Chapter 11

Leia was standing in front of the bed, waiting, when Han entered the room. She gave Han a soft kiss and sat down on the surprisingly soft mattress, motioning for Han to join her. She wanted to talk to Han about the past that he was always trying to escape, which had finally caught up with him unintentionally.

Han sat down on the bed and put his arm around her. She curled up beside him and put her head against his shoulder.

"Han, I'm proud of you for wanting to give Ty a better life. But why do I have a feeling that you have different reasons for wanting to help him than I do?" Leia asked.

"Well, it's because I do, Leia."

"Can you tell me about it, Han? You've never really told about your past beyond the basics. Did you grow up like Ty? You can tell me anything, you know."

"I know. I guess with the baby coming now I should tell you what I was like as a kid, huh?" Han said. "Yeah, I was just like Ty when I was little. My parents died when I was about five, and they had chosen my aunt and uncle to raise me, but they didn't want the responsibility of a child. Instead of taking me to an adoption agency or finding someone who was willing to take care of me, they put me out on the streets. I survived by begging for money or food or sometimes stealing. Those were the worst years of my life. Nobody ever tried to help me out, so I was forced to harden my emotions and go against everything my parents had taught me about morality. I wasn't lying to you last week when I told you that I had morals when I was growing up. I used to feel very strongly about caring for people and doing the right thing, but the longer I lived like that the less I believed in my own morals. I mean, how can a kid still believe that he should be good when it got him nowhere? So the longer I stayed in the streets, the easier it became for me to steal and break the law. It filled my stomach and gave me excitement, so my previous way of thinking slowly faded away. That's how I got into smuggling. When I smuggled it was almost the same as what I did in the streets, 'cept I was getting paid. I wanted to be as far away from the streets as I could, so I always tried to cash in big. That's the way I thought 'til you and Luke showed me what I had been missing. And Chewie too, of course. He was my first friend," Han said thoughtfully. He turned and saw that his wife's jaw had gone slack, and her eyes were the size of asteroids.

"You can see why I want to help out Ty now, huh? I don't want him to end up cynical like I was and get into smuggling or something like that. All I wanted as a kid was for someone to care for me, and a place to call home, and I can help Ty get that. The little street-rat in me wouldn't ever let me hear the end of it if I didn't try to help him out."

Leia looked up at him; shocked at the fact that he was admitting this all to her, and at the horrible experiences he had as a child. She supposed that he had never told this to anyone before, even Chewie. It was touching that her husband was able to confide in her like this. It explained so much about the way he had acted when they first met. His confession made her feel guilty for all the horrible things she had said to him in those first few years, even though the heated words had gone both ways. That was the past, though, and this was the present.

"Sweetie, I love you so much. This is exactly why I fell in love with you in the first place. Underneath all that cynicism and brashness you had a beautiful heart. I don't know what I would have done if you had never shown it to me. Our children will be very lucky to have you as their father."

"Children?"

"Yes, dear. You do want to have more, don't you?"

"Of course! Tons. I just thought maybe you meant you were having twins or something like that."

"No, not this time at least. Though twins do tend to run in families," she said with a wink, seeing him cringe at the mere mention of it.

"I don't think I'd be able to handle two of your babies at once," Han said. "They'd just be screaming at me all the time, and my brain would explode."

"My babies?" Leia asked incredulously. "I think you should be more worried about your side of the gene pool, flyboy. Anyway, I don't see how your brain could explode when you're lacking one in the first place."

"Why is it always me?" Han asked, with hands spread out and eyes turned upward. "I'm always the one tortured, beaten, frozen, shot at, and henpecked, yet I'm still the source of every joke!" He then folded his arms and pouted slightly.

"It's just so fun to tease you darlin'." Leia responded, laughing. "And I know for a fact that you enjoy it."

"Well, maybe…sometimes. Just a little."

"No, you enjoy it a lot," Leia said, and then kissed him to convince him of her point.

"I dunno, I still think I only enjoy it a little."

"How about now?" Leia asked with another kiss.

"Well, maybe a little bit more, but I still don't enjoy it a lot."

"And now?" Leia asked with yet another kiss.

"Well, I'm starting to enjoy it, but I'm going to need a lot of convincing to enjoy it a lot."

"I am a Senator, dearest. Convincing people is my job," Leia said, and gave Han a passionate kiss that could convince him of anything.