I really didn't want or intend to start writing another multi-chapter story given I'm already working on one but this idea popped into my head last night and I had to get it written.
There are some brilliant stories out there that have already offered an alternative portrayal of the Han/Leia relationship while following the canon timeline and this is my own attempt at that. This prologue kind of arrived in my thoughts fully-formed and from it has come the outline of a pretty extensive story. I purposely made this opening as brief as I could and there's an awful lot to come before and after this particular point in the story.
Chapter One will begin very early on after ANH and then carry on through ESB and ROTJ, and possibly beyond, but the events that follow will obviously be AU. It's a bit of a challenge as a concept because I don't want to compromise on the argumentative dynamic between them that works so well in the films. So essentially this is a "what might have happened had it taken a lot less than three years for Han and Leia to begin to realise and admit they had feelings for one another" type of story.
"General Rieekan! Sir, we have contact with the Millennium Falcon!"
Leia's stomach lurched and her hands began to tremble involuntarily. She raced from one side of the chaotic command centre to the other, battling to reach the console that Rieekan was now crouched by, a headset pressed tightly against his ear.
"It's a coded message, sir, requesting clearance to land," the young communications officer who'd hailed Rieekan was saying.
"That's not Solo's comm code, though," Rieekan muttered, casting a nervous glance at Leia who was now looking on over his shoulder. She reached for the console chair, digging her fingernails into the cushioned back in an attempt to still the tremors in her hands, striving to maintain her composure.
"No sir, its Lieutenant Holbrix's," replied the officer. "I've transmitted the clearance already and asked for more information but he just keeps sending that same message over and over."
Rieekan stood and made his way over to the large radar console in the centre of the room, Leia at his side. "How far out are they?" he asked, noting the small red dot that had appeared on the very edge of the radar and was inching its way gradually toward the large blue circle at the centre of the screen that represented the Alliance's current base.
"Around ten minutes, General," answered another officer standing at the console, tracking the Falcon's progress.
"Comm Commander Mellorn," Rieekan ordered. "I want medical personnel standing by in the hangar when that ship lands, we don't know how many of our people Solo managed to get out of there and how many of them are wounded." He turned to Leia and found her staring transfixed at the red dot on the radar, her lips moving soundlessly. When Rieekan laid his hand gently on her shoulder, she jumped. "Come on," he said quietly. "We'll wait for them in the hangar."
Leia only nodded and allowed Rieekan to steer her out of the command centre into the bustling main access corridor. Ignoring propriety, the general maintained his gentle and familial hold on her shoulder.
"They're going to be okay," he murmured quietly, soothingly so that only Leia could hear. "He's going to be okay."
Leia nodded, not trusting herself to speak. She wanted to believe him, with every fibre of her being, but fear and doubt gnawed away at her. She couldn't shift the feeling that, this time, something was wrong.
This day had been the realisation of her very worst fears, the ones that had haunted her since Yavin. She'd been stuck on the sidelines while everyone that she loved, had left in this galaxy, were in danger. It was a scenario she'd fought against becoming a reality for so long; danger was an inherent part of their lives with the Rebellion and she understood that there were times she would have to let the others put themselves at risk. She couldn't stop Luke going an assignments with Rogue Squadron or go with Han and Chewie on every supply run they carried out for the Alliance.
But it was in situations likes this, when the three of them were together and facing the same danger, that Leia would do everything in her power to be with them. The thought of losing one of them was agonising; the idea that she could lose all three in one cruel stroke of fate was unbearable.
This time she'd had to stay behind, watch as Han and Chewie raced to provide the aid that Luke and the strike team he was leading had urgently requested. And she'd spent every moment since praying to whatever higher power existed in the galaxy that they'd all return safely.
"You're shaking," Rieekan murmured from beside her as they walked.
"I'm fine," Leia replied in as steady a voice as she could muster. "I just want to know they're safe."
"They will be," Rieekan replied. "Han would never have taken off from there without Luke and there is no way that Chewbacca would ever leave Han behind. It was Chewie that sent the initial comm that they were ready to take off and if he was on the Falcon then so were Han and Luke."
He was right. Leia knew that.
But the nagging fear remained. She couldn't explain or escape the shadow of doubt that lingered in her mind and in her gut, the instinctual notion that something was wrong.
By the time they'd reached the hangar, a space had been cleared for the Falcon to land. A group of medics were congregated there already, primed to treat any of the wounded that Han and Chewie had been able to evacuate. A nervous tension hung in the air; two ships had departed the base the day before and neither were returning. The sense of trepidation amongst those that had gathered to await the Falcon was palpable.
With her eyes fixed on the horizon, at the small outline of a distant ship that was growing steadily larger, Leia's thoughts turned back to that morning.
If there was such a thing as blissful happiness, that's what she'd felt then. For so long her life had been unbalanced; she'd struggled so arduously to find some sense of stability, to feel able to prioritise her own happiness alongside her commitment to the Rebellion and its cause. Having lost everything at the hands of the Empire, having believed that there was no future for her beyond toppling Imperial rule and healing the wounds it had inflicted on the galaxy, she had found something else to fight for; a personal life beyond her professional aspirations, the promise of love and everything that it brought.
She couldn't let that slip away; she wouldn't.
She would do anything and everything it would take to make the future that she and Han had envisaged a reality. Having overcome so much over the course of a relationship that had already had to endure and overcome so many obstacles, she resolved that from this moment, they would not be parted again, that she would be at his side to face any and all dangers that came their way.
As the Falcon touched down in the hangar, she felt Rieekan take and gently squeeze her hand. "Han is okay," he murmured in quiet reassurance.
Leia simply nodded before fighting her way through the crowd that had gathered around the ship as the entrance ramp slowly began to lower.
Jedd Holbrix, the Rogue Squadron pilot that Luke had recruited into this mission, was the first to descend. He looked physically unharmed, except for a small gash above his right eye but his uniform bore the signs of a fierce battle. As he left the Falcon, Jedd kept his head bowed, his eyes determinedly avoiding catching those of any of the gathered onlookers. Without a word, ignoring the questions of both Rieekan and Draven, he simply walked away.
The fear in the pit of Leia's stomach intensified.
But then, there was Luke. He looked in shock; his eyes were wide and he was disjointed, unsteady steps toward her.
Before any of the medics could reach him, Leia had hurtled up the ramp and thrown her arms around his neck, closing her eyes against the tears that had finally begun to fall but now in relief rather than pain or fear. Luke was safe and, as Rieekan had said earlier, that meant that Han and Chewie had to be okay too.
She felt Luke slowly, almost unsurely, begin to return her embrace; he was trembling worse that she had been. So she tightened the hold she had around him, whispering whatever words of comfort came to her mind. From close to her ear, she heard Luke mumble her name in a tremulous voice.
Letting him go, she looked beyond his shoulder in anticipation of finding Han and Chewie standing by, awaiting their own welcome.
But neither was there.
"Where are the others?" she asked, guessing that they were most likely shutting the ship down.
"Commander Skywalker!" One of the medics had stepped forward and interrupted. "How many are wounded? Where are they?"
Luke shook his head, seemingly struggling to find his voice. "There's no one else," he finally said quietly.
A heavy silence fell throughout the hangar. Seventeen officers had been on the strike team; only Luke and Jedd had survived.
"Luke." Leia took his hand in both of hers and squeezed tightly. His eyes were unfocused and he seemed to be unwilling to meet her gaze. "Luke," she tried again in as gentle a tone as she could manage. "Luke, where are Han and Chewie?"
Finally, he looked at her and as he did, Leia saw tears gather in his eyes. "Chewie's in the cockpit," he rasped.
Rieekan had joined them. "Luke, what happened?" he asked.
"Where's Han?" Leia demanded, desperation creeping into her voice now, the fear and panic mounting again.
Pulling his hand from her grasp, Luke braced both of his arms behind his head and staggered backward, shaking his head. "There...I was-"he stammered, his eyes darting between Leia and Rieekan. "Everything happened so fast...Han was there but he-he said to-"
"Luke!"
Leia's throat had constricted, her breath hitched. Realisation of what Luke was trying to say, what he couldn't say, began to dawn on her. She needed him to tell her that she was wrong, needed to see Han now.
She made to push past Luke, to move further into the Falcon but he stopped her, grabbing her by the wrist. And when she turned to face Luke, she saw a single tear fall, carving a clear path through the dirt and grime that covered his face.
"Han's gone, Leia," he said simply.
It was like being thumped in the stomach, hit over the head; the words echoed in her ears but simply wouldn't register in her mind. No, Luke was wrong, this was all some kind of horrible mistake. Rational thought escaped Leia and she wrenched her hand free, only one thought in her mind: get to the cockpit.
She stormed through the silent ship, aware that Rieekan and Luke were following, saying things that couldn't penetrate the roar of her racing thoughts and emotions. One of them reached out to grab her by the shoulder and she roughly shook whoever it was off.
Reaching the cockpit, she found only Chewie. The Wookie was slumped in his chair, his face buried in two large paws. He was moaning pitifully.
Upon seeing Chewie's disconsolate demeanour and the empty seat beside him, the pieces all fell cruelly into place for Leia.
Han was gone and he'd taken with him a future she'd so desperately craved and believed in, would now never have
In the doorway of the Falcon's cockpit, she collapsed to her knees and wept.