Leia passed through the terminal gate and looked down the long row of luggage claims. She checked the display: claim J.
Bail and Breha were waiting at row J, and they swept her up into warm hugs.
"Oh, baby, we've missed you so much! Luke, and Grandma—Han—we've all missed you," Breha said, brushing a tear from her eye. "Come on, dear. Everybody's waiting to see you." Bail snagged her bags from the conveyor and they walked out to the car. Leia dozed in the backseat on the way home.
Luke was waiting in the kitchen when they drove in. Leia dropped her bag on the counter, looking around the room fondly.
"Hey, sis," he greeted happily, pulling her into a brotherly hug. "Grandma needed something at the store and she made Han drive her. They should be back any time," Luke explained.
Han's arms were full of grocery bags when he walked in a moment later. He broke into a wide grin when his eyes fell on Leia, and she took his face in both hands and pressed their lips together. Luke grabbed the grocery bags from Han and he wrapped his arms around her waist, holding her tightly.
"I take it the old sayings true, that distance makes the heart grow fonder?" Bail asked good-naturedly, slipping his arm around Breha. Leia smiled first at her fiancé and then at her parents.
"Yes, sir," Han assured him, looking down at Leia. She turned back to him and kissed him.
"Why don't we get something to eat and then get you off to bed?" Breha suggested as Leia yawned.
Padmé and Breha started cooking as Leia told stories sleepily. Han stayed close, his fingers on her knee or his arm around her shoulders. Breha set a plate down in front of her and Leia ate quickly, going up to bed before seven.
"Poor baby. Hopefully she can stay awake during the party tomorrow," Breha said. They were throwing Leia a welcome-home for the family the next day.
"She'll be alright, darling," Bail assured. "In the meantime, why don't we get the yard ready?" He turned to Luke and Han. They nodded and followed him out the back door to set up lawn chairs and folding tables.
"My mother gets the couch, so that leaves you to sleep up with Leia," Breha instructed Han when they came in for the evening. "Goodnight."
"Goodnight," he replied, following Luke up the stairs. He didn't want to wake Leia, but he also really wanted to kiss her, so he didn't feel too bad when she sat up as he closed the door.
"Hi, sweetheart," Han greeted.
"Hi," Leia replied sleepily.
"I didn't mean to wake you up," he apologized.
"You would have by getting in bed anyways," she excused.
"How was Brussels?" Han asked.
"It was great. Get over here and kiss me this instant," she demanded. Han dropped his bag on the floor and quickly climbed into bed with her.
"I-missed-you," she murmured between kisses.
"Mhm," he agreed, his hands trying to be everywhere at once.
"Why didn't-you take-this-off-before?" she asked, yanking at his tee shirt.
"You demanded that come over and ravish you," he argued playfully.
"Yeah, well, now I want skin and kissing," she returned, pulling his shirt up.
"Yes, princess," he teased, brushing his lips over her earlobe.
"A real kiss, didn't get a New Year's kiss or a six-months-till-we're-married kiss or a Valentine's kiss or a today-sucked kiss. I have been deprived for six months."
"Well, let's fix that. Happy New Year, sweetheart," he whispered, kissing her indulgently. "Happy six-months-till-you're-my-wife, Leia," he said lovingly. This kiss was slow, tender, and passionate.
"Say it again," she begged, pushing her fingers into his hair and practically melting as he kissed her neck and shoulder, pulling him closer.
"Well, now it's closer to four months till you're my wife. And I will be your husband. Married," Han expanded. Leia pulled his mouth to hers.
"I love you," she murmured.
"I know," he replied, kissing her sweetly.
"Closer," she begged, and he pressed against her. "Mmm, I forgot how good this felt," Leia whispered into his mouth.
"You're lucky. I didn't forget. I had to wait six whole months knowing exactly what was I was missing," Han teased.
"You're sweet," Leia yawned.
"You're tired. Here," he offered, shifting onto his back beside her. "How's it feel to be home?" Leia pushed under his arm, into her usual place.
"Pretty good."
00
Leia was wide awake at 3 am. She watched Han as he slept, completely enamored by the peaceful expression on his face. She was melded into his side, her head on his shoulder, held tightly to his body by his arm wrapped around her back. Han's fingers were splayed over her hip possessively, the heat making her feel warm and fuzzy inside. His even breathing beneath her cheek lulled her back to sleep.
She woke up again at 6 and knew it was useless to try and get back to sleep this time. It was nearing noon in Belgium, and she'd would normally be working. She slipped out of bed and into her robe. She sat at her desk and started putting the finishing touches on her term paper for Dr. Rieekan.
"Leia?" Han called sleepily. "Can't you do that over here?"
"I didn't want to disturb you. You looked so cute over there, all snuggled in my baby elephant sheets," Leia teased.
"Well, come and snuggle with me in your baby elephant sheets and we can be cute together," he requested blearily. Leia unplugged her laptop and crawled into bed with him. "Closer," he whispered. She shifted until they were practically on top of each other; Han pushed his face into her side and threw his arm over her lap.
"Hey, you two, breakfast in ten minutes." Leia jumped, not realizing she'd fallen asleep again. Han started beside her. Her laptop had gone to sleep on her lap and she grabbed it before it slipped to the floor. Han was still wound around her waist and her arm was around his shoulders. The clock on her bedside table said it was nearly nine.
"I am never gonna be on a regular sleep schedule again," she lamented into his hair.
"Mhm," Han moaned into her stomach.
"Time for breakfast." Leia nudged him. They got dressed and traipsed down the stairs for pancakes. The rest of the morning was spent preparing food for the party, cleaning the house, and, for Han and Leia, stealing as many kisses as possible.
Just before one, Leia changed into her bathing suit. She brought her sunscreen down to the kitchen to have Breha apply some to her back. Han was the only one there, carving up a watermelon. He was more than happy to abandon the fruit to help Leia, and she had to scold him a few times for letting his hands wander beneath the edges of her suit. Their shenanigans were quickly halted when Bail and Luke came in from the garage with the big cooler for drinks.
Luke's girlfriend, Mara, showed up around 2, and Grandma and Grandpa Organa arrived a few minutes later. By three, the rest of the Amidala/Organa extended family had arrived, and everyone was in the backyard drinking punch and swimming in the pool.
Leia was bright and vivacious among her family members. Han sat back and watched her mingle, trying to figure out what he'd done to deserve such torture. It had been six months—six months—since he'd seen his girl—fiancée, actually. He'd gotten one uneventful night in her bed, and now, he was forced to sit there, surrounded by her family, while she ran around barefoot wearing nothing but a bathing suit and a pair of shorts. She waved him over to meet some extended family—second cousins, maybe? He hadn't been paying attention. Han put his hand at the small of her back and held her close while he went through the obligatory questions, where're you from, what do you do, that sort of thing.
"You wanna stay at my apartment tonight?" he whispered into her ear, brushing his fingers along the skin at the top of her shorts once the cousins had moved on.
"As long as I can take a nap on the way there—thank you for coming, Aunt Celly! It's so good to see you," Leia turned to greet her aunt, deliberately grinding her hips against him in a way that appeared completely innocent but felt entirely incendiary. Han bit his tongue and poured himself a tall glass of punch.
After she'd seen everybody, Leia found Han sitting in a lawn chair near the refreshments table. She drew the next chair up next to him and dropped her forehead onto his shoulder, burying a yawn in his skin.
"Tired, princess?" She nodded. "Isn't it against your princess code of etiquette to fall asleep as the guest of honor?"
"I'm assuming the things you want to do to me tonight are also against that code. If you want to do any of that, you'd better let me sleep. Wake me up if something important happens," Leia murmured. She nudged his arm out of the way, intent on snuggling up to him and taking a quick nap. She was surprised to find that he had a new tattoo on his left side, right in the middle of his ribs. ' LO.'
"What's this?" she asked.
"That's where you always sleep," he responded, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "That's ah, well, that's where your heart goes when we sleep all curled up," he explained. "Just letting you know that nobody can ever take your spot." Leia smiled and brushed her fingers over the black ink.
"How did I miss this last night?"
"It was dark and you were focused on other places," he whispered conspiratorially, kissing her forehead as it fell back to his shoulder. She was asleep within five minutes.
00
"Closer," she ordered, grinding her hips into his. "You have no idea how crazy you were making me, walking around in your swim suit," Leia informed him as he kissed her face. She slid her hands into the back pockets of his jeans and squeezed, kicking the door to Han's apartment closed as he pushed her against it. He was teasing her again, she knew, kissing lightly, everywhere but where she wanted.
"I think that's my line. I love that little blue suit and you know it," he growled, kissing up her neck.
"You were the one who was bare chested—damn, Han, do that again—and wearing those stupid aviators," she admonished, running her hands over his now-bare chest. "Don't you know that you're liable to get sunburn with that much skin exposed?"
"You shoulda kept a little of that advice for yourself," he returned, running his hand along her thigh and hitching her knee up to his hip. "You look a little pink, sweetheart," Han teased, kissing her blush as it crept up her neck. "If I hadn't put sunscreen on you myself, I would have had to scold you for neglecting your health."
"You were the one trying to put the sunscreen on the places that didn't sun didn't hit—damn it, never stop that," she begged, starting to lose track of the conversation as he flicked his tongue over her collarbone.
"Just looking out for you, sweetheart. What if some scoundrel had come along and taken your top off? You could have gotten sunburned and then you wouldn't want me to take you to bed," Han explained, studiously divesting them both of any scrap of clothing. It didn't slip his notice when Leia dragged her nails over his new tattoo.
"Well, thanks to you, I didn't get sunburned anywhere, so take me to bed." She squealed as he grabbed her other leg and hitched her up around his waist.
"I thought you told Breha we were going to open wedding gifts. I'm getting mixed signals, here, princess."
Leia finally grew sick of his teasing and pulled him forcefully into an open-mouthed kiss, practically devouring him.
"Who's Breha?" she asked dreamily, nibbling his lower lip.
"Don't remember." He didn't know anything right now, other than how good she felt and how this was just not close enough.
AN: Thanks for reading!
I need your help! The final installment is forthcoming-their wedding! Are there any traditions or moments that Han and Leia need to have in their wedding?