Vacation

"Han?"

The Corellian looked over at Luke from the corner table in a empty hotel bar, where he had spent the late morning, just being bored and watching the corner holo-screen showing a smashball game.

"Mara just commed me, and she's with Leia and they want us to meet them," Luke said nervously.

"Where?"

"She didn't say, but she gave me directions," Luke replied to his brother-in-law.

"This had better not be about shopping," Han warned. "I hate shopping."

It had been a long time since either couple had an actual vacation so when Leia suggested the idea to Mara, she had been met with enthusiasm. For weeks, the women had planned this trip to the idyllic planet of Riiouth, a tropical paradise. They had made hotel reservations, organized sightseeing side trips, and generally had a great deal of fun just planning the trip. And as these things often happen, the planning was turning out to be more fun than the actual trip.

First, it had been raining non-stop since they arrived. "Well, this is a tropical island, Leia," Han had remarked to his wife. "It rains a lot in the tropics." The look she had shot him made him decide to keep his mouth shut for a few hours.

Second, the hotel had been under renovations when they had arrived. Instead of vast windows overlooking a blue ocean setting, the lobby had been a mixture of duroboard sheeting and noisy construction droids humming about, creating a great deal of racket.

Third, the hovercraft rental place had lost their reservation, so instead of a large comfortable hovercraft, the four travelers were crammed into an "economy" size vehicle. They had to hold their luggage on their laps, since the trunk was too small to hold much of anything.

So, on the second morning of their vacation, with rain pouring down relentlessly, the women informed the men they were going shopping. "What are we supposed to do all day?" Luke had asked Mara.

"Take a hike," Mara had replied. Luke hadn't been certain if she meant that literally or figuratively. Wisely, he didn't ask.

So later that day, when the sun finally peeked through the gray clouds, Luke had received a call from Mara. The Jedi was not about to question his wife - she said come, he was going.

"I don't think it's about shopping, Han," Luke answered. "They've been shopping for two days. They might be shopped out."

"They're women, Luke," Han returned quickly. "Women never get shopped out."

Nevertheless, Han went with Luke and found public transportation to the location they had been told to go. When the hoverbus pulled up to a forested area and stopped, Luke looked over to Han. "This is our stop."

"Here?" Han asked, surprised. "This isn't anywhere!"

"I think it's a forest preserve," Luke answered, as he looked at the small map that was handed out to tourists.

Obediently, they exited the hoverbus and stood uncertainly as it pulled away, leaving them alone. "Do you think this is their idea of a practical joke?" Han wondered.

"Luke! Han!" The men turned around at the sound of Leia's voice. "There you are... we were wondering what was taking you so long!"

"We came as fast as we could," Han groused. "You two have the rental."

Mara walked up beside her husband. "Well, we were just driving around in the rain, and all of a sudden the sun came out. And here we were! Isn't this nice?"

Luke looked around at the trees. "Yes, it is very nice, honey."

Leia looped her arm through Han's, leading him away from the bus stop. "Come on, we'll show you what we decided to do."

The group walked down a dirt path until they came to a small foot bridge over a pretty little river. Several people stood around a small building at the side of the river, with tiny boats all in a line.

"This is it," Mara proclaimed happily.

"This is what?" Luke asked as he looked around for something of interest, anything at all.

"We're going canoeing!" Leia said with a grin.

"What? No!" Luke quickly shot back. "I can't swim!"

"Oh for..." Mara snapped. "It's a just a little creek, the water doesn't even go over your head."

"And besides," Leia put in. "We aren't going in the water, we're floating on top of the water."

"Famous last words," Han mumbled under his breath.

"What?" Leia returned, narrowing her eyes at Han.

"Nothing."

"Come on, then," Mara cajoled. "We've already paid for the canoe."

The four carefully climbed into the narrow boat and picked up their paddles and started rowing down the river. All in all, things were going fairly well. The scenery was beautiful, and the rain had left the air smelling clean and fresh.

"Do we turn around at some point and paddle back?" Luke asked, frowning as they paddled further and further away,

"No," Mara answered. "There is a stopping point ahead, and they haul the canoe back and take us back to the starting point. Quit worrying."

"Oh Mara, look at the flower," Leia said breathlessly. Indeed, a flowering branch dipped down low over the river, its exotic red blossoms almost touching the water.

"It's beautiful," Mara agreed with her sister-in-law.

"Wait," Luke said suddenly. "I'll get it for you." He leaned over and almost reached the branch. Almost. The canoe, suddenly off balance, tipped and sent all four occupants spilling into the chilly water.

For a brief moment, Luke panicked. Then his feet found the sandy bottom and he pulled himself upright.

Han was standing in the water up to his waist, glaring in Luke's direction. "Skywalker! I'm gonna kill you!"

"No you're not, Solo," Mara growled back. "I'm going to kill him first."

"Canoeing wasn't my idea," Luke protested.

"You're the one who tipped the thing over," Leia argued back.

"Wait a second," Han inserted into the argument. "Where's the canoe?"

"It floated away," Leia answered with a sigh.

The four pulled themselves out of the creek and spent an hour picking their way through dense underbrush. Halfway back, the rain returned with a vengeance. They were cold, wet and covered with insect bites. Finally, they found their way back to the canoe rental place.

"What happened?" a teenage worker asked them as he looked up from his comic flimsy.

"We were having so much fun, we decided to walk back and do it all over," Han shot back sarcastically. "What do you think happened?"

"Oh, well," the teenager looked flustered. "This means you lost your deposit. We've never had anybody walk all the way back without the canoe."

They four bedraggled tourists dragged themselves back to where the hovercar was parked. For a long minute they stood in the pouring rain waiting as Mara's eyes grew wider as she searched her pockets.

"Now what?" Leia asked cautiously.

"I can't find the hovercar's pass key!" she said frantically. "It must have fallen out of my pocket when we fell in the river!"

THE END