With the wind howling like that, it was hard to tell if Luke was still babbling in the dead tauntaun's belly. Han hoped he was. He wasn't making any sense, invoking a dead Jedi's name and some words that sounded like an alien tongue, but it was a lot better than silence.

Han didn't know what else to do, so he'd stashed Luke inside the shelter of a rapidly-cooling corpse. It remained to be seen if that was one of his better ideas.

The real shelter, the one in pieces from Han's emergency pack, was only steps away from Luke. The half shelter. Han couldn't see a damn thing and was putting it together by feel. That wasn't going to last long as his gloves weren't enough protection in this temperature. The tauntaun should be right there, just to his left, but if it was, it was covered by snow already.

In a stupid panic, Han left his task and tried to run, to make sure it was still there, even though he knew it had to be, his feet sinking deep into the snow. "Luke!" he shouted.

Four steps was all he managed. The snow was deep and he felt it through his pants. There was no other tauntaun belly to jump into and warm up for a minute- where was Luke's, anyway?- Dead by now, just like Han's, but that wasn't the point. What had happened to Luke?

It wouldn't be smart to unwrap the thermo blanket from his own pack. He'd warm up, sure, but the heat source was temporary and he had the whole night still.

Han pulled his knee out of the snow and struggled to wade back to the shelter. Keep it together, he told himself. It was taking shape. It was. Even through the swirling snow he could see a large dark obstruction. If he didn't want to die, he needed to focus on that. Not on Luke, whom he also didn't want to die, but he might be dead already-

Iced over in a dead tauntaun's belly. That idea was looking stupider by the minute. But what else was he going to do? Luke was certainly not able to help. The training session was about conscious people setting up their shelters, not half dead ones who didn't even have their pack.

Just where was Luke's pack anyway, Han wondered. And was he still talking?

"Kid?" he panted into the wind. Blizzard conditions slowed him down. If he didn't finish this soon there'd be two dead bodies to find in the morning. "Almost done."

He kept working, willing his fingers to curl because he couldn't feel them. Was it possible for a knuckle to just snap off from the joint? Hadn't he heard about toes falling off?

It took too long, but he kept his fingers and his cool. Should change that to warm. Kept his warm. Probably his toes would fall off next time he took his boots off but he'd worry about that later. Would Her Worship go for a toeless guy?

He shouldn't think about her, either.

Slowly, carefully, he made his way back to where his tauntaun had fallen. Oh yeah, stupid idea. The innards had frozen and Luke's face looked like it was covered by some kind of crystallized slime. Han's stomach twisted.

"That's why you're quiet, huh," he said as he hoisted Luke out by the armpits. "Mouth frozen shut." If that's all it was. "Hope I didn't kill you, kid."

Damn, this was hard work. "You're fucking heavy." Han couldn't even ease him the few inches back to the ground but just dropped him. He was out of breath, the wind stealing it from his lungs. "Should warm me up, dragging you around, but it don't."

He considered dragging Luke by his feet. That'd be easier. But then Luke's jacket would ride up his back, wouldn't it? and snow would get in. So what should it be? Protect Luke, or himself?

It wasn't far. He could do it. "C'mon, kid. Just a few steps."

Once inside, it was immediately different. Not exactly better. Still cold. Quieter. Like he wasn't being personally attacked by weather but he could hear it outside. Kinda small, though. Like Her Highness.

Luke's eyes were closed, and his face was totally slack, and a bad color as well. Which should Han do? Put an ear to his chest? Feel for a pulse? Slap him awake?

"Where the fuck's your pack, kid?" Han swore at him. "Only got one blanket and I gotta use it on you. That ain't fair."

He was practically standing on Luke, hunched over, the space was so cramped. He tucked the blanket around Luke and stared with discomfort at the mess Luke's face was in. Did the packs come with instructions? What was he supposed to do?

Don't panic. That was the essence of the training. Build the shelter as fast as possible. Han couldn't remember them saying anything about toes. Or what to do in the case of one pack and two people.

He rummaged through the pack. No first aid kit. That was stupid. A defibrillator would be nice, in case Luke's heart stopped. He did remember warnings about exposure. But there was a heat stove. And some dehydrated broth. "Add water," he read off the foil package from the meager light of the stove, which was not included. But that was probably an executive decision. There was a lot of water around. It was frozen, but it could melt. "Set on heat source."

"Easy for you to say," he grumbled. He rubbed his gloved finger down Luke's cheek, seeing if the slime was starting to melt, and moved the blanket higher, over his chin. Was that a good idea?

"Do not place over exposed skin," he read. "Potential to cause burns." Oh, so not a good idea. He lifted it off Luke's face but held it up a few inches

"This thing ain't working," he told Luke. "I don't feel it." He took a glove off with his teeth- another definitely stupid move, because the ice on the fingertip of the glove found a nerve through his teeth that went straight up into his brain- and put the freed hand on Luke's chest.

"Fuck, now I need a dentist," he told Luke.

Maybe the blanket was warm. Luke's chest was rising, though. At least, Han thought it was. There was so much damn fabric.

"I'm going to be really pissed if you're dead," he told Luke. "Didn't come all this way for that. Her Worship will never forgive me." He glared at the still form. "And I need to know soon if you're dead, 'cause there's no sense sharing a shelter made for one if you're gonna take my heat, you know? Ow! Shit, this motherfucker's hot!"

Han sucked on the top of his burn, and then looked at it. "The fuck. How's that for irony, kid? They're gonna do an autopsy on me and say-" Han made a bitter, mocking face- "he died in the cold of first degree burns. Shit, kid."

So there was such a thing as too hot, even when you were freezing to death. Interesting. What exactly was frostbite? Like, did the skin erode away? That was his question. Because his cheekbones felt exposed. Oh, and then-

Fuck! Han couldn't stand in the shelter and Luke was in the way, but damn did he need to shake his legs and hands. They were tingling. It was a burning tingle. He looked at his exposed hand, certain his fingers were aflame, but they looked normal. Still attached, which was a good sign. Gods damn, was he going to spend the night like this? It was agony.

Luke moaned.

"Yeah, I know you have your own hell, but I'm deep in my own and I ain't feeling too good right now. Soon as I can use my hand, I'm gonna write in the snow I'm in hell so the Princess knows I suffered."

Luke managed half of Han's name. "Ha?"

Han dropped to his knees beside Luke and peered at his messy face, shiny now with thawed slime. "Yeah, kid. Move over."

Luke made no effort to move but was looking at Han like he had three horns on his head. Trying to remember, Han guessed.

"You got lost in the snow," Han told him.

"No."

Han was slapping his hands together. He wouldn't mind at all if his fingers fell off.

"My head hurts," Luke whispered hoarsely and closed his eyes.

"It'll hurt less when you look at me. Right? I'm your ray of sunshine. What happened to your face anyway? Did you fall on some icicles?"

"Ice-i-?"

"Icicles," Han pronounced distinctly. "Sorry, I'd wash that slime off but the packs don't come with towels. You gotta keep talking for two reasons: one is to keep me company, and the second is I don't know what kind of first aid to give you if you go all quiet."

Luke went quiet. But his eyes were as open as his wounds would allow, so Han wasn't too frightened. "Wha time it?"

It wasn't worth the effort to pull back his sleeve to look at his chrono, so Han said, "If we were inside, kid, we'd just be sittin' down to dinner."

One eye slung over to him. "Really?" Luke was calculating, Han knew. They were on morning patrol together. It had been a long, long time to be out in the snow.

"Yeah. Sorry. I went as soon as I heard. It was Leia."

Luke's eyelids fluttered in gratitude. "Would be."

"Yeah."

"Ja comm?"

"I will soon as I can hold something. It's storming outside. Not sure we'll get a signal from in here."

Luke breathed out a word weakly. "Attacked."

"Attacked," Han repeated warily. "By what? The Empire make it finally? Not that I'm sayin' the weather made a pussy out of you."

Luke might have taken offense, for he lay there with his eyes closed. Han managed to pull out his comm. His glove was too fat to permit his fingers to scroll so he chose the first number on the list, and it was Leia's personal number.

"I'm callin' Her," he told Luke, unable to come up with a suitable nickname at the moment.

"Wamp," Luke grunted.

"Oh, snow creature? Yikes." There was a weird sound in his ear, so it was as he thought, no signal.

"Waz lair," Luke slurred.

"Kept you alive to eat you," Han said. That had been covered in training. All about wampas and their predatory methods.

"'scaped," Luke breathed out. "Jedi."

"I don't know about that," Han said darkly. "But that explains how you're still alive. You should have stayed in the lair. A mansion of a shelter. That's where your pack is, isn't it?"

"Yoda."

"D'ja name the wampa or something?"

"No." Luke squeezed his eyes tight and moved his head side to side. "Han."

"Yeah, that's my name." Luke kept shaking his head and Han kept talking to calm him down. "You named your tauntaun Yoda, is that it?"

"No," Luke groaned agitatedly. "Yoda."

"Your pack? I miss Yoda, too. I wish we knew where it was, so we could get it. Except I'm not going out in this storm."

"Han."

"You know what they should have included in these packs, kid? A deck of cards. It's going to be a long night."

"Head hurts."

"Yeah. I think I'll try some broth. You want some broth?"

"Tired."

"I'm not sure if you should sleep. Did you go to training? Turns out except for the shelter part it was damn useless. I'm going to file a complaint with Her Highness."

"Leia."

"One and the same." Han leaned over to peer at Luke. "You okay?"

"Who's Yoda?"

"Thought it was your pack."

"Nee t'ask Ben."

Kriff. Luke was slipping from him, back into delirium. "I got nothing better to do, so I'll bite." Han directed his mouth at the low ceiling of the shelter. "Hey, Ben, I know you're dead and all, but Luke wants to know who Yoda is. There, kid. I put in a word for you."

"Stupid."

Han frowned down at Luke. "You better not mean me." For the first time, it looked like Luke tried to smile. It was pretty gruesome. "Lie still, kid."

"Leia."

"Don't call her stupid either, or I'll tell. Then she'll like me more 'n you."

The grimace, or maybe it was a smile, widened. "Does."

"Nah," Han said, but he cocked his head. Gravely wounded delirious people were informative. "You think so?"

"Hotter."

"Yeah, it's warming up."

"No." Luke was now taking deep breaths.

Han frowned at him. "Why are you breathing so hard?"

"Dunno."

"I'm trying to remember what they told us. The heart rate slows, right? Before you die of exposure? And you're panting, so maybe that's good. You feel warmer?"

"Never 'gain."

"Yeah, permanent. I'm with you there. I don't think you're supposed to have broth. It's got to be real slow, bringing someone back. But I tell you, kid, broth is damn short of miraculous."

The hot broth tickled the inside of Han's ears somehow. It warmed a path down his throat, into his chest. It felt good. Didn't help his feet or ass though, and he suspected he'd get pins and needles soon.

"Know what I'm worried about, kid?"

"Wha," Luke answered.

"Needing to pee later. We got hours in here. If I step outside, that'll let the cold in and ruin the idea of the shelter. Then again, yellow snow might be a marker so they can find us in the morning."

"Kriff, Han."

"Yeah? What? I am so cold, kid. I'm not shivering, but damn, I'm cold. That's not good, is it?"

"My head's open."

"Not open. It hurts because you keep shaking your head 'no' at me. Can you move?"

"No."

"I'm going to roll you over. I need some of that blanket. You lost your Yoda and I'm nice to share but you gotta share too."

Luke frowned, eyes closed again. "Ri side."

Han nodded. "Makes sense. I'm right-handed too." He lifted Luke's shoulder and stuck his knee into Luke's lower back. Luke moaned. "Sorry, kid." Han managed to scoot half his body under the blanket and wedge the front of his body against Luke's back.

"Tired."

"Yeah, no sleeping. Let's see." Han tried to think of ways to keep Luke awake. "You think, with two of us in here, we'll get carbon monoxide poisoning?"

"Warm anyway."

"Yeah, I guess it's a peaceful way to die."

"Like sleep."

"Well, since I don't feel like dying I'm not going to let you either. Want to play a memory game?"

"Like wha?"

"I don't know. I think my brain is frozen."

"Word association," Luke said, more clearly. "Snow."

"Um." Han blinked at Luke's back. "Suit."

"Suit?"

"Yeah. Snowsuit, you know."

"White."

"Snowsuit."

"Han," Luke warned doubtfully.

"I'm playing!"

"Cold."

"Leia."

"Han, come on."

"Alright, alright. Cold? Me."

"Princess."

"Emperor," Han answered.

"Yeah," Luke agreed.

"Fur," Han suggested.

"Wampa," Luke answered, then lobbed a word for Han. "Blood."

"Yuck," Han made a face. "This is taking a turn. Tauntaun."

"Interesting," Luke said. "Smell."

"Good one," Han chuckled. "Shelter."

"Rescue." Luke thought for a moment and then jerked his shoulder in a shrug. "Rescue."

"Garbage masher."

"Ow," Luke groaned. "I can't laugh. Think my lip split. Let's stop for a minute."

Han realized Luke was articulating words fully now and his voice was stronger. His own feet had the remnants of pins and needles but he was aware of a cold draft at his backside where the blanket didn't cover, so that meant the rest of him was warmer.

"This shelter works pretty good," he said to Luke.

"Twelve hours," Luke said.

"Is that what they said?"

"Did you even go?"

"I did. Rieekan hauled my ass down to session."

"Sleep through it?"

"No," Han said thoughtfully. "Think I was texting Her Royalness."

"Why am I not surprised. Dagobah," Luke said.

"Is that Huttese?" Han asked. "The backwards game? Hab," Han began, "o-dag. No, gad. Habogad."

"No. Word."

"To dagobah?" Han shook his head. "Nothin'."

"System."

Han's answer was swift. "Alderaan."

"You never heard of Dagobah?"

"It's a system?" Han shook his head. "Must be one of those uninhabited ones."

"Yeah," Luke said darkly.

"Endocrinology," Han said.

"What?" Luke asked. "Where did that come from?"

"Association," Han said stubbornly. "System."

Luke could laugh as long as he didn't move his face muscles. It sounded like a wheeze. "Human."

"Body."

"Body."

"Sex."

"I knew we'd get there. You know there's a bet goin' round how soon it takes you to mention it?"

"Fuck everyone," Han said.

"That word qualifies to win the bet."

"Double fuck 'em."

Luke continued the game. "Leia."

"Luke, I am shocked," Han said.

"Not me," Luke wheezed. "You."

"Me? Nuh. No chance."

Luke's shoulder jerked again. "Hmm" he said vaguely.

"That time is past," Han's tone was final.

"Desire," Luke began again.

"Wish."

"Regret."

"Heck, kid."

"Sorry."

"Tell me about it."

"Confession."

"Gossip," Han accused, and Luke wheezed his laugh again. "Guess I know you'll be fine if you're planning on winning bets."

"Can't we sleep? It's nighttime."

"They didn't cover that in training."

"How would you know? You were texting Leia."

"They always acted like they'd find us before the twelve hours were up. Fucking speeders weren't even working. I went out on a tauntaun. Bet they'll have to in the morning."

"Think they'll find us?"

"With my luck… no. Or yes, and then I'll have to face Jabba the Hutt."

"Not that again."

"That again. I decided, you know. No more that again."

"Really?" Luke might have been trying to turn over to look Han in the face but he didn't get far. "Not a good idea, Han."

"Kid, I might follow you out in a snowstorm, but I'm not gonna listen to you."

"Wait. At least until I'm cleared to fly. Then I'll swoop in and get you."

"I'm gonna pay him, you know," Han said, offended. "I won't need rescue."

"You have it?"

"Psshh. 'Course not. I'm gonna work for him."

"Kriff, Han."

Han shrugged. "That's how it is."

"I thought it was a death mark."

"He'll get over it. This blanket's hot, you know?"

"Don't change the subject. I'm curious why. Didja ever… didja ever just kinda see an answer? Know what you're going to do, because…because-"

"Well, in my case I saw a bounty hunter. So yeah, kinda decided for me."

"I saw Ben."

"My turn, Luke. My turn for the 'kriff' and the 'not again'."

Luke wheezed. "Yeah, I guess you're right. I'm going to Dagobah. Ben told me, so I'm going."

Han stayed silent a few minutes. "What are you supposed to do there?"

"Study the Force."

"Of course. He's got a one track mind."

Luke didn't find that funny.

"Did you tell Leia?" Han asked.

"No. It only just happened. Out in the snow."

"Oh, I can tell you what that was, kid. Delirium. Near-death experience. If you're gonna die of exposure and wampa wounds, why would a ghost tell you to go somewhere?"

"Easy. 'Cause he knew I wasn't gonna die."

Han growled a noise of disbelief.

"Did you tell Leia?" Luke asked.

"Yeah, earlier." Han didn't feel like explaining.

"How'd she take it?"

"How do you think she took it?"

"Depends how you presented it."

"Oh, so that's what I did."

"What'd you do?"

Han wasn't even sure anymore. He was cold and tired. And he was probably wrong.

"Tell me," Luke said. "I might win another bet."

"It wasn't sex, I can tell you that."

"She'll be waiting on us," Luke said quietly.

"Yeah." Han pulled out his comm and tried her number again.

"We're not lonely, you know? I'm so cold and my head hurts but we played a game."

No signal. Han sighed. "Chewie's with her. Bet you a million credits."

"She doesn't need this."

"I don't either, kid, but here we are."

"Yeah."

"By the looks of you, you'll be taking a bacta bath."

"Oh gods," Luke shuddered. "Say something warm, Han."

"Warm," Han scoffed. "Tatooine has two suns."

"Ha. That's actually too warm."

"If Dagobah turns out uninhabited, I'll come check on you. Say in a month, bring you out."

"That's warm. Thanks. I feel like it's past my bedtime and I want to go to sleep. Humans sleep at night, Han. How do you know I'm just not tired? Not die-in-my-sleep tired; I just need sleep."

"It is a shelter," Han pursed his lips. "Designed for life-saving measures."

"Right. I think we'll be okay. Aren't you tired?"

"A bit," Han admitted. "It was hard work in the snow."

"Yeah."

Han slept in fits. He kept checking on Luke and poking him in the back and making him moan so he knew he was still alive. It had not been a good day and it was a bad night. Things always looked worse at night, though. He'd learned that as a kid. That's when nightmares happened. In the day, everything was clearer. He just had to be patient.

He had an idea, though. Something Luke said. There was no changing that Han had to go. He was long overdue.

But maybe he could change the way he said goodbye.