50 years ago, in a suburb of Washington DC, moving man and diesel mechanic Han Solo and lawyer Leia Organa were returning to their respective homes after stressful, tiring days at work. They were both looking forward to a quiet dinner at home, followed by a walk to the park. They had no idea how important that day would be to the rest of their lives.

August, 1965

Han Solo dumped his lunch pail on the counter between the stack of dirty dishes and the row of cereal boxes on his yellow counter. He pulled his 'DC Moving Co.' shirt over his head and tossed it over the kitchen chair, digging through the basket of mostly-clean laundry by the basement stairs for a tee shirt. He grabbed the aspirin off the window sill above the sink and popped a few in his mouth. Damn, that rich lady's piano was heavy, he thought, rubbing his stiff shoulder. Oh well. Only another year or so and he'd be able to apply to drive an 18-wheeler full-time. He cracked open a can of dog food for Chewbacca and warmed up a TV dinner for himself. Once it was ready, he took it into the living room with a beer and turned on the news while he ate. When he finished, Han threw the metal tray in the garbage and glanced around his messy house.

"Life of a couple bachelors, eh, Chewie?" He asked, nudging a stack of newspapers with his foot. "Probably a good thing I can't keep a woman. She'd take one look at this and you and me and she'd be in Maryland before I could say, '''scuze the mess'." Chewbacca looked at him expectantly. "I don't even want a woman." Han wasn't sure if he was reminding the dog or himself. "Let's go for a walk, pal."

00

Leia Organa slammed the book shut in frustration and immediately began flipping through the pages to find her place, chastising herself for letting her anger get the upper hand. She found the page, stuck her pencil in the crook, and looked at the photograph on the desk beside her. Her parents smiled warmly at her, and her heart began to ache. That picture had been taken just a few short months before a white supremacist had taken her father's life for defending a black man in court.

She needed a few minutes to clear her head. Leia tugged her sandals on and set off for the park a few blocks away.

She worked for a member of the US senate, a man who'd been a dear friend of her father's. It was good work, stable, paid alright. But it was so repetitive sometimes, and so stressful, especially around election time.

Children and dogs played in front yards as she walked by, and she fondly recalled her summers at home, back when she didn't have to go to work all year. Her favorite game had been house, which she'd played nearly every day with Winter, the little girl from next door. A few children were playing on the playground when she arrived at the park, and many couples of varying ages were strolling about, hand in hand or arm in arm. Leia felt a sudden pang of loneliness, though she quickly pushed it away.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a giant brown bear was bounding toward her at full speed. Panicking, Leia turned and ran. The bear, however, followed. They do not teach you how to handle bears at Harvard... She reached a tree and hoped to hide behind it, but the bear came around and began sniffing her feet as she tried to make herself as small as possible.

"Please…don't eat me…" she begged the bear. The thing was enormous, its head almost even with her chest. Leia cringed away as it pushed its nose into her hand.

"Chewie! Chewbacca, get back here!" Both beast and lady turned towards the man's voice and the bear let out a bark that shook Leia to her shoes. The owner of the voice came into view and Leia was quite sure she'd never seen a more handsome and rugged-looking man in her entire life. His hair was dark, and he wore it long and shaggy, as was the style of the day. He was wearing a pair of jeans with a geometric-patterned t-shirt tucked in. He whistled and the bear—dog—lumbered sheepishly out to him. Leia stayed pressed into the trunk of the tree, watching as the man patted the dog's head and then scolded it for running away.

"See what you did, ya furry oaf? You scared a pretty lady," the man admonished, giving her a smirk that made her legs feel like one of her aunt's molded Jello salads. She stepped away from the tree, towards him. "Sorry. Chewie's big, but pretty harmless." Leia suddenly found her ire and impatience from the day returning inexplicably as she looked at this smirking idiot and his giant dog.

"You should really keep that thing on a leash, you know. It's city ordinance." The man's expression changed when she referred to his beloved pet as 'that thing'.

"Sure, and get my arm yanked out when he sees a squirrel. What are you, the mayor or somethin'? Usually, he's pretty well behaved and I don't have to worry about him runnin' off. And most people aren't scared of him," he emphasized. Leia's blood began to boil.

"Well, excuse me for running away when a giant bear comes running at me out of nowhere! I was taught that you can meet a lot of problems head on, but things twice as big as you that are gaining considerable speed belong decidedly in the 'Don't Meet Head On' category!" she argued, almost feeling sorry for the man. She could occasionally let her anger get the best of her, and she pitied the poor soul who was on the receiving end of her untampered rage.

"A bear? You thought he was a bear? Have you ever set foot outside the city? Chewie is a Newfoundland hound dog, not a grizzly."

"Excuse me for not being able to identify the exact breed as he came galloping at me, you…you stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking…bear keeper!" She finished angrily. Bear keeper? What the hell, Organa! Bear keeper? What kind of insult is that?

"Who's scruffy-lookin'?" He asked angrily. Leia huffed derisively. "Well, maybe we can discuss my looks some other time, your highness. Right now, I'd like to get poor Chewie, here, home before you call Smokey the Bear on me!"

"Why on earth would I call a made-up character involved in fire prevention to report that you walk your dog without a leash?" she asked, throwing the full force of her law degree arguing skills at him. It was a good point, though, and she saw him panic a bit at it.

"How the hell should I know? Probably because…you've got a…fire goin' under your butt, that's why," he retorted. Leia nearly snorted. "Come on, Chewie," he commanded, and the dog sprang into step beside his master as he stormed away.

Leia remained under the trees for a moment, trying to make sense of the encounter. At first, she was worried that she wouldn't be able to get any work done thinking about the dog and his infuriatingly attractive master. Instead, however, she found that the argument had invigorated her, and she was ready to take another crack at the mess waiting for her back at the apartment.

"How was your walk?" her roommate asked when Leia reentered the pink kitchen 10 minutes later.

"Hmm…boring."

00

Every other word going through Han's mind as he walked home that night was a curse word. He'd never seen a woman as captivatingly beautiful as her before: straight brown hair that she wore cut to the shoulder; a petite frame that was no doubt both strong and delicate; deep eyes that begged him to come closer… and what had he gone and said to her?

His granny would have knocked him upside the head for saying things like that to a woman. Hell, he was ready to knock himself on the head for saying that to…what was her name?

"I didn't even get her name!" He slapped his forehead and looked down at Chewie. "I am such an idiot." They walked on and Han studied Chewbacca's gait. "You know, you do kinda look like a bear," he muttered. The dog gave a groan and looked up at him with an expression that could only mean 'well, at least I'm not scruffy-looking.'

AN: Thanks for reading! Please feel free to leave a review (hint hint nudge nudge the box right down there)! If you have any questions, leave them in a review, send me a message, or ask me on tumblr organanation. Another chapter next Sunday!