Han had commed Leia to tell her he was headed back and she told him that she had brought the children out to the resort pool to expend some of their endless energy.
When he arrived back he headed straight there to see them. He could hear his children before he saw them, giggling and laughing and playing some sort of game they'd made up – they were good at that sort of thing. "Hi, Daddy!" Anakin yelled from the water as Han walked to sit down next to where his wife was sprawled on a lounge chair in her swimsuit, sunglasses, and a large, floppy-brimmed had to shade the sun from her face.
"Daddy, come swim with us!" Jaina yelled.
"In a little while, guys. I need to talk to Mom first."
Leia peeked out from her sunglasses and Han leaned in to give her a quick kiss. "Hope they weren't too much trouble," he said.
She smiled. "None at all. As long as they're in the water they're happy as can be."
"Sure looks that way."
"Did you find her?"
"Not yet," Han said. "But I did meet her daughter."
"And what did you find out?"
Han told her the story, of the things that he had remembered and the things the woman had told him, and she held his hands between hers as he spoke.
"Would you like to come back with me tomorrow?" Han asked.
Leia smiled. "Of course. I'd love to."
"Great," he said before leaning in to kiss her again. "Now," he continued. "On to more important things. You still up for that Mommy and Daddy time tonight that we talked about?"
"Wouldn't miss it," she said with a seductive smile on her face. "You just arrange for dinner, I'll make sure the kids are occupied, and we'll see what happens from there."
"You got a deal," Han said with a wink, knowing full well exactly what would happen from there.
Han and Leia had bet that a long day at the pool would make for some very tired little Solos and hoped they would not have much trouble falling asleep early and quick. The children had played for hours, Han and Leia taking turns joining them in the water or sometimes taking them on together.
It was difficult to drag them away from the pool at the end of the day even though it was apparent all three children were exhausted. Upon finally surrendering, they were fed and bathed and in their pajamas and while Leia sat in their room and told them a story before bedtime, Han readied their dinner table and waited for their food to be delivered. He somewhat missed cooking while away from home, but it sure beat having to do the dishes.
Once the food arrived, Han set it out and then walked into the kids' bedroom and saw Leia speaking quietly while their three young children were fighting to keep their eyes open. The couple smiled at one another and Leia finished up her story before kissing each of her children on their foreheads, Han following to do the same and then creeping out of the room.
"You hungry, sweetheart?"
"Starved."
"Good, because I've got just the thing for that."
He slipped his hand into hers and led her out onto the terrace that overlooked the beautiful Corellian skyline, aglow with thousands of twinkling lights. "Candles, huh? Fancy," she said.
"Only the best for my girl."
He pulled her chair out for her and she sat before he filled their wine glasses and settled in across from her at the small table. They ate and talked about their time on Corellia, the things they had seen, funny things the children had said or done over the past couple of days and how delicious the meal was.
"I'm really glad we came here, Han," Leia said. "It's been nice to spend this much time with the kids. And I think they even still like us."
He smiled somewhat sadly, thinking about the vacations he never had as a kid. He thought again about the guilt he felt at not being able to save his mother. But then he looked up at Leia's beautiful brown eyes reflecting the candlelight and remembered vividly the day that he had met her, after having flown into the debris of what was once her home planet. She'd lost her whole world. Although when a child is as young as Han was when he'd lost his parents, they pretty much make up their whole world.
He knew her guilt tore at her sometimes. She'd still wake up from nightmares, seeing it all happening again. Wishing there was some way he could take the pain away all he could ever do was hold her and assure her that he would always be there for her and it wasn't her fault.
He did find that she enjoyed talking about the happy memories she'd shared with her father. He wondered if she remembered as far back as he now did. "What's the earliest memory you have?" he asked without really thinking about it.
Taking another bite of her dessert, Leia looked surprised to be asked such a question, then seemed to really ponder it. "I don't know, really. Why do you ask?"
Instead of telling her the real reason, he responded, "I just sometimes wonder what kind of stuff Jacen, Jaina and Anakin are going to remember about us when they get older."
"Well, hopefully not any of the mornings we'd go to get them when we were completely exhausted and looking like hell."
"Nah, I'm sure they only remember the good stuff. I hope they remember this trip. I've really enjoyed spending all this time together, just the five of us."
"Me, too." She ate another forkful of the sweet mousse on her plate and then looked up at the star-filled sky. "Well, let me think. I guess I remember some insignificant things from when I was pretty young. I don't really know how old, I just know what things looked like from my perspective. I can remember crawling up onto my father's bed when my eyes barely reached the mattress, and the little stuffed Ewok I used to carry around."
"I can hardly even picture you acting like a carefree little kid."
She smiled a little. "I'll admit I grew up a little too fast, but there was some time there very early on where I was mostly like anyone else."
"Except for the whole princess thing, right?"
She flashed him a grin. "Right, maybe except for that. I remember the way the field behind the house smelled. Anytime I'm near this certain type of flower I am immediately brought back there. I can almost feel the sun and hear my aunts yelling at me to come back inside."
"Sounds pretty nice."
She smiled. "It was. It was lonely at times, but I always felt safe." He gave her an uneasy smile, being fully reminded that safe was something he had never felt once he lost his parents. Sensing this, Leia reached a hand across the table and took his warmly, her fingers gently running up and down his. "Do you remember anything else besides the beach?"
He wasn't sure if he was ready to tell her the awful truth. "Kind of like you I mostly remember a few things here and there. Just holding my mother's hand and the way her hair smelled. Being in a small bedroom with posters of space ships on the wall when she'd tuck me in."
"You must've been a cute little kid," Leia said with a smile.
Han shrugged. "Probably. Although honestly, I don't really remember. I think Jacen looks a lot like I did, though."
"Well then," Leia replied, "now I know you were adorable."
Han smiled back at her. "We do make cute kids, sweetheart."
They were quiet for a few moments, and then Leia looked at him questioningly. "Do you remember the last time you saw your mother, Han?"
He held her gaze, wanting to shake his head and deny it. The images flashed in his mind once again and his vision was growing blurry.
She knew there was something he wasn't telling her. There was no way he could hide it. "It's all right, Han. You can tell me. Did she abandon you?"
He shook his head slowly, silent for a few moments. "I couldn't save her," he said in barely a whisper.
She stood up and moved to sit across his lap, holding him close as he continued. "I tried to pull her out with me but I was too small. I couldn't save her."
She kissed his forehead and held his head against her chest, rocking him gently back and forth. "It's all right, Han. I'm sure there was nothing you could've done."
He heard her words and thought of the times he'd said the same thing to her about her guilt over Alderaan. "I'm sorry, sweetheart. It's like I know there was nothing I could do but when I look back I just think maybe if I'd tried a little harder."
"Do you want to tell me what happened?"
He shook his head. "No. Not right now. I love our kids, and I just hope that they never have to see anything like what I saw."
"I feel the same thing. Let's just try and make sure they don't have to."
He pulled his head away from her and leaned up to kiss her slowly, tasting the sweet dessert on her lips. When his hands moved up her back he felt her shiver and decided that now might be a good time to go inside. "Ready for bed, sweetheart?"
Instead of answering, she simply stood and took his hand, starting to walk toward the doorway.
"Wait a sec," he said. "Just let me bring these dishes inside and I'll be right in."
"Don't be long," she replied as she sauntered toward the bedroom.
He smiled and went to clear the table as fast as he could.
A few minutes later Han entered the master bedroom, turning to lock the door behind him. The weight of his body moved the mattress and he rolled on his side to come up behind his wife, who was facing away from him with her eyes closed. He gently shook her and whispered. "Sweetheart? I'm back."
He trailed kisses along her arm, then stopped abruptly when she didn't stir. "Sweetheart?" he said again, sounding disappointed and then exhaling heavily in frustration at her silence before rolling over onto his back.
It was only a few more seconds before Leia rolled over on top of him and brought her face right against his, an impish smile on her face. "Just kidding," she said before leaning down to kiss him.