Princess Leia Organa, Senator of Alderaan sat motionless at her usual makeshift desk, staring a the mound of papers and files which lay before her. Each bore the familiar red sticker indicating 'urgent' and 'needing immediate attention'. The woman sighed as she casually rifled through the papers. She knew by sight what each one was: reports, statistics, supply requisitions, pay vouchers, requests, financial statements, military orders, Alliance disbursements, acquisitions, clothing and equipment issues, maintenance…the needs seemed endless. They all required her attention and decision as one of the last Senators of Alderaan.
She rose from the desk and began to pace the room quietly. Her mind was running in a dozen different directions and for the first time in her life she felt incapable of sorting out the myriad of thoughts into some sort of organized order.
A sharp rap at the door interrupted her musings.
"Come in." She answered
The door moved and a young aide stuck his head into the room. "Princess Organa" He began. "The Commanders request your presence at once on a matter of state meeting and Dr. Jameson would like to know when to expect the urgently needed medical supplies."
That was the last straw! Leia snapped back to the aide. "Everybody expects me to know everything, to arrange and take care of everything. Well, I can't." She yelled at the startled rebel a she headed for the door.
"But..but..your Highness, what will I tell the Commanders? They're expecting you."
"YOU go to the meeting." The Princess suggested. "I quit!" She rushed from the room and down the hall in a futile effort to escape her surroundings. Leia didn't realize her steps had carried her to the bay area until she was abruptly stopped by someone grabbing her arms.
"Hey…where's a fired up bundle of energy like you going in such a hurry?"
Leia blinked out of her near daze. "Han?" She surveyed the cavernous bay.
"You alright, Princess?"
Leia's long practiced resolve took over. "Of course I am." The Corellian eyed her skeptically. That look made the young woman wilt emotionally and for once Leia felt a desperate need to unburden herself.
"No. I am NOT alright." She said. "I QUIT!"
Han waited for her to explain further. "Quit what?" He asked when she didn't continue.
"Everything!" She spat, waving an arm in the air. "The Alliance, the years of fighting, doing without,
hopes…dreams." Her voice trailed off tiredly. "I give up."
Han couldn't believe he was hearing these words from the petite woman who stood before him. "You mean you're willing to turn you back on everyone who needs you, who depends on you?" He questioned.
"That's what I mean, Han. It's getting to be too much. The pressures, responsibilities, to fight for so long and to gain so little, to have dreams and hopes shattered over and over."
"I haven't known you very long, but you certainly don't seem to be one to fold up under pressure."
Han stated.
"There just isn't any use to continue." She began again. "The Alliance Forces are so scattered, we don't have enough soldiers to effectively combat the Imperial Forces. We don't have the weaponry or finances to combat their Death Stars. We've never settled down more than a few weeks in any one place before we're discovered and have to leave. Each time we do, we have to leave behind vital pieces of equipment and try to replace them when we're re-established." She eyed the Corellian, who was listening patiently. Then, the words seemed to spill forth. "Sometime I have to make the final decision on whether to buy food or medicine, if there isn't enough money for both. Do we feed the soldiers or ease the pain of those suffering… of those sick and wounded?"
Leia began to pace as she talked. "My home-world is gone. There's no use continuing to fight. Other worlds will suffer the same fate and there will be nothing left to go home to. The Imperials are so powerful….Vader so relentless. He even destroyed the one man my father assured could help our cause so much…Obi-Wan." She stopped her pacing and sat down, dejectedly , on a wooden supply crate.
"You can't give up like this." Han told her. "To turn your back on everyone so easily."
"Why not?" Leia questioned. She boldly eyed the space pirate. "It can be done with little or no searing of the conscience. You're living proof of that."
"What are you talking about? Han asked
"You left your family, friends and even your home planet." Leia elaborated from what little Luke had told her.
Anger shot through Han. "I didn't desert them, Leia - they turned their backs on me." He said it with such force it startled her. "Look." Han calmed his voice, speaking deliberately and with great emotional effort. "You have something worth fighting for.. you can't give up on it."
"Why are you so concerned with the Alliance?" She asked. "When you came back, it was only to help destroy the Death Star."
Han knelt beside the Princess. "If people were the only motivation for my staying, then I would never have left my friends and family on Corell." He told her.
"That's quite a self-revealing statement." Leia responded. "Then you do have concern for the cause of the Rebellion? Han eyed the Princess evenly.
"Yes." He admitted honestly, as much to himself as to Leia. "And when I get my debt squared with Jabba, I can become more active in that concern."
Leia didn't know what to say.
Precisely at that moment, Luke burst into the bay area. "Leia..Han..Imperial probes just found Yavin. The Commanders have given the orders to evacuate. The young Jedi was off, spreading the word to other areas of the base.
Han looked at Leia. "What about it Princess? Do you stay and surrender or run and fight?" She gazed at Han closely before speaking. If the cause of the Alliance could impress this Corellian pirate in the little time he has been associated with it enough to make him want to become a part of it, then surely she, who loved the freedom the reestablished Republic would bring, could continue the fight for that freedom.
Han waited for her answer.
"Come on, flyboy." She said, her voice strong with renewed determination. "We've got a base to evacuate."