Coruscant - The Imperial Palace

Luke Skywalker was changing from his exercise attire into his military uniform when his fiance Mara Jade ran in. "I think I lost them for sure this time;" she said with a grin. "If we hurry, we might be able to..."

"Oh no you don't, young lady!" came a gruff voice from the shadows.

Rahm Kota was standing there, his arms crossed over his chest. Mara scowled and said, "You can't be everywhere, old man! One way or another, this is going to happen."

"Of course it is;" said the old general. "After your married."

"Really, Rahm, what's the difference?" asked Luke in exasperation. "It's not like we haven't had sex yet."

"I know;" said the old Master. "But you aren't going to now. Just look at how much progress you two, Leia and Han Solo have made now on your plans. Besides, it's Solo's bachelor party tonight, isn't it?"

Mara scowled at the change of subject. "I will not be denied;" she said before storming out.

Luke sighed and finished getting changed while Kota laughed. It was true. Han was having his party at a game parlor not far from the Palace. There would be fine liquor, sabaac, dice, slot machines and bets on galactic games such as shock ball or swoop races from across the galaxy. Even the reestablished podraces were happening again. The best part, since Luke, with the help of friends from Rogue Squadron and other places, had rented out the entire luxury floor of the building, there would be no real dress code to worry about. The only rule Leia had set for the part was a predictable one - no exotic dancers or pleasure slaves. Han had easily and readily agreed. But that was still a long time away. At the moment, Luke and Kota were heading off to meet Kanan Jarrus and Galen Marek for a meeting with with New Republic Military High Command.

"Are you ready for this, Skywalker?" asked Kota.

Luke groaned. "Yes, I suppose. I just know that Fey'lya is going to crash the meeting - again."

"Probably;" said Kota.

Han gave a grunt as he pulled the power cables that connected dorsal quad laser cannon to the main part of the Falcon. The things had been pretty warn out, causing the cannon to be sluggish. He had finally gotten around to acquiring a new set of cables and installing them - one of several dozen maintenance tasks he needed to complete. "General Solo, where are you?" came a familiar voice.

Han grunted as he hooked up the last cable. "Coming down, Wedge - and I'm not a general anymore. It's Han now."

General Wedge Antilles, former Commanding officer of Rogue Squadron and current commander of the Executor-Class Star Dreadnought Lusankya, chuckled and clapped him on the back. "Are you ready for tonight? The High Command meeting just ended and General Calrissian will be landing in a few minutes."

Han gave one of his trademark smirks and said, "Of course I am. How'd the meeting go?"

Wedge rolled his eyes. "Same as last time. General Grey wants to continue the search for the Warlord X1. Ackbar, Rieeken and Madine, while agreeing that keeping an eye on the numerous Imperial factions is important, insists that Darth Diabolis is much more of a dangerous threat. Of course, Generals Marek and Kota agree, as does Master Jarrus and Luke and Mara are trying to emphasize that letting either task slip could potentially be disastrous. And, just to complicate things, Borsk Fey'lya keeps doing what ever he can to denigrate every statement made by any of them. It's getting ridiculous."

Han chuckled and said, "And that is why I resigned. Anyhow, what are you up to right now?"

Wedge shrugged. "I dunno - I was going to try to contact Iella Wessiri but..." and he shrugged.

"Iella Wessiri?" said Han, trying to place the name. "Wasn't her husband the one who attempted to assassinate Mon Mothma and other members of the High Council while Luke and Leia and Mara and I were on Naboo?"

Wedge nodded somberly. "Yeah; and Iella pulled the trigger that killed him. She's been through the counseling sessions and seems to be doing better but it suddenly seems like she's not interested in meeting for the moment. I heard she'll be at Leia's bridal shower though."

"Maybe that will help;" said Han as he grabbed a set of power regulators. "Come on; give me a hand with some of this and we'll be done before it's time to get ready for the party."

Wedge looked down at his uniform and asked, "You got some coveralls or something?"

Han just laughed and got to work.

Leia was rubbing her temples as she headed back to her office. Yet another High Council meeting, on the heels of a Military High Command Meeting no less, and she was so frustrated. More than anything, she wanted to have the knew senate set up but that was years and years away. Behind her, Winter Retrac said, "All the plans are laid for Captain Solo's party. Would you like me to send someone to keep an eye on them all for you?"

Leia laughed and said, "No need for that, Winter. I trust Han, even if I don't necessarily trust all of his guests."

As they reached the office, Mara met them. "Hey Leia. How was your meeting?"

Leia just shook her head. "Don't want to talk about it."

"Fair enough. Anyhow, I was thinking, do you and Winter and maybe one or two others want to go out for drinks tonight - a private party where there wouldn't be thirty other women."

Leia was about to reject the idea when she paused. A private party with her best friend, her future sister-in-law actually sounded wonderful. "What did you have in mind?" she asked.

Mara grinned and said, "There's an upscale bar not far from Vader's old fortress. We can go there - get all dressed up, get drinks and just let loose. Not too loose, though."

Leia laughed and said, "Alright, who else would be coming?"

"I was thinking Mesa Lorilli, if you didn't mind, Nisotsa and Iella Wessiri."

Leia nodded vigorously. She and Iella had become friends shortly after Trioculas's attempt to steal Coruscant from the New Republic. Iella, after finding her husband in Isard's prison, had learned from him that many of the prisoners had been turned into spies via brain twisting, an operation where Isard brainwashed her prisoners to be activated at a later time. Iella and a few others had put together a team and managed to identify all of them just in time for her husband to attempt to assassinate the members of the High Command. Iella had blasted him just in time to save Mon Mothma but it was only after the fact that she realized that it was her husband.

Leia was slightly hesitant. "Are you sure this is something that she would want to go to? It's only been eight months."

Mara shrugged. "If she doesn't want to, I don't plan to force her - just to invite her. Maybe getting out will help her have a little fun."

Leia nodded and said, "That sounds good."

Seventeen hundred local time rolled around and Luke arrived at the hanger to pick up Han and Wedge in a flashy airspeeder. They were both dressed in clean clothes and had scrubbed off the grime from working on the Falcon. "Ready to go?" asked Luke. "Lando and a few of the others are already there."

"Sounds great;" said Han. "Chewie will be along later with a couple of friends from Kashyyyk. Shoran and Salporan are a couple Wookiees I invited to be there. Besides, the three of them can enjoy themselves while we human and near-human types do what we do."

They piled in and Luke took off. After parking and making their way up to the luxury room, Han was surprised to see who all was there. There was Lando Calrissian of course, as well as another four members of Rogue Squadron. There was also Nien Nund as well and General Crix Madine, whom Han didn't remember ever seeing in civilian clothing. Lieutenant Page was there too with a couple of other commandos. Kyle Katarn and Wade Vox finished out the list. "Thanks for making it, everyone;" said Luke. "first, let's fill our glasses with our honored guest's favorite beverage."

A big bottle of Whyren's Reserve was passed around and tumblers were filled. "To Han Solo;" said Luke with a broad grin. "Imperial pilot, smuggler, rebel, general and hero - may he be blessed with a successful marriage and years of happiness with my wonderful sister - or I may have to maim him."

They all laughed and drank and the fun began. Han, Kyle, Lando, Nien Nund and, surprisingly, General Madine, sat down for sabacc. The Rogues immediately went and started on a far older game called Pazaak which was similar but with slightly different rules. Wade and Luke jumped in to play with Page and his commandos at a military strategic simulator game. An hour in, Luke went around, checking that everything was going smoothly. Wedge was sitting alone and watching the swoop races on Telos IV. "All good, Wedge?" Luke asked.

His old friend gave a broad grin. "Absolutely, Luke. Hey, when is the food supposed to get here?"

"In a few minutes or so. I hope you're in the mood for spicy food."

Wedge laughed, "I'm Corellian, Luke. We always like spicy food."

Leia, Mara, Mesa, Nisotsa, Winter and Iella stepped through the doors of the establishment dressed to kill. Every eye turned on them and gaped rather tactlessly. Mesa pretended not to notice but anyone with eyes could tell that she was basking from the attention. All five of them sat down around a table and waited for a waiter or waitress. After almost a minute of what appeared to be an argument going on just outside the kitchen as to who was going to wait on them. "Well this should be interesting;" murmured Mara.

Leia chuckled as a young, attractive man came over with a polite smile, a stack of menus and sets of utensils. "Good evening, Ladies. It's an honor and pleasure to have such distinguished guests as yourselves here. What can I start you with as far as drinks and perhaps some appetizers?

"Got this;" said Mara with a brilliant smile. "How about glasses of wine all around? The lady in white and blue and the lady in white and red will have an Alderaan Merlot apiece if you happen to have any. The lady in dark blue will have a Tarisian wine - dark, please. The lady in green and myself will have glass of Corellia Sheri. What should we get to eat, ladies?"

Leia lifted a finger. "How about a big plate of fried tuber sticks with the spicy orange sauce?"

They all nodded their heads eagerly. Mara lifted a hand as well, "And a large order of those breaded cheese sticks as well, please! Can't get enough of those."

Their waiter finished tapping on his datapad and smiled gallantly. "I'll have those right out for you, ladies. Please allow me to say that you all look absolutely terrific!"

They all thanked him with smiles and he hurried off. Mesa giggled. "I like men in the New Republic. They're so bold while still maintaining respect for whomever they're speaking with."

Mara chuckled, "For the most part, you're right. They have no reservations about voicing their opinions. The problem is that out here, some of them can be down right nasty, rude or crude about it. The good news is that, for the most part at least, they are a better sort here on Coruscant."

Leia nodded and sighed wistfully. "The men were like that on Alderaan too."

Mara nodded, her eyes ever so slightly distant. "Back in the Imperial court, away from the reality of the degradation that was going on in the galaxy where I got to pretend to be a glorified ball-room ornament for the emperor, men were mostly polite, even if they were terribly haughty and arrogant. At the very least, their tones were very polite, even if their words were self glorifying."

Leia chuckled and shook her head and Mesa pulled a face. "At least they had some gumption. Men in the Hapes Consortium are dull and not at all creative. You've met Kondor, haven't you? He was my servant and my consort for awhile. I let him go to become a Jedi. Anyway, he was probably one of the most creative men I've ever met."

Mara stifled a snicker. "Seriously? He was?"

Kondor was very formal most of the time. He was muscular and handsome, of course but had a minimal sense of humor and was, in general, a rather bland individual. When people spoke to him, especially women, he tended to be very meek and adherent to almost whatever they said, never arguing about anything.

"Yes;" sighed Mesa. "I actually chose him to be my consort for his sense of humor, if you'll believe it."

Mara, Leia and even Winter burst into laughter.

"You see?" said Mesa. "That is the state of masculinity in the Consortium. It's absolutely ridiculous."

Iella even chuckled a little bit. "Under the Empire, it was quite different. Even on Corellia, while I was part of CorSec, the Imperial Security Bureau agents liaising with us had no respect for me or for our female superiors. If you were in the Imperial military, you had to scratch, kick and claw your way into positions of notoriety."

"And yet;" said Mara, lifting a hand, "that attitude gave such wonderful gems like Admiral Daala, wherever she disappeared to after Tarkin was done with her, Ysanne Isard, Governor-turned-Admiral Pryce and so on."

"So essentially, to really make it anywhere, you had to be some high-level muckity-mucks lover;" said Mara with another snicker.

Leia frowned. "Who was Pryce a lover too?"

Mara just gave a wink before saying, "However, we also got such wonderful women as Kasan Moor and myself, let's not forget."

It was Leia and Winter's turns to snicker. Mara frowned and was about to ask them both what was so funny when their drinks and appetizer's arrived. The young waiter served them with a flourish and a smile. "Thank you, honey;" said Mara with a wink.

The waiter blushed and managed to stutter out some kind of variant of 'you're welcome' before hurrying away.

Mara chuckled and then turned back to them. "So what was so funny about that statement?"

"Because you and Kasan have a lot more in common than that you were both Imperials;" said Leia casually.

Mara saw the shine of amusement in Leia's eyes. "Oh yeah?" she asked, "like what else?"

Winter began to consider allowed as she gathered some of the tubers and cheese sticks onto her plate. "You are both expert pilots. You were both woman of some importance in the Empire. You both defected, mostly because of one individual."

Mara's green eyes widened. "Really? Luke got Kasan to defect?"

"Not directly;" said Leia. "But he was the one who interrogated her and declared her trust worthy. But you two also have something in common with Winter regarding dear Luke."

Mesa suddenly began to giggle and even Iella began to look highly amused. Winter's face actually flushed just slightly and she looked a Leia with a slightly more perturbed expression than normal. "This coming from the woman who smooched him at least once - her own brother, by the way."

Mara and Leia both gasped, albeit for different reasons. Leia all but blurted, "You said you'd never say anything about that, Winter!" while Mara blurted at the same time, "So wait, you and Moore were with Skywalker?"

Winter sipped her wine and said, "We also said that we would keep my former relationship with General Skywalker as confidential as possible, now didn't we Princess?"

Mara suddenly registered what Winter had said about Leia and Luke and turned to Leia, "Did you and Luke-"

"No!" gasped Leia, "By the stars of Alderaan, NO! That's absolutely gross!"

Mara sighed with relief. "Okay, okay. I just had to ask."

Mesa and Iella had been glancing back and forth during the exchange, wondering whether to try to change the subject. Since the conversation had ended, Mesa said cheerfully, "Well this is all quite scandalous isn't it! I always thought of Luke Skywalker as a chaste individual."

Mara and Winter both chuckled at that. "Way back, almost immediately after Yavin, he and I had a relationship that lasted a few months. I simply decided that a relationship wasn't what I was looking for during that time. I was emotionally shattered after Alderaan and Luke had been so kind and compassionate, I guess I just gravitated to him."

Mara nodded with a small sigh. "I can understand that. Luke does have that draw on people, though not always in the same way. But what about Kasan?"

Leia chuckled. "Kasan was his twelfth squadron member before Hoth. They snuck around in their relationship but it all went sideways and pretty much ended after Luke vanished after the battle. They didn't know if he had been captured or killed or what and Kasan, as you can imagine, was out of her loving mind with worry. When he came back and explained that he had just decided to leave without any kind of report, you can imagine how that made Kasan feel."

Mara gave a snort. "I would have killed him."

Leia snickered. "No you wouldn't. You'd beat him to a bloody mess and yell at him and not talk to him for a day or two but then..." and Leia trailed off with a shrug and a knowing smile.

Mara glared for a moment before conceding. "You're right. Then I'd toss him into a bacta tank so that he could hurry up and heal so that I could kriff him."

"Too much information, Jade;" said Iella, shaking her head.

They all laughed and drank and ate as the night went on, just enjoying spending time together.

Han was on a roll again. He had never been a professional gambler but even so, he was a first rate card player. It's how he had won the Falcon and how he had gotten disgustingly rich in the lower levels before the whole Dothamir fiasco. By the time the night was over, it looked like he was going to be even richer. Wedge had already quit for the night, having lost over half his paycheck. Lando, in an apparent bid to win the Falcon back, had tried to get Han to bet it. Instead, Han had wagered a ship he had purchased for an operation that had never happened. Even after he lost, Lando was a little irritated that Han had bet 'his ship' without betting the Falcon.

Han laughed, "Oh come on, Buddy! It's almost exactly the same trick you pulled when I first won her."

Lando just humphed and signed over his beautiful, heavily modified E9 Explorer. Lando had been planning to use the ship as a surveying ship to find uninhabited or lightly inhabited worlds rich in minerals and such. Now that wasn't going to happen apparently. Suddenly, a woman came into the room and made a beeline for Han. Chewie, Shoran and Salporan intercepted her with angry growls. "Hi there;" she said brightly. "I just wanted to get a couple moments of Captain Solo's time to get a few quotes from him about his upcoming wedding."

Han scowled but then relaxed. He was pleasantly buzzed and had just made a tidy some of money on sabaac. Besides, Leia had told him to be nicer to the press ever since he threatened top rip the horns a Devaronian reporter on live holo-cams. "Alright, Lady, you get exactly three questions. If I dislike just one of them too much, my large friends here will break your recorders and datapad and eject you into the stairwell. Clear?"

Totally unfazed, she said cheerfully, "Of course, Sir. Thank you so much for this opportunity. Okay, first question: when did you first meet Princess Leia Organa."

Luke was close by now too, sipping on what appeared to be a Ryloth Honey Suckle, one of those 'girly' mixed drinks that the Rogues would rip on him for drinking later. Han cleared his throat and said, "Honey, that's a matter of public record, but if you want it in my own words, I met her in the prison block of the very first Death Star near the ruins of Alderaan."

The reporter's eyes were wide and earnest. Either she was one hell of an actor or she was new at this whole reporting thing. "Oh my stars! She must have been an emotional wreck!"

Han chuckled as the memories came back to him. "Oh no! Not Leia. Her first words to me were to criticize mine and Luke's ability to conduct a rescue. She was bold and smart as a shock whip. I both liked her and couldn't stand her instantly."

"'Wonderful girl'" Luke quoted, "'Either I'm going to kill her or I'm beginning to like her!'"

The young lady's eyes widened. "You said that? Can I quote it?"

Han chuckled. "What's your name?"

"Belea Groth. I'm a freelance writer, or I want to be at least."

Han chuckled and said, "Yeah, you can quote that. After we're done here, I want you to run any and all quotes by me though."

"Of course. Okay, next question:"

Belea question Han for a half hour before Luke had nudged him back to his bachelor party. Since most of the questions involved Leia, Han was okay answering them and none of them were intrusive.

Belea turned her questions to Luke next, who answered them for a few minutes. After a few questions with Lando, she shook each of their hands and thanked them profusely and exited, after requesting if Luke would answer any questions about his relationship with Mara.

Luke had kindly declined, stating that it was all a matter of public record and that he refused to do so without Mara's okay.

When she was gone, Luke went over to Han and said, "I was half expecting you to tell Chewie and the others to throw her out a window or something."

Han shrugged. "Nah! She's just a kid trying to make her way here on Coruscant. I can't begrudge her a few questions. Anyhow, can I get another glass of brandy here?"

Luke laughed and went to grab another bottle.

The ladies had gone from glasses of wine to shots of liquor and were listening as Mesa told a story about one of her more interesting business partners. Apparently, this particular Hapan noble didn't care at all about her business. She simply wanted to throw elaborate balls and parties. "At least she had enough sense to realize that she still needed to have a business so that she could fund her parties;" said Mesa with a shake of her head. "Anyhow, this Lady had one of her most trusted servants making most of the decisions about the company while she was planning her next extravagant event. Well, I managed to use that to my advantage, brokering a deal with him."

"Oh;" said Mara, her green eyes twinkling, "and how did you do that?"

"I seduced him of course;" said Mesa with a giggle. "I'm pretty sure he was perfectly aware of what was going on. But the the shipments of his mistress's fire gems needed security. I jut managed to do it for a higher price than he was originally looking for."

Leia shook her head. "I don't think I could ever use my looks like that. I just don't have the seductive skills."

Mara chuckled. "Oh yes you do. You just haven't been taught how to use it. You see, seduction is a lot like negotiating. It's all about choosing the right words with the right tones for a specific purpose to mutually benefit both you and the other party. Besides, I'll bet you can seduce Han easily enough."

Leia blushed and muttered, "That's different and besides, he usually seduces me, not the other way around."

Mara chuckled. "Alright, I'm going to teach you some tricks for your wedding night, Sister - as soon as I get back with another round. What next?"

Mesa lifted a hand. "They have a liquor from Hapes up there that I bet you'll love. Get us all doubles of Efrue. It's going to be in an orange bottle but the liquid itself is a royal blue color."

Mara nodded and head to the bar. "Can I get a round of five double shots of - that Hapan stuff in the orange bottle?" she asked the Chagrian behind the bar.

He nodded and Mara dropped her credit stick on the bar as he began to pour. "How are you this evening, Beautiful?" came a smooth, alluring voice from beside her.

Mara turned and saw a tall, broad man with red hair, green eyes and a lopsided grin that he clearly thought was endearing. Mara decided that, for the sake of her own amusement, she would play along. "I'm doing alright, just out with some girl friends. How 'bout yourself?"

She let her voice become friendly and just a little breathy for effect. The man straightened a little and said, "Can't complain. You're Mara Jade, aren't you? Former Imperial Agent-turned-Jedi Knight?"

"That's right;" she replied, "and who might you be?"

"I'm Dash Rendar. I understand congratulations are in order on your engagement and upcoming wedding."

Mara smiled warmly and said, "You're too kind."

Dash shrugged. "Eh, no big deal. It's a big commitment, though. Must make you nervous to realize that you're committing yourself to one person for the rest of your life. You sure you're ready for that?"

Mara shrugged. "I think so, yes. Why do you ask?"

He casually shrugged and edged closer to her. "No particular reason. Just curious. Look, I'm gonna be frank, Jade. You're about to tie yourself down for the rest of your life to Luke Skywalker. Now, I mean no offense 'cause Luke is a great man and I can only imagine the incredible things he can do with the force, if you know what I mean but I have a proposition for you."

Immediately, Mara was on guard internally, even though she was still exuding tipsy happiness on the outside. "Oh, and what proposition might that be?"

"One final night of absolute freedom;" said the smuggler with another lopsided grin.

His large hand brushed against her arm, sending an unexpected chill down up her arm. No one had touched her like that in almost two months now. His voice became low and seductive. "I know the kind of woman you are, Mara Jade. You're a strong, independent woman who loves her freedom. That just shows how much you care for Skywalker of course, but I bet that any day now, you're going to start feeling those old instincts of independence come to you. You'll start to feel trapped and you'll realize that if you are going to be able to do this, you'll want - no, you'll need one last wild fling. One last crazy night of no inhibitions and no rules and no restrictions."

Mara could feel his voice and the gentle rubbing of his hand effecting her now. Dash was offering her something incredibly tempting. In truth, her more independent side had been thinking this way, wondering if this was something she really wanted.

But each time she asked herself that, she would brush Luke's mind and all thoughts of that would just go away. Even now, she brushed his gently, keeping her conversation with Dash Rendar just out of mental sight. The return brush fortified her. "You know what, Dash?" she breathed, leaning in slightly. "You give a very, very tempting offer but... no. I don't think so."

She leaned back and smirked. "You see, Rendar, you assume that my independence makes me think that I would be trapped with Skywalker. But I don't call that a trap. I call that surety that I will always have something to return to - one single steadfast piece of my life when things can change so quickly. And going for just a fling with another Corellian? Well, that would put that at risk. Besides, Luke and I are abstaining until our wedding night and I went to save all of this pent up sexual tension and desire to make sure that he has the most incredible night of his life."

"But what about you? Will it be the most incredible night of your life?" asked Dash, smirking as if he already knew the answer.

Mara's eyes widened and rolled back slightly as she allowed herself to think about the last time she and Luke had been allowed to make love. They were on the beach on Naboo, hiding in a rock formation and using a meditation mat as a bed on the soft sand. "Oh yes!" she all but moaned. "Yes it will be. Have a good night, Rendar."

She grabbed her tray of drinks and headed back to her friends. Behind her, Dash chuckled and said, "Just keep my offer in mind, Jade."

"What was that all about?" Leia asked.

"Oh that's Dash Rendar. He told me that I should have one more fling before tying myself down to Luke."

They all looked at her in mild surprise. Winter asked, "Did you ever have a fling while you were with Luke?"

Mara shook her head. "Oh no! Stars! Why would I need that? I mean Luke-"

Leia lifted a hand and said, "No thank you! No need for details!"

But Winter just nodded. "I know exactly what you mean."

Mesa and Iella were chuckling into their hands while Leia rubbed her temples and said, "I don't need to here anything about my brother and his prowess, thanks."

It had been a good night in the pen house. The Wookiees had already taken off and Chewie was going to use Han's new E9 Explorer to take them home to Kashyyyk and spend some time with his family. Han wished that he could stay but Wookiees didn't usually attend the special days of other species. It was actually a Wookiee tradition that the husband would have to physically fight his new brothers-in-law to get to his wife and take her away to the honeymoon. Chewie had, with the utmost seriousness, offered to stand with Luke and Lando as one of the 'brothers-in-law'.

Naturally, Han had declined but he thanked his friend.

As they headed back towards the speeders, Han threw an arm around Luke and said, "This was the best party you could throw for a Corellian Bachelor, Luke. Thank you."

Luke chuckled and said, "What are best men for? Anyhow, I'm glad you enjoyed it. Oh, and by the way, all of your gifts have already been placed in the back seat of your speeder so."

Han lifted one bushy brow. "Gifts?"

"Yeah, Han. Gifts. Anyway, I'll see you tomorrow after the meetings. That reminds me, Mon Mothma wanted to know if you could come to the High Council meeting in the morning - and Rieeken wanted to know if you could come to the command meeting later in the morning."

Han scowled, "I will be charging a consultant's fee."

"Good;" laughed Luke. "Maybe they'll leave you alone if you charge enough."

The ladies were beginning to get a little loose so Leia and Mara decided that calling it a night would be prudent. As they stood to leave, six males, four humans, a Twi'lek and a Devaronian, did the same and Mara sighed. "We might have trouble."

Leia looked at them and laughed, "Oh come on! I'm sure they're just going to ask us to go dancing with them. No need to go super killer assassin on them, Mara."

Winter took a glance and shrugged. "No harm in being careful, I guess. Come on. Let's go."

They all headed to the door and filed out. To no one's surprise, the six males followed. Mara, Winter and Leia hung back as they made their way to the air speeder platform. Just before they stepped onto the platform, one of the young men called out. "Excuse me Ladies, but can we can a moment of your time?"

His voice was quite steady and polite. Even so, she proceeded with caution. "Yes, what is it?"

"We're all CSF recruits who just graduated from the academy and we wanted to say that you and Princess Leia are huge inspirations for us - especially you, though."

Mara was slightly taken aback by that. Ever since she had allowed Galactic News to post her life's story in a twelve-part series, she had expected that people would hate her. "Well um... I'm glad to hear that. Thank you."

Leia smiled and shook each of their hands. The young man continued, "You gave up a life of ease and power to do the right thing, so when we turned seventeen, we all decided that we would join CSF. We're hoping to become Escalated Tactical Officers."

A blush crept into Mara's face and she said, "That's a very noble thing to do, gentlemen."

One of them blurted, "Can we get a couple of stills with you and Princess Leia?"

So that's what they had wanted - a photo op. Well, Mara was feeling gracious so she smiled and said, "Sure but just one or two. It's getting late and we need to get back to our suite."

They all gathered around and Mara and Mara and Leia each put arms around a couple of them, smiling brilliantly. After two or three snaps of the holo-still camera, they shook her and Leia's hands again and headed off into the night, as excited as could be about their chance encounter. "Get ready;" said Leia. "Because that's going to happen a lot once you and Luke get married."

Mara groaned at the idea as they made it to the airspeeder where Winter, Mesa and Iella were waiting.

So I've had quite a few requests for a story around these two couples: Luke and Mara, Han and Leia. It's going to be a six part series with each part surrounding their bachelor parties/bridal showers and their weddings/wedding nights (yup, that means LEMONS!) I hope y'all enjoy. As usual, please read and review.