That's no moon... Wait, no, it's a moon.

[scruffier]

In which Our Heroes (?) stop for blaster practice, assuming the kids can stop bothering each other for two minutes, so help me, I will turn this light freighter around and we will not get ice cream.

Comments

[passingthrough]

Such a suspicious way of saying that about the toes...

"Things have always been really complicated for your family, haven't they?" There's a sympathetic look.

So many things she could ask for follow up on here. But Han is the one she knew first. The one who took her in when she was feeling lost and gave her some direction such as it is. "How did you get unfrozen?"

[scruffier]

"I knew what I was getting into by the time I married her."

Han's side of the family is simple, which is to say, all gone.

"Lando helped Leia and Chewie get away from Bespin. They took the ship, rescued Luke after he faced Vader, and eventually they came and found me."

[passingthrough]

"What had been happening to you?" She's kind of assuming torture. Was it torture?

[scruffier]

Don't be silly, Kitty. He's already politely skipped over the torture part.

"I was still frozen, Jabba had me on a wall. They caught us on our way, but eventually we escaped. Went back to the Rebel Alliance."

[passingthrough]

She's been cheated again!

"I have a feeling 'eventually we escaped' is glossing over quite a bit. Jabba never went after you again?" She doesn't even think to ask how long he was frozen. She assumes it's a matter of days.

[scruffier]

"You'd be better off asking Leia," he says wryly. For once he has an excuse for the lack of detail. "Hibernation sickness meant I was blind for most of it. Jabba didn't survive the scuffle."

Frankly, having heard a few descriptions of the whole affair, Han is more upset to have missed the sight of Leia strangling that overgrown maggot than anything.

[passingthrough]

"How long were you blind? Wait, how long were you hibernating?" No, answer them both. And be thankful you said to ask Leia, if it had been Luke she'd have to take a shot.

[scruffier]

"I guess it was a day or two til my sight came back. I was under... About a year, I guess."

Luke was there for much of it, but Leia was the one to take him out of stasis. In spite of how awful the story is, and how much he doesn't like talking about it, the memory of his wife risking her own life for him... someone who loves you... It's nearly enough to make him smile.

[passingthrough]

Okay, her eyes widen at that. "A year? What were they waiting for?" Yes, she's annoyed at people she either doesn't know or barely knows for something that happened a long time ago that he seems perfectly recovered from now.

[scruffier]

It makes him start and stare at her a moment.

"There was a war on," he points out.

Probably, they shouldn't have come after him at all.

[passingthrough]

"So? If I get frozen in carbon and you wait a year I'm going to be pissed."

[scruffier]

"There were other reasons. They needed to make a plan, to infiltrate the Hutt's organization. Luke lost a hand." And his lightsaber. They'd assumed for good, but somehow things in his life keep coming back around.

"They came as quickly as they could get it together."

[passingthrough]

"It was a whole year of your life." But fine, she's not getting anywhere beating up his wife and best friends. "Did you feel it? The passage of time."

[scruffier]

Talking about this bit is more uncomfortable than the rest. He shrugs a shoulder.

"Coming out of it was the worst part. I don't recommend trying it yourself."

[passingthrough]

She watches him for a long moment before nodding. "I won't." She worries about you, old man. And part of that should probably be not making you dig up past hurts she can't fix now.

[scruffier]

It isn't so bad. There are details he doesn't want to revisit, but the story's long over, the wounds all healed. Lando Calrissian was a better friend after than he ever was before.

There's a long pause of not knowing what more to say.

"Told you it wasn't one of the good ones."

Oops! Didn't see this one.

[passingthrough]

"Yeah, well... Thanks for telling me. I'm here for the good and the bad." But she'll also try and back off the whole story pushing for awhile.

"I think I will go over and see if Chewie is willing to show me the bowcaster."

[scruffier]

There are some things he genuinely doesn't like to speak about; the worst parts of the war, the people they lost. The good stories have gotten harder to tell because being so far removed from it, he feels less like a hero than ever. (And really, assorted medals and recommendations aside, somehow he never really did.) It's not that he doesn't want her to get to know him, it'd just... Be easier if he didn't have to explain some of it.

"I like that thing. Good call."

[passingthrough]

Hero is such a loaded word. She feels more comfortable using 'assassin' or 'vigilante' than she does 'hero' or 'freedom fighter' even though they all carry a level of truth with them for her. She is a hero. She's someone who gives and sacrifices of herself to protect others. She'll go up against impossible odds just because it's the right thing to do. But there's so much blood on her hands and even if it was the blood of the 'bad guys' it doesn't make her feel that much better about spilling it. So she can understand hesitation in embracing it.

"Ben could probably use some more pointers." She smiles at him and steps away.