Authors Note-
Thank you so much to those who keep coming back to this story and reading. As always, I love reading all of your reviews! I try to respond and give a preview to the next chapter if you are singed in, if you are a guest I unfortunately can't respond. I hope you enjoy this weeks chapter!
- KQinsights
All rights to Star Wars are reserved to Lucasfilm, I am just an admirer of the work. All rights to Promises are reserved to KQinsights.
Pure panic fueled adrenaline coursed through every cell in Han's body, propelling him forward.
His lungs burned from the lack of oxygen as he hurled himself through the trees. Though, he was not focused on his physical state. His mind had put aside those obscure feelings.
Although Leia had tended to have the more terribly detailed nightmares in the past, what Han's cruel imagination was conjuring up now was nothing short of terrifying. A mix of his own memories being tortured in Bespin and the stories Leia had told him after she wept and shook with fear.
She had been taken by the Empire once before, but Han was damn well sure he was not about to let it happen again.
The anger that rose up inside of him at the thought of any harm coming to either one of them pushed his legs harder and faster into the ground.
Luke was not far behind. But his mind was focused on trying to locate Leia. When he had left the base, he could sense her and the little one amongst the folds of the force, but now… nothing. He searched and searched, screamed into the void, but there was nothing. His voice simply echoed out into the obis.
Guilt more than anything plagued his heart. He had made Han a promise and had broken it. Not only that, he put his pregnant sister in danger in the process. Luke knew what he was doing when he told her he would take her to the base, but he could have never imagined something like this happening. The Empire was supposed to be a thing of the past. The very notion that he had not felt something shift in the force, made Luke question his own abilities.
No less than 100 yards was the entrance to the base. Han ran faster and faster as the double door entrance to the base appeared in his line of sight.
"Luke! Where is she?" Han yelled over his shoulder, still running.
"I… I don't know," Luke stammered.
"Luke!"
"She was in the Comms room when I left."
Han ran through the double doors and sprinted down the hall towards the command room. He took no notice of the wide eyes and gasps of the crew around him that watched as he dodged one person then the next.
Han made entered seconds later and burst through the doors with such force that the entire room went silent.
"Leia!" He called out as his eyes frantically searched the room.
"Leia!" He yelled again taking a few steps into the large form room. But she did not respond.
"General Solo!" Han turned around to see Lieutenant Tudor standing in front of him sizing him up.
"Where is she?" Han demanded.
"Who?"
Han saw a slight smirk on the lieutenant's face as he asked. He god damn well knew who.
Han's rage took over his actions.
Taking 2 steps toward the lieutenant, he quickly closed the gap between them. Now standing a good 5 inches above him, Han grabbed either side of his collared shirt and yanked.
"LEIA!" Han yelled, spitting in the lieutenant's face. 'Where. Is. She?" he snarled out. He could feel the cold slimy smirk that was slowly crawling up the sides of his mouth. He was enjoying watching Han squirm. It was just about enough to make Han unholster his blaster right there and shoot him, but he began to speak.
"She was sitting on the ramp," he began as he jerked his chin toward the general direction. "She was up there when I saw her last."
"When?" Han demanded once again. He was done playing games.
"OH I don't know," he paused rolling his eyes back into his head and tilting it from side to side, "say… about 10 minutes ago."
"Then where is she now?" Han yelled as he tightened the grip on his collar.
"Might want to check her quarters on level 2."
Han forcefully dropped the collars of his shirt as he threw him backward causing the Lieutenant to slam into the hard concrete wall, knocking the wind out of his lungs.
Han turned to Luke, "You take the south side, I'll take the north. We'll meet in the middle. The second you have anything you call me!" Han said as he burst back through the doors.
Han ran once again, dodging crew members and supplies left and right.
After a 10 second sprint down the hall, Han took the stairs up the second level. When he swung the door open he was met with a shocked look from a girl in an all-black uniform. Well a woman actually, although her sharp features were that of a teenager and her eyes were the most piercing yellow surrounded by a black circle.
"Do you know where Princess Leia's room is?" Han asked quickly, not dwelling on why a young woman was wandering these halls.
"Room 225 sir," she said, still wide-eyed.
Han took off once more. Within 20 paces he found room 225 and twisted the handle of the door to find it unlocked. He burst into the room.
"Leia?!" He called out taking a few steps into the room.
"Leia! Where are you?!"
When she had heard the door of her room crash open she instinctively grabbed for the blaster that was holstered to the inside of her left thigh.
But then she heard his voice.
For a moment she thought she was imagining things, that her tired mind was playing a cruel trick on her, but then she heard him call out for her again.
She took two fast steps toward the fresher door and opened it.
He had just rounded the corner of the small living room heading for the kitchen when to his right he heard her.
"Han?" Leia whimpered out.
He turned to see her standing just outside the doorway of the fresher. "Leia!"
He closed the gap between them instantly. He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked her up and down. "Are you okay?" She didn't respond. He preceded to scour her for a sign of harm. Looking back at her face, he tried again, "Are you hurt?...LEIA talk to me! Please!"
She couldn't respond. She could barely hear the words that were coming out of his mouth. She just stared into those eyes. The eyes that she had seen, cold as death staring into nothing on the forest floor. She had seen her world destroyed once again, as she witnessed the light in his eyes flicker out. But now they were here, standing in front of her. Full of warmth, life, and love.
She reached up and placed her hand on his face to confirm that it was really him standing in front of her. As her fingers made contact with his skin, her other senses came back to her.
"I'm…I'm alright." She managed to whisper.
Han instantly wrapped her in his arms.
For a moment he just held her. Her warmth soothed his pounding heart and her familiar scent made him feel at home. He could stop the tears from slipping past his water line as he indulged in every bit of her. After a few breaths, he pulled himself back.
Their eyes met and his heart skipped a beat. Her eyes were red-rimmed and swollen. Her eyes had always been a window into her soul, and what he could see at that moment was hours of torment and stress she had endured. That he had caused.
"Leia," he whimpered, whipping away the fresh tears staining her rosy cheeks.
"You came back," she stammered out through tears.
"I promised I would, didn't I?" he said as relife began to filter through his mind and body.
"You scared me for a second there," she said, choking through a bit of a laugh.
"Sorry sweetheart," Han smirked, "thought I had time for one last adventure before you two tie me down for a while," he said, keeping his eyes on hers and placing a hand on her swollen belly.
She rolled her eyes, but couldn't take them off of him for more than a second before she pulled his face to hers and kissed him. Deep and slow. Every emotion rushed through both of them. Every second separated was made up for as their tongues clashed and their hands desperately searched for more. More to grab and hold onto for dear life.
After several seconds Leia's lungs burred for oxygen, but she couldn't get over the feeling that she had just come up for fresh air.
After a moment had passed she pulled back, still staring off into his eyes, she said "Tell me everything."
Xx
They sat in the corner of the small living room on a blue couch. Han sat on the left side with one of his legs bent into the couch. His elbow proved up his head and it punched down the folded fabric of the seat, and his back rested on one arm of the couch. Leia sat across from him on the other end. Her back sat against the other arm while her head rested on the white wall behind her. Her legs extended straight in front of her and her hands relaxed on her stomach.
Han went first laying out most of the details of his 'adventure'. Each detail made Leia want to pull him in and never let him go, but she restrained herself enough to keep her face blank as she listened.
Han could read her like a book. It pained him to see her struggle internally with each of his words, but he wasn't stupid enough to lie. Maybe he should have, but part of him needed to process what happened out loud.
Han talked for a straight hour. At some point, he looked down at his wife's feet and realized how swollen they were. He lightly took off her shoes, not skipping a beat, interlocked his hands around the top of her foot, and kneaded the soul with his thumbs. She didn't protest.
She hadn't realized how bad her feet were hurting until he began massaging them. She almost moaned as he dug deeper and deeper. It was glorious. Just for that, she would have married him all over again
When he finished his story, Leia took a long and slow breath as she went over the whole story in her mind.
"So the Empire knows we're here?" she asked. Her tone was not confused, rather it sought out confirmation that what he said was true.
"Well, it certainly seemed like it. I guess it could have been a coincidence that the patrol found us when they did, but… they were ready. It was like they had prepared. We hadn't heard a thing. I would like to think that if they were just as surprised as us a few of them would have dropped along with us." He said. His mind momentarily flashed him a picture of the crime scene, but his consciousness quickly filled it somewhere far away.
"Not a single one of their men got hit?" she questioned in disbelief.
"Not one, and for a group of stormtroopers, their aim was impeccable." He almost laughed, but Raymond's abdomen wound stopped him from making any further jokes. Han neglected to tell her about Raymond. He briefly mentioned the kid before he attack, but he still wasn't ready to process everything that had gone on out there.
"Stormtroopers?" she asked more to herself than to Han. "I haven't heard about any groups in years! After the war, we rounded up as many as we could and whoever evaded capture fled to the Outer Rim."
"Or so we thought," Han said, realizing the gravity of the situation. If the stormtroopers were back, someone was giving them orders. At the realization, a cold shiver went down his back.
"Alright, well I can coordinate what we know with Main Base. If you could talk to the commanding officer and relay the information I bet I can have more men and supplies brought down by dawn tomorrow morning."
Han laughed to himself, of course her first thought was to jump right into action.
"I can do that," he said in agreement, "but tomorrow morning you are taking that supply ship back to the base."
"What!?"
"Leia," he said testingly.
"Han! You just told me that the Empire is back and you expect me to go home and sit on my ass?!"
"Yes. I…"
"NO! Han come on! I have to be on the ground to oversee the transfers and I have to be able to communicate back to the Main Base if we need anything else or back up or…"
"I can do all of that."
She looked at him with wide eyes. "So you are shipping me off while you stay here?! After all of this! I'm not going anywhere!"
"Leia, this is not up for discussion!" He snapped, as his blood began to heat up. "You shouldn't have even been here in the first place!"
With that Han got up off the couch and walked to get a glass of water in the adjoining kitchen.
The rage that built up inside her as his words hit her gave her the strength to push herself up and off the couch to follow behind him.
"Han, I didn't have any information! You know what communication is like, I wouldn't have known anything for hours, days even. I didn't know if you were alive." He didn't react. "What was I supposed to do?!" She said coming up behind him. "Pace myself into an early labor back there?"
"At least you wouldn't have been here!" He shouted back, placing his cup down and facing her.
She squinted, dumbfounded. "What if it had been me down here? Would you have sat idly by and done nothing?"
"But it wasn't you! This place… We have no idea who is around the corner, let alone who we can trust in our own base."
"Han, I can take care of myself!"
"God Leia! It's not just about your safety anymore!" He shouted, turning his back to her once again. He needed a break from looking at her. She looked unapologetically stubborn. He failed to understand the irrational nature that brought her to do something like this.
He revisited her question. If it had been her instead of him, if she had gone missing, he would have flown here in a heartbeat. He would have led the search party himself. But that hadn't happened.
He waited for her response but was met with silence. Seconds longer than he would have expected. She was a spitfire, and in a heated argument like this, she always had a retaliating remark.
"Umm-phh," she quietly let slip as the pain she held back overtook her voluntary control.
Han turned around to find her grasping the bookshelf with her left hand and her right hand still against the lower half of her stomach. Her eyes were shut tightly and her face no longer met his.
"Leia?" he asked, not understanding. He moved to her.
With worry beginning to take over his anger, he placed his right palm over her white-knuckled grip, and with his other hand, he reached for her face to bring her eyes to his.
"What's wrong?" His eyes stared at her closed lids waiting for them to open.
"No please, don't stop for me," she gritted out, as her muscles began to release and her mind came back to the present. "I think you were just about to mention how terrible of a mother I am going to make," she said with a sarcastic tone as her eyes opened and her grip on the wooden bookcase loosened. When her eyes met his she could no longer see the rage and frustration from moments ago.
He could see she was alright, but something told him something bigger was going on.
"Leia… How long?" He asked, starting to put the pieces together.
"How long?" he repeated, emphasizing his question.
"Oh, calm down will you?" she spat out, stepping out of his hands and making her way to the kitchen table for his glass of water.
'I'm fine," she continued, not convincing either one of them. She slowly drank as the cold water ran down her throat and numbed any lasting ache.
Her back was to him, but she could tell he was still watching her. Waiting for her to collapse like the damsel he thought she was.
Turning to face him, she chuckled to herself as her prediction was confirmed.
"False labor. I have had them for weeks. They just hit unexpectedly from time to time. Nevermore than three in an hour," He still watched her with caution. "Contrary to your belief, I do know how to take care of myself," she added expecting a retaliating remark. Instead, he took a step towards her. Again he placed his hand on her face and brought her eyes to meet his.
"Leia, I need you to stay safe," he began in a soft and pained tone. "When Luke told me something was wrong, I thought… I thought…" He paused. He couldn't finish that sentence. He couldn't relive the moment he thought his biggest fear had come true. "I need you both to be alright. I would die if anything happened to either one of you."
She had a sly remark all lined up, but his intense gaze caught her tongue.
"I know. I'm sorry," she replied genuinely, leaning into his hand and placing his other near their daughter. "I promise you we are both fine. But that same intense protective nature is exactly how I feel. For a second put yourself in my shoes. You are alone, and scared. The only person that has ever made you feel whole is off fighting someone else's war. Then your best friend comes up to you and says that that person, your person, is missing, on a foreign planet, light years away, surrounded by enemies." The tears forming along her waterline began to fall, as she remembered the absolute torture she had been through. "Tell me you would not drop everything in that exact moment and do whatever was necessary to bring them home."
Their lips met at lighting speed. He had grabbed her and brought them together with such passion and force, leaving her mind not time to comprehend what had happened. All she felt was the absolute love and intense need to be in each other's arms.
It was a passion like nothing she had ever felt. Overflowing with relief, pain, and love. All the things he was trying to communicate, but failing to with words.
She equally reciprocated.
After her lips began to ache and her lungs begged for air, she pulled away. Looking at his face now in full view, she found the comfort she had been craving.
"I love you," he said softly, leaning his forehead against hers.
"I know," she whispered as she let his arms wrap tightly around her.
Xx
After a long moment, they let go of each other and decided that they needed to talk to Luke.
Han made it a priority to call Luke moments after he found Leia, but their conversation had been short. He told Luke where they were and that both Leia and the baby were alright. Han asked Luke to find Chewie and tell him what had happened, and Luke understood that that was code to leave them alone for a little while.
The second conversation with Luke had been a much longer one with Chewie joining in. Han again went over his story pinpointing the important details, and Luke came to the same conclusion as Han had. There was someone working on the inside. Who was the big question?
In the midst of their debate, Leia's eyes began to grow heavy. Han could physically see the exhaustion in his wife's face and sent her to bed, but she had refused, demanding that she would only fall asleep in her husband's arms that night.
Han gave her a smile and motioned her to come closer to him. She obliged and eventually fell asleep with her head in his lap.
As much as Han wanted to take her back to their bed and crash as well, there was still much to discuss before he could truly relax.
"Luke, I need you to do me a favor," Han said, taking the com off speaker and holding it up to his ear.
"Yeah? What is it?"
"This base is nowhere near battle-ready. We need to inform the council, coordinate supply ships, and get back up here immediately."
"Agreed. What do you need me to do?" Luke asked, ready to follow whatever task Han assigned him.
"I need… I need you to do it all." Han knew it was a lot to ask, but he also knew that Luke was up to the task. The Privates and Officers looked up to him because of the stories they had heard and they would listen to him. He had good leadership instincts too. It must have run in the family. "Leia would do it, but you and I both know it is too dangerous for her to stay here. I told her I would stay back and run things, but she killed me for mentioning the idea of me leaving her side again. You're the only person that she trusts to see this through."
"Of course," Luke responded. He could do this, not just for Han, or for the Resistance, but for his sister, who more than anyone, deserved to go home.
"Thank you. I will get the falcon ready in the morning and take her back to home base. Chewiee you are welcome to come with us, " Han was quickly interrupted by a loud roar indicating that Chewiee too was going to stay back and finish this through to the end.
With that Han looked over to the clock that sat on the table across from him and saw that it was well into the middle of the night. He ended the call by again thanking his best friends and then hung up the com.
Han took a breath of relief. This could work. It would work. If she wanted to oversee things back at home base that would be fine, but he felt better knowing she would be away from this wretched place and he would be right next to her.
He looked down at his sleeping wife and ran his fingers through her long brown hair. She looked so peaceful in her sleep. Her hands were neatly folded under her head and her face was relaxed. No indication of nightmares.
Han smiled and kissed her forehead lightly. Her eyes slowly fluttered open.
"Come on Princess. Let's get you off to bed," he whispered.
She sat up slowly and asked, "What's the plan?"
"Luke and Chewie are going to stay back and run things from the ground and we are taking the Falcon back in the morning. You can oversee things from your home base if you want."
Her face relaxed into a smile, and her eyes began to tear up. He had said 'we'. No more separation. No more waiting and wondering. They would go together.
He basked in her expression as he saw her relax and smile at him. "We're going home, Leia."
With that, a tear slid down her face. Home. A word she knew he had not meant to signify 'home base', but the place they both envisioned spending the rest of their life. Somewhere far far away, together.
She pulled him in and kissed him slowly expressing her gratitude and relief.
When their lips parted, Han helped Leia off the couch and walked her back to their room.
That night there were no nightmares, no sleepless hours, no worries, as they fell asleep in each other's arms.
Authors Note-
YAY! They are finally back together! I know a lot of you have been waiting for this moment, I hope it lived up to your expectations. Let me know what you think, and if your singed in I will send you a preview of the next chapter! Thank you for reading!
-KQinsights