Chapter Ten: The Viceroy of Alderaan

"If you die will I get word that you're gone; Or will I hear it in passing conversation; Will I stop short and fall to the ground?"

Dispatch, "Elias"

--

Until Mace Windu found him on Naboo, living under the protection of Senator Jar Jar Binks and the Naberrie family, Bail Organa assumed his only daughter to be dead. By some fortunate turn in the Force, Senator Binks had requested his presence as a mediator for a Nabooan civil peace summit, and Bail had departed Alderaan the same day Leia's ship was taken captive by the Imperials. It was a three day trip, and his home planet had already been decimated by the time he dropped out of hyperspace. Pooja Naberrie, niece of Padme Amidala, underground Alliance supporter, and one of Leia's dear friends in the Imperial Senate, maintained that it was too dangerous for Bail to return to the system and insisted he stay on Naboo. Alderaan, she claimed, was as much a warning to the galaxy as it was a political assassination, and Bail would only remain safe as long as the Empire presumed him dead.

As difficult as it was to accept, Pooja had added, they had to assume that Leia had been executed, too, not long after Alderaan was destroyed. Bail had received a transmission saying that everyone aboard the Tantive IV had been killed, but the Imperials couldn't have been more obvious in their actions by choosing his home as the planet to be destroyed first. Clearly, they had taken Leia hostage and interrogated her, and clearly the targeting of Alderaan was a rather aggressive form of negotiation. And though Bail knew that Pooja was right, he still clung tightly, secretly, to his belief in his daughter's unwavering will. If there was a way to survive, his little Lelila would.

Bail had surrendered himself to the mind-numbing task of hiding, running small missions for the Rebellion when he could, for over two years on Naboo until the day that Mace Windu announced his presence at the Binks home. Windu was yet another person that Bail had assumed dead. It was widely believed that the Jedi had been murdered during the purges twenty years ago, and though Windu had survived his battle with Chancellor Palpatine, he had also been forced into hiding. He became a medic and traveled throughout the galaxy, healing those that needed it most desperately, and had been on Ryquin when he first encountered Leia Organa. Bail welcomed the presence of his old friend and even more the news of his daughter's survival, but he had been grossly unprepared for what Windu would reveal to him next.

They had taken afternoon tea in a private garden in the Naberrie home, surrounded only by the lush greens and blues of Nabooan foliage, when Windu explained what the Jedi had learned about Bail's adopted daughter and her unknown twin brother.

"I thought the future was always in motion," Bail mused, quietly, after a sip of tea.

Windu nodded.

"Yes, it is."

"But you say this with such certainty."

"You would rather Leia remain unprotected?" The older Jedi asked the question as if almost to himself, but Bail felt himself bristle anyway.

"Of course I want her to be safe," he replied, a cordial warning. "But I don't want to see my daughter imprisoned by some future that she didn't chose for herself."

"You think that she wouldn't chose this?" Windu challenged. "She has devoted her life to the Alliance, to peace. If she's anything like her father," he smiled softly, as if to say even he didn't consider Anakin Skywalker to be anything but the man that sired Leia, "She will embrace that which is right."

--

The soldiers on Echo Base were nearly silent as the elegant ship glided effortlessly into the main hangar bay, rendered speechless by its sudden appearance. The few members among them that were Alderaanian knew it exactly, but couldn't believe that this relic from their planet, this ghost ship, was truly before their eyes. Any residual wedding celebration, any careless snow wars, had all come to an abrupt halt. There was a collective holding of breath as the ramp released with a hiss and the ship's sole occupant made his descent into the base.

The silence was pierced by one scream.

"Father!"

Leia sprinted into the hangar bay in enough time to see Bail take his final step off the ship and had forgotten any lesson she had ever learned about displaying emotion in public as the crowds parted in front of her and she ran into her father's open embrace. He encircled her quickly into his arms, his eyes glistening with the same tears that his daughter had already let fall, tears of astonishment, of anguish, of love. Bail smiled at her when she finally pulled away, brushing a thumb across her cheek.

"My Lelila."

Leia had a smile on her face that most people in the base had never seen before. Carlist Rieekan had seen it, of course, as he watched her grow up on Alderaan, joyful and vibrant under the close care of her father. Luke had seen it once before, when he had detailed a particularly embarrassing injury that he had witnessed Han receive, the two of them hiding out in their friend's room in the medcenter as he recovered. Han had seen it more than anyone else, always in their most private moments together, always when he had gotten her to open up about her childhood. It was a brilliant smile, one that revealed to the galaxy that she had forgotten everything else but her elation in that moment. It was a smile that was contagious, infectious, that appeared on the countenances of everyone she passed.

It was a smile that was a little too easy to fall in love with.

The tender reunion between Leia and Bail was over the moment they pulled out of their embrace, replaced then by a swarm of admirers and old friends that shared Leia's disbelief at her father's survival. Rieekan was at the front of the fray, welcoming his dear old friend back to the living, and escorting the Viceroy and his daughter to more comfortable and private quarters. Luke watched them retreat, slowly making his way to stand next to Han and Chewie. Han's eyes were following Leia as well, and though the sides of his mouth ticked upward in a small smile, Luke noticed the slightest glint of ache reflected in the hardened smuggler's hazel orbs. He wondered briefly about his friends' disappearance during the snowball fight. Both Han and Leia had ducked behind the shield generator, causing Wedge to throw Luke a knowing grin. Luke had rolled his eyes in reaction. Though he had long since accepted that the Force had other plans for Leia and him, he still didn't like to let his mind wander in the direction of his closest two friends in a more private moment.

Luke considered briefly asking the other man what was on his mind, then thought better of it and suggested that they find any leftover reception food before the mess droids began to clean up the base. Han nodded but said nothing, and the two men and the Wookiee walked together down the icy hallway to the mess hall, where the last remnants of Pax and Wedge's wedding reception were just beginning to be cleared away.

"I wonder how her father managed to survive," Luke mused around a mouthful of food as they sat down at a table that had been pushed haphazardly into a corner in the midst of the celebration. Chewie growled in equal wonder, but Han only shrugged, almost absentmindedly.

"One thing's for sure," Luke added after a moment's silence, "We won't be seeing much of Leia in the next few days."

Luke's prediction proved to be correct. Though both men met Leia intermittently in the hallways, she ceased what had become a ritual for the four of them over the past three years. Of course, she only joined them when no one was scheduled to be on duty for the night cycle or when she wasn't in meetings until late or when she and Han were speaking, but it had nonetheless become a tradition. Leia would take her evening meal with them, and they would spend time together until an hour before lights out, sometimes playing variations on sabacc that Han taught them, sometimes telling funny stories, sometimes doing nothing at all. Since her father had arrived at Echo Base, however, Leia had spent the past five nights taking her evening meal with High Command and talking with her father and Rieekan, leaving little time for her old friends at all. Han, Luke, and Chewie understood of course, Luke a little more than Han, but they still all missed the camaraderie with Leia though they refused to admit it.

On the sixth night, however, Leia was already waiting for them when they arrived in the mess hall, looking rather apologetic.

"My father would like the three of you to join us for dinner tonight in his quarters." She hesitated, then added with a smile, "And I would like to apologize for being so distant these past few days."

"Distant is hardly how I would describe it," Han grumbled, drawing warning looks from Leia, Luke, and Chewie. Luke then shook his head and placed a reassuring hand on the princess' shoulder.

"We understand, Leia. You just got your father back. And we would love to join you for dinner, wouldn't we, Han?"

The older man rolled his eyes but gave an exaggerated gesture, indicating that Leia should lead the way.

If Luke had been expecting an elegant dinner in elaborate quarters, he would have been disappointed. High Command's section of the base was not unlike that of the general population, with the small exception being additional office space. Bail's quarters were identical to Leia's: a low-ceilinged room that served as kitchen, dining room, and office that was separated by a thin partition that led into a single-bunk bedroom and small attached refresher. The walls were made of ice, as was every other wall in Echo Base, but somehow the presence of five people and a Wookiee made the quarters warm, if not comfortable. The four of them, plus Bail and Rieekan, crowded into the main room, sitting on the three small chairs and the floor, and dined on a meager dinner of rationed slop identical to the one being served in the main mess hall. Luke was courteous enough not to comment on the small quarters, but Han just couldn't help himself as he took a seat on the floor next to Leia's chair.

"Guess it's not dinner at the royal palace, huh?"

Luke wanted to bury his head in his hands as the words were coming out of Han's mouth, but surprisingly, Bail, Rieekan, and Leia were all smiles at the comment.

"Wouldn't be fair if it were anything else, would it, Captain Solo?" Rieekan asked.

Han shrugged.

"I dunno. I've never been one for playing fair."

There was a small chuckle and Luke couldn't help but marvel at Han's effortless ability to defuse what could have been an awkward and intimidating meal within moments of entering the presence of one of the most powerful leaders in the galaxy, who also happened to be the father of the woman that they both adored so much.

The meal progressed well, with Han and Luke dominating the conversation with exciting stories they had shared with Leia, most of which involved the Viceroy's daughter being in some sort of life-threatening danger, all of which ended in the saving of her life. Leia found the stories embarrassing, but Bail couldn't help but feel a swell of pride when he learned of his little girl's unwavering devotion to the Alliance despite his worries about the risk to her life. He felt a swelling of gratitude, too, however, at the two young men that valued Leia's life more than their own.

Though Bail knew exactly who Luke Skywalker was and his relationship to his daughter, he did nothing to belie this information. Mace had warned him that the time was not yet right for the twins to learn of their relationship or their heritage. He considered telling them for a moment when Carlist mentioned he had observed something of a love triangle between Han, Luke, and Leia over the past three years, but the feeling passed as his old friend continued to say that Luke and Leia's relationship was one of dear friends and nothing further. The news came as a relief to Bail, who was loathe to reveal to Leia the identity of her true father, particularly in the wake of the harm she had suffered at his hands in recent years.

Carlist also made sure that Bail Organa knew of his daughter's relationship with the smuggler Han Solo. Though the two of them fell into constant bickering that often escalated to the point of the silent treatment for days or even weeks after, it was blatantly clear to the other members on base that their fighting was little more than a thinly-veiled attempt to cover deeper feelings, truer feelings, scarier feelings that neither of them were quite ready to accept. Carlist had done his very best to play Alliance matchmaker, sending them on missions together when he could, but both Leia and Han were entirely too stubborn to make the first move.

Bail found even more comfort in this news than he had the news of Leia's friendship with her own brother. He revealed to Carlist what he had learned of Leia's future from Mace Windu, providing his friend with only the most necessary of information lest he be captured and questioned in the matter. But the old Jedi had told him that Leia's future was implicitly dependent upon and intertwined with Han's, intertwined in a way that Bail was unsure he ever would have chosen for his little girl, but he was pleased to learn that, despite whatever reservations she had, Leia would thankfully find happiness and joy in the man that the Force had picked to be her protector and savior years before she was ever born.

Dinner quickly came to a close when Leia glanced at her wrist chrono and realized that lights out had come five minutes before. Luke, and Chewie took their leave almost immediately, Leia lingered for a moment longer and then made her way back to her quarters, but Bail stopped Han quietly as he began to follow Leia out the door.

"Might I have a moment, Captain?"

Han froze but didn't immediately turn. His mind began to race, he began to replay a thousand reasons why Leia's father might want to speak to him, none of them good. When he finally turned to face the Viceroy of Alderaan, he did so with his very best indifferent sabacc face, despite the fact that the beat of his heart had quickened noticeably.

"Yes, sir?" Han cast a sideways glance at Rieekan, who sat back down on the chair he had vacated just seconds ago. Bail did the same, so Han followed suit, this time taking his own chair instead of a place on the floor.

"Captain, I understand that you have been a constant support to my daughter for the past three years."

Han couldn't help but snort.

"Sir, I don't know where you've heard these rumors, but I doubt that Leia would say I offer her much in the way of support. Heart attacks, maybe, but not support."

Rieekan grinned at that, and though Bail's face remained peacefully stoic, his eyes betrayed the slightest hint of amusement.

"Leia told me that you replaced her nerf doll on the first anniversary of-" a pause, "Alderaan."

Han suddenly found his boots very interesting.

"I did."

"And that you saved her life when she was stricken with illness after an aid operation."

"I don't think you could say I saved her life. I just did what the medic said."

Bail waved his hand.

"Captain Solo, you have been a protector to my daughter on a number of occasions, and for that, I am truly grateful."

Han glanced up and nodded slightly. He got the eerie feeling that the Viceroy didn't ask him to stay behind just to thank him for saving Leia from a few tight spots.

He was right.

"Han," Bail began, surprising the younger man slightly as he used his first name, "I understand that you have run into a problem with an Outer Rim crime lord?"

Han felt himself flush ever so slightly but said nothing. Bail smiled as if to reassure him.

"We all have prices on our head, Captain, but I understand that yours is more pressing than most."

"I don't know if you can call it that." He looked up and caught the older man's eye squarely. "I'm just not the kind of guy to beg off of old debts."

"And that's very noble, so please don't make any mistake as to how I feel. But Carlist says you're planning on leaving soon to take care of this problem?"

Again, Han nodded. For a man who was very good at reading people, he had no idea where this conversation was going.

"Have you thought about what you might do after you pay this debt?"

Finally, Han got it. A wave of realization passed over his face, resulting in a crooked smile that was anything but friendly.

"I'll get to that, sir, if I make it out of Jabba's palace alive."

Bail and Rieekan exchanged a glance. The three men were silent for a long moment before Bail finally sighed and asked the last question Han ever expected to hear.

"Han, how do you feel about Leia?"

The smuggler opened his mouth to say something, but found that words had left him completely. Instead he shook his head and stood. He had been interrogated many times before, but never once had such a line of questioning made him feel as though the walls were closing in around him. One thing was sure, he was finished with this conversation. He nodded to both men and then turned to let himself out of Bail's quarters.

"Han."

Bail's voice caused him to freeze at the door and grit his teeth in frustration, but he did not turn around.

"The battle for what you love is the only battle that is ever worth fighting."