CHAPTER THIRTY FOUR

GETTING TO KNOW EACH OTHER

Han was in the hangar fixing his ship, when somebody came in.

"Han". He turned around and saw Leia with a picnic basket in one hand. He cleaned his hands with a towel and looked back at his ship. "Hey, I'm talking to you!", she said impaciently.

"How can I help you?", he said in an icy tone. Leia smiled.

"I thought you would be hungry, since you didn't join us for lunch, so I was wondering if you would join me in a picnic by the lake".

"Did you have lunch?", he asked.

"Yes, why?", she asked confused.

"You have a really big stomach then", he answered smiling.

"Somebody should teach you some manners, mr. Solo", she said in a serious tone. Han smiled and turned to look at her.

"Oh, and I suppuse you are the one to do that?"

"Yes, I believe I'll have to do it. I don't want you to  make a fool of yourself in front of my family, pecialy with the council coming in a couple of weeks!". An gave her a puzzled look.

"Council? What are you talking about?", he asked confused. Leia rolled her eyes and sighed.

"The JEDI council, stupid".

"Hey, don't call me stupid!", he yelled.

"Fine, but don't yell at me. Now, let's go to the lake and have our picnic. We'll know each other better", Leia suggested.

"Fine, I'm starving". Leia smiled.

Anakin was in the balcony watching Leia and Han walking towards the lake, though he wasn't crazy about it. Padmé walked towards Anakin and hooked his arm around his.

"What's the matter, Ani?", she asked, though she already knew what her husband was thinking.

"Nothing, why?", he asked trying to pretend nothing was wrong. Padmé shook her head and smiled.

"Anakin, I know you. Come on, tell me", she insisted. Anakin sighed.

"I don't like the idea of Leia going out in picnics with Han".

"Why, you don't like him?", Padmé asked.

"No, Han is a great kid, it's just that he's spending too much time with Leia". Padmé laughed.

"Ani, come on. He spends as much time with her as we do. You are just jealous that your little girl likes a boy!", she said making fun of him.

"No I'm not!". Padmé raised a brow. "Alright, I'm not crazy about Leia hanging out with boys yet, she's too young".

"Ani, she's 16, it's normal that she's into boys at this age. I had my first boyfriend when I was 12!"

"Gee, thanks for reminding me of that", Anakin said jealous. Padmé giggled.

"I can't believe that you still get jealous when I mention Palo! Anakin, that was almost thirty years ago, and you were 7 when it happened. Besides, we are married and we have 4 children. Come on, give Leia a brake". Anakin smiled.

"Fine, you're right, as usual...", he said defeated. Padmé kissed him and smiled.

"I know", she said smiling.

"We'll see if you'll be so happy when you become an old grandmother", Anakin said teasing her. Padmé frowned.

"Hey, why do you say that?", she said in a serious tone.

"Because you hate it when I brought up the age thing", he answered with a smile.

"Hey, I'm 41 and I still have my looks".

"Uh, I see we're being really modest today..."

"Oh, shut up!", she said walking inside. Anakin laughed and then ran after her.

"Come on, I was just kidding!"

Meanwhile, Leia and Han were having a very nice conversation while he devoured his sandwich. Leia had to make him stop several times, saying that it wasn't a propper behavior to eat like that. Once he finished, they talked with more calm. They asked each other all tipes of questions, tell each other stories and jokes. But Leia was very curious about something, and she had to ask.

"Han, why did you ran away from your home?". There was an awkward silence. "What happened with your family? You can trust me", she said grabbing his hand. Han looked at her with wide eyes, but then he relaxed.

"It's so hard to talk abot it, I...I wish I could tell you", he said hanging his head in frustration.

"Come on, you should get it out of you, it will be good for you", she said encouraging him to continue. Han sighed and smiled. Leia smiled back.

"Alright. I had a very strong aruement with my father, and he hit me". Leia's eyes widened in amazement.

"Oh Force, are you alright?", she asked worried.

"Yes, I'm fine. Every day we argued, and it got worst each time. Until one day, I had enough, so I flew away in my brother's ship, and I ended up here". He looked at Leia, who had a comforting look in her eyes. "That's my story". Leia smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"Thanks for trusting me".