Disclaimer: All George's.

A/N: Han's PoV, after being rescued from Jabba's.

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The first thing Han sees, truly sees, is her.

His cabin is dim and the Falcon hums to life all around him as they take off yet again to whatever the powers-that-be have in store for them. And there she is, standing in front of him in an outfit even he would call trashy, with a silence between them that even Threepio would notice.

There's a collar around her neck and he's positive she hasn't worn anything this revealing in… ever. She standing bare before him, more bare than she ever was on those nights that seem like a lifetime ago, nights so distant he can't help but stop and wonder if the carbon freeze didn't addle with more than his eyes.

There's a slump in her shoulders and her eyes are dark and she's a princess dressed in whore's clothing. But there's something about her that is simply wrong and he knows it's not just the clothing. She looks different, as though her skin were pulled too tightly across her bones, barely containing her, cracks already forming around her eyes, her mouth. She looks tired and old and the shadows across her face startle him as much as they concern him. Something has changed since last he saw her and he doesn't know if it's a matter of her stretching or his eyes finally opening.

Because she's standing there, a living tragedy before his eyes, and Han knows.

They're not so different beneath it all.

End