I recently reread The Courtship of Princess Leia and I felt like doing a type of alternate ending fic. What if Han succeeded in blowing up Gethzerion in The Courtship of Princess Leia? The answers will be revealed all in good time.
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Chapter 1 Heartbreak Haven
Leia's POV
Han is gone. He left only a few moments ago and somehow I know he's the one for me. Isolder is nice and all, but he's not right. I want someone coarser. Someone who's no afraid to tell me how it is. Someone like Han. He left. He's gone. I want to kiss his lips forever. I want to look into the deep wells of his green tinted brown eyes that I could lose myself in. He's gone. He went off to kill Gethzerion. Gethzerion, the evil being that stole the perfect man for me away. She is below the blood-sucking bugs of this planet, Dathomir. Han left with a single small detonator. This detonator would not allow him to survive an encounter with the terrible thing that I refuse to call a person. The detonator will only blow if the switch was pressed for a second. I wonder for a moment if Han's last thoughts will dwell on me. The worst part of this whole mission is I know it must be done. What shatters my heart is that I know deep in my heart that Han is doing this for me. That's what breaks it.
Han's POV
This is it. My life is coming to an end. That's all I know. I hope Leia doesn't forget about me. That's the only thing I'd live for. Knowing she's safe. My knees are growing weak. I can't do this. No, I MUST. There's no room for mistakes. No room for my own misgivings. Aw, Chewie's gonna throw a real fit when he learns what I've done. I'll face myself. This is how it's going to go. This is how it ends. Somehow, I just can't believe it. After a life of smuggling and dodging Star Destroyers, surviving the carbon-freezing, just to have it all go away like this. At the hands of some beast that I refuse to give any credit to. She's a killer. Cold and ruthless. There's no way I could be doing the galaxy a better favor than to get rid of GETHZERION. I just hope nothing happens to Luke, the good kid he is; nor Leia, feisty little princess; nor Chewie, lifelong buddy, I'll miss you all. What am I talking about!?!? I'm not gonna die! I'm General Han Solo for cryin' out loud! I'll beat this! I'll beat it. Yeah. I've got a plan. Inspiration is my specialty. At this moment, I'm fashioning a box out of wood of some sort. Yep, the grenade will fit in here nicely. Now to conceal it and my knowledge that it's there. Or at least the grenade. Yes, that will do. In my pants, next to my thigh. Gethzerion oughtta get a perverted kick out of that. Here goes nothin'.
Leia's POV
There goes everything. Han is not going to make it out of this. I've kissed him for the last time, held him for the last time, said goodbye for the FINAL time. All I feel is an empty void where everything I love used to be. I'm numb. I wish I could feel, but I'm afraid of the pain lurking beyond the numbness. I'm afraid that if the numbness continues, I'll never be able to feel anything, not even love, again. Chewbacca's arm circles around my shoulders and he grumbles what I take to be a reassurance. "Inspiration's my specialty," Han had said to me once or twice since I'd first met him. Inspiration is going to get him killed. I'd always loved that he came up with plans on the fly, but now, I hate that quality. The quality that brought him to me is the trait that brings him away now. Why? Why him? Why now? I can't bear it. I've got to go to him. Accompany him. If he goes, I go too. The New Republic needs you. The voice of duty reins me in. The New Republic needs HAN too, I think furiously at the voice. Everything that has happened on Dathomir caused me to see how much I love Han and how much Isolder doesn't mean anything to me. You don't know what you've got til it's gone. I break down, weeping on Isolder's shoulder because he was the only one close enough at the time.
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AW! Poor Leia! I want to give her a huge hug! Poor Han! He thinks he's gonna die, too. He's gonna try to prevent it, but you never know. I'll make a different version of this too, just to illustrate what would happen if Gethzerion were smart. That's a big IF too. My 3rd story! Whoo! The you don't know what you've got til it's gone thing made me think of the Jonas Brothers' song. Yeah... I'm kinda indifferent to the JBs, so criticize me if it pleases you. Just don't criticize my story unless it is really terrible, or I shall send Han Solo to your house to deliver a special package. *GRINS EVILLY* I love you guys cause you're all amazing. Why else would I write these fics? This is kinda away from my usual happy joke-filled fic that I'm writing called Link's New Adventure. Read it when you get the chance. I also have a 24 fic called Buchanan, if you wanna check that one out. I'm considering doing a Let's-Blame-Jack fic about how Larry is always like "Hey look, it's a dead guy. JACK KILLED HIM!!!" PM me if you think that would be cool.