"No, no, no, no, no," Luke finally finished saying with a laugh. He and Princess Leia were having- Han didn't know what to call it. Not an argument, not with the way they were smiling. And not a debate exactly, though something along those lines. More like an exchange of facts, ending with an opinion.
Fun. That's what it was. They were having fun.
"You serve it with nuts," Luke said. "It's got to be crunchy."
Han sat in their circle, the dataplaque on his lap informing him of what supplies he would be getting next run. Their chatter didn't really bother him. It was a nice enough noise, those two at ease- gods knew they got little chance of that- but for a second he looked up at them, wondering. There was something else to their fun; some underlying current he couldn't figure out. It felt like panic. But that couldn't be. Han gave his head a shake and went back to his work.
"No," Leia only needed to say it once, in that firm Princess manner of hers. "It's served smooth and sweet."
He made this possible, Han thought, his eyes straying thoughtfully to the sole of Luke's boot, resting on his leg and facing Han. This little circle of... whatever it was. Comfort.
He was the viculama in a herd of nerf, keeping a watchful eye out for predators.
"How do you like Spirit Nog, Han?" Luke asked.
"What's on your boot?" Han blurted. "Is that a 'one'?"
"Oh." Luke brought his foot down and looked embarrassed. "All our boots get in a jumble in the room. So we all wrote our Rogue call signs on the bottoms."
"Settle our discussion, Captain," Leia said. Captain, Han noted the formality wryly, the refusal to make Luke squirm. "Is Spirit Nog eaten, or is it a drink?"
"It's smooth," Han said. "But I eat it with a spoon. And stir whiskey in. Not sweet. So you're both wrong."
"Just because you enjoy it a certain way doesn't make it the right way," the Princess said, starting a debate. Or an argument. The flash in her eye looked like it might be a different kind of fun.
"I bet Threepio could tell us the number of worlds that eat it," Luke negotiated a solution.
"That's a thought," Leia said.
"Don't bring him over here," Han warned.
Luke smiled. "I won't. But don't think I won't ask him later."
Han returned to the dataplaque and Luke and Leia to the topic of how Spirit Day was celebrated throughout the galaxy.
Nobody was going home this holiday. Everyone understood it was impossible; still, morale was a little low. Luke and Leia were maybe the only ones who didn't have a better place to be. But it was all the same to Han. Just another day.
"Do you eat nuts?" Luke asked.
"Of course," Leia said. "The gem nuggets! But we don't serve them. They appear, just like how the Spirit delivered them as a gift. They're covered in edible gold foil. Then we eat them."
"They were the nuggets for you? Huh. For us nuts was a seasonal food, only time of year to get them. But the nuggets were a cookie. My aunt would bake them overnight so I'd think Spirit left them for breakfast. That was when I was little. When I was older she just made them for breakfast."
Half-listening, Han snorted.
"Cookies for breakfast," Leia said. "How fun."
Definitely frantic. Han looked up frowning, still calculating the storage needs of refrigerated bacta in his mind, a faraway look in his eyes. They'd talked about differences in human cultures before. Luke especially had come a long way from the isolated farm boy he used to be. What the hell was it about Spirit season that had them reaching so desperately for each other?
"... silver," Leia was saying. "The way ice sparkles under the stars."
"We do green," Luke said. "Not metallic. If it catches the suns the glare will blind you! I decorated the landspeeder."
Han drummed his fingertips on his knee. He needed to go on board, check his logs. He was pretty sure he had a contact who could help them out with some of this stuff.
"Why green?" Leia asked. "Is it because of Spirit elsewhere?"
Elsewhere. Loose concepts merged in Han's mind, time and events, but he wasn't consciously aware of it. Leia and his logs, Luke wondering where Alderaan went the first time he traveled. The elsewhere, everywhere of the Spirit season. Leia and Alderaan.
Brown eyes and braids; a fresh, young beauty if loss hadn't hardened her so much. He saw a little bit of that now in her words. A happiness. No, it was memory.
"Probably," Luke said. "Nothing goes dormant on Tatooine. The weather doesn't really change, ever. But when I was a kid, this time of year the pictures I drew changed from sandstorms to snowstorms."
"Yes, it's amazing how thoroughly the symbolism has spread," Leia said. "I suppose because it's so old, and no one really knows where it started."
"We don't even have much green," Luke added, and Leia laughed.
"It's thoroughly marketed; not symbolized," Han couldn't help interjecting. He rubbed his fingertips together. "Credits."
"Yeah, yeah," Luke said. "We all know your sardonic outlook on life, Han."
"But there is some truth to that," Leia said thoughtfully. "We watched the start of the holiday season carefully. It was a marker of the economy."
"Princess stuff," Han said, and Leia shrugged matter-of-factly.
"Is there a hot item to smuggle Spirit season?" Luke asked with a twinkle in his eye.
"There is, actually," Han stated over Leia's snort. "Mistletoe."
"Mistletoe?" Luke didn't know that one.
"It's an invasive species on a lot of worlds," Han said. "It's banned from entry. A plant parasite. Kills the host tree, eventually. But idiots want it for their Spirit decoration."
"Smuggler stuff," Leia said with a smile.
"What's mistletoe mean?" Luke directed his question at Leia.
"It's... a plant of peace. Romance, sometimes."
"But Han just said it kills its host!"
Leia smiled. "It grew in our forests. But you've got me wondering, Han, if it's native or was it introduced." She turned back to Luke. "You meet under it, and kiss, or shake hands. You are friends."
"All year round?"
"I don't know."
"Why is some stuff just for Spirit?"
"I don't know," Leia said with a wistfulness Han was waiting for. "Maybe we need to be reminded of it."
Han nodded, and she thought he was agreeing with her, but he'd been off having his own conversation with himself. Did she even know?
She and Luke were reaching, not for the holiday season, but for the traditions within it; the commonality. The symbolism. The war had taken their individual traditions away. There'd be no more cookies for breakfast in the desert for Luke or silver tinsel sparkling in candle light for Leia. But elsewhere, nuggets and nog and mistletoe were familiar. All Luke and Leia wanted to know was that someone else knew what it was like to have cookies for breakfast or eat nog with a spoon. That proved their loss wasn't complete.
"Wookiees don't have Spirit," Han said. "Seems to be a human thing. But Chewie loves it."
"He does?" Both Luke and Leia seemed charmed. Sometimes Han wondered if Chewie was the only reason they tolerated him. They loved Chewie.
"Yeah. Decorates the ship. Always stole a sprig of mistletoe from the shipment."
"Did you kiss him under it?" Luke joked slyly.
"Has he decorated this year?" Leia asked.
Han shrugged. "I can tell you there's no mistletoe hanging in the cockpit."
Leia had a gleam in her eye. "Let's do it. For Chewie."
"Oh, come on," Han groaned. "I'm leavin' on a run."
"I know, and we'll get it all set!" Luke could barely contain his excitement.
They started talking between themselves again, Leia and Luke, planning. Han felt like a viculama again. "Alright, little nerfs," he surrendered. "Arrange it with your superiors."
"You may be our nerf herder, Captain, but I am the superior," Leia said smartly. "I would also like to requisition nog and nuts on your purchase order."
Han sighed, but he wasn't going to argue this time. "I'll need your signature authorizing it, Your Superiority."
Leia took the dataplaque and altered the order, handing it back to him and looking young, smiling like that.
"Go inside," Han suggested. He really had work to do. "He's got some tinsel. He does red; it's his favorite color. It's in the storage locker highest up on the left in his quarters."
Luke and Leia disappeared into the ship and Han continued with his calculations. The nog would also need refrigeration. In a little while Chewie appeared.
"Don't go in," Han warned him. "Luke 'n Leia are snooping."
*They are decorating for Spirit?* Chewie woofed happily.
Han scowled. "That's a hell of a guess."
*They've been talking about it.*
"Act surprised."
*I will be sincere. I can't wait.*
"I'm sure," Han said dryly.
Chewie ruffled Han's hair. *Happy Spirit, Han.*