The mathematician had been smoking like a chimney for the past two weeks and the entire room reeked so badly that almost no one was entering anymore, not even to clean it. As a consequence, the stench was steadily increasing. The ventilation system, even if specifically designed for an underground base bursting of activity, was not able to keep up with it.

Of course, there was the possibility of everything being a well orchestrated plan, mused General Organa, since the man was obviously unable to perform his assigned task but not as keen on admitting it. Three days prior, he had even asked to use their mainframe at its maximum possible performance, which put a stop to all the base's activities but the basic security systems.

It was all for nothing, since the beeping red light shown at that moment on the central heads-up display was indicating that the simulation did not converge to any significant result. The repetitive noise echoing in the large hall was starting to get on her nerves, but the man kept fumbling around anyway, pushing buttons on the keyboard with increasing frustration.

Encryption specialist my ass.

"This has to stop. It's clearly useless and I can't leave my people in standby any longer. This is a military base, after all," She finally spoke, shaking her head while moving away from the wall against which she had been waiting for the last few hours.

The man's shock was clear since the fag almost fell off his lips and right onto his highly flammable polymeric trousers. He had probably thought of his employer as too senile to realize what was happening... Or he had simply forgot that she was present.

"General, I just need a bit more time. It's only a matter of varying the correct parameter to-"

"No. You have no idea of what you're doing and we can't afford to lose any more time." She was gentle, but firm. She might have been a princess by right of blood, born into that position - or adopted, at least - but her skills alone made her a fearful commander.

Her words seemed to have reached him, as he sighed, resigned. "It's not like you have someone better than me to hack this thing, you know," He bitterly added, starting to remove the test wires from the small, almost blackened chip on the breadboard.

Organa smiled, unfastening her comlink from the belt.

"As a matter of fact, I do. Captain, the experiment ends here," She communicated into the microphone, "Please, send someone to retrieve Hana. It's time to collect our favour."


It was a beautiful, sunny day. A pleasant change after almost a week of stormy clouds, thanks to which the water temperature had dropped several degrees, almost wreaking havoc on her terribly sensitive Jormakian seaweed farm.

There was still much to do before sundown if she wanted to have the first harvest in time for the next expedition, so when a small cargo ship landed on the only strip of land not covered in sand, she frowned. The Resistance logo etched on the side panel left no doubt about the identity of her visitors, and Hana wasn't really sure if it was just a courtesy visit, or if it meant trouble. The latter, probably, since she had never really been lucky enough for the former.

As the hatch door started to open, she gathered all her nets, slowing climbing back up the hill. Finn was waiting for her at the top, the same jacket on his shoulder that he always wore and an alarmingly large manila folder in his hands.

"... Guess I just had my answer," She murmured.

"Sorry, what?"

"It's nothing. Hello Finn, how are you doing? Why did she send you here?" The woman grunted, annoyed.

He laughed, moving towards her for a hug, only to stop shortly after, taking notice of the large quantity of ridiculously big and painfully looking metallic hooks hanging from her jacket.

"Man, you certainly don't like to beat around the bush. Is there a place we can sit and talk? Do you realize I travelled almost one million parsec to come here, right?"

She grumbled something about where he could put his parsecs, but lead him, regardless, to a small stilt house that was connected to the solid ground by a rope bridge.

"It's not much, but it's home," She informed him after opening the fragile door, carefully laying the net on a piece of wooden framework. Her jacket hung by the entrance, she pointed at the only table in the room, where a solitary chair was.

Finn sat down at her gesture, taking in the small home while the woman moved towards the sink to wash her hands and face. The place was small, yes, but very cosy. The walls were painted a bright yellow colour, somehow shiny in the sunlight that came from the open windows. Beautiful seashells in pink, green and nacre were scattered all over, even glued on the headboard of the single bed, right now occupied by a ridiculously large amount of fluffy pillows. He tried hard not to laugh. Girls.

She was standing next to him just a moment later, brows knitted together and an inquisitive look on her face while she finished drying off her nape with a cloth. It was difficult to recognize the scarred, wounded girl brought to them seven months prior in the young woman now in front of him, her face heavily freckled by continuous exposure to sunlight and hair tucked haphazardly behind her ears. The hands on her hips were no more white and delicate but strengthened by manual work and covered in small scratches that the salty water kept red and irritated.

"Have you finished gawking?" She inquired, unable to retain a small smile from appearing on her lips.

"I'm sorry. It's just... You've changed a lot."

Her grin grew into a full blown smile as she lifted herself to sit on the table, her feet dangling from the edge.

"Yeah. Guess it's the 'norm when you suddenly become free. It happened to you too, I reckon."

Finn was quiet for a long moment, tapping with his finger on the folder in front of him, a vague look of shame on his face.

"Ah, I see. That's why they sent you," The smile disappeared as quick as it came. "The ex-First Order's disciple, who turned into a valuable asset for the Resistance instead of just flying away and living his fucking life as he prefers. The good example all the traitors should follow," Hana spat, her voice bitter. The wet cloth landed heavily on the table, and Finn couldn't find the courage to rebuke while she moved away to stand at the large, lone window in the room.

When he broke the silence, he was talking quietly, almost apologetically, "You know, she would have never called you back if there were other possibilities."

She, Hana guessed, must have been Leia Organa.

"I'm a fisherman. What does she want from me? I'm not a pilot, not a fighter. Even before that, I was just a non-commissioned officer appointed to communication networks, not a..." Her voice drifted into nothing, her shoulders getting stiffer as realization dawned upon her.

When the woman looked back, the look in her eyes moved from suspicion to horror while taking in the small chip that Finn was holding between his thumb and forefinger.

"We got this almost by chance, and right now we are trying to descramble the signal. Another catastrophe like the Hosnian system must be avoided at all costs, especially now that all the remaining Senators are-"

"NO!" She interrupted him abruptly, making a savage gesture to shut him up, "I don't fucking care about your damned Republic! My life will be happy and complete if I don't ever see a uniform again - of whatever kind and side!"

Finn sighed, his mouth closing in straight, stern line. "You owe us one, Hana."

And with that, she knew she was doomed. Because it was true. Because she might have been a coward, but she was still honest.

The man must have seen her resolution dissolve from her expression under the irrefutable force of his truth, for he stood up from the chair and looked solemnly into her eyes. "We will leave tomorrow morning. In case you need to…" Say goodbye. The unspoken words hung heavily in the air between them, filling her heart with dread.

She just nodded, a lump in her throat making her unable to speak.

Later, that evening, almost everything was ready. She had commissioned the closest neighbour to take care of her farm in change for all the proceeds, and that was pretty much all it took.

She gathered a small bag containing nearly all her belongings - save for the working tools - and, making sure the sturdy window shutters were closed tight, her little house was made as secure as it could be against the elements. When she leaned down on her bed, she buried her face among the pillows, breathing in the briny smell that permeated everything in the house with a strange, foreboding scent.

Oddly, she was asleep in seconds.


The quiet sound of the undertow was as close to heaven as she could think. Hana was sitting on the shore, bathed in darkness, gathering handful of smooth, greyish sand, letting it slide silently through her fingers. When tilted toward the light of the twin moons, fragment of seashells would shine dimly and paint imaginary constellations on her palm.

The nightly breeze was cool and damp, as always, and Hana would have been surprised of not feeling cold, clad only in her nightgown, had she not been aware of the dream-like quality of the scene. Her nets were nowhere to be seen, and a long line of pale, green lights were glimmering throughout the sea, drifting at the mercy of the waves.

Bioluminescent micro-organisms, usually only visible when both the satellites were in new moon phase- meticulously provided her brain. It was completely against the rules of nature, to see such a sight, at the present time.

Still, it was one to behold. She stood up quickly, brushing the sand away from her legs and walking a few steps into the black water, crouching to submerge the hem of her gown up to her thighs. The little lights were now being carried towards the shore, gently touching her bare skin and staining the pale blue fabric a fluorescent green.

She laughed, delighted, and turned her back to the sea to show the result of her childish game at the man behind her…

An imposing figure clad in black stood on the bank, the broad expanse of his shoulders swallowing the stars in the sky, his face backlit and impossible to recognize.

Goosebumps rose on her skin as a buzzing, sparking sound broke the silence, forcing a scream out of her throat...


Hana woke up at the knocking on her door, forehead covered in a thin sheen of sweat.

"Rise and shine little flower!" Greeted Finn's voice, seeping in through the woodwork.

A beam of sunlight hit her face immediately afterwards, and she groaned, covering her eyes from the offending brightness.

"C'mon, get out of the bed! If you have your luggage ready, I'm going to carry it on the ship," He offered, letting himself in.

She was left with no choice but to kick away the blanket and begin getting ready, the frightful dream already vanishing from her mind.

Not even an hour later, Finn closed the cargo's hold door behind her, and she looked one last time at her blue and golden world, straightening her shoulders under a weight she hadn't felt in months.

Only the pilot - a young man with the sad, old eyes of a person whom had seen too much - seemed to understand her, smiling encouragingly in her direction.

"I'm sure it won't be that bad, lassie," He reassured in a thick accent, flipping the switches for the take-off.

Hana plopped down on a seat.

Nope. It will probably be worse.


Author's notes:

Based on the previous fanfiction Unavoidable entanglement, but you are not required to read it. You'll get the story all the same.

Thanks to my beta loserless that worked hard to remove the errors from my draft!