*****
He held her hands, rubbing them between his palms.
They were very close, faces only inchs apart.
"You like me because I'm a scoundrel, there aren't enough scoundrels in your life."
He moved closer, she was pressed back against the ship wall.
"I happend to like nice men."
"I'm a nice man."
"No your--"
He silenced her with a kiss.
His lips on hers, softly, almost cautiously, hardly daring to believe he was kissing her.
His hand carressed the back on her kneck.
And miracle of all miracles; she didn't pull away......
He bolted up right in bed, sweating.
Han Solo looked around him. No Leia, just as there was always no Leia.
As there hadn't for a very long time.
Since she had abandoned him, left him to rot in carbonite in Jabba's palace, off fighting
for the cursed Republic, putting her ideals ahead of him, as always.
He'd gotten out by mere chance, many years later.
And he'd found everything profoundly changed. Including himself.
Leia was gone, married to some blonde creep from Hapan, Isolder.
And his ship the Falcon, gone, in a scrap pile.
But the changes to himself had been even worse.
He'd emerged from the carbonite with a new talent.
He could use the Force. But he didn't want it.
He fought it for a long time, losing what few friends remembered him in the process all
except.....
Chewie.
Chewie had died to trying to save Han from his own self destructive attempts to get back
what he had lost.
He'd died stopping Han from killing Isolder.
That was a long time ago, he'd givin in to his fate;gained the force and lost everything
else.
He may have looked the same as before, inside he was differnt, so differnt. Everything,
even his once trade mark sense of humor had deserted him.
But Han had managed to forget things, even Leia. That way it didn't hurt so much.
But now after all these years she was back in his dreams.
He cursed under his breath. Damn her! What business did she have remaining on his
mind, his heart, after all that had happend?
But somehow that odd vision, or whatever it was, he'd seen of himself, but yet a differnt
self had brought back ghost from his past.
Including Leia.
And he didn't want them! But yet he craved it, craved each and every memory like a drug.
But the memories, like a drug, were empty, no substance, offering nothing but lies.
Lies, all lies.
*****
*****
Real star wars universe
Jaina had just reaturned from a mission with her squadrom and was feeling a little down, she'd lost more pilots then usual, and some were new, very young. And she was their leader, responsible for them. It felt like her fault...
So it felt good to be home. She entered the Solo home, and was emeaditly greeted by complte silence.
"Mom, Dad, I'm home."
"Hello?..." Her voice seemed to echo slightly.
Where was everyone?
Just then her mother emerged from the hallway, putting a finger to her lips.
Jaina's crease appeared on Jaina's forehead as she gave her mother a perplexed look.
"Mom, whats going on?"
Leia gave her daughter a welcome back hug, and then explained in a quiet voice, almost a whisper.
"Sorry to shush you, but your father wouldn't take well to disruption." Leia smiled slightly.
"What's he doing?"
"Well... Lets just say your father managed to get himself a galaxy of a headache, and he decied the cure was a round of sabbac."
Jaina raised her eyebrows,"A round of sabbac to cure a headache? More likely to give him one."
Leia shook her head. "So I tried to tell him. But he insisted on inviting Lando over for a round of sabbca and..."
"And?" Jaina prompted, begining to get the idea of where this was going.
"And Han can't seem to remember that Lando used to be a proffessional gambler."
"Ah,in other words, he's losing."
Jaina felt her black mood lifting, just a bit, despite herself.
Her father was sometimes rather.... amusing. He was very good at getting himself in trouble, but by either a miracle or his famous luck, getting out of it.
Jaina followed her mother into the other room to watch the game.
They steped inside, the room was empty except for one table in the center, which her father and Lando had their heads bent over in intense concentration.
The contrast between her father and his friend struck Jaina, as it always did.
Her father was glaring at his cards as if he could change his hand by sheer force of will power.
Well, if anyone could, Han could. His hair was ruffled, standing almost strait up , probably from running his hands through it over and over again. And he was as always, in his trade mark vest and pants with the correllian blood stripe. Jaina never ceased to be amazed that he still had those things, mother said he'd worn them, some very much like it, even during the rebellion.
Lando was on the other hand was as differnt as day was from night. Okay well, there were some simularities, they both had the same smirk, either smirk of victory, or bluffing.
But other then that there were few simularities.
Lando wore a flamboyant royal blue cape, lined with, could it be? Velvet.
Not a hair, nor a single acessory of his outfit was out of place. Jaina reflected wryly that he probably cared more about clothes then she did.
Both the men gave a deep sigh. It was time to lay their cards down.
Lando, flashing a suave grin, said, "You first Han?"
Han scowled, then fliped his cards down. "Nothing."
Lando's smile, if possible, grew even wider. He lained each card out, one by one, as if prolonging the moment. At the last card, he looked up, and bestowed that smile of the rest of the audience, then turned to Han. "Idiots array my friend. I believe I win."
"You do huh? You genius you," Muttered Han under his breath.
Leia quickly stepped in. "I hope you didn't bet anything to important this time Han." she said with a teasing smile, laying a hand on his shoulder.
Suddenly Han couldn't help but smile back at her, he never could resist Leia
smile. And he didn't want to.
"No Princess, loser just gets to treat the other to a round of Correllian whisky."
No, most definitly not anything important, there was no way he was going to repeat the time when he and Lando probably gambled the Falcon back and forth a dozen times...
"Oh great, so now your both going to get drunk. What a wonderful cure for a headache."
Han raised his hands in mock defense, "Hey, you can't expect me to give up on the chance for some good Corellian whisky, even if I am the one buying."
Leia sighed,"Oh go on you to."
So Lando and Han left, laughing and talking.
Leia shook her head as she watched their retreating backs. Those two never changed...
*****
Authors Note:
Culf: Hi, hehe, I caught a lurker! Lol, just kidding, glad you can review it over here, I'll be posting all the updates shortly, I posted again of tf.n a few days ago, and will continue to update more frequently then I have been. (sheepish look) I know I've been neglecting it. When will the realities meet? Well.....its a secret! ;)
redmaggie: Thanks! Yea, Han Solo is my all time favorite star wars character, I spend waaaay to much time writing stories about him. He's the main focus of most of mine. Anyway, don't worry I'll continue it, its a pretty long story. :)
He held her hands, rubbing them between his palms.
They were very close, faces only inchs apart.
"You like me because I'm a scoundrel, there aren't enough scoundrels in your life."
He moved closer, she was pressed back against the ship wall.
"I happend to like nice men."
"I'm a nice man."
"No your--"
He silenced her with a kiss.
His lips on hers, softly, almost cautiously, hardly daring to believe he was kissing her.
His hand carressed the back on her kneck.
And miracle of all miracles; she didn't pull away......
He bolted up right in bed, sweating.
Han Solo looked around him. No Leia, just as there was always no Leia.
As there hadn't for a very long time.
Since she had abandoned him, left him to rot in carbonite in Jabba's palace, off fighting
for the cursed Republic, putting her ideals ahead of him, as always.
He'd gotten out by mere chance, many years later.
And he'd found everything profoundly changed. Including himself.
Leia was gone, married to some blonde creep from Hapan, Isolder.
And his ship the Falcon, gone, in a scrap pile.
But the changes to himself had been even worse.
He'd emerged from the carbonite with a new talent.
He could use the Force. But he didn't want it.
He fought it for a long time, losing what few friends remembered him in the process all
except.....
Chewie.
Chewie had died to trying to save Han from his own self destructive attempts to get back
what he had lost.
He'd died stopping Han from killing Isolder.
That was a long time ago, he'd givin in to his fate;gained the force and lost everything
else.
He may have looked the same as before, inside he was differnt, so differnt. Everything,
even his once trade mark sense of humor had deserted him.
But Han had managed to forget things, even Leia. That way it didn't hurt so much.
But now after all these years she was back in his dreams.
He cursed under his breath. Damn her! What business did she have remaining on his
mind, his heart, after all that had happend?
But somehow that odd vision, or whatever it was, he'd seen of himself, but yet a differnt
self had brought back ghost from his past.
Including Leia.
And he didn't want them! But yet he craved it, craved each and every memory like a drug.
But the memories, like a drug, were empty, no substance, offering nothing but lies.
Lies, all lies.
*****
*****
Real star wars universe
Jaina had just reaturned from a mission with her squadrom and was feeling a little down, she'd lost more pilots then usual, and some were new, very young. And she was their leader, responsible for them. It felt like her fault...
So it felt good to be home. She entered the Solo home, and was emeaditly greeted by complte silence.
"Mom, Dad, I'm home."
"Hello?..." Her voice seemed to echo slightly.
Where was everyone?
Just then her mother emerged from the hallway, putting a finger to her lips.
Jaina's crease appeared on Jaina's forehead as she gave her mother a perplexed look.
"Mom, whats going on?"
Leia gave her daughter a welcome back hug, and then explained in a quiet voice, almost a whisper.
"Sorry to shush you, but your father wouldn't take well to disruption." Leia smiled slightly.
"What's he doing?"
"Well... Lets just say your father managed to get himself a galaxy of a headache, and he decied the cure was a round of sabbac."
Jaina raised her eyebrows,"A round of sabbac to cure a headache? More likely to give him one."
Leia shook her head. "So I tried to tell him. But he insisted on inviting Lando over for a round of sabbca and..."
"And?" Jaina prompted, begining to get the idea of where this was going.
"And Han can't seem to remember that Lando used to be a proffessional gambler."
"Ah,in other words, he's losing."
Jaina felt her black mood lifting, just a bit, despite herself.
Her father was sometimes rather.... amusing. He was very good at getting himself in trouble, but by either a miracle or his famous luck, getting out of it.
Jaina followed her mother into the other room to watch the game.
They steped inside, the room was empty except for one table in the center, which her father and Lando had their heads bent over in intense concentration.
The contrast between her father and his friend struck Jaina, as it always did.
Her father was glaring at his cards as if he could change his hand by sheer force of will power.
Well, if anyone could, Han could. His hair was ruffled, standing almost strait up , probably from running his hands through it over and over again. And he was as always, in his trade mark vest and pants with the correllian blood stripe. Jaina never ceased to be amazed that he still had those things, mother said he'd worn them, some very much like it, even during the rebellion.
Lando was on the other hand was as differnt as day was from night. Okay well, there were some simularities, they both had the same smirk, either smirk of victory, or bluffing.
But other then that there were few simularities.
Lando wore a flamboyant royal blue cape, lined with, could it be? Velvet.
Not a hair, nor a single acessory of his outfit was out of place. Jaina reflected wryly that he probably cared more about clothes then she did.
Both the men gave a deep sigh. It was time to lay their cards down.
Lando, flashing a suave grin, said, "You first Han?"
Han scowled, then fliped his cards down. "Nothing."
Lando's smile, if possible, grew even wider. He lained each card out, one by one, as if prolonging the moment. At the last card, he looked up, and bestowed that smile of the rest of the audience, then turned to Han. "Idiots array my friend. I believe I win."
"You do huh? You genius you," Muttered Han under his breath.
Leia quickly stepped in. "I hope you didn't bet anything to important this time Han." she said with a teasing smile, laying a hand on his shoulder.
Suddenly Han couldn't help but smile back at her, he never could resist Leia
smile. And he didn't want to.
"No Princess, loser just gets to treat the other to a round of Correllian whisky."
No, most definitly not anything important, there was no way he was going to repeat the time when he and Lando probably gambled the Falcon back and forth a dozen times...
"Oh great, so now your both going to get drunk. What a wonderful cure for a headache."
Han raised his hands in mock defense, "Hey, you can't expect me to give up on the chance for some good Corellian whisky, even if I am the one buying."
Leia sighed,"Oh go on you to."
So Lando and Han left, laughing and talking.
Leia shook her head as she watched their retreating backs. Those two never changed...
*****
Authors Note:
Culf: Hi, hehe, I caught a lurker! Lol, just kidding, glad you can review it over here, I'll be posting all the updates shortly, I posted again of tf.n a few days ago, and will continue to update more frequently then I have been. (sheepish look) I know I've been neglecting it. When will the realities meet? Well.....its a secret! ;)
redmaggie: Thanks! Yea, Han Solo is my all time favorite star wars character, I spend waaaay to much time writing stories about him. He's the main focus of most of mine. Anyway, don't worry I'll continue it, its a pretty long story. :)