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‘... so amazing, brilliant, and beautiful, and… and brave, when I think of all we’ve been through together, I just know we’ll be together forever, baby,’ the groom said, one hand tightly wrapped around the bride’s, the other wiping away his own tearful eyes as the crowd watched on.
Han’s warm breath tickled Leia’s ear as he whispered, ‘Ten credits says he cheats in a year.’
An elbow sank softly into his ribs before Leia turned her head, careful to put her lips as close to his ear as she could.
‘Shut up, hotshot, that’s so mean.' A deliberate pause. 'Twenty says six months.’
Leia heard him snort as he tried not to laugh out loud. A neighbouring guest turned a disapproving frown at Han.
Ignoring them, Han inched closer and bowed his head down again. ‘Maybe that dress’ll eat her sooner than we think.’
She pressed a hand against her lips to avoid what would have been a very inappropriate reaction for a wedding ceremony and turned her eyes back to the bride and groom still exchanging weepy vows.
Leia didn’t really mean her words: true, she didn’t know the couple very well—they had both been part of the rebellion and the bride now worked with her at the Senate—but they appeared to be genuinely in love. As the ceremony continued, she let her gaze wander out to the ocean beyond the marquee, to the sun-kissed sand and the blue sky. It had been nice to manage this little getaway with Han, even if it was to a somewhat melodramatic wedding. We’ve all earned the right to celebrate, however we like , Leia chided herself.
The newlyweds finally sealed their union with a kiss. She reached for Han's hand and gave it a squeeze, leaning her head on his shoulder for a moment. It was nice to celebrate love, and to be able to do something as normal as attending a wedding where none of the guests were wanted for treason.
Some time later, the crowd slowly dispersed as they all made their way back to the resort to freshen up before the reception, but Han held her back.
'Wanna go for a walk on the beach?' he asked. 'Might as well enjoy it while we’re here.'
'You read my mind.'
They took off their shoes and, with her hand wrapped around his arm, strolled to the water's edge.
‘Think you’d like somethin’ that?’ Han asked after a minute. Leia looked up and he tilted his chin back to the marquee.
‘What part of it? You already know that I want to marry you, don’t you? Or was I not clear enough when I said yes?’
‘Yeah, yeah.’ He gave her a crooked smile. ‘I mean, a wedding like this. Beach and fancy resort, puffy dress, weepin’ in front of a hundred people, I dunno. We haven’t talked about that yet. You’d have had a big fancy wedding back in Alderaan, wouldn’t you?’
She brought them to a stop and turned to the ocean, letting the water lap at her feet as the sun moved steadily towards the horizon.
‘Yes, but it wouldn’t have been for me.’ Images of the throne room decked out in golds and blues flashed through her mind; thousands of people cheering and waving flags at their princess and her consort; TooVee helping her into a monstrously pompous dress; her mother draping the chalcedony waves around Leia’s neck; her father passing his matching cufflinks on to her husband-to-be. That’s what she would have had, in an alternative timeline. Only two of those things she would grieve.
‘I don’t want a big wedding,’ Leia told him at last. ‘And I’m not going to sob in front of the guests, either, you know that. Other than that, I don’t know yet.’ She tugged at his arm. ‘What about you, do you have any wedding ideas?’
Han shrugged.
‘I’d never been to a wedding before, unless you count that scam with Sana, but I doubt you’d take any pointers from that.’
Leia chuckled. ‘Right.’
‘So I dunno anything ‘bout flowers and…’ He frowned as he struggled to finish his sentence and finally raised his hands in exasperation. ‘See, don’t even know what else there is to figure out!’
‘We don’t need any of that, Han. We just have to figure out things like… like where we’ll do it, who we want to be there, what food we want to serve. That’s pretty much it as far as I’m concerned.’
‘Huh. That ain’t so bad.’ He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her closer against his chest.
‘Oh, good. Otherwise I was going to say, we could always elope.’
He looked at her almost hopefully. ‘You’d be okay with that?’
Placing her hands on his shoulders, Leia pulled herself up on her tiptoes to kiss him, letting her senses soak in the brush of the breeze against her skin, the smell of sea salt and Han’s aftershave, the fine sand digging into the soles of her feet, his arms holding her, his lips moving against hers, making her wish they could ditch the party and return to their room.
‘Of course,’ she said when they broke apart. ‘I just want to marry you. Everything else are details.’
‘Alright then,’ Han said, brushing the back of his finger against her jawline. ‘We’ll talk about it when we get home.’
‘I’d say it’s about time we do.’ Leia pulled away from his embrace and grabbed his hand, tugging him back to the resort. ‘Let’s head back now; I want to dance.’
‘I don’t dance!’ Han protested, trailing behind. She knew he would, with her.