Labor of Love
Princess Leia Organa was sound asleep in her bed on the new Rebel base they'd transferred to, when she was rudely awakened by the door to her chamber whooshing open. She jolted up in bed, barely getting her eyes open before realizing it was still night.
"Who's there?" she demanded to know.
She could make out the shadowed outline of someone just inside the door but couldn't tell who it was until they stepped further inside, and when she recognized the man, she was furious.
"Captain Solo," she sneered as she pulled the covers up high, "what do you think you're doing coming into my-"
The Corellian smuggler seemed to ignore her little outburst and made his way over to the bed, it sounded like he was murmuring something to himself, like he was thinking out loud.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked him.
Instead of an answer, the freighter pilot reached out to grab her, presumably by the arm, and instead grabbed a fistful of the shoulder of her robe and jerked her out of bed and to her feet.
"What is the meaning of this?" she yelled at him.
"Come on," Han told her, "we gotta get out of here."
Only then could she have kicked herself. Was the base under attack? Had the Imperials found them? But then why was it so quiet?
"Captain Solo, what-"
"It's alright," Han said as he dragged her out of her room and out into the corridor.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, hardly in the mood to have 50 Rebels see her in her nightclothes. "Let go of me!"
"'is alright," Han repeated with a slur, "everythin's under control...the Falcon's ready, we can get to the med bay in plenty of time."
"Med bay? What're you talking about?" Leia tried to pull away from him, but he was stronger and jerked her along. She was relieved to see the corridors were dark and empty but it didn't make her feel better because she had no idea where they were going or what had gotten into the space pirate. "Luke! Luke, help!"
Another door whooshed open and she heard the Tatooine farm boy's voice tiredly call out, "What's going on?"
The two of them just happened to head in that direction, and Han apparently saw but didn't recognize Luke as he told the kid, "Chewie, get to the cockpit, get us cleared for takeoff."
"What's going on, Leia?" Luke sounded concerned.
"I don't know!" she replied as she tried to break loose from his grip again, "He came into my bed chamber and-"
"He what?" Luke asked.
The two of them tried grabbing the Corellian to stop him in his tracks, but in his present state, whatever it was, Han was stronger than both of them combined and dragged both of them along as he said, "Don't worry, we got plenty of time, the baby's fine."
"Baby?" Luke asked.
Leia's eyes got big as she demanded to know, "What do you mean baby?"
"Leia, are you-" Luke turned towards her.
"Of course not!"
This new detail further enraged the princess and she grabbed the smuggler again with twice the strength she felt a moment before, determined to get to the bottom of this. Luke also grabbed Han again and they didn't exactly get anywhere, but between the three of them struggling, they lost their balance and collapsed on the floor in a heap.
"Are you okay, Leia?" Luke asked.
"Ow! Yeah, I'm fine," she replied as they tried to get out of the tangle of body parts they were in.
They got up and saw Han was face down on the floor and in no apparent hurry to get up.
"Han?" Luke nudged him, "are you okay?"
They tried rolling him over and when they did, the only answer they got was a loud snore.
"He's drunk!" Leia exclaimed in disgust.
Another door in the hallway opened and a familiar voice called out groggily, "Luke? What's going on?"
Luke and Leia exchanged a look and he just shook his head and called back, "Go back to bed, Wedge, you're dreaming."
"Okay," that sounded good enough for the fighter pilot, and the door whooshed back shut.
Leia turned to head back to her chamber, content to leave the smuggler where he was.
"Shouldn't we-" Luke looked back at the princess, then to the man sleeping on the floor.
"No," Leia called back, "just let him sleep it off."
Luke watched her walk away, then looked back to the older man curled up on the floor like an animal, and he grappled with the idea for a minute, before heading back to Han's chamber and knocking on the door. There was a muffled roar from the other side before the door opened and Luke came face to chest with Han's wookiee co-pilot, Chewbacca, whose fur was sticking up in all directions and clearly hadn't appreciated being woken up.
"Uh..." he felt very stupid trying to explain this, least of all to someone he couldn't understand. "I think Han's drunk...can you help me get him back into bed?"
He wasn't sure how to interpret Chewbacca's snorting grunt but the wookiee followed him into the hall, so Luke guessed he was offering to help.
Luke led him back to where the smuggler hadn't moved except to curl up in a ball on the floor, the farm boy honestly felt embarrassed for the pilot. He knew regardless of how Solo conducted himself, and the state of his ship, that he was one of the most accomplished pilots in the galaxy, even if he did just hire himself out to haul cargo and smuggle goods. Maybe it was just a last trace of teenage naivete, but he really thought behavior like this would be beneath the captain.
Chewbacca on the other hand didn't seem all that surprised as he knelt down and scooped the man up in his massive furry arms like it was nothing, and carried Han back to their shared chamber.
Luke was left standing in the middle of the hall alone, feeling confused and out of place, he meekly called after the wookiee, "Thanks, Chewbacca," then headed back to his own room.
Han Solo looked dead on his feet the next morning in the base canteen. In fact he was about asleep where he sat and was just about to stick his elbow in his cup of caf and didn't even seem to realize it. Luke was the first to notice as he sat down at the same table across from the smuggler.
"Hey, are you okay?" he asked.
"Huh?" Han's eyes blinked open, then shut again against the bright lights in the room, then blinked a few more times to adjust to the illumination and finally managed to keep them open. "Oh...oh yeah, fine," he yawned, "just beat..."
"Here's a thought," Leia said as she passed by, "don't stay up half the night drinking."
Han had closed his eyes again, but opened one a crack as he looked at her and managed a tired and sarcastic expression on his face as he said mockingly, "So nice of you to humble us with your presence Your Worship."
"Let me give you a little advice, Solo," Leia told him bluntly, "come into my bed chamber at night uninvited again, and you'll be sorry."
That got both eyes open for a few seconds, before Han closed them again and replied, "Now who was up half the night drinking? I wouldn't dream of going anywhere near your chamber, princess, the temperature tends to drop about 20 degrees whenever I get within 50 feet of you."
"Nevertheless," Leia replied, "try it again, and you'll live to regret it."
Han pried one eye open as he watched her walk away, and turned to Luke and asked, "What's she talking about?"
"You really don't remember?" Luke asked.
"Remember what?"
"You were in her room last night," Luke said.
"I was not."
Luke nodded, "You dragged her out and kept saying something about a baby."
The other eye opened now too as Han stared at Luke intensely for a minute as he let this soak in.
"I would've remembered something like that," he pointed out.
"Well you were drunk."
Han choked on a single laugh and responded, "Kid, there's not enough brandy in the galaxy to get me that drunk. I'm telling you, I'd remember."
"Well you did," Luke said.
"That's impossible."
"You were pretty out of it, Chewbacca had to take you back to your room."
"I don't remember that either."
It seemed like an impossible argument, clearly neither of them was going to get anywhere. Still Luke felt a need to reinforce Leia's warning and advised the captain, "Just stay out of her room from now on."
Han managed a coy look and asked in a tone to match, "What if she invites me in?"
"She won't," Luke answered without missing a beat, almost before the last syllable left the Corellian's lips.
The door opening woke Leia again the next night. She turned over and saw the figure of Han Solo enter the room again.
"I thought I told you-"
This time Han didn't head straight over to her bed. Instead he stopped over by her closet, opened the door, took out a bag and started blindly grabbing things and tossing them in as he said, "Don't panic, don't panic, we're making great time, we're all set for takeoff."
Leia jumped out of her bed before he could grab her again and headed for the door and hollered out, "Luke!" She looked back and saw the smuggler had bypassed the bed entirely and was coming right at her, she sprinted out into the hall and just about knocked Luke down as he came running to find out what was the matter.
"What's going on?"
"He's doing it again," Leia said as she stepped behind him.
Han exited the room with the bag in one hand and walked right into Luke and grabbed him by the arm and said, "Come on, the medic droids are waiting on us, they deliver babies every day, it'll be fine."
Luke turned to Leia with a mild look of panic on his face as he realized Han was talking to him and seemed very serious about it. "Leia?"
"Hang on." She stepped away for a minute and then the overhead lights snapped on. Luke squinted his eyes shut and raised a hand to his face to block them out.
"He's not drunk," Leia realized as she looked at the smuggler. She turned to Luke and explained, "He's sleepwalking."
"Oh, well," Luke wasn't sure whether to be relieved by that or not, "I guess that would explain it...I think...uh...what do we do now?"
"I don't know," Leia stepped over to them, then yelled as Han grabbed her instead of Luke and started pulling her down the corridor.
"Don't get nervous," Han said as he somehow seamlessly made his way around in his sleep, "don't be nervous, this is perfectly natural, it happens all the time."
"Let go of me you crazy person!" Leia screamed at him as she tried to pull loose from his grasp.
A loud roar filled the room as Leia turned her head and saw Chewbacca coming their way. Apparently they'd woken him up with all their yelling and he wanted to know what all the noise was about.
"Chewie, help! He's sleepwalking," Leia said.
The wookiee crossed the hallway in a few large bounding steps, broke the contact between the two humans and grabbed Han by the arm, spun him around and walked him back towards their room. Han was still rambling on, "I got everything packed, we're cleared to go, we'll get to the med bay in plenty of time..."
Luke and Leia stood in the middle of the hallway, each feeling physically exhausted after this little episode.
"What's going on?" Luke asked.
"He's sleepwalking," Leia said, "that's why he doesn't remember coming into my room last night."
"What's causing it?" Luke shrugged his shoulders.
"I don't know," she shook her head.
"And why-"
"I don't know!" Leia cut him off before Luke could ask the obvious question, why did Han think Leia was pregnant and in labor?
"What do we do?" Luke asked.
Leia sighed and shook her head, "I don't know...he probably won't remember any of this tomorrow either, so there's no point bringing it up."
"But he has to know what's going on," Luke said.
Leia looked at him questioningly, "Why? There's nothing he can do about it, it wouldn't do any good."
"He has a right to know what he's doing," Luke said.
She shot him a death glare. "I don't need idle gossip spreading through this base that I'm pregnant."
"He wouldn't-"
"No one is going to find out about this," Leia told him determinedly, "nobody but the three of us, got it?"
Luke sighed in reluctance, "Okay...but what if it happens again?"
And in fact, it did happen again. Leia heard the familiar sound of her door opening and turned and looked in disbelief of the appearing figure of Han Solo.
"That door was locked!" she shouted in disbelief, "How did you-"
"Don't panic, don't panic," the smuggler murmured as he went over to Leia's chest of drawers, opened the top one and started pulling out whole piles of clothes and set them on top of the dresser, "it's alright, we'll get to the med bay in plenty of time before the baby comes."
Even though Leia should've known better by now, her shock that this was happening again kept her where she was, which made it all the easier for Han to come over and grab both of her hands in his as he pulled her to her feet and told her, "You don't have anything to worry about, you're going to be a great mother."
Leia rolled her eyes as he pulled her along with him. This son of a nerf-herder got weirder every night. As she was forced out the door, she yelled down the hall, "Luke! Chewie! It's happening again!"
It really was by some miracle that nobody else was ever up during these incidences, or if they were, they stayed in their own rooms where they belonged, Leia didn't need the additional headache of trying to explain this situation to anyone else on the base.
Luke and Chewbacca came running out of their rooms and quickly caught up to the princess and the smuggler. Han was still rambling on while Luke tried to get Leia away from him, and once he did, Chewbacca grabbed Han and shook him, howling in his face, even that didn't seem to rouse him. Luke had an idea, and he didn't take any pleasure in it, but he wasn't sure what else to do.
"Let me try, Chewbacca," he said as he stepped forward.
Chewbacca grunted and let go of the smuggler to let Luke try whatever it was he had in mind. Luke's plan, which admittedly he hadn't thought through too much, was to make a fist, and swing, and punch Han Solo square in the face. The Corellian collapsed on the floor from the impact, but a few seconds later he blinked his eyes open and seemed to be aware of the three people standing over him.
"What the hell's going on?" he tiredly grumbled.
"Oh good, you're awake," Luke sarcastically commented as he crouched down to help the older man to his feet.
Han noticed that his face hurt when he moved a certain way and inquired, "Who hit me?"
Luke meekly raised his hand.
"Okay...why?"
"I'm sorry, Han, but I didn't know what else to do," Luke said.
Han Solo looked at him for a minute like he thought the kid had gone crazy, and asked, "Would someone mind explaining what's going on here?"
Leia stepped forward and told him, "You've been sleepwalking the past few nights."
Han laughed in response and said, "That's a good one."
"It's no joke, Han," Luke said. "Remember what she said the other day about coming into her chamber?"
"No way," Han's eyes became clearer now as it started to sink in, he looked from one to the other and said, "that's not possible."
"Well it is, and you did," Leia told him bluntly, "dragging me out of my room, rambling on about getting to the med bay because I'm having a baby?"
"A what?" Han asked in disbelief. "I don't remember any of that, and believe me, I would."
"Not if you were sleepwalking," Leia said. "Has this happened before?"
"Oh, I'd know, right?" Han replied.
Chewbacca took it upon himself to answer with a resounding rumble and a shake of his head.
"This is insane," Han said dismissively, "you're all crazy. I'm going-" before he finished that sentence, he realized that something had to have happened for him to have left his room and be out here now. He didn't want to dwell on that idea too much and instead turned and stormed off back to his own room.
"Well," Luke turned to Leia, "now he knows...now what?"
The princess shrugged helplessly, "I don't know much about it...maybe he should visit the sick bay tomorrow, maybe they can figure out why he's doing this."
"Are you okay, Leia?"
"I'm fine. I'm going back to bed."
"This-is-stupid," Han said the next day as he sat on an exam table in the sick bay, emphasizing each word.
Luke tilted his head back to stare up towards the ceiling and replied in mocking emphasis, "We-know-that-already, shut-up."
"There's nothing wrong with me," Han insisted. "I don't know why I let you guys talk me into this."
"Han, three nights in a row you've come into Leia's room, even when it was locked, and dragged her out, thinking you were flying her to the med bay because she was in labor...now there has to be some kind of explanation for that."
"And what do you think that is, young Jedi? Hmm? Does your 'Force' tell you that?" Han sniped.
"Oh shut up," Luke said dismissively.
"You shut up."
"I can't leave you two alone for a minute, can I?" Leia sarcastically asked as she entered the room.
"I don't need to be here," Han said as he stood up, "I'm perfectly fine."
"We'll see what the medic says about that," Leia replied.
"I don't need that box of bolts telling me-"
Before Han could finish that statement, the 'box of bolts' in question rolled up and addressed the group.
"All tests and scans show you are in normal physical human health, there are no organic causes for your current affliction."
"See? I told you, I'm f-" Han stood up to leave but Leia grabbed him by the arm and yanked him back down on the table.
"Then what's causing this?" she wanted to know.
"That is out of our area of expertise," the droid answered, "you may want to consult with a cerebral expert."
"A what?" Luke asked.
"A headcase doctor," Han answered and shook his head, "no thanks, not interested."
"Too bad, you're outvoted on the matter," Leia told him.
He turned to her with a pronounced scowl, "You and what navy?"
Without a word the princess and the farm kid both raised their hands.
"Oh you two are just too much," Han dryly commented, "Ha-ha."
"We can get the wookiee vote on this matter too you know," Leia pointed out.
Han looked from one to the other and said in a deadpan tone, "Everybody's turning on me."
"No we're not, we're trying to help you, Han," Luke said.
"What're you worried about?" Leia asked.
He turned to her with eyes wide with confusion. "I'm not worried."
"Then see the doctor," she told him. "Unless you're worried they'll find out you don't actually have a brain."
"Ho-ho, you are a real riot, princess, you know that?" Han returned.
"So you'll do it?" Luke asked, hoping they didn't have to get Chewbacca to strong-arm the pilot into it.
"If it'll make you two happy and shut you up, I'd be thrilled to do it," Han replied.
The cerebral expert was a human doctor, who after briefly interviewing Han, and getting no answers from the captain on what he thought might be causing it, explained to he and his friends that sleepwalking was often a subconscious symptom of stress, sometimes of an unresolved trauma. In short, Han was sure he'd wasted his time doing this and he couldn't get out of the exam room quick enough.
"I told you," he said as he walked as fast as he could without breaking into a run, anxious to get the hell out of there and back to the Falcon, "a complete waste of time."
"I mean," Luke turned to Leia, "if it was just stress, everybody on base would be sleepwalking, there's got to be something else."
"That or he's worried what the Hutts will do to him if he doesn't pay his debt," she replied as they followed behind Han.
"I don't need any help from the peanut gallery," he responded, only turning his head a glance towards them.
"What about the other thing he said?" Luke asked. "Unresolved trauma?"
Leia chuckled, "That would've been reserved for his mother when she gave birth to him."
Luke turned towards her, "You think there's a connection?"
"Would you two just shut up already?" Han turned towards them. "I don't have anymore stress now than I ever had before and I have no 'unresolved trauma'."
"Then why do you keep coming into Leia's room at night thinking she's having a baby and you need to get her to the med bay?" Luke wanted to know.
An unexpected participant joined the conversation, Chewbacca interjected a strange howl. Not his usual ear-splitting wookiee howl, but to Luke and Leia, it sounded like a question aimed at the smuggler.
Wookiees were not a species of people Leia had much experience with during her time in the Senate, but she did understand a few words in Shyriiwook, and while she couldn't understand the question, she thought she picked up on a name.
"Vulnavia? Who's that?" she asked.
Han looked at her, then turned towards Chewbacca, his eyes wide first with shock, quickly replaced with anger as he reached over and actually punched the wookiee on one huge furry arm and demanded to know, "Why don't you ever keep your big mouth shut!?"
Everybody was talking over one another and nothing was coherent, Han proved himself capable of yelling louder than all three of them, his words weren't distinguishable, but after he said what he had to say, he stormed away from all three of his friends.
"What just happened?" Luke felt shaken. He didn't understand one word of the wookiee language, he had absolutely no idea what was going on.
"I think we're getting closer to an answer," Leia told him, "but we need someone who can translate."
Luke thought for a couple seconds. "3PO, he can translate."
Leia turned to him, a spark in her eyes that indicated hope at solving this mystery. "Then let's go find him."
"Oh my, oh my," C-3PO said as he shook his head from side to side once Chewbacca got finished talking, "this is most tragic."
"Why? What is it?" Leia asked from where she and Luke sat on the commander's bunk.
The humanoid droid turned to the humans and explained, "Chewbacca says that Vulnavia Vesalius was a woman whom Captain Solo was quite taken with several years ago, but eventually they parted ways, and for years the two never crossed paths, then...one day..."
"Any luck?" Han asked as Chewie returned from making the rounds at the local cantina.
The wookiee grunted and shook his head. Business had been bad for weeks now, and Han had been ducking Greedo for the last three star systems, looking to collect Han's debt to Jabba or looking to fry the smuggler if he didn't have it, which he didn't, which at this rate, they would never get.
Han merely nodded, anymore it was status quo.
"Alright, I got our supplies restocked, get to the cockpit and get us cleared for liftoff," Han said. "Onward and upward."
"Hey stranger," a female voice said from behind them, "Any chance for a ride?"
"Sorry, lady," Han said as he started to turn around, "this is a cargo freighter, not a..." he turned around and his bottom jaw dropped. "Vulnavia?"
Chewbacca turned and saw a human woman with pale skin, dark hair, dressed in a long flowing purple robe with sleeves that about swallowed her hands, but it couldn't hide the very large bump in her abdomen. Chewbacca sniffed, whoever she was, she smelled alright anyway, but he doubted they'd be getting any credits out of this either.
"Han Solo," the woman said with a nervous titter, "long time no see."
It was only then that Han seemed to notice what Chewbacca had already seen. He did a double take and said, "Apparently...who, what've, er...I mean..."
The woman grinned practically from ear to ear as she choked back a laugh as she responded, "You might say I had a little bit of trouble."
"Looks more like a lot of trouble," Han replied, and they share a small laugh. "Well you look great...I mean, I..." he gestured to her face, "Who, wha...how've you been?"
"Been better," she answered as she patted her stomach with both hands. "I'm trying to get to Kazzook before I'm due, been hitching a lot but I feel like my luck's about run out, any chance you could help me out?"
"Uh, yeah," Han's mind was scrambling, "That's a...two day trip, yeah, we'd be glad to, oh, this is my navigator, Chewbacca. Chewie, this is..."
The woman in purple stepped forward and held a hand out to the wookiee, "Vulnavia Vesalius, pleased to make your acquaintance."
Chewie howled in response. His life was indebted to Han, where Han went, he went, what Han decided, he went along with. Han didn't trust a lot of people and he didn't trust easily, with good reason, but if he liked this woman, then she must be okay.
They got her on the Falcon and got cleared for takeoff. Once they made the jump to hyperspace, Chewbacca saw a side of Han Solo he never had before, a very goofy side. Once it was safe to get unstrapped, he got her settled on the acceleration couch in the lounge to put her feet up, Chewie set the controls to autopilot and followed Han into the small kitchen and prodded the Corellian for details as he tried to find something non-caf non-alcoholic for Vulnavia to drink. Chewbacca knew Han had been with several women in his life, a few of them they'd had encounters with since they started flying together, many of those would sooner blast him than talk to him, so this was already a rare case.
He'd found out Han and this woman had known each other many years ago, before he joined the Imperial Navy, they were together for several months and even discussed getting married at one point. But for some reason or other that the smuggler didn't care to dwell into, things just didn't work out and they wound up parting ways. Though the Corellian tried to play it all low-key, as if this chance encounter was no big deal, Chewbacca could tell there was something about this woman. He saw something in the human's eyes he couldn't put an exact name to, but he had a good idea what it meant.
The first 24 hours passed uneventfully, the flying was smooth, there were no black holes or asteroids, no imperial ships to board them, Vulnavia's internal chrono remained in time and she slept several hours through what would in any of the neighboring orbits be night. The second day however, trouble started. Vulnavia started groaning in discomfort which quickly became pain, which after a couple hours became panic when one minute she found herself standing in a puddle of amniotic fluid, and a few minutes later the floor was covered in blood.
Han barked at Chewie to find a medical frigate in the area where they could land, while he assumed the role of medic and tried to assess the situation. Vulnavia was losing a lot of blood, and before too long neither she nor the baby would be alive. Chewie howled at the Corellian that they were in the vicinity of a frigate, an Imperial frigate. Han told him to land them anyway. He hadn't been one of these men for several years, but he had a plan to make sure they got what they needed.
They ignored the comm commands to cease landing, and when the Corellian and the wookiee exited the Falcon, it was with a detonator in each hand as they commanded the attention of everyone standing around them.
"Now listen very closely because I'm only going to say this once and then we're all getting blasted to hell," he told the Imperials. "There's a woman on this ship who's in distressed labor and will die if she doesn't get medical treatment now, and if that happens, none of you are going to live long enough to regret it."
It didn't do much for their situation that some of the Imperials stationed at the frigate were the same men Han had flown with in the Navy, they knew him, they remembered the courtmartial and saw that as proof of their superiority. But even they couldn't argue with the amount of explosives these two newcomers were wielding and more than ready to use.
A team of medics was dispatched onto the ship to get Vulnavia stabilized and get her to a surgical room for treatment. Han never lowered his guard and made sure everyone in their vicinity understood where they stood. If anything happened, if she died, if the baby died, if they even thought of reporting this to the Emperor's chain of command, there would be no survivors.
After two hours in surgery, Vulnavia and her newborn daughter were both recovering well. The Imperials informed Han that once she was stabilized enough to fly, she was no longer their obligation and the Corellian was on his own. Han kept his cool, though Chewie could tell he'd like to blast the whole lot of them just for the hell of it, their own histories notwithstanding. After a couple more hours, Vulnavia was loaded back onto the Falcon with her daughter in tow, and Han resumed their course for Kazzook. When they landed there 16 hours later, Vulnavia was moved to a med bay for further observation. Here they were among strangers and people indifferent to their presence and situation, there was no inherent need for them to suspect trouble, but as long as they stayed, they kept their weapons at hand.
Han stayed in Vulnavia's assigned room and watched as she and the baby slept side by side in bed and incubator. Chewbacca stooped over and looked in the incubator. Human babies were always small as it was, most of them could easily fit in one of his paws, the medics had explained Vulnavia's daughter had been born prematurely, she would've fit in Han's hand easily. There was no way the frigate should've released them as soon as they had, even Chewie could tell it would be weeks before Vulnavia's daughter would be developed enough to withstand long-term space travel. It was a good thing they'd reached Kazzook when they did, because it was obvious this would be their final destination for a couple months at least.
At some point he realized Han was hunched over the other side of the incubator looking in at the little girl, he couldn't put a name to the expression he saw on the Corellian's face, but the wookiee had a sneaking suspicion it was going to be four of them traveling together now.
Vulnavia's daughter turned over on her side and made a series of fussy sounds, Han reached in through the side of the incubator and touched her, his whole hand about engulfed her from head to foot completely. Her eyes still closed, the baby found one of his fingers and wrapped her whole hand around it, the presence seemed to soothe her and she gradually fell back asleep.
They stayed in the room for several hours until a medic came to check on both patients. Once Han heard they were both doing well, he and Chewie stepped out of the room to stretch their legs, get a drink. On the way back, Han made an unexpected stop and spent some of their last credits on something Chewbacca rolled his eyes at. As they walked back to Vulnavia's room, he howled and told the smuggler just what he thought about the purchase he'd made. To say nothing of how ridiculous he looked carrying a baby wookiee doll as they walked through the corridor.
"I know it doesn't look anything like you," Han replied, "that's not the point."
Chewbacca howled in response and gave the smuggler another piece of his mind.
"Kids love these things," Han insisted. His mind shifted gears and he said almost absentmindedly, "You know, Chewie, I've been thinking."
The sound the wookiee made in response said exactly what he thought of that.
"Nobody asked you," Han told him. "Anyway, once Vulnavia can get discharged from this place, I'm going to resolve some unfinished business we had back in the day."
Chewie didn't like the sound of that, and snorted in inquiry.
"We used to talk about getting married, but we were young and neither of us were really ready for it," Han told him.
Chewbacca voiced his own objections about where this conversation was going, and just why he thought it was a bad idea.
"I know we just met again, but I'm telling you, the same spark's still there," Han said. "Besides, it wouldn't do for her kid to grow up without a father, she'll need a name."
Chewie grunted in response.
"I know Vulnavia has a name, you're missing the point," Han said. "A single mom bouncing around the galaxy with a kid is a tough break, it'd be easier if there was an actual family to raise the kid."
His navigator chattered in reply what he thought of the situation.
"So I don't have a long history of commitment, I can adjust," Han told him. "That's what having kids is about, right? Making sacrifices."
Before Chewie had a chance to further comment on the whole thing, they reached the window outside Vulnavia's room, and they both stopped in their tracks at the sight of a man, who wasn't one of the medics, in the room with her. Vulnavia was awake and sitting up in the bed, and though they couldn't hear the conversation through the glass, it looked like this was a very emotional reunion for the two people. The man, dressed in Imperial uniform, heavily decorated, a general by the looks of all his medals and badges, sat on the edge of the bed and the two embraced, and now, Han was able to see something that had been concealed by the long sleeves of Vulnavia's robe. A wedding band on her finger.
Han's eyes widened, the rest of his body went limp and he dropped the wookiee doll on the floor. He just stood there for a minute like a statue, as he looked in the window and saw Vulnavia and her husband gazing into the incubator to see their daughter.
Chewbacca could only see one side of Han's face from his view, but it was enough to see his eye glistening and his bottom jaw starting to tremor. He didn't say anything, just finally turned around and walked away, never looked back. They returned to the Falcon without a word between them and reset their course, back to business as usual.
"Oh...wow..." Luke wasn't sure what else to say by the time 3PO got done recapping the series of events.
"But I don't understand," Leia said. "What does that have to do with anything that's going on now?"
Chewbacca howled in response, 3PO's head picked up and his photorecepors blinked as he said, "Oh well that explains it."
"What?" Luke asked.
"Chewbacca says that Vulnavia Vesalius bore quite a physical resemblance to Princess Leia, approximately the same height with approximately the same length dark hair."
Luke and Leia exchanged a look at this newfound information.
The only thing Leia heard when she boarded the Millennium Falcon was a distant sound of a wrench banging against something. She found Han working under the control panels in the cockpit.
"So," she said as she crouched down to make eye contact with him, "You have a type."
"Chewie has a big mouth," Han grunted in response.
"I'm..." Leia looked like she was going to choke on the word. "Sorry."
The clanging stopped and he looked at her. "What?"
"I'm sorry for what you went through back then. I...I can't imagine..."
"Yeah well don't," Han sniped, "It's ancient history."
"Your subconscious doesn't seem to think so," Leia pointed out.
"There's nothing I can do about that," Han told her. "Sorry I violated your privacy, princess, but it wasn't anything I had planned. Don't worry, I'll be sleeping on my ship for the rest of our stay here."
Leia fought the urge to chuckle at his comment though a small grin worked through in its place, "You got into a locked room, you really think that will make any difference?"
He shrugged. "I don't know," he said earnestly. "But it'd put a few more obstacles between us anyway."
The two of them looked at each other and in spite of everything, laughed.
"You don't have to stay out here," she told him.
"Nah, it's fine, this is my home," Han replied, "besides, it gets me away from the sound of 20 guys snoring all night."
"Well I want you back in with us," Leia said, and added, "And I'll be very happy to pass the message along to Chewbacca."
"You can't threaten me with him," Han told her.
"I'm not threatening anything," Leia snidely remarked, "you know him better than anyone, you know how he can be."
"I'll take my chances," he responded.
"Me and my big mouth," Han grumbled as he was bodily hauled back into the barracks by his navigator and best friend.
"Change of plans, Han," Luke said, "I'm bunking with you guys, I figure between the two of us, if you start sleepwalking again, we should be able to get to you before you get to Leia's room."
"21 guys snoring all night," Han murmured under his breath.
Chewbacca grunted and elbowed Han in the ribs in response.
"Ouch! Watch it, furball!" Han replied as he retaliated and slapped the wookiee in his side.
"Maybe I made a mistake," Luke said to himself as he watched the two of them arguing.
Luke tried to stay on his guard but despite his efforts he fell asleep sometime during the night. However he was awakened by the sound of metal clanking against metal. He sat up on his bunk and saw a figure in the dark getting up.
"Han?"
The figure didn't answer, Luke got up and went over to him and tried to quietly, and working in the dark, wrangle Han back into his bed, but the older man was stronger and determined on getting to wherever his subconscious told him to go.
"Chewie, help," Luke called over to the wookiee as he continued struggling with the Corellian, "he's at it again."
He heard a low grunt, did not somehow hear the 8 foot wookiee getting out of bed, but felt the fur against his skin as Chewbacca came over to assist. In an effortless move, Chewie grabbed Han, turned him around and walked him back over to his bunk and gave the smuggler a small shove so he fell face first against his bed.
"Do you think that'll do it?" Luke asked.
Chewbacca snorted in response, Luke wasn't sure how to interpret it. The man on the bed was murmuring something incoherently, and Luke had a good idea what it was. He crouched down beside the bunk and lifted Han's head up enough the pillow wasn't muffling his words, he was rambling on again about getting to the med bay.
"Han...Han," Luke wasn't sure if this was going to work or not but he decided it was worth a try, "listen to me, you already got to the med bay, everything's fine."
The smuggler groaned softly and for a moment Luke thought he was going to go back to sleep, then the Corellian echoed the word, "Fuh-fa-fine?"
"That's right, Han," Luke said, feeling a ray of hope that the man could hear him on some level anyway, "the baby's fine, everything's alright."
A low humming sound arose from Han's throat before he got out a groggy, "Goo-d," then he fell face-first against the pillow again, and this time he seemed to really be out of it.
Luke looked over to where Chewbacca stood in the dark and shrugged. He hoped that this would work, he hoped that the cycle was broken now.
"It's been a week now," Luke told Leia, "nothing's happened, I think Han's finally over it."
"I hope so," she replied, "I just hope it doesn't start up again sometime."
"That makes two of us," Luke said. His face still got red when he remembered the night Han, in his somnambulist state, thought Luke was the one in labor. He changed the subject by saying, "You know, after we rescued you on the Death Star, he asked me if I thought you might be interested in hi-"
"No," Leia flatly answered.
"That's what I told him," Luke replied.
She looked at him through the corner of one eye and smugly responded, "Good."