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With Anji padding along on silent paws at her side, she’d begun observing Threepio. Someone else might have called it “snooping,” but Allana knew it was simply observing and gathering information. Someone might have tampered with his programming. Or he might need adjusting. But she was able to admit that the main reason she was observing and gathering information was that she was bored. She’d had such an exciting time on Dathomir, even with the dangers she’d faced, that to come home, even with Grandma and Grandpa and Aunt Jaina, seemed terribly dull in comparison. Too, while she understood the need for these temporary rental lodgings, she missed the familiar comforts of the Solos’ real apartments.

Grandpa had found her pouting over her lessons just the other day and when she had explained this to him, he’d nodded to her.

“Know just what you mean, kid. But even the best of ships need downtime for repairs.”

“I’m not hurt or in need of repairs,” Allana had said.

“No, not physically. But sometimes you need time to kick back and take a breath before plunging into things again,” he’d said.

“You don’t seem to.”

He’d grinned, that grin that always seemed to provoke an answering smile and a sort of softness on her grandmother’s face.

“Yeah, well, you gotta remember, I got a couple of years on you.” He’d tweaked her nose and she giggled. “I firmly believe that by the time you’re my age, you’ll have seen and done so much you’ll find even all the excitement we had on Dathomir to be boring. But for right now, I think a little quiet time is good for little girls.”

“Grandpa, I just turned eight!”

A strange look flitted across his face, and she felt a little pang from him in the Force. “That may be, but you’ll always be my little girl.”

Allana thought she understood. “Just like Jaina will be, right?”

“Yep.”

“And … like Jysella is to Mirax and Corran. Even though she is a brave and experienced Jedi Knight.”

The sorrow increased, and Anji fidgeted, agitated by the emotion. The little nexu’s ears flattened slightly and her spines rose.

“Grandpa,” Allana said patiently, “We’ve been over this. You can’t feel bad. It upsets Anji.”

Han grinned again and pulled Allana into his lap, snuggling her tight. She laughed, and she felt his mood lighten as well, the sadness giving way to profound love. “Okay, how’s this then. You don’t get mad at me when you’re all grown up and able to toss me around with the Force, and I still call you my little girl.”

She laughed happily. “You got a deal, Grandpa.”

But her grandfather wasn’t always there to be a silly distraction for her, and besides, Threepio’s strange behavior was ever so much more interesting than this whole “breath-taking” thing Han had told her about.

She would overhear the droid talking to himself, or sometimes to Artoo. He would say things like, “Goodness, I should request an upgrade, this is taking far too long!” or “Such a relief to be doing what I was designed to,” or “Oh dear, oh dear, perhaps a newer model would serve the Solos better. I am positively decrepit and tragically outdated.”

That, he never said to Artoo.

Now she saw him glancing around, his photoreceptors taking in everything. She ducked back behind the wall before he turned in her direction. Anji looked up at her, and Allana put her finger to her mouth. The cub did not make a sound. Twice a week, Allana and Anji worked with a professional nexu trainer. The animals could be trained as hunting companions or guard animals, and with four eyes, responded very well to visual signals. In order to keep her beloved companion with her on her prowling, Allana had quickly trained Anji to respond to the nearly universal signal for silence.

She listened until she heard the clanking, whirring sound of Threepio walking away into the study. Allana felt a little pang of disappointment. It looked like Threepio was about to do nothing more dramatic than relay a message for her grandparents.

Still, that could be interesting, too. She moved