Motives

"Just don't take too long." ~Leia Organa

Chapter 30

Back on Corellia…

Han had gone straight home. Abregado-Rae was a Core World and the round trip had been accomplished in just one, albeit very long, day. Nevertheless, it was late by Coronet City time and Han sunk into the conformed cushions of the presidential limo feeling mentally and physically exhausted. When the speeder pulled through the gates of the Orakzai estate and whirred to a stop in front of the marbled stairway leading up to the large, double doors, Han saw Eliza racing out to meet him.

"Where've you been?" his daughter asked, her tone scolding as she pounced on him before he had even had time to exit his vehicle. "Don't you have your comm unit on? I've been trying to reach you for hours."

Han looked down to the small device clipped at his waist. The one part of his covert operation that he had been able to pull off was to hide it from Eliza. He hadn't been sure why Orakzai had pointed Han in Rutien's direction and he didn't want to needlessly worry her so he had turned his comm unit completely off, knowing that she could always reach out to Stanton should any real need arise. "I thought I had set it to silent while I was in a meeting," Han supplied the half-truth while stepping out of the vehicle. "I must've turned it off by mistake."

"You shouldn't do that. What if there was an emergency?"

She took Han's coat from him as he ambled up the stairway. His daughter looked nervous. That was unusual, even if her scolding tone and mothering of him wasn't. "I'm sorry, Sweetheart," he replied. "It was a very important meeting." He began to wonder if he had the energy to give her the news he had found today right then. In his mind, he had already decided that it would be better left until tomorrow but then he hadn't expected Eliza to be so wound up and primed to talk to him as soon as he had gotten home.

Standing on the landing, Eliza turned to look at him full on while blocking his entrance. Crossing her arms, she lifted one eyebrow and set her jaw just so, an expression that to Han was both exhausting and endearing.

Thinking that Dancer had perhaps eaten another household item or that her attempt at cooking him dinner had gone awry, Han drew in a deep breath and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Princess Leia," she replied, bouncing up and down on her toes and seeming to very much enjoy how discombobulating it was for him to hear that name. "She's here, in Coronet City. And whatever she needs, it seemed really urgent."

Han blew out that deep breath. As welcomed a surprise as this might have been, he was exhausted and there were still hours of obligations that he would have to take care of before he was finally able to climb into his bed.

"C'mon!" Eliza said, tugging on his arm and urging him to move into the house as if she had not just been actively blocking him from entering just moments ago.

Han smiled, in spite of his exhaustion. Looking at her now, he wondered how he could've ever doubted that she was his. Her eyes, the mischievous tilt of her mouth-

"You need to call her," she said, impatiently. "Do I have to spell everything out for you?"

Her diplomatic disposition. "Alright, alright."

After setting up a meeting with Leia at his home office, Han quickly showered and changed his clothes. He had just finished a small plate of food that Eliza had prepared for him while scanning over the day's correspondence and requests, when he was alerted to the Princess' arrival. Han shut his computer down and readied himself for whatever might lay ahead. Today was to be a day of many interesting meetings, it seemed.

"Show her to my office," Han instructed his footman. And once again, he prepared himself for anything.

Princess Leia was wearing a periwinkle blue blazer with a sheer creme-colored tank top underneath it. Although she was sitting now, Han had had the pleasure of seeing the matching, tailored pants that fit snug all the way down to her bare ankles. Her shoes were the same color of her tank top, with heels that gave her just enough height for Han to immediately notice the difference. And, unlike most of her hairstyles, the one she was wearing this evening had several loose tendrils of hair framing her face and cascading over her shoulders and down her back, while just two small sections were braided and looped around intricately on either side of her head. It reminded Han of the very first hairdo that he had ever seen on the spunky Princess of Alderaan.

How far they had come.

The Princess and unlikely President were currently sitting across a large wooden desk from one another. After a very quick and very honorable press of their cheeks by way of greeting, the pair had separated and took their seats. Whatever he thought this meeting might be about, Leia did not seem inclined to engage in pleasantries and she was currently talking to him about trade agreements, shipyards and supply costs while sliding several datacards across the desk toward him. Han smiled and nodded in all the right places but all he could really think about was the fabric of the bralette that he knew must be hiding underneath that tank top. Or how that blazer would slide so easily down the soft skin of her arms. Or what her answer would be if he asked her to put those heels back on once he had relieved her of those snug-fitting slacks.

"Han?" Leia asked, wearing an expression that was also very similar to when they had first met. "Are you even hearing a word that I'm saying?"

"Of course, I am," he replied. And he was, actually. Keeping all of the Falcon's systems running simultaneously had made him an excellent multi-tasker. He looked at the untouched datacards lying on his desk and leaned back in his chair resting his elbows on the arm rests while he steepled his fingers together. "You're asking me to do a favor for your boyfriend."

"He's not my boyfriend."

The color on her cheeks told Han something different. "Then what is he?"

"Will you do it?" She replied, ignoring his question. She seemed earnest and upset by the prospect that he might not do this for her. As if there were anything he wouldn't do for her.

"This means something to you?" He asked.

"Yes."

"And what exactly am I agreeing to?"

"Just to meet with him. He has a deal; a damned good one. I'm not asking for any concessions on my part, but…do what's best for Corellia."

He lifted an eyebrow. "So, you're doing this for Corellia?"

"I'm doing this because I made a promise."

Han looked down at his hands for a moment, lowering them into his lap. It was hard not to remember the last time they had been in an office together. She had made her feelings known to him and he had rebuffed her. He knew why, certainly. But that didn't lessen the guilt or regret in the slightest. He thought again of Rutien and Orakzai, two men who had let power, glory and other obligations overshadow their family and personal lives. Han didn't know what he was going to do with this life that he had fallen into, but he knew that he didn't want to be like those men.

He looked back up to Leia. "The general election's right around the corner," he said. Han had insisted that his office did not fund any sort of campaign and that his name should not even be printed on the ticket. "It's looking to be a landslide win." His plan was not working. Apparently Corellia liked the idea of having a non-political politician.

"That's," she started but then stopped herself. "I'm sorry. I know this should be good news for most, but for you." She shook her head dejectedly. "It just doesn't seem to end does it?"

It didn't surprise him that her thoughts were synced with his. "No."

"But," she said. "You will be able to broker this deal?"

"I don't know," he said, exasperated. Damn her tenacity, it was what he loved most and hated most about her at the same time. "But that's not the point."

"What's the point, then?"

"The point, I guess, is," Han said, resting his elbows on his desk as he leaned forward. "Is this how you saw us? Me, tied to a political post and you…"

"Left alone and wanting?" She supplied.

It was easy to tell himself that she still wanted him, it was yet another matter to hear her say it. He shuffled in his seat. The blue shade of her suit called to him like clear skies out the Falcon's viewport.

"Will you see Valwyn?" Leia asked, pointedly.

Han shrugged and leaned back. He thought of his cabinet members and of bureaucratic red tape. "I don't know what I could do."

"Your President of Corellia," Leia replied. "I believe you could do a lot."

Han laughed. "I've got a life-sized picture of this scenario if it were reversed," he said, pointing at her. "Oh, let's say if you were president and I were asking you to do something just because you held the office? You would be telling me how unethical I was. Enlightening me on the term: abuse of power. Or how perception-"

"That's just the point, Han," she interrupted him. "You're not me."

He waggled his finger at her. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Princess." He had never been more proud of her.

"I know," she replied, with a mischievous smile. "But, I'm not."

He wanted to pull her to him and kiss her then, but that hadn't worked out so greatly the last time he had tried it. So instead he gave her a crooked smile and replied, "Okay. You win. I'll see your boyfriend and...I'll be sure to do what's best for Corellia."

Leia stood, the reason for their meeting over apparently. Han tried not to show his disappointment when he followed her lead and stood as well. He walked around the desk, stopping several paces from her.

Leia was leaning over and picking up her satchel. When she slung the strap onto her shoulder she looked at him and asked, "Are you really that inclined to give it away? Your "boyfriend" title?"

Han sobered his expression. He was all for teasing but this was killing him. "Leia," he whispered seriously as he took a step towards her.

"Look, Han," she said, not flinching away from him, but not stepping into him either. "It took me three years to hand my love over to you; it'll take a lot more than all of this for me to take it back." She then took another step toward him and placed her hand on his chest, fingering at one of his buttons. "Is that what you're trying to do? Give it back?"

"No," he answered breathlessly, a little ashamed at how sappy he sounded.

Leia's features softened and she smiled up at him but then her expression turned serious as she seemed to think of something. "I'm glad that we didn't," she started. "That you stopped us, that day."

He remembered vividly the look on her face when he had left her then. "Are you?"

"I don't have to tell you what I wanted, but…it wouldn't've been right. And I want us to be right. More than anything, I want that."

Han took her hands in his. "And I can do that," he said. "I can make us right, I just need time."

"That's all I needed to hear," she said. "Just…," she trailed off.

"What?"

"Just don't take too long." She kept her hand there, resting against his chest for several heartbeats. And then she smiled at him wistfully before she turned and walked away.

Han leaned back against his desk as he watched her leave his office and be escorted out. He would've liked to tell her about the news that he had received from Rutien, but he especially wanted to tell Eliza first. And then he thought of his promise to make things right. How long would they have to wait, he wondered. And what, if anything, could he do now to grease the skids? He went to bed that night thinking of the color periwinkle and of scheming up plans to shorten the complicated path of happiness for him and Leia. He slept exceptionally well that night. Han always slept the best when he had his mind occupied on puzzling out a plan.