A/N: Just to kind of explain where my thoughts led me in this chapter, I came up with a small subplot that I promise won't take up precious Han/Leia time.

So, with Sabé, I was kind of thinking that, since she was so close to Leia's mother, she should have some kind of inkling that Leia is her daughter. That being said, some of Sabé's lines can take on a double meaning! On a note more related to Bail and Breha's side of things, so do many of theirs in the first part. Just keep that in mind. Enjoy and leave butt-loads of comments!

And then the exact same kind of horror swallowed Bail and Breha as they watched the different news reports, but for a few more reasons than why Rouge and Celly had. Though the reporters had made it to look like Leia had spilled the drinks and food on Prince Gram, Bail knew it hadn't been her. Well, not entirely. He had been able to tell that Leia had laid not a finger on Gram nor the waitress's trays, but the swift motion with which she'd flicked her wrist . . . it scared Bail and Breha in a way that Rouge and Celly couldn't understand. Breha was quick to grab the controller off its stand and change the channel to one of the ones that were more focused on what Leia and Gram had discussed about her relationship with Raal. That was . . . sort of better, right?

"Leia didn't do that," Bail spoke hurriedly, trying to convince his sisters so, half trying to convince himself. "Leia couldn't have done that. She isn't capable of it." He felt a hand firmly turn him to face a different direction and he looked to see his wife standing before him, appearing just as frightened as he felt. She shook her head and told him, "Bail, you know it's possible. She could've done it."

"I thought we'd raised her better than that! There's no way we could have taught her that! Where could she have possibly learned it from?"

Bail caught Memily snickering, than dashing away in fear of Bail's response just as Rouge quickly strode up to him, her skirts blowing in a breeze created out of her angry fast pace with which she came. "I don't care who taught her to act like that. It is completely unacceptable and bad for our image! Do you not worry about finding her a husband?"

"Rouge," Breha came quick to interrupt. "I'm sure she didn't mean to." She looked to Bail as she said that last part, trying to calm his racking nerves. "I think Bail and I ought to go talk about this by ourselves. Leave her alone for now."

"I can't just prevent these kinds of things from happening," Ferus spoke to the Organas behind closed doors and in hushed tones. "You have to trust me when I say that I am doing everything I can. You have to expect things like this to happen. Considering her-"

"Don't," Bail quickly cut in, raising a hand. "Even say it. I understand that. I understand why these things happen. I understand that she has little control over it, but they happen too frequently for my taste."

Only a little surprised by Bail's side on things, Ferus shook his head and told the viceroy and his wife, "You should consider yourself lucky, Viceroy. This is only the second time. And the first time was years ago! I sent a highly encrypted message to Master Kenobi and he was only surprised that this was just the second time. And, look! Leia has no idea. She is completely unaware that it was her doing. Bail, I get that you're worried, I really do, but Palpatine's convinced he's killed nearly all the Jedi and I doubt he would share so much interest in Leia. He has no idea that she carries something of his interest."

"Do you mean to imply her father's chromosomes or simply the Force itself at all?" Breha asked, an eyebrow raised, sure to go over all the points they could, cover any and all information for the better protection of their Leia. "Of course she ought to be strong in the Force, but if Palpatine knew-"

"If Palpatine knew," Ferus cut the queen off, fear starting to rattle his voice and a dark look suddenly came to his features. "He would do things worse to her than if she were just another Force-sensitive. If the emperor sensed how strong the Force is with her, he would probably kill her like he did to all the other Jedi. If he were to somehow find out that she was also Anakin's daughter . . . he would take her, twist her into a creature of his own machinations. He'd seduce her, point her to the dark side, destroy her so nothing but an empty shell was left . . ."

Audibly, Bail and Breha both took in a quick, sharp breath. Without trying to, or noticing, the two had scooted closer together, seeking warmth and light in the midst of the dark mood. They knew what it all meant, if Palpatine or Vader were to find out Leia's little secret. And Bail had sworn, from the day he'd brought her home, to protect her from that. To protect the galaxy from that.

Ferus finished. "And this galaxy would be left without hope."

"No," Bail spoke up quietly, his gaze stuck on the floor. "There is another."

When the mini meeting had adjourned and Bail gone to meet with several other senators and political leaders, Breha pulled Olin aside before seeing to her daughter. "One last thing, Olin. If you don't mind."

The older Jedi Knight turned away from the door to look back to Breha and asked her, "Yes, my queen?

"The marriage market," Breha said, her voice soft and quiet. "All the houses are bringing their young nobles to Coruscant for the final market presentation."

"Leia has little skill with the Force. Everything she could possibly do is purely accidental. Yes, she has a significant Force aura, but . . . I'll go with and watch over her. I think she's still fine. Don't worry more than you have to, Breha. That's my job. I'll keep an eye on her."

"I didn't spill anything on him!" Leia shouted at her aunts for the umpteenth time, jumping from the couch and quickly losing her precious patience. "I swear, Aunt Rouge! I wasn't even touching the trays!"

"Alright," Celly Organa approached her niece, her anger and frustration evident as she pointed at the holo screen behind her, the news stations still playing the clips of Leia from about twenty or so different angles. "Let's say that you're telling the truth."

"Which I am."

"Even if you didn't tip the waitress's trays, you were still behaving horribly, inappropriately, inexcusably."

"Oh!" A fake grin came to Leia's face as the words began to slip off her tongue. "Please do enlighten me."

"That comment about Raal? Would you like to discuss that?"

"That will be enough, Celly, Rouge," Viceroy Organa spoke up as he laid a hand on his daughter's shoulder and guided her away from his own sisters. "Though, I do wish to discuss what things you shouldn't say at such an occasion, Leia."

Calming herself, Leia nodded. She released a heavy breath, glaring at her aunts and let her father escort her out of the room. "Yes, father." The two walked away briskly, leaving the sisters to glare at their backs.

"Are you sure you didn't do it?" he asked with that stupid smirk of his. Rolling her eyes, Leia tried to ignore the need she felt to slap it off his face. She couldn't decide if he was trying to annoy her or if he always looked like that. Either way, it was succeeding the former.

"Please tell me why you're here again? I know I asked you before, but I think I missed the answer."

Han looked up from the piece of bread he was holding in his lap to Leia who sat still as night, awaiting his answer. "I have nowhere else to go, I guess. Me and Chewie are pretty much done with repairs on our ship now, so-"

"Chewie?" Leia turned her head at an angle when she asked. "Who is that?"

"Oh. Chewie's a wookiee."

"Why did you even come here in the first place, let alone with a wookiee?"

Han gave her an even bigger grin and Leia grimaced. "Thought we'd go sight-seeing, Princess."

"Hardly. Try again. Why are you here, flyboy?"

Leia could have sworn she had caught a flash of pain shoot across his eyes, though she had to be deluding herself. Han faced away from her for a moment, gathering his thoughts to prepare her a proper answer. He took another bite of his bread, swallowed it on a dry throat and sighed. "Do you like stories?" he asked, wiping at his mouth.

"I suppose so. Why do you ask? Will this be a long one?"

"Eh," Han put out a hand and shook it. "Kinda'."

"Well? Alright, then. Get going on it."

"Well, you see, I've been in the smuggling game a while-"

"Called it!" Leia yelled, practically jumping where she sat on her bed.

"Well, well, Princess. Do you mind toning down your ethnocentric personality for a bit?"

In response to Han's half-teasing exclamation, Leia shot him a disapproving look and denied his claim, her eyes narrowed to slits. "I am not ethnocentric! I only meant to say you look the part wholly in all that you do."

Han could only shake his head back at this. "You don't know me, Your Worshipfulness. So, stop acting like you do!"

"I'm sorry, but I believe you were in the middle of telling me a story? You're exactly who I thought you were. That's where we left off."

"Fine. So, I was smuggling for this hutt crime lord quite a bit, right? He trusted me with his loads. So, one time, he has my shipping loads of glitterstim to his palace on Tatooine. Nothing different than what I usually smuggle, in fact I've smuggled plenty of the stuff before. Anyway, I load the stuff on my ship and me and Chewie get headed out to Tatooine when we run into Imperials. Me and Chewie decided to toss the stuff out the hatch and pretend we never had it-"

"You lost the load and now you owe this hutt some money," Leia finished for him, maintaining a steady, disapproving glare. "You know, I could have you in prison right now for admitting to dealing glitterstim. I could call my guards in for suspicion of a drug dealer in the royal palace-"

"But you haven't yet. Maybe it's just because you haven't told me off yet, but I think I'm starting to like you. Sure, you can get a little annoying. I mean, a little mouthy for my taste, but you're not too bad for a princess, Princess."

Confused and, quite honestly, a little frustrated, Leia settled back against her pillows. This was weird, she had to admit. For some Corellian low-life to take some kind of interest in her even if just to bother her, but they'd argued back and forth over the same thing for both of his visits and Leia was getting no closer to an explanation than she was when this had started. They both seemed to be looking for an answer to each other, wondering why they were the way they were. If nothing else, Leia at least enjoyed the break from the nerf-headed wampas that called themselves princes. Leia had had plenty of them, but the end to her misery was nowhere in sight. Even if he was just feigning it, Han at least took the time to listen to her and it bewildered Leia.

"So, you're hiding out here? How do you plan on paying this hutt back?"

"I still have yet to figure that out, but, yeah. Chewie and I thought we'd just lay low on Alderaan until we do figure something out. Got any recommendations?"

"If you expect to get some kind of job here with a bounty on your head, you had better play low key. What are you good at it? What do you like doing?"

"I'm good with mechanics," Han offered. "I'm also a whiz pilot; I can fly just about anything." Leia considered it and was about to respond before continued, fixing her with a sly smile. "Then, of course, I'm a pretty great smuggler if I do say so myself-"

"O-oh no, flyboy! Let me tell you everything that's wrong with that. Firstly, I'm afraid your reputation's been tarnished somewhat. Also, there's nothing to smuggle around on Alderaan. Perhaps, I could swing you by some place tomorrow. I know somebody who could use another mechanic hand."

Han's eyes widened and his smile grew broader. Enjoying himself plenty, he asked her, "Are you asking me to visit again?"

Seeing the error in her words, Leia turned away from him, shaking her head. "Oh, no."

"Alright!" Han started back for the window, crawling put with a victorious smile painted on his face. "See you tomorrow, sweetheart."

The next day, Han met Leia again in her room, tapping softly on her bedroom's window, patiently waiting for the princess.

Leia was finishing up in the sanisteam when she heard a soft tapping nearby. Quickly, she wrapped herself in two towels, one covering her body, the other her hair. Humming a tune, she came out of the bathroom to see Han leaning through the window. Startled, Leia screeched, subconsciously held her towel in place over her chest and stepped back towards the refresher. "Han? What are you doing here?!"

"I'm sorry," Han quickly spit out. "I didn't realize you were . . . wow. I didn't realize you were really that short."

"Okay. Um, look. I remember now why you've come back. I think. But now isn't a good time-"

"Clearly."

"So," Leia awkwardly leaned against the refresher door's frame, holding her towel with two hands. "If you could leave, please."

"Oh. Right." Han slipped back out the window, stopping before he shut it. "Maybe we should exchange comm codes so this doesn't happen again."

"No! You know what, Han? I actually don't think we should. In fact, I think that's a really bad idea. So." Leia flicked her eyes to the window and back to Han and he nodded, slowly shutting the window. "Right. See you later, Your Worship."

"Okay," Leia sighed, hurrying to meet Han by her window. "I'm here."

"About time. Now, where's this person you were talking about?"

"His name is Ducchi and he works for many of the royal houses, with our ships, transports, anything we ride. It's a lot of work and he could use a few extra hands. His shop is just on the edge of downtown Aldera. Does that help you?"

"Sounds good," Han said with a nod. "Mind walking me there?"

"Mind telling me why?"

"I like looking at you."

With the heaviest sigh of annoyance she could muster, Leia shut her window, ignoring the lopsided grin he was displaying just for her.

[A job, huh?] Chewie flashed his own smile at Han, approving of the idea. He scooted back under the Falcon's hull and got back to his work, playing with all the different parts of the Falcon's insides. [You're planning on staying a while, aren't you, Cub?] he asked with a great, loud wookiee laugh.

"I don't know. I guess I like it here. The princess is fun to mess with. Chewie, she gets so riled up so quickly; she's kinda' funny."

[And she hasn't called her security on you, yet?]

"Nope. Not yet. She told me about the job." Han shifted his sitting position and thought back to their discussion, to all the chances she'd had to attack him, call guards to take him away . . . but she hadn't. Maybe, Han considered, there was something to both of them that only they could understand. Han could find no better explanation to this odd relationship they shared. She should have kicked him out and he should never have come. But he did. And she didn't.

Another day, another offer. Leia stared at the note for a moment longer, wondering if she was going to have any friends left once this all was finally over. The note had been left for her from Raal. She read it again, wiping tears at a memory of a friend who once was.

Why, Leia? Why? Why hadn't you at least told me before? Why did you have to tell me this way? Leia . . . Leia, my princess, I loved you.

Signed Raal.

"Guard yourself! Guard yourself! You're open, Leia!" Sabé yelled as she reached out to strike another punch. Leia put up her defense and brought he arms up Leia jumped back, bringing her leg to meet Sabé's attack and hit her square in the chest. But, the once-handmaiden had already seen it coming as she fell to a squat, one leg coming out to swipe Leia off her feet. Leia tripped, falling on her butt. Sabé was back up on her feet right away, waiting for Leia to be ready again, but she didn't get back up, just stayed on the floor. "Leia, come on. What are you doing? Get up! Let's go!" With the small time, she tightened the pony her dark hair hung in, her brown eyes worriedly remaining on the princess.

"Sometimes, when you get beat down, don't you just want to stay down? I mean, it would take a lot less effort."

That made Sabé stop. Frowning, she sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around Leia's shoulders. "What's up, sweetie? Is this about all the suitors?"

Leia fell against Sabé as she cried. "I feel so alone, Sabé. No one is listening. Not Raal, not Papa, not even Winter!"

"Well, welcome to your new life! You are now the center of political intrigue. Congratulations. Look, Leiá," she said in her Nabooan accent, giving the younger woman's name a Nabooan kick. "I know it's not fair, but listen to me, Leiá. I care for you. I will support you. You have to stay strong, you have to stay loyal to yourself. Tia, Rouge, Celly, the other houses? They aren't going to stop. But, you don't have to listen. They can't tell you what to do or what you want to do is wrong. They will, but they aren't right. Only you know what's right for yourself. Don't listen to them, Leiá. Trust me. Your mother is watching. And she's telling you to stay strong."

"No. Mama agrees with Papa," Leia objected, gently shaking off Sabé's arm. "They don't understand. What am I going to do when no one cares to listen?"

"Sometimes, I like to think that wonderful princes in shining armor will save me from all my fears . . ." her glance turned back to Leia slowly as her train of thought trailed off. "But I don't think you need that right now."

Leia sighed in slight annoyance before getting up and grabbing her bag. "I had better change and leave. Thank you, Sabé, but Aunt Rouge is going to come looking for me soon. Tomorrow?"

Sabé smiled lightly and nodded, watching Leia walk back to the exit door of the training gym. "Always. Good luck, Princess!"

She showered quickly in her bedroom's 'fresher and put on another dress Tia had gotten her. With a skirt that just barely kissed the floor, the A-line dress was dark brown, sequined flowers up and down the right side and a sweetheart neckline. She pulled a see-through, brown coat over it that had ruffles on the sleeves and collar. Leia then proceeded to put up her hair before she met her family in the foyer. Aunt Tia gasped at the sight of Leia as she came down the staircase. She clapped, beaming at her niece. She came up behind her and hung a diamond chain behind her ear. "Ow!" Leia yelped, reaching up to take it off.

"Relax, my dear. We just received word from Mon Mothma, another prince is coming to bid his own offer!"