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When their lips finally parted, Han held Leia in his arms as they looked at each other. For a long moment there was a peaceful kind of emotion between them. Then Leia began to draw away, her thoughts and feelings a turmoil. She averted her eyes and began to disengage herself from Han's embrace. In the next second she turned and rushed from the cabin.

Han silently looked after her as she left the room. He then became acutely aware of the very curious Wookiee whose head was poking from the ceiling.

'Okay, Chewie!' he bellowed. 'Give me a hand with this valve.'

The fog, dispersed by a torrent of rain, snaked around the swamp in diaphanous swirls. Scooting along amid the pounding rain was a single R2 droid looking for his master.

Artoo Detoo's sensing devices were busily sending impulses to his electronic nerve ends. At the slightest sound, his auditory systems reacted - perhaps overreacted - and sent information to the robot's nervous computer brain.

It was too wet for Artoo in this murky jungle. He aimed his optical sensors in the direction of a strange little mud house on the edge of a dark lake. The robot, overtaken by an almost-human perception of loneliness, moved closer to the window of the tiny abode. Artoo extended his utility feet toward the window and peeked inside. He hoped no one inside noticed the slight shiver of his barrel-shaped form or heard his nervous little electronic whimper.

Somehow Luke Skywalker managed to squeeze inside the miniature house, where everything within was perfectly scaled to its tiny resident. Luke sat cross-legged on the dried mud floor in the living room, careful not to bang his skull against the low ceiling. There was a table in front of him and he could see a few containers holding what appeared to be hand-written scrolls.

The wrinkle-faced creature was in his kitchen, next to the living room, busily concocting an incredible meal. From where Luke sat he could see the little cook stirring steaming pots, chopping this, shredding that, scattering herbs over all, and scurrying back and forth to put platters on the table in front of the youth.

Fascinated as he was by this bustling activity, Luke was growing very impatient. As the creature made one of his frantic runs into the living room area, Luke reminded his host, 'I told you, I'm not hungry.'

'Patience,' the creature said, as he scuttled back into the steamy kitchen. 'It's time to eat.'

Luke tried to be polite. 'Look,' he said, 'it smells good. I'm sure it's delicious. But I don't know why we can't see Yoda now.'

'It's the Jedi's time to eat, too,' the creature answered.

But Luke was eager to be on his way. 'Will it take long to get there? How far is he?'

'Not far, not far. Be patient. Soon you will see him. Why wish you become a Jedi?'

'Because of my father, I guess,' Luke answered, as he reflected that he never really knew his father that well. In truth his deepest kinship with his father was through the lightsaber Ben had entrusted to him.

Luke noticed the curious look in the creature's eyes as he mentioned his father. 'Oh, your father,' the being said, sitting down to begin his vast meal. 'A powerful Jedi was he. Powerful Jedi.'

The youth wondered if the creature were mocking him. 'How could you know my father?' he asked a little angrily. 'You don't even know who I am.' He glanced around at the bizarre room and shook his head. 'I don't know what I'm doing here

Then he noticed that the creature had turned away from him and was talking to a corner of the room. This really is the final straw, Luke thought. Now this impossible creature is talking to thin air!

'No good is this,' the creature was saying irritably. 'This will not do. I cannot teach him. The boy has no patience!'

Luke's head spun in the direction the creature was facing. Cannot teach. No patience. Bewildered, he still saw no one there. Then the truth of the situation gradually became as plain to him as the deep lines on the little creature's