Han awoke first this time. He found himself sprawled out on his stomach with his face was pressed against a cold, stone floor. It took him a moment to come back to himself and remember what had transpired to bring him to his current predicament. Couldn't they ever have a nice, quiet vacation without somebody trying to kill them?
Han looked around the cell to take in his surroundings. It was a square room with a stone floor and walls and ceiling that looked to be made of concrete. The gray walls had some sort of green fungus growing where they met the ceiling and floor, and there were no windows. The air quality didn't seem to have changed, so he figured that they were at least still on the same planet, although there was no way to tell how long they'd been out of it.
He turned his head and looked next to him where he saw his wife lying on her side. Her stun bolt had not worn off yet, but she looked like she was sleeping peacefully in spite of her tangled hair strewn around her head.
Han couldn't figure out who had done this. Nobody even knew they were there, except of course for Luke, but nobody would get any information out of him. Hell, Leia didn't even know where they were. Han moved over to the door to see if it would open, but he was startled as it slid open to reveal a short, stumpy man holding a tray with some bread, fruit and water. Han stepped back and instinctively reached for his blaster, which, of course, had been taken away from him. At least they gave had given him his shirt back, which he noticed was crumpled in a ball in the corner.
The man placed the tray on the floor and stepped back for a moment to look at Han. "Better have something to eat," the man said. "His Highness won't be here for a few more hours." Then he exited the room and left Han and Leia alone once again.
His Highnesss? Who could he possibly be talking about? Han decided it was probably time to wake Leia up, so he sat down next to her and brushed the backs of his fingers along her forehead. "Leia?"
She smiled in response to his touch and opened her eyes. The smile quickly faded as she realized where she was.
"Hey, how's it going?"
Leia sat up and looked around. "Han, where are we?"
"I'm not exactly sure."
"Why does this always happen to us?"
"We're just popular, I guess."
Leia looked over and saw the tray of food, apparently realizing how hungry she was.
Han saw her looking longingly at it and she licked her lips. "Oh yeah. Some guy brought this for us. Real first class accommodations, here. Go ahead and have some. If they really wanted to kill us I think they would've done it by now. He said we better eat something since 'His Highness' won't be here for a few hours."
Leia went over to the food tray, picked up a piece of fruit and took a bite. "His Highness? Who do you suppose that might be?"
"I wish I knew. But at least it seems like they're going to leave us alone for a little while."
"Are you sure you don't remember anyone, Han? There wasn't, say, some Smuggler's Alliance king of this middle-of-nowhere planet that you screwed out of a whole lot of money before you joined the Alliance and we scared you straight, was there?"
"Hey, I know I have quite the past, but I think I'd remember messing with 'His Highness.' Can you think of any royalty off the top of your head that might want to capture us and, on top of that, would actually know where we are?"
"The only royalty we've been in contact with recently is Prince Isolder," Han cringed when she spoke that name. It always reminded him of how close he came to losing Leia forever. She gave him a sympathetic look and reached over and squeezed his arm. "Don't worry, Han. I would never want to marry a prince anyway. I like scoundrels, remember?" She seemed to sense that he was still sensitive about the issue, so she continued. "Besides, I don't think there would be any reason he would want us, especially now that he's back on Hapes starting his own family."
Han couldn't argue with that point. Still, none of this made any sense. He picked up another piece of fruit from the tray and sank his teeth in. "Not bad for prison food."
Leia finished her own fruit and moved on to the bread. As long as this food was here, they might as well eat it. All they could do was wait to find out who 'His Highness' was. Han hated waiting. But at least he was stuck waiting with the prettiest woman in the galaxy.
Hours later, Han and Leia were still clueless as to why they were locked in their cell. It was warm and musty, and the lack of any air circulation made it even warmer as time passed by. Leaning up against the wall, Han's arm draped over Leia's shoulder, they had shut their eyes to rest when they heard the door slide open. Han opened his eyes in the hopes that maybe someone would explain what the hell was going on. He frowned when he saw the same short, stumpy man who had brought them their food. The stranger leaned over and picked up the empty tray before standing up to look Han in the eye. "His Highness will be here in a moment."
Leia looked at Han and they both looked back at the door as a tall, green-skinned alien appeared in the doorway. Han was still completely confused, but Leia's eyes widened in shock, as though she had seen him before and finally realized who 'His Highness' was.
"Ah, the lovely Princess Leia. How I've missed you."
Han looked over to Leia, and they remained on the floor in each other's arms. He hated when he didn't know what was going on. He always liked to know who his enemies were, and he was quite sure he had never seen this ugly bastard before in his life. But how did Leia know who he was and how the hell had he found them?
"Prince Xizor," she spoke his name calmly. Her years of diplomatic training made her sound completely at ease in almost any situation. "What brings you here?"
"I should be asking you that question, Princess. But of course, I should already know the answer."
Xizor. Where had Han heard that name before? He didn't have a chance to think about it because he was preoccupied with the anger he was feeling at the way this guy was looking at Leia. Xizor's eyes seemed to be ogling Leia's entire form, and Han possessively pulled her closer as something in his stomach churned. Fury started to build within him, and all Han wanted to do was lunge forward and kick the shit out of him right there and then.
He bit his tongue and tried to calm himself. Xizor was large and muscular and probably outweighed Han by more than a few kilos, but with the anger Han was feeling, he was pretty sure he'd be able to inflict some damage, but now was probably not the time. Having been stunned earlier, he figured there were probably more stun bolts to go around. He hated when rationality won out. He must have finally started to grow up. But he wouldn't forget how he felt right then. He would get to Xizor later.
Xizor's eyes moved to look at Han, apparently noticing the fury burning in his eyes. "Ah, Han Solo. I don't believe I've had the pleasure. You were somewhat out of commission when I first became acquainted with the beautiful princess here. It's too bad you aren't still hanging as Jabba's wall decoration, although it didn't surprise me one bit that the Princess was able to kill him with her bare hands. Still, a lowly smuggler. What were you thinking, Leia?"
Han was pretty sure he'd never wanted to hit someone more in his entire life. He didn't want to hear about anyone, especially this guy, becoming 'acquainted' with his wife. Forgetting the stun bolts, he was going to get at least one good shot in on this bastard. Han leapt to his feet and lunged at Xizor. He brought his arm back to take a swing at his ugly, green face, but Xizor blocked the punch with his forearm and gave Han a hard blow to the gut with his free hand Han collapsed to the floor and held his stomach as he gasped and coughed, trying to catch his breath.
Xizor looked down at Han, shook his head and then looked back to Leia who had moved to Han's side, making sure he was all right. "There, you see what I mean? You choose this, when you could've had someone like me. I guess it's the pity factor at work."
"Go to hell," Leia shot back at him, forgetting all of her diplomatic training. He had simply pushed her too far.
"Ooh, feisty. Now I remember why I wanted you in the first place. Come on, how can you forget what we had? You know there was a time when I was irresistible to you."
Han still didn't understand any of what he was hearing. Who was this guy? And how did he know Leia? And how could he possibly believe that Leia had found him irresistible?
"Enough, just tell us what you want from us?" Leia asked, helping Han to sit up.
"Oh, I will explain when the time is right. But for now, I'll just leave you here with your pathetic husband to fantasize about our night together and think about what you could've had." He blew her a kiss and let the door shut behind him. Leia glared at him and then turned her attention back to Han.
He sat up and coughed once more before he looked at her, holding his hand to his side and trying to catch his breath. He didn't know what to ask. He wasn't sure he wanted to know, but he decided he couldn't stand being left in the dark, no matter how painful the truth might be.
"Leia?" He coughed once more. "Who the hell is this Prince Xizor, and what does he have to do with you?"
"Here, I think you should have some water. Then I'll tell you the whole story."
"Do you remember he was the head of the Black Sun organization?"
"Yeah, I thought the name sounded familiar. But I thought he was dead."
"So did I." She wished now more than ever that that was still the case. "I told you that I met him a few years ago and we gave him a little trouble. But we all thought Vader had killed him." Leia hoped that explanation was going to be enough to satisfy his curiosity, but she knew he would never settle for that.
"What did he mean when he kept saying things like, 'what we could've had'? You didn't ever like, date this guy, did you?"
"Well, not exactly. He sort of found me attractive when we stayed at his palace and he wanted me to…"
Han stopped her. "Leia, everyone finds you attractive. Please, tell me nothing happened."
"It wasn't exactly nothing…"
The look on Han's face just before he stood and walked away was almost enough to break her heart. She briefly considered how she would feel if Han were telling her something similar. It wasn't just that they were deeply in love, but they also shared a mutual respect and complete trust in one another, so hearing something of this nature was sure to come as a complete shock. Han knew that she had never been with any man before him.
He didn't look at her when he asked the next question. "Where was I when all this was going on?"
"You were frozen in carbonite."
Han turned back to her with a look that was a combination of devastation and fury. It took him a moment to form his next words. "How could you do that? I'm out of it for a couple of months and you find yourself a nice, buff prince and then the two of you…" His eyes looked glassy from tears, and he turned away from her again, unable to finish the sentence.
Leia suddenly realized what he thought had happened. She didn't want to lie and say that absolutely nothing happened between her and the prince, but she couldn't make him believe it had gone that far.
She stood up and walked over to him, placing a hand on his shoulder. His t-shirt remained damp with sweat. "No, Han you don't understand. I would never do anything to hurt you."
Han quietly but forcefully interrupted her. "Well, you did."
"No, Han, I did not sleep with Xizor."
He seemed somewhat relieved by her simple yet direct statement. He looked her in the eyes again and seemed afraid to ask his next question, his voice cracking. "Did you want to?"
Leia didn't know what to say. The truth was, at the time, yes she did. She was incredibly attracted to him, but she later realized that it was because he released a powerful pheromone that had the effect of a drug on her. The only reason she didn't have sex with him was because Chewie had interrupted. Thank you Chewie. She shuddered at the thought of what she almost did.; a horrible mistake that she would never have forgiven herself for, even if it wouldn't have been entirely her fault. Invulnerable as she liked to believe she was, it was nearly impossible for humans to resist the effects of Falleen pheromones.
She used the most gentle tone she could. "Han, sit down," Reluctantly, he sat down next to her on the floor, his hazel eyes burning into her with a pained and confused gaze. "When I first met him, I'll admit, I was attracted to him. He invited me back to his room, and at first it had been just to save Luke, even though I wanted to go anyway." She didn't want to continue, but she hated herself for being the cause of the growing pain in Han's eyes, and she needed to tell him the truth. This story sounded a lot worse in the beginning than it did in the end. She only hoped he would see it that way.
"When I saw him, I wanted to be with him. It didn't make any sense, I mean, I barely even knew him. I had never felt like that before. I would never do something like that behind your back, ever. That's why it seemed so strange, but my actions seemed to be out of my control. Eventually he kissed me, and I'll admit, I didn't want him to stop."
A tear finally made its way down Han's cheek and he didn't even bother to wipe it away. She knew how this must've sounded, thinking that she was with another man when she was supposed to be rescuing Han. She hoped he would understand her reasoning, and she continued. "Then out of nowhere, Chewie pounded on the door and interrupted us. I went to the door to talk to him."
Han's face turned to a look of anger. "So Chewie was the only reason you didn't end up in bed with that guy? Good thing he owes me a life debt or I'd probably still be hanging on the wall at Jabba's Palace while you and Xizor were off somewhere living in your nice palace with a couple of kids."
"No Han, that's not true." She knew it never would've gone that far. However, it seemed inevitable that she would've done something that she'd regret for the rest of her life had Chewie not been there to stop her in time for whatever spell Xizor had cast on her to be broken.
"I wasn't myself that night. It was as though I had been drugged. His species is able to exude a powerful pheromone that acts almost like a drug. When used on humans it is more powerful and that's why I had almost no control over my actions. I would never have done what I did if I hadn't been chemically influenced." She reached over and cupped his stubbly chin in her hand. "I love you. I meant it when I said it before you were frozen. I would never knowingly hurt you that way and I would never want to be with another man. You're the only one, you always have been and you always will be."
He looked at her then, seemingly realizing the sincerity of her admission , although it didn't seem to be enough to take away the hurt and anger he was feeling, knowing what Xizor had put her through.
"Leia, did he hurt you at all?"
"No. After Chewie came by I realized what I had been doing and I was able to resist the effects of the pheromones. I went back in there and when he came back to kiss me again, I kneed him as hard as I could right in the groin."
Han couldn't suppress the smirk that tugged at his lips. "I bet that caught him by surprise."
She smiled back, remembering the intense satisfaction she'd felt when she injured the most prized part of his anatomy. "Sure did. He thought he had me. I guess he didn't know who he was dealing with."
Han's smile disappeared, still not entirely happy with the situation.
"Hey. After that, all I could think about was getting you back. I never felt so guilty in my life. I thought I had betrayed you, and I could never forgive myself if I didn't get you back and make everything right again. It made me remember just how much I missed you and needed you… And loved you."
Han turned to face her again. She was looking into his eyes, searching for forgiveness. His face melted and he leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Just tell me one thing: do you think I'm better looking than he is?"
Leia was relieved that Han had finally decided to insert his typical humor to the situation, and she didn't have to give her answer much thought. She had been attracted to Xizor once, but that had been the pheromones at work. Now she simply found him repulsive. No, Han was the only man for her.
"Absolutely. I'm not really into men with claws anyway. I like my men a little rough around the edges," she reached up and touched the scar on his chin. "But still devastatingly handsome." She kissed his lips softly.
"Good," he responded as he put his arm around her and held her to him. Leia was relieved that she had finally told Han the whole story, and that he didn't seem to be angry with her anymore. She was going to make Xizor wish he had never come back into her life.