Leia knew that she was going to get it as soon as things calmed down. It took longer than normal for things to do so because of the whole incident with Mara Jade. Both dad and Vader had told Luke that he most definitely would not be marrying one of the Emperor's hands, and had done so in front of said hand who was still holding the Heart of Fire pendant that Luke had given her as if she wasn't certain what she was supposed to be doing with it.

Mara Jade had then requested clarification on the use of the multiple in the Emperor's Hand bit, and threw one hell of a fit when she learned that she wasn't the only one. Apparently, the Emperor had several one of a kind assistants that he'd trained in the use of the Force and gave the moniker "Emperor's Hand" to, and Vader knew at least five of them. Most, if not all, of the Hands that Vader knew believed that they were the only one, something Vader had found exceedingly amusing.

It was at that point that Mara Jade who wasn't entirely consumed by the Dark Side of the Force quit her job for the Empire then and there and stormed off to dress in something appropriate and get transportation to somewhere that wasn't a sweltering sandpit. Luke followed after the woman he considered to be his future bride in order to comfort her, and had nearly gotten himself stabbed by her for his troubles. If a relationship formed between those two, it was sure to be interesting to say the least.

Eventually, after the group had broken up to deal with various tasks, Vader to get back to what he had been supposed to be doing when he went out to Tatooine which was to inspect some space station or something, Luke to follow after Mara Jade some more, Han, Chewie, and Lando to prep the Falcon for departure, and Fenn Shysa to do whatever it was he did when he wasn't following her around, Leia found herself alone with her father.

For a while, her dad looked too pissed to speak.

"Was it worth ruining your life in order to get Solo back?" he said eventually.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"You killed Jabba the Hutt. His family will come after you. His minions will come after you. They're going to put a bounty on your head so high that every bounty hunter but me, Luke Sintas, and Ailyn will come after you. You will spend a long time on the run until you are able to prove that killing you won't be worth the cost of doing so, and even then you'll still have to look over your shoulder every day until you die. Is Solo of all people worth all that?" he replied, looking upset and worried rather than angry now.

"Yes." she said eventually. Force help her, he was. She loved him. She loved him more than life itself. Even a short life on the run was better than a life without Han.

&!&!&!&!&

Boba Fett turned away from his daughter who undoubtedly already had a death mark on her, blaming himself for what had happened. It had been his fault. If he hadn't played that stupid, immature game with his daughter, and hidden Solo with Jabba, none of this would have happened. Sin had warned him, but no, he had to believe that he was right and that Leia would just get over her crush on the smuggler and find someone more suitable.

To make matters worse, the Mandalore who was absolutely smitten with Leia didn't seem to be above pulling something underhanded to win her affections If he killed Solo, Leia would kill him, which was something he didn't need right now. Especially since the Mandalore had a bunch of friends, and had become even more popular since Mandalore had been freed from Imperial control.

On the surface, Shysa seemed to be a better suitor for Leia than the space bum turned Rebel General, but the fact remained that the man was even older than Solo. Being in his early forties, he was most definitely too old for Leia.

None of that really mattered now though. Solo wouldn't be able to protect Leia, Shysa wouldn't be able to protect Leia, and there was a good chance that even he wouldn't be able to protect Leia, and it had all been his fault.

&!&!&!&!&

Mara Jade stormed away from her exceedingly persistent pursuer, seething at the injustice of it all. She had done things that had gone against her morals, things that had turned her stomach and left her with nightmares, all out of loyalty for a man who had no such loyalty for her, though he had claimed otherwise. She had gone through all she had gone through believing that she had been special, that she had been important, that if she'd just been good enough the Emperor would have actually cared about her.

She knew that Vader hadn't been lying about her not being the only Emperor's Hand. She knew when that monstrosity was lying and when he wasn't, and she could feel that he wasn't at that time. It explained the barely repressed humor that she had sensed from him over the years when she spoke of being the Emperor's Hand during their encounters. He'd known what the joke was long before she did.

The Emperor had never cared for her. As far as the Emperor had been concerned, she was expendable. He had any number of Hands that he could call forth if she failed in her task. He had probably even expected her to either be killed by a Jedi Luke Skywalker during one of her assassination attempts as a test of Skywalker's skill, or by Vader himself after he had learned what she'd done to his son.

She wished she could be there when the Sleemo Emperor came face to face with Luke Skywalker, or Luke Fett rather. It'd be funny to watch that old man's plans blow up in his face when he discovered that the younger Fett wasn't what he'd expected him to be. Chances were, when the Emperor's plans blew up in his face, the rest of him would blow up shortly afterward.

&!&!&!&!&

Darth Vader stepped back aboard the Death Star, knowing that his absence had most definitely not gone unnoticed. When he had learned that his children, Padme's children were in danger, he had gone to them, heedless of the consequences.

He had heard a rumor that one of the Emperor's Hands had been sent to Tatooine in order to assassinate Luke when he came to rescue the Rebel General Han Solo who had been decorating Jabba's Throne Room. Intelligence had indicated that it had been Mara Jade who was both one of the Emperor's most competent hands, as well as the one who had liked him the least who had been sent. He had left the Death Star which he was supposed to be inspecting, calling Fett on the way to Tatooine, prepared to back the Bounty Hunter up should he fail to protect the young man he saw as a son.

He had taken a distinct pleasure in severing the link that insured Mara Jade's loyalty to the Emperor and gave him the ability to control her to a degree after the events in Jabba's Throne room. He had enjoyed the look on the young woman's face as she learned that she wasn't the only Hand, and that she was in fact expendable.

He wasn't too happy that his son had become smitten with the woman, nor was he too happy with the fact that he'd proposed to her. Mara Jade hadn't seemed too happy with these facts either. But, if his son was anything like himself, he knew that he would have his way despite what he and Fett told him, and Mara Jade would eventually become his daughter in law. Hopefully, that day would be a long time in coming.

He wasn't too happy about Leia's pursuit of Solo, but he was a much better pick than many of the other men out there. The man had been thrown out of the Imperial Navy because he was trying to save the life of a slave which was a bonus in his book, even if the slave in question had been captured due to his terrorist activities against the Empire, and therefore was more of a convict. He had shown afterward that he had a sense of honor in his battles against the Empire, which was more than most Rebels had.

If it weren't for the fact that it would break his daughter's heart and destroy what little good will she had towards him, he would still kill Solo irregardless of his positive qualities.

Fortunately for his remaining health, he had arrived back at the Death Star about five minutes before the Emperor did which meant that he wouldn't be punished for not being here to greet the old man. He'd had to rush a bit, but the instant before the ramp of the Emperor's shuttle lowered, he was in position in front of the officers at the head of the troops who had come to greet their leader.

&!&!&!&!&

Luke was alone aboard his ship since Leia had decided to go with Han and join the Rebellion, this time of her own volition. He received a message from the planet Dagobah, apparently the old troll was dying, and wanted to see him one last time.

Despite the fact that the troll was a Jedi, he had decided he'd honor his request. The troll had been nice to him, and hadn't tried to turn him into a Jedi like Kenobi had, not caring that he hadn't wanted to be a Jedi.

Being taken by Kenobi had been one of the most traumatic experiences he'd gone through during his childhood. It had also served to prove that his dad had been telling him the truth that Kenobi would have stolen him from his family if he hadn't taken him first. Who knew what Kenobi would have done to his family if they had continued to refuse his demands?

There was another problem that would have happened had he continued to stay with his Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru. They had been living on borrowed time. Only an idiot would have failed to put together the facts that a Skywalker was living with Anakin Skywalker's step-brother. As soon as someone realized who he was, odds were that he would have been turned over to the Empire so fast that he would have thought he'd teleported.

If that had happened, he would have died, or been made a slave to the Emperor who would have taken great pleasure in using him to hurt or even kill his birth father.

It had all worked out in the end though. His dad had taken him, and the Empire hadn't gotten their hands at him. He had skills that enabled him to survive on his own, and a name that would strike fear in the hearts of his enemies.

&!&!&!&!&

Fenn Shysa angrily slammed the disconnect button on his ship's comm. He'd called the Skiratas in order to arrange a little accident for Solo so he could be there for his sweetheart. Kad had been the one to answer the comm, rather than his uncle Jaing whom he'd been hoping to reach. When he had explained why he wanted Solo dead, Kad replied "You want to marry Leia? Well, get in line."

If it weren't for the fact that he was certain that the Skiratas would kill him, he would arrange a little "accident" for Kad as well.

&!&!&!&!&

Han Solo wasn't smiling after he fielded calls from both Boba Fett and Darth Vader. Both calls said pretty much the same thing, that neither man saw him as a fit suitor for their daughter and that if he ever broke her heart, there wouldn't be enough of him left to identify. He had no intention of letting that happen. Not only for the sake of his hide, but because of the fact that he had fallen deeply in love with Leia, and couldn't see himself hurting the woman who had been willing to risk her life for him.