Chapter Text
He wakes face down in the snow with a jolt. “Anni!” he yells into the distance as his surroundings become clear. It’s white for as far as the eye can see, but Han has a bad feeling he’s no longer on Hoth.
The memories come rushing back to him. Him being left in charge of Anni while their parents were away at a Life Day party. Her messing around in the base’s archives. Him trying to grab the key before she did. And then just uncomfortable tightness all over his body as everything went black.
“Anni!” he calls again as he becomes more desperate. His parents will kill him if he’s lost her, especially through time and space.
He looks around him checking for any signs of his little sister, but the only thing splayed out in the snow like he is is that damn key. He crawls over to it, and carefully uses the sleeves of his coat to place it in his pocket. As he zips up the pocket a strange screeching noise comes from overhead causing him to jump to his feet and look up.
TIE fighters? Nobody uses TIEs anymore. The bad feeling he had begins to grow tenfold. Definitely not on Hoth anymore.
“Hey, kid. You need help?” a gruff voice from behind him asks.
Han whips around at the voice and freezes. His jaw nearly falls into the snow. Before him stands the man he’s only ever seen in holos. The man from his father’s stories that he couldn’t get enough of when he was young. The man he’s named after.
Han Solo.
The first.
Without a doubt, he’s no longer on Hoth.
Behind the older man are two others he recognizes. Two others he’s quite familiar with; his Uncle Chewie and Uncle Finn. Han just stands there, his mouth refusing to cooperate. He can’t take his eyes off of the man in front of him.
“Umm, kid?” the older Han repeats. “If you don’t need help, I might advise you to get the hell off this planet before it blows.”
“Anni,” he blurts out, his brain not able to process anything else at the moment.
Han’s eyebrows raise in confusion. “Anni? That your name?”
“N-no.” He shakes his head to clear it. “Anni’s my sister. I gotta find her.”
“Well you’re in luck,” Han claps him on the shoulder. “We just so happen to be on a little rescue mission ourselves.” Chewie roars in agreement.
Oh he knows who they’re here to rescue. He’s probably heard this tale a thousand times. He also knows the person they’re here for very much does not need any help. His sister on the other hand? The more eyes to help him search, the better.
Kylo Ren stomps through the halls of Starkiller Base determined to find the girl before she’s able to flee the planet. He’s on his way to the hangar that he can guarantee she’s trying to find in order to steal a ship. An officer comes marching up next to him, almost at a near jog to keep up with his own long strides.
“Sir, we’ve been notified about a girl wandering the base.”
He could simply roll his eyes, and he does, thankful that his mask covers face. “That is old information, lieutenant. I have men ordered to find the scavenger as we speak.”
“It’s not the scavenger, sir.”
Kylo scoffs with disinterest, and only half listens to the officer. Unless it’s about the scavenger who’s escaped his grasp, he doesn’t care about any other prisoners wandering around. The officer continues to speak, but most of it goes through in one ear and out the other.
“Little girl… walking around… asking for a Han…”
Wait.
Kylo comes to an abrupt stop, reaching out and grabbing the officer by the lapel. “What.Did.You.Say?” he demands. He begins to lift the man off the floor without the help of the Force.
“There’s a little girl walking around the base asking for someone named Han,” the officer squeaks out.
Dropping the officer, he barks, “Have someone collect the girl and bring her to my chambers.” Without another word, he turns and heads in the opposite direction. All thoughts of the scavenger have left his head. All he can focus on is that another girl seems to know Han Solo, and he’s going to get to the bottom of it.
“So you got a name, kid?” Han asks the strange young man.
The kid freezes for a moment, then loudly says, “Tai!”
Ok, weird. Then again the past day and a half has been filled with weird newcomers. “Tai. Got it,” Han replies, not fully buying the story, but going along with it nonetheless. He puts his hand out to shake the boy’s hand. “Han Solo. The Wookiee is Chewbacca, and Big Deal over there is Finn.” ‘Tai’ shakes his hand and nods to the other two next to him. “So how’d you get here anyway? Not exactly a place for a normal kid to be walking around.”
Han follows them as they sneak their way back into the base. “I’m not sure. I woke up in the snow and Anni was gone.”
“You got any parents? These bastards are known for taking kids.”
There’s a slight hesitation, and the kid’s eyes go wide as he stares at Han. “N-no. It—it’s just Anni and me.”
Chewie lets out a small cry in sympathy.
“That’s rough, kid,” replies Han, going along with the kid’s orphan story, but not believing it for a second. Han doesn’t know what it is, but there’s just something off about him. The kid can’t be more than seventeen. There’s also something so familiar about him. As much as he tries, he can’t put his finger on it.
They reach a side door back into the base. Han nods to Chewie who lifts up his bowcaster. He looks towards Finn and ‘Tai’. “You two might wanna stand back.” He pulls the plate off the door panel and fiddles with the wires. The door opens and Chewie doesn’t hesitate to shoot the two stormtroopers guarding the door. They go flying back and hit the wall before slumping to the floor.
With a satisfied grin Han pulls out his blaster and Chewie and him enter the base with the other two on their tails. “Which way, Big Deal?”
They continue cautiously down the hall. Chewie and Han keep their respective weapons up just in case.
“The interrogation rooms are that way. That’s mostly likely where Rey is,” informs Finn.
“Great. We’ll head there first, then break off to find ‘Tai’s’ sister.”
The group walks down the hall and turns the corner. They immediately run into someone. The person brings up their own blaster with a yelp before saying, “Finn?”
“Rey!” Finn exclaims.
Chewie and Han both lay down their weapons. “You alright, kid?” Han asks. He gives her a brief once over, mentally checking off that she seems to be in one piece. Maybe Ben didn’t do anything to her. At least not like he did to Dameron.
Rey turns to him. “I’m fine.”
“Good,” is his gruff reply.
Finn comes up to her and grabs onto her upper arms, the concern for her plain on his face. “What happened? Did he hurt you?” he demands.
“Finn, what are you doing here?” she asks, completely ignoring his question.
Chewie roars out that they’re here on a rescue mission. For her.
Finn’s eyebrows scrunch together. He’s gotta take the time to learn Shyriiwook. “What did he say?” he asks, confused.
Rey’s face softens as she looks at her new friend. “That it was your idea.” With that, she wraps her arms around him and hugs him tightly. She’s never had anyone come back for her before, and it means everything. “Thank you.”
A smile grows on Finn’s face as they embrace. Then his eyebrows furrow again. “How did you get away?”
“I can’t explain it… And you wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” is her brief answer.
Han coughs pointedly. The two break their hug, and that’s when Rey notices the new member of their group. Han follows her gaze to see the new kid staring at Rey with wide eyes. I mean, he gets it. The girl is quite pretty, but he doesn’t have the time to deal with two lovestruck puppies fumbling over themselves for her.
“Sorry to interrupt this heartwarming reunion, but we kind of have a job to do,” he says sardonically. “We should probably split up. Cover more ground to find the kid. What’s she look like?” he asks ‘Tai’.
‘Tai’ blinks maybe ten times before tearing his eyes from his mothe—Rey. “Umm, Anni has dark brown hair with two little buns at the top. She also has brown eyes.”
“Got it,” Han answers. “How bout you three go that way, and Chewie and I will head this way. If there’s no headway after an hour we meet back here. Deal?”
The three young ones nod. Han reaches into his holster and pulls out a pistol. “Here, kid. Take it,” he says, holding it out to ‘Tai’. ‘Tai’ takes it with an almost shocked and overwhelmed look on his face. It almost reminds him of when he gave Ben his first blaster. Han shakes his head to clear it and nods to the three of them before heading down the hall with Chewie.
Rey turns to Han, who’s now ignoring her eye line. “I’m Rey,” she says softly, holding out her hand.
Han coughs and quickly shakes her hand. “T-Tai.”
“Tai lost his sister Anni on the base,” Finn informs Rey. “It seems you’re not the only damsel we’re here to rescue,” he jokes.
She rolls her eyes at Finn. She is anything but a damsel. “Are you with the Resistance?” she asks as the three of them start down the hall.
Han shakes his head, still unable to fully meet her eyes. “Just in an unfortunate situation.”
“That’s okay. We’ll help you find her. I promise,” Rey vows sweetly.
Kylo barges into his chambers and is thoroughly bewildered. Sitting on his bed is the little girl he demanded the soldiers find. The only thing is that the little girl is so much younger than he was expecting. She can’t be more than six years old. A mere youngling.
Part of him is disappointed. There’s no possible way this little girl knows Han Solo. The trooper must’ve misheard. It has to have been a mistake.
That is unless his father has sired another child. It couldn’t be with his mother as she’s too old, so the child would have to be a bastard. Knowing Han Solo, it’s not completely out of the realm of possibility.
Though when he reaches out and prods her signature, she feels nothing like Han Solo.
Her head quickly turns at the sound of him entering the room. She sees him in his full Kylo Ren regalia, and her eyes widen in fear. She lets out a tiny scream and backs up against the headboard in order to get as far away from him as she can.
As she does, a blast of energy comes from her, smacking into his chest. It pushes him back a foot, causing him to gasp in shock.
The girl is Force sensitive. And quite powerful for her age.
Instantly he’s intrigued.
“It’s alright,” he says, his voice coming out all modulated. “I’m not going to hurt you. I promise.”
The little girl relaxes slightly at his soft tone and leans forward as if she’s also curious.
Kylo slowly steps further into the room. He only goes a few steps so as not to frighten her again. “What’s your name?” he asks.
“Anni,” she responds in a soft—and he’ll admit also a bit adorable—voice. She shuffles on the bed towards him a bit, almost as if she’s not scared of him anymore. Like her curiosity is winning. “What’s yours?”
He debates on whether to tell her his real name or not. Part of him feels compelled to be honest with her, this total stranger, and he has no clue why. But that part isn’t quite strong enough. “Kylo,” he replies.
“Ky-lo,” she tests out. “That’s a nice name.”
His heart beats a little faster, and he has no clue why her approval makes him happy. “Thank you… Anni’s a nice name as well,” he adds awkwardly. He moves closer and kneels on the floor feet from the bed. “Anni, what are you doing on this base?” He’s not aware of families residing within Starkiller. Especially not families with Force sensitive children.
“I don’t know…” She shrinks into herself a bit. “I got lost and I couldn’t find my brother. Then these people grabbed me and brought me here.”
Before he can respond Snoke slithers into his mind. Kylo Ren. I felt a disturbance.
He looks at Anni and panics. For some reason he has this huge compulsion to keep her a secret from Snoke. It was nothing, Master. The girl escaped. I have men all around the base in search of her. That’s all.
Find her. And bring her to me, Snoke demands.
Yes, Master. I won’t fail you.
He’s not sure if Snoke believes him or not, but his Master retreats from his mind.
“Anni, would you like to come with me?” He’s made the impulsive decision to get her off of this base before Snoke becomes aware of her presence. He’d rather die than see this innocent little girl get manipulated by Snoke the way he has. He gently holds a gloved hand towards her. She looks at it with hesitation. “I’ll help you find your brother.” It’s a promise he probably can’t keep but makes anyway.
“Really?” she asks timidly.
“Cross my heart.” The pledge comes out of nowhere. He’s honestly surprised he even remembers it. It’s from a lifetime ago. A life that he’s shockingly not fully against the little girl knowing.
“And hope to die?” she finishes, perking up a bit. Her daddy always says that phrase when he makes a promise, much to the displeasure of her mum.
Kylo chuckles quietly through his mask, amazed the little girl knows the saying. “Yeah, kid. Hope to die.” He moves his hand closer and the second she places her tiny palm along his fingers he knows nothing will stop him from protecting her. He doesn’t even know why. All he knows is that he’s suddenly very willing to kill anyone who dared to harm the little girl in front of him.
And that fact shakes his entire being.
He stands and lifts the little girl onto his hip. She buries her head against his shoulder as if she’s done it a thousand times before. It oddly feels right, like her head belongs there.
With a shake of his head, he clears his suddenly strange thoughts. He leaves his chambers and marches quickly down the hall, Anni remaining firmly in his arms.
It quickly becomes apparent that people are staring, so he subtly worms his way into everyone’s mind and encourages them to forget. He can’t have anyone gossiping about how Kylo Ren was carrying a child around the base. Snoke would be notified in no time if that were the case.
He needs to get to the hangar and fast. All thought of finding the scavenger has left his mind. He may have felt some sort of connection with her, but this new connection is so much stronger and he’s determined to figure it out. The only goal he has right now is getting Anni off of Starkiller.
A large group of stormtroopers comes barreling down the corridor. Presumably on his own orders. He quickly steps into a small alcove.
“Kylo, where’s H—?” Anni begins to whisper.
“Shh,” he quietly interrupts. With his other hand he presses her head closer into his shoulder to make sure they’re fully out of view. He can hear his modulated breathing and curses himself for not taking off his mask. He prays to the gods that no one else picks up on it.
Once he senses that the troopers have passed, he peels back into the hall and picks up his pace. He’s almost to the hangar when it hits him hard enough for his feet to freeze in their place. A presence he hasn’t felt for a decade.
Han Solo.
He looks down at Anni who’s lifted her head in curiosity as to why they stopped. He’s torn. He’s been waiting on—dreading—this confrontation for days now. But a great part of him wants to put Anni on the Silencer and fly away into the Unknown Regions where Snoke can’t find them.
He senses Han on the move, making his way closer to the hangar. Kylo can’t let his father see Anni. He knows he’ll just take her away to the Resistance. To someone ‘safe’.
Kylo makes a decision. He books it the rest of the way to the Silencer. With a wave of his hand the bottom hatch opens. He climbs inside and places Anni into the pilot’s chair.
“Stay here, okay? I’ll only be a minute. I promise,” he vows.
She worriedly looks up at him. The look on her face breaks his heart. A heart he's surprised he still has. First she got separated from her brother and now he’s leaving her. Her chin wobbles, and he knows that if a tear falls down her cheek he’s toast. He’ll get in this ship right away and leave.
Anni nervously whispers, “Cross your heart?”
“Hope to die,” he says fiercely. “I’ll be right back, Sweetheart.” With that, he closes the hatch and heads off to confront his father.