And the Answer Is...

CHAPTER XIV

Leia Organa was not often speechless, but that was exactly how she found herself now. Though caught a bit off-guard at his question, looking into his eyes then, the love so clearly evident, she knew what her answer would be. It was something she’d fantasized about on occasion during her captivity; if things had been different and the two of them could’ve gotten married and lived a nice, simple life and grown old together. Could it actually become a reality?

She didn’t realize how long she’d been silent until Han’s brow furrowed in worry and he started speaking again. “I know I don’t have much and I know I haven’t lived the most honest life up until now, but I can’t imagine going on if I can’t spend the rest of my life with you.”

Reaching up and placing a finger to his lips, she felt the tears rising up in her eyes. “Han, I love you so much.”

The glassiness in his eyes mirrored her own. “Is that a yes?”

She nodded, the tears spilling over, “Yes,” and pressed her lips to his, a promise of their bond and hope for the future.

After a few moments of passion, Leia suddenly started laughing against his lips and he pulled away. “What’s so funny?”

“I was just thinking. You know, when we tell people that we’re going to get married they’re going to ask how you proposed.”

The grin that suddenly became plastered across his face was as wide as Jabba’s waist line. “You can just tell them that I had just finished passionately making love to you when I asked.”

“I’m not sure how appropriate that would be. ‘Well, Han had me pinned against the wall and was still inside me when he decided he wanted me to be his wife.’”

“I don’t see the problem.”

“You wouldn’t. We’ll come up with a back-up story later.”

He leaned in and kissed her again, this time much more gently. When he pulled away, he said, “While I love being this close to you, I don’t think I can hold you up much longer.”

“It’s okay, I won’t tell anyone,” she said just before he leaned away from the wall and lowered her feet to the ground.

After having endured nothing but pain and discomfort for months, it was a novel feeling to experience pleasure once again. Not just the physical, but to have someone there with her whom she loved more than anything and to have that love returned in full

The sudden rush of cold from no longer having his body pressed against hers was nearly unbearable. While he looked a little shaky and weak from their encounter, she decided she was okay with the minor consequences if it meant that they could both experience something like that once again. It had been far too long.

She looked up at him then, his face half-shaven and his long, wet hair still hanging down his neck, and decided that she’d have to take care of things. “Han, you need to let me finish shaving you.”

Seeming to be in no mood to argue, he took her outstretched hand and she led him back to the tub where they sat down on the edge facing one another. Somehow he managed to keep his hands to himself while she shaved him and then brought the shears up to cut his unruly hair, taking perhaps more time than she really needed as she ran her hands through the tangled strands on top of his head. She made it shorter than it had been since she’d known him, but it still made him look devastatingly handsome – though she suspected almost any haircut would.

She ran her hands along his smooth cheeks and smiled at the results of her efforts. “That’s better. Perfect for our engagement picture,” she teased.

“Right. Who has time for engagement pictures? Can’t we just get married right away?”

She smiled back at him, noting that the impatient excitement on his face resembled that of a child on his birthday when there were presents to be opened. “You sure you want to rush into it? You sure it wasn’t just the heat of the moment since it had been so long since we did this?”

He reached over and took her hand. “Sweetheart, I have wanted to marry you since the first time I kissed you, maybe even sooner. I want to wake up with you next to me every day for the rest of my life. I don’t ever want to have to go that long without touching you ever again.”

For a man who often seemed to thrive on being gruff and inappropriate, Han sure knew how to say the right thing when he needed to.

She leaned in close and touched her forehead to his. “I want that, too,” and then she kissed him, gently at first before Han responded much more hungrily.

After another round – or two, depending on how you counted – the reunited lovers had fallen asleep in each other’s arms in the large, warm bed. Leia’s head rested comfortably on Han’s chest, thoroughly warmed by the sound of his heart beating and the rise and fall of each breath that he took. She did not have a chance to savor either as the two of them had lost consciousness almost from the moment they shut their eyes.

All too soon, Leia saw light peeking out from behind her eyelids and opened her eyes to see the morning light streaming in through the window and illuminating the grassy field and trees in the distance. Han was still sound asleep next to her, in the exact same position he’d lain down in. She smiled against his chest and gave him a squeeze, reminding herself once again that this was how they intended to awaken from now on. Do I really get to spend the rest of my life with him? And can we make it so the rest of our lives lasts a long time?

She wanted to stay like that forever, but was suddenly, painfully reminded that there were a lot of other things going on in the universe that would demand her attention. While she wanted nothing more than to never leave that bed with that Corellian, she knew that their quiet rendezvous would soon have to come to an end. Also, glancing over at the pajamas on the dresser that had been left for them and completely ignored, she knew that she’d better get up and throw on some clothes. She wasn’t particularly interested in being walked in on while the two of them were naked under the covers.

Slowly disengaging herself from Han’s embrace, she slipped out of the bed and into the ‘fresher. This, too, was a novel feeling - being able to wake up in a comfortable bed and use a real ‘fresher with available running water. She took the opportunity to take a good, long shower, finally deciding once her fingers were turning to prunes that maybe it was a good time to get out. She threw on her clothes, wrapped a towel around her head and walked out into the bedroom to find Han still out cold.

She decided to watch him while he slept peacefully, his mouth slightly agape and face half-hidden by his pillow. With his thinner face and shorter hair he suddenly seemed to look younger than his years. His features almost looked boyish in slumber, and it made her smile. That smile grew wider when she saw his eyes flutter open and come to rest on her.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” he said groggily.

“Good morning, darling,” she said as she slowly made her way back to the bed and slipped under the covers next to him, wrapping her arms around him.

He kissed her forehead and said, “I think you’re overdressed, Princess.”

She sighed. “I wish I could agree with you, but I’m afraid we might not have much longer to hide out in here.”

Han rolled onto his back and let out a long, slow breath. “Yeah, I s’pose there’s a lot of stuff going on that we have to figure out.”

“I know. Plus, don’t you want to tell our best friends the good news?”

He leaned over and kissed her forehead. “Honey, I want to tell everyone I’ve ever met in my entire life.”

“Well, go get dressed, then.”

He kissed her one last time and made his way to the ‘fresher.

It wasn’t long after that when Chewie came in to tell them that it was time for breakfast. Leia’s stomach growled just at the mere mention of food, and Han reacted similarly when he had emerged clean and dressed. Though they had been preoccupied with their reunion, the two had forgotten how much they needed a real meal.

Sitting across the table from one another, Leia noted how Han’s baggy shirt made him look like a child who decided to play dress-up with Daddy’s clothes. She then had a flash of what it might be like if they had children, but quickly dismissed it. There was way too much going on to get carried away in silly fantasies. While they had agreed to get married, the thoughts of having children anytime soon seemed a little silly.

The two ate greedily, Leia knowing that she had only eaten sparingly in captivity, while Han’s state upon their discovery of him indicated that whether they offered him food or not, he hadn’t eaten much of anything. Luke came and joined the two with a small plate of his own and looked across the table to the Corellian with the hideous table manners as he shoveled the contents of his plate into his mouth.

“Slow down, Han. It’s not going to do you any good if it comes right back up.”

Leia looked across the table and made eye contact with Han, who smiled back at her before she said, “Let him eat however he wants, Luke. We need to bulk him up at least a little if he’s going to look decent in our wedding pictures.”

Luke smirked at the quip, obviously not quite understanding what she’d meant right away; then he looked stunned. “Wait, what?”

Han looked up from his plate and stopped chewing just long enough to wink and smile at Luke. “That’s right. You only just got a sister, you think you can handle a brother-in-law, too?”

Chewie, who had been cleaning up the plates in the adjoining kitchen, nearly ran to the table. [Is this true?] the Wookiee growled excitedly.

Han looked up at his oldest friend. “Yeah, pal. I asked her to marry me and she said yes.”

[Princess, it is not too late to change your mind, you know.]

“Hey, can it! You ever think maybe she actually wants to spend the rest of her life with me?”

“Are you two really engaged?” Luke asked.

Leia nodded. “Yes. Han asked me last night. And I think we’ve both been through too much to get in the habit of putting things off.”

Luke smiled at his sister, “That’s great!” He hugged his sister and then stood up and walked over to Han and extended his hand. “Congratulations.”

Han stood up and extended his arms. “Thanks, Luke.” The two men hugged and Leia had the distinct impression that she was slowly putting back together the family she’d lost.

Chewie then moved in and wrapped all three humans in a big hug. Leia had almost forgotten that there was still a war going on. It was nice to have some good news for a change.

Luke looked back and forth at the two of them. “So, how did you propose?”

Leia shot Han a look and he simply smirked back at her. “Well…”

***

Sometime later, once Han and Leia had full bellies for the first time in months, the group finally had to start talking about reality.

“So, Luke,” Leia began, “Were our releases really planned?”

“Yes, at least from what I’ve been told.”

“That doesn’t make sense. None of it does. Rieekan told me that his best men were out trying to find Han. I went in and got him out without much trouble.”

Han reached over and clasped her hand in his and squeezed; Leia knew it was a silent thank you. “Leia, I don’t think he was telling you the truth,” Luke said.

Leia was taken aback. Rieekan was one of her most trusted friends. “Why would he lie to me about that?”

“I don’t know, Leia. Maybe he was just afraid for you? Maybe he just didn’t want you going out and getting into trouble in the state you were in. I heard you weren’t much better off than Han when you were brought in.”

“I don’t understand, Luke. He knows me well enough to know that if there is something I want, I’m not going to sit back and do nothing. Lying to me wasn’t going to do anything. I wouldn’t have cared if he told me that every member of the Alliance – or whatever we’re calling ourselves now – was out looking for him. Until we got him back, I wasn’t going to just sit there.”

Luke sighed. “I know that, Leia. I’m trying to figure this out just as much as you are.”

“So, what do we do now?” Leia asked.

“I have no idea,” Luke answered. “But like usual, I’m sure we’ll figure it out.”

***

Push's condition to me was: with the information Leia gives him, Luke has to know who was lying (Rieekan or Mothma). I did enjoy writing this one - a pretty quiet and happy chapter amidst all of the other chaos. And I must also admit that once when I was just sort of writing for the heck of it long before I wrote this I tried to think of how Han might propose and it really kind of seemed appropriate to me for him to propose in bed. So the little bit from when he asks and her laughing about how they have to come up with a cover story had been around for a while without a story to put it in. So, Push, thanks for giving me an opportunity to use it. We also joked that maybe they should just stay in that bedroom for a few days, but decided to move the plot ahead a bit. Oh, and I was also happy to get Han's hair cut so we can picture him looking better :) And lastly, Push did also say that she had left me a cliffhanger but knowing me, it really wasn't much of a cliffhanger. She does know me pretty well.