CHAPTER SIX.
What weren't they telling him? Sitting on the low wall beside Kenobi's hut in the late afternoon, watching them ready the skiff for the journey to Mos Eisley, Solo found himself with nothing to do but…think. They had refused to let him help, so he had been left at the mercy of his thoughts. Which were not particularly merciful at the moment. There was a great big nothing where the last month should have been; a month stolen by Vader and Boba Fett. And Lando.
Fucking Lando.
And they weren't telling him what had happened. Sure, they told him he'd been frozen on Bespin and carted off to Jabba by Boba Fett, and Luke, Leia and Chewie had been captured by Vader (and Vader had cut Luke's hand off in a lightsabre fight!) but how the hell did they get away from Vader? Why the hell would Vader just let them go? It irked and infuriated Solo that his friends thought he was stupid enough to believe that. What the fuck weren't they telling him? And why the fuck was Lando here?! He may not remember what had happened, but the thought of what Leia must have gone through thanks to Lando was enough to enrage Solo beyond reason. Vader. Jabba the Hutt. And then the rage would all spiral back on himself – because it was all his fault for taking them to Bespin in the first place. His fault for trusting a 'friend' he had stopped trusting ten fucking years ago! What had he been thinking? And what the hell had Vader done to Leia?
He was momentarily distracted from the maelstrom of his thoughts by Luke walking past levitating a large trunk ahead of himself. Solo felt sure he'd seen at least one race with that sort of ability in the past, but seeing Luke do it was creeping him out completely. Luke had explained that it was the Force, and Solo understood that, but that didn't make it any easier to come to grips with when he just…flaunted it like that.
Luke was taking as much of Kenobi's stuff as he could fit into the skiff with them. Assuming it could teach him something, Solo guessed. But Solo felt deeply suspicious of all of it, and sensed Leia wasn't entirely happy about it either. As far as Han was concerned, the further away they could get from the old wizard's house, the happier he'd be. It was bad enough that he had to wear the old man's clothes! The fact that Leia had to wear them as well took some of the sting out, except that then he was reminded that Jabba had made her his slave girl… And she refused to show him what the Hutt had made her wear.
Fucking Lando.
"Hey."
Solo started guiltily, and turned to find Leia standing beside him. He smiled and hastily tried to rearrange his thoughts, reassuring himself that she didn't know what he was thinking about and… why was she looking at Lando? He felt her hand slide into his and looked down at it as their fingers laced.
"Why is Lando here?" he growled.
"He helped us rescue you from Jabba's," Leia admitted. "He and Chewie were shipped out to Kessell after we were captured. I don't know much about it, except that they took over the transport and came here to find you."
So Vader had turned on Lando too? Good. Serve the bastard right for selling them out. Lando was damn lucky Chewie hadn't killed him.
"Luke and I ran into Chewie in Mos Eisley," she continued. "Lando had got himself into Jabba's palace as a guard and was making sure nothing happened to you while he figured out the best way to get you out of there. Then we arrived… and now we're here."
Solo's thoughts whirled back to Jabba, and then Vader, and then Leia suffering. Then met her gaze and pulled her into an embrace.
"Not much longer," she told him. "Then we can go."
Go where? he wanted to say, but didn't. Where were they going once they got to the Falcon? Back to the Rebel Alliance? Did Luke or Leia even know where the Rebs were now? What if Vader had come looking for them? Had followed them to Tatooine... Solo tightened his embrace, and lay his cheek against the top of her head.
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"
Uh oh, he thought, as she led him away from the hut until they were well out of earshot of the others. Solo hoped this meant he was about to get some answers. And that he liked them.
Kenobi's hut was perched on the edge of a rock crevasse, and Leia led him along the edge of it a little way until they reached an area shaded by a rocky outcrop. Leaning against the stone, she unhooked the bottle of water from her belt and drank deeply. Solo settled beside her and waited.
"Do you remember the cave in on Hoth?" she asked.
"The one that nearly killed us?" Solo replied wryly.
Leia nodded. "Gizela told us you were dying…"
"And Luke thinks you did something to bring me back to life," Solo recited a little irritably. This was old news.
"Not bring you back to life, no," Leia clarified. "But heal you to keep you alive-"
He cut her off, waving previously frost-bitten fingers at her. "I remember." He curbed his ire, then glanced apologetically at her and watched her swallow uncomfortably. "Was Luke right? Was it you?"
Leia nodded, but wouldn't look at him.
"I'm very grateful," he added.
"So am I," she agreed.
"And…that's what you did last night?"
Leia nodded.
"So, you're like Luke?"
Leia swallowed, but nodded. Solo waited for her to continue, but she seemed to be stuck. He wished she'd get to the point. So what if she was like Luke? The kid could be creepy sometimes, but most of the time he was just like the rest of them.
"The Force?" he clarified.
"Luke helped," Leia said hastily. "I couldn't have done it without him."
Solo got the feeling she was trying to distance herself from the achievement, and frowned. "You did it without him on Hoth," he pointed out.
Leia responded by covering her face with her hands, and Solo felt irritated. This was getting them nowhere.
"Leia, what's going on? Just tell me. The suns are setting; they're gonna come looking for us in a minute-"
"I'm pregnant."
"You're…" Solo felt like he'd been punched. He floundered mentally for a moment, then said, "You're what?"
"Gizela checked your bloods after Hoth," Leia said hurriedly. "It seems whatever I did to save you after the cave in, ended up washing all the contraceptive out of your system."
Solo opened his mouth to speak, then closed it again.
"I'm sorry," she added.
Solo stared at the crevasse edge a few metres away and felt like he'd been hurled over it. All his precautions and reassurances to Leia that he couldn't get her pregnant…He'd even failed her there.
"Sorry?" he frowned.
"It's not your fault…"
He regarded her incredulously. "Then who's is it?"
"Mine."
"You got yourself pregnant?" he said sarcastically.
"I healed you, Han." She shrugged. "Made you fertile. I don't want you to feel…"
"Responsible?"
Solo stalked to the edge of the crevasse, deeply hurt that Leia seemed to believe he was that shallow. That he would rather fly off than…. Memories of their weeks on the Falcon assailed him; of her happiness as well as his own. A dream. All turned to nightmare on Bespin, which he couldn't even remember!
He turned and regarded her hotly. "What happened on Bespin?"
"We told you-"
"I was frozen. Vader chopped off Luke's hand. What happened to YOU?"
"I told you: Vader made me watch them torture you-"
"And then? On Coruscant? The Emperor?"
Leia opened her mouth to speak but the full impact of his failure seemed to hit Solo, and he yelled, "I WAS SUPPOSED TO KEEP YOU SAFE!" His voice echoed across the canyon.
"You did!" Leia assured him, reaching for him, but Solo wasn't in the mood to be reassured or comforted.
"Oh, obviously!" He wanted to vent his rage at himself, to hit something. Picked up a rock and hurled it angrily across the crevasse. Watched it clatter unsatisfying to the bottom, then hurled another with the same result.
"Han," Leia said, grabbing his hands. "Han, listen to me! Han, you did keep me safe!" she insisted. "The only reason Palpatine didn't kill me on the spot was because I was pregnant and he wants the child!"
Solo's face twisted, "What?"
"He's a Sith Lord, like Vader! I didn't even know I was pregnant, but he knew! They did tests-"
"What the fuck does the Emperor want with a baby?" His revulsion was swiftly turning to anger and the realisation that Leia had once more suffered Imperial torture, albeit of a different kind, filled him with impotent rage. "To eat it?"
"Another Sith. Like Vader."
Solo was rendered speechless. Shook his head, opened his mouth, but had no idea what to say and shut it again. He didn't think he could feel more devastated. What had he put her through? What had his stupid decision-
Fucking Lando!
xxxxxxx
Chewbacca saw Solo sprinting towards the skiff; read the rage and intention in his body language, and looked hastily at Calrissian. At the other end of the skiff, Lando was bent over, tying down the last of the crates. Chewbacca considered warning him, then decided not to intervene. The boat dipped slightly as Solo leapt aboard, and Chewbacca watched Calrissian straighten and turn towards Solo in time to be punched full in the face. Lando staggered and fell back against the cargo he'd been bending over moments before, undoubtedly seeing stars.
"Get up!" Solo yelled at him. Chewbacca noticed Leia hurry round the side of Kenobi's hut, take in what was happening and stop.
Calrissian held his hands up, his eyes unfocussed, and his response was automatic. "Han, wait, I can explain-"
Flooded with rage, Solo yanked Calrissian to his feet and punched him again. Calrissian flailed, raised his arms defensively, and Solo responded by punching him in the stomach. Calrissian doubled over, groaning, "Han, I'm sorry!"
Chewbacca was reminded vividly of their detention cell on Bespin, but this time there were no stormtroopers or guards to cut Han down or rescue Calrissian. But Calrissian wasn't defending himself either.
"You fucking sonofabitch!" Solo yelled, hitting him again.
"I'm sorry!" Calrissian yelled back. "I had no fucking choice!"
"No choice?" There was the sound of crunching bone as Solo's fist broke Lando's nose.
"You Spiced-up fuckwit!" Calrissian collapsed back against the crates, blood all over his face. "What are you trying to do, kill me?"
"Don't tempt me!"
"You broke my nose!"
"Do you have any idea what she's been through?" Solo yelled, waving in the direction of Kenobi's hut.
Calrissian looked Solo in the eye and said, "Yes."
"She's pregnant!"
"I tried to stop you landing! Had you fired on hoping you'd turn around and leave!"
Solo's face became a grimace; he couldn't remember arriving on Bespin.
[We had no hyperdrive…] Chewbacca growled in Solo's defence.
Calrissian looked at the Wookiee and begged, "Tell me what I could have done differently!" He struggled to his feet, swaying slightly. "I didn't know you were coming; the Empire arrived and just took over. It was all I could do to keep the populace safe…" He dabbed at his nose and winced.
Without another word, Solo turned and left the skiff; stalked away across the sand. Calrissian shot a look at Chewbacca and muttered sarcastically, "Thanks for your help, Chewie." Chewbacca refused to respond; would have followed his friend except the little princess had joined Solo near the hut, and they'd walked off together.
Calrissian climbed painfully off the skiff and headed for the hut, muttering about getting cleaned up.
xxxxxxx
"Feel better?" Luke asked from the doorway of Kenobi's hut, as Solo passed him to rejoin Leia.
Solo took in his disapproval, and nodded self-righteously, "I do, yeah!"
"Good." Leia agreed, throwing Luke a defiant look, taking Solo's hand and leading him away from Luke. Solo had expected a lecture from her, not encouragement, and Leia looked vaguely embarrassed as she admitted, "I've wanted to do that since Bespin."
Solo glanced back at Calrissian who was mopping at the blood on his face as he headed towards the hut, then fondly at Leia. From his point of view, her desire was completely reasonable. He watched Luke greet Calrissian and guide him inside the hut, then pulled her into a hug. She had killed Jabba. And she was pregnant.
"So what do we do now?" he asked gently, moving her to arms length so he could see her face.
"I don't know, Han. I honestly don't know," she said, then amended, "Yes, I do. I'm going to have to spend time working with Luke's Jedi Master, learning to use the Force."
Solo wanted to say: Luke has a Jedi Master? Where'd he dig one of those up? Weren't they all killed? Instead he queried the obsession she'd had for as long as he'd known her, "What about the Rebellion?"
Leia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, "There was Imperial Surveillance on Bespin. We were filmed." Her eyes met his. "You and I."
Solo felt horror blossom in his gut, and frowned as her meaning sank in. "I didn't check for bugs?"
Leia smiled wanly, and assured him, "Oh, you did. They were one step ahead of us the whole way."
Solo wiped a hand across his face wondering exactly what the Imperials had filmed and if he could have messed Leia's life up any more. Then she told him about her meeting with Mon Mothma, and how the Rebel Leader had attempted to shame her with the surveillance material, and Solo felt a deep-seated rage at the Alliance's Supreme Commander.
When Leia admitted she had resigned from the Alliance because of it, Solo almost cheered. He wanted to. Remembered sitting in the Falcon cockpit with her in his lap…wishing he could just run away with her. But Solo knew what the Rebellion meant to her.
"I'm sorry," he said. It was not enough. Not by a longshot. Not for what Leia had been forced to go through thanks to his unbelievably bad decision to take them to Bespin. But it was all he had to give her.
xxxxxxx
"Luke?"
Luke looked up from the old fashioned book he was reading by the light of a small luma. Solo was sitting on the opposite bench, Leia curled up against him, asleep. Chewie was at the helm, Calrissian catching a couple of hours of sleep nearby. Overhead the sky was brilliant with stars.
"I just wanted to say thanks," Solo said, quietly. "Thanks for coming after me."
Luke closed the book and regarded his friend. "You almost sound surprised," he teased.
One side of Solo's mouth quirked up, and he admitted, "Maybe I am."
"I'm hurt!" Luke scolded, and Solo couldn't help smiling.
"You know what I mean," he said. "There ain't a lot of people who'd…well…not in my experience."
"I understand," Luke said.
Solo's expression became serious. "And for keeping Leia safe," he said, "I can never thank you enough." Solo considered for a moment then added, "I know how you've felt about her, and-"
Luke cut him off, "She's my sister, Han." Solo looked askance at him, and he said, "We found out on Coruscant. I guessed she hadn't told you yet."
"You mean actual sister?" Luke nodded, and Solo regarded him with bewilderment. "You're a Prince?"
Luke couldn't help chuckling at the suggestion, and then clarified, "No. We were deliberately hidden. I was sent here, to my aunt and uncle. Leia grew up on Alderaan."
Solo considered this briefly, then said wryly, "Tough break, kid!" This made Luke laugh again.
"Couple of years ago I'd have agreed with you," he admitted. "But, in hindsight, I think I got the freer childhood."
Solo glanced at Leia, the Princess who'd become a Senator at 16, then rested his cheek against the top of her head for a moment and nodded, "I'd say you were right." He looked back at Luke and said seriously, "Now tell me why."
Luke sighed. "Remember me telling you my father was a Jedi?"
Solo nodded. "Murdered by Vader."
"That's what Ben Kenobi told me, yes."
Solo shook his head and sneered sarcastically, "Let me guess, the old wizard lied?"
Luke wished he could tell the Corellian he was wrong, but Kenobi's rewrite of Skywalker history had been eating away at him for weeks. "My - our father's name was Anakin Skywalker…and when he turned to the Dark Side he…he became Darth Vader."
Solo became very still, his expression vaguely hostile, and growled, "That's not funny, Luke."
"No, it isn't," Luke agreed. "But it explains why we were hidden. Vader knew about me; I was nearly two when he turned and…" Luke sighed, and decided telling Solo about Vader saving his toddler son's life would only confuse things. "Our mother had to give me away, to hide me from Vader and the Emperor, but she was only just pregnant with Leia when our father turned. So he wouldn't find out about his daughter, our mother married Bail Organa and everyone assumed Leia was his."
Solo was shaking his head, and Luke empathised with the Corellian's automatic need to deny the whole mess. Finally Solo asked defensively, "How do you know Leia isn't Organa's?"
"The Emperor," Luke replied, understanding Han was grasping at straws for Leia's sake. "And Vader did all the genetic testing while we were prisoners. Yoda confirmed it."
"Yoda?"
"The Jedi Master I found on Dagobah."
Solo frowned, then remembered, "You were mumbling about a Yoda when I found you on Hoth. After the wampa…" Luke nodded. "And now Leia wants to train with him?"
"Encourage her, Han," Luke said, with feeling. "She needs to!"
"And Palpatine knew Leia was pregnant?"
"He knew; wants your daughter for…himself."
Solo's eyebrows shot up, "Daught- it's a girl?"
"I'm sorry!" Luke winced, apologising frantically for his accidental revelation. "I thought Leia had told you… I'm really sorry, Han."
Solo shook his head to say it didn't matter, then buried his nose against Leia's head and squeezed his eyes shut. A moment later he lifted his head and looked towards the front of the skiff; to the horizon. Luke could see there were tears in his eyes.
After a little while, Solo smiled awkwardly at Luke and said, "Who'd've thought? A Princess and a guy like me…?"
Luke smiled.
xxxxxxx
Their arrival in Mos Eisley went completely unnoticed without any help from Luke. Their time with Jabba, and days on the edge of the Dune Sea had resulted in them all looking like Tatooine residents, and the demise of the Hutt had sent ripples of chaos through the desert city that had the Imperials out in force trying to contain random firefights. Far too many distractions to pay them any notice as they sailed into the docking bay that housed the Millennium Falcon.
Looking at his ship as they approached, Solo felt an overwhelming sense of relief and homecoming. He felt Leia take his hand.
"Welcome home, Captain," she said, softly.
Fin.
To be continued in… "A Princess and a guy like him."
Author's Note: For what it's worth, I just want to add here that my reference to 'homecoming' was written 10yrs ago! Not because of the trailer for SW7. My own fault for not finishing this fic sooner, I guess. – Leela.
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