DRIVING THE CRAZIES
Chapter 6
(Leia)
Five more days of negotiations pass. Han has work commitments, and we really haven't gotten far. We have worked out a bit of agreement in some aspects of the ryll trade and an agreement to hold elections in three months, but it's Mon Mothma's (and my) opinion that we will get no further at this point. Diplomacy is slow work. We'll be back. But I'm glad to leave. If things get ugly, we'll have to send a garrison, but I'm hoping it won't come to that.
We get on the Falcon, strapping in for the ride home. Han warns that we'll likely not be able to escape some weather, meaning, get the barf containers out. I'm mostly used to it, having flown through far worse with Han. Any flight where we're not being shot at is, to my mind, a good flight.
It's a pretty quiet ride back. We discuss some things, but it's been a nervewracking five days and there's a lot I'd just as soon forget. I think the entire delegation is fed up. Thing One and Thing Two actually fall asleep. Thing Two went out and got drunk with some fellow Lorellians the other night, and while he had a ripping bad hangover, he was actually able to move us a bit forward. The sacrifices we make for peace and democracy.
Despite the misery of dealing with the Lorellians, there were some bright spots that were in the form of making love with my husband. And not just making love, but making a baby. I'm not sure if it took on this trip, but I really don't think it'll be long before Han and will learn that we're going to be parents. I denied for a long time about wanting children, but now, I can't wait for it to happen.
I close my eyes as the Falcon's ion engines hum to life and imagine myself as a mother. I wonder how large my stomach will get, and what it will feel like to be carrying life itself inside of me. What will it be like to give birth to this infant? How will I feel as I hold our child for the first time, nurse him or her, how soft his or her skin and hair will be?
It dawns on me why peace and democracy are so important to me.
It's because future generations depend on it. And Han and I are actively involved in creating those who will live there.
It matters.