AN: And Here is your regular Friday update.
For the first time in a couple weeks, Leia didn't have the urge to throw up when she awoke. She got ready quickly and even smiled at General Cracken when she arrived at the meeting ten minutes early. She laid out her datapad and notes, then caught Rieekan watching her, fully entertained by the sassy mood he could tell she was feeling. Leia tossed him a smile, all too anxious for this day. Oh, Mothma was in for it this morning.
Madine arrived last along with Mothma. The two were talking in hushed tones when they saw Leia patiently waiting in her seat. Mothma paused, but managed a quick recovery as she approached her spot at the head of the table. "Princess Leia, I take it you're feeling better."
Leia nodded, opening up her notes. "Yes, I am. I'm feeling much better rested. Thank you for noticing, Mon."
"Well, then." Mothma took her seat and declared, "This meeting of the High Command is now in session. Would anyone like to start with their own comments?"
Noisily, Leia cleared her throat and said, "I would like to once again discuss the rescue mission of Captain Han Solo."
Cracken rolled his eyes, smacking a hand on the table. "For heaven's sake, Princess. I'm sure everyone here would greatly appreciate it if you took this meeting seriously."
"Oh! Let me assure you, General, I am taking this meeting quite seriously. Now, Captain Solo. From our best configurations, we can assume that Boba Fett is, or has, taken Han to any outpost belonging to the slime lord Jabba-"
"Princess!" Madine stopped her, his eyes wide and furious. "We have discussed this already! You brought the matter to us and we gave you a clear answer. We aren't sending a whole task force to search for Captain Solo."
"He is a loyal member of this rebellion-!"
"This is a personal request, Princess-!"
Leia's newly acquired mood swings were enjoying the exercise and Madine had managed to aggravate them quicker than Leia had anticipated. Like an electroshock, they spiked and Leia was furious.
"You're kriffing right it's a personal request!" she suddenly shouted, slamming both fists on the table. "Whether you can respect that or not is the question. This is a personal request and I would appreciate it if you even faked some concern. This is a personal request because I do love Han and I won't stop fighting until he is found. I need to find him-"
"Princess Leia," Mothma spoke firmly, her voice filled with annoyance and frustration. "This is highly inappropriate behavior, especially coming from you. Now, please sit down and be quiet."
"No! I need to find Han! And I need High Command's help!"
"He is not worth the resources."
"Careful, Mothma. You're starting to sound like the emperor."
"Captain Solo is a mercenary, a bastard and a lowlife, Corellian scum. It's sad that he has managed to ensnare you in his games and make you so enamored with him! It's sad that you are so broken and shattered that that twisted man looks like some kind of a knight in shining armor to you!"
"I know that Han Solo is no knight or prince or even a glorious general of the Alliance-"
"That's right! He is far below you! Princess, you could have anything you want. You could have any prince in this galaxy."
"But I don't want any prince. I like my scoundrel in shining armor." (A glimpse of Han as he had looked like when they first met came to Leia's mind and she almost laughed aloud at the image of him dressed in that shiny stormtrooper armor.)
"He is a braggart, a nomad without any sense of commitment. He is-"
"Captain Han Solo is the father of my children."
Leia was met with a long, heavy silence as her words settled deep into the crevices of each person's mind. In the same moment, Leia was left to ponder how foreign those words sounded on her tongue and, yet, how it also felt so right in a way Leia could never have predicted. She held a hand over her abdomen while she took in all the stares directed her way. She still found it hard to read Ackbar's Calamarian expressions, but Cracken and Madine's faces both looked disgusted. Mon Mothma's expression was twisted up in just as much disgust, but hidden away in only that way that she could keep the most disgusted look off her face, but somehow still express it and with just as much intensity. Then, there was Rieekan whom Leia could always count on to be in her corner. He gave her a curt nod, pride brimming in his eyes.
Leia regained her courage and announced in a softer voice, "I'm pregnant."
Still, silence.
Quickly growing uncomfortable, Leia flicked her gaze away. Finally, someone spoke up. Of course, it was Mon Mothma. "You're pregnant?"
Leia only nodded.
"Princess, the Rebel Alliance is a rather serious organization. The galaxy is depending on us to take down the Empire. That means that we cannot rest. For, if we rest, the Empire starts to win. Therefore, we need all of our fighters and all of our leaders in prime condition. Do you know what we do to insure that everyone in this rebellion is ready to fight at any given moment? We have them receive very strong contraceptives. So, if you wouldn't mind, please explain how you are now pregnant."
Leia inhaled through her nose before she began. "Han and I were both scheduled to receive our next contraceptive implants in a few days when Echo Base was found by the Imperials and we evacuated. I didn't think anything about the contraceptives, but our current ones must have worn off."
"Yes," Mothma agreed. "They must have." She took a sharp breath, then said quickly, "Leia, tomorrow you will be dismissed from your afternoon meeting with the Bilbringi task force for an appointment at Medical. I'll have Dr. Forgomaas meet with you to have this pregnancy aborted."
"What?!"
"You practically said it yourself, did you not? The pregnancy was an accident. It wasn't supposed to happen."
"That doesn't mean I-" Leia stopped herself, so angry and disgusted with Mothma that she could hardly think straight. "No!"
"No?"
"That is not your decision to make! This is my decision. My children. How dare you try to tell me to kill my own-!"
"Leia, kill is such a strong word-"
Leia stopped Mothma, pointing a shaky finger at her. "Don't. You. Dare. Don't you dare, don't you dare! I will see this pregnancy through and there isn't a kriffing thing you can do about it."
"You know, I really wanted to clap," Rieekan laughed as he walked Leia back to her quarters. "At various points within that whole show. That was amazing, Lelila."
"I'm going to throw up." They were the first words Leia had said since storming out of the High Command meeting. Rieekan looked at her to notice she'd gone very pale. He swept her into his arms and ran for the nearest refresher, but Leia didn't make it, so he continued toward her quarters so she could clean up. When he got there, he set her down in the tub, then tossed aside his own jacket which was covered in Leia's vomit. Beside the toilet was an empty pail and Rieekan quickly handed it to Leia. She cradled the pail in her lap as tears streamed down her face and she leaned against the wall of the sanisteam, sobbing.
"Hush, Lelila. You're going to be alright."
Leia calmed herself, still cradling the pail to herself. Rieekan helped her clean herself off, then asked gently, "Do you feel better now?" She shook her head, then slumped her chin to throw up again.
"Relax, Lelila." Rieekan gently tilted her chin up to flash her a smirk. "I think even your papa would be proud of you for the show you pulled today."
Leia shook her head. "It wasn't for show."
"I know. That's exactly what would have made Bail so proud. Plus, I'm sure he would have enjoyed watching his own daughter call out Mon Mothma."
Leia actually managed the smallest of smiles at that. "I was planning on staying calm."
"That's alright. Calm wouldn't have gotten you anywhere with Mothma. I think you've plainly established that this is your child and you aren't going to let anyone do anything to it," Rieekan assured her as he helped pull off her soiled jacket.
"Them."
"Hm?"
"Them, Carlist." Despite her weakness, the smile she then gave him was undeniably bright. "At the appointment, there were two heartbeats."
Rieekan slowly drew back from her, dropping her jacket beside his. He didn't smile yet, but asked for the confirmation, "Twins?"
Her smile still stuck to her face, she nodded.
Rieekan's jaw dropped and Leia laughed weakly. She could tell he didn't know how to react because he turned to grab their jackets and toss them in the laundry basket, so Leia helped him out and muttered just loud enough for him to hear, "I'm in trouble." It was both a joke and an accurate assessment on Leia's part. Rieekan looked back at her and his eyes begged to agree. "Lelila, I promise I will help in any way I can, but if you weren't in deep bantha fodder before, you sure are now."
Leia's smile vanished and she resumed leaning against the sanisteam wall, her petite form slumped there. "I'm in deep bantha fodder," she echoed his observation. " . . . I'm scared."
Rieekan suddenly whirled around to face Leia once she said that. Leia's eyes widened as he startled her. "Scared?"
Mute, Leia nodded.
"You?
She didn't even smile anymore.
"Don't be, Lelila. I'll help you figure it out. Me and Luke. And Chewie, I suppose."
"Chewie was going to kill Lando," Leia responded quietly.
To that, Rieekan smirked. "Why didn't he?"
Leia pouted her lips and responded, "I told him not to."
"Why?"
Leia just shrugged.
Rieekan pulled the curtain across the rod of the sanisteam and suggested to Leia that she clean herself. Leia dropped her clothes outside of the sansisteam and started a bath. While she waited for the tub to fill and the steam built around her like a thick, hot fog, she told the older man, "Rieekan," Leia said, shaking her head and placing a protective hand over her abdomen. "I can't let anything happen to my babies."
" . . . You know, Lelila, you're going to make an amazing mother."
"I'll try."
"Hey! Don't worry about Mothma or Command. Like I said, you made it abundantly clear to Mothma that she has no influence over your life and choices. We are going to find Han and I'm going to help you with this too. It will be just fine, Leia."
Leia almost laughed at that. Because she wasn't in the mood to spend a long while in the bath, she wasted no time in wetting her hair and cleaning it with suds of shampoo. She sat back, turned on the shower head and kept it on just long enough that all the bubbles in her hair had been washed out, trailing down her back. "Just fine," she muttered, combing her fingers through her hair and pushing it all past her shoulders. "Mothma won't give me an easy time with this," she predicted. "She won't double my workload, but she'll expect as much from me as if I'm not dealing with . . . this."
"And, again, that's what I'm here for. And Luke and Chewie. Hey, maybe we could add some child care tips to his programming and he can babysit for you."
Leia actually chuckled at that. "Something tells me that that's a really bad idea."
"Yeah, it probably is, but it was just an idea. No, we'll get the Rogues to babysit."
"And all of a sudden, having Threepio babysit for me doesn't sound so bad . . . "
Rieekan responded with an amused, but probably agreeing, laugh.
"What about you, Carlist? Will you babysit for me?"
"Absolutely, Lelila! Especially if it means I won't have to go to those High Command meetings anymore."
Leia smiled at that, understanding fully what he meant. Being a politician didn't mean Leia enjoyed the meetings. In fact, she had come up with a few of her own tactics to get through especially long ones . . .
Her thoughts trailing away, Leia wondered aloud, "Hey, do you think maternity leave applies to the rebellion?"
Rieekan didn't respond right away and Leia let him have the time to consider. "I don't know, Lelila. I'm not sure that's ever become an issue."
"In 22 years of having a rebellion, I'm the first to get pregnant? I don't believe that. That's a load of fodder."
"Alright. Let's consider the factors, then. You know what Mothma is good at? Making sure all her officers, commanders, lieutenants, everyone gets their birth control updated."
"Han has always enjoyed disobeying orders," Leia said as a quick side comment while Rieekan continued on.
"I don't suppose there is a lot of time . . . "
Leia peeked her head out from behind the curtain and smiled at him, batting her eyes. "Han and I had a lot of time."
Rieekan comically scowled at her and Leia burst into delirious laughter.
"Okay, fine. You're probably not the first-"
"Definitely not the first."
"But you are the first leader."
"I think I would enjoy taking credit for that."
"And that's going to cause some problems."
"Who cares? Mothma doesn't like me, anyway."
"She used to like you."
"Yeah. She used to place all her pride in me. I was like a favorite child. Second only to her precious Rebel Alliance, of course. But then I even sunk that spot. Like a Calamarian aquatic vessel."
"You sure did, Leia. Want to take credit for that, too?"
"Sure! Why not?"
Rieekan sighed, still slightly amused by her dramatics. "Are you about done?"
Leia ran her hands through her hair one last time, listening closely for the sound of bubbles still living in her wet locks. "Yeah, I'm finished," she told him when she'd finished with her inspection. "You can leave. Luke will be returning from his debriefing with the Rogues soon."
"Of course. Take care of yourself, Lelila."
"I will."