Let Fate Decide

Chapter 2: The Present

A/N: If this chapter seems a little off, sorry! I have only seen Episode V once, so I am not entirely sure on the "Hoth" situation. Just bear with me! Thanks. Its some of the 5th and 6th movie combined. Also, Han is extremely off character in this fic because this is how I wish he was. He is too…cocky in the movies and I want him to be a sweetie!

Synopsis: Three weeks have gone by since chapter 1. Leia, Luke, C3P0, and R2D2 are on the ice planet, Hoth. They just learned that when Luke had destroyed Darth Exodus's ship, somehow he had escaped. The Rebel forces are joining again to finally put an end to him. While preparing for a sneak attack on Hoth, Leia meets up with Han, who is working on his ship, who his friend is using in the attack. Most of this chapter is focused on Han and Leia, and the next chapter is after everything. (I'm sure you could guess that if you looked at the chapter titles!) : )

"Luke, wait up!" I called out. He was walking towards his ship: more so the one he'll use in battle only. He quickly turned around and smiled. With all the chaos and excitement I hadn't seen him in hours. Everyone was gearing up, getting ready to attack Darth Exodus's new Death Star. He had escaped, and rebuilt. We just learned of where he was a few days ago, and had secretly planned a final execution plan, that was to take place in less than two hours. Pilots were testing their X wings, and loading up on gear.

"Hey sis, where ya been?" He asked excitedly. I could tell he really wanted to do this mission. He wants to get rid of Darth once and for all.

"I was just checking things over, you know, last minute stuff. Making sure everything goes as planned…" I said with a little more insecurity than I planned. He gave me this funny look, and grew quiet and sad.

"You don't want me to go…do you?"

I was quiet. We were twins, the force was strongly with us, and we had known each other for years. Was there anything Luke couldn't sense about me!

"Ah… I see. Honestly, Leia, I will be fine. The force will be with me. Always. The worst I expect when I come out of there is a scratch. Nothing will happen… I promise you." I nodded, he kissed my cheek, and then he went back to his ship.

I watched him go, and when I turned around, I saw someone I never expected to see again: Han Solo. He was talking with this guy, with a Wookiee next to him. They laughed, and Han waved goodbye.

"See ya in a bit, Lando!" He yelled over his shoulder. "Chewy, come on!" The Wookiee groaned, but followed closely at his heels. I tried not to stare, but he just looked so… handsome. Maybe handsome wasn't the word, as "different" seemed more appropriate. He didn't have that boyish look to him anymore. The last time I saw him he was still a teenager. Before long, Luke's voice rang in my head: "Be careful, Leia… I see who you are looking at. Now that you know the full story, don't let your emotions get the best of you…" I turned around and glared at him… I always hated it when he talked in my head.

Right as I turned back to Han, I saw him staring directly at me. His eyes were the size of golf balls, and his chin was to the floor. I gasped, when I saw him walking over to me. I suddenly felt really defensive, and took a few steps back as he approached even further. Luke was deciding whether or not to come to my rescue, I could tell, and I kind of wished he had.

"Princess… Wow… It's been a while, hasn't it…?" His voice was so gloomy, almost mystified, and very sad. "You look… wow… you look great. How have you been?" I opened my mouth to speak, but Luke stepped in…as always.

"She is doing just fine, aren't ya sis? We both are doing just great, thanks for askin'. How have you been, Han?" His sarcastic tone made me just want to punch him, even though he was sticking up for me, and all. Looked as though Han was thinking along the same lines as I was.

"That's great, Luke. Look, I am in the same mission as you. I worked on the ship my friend is using, my ship by the way, so let's get this awkwardness over with, shall we?" Han replied in the same tone as Luke.

Luke glared at him, and Han just glared back.

"Okay, guys, why don't we just save this for later. Luke, get back to your ship, Han… just do whatever you were doing. Please just put aside your differences for the sake of this mission…?"

"Fine." Luke muttered.

"Fine." Han spat. They walked away in opposite directions, and I went to a private room to cry and sort things out.

5 MINUTES LATER – LUKE'S POV

"Han! Come here for a second!" I yelled. Han was doing finishing touches on his ship, The Millennium Falcon, the fastest ship in the world, or so he says. He rolled his eyes, and sulked over.

"What did I do now, Dad? Am I being grounded again?" he said in his most sarcastic tone. I glared at him, and looked around to make sure Leia wasn't watching. I could feel her pain, and I knew she was off alone somewhere.

"You listen here, you scoundrel. You say one word to my sister, and I promise you will be wishing you never came here! You broke her, Han. She was devastated. How could you lead her on like that?"

"Easy, and besides, I don't think you want to threaten me. I love your sister, and there is nothing you can do about it!"

"What made you show up today, anyway? This is such an important day for her and me. Why do you have to come and ruin it all?"

"I'm not ruining anything, Luke. I think we both know Leia would pick me over you any day. She may not realize it yet, but she still loves me. I can feel it."

"You don't even know her anymore, Han! She is a grown woman. She has changed in the last 2 years. She would only choose me, because she is long since over you, and doesn't care about you anymore! I have actually been there for her, unlike someone around here!"

"Well, that someone sure as hell ain't me!"

"Whatever Han. This conversation is over. We just have to leave it up for Leia to decide."

"More like letting fate decide. Fate will lead her straight to me, and you know it."

We exchanged evil looks once more before heading off in separate directions. Him probably to do more pirate stuff, and me to go find my sister.

90 MINUTES LATER – LEIA'S POV

"Good luck, Luke." I sighed as I gave my brother a hug. He looked at me, concerned, but I told him everything would be fine, and I shouldn't even think about what would happen if he didn't come back. He smiled, and got into his ship. There was still 2 minutes before the teams were launched, and 5 minutes before they get to their destination. I was over by the control system when Han came up to me.

"Princess – Can we talk?" He asked, with worry in his voice. He seemed much softer than the way I saw him before. Before I thought he was a cocky airhead, but now… now he was different… more sincere.

"Now really isn't the time, Han. We are getting ready to start a mission. Can this wait?" I said, annoyed.

"Not really… I am leaving, or at least, I need to know if leaving is the best thing. If we can work this out I will stay. Look – you still got 6 minutes before you have to worry about what's going on… You can't spare me 6 lousy minutes?" I glared at him, angrier than ever, but realized he was right. If we were going to actually talk about it, we needed to do it now, in case we didn't get the chance later…

"Fine, meet me in that hallway over there in one minute… I need to make sure everyone gets out okay." He nodded, and headed towards the empty hallway. I needed to make sure I was reachable incase something happened.

"5, 4, 3, 2, 1… All teams are a go!"

And then they left. Luke and all the other brave and loyal Rebellion pilots. I watched from my screen, and once I knew they were in the air, I regrettably went to go see Han.

"What do you want, Nerf-erder." I said, colder than I expected. He gave me a hurt look, and I knew why. I hadn't called him that since our first fight.

"I want you to talk to me."

"About what? The weather?"

"No, Leia… About… Us… And the way we left things off."

"Oh… uh huh… I see now. You are more worthless than you ever have been, so you want to come crawling back to me, because you feel like you need to repair the damages that you've done!"

"Well, kind of…"

"You have got to be kidding me!"

"No Leia – Ugh, not like that. I realized that I have made some mistakes in my life, and I want to try and make things better, that way, if I don't succeed, then at least I know I tried."

"Where the hell have you been all these years, Han? Huh? Not everything is about you! Would if I don't want to come back to you? Would if i were to tell you that you hurt me so bad, I have not been with a single soul since you left me, and I cried for at least 3 months. I was miserable, and come to find out you were leaving anyway. You just took my family as an excuse! You are a lying bastard, and I hate you! You were going to leave me, even if my family hadn't have warned me about you. If I would have just listened to them… we wouldn't be in this situation… and my father? My mother? They are both DEAD. I believed what they did was wrong before I knew the truth, and I only found out the truth 3 weeks ago! But now that I mention that, I realize I knew spoke a word to them since you left me and now I don't have the chance to apologize for my disrespectful behavior because they are gone. It's all your fault: you led me to believe what we had was actually real."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, Your Worship…let me explain… First of all I never said it was about me. I have been working my ass off for 2 years going on missions, and fixing up my ship. Yeah, I may owe some money, but I make a living!" He then grew a little quieter, and took my hand. For some odd reason, I didn't pull it away.

"I didn't know I hurt you so much. I thought I was being a wuss when I left you, because I cried too… It killed me to lie to you like that, but I was young and stupid, and didn't know what else to do. But if it makes you feel any better… I did take your family as an excuse, and I am sorry. I am sorry they are dead, and I am sorry about everything. And by the way, I haven't been with anyone either. You wanna know why?"

"Why?" I asked, with tears in my eyes.

"Because what we had… It was real, Leia… I still love you. There, I said it." He began to walk away, and I didn't do anything to stop him. I just let him walk out of my life again, this time for good.

30MINUTES LATER

Cheers erupted everywhere. People were applauding and congratulating the pilots. We had won. It felt so weird to say it, but… we had won. Darth Exodus had not escaped this time, and the Emperor had gone down with him. When Luke got out of his ship (unharmed, I might add!) he picked me up, and twirled me around. The devastated look I gave him told him all he needed to know. I had spoken to Han.

Looking around, he led me somewhere more private.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, you can read me so well why don't you tell me?"

"Leia…don't go there. You spoke to Han didn't you?" he harshly accused.

Silence told him everything and he did the last thing I would suspect. He hugged me. He had never once comforted me when it came to Han before. Maybe that was because Luke never really liked him.

Luke was warm, and his scent reminded me so much of Han I began to cry. Then, from out of the blue I heard a voice I thought I would never hear again.

"Leia, I forgot to give you this." Han said in a cold voice. He glared at Luke, who had let go of me by now, and turned his direction towards me. He thrusted a little blue box, small enough to fit in my palm, at me. I looked at it quizzically, and staring at my tear stained face with agony, he told me.

"It's, uh… it's the wedding ring I picked out for you… 2 years ago before I knew about the mission, I uh… I picked it out. I was plannin' on keepin' it until you were 18, and wow… look atcha now… you're 18. I don't think I will be usin' it on anyone else so… I want you to keep it… as a gift. Please take it…" Han was still using that cold voice, but he got softer by the end. I looked from Luke, to Han, and Han to Luke. And that's when I realized: I had to choose between the two men I loved most in this world.

TBC – The future. Who did Leia choose? What ever happened to the one she didn't pick? A look into the lives of three of our favorite Star Wars characters. Now that Darth Exodus is gone, is everything as perfect as it seems?