Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars, I just like to play in Lucas' sandbox.
No Longer a Boy
In the dark of the night, the relative calm of the now peaceful village washed over Han, the only Rebel still fully awake. He had slept for too long in that block, he wanted action. But they all needed to rest before they took on the Empire in the morning, so rest they did.
To Han's right slept Leia. Far to the left, Chewie snored and the droids had powered down in the corner of the little hut the Ewoks shared with their new tribe members.
But no Luke.
Han mulled it over in his head – Luke had surrendered himself over to the Empire, but more specifically to Vader, whom Luke believed was near. He'd said as much on the shuttle, which Han had dismissed then without another thought. He thought about it now.
"Now don't get jittery, Luke, there are a lot of command ships."
His own words echoed in his head, embarrassingly loud and clear. Luke had not been jittery. Han had seen Luke's jitters: the comments about Imperial speed as they left Tatooine with Obi-Wan Kenobi, the desperate beg that Han have some trick to avoid the Death Star and break the tractor beam.
But Han hadn't seen Luke jittery since he'd been thawed (or more accurately, since his hibernation sickness had been slow to wear off, thus denying him a chance to actually see them) Luke had not been jittery this whole time. Han hadn't believed in the kid, but his plan to get out of Jabba's had worked.
Some time since old Kenobi had hired him, Han had witnessed Luke gain confidence.
But what else could talk of Vader be if not nerves?
"Vader's on that ship." It had been a fact, not a question or a hypothesis but a fact, something Luke knew. He'd sounded surprised, but a reserved surprise, a disappointed surprise, like finding Wookie fur in your morning kaffe when it was Chewie's turn to cook.
And then, even stranger, Luke had muttered to himself, "I'm endangering the mission, I shouldn't have come." He must not have thought others would have heard it, but Han heard it.
Only Han had replied to that by asking for optimism. Really, what had the kid meant by that? Like the mission could get more dangerous.
"He doesn't want you at all! He's after somebody called…uh…Skywalker."
Lando's words at Bespin came back just then.
And then Leia's explanation of Luke's departure: "He's gone to distract Vader."
Just what did Vader want with Luke?
Han shook Leia awake. "Why does Vader care about Luke so much?"
Leia blinked, "Wha-?" she asked, then cleared her throat and repeated her question.
"Why does Vader want Luke?" Han repeated.
"He's a Jedi."
Right. The Jedi thing. Chewie had mentioned the old man's prowess with a lightsaber first thing when Kenobi and Luke came to hire him. Then Luke had been practicing with his own lightsaber.
When the Jedi had been wiped out, Han had been about ten-years-old. All the other smugglers and the pirates who'd lived in the Jedi's time told Han that the Jedi were no better than any other authority, so it was no skin off his nose that they were gone.
But Luke clung to it. Clung to it like a cloud to the sky.
The kid had already lost his family to the Empire, why did Vader have to go and take that from Luke via his freedom or life?
A strong surge of anger rose in Han's chest and for the first time in his life, he understood how Leia might care so much about politics. But only for a second.
No matter how terrible the Empire was, Han thought their aggressive combat against Luke's religion was a blow below the belt.
"What happened after I was frozen? I thought that Imp said Luke arrived. Did he leave? He didn't meet Vader, right?"
"He did." Leia pulled the fur blanket the Ewoks had provided for them up higher. Han put his arm around her, to warm her or support her, he didn't know.
So Luke had met Vader and escaped unscathed. That was…awesome in every connotation and denotation of the word.
"They found and Luke was beaten. He barely escaped. And that's how he lost his hand."
"WHAT."
"Oh…that's right," Leia sounded pensive. "Nobody told you yet. Vader cut off Luke's hand, now he has a prosthetic."
Han felt incredible awe for the boy he'd watched grow up. He'd faced Vader. Lost. And turned himself in to that horror again just to help the Rebels' cause.
When had the little farm boy become a man? And why did it take him this long to notice it?