The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano, Book Nine

Chapter Twenty: Han's Discovery

HAN SOLO

Han was restless.

He paced from one side of the common room on the Bria to the other, occasionally stopping in front of Chewy and Kaya Ti, who were playing a game of holo-chess. "I don't like this," he declared.

Kaya rolled her eyes. "Yeah. We understood you the last time too. And the one before that, and the one before that..." Suddenly her gaze turned to the Wookiee seated in front of her, and she moved one of her pieces. "Checkmate."

As Chewy's last player was destroyed, he let out a low howl, waving his furry arms about. Startled by the Wookie's cry, Han tripped over a toolbox and landed in a heap on the floor.

But despite his undignified position, he managed to chuckle as Kaya Ti ducked to avoid getting knocked in the face by Chewy's huge paw. She slid quietly from her seat down to the floor and army crawled to the relative safety next of the corner he was in.

"And this it isn't wise to–" Han began matter-of-factly, but Kaya cut him off.

"Upset a Wookiee," she finished. "Yeah, hotshot, I know. I can't count the number of times you've told me after I've beat him at holo-chess."

"Well I'm just doing it because I–" He stopped himself when he realized what he'd been about to say. Because I still care about you. But, thankfully, before Kaya could ask why he had stopped talking so suddenly, a red light on a panel on the wall began to flash, accompanied by a low whine.

He tapped at it, but nothing happened. He sighed. He knew perfectly well what it meant. "Hey, Chewy! There's a coolant leak in the left hyperdrive connection! See if you can lock it down!"

Still growling to himself about his loss, Chewbacca got up and hurried down the hallway. Kaya stood up, walking to turn off the holo-chess table. "This old hunk o' junk is always breaking down," she said with a laugh.

"Yep, but she works like a dream," he said, leaning against a lever on the wall. The piece of machinery abruptly buckled under his weight. He stumbled, muttering, "Well, I guess that's something else to fix..."

Kaya smiled, holding out her hand to help him up. Eyeing it skeptically, Han took it. He was half expecting her to drop him or something, but she pulled him to his feet easily. Way too easily, considering that she was lifting someone nearly twice as heavy as she was.

Her face suddenly went pale, and she seemed to realize what she had done. "It's happening..." she whispered. "Oh no, I can't have a loss of control, not now..."

"How did you do that?" he said in a whisper. "You just–"

"Don't tell," Kaya said, cutting him off. "I have... powers. Powers that were close to common in the Old Republic. No one – and I mean no one – can find out about this. The Empire would hunt me down and kill me without a second thought – and so would you, probably."

"You're like that Fulcrum woman, aren't you?" Han said quietly after a moment. "You have Jedi powers."

She sighed. "Yeah."

"Well then I guess you're gonna be going with her, huh? You're gonna be leaving me and Chewy? It's okay, I understand," he said, barely masking the anger in his voice, but he couldn't help himself.

"I'm sorry," she replied quietly. "I wanted to tell you, but I was scared that you would hand me off to the Empire! I can trust practically no one, and–"

"Yeah? Well you should have known that I wouldn't! Who do I look like, someone who wants to get tangled up in their net? We're part of the fringe! Or... At least I am," he said bitterly. "You never really were. So long, Areeko."

And with that, he turned around and stomped down the hallway, ignoring her completely when she called his name.

*Tensions are running high now that Han Solo has found out Areeko's secret. But could there be more that this young woman - who was apparently a Jedi before Order 66 - has to hide? And speaking of hiding things, what could Grievous's mission to Lothal be? What is its purpose? You'll find out in the next thrilling chapter of The Unchronicled Adventures Of Ahsoka Tano!

Hey guys! This chapter was kinda fluffy, I know, but it's all I could convince my brain to give me. The story is the controlling power in this relationship here, not the writer (me). I get the ideas, and the story strings them al together, often in ways I was totally not expecting. My creative muse will go where it wants to go, and today it was in the direction of Han and Kata Ti's past.

So yeah, hope you enjoyed! I'll try to get the next chapter up soon, either later today or tomorrow. Bye!

Enlist the aid of a smuggler and his Wookiee copilot to get to Alderaan the may the Force be with you,

Sharron