They weren't even a few minutes into lightspeed when alarms started to sound off from all sides. Aria looked around the cockpit to try and see where they were coming from, but all the different panels were blinking their warnings.
"This isn't good." Aria left her seat to look at the panel above her dad's head. "This really isn't good, it's saying there's a-"
"Electrical overload." Han said simultaneously with his daughter. Aria huffed as she tried to even the power out, but it seemed the converter was shot and there was nothing keeping the electrical current steady.
"I can fix it!" Rey jumped up from her seat.
"Do it quick." Aria looked back at her as she said it.
"The coolant's leaking!" Han told the two girls as he looked at the gauges in front of his wheel.
Aria groaned as she moved to stand by Rey to work on another part of the panel. The alarms only grew louder, and it made Aria's bones ache. Not from the noise, but because it meant the ship she grew up in was failing her.
"We can try to transfer the auxiliary-"
"Power to the secondary-"
"Secondary tank, I got it!" Once again, Han, Rey and Aria seemed to be on the same wavelength as they worked around one another. As Rey and Aria broke through a panel to see the compressor, a loud groan came from the back of this ship- more specifically, Chewie.
"You hurt Chewie, you're gonna deal with me!" Han yelled back as he tried to keep the ship stable.
"Hurt him?! He almost killed me six times!" Finn's voice was faint, but they all heard it.
Aria focused on what Rey was doing. Her thought was to fix the compressor, but Rey seemed to have a different idea. "Woah, what are you doing?" Aria's brows furrowed as she watched Rey's thin fingers work quickly.
"Watch this-"
"This hyperdrive blows there's gonna be pieces of us in three different systems." Han warned them.
Rey didn't seem the least bit worried as she loosened some wires on the left side of the compressor and twisted them with the wires on the right side of the compressor, completely bypassing the compressor entirely.
As she did, all the alarms and flashing lights stopped. Rey returned to her seat with a satisfied smile.
Aria slowly moved to her seat as she kept her amazed glance on Rey. It was innovative, and something she never would have thought of. She was old school in her ways of thinking- she got that from her dad. But Rey didn't have that mindset.
"What'd you do?" Han turned in his chair to look behind him at Rey.
"I by-passed the compressor." Rey told him with pride.
Han slowly looked over at his daughter to see his same confusion and amazement twisted in her features.
Slowly, he gave a soft laugh as he stood to leave the cockpit.
Some of Rey's pride dimmed at the lack of thanks from Han Solo. She looked to Aria who understood her confusion.
"He doesn't give thanks like your used to." Aria told her as she stood up to follow her father. "His lack of yelling is his gratitude. Good work, kid. That was some quick thinking." She gave Rey a wink before she left the cockpit.
When Arai entered the lounge she saw Han kneeling beside Chewie who had his shoulder wrapped in a sling. She moved next to her father and put a careful hand on Chewie's good shoulder.
"Don't say that, you did great. Just rest." Han said something to Chewie that Aria must have missed. But what she didn't miss was the way Han turned to give Finn a look of awkward admiration. "Good job, kid. And thanks." Aria raised a brow as she realized she misspoke with Rey. Han does know how to show gratitude.
Finn gave a single nod to the rebellion general. "You're welcome." As Finn leaned forward, his elbow hit a button on the galactic chess set. The projection pieces flickered to life, showing the last move C-3PO and Chewie made over thirty years ago.
Aria watched in mild amusement as Finn tried to figure out how to turn the game off.
"It's that button." She pointed vaguely to the control panel. Finn looked from her extended finger back to the control panel. He pressed what button he thought she was pointing at. "No, that one." She moved her pointer finger gently to the left. He pushed the button next to it. "No, the one I'm pointing at." She tried to keep the laugh from building up, but as he pushed the third button she couldn't help herself as she laughed out.
Finn paused and looked up at the laughing pilot.
"It's too easy." Her nose scrunched up as she plopped down on the seat next to Finn.
Han let his daughter have her fun, but the second she was done he turned his attention to Rey and Finn. "So... fugitives, huh?" He asked them.
Aria looked at Rey to await her response. "The First Order wants the map." She explained. Han turned to Aria to see her nod. "Finn is with the Resistance..." Rey explained as she looked over Finn. Aria did too to see the way he stiffened slightly at the introduction. "I'm just a scavenger." Aria snapped her head back to look up at Rey.
"You're more than just a scavenger." Aria told Rey. "You're piloting skills and your quick-thinking, you're a hell of a woman. Don't downsell yourself." Aria was all for powerful women, but she was even more for empowering those women.
Han seemed to agree as he gave a nod. He looked over at Finn who finally found the correct button to turn the chess game off. Han wasn't sure about Finn's allegiance to the Resistance, he didn't have the workings of a Rebel Officer. It was even more obvious as he sat next to Aria- the prime example of what a Rebel Officer was. She was strong-willed, passionate, more than mildly stubborn. Compared to her, Finn was weak.
Han turned his attention away from Finn to look at BB-8. "Let's see whatcha got." He told him.
BB-8 looked at Rey and Aria, both girls he trusted more than the old pilot. Aria nodded as Rey said, "Go ahead." BB-8 took that as his cue as he rolled forward and projected the map up so it filled the whole room.
Aria looked around as stars, planets- even entire systems- surrounded them.
She raised her hand through a small projection of the moon Yavin 4, still she remembered its beauty and how she would probably never get to experience it again.
"This map's not complete. It's just a piece." Aria looked away from her small planet to look over at her father as he spoke. She saw the hard look in his eyes, and noticed the way his forehead wrinkled in concentration. He really had aged since she last saw him, and she had to admit he looked more frail than ever- not that she would ever say that to his face. "Ever since Luke disappeared, people have been looking for him."
"Why'd he leave?" Rey asked.
Han looked to Aria, not for her approval, but to see if she was okay talking about it. As she nodded, he went on. "He was training a new generation of Jedi. One boy..." He saw Aria flinch and avert her eyes. That pained him almost as much as the actual memory. "-an apprentice turned against him, destroyed it all. Luke felt responsible... He walked away from everything." He lowered his head as he shook it.
"Do you know what happened to him?" Finn asked.
"There're a lot of rumors." It was Aria that answered, not Han. All three turned to look at her but she didn't meet any of their eyes. Instead she looked down at her hands as they folded in her lap. "They're just stories." She slowly lifted her gaze to her father. "The people who knew him the best think he went looking for... for the first Jedi temple." The distaste was evident in her voice, but Rey didn't pick up on it as she focused on what she said.
"The Jedi were real?" Her amazement built as she looked from Aria to Han.
"I used to wonder that myself." Han kept his eyes on his daughter. "Thought it was a bunch of mumbo-jumb-magical power holding together good, evil, the dark side and the light." Aria lifted her chin as she looked away from her father. For the first time, she felt guilt swimming in her. Han changed his glance to look at Rey. "Crazy thing is, it's true. The Force, the Jedi, all of it. It's all true."
A quiet alarm sounded from the control station on the other end of the room. Han walked over it to flip a switch and change a dial to adjust the controls. BB-8 turned on the projection, stealing most of the light from the room.
Chewie tried to stand from his bed, but Aria leaned over and placed a heavy hand on his shoulder. "You rest, Chewie. I'll help him keep this ship in shape." She gave him a closed-lip smile as she stood to join her dad's side.
"You want my help? You're getting it." Han looked at Finn and Rey as he said it. Both perked up at the promise of the esteemed Han Solo. "Gonna see an old friend. She'll get your droid home." He looked back at the read table. "This is our stop." He told them as he made his way towards the cockpit.
Aria followed him behind, if for no other reason than to spend time with her dad. When they entered the cockpit, Aria took her spot as co-pilot as her dad sat in his own seat.
They took it off autopilot and pulled it out of lightspeed.
"So... what'd I miss kid?" Han asked as he positioned them towards Takodana. "You grew up." He noted as he looked over at her.
"That's sort of what happens as the years go on." Aria wasn't spiteful. She was done being spiteful. "I made Commander." Aria bragged. Han gave her a crooked grin of approval. "But Leia thinks I still need to learn teamwork. She made me number two under a hell of a captain, Poe Dameron."
"Dameron? That name sounds familiar." Han thought back to where he would have heard it before. Aria nodded at his memory.
"His parents were in the Rebel Alliance with you and mom." She told him.
It clicked for Han then. Dameron was the name of a pilot and her husband. They were both esteemed legends themselves.
"So... you're a functioning part of the Resistance, huh? You're a team player who fights for the universe?" His tone was slightly teasing, but he knew his daughter and he knew how unlikely it was that she followed under anything.
Aria huffed and flicked her hair off her shoulder with a single shake of her head. "No." She said flatly. The response made Han's grin widened to a full smirk. "But Poe..." Aria sighed as she thought back to him. "He has the heart, you know?" She turned in her seat to face her dad. "He might not have always had a plan and he's no Han Solo-" They both laughed. "But he's kind." Aria complimented her captain. "He saved my life, twice."
Han suddenly felt a new appreciation for a man he never met.
"He's a true team player, and he put up with my shit, which is-" Aria had to laugh at herself. "Which is saying something since I grew up with you." She sent a slight dig to her father.
"Hey," He warned her. Aria's mouth slanted up into a playful smirk. "So... you got a good captain, that's important, you know? For- uh- it gives you a reason to stay."
"I had a good captain." Aria corrected him. Suddenly she remembered that she talked about Poe in the present tense, as if he were still alive. "He died..."
"Ah kid," Han shook his head as he watched the light dim in Aria's eyes. "I-"
"You're right... A good Captain gives you a reason to stay." Aria shrugged her shoulders pathetically. "So... why do I stay now?" She wanted an answer from her father. She needed one because right now she couldn't think of a reason to return to the Resistance. "Why go back?" She looked to her dad for guidance.
Han didn't know what to say. He didn't know if he even wanted his daughter to go back. He knew it was a noble cause, but he would much rather be selfish and have her with him. "Why don't you come with us?" Han proposed. "We could use a third and you have a knack for this."
Aria's mouth tilted up into a perfect 'Han Solo' charming smirk. "You want me to join you?" The offer left her dazzled.
"You said it yourself, kid. Your captain's dead. And you're right, without him... What's keeping you there?" Han asked not unkindly.
Aria tilted her head as she thought about it. He had a point, Aria liked working with Poe, and without him she would ultimately be put in another squadron- she knew Leia wouldn't let her lead with how reckless she could be.
Could she really handle another squadron? No.
"Okay." Aria looked between Han's hazel eyes. "Yeah, let's do it. Let's bring the gang back together."
Han gave a warm grin at the idea of having his daughter back on his side.
"Yeah?" He asked. Aria gave a firm nod. "Yeah." He turned back to his controls with a new sense of purpose. He would have his daughter by his side and that made him all the more happy.
"On one condition." Aria kept her gaze steady on his profile. "We bring in the girl too. She's a hell of a pilot and a mechanic. We could use her and... she had no one on Jakku."
It didn't take Han long, because much like his daughter, he was thinking the exact same thing. "Sure, we'll bring the kid on. She could come in handy."
Aria gave a wide, genuine smile as she realized she had a new purpose. It wasn't with the resistance. It was with her father- with her true family.
Aria focused back on landing the Millennium Falcon with her dad. As she did she realized it felt different. Just knowing that the rest of her days would be doing exactly what she was doing then, it made her feel good.
When they landed, Aria left the cockpit first to go lower the ramp. She met Rey by the door and stood by her as she pressed the controls to release the pressure.
As the ramp lowered, Aria and Rey saw the vast, lush green of the world around them. Aria's first instinct was to breathe in the fresh air- it was her favorite part of green planets.
"I didn't know there was this much green in the whole galaxy..." Rey's voice was barely a whisper, and as Aria looked over at her she saw a vulnerability in her eyes. Aria realized she was telling the truth, she had spent her entire life on a wasteland. There was so much of the galaxy she missed out on.
Aria decided to make it her mission to show Rey all the different types of ecosystems across the galaxy. "Don't worry kid, you stick with me and I'll show you things you could never fathom." She squeezed Rey's shoulder before she scaled down the ramp.
Aria looked to the large, glistening lake beside the stone castle. She could perfectly make out the green trees in the still reflection of the lake.
Rey and Han stepped up to her to take in the sights. All of them had an appreciation for the view, it was hard not to. Takodana truly was a sight to see.
Han looked away from the view as he tried to hand Rey a blaster pistol. "You might need this." He told her.
Aria pulled her attention away from the lake to watch Rey give the blaster a distasteful look.
"I think I can handle myself." Rey told Han. Aria smirked at her tenacity.
"I know you do. That's why I'm giving it to you. Take it." He ushered.
Rey listened and grabbed the pistol from Han and examined it.
Aria pursed her lips as she watched Rey awkwardly move the gun from hand to hand.
"You know how to use one of these?" Han seemed to sense the same awkwardness that Aria did.
Rey didn't understand Han's question or his hesitance as she lifted the gun. "Yeah, you pull the trigger."
Aria let out a laugh that made both people look at her. She lifted an apologetic hand as she covered her mouth to muffle her giggle.
Han turned back to Rey with a gentle glance. "There's a little bit more to it than that. You got a lot to learn." He looked from the pistol to Rey. "You got a name?"
"Rey."
"Rey." Han looked discretely at his daughter to see her nod of encouragement. With a heavy sigh he turned his sights back to the young girl in front of his. "I've been thinkin' about bringing on some more crew, Rey. You'd be second to Aria." He nodded at his daughter. Rey looked back at her with wide eyes. Aria gave her a warm grin. "Someone to help out. Someone who can keep up with Chewie, Aria, and me, appreciates the Falcon."
Rey couldn't believe it. "Are you offering me a job?" A shaky smile spread over her lips at the idea of working with Han and Aria Solo. Piloting ran in their blood.
"I wouldn't be nice to you." Han warned her. "It doesn't pay much."
Aria rolled her eyes at his excessive need to cover his tracks. He couldn't just be kind. He had to be an ass.... but that was her father.
"You're offering me a job." Rey laughed then at the proposal. Never in her life did she expect to be where she was just then.
"I'm thinking about it."
"He means yes." Aria told her. Rey looked back at the young Solo. Aria watched as the amazed smile slowly fell from Rey's lips. The bubbling excitement in her eyes dulled, and Aria felt like she missed something.
"Well?" Han asked when Rey didn't respond.
The young girl turned to look at Han with the same dulled mood. "If you were, I'd be flattered. But I have to get home."
Aria's brows furrowed at her lack of understanding. They were offering Rey the chance of a lifetime. Anyone would jump at the chance with work with them. It seemed like Rey did too until two seconds ago. "You want to go back to Jakku?" Aria asked her softly.
Rey looked away from both of the Solos as she became trapped in her head. "Yeah... Jakku." Her voice was hollow. "I've already been away too long."
Aria didn't know what to say. She never experienced someone who wanted to go back to their old life. She looked towards her dad for guidance, but he appeared just as lost as she was.
Instead he turned back towards his ship where R-8, BB-8 and Chewie were standing on the ramp. "Chewie, check out the ship as best you can." Han instructed his number too. As Chewie let out a growl and climbed back inside, Han turned to give Rey one last look. "It's too bad. Chewie kind of likes you." With that, he headed towards the castle.
Aria stepped up in front of Rey and looked her over. "I kind of did too... for what it's worth." She might have been trying to pull the emotion card on Rey, but she though it was stupid of Rey to go back. There was so much for her in the universe, so much more than just Jakku.
Aria moved to catch up with her dad, then fell in step beside him as they neared the castle. She hadn't been to see Maz in a few years, so she knew she was going to get an ear full from the old lady.
"Solo, why are we here again?" Both Aria and Han looked back at the name, but with Finn's eyes on Han Aria figured he was talking to her dad instead.
"To get your droid on a clean ship." Han explained to them as he kept walking.
Aria turned back around and looked at the small freights that littered the grounds around them. Maz had a full house it seemed, which was good for her but not necessarily good for them.
"Clean?" Rey asked about the term.
"Do you think it was luck that Chewie and I found the Falcon?" Han looked over his shoulder at the girl who followed closely behind Aria. "If we can find it on our scanners, the First Order's not far behind. Want to get BB-8 to the Resistance? Maz Kanata is our best bet." He told the both of them before he turned to get the door.
"We can trust her, right?" Finn asked.
Han pulled the door open but stopped short of entering to look back at Finn. "Relax, kid. She's run this watering hole for a thousand years. Maz is a bit of an acquired taste, so let me do the talking. And whatever you do, don't stare..." He told them before he walked in.
"At what?" The two newbies asked.
Since Han had already entered the castle, Aria answered them. "Any of it." Then she followed her dad.
The second she walked into the castle she was bombarded with the noisy mess of Maz's castle. All around them were drunken customers, laughing and lounging as they drank merrily.
She looked around at all of them for any familiar faces: faces she would have seen on missions or when she arrested them for deviant behavior. But all she saw were red faced, sloshed partiers.
"Han Solo!"
The name silenced the drunkards.
Aria stiffened as she realized that now everyone knew who they were- and more importantly, where they were.
"Oh boy..." Han sighed beside Aria before he put on a charming smile and lifted his arms towards the four-foot terrifying alien. "Hey, Maz!"
"Is that... Aria Solo!"
Aria groaned at Maz's insistence of singling them out. Still, she gave a grin eerily similiar to Han's as watched Maz push her way towards them.
"Maz! You always know just how to silence a room, don't you?" Aria shook her head as she smiled at the friendly face.
"I do when my favorite Solo hasn't come to see me in three years!"
"I was here a few months ago!" Han defended himself. Maz gave him a pointed look as a way to let him down gently of her obvious favoritism of the other Solo.
Aria gave a boastful smile as she looked from Maz to her father. Han already expected the look as he slowly turned to look at his daughter. "Don't get cocky, squirt." He narrowed his eyes as her grin widened.
"Too late."
"Now... where's my boyfriend?" Maz interrupted the family arguing.
Both Solos looked back at her. One was still sour while the other held a wide grin.
"Chewie's working on the Falcon." Han told her.
"I like that Wookie." Maz gave a nod as she looked up at Aria. Aria gave a small, girlish giggle at the thought of Maz and Chewie "I assume you need something. Desperately. Let's get to it." Maz turned and started towards a clear table. She gestured for them all to follow, which they did without warrant.
She lead them to her bar and as she moved to stand behind it they all sat on the stools opposite of her. Aria sat between Han and Rey with Finn on Rey's other side.
"So... tell me why you're here. I don't expect it's just for a family reunion." Maz questioned as she looked between the two Solos.
Aria blew air out of her mouth as a way to show that she wished they were just there to visit and be merry.
"Actually... I happened on Aria by happenstance. She was with these two-" Han motioned towards Finn and Rey. "They found a droid carrying a map leading to Luke." Han lowered his voice to tell her the last part.
Maz listened intently as she fixed herself and them some food.
"My Captain, Poe, met with Lor San Tekka for the intel. He was captured by the First Order, but before he did he gave the map to BB-8. The BB unit ran and found Rey-" Aria looked at the girl next to her. "Rey's been trying to get him back to the Resistance. I was searching for my Captain when I ran into them." She felt the need to explain it all. Talking to Maz was like talking to a childhood friend. She wanted to spill everything.
"A map to Skywalker himself?" Maz gave Aria her plate of food first, then Han. "You're right back in the mess." She said it to Han before she looked at Aria. "And you're following in his footsteps."
"And my mom's." Aria defended herself. The last time she talked to Maz she was still with the New Republic.
"Maz, I need you to get this droid to Leia." Han cut off Maz's critique. Maz squinted her eyes behind her large, brown rimmed glasses. She looked between Han and Aria carefully. She saw how close they were physically, but also felt their growing bond.
"Hmm. No. You've been running away from this fight for too long. Han, nyakee nago wadda. Go home!" She told him.
Aria's eyebrows rose as she looked from Maz to her father. Instead of being surprised, he looked guilty, which was something Aria wasn't expecting.
"Leia doesn't want to see me." Han told her.
"Dad..." Aria didn't know her dad was still carrying the guilt of what happened, or that that was why he hadn't come back home to her.
Han looked at her, but he didn't say a word. He didn't have to. Aria could see it all in his eyes, like a written apology.
If she were the hugging type, she'd wrap her arms around him and squeeze him extra tight. But instead she just put her hand on top of his and patted it.
"Please, we came here for your help." Finn talked to Maz directly. While he was more focused on finishing the mission, Rey found interest in Han's story.
She looked over at Han and Aria who were obviously sharing a moment. Even still, she couldn't help but ask, "What fight?"
It wasn't Aria or Han that answered. It was Maz. "The only fight: against the dark side. Through the ages, I've seen evil take many forms. The Sith. The Empire. Today, it is the First Order. Their shadow is spreading across the galaxy. We must face them. Fight them. All of us." She gave Han a pointed look.
"There is no fight against the First Order! Not one we can win." Finn told her, but they all looked over at him. Aria could tell he was scared, maybe that's why he told them he was with the Resistance, because it was the only thing that he thought was fearless. "Look around. There's no chance we haven't been recognized already. I bet you the First Order is on their way right-" Finn stopped as he saw Maz twist the rims of her glasses. As she did, the lens refocused and made her pupils appear twice their original size. "What's this? What are you doing?" Finn watched her adjust her goggles again for her eyes to almost fill the lens. When they couldn't possibly get any bigger, Maz hoisted herself onto the bar and crawled around Aria and Han's food to get to Finn. "Solo, what is she doing?" Finn asked Han.
"I don't know, but it ain't good." Han told him as he grabbed a stray piece of food and plopped it in his mouth.
Aria watched in mild amusement as Maz closed in on Finn. When she was right in front of him she squinted her gigantic eyes and looked all over his face.
"If you live long enough you see the same eyes in different people. I'm looking at the eyes of a man who wants to run."
Aria's eyes widened at Maz's accuracy. For a moment, Aria wondered what Maz saw in her eyes. Probably her mother.
"You don't know a thing about me." Finn's voice took on a tone Aria hadn't heard yet. It was low and meaningful and almost cruel. "Where I'm from. What I've seen. You don't know the First Order like I do. They'll slaughter us. We all need to run." He looked at Rey as he said it.
Rey couldn't hide her surprise at Finn's outburst. Suddenly, she thought back to when they were fixing the Millennium Falcon, and how Aria had warned her that Finn wasn't who he said he was. She didn't believe her, but now? Now she wasn't so sure.
Maz moved back to her spot behind the bar. Unlike Rey, she wasn't surprised by what Finn had to say. She did, afterall, see it all in his eyes.
"You see those two?" She pointed behind Finn to two pirates in the corner. "They'll trade work for transportation to the Outer Rim. There, you can disappear." Finn turned to look at them. Aria could tell in the way his shoulders pull back that he considered going over to them.
"Finn!" Rey gasped at his hesitance.
Finn turned back to Rey with pleading eyes. "Come with me." He asked her.
"What about BB-8? We're not done yet. We have to get him back to your base." Rey tried to persuade Finn.
Aria gave her dad a sour look. "This isn't good." She whispered as she focused on the food in front of her.
"I can't." Finn told Rey as he stood to leave. He walked around Rey and Aria to get to Han. He held out the gun Han offered him back at the Millennium Falcon.
Han looked at it before he raised his gaze to Finn's. "Keep it, Kid." He told him.
Finn nodded his thanks before he went to talk to the pirates.
Rey stood up, her stool screeching behind her. While Han and Aria let him leave, she wouldn't do let him go so easily.
Both Solos watched her follow after him before they turned back to their food.
"Who's the girl?" Maz asked as she picked at her food with them.
"Rey." Han answered. "She's from Jakku."
"And wants to get back to Jakku." Aria added in. "She's wicked smart and quick on her feet. There's something special about her." Aria decided as she picked up her burger and bit into it. Some juiced fell from the corner of her mouth and she wiped them away with the back of her hand. "What do you see in my eyes?" Aria couldn't stop herself from asking.
Maz, much like before, turned the rim of her goggles to look into Aria's eyes.
Aria tried not to blink as she let Maz do her thing. Suddenly she understood Finn's uncomfortableness. It was awkward to have Maz stare into your eyes so intently.
"I see in you what I have always seen in you." Maz decided as she squinted her eyes to double check.
"Yeah? What's that?" Aria set her burger down and used the napkin to wipe the grease from her hands.
"A girl who has a need to prove herself." Maz looked between Aria's hazel and blue eyes. "A girl that will continue to prove herself until the day she dies." Maz sat back and fixed her goggles. "Hasn't anyone ever told you, Ariavanna, the universe already knows your name."
"They know Ariavanna Solo." Aria corrected her.
Han looked at her daughter as he realized that what she meant by that.
Maz shook her head slowly as she took Aria's plate from her before she was done. "No, no, my dear. They know you, Aria Solo." She gave a firm nod. "They know the woman you have made yourself into, despite your father's influence." Maz sent Han a stern look.
Han raised his hands defensively but said nothing to correct her.
Aria thought about it. She had been so set in her stubborn ways that she had always assumed people recognized her by her father's name, and they probably did. But some people have come to know her for her own selfishness and reckless behavior. She had created a reputation that was hard to ignore or forget.
As she thought, she turned to check on the rest of their team, but Finn and the pirates were gone and Rey was nowhere to be seen.
"Dad..." Aria straightened up as she swiveled on her barstool to check the rest of the castle. "Rey's gone."
Han looked around too to try and find the petite, young girl.
"I think I know where she is going." Max jumped down from the bar and went on to find Rey without so much as telling them where she was going.
Without her, it was just Aria and Han.
Aria lifted herself up and reached over the bar to grab a half-empty bottle of alcohol. She sat back in her stool and pulled two cups and drew them each a shot.
She set the bottle down to grab her cup and lifted it in a toast. "To the best smuggling team this side of the galaxy."
"Do you really believe the galaxy only knows you as my daughter?" Han interrupted her toast to ask her. He couldn't help it, he had to know.
Aria lifted the cup to her mouth and tilted her head back to down the shot.
Maz had the best alcohol, and in less than a second she could feel the warmth spread over her. With it came the courage to face her father.
"Yes." She bravely met his eyes. When she saw the pity in them, she grabbed his shot and took it as well.
"Ariavanna..."
"Dad." Aria closed her eyes as she tried to will the conversation to end.
Han didn't care if it made her uncomfortable or if she didn't want to talk about it. He had to say something. "You know I was all the way out in the Druleth system trying to nab a Griboxana from this lamaze guy. I told him my name and you know what he said to me?" Aria opened her eyes and gave a long, dramatic sigh.
"What?" She played into his game.
"He asked if I was the same Solo that singlehandedly took down, arrested and detained five of the system's mobsters. They were notorious for charging for safety then killing when the tenets couldn't pay." Aria's shoulders sagged as she remembered the group. They were brutal. It was a good day for the Galaxy when she brought them in to the Megalox. "I had to tell the lamaze that it wasn't me who did it, it was my daughter." Han's eyes shined with such pride it filled the room.
Aria gulped at the story she never heard before. She couldn't imagine Han being asked if he was the same Solo as her. That usually only happened to her. It was odd to be on the opposite side of it.
"I am always proud when they think I am you, because it means my daughter is doing great things."
"I'm proud too!" Aria told him quickly before he thought otherwise. "But sometimes I just want people to look at me and say 'Oh Aria Solo, the Resistance's top Commander' instead of 'Ariavanna Solo, the daughter of Josephine Gavana and Han Solo'." Aria shrugged sadly. "You know?"
"I know kid." Han put his hand on her head and messed her hair up like he use to do when she was a tot. "Sucks to be born from two pretty amazing people, isn't it?" He teased her.
Aria groaned as she grabbed his hand and removed it from her head.
"I swear-" Aria stopped at the sound of a planet-shattering explosion. A second after the sound, a shock wave rocked through Maz's castle, rattling all the glasses- and even Aria's bones. Aria froze as she looked up at her dad with wide, terrified eyes. "What was that?"
"I don't know. But whatever it is... it ain't good."