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Han and Leia had decided they could wait until the next day to go back to the Falcon and check it out. They put the problem of getting it to liftoff, and getting back through the blackhole to their proper time and place, out of their minds. Leia decided, she had taken time off to relax and she was going to relax! Sallah had explained that downtown Cairo was not a pleasant place, that he had grown up there and living on the edge of the city was much better. Right now, he and Han were talking about growing up in the inner cities of Earth and Corellia. Leia wondered out onto the deck. Upon the hilltop where the house sat, there was a wonderful view of the city with it's glowing lights and stone buildings. Leia took a seat on the benchseat and just sat watching the sun set.
"Beautiful night, huh?" A voice behind her startled her, breaking her out of her reverie. She turned her head to see Indy standing, leaning against the wall, two cups of some sort of drink in his hands. He nodded to the seat next to Leia. "May I?" He asked.
She smiled, "Of course." He sat down, and handed her one of the mugs. She smelled it cautiously. He took a sip of his.
"It's called tea. Try it." he urged her.
She took a sip, and delighted in it's sweetened flavor. "So Indy, what exactly do you do here on Earth?" she asked.
He rubbed the slight stubble on his chin and took a sip of his tea. "Well, to most people I'm a professor of Archaeology. I teach. But my passion is field work. And you could say I'm not your typical shovel and pick ax kind of guy. I have more... unique methods of gathering artifacts." He explained.
This intrigued her, "Ah. So you're an adventurer."
Indy laughed, "Yeah, you could call it that." There was a time of silence as they drank some more of their tea. "What do you do?" Indy asked.
Leia thought about it for a while. "It's hard to say, really. It's a long story...." she trailed off.
Indy sat up, interested. "Well we've got plenty of time. C'mon, tell me."
Leia smiled, "All right." she agreed. She thought back to where it had all began. That brought her to palace life on Alderaan.
"I grew up on this beautiful planet, Alderaan. It had green fields, and mountains, and blue seas. It was a very peaceful place. There were no weapons, and the citizens got along fairly well. My father... my adoptive father, Bail Organa, was the King of the planet. Even though he was King, our planet, like most others, was part of the Galactic Empire. The Empire was a huge government ruled by a man named Emperor Palpatine. But Palpatine was a corrupt bigot, and very hateful. He treated the people of his kingdom, especially non-humans, very poorly." She looked at Indy to make sure he wasn't being bored by all of this, but he seemed very interested.
"So you're a Princess?" he asked.
She nodded modestly. "It's mostly just an honorary title anymore..."
"Go on." Indy urged her.
"Where was I? Oh yes. When I was 17 I was elected to the Imperial Senate as the Senator of Alderaan. Back home, my father and his friends were secretly plotting with other planets to form a rebellion against the Empire. Through spies like myself in the Senate, we found out that they had a new super weapon planned. When I was 18, some spies stole the plans and gave them to me and my counselor's ship. We were carrying them back to my father on Alderaan when we were caught." Indy's eyes widened in horror. He knew what being caught by the enemy was like. It was not a pleasant thing.
"How'd you escape?" He asked.
"Well, luckily, I was able to get the plans into R2-D2 -he's a robot friend of ours- and he took the plans to former General Ben Kenobi on Tatooine. He joined up with Luke, whose aunt and uncle had just been killed by Imperial troops looking for the droids. Luke and Ben hired Han as a pilot to Alderaan, where they planned to give the plans to my father."
Indy interrupted, "Hired him? What did he do, some sort of charter service?"
Leia bit her lower lip. This was always an issue Han liked to avoid, and she wasn't so sure he'd appreciate her revealing it to a complete stranger. But somehow she felt safe around Indy. Probably because he reminded her so much of Han. "Uh, no. He was a spice smuggler. Spice is a sort of... illegal drug."
"Oh." Indy said, and left it at that. Silently, he wondered at the irony of a drug smuggler and a Princess winding up together. He also knew he wasn't the first person to make note of this.
Leia continued quickly, "So anyway... I was being held captive aboard the Death Star, the Empire's super weapon. They tried everything to get me to tell them where the Rebel base was, even torture... But I wouldn't. So they-" her voice cracked a little. Indy scooted a bit closer to the Princess and settled his arm across the back of the bench. Grateful, she leaned up against him. "They blew up Alderaan. It was completely incinerated. All those innocent people..." her voice trailed off into small sobs. Indy could do nothing but let her cry on his shoulder. In a minute, she wiped the tears from her eyes and went on. "Han and Luke rescued me. Ben was killed, but the three of us escaped. Han got his reward and left. Then we used the plans to find a weakness in the Death Star. We launched an attack. Almost all of our pilots were killed. Only Luke and one other pilot survived... And Han came back and saved Luke. Luke blew up the Death Star, and that really kicked things off for the Alliance."
She sighed, "That was almost 3 and a half years ago. Since then, we'd been moving bases all over, running from the Emperor. Han decided to stay and even became a General after... after being detained by an old enemy for a while." The way Leia said it made it sound like it wasn't just some ordinary capture. Indy made a mental note to find out about it later. "About a month ago, we fought this battle against another Death Star. Han and I and our team got its shield down, while the fighters went in and took out the core. The Emperor and most of his top goons died aboard the second Death Star. Since then, it's been a rebuilding process. I'm one of the people helping to organize the New Republic." She ended.
Indy nodded, in awe of the amazing life this young woman had lead. "So how'd you get to Earth?"
"Han and I were on a vacation of sorts, and accidentally got caught in a blackhole. We were sent here in an emergency landing." she explained. "But I'm glad we did. This place is nice..." She sighed and just enjoyed the comfort of leaning against his shoulder and gazing out as the last oranges and reds faded from the evening sky.
Indy looked down at Leia. She was very beautiful, with a regal yet tough looking face. She reminded him a lot of Marion. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Indy wanted to know more about the two guests, "So you and Han... you're, like, engaged?" This question brought an exasperated sigh from Leia.
"Well, not exactly. Han's not the type of person to commit to things easily. I mean, we've always just sort of assumed we are going to get married some day, but he's never really asked me or made any plans." she frowned. "I don't know. He can be really aggravating sometimes..."
There was a sharp cough from behind them. Indy and Leia turned to see Han casually leaning against a post. He was observing the two of them very closely. "Hope I'm not interrupting something important." Han drawled. Leia scooted away from Indy a little, and Indy set his arm back at his side.
"Hi Han. How are you tonight?" Leia was somewhat nervous. How much of her and Indy's conversation had he heard? What had he seen? Why did it matter?
"Oh, I'm just fine. And how about you two?" Han asked, giving Indy a wary glance.
Leia smiled warmly, "I was just telling Indy about how you rescued me from certain death and how together we helped save the galaxy."
'That wasn't exactly the way she'd put it earlier', Indy thought.
Han was somewhat suspicious of his look-alike. If he had Han's charm, Han would have to watch out for him. "Well, I've been talking to Sallah about Cairo. Sounds like a regular Mos Eisley, if you ask me. Minus the spaceships and gangster slugs, that is." Han grinned crookedly. Leia laughed, a genuine laugh.
Indy, feeling left out, broke in, "There are only two small cots for guests, and now with three guests in the house someone's gonna have to sleep on the couch." The three of them exchanged glances. When the two men noticed that Leia was about to offer herself up, they blurted out simultaneously, "I'll do it." It was fair to say that all three of them were disturbed by the identical voices.
But Han wasted no time recomposing himself. "No, it's okay. I'm used to sleeping on the bunks on the Falcon. That couch is like sleeping on air compared to them. I'll be fine."
Indy shrugged, "Sounds fair."
Han walked over to Leia, and planted a deliberate kiss on her cheek. "See you in the morning, sweetheart." he said with a wink. She smiled at him, and he disappeared into the family room.
"Good night, your highness." Indy whispered, true respect filling the title for once. The two of them headed to their rooms. Leia changed into her sleeping gown, then laid down on the bed. Indy and Han really seemed to butt heads over her. She smiled.
"Men." she snorted, then drifted off to sleep.
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Han and Leia had decided they could wait until the next day to go back to the Falcon and check it out. They put the problem of getting it to liftoff, and getting back through the blackhole to their proper time and place, out of their minds. Leia decided, she had taken time off to relax and she was going to relax! Sallah had explained that downtown Cairo was not a pleasant place, that he had grown up there and living on the edge of the city was much better. Right now, he and Han were talking about growing up in the inner cities of Earth and Corellia. Leia wondered out onto the deck. Upon the hilltop where the house sat, there was a wonderful view of the city with it's glowing lights and stone buildings. Leia took a seat on the benchseat and just sat watching the sun set.
"Beautiful night, huh?" A voice behind her startled her, breaking her out of her reverie. She turned her head to see Indy standing, leaning against the wall, two cups of some sort of drink in his hands. He nodded to the seat next to Leia. "May I?" He asked.
She smiled, "Of course." He sat down, and handed her one of the mugs. She smelled it cautiously. He took a sip of his.
"It's called tea. Try it." he urged her.
She took a sip, and delighted in it's sweetened flavor. "So Indy, what exactly do you do here on Earth?" she asked.
He rubbed the slight stubble on his chin and took a sip of his tea. "Well, to most people I'm a professor of Archaeology. I teach. But my passion is field work. And you could say I'm not your typical shovel and pick ax kind of guy. I have more... unique methods of gathering artifacts." He explained.
This intrigued her, "Ah. So you're an adventurer."
Indy laughed, "Yeah, you could call it that." There was a time of silence as they drank some more of their tea. "What do you do?" Indy asked.
Leia thought about it for a while. "It's hard to say, really. It's a long story...." she trailed off.
Indy sat up, interested. "Well we've got plenty of time. C'mon, tell me."
Leia smiled, "All right." she agreed. She thought back to where it had all began. That brought her to palace life on Alderaan.
"I grew up on this beautiful planet, Alderaan. It had green fields, and mountains, and blue seas. It was a very peaceful place. There were no weapons, and the citizens got along fairly well. My father... my adoptive father, Bail Organa, was the King of the planet. Even though he was King, our planet, like most others, was part of the Galactic Empire. The Empire was a huge government ruled by a man named Emperor Palpatine. But Palpatine was a corrupt bigot, and very hateful. He treated the people of his kingdom, especially non-humans, very poorly." She looked at Indy to make sure he wasn't being bored by all of this, but he seemed very interested.
"So you're a Princess?" he asked.
She nodded modestly. "It's mostly just an honorary title anymore..."
"Go on." Indy urged her.
"Where was I? Oh yes. When I was 17 I was elected to the Imperial Senate as the Senator of Alderaan. Back home, my father and his friends were secretly plotting with other planets to form a rebellion against the Empire. Through spies like myself in the Senate, we found out that they had a new super weapon planned. When I was 18, some spies stole the plans and gave them to me and my counselor's ship. We were carrying them back to my father on Alderaan when we were caught." Indy's eyes widened in horror. He knew what being caught by the enemy was like. It was not a pleasant thing.
"How'd you escape?" He asked.
"Well, luckily, I was able to get the plans into R2-D2 -he's a robot friend of ours- and he took the plans to former General Ben Kenobi on Tatooine. He joined up with Luke, whose aunt and uncle had just been killed by Imperial troops looking for the droids. Luke and Ben hired Han as a pilot to Alderaan, where they planned to give the plans to my father."
Indy interrupted, "Hired him? What did he do, some sort of charter service?"
Leia bit her lower lip. This was always an issue Han liked to avoid, and she wasn't so sure he'd appreciate her revealing it to a complete stranger. But somehow she felt safe around Indy. Probably because he reminded her so much of Han. "Uh, no. He was a spice smuggler. Spice is a sort of... illegal drug."
"Oh." Indy said, and left it at that. Silently, he wondered at the irony of a drug smuggler and a Princess winding up together. He also knew he wasn't the first person to make note of this.
Leia continued quickly, "So anyway... I was being held captive aboard the Death Star, the Empire's super weapon. They tried everything to get me to tell them where the Rebel base was, even torture... But I wouldn't. So they-" her voice cracked a little. Indy scooted a bit closer to the Princess and settled his arm across the back of the bench. Grateful, she leaned up against him. "They blew up Alderaan. It was completely incinerated. All those innocent people..." her voice trailed off into small sobs. Indy could do nothing but let her cry on his shoulder. In a minute, she wiped the tears from her eyes and went on. "Han and Luke rescued me. Ben was killed, but the three of us escaped. Han got his reward and left. Then we used the plans to find a weakness in the Death Star. We launched an attack. Almost all of our pilots were killed. Only Luke and one other pilot survived... And Han came back and saved Luke. Luke blew up the Death Star, and that really kicked things off for the Alliance."
She sighed, "That was almost 3 and a half years ago. Since then, we'd been moving bases all over, running from the Emperor. Han decided to stay and even became a General after... after being detained by an old enemy for a while." The way Leia said it made it sound like it wasn't just some ordinary capture. Indy made a mental note to find out about it later. "About a month ago, we fought this battle against another Death Star. Han and I and our team got its shield down, while the fighters went in and took out the core. The Emperor and most of his top goons died aboard the second Death Star. Since then, it's been a rebuilding process. I'm one of the people helping to organize the New Republic." She ended.
Indy nodded, in awe of the amazing life this young woman had lead. "So how'd you get to Earth?"
"Han and I were on a vacation of sorts, and accidentally got caught in a blackhole. We were sent here in an emergency landing." she explained. "But I'm glad we did. This place is nice..." She sighed and just enjoyed the comfort of leaning against his shoulder and gazing out as the last oranges and reds faded from the evening sky.
Indy looked down at Leia. She was very beautiful, with a regal yet tough looking face. She reminded him a lot of Marion. He wasn't sure if that was a good thing. Indy wanted to know more about the two guests, "So you and Han... you're, like, engaged?" This question brought an exasperated sigh from Leia.
"Well, not exactly. Han's not the type of person to commit to things easily. I mean, we've always just sort of assumed we are going to get married some day, but he's never really asked me or made any plans." she frowned. "I don't know. He can be really aggravating sometimes..."
There was a sharp cough from behind them. Indy and Leia turned to see Han casually leaning against a post. He was observing the two of them very closely. "Hope I'm not interrupting something important." Han drawled. Leia scooted away from Indy a little, and Indy set his arm back at his side.
"Hi Han. How are you tonight?" Leia was somewhat nervous. How much of her and Indy's conversation had he heard? What had he seen? Why did it matter?
"Oh, I'm just fine. And how about you two?" Han asked, giving Indy a wary glance.
Leia smiled warmly, "I was just telling Indy about how you rescued me from certain death and how together we helped save the galaxy."
'That wasn't exactly the way she'd put it earlier', Indy thought.
Han was somewhat suspicious of his look-alike. If he had Han's charm, Han would have to watch out for him. "Well, I've been talking to Sallah about Cairo. Sounds like a regular Mos Eisley, if you ask me. Minus the spaceships and gangster slugs, that is." Han grinned crookedly. Leia laughed, a genuine laugh.
Indy, feeling left out, broke in, "There are only two small cots for guests, and now with three guests in the house someone's gonna have to sleep on the couch." The three of them exchanged glances. When the two men noticed that Leia was about to offer herself up, they blurted out simultaneously, "I'll do it." It was fair to say that all three of them were disturbed by the identical voices.
But Han wasted no time recomposing himself. "No, it's okay. I'm used to sleeping on the bunks on the Falcon. That couch is like sleeping on air compared to them. I'll be fine."
Indy shrugged, "Sounds fair."
Han walked over to Leia, and planted a deliberate kiss on her cheek. "See you in the morning, sweetheart." he said with a wink. She smiled at him, and he disappeared into the family room.
"Good night, your highness." Indy whispered, true respect filling the title for once. The two of them headed to their rooms. Leia changed into her sleeping gown, then laid down on the bed. Indy and Han really seemed to butt heads over her. She smiled.
"Men." she snorted, then drifted off to sleep.
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