I am not rich because I am not George Lucas and did not create Star Wars. Lucky for me there's fanfiction...
A/N: This takes place about a month after Return of the Jedi…
Lando Calrissian had been having trouble sleeping ever since the end of the war. He couldn't shake off the paranoid ideas that haunted him. By day he was fine, and he could usually keep the beast at bay at night too, but every time he was alone and trying to get some rest the images wouldn't leave him the hell alone.
"Damn dreams," he muttered, kicking off his sheets angrily and stomping over to the balcony of his room. Lando sucked in a lungful of the night air; the cold, crisp breeze cooling him down. He did not want to go back into the stuffy room that belonged to whoever became administrator of Cloud City. Sometimes he missed the glory days: Back when he was captain of the Millennium Falcon and could wake up wherever he wanted, whenever he wanted and do whatever he damn well pleased…Maybe Han Solo had the right idea about life.
Speak of the devil…
Lando squinted at the landing bay that was a few floors down from his balcony. The Falcon was docked up there, and there was movement around her, along with the faint gurgles and grunts from Chewbacca the Wookie and the shouts of his friend, the good Captain Solo. They weren't doing a very good job of being quiet, but then, when had they ever? If Lando didn't know any better, it looked like they were trying to sneak off in the middle of the night. Just as he had decided this couldn't be true, they were only doing some work on the ship at night, Chewie let out a loud, guttural yell.
"Shut up, Chewie!" came Han's signature irritable shout, "You want to wake the whole place up?" Han started muttering something else but Lando was unable to hear it. Han seemed to be getting angrier and angrier, his movements getting more dramatic. Lando grinned when Han stood up too fast under the Falcon and banged his head on her underbelly. Swearing loudly, Han disappeared back into the building.
Concern now overrunning his amusement, Lando strode over to the intercom system and punched in the override code to listen in on the conversation going on down in the bay's storage room. Normally he didn't barge in on other people's privacy, indeed he'd only used the override code a half a dozen times since he'd been in charge, but from the look of the supplies that Han and Chewie were stocking up on, it looked like they were leaving—permanently. And if that was the case, then Lando had a big problem.
"…dammit, dammit, dammit…" Han was muttering. There was a thud and Han swore in pain, much louder and much cruder this time.
"Chewie," he shouted angrily, "will you come give me a hand with this?" Chewbacca could be heard shuffling into the room. He gave an incomprehensible yell, to which Han responded,
"I know you don't want leave...neither do I."
More moans from the Wookie.
"Because we've been here too long and its time to get moving."
A grunt.
"Settle down? Since when do we settle down anywhere?"
That was all Lando needed to hear. Han was trying to make a break for it at night when there was no one around to stop him or convince him otherwise. From the words "settle down," it seemed like Han could specifically be running away from the Princess. Lando pressed a button on the side of the intercom and it came away in his hand. Armed now with a transportable radio, Lando pulled a shirt on and began to hurry down the steps. He knew he could catch Han before he left but he wondered if he could convince him to stay. He wouldn't keep Han in Cloud City by force but Han was needed here, badly. By Lando, Luke, and alot of others as a friend...by the young Republic that needed leaders more than anything...by the Princess.
Lando didn't deny that he'd been entranced by her the first day they had met. She was the most exquisite creature he'd ever seen. But ever since the end of the war she and Han had been by each other's side constantly: holding hands and brushing kisses against each others cheeks—and that was only what happened in public. (Lando was sure Leia would never let Han take things that far, but he suspected that Han was too scared of her to try anything anyway.) But Lando had been afraid something like this would happen. Afraid that Han would chicken out of commitments to anyone but himself and leave if things got serious; Lando had seen it happen many times before.
Whether or not this was all concerning her, Lando still thought it best to page Leia with the intercom; she could usually get Han to see her way. Good thing he'd brought it...
Lando paged her and waited, his foot tapping anxiously on the landing. The sound of an engine being gunned brought him back to his senses. The Falcon was leaving! But just then, the engine started coughing and puttered out; bringing on another string of curses from the bay. Deciding there was nothing else for it, Lando left a message for Leia to hurry out to the Falcon's bay and help him with an urgent "Han problem" before he began leaping down the steps, taking them four at a time. As Cloud City's administrator, it would hardly do for him to be seen dashing through the halls like a wild man but a friend needed him, and, well, that was that.
Lando arrived at the door to the storage room and punched in the code so fast he got it wrong twice and had to do it again. The door finally slid open and Lando emerged into the brightly lit room where Chewbacca and Han were looking at a certain piece of the ship they had taken out to fix.
"No, see," Han was saying, "we just connect this here and that wire to the same converter…yes I'm sure…just plug it in, will ya!?" Chewie shrugged and did what Han said, plugging two wires in together. A jet of sparks shot out, singeing Chewie's fur. Chewie let out a groan, brushed the sparks of his chest, and glared at Han.
"It's good sign," Han assured the Wookie as he clapped him on the back and grabbed the piece to reinstall it in the ship's belly, "now we just need to…" he trailed off as he noticed Lando, arms crossed, standing in the doorway, panic and guilt suddenly evident in his face.
"Han!" cried Lando, "what are you doing?"