AN: Thanks for reviewing! Well, this story got longer than anticipated, so I decided to make it a three-parter instead of a two-parter.

"Meeting the Solos"

By EsmeAmelia

Chapter 2

As soon as Ben knocked on the door, he wanted to run. It was only Ara gripping his hand that kept him from doing so. Though she was rubbing his fingers in a comforting manner and giving him a reassuring smile, he couldn't banish the image of her squealing "Oh wow, THE Leia Organa and Han Solo!" and his parents' faces reddining in embarrassment from his mind.

He heard his parents whispering to each other behind the door and though he tried not to eavesdrop, he still heard his father whisper "they're here!" and his mother whisper "calm down, we don't want to embarrass Ben."

Before Ben could run, the door slid open and there were his parents standing in the doorway. Immediately there came a rush of excitement flowing from Ara, Leia, and Han at the same time, which brought a momentary bout of nausea to Ben's head and threatened to overwhelm his Force senses.

"Ara!" Han exclaimed a little too loudly for Ben's comfort, that Han Solo grin stretching across his face. "It's great to finally meet you!" He stuck out his hand, that grin still digging into his cheeks. "Ben's told us lots about you - don't worry, all good things."

"General Han Solo," Ara said in a hushed, awed voice as she shook Han's hand, and once again Ben wanted to run. This was exactly what he'd dreaded - his girlfriend looking at his parents with that awed hero worship he'd seen his parents put up with so often.

"And . . . Princess Leia Organa," Ara continued in that same hushed, awed voice, offering her hand for Leia to shake. "It's . . . amazing to finally meet you both."

Ben could sense that his girlfriend was trying to tone down the hero worship, but the awe was still flowing off of her.

"It's wonderful to meet you too," Leia said with a warm smile as she shook Ara's hand. "And don't worry about the formal titles - just call us Leia and Han."

"Sorry," said Ara, a dazed look in her eyes. "I mean, I told Ben not to worry, that I wouldn't get all dazzle-eyed or anything, but . . . shit, here I am doing just that."

"It's all right," said Leia.

"Yeah," said Han. "You're far from the worst hero-worshipper."

"Oh?" said Ara, cocking her head.. "Who was the worst?"

"Hard to say, but there was this one guy who followed me around for almost a month." Han grimaced at the memory. "Got so bad I couldn't leave home. Leia said I should get a restraining order, but it turned out I didn't need one cause Chewie threatened to pull the guy's arms off if he didn't stop stalkin' me."

Ara let out a laugh that sounded much more relaxed than she probably felt, which gave Ben an opportunity to clear his throat and remind his parents that he was here too. "Hey, I know you're all thrilled to meet my girlfriend, but could we maybe come in?"

"Of course, of course," said Leia, now smiling at her son. "I'm sorry, sweetheart, we've just, you know, been excited about this."

Before Ben could respond, he found himself wrapped up in one of Han's Dad hugs, as if he were apologizing for making things awkward. "C'mon in, both of you. We've got lunch ready."

. . .

Once they sat down to lunch, there was silence, as if everyone had a hundred questions to ask but was waiting for someone else to start a conversation. Ben's stomach was knotted so hard that he could barely eat and when he looked over at Ara, her eyes were darting around as if she thought she was being judged for her eating habits.

Finally Han cleared his throat. "So . . . " he said in an awkward voice, ". . . is this the part where I tell an embarrassing story from Ben's childhood? Cause I got a lot of 'em."

"Dad!" Ben groaned, his fork scraping against his plate.

"Actually, I'd like to hear a story about Ben's childhood," said Ara.

There was that Han Solo grin. "Good, cause I got plenty of 'em."

"Han, don't embarrass our son too much," said Leia in a knowing voice.

"Hey, I'm his father. It's my job to embarrass him." The Han Solo grin grew wider as he looked Ara in the eye, making Ben wish he could use the Force to sink into the floor. "Now let's see, I assume that Ben told you about how I went with him when he left to train with Luke?"

"Yes," said Ara, the awe still in her eyes. "By the way, I think that's a wonderful thing you did. Sacrificing so many years of a normal life so you could be with Ben."

Han's face rumpled the way it often did when he was confronted with hero worship. "I wanted to do it," he said, running a hand through his gray hair. "Anyway, one time when he was about thirteen, he wanted to send Leia an amazing Fete present, but he couldn't think of what to get her. He wanted it to be extra-special since, ya know, she couldn't visit us often. So he asked me what I thought he should give her and I had this great idea."

"What was it?" Ara's grin was slightly more relaxed now.

"He recorded an Alderaanian folk song and sent it to me," Leia said with a warm smile. "He sang it himself and everything."

"Awwww!" Ara exclaimed, squeezing Ben's hand and making his face heat up. "That's so sweet!"

"And," Leia continued, giving her husband a wry look, "Han sang with him for the chorus."

Ara squealed a tiny bit and Han's face rumpled again. "Okay, that has to be the cutest mental image I've ever had."

"All right, all right," said Ben, sticking his hand up. "Enough about me. Ara, why don't you tell Mom and Dad something about you?"

Ara gave Leia and Han awkward looks. "Okay, I guess that's fair. What do you want to know?"

"You could start with the basics," said Leia.

Ara licked her lips. "Not much to tell there. I grew up on Chandrila, the youngest of two daughters. My parents didn't fight in the Rebellion or anything glamorous like that - Mom's a chef and Dad's a teacher. My big sister Lavana - she's the high achiever of the family. She's a smashball player. Not galaxy-famous or anything like that - she plays in local tournaments, but my parents still act like it's the most amazing thing in the universe." She wrinkled her nose. "Part of the reason why I moved to Coruscant was to get away from that. I mean, don't get me wrong, I love my family, but they're a bit imposing." Suddenly her face twisted. "I guess that was more about my family than about me, wasn't it?"

"Yeah," said Han, "but it's fine. Meeting the in-laws, it's awkward."

"In-laws?" Ben exclaimed, nearly spitting out his Corellian stew. "Dad, we're not married!"

Ara put her hand on his shoulder. "It's okay, Ben. We're dating, so I don't mind calling them in-laws."

Ben took a deep breath, trying to harness the Force to calm himself, but opening his mind let images in - images that jumped out of the three minds around him. Different in setting and details, but identical in subject. Ara in a white dress and lacey veil, himself in a suit, their hands joined in front of a cheering crowd . . .

Suddenly his hands gripped the table in a vain attempt to steady himself. No, no, not now, please not now! His mind desperately grasped at the Force, trying to get to that calm spot where he went when interacting with patients and administering treatments, but the calm spot darted out of reach.

"I'm sorry!" he exclaimed, leaping to his feet and rushing out of the room.