AN: In case you don't follow me on Tumblr, I am leaving for a three-week trip to Europe in less than a week. That means that this will be the last update for the month. No promises when the next update will come, but I am working on it. Thank you, guys, for your support!

Casita was alight with joyous celebration the third week of the month Tremer when many of the women's husbands returned home to celebrate a disgraced Old Republic holiday. Traditional Winter Fete celebrations had been stamped out when the Empire had risen, hastily replaced with an annual week-long celebration of Empire Day— a galactic holiday celebrating the birth and reign of the Empire. Back when the Republic had fallen, holojournalists had called it poetic injustice that Emperor Palpatine formed the Empire the same week as the galaxy's beloved holidays. Now, hardly anyone seemed to remember what Winter Fete had once been. Like the week's history, Leia had retained mixed feelings about the week her entire life. It seemed such a small thing to be so bothered by, but Leia abhorred the fact that her birthday fell on Empire Day. Surely, the incident of and events surrounding her birth couldn't have been anything more than circumstantial, but it was just her luck that she got to share a day of celebration with Darth Vader.

However, this time of the year had gotten easier since she'd struck her lowest point with it following the loss of Alderaan. Since they'd met, Han had made sure to every year to make the day count for something. And this year, in all its simplicity and lack of true pomp, had to be one of the best.

Leia sat outside around a bonfire between Rewa and Nakia, surrounded by a dozen other friends she'd made since residing in the village. Everyone laughed, the woman teasing their husbands who had set themselves to work with preparing dinner. "It's not often we get to wait on our wives like we ought to," Dundu, Nakia's husband, had said earlier, flashing his wife a charming smile. Nakia had appeared unimpressed as she returned his gaze a raised brow and an amused smirk. "Let us make dinner tonight."

Leia found herself thoroughly entertained as she peeked at Han, watching him watch the others in confusion, adding this spice to that pan and making alarmed expressions throughout. "How's dinner coming, flyboy?" she asked him once, laughing as his attention snapped to her. "Just great!" he assured her over the crackling of the fire and boisterous laughter of the crowd. "Real spicy, Corellian style. Just the way I know you like it."

"Let me try," she requested, admittedly concerned, and Han held out a spoon for Leia to smell. When she was convinced her stomach agreed with the heady aroma, Leia smiled and kissed Han's temple. "I can't wait to eat it!" Lately, her stomach didn't seem to agree with anything Leia wanted to eat, and she was glad she could enjoy this night to its fullest.

"So, do you think you will eventually go back to the Alliance?"

The question startled Leia like a sudden dawn in the middle of her reverie, like a harsh drop back into reality from a place she'd confused with an oasis. Leia looked up sharply at the speaker: a Tatooine-tanned man with dark, gentle eyes that meant no harm, yet a paradox to his tall and mighty build—

"Pardon me?"

"I was just wondering if you and Han plan to rejoin the Rebel fleet after your child is born."

"Oh, right. Uh, Han and I haven't made any final decisions about that yet."

The man— who happened to be Nakia's husband— nodded in apparent understanding. "I do hope you end up staying. I've had a wonderful time getting to know you and your husband."

Leia nearly choked on the ladle of stew Han had dished out for her. She made quick work of swallowing the meat chunks and wiping her mouth as she retained her composure. "Han and I aren't married," she tried to laugh.

Dundu, on the other hand, seemed genuinely amused. "No? Oh! Well, my apologies, then. Please forgive me, but the two of you act like you've been married for some time, it seems."

"Well, Han and I do share an interesting relationship."

He grimaced. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have spoken so absently."

"No worries. It was a simple mistake."

As if sensing that the simple mistake had irked Leia more than she was willing to let on, Nakia cleared her throat, tapping Dundu's bicep. "Dear, why don't you go check on our boys. They're too quiet."

Nakia waited until he'd wandered off, chasing after one of their sons until she took a seat beside Leia, her face lit up in open bemusement. "So. Marriage not in the cards?"

"Oh, stars! I'm not ready to think about marriage. You have no idea how fast things have been moving since Han and I left the Rebellion."

"I'm not here to poke my nose in your guys' business, but that was entertaining."

"No, no. That could have put me into early labor right there."

Nakia laughed. "Alright, so no wedding in the near future. Marriage aside, how are you and Han? How did his first smuggling trip go?"

The grimace she got for a response was nearly an answer enough if Nakia didn't care for the context. She waited, didn't say anything, didn't laugh. Leia adjusted her seated position— a feat which was already growing difficult for her— and her gaze sought out Han in the crowd, following him while she indulged Nakia. "His trip went well. No close calls or brushes with Imperials. It was just a quick and easy run that time."

"I take it he's already signed on for his next job."

"He wants to go to Corellia."

When Nakia looked, Leia was keeping a death grip on her bowl and wooden spoon. Her knuckles were white, filled with not anger but fear and tension.

"I know there are plenty of other smugglers there— the Empire only wishes they could keep up with the smuggler traffic there— but it's still in the Core. The Imps watch for rebel activity there as heavily as they do the Alliance in general. And he's gotten in trouble with them on smuggling runs before. The last thing we need is to add another digit to the price on either of our heads." Leia shook her head. "I know he'll be okay. I just know he'll come back. I just wish I could— make sure." She paused and looked at Nakia. "Have you ever wanted to go with your husband on one of his trips?"

Nakia chuckled to herself. "I know what you mean, but I have been with him on trips before. Plenty of them, actually. In fact, that's how we met. I was trying to start up my own smuggling company on the edge of the Outer Rim, and I met Dundu on one of my runs. When we hooked up, we started running out trips together. Then, I got pregnant, and I couldn't keep it up. I had to stay behind and take care of myself while he was out stars knew where with a whole shipment of drugs and weapons headed for rebel cells. Of course, it scared me; it still does, but I think it helped that I had gone with him on so many trips before. I knew that he was cautious. He never took unnecessary risks or made rash decisions. When I became pregnant, it made him even more aware. I never stop worrying about him, but it helps me when I can remind myself that I know he's fully capable of taking care of himself and making the right judgement call. Leia, I know it's hard, but I can't see Han picking jobs he isn't completely confident that he can manage. He loves you and your child; he will do anything to get back to the two of you."

Leia rolled her lips between her teeth, nodding. "I know. I know he will."

"But now the time thing is getting to you," Nakia guessed. "He just got back and he already has plans for his next trip."

"I thought that, by coming here, we would be escaping this. It was just the Rebellion doing this to us."

"I'm sorry." Nakia's eyes appeared to apologize enough for her, but her tone dripped with true remorse. "I do call Casita a haven, and I stand by that. … But it isn't paradise."

Joy, comfort, warmth, assurance. Leia felt these things, but more as if she were touching them, as not belonging to her, disconnected from her body. It wasn't a sensation because sensations were things experienced on a personal level; one could only experience sensations for themselves. That's not what this was. Leia was positive of that, if only because she knew that she was not feeling joy or comfort at this moment. But she was aware of those feelings as if they were their own entities within the room.

Leia shook her head in an attempt to clear the confusion, and refocused her thoughts and awareness on herself and Han. She had given up on trying to fit her Rebel fatigues over her belly, and retrieved one of Han's plain shirts from their dresser to wear to bed instead.

"Not even asking anymore, huh?" Han chuckled. He pulled off his vest and tossed it aside, replacing his tighter day pants with sweats. "Now I know why I didn't have any clean clothes when I got back."

Leia shrugged. "It's either this or nothing. Unless you want to stop by a maternity store while you're on Corellia."

"You're beautiful, you know."

"That's sweet, flyboy, but it doesn't bother me."

"Didn't think it did. I was just saying."

Leia couldn't help but smile at Han's gentle sweetness. He certainly had his moments. But she would be lying to herself if she didn't admit that it was the scruffy-looking nerf herder side of Han she'd first fallen in love with. It was precisely the thing about him which had always driven Leia out of her mind until she'd come to realize it was the part of Han that made him treat her the way he did; it was his scruffy side that drove him to treat her as an equal, as the mere person she was.

She pulled Han's extra large shirt over her head, then crawled into bed beside him. He helped her, pulling aside the covers for her, then stuffing pillows behind her back. "Today was nice," he commented.

"Yeah, it was."

"Nakia's and Isab's husbands taught me a lot. Now, maybe I can do the cooking more often."

She smiled again. "That would be nice."

"And they showed me some stuff to help with the baby too. Like, how to clean out stains from clothes, and how to fold up a dirty diaper."

Leia nodded. "That's good."

Han tilted his head to give her a sideways look, frowning as he searched her face. "You sound— unimpressed."

She blinked and silently cursed herself, her chest filling with guilt. Then, a sudden spike of anxiety joined the flood, a surge Leia hadn't anticipated. "No! No, Han, I'm glad! That's great! I just— maybe, do you think we have a conversation without bringing up the baby?"

"Oh?"

"I didn't mean it like that. I—" Leia opened her mouth, then closed it, and opened it again. "What about just us? Han, I'm halfway through this pregnancy. We don't have a lot of time left before it's us and the baby. And then, it's never going to be just us again."

"Wow. Yeah. Guess these first few months flew by."

"Hoth doesn't feel so long ago. Have you thought about that, Han? It really wasn't that long ago that we were yelling at each other across the corridors of Echo Base, slinging every ridiculous insult that came to mind." It was funny when Leia thought back on it, and Han seemed to agree. His eyes and lips danced with amusement which then turned to love when his gaze returned to her. "We were just ourselves then. There was— something between us, but we couldn't even put it into words, and then we were on Veridian and we started to figure out what was happening, but then—"

Han laid his hand over her rounded middle where their baby rested safe in mother. Leia met his gaze, and the sight of such rich and innocent love in his eyes was enough to touch off her own delicate hormones. Baby chose that moment to stretch, relishing father's touch. Leia covered Han's hand with her own, caressing the spot—

Joy. Pure, innocent, unrestrained love and joy. Bewilderment, thrill at the feel of her and Han's love. Not quite understanding what was happening, but knowing that this was right, surrounded by love—

Leia's hand flinched, and she was quick to withdraw it back to her lap. The shiver didn't pass by Han's notice, and he frowned, brow creasing in concern. She shook her head, once again dismissing the dizzying wave of foreign emotions. "Then, this happened," she concluded. "And we didn't have a lot of time between this and Hoth to figure us out."

"No, I s'pose not."

"Han, I love you, but I'm afraid that we'll start trying to change our relationship just because we're having a baby, and I don't want that to happen. I don't want that to ruin everything."

He stared at her, dumbfounded. "After three years, I finally got you to admit you loved me. I'm not letting anything come between us."

"No, but I don't want to get ahead of ourselves either. We were hardly on Veridian for a few months before we found out. I don't want to lose track of where we're really at in our relationship. Or, let what people think about us dictate how we act."

"All your friends' husbands thought we're married?"

Leia's eyes bulged. "They said the same thing to you?!"

"I just had a couple guys ask how long we been married."

"How did you respond?"

Han feigned the most charming smile he could, leering over Leia as he told her, "Happiest day of my life."

Rationally, Leia knew Han would never put her in such a situation. He would never lie about their relationship or lead anyone to think there was more or less to them than there was. Yet, in an instant's notice, Leia lost hold of her rational thinking and was prepared to unleash her wrath on him. "You didn't!"

Of course, Han wouldn't, and he laughed, quite amused with himself. "No, but that was funny, wasn't it?"

She firmly shook her head.

"What's that? I can't hear you? Is that a smile I see? Why, sweetheart, I think that means a 'yes'."

"No!"

Before Leia could scoot away, Han enveloped her in his arms, squeezed her close as she struggled and wriggled in his grasp. "Hey, alright, I hear you. Yes, Han. I wish we were married, Han. I just love you so-o-o much."

"Shut up!"

With one hand, he traced her side from her breast downward, a hint enough for her as to what torture he had in mind. At once, she stiffened, her spin straightening ramrod. He tickled his hand above her hip and she squealed. "I don't know what I'd ever do without you."

"Han Solo, let me go!"

He would, but the ring of her laughter was all too sweet a melody to stop so abruptly.

"I'm so glad you rescued me back on the Death Star."

"Hold up! You think you rescued me?"

Laughing in her ear, Han stopped, but he didn't let her go quite yet. She relaxed in his arms, all the tension rushing from her muscles. He leaned over her, legs now straddling her hips. Her smile was lazy but thrilled, instinct driving her to anticipation. Now, he definitely couldn't let her down. "That's an argument for another time, Princess. For now, though—"

"It's still just us."

"Yeah." He looked at her for a moment, gazed upon her like a generous feast. Somehow, against all the odds, she was his. And, in return, he was happily hers. But it was true, he supposed, that they didn't have much time left for just them; and while Han held no regrets as he surveyed the wondrous slope of Leia's belly that was— for now— their child's home, he vowed to make what time they had left worth every moment.

"What do you say we have a date night? Just the two of us? We'll go out of town or stay on the Falcon so there's no one to bother us. I'll court you like a real gentleman."

"Ooh. You must be warming up for your comedy performance because that was funny."

He smirked.

"I love the sound of that. In fact, would you be willing to up the deal to the whole day?"

"Anything you want, sweetheart."

She patted his chest, took hold of his shirt and pulled him down toward her. "I love you. Han Solo."

Han bent to kiss her, leaving a trail down her cheek to her neck. He whispered against her collar bone, firmly and clearly, "I love you."