The Titan, a star wars fanfic

AN:I layed out everything that I have to post and made us a schedule through the end of November. If you saw on tumblr that today's story would be about Han and Leia at a waterfall, I'm sorry! I changed my mind! That story will still be posted, just not for a few weeks yet. Stick around!

So this piece was inspired by the Titanic, primarily that scene in the movie with the old couple snuggling in bed while the water comes in...

Let's just say that I don't like how that ends and Han and Leia deserve better. Also, I am not a scientist or a space person. Don't judge the few scienceish things that are in this because they came out of my head. Solid science does not come out of Organanation's head.

Without further ado, I give you 'The Titan.'

This was supposed to be a routine flight. The ship, the Titan, was brand new, coming straight off the line from the manufacturer on Corellia. Han was just supposed to parade around a little, show off the New Republic's fancy new ship. The whole escapade was supposed to take a week, ten days at most, and Leia had come along as a delegate from the New Republic. It wasn't exactly a vacation, but they were together with no kids and a cabin all to themselves, so Han decided he was going to count it as one.

Until everything had started to go bad.

The hyperdrive motivator had gone out during the first attempted jump and they'd had to repair it. The repair had been a patch job at best, and while they were able to fly at lightspeed, it was nowhere near as fast as the ship could handle in prime condition, adding about three days to their trip.

Then, one by one, the air recyclers had started to die, and they had no way of fixing them.

"The final air recycler has failed, General." Han felt like his stomach was full of iron. Every spacer knew that you could handle all sorts of mechanical failures when in deep space, but life support systems…not so much.

"Start to fill the escape pods."

"Sir, there isn't goi…" Han cut him off. He knew what the officer was about to say: there weren't enough, and eight people would have to stay on board and take their chances.

"I know. You know the prioritization standards."

"Yes, sir."

"Your majesty, I'm going to have to insist. General Solo has ordered that we begin to fill the escape pods. You're first on the prioritization list."

"Captain, I am General Solo's commanding officer and I am telling you no. Give my seat to someone else."

"But Princess…"

"No. Now I must speak to my aid."

"Yes, ma'am." The captain hurried out and her aid entered a few minutes later.

"They're evacuating the ship. There is only enough oxygen for a few more hours," Leia explained calmly.

"You're on the list for the first pod, Your Highness. Don't worry."

"I'm not going, Seri. My husband is the captain of this ship. It is his sworn duty to be the last one off this ship in the case of an emergency and there aren't enough escape pods for everyone. I need you to go." She felt a catch in her throat at her next thought. "I need you to take care of Ben and Breha. Take them to Luke." She gripped Seri's arm tightly.

"No, no, Leia. You're going to be alright!"

"Promise me that, no matter what happens, you'll make sure my children are taken care of!" She demanded. There were tears in Seri's eyes. "Now go. You're on the list for the next pod. Tell them I love them. Please." Seri nodded and ran towards the escape hatches.

"The first four pods are away, sir." She didn't even come to say goodbye.

"Good," he choked out. At least she was safe, could take care of their children. "Still no one answering the distress signals?"

"No, sir," came the quiet reply. Han watched the escape pods diminish into the distance, wondering which one she was on and if she could still feel his aura or not.

A small, familiar hand slipped into his elbow.

"Damn it, Leia! You're supposed to be on one of those things! You're supposed to be safe!" He yelled, not caring who heard. He pulled her sharply to him and she returned his tight embrace.

"We've been together through a lot of near-death experiences. I'm not going to let you do it alone this time." Her words were amusing but there was no humor in her face or tone.

"What about the kids?" He asked quietly.

"I sent Seri. Luke and Chewie will make sure they're safe."

"No, Leia. This is ridiculous."

"The last escape pod is being launched, sir."

"Go, Leia! Now!" He ordered.

"I'm staying. Launch it," she demanded. The captain seemed unsure of whose orders to follow, but finally decided on Leia's, punching a button. There was a sucking sound and a few moments later, they saw the last escape pod whooshing off through space.

"Damn it, Leia," Han said again, hugging her tightly to him. She looked into his eyes. He might be saying that he wanted her as far away from here as possible, but in his eyes, she could see that she was exactly where she needed to be.

There were 8 people left on a ship with no oxygen and no known ships close enough to rescue them. According to the calculations, they had about 30 timeparts left to survive and only about 20 before they lost consciousness. Leia had begun to feel light headed some time ago. Han had dismissed the crew and they were now sitting on the durasteel floor, leaned up against the wall, wrapped in each other's arms.

"This is not how I pictured it," he whispered, not even trying to mask the fear and regret in his voice. For a while, he'd imagined his death as some valiant blaze of glory. Then, he figured it would be at the hands of Jabba or the Empire. More recently, he'd hoped it would be of old age, in his sleep.

"Me either." Leia had been ready to welcome death before. Sitting in her cell on the Death Star, running the evacuation from Hoth…This somehow felt different. It didn't feel like she was about to die. She was just snuggling with Han. She decided that, if she had to die now, this was how she wanted it to be.

"Think about what our kids are gonna do, sweetheart. Ben's gonna grow up and be a politician, like you. He'll work on preserving Alderaanian culture, just like you've been trying to do. Rey's gonna fly, like me. Probably better than me, 'cause she'll have the force and my genetics. They'll both get married and have a bunch of kids and even though they'll be busy, they'll still try to get their families together every once in a while, because they're family. Think about that, sweetheart. Someday, there will be a bunch of Organa-Solo whirlwinds runnin' around the galaxy, all because of you 'n' me. Dodonna is gonna go nuts." She smiled weakly into his chest, but still felt the pain of not being around to witness all that their children would achieve.

"Do you regret anything?"

"Not a single minute of the time I spent with you."

"I love you, Han." She was dizzy and had a pounding headache, but she forced her eyes to stay open. She scanned the face she'd woken up to every morning for the past 9 years. He gave her a half-hearted grin, his hands wandering over her like they had countless times before. They kissed, a few sweet, breathless kisses that were breathless for the wrong reason. She settled onto his chest.

He rested his face in her hair and muttered, "I love you, Leia Solo," before he let the blackness take over.

The last thing Leia was aware of was Han's heart beating in her ear.

Luke found them like that: Han on the floor against the wall with Leia curled in his lap, her head against his chest. His arms were around her possessively, his fingers tangled in her hair. Her arms were around his waist. They were both barely breathing and their skin was ghostly white and freezing to the touch.

Luke saw to it that air tubes were placed in each of their noses to start replenishing the oxygen they'd lost. The medics tried to pull Han and Leia away from each other, but Han growled through his unconscious state and moved for his blaster.

"It appears General Solo will protect his claim, even while unconscious," one of the medics joked.

"Leave them be. I doubt it was easy for either of them to come to terms with the fact that the other was going to die. They'll see each other first thing when they wake up. Hopefully, that will keep them both calm."

"Yes, sir." The medics left to work on the other 6 personnel who'd been stranded on the ship.

"You two are sickeningly adorable." He muttered, checking their oxygen before leaving them sleeping on the floor.

Leia took a deep breath and shifted against her husband's chest. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she wondered how they'd both made it to bed fully clothed…Han usually took care of that first thing, didn't he?

He sniffed and wiggled his nose.

"Your hair is in my nose," he mumbled sleepily. She laughed (maybe only in her head). His hands left her back and started feeling for the blankets that always seemed to get away from them.

"Why did you wear your blaster rig to bed?" She muttered into his neck. He thought hard while still trying to find the blanket, but he couldn't seem to recall even going to bed last night. Why was it so hard to wake up? Han pushed a hand over his face and stopped abruptly when he reached the cannula.

"Leia, we're alright!" He exclaimed half asleep, the events of the day coming back to him. "Wake up, sweetheart." He gently shook her.

"What?" She sat up and looked around. Luke strolled in then, having sensed his sister was coming back to consciousness.

"If I wasn't so glad to see you both alive, I'd throttle you for scaring the sithspit out of me and Chewie, not to mention the high command and half the bases from here to the core."

"Sorry, Luke," Leia apologized, sinking back to Han's chest. "I'm so tired."

"I shouldn't wonder. You were without any oxygen for almost an hour, and in a deprived environment for almost two hours before one of the recyclers kicked back on. You are going to be tired for a little while. I suggest, however, that you go sleep in a bunk somewhere and not here, on the durasteel floor." Silence. "Han. Leia. Wake up." He nudged their feet and called for a few deck officers to pull Han and Leia into bed.

Please R&R!