A/N: Thanks to everyone who has reviewed, read, favorited, followed and sent private messages! I read each and every one, and I'm so thankful you all enjoy this story so much. Special shout-outs to Admiral Mitth'raw'nuruodo, MacDii, As Mad As One Can Get, Hoplite39, Malicean, and Guest (sorry, there is no name there to mention but I loved the review anyway! :D) for the lovely reviews to the last chapter. This chapter here is for the Han and Leia fans. :)

Disclaimer: I own nothing but my OCs. Please do not sue. This is purely for fun.

Veers was right. Han didn't so much as glance twice at the suddenly appearing blaster at my side. He did look at me funny as I walked past him, however. I wasn't used to having something attached to my inner thigh like that holster strap. So I was doing the duck-waddle thing, feeling like I had a dirty diaper hanging off my ass. Or was that a feeling-like-I'd-just-ridden-a-horse walk? Whatever, let's just say it's the strangest feeling that made you want to shake your leg all the time.

It was Leia that came to my aid, adjusting the strap so it fit better. "A man showed you how to wear this, I presume?"

I carefully didn't look down the hall to the med bay where Veers slept. All that talk of training aside, he was still seriously messed up. It was only a matter of time before the injected bacta treatments were going to fail, and he would die. The man needed a surgeon, a long soak in a bacta tank, and a month's worth of downtime to recover from it all.

Unfortunately I'd just drafted him into my own war when he wasn't finished with the one he was currently fighting. Which meant his chances of rest-and-relaxation were far from possible.

"You could say that," I said.

"I can tell. The straps are all wrong for a woman. You need to wear this one higher and this one lower. There, like this."

I took a few steps after he adjustments, and then grinned as feeling of something hanging off my back thighs was gone. "That's brilliant!"

"That's called being a woman," she grinned. "When we get back to the Fleet, I'll have Winter show you all sorts of weapon holsters, hidden or otherwise, until we find the one that works best for you. If you're wearing the right one, you shouldn't feel any discomfort."

"Like the perfect pair of shoes," I nodded sagely. "No blisters, no cramping. Just bliss for your feet."

She laughed, turning away to pick up a welding mask and a torch. "Captain Solo has me working on manually bypassing some of the damaged power conduits. Want to help?"

"If by help, you mean 'hold a light so you can see better' or 'just talk to you,' then I'm down," my hand floated to the uneven curls swirling around my head. "I think I'm done with fire for a really long time."

She winced in sympathy. "I don't know if we'll be able to regenerate your lost locks, Rori. It's been a while since the initial injury. Even bacta has its limitations. Once the body fully heals or adapts itself, it's nigh impossible to change it."

Ah, so that's why Vader was in the suit! I'd always wondered why they hadn't shoved his burnt ass into a maraca full of the juice and shake-shake-shaked it like a Polaroid picture. Apparently burns that deep cauterized themselves, searing them into the DNA so there wasn't anything left for bacta to treat. Like how a severed limb wouldn't regenerate itself but a cut on your skin could knit itself back together in no time. It made me glance back at Veers, fearfully.

"As long as we keep treating him with injections, we slow down the permanent damage," Leia murmured, touching my arm gently. "But he is going to need a surgeon. It may be best to take him to the Fleet with us. Keep him sedated and give him the surgeries he'll need before we send him back to the Empire."

I was shaking my head before she'd finished, and the lack of conviction in her tone meant she believed that was as viable an option as I did.

"No," I said, biting my lower lip. I couldn't believe I was going to say this. "I'll do what Han suggested and put a bolt through is head before I do that. They won't take him back if they figure out he's been in rebel hands this long. And if they did, it would be to interrogate him for all he knows and then execute him. I'd spare him that pain of being labeled a traitor when he isn't one."

"You really respect him, don't you?"

I slanted her a guarded look as we walked. "If this is another accusation of me whoring around with every Tom, Dick and General that crossed my path in a uniform, don't bother. It's not like that."

"I wasn't going to suggest it," she slanted her own look at me, heat rising into her voice. "Do you really think I think that lowly of—no, stop. I don't want to fight with you, Rori. I don't want to rehash the same arguments over and over again. Our world is gone and our parents dead. We're all that's left, Aurora. You and me. And we have to make the best of it."

I shifted under the weight of her large, sad eyes, not bothering to hide my guilty expression. Lying to her like this… god, what kind of a scumbag had I become? Even if this was for her own protection. "I don't want to fight, either. Let's… let's talk about something else, okay?"

"Like?"

Ergh. This was going to be tricky. But there wasn't a better time to try and put certain things to rights. "Can I… and I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but really… I just…"

She stopped at a power conduit and flipped open the cover, handing me a small flashlight—err glow rod as they were called here—to hold while she inspected the circuitry. I could smell the brunt metal from where I stood. That thing was definitely fried.

"Just speak plainly, Rori. Let's start becoming sisters again and not strangers."

"Okay, but remember you asked me to be frank," I took a deep breath. "What really went wrong between you and Han?"

Her fingers twitched in surprise, something metallic skittering against the other metallic crap that made up the guts of the ship, and she glanced back at me. "I… I don't suppose any one thing really went wrong. It was a lot of little things that added up."

"Like what?" I pressed. What was it Veers had said last night? Know thy enemy? If I knew what Han had done wrong, maybe I could find a way to make him fix it?

"I don't know," she dove back into the circuits with serious focus. "I guess it's a difference in what we both want at the moment. He's… he's so focused on just the two of us. Like there isn't a galactic war going on beneath our noses. He doesn't see the larger picture, and as much as I enjoy his company on other topics, it just… it just wasn't working. Little things would creep in, doubts that maybe he wouldn't one day see reason and stand up against the Emperor."

"Maybe he sees the same things you see," I tried gingerly. "He just goes about it in a different way."

"Like how?"

"Well, he has no love for the Emperor," I said, using her words. Noticing that she'd stopped saying things like 'stand against the Empire.' Ever since Hoth it was all about the Emperor's wickedness and not the Empire in general. "I can assure you of that. And he's a man, for starters. They always look at the narrow field first. They'll view the galaxy in terms of what could hurt them personally, what could hurt those they love, and then how to combat both. After that, they'll focus on other things. Differences in priority, really."

She paused, her face pensive. Considering. "It tracks true," she admitted. "But how would I get him to open up more?"

"Well, talking to him is a start."

The pensiveness became a sharp sarcastic look. "Really."

I held up my hands, nearly dropping the light and blinding myself with it at the same time. I quickly put it back where it belonged—facing away from me. "Really," I echoed, blinking away bright spots. "Weren't you the one that said communication begins with a single word?"

"Quoting diplomatic philosophies back at me, now?"

"Answering my questions with more questions to divert the topic?"

"Touché," she chuckled. "I'm not used to talking about my personal feelings. In the Senate, one leaves emotion behind and uses the truth to make a point."

"We aren't in the Senate right now, love," I said gently. "And Han isn't a point to be made. He's a man who has had to live only by his emotions. It's all he knows. And aren't you Senator types supposed to take everyone's feelings into consideration?"

"Yes, but not at the loss of the greater good."

"I don't follow."

She pulled out what looked to be a lump of melted metal, wrinkling her nose at the burned smell, and tossed it into a corner. She rubbed her hand on her black pants, as if that could remove the soot from her fingers. Fat chance of that. Char took soap and water and scrubbing to get rid of, as if the ghosts of whatever had died by fire clung to you in a last-ditch effort for another moment of life.

"The Alliance, Rori. I… I can't abandon them. I can't put Han first like he wants and still remain true to my goal."

"You don't have to do both, I promise you that. He'll listen if you open up to him. He's waiting for you to do that. To show him an ounce of woman beneath the warrior. He'll respond to it, I swear it."

"Why are you so interested in seeing us together again?"

"Because he can make you laugh, Leia. He can make you glow. More so than anyone else. And you need that as much as he needs you."

She shook her head. "The man's a scoundrel."

I grinned ear to ear. That was the best she could throw at me? That meant I was making progress! "You like him because he's a scoundrel. Nice men bore you to tears."

She blushed faintly, hints of crimson turning her ivory complexion the perfect shade of peach. "Do not," she muttered.

I laughed. "Please, you'd be bored to death with a Senator for a husband. You need someone to challenge you at every word."

"Isn't that what sisters are for?" she smirked.

I smirked back. "Only until we grew up and discovered boys. Besides, just because you get a permanent man in your life doesn't mean I won't be around to give you grief when you need it. Seriously, though, at least promise me you'll think about it, about talking to Han again, I mean. I know we haven't been close for a long while, but I want to see you happy. I really do."

She nodded at length, picking up her welding mask. "Okay, I'll try. That's all I can promise right now. Going to start bypassing this conduit, so unless you have a mask or want to go blind, I suggest you go."

I planted a kiss on her cheek before I walked away. Progress. I was finally making progress! And now for stage two…

"You got a second?"

I leaned against the wall, staring down at the lower half of Han's body. The upper half from the waist up was currently buried inside that wall, the panel concealing those circuits tossed haphazardly on the floor on his other side. Currently, it was serving as a catch-all for the various tools that he needed to fix that part of the ship. I tried not to glower at those tools. Was it me or did every instrument in this galaxy look like a modified screwdriver?

Lucas must have had one serious lack of budget, or else the props guy on set had dropped the proverbial ball and had to scramble at the last minute to get something space-agey-tool-like for the scene. So he'd grabbed all the screwdrivers from the construction department and just threw bobbly bits on the end. Regardless of the truth, those were actual tools here. I suppose I should get used to it… if I wanted to say here like Dei had suggested.

If… that was a really large if these days.

I shivered despite the relative average temperature of the Falcon. How long had it been since I'd thought of home? Not just the pop culture that I loved, but really thought of home? Too long, that's what. And considering when I woke up after capturing Veers, I had thought to myself that it was "great to be back with the people I loved most."

What did it say that Dei wasn't here, or my mother and father? That they weren't included in that thought at all?

Something thumped my leg rather hard, and I glared down. Han was staring up at me, still lying on the deck, though now most of his annoyance was fading into a growing look of concern. Apparently he'd answered me and I hadn't answered him. "Hey," he said. "What's wrong?"

Oh, dammit, there were tears on my cheeks. I was crying again without realizing I was doing it! "Nothing," I brushed gruffly at my face. "Look, Leia wants to talk to you. And before you get all defensive and shit, I said talk. Not argue. She's repairing that… uhh… whatever it was you wanted her to fix. So please, do me a favor and listen when she speaks. Don't assume, don't get pissy, don't just fly off the handle like the stubborn ass that you are. Just… listen."

I pushed off away from the wall, and found myself pinwheeling my arms when his leg rose and bumped into my shin again, barring my way. "Trying to kill me? Dude, you know how clumsy I am! I could have fallen and broken my neck and—"

The leg kicked at the same time a hand reached up and grabbed the back of my belt. I was on my butt on the deck next to him before I could draw my next breath.

"Number one," he said this time before I could start in. "Contrary to what you believe, I wouldn't let you hurt yourself… more than you do on your own. Number two, something's up. So shut up and talk."

"And just how does one shut up and talk at the same time, genius?"

"You know what I mean, Rori," he lay down on his back again, shimming his way back into the open panel. "Tell me what has you so upset. We leave your favorite pair of shoes behind or something?"

I snorted. "There's nothing in this galaxy that I'd call favorite shoes, flyboy."

"Well, something has you upset. Talk to me. And before you ask 'since when have I given two craps about your feelings,' save your breath. If I didn't care, I wouldn't offer."

I closed my mouth with a sharp click of teeth, wasting a perfectly good glower on him. He couldn't see it with his head in the innards of the ship. And yes, I was just about to ask that. Stupid insufferable man. "If I bother to ask how you knew I was going to ask that, your response would be?"

"That we think far too much alike. Which leads to how much we fight. Which also should be an indication that I don't hate you, considering you're still on my boat. Anyone else who talked to me like that would be stranded on whatever planet I hated the most. Right now, that's currently Hoth."

He had a point. We did think a lot alike. Which probably did lead to all the fighting. Talking to Han at any given time was like talking to a bullying older brother. Which was kind of nice… and infuriating at the same time.

"I was thinking about home."

He paused in his tinkering for a moment before continuing. "Yeah. I would miss it, too."

Frustrated tears made a wavy mess of my vision. He was thinking about Alderaan and I wanted so much to shake him by the shoulders until his teeth rattled. I was so tired of pretending to be this person, of not having anyone to talk to about this. I never thought I would miss Luke and Nova so much as I did right now. They knew the truth. And I could count on Nova to listen and offer advice. I could count on Luke to hold me and just let me cry and not think anything bad about it.

Here? Let's see… I had a mind wonkied princess that thought I was her sister, a smuggler that also thought I was a princess, and an Imperial General that didn't really care what I was before I gave him that code. All he saw was an operative that was failing, and he had to be the leader now to keep me on point.

You tell me where I could pour out my heart, where I could confess that it's been nearly six months since I got here and I was suffering separation anxiety. That it had been six months of running for cover and trying not to die, so much so that the state of constant paranoia had become normal for me. Now that we had real downtime, where there was nothing to do but hope that the Imperials didn't find us or that the worm we were infesting like a big metallic parasite didn't decide to barf us up, all those realities of how my life had ended were crashing down on me.

Six months gone… In New York, the detectives assigned to my "missing persons" case had relegated my face to milk cartons and fliers, my file to the stack of cold cases going into storage to never be seen again. Dei would have gotten a new roommate or moved out, our lease having expired a month ago. My parents—

I so wasn't going to think about that. No. no. no. Especially not how Mom had begged me to move to Florida with them when they retired. How she said the Big Apple was rotten to its core and it wasn't safe there anymore. God, it was crushing her right now, wasn't it, the thought of my face staring out at her every time she bought milk at the goddamn Seven-eleven.

"You ever miss it?" I asked through my tears. "Corellia, I mean."

"All the time."

"What's your trick to overcoming that?"

He paused again, shoving his way out to sit up and look at me. "It's not the same place anymore, Rori. I never had the fondest of memories of home. Like you, I was an orphan and never knew my parents. I didn't have a family. But I had places there that I loved, places that are overrun by Imperials and corrupt politicians. It isn't the same, and never will be again.

"There's no trick," he said, putting a hand on my shoulder and squeezing. "There's just moving on. Finding a new place to fit in, and new places to love."

"So you're saying I should just give in and accept this?"

I was talking about my forced life here, of course. He didn't know that. But the principle was the same. I was in a place I didn't want to be, thinking of things I couldn't have anymore and people I would most likely never see again. It didn't matter that I had loved my parents. I was an orphan here in this galaxy. No need to correct him on that.

"No. I'm saying that you need to do what is right for you. Find some way to make peace with the ruins of your life and make something better of it," He let go, sliding back into that panel. "And for the love of the stars, do it without anyone else telling you how to go about it."

I smirked. "Is this another leave-the-rebellion speech, ace?"

"Well, I just said do what you want for you. So no, I can't tell you that. But I can tell you that the galaxy is a larger place than just this slice of battlefield. It's the same argument I have with your sister. Thousands of star systems out there and she has to champion the bunch locked into a civil war. Hey, hand me that hydrospanner."

Ah hah! That one I at least recognized. "It gives her purpose," I said, putting the right tool in his hand. "It's what she wants to do for herself."

"That woman doesn't know what she wants, Rori. That's the problem. And she gets really pissy about it when I tell her that."

I winced. Yeah, I remembered how angry I got at Nova when Aurora was calling the shots in my brain every time he called me on my crap. I could only imagine how strong Leia's mind-tampered reaction was to that. "So don't get mad in return. Seriously, that's the trick. Don't rise to the bait. Talk her down."

The tinkering became banging, and I had a feeling Han was applying more torque to the hydrospanner than was necessary. "Easy for you to say."

That time I did laugh. A snickering laugh. "Please. See your previous comment on how much we think alike. You think talking to her is easy for me, either? She's more likely to eat my face because I'm her sister. You can't dismiss your family, no matter how hard you try."

The banging became tinkering again. "How did this get to be about you counseling me?"

I shrugged, even though he couldn't see it. "You said do what I wanted to make myself happy, right? You and Leia together makes me happy."

Okay, that time the bang I heard had to be his forehead hitting something. In shock. At my comment.

Yup, I was right. He shot out of that panel faster than I thought, rubbing the side of his head. "Run that by me again?"

"You and Leia are meant to be together," I said simply. "I see the way she is around you. She's better when she's with you, and you are when you are with her. That brief time you were together on Teardrop was the happiest I'd ever seen her. Even while running a war. And stop while you are ahead," I lifted the hand this time. "Shut up and listen, really listen to what I had said. If you check your temper at the door with her like you're doing with me, things will work out better."

He glowered, but all of a sudden his eyes kept flickering to the hallway, and a certain something in the ship that Leia was working on. Was it enough? Did I get through to him? I'd like to say yes, because the way he looked at me now wasn't the same as before. The concern was still there, the wanting to make sure I stopped crying. Who would have figured Han as the type to go all soft inside when a woman shed tears? Regardless of that, there was another woman that he really wanted to comfort right now. And I wasn't offended in the least.

"Go," I said with a watery smile. "Shoo. Go talk to her. I'm fine."

"You sure?"

"Please, if this galaxy stopped every time I had a pity party, nothing would get done. Oh, one more thing," I prompted, causing him to turn back to face me. "Would you… would you really have shot Veers in cold blood?"

He compressed his lips, hands on his hips. "No," he said at last. "I wanted to. I really wanted to, but I couldn't have. If he refused to help us, I would have left him stranded in that cave with a locator beacon and a heat generator. I promise you that the Imperials are still crawling all over Hoth right now. They would have found him eventually."

"You're a good man, Han Solo."

"I've spaced people for saying less offensive things to me."

I snorted out a laugh, catching the grin on his lips as he headed down the hallway towards Leia.

I had my answer to some of my questions shortly thereafter, peering down at Han and Leia from an access panel in the roof. Chewie right next to me. I so felt like River Tam watching Simon and Kaylee go at it at the end of Serenity!

"Afraid," Leia gasped, her mouth inches from Han's. "I'm not afraid."

"You're trembling," Han murmured softly, rubbing her hand gently. And leaning in, voice growing softer and softer as he did so. "Admit it, you like me because I'm a scoundrel. I don't think you have enough scoundrels in your life."

Her breath caught. Even from my vantage point, I could see it. I could see her eyes widening, her body going lax and languid, and that fine trembling that had nothing to do with fear and everything to do with something so exciting and amazing that your toes tingled and your pulse raced and—

"I happen to like nice men," she breathed just as softly. "I told you this before, Han. I can't be with a man that doesn't understand me. Doesn't understand what I'm fighting for, no matter how much I want him in return."

"So you do want me?" He smiled.

"Isn't that obvious?"

"Sometimes."

Her eyes widened a bit more. "Sometimes?"

"When you aren't acting like a scoundrel."

"Me," she whisper-squeaked, shocked at his words, but not raising her voice. Not pulling away. "How have I ever been a scoundrel?"

"Every second of every day," He continued, taking yet another step closer, pressing her against the wall. "So beautiful and ruthless, determined to fill every moment with purpose. And stepping on my feelings in the process. That wasn't nice, princess. You're not a nice person. Good thing for you that I don't like nice people."

"Y-you don't?"

"Not anymore than you like nice men."

"But I do like nice men, I do—"

His mouth hit hers, and she melted into his arms. I was grinning so wide I almost cheered. Maybe it wasn't written the way Lucas wanted it, but that was pure Han kissing pure Leia. No amount of tinkering from Lord Hater could have altered that. No amount of Dark Side could erase the blinding power of love and destiny. And this time, I made certain no well-intentioned golden protocol droid would interrupt them. He was currently locked in a supply closet, courtesy of my homicidal mechanical sidekick. Man, I loved that droid!

I felt tears in my eyes as I silently high-five'd with my wookie conspirator, and this time it wasn't from sorrow or homesickness. Finally something positive was back on track, something was happening for a good reason that should have happened in this galaxy. And that gave me hope.

If Han and Leia could fall in love despite every curve ball thrown at them, then I could find a way home against all odds, too.