A/N: A Birthday present for my friend Kelly, based on the song "Suds in the Bucket" by Sara Evans.
Disclaimer: No infringement intended to either George or Sara. No money is being made by the posting of this story.
Plenty Old Enough…
When Luke Skywalker woke up that morning, his clothes still smelling of funeral pyre and Ewok, he knew something wasn't quite right. The sense of evil and foreboding that had followed him for so many years was gone, but there was a slight imbalance of excitement in the camp. The buzz of voices drifted into his temporary tree hut, and they were the voices of gossip.
Sticking his head out between the two pieces of cloth that made his doorway, he almost gave himself a paper cut on the eye. Attached to the left door with a hair pin, was a note in his sister's handwriting:
"Sorry, but I had to go. I shouldn't be gone for too long. Love, Leia."
Luke noticed, at a second glance, that this was not the normal, curvy penmanship his diplomat-sister had so carefully crafted since childhood. Instead, this was the rushed note of a woman who didn't want people to worry.
"Oh no," Luke said, rushing to the next hut. Han Solo had wandered into that hut the night before, slightly inebriated, with Leia politely turning down all his advances. Han Solo, however, was not in his bed now. In fact, nothing of the smuggler remained, except a bunched up blanket and an empty cup.
"Chewie!"
A roar responded from below, and Luke looked over the banister to see Chewbacca surrounded by Ewoks, various soldiers, and the droids, 3PO glowing in the early morning sun.
"Master Luke! You are awake! I warned R2 that this was a bad idea, but he refused to assist in restraining Mistress Leia or Captain Solo…"
Luke put his head in his hands, groaning. Now the buzz made sense; it was getting louder as more people realized the lone Jedi in the universe had finally awoken.
"I'll be right down, 3PO; where's Lando? Or, better yet, Mon Mothma?"
Chewie roared something else, and brought one large furry paw to his face as though he were holding a bottle.
Luke had to chuckle. "Okay, Lando's nursing a hangover. And Mon Mothma?"
Chewie and 3PO both pointed to one of the larger huts.
Luke managed to arrive at the hut in question without killing any Ewoks or himself. Without knocking on the structure, he rushed into the temporary diplomatic headquarters of the Rebellion-turned-Real-Government.
Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar, and most of the military command were standing around, listening to the out-of-breath panting of a private as she tried to explain what had happened at the landing platform.
"…but Princess Leia wouldn't listen when I said no ships were supposed to leave the service; I thought Captain Solo was going to shoot me!"
"Unlikely," Luke said. The group turned around to look at him, and most of their faces asked the same exact question: Where have your friends run off to this time?
"I don't know any more than you do," he told them, handing the piece of paper to Mon Mothma.
"What was she thinking?" Ackbar asked in his watery gurgle as Mon Mothma read the note to herself. "This is when we need Princess Leia the most; there are systems to re-align and nerves to calm. She can't just go…running off!"
"She'll be back," Mon Mothma said, her voice low and sad. "Bail, I'm sure, would not have loved the idea of this, but…she is a grown woman; what are any of us to do?"
"This is Solo's fault," Ackbar countered, taking the paper. "Leia Organa is too grounded to just…leave her responsibilities. What smooth-talking did he use to get her to go with him?"
"Leia Organa Solo," Luke chimed in. Even the terrified private looked up at him, astonished. "That's what they've gone to do, isn't it? They'll be coming back married, if I know Leia and Han at all." He chuckled. "She's probably got her feet propped up on the console of the Falcon right now, arguing with Han about what planetary religions will be acknowledged in the new government.
"Don't worry, Admiral; she'll be back. Han can't keep her away for too long."