Hooray, got it done at last! Here you go, my patient friends. C:

Chapter Five


"Look at this."

Han looked up absentmindedly from his food. His fiancee held up a datapad displaying a picture of a painting. Golden canines frolicked in an amber field.

"Nice dogs." he commented before going back to his breakfast. Leia huffed in exasperation.

"Not the dogs, the art!" she mumbled, swiping to the next frame. An unreal, cerulean waterfall shone brightly from the screen. "It's so photorealistic." Her voice seemed dreamy and excited.

"So? Art." he got to his feet, placing the dirty dishes in the sink. Leia scowled in irritation, fingers drumming the kitchen table.

"I knew the artist," she said shortly. "Winter found out about them and sent the images over." Han sauntered around the table, swooping down to give a pacifying kiss on the princess's cheek. Her face pinked slightly in obvious pleasure but she hid her feelings.

"Personally?" he questioned, just to appease her. He threw himself down on the sofa, switching the Holovision to a smashball tournament. He groaned at the score. "Damn Maroons."

"Kind of," she said, flipping through the frames. "But, look."

Han sighed in irritation but craned his neck around, about to utter a sour remark when he stopped in surprise. Princess Leia Organa's portrait stared back at him, picture perfect and exact to the last curve and shadow of her face. The person displayed in the painting was much younger than the woman Han ever knew; maybe only fourteen or fifteen, face glowing with youth and happiness, a hint of a familiar smile touched upon her features. He marveled at the lightheartedness of the girl's nature, surely before all of her hardships and weights made her fall into the tired soul she was now.

"You're only a kid in this, huh?" Han said softly in disbelief.

"I was eighteen, I think," Leia responded, eyes smiling.

"You're so beautiful," he told her whole-heartedly, and she blushed for the second time. "But gods, you changed, I met you when you were nineteen, right?"

Her smile faded, and she looked down at her hands. "Yes, well, I've gone through a lot, haven't I?"

Han vaulted over the back of the couch, sweeping her up in his arms and kissing her tenderly. Their lips parted and Leia grinned lightly. He steered her over to the sofa and she rested her head on his lap.

"Why is there a painting of you anyways?" Han asked curiously. Leia powered the screen up which had gone into sleep mode and swiped to display the painted picture of Bail Organa.

"Royal headshots. For some reason Dad wanted to do it traditionally." she said.

"He doesn't look too scary," Han noted amicably. "Don't think he would mind if he found out that a low-down smuggler was engaged to his princess?"

"Ah, I don't know." Leia said in the same manner. "I think he'd know a good man when he meets one, but I think I'd look out for my aunts." Another flick and a picture of three women flashed up, brown eyes sharp in overly-make-upped, polished smiles. Han shuddered jokingly, and Leia nodded in agreement.

"So where are the paintings now? Destroyed?" he asked, stretching his legs in front of him.

"Nope. Apparently they've been sitting in this Intergalactic Art Center place for the past eight or so years and now that everything's blown over they're trying to sell all the portraits for fortunes. Obviously they can't sell them to the rest of my family, so they're trying to load it all of on me." Leia grimaced. "Like the nightmares aren't enough."

"Do you think our kids'll look like that?" Han deftly changed the subject, but to his dismay she stayed the same melancholy-ness, if not worse.

"Kids," she sighed. "How will we raise them if this happens every week?" Her gaze turned to the blue tarp taped neatly over the hole in the floor-to-ceiling one-way window, fluttering against the evening wind.

"It won't, princess," he reassured her. "You were fine as a princess, weren't you?"

"You met me, screaming at each other about escape on the first Death Star," she responded dryly. "Right, no danger there."

"Point taken." Han backed down, pressing his lips together. She sighed softly, staring up at the ceiling.

"We can run away, you know." he spoke again after a lull of silence. "Get away from the fame, live life Leia closed her eyes, shaking her head slowly.

"I wish, but I'd never feel...adequate, hidden away, you know?"

Han understood. He felt that possibly that he would feel exactly the same, cooped up in a beautiful remote moon. They had to contribute, to do something, at least while they were young and spirited.

"We'll just have to keep our guard up," he nudged her, and a wan smirk spread across her face. "A scoundrel and his princess, we're no strangers to blasters, right?"

"Right."


"Your Highness, General," A Diamal officer motioned Leia to a seat, Han to another. They looked about the darker room warily, both of their instincts well honed and sensitive, even though they were in the main location of the New Republic Defense Fleet and New Republic Security Force offices. Only one other being, a silent human seated at an electronic typewriter, presumably with voice-recognition. The Diamal cleared his throat, and the machine pinged softly to life.

"This is the case file for the recent break in," he handed a manila folder over the table, pulling out his own copy. Leia flipped the cover open, sifting through the documents and pages with her fiancee. "We've been treating the break in like a more serious case, just because of your high profile as victims, and the supposed skill of the attacker."

"The attempt was very well-pulled off and the person was obviously experienced and practiced. Almost no evidence was left, she wore flat treadless boots, gloves, and obviously she was well shadowed because General Solo reported not being able to see the victim's facial features, or even to identify the being's gender. However, we have taken the capsule and run it through scans." The creature's face creased into what was obviously a frown as he pulled a separate sheet from the pile and brought it to the couple's attention. He read off his own page.

"Abrin. Works by penetrating the cells of the body and inhibiting cell protein synthesis. It attaches to a carbohydrate chain on the cell surface, the abrin molecule anchors itself to the cell, is subsequently engulfed and enters the inner parts of the cell where it reacts with a ribosomal subunit and interferes with the normal protein synthesis process of the cell. Without these proteins, cells cannot survive. This is harmful to almost all known living creatures and will be fatal. The severity of the effects of abrin poisoning vary on the means of exposure to the substance." His fan-shaped ears twitched in obvious tribulation. "Dunno what half of it means, but what you need to know is that they were very much trying to kill one or both of you."

Han looked up, mouth set in a grim line. "I trust you officer, but speak the truth, do you think this would have been successful if I hadn't chanced to wake?"

The creature's dark gray eyes met his, ever serious and honest.

"I am quite sure of it, Han Solo."


Reviews please! And on an unrelated note, if you have time please check out my fictionpress account of the same penname! I've put up a science fiction story if you're into that kinda thing. :) Thanks!