I haven't been able to reply to reviews, they have not been appearing on the site. As soon as they do, I will reply to all!

And here we have it, everyone, the final chapter. Thank you to all who have followed, read, and/or reviewed! I appreciate it so much :)

Next week I will begin posting "With You, I'm Home," which takes place on Chandrilla, post ROTJ in "Mickey Mouse Canon." But it is all happiness, love, and marriage, my take on what their relationship was like post ROTJ. There are no allusions to anything negative in their future. Some of it conflicts with "Mickey Mouse Canon" because I wrote it before all the details were revealed. I know now that Han and Leia supposedly married on Endor. I'm glad I didn't know then because I don't see that LOL. Anyway, it's my "fix" for all the negativity. I hope you will read and enjoy it :)

But, for now, this is the end...

###

Atop the Millennium Falcon, Han and Chewie worked frantically to repair the central lifter. Since the discovery of the Imperial Probe Droid, Echo Base was bustling with the activity of evacuation. He had known he would be leaving at any time…but, now that the time was here, something inside him settled into a deep ache.

"Han!"

He looked up at the sound of Leia's voice. She was standing on the ground before the Falcon, staring up at him with large, sad eyes.

"Be right back, Chewie." He made his way to the edge of his ship, dropped to the hangar floor, and ambled to where Leia stood. He wondered if he looked as sad as she did. The air between them seemed to shimmer.

"Be careful," she said with quiet seriousness.

"You, too. Don't wait too long to get to your transport."

"I won't."

He didn't believe her. "I'll be back."

She glanced to the floor, brow furrowed.

He took a step closer, careful to keep a respectable distance between them. "I will," he reassured with conviction.

Her eyes returned to his and he wished he could erase the worry from them. "I'll miss you," she said breathlessly.

Han glanced around to see that, although the hangar was filled with Rebel personnel, no one was close by. "I'll miss you, too." There was so much more he wanted to say, but he lacked the courage. If they were alone, at least then he could take her in his arms and show her the depth of his feelings. But these, their last moments together, possibly forever, would have to remain restrained. He hoped fervently that he could survive his encounter with Jabba and make it back to her. If he died, he certainly wouldn't know the difference. But, he didn't want her to be hurt by the loss.

Leia stepped close to him and he expected a platonic hug, something befitting the departure of a friend. Instead, he was shocked when her hand reached behind his head, pulled his face close to hers, and she pressed her lips to his in a long, passionate kiss. For several seconds, he was too surprised to respond, just stood there allowing her to kiss him. Then he recovered his wits and placed his arms around her, crushing her to him and grinding his mouth against hers with all the emotion he had been tightly restraining. The hangar, the Rebels, all else fell away in deference to their last, bittersweet moments together.

At the parting of their lips, Leia remained in his arms and they stared into each other's eyes. Three years of memories flew through his mind in an instant. The first moment they met, amidst the firefight on the Death Star; he supposed from that moment they had been inevitable. Their first night together on Yavin…her soft, yielding innocence. The evening she had come to him, speaking of pleasure and surrender, finally giving in to what they both wanted.

Abruptly, he remembered where they were and a small, pleased smile tugged at the corners of his lips. She smiled back with sad eyes and it brought him back to the meaning of this moment.

"I have to get back to the Command Center," Leia said gravely.

Visage now as serious as hers, he nodded.

Her eyes scanned his face. "Don't say good bye," she whispered.

His fingers gently cradled her chin. "Of course not, Princess." He paused meaningfully. "I'll see you soon."

Blinking back sudden tears, her voice grew husky. "Soon."

Han kissed her one last time, his hand firmly holding her head in place to receive his passion. Not for the last time, he told himself. Not even close. Finally, he let her go and she stepped away. With a deep sigh and eyes filled with despair, she turned and walked heavily through the hangar.

He watched her go, saw her turn back at the entrance to the corridor. She gave one last, small wave and was gone. He felt as if she had taken his heart with her. Nothing in his life had ever felt quite so markedly poignant before.

He stared at the spot where she had disappeared far longer than he should have then forced his thoughts back to his ship with a sigh. As he moved to turn towards it, he became keenly aware of how many eyes were on him. Although everyone in the hangar continued about their business, some stared openly, while others glanced at him periodically. He noted a few smiling faces. Brushing off their scrutiny, Han returned his attention to the Falcon and realized that Chewbacca was also staring at him. He scowled up at the Wookiee's position on top of the ship.

"What're you lookin' at, Furface? Let's get this bucket moving."

###

"The Command Center has been hit. Repeat, the Command Center has been hit."

The announcement blared over the base-wide comm system before another spray of ice and snow rained down on the Falcon. They had finally gotten the ship ready for lift-off.

But, he couldn't go just yet. Han knew, just knew, that Leia was still in the Command Center. She was too stubborn and determined for her own good. There was no way he could chance it, he had to be sure she made it to her transport.

"Chewie, I'll be back." Han heard the Wookiee's soft bark of encouragement at his back. He knew his friend understood. He understood better than anyone what Leia meant to him, without Han ever speaking the words.

He took off at a jog in the direction of the Command Center. If he had to, he would drag Leia bodily from the room. She had to get to her transport. Once she was on board, he could lift off and go face Jabba. This was the easy part…

END