Last chapter, here we go!

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars and do not hope to make any profit from this story. All Star Wars plotlines and characters belong to George Lucas at Lucasfilm Ltd. (I Wikipedia-ed fanfiction and it turns out that's actually what you're supposed to say in a disclaimer!)

Chapter 9: What is this Feeling?

"What the…what the hell happened?" exclaimed Leia at the sight of a bloodied Luke and Lila limping from where her foot had hit the wall of the tunnel-thing.

"Long story," Lila gasped. "In short, Luke is now missing a hand."

"What?" gaped Lando. "His hand?"

"Yes, his hand," snapped Lila. "Are you deaf or something? I am in such a bad mood right now that I—you know what, just don't even talk to me." She stalked off down a hallway and out of sight.

"I'll follow her, you take Luke." Leia hurried after Lila.

She found her sitting against a wall sobbing into her hands. "I told him to shut up," she choked. "I told him to shut up and leave me alone."

"Who?" probed Leia.

"Master Obi-Wan!" Lila wailed. "And then I had to watch horrible memories and scenes from what could happen in the future and it was terrible, and now I just can't take it anymore! Everyone expects Jedi to be these superhuman warriors, but I'm not!"

Leia didn't know what to say. She'd never seen Lila act like this, never seen any indication of evidence that Lila could act like this—but maybe that was what Lila was trying to say, that she couldn't take the pressure to be strong anymore.

That, coupled with the fact that she had no idea what Lila was talking about, made for a very confused Leia.

"Lila. Calm down, deep breaths. Talk to me slowly."

Lila gasped out a few garbled sentences so fast that all Leia caught was "Luke… you… Han… dead…everyone… I killed people…we can't win this…oh it's just too horrible why am I expecting you to understand?"

Before Leia could respond a breathless Lando stuck his head around the corner. "Imperials," he said.

Lila and Leia rushed to the cockpit. "Stardestroyer," murmured Leia.

"Chewie, prepare for lightspeed," said Lando, throwing himself into the pilot's chair.

"Is it going to work this time?" asked Lila mildly.

"It better. They told me they fixed it."

Leia looked at the dashboard as a green light winked. "The coordinates are set."

Lando hit the lightspeed button.

The ship shuddered as absolutely nothing happened, with the Empire still firing at them. Lila smiled to herself smugly. Now Han owes me my 5 credits back.

"They told me they fixed it…" Lando was slightly taken aback. "It's not my fault. It's not my fault!!" He raced after Chewie to try and fix the hyperdrive.

"Hah. I was right." Lila smirked and sauntered after Lando.

Leia rolled her eyes in amazement of Lila's mood swings and sat down at the controls. Lando came in, followed by Lila.

"We're still being followed, you know," she said in a slightly pissed-off tone. She glanced at the large Stardestroyer coming up.

"Its Vader," muttered Luke from the doorway.

Darth Vader's voice sounded in Luke and Lila's heads. It is your destiny.

Shut up already, Lila retorted wearily.

"Why didn't he tell me?" Luke asked himself.

Lila sighed, grabbed Luke's wrist (the one with the hand still attached) and dragged him out of the cockpit.

"You listen to me, and you listen good," she hissed. "Master Obi-Wan had very good reasons for not telling you and you sure as hell better not tell anyone else."

"Why did he tell you then?" Luke sighed mournfully. "Why did you have to know? It didn't have anything to do with you!"

"It has more to do with me than you think." And with that cryptic comment she went back into the cockpit.

SWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSWSW

"Yo, Lando!" called Lila. "Good luck." Lando was about to leave for Tatooine to try and find Han.

Lando blinked. Lila never wished anyone good luck on anything. "Uh, thanks."

Lila looked at the ground for a moment, then quickly kissed his cheek and ran away. From the shadows, Leia smiled.

Luke flexed his new hand experimentally.

"Dammit, does this mean you'll hit me back if I punch you now?" asked Lila glumly. Luke rolled his eyes but smiled as he did so.

Leia stared out the window. "He'll be fine," Lila said.

"Han or Lando?" replied Leia.

"Both of them," answered Lila, but she blushed as she spoke.

The three of them stood at the window together, the siblings lined up, watching the Millennium Falcon disappear into space. Each had their worries, each had their own thoughts.

Leia was worried for Lando and Han, but mostly Han. She wondered if the man she loved was still alive.

Luke was worried for his best friend. Would Han be okay? Would Lando be okay? What about Vader? And Yoda? He had to go back to Dagobah soon.

Lila was anxious about Han, yes, but not only Han. When she spoke to Lando she felt something she'd never felt before. She wasn't sure what it was—maybe it was love. She smiled wryly. Tough Lila had never thought about love much; maybe she could loosen up a little. Was it love? Lila didn't know, but she wouldn't rule it out as an option.

The three stood next to each other watching the galaxy go on beyond them, knowing that out there lived people completely unaware of the fight between the Rebels and the Empire. These were people without worries, creatures who could go to bed and wake up the next morning without a care.

These people were not them. They had troubles, concerns, worries, problems that couldn't be solved. The fight would continue for a long time yet, but for now maybe they could sit down and rest a bit.

Uh, yay? Should I be happy? For some reason I don't feel as good about this one—oh hell, whatever. I am happy. Finishing this gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. Anyway, we should all be happy! Lila has a love interest! I don't know, they just seemed like a good couple.

Now I know I posted this one about a day after the first one, but this time I can't do that because I'm going to camp. Oh god, last time I said that was at the end of chapter 5 of Three Lives Connect. Anyway, sometime in late August, keep an eye open for Silver Blade III: The End of an Era!

jedimasterobi-wankenobi: nope, he doesn't find out until the same time he finds out Leia is his sister.

swpaintergal: he will, eventually. Thanks.

Right, so, that's the end of the Silver Blade Trilogy, phase 2. Phase 3 should show up at the end of August/ beginning of September. Hey, it might actually be sooner—you never know! Actually it'll be a lot sooner, maybe the third week of August, depending on my free time.