Several hours later Han slipped into Padme's room. He wanted to say goodbye before he left. Leia wouldn't even listen to his explanation. He really had wanted to come back. He'd tried for years to get back to her, but when he was finally able to get away, she had moved on with her life and left him behind. He had tried and failed. But he wasn't going to leave the daughter he'd never known about without saying goodbye. He couldn't do that to her.
Padme was sitting on the floor of her room brushing the fur of a small stuffed wookie toy with a doll's brush. Her back was to him, but her shoulders straightened when the door opened. Her hair was brushed back into an intricate braid and she was wearing a pair of black slacks and a dark green button down shirt, that made her look older than she really was. She may have inherited most of his features, but in an outfit like that, she looked like a miniature Leia.
Padme gently set the toy aside and turned to face him. "I knew you were coming," she stated simply as she rose to her feet and Han could see her mini black ballet slippers. Her dark clothing was a sharp contrast to the light pink walls and the quilted white and pink bedspread. Her sad little face looked so out of place in the bright and cheery bedroom with the sunlight streaming in through the sheer white curtains that were tied back with pink bows. "You are going to tell me goodbye aren't you?"
"Come here kid," Han beckoned as he sat down on the edge of her bed. Padme walked to him around the bed and let him lift her onto his lap. "You know I want to stay don't you?"
"I was pretty sure," Padme replied, resting her head on his shoulder. "But I didn't think that Mommy would let you. I want you to stay. I like you a lot better than I like Mr. Resol. He's mean and he doesn't like me at all."
Han gently wrapped his arms around Padme and rested his chin on top of her head. "Are you happy here sweetheart?"
"Sometimes," Padme replied truthfully. "I like it when Uncle Luke is home, and when the Senate isn't in session. Then I like it here. But I don't like when Uncle Chewie goes home, or when Uncle Luke goes back to Yavin 4."
"You should be happy all the time," Han almost whispered, more to himself than to her.
"You're my real father aren't you?" Padme asked suddenly, with a calm that completely shocked Han.
Han stiffened and looked down at Padme. "How did you find out?"
"Uncle Luke says I'm force sensitive," Padme explained with a smile. "Because I'm young and my powers are so unfocused I can read people's minds without them feeling it. I also can pick up people's thoughts when they're projecting them very loudly. Are you happy that you're my father?"
"I'm extremely happy sweetheart," Han replied kissing her forehead. "You are everything I ever dreamed of."
Padme smiled and snuggled closer to Han. "I'm glad you're my father. But what am I supposed to call you know? Mr. Han seems kind of silly to call your father."
"I always called my old man Papa," Han informed her.
"Then that is what I'll call you!" Padme exclaimed excitedly. "Papa are you still going to leave?"
"I'm not going anywhere baby," Han assured her, kissing the top of her head. "I'm never going to leave you."
Leia leaned against the wall outside Padme's room, listening to her conversation with Han. She felt her eyes filled with tears when Padme expressed how unhappy she was. Leia had never had any clue that Padme was so unhappy. She was always so sweet and cheerful. Had she learned the art of hiding her emotions from Leia? That was not a lesson she had intended for her daughter to learn. Leia walked away from Padme's room towards her office, trying to stop her tears.
Several hours later the door to the apartment burst open while Han, Padme, Luke, and Chewie were playing a game on the floor. Padme looked up to see the intruder and wrinkled her nose, then turned back to the game. Han immediately guessed that the stranger was Leia's fiancée. Luke rose to his feet, but the man didn't pay any attention to him. "Leia!" the stranger yelled. "Leia get out here!"
"Andrew?" Leia called walking out of her office. "What's going on?"
"We're getting married tomorrow!" Andrew announced. "Isn't that wonderful?"
Han felt as if someone had sucker punched him in the stomach. He suddenly felt Padme slip her small hand into his and he pulled her onto his lap. Padme snuggled up against him and he felt her start to shake.
"Tomorrow?" Leia asked with a frown. "Since when?"
"I talked to the church and they have an opening," Andrew explained. "Now that the kid is back we can get married like we planed."
"I have a name you know!" Padme almost screamed, and then fled from the shelter of Han's arms into her bedroom. Han, Chewie, and Luke visibly flinched when the door slammed behind her.
"I'll go talk to her," Luke said quietly, slipping silently out of the room. Chewie growled his departure as well and followed Luke out, leaving Han sitting there on the floor with the abandoned game. Han stood up as well and tried to make his escape when Andrew called him back.
"Who are you?" he asked with a frown and a suspicious glance towards Leia.
"Just an old friend," Han replied simply and slipped out of the room before any further questions could be asked of him.
Late that night, long after Padme cried herself to sleep, Luke walked into a lower level cantina. Han had left not long after Andrew, and Luke had already checked the Falcon and seven other cantinas. The air was thick with smoke and the lighting was dim. Luke looked around the room for Han. He was sitting in a corner on his own with a bottle of Corellian whiskey clutched tightly in his hand. Luke sighed and then made his way through the crowd back towards Han. "You're not going to find anything helpful in that bottle Han," Luke scolded gently, trying to pry the bottle away from Han.
"Just go away kid," was Han's desolate response. "Let me go ahead and drink my way to Hell."
"You can't do that now Han," Luke reprimanded him. "You have someone else to think about now."
"Who, Leia?" Han asked sarcastically. "Don't make me laugh!"
"I wasn't talking about Leia," Luke replied, taking a seat on the ripped black vinyl of the chair next to Han's. "I was talking about your daughter Han."
"She's been fine without me so far," Han retorted. "She'll be okay. Besides, I never wanted kids anyway."
"You don't mean that!" Luke cried angrily, slamming his fist down on the table. "That little girl needs you Han! She needs you more than anything right now. I saw you with her today! You love her Han and I can't believe you'll just walk away from her now! That's not the kind of person you are!"
"The kind of person I am?" Han yelled, standing up and almost knocking over the table. "Kid, I stopped being that guy almost six years ago. Heck, I don't even know who that guy is anymore." Han's fingers tightened around the neck of the bottle and he stumbled out of the bar. Luke sat in the chair stunned. Suddenly a scantily clad human waitress walked up and offered him a drink. Luke grabbed a shot glass off the tray she held out to him and downed the contents in one gulp. He tossed her a random bill out of his pocket and then stalked out of the cantina, back towards Leia's apartment. There was nothing else he could do that night.
The next morning, Padme was not in the mood to be cooperative with Winter, Chewie, or even Luke. She was short tempered, prone to tears if she didn't get her way, and as stubborn as a bantha. She wouldn't take a bath. She refused to get dressed, and when Luke started to brush her hair, she bit him! Chewie had slept in a chair in her room the night before to make sure she didn't run away again. She had only tried four times before Chewie threatened to take Lumpy away, then she had at least stayed in bed.
When the wedding was an hour away, Padme sat on the floor of her room, quietly playing with one of her dolls. Luke and Chewie stood outside of the room plotting how to get Padme to behave. She'd been a little terror all morning. But they couldn't come up with anything. Leia was too busy with her own preparations and would scold Luke and Chewie about how they couldn't handle a child. But, Luke thought to himself, Leia wasn't the one who was bitten.
Suddenly the door opened and Padme stepped out. "I am ready to behave now Uncle Like," Padme just barely whispered. "And I'm sorry I bit you."
"It's okay princess," Luke assured her. "Are you going to let Winter give you a bath?"
Padme only nodded and Winter took her hand and led her back into the room. An hour later Winter led her back out fully dressed in all her wedding attire. Her curls were perfectly hanging down her back. Her white dress, stockings, and shoes, were flawless. She looked like an angel that belonged on top of a Christmas tree, except for her face. Her face was the complete picture of misery. Despite her bad behavior that morning, Luke's heart broke when he saw Padme looking so miserable.
Leia walked out of her room in her wedding dress. She looked lovely, although her face didn't contain the joy it had the day she had married Han. Her dress wasn't nearly as grand as that day either. It was still a lovely dress, but Luke liked the dress she had worn to her first wedding better. "You look beautiful Leia," Luke complimented his sister with a slight smile.
"Thank you," Leia replied, smiling back. She smoothed imaginary wrinkles from the skirt of her dress and looked down at Padme.
"Please don't do it Mommy!" Padme pleaded one last time. "Please don't marry that man! I don't like him and I don't want him to even try to be my father!"
"Hush Padme," Leia scolded harshly. "I am going to marry Mr. Resol whether you like it or not."
Padme turned from her mother and buried her face in Luke's ceremonial Jedi robes. Luke picked up his niece and let her cry on his shoulder. "You and Winter go ahead to the church," Luke suggested as he used his free hand to rub Padme's back soothingly. "Chewie and I will calm Padme down and then follow a little later."
Leia agreed and she and Winter promptly left the apartment. Padme's sobs quieted soon after and Luke sent her to the bathroom to wash her face. When she returned, Luke took her hand firmly in his and led her out to the waiting speeder. He buckled her into the child seat in the speeder and climbed into the driver's seat, while Chewie took his place in the passenger seat. Luke started the speeder and took of at a fast pace. Padme watched the scenery pass them by and frowned when she noticed they weren't going towards the church. They were going towards one of the docking bays!
Luke pulled the speeder up next to a very familiar ship and Chewie climbed out, then unbuckled Padme and carried her towards the ship, while Luke remained in the speeder. Padme had immediately recognized the ship and bit her lower lip excitedly as Chewie punched in a code on the keypad to open the door of the ship. The door opened with a light swish and Chewie stepped inside, setting Padme down in the process. "Papa!" Padme called as she wandered into the ship. "Papa, are you here?"
Han stumbled out of his cabin and looked at the little girl and the wookie standing in the kitchen area of the Falcon. Padme ran to her father and threw herself into his arms. Han's head was pounding from the hangover he had earned with the massive amounts of whiskey he'd consumed the night before, and was barely able to lift the girl up. Padme threw her arms around his neck and clung to him tightly. "What are ya'll doing here?" Han drawled sleepily.
"Papa you have to stop Mommy from marrying Mr. Resol!" Padme exclaimed. "You're the only one who can do it!"
She's right cub. Chewie growled. You have to save the princess from making the biggest mistake of her life.
"You're forgetting one thing," Han informed, setting Padme back on her feet. "Leia doesn't want me to save her this time. She made her choice and now I'm outta here."
"NO!" Padme cried, turning and running to Chewie. Chewie picked the little girl up and let her sob into his shoulder.
I'm sorry you feel that way cub. Chewie growled softly, then turned to exit the Falcon.
"I hate you Papa!" Padme cried as Chewie stepped out of the ship. "I hate you!"
Her words made Han feel as if a knife had been plunged into his stomach. He'd been told by various people that they hated him before. It wasn't like it was the first time. But never before had it stung so deeply. It had never made him feel so guilty. At that moment Han knew exactly what he needed to do…
A/N: Sorry it has taken me so long to update. But I thought this might bea nice Christmas present. So, Merry Christmas everyone. And if you don't celebrate Christmas, I don't want to hear about it.