AN: Thanks once again for reading and reviewing!

"Without a Heart"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 15

After Leia and Chewie landed the Falcon, Rey stood by the spot where the ramp would lower, her arms folded over the lightsaber tucked in her shirt. She ground her teeth behind her lips when she spotted her father heading her way. Should she even acknowledge him as her father? What had he done to earn that title?

"Rey," said Luke, "I'm asking you again, please stay here."

"You know I won't," Rey responded.

Luke audibly swallowed. "Rey, listen, a long time ago I was in a similar position. I saw visions of Leia and Han suffering and I rushed out to save them without listening to my masters. Do you know what happened?" He held up his artificial hand. "This happened!"

Rey glared at the hand. "Well isn't losing a hand worth it to save someone you care about?"

"How about losing your soul?" Luke pressed.

Rey raised her glare to her father's eyes. "We can keep arguing, but that's wasting precious time, isn't it? Who knows what they're doing to Han right now?"

"Rey, as your father I'm asking you to stay here!"

"And what will you do if I refuse? Freeze me in place with the Force? Knock me out with the Force? Your nephew already did both those things – are you like him?"

Just then Leia and Chewie showed up, each of them armed and each one looking warily at Rey as if they expected her to spontaneously turn to the dark side in front of them.

"Rey, we don't have time for this," said Leia.

"You're right," Rey retorted, "so you'll just have to accept that I'm coming."

Chewie put a paw on her head. [Rey, it's all right. We'll bring Han back.]

"You'll need my help!" Rey exclaimed in a near-shout, flinching away from Chewie's touch.

"You don't know that!" said Luke.

"And you don't know that you won't!"

With that, Rey pushed the button to lower the ramp, not taking her glare off of her father and aunt. Once the ramp was down, she charged outside, clutching her grandfather's lightsaber against her chest.

. . .

"You are free to use whatever means necessary against the intruders," Kylo Ren announced to the mass of stormtroopers in front of him. "Stun them, injure them, but I want them alive." His brow furrowed. "However, there is one I do not want harmed in any way. A young human female with brown hair – she is to be captured unharmed and taken directly to me. Understood?"

"Yes, sir," the stormtroopers affirmed in unison.

"Do not underestimate the intruders," Kylo continued. "They are skilled in combat and stealth. Three of them can also use the Force – including the girl I want. Do not let her unthreatening stance fool you."

"Yes, sir," the stormtroopers repeated.

"Very good," said Kylo. "Proceed, and when you have the girl, let me know immediately. Dismissed."

As the troops filed out of the room, Kylo remained in place, his face still, his demeanor stoic, nothing in his outward appearance betraying his thoughts even taking the lack of a mask into account. The twist in his stomach and the tightness in his chest were unacknowledged as he strived to keep himself focused.

Soon they would have his entire family.

His mother, his uncle, Chewie . . .

His cousin.

. . .

The monastery was dark, with a strange chill in the air. Guided only by the glow of Luke's lightsaber, the group of Leia, Luke, Chewie, and the droids slowly made their way down the empty corridor.

"Rey?" Luke whispered. "Rey, where are you?" He tried reaching out with the Force, but his senses felt dull, as if he were trying to see through a thick cloud of fog. He could sense life forms, but he couldn't distinguish between them or pinpoint where they were. Rey, Han – they could be anyone.

R2 gave a frightened beep to which 3PO replied, "R2, I do believe it was a mistake to come here."

"3PO, shh!" Leia whispered. "R2, look for a terminal – maybe it will tell us where Han is."

After several minutes of trudging in the dark, R2 finally beeped that he found a terminal, where he immediately plugged himself in. Luke found himself holding his breath as the astromech downloaded the information. Maybe Han wasn't here after all. Maybe Leia's dream had only been her subconscious showing her what she wanted to see.

Maybe Han was actually dead.

Finally, after what seemed like ages, R2 beeped in an excited tone.

"He says he thinks he found something," 3PO translated. "Five levels up, cell seventeen. It might be General Solo."

Chewie gave a soft roar, raising his crossbow.

"Chewie, come on," said Leia. "Let's go get him."

"I'll look for Rey," said Luke.

Suddenly the corridor flooded with light, causing all eyes to squint. Stormtroopers came running in from all directions, blasters raised at the group, blocking all means of escape.

"Freeze!" one of the troopers yelled. "Drop your weapons or face the consequences!"

. . .

Rey inched against the walls of the corridor, only breathing when necessary, clutching the lightsaber. She ducked behind stormtroopers on tiptoe, ducked across halls, wove herself this way and that. Han, where are you? She had thought the Force would give her some sort of sign, but nothing was coming, not even when she pressed his image into her mind. A persistent chill was running through her body as the memory of Han being run through entered her head.

No, don't think about that. Han was alive – they knew that for sure now.

Didn't they?

But how could he have survived that?

Down another corridor, but this one actually led to an open room. She stopped. Something felt . . . familiar here, as if the room were calling her. Maybe this was where Han was. After a swallow, she carefully stepped into the darkened room.

And the door slid shut behind her.

Her breath shortened as she stepped further into the darkened room. Someone was here, someone she knew, but the identity remained elusive. The further into the room she got, the more she felt that the other being wasn't Han . . .

Then came a voice – a voice she knew, but a voice she had never wanted to hear again.

"Hello, cousin. I've been waiting for you."

. . .

"Drop your weapons!"

"Oh my!" shouted 3PO, immediately putting his hands up. "We surrender!"

The others, however, remained still for one second, two seconds, three seconds . . .

Then Chewie shot one of the troopers.

With that, both sides fired at once. Leia and Chewie skillfully shot the troopers while ducking their blasts and Luke rapidly blocked the blasts with his lightsaber. Leia fired shot after shot, her heart racing not just from the battle. Every second felt like a second lost from Han. He could be dying right now and she wasn't there to help him.

"Leia! Chewie!" Luke shouted. "Go get Han, I can hold them off!"

"Are you sure?" Leia called back as she shot another trooper.

"Yes!" said Luke, grunting as he rotated his lightsaber in rhythm with the blasts.

After gazing at her brother and shooting one last stormtrooper, Leia ran down the corridor. "Come on, Chewie," she called, but the Wookiee was already following her.

Up and down corridors, up stairs, up and down more corridors, up more stairs, always sneaking around guards. Leia kept her Force senses reaching out, searching for Han. At some times she thought she could feel him, but at others she wondered if she was just convincing herself that she felt him because she so desperately wanted him to be alive.

She counted floors, then she counted cells, closer and closer to the place where Han might be, and all the while something seemed to be clenching her stomach and squeezing tighter and tighter, almost to the point where it might burst. "I'm coming, Han," she whispered, maybe to assure him or maybe to assure herself.

Finally they arrived. Level five, cell seventeen. The tightness in Leia's stomach had spread to her chest. Han might be behind this door . . . or he might not. Again she thought she sensed him, but she couldn't trust herself not to want to think she sensed him. This moment could confirm Han's status as either living or dead.

Chewie put a gentle paw on her shoulder. [It's all right, Leia. We'll go in together . . . and no matter what happens, you did everything you could for him.]

After reaching up and stroking Chewie's paw, Leia filled her lungs with air and opened the door.

It was a small, dimly lit cell. Once Leia entered she became aware of a soft, mechanical sound, like her father's artificial breath but weaker. A slight tremble went through her as she scanned the room. One wall was bare except for a small sink and the wall across was taken up by a bunk in which someone lay motionless.

The world span as Leia leaned over the figure in the bed, wrapped up in a blanket up to his neck, his eyes squeezed shut, the mechanical breath noise coming from him.

"Han . . ."