Thanks reviewers! You make my day!

Thanks to Meg for beta-ing this. Next time I'll include Han's magic hand-gripping and Luke's one assembling student. That should work well, don't you think?

Owphoenix: You're welcome! Thanks for reading!

StonedRose: Look – I did! I'm so nice!

I'm going to ignore your roommate's comments . . . ;-)

Dragon Girl Revlis: Oh – I get sucked into angst so easily. I think its LadyPadme's stories that do that to me the most. I'm glad I got you into this one – thanks for reading!

PrincessDaisy2: You are the insanity behind "Rags to Riches", correct? I'm sorry if I'm depressing you, even in a good way, he he! Thanks!

Anonymous: I noticed that and changed it. The beginning of a new POV or scene will start with a "bold" phrase. Thanks for the input!

GreatOne: Perhaps I'm not as ingenious as you hope. No Luke-blasting today! (Although I could have Han go back to the events in ANH and have to change it all to prevent Leia's problems . . . j/k. I love "Kaleidoscope of Illusions". So great!) Thanks for reading!

Kristin: That's my big worry – uncharacteristic characters. I'm glad you think I've done okay! Thanks for reading!

"I said, Leia's alive."

Han didn't miss a beat. "Stop it."

Luke blinked. "Stop what?"

My hands are dirty . . . "Cut it out, Luke. This isn't fair and you know it." Han shook his head and moved towards the door again. Once again, Luke caught him.

"She has this mission and – "

Han's head snapped back to Luke, hazel eyes widening. He backed off, stepping backwards and into Chewie's chest, then sidestepped and continued to backpedal, eyeing Luke the entire time.

"A mission?" It sounded breathy and weak even to his own ears.

"Han, let's move to the Falcon, huh? I don't know – "

"A mission?" His voiced gathered strength as he turned the phrase around in his mind. A mission? He studied the words as if he'd never heard them before. A mission? A mission?

Luke swept past him and caught Han's arm in the process. He led Han back into the living area, Chewie following silently, probably as shocked as Han was. A mission?

"Han? The Falcon?" Luke's gaze shifted to Chewie and back to Han. "Come on."

Han wasn't paying attention. He was sifting through his brain, trying desperately to remember something, anything, that had any connection with a mission. There's no mission. His eyes refocused on the Jedi, who stood not five feet away, staring at Han in an almost fearful manner.

"The Falcon. Come on." It wasn't a request anymore.

Han nodded and followed Luke out the door and through the stone masonry of the Massassi temple. He stared straight ahead, not watching the stone pass into green vegetation, concentrating on the back of Luke's head, not sure if he was trying to burn a hole through it or read his mind. Han did notice that Luke took a deliberately deviating path, obscure enough to limit passersby to almost nothing. Eventually, after many minutes of strained silence, Luke came to the foot of the Falcon's ramp. He walked up, overrode the security precautions and shut the hatch behind Chewie.

He only had time for the one word. "Han – "

"A mission?" Han let his emotions fly. "A mission? What the hell are you talking about? What are you trying to do to me, huh, kid? Do you think that – "

"I didn't – "

"– kind of help? That I need to believe in some kinda miracle or somethin'? Do you have any idea what I've – "

"You don't – "

"– through? Huh, kid? You think this good for me? Thinking that she's really just waitin' for me and that things are gonna be okay? Big news, kid, but this isn't some happy ending. Things don't work out like that. You think – "Han saw the kid raise his hand and suddenly felt like his mouth had become solid duracrete. He tried to open and close it unsuccessfully, working his jaw around until he realized the futility of this exercise and stopped. He glared in the direction of the young Jedi.

Luke looked sheepish. "Han, you won't listen to me, and I'm sorry I had to do that to you, but you can be so damn stubborn. Listen, okay? That's it. If you want to jump ship and blast off to wherever after you've heard what I'm going to say, that's fine. Just give me a chance." He tried a small grin. "I won't pull any more Force stuff out on you." He looked at Han for awhile as Han collected his thoughts, then nodded in agreement.

Luke tried to hide a smile as Han worked his jaw again and glared at him. "You have five minutes. Then I'm gone."

Luke breathed heavily. "Alright. You left three months ago for Meridian on a closed and classified mission detailed only to your superiors, your command, and Leia. This mission was kept under loose scrutiny, for the NR, at least, and under comm silence following a reject window. Once you were under silence, no direct lines in or out could be granted to you, except the standard feeds that have no association with the NR at all."

"The holonet," Han interjected.

"Right. Basically that means that you were cut off to everything Republic except what the public would see."

Han felt his stomach tighten. "Yeah, kid, I know. I was there."

Luke nodded. "Sorry. About two months into your mission, Leia contacted me from Coruscant, telling me she wanted to talk about the academy. I met with her here and she told me what I'm supposed to tell you: she's under sensitive intelligence orders to go on some kind of retrieval mission."

Han closed his eyes, letting the information soak in. It can't be real. This is some kind of joke. But why would Luke do something like that to him?

"I wouldn't," Luke answered.

"Get outta my head, Skywalker." Han continued to sit wearily at the gametable, and let his hands massage his eyes. I can't let this get to me. It'll hurt worse when I find out the truth later. But part of him rebelled against this close-minded approach. What if she is alive?

She can't be.

But Luke said it was true.

Han let his hands fall from his face as Chewie grumbled a question to Luke.

"That was the tricky part. Leia had to be completely incognito, I guess. I don't really know what happened."

"But I saw her!" Saw her hair sprawled on the ground, saw her stop breathing . . . "She's dead, Luke! I saw it happen!"

"Stop yelling. Look, I can't prove anything, really, to you. She came to me before the broadcast, quite a bit before. Three weeks before. They had enough time to plan it out. I don't know – "

Han's anger returned ten-fold. "I do know, Luke! I saw it – "

"And I would have felt it."

The gameboard suddenly became quiet. Han stared at Luke, trying to find something to say and when that didn't come, he settled for ignorance. "Huh?"

"Han, I can feel Leia. I don't know where she is, but she's alive. I can find her presence. She's relying strongly upon the Force, and I sense that she's in a great deal of danger, but she's not dead. I would have felt that."

Han shoved his hands under the table to hide their trembling. Luke continued staring at him, perhaps gauging his reaction, trying to see how well Han was going to respond. He didn't have to worry about some loud verbal barrage: Han's voice seemed to have deserted him and he didn't feel he had the strength to stand if he had wanted to walk away.

When he found his voice, he was only able to stumble through one phrase. "You sure?"

Luke's eyebrows lifted and a lopsided grin appeared. "Yep."

Han closed his eyes, entertaining Luke's preposterous assertion. If she's alive, she's coming home. He latched onto that thought, mentally gripping it convulsively. Home. To me. Images flashed, scenarios built up from dead hopes and futures buried. If I get her back . . . He left the single thought unfinished and let the possibilities run rampant in his brain.

As Han sat with his hands beneath the table and thinking, he noticed a slight shift in the immediate atmosphere. His eyes flew up and he glanced at Chewie, whose eyes twinkled in happy euphoria. He next turned his gaze to the Jedi, ready to verbally acknowledge what he'd been thinking, what he'd decided to hope for. Luke's face was set in a youthful, boyish smile that Han hadn't seen in years. Not since the kid started discovering missing relatives. His blue eyes sparkled much in the same manner that Chewie's did, and Han had the brief glimpse of farmboy excitement that had died with the first Death Star.

It was infectious.

Leia's alive. I have no idea what's goin' on, but it doesn't matter.

It doesn't matter at all.