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Topic:
While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU) Updated 7/10/05
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Jedi Gryph Grin
Registered:
Sep '99
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Date Posted:
1/24/01 8:12pm
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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I just happened to stumble across this thread and I just wanted to say that I think you have a good thing going here.
The interaction between Leia and Chewie, along with their inner thoughts concerning Han's possible (?) demise was very well written as well as emotionally stirring...it really got me thinking "what if..."
Anyway, I'm babbling now, I look forward to reading more!
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ACCIO FIREBOLT!!!
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StonedRose
Registered:
Jan '01
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Date Posted:
1/24/01 8:43pm
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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Thanks again for your feedback! I *really* appreciate it. 
I just want to make a quick author's note; the chewie and leia scene took place *weeks* after the Lando one. Not *months*. I meant to fix that but I guess I got too distracted fixing the italics. Oh well....
Now onto the next part....(am I the only one who gets butterflies doing this??)
---Seven Standard Years Later---
The cold biting winds of the Tatooine desert were relentless in their furious trek across the desolate landscape. The expansive sky was dark and foreboding, and Mandell Malcolm tightened the wrap around his head as if to further protect himself from the storm. He raised a hand to shield his eyes as he peered across the dunes. In the distance he could make out the dark outline of his partner, Xavier Ross. Beyond him there was nothing but the continuing vast grayness of the sky.
Malcolm gave the younger man an encouraging wave, even as dark doubt began to cloud his being. The two men had been combing the desert for several weeks now in search of imperial artifacts or anything else that might be of value on the open market. So far they had had poorer luck than they had anticipated. Aside from the charred remains of an old ship a few miles back, their detectors have been unable to pick up anything else of real value. Not that the wrecked ship was a complete waste. Malcolm was sure they could get atleast a few good credits from the scant pieces of scrap metal they were able to salvage from deep beneath the sand.
But it wasn't enough.
These were tough days for the desert planet. Although the Empire had been destroyed almost seven years previously, the prosperity of the rest of the systems had yet reached this dark corner of the galaxy. Poverty ran rampant across the land. Even in the once thriving cities like Mos Eisley, one could find homeless families of several species on every street. Beggers flocked to the off world spacers in wide eyed desperation, trying to sell them useless cheap knick knacks of every size. //May I show you around sir? Perhaps sing you a song?// Anything for a credit. Anything for a meal.
It hadn't always been this bad. Tatooine never thrived, but it was never this low either. Malcolm estimated that the planet took a turn for the worse around ten years ago. When a sect of the Empire landed down at the spaceport in search of two droids and never left. It was as if that garrison of stormtroopers had been able to walk through the cities and small outpost towns and single handedly sap them of all their vitality and remaining wealth. For everytime the troops had tightened their grip of control on the modest planet, the defeated natives had lost a little more life.
It was this extreme poverty that had now forced the two men to scope the desert in search of any remains. When the Imperial troopers were pushed off the planet six years ago, leaving absolute devestation in their wake, the peoples of the planet wasted no time in destroying all reminders of the once-present empire. Everything was burned. Huge celebratory bon fires were held. Joyous aliens of every species would gleefully toss in tarnished trooper helmets, or used imperial packs. But of course they couldn't get rid of the greatest evidence of all: the utter impoverishment of an entire planet.
It was these artifacts of the empire that were *not* destroyed, that Malcolm and Ross were now looking for. Old stormtrooper gear could now be worth a lot. There were certain collectors who would now offer up thousands of credits for anything that was bona-fide imperial. It in a way made Malcolm's stomach turn in disgust, but he was never one to turn away from what could be a genuine gold mine of opportunity.
In the distance, Xavier continued to comb the area with his sensor. He too was feeling discouraged. He was about to turn back around towards Malcolm when his sensor lit up and let off an insistant beep. The young man squinted in disbelief as he began to make out a small opening in the rocky ravine up ahead. As he pushed his way towards it, his body fighting the stinging wind of the desert, the loud beeping became more urgent. Xavier's heart began to pound in excitement. It looked like a dwelling of some sort. This could be big. But he wanted to be sure. He needed to be positive he had stumbled upon something of value before he alerted Malcolm. It was not worth getting his hopes up if it was going to be for nothing. With one final wave to the older man behind him, Xavier pushed onward into the black cave.
Malcolm squinted in confusion as his young partner disapeared from view. //What in the worlds was that kid doing?// The older man swallowed a groan of frustration. The fierce winds of the sandstorm were not letting up and it was beginning to take a toll on his blistering skin and his plunging morale. Malcolm was about to reach for his comlink and demand the young man to come back when the comm squawked to life on its own.
"...Sir, do..copy?"
Malcolm pressed the link to his mouth, "Yeah kid, I'm here. What's going on?"
"...something. Big. Come..quick."
The torrent winds were causing major interference and Malcolm struggled to make out the words of his partner through the deafening static. "What did you find?"
"..dwelling....collection....pretty valuable. You should... over here!"
Malcolm suddenly felt his body lighten with anticipation. //The kid had actually found something! They were gonna be rich! They were gonna be rolling in it! And best of all they were going to finally get off planet!// The older man suddenly felt giddy as he took off in a sprint, his legs stubbornly stumbling through the deep sand. //Xavier did it! He did it!//
Malcolm wanted to let out a joyous whoop, and if he had still been a young man, he probably would've offered up a celebratory black flip as well. He couldn't believe his luck might actually be turning around. The mere possibility of flying off this sandtrap was enough to make him drunk with happiness.
Malcolm was almost all the way to the black opening when his com link squawked to life again. He pressed the link tightly to his ear as he tried to make out the squabbled voice of his friend. "What was that Xavier? I didn't copy."
"..gods....body....met...."
Malcolm approached the cave. "Xavier," he yelled urgently, "repeat. I didn't copy." Again, he held the comlink up against his ear, his frustration mounting as the static buzzed through the communicator.
But as Malcolm passed under the lip of the cave the garbly voice of his friend came through with sudden clarity. "Sir, I repeat, I found something." The young man's voice rang with alarm, "But I- I don't know what to make of it."
"Calm down Xavier, I'm on my way. What is it?"
"Well...." he hesitated, searching for the right words, "Uh it appears to be a human being."
Malcolm's heart dropped and his pace slowed. Someone had beat them to the loot? But how? He tried to cover his disapointment as he pressed on the comlink, "Someone's there? A man? Is he alive? What?"
"That's just it sir, I don't know."
//Huh?// Malcolm scrunched his face in confusion. "How can you not know Xavier??"
"Sir, uh, it seems that the man..." The apprentice swallowed, "well he appears to be stuck in some kind of metal."
*to be continued...*
-----signature-----
"I got no car and it's breaking my heart, but I've found a driver and that's a start."--the Beatles Check out my Han/Leia fic: http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=1773937 Last Updated: 7/10/05
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Rokangus
Registered:
Oct '00
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Date Posted:
1/24/01 9:31pm
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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Wow! 0_o
Just saw this for the first time. You got somethin' going here.
BTW, what ever happened to Luke in all this. Han was always like his big brother; I would've thought he'd make an appearance.
Or am I jumping to conclusions?
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Spiders and Butterflies: http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=11471877
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StonedRose
Registered:
Jan '01
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Date Posted:
1/24/01 10:11pm
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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"Patience my young padawan" ;-)
But I'm glad you liked it.
-----signature-----
"I got no car and it's breaking my heart, but I've found a driver and that's a start."--the Beatles Check out my Han/Leia fic: http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=1773937 Last Updated: 7/10/05
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HaiGan
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
1/25/01 12:30am
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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Seven *years*! Oh Force! I wonder if Leia has gone and found someone else in all that time? Eeep!
I liked the thought you put into what would happen in the aftermath of the Empire's fall, Stoned Rose. Not many people seem to think about the economics of the situation; and the bit about Imperial relics fetching high prices with some collectors was spot on.
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"You Can Run But You Can't Hide" A tale of friendship, healing, and Corellian fast food http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=17272301
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Jane Jinn
Registered:
Jan '00
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Date Posted:
1/25/01 1:37am
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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Wow, Han's been stuck in the desert for seven years? No, not in the desert, he's in a cave or dwelling of sorts, didn't you say? That means somebody--or something--put him there. Who? What? And why?
I also liked how you depicted the situation on Tattooine and how the stormtroopers had seemed to suck life out of the cities there. That was well thought out.
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Mostly retired now
Just making the occasional guest appearance
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princess-sari
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
1/25/01 6:17am
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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Well, ditto what everyone else has already said. Also, I liked the description of the sandstorm--I felt like I could really see the two men wandering through the desert, then one of them disappears inside a cave and the other follows. I also liked the detail about how the commlink connection was staticky (sp?) until Malcolm entered the cave and then all of a sudden got clear.
Poor Han--seven years in carbonite. I bet he's going to be really sick when they let him out this time!
Oh, and I get butterflies, too. I posted my first story last night and my hands were actually shaking, believe it or not.
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More Than Shadows -- The Handmaidens in Episode 2!! -- 6/14/02
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juwannajedi
Registered:
Mar '00
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Date Posted:
1/25/01 6:32am
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it! I knew it!
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Lookin' for love in Alderaan places....
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Marie_Jadewalker
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
1/25/01 6:50am
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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Wow, StonedRose! I'm glad Han has survived the crash. Your description of Tatooine's economic situation was very good. I hope you'll post more soon; I'm anxious to see what's happened to Leia in those seven years.
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I, Jagged: http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=1764638
Finished 5/16/02! 
M_Jw  PDK
Women are evil individually and worse in packs. 
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Mr. P
Title:
- FanFic Archive Editor
- Manager Emeritus
Registered:
Apr '00
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Date Posted:
1/25/01 7:00am
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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Wow! THis is really good... I thought that they had found the Lars' homestead, not Han, when I was reading it... and boy, was I surprised when I found out who it was...
This looks like it'll be really good; I'll keep my eye on this fic.
--Mr. P
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Ghost-of-Spider
Registered:
Nov '00
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Date Posted:
1/25/01 8:48am
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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Keep going we need more Han/Leia stories and so far this is worth reading :-)
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One day I will type something funny in this spot.
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set271
Registered:
Sep '00
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Date Posted:
1/25/01 10:21am
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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Seven years! Makes the title all the more intriguing. Can't wait for the next installment!
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"Your head is big enough to have its own senate."
- Leia to Han, "A Valentine Story"
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Sara_Kenobi
Registered:
Sep '00
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Date Posted:
1/25/01 11:49am
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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All I can say is WOW! Please post more soon!!:)
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StonedRose
Registered:
Jan '01
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Date Posted:
1/25/01 2:25pm
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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Yay, I'm soo glad you guys like it so far. Your feedback keeps me going. Thanks.
I'll do my best to post more tonight, if not, then DEFINITELY tomorrow. "You have my word!"
Thanks again,
Stoned Rose
-----signature-----
"I got no car and it's breaking my heart, but I've found a driver and that's a start."--the Beatles Check out my Han/Leia fic: http://boards.theforce.net/message.asp?topic=1773937 Last Updated: 7/10/05
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LadyCallie
Registered:
Apr '00
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Date Posted:
1/25/01 3:48pm
Subject:
RE: While You Were Gone (Han/Leia AU)
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This is interesting!! I wish Luke was in it though.
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