Shifting Impressions

Chapter Seven: Traditions

Leia Organa walked towards the large assembly area along with almost every other member of the Rebel Alliance. High Command had called for a special debriefing. Leia already knew what they were going to say.

"Hey, beautiful," Han Solo whispered in her ear as he came up from behind her and slung his arm over her shoulder. Leia flinched at his gesture. This familiarity was something she had reluctantly allowed on a few occasions when they were off-base, but did not appreciate in front of their current audience. Han must have read her reaction because he immediately pulled his arm away.

"What's this all about? I know you must already know," Han continued, seemingly unaffected by the slight.

Leia stopped outside of the assembly room doors and then moved to the side to allow those personnel behind her to pass. Han followed her and kept himself in close proximity to the princess. She looked around and grabbing his arm to turn him away from curious onlookers, she offered, "We've just gotten word that construction is nearly complete on our new base."

"Construction?" Han asked, somewhat confused. Most Alliance bases utilized already assembled buildings that had been abandoned or donated, with any new construction completed by base personnel after their arrival. "Where the hell are we goin'?"

Leia smiled at Han's choice of words; their new base was about as far from hell as you could get. Something else about his words struck her, but not in an amusing sort of way. She looked up at him and asked, "So, you'll be coming with us, then?"

The tired game of 'Will Han Solo leave forever during the next evacuation?' seemed to be less and less an issue lately. Han spoke little of leaving anymore, yet he still continued to refuse offers of a commission. Leia knew that fact from a very reliable source.

"Yeah," Han answered like it was a ridiculous question to begin with. "Where're we goin'?" he pressed.

Leia looked around again. The hall had become empty and she did not wish to arrive at the debriefing late. She answered him in a hushed voice, "Well, I'm going to Hoth."

"Hoth?" Han exclaimed and Leia winced at how loud his voice echoed in the empty corridor. "That's an ice ball, not a planet!"

"Exactly. We're hoping the Empire would be hard-pressed to find us on a planet that can barely support human life."

"So instead of the Empire killing us, we're just going to kill ourselves, then?"

Leia shook her head. She had already voiced her protests on the feasibility of setting up a viable base on Hoth. Now it was going to happen and she had to stand behind High Command's decision, like it or not. "All the preparations have been made. It will be perfectly safe and hospitable," Leia repeated the words utilized by the High Command in their arguments. She felt like a hypocrite using them in an argument of her own.

"Hospitable? I'd like to hear just what your definition of hospitable is, princess."

"I don't know how many times I have to remind you that we are at war, not on a holiday."

"Believe me, I know we're at war even without your constant reminders," Han shot back. Then as if her words from earlier had just sunk into his thick skull, he asked, "What do you mean you're going to Hoth?"

"There's going to be a reallocation of Alliance personnel."

"Can you expand on that? In Basic, please?"

Leia took a deep breath and continued, "Not everyone will be assigned to Hoth, Captain. We'll be receiving personnel from the other divisions and some of our personnel will be assigned to replace them."

Leia watched his reaction with great interest. She already knew that both Han and Luke would be coming to Hoth with her; one by luck and one by her own hand.

Han had not ventured a comment so Leia continued, "You may or may not be going to Hoth, Captain." She hoped his reaction might prove enlightening.

"But you are?" he inquired. "Definitely going to Hoth," he added in confirmation.

Her eyes darted back and forth between his, trying to gauge his reaction. Unsure herself what she was looking for or even why it mattered, she felt compelled to test him on this.

Damn his Sabacc face! "Yes," she finally replied as she skirted around him and entered the assembly room. Finding her seat she sat through the meeting feeling just slightly off-balance but never truly understanding why.

The news of both the relocation to Hoth and splitting up the troops went over like a dust storm on Tatooine. Everyone was used to sacrifice and loss, but that didn't mean it made it any easier to deal with it when it happened. To make matters worse, if that was possible, High Command announced that final personnel allocations wouldn't be announced until immediately prior to the evacuation which would not happen for another three weeks.


Nearly three weeks later, walking from her office outside the supply warehouse towards her quarters near the Command Center, Leia Organa thought that she could hear music and laughter somewhere in the distance. Without warning, a memory flashed through her of a young princess being hurried off to bed while the hallways of the manor house still reeked of perfume, liquor, music and laughter.

"But why do I have to go to bed now?"

"Because Mommy says so, darling. It's very late and time for all little princesses to go to bed."

Leia opened her eyes and shook her head as she realized that she had stopped walking. The ghost of her mother's presence seemed to brush by her like a cool breeze on a hot day, not lingering long enough for her to truly enjoy it. Blinking several times to control the moisture that was building up in her eyes, Leia began to walk again towards the unusual ruckus that was drawing her like a Jawa to a golden droid.

At the end of the long hallway in the large curved entrance to the Rebel hangar, stood a woman leaning up against the stone wall, her back was to Leia. The princess walked up and paused next to the woman as she joined her in looking at the bustle of activity set out before them.

There were several different types of music coming from a handful of radios that seemed to be competing to drown each other out. Pilots, operatives, and other Rebels danced around the hangar to whichever beat they chose to hear. Colorful, garnished, alcoholic concoctions were not absent in one single person's hand and on more than one occasion, one person simultaneously sipped on two drinks at a time.

Drunken Rebels were lounging and climbing on X-wings and A-wings and freighters were opened up for party-goers to traipse in and out of like an open house. Decorations hung and swayed in the cool breeze that swept through the hangar from the opened shield doors. The aroma of flame-grilled meat, ale and smoke assaulted Leia's nostrils and awakened her from the mystified trance she had fallen into.

"What is all this?" She asked the female officer standing next to her as she kept her eyes focused on the amazing scene ahead of her in disbelief. Leia had placed the woman as an intelligence operative; a fairly successful code breaker by the name of Ava – if she recalled correctly.

Ava straightened herself up and glanced at the princess as she answered, "I don't know, something Wedge Antilles and Captain Solo, among some others, put together. Some sort of Corellian tradition."

"This is a tradition?"

"Yes," Ava chuckled at the princess's reaction and then added, "and as far as I can tell, the tradition consists mainly of getting drunk and making a fool out of yourself."

"Sounds very Corellian to me," Leia offered.

"High Command approved it," Ava replied, as if worried the princess had ideas of breaking up the party. "But I do think they were given a very condensed description," she confessed.

"I'm sure."

"Won't you join in?"

"Oh, I don't know," the princess finally turned to meet the Rebel in the eye. Leia thought that her offer was sincere.

Ava looked like a very young woman, but Leia guessed that she may actually be a few years older than herself. She had a sweet innocence about her that, Leia suspected, most probably belied her true age. She had dark, black hair cut into a short, tousled mop that added to her little girl looks. She was taller than Leia, but only slightly so and when she spoke and smiled, she radiated an impression that she was your friend, stranger or not. Leia thought the woman was a total contradiction - a highly trained code-breaker with thousands of Rebel secrets in her head that looked like an innocent school girl who couldn't keep a secret past lunch time.

"C'mon, Your Highness," Ava smiled at her as she broke into the princess's thoughts. "We all deserve to blow off a little steam."

Leia contemplated the situation. It didn't surprise her that High Command had let this happen. The entire base had been on pins and needles since that huge announcement a few weeks ago. Leia had been privy to several conversations surrounding improving the morale of the troops, especially before relocating them to a cooped up base on a frigid planet. Leave it to Han Solo to pounce on the chance to throw a party.

"I'll consider it, thank you," Leia responded politely and then added, as she spotted Luke Skywalker approaching, "Please, you go ahead. I'd like to speak to Commander Skywalker."

"Oh. Okay. Tell Luke I said hello," Ava replied as she disappeared towards the hangar.

"Will do," Leia replied to Ava's retreating figure.

"Leia! You came," Luke walked up to the princess, a nearly empty drink in his hand.

"I can see how that's surprising, seeing how I wasn't invited."

"Oh," Luke replied sheepishly. "Well, it was all sort of last minute. We really didn't expect High Command to approve it."

"That's alright, Luke. I'm not one for parties anyway."

"Aw, c'mon, Leia. At least come have a drink with me. These things are incredible!"

"I'll take your word for it," Leia responded doubtfully.

"Luke! C'mon!"

Both Luke and Leia turned towards the shouting voice. It was Ava. Luke turned back to look at Leia with flushed cheeks.

"Well, go ahead, Luke. Don't let me stop you," Leia said smiling.

"Ya sure? I mean, I can hang around," Luke stammered.

"No, really. Have a good time. I'll see you later."

"Alright then. Later, Leia," Luke replied as he turned and walked towards a waiting Ava.

Leia watched Luke walk away and debated her next move. She was tempted to join the party, or at least to see what Han Solo was up to. But another part of her felt like retiring to her quarters to be alone. Something about parties in the middle of a war didn't sit well with Leia. Maybe it was because of what happened the last time she went to a Rebel gathering.

Curiosity finally got the better of the princess as she felt her feet moving her towards the Millennium Falcon. There was a small table set out at the end of the gangway and Leia recognized it as belonging to the supply warehouse. Chewie, Wedge, Han and Leesa, her supply officer, sat at the table playing a card game. Han was the first person to see her approaching.

"Hey, guys. Count me outta this hand," Han said as he stood up and watched Leia approach.

"What? That's not like you to walk away while you're up, Solo!" Wedge Antilles howled. Then upon seeing the princess approaching, he added a knowing, "Oh," and looked back down at his cards.

"Your Highness!" Han called out loudly as he walked around the card table and towards the princess.

"Captain Solo," Leia smiled as she greeted him and then looking at the members of the card game she said with a nod, "Chewie. Wedge. Leesa."

[Princess.] "Leia." "Your Highness." All three glanced up and returned her greeting before going back to their game.

"So, Solo. What is all this?" Leia asked suspiciously with half a grin.

"Uh, it's called the Corellian Carnavale ," Han offered.

Leia raised her eyebrows at him but said nothing.

"What? It's a valid tradition!"

"Alright," she said as she crossed her arms and tilted her hip. "So, tell me about it."

"Huh?"

"Tell me about the tradition. How did it originate? What does it honor or celebrate?"

"Oh, that."

"Yes, that."

Han smiled at her with that crooked grin that she was beginning to suspect he knew affected her in a strange way. Taking two steps towards her he said, "Life." And then, putting his arm around her he added, "It's a celebration of life."

She looked up at him and said, "Right."

He chuckled at her and giving her a quick squeeze, he said, "C'mon, let's go get a drink."

Han and Leia walked over to the bar in silence. Well, they didn't talk to each other at least. Han had to shake hands and accept a thousand thank you's as he walked through the crowd like royalty. And Princess Leia smiled and said a few hellos as she walked through the crowd like an un-enlisted spacer…

Walking back towards the Falcon, each with a green alcoholic concoction in their hand, Leia began, "So, have you spoken to General Rieekan?"

"Yeah, I spoke to Rieekan," Han offered as he looked down at her. She felt like he wanted to put his arm around her again, so she walked a little away from him and then he added, "Looks like I'll be accompanying you to Hoth, Princess."

Eyes forward, she let a big smile cross her lips as she said, "I know."

"You know?" Han said, clearly faking his surprise. "Speak up for me, didya? Told 'em you couldn't live without me?"

"Not quite, Captain," Leia quipped. "Supplies will be a definite problem on Hoth," she explained and then confessed, "I may have been asked who my best contact is."

"And you told 'em it was me?"

"Your numbers speak for themselves."

"Ah, but the numbers didn't speak for me," Han countered. Then gently taking the princess by the arm and stopping both of them, he waited until she looked up at him and added, "You did."

Leia felt a strange sensation pulsate through her as Han looked at her in that way that he sometimes did. For the longest time this look would always be followed up by a smart remark and an argument would soon erupt between the two, but lately, it was just the look - and then the silence. It was definitely disconcerting.

"I did what was best for the Alliance, Captain," Leia replied in her most formal tone.

"You keep telling yourself that, Your Highness," Han smiled at her and then he turned and they both began walking back towards the Falcon as he added, "Maybe someday you'll believe it."

The pair made it back to the Falcon and Han gathered up two chairs for them to sit and watch the activities. As Leia watched the party goers stumble around the hangar laughing and dancing, her mind wandered back to her days at university.

"This reminds me of college," she spoke out of the blue and Han turned to look at her.

"How so?"

"Every weekend the various social organizations would have these mixers."

"And you mixed?" Han asked as he hitched up an eyebrow and gave her a wide grin.

"Yes, well, I had this roommate my first year…" she started and then looked out at the crowd again.

"Go on."

"Well, she would drag me to these parties with her and the tradition was to bring your own cup," Leia continued as she turned to look at Han and said, "you know, a plastic cup you could write your name on and fill with ale."

"Right," he nodded and smiled at her like he just couldn't imagine her drinking ale from a disposable cup.

"Well, anyway, she would write on her cup 'Mia loves Rourke' or 'Mia loves Ash'. Every weekend she would somehow fall in love with someone new and he would get his own cup." Leia paused as she watched Han watching her intently with that look that confused her. She turned her attention back to the mingling crowd and then she continued, "And at the end of the semester she left all of her cups on the windowsill to be thrown away by housekeeping. It looked like a little graveyard of her lovers. I remember staring at them while I packed my carryall."

"Where was your graveyard?"

She turned to look at him and said, "I don't think I ever wrote a boy's name on one of my cups."

"Is that right?" He questioned her with a wide devilish grin that made her cheeks burn.

She smiled back at him and quickly changed the subject, "You know I smoked when I was at university." As he looked at her in confusion, she added, "I went absolutely wild my first year away. I basically did everything that my father wouldn't let me do while I lived at home."

"Everything?" Han asked incredulously.

She felt herself blush again and then looked away and chuckled as she clarified, "Well, maybe not everything, but I definitely…rebelled."

"Ah…I see," Han said slowly and as she turned to look at him he winked at her and said, "You've always been a rebel at heart."

He looked at her in that way again and she felt uncomfortable. What did it mean when he looked at her like that? She knew what she thought it meant, she thought it meant that he wanted her to write his name on her cup. But, wait a second, this is Han Solo, for Sith's sake. He's incapable of loving anyone but himself. Loving? Hmph. Stay away from that word or you will end up like Mia with "Leia loves Han" written on a plastic cup that is decomposing somewhere in a graveyard of broken hearts.

Still she wondered what it would be like, to fall in love. To write someone's name on a plastic cup and walk around with it for everyone to see. Could she ever be so silly? She certainly didn't allow herself to be silly back then and now it seemed she didn't have much of a choice. Maybe she should have written a couple of guys names on her cup when she had her chance… Leia smiled and wondered if she was still talking about plastic cups and as she felt her cheeks begin to burn again she turned away from Han and they both sat and watched the crowd around them and drank their green drinks in silence.