Leia was thrown back against the seat as the Falcon warped into hyperspace.
Without Han.
She was numb. Was it really only yesterday that they had been aboard the Falcon, just them and Chewie, and she had actually been happy? Was it really only yesterday morning that she had woken up next to him, as she had for the last few weeks of their journey to Bespin? Or maybe it was day before yesterday. She honestly couldn't remember, or care.
A large paw gripped her shoulder.
"Cub." Growled Chewie. She had become quite fluent in Wookie during the three months they had spent traveling to Bespin.
"You need to rest", he said. She twisted around to look at him. He looked – fragile, almost, if that was possible for a Wookie. His shoulders were slumped and his eyes were bleak. Leia knew how much he would be missing Han. They were practically inseparable. She knew she probably needed to rest, see how Luke was doing, something, but she just couldn't do anything. All the princess could think about was Han; hear his screams in the carbon freeze chamber. Her throat was constricted and aching.
"No, I'm all right Chewie," she managed to get out.
He shook his head at her and gave a low growl. "He told me to look after you, cub. If I can't get him back right now, then at least I can look after you. You are not all right".
Leia opened her mouth to protest, but then stopped, instead nodding silently. The Wookie's huge, hairy arm wrapped around her shoulders and gently guided her out of her seat and down the familiar corridors of the Falcon to Han's cabin, which she had been sharing with him for several weeks now. Chewie gently sat her down on the bed. Her mouth opened, about to ask him about Luke, but he seemed to read her mind.
"I'll come and get you when he wakes up," he growled softly. She nodded and he left, the door sliding shut behind him.
Leia was finally alone with her thoughts, and it wasn't exactly something she wanted to face. Han's face, right before he was lowered into the carbon freeze, hovered behind her eyelids. His voice echoed in her ears.
" I love you". At least she had told him. But she wished she hadn't waited until the last possible moment.
"I know". Maybe some people would think that that was an arrogant, callous thing to say, but it was Han. Those words meant more to her than anything else anyone had said to her in her life.
A strangled sob forced its way out of her throat, choking her. Leia collapsed on the bed. It was still unmade from the last time they had slept there. More sobs worked their way out of her throat, and she stifled a scream. No, she thought, I won't have hysterics. With a huge amount of effort, she calmed her breathing and fell back onto the pillow, letting the hot tears run down her face until she fell asleep.
The storm troopers pushed her and Han into a small room. Leia sucked in her breath. An imperial torture device sat in the center of the otherwise barren room. She was all too familiar with it; it was the same kind that they had used on her when she had first been captured on board the first Death Star. They had moved on to other kinds of torture later on of course – both physical and mental – but the sharp bolts of electricity caused by this one were all too painful to forget. The two storm troopers holding her shoved her forwards towards it. Han jerked forwards with a growl, but his storm troopers held him back. They began to strap Leia into the machine.
"No!" yelled Han. Leia's head whipped around to look at him. The expression on his face was one of terror – for her? The ex – smuggler continued to speak, his breath ragged. "No. Put me in the machine instead".
What the hell was he doing? She shook her head frantically at him. He just looked at her. Why didn't he get it? Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the storm troopers shrug at each other, then she was hauled roughly out of the way and Han was taking her place in the chair. He met her eyes and held them for a split second before she was hauled out of the room.
The troopers dragged her into another smaller room off to the side. A small window allowed bystanders to watch the torture. She closed her eyes as Vader turned on the machine and Han's screams began. She was trying to run t o him, but the storm troopers were holding onto her shoulders…
Leia awoke abruptly, with a scream halfway out of her lips before she realized that Chewie was trying to wake her up.
"Sorry", she whispered. "Nightmares".
The Wookie's face was concerned, but thankfully he didn't say anything. "The kid's finally awake," he growled instead. "Thought you would like to know".
The princess nodded and swung her legs out of bed. "How is he?" she asked, worried about what the answer might be.
Chewie let out a huge Wookie sigh. "Not so good. He kept muttering stuff about Vadar, Ben, Dagobah and Yoda, whatever they are, and something about his father. I couldn't piece together much though."
"And his arm?"
"Not so good. No blood, but it's causing him a huge amount of pain, unsurprisingly."
They rounded the corner into Luke's room. He lay on his back in the bed, staring up at the ceiling. She walked over to the side of his bed and looked down at him.
"How are you doing?"
He turned his head to look at her and managed a weak smile.
"Better. That fight with Vadar really took everything I had…"
His voice trailed off, and he swallowed, before changing the subject abruptly. "Where's Han?" he asked. "In fact, what are you even doing here?"
A wave of nausea came over Leia as Luke said his name. Something about his earlier comment about Vadar told her that he was hiding something from her, but she didn't approach it right now. Instead she struggled to answer his previous question.
"Vadar... well, Han got me out of the base on Hoth just before the imps completely took over. Unfortunately, the hyperdrive broke just as we took off. They chased us for a while, but we finally lost them in an asteroid field." Luke raised is eyebrows at this, but didn't comment. "At that point, we knew that we would have to land somewhere to fix the hyperdrive, and the closest 'safe' place was Bespin. Lando Calrissian – the man who brought you in here when we picked you up from under Cloud City – he's an old friend of Han's and ran the gas mine here until yesterday. Vader got here before us though, and forced Lando to turn us over to him." Here she paused, looking at her hands. The memories were too painful to think about.
"That still doesn't explain where Han is, of why Vader wanted you so much." Luke prompted her gently. Leia looked over at him and swallowed.
"Vader wanted you, Luke. He set a trap, we were the bait. Han…" her voice choked up when she said his name. "Vadar was going to freeze you in carbonite, but he wanted to test it out on someone first, so he froze him… in carbonite, Then he gave him to a bounty hunter. We tried to get him back, but…" she shook her head, tears threatening to start again. "We were to late. He's on his way to Jabba".
Luke sucked in a breath. Leia turned her head away to hide her tears. She felt like her heart had dropped all the way into her stomach. Her head hurt, and she had to clench her hands tightly to stop herself from shaking. Hoping wildly that Luke couldn't sense her feelings for Han, she turned back towards him. He stared at his hands, laced together on his sheets.
"It's my fault." The young Jedi said simply.
Leia shook her head. "Luke." Her voice was firm, in total contrast to the turmoil going on inside her head. "It's not your fault. I don't blame you."
"You should. It was me they wanted. I'm thinking that I should actually leave the rebellion."
Leia gasped. "What?"
Luke looked at her. "Vader is after me, Leia. He won't stop at anything to get me. I don't want to endanger the rebellion."
She felt a wave of panic wash over her. "No! He's already taken away one person I love – " she realized what she had just said to late and glanced at Luke to see if he had noticed that she had just said that she was in love with Han Solo. Fortunately, he hadn't. She carried on. "He has already taken away just about everyone I have ever cared about. Don't make me lose you too."
He looked at her then and smiled. "I'll see. Where are we going, anyway?"
"The rendezvous," she replied. "If they are still there."
Just then, Lando entered with Chewie. Luke looked at Lando. "Hello. I'm Luke Skywalker. Assuming you're Lando? Leia's been telling me about you." He held out his hand. Lando came forward and shook it.
"Yeah, I'm Lando," he said. "Up until recently, I was the administrator of Cloud City. Chewie's been telling me quite a lot about you. So you blew up the Death Star, hunh?"
"That was me", Luke replied.
Chewie growled loudly. "Sorry, but we are coming out of hyperspace in about 5 standard minutes. Cub, we need you to make sure the alliance knows we are friendly."
She nodded at him, and then translated for Luke. "I'll get a medical team to meet us when we arrive," she told him. He smiled at her.
"Yeah, that would be good".
Turning, Leia left Luke's room and made her way to the cockpit.
General Carlist Rieekan looked out over the crowd of rebels that had managed to make it to the rendezvous. They had lost so many in the battle at Hoth, but thanks to Leia's efforts they had gotten most of the rebels out. He only wished that he had some idea of where she was. Or if she was even alive.
His job today was not a pleasant one. They were holding a funeral service, of sorts, for all personnel who either died or went MIA during the battle at Hoth. He knew a lot of these people personally, heck, Leia was practically his daughter. He also wished he could have Luke back. He was the best pilot in the whole alliance, and Carlist had really liked the boy. Also the smuggler, Solo, was a huge asset. True, he had been leaving anyway, but that definitely didn't mean he didn't want him back. It was hard to live with that large of a bounty on your head, so he did not blame him though.
It was nearly time to start. The rebels' chatter died away, and they all looked up at him expectantly. General Rieekan took a deep breath and began.
"Fellow rebels, we come here to commemorate the lives lost on Hoth, sacrificed for the fight against the Empire. Each one gave up their lives bravely so that we could be standing here today. We thank them for what they have done for us and our cause, and they will never be forgotten."
"We also think of those who have not been heard from, and hope that they are alive and can join us soon. May the Force be with them. A few very noteworthy names are those of Luke Skywalker, our most treasured pilot, who disappeared after the battle. Princess Leia Organa, who stayed with the rebels in the command centre until the last possible moment, thus missing her transport. The last that we have heard from her was that she was going to try to get out aboard Captain Solo's ship the Millennium Falcon. We hope – "
Just then a lieutenant ran in. "Sir, there is an unknown ship approaching!"
Before the General could reply, a loudspeaker crackled to life above them.
"Ambassador Leia Organa, code 34156271, requesting permission to land the Millennium Falcon and a medical team"
The base erupted into cheers.