Disclaimer: I own nothing!

Author's note: Sorry it's been a while! Hope you like this one!

The Dance

Han licked the salt from his fingers and watched Leia chat with an officer. She was only late for the midday meal and he tried to pretend he hadn't noticed, but Luke had definitely caught on to all Han's glances towards the entrances. "Kid, I just don't think this is a club concern," Luke opened his mouth to counter that, "and if it were, you'd bring it up at a meeting, which this is not."

They never had club meetings at lunch. Or dinner. Or breakfast. Or any meal or snack provided the eating of said food took place in the cafeteria. They had tried it once and Wedge sat down next to them during a discussion of what kind of punishments their guardians had given them for their one of their biggest crimes (Luke: crashing his skyhopper and lying about it, Han: one time Chewie's wife made this truly horrid dish that gave Han a headache just smelling and so Han burned it, then Chewie hung Han from a tree by his vest for a while, Leia: she made faces at a banquet behind the guest of honor as he spoke – her punishment had not been revealed, thanks to Wedge's arrival) and they'd all been flustered at trying to explain how the topic had come up. Looking back on it, it shouldn't have been as difficult to come up with a reasonable explanation, but that hadn't been the case at the time. Han looked back on it also with the opinion that Leia had committed a bigger or worse transgression but he couldn't say that to her without greater proof.

"Fine," Luke bowed to Han's logic. "But I still think one of us should go with Leia to the dance."

"By one of us, you mean 'you'." Han waved at Leia as she finished up her conversation with the officer. She raised a hand to acknowledge him and then got in line to get her food.

"It doesn't have to be me!" Luke protested, blushing.

Han arranged his utensils on his tray and leveled Luke with a look. "You know, it's ok to admit you like her. She is very sexy – and she knows what she wants. That's very hot in bed. Knows what she wants and isn't afraid to say it mmmm," Han struggled to keep the grin off his face as Luke's face got even redder.

"I don't know what I feel for her," Luke finally mumbled. "I've never…felt…like this for anyone or –"

"Guys more your thing?" Han asked simply.

"No," Luke shook his head, blond strands of hair jostling in a way that made Han wonder if the next order of business at a meeting should be about getting Luke a hair cut. They'd already had Leia tell them they needed to buy more clothes. "I mean it, Han! I've never felt…like this about anyone."

Han saw the truth in Luke's face – but then again, he always saw the truth in Luke's face. It was probably the reason he came back to Yavin IV and the Rebels in the first place: Luke's honest anger, disappointment, and belief that Han was more of a team player than he'd admit. "Kid, there's such a thing as being asexual. Maybe you don't want to join Leia in bed –"

"I don't!"

Han held up his hands in surrender. "And that's fine. But just so you know, you might want to look into asexuality, see if it fits you."

Luke was quiet as he mulled that over. Han felt like an older brother and not a friend just then. If the old man had said anything about this when they'd met at the cantina, Han would have laughed his way out of there.

Leia put her tray on the table next to Han and gave him a strange look. "What did you say to Luke?"

Han didn't want to announce the kid's private business and confusion, so he just said, "What makes you think I said anything?"

"He looks confused. Whatever he told you, Luke, it's probably wrong."

"Maybe, maybe not," Luke said absently. Then he asked, "Has anyone asked you to the dance?"

Leia spread her napkin on her lap and sighed. "Yeah, you?"

Luke nodded. Han nearly choked on air. "What?! You never said!"

On the first day the dance was announced, a Twi'lek med tech had approached Luke as he went to the 'freshers to shower after a drill. At this time, Luke hadn't even heard there would be one. "Lt. Skywalker," she addressed him softly. Figuring she was there on official business, he stopped and gave her a friendly smile. Aside from the rebels who'd been there at Yavin IV, most of the Alliance members approached Luke like he was a holo-vid star. He asked her how he could help her and she stammered out, "Wou-would you l-like to go to the d-dance…with me?" the last two words were barely audible.

Luke had said nothing for a full minute and then said, "I'm sorry, what?"

"Oh, it's ok! I just thought I'd ask!" and she bolted before he could even register what her words meant. He didn't know her name or anything about her other than her species and gender, so he couldn't actually answer the request. He hadn't seen her since, either.

Another suitor had sent him a message via the Rebel social platform.

A few others had approached, but they seemed to taper off after he'd stumbled and stuttered through his, "I don't – what dance?" After that, they turned and scurried away, embarrassed, leaving Luke to ask the brass around him just what this dance was and when/where it was.

"So," Leia asked after Luke finished his story of the invitations. "Are you going with anyone?"

"Leia, I just said I didn't know anything about a dance when they asked. I couldn't tell them anything because I didn't know if I'd be on a mission or something. And they've all avoided me since! So, no, I'm not."

"Well, is there anyone you find attractive?"

Luke cast a desperate glance at Han. "Eh, he doesn't know," Han told Leia, helping himself to some of her food. In retaliation, she poked his fingers with her fork.

"How can you not know?" Leia exclaimed.

"Well…I grew up in the middle of nowhere, Leia. Everybody seems to look great to me. I don't know about fashion, I didn't know that black doesn't compliment brown that well until after we got the medals and you told me. Some of these species/races I've only seen on the HoloNet."

"Well, is there anyone who stands out?"

Luke thought. You, he almost said. "Well…there's a flight tech, Dayzha Duoza, she's really funny and smart. She also is a good artist, she painted the symbols on my ship."

"So ask her!"

Han was not rushing. His legs were moving quickly because he wanted to move at this pace, not because he was worried.

Ok, he was worried. And yes, he was rushing.

Leia had invited him to her room to discuss urgent unofficial business.

When he arrived and she let him in, he didn't use any of her titles. "What's wrong, Leia?"

"Nothing," Leia's brow furrowed in confusion. "Why would you –" she stopped speaking. "Oh. No, I just…didn't want you to blow me off."

Secretly, Han felt offended. He and Leia might regularly bicker, argue, and otherwise seem like unlikely friends, but they both cared about each other. "I wouldn't," he said seriously in a low voice. "I figured you needed my help, but I couldn't think why," he took a seat at her desk chair, leaving Leia to sit on her bed. For a princess, her quarters were rather sparse, he had expected a suite with cushioned chairs and thick, luxurious rugs, paintings on the walls from famous artists.

Instead she had a regular sized bed with two pillows and a blanket Han recognized as being of Alderaanian cloth. Her desk was a simple construction with space for her data pads and data chips. Her closet was open and while she did have a fair number of clothes, they were mostly practical – the fancy dresses were pushed off to the side. And the only decoration on her wall were two holos: one of Leia and her parents on Alderaan and the other of her, Luke, Han, Chewie, and the droids. There was a last holo on her desk, a holo of the three of them taken at Luke and Leia's party.

It didn't seem right, Han thought. She deserved more.

"It relates to club business."

"Oh," Han looked around, wondering where Luke would sit. Being Luke, he'd probably sit on the floor. "So when's Luke going to get here?"

"He's not. Like I said in my message, it's unofficial." She bit her lip. "I'm to go on a fundraising mission with Mon Mothma. I'm going to miss the dance."

"Ok. And?"

"Well…at our next meeting, I was going to say that since it's Luke's first dance, as his family, we need to take action. Family involvement means making sure he gets a good suit to wear, we take holos, and –"

"Generally embarrass the hell out of the kid? Well, I'm not going on this fundraising trip, am I?"

Leia shuddered at the thought of Han trying to convince delegates to fund the Rebellion. He would get money, of course, but that would probably be the result of threats, maybe a blaster fight, hostility, gambling, and then some. The donors would probably never donate again. "No, you're not required on this mission," she told him diplomatically.

Han didn't even bother to try to hide his amusement and grinned wildly. "So I can still do all of that. It's no problem at all. It even sounds like fun."

"And you…are…you going to the dance?"

"Nah," Han shook his head. "I don't dance. Well, I have…when I'm really drunk. But otherwise, no, not my thing."

He got up and picked up the holo from her desk. "So you can have one for your desk?"

Leia grabbed the holo and deactivated it. The image disappeared into the mini projector in her palm. "For Luke."

"The kid, right." Han nodded. "Well, don't worry. I'll handle it."

"Thank you."

Leia stumbled up the ramp of the Falcon, exhausted from the long trip. When she got inside, Chewie greeted her with a steaming cup of kaffe. He growled a greeting and then pulled her into a one armed hug. Gratefully, Leia accepted the beverage and drank half of it as she walked to the common room. Han had his own cup of kaffe on the gaming table and he raised a finger to his lips when he saw Leia. With a tilt of his head, he gestured at Luke. When she saw him, she understood the need for quiet. He was asleep in one of the chairs, a blanket covered him, but he obviously hadn't put it there.

"We were waiting for you," Han said quietly. "Guess the dance wore him out. It ended about seven hours ago – but I made him stay in his getup."

"How'd it go?" Leia asked and sat down next to Han at the gaming table.

Chewie responded and Han translated. "He says it went well. Kid had a good time. Got lots of holos. Dayzha agreed to go with him as friends, I think you might have already known that." Leia nodded, Luke had sent that on his coded transmission shortly after Leia's ship had left for Felucia. "This is the best holo," Han took out a transmitter and activated it. In the holo, Luke and Dayzha waved to the cam, then Dayzha said something and Luke burst out laughing just before the holo looped. Han deactivated the transmitter and handed it to her.

She accepted it and leaned her head against his shoulder. Then, in wistful tone commented,"They grow up so fast, don't they?"

Chewie barked a laugh, Luke twitched in his sleep in response to the noise but didn't wake up.

"Oh yes, darling," Han adopted the same tone. "Feels like it was just yesterday that we brought him home from the hospital, head full of hair, and face like a nerf."

"He got that from you."