8Exhausted from the previous day's excitement, Leia awoke groggy and sore. The beds weren't quite what she was used to as a high-ranking government official and former princess. Her stomach growled with a burning need for a cup of caf. As Leia stood to stretch her abused body, she was surprised to find her orange-clad companion already awake and bustling about, cleaning and muttering things to herself. Slightly embarrassed at the younger woman's attentions, Leia made the disheveled bed before going over to provide help.
"Good morning, Prin- Leia," Padmé caught herself.
Dusting off the side table, the Alderaanian replied, "Good morning to you as well. How did you wake up so early? Sleep well?"
The Nubian girl flashed her a small smile. "It was all right. I am used to waking up early as part of the Queen's detail; or at least, I was," she added sadly, turning her back as she attended to the window on the far side of the room.
Padmé struggled to close the drapes fully when Leia set a hand on the handmaiden's, stopping her momentarily.
"You need to push it back a little, and then pull forward." The stubborn fabric gave way, and Leia smiled in satisfaction. "There. Take it easy; I'll find us something to eat. After all, you've got to eat before we go out fighting again."
The girl looked back at her with an appreciative smile. Leia grabbed her jacket from the little chair beside the bed and grabbed the key to the room before heading out. She needed to talk to Han; surely, he'd have some sort of idea about what was going on. Not only that, but she was going to give him a piece of her mind about yesterday's escapades.
Not surprisingly, her husband was still in a state of slumber. Feeling a smirk travel its way up her lips, she decided to give him a little bit of a head start. Setting a soft kiss on his cheek, then his lips, the princess watched his hazel eyes open slowly.
"'Morning, scoundrel," she smacked him gently on the head.
Still sleepy, he grunted a barely understandable "Morning, Your Worship."
The laughter of a certain amused Wookiee finally shocked Han's ears enough to fully wake him.
"All right, all right, I'm gettin' up. How long've I been out?"
"Don't worry, long enough for me to need to wake you up."
Sitting up adjacent to his wife on the side of the bed, Han groaned, "I feel old."
Leia placed her hand on his knee, giving it a playful shove. "You are old. Which is why what happened yesterday is not going down again. I know that you're... well, you, and attract danger like banthas to a well. But we were already close enough to death that we didn't need your crazy driving on top of it. Han?" She stopped, her authoritative voice fading into a warmer one.
"Your Highness?" His brow was raised, both skeptically and in understanding.
"Please just be cautious. This whole thing is already so dangerous and I'm-I'm worried. I can't lose you," the princess stared at him, as if trying to project all of what she meant into her husband. But there was also the part of her that felt her old annoyance toward him. She didn't want to lose the thing that brought them together in the first place.
"Hey, it's me!" he said quietly, but a cocky grin spread across his face, making Leia chuckle a bit.
"And that's what worries me." Leia mumbled it so it sounded like Ewokese to Han, but she was entertained by the idea of her brother looking calmly worried out in that forest. She released her hold on his knee and established, "I'm going to get some caf. Want some?"
"Yeah. Yeah, I could do with some, Princess," he said, shifting ever so slightly away from her. Chewie mumbled a groggy affirmative from where he was sleeping, and Leia nodded. But then she felt the tug from Han that said they were going to have an argument soon. In a flurry of emotion, she reached up and kissed him for a moment. She left before he could say anything; Chewie grumbled his chuckle, making Han shake his head.
"You three be good," Luke warned, knowing it somehow wouldn't work, much like it never did. "I promise that I'll get you some blue ice cream later, but only if you're good here. I really have to talk to this person."
"Is it Mon Mothma?" Jaina asked smartly, partially knowing through the Force.
Luke sighed and nodded before walking down the hall. He turned around when he sensed foul play, but they shaped up after that. He knocked on the door and entered shortly after being let in. "We have a situation."
"It is never a good sign when you don't greet someone in passing," she said, looking up from her paperwork. "What has gone wrong?"
"I haven't received word from Han or Leia since they left. I'm beginning to think that they're in trouble."
"What kind of trouble?"
"The kind that Han attracts." When Mon Mothma tightened her lips in a mixture of wonderment and amusement, he elaborated. "I think they might be in a hostage situation, or something similar."
"Like the First Insurrection on Corellia?"
"Or a ruthless bounty hunter that's after Leia." Having recalled detail after detail from the time prior to his sister's departure, it was the only conclusion he had come to that seemed reasonable.
"The same one that killed the Queen?"
"Maybe. How could the two of them be connected?" Luke began to clear his mind to find the answer when Mon Mothma broke him away from it.
"I think you need to go to Naboo and figure out who is behind this; other than Corellia, it's the last place that this bounty hunter was seen. Would you mind a diplomatic mission?"
"No, but Leia has left me in the care of my nephews and niece."
"We will find a suitable alternative for you so that all loose ends will be taken care of upon your departure. Report back when you have reached Theed," she spoke with finality, already on her computer and making the arrangements.
While he was impressed with her diligence, the Jedi couldn't help but feel a little overpowered. "Wait, I can't just up and leave, especially without the children. I'm sure I can take them out to the lake country with me. They will be safe there."
The President had the slightest hint of a smile on her face. "Be ready to leave in another five hours, Master Jedi Skywalker."
Acceding to her will, he replied, "Of course, Madame President."
Luke turned strode out of her office, past the secretaries and was waiting at the elevator when he was stopped by Mon's voice.
"May the Force be with you, Luke."