Episode 1: A New Hope // Luke Skywalker

Victorious Celebration

Aria's heart was practically pounding out of her chest, her X-wing barely made it back to the base, as soon as she touched down in the hangar, the engines gave out. Her hands were shaking considerably as she releases the controls, she leans back in her seat with a heavy sigh, she would probably never get that lucky again. Sitting still for a moment, she pulls off the helmet and sets it on the console before her, she flips a switch and the cockpit shield opened, allowing fresh air and loud cheers to flow in. Grabbing her blue jacket from behind her, she climbs out. Someone had moved a ladder over for her while she let her heart beat return to normal, which she was thankful for. As soon as her feet touched the ground, a voiced called out to her,

"Aria, you were amazing up there!"

Atlas had a large grin on his face as he joins her, his face was lit up in excitement. He suddenly picks her up, making her drop her jacket to the floor. She wraps her arms around his neck to keep from falling over as he spins them around slightly, his own arms secured tightly around her waist. He sets her down after a moment and picks up her jacket with,

"Who taught you how to fly like that?"

"My friend," she replies simply,

"Luke, you met him before we took off, back in the briefing room."

He hands her jacket back to her, his expression softening somewhat. He places a hand on her back and says,

"Lets go find him, your ship will be well looked after and repaired before you know it."

The cheering and celebrating of the other Rebels filled the hangar as they went farther down the line of remaining X-wings, before they came to a growing group that had gathered around one. Aria could hear people saying things along the lines of,

"You were great up there, kid!"

"Who knew you had it in you!"

"That was one in a million!"

Atlas let his hand fall from her back as he eased his way through the crowd, his height helped as he was bigger than a lot of the others there. She trailed just behind him, not far enough away to get separated, but just close enough. They reached the front and he took a step to the side to allow her forward more. Luke, Han, and Leia were revealed to be at the base of the ladder leading up into the ship. Aria closes the space between them and wraps her arms around Luke in a tight hug, he immediately returned the embrace. He was tense against her, it was understandable. He turns his head slightly, allowing his lips to fall near her ear. His warm breath tickles against her skin as he spoke just loud enough for her to hear,

"I need to talk to you later, alone."

She simply nodded once, and they pulled apart. Aria plastered a smile on her face as she stepped away from her friend, but it was far from truthful after his words. What could he need to talk to her about? She needed to talk to him, if anything, after their recent battle. When she was up in space with him and the others, with the threat of Darth Vader on her heels ready to strike her down, a thought hit her. That might have been the last time she ever saw Luke again, and she just couldn't bear the thought of dying without him knowing of her constantly raging internal conflict. Leia's voice yanked her from her thoughts as she spoke loudly over the cheering of the others,

"There is going to be a celebration, in honor of the heroes that destroyed the Death Star!"

~

"I don't want to wear this," Aria groans, a visible blush on her face,

"I hate wearing these."

In preparation for the celebration, Leia offered to help Aria 'freshen up.' Which meant the princess wanted her to look nice, and not gruff like she normally does. She let Aria borrow a dress of hers, but Leia was slightly smaller than her, making wearing the dress all the more uncomfortable for her. It fit her form nicely, though. The white fabric accentuated the gentle curves of her body in all the right places, allowing anyone to see her proof of being a fully grown woman with said curves. She's never dressed this way before, it made her nervous and antsy more than anything. She had no idea how Leia could just walk around in such fancy clothes all the time. The princess had also done up her hair, letting it free from the loose bun she had it in, and curling up the ends, also adding a small red flower above her right ear. Leia places her hands on her hips firmly, stating in a strong tone,