Leia awoke slowly to a strange feeling of peace. Her eyes still closed, she let reality slowly permeate her being.
She had dreamed all night, but of what she did not recall. Luke had cut out his presence, that presence she had recognized, but not felt, for the first time last night. It was as if he had never existed. If he was dead or alive, she did not know. And yet, some presence that was definitely not-Han had calmed, reassured her throughout her darkest night.
Somehow, she could see things clearer now. Yes, she was Vader's offspring. But her father would always be Bail Organa. Nothing could change that. He had known, - yes, of course he had known! – it was so clear now. And yet he had taken her, raised her, loved her.
That could not be changed. The idea that someone could be so generous, selfless and brave as to adopt that monster's child filled her with a sense of wonder. All right, Luke knew and still loved her, but he had no option. Or did he?
In the brief seconds between the moment when he had told her who his father was and the moment when he had revealed the rest of that sad truth, her soul had held a battle between revulsion and compassion. Love and hate. Which of them would have won in the end she honestly did not know, but she wondered if she would have been able to still love Luke had she not turned out to be his twin sister, branded by the same dark mark.
She wondered if she would ever be able to love as unselfishly as the Organas had loved her. And that led to another painful, inevitable question. Would Han still love her, if he knew?
Don't worry, he will...
"Mama?" She whispered still half asleep.
Nobody answered, but a gentle breeze caressed her cheek.
Startled, she sat on the cot, pushing the blankets aside. Something restrained slightly the movement of her hands, and as she turned them, she found her palms neatly covered with bacta patches. Someone had cleaned and dressed them without waking her up, and, beyond popular belief, she knew only one soul capable of such delicateness.
Outside the hut, she heard Han's voice instructing the Ewoks for the upcoming battle, and Threepio's translating what he said.
Time to get up and bring down an Empire.
Luke Skywalker entered the Death Star's improvised throne room where his nemesis awaited him, escorted by Darth Vader, his father.
Below them, on the sanctuary moon, Paploo the Ewok had the brightest idea of his life.
A few light-minutes away, the Alliance fleet dropped out of hyperspace.
We have failed, Leia Organa thought with despair, while being escorted out of the bunker by two platoons of stormtroopers.
Inside the massive destruction weapon hanging from the Endorian sky, a young Jedi gave in to anger and hopelessness.
"The Death Star is operational!" General Calrissian shouted into his comm unit.
The little furballs' performance had been brilliant, but he should better hot-wire the bunker's door now or everything would be lost, Han Solo pondered. Half a meter behind him, the love of his life cried in pain. Leia!
"Sister?" Vader asked into the shadows surrounding a terrified Luke Skywalker. "So you have a sister..." He repeated triumphantly. Silent laughing flooded the throne room.
"Come one, Han, old buddy," Lando mumbled steering the Millenium Falcon right to evade yet another shot from the Death Star. "Don't let me down..."
Force lightning hit the helpless young man that had dared defy the Emperor's power. "Father, help me!" He cried.
Leia Organa almost fainted, so sharp was the pain suddenly paralyzing her limbs. "Luke," she whispered, and again she was knocked to the ground, but now by something far more tangible. The shield generator blew spectacularly in the morning.
"I'm going in!" Wedge Antilles radioed up in space.
"Are you alright?" Han Solo asked with concern.
"I'm fine," the Princess of Alderaan grumbled.
She had silently let him dress yet another wound. How many would they still be? How many would she let him blindly care for? How many could she?
The air shifted, and she raised her eyes instinctively to the sky. A flower of light bloomed in a thousand colors, astonishingly beautiful for the myriad of deaths it nursed in her womb. Leia's breath caught in her throat, as if somehow she could hear an echo of a million voices crying for the last time.
"Hey," Han called to her attention. "I'm sure Luke wasn't on that thing when it blew..."
Luke?
I'm... alright. Everything's alright now.
The Princess relaxed slightly and reassured Han. "No, he wasn't. I can feel it..."
Solo sighed. It was all so clear that he felt like crying.
I'll see you soon, Leia. I... I have something to do.
"You love him," he suddenly declared. Sadness deepened his voice and for a moment he hid his eyes from her. "Don't you?"
Not quite understanding what he meant, she nodded slightly. "Yes..."
The former smuggler smiled courageously. "I understand." He took a deep breath. There goes nothing. "When he comes back, I won't get in the way." And I hope he'll make you really happy.
Leia Organa looked up at him, dumbfounded. Slowly she realized what he was talking about and a soft smile spread through her features. "It's not like that at all..." The look on Han's face was so... He looked so... vulnerable, as if his life depended on her next words. "He's my brother," she added gently.
Sneaking a hand on the nape of his neck, she brought his lips slowly to hers. "You never read that file, didn't you?" She accused tenderly.
He shrugged, smiling apologetically, still too surprised by the turn of events to say anything. Instead, he kissed her again, this time savoring her fully, the sweet taste of love. "I read some..." He breathed into the corner of her mouth. "Until the part you found Luke fascinating..."
The Princess of Alderaan laughed loudly, but Han could have sworn that for a brief moment, it sounded like if she were crying.
What are you doing here, you big oafs? Paploo asked indignant. Debris can fall from the sky any moment! Go cover! He yelled into Han's ear, while Threepio translated dutifully.
It was true. The Death Star had left the moon's orbit when the shield fell, in order to fight the Alliance's fleet. But still... Better get under cover for a while.
They spent the afternoon cleaning the woods from the remaining Imperial troops, Leia in charge of the captured stormtroopers, he himself organizing the troops.
At the end of the day, the fleet finally sent fresh troops and transports for the prisoners, the Endor system having been secured. A few hours of celebration were decreed for the non-essential personnel, and so the celebration started.
Lando brought back the Falcon, almost intact.
"You said not a scratch!" Han accused him, in his best angry tone.
"Well, it's not a scratch, buddy..." Lando stammered, and then added, relieved to see his friend's laughing face. "It's just a tiny sensor dish missing!"
Chewbacca roared, lamenting the long hours he had worked installing it.
Next on Han's list was to check on the princess. She told him over the comm that she was dispatching the last captives and then she intended to drop by the Falcon to take a well-deserved shower.
Solo inspected his clothes and decided that he needed one as well.
While the sonic waves cleaned his body, he reflected about the stunning news he had learned today. Luke was Leia's brother? She was his sister? That should be something good, right? But why was Leia so upset last night, then, why had the Kid undertaken a suicide mission?
He did not want to even think about it. The only thing that Leia had disclosed so far was that she did not know about it until yesterday and apparently Luke had found just recently. If they did not know, they were not guilty, whatever was that had happened between them, beyond that kiss in the med-ward.
What she probably needed to know was that he still loved her, that he still wanted her. He could do that.
Leia Organa reached the ramp of the Millenium Falcon and entered the freighter. Calrissian had brought down a few Rogues with him, and she had found them, along with Chewie, trying to instruct the Ewok chefs in the right way of preparing a genuine Corellian barbecue.
She had to tell Han about her parentage, she had decided somewhere during the afternoon, and this moment was as good as any other one. Steeling her soul with resolution, she walked through the curved corridor.
"Han?" She asked.
"Over here!" Came his voice from his quarters.
He had taken a shower already it seemed, but had not quite managed to put his clothes on. At a turn of the winding passage, she found herself staring at the imposing figure of a naked Han Solo.
The Princess raised a brow.
"You greet all your guests like that?" She teased, her cheeks turning a lovely pink, and closed the hatch behind her.
"C'mon, Princess, you're not a guest here anymore..." he said, coming closer.
"No? Since when?" she asked, mirroring his lopsided smile.
"Since I gave you the emergency codes to the Falcon, remember?
"But that was... Oh..." She remembered the episode suddenly. It had been a violent discussion, some two years before, which had ended in her shouting that she could not trust him because he did not trust her, which had ended in Han mostly shoving the codes down her throat, at least in his mind. "That was sneaky..." She said waving a finger in front of his hairy chest.
"You think?"
She closed the distance between them and they fused in a long, soul-bonding embrace. "Missed you," Han mused over her hair.
"I can tell," she laughed. A kiss interrupted whatever else she wanted to say. "I need to talk to you," Leia said breathlessly at last.
"Then talk," he incited, sitting on his knees on the bunk and dragging her with him. He positioned her between his bare thighs and started to massage her shoulders. "You're so tense..."
"I'm so tired," the Princess sighed, hanging her head. Her lover's hands slid down her back and up again.
"You were saying?" He teased.
"Hm," she started hesitantly. "It's about Luke..."
"He's still your brother?"
"Yes..."
"Good." Han's palms brushed her arms, avoiding carefully the blaster burn in her left one.
"It's... about our..."
He made an unintelligible sound of encouragement, while his lips caressed her neck. His fingers tugged gently at her blouse's collar.
"Han, this is important..."
"This is important too," he answered smugly.
"What?"
"That you're the most beautiful woman I ever met and I can't help touching you..." His tongue reached the spot on her right shoulder that he had all ready learned drove her wild.
"Oh, Goddess," she breathed, her nails digging in his leg's flesh. "What do you want from me..?
"I wanna have you on my bunk for a change," he drawled hotly by her ear, thinking that the question was directed at him. His fingers danced on the front of her shirt, teasing her breasts so slightly, making her arch her back and at the same time, press it to his chest.
Her hands rubbed lazily on his thighs, caressing the hairs that coarsened towards his groin. Han stopped breathing when her thumbs brushed close to his manhood.
"I can't ..." She choked when his arms closed around her, almost immobilizing her.
"Then don't..." He backfired, turning her and lowering her body to the mattress, proceeding then to sear her lips with a burning kiss.
Just one more time...
The rest was a confusion of arms and legs, of clothes yanked apart just enough to pursue their end, of curses and sighed endearments.
He plunged into her with unstoppable ardor, and pushed again and again, driven out of control by her passionate – and loud - response to each of his caresses. Until her head hit the panel that acted as headboard to the bunk and he stopped, scared of himself. "I'm sorry..."
"Don't you dare stop..." She hissed, buckling her hips under him and taking him deeper inside.
His eyes darkened with more desire that he had ever felt, and, cushioning her head with a protective hand, he got lost in her.
"I love you, Han," she cried with the last shudders of her body. "Goddess, I love you so much..."
Solo hid his face on her neck and fought back the tears.
His composure recovered after a while, he combed his fingers through her long dark hair, now partially unbound. "It's good to be home," he whispered.
"Yes, it is..." she answered with a tired smile.
Yes, it was.