Part 4
The perennial lights of the Coruscanti night traced the form of the woman sleeping next to him. He loved to watch her sleep.
Han had arrived late in the night cycle for the Senatorial District of the recently recovered Capital and had somehow managed to get into his and Leia's apartment without waking her. He knew that she had nevertheless registered his presence, maybe by some exotic Jedi sense, maybe through more common subconscious hints, because as soon as he had slipped into their bed Leia had snuggled against him, throwing an arm around his waist, whispering something very close to his name.
But she had not fully roused and that was ok by him. After so much war and so much death he just needed this to feel renewed. To feel her warm against him, to smell her hair, to discover that she preferred his old shirt to sleep in when he was not home instead of the designer sleeping gowns – among other things - that kept arriving without being asked for.
His fingers trailed lightly on her arm and he softly moved a few silky strands of hair away from her brow. She was so thin, he was sure she had lost at least another three kilos while he was away. He'll have to give Luke a piece of his mind as soon as he managed to lay his hands on the kid. He had promised to take good care of her and what had he done instead? Go gallivanting all over Coruscant looking for Jedi relics and lore. As if the 'Vader's twins' headlines had not been enough.
His fingers continued their gentle exploration along her back, drawing lazy circles around those adorable dimples that marked the end of it. Leia's lifeday was coming soon and he wanted to make it special, if he only knew how... He was not really good at it. Wookiees basically celebrated piling food on a table until the supports gave away and him... Well, those days were definitely in his past. Besides he knew her lifeday brought Leia painful memories about the family she had lost with Alderaan.
Before he noticed, his hand had slid – almost by its own will – beneath the shirt she wore.
"I was wondering how long you'd resist," a husky voice spoke amusedly from somewhere near his chest.
Then her lips moved down further and he could think no more.
The debriefings ended at last, miraculously in the middle of the afternoon so he lost no time and started his search for a proper lifeday gift for his Princess.
The search for Tash'Tay Drops on the holo-net had given him pages and pages of unrelated advertisement and bothersome sites about collectors and other stupid people. He had finally resourced to closely examine Leia's box's fine print, finding an address in the old quarter behind the Senate Chambers.
It was strange to be able to walk freely through Coruscant, even if a few people seemed to be weary of him – he guessed that twenty something years of Imperial martial law was reason enough to be weary of any uniform.
He had to walk back when he realized he must have passed just in front the address he was looking for without seeing the candy store. Maybe it didn't exist anymore, he thought. Yep, there it was, a small shop with faded golden letters painted on the plastisteel of the curtained windows.
A chime sounded as he entered. "May I help you, sir?" A cheerful voice asked.
Twenty minutes later the counter was covered in boxes, bows and little sample trays for him to try.
"I've already told you, I don't wanna any Naboo cherry, creamed citric nor spiced chocolate candies... I just want a box of Tay Drops!" Han was loosing his temper quickly, was the girl completely stupid or Basic had changed so much here since the last time he'd been on the planet?
The chime sounded again and he turned in time to see a well known, black-dressed, blonde, young Tatooinian with a lightsaber dangling from his belt come in.
Both men studied each other for a second and Luke Skywalker smiled shyly. "Han..." He greeted. "It seems that you beat me to it... again."
The older man narrowed his eyes, wondering how the kid had gotten that particular bit of information. At last he decided it must have been a Jedi thing... or more probably a twin thing. "Not quite, kid, not quite," he growled. "How ya found this place?"
Luke shrugged. "Winter."
The former smuggler rolled his eyes. Typical farmboy. "Tash-Tay-Drops," he pronounced carefully to the salesgirl benefit. "In a tin box. That's all I want. Are you deaf or what?"
"But Sir," the young woman, who seemed hypnotized by the sudden realization of who her customers were, reddened violently. "We haven't manufactured that flavor in over three years... We don't sell those drops anymore."
"Then who does?"
"Nobody, sir. It was our secret recipe," she said frowning, and then lowered her voice to a whisper, "but nobody seemed to like them... The owner decided to stop doing them." She looked to Luke for help. "But all the others come in boxes too, Sir!"
"Damn!" The Corellian swore, not really paying attention to her. "What am I gonna do now?" He mumbled rubbing a hand over his face.
"These are nice," Luke said sweetly, sucking on the sample candy the girl had offered him from one of the trays.
"They're not Tay flavored..."
"I'm sure Leia likes other flavors too..."
"You don't understand, kid... She really likes that Tay stuff..." His voice trailed off. There was no way he could explain that rare phenomenon to Leia's brother of all people. Han Solo sighed.
"Is there a problem, Treena?" A cultured voice called at the same time an old, frail-looking man entered coming from the back of the store.
"Mr. Tash, I..." The girl looked as if she wanted the mythic Great Dianoga to come out of her lair in the center of Coruscant and devour her.
"Don't worry, Treena, I'll take care of this." He dismissed her with a nod and proffered his hand to Han. "I'm Dronagh Tash, General Solo."
The Corellian cursed silently the nametag he was forced to wear with his uniform. He shook the offered hand and found it surprisingly strong and steady.
"Master Skywalker, welcome to my establishment," Mr. Tash greeted Luke afterwards. "You both are," he added, turning to the former smuggler again. His dark eyes smiled softly as he let the younger men study him openly. Then he spoke again. "If you're looking for what I suspect you're looking for, I think I may be of help to you... if you let me invite you a drink upstairs."
Intrigued, Han and Luke followed him to a private elevator in the back room.
A few minutes later they were comfortably installed with their beverages and a few choice sweets in the old man's sitting room. For a while they all just sipped in silence the expensive liquors.
"You're looking for a gift for a special lady if I'm not mistaken," Dronagh said at last.
Han stiffened but Luke only smiled softly and answered truthfully. "Yes, sir. For my sister, Princess Leia of Alderaan."
"Ah." Tash seemed satisfied with the Jedi's answer. "Her lifeday is coming soon."
"How you know that?" Han grumbled. Maybe the old geezer was one of those crazy...
"Prince Organa was a regular customer," he continued, ignoring Han's question. "A man of exquisite taste," he added proudly. "He used to come by and buy a box of Tay Drops each time he was about to go back to Alderaan. He said his daughter collected them. When she turned sixteen he ordered a special design made for her as a gift and then we had to do smaller replicas of it to give as souvenirs of her Coming-of-Age ball. One thousand and six hundred replicas, exactly, one for each guest. It seems that she was so happy with our work that the Prince kept ordering new designs made for her every year afterwards. They were all unique pieces of art. Of course this was also a fantastic opportunity for business..."
Han Solo downed his Corellian whiskey. "But why did you stop doing the Tay Drops?" He interrupted.
"I'm afraid true Tay is an acquired taste, General Solo, and an old fashioned one at that. Most people bought our candies just for the box and because word had spread that the Princess collected them. Still, as I said before, it was good for the business for a while and in fact it went so well that soon I decided things were too busy for me and it was time for my son to take full control. He never liked Tay but I thought..." The old man sighed. "Anyway, it was about that time that the Princess was elected Senator and shortly after she moved here she paid a visit to us. It was then that I discovered that she really enjoyed the Tay Drops beyond the pretty boxes, because she arranged with us for a quantity of them to be sent regularly to her place. We did as she asked for over a year and then..."
Dronagh Tash closed his eyes and shuddered, while the younger men bowed their heads in respect. It was a common reaction in the civil population, they still seemed very uncomfortable talking openly about what had happened to Alderaan. Collective guilt or something, someone had tried to explain to Han. After a few seconds the storeowner talked again.
"Everything Alderaanian or related to Alderaan became taboo or at least ill-seen. People stopped buying our products. After a while, my son decided it was better to discontinue the Tay candies. Nobody liked them anyway, it seemed."
Again the silence fell heavily.
"Still, a few months before..." Again the man shuddered. "Prince Organa had contacted me and asked for another special box for the Princess 20th lifeday. It was finished and paid for well in advance but... when the date came, she had disappeared and there was nowhere..."
Without another word, Tash stood up and opened a small cabinet, taking a polished wood case out of it. He placed it on a small table in front of his two guests.
"I think this belongs to the Princess," he said softly.