Let Fate Decide

Summary: When Leia was a teenager, she was completely and utterly in love with the man she was forbidden to see. When her world is destroyed, she has to choose between the only people she has left: Luke, her overprotective brother who insists she leave Han forever, and Han, her soul mate who thinks their love is the most important thing of all.

A/N: Definitely AU… This is just something I came up with when reading other stories on this site. It reminds me of my favorite movie, The Notebook, in so many ways… and since Star Wars is also my favorite movie(s) I had this great idea to incorporate them. This is all Star Wars, and the Notebook's storyline is twisted into this, so…I hope you like it!

Synopsis: Anakin is good, and never turned bad. Darth Exodus is the guy taking Darth Vader's place. He is the one who ordered Alderaan's extermination. The Rebellion defeated Darth Exodus and the Empire during the last space attack scene in the last movie. Luke was never inside. Luke was the one who saved Leia after her planet exploded. Any other questions just ask me! (I told you this was an alternate universe…lol. Sorry for the confusion and complexity of this explanation but I figured you might need it for the story!)

My heart was shattered into a million pieces, just like my planet, when I saw it explode. My whole life was there: My parents, my friends, and my entire way of living. And just like that…it's gone. I almost thought I was dying, for I was seeing my life flash before my eyes. Darth Exodus held me back as I screamed, and ordered me to be interrogated once more, saying that if I didn't, more planets would be destroyed.

After the interrogation I felt numb. My body was weak and all I wanted to do was sleep. I tried for hours, but the guilt of my parents and brother dying for the Rebellion when they had no part in it plagued me. After I had cried all that was left of me to cry, I finally fell asleep, dreams of my painful teenage years coming to haunt me. My one true love left me, my family hated me, and yet I thought I could still have it all.

"Leia," Mother said to me. "You must come downstairs. Your father and I have something to talk to you about…" she sounded sad, as if she was forced into doing something she didn't want to do. I was confused, but followed her anyway. Overall I was quite thrilled to tell my family the good news. I was 16, and head over heels in love. Han Solo was his name, and he was the kindest, funniest, and most gorgeous guy I had ever met. Yes, he was 3 years older than me, but I didn't care, and neither did he.

We had some sort of a bond. We fought constantly, and I always cried over him, but yet…we always had the guts to say that we were sorry, and the happy times made up for the bad ones. He was a bad boy, which lured me in even further than his charm, and his witty sense of humor showed he had a good amount of youth left in him. Part of him was like a child, but the other half made him such a great person. He wasn't that serious, except for occasions, and he never ever made me feel bad about myself. He treated me like the princess I was.

I bounded down the stairs, preparing my, "Han and I are getting married once I am 18" speech, but my thoughts went blank when I saw their faces. My father, who was in between my brother and mother, looked angry, while my mother still looked sad, and Luke… Luke had no expression at all. I could normally read him like a book but something was very different about him today.

"Leia, sit down…we need to have a talk." My father sternly commanded. I gave him a questioning look, but sat down across from my family.

"Father… what did I do? What's going on?"

"Leia… please just listen…" Luke said softly. I glared at him. I wanted to know what was going on. Why wouldn't anyone tell me?

"Leia- I know how…friendly, you have gotten with that Solo kid, and I don't like it. I thought we all agreed you were going to train as a Jedi like your brother… You don't need any distractions. We all think you should break things off with Solo before you get too serious."

I could feel the hot tears sting my eyes, but I wouldn't allow them to fall yet. I was more angry than sad. "Father, I understand your concern, but really, Han isn't distracting me at all. I still want to train to be a Jedi. I love Han, I can't possibly choose between the two."

"Leia, I know you are upset, but I am your father, and I make the rules around here. You are 16! You don't know what love is. Han isn't suitable for you! He is friends with the not-so-friendly people of this galaxy, and you are just going to end up heartbroken! He is too experienced for you, and I don't think he really loves you. You are to stop seeing Han if you love this family, and respect me as your parent. That's final, young lady. I am expecting you to end it tomorrow, and once you have done it, you and Luke are to be sent off Alderaan, to finish your training." The look in his eyes pierced my heart as much as his words.

I finally let my tears fall, and looked helplessly from Mother, to Luke. Mother was about to cry herself, and Luke just looked down at his shoes. "I hate you. I will always hate you, Father. This is the biggest mistake you have ever made, and I hope you pay for it," I whispered. My raspy voice echoed throughout the room, and I could see my father's eyes glaze over. My mother began to cry, and Luke left the room. I stormed up to my room, and cried myself to sleep. It was 9:30 in the morning and I didn't get out of bed until 3.

When I finally got up, I wasn't hungry, nor dazed. I was completely numb. Without hesitation I called Han.

"Hello?" He answered.

"Han!" I began to cry again.

"Hey, Princess, what's wrong? Calm down…"

"Han, it's my parents, they don't want me seeing you anymore!" I bawled.

"Look, don't say another word, I am coming to get you."

"No! They will see you!" I almost screamed.

"I will be a few blocks south of your place, just sneak out and run. I will be in our usual spot." I knew exactly what he was talking about… It's a place hidden by trees, where Han and I always went to get away from it all. It was secluded, and more beautiful than what words could describe. It was where he took me on our first date, it was where we had our first kiss, and it was where we first made love.

"Okay…I will meet you there in 15 minutes?"

"Can't wait. I love you…" he whispered,

"I love you too." And with that I hung up. I slowly opened my door to find no one else around. Perfect, I thought. I slowly crept down the stairs, and dashed to the door. Running outside was such a relief for me. I was out of that house, and on my way to see Han. I ran for what seemed like a lifetime for me. And just like he said, once I had made my way through the thick trees, he was sitting on a smooth rock surrounded by grass and a small waterfall, just waiting for me to come.

"Baby, you made it!" He sighed as he embraced me. I began to whimper, and he instinctively pulled me close. I felt his warmth, and breathed his scent, and to me, nothing else in the world mattered.

I sat on his lap, and began to explain what happened. From the sad look my mother gave me, to crying myself to sleep. He knew it all, and his face looked pained. I somewhat regretted telling him, and even more so every second. I tried to convince myself that he would make it all better, and make it all go away but I was wrong.

"Leia… maybe your father was right? Would if I am not the right guy for you? Would if you are meant to do something so great, that the whole galaxy will be changed forever? I cannot possibly get in the way of that…" I looked at him, shocked by his words. I slowly pulled myself out of his lap, and got down off the rock. I started to walk away, but turned to him instead.

"You aren't getting in the way of anything, Han… We can be together! My family might not like you or the idea of 'us' yet, but they will once they get to know you! I thought you loved me? I thought you said you wanted to marry me when we first made love? I was wrong. You don't even want to try! You don't love me, Han Solo, and you know it!" I screamed, and cried, and fought him but it wasn't enough. No matter what I did, he still calmed me down by just a simple hug.

"Leia…I love you, you know I do. I do want to marry you. You are only 16. You don't love me, and it would be selfish of me to take you from your dream. You want to be a Jedi. There are just too many things involved right now! The odds are not in our favor, and I think we just need to surrender. If you are going to be with me I need you to stop everything. If we have a family someday how are you going to be a Jedi? How am I supposed to support you? You have your whole life ahead of you… do something about what you believe in. Forget about me, and move on. I don't see how this is going to work…" There were tears in his eyes, and tears in mine. He walked away without looking back, which was good for me, because if he had looked back, he would have seen all the heartbreak he had caused me, and realize just how much I had loved him. And that, would be too much for him to take.

I awoke with a jolt, and realized my dream had caused me to shake. I have never really thought about that night in the past 2 years of my life. All I remember is flying with Luke to receive our final bit of training. Once we were finally done, we were on our way back home when our ship was invaded, I was taken hostage, and Luke's ship was flown back to Alderaan with him on it. I have been secretly working for the Rebellion, and that was why I was kidnapped. They wanted information. I sent out a hologram to Obi-Wan Kenobi about my location. He was to inform my family I was ok, and send someone to rescue me.

The next thing I know my home planet was blown up, and I realized I had no one else.

Sitting quietly in my cell was hard, knowing about Alderaan, but somehow I had hope. I had hope that maybe, through everything I would be rescued, and come to find out later…I was right.

2 HOURS LATER

"Is this what you call a rescue?" I asked Luke desperately. "Did you even think about how we were going to get out of here?" He looked at me, with some annoyance, so I shut up. R2D2 and C-3PO were with him. I was very thankful for Luke saving me, but I couldn't help but feel some sort of grudge against him. Something in me snapped when we were finally out of that hell hole, and I regret it terribly.

"Luke, why did you save me?" I stared at him with that evil glare of mine, and he just gave a confused look. We were in Luke's new ship, and he was taking his turn in flying it. My shift had just ended, and I was supposed to be getting some sleep, but I knew I had some unfinished business to take care of.

"What do you mean? You are my twin sister, and my only family left. I had to save you! I love you…" He said.

"I thought you hated me. That day when you, Mother, and Father decided that I wasn't allowed to see… Han… anymore… I thought you hated me for going back to him even though I wasn't allowed. I disappointed everyone…didn't I?" I looked out the window, and sighed. I missed Han, even though he broke my heart.

"Leia…You don't understand. What we did… we did for a reason. It backfired on us, but we did it for a reason…Do you not get it?" Luke asked impatiently. I glared at him.

"What are you talking about? Of course I get it! I was actually happy, and you wanted to ruin it because you were jealous I had someone who loved me more than anything and all you had was your dream to be a Jedi! I actually had someone I could be with forever, and because I was 'destined' to be a world-changing Jedi you didn't think I had what it took to handle both like mom did!" I didn't realize I was screaming at him until I saw a single tear roll down his cheek. I gasped, and he quickly wiped it away.

"Leia… before you go and start making assumptions about something you know nothing about let me clear something up for you…" he said just above a whisper. "Please don't cry when I tell you this…but we knew Han was going to leave you. We were getting ready to go to visit Obi-Wan, when you were at a friend's house, and we heard him talking to one of his friends. I don't know what his name was… But he was sending Han on some sort of mission. I think there was something Han wasn't telling you about, Leia. He agreed to it, with some hesitation, and we didn't want you to get hurt. We weren't sure if he was only pretending to love you, or if he had his priorities straight. That's why we did what we did. We knew he was leaving, but we couldn't tell you. So, if we had you break it off with him, you wouldn't be hurt so bad when he left…"

I was crying, and whispering "no" over and over again. The ship was spinning, and soon, once I had found my bed, I blacked out.

TBC – Han and Leia meet up again on Hoth, and Han and Luke get into an argument. When the crew realizes they need to work together to stop Darth Exodus, the tension just grows thicker. A talk between Han and Leia begins, too.