Star Wars: Rotta's Revenge

Chapter 5

Chapter 5
The four of them sat in the cargo hold of one of the ships that came for them, bound for Tatooine. They were tied up in such a fashion that Luke was back-to-back with Lando, and Han was back-to-back with Leia. Both pairs were on opposite sides of the hold, and they were tied by their ankles to the walls to restrict movement.
Han tilted his head back and to the side so he could communicate with Leia. "You sure Luke knows what he's doing?" he whispered, so that the guard standing in front of the door to the hold couldn't hear him.
"Trust me, he does," Leia whispered back.
"It just seems like he's a little... tied up right now to do anything," Han couldn't suppress a mischievous grin.
Leia sighed at the terrible joke but laughed in spite of herself. "You certainly know how to lighten the mood," she said.
"Well, that's my specialty," Han replied, twisting his hand in such a way as to be able to grasp hers. "I-"
"Quiet down back there!" the guard barked. "It won't be long before we turn you over to Rotta. Then you can do all the yammering you want in prison, or whatever he wants to do to you."
Han and Leia fell silent. They exchanged worried looks with Luke and Lando across the hold. Luke sensed his sister's disquiet and reached out through the Force to reassure her. She reached back and tried to draw comfort from his presence.
Han meanwhile was lost in thought. He still had the ring he bought in the market on Ryloth in his pocket. It was a stroke of good fortune for him that the bounty hunters had neglected to search them for anything other than weapons when they brought them aboard- otherwise they might have found it and he had no idea what he would have done in that situation. The surprise would have been ruined then; Leia wasn't stupid and knew that men didn't just carry rings around in their pockets for no reason. He'd never felt this way about anyone else before, and he wanted to do it exactly right. Leia deserved that. She deserved everything.
He felt a jolt as the ship came out of hyperspace and made its way to the surface of Tatooine. There was some slight turbulence as they passed through the planet's atmosphere.
"Looks like this is it," Han grinned, trying to come off as cavalier. "You excited to be back home, kid?"
"I don't remember the ride being this bumpy last time," Luke called back, matching Han's casual attitude.
"That's because you took the Falcon last time," Han reminded him. "She's the best ship in the galaxy."
"Oh, yeah," Luke said. "How could I forget?"
"Will you two shut up?" the guard barked. They quieted down instantly, but continued to surreptitiously cast smirks in each other's direction as the ship made its landing.