia could feel the temperature steadily rising by the minute.

Leaning over the porch rail, the woman let out a weary sigh as she stared out over the neighborhood. She hadn't realized it before, but the neighborhood was in pretty bad shape. Weeds and overgrown grass invaded front lawns. The unforgiving sun had chipped away most of the paint from the houses. Broken windows with nothing but a few jagged edges of glass were all that remained.

There were no cars parked in front of most of the houses and Leia could guess why.

The state these houses were in told her that this neighborhood had been abandoned, and for some time now.

She wondered how could Han stand to live in a place like this, knowing that there must be somewhere else he could go.

Somewhere better.

The sound of the front door opening from behind jolted her from her thoughts. She quickly turned around, coming face-to-face with her brother.

He looked absolutely awful.

His hair was a disheveled mess of blond strands. Dark circles surrounded his usually bright blue eyes, which were now dull and reddened.

"Luke," She attempted to smile, trying to hide her surprise at his appearance. "How did you sleep?"

"Fine," He mumbled.

"Is Han still asleep?"

He nodded, sticking his hands in his pockets.

"Well, I'm glad you're awake." Leia finally had to turn away, unable to continue looking at him. "I was thinking we should continue your training. After... what happened yesterday, it is important that you learn as much as you can."

She stared off into the horizon as she spoke. She didn't need to see Luke to know what he was feeling; it was radiating off him.

"Vader will soon be here." She bit her lip, hoping this would scare Luke into agreeing with her. He had to agree with her, especially after what he saw yesterday. He should know he was not prepared, not at all.

Mastering the Force would be the only way to defend himself.

"Alright," He said without so much as a hint of enthusiasm.

Picking up two branches she had already gathered, Leia handed one to her brother before moving off the porch and onto the driveway.

"Get in your stance," She stated as she got into hers.

Luke complied but did so in a lethargic and slow manner. His movements were not that of a young man, but of a man fifty years older.

Leia rushed at him, immediately knocking the branch out of his hand. Luke did not even blink, glancing casually at the stick as it hit the concrete.

"Again," She ordered, spinning her finger.

Luke gave an audible sigh, fetching his branch and dragging it along the concrete. Leia couldn't help but cringe at the annoying sound.

Getting into her position once again, Leia noticed how Luke's was all wrong. His grip on the branch couldn't even be considered a grip. His feet were too close together instead of being evenly apart. And his shoulders were hunched over, not straight and back like they should have been.

"Wait." She lowered her branch. "Your stance, it is incorrect."

Luke blinked. "So?"

"So you need to correct it," she remarked as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.