Just in case you're not as old as you should be, there's a little 'Han and Leia time' coming up so you better log out now. Nothing too explicit, I just don't want to offend!
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Four months had passed since the unexpected arrival of Anais Solo.
Jacen and Tilly had settled into a comfortable routine, sharing baby shifts between Tilly's hours at the port tapcafe and Jacen's continued freight haulage for and with his father. Jacen had also enrolled in a voluntary addiction therapy group, helping to keep him away from the drugs that had threatened to take over his life.
Jaina's initial teasing over Jacen's apparent ability to produce a child with such stunning features had waned to only an occasional, light-hearted jibe. In truth, she had been as delighted as anyone to see her brother get his life back on track. It also helped that she liked Tilly very much and was more than happy to help with sitting duties when work proved uncompromising.
Leia and Jacen used whatever free time they had to work on a suitable business strategy and to search for an appropriate venue.
Jorj returned to school for the remainder of the term and Han and Leia succeeded in a little of that 'alone time' that had eluded them since Jorj had absconded from his classes.
Sliding an arm beneath his head, Han grinned up at the ceiling. "That...was...something...else..."
"You were kind of...magnificent." She agreed.
"Nah!" He scoffed. "It was all you darlin'."
"Except at the end." She sighed, her breath rustling his chest hair. "That was all you. And it was inspired."
"Well. When you're right..." He said.
"You are unbelievable! You're really going to lie there and take all the credit, aren't you?" She said, pushing to one arm.
"Not all the credit, no." He defended as she settled back down across him. "Just most of it."
"Ugh! You!" She tweaked his nipple, painfully.
"Hey!" He laughed, drawing her fingers to his lips and smooching them. "I'm real sensitive there right now."
"I can think of somewhere more sensitive." She goaded, shifting her knee to connect with his nether regions.
He laughed harder. "Thirty years ago that might have gotten a rise outta me. Now, not so much."
"Feeling your age, flyboy?" She asked, propping her head on a fist to look at him, her hair spilling about her shoulders.
"I prefer to feel yours!" He grinned, a hand reaching out to guide her back to his chest. "I like you right there, where I can keep my eye on you."
Leia giggled and let her fingers toy with his chest hair. They lay quietly together, recouping their sapped strength.
"Jorj had another nightmare last night. The school called, but I knew. I'd already felt it." Leia said.
"He's got two standard weeks left Ley." Han observed.
"So, would it hurt to bring him home two weeks early?" She questioned.
"Apart from my already shrinking libido?" He asked, then answered. "Yes."
"Can't you show at least a little empathy for him?" She asked, angrily.
"I love that kid Ley, you know I do." He hugged her to him. "But we can't pull him outta class just because he's pining for his first crush! There'll be a lot of 'Miss Fizz's' in the kid's life. He's gotta learn to face and live with disappointment."
"They way you had to?" She accused.
"The way we both did, sweetheart." He corrected. "I know it's harder for him to process, but he's never gonna learn if we don't teach him."
"I just feels cruel." She replied.
"Okay. Look. I wasn't gonna say anything until I got the contract sealed, but..." He exhaled deeply. "I've asked Miss Fizz if she would consider coming with us and tutoring Jorj on a one-to-one basis."
Leia's head sprang up to look Han fully in the eye. "You did! What did she say?"
"She said she'd think about it. An' before you ask, I offered her good money too!" He answered.
"Jorj will be ecstatic!" Leia exclaimed.
"If she agrees. So don't you go telling him. Or anybody else until I know for sure." He insisted.
"Jorj would love it if she went with us!" She grinned, excitedly.
"Jorj, isn't the only one. We could still do this." He lowered his voice and waggled his eyebrows at her. "While he's 'in school'!"
"I hope she says yes." Leia commented.
"Me too." Han smiled as he closed his eyes and felt Leia's warm cheek once more against his chest.
They generally lay like that after making love, holding one another, needing to feel the other in their arms. It reminded Han of the first time he'd held her that way, in a quiet wooded area on the outskirts of the Ewok village.
Having spent far too much time listening to Chewbacca growl, Han had gone in search of Leia, finally finding her musing over what looked like a small yellow weed surrounded by a clump of half-dead grass. Whatever her daydreams were, they didn't seem to be bringing her any great happiness.
Han took a moment more in observation before striding purposefully forward and planting himself beside her on the grassy knoll.
"Not disturbing you, am I Princess?" He asked, his lopsided grin firmly in place.
"I just spoke to Luke." She smiled back, tucking her comm into her tunic. "There's a thing he needs to do but he said he'd join us shortly."
"Great." Han hoped he sounded more enthusiastic to her ears than he did to his own. "The kid seem...okay?"
"He sounded fine." Leia answered, hoping she too sounded more convincing to his ears than she had to her own.
"This 'thing' he's got to do, would it have anything to do with the 'thing' that took him to the Death Star?" He queried.
Leia shivered, visibly.
"Hey! You going cold on me Princess?" He joked, circling her shoulders with his arms and pulling her into his tender embrace.
He heard Leia splutter a laugh as her arms glided around his waist, felt her face press to his chest as she clung to him.
"What are you doing all the way out here on your own anyway? Who's to say there aren't Stormtroopers in the woods?" He asked.
"I came all the way out here to get away from everyone. The area's been swept for insurgents and besides, I still have my blaster." She answered.
"'That 'everyone', does it include me?" He queried.
"No. It doesn't include you." He felt her smile even through his shirt.
"So...it's just you and me then..." He said, grinning down at the huge pair of deep brown eyes looking back up at him.
He dipped his head, his lips closing in on hers when the sound of rustling bushes froze him to the spot.
His ears attuned to the location of the sound, one hand surreptitiously dropping toward the blaster strapped to his thigh as an Ewok emerged from behind a shrub, trotting back toward the encampment.
Han breathed again, loosening the embrace he'd tightened around Leia.
"Well...okay, so you, me and the fur ball." Han noted with a smile. "Now, where were we?"
There was something in the way she looked up at him that made him pause.
"You came out here for the solitude, didn't you?" He queried. Her nod forcing him to realise he was at risk of behaving like a jerk. His head bobbed slowly in understanding. "For the scent of the forest and the sounds of quiet reflection, not to make out with a scoundrel."
"Han..." She started, but was silenced by his finger pressing to her lips.
"I can do scents and quiet reflection." He grinned and lay back on the mossy earth, taking Leia with him. "In fact, if I'd known scents and quiet reflection were your thing I coulda saved myself a whole lotta bother these past few years."
Her light laugh warmed the chill that had settled around the heart he'd forgotten could feel this way. They lay like that, curled together, for some little time before Leia broke the peace between them.
"A lot of things are going to change in the days that come." She said, a hand resting over the spot on his ribcage that housed his heart. "I want you to know that whatever happens, I don't think I have ever loved anyone more than I love you right now."
There was a melancholy to her tone that both surprised and worried Han. He'd talk to her about it. That was something they had discovered recently, that they could talk. Not scream and berate one another, but talk like civilised adults. All it had taken was three little words. But it had taken Leia saying them to change the course of their future.
Han had loved before, just as Leia had. And just like her, he was reluctant to give his heart to just anyone. So he had cuddled her close, kissed the top of her head and whispered the words that would forever define him. "I know."
"Did you just say something?" Leia asked, shaking Han from his remembrance.
"Just..." Han looked down into her beautiful, brown eyes. The fear and sadness replaced by the experience of pain and suffering of a different kind. "Just that I love you."
Leia chuckled and replaced her head against his breast.
"Tell me something I don't know." She answered, squeezing her arm around his torso.
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Jorj's last two weeks at school passed quicker than either Han or Leia could have imagined. His final day brought them news of a serious offer on their apartment and suddenly their plans for the future required a more urgent approach.
Waiting at the school gate Leia slid her fingers between Han's, squeezed and not for the first time asked. "Are we doing the right thing? For Jorj I mean."
"Bit late to go getting cold feet on me now Princess." Han suggested.
"I know. And I'm not, not really. I just worry we're being selfish." She said.
"He's gonna love it Ley. Look, here he comes now." Han beamed at his now seven year old son, racing toward him.
Last day tended to be treated with considerable levity. The children were encouraged to take part in games, to have fun and some, as Jorj had done, to take advantage of artistic face painters.
"Well would you just look at you!" Han exclaimed, hoisting the boy high into the air and catching him.
Miss Fizz followed at a discreet distance, smiling as she drew close. "Jorj gave our face painters quite a challenge. He wanted them to paint his face like a Wookiee so he could be just like your co-pilot for your great adventure." She explained.
Leia's eyes shot to Han and was relieved to see only a brief flicker of sadness there.
"Looks like you're out of a job Mama!" Han winked at Leia and studied Jorj's face. "Not bad buddy, of course Chewie had a little lighter brown around the eyes..."
"You like it Papa?" The boy asked, eager for his father's approval.
"I love it." Han confirmed.
"Can I go say bye now?" Jorj queried.
"Sure thing champ." Han planted Jorj back down and patted his rear end lightly.
"The paints wash off with a little warm water but we're giving all the parents these." Riva Fizz handed them a pack of steri-wipes. "They contain bacta to counteract infection should there be any."
"We got an offer on the apartment today and we've accepted it." Han told her.
"So, you'll be wanting my answer." Riva noted and glanced at Jorj. "I must say, he's been a pleasure to teach and I shall be sorry to see him leave...Oh, what the Hell! I'll hand in my notice and be available before the new semester starts."
Leia and Han grinned at each other.
"Welcome aboard!" Han said, shaking Riva's hand vigorously.
"Can we go now?" Jorj asked, looking up at his beaming parents.
"Jorj, guess what kiddo?" Han asked, crouching to his son's level.
"What?" The boy queried.
"You remember I said we were gonna try to get you a home teach?" Han questioned, Jorj nodding in agreement. "Well, we gotcha one."
"You did?" Jorj's eyes bugged, then narrowed. "Will I like 'em?"
"I think, you're gonna love 'em!" Han said and pointed to Riva, lowering his voice. "It's gonna be Miss Fizz."
"Oh boy!" Jorj seemed to almost burst with joy. "That's the best kriffing thing, ever!"
Han rose, cheeks flushed and mumbled as he scratched at his cheek. "Darnedest thing. Wherever'd he hear that word from?"
"I wonder." Leia said, aside.
"Papa says it all the time." Jorj answered, innocently and slipped his hand into his mother's. "Can we go now, please!"
"We'll be in the 'speeder." Leia said, leaving Han to finalise arrangements with Riva Fizz.
When he joined them, Han turned to observe Jorj over his shoulder. "You got your school report there kiddo?" He asked.
"I've got it." Leia waved the chip in confirmation.
"Should I be proud?" Han queried.
"Always." Leia responded. "But if you're talking about this report specifically, he's worked hard this year and achieved above average scores in all his competencies."
"Proud Papa?" Jorj asked.
"You bet!" Han smiled and winked at his boy. "What say we eat out tonight?"
"Nerf?" Jorj asked excitedly.
"That's my boy!" Han grinned at Leia who'd arched her eyebrow at him suspiciously. "You good with that honey? To celebrate the end of term and the start of a new life?"
"Please Mama?" Jorj piped up from his secure seat behind her.
Leia narrowed her eyes at Han. "If I find out you've been coaching him..." She warned.
Han turned his hands to his chest in an innocent gesture.
"Hmm." Leia dismissed him but agreed with Jorj's choice for dinner, much to the boy's delight.
Jorj had insisted on keeping his face paints on for dinner, reluctantly agreeing that they could be washed off before bedtime once holos had been recorded of him with his mother and father and of him ravaging a piece of nerf like a wild animal.
Han wanted to point out that he had never once seen Chewie eat like a wild animal. His appetite might have been double any humans but he was no savage.
Perhaps one day he might engage his wife's services to record the life and times of his association with the Wookiee, Chewbacca. If he could get her to stop laughing at their exploits long enough!
With Jorj bathed, stories told and the boy safely tucked in his small bed for the night, Han at last joined his wife to cuddle together on their sofa.
"I didn't even like this apartment when we moved here." Leia confessed.
"I've felt that way about this whole planet for the past thirty years." Han said, swigging back beer from a bottle.
"Then why'd you stay?" She asked, taking his beer and swallowing a mouthful.
"I liked the view." He replied, winking at her and retrieving his beer.
"I mean it. Why'd it take you until now to decide you'd had enough?" She pressed.
"I dunno Ley." He shrugged. "I guess there was just more to keep me here than there was to take me away. You, for starters. Then the kids. The business. Maybe even just plain old complacency. After years of crashing in the Falcon, it got kinda nice havin' a warm, comfy bed to rest my weary bones on at the end of the day, you know?"
"Yeah. I know." Leia agreed.
"Speaking of bones..." Han gulped back another large mouthful of beer. "Fancy having yours jumped by an aging scoundrel?"
"Ah...and they say the age of romance is dead!" She smiled.
"That a yes?" He grinned.
"I could be persuaded." She grinned back, took his bottle and drained it. "Better get rid of this first though, don't want curious Jorj finding it."
Han retrieved the bottle and deposited it in the recycling chute before heading to their bedroom. Leia had turned back the sheets and was stripping down to her skimpies as Han leaned against the jam admiring her curves. Granted some were more accentuated than they had been thirty years ago but he defied any woman to deliver four beautiful children...five, if he counted Hannay...and keep her figure.
Somewhere deep in his throat, he growled.
"Perving on me flyboy?" She teased over her shoulder.
"Just taking stock of one of those views that kept me around for so long." He drawled.
"You must have seen a few sights in your time at least as interesting." She said, crossing the room to deposit her dirty laundry in the recycler.
"Well sure. Plenty. But they all had one disadvantage." He answered. "They weren't you, honey."
He still towered over her. Probably always would, she realised.
Humans shrink with age, that was a medical fact. But she would always look up to him, physically and metaphorically.
"You had your monthly?" He asked, noting the surprise on Leia's face. "I've noticed your breasts are firmer after your cycle."
"Took you thirty years to notice that?" She arched her eyebrows at him.
"Also that your barbs are that bit more caustic just before." He grinned, that grin. "Noticed that one right away. Didn't think it appropriate to mention it to you at the time though."
"I'm surprised you didn't throw it into one of our spats!" She commented, curling an arm around his neck, the other tugging at this belt buckle.
"Considered it." He admitted, helping her untangle his pants fastenings. "Figured it'd just result in that conversation. The one Uncle Owen really outta have had with Luke!"
"You were so mean to him back then." She said as Han stepped out of his discarded pants. "Still are in fact!"
"The kid was almost as easy to rile as you were." He paused, holding her at arms length. "A whole lot less pretty in the shower though. Hairiest butt I ever saw!"
"Han Solo! You are such a liar!" Leia laughed and slapped him playfully.
"I'm telling ya sweetheart if you'd stood Chewie and Luke side by side an' got 'em to bend over, you'd never have been able to tell the difference." He said, pulling his shirt over his head and letting it drop to the floor.
Leia laughed harder.
"When did you ever share a shower with Luke and Chewie?" she queried, sceptically.
"Those boys in Rogue really know how to throw a party. While you were off on one of your meet 'n' greets with Rieekan, Rogue, Luke an' me got to partying one night and well, one thing led to another and well...you know how it is."
"Enlighten me." She said, one hand planting against a hip.
"It wasn't my idea Ley. Just remember that." Han apologised.
"What wasn't?" She demanded, crossing her arms over her chest.
"The Rogue's felt it was high time they shared their initiation ceremony with Luke." He explained.
"Initiation ceremony! Why wasn't I aware of this?" She wanted to know.
"Well, it was kind of a 'guy' thing. Plus, we figured you wouldn't approve." He replied.
"Of course I wouldn't approve! Initiations are humiliating, demeaning and utterly deplorable." She barked.
"I couldn't agree more." Han said, innocently. "Like I said, not my idea."
"What did you make him do?" Leia asked sharply.
"It wasn't me!" He argued.
"I won't ask again!" She ground out between clenched teeth, her eyes flashing anger.
"He had to stand with his hands on the cubicle wall and guess who was behind him." Han said, her narrowed eyes told him she was waiting for more. "He would be naked. You know...standing there." He continued, her demeanour indicating she still expected more. "And...so would the Rogue behind him."
Leia first inhaled, then exhaled, deeply.
"Okay, look." Han swivelled her around to stand with her back to him and helped her out of her shorts. Planting her arms on the end of the bed, he then slid his member between her lightly parted buttock cheeks and pressed his hips against her, saying. "Guess who?"
Leia stood bolt upright. Han yelped and removed himself from between her cheeks, clutching his now aching member.
"Kriff Leia! Give a guy some warning can't you?" He groaned.
"I can't believe you did that to Luke!" She growled, spinning to glare up at him. "To Luke of all people!"
"It wasn't me Ley!" He repeated, defensively.
"You were in on it." She accused.
"We were all pretty drunk. Luke never complained. And it was thirty years ago!" He shrugged.
"That is no defence!" She snapped.
"Fine! I'll call him and apologise. Oh no, that's right." He snapped his fingers. "He's not taking our calls is he?"
"He's grieving!" She countered.
"That was a year ago." Han shot back. "Aww, come on Ley. How'd we get from sexy time to slanging match in less than a parsec, huh?"
Leia's jaw dropped open, then little by little turned into a grin. "Sexy Time to Slanging Match in Less Than a Parsec. I think I just found the title and inspiration for my next novel."
Han narrowed his eyes and rubbed at the scar on his chin. "You knew. Luke told you."
"Yes. Luke told me." Leia retorted. "He also said you weren't there. Not until the 'initiation' almost turned nasty."
"I was losing my shirt in a game of sabaac when I heard a commotion. One of the guys had gotten a little..heavy handed..was all. Luke was okay. Even laughed about it afterwards." Han said, levelling his gaze at Leia. "If you knew already, why'd you bring it up?"
"Because I want you to remember what it felt like." She explained. "You're going to be training racers as young if not younger than Luke was then. There'll be some high-jinx I know, but it's going to be up to you to keep it...to keep them...in line."
"Okay. I'm reminded." Han acknowledged.
"You have any idea how hard it was for me to reprimand the Rogues?" She queried.
"You have any idea how hard it was for me not to flush a couple of their lousy, no-good faces down the 'fresher sluice?" He countered. "It was a bit of fun that got outta hand. Nobody got hurt, But I get it, I'm not gonna be one of the boys. I'm gonna be the one making, not breaking, the rules."
"You do get it." She smiled, reaching up to link her hands behind his head. "Good. Because I can feel a sequel coming on. Slanging Match to Sexy Time, in No Time at All."
"Chapter One: One of us is wearing far too many clothes as it is." His fingers grazed her ribcage as they eased her camisole up, over her head to be tossed beside his shirt across the floor. "Chapter Two: Lie Back and Think of Alderaan. Better still, don't think at all. Just lie back and let the pleasures cascade over you."
Leia giggled as he guided her back onto the bed, taking their combined weights on one arm as he lowered her to the soft mattress.
"Cascade. That's very poetic for you." She teased.
"I'm finding my inner author." He shushed her with a finger to her lips. "Now close your eyes and let me narrate you through your book. Chapter Three: Locking Lips and Chapter Four: Neck to Nipples."
"I like that chapter." Leia sighed, closed her eyes and sank into their lovemaking.
Han was, as ever, attentive to his wife's needs and desires. He paid particular attention to the zones of her body he had learned over the years she gained most pleasure from and when their level of stimulation held them teetered on the edge of insanity, Han lead them over the precipice and into rapture.
Lying with his head on Leia's belly, he couldn't help but continue. "Chapter I lost count: The Ultimate Truth. You wanna know how to please a guy in bed? Simple. You turn up. That's it. We're guys, we really don't need any more encouragement than that."
"So, the hair, the make-up, the clothes, the dinner, that's all what? Window dressing?" She asked.
"Kinda." He replied, feeling lethargy start to permeate his body. "Guys, most of 'em at least, are really only interested in one thing. That's getting their end off. Oh, they'll do the dance if that's what it takes to attract a girl's attention. But other than that, all he wants is to feel like I feel right now."
"And how's that?" She queried, the stubble on his chin tickling her forehead.
"Like nothing else in the Galaxy matters. Governments could fall, whole planets crumble, all I can feel is my whole body tingling with ecstasy and the overpowering urge to sleep."
Her soft hands eased his head to a position where she could see his features clearly.
"I love you." She mouthed.
"I know." He mouthed back.