Fame and Fortune

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Corellia

Han sat down with a heavy thud on the park bench, putting his face into his hands and resting his elbows on his knees. They had just come from another specialist, and the news was the same as six weeks before onboard the Mon Remonda. "That's three death sentences out of three, Chewie," he said tiredly. "No more doctors. I'm done."

*You can't give up...*

"Give up?" Han jumped to his feet, staring at his partner. "How many more times do I have to hear the same story? I've got less than five months, Chewie. I don't want to waste a single more minute of it, so I'm gonna do what I've wanted to do from now on."

*Which is?*

"Get drunk, gamble and find as many willing females as I can." Those words sounded weak, even to his own ears. Leia's face, once again, came floating back into his mind so he tried to resolutely push the memory aside.

*What about the Princess?*

"Shut up about Her Royalness!" Han roared out, not caring that passerby could overhear. Was Chewie Force-sensitive and not admitting it? How did the Wookiee always seem to know exactly what Han was thinking. It was annoying and uncanny. "She's found her true love, and it ain't me." Seeing Chewie's dubious expression, he lowered his voice. "We parted on pretty good terms, considering. I'm glad she's got someone. I just wish the guy wasn't that pretty-boy Hapan slime."

*You barely know him. How can you judge him?"

Han shrugged, thinking back to the unpleasant dinner with the Prince. Maybe he didn't know the guy very well, but he knew Isolder was just like so many other rich beings, always looking down their noses at Han. "It doesn't matter. She can't know anything about this until I'm gone, so promise me that you won't contact her." When Chewie said nothing, Han pressed, "Promise!"

*I promise,* Chewie said, a bit too quickly.

"Or Luke... or anyone else that will let her know," Han said, his lips thinning as he watched his friend shuffle from one foot to the other. "I know you, pal. No shady gray areas with this promise."

*Fine. I will not speak of this to anyone.*

"I want to die onboard the Falcon," Han added softly. "Not in some soul-less hospital. Okay?"

Chewie looked down, wuffing softly in his grief.

Han's mind told him he'd won a battle by extracting those promises, but his heart told him he'd lost the war.

______________

For the next several months, Han and Chewie flew the Falcon from one side of the galaxy to the other. In the beginning, Han spent most of that time gambling and halfheartedly trying to charm women. As the weeks passed by, the Corellian even stopped trying to attract the attention of females, spending more and more time alone in his small berth. Chewie didn't question his friend's actions. He could see Han's health – both mental and physical - visibly decline with each passing week.

One morning, a few days after landing back on Corellia, Chewie rapped softly on his friend's door and when there was no answer he quietly entered the berth. *Han?* The Wookiee shook Han's shoulder and got no response. Chewie had spent the last days putting a cool wash cloth over his friend's forehead, trying to soothe the fever, and Han had refused any food during that time. They both knew time was growing short. Now, for a brief, horrifying moment, Chewie thought Han had already died, but then saw the human's chest rising up and down slowly. Try as he might, the Wookiee could not awaken his partner.

Desperate, and despite his earlier promise, Chewie scooped Han into his arms and rushed to take him to the nearest medical center. Maybe, just maybe, all was not lost. A miracle still might happen... someone might have the answer and the cure.

At the Galaxy-class medical center the human doctors hooked up the dying former smuggler to machines and tubes, and for long hours Chewie sat at Han's side. It took a kindly, older doctor wearing the name tag identifying himself as "Doctor Belvolus" to convince the Wookiee to take a break. It was late at night, and Han's vital signs were steady. "He'll still be here in the morning, Chewbacca," the old doctor said, patting Chewie's shoulder. "Go get some rest and come back in a few hours."

Reluctantly, Chewie agreed, never knowing it would be the last time he saw his friend alive.

_________________

Space, over Corellia, one week later...onboard the Millennium Falcon

Chewie looked at Luke Skywalker and General Lando Calrissian, the only two people he'd invited to attend this terrible event. *Thank you for coming to his funeral.*

Luke nodded, not quite trusting himself to speak. Glancing over at his friend's still body, covered with a sheet and lying on a cot in the center of the hold, he cleared his dry throat, then asked, "I don't understand what happened at the hospital."

*Neither do I,* Chewie growled unhappily. *I left for a few hours, and Han was still alive, although he wasn't conscious. Then, when I returned, the personnel were all in a fluster, claiming they had lost him.*

"They meant he died?" Luke questioned, puzzled.

*No. They lost him, as in they had no idea where he was. Han just disappeared. It was quite the panic, and I was furious. A few hours later, they located his body in the morgue and everyone assumed he died while I was out, and some medical droid removed the body without informing anyone.* Chewie shook his head in disgust. *They are totally incompetent. I should sue them.*

Chewie continued, *I am planning on sending Han's body into Corellia's primary, along with the Falcon." He looked pointedly over at Calrissian. "You don't have a problem with this, do you?*

"Of course not," Lando said quickly, putting up his hands. "It was his ship. It's appropriate."

"I'm not looking forward to telling Leia this news," Luke muttered.

*She's less than five weeks away from her wedding day,* Chewie shot back, annoyed. *I doubt she will give it much thought.*

Luke glanced up at the Wookiee, understanding his anger but knowing he was wrong. Leia would be devastated.

Together, the three friends moved from the Falcon over to Lando's ship, The Lady Luck, and detached the connecting tube. They stared out of the front viewport as a pre-programmed jump took the Falcon directly into the primary of Corellia, quickly dissipating into a small flare. Watching what should have been the end of Han Solo, Luke felt a strange nudge from the Force, seemingly telling him it wasn't over for his friend, not by a long shot.