The Goddess of the North

I've Got a Bad Feeling About This

"I have a bad feeling about this," muttered Han under his breath. Han had the feeling in the pit of his stomach. Every time that feeling showed up so did the bad guys.

Zi was the only one in the room that heard him. She subtly nodded as she watched the others plan and talk strategy. What was the point? There was nothing they could do until Joffrey sent his demands. The only thing she could think of was contacting Tyrion in the South. He was supposed to be watching his sister and her spawn. What in force happened? Tyrion would be their mediator. He understood what was at stake. Clearly, the young Baratheon did not.

"I didn't tell him about his Dad to make him go to war. We have the upper hand-we can just make a deal? Talk our way through it?" Zipporah mentioned with a small bit of hope in her heart.

"Ha, kid. You're an honorary Solo with that suggestion." She grinned at that. Her father never wanted to include her anything but piloting. The only drawback to being a Solo--Kylo Ren. "We like to talk our way out of it, but I don't think it'll work here."

Sighing, Zi pulled her spare blaster from her overly large gown sleeve and discreetly passed it to Han who nonchalantly accepted it. The older man placed the familiar weapon on his belt and retorted, "Finally. I was starting to miss the feel of the cold metal of a blaster."

"I hear ya. It's gonna be weird fighting against arrows and swords." Han chuckled, crossed his arms, and teased, "You never did explain how you have a lightsaber..."

Zipporah felt a smirk form across her face. "Well, when the Resistance was initially looking for Luke, they hit all the old and known Jedi areas. In their searches, they found Ashoka Tano's white light sabers-a single bladed saber and a shoto-style saber. General Organa thought them safest with me."

"Heh, well, she wasn't wrong about that. You're good with double-blades. I've seen ya fight." Zi sensed the back handed compliment directed at his wife. They were always at odds. She supposed that they embodied the idea of opposites attracting.

"When was that? I only fought once and that was in Cloud City on Bespin. That atmosphere is no good for the Falcon."

"Tell me about it. That's why I saw your fight. But I wasn't in the Falcon. I was in a different freighter, smuggling.."he paused and looked at then men, "...stuff. The Falcon had been stolen from me. Just got it back before, well, you know."

"Ah, well, I won that tournament." A surge of pride flooded her being. She had been 14 at the time. Cloud City held annual tournaments. Very popular gathering spot for all. Ironically, the First Order left it alone, while the Empire had not. The Resistance wanted good PR, so the General entered her into the tournament. Her resistance tattoo had already been done on her neck, and she had made sure to have it on display as she fought.

She continued her thought with anxiety, "Sabers are much different then my fighting knives." They were heavier, deadlier, and just all around different.

"Let the mumbo jumbo lead ya or whatever." So helpful. She emphatically rolled her eyes causing him to grin.

"You're starting to sound like a believer." She then laughed at his contorted facial expression.

Han pointed a finger in warning, "Watch it, kid."

She held up her hands in mock innocence. By the Force, Han was many things, but uncaring was not one of them. The man did have an inclination to want to travel, while the General did not.

What had caused Ben to kill Han? She had promised herself to never ask Han what happened.

The Dark Side needed to get rid of his attachment to the light.

Han was light. He may have been a smuggler, but in the end, he always ended up doing what was right.

Jon had watched the duo's conversation with amusement. The two were not blood related, but they were family. He found it odd though, that the older man was protective of her, and yet, he was so willing to give her an immense amount of freedom. What an odd juxtaposition.

The word 'saber' had reached his ears. What is a saber? A type of weapon? Did she intend to fight as well?

The answer is yes to both.

He had also saw them talk about a tournament. The word had been clear on Zipporah's lips. What tournament? Where?

A story for another time.

Jon replied with his eyes and refocused himself. Robb had caught the silent exchange and felt a swell of jealousy. Why was Jon talking to Zi in such a private manner? Robb's glare hardened at the map before him.

We both know that your jealousy is wrong. He wanted to know about my intentions of fighting.

So? That has to be a private conversation?

With Theon here? Yeah. He doesn't need to know about my lightsabers until the day of. I'm not broadcasting our advanced weaponry to Westeros. We both know he'll blab at the brothels tonight.

Fine.

Zipporah frowned at the men before her and shared with Han, 'A bunch of kriffing sculags.'

She felt Han shift beside. He was trying to keep from laughing loudly. Robb glanced up at the two and scowled. Han glanced at Zi before shifting on his feet. The black look did not seem right on Robb's face. Han felt for the kid. He had so much thrown on him in such a short amount of time.

"Stop causing me to break character of the serious old guy."

"My bad. I wanted Robb to glare at you just as much as he's glaring at me." She shrugged with indifference. There was nothing she could do. The amount of muck in the force made it hard to communicate long distances. She had a feeling that, in due time, all would be revealed.

"This is the wrong time to share." Han whispered through the side of his mouth.

"Party pooper. I'm going to go do a sweep of Winterfell, care to join?"

"Druk, I guess. I won't be much help in their planning."

Han and I are going to check on everyone. Robb gave a sharp nod of acknowledgement and continued to talk numbers with Sir Rodrick.

As the duo moved noiselessly through the halls, Zi felt for Aiden's signature and easily found it by Gwen and Vaders. He was safe. She missed him, but she couldn't bring him on every sweep of Winterfell. Han moved beside her with ease. Judging by his face, he was thinking about something or someone. For once in a long time, Zi made the decision to leave his thoughts private. She didn't need to know his musings. He wasn't a potential threat.

Her eyes and ears took in every detail. Nothing seemed different or off. As they rounded the halls that led to the receiving room, Zipporah felt a ripple in the force. Within moments, a guard came forward and stated, "Milady, Lady Stark asked me to find you. Bran is awake and asking to see you."