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Leia and Jaina were on their way home from shopping. Her school was having a father-daughter dance, and Jaina, who normally eschewed such things as pretty dresses, was extremely excited about the purchase. They'd examined what to Leia seemed like dozens of dresses, but Jaina had been adamant: it had to be perfect.
Their persistence paid off; Jaina had chosen a dress in a soft fabric in deep purple with a thin, light veil held in place by a jeweled headband. Finding shoes had been even more of a task, but at long last, they found a pair of satin flats that matched the dress beautifully.
"Do you think Daddy will like it?" Jaina asked her mother as they sipped sweet beverages while walking back home.
"Of course he will, honey," Leia assured her. Leia knew that Han wouldn't have cared if she'd shown up in a rough sack with an Ewok hood. To him, Jaina was the most beautiful daughter in the universe, and nothing would ever change that.
"He's gonna be back in time, isn't he?" A note of anxiety crept into Jaina's voice. Han was doing heavy equipment runs, but he'd promised Jaina he'd be home in time for the dance, which was to take place in two days.
"He wouldn't miss this for anything, sweetie," Leia told her, and she knew Han would move every celestial body in the galaxy to be there. Leia remembered being her age, living in the palace. She'd danced with her father many times at official functions, but never in a designated father-daughter dance. She wanted her children to know what it was like to have something of a normal childhood. It wasn't easy with Force-sensitive kids, but so far, it seemed to be working.
Han loved all four of his children. They now had a non-Force sensitive son who was nearly a year old, along with Jacen and Anakin. But Jaina was always going to be the light in his life. She was very much a daddy's girl, something Han encouraged. Leia understood; Bail Organa, like Han, was a demanding father, but one that loved her and was always there for her.
Anxiety painted Jaina's face again. "What if the Falcon breaks down?"
That was a tough one. Leia didn't want to lie to Jaina, but she had to tread gently. "He'll do everything he can to get home in time."
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{We really should have gotten the stabilizers repaired before we left}, Chewie complained.
Han groaned. "It'll hold." He said silently, you hear me, baby? Hold together.
Secretly, Han was very worried about the stabilizers. The lack of proper stabilization meant that they were experiencing a falling sensation, and that meant both he and Chewie were nauseous and miserable. But Han had a very important date in two days' time, and there was no way he was going to be late for it.
{We needed another day to get ready}, Chewie continued.
Han couldn't argue it, so he said nothing.
{What's so important that we couldn't have all the repairs finished before we left}? Chewie kept complaining.
Han groaned, trying to keep the nausea at bay. He and Chewie had used up most of the small quantity of anti-vertigo meds. He'd been derelict in restocking; it was rare they needed them, but there was one other thing he had to remedy once they were home.
"It's Jaina's father-daughter dance at her school," Han informed him.
Chewie now understood why they'd been rushing. It made him think back on his adventures in the distant past with Han; they'd been so different. When he and Han were first traveling together, Chewie couldn't have imagined Han racing back to Coruscant for a dance with his ten-year-old daughter. He couldn't have imagined Han as a father, for that matter. But love, marriage and children had changed his best friend, and in Chewie's opinion, it was absolutely for the better.
They sped on through space, hoping their shortchanging repairs wasn't going to end badly.
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The morning of the school danced dawned, and Leia was, with the assistance of Threepio, attempting to make something that resembled order out of complete chaos. She was trying to change and dress Jarik. Jacen was once again not quite as done with his homework as Leia had been led to believe the night before. Anakin, as usual, couldn't find his shoes. And Jaina was a nervous wreck.
"You told me Daddy was going to be home at 0700!" Jaina chided her mother.
"I'm sure he won't be long," Leia assured her, although that time had passed and there'd been no check in from Han. She was uncomfortable about it herself, but there was no sense in saying 'I've got a bad feeling about this' to her daughter. "Is Threepio making lunches yet?"
"I dunno," Jaina said, shrugging.
"Go and make sure, please," she said as she finally got Jarik into a T shirt and overalls. The next obstacle was finding shoes and it was always a challenge. Jarik was too young to be expected to find his shoes. Anakin was another story.
Fortunately, Threepio had prepared four lunches. This might not have been much of a task had all four kids been willing to eat the same things, but each had specific items that were demanded. Threepio was an ideal food preparer for young kids; everything he made was bland.
Wondering how it actually happened, as she did every morning, she finally got all of the kids out the door.
She was trying not to convey to Jaina that she, too, had become a little concerned about Han making it back on time. Han was an experienced pilot and he knew how long it took to do a trip from nearly everywhere in the galaxy. She had a bad feeling about what was going on, but at the moment, she needed a giant cup of kaf and her datapads for a meeting on securities laws. She only hoped that she could stay awake and somewhat focused. She had basic training in finance, but securities laws were as dry as they sounded. Leia had no idea what a subordinated debenture was and truth be told, she didn't care. If the meeting had been on educational standards or healthcare equality species-wide, she could have concentrated. Alas, this was not the case.
She just hoped that things had not gone terribly wrong. She was sure Han could handle whatever came his way; it was a ten-year-old girl's disappointment that made her more uneasy.
It was going to be a long morning.
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It was getting more and more difficult to manage without the stabilizers. Han had graduated to vomiting and Chewie, already not feeling well, winced at the contents Han had emptied into a tool bucket.
"I don't care what you smell!" Han snapped, but was interrupted by another wave of nausea.
{We have to stop}, Chewie told him. {The gravitation stabilizers are too far gone. We should have repaired them before we left, or at least after our first drop. And pretty soon we aren't going to be able to do visual flight at all}.
"I'm starting to think you're right," Han said. "What's the closest planet with a decent shop?"
Chewie browsed for a place that could work. {Ruan's not far from Coruscant, and they've got Big Brax's Super Discount Spacecraft Parts}.
"All right, let's do it." Han had never been to the shops on Ruan, but had done so on Coruscant, as they tended to have a wide range of parts on hand. Of course, the late night holovision commercials that advertised the business were annoying as hell; they tended to be along the lines of, 'if you can find a lower price anywhere, I'll eat my hat!' Brax happened to have over a thousand hats. Han thought it was lame, but laughed at it, anyway.
The two changed course, received permission to land, and touched down on Ruan two hours later. There was no problem in getting to Brax's; he had shops at over twenty major landing sites. The only real complaint he had about Brax's is that it was often amateur hour; unlike the late, lamented Shug Ninx's Space Barn, there were often inexperienced pilots who were even more inexperienced mechanics. You could pay a tech there, but one of the ways Brax held costs down was by not hiring enough techs. Han had often ended up helping out more than a few beings; he told himself he wouldn't do that, but Han wasn't as much about himself these days. He actually had a generous nature, though he would have been disturbed by anyone telling him that. An ex-smuggler, he decided, had a reputation to uphold.
Today, if anyone requested help, Han would have one word for them: No.
The two made, for them, a wobbly landing. For a few moments, Han sat without moving, although everything around him was still spinning. Chewie, who'd been raised high among the trees and wasn't nearly as prone to vertigo, didn't feel that great, but he was concerned for his friend. They had to work quickly, and from the looks of things, Han wasn't going to be able to do much of anything for now.
Chewie helped Han out of the pilot's chair, very slowly. {I think you should rest. I can do the repairs}.
"Chewie, get real. Even if they have the right parts, and we work as fast as we can together, it's gonna take at least five or six hours to do this. I've gotta get home and we're cutting it close as is."
{I'll go check on the parts}, Chewie offered. {You rest}.
"No, I'm coming," Han stubbornly insisted.
{Fine, but if you vomit on me, I'm going to tie you to the med bunk}, Chewie snapped.
"Fair enough. I should be okay in a few minutes. Let's get this over with."
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Leia thought lunchtime would never arrive, but the welcome respite from droning bankers and attorneys, she was upset that there were no messages from Han. That was unlike him, and it worried her. She decided she'd have to comm him and see what happened with the Falcon this time, as that would be the only excuse.
Mon Mothma frowned on her not eating with the representatives, but this time they'd just have to dine without her.
Leia entered her office. From there, she could send a secure comm to the Falcon.
After three attempts on three different hailing frequencies, she decided to go to private comm. She was growing more and more certain that Han's beloved ship was engaged in another temper tantrum. Perfect timing, she silently grumbled at the temperamental freighter.
On the second attempt, she received a response. It was Han's comm, but Chewie picked up.
"Chewie, is Han with you?" Leia asked.
{He's yelling at the parts people right now}.
"Where are you?"
{Ruan, Brax's}.
"Oh no," Leia moaned. "What happened to her this time?"
{Stabilization system. Your husband almost barfed on me}.
"Do they have the parts?" Leia could imagine that Han was yelling at the unfortunates who worked in the parts department for only one reason - they didn't have what he needed.
{Two hours for a critical one. I'm going to start on some of the work while Han lets the entire galaxy know that he's mad as all hells}.
"Do you think you can make the trip back by 1900?"
{We'll do our best}.
"Thanks, Chewie." Leia felt completely discouraged. The odds were good that Jaina was going to be disappointed, and she'd take the brunt of it. She never said anything out loud about the ship - it was Han's baby, after all - but right now she wanted to take the damn thing out and smack it silly.
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Leia had left after all the meetings of the day had dispersed. It hadn't been hard staying awake in the last sections, mostly because she was anxiously checking her comm every thirty seconds. No Han.
As she left the building, her heart was filled with dread - and sadness. She was puzzled; if anything, Han was guilty of over-reporting. In absolute terms, missing a father-daughter dance did little, if anything, to impact the universe in any fashion. But Jaina was counting on her father to be there and Leia dreaded the emotional fallout.
"Is Daddy home?" was Jaina's first question.
"Not yet, honey." Leia's heart ached for her. And Jaina, who was at the age of ten already good at tamping down her emotions, allowed tears to fill her amber eyes.
"He always comes! Where is he?" Jaina asked in despair.
Leia sucked in a breath. She handed Jarik off to Jacen, who was large enough to wield a backpack and a toddler, and Jarik was immensely pleased by this.
"Don't worry, Jaina," Anakin told her. "Dad's gonna make it."
Leia didn't want to give false assurances, so she simply put her arm around Jaina's shoulder.
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The part that was critical had not shown up after three hours. Han and Chewie had done all they could to this point. Han slumped dejectedly against the ship.
Chewie mewled a soft note of consolation. Han clearly felt heartsick.
One of the aspects of Brax's that annoyed Han were the huge number of holoscreens that played sports from all over the galaxy. He loves watching sports, just not when he was trying to fix the Falcon. The worst part was the high volume and the incessant commercials.
"Ship in the shop? Speeder not speeding? Well, don't let that keep you from getting where you need to! If you're having trouble getting around, RealFast Rentals can help, whether it's down the block or all the way to your favorite planet, we've got exactly what you need! No way to get here? No problem! Just send a data transmission, text, voice or visual and let us get you on your way! Renting's easy and fast at RealFast Rentals!"
Han looked over at Chewie.
{Get going}, Chewie said sternly. {I've got it under control}!
"You sure, pal?"
{Would you rather have me yelling at you or your daughter all sad}?
"Those are my only choices?"
{This time, yes}.
Han looked over at him. "Thanks, pal. I owe you one."
{You owe me a lot more than that, but never mind}, Chewie laughed.
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Realfast was good for their word about picking up passengers in need, but Han was hoping that the speeder that the rep used was not representative of their rental collection. He needed something reliable and fast, emphasis on the fast.
"What sort of vessel or vehicle will you be needing, sir?" the being who had seven long fingerlike appendages and used them to thread the speeder through traffic in a manner that made Han feel queasy again.
"Fast." They pulled into the lot. Han saw plenty of vehicles, but most of them were older, and many of them looked as if they'd seen better days. Han wasn't put off by that - gods knew that the Falcon wasn't famous because of her looks. None of the ones he saw were likely to suit his needs...
"That one," Han pointed to a model that was sleek and new. He'd read good things about the vessel. "I'm renting that one."
"That's the owner's, sir. You'll have to choose one from the lot," the being said apologetically.
"Where's the owner?" Han demanded, unconsciously placing his hand on his blaster. He still wore it when he traveled.
"Uh, in his office?" the being gulped.
"I'm gonna see him." Han jumped out of the speeder and headed for a small, hut like building.
"Sir, you can't just run in there!" the being was aghast.
"Watch me," Han said, giving his driver a vicious look as he ran towards the office.
There were several patrons waiting for service. Han would normally have taken his turn - Leia HAD rubbed off on his manners - but this was, to his mind, an emergency. He got a lot of strange looks, a call out from the one of the clerks shouting at him that he could NOT just barge in like he did.
The owner, a Twi'lek, stared at Han. "Do you have an appointment?" he demanded.
"I need to rent your ship," Han told him brusquely.
"My ship? We have many ships on the lot," the Twi'lek stated, now looking puzzled.
"No, I need your ship!" Han shouted, his hand going to his blaster. "I'll pay you whatever you want! I just need it for tonight!"
"Why my ship?"
"Because the ones on the lot won't get me where I need to be."
"And that would be where?"
"Coruscant. My daughter's father-daughter dance starts in four standard hours, and I am not gonna miss it!" Han's temper was thin.
The Twi'lek studied Han, then handed him the datapad that contained the codes needed to operate it.
"Can you have it back tomorrow evening?"
"Yes!"
"In that case, no charge. But don't be late. My son's nuna-ball game is the next morning. Hurry now."
"You're a wonderful human being," Han told the Twi'lek gratefully as he sped out of the office.
"I'm neither human nor wonderful, and neither are you. But we are dads," the Twi'lek said, smiling.
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Leia was getting angrier by the moment. She was going to chop the Falcon into scrap if Han didn't get back to her soon. Jaina was in her bedroom, and probably crying.
At long last, her comm crackled to life. It was Han.
"You'd better have a damn good explanation for this," Leia told him severely.
"I do. Chewie said he told you what happened."
"What's your excuse for not keeping us updated? Jaina's a mess," Leia's tone was very unsympathetic.
"I didn't want Jaina to get upset that I was gonna be late," Han explained, rather sheepishly.
"Fine! So now she thinks you're not going to be there at all."
"I've got two hours' flying time. I'll be there before we have to leave, and she won't be smelling oil or Wookie on me when we do. Tell Jaina to put her party dress on, we're stepping out tonight!" Han flashed his lopsided grin, and Leia cursed herself for being so susceptible to it.
"You don't look like you're on the Falcon," Leia told him severely.
"I'm not. I had to get a shuttle rental. I'll tell you about it later, but I've gotta fly!"
I may still have to kill him, Leia thought.
"Jaina?" she said as she knocked on the door to her bedroom. "We need to start getting ready soon!"
Jaina opened her door. "Daddy's here?"
"He'll be here before the dance starts," Leia told her. And if Han wasn't on time, Leia was still planning to murder him. But she'd been right about one thing: Han would move the stars, planets and anything else that got in his way in order to take his daughter to the dance.
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Leia was working on Jaina's hair when she heard the entry door to the apartment slam. It was a sound that still made her jump; the sounds of war were far too similar. Even after more than a decade of truces and peace agreements, she still hadn't gotten it completely under control.
She knew it was Han because Anakin and Jacen screamed, "Dad!" and Jarik was laughing and shrieking, "Dada!"
"Sorry, guys, got a real important date. Make it up to you tomorrow night." Han raced into the bedroom where Leia was playing beautician.
"Daddy!" Jaina shrieked with joy, trying to pull away from her mother and the styler.
"Gotta take a shower, now," he told both of the women in his life. "We'll have time to get there."
"I agree on the shower," Leia told him as Han kissed her quickly on the forehead without stopping. "I smell oil, wet Wookiee, and general sweat."
"You're not kidding," Han said, and shut the door to the 'fresher.
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Jaina looked nervous, which Leia had seen more of today than in most of he daughter's ten young years of life.
"Do you think Daddy will like my dress?" she asked Leia for the n to the ith time.
"Honey, he'll love it," Leia assured her.
"What're you so worried about?" Jacen scoffed as he picked up Jarik. "Dad thinks everything you do is perfect."
"That's not true," Leia reminded him firmly. "And you know it."
"You look like a girl," Anakin said to her, giving her a big, semi-toothless smile.
"You say that like it's a bad thing," Leia told him.
"He's taking like forever!" Jaina cried out.
"He'll want to look good for you," Leia said, feeling her nerves being stretched a bit.
Before anymore commentary and/or squabbles could ensue, Han stepped out into the living room. Leia had figured on him putting on his best spacer gear, but he was decked out in the formalwear he normally reserved for the hated official events he accompanied Leia to.
Leia smiled at him. She knew he hated formal events and formalwear, but gods, she loved looking at him in it. She went over to him and smoothed the collar and buttons as she always did. It wasn't an especially revealing garment, but Han wore it well; hard work had kept him in good shape. What was even more startling was that Han was smiling while wearing it. Normally, that didn't happen until he'd had at least two drinks.
Han glanced at his daughter as she rose from the sofa. "Can we go now, Daddy?"
"Just a minute, sweetie," Leia said. "I need holos of you two."
Han smiled as he put his arm around Jaina. "You look beautiful. You should wear girls' clothes all the time."
"Daddy!" Jaina said, shaking her head and rolling her eyes. "You're so silly sometimes."
"Yes, I am," Han said as Leia snapped away. Finally, Han offered his arm to Jaina, who took it happily.
"Behave yourselves!" Leia happily called after the two as they exited the apartment.
"Not likely!" Han called back.
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By the time Han and Jaina returned home, Anakin and Jarik were sound asleep and Leia was playing cards with Jacen.
"Mom, it was the best night ever!" Jaina exclaimed. She was beaming. "Daddy can dance!"
"It's one of his many talents, sweetie" Leia said, giving her a hug. She then turned to Jacen. "You're ahead, so I'll call it your win, but you'd better be ready for a rematch."
"You're so gonna lose!" Jacen taunted her.
"Both of you, off to bed now," Leia admonished the twins.
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Once the twins had fallen asleep - and that hadn't taken long - Han and Leia went to their bedroom. One of Leia's favorite tasks was getting Han out of his formalwear. Han murmured appreciatively and unfastened the back of Leia's dress.
Han, now clad in soft sleep pants and Leia in one of his threadbare shirts, curled up next to each other in bed. Han was in a quiet mood, a soft smile on his face.
"What're you thinking about?" Leia asked as she raised herself on one elbow to gaze at her husband.
Han became pensive. "I was thinking as I was dancing with her that someday, she won't be a little girl anymore."
"No, she won't," Leia agreed.
"Yeah," he said. "But it'll be different. I won't be the only man in her life anymore."
"I think that's inevitable."
"She'll get married, and I'll dance with her, and I'll have a lot more grey hair than I do now."
"That is also inevitable," Leia said softly.
"And I won't wanna let her go," Han said, his voice barely above a whisper, his expression wistful. It's like tonight's a taste of things to come."
"I think that's the way it's supposed to work," Leia said tenderly. "Jaina's always going to remember this night. And don't forget, Jaina will always be your little girl."