"Leia get over here!" Han yelled from the cockpit. Leia quickly rushed over to where he was.
"Sit down, we're about to drop out of hyperspace" he motioned for her to sit in the copilot's chair. She sat, and immediately felt the harsh jerk against the chair that meant they had completed the exit.
"This is the Sesid Launch Bay, please state your business Stargazer"
"Stargazer?" Leia raised her eyebrows in amusement.
"Look sister, it was the most innocent name I could come up with, and besides I didn't hear you give any ideas!" he hissed, just for her to continue chuckling, but she nodded.
"Stargazer, please state your business" oh right, he needed to pick up the comm.
"Uh- I'm just here on vacation...heard this place has got some great beaches, so I just wanted to check it out".
"Alright, Stargazer. You have clearance for one week in bay twenty-four."
"Thanks" he muttered into the comm, and prepared for landing."
That's a pretty short trip you got us" Leia remarked.
"Could've been shorter" he grumbled back.
"Han, why are you in such a mood all of a sudden?"
"I'm not in a mood!" he snapped.
"Well will you quit being a grump? I don't know what in the universe got into you!"
They were both as mad as an angry pair of Banthas now.
"Nothing got into me Leia!"
"Nothing?"
"Nothing!"
"Are you sure?"
"Shut up and let me land!" he covered her mouth as he pulled the ship down to the planet's surface. As soon as they did, she shoved his hand off her mouth. She pulled him up from his chair and immediately smacked his face.
"If nothing has gotten into you, then why are you being a sleemo?!"
"Kriff, Leia! I didn't do anything to you!"
"You didn't do anything?"
"Yeah. I didn't do anything"
"You didn't do ANYTHING?! You just told me to shut up!"
"I did do that, huh? Sorry bout' that sweetheart" he paused.
"But before that, what in the universe were you accusing me of doing?"
"You don't know?! You only got us one week here! I thought we agreed at breakfast that our honeymoon would be two weeks long! We were supposed to have two weeks and you jus-"
So that was it. Gosh, Leia was hard to understand sometimes. Now If only she would stop yelling.
"You never listen to me! I wish you weren't such a-" she started, but Han didn't let her finish. He'd picked her up by the waist, and before she knew it, he was kissing her. They kissed long and hard. As they kissed, her hands became entwined with his hair, and his were making their way to her small waist. When they finally broke the kiss, all was made up.
"Han" she whispered, as he began to kiss her neck.
"What s'matter?" he muttered into her soft skin.
"Nothing, I just- we should probably get off the Falcon and save this for the hotel room."
"Yeah" he agreed, now gently placing his hands on her cheeks, bestowing one last kiss to her forehead.
"I'll go get the luggage" he offered.
"There's only one small crate."
"That's all?"
"We don't have that much stuff" she shrugged, and they quickly picked up the crate as they exited the Falcon's ramp. Moments later, Han and Leia set foot on land and immediately took a second to breathe in the unique scent of Sesid's salty beach air.
"Why does that smell make me hungry?" Han asked himself aloud.
"Beaches tend to make you hungry, don't they?"
"I guess so, haven't been to one in awhile though."
"Well this one is really nice" she said, as they walked into the marketplace.
"I think you'll like it."
After walking for several minutes, they stopped at a beautiful hotel. While most of Sesid's architecture were short, stout, rustic structures built from adobe, this hotel was sleek, tall, and built with pale, yellow marble. Its intricate molding, large windows, and blue dome roof provided enough evidence for one to assume its architect was from Naboo.
"Let's stay here!" Leia gushed at first sight.
"I like the sound of that."
They entered the lobby, and took in the art adorning the hotel's tall ceilings, admiring the hotel's sophisticated furnishings.
"Kriff, this'll be expensive" Han realized.
"I don't care" Leia said.
Of course she didn't care, she was rich- wasn't she? She had been when he'd first met her after made their way to the front desk, and a young, smiling, blonde woman greeted them- probably the concierge.
"Happy Tides! My name is Avila, how may I help you?"
"Happy Tides!" Leia returned the woman with what must be a local greeting.
"I'd like to book a room for uh-" Han started, but couldn't do the math quick enough, so he quickly gave Leia the secret look they both knew meant 'help!'.
"Six nights" she whispered.
"Six nights" he repeated.
"Alright, you're good to go for six nights in the honeymoon suite!" The blonde concierge repeated, as she quickly typed a few things into her datapad.
"How'd you know it was our honeymoon?" Han asked her inquisitively.
"Well, you two are famous rebellion heroes aren't you?"
"That all depends on your definition of 'hero', but we do work with the allianc-" Leia started.
"I was right! You're Princess Leia, and you're General Solo! There have been some rumors spreading that you two got married, so I assumed that's why you're here!" Leia let go of a sigh, which the concierge took as confirmation of her theory. Her smile spread even further, clearly thrilled at the success of her detective work.
"My friends are gonna die when they hear about this!" Leia groaned inside. She hadn't wanted to draw any attention to themselves! How'd the concierge even recognized them?
"How'd you know it was us?" Leia asked the concierge.
"Well, for starters, you're wearing the starbird, and second, everyone's seen you both on the Imperial wanted ads they play on the holonet. And third, you've got that super fancy hairstyle only Princesses have. And fourth, he's got the Corellian blood stripe running down his pants."
Kriff! I should've thought about what we were wearing! Leia silently cursed herself.
Usually she was so careful about this stuff, but with the victory, wedding, and the start of their honeymoon, she'd somehow forgotten and thrown caution to the wind. Thankfully, Han seemed as concerned about concealing their identities as she was.
"Hey, how bout' you don't go tellin' all your little friends about us" he told her, as he tossed a couple credits over the desk. The concierge looked at the credits that now lay in her lap and sighed.
"Alright" she finally agreed.
"Good" he said, pointing an index finger at the girl as if to warn her.
The concierge handed Leia the chip that would serve as their room key and they quickly rushed to the nearest turbolift.
"Guess we're going shopping" Han said, breaking the silence in the turbolift.
"Yes" Leia agreed.
"We have to do everything we can to conceal our identities." Leia said, and Han nodded in agreement.
"If that concierge knew who we are, anyone can. And the last thing we need is for Imperial loyalists, remaining troops, or bounty hunters to track us down on our honeymoon."
"You're absolutely right sweetheart."
"We'll have to get rid of everything she used to identify us with."
"Do you remember what she said?" Han asked.
"Mostly. The simplest thing is the starbird on my clothing."
"It's quite the give away" Han chuckled.
"I know! Why didn't you tell me?!"
"Its not like you have anything else to wear" he shrugged. He was right.
The turbolift arrived at the 21st level- the one their suite was located on. As Han unlocked their door, she set down their luggage crate, and proceeded to finish laying out their plan.
"So, we'll have to replace all my clothes. And yours too. She saw that blood stripe" Leia gestured to the red checkered pattern running down Han's pant legs.
"Aw Leia, you can't take that away from me!"
"I certainly can, Han! Besides, it really isn't so bad compared to what I'm going to have to do to myself."
"What are you going to do?"
"You heard her, people know what I look like. I'll have to do something entirely different with my hair."
"What?!"
"Yes, you heard me!"
"You're gonna change your hair?!"
"Precisely so."He moaned.
"But Lei- I like your hair" he whined, pulling out a loose strand of her hair from behind her ear.
He remembered how splendid he'd felt in their bunk the night before, when she'd let him partake in the sacred act of removing her hair pins, releasing a beautiful ocean made up of waves that were Leia's hair. And then he remembered when those thick, caf-colored waves had covered his face, making it almost impossible to see her, but oh-so rewarding when he'd managed to brush them away. He was indulging in these memories, among others like them, when Leia brought him back to their reality.
"Han, believe me, it won't be quite so bad as if I was captured" she whispered.
He agreed. Any sort of pleasure was worth sacrificing if it would prevent Leia's suffering. He soon found himself nodding his consent.
"I know what you're thinking flyboy."
"What? With the force?!" One thing was for sure, he did not want her to know how much he idolized her hair. If she knew, he'd never hear the end of it.
"No, hotshot" she smiled.
"I can just tell." She told him, and plopped down on their bed. He sat down next to her and wondered if she really knew what he was thinking. His heart was pounding in anticipation.
"You're gonna miss it" she finally said, gesturing to her braided crown. Then she started to unpin the magnificent pile of braids that adorned her pretty little face.
"Hey, wait!" He stopped her, gently pulling her hand away from its work, setting it on her lap instead. Then bringing his own hand back up to it, and began removing the pins himself.
"That's my job, remember?" he teased.
"I was right!" she softly exclaimed.
"Yeah, you were" he surprisingly heard himself admit. But the even larger surprise occurred when she didn't mock or shame him. She just giggled.
"Its okay, you nerfherder. I'll only cut it up to here" she assured him, holding her two pointer fingers up to her shoulder blades.
"That's awfully short" he complained.
"And you're awfully picky" she retorted, just before she gently raised her lips to his, joining the two into a state of pure bliss.
"Kriff, Leia! You're killing me" he moaned.
"Awww. You're too young to die. Get up, or I might start thinking you really are an old man!" she exclaimed as she stood, pulling him off their bed.
He followed her as she made her way out of their suite, back down the turbolift, out of the lobby, and to a nearby clothing store.
"There's a lot of stuff here." Han observed the many aisles of clothing; mainly women's clothing.
She nodded in agreement, biting her bottom lip. Then her lips parted mischievously.
"Why don't you pick something for me?"
"Me?" Han asked unsurely, index fingers pointed toward his chest.
"Yes, you" she assured him.
"You're the famous Han Solo. You know what you want" she said in theatrical voice, with a hint of drama that made him chuckle.
"Listen sweetheart, I'm no fashion expert" he tried to discourage her, but she just laughed.
"That's debatable" she said, tugging at the corner of his jacket.
"You do have some style."
"I've never picked clothes for a woman before though."
"Oh it's not that hard. Start off simply." she instructed him.
"What do you think is my color?" she asked, giving her body a quick twirl.
"Your color?" he repeated, trying to comprehend her lesson.
"Yes, my color. The one, or ones, that make my most attractive features stand out."
Ah. He understood now!
sorta.
"Okay" he said, grabbing a barf-green dress off the closest rack.
She raised an eyebrow at the questionable choice, and was glad when he began to shake his head.
"Nope" he said after a few seconds, tossing the dress to the floor.
"Han! Pick that up!" she scolded, and he bent down to retrieve the dress, messily hanging it back up on the rack.
She sighed to herself as he went to go find another clothing went through several colors. Red, purple, pink, yellow, maroon, black, and various shades of teal. Then he squinted at his wife's small frame, trying to determine the winning color.
"Ya know what?" he finally said.
"What?"
"Black is your color" he declared.
"No,no,no,no,no,no,no. Black is definitely not my color" she denied.
"But it makes you look so classy" he refuted.
"No" she told him. This time much more firmly.
And she thinks I'm touchy! He thought.
"Leia, what's so bad about black? I think it looks nice."
"Its not."
"But why?!"
"Because!"
"Listen sweetheart, you don't have to hide everything from me anymore! You can tell me what you're thinking!"
"I don't want to wear black! Its dark, ugly, and its-" she cringed.
"Sithly."
A-ha!
Leia didn't want to wear black because it reminded her of her Darth Vader! And if there was one person in the galaxy she despised, it was definitely Darth Vader. Despite Luke's attempts to convince her Vader had once been a good man, Leia refused to believe there was any goodness beneath that wretched suit. That wretched black suit.
So of course that was it!
"Hey, sweetheart" kriff- now he had to apologize again.
"I'm sorry" he said, taking her into his arms.
"Its alright" she waited a moment to continue.
"How bout' you choose another one?"
"Okay your highnessness" Han glanced over and saw a pretty blue dress. Length wise, it would probably fit Leia to her knees. Its sleeves were capri length, with quilted cuffs. The hem was quilted as well, he noted. It had a formal collar, that met a deep slit down the chest area, which could be fastened up modestly with small buttons made from pearls. It would look gorgeous on her.
"This is it!" Han proudly handed Leia the dress.
"Blue isn't my color either" she shook her head, causing a look of utter disappointment to spread on Han's face.
Kriff- I hurt his feelings! she soon realized. But Leia was a diplomat, and if there was one thing she excelled at, it was solving problems like this.
"It used to be though!" she reassured him, in hoped of taking away his frown.
"Used to?"
"Yes, before puberty I had blonde hair. I used to always wear blue as a kid."
"Why don't you now?"
"Well-" she held up a fistful of hair.
"It's not blonde anymore!"
"What's wrong with that?"
"I don't know, blue just looks less flattering with my brown hair" she shrugged, but then took a closer look at the dress. It really was a pretty color, and it looked stylish and comfortable too.
Maybe I could... The wheels in her head began turning.
"Han, we'll take it"
"You'll take it?"
"Yes. You did a good job hotshot.''
"Picking your dress?"
"Yes- and also my new hair color!" she exclaimed, hurrying off towards the register.
"What do you mean I picked your new hair color?"
"Well, first you reminded me that I like the color blue, and then you reminded me that my hair used to be blonde, and that reminded me that a couple months back, when you were in carbonite, I was hoping to dye my hair blonde as soon as I got the chance."
"And this is your chance?"
"Precisely so!"
"You sure blonde will look good?" She nodded.
"Trust me, you're gonna love it!"
They quickly paid for the dress, and before he knew it, Leia had dragged him to some salon. "Happy Tides! Welcome to Sesid Beauty Salon. Do you have an appointment?"
"No" Leia bit her lip, hoping she wouldn't get turned down.
"That's okay sweetie, we can fit you in when Pearl is done!" The cashier gestured to a tall woman in the back of the salon, who finishing up a little boy's haircut.
"What's your name?"
Leia glanced at Han, unsure of what to say. She hadn't thought up any false names beforehand, so she went with whatever came off the top of her head.
"Uh, Hanna."
"Alright Hanna, please take a seat wherever you'd like. We'll call you over when we're ready."
"Alright, thank you."
Leia made her way over to the sofa where Han had already settled. He was reading some starship catalogue.
"What's wrong? The Falcon not good enough for you?" she teased.
"What?! Never! She'll always be my baby."
"Well then why in the universe are you looking at new ships from a catalogue?"
"Look sister, ain't none of these fancy schmancy catalogue ships as good as the Falcon, I can bet you 5 million credits on that."
"Really?" Leia asked him slowly, doubting his seriousness.
"Really! I just like to see what new thingies they've added to the newer ones so that I can add them to the Falcon myself."
"Well I'll see your 5 million credits, and raise you-"
"Since when do you gamble with me?!"
"To be honest, not until we started sharing the same money, so- yesterday" she laughed, and Han couldn't help but join in. A couple seconds later the stylist the cashier had addressed earlier as 'Pearl', approached Leia.
"Happy Tides! I just finished up with that little boy, so you are welcome to go right up and take a seat!"
"Oh yes... I'll be right there" Leia promised.
"You're sure you wanna do this?" Han asked her, one last time before she walked to the metal stylist's chair.
"Yes! I'm very sure, you womprat" she reassured him, and playfully pushed him further into the sofa before leaving him to his anticipation.
It was hard for Han to focus on the catalogue now, with Leia getting her hair cut by some stranger and all! Last time she'd done something with her hair, he'd been the one to do it. Han didn't trust many people in general, but he trusted even less people with Leia's hair. For all he knew, they could be stealing and selling its remains for a profit. As strange as it may seem, hair was one of the richest and most rare business in the galaxy. He'd smuggled shipments of it many a times during his days of smuggling.
It had been so long since Leia had someone tend to her hair. It felt...relaxing. First, Pearl brushed out Leia's tangled mess into soft waves. Then, she took clips and separated Leia's hair, pinning them up into sections. She grabbed her scissors and Leia could feel herself gasp when she heard the first Snip!
Snip, snip! Snip, snip! Snip, snip, snip! Large masses of Leia's brown waves began falling to the floor and within seconds, her head felt 10 pounds lighter. She felt like she could breathe! After a few adjustments, Leia's hair length had been altered to end just at her shoulders. She was even more relieved she'd been able to keep the promise she'd made to Han back at the hotel. When Pearl had made the first snip!, Leia had feared the woman had cut it shorter than asked.
"Hold on, I'll be right back..." the stylist assured Leia, as she went to retrieve the products necessary to dye Leia's brown hair to a warm blonde. Leaving Leia to admire her new hair was short. Much shorter than she'd had it in a long time.
Gosh- she couldn't even remember how long it had been since her head had felt this free. And aside from being convenient, the style was also quite pretty. She crossed her fingers, hoping the dye wasn't about to wreck it all. The stylist soon returned with a number of chemicals in hand. She set them down on the hovercart, and started the bleaching process. About an hour and a half later, she had finally achieved a shade light enough to apply the blonde dye Leia had selected. The dye was quickly applied, and Leia's hair was rinsed out as soon as the color had set. The stylist then dried Leia's hair, and brushed it into the style it was cut for. When she was done, she removed the silk cape that had been covering Leia's outfit, allowing Leia to brush off the little hairs that had fallen from her head and were now itching the back of her neck. Pearl was quickly paid, and as the woman turned to leave, Leia couldn't help but admire her now-blonde hair in the mirror.
Han had better like it!- she thought.
Or I'll be Kriffing dead.