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Luke Skywalker can faintly recall three instances when he could’ve snatched up Han Solo for himself.
The first time is when Lando Calrissian lands on Endor bringing 5 crates worth of alcohol and Luke immediately knows it’s going to be a long night. Sure enough, five hours later, most of the rebellion is drunk out of their minds and wreaking havoc on the homes of nervous ewoks.
The moon is beautiful and there’s laughter and good music courtesy of a band that Luke swears he remembers seeing once upon a time in a cantina on Tattooine. Normally he would be getting in on the action but tonight he decides to sit on the sidelines watching all the celebration, content with his solitude.
Until, of course, someone grabs him from behind.
“What-“
“Why If it isn’t the galaxy's golden boy, Luke Skywalker!” the person behind him shouts, making it a point to prolong the u.
“Han”
The smell of alcohol is the first thing that hits him when he turns around and he finds himself pinching the bridge of his nose.
“Force, Han! did you go through the entire shipment?”
He shuts his eyes and shakes his head to shake off the hit from the smell. When he opens them again he finds the smuggler’s face uncomfortably close; his nose and cheeks tinged pink from whatever is in the brown bottle he’s swinging around. Luke wants to kick him for how endearing he looks and then kick himself for thinking that.
“Tell me luke, why aren’t you the one i’m with?” he says and it’s barely audible because of how much he’s slurring and hiccuping.
The words make his cheeks flare and he’s left a sputtering, clamoring for phrases, an answer, a sound, anything that would save him from looking like an even bigger fool. He looks around and thanks the force that everyone is too busy dancing or too drunk to notice the position they're in. Han Solo with his arms around the great Luke Skywalker’s waist, with the war over that’ll be the only thing the rebel base will talk about for weeks.
The Endor moonlight illuminates Han’s skin in a way that makes him look like an angel and for a moment Luke considers indulging his question. In another universe, maybe he would’ve- he would’ve asked him if that was an offer, asked him what he meant by that or pulled him by the collar and said something dramatic before kissing him.
In this universe however, he does none of those things. Instead he playfully shoves his older friend back and pats him on the shoulder.
"Because you love my sister" He finally says, letting out a chuckle that comes out so awkward sounding that he brings his palm up to his forehead.
“Ah, that’s right.” the pilot replies before leaning back.
They both look ahead, eyes resting on Leia who is dancing around the fire. Her brown hair is undone, trailing behind her and she’s wearing that smile. The kind of smile that’ll make you understand why people follow her into war.
“That’s right.” the young jedi echoes.
The second time the window opens, it’s when he decides to pay his sister and his old friends a visit after his trip to a near-by planet. He takes a breather from his quest to find force sensitive children for his new generation of Jedi.
That kiss he missed from the party? he actually gets it.
It starts off with him hearing a knock on his door at an inconveniently late hour. The pounding is so loud and frantic that you’d assume whoever was on the other side was outrunning 20 troopers. For a minute he assumes they are until he hears the familiar voice of the Millenium falcon’s captain boom through.
“LUKE! LUKE! OPEN THE DOOR!”
He barely has the door open before Han comes charging in, angry and slightly swaying.
“You’re drunk.” Luke says with eyes narrowed.
“Not enough” Solo counters “I still know what I’m doing”
For a moment he wonders if this is the only way they’re ever fated to meet up, with him drunk and Luke fussing over him like an idiot.
“Why are you here?” he asks, rubbing a hand over his face in frustration.
“I gotta- I gotta get away from her for a bit. She-She’s impossible Luke! I can’t take it” The older pilot sounds frustrated.
Leia and Hans fights were legend around these parts apparently. Han was tough but Leia was tougher and with the mouth of a diplomat she could go on for hours. It’s almost always a screaming match with those two, ending with either one of them storming off. This time apparently it was Han.
He sits down and listens to Han prattle on about time and responsibility and how Leia thinks he has none of it. All Luke can think about is sleep so he stops listening after the third? the fourth? fifth sentence? heck, he's not even sure what his friend is even talking about at that point.
"I mean I love her- it's just...I don't even know why I'm here Luke! I don't know what I expected coming over here and bothering you-"
Luke cuts his friend off while trying desperately to stifle a yawn. His eyes are drooping and he doesn't have the time so he musters up the most generic answer he can think of.
“Go home Han, you’ll work this out in the morning. You guys always do, Leia can be stubborn and harsh but she loves you. I love you-" He stops, realizing what he just said.
It's almost like someone had poured ice water down his back because he's wide awake now and though he's frozen on the outside, inside he's exploding with panic.
YOU IDIOT.
The room is painfully silent, so silent that if Jabba the Hutt had dropped through the roof playing a Growdi Harmonique he'd be kissing the ground and thanking the force for it's divine intervention.
"I mean-we all love you! You're my friend, a friend who my sister loves very much and she-"
He's cut off lips crashing into his. They're soft and warm from the alcohol and when Luke feels Han's hands go up to cup the side of his head, he feels like sunshine. This feels like sunshine.
If this is what Leia get's to feel like-
Leia
He pushes him off immediately, heart beating wildly.
"This is wrong-You-"
The look on his friends face when he meets his eyes makes his heart sting.
"I'm sorry! Luke, I don't know why I did that...I didn't mean to!"
That makes it sting even more.
He doesn't know what to do so he does something he'll later realize he'll do a lot of when he gets older; He runs.
He speeds out the door faster than anything.
You could have just laughed it off
You could have just said "Good one"
Inside his head are a million scenarios, each one reminding him how he that could have gone, of how much he'd screwed it up.
You could have just-
His train of thought is cut off by him colliding against something. He stumbles back and whatever-whoever he just hit lands with a thud onto the ground.
"I'm sorry...Leia!"
He quickly moves to help her up but she raises a hand and gets up herself, always one to do things herself. He notices her nose is red, like she had been sniffling and that makes his heart pang with guilt.
"You okay?"
You know she's not
She dust off some of the stains from her dress before looking up to stare him square in the eye.
"Oh yeah, I'm fine"
He sighs back. You see when other people lie they tend to avoid eye contact; with Leia it was the complete opposite, she would stare you straight in the eye to prove just how okay she was. He thinks maybe she was trained that way, for when she had to lie to protect Rebellion secrets.
"No, No you're not"
"It's fine, just, another one of those fights with that numb skull. I'll get over it"
Luke looks at his sister, arms wrapped around her and looking extremely tired. He thinks back to Han's face after he'd pushed him away, the reason why it had stung so much was because, all his thoughts weren't about Luke or the kiss. No, the moment they separated he could tell that the only thing Han was thinking about was about what he had just done to Leia and how much this would kill her.
"He loves you, you know? He does, knocked on my door rambling on about your fights but anyone with half a brain could see he loves you."
He notices her expression soften a bit.
"Luke-" she finds herself saying at the same time with a voice from the distance.
The twins turn around and find Han huffing, looking apologetic and panicked.
"I-" he starts but Luke cuts him off. He offers his friend a sympathetic smile.
"I was just telling Leia about how much you love her"
He walks over to Han and places a hand on his friend's shoulder. They stare at each other for what feels like forever before Han cracks a small smile back. He pats him once before he bids both of them good night and heads back to his room. He pauses after a few steps and he can faintly hear Han say "He's right you know, I love you" and Leia reply "I know".
He smiles and ignores how his heart clenches a bit.
The next morning he says goodbye to both of them deciding he's pestered them for far too long already. Leia hugs him tightly and tells him not to go too far and that if he ever needs help on missions that she's just a call away. Han just smirks at him.
"Left quite the impression on you this time, kid" he says and Luke can't help but let out a chuckle.
"When do you not?" he counters back "Listen, don't screw it up this time with Leia. You're too good together."
"Will do." he replies giving Luke a little salute.
Luke boards his x-wing and calls out to Han before placing his helmet on.
"Oh and Han? Next time you pull a stunt like that give me a heads up first!"
The final time he gets the chance, Han presents him with an ultimatum.
He doesn't think they really have time to be doing this, Luke had already arrived late after he had accidentally been driven to the wrong location. The ceremony will start any minute now and maker knows Leia isn't someone who likes to be kept waiting. Luke watches Han pace back and forth, muttering to himself. Chewie peeks in every minute or so telling Han to hurry it along or he'll drag him out himself.
"I don't know if I can do this kid! I mean, they're broadcasting the damn thing on HoloNets across the galaxy!" He says frantically
"Quit being dramatic! You were the one who proposed to her, you can go through with marrying my sister."
Han taps his chin before plopping down in front of Luke, taking his right hand.
Luke knows better know than to act like a flustered idiot and instead gives Han an unimpressed look. "What are you doing?"
"We should run away! Right now! We can hop into the Falcon and punch it into hyperdrive, head to some planet and take down some thugs."
The twinkle in his eyes makes Luke's ears turn red.
Pull it together, Skywalker
"What do you say?" his voice is hopeful and desperate and it makes Luke feel something inside.
That's probably the guilt , a rational part of his subconscious quips.
He pushes the older pilot's hand back onto his chest.
"Your plan wouldn't work."
"And why's that?"
"You love my sister too much to leave her"
Han lets out an exhausted laugh, "You always gotta prove me wrong?"
"You make it too easy, also she'd probably just hunt us down and drag us back here."
"Ah, that too."
There's a long silence between them before Han breaks it.
"Thank you, Luke" he says
"Don't thank me, you owe me now." the young jedi master counters.
He decides "owing" someone might be how they say "i love you".
The ceremony goes off without a hitch. Leia looks radiant in her gown, a regal beauty- as expected from a Princess (although she goes by Senator now). Han stumbled through the entire thing with Chewie having to shove him a few times to help him finish his lines. When it's all over they kiss, it's short, sweet and the smiles they give each other afterwards is proof enough that these two are crazy about each other. The crowd cheers and petals are thrown.
Then it's off to the reception.
Everyone's dancing, drinking and stuffing their faces with an array of dishes and desserts. Luke watches from the sidelines as his friends and colleagues gather together all smiling and enjoying themselves.
He feels a tap on his shoulder "Enjoying yourself?" Looking back he sees his sister, cheeks flushed from laughter and her ornate hairstyle in slight disarray.
Luke nods.
"What'd you think of the ceremony?"
"I mean" he makes a face "It'll do I guess"
She swats him on the arm and they both start laughing.
"Could've been you, you know?' She says leaning against him.
"What do you mean?"
"Han?? If you'd been more selfish it might be you in this ridiculous dress"
Luke opens his mouth to say something but she beats him to it.
"Give me some credit Luke, we're force bonded."
They both look ahead and stare at Han who has his arm around Chewie, singing very loudly and looking very clearly drunk. He spots the twins and does his best attempt at blowing them a kiss.
"Oh force" Leia says while shaking her head and they both laugh.
"Me and Han? Oh we'd never work" Luke starts once they've settled down.
"And why's that?" she asks leaning back to stare at her brother.
He grabs her hand and twirls her around before planting a kiss on her forehead.
"Because he loves my sister" he says smiling "Aaaand I kinda also care about her a lot too, she'd be heartbroken if I snatched away her boyfriend" he continues.
Leia rolls her eyes.