Bloodstripes

by madame.alexandra

Han Solo is presented with an unknown aspect of his past that requires him to confront not only the man he used to be, but to consider the man he wants to be in the future. Leia Organa, having already decided in so many intangible ways to entwine their futures, finds herself forced to alter everything she thought it would come to be. H/L - AU, with loose EU canon intermixed.

10. Nerfs

an/: happy chapters, happy chapters!

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Chapter Nine

"Nerfs"

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It wasn't the sound of an alarm, or the thud of Vada trying to quietly get out of bed, that woke Han the next morning. It was the familiar scent of Leia's hair, and the soft, welcome feel of her skin warm next to his, right where it should be. For a moment he thought he was dreaming, thought he was having one of those hazy moments of wistful desire, and he'd blink, and shake his head, and get up to make Vada breakfast and remember that there was a gulf between himself and the woman who held his heart in her hands.

But this was not a dream; this was reality he had helped bring to fruition last evening when he'd come to her to set things as right as he could. Lifting his head just slightly, his eyesight bleary, he drank in the sight of her tangled hair, and the slips of her pale skin he could see peeking out from tangled pillows and sheets.

His heart starting to race in relief, race with the thrill of finding her back where she should be – in his arms – he rested his head back lightly and breathed her in as if she were oxygen itself. Her scent was all honey and fresh sunlight and lilies and the faint salt that remained as evidence of the previous night's passion and sweat.

She'd stayed close. She usually rolled away eventually, sprawled out; even in sleep, Leia did not like to be constrained, it was a subconscious reaction to the trauma of once being held captive. Yet here she was, close. Her shoulders moved lightly as she breathed, her heart beat like a lullaby, and he listened to the unique sounds of sleep she made, sounds he'd missed so much. A soft, huffy sigh here, a quiet tsk of her tongue there, rsssstling as her ankles twisted together lazily beneath the sheets – he was captivated, right down to the little twitch and straighten she did with her nose once in a while, as if someone was gently tickling her in her sleep.

The skin around her ribs jumped every once in a while, responding to even the subtlest of her movements, and as he watched her, afraid of the fragility of the morning, and the peace that might come crashing down if he woke her, she sighed huskily and stretched, her head tilting back and her body twisting against him.

He didn't mean to wake her up, but the way his arms tightened around her and pulled her closer was instinctive. He buried his face in her hair, searching through the thick mane with his lips until he could press his mouth against her neck and kiss her. A shiver went through her at the contact, and he bit his tongue, running his hands over her ribs, stomach, breasts, shoulders, pressing her closer.

"Mornin,' Sweetheart," he mumbled hoarsely. He kissed her neck again. "Mornin'."

Slowly, she shifted to turn and face him, wriggling comfortably in his grip though making no effort to escape, or even loosen the hug. She slid her leg in between his and pushed a hand upwards over his chest to clutch his shoulder.

She parted her lips and breathed out slowly.

"I'm here, Han," she murmured, tilting her head to kiss his chin, lingering, as if she sensed how incomplete he'd felt without her home with him. "I'm real," she kissed his ear: "I swear I'm not going anywhere, honey," she whispered. "I mean it."

Han slid a hand into her hair, twisting it gently into the strands and then cupping his palm at the base of her neck.

"I like when you call me that," he growled.

He nipped at her lip gently. She smiled.

"I know," she said, touching his jaw.

She drew her thumb along his cheek and towards his ear, as if she were lengthening the brilliant smile that lit his face up, and she touched her forehead to his. His hips shifted against hers under the covers and she sighed appreciatively. Her affection for him rushed through her blood and threatened to overwhelm her, pricking at her eyes and catching in the back of her throat – she was so glad to feel like she had him back, to wake up next to him.

She turned her head slightly and reached up to run her palms over her cheeks, blinking hastily to brush away the scarce tears. Han nudged her jaw and kissed her shoulder, quietly letting her compose herself.

He raised his head a little, leaning on his arm.

"You are going somewhere," he said, arching a brow. "You're comin' home," he reminded her, bending to drop a kiss to her temple.

Leia laughed shakily. Han ran a hand over his jaw, yawning, and caught sight of the time projected off her comm, which she'd left idly on the bedside table. His stomach dipped slightly, and he sat up abruptly, looking around for his. The languid bliss that had enveloped him slipped away and was replaced with a slow worry – had Vada slept okay without him there, had she felt safe, did she get a good breakfast, get off to school – ?

"Here," Leia pressed her comm into his palm, folding it into his fingers. "Use mine," she encouraged softly, her eyes meeting his when he looked back at her. He knew she must have guessed exactly what his sudden anxiety was about, and he gave her a half-smile, half-grimace as he took it, pausing only slightly to draw her hand up and kiss her knuckles.

He sat forward, pushing a hand through his hair and then put his thumb to his mouth, biting at the nail as he tried raising Chewbacca on the comm. Leia sat up, yawning herself, and shook her hair back over her shoulders, smiling softly when her fingers ran up against the many knots left in it. She drew her knees up to her chest, looking around to see if there was any item of clothing within reach.

Han's shirt was on the floor near her, so she leaned over, stretching until she could snatch it and pull it on. She nodded to herself – that was better; something between herself and the morning. Luke kept his apartment warm, but not warm enough for nudity without Han's skin against hers to trap the heat.

She rested her cheek on her knees and watched him chew his nail. On the second attempt, he raised the Wookiee successfully, and Leia lazily listened to Chewbacca's tinny warbles emanating from the handheld.

"What's with the delay, pal?" Han asked edgily. "You got my kid, you gotta answer right away," he griped.

Leia lifted a brow. She reached out to brush her hand against Han's shoulder soothingly. She doubted anything was wrong. Chewbacca seemed nonplussed by the attitude; Leia could almost sense him rolling his eyes.

[I was dropping Vada off at Academy when you first called. I chose not to answer until she had gone in, or she would have delayed and been late.]

Han paused, frowning, clearly trying to determine how he wanted to react to that. He found himself disappointed, because he realized he'd wanted to talk to Vada. He had – he had missed her. He had missed making breakfast for her. Yet he figured Chewie was right – best not to distract her, and then have her disrupt class.

"Oh," Han finally grunted, rather vague, considering how long his silence had been. "Well. Good. So she got to school okay?"

[Yes.]

"And she got breakfast?"

[Yes, cub.]

"Did she sleep okay?"

[Actually, she and I went clubbing and then gambled Leia's fortune away.]

"Good joke, wise guy. Real funny," Han said sarcastically, glaring at the comm. "Leia's sittin' right here. You want to run your mouth some more?"

Chewie laughed quietly, and then, after a moment, answered seriously:

[She did not seem restless or disturbed at all.]

Leia watched Han's shoulders visibly relax, and he sighed tensely. He nodded to himself, then lifted his head again, and pulled the comm closer to his mouth.

"Thanks, Chewie," he said.

[Would you like me to pick her up from her academy as well?] he asked pleasantly.

Han hesitated. He swallowed hard, and then shook his head.

"No, I'll be home tonight," he said firmly. He decided he didn't want to scare Vada by having Chewie pick her up, too. She might have insisted she understood, but he still considered her fragile, and he'd rather be there to reassure her.

Chewbacca warbled a goodbye, and Han ended the call, bringing his hand up to press against his forehead, the comm still enclosed in it. He sat still for a moment, then turned and handed it to Leia, an odd look on his face.

"Thanks," he murmured, avoiding her eyes.

She took the device and thumbed it to do not disturb, so that it would only go off the rest of the morning if there were a true emergency for her to handle. She turned at the waist and tossed it back to the table; it skidded, and bounced off to the floor. She shrugged, turning back to face him, resting her cheek on her knees again.

Han met her eyes, then cut his gaze away again, grimacing.

"What's the matter with you?" she asked astutely, narrowing her eyes to study him.

She tilted her head, drawing her bottom lip into her mouth and worrying it in her teeth. He seemed on edge, suddenly, anxious. He shrugged, flinching at her direct question.

"Well," he said finally, his tone grudging, "s'not very romantic, is it," he muttered, gesturing stiffly at the place where she'd thrown the comm. "Me gettin' all agitated first thing 'cause of Vada 'stead of bein' in the moment when we're in the middle of – "

"We weren't in the middle of anything," Leia placated. "We were waking up," she said, shrugging.

She lifted her head, tilting it from side to side, and then slowly leaned back, supporting her weight on her wrists as she stretched them out behind her. He looked wary, and she shook her head.

"Don't beat yourself up for needing to check on her," she said softly. "I think I'd be apprehensive if she wasn't one of the first things you focused on in the morning."

Han nodded slowly.

"Yeah, I just…saw the time and realized I hadn't, y'know, seen her since I tucked her in and got kinda," he paused, "worried."

"Mmhm," Leia murmured. "She's your daughter and you've never left her overnight with another being before," she reminded him. "I expect that's natural."

She drew one leg up, collapsing it over the other lazily and looking down at her knees thoughtfully. Her brow furrowed for a moment, and she licked her lips.

"Han?" she said quietly, looking up. "Why don't we just agree to stop looking at it as if Vada interferes with the romance," she suggested.

Han leaned back, resting on his side to look at her, a grim look on his face. He wanted to protest that they hadn't been, but it was obvious that was one of the major things they'd been grappling with – how to connect on an adult level with a child in the dynamic, a child whose presence demanded a change in their routine.

He nodded slowly.

"Romance is a subjective concept anyway, isn't it?" Leia went on hesitantly. "You making a quick call to check on the well-being of your daughter doesn't make how I felt when I woke up next to you less idyllic," she said softly. "It's a strangeness that didn't exist a few months ago but," she shrugged. "It's a difference, not an absence."

He nodded again.

"Yeah," he said gruffly. "Let's, uh - agree on that."

Leia flexed her fingers, inclining her head to silently reinforce the pact. They needed to start doing this, making bold declarations about the way forward and using those declarations as a stable foundation. Here was one out of the way.

She smiled slowly, her lips turning up at the corner.

"You've gotten so much closer to her," she noted, her heart fluttering a little as she embraced what it meant that he'd wanted – needed – to ascertain what Vada's well being was as soon as possible.

Pride flared in her chest, and her cheeks flushed.

"I told you, Han," she said. "You needed that time for you to solely focus on her," she justified. "It was vital. Precious."

"Yeah," Han breathed out, his voice ragged. The word sounded raw, and tired – and he thought Leia was right; there was a lot he had learned, staying at her apartment alone with Vada, thinking things through, even coming to an edge and hashing things out rather roughly with Luke.

Still, still.

"Yeah, Sweetheart, I got my feet under me," he agreed. He lurched forward and took her cheek in one hand, pulling her face close to his. "I don't want to do it that way again," he said. "I wish I hadn't needed that," he said gruffly. "I missed you," he said, and the words were tinged with the desperation that had been in his kiss last night. "Kriff, I missed you."

Leia lifted a hand to touch his knuckles gently, and let herself fall back on the bed, Han hovering over her. She held onto his wrist, her chest aching – aching pleasantly, as she let go of some of the stress and uncertainty that had been knotted up inside her lately. She let him kiss her. She kissed him back. She was tempted to let him pull her under him, and give in to his touch when it roamed under the shirt she'd thrown on – but there would be time.

He had taken the first step in reclaiming their rhythm, and she was committed to him; they had time.

She caught his hand instead, sitting up and gingerly extricating herself. Han groaned softly and fell back on the mattress with a quiet thump, his hazy eyes raking over her. She let a smirk grace her lips, and held his hand against her breasts.

"We have more talking to do," she said, feigning an air of breaking it to him gently.

Han gave her a lopsided smirk, and drew his hand away, crossing his arms behind his head as a pillow and looking up at her. He nodded slowly in agreement.

"We got some time," he coaxed. "Vada's at school for eight hours."

"Yes," Leia agreed murmur, "but I do want to make an appearance at my office," she said, her eyes wandering over towards the wall of the bedroom. "And, ah, we might…migrate out of Luke's apartment, for any more…amorous activity," she suggested.

Han snorted quietly. He considered her, and then sat up. He held out one hand gallantly.

"Can I have my shirt?" he asked innocently.

She smiled at him, and lifted it off, handing it to him with a flourish. He snapped his teeth at her playfully, and Leia blushed, pushing back the covers. She gave a shiver as she stepped out of bed, rushing to gather some clothing. She pulled on a soft pair of shorts she often slept in, and then a camisole, and draped her robe around her shoulders, while Han slung on his trousers, donned his shirt, and left everything else on the floor.

"Kaf?" Leia suggested, with a final yawn to shake off the morning's lingering indolence.

Han rubbed his forehead and nodded, following her out into the hall, and then into the kitchen. The rest of the apartment was dark, save for the daylight streaming through open windows, and no sound or scent indicated Luke was up and about.

"He usually sleep in?" Han asked.

"I…am not entirely sure," Leia answered, amused at herself. "I generally get to work early enough that I miss him. So, I suppose he does," she guessed. "He is up meditating at all hours of the night. Good company when I can't sleep," she added conversationally.

She began to brew kaf, and Han crossed his arms, leaning against one of Luke's counters.

"You spend a lot of time not sleepin' here?" he asked warily.

Leia sighed, and shrugged.

"It was about the usual ratio, actually," she said softly. She furrowed her brow. "I missed the sounds our apartment makes," she remarked.

Han laughed.

"Sounds?"

"They're different," Leia insisted. "The click of our air system. The low, subtle hum our security monitors make."

Han raised his eyebrows, but said nothing. He was willing to bet those things were so quiet, Leia only heard them because she was sensitive to the world around her in a way he wasn't.

"I missed your snoring, too," she added flippantly.

Han gave the back of her head a dark glare.

"I don't snore," he griped.

"You're right," Leia allowed mildly. She paused, then smirked: "It's more of a demented, raspy wheezing."

He scowled.

"Yeah? Well, it was real quiet without all that smackin' you do with your lips," he retorted.

"Was it?" she asked mildly.

"Uh-huh," Han said sternly. He unfolded his arms and put his hands in his pockets, shoulders slumping a moment later. "To be honest, Your Worship, couldn't sleep without your sleep sounds."

Leia wrinkled her nose and giggled softly, watching the kaf machine drip its final brew. She portioned the serving into mugs and turned to hand one to Han, a blush starting at the top of her nose and dancing across her cheeks.

"Sap," she accused fondly.

Han shrugged defiantly, taking his mug. He lifted it, inhaled, and closed his eyes with an appreciative groan. He took a sip of the bitter brew, immediately feeling twice as alert. He grinned.

"Remember when Vada asked if she could have kaf?" he asked, without pausing to see if Leia answered. "Well, th'other day she accidentally grabbed my black kaf and took a huge sip, and then I guess she was too embarrassed to spit it out, so she stood there lookin' about as miserable as anyone can and swallowed the whole mouthful. Thought she was gonna start swearin'."

Han shook his head fondly, and Leia smiled at the look on his face. He'd trailed off, basking in the memory, and her heart throbbed gratefully, because every time Han said or did something that indicated his bond with Vada had gotten so strong, she felt vindicated in her decision to give them some space, even if it had put herself and Han on tenterhooks, perhaps unfairly.

"She wants to play Grav ball, so 'm lookin' for a league for her," he added.

"That will be wonderful for her. She can make more friends, put down more roots here," Leia said, nodding.

Han's expression flickered slightly at the mention of roots, the prospect of the upcoming family court hearing swimming to the forefront of his mind. He tried to force it down, but the bitterness was already showing on his face, and Leia's contorted into an expression of sympathy.

"Things will go in your favor," she said quietly. "We'll make sure of it."

"Y'know, I don't even want Vaella to get visitation rights?" Han burst out abruptly. "Vada shouldn't have to see her. She shouldn't have to make nice with a person who did what Vaella did. S'not fair to ask her to."

"I agree with you," Leia said simply. "We'll fight that battle, too, if it comes to it," she noted, reminding him gently that right now, the heart of the matter was custody itself, not secondary rights.

Han shook his head, scowling, and took a long draft of his kaf, swallowing hard. A muscle in his jaw jumped for a moment, and both of them stood in silence, Han's eyes searching her face. The lull in their conversation provided the perfect moment for Luke to come striding into the kitchen.

They both looked up. Luke had a narrow expression on his face, one that clearly indicated he had something to say, and something he had likely been drafting for hours.

Unable to help it, and vividly recalling Luke telling them to knock it off last night, Han's mouth curled into an involuntary smirk, and Leia quickly turned her head to the side, biting back an entirely inappropriate burst of laughter.

The sight of them, disheveled, in nightclothes, and having a good time, seemed to double Luke's irritation. He rubbed one of his eyes, running a hand fiercely back through his sandy hair. He scowled at them darkly, attempting to be menacing, Leia presumed, as he advanced into his kitchen and rounded on them. Composing herself, Leia turned to give him a slightly apologetic look over her mug. Han leaned back casually, lifting one hand and holding it up solemnly.

"Listen, kid," he started, with mock solemnity.

"You're both rude," Luke growled, his eyes flashing. "Him, I get," he griped, making a rude gesture at Han. "But you were raised in a palace. With etiquette and protocol. You should have some respect," he continued, going over to the kaf decanter. "These walls are not sound proof."

"Luke," Leia started, with a contrite wince.

"I told you to go back to your apartment!" Luke hissed.

"Aw, c'mon Luke, I got a kid there!" Han protested, suppressing a grin.

"Well, you have to learn, don't you?" Luke snapped pointedly. "If this is going to work," he said, flapping his hand at them. "Don't think you're coming over here to have sex until Vada is of age!"

Leia winced again, and Han gave Luke a wondering, incredulous look, as if the idea of Vada growing up was more unfathomable than getting used to her as a seven-year-old. And again, before anyone could respond to Luke, he whipped around with a murderous look.

"And you didn't even leave me any kaf."

Hastily, Leia handed her mug off to Han.

"I'll brew some more," she placated, truly appalled at herself for not making enough for all of them, particularly what she and Han had rather selfishly put Luke through.

Her brother inched back with a scowl, but the thunderous look on his face was so – well, comical, that Leia had to dip her head to keep from laughing. It was just that it clearly took so much effort for him to muster such formidable indignation, and she was unused to such grouchiness on his part.

Han, however, seemed completely unperturbed.

"Get your lightsaber out of a knot, Luke," he said blithely. "You used to bunk with the Rogues. I've heard Jansen's stories."

"Jansen wasn't fucking my sister."

"Luke!" Leia admonished, jutting her foot out to kick him.

He leapt away, dodging her, and grumbled at her moodily. She shook her head, glancing with alarm at Han – it was rare for Luke to be so crass.

"Sorry," Luke fired back at her, sounding quite the opposite. "My sunny disposition was slowly eroded over the six hours I had to listen to you panting and moaning at Han."

Leia turned red, hiding her face.

"Oh, stop, it wasn't that long," she squeaked.

"Yeah, it was," Han said loudly – defensively.

She rolled her eyes. He shrugged at the kid again.

"You'll live," he said mildly "'Sides, you're the one who got on my ass to make things right."

Leia turned her head slightly, glancing between them. She paused to study Luke, and he made a face, folding his arms.

"I didn't need the X-rated version of making it right," he retorted.

"What are you talking about?" Leia asked, looking between them again.

Luke, noticing the kaf was about done, sidled up to Leia, nudged her aside gently to take a mug for himself, and filled it to the brim. He inhaled a sip, topped it off, and then turned to shuffle off, shooting her a brooding look.

"Why don't you ask," he paused, and then pitched his voice higher, and breathier, "Haa-aaa-aan!" he mimicked at her, turning on his heel and stalking from the kitchen, leaving her looking after him in horror long after he'd slammed his bedroom door.

To her chagrin, Han gave a wolfish shout of laughter. Scandalized, Leia whipped her head around and stared at Han.

"Well, that's that," she said, deadpan. "We have to kill Luke."

Still grinning, Han shook his head.

"You can do whatever you want to him," he snorted. He hesitated, and reached up to rub the back of his neck. "He is, uh…he did kind of get my ass in gear," he admitted.

Leia, still trying to recover from her brother's daring mockery, put a hand to her chest, but stepped forward to take her mug back from Han, remaining close. She tilted her head up at him curiously, waiting. Han shuffled his feet.

"I went to, uh, ask 'im how your thing went yesterday," Han explained grudgingly. "He kinda…made me realize it was okay to," Han paused, trying to figure out how to phrase it. "It was okay to balance things?"

He frowned at himself. He shrugged.

"He told me to just tell Vada I wanted to go talk to you," he said, a little frustrated. "You know, be up front. Tell her point-blank it wasn't 'cause I was mad or she was in the way."

Leia nodded.

"Okay," she said softly. "I see what you're saying, Han," she said slowly. "You kept saying last night Vada was okay with this."

"Yeah. I sat down with her and told her what I was going to do and asked if she was okay with it," he said. "She said she was. She wants you to come back." He shrugged. "I still think she's just so tied up in knots because she think she messed us up she'd say whatever she thinks will make me happy."

He took a sip of kaf, and then set his mug aside.

"'Course, I also think she really likes you, so she's not lyin' when she says it's okay if you come back," he added, snorting.

"Oh, I'm sure it's all of the above," Leia murmured. "Other than her overhearing my…ill-advised comment, I don't get the impression she resents me," she said. "Despite everything you and I are both still, you know, novelties to her. I only worry about, um, down the line, you know," Leia waved her hand a little halfheartedly. "I'm not mom."

She licked her lips.

"Her mom, I mean," she said faintly. "I don't mean…I just mean," she sighed – now she was frustrated. "That I imagine there will be a time when there will be a…clash."

She could be wrong, but she felt it prudent to anticipate tensions far down the line, since she did plan on there being a 'down the line', if for no other reason than she herself had clashed with Breha more than once, and Breha had not only been the sweetest woman ever born, but for the most part, a permissive mother. If Leia could find a way to clash with Breha in the ways that teenage girls from the beginning of time had, it was likely Vada would clash with a woman who was occupying what could be seen as her 'real' mother's place.

Han grunted, and scratched his chin intently.

"That's one of those things we got to agree to deal with," he muttered.

"Yes," Leia agreed.

Han shifted his feet, agitated.

"S'just hard to figure some of this stuff out when I don't know how family court is gonna turn out," he admitted roughly. "I don't want to make all these plans with you and then," he trailed off – and then they take Vada way and it doesn't matter anyway.

Leia listened to the silence, understanding his concerns. He was right; a lot of the complexity was tied to the fact that they weren't being left alone to grow into this new reality and deal with it. There was so much outside interference – the Vardalos challenge being the worst of it.

"All we can do right now is toe the line," Leia said finally. "You focus on making sure Vada stays with you. Other dynamics we can figure out more slowly as we go," she paused, "but I think you – and I – another thing we're going to decide right now is that…we're together," she said. "We're together, and we have Vada, and we," she waved one hand, clutching her mug tightly with the other, "are building around that now."

Han took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. He nodded once.

"Yeah," he said firmly.

It felt like a weight off. Even though she had been saying that, and he had been trying to believe that, he was finally in a place to accept it without it feeling like the end of the world, without it feeling like he was cementing her into a future that subjugated her needs and wants.

He lifted his hand and put it on her waist, massaging her side gently.

"Promise you won't hold anything back 'cause you think I'm too stressed or distracted over Vada," he said earnestly. "She still throws me for a loop," he snorted dryly, "but for me to stay sane, I gotta know you can rely on me, and know you're not…hurtin' because of me, okay?"

"Okay," Leia said firmly. She paused for a beat. "I may start seeing a therapist regularly," she ventured.

Han's eyes widened slightly, and she nodded, licking her lips.

"It doesn't mean I won't confide in you. I just think…it might be good," she said, breathing out slowly, "and I think it might set a good example. For my people. I've tried to be strong for them, but," she fell silent for a moment, "perhaps I'm making it seem like seeking help is weak."

Han bent forward, and kissed her forehead. He tried to find the words to tell her how incredible he thought she was, but she was still talking.

"And Han, you really, really do need to tell Vada about Vader," she whispered huskily. "If she says she wants to stay with us, it's fair for her to know who I am."

"Leia, Vader has nothing to do with who you are," Han said dismissively, gritting his teeth. "Vader didn't raise you, Vader…" He didn't need to remind Leia what Vader had done to her. "She doesn't – "

"No. I want her to have all the information. I want her to know, because eventually, the whole galaxy will know, and I won't have her finding out when they do. I want her to have all the information because there are plenty of choices I made without having all the information my father could have given me, and my life may have been entirely different," she said fiercely. "Perhaps I am trying to find a way to fix the betrayal I feel, but you will tell her, Han. Vada won't be another casualty of the secrets and the lies."

Han grimaced.

"Fine," he agreed gruffly. "But she won't care."

"She doesn't have to care. She has to know."

Han grit his teeth and bared them unhappily, but nodded in acquiescence. He did not think it was the most pressing thing, though he also saw Leia's point – it wouldn't be good to hide it from Vada, either, not because she might be scared of Leia, but because Han didn't want his daughter kept in the dark about things.

"And you'll come home?" Han asked. "Come home, Leia."

Leia dipped her head.

"Yes, Han, I'll come home."

He breathed a sigh of relief and slid his arm all the way around her waist, squeezing gently. He tugged her forward, and Leia rested her head against his chest, letting him take her mug away so he could hug her more properly. It felt like a half of the weight he'd been carrying lately lifted off his shoulders. His fingers brushed her hair back, tucking it behind her ears.

"Will you not go into the office today?" he asked hopefully.

She laughed under her breath.

"The world still turns," she admonished, and Han groaned softly, but accepted the answer.

He ran his hands through her hair again, his fingertips tracing shivery little circles in her scalp, and then down to the back of her neck, and she shifted her weight from one foot to the other. She stood leaning against him contently, and she closed her eyes. This whole morning felt like a cosmic relief; not the cure to everything, but a more definitive step forward than they had taken yet.

Han lifted his head a little when he saw Luke storm back into the kitchen. The kid walked stonily over to the kaf machine, and poured himself another mug, replacing the decanter with a steely look. He turned around, and glared at Han.

"If you two don't go back – "

Han held his hand up, a grin splitting his face.

"We're goin', we're goin'!" he promised loudly.

It was a promise he'd never been happier to make.

---

As the week drew to a close, Leia brought Vada to work with her once again. She had a half-day at her academy due to mandatory parent-teacher conferences, which Han was dutifully attending. He'd been wracked with nerves about it, more so because, wringing her hands anxiously, Vada had sprung it on him last minute. Her dark eyes wide with apprehension, she informed him she forgot to tell him and Madam Losha was calling him to confirm an appointment time. The prospect of yet another form of evaluation clearly daunted him, though Leia was sure Vada's instructors would have nothing negative to say about her.

Han seemed to think Vada neglecting to tell him meant the whole thing must be indicative of problems, but Leia was pretty confident in believing Vada had simply forgotten, as she said. Just as Han was still slow to react to things because he was not used to being a parent, Vada had gone years without being effectively parented - not to mention she was seven. It was definitely more likely she'd been distracted by other things than that she was engaged in some greater conspiracy.

Han insisted Chewbacca could watch Vada, but Leia dismissed his cautious protests. They were doing this together - more definitively so now, since their breakthrough a few nights ago - and wanted that firmly established and reinforced. Vada had liked being at the office in the past, and Leia wanted to spend a little one on one time with her anyway, just to see if she could gauge Vada's feelings towards her.

She knew Han was adamant that he'd talked to Vada, and Vada said she wanted Leia to come back - even repeatedly said she wasn't angry or resentful of her. Leia still wanted to assess that for herself. She had not immediately cobbled all of her things together and raced back to their apartment, more due to other conflicts that arose than reluctance. Abruptly, an issue had come up across planet, and in her capacity as a negotiator, Leia had gone with a Vice Councilor to see to it, which separated her from Han immediately after she had decided to go back - typical.

Naturally, a home visit had taken place while she was away, though Han had merely shrugged and said it was uneventful - it was the last home visit that would take place prior to the family court hearing that would determine if Vada stayed with Han to complete his evaluation, or if she was remanded to the Vardalos clan on Corellia.

Leia had returned swiftly, the issue proving easy to solve, had stayed at Luke's because of the late hour and a reluctance to risk waking Vada up and causing a flurry of questions and curiosity. Last night she had stayed at her apartment with Han, but she had been called in early, early this morning to help negotiate through a skirmish that broke out in the Western Reaches. She figured that Vada would thus think she hadn't spent the night, and might be getting apprehensive that she had been lied to about Leia returning.

As it were, she sat in her office now, just having returned from lunch with Vada, Luke, and Chewbacca. The Wookiee had picked Vada up when her half day let out, and Leia and Luke had met them for lunch at a bright, visible cafe in the cuisine district. Given how closely the family court hearing was starting to loom, Leia had wanted a little subtle spotlight. She did not want Vada bothered or stared at, but she did want herself seen out and about with Vada as if it were blissfully normal. That was a message she needed to get out to any Vardalos studying the situation. Not to mention she wanted the general public inured to the reality as well.

They hadn't been approached, but Leia knew at least some clips of their outing would feature across the 'Net.

A small part of her relished it, not for the sake of fame or attention, but for the sake of a sophisticated game of maneuvering. She was sending a message to Han, herself, and anyone else listening: Vada is under my protection.

She would be reinforcing such a message vigorously from now on, so long as Vada allowed it.

"Thank you, Miss Ulixa!"

Leia looked up at the sound of Vada's voice as she burst back into the office, Leia's assistant at her heels. The young woman blushed, looking delighted.

"I told you to call me Uli!" she said earnestly.

Vada gave a shrug, her hands full. She delicately juggled bouquets of flowers, scurrying over to the sofa and leaning forward to let the flowers tumble forward onto the table. She fluttered her hands, feathering the flowers out so they were easier to account for, and Ulixa watched her, amused, and then turned to Leia to quietly wait for instruction.

"Thank you, Uli," Leia said as well, giving a small wave of her hand. "Let me know if anything pressing pops up," she added. "Otherwise, I'm leaving at fifteen."

Vada looked up, her eyes narrowing.

"Oh, you do not have to leave early because of me, Leia," she said hastily. "I can make myself busy. I have assignments and things. I like being here," she said rapidly. "Dad can get me later."

"I appreciate your flexibility," Leia said with a small laugh. She gave a little wrinkle of her nose, smirking, "but I certainly don't object to leaving early if I can."

Vada nodded.

"Oh, okay," she said. "If it is not because of me."

Leia shook her head. It was a light day whether or not Vada was with her. She sat forward some, and eyed Vada's flower collection with interest. When passing the numerous greenhouses and gardens arrayed in the courtyard of the defunct Imperial palace, Vada had tentatively asked if she could pick some. Leia asked Ulixa to walk her to the public bouquet area.

"Are those for an academy project?" she asked.

Vada nodded, perching on the edge of the sofa as she looked at them critically.

"We are supposed to make something with nature," she explained. "That is so hard on Coruscant," she noted, crinkling her nose. "People here think rusty buildings are natural, but only the rust part is natural," she said. She threw a smart glance at Leia. "It is oxidized metal," she informed her. "I learned that."

"A very good thing to know," Leia said. "What are you going to make?"

Vada lifted her hands, made a circle with them, and mimed placing something on her head.

"A tiara," she said promptly. She flushed. "I got stumped on what to do so I am cheating a little."

Leia pursed her lips.

"Why would making a flower tiara be cheating?" she asked, with consternation.

"Weeeelll, um. I do not know. I think, um, the assignment is supposed to be a challenge? But I used to make flowers into chains and things on Corellia all the time, so I have practice," Vada explained sheepishly.

"Building on a talent you already have is not cheating," Leia said firmly. "It's cultivating." She held her hand out. "Look at all the material you have there that you might not have had on Corellia," she pointed out. "You can make something you've never made before, and I'm sure you'll learn new things."

She lifted her chin slightly, narrowing her eyes wryly.

"I know Corellia doesn't have droopy bluestars," she said, pointing to an umbrella shaped, doleful flower in Vada's bunch.

Vada picked one of them up, twirling the thick, violet stem in her fingers. She tilted her head thoughtfully, nodding. She delicately touched the petals, nodding as if she had decided Leia was right.

"I could make rings, too," she murmured. She looped the stem around her finger. "And bracelets. All kinds of jewelry, to be unique," she looked up, tilting her head. "There is some clear wax stuff, I think? That you can buy places to preserve?"

"Mmhmm, we can get you some," Leia said, plucking her commlink off her desk. Before Vada could blink, she had fired off a message to Han asking him to stop and buy clear craft wax for Vada's project. "Good idea. Then it will seem crystallized. You could add glitter, too, if you're so inclined. The flowers might look snow-capped."

"That would be pretty," Vada said, almost sternly. She nodded, and set the droopy bluestar down, picking up a red flower to examine next. She peeked at Leia over top of it. "Would it be funny if I made Dad wear the flower jewelry?" she asked mischievously.

Leia leaned back in her seat, smirking.

"Yes," she said emphatically.

"Do you think he would?" Vada demanded.

"Oh, I think between the two of us, we could persuade him," Leia answered lightly. She pursed her lips, grinning wider at the thought. "If you're going to make Han wear them, you should definitely use glitter," she advised.

Vada inhaled the scent of the red flower, her face lighting up.

"Glitter," she agreed, pleased. She snorted. "I think Dad, he will probably make a face, and pretend to not be happy, but it will make him laugh," she decided.

Vada got up and went to get her backpack, which she'd plopped on the floor next to Leia's desk.

"Yes, and he needs to laugh," she said brightly, half to herself.

She hoisted her bag, and carried it over, taking out her datapad. Leia tilted her head thoughtfully, watching as Vada woke the tablet up and started making little notes on it, her tongue caught between her teeth as she looked at the flowers. If she had to guess, Leia would say Vada must be making an inventory of how many of each she'd gotten. Perhaps she was going to sketch a pattern before she started with the raw materials.

Such intuition was smart, and Leia admired it - she admired it, and she also let Vada's telling words rumble around in her head. 'He needs to laugh'- it left Leia wondering what Han's personality had been like at home these past couple of weeks. Had he been moping, unable to keep it together? She frowned - it hadn't seemed so. She knew Han hadn't been thrilled with the situation - neither had she - but both of them were fairly adept at presenting a sturdy front to the outside world, even in the worst of times.

She decided it was best not to press Vada, though. She likely hadn't been thinking when she said it, and wouldn't want to feel compelled to tattle on Han.

Vada began separating the flowers into colour groups. Sitting forward, Leia buzzed Ulixa on her intercom.

"Uli, can you find a box for me? An empty one," she requested. She looked over at Vada. "For your flowers," she explained promptly. "That way, when we go home you don't have to worry about them getting crushed in your bag."

Vada nodded enthusiastically.

"I am just going to outline my plan for the tiara right now," she explained. "Then maybe practice some stylus writing," she said, frowning. "I think Madam Losha will tell Dad I suck at that."

Leia laughed a little.

"Practice makes perfect," she said automatically, and then rolled her eyes, cringing at herself. She sounded like one of her stern old tutors or her overbearing aunts or - well, her mother, she supposed.

She wasn't sure Vada should be throwing around the phrasing that she, or anything, 'sucked.' It was Coruscanti slang and to Leia's knowledge, it was a little mature for Vada's age, but right now that was Han's territory, and Leia wasn't going to get into that just yet. Until they had specifically hashed more things out, she was going to sit firmly in the 'guard and protect' realm. Originating rules and discipline could remain within Han's purview until he established to both Leia and Vada that Leia's rule of law was legitimate.

"What are you doing?" Vada ventured. "If I am allowed to ask," she added quickly.

She looked up, and then back down, rather shyly.

"Of course you can," Leia said. "I don't really handle intelligence or state secrets," she said flippantly. "Not now. This afternoon I am mostly reviewing correspondence," she explained. "I set aside a couple of times a week to do that."

"What does that mean?" Vada asked.

"Different things," Leia answered. She gestured to her console. "Some are speaking requests from organizations, some are protest letters," she listed. "My biggest focus right this moment is the outline of a directive for governing the people who survived Alderaan," she explained. "We're scattered all over. We need a structure for integrating, and preserving rights, for representation," she waved her hand, "all kinds of things. And I am performing an adversarial edit for the Chief of State's annual address."

Leia saw the question on Vada's lips, and kept going, explaining easily:

"Which means I am picking it apart and telling her what people who don't like her might say about it, or how it could be interpreted negatively. It helps her gain more perspective and structure her ideas and words more inclusively."

"Wow," Vada squeaked. "The Chief of State, that is Mon Mothma, yes?" she asked.

Leia nodded.

"And she is your boss, like, she is in charge of you?"

"Hmm, she thinks she is," Leia murmured wryly. She smiled softly, and rested her chin on her palm, enjoying her little joke. Vada cocked her head curiously, and Leia chewed on her lip intently for a moment. "Mon's position makes her the overall leader," she explained, "but in what we've created, different sectors of government have balancing power and are run by experts. I direct the Diplomatic Ministry. I work with Mon," she said, flexing her fingers a little. "It isn't as cut and dry as some jobs."

And Mon Mothma sometimes viewed Leia as two distinct people: a political princess, and 'Bail's teenaged daughter,' though Leia was certainly no longer a teenager. She didn't have such a bad habit of doing that anymore, but Vada's inquiry about who was in charge brought to Leia's mind all the times Mon had attempted to direct Leia's personal life.

"Do you like your job?" Vada asked. "It seems hard."

"It can be. I do like it, though. I like trying to make things better," Leia offered. "I think...sentient beings deserve the opportunity to have safe, fair lives."

"What about happy?" Vada asked slowly.

Leia smiled prudently.

"Well, I can't make people happy," she said. "All I can try to do is make their pursuit of happiness unencumbered by inhumanity."

Vada nodded. She sat back on the couch, thinking about it.

"You make Dad happy," she said thoughtfully. "So, at least there is that, if you have a bad day."

Leia ran her fingers over her lips gently, her expression thought. She gave a small nod - at least there was that.

"But," Vada said, cocking her head and peering at Leia sideways. "You had lots of money and things growing up, right?" she asked. "You were a senator, for the Empire, before they cen," Vada paused, struggling to recall the word she'd read. "Censed...?"

"Censure," Leia supplied immediately. Her brows knit, and she lowered her hand, leaning forward onto her desk. "Has someone been telling you stories about me?" she asked cautiously.

Vada flushed, bowing her head.

"Um, no, I read a bio off the 'Net," she confessed, half-mumbling to herself. "I read some after you went to stay with Luke."

She braved a glance at Leia, and Leia shrugged.

"That's alright," she said. "Yes," she added. "To answer your question, I did grow up very privileged, and Alderaan managed to keep favor with the Empire for a very long time, while my father was working behind the scenes to establish the Rebellion."

She paused, thinking of Han suddenly, and sniffed bitterly.

"Politics can be a nasty game," she confessed flatly.

Vada kept looking at her, frowning as if she were deep in thought. She shook her head a little.

"I read something, Leia, that said the Empire would have just left you alone because of money, and power, if you did what they said, that it did not affect you that bad, their...meanness," Vada said. "But you were in the Rebellion anyway."

Leia opened her mouth cautiously. She stared at Vada, then compressed her lips, and nodded.

"Perhaps," she said vaguely. "I think the Empire would have come for everyone eventually, but I certainly had more freedoms than beings such as Chewbacca, or human slaves under the Imperial thumb, or even people like Han who had been abused by the Empire for refusing to toe the line. People in my social class were being painfully naive to think that the Imperial rot wouldn't reach us eventually."

"Why did you fight before you had to, though?" Vada asked quietly. "Weren't you scared it would make your life worse?"

Leia hesitated.

"You know, actually, Vada, I don't think I was," she said carefully. "I was young when I started. I had a certain illusion of invincibility because of my status. I was very smart, but being smart doesn't always make you wise. And I was only playing with proverbial fire until I got burned," she said heavily.

She hesitated again.

"In the end, I felt like my privilege wasn't very enjoyable if it was at the expense of others."

Vada scraped her bottom lip with her teeth, reaching up to curl her finger in her hair. She nodded, and then gave Leia a pinched look.

"My grandmother," she said, "Vaella," she said darkly, "did not even care about her own daughter that much. Or me," she added, with a small shrug.

Leia nodded.

"Do you," Vada ventured, frowning. "Do you think she wants me now because…she realized she had nothing else left?" She asked. "Like maybe people had to start fighting the Empire when it was coming for everyone, she has to have me back because she will never get my mom and that has sunk in?"

Leia bit down on the inside of her cheek, remaining silent to choose her words carefully. She didn't necessarily think that at all, but she wasn't sure how Han had been handling this subject.

"Well," Leia began diplomatically.

"Do not say nice things," Vada said quickly. "Say what you think, please," she requested. "I do not like Vaella anyway."

Leia's lips twitched slightly, and she honored Vada request.

"I think she doesn't like Han," Leia said flatly. "And for that reason, I think she's decided it's the lesser of two evils to take you in, even though you weren't born in wedlock or with her approval, than to let Han raise you."

Vada blinked. She gave a gloomy nod.

"I said that to Iretta," she said. "That she just does not like Daddy." Vada sighed. "I asked Mommy why she and Vaella did not get along once, and Mommy said it was because she has a mind of her own."

"It sounds like she did," Leia said gently. "Some people are old fashioned and don't like that very much."

Leia had no idea what the specifics of Visenya Vardalos' conflicts with her mother had been. Vaella, being part of a heavily pro-Imperial family, was likely extremely conservative in all respects – it seemed like Visenya very clearly had not been. Likewise, since Vaella was part of new money, money that was built on industrial success and not inherited legacy, she was bound to be more warlike about status. Those who had come into it by marriage always were.

"Mommy was kind of forgetful and silly," Vada said, "but she was a nice person."

Leia nodded.

"Of course she was. That much I can tell."

Vada raised her brows.

"How? You never met her."

Leia held a hand out.

"You," she said simply. She smiled.

Vada perked up, tilted her head at her, and smiled back proudly. She continued to grin at Leia for a moment, and then went back to her datapad, evidently done with the conversation. Leia watched her for a moment, amused, and looked up only when Ulixa came back in with an empty box.

"Here you are, Miss Vada," Ulixa said pleasantly, setting next to Vada on the couch. She patted the top of it. "There's an elastic loop you can use to fasten the top on," she said, pointing the mechanism out. "Good luck with your project!"

"Thank you!" Vada said, and put one hand on her hip, looking up. "Uli, if I cannot call you miss, you cannot call me miss. I am little."

Ulixa folded her arms.

"You belong to Her Highness and General Solo," she said with mock sternness. "You outrank me."

The assistant gave Vada a little wink, and took a few steps back, pausing at the door and turning to incline her head respectfully at Leia.

"Madam Mothma is finishing an afternoon reception upstairs and would like to drop by before she departs for the day," Ulixa said. "Are you in?"

Leia gave a small nod.

"If she gets here before fifteen," she reminded her firmly.

Ulixa's brows twitched, and Leia shrugged.

"Unless Mon has an emergency, I needn't extend my schedule for a social visit," she said logically.

Ulixa nodded, and bowed out, drawing Leia's door to a close. Vada took the top off her box and set it aside, but did not begin gathering up flowers. She picked a few up and began twisting them. Leia sat back heavily in her chair and returned to her documents on her terminal, keeping an eye on Vada out of her peripheral to make sure she was okay.

It was a relief that Vada seemed at ease, and was so talkative. It eased some of Leia's concerns about another shift in routine.

She inserted a comment on one of Mon's paragraphs, then looked up for one of her cursory glances at Vada and found the little girl staring at her critically. She paused, and Vada, embarrassed at being caught, hastily looked down and poked at some flowers.

"Vada, is something bothering you?" Leia asked, knitting her brows. She asked as gently as she could, hoping Vada would be encouraged by it.

Vada lifted her thumb to her mouth and bit the nail, fidgeting.

"Um," she uttered, frowning. "Well. No. I was wondering…if you are coming back to stay," she said finally. "At your apartment, with me and Dad."

Leia clicked a save icon on her terminal and turned away from her console, looking directly at Vada over the desk. She considered her for a moment, and then beckoned to her. Vada got up and sauntered over somewhat warily, inching around Leia's desk and pausing next to the chair when Leia turned to her.

"I told Han I was coming home, yes," she said honestly. "I would be happy to come home – "

"He said you were, but then you did not," Vada said. "I know you had to go to the thing over on the north of the planet, but," she trailed off briefly. "You did not come back right away," she pointed out, shrugging.

"You're right," Leia agreed simply. "I thought I might make sure you were okay with it," she explained. "That's part of why I wanted you to come with me today and not stay with Chewie."

"Part of?" Vada asked uncertainly.

"I also happen to like you," Leia whispered conspiratorially.

That brought a bright smile to Vada's face, though it only lasted for a moment. She shifted her weight, and leaned against the side of the desk.

"But I told Dad to tell you I want you to come back," she said worriedly. "Did he say different?"

"Oh, no, he told me that," Leia assured her. "I still wanted to ask you. And Vada, if you want more time alone with your father, please tell me that. You deserve it."

"No, we can share," Vada said, with an edge to her voice, as if the statement itself was confusing. She chewed on her bottom lip.

"Would you tell me if you did?" Leia asked gently. "I don't want you to feel like you can't be honest."

"I think I would tell you to stay away if I did not like you," Vada said flippantly. She fell silent for a beat. "But, you already said you did not mean the thing about practice babies, and I believe you."

Leia turned more fully towards her, and slouched forward to make it easier to look Vada in the eye. She smiled.

"Thank you for believing me," she said. "I really didn't mean to make you feel unwanted."

Vada dipped her head.

"I want you to come back. It was nice living in a place like…with you and Dad," she said. "I just wanted to ask, also, if you do not mind," she trailed off, biting her lip, "because I am confused…what is going on with you and him?"

Leia cocked her head a little, uncertain.

Vada took a deep breath.

"I am asking you…what do you mean with my father?" she said, puffing herself up a bit, and trying to look stern. "What are you…intentions with him?" she clarified bravely. "Like are you going to marry him, maybe?"

Leia arched her brows, pursing her lips. She was considerably taken aback by the question. Vada's inquiry was soft and cautious, but her expression was very studious and astute, and Leia had the curious feeling that she was getting a very mild version of the third degree. Vada blushed under the scrutiny and looked down at her hands, tapping her foot.

"I am only asking because…since you have stayed with Luke, at Luke's place," she said earnestly. "I think Daddy has been sad. So sad. He was up at night a lot not sleeping," she explained perceptively.

Leia blushed faintly, running her tongue nervously over her teeth. She shifted, rubbing her palms together.

"Well, I - " she started – and Vada interrupted.

"Please," she said gently. "Do not hurt his feelings."

Leia swallowed hard, her throat aching dryly. She pressed her hands together tightly, her heart constricting. The little request was so heartfelt, so kind, and Leia almost couldn't bear it – nor could she bear the thought of Han hurting so much that in spite of all the other things she had to worry about, Vada had noticed, and worried about him.

"Oh, Vada," Leia sighed earnestly. She shook her head. "I don't want to, honey," she said, the endearment slipping out naturally. "I really don't want to. I just wanted him to get to know you, and you to get to know him. I never planned on going away for good," she emphasized.

She gave Vada a soft, encouraging smile.

"I love him very much," she assured her. "I have only good intentions."

Vada kept watching her, and took a deep breath herself, her eyes starting to water. Her lips shook, and she shifted her feet again, reaching up to tug at the edges of her hair.

"It is just no matter what you or him said, I think you left because of me, and that was sad for him, so maybe then he thinks sad things when I am around," Vada said shakily. "Or because now everyone is talking all the time about Visenya and Han – "

"No," Leia broke in. "No, that has nothing to do with it – "

"But Leia, you do not understand," Vada interrupted tearfully. "If you do not like being reminded of my mom, I do not care, I will never mention her," she said. "I do not have to talk about her."

Leia's lips parted in shock, and she stared at Vada for a long time, the ache in her heart radiating through her whole body.

"Vada," she said after a moment, quiet, and firm. "I was not staying at Luke's because of anything you did," she said firmly. "And I would never, ever ask you not to talk about your mother. I promise you that."

Leia reached out hesitantly, and put her hand over one of Vada's.

"You are always welcome to tell me about Visenya," she said. "If anyone were to ever ask you not to talk about her because it made them uncomfortable, that would make them unreasonable."

"Dad says you are not mad about me but are you really, really not mad?" Vada asked, reaching up with her free hand to wipe her face. She let Leia's hand remain on her other. "Is it really okay that Dad wants to keep me?"

Leia lifted her hand and touched Vada's cheek.

"I'm not mad," she said sincerely. "I want to keep you too, Vada," she added. "I could never knowingly keep a child of Han's away from him." She paused, nudging Vada's cheek very gently, a soft, little affectionate pinch. "And as I said: I like you."

Vada tensely clapped both hands over her face, evidently overwhelmed, or trying to compose herself. She took a few steps forward, and Leia put an arm over her shoulder lightly, welcoming her. Vada stepped more fully into the hug. She put her hand on Leia's ribs and squeezed.

Leia hugged her, and briefly rested her chin on the Vada's head, and ran her hand over her hair.

"Han and I," she said softly, "are going to do everything we can to make sure you are okay," she said, "and we don't want you to worry about anything else."

Leia pulled back, catching Vada's eye. She tilted her head.

"I know that's an impossible thing to ask," she admitted.

Vada gave her a nod, but she looked more relieved. She wiped her face again, scrubbing her palms over her cheeks.

"You are coming home tonight, though," Vada said, her voice pitching a little frantically. "You are."

Leia compressed her lips to suppress a laugh at the authoritative tone. She patted Vada's shoulder.

"Yes, I'm coming home," she agreed. "I was there last night," she offered. "I just had to get up very early and come into work."

Vada shuffled her feet, looking pleased with that. She pursed her lips, and seemed about to say something else, but the subtle chime of Leia's intercom cut her off.

"Madam Chief of State," Ulixa announced through the speaker.

Leia sat back a little; straightening her shoulders, and tapped her chin. She cleared her throat, and Vada widened her eyes, starting to shrink back. Leia beckoned to her.

"No, stay with me," she coaxed. "Don't worry, Mon's not scary," she added wryly.

Ulixa showed Mon Mothma in half a second later, and the Chief of State strode to a regal stop in front of Leia's desk, her eyes falling first on Leia, and then starting a little when she saw Vada standing next to her.

"Leia – oh, hello," she started, breaking off, and peering at Vada intently. She paused carefully, almost fascinated. She had seen images of Vada on the 'Net, but she had yet to meet her, and the sight of Leia with a child was - jarring. "You must be Vada Solo," Mon finally said, her voice very kind.

Vada blinked.

"It is Vada Vardalos," she blurted.

She immediately gave Leia a stricken look, and Leia laughed.

"It's okay," she said. "You aren't out of line – Vada has her mother's surname," she reminded Mon, turning towards her. She let her hand linger on Vada's shoulder so she'd feel comfortable. "But yes, this is Vada."

Vada lifted her hand.

"I am pleased to meet you, Madam Chief of State," she said faintly.

Mon Mothma immediately looked amused.

"Why thank you," she said, putting her hand to her heart. "I am pleased to meet you, too," she returned. She hesitated, and then said: "You do look very much like your father."

Vada beamed. She leaned forward on Leia's desk, instantly at ease. She always liked when people told her she looked like Han, even though they had markedly different skin. It was all her eyes, apparently. She liked that so much.

Mon cleared her throat and returned to Leia, folding her hands in front of her at her waist.

"I won't take much of your time," she said breezily. "I was right above your office, so I thought rather than sending you a message," she waved her hand. "I can make time to red team Han," she said, without further adieu. "When did you say his court hearing was?"

Leia gave the date – it was nearing on them quickly, about two and a half weeks from now. So many dark, uncertain shadows seemed to be looming, unable to disperse or settle until they heard from the courts where Vada would be staying – because then the real adjusting could begin, the permanent adjusting.

"Ah, that's what I thought," Mon said. "I wanted to make sure I had the date right. I can do it the night before, or two days before," she said. "Whichever you think would be most useful."

"Two days before," Leia said immediately. "Let's not rattle him right before the hearing."

Mon nodded, and gave a wry smirk.

"Fair enough, though I can't recall ever seeing Han Solo 'rattled'."

"Well, you don't live with him," Leia quipped, leaning back in her chair casually. "He rattles," she joked.

"Very well," Mon said. "A good old-fashioned red team will be a relief from my daily grind," she said frankly.

Leia sat forward.

"I appreciate it, Mon," she said. "I really do."

"Of course, Leia," Mon answered pleasantly. "It's also the least I could do for Han," she admitted. "He did so much for us. I've often been dismissive of that."

Leia nodded shortly, but said nothing. Mon unlaced her fingers and took a step back, glancing at Leia's console.

"I hope you're being gentle with my speech," she said wryly.

"Oh, now, Mon," Leia said crisply. "Would you have me do the edit if you wanted gentle?"

"No, I would not," Mon agreed with a laugh. She bowed her head in good faith, and put her hand to her heart again. "I'll see you tomorrow, Leia," she said, pausing to turn to Vada as well. "Vada," she said politely.

She departed with as much gentility and swiftness as she had arrived, and Vada swiveled her head to Leia with awe, her dark eyes wide.

"You are just friends with all the people on all the holos," she said, still shaken by it sometimes. "It is crazy."

"And exhausting," Leia quipped.

Vada bounced on her heels eagerly, biting her lip.

"What is a red team?" she asked. "What is the Chief of State going to do for my Dad?"

"Well," Leia said, turning to her again. "Remember earlier, when I told you what an adversarial edit was?"

Vada nodded earnestly.

"A red team is sort of a verbal challenge game," Leia explained. "We used to do them before military missions, and some lawyers do them in court – though they call them trial prep."

She leaned forward.

"I asked Mon to do one for Han before he gets questioned by the judge and lawyers in family court," she said. "She's going to ask him lots of things that might make him mad, or make him look bad, so he isn't surprised by anything and won't lose his cool."

"Oh," Vada said, her eyes wide. "That is good." She twisted her foot into the carpet. "Well, I will have to make Mon Mothma a drawing then, to thank her."

Leia smiled.

"You know, I don't think Mon has had anyone do something that sweet and simple for her in a long time," she encouraged.

Vada looked encouraged by that. She was eager to be liked by all of the people in both Han and Leia's lives, and she was feeling a significant amount of relief after mustering the courage to say what she wanted to say to Leia – and hearing and believing the nice things Leia said in return.

Leia inclined her head at Vada, and then began to turn back to her work. She looked at the documents on her screen for a moment, and then shook herself, and saved everything, starting to power down.

"You know what?" she asked. "All of this can wait. I'm not in the mood to work," she said.

She picked up her comm.

"I'll tell Han he doesn't need to pick up the craft wax," she said brightly. "You and I can go get it."

Vada watched her, straightening up and patting her hair.

"You and me?" she repeated.

"Why not?" Leia asked. "I took you shopping the first few days you were here," she remembered. She offered Vada a wink. "This time it won't be so awkward, I bet," she confided, "and I think we'll have a lot of spending time alone together in the future, so why not start now?"

Vada hugged herself. She bounced on the balls of her feet again, nodding earnestly, and Leia grinned, turning to make sure her electronics were powering down correctly. She got up and neatly arranged things on her desk, preparing to leave for the day. Vada turned and scampered to the table, hurriedly gathering up her things, too, and Leia stopped to watch her, bracing her palms on her desk. She bit her lip, tilting her head, relief washing over her at the thought of going home, and thinking, too, that she was already thinking of Vada as an integral part of that home.

---

On his way back to the apartment after the conclusion of parent-teacher conferences, Han ran into Luke. The kid was standing in the elevator atrium of the building, a box tucked under his arm, rocking idly on his heels as he waited for the ride up. He looked up when he heard footsteps, and lifted his hand, giving a small, jovial wave and stepping back from the elevator doors as it began to descend, making room in case someone would be getting off. Han jerked his chin in acknowledgement, sliding his hands into his pockets as he came to stand next to him.

"You got plans with Leia?" Han asked gruffly. He paused, then looked wary. "Or me?" he asked slowly, his eyes narrowing suspiciously as if he knew he had forgotten something.

Luke snorted. He shook his head, and pointed at the box.

"She and Vada came by earlier to get most of her stuff, but I found some scattered things. Just returning them," he explained, shrugging genially. He figured it was better to just bring Leia her things than to try and coordinate a time for her to come get them, or to drop them at her office and have her lug them back home. His schedule was hardly the difficult one, after all.

Han leaned over and took a peek into the box - toiletries, a stray sock, a tube of lipstick, a datapad.

"She didn't notice her datapad was gone?" Han asked.

"That is one of perhaps four she owns and actively uses," Luke said dryly. "Surely you knew that. She compartmentalizes all her work."

"If she keeps them tucked away in her office, I wouldn't know," Han said, smirking. "I'm not allowed in there."

"What?" Luke asked, amused. The elevator doors glided open, and they both stepped inside. Han pressed his thumb against the access pad, and it flickered with green light, accepting the reading, and allowing him to select the penthouse floor where the apartment was - Leia leased one of four luxury apartments that had once been part of a sprawling, two-story penthouse. "Why?" he prodded. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything," Han snorted. "I'm," he started, raising his hands to quote his next words, "too distracting," he explained smugly.

Luke narrowed his eyes at the smug look on his face, glowered, and faced the closed elevator doors, watching the numbers tick up as they rose. He decided not to comment, in case that gave Han some sort of avenue to continue joking around in that vein. Instead, he shifted his weight, and cocked his head to the side.

"How'd your conference with Vada's teachers go?" he asked. "Did it take all afternoon?"

It was close to the dinner hour, now, and Luke knew Leia and Vada, in addition to being over at his apartment, had been out and about shopping as well. He would have thought Han would be home before them, considering, even if Leia had left work early.

"Nah," Han said. "Took about an hour. Went good," he said, nodding proudly. "Vada's real smart. She's keepin' up good, even though the schoolin' she got in the home was bantha shit," he said, with a derisive snort. "They want to test her reading level with some fancy gauge they got. But I told 'em to just hold off on that. I don't want her feelin' like she's not smart or havin' any other pressure right now. And if she's not makin' bad grades, what's it matter, right?"

Luke nodded.

"Seems right to me," he agreed.

The elevator doors opened into the lobby of the top floor, and Han followed Luke out.

"Met with my lawyer, too," Han added after a moment, his voice gruffer. Luke turned back to look at him, pausing, and Han shrugged. "Just 'cause the hearing is coming up. Had a bunch of updated safety stuff on the Falcon, and Leia signed a release so Payj can look at her psych eval," he explained.

The both of them stood outside the apartment door, looking at each other. Luke nodded, his expression confident.

"You're going to get to keep Vada, Han," he said. "I don't think anyone can look at all you've done to try and make her feel welcome and safe and then turn around and grant these Vardalos people custody. I mean," Luke paused, shaking his head. He frowned. "Speaking as someone who, as a baby, was given to extended family," he trailed off for a moment, and shrugged. "Well, Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru barely knew Anakin Skywalker, and they were also pretty poor, but they took me in and did the best they could - and Aunt Beru especially was very warm and loving. Uncle Owen was protecting me, too, even if I thought he was just being a hard ass, at the time," Luke explained. He frowned at himself. "What I'm trying to say is, being handed a baby you didn't plan for isn't always a dream scenario, but what matters is that you try. And these grandparents of hers didn't even try. Look at how hard you have worked even though it's messed up your life and been hard on your relationship."

Han looked at him intently, listening. He was so used to Leia's references to her own adoption, that he sometimes forgot Luke's experience was not so rosy. It wasn't necessarily gloomy, but Luke certainly hadn't been taken in by aristocrats who desperately wanted him. Luke was too little to remember it, but Han wondered if his aunt and uncles' reactions had been anything like his own - were they disgruntled, uncomfortable, at a loss? Had Beru been alienated that she had to mother an infant whose father, her husband's step-brother, had just participated in the slaughter of the Jedi Order?

"Leia, too," Han said. "Leia's been workin' hard. S'been hard on her."

"Leia, too," Luke agreed. "In fact, I think that speaks volumes for your side of the argument. It's a testament to the kind of people you choose to associate with. Vada's blood relatives abjured her, but Leia, who for lack of a better word has no connection to Vada other than being your girlfriend, took her in and has basically been mothering her."

Han tilted his head, a muscle in his jaw flexing. He still felt a creeping sense of guilt when people used the words 'Leia' and 'mother' together in a sentence, though it wasn't as sharp and debilitating as it used to be. Though he'd grown accustomed to their situation, and was taking to heart Leia's adamant insistence that she was choosing to be involved in this in perpetuity, it was still difficult to reconcile.

Shaking his head again, Luke adjusted the box under his arm.

"I just don't see how a judge could look at the situation and decide the Vardalos are better caretakers. They aren't even closer in blood affinity than you are," he said. "Not to mention blood obviously isn't always the best choice. What if some intergalactic Jedi social services had just dropped Leia and I off at the Death Star?"

Luke snorted, and Han gave him an amused look. He grinned, and turned towards the door, rolling his eyes a little at the kid's jest. He reached out to tap his access code into the pad, his hand moving slowly. He frowned to himself, and glanced at Luke over his shoulder.

"I don't like the word girlfriend," he muttered, his brow darkening.

Luke arched his brows.

"Uh," he uttered. "I said 'for lack of a better word,'" he pointed out. "Why? The press called you her boyfriend," he added.

"It sounds casual," Han grunted.

"What else would I call her?" Luke asked, perplexed.

Han shrugged, pressing his palm onto the reader for final access. His thoughts crashed together, but he tightened his mouth tensely. He didn't really have a better idea, other than the pressing desire to call her his wife and be done with it. But he wasn't going to voice that to Luke, not when he had yet to find the courage to suggest such a thing to Leia - and he'd been anxious about giving her the ring in his possession before Vada, but now -

He opened the door, leaving Luke's question hanging in the air between them. He followed Han into the apartment, and paused just inside the threshold, cocking his head as the door slid shut behind them. Han stopped, too, and turned to glance at him, checking to see they were both hearing it. The apartment was filled with music. It wasn't playing loudly, but it permeated the atmosphere – Han recognized it immediately, at least insofar as he recognized that the lyrics were Corellian.

Luke broke into a lopsided smile, and folded his arms, starting forward. Han did the same, his brow furrowed, curious as to what they would find. He heard Vada's voice, excitable and rather loud, speaking over the music, as they approached the hall and turned, entering the open sitting area.

"…well, and then, the Priestess Jaina, she says something like – I cannot…translate it right like, um, because it is a sort of thing, like a saying in Corellian, so I do not know how to make it make sense? But anyway, she says that, and then she casts a spell, so Jacen can – DADDY!"

Breaking off in the middle of her animated diatribe, Vada leapt off the couch – where she'd been sitting next to Leia – and vaulted over the corner of the table, dashing towards Han. The sudden cry startled him, and he gave her an alarmed look, unprepared to be greeted as if she hadn't seen him in eons. Thinking quickly, he did the first thing that came to mind, and stuck his arms out.

Vada ran into them and flung her arms around his waist, grinning. She hugged him, and he barely had time to pat her back in greeting before she bounced back, her face flushed. She rocked on the balls of her feet tucking her hands behind her back and biting her lip. She looked a little surprised at herself, and perhaps a little embarrassed. Han responded by grinning at her.

She breathed out in relief, and then craned her neck, looking around him.

"Hi, Luke," she greeted.

"Hello," he said, lifting one hand in a small wave.

She beamed, and swiveled her head back, looking up at Han.

"Havin' a good time?" Han asked, raising his brows.

He slowly lifted his gaze, and cautioned a look at Leia. She was curled up in the corner of the couch, dressed in casual clothing, watching the scene with soft amusement. He noticed she had a braided flower bracelet around her wrist, and a long flower chain draped around her neck.

"What were you talkin' about?" Han continued.

"Oh, I was telling Leia the fairytale of the Honor Battle," Vada told him. She hopped back a few feet, and perched on the edge of the sofa next to Leia. "She was helping me dip my project into wax, and modeling the jewelry, for my project," she went on, pointing at Leia's flowers. "And I put on my favorite music, it is a rock band Mommy listened to, called Coronet Pretty, and then she said once I said I would tell her the Honor Battle, so I was."

Her explanation was rapid, breathless, and her face shone.

"And we picked up all her stuff from Luke's, so she is staying here again, like you said she would. She promised."

There was an edge of pride to her voice as she told him that, and Han nodded. Luke held up his box.

"I brought over a few things she left," he told Vada kindly.

"Thank you!" Vada said.

Leia sat forward some, lifting her chin to look with mild interest.

"Luke, can you - ?"

"Sure," he said, guessing her request instantly, and turning down the volume of the music with just a flex of his mind.

Vada looked delighted, and Luke shuffled in, setting the box on the table. Vada scooted forward a bit, picked up a flower circlet that was sitting on the table, and held it up.

"This one is dry now," she said. "It is for you to wear, Dad," she informed him.

Han blinked. Luke looked up sharply, eyeing the scene. He started to grin.

"Oh," Han said, while Vada held it out neatly, staring at him. He folded his arms loosely, looking at it, and then glanced at Leia. She glared at him poignantly over Vada's head, her expression stern.

He wasn't considering refusing, exactly.

"It's a tiara," Vada told him. "Put it on."

Han felt Luke staring gleefully at his back. He reached out and took it gingerly, examining the collection of flowers. He arched his brows, impressed.

"This is good, Vada," he complimented. "You made this?"

"Yes," she said. "I practiced my braiding and stuff on the bracelet and chain first," she said, pointing at Leia's flowers. Leia raised her arm obediently to show him. "That was all practice. The tiara is my project."

"What was the project?" Han asked.

"It was to make art out of nature," Vada answered. "The glitter, it is like snow on the petals – Dad, you are, the word is," she turned and looked at Leia.

"Stalling," Leia supplied primly. "He's stalling."

Han snorted under his breath. Bested, he raised his hands and placed the tiara on his head. He folded his arms, looking at Vada and waiting to be assessed. Behind him, he heard Luke give a muffled choke of laughter, but before he could even turn and glare, Vada had put her hands on her hips, scowling.

"Do not make fun of my Dad," she ordered, narrowing her eyes at Luke. "My project is nice."

Luke hastily composed himself, looking sincerely contrite.

"Oh, no, I wasn't making fun of your project, or," he trailed off, face burning. "You look very nice, Han," he said formally.

Vada nodded, and sat back, eyeing Luke loftily. Han turned and gave the kid a stern glare, nodding.

"You're damn right I do," he said.

Leia clicked her tongue softly at the swear word, and he shrugged, grinning. He turned back, reaching up to pat the flower crown gingerly. Vada lounged back on the couch, looking smug, and turned her head to Leia.

"You were right, he did wear it," she said, "and it is funny."

Leia laughed. She nodded.

"He likes seeing you happy," she said, flicking her eyes up at Han. She cleared her throat and nodded at the crown. "You don't want it to get rumpled, though," she pointed out. "Why don't you go place it on your desk so it's safe until it's due?" she suggested.

Vada nodded, and sat up. She slid off the couch and stood, holding her hands out. Han knelt dramatically, and let her take the tiara off his head. Giggling, she dodged past him to take it to her room, and he turned around slowly, taking her place on the sofa and sitting next to Leia.

Standing back, Luke grinned again. The music continued to place softly, until Leia asked:

"Are you familiar with 'Coronet Pretty?'" she asked.

Han rubbed his chin, smirking.

"Ahh, yeah," he said. "It's an all-female rock band," he said. "Their music is kind of – "

"Risqué," Leia noted, amused. "I am not well-versed in Corellian slang, but even I picked up on some of it," she said, looking over at Luke. "I don't think she catches all of it, though," she added mildly.

Han continued to grin.

"Guess I should, uh…ban it?"

Leia waved her hand.

"I don't know," she said airily. "If her mother let her listen to it and it reminds Vada of her, don't take it away. She's young enough for a lot of it to go over her head, after all."

Leia smirked.

"You get to answer the questions when they come, though," she said.

Han's grin faded. He tilted his head, as if realizing what other kind of questions he was going to get, as Vada grew older. He winced, and Luke gave a loud, dramatic snort, shaking his head.

"Don't worry, Han," he said. "If you have to give her the sex talk, it can't be worse than mine," he offered. "Uncle Owen took me out to the cliffs and made me watch a bunch of banthas mating. Then he just told me to apply the same concept to humans. For years I thought that, uh, bantha…style was the only – "

Leia was giving him a horrified look, and he broke off, shrugging hastily.

"Yeah, that's a weird story, sorry," he offered.

She shook her head, still looking somewhat appalled. Luke arched his brows.

"I take it the royal Organa version was more elegant?" he asked.

Leia shot him a glare.

"My mother gave me a book," she said crisply.

"A book?" Han asked incredulously. "She taught you by letting you read a smut novel?"

Leia rolled her eyes.

"It was an educational book on development that explained the specifics."

Han actually looked delighted with that.

"So, I can get one of those?" he asked hopefully. "I don't have to – "

"And then she sat down with me and addressed my questions," Leia interrupted pointedly. "Of which I had very few, as I was thoroughly revolted at the idea."

Han laughed. He nudged her slyly.

"Glad you changed your mind, Sweetheart," he quipped.

"Shut up," snarled Luke, still sensitive over his recent, muffled exposure to their sex life.

Leia wrinkled her nose.

"I was blessed to be one of the few children who could believe, for quite a long time, that my parents had never done such a thing. A benefit of adoption," she snorted.

Han leaned back, putting his hands behind his head. He blinked at the ceiling, trying not to think too much about any sort of…conversations like that. The one he had to be worrying about, actually, was talking to Vada about Vader. He needed Luke's advice on that, because there seemed to be no real…segue into it. Besides, sometimes he wasn't entirely sure he understood how Anakin Skywalker had become Vader had become Anakin again – or whatever Luke was always going on about.

He turned his head, looking over the couch and craning his head to try and see into the hallway.

"Where'd she go?" he asked mildly.

Leia shrugged.

"Had dinner yet?" Han asked.

"No," Leia answered, "but she's probably not starving or anything, we had some frozen ice pops."

"You had a frozen ice pop?" Han asked.

Leia nodded.

"I thought you didn't eat those in public in case someone caught you on a holo and it looked like you were – "

Leia elbowed him, and Han grinned wickedly.

"But, Your Worship," he whined charmingly. "I want to see you eat an ice pop."

"You watch your mouth, or I'll kick you in the ice pop."

"Mmhm, okay," Luke said. He rubbed his hands over his elbows, and then unfolded his arms. "I think I'll go," he said under his breath.

"When did you turn into such a prude, kid?" Han demanded, rolling his eyes.

"Hey," Luke snapped, indignant, narrowing his eyes. "I have always been a prude."

Leia burst out laughing. She sat forward, holding out her hands.

"Stay for dinner," she offered. "We'll order take-out or something," she suggested, glancing at Han. He shrugged, and nodded. He didn't know what kind of groceries they had, so he wasn't sure of what he could cook anyway. Takeout sounded great.

Luke relaxed a little.

"Nah," he said, tilting his head. "I know you were here last night but it kind of feels like this is your first real night back, so," he shrugged. "I think it should just be the three of you."

Leia tilted her head, smiling warmly. She stood, beckoning to him.

"I'll walk you out," she said.

Luke followed her to the door, and Han watched them idly for a moment. He sat forward, turned, and peered down the hall again.

"Vada?" he called cautiously, while Leia said her goodbyes to Luke.

After a moment, she responded:

"I am okay, I am just doing something. Hold on!"

Han arched a brow, shrugged to himself, and then turned back around in time to see Leia coming back into the living room. She smiled at him, drifted around the kaf table, and resumed her seat on the sofa – though this time, much closer to him. She leaned into the pocket of his shoulder and held up her wrist dramatically, twisting it to show off her bracelet.

"Like my jewelry?"

Han nodded, giving her a lopsided smile. He tweaked the edge of the flower chain, and put his arm around her shoulders, lifting his chin to kiss her temple.

"What's goin' on?" he asked quietly, his voice a gruff murmur. "Music, story tellin'? Flower crowns?"

Leia shrugged.

"Nothing is going on," she said simply. She pursed her lips. "She and I are just…getting along," she murmured. "Bonding," she said honestly. She shrugged again, more lightly. "I think she needed to feel like things were really okay between us. I think I did, too."

Han kissed her temple again, pulling her close.

"That's great," he mumbled gruffly. He closed his eyes.

"Mmhm," Leia murmured. "The three of us," she said, quoting Luke. Her lashes fluttered, and the thought of it wasn't so shell shocking anymore. More than anything, she just felt a deep sense of relief to be back in her home, with Han's arm around her.

She tilted her head back to look more closely at him.

"How was your conference?" she asked, brows knitting with concern. "Is she alright at school?"

Han started to nod, but not before Vada's voice interrupted them, closer this time.

"I am going to come out there now," she called, sounding thrilled, as if she were keeping some grand secret. "Leia, can you make Dad close his eyes?"

"Oh," Leia said, brightening. She smirked. "Yes," she answered more loudly, and then, quick as a whip, gently slapped her palm over Han's eyes.

Startled, he set his jaw, twisting his head. She hissed at him, clicking her tongue.

"What – "

"You'll see," Leia said smugly. "Vada picked out some new clothes."

Han made a grumbling noise, and Leia turned her head, calling over her shoulder:

"I have him blindfolded."

Vada peeked around the corner into the room, and then dashed around the sofa, snuck in front of Leia, and wedged herself between the kaf table and the two of them, plucking at the edges of the outfit she'd donned. She grinned at Leia, and then nodded her head, and Leia slowly removed her hand from Han's face.

He blinked, and Vada grinned at him proudly, setting her shoulders back to stand tall.

"Leia wanted me to have some more clothes that I chose," Vada explained, as Han stared at her, "because she said maybe the first time we went, I was too scared to say what I liked. I like dresses a lot," she said, "but I also like other clothes!"

She stuck out her leg and showed him a sturdy brown boot with tight fasteners. Han looked from the boot, to her blue trousers, to her white tunic, and the brown vest she had thrown over her shoulders, and when his gaze returned to her face, her eyes drove home again and again how much she really, really looked…like him.

Vada bounced on her heels proudly. She pointed to her trousers.

"I do not have bloodstripes," she said earnestly, "because I have not done anything, you know, to get them, but still, I got a vest! And I do not have a holster, or a blaster, because Leia says I am too little, and even fake ones are probably dangerous," she recited.

Leia nodded.

"I just don't want anyone to think she has a real weapon and shoot her," she muttered dryly, an aside meant just for Han.

Vada stood before him, waiting for his reaction, and Han just stared at her for a little bit. She looked so damn cute all dressed up in clothes that mimicked his, and she looked so proud of herself and so eager to be accepted. He was touched, and his throat tightened up. He tried to clear it, trying to come up with the perfect thing to say. Finally, gruffly, he reached out and tapped the side of her knee.

"You can get some sewn on," he said.

Vada's brow furrowed.

"What?"

"Bloodstripes," Han said gruffly. "You're entitled to wear mine until you're of age," he explained, tilting his head.

Vada's lips pursed, and she stared at him, wide-eyed.

"I am?" she asked.

She knew so much about bloodstripes, but she didn't know –

"Yeah," Han said. "It's only stolen valor if you're of age and you wear 'em when you didn't earn them," he explained. "You're my kid, so you're my blood," he said pointedly, "so you're allowed to, uh 'bear them,'" he quoted, straining to remember the specifics of his ceremony. "Somethin' about havin' that honor makin' kids remember to act right," he snorted.

Vada looked fascinated, and honored beyond belief.

"But if I have not earned them I would feel – "

"Haven't earned them?" Han interrupted, incredulous. "Ahh, c'mon, Viddy, after everything you been through, and put up with, and you still got a nice attitude? You earned your own, s'far as I care, so you can at least wear mine."

Vada hugged her arms around herself, twisting. She pursed her lips, and then, to his surprise, whirled to face Leia, her lip trembling.

"But would that bother you?" she asked.

Leia looked taken aback.

"If you wear Han's bloodstripes?" she asked. She pursed her lips. "Of course not," she stressed earnestly.

"It would not make it seem like…he likes me more?" she asked warily.

Leia smiled.

"No, it's never going to be like that, Vada," she said firmly. She pressed her lips together, and sat forward. "We aren't competing, okay?" she said. "You and I. We aren't."

Maybe it was necessary to have that, very, very explicitly, and right out in the open.

Vada looked at her thoughtfully, and nodded.

"Okay," she agreed. She folded her arms tightly. "Good, because I know people are stronger together," she said seriously, looking between them both. "So we all have to be together, even if some of it is still kind of weird and pretend, because, because," she shuffled her feet nervously. "Because I know the hearing is soon, and I really, really do not want to go."

Han nodded. He sat forward, and held out one arm. Vada stepped forward, and he hugged her.

"Doin' everything in my power, Vada," he assured her. "Promise. Doin' everything I can to keep you here."

Vada looked over his shoulder at Leia, and Leia nodded, her heart leaping in her chest. If she could quantify to Vada how much Han had gone out of his comfort zone, in so many different ways, over the past weeks and short months to make good on his promise to fight for her. He was doing everything in his power, and Leia was helping him, and it was starting to feel like it just might all come together the way it was supposed to.

---

Leia supposed it was only fitting that something distasteful and jarring would happen right on the heels of such a promising reconciliation. The galaxy naturally wouldn't allow her to simply bask in the peace of relief for a little while; no, fate and circumstance had had it out for her since she was nineteen years old.

The leisure days at the end of the workweek, at the end of this workweek were poised to be carefree and exciting, a time for Han and Leia to more fully establish the foundations that would secure their relationship from here on out, with Vada factored in. The unexpected and untoward appearance of Vaella Vardalos at Leia's apartment had recast a shadow over the next couple of weeks.

It was evening, after dinner; the mess of plates and used dishes had been rinsed and left to soak, as Han had insisted they'd ought to just use the valet tonight, and wouldn't let Leia get near them. She didn't take much convincing. After so much time away, spending days just working, then idly going 'home' to Luke's and politely…working some more, or trying to sleep, she was itching to reclaim her place in her apartment and start carving out normalcy in the new way things were.

Even with all the uncertainties, it felt better to know that they were generally on the same page with all of this. Vada's relief at having Leia back was apparent; it was clear neither of them had ever been able to dispel her belief that she'd broken them up or ruined everything. Now that it all seemed cleared up, Vada was flitting around happily, expressing even more personality than Leia had ever seen her let out so far.

In fact, Vada's mood was so upbeat and effervescent that it was infectious, and for that reason alone Leia could have throttled Vaella for dampening it and scaring her. Vada had been through too much to have an ounce of the positivity she was finding taken away, and any modicum of charity Leia might have been persuaded to feel towards the Vardalos clan was obliterated with one ill-timed, offensive, and presumptuous visit.

Vada was in the middle of trying to find a specific holo program – well, in the middle of that, and also helping Han make dessert, because she had decided they needed to properly welcome Leia back, and that meant cake, and she had very specific, elaborate instructions for the cake she wanted Han to create – when the chimes rang.

Leia, sitting on the couch, threw a fleeting look towards the hallway; frowning, well aware they were not expecting any visitors.

"But most of these are sequels or knock-offs, I want you to see the original – it is kind of dumb, but it is funny," Vada was explaining.

She glanced up at the sound, too.

"Oh, who is here, do you think?" she asked, pausing. "Maybe Chewie!" she chirped pleasantly.

"He has an access code," Leia murmured.

"Hmm," Vada said, turning back to the holo.

"Vada," Han griped from the kitchen, pretending he was being tortured. "This needs blue and pink food colouring?"

"Yes," she called, "because it has to look like fireworks, Dad."

Leia compressed her lips, smirking.

"I think we should go help him," she suggested.

"Ugh," Vada groaned, dropping the controller in disgust. "Well, I guess so, because I cannot find the program – why is there so much dumb other stuff?" she asked.

"Oh, the 'Net is overwhelmingly human-centric, and humans love dumb stuff," Leia said pleasantly, standing up.

The chime went off again, and Leia started, blushing – not expecting anyone, it hadn't occurred her to go check on the door.

"Who's at the door?" Han grunted from the kitchen.

"I can go answer it," Vada said, starting forward.

"No," Han retorted immediately, hearing her. He poked his head out of the kitchen, and Vada froze. "You're too young to just go answer the door."

Vada gave him a funny look, cocking her head.

"But there are adults here," she said.

"So? What if whoever is there grabs you and yanks you away b'fore we can catch 'em?"

Vada turned slowly to look at Leia, arching a brow. Leia lifted her shoulders, giving Vada a solemn look.

"If he says no, don't look at me," she warned lightly.

Any other child might have argued; Vada burst into a grin, stomping one foot as if she were delighted.

"I am being parented," she accused brightly. She darted towards Han, ducking past him into the kitchen. "I hate it," she joked adorably, her voice muffled. Then, a second later, she gasped in horror. "Dad, this is not pink, have you ever seen the colour pink in your whole – "

CHIME.

Scandalized at her own indifference, Leia got up swiftly.

"I will see to it," she said, waving her hand as Han started to step out of the kitchen.

"Who is it?" Han asked, frowning. He straightened a little. "Wait – home visit?" he asked. "I didn't get a warning order this week, though."

"I don't see why it would be, there was one at the beginning of the week," she said.

Han hesitated, watching her go unhurriedly down the hall, and then turned back into the kitchen to pay attention to Vada and her ambitious dessert.

"What do you mean it's not pink?" Leia heard him argue. "You said bright pink!"

"I said light pink!"

"What's the difference?"

Leia shook her head, amused, when she heard Vada give an indignant squeal. She reached the door slowly, and then keyed in a code on the internal access pad, asking for video feed. The blue shimmer popped up, and her smile and easy demeanor faded immediately, melting, and then coalescing into a hard, unforgiving tightness.

She had never met Vaella Vardalos, but she recognized her image. The blue projection did not convey much, but it did outline a sharply displeased mien on the other woman's face. No doubt she was not used to being kept waiting – though she'd have little luck flaunting that haughty attitude in the home of a princess of Alderaan.

She watched the image lean forward, a bony finger poised to ring the chime again, and she disabled the sound so Han and Vada wouldn't be alerted again. In silence, Leia watched the projection tap a button, and tilted her head to the side. With the alarm silenced, Vaella could ring all night and never get a response. Leia was tempted to leave her standing on the outside. For all Vaella knew, no one was home.

She thought of her own words a few weeks ago – I am tired of people showing up unannounced at my door. She was then; she was now. This sort of behavior was unconscionable, and up until this point, Vaella had been hiding behind lawyers and document challenges, a specter, a shadow, easy to hate because of her monstrous invisible presence.

Leia supposed she would be just as easy to hate in the flesh, and though she was compelled to leave her there at the door to rot - she was equally compelled to open the door. She had a lurid, angry desire to hear what nonsense this woman had to spew – and perhaps a tiny, very tiny compassionate part of her wondered if this would be some sort of apologetic plea.

Taking a deep breath, Leia slid her palm over the unlocking mechanism. She lifted her chin as the door slithered open with its usual quite swishing sound, and when Vaella looked up from the external chime, she had to cast her eyes down to meet Leia's.

That, to her, likely seemed to put her at the advantage, but Leia had spent a lifetime with a height disadvantage, looking up to others. She had learned long ago that power wasn't in height alone and besides, it was easy to take tall people down at the kneecaps. She, who had stared up into the black glass depths of Darth Vader's helmet, was hardly terrified by an old aristocratic bitch.

Choosing to begin with obsequious, cool politesse, Leia pursed her lips, and folded her arms neatly.

"Good evening," she said. "May I help you?"

She managed to convey both crisp propriety, and the impression that she was both clueless to who was standing at her door, and at the same time very much aware. Vaella, to her credit, seemed momentarily caught off guard by the superficial kindness – perhaps she had expected Han to answer and begin swearing at her. That may have worked well if she was attempting to find a way to portray him evilly. She blinked at Leia in silence.

"I suppose we will see," Vaella answered finally. Her voice was brittle and refined, and possessed the barest hint of a Corellian accent. Evidently her Basic was so well learned, she'd achieved native fluency. "I won't rely on ceremony to the extent that I pretend I haven't recognized you immediately," she went on. "Princess Leia."

Leia inclined her head, but said nothing.

"Then I am in the right place," Vaella remarked.

Again, Leia said nothing, feeling no need to confirm the obvious, and still uncertain as to what was meant by Vaella coming here in person. She continued to refrain from inviting the woman in for many reasons – though primarily, she was worried Han would react explosively, and it would scare Vada. She ran through scenarios quickly in her head, trying to devise a way to handle this without too many tantrums – and keep herself from throwing her own.

"Objectively," Leia said finally. "Subjectively, however," she raised her shoulder coolly. "I think it unlikely that Han will agree to speak to you without a lawyer present," she offered finally. "Whatever you may think of him, he is not stupid."

Vaella gave a thin smile at that.

"I took it upon myself to come here so that in the end, we may all dispense with the solicitors altogether."

She compressed her lips, and inclined her head.

"I humbly come to you on your 'turf,' as they say in the vernacular," she offered.

Leia narrowed her eyes.

"I might take that gesture to heart if an invite had been extended to you in the first place," she said calmly. "As it were, it is presumptuous of you to insert yourself. What is it you want, Madam Vardalos?"

"To speak," she said curtly. "With Solo," she said, leaving off his title and his given name and forming his surname with a curl of her lip, as if it disgusted her to reference him with any civility. "In an effort to avoid the circus of the court hearing."

"You instigated that court hearing," Leia pointed out.

"Yes, well," Vaella said, her lips pursed thinly. She said nothing else, and Leia gave her a cold look – if she interpreted Vaella's unspoken words correctly, the woman was trying to imply she'd assumed Han would balk at the idea of challenge, and hand Vada over without a fight.

Leia felt a swell of pride in Han, knowing she had judged him well, and Vaella was so sorely mistaken over his character.

Leia took a step back.

"I would rather you not have the distinction of telling your legal team you were refused civil conversation when you politely requested it," she said diplomatically, conveying both political acumen, and contempt, in her words, all the while sounding flowery.

She gave one of her dazzling, shallow smiles, those she used at galas and in meetings, for anyone who she deeply resented conversing with, yet with whom she had to play nicely. Few people could see through her 'courtly' smile, as Aunt Celly had called it – Han was one of the few.

Vaella was appropriately suspicious of it.

"You won't speak with Han alone," Leia said firmly. "You've seen fit to have me subpoenaed and investigated as a part of your bid for custody of Vada, therefore, I will be included in anything you have to say," Leia inclined her head, lowering her lashes demurely.

Vaella just smiled thinly, and took a step forward. Leia moved back to allow her in, shut the door, and then led Vaella into the sitting room. She flexed her nascent abilities in the direction of the holo controller, and the system winked off. It didn't occur to her to think of how that little trick might look to Madam Vardalos – but she did notice, as an afterthought, that Vaella seemed to have paled as she realized what had happened.

Unintentional bonus, thought Leia.

"Wait here," she said shortly.

She left Vaella, deliberately choosing not to offer her a seat, and then turned on her heel and went into the kitchen. Vada was sitting in the counter next to Han, drinking fizzy soda through a straw and still trying to get Han to correctly tint a small bowl of frosting.

"You said add more," Han was saying.

"I said add more white, not more pink. You're making it brighter and brighter pink. I thought you could cook! You usually cook so good!"

Han glared at her.

"He can cook," Leia offered lightly, pausing on the threshold of the kitchen. "This is baking. Quite different, or so my mother used to tell me," she said. "Cooking is an art; baking is a science."

"Well," Vada said, looking directly at Han. "You suck at science."

Han looked outraged. Leia smiled, her heart constricting over the news she had to deliver, and sighed. Shaking his head, Han turned his head to her, throwing the bowl aside. It wobbled in circles, settling down loudly.

"Who was here?" he asked.

Leia pursed her lips.

"Vaella Vardalos," she said flatly. "She's in the living room."

Han blinked at her, taken aback. He stared in silence. The only sound for a moment was the odd stuttering of Vada's straw as she drank the last dregs of her soda, and then her ankle banged against the cabinet under her, and she released her straw with a soft pop of her lips.

She immediately began to look worried, her gaze swiveling between Han and Leia. She swallowed hard.

"Why?" she asked, her voice pitching. "Is she going to take me away?"

She reached out and clutched Han's elbow tightly.

"Dad," she said softly. "It has not been to the judge yet," she whispered. "You said I was staying here for sure until then, please – "

"You are," Han interrupted. He turned and patted her hand, strained, trying to look cool and collected. "Yeah, don't worry, I dunno – Leia?" he asked, turning his head back sharply.

Leia grit her teeth.

"She would like to speak with you."

"Not without a lawyer," Han said immediately.

Leia smiled thinly.

"I apprised her of that," she said. "I don't know what her scheme is, but I also don't want her claiming we were cagey about anything. We have nothing to hide. This won't take long," she said coolly.

Vada grabbed Han's arm more tightly, and swung herself off the counter. She landed unsteadily, and inched towards Han, grabbing the edge of his pocket. She looked smaller than she had a moment ago.

"But I do not understand why she is here, then," she said quietly. She curled her hair around her finger with a frown, her dark eyes narrowing in consternation. She looked at Leia fiercely. "She does not want to just see me, or talk nice," she said fiercely. "She calls me – "

Vada said something in Corellian, something Leia didn't even understand, despite Corellian slang and Corellian swears being the part of the language she was most well versed in – courtesy of Han. She judged by the expression on Han's face that it must be something foul, and looked at him expectantly, waiting.

Han cleared his throat, his voice low. "It means…mixed-skin," he said under his breath.

"What's the translation?" Leia asked quietly.

He gave a derisive snort.

"The nicest thing I can compare it to in Basic is "half-breed," he said tightly.

Leia's face flushed angrily. She had been trying to keep her cool, trying to – against her better angels – be levelheaded, and handle this invasion with aplomb, diverting a potential crisis, keeping the peace. She wanted to do nothing that would damage Han's chances at keeping Vada, but the very idea of a grown woman having leveled such a nasty insult at a child – to the point that Vada associated Vaella solely with a word like that –

"It's a slur," Han said flatly. "A real bad one."

Leia looked towards the living room of their apartment, her heart pounding. She narrowed her eyes angrily. Vade made a sudden move forward, turning her face into Han's waist and clutching at his belt.

"I do not want to go with her," she said rapidly. "I do not want to see her, please. She scares me," she whispered, her voice shaking.

Han put his hand on her shoulder, letting her stay attached to him.

"It's okay, Vada," he said seriously. "We aren't going to let you around anyone who uses that word."

Vada whimpered softly.

Leia set her shoulders back, nodding in agreement with Han.

"I will speak with her," she said calmly. "You do not have to see her, Vada, just stay in here until she's gone."

Vada twisted her ankle nervously, obviously apprehensive. She continued to flick her eyes from Han to the doorway, as if prepared for some great shadow to come swooping in and drag her kicking and screaming out the door. Leia took a deep breath, and looked up at Han.

"You two just stay in here," she said again. "I'm looking forward to that dessert," she said, affecting a brighter tone - this was just a small glitch, and once it was rectified, they would go on with their nice night.

Han started forward.

"You said she wanted to speak to me," he muttered. "I can - "

"No," Leia said sharply. Vada flinched at the tone, and Leia paused, softening her voice. "I don't want you speaking with her alone," she said quietly, "and we aren't going to leave Vada alone here or in her room if she's scared," she finished, nodding kindly at Vada. "I've changed my mind. She can call us uncooperative or cagey if she likes, but - this word, Vada," Leia said, pursing her lips, "how many times have you heard her say it about you?"

Vada chewed on her lip.

"Twice or maybe three times," she said in a whisper. "My mom would yell at her. She slapped my mom," Vada related.

Leia gave Han a pinched look.

"Mmm," she muttered. "No way," she said flatly, shaking her head. "You stay in here with Vada."

Han swallowed. He put his arm around Vada's shoulders, and nodded, looking down at her and mustering a quick smile.

"How about we go to your room?" he suggested.

"No," Leia said again. "You'll have to pass the sitting room - Han, I know this isn't ideal; let me handle it," she said.

Han shifted, frowning, and nodded once again. Leia turned on her heel, pausing in the doorway. She rested her palm against the door frame, composing herself neatly, and she felt both Han and Vada watching her - Vada, with fear emanating off of her so strongly even Leia, untrained as she was, could sense it, and Han, clearly conflicted. He wanted to protect Vada, that much was evident, but in Leia's absence from the home he'd grown into his own, and he was, she suspected, wary of falling back into a pattern that put too much pressure on her.

She considered herself the best person to handle this situation, though. Han needed to be entirely beyond reproach in terms of behavior, and Leia knew how he could lose his temper. She knew it was likely to be twice as bad when someone he loved was threatened right in front of him, so it was better for her to take the brunt of any mudslinging. Without a glance back at them, she returned to the sitting room, conscious of her casual clothing compared to the intensely fashionable clothing Vaella had arrived in.

Still, Leia carried herself in such a way that it would seem as if she wore the ceremonial dress of her planet, and she approached Vaella, once again neglecting to offer her a seat. Instead she stood just off to the edge of her sofa, tilting her chin just so, in a way that allowed her to meet Vaella's eyes without appearing like she was tilting her head up too much. She held the other woman's gaze, her lips compressed thinly, and then offered a demure flick of her eyelashes.

"I think it is best you tell me what your purpose is here," Leia said.

Vaella's eyes twitched slightly, and she lifted them, looking over Leia's shoulder. Leia's gaze didn't deviate.

"Solo won't speak with me?" she asked.

"General Solo considers it inappropriate of you to reach out to him outside of legal channels," Leia said blandly. She stressed his New Republic title only slightly, and set a somewhat vacant, dangerous smile on her face.

She paused, letting that comment linger, and then knit her brows in a theatrical expression of confusion.

"I must admit that there seems no reason for you to be here," she said, affecting an almost girlish tone. She crossed her arms. "You have a court date. You have your investigators. You have your vanity and your egregiously out of line custody bid - what could you possibly gain from an ambush at our home on a leisure day eve?"

Vaella pursed her lips coldly.

"Egregiously out of line," she repeated, pointedly leaving a question out of her tone. She turned up her nose, bared her teeth a little. "You think it out of line for a blood relative to wish for the right to raise Vada?"

"Her father is her nearest blood relative," Leia said curtly. "She was placed with him accordingly, in compliance with Corellian laws, and, as luck would have it, her late mother's wishes."

At that, Vaella's eyes flickered slightly, as if she were taken by surprise. Leia figured she hadn't known that Vaella left a note, and seized onto a little feeling of triumph; so that was one leg up they had on this woman.

"I never heard of any such wish on Visenya's part," Vaella said skeptically. "She refused to name the child's father when we pressed her," she added tersely. "We assumed she didn't know, though I do understand a genetic test has confirmed - "

"From what I understand, you were never particularly well aware of any of your daughter's wishes," Leia interrupted lightly. "You certainly were not privy to Vada's."

Vaella's face tightened.

"You know nothing of the relationship between myself and my only daughter, Ambassador," she snapped icily.

Leia inclined her head.

"That is true enough," she murmured. "However, I am painfully aware of your lack of relationship with your granddaughter."

Vaella's lip curled up in a sneer, and she set a shoulder back, her nostrils flaring. She took a moment, and then her face changed. She gave Leia a cold, but placid smile.

"Come now," she said. "We are both aristocratic women. I am sure we have mutual friends within the Elder Houses council," she offered.

Leia said nothing. As a woman of wealth earned through capitalistic industry, Vaella would associate with the Elder Council only in terms of notoriety, not in the same vein as Leia and her family had. They likely did know the same people - but Leia had long stopped keeping touch with the pomp and circumstance of the aristocracy, and any persons Vaella considered loyal friends were likely women Leia had hated even in her un-jaded youth.

When Leia continued to let the poorly offered olive branch hang, Vaella was forced to continue speaking:

"I am sure," she said lightly, "that this has been an ordeal for a woman such as yourself," Vaella remarked. Her tone took on the air of one who was offering kindly advice, but she was so obviously not used to being kind that the words seemed almost psychotic in how saccharine they were. Leia raised an eyebrow only slightly, choosing to listen, if only because she supposed whatever this was might be amusing. "I will admit I did not expect such rabid push back when I proposed that myself and my husband take Vada in. I assumed you would welcome the respite. I can only guess that your more aggressive efforts recently have been an extension of a desire to protect your image as a benevolent goddess and, naturally, to protect the dramatic charm of your public love affair."

Blinking, Leia resorted to an old trick her aunts had taught her. When provoked in public, they had told her to shove her tongue against her top teeth to avoid showing much emotion, and to dig her big toe into the flat of her shoe. She was barefoot, but she dug the nail into the carpet beneath her, a great, seething rage starting inside of her. Unbelievably, Vaella actually sounded like one of her stuffier older Organa relatives - those old conservative ones concerned with image and mystique, rather than human reality. The similarity between Vaella and the elder Organas did not endear her to Leia, though; for many reasons, it enraged her. Not just because of the sentiment, but because Leia had suffered her relatives dodgy opinions because she loved and cherished them as people; they had welcomed her and raised her.

Vaella had no such privilege.

"It is high time that charade end," Vaella noted, still endeavoring to sound pleasant. "I am providing you and Han Solo with a viable way out of this debacle. I am sure you have no interest in raising the baseborn daughter of a disowned woman," Vaella said. "I have no interest in having my family's tragedies paraded around on the intergalactic stage. I made mistakes with my Visenya; those can be rectified. I can redeem them in caring for Vada. There is no need for you to martyr yourself, and I would take no pleasure in watching a man such as Han Solo lead another Vardalos woman into ruin."

Leia resisted the urge to leap forward and begin pulling hair. Han, lead Visenya astray? From what Leia had heard, Visenya was already her own independent, wild self before she even met Han - and the Han she had known was a very different man, anyway. The implication that Vaella had to rescue Vada from Han, that she was some sort of beatific savior presenting a blessed release for Leia -

Leia gave a small, soft laugh.

"Ah, you have come to rescue me?" she quipped. "You concern yourself with my image," she said, clicking her tongue. "Kind of you, Vaella, very kind - but I am not a damsel in distress, and you fit the bill of villain much better than you do hero."

Leia's voice turned cold.

"This is not a charade, and you are not welcome here. Han has responded to the terms of your custody challenge in the appropriate ways, and whatever backdoor deal you intended to strike to whisk Vada away from us will not take place. She belongs with her father, in a place where she will be loved and nurtured, and as you continue to believe for some deluded reason that you can provide that place, you will see out your challenge in court. Not," Leia folded her arms tightly, "in my sitting room."

Vaella looked as if she had swallowed something sour.

"I think it more prudent at this point if I speak directly with Solo."

"General Solo and I are of the same mind," Leia answered.

"Are you?" Vaella goaded, as if she hardly believed that.

Leia grit her teeth.

"I cannot begin to understand your motives," she said sharply, loosening her grip on herself just a little, letting her eyes flash. "Even the justification you offered just moments ago has an appalling bent to it - you feel you failed at raising your own daughter, therefore you wish to have a second chance with Vada? And when you consider your daughter a failure, is it because she was not perfect; she was not the ideal you saw as fit for a daughter of a wealthy and powerful family? You didn't succeed in owning her mind, her body, or her life, so you disavowed her? You are right, Vaella; I know nothing of the intimate details of your relationship with Visenya, but I've known your kind all my life. I've debated with them. I've lived with them," she paused, "and I've raised armies against them."

"Is that a threat?" Vaella asked sweetly.

"You're a smart woman," Leia said idly. "You may interpret it how you wish. Vada is a child; she's not a vehicle through which you can rehabilitate your family name or fixate your ambitions on. Neither Han nor myself has any interest in handing her over to people who have never had her best interests at heart. You have your court date; you have your lawyers," Leia repeated. "We will see you in court," she paused, "and then, with any luck, we will never see you again."

Vaella took a menacing step forward, her head tilting to the side slowly. She studied Leia, as if she were analyzing something, and then, after a long moment of icy silence, she said, quite simply:

"You are not her mother."

Unprepared, Leia conceded some ground in that she flinched, and Vaella looked amused at that. Leia swallowed hard, her lashes trembling slightly. Vaella had, of course, managed to rake her claws through what was perhaps Leia's greatest sensitivity in all of this: the fact that she was isolated from this whole experience in Han's life. That some other woman had gotten something that was, in dreams and in futures, only supposed to be Leia's. The words hurt her. She was ready and willing enough to admit that.

She had not had enough post-war world to think about if she wanted her own children, if she wanted them with Han, and what her own bloodline implied, but if nothing else she was ready to admit, and had admitted to Luke, that she felt she had missed out on sharing a very significant experience with Han. Even if he himself hadn't really had it at all, not traditionally. He hadn't been there for Vada's birth, her first steps, her first words -he hadn't known about this, and it wasn't Vada's fault either. While Leia was ready to admit to herself the pain she had felt, she was not willing to let it be used against her to turn her against Han or to poison her feelings towards an innocent child.

"You are not her mother," Vaella said again. "You have no part in this. You have no say over what happens to her."

The reminder was so cruel. She knew she was upset, but she hadn't thought herself so upset over Vada's maternity until this moment, until someone else told her what she'd already quietly mentioned to her brother - but despite the repeated reminder, the targeted attack, this time, Leia did not flinch. She drew herself up to her most intimidating height, and fought back.

Her expression was cold, unwavering.

"I have considerable say in this," she remarked.

"You do not," Vaella repeated, her tone mocking and serpentine.

She looked down her nose at Leia, as if she faced not a princess of an old house, but a common girl she'd run across on the streets.

"You have had enough fun besmirching the Organa name. You flaunt a criminal paramour and you spend the wealth of your house slumming with traitors and terrorists. You will not have my granddaughter in your home and drag our name through the mud as well. She is not your blood - "

"When it comes to the importance of blood in family," Leia interrupted icily, "you are speaking to the wrong woman."

She let the interruption hang dangerously, and watched Vaella's pinched, haughty expression darken further. Leia let her fume, though not for long enough to gather her thoughts.

"I may not be her mother," Leia said simply, her tone walking a fine line between calm, and furious. "I have not tried to be. Vada had a mother who loved her, and whom she loved in return. Maternity aside, when she was brought to my doorstep, alone and frightened, I took her in and I gave her a safe place to sleep and, if I may speak for myself, a loving place to call home. You?"

Leia paused coldly.

"Where were you, Vaella, when she was in an orphanage?"

Vaella's face was pale. Perhaps, there somewhere, Leia saw a twinge of guilt, but she did not allow it to move her.

"Ambassador," began Vaella nastily.

Leia put up her hand, her expression collected, and gave a small, regal shake of her head.

"Your Highness," she corrected, a rare distinction for her to make these days. "Let us not forget rank, Madam Vardalos."

Vaella stared at her, her nostrils flaring and turning white, and Leia compressed her lips.

"More important than anything you've said here today is the fact that you knowingly allowed Vada to be placed in a home. You abandoned her. You have made her worth to you clear. Han is her father. You will not remove her from his care."

Vaella's lips curled.

"That is yet to be decided," she hissed. "You would not dare interfere with the civil court decisions if they go against Han Solo," she declared.

Leia lowered her hand, her eyes on Vaella's coldly, and said - simply and truthfully -

"Try me."

At that, Vaella looked stunned. She took a full step back, and Leia's eyes followed her, frigid with anger, her jaw set and burning with tension. This woman had accosted her with more insults than she could count - she had insulted Leia's rebellion, Leia's romance, Leia's name, Leia's family - the sheer implication that Vaella knew better than Leia what the Organas considered besmirching enraged her.

"You don't have to do this," Vaella said, almost incredulous. "You don't have to make this statement. Vada can be a thing of your past - "

"Have you ever considered that perhaps I want to do this?" Leia asked icily.

Vaella did not have a chance to answer. Vada darted into the room, her face white, and her eyes red. A second later, Han came after her, his hand outstretched almost comically, as if she'd just escaped.

"Vada," he hissed.

"I want to be here!" Vada shouted. Her eyes were wide with fear as she stared at Vaella. She put small fists on her hips. "Mommy hated you, you mean old bitch, you never even gave her money to buy medicine or maybe she could have lived a little longer or maybe not died with it hurting so much or at home with me - you are just evil and you use mean words and you let them take me to a place where they hit me and burned me and I got bullied and, and," Vada broke off, inching back away from Vaella, "if you get to take me you will have to drag me, I will scream and kick you, I will - "

"Vada, Vada," Leia murmured softly, turning to her. She put her hands on Vada's shoulders, gently steering her towards Han. "She'll be gone in a minute. It's okay."

Vada struggled, glaring at Vaella, and Han inched forward and took her, drawing her closer. He swallowed hard.

"You need to go," he said hoarsely, fixing a glare on Vaella. "Now."

Vada trembled, clutching at Han's arm.

"Make her leave, Daddy," Vada burst out. "She said mean things to Leia, too."

Han nodded. He squeezed Vada's shoulder, his arm around her chest protectively.

"Get out," he said sharply.

Vaella appraised him, a tight, uncomfortable look on her face. Lastly, she looked down at Vada, her eyes lingering. Leia saw her gaze flicker, dampen, even; it seemed that Vaella was able to see Visenya looking back at her, and maybe, for just a moment, she felt sorrow. But the look was fleeting. Vaella's jaw tightened, and she sneered at Han.

"Swearing at adults, and throwing tantrums," she said dangerously. "I can see you're an excellent father."

Han's eyes flashed. Vada lurched forward, her teeth gnashing. Frozen, Leia widened her eyes, sure Han was about to let Vada break loose and bite Vaella, but at the last moment, he firmly grabbed her at the elbow, twirled her around gently, and picked her up, taking a few steps back.

"Don't," he said shortly. "Not worth it, Vada."

Vaella stared at Vada's back.

Leia stepped in front of her.

"I am sure you remember the way out," she said dismissively.

Vaella, evidently unable to leave without having the last word, said:

"In court, then. Your Highness."

Leia said nothing. She had learned many years ago that a desperate desire to have the last word was insecurity and nothing more. Saying too much could so often be damning. Instead, she watched, unblinking and stony, as Vaella left the room in tense, pinched movements. She waited until the chime sounded pleasantly, indicating the door had been shut again, and then she let her shoulders fall a little, the impenetrable royal mask on her face dissolving.

She and Han stood looking at each other, and for a moment, there was silence. Then, Vada burst into tears, the sound of which clearly startled Han. He jumped, stepping over a few feet, and nearly lost his balance. His grip on her tightened, and he lifted his chin a little, sharing a silent conversation with Leia. She nodded, pointing down towards Vada's bedroom, and Han turned, carrying her down the hall.

Pushing her hair back, Leia let her palm drift over her mouth, and then bit her lip, shaking her head, and venturing into the kitchen. She looked around at the mess of half-finished dessert project, and her eyes stung. She stumbled to a counter, and peered down at the contentious frosting Han and Vada must have been arguing about. It was a near-perfect light pink now. Idly, Leia stuck her finger in it, and touched the sugar to her lips, lifting her eyes and glancing around the silent kitchen.

She took a deep breath, pulled her finger from her mouth, and looked around. Vaella's appearance may have ruined the celebratory nature of the evening, but Leia was sure that she could at least salvage the unfinished parts of this dessert - and if she still needed cheering up tomorrow, Vada could have it for breakfast.

---

Han was furious. He wasn't sure he had ever felt fury quite like this before - he couldn't have, because never before had he experienced the specific kind of anger that stemmed from seeing his child in pain and not being able to stop it. He tried his best, but no matter what he did - as this evening reminded them so sharply - until things were permanent, Vada was suffering from all kinds of anxiety and trepidation and fear that just wasn't going to go away.

He'd been trying to keep Vada distracted in the kitchen and make enough noise to kind of cover up what was going on in the living room, but unfortunately he had also been trying to listen in, and before he knew it, both of them were just standing there as Leia and Vaella got louder. Han had kept his arm around Vada when she looked ready to bolt, but she'd broken away from him when he got drawn in to something Leia was saying and - it was a mess again, a ruinous mess of an evening, when it should have been such a positive turning point. When it was a positive turning point, in other respects, at least as far as the three of them went.

His heart was racing as he shut Vada's door behind him and put her down on the bed, his lower back giving an achy protest. He briefly marveled at the fact that Leia had picked her up once, and then shook his head, focusing. He lunged to the right and grabbed Spork, handing him to her immediately. He thought she might be best comforted right now by something her mother had given her.

Vada accepted the toy gratefully and buried her face in it.

"The bad word just slipped out," she sobbed. "I know it made everyone look bad to say it. Am I in trouble?"

Han snorted. He folded his arms.

"No," he said. "You want me to be honest, Vada? I'm never gonna get mad at you for speakin' your mind about that woman," he said. "S'not like you're bein' mean to someone innocent. She deserves it."

He swallowed hard, shifting his weight warily.

"Maybe s'not great parenting," he said sarcastically, "for me to say that, but," he shrugged. "I don't want you to just be nice and polite all the time. I just want you to protect yourself."

Vada rubbed her face furiously on Spork's head, drying her eyes. She threw herself backwards and rolled onto her side, curling up.

"Why did she even come here?" she demanded. "Why did she make everything horrible?" Vada closed her eyes, tears pouring down her cheeks. "I was busy not thinking about that stuff!"

Han reached out and rubbed her knee gently, a tight grimace on his face.

"I dunno, kid," he said tiredly. "She's got some kinda complex, I guess," he muttered.

He couldn't for the life of him figure out why Vaella had been compelled to do what she had just done. For some reason, it wasn't enough for her to loom from afar like a shadow; she had to poison their home. She had leveled insults at Leia that still burned under Han's skin, and he itched to go check on her, too, though he noticed he didn't mind waiting until Vada was settled to go commiserate over this with Leia.

Vada sniffled.

"What does baseborn mean?" she asked.

Han snorted.

"Pretty sure it means bastard," he said frankly. "Doesn't really matter, though," he said. "Only people who care about that stuff are people like her, and she's terrible," he pointed out.

To his surprise, Vada giggled a little. The sound was hoarse and choked. She nodded, clutching Spork closer. She tucked her head.

"I hate this," she said. "I hate being scared all the time because things might change and be horrible again," she whispered. "I wish Mommy had never died."

Han grit his teeth, swallowing hard. He nodded, his chest clenching painfully. He sure as hell understood that sentiment. What he wouldn't have given to have his mother for even just a couple of years longer. It didn't matter that she'd been young and not always perfect, she had been his mother and she had been home, and he related to Vada's sense of loss in the rawest of ways. He rubbed her knee again, sitting down on the edge of the bed, and Vada turned, her eyes wide. Misinterpreting his silence, she parted her lips.

"I do not mean I want to go to away from you," she said, fumbling her words. "I just, I mean, I want," she said, lips trembling.

Han nodded.

"Speak Corellian," he encouraged softly. "Aw, c'mon, Viddy, I know what you mean," he promised. "'Course you wish your mom never died. Then you'd know where you were gonna be for the rest of your life, and maybe some day you'd ask her about me and you'd come find me and you wouldn't have to lose anybody," he gave her a little half smile. "Doesn't bother me that you miss her."

Vada squeezed her eyes shut and rolled towards him. She nodded fiercely.

"I miss her so much," she told him. "She used to sing a song to me that she made up and I can't always remember the words," she whispered. "I have a good memory and I know her in pictures but sometimes I forget. Vaella, she looked like her. A mean, dried up version of her."

Han snorted softly. He scooted back some and ran a hand over her hair.

"Vada," he said, going over her outburst in his head. "Did you have to," he paused. "What happened, with Senny?" he asked cautiously. "You said she was in a lot of pain?"

Vada nodded.

"Were you with her when she died?" Han asked carefully.

Vada wiped at her eyes. She sighed, her face scrunching up.

"She died at night," she said. "She was dead when I woke up. I think she didn't want me to be there. She made me go to bed. She climbed up stairs with me even though she was not good with stairs at that time," Vada whispered. "Maybe she knew that was the last night. But I woke up and she didn't, and I was really scared, and alone," Vada reached out and took his hand and squeezed it, "and I wanted to hug her again but 'Losis is bad contagious if you touch, and she coughed a lot of blood."

She took a deep breath.

"I went to the condo next to us and told the nice lady there. She called the medics and let me have tea and then I got taken away, and then maybe it was a week later when they took me to the big Vardalos house and Vaella said no, and then," she shrugged. She looked up at Han. "But when I got older, and I could read a little better, I read about 'Losis, and I know if we had more money, Mommy could have lived longer, probably, or at least had pain meds so it did not hurt her so much," she hissed.

Han nodded. All this time, he hadn't really asked Vada how her last few days with her mother had been. He knew from the files that the general story was that Vada had alerted authorities, but he hadn't asked her to elaborate. She rarely mentioned her mother, and he always wanted to take her lead on that. Sighing, he laid back on the bed, flat on his back, staring up at his ceiling. Still curled up next to him, Vada eyed the side of his face, her nose resting on Spork.

"How did your mommy die?" she asked.

Han cleared his throat.

"Ahh," he sighed huskily. "Don't really remember," he said slowly. "She was always kinda sick, but it might have been an accident. She didn't come home for a few days. Then some people kinda remembered she had a kid, and came lookin' for me. Told me she was dead. I ran away. Hung out on streets for a while, 'til some vendor took me to a home."

Vada sighed sadly.

"You didn't know your dad?"

Han just shook his head.

"And Leia's mom and dad died on Alderaan," Vada remarked sadly.

"Yeah," Han said, turning his head towards her. "We all had some rough stuff, huh?"

Vada plucked at Spork's ears.

"When I didn't know what they were going to do with me, I wanted to be dead with my mom," she said quietly. "I didn't know what else to do, so I just wanted to have caught the 'Losis and died. Then it would be easier."

Han swallowed hard, squeezing his eyes shut. He took a deep breath, and then shook his head, turning towards her. He propped his head up on his arm.

"You still feel like that?" he asked intently.

Vada shook her head.

"No, I'm scared to die," she said. "That was just because I didn't think I could survive without her, but I did," she said, and then looked at him through her lashes. "Daddy, I know I keep saying this, but I really don't want to go. It's not just that I don't want to be with Vaella. I'm tired," she whispered. "I'm tired of moving and always feeling really jumpy and suspicious, and I feel safe here. I want to stay safe."

Han nodded.

"I know, kid," he said hoarsely. "You gotta be tired of hearin' me say this, but I'm doin' everything I can. Leia, too," he said. "You know, might have been at first, we just didn't want you to go to a home, 'cause that's bad for any kid," he told her, "but don't think it's just that, okay? All that stuff Vaella said about Leia making a statement or being a martyr...it ain't that. You're a great kid," he said firmly. "You're fun to have around."

Vada sat up. She wiped at her face heavily. Her hair was coming loose, and sticking up in spots.

"I don't always understand Leia when she talks," she said, her cheeks flushing. "Her Basic is way better and she uses way big words but, but," Vada licked her lips. "She was defending Mommy, wasn't she?" she asked. "She was saying...Vaella wasn't good to Mommy?"

Han thought about it. He hadn't heard every single thing Leia had said, but he'd been listening. And he'd heard Leia stick up for Visenya before - back when they first got Vada, and Han was flippant about the type of woman she was. He nodded.

"Yeah," he agreed. "Think she was."

"And she said she wants me," Vada said, her eyes filling with tears again. "I heard her say that. She said she wants to do this."

Han nodded again.

"She didn't even know my mom," Vada said quietly. "Why was she so nice about her?"

Han shrugged.

"Well," he said, a little dryly, "I think Leia's pretty sensitive to people who fight with their families," she said. "Or, uh, more that if Visenya didn't like her parents because they were prejudice and mean...Leia would think that makes her a good person."

"Yeah," Vada piped up fiercely. "Because kind of, my mom had to fight an empire, too. It wasn't big like the one you fought, but she had to fight her own mom."

Han smiled tiredly, thinking how similar that situation was to some of the things Leia had been through. In fighting the Empire, Leia had, ultimately, been fighting her biological father.

Vada sighed.

"I wish I had taken things from our house," she said, hanging her head. "Before I went and got the neighbor and then the social people took me away...I just thought I would go back. But I never did," she paused. "Like the jewelry box you asked me about. I don't know where it went. And I only took the clothes I was wearing and Spork and a blanket. And then," Vada pointed at her ankle. "I have that braided bracelet, this other girl at the home gave me," she said. She bit her lip hard. "But I wish...I had taken a lot of Mommy's things," she whispered.

"I know," Han said. "I'm sure, I bet you do," he went on. He had nothing of his own mother's. Like Vada, he barely remembered what she looked like, beyond red hair and green eyes. He wondered if there was anyway he could track down that jewelry box. He doubted it was anything special enough to have a trail, but he wished there was some way he could. "We'll just have to make sure we take extra good care of Spork, eh?" he offered, reaching out comically to pat the little guy on the head. "We'll make sure nothin' ever happens to him."

Vada gave him a watery smile, sniffling.

"Yes," she agreed softly. She leaned forward over Han and grabbed Spryte, and hugged that one, too. "And Spryte," she added firmly. She sighed, her eyes wide, her shoulders falling. "If they decided I have to go to Vaella...will you kidnap me?" she asked.

Han laughed. He arched his eyebrows.

"Why not?" he joked. "You wanna go build a treehouse? Live on Kashyyyk with Chewie and his mate?"

Vada grinned.

"I would like that better than Corellia with her," she said fiercely. "She makes me not even want to see Corellia ever again," Vada added, her brow darkening.

"You'll see Corellia again," Han said firmly. "I'll take you. I'll make it so that she doesn't have it leave a bad taste in your mouth."

Vada tilted her head.

"We can really go to Corellia sometime?" she followed the question up rapidly. "Can we go to the beaches?" she asked "In the mountain region? Mommy and I went once when she had a very rich boyfriend," she confided. "I loved it."

Han shrugged.

"Sure," he said. "Maybe we can do that for your eighth Life Day," he said, "or to celebrate when my custody of you is final," he said. "Leia hasn't been to Corellia in a while. Don't think she's ever been to the mountain beaches," he added. He paused. "If you want her to come, 'course," he said.

"I want to stay with both of you, so yes," Vada said.

She folded her legs in a triangle, and wedged her stuffed animals in her lap. She touched her face.

"I want it all to be over," she said softly. "I don't want the court date to come because I don't want it to be bad but I'm tired of waiting," she said. She held out her hands, and showed them to Han. "It makes me anxious," she said. "My hands shake sometimes."

Han patted both of her palms with his, and then squeezed one of her hands.

"'M gonna have a red team with Leia's boss and my lawyer real soon," he said. "I'll know what to do in court, and all you got to do is tell the truth and try not to worry."

Vada blew air out through her lips skeptically, and Han laughed dryly. He kept telling her not to worry though he knew it was futile. He wanted so badly to be able to promise her no one would take her away, and no one would hurt her, but he couldn't. He'd rather not make a liar of himself, just in case, because he always wanted her to trust him.

"I don't want to have to see her at all, Dad," Vada said. "Can it be like that? That if she doesn't get custody of me, she can't see me at all?"

Han thought carefully before he answered.

"I think when I have full custody and the social workers aren't involved anymore I will have more power and more say," he said. He hesitated, and then went on: "And to be honest with you...I think Leia could pull that off. I think she's serious when she says she's, uh, got influence in all this."

Vada looked wary, but relieved.

"Okay," she said faintly. "I don't know what I'd do," she said, exasperated. "Vaella is bad enough, but I have never even seen or talked to my grandfather. Mommy only mentioned him once. She said he was a bad, bad man."

Han frowned. He couldn't remember Visenya ever talking about her father, either. She had certainly been vocal about her hatred of her family in general, and her direct conflict with her mother, but the father - Han hadn't even known his name, until Leia had asked him if it might be Vito. He hated to think what could have driven Visenya to completely lock down about her father, to go so far as refusing to even mention him to Vada other than to say how bad he was. Cringing a little internally, he reached out and tucked some of Vada's escaping hair back.

"Not how we wanted this night to go, huh?" he asked, apologetic.

Vada shook her head gloomily.

"I just feel icky now," she admitted. "Like...all the fun got sucked away."

"Yeah," Han agreed. "Sorry, Viddy."

"Well, you didn't do it," she said kindly.

Han sighed.

"I did mess up the frosting," he pointed out.

Vada giggled.

"Oh no, we got it fixed right eventually," she soothed.

"Yeah, well, we aren't givin' up on that dessert," he said sternly. "You wanna tuck in tonight and write to your mom in your journal, that's fine, but we're finishin' that tomorrow."

Vada beamed.

"You remember I write to Mommy?" she asked.

Han nodded. He pointed to his head.

"I listen," he said seriously.

Vada leaned forward and put an arm around him, hugging him. He put his hand on her back, patting it gently.

"It's gonna be okay, kid," he said gruffly.

Vada just took a deep breath, and nodded hopefully. Han gave her an impulsive kiss on the top of the head, and leaned back. There was a soft knock on the door, and he arched his eyebrows at Vada. She nodded, and he called gruffly for Leia to go ahead and come in. She opened the door, poking her head in, one hand hidden from view.

"Is it okay if I interrupt?" she asked.

Han nodded.

"You are not interrupting," Vada said clearly.

Leia stepped in, drawing her hand with her, and presenting a little saucer dish with a slice of dessert on it. She had used some of the icing to frost the small piece, and laid a small fork on the plate as she handed it all over to Vada.

"I wasn't sure how you wanted everything done," she said, "but I took a tiny piece and thought you might like it now," she explained. "I hope I didn't mess up what you wanted to make out of the cake. I just thought a little now might make you feel better."

Vada sidled forward a little and shook her head, wiping her eyes. She nodded.

"You did not mess anything up," she said. "Yes, it might," she added, laughing a little. She took the fork and let her legs hang off the bed. Han took the stuffed animals she had abandoned and set them neatly up against her pillows, sitting up himself.

"I kept everything in neat containers in the kitchen," Leia offered. "So we can finish the dessert tomorrow."

Vada blushed, and nodded.

"Thank you."

"I'm sorry I let her in, Vada," Leia said, sighing. "I suppose I thought...against all odds, she might have something decent to say." Leia lifted her shoulders. "I wish you hadn't had to listen to any of that."

Vada was quiet for a moment, twirling the edges of her fork in the fluffy pink frosting. Then she looked up, shaking her head.

"But you said nice things," she said softly. "About me. And she was mean to you."

Leia shrugged. She moved closer and smoothed back some of Vada's hair.

"Oh, I'm rather used to people being mean to me. Comes with the job description," she said wryly.

Vada swung her feet a little.

"Dad says I'm not in trouble for using the bitch word."

Leia laughed, sharing a look with Han. She shook her head.

"Why would you be? I think Han and I both think it's best not to punish you for telling the truth," she said.

Vada blinked, processing Leia's words, and then bit her lip and gave a small grin. She took a bite of the dessert, and smiled more brightly, her eyes drying a little. Leia rubbed her hand gently across Vada's cheek, drying her face, too.

"Would you like me to fix your hair back up?" she asked. It had become quite mussed with all the running around and yelling and curling up and tucking her head. "It seems silly, but sometimes something as simple as making my hair look untangled and nice makes me feel better."

"It is not silly," Vada said quietly. She blinked at Leia gratefully. "I would like that," she said earnestly. She turned a little to face Han. "But I do not want you to go," she said. "Can you both stay in here until I feel better?"

Han nodded. Leia gestured to Vada's desk.

"Why doesn't Han read some of your book out loud?" she suggested. "The novel you've been absorbed in?"

Vada nodded, and Leia fetched the datapad, picking up a comb along the way. She returned to the bed, standing before Vada, and Vada turned to give a serious look to Han.

"You have to do voices, though," she ordered.

Han pretended to give her a pained look, and it brought a genuine smile back to Vada's face. Relieved at the sight, Han took the datapad out of Leia's hands, and sat up, sliding back to make room for them. He leaned back against Vada's pillows, trying to find the correct novel, and Leia sat down at the foot of the bed, sitting behind Vada to better access her hair. Looking up from the datapad, Han watched Vada raise her eyes to the canopy and take a deep, steadying breath, almost as if she were praying, and he cleared his throat. If reading out loud to her in voices would help erase the bitterness that had come of this evening, then voices he would do.

---

Dressed for bed, with her hair mostly loose around her shoulders, Leia accepted the hot toddy Han offered her as she sat curled comfortably in the corner of the sofa. The spot was broken in and cozy, familiar with the way she liked to make herself small and comfortable and relax there. She let the bottom of the glass sit gingerly on the armrest, and smiled gratefully. Han, nursing his own portion, sat down next to her and sighed heavily. He took half of his shot, set it on the kaf table, and then leaned forward on his knees, rubbing his face.

He sighed again, and lifted his head, curling his fingers into a knuckle and resting his chin on them. He stared at the blank holo. Leia tilted her head at him. She had finished Vada's hair, stayed around to enjoy the story Han was telling, and then departed to finish picking up in the kitchen and rinse the day off in the 'fresher. Then she'd brewed tea and waited for him to finish up with Vada and take his own 'fresher. He'd checked on her again after it, and then he was the one who had dryly asked if she wanted a little something stronger in her tea.

To which she acquiesced, because she felt they both deserved it.

"Hmm," Leia hummed, touching the spiked tea to her lips. "Tough stuff."

Han gave a soft groan.

"Is she doing okay?" Leia asked.

He nodded, finally leaning back and appearing to relax a little. His shoulders fell a bit, and he twisted his mouth up in a tired frown.

"Yeah, she was writin' in her little journal when I went to shower, and then she was dead asleep when I just checked on her," he said, jutting his thumb over his shoulder in the general direction of the bedrooms. "But I dunno if what happened is gonna give her nightmares," he said dully. His brow furrowed. "Hey, what if she wants to sleep in my room when you're here?" he asked warily.

Leia lifted her shoulders thoughtfully.

"Well, she's already shared it with me alone," she said. "She can either hop in with us or I can go crash in her room, or someone can lie down with her until she stops being scared," she suggested. She tilted her head. "Our bed is big enough for three people if need be," she said breezily.

"But you're okay with that?" Han checked. "'Cause if it comes up in the middle of the night I don't wanna put you on the spot or somethin'."

Leia dipped her head.

"I wouldn't mind," she said honestly. "Of course, if it became an every night thing after we have her permanently then we'd need to do something for everyone's sake," she added, snorting. "But she's still settling in and, obviously," Leia tipped her head towards the front of the apartment, indicating the door that Vaella had disappeared through just hours ago, "she has valid things still scaring her and stressing her out."

Leia gave a contemptuous sniff, and then sipped on her tea again. The whiskey in it burned her throat pleasantly, and she took a deep breath, enjoying the heady steam rising out of the mug. Han reached out and downed the rest of his shot, shaking his head. He put the glass down, crossed his arms, and started to sit back angrily; then he stood up, and began to pace.

"I don't get it," he said in a low voice. "I just don't get it. That's it? All that shit she said about, what, not likin' me, not likin' you?" he grit his teeth. "She pays out of pocket to have Vada taken to a home, but the idea of me raisin' her is so...terrible that she'll suddenly show back up and try to bully you into makin' some sort of deal?"

In the lines on Han's face, Leia read frustration, insecurity, anger - confusion. She pursed her lips, holding her mug closer to her, and watched him.

"She wants nothin' to do with Vada until all of a sudden Princess Leia's got her, or somethin'?" Han spat.

Leia turned up her nose tensely.

"Unfortunately, Han, it seems she's so concerned about family name and standing that she'd prefer to take Vada, quickly hush up her existence, and attempt to browbeat her into being the type of daughter Visenya wasn't," she analyzed. "Though I am sure your background, my politics, and the general Media attention are unappealing to her as well."

"That ain't a reason to take in a kid," Han snapped. "Not a good one."

Leia inclined her head in agreement, and Han rubbed his palms on the sides of his trousers. He scowled, and then slowly came to sit back down next to her, entwining his fingers.

"Your politics are my politics, too," he muttered. He leaned back, and looked over his shoulder thoughtfully. "I don't want her to grow up to think the way Vaella does. Senny sure as hell woulda hated that," he snorted, and shrugged. "I lost a lot of good guys fightin' during the Rebellion and the Empire was a bad thing," he said gruffly.

He sneered, turning his head back.

"You'd think if she's that concerned about status, she'd be thrilled Vada's livin' with a princess," he went on, agitated. "You're a damn Organa. You're the last damn Organa."

Leia smiled grimly.

"There have always been some in the upper echelon who were not accepting of the idea of an adopted heiress," she said. "Blood is very important to the Elder Council - it's very important in many wealthy and-or aristocratic families. And Vaella seems to have married into her status - "

"So she shouldn't be so high and mighty!"

"Well, I agree," Leia said shortly, "but often, it's the women and men who have a barely tenable hold on their station that are the most rabid about preserving archaic traditions and a certain...elite aesthetic."

Leia pursed her lips.

"Half the reason my family could afford to be so progressive was because we were so wealthy, entrenched, and powerful that it would hardly topple the monarchy if I ran off with a, a - "

"Scoundrel?" Han supplied bitterly.

"Oh, no," Leia laughed at that. "Han, you're hardly the worst choice I could have made," she said, with an air of breaking it to him gently. "I think you'd likely be a general relief to my mother and father, given my disruptive attitude towards tradition."

Han pretended to look hurt that he wasn't unsatisfactory enough for the Organas.

"You're all talk," he retorted. "You were a good girl," he said, flashing a roguish grin.

"Ah, yes, in practice," Leia noted, arching a brow. "I talked a big talk," she snorted, "and started plenty of rumors about myself."

Han shook his head, incredulous.

"Why the hell - "

"Well, because if everyone thought I was a sort of irreverent, dangerous, unpredictable trollop, then there was no need for me to actually be one and place myself at any risk," Leia said logically. "But it did cause people to underestimate me - in terms of my intelligence - and overestimate me, which meant I got plenty of access and information I otherwise wouldn't."

He arched his eyebrows. Leia gave a small grin.

"Regardless - I am not defending Vaella," she said. "I'm simply pointing out that social climbers like her think respect is all about fear and perception. It can be, to an extent, but if there's nothing genuine at the core, your grip on power is limited." She sniffed, taking another sip of her tea. "Children shouldn't grow up in rigidly traditional homes, anyway," she muttered.

"You did," Han said. "You turned out alright," he pointed out warily. He was afraid the courts might disagree; might suggest that a traditional home was a better place for a child - whatever 'traditional' meant, in a galaxy this vast and diverse.

"My upbringing was traditional and reserved," Leia admitted, "but when I balked at it, or had my protests, someone usually sat me down to have a conversation about why we maintain certain ceremonies or do certain things, and it became a discussion of ideas, rather than a militant order to be followed."

Han considered her for a moment.

"Yeah, sounds a lot like my upbringing," he said seriously. "My ma just let me do whatever I want because I ignored her, too."

Leia laughed, and nudged him with her foot. She rolled her eyes fondly.

"That's an interpretation."

Han grinned. He sat back more heavily, settling into the couch, and sighed to himself, tilting his head back.

"Poor Viddy," he muttered, half to himself. "She gets so shook up, and I can't say nothin' to make it better," he said. "Can't wait for this shit to be over. Think it'll be easy to get an order of protection against Vaella, if I get custody?" he asked.

Leia lifted one shoulder, hesitant.

"I don't know," she murmured. "She's never physically harmed Vada, and sometimes those orders can be obnoxiously sticky to navigate. Courts often focus too heavily on 'the only harm is physical harm' as a deciding factor," she said. "I'm certain Payj Bulsara could tell you more about that," she added, referring to his lawyer. "She may be able to argue that it be attached as part of your custody terms - that Vaella caused emotional damage during the process, thus any attempts she might make at getting visitation must wait until such a time as Vada wishes to contact her - something like that," Leia said slowly. "However," she added crisply, "I highly doubt Vaella Vardalos is interested in the sort of blended family with us that visitation would require," she noted, "and we certainly would not let Vada be alone with her or her husband."

Leia paused.

"I, ah, assume you feel that way," she added, almost as an afterthought.

"'Course I do," Han agreed. "She was actually shaking," he said, reflecting on Vada's reaction. "Sometimes I kinda wonder why she likes me and you so much since she doesn't really know us that well, either, but damn. You'd think I could just show a judge her reaction to Vaella and that'd be the end of it," he muttered, his expression darkening.

"Mmhm," Leia hummed quietly. "She's had kindness and affection and attention here, probably even more than she got when she was with her mother," she said. "I don't say that to demean Visenya, either," she added firmly. "I'm just basing that on comments Vada has made. She's young and positive emotions like that being directed at her...it wouldn't take long for her to fall in love with it," she pointed out. "Unfortunately I think for the courts and social workers there is some element of, hmm," Leia waved one hand, swirling her tea a little, "trying to gauge whether the environment is actually balanced and good or if it's just happy from an immature perspective."

Han gave her a probing look, arching a brow.

"What I mean is," Leia began, frowning, "well, I think - for example, Vada would probably say she was happy here even if you were letting her eat candy three meals a day, skip school, and play with a shock-train blaster for fun, because some of those things are fun to kids, and she also just prefers it here," she elaborated, "but in reality, though she might be happy, that would generally be - poor care," Leia said dryly. "So, the courts need to be thorough."

She took another sip of the toddy.

"Of course, her home here is nothing like that. This is all a farce," she added, her voice growing stony. "I - no one - they cannot possibly hand Vada over to that woman, I just can't imagine - not when, among everything else, you have a Bulsara lawyer, and, well - "

"You said Vaella had Vada's blood and a lot of money," Han pointed out hollowly, thinking back to one of their earlier conversations.

"She does," Leia said, her tone clipped. "But I," she hesitated again, and then looked away cautiously. "I was serious, when I told her to try me. If she attempts to influence things, I am not above pulling strings, and I do very much have that power."

Han shifted reluctantly, a muscle in his jaw jumping.

"Wouldn't that get you in trouble?" he asked warily. "Y'know, be, uh...corrupt?"

Leia twitched a shoulder.

"Strictly speaking, yes, but it would be worse if I was doing it to stomp all over - say, if Visenya was alive, and had no real money or status, and then I used it to walk all over her, that would be horrifying. Much more abusive than protecting Vada from a woman who has already abandoned her once. There are grey areas, and if I'm being frank, I'm currently one of the few public figures who actually never has done herself a favor. The only people who would bat an eyelid would be my detractors, and they hate me anyway. I don't think my reputation would suffer if it were public knowledge that I let you keep your daughter in your home."

She sniffed.

"At least it wouldn't suffer in a way I would give a damn about."

Han let out a breath. He let his hand drift over to her leg, and rested it on her thigh, his fingertips pressing warmly into her soft leggings. The touch was full of silent, gentle gratitude.

"I really think I can do this," he said suddenly. "Got you to thank, for a lot of that, 'cause you...look, I hated that you left, Leia," he said. "Hated that you felt like you had to 'cause I couldn't get my shit together. When you were gone I realized all the stuff you'd been doin' for me. Paperwork, and talkin' to people, and all that," he muttered. "And I know you did that for me, 'cause you didn't know Vada. Not that you'd have just let a kid be neglected," he added hastily.

Leia pursed her lips in a small smile.

"I don't think I'd have got my ass in gear if you hadn't pushed me," he said, "and we might've...not talked, even though it took us kinda long to talk anyway, but we mighta not talked at all and who knows how bad that would've been later," he muttered bitterly. "Don't think I don't appreciate it." He leaned over and kissed her cheek, lingering there, squeezing her thigh again. He pulled back a little. "Can't really imagine not havin' Vada, now that I know about her, but I sure as hell didn't want to lose you."

Leia nodded, turning her head to him.

"Well, like I've always said," she said softly. "I wouldn't make you choose. You won't lose me," she paused, "unless you do something stupid," she quipped.

Han gave a hoarse laugh.

"I've done a lot of stupid things around you," he drawled. "Still got you fooled."

She smiled. She slowly finished off her tea, peering down into the bottom of the mug. Han watched her, rubbing the back of his head lazily.

"Want me to make you another?" he asked.

She cocked a brow at him, and cut her eyes at him, looking through her lashes.

"You tryin' to get me drunk, Solo?" she asked.

He snorted.

"If you want to get drunk, I will get you drunk," he promised, putting a hand over his heart.

"Oh, I think I'll wait until after we have custody to introduce Vada to Hungover Leia."

"Good idea," Han said seriously. "She's mean."

Leia kicked him gently. She handed him her empty mug, and he sat forward, setting it on the table next to his empty glass. Leia shifted, and rested her head on her palm, looking at him intently.

"You've got yourself a little knight in shining armor in there, you know," she murmured, her eyes lighting up.

He arched a brow, and she nodded solemnly.

"Vada," she clarified needlessly. "She asked me what my intentions are with you," she said. "She told me she thought you were very sad while I was gone. I think she was out for my blood," Leia joked softly.

Han furrowed his brow, and grimaced a little.

"She did?" he asked warily.

Leia laughed.

"It was sweet," she placated sincerely. "Very sweet. She was protective. She wanted to know if I would marry you."

Han turned his head a little too sharply, his expression going still. He gave her an intent look, and Leia drew back just a little, surprised. She pursed her lips, and Han scraped his teeth on the inside of his jaw, internally scowling at himself for reacting so theatrically. He tired to sound casual when he asked:

"What'd you say?"

"Well, I," Leia began. She laughed, rather faintly this time, and seemed flustered. "I...obfuscated. I told her I love you quite a lot. I don't know what to say to that, Han," she said, attempting to brush it off. She hadn't expected him to grow so instantly serious, and she was immediately anxious about the direction the conversation might take. It was too late for a fight, or anything resembling one.

"What did you want to say?" Han pressed.

Leia went from smiling slightly to chewing on her lip. She glanced away uncomfortably as Han studied her. He seemed curious; hopeful. She shrugged, exasperated.

"You're in a complicated position right now," she said carefully. "There is a lot going on, and I am not looking to complicate that," she said. She paused, and pursed her lips, hesitating. "I don't know," she murmured finally, sighing. "After the war ended and you still stuck around, I may have had assumptions that were...arrogant."

She couldn't deny to herself, or to him, she supposed, that she'd entertained fantasies of marrying him.

Han hesitated, his heart suddenly racing. For so long, he'd been in knots about this step, about whether it was realistic, about whether or not she'd wake up one day and decide her duty was to the Republic and no one else, and they needed her to marry for the good of that. For so long he had unshakable doubts about his own suitability for her, no matter what she said, and here, in this quiet evening, was an opportunity - what was the point of waiting for the right time, the perfect moment? It wasn't about all that, was it?

He swallowed hard.

"Would you?" he asked quietly.

Leia blinked, her brow knitting just slightly.

"Would I what?" she asked.

"Marry me," Han said. He cleared his throat. "Would you want to marry me?"

Leia sighed, almost painfully. She turned her head away, brushing her fingers over her lips, and then turned back, her cheek still cradled in her palm. The expression on her face was suddenly strained, pleading.

"Han," she said heavily. "I don't want to talk about this rhetorically."

She wasn't in the mood, and to be honest, she really had her heart set on him, and for her, a part of that happily-ever-after fantasy did include marriage. She knew some considered it to be an unnecessary legal ceremony, but it meant something to her.

"S'not rhetorical," Han said simply.

"You haven't asked me to marry you," Leia said edgily.

Han leaned forward, rubbing his forehead. He breathed out quietly, as if he'd been holding his breath for the entirety of the conversation, and then he got up. Leia shifted nervously, lifting her head off of her palm. She watched him, her eyes narrow. She unfolded her legs, hesitant, as he left the room. He came back as she was deciding whether or not to follow him, and he was holding his old blue jacket, and digging in the inside pocket of it. He pulled out his hand, clutched in a fist, and then threw the jacket aside, and sat down in front of her, his back straight against the kaf table.

He opened his hand, passed the object from palm to palm for a minute, and then placed it on her knee - a smooth, matte black box, a symbol both universal, and self-explanatory.

Leia's heart leaped so suddenly she felt lightheaded. Han pointed to the little box, taking a moment before he started to speak, as if bracing himself.

"I've had this for months," he said. "I got it after that battle at Nar Shaddaa," he told her. It had been one of his last major victories in the year after Endor - and it had been a brutal one. After a total lapse of communications, for days Leia - and the rest of the New Republic - had assumed he was dead. She still shuddered at the thought; still remembered how palpable the relief had been when she'd first heard from him after that. Too relieved for tears, she'd started shouting at him.

Han cleared his throat nervously.

"I kept draggin' my feet 'cause it never seemed like the right time," he shrugged, "figure there's never going to be a good time."

He nodded at the box earnestly.

"'Would you want to marry me' is a question, Leia," he said quietly. He swallowed hard. "I'm askin'. Right now."

The silence that followed was mythic. She held his gaze, her lips parted, and then she reached for the box. She clasped it in her hand, feeling the soft silk of the fabric against her skin. Her heart stuttered up through her ribs, and burst into her throat, beating there in a frenzy. It was so simple, so honest, and despite how completely insane it seemed to propose to her in the middle of a massive life adjustment such as meeting and forming a relationship with his child, she felt reassured by it.

She had been so damn uncertain of what her place in his life was, of who she should be to Vada - more than once, she had the bitter, fleeting thought that nothing would seem so unstable if they had just been married. Then, in their eyes and in the galaxy's, it would be obvious that Leia was permanent; Leia was the stepmother. Heretofore, it had just seemed like an uncertain mess, even if she knew how strong her commitment was. She had assumed after the war that she would marry him, and the twists and turns of the past couple of months had been killing her. Staring at the jewelry box that probably should have been a harbinger of something more complicated, she felt like it answered everything for them.

She brought the box to her chest and pressed it there, leaning forward to kiss him. Her free hand slipped against his cheek, running over his jaw and squeezing. She nodded, mouthing a silent yes against his lips. She bit the inside of her cheek, her breath catching - really trying to hold it together.

"Leia," he murmured, pulling her off the couch and down into his lap. She fell onto her knees, her eyes on his, one of his legs clasped between her thighs. "You didn't even look at the ring," he whispered in her ear.

"I don't care about the ring," she answered fiercely.

He rested his chin on her shoulder briefly, smirking, and pulled back.

"Humor me, okay, Sweetheart?"

She sucked in her breath and sat back a little, popping the jewelry box open with the softest of clicks. It was a gleaming platinum band nestled in pale blue velvet, a perfect circle adorned with an iridescent white opal cut in an elegant snowflake design. It caught the light in the palest shades of pink, violet, and gold, glimmering sagely. Not a diamond, and instantly, she didn't think a diamond would have made sense for them, anyway. They were less conventional than that - and besides, he knew how much she missed the glittering, kaleidoscope snowflakes that fell during the Aldera winters.

She licked her lips and looked up at him, nodding.

"It's perfect," she assured him simply.

Han put his hand over hers, holding the box in both of their hands, and kissed her neck. He rested his cheek on her shoulder, sliding an arm around her waist, and Leia leaned into him, her head spinning. She was dizzy with excitement and awe and so many other things, things like relief and wonder and even girlish joy.

He brushed his lips against her shoulder and leaned back, catching her eye.

"Hey, Leia," he said huskily. "I know Vada wasn't...part of the plan. Or part of whatever non-plan we were, y'know, livin' in. You don't have to...I'm not askin' you to marry me just 'cause I need someone to do my, uh," he paused, a funny look on his face, "well, the, uh, lawyer said you were doin' my emotional labor, when we last met," he muttered sheepishly.

"What?" Leia asked softly, amused, but Han just shook his head gently, continuing.

"You said I didn't have to choose, so'm not gonna. I want you both to fit."

Leia caught his jaw in her hand fiercely, holding his gaze.

"I know that, Han," she said firmly. "You said you bought this ring months ago. I believe you. I believe in you," she said. "I am saying yes to everything," she said, soft, but very clear. "You and Vada. I am in. How she'll feel about this is a separate matter, but you," she paused for emphasis, "you, Han," she smiled, "are never going to get rid of me."

He grinned at her, and Leia bit her lip. She wanted to tell him that, for what it was worth, Vada looked so much like him that she had felt a connection to her instantly. She had been an orphan, until she found Han, and she was scared, and no matter how old she had been when she lost her parents, Leia was an orphan, too, and she knew what it was like to be that kind of scared. There were parts of her that were disappointed that she couldn't look at Vada and claim her, but then, those same parts of her also found a deep protective energy and cried mine, mine, mine, if for no other reason than that she was Han's. Maybe they would miss out on being just Han and Leia, alone, wild and carefree...but she wasn't sure she had that sort of thing in her anymore, anyway.

She loved Han so completely and with such maturity that it outweighed anything else that intersected with this.

She tilted her head at him, both of them looking at each other in pleasant silence, and then he cleared his throat and reached for the box, plucking the ring out of its spot.

"Guess I better...do this, then," he said, taking her hand. He slipped the band on the second to last finger on her left hand. It balanced a little loosely, and Han grunted softly. "I'll get it sized right," he promised.

"Well," Leia said, removing the ring gingerly and sliding it onto her index finger, "on Alderaan, we wear them here," she murmured - and on her index finger, the ring fit snugly right over her knuckle. She splayed her fingers over her other palm, and smiled, her lower lip shaking. She bit down on it, and shook her head a little, breaking into a laugh of disbelief.

Han raised his brows in question, and she lifted her shoulders.

"I didn't - this is not - where I would think this night would end up," she said, breathless. "I - " she started, and then put a hand over her mouth, the ring's band cool and calming against her lips, and started to cry.

Han stared at her, caught somewhere between alarmed and amused. He analyzed her expression for a moment, decided they were happy tears, and then grinned broadly.

"Don't do that," he said. "Aw, don't cry - what is this, Your Worship?" he asked, trying to pry her hand away from her face.

Leia lifted her head up, her eyes bright.

"I'm - I may be - very cold, but I'm still - I'm still a girl," she hissed, pressing her adorned hand to her heart, "and my boyfriend just asked me to marry him."

Han smirked, touching her jaw.

"I always thought it impractical that I would marry purely for love, and after everything that happened, the idea of ever feeling this happy at all seemed impossible," Leia gasped. "I've thought about this more than you think, you know," she admitted, "and I really want to marry you," she finished aggressively, leaning forward to kiss him.

He wrapped his arms around her and closed his eyes, cupping the back of her head in his hand. He held on tight, returning her kiss until they were breathless, and then some, and Leia drew away a little, the look in her eyes wildly happy, and even playfully chastising.

"Had you been keeping this ring in your pocket for months?" she asked.

Han's neck flushed. He shrugged, and muttered something - the short, simple answer was yes; but the complicated explanation was he didn't want it somewhere she could easily find it, and yet he also wanted to be prepared in case the moment struck. He glanced down at the box that had tumbled to the floor beside them, and Leia tapped his jaw, her nose inches from him.

"You really thought I might say no?" she asked huskily.

Han continued to look sheepish, and Leia clicked her tongue softly.

"Han," she murmured, running her fingers through his hair. She shook her head. "You nerf."

"Yeah," Han said thickly, nudging her jaw with his nose. "Luke said I was bein' stupid, too."

Leia laughed under her breath. She lifted her chin high, and rubbed her face against his hair, drying her eyes.

"You're not cold, y'know," Han mumbled, kissing her temple. "You're not."

She looked at him gratefully, and drew back. She kept her eyes on him, her heart starting to settle down a little, and she sat back, disentangling herself. She leaned against the couch, facing him, and they sat on the floor facing each other. She pursed her lips, and Han sensed there was something on her mind, and so he paid attention, waiting.

"There is something," she said, the words coming so suddenly they surprised her. "Something I need to - I mean, well," she broke off. "I have things to figure out and I'm," she laughed ruefully, "obviously not at peace with my - bloodline, but I think, I'm pretty sure," she broke off again, and Han looked anxious, unsure what she was going to say.

Leia took in a deep, steadying breath.

"Babies," she said, very cautiously. "I'm...Han, I'm going to want one," she decided. She knew there was a lot of uncertainty in her mind, and in her soul about her heritage, and the power she stood to pass on, but she felt it was best to be as open about this as she could. "I think," she said carefully. "At least one."

"Oh," Han said. To her surprise, he looked both relieved, and amused. "Yeah. I mean, yeah," he said again. "I thought you would. I figured," he snorted. "I thought you were gonna give me some other terrible ultimatum," he laughed.

"Like what?"

"Dunno," he shrugged. He nodded. "I don't not want kids," he said honestly. He held out one hand. "I mean, Vada's...she great. She's...and I didn't get to see her when she was a baby or learnin' to walk and talk and all that," he said. "I'd like to. See that," he said. "With you."

Leia felt her face go pink.

"I don't mean now," she added quickly, her voice going faint. "We have plenty of time," she assured him.

Han reached for her hand. He nodded, lifting it in his, and looking at the ring on her finger. His eyes glinted with pride, and he held it up higher.

"Hell," he said. "Look at that."

He flashed her a charming smirk, and she curled her fingers in delicately, running her free hand through her hair. She bit her lip gently, on the verge of actually - possibly - squealing like she hadn't since she was fourteen or fifteen years old. She was going to get married, he was going to marry her - ! Han clutched her hand tightly, and started to get up, grabbing the empty mug and the empty tumbler off the table.

"Toast," he said firmly. "We're havin' a toast," he decided.

Leia watched him go, taking her hand and holding it against her heart. She then splayed it out before her, staring at the ring, and swallowed hard. She boosted herself off the floor, tucking her hair back, and sitting on the edge of the sofa. She picked up the little box, putting it aside on the table. She didn't think she'd start wearing the ring right away; she didn't want to cause a ruckus, and she felt there were some things they should speak with Vada about first, so she didn't feel shocked or left out.

Still, this felt so real and secure and final, and she still felt breathless, marveling at how this evening - this whole week, in fact, could have been so grueling. It had run the emotional gamut from elated and optimistic to disheartened and angry and everything in between. She was gone and then she was back and then everything in the middle seemed like nonsense, because this is what they should have done from the beginning, and this answered every question that could come up about what exactly Leia was to Han - she was non-negotiable, and the courts -

Leia blinked. Han, coming back into the room with two glass tumblers and an uncorked bottle of sparkling red, stopped. There was a different, intent, determined look on her face; a look he'd often seen when she was deep in thought and on the verge of triumph. She blinked at him, the look in her eyes blazing, and turned, tilting her head up with purpose.

"Han," she said, and he tilted his head, immediately recognize how serious her tone was. "Does it matter to you when we get married?"

He cocked his head.

"Uh, no," he said slowly. "No."

"And it doesn't matter where?" she asked. "I take it - you would be satisfied with a small ceremony? Very small?" she emphasized.

Han stared at her.

"I don't care," he said honestly, a little alarmed at her intensity. "I haven't thought, uh," he arched his brows. "I thought you'd have the ideas," he admitted, giving her an engaging little half smile.

"I have ideas," Leia said quietly. "Han," she said again. "Let's get married."

"Mmhmm," Han hummed, looking at her with amusement. "Yeah. That's what we're gonna do. Hey, I asked first," he joked.

She stood, coming to stand in front of him. She put her hand over his firmly.

"I don't mean in a few months. I don't mean after things settle with the hearing," she said, her eyes bright with conviction. "Let's get married before the court hearing."

Han almost dropped the wine. He stared at her, incredulous.

"Leia, that's in two weeks," he informed her kindly, as if breaking it to her gently.

"Yes, and I should have married you on Endor," she retorted flippantly. "It was cultural tradition for the Ewoks to perform a wedding during celebrations like that. The chief asked if I would like one. I declined."

"You what?" Han yelped under his breath.

"I didn't want to scare you!"

"Who's the nerf now?" Han accused.

Giddiness rose in Leia's chest, and she wrestled with it, her eyes sparkling. She shook her head.

"What I mean is - we both know we want this," she said. "Nothing else matters. And we know that on paper, a legally binding marriage looks stable. It's a public, easily interpreted commitment that isn't viewed skeptically - at least, not usually."

Han was nodding slowly, intrigued.

"That's, ah," he started, his mouth dry. "That's - you got a point, and - don't you, don't you want a wedding?" he asked worriedly. "Dress? Flowers? All that? Big thing?"

"No," Leia said certainly. "I want you."

She licked her lips.

"And I want everyone to stop acting like there is some question regarding what we are."

His knuckles turned white as he gripped the wine, and he closed his mouth, swallowing hard. He set his jaw - only because he wasn't sure he wanted to look too thrilled with the idea - but it was thrilling. That he could go from living apart from Leia, to proposing to her, to married to her, within the span of a week or so...the only thing he could think to do, as he gave her a strong, affirmative nod, was laugh.

She delicately removed the glasses and bottle from his hands, and then threw herself at him, bracing her hands on his shoulders and giving a little jump. Han caught her, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, touching his jaw, and tilting his head back, her lips parted. She pushed her hand through his hair, her eyes on his affectionately.

It was impulsive. It was unexpected. It was a special brand of lunacy combined with their mutual ache to never question what they were to each other again - and it was a wild strategy that just happened to bring them both relief, and happiness.

---

-alexandra