Chapter Text
26 ABY, Hosnian Prime
Despite the minimalist styling, it was still one of the most luxurious rooms Mey-Gon had ever been in; and it was only the waiting room. Even as her eyes roamed, she had to squeeze the fingers of one hand tightly in the palm on the other to keep herself from fidgeting further. She didn’t want the secretary behind the desk in the corner to think that a professional like herself was nervous about being here.
Excited or nervous, she couldn’t really tell the difference anymore. All she knew was that she loved these kind of dizzying moments, the icy tingle of adrenaline in her veins. It was this addiction that drove her back again and again to nerve-racking auditions from the time she was ten years old until she’d started to land acting roles steadily enough to call it a career. Then, when her tolerance for the fear and pressure of the industry grew too strong, she had discovered a whole new threshold of exhilaration in the high-speed sport of swoop racing. She bought her first bike at sixteen and was racing competitively by eighteen. In the four years since she’d joined the sport, she had worked her way up to a mid-level league and started gaining a whole new kind of fanbase. It was ironic that her notoriety as a racer had probably helped land her the role that had brought her to this office but also resulted in her having to take the entire coming season off to shoot the holodrama. She had read the script, though, and the swoop chase scene she would be shooting more than made up for a missed season.
Her daydream about weaving a bike between giant trees was interrupted by the secretary looking up from her monitor and announcing, “Senator Organa is ready for you now.”
“Thank you,” Mey-Gon stood up and smoothed her dress.
The door next to the secretary’s desk slid open, and Mey-Gon paused to take a deep breath before walking through into the office beyond. As she entered, she saw the senator stand up from behind her own beautiful desk and walk around it to greet her with an outstretched hand.
“Lovely to meet you, Miss Niek,” the older woman said as they shook hands.
“It’s an absolute honor, Senator Organa,” Mey-Gon tried not to sound too giddy.
“Leia, please,” she said kindly, then swept her scrutinizing gaze up and down the actress’s tall frame, green eyes, and copper hair, “You look nothing like me.”
“That’s the magic of the business,” Mey-Gon assured her with a smile, “As long as I capture enough of your spirit, the visual wizards will do the rest.”
Leia gestured to a couch and admitted as they both settled in, “I must say, Mey-Gon, I have not seen any of your previous work. Politicking doesn’t allow for much leisure time to watch holovids.”
Unfazed, she maintained her energetic smile, “Oh, that’s all right. I doubt many of them have made it as far as the Core anyway. I’m only well-known in my home system of Haidoral and maybe a few other Mid Rim worlds. Maybe someday, though, yeah? This part is definitely a step towards galactic fame.”
Leia let out a genuine chuckle, “You have my ambition, at least. How old are you?”
“Twenty-two.”
She smiled and nodded, “About the same age as my son, then. So you won’t remember anything of the Galactic Civil War, yourself.”
“No, ma’am. The battle on Haidoral Prime happened a year before I was born. I’ve only ever known the New Republic. But I’ve studied so much about you and those last years of the war. This holodrama is going to start with the Battle of Endor and cover the first few years of establishing the government. I know the whole plot: your victory, your marriage, your training with your brother, the signing of the Galactic Concordance, and the birth of your son. The beats are clear, I just need to know how each of these events made you feel . What was going through your mind?”
A veil of nostalgia fell over the senator’s pleasant expression, “Well, well, that is a lot to cover. Let’s start at Endor…”
The next hour and a half barely got them through the subject of Jedi training, but it took them on a roller coaster of emotions all the way. Leia seemed guarded with some details, but generous with her feelings. Mey-Gon studied her carefully, memorizing her mannerisms, cadence of speaking, and all the other subconscious details she would need in order to portray a convincing version of this amazing woman. At the same time, she engaged in the conversation by asking more probing questions or drawing parallels to her own limited life experience, hoping to find real emotional memories to draw on in her performance.
Gradually, a bond began to form between the two and both were shocked when Leia’s secretary peeked in to let her boss know that it was past time to shut down the office and remind her of her dinner reservations. How had the time gone so fast? To Mey-Gon’s surprise, Leia barely hesitated before inviting her to join the dinner and continue their conversation. She accepted immediately and felt that delicious prickling of excitement return. Dinner at a fancy restaurant on Hosnian Prime with Leia Organa? Dreams really could come true.
When they arrived, Mey-Gon was more relieved than ever that she had decided to wear one of her nicest dresses for this meeting and had sculpted her hair into a fashionable style to match. If only her accessories had been just a little more expensive, she would have fit in perfectly with the clientele of the restaurant. The only person dressed more casually than her was their dinner companion, who still managed to take her breath away when he stood up to greet her as they arrived.
“Mey-Gon,” Leia introduced, “Meet my husband, Han.”
“Pleased to meet you,” she whispered in awe as she held out her hand.
Nearly as legendary as the senator, herself, Han Solo was also still an incredibly charming, handsome man. Clearly he caught the dazzle in Mey-Gon’s eyes, so in lieu of a handshake, he brought her fingers up to his mouth for a polite kiss.
“Happy you could join us,” he said.
Leia shook her head with a scolding smile and slapped her husband’s arm gently, “Still such a scoundrel. Sit down, Han, and order us some drinks.”
Mey-Gon couldn’t stop smiling as she settled around the table with the couple, “I do hope I’m not imposing on an occasion or anything…”
“You’re fine, kid,” Han waved a dismissive hand, “We’ve just been eating out a lot because it’s easier than cooking at home. Leia has a habit of working late, as you probably know. I’m guessing you’re one of the new aides or, Force forbid, a lobbyist?”
“Worse,” she grinned, “Actress.”
“Mey-Gon will be playing me in an upcoming holodrama,” Leia explained.
“Oh, yeah?” he gave her another once-over, “You don’t look like nearly enough of a pain in the ass.”
Mey-Gon hid her laugh behind her hand as Leia combined her knowing smile with a glare. Looking pretty pleased with himself, Han paused for the arrival of their wine, then swirled his around and smoothly continued, “So who do they got playing me?”
“I look forward to finding out,” she admitted, “We won’t really meet until training. Production has us scheduled for some kind of bootcamp for the action scenes. I have to admit, I’m pretty excited to learn how to shoot a blaster.”
Leia sipped her wine thoughtfully, then looked at Han with a wistful smile, “Can you believe a generation has grown up without ever needing to handle a weapon?”
They shared something meaningful through their eyes, then Han reached over to hold his wife’s hand as he turned back to Mey-Gon proudly, “I’ve seen this woman take out a stormtrooper from a hundred yards and pilot a swoop bike through a thick forest, so that better be some kind of bootcamp.”
“I’m sure she’ll do fine,” Leia said, “Mey-Gon is already a swoop racing champion on Haidoral Prime.”
Han looked impressed, so the young woman humbly clarified, “Only a two-time winner of the Haidoral Besh-class Circuit Tour. I’m still hoping to get invited to the pro league.”
“Not bad, not bad,” he nodded, “So I’m guessing you gals already talked about Endor, then?”
“We covered it thoroughly,” Leia assured him, “But you are joining us just in time to discuss the signing of the Galactic Concordance and Ben’s birth.”
“Now, that was quite a day,” Han raised his eyebrows and took a long drink, “Maybe one of the best days of our lives.”
Mey-Gon leaned back with her wine glass poised in front of her lips and eyes glittering with interest, “Tell me all about it…”