Chewie ducked his head as he entered the cockpit and turned immediately to flip switches needed to release the Falcon from its docking to the mobile medical hospital. He heard Luke's voice over the ship's comm.

"Take care, you two," Luke said.

He sounded good. Much better than the half-hysterical mess they took on board over Bespin.

Chewie barked toward Lando's back so that he didn't disconnect, *Wait.*

He wanted to give a proper goodbye. When the youth- or kid, as Han called him- arrived at the med ship he only let Leia be with him. And then when he woke up from surgery he didn't want to talk to her either, letting the whole day go by without allowing visitors. But after a night's rest he called them all back- all: not just Leia and Chewie, but also the droids and Lando, and he wanted to talk about what should happen next. Not just talk; plan. And not even plan. Lead.

Chewie's farewell stopped abruptly in his throat. Lando had swiveled in the captain's seat to look at him.

*Are you a blind bird?* Chewie growled at him. He squatted in between the seats and put his elbows up on the console.

*Princess?* he called. He wanted to have a heart to heart. *Do I have to? Can't I just rip his arms off?*

Lando understood Shyriiwook, but Chewie didn't care. It was better he knew what he was thinking.

Chewie peered up through the viewport. Somewhere, up there, at an angle where he really couldn't see her, he knew the Princess was gazing out her own.

Luke didn't understand Chewie's language. Some, but they hadn't seen each other in a while. "I don't know what you said," Luke said into his comm, "but she's laughing a little."

*Princess,* Chewie whined. *He's wearing Han's clothes.*

"May the Force be with you," Luke said, and cut off his end of the comm.

Now Chewie was alone with Lando. He hadn't felt it yet, took it into his heart, but there was no mistaking things weren't as they should be. It was different with Lando in the cockpit.

"What," Lando answered Chewie's glare. He pulled a lever down and the ship began to move away. "I needed something to wear."

*You did not.*

"I did!" Lando protested. "I smelled like blaster fire. That kid-"

*Don't call him that.*

"-Luke, then. He bled on me-"

*He wasn't bleeding. He was crying.*

"And then when I was trying to see what the deal was with the hyper drive-"

*Where did you even find that vest?* Chewie couldn't quite believe the sight before him. It was stupid to get upset, but he wasn't going to deny how he felt. *You fckn blind bird.*

The Wookiee language Shyriiwook did not contain vulgar words like Basic used. Not swear words, anyway. If you wanted to insult a Wookiee, you called them a blind bird. And a Wookiee could utter a noise, like if you dropped a log on your foot, but it really had no translation. It was pain, frustration or anger, and a specific howl said it all.

But Chewie had lived among humans a long time and he understood Basic like a native. If Han had dropped a log on his foot, he'd hop up and down on one leg, repeating one word, "Fuck!"

The way Han led his life, pain, anger and frustration were common emotions, and his favorite way to express that was with the word 'fuck'. In fact, when the platform was too low that Han could no longer see him or Leia, and the liquid carbonite started to pour in over his boots, Chewie knew that's what Han was thinking. Fuck.

And so Chewie adapted the phonetics to Shyriiwook. Sometimes it was the best way to communicate with a human. At least, it was with Han. Chewie had been pleased with the result. Put the fangs over the bottom lip for that 'f' and it made an angry, fierce expression. And the 'ck' sound was common in Shyriiwook. It came out 'fckn' when Chewie growled it.

The first time Han heard it from Chewie's mouth it had stopped him dead in the middle of an argument. "What the fuck does fckn mean, huh. You must be really pissed, can't even talk right."

But then he'd gotten used to the sound of a Wookiee using a Basic swear word. Chewie thought it had even amused Han a little.

It had to be Han's vest, because Lando hadn't been anywhere but the medcenter or the ship, and while the medcenter had a gift shop, it most certainly did not offer shiny men's vests for sale. But Chewie had never seen Han wear that one.

*No one needs to wear a vest,* Chewie said now.

"- I got oil on my cape-"

*The funniest part is you don't even know,* Chewie shook his head. Han had told Leia Lando was a conman. He wasn't even that, Chewie thought in disgust. He was a pretender. It was pathetic.

There weren't many humans Chewie actually liked. He used to like Lando, but maybe that had been through Han. *It looks silly buttoned all the way.*

"Two reasons, alright?" Lando raised all five fingers. "One, did you know I bought this one for him?"

Chewie hadn't known that. *I don't care,* he said. *You look like a fckn dandy.*

"Well, I did," Lando nodded significantly. "And two, I bought it for him, and I was hoping, but I bet he never wore it. Did he."

Good gods, Chewie thought. He is a blind bird.

"No, no." Lando shook his head with a half smile. "No. Nothing like that. I can see what you're thinking. No. It's just, at the time, I thought I had a little influence on him; thought he'd go upscale. Sabacc tournaments are classy affairs."

Chewie sniggered. Influence.

"And," Lando smoothed his hands over the satiny fabric covering his chest. "Wanted to pay my respects, show that-"

Chewie snapped. He stood in a rage, pulling Lando up by those buttons. *You fckn human,* he growled, holding that 'f' in a fanged display, *he is not dead. He is-*

Lando's hands were now clutching Chewie's wrists, trying ineffectively to pull them away from his chest. His eyes were staring out the viewport, as if in hopes Luke was able to see the attack. It gave Chewie great pleasure to see the whites of his dark eyes.

"Alright!" Lando choked out and Chewie released him, remembering the Princess. "I didn't mean that, Chewie, I simply meant, as way of, you know, apology, of sympathy."

Chewie was still standing, but he waved his fists about his head. It felt good to pretend Lando's arms were in them. *You are the one in need of sympathy, don't you see that.*

Lando tugged at the vest, straightening it, and took his seat again. "Solidarity. That's the word I was looking for. Your quest is mine."

*No.* Chewie shook his head. *Your quest is to save your own hide.*

Frustrated, Lando practically whined, "How many times do I have to tell you. I had no choice."

*There is always a choice. Always.*

"Fine. I made the wrong one. Happy?"

*Yes.*

The navigation computer flashed green, its calculations to Tatooine through hyperspace complete. Lando engaged the engines and the stars stretched to streaks. The medcenter was left far behind.

Chewie finally took his seat. He wasn't happy. Lando looked like a fool. But he'd known Han to act like one a few times. Not in recent memory, but it had been known to happen.

This wasn't about Lando.

It was about Chewie, and Luke and Leia.

He lifted his great Wookiee head, and roared into the cockpit that Shyriiwook noise of pain, anger and frustration.

And loss.