** Chapter 13 - A Day in Imperial City**

The sun was warm and it felt wonderful. Leia sat on her balcony chair and painted her toes shiny pink; while she wore her sunglasses and was cuddled in a soft, white morning gown. How good it felt to be back! No one except a woman could understand the pure joy and comfort of a long bath and taking care of yourself afterwards. The smell of shower gel, body lotion and the cream stimcaf that stood right next to her, were hanging in the air and Leia simply enjoyed the moment. It was almost too good to be true. Then she looked down at the shiny, white packet with the light-green bow that had been delivered this morning. `To bring back your appetite. T.´ was all the small attached card said. Leia smiled when she opened the packet. Alderaanian chocolate cup-cakes! She did not recall how often she had wished for Alderaanian chocolate cup-cakes during their stay in the mines, but obvious one time too often. The day was getting better by the minute! Slowly she lifted the first cup-cake, removed the paper and took a bite. Gosh, this was heaven! Granted, food had always been good, but not before one had experienced real hunger, one could appreciate the almost divine part of it. Leia had no idea how much she eaten on her first day back…and that had only been the canteen food of a Star Destroyer (A/N: If you know Eddie Izzard, you will appreciate that I mentioned Imperial canteens. Yes, they do exist! At least in my universe ;). Leia touched the card and briefly wondered how he was. She hadn't seen him since their return…. Leia sighed. Suddenly the doorbell rang.

…

"Luke!" Leia beamed at her brother and pulled him into a tight embrace."It's good to see you again! How are you? What have I missed during my absence?"

Luke took a deep breath. So much had happened in the time Leia had been captured, so that he didn't know where to start.

"Well, many things and on the same time nothing at all. Admiral Piett and Vader made it their priority to create a lethal virus against the Waroom. I was at the BioLabs on Faaleen for a short time myself, but unfortunately our efforts were in vain. It was terrible - we sent one Trojan horse after the other to the Warroom ships, but the viruses never effected their systems. A lot of people died; I'll spare you the details... but there's finally light at the end of the tunnel. We found out that the Chiss have a biological weapon that might work. Naturally we sent our diplomats there immediately and now Thrawn's on his way to close the deal. Apparently the Chiss are not too enthusiastic about sharing their invention."

"Thrawn's on Csilla? But…I thought they had banished him!" Leia asked, obviously surprised by the fact that he was already on the other side of the galaxy.

"I'm not sure if he's already there, but he's certainly on his way. Vader equipped him quite an entourage to make sure the Chiss won't deny the Empire's request again." Luke smirked. "With such

a large fleet in tow, they couldn't banish him if their lives would depended on it."

"Is not it a little dangerous to send him against his home planet?"

Luke shrugged. "I do not think so. That is, Vader does not. I do not know the Admiral well enough to form an opinion about him. However, he is only there to obtain a virus and not to exterminate his people. What do you think?"

Leia stared into her coffee, like it would contain all the answers of the universe. "Me? Oh, I do not know. I do not know him that well either."

Luke looked at his sister, disbelief written all over his face. "You spent an eternity with the guy, Leia. Come on, spit it out - is he really as ingenious as people claim?"

"Must we talk about Thrawn now?" Leia stood up and walked to the window. "Where's Han?"

Luke eyed his sister and then gave in to her change of topic.

"Thrawn reassigned him to the tec-team that currently takes the Waroom ship apart. At first he didn't like it to ordered around by a bunch of Imperials, but now he's obsessed by the ship. You know him."

Luke looked at his sister again. Something was wrong. And it had something to do with Thrawn. It was almost as if she would cringe inwardly every time his name was mentioned. What could have happened in those mines that would have such an effect on her? Maybe he had hurt her? But then Luke did not really believe that. Thrawn was a strategic, not a sadist like Disra. Whatever had happened, it surely had left its mark upon his sister.

"What do you think, shall we go outside?" Leia smiled. "Yes, that sounds like a good idea! Just give me a second to change."

…

…
Coruscant, or 'Imperial City' as it was nowadays called, was one big city with only few gardens, that only the rich and powerful could afford. However, there was a shopping centre nearby, which included a public garden on the roof. Leia had brought some ale along and the two were determined to have a nice, little picnic on such a wonderful day.

"I think I've never seen this garden so empty." Leia looked around in disbelief.

"People are afraid. Many left the planet as soon as they'd heard the Waroom's Holo message. `As far away from Core Worlds as possible!´ I guess, I can't blame them."

The second Luke had opened the bottle, Leia's comlink came alive. "Han ... Yes, yes ... Hmm, good idea. Sure… We are in the Paradise Garden Shopping Centre... Ok ... See you then. Bye."

Luke grinned. "That's typical, as soon as we open the alcohol, Han shows up. He must have some kind of radar for this. Better start before Mr I-can-take-more-than-you arrives. You should have seen us on Makem Te. I swear if Chewie had not been there, I would never have gotten up the stairs on my own. Stars were we drunk."

...

It did not take long until Han had found them.

"Well, well, what do we have here? Agamarian Ale?" He grinned boyishly and sat down in-between his friends. "I tell you, the Imps really do not know how to have fun. You on the other hand…"

His smile became even more radiant, if that was possible. "Come on guys, push the beautiful thing over to Han." Luke rolled his eyes, but then again he couldn't help but like Han.

"And you my darling may push yourself over here as well!" He grinned at Leia and then pulled her closer, before kissing her playfully on the cheek. Leia, however, did not seem to share his enjoyment. "Well your Highness, you could at least pretend to be a little more enthusiastic about seeing the reason for sleepless nights again!"

"Sure Han, when I see Darth Vader passing by, I'll perform a jig."

"Ouch. Well, at least our ice-princess is her old, venomous self again." He refilled her glass and winked at Luke."Thank the force, Agamarian Ale is a wonderful ice-breaker."

Leia shock her head in disbelieve. Typical!

"What about the Waroom ship, Han? Any progress?"

"Oh, don't ask. One step forward and two steps back. But with the language we are making real progress. Thrawn sent over this language-guy … and I tell you – that man isn't stupid! And with the Imps that means something. I mean, honestly, who in his right mind works for the Empire? Anyway, this lingu-guy has deciphered most of the symbols, which is pretty helpful."

"Linguist, Han. You're talking about a linguist. "

"That's what I said! Lingu-ist."

Luke couldn't help but laugh. The two were an unlikely pair and even was an understatement. He sometimes wondered what Bail Organa might have said to Han, as he probably wasn't the ideal partner for an Alderaanian Princess. Leia too sometimes died several small deaths when Han was his politically-incorrect self again, worshiped himself and his adventures or simply talked nonsense, while he in return used every opportunity to tease her about her royal title and her job as a politician. But probably it was just that what made Han appear to be so down-to-earth and with that so likeable. Han often said what others only dared to think, which – granted - was not always the best idea…. Leia had a different, more sophisticated background and would never talk out of line, at least not on the political stage. Nevertheless, Han was no fool either, he simply had different priorities.

…

The afternoon flew by and as Luke accompanied his sister home, he couldn't help but wonder.

"Is something the matter, Leia?"

"To have a Jedi as a brother is not always good thing, you know?" Luke remained silent, but then came to a halt, when he felt a wave of nervousness coming from his sister.

"I did not read your mind, Leia. I would never invade your privacy like that!" Luke raised his hands playfully. "I swear. I just noticed that you were different today."

Leia looked at him, still a little suspicious. "Different? How far? "

"Well, you were quite distant to Han for one."

She nodded. "Yeah. I guess you're right. But…it has been such a long time…I just can't … So many things have happened and …he is not particularly sensitive either, is he? I don't know…I guess I just have to find myself again, before…well, you know."

Luke nodded. "Sure, if that's how you feel."

They went a little further, both silent.

"What about Thrawn?" Luke felt her adrenaline level rising.

"Why do you keep on mentioning him?" She was a good actor. Uncle Owen had once said that actors and politicians had one thing in common: They both could lie without blushing.

"I do not know. Probably because you have problems talking about him. Or your time in the mines in general."

"And that with good reason. It was a terrible time, Luke. A time I would rather forget - and Thrawn happened to be there too, therefore I would prefer not to talk about him right now, alright?"

She lied. At least partially. A part of him wished that she would confided in him, another told him to be patient. They had arrived at her apartment.

"If you want to talk, Leia. I'm always there for you. No matter what it it. Ok?" She nodded.

"I'm fine, Luke. Don't worry."

He did not believe her, but said nothing.

"Ok."

Leia closed the door and sat down behind her desk. Sith! Everything was wrong and that while everything ought be alright now! She had been looking forward to seeing Han again, she had missed him, but today not been as it should…Far from it. She had not been able to welcome his advances and had thought of him instead. Leia closed her eyes and shook her head.

Why in the name of the galaxy had she slept with him? She had liked him, yes, maybe even had been drawn to him; he had been nice, alright, and certainly had not been unattractive. But still she didn't think of herself as a woman who had sex with someone just because he was nice and attractive! Never in her life she had done such a thing! It thought alone made her wince, which only left one conclusion: She had fallen in love with him. In involuntary moan escaped her lips and Leia let her head crush on the hard surface of her wooden desk. "Oh stars!" This wasn't right and it wasn't fair either!

Her mother had once said that only fools would fall in love and her mother had been right! How else could one call a woman that knows that the man in question is nothing but trouble and against her better knowledge, pursues and commits herself to such a man? A complete and utter fool! It was foolish to open your heart and give your emotions to a person that may or may not handle them with care! To hop into a – let's face it - stranger's bed! She had never wanted to be a fool! Even less a fool for a man! But here she was…

Leia tried to think about how it had happened and why she had done it. But then again one couldn't rationalize love. It just happened… Still, why had she slept with him? And how the hell was she ever going to find someone that compared?

She felt sorry for Han. He loved her. He really did. He was a good man and he had risked his life for her and she had deceived him. She was the villain in this story! Was malice perhaps contagious? Stupid idea. No, she was not a villain – only a fool, much like beautiful, but stupid Helen of Troy, whose love had cost the lives of thousands and for Helena there hadn't been a happy ending either.

TBC

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