When he heard about her upcoming exile, he figured he should do the whole reassure-and-comfort thing. After all, she had done the whole thing for them – and it wasn't so long ago that he found a million cred reward for him on his own planet.
She was outside, alone, lying on the ground and staring at the sky. There is a multitude of them shining, far more than on a civilized world, reminding him that there is no light pollution, no smog. It was this way on Yavin and Hoth and every other god-forsaken planet he's gone to for the Rebellion. For Leia. Sometimes, he misses the sight of a city at night. Not Coruscant, which isn't a city so much as a monster, but Coronet City, with streetlamps and closed doors and a dozen bright stars twinkling in the sky.
He stands over her, blocking he view, and she frowns, staring up at him.
"Why are you here?"
He shrugs, and sits by her head, still blocking her view of the stars, and looks up at them. i…there's Veranilan…/i
"I heard about what happened."
She sighs, and sits up, turning her face away from him.
"Then you'll know why I wish to be alone." Her voice is muffled – she sounds like Leia did after every defeat, every death anniversary, every disaster. She always cared too much…
"Y'know, I'm from Corellia, a planet that has a dictatorship friendly to the Empire. Because I'm one of the leaders – well, former leaders – of the Rebellion, they have a million cred reward and an automatic death sentence should I ever enter the Star System again." He glances at her, to find her staring at him. "In three years, you can come back and petition your grandmother to rejoin the Clan."
He turns back to the sky.
"Do you want to go home?"
He looks at her, to find that she is staring at the sky now.
"Yeah. I do."
"Even after so many years?"
He stares at her, puzzled. iNow just what is she getting at/i
"Of course. You don't stop missing home, after all."
Her shoulders slump, relieved.
"I had thought that – that maybe I would not want to come back afterwards," she whispers.
He touches her lightly on the shoulder, and she turns into him, curling up against his chest and just breathing. i…she's just a kid…/i
They stay that way for a moment, and then she composes herself, pulling away. She hits his jaw with her head though, and he reacts, gasping harshly with hands spring up to hold his mouth and the remnants of his poor, exploded teeth.
She touches his face, and frowns. Suddenly, she whitens, her lips compress, and her hands become ihot/i.
And then the pain stops.
"Thanks," he says, surprised.
She smiles at him shyly.
"No problem."
And they sit and stare at the starry sky.
