The Legion Renewed
Chapter Twenty-Five
Leia made it out of the studio building before the full realization of what she had just done hit her, and she leaned back against the building with groan. The election was over. She had lost. Even if she turned right back around and marched back inside, there was no saving face. She might as well go back inside and make a concession speech.
But not tonight. Please, Deities, not tonight. She'd just lost her career, the only thing left in her life after driving Han away. There'd be time tomorrow to make it official.
She'd screwed up, and screwed up big time.
Leia had just screwed her political career. She had also screwed up any chance at happiness in her marriage. She had managed to ruin just about every facet of her life, and she had managed to do it all on her own.
She'd have to tell Han how she embarrassed him tonight, if he didn't already know. The thought made her wince inside.
Fortunately, her transport was there waiting for her, and security had made sure there were no reporters blocking the candidates' exit. She got into the transport and told the 'droid driver to go "Anywhere, but here."
"A specific destination, please."
Leia sighed. "Fine. Take me to the spaceport." It would take time to get there through the cavern transport system, but she didn't care. She wasn't in a hurry to face Han.
.
.
.
Han kept the broadcast on for a while and watched the political commentators scramble madly to find something to say when the debate hadn't gone at all like they'd expected. The most they managed to come up with was that they were "surprised," and would "have to wait to see what the people thought."
Han was delighted. Leia had thrown everyone for a loop, including himself. He looked over at Chewbacca and laughed. "They don't know what to do with her," he said.
Chewbacca woofed agreement. He and Han didn't know what to do with her, either.
Eventually the broadcast went back to its "regularly scheduled programming," and Han switched it off. Immediately, the request for entry chime sounded.
"That's probably her," Han said, figuring she'd come back here after her little show. He went to the control panel and opened the door at the top of the gangplank. He took a step onto the gangplank to greet Leia, and instead saw a horde of reporters begin swarming up towards him.
"What the-" Han began.
"Captain Solo!" shouted one. "What did you think of your wife's speech?"
"Did you see it?" shouted another.
Microphones were shoved into his face from all directions.
"Was her walk-out planned?"
"Did you know she was going to do that?"
"Were you really a smuggler?"
The questions came flying thick and fast, one right on top of the other, most he couldn't even hear because of the sheer number and noise.
The reporters started to shrink back down the ramp even before Han could draw his blaster, and Han knew that Chewbacca had stepped onto the gangplank behind him.
As soon as Han opened his mouth, the din fell silent. "I'm only gonna say this once," Han said, "And then I'm gonna shoot the next reporter or cameraman or news 'droid that sets foot on my ship. I saw her speech. I loved it. And just about everything everybody has ever said about me is true, including the fact that I hate reporters and would like nothing better than a good excuse to blast one into the next star system. Now, go! Leave my ship alone!"
The reporters were encouraged to do exactly that by Han's blaster, which was now drawn, and especially by the huge hairy bulk with large fangs that had just stepped around Han and was waving his arms wildly to shoo them away.
.
.
.
The request for entry chime rang softly, but Han just lay on his bed staring up at the ceiling of his cabin in the Falcon. It was probably just another reporter that had slipped past Chewbacca's guard. Sometimes, when Chewie was busy having too much fun scaring one off, another managed to get past him, although the number of chimes had gotten fewer and fewer over the course of the last couple of hours. Han had been ignoring them for the better part of the night, and turned the volume way down. He was still thinking about the speech, and every time he thought about the bleeped parts, he started laughing again. It took him a moment to register that the entry chime had only rung once, when those damn reporters insisted on ringing it a dozen or more times in the space of a second, and he rolled over and switched on the viewer.
It was Leia.
She hesitated, started to reach for the chime button again, then changed her mind and turned away.
Han quickly reached for the answer button. He didn't want her to leave. "Hey!"
"Han, please let me in. I need to see you."
"Sure." He hit the switch that lowered the gangplank, and went to meet her in the passenger lounge.
"Did you see?" she asked.
Han gave her a lopsided grin. "I saw."
Leia dropped into the nearest chair with a loud groan. "So did half a billion other people. Just shoot me with your blaster, will you, and put me out of my misery."
Han laughed.
"I'm serious," she insisted. Then she opened her eyes and looked at him, and she really was serious. "I'm sorry, Han. You were absolutely right. I was putting my career first, and taking you for granted. I'm sorry for putting you through all that. I'm sorry for dragging you through public scrutiny. I'm sorry I embarrassed you in front of half a billion people."
Han bent down and kissed her on the top of the head. "I forgive you." What did he care about public opinion?
He moved behind the chair and began rubbing her shoulders, but she pulled away and stood up. "You won't forgive me for the rest of what I have to tell you."
"Oh?"
"I...seem to have a problem controlling my temper, and I‑‑‑what I'm trying to say, Han, is that I...I really screwed things up for you with your grandmother. I'm sorry. I‑‑‑right before we left Corellia, I told her off, and I-"
"You told her off?" Han was delighted.
"Yes, and I...I'm sorry, Han. I called her a 'no-good, scum-feeding, mannerless nerf-herder.'"
Han chuckled, "What is it with politicians and 'nerf-herders'? Is that the most insulting thing you can think of?" He moved around from the chair to stand in front of her, and put his hands on her shoulders. "We're going to have to work on your vocabulary, Sweetheart, although after what I think you said tonight, that shouldn't be too difficult."
"And I threw your medallion at her. That's why I couldn't wear it at the dinner."
He started nuzzling her neck.
"And I‑‑‑Oh, Han, stop that. I can't think straight when you do that."
"Good," he murmured, and nuzzled her some more.
"I told her I was‑‑‑I was adopted and that‑‑‑that I didn't care if you were or weren't the last baron of Hanaar." She was finding it more and more difficult not to be distracted.
He stopped then, and she wished he wouldn't, forgetting that she had just told him to stop a moment before. "Do you?" he asked.
Now he was running a finger up her spine.
"Do I, what?" Leia asked, forgetting what the question was.
"Care."
"Oh. Yes. I mean‑‑‑no! Not about that.."
"Good. He began kissing her neck again.
She sighed contentedly, then remembered he was supposed to be mad at her, and pulled away. "Hey!"
"What?"
"Aren't you‑‑‑I mean...you're mad at me...aren't you?"
"Do I look mad?" He picked up where he had left off before she pulled away.
"Mmmmmmmaaay...Maybe you just...Maybe you you're just not getting what I'm trying to tell you."
"Oh, I got it," Han said agreeably. "You ruined my life, and now you're apologizing. I wish you'd stop."
"Stop what?" She didn't want him to stop.
"Apologizing. Stop apologizing, and kiss me."
"Oh. Okay."
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.
.
They slept in late the next morning, and even then didn't rise until well into mid-day. There were no more reporters. Chewie must have chased them all off. If he had come back inside, they didn't hear him. They had talked about Han's taking the job on Corellia, not as a reenlistment, but as a civilian "advisor," which Han was pretty sure Taj would agree to. They talked about arranging his contract so that they could plan "conjugal visits." They talked about the weather on Coruscant, and exactly which words Leia had used that had been "bleeped." They talked about her concession speech, and a few other "bleep" words she could use that she didn't know before Han taught them to her. They talked about Han dropping her off at Coruscant before continuing on to Corellia. They talked about the possibility of Leia getting a job as a political assistant to Mon Mothma. They talked about a lot of things they had never talked about before, and a few that they had.
Eventually, though, Leia noticed how late it had gotten, and started feeling guilty. She kissed Han soundly, got up, threw his robe on, and headed for the shower.
"Hey, that's my robe!" Han complained.
In answer, Leia wiggled her rear end at him through the robe, and kept going.
Han laughed. "If that's supposed to be seductive, it ain't working."
"It's not," came the answer through the door.
Han pulled on his pants and turned on the broadcast monitor. He was surprised to see his own face on the screen, over the backs of heads of a couple of reporters. His blaster was drawn, and repeating what he had said the night before, "I'm only gonna say this once, and then I'm gonna shoot the next reporter or cameraman or news 'droid that sets foot on my ship."
"What?" came a question from the other side of the door.
"Nothing," Han replied. He turned the sound down, and sat on the bed to watch.
The recorded Han went on. "I saw her speech. I loved it. And just about everything everybody has ever said about me is true, including the fact that I hate reporters and would like nothing better than a good excuse to blast one into the next star system. Now, go! Leave my ship alone!"
Then Chewbacca filled the camera, and the picture jounced and tilted as the camera operator beat a hasty retreat. Han grimaced. He'd have to ask Leia's forgiveness, it seemed.
The scene switched back to political commentators, the same political commentators Han had watched the night before. One of them laughed. "Apparently the Princess's husband isn't the only one who loved her speech. Her popularity in the polls continues to rise. We project another eight to ten points before the numbers start leveling off."
"You know," said the other commentator, smiling good-naturedly, "I can appreciate her husband's reaction to the reporters. I've had similar problems with some of my fans, and have sometimes wished I had someone like Captain Solo's co-pilot to chase them away."
"He certainly is a character, isn't he?" said the other. "And he's becoming just about as popular as the Princess is. Let's see what some of our viewers think."
The scene switched to outside, where a rather plumpish couple were taking turns looking into the camera and talking into the microphone. The woman said something about how 'handsome' Captain Solo was, and Han shuddered, considering the source. The man said that the Princess had his vote. Then someone with obviously more intelligence commented that "It's about time somebody told Bragma to stick to the issues. The fact that Princess Organa had the nerve to do it shows that she'll have the nerve to go against popular opinion when the situation calls for it."
Han watched, fascinated, as person after person raved about Leia's walk-out, and a few talked about him, as well. She was called "refreshing" and "gutsy" and a whole lot of other adjectives. Only one or two had anything negative to say. One didn't like the fact that she lost her temper. Another said that he liked her, but she was "a bit young to be taking on senatorial responsibilities."
The screen returned to the commentators. "Young," said one, following up on the last interviewee, "but not inexperienced." The other went on to list Leia's credentials as a senator from Alderaan, and the first one added her contributions in the Rebel Wars, as the Rebellion against the Empire had come to be called.
Leia eventually came out of the shower and headed for Han's closet, not seeing the screen. "Do you mind if I borrow some of your clothes? All mine are back at the hotel. I'll need to change before I make my concession speech, of course, but I‑‑‑"
"Leia," Han interrupted, "You may want to see this before you go making any 'concession' speeches."
He turned the sound up.
"No one has seen hide nor hair of the Princess since she walked out of the debate. She hasn't returned to her hotel room, and reporters can't seem to get near her husband's ship."
"She's probably just letting events take their natural course," said the other commentator. "It's a shrewd move, and puts all the more pressure on Bragma to respond."
"Almost as shrewd as walking out of the debate," the first commentator agreed.
Leia stared in disbelief. "'Shrewd'?" she asked.
"Just wait," Han told her.
One commentator put his hand up to his ear for a second. "I'm just receiving word now that Bragma will be making a statement in a few minutes or so."
"Will it be a concession statement, do you think?" the other asked.
"Probably. The Princess is so far ahead of him in the polls that he might as well."
Leia stared. "All I did was lose my temper."
Han turned off the screen and stood in front of it with his arms folded, regarding her. "Leia," he said, "you don't seem to get it. It's when you lose your temper that you're at your most attractive. Nobodly likes a wimpy princess. Especially me."
She laughed. "The Princess and the Pirate. Sounds like a 'B' rated entertainment."
"Hey, I like the B's."
"Truth be told, so do I." Then she sighed. "But this isn't really going to work, is it?"
"What isn't?"
"You, me-" she gestured around. "This."
"Nah, you're right. I hate politics. I don't want to be following you around like a trained mortu, and Deities know I don't want to be a first-husband or anything like that."
"So…" Leia was almost afraid to ask, but knew she had to. "What do you want to do? Get a divorce or something?"
"Nah, nothing like that," Han replied. "But I been thinking I'd like to take Taj up on his offer."
"And you want me to come with you?"
"No. I want you to stay here-or on Coruscant, wherever-doing what you want to do, and I'll come visit when I can."
"Or want to," Leia added.
He grinned. "Or want to. Give me more reasons like you did last night, and you'll see more of me than you can handle."
Leia sighed and let herself be folded into his arms. "Married couples are supposed to be together."
"Says who? Besides, I figure we can be together without really…being together all the time." He cupped her chin and tilted it up. "You love politics, right?"
"It's what I was raised to."
"Well, I can't stand politics. Or having to worry about which spoon to use, or what the right thing to say is."
"It's called 'etiquette,' Han."
"Whatever. You can have it. So we both do our own thing, come together in between. It'll work."
"Okay," she said.
"Okay? Just like that?"
"Just like that. When do you want to leave?"
He grinned. "Day after tomorrow. I'll be on my best behavior tomorrow, give you a nice show of solidarity, whatever you need to clinch this election-not that you really need it-pick you up in a week, and take you to Coruscant. How's that?"
"Perfect," she said, and kissed him. "I'll tell the docking crew to unlock your weapons."
"Don't bother, I've already done it."
"You already-" She groaned, knowing that they were still officially locked.
Han looked at her and spread his hands. "Hey, it's me, remember?"