Okay folks, I've been working on this since Fred tied me to the chair and made me write "I'm Sorry" I spent the entire time I edited that with tears running down my face and I was very wavery about posting it at all. Since that story had, at last count, 86 hits and only five reviews, I am going to assume everyone who didn't review liked it. (I wonder sometimes if all you lurkers know that we authors can see how many times you read our stories?)

I liked it too, and that is why I had to know the answeres to Leia's questions.

This is important, so pay attention! If you haven't read "I'm Sorry" yet, don't read it until you've read the first chapter of this story. If you have read it already, don't worry, I just did this neat suspense thing and reading "I'm Sorry" first kinda ruins it.

Well, the ususal info applies. Ever since I abandoned "from Another World" I don't start posting any story until it is nearly finished so updates might come at anypoint. The speed of chapter posting is directly proportional to the number of reviews posted multiplied my how many minutes in a row I can convince my computer to stay running

So, without further adieu...

"Sorrow Multiplied."

l

Space is cold. She thought, not for the first time, while staring out at the starlines through the viewport of her ship. The lines swirled and twisted into new and more amazing patterns even as she watched. Shivering, the woman pulled a shawl closer around her shoulders. Space travel never used to bother her. When she was young, she had rarely travelled from her home planet but during the last couple of decades she felt she had spent more time in the air than on planet. She knew the ship was temperature controlled and therefore, should be comfortable. The air still felt cold.

Still shivering, but trying to take her mind off the chill, she settled into the pilot's chair and began pulling up information on the console. She was reading about the planet she was going to. Not that there was anything she didn't already know about the planet. The huge city had once been the jewel of the Republic, then it had been the crown jewel of the Empire. Now, it served as a capital for the New Republic, as they were calling it. The Rebel Alliance was trying to rebuild the Republic from the ground up and apparently someone had decided that Coruscant would make a fine example of how everyone could recover.

Snorting at the thought, she cleared the information off the screen. She didn't need to read it again. She practically had it memorized. Sensing that someone was standing behind her, and knowing there was only one other person onboard, she spoke without turning.

"We'll be there shortly."

"I had thought so. No matter how many delays you programed into the Navicomp, we would have had to get there sooner or later. About an hour, right?"

The woman turned and smiled. "I've known jedi who weren't as good as you, Kerinè."

The twenty-year old blushed and sat down. The girl had long blond hair and light complexion that made her appear almost transparent at times. Now, the dim light in the cockpit made her stand out, almost as if she glowed. "I've spent most of my life as a navigator, I know exactly how long it takes to get to Coruscant no matter where you're leaving from or how many detours you program in." She hesitated, "And I know you, Milady. You are dreading this encounter with all your being. Why is it so hard?"

"It's not hard, it's impossible," she pulled her shawl more tightly around her thin shoulders. Every breath caught in her throat and the drum pounding in her breast hadn't slowed sice they left their last fuel stop. She turned to the girl next to her, not sure how to continue.

Kerinè had been but a child when they had met. On one of her less profitable trips, she'd ended up on a backwater world looking for a cargo. She'd found one in a viscious looking man with a largish crate. Knowing it was a bad idea, she'd agreed to carry the thing to another planet in the same system for an exorborant fee. Desperation makes one do stupid things, however, and when she'd heard a strage whining coming from the crate, she'd forgotten her 'no questions asked' policy and opened the crate to find a crying child, no more than six standard years old.

Her mothering instinct, which apparently hadn't died after all, kicked in and she immediately changed course. The child, Kerinè, had stayed on with her, having no other place to go, and had later proved to be wonderful co-pilot. Seeing something special in her rescuer, Kerinè had never been comfortable treating the older woman with the familiartiy she tried to insist upon. Years ago she had finally stopped correcting the girl and had learned to live with the 'miladys' though she woiuld not tolerate anything more formal.

Now, the child, no the young woman, was asking her a question and she felt Kerinè deserved an answer. She had never properly explained why she continually raced aback and forth across the galaxy, from the core to the outer rim, stopping at the same places over and over again and wasting money by making empty runs. She had never allwed the girl to see any of the heavily encrypted messages that she recieved. Kerinè had only rarely even asked, such was her loyalty. Now, she wanted desperately to give the younger woman an answer but she had no idea where to begin.

Deciding to postpone the answers yet again, she said simply, "Arriving is never the hardest part of going home. It's the moment just before you arrive, when you wonder if home even still exists, that your heart stops. I don't even know if my home exists and I'm not sure I have the strength to find out."

Accepting her lack of an answer, Kerinè placed and hand on the older woman's shoulder. "You are the srongest person I have ever known, Milady."

"Perhaps I was once. Now, I'm just another homeless old woman with a bad knee and a blaster. I'm nobody."

Though her expressions were carefully controlled most of the time giving a regale, yet subservient impression, when they were alone together she was prone to giggling as she did now. "You are not even fifty standard years, Milady; and I happen to know your bad knee is just for show."

She sighed. "You know me too well and yet not at all. And my name is not Milady. I've heard far too much of that over the years."

"Yes, Milady."

Sighing, she reached into one of the pockets of her spacer's vest and found a datachip. She inserteded it into the console and tried to brace herself. The video recording had been made about four years ago and she had found it when they had delivered their most recent cargo. For days, it had stayed close to her and yet she had avoided looking at it. Now, she called up the image and allowed it to play.

The image was two-dimensional and played on a flat screen. It had obviously been shot with a personal recorder and from the middle of an audience. The picture jiggled a bit as the being filming it adusted the view to show two men and a very large wookie travelling slowly down the center aisle of the huge room. The recorder panned down to the dais at the far end of the room where it stopped on the image of a young woman with her long brown hair done in complex braids.

Several others stood at the rear of the dais to assist, but the young woman, who was barely eighteen years old, stood mostly alone. The men, soldiers by the uniforms, reached the dais. In turn, both men and the wookie bowed to the young woman who stood regaly as she lowered a medal around each of their necks. The three turned so their backs were to the woman and they all bowed again. Then the image was obscured while everyone stood and applauded. The image swirled dizzily while the user searched for the off switch, and then the recording was over.

Tears ran down her face as she backed the recording up. When all four beings were clearly in the shot and facing her, she zoomed in on the group. Soon, all she could see were the men's faces and the young woman behind them. She adjusted the angle a bit, grateful now that she had bothered to learn how to use this obsolete type of recording. Now only one of the men was in the shot and the woman behind him. She reched out to the image, stopping her fingers just before they reached the screen. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath, and felt it come out as a sob.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when she felt an hand upon her shoulder. She looked over her shoulder as Kerinè hugged her from behind. "I'm sorry, Kerinè. I forgot you were there."

"Milady, you are sorry far too often." feeling very bold, the girl continued, "Who are Princess Organa and Commander Skywalker?"

"My life."

Kerine, released the older woman and settled in the co-pilot's chair. "We will be coming out of hyperspace any minute now. If you like, I can handle it while you freshen up, Milady."

"That would be wonderful." She stood and headed for the doorway. "And my name isn't 'milady,' it's Padmè."

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

"I know I need a break, believe me I know, but I can't igore my duties here..."

Han cut the princess off mid sentence. "'The new republic needs me.' I know, I've heard it before. Leia, you won't do the New Republic any good if you work yourself to death. The war is over. We can all take our time now."

Princess Leia Organa sighed with frustration. "No, we can't. Right now we have to prove to ourselves and to the rest of the galaxy that we can build a new government, a fair one. If we don't start now, we will never be able to unite the galaxy again..."

Again, Han cut her off. "And all the little planets will start squabbling with each other and gloom and doom ensues. Yeah, I've heard it before. It doesn't matter..." At the look of pure hatred on the princesses face, Han backed up. "I didn't mean that. It does matter, but not if you kill yourself before you can prevent it, sweetheart."

Indignation colored her voice when she said, "I am not killing myself."

"Oh yeah? Then what do those fainting spells mean?" At the stricken look on her face, Han grinned wildly. "Yes, I know about that. Threepio tattled and it's a good thing he did."

Leia muttered something about having the traitorous monstrosity of a droid sent to the spice mines of Kessel where he could be useful and Han grinned. "Say that again sometime after you've had a vacation and maybe we'll do something about it Princess."

"I can't take a vacation, Han. I'm needed here." They'd had a hundred similar arguments since the battle of Endor four months ago. They had all been fighting nonstop for the last four years. Now the war was mostly over and every was finally getting the opportunity to let their guard down. Everyone, that is, except Leia. Except now, for the first time, Han had some real ammunition and Leia didn't like it one bit.

"Fine, have it your way your Highnessness." The Correlian turned and stormed off. Leia started to relax, then realized he'd given in far too easily. She sighed wearily, turned the opposite direction, and headed toward her quarters.

Palming the door open, the princess started immediately for the balcony on the other side of her living quarters. She opened the transparent door and stepped out into the cool air. She loved being out here at sunset. The sky lit with such brilliant colors, reds, blues, purples, yellows, silver and gold. Leia leaned against the huge duracrete railing and breathed deeply.

Finally starting to settle her emotions, she reached up and pulled some of the pins from her hair. The long braids fell, still twisted, to hang down her back. Settling into the single chair she kept on the balcony, she tried to relax and get comfortable. Han was right, at least to some degree. She was overworked and it was getting harder and harder to relax in the evenings. Leia tipped the chair back and leaned it against the wall behind her, propping her feet up on the railing.

Her thoughts ran wild and she let them. As always happened when she sat like this, she remembered her Aunts scolding her for not being ladylike. That was precisely why she did it, of course, but tonight the plesant memory didn't work. Tonight it just reminded her that they weren't really her aunts, which was somewhere she didn't want to go.

Standing, she rushed into the apartment and turned on some music. Knowing the apartment was sound-proofed, she turned it up as loud as she could stand and headed for the kitchen. The music did it's job well and the fast rhythm quickly drove all thoughts from her mind. She'd learned when she was young that if she turned the music up loud enough she could forget all the things she was supposed to think about and just be herself.

Now, instead of using the music to escape her duties, she used it to escape the memories that were fighting to make it through to the front of her mind. Memories of Alderaan, of her family, invariably led to memories of the man who had destroyed them and herself as well, all by simply existing.

Leia made some tea in the kitchen and carried it out to the balcony. She settled in her chair again and watched what was left of the sunset. This time, she was able to focus on the sound berrating her ears instead of the memories. Unfortunately, there was still one thing that could get past the pure sound that chased everything else from her mind, and he was headed this way.

Apparently, Han had told on her, because she could feel Luke coming and he was worried about her. Cursing the Correlian, Leia stubbornly refused to move. Her brother had chased her to this balcony before and if he wanted to pester her, he would just have to do it again. Before too long, she felt him enter her apartment. She could hardly touch the force at all yet, but when it came to her twin she couldn't help but sense him when he was this close. Despite the fact that she was more than annnoyed with him, the contact was still comforting. Luke's presence chased the dark shadows from her memories faster than the loud music ever could.

She heard the music go down to a more comfortable level. Without getting up or even turning around, she yelled, "Go away, Skywalker!"

Just as stubborn as she, Luke continued out onto the balcony and jumped up onto the railing. Sitting there, he just stared at his twin.

Too annoyed to hold out, Leia growled at him again. "Go away Luke."

"Why didn't you tell Han you fainted?"

"I'm a big girl, I don't have to tell him every little thing in my life. Besides, why aren't you asking why I didn't tell you?"

"I knew. I felt you pass out. I checked on you while you were still out but I didn't think you wanted me hovering so I left again when you woke up." Luke looked at her innocently.

"Where is that good sense now?" She grumbled at him.

Luke shrugged and kicked his dangling feet. Each time they made contact with the duracrete railing, Leia heard a dull thud. "Han asked me to talk some sense into you, he stilll seems to think I can. He said you haven't been sleeping well either. He's worried Leia, you're over working yourself."

"Not you too!" The thunking of his boots was irriating her to no end and she was pretty sure he knew it. "I am not overworked. I like my job. This is what I trained my entire life to do." She shot a wicked glare at thim "Besides, you're working just as much as I am."

Luke considerd this for a moment. He had been working almost continuously since Endor. At first it had been just research about the Jedi, then he had started learning politics and helping to negotiate witht he more reluctant systems. Now he was doing almost as much as Leia. "I'm a Jedi, I have the force to help me. I won't wear out as quickly as you."

Leia's jaw set stubbornly and Luke sighed. Then he jumped off the railing, thankfully, he also stopped kicking his feet. "I'll tell you what, I'll take a break if you do."

"What?" The suggestion was so off the wall it caught Leia by surprise.

Grinning, the Jedi continued. "We both take a week off, you and I. We can take a vacation." He stood and waked over to sit on the floor in front of her. "We've both been working hard the last few months, we haven't had the chance to spend any time together."

That made her pause. The thought was tempting. She'd only known Luke four years and most of that had been spent in the middle of battle. She had hardly had the chance to know him as her friend, let alone as her brother. Since she still wasn't willing to publically acknowledge the relationship, she hadn't been able to steal away any 'bonding' time.

"Luke, I don't... I can't."

"Why not? And don't say it's because the Republic needs you. That line may work on Han but I happen to know that right now Mon Mothma and the others are pressuring you to take some time off because right now they can spare you."

Leia mumbled something and at Luke's questioning look, she said, "I like to keep busy. I don't know what I'd do with an entire week to myself." I don't know what I'd use to eep the shadows away...

"I've got some travel brochures. We could do anything or nothing, whatever you like."

Leia shook her head. "I couldn't afford something like that even if I wanted to, which I don't."

She felt Luke waver and saw him look down at the duracrete. He was hiding something form her. "What is it now, Luke Skywalker?"

He bit his lip and looked away, then back at her. "Actually, you can. We're both, well, lets just say we're quite well off."

"What in the galaxies are you talking about?"

"Father." Luke said simply. Leia's face turned to a mask of disgust which she quickly controlled. Luke contiued. "About two months ago, a bank contacted me and told me I needed to come collect my inheritence. I guess Father had quite a sum tied up in several investments and somehow it didn't qualify as 'spoils of war' so... Anyway, half of it should be yours but I figured you wouldn't want it so I put it aside for you."

Leia couldn't speak for several minutes. She tried to be angry with him and found she couldn't. He was obviously very upset, and slightly embarrased, about the whole thing and somehow she just couldn't be angry with him. After more deepbreaths than she could be bothered to count, she finally got her voice under control. "Thank you. You're right, I don't want it."

"I figured. Someday, you'll have a very good use for it, when that day comes, it will be there. In the mean time, you're making a handful of investors very, very, very, happy." Luke grinned and Leia wondered exactly how much money was there. She didn't ask. Instead, she just shook her head slowly at her brother and resumed their earlier conversation.

"I can't Luke."

"Yes you can. Six nights, we go somewhere else, anywhere else, and pretend we have absolutely nothing better do to than sip drinks and play holochess. It'll get Han and everyone else off your back." Luke grinned at her. "Do it for me? I've never had a vacation either and it sounds like a terribly boring thing to do by yourself."

Laughing, Leia finally broke. "Okay, I give. I'll go on vacation with you."

She spent that night wondering how he could always get her to laugh and for the first time since endor, Vader did not show up in her dreams.