AN: sorry guys, something funky happened with the chapters. I reposted.

New Alderaan

For Leia, speaking with the Naberries of Naboo was always a bittersweet experience. She emerged from those conversations feeling a profound sense of both loss and joy. They were, after all, the only link to her birth mother. Not to mention, the few family she had left.

Today's conversation had been a long and charged one, she thought to herself as she leisurely made her way to her and Han's bedroom for the night. She splayed her open hand over her lower abdomen, caressing it tenderly as she recalled the ecstatic look on her aunt Sola's face when she informed her she was five months pregnant. Sola had asked, no, demanded, Leia and Han visit Naboo soon. She'd agreed, of course. She and Han hadn't been to Naboo since their honeymoon and that was almost three years ago now. Though she hardly needed an excuse, Leia would hungrily seize any opportunity to visit her birth mother's home world.

Her exchange with Sola had ended on a slightly sour note, though. Vader had visited her and her ageing parents in Naboo earlier that day and, apparently not for the first time. She hadn't been as upset as she thought she might be and she wondered why that was. With nonchalance disguising genuine curiosity, Leia asked her aunt what they spoke about on those visits.

"Your mother, mostly." Sola had said with a little smile and added, "I've given him some of her things."

It seemed that in addition to his children, Vader had also sought to reconnect with the Naberries, his deceased wife's family. It was the first time Leia had heard of this and she wondered why Sola had waited until now to tell her. "Why didn't you tell me this before?" Leia asked, trying hard to keep the accusation out of her voice.

"Well, dear, you never really asked and I didn't think you'd understand. I thought, maybe now that you're about to become a parent, you might be ready." Her aunt then gave her a look that made Leia's stomach turn. She'd seen it before, on Han and Luke. It was pleading. Pleading for her to…what? Forgive him? Sola's voice softened and almost as if she were afraid he would hear her, softly said "he puts flowers on her grave. Every time."

A grave he put her in, Leia wanted to point out. But she wasn't so sure any more. She'd asked Sola and her maternal grandparents what they knew of her mother's death, but no one was able to fill in any obvious gaps. No one in the Galaxy knew what happened in the final days of Padme Amidala's life, or the circumstances surrounding hers and Luke's birth. The only person who might be able to shed any light on this was Vader himself.

Sola had, however, told Leia countless stories of Padme's childhood; growing up in beautiful Naboo, being elected Queen and then becoming a Senator in the Republic. On one occasion she had even told her of her secret relationship with the young Jedi Padawan, Anakin Skywalker. Her father had broken all Jedi rules and codes to marry Padme, whom he'd loved for years. Sola had been one of the few people in the Galaxy to know of her mother's forbidden marriage to the young Jedi and had visited her sister and brother-in-law in Coruscant on numerous occasions. Their marriage had been a happy and passionate one, but tragically short-lived. She'd also known of the pregnancy. Sola had come to visit Padme while Anakin was away fighting in the Clone Wars and returned to Naboo a couple of months before her sister was due to give birth, vowing to return once the baby was born. She would never see Padme or Anakin again. Like many others, she had been led to believe Darth Vader killed Anakin Skywalker.

"And in a way, I suppose he did," Sola had said sadly.

"You forgive him?" Leia tentatively asked her aunt.

The smile that crossed Sola's face radiated absolute serenity, a long sought-after peace that Leia was still struggling to attain. "Yes, Leia. I finally have."

Unable to find words in response and with the faint feeling her aunt regarded her silence with some measure of disappointment, their conversation had pretty much ended there.

She reached the bedroom to find Han in bed already, reading over some brief or other. She leaned against the doorjamb and watched her husband in silence for a moment. Han excelled in his role as her Minister of Defense, but she knew he hated the paperwork and glad-handing that went along with it. Her husband was a man of action. Still, he'd risen to the challenge. His pragmatism and gut instincts served him well in his new role.

"Admiring the view, Your Highness?" He finally took his eyes of the pages on his lap. He turned to her with a wide smirk and wriggled his eyebrows suggestively.

She couldn't help but laugh and shake her head at his antics. "I just spoke to Sola. I told her about the baby."

He smiled widely, as he always did at the mere mention of his unborn child. "Let me guess," he raised his index finger to his temple, closing his eyes in a dramatic show of psychic pretense, "I foresee a trip to Naboo in the very near future."

"Well, yes, I did promise her we'd visit soon," Leia said, pushing away from to door to take a step forward into the room. She stood on the other side of the bed.

"Hey, any excuse to get out of these security briefings," he said, gathering his papers and placing them on the bedside table.

"Vader visited her today," Leia said suddenly. She watched his reaction closely.

Han's eyes shot to his wife and, as usual when the "V" word came up between them, he aimed for humor. "And she's still alive?" His eyes widened in mock disbelief.

She crossed her arms across her chest, a gesture that was getting harder to perform with every week her pregnancy progressed. "Not funny," Leia said. Han may have unofficially forgiven Vader, but she had not.

Han sobered. "And?" he probed.

She didn't want to ask, but she needed to know. "Do you think I'm being unreasonable?"

She didn't think so, not really, but everyone else clearly did. Luke, Lando, her cousin Pooja. Even Sola had essentially told her she should forgive Vader. She had to know if Han also thought so. At the end of the day it was his opinion that mattered the most to her.

He watched her calmly for a moment as he chose his words carefully. After a moment he said, "I think you have your reasons."

She narrowed her eyes at his ambiguous answer. "I'm the politician in the family, Han. Give it to me straight. I'm a big girl."

He smiled at her and threw his arms in the air in an exaggerated gesture of surrender. He became serious suddenly and answered her truthfully. "I think you're being unreasonable."

"I'm not, though!" She whined, stomping her foot like she used to do in her early teen years when she didn't get her way, effectively nullifying her previous statement. "Han, after everything he's put us through, how can you even-"

Han stood up and faced his wife across their bed. He raised his open palm to interrupt her. "I'm going to stop you right there, Leia." His expression was weary, but he kept his tone gentle. "I know what he's done. Yes, it was bad. It was evil. He was a monster."

"He is a monster."

"Do you want to hear what I have to say or not?" He asked impatiently. She nodded and he continued, his tone softening. "I'm worried about you."

That took her by surprise. "Me? Why?"

"Leia, this hatred and anger you're hanging on to…it's dangerous. Don't you see that? Why are you so determined to not let it go?"

"Because it's not that easy." She countered.

"It's also not that hard. What are you getting out of it? You accused your father of only thinking of himself, but what about you? Are you thinking of how much this whole thing is hurting Luke? Or me?"

Anger started swirling within her and she instantly clamped it, knowing deep down that her husband was right. Her anger at Vader was justified, she had no doubt about that, but it had also outlived its usefulness. Still, to hear her own husband suggest she dismiss it so easily stung her. "I thought you'd be on my side."

"I am always on your side, Leia. But I'm your husband, and I'm allowed to point out when you're wrong."

She nearly cried, and it had nothing to do with her hormones. She struggled to keep her voice from breaking, but still it came out weak. "You think I'm wrong?"

"About this? Yes." He said without hesitation.

"So I should just forgive him?"

"I think you should at least try."

"I can't forget everything!" She spat out angrily.

"For Sith's sake, Leia, no one's asking you to forget!" he yelled back. "Trust me, he's not likely to ever forget either. He has to live with that and all the things you said to him. That's punishment enough."

She baulked, taking a step back. Her eyes widened in horror. "You're actually defending him? After what Vader did to us…to you."

"I'm defending your father, not Vader." Han continued before she had a chance to chime in. "You haven't even given him a chance to explain."

"I don't want to hear his explanations!"

He threw his hands in the air in frustration. "You're proving my point."

She took a deep breath and tried to rein in the tears that wouldn't take much to fall. She closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down. "I don't trust him, Han. I'm afraid that if I do…"

Watching his wife struggle with her emotions, Han's voice softened again. They were getting somewhere and he was sure as hell going to get what was really behind all this out of her. "What? What are you so afraid of?"

"He tortured me, Han," she said finally, meeting his eyes again. Her bottom lip trembled but she kept her voice steady, struggling to keep the memory of those hours on the Death Star with Vader in check. "I have never been so terrified in my life."

Han nodded and took a step around the bed towards her. "I know, darling."

"No, you don't," she said, taking a step back from him. He stopped and she continued. "I thought I was going to die, slowly and in pain. Han, he hunted us down like dogs. Are you forgetting what he did to you in Bespin? I thought I'd never see you again!"

"He was a different man." Han reasoned.

"How? Because he said so?"

"He's trying, Leia. He will never be able to prove himself to you if you don't give him a second chance."

She shook her head. "He doesn't deserve one. Not after what he's done. It's too late."

"It's never too late, and everyone deserves a second chance." He raised a hand to tilt her chin up, forcing her to look up at him. "I'm proof of that."

Her eyes widened, dismayed that he would compare himself to Vader. "It's not the same."

"Maybe not," he said letting her go but keeping his eyes on hers. "But there's a reason there was a bounty on my head, Leia. Sometimes you forget that."

"Why are you pushing this?"

"Because I don't like seeing you like this," he said with a nod at her. "Or having to walk on eggshells around you every time I visit Luke, or seeing your father's face when he realized he'd probably never meet his grandchild."

Her hand instinctively flew to her bulging abdomen, cradling it protectively. "You told him about the baby?"

"Yes, Leia, he asked how you were and I told him you were pregnant." Han said with an unapologetic shrug. "He said to tell you, congratulations."

A horrible realization washed over her. "How many times have you seen him?"

"A few," Han admitted easily, "and I also don't like that I feel I have to keep that from you. Leia, what are you going to tell our kids when they ask about all this?"

She had also thought about that. More than she cared to admit. But everything that had happened and everything she felt preceded that. "Don't bring the children we don't yet have into the argument."

"Soon I won't have to." He said pointing at her pregnant belly before turning the finger on her. "And by the way, I intend on our children knowing him." She raised her eyebrow at him and his finger, and for a split second Han wondered if he should point out how much that little gesture reminded him of Vader. Wisely, he didn't. "In fact, I insist."

"Do you, now?" She asked coolly.

"Yes." Han said adamantly. He waved the finger in her general direction and added, "this anger is toxic, and his guilt is crushing him. Luke and I are caught in the middle with no way to fix it and I'm not having my child thrown into this, too."

"You're making it sound like this whole situation is my fault, Han." She said, wounded. "I just…I don't believe him."

"Then believe me, Leia. He is really, truly sorry." Han said desperately. "For everything. He's not asking to be your best friend. Just that you try to get past this. Please try. I'm asking you now. For our family."

It was a dirty trick, bringing their child into it. But it worked. She felt guilty already about the possibility she might have poisoned her child with her own anger. That she would be the one keeping their family apart. She took a seat on the edge of their bed and looked up at Han uncertainly. "I wouldn't know where to start."

Han exhaled slowly, realizing it had finally happened; her anger was melting. His lips pulled into a smirk. "How about telling him how you killed Jabba the Hutt."

She smiled at the memory of strangling the vile Hutt with his own chain. "You told him about that?"

"Well, I didn't tell him about the outfit he made you wear," he said teasingly.

He was rewarded with a playful slap on his thigh. "Han!"

"Are you kidding? He loves that story!" He placed a knee beside her and bent down to kiss her, his lips brushing softly against hers. A smile spread across his face when she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him down to her as she lay back on the bed. "Probably not as much as I do, though."

He followed her down, covering her body with his. He loved that their arguments always ended like this. They would continue their conversation in the morning, but for now, it was a good start. "My warrior princess."

"Mmm," she moaned as she felt his weight settle over her and her hands flew to the buttons of his shirt. "My beautiful pirate."

He braced himself up, enough to be able to look down at her flushed face. "I love you," he said huskily, brushing a strand of hair from her face tenderly.

She looked up into his eyes and smiled happily. "I know."

AN: Hi guys, another chapter already! Yay!

I had a lot of fun writing this one. I was starting to get a little fed up with Leia's attitude too. I figured, if anyone can put her in her place it would be Han. Not that she's not entitled to her feelings, but enough already!

There's just one more chapter after this. You can probably guess who's going to be in it and possibly how it might go. It's going to be pretty angsty. I have most of it written, but it needs a little more work. So, keep your panties on and your eyes open.

I'd like to thank all those who've reviewed. There was a moment there in the early chapters where I just got stuck and was going to pull the plug on the story, but then I went through the reviews and thought it would be really mean to just do that. I hate it when it happens too, you get into a story and then it's just left unfinished. So anti-climatic.

Thank you all for following and reviewing:

Sandcate – I agree, what Vader's done is unforgivable, but at some point she has to realize her anger achieves nothing now. Don't worry though, they're not just going to kiss and make up.

Rookworm – I know I kinda left Luke out of the loop on this fic. But I really did want to focus on Leia and Vader.

Rosesforever294 – thanks! Just one more chap now. I would totally consider making this longer, or a sequel, but to be honest, I don't think I could pull it off. But…never say never.

Angie – Thanks. Yes, this family has truly suffered.

Sweetsong128 – It was pretty hard for me to write those last few paragraphs too!

tmharris – ass clinching? Wow! That's sounds intense.

Katyperry22, Ccp, ILDV, IntelEwok, Nilihil, Alley0100, tojolou, Imnotraven16, VFSNAKE, kittyhawk09, Megan, mythical-dragon48, Paully, Charmedjedi, BabaBiP, SOONsoonSOON, Kenna Hijja, Kingsdaughter613, Iwould'vebeenAlexia, elou894, MissCHSparkles, Nijari, Admiral Daala, ad23, missiongirl87, Coco, Ching Chang Chong, Cyranothe2nd, cooliokiddo, SZ, Niju-Vala, I love dance, freekle, LadyDae, Kelaria, Cherokee Jedi, ItSMeAmbeR, Zigflorian, and…Guest.

Please review and see you next chapter!

Toodles,

Andrea