"I got to hand it to you, kid. You were pretty good out there."

Luke felt a momentary jolt of boyish pride at his talents being recognized before the overwhelming melancholy of the past six months pushed it out. His face didn't reflect the changes in his emotions-it remained passive. "I had a lot of help," he answered simply, shrugging it off. "Think nothing of it."

"No-I'm thinkin' a lot about it," Han insisted, taking off his goggles as he moved onto the Falcon's ramp and out of the sandstorm. "That carbon freeze was the closest thing to dead there is." A haunted cloudiness that Luke hadn't seen before passed over his eyes. He looked so tired. "It wasn't like sleepin'." He shook his head. "It was a big, wide-awake…nothin'."

Luke swallowed. He wanted to ask Han more about it. He wanted a few days off for them all to process this. But something was calling him back to Degobah, and he knew that now that Han and Leia were both safe, he'd finally accomplished that for which he had left Yoda's training. "I'll see you back at the fleet," he said softly, not knowing what else to say.

"Why don't you leave that crate and come with us?" Han rushed to ask, and it seemed to Luke it had little to do with the ship, and everything to do with not wanting to be apart so soon.

Luke shook his head. "I can't, Han…I have a promise to keep-"

"To who? Come on-come get out of this storm for awhile. Can't your errand wait a few hours?"

Leia appeared again at the top of the ramp. "Are you boys coming in or not?" she shouted above the sound of the wind.

"Come wash the sand outta your hair," Han said, putting his arm around Luke's shoulders and leading him inside. "Eat somethin'. Catch your breath."

It had been a very long day. It'd been, Luke realized, a very long six months. Before everything became so much more complicated, he remembered actually having downtime, sometimes, but everything that had happened at Bespin had changed his life and his outlook in ways he was still processing. He realized, listening to Han, that he hadn't eaten today at all. He'd always had fast metabolism, always eaten like a growing boy even after he'd stopped growing, until the last six months had turned him into such a driven, obsessed person that it was easy to forget meals, now. "Just a little while," he agreed, talking more to himself than Han.

On the Falcon, with the ramp up, the sandstorm was almost silent. And Han was here, and Leia…and for a second, Luke felt better. This ship was home. It had been since he'd first left Tatooine. Yavin, Hoth, and the other Alliance bases always felt temporary. The Falcon would always be here, and it felt safe and comforting to Luke in a way no other home ever would. Especially with all three of them here, together. Like in the old days.

Then he caught a glimpse of Leia through the main cabin's door, unwrapping herself from the yards of homespun she'd used to protect her skin from the storm. Seeing her in that…costume…sent a chill through Luke's body. She was beautiful in it, of course, but it was barbaric, demeaning, repulsive. She still had the collar around her neck by which Jabba had kept her on a short chain, always by his side. Luke took a moment to silently work through the anger the thought brought up, turning it from hate directed at Jabba back into love directed at Leia, which was really its source, anyway. Hatred was of the dark side, but he only hated Jabba because he loved Han and Leia. The love was the thing to focus on, to feel.

Calmly, he went to Leia, and asked her if she was alright. "I don't know how to get this thing off," she said, and Luke could sense her anger and hurt, though she spoke with a somewhat ironic, amused edge to her voice. "They kind of bolted me into it."

Luke licked his lips. "Well…do you want help…or…?"

She shook her head. "No. But I think having to wear this while pressed against a Hutt for two days entitles me to the first shower."

Luke couldn't argue with that.

"Did you just offer to help her out of that metal getup?" Han asked, appearing behind Luke as Leia closed the bathroom door.

"I don't want her to be stuck in it." Luke said, sitting heavily on the bed-Han's bed, but it had been his own bed a lot in Han's absence. "It was hard for me to see her like that…."

Han nodded and sat beside him. "I was tryin' not to think about it. I mean…soon as my sight started comin' back and I saw what she was wearin'…I just felt fuckin' sick, you know? Surprised me, because seems like I should like it or somethin', but…."

"I know exactly what you mean."

"You don't think Jabba-"

"What?"

"Made her…do anythin'…?"

"Oh." Luke thought about it, went through the past two days in his head and checked all the psychic impressions he'd received from Leia in that time, and found no evidence. "I think I would know. No, I think he just wanted her to look at."

Han nodded, and Luke felt his relief.

They sat in silence for a moment, and Luke knew that Han wanted to say something, so he waited. At last, Han gathered his thoughts enough to say, "Look…we should probably talk about…you know. The three of us."

"We don't have to do that today. We're all exhausted."

"I got to."

Luke looked up at him, and saw the deep sincerity and longing in his eyes, so he said, "Alright."

"I know you love her."

He nodded sadly.

"So do I." He smiled. "That's the first time I said it."

Luke smiled a little with sad fondness.

"I don't know what to do here, kid. It was different before. It wasn't serious."

"We always knew some day we were going to have to…come up with a more stable arrangement." Luke said gently. "All of our lives are more complicated, now. Maybe it's time."

"Should probably be up to her, you know. It's kinda her choice, and if we try to decide for her, between us…."

"Yeah," Luke agreed. She's going to pick you, he added internally, forbidding himself from feeling heartbroken. All that mattered was that Leia was happy. Besides, he had to go back to Degobah. And he had to figure out what to do about Vader. Han could be with her. Maybe Leia wouldn't even want to be with Luke once she found out where he'd come from.

"So…I just wanna say that I know you two were probably together while I was out, and that I know that changes things, but…I still feel the same about her. And it don't change how I feel about you, either. Next to Chewie, you're the best friend I ever had. You marry Leia someday and that's still gonna be true."

Luke smiled the first genuine smile he had, he felt, in weeks. Or months. "I'm glad. Me, too. And…we were." In this bed, he thought wistfully, but didn't dare hurt Han by saying it aloud.

"I know. S'okay." He smirked as the sound of the shower stopped. "How long you think we got to wait for her to braid all that hair?"

"Usually takes her about fifteen minutes."

Leia emerged in the bathroom door in a towel, braiding half of her wet hair, the other half still hanging down to her hip. "Are you making jokes about my hair?"

"We're makin' observations about your hair," Han teased. Leia gave him a look.

"I'm glad you got it off," Luke said, standing, gently touching a red impression on her neck. "This doesn't hurt, does it?"

"No, it'll go away," Leia sighed, and looked back and forth between her two lovers. "This is exactly why I need both of you."

Luke furrowed his brow. "What is?"

"Han to fight with me. You to comfort me. I don't know what I would do-"

"Hey, sweetheart-we're not goin' anywhere-" Han said, rising to stand beside them, his hands in his habitual anxious position on his belt.

"That's what you said on Hoth, and then you both tried to take off-"

"A lot's changed since then," Luke said, remembering right as he said it that he did have to leave again, leave her with Han, and he wondered if that would hurt her. He wondered if it would be a forfeit. "Jabba's dead. We're all together, now. No one's going to leave you."

Leia gave up on the braid and combed it out with her fingers, the sheen of tears on her eyes-but Luke knew she wouldn't let them spill over. When her hair was again all hanging damp and loose about her body, she said, looking at the floor, "Will you just hold me?"

Luke didn't know who she was asking, and evidently neither did Han, because they glanced at each other. Then Han shrugged and put one arm around her, and Luke followed suit, kissing her forehead. She snuggled into the crooks of both their bodies, which brought Han and Luke closer, and Han put his other arm around Luke, and held them both, while snuggled into his chest, Luke and Leia held each other. He squeezed, and Luke caught one of his thoughts: Home, accompanied by a huge rush of relief, as if he finally really understood that he was safe, that it was over.

Sighing, Luke tried to press closer to him. Just as he was adjusting himself, Leia tilted her head up and found his lips with hers. Taken aback for a moment-the rules of the arrangement had never been spoken aloud, but it had always been understood that Leia didn't kiss Luke with Han in the room and vise-versa, unless she was in the mood to make one of them jealous-he found himself unconcerned and happy to let Leia make what choices she wanted here in this moment. As he deepened the kiss, Leia lovingly ran her fingers through his hair from the nape of his neck. Han caught on, and didn't miss a beat. When her lips left Luke's, Han's were waiting, and he captured Leia's mouth in a passionate kiss.

It wasn't as if Luke hadn't thought about this-at times it had seemed like a logical solution-but he'd barely got past the initial thought of its possibility. He hadn't dwelt on it, hadn't hoped for it, but now that he was here with both Han and Leia, being held by both of them while they kissed, he knew exactly what to do. He tenderly pushed Leia's curtain of damp hair aside, kissing her neck and shoulder until her face turned back to his and their mouths again met, much more hungrily this time. But when Han leaned down, it wasn't to kiss Leia's neck, but Luke's.

Luke didn't flinch or show his surprise, but his hair stood on end all over his body. He'd never expected Han to touch him like this, but it felt strangely familiar, and not awkward in the least. Leia, apparently very interested in what Han was doing to Luke, stood back a little to watch, and Luke kept his eyes on hers. Han, raising his head, smiled mischievously at Leia, and then at Luke, who raised his lips to meet Han's as the latter pulled him close.

Kissing Han was entirely unlike kissing Leia. His kiss was rough and insistent, while Leia's was soft and sensual. But they were both incredible kissers, and besides his arousal at Han's kiss, he was also aware of the excitement the kiss was causing Leia, which made it exponentially better. Leia pressed closer to them again, and dropped her towel. Luke and Han immediately, in unison, broke their kiss, and showered all their attention on Leia's naked body, Han touching her breasts while Luke pressed up against her from behind, biting the place where her neck joined her shoulder, his left hand on her hip and getting lower.

"Why the hell are we still standin'?" asked Han, hurried yet quiet, sitting on the bed and pulling off his boots. Luke followed suit while Leia climbed to the center of the bed and lied down, her body bare and open to them, waiting. Looking at her, feeling Han beside him, he felt more aroused than he remembered ever feeling in his life. It was almost painful, but beautiful and celebratory and full of love and…unbelievably exciting, sexy, with a sheen of the forbidden that made it all the better. He pulled off his tunic, watching Han lean over Leia and kiss her, and when his hand went between her legs, for a second Luke felt as if Han were touching him, and he knew he'd had a psychic impression from Leia, something that had been happening more and more often. It hadn't yet occurred to him the advantages his and Leia's connection could have in a setting like this, and he didn't know it yet, but he would continue to occasionally feel Han touching Leia for the rest of his life. He would never get tired of it.

He unfastened his pants and touched himself, just a few strokes, while he watched Han do the same to Leia, then he threw out the last ounce of caution he had and took the rest of his clothes off and stretched out on the bed beside them. Han went down on her while Luke took over kissing her mouth, and when Leia started to moan and gasp, he kissed down her neck and chest, then fastened onto one of her nipples, sucking hard while she pulled his hair in frustrated ecstasy. Soon, Leia breathed, "Han-Han, it's too much, I'm going to-"

"Then come," he whispered back, sitting up, stroking her clitoris with his hand again.

"No, if I do, Luke will-"

Luke looked up at Han and nodded. "I always do when she does. Force sensitive thing, I guess."

He stopped stroking. "Always?"

"If we're in the same room, yeah. Can't help it."

"Just with her, though?"

Luke hesitated. "I…I've never been with anyone else."

Han ignored his admission. Talking about Luke's innocence could wait. That mischievous smile again. "So I can make you come…just by touching her…?"

If Luke weren't already flushed with arousal, he might have blushed as he nodded.

"I want someone inside me," Leia pleaded, sitting up. "You can torture Luke later."

Han evidently accepted, leaning over and kissing Leia deeply. "How long you need between times? Ten minutes? Less?"

"Around there," she said, reclaiming his lips, and reaching for Luke's arousal with a hand, stroking it slow and hard as she pulled up on Han's tunic with her free hand. "Strip, flyboy."

Han obeyed as quickly as he could. "What about you, kid? How long you need between?"

"I dunno…." He struggled with vocabulary when Leia pushed him onto his back, then took his whole cock in her mouth. "I…I guess ten…. Gods, Leia…."

"Fuck, he's cute when he's helpless." Han pinned Luke to the bed by his wrists as Leia sucked. "Here's what we're gonna do, kid," Han said lowly, holding him down. "I'm a lot older than you so I can hold out a lot longer, but I also can't go as soon after. So you and Leia are gonna get off, then the three of us will go again."

Luke nodded, understanding, but not really able to protest.

"You got that…" he leaned in closer, barely bushed Luke's lips, "…junior?"

He nodded again, and Han released his wrists, but kissed him forcefully, and Luke moaned into his mouth.

When Han broke the kiss, he smiled slowly and crookedly at Luke, who couldn't help but smile in return, and to smile brightly and lovingly at Leia as her body stretched out on top of his. Luke kissed her tenderly, then drew a deep breath as she adjusted herself and he slipped inside her. Leia sat up, rocking against Luke, who put a thumb at her clitoris and watched her, overwhelmed by love and arousal, as she moved. Han touched her breasts and kissed her, until she breathed, "No, kiss Luke. I want to watch…."

Han lied back down into Luke's waiting arms. "You heard Her Highness," he breathed before kissing Luke all the more enthusiastically, and Luke returned it just as intensely, reaching for Han's cock with his free hand-he noticed, but didn't stop to dwell on, the fact that it was much larger than his own, but Han was much larger than him in every way-and started stroking. After a moment, Han whispered, "Fuck, you're good at that."

Luke smiled with unexpected pride. Their lips found each other again with raw passion.

"You're both so sexy," Leia gasped. "This is the best thing I've ever seen." And Luke felt her tighten and spasm around him, and at the same moment, his own climax washed over him. He sat up, holding Leia, and they finished coming face to face, looking deep into each other's eyes, and as it faded, Leia kissed him softly and whispered, "I love you."

Her hair was still damp. Luke gently pushed it away from her face. "I love you, too."

Han, sitting beside them, seemed amazed. "That was…real beautiful…."

Luke smiled a slow, satisfied smile, and pushed his bangs back.

Lifting off of Luke with a slight gasp, Leia said, "I think we should give Han a lot of attention. Welcome him back."

He nodded in full agreement.