Luke eventually manages to break away from the party.
It's not that he wasn't enjoying himself. It was wonderful to kick back and relax with the people he cared about, knowing their biggest struggle has come to an end. The danger is gone.
It's not really, Luke knows. He can feel it in the force, an uneasy premonition that warns him of the dangers that await them all. But for now he will ignore the foreboding in his bones and simply allow him to be at peace. For the most part, that is.
From his chosen hiding place, quietly nestled away from the celebration, he risks a peek. He scans the group quickly until his eyes rest upon the two of them.
They're dancing, smiling, laughing, and Luke feels his chest ache in longing.
"Is something the matter?"
It's with a startled gasp that Luke releases the branch he was using to support himself. He immediately loses his footing, stumbling to the ground. When he manages to scramble back to his feet, he finds himself facing his late father's pale force ghost.
Anakin Skywalker is watching him with a twinkle in his eyes, looking years younger than he should be. After so long of seeing his father as nothing but a dark mask, it is odd to accept this face as his. At the same time, it was nice to see his father as a man, as the good he always believed him to be.
As if sensing his thoughts, Anakin offers him a smile. The shimmering ghost steps back. "You seem troubled, my son."
My son . The words sound nice. They are filled with concern and love. Luke never imagined he would get to hear his father speak to him with such genuine affection. He never believed he'd ever get to speak with his father at all.
"It's nothing," Luke lies, as though his father was not part of the force and could not read him like a book. He tries to mask his emotions, to push them away as Master Yoda once told him to do. He's surprised when Anakin responds with a scowl.
"I can feel your distress. You don't try to hide it," Anakin says gently. Luke is seeing a whole side of his father he had always imagined, back before he knew him to be Darth Vader.
"Master Yoda told me-,"
"They want us to push our feelings away, pretend they aren't there. But that never did anyone any good," Anakin interrupts. His voice is still gentle, but there is an edge to it that caused Luke to fall silent. Anakin's expression has twisted into one of forlorn sorrow and Luke longs for the explanation he will probably never get to hear. "Be mindful of your feelings, Luke, but do not push them away. Love can be a strength as much as it can be a weakness."
Luke considers this for a moment before sighing and turning his eyes back to the party. Han and Leia are no longer dancing, instead standing apart and searching the crowd. Probably looking for him, he imagines, but he can't bring himself to return just yet.
Instead, he finds himself asking, "What should I do to impress Han?"
Luke feels the heat rush to his face instantaneously, tearing his eyes away from the party and back to Anakin. He is surprised to see that the Force ghost of his father is looking at him with thinly veiled amusement.
"I mean," he stumbles to defend himself. He drops his gaze to his feet. "He's just... It doesn't matter anyways. I think he and Leia have a thing going on, I wouldn't want to..."
"Have you tried floating a pear? It worked on your mother."
It takes a minute for Luke to comprehend the advice. He scanned his father's face for any hint of a joke, but all he found was the expression of a man offering his best advice with a cheerful eagerness.
"Floating a pear? Really?" He asks but before he could receive an answer, he's talking to air. A gentle hand has wrapped itself firmly around his arm, tugging him out of his hiding place.
"Luke! There you are! Come back to the party!" Leia says, smiling up at him with so much affection it hurts to remember his jealousy only moments before. He returns the smile, perhaps a little to half-heartedly. Or perhaps she is simply to perceptive because she sees through it as easily as their father did. Her face falls and he feels a stab of guilt. Tonight was supposed to be happy and trouble-free. "What's wrong?"
"It's nothing," Luke insists for the second time that night and this time when he forces a smile it is brighter and more genuine. For the sake of Leia's happiness, he would willingly push his feelings aside. He is just happy to have her, to have his family. He will be satisfied. "It was just a little... It's not over. You feel it too, don't you? I don't want to bring anyone down..." He pauses. He's not sure if this is a believable excuse but it will have to do. "It's okay, though. I'm fine."
"If you're sure." Leia hardly looks convinced by the lie but her grip on Luke's arm has at least lessened. He steps out from his hiding spot and she links her arm with his as they make their way back to the party. They walk slowly and while it's odd, it's also comforting. Without even realizing what he was doing his eyes seek out Han and find him, walking around aimlessly, almost agitated.
"He was worried about you, you know," Leia says, following his gaze. They've stopped at the edge of the clearing, looking out over the rambunctious group. Her voice contains poorly concealed amusement as she continues, "When you were fighting Darth... our father, and the Emperor. And then again once he saw you were missing from the party." She doesn't try to contain her laugh at Luke's startled expression, her eyes twinkling knowingly when he meets her eyes. She unlinks their arm and leans over to kiss his cheek. "You two are so silly, dancing around each other from day one... Go get that oblivious nerfherder!"
Luke receives no warning before she gives him a hard shove, and he tumbles backward. Right into a strong pair of arms that catch him before he can hit the ground, tightening around him for a fraction of a second before releasing him quickly.
He catches a glimpse of her smirk before she disappears. He hurries to school his face so he does not appear as flustered as he feels when he finally turns to face Han.
"Finally decided to rejoin the party, Kid?" Han asks, trying to recover from whatever had just happened. He pulls it off as confident but Leia's words have brought a new realization to Luke. Han avoids his eyes as he speaks and he speaks quickly, eagerly. With his new understanding, Luke grins happily at Han.
"It would be no fun hiding away all night," Luke says. He feels lighter than he has for years when he reaches out and takes Han's hand in his flesh one and Han does not pull away. The man looks startled for a moment before his fingers intertwine with Luke's. The action sends warmth flowing through Luke's chest.
"Are you, uh, hungry?" Han bumbles, trying and failing to look cool as he looks away from Luke. His cheeks are painted with the faintest rose that Luke can barely make out in the dim lighting. It's absolutely adorable . Luke's heart flutters. He can't do much more than nod helplessly and allow Han to drag him away. The food is laid out in a mouthwatering feast that he barely pays any attention to, too distracted by the warmth of Han's hand around his. He doesn't even realize Han has been talking to him until he feels a light squeeze.
"Sorry- what?" Luke asks, looking up at Han with a flustered expression. "What's was that?"
"I was just wondering what you wanted to eat...?" Han gestures questioningly to the piles of food with his free hand. There are platters of mouthwatering meats, cheeses, roasted vegetables, delicately sliced fruits along with many things Luke couldn't begin to identify. It is rather impressive that they managed to whip this up.
"Oh." Luke drops Han's hand as his stomach rumbles demandingly, instead turning to the food. He does not miss the flash of disappointment on Han's face when he lets go of his hand. It leaves him with the oddest feeling of giddiness as they collect some food onto a plate that Han hands him.
With the plate filled up, he allows Han to once again lead him away. They weave through the throng of people until they manage to break out of the crowd. They collapse together on the soft grass, leaning against trees and facing each other.
"So where'd you disappear to, anyway?" Han eventually asks a few moments into their companionable silence.
Would it be strange to tell Han that he was speaking to his father? He considers it for a moment before deciding it was better than admitting that he had hidden away because of petty, unfounded jealousy.
"It was all a bit overwhelming," Luke says, picking at a strange, unidentifiable food on his plate absentminded. "So I stepped out for a bit." He takes a testing nibble of the food. It's strangely bittersweet and soft. "And then my Father showed up."
"Didn't he-?"
"Die, yes. In a matter of speaking. But he is very much alive as he has become one with the force," Luke explains. Han doesn't seem to get it, but goes with it. It wouldn't be the wildest thing he's done since he met one Luke Skywalker.
"Huh. So what did your old man have to say?"
"Not much," Luke says, suddenly grateful for the darkness that probably manages to hide the worst of his blush. "I mean, he wanted to see if I was okay... and stuff."
He finishes lamely, waving his hand dismissively. There is no good way to say that his father, the Lord Darth Vader, had appeared and told him how to charm the man across from him. It sounded crazy in his head and he's possible it could only worse if he tried to put it in words out loud. To avoid saying more, he grabs and shoves the nearest thing on the plate into his mouth.
Han doesn't get the hint. "And stuff?"
"And stuff," Luke repeats as soon as he swallows the food in his mouth. He's not keen on divulging what 'stuff' entitles, so he holds out another piece of food for Han. Perhaps if the man is eating, he won't bug him about the conversation he had with his father.
"Thanks," Han starts, leaning to reach for the food but stops short when the fruit jumps out of Luke's hand. Both men freeze, watching as the food closes the small gap between them and then falls into Han's hand.
Many moments of awkward silence pass. Luke has turned a bright shade of red in his mortification while Han stares cluelessly at the fruit resting in his palm. And then, "Did you just float a pear to me?"
They both raises their eyes at the same time to meet each other's. Luke seems resigned to his fate when he nods blankly and mumbles something incomprehensible under his breath.
"What was that?"
Luke takes a deep breath as if preparing to reveal a dreaded truth, and then admits, "My father told me to do that. To impress you. I did- I didn't mean to do it, just now, I wasn't going to but then I did and-!"
He's cut off when Han lets out a bark of laughter. For a moment, Luke tries to look stern but he just as quickly dissolves into his own laughter. The ridiculousness of the situation was too much for both of them and together they laugh until tears spring to Luke's eyes and then Han is pulling the younger man into his lap and then he's kissing him, warm lips pressed against his and-
Luke kisses him back, inexperienced but more than enthusiastic enough to make up for it and when he breaks away, yet another giggle manages to escape his lips.
"So it worked?" Luke asks with a cheeky grin when their laughter has once more subsided.
"Kid, since I met you, you've taken down a death star, become a Jedi, and found good in one of the most evil men in the galaxy," Han says, rolling his eyes. "Some floating pear doesn't even begin to register on the scale of how impressive you are."
Technically, he never would have been able to destroy the death star without Han's eventual help, but neither of them were about to mention that. Instead, Luke just smiles and drops his head to Han's shoulder. After so long dancing around their attraction (and being pointlessly jealous of his sister) it's nice to just sit like this with Han, their bodies pressed snugly together.
"Do you think they'll miss us if we're gone too long?" Han questions after a few minutes pass. Luke turns to gaze back out at the party. It's still very much alive and does not seem like it will be dying for many hours to come. Just as he's about to return his gaze to Han's face, he catches sight of her sister. She's staring in their direction and though he's sure the darkness and distance from the party is enough to hide them, he's positive he caught her winking at him before turning back to the party.
Luke's lips curl into a smile that reaches his twinkling eyes. "I think we have time."