A/N: Apologies for taking so long to get this chapter up. I hope you enjoy!

We Have a Word for That

"Godsdammit, Threepio! Why are you in my apartment this early?"

"Oh! Mistress Leia, you startled me!"

She quickly tied the sash of her shimmersilk robe and rounded on the droid standing in her kitchen.

"What is this?" Leia gestured to the box on the counter her translator was fussing around, "You know what? Just move. Let me see."

"I didn't mean to wake you, Minister. I am terribly sorry if I have disturbed you. I will be leaving now."

Leia grabbed the box and shook it in his direction, "Oh no, Threepio. You are staying right there. What is this?"

"Mistress Leia, I would not –"

"Threepio …"

"Well, ma'am, Capitain Solo –"

"Captain Solo?"

"Yes, ma'am. Captain Solo asked me to pick you up breakfast from the Corellian bakery in the Ward 12 Intergalactic District. He said –"

Leia set the box down, none too gently. Whatever was in there was surely a crumbly mess by now.

"Threepio, you are my droid. You are not to take orders from Han Solo or anyone else."

"But ma'am –"

"No buts."

"Well, I try to do a nice thing, and this is what I get for it. Captain Solo expressed the worry that you were not eating properly, and I daresay that I must agree with him. For a human female of your age and height, you are underweight."

She was only half-listening to the golden droid ramble as she opened the box on her countertop near the warming unit, revealing two very sugary breakfast rolls. Even in her distraction, she caught the mention of Han's assessment of her physical appearance. It put a little smile on her face to know he had looked – and that he was at least concerned about her. Concerned enough to contact Threepio which was, for Han, a true feat of courage.

"Threepio?"

"Yes, Mistress Leia."

"I'll see you in my office in an hour."

"Can I do anything else for you?"

Leia placed her hands on the counter and stared at the rolls. She was just tired: they meant nothing, despite her momentary optimism.

"No, Threepio, that will be all."

The droid obeyed her, and exited her apartment with a florid apology and goodbye. Safely alone, she picked one pastry up and took a bite. She nearly gagged on the sweetness. The roll went back in the box, and the box went into her freezer unit. She'd pawn them off on Luke – whose sweet tooth was almost as legendary as his heroic deeds – and forget Han had sent them over.

Leia punched in the code on her beverage machine for strong caf, and headed toward her bedroom to get ready for the day.

The Minister of State stared at her reflection. When she was younger, she could afford to go without the sleep. Now, though, she saw the toll taken on her face – the dry patches of skin, the dark circles under her eyes – for staying awake most of the night. Her memory of the time she spent looking at Han's file was blurry, but her confusion was crystal clear. He was trying to worm his way back into her life, that was plain enough, but why? It looked as if he had a good life without her, she had a good life without him, so why tempt the Force to screw it all up?

She was going to bed early tonight.

Lisi Nix was in Leia's office immediately after their early Cabinet meeting. The door was barely closed before the Commerce Minister launched at the Minister of State.

"You were a million parsecs away in there!"

"I'm just distracted."

"I've never seen you distracted like that. What's going on, Leia?" Lisi gently lowered herself into one of Leia's guest chairs, "What are you thinking about?"

"What am I thinking about?" she asked and shook her head, "Honestly, I'm thinking about how I like the idea of having Han Solo around a bit too much."

"Leia, need I remind you …?"

"I know. You don't need to remind me."

"Well, based on what I saw in that meeting yesterday, he is every bit the unreasonable jerk you described. A very attractive jerk, certainly, but a jerk nonetheless."

Leia chewed her lip. She needed to focus and she needed to get Lisi out of her office. A conversation about Han Solo would accomplish neither goal.

At her friend's silence, the Commerce Minister changed course, "Okay, wrong tactic. You don't want me to commiserate with you about what an awful guy he is."

"I fell in love with him for a reason, Lisi."

"That was so long ago."

"But I never fell out of love with him."

"Then why aren't you bonded to him now, with a whole brood of Solo babies?"

The pain in Leia's chest surprised her. She knew that, for a while, Luke had had visions – dreams – of her possible children. He'd done his best to hide the fact, but she knew. And she knew, and knew her brother knew, that the only universe in which Leia Organa would have children was a universe in which Han Solo was the father of those children.

"Base One to Organa, do you copy?"

Leia shook the thoughts from her head, "Sorry."

"I know this isn't the best time or place … but Leia, attractive jerk or no, why did you turn down his proposal?"

"He left me."

"Leia."

"You know this. We fought for nearly a week after the fall of Coruscant. He practically begged me to he just snapped. After two days of imploring me to accept his offer, he shut down. He stopped talking to me, slept in the cockpit of the Falcon, locked his co-pilot out. And … and then he was gone."

"And …?"

"Right, right," Leia made a dismissive gesture with her hand, "You've heard this story before."

"I guess I still don't see what he did wrong. One's ego can only handle so much of a beating."

Leia smirked at that, "Don't I know."

Lisi smiled back, "Yeah, I know you do."

The Minister of State drew in a breath and sobered, deciding the quickest way to end the conversation was to be forthright, "I was scared."

"Of him?"

"No, no. Everything was too fragile then, before the new government, before we were sure of permanent victory. I was afraid that if I held on to tightly, it would all shatter. I really didn't think he'd leave me."

"Did you tell him you were scared?"

"I couldn't ever get it out."

"Fear is always a self-fulfilling prophecy."

"You sound like my brother."

Lisi leaned forward with a glint in her eye, "Maybe I have untapped Force potential."

"Be careful what you wish for."

"Oh, I don't wish for it," Lisi searched her friend's face, "What are you going to do about him?"

"Han?"

"Yes, Han!"

"Nothing."

"Oh, come on. The love of your life – nerf's ass that he might be – just reappeared after seven years."

"He isn't … wasn't, isn't … the love of my life. Don't be dramatic."

"I've seen you deal with ex-lovers before, and I know I haven't ever seen you this affected."

"We went through a lot together and I owe my life to him, several times over. It's just strange to see him, that's all."

"Strange ... you mean, strangely exhilarating? You just said you liked the idea of having him around."

Leia favored her colleague with a sarcastic smile, "Look, it doesn't mean starting anything is a good idea."

"Says the revolutionary. Was it a good idea to try to overthrow the Empire?"

"It was the right idea."

Lisi made a sound like a choked laugh and shook her head. Her striking purple eyes met Leia's, "The galaxy just dropped Han Solo back in your lap. When life gives you teewieberries …"

"Make teewieberry juice. Yes, yes – cute. I know."

Lisi rose, leaned across Leia's desktop, elbows locked and hands flat on the glass surface, and whispered, "I bet Han Solo doesn't have, ahem, teewieberries. I bet he has – "

The former Princess of Alderaan swatted the Republic Commerce Minister with a thick flimsy folder before she could finish the sentence.

"Out!"

"Just remarking," She smiled as she backed toward the door, "Who knows, maybe you'll get to make something with those … not teewieberries that just fell into your lap."

"LISI! Out!"

"I'm going, I'm going," she reached the door and palmed the control panel, still smiling.

"Good."

Lisi stepped into the buzz of the outer office, tossed a glance over her shoulder, and spoke in a sing-song voice, "Teewie-berries …"

Leia rolled her eyes, but the heat still crept up her neck. It was childish to blush over her friend's comments. Lisi, who grew up in a culture much more permissive and open – and frankly more lowbrow – than Alderaan's, always goaded Leia about her love life. Crassly. Leia'd probably told Lisi at some point during their friendship that sex with Han was the best sex she'd had with anyone. And it was the truth: other men were boring, fumbling, or selfish in comparison. Sometimes all three at once.

This was a dangerous spacelane her thoughts were in. "Sex" and "Han" were not things she wanted to think about at all, especially not with work to do. But she couldn't help …

Her comm beeped, pulling her back to reality.

"Yes?"

"We've, uh, got a problem, Minister," Jas nearly whispered.

"What?"

"A certain someone is here."

"You have got to be kidding me. Call security."

"We, um, have. He's not cooperating. Do you want him detained?"

Leia rubbed her temples, "No, no. That'll make it worse. Did he say what he wants?"

"Well, at the moment he is threatening a Government Security agent …"

"It's not even 0800. Why is he here?"

"To see you?"

"Tell him," Leia drew in a breath to ease her anger, "Tell him that if he wants to see me, he needs to make an appointment like every other being in the galaxy."

"Yes, Minister. Hold on."

She drummed her thumbs on the desk as she waited for the connection to go live again. There hadn't been any blaster fire yet and, she thought wryly, at least that was a good sign.

"Minister?"

"Yes, Jas?"

"Is tomorrow at 1530 fine with you? I can squeeze him in between the Senate hearing and the Rodian delegation … you're all booked up for today. By the way, have you decided which event you're attending tonight?"

She groaned, "Fine. Just get him to leave. And we'll talk about tonight later."

"Alright, then," Jas suddenly cut off and she could hear muted voices over the connection. She hoped it wasn't Han making another scene.

"Sorry," her lead assistant's voice came on clearly again, "Deputy Minister Apooravanamu is here for your meeting."

"Send him in. And get Solo out."

Yvarti Apooravanamu dipped his head in a slight bow to Leia as he entered her office. She returned the silent greeting and gestured for him to take a seat. Apooravanamu had been many things in life, but had spent most of it as a Raadhi, or chief mediator, on his home planet. He was reserved and exceedingly fair. Watching him sit, Leia could read the physical signs of his observation of her, and of the situation outside her office. He seemed to be constantly balancing the facts of the galaxy in his head.

"Minister, if I may ask, what was going on with that man outside?"

"It's not terribly important. He's just someone that I used to know, fought together in the Alliance. Member of the NTF delegation."

Apooravanamu steepled his fingers, pressing the tips of his index fingers to his lips, "Is he someone I should be aware of, before I go to the meeting this afternoon?"

"His information is here, along with the rest of the delegation's" Leia slid the thick flimsy file across her desk toward her deputy. He didn't pick it up.

"He's the reason you're recusing yourself."

"I don't want to endanger our negotiations."

"Understandable, Minister," he nodded toward the file, "This is sensitive enough to use flimsy?"

"I don't want these talks leaked just yet."

"And you have your own pod in the race."

She leaned back, "What do you mean?"

The man finally dropped his hands to the arms of his chair, revealing a small smile, "I mean that you don't want tongues wagging about General Han Solo showing up trying to sweep the Republic Minister of State off her feet and help out his business in the process. And yes, Minister, I know exactly who he is. I know it is rare, but I keep up on my galactic history, you know."

Leia colored slightly, chastised, "I'm keeping my distance for political reasons as much as personal ones. It'll come out eventually."

"You're doing the right thing. The NTF proposal is simple and I'm sure we will come to a mutually beneficial arrangement. They may even take your offer from yesterday since they aren't in the best position to negotiate."

"No, you're right, they aren't. I'll need a memo after the meeting, but I trust you to get this done and leave the Republic better off."

Grabbing the file in front of him, Apooravanamu stood, "Minister, I don't mean to be presumptuous, but I would recommend to you to not push Han Solo away right now. If he wants to talk with you, let him talk with you. If he gets angry, or feels slighted, he could blow the whole deal. I don't know what would happen then, but making the NTF an enemy of the Republic would be the seeds of a disaster. You've tolerated him before. Tolerate him again for a little while."

"I don't think – "

"Minister, you know what takes up the most time of a Raadhi?"

"Hmm?"

"Un-bondings, divorces. And I can tell you that the problem with mediating those kinds of conflicts is that the parties must get along enough to negotiate because even though they may hate one another, in order to come to the best outcome for all, they need to work together."

He stared down at her.

"Yes, yes, I get it."

"Don't make the galaxy pay for your personal affronts," he smiled that small smile again, "Although, if it makes you feel any better, based on what I saw outside your office, he does appear to be a gasha-ran."

"Gasha-ran?"

"A rude insult. Roughly translates to 'bird phallus' in Basic."

Leia grinned. It was a good description.