There was a difference between living somewhere and enjoying life there.

That was the reason for Mon's dinner, wasn't it, Leia thought. To mark the transformation from office to home.

She was standing at her window, just looking outside. She marked the spot on the bridge with her eyes where she and Luke had talked. The lights caught the rising swells of the sea waves.

He would only visit once probably, she thought, but she was glad he saw it. Saw her here. Tide's Rush had taken him by surprise, but Han would miss it. Today, at least.

Leia raised her brows at herself. She saw Luke here just once, but not so Han?

Luke was stationed, she reasoned. On another base, and he had deployments. But Han smuggled. There was no reason for him to come here often; Buteral didn't hide its mission to gather refugees. But, Leia argued with herself, Luke says he leaves and comes back.

That's all you got? she asked coyly of herself.

Her thoughts drifted back to Luke, who found a home anywhere, maybe because Tatooine was chosen for him as a baby. The way he told the story, his aunt and uncle were getting ready to finish a long day. They were outside and the suns were setting, "probably shutting the generators down," Luke had said, when a stranger came. He was carrying a baby.

"And just like that they were parents," Luke snapped his fingers. "Totally unprepared."

Leia smiled gently. Buteral had much in common with the Lars family.

Buteral would make itself a home. The landing pad had the inventory for the Millennium Falcon's cargo, and there were, besides the food General Rieekan was looking forward to, things to read, paint, puzzle, chase. The CTC had clothing, hygiene products, itinerant doctors and teachers.

Major Klander was evidently finished with the school group, or anyway had given them some free time. The mid-meal was awaiting the Falcon's landing, and Leia could see dark figures moving around the paths and bridges as they explored their new surroundings.

Alderaan had created the strangest duality, she thought, watching two people race across the bridge. At least in her, and she wondered if the others felt it too. When she resented she also wanted to beg, when she pitied she spat. The language would need new words. Or maybe just a new adjective, prefacing another. Alderaan-angry meant hostile but terrified, too; Alderaan-home was a refuge someone wanted to reject. Sometimes, when she remembered to realize how close in age she was to these school children, she felt so old at the same time she felt brand new. Alderaan-old.

I'm twenty.

She didn't know to whom she was talking; herself or her maidens; it just needed saying.

Only twenty. I speak several languages, I hold several degrees. I have the distinction of being one of the youngest Senators ever elected. I beat Darth Vader. And yet-

She had the large sensation of being incomplete. Of... that all that work, study and training, had come at the expense of something else.

Mon had called her passionate. Han called her a princess, Luke said she was brave. She would say of herself, I'm smart. I'm…

Mon used the wrong word. Passion came from the heart; her Senate work was completely cerebral. It was about belief; nothing had touched her personally. Alderaan had shielded her. Until... Alderaan.

I'm... dedicated. Committed. A Princess. Female.

She was going to say woman, but then thought twenty wasn't old enough for that. But it was too old for girl.

She had decided she would go down and greet Han, but wavered on the how, and was annoyed at herself. Why didn't she know?

It would be in the capacity of Princess, because that never went away. And Mon Mothma would be there, so it was an official welcoming. It was a minor, yet important detail to which a leader had to attend. The kind of detail Han no longer viewed as important.

Keep on being a Princess.

What had he meant by that, exactly?

Initially, from things he said on the Death Star, a Princess was born into wealth and command. But then followed nine days on a ship together...

There had to be more. Because keep on being a Princess had been a good thing to say.

Well, anyway, she had liked it.

He… admired her? Liked her? Felt for her, certainly. What she was going through. Knew what it was like to spit and pity simultaneously.

That wasn't the Princess part. That was the… girl or woman part, whichever she was.

What I want to do, is greet him. Like I greeted Luke. Not hide that I am glad to see him and Chewie.

But Mon would be there, and General Rieekan, and no one, ever- has seen me-

Realization washed over her and there was a beginning of a fight she didn't want. Alderaan-shielded. Leia swatted the thought away with a shake of her head. But another one coiled in like a vapor, even the maidens...

Han would take it wrong, but it couldn't be helped. And with Mon there, he would take it worse.

Who was he, anyway. Why should she worry about hurting his delicate feelings-

Because he was-

One brow lowered as the way to describe him came to her, and she wasn't sure why she was suddenly uncomfortable with herself. He was passionate.

On the Death Star, she had fought with her heart. She was impulsive, fierce, and desperate. That was the Leia he would want to see on Buteral.

There was one way out. It might be like shooting a wall, but-

Leia left her office.

"Excuse me, Minister?" Leia used Mon's title because she was deep in conversation with an aide.

When the Minister looked up, Leia got the feeling she was used to being interrupted and expected bad news. Her glance was sharp and appraising.

"Leia? Yes, what is it?"

"I stopped by to tell you," Leia folded her hands in front of her, tranquil, and took a step into the office, "I won't be able to make your dinner tonight."

Mon lowered the file she was holding and turned her body to Leia. The aide next to her stepped back. "You won't?" she said, trying to sound disappointed. Instead it came out surprised. "I am shipping out in the morning. I was hoping to be able to spend some time with you."

"The dinner is with department heads," Leia reminded her a little sarcastically.

"And Oolanda Massawawi. And a journalist. Another chance to promote our side of the war. Also, a chance for all of you to reflect, to be pensive, perhaps even to celebrate a little bit."

An Alderaan-dinner, Leia thought to herself.

Mon was watching thoughts play across Leia's face. "Will you be dining with your people?"

"No."

"No? I'd rather you not be alone."

"There's no need to worry about me, Mon," Leia said, annoyance creeping into her voice. Why should tonight be different than the others? "I won't be. Commander Skywalker comm'd me earlier and asked to see me."

"Commander Skywalker," Mon repeated thoughtfully. "I got to meet him finally. We are lucky to have him. And I understand his colleague in arms, Captain Solo, is it? will be here as well."

Leia almost clarified it. You mean Alderaan-colleague. "Yes," was all she said.

"The shuttle carrying the press returns to the docking station late, and the dinner will be over. You could go then?"

"His timing is tricky," Leia explained. "He's on patrol, and he's got a small window of free time. Then he's leaving the system in the morning with you. I thought I would ask Captain Solo to bring me up on the Millennium Falcon when the cargo is unloaded."

"I can see why you feel a connection to them," Mon was nodding, but she didn't sound pleased. "They were there at a critical moment in your life. I just want to see you move forward."

Leia swallowed to keep the irritation out of her voice. "I am moving forward. Look at what we've accomplished here. But you just don't hang a medal on someone and then walk away."

Mon's brows went up. "What are you saying? Is there something you feel hasn't been addressed properly? Commander Skywalker was quickly elevated through the ranks. As for Captain Solo, if he-"

Leia interrupted, "This is not about them. It's about-"

"You? Obviously you are not walking away," Mon said. "if your duty to them supercedes-" she cut it off abruptly.

Leia pressed her lips together. When she spoke again, it was with forced calmness. "On the Death Star, I was given a choice. My life, or the location of the Rebellion. The war is on, Mon, so you know what I chose. Just because I am standing here does not mean I did not surrender something."

"Leia," Mon agonized. "I can't pretend to understand what you went through. And of course, they rescued you."

Leia wanted to snort but controlled herself. "I don't feel I owe them my life, but... they value it differently than any other."

Mon sighed. "You are valued, I hope you know that." She reached out and touched Leia's shoulder. "You've been my colleague, and in three years you would ascend to Alderaan's throne. I think it's because he's gone, but I see you as Bail's daughter more than anything else."

She lifted her shoulders and let them drop with another heavy sigh. "It is just a dinner. And I see that having you there might be me parading dessert before the entree, and that is not fair to you. I need to constantly remind myself that while we fight a war with weapons, it is beings that fire them."

Mon gazed at Leia softly, who felt... Alderaan-something. She was grateful for the tenderness but she wanted to slap it away.

"Thank you for telling me, Leia. Have a nice evening." Mon turned her body toward the aide, who stepped forward again, and Leia saw the discussion was done.

The Minister finally succeeded in sounding disappointed, Leia thought as she left.

The noise was distant, still in the background. Loud enough so that one didn't know they were hearing it, yet they reacted from their subconscious. It made Rieekan glance at his chrono. Leia heard it, and she knew.

If her twelve maidens were here, several wouldn't notice the noise but a few would. One, no nonsense and sharp, would say it. "The ship's broken into atmo, Your Highness," and that would start them off. They were- extensions of her. Leia would sit among them, observant, while they tittered and gossiped and speculated. Her maidens did all the feeling, Leia saw now, but it was also true they kept her objective.

Rieekan resumed working, but his concentration was broken and he was frowning, trying to recall a thought. Leia didn't bother to pretend she was working and used her ears, which were no good as a gauge except to tell her how low in the sky the ship was.

When the open window rattled Rieekan finally paid real attention to the noise. He checked his chrono again. "It's forty-five minutes early," he muttered. "If we had a queue-"

Leia smiled to herself and shook her head. The thrusters hadn't even touched ground and already Han was stirring controversy.

"Someday we'll have a queue," Rieekan was still grumbling. He pulled out his comm. "Unless-" he said, suddenly worried. He keyed up the control room. "I hear a ship," he said into it. "Yes, yes, it's what I thought. How's the situation at Home? Nothing? You're sure. Alright. Yes, permit him to land. Thank you."

Rieekan glared at Leia a moment, who looked back innocently with her eyebrows raised. "The Millennium Falcon is landing," he spoke into his comm again. "Ahead of schedule. The Minister wanted to be apprised. Yes. Thank you."

He strode to the window. "Why do you suppose he's early?" he asked.

Leia took it as a rhetorical question. "Home?" she asked. "Is that the name for the docking vessel?"

Rieekan nodded. "The Minister will be on her way," he said, facing Leia before turning to look toward the shoal. "Oh," he said, sounding disappointed.

"What is it?" Leia asked, and got up to join him at the window. She noted the shoal, and movement; techs preparing for a landing. The bridge spanned between Rieekan's office and the shoal, and again dark figures loitered. When she looked up-

Above the lights the sky was black. A lenticular cloud, a dull gray- but it was cloudless here- occupied its own space high above them. It was the Millennium Falcon moving, so slowly downward it seemed more a trick of the eye, and it was loud. Her heart gave a thump.

"Nothing." Rieekan closed the window to block out the sound. "Only- that's the ship that brought you to the Graveyard, Princess?"

"I told you I went," Leia said. "How did you hear it was that ship?"

"A communication. After your arrival at Shino-ak," Rieekan was watching the landing and not paying too much attention to Leia.

Someone on the bridge was pointing and another looked to have covered their hands over their ears. The ship was well in view now, a bright speck in the low tide sky. A falling star, Leia thought, and remembered the Wookiee legend. Come home, spirit.

"Was it Admiral Ackbar?" she asked, pressing the issue. The idea of such high-ranking officials talking about her was irritating. They're like a bunch of maidens, Leia thought.

A grunt of a laugh escaped Rieekan. "No, Your Highness. Mon Calamari aren't that interested in humans. The Minister informed me."

Leia hoped her silence expressed her disapproval.

Rieekan was still gazing outside. "It's... a YT," he identified diplomatically. "An antique, by the looks of her. She's seen better days."

"I observed the same when I first saw her on the Death Star," Leia said wryly. "Only not as politely."

The Millennium Falcon was a little higher than the mountains now. Heat from the engines, or maybe the intensity of sound waves, broke the air into pieces. The cockpit, located starboard of the bow, faced the shoal. A ground tech was waving lights back and forth.

Rieekan turned to her and smiled the smile of a grieving parent. "I'm sure you didn't know what to expect with your rescue, Your Highness."

"Certainly not that," Leia said of the ship, smiling softly. "Not him. Not anything." The Falcon sailed over to the shoal, and landing thrusters were lowering.

Rieekan returned to musing about ship models. "My father had two YTs in his shipping fleet. He sold them after a time. When the light years add up an older ship isn't as reliable."

"I had noticed that too," Leia commented. Her gaze was intent, watching for signs of activity. "It's an odd-looking ship, isn't it?"

"That's the YT," Rieekan agreed. "You don't see them as much anymore. They quit making them... oh, a long time ago. Any around now are antique, I would venture to say." He shook his head once. "Reminds me of my youth." He smiled again contentedly this time. "I was third generation to serve the House of Organa, and when I was too young to start my training, I hung about the hangar, the one at your official residence. I loved looking at and talking about ships."

"I can't say I gave them a spare thought," Leia confessed. "My father enjoyed speeder models."

"He did," Rieekan glowed with affection. "I did, too."

"He had a small collection, and he hardly used them. We did have one ship in the fleet I thought was pretty, a Nubian."

"I know exactly the one you mean," Rieekan beamed. "Beautiful ship."

"More of a personal craft, though. He didn't get to use that one much, either."

The memories were frank, just facts. Abruptly, the noise of the landing quit, and Leia sighed in relief.

"The YTs were a short range line." Rieekan seemed to genuinely enjoy the topic of freighter design. "You used to see a lot of them in the space lanes around the Core. An economy model. Round and squat. It was an experiment in design. Almost a fad. Trying to cram as much cargo space as they could. It didn't last long, though. Pilots like a sleek, aerodynamic ship."

Leia thought of the hidden floor panels Han added for contraband. "She suits this captain," she said.

Rieekan grunted again. "First impressions?" he said slyly. "In disrepair. Which to me indicates the captain can't afford upkeep, which indicates he can't be very good at what he does."

Leia smiled. "That's so you underestimate him."

"Ah," Rieekan had his brows up, like he'd discovered something. "There, on the stern, portside," his finger knocked on the glass. "That's where what is considered the incidentals and upgrades are typically installed. I'm not sure what he put up there, but I notice something's missing. See the carbon scoring? There are a few spots." Rieekan actually sounded concerned.

"I'm not sure if those weren't there earlier," Leia said. "As I said, the ship wasn't in the greatest shape when I first saw her."

Her first impression had not been a good one. And Leia remembered too Luke told her his first sighting of the Falcon filled him with dismay.

"I called her junk," Luke had said. "Put Han on the defensive."

It was after they made their escape from the Death Star and were on their way to Yavin. The brief skirmish with the Tie fighters had caused some damage and they were trying to repair what they could in-flight.

"That's okay," Leia assured Luke, holding a light for him to see inside a panel. "I called her That."

Luke had grinned. "I heard you. I think it's the reason Han and I got off on the wrong foot," he added.

"Wrong foot," Leia puzzled. She hadn't seen anything of the sort. "What do you mean?"

"Maybe not," Luke conceded. "The whole time in hyper on the way to you-"

On the way to you- What a nice way to put it. On the way to Alderaan, before the Death Star captured us, was how the story went, but Luke already changed the narrative for himself.

"- he made a point to call Ben crazy and the Force nonsense, and because I was his student that made me naive."

Leia dismissed Luke's impressions as faulty. "He was searching very hard for you in that garbage water when the dianaga pulled you under."

"Was he?" Luke looked flattered a moment, and then his face fell. "Probably afraid to tell Ben I got drowned by a creature.

"But, I changed my mind," Luke added, even as he pulled a fistful of tangled and scorched wires from a panel. His eyes went to Leia's face, no doubt reading the look of horror in her eyes.

Leia was thinking, My mission didn't fail with Vader; it didn't fail with Tarkin. It's going to fail because of this ship.

"She's not junk," Luke stated. "I don't know what Han has done to her, but somewhere along the line some heart got installed." He added confidently, "We'll make it, Leia."

Rieekan turned from the window, pulling Leia from her reverie. "Damn, the Minister is halfway there. Excuse me, Your Highness."

He started to close up data screens and prepare to lock the office. Leia watched from her spot at the window.

"Oh, here's the credit draft you requested," he extended his arm and Leia reached for it. "I better get down there."

Leia took the chip and pocketed it with her father's holocube, and scanned the view spread before her. It was impossible to identify a specific person, they were high up and far away, but there was a figure dressed in stark white moving swiftly.

"I'll come with you," she said.

"We need to make quick work of the unloading," the general said as he palmed the door shut behind them. "There's a meal to prepare and very little on the shelves. I'd rather not break out the CTC's rehy."

She and Rieekan strolled down to the landing pad. Watching the waves as one walked was disorienting, and she hit the ground too hard once.

"What is this dinner tonight?" Leia asked Rieekan. "Will they be using food from this delivery?" She didn't like the idea of an unscheduled meal. The ordered supplies were for the residents, not guests.

"No, the Minister planned the dinner liked she planned the whole event. She brought her own menu. Droid chef as well. I believe it's in appreciation for a job well done."

"I told Mon I wouldn't be able to attend," Leia informed Rieekan.

"You'll be missed," Rieekan replied judiciously, though he looked a little envious. "Going to see Skywalker again?" he guessed.

Leia nodded. "Who knows how long it will be before I see them again," she said. "Commander Skywalker will leave the system in the morning, and Captain Solo-" She let it hang.

"He's private," Rieekan understood.

"Again, you're polite, General. I think he would prefer the term mercenary."

"Is that so I underestimate him, Princess?" Rieekan asked.

Leia smiled fondly. "He needs money."

Rieekan shrugged, unimpressed. "Who doesn't."

The Falcon rested quietly, still closed up. A tech dressed in dull-colored coveralls waited nearby and a repulsor cart was moving toward it.

Rieekan and Leia stopped talking as Chewie descended the ramp. From their higher vantage point, they watched him circle the ship, his bowcaster held at the ready, and then he let himself enjoy a full stretch. Leia smiled to herself.

"A Wookiee," Rieekan remarked. "I wasn't sure to believe what I'd heard. Is he a slave?"

"No," Leia said, her smile turned to mild annoyance. "He's copilot."

"Well, that can be a titular position, Your Highness, but it's also a secondary role to fill. I suppose I made the obvious assumption, since he's a Wookiee. I meant no offense."

"I know you didn't." Leia frowned. She didn't know the exact nature of the relationship between Han and Chewie. She had asked, once, but the timing wasn't right. And to assume a Wookiee was a slave was, unfortunately, an obvious conclusion.

Palpatine had established a classification system of beings' status within his Empire. The superior order were humans, and everything after that were subclasses. Many systems were classified as slave worlds, and Kasshyyk, the Wookiee homeworld, was plundered for its source of labor.

"They're partners, I believe," Leia said, still thinking.

Had she even received a proper introduction? The only one who gave his name was Luke when he entered her cell on the Death Star. She'd learned Chewie's name... when? And only by hearing Han, then also nameless, use it. But then, she conceded, a botched rescue of a Princess was not the time to consider niceties.

It wasn't until after they were away and she'd called the captain a mercenary that Luke named Han. Probably in hopes that it would soften her bitterness.

"They're outlaws," she continued. "They use the ship for smuggling. Captain Solo calls Chewbacca 'pal'."

"Something happened," Rieekan stated. "Generally, if a Wookiee is offplanet, it's against their will. Did you ever hear of one turning to smuggling?"

"You're right, it is unusual," Leia agreed. "It's funny; they are- I don't know- natural together. I accepted them as a team, like it was all I needed to know."

"I bet the Wookiee doesn't encounter open minds such as yours all the time. And, at any rate, I would also bet there aren't many humans who set out with ambition to become a smuggler."

"That's true, too," Leia acknowledged. She and Rieekan had reached the shoal. Mon Mothma was waiting by the ramp.

Ambition to become a smuggler. How true that was. Ask any of the school group here- ask any young child, Leia thought, what their goal in life was, and she doubted any of them would pipe up proudly, "I'm going to be a smuggler! I'm going to break laws and risk imprisonment!"

Two men and a Wookiee, Leia thought. These two men. To remind her, as if Alderaan wouldn't, how far removed from reality a Princess was? She wouldn't have thought so. Yet, in the Senate, in her travels, while she might deplore the concept of slavery, she had no first-hand knowledge of the simple struggle of a farmer in a desert, or of a man resorting to crime because he had to.

Arms wide and smiling, Luke had jumped out of his X-Wing when he landed on Buteral, but it was Han's boots Leia saw first, scuffed and dull black. If he knew he would be meeting the Minister of War would he have have polished them? And then Leia figured he probably did know; surely he and Luke had spoken up there in orbit. He'd cleaned his boots for the medal ceremony. Lent Luke a pair, as well as pants, a shirt and jacket.

First impressions, she said to herself. Had the first impression been made with the first landing on Yavin and then adjusted with the second? His boots were polished, his hair likely combed- it looked... flatter- and he had closed his shirt collar, all the way. Tucked the tan skin under stern, prim buttons.

Leia was willing to bet it was Luke who talked Han into tidying his appearance, since he was wearing Han's clothes. Luke had a good upbringing. It showed in the loving way he spoke of his aunt and uncle. It showed that he had bothered with an introduction during the emergency on the Death Star.

Come on, Han, he would have goaded. This is a big deal! We should look presentable.

Red bloodstripes snaked up dark blue pants. Mon Mothma lifted her hand and arranged her face in a dignified smile by the time the thigh-length holster came into view. Leia would miss their first exchange. Unconsciously she picked up her pace, Rieekan reacting a few seconds late.

Add the black spacer's vest: Han was dressing a part again, but even without that, his figure was long and lean, actively handsome. Why that had to be part of her description rankled her, but it was a fact and no other detail of him would suffice.

Han had to shift the inventory board from one hand to his other to grasp the Minister's hand; his face, Leia thought, guarded and unreadable and suddenly less handsome.

"...me," he finished saying. His eyes slid from Mon Mothma to the journalist at her side, to General Rieekan, and finally to Leia. He winked at her.

A large part of her, trained and schooled and drilled, disapproved; the Princess in a war. But there was another part of her, small and hidden, peeking behind her shield, and her gaze was on him, alert and curious.

Mon Mothma looked like she was performing a duty. "None of us would be here if it weren't for the actions of you and Commander Skywalker. You have our gratitude."

"Sure," Han said. "Already got it, fashioned into a medal," he jerked a thumb toward the inside of the Falcon. "It's not worth much but I appreciate it just the same." His eyes met Leia's again.

Chewie ruined the formality of the moment by stepping forward, bumping Han's shoulder, whose scowl matched the Minister's. The Wookiee stopped before Leia and engulfed her in a squeezing Wookiee hug. He was without any pretense, Leia thought, and that was a very brave thing.

His hug reminded her of when she was a little girl, greeting her father after a time away. Leia freed her head and found Han. "Good to see you again, Captain," she smiled at him.

"You too, Princess," he drawled. "Not gonna hug you in front of all these people, though."

"I'm not going to hug you, period," she retorted.

There were various reactions around her, chuckles and a small gasp of surprise, but Leia strongly approved of Han's greeting, and she felt her own response was more than satisfactory. Han wore a low-level grin, and Leia felt a smile, a true one, was issuing from her eyes.

"Captain Solo," the general said, and proffered a hand. "General Carlist Rieekan. Good to meet you. Early, but no harm done, I suppose."

"Yes, sir. Actually," Han put the hand to the back of his neck and squinted at Rieekan; Leia had seen the same pose waiting for the diagnostic report. He was running a test. "I was bored."

"There's a reason behind every clearance, Captain. You ought to know that. We can't cater to the whim of every pilot."

"I wouldn't call it a whim," Han was casual yet serious. "More like careful observation. Home is where ships are coming and going. Not much seemed to be happenin' dirtside, and I'd been docked a while."

"If you're bored, perhaps you'll consider assisting with the shuttles. We've only got the one ship. As for now, considering what you're carrying, I won't give it a second thought," Rieekan said affably.

"It's food, sir."

"I know." Rieekan was grinning. "A full stomach wins the war," he quoted, "and I've missed those muffins so much I have half a mind to help you unload myslef. Minister?" he held his palm out.

"By all means," she said dryly, "unload. Having heard your exploits, Captain, it was worth seeing you in person. I hope the Alliance continues to benefit from your service."

She barely stayed to hear Han mumble a thank you. "General," she gestured to Rieekan, and introduced the journalist, and they fell into conversation.

Han didn't seem amused at all the way Leia was. "You been singing my praises?" he frowned down at her.

"Certainly not," Leia said coolly.

"Then what was that about?"

"It did seem laced with hidden meaning," Leia, still amused, answered.

Chewie interjected with a long comment, his head bobbing side to side.

Leia forgot how difficult Shyriiwook sounded. She looked to Han.

"He likes what you've done to your hair," he translated in a mumble.

"Oh," Leia said, surprised the official visit made no impression on the Wookiee. She put a hand to the back of her head. "Thank you, Chewie."

Chewie's comment seemed to open the door to allow Han to appraise her fully. His eyes, not quite brown but not at all the blue of Luke's, swept down and then up, taking his time, and stopped at her face. "You're lookin' official," was all he said.

"Yes, well." Leia didn't quite know how to respond. It didn't feel like a compliment. "I am."

Chewie faced Han and rumbled something, fangs flashing.

"I am not," Han growled at him. "Here, take this." He handed Chewie the inventory board. "Lower the hatch and get 'em started." The fingers, now free of their cargo, sprawled at the back of his hip as he looked at Leia. "You busy later?"

She knew why he was asking, but she liked knowing more than he did. "Why?" Leia asked.

"There's a certain moping Commander up in orbit. Guess he'll start whining."

"You didn't ask how I was busy."

Han's eyes grew bright. "I didn't," he agreed. "How are you busy?" he enunciated, tilting his torso to her.

"I am to assist in the cessation of moping," Leia pronounced formally.

"Are you, now. That an order?"

"I ordered myself."

He did grin now, but there was something- it shouldn't be there, but it was. Leia noticed it and tried to tell herself she was wrong, but it insisted. His grin was a little sad. His eyes lowered, and now he was a different kind of handsome. Interactive, rather than active, because she wanted to ask about it. Alderaan-handsome, Leia continued to herself.

"Does Luke know?" he said, his tone gruff again. He'd felt it, too, Leia realized, and he didn't like it.

"I had to rearrange my schedule," she replied smoothly. "And he's out of contact, isn't he? I'm not going to use ship-to-ship to say I'll have dinner with him."

"'Was asking out of politeness, Highness," Han said dryly.

So he was back to that. Leia soured. She fished the credit chip from her pocket. A small flimsi was attached. "Here," she said. "For the candles."

He took it from her and read the receipt. "Almost forgot about that," he said softly.

His eyes were serious. His eyes, Leia thought, should do the talking and not his mouth.

She nodded at his eyes and told his mouth, "I'm ready to leave whenever you are."

"I'll be observing Home's clearance," he snapped. "Chewie!" he hollered and made to find his partner.