The flight back to rendezvous with the rebel fleet, Return of the Jedi.
Han had never been in as much pain as he was in right now. And he was a man coming from a rough past. A man who was tortured, beaten, and starved.
Every part of his body ached from the carbon freeze. His head pounded from an ear splitting headache. He couldn't open his eyes. When he tried, a searing burning sensation could be felt under his eyelids. His ribs throbbed from the frozen carbon encasing him for six whole months. His chest and back burned from the scan grid. Vader wasn't done with him after poking the needles into his chest while forcing Leia and Lando to watch. He turned Han around and repeated the process into his back.
Once the sudden pain passed after waking up, Han began to panic. Where was he? What happened during the time he was gone? Was Leia okay? He wasn't able to see much after she freed him from the carbonite. But he overheard Lando and Chewie discussing what had happened on Tatooine.
Apparently a lot had happened in the effort to rescue him. Lando and Chewie had spent six months tracking Boba Fett to Tatooine. Luke had become a Jedi. And Leia, well Leia didn't handle his absence well at all. She was reckless, impulsive, and defiant. It was a side of Leia he would never imagine. The part of Leia that was 'nonexistent.'
She spent years in the senate with her father before taking the mission to contact General Kenobi, when the plans to the Death Star had fallen into her hands. She was seen by others as a fearless leader, a strong independent woman, and the image of a broken Leia didn't appear to anyone other than himself or her.
On the way to Bespin, Han had seen a side to Leia he'd never seen before. The strong, independent Leia shattered before his own eyes. She was supposed to be the face of the rebellion, and to fear nothing. But not even Leia could defeat the Empire by herself. Han watched as the realization hit her, they were up against the Empire. The Empire that destroyed planets, enslaved people, and sought to rule the galaxy.
During their time alone, Han tore down some of the walls she'd used to guard her heart from him the past three years. He got to see the real Leia. The Leia, that despite losing her home world, she had more courage and strength than himself, and the entire rebellion.
The feelings he had for Leia became unbearable. He couldn't hide them from her anymore, nor himself. They gave into their feelings for each other. Han wouldn't ever go back to his life without her in it.
The feelings Leia gave him were electrifying. Just her smile made his heart beat uncontrollably out of his chest. The taste of her kisses made him wonder every single time, how in the blazes did he end up with her? She so out of his league, she was royalty, whereas he was a smuggler. But Han made a promise to himself, he wasn't going to give her another reason not to love him. He was stubborn by telling her he wanted to leave over and over again. That wasn't going to happen now. She was his home.
Han's thoughts dwelled back on the ear splitting headache making his head pound like a drum. He tried to open his eyes. His eyes burned like hell, and once he got them open, the pain he went though wasn't worth the reward. He could hardly see anything. Leia had told him the hibernation sickness should've worn off by now.
He looked up at the top of his bunk, barely able to distinguish the dim light from the top. Han rolled his head to the side and looked into his cabin. From what he could see, things were much neater than they were six months ago. His clothes from Jabba's palace were folded up and laid beside what he guessed was his blaster.
Han tried to sit up but couldn't. A combination of burning and pure aching kept him from moving upward no more than a few inches. He laid back on his pillow with a groan.
