A/N: Please give me your feedback if you have any input on this! :) I recently started reading The Paradise Snare, the first book in the first Han Solo trilogy. I am in love with his history, so this will be fun to write!

I uploaded a new story called "The Falcon", which is an extended scene from Chapter 3. Han/Leia ;)

IV

The Rebellion command ship wasn't that big. The bulky hunk of metal was no comparison to the Millennium Falcon, but it was still flyable. It was boxy and only about three quarters of the size of the Falcon, but not many were as big as she was. She was made for hauling - for smuggling. The rebel ship didn't need the all of the room and extra space that Solo's ship was built to include.

Han was radioing to Chewie from the inside of the ship as he booted her up and got her engines running. Chewie, roaming the underneath, was completing the usual pre flight inspections before takeoff. Han had piloted the Rebel ship only once before, and it was only to land her on Chad when they first arrived. None of the other pilots thought they could do so without disturbing the Chadra-Fans. Solo took over shortly before they entered the system.

"How's she look under there?" Solo called into his radio.

Chewie gargled out a few howls and Han heard something clank underneath him, but didn't question it. He trusted the Wookie could work it out on his own.

Solo flicked several switches and punched a few buttons to start the rear engines. When he heard them hum, his lips curved in a half smile.

"There she is."

Han's raspy voice was quiet. He muttered it to himself in a purr, happy to hear that the ship was working. It was one step closer he would come to finding the Falcon. He vowed to himself that once it was all over with and he got his ship back, he would make his escape, return Jabba's interest, and get the hell out of the Rebellion once and for all. He had no reason to stay, except...

"Leia," Han sighed when he heard her board the ship with the Wookie and Threepio from the side.

Leia's footsteps echoed from the core of the ship, but they were nothing compared to the stomps of the Wookie following her. Solo could easily tell when she was about ready to barge in. Thankful for the warning, he braced himself for a sarcastic banter before takeoff.

"I didn't think you'd ever step foot in another ship." The Princess smirked when she and Chewie stepped into the cockpit and the door closed behind them.

"She flies, doesn't she?" Han asked. "If she can fly, I can fly her."

He didn't bother to spin around to face Leia or his friend as he continued messing with the dash in order to start up the front engines. They sputtered for a moment, and Han whispered "come on, baby," but they eventually kicked in and the ship was ready to go.

"Just tell me when, sweetheart," Han told Leia as she hung over his shoulder, watching how he started up the giant piece of metal.

"You sure you can fly this thing?" she asked, suddenly weary.

Han only had to toss his companion a baffled look and she took to her radio to invite the others to leave with them.

"Luke," Leia called into her radio. "All engines are a go," she informed him.

"Good," she heard call back. "Coordinates set to the Corellian system, the others are making the trip straight to Naboo. See you at home, Han!"

Luke's voice seemed to broadcast that he was smiling at his last comment. Although Han liked the kid, he found his optimism to be too much sometimes. Still, he appreciated the friendly teasing; it kept him from going crazy from dealing with just Chewie.

"Buckle up, Princess," Han told Leia, finally turning to look at her. "Let's get out of here."

The Rebel ship slowly lifted off the ground. The landing dock at the temporary base was flooded with wind and dust kicked up once she lifted her supports off of the floor. With a roar of the engines, the ship took off into the sky and made a jump to hyperspace once they left the planet's orbit.

On the side of the Rebel camp on Chad where the Falcon once stood, a ship with long wings that folded up landed patiently in the ravine. The hatch opened from below and dropped down to the ground. Light illuminated the jungle; it was dark now. The Imperial fleets hadn't arrived on the planet until hours after the Rebellion managed to evacuate.

Loud footsteps and heavy breathing came before Vader's figure appeared on the ramp. He made his way off of his ship, his black robes swinging behind him with each step. When a breeze came on strong, the robes twisted around his body armor, covering his legs in front of him. Vader didn't care; he proceeded to meet his first office at the bottom of his ramp.

There was silence for a moment while the officer brought himself together. Vader knew he was nervous; they were always nervous.

"Where is Skywalker?" the Dark Lord rumbled.

His voice was low and deeper than usual, even with the mask over his head. There was an eerie sense of calm in the ravine, but the officer silently waited for his outrage to take over once he told his superior what the Imperial fleets had found.

"He's not here, sir," the officer told Vader. "None of them are."

Another silence.

Finally, Vader spoke. "I want that boy," he snapped at the first officer, who gulped, thankful that Vader hadn't taken out his anger on him...yet.

"It seems they've gotten off on the Millennium Falcon, sir," the officer told him quietly.

Before he knew it, the first officer was trying to grasp his neck to breathe, but Vader had used the Force strongly on him and was lifting him from the ground, choking him.

"Sir-" he choked out. "The Falcon-just went into-hyperspace-before we landed-"

Then, the officer was let go and he fell to the ground. He took a breath after a moment; he was given another chance, something that was a rare gift from Darth Vader or the Emperor.

"Then go after them," he ordered, "before I had to do it myself."

Corellia wasn't as Han had remembered it. He had landed short of his hometown in attempt to seek out the man who had helped him with the Falcon when he first obtained her. He wasn't ready for the confrontation, but it was necessary if he wanted to get his ship back.

On one side of Corellia, the land was flat and covered in fields and tall, grassy trees. The side of Han's hometown was closer to the city, though. There were buildings close to each other and the streets were crowded with people. He had never told his new friends of his past, so he decided to leave out the fact that he had lived on the same streets when he was younger. He knew if he told Leia, she would look at him as though he were damaged, and he was anything but that.

"It reminds me of Tatooine," Luke murmured as he removed his helmet and helped Artoo off of his jet and entered the city. "Except not as much sand," he added when he stepped into a grass covered patch outside of what looked like a trading post.

"Not a lot of that," Solo agreed. Then, he was quiet.

Leia took note of Han's change of mood. It wasn't like him to be so quiet, especially when he had so much to make of her for. She was new to the planet, after all, and didn't know anything about the place.

Solo lead the group into the trading post. It definitely did look like the cities of Tatooine; the tent stood over a forest-like ground instead of a desert, but the usual parts and supplies were being bought and sold by vendors and smugglers alike.

The smugglers were easy to pick out; they looked as though they had been roaming outside for days. They were skinny, all wielded weapons, and had bad attitudes; Luke could feel it easily in the air. He wondered if Han had been as terrifying as some of them looked when he lived in the town.

"They're just trying to avoid a fight," Solo told his company when he saw them eyeing up the scavengers' weapons.

"There are more civil ways to do so," Leia scolded. "No wonder you're as brutal as they are."

"Brutal?" Han repeated and stopped in his tracks. He turned to her and narrowed his eyes, obviously not happy. "I'm nothing close to brutal, Princess," he spat, pointing a finger in her face.

"Courageous," Luke corrected, nudging Leia's shoulder in attempt to make peace of the situation.

She ignored him, though.

"Running into a bunch of Imperial Stormtroopers like an ape is no less brutal than courageous," Leia scolded Han.

Han was getting mad, and fast. "I could've just left you there," he told her.

Leia was silent; Solo had hit home with his last comment. He was right; it he didn't fly Luke to the Death Star to rescue her, she probably would've been exiled long before she ever made it away from Darth Vader and his troops.

There was an end the conversation when a young, female voice from behind one of the supply tables selling ship parts broke into the argument.

"Han...Solo?" A short girl, probably sixteen in age with long, brown hair slowly approached from around the table. "It can't be..." she whispered and studied him.

Leia, confused, looked at Solo. Secretly, she hoped he didn't know the girl who seemed to know him. The look on his face said otherwise, though. Feeling almost...bothered...Leia looked at the floor and steadied herself. Why did she care?

Han's gaze was softer than it had ever been before. Luke sensed him hold his breath at the sight of the girl. He didn't frown, but the sadistic smile that he usually wore on his face was replaced with his mouth agape and his eyebrows furrowed together in a kind of concern that he rarely allowed anyone to witness from him. He whispered something, almost inaudible, forgetting the others were still on tour with him.

"You look like..."