Thanks so much for reading! Let me know if there is anything you would like to see happen on this vacation and I'll see if I can work it in!
The next morning Han left early, waking Qi'ra to give her a kiss and a goodbye. She slept in Vinn's room all night to ensure his temperature didn't go up. She bid him goodbye and wished him good luck fishing. Han kissed both his sons without waking them. He would miss them, but this was the nature of having children. One had to learn when to slacken the reigns.
He pulled his one bag out to the speeder and dropped it in the back. "Kriff," he said out loud. He just remembered he had to pick up Leia. And tell her about Qi'ra. And they had the whole speeder ride to spend alone together. He climbed in the front seat and prayed they wouldn't kill each other.
Leia was waiting outside the house, sitting on her case with her hat on her head. She had definitely slacked on the makeup and was dressed for traveling comfort in loose pants and a long white tunic cinched at the waist. "You're late," she grunted, clearly less than thrilled to see him.
He met her grunt with his gruff. "Yea… I know I'm late." He opened the back and tried to pick up her case, but she was too fast. She lifted it into the back with a bit of a struggle. He took account of her one case. "Is this all you have, Princess? Last time you had three or four cases."
She signed. "Those were Isolder's. He likes to bring clothes for all occasions. 'You never know who you're going to have to impress,' he always says. He never forgets he was born a Prince." Her voice dripped with sarcasm. Leia moved to get into the back of the speeder when she noticed the passenger seat was empty. "Where's Qi'ra?"
Han sighed and jumped in the driver's seat. "She's not goin'. Vinn has a slight fever and she feels the need to nurse him back to health."
Leia rested her hands on the side of the speeder. "Oh no. Poor Vinn, and poor Qi'ra to have to miss the trip. Why are you still going then?" Leia stared at him across the top of the speeder. She knew what it felt like to be left behind. "Don't you care enough about your wife to stay with her when she needs your support?"
Han could not believe they were having this conversation. "Yes I care, Leia!" He turned to face her and gripped his palms around the door frame. "I wanted to stay, but Qi'ra insisted I go. But now I am damn well questioning my ultimate decision!"
Leia saw him build up his defenses and surrendered. "Fine. Let's go."
She slid into the front seat beside him.
They spent the ride listening to the radio. She hummed along to the songs she recognized and sang quietly. Han rolled her eyes. Of course she would, always drawing attention to herself, never content to fade into the background. A Princess through and through.
"Stop it," Han muttered, his eyes focused on the road.
She glanced at him through her peripheral vision. "Stop what."
"Stop singing," he stated, simply. "It's annoying me."
She rolled her eyes. "Well, that's the last thing I want to do…"
He hissed, leaning back with one hand on the steering gear. "Sure, your Worship. Because you seem to think annoying me is your number one job…"
"Stop calling me that!" She interrupted, turning and sticking her finger at him.
He retorted quickly, "Okay Princess…"
"Or that!"
"Well you are a Princess… you never let me forget it!"
"Oh, and how do I flaunt my royal stature around you?"
Something she said must have turned him on. "Oh come on! Look at how you were dressed last night. You and Isolder!" He swallowed unconsciously. "You two make quite the picture."
Was he really objectifying her? "Excuse me! But my merit lies in my work in the Senate, not how I choose to dress, Flyboy."
"Leia…" He toned it down. That was not what he meant. "I know you… and that…" he waved his fingers around his own face. "Goop… whatever you call it… that you put on your face, that's not you. And the clothes." He paused. "That's not you."
She followed his lead and turned down her ire. "Maybe not, but sometimes that is who I need to be."
He had to laugh out loud at that delusion she vocalized. "You do not." He turned to her while still keeping one eye in front. "It's who your 'husband…'"
She could practically taste the disdain as he uttered that word.
"It's who he is, and who he wants you to be." Han suddenly couldn't look at her and turned back to the road. "Prince Isolder and Princess Leia, what a match. They're so…" He paused. "Perfect together."
Leia had never seen him like this. If she knew any better she would have thought he was jealous. But she knew better.
Han seemed to snap out of it as he laughed again. "Ha! If only your adoring public could see you at home, you yelling at him half the time, he yelling back…"
"Shut up!" Leia hissed at him with a voice that would frighten off any normal being. "Just shut up, Han. You have no idea what you're talking about."
Han had a pretty good idea what he was talking about, but he recognized her tone and he was one step away from truly regretting how she would react. So he was quiet.
The hangar where the Falcon was came into view just in time to halt their conversation. He parked nearby, they removed their bags, and headed to the spacecraft. She walked in front of him as they made their way up the ramp and into the belly of the ship.
"Go ahead and throw your things anywhere. It's not a long flight." Han threw his bag in a corner and kept moving towards the cockpit.
Leia set her bag beside his and moved to sit on the bench. Her eyes scanned the hunk of junk, still as old and as ratty as ever. Her nose turned up at the odd smell coming from the seat cushions and she noticed there was a hole with crackling foam leaking out.
As Han reentered the sitting area, she couldn't help but comment. "You know you should fix this." As she spoke she took a small piece of the foam out of the hole. "Your kids could easily put it in their mouth, especially Vinn."
Han didn't appreciate the remark, she knew he wouldn't. "I can take care of my kids, Leia." His eyes grew surprisingly dark.
She tried to look offended. "I didn't say you couldn't, but this is an obvious hazard and I was only worried…"
He took a step closer to her. "You were not worried, you just needed to criticize me!" He was not far off.
She stared back at him with equal fervor.
"And as it so happens," Han moved his hands to his hips and straightened up. "I was planning on fixing the chair and putting some other safety features in place, but Qi'ra…"
He stopped. She waited for him to continue.
"Qi'ra… doesn't like the kids to run around on the Falcon." He finished, trying to make that sound casual instead of letting his disappointment through.
But Leia immediately saw through him. "Why not?" She asked, genuinely curious.
He ran a hand along the back of his head before reluctantly answering. "She thinks they'll get hurt. And she doesn't trust me to watch them."
"Oh." Leia turned her head down, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. Thank the gods for her Force senses tingling. "Luke's close," Leia said as she felt his presence nearing.
Han stepped back, nodded. "I'll meet them at the ramp." He moved towards the exit to greet his passengers.
Luke and Mara gave Leia a quick greeting as they shared the news about Qi'ra. Of course they were disappointed, but the decisions had already been made and they were all ready to get off this planet.
Han and Luke started her up as Leia and Mara strapped into the passenger seats. They glided out of the hanger easily and were soon among the starts, off to Corellia.
"We'll be there in about 4 hours," Han announced as he turned to the group once the Falcon was on course. He clapped his hands together. "Anyone wanna play Dejarik?" Luke and Mara both immediately turned toward Leia.
She sat back at all the attention on her. "What?" She questioned.
Luke gave her a knowing side smirk. "Last time you played with him," Luke gestured to Han. "You tried to shoot him."
Of course Leia remembered, but she tried to defend herself. "Hey! He was cheating!"
Han scoffed. "Yea right! You were loosing and I almost lost my good arm because of you!"
She rolled her eyes. "The blaster was on stun and I never took the shot."
"But you threatened," he pointed a finger at her, not truly angry.
She grinned, her lips turning to the side. "Oh Han, I never threaten without following through." She kept the glint in her eye as she continued. "I thought you knew that."
They held each other's gaze. Neither had a retort ready.
Luke's voice eventually broke through. "Well, looks like there will be a rematch." He tilted his head towards the back of the ship. "Go on. Mara and I will chart our course."
Han stood as Leia stood. He watched the funny gazes between Luke and Mara as he left them alone in the cockpit.
He turned back to the pair, recognizing the type of gaze they were sharing. "Hey!" He pointed his finger between the two of them. "No sex on the Falcon. That's my only rule."
Luke's sensual glare turned to a blush as Han exited.
Han, on the other hand, giggled with glee as they made their way back to the main area.
Leia tried and failed to hide her grin as well. "Don't be mean to Luke."
"Ah, I'm just teasing," Han dismissed. "He's too easy."
She slowed down so she was in step with him at her side. "Luke doesn't have a quick enough mind to quip back."
He guffawed. "Oh what, and you do?"
She stepped forcefully in front of him, halting both of them. Her small stature made it so that she was staring at him under hooded eyes. "You know I can." She answered his last question. "Bespin." She saw immediate recognization come over his face and practically overwhelm him. "We were in that very same cockpit and you were telling me about putting the compressors into the…"
"Stop it." His voice was breathy, nothing like she had heard from him in years. It actually scared her. She thought they were joking, playing. But this hit a nerve.
She kept her eyes focused on his stoic face for a moment, then clicked her tongue as she continued back through the Falcon, muttering under her breath, "No sex on the Falcon, my ass."
Han checked the time and sighed, only halfway. He took his next move on the Dejarik board and sat back waiting for her to go. He continued to wait as she sat with her head in her hand, obviously in rapt contemplation of her next move.
He thought he heard Luke's laugh erupt from the cockpit. "I wonder what he found so funny?" He said out loud.
Leia looked up from the game. "What was that?"
"I thought I heard Luke laugh from all the way back here. I was wondering what's so funny?"
She huffed. "And you needed to ask me that?"
"No, I was just talking to myself."
"Damn you." She muttered taking her focus back to the game. "How he manages to…"
Her mumblings were interrupted. "What was that?"
"It's nothing. I wasn't talking to you." She tried to ignore him.
"Then who were you talking too?"
"I was talking to myself!"
They slowly turned to each other and started laughing at the same time. Their giggles left after only a short time, but that lightened the atmosphere completely.
"Han," she began with a heavy exhale. "I don't want to fight with you this entire trip. We are both going on this ride together so let's make the best of it."
"Fine with me," he agreed. "It shouldn't be too hard to be civil for a week."
"That's right." She settled back into her seat. "Then you can go back to insulting my outspoken character and making all kinds of false accusations on how I treat my husband." Her voice had a hint of disdain.
He met her irritated eyes with his own. "Yes, and you can go back to calling me a scoundrel and accuse me of neglecting my children."
Leia turned serious, still keeping his eye contact. "I would never accuse you of neglecting your children. I see how much of yourself you give to those two… when you're allowed," she added.
He stood down, surprised at her deduction. "Thank you."
She continued. "As far as being a scoundrel," she paused. "I would consider that one of your good attributed."
He turned to her, his mouth slightly open in surprise. "Well thank you. That wasn't so hard, was it?"
She rolled her eyes and brought them back to their game.
He watched her turn from him and knew he shouldn't have said that last quip. "Leia," he said, asking her to turn her head back to his. "You know I like that you speak your mind. You like helping people, hearing their stories." He paused before giving a rare compliment. "You are good at it. You make a great Senator."
He swallowed again. "And I'd never accuse you of mistreating Isolder. I am startin' to see how much he takes you for granted."
She appreciated him noticing that. "Thank you."
This was the most polite conversation they had in years. To keep it from turning violent, both decided they should let the discussion end there.