"My Mother"
By EsmeAmelia
Chapter 2
AN: Thanks for the reviews, all!
Princess Leia Organa Solo stood facing out a large window of her Corusaunt apartment. She gazed out at the lighted buildings and swift speeders without really seeing them - rather, her mind was focused on the stomach her hand rested on, and the two little beauties that were developing within it. Although it had only been a few days since she discovered that she was pregnant with twins, her mind was relaxed and content, ready to welcome the two new lives.
However, two arms suddenly wrapping around her waist and a hand rubbing her stomach somewhat disturbed her relaxed state of mind.
Leia's husband, Han Solo, had grabbed Leia into one of his "surprise pregnancy hugs," as he called them, where he would grab her from behind without warning and place his hands on her stomach, theoretically hugging his wife and his children at the same time. After receiving so many of these hugs in the last few days, Leia was beginning to wish that she hadn't told Han about her pregnancy until later - much later. Maybe she might have been able to fool him into thinking that she was just gaining weight until labor.
"So whaddaya think we should name 'em, hon?" Han asked as he caressed her stomach and rested his chin on her shoulder.
"Names? Already?" said Leia. "Han, I'm only a few weeks pregnant and you're already talking about names?"
"Comon, hon, I know you must have some you're thinkin' about," Han continued in his seductive voice.
"Oh...all right," said Leia. "What do you think of Cassandra?"
"Hmm, well that's..."
"Or Muriel?"
"That's a bit..."
"Or Annamaria?"
"Hey, wait a sec, what's with all the girl's names?" said Han. "You know, there's a chance that one of them might be a boy."
Leia rolled her eyes. "Great, that's all I need. Han Solo Jr."
"Or maybe they'll both be boys."
"Even better," Leia groaned. "Two Han Solo Jrs."
"What, you worried about being outnumbered?" Han chided as he kissed her cheek.
Leia decided that this conversation wasn't worth continuing, so she pulled her husband's face into a liplocking kiss as a distraction. It distracted Han all right, a little bit too much. Before Leia knew what was happening, she was lying on the sofa with Han on top of her, still in that liplocking kiss, which was growing more passionate by the moment.
"Han...Han, that's enough," Leia said as she forced their lips apart. "I don't have time for this, remember? I need to approve the site for the new medical facility."
"Oh right, the medical facility," Han groaned. "Can't you just send another senator there?"
"Wow, imagine what that would do to my reputation. 'I'm sorry, but you'll have to send a replacement senator so I can stay at home and make love with my husband.'"
"Is that a no?" Han grinned.
"Of course it's a no," Leia said with mock anger before running her fingers through Han's hair. "But I do have a few minutes before I have to leave."
Han gently pulled himself up into a sitting position and patted her stomach. "Nervous?"
"No, not at all," said Leia as she sat up next to him. "Why should I be?"
"Well, first of all, most normal people usually get nervous when they discover that they're going to have a baby," Han gave one of his crocked grins, "but then again, you've never really been normal." Before Leia could slap him, he quickly continued, "Also, you don't really have much experience being around mothers. You know, your birth mother died young and then your adopted mother died a few years later. Now that you're about to become a mother, aren't you nervous about your lack of observed examples of mothering?"
"That's why they invented parenting books." Leia rolled her eyes. "You're one to talk about a lack of parenting role models. You don't even know who your parents are."
"Yeah," Han sighed. "Freaky coincidence, that we both grew up without knowing who our real parents are."
"Luke would say there are no coincidences - it was the will of the Force," grinned Leia. Then her face grew serious. "But trust me, finding out who they are isn't all that. Take me, for example. I learned that my real father was one of the most evil figures in the galaxy." She eyed Han slyly. "Maybe you shouldn't worry about who your parents are. For all you know, your father might be the Emperor."
"Then I guess that would make me the rightful heir to the throne," Han laughed before pulling her into another liplocking kiss.
Leia pushed him back. "Han, no. Remember the site approval for the new medical facility?"
"Then I guess you'd better get goin' before I get in the mood again." Han winked at his wife and got up from the sofa.
Leia didn't see any reason not to approve the site for a new medical facility. After all, this pile of rubble used to be a medical facility about twenty-three years ago, before it was destroyed by the Empire. But the law required the sites for all Republic-funded construction projects to be inspected and approved by a senator before construction could begin, so Leia began scanning the site, though she was starting to wish that she was at home lovemaking with Han.
The original floor looked like it could still be used. It was filthy, sure, but it appeared to be sturdy. It would save a lot of money if they could build the new facility on the old floor. Leia walked around the floor with hard strides, testing what remained of the floor's reliability.
Suddenly, she stopped. Something felt different. She repeatedly tapped her foot on the floor. Yes, this part of the floor felt lighter than the rest of the floor. A mixture of duty and curiosity caused her to crouch down and examine it further. Underneath the dust and dirt, she felt a crack. A long, thin, straight crack. The same sort of crack that nested around the edges of the Millennium Falcon's smuggling compartments. She wondered...
A few more minutes of examination revealed that her suspicions were correct - there was indeed a trap door in the floor. Opening the trap door uncovered a set of stairs leading down to some sort of underground room. Leia breathed excitedly. What was this room used for? Were there perhaps some remaining artifacts down there that were not found by the Empire? She practically leapt to her feet and started descending down the musky staircase.
Down in the secret room, Leia's handlight pierced the darkness for the first time in many years. Shelves stocked with all different medicines shone in the illumination. Leia nearly cried out in excitement from her discovery. She reasoned that this room was meant to store the rare medicines in order to protect them from being stolen, and that plan had succeeded. Long after the rest of the building had been raided and destroyed, these medicines had survived, and now they could still be used to help the sick. She was so excited that she almost did not notice when her foot struck something hard.
Now what was this? Leia shone her light down to see what she had run into, and immediately her excitement was washed away by terror.
A woman's gray, metallic, agonized face lifelessly stared up at her. Her eyes were wrinkled shut, as though they were blocking out a blast of intense light. Her mouth hung half-open, as though it were crying out in pain. The shape of the face descended into a flat grayness, as though the substance had captured a moment of torture and preserved it indefinitely. Leia trembled slightly, for she had seen another face preserved like this, another face stuck in similar agony. Unpleasant memories of that other face, the face of the man she loved, flew into her head. She didn't need to examine the rest of the figure to know what had happened to this woman.
This woman had been carbon frozen.
