Nebulous - Han Solo [2]

Chapter 12: I've Been Here Before

"I've been here . . . once before?" said Tasha, her voice uncertain as she grinned out at the crystal blue water of the lake. Lush green hills filled the skyline, almost shining in the Nabooian sunlight, reflecting on the still water of the lake. Anakin couldn't help but smile as he looked down at Tasha in her long green dress, the same emerald colour as her eyes, that happy smile on her face as she looked out over her home planet.

"It's probably Padmé's favourite place in the whole galaxy," she said, her smile turning slightly wistful, "we swam out to the island over there," she leant against the stone railing, the coarse texture catching at the elbows of the billowing sleeves of her gown.

"we sat out on the sand, letting the sun dry us, and listening to the birds singing," she laughed slightly, "trying to guess their names," a sigh left her lips as her smile turned down slightly at the corners, "it seems like a lifetime ago now," silence fell between the two of them for a moment, Tasha staring out at the island, Anakin picking at a crack in the stone.

"I don't like sand," Anakin said after a moment, causing Tasha to look at him.

"Because of Tatooine?" she asked, and Anakin smiled slightly.

"Yes, sorta. But it's coarse and rough and irritating-"

"And it gets everywhere," Tasha added, "I remember, after that visit to Tatooine; I was combing sand out of my hair for weeks." They both chuckled slightly again, looking at each other briefly before turning their gaze back towards the water.

"It's not like here," he said again after a moment. Tasha looked up at him again, still leaning lazily against the balustrade.

"Why?" she asked, cocking her head to the side, her lips pouting slightly as she looked at him. Anakin sat a tentative finger on the exposed flesh of Tasha's arm, drawing invisible patterns on her skin. The raven girl seemed to tense at the unfamiliar touch, her eyes searching Anakin's face for his emotions, his reasons for this: for making her heart beat out of her chest. He smirked slightly at her, leaning closer to her, his fingers still moving on her arm, her question left unanswered. Anakin's lips touched hers, tentatively at first, then more confidently when she didn't pull away, when she leant into him, her shocked brain acting on instinct rather than thought as her eyes closed.

"What are you doing?!" shouted her brain, her eyes darting open, pulling away hurriedly with a gasp.

"No." said Tasha, still rather breathless, "I . . . I shouldn't have done that," what the hell was she doing? She was a Jedi. He was a Jedi. It couldn't work, even if they wanted it to. Did she even want it to?

"I'm sorry," said Anakin, rather awkwardly. Tasha wanted to tell him not to be sorry, that it was her fault to, but instead her mouth stayed shut as she turned out to look at the lake once more, an awkward silence falling over the two young Jedi . . .

Tasha let out a sigh, her booted feet propped up on the control panel of the Falcon's cockpit, her elbow rested on the armrest of the pilot's seat. If Han came in and saw her like this he'd hit the roof. He was very protective of his precious ship.

It was just how it had started before. A kiss.

And look at where that lead: the galaxy in disarray, people she loved dead. Maybe she just wasn't meant to fall in love.

"Oh, you're in here," said Leia, walking in and leaning against the wall. Tasha didn't really notice.

"Hmm?" she said, sitting up a little straighter and taking her feet off the consol.

"Han wanted me to switch on the hyperdrive processor?" she asked, her voice icy. Tasha didn't really hear her over her memories, but pointed to a switch above Leia's head.

"It's that one over there," she replied, turning away back to her thoughts. The younger girl huffed slightly, flipping the switch and walking back out, muttering something under her breath. Tasha's fingers absentmindedly touched her lip again, as though she still didn't quite believe what had happened. Something grey moved in front of her vision on the windscreen of the cockpit. Just a small movement but it made Tasha look twice, breaking her out of her reverie. She stood up to get a closer look, to see if her brain had been playing tricks on her again.

"First voices, now damn objects," she muttered, casting her eye over it carefully to make sure she wasn't going mad, "what are ya gonna conjure up next, huh brain?"

Just as Tasha was about to dismiss it as the fact she had finally cracked and completely lost it, something leapt right out on the windscreen in front of her, and Tasha shrieked in surprise, jumping back. The animal screamed back at her, attaching a large sucker to the windshield, saliva covering the area, and Tasha stumbled around the chair and out the corridor of the cockpit.

"Han!" she said, her voice still surprisingly calm despite what she had encountered, merely wanting to find where the smuggler was. There was no reply as Tasha walked down the corridor, into the main hold area. Han and Chewbacca were stood, dark goggles over their eyes and welding torches in hand, Threepio stood to the side, his bronze face looking rather apprehensively at the other two.

"Sir, if I may venture an opinion-" began the droid, but he was quickly cut off by the smuggler.

"I'm not really interested in your opinion, Threepio," he replied, none of them noticing Tasha as she stood there, arms crossed and looking exceedingly unimpressed, getting more and more annoyed with each passing second.

The droid was the first one to look over at her, his apprehension turning to alarm when she saw how utterly livid she was.

"Mistress Tasha," he piped up, his eternally nervous voice loud enough for Han and Chewie to stop what they are doing and look over at her. Han swallowed slightly when he saw her expression.

"in case any of you are the slightest bit interested," said Tasha, her voice sharp like a knife as it cut through the air, her jaw clenched with anger, "there's something out in the cave." Han was about to reply when a scuffling noise sounded on the top of the ship, followed by a screeching sound like the one Tasha had heard earlier.

"Oh my! Listen, listen!" said Threepio, the panic once again rising in his voice, although a glare from Tasha shut him up. Leia walked into the hold area, her face expressionless until she heard the noise, her eyes widening slightly.

"I'm going to go check it out," Tasha said, grabbing an oxygen mask off a stand nearby.

"Are you crazy?" said Leia incredulously, and Tasha just glared at her.

"We've just started to get this bucket back together, I'm not going to let something tear it apart again," she snapped back. Han smirked slightly.

"Well, I'm coming with you, princess," he said, only for Tasha to turn her glare on him as they walked out.

"I believe we've discussed that once today, Solo,"