Chapter Text
Han stood across from Leia, the woman he had loved for nearly five years. Technically four, since he had been frozen for one of them. She was slipping through his fingers, she was going to marry Prince Isolder, and become the Queen Mother of Hapes. Now, he was asking her to run away with him, to come with him to his planet, Dathomir. Leia hesitated, as if considering the offer, then she sighed and shook her head.
"Look, Han, I'll always be fond of you..." She said in almost condescending voice. Like, she was trying to explain something simple to a small child.
Han's anger that had been building for the last few days flared. "So that's it? 'It's not you, it's me', now have a nice life?"
"I'm sorry Han. I didn't want to make this difficult, but I have to do what's best for my people, and for the New Republic-"
"OH JUST KNOCK IT OFF WILL YA!?" Han screamed.
Leia remained silent, staring at him in shock. Han pointed his finger at Leia and glared at her.
"You think you could spend half a decade with me, then run off with some Prince you've known for a few days, and then act like I'm the one who's making things difficult?" Tears were beginning to form in Han's eyes. "How can you do this to me? You said you loved me back on Bespin, and I still love you, but do you love me now?"
Leia stayed quite for a moment. "Yes. I do still love you Han."
Han approached, and held her hands in his.
"Then don't marry Isolder." Han went down on one knee. "Leia, will you marry me?"
Tears formed in Leia's eyes. Then she shook her head.
"I'm sorry Han, I can't."
Han lowered his head. Then he stood, and headed for the door.
"Han wait-" Leia began.
"You know," Han said as he stopped in front of the door. "I really thought you'd say yes, I really wanted you to." Han paused, and waited to see if Leia would say anything else. When she remained silent, he continued, "But if I'm not good enough for you Princess, then I don't need you. Have fun on Hapes. Keep whatever Wedding invitation you were planning to send."
Han walked through the door, and never looked back.
Once he was at the Millennium Falcon, he and Chewie waited for an hour before taking off. Han was hoping that Leia would come to him, try to stop him, say she had changed her mind, anything.
She never came.
Han held back tears, and started the Falcon up. In the cockpit, Chewie growled a question at Han. He didn't answer, he wasn't sure if he'd yell, or cry, or maybe both. From behind them C-3PO walked up.
Right, the droid. Han thought.
"Golden-rod, you don't have to come if you don't want to. Besides, I'm technically not your owner."
"But sir, if you encounter natives on Dathomir, you may need my help." The droid answered back politely.
"Well maybe I don't want your help!" Han yelled.
Chewie looked at him, but said nothing.
3PO stared at Han, then responded: "I won't come if you don't want me to sir, but if its all the same to you, I'd like to come and help."
Han turned in his seat and stared at the droid.
"Why?"
"Because, you look like you need it, sir."
Han stared at 3PO numbly. How bad did he look if someone like 3PO was concerned for him? Well, 3PO wasn't wrong. He might need his help if Dathomir had natives. Besides, here was someone who actually did want to go with him. So, he might as well accept the help.
"Alright 3PO, you can come. Just... try not to be too annoying will ya?" Han said as he turned back to face the ship's console.
"Yes sir." 3PO responed.
The Falcon took flight and entered Hyperspace, flying towards the planet of Dathomir.
Meanwhile, within Leia's room aboard the ship "Rebel Dream", sat a gift from Hapes. It was the Gun of Command, just sitting there uselessly, never to be used.
Chewbacca sat across from Han and C-3PO, playing a game of dejarik. They'd been flying for nearly a week, and Han wasn't doing much better. His friend had never been particularly chatty, but he hadn't said a word since they'd left Coruscant, and Chewie was starting to worry. Nothing he nor 3PO said was ever met with a response. 3PO had even tried acting more annoying than usual to provoke a reaction from Han, but he still said nothing. So, Chewie tried to help him get his mind off of the Princess.
He had Han clean, do repairs, playing card and board games, and just about anything else he could think of. Although Han never spoke, he did all the activities with Chewie and 3PO. Besides, it was better than drinking himself to death. Han had done that on Coruscant when he knew he was losing Leia, and he tried doing that the first day they had been traveling in Hyperspace. Luckily, Chewie had dumped all the liquor before they had taken off. He knew how Han could get when he drank, and none of them needed that.
As they played, Chewie's thoughts turned to the Princess. He respected her for her bravery during the Rebellion's early days, and he admired her negotiation and diplomatic skills during the formation of the New Republic. But he had to admit, he was very disappointed in her.
Her treatment and abandonment of Han was, to say the very least, insulting. Beyond that, what of the time they had spent with each other? It was obvious they loved each other, and Leia was really going to throw it all away for a Prince she had only known for a few days? It was disgraceful. The kind of love that Han and Leia had shared was special, anyone could've seen that. Now, she had thrown it all away and left Han to pick up the pieces.
Chewie shook his head. Why couldn't she have been more like his beloved wife Malla? Why, they hadn't had an argument since... well, forever.
Come to think of it, when was the last time he had visited her?
The ship's console beeped, indicating they were approaching Dathomir. They paused the game, and made their way to the cockpit. They dropped out of hyperspace, only to see that Dathomir was surrounded by an Orbital Imperial Shipyard.
Chewie and 3PO turned their heads to stare at Han, while he sat staring out the viewport. Finally, after a week of silence, Han spoke.
"Well, we're screwed."
Leia sat within Isolder's ship, on route to Hapes. She was speaking to Luke on a view screen. She wouldn't be able to rendezvous with him as she had promised, so she'd let him know of her decision. Beyond that, she had a favor to ask of Luke.
"Han, doesn't want to speak to me. I'm worried he's going to do something rash. He's heading to Dathomir, but he didn't exactly give the coordinates. If its no trouble, can you go make sure he's okay?"
"Of course Leia. I should be able to track down the planet. Besides, I feel like I'm meant to be there, you know?"
Strangely, Leia did know. After her rejection of Han, she had felt... something. At first, she thought it was just guilt over hurting him, and it likely was mostly that. But now, she felt different. She felt... wrong. Like, she had made the wrong decision.
"Luke, do you think I... made the wrong decision? With Han, I mean."
Luke regarded her for a moment, then said softly, "I told you, I can't decide for you Leia. You have to choose what you want, and who you want to be with."
Leia nodded. If that was the case, then she had made her decision. She wanted to be with Isolder.
"Thank you, Luke."
Luke nodded back, then ended the call.
Now that Luke was off the call, he gave his honest answer to himself out of pure frustration. His sister had spent four years with his friend Han, only to dump him over some Prince she had met only a week ago.
"Who does that??" Luke exclaimed in his empty room. "What is wrong with you?"
Luke hadn't wanted to say that in front her of course. He loved his sister, and he wanted to be supportive, but he was finding it to be very... difficult. Still, he did want to find Han. Not just because he felt the Force drawing him to Dathomir, but because he wanted to help his friend during a difficult time.
Hopefully he wasn't getting himself into too much trouble.
Chewbacca roared at Han angrily.
"I know I know!" Han yelled back. "None of our intelligence reports said anything about a shipyard! This isn't my fault!"
Chewbacca roared again, showing his displeasure.
"Oh, we're doomed!" 3PO cried.
"Hey, you're the one who wanted to come!" Han said, half turning to face the droid. "If you're not going to help, then stay quiet and out of the way!"
3PO obeyed, and went to the longue area to strap himself in. He had a feeling this was going to be a bumpy ride.
TIE Fighters shrieked past the Falcon, firing green laser cannons at the ship.
Chewbacca roared at Han to get them out of here.
"I'm trying! They've got us boxed in!"
The Falcon's scanners showed that a Star Destroyer had managed to maneuver itself behind them, while swarms of TIE's were only growing larger. Han scanned the space in front of him, then stopped when he saw the planet.
"We need to land." Han said grimly.
Chewbacca growled something that roughly translated into, "Are you insane?"
"It's our best option! Now stop whining and help me dodge this laser fire!"
Chewbacca followed his lead, but he still didn't like this. They had no idea what kind of troops or bases were on Dathomir. They could simply be walking into another trap. Not to mention, they still had no idea what kind of native plants or animals or people lived there.
Then again, if the Empire had a strong presence here, then perhaps any locals would either be gone, or more manageable than before. Whoever lived down there currently couldn't be too dangerous, could they?