"I'm too sexy for this shirt, too sexy for this shirt, so sexy it hurts…"

Han had never heard the lyrics to that particular song before but then he had been too busy saving the galaxy from the evil Empire and so hadn't had much time for recreational pursuits such as listening to music at the many underground clubs that had sprouted up beneath the radar of the occupational forces.

But now he had been making up for lost time because he had spent the morning on a photo shoot for the new calendar spread that would be spotlighting different heroes of the recent battle that had ended decades of tyrannical rule. The no nonsense director and two men operating cameras had been either barking orders or clicking snapshots of what they deemed to be his better side. Now Han had always been proud of his physique, having honed it through his life as a smuggler and later as a general in the Alliance, from his six-pack abs to his rather impressive biceps. He had begun the shoot by wearing his handy uniform that he used to fly his ship and then as item after item of clothing had been shed, he had been down to just him and his strategically placed blaster. He didn't know what he would do if they took his weapon away from him leaving him there buck naked.

He had been talked into doing the photo shoot after a couple more enterprising bounty hunters had come after him seeking payment for some impressive gambling debts he had jettisoned from one end of the cosmos to the next. He knew he couldn't disgrace Leia's efforts to rebuild a new and more improved Republic by being the target of salacious gossip. They had been watching the gala-vision to see all the scandals that broke across the galaxy when the hi-jinks of some of the corrupt politicians came to light, the ones who had sold their souls to the Empire.

But Han couldn't worry about that, he had to get himself photographed, pick up some smooth cash and pay off these debts before Leia got wind of them. It was bad enough that every royal monarchy in the galaxy had an eligible eldest son for her to consider for marriage to merge different dynasties together, to secure an advantage in the new Republic before its constitution had even been drafted and ratified by a governing board yet to be compiled.

Luke had vetoed all requests to slip into the role of the charismatic leader who would bind the contentious groups of the alliance together not to mention bringing in all those flaky neutralists. The itinerary drafted for Leia looked brutal enough, over 100 planets visited in two months. Not much time for her and Han to work out the parameters of their burgeoning relationship. But then he had known what he had been getting into when he paired up with her to begin with, trying to find some warmth on the frozen Hell of Hoth. She sure could kiss considering she had only kissed one man who hadn't turned out to be a blood relative and Han seriously thought she had a hot side of her that had only begun to be tapped into…and he didn't want the blossoming of that side of the princess to be endangered by her royal and not so royal duties. Han had always been a slink in the background, hang out in dimly lit dens of ill repute kind of guy and he didn't know if he could handle the fishbowl environment of hanging around with the princess of the galaxy…but he did know he loved her.

"All right Han…we're going to need to take your gun…"

He looked at his blaster, the one thing that stood between him and…he sighed and gave it up and the flashbulbs started popping.

Leia sighed as she looked at her planning assistant, Angelica, who being a cross between a human and a blue-skinned alien with fuzzy antennae had attracted attention on the forest moon of Endor. But now that they were back on the horrible re-capitalized Coruscant, she had found herself surrounded by an assortment of aliens and humans from all over the galaxy. Everyone it seemed wanted a piece of her these days and her days and nights just didn't include enough hours to accommodate everyone's demands.

Not to mention all the invitations she was getting to attend royal balls on various worlds, which loosely translated meant the meat market for monarchs and their heirs. She knew as a princess even one coming from a planet that was now an asteroid belt, she held considerable fascination for many a royal family and that the kings and queens on these planets would be scouting her out as a suitable mate for their eldest male offspring.

"Are you listening Leia," Angelica scolded, "This is what's going to get you through the 30 day program, that's when the most effective leadership can be accomplished during the so-called honeymoon period."

Leia just nodded wearily. She had been at this all morning. Royalty training classes for her had once again been in full swing, beginning a couple of minutes after she set foot back in this urbanized planet. She had been shacking up in an impressive looking mansion on the outskirts of the center of the city in a neighborhood which had been impressive at one time but more recently had fallen in a state of decay and neglect. Rebuilding had started on the sector because eventually most of the ambassadors, diplomats and senators would be living here in equally impressive looking estates. Han had taken off that morning on a mysterious errand, one that he had been very tightlipped about as had Chewy who had been fixing up Han's ship in a hanger not too far away from the capitol building.

Angelica might not know this, but Leia had hidden a stash of moonshine quaff from the forest moon of Endor and had been imbibing it, whenever her assistant had left the room to handle some detail. After a couple swigs, warmth and lightness had permeated Leia's body and mind. She smiled a lot more as Angelica droned on with the instruction on the history of the galaxy which Leia already knew and about the social ethics and mores of over 150 species on a quadrant of planets and moons in one system. Leia had to pack pretty soon to be prepared to travel there to meet with the newly added leaderships to the Republic. As that system had sat in the midst of the largest neutral zone, they were new to the program and she had to sell it to them because several of the planets had impressive mining industries which could add plenty of capital to the Republic's treasure chest.

"Leia…are you even here…."

She nodded, but a bit more slowly and Angelica's eyes narrowed, her finely tuned set of three nostrils sniffed.

"What is that I smell…," she said, walking closer to where Leia had stashed her quaff. She opened the drawer and pulled it out with her sucker tipped fingers.

"You've been drinking…again…Leia when are you going to admit you have a problem?"

Leia shook her head.

"I just needed something to take the edge off," she said, "I'm exhausted from all this training and I haven't seen Han all day."

Angelica had a distasteful look.

"You know, you…he…you can't engage in any sexual interaction with him or no future king in the galaxy will want you…"

Leia rolled her eyes.

"How damn archaic," she said, "How do you know…I …he haven't already partaken of such liberties?"

Angelica folded her blue arms.

"It is known that you and he have not consummated your relationship if you call it that yet…and you mustn't…the entire Republic rests on your purity."

Leia blinked…did she just hear Angelica right? Since when did they return to that archaic period before the end of the Empire?

"But I can't…he's the one I love…"

Angelica hissed.

"What do you know of such things," she said, "Besides for a princess, duty comes before salacious undertakings."

Leia sighed, damn she hadn't known these crazy and repressive rules before she sighed up for this duty…wait a minute, she hadn't even signed up, all this was forced upon her. She knew that her twin, Luke as a member of the Jedi had taken on a vow of chastity but she was a red blooded woman and could do no such thing. Besides, what would Han think, when he discovered the Republic wanted her to marry into royalty?

He wouldn't like it at all. He would tell her to screw the Republic and then realized that was a poor choice of words. Oh, when had life gotten so complicated, you defeat a repressive regimes only to realize that the real struggles had just gotten started.