She took his breath away. Grandma Organa had thrown her arms around his neck in a crushing hug, while Leia laughed behind them. Once he was able to tear the old woman off of him, she turned on the princess to welcome her home.

"Leia, dear. The entire point of a vacation is to relax. You look exhausted."

Her expression suddenly stern, one hand on her hips, she wagged a finger at them. "I've been waiting all day for the two of you. You said to expect you this afternoon and yet, you show up hours later. I hope you haven't had too much fun."

"Sorry, Grandmother, but we-"

"Ran into a spot of trouble, but nothing I couldn't handle," Han cut off Leia.

Grandma Organa's eyes lit up in excitement and curiosity.

"What sorta trouble?"

"Of the romantic variety-" Han started.

"Absolutely, not! Capt-Han, please, this is my Grandmother you are speaking to."

Han winked at Grandma Organa who looked delighted.

"All lovers fight, darling. It makes things far more exciting. Not that you need that with such a stud around, but it never hurts."

Leia shook her head at them, while Grandma Organa accepted Han's arm as they walked out of the hangar. She waited until they were settled into the car before she explained why she had come.

"You know, I had quite exciting plans for you two love birds. Not that I don't understand why you were so willing to delay your homecoming-I'm not sure you could have dragged me back, darling, but you are far more disciplined than I- anyways, I wanted to meet you at the hangar and take you on a tour of the planet. I think you'll find the scenery to be quite…romantic."

Leia sat next to Grandma Organa with her arms and legs crossed, looking as though the car couldn't move fast enough. Her face was locked in a tight expression, her eyes looking as though she was keeping them from rolling. Han stretched out his legs across from them, his hands behind his head, still looking amused.

"Of course," she continued, "Doing so now would be silly. You need to see it when the sun is shining, though I would recommend a midnight ride just the two of you."

"Some other time then," Leia cut in, trying to end the conversation.

"Funny that you mention that. I took the liberty of checking your calendar and you're free all day tomorrow."

"Grandmother, I'm sorry, but I've been away for too long. I simply have too much work to do. You know how it is to have to catch up on work."

"No fun this one, Han. She acts tough, but you can break her down if you work hard enough. Of course, you don't need me telling you that."

Clearing his throat to try and clear the humor from his voice, Han said, "I think we can reach a compromise, ladies. I'm sure Leia will be up with the sun, that is if she ever gets to bed, but everyone has to break once in awhile. Whaddya say, princess? How about a lunchtime ride, show me some of your favorite sights, allow your grandma some reminiscin', then you can go straight back to your office?"

While Grandma Organa nodded her head appreciatively at Han's words, Leia was giving it more consideration than she normally would have. The dream had shaken her to the core and every so often, she would picture the explosion. Everything had felt so real, as though she hadn't even been asleep. When she came out of her reverie, even finding herself in Han's arms, with his hands petting her hair and rubbing her back, she didn't react. All she could see were the millions of pieces floating in front of her eyes.

Perhaps allotting some time to seeing her home planet, spending time with her grandmother, would be alright. Such things were, after all, exactly what Leia and the Alliance were fighting for against the Empire.

She hadn't realized the pair had continued talking when she cut in mid-conversation. "You know, Grandmother, maybe we will join you tomorrow for a few hours. We could go at lunchtime and bring a picnic. I've always loved that area down by the beach."

"Just where your mother used to take you. Oh, yes!" Grandmother Organa clapped her hands together and smiled wide. "Leia, dear, I admit, I didn't see it at first, but it turns out even you can be influenced by love. Oh, it will be perfect! Such spontaneity! I'll run straight to the kitchen and tell them we'll need their finest foods."

"That won't be necessary. A simple picnic is just fi-"

"Speak for yourself, princess, but I just spent the past few days eating crap rations and-"

"Han!"

"Rations? On vacation?"

"I-uh-I just meant on the ship. We didn't always have time goin' out to eat and all that. It's hard enough to find time alone and-"

"Oh Gods, Captain, stop please."

Han looked sheepish for a moment before breaking into a wide grin. Grandma Organa didn't seem the least bit bothered, while Leia turned crimson.

Grandma Organa swatted Leia's arm playfully as she said, "I understand completely. One time, Leia's Grandfather and I were stuck in hyperspace and-"

"That's enough! The two of you are incorrigible. I've already agreed to coming tomorrow, can that please be it?"

While the two of them continued their rapport, Leia glanced out the window, trying to absorb as much as the scene as possible. So much of her thoughts and energy for the past few years had been on work, that she never took the time to appreciate her surroundings. It was alarming how it took such a shock to get her to do it.

Soon, she recognized the familiar high towers of the palace growing closer. She imagined her father inside, sitting in his office, his head leaning off to the side, resting on his hand, a pen between his teeth, deep in thought. As they pulled through the gates and drove through the garden, Leia remembered her and Winter running around the flowers, lying in the grass, staring up at the sky, and feeling invincible.

Her heart panged with a tremendous thud of urgency, wanting nothing more than to be out of the car and with her loved ones. Tomorrow afternoon suddenly felt light years away. She waited until Han assisted her grandmother out of the car before throwing her arms around the woman, nearly knocking her off her feet. Before the woman could respond, Leia ran through the doors of the palace in search of her father, leaving a bemused grandmother and suspicious Han in her wake.

It was amazing, she mused, how many times she had taken these same steps down this same hallway to her father's office without ever appreciating it. She knew it so well, and yet, as she glanced around, Leia noticed so many intricacies she never bothered to note-the golden trimming around the picture frames of the official photographs of her relatives, the carvings in the wood on the wall, to the gigantic mirror hanging in the middle.

With barely a knock on the door, Leia opened the door to her father's office. As she suspected, Bail was sitting at his desk in his pajamas, reading over a dense looking document, pen between his teeth, his head off to the side, resting on his propped up arm. He looked up to find Leia standing in the doorway.

"Leia- you're home!" His face broke out into a smile when he realized it was her, but seeing her expression, his face fell and eyes looked on her in confusion. "What's wrong?"

She ran over to him and hugged him. Shocked at first, it took Bail a moment to react before he stood and wrapped his arms around her.

"Is something the matter, Leia? I spoke to Rieekan just now and he said things had gone so well during your time there."

She nodded against him.

"Did Captain Solo say something to upset you?"

Leia scoffed at this and pulled away from him. "Nothing unusual that I can't handle. It's just good to see you that's all. Sometimes I forget that there are other important things in life than the cause."

"Something I've been trying to tell you for years, my dear daughter. You got home later than expected."

"I got held up in conversations."

"You mean you held others in conversation."

She offered him a small, half smile.

"I want to hear all about it, but I think it can wait until tomorrow. I'm sure sleeping in Alliance Headquarters wasn't exactly relaxing. What does your afternoon look like?"

"Actually, Grandmother talked me into a tour of the sights and a picnic at the beach. Thinks it would be nice and romantic for Han to see."

Bail raised an eyebrow. "You actually agreed to this?"

"Purely to survey the planet."

"It's okay to enjoy yourself sometimes, Leia. Remember that. Even with all the nastiness and heartbreak in the world, there's goodness too. We must appreciate it."

Leia began to nod, but broke into a wide yawn. Before she turned to go, she gave her father another hug and walked to the doorway. As she was out the door, she heard him say behind her, "Even if Han Solo is along for the ride."

Despite herself, Leia couldn't prevent the blush from creeping up her face. He had meant it to tease her and yet, she couldn't help but recognize a taste of seriousness to his words.

It took Leia far too much time to convince her Grandmother that she was in fact heading to her own room and wouldn't be sneaking into Han's, even if it was okay with the older woman to do so. Her nighttime ministrations were shortened as Leia fell into her bed and had time only to pull her covers up over her before she was asleep.

Han couldn't deny the wonders in the comfort of fresh sheets and a comfortable pillow. After returning back to the Alderaanian castle, he had commed Chewie to let him know that they were back and that the Wookiee was welcome to check over the ship. It was the Falcon he tried to think of as he drifted into sleep, not the princess whose cold façade had softened at the return to her planet and the people she loved. There was a tenderness alight in her eyes as he watched her look out the window at the scenery and hug her grandmother. It suited her.

Typically, he wasn't one who spent too much time as a tourist of any planet. The places he went and the routes he took depended on the runs he and Chewie had to make and the people they did or didn't want to face. As he felt his eyes grow heavy and his body fall to sleep, Han couldn't deny the bubbling of anticipation building in his stomach for tomorrow afternoon.

"Mornin' princess."

Han was surprised to find that he and Leia were the only ones in the dining room that morning. Bail and Grandma Organa always made it a point to have meals as a family, but today their usual banter was missing from the large hall. Leia sat alone at the table, a pile of papers to the side of her breakfast plate. He had not timed his greeting at the moment she took a gulp of hot caf, but he did enjoy the reaction when she yelped, grimaced, and stared at him in contempt.

"Captain."

"Whatcha got there?"

"Notes Rieekan gave me before leaving yesterday. There was only so much we could cover while I was there, so this is an attempt to make up for it."

"Thrilling, I'm sure. I thought there was a 'no work at the table' typa rule?"

"As there's no one here at the moment to enforce it, I think I'm safe."

"Whaddya call me?"

"A number of things, but very few that I would say to your face."

Han's face grew into a wide smile. "I think I'd like to hear a few of those actually."

She rolled her eyes as he poured himself a cup of caf and made a plate of food and settled himself down across from her.

"Where is everyone?"

"Father is in his office, working. I'm not even certain he made it to bed last night. Between the two of us spending so much time working with the Alliance, some of the duties to Alderaan have fell to the side, but there's only so much we can hold off on. You know, maybe I should skip lunch today and just-"

"Don't even think about it."

At his abrupt answer, Leia looked up at him, her eye raised in suspicion. "Why would you care so much?"

Han relaxed against the back of his chair, trying to put on an air of nonchalance. "I don't, personally, I just saw how excited yer Grandma was last night and how eager you had been to please her that I think maybe it'd be a good idea to go. 'Sides, yer planet's been thinking we've been away for so long, it might be nice to show face."

"Mmm."

"What's that? Mmm."

"Nothing."

"There's a whole lotta something in that nothin'."

"Captain Solo, if you don't mind, I have a terrible amount of work to do, and since you are so intent on our venture this afternoon, I would appreciate some silence."

"Sure, then if you won't mind, I'm plannin' on heading back down to the Falcon this morning and putting in some work with Chewie. Always good to run inspections after a trip."

"I'm sure it is. Don't rush back on my account."

They finished their breakfast in comfortable silence. Once Han quit his teasing, his presence wasn't altogether unwelcome to Leia. So often, she worked alone cooped up in her office, but for the hours she had spent sitting in the hold or the cockpit of the Falcon, while the captain sat near doing his own work, she hadn't minded it so much.

She only glanced up from her work when she heard the chair scrape back and dishes clinging.

"Where are you going?"

Han gave her a strange look. "Like I said, to the Falcon. Do you listen while other people talk or are you just formulatin' what you can say next?"

"I'm sorry I can't remember every detail of your life."

"We were just talkin' about it, Your Worship."

"Don't call me that."

"Fine, princess."

"Be back before noon."

"I'll get here when I do, I don't work on anyone else's time."

"Clearly."

"That's rich, comin' from you."

Leia pushed away her own chair and stood up, furious. "And what exactly do you mean by that?"

"Nothin', 'cept that yesterday we were s'posed to be getting back early and you took your time schmoozing it up with Rieekan and the kid-"

"Who?"

"Rieekan."

"And-?"

Han hesitated and scratched at the back of his neck. "The kid-Luke-"

"We happened to be having a rather impassioned conversation that I couldn't just walk away from."

"I bet it was."

"What, are you jealous?"

Han laughed out loud. "Ya know what? I don't have time for this. Apparently, I'm on a short leash. I'll see ya at noon, princess. Have fun with your nose stuck up in those papers."

Han thought he heard something about "insufferable" and "pigheaded" behind him, but his blood was boiling and the large dining room suddenly had felt quite small. He wasn't always sure how their arguments had begun, and it wasn't that he disliked them entirely, but they always left him overcome with a mix of different emotions he didn't want to analyze. He knew his final words were weak as far as making a point, but he was afraid she had cut it too close to the problem. Thankfully, he was good at leaving, which was what he did.

When he got to the Falcon, he found the ramp down in welcome and the Wookiee working on top of the ship. Han waved up at him before making his way into his cabin. As soon as he walked in, he realized his mistake. Though she had spent only a few days in there, the princess had quickly overtaken his belongings.

A faint sweet smell of flowers hung in the air, infiltrating his nostrils. A small duffle bag lay at the feet of his bed atop rumpled sheets, and he noticed long brown hairs lying on his pillow. In the fresher, Leia had left her beauty products, which seemed unlike her. She must have been in a rush to get back home.

Han had half a mind to chuck all of her things into a waste basket, but instead, he took the bag and placed all of her things into it. He was less graceful with the sheets, especially the one on his pillow as he stuffed them into a laundry cycle.

In the fresher, he luxuriated in his own space, scrubbing hard under the steaming hot shower and trying to focus on building a mental list of things he wanted to do this morning. After he was dressed and convinced that most of his cabin was princess-free, Han made his way to Chewie and the pair of them worked on the ship well into the morning.

It was nearly noon when he thought to check the time, causing him to swear loudly. After hours working on his ship, Han was greased up, dusty, and sweaty, and in desperate need of another fresher. He ran through his cycle far quicker than that morning and threw on his clothes. With a wave goodbye to Chewie, he hopped into the car and drove as quickly as he could to the palace. When he pulled up, he found an angry princess and a much friendlier looking queen waiting for him on the steps, their bodies in identical formation with hands on hips, left foot tapping.

"Only thirty minutes late, not bad according to your spectrum, eh princess?"

She glowered at him in response. "Really, Han, we barely have time enough as it is."

Grandma Organa looked between them, frowning. "Now, now, Leia, there's no rush. Look around you! The sun is shining, the flowers are in full bloom, as is your love!"

Even Han grimaced at that last line, causing Grandma Organa to shrug and throw up her arms. "Can't blame a woman for trying. Did something happen between the two of you? Last night, you're all lovey dovey looking at each other in such amazement and today you can barely look at each other at all."

"Everything's fine, Grandmother, there's just a lot to be done. Let's go."

Leia moved to walk down the steps towards the car, but Grandma Organa stretched out her arm.

"Nu-uh, not with that attitude, darling."

"Grandmother, really-"

"If you two are going to act like this, then we aren't going."

"The two of us? I haven't done anything, but-"

"Oh, trust me, Captain, you've done plenty. In fact-"

"Alright, alright. Enough!" Grandma Organa took the picnic basket from the driver next to her and handed it to Leia. "Let's just go. Here, dear, hold onto this. Han, why don't you get in first? Neither of us want to scoot."

Han rolled his eyes but got back into the car without another word. Grandma Organa gestured to Leia to follow as the driver took his position at the wheel. Han and Leia were settling into their seats, making room for Grandma Organa as she shut the door with a squeal and yelled into them, "Have fun the two of you! And Bertrand! Don't let them come back until they've been given the full tour and enjoyed their picnic!"

Leia reacted first, thrusting the picnic basket towards Han and reaching for the door, but the car was already moving. The pair of them could only look back towards the diminishing castle as Grandma Organa stood back on the steps, waving.

"Bertrand," Leia tried, "Please take us back to the castle."

"Sorry, princess, but queen's orders. With that, he rolled up the window divider, leaving Leia and Han in silence.

"You could always make a jump for it," Han offered with a smirk.

"Oh, shut up." Leia sat back in the seat, crossing her arms and legs tightly, a large frown settling on her face.