It was not difficult to follow the Princess through the forest of Endor. The trees, though wide enough to hide anybody smaller than an adult Hutt, were fairly spaced and Leia's body temperature made her appear as a bright silhouette in Han Solo's visor.
There was nobody else in sight, fortunately, and the air was quiet and thick, foretelling rain maybe.
Just when he was starting to think that wherever Leia was going was not that close after all, he noticed a bright spot ahead. He ripped the goggles from his eyes and studied his surroundings. There was a patch of land free of trees some thirty meters in front of him and the quivering light of flames could be seen coming from it.
Han moved forward a bit more and then hid behind a trunk. He did not really want to intrude in Luke's and Leia's business, he just really wanted to know that she was all right. This whole family thing had her upset enough to maybe not notice a stray stormtrooper.
Peaking carefully around the tree, he spotted two familiar figures by the fire and he breathed, relieved. Luke was really there.
There was suddenly a brusque movement and the Alderaanian's voice echoed in the forest. "No, Luke!"
"Leia..." The Jedi's voice pleaded.
"Leave me alone!" She shouted again.
Han treaded into the clearance just in time to watch Leia yank her arm from her brother's grasp and flee around the fire.
One more step and he stopped dead in his tracks, stunned at the sight of the dark form that the flames at the same time hid and revealed. His heart stumped painfully, barely believing what his eyes were telling him, when he turned to his friend. "What does this mean, Luke?"
The younger man turned his back to him and answered nothing.
"Luke!" Han Solo grasped his arm and forced the Jedi to look at him in the eye. "You crazy?" He bellowed. "Dontcha know what that... monster... did to your sister?" He finished intently.
Luke's lips trembled, but again he said nothing.
"He tortured her, Luke!" Han continued, spitting his words in his face. "Badly! He... he even raped her mind! She still has nightmares about it!"
The eyes of his younger friend rounded, and understanding downed on his face. Freeing himself from the Corellian's hold, he turned his gaze again to the fire. "Yes..." He sighed. "That was his way with family..." He rubbed his right wrist against the leg of his pants.
"Family?" Han asked befuddled. "What you talking about, Kid?"
The familiar blue eyes turned for a second to him and then flickered in the red light.
"He..." The words came out slow and inexorably, "was my father..."
"Your father?" Han's expression and intonation, that mixture of horror and compassion was so identical to Leia's last night, that Luke Skywalker almost laughed.
Now he looked at his friend more squarely. "Yes, Han. My father. Our father."
Han Solo's eyes went from the man in black in front of him to the point in the forest where the Princess had disappeared and back again.
"Go, Han," Luke encouraged. "She's not far, just behind the first row of trees. She needs you."
Solo opened his mouth as to say something, but changed his mind. Nodding silently, he turned on his heels and sprinted towards the edge of the woods.
Luke Skywalker turned again his attention to the pyre. It was done. Now the future was really in motion.
Luke was right, Han's swirling mind noticed. There she was, slumped between the roots of a tree. She was hugging her knees close to her chest and had placed her forehead on them, effectively isolating herself from her surroundings.
He longed to touch her, comfort her, hug her tight until she could forget all about it, but he instinctively knew that he would be rejected if he tried that right now. Not knowing what else really do, he dropped to the ground next to his love and prepared himself for a long night.
The flames danced around the seemingly invincible dark form for a long time, hours maybe, he could not tell. Neither Luke nor the Princess had moved a muscle. Suddenly, there was a loud crack and the pyre collapsed on itself, sparkling wildly, beautifully. Both twins gave a strangled cry.
Han saw Luke fell on his knees and call out loud to some invisible entity. "Mother!"
His look turned to Leia, who had lifted her face, streaked by glistening tears falling from dazed eyes.
Hesitantly, he reached to her and touched her hand. She laced her fingers with him and squeezed them hard, but never took her eyes from the fire.
"Look..." She whispered.
He followed her gaze and saw... It was only many years later that he really understood what he saw.
There were people inside the flames... some Jedi, and a woman... He blinked in surprise, and when he opened his eyes again, there was only Luke, the Princess and he by the pyre.
The flames died slowly and the forest grew darker. Cool wind shook the top of the trees far above and the embers sizzled with the first raindrops.
The only other sound was Leia's soft sobs. She had hidden her face again, trapping his hand between her forehead and her knee.
At last, Luke fumbled for something on the ground and dumped it in his pocket before rising. Then he walked unhurriedly to his sister and his friend.
He crouched in front of them. "Leia," he called softly.
She did not acknowledge him. "Leia," he insisted a little louder. Han opened his mouth but the Jedi silenced him with a gesture. He placed his hand on his sister's knee, and she flinched at the touch.
"You're not alone in this," Luke said soothingly. "You don't need to go alone through this... Right, Han?" He added, given Leia's lack of response.
Solo sighed. "He's right, sweetheart," he agreed. He slipped his hand from her hold and started stroking her back lightly and then more confidently.
The two men locked their eyes over the silent Princess. "I'll go now, Leia..." Luke announced, climbing back to his feet. "Who do I have to report to?" He asked to Han.
The Alliance General realized that his young friend was asking about his status regarding his apparent desertion. With a smirk, he appeased his worries. "Nobody's asked for you yet... Except for that girl Nails and the Rogues..."
Luke Skywalker smiled faintly. "Thanks, Han." He turned to leave.
"Luke..." Leia's raspy voice almost startled him. "Thank you..." She simply said.
Her brother's face lightened and his blue eyes softened. With a new spring in his step, he disappeared towards the Ewok village.
The rain fell harder, spending the remaining coals completely, leaving Han Solo and Leia Organa in the dark.
Han pulled her into his arms and she complied without words, placing her temple on his chest as she usually did. The air was damp and smelled of sweet leaves mixed with ashes and burned duraplast. The sound of the rain on the leaves and ground reverberated under the canopy of trees almost drowning a human voice carried through the exotic acoustics of the forest.
The voice sang softly, the words barely understandable.
Now the wind has lost my sail...
Now the scent has left my trail...
Who will find me,
Take care and side with me?
Guide me back, safely to my home,
Where I belong... Once more...
Where is my star in heaven's bough?
Where is my strength, I need it now...
Who can save me,
Lead me to my destiny...
Guide me back, safely to my home,
Where I belong... Once more...
The wind changed direction and there was only the rain again.
"So, what you wanna do now, Princess?" Han's deep voice rumbled in her ear.
"I don't know..." She answered heavily.
He had never seen her more defeated. His pushy, fiery Leia did not know what to do? "That's terrible..." He drawled lightly.
Leia smiled softly against his shirt and tried to follow his lead, without much success. "I really don't know..." She shook her head, looking for the right words. "I don't even know which last name I'll use tomorrow... Organa or..."
"Skywalker," Han finished for her. He was tempted to make joke. You know, since the first time I saw you and the kid together, I knew you would end calling yourself Skywalker. For once, he was absolutely sure it was not the right thing to say.
"You could use mine," he blurted instead.
The Princess pushed herself up and away from him in a fraction of a second. "Is that a joke?""No joke." And that was the pure truth, he realized to his own surprise. "You would have to marry me, though; we don't want people thinking you are my sister after all..." He babbled, scared by her silence. He wished he could see her face.
"You don't know what you're talking about, Han..."
"I do, sweetheart."
He was up now too and stepped forward to her. He did not know what else to say. He had been navigating on instincts and a vague hunch for the past few hours, so surreal the situation was. Luke and Leia were twins and Vader's offsprings? Nonsense, he would have thought just a day before. But it was the truth. What he had witnessed tonight left no doubt about it. It was true. In a flash of enhanced perception, Han Solo understood that whatever they have gotten themselves into, and whatever they would get into in the future, from this night until the end of the galaxy, they would get out of it together.
"I love you," he added at last. And that was the truth too.
The Princess turned away from him and walked into the rain.
Solo hesitated, still under the protection of the trees. There was a faint light now, or maybe his eyes had adapted completely to the darkness. He could see her, the rain splashing on her body casting a silvery halo around her.
With an impetuous gesture she loosened the cord that fastened the neckline of her dress and let the water pour down her cleavage. She raised her head, eyes closed tight, to let the drops fall on her face and opened her mouth slightly. Arms poised at her sides, her wet, unbound hair cascaded beyond her hips.
He had never seen anything more beautiful.
At last Han moved in front of her, blocking partially the falling droplets. Her tongue wiped across her lower lip and she finally opened her big dark eyes.
"The rain tastes different in every planet," she said.
Han Solo raised a brow. He had never stopped to taste the rain, anywhere. The rain for him meant being wet and cold, often with no chance of changing into warmer clothes. He had never liked the rain, until this day. This night.
"Do you love me?" He asked softly, his hands traveling up her arms, caressing them softly.
The big brown eyes framed in shimmering lashes answered without doubt or hesitation. "I do."
"Then marry me," he asked again.
She shook her head. "I can't..."
He took a long breath but before he could say anything, there were tiny fingers over his lips.
"I can't decide that right now, Han," the Princess continued, moving closer to him. Her fingers sled from his lips to the wet material of his shirt and then around his torso. "It wouldn't be fair..." Her other hand rounded his hips and she pressed herself to him, hiding her face. "For you, for me... There're so many things I still have to come to terms with, so many things we have to consider..."
He swallowed dry. "Like what?"
Leia Organa sighed. "I'm Force-sensitive, Han... Just like Luke." Her voice tensed. "Like..."
Her lover tipped her chin up, wanting her to look at him straight again. "And?" He asked matter-of-factly. "Are you going to use your hokey tricks to make me clean the Falcon or something?" A lopsided grin spread through his face.
"No!" Her eyes widened in distress. "It's just... I don't know what I'm going to do about that!"
Was it the rain or was she crying again? "Alright, alright..." Han Solo kissed her brow and hugged her tightly. Then he insisted, relentlessly. "How much time?"
"Uh?" Her eyebrows knitted in confusion.
"How much time do you need... A month? A year?" His lips sled up her jaw, making her shiver.
"Maybe a year, I don't know..." She gasped as he reached the sensitive spot below her ear.
"I'll take your word for it. A year." The tip of his nose touched gently hers, little rivulets sliding from his skin to hers.
"Okay," she breathed.
His kiss took her by surprise, even if it should have not. The sudden heat that suffused through her core made her quickly forget the rain, the war, Luke, Vader... There was only one place she wanted to be right now. With one person. The rest, she would deal with tomorrow.
"So, what you wanna do now, Princess?" Han asked at last, their arms still tight around each other. The rain came down softer now, the worst of the storm passed by.
"Do you think you can find the Falcon from here?"
He shrugged. "Sure..."
"I want to go home..." she whispered.
Han Solo gave a sharp laugh and, with deftness, he swept her off her feet. Princess Leia squeaked, startled, and then surrendered to his strength.
"Home it is, Princess..." He pledged.
The song is of course not mine. It's Freddie Mercury's Guide Me Home, from the album Barcelona. It provided a lot of inspiration for this story. Thanks, Fred!