AN: Thanks as always for reading and reviewing!

"Without a Heart"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 12

Rey had just snuck out of Luke's room when Leia came running down the hallway, giving Rey only a few seconds to hide the lightsaber in her robe pocket before her aunt reached her.

"Leia . . . aunt . . . Aunt Leia . . ." she stammered, ". . . what are you doing here?"

Leia was still fully dressed even though it was the middle of the night, but her hair was mussed up as if she had just gotten out of bed, falling out of its buns. Her eyes were bulged and her hands were shaking a little. "Rey . . . I need to talk to Luke." Without waiting for an answer, she darted into her brother's room.

Rey quietly followed her aunt back into the bedroom, though she huddled against the wall next to the doorway once she was inside, squeezing the lightsaber in her pocket as if that would make her invisible.

"Luke, WAKE UP!" Leia shouted, shaking her brother's shoulder.

It took a good few moments for Luke's eyes to open. "Huh . . . Leia?"

Leia's breath was coming out in short pants. "Luke . . . I know where Han is!"

"What?" Luke exclaimed.

"Han . . ." Rey whispered. Suddenly her hands were tingling. She stared over at her aunt, momentarily wondering if she had heard her right.

Luke instantly sat up in bed, his wide eyes reflecting the lights outside. "What? . . . Where? . . . How do you know?"

Leia quickly sat on the edge of the bed, her breath still coming out in pants, her hand still on Luke's shoulder. "I saw him . . . I saw him in a dream."

"In a dream?" Luke reacted.

Leia let out a huff. "Luke, this wasn't an ordinary dream – you of all people should understand that." She took a deep breath that did little to calm her panting. "I saw him, Luke – it was really him – and I saw where he is."

Rey's chest tightened as if she were holding her breath. Han's grinning face entered her head. She heard his deep, rough voice almost as if he were actually speaking to her.

Luke raised an eyebrow at his sister. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely," said Leia. "I saw him as clearly as I see you now." She pinched a few hairs of her brother's beard. "He's on Teth . . . and Kylo Ren's with him."

"Then we'd better tell Pooja," said Luke.

"My thoughts exactly."

If either of them noticed Rey by the doorway, they didn't acknowledge it as Luke leapt out of bed and the siblings rushed out of the room. After a gulp, she followed them towards Pooja's room, staying a good distance behind, still squeezing the lightsaber in her pocket.

She reached Pooja's room just in time to witness her father and aunt waking the chancellor up and telling her about Han in voices so fast that their words ran together. With the mention of Han, R2 snapped out of his nighttime shutdown and started beeping in rushed, excited tones. Again, Rey slipped in and huddled next to the doorway, still unsure whether or not anyone noticed her.

"So let me get this straight," Pooja said in a frazzled voice as soon as her cousins allowed her to get a word in, "you two think Han's alive and on Teth because Leia had a dream?"

"I know it sounds crazy," said Leia.

"Yes it does sound crazy!" Pooja exclaimed. "I'd be inclined to think you both had gone crazy if I didn't know about the Force."

"So you'll help us?" asked Luke.

Pooja let out a long sigh, her gaze shifting between her two cousins. "As your cousin I would love to tell you yes, but as chancellor I have to say no."

"What?" Leia and Luke reacted together.

Pooja eased herself to a sitting position. "You have to understand, I need more than just a dream – I need actual leads."

"This is a lead!" Rey shouted, not caring that she had given away her hiding place and causing all heads to look up at her. "It's the best lead you have! Look, you finally have an actual planet! You should at least send someone to check Teth."

Pooja sighed again, digging her fingers into her forehead. "So am I supposed to tell the scouts to search Teth because of a dream?"

"You won't have to," said Leia. "I'll go there myself."

"And I'll go too," said Luke.

Rey stepped forward. "So will I."

Leia stared at her niece, her eyes wide almost as if afraid, but before she could say anything, the chancellor spoke up.

"All right," she said. "There's no sense in saying you can't go since you'll just go after him anyway. I'm not going to stop you. But if you do find him – or Snoke or Kylo Ren – let me know immediately so I can send reinforcements."

"Thank you," Luke breathed, wrapping his arms around his cousin.

Leia, however, was still staring at Rey. "Rey . . . I'm sorry . . . but you can't come."

"What?"

Leia made her way over to her niece and put her hands on her shoulders. "Rey, listen. Han told me that Snoke wants you. He wants you by his side just like my son."

Rey bared her teeth. "I wouldn't join him, you know that!"

Now Luke was next to Leia, staring over at his daughter. "Rey, you don't understand . . ."

"What don't I understand?" Rey interrupted. "I'm not your father or your nephew!"

"Rey, you need to listen!" Leia said in her firm, militaristic voice. "Han wanted me to promise that I wouldn't let you go after him."

"Han . . .?" Suddenly Rey's voice was soft, hurt, almost betrayed. Han, who had been impressed by her piloting skills, who had offered to take her on as an assistant, who felt like more of a father to her than Luke had ever been . . . even he didn't trust her not to fall victim to the dark side?

She bolted out of the room.

. . .

Han gradually woke up, the feeling that something important had occurred during his nap itching in the back of his mind. As awareness returned to him in increments, he noticed that a blanket covered his body up to his neck, though he thought he remembered being uncovered when he fell asleep. The sound kept on its endless droning – the blanket ever-so-slightly muffled it, but not enough to keep it from irritating Han's ears.

"What's going on, Han Solo?"

His son's voice jolted his eyes open. Ben was glaring down at him, his eyes flaring.

"Hi son," Han said in his weak voice.

"What were you just doing?" Ben shouted.

Han raised an eyebrow. "I was sleeping. I ain't allowed to do that now?"

Suddenly Ben grabbed his father's shoulders, pressing them against the bed. "Don't play games, Han Solo. There was a disturbance in the Force that originated here! Now tell me what you did!"

Now both of Han's eyebrows were up. "Ben, you've known me your whole life and you know I can't use your Force thing."

Ben growled as he released Han's shoulders. "I know what I felt, Han Solo. You can stop pretending."

"Pretending? Look son, I dunno what Snoke's been tellin' you, but whatever you felt here wasn't me."

"Are you pretending to be stupid or are you actually stupid?" Ben snapped, leaning over his father as if studying every detail of his face.

Han swallowed, the fingers on his single hand curling. "Look, I had a dream about your mother, okay? I don't think that's worth throwin' a fit over."

Ben blinked as if a realization was slowly dawning. "You called to her . . . you called her for help!"

"What? Ben, you're bein' ridiculous."

Now Ben's face hardened. "Am I? Why don't we see?"

He put his hand on his father's forehead, bringing back the sharp pain that came from mind probing. This time, however, he was looking for something very specific. It felt like nails were driving into his head, one after the other after the other, until the dream swirled into his mind, as vivid as if he were dreaming it again. Leia finding him, their conversation, warning her about Snoke wanting Rey . . .

"You did call to her," said Ben, abruptly removing his hand.

"It was a dream," Han insisted, though there was hesitance in his voice. Leia had said she thought she was dreaming . . . then he had said maybe they both were.

Was it possible?

"It was a dream . . ." he said again, more to himself than his son.

Ben's eyes were still examining his father. "You may be extremely weak in the Force, Han Solo, but you still have it."

Han would have panted if he could still breathe; his heart would have been racing if it still existed. No . . . no . . . he wasn't Force-sensitive . . . he wasn't . . . he couldn't have actually called out to Leia . . .

Could he?

The father and son gazed at each other for several moments in silence, the only sound being Han's mechanical breath, and for once Ben actually didn't seem vengeful – instead he seemed almost as confused as Han was, his eyes still scrutinizing his father as if there would be an answer in his face.

"Well, it doesn't matter," Ben finally said. "If they come for you, they'll be ours." With that, he turned sharply to head out the door.

"Ben," said Han.

Ben stopped only briefly.

"When I was asleep . . . did you cover me?" Han wasn't sure why he was asking this when he'd just heard that his wife could be heading for a trap, but the words had escaped nonetheless, as if he were still desperately searching for some good in his son.

Ben left the room without answering.

. . .

Rey had gotten dressed and rushed out to the Falcon as quickly as was possible. Fortunately, whatever rescue party that was assembling hadn't gotten there yet. She could sense that Leia was planning to use the Falcon to find Han, which meant she had to act quickly.

She ran through the darkened halls until she found them – the smuggling compartments Han had showed her when he gave her and Finn a tour of the ship. With a deep breath, she lifted one of the false floor panels, lowered herself into the compartment, and closed herself in, still clutching her grandfather's lightsaber.

Uncle Han, I'm coming.