Archive of Our Own

The thing that Leia had forgotten about family was that they were constantly up in your business. The chaos of the Resistance had been replaced by the chaos of sibling arguments and boyfriend drama and necessarily huge gatherings where at least one person was two hours late. It seemed that almost every aspect of Leia’s life was shared or intertwined with her ever expanding family – those tied to her by blood or marriage, the kids they had somehow adopted during the war, friends who had become like cousins or even siblings through the battles they had fought and the peace they had won, lost, then won again.

It was such an unexpected, delirious joy to have her life full of so much love and laughter again. The last war had drained her of such hope she kept going only by sheer force of will. But even before then, with Han often away racing, Ben with Luke, and so many of her old friends scattered across the galaxy as they tried to build the New Republic – or escape from the horrors of the war that had won it – she had been so often on her own. She had her trusted colleagues, yes, and even a few close enough to consider friends. But she hadn't had this in such a long time – the silly, frivolous companionship of people with whom she shared the mundane yet deeply important parts of life with.

It didn’t happen all at once. Leia couldn’t possibly have planned it, because she’d never have thought such a thing possible. It started with Poe, really, and his stubborn insistence on forcing himself into every aspect of his loved one’s lives.

“So, what are we doing for your birthday, General?” he asked Leia one day, when she’d gone to meet Han on base at the end of one of their training days.

“I… what?” Leia replied.

“Your birthday. Gotta celebrate.”

“We do?” 

Poe looked at her like she’d suggested they no longer needed a democratic government.

“Er, yeah? Can’t not celebrate a birthday. Come on, don’t you remember the parties we had back on Takodana?” 

Leia raised an eyebrow at him, and Poe cringed.

“Ahh. Yes, okay, maybe those went a little under your radar.”

“Maybe they did.”

“Anyway, of course we gotta celebrate. I was thinking a party at your place? I mean, we could have it here at the base, for old times sake. But I figured your apartment is a lot more comfortable.”

Leia blinked, bemused.

“Poe, I rarely celebrate my birthdays anymore.”

“Don’t care,” said Poe, shaking his head in that infuriatingly nonchalant way. “Birthday’s a birthday.”

Leia sighed.

“I… will think about it.”

“Great. In the meantime, I’ll get planning on the guests and food and all that. Don’t worry about a thing.”

“Poe…”

“Hey, Captain Solo!” Poe shouted, flagging down Han who was walking across the tarmac with Finn.

“Good job today,” Han said as he reached them, with a nod at Poe. “Was just telling Finn – the new recruits are really shaping up.”

Han moved over to Leia, casually wrapping an arm round her shoulders.

“Captain, it’s the General’s birthday next week and we’re planning on throwing her a party. We could use your help.”

Leia gave Poe a look of mild exasperation.

“Sure,” said Han.

“Han, really,” Leia said quickly, looking up at him. “We don’t need to make a fuss.”

Han smirked down at her, with a slightly mischievous look in his eyes.

“’Course we do, princess.”

Another problem with family – they always ganged up on you.

So, Leia found herself a week later standing in front of her mirror as she tried to figure out what dress to wear for what promised to be a slightly raucous party  - if the amount of alcohol Finn, Poe and Han had procured was anything to go by – thrown in honour of her 56th birthday.

“Hey, I got you this,” Han said, poking his head round the door of their walk-in closet. “Thought you might need it.”

Leia smiled gratefully, accepting the glass of what smelt like gin and tonic.

“Thank you.”

“You look… beautiful,” said Han, looking her up and down in slight awe. Leia found herself blushing, and rolled her eyes a little.

“I don’t know. I feel so silly.”

“Why?” Han asked seriously, moving behind her to rest his hands on her shoulders. He pressed his body up against hers, and Leia found herself wistfully thinking of a private celebration of their own.

“Getting dressed up like this. Being the centre of attention. I don’t know, it feels so ridiculous.”

“’S’not like this is the first time you’ve been the centre of attention,” Han reminded her.

“This is different. Giving inspirational political speeches isn’t the same as… everyone coming to a party just to celebrate you.”

“You don’t want people celebrating you?” Han asked, pressing a kiss against her collarbone.

“It’s just a little embarrassing,” Leia said quietly.

“There’s nothing wrong with people focusing on you, and not just your cause, sweetheart,” he told her. Leia’s heart swelled, and for a moment she was a little overcome. Han always did that – got right to the heart of what was bothering her when she herself was lost in an abyss of emotions.

She smiled at him in the mirror, and reached up to squeeze one of his hands on her shoulder.

“Okay. So, this dress?” she asked him.

“Definitely this dress,” Han said, giving her another appreciative once-over.

*

“So, I was thinking… of maybe having a dinner for Leilat Chazak this year? You know, invite a few people over?”

Han looked up at Leia from where he was frying something on the stove.

“Sure, sounds fun.”

Leia nodded, sipping at her tea.

“I could cook, perhaps.”

Han raised an eyebrow at her.

“You could cook,” she corrected, and Han chuckled.

“I’m sure we could get the kids to take a break from flyin’ round the galaxy for a night,” Han said, flipping some sort of patty in the pan.

“Yes, I was thinking we could invite them, and Luke of course. And I guess Din.”

“Is that a thing?” Han asked.

“I think so? Honestly it seems so complicated, I don’t want to pry.”

“Yeah, I ain’t about to step into that mess.”

“But they seem… together. And Din was always so sweet, it’s not like he’ll cause any trouble.”

“Mm.”

“And then obviously Wedge and Norra, as they live on Coruscant now. And Hera, if she’s back planet-side too.”

“Sweetheart, we’re gonna have to get a new dining table,” Han said, placing a plate of food down in front of her on the breakfast counter.

“I know, and I know we don’t usually do things like this. But I thought it would be a nice change… to celebrate together.”

Han looked at her, trying to read her expression.

“We haven’t done that in a while,” he observed quietly. It was true – they hadn’t celebrated the Alderaanian New Year since Ben... since Ben.

“Do you not want to?” Leia asked gently.

“We don’t have to give it up just because…” Han sighed, looking down at the counter, then back up at her. “We still got a lot to celebrate. And we should.”

Leia nodded.

“That’s what I thought,” she told him softly.

So, a month later, Leia found herself setting a long (brand new) dining table with ceremonial plates and the Leilat Chazak candles she’d found buried in the Falcon. Their apartment was decorated with a few tasteful garlands and lights, and a small, gold replica of Alderaan was floating in the centre of the room.

“Wow, this is truly stunning,” Hera told her, as she handed Leia a bouquet of flowers.

“Thank you,” Leia said graciously.

“I’ve never actually been to an Alderaanian New Years. I wish we’d had something like this on Ryloth, though.”

“Well, we were always rather dramatic,” Leia admitted with a laugh, offering her a glass of champagne.

“How’s it going, Hera?” Han asked, strolling into the room.

They exchanged a light fist-bump, and Leia smiled at their camaraderie. They were two of the few Rebellion pilots who were involved in training up the Republic’s new fleet, and had formed an easy-going bond after a few months of dealing with the new recruits. It eased a weight off of Leia’s chest, seeing Han have someone to share his love of flying with again. He couldn’t go back to the races, not when it took them apart from each other for so long, but between Hera, Wedge, Poe and the new fleet… he seemed content.

More than content, she thought, as he shot a grin at her across the table later that night.

“Han, did you really cook all this?” Rey asked, halfway through the meal. “It’s incredible. I’ve never had food like it.”

“That’s not saying much from Jakku,” Finn said dryly, and Poe snorted. Rey glared somehow simultaneously at the both of them.

“Didn’t you know? Han’s quite the chef,” Luke said from the other end of the table.

“Han Solo?” Rey said in disbelief.

“What? Think I don’t have any talents besides flying?” Han asked her, drizzling sauce over some tubers.

“Han used to whip up some great meals for us during the Rebellion,” Luke said. “There wasn’t much he couldn’t do with a tauntaun steak.”

“He was very handy when we got trapped escaping Hoth. We had to spend 6 weeks on a sublight trip to the nearest planet,” Leia said. “We had no new food, obviously, and he got very creative with those rations.” 

“You got stranded in space?!” Rey said.

“Yep,” Han replied.

“You were trapped on the ship together for 6 weeks?” Finn asked in disbelief. “No lightspeed?”

“Nope,” said Han.

“What did you do?!”

Leia and Han exchanged a look.

“Played a lot of sabacc,” Leia told Finn dryly.

"Oh, that's what we're calling it now," murmured Luke.

Somewhere down the table, Poe choked on a glass of wine.

That was another thing about family, Leia mused – constantly embarrassing your children.

*

As peacetime settled in, the silly little of dramas of life sprang back up. For a while, they were on Leia’s periphery. But as the barriers between them all that military command had necessitated slowly broke down, Leia found herself party more and more to the love lives and squabbles and professional achievements and sometimes doubts of the Resistance members she had adopted as her own. 

It was Rey, first, who came to her hesitantly for advice. It wasn’t the first time, obviously – Leia had spent much of their time on D'Qar together advising her in her training as a Jedi. But what she was looking for now, was nothing to do with the intricacies of the Force, or really much about being a Jedi, beyond – well.

“I know that Jedi are not supposed to have attachments. But I know – well you’re married to Han,” Rey said shyly.

Leia smiled.

“Rey,” she began. “What you’re asking is an incredibly complicated question. And there’s no right answer. Or really, one answer at all.”

“That doesn’t sound very reassuring,” Rey said with a frown.

“Have you spoken to Luke about this at all?”

“I… I kind of felt more comfortable coming to you,” Rey admitted. Leia’s heart swelled a little.

“Well, I’m happy to talk this through with you, and share anything I can to help.”

“I just… I don’t want to go against the Jedi path. I’m the first of this new generation. I… I don’t want to start off on the wrong foot and ruin everything before it’s begun.”

“Rey, you put too much of a burden on yourself,” Leia told her softly. “You are not responsible for the entire Jedi order, nor the future of the Jedi as a whole. It’s a team effort.”

“But can I be a good member of that team if I have… an attachment to someone else?” Rey asked shyly.

“Loving someone does not make you less of a Jedi,” Leia said with a gentle firmness. “How you… respond to that love, how you let it into your life without losing sight of yourself, or your values, or the other things that bring you joy and meaning… Well, that’s a question for all of us, not just the Jedi.” 

“Do you think it’s possible to… to be with someone, then, and still be a Jedi?”

“Without trying to break too much of Luke’s confidence,” Leia said, with a slightly wry smile, “You would not be the first.”

Rey’s eyes widened a little.

“He never mentioned anything.”

“Well, some things Luke will share when he’s ready. But as for me… I never found my marriage interfered with my Jedi training. At least what there was of it. In fact, I don’t know if I could have done it without Han.”

“Did he understand that… that there was this thing, something that was different from you both? This power you had that he didn’t?” Rey asked hesitantly.

“There are plenty of things that are different about us,” Leia said with a small smile. “Different strengths, weaknesses, skills, backgrounds… that’s not a barrier to a happy marriage. Nor is it a reason not to be with someone you care about.”

Rey nodded, biting her lip.

“I know that this power can be… isolating,” Leia said seriously. “Your mind works differently to other people. You can see, feel things that they can’t. You have powers they can never achieve. But the right people will take the time to understand those things, and won’t be intimidated or scared off. They will just… see the whole of you.”

Rey gave her a tremulous smile.

“That’s… well, that’s what I hope this is. It’s just… it’s a little scary to let go and sort of, let it happen.”

“I know that feeling very well,” Leia told her with a small laugh. “It took me… a while, even when I knew I cared for Han, to give into that.”

Rey gave her an inquisitive look.

“I can’t imagine you ever being scared of how you feel about Captain Solo,” she said, slightly hesitantly. Leia laughed.

“Well, we have been married for over thirty years,” Leia reminded her. “But I’m sure Han would love to tell you about the months he spent during the Rebellion trying to win me over. Especially over a few drinks.”

Rey laughed, looking half interested and half a little embarrassed. Leia remembered that feeling from hearing stories of her own parents’ romance.

“Anyway. As complicated as what you’re feeling is, there’s nothing wrong with it. And it’s nothing someone before you hasn’t gone through before,” Leia reassured her. “So… take it slowly. And don’t be afraid to reach out for advice.”

“Thank you,” said Rey, looking relieved. “I’ll try to remember that.”

If you had asked Leia a couple of years ago whether she thought life after the war would look like them all alive, and her giving the members of the Resistance she now saw almost as her own children advice on their love lives, she probably would have thought you were high on spice. But as it was, she mostly just felt a little amused, and deeply content.

* 

Sometimes it felt like privacy was impossible anymore. The intertwining of their lives meant everyone somehow seemed to know about everything . Her bad moods, her doubts and mistakes, her embarrassing moments could no longer be hidden behind the closed doors of an office or the façade of professional formality. She felt strangely exposed, like she could no longer control people’s perception of her. It gave her a lingering fear that people would get sick of her, or lose their respect when they saw what she was like behind her general’s uniform or senatorial robes.

They all talked about each other’s lives, to start with. Leia wasn’t unused to gossip about her – it was part and parcel of growing up a famous princess, then spending her career as a famous Rebellion leader, senator, and then Resistance general. When it was from strangers, it was easy to dismiss as frivolous and unfounded. But when it was from her family , she couldn’t brush it away quite so quickly.

And the thing was – most of the time, they didn’t mean any harm at all. They were simply interested and invested in each other’s lives, and felt free to discuss their hopes and concerns and just amusements about each other amongst themselves.

Leia almost always found it bubbling up when she was already annoyed about something. For instance, in the middle of an already heated discussion with Rey. It concerned one of Leia and Han’s endless missions tracking down Force-sensitive beings across the galaxy, which was about to be interrupted by Leia’s new – albeit part-time – position at Coruscant University.

“Luke might have mentioned you were a little stressed right now,” Rey admitted. Leia rolled her eyes.

“I don’t need him… look.” Leia took a deep breath, trying to steady herself.

“I didn’t mean – I’m not trying to cause trouble,” Rey said quickly. “He was just a little worried.”

“I am fine,” Leia said firmly. “I just have a new job. That does not change what I am saying.”

Luke didn’t seem to see the problem when she called him on a holo later that evening.

“It’s not a bad thing,” he said. “We were just discussing how things might change and what kind of difficulties you might face in the beginning.”

“Who – who is we?” Leia asked.

“It was just Rey and I. And Ezra. Jedi things. And Din was there too, obviously.”

Leia gaped.

“Leia, we were not gossiping, or doubting you in any way,” Luke told her calmly. “We love you and want you to succeed. We were just discussing amongst ourselves how best to support you.”

Leia sighed, reluctantly accepting what he told her as the truth.

Still, that didn’t stop her from ranting to Han when he got home later that night.

“Princess, hey, hey,” Han said, grabbing her gently by the shoulders as he always did when he wanted to calm her down. “You’re spiralling.”

“I feel like everyone I know is talking about me behind my back!” Leia said.

“Well, yeah,” Han admitted. “They probably are. That’s just family.”

Leia huffed.

“We talk about them all the time, don’t we?” he reminded her gently. “And we sure don’t mean anything bad by it.”

“I’m just… not used to this many opinions about my life. At least from people I actually care about,” she added dryly.

“Yeah, well. Guess we should have thought of that before we adopted half the Resistance,” Han joked, brushing her hair away from her temple. “It’s not all bad, though,” he added.

“No, I do love them,” Leia replied, with a small roll of her eyes. “I love them dearly. Even if they infuriate me sometimes. I’m… I can’t imagine life without all of them, anymore.”

“Yeah, me neither,” smiled Han, and pressed a kiss against her forehead.

* 

Not everything was minor dramas or daily squabbles. In the new space granted by peacetime, slowly, slowly the little joys and blossoming relationships mounted up to huge, new joys coming into being. The hope of the galaxy at large seemed to instill in people a renewed hope in themselves, and Leia watched as her older colleagues and friends rekindled relationships or dived back into former careers with new enthusiasm.

The most dramatic of all, was Luke. Luke who had struggled so much with the complicated ideas of the Jedi concerning relationships, especially romantic ones. Luke who had shouldered the burden almost single-handedly of building a new Jedi Order in the early days of the New Republic, and was terrified of repeating the mistakes of the past. Luke who, nonetheless, had the warmest and most open heart of all of them, and too much love to possibly contain. Luke who found himself inexplicably bond to a Mandalorian bounty hunter through his very first Jedi pupil.

Leia and Han had watched, as they learnt to balance their own competing demands of career and family early in their marriage, as Luke and Din tiptoed around each other for years. Both were reluctant to veer from their own legacies, but remained somehow drawn to each other despite the unlikeliness of their partnership.

“Reminds me of us, ya know,” Han mused one evening when he and Leia were discussing the pair. Ben sat playing with Grogu in the next room, closely watched by the nanny droid.

“It does?” Leia asked.

“Yeah. Two pretty different people, from pretty different worlds, but they can’t keep themselves apart.”

Leia felt her heart glow, and she gave Han a beaming smile.

“That’s adorable,” she said, reaching over to squeeze his hand. 

But despite the success of Han and Leia’s own marriage, Luke and Din seemed unable to bridge their differences. Not with bitterness, or arguments, but simply the demands the galaxy had put on them through the near eradication of their own peoples. By the time Luke had firmly established his Jedi school, Din had mostly disappeared from his life (even if not his heart).

It was tough for Leia to watch. Those were tough years generally, though, as Ben spent long expanses of time away from her training with Luke, and she witnessed first-hand the struggles of Jedi and love. She wondered, in the quiet depths of her bunk during the long, sleepless nights during the Resistance, if things would have been different for them all had they not let the ones they loved slip from their fingertips. But those thoughts inevitably led to her fallen son, and to Han, both somewhere out in the galaxy at a heartbreaking distance from her, and that pain was too unbearable to dwell on.

So, when the softness and hope of peacetime led to Luke and Din slowly, miraculously reconciling, Leia found her whole world lit up with joy for her brother.

The day of their wedding was a huge, loud, bustling celebration. It certainly hadn’t been intended as that – Din was so shy Leia was confident he would rather be swallowed up by the ground than have this much attention on him. And Luke was a little hesitant about something so flashy given their age.

“What, you can’t have romance when you’re old?” Han had asked in disbelief.

“It just feels like we… missed the boat with this. A big ceremony is for when you’re young.”

“Nah,” Han said, waving his hand.

“Luke, you’ve got every right to celebrate your love,” Leia reassured him. “You haven’t missed out on anything.”

“Yeah, besides. I don’t wanna miss the chance to return the favour of some embarrassing wedding speech,” Han said, eliciting a laugh from Luke.

Han, it turned out, was only partially joking. He took the stage sometime later that evening, after Rey had given a very heartfelt speech about everything she’d learnt watching Luke, and a dark haired and strikingly beautiful friend of Din’s had shared some deeply amusing stories from some time he spent on Tatooine.

“Look,” Han began, sticking a hand casually in his pocket as he addressed the audience. “I ain’t one for big speeches. But marriage… I figure I know a thing or two about that. And I gotta say it’s the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me.”

He caught Leia’s eye, and she felt her heart swell with love, a shy smile tugging at her lips. 

“Getting to spend every day with the person you love the most. Getting to share everything with them. Getting to see them… be the best, in everything they do. And knowing that, whatever you’re doing, whether it’s something you’re really excited about or it’s some dumb mistake, you’re gonna get to come home to them. Someone who’s always got your back. Like the best friend you’ve ever had. Except they’re pretty sexy, too.”

Han shot a wink at Leia, ignoring the groans of embarrassment from somewhere near Rey and Finn.

“Luke, I know you found that person in Din. And I think I’m speakin’ for all of us when I say we’re so glad you idiots finally figured it out. You’re gonna do great.”

Luke laughed, shaking his head a little. Din had turned roughly the colour of a turnip.

“To Din and Luke,” Han said, raising his glass. The crowd murmured in response, and Han shot Luke a grin.

“Thank you,” Luke mouthed back.

“Sexy best friend?” Leia asked Han in a low voice when he sat back down next to her.

“Am I wrong?” he replied, arching an eyebrow. She giggled, high on champagne and joy, and pressed a kiss against his lips.

Han ran a hand through her hair and kissed her more passionately back, seemingly oblivious to where they were. Leia found for a moment that she simply didn’t care, and let herself be swept up in the kiss, until they pulled apart, grinning at each other.

“Are they always like this?” Leia heard Norra ask.

<You get used to it> Chewie replied.

*

Leia wouldn’t change any of it for the world, though. Especially on the hard days.

The anniversary of the Battle of Exegol was the date the Republic had chosen to mourn the fallen, commemorate their victory and rally the galaxy around the ongoing challenge of once again building a stable Republic. It was a complicated day for Leia, given that it was a victory that had come with so much loss that she was, at least partially, responsible for. It was hard to feel the sense of simplistic optimism about the future these kinds of celebrations required when she had already witnessed the futility of that with the failure of the last government. Most of all, it was a reminder of her son, and all the guilt, sadness and grief that that brought. 

Leia, as a former leader of the Resistance as well as a veteran politician, was required to be seated somewhere amongst the other dignitaries in attendance at the evening ceremony on Coruscant. She would rather have been anywhere else on this day than somewhere with a million cameras aimed at her, but there was no other option.

“Just tell them you’re ill. Tell them you don’t wanna go. Tell them you’re not doing politics anymore,” Han said to her, as if it was that simple.

“Han, you know that’s not an option,” Leia snapped back. Her nerves were fried, and she knew she was taking it out on her husband, but after thirty years and two wars she wished he would stop being so reductive .

“It’s always an option!” Han replied. “Just different consequences.”

“Yes, like weakening and embarrassing the new government, undermining the importance of this day in trying to… unify the mess of a galaxy they’re governing.”

“You really think your presence alone is what’s holding the Republic’s government together?” Han asked her dryly. Leia rolled her eyes.

“That’s not what I meant and you know it.”

Han gave a dismissive wave of his hand.

“I’m gonna leave you to get dressed,” he said, which Leia translated to mean he was going to leave her to calm down before this argument got any worse. She was always grateful for that, usually around twenty minutes later when she had calmed down. As aggravating as Han could be, he knew how to diffuse things when Leia was too swept up in emotion to see sense.

“I’m sorry for snapping,” she said a little meekly, when he found Han in his office fiddling around with some mini fleet simulation.

“Don’t worry about it,” he told her, and she knew he was being honest. That was the best thing about Han – he always told her exactly how he felt, and she never had to worry something was being hidden.

“You’re gonna get through today,” he said softly, getting up to move over to her and wrap his arms round her shoulders. He pulled her closely to him, and ran a hand across her hair.

“We’ll be right there alongside you.”

Leia smiled a little weakly up at him, gave a small nod, and allowed herself to rest her head against his chest.

The celebrations culminated in the evening at a large ceremony in one of Galactic City's amphitheatres. They were seated in a large group of current and former politicians and military figures, which Leia expected. She gave Rieekan a warm embrace, and the smile he wore as he greeted her told her she wasn’t alone in the complicated emotions this day brought up. To her delight, she also saw Ransolm Casterfo seated amongst the current senators.

“You have got to come over for dinner soon,” Leia told him, gripping his arms warmly.

“Absolutely. I would love that,” Ransolm told her sincerely, with only a slightly hesitant glance at Han.

Poe and Finn appeared at her side out of nowhere, as they so often did, somehow always moving as a pair now.

“Aren’t you supposed to be in the military section?” Leia asked them.

“Thought we’d come keep you company,” Poe said. “Besides, these things are so boring. Can’t get through them stuck over there by ourselves.”

“These things stress me the fuck out,” said Finn darkly, eyeing up the soldiers lined in neat formation to the side of the amphitheatre.

“Me too, Finn,” Leia told him.

Wedge and Hera somehow found them as well, and Leia wondered distantly if the protocol master was having a minor breakdown.

“Was this your doing?” Leia asked Han quietly, as they finally took their seats.

“It was a group effort,” he said with a shrug. She took his hand and squeezed it, smiling gratefully up at him.

“Thank you.”

*

Some things, though, she still managed to keep to herself. 

“Happy Anniversary, sweetheart,” Han said as they stood arm in arm on the balcony of their chalet, overlooking sweeping red canyons. The setting sun glistened off the rocky monuments arching up across the desert expanse, casting dappled hues of orange, amber and mahogany.

“Said I’d take you somewhere special,” he reminded her, pressing a kiss against her hair.

“This is… breathtaking,” sighed Leia, leaning into Han. “And so quiet.”

“Yeah, thought we could use some of that,” Han chuckled.

“It’s a nice change,” Leia admitted. “It’s nice to have time alone.”

Han looked down at her.

“Yeah?”

“I don’t mind having a little quiet time with my husband,” she smiled at him, a slightly mischievous glint in her eye.

Han grinned back, leaning down to press a soft kiss against her lips.

“I wasn’t planning on you being quiet, sweetheart,” he murmured into her. Leia hummed in amusement, turning to wrap her arms around him and pull him closer. 

“Oh?” she replied. “What were you planning?” 

“Something,” he said, pressing kisses along her jawline as he ran his fingers teasingly up her side. “Like…” His hand swept up to her chest and over her breast. “This.” His fingers tightened gently against her and her body swelled with sudden heat.

Leia gasped against in his ear.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” Han murmured, tugging gently on her earlobe.

“I’m not opposed to this,” Leia said a little breathlessly, as Han palmed enticingly at her breast. 

“But perhaps we should take it inside,” she added.

“After you, your highness.”

It was, in the end, not a quiet anniversary at all.