Hey guys, wow I've been dormant for awhile now. I found this just now, and did a little editting, though it's probably not all fixed. I decided that I needed to get my creative juices flowing if I'm going to get any work done this summer on my masterpiece that's already taken over a year.
Enjoy
She stared out the window, bereft and in pain. Tears silently glided down her cheeks as she watched the bustling traffic pass by in the bright gleam of nightlife. The ties of her dress hung limply by her legs, the red dress itself following suit and loosely clinging to her frame as she leaned against the wall, white curtains blowing gently against her face. A few strands of dark auburn hair blew with them in sharp contrast, having escaped from their hold in the bun on top of her head.
The Imperial Palace was lighting up the sky while air traffic controllers worked tirelessly to quell the flames. This was the fourth attack in three years. There were times where she wished they hadn't defeated the Empire. Life had been so much simpler organizing a war effort than it was trying to rebuild the world that was destroyed by it. Especially with the Empire still out there, now only just reduced to a handful of planets and even less Star Destroyers. And they seemed just as determined to take down the New Republic as the Rebellion had been determined to take down them.
He stood in the doorway, casting a long shadow in the light that seeped in from outside, watching her stare out the window, as she did many times when she was upset. A sad smiled crept across his face. She was so beautiful, but she was in so much pain. The world she had worked so hard to rebuild was being destroyed around her. From within and without, she was caught in the middle as power play after power play after power play unfolded in front of her and those she considered friends and confidants stabbed her in the back. But she didn't budge. She stood, a rock, amidst the storm of lies that was building and raging around her. He admired her for the strength she held within her that he knew he would never have.
She felt his presence behind her moments before his strong arms encircled her waist as he pulled her to lean against him instead of the wall. She closed her eyes and let his strength surround her as he kissed the top of her head. Opening her eyes after a moment, she returned to her watch at the window. He looked with her, watching as the flames flared up against the dark sky. The sound of alarms and sirens did not seem as loud anymore.
The sirens and alarms seemed insignificant. The flames leaping from the Palace seemed insignificant. When compared to what they had almost lost, everything seemed insignificant. When compared to what they could still loose, it was all insignificant.
He turned her in his arms and held her close as sobs began ripping through her. She cried into his chest, letting loose the emotions she had held in check earlier. She felt his right arm travel down and slip underneath her knees, and then she was up in his arms and he cradled her. She wrapped her arms around his neck and he pulled her closer to him as they sat on the bed, making a soft indention in the mattress.
The indention that the day had made in their lives was anything but soft. Carefree one minute, and the next a building is coming crashing down on top of you with your friends and family scattered throughout left anything but a soft, small indention in your life. There had been many identions in her life, but this was one of the most significant. This was the third time that she had almost lost everything. She wished she had never gotten into politics; because then she would be safe, her family would be safe.
Once her tears had subsided, he tipped her chin up and wiped her cheeks with his thumb before kissing her red lips lightly. He pulled out the pins that held her bun in place and gently laid them on the nightstand beside the bed, he didn't care that it was his. After she had changed out of her dress and he had seen her safely into bed, he turned out the lights in the hall and changed out of his dress uniform before crawling in bed beside her and wrapping his arms around her.
His presence soothed her aching and wandering mind as it thought of every worst possibility for those who were still in danger. She had been lucky, they had been lucky; but then, they were always lucky. Just lucky enough, fate had apparently designed their lives to be full of near castrophe and heartbreaking worry. His hold tightened for a moment, as if he expected the tears to start falling in earnest again. She briefly closed her eyes and marveled at how strong he could be when she was falling apart. He would hold her and calm her fears, without shedding a single tear himself.
He brushed a kiss on her cheek and then held her closer while they both drifted off to sleep. She fell asleep first, he made sure of that. Her slowed and deep breathing gave him his first indication and the feeling of her body relaxing was the second. She needed sleep; they had a long day ahead of them tomorrow, and today had been long enough. He stayed awake much longer, watching the rise and fall of her side in rhythm with her breathing and listening to the silence that weighed over them like a heavy blanket. He almost wanted it to suffocate him; it would put an end to the pain that had shot him like a bullet. When the Imperial Palace had been hit, he was on security and it had taken him much too long to be rational once the first crack ripped through the building. More lives could have been saved if he had pulled the alarm earlier. But he knew that he shouldn't dwell on it, what's done was done and there was no going back. He took a deep calming breath as he let the tears slip down his cheeks to land in her dark hair in the night, with no one to witness. He couldn't cry in front of Leia, she was distraught enough as it was, he had to be the one to be strong today because she was the one falling apart.
After what felt like hours, he began to drift off, his eyelids getting too heavy for him to hold open. He snuck deeper into the mattress, and readjusted the sheets around himself and Leia. Sighing into her hair softly, he let his eyes seek out the chrono to check the time before allowing them to close. The chrono marked that it had only been thirty minutes when it seemed like hours and that morning seemed like a lifetime ago.
So, what do you think? There are two more chapters if you want them.