"There was another assassination attempt on the Queen of Naboo. It succeeded. She's dead."
Those words echoed dully in Leia's mind. She was astounded, so much so that a buzzing silence spread through the room. The two last spoken words trudged through the recesses of her brain like molasses on Hoth. When the impact finally came it all hit full-force, that the same elegant, young woman she had seen earlier that morning, was dead.
"What?" Leia asked suddenly, not thinking of controlling her emotions before saying so. She had gone from being in perfect solace as a peaceful wife and mother waiting for the return of her husband, back to hectic politician in a simple two words.
"Wait a minute," Luke said, standing up. "Something is funny here. I don't know what it is."
"Don't get jittery, Luke," Han warned, remembering the last time he said that. "She's dead."
"Someone is, but I'm not sure what's causing this misunderstanding between me and the Force."
"Come on, Han, we have to pack," Leia said robotically after an awkward silence, only disturbed by the twins screaming and yelling. She just wanted to do things - she couldn't have room to talk and think, just do.
"Right," Han answered, still looking at Luke thoughtfully. "Luke, are you coming with us?"
"No, I have to check up with the Jedi Academy; see how they're doing," Luke answered, picking up his black cloak. "Well, thanks for dinner, Leia. I'll see you on the landing platform tomorrow."
"Bye, Luke," Leia and Han chorused. Leia turned back to the dishes in front of her. The twins rushed out of the sitting room to say good bye to Luke, who gave each a quick, swift hug, and exited through the door.
"I can get that, Leia," Han offered, extending a hand to the dishes.
"I got it," Leia protested, snatching it out of reach of his hand. He then leaned over her to grab the dish, causing her to thrust it forward, smashing it into the cabinet. A piece caught in Leia's hand, and blood oozed out of the place it fell into. With one quick movement, Han had turned her around and cautiously eased the piece of glass out, set it aside, and turned her toward the sink to wash the blood out. Little did they know, Jacen and Jaina had gotten their brother, Anakin, and were watching the scene before them.
"Next time," Han warned, "let me take the dishes." He was still washing her hand as he said it, his breath causing her hair to flutter.
"Next time, don't ask," Leia said, pushing Han back by pushing away from the sink. He let go, but then grabbed her hand again and massaged it. Unable to contain it, little Anakin had made a soft snorting noise, causing Leia's and Han's heads to turn. Their cheeks turned softer pink, and then all five of them burst out laughing.
--
"...emergency food capsules...Han's extra pairs of underwear...shavers...breathers...coats...check, check, check and--ARGH!" Leia had been mumbling theit itinerary under her breath all morning, to discover a large womp rat hiding in a teeny, quite crafty whole behind the toilet in the bedroom's refresher.
Revolted, Leia raised a can of some aerosol product to kill said rat, when it stupidly jumped directly into the toilet. Even further disgusted, she closed the lid and promptly flushed three times. Satisfied to hear a small squealing rise and fall, the Senator clapped her hands.
Leia smelled the warm aroma of sugary oatmeal and caf. Han was attending to the children's morning requests, making her free to finish her last-minute travel preparations. In the midst of her fifth repacking that day, Leia made a mental note to have Luke patch up that whole and terminate the last of those throughly grotesque womp rats.
C-3PO hobbled on his metallic limbs to pick up the last of the Solo's luggage, erstwhile reciting his farewell and cautioning them against the many dangers of space travel, &co.
Leia then sat down at the table, feeling rather hungry and trying to block out Threepio's robotic chatter. She gave her husband and each of her children a kiss good morning on the cheek and grabbed a nearby roll from the pantry.
After munching quietly on her roll, Leia heard the door of their apartment buzz, after sensing her brother come into the building. The door opened to reveal the black-robed, sandy-haired Jedi. Luke greeted them all enthusiastically and went over the particulars of youngling-sitting with his sister.
"...and remember not to give them sweets before bed, make sure they go to sleep nine sharp. Oh, and Luke, do you remember how to work the washer? Good. If there's anything--"
"I know, I know. We've been through this before, and if there's anything you need to know, I'll be able to get through." He tapped his head, indicating their link in the Force.
Leia smiled, but the reference to the Force made her uneasy. It seemed as of late, whenever she tried to be in tune with the Force, she sensed a dark and forboding feeling. And since yesterday when they had gotten the news, the stress had increased.
"MINIONS OF XENDOR! THERE'S A COLONY OF WOMP RATS IN THE 'FRESHER!!"
Jaina shrieked and Leia had a fit of giggles, forgetting to tell Luke about the rats. He brother simply cocked one brow, shamelessly grinning and attempting to hide back laughter.
After exterminating the last of the pests, Han and Leia said their good byes, promising to bring back presents.
"Do you have to go?" cried Jaina.
"Can you put it off until next year instead? Or maybe in another ten years?"
"Can you take us with you?"
Han ruffled Anakin's hair and told him to be good for his Uncle Luke, while Leia hugged her children and made them promise to brush their teeth every night while she was gone and not to get in trouble. Chewbacca departed after enveloping all of the younglings in a crushing embrace. The three clambered up the ramp, and buckled into the seats of the cockpit.
Soon enough, the controls were up and running and they were zooming into space. Leia's thoughts drifted towards the Queen once again, pondering how she could have let it the situation slip. She thought of how the Nubians had put so much faith in her, and resolved that she would catch the bounty hunter and his employers no matter what. With lots of tactics in mind Leia began to plan things out in her head. The silence and slow of space travel eventually reached her, the last thoughts being of that brave Nubian handmaiden.
--
Meanwhile, Han piloted the Falcon in happiness, reunited with his ship once more. He had promised Leia he wouldn't get cocky and was using all his self-restraint to not spin or dip the ship dramatically. Han was reminded of the old days in the War - when they battled those Imps on the Death Star; the time they got trapped on Cloud City; when they were held hostage by those man-eating teddy bears.
Han shuddered at the thought of those Ewoks - they still creeped him out and made him suspiscious. His thoughts were interrupted, however, when one of the lights in the back cockpit began to beep vehemently.
Co-AN: darthluna01 here, sorry about the slowness of the chapter. The next one will definitely be more exciting.
