Chapter Eleven

Coruscant

Nexx Turner was looking smug and feeling rather proud of himself as he held up a piece of flimsi and showed it to Isolder. "The Princess has relatives on Naboo."

"Do you have names?" Isolder hissed. His eyes were looking even more crazed than the first time Turner had visited the former Prince inside the penitentiary. "I need names. I must depart this terrible place." He leaned forward and put both hands flat against the transparisteel window. "I have been unfairly sent to Hell. I'm not allowed to do anything! How dare these low-life beings tell me, Prince Isolder, what I can and cannot do? I shall have them interrogated when I leave this place. They will be begging me for mercy, but I shall not spare them."

A guard's voice echoed into the room from a hidden speaker. "Please take your hands away from the window or you will be removed from the visitation room."

Isolder immediately lowered his arms to his sides. "Do you see what I mean?" His head whipped around. "Evil spirits are watching me. They see everything I do. And the others types... the real prisoners that belong here? They look at me. They talk about me. They dare to even threaten me."

"Uh, right," Turner said, glad he had thick transparisteel protecting him from the prisoner. There was no way Isolder was getting all the information he had accumulated without coming up with a lot of credits. "I don't have any names, yet," he lied smoothly. "That's the problem, you see. I have to pay people a lot of money to get this information." He gave a sad shake of his head, pretending he cared about aiding the Prince. "In fact, I don't see why I should be using any more of my personal credits on this project. I'm not the one worried about dropping the soap." He sighed, knowing Isolder was desperate and then gave him another nudge, "All I need are credits. Lots of credits."

"I have the credits," Isolder whispered. "I just can't access it from here. You know that I will pay you. I will make you wealthy, once I am free from this place."

Turner held up his hands, palm sides up. "Sorry, Prince. I'm financially tapped out." Noting the Prince's conflicted expression, Turner leaned closer. "Daysun's file is very interesting. I'm not sure what to make of it, either. Multiple paternal DNA hits show on Corellia." He leaned back, then shrugged. "I guess it'll forever remain a mystery, since I can't go any further in this research without more money."

Isolder was breathing hard, rubbing his hands together nervously. He whispered, "I suppose I can get you funding right now. I can name the planet in the Constortium and the person you need to contact there to get access to my accounts. Do you have a stylus to write this all down?"

Turner suppressed a grin. "I have an excellent memory, my Lordship."

Corellia

Late evening

The main house seemed eerily quiet since all the Jedi students had moved, parts and parcels, into their new apartments located on the upper floor of the Academy building. Now it was only Han, Leia, and Isabell, as well as Luke and Mara living inside the big mansion. The two droids, C-3PO and Artoo, also were residents, although Han stubbornly refused to count them as actual inhabitants, insisting that dish recyclers and autovalets fell under the same category as droids and those certainly weren't counted. With only the five humans now living in the house, this also gave Leia much more freedom to call Han by his 'real' name, rather than constantly having to worry about slipping up in front of the Students.

Lando Calrissian's fuzzy image projected into Han's living room, where both Leia and Han sat on their sofa in front of the dapper man's shimmering image. "The tour schedule is all set to go. You'll be leaving in five weeks, so that'll give you enough rehearsal time, especially since you have your own studio now." Lando looked down at his datapad. "The first stop on Chandrila. You'll be also giving a number of concerts on Ord Mantell, Coruscant, Tinnel IV and Naboo. The last stop will be twelve weeks later, back home, in the biggest venue in Coronet City. But you'll have a week break before your Coronet City concert."

"Twelve weeks?" Leia asked in dismay as she looked over at Han. "That's a long time for you to be gone on tour."

Calrissian shrugged. "Evin only performs about two times a week, in different cities on each planet. He'll be home in eleven weeks since his last concert's on Corellia. And, besides, a lot of places were begging me to book him and I had to turn them down or the tour could've gone on for another twelve weeks." Lando gave a knowing, slightly paternal smile. "But I know how eager you two are to get married, so I refused to add more dates because I always have your best interests at heart."

"Thanks, we appreciate your consideration," Han said a bit sarcastically. "But there is one thing I want you to do, Lando."

"Sure, you old Pirate, name it."

"I want you to have that last concert - the one in Coronet City - to be a benefit concert. All proceeds will be going to a particular cause."

"What's the cause?"

"I want the money to help the homeless street kids on Corellia," Han said, his lips thinning as his own childhood memories filtered back. "You'll have to do a lot of vetting for the money to go toward actual, decent charities 'cuz I know from first hand experience that a large number of 'em are not in it to help homeless kids one bit. The creeps runnin' those places use funding to line their own pockets, and I ain't about to make 'em richer."

"I can do that," Leia immediately volunteered, then noted Han's confused expression. "The vetting process, I mean. It's something I'd love to do, actually. I know how much this means to you." The fact he wanted to do this made Leia's heart burst with love and pride. She knew how difficult it was for Han to talk about, or even think about, his terrible childhood. Other than Dewlanna, the Wookiee that showed him kindness, he'd had absolutely no one else that cared about him in his young life. There were many reasons she fell in love with Han Solo. His kindness, the segment he tried so hard to keep hidden away from others, was a big reason she'd fallen for him. And now that he'd come into wealth, she could add generosity to her list of reasons, as well.

Han turned his body toward Leia. "You sure? Aren't you gonna be busy with wedding plans for when I get back home?"

"I don't intend for our wedding to be a huge event," Leia told him. "I already had a circus spectacle with my first wedding. I want ours to be different. Family, friends, and of course I'll have to invite a few of my political connections, like Mon Mothma and Carlist. All your employees, your band and backup singers will be invited, too. And I'd like it to be a late spring wedding, and hold it outside if the weather cooperates."

"Do I get an invitation?" Lando asked, only partially joking.

"Yes, Lando," Han replied with a grunt. "But only if you stop callin' me a pirate. I was never a pirate."

"Well, you pirated the Falcon away from me."

"I won it, fair and square," Han objected. "Keep it up, and we won't invite you!"

"Okay, okay!" Lando laughed. "So, the last show, after expenses, will be for charity."

"You're a tightwad, Calrissian," Han said before cutting off the connection. He sighed, and looked back at Leia. "Thanks for doing the vetting process for me. It's gonna be a lot of flimsi work and investigating finances."

"I know," Leia said. "I'm actually looking forward to doing something useful for a change. It's been almost four years since I've felt I was doing something worthwhile." She gave Han a warm smile and a hug. "I think that's incredibly sweet of you to give a charity concert for a cause that's so important to you."

Han shrugged, trying not to be embarrassed. "Those kids need to have something in life to look forward to, and they deserve a decent place to live and not have to pick through garbage to fill the hole in their stomachs. If I can help even a few of 'em, then maybe this career will have been worth something when it's all said and done."

"You don't think your career is important?"

"It's singing, dancing an' acting," Han replied. "Doctors are important. Beings upholding law and order are important. Freight pilots are important. Farmers are important, and hell, even politicians can sometimes be important - "

"Hey!"

"You know I'm kidding, Sweetheart," Han said with a wink. "You did the most important work of all getting rid of Palpatine and helping set up the New Republic. But what I'm doing doesn't really matter, not in the long run. It's just entertaining."

"Making beings happy is important," Leia said. "If all we did was work and eat and sleep, how much fun would that be?"

"I don't know. Does the sleeping part include sex?"

"Is that all you ever think about, Nerfherder?"

Han grinned. "I admit that I think about it a lot." Then he got somber. "Leia, what are your plans?" Seeing her befuddled expression, he quickly added, "Luke told me you wanted to stay in politics. Does that mean you want to move to Coruscant?"

The Princess took a deep breath. "I'd like us to take an apartment there, eventually. But our permanent residence will remain right here, of course. I love this estate, every bit as much as you love it." She looked down at her hands, rubbing them a bit nervously. "I've been reading quite a bit about Corellian laws and policies."

"That means you know a hell of a lot more about Corellian laws than I do," Han said with a snort. "I find out what they are after I break 'em."

Leia laughed. "Well, Corellia's laws state that once I marry a Corellian, I am considered a full Corellian, as much as if I were born planet-side to Corellian parents."

"I actually did know that one."

"So... "Leia continued, still not meeting Han's eyes, "after we marry, I would like to run for Corellia's Senate seat, and represent Corellia in the New Republic if I win." She looked up finally, her brown eyes showing some concern. "I know that means spending quite a bit of time on Coruscant, but you could work your filming schedule around the times I have to be on Coruscant. I'm sure that the holo-film industry executives would be flexible for you."

Han leaned back against the sofa cushions, pursing his lips in thought. "That probably would work out pretty good, actually. When the Senate is on break, I'll make sure I'm not either recording a movie or out on tour. We can both have our careers, even if we do end up spending too much time apart for my preference."

"We would have been spending a lot of time apart while you were off commanding a ship as General Solo," Leia pointed out. "And I'll take as much time off as I can to travel with you on tour, whenever I can."

"Leia?"

"Yes?"

"Can we go to sleep now?" Han asked, gazing at her and putting a suggestive emphasis on the word 'sleep.' "It's almost all I think about, you know."

"I know, dear. I would not be surprised if it occupies ninety percent of your waking thoughts." Leia quickly stood up and wagged her index finger at her Corellian. "As long as your sex addled brain is laser focused around me and not anyone else, I'm fine with that." She licked her lips provocatively, then turned and sashayed toward their bedroom.

Han rose from the sofa and hurried after Leia. "It's always and only about you, Sweetheart. But I think that ninety percent number might be a little on the low side."