Sorry it took so long to finish this chapter and get it up. My rat died a few weeks ago, and my life's been pretty hectic since then. Enough ranting. Here you go:

After docking the Falcon safely in a secluded clearing in the middle of dense forest, the rag-tag gang of Rebels walked the rest of the way to Chewbacca's house. The eager wookiee led the way down the hard-packed dirt road that cut through the peaceful forest.

Not unlike Endor, thought Leia as she looked up at the ancient, towering trees surrounding her and her friends. "No wonder you were getting homesick, Chewie." She said, "It's beautiful here." As she continued walking, a sense of peace descended upon her mind, and she found herself reminiscing about less troubled times. The lush forest and distant mountaintops reminded her of her own home planet, and the time her father had taken her camping when she was a girl. His kind, smiling face filled her mind now, and the grief of losing her family and planet hit her as hard as it had when it first happened. Only this time there was no numb disbelief; there was only gut-wrenching acceptance. Her father was dead, and she would never see him again. Her planet was destroyed, and she was never going home again. There was no home.

Han's hand closed around hers, bringing her back to the present. "Hey," he said gently, "You all right?"

Leia blinked, surprised to feel moisture in her eyes, and swept the tears from her cheeks. "Yes, I'm fine." She assured him with a wan smile, relieved at least that her voice was steady. "I was just thinking about Alderaan."

Han pulled her closer and gave her a sympathetic, one-armed hug. "Chewie and I stopped there once," he told her, "It was beautiful. I wished I could've stayed longer, and I always wanted to go back. You gonna be all right?"

"Yes," she smiled up at him gratefully, "It's rough, but I'm getting through it."

"You're strong," Han agreed, looking at her admiringly, "Always have been. I don't know how you do it."

Neither do I, thought Leia dismally. But there were things to celebrate; the emperor was destroyed, and the last remnants of his corrupt regime were being rooted out and swept away. If her father were there, he would remind her that this was war; inevitably there would be losses, but you had to focus on the victories. And it had been a victory. They had won the war Senator Bail Organa had dedicated his life to. This thought consoled Leia more than anything.

A few paces ahead, Chewie wargled excitedly as an enormous tree came into view. Leia's eyes followed the staircase that spiraled around the vast trunk and ended at a broad balcony ringing the large, circular house just below the tree's leaves. The others did their best to follow the wookiee's long strides up the spiral staircase and around the balcony to the door. The smooth metal slid open when Chewie entered the code. The anxious wookiee bounded inside, barking a warm, excited greeting. He was answered by a smaller, higher-pitched wargling from somewhere deeper in the circular house. A second later, a small wookiee came charging from around a corner and hurled himself into Chewbacca's waiting arms. His mother, Malla, was not far behind him. The golden-furred wookiee let out a howl of delight and embraced her husband.

Subconsciously, Leia slipped her hand into Han's. The ex-smuggler looked down at the princess, but her eyes were elsewhere; she was watching Chewie and Malla, with their heads together woofing softly. Han brought his attention back to the girl at his side, his thoughts whirling. What was that look on her face? She was smiling, but looked pensive, as though debating something. Not for the first time, he wished he knew what was going on behind those keen, brown eyes of hers.

Suddenly, something rammed into his midsection, knocking him breathless and nearly sending him sprawling on the ground. "H- hey, Lumpy!" he spluttered at the young wookiee wrapped around his torso. Lumpy, his father in miniature, looked up at his human friend and barked an excited question.

Han grinned at him, "Yep. We beat 'em, pal."

Lumpy squealed in triumph and jumped up then, seeming to see them for the first time, glanced shyly at Luke and Leia, then skittered back to his parents. Malla had a hug for Han too, thankfully a much gentler one. "So you managed to keep my Chewbacca out of trouble, then?" She barked affectionately. Han reached up to put a hand on his co-pilot's shaggy shoulder. "Kept him outta trouble, but got me into it." he chuckled.

Chewie and Han introduced their friends to the family. Instead of regarding Luke shyly, Lumpy now stared at him in awe- especially the lightsaber at his waist.

Malla turned to Leia, "So you're Han's mate?" Not comprehending the wargling language, Leia looked to Han, who chuckled and replied, "Yeah, I guess you could say that."

"Say what?" asked Leia. Before Han could answer, Malla continued with, "I'm glad for you, Han. It's about time you had a woman to settle you down, even if she is a small one."

Han couldn't help but laugh. Leia regarded him curiously- and coolly. "What's so funny?" she asked. Han told her reluctantly, sure she would only scowl at him. But to his surprise, a small smile twisted the princess's lips. "Yes, I'm small." she admitted, turning to Malla, "but I can handle this stuck-up laser-brain."

Han turned a mock-hurt expression to her as the she-wookiee chuckled in amused agreement. "Don't you dare lose this one, Han." Malla admonished playfully, "She's just what you need."

Smiling, Han turned his gaze on Leia. "I know." he assured Malla. Leia gave him a knowing look. Chewie took his wife's paw, inquiring anxiously about the new cub. Malla replied in soothing tones that she was fine and, for the moment, asleep.

After filling the wookiees in on recent events- which took a while considering that Lumpy wanted every battle described to him and, Malla went into hysterics when she heard about Han being encased in carbonite for six months- Malla insisted on cooking dinner for them all. Chewie offered to help, but she shooed him away. Instead, he went to fetch the new cub to show her off to his friends. Kalla, she was called, after Chewie's mother. The others all gathered around as Chewie sat on the sofa with the little bundle in his arms. Kalla was almost two years old which, for a wookiee, was practically a newborn.

Chewie wargled softly as he smoothed his daughter's reddish-brown fuzz. Luke put a hand to Chewie's shoulder, blue eyes twinkling as he smiled, "She's beautiful, Chewie." he said. The wookiee softly thanked Luke and put a long arm around him.

"Yeah, thank the Gods she didn't get her father's looks." Han teased, watching them from the other side of the room. He was playing a game of holochess with Lumpy, deliberately letting his pieces be taken.

Leia was in the kitchen helping Malla any way she could. She'd brought Threepio with her to translate what the she-wookiee was saying. Malla had been very interested to know how Han Solo could've wound up with a such a nice girl, so Leia told her the whole story, beginning with her rescue from the Death Star and ending with that fateful night in Cloud City. For a moment, she became lost in her own thoughts...

She was being marched into the ominous chamber in between Chewbacca and Han; despite the red-orange glow given off, the room was cold. For once, Leia couldn't hide her mounting dread. Shrouded all in black, his face hidden behind that sinister mask, the impressive figure stared at her menacingly. Darth Vader. Her father. No! She felt sick, yet she knew it to be true with every fiber of her being. No! Not Darth Vader. Anakin Skywalker. Anakin Skywalker is my father. From what she'd heard, Anakin had been a good man with only good intentions. But how could such a good man go so bad?

Malla wargled a question at Leia, cutting off her grim thoughts. Threepio tilted his head as though he hadn't understood. "That's quite impossible." he stated matter-of-factly.

"Threepio, what did she say?" Leia asked patiently.

"Directly translating, she asks when you will have cubs, although it is quite impossible for you, a human, to-"

"Thanks, Threepio." she cut him off. Though the droid did not understand what Malla meant by 'cubs', Leia did. Malla was looking at her expectantly, eyes twinkling.

"I don't know," confessed Leia, trying not to blush. "I've never really thought about it before."

"Thought about what before?" Han had finished his latest rematch with Lumpy. Leia quickly glanced at Malla to make sure she hadn't heard. She was busy tossing salad with her back to them. "None of your business, flyboy." she told him. Han shrugged and reached over her shoulder for the aromatic roast on the counter. Leia grabbed his wrist before his greedy fingers could peel off a piece of the succulent meat.

"Come on!" he complained, "I'm starving!"

"So is everyone else. You'll just have to wait like the rest of us."

Han sighed, then leaned an elbow on the counter. "What've you been doin' over here? I thought you didn't cook?"

"Who says I can't cook?"

Han looked at her, one eyebrow raised in a signature smirk. "Okay. What'd you make, Princess?"

Leia didn't meet his eyes. "I... peeled a few vegetables."

Han gave her a mock-impressed look. "Wow! Great job. I'm proud of you, I really am."

She gave him a cold smile, then walked away to sit next to Chewie and Luke. As soon as she sat down, Luke locked eyes with her. "You okay?" he asked gently, though his eyes were worried. "A minute ago, I thought maybe you..." he trailed off.

"It was..." She had been going to say it was nothing, but that wasn't really true. She settled for, "I'll tell you later."

For a moment Luke looked as though he would protest, then he nodded understandingly. Chewie turned to Leia , woofing softly and holding little Kalla towards her. She didn't need a translator to understand that he meant for her to take the cub. "Oh," she said, "Are you sure?"

Chewie nodded and tenderly placed his daughter into the princess's arms. The infant began to squirm and squeal softly. Instinctively, Leia held the cub closer to her breast, rocking her slightly and whispering words of comfort. Miraculously, this seemed to do the trick. Leia smiled in wonderment and satisfaction. She'd had virtually no experience with children of any age, but she liked them. Some women were natural-born mothers; Leia had never considered herself one of them. But now, holding baby Kalla... it felt good; right.

Han turned in time to see Chewbacca depositing the bundled cub in Leia's arms. The princess looked a little nervous at first, but soon handled the infant like she'd been doing it her whole life. As Han watched the princess smiling tenderly at the cub in her arms, something strange happened. A surge of unexpected emotion hit him like a physical blow; his breath caught, his heart seemed to swell to the point of bursting through his chest. He wanted to laugh and cry at the same time. Something clicked inside him at the sight of Leia and the baby, some sort of switch that set off an entire system of new, yet primal feelings within him. Han would never be able to accurately describe the way he felt at that moment, except that he had never been more in love with Princess Leia Organa.