Chapter 34

AN: Once again, thank you Steph for posting this. And of course to all the readers. J

Luke stood behind the massive doors, straightening his yellow jacket and black shirt under it once more, glancing over at Han who was wearing a nice collared shirt and vest, though it was a lot like what he had before. He was pacing slightly.

"Relax," Luke told him. "Don't forget to breath."

Han shot him a glance. "I can't. These type of things make me nervous," he admitted.

"Han Solo gets nervous?" Luke asked jokingly.

"I just don't fit with all these types."

"You are one of us now though. A rebel," Luke reminded him

"Don't count on it, Junior. I have debts to take care of," Han corrected him.

Luke just sighed in response, but nothing could bring him down.

At that moment there was a fanfare from somewhere in the large ancient throne room as the heavy doors slowly swung open. Han and Luke shared a small smile as they saw the hundreds of Rebels standing in lines, facing the aisle, hands folded behind their backs at attention. Both men and the Wookie were in awe at how many people there were. People there to watch them receive awards.

The trio descended the stairs and into the aisle. Both men were smiling, and share another quick sidewise glance while Chewie growled with a bark, his own version of a smile. Leia stood up on the other end of the room, dressed in white, her hair pulled up and twisted; she wore a silver belt, silver necklace and her sheer sleeves were attached to the dress.

As the trio ascended to stairs at the other end, to where Princess Leia and the other commanding officers stood, all the Rebels turned to face them in one solid, crisp movement. The three continued up the stairs to face Leia, Luke and Han together with Chewie standing a bit behind and to the right of Han. Leia turned to Han, then Luke, trying to keep the smile off her face and to look serious. It failed though, when Luke looked up at her and smiled, causing Leia to smile as well. As she turned to General Dodonna, who was handing her the metals, Leia looked down at Han and smiled which Han mirrored.

Leia carefully took the metal from Dodonna and Han bent is head slightly so she could place it around his neck.

He smiled at her and gave a small wink and she just gave a small half smile.

Luke took a deep breath to calm his nerves then looked over at C-3PO with a small smile, trying to stop himself from bouncing on the balls of his feet as Leia turned to him, a metal in her hand.

He bent his head down as she placed it around his neck, looked at it in amazement, then up at her with a smile. In unison, Luke and Han both bowed to Leia, showing their respect.

A few beeps sounded then they turned to see R2, fully functioning and Luke gave a small laugh at seeing the little droid who looked almost new. He marched over to 3PO with another beep as Luke, Han and Chewie turned to face the assembly of Rebels who were all applauding. Chewie gave a few howls while Luke and Leia grinned and even Han showed a nervous smile.

Luke scanned through the applauding crowd, looking for Ari, wanting to share this moment with her also. His gaze paused on the only figure in the crowd not wearing a uniform.

His eyes grew large as he saw the same familiar blue eyes looking back at him. "Ari…" he whispered with a dumbfounded look on his face.

Ari was wearing the soft light lavender dress with a silver belt that formed a V across her waist and it matched the small simple silver chain necklace she wore as well. Her shoes were more like sandals with thick heels causing her to look slightly taller than she actually was. Her blonde hair had been curled, then it was all twisted and pinned like an elaborate bun save for two pieces. These were loose and curled, framing her face softly. She had a soft amount of lip gloss and a light amount of shimmering lavender eyeshadow, drawing attention immediately to her eyes.

She smiled up at him, then blushed slightly, seeing his eyes were locked on her. 'What is he thinking?' she wondered still clapping.

"Attention, please," Leia announced, voice fighting to be heard over the deafening cheers, holding up her hands to quiet the crowd down. Slowly, the cheers and applause died down and Leia smiled slightly at the backs of Luke and Han, then Ari, finally out to the crowd. "We have paid a great price, for a great victory," she told them solemnly.

The Rebels started to drop their heads slowly. "We shall never forget them, nor shall we allow their memories to die. Tonight, at our banquet, we will not be celebrating for just this great victory against the Empire. We shall also be celebrating the lives and dreams of all our brave comrades, those who have fallen and those who are still with us," she finished, motioning to Luke, Han and Chewie, nodding her head to end the ceremony.

The room erupted in cheers again, breaking formation, some coming to see Luke, Han and Chewie, while the rest of the crowd filed out of the room and to the celebration instead of fighting the crowd to reach the front of the front of the room.

In a quick moment, Ari was up the stairs and hugged Luke tight. "I am so proud of you," she exclaimed.

After a moment, he held her at arms length looking at her, not seeing or hearing anyone talking to him. He just studied her, mouth still hanging open slightly, eyes looking her over.

"Please say something…" Ari commented with a small nervous laugh.

"You look…" Luke started.

"Beautiful. You look like a Princess yourself," Han commented with a smile, joining the two. He gave a low whistle as Ari turned to face him and Luke shot him a glare.

Ari blushed, glancing down slightly. "Thank you," she replied. She felt strange with not just the attention she was receiving, but how she felt overall. She had never worn makeup before and it was a strange, almost completely new feeling to be wearing a dress.

Luke nodded and took her hand, squeezing it for a moment. "You do," he agreed with Han, before dropping her hand gently.

Before Ari could speak, a group of technicians came to congratulate Luke, Han and Chewie, talking expressively with handshakes and pats on the back.

Leia slipped away from talking to General Dodonna when she saw Ari just standing there, a bit uncertain about what she should do.

"Come on," she told her, motioning with her head to the doorway. "They will come around to their senses, and hopefully smaller egos.

Ari gave a small laugh and nodded, following Leia to the doorway and to the celebration occurring in the banquet halls.

Luke was finally able to look over the shoulders of some of the men but couldn't see Ari anywhere and he sighed, running a hand through his hair.

"Hey come on Kid, the party already has started," Han grinned over at him as the sounds and laughter echoed down the hallway and into the ancient throne room, where the crowd was beginning to dissipate.

Luke nodded and started down the stairs with Han, Chewie and the rest of the remaining Rebels.