Leia stayed in the refresher. She sat on the floor beside the counter, her knees drawn up to her chest. The world was spinning and it was making her dizzy, so she closed her eyes and tucked her head down against her knees.

She was so confused and afraid and this didn't seem real. It was too much at once and she could hardly take it. She missed Han and wished more than anything that he was there to comfort her, ease her worries. But he wasn't. He'd been taken from her and now she was alone, left by herself to figure things out. Han was not there when she needed him most. So she cried.

She couldn't be sure how long she sat there, bawling, but only knew enough time had passed that she began to notice how hungry she was from the ache growing in her stomach, and after a while she started to feel sick. That, and her comm rang several times from where it sat on her nightstand. She didn't want to get up, though. She tried once only to nearly collapse from a rush of dizziness that encouraged nausea and Leia sat back down, curling into a ball. Time was lost to her and, very soon, consciousness too.

"Leia," the voice called to her, softly at first, but growing in volume and urgency. "Lelila. Lelila, wake up! Please, Princess! Come on, don't leave me now! Lelila!"
The voice annoyed her and Leia attempted to swat at it, but her arm quickly fell limp at her side. She groaned, opening her eyes slowly to the bright, fluorescent lights of her refresher. A hand was settled on her arm. She waved it off.

"There we go, Princess," a gentle voice coaxed her awake and at first, Leia held hope that the voice belonged to her missing scoundrel. She secretly loved it when he called her princess. It was so different than when anyone else called her that. Soon, however, Leia realized it was Rieekan there and not Han. Leia forced herself to sit up, ignoring the sick feeling that rushed to her stomach when she did. Rieekan helped ease her up. As he did, Leia became more acquainted with her surroundings. She noticed that her arm was wet and she thought she felt something sticking to her cheek. Sitting up, she wiped a hand at it, but her hand was wet too. She blinked the sleep out of her eyes and let Rieekan ease her back to wakefulness and awareness.

"There we go," he repeated. "How are you feeling?"

Leia gave a small shrug, deciding not to admit how awful she felt. She reached up a hand to wipe at her eyes, but Rieekan vigorously shook his head, pulling her hand away. Aware enough, Leia looked at her hand to see it was covered in puke. The sight was nearly enough to make her empty her stomach again. "Hang on," Rieekan said softly, dropping her hand and rising to go to the sink. "Let's get you cleaned up." Leia touched her cheek, pulling at the strands of hair stuck there. She wiped at the puke that was gluing it there. Rieekan came back and pulled her into his arms, guiding her to the sanisteam. He carefully dropped her in and pulled the curtain across the rod. "What do you think? Can you clean yourself?"

Leia looked at the knobs before her. "Yeah," she said quietly.

"Leia," Rieekan's worried voice sounded from the other side of the curtain. "Are you sure?"

Leia pulled off her clothes and snaked a hand around the curtain to drop them on the floor. Then, she let loose her hair from its braids and turned a knob to start the water. She cleaned herself while Rieekan washed the floor. She felt too weak and tired to really put the work into washing her hair, so Rieekan handed her a towel and he held her over the sink beside the toilet. When he was finished, he handed her a new set of clothes and told her, "You should go to Medical to get checked over."
Leia shook her head. "I'm fine, Rieekan."

"You threw up, then passed out. You're not 'fine'."

Leia only repeated herself. "Rieekan, really, I'm fine. It's just vomit."

"Fine. You're just sick. Here's a suggestion. Go to Medical."

Leia was about to object, but stopped, turned back to the sink, and threw up again.

"That's it; I'm taking you to Medical."

"Rieekan, I don't need to go to Medical."

"Yes, you do. And I'm taking you right now."

"Rieekan!" Leia shouted, spinning around to face him. Her face was white. "I know what's wrong with me. There's nothing a med-droid can do about it."

"Oh, yeah? You expect me to believe that? With Han missing, I know you aren't having an easy time, but you'd better take care of yourself, Lelila."

Holding her stomach, she nodded. "I promise I will, Carlist."

He shook his head. "No, Lelila. That's not good enough for me."

"I didn't think it would be," Leia said. From a drawer underneath the sink, Leia took out one of the tests she'd taken earlier. She held it up for the man to see, saying it aloud, "Carlist, I'm pregnant."

At once, the Alderaanian general's face fell. First, it was just shock written there. His mouth hung open and his eyes were wide. Once it sunk in, though, his features softened to show both sympathy and worry. The first words he managed were, "Oh, Lelila."

Leia's shoulders relaxed and she set the test aside before approaching Rieekan.

"You're . . . Wow. A lot more happened between you and Han than even I thought." Then, Rieekan's gaze slid down to her abdomen. "You're really-?"

Leia confirmed it with a single nod.

Finally, Rieekan's face broke out in a grin. With a short, happy laugh, he stepped forward and took Leia into his arms. And that's when the full realization hit him. "Oh, Lelila," he cried, holding her tight.

"I don't know what to do, Carlist." Leia shook her head against his shoulder. "I don't even know what to think."

Slowly, Rieekan backed away, but he held her shoulders still. "What to do? You aren't considering ending the pregnancy, are you?"

Leia's eyes went wider than satellite dishes and she vigorously shook her head. "No! Rieekan, I could never-!" She shut her eyes tightly for a moment, then shook her head. "No, Rieekan. I- it's . . . Obviously, I didn't plan this, but it happened. . . . It happened. You know I could never do that. Now, I just have to figure out what I am going to do."

"What is there to figure out? You're having a baby!"

"Yes, and I don't know anything about being a mother or-"

"Or what?"

"Exactly! I don't know anything!"

"Leia, stop. Take a breath and relax." He led her out of the refresher and she sank into a living room chair. She held a hand to her head. "Rieekan," she said quietly. "I don't know what I'm going to do. I'm not ready to be a mother. I don't know the first thing about caring for a child."

Rieekan frowned, settling into a seat across from her. "Who does? I can only imagine your fear, but, Lelila, I don't think you'll do so bad. I get that this is scary, but . . . Don't you think it's a miracle?"

"Han is still missing. The father of my child isn't here with me! He's gone! He's-" Leia stopped abruptly, tears dotting a path down her face. Rieekan handed her his own handkerchief and she quickly wiped away her tears, though they were freshly replaced with more salty water droplets. "I'm pregnant," she cried. "And Han has no idea. I have no idea where he even is! I'm by myself-"

"No," Rieekan was fast to cut in. He kneeled before her chair, taking her delicate hands in his. "You are not alone. You won't be alone. I promise you that. I will help you figure this out, okay?" He held her teary gaze. "For your father and mother, I'm still here to take care of you."

Leia laughed bitterly. She sniffled. "How am I supposed to be a mother and take care of a child when you and Luke still have to make sure I'm eating every day?"

Rieekan shrugged shortly. "I don't know. I guess you'll have to figure that out."

Landon Calrissian liked the Rebellion. Highly illegal yet highly sophisticated; just his kind of place. The general facilities were no Cloud City, but Calrissian couldn't complain. His quarters were fine enough. And he got to share them with Chewie who made a point of reminding him on a daily basis that it was his fault Han Solo was missing. Truly, Lando felt awful. Before the Falcon had arrived at Cloud City, Lando hadn't realized that his old friend had himself a lady friend. Whenever he ran into Leia, she would toss him a dirty glare and storm off. Lando didn't let himself forget the princess's deadly glare; he used it as motivation to find Han.

That's what he was here for. Before his very eyes, Lord Vader had been so kind as to go out of his way and provide a display of the Empire's true colors. Lando hadn't understood before what he understood now. Maybe Han hadn't been in it for the revolution, but Lando sure was.

Swinging around his chair, Lando called up a dossier from his datapad to the projected screen before him. He whistled a high note, settling back in his chair. "Chewie, are you seeing this?"

The wookiee growled in confirmation. He added another file to Lando's list on his datapad, then took another glance at the projection.

"At least the effects of hibernation sickness don't look too bad," Lando said brightly. Chewie growled at him and, for a moment, feared that the wookiee was going to choke him again. He sighed. "Alright. So things aren't looking too great. We just need to take things step by step. Fett's always been a favorite bounty hunter of Jabba's and we already figured that he was going to ship Solo to the Hutt. So, all we need to do is figure out where Jabba is stationed at right now." He tossed his datapad aside. "And get clearance to leave."

Chewbacca just scowled at him.

"Alright. Well, how about we both just think about it over lunch, okay?"

As Luke approached the lunch table where Lando had drawn the pilots of Rogue Squadron into a sabacc tournament, he peered around the mess hall. "Hey, you guys haven't seen Leia around, have you?"

Wes Janson shrugged, slapping half his hand onto the table. "Not lately, no. Why? She doing alright?"

"Uh, I don't know. It's just that I haven't seen her since yesterday."

Wedge stopped, at once turning his gaze up to look at Luke. "How? You guys always eat lunch together."

Luke just shrugged. "Well, tell me if you see her."

Wedge nodded. "We'll keep an eye out."

Luke began to walk away, but Chewie quickly caught up to him. He gave a log, low growl and Luke shrugged. "I don't know, Chewie. Maybe today is just a bad day. Have you and Lando found any clues about Han yet?"

Mournfully, the wookiee shook his head and gave a sorrow of a growl.

"Yeah, I know, Chewie. We'll find him. For now, though, want to help me find Leia?"
Chewie's tone perked up just a little bit and Luke smiled softly. "Yeah, Chewie. I'm sure she could use one of your big hugs. . . . She really misses Han."

Human and wookiee alike walked down the corridors of Home One until they came to Leia's quarters. Luke knocked, but Rieekan answered the door instead of Leia. His features seemed to be twisted in worry, but- at the sight of Luke- the general smiled. He stepped back and waved just Luke in. "Hurry in," Rieekan said to the young commander.

"Is Leia here?" Luke was quick to ask, eyeing Rieekan with suspicion and curiosity. "I haven't seen her at any recent meetings. Or meals."

"Uh, yeah. She's- she's alright. I'm glad you came over, though."

Luke raised a brow, not at all convinced as he surveyed Rieekan's nervous aura. "Why hasn't she been showing up to meetings? Or anything?"

"I'm fine, Luke."

Luke whirled around at the sound of his friend's voice. She came from the refresher, her face pale and flushed. Completely atypical of her, Leia was dressed in sweats and . . . one of Han's shirts. Luke bit back a sigh of empathy he felt for her.

Leia folded her arms below her chest, settling to stand against the wall. "I've just been feeling . . . a little under the weather.

Luke nodded once, carefully surveying her. "Sure. I was just worried. I haven't seen you at all lately."

Leia turned her gaze to Rieekan, but didn't say a word. The Alderaanian general raised a brow and Leia simply nodded. Rieekan stepped toward her and embraced her, whispering something in her ear to which she gave a smile, weak smile and nodded again. Then, Rieekan kissed her crown and left the quarters. Leia uttered a short sigh and turned to face Luke. "I'm sorry I've been avoiding you lately."

Luke blinked, surprised at Leia's confession of an apology. "Avoiding? I didn't think you were flat out trying to avoid me. I just . . . " Luke looked at her again, at Han's shirt which hung loosely on her shoulders and hung baggy around her waist. Yet, she seemed so comfortable in it. Luke considered that his presence may be somewhat an awkward thing considering the situation Leia had put him and Han in before the evacuation of Echo base. The last time he'd seen Leia before the base's invasion, she'd kissed him. Then, the next time he saw her, she was distraught over losing Han. Was it Luke that was putting her in an awkward situation by following her, assuming that they'd go to the mess together and whatever else?

Luke didn't know how to finish his statement, didn't know what to assume. Therefore, he was thankful when Leia's eyes went wide and she quickly shook her head. "No! That's not what I meant! I'm not avoiding you. I just . . . Okay, maybe 'avoiding' wasn't the right word."

Luke relaxed and, involuntarily, he gave a little smile.

"I just meant . . . " Leia's gaze had dropped to the floor and she didn't seem to know what to say either. "I've needed some time to think. I still need time to think, but . . . I haven't been feeling very well. Otherwise, I would have . . . I would have gone to lunch with you and been around." Her eyes flitted closed and she added, with a shaky breath, "I'm really not trying to avoid you."

"I know." Luke took a seat on the edge of Leia's bed and motioned her forward. Leia followed him, but didn't sit with him. "What's up, Leia? What's going on?"
When Leia looked at him, Luke was startled to see that her eyes were filling with tears. "I need to talk to you about Han. What happened after Hoth, I mean."

"Are you sure? I know I've been pushing you, but-"

"No. I need to tell you." Leia sat at the head of her bed and Luke turned to face her. And Leia told him in the simplest, plainest words she had. "I'm in love with Han."

Luke laughed softly, nodding as he dropped his head. When he looked back up at her, he smiled broadly. "I know."

This comment seemed to irk Leia as her features twisted back into sorrow and her face somehow paled even more.

"What?"

"It's just," Leia shook her head. "A thing. A thing with me and Han."

"A thing? You and Han already have 'a thing'?"

Leia laughed. "Yeah."

"Having to do with the words 'I know'?"

She nodded. "It was the last thing he said to me."

"What was it that you said that he responded like that?"

Leia laughed even harder now. "I told him I loved him."

To that, Luke laughed aloud as well. "So, that sounds kind of serious."

"I guess, yeah. I don't think I realized how serious we got until . . . recently."

"And what made you realize things were getting so serious."

Leia took a long, shuddering breath and, like ripping off a bacta patch, she told him very quickly, "I'm pregnant." She said it so quickly in fact that Luke wasn't sure whether he'd heard her right or not. He sat there a moment, running her words over in his head.

He took in the sight of his friend where she sat, trembling, tears streaming down her pale face. Too often, Luke forgot how young she really was. It was too easy to forget that Leia was only twenty-three, just like him. He forgot that she wasn't a middle-aged, senior politician in the middle of a midlife crisis. He forgot that she was just as young as him and just as broken. In this rare moment of all her walls and borders being lowered, Luke could see her for that young woman who carried the weight of hundreds of worlds on her shoulders and was stinging from the blow of losing a love she'd just found. And before Luke knew what he was doing, he took her into a hug and just held her there.