"Kaffe?"

The early morning starlight streamed into their suite as Leia emerged from her room. Han leaned against the kitchen counter pouring the steaming liquid into a mug. "Yes, please," she said in surprise. He sipped his cup and dug around for another one for her. She looked questioningly at the basket of baked goods and cured links that sat on the counter.

"Gerod dropped these by. He's a regular welcome speeder."

She snared a pastry and took the mug from Han. "Well, at least we won't starve."

He followed her out to the balcony. "Ready for today?"

"I think so," she replied. "There's only so much preparation you can do in advance."

He leaned on the railing on his elbow and nodded at her over his mug.

"What about you?" she asked curiously. "What will you be doing?"

He shrugged. "Thought I'd walk around and talk to a few folks. See if I can find out anything useful."

"Let me guess. You're on personal terms with half the town." Her tone was light because even Han couldn't possibly have a contact on a planet like Caldira.

A trace of sheepishness crept into his face and she straightened up, alarmed. "Wait, do you actually know somebody here?"

"Not really. A friend of a friend." He stared into his cup. "Well, an acquaintance of a buddy of mine."

"But—." It didn't make any sense. "You didn't know we were coming here."

"I contacted him yesterday from the Falcon. After you told me where we were landing."

Her head was spinning. "And this person your — buddy— knows is in Ilia?" A town of no more than 10,000 inhabitants?

"Nah, he thinks he's still living outside the capital. But he gave some advice on a few things to check out here. Some shops and," he lowered his voice, "black-market places."

Trust Han to zero in on the illegal activity no matter where they went. Her disbelief was mounting by the second.

"But no one was supposed to know we were here." She tried to keep her voice down. "And you told him —?"

He shook his head impatiently. "I just said I was making a quick stop. He knows not to ask questions and to keep his mouth shut. Besides," he took a casual sip of his kaffe, "it was an hour before we landed. Now we're here and everyone here knows we're here."

His logic didn't completely escape her but she was still plenty annoyed. "Well, you should have told me this," she hissed.

He had the audacity to look perplexed. "I am telling you. We're standing here and I'm telling you."

"That's not what I —." Gods, he was infuriating. Her usual impulse to stalk off and yell at him from a distance was hampered by the listening devices in their suite. She paced back and forth across the balcony keeping her eyes straight ahead except to toss him the occasional glare. His expression held a smidge too much amusement and not nearly enough contrition for her liking.

"Look." He stepped into her path and ran his palms up and down her arms reassuringly. Had he always touched her so frequently or was this a new development? She was too irritated to decide right now. "I'll be casual about it. It's not like I'm going to hold a blaster to anyone's head. I just thought I'd try to pick up a few snippets of information."

Her glare didn't waver. "And didn't you stop to think that you'll be followed by the soldiers from the base and that they may hold it against the civilians who talk to you?"

Doubt flickered briefly before his usual confidence returned. "I'll be discreet. I promise. I'll pretend to be shopping or something. You just worry about your negotiations."

"Let's hope they're not in vain," she snapped.

He spun away with a frustrated huff and gripped the balcony railing. She shot him a final glare and retreated to the other end. They drank their kaffes and simmered in silence in their respective camps.

"Just —." His voice was gruff. "Be careful, okay? Keep your eyes open."

She turned to him reluctantly. "You too. Try to stay out of trouble."

His sly grin returned. "I always try." He didn't miss her reaction. "Fine. I'll try to try."

Han had already escaped into town when she met Maryk downstairs, Gerod trailing after her.

"Princess!" He greeted her like an old friend. "I look forward to showing you the training ground for our soldiers. If we're lucky, we'll be able to observe today's drills."

The next two hours were spent standing on the edge of a field as troops marched in and out in various formations. Maryk delivered what seemed to be a valedictory version of the last few years of the war while Leia feigned interest in the detailed re-hashings of the major and minor Kyrol victories against the Veroni.

"Maryk, the Alliance would like to be of service to Caldira. We have established relations with many worlds who have a need for the resources abundant on your planet." They were striding toward a cluster of buildings on the opposite side of the field. "And what little is known of your intelligence network is deeply admired by our leadership. There is an opportunity for both sides here." She hesitated briefly. "But the continuing conflict with the Veroni is concerning. Perhaps I could speak with one of their commanders to see if we can be of assistance in resolving any lingering issues?"

He shook his head, his hair swinging as they walked. "That's too risky right now. We have undertaken an extensive operation to divide the Veroni leadership and it is not yet complete."

"An operation like that may never be complete," she said. "There's not a finite number of Veroni terrorists. If you kill enough of them more will just take their place." She didn't miss the look on his face. "And I think you know that."

He stopped and turned to face her. "What would you have us do, Princess? Maybe to you we appear as barbarians, granting no mercy to our beleaguered enemies." He grunted and started moving again. "But if you saw the destruction they have inflicted on us, on our people… We have managed to keep the cities safe for most of our citizens. This continuing conflict, as you say — it is much better now than just a year ago and if we pull back now we risk inviting more suffering."

They had reached the outcrop of cottage-like structures. "I will introduce you to our intelligence division for this region. The ones not currently out in the field work here. And," he glanced over at the looming hills. "I will arrange for you to visit my general tomorrow. He is temporarily based in one of the villages up there. Discussions with him may prove more — fruitful."

Hours later Leia trudged up to her and Han's quarters, her mind parsing the discussions of the day for any new information she could glean. The code-breaking techniques she had been shown were worth the trip alone, if lacking the necessary details to make them truly useful to the Alliance.

When she opened the door she was startled to see Han close to the entrance before relief infused her that he looked no worse for the wear. He was standing next to the table, sorting through a smattering of food and assorted crafts that haphazardly lay there.

"There you are." He came over and tilted his head down, his mouth was dangerously close to hers. "I put some chairs on the balcony. Let's talk out there."

Once outside, Han waved a bowl of delicacies he had picked up in town. Leia plucked a salty lovash leaf and popped it in her mouth.

"So how'd it go? See anything interesting?"

"Not at first." She sighed. "Drills. And then more drills. And then similar but slightly different drills."

"The life of a soldier," Han quipped. "Did you get anywhere with a deal?"

"We didn't go over a lot of specifics but they're clearly interested," she responded. "They're determined to stamp out opposition from the Veroni and anyone else who challenges the regime. Maryk is aware of the efforts to establish additional trading partners and that's where we can help them the most."

He looked at her intently. "Do you want to help them? Seeing as how they're probably going to hunt down the remaining Veroni?"

"I don't know." She recounted her conversation with Maryk to him. "It's hard to tell if his concern for civilians is genuine or whether it's just a way to deflect criticism of their tactics."

"It'd be interesting to hear the Veroni side of the story in this conflict," Han remarked. "I'm sure they view themselves as freedom fighters instead of terrorists."

"Well, I'm not sure their ultimate goal is freedom," she said drily. "All indications we have from our sources point to them wanting to wield the same power as the Kyrols but in an even more repressive way." She sighed. "Wading through the internal politics of a planet like this is like trying to climb out of an avalanche. Our next move will probably depend on this mysterious general out in the village." She looked over at him. "What about you? Did you find out anything interesting in town?"

"Odds and ends," he said vaguely. "Lots of folks just seemed to want to unload on someone they didn't know."

She frowned. "Complaints against the regime? Isn't that dangerous for them?"

"Not complaints so much against the Kyrols. Just in general." He speared another becaal root with his fork. "I get the sense that the regime has redirected any discontent to outside entities. Other planets and the like." He rolled his eyes. "For such an insular race, they sure are damned arrogant. I was informed more than once that other inferior planets were the causes of all Caldira's problems but that those same inferior planets couldn't possibly be of any help. And don't get me started on the comments I heard about the non-human races."

Leia's heart sank a little more. "There have to be some who don't think like that."

"A few. But they're all making a killing on the black market." He winked at her. "You know, the ones who tend to do well when there's a war going on. They're happy to do business with anyone who pays them."

"Hmm." That at least was no different from any other planet. She wondered idly how much, if any, of the regime's focus was directed toward the illegal activities.

Han stood up. "I'm going to take a few things to the Falcon. Wanna come?"

"No, I'll stay here." Time alone to herself was too appealing. "Can you take the terminal with you?"

After he left, Leia retrieved her Hoth jacket from her room and wrapped it around her shoulders as she watched Caldira's star set. In the street below, Biron drove off with Han in the wheeler and the murmur of foot traffic died down as curfew approached. Lamps flickered on around town and stars twinkled on one by one in the sky. She replayed the days' debates in her head and practiced framing her key points directed toward the unnamed general at the encampment in the hills.

The last glow of the starset had faded away when Han and Biron returned. Under the streetlamp, she could see Han leaning against the vehicle talking animatedly. They remained there for a while, Han occasionally gesturing at the sky in response to something Biron said.

"Hey." His voice was behind her as he slid open the glass door. He plopped down in his chair and leaned back, propping his feet up on the railing.

"Everything okay at the hangar?" she asked.

"Yep. I was telling Biron about the Falcon. He's only been off-planet once and that was years ago on an ancient freighter."

She turned to him sharply. "You didn't let him on the ship, did you?"

He rolled his eyes. "No, of course not. Just talking on the way back here. He had a lot of questions about different planets and traveling in hyperspace and…" His voice trailed off.

She kept her next question to herself. He would discover on his own the unanswerable debates, the lingering guilt, the shadow of betrayal of those who meant the most to you.

Han prodded at the railing with his boot. "I didn't tell him about Chewie," he said finally.

She nodded. "You still can. It's not too late."

"I know. I thought about it. I just wondered if it would do any good." He shifted in his chair. "I don't know how to —."

"How to like someone who has fundamental disagreements with you?"

He grunted. "Not even disagreements. The way these people would treat Wookies is unconscionable."

"Yes, it is." She studied the stars again. "It wouldn't be the first time we invited a planet to join the Alliance that holds practices that we believe are unconscionable."

Han crossed his arms. "So where do you draw the line? When do you tell them, 'No, you can't join us.'?" His tone was almost accusatory. "Or do you just let in anyone who drops enough intelligence and credits in your laps?"

She kept her voice steady, having waded into these debates more times than she could count. "The line shifts depending on the circumstances. There's no one-size-fits-all solution. We try to hold our members as close to our standards as reasonably possible."

"That's no answer," he grumbled.

"No. But it's the best I have right now."

He didn't say anything. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him fingering the stripes on his pants. Perhaps he was thinking, as she often did, about the weight of the past, of his previous actions both good and bad, and whether he would have made the same decisions knowing what he knew now.

She rose from her chair and paused in front of the glass. "Don't be too hard on yourself, Han."

His arms were braced on his knees as he stared out over Ilia. Maybe she imagined the shift in his shoulders as a mute acknowledgement but the reflection in the glass was too murky to tell for sure.

She traced the curve of the door handle with the tips of her fingers, the grooves in the wood worn smooth with time and use. "I'm going to bed now."

Lying in her room after she heard his door shut she wondered if she had meant those words as an invitation. Would he ever take them as one? She thought about the dance they had undertaken, the choreographed drawing together and pulling apart, sometimes in sync with each other, oftentimes not. She thought about how their relationship was girded with an undercurrent of sympathy alongside an inclination to provocation and that there was no outcome that was completely inevitable. They could continue to hold themselves apart, separated by logic and reason, or they could make a different choice.

In the end nothing was written in the stars.