Sorry guys, I got really busy and didn't have time to edit this one...but here it is...I'll try to get the next post to you faster

Near Death Experience

The next day, he saw her safely home. He took an easy speed up the mountain path to House Organa. He didn't cut corners or try to pull stunts. They went straight up the mountain and straight up to the living area. Leia watched Han as they walked, side by side but silent. His gaze was focused ahead, not on anything particular, but focused enough that he wouldn't look at her. She watched the floor as they walked, wishing to know what was on his mind. He had been in near death situations before and it hadn't fazed him at all, and she had been in them with him. The night had gone downhill after the run in with those dogs. She had sat in her room alone, wishing for him to come to her, just wanting to talk. At the moment, it didn't seem like she would even get a goodbye.

"Leia, you're back already darling?" Breha asked cheerfully. Her gaze traveled down to Leia's hands and her expression fell for a moment, but it was instantly back in a dazzling smile. But it had fallen for a second too long, because Leia had caught it.

"Safe and sound, like I promised," Han said, his voice on edge and full of a little more than a bit of repressed anger. "If you'll excuse me…" He pushed past Leia and walked down the hall, returning moments later with his duffle. "See you around."

He made to go out the door when Breha called to him, "But, Han. The banquet is tomorrow."

Han rolled his eyes and turned around. "And what does that have to do with me," he said, a bit nastier than he had meant to. "I figured out your innuendo, Breha. I don't need to be there, what do you want? To make me suffer while I watch?"

Leia's gaze flashed from her mother to Han in rapid succession and confusion.

"I don't need that. If it's her predetermined destiny to be a politician and to marry a politician, that's fine by me. I just wish that you hadn't let it get this far if you knew all along that it would have to end. I just want her to get what she wants, and if I'm not on that path, then I'll live with it." He turned away and walked out the door, muttering under his breath, "Or I'll die trying to."

Leia waited until the door and slid closed and had locked before turned violent eyes onto her mother.

"Leia, that's not what was supposed to happen. He missed something," Breha said quickly.

Leia's eyes didn't lose any of the intensity as she stared at her mother. "What exactly did you say to him?" Leia said slowly, biting out each word individually through a clenched jaw.

"I was trying to help," Breha said desperately, as Leia sat across from her. Noting her daughter's expression, Breha told Leia the story of what she had said during her conversation with Han two days ago. At the end, Leia glared at her and jumped up, running out of the room, praying that Han hadn't left yet. She pushed several servants out of the way and slipped into the turbolift. The few seconds that it took to ride down to the ground floor were agony.

That's why he jerked away at the paddock, that's why we rode the kutatars when we haven't ever done it before, that's why he was so quiet from that accident on. He wanted one last adventure, but he didn't want to do something that he would regret, and he couldn't forgive himself for jeopardizing my safety. He thought my mother wanted him out of the picture, he thought I wanted more, something else, someone else.

She ran through the turbolift doors before they were opened far enough for a normal person to attempt to get through and wrenched open the door. The door that she had never before paid attention to, but now meant everything to her. The door swung open and she heard the revving of an engine.

"No Han," she cried as he sped off. After the moment of shock that he was leaving wore off, she looked around wildly and saw a swoop that she thought belonged to her cousin. Grabbing it, she jumped on and gunned the engine, desperate for it to come to life. It lurched when it started and she briefly thought that she might be making a mistake. The old rusted bike was very shaky underneath her. One thought of Han dissipated that thought and she sped out after him. Wishing the bike to go faster, she almost caught him at the gate, but the guard opened it and he was gone. She got through just before they closed and willed more power into the machine. It sputtered and then lurched again, jumping ahead and speeding up. She saw him round the corner and disappear. Taking a deep breath she nudged the bike ahead further and sent it off the edge. Holding it steady as it fell, she sent a flood of gas into the engine and it died. She hit the ground and the bike fell apart on impact, throwing her several meters.

She heard the sound of an engine approaching and tried to sit up, but her head hurt too much. Maybe I should have tried to find a helmet. She heard footsteps at a walk, then a run, before the sound of his voice reached her ears. "Leia!" He got down on his knees beside her and supported her head as he sat her up. "What were you thinking?"

"I had to catch you, tell you, you were wrong," she managed to say.

He shook his head, "You could have killed yourself."

"Wouldn't have mattered if you'd left," she whispered.

"Leia, Leia stay with me, I'm going to get you to a medic. Stay with me," he said.

He hoisted her into his arms, bridal style, and carried her to the medical center of House Organa. The guard was a little more than puzzled when Han came roaring back to the gate with a passenger, but he opened the iron gates none the less and allowed him to pass through. Han parked the bike at the front entrance and picked a now unconscious Leia from the back of the bike. The clerk at the office inside the doors waved him through with an alarmed look on her face. Laying her onto one of the med bunks, he stepped back to let the droids do their work. He watched the pained expression fade from her face and a relieved feeling passed through him. Breha came running in moments later.

"Oh Goddess," she turned to Han. "Is she going to be alright?"

"She should be," Han said.

"Han, you have to know that you leaving was not what I meant. I would never want that to happen. Leia's the happiest when she's with you," Breha said softly.

"This is the second time she's almost died because of me in as many days," he said softly, looking back to the figure lying on the bed.

"What?" Breha asked, a fleeting expression of fear covering her face.

"Two wild dogs attacked my kutatars. While Calder and I were confronting them, I looked up to the hilltop to make sure that Leia was still okay. I drew their attention to her. They went for her. After a scramble, it ended up being she who killed them, but if I hadn't looked to her, they wouldn't have known she was there. And then today, she tried to pull one of my stunts. Without a helmet," he said bitterly. "And it's all my fault, if I hadn't left—"

"No, I should have just come out and told you, not made you think that what you thought could even be a possibility in my mind," Breha said. "She loves you."

"She almost died," he said, ignoring her.

"What happened?"

"She was riding an old swoop, really old. And she coaxed too much from it at once. She went off the edge, trying to cut the corner and catch me. I did that before, but I know how to do it. I was taught how to do it. I think she flooded the engine and the bike died. It shattered on impact and she was thrown a couple of meters. She wasn't wearing a helmet. She hit her head pretty hard." He closed his eyes before continuing, "If I had sped up like I was going to do, and not been there when she did that…She would have died."

"Han, it's not your fault, please don't take it as such."

"How can I not, if it wasn't for me, it wouldn't have happened."

"Everything happens for a reason; before you jump to conclusions, let's find out what this one is."