Chapter Three
The sun began to rise, the skies of Coruscant turning a pale orange-pink. The sun shone through Leia Amidala-Skywalker's bedroom windows, slowly forcing the young Jedi to wake up. She opened her brown eyes, blinking several times until she adjusted to the sunlight. She yawned and rubbed sleep from her eyes, rolling out of bed. Walking over to her dresser, she spotted her dress from the night before hanging from her closet door. The sight of the garment made her cringe; she had made a total fool of herself in front of Prince Solo. I never should have danced with him, she thought, shoving the dress into her closet. She wondered what he thought of her. If he thought anything of her, that is. Maybe he just considered her like a little sister; she knew he thought of Luke and Chase as younger brothers.
Her rumbling stomach dragged her out of her thoughts. Tossing her robe over her thin silk nightgown, she opened her door and headed for the kitchen. She found her family already seated at the table, happily digging into their meals. "Mornin', sis!" Chase chirped as he swallowed a spoonful of cereal.
Padmé turned her attention from datapad to her daughter. "Morning, honey," She smiled as Leia sat down next to her. "Sleep well?"
"Yup," The girl answered simply, reaching for the pot of kaffe. She noticed something slightly odd out of the corner of her eye, yet it wasn't surprising. "What's Uncle Ben doing here?" She nodded towards the Jedi Master's sleeping- and snoring- form on the couch.
"He was so drunk, he passed out!" Luke exclaimed, obviously amused.
"What about Satine?" His sister inquired, pouring her and her mother each a mug of kaffe.
"She left a bit before your uncle here passed out," Anakin responded, a small snort escaping him.
"She probably knew what was gonna happen," Padmé smirked, gladly accepting the mug from Leia.
"He's gonna have one hell of a hangover when he wakes up, the poor man," The Tatooine native tried to hide a smile behind his cup of kaffe.
Chase shook his head and clacked his tongue playfully. "Master Yoda and Master Windu won't be pleased, I can tell you that right now."
The door chime rang loudly, startling Leia and making her lose her place in her novel. With a sigh, she closed the book and placed it on the kaffe table in front of her. Must be Solo, she inwardly groaned. "Coming!" She called, uncrossing her legs and hopping off the couch. She opened the door, becoming face to face with Prince Han Solo of Corellia. "Good morning, Your Highness," She greeted coolly, offering him a small curtsey. "And how is this lovely morning treating you so far?" She figured she might as well play nice; the mission was very important, after all.
"Fine, thanks," He waved his hand dismissively. "Look, I don't want you treating me like I'm all high 'n mighty, alright? 'Cause I certainly ain't," The prince practically begged, staring the girl straight in the eyes.
"If that's what you want…" She said slowly, gesturing for him to come inside. He nodded his thanks and stepped into the apartment, closing the door behind him. She watched him pace the length of the room and walked up to his side, clutching her robe tighter against her body. "You alright?" She asked him cautiously.
He turned to her, his mouth suddenly becoming dry. "Ask me later," He pursed his lips and took a seat on the couch, holding his head in his hands. He exhaled deeply, then looked up at the young woman. "You ready to go?" The mission was only really supposed to start tonight, but by the time they set everything up, it would be late evening on the Core world.
"I'll go change, and then we're good to go," She replied, jerking a thumb towards her bedroom. Her expression softened at the sight of his dishevelled hair. "And if you wanna talk about what's troubling you, well…I'm here," And just like that, she disappeared into her room. The prince stared at the spot where she had stood for awhile after the left. He hadn't seen her in three years, and she had changed so much. She had matured, become wittier, wiser, grown even more beautiful, if that was possible; he was sure he'd never seen anything so fragile and…perfect. The Corellian knew Leia didn't think so, of course. She was too hard on herself, that was for sure.
"Ready," Her soft voice rang through his ears, bringing him back to reality. He jumped off the couch and spun around, his eyes meeting Amidala-Skywalker's. She had slipped on a white long-sleeved shirt under a black leather pilot's jacket. Her black denim pants made her legs seem longer and thinner, and her black knee-high boots were polished to perfection. With her hair down, Han realized, she looked just…amazing.
He cleared his throat and tried to regain his composure. "Hi," He stuttered, still staring at the Padawan in awe.
"Hi yourself," She smirked, tossing her backpack and suitcase on the loveseat opposite Han. She exhaled deeply and ran thin fingers through her long hair. "Shall we?" She raised an eyebrow at him, still playing with her hair.
"Sure," He conceded, pushing himself off the couch. "You…you gonna say goodbye to your family?"
"Already did," Leia told him, accepting his hand. He helped her up, his eyes never leaving hers. She let go of his gaze when she felt her cheeks heat up. She quickly turned away and picked up her suitcases. "Let's go."
"The Millennium Falcon," Han beamed, gesturing to the YT-1300 freighter. "Ain't she a beaut'?" He didn't even wait for Leia's response; he grabbed her hand and led her up the ramp, excited to give her a tour of the ship. Not many people got to see the prince's personal vessel, so Solo took any opportunity to show off his prized possession.
"So whattaya think?" He asked excitedly after giving her a quick tour of the Falcon.
"I've seen better," Amidala-Skywalker teased, unzipping her suitcase. She opened the closet and began hanging up her clothes. "It's a nice ship, though, I'll admit." She turned towards him, a questioning and guarded expression on her face. "If you don't mind me asking; how much was she?"
"Thirty," He threw her a lopsided grin. "Why? You wanna buy her?" Han chuckled, shaking his head.
"I'm not such a bad pilot myself," Leia said easily, hanging up some more clothes.
"Yeah?" He challenged, clearly amused.
"Yeah," She pursed her lips, blankly staring at him. "I fought in the Battle of Naboo two years back," She told him, pulling out a couple of shirts from her bag. "I was the one who destroyed Satan's Fist," Satan's Fist was one of the largest ships in the Separatist fleet, so it was obvious the Republic had to destroy it. With some help from Rogue Squadron- consisting of Wedge Antilles, Derek Klivian, Tycho Celchu, Gavin and Biggs Darklighter, Corron Horn and, of course, Luke and Chase Amidala-Skywalker.
"That was you?" He gaped at her, his jaw dropping.
"Yup," She grinned, obviously proud of her accomplishment.
"Damn, you're better than I thought," He muttered, crossing his arms over his chest.
She smiled at him, hanging up the rest of the clothes. "I'm full of surprises, Solo."