AN: I still don't own Star Wars. This was written for a DeviantArt contest where the challenge was to draw or write about your favorite couple at the beach.
"What Winning Means"
By EsmeAmelia
Ben tiptoed up the Naboo beach to his family's umbrella, where Han was taking a nap on the large blue towel. The child swung his bucket of seawater side to side, a wide grin stretching his lips as he approached his snoring father – then with a giggle, Ben dumped the bucket on his father's head.
Han instantly woke up, sputtering on the cold water. "BEN!"
Ben's giggle turned into a torrent of laughter. "Gotcha, Daddy!"
"Yeah, yeah," said Han, pulling bits of seaweed out of his drenched hair, "you got me . . . but now I'm gonna get you!"
With that, Han scrambled to his feet and started chasing after his son. "C'mere!" The two wove around young children building sand starships, adults sunbathing, and older children flying kites until they finally reached the ocean, where Han promptly tackled his son into the salt water.
"Daaaaaaadddy!" Ben shrieked, splashing even more water into his father's face as the roaring waves brushed over them.
"Ben!" Suddenly Leia was towering over them, her hands on her bikini-clad hips. "When I told you to go get your father, this isn't exactly what I meant."
"Oh?" said Han, pulling Ben onto his lap as the waves kept flowing over them, soaking into their swimming trunks. "So you told him to pour water on me?"
Leia snickered. "No, silly, I just told him to get you. The whole waking-you-up-with-water thing was his idea." She slid down to a sitting position next to her husband and son, letting the waves wash over her as well. "I saw something you might be interested in."
"And what'd that be? What's so important that it couldn't have waited?"
"There's a dance contest tonight!" Ben piped up, holding his bucket out and letting the waves fill it.
Han cocked his head at his wife. "A dance contest?"
Leia grinned at him. "Come on honey, you like it when we dance together."
"Yeah, but not in front of people."
"What about our wedding?"
"That doesn't count."
Not wishing to hear his parents argue, Ben flicked the bucket at his mother, splashing the water in her face and making Han laugh.
"BEN!" she shouted, sputtering much like Han had sputtered.
"Now you're both wet," Ben declared, "so you don't haveta fight."
Han tickled his son's belly under the water, pushing another giggle out of his mouth. "We weren't fightin' about bein' wet, but you're right, son."
"So are you gonna dance in the contest with Mommy?" Ben made his eyes wide – a trick his father usually couldn't resist. "I think it'll be fun."
Sure enough, Han gave that groan that meant he was fighting a losing battle. "Looks like I am."
. . .
After an afternoon of swimming, building sandcastles, and picnicking on the sand, the sun finally set over the water and the Solo family headed for the contest, which was being held in an area of beach surrounded by rope barriers and skinny torches with flames dancing in the night air. Ben found himself staring up at the hypnotic flames as his parents led him to the table where the sign-up sheet was.
Once his parents were registered, Ben quickly counted up the names on the sheet – only five couples were entering. His parents had a good chance of winning.
"So, are there snacks?" Han asked the Gungan by the sign-up sheet.
"Han!" Leia exclaimed, lightly swatting her husband's arm.
"Oh, deresa snacks right over dere," said the Gungan, gesturing to a table on which several plates and a bowl of punch sat. "Yousa and yousa little boy can helpen yourselves."
"Yay!" Ben shouted, dashing over to the table before his parents could give him permission to do so. They shouted his name after him, but he quickly stuffed a cookie in his mouth, and it would be rude to answer them with his mouth full.
. . .
The first couple kept stepping on each other's toes, the second couple couldn't keep their steps in rhythm, and the third couple forgot what steps they were performing. Ben grinned between sips of punch – his parents were up next and they were probably going to win.
"Now you stay by the snack table, son," Han said, ruffling Ben's hair.
"Sure," said Ben. "Go win, Daddy!"
Hand in hand, Han and Leia scampered out to the sandy dance floor, Han now wearing a t-shirt above his swimming trunks and Leia now wearing a beach skirt over her bikini. They slowly raised their arms and bowed to the audience before the Gungan turned on the song they had asked him to play – a flowing piece that was easy to dance to.
Once the dance began, Ben's grin expanded to its limits. His parents let themselves get lost in the music, their steps almost perfectly synchronized, facing each other with wide grins. Han lifted his arm and spun Leia around under it – once, twice, three, four times. Their bodies shook in time with each other, Han leaning over Leia, then Leia leaning over Han, again and again, before they gripped each other's hands once more and slid around the length of the dance floor, their bare feet kicking the sand as they moved.
By the time the dance ended, Ben was jumping up and down, clapping in time with the song, cheering as his parents took another bow.
"YAY!" he shouted. "GO MOMMY AND DADDY!"
Leia and Han were both laughing as they made their way back to the snack table, where Ben waved his chocolate-stained hands at them. "You did GREAT!"
"Yeah, I think we did," said Han as Ben threw his arms around him.
"You're gonna win for SURE!"
"Maybe," said Leia, "but remember Ben, there's still one more to go."
Ben let go of his father to hug his mother. "But they ain't gonna be better than you!"
"We'll see," said Leia. "Look, here they come."
A pair of Twi'leks were bowing to the audience, both with serious looks on their faces, as if this were an interplanetary competition instead of a simple beach contest. Once the rapid keyboard music started, Ben sensed that his parents were in trouble. The male Twi'lek lifted the female over his head, spinning around and around before putting her down and without missing a beat, the couple slid, shook, twisted, leapt . . . Ben couldn't keep up with their dance.
Another lift, this one longer. The woman's body stayed still and her feet stayed pointed as her partner danced around the area with her over his head.
Ben gulped down his punch. Whoever these people were, they were amazing dancers.
His parents weren't going to win after all.
Once that notion entered his head, he flicked his hand at the dancing couple. It was barely a conscious decision to do so, but his parents had to win. The Force shot through his hand in a wild burst of energy and pushed the couple over.
A loud gasp resounded through the crowd as the music abruptly stopped and the Gungan judge ran out to see if they were all right. The Twi'leks were angrily shouting about how they needed another chance since something had to have tripped them over, but Ben just silently munched on a cookie. The contest was over and his parents had won.
Once it was established that the Twi'leks weren't hurt and the chaos died down, the Gungan spoke into his microphone, clearing his throat before doing so. "Uh . . . thanken everyone for participaten. Now, deesa winners are . . . deesa Solos!"
Ben cheered so loudly that his throat hurt as Han and Leia stepped out to accept their trophy, but for some reason Leia wasn't smiling. In fact, she seemed to be glaring in Ben's direction.
But why would that be? She had just won, after all.
. . .
The Solos drove back to the hotel in silence. Ben fell asleep in the backseat of the speeder, a content look on his face. He didn't stir as Han carried him up to their hotel room, laid him on the freshly-made bed, and kissed his cheek.
"Kid sure can sleep," Han observed.
"He inherited it from his father," Leia said as she gently placed the trophy on the table, where its sheen reflected the lamp's soft glow. "Han . . . did you find it a little strange that the couple after us fell when they were doing so well?"
"I guess," said Han, "but accidents happen."
Leia swallowed as she turned around to face her husband. "Han, I don't think we won fairly."
"Whaddya mean?"
Leia made her way to the bed and sat next to her son, brushing a strand of hair out of his face. "I think Ben might have helped us win."
"What?"
Leia sighed, gazing down at her son's peaceful face. "He waved his hand just as the couple fell."
Han gulped, sitting next to his wife and son. "Well . . . that doesn't necessarily mean . . ."
"So you think he just happened to wave his hand when they happened to fall?"
"C'mon, Leia," said Han, "don't blame our son for a coincidence."
"I'm not," said Leia. "That's why we need to talk to him." She gently gripped his boney little shoulder.
"What, Leia, don't wake 'im up, he's had a big day . . ."
Leia paid her husband no heed. "Ben," she whispered, "Ben, wake up, you need to get dressed for bed and brush your teeth."
The child slowly opened his bleary eyes. "Okay . . ." he mumbled.
"And Ben . . ." said Leia, ". . . we also need to talk."
Ben yawned. "Bout what?"
Leia lowered her eyes as she inhaled. "Ben . . . did you use the Force to make the Twi'leks fall down?"
She expected Ben to instantly deny it or get a sad face from her even suggesting such a thing. However, she wasn't expecting Ben to nod in a rapid manner as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
"Yup," he said as he sat up. "I helped you win!"
"What?" Han exclaimed. "Ben, why'd you do that?"
Ben's lips pursed as if he couldn't understand why anyone wouldn't do it. "Cause you wanted to win."
"Yes, we wanted to win," said Leia, trying to keep her voice calm, "but we also wanted to win fairly."
"But if I didn't Force-push the Twi'leks, you wouldn't have won."
Ben said it with such a matter-of-fact tone that for a moment Leia was speechless. He was young, yes, but wouldn't most kids his age still know that was wrong?
"Ben," said Han, "when you Force-pushed those guys, you cheated. You know what cheating is, don't ya?"
"Yeah," said Ben, "but look, you got the trophy cause I helped!" He pointed over at the trophy as if the end result justified the means.
"But we didn't really win it." Leia concentrated on keeping her voice calm as she looked into her son's eyes. "The Twi'leks would have won if you hadn't pushed them over."
"Yeah." Ben's voice still had that unnerving matter-of-factness. "That's why I had to do it – so you could win."
"But we won by cheating," Han pressed. "In fact, tomorrow we should take the trophy back and explain what happened."
Suddenly Ben's eyes were moistening up as he blinked. "You wanna take it back? You don't like it?"
Leia was starting to feel like they were going around in circles. "Of course we like it, sweetheart, but it's not really ours. If you cheat to win, then it doesn't really count."
The child's face scrunched up, reddening as he sniffled. "I-I didn't mean to cheat . . . I was tryin' to do something nice for you!"
With that he broke down in sobs, stimulating his parents to gather him in a hug between them. "I-I'm sorry . . . I'm sorry . . ." he burbled out between sniffles.
"It's all right, son," Han quickly responded, kissing his son's head. "It's all right, I know you just wanted us to win, it's okay."
Leia, however, wasn't about to tell her son that it was all right. Even though he was crying for forgiveness, she wasn't sure if Ben really understood that what he did was wrong.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw the trophy topple over just like the dancers had, pushed down by her son's raw Force skills. Maybe it was accidental from Ben's intense emotional state or maybe he purposely knocked it over in shame.
"I just wanted to help you . . ." Ben's voice trembled through his sobs. "I just wanted to help you . . ."
Leia pulled her son close, stroking his back and hoping – desperately hoping – that he had learned from this experience.
THE END