"Destiny"
By EsmeAmelia
AN: Thanks as always to the reviewers!
Chapter 10
Leia sat on the edge of the bunk she was sharing with Han, wearing only her robe, grinning mischievously as she watched her husband slowly, seductively remove his shirt, gradually revealing his large, hairy chest to her.
"Nothin' like hyperspace to get you in the mood, huh?" Han said from under the shirt, pulling his right arm out from the white fabric.
Leia smirked. "Nothing like hyperspace, nothing like a good drink, nothing like a busy day working on this dumb ship - is there anything that doesn't get you in the mood?"
Han yanked the shirt off, revealing his widely grinning face. "Hey, I'm male, what'd you expect?" He winked.
Rather than give her husband the sarcastic comment that he was probably expecting, Leia rose to her feet, letting her robe fall over her shoulders, teasing him with her hint of bare skin, making his grin widen even further until his cheeks wrinkled.
"You really know how to turn a guy on, don't'cha?" he purred.
"I thought it was hyperspace that did that." Leia swung her hips in the slightest of manners, not in a dancing fashion but merely to remind him of the rest of her body.
Han immediately took the bait, grabbing her bare shoulders and kissing the nape of her neck, the sole of his bare foot gently brushing the top of hers before his toes found their way into the gaps between hers. Within a moment, she was squeezing his neck and he was slowly peeling off her robe.
They might have planned to discuss the mission in the privacy of their cabin, but the intoxicating presence of each other silenced any discussion.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Rianna sat up in bed, staring ahead into the darkness, her hands vaguely playing with the deactivated lightsaber she'd been given, sliding up and down the tube as if trying to give it warmth. Her fiance slept soundly beside her, his breath being the only thing that pierced the silence. The rather cramped bunk meant nearly all of his body was pressed against hers, a fact she was striving to ignore, though her nerves remained all too aware. Her breath became heavier against her will, despite her mind telling herself to stay calm.
She turned the tube over in the same detached manner that she had been handling it all day. It hadn't been activated since this morning, when Luke had shown her what color it was. Deep purple. The color of royalty, of dignity...of passion.
Her engagement ring scraped against the metal, the sound jolting her attention to the small gold band with the clear stone that was barely visible in the dark. The fingers of the other hand began stroking it as tenderly as a pet, circling around the stone as if it was a god to be worshiped.
Her mind felt uncertain what it was thinking, unable to express anything about the moment and yet feeling so much. Without any reason or decision, she released her consciousness into the Force, searching the rest of the Falcon with only a tiny part of her still looking at the ring.
Padme was sleeping. Chewie was sleeping. The droids were shut down. Finding little of interest anywhere else, the Force carried Rianna's senses to the cabin Leia and Han shared, once again for seemingly no reason, acting only on a small indication that there might be something there.
They too were sleeping, the covers twisted around their bodies, their arms wrapped around each other. Leia sighed softly, digging her head further into her husband's bare chest as he grunted and squeezed her body tighter.
Both were nude...
Rianna's consciousness snapped back into the sanctuary of her own cabin, her eyes blinking as if trying to shake away a nightmare, her body trembling, the lightsaber handle banging against her knee. Why had she done that?? Had she purposely meant to spy on them? Her breath grew as rapid as if she were gasping for air; she began climbing out of bed as quickly as if she would contract a deadly disease if she remained. Without any thought that she might be waking up Luke, she fled from the room.
- - - - - - - - - - - -
"Padme...Padme...PADME!"
The desperate whisper and the hand gripping her shoulder yanked Padme out of sleep. She forced her eyes open to nearly complete darkness and a silhouette hovering over her.
"Rianna?" she mumbled between tired grunts. "What is it? What's wrong?"
Before the mother was even completely awake, Rianna collapsed on top of Padme's body and threw her arms around her neck. "Padme..." she murmured, digging her face into her future mother-in-law's chest.
Padme instinctively wrapped her arms around the younger woman's body and gently patted her back. "Rianna, what happened?"
"I don't know," Rianna gasped out. "I just...just let the Force take me around the ship for some reason...and I saw...I saw Leia and Han...in the aftermath of something I wasn't supposed to see..." She stretched her neck to look up at the ambassador. "I didn't know who else to go to..."
Padme's teeth gripped the upper edge of her lip before she gained the courage to speak, and even then she could only say the first thing that entered her mind. "I...I see why you wouldn't want to go to Luke about this...but I don't know how to..."
"Don't," Rianna interrupted. "Don't...don't...don't..."
"Don't what?"
Rianna gripped the edges of Padme's pillow. "Don't tell me your uncertainties...please...I just need you right now."
"Need me?" Before she could say anything more, something smooth, hard and cylindrical pressed against her cheek, causing her to jump and her hand to shoot up and grip whatever the object was.
"It's about this, isn't it?" she asked softly.
"What?"
Hesitating before every move, Padme ever-so-gently pried Rianna's body off of hers, keeping her right hand wrapped around Rianna's hand gripping the lightsaber. "This is what's disturbing you, isn't it?"
Rianna sniffed loudly. "So much is happening at once...this mission...my wedding...Luke...the Jedi..."
"I know...I know..." Padme whispered, patting her future daughter-in-law's back.
Rianna breathed heavily before every word, her body once more sinking down on top of Padme's. "Why is this...almost every time I try seeing through the Force I end up seeing something I don't want to see..."
"I'm not the one to answer that question." Padme's fingers began prying apart a tangle in the younger woman's hair.
"I don't expect an answer..." Rianna was quiet for a moment or two, so quiet that Padme wondered if she had fallen asleep before she spoke up again.
"I've never had a mother..." she mumbled. "I never wanted a mother. I mean...I know it sounds cruel...but when I was growing up I never felt like I was lacking anything. My father was all I needed."
Padme let out a long sigh. "I understand."
They lay in silence for a few more moments, Padme beginning to sweat from the heat of Rianna's body in addition to her covers.
"If I ever did think about my mother..." Rianna mumbled, "...I'd hope she was like you..."
The older woman found that she couldn't stop herself from sucking in her breath. Her heart quickened its pace as if recovering from a shock. "Like...like me?"
"Yes." Rianna rolled off of Padme's body until she was nestled next to her. "You're the one who understands me best."
"I'm not Force-sensitive," Padme said uneasily. "There's a lot about you that I can't understand."
"Forget the Force." Rianna gripped her future mother-in-law's shoulder. "There's something else you do understand...something no one else can." Her hand slid down Padme's arm. "You know my burden. To wear those crowns, to paint your face like that, to feel the pressure of an entire planet looking up to you when inside you still feel like a child." She swallowed loudly, as if her throat was dry and desperate to get some liquid down. "You understand what it's like to put on that mask every single day, that mask that makes you look like a symbol of hope to your people when in reality you don't know what the hell you're doing..." She shifted her weight, twisting Padme's blankets so much that her legs began to hurt from the tight pull. "Whoever my real mother is, she can't understand that the way you can."
Padme was silent, staring upward for an uncertain amount of time. So...Rianna considered Padme her mother...why was she feeling discomfort? She had long thought of Han as her son - why was this any different? Was it because Rianna seemed to be rejecting her real mother before even meeting her?
Yet there was still no proof that this woman who sent the distress call was indeed her mother. Padme wanted to convince herself that Rianna only thought she felt signs through the Force...but why? Why wouldn't she want Rianna to find her mother alive?
A small mumble let Padme know that Rianna had fallen asleep, using Padme's shoulder as a pillow. Her steady breath carried out its hypnotic effect on her future mother-in-law, making her drowsy, yet she still resisted with what little consciousness she retained, wanting to think more about this, though that little bit of conscious soon faded away itself.
- - - - - - - - -
Padme awoke a few hours later, her side aching, the glowing chronometer on the wall telling her that the entire ship would be arousing soon. The arm that wasn't trapped under Rianna's body stretched above her and then reached over to gently shake the young advisor.
"Rianna," she whispered. "Rianna, wake up."
"Huh?" Rianna's voice muttered in the darkness.
Padme turned her head to the side so she could whisper directly in Rianna's ear. "I just think you might want to get back in bed with your fiance before everyone wakes up."
"What...oh, right." Rianna's voice sounded like it was struggling to wake up. Her body gradually pushed itself up, finally releasing Padme's tingling shoulder. "Yes...I do."
Padme found herself smiling as Rianna got up from the bed, making sure she had her lightsaber with her. "Do you feel better now?"
Even in this dim light, Padme was sure she saw Rianna smiling back. "Yes..." she said softly. "Yes I do. Thank you."