First of all, thank you to all who reviewed - it means a lot to me.

Relyan - To answer your question, it's probably all of the above. I imagine there would be a lot of prejudice against anyone related to Vader, especially among rebels. It's a little ironic when you see the hypocrisy involved.

Yeah, I know I'm late, but DRL has been really evil. School is another word for toned-down slavery. While the updates may at times be irregular, rest assured that they will come.

Part IV

Han's POV

It's indescribable. I'm not dead, that's for sure, or I wouldn't be thinking this. What scares me is that I'm not so sure that I'm alive either. Maybe I'm somewhere in between…It's a dreamlike state, a delirium of sort. It's a curious sensation, being both confined to and detached from your own body. It's helplessness of the worst kind. I want to scream for somebody to save me, but I cannot even speak, and there's no one there to hear my desperate cries.

I cannot move, I cannot speak, I cannot breathe. Oh Sith, I can't breathe. The carbonite envelops me, it constricts me. I idly wonder why my life isn't bleeding away with each breath, or lack thereof. I have lost track of time. It could have been hours, days, months, even years for all I know. Either way, time I has no meaning as it has all merged into one huge mass.

So I bid my time, and do the one thing I have not been stripped of the privilege of – think. Leia would have laughed at that. Han Solo, think? An oxymoron if I've ever seen one…I can almost hear her voice, her tinkling laughter. Leia…where are you? What has become of you, what has become of us?

Suddenly my mind wanders onto the subject of Bespin. Images flash before my eyes. The carbon-freezing chamber, Leia's smooth, porcelain face stained red by the fiery light, wet with tears. I love you. Her last words still linger in my mind. I love you. And I didn't even tell her I loved her back…Would I ever tell her, or was I doomed to stay here until my death?

Panic stabs me like a million shards of ice. What happened after? What if she's dead, killed by Vader? No, she's not dead, Luke probably rescued her. Had I the ability to do so, I would snort. No, the kid can't even keep himself out of trouble, let alone rescue anyone. He'd probably fallen right into the middle of Vader's trap…What if he's dead? What if they all are, and I am to be Jabba's trophy for the rest of my life…? What if—

My thoughts were cut short by a burning sensation on my skin. I gasped for air, but there was none…no, there was, there was air…I could breathe again. As the carbonite cracked and melted away, I took in my surroundings. Darkness…wherever I was, it was pitch black. I felt myself lose my balance and fall, but something – someone? – caught me before I hit the ground, or floor, or deck, whatever it was.

Someone, I decided. But who was it – Leia? I hoped it was Leia and not Boba Fett or some other bounty hunter. No, it wasn't Leia. I doubted that she could hold me up, not that I'd ever tell her that. I swallowed.

"Umm…who are you?" What (s)he said next I didn't expect.

"Han, it's me." My eyes widened, but I still couldn't see a thing. It sure was dark in here, wherever 'here' was.

"Kid?" I rasped, my throat suddenly raw, my mouth dry. I shouldn't have been surprised, being trapped in carbonite for Force knows how long.

"Yeah…" Yes, it was him. Relief flooded me, despite the fact that I knew nothing about my surroundings or what had happened, or what was happening at the moment. I started to speak again. My voice sounded strange to my own ears, and my mind seemed to overload with questions.

"Am I glad to see you…Only I can't actually see you... What is this place – why's it so dark in here? And when are we?"

"One thing at a time. We're in Jabba's palace, a bit over two weeks since you were frozen. Temporary blindness is a side-effect of your hibernation – your vision should return within a few hours." Well, at least it's only temporary. Somehow it didn't sound like him, but then, maybe I'd been underestimating his intelligence. I would never admit to it, but I often did. I then blurted out the first thing on my mind, the question that had been plaguing me the whole time I was 'frozen'.

"She's…How about we talk after we're out of this. We have to get out of here before Jab—"As we stood up to leave, the air was pierced by a resonant Huttese cackle. Jabba.

"What's that? I know that laugh." Boy, did I know that laugh. Further away, a curtain opened, probably revealing the grotesque slug.

"Hey, Jabba. Look, Jabba, I was just on my way to pay you back, but I got a little sidetracked." I knew he wouldn't buy my excuse, or just wouldn't give a damn, but it was worth a try. Jabba just laughed, though there was no humor in the situation. At least not for me, there wasn't. He spoke again, in Huttese, but it was my second language, so I had no trouble understanding.

"It's a little too late for that, Solo. You may have been a good smuggler, but now you're bantha fodder." More like the other way around, you obese, perverted blob of grease. I held back my retort, though. Upsetting a Hutt wasn't the smartest thing to do, and he wasn't exactly happy with me either.

"Look…"

"Take him away!"

"Jabba…I'll pay you triple! You're throwing away a fortune here. Don't be a fool!" The corpulent Hutt ignored my offer and we were bodily dragged away.

"You're gonna regret this," Luke said as the guards led us away. I wanted to laugh, but that wouldn't have been very supportive.

We were thrown into a cell or dungeon of some sort. As I sunk against the wall, I heard the kid mutter something that sounded like "déja vu". I decided not to comment on that, though I wondered what he could find familiar about this situation. Instead, I asked about Leia again. Who would have thought, Solo, by name and nature, worrying about some snobby brat of a princess…Then again, she wasn't snobby, nor was she a brat. She was beautiful, intelligent and spirited.

"She's with the alliance." Something sparked in his eyes as he replied. I pressed further.

"Why isn't she here?"

"Well, she doesn't really know I'm here. It's…a long story." He didn't bother to elaborate on it, so I left it alone, at least for the time being.

"So, what now?" He shrugged.

"They're probably going to have us executed." He said it as if it didn't even bother him. Hell, we were about to die, and he said it so casually.

"Great. So we're both going to die. This is just perfect." Luke raised an eyebrow.

"Who said anything about dying?"

"You did. What, you have a plan?"

"Well…no, but I'll think of something when the time comes." I snorted. Some rescue this was.

"Famous last words."

The next few hours were painstakingly boring. Luke had fallen into a trance of some sort, probably some of that hocus-pocus of his and didn't make very good company. After what seemed like forever, he 'woke up'.

"They're going to feed us to a rancor, you know." Talk about optimism…

"You do realize that we are going to die. Although, somehow I've always pictured myself going out with a bang, not executed by some overgrown slug…" He sighed, exasperated.

"We're not going to die – How many times do I have to tell you that?" I laughed dryly at that.

"Then what do you suggest? Fight the damn thing?" This was getting less and less sane by the minute.

"Well…yes."

"And what do we do after that?" I snapped at him.

"Don't worry about it…I have everything under control." Right. Just what I needed – for the kid to get delusions of grandeur. Before we could continue that ridiculous conversation, some four or five palace guards came in – I couldn't be sure of how many there were, as my vision was only beginning to return. All I could see were blurs of different colours. They 'escorted' us down to what I thought was a dungeon, then to a smaller chamber – probably the rancor pit. Sure enough, there was light overhead. So, we'd have spectators…

It was still beyond me how the two of us could defeat a rancor. Hell, even five of us probably wouldn't stand a chance. Sith, I was a goner! I frantically looked around, but my vision was so unfocused I could only see vague outlines. A few meters away, a large iron gate rumbled open to reveal a large blur of a nondescript colour somewhere between green, yellow and brown – the thing whose dinner I would soon become.

As it advanced on us, I desperately searched for a way to escape this situation, but it had us backed into a corner.

"You attack while I distract it!" Luke ordered, picking up a long bone that had belonged to the rancor's previous snack. Normally I would have bristled at being bossed around by some green kid from a backwater planet, but there was simply no time for that. I nodded in acknowledgement.

The only problem was that I couldn't do too much damage with only my bare hands. I needed a weapon, a makeshift one at the very least. I picked up a sharp, jagged piece of bone. Meanwhile, it had the kid in its grasp. I started towards it, but decided that it was not a very good idea as it flailed about, something off-white, the bone, wedged in its mouth. Pouring as much strength as I could into my muscles, I threw the shard of bone, bullseying it, or rather rancor's-eying it, in the eye. That would buy us a little time.

Luke, now on the floor, got up and bolted for the gate. I followed. Not far away was a sliver of light – an escape? No, it was barred. No way out. We were rancor fodder. It launched itself at us at a surprisingly fast speed, especially for a reptile, as most were rather slow-moving. Luke picked up a skull, fat load of good that would do…I was proved to have misunderstood as it collided with the door controls, sending the gate crashing down, beheading the creature. That had been too close for comfort.