Never Talk to Strangers...

Disclaimer: I own nothing in the Star Wars universe and I make no money off my writing.

A Gathering Storm

Aislynn let the last note of her song ring for a minute before shutting off the synthesizer. She bowed dramatically to the sound of scattered applause and hopped down off the stage. A’zael was waiting for her by the main exit, casting suggestive glances at a spice trader’s son.

She looked no worse for her recently thwarted abduction, and Aislynn was glad that at least one of her friends was not afraid to visit her at the palace. A’zael had the opportunity to make contacts, and Aislynn had female company, something which had become very important to her.

“Have you told him yet?” the taller woman asked quietly.

Aislynn shook her head. No. She’d finally broken down and gone to the medics although she hadn’t really needed to. She still hadn’t been able to find the words to tell him about the baby. A’zael put increasing pressure on her to do it, as had Riley who, strangely enough had guessed her secret the minute he’d seen her.

She was just starting to gain weight, but the daily nausea was getting difficult to hide, and her moods shifted crazily from one moment to the next. It was all she could do to bite her tongue and slip away to weep in a corner, where he would not see.

“I will.”

“Today.”

“Will you...”

“Of course. Are you sure you want me there? It seems like it should be a private moment.”

“If you’re not with me I might not be able to do it.”

A’zael studied her for a few moments, then smiled. “You have more color today than yesterday.”

Aislynn shrugged weakly. “I haven’t puked yet.”

“The morning sickness only lasts a few months. Theoretically. Here comes your boy. You ready for this?.”

“No,” she whispered, panic gripping her. Her stomach twisted crazily as she saw him coming towards them For a moment, she felt as though she would faint. Her ears buzzed and darkness threatened at the edge of her vision.

He crossed quickly to them, slipping his arms around her, “You don’t look well, love.”

“I think I should.... I think I should lay down for a while...” he released her and she turned to leave quickly, but A’zael grabbed her arm. “Aislynn...” she began,, but never got a chance to finish.

A buzzer sounded, and all three turned in the direction of the door, stepping deeper into the shadows. The sound was a caution warning. It meant that “unknowns” had entered the compound. Two unfamiliar droids moved past them to consult with Fortuna.

Aislynn stayed quiet, staring at the floor between her feet, caught up in her own thoughts. She nearly jumped out of her skin when Boba siezed her by the arm. “Go back to the room. Stay there until I come for you. A’zael...”

The woman was already headed for the exit. “I’ll nose around and see what I can find for you,” she called over her shoulder.

“Boba, what’s going on? I wasn’t...”

“Skywalker,” he growled adding something extremely uncomplementary about the Hutt as he pushed her towards the back of the hall. “Go. Now.”

She knew from the tone of his voice there would be no argument. She nodded, hurrying towards their room. She dimmed the lights and lay down on the bed, heer head already beginning to ache. Her stomach had been tied in knots all morning. A dark feeling of foreboding crept over her, and she reached down to stroke her belly.

She drifted somewhere between sleep and wakefulness for a while, aware of time passing as if in a dream. She didn’t bother to open her eyes when the door slid open.

“Ash, are you awake?” He called softly from the doorway

“Yes. Headache,” she mumbled, and pulled the pillow over her head.

“You should take something for it. No sense suffering,”

Her hand drifted to her stomach. “No, I’ll be fine. It’s just a headache.”

She felt the bed shift as he sat down, felt his hand stroke her hair, damp with sweat. “IF you’re sure. There’s been some trouble. I need to stay in the hall tonight.”

“Because Skywalker sent Jabba a vid message?”

“Because Jabba took the droids. And we have an intruder in the palace. A clever intruder, but still...”

“I don’t understand.”

“A hunter claiming to be Bousch brought in Chewbacca, Solo’s Wookie.”

“What do you mean claiming to be?”

“Our hunter is a female. I happen to know Bousch is male. I also happen to know that I killed him a few weeks ago.”

“Then who...”

“Probably the Alderaan princess. She has connections to the rebel alliance, and there have been rumors about her and Solo. I don’t understand why she would take the risk though. Why would she come alone?”

“Women will do stupid things for the men they love,” Aislynn muttered from under the pillow.

“This changes nothing, Aislynn. We’re still leaving. Soon. You have my word on that.”

She took the pillow off her face and stared up at him. In the near darkness, she could barely make out the thin scar that ran all the way down the left side of his face. He leaned down to kiss her, quickly, but thoroughly, before slipping out of the room as quietly as he had come.

Aislynn dozed restlessly until he returned, in the early hours of the morning. He stretched out and wrapped his arms around her, collapsing into sleep without even removing his clothes. She sighed and settled into his arms, finally sinking into a sleep filled with broken images, memories, stories told in shattered glass.

~ ~ ~

When they woke, hours later, he told her of the night before, and the capture of the Princess. Boba and the Hutt had argued at some length and finally settled on two days. If the gathering storm did not break in two days, they were free to go, with the Hutt’s blessings.

The storm broke.

Aislynn was resting in the darkness when the warning buzzer sounded for the third time in three days. She felt the sound strike her gut as though it were an invisible blade. She rushed out of the room and through the dark hallways to the audience hall, arriving in time to see the young Jedi dropped into the pit, along with one of the guards.

It should have been over in a moment, the guard’s screaming accompanied by the crunching of bone. She stumbled to the edge of the pit, horrified, fascinated by the battle below. She could not see much in the shifting shadows of the pit, but she saw the final moment, the great door coming slowly down to crush the trapped creature.

Shet turned away quickly and sank to her knees in the corner. Her stomach lurched crazily. She swallowed quickly.

Boba helped her to her feet, then took by the arm and led her away from the carnage. The last thing she heard before the door slammed shut behind her was Jabba pronouncing sentence on Skywalker and Solo.

“I told you to stay in here,” he snapped, yanking his helmet off.

“I’m sorry,” it was all she could get out. She stumbled into the bathroom and splashed some water on her face. The black feeling still settled in her stomach, but at least it wasn’t flopping around.

His tone softened as he watched her, eyes full of concern. “It’s over with now. A few more hours and we’ll be off this rock and on our way to a better life.”

As she came out of the bathroom, he was pulling up an image on the computer monitor. “Here, take a look at this.”

He pulled a chair over for her. The images on the screen were from a real estate site.

“Backwater as you can get and still get legitimate ownership papers. I thought you might find this interesting...” he brought up a brochure on the local agriculture which included six legged beasts of burden which looked like a cross between a horse and a cockroach.

“Weird looking critters. Bet they’d be fast though.”

“They do race them. I thought....”

“It’s wonderful. It beautiful. It’s perfect. When do we leave?” her voice trembled.

“As soon as the execution is complete. Jabba said immediately, which means it will be at least two hours before he’s ready to leave. Then they’ll take their time and get everyone well saturated before the festivities. Should be a nice little party, even if it is spur of the moment. Here,” he passed her a pill.

She took it from him but didn’t make a move to swallow it.

“It’s perfectly safe, and it’ll hold you until after the party. I hate to see you sick.”

“Boba...”

“Just take the damn pill. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes. It will have kicked in by then.”

“Fifteen minutes.”

“No more. I just need to pick something up, and check on the Slave. I don’t want anything else to complicate our plans.”

She stayed in front of the screen, flipping through the description of the place she would soon be calling home. The sick feeling slipped away, leaving behind only a dull sense of foreboding. True to his word, Boba returned well within fifteen minutes, with a package in tow. He tossed it at the foot of the bed and stripped off his armor.

She crossed the room to him and threw her arms around his neck.

“Good pills,” he laughed as she ran her hands down his back. She pressed her body closer to him, felt his body respond, “Are you sure you’re all right?” He asked softly.

“No. I am not all right,” she reached up to tug at his shirt. “I am cold, and lonely, and...”

He cut her off with a kiss. She took his hands and pulled him over to the bed. She kissed him desperately, as if the strength of her love she could drive away the darkness threatening them. He returned her fierce embrace with an intensity that almost frightened her.

His mouth moved across her throat, down to her breasts. He took one then the other into his mouth, teasing the nipples into sharp peaks. She moaoned his name, as he dipped lower, trailing his fingers across her belly and lower.

She arched off the bed as his tongue touched her. She squirmed beneath him, raising her hips in time to his rhythym. She cried out in protest as he pinned her to the bed, holding her still so he could torture her with his mouth.

He stopped a moment too soon, and she quivered beneath him, whimpering in protest. He hesitated only a moment before he entered her. She raised her hips to meet each slow, deep thrust. She twisted and thrashed beneath him, wanting...

Sweat slicked his body, as he struggled for control. He knew what she wanted. Her nails dug into the flesh of his shoulders. He caught her wrists and pinned her against the bed. Their eyes met, and she whispered, “Please,”

He smiled, and slid into her, slowly, torturously slow, listening to her pleas. He increased his pace, knowing that he wouldn’t last long, wanting to bring her with him. He felt her stiffen beneath him, heard her calling his name. She pulled him over the edge with her until he couldn’t remember where one of them ended and the other began.

Time slipped away from her, the light spiraled crazily, the world shifted on itself, until the light shattered into a thousand brilliant shards. Shards of shattered glass which caught the light, spun it about and then extinguished it.

In the darkness, Aislynn imagined she could hear the distant sound of rising wind, and rolling thunder.