Lightsabers were out before another shot could be fired. Han hurried Leia inside to the Noghri guards, one hand resting on the hilt of his lightsaber. He could hear the blaster fire and the vroom of the lightsaber.
He could sense Jaina's primal joy in joining the fight, in being able to use the family lightsaber she'd inherited just weeks before. She was a fighter, much like their parents.
Han had never been that way.
Leia and Han were surrounded by the Noghri guards as they escorted them to one of the many safe rooms in the palace. As soon as they approached it, Han began to turn around when a Noghri stopped him.
"Son of the Mal'ary'ush and Ren'ary'ush, you may not go out there," the Noghri guard grunted.
"But my parents and Jacen and Jaina and Tenel Ka and the people-" Han protested.
"The Mal'ary'ush and the Ren'ary'ush can handle themselves," the Noghri assured him. "Jacen and Jaina? They'll be fine, Vader."
"I asked you to stop calling me that," Han said irritably as an edge of fear crept in. "I'm not him."
"You know you have Lord Vader's power," the Noghri guard said softly. "You and the girl. . ."
"I'm not him," Han repeated firmly. He couldn't hold it against the Noghri-not really. With how they prized Vader's bloodline, it was no wonder they thought him to be Darth Vader reborn.
He sat next to Leia, him being the favorite grandchild. Leia couldn't really do much with Jaina, with her tomboy Jedi ways much like their mother and her mother before her, or Jacen and his Force philosophy.
"You look like him," Leia said affectionately. "He used to get worried whenever I got hurt, though he tried to hide it, being the big scoundrel he was."
Han nodded. "Are you alright?"
"Scared me," Leia admitted. "But I'm fine. I'd gotten worse, back in the Rebel Alliance."
Han nodded again in reply. He waited with Leia in the longest five minutes of his life, listening to blaster shots and wishing he could be out there, could be doing something to stop it.
If I have all this great power, why can't I use it?
Han sighed. In five minutes, however, Jacen and Jaina reluctantly followed their Noghri guards and toward Han and Leia, Ben and Rey following them.
"The situation is under control," Ben said in an even voice. "Deflecting the bolt was enough. . . The sniper disappeared, although everything's a riot out there. The Imperial Guard is working with that."
"Was anyone hurt?" Han asked.
"A few trampled, but they'll live," Rey said with a glance at Ben. "Ta'Chume's probably going to be a pain about this."
"I'll talk to her," Ben said.
"No, I will," Leia said, rising from the couch. "We both know Ta'Chume won't respect you."
"Hapan law is stupid," Rey muttered.
"But it is better to have a lady negotiate with the Hapans," Leia said primly. "Especially the Queen Mother. And who better is there than the former princess of Alderaan?"
With that, Leia turned on her heel with surprising spryness for a woman her age and walked away to greet Ta'Chume. Rey looked to Han.
"Good job, getting Aunt Leia inside," Rey said with a bright smile.
Han merely nodded, letting his appreciation drift towards her in the Force.
"And good job, Jaina, reflecting the blaster bolt," Rey continued. "And you too, Jacen, creating the shield over the people. You're both good."
"Grandpa Luke did say that we'd be Jedi Knights soon," Jaina said, twin smirks on her and Jacen's faces.
Rey managed to chuckle and rumpled the dark hair of the twins. Han noticed that Ben was quiet in his dark elegant robes.
"Rey, I'll be in the bedroom," he said in an almost whisper. For not the first time, Han wished that he didn't use the Force so often to overhear things and enhance his senses.
It was like breathing for Han, though. He knew not everyone heard and sensed things so strongly it sometimes hurt to live, but he never knew any other way. As long as he could remember, he unconsciously reached out to others in the Force and enhanced everything.
He was willing to pay that price, for fear of life without the Force. The only time he never hurt was when he was with Tahiri.
Ani?
Han jumped at Tahiri's nickname for him.
Tiri?
I'm right here. Meditating. It's boring. What are you doing?
Han swallowed thickly, combating the strange feeling he had when talking to the girl two years younger than him. Just helped get Grandmother Leia away from an assassination attempt during her speech.
Oh my gods. Are you okay, Ani?
I'm fine, he assured her, wincing at her rushed, panicked thoughts. Everyone's fine. The Noghri wouldn't let me help, though.
Thank the gods, Tahiri repeated. Han Anakin Skywalker, we both know that you'd get yourself killed if you got into a huge thing like that.
I find your lack of faith disturbing.
There was a long pause.
I didn't mean it like that. I worry about you, dummy.
Some part of Han made him blush at that. He somehow cherished the feeling of her worrying about him.
I miss you, she finally said. I really can't wait for you to come back home.
Home, Han repeated, picturing Anch-To and the Force Tree. Don't worry, I'll come back for you, sweetheart.
I hope so.
Han was disappointed that she'd cut off the connection. All he was left with was a lingering of her emotions, something very sweet, almost unbearably so, like a candy he'd tried at one of the Imperial bases he'd visited in his childhood.
He shook his head and sighed. With a jolt, he realized that everyone else had left. He scurried off to find them, following his brother, his sister, and his mother's strong Force signatures deeper in the Imperial Palace.