"Father and Son"

By EsmeAmelia

AN: As always, thanks for reviewing. Still no computer, so still infrequent updates.

Chapter 54

Once Han hung up, he found that anxiety had replaced his sleepiness. Even the prospect of a party couldn't remove the anxiety. He suddenly remembered that he hadn't asked Luke or Leia just how their father was doing. Well . . . Luke was right here . . . he could ask now . . . but somehow he felt something blocking him from doing so.

"Do you want to see Father before we go to the party?" Luke suddenly asked, as though reading Han's mind (though Han wouldn't have outruled that possibility).

Han gave a long exhale that drained his lungs of all air. "Sure, why not?"

Without another word, Luke led Han to the bacta tanks in the ship's medical bay. They passed tanks occupied by wounded Rebels, some of whom Han knew, but he barely gave them a glance. The fact that they were in batca tanks meant they would probably recover, which was enough to ease Han's conscience as they made their way to the tank at the very back.

His first thought upon seeing the inhabitant in the bacta tank was no. Whoever this person was, it was not the father he remembered, nor was it the dangerous Sith they fought. It was . . . who was it? The man suspended in the tank had no arms and no legs - just four stumps dangling pathetically in the bacta. His completely bald head bobbed limply and his chest was encased in some sort of device Han didn't recognize - he guessed it was to support his damaged lungs.

The head bobbed up, only slightly, only enough for Han to see his scarred forehead and closed eyes, but with that little sight, Han momentarily lost his breath. Stretched over the man's right eye, barely visible now, was the scar. The scar Han used to run his finger down when his hand was smaller. Up and down, up and down, grinning at his father, who always grinned back, despite the fact that he had recieved the scar in a painful battle. Suddenly Han imagined himself sitting in his father's lap, playing with his shirt, feeling the gloved, hard hand running down his back.

He pressed his hand against the cold glass, his eyes moistening up, causing Vader . . . no, Anakin to blur in front of him.

"Dad . . ." he whispered.

Endor

Han wandered somewhat aimlessly through the bonfires, the dancing Ewoks and Rebels, and even the tables of food. People watching might have assumed he was looking for someone, which he was, but in truth, part of him was still in Ackbar's ship, watching his father in the bacta tank.

[Han!]

No sooner had Han heard the roar than Chewie came running up to him and smuthered him in a hug - and Han actually hugged him back. He hardly even noticed the pain the Wookiee was inflicting on his ribs.

"I'm fine Chewie, I'm fine," he responded to Chewie's several inquiries over how he was. "Where're the others?"

Chewie took Han's hand and led him to an especially crowded bonfire where Han immediately picked out 3PO dancing with one of the Ewoks, another Ewok rapping sticks on a bunch of stormtrooper helmets as if they were drums, and several other Ewoks chanting something that was probably holy in their language. The overall strangeness of the scene might have caused Han to laugh if his mind weren't so occupied.

"Hey Han!"

Biggs, Wedge, and Lando all pushed their way through the crowd to hug Han - at the same time. For a few seconds he wasn't quite sure which arms belonged to whom, nor was he sure exactly who he himself was hugging. When the hug-fest calmed a little, that person turned out to be Biggs.

"So you saved my life again," Biggs said with his big grin.

"No actually, I didn't," said Han.

Biggs's mustache twitched, as if he suspected that Han was playing a joke. "C'mon, you were leading the guys who took down the shield, weren't you?"

"Actually, Leia was," said Han. "I was bein' held captive on the Death Star."

"A prisoner?" Biggs exclaimed.

"Again?" Wedge exclaimed.

"Long story," Han said before any of them could ask how he ended up a prisoner. He quickly turned to face Lando. "So how did the Falcon fare out?"

"Like a dream," said Lando. "She only lost her sensor dish."

"WHAT?"

Lando showed his palms in a gesture meant to calm people down. "Hey, hey, she got through, her sensor dish can be replaced."

"Well you promised not a scratch!"

Lando gulped. "Uh . . . hey look, there's Leia!" he said suddenly, pointing over past Han's shoulder.

Lando's attempt to distract Han worked - he immediately left the group of men and dashed over to Leia, who was still wearing that same dark gold dress. Once he was within arm's reach of her, he threw his arms around her, squeezing her close to him in an embrace that seemed to just last and last before Leia gently pulled herself back.

"We did it, Han," she murmured.

Han grimaced as a long sigh emitted from between his teeth. "I didn't do anything. You did it. Lando did it. And . . . and Dad did it."

Leia's eyebrows lowered as if Han had committed some grave offense. "So he's your father now?" she said in a voice that sounded like it was trying to be free of accusation.

"He's been my father," Han automatically said. "And he's been your father too."

For a moment Leia seemed too shocked to speak. Her eyes widened, then they gradually became regular size as her breath quickened. "Han . . ." she whispered, ". . . he tortured you."

"I know, I know," Han quickly replied, squeezing her shoulder. "But he wasn't himself then."

"What?"

"Look, do ya think this is easy for me?" Han exclaimed. "It ain't, believe me, it ain't, but he saved our lives, all our lives."

Leia looked down and swallowed.

"Look, maybe you should go see him in Ackbar's bacta tank," Han said with another sigh.

"Why would I want to do that?" Leia said, a definite glare in her face now.

Han sighed once again, trying not to think of his fiancee as stubborn - but then again, she was stubborn, that was one of the things he loved about her . . . but couldn't she be a little less stubborn right now?

"It might help," he said. "Seein' him . . ."

"No it won't," Leia declared, folding her arms.

Now Han grabbed both her shoulders. "Leia," he said firmly, "he doesn't have any limbs."

"What?"

"He's got no limbs," Han repeated. "Both his arms and both his legs were artificial. And . . . he's deaf."

"Deaf?" Leia exclaimed. "That's ridiculous - he heard us perfectly on Bespin."

"That's cause his helmet transmitted sound waves into his brain or somethin'. Without it he's deaf."

Leia stood silent for what felt like several minutes, alternatively looking at Han and looking at her sandaled feet. "I'll . . . think about it," she finally said.

Han suddenly felt uplifted. His hands ran down Leia's body until he was gripping her arms. "Dance with me," he murmured.

Within seconds, they were swaying in time to the Ewoks' music, their arms wrapped around each other, neither one thinking about what might lie ahead.