Chapter Four
"Our little secret is between you and me
So please promise to let this go let it be
Forget everything you've heard and seen
Cuz we gotta stick together gotta stay as a team" -Justifide
Rolling over with a groan, Han opened his eyes. Though they were blurred from sleep, he glanced over at the chronometer. With another groan he had to wonder what, exactly had caused him to wake up so sithspawned early. There was still a substantial amount of time before dawn, but when he tried, Han just couldn't fall back to sleep.
He slid out of bed as silently as he could, careful not to wake up his wife who was still sleeping peacefully on her side. Han envied her. He considered waking her up out of spite, but decided that might not be the best of ideas.
Stretching, he yawned and began to move towards the main room of the apartment. But he heard a strange sound that made him freeze. Suspicious, he grabbed his blaster.
Creeping carefully into the main room, he held the blaster out in front of him, finger poised over the firing stud. Wary, he squinted through the dark, wishing his eyes would adjust faster.
"It's only me."
Han turned to the sound of the familiar voice. Moving closer, Han saw Tahiri seated at the table, looking at the holos from earlier. The room was dark; she hadn't bothered to turn any light on. As she looked at them, the holos lit up and cast a small, strange glow about her.
"Shavit…what're you doing up at this hour?" He asked her, lowering the blaster taking a seat at the table. A quick glance at Tahiri's face proved that she'd been crying. Her eyes were slightly red and puffy, though there were no signs of wetness on her cheeks.
"I could ask you the same question." She responded, looking up and grinning at the older man.
"Kids these days…" Han rolled his eyes and grinned. "I couldn't sleep."
"Same here." Tahiri responded, her green eyes dropping down to the holodisks again.
She fiddled with a few of the disks, turning random ones on and carefully studying the image before turning it off and proceeding to the next one. A soft, sad smile graced her features when she found one from her days at the academy on Yavin 4. Tears threatened to fall as she studied the image. She raised her hand, as if to try and touch the two young people, herself and Anakin, to test the reality of it all…but then her hand fell to table again with a light thud.
"I loved your son, you know…he was my very best friend." She murmured softly, squeezing her bright green eyes shut as she flicked the hologram off. Opening them again, she reached for another disk, and thumbed the button.
"It makes me so angry now, to see people that feel the way Anakin and I did about each other…but they never do anything…" She said, her eyebrows furrowing. The disk she held now was displaying an image of Jaina and Zekk. The image had been taken years ago, only days before the war with the 'Vong- the war that had changed everything. The two of them, along with their other friends, had been working on either the Rock Dragon or the Lightning Rod, whichever ship had needed the tune-up that time.
Han was silent for a moment, rather uncomforatable with the situation. He'd never been the sentimental type, and now here he was…stuck in a room with a teary-eyed girl, listening to her reminisce about his son and talk about love… Five years ago, he would never have believed he'd be in this situation.
"I, ah…know what you mean, I guess kid…all the wars I've been in have showed me how important the people around you are…" He finally responded after a long silence, shifting his shoulders awkwardly. Stiffly, he patted Tahiri's arm, hoping the gesture would come off as comforting. He really didn't like this…
Tahiri looked away from the holograph and up at him again, an acrid smile twisted into her expression. "I guess your kids could take a lesson from you, huh?"
Han paused for a long moment, gauging Tahiri's words. Narrowing his eyes at her, he spoke slowly. "What do you know…?"
Tahiri's grin became furtive, and she raised an eyebrow. "What do you know?"
They stared at each other for a long moment, each trying to wear the other down. Tahiri broke first, and her gaze turned meaningfully back to the holograph of Zekk and Jaina.
Han followed her gaze. "Oh. I see."
"So you know?" Tahiri asked, almost surprised. She had to give him credit, most parents didn't know as much about their kids as they thought, but Han seemed to be a smart one.
"I found out after I talked to Zekk the other day. He didn't say anything, I could just tell, I guess." Han informed her, and a thought suddenly came to him. "Is that who you meant a few minutes ago…when you said that?"
Tahiri smiled again, a small one. "You catch on pretty quick for being an old guy."
"Watch it Blondie…when we leave you could find yourself jettisoned in a message pod." Han teased, narrowing his eyes at the young girl again.
Tahiri giggled, but a moment later she was serious again. "I mean, I guess there's nothing to do about it…it's too bad, though."
"What do you mean nothing to do about it?" Han replied slyly. "Obviously you need more of an influence from me."
Grinning, Tahiri's eyes brightened. "Do I sense a plan forming?"
"Depends if you're in on it or not." Han replied, leaning back into his chair with his arms behind his head, raising his eyebrows at the young girl.
"Oh, I'm definitely in now. Count on it."