What Could Have Been Part III: The Destined Warriors

Solo

      Leia

      "Warrrrggghhhh!"

     "Boy am I glad to see you, Chewie! Take us into lightspeed. I gotta help Leia!" Han exclaimed in relief as the faithful Wookiee welcomed him and Leia aborad. After escaping of the clone freighter, Han and Leia were picked up by none other than Han's trusty co-pilot and best friend, Chewbacca. As it turned out, Chewie had met up with the same members of Death Watch that had helped Han stow away with the clone ship. When the clan of Mandalorians explained that his pal was alive and on his way to Onderon, the fuzzball took off to follow his friend in none other than the Millennium Falcon.

      Han wasted no time in tending to Leia's injury. He ordered her to strip down to the tank top under her tunic and then set to work dressing the wound on her arm. "It's not that serious," Leia objected as Han pulled a medical kit out from under the bed in the sleeping cabin. "You were shot, Leia," he pointed out. His hands moved quickly yet gently as he applied a bacta pad to the blaster mark. As the medical seeped with blood, Leia sucked in a breath. The disinfectant stung on contact but she allowed Han to continue his work. Silence passed as Leia watched Han clean the wound and apply an anesthetic reduce the pain. As the discomfort faded, Leia's mind started back to work. "Han, we need to get to Onderon. I need to find Lu-"

      "What you need to do is take it easy. Chewie just took us into lightspeed. Onderon is only a few parsecs away," Han said soothingly. He sifted through the med kit until he found the bandages. Leia released a drawn out breath. Was Luke still safe? Would she be able to find him? Would they be able to defeat Midas? So many questions caused her head to spin. Maybe it was the anesthetic.

      "So what's the plan after this?" he asked as he unraveled the cloth bandages. Leia tucked her knees to her chest. "Find Luke. Save the galaxy. Just the average day in the life of Leia Skywalker," she said with grieved sarcasm. Han chuckled to himself as he tore off a strip of snowy white gauze and began wrapping it around Leia's treated blaster shot. "No no, I meant after all of this. Like, what do we do when it's all over?" he specified. Leia thought about the question for a minute. There was no way of knowing the impact that the events of the past few days would have on the galaxy. So much had changed; people, relationships, and entire planets. Could things ever really go back to normal? Leia watched as Han carefully finished dressing her injury. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "Why?"

      Han seemed to toss his thoughts back and forth in his head as he closed up the medical kit. His voice was low and serious when he spoke again. "Well I was just wondering, uh... if you had any plans for, well, the rest of your life?" he asked; his hazel eyes not quite meeting Leia's for too long at a time. Leia looked at him funny. "What do you mean?" she asked curiously. Now it was obvious that whatever Han was trying to say was making him awfully nervous- something unusual for the young pilot who was typically reserved and isolated when it came to feelings. His cheeks brightened to a soft shade of pink as he fidgeted as if the words stuck in his mouth had given him an itch. "What I'm trying to say is well, after all this is over..."

       "Do you think, uh... you wouldn't mind being my wife?"

       Leia's eyes met Han's and the words he had said hit her a thousand times harder than the blast she had taken to the arm. They both waited for her answer with equal anticipation as Leia found herself completely and utterly speechless. He was asking her to marry him. To commit to each other for the rest of their lives no matter what the galaxy threw their way. When she thought too much about it, the idea was terrifying. They were both so young. She was about to fight a battle that she didn't know if she would survive! But something in Han's eyes- his soft, sad, vulnerable eyes, his eyes filled with pain and with happiness, with abandonment and with friendship, his eyes which still belonged to the orphan boy who stowed away on her ship and deep inside her heart, his eyes that didn't care about age or risk or danger, but instead about love and care and protection, something in his eyes that would always speak more than his words ever would- told her that she could say yes and things would be okay.

      "I wouldn't mind at all..."

      Okay that was a whole heck of a lot of mush but it was one of the scenes I really wanted in this story so it's here now and it makes me happy so I hope it made you guys happy too. Thank you all again for reading and may the Force be with you!