Jacen signed off his comlink and frowned a little. There was 'something' all right, but whatever it was his father obviously wasn't about to discuss over an open channel. Dropping the comlink on a cabinet Jacen sat on the edge of his bunk, considering his father's request.
"Do you always speak so disrespectfully to your parents?" Tenel Ka asked, sitting up and leaning her chin on his shoulder.
"I wasn't being disrespectful. Dad knows that." Jacen replied.
"You don't call that conversation disrespectful. Interesting." She raised an eyebrow at him.
"I have a very open relationship with my parents." He explained. "It means we can say what we want, not just pay lip service to one another."
"That's what you think I do, pay lip service to my father?" She queried, her breath warm on his neck.
Jacen turned his head to look her in the eye. "So, you'll be telling him about us then?"
"When exactly did 'this' become an 'us'?" She countered.
"I thought you understood the meaning of my gift." His eyes focused on the locket nestled against her dusky-hued chest.
"I didn't realise accepting it made me your property." She responded.
"But you did accept it." He observed. "And it does look good on you."
"Know what else looks good on me?" She asked with a sultry drawl and lay back on the bunk, her eyes beckoning him to follow her.
"Okay, I give up." He leaned down on one arm, close but not actually lying against her. "What else looks good on you?"
"You." She breathed, wrapping an arm around his shoulders and pulling him to her. Jacen moved freely, his lips making for hers, one hand grabbing a breast and clumsily squeezing until she forcibly removed it.
"Seriously..." She squirmed and pushed him off. "You have got to get some tips from your father or someone because your technique stinks!"
"I...I'm sorry..." He stammered and toppled backwards, off the bunk and hitting the deck with a resounding thud.
"Are you all right?" Tenel Ka's face appeared over the edge of the bunk, her voice laced with concern.
"I...I think I've put my back out!" Jacen moaned, rolling and clutching his back. "Dad's gonna kill me if I don't pick him up tomorrow."
Tenel Ka climbed off the bunk and knelt beside Jacen.
"I don't sense anything broken." She frowned, her hands attempting to trace the places his fingers last rubbed. "Or anything pulled or strained. In fact, I don't sense anything wrong at all!"
She pursed her lips and cocked an eyebrow as Han's famous grin spread across his son's face. Jacen threw his arms around Tenel Ka and pulled her down to him.
"What were you saying about my technique?" He asked curiously as the palm of his hand rode the soft flesh of her thigh to cup the firm curve of a buttock.
"I was accusing you of having none!" She replied, softening in his embrace. "And since we're lying on the less than sanitary floor of your less than sanitary quarters, I can only conclude I was at least partially right."
"You like that I'm not one of those soft, pretty boys your father would have you date." He whispered as the tip of his tongue traced a light pattern across her throat to her earlobe. "And you know what else?"
"No. What else?" She closed her eyes and allowed herself the pleasure of the anticipation of his touch.
"I think you like me being your dirty little secret from papa!" His mouth closed over her ear, his tongue running with unbearable speed around it's outer shell before tickling it's way inside. With a supreme effort, Tenel Ka pushed herself to her feet breathing heavily.
"You should know." She panted. "That as the Princess of Hapes I have no intention of making out with you on that cold floor."
Jacen rose also, frustrated and a little annoyed by her hot-and-cold attitude toward him. "Well I'm sorry I don't have some fancy starship. But you know what, the Falcon is worth ten of them any day!"
A slender finger pressed to his lips before his tirade could continue.
"You should learn to use your ears before you engage your mouth." She told him, removing her finger from his lips and hooking it beneath the shoulder strap of her cream chemise. In a swift motion the straps were off her shoulders and the chemise was in a heap on the floor at her feet. Jacen's eyes had followed it's journey and now remained downcast, seemingly entranced by the fabric.
"It's silk." She said. "In case you're interested."
Jacen's cheeks flushed as he looked up at her. "I..." He swallowed. Then swallowed again as his peripheral vision revealed what he already knew, that she was naked. "I...I..."
"Mynock flew away with your tongue?" Tenel Ka smirked.
"I haven't done this before." He finally confessed, his cheeks now a deep crimson.
"Luckily..." She moved forward and draped her arms loosely about his neck. "I have."
"You...you...have?" He swallowed again.
"When I was eighteen, my father thought I should be introduced." She explained. "He felt that following the road being paved for me, I should have all of the necessary experience in order to fulfil my duties successfully."
"So he bought you a prostitute?" Jacen's eyes were as big as a moon. "Man, all I got was a family dinner and flying credentials!"
"A prostitute!" She laughed. "Of course not. I am a Hapan Princess after all. No, he provided me with an instructor."
"And this instructor, he...er...he taught you...you know...everything?" He asked nervously.
"He gave me the tools." She told him huskily. "You know what they say, give a Mon Cal a Juggerhead fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a Mon Cal how to catch a Juggerhead fish and you feed him for a lifetime."
"I don't think that's actually the saying." Jacen commented.
"But you get the gist of what I mean." She swayed the tiny distance between them until her lips were hovering before his. "I may still be technically 'in tact' but I have all the necessary knowledge to end that."
Jacen swallowed as her breath tingled against his burning cheeks. "Right here." And again. "Right now." And once more. "With you." The 'o' shape remained on her lips.
"I think I need to pee." Jacen ground out between teeth too afraid to part lest the exertion cause the rock in his pants to explode.
Tenel Ka remained unmoving for what felt to Jacen like an eternity, then she stepped silently around him and he heard her sink onto the bunk behind them.
"I'll still be here when you get back." He heard her say over the sound of waves pounding in his ears.
With a strangled internal yelp and a face contorted by concentration, Jacen exited his sleeping quarters and palmed the door shut behind him.
Every partially remembered and half heard Corellian curse, Jacen spat from his mouth as paced the small confines of the Falcon's only refresher unit. With his eyes screwed shut and his back against the 'fresher door, Jacen banged the back of his head against the metal repeatedly. Slamming his head one final time, he moved to stand in front of the mirror and stare at his own reflection. Then with a sigh, he headed back to his quarters.
"Are you suitably relieved?" Tenel Ka asked, sounding irritated.
"I'm sorry." Jacen mumbled. "I panicked, I guess."
Tenel Ka inhaled deeply. "Panic isn't quite the effect I was hoping for."
Jacen slumped onto the edge of the bunk, his back to her. "I know. And I'm sorry."
"Yes. You said that already." She sighed. "Do you want me to leave?"
"Stars no!" Jacen swivelled on the bunk to face her. "I just...I'm not as confident about all of this as you are. I guess when you look like you it's easy to feel confident. You're beautiful."
"Ever heard the expression 'beauty lies within the eye of the beholder'?" She queried.
"Sure." He shrugged.
"Do you know what it means?" She questioned.
"I may be a little shy, but that doesn't make me stupid!" He countered.
Tenel Ka folded back the artificial skin on her upper left arm, depressed a series of buttons, eased her artificial arm from it's coupling and laid it on the bed beside her.
"Do you still think me beautiful." She asked.
"I know what you're trying to do." He replied.
"Do you still think me beautiful?" She pressed.
"It's just an arm. Of course I still think you're beautiful, because you are still beautiful" He answered.
"And yet, I've heard how others see me. And beautiful is not the word I hear most often." She said, placing the prosthetic in position and re-securing it.
"They don't know you like I do. You're smart, you're witty and you swing that lightsaber like you've been doing it all your life." He assured her.
"And you love me." She prompted.
"Well, yeah. That too." He blushed.
"But still you panicked?" She noted.
"It's just that when it comes to...you know...intimacy...I don't want to let you down." His blush deepened.
"I find your lack of confidence quite endearing." She smiled. "And oddly erotic."
Jacen fixed his brown eyes on her blue-grey ones.
"Be gentle with me." He pleaded as he began to shed his clothing and climbed under the covers beside her.
"It's just like making out. Only better." She whispered as her lips attached to his and the world began to haze around him.
His arms closed around silky soft skin, fingers exploring it's texture. His mouth explored hers, breaking off to cover her ear the way he knew she liked. Her growls of approval urged him to continue. Shifting position to pull her across him, he moved a hand to gently cup a small perky breast whilst the other slid to flirt with the crevice between her buttock cheeks.
Tenel Ka sighed. Then moaned as the pad of his thumb passed repeatedly over her hardened nipple. She moaned further when his mouth departed her ear to nip and nuzzle at her throat. And again, gratuitously when Jacen moved her far enough backwards to close his mouth over her breast and suckle.
"Is it...is it okay?" He stammered, letting her nipple plop from his mouth.
"Don't talk. Just do it." She groaned, her head thrown back, her hands insisting he return to his task.
Jacen smiled to himself and bent his head to lavish attention on her other breast.
Tenel Ka did enjoy the sensations, though she admittedly was exaggerating their effects for Jacen's benefit. He clearly needed some considerable encouragement and she was happy to oblige. She liked Jacen, liked him a lot. Certainly liked him a whole lot more than the saps her father kept trying to peddle off on her. He had correctly surmised that she liked him being her...what was it he called it...her dirty little secret. And she would like it even more if her dirty little secret was the one to extract her virginity. That would show her father once and for all that it was she who was in command of her destiny and not him. Nor her Grandmother. Nor any of the other courtiers or Government officials who thought they had a say in her future.
Tenel Ka allowed a small gasp to escape her lips as the boy at her breast gripped her nipple between trembling teeth and ground at it with his tongue. He lacked the finesse she had hoped would come with her first sexual encounter but he was earnest and, through the Force, she could sense he held a real love for her. Which was more than could be said was true of her father's approved suitors.
Jacen's hands were on her waist now and he had stopped his incessant suckling to pant furiously against her chest. The poor boy was too close for her to show him some of the more stimulating exercises she had been tutored in. They would just have to wait for another time. She was sure there would be other times. He was just too impossible to resist.
In a swift motion, she moved to kneel above his abdomen and gripped his straining erection as she had been shown in order to stem the need for release. Jacen lay back, feeling like he was floating on air. With a skilful hand, she guided the tip of his manhood between warm, moist lips. And with an intake of breath plunged herself downward, the brief stab of pain confirming her hymen broken, her virginity taken by the one name in the Universe guaranteed to sear her father's heart. If he indeed had one.
It was over almost before it had started. Jacen managed two, maybe three small upward thrusts before his hands grabbed at the flesh on her thighs and she felt his muscle twitch within her. Hardly fireworks, but she had accomplished what she came here for and she was aware he would gain in both skill and confidence the more they saw of one another.
As a dreamy smile spread across his lips, Tenal Ka lay down beside him and rested her head and her hand on his chest.
"Man! That was so...so...awesome!" He grinned and kissed her hair. "Did you..."
"Oh yeah." She replied, anticipating both the question and the need for a positive response.
"Was it...you know...what you thought it would be like?" He asked.
"You know..." Tenel Ka thought of her father's reaction when he found out. As she was certain he would, since she would see to it that he did. "So much better!"
"Yeah." He cuddled her to him. "For me too."
xxxxxxxxxxxx
When Leia woke, she was breathless and startled. Jacen!
Her thoughts swirled, a torrent of emotions pummelling her. And then there was understanding.
Oh Jacen! She thought and a slight smile tugged at the corners of her lips. Her son might very well be at odds with his use of the Force, but he needed to learn how to shield others from it's effects.
"Han?" She called, feeling his side of the bed not just empty but also cold.
He was sitting at the table where they had eaten dinner, his attention fully occupied by the contents of his datapad.
"Han?" Leia repeated, climbing off the bed and walking over to him. "What are you reading?"
She rested a warm hand on his shoulder as she peered down at the apartment displayed on the screen. "Nice. Who do we know there?"
"I've been thinking." He said, laying the datapad on the table and pointing at the apartment he'd been looking at. "I'm thinking we should sell our apartment and downsize. We don't need all those rooms, not now that Jaina's at the Praxeum." He left Anakin's loss unsaid. "I think we should move to a smaller apartment. This one, maybe. Or one like it."
"What's brought this on?" She enquired, sweeping the hair back from his forehead.
"We need to think about the future Ley." His voice trembled with emotion. "We got five bedrooms, we only need two. That's three rooms going to waste."
"Okay nerfherder." She slipped neatly onto his lap and laid her hands against his cheeks. "What's been rotating in that dust bowl you call a brain?"
Han dropped a hand to her abdomen and cleared his throat. "I think we need to plan for our children's futures. If we sell the apartment and buy something smaller, we'd have enough left over to help Jaina and Jacen secure a down-payment on a place of their own, on Coruscant if they want or somewhere else if they'd prefer."
"And?" She prompted after waiting for him to go on.
"And..." He finally continued. "When I'm just a memory and a picture in a holoframe, you won't have to worry about rattling around in a great big apartment."
His hand squeezed her abdomen very lightly.
"You planning on going somewhere flyboy?" She smirked.
"I'm being serious." He stated.
She could see from his expression that he was. Very serious indeed. Her smirk, became a smile.
"You're right. We ought to downsize. And we do need to consider the children's futures." She leaned forward and nuzzled his nose with hers. "But we don't need to do it right now. Come on back to bed. Sun'll be up soon and I'm really looking forward to that newly-committed breakfast sex you promised me."
She waggled her eyebrows at him as she rose and gently tugged him to his feet.
"When'd I promise you that?" He teased.
"Soon as I sat down and I felt the 'little fella' perk up!" She grinned at him.
"Do we have to wait for the sun to come up?" He grabbed her by the waist and pulled her squealing back against his still strong, firm body.
"All right." She giggled, squirming in his arms. "But after this we have got to get some decent sleep."
"Sure. Jacen won't be here 'til late afternoon at best." His teeth were nibbling her ear.
"You called him! I told you not to." She scolded.
"He was cool. Probably glad to get the Hell outta there!" His mouth now on her neck.
"I wouldn't take the odds on that one." She muttered under her breath, shuddering as Han's lips found a particularly sensitive spot to tantalise.
Following another prolonged period of sensual lovemaking, Leia slept perfectly spooned into her husband's body. His arm lay beneath the pillow supporting her head and they'd interlaced their fingers, his right, her left. As he listened to the faint rumble of her breath in slumbers, his free hand drifted, fingers spread, to span her abdomen.
After Hannay, though he'd never revealed his hopes to Leia, he'd prayed they might one day have another. It felt strangely poetic and at the same time perverse that they should find themselves pregnant again now.
Their youngest son had recently died, their eldest daughter had recently miscarried. Whichever of the Gods, he mused idly, thought it would be appropriate to send them a child now was in need of a serious reality check.
And again he found himself reminded of his age. He'd be near enough seventy when the little one started School, eighty turned when he graduated. Worse, what if 'he' was a 'she'! He could be ninety and rattling with arthritis and an artificial hip when 'she' asked him to walk her down the aisle. And just like that, Han's sense of mortality finally kicked in.
He looked with fresh eyes on the woman he had never intended to fall in love with but somehow, against all the odds, not only had fallen for but had married.
Him!
Han Solo, married!
He considered all the moments of his life he had previously thought of as monumental only to realise, he'd been wrong. These were the most monumental things in his life. Leia. Jaina. Jacen. Anakin. Hannay. His baby. Their family. Them.
Solo, in name only.
Han Solo. Corellian. Smuggler. Mercenary. Rebel. Scoundrel.
And then Han Solo, strong and emotionally aloof, let the tears roll down his cheeks.
When he had regained his composure, he nudged Leia awake. "Ley. You awake?"
"Mmmm." She mumbled back, her eyes fluttering but not opening.
"Ley!" He nudged her again.
"All right!" She turned around in his arms to face him, eyes still closed. "But make it quick and tell me when it's over."
"No. Sweetheart. I need to talk to you." He told her with a smile.
"Can't it wait? I only got to sleep three minutes ago!" She moaned, her face contorted as if in pain.
"I said in the temple that you were the one truly great thing to come into my life." Han cupped her face, his thumb stroking her cheek. "But that isn't entirely true. You were just the start of all the truly great things to happen to me. And that's not to belittle Chewie's contribution. If it hadn't been for him I probably would've stuck it out as an Imp at least until my five year Commission was up. He showed me the path. You helped me walk it."
"That's nice." She mumbled and sighed sleepily.
"I mean it sweetheart. It's not me who held you up. It's you who raised me aloft." His eyes scanned her still beautiful face. "And I...I just wanted you to know."
He pressed his forehead to hers.
"Chewie may have been the one to show you the way. And maybe I was the one to be by your side." She whispered. "But it was you who chose to walk that path."
Her palm tilted his face so that she could kiss him tenderly.
"Now can I please get some serious sleep before I regret my actions back then?" She asked.
Han pulled her to him, wrapped her tightly in his arms and kissed her forehead. Then they slept, both of them, until late morning became early afternoon and waking only then when they received a call from Registration advising them that their transport had arrived.
Suddenly they were very awake and hurriedly packed the few items they had brought with them and dressed for the first time since their arrival the day before.
They were at their appointed collection bay before the Falcon had time to cool her engines and lifted off when advised to do so, Jacen in the pilot's seat, Han beside him, Leia behind their son.
"So, you guys have a good break?" Jacen asked, sounding disinterested.
"Sure was." Han grinned back at his blushing wife.
"So, home I guess." Jacen sighed, his fingers about to input their destination in the navicomputer.
"No. Let's go to Yavin." Han settled back in his seat.
"Yavin!" Jacen stated staring at his father.
"Yeah. Yavin." Han grinned at his own reflection in the viewscreen.
"Where I just came from." Jacen said flatly. "The same place I came from yesterday to drop you guys off only to come back again today to pick you guys up. That Yavin?"
"You know of another one?" Han growled and shrugged one shoulder. "Call it a fare. We'll be your fee paying passengers."
"This is a cargo vessel, we don't take fee paying passengers." Jacen quoted his father.
"Fine. Then call us your fee paying cargo." Han shot Jacen a scowl. "What's wrong with you anyways, you got your jocks on back to front or something?"
"Han!" Leia interrupted and shook her head at Han's reflection.
Han looked at his son's colouring cheeks first with suspicion, then with growing admiration. He settled back again and watched Jacen input their co-ordinates and at the appropriate time, shift the Falcon into hyperspace.
"You know..." Han started. "You can talk to me about stuff. You know, if there was stuff you wanted to talk to me about."
"Thanks Dad." Jacen said, his eyes on the streaking starfield ahead. "There isn't."
"You know, I remember my first time..." Han began.
"Dad! Seriously!" Jacen turned his head enough for Han to see his eyes flick in his mother's direction.
Han acknowledged the look and fell silent. Until... "You used some protection though, right son?"
Leia cringed and Jacen's shoulders slumped.
This was going to be one Hell of a long journey!
xxxxxxxxxxxx
Jacen could hear his parents arguing as he shut down the Falcon's engines. Their words were indistinct but he could tell his mother was berating his father for his directness.
"You used some protection!" Leia's eyes were wide with fury.
"I just wanna know he's being responsible. We already had one child with an unwanted pregnancy, I was hoping there wouldn't be a pattern developing." He sulked.
"And what was that, 'it's okay if it doesn't last long'? Could you be any more embarrassing?" She glared.
"Well apparently not, judging by your reaction." He mumbled into the bulkhead.
"And another thing. I thought you talked him through this stuff already?" She accused.
"Hey! I did my best, but come on honey, look at what I'm working with here." He said defensively as Jacen joined them at the ramp.
"Uncle Luke knows we're coming. He asked if we were staying, I said I didn't know." Jacen said sulkily.
"Look, Jace..." Han started apologetically.
"Please Dad." Jacen halted him with an outstretched palm. "I really don't need another 'first time' reminiscence okay?"
"I was just..." Han continued.
"The boy said enough Han." Leia's glare was intense. "Now I'm saying it also."
Han's lips moved, the apology still rolling around inside his mouth desperate to get out.
"Here's Luke now." Leia smiled and headed down the ramp first, Jacen following, Han bringing up the rear.
"You forget your toothbrush or something?" Luke smiled and hugged his sister.
"Something like that." She replied.
"So, tell me, what's it like being re-married to this big lug." Luke nodded at Han as they walked then turned to loudly whisper. "I hope he was gentle with you."
"There's something we need to talk about." Han explained, noting Jacen's worried expression, adding aside to Jacen. "Nothing to do with you, kiddo."
"Everything okay?" Luke whispered to his sister. "I'm sensing a lot of tension."
"Just Han being Han. You remember what that feels like right?" Leia replied.
"Hmm. Jacen has my sympathies." Luke commented. "On the bright side, at least it's not me who's on the receiving end."
"Thanks. I'll be sure to tell Jacen how supportive you've been." Leia rolled her eyes.
Mara smiled broadly as she welcomed the couple, while Jacen went to find and bring Jaina to the homestead.
"Back so soon. I knew my husband's stew was good, but I never expected it to draw you back quite so quickly." Mara quipped.
"I will ignore the jibe and get us something to drink. Leia?" Luke looked to his sister first.
"Stim tea, if you have any." She replied.
"Make that two." Han said, earning a stare from Leia, so he elaborated. "Can't drink and drive."
"You're not staying?" Mara asked. "I know it's not much, but we have room and you're very welcome."
"Thanks, we're grateful. It's just that we have things to organise on Coruscant." Han explained.
"What kind of things?" Luke enquired.
"Just, things." Han answered with a secretive smile. "Where's that nephew of mine?"
"Asleep. Finally!" Mara groaned. "I swear that child can fight sleep like a Jedi fights a Sith!"
"Jaina was just the same." Leia remembered. "Except for Han of course. For him, she was asleep almost before he'd finished picking her up!"
"Here we go." Luke returned with a tray of teas and snacks, just as Jacen and Jaina arrived too.
"What's going on?" Jaina asked, worriedly noting her mother's raised eyebrow in her father's direction. "Dad?"
Jaina and Jacen sat opposite their parents, Mara and Luke either side of the youngsters.
"Well..." Han wiped the palms of his hands on his pants and fell silent.
Leia watched him struggle for words and felt the tension rise. "We're selling the apartment." She stated.
"You mean, home?" Jaina asked puzzled.
"Yes. Home." Leia looked at Han for some form of movement but he remained still. "Your father and I have been talking and we think it's time to downsize. We can afford to get somewhere nice and with the money we have left over we figure we can help you both buy somewhere of your own. Han?"
She looked again at him for confirmation but he just looked back at her.
"Why?" Jacen asked, equally puzzled.
"Why?" Leia echoed and elbowed her husband. "Han?"
It had seemed so simple in his head. Tell them their plans. Tell them why. Wait for the whoops of joy followed by questions and some worry, which he was prepared for and would allay. Now, however, it felt like the hardest thing in the world to say.
"Han!" Leia barked, sternly and snapping him out of his daydream.
"Your Mom's pregnant." He told them simply.
Four vaguely stunned faces looked back before Luke and Mara broke into broad grins.
"Well, way to go!" Luke said, rising and reaching first to friendly-punch Han's shoulder then to embrace Leia. "Guess you'll be wanting Threepio back." He added.
"Oh no, we wouldn't." Han said all too quickly and shaking his head vigorously. "You keep him. We got great day care on Coruscant."
"I'm...speechless!" Mara said. "Thrilled, obviously. But speechless. I...I didn't know you were even trying."
"Solo's don't have to try too hard." Han grinned, his arm reaching around Leia's shoulders.
"Wow." Jacen offered, quietly stunned. "A baby brother. Or sister. Or..."
His eyebrows shot up in query.
"We don't know." Leia replied. "Not yet. It's still really early days and we're guessing he or she or possibly they, I suppose, aren't Force-Sensitive since neither I, nor Cilghal, nor any of you knew already."
"Wow!" Jacen's face turned into one huge beaming grin. "Seriously WOW!"
"Are you two completely in-sane?" Jaina exclaimed. And the room quieted. "Have you any idea how dangerous it is having a baby at your age?"
"Hey! Your mother's not that old!" Han snarled.
"I was talking to you!" Jaina glared at her father. "How could you be so...so...irresponsible!"
"Is she allowed to talk to us like that?" Han asked Leia from the side of his mouth.
"She just did." Leia answered back.
"When he goes to school you'll be like seventy." She fumed. "In your eighties, when he graduates college. Ninety or maybe a hundred even before he gets married and has kids of his own."
"Okay young lady, so you just proved you can ace Maths. You got anything else to add?" Han growled.
"Yeah. Just one more thing." She growled back, breathing heavily and pushing to her feet as her face broke into a huge grin. "It's the best news ever!"
Bursting with excitement, Jaina threw herself at her parents and hugged them tightly.
"There is, however, one tiny bantha flea in the ointment." Han said, after Jaina had calmed down and retaken her seat.
"Oh Stars! He's gonna be a moron like Jacen isn't he?" Jaina teased.
"The nerve stimulators." Luke realised.
"I can't risk the operation while I'm pregnant. Certainly not early in the pregnancy at least" Leia said, watching Jaina and Jacen intently. "So removing the rest of the stimulators is on hold for now."
"But, we're gonna go see Leia's specialists as soon as we get back to Coruscant and take things from there." Han smiled to reassure his children. "And it's gonna be fine."
"What if it's not though?" Jaina questioned.
"Jaina." Leia leaned forward and looked her daughter in the eyes. "It is going to be all right. I'm not alone in looking after this little one."
Jaina stared into her mother's eyes and understood. Their baby had been conceived around the same time Anakin had succumbed to the Force. But his essence had remained behind, touching the souls of his family and watching over the safety of the brother...or sister...he would not live to see.
"Well, of course not!" Han planted a hand on Leia's abdomen protectively. "This little bub's got his papa looking out for him too! Or her, obviously."
Leia leaned back, gazing with all the love and affection her heart could hold, at the man who held that same heart in the palm of his hand.
"My thoughts exactly." She said, her face radiant.
A wail from the nursery interrupted proceedings.
"I'll go." Han offered. "I need the practice."
He winked at Leia and went to see to Ben, Luke following shortly after. When Luke arrived at the nursery, Han already had the baby boy in his arms rocking him gently back to sleep.
"What do you think to that huh Ben? A baby cousin to play with." Han was clearly delighted to be sharing the news. "So you see, there really is life in the old dog."
"I hope that's not my sister you're talking about." Luke said.
"Never." Han quirked a smile at Luke. "That little lady's still the most beautiful woman I ever knew."
"Glad to hear it." Luke advised and drew a lightsaber from his belt.
"Seriously, Luke, is there any need for that?" Han asked to Luke's puzzlement.
Then he realised and laughed. "No. This isn't a challenge. I thought you and Leia might want this. It was retrieved from the site."
Luke held the lightsaber out for Han. "It's Anakin's." He said simply.
Han looked down at the Jedi instrument, not sure exactly if he should be grateful or not. "So it wasn't his that..." He let the sentence hang.
"No." Luke confirmed. "Not that I ever believed it was. And Tahiri Veila appears to have absconded. She's not been seen since a little while after the funeral."
"Poor kid." Han said with sincerity. "I can't imagine what's going on in her head."
Luke had some ideas, none of which he wanted to share with anyone right now.
"You know what." Han suggested. "I think you should give it to Jacen, say it was Anakin's last request. He was always at odds with his brother over the Force, I think it might help him to not be afraid of it if he thinks Anakin's always with him."
"If you think that's best." Luke acknowledged.
"You know what else I think is best?" Han wrinkled his nose. "I think you need to change your son 'cos, man, he stinks!"
"I can't hold the baby and the lightsaber." Luke's blue eyes twinkled. "Besides, you need the practice."
"Damn I knew you were gonna say that!" Han grumbled and lay Ben on his changer as Luke returned to the living area.
"Luke honey, do you have the 'thing'?" Mara asked.
"Thing?" Luke queried.
"Yes. You know. The 'thing' that arrived from Coruscant." Mara's eyes were telling him the answer.
"Oh! The 'thing'." Luke chuckled. "Sure. I'll get it."
The lightsaber momentarily forgotten, Luke pulled a small box from a drawer and held it out for Leia.
"What is it?" Leia asked.
"Arrived just after you left." Luke replied, shrugging his shoulders. "No return address. No card. Just your name on it."
Leia accepted the box, a puzzled frown creasing her forehead as she carefully opened it. Inside was a smaller box, more intricate and clearly expensive. Nervously, Leia lifted the lid.
Imprinted on it's lid were the digits, three-two-one, and looking up at her was a locket with a diamond below and a little off centre of the words 'I love you.'
Leia's thumb brushed the gold as her eyes misted over.
"Oh Han!" She breathed and smiled as she turned the locket over, already knowing the inscription on it's counter-side would read 'I know. Always'. Her smile widened as she opened the locket.
"Whatever it is you're feeding that kid, you need to stop 'cos his diaper is like a rancor pit after a heavy lunch!" Han moaned as he returned to the living area, minus his nephew. And froze seeing the locket in Leia's hands, her finger tip about to flip the hologram button.
"NO!" His cry was loud and forceful and a second too slow.
Leia's finger had already depressed the hologram indicator. An image appeared of Han and Leia smiling and joking, although there was no sound the scene was clear. Alongside them were Jaina, Jacen and Anakin, all equally jovial, settling into a family unit for a commemorative picture. The group paused, posed and the scene became stationary.
"Kriff Leia! I'm so sorry." Han apologised and slipped into the space beside her. "I forgot I ordered it back before...well, you know...just...before."
"It's beautiful." She told him and kissed his cheek softly.
"It's just..." Han stuttered. "You know...Anakin and all..."
Leia closed the locket and lifted it clear of it's box.
"Anakin was a part of our family." She linked her arm through Han's and nuzzled into it. "I'm not about to forget that and I hope you're not either. And this is a beautiful way to remember him."
She held the locket to her chest, before adding. "Help me put it on?"
With slightly trembling fingers, Han slid the clasp into place while Leia held her hair out of it's way. When he'd done, the locket lay squarely in the centre of her chest.
"We should get moving." Leia said with a breezy smile. "It's a long flight back to Coruscant."
"You really are very welcome to stay." Mara offered. "I know we live quite simply, but our hospitality is genuine."
"Thank you Mara, but I think it's time we got ourselves home." Han finally said. "Things to organise. Specialists to see. You know how it is."
There were hugs and kisses all round before Han, Leia and Jacen were escorted back to the Falcon by Luke and Jaina, Mara remaining behind to watch over Ben.
"Do you really have to sell the apartment?" Jaina asked her father.
She was walking one side of Han, Jacen the other, her father's arm draped casually around her shoulders.
"Yeah kiddo, I think we do." Han replied.
"But...it's our home. It's always been our home." Jaina pouted.
"Jay and I are grateful, obviously, but we never expected you to help us buy our own places." Jacen added. "Besides, we have more than enough from Mom's legacy."
"It's just too big for us now son." Han explained patiently. "An'...well, I'm not gonna be around forever. I don't want your Mom burdened with something she can't look after all by herself."
Jaina and Jacen peered round their father knowingly. So there was the real problem.
"Dad, Mom'll never be all by herself." Jacen assured him. "She'll have us. And the new baby."
"Uncle Luke, Aunt Mara and Ben." Jaina added.
Han's slightly glazed eyes looked down on his beautiful children. Then he hooked his arm around Jacen's shoulders and pulled them both into a Wookiee-hug, kissing them on the top of their heads to a chorus of 'Daaaaad!'.
"When'd an old guy like me get so lucky?" He gloated.
"Day you met Mom." Jacen answered for him. "Obviously."
"You're not wrong there son, you're not wrong there." He hugged them a little tighter and felt the pressure of their arms against his back.
Maybe there would be fewer days ahead than had gone before, but Han was grateful for each and every one and planned on living those remaining with relish.
A little way behind Luke walked beside his sister, their arms around the others waist.
"Happy?" He asked.
"Surprised!" She replied. "And yes, happy. Very happy."
"I'm glad. I was a little worried there about you two, but I figured you'd work it out in the end." He squeezed her waist a touch.
"Hard as I try, I can't stay mad at him for long." She sighed. "And trust me, he gives me a lot of reasons to try real hard! But..."
She watched the swing of his hips as he walked ahead of them. At the way his pants hung here and clung there to his rear. And a warmth expanded from her core outwards.
"But somehow, no matter how hard I try, he just makes my heart puddle every time." She sighed again and Luke took a moment to study her face.
It was older than the one he had first seen on Tatooine, oh coming on thirty years ago now. Older and wiser in some ways and every bit as vulnerable in others. How he had mooned over her back then, only to find himself outsmarted and outloved by a roguish, scoundrel called Han Solo.
Thankfully, he reminded himself, in view of their later discovered relationship. He doubted either one of them would have been able to deal very well emotionally if they had allowed themselves to go any further than the occasional affectionate kiss.
Although, there was that one time in the Medical Centre...He let the thought hang. She'd kissed him to make Han jealous, he knew, but back then...just for a moment...
"Here we are." Han announced. "Right where I parked her."
"Where who parked her?" Jacen asked with astonishment.
"Same difference." Han mumbled and palmed the boarding ramp open.
Luke smiled and hugged his sister warmly.
"You take care of her, you hear? She means a lot to me." Luke called to Han, kissing Leia's cheek.
"She means a lot to me too." Han smiled affectionately and patted the Falcon's hull.
"I think Uncle Luke was talking about Mom!" Jaina told him, the merest hint of disapproval in her voice.
"I knew that." Han commented, his lopsided grin fading from his lips.
"Jacen." Luke smiled at his nephew and shook his hand firmly. "I need to give you this."
Luke produced the lightsaber and held it out for Jacen to tentatively take. "It was Anakin's. He wanted you to have it."
"He...he wanted me to have this?" Jacen queried.
"He was never angry with you Jacen, no matter how many times you may have quarrelled." Luke stated. "Maybe this will give you some comfort, some peace and perhaps even, a little understanding."
While Jacen studied the lightsaber Han stepped forward and wrapped Jaina in his big arms, rocking her from side to side.
"You call me. Every week, you hear?" He told her.
"I hear." Jaina replied into his chest.
"And don't you worry about us. We have everything under control." He added.
"I know Dad." He could feel the warmth of her breath through his shirt.
"And come visit. Every chance you get." He said, still rocking her.
"Daaad!" She complained. "I can barely breathe!"
He released her, reluctantly, and cupped her face in his hands.
"You take care of her Luke." Han echoed his brother-in-law's words and planted a long, tender kiss on his daughter's forehead. "She means a lot to me."
"To me too!" Leia reminded him and slipped an arm around Jaina's shoulders.
Han let his hands fall from Jaina's face so she could hug her mother.
"Keep in touch. Both of you." Leia looked between Jaina and Luke, before hurrying onto the Falcon.
"See you Jace." Jaina hugged her brother and whispered in his ear. "Nice going with Tenal Ka. She couldn't stop talking about you all day!"
Jaina threw him a wink, while Jacen turned pale and quickly followed his mother onto the ship.
"I meant what I said. You call us." Han told Jaina sternly.
"I will Dad." She grinned and hugged him one last time.
"And I meant what I said to you too." Han turned to man-hug Luke. "You look after my baby girl like she was your own."
Luke nodded and smiled his understanding. Han Solo always was and always would be a ladies man. Whether that lady was his Starship, his Princess, or his daughter.
"Next stop Coruscant." Han said, strapping into the pilots chair and grinning mischievously. "I'll fly. You get your head down son. Probably need it after last night."
Jacen rolled his eyes and sighed. The journey home looked like it would be every bit as long and as nauseating as the one to Yavin.