Motives

"They all do." ~Leia Organa

Chapter 21

Coruscant, a few days later

"The Empire wasn't our only customer," Val K'ntarr was saying. "But they did account for a large majority of our business."

Leia sat at the small table in her office across from him, looking down at the various charts and graphs that outlined Rydonni's production and finances. The Rydonni production facilities had been nearly the sole source of exhaust manifolds, various dampeners and drive cores for the Imperial fleet. The deal had been forced upon them by the Empire and it had been no secret that they were a reluctant partner at best. But they were at a very fragile time for their government and people now. Reluctant or not, the Imperial deal had been a lucrative one and the Rydonni worlds had flourished under Imperial control. Since the hostile takeover of the Rebels, however, Rydonni's national commerce had been in a tailspin, saved only by the deep pockets of the K'ntarr and other royal families.

"So now your factories are practically sitting idle and your people are nervous."

"Yes," Val answered quietly. "Of course everyone wants to get back to work, but they don't want to be taken advantage of. Rydonni feels like the injured soldier lying on the battlefield with the buzzards hovering above."

"And the Rebels looming as the biggest buzzard of all."

"I would be lying if I said that an alliance with Mon Mothma and her crew was the last thing that we wanted. For me? I know. But for the people as a whole, they feel as if they will be treated as ex-Imperials. They are tired of big government standing on their backs. The New Republic or the Empire, they see no difference. Not yet."

"And so your alliance with me?"

"You're not seen as a threat," he said. "A player but not major one, no offense. And Alderaan, although once a founding father of the Rebellion, is now…"

"Not much of a threat, either."

"Yes, sorry. Again, no offense."

"No, don't apologize," she sighed. She was long since past blaming offhand comments for the hollow feeling she got in her chest when she thought of what was left of Alderaan. "Your honesty is one of the things I like most about you."

Val let his eyes linger on her for a long time as he smiled and said, "Noted."

Leia looked away. They had met a few times over the last few days and the more she worked with him the more his easy camaraderie was edging ever so closely to outright flirting. He had been playing it clean with her from the beginning and she didn't expect for that to change now, but that didn't mean things couldn't develop and she had to be careful not to mislead him. She still, for whatever it was worth, felt as though she belonged to someone else. Even if that someone else belonged to someone else as well.

"Well, since it looks like I've already made you uncomfortable, I guess now would be a good time to ask an inappropriate favor from you," he said.

Had she just told him that she liked his honesty? Sometimes she missed the simple art of deflecting innuendos and countering half-truths. She braced herself for what might be coming. "As in?" She asked.

"I have been providing updates to my brother, who in turn has been updating our council. However, I was sent here for…a specific task, as you are well aware of and, well to be brutally honest, they are wanting some proof that we are in fact…negotiating."

Leia frowned and lifted one eyebrow. "What kind of proof?"

"Please," he said, holding his hands up. "Nothing so sinister as to warrant that look you are giving me right now. Just…dinner, perhaps? Somewhere very visible and I'll take care of the rest."

"As in reporters and taglines?"

"Reporters, yes," he said. "But I can't pretend that I would have any control over the nature of their stories."

Leia scoffed. "I know how this game works better than you think. You've played it straight with me so far; don't stop now just when you need something from me."

"I did not plan to do anything more than to contact a few networks and let them know where we would be and when. As for needing something from you, I don't really see this as a huge imposition. I had only asked to remain open with you. It is, after all, just a dinner."

"It's my reputation."

"For sharing a meal with a man? I think your reputation can handle that kind of speculation."

There really was no harm in his request. The only thought that was weighing heavily upon her was whether or not she should tell Han about it and how he would react. Hadn't they just had a similar conversation regarding dining together? Then she remembered how that conversation had gone. He was married. She was not and dinner was a perfectly harmless affair. "I'll make the contact," she said. "I have a few friends on some of the major networks and I'll make sure the story goes out the way I want it to. Ensuring, of course, that its wording is ambiguous enough that your brother and his cronies will be sufficiently pacified."

Val let out breath, looking very much relieved. "Thank you."

"Just send me a place and time. And for future reference," she said. "Never, ever leave the media with an open slate. Even your words twisted around a little is better than what they could come up with on their own."

Val smiled and nodded, saying again. "Noted."

Leia began to pick up the items that had been scattered across the table. Their meeting time was over and she had lunch plans with Eliza. "As far as your contract goes," she said, getting back to real business. "I know we're backlogged on fleet repairs, so I'll get with the head of requisitions and see if I can get you moved up on the approved supplier list. Maybe get a few more of your lines up and running at least."

"That would be a great start," Val said, standing and preparing to depart.

As was his custom, he held his hand out waiting for Leia to offer hers so that he could draw it to his lips and kiss her goodbye. This wasn't a greeting she was unfamiliar with and it hadn't been an issue until recently when things had started to shift between them. She didn't know if it was her imagination or not, but his lips seemed to linger a lot longer than they had previously. Regardless, she offered him her hand and he pulled it to him and pressed his lips against her knuckles.

It was brief and as Leia was drawing her hand back, she was chastising herself a little bit for reading too much into everything. And that was when her office door opened and in walked her lunch date.

"Hey, nobody's outside and I've been waiting for like-" Eliza's sentence cutoff midstream as her eyes went from Leia's hand, still in the act of disconnecting from Val's fingers and lips, to Val's face and then back. "Oh," she said. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Leia replied, wiping her hand against her thigh. "We were just finishing up here."

Val and Eliza exchanged looks from across the room. Good manners dictated that Leia should introduce the two, but she shuffled through a million excuses not to. There was no real good reason for her actions. They hadn't been doing anything. She didn't want to think about why she was feeling guilty. After a few short moments, her manners finally won out. "Eliza, this is Valwyn K'ntarr of Rydonni," she said. "Val, this is Eliza Orakzai."

Val walked over to Eliza and treated her to his customary greeting. "As in President Orakzai of Corellia?" He asked.

Val had held onto her hand while he asked the question and Eliza made a deliberate effort to remove it from his possession as she replied, "One in the same."

Leia was impressed with the way that Eliza held her own, even if she was being rude to Valwyn through some misplaced protectiveness for her married father. Leia didn't even have time to process all the implications of that sentence.

Valwyn's eyes left Eliza and flitted across the room toward Leia. "Interesting," he said but did not comment any further. Dipping his head to the two women and offering his final goodbyes as he departed.

"Who is he?" Eliza asked as soon as Valwyn had disappeared through the door.

Not for the first time, Leia was baffled as to how this child was not Han's the way that she resembled him in some of the things she said and did. "I thought I just introduced you."

"I mean, who is he to you?"

Leia was preparing a flippant remark but refrained. "He's an associate," she said as she walked over to her desk and grabbed her purse. "We're brokering a contract. His world needs connections and my people need land. I have connections and he has land. It's as simple as that."

"He wasn't looking at you like he was worried about any connections."

"What...," Leia started but didn't know exactly how to finish it. She wanted to ask Eliza what she knew about how Val had been looking at her, nevermind that her instincts were spot on.

"He wants something from you," Eliza said, her voice stern and full of warning.

Leia drew in a deep breath and then let it out. "Eliza, honey," she said, wrapping her arm around her as they began to walk out of her office. "They all do."

Leia had set a good portion of her afternoon aside to have lunch with Eliza. The pair had finished eating and was now sitting at the cleared table and drinking tea. Leia had succeeded in steering the conversation away from Valwyn finally and they were just getting around to talking about Eliza's confession and how they needed to tell Han.

Over several holocalls in the past few days, Eliza had been heavily recruiting Leia to tell Han for her and cushion the blow for the young girl. Leia had entertained the notion for the better part of the week, only just recently changing her mind about it. She had been waiting for the right time to speak to Eliza about it. As the girl asked Leia if she had told Han yet, she figured now was a good a time as any.

"Yeah, I've been thinking about that," Leia said, staring down into her cup of tea.

"And?"

Leia looked over to the girl. "I think you should tell him yourself." Eliza's mouth worked open and shut a few times, but no words came out. "Trust me," Leia continued. "With things like this, it's best if he would hear it directly from you."

Eliza made a face. One of panic and dread that made her look younger than her fourteen years. "But I'm afraid," she confessed.

"As you well should be," Leia answered.

She wanted to help Eliza, wanted to encourage and guide her but she also didn't want to let her off the hook too easily. She had to regret what she had done. Leia wanted her to learn from this mistake. It would be an all-too easy path for Eliza to fall down, this scheming and manipulation that came so easy to her. She had to know that there were consequences and Leia wasn't entirely convinced that Han would hold her feet to the fire at all over this, so she did. But not for too long.

As Eliza squirmed uncomfortably and readied herself to say something, Leia reached out across the table and placed her hand on top of Eliza's giving it a squeeze as she said, 'But he loves you. You know that. And he'll forgive you. I know that."

"Maybe you're right," Eliza replied, looking a little sick and not at all totally convinced.

Leia smiled. She was happy with herself, not at causing Eliza distress but for making her think about her actions and to deal with them. The young girl had probably not had much guidance when it came to her upbringing and her morals. Leia thought about her own mother and father and the endless conversations they had shared. When she was young, she had dreamed of being just like her mother one day, so wise and patient, doling her wisdom out on her many lucky children. She sat back and took a sip of her tea. In reality being a parent, even an ad hoc one, was not as romantic as it had seemed back then. But wasn't that the way with everything?