After the rescue, and after the battle of the planet Endor, Leia was tiredly leaning her head on Han's shoulder. He couldn't help but smile. And here he had thought the whole time she was in love with her brother! But what about that kiss? Oh. She was just making him jelous. He grinned again. But there was that nagging thought in the back of his mind. Was his mother really dead? Or was she only captured? Was she still alive? What if there was a chance? He was relation to the Sal-Solos, but that meant nothing. Thracken was a bully, he'd known that from the beginning. Were there any relatives of his? He had to have some family at the wedding...wait, a wedding? He hadn't even proposed yet! Just assumed the Princess would say yes. Dammit Han, stop it. You can't go ahead and make plans without even telling her! An Ewok rubbed up against him gratefully, happy the battle had been won, and the emperor was dead. Freedom once again reigned in the galaxy. Still the outer rim wouldn't find out about these things until...why did his thoughts keep returning to his family? Had the carbonite gone to his head? He hadn't cared before, maybe because he'd never found love quite like the love he'd found now. Leia and Luke were like family (well Luke would be his brother if he and Leia got married).

Leia smiled up at him. "What's on your mind?"

Han grinned lopsided down at her. "Alot of things."

"The battle isn't over you know," she said.

"I know. And I'm right here beside you all the way." Did he have the courage to ask her?

"Thank you. For what you did today." Not yet. It had to be perfect. How did you propose to a woman anyway? Like Leia? Yes, he'd been in love with Bria, oh gods no, i don't want to think about her.

"What's wrong, Han? Something troubles you?"

"Am I really that readable?"

"Well, it's written all over your face."

"Just thinking of our losses. My losses. Before...before you." He'd already told her about Bria, but only the basics, the few details. He'd eliminated the fact that sometimes he questioned himself if he was still in love. Gods, she'd betrayed a neighbor to the Imperials, and the same people killed her. No one trusts an allay. Stick out for yourself, take no sides, take no prisoners. Until Leia. He was her prisoner. Trapped. Falling in love.

"Bria?"

"Yes. And my...my mother. I..." He couldn't say it. I want to know what happened.

"You want to know what happened to her? Han that is more than just a galaxy-wide search."

"She could be dead. I can investigate now. The Empire isn't chasing us at every turn."

"They will be," Luke said solemnly. "Just because my father killed the Emperor doesn't mean there is not more Sith around, or loyal Imperialists."

"How can they be loyal to an Empire that was so oppressive? I thought most people in their right mind joined the Rebellion." Han said hotly.

"The Empire provided for them. Government benefits. Not everyone knows how oppressive they really were, Han."

"The Empire didn't just kill the resistance. They discredited them publicly. Alderaan was officially declared as a planet of corruption and filth, that refused to succumb to the benefits of the Empire. That's what Corellia will think. You can't always kill the poison at the source, Han. You have to extract it, little by little."

The Kid's gone serious. Grown up.

"He's right, Han," Leia said seriously. "Just because the Emperor is dead doesn't mean we're out of danger."

So there's still a price on my head. I'm still a fugitive. I've gotta find my mother, if the Empire hasn't already. I have to find out what happened to her. I can live with it if she is dead. She's been dead to me for over twenty years, why do I suddenly think she still could be alive? This does NOT make sense, Han thought.

"Could the Force find her?" That's a dumb question.

"I never thought of using the Force to find someone, but I don't know. Tell me what you remember, Han. Maybe I can feel her." Luke said.

"Flashes. Feelings. Distant memories. Like an ancient holo. I remember the day my father said goodbye. And he didn't come home for weeks. It was the Clone Wars then, it had only begun. My father loved the Republic, that I remember. And the day the man came to the door and made my mother cry. She cried for days until she told me we'd have to leave our little flat in Corellia. And there was family, I think. And she couldn't pay off a debt of Father's and take us to another system. She told me to hide in the cellar, and then I heard blaster shots, she never came for me, and I ended up on the streets. I didn't know who this family was, I had nowhere else to go."

"You poor baby." Leia snuggled closer.

"But I didn't remember till now. One day I was Han Solo, loved by my mother, the next I was just Han, with no past. I didn't remember anything, just the feeling of what my mother was like. Was it the carbon freeze?"

"The Force has its reasons to say things to us, even though some of us aren't Force sensitive," Leia began.

"If you 'sense' her, then isn't she dead?" Han asked. "I can accept that, I just want to know what happened. And where the rest of my family is. They would help us with the Rebellion, if they aren't already."

"We'll get some rest. I'll try Han, see if I can't find out anything."

"Thanks Luke."

"It's the least I can do after you saved my life. And Leia's."

Han shook Chewie. "Come on, old pal. Let's go to our ship, and sleep, eh?"

Chewie grumbled, "Cub should not wake up after long battle."

"Sorry old pal. You can sleep in the galley again, though."

At this Chewie was more enthusiastic about sleeping in the Falcon.

"You aren't staying here, Han?" Leia asked.

She wants me to stay? What's this all about?

"I have to watch the ship, Leia. And Chewie and I have to get up early and begin repairs if we're going to continue fighting."

"Oh. Well. Goodnight...Han."

Ask her. Ask her. Do you wanna stay with me tonight. Ask her. Just say it, nerf herder.

"'Night, Leia." We started walking back. The woods were dark, but I had my hololight.

What would the Ewoks think? We're not married, not yet anyway.

"You should have asked, cub." Chewie scolded.

"But where would she sleep?"

"With you, cub. She is your mate."

"Not yet, Chewie. I haven't asked."

"You don't have to ask. Both you know already. And she like you before Bespin."

"Yes. I know that. I just need to ask her. It's not the proper thing for a princess..."

"No one cared before. You just like her and don't know how to ask..."

"Ask what?"

"Mates."

"Chewie, humans are really strange."

He gaffawed at that one.

"No, in mating rituals. The girl has to be asked.

"You asked her to stay with you."

"Yes, I know that. But things are different now. She has to fight for the Rebellion. She's the Last Princess of Alderaan, there's going to be a ton of guys she needs to marry in order to make a treaty and things like that. And...I don't want to talk about it anymore."

"Cub want Princess to mate someone else?"

"No, I don't. Here's the Falcon. We'll have to get the Ewoks to help us restore the hyperdrive, unless you think you and me can do it."

"Tommorrow Cub. Early."

"Okay, okay."

"And you talk to Princess. Tell her you...love?"

"Yes, now go to bed. I'm more tired than a Bantha after a long walk in the desert."

meantime Luke was in medition. Trying to probe the universe. Searching through what Han had described. What was that feeling? Was it Force-sensitive?