Chapter 5- The Force Warning

Aeris had been trying her best to learn Chewie's language, however she wasn't nearly as fluent as Han. She did end up needing Threepio's help, but Chewbacca was patient with her and rather reassuring. She could understand him well enough through his body language.

After some time passed, Aeris was left to her own devices quite literally. Chewie had set her up on fixing one of the power couplings on the Falcon and she had her goggles on so the sparks wouldn't fly in her eyes or blind her as she worked. Every once and a while she found herself looking off towards the south entrance to the base, seeing if she could see Han or Luke coming back through the crowd. After a little while, though, she got absorbed in her work.

Hours went by and Aeris had finished her work and moved from her spot over to where Chewie was. She was assisting him and holding the wires in place… Until she felt a sudden shift in the Force, another disturbance. It wasn't the painful one she'd felt when Alderaan was destroyed, but it was strong enough to make her take a breath and pull back away from what she was doing. Chewie noticed and reached out to place his hand on her shoulder.

"I'm ok, Chewie. I just… I felt a shift in the Force," she told him, confusion on her face. Anxiety started to grow in her chest. "I don't know what's going on but it can't be good… Blast it, what if it's Luke and Han? What if they're hurt?" Aeris shook her head and stood up. "I've got to go get Leia or someone. Sorry Chewie!" Aeris gave him a quick hug and Chewie shooed her off in understanding.

Aeris climbed down the ladder and jogged off to the icy hallways towards the innermost part of the base.

A few minutes later, Han came back into the base and climbed off of his Tauntaun. He made his way through the hanger and over to where his ship was parked.

"Chewie," he called out as he made his way closer. The Wookiee was still busy welding a part back onto the ship. "Chewie? Chewie!" Han yelled out a little louder.

Chewie looked up and waved his tool around a bit angrily, howling at Han and nodding his head into the direction of where Aeris had gone.

Han held his hands up slowly. "Alright! Don't lose your temper. I'll find Aeris and we'll come back and give you a hand," he assured.

Chewie shook his head a bit dismissively, then put his goggles back over his eyes and went back to his work. Han made his way through the carved out hallways as well and turned the corner to head into the main Command Center, when he collided with a smaller form.

"Han!" Aeris said in relief. "Thank the stars, I'm so glad to see you. Where's Luke?" She said hurriedly.

"He stayed behind, went to go check out a meteorite that hit nearby. Hey, are you alright? What's wrong?" He noticed how panicked she looked at his words.

"I don't know… But I know something is wrong. Something must have happened to Luke, we gotta go back out there!" She was a bit frantic.

"Easy, easy kiddo, what makes you so sure he's in trouble?" Han put his hands on her shoulders. Aeris took a deep breath and tried to calm down.

"I… I felt a disturbance in the Force. Not like the one I felt when Alderaan was destroyed it was more like… A shift, but still an unpleasant one. Something's wrong, Han, you've got to believe me. Please, I know you don't believe in the Force but-"

"Ok just hold on. Let me go talk to the General, come with me. Let me get this cleared up and then we'll decide what to do about your… Feeling," he said as gently as he could. Sure, Han was still a bit skeptical, but he couldn't deny the worried look in her eyes. Aeris bit her lip but nodded her head.

"Ok… I'll try to calm down a bit, but I'm still anxious," she admitted.

"I know. Come on, we'll talk about it," Han put his arm around her and led her into the Command Center. She looked around and spotted Leia eyeing them from the side, but mostly eyeing Han from the side. Aeris looked over at him and saw him looking at the maps and trajectories, mainly looking for the general.

"Typical", she thought to herself, "Leia is eyeing him and he's completely oblivious."

Han led her through the area as they weaved between computers and people. The both of them walked up to see General Rieekan hunched over and messing with one of the computers.

"Solo, Rourke," he greeted.

"General I-" Aeris started, but Han put a hand on her shoulder. Aeris looked up at him, suddenly realizing what Han was doing. He gave her that look and nodded, and Aeris nodded back. She was about to ramble off an issue without thinking, probably not a good plan.

"No sign of life out there, General. The sensors are in place so you'll know if anything comes around," Han told him.

"Commander Skywalker reported in, yet?" Rieekan asked as he rose up to look at them. Aeris shifted and fidgeted but looked up at Han.

"No, he's checking out a meteorite that hit near him," he said without missing a beat.

"With all the meteor activity in this system it's going to be difficult to spot approaching ships," he seemed pretty grim.

"General I gotta leave, I can't stay anymore," Han just came right out with it.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"Well, there's a price on my head. If I don't pay off Jabba the Hutt I'm a dead man."

"A death mark's not an easy thing to live with…" The general looked up at him and smiled, holding his hand out. "You and Rourke, you're good fighters, Solo. I hate to lose you two."

Han shook his hand firmly. "Thank you general, but Aeris is staying here. She can do more here and be safer here than where I'm going."

"That's right," Aeris confirmed and gave a nod.

"I'll let you know when I need you, Rourke," General Rieekan said with a smile. "I'm glad you're not leaving. The Rogue Squadron would be missing one of its best fighters."

"Thank you, sir," she gave a smile and a nod, pride suddenly swelling in her chest. She turned away from him and nearly bumped into Han, who she realized had finally caught the eye of Leia. He slowly walked over to stand in front of her and Aeris lingered a little behind him to try and give them some sort of privacy.

"Well, Your Highness, guess this is it," Han sighed. Leia only nodded her head.

"That's right," she hardly had any emotion in her voice. Aeris was a little surprised and slowly looked over at Han, who she saw go tense and give that signature spiteful smile.

"Well don't get all mushy on me. So long, princess!" He snapped before storming off.

"Han!" Aeris hissed in a whisper as she hurried after him. The two of them made it out into the hallway. "What's the matter with you?"

"Me? What about her?" Han jabbed his thumb back in the direction they'd just come from.

"Han!" Leia's voice echoed from behind them. Aeris' eyes widened.

"I'm getting out of the damn way," she muttered as she slipped past Han and turned the corner… But she leaned against the wall so she could still listen to what was happening. Han stopped in the hallway and looked back at her.

"Yes, your highnessness?" He sassed, making Aeris put her hand over her mouth to muffle her soft laugh.

"I thought you had decided to stay?" Leia said a bit more quietly that time.

"Well the bounty hunter we ran into in Ord Mandell changed my mind."

"That's putting it lightly... " Aeris muttered to herself.

"Han we need you!" Leia said, a bit urgently it seemed.

"We need?" Han echoed.

"Yes."

"Well what about you need?"

"I need? I don't know what you're talking about," Leia sighed, shaking her head slightly, which only sent Han into another spiteful episode. He tsked and smirked.

"Probably don't," his voice was riddled with sarcasm. "Aeris let's go!" He thundered, making Aeris jump in surprise as he came around the corner.

"Ok, ok! Are we going to find Luke?" She whispered to him as she hurried after his angry stride.

"Yeah," he bit back.

"What precisely am I supposed to know?" Leia called out after the two of them. Aeris sighed and rolled her eyes a bit, not really wanting to be stuck in between Han and Leia in one of their tense arguments.

"Come on!" Han drawled. "You want me to stay because of the way you feel about me!"

"Yes! You're a great help to us!" Leia said as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "You're a natural leader!"

"That is true, I will definitely agree with that," Aeris chirped from the side.

Han stopped, making Aeris bump into him yet again. She gave a flustered huff and backed away from the two who were now staring at each other. "No!" Han said, pointing a finger at Leia. "That's not it. Come on," he rose a brow and smirked at her. Leia's reserves began to crumble and the hardened look on her face faltered.

Aeris gave an awkward wave to the Rebel that had to move between the two of them.

"Ah-ha!" Han suddenly boasted.

"You're imagining things," Leia spat.

"Am I? Then why are you following me? Afraid I was gonna leave without giving you a goodbye kiss?" Han snapped.

"I'd just as soon kiss a Wookiee!" Leia countered.

"Uh we have one of those, lest you forget," Aeris said from the side.

"Yeah, we can arrange that!" He looked over at Aeris. "Let's go, come on," he motioned for her to go ahead of him and Aeris was all too eager to get out of that conversation. "He could use a good kiss!" Han called back over his shoulder as they left Leia, a little embarrassed and bewildered, in the frozen hallway.

"Han-!" Aeris was trying so hard to get his attention, but to no avail.

"Why'd you take this apart now?" Han's voice was full of exasperation as he fussed at Chewie. "I'm trying to get us out of here and you pull both of these-!"

"Han Solo you listen to me right now!" Aeris stomped her foot and a large crack suddenly split the ice from where she was standing. A tremor rippled through the area and some of the Rebels looked over at them in surprise. "Sorry… That was me, Force stuff, sorry," Aeris said carefully, a bit embarrassed at herself… And surprised.

"Aeris you have got to calm down," Han said as he walked up to her.

"I can't calm down! Please listen to me, I'm really worried about Luke and if you're not going to do anything about it then I'm gonna go out there and find him myself. The Force will lead me to him!"

"Ah, excuse me, sir, Miss Aeris," Threepio's voice came from behind them. "Might I have a word with the both of you please?"

"Of course, Threepio, what is it?" Aeris said, trying to hold back her frustration.

"What do you want?" Han was a little less delicate.

"Well, it's Princess Leia, sir. She's been trying to get you and Aeris on the communicator-"

"I turned it off. I don't wanna talk to her," Han snapped.

"Wha- You turned mine off too?" Aeris pulled her comlink out of his pocket. "I knew I shouldn't have let you borrow this," she hissed as she shoved it back into her own pocket.

"Well, Princess Leia is wondering about Master Luke. He hasn't come back yet, she doesn't know where he is," Threepio said.

"I don't know where he is," Han said.

"Nobody knows where he is," Threepio clarified. Han narrowed his eyes.

"What do you mean nobody knows?"

"See?" Aeris blurted. "I told you! Something is wrong, Han." Her blue eyes were fierce as she glared at him and Han gave her a wary look before he turned away from her and Threepio.

"Deck officer!" He called out. "Deck officer!"

"Excuse me sir-" Threepio tried, but Han reached back and put a hand over his metal mouth. The deck officer walked over to them.

"Do you know where Commander Skywalker is?" Han asked.

"I haven't seen him. It's possible he came in through the south entrance."

"It's possible?" Aeris sassed. Han looked at her.

"Let me deal with this," he turned back to the officer. "Why don't you go and find out? It's getting dark out there," Han ordered. The young man nodded.

"Yes sir," he said before turning off. Han finally took his hand away from Threepio.

"Excuse me, sir! Might I inquire what's going on?" Threepio asked.

"Why not?" Han muttered before looking over at Aeris. "Come on," he put a hand on her shoulder and ushered her away with him, but then paused a second and looked at her. "I… I'm sorry I didn't take you seriously before."

"Well the unsettling feeling hasn't spiked, but it hasn't faded either," Aeris had a displeased look on her face. "I forgive you but we're wasting time. Something has got to be done, we have got to find him."

"Let's go, I know where we can start," Han said before leading her off again. He put a hand on her shoulder to try and comfort her and she didn't pull away.

Han led her back to the entrance he had come through and they both looked around through the crowd. The Tauntauns were moving around restlessly and one was being doctored on as it lay on the floor. Han led Aeris up to a group of men and the deck officer had come running back up.

"Sir, Commander Skywalker hasn't come in the south entrance," he informed.

"He might have forgotten to check in," one offered.

"I doubt it," Aeris bit back.

"Are the speeders ready?" Han asked.

"Uh, not yet," one answered.

"We've still been struggling with them," Aeris said. "We've made a lot of progress, though, but it's still not good enough yet." She felt like she could kick herself. She knew something bad was going to happen before those damn things were ready.

"Well then I'll have to go out on Tauntaun," Han cut through the group and Aeris followed behind him.

"Sir, the temperature's dropping too rapidly!" Another Rebel warned.

"That's right and my friend is out there in it," Han said sternly, pointing at him. He set his jaw and turned back around.

"Finally!" Aeris said as she followed him to the Tauntauns.

"No. You're staying here," Han said, a sternness in his voice that Aeris didn't hear very often.

"Don't… Don't make me stay, you know how worried I am about him. I can help you find him, please!" Aeris pleaded. "I can't lose Luke. I can't…" She bit her lip, distress written all over her.

"Aeris look at me," Han said levelly, looking her in the eyes, "I'm going to find him. I'm going to bring him back and he's going to be fine, but I need you to stay here. Just trust me, kiddo, alright?" He ran a hand down her hair and even though Aeris wanted to protest more, she couldn't.

"Alright… Of course I trust you. Go, and please be careful. I can't lose you both… Leia definitely can't lose you either," she smiled softly at Han. He leaned forward and kissed the top of her head before he turned and mounted the waiting Tauntaun.

"Your Tauntaun will freeze before you reach the first marker," a Rebel argued.

"Then I'll see you in hell! Hya!" Han snapped the reins and his Tauntaun sped off. Aeris shot a quick glare towards the group of doubting Rebels, but she turned her eyes back to watch Han fade out into the bleak white of Hoth.