Chapter Eleven
Luke watched with mixed emotions as Han and Leia nonchalantly avoided one another on the way to Tatooine. It was both amusing and distressing, the way denied ever having previously known one another, the way one ducked out of a room when the other entered, the way they each tried to claim Hanna as their own without claiming her theirs. He hadn't brought up the kiss to either of them, though he knew all three of them were preoccupied with thinking about it. He wondered what Hanna would do if she knew.
The first night en route, as the others slept, Luke sat in the cockpit, thinking, the blue-witness of hyperspace dazzling his eyes. He worried about what would happen when he found Max. Once, as a young adolescent, Max had hung on his every word and followed him wherever he went, determined one day to be a Jedi himself. When the change came over him it came so suddenly that Luke hadn't known what to do. Hanna had been devastated when he left--he was her best friend, though five years her elder.
Luke had been distraught beyond compare, though he did not fear much for Max. After all, he was young. There could be no danger in what he did with his powers. Luke had been certain of that.
Now, he wasn't so sure. What if he'd done the wrong thing by letting Max go?
He was still confused as to what Max wanted with Hanna, though he was fairly convinced that it was only some sort of attention or recognition he was after.
Hanna quietly walked into the cockpit and sat beside Luke. "I can't sleep," she explained.
"Why not?"
"My...my parents are here. Together. It's unsettling..."
That was the first Luke had heard from Hanna about how she felt about all of this. "You want to talk about it?"
She shrugged. "No."
She paused, then, in typical Solo fashion, talked about it anyway. "Were they in love, Luke? Really in love?"
"When they had you?"
She nodded.
"Yes. Don't ever doubt that, Hanna. They loved each other. It just...didn't work out."
"Why not?"
"They're very different people, from very different worlds. They just didn't get along."
"If I hadn't come along--"
"Hanna, it's not your fault you were born. It's the fault of Han Solo's lack of common sense."
Hanna smiled slightly.
"Besides, if they'd stayed together longer, your mother would have wanted to have children someday, so she and Han would have had this same argument."
"He didn't want me?"
Luke shrugged. "I don't know. Leia sent him away before he could tell anyone. It's not your fault, Hanna. They just argued all the time..."
She considered that. "I know it's not my fault. But I still don't understand how, if they loved each other--"
"Neither do I. I don't think they really understand, either."
***********
Tatooine. The planet furthest from the proverbial bright center of the universe. An analogy that sounded strange when you saw how bright it looked from orbit.
The falcon orbited half-way around the planet before landing in Mos Eisley. Luke wasn't sure where or how to begin to find Max. Because he hadn't been able to sense his presence on planet the last time, it was likely that he was using some advanced blocking technique. As the ramp lowered into the cool Tatooiese evening, he suggested that they all lay low for a while.
"You sure this boy's on planet, kid?" Han asked.
"I'm sure he wants something from me, or with me. He'll be keeping his eyes out for me here, whether or not he's actually on planet."
Han stretched, walking out into the dwindling sunlight. "I need a drink."
"That's not a bad idea," Leia agreed under her breath.
"Right...why don't you two take care of that and pick us all up some dinner?" Luke suggested, a little dryly. He'd let them go be drinking buddies for a while. "Hanna and I will go look for a place to stay."
"A place to--what the hell is wrong with the Falcon?" Han demanded.
Leia cocked her head regally. "Captain, I don't want to stay on your ship any longer than I have to."
"Well, I'm sorry she ain't up to your high personal standards, Princess," Han growled. As Leia started off on her own, he gestured for Luke to take her with them. Luke just gave him a look as he and Hanna walked off together.
Han shrugged helplessly. Oh, well. Maybe after a drink or two he'd be able to put up with Leia.
**********
It wasn't easy to find clean rooms in hotels and apartment buildings in Mos Eisley, but Luke and Hanna knew where to look.
They walked down a corridor to the four little rooms they had rented. They were both silent. Something felt off.
The hallway was well-lit, but too still. The lights above buzzed with excited electrons. It was the only sound save for the quiet footfalls of the two Jedi.
They were about to round a corner, when the feeling of immediate danger prickled the backs of their minds. They both drew their lightsabers, but they were too late.
Without seeing who attacked, or feeling any shots, blows, or cuts, Luke fell unconscious, Hanna beside him.
**********
Leia watched Han down his glass of whisky in one go. He hadn't changed. At all. He was still the self-centered, poorly groomed, loud-mouthed drunk that he always had been. But those eyes--oh, gods, those eyes. No matter how angry everything about him made her, all she had to do was look into his eyes and forgive him everything, because his eyes never lost their poise and emotion. There had always been almost a sadness to them; not a tragic sadness, but a dull sort of sorrow that Leia know traced back to his childhood. She'd known him very well once, everything about him.
Leia sipped her own glass of wine, trying not to look at him. Maybe Luke was right. Maybe she did drink too much. But she wasn't the one taking shots of Corillan whisky.
Suddenly, she felt as if the air had been forced out of her lungs. She stood up in shock, but her vision exploded in stars and her head spun. She clutched the bar for support.
Next thing she knew, she was sitting back down. Her hand was tight in Han's. "Leia, what is it?" he was asking anxiously.
Leia took some deep breaths, not noticing the way he had reacted to her distress, as if every small pain of hers was inflicted on him tenfold. "It's Hanna. And Luke. They're...I can't..."
"Okay, take it easy." He put his other hand on her shoulder protectively. "They in trouble?"
She nodded and stood up despite Han's pleas for her to sit down. "Come on."
They ran in the direction of the hotel where Leia had felt Hanna and Luke lose consciousness, but half way there she stopped. She just stood while Han caught up, panting. "What--"
"They're gone. They're off planet." She wiped tears from her eyes and started for the docking bays and the Falcon. Han followed.
Running in from the night, up the ramp of the Falcon, Han asked, "If they go to hyperspace--"
"Then we'll follow them. Luke taught me how."
She was strapped into her seat before Han made it to the cockpit. He strapped himself in too, mumbling, "I'm too old for this."
The ship blasted out of the docking bay at full speed, in hot pursuit of a ship that only Leia could see in her mind. As soon as they cleared the atmosphere, Han got ready for lightspeed. When the third lever was pulled they should have gone off like a shot.
But all that went off were the engines, with an almost mocking whirring sound.
Leia sighed and closed her eyes as if in pain. "Han!"
He put his head in his hands. "Damnit!"
When he looked up, he expected to find Leia glaring at him. But all he found in her eyes was hurt, sorrow.
"Last time I fixed her, I did a half-assed job so I could get you three to Tatooine. I thought after I got you here I'd have time to fix her..."
"Hyperdrive?" Leia asked.
Han nodded.
Leia nodded in determination. She unstrapped herself and stood. "We'd better get to work, then."
Han nodded too. "I guess we'd better."
Luke watched with mixed emotions as Han and Leia nonchalantly avoided one another on the way to Tatooine. It was both amusing and distressing, the way denied ever having previously known one another, the way one ducked out of a room when the other entered, the way they each tried to claim Hanna as their own without claiming her theirs. He hadn't brought up the kiss to either of them, though he knew all three of them were preoccupied with thinking about it. He wondered what Hanna would do if she knew.
The first night en route, as the others slept, Luke sat in the cockpit, thinking, the blue-witness of hyperspace dazzling his eyes. He worried about what would happen when he found Max. Once, as a young adolescent, Max had hung on his every word and followed him wherever he went, determined one day to be a Jedi himself. When the change came over him it came so suddenly that Luke hadn't known what to do. Hanna had been devastated when he left--he was her best friend, though five years her elder.
Luke had been distraught beyond compare, though he did not fear much for Max. After all, he was young. There could be no danger in what he did with his powers. Luke had been certain of that.
Now, he wasn't so sure. What if he'd done the wrong thing by letting Max go?
He was still confused as to what Max wanted with Hanna, though he was fairly convinced that it was only some sort of attention or recognition he was after.
Hanna quietly walked into the cockpit and sat beside Luke. "I can't sleep," she explained.
"Why not?"
"My...my parents are here. Together. It's unsettling..."
That was the first Luke had heard from Hanna about how she felt about all of this. "You want to talk about it?"
She shrugged. "No."
She paused, then, in typical Solo fashion, talked about it anyway. "Were they in love, Luke? Really in love?"
"When they had you?"
She nodded.
"Yes. Don't ever doubt that, Hanna. They loved each other. It just...didn't work out."
"Why not?"
"They're very different people, from very different worlds. They just didn't get along."
"If I hadn't come along--"
"Hanna, it's not your fault you were born. It's the fault of Han Solo's lack of common sense."
Hanna smiled slightly.
"Besides, if they'd stayed together longer, your mother would have wanted to have children someday, so she and Han would have had this same argument."
"He didn't want me?"
Luke shrugged. "I don't know. Leia sent him away before he could tell anyone. It's not your fault, Hanna. They just argued all the time..."
She considered that. "I know it's not my fault. But I still don't understand how, if they loved each other--"
"Neither do I. I don't think they really understand, either."
***********
Tatooine. The planet furthest from the proverbial bright center of the universe. An analogy that sounded strange when you saw how bright it looked from orbit.
The falcon orbited half-way around the planet before landing in Mos Eisley. Luke wasn't sure where or how to begin to find Max. Because he hadn't been able to sense his presence on planet the last time, it was likely that he was using some advanced blocking technique. As the ramp lowered into the cool Tatooiese evening, he suggested that they all lay low for a while.
"You sure this boy's on planet, kid?" Han asked.
"I'm sure he wants something from me, or with me. He'll be keeping his eyes out for me here, whether or not he's actually on planet."
Han stretched, walking out into the dwindling sunlight. "I need a drink."
"That's not a bad idea," Leia agreed under her breath.
"Right...why don't you two take care of that and pick us all up some dinner?" Luke suggested, a little dryly. He'd let them go be drinking buddies for a while. "Hanna and I will go look for a place to stay."
"A place to--what the hell is wrong with the Falcon?" Han demanded.
Leia cocked her head regally. "Captain, I don't want to stay on your ship any longer than I have to."
"Well, I'm sorry she ain't up to your high personal standards, Princess," Han growled. As Leia started off on her own, he gestured for Luke to take her with them. Luke just gave him a look as he and Hanna walked off together.
Han shrugged helplessly. Oh, well. Maybe after a drink or two he'd be able to put up with Leia.
**********
It wasn't easy to find clean rooms in hotels and apartment buildings in Mos Eisley, but Luke and Hanna knew where to look.
They walked down a corridor to the four little rooms they had rented. They were both silent. Something felt off.
The hallway was well-lit, but too still. The lights above buzzed with excited electrons. It was the only sound save for the quiet footfalls of the two Jedi.
They were about to round a corner, when the feeling of immediate danger prickled the backs of their minds. They both drew their lightsabers, but they were too late.
Without seeing who attacked, or feeling any shots, blows, or cuts, Luke fell unconscious, Hanna beside him.
**********
Leia watched Han down his glass of whisky in one go. He hadn't changed. At all. He was still the self-centered, poorly groomed, loud-mouthed drunk that he always had been. But those eyes--oh, gods, those eyes. No matter how angry everything about him made her, all she had to do was look into his eyes and forgive him everything, because his eyes never lost their poise and emotion. There had always been almost a sadness to them; not a tragic sadness, but a dull sort of sorrow that Leia know traced back to his childhood. She'd known him very well once, everything about him.
Leia sipped her own glass of wine, trying not to look at him. Maybe Luke was right. Maybe she did drink too much. But she wasn't the one taking shots of Corillan whisky.
Suddenly, she felt as if the air had been forced out of her lungs. She stood up in shock, but her vision exploded in stars and her head spun. She clutched the bar for support.
Next thing she knew, she was sitting back down. Her hand was tight in Han's. "Leia, what is it?" he was asking anxiously.
Leia took some deep breaths, not noticing the way he had reacted to her distress, as if every small pain of hers was inflicted on him tenfold. "It's Hanna. And Luke. They're...I can't..."
"Okay, take it easy." He put his other hand on her shoulder protectively. "They in trouble?"
She nodded and stood up despite Han's pleas for her to sit down. "Come on."
They ran in the direction of the hotel where Leia had felt Hanna and Luke lose consciousness, but half way there she stopped. She just stood while Han caught up, panting. "What--"
"They're gone. They're off planet." She wiped tears from her eyes and started for the docking bays and the Falcon. Han followed.
Running in from the night, up the ramp of the Falcon, Han asked, "If they go to hyperspace--"
"Then we'll follow them. Luke taught me how."
She was strapped into her seat before Han made it to the cockpit. He strapped himself in too, mumbling, "I'm too old for this."
The ship blasted out of the docking bay at full speed, in hot pursuit of a ship that only Leia could see in her mind. As soon as they cleared the atmosphere, Han got ready for lightspeed. When the third lever was pulled they should have gone off like a shot.
But all that went off were the engines, with an almost mocking whirring sound.
Leia sighed and closed her eyes as if in pain. "Han!"
He put his head in his hands. "Damnit!"
When he looked up, he expected to find Leia glaring at him. But all he found in her eyes was hurt, sorrow.
"Last time I fixed her, I did a half-assed job so I could get you three to Tatooine. I thought after I got you here I'd have time to fix her..."
"Hyperdrive?" Leia asked.
Han nodded.
Leia nodded in determination. She unstrapped herself and stood. "We'd better get to work, then."
Han nodded too. "I guess we'd better."