Chapter 14

Nomi lay in the bed asleep. Luke was getting dressed and was watching her. He loved to watch her as she slept. She was wearing a white tank top and pink pajama bottoms. He thought she looked so adorable. He had discovered that she always keeps a small pillow in her arm and hugged to her stomach. He was tempted to ask why, but would wait. There is plenty of time for me to find out.

Luke stepped into the refresher unit to brush his teeth. When he stepped back out he grabbed his boots and sat down to put them on. He was sitting on the bed when a hand came up on his back.

"Where are you going?" Nomi asked him sleepily.

"I'll be right back," Luke told her.

Nomi sat up now. Luke turned to look at her. Even when the pillow had rubbed on her hair she still looked beautiful to him. "Luke?"

"I just have to check on something." Luke wasn't use to telling someone where he was going all the time. This will take some getting use to.

"The sun isn't even up yet. What's so important that you can't sleep a few more hours?"

"Han, Chewie, and Lando are docking in a few minutes. Leia called and asked me to meet them. If she goes the children will want to come and she doesn't want to wake them."

"Now, see. That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

"No it wasn't," Luke grinned.

"I'll come with you. I'd like to meet this Lando that kept you away from me for so long." Nomi was pushing the covers back.

"You need to sleep. You can meet him at breakfast in a few hours." Luke stood up and began to straighten his tunic.

"You wouldn't be trying to hide something from me, would you?" Nomi asked sarcastically and lay back down.

Luke walked around to her side of the bed. He bent down and kissed her forehead, "If I was trying to hide something wouldn't I tell you."

Nomi chuckled. "You better not be hiding anything, I'm too tired to kick your butt."

Luke smiled, "Knowing you, you'd give me a good run for my credits, too."

"You bet."

Luke headed to the bedroom door. "I'll be back in just a little bit. I love you."

"Bye, love you too."

Luke stepped into the Falcon's docking bay. He truly wished he could have stayed in bed but Leia had asked him to come so he did. Luke knew that it was too early for them to be back. Lando hadn't had time to properly heal. But knowing Lando he was tired of sitting around and was ready to get back to work.

"Hey Chewie." Luke greeted the wookie first. Chewie roared a hello back to Luke. "Hey Han, Lando." He stepped forward to shake each ones hand. Lando walked with a limp.

"What are you doing here?" Han asked a little alarmed.

"I seem to be getting that a lot." Luke said remembering that Nomi's and Leia's reaction had been similar a week ago.

"That's not what I meant Luke."

"I know. Leia didn't want to wake the kids so she asked me to come."

"So, Luke, where is this friend of yours?" Lando asked.

"Lando, you can meet her when we get up to my apartment. She and Mara are staying up there." Han said.

Luke coughed, not meaning to at all. Oh no.

"What?" Han asked Luke.

"Nothing, I didn't say anything."

"She is still here isn't she?" Lando asked.

"Yes she's still here. She's just not staying with Leia and Mara." Luke looked at his boots during the last sentence.

"The kids get to her?" Lando asked.

Han reached out to stop Lando from talking again. "She isn't staying in a Palace Guest Room is she Luke?" It was more of an accusation than a question. When Luke didn't answer, it gave Han the answer he wanted. "Does Leia know?"

Han sounds like he's mad at me. "No. Nomi told her she was staying at a place around the corner."

"Don't let Leia find out!" Han spoke in a semi-harsh tone.

"What's wrong Han?" Lando asked.

"Luke, have you even thought about this? What if someone in the Palace catches wind of this?"

Luke knew that the second question was not what Han was talking about. "Who are you and what have you done with my buddy Han?"

Lando was wondering the same thing. He had known Han from long before he and Leia had gotten married. Han never would have reacted like this.

"I'm here. I just have three kids staying up in that apartment. And they look up to their Uncle a lot."

So that's what this is about, Luke thought.

"You've set good examples for them up until now. I don't want you sending them the idea that this is okay."

"Han, you did the same thing before you met Leia." Lando spoke up.

"This is between me and Luke, okay." Han bit out at Lando.

"I'll see you two at breakfast." Luke turned around and began to walk away.

Han couldn't believe Luke would just walk away.

Luke couldn't believe that Han would react like that. He had to use the Force to keep himself from getting angry. Breakfast will be interesting. Luke headed back to the apartment.

Luke walked into the apartment and sat in the common room to take off his boots. He had some trouble getting the second boot off. He fell out of the chair he was sitting in. He quickly got up and sat in the chair. He glanced around to make sure he was the only one in the room. He was sure that his clumsy moment was seen by no one.

Nomi busted out laughing from in the kitchenette. Luke was startled.

"That's fine, laugh. Why were you hiding?"

"I wasn't hiding. I came in here to get a glass of water. I'm working at the commstation in the bedroom." Nomi walked out and headed back to the bedroom. She was still dressed in her little white top and pink bottoms. Luke suddenly forgot about what had happened with Han downstairs. He followed her into the bedroom.

He lay down on the bed while she sat at the commstation and began typing. "What are you doing?"

"Well, I'm sending a message to my Aunt. I'm letting her know that I'll be over in a couple of days to pick up my things. I went and bought some new clothes but I want my stuff." Luke chuckled at her. "And I'm going to tell her that she can tell Father that after fifteen years all his attempts to keep us apart have failed."

Nomi hit a few more buttons and then turned the screen off. She walked over to the bed to lie next to Luke. She propped her self up on her elbows to look down into his eyes. He leaned up to kiss her. "Since Han and your other friends are here, do you think we could go ahead and tell everyone we're getting married?"

"If you want to?" Luke was happy that she wanted everyone to know. When they had fallen in love, all those years ago, she had made it into a secret. "At breakfast?" Luke tucked a dark curl behind her ear.

"At breakfast." She lay down and he pulled her close.

Han's words kept repeating in Luke's head. 'And they look up to their Uncle a lot.' Luke ignored the words. He only pulled Nomi closer. He had found happiness; I'm not going to let Han ruin this. As Luke lay holding his wife-to-be close to him, they both began to slowly drift off to sleep.

Luke awoke when he felt a presence in the common room. Nomi was lying next to him. He concentrated on the presence, Oh, sith! It's Leia! Luke quickly got up and grabbed a shirt and put it on. He glanced at his chrono and realized that the two of them had slept through breakfast. He exited the bedroom before Leia could make it there.

"What are you doing here?" Luke asked his sister.

"Well, you didn't come to breakfast and I was a little worried. Nomi didn't come either."

"Well I did wake up awfully early this morning." Luke said reminding his sister that it was her that woke him up.

"I understand that. But what about Nomi? I called the Inn and there was no answer. And I asked the clerk and no one saw her come in last night. They maid said the room hadn't been slept in. Luke, I'm worried about her. Have you talked to her at all today?"

"I did talk to her earlier. Leia, I'm sure she's fine." Luke said calmly.

"Luke! How can you be so calm, she's missing?" Leia's voice was raised and she was beginning to yell.

"I know Nomi, and she's fine. Don't worry."

"I thought you cared about her!" Leia knew as soon as the words left her mouth that she had stepped over the line.

"Don't tell me that I don't care. I'll care more than you'll ever know! But I know I'm not her keeper and she's old enough to make her own decisions. But don't ever tell me that I don't care, I love her!" Luke was now the one yelling.

Luke heard the bedroom door slide open and turned just in time to see Nomi coming out, dressed in her pajamas.

"What's going……on?" Nomi had not known Leia was in the apartment. She had just heard Luke yelling and wanted to know what was wrong. What have I done?

"Leia." Luke began to speak to her but soon realized it was futile.

Leia stood in shock for a moment, but soon anger appeared. She tried to send it into the Force but so far it wasn't doing much. "This is why you weren't at breakfast?"

"Leia, please?" Nomi began but Leia turned and walked away.

"Leia, wait! Stop and listen to me." Luke ran to the door to stop Leia from leaving.

Leia kept walking until she reached the front door. She turned around to face Luke and Nomi. "I want you both to stay away from my children. I don't want you influencing them." She then turned and walked out of the apartment.

This isn't the way it was suppose to go. We were supposed to tell her we were getting married. She was supposed to be happy. Luke couldn't help but feeling hurt. Her words had ripped through his heart. The disappointment he had seen in her eyes.

Nomi knew that what Leia had said had hurt Luke more than she had intended. The fact of the matter was that it had hurt Luke and in turn, hurt Nomi as well. Nomi walked to where Luke stood and put her arm around him.

This was supposed to be joyous. A wonderful day, with great news. Luke could feel Leia's anger and disappointment through the Force. In turn his, own anger was beginning to rise. He knew he had to control it and sent his frustration into the Force. "Who does she think she is? She has no right to dictate my life?"

Where did that come from? "Luke, she only cares about you, that's all. She just wants you to be happy."

"But I am happy with you here. I'm happier now than I've been in some time. I'm glad to have you back and if Leia doesn't like that then that's her problem."

"Luke, where is this coming from? I've never heard you talk like this before." Nomi was more than a little concerned. She had never heard Luke talk about too many people with such harshness.

Luke could see the worry in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."

"It's okay." They sat down on the couch beside one another. "You didn't know she was going to react like that. And it's partially my fault. I should've just stayed in the bedroom."

"None of this is your fault. Don't blame yourself, I should've told Leia from the beginning. She wouldn't have been any happier about it but at least we could've been a bit more prepared. And she probably wouldn't have reacted the same way."

"It'll be okay, Luke, she'll come around." Nomi said these words to comfort her self as well as Luke. She didn't want to tear the two siblings apart. She felt guilty that she had been the main part of the reason that Leia had stormed out.

"You're probably right." Luke said as he got up from the couch and headed to the refresher. A shower will do me some good.

Nomi wasn't really sure what she should do. She headed back into the bedroom and began to change clothes.