The narrowest alleys were intersected by larger streets, making it impossible to stick to the shadows completely. The main streets all led back to the square and, as such, were often haunted by a squad of troopers or security forces, the better to catch their quarry. They managed to negotiate quite a number, dodging laser fire, until they ended up in a more residential area at the north end of the square, the more spacious and less adorned buildings offering much less cover than the cluttered trading areas.
"I think our speeder is parked near here. I recognise the area." Han looked at Chewie, who growled in agreement. "We might be able to reach it if we cross the next two streets, past these houses."
"Are you sure?" Leia questioned.
"No, I'm not sure." he snapped, turning to glare at her, "but what choice do we have?" He leaned out into the next main street to check if it was clear. It wasn't. Four stormtroopers spotted his movement and blaster fire hit the ground and the wall by his head. He fired back.
"They've got this whole place surrounded. Where did they all come from anyway." He was getting really concerned about the whole situation. If they'd been here all along, Maz would have heard something. He fired off another couple of wild, frustrated shots up the street.
"Someone must have called them in." Leia assumed. Or maybe they'd been here the whole time just not making their presence known. That would presume a hidden base and one not too far away explaining the speed of their arrival on the scene. She didn't bother discussing this idea with Han. She crouched down and fired round him. As she did so, the smell from her vision hit her nose, followed by blackness, which blotted out the view of her immediate environment, and then fire and smoke. It was gone again in a second and she put her hand on the floor to stop from falling over. The vision had gone unnoticed and she was thankful it wasn't like it had been on Chandrila. This was not the time to be incapacitated. Han ducked back in to the alley, turning to Chewbacca.
"Let them have a couple of shots from your crossbow, will ya. Then we'll make a run for it." He gestured to the alley opposite theirs. Chewbacca leant the bowcaster round the edge of the building and fired a few shots. It caused a crater in the street and scattered the nearest troopers, allowing time for them to dash for cover unnoticed.
The next street was no better. Coming out between two mud houses, their route continued across the last wide street but that meant crossing the path of the stormtrooper's laser cannons, two of them set on tripods at the end nearest the square. Calculating their route, the troopers from the previous street had joined their colleagues, anticipating the appearance of the trio and the cannons were firing at regular and alternate intervals, ensuring that their route was completely blocked. Debris from the blasts flew out of nearby walls and the noise was deafening.
"This is insane! We're completely pinned down!" Han exclaimed as another laser bolt hit the ground, throwing up clouds of dirt. "We need to get across there." He indicated the alley opposite about fifty yards from their current position. It would only be a matter of time before they were blocked in from behind as well and then it would be all over.
Leia leant round the wall and fired off a couple of shots randomly. There was no time to aim as the volley of bolts from the troopers was unrelenting.
"I told you, we needed to wait for backup!" Han shouted at her above the noise.
"We didn't have time to wait" she yelled back. Their proximity to each other in the alley as they jostled to fire at their attackers meant that they were shouting in each other's faces. "Those children can't wait!"
"You always want to save everybody. You can't always do that. You haven't thought this through. We're going to die here!" He waved his finger in her face. "When I say we need to wait for back up, I mean it."
"Well, congratulations! You must be so pleased you were right!" She jabbed a finger in his chest. "Anyway, who died and put you in charge?" A blast hit the wall beside her head, spraying her with mud and plaster. Han grabbed her arm and pulled her back further into the alley.
"You know what? The Force forbid I should give you advice and you actually take it." He was angry now, partly at her stubbornness and partly at being in such a seemingly unwinnable position. He always liked an exit strategy, even if it was talking his way out of trouble and, right now, there didn't seem to be one. He flung his arms up in defeat.
"What's the point? You're always right. You don't need me. I could be sitting in the trading station cantina on Coriva right now negotiating a sweet deal to make Chewie and I some serious cash". He spread his arms to emphasise his point. Chewbacca had worked his way round to the next narrow alley down and now let off a violent volley of bolts from his crossbow, making a run for the alley opposite while Han fired wildly to cover him. He growled loudly at Han that he would cover them while they did the same but neither of them was listening.
"I had another life before I met you, you know. One where I could make sure I didn't follow some crazy woman into the middle of an impossible fight." Thoughts of his life before his involvement with the Alliance filled his head and he delivered his last sentence with more conviction than he had meant. Leia looked furious and genuinely hurt. Her lips pressed together into a thin line as if she were fighting to stop her emotions from boiling over. She looked at him for a brief moment then leant out into the street and fired several shots, hitting two stormtroopers who flew backwards into one of the cannons. Chewbacca growled his appreciation at her shooting.
"Why don't you go back to it then?" she challenged. "If I'm so crazy, just leave! I can manage by myself. I might even get more done." Another explosion went off far too close to them and part of the front wall of the house disintegrated causing them both to duck back into the alley covering their heads. The troopers took a few seconds to recharge the cannons and Han took the opportunity to run and skid to a stop on the ground behind a stone water trough in the middle of the street, firing madly as he went.
He shouted back at her.
"Is that all you can say? After years of me putting my life on the line for you?" He waved his gun at her angrily.
"Stop waving that thing around and fire it!" Leia scolded at the top of her voice. She fired towards the troopers and so did Han, hitting three more before their shots were returned ten fold and they both shielded themselves. "Now I know how you really feel, how much you resent me, why would I make you stay?" She shook her head in annoyed astonishment. "All this time, all you've ever wanted to do is leave! Great! That's just great! Why I ever let you get to me I have no idea!" She was pacing and waving her arms at him. A sure sign she was really cross.
He stared disbelieving at her for a moment then held his blaster above the water trough and fired off several shots. She was an infuriating woman, he thought. So wrapped up in her cause that was about to kill them both that she couldn't see he was afraid he would never have a life with her. She'd completely misunderstood what he meant.
"Leave?" he yelled incredulously, spreading his arms wide in amazement. "Leave? I don't want to leave you!" She paused her pacing to fire up the street then looked over at him, her eyes still flashing with anger. Ducking to avoid another bolt that hit the trough, he stared at her intensely.
"Leia, I want to marry you!" He waited for her reaction but she just stood staring at him, her mouth open. She seemed to have forgotten they were in a fire fight and her blaster hand hung by her side.
"What?" She took a few seconds to process what he had said then began pacing again. He watched her and frowned. She was muttering to herself, hitting her forehead with the palm of her hand. He expected a tirade where she told him what an idiot he was and what on earth was he thinking? How could he expect her to marry him when he was such a moon-jockey. Instead she shouted, "And you wait until now to tell me this?" waving her hands in the direction of the battle.
"I've been trying to talk to you for days but we haven't exactly had any time to discuss it." As Leia let off another volley of shots, a trooper fired a bolt that hit the wall dangerously close to her head, singeing her hair and covering her in dust. "Are you trying to get your head blown off?" he screamed. "Get over here! Chewie, cover her!" Both Han and Chewbacca lay down covering fire while Leia belted over to the water trough and flung herself on the ground next to him.
"You really pick your moments." She shook her head. They both leant low with their backs against the trough, breathing hard, adrenaline flowing. Han put one hand behind her head, pulled her towards him and kissed her quickly and hard. "Marry me, Leia... if we live long enough that is."
Chewbacca growled in a frustrated manner at them that they should shoot now and get married later. They both stared into each other's eyes. She was covered in dirt; in her hair, smeared across her face. Blaster in hand, she was beautiful.
"OK, hotshot. But on one condition." She got up on her knees and fired over the trough, taking out another trooper.
"What's that?" he asked, joining her.
"We don't spend our honeymoon anywhere near here." She flashed him a smile and made a dash for the alleyway where Chewbacca was waiting. Han followed, diving into the alley just as the laser cannon fired at the water trough, exploding stone, water and dust all over the street and obliterating the spot where he had just been sitting.
