From a Certain Point of View

Chapter Thirty-Two

"The scan says she's still contracting. The sedation should've eased her labor, but it hasn't."

"Captain Solo," Roman said, gritting his teeth against the pain as he spoke.

"Yeah?"

"I can place her into a Jedi healing trance…that may help relieve the contractions."

Han looked to Chewie. [I've seen it done.]

His eyes then fell on Roman, who said, "I wouldn't hurt her."

Han swallowed, his slow gaze went from Chewie and then over to Leia. He ran his hand over her forehead and whispered, "Do whatever you can do," and then stepped away to grant Roman access to the medical bunk.

Roman brought a chair up next to Leia's bunk and sat down. Han watched in silence as Roman took Leia's hand and closed his eyes. For a brief moment, Leia stirred emitting a low moan and Han took a tentative step toward her, but then she relaxed and Han turned away and wrung his hands together impatiently.

A long period of time passed as Roman held Leia's hand in silence.

Han watched the medical scanner and mumbled, "It's not working, she's still contracting."

[Her labor has slowed.]

Leia moaned and Han could see the ripple of her stomach beneath the coverlet.

He took a step toward Roman and Chewie held him back. "What's he doing to her?"

"I'm guiding the baby…turning her into position," Roman mumbled through gritted teeth as he spoke through what was clearly a very concentrated effort.

"The doctor said there wasn't enough room," Han challenged as he approached the bunk and pressed his hand against Leia's ankle.

[Calm down, cub.]

"I won't hurt her, Captain," Roman replied as he opened his eyes and sighed in exhaustion. "But, she's going to have to deliver this baby soon. I'm afraid it can't be stopped."

"Well, then, keep doing what you were doing," Han begged him now, pointing at Leia.

Roman smiled weakly. "It's done. The baby's turned. She's in the healing trance which should slow down the labor as much as possible. That's all I can do."

[We should run the scan on you,] Chewie offered, grabbing the scanner and motioning to Han.

Roman crossed the room and lowered himself onto a bench leaning against the bulkhead in exhaustion.

"I'm fine," Han said standing his ground next to Leia, his tone unconvincing.

[Don't make me force you,] Chewie growled as he pointed at the empty bunk.

Chewie ran the scanner over Han as soon as the Corellian lowered himself on the bunk.

[Four cracked ribs, a sprained ankle, bruised hip, mild concussion, a dislocated shoulder and multiple lacerations.]

"Told ya I was fii-iine," Han yelped and let out a string of expletives at everyone from Darth Vader to Mon Mothma as Chewie yanked his dislocated arm back into its socket.

Leia's sedative was prescribed to last for approximately eight hours. After Chewie had tended to Han's wounds and forced the Corellian to take a quick 'fresher, Han held a vigil by Leia's side, watching the readout of her scanner almost as intently as he was watching her.

Roman and Chewie had begun to discuss everything that had happened at the temple. It was Roman, Seth and Orren that had made a final stand against Zacari and the twins. It seemed Zacari had been on his way off of the transport when Han had bumped into him in the corridor.

Roman described the bloody battle that led to Orren and Seth's deaths. It had been Roman who spared the young Jedi Zacari's life and only knocked him out during the scuffle. "If I had only known about him then…when I had the chance, I would've-"

"Don't beat yourself up, obviously he had everyone fooled," Han mumbled, remembering how fondly he had thought of the boy.

Once he had reached the inner chamber, Roman had found the doctor and Shanel arguing while they were holding Leia down on the medical gurney. The doctor was pleading with the hag that the procedure was not working and that he hadn't realized what they were going to try and do with his research.

"I think whatever Zacari and the twins were, they were outliving their own bodies. They wanted the baby's life energy, they wanted to absorb the baby's Force strength and somehow rejuvenate their own," Roman explained.

Han then lifted his head as if remembering something and added, "Yeah, Leia said that Dr. Vail was researching something about genetics and midi-cholorians."

[We are fortunate that his research did not work.]

At the Wookiee's words, Artoo – who had remained silent in the corner of the room - let out a string of cantankerous bleets and blats.

Chewie laughed in disbelief. [The droid says that what we are fortunate for...is him.] Chewie translated.

For the first time in hours, Han took his eyes off of Leia and her medical equipment and looked down at the little Artoo unit backed up against the bulkhead.

"You doctored the doctor's research?" Han asked.

Artoo rocked back and forth and whistled proudly.

There was a long silence while everyone absorbed the events of not only that day but of everything that had come before it. Han held Leia's hand in his own and stroked her soft, white skin with his thumb. Chewie excused himself and headed for the cockpit to check on the Falcon's coordinates, leaving Han, Leia and Roman in the med station.

Han heard the sincere regret in Roman's voice as he began to speak again, "I counseled her to leave you back on Coruscant. I'm the one that told the New Republic that she had risked her life to rescue you and then…to find your ship. I was blinded by jealousy." Roman paused and then said, "The entire New Republic came down on her after that…yet she still fought to remain."

Han took a moment to look over at Roman.

"I hope you know how much you mean to her," Roman said, it sounded like a warning.

"I know it," Han said looking back at Leia. "And I feel the same."

"I never felt I deserved her," Roman said quietly, then added, "No, maybe that's not the right word. I guess I knew in some way that I wasn't her destiny, if that makes sense."

Han didn't take his eyes off of Leia's hand resting in his as he answered, "There was a time when I would've told you that it didn't."

A long moment passed and then Roman got up and left the room.

It started when Leia's monitors began wailing and screaming for attention. Han stood and tried his best to decipher what was happening.

"What's going on?" Roman asked as he rushed into the room, Chewie right on his heels.

"The sedative is wearing off. She's beginning to feel the labor," Han answered and looked to Roman and Chewie.

"We should break the trance," Roman offered as he walked towards the bunk.

Han watched as Roman took Leia's hand and brought her out of the Jedi healing trance.

Leia's first glimpse was up at Roman, but her eyes immediately sought Han out as she asked, "What's wrong?"

Roman moved away from the bunk and Han bent down toward her, grasping her hand. "We couldn't stop the labor, sweetheart. But Roman thinks he got the baby to turn."

Leia nodded her head and held her breath, steeling herself against the pain.

"Everything's gonna be alright," Han said, thankful that he sounded surer than he felt. He sat down next to Leia on the bunk and trailed his hand over her forehead and down her cheek as he whispered, "Do you remember when Dr. Vail said your body was a complicated piece of machinery?"

She looked at him, confused as she nodded her head.

"Well, who do you know that's better with complicated pieces of machinery than me?" He grinned at her and winked.

She stifled a laugh behind a pained smile. Then her eyes darted about the room and she looked back at Han and breathed out, "I just want you."

"Alright," he replied. Turning to Roman, he said, "Get up to the cockpit. We should be dropping out of hyper in a few hours. Do you know how to fly a ship on its sublights?"

"Yes," Roman replied.

"Good. Take us in to Kashyyyk. They'll recognize the Falcon and hail you once you drop in their atmosphere. Oh, and as soon as we're out of hyper, contact the New Republic, let them know about that rogue transport."

"Okay." And with that, Roman left.

"Chewie?"

[Yes, cub.]

Han drew in a deep breath and stood. "I need all the clean towels we've got, and a vibroblade…warm water and…and a bucket." He walked to the end of the medical bunk and then said, "Then get the spare med scan ready and the ventilator."

Han looked down at Leia and she lifted her eyebrows and asked, "Babies and stuff?"

"Yeah." He leaned up against the edge of the bunk, placed his hand on her bent knee and confessed, "But I gotta be honest, I kinda glossed over this part."

"You'll do fine."

Han was thankful she sounded surer than she probably was, as he replied, "It's not me I'm worried about."

The med station was a flurry of activity as Chewie gathered up everything Han had asked for and Han helped Leia prepare for the delivery. Once Chewie left the med station and the couple was finally alone, Han stood at the end of Leia's bunk.

He took a deep, very nervous breath as he looked from the medical scanner and then over to Leia. "You've got a contraction coming, ya ready?"

Leia shook her head.

Han looked back at the medical scanner and then heard Leia call his name.

"Han?"

His eyes quickly met hers. "Yeah?"

She studied him for a long moment, her eyes darting back and forth between his. Her mouth opened and she inhaled a sharp breath and then said, "I love you."

He smiled and winked at her as he replied, "I know."

There was a matter of time - Han couldn't be sure just how long it was - when he held her in his hands for the very first time. She was weightless and beautiful, her eyes looking upon him as the first person she would ever get to see and he the first to touch her. His fingertips tingled at the sensation of life breathing into the universe making space for its newest creation. His heart tripped over several beats and his breath held as hers took it.

Would she remember this bond at her first scraped knee? He wondered. When she would come running to her daddy, tears falling, arms outstretched, lifted into his arms with the same weightlessness, and the same sparkle of recognition and love. She would bounce on his knee while he flew his ship and he told her stories and this is the vision he would forever hold of her, in his hands, no bigger than his ten fingers all lined up in a cradle of warmth. Had he ever held so much in the palm of his hands?

In real time, she was in and out of his arms in a blur. He had to hand her to Leia while he quickly ran a scan over her tiny body and then took care of the umbilical cord. His fingers felt numb at the absence of her touch and his chest felt as if it were going to cave in on itself from the emptiness of not having her in his arms. The machine beeped and Han breathed a sigh of relief when he came across the lung capacity readout. He noticed Leia's hands were trembling, but so were his as he kept one eye on her and one eye on what he was doing.

Han was certain she wouldn't need a ventilator even without the readout, but the technical confirmation seemed to make his own lungs function more efficiently. The baby's lungs had been strong enough for Roman to hear her cries all the way in the cockpit once her little highness graced the galaxy with her presence. But she quieted almost immediately when Han laid her against her mother's chest and Leia wrapped her in a towel.

Their eyes met at that moment, his and Leia's, their hands both cradling their daughter between them. There are things that pass between two people, beyond words and quite possibly beyond the brain's capacity to commit it to memory. Han tried to hold onto that moment for as long as possible, willing his brain to absorb every minute detail set out before him, knowing it was bigger than the both of them and most probably too much to ask.

He got back to work at the edge of the medical bunk and he could almost hear his daughter cooing and clucking over the sounds of a concerned Wookiee howling to come in from around the corner.

"Give us a minute," Han hissed, not angrily but in a whispered yell of a seasoned parent trying not to wake a sleeping baby.

He was following the directions on Leia's medical scan, the readouts flipping faster than the Falcon in an asteroid field. His eyes still found Leia's about every other second, half the time he found her looking back at him in awe, and thanks and what could only be described as total and complete, no doubt about, bet the entire hand on it, love. The other half her eyes were on their baby. The look was exactly the same.

Leia's readout began to slow, along with Han's heartbeat and he grabbed her ankle with one hand and her knee with the other as he slowly straightened out her trembling legs one by one and then pulled the coverlet over her feet.

"You wanna hold your daughter, Han?"

The question hit him like a lightning bolt, the words not making sense all lumped together in the same sentence like that. Daughter and Han and hold; it was exhilarating and terrifying and mildly confusing all at once. The gears in his brains clicked slowly around the words as he walked towards her.

"Ya sure?" He asked, running his finger down the outline of the baby's back as she lay scrunched up against her mother. The baby shivered at his touch and he drew his hand back as if she had tried to bite him.

Leia smiled and watched him; she seemed to know just what not to say.

Her silence encouraged him; that and Chewie's insistence that he was coming in there soon. Han swallowed and tried on a shaky smile as he took the baby off Leia's chest and cradled her in his arms. She was still puffy and her hair was plastered to her head but her eyes were open and Han recognized them and she seemed to recognize him and his heart was set a flutter.

"You can come in, Chewie," Leia called and the Wookiee appeared out of nowhere, his breath against Han's neck as he craned over Han's shoulder to see. But Han didn't take notice of any of it, he was too busy soaking in another memory too large, and too magnificent to be true.

Kashyyyk, several hours later:

Han watched Leia as she brought the baby up to her breast to feed her. She was small but feisty, just like her mother, and the two battled wills for a moment before the baby finally latched on. Leia's arm was neatly wrapped in a bandage, but true to form, she would allow no sign of weakness to show through as she held the baby to her as much in triumph over her injuries as to everything that it had taken to get her there.

Standing at the edge of the bed, Han hadn't much room to chastise Leia about her injuries. He had refused to use the crutches the Wookiees had fashioned for him and he politely ignored the shooting pains that his ribs and ankle constantly assaulted him with. Choosing instead to let his total and complete, almost to the point of delirious, happiness act as both his crutch and his pain killer.

Leia looked up at him. They had hardly had any time to talk since the baby was born. Not long after the birth, they landed on Kashyyyk and were tended to by the Wookiee healers. This was their first minute alone, thanks to the baby, who had fussed to be fed near constantly since her arrival.

Han walked over towards the bed, eyeing Leia suspiciously. "So," he said casually as he approached her. "In those visions you were having…were you on the Falcon?"

She hesitated like a child caught sneaking sweets, and then nodded and smiled guiltily.

"Did you know I would have to deliver the baby?"

"I suspected."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"What? And have us both fainting?"

He watched her, not amused.

"I didn't want to worry you. I really couldn't tell what was going to happen, and…"

"It's alright," he said, as he sat down next to her on the bed.

The baby grunted from the movement and Leia shifted her and soothed her.

As the baby settled back down, Han whispered, "You do remember that you agreed to marry me, right?"

"What?" Leia asked in mock-shock, a wide grin on her face.

"Yes, you did. And I intend to hold you to it," he replied, his voice light as he winked at her.

Leia looked down at the baby, adjusted herself a little bit and looked back up at Han. Her face had grown serious. "You were right about what you said about marriage on Alderaan, Han. It is a sacred vow, something that isn't entered into lightly and must never be broken. It's said that the decision should not be an emotional one, never made in haste but made with a sound mind, after years of courtship."

Han remained silent, half waiting for the punch line and half waiting for the catch.

"As a princess I would have been presented with several courters and given ample time to make my choice, but the choice would most decidedly have been mine – between any of those that chose to offer, that is." She paused and smiled, resting her hand on his knee. "I guess I just wanted you to know…that although I have received no other offers, that…I most decidedly, wholeheartedly and with the soundest mind…choose you, Han Solo, above all others in the entire universe."

She craned her neck out towards him and he met her halfway with a quick kiss. As he drew back, he smiled at her, his heart bursting beyond recognition at her words.

"And if my father was alive…" She smiled at him again and then looking down at the baby nuzzled up against her breast, she said, "Well, let's be honest. He would most probably kill you." And then looking back up to him, she hesitated with a wicked roll of her eyes, and added, "Either one of them, really."

Han trailed the backs of his fingers along the downy soft hair on his daughter's head, causing her to squirm against Leia. "It's your sense of humor that I love the most, you know."

Their eyes locked then and Leia dropped any hint of teasing as she said, "I love you."

Han smiled as he let her words caress him, not even realizing how much he had longed to hear her say them again until they had passed through her lips. Even sweeter this second time, Han wondered if he would ever tire of hearing those same three words, linked together in the same tired sentence spoken by so many beings on so many planets for so many centuries. But never from those lips, he thought and only to him and those two things combined would render them exceptional every time.

He leaned over and kissed Leia. Their kiss deeper this time, her mouth opening up to his hungrily, only to stop when the baby fussed.

"I think someone's jealous," Leia chuckled as she covered herself up and placed the baby on her shoulder to burp her.

"Here, I'll do that," Han offered, taking his daughter and still marveling, for the briefest of moments, at how small she was in his hands.

He saw Leia watching him as he placed the baby on his shoulder and began to pat her back, completing the entire exercise swiftly and adeptly as if he had been doing it his entire life. Although it had been terrifying, Han was thankful that he got to deliver his baby, it somehow made him feel more comfortable with and connected to her already.

"Have you thought any about names?" He asked while Leia eased back onto the bed and relaxed.

She smiled at him, showing that she obviously had. "I have."

"Well?"

"You're sure you don't have a preference?"

"Unless you want to name your daughter after an ex-girlfriend of mine…I got nothing."

Leia narrowed her eyes at him and then said, "My father used to call me a nickname, it meant little princess. I thought, since you like calling me princess so much, that you would like the idea."

Han smiled. "I do. What is it?"

"Amira. But mostly Bail called me Mira, for short."

"Amira Solo." Han brought his daughter down from his shoulder to cradle her in his arms. Looking down at her, he said, "She's smiling, I think she likes it."

"That's gas, Han. You didn't burp her correctly."

He brought the baby back up onto his shoulder and shot Leia a look. But before he could say anything the baby burped loudly. Han laughed and said, "Well, I guess that's that, then."