Chapter Text
ABY 35
General Han Solo paced restlessly in the small antechamber to Leia's Senate box. The metallic threads embroidered into the fabric irritated his skin, and he scratched at his stiff collar. C-3PO stood nervously by the door, closing it whenever it started to open. He kept the lobbyists, tourist, and the other eyes of the Senate nominally at bay. Solo's com buzzed and he wrestled it out of the strange pockets.
"Leia!" Han hissed, "Leia! Where are you?"
"Sorry dear, I can't tell you that." Her imperious Senator persona front and center. "I'm in free space but I think the line might be monitored and I can't risk Gree Percival trying to settle this with bounty hunters, or holding you on accessory to treason charges. I have other plans."
"Leia what are you talking about? Free space? Bounty hunters? Its been forever…, and when we do run into each other all you've talked about is that damned bill, so I figure when 3PO comes to get me, suit in hand, its going to be the usual dull signing ceremony with an open bar at the end--"
Han didn't get to the end of his run-on before Leia started talking over him. "I send you messages, I send the droids, but you won't look at them, you just complain that you never know what's going on. That is not my fault."
"It's true sir," 3PO started, "I did attempt to find--"
"No one's asking you," Han interrupted. "Don't make this about those stupid holograms," he said to Leia.
"Turn on the damned news then!"
There was an extended pause.
Han looked at 3PO over his shoulder and then turned his back to the fuss bucket. Looking at the empty wall didn't actually increase his privacy, but it felt better.
"Leia, what have you done?"
"We've broken quorum. At least a quarter of the Senate has fled."
"Okay," he drew out new syllables from the word, "and how long will you be gone?"
"As long as it takes."
"And this news didn't merit a personal conversation?" The sarcasm was just starting to pull up the left side of his lip.
"I came home to pack, sleep a little." Her voice was suddenly heavy. "I figured you'd stumble in at some point. Not my fault that you didn't."
Han put his forehead against the wall and sighed out through his nose. "Leia, I--"
"Han, this argument is old and we really don't need to go over it now."
"Okay," he tried again. "You're gone and you're pissed, I get that." He turned to face the empty room again. "What am I doing here?"
"You should listen to 3PO's message."
"But I already have you on the line?" he replied matching her tone. He could hear the smile she was trying to hold back, and the small soft snort that barely pinched it off.
"There's a letter and bill that I need you to deliver to the senate."
"Why can't 3PO do it?"
"Because he's a protocol droid and you are a war hero, sweetie," Leia replied as C-3PO passed the paperwork to Han who glanced at it.
"If this has to do with the Jedi Council why don't you have Jacen here? That's his cause isn't it?"
The pause was awkward.
"Jacen's with you isn't he."
"Well, let's just say that Jacen is indisposed."
"You needed a smuggler to get you off world and a diplomat to deliver a letter, and these are the jobs we got? No. No, don't say anything else about it" Han grumbled. "You just tell your son that my ship is a historical treasure," his hands were balling up into fists despite the papers "and if he puts one single scratch on it--"
"We didn't take the Falcon," there was a hint of laughter in her voice. "It's too recognizable. The docking permits alone would have been an absolute nightmare. Not to mention getting around those damned curators."
Han was flabbergasted. "I hope you are not trying to fly around free space in some untested bucket of bolts!" A series of angry growls rattled the speaker.
"Chewie! You've got Chewie involved in this too! That over-the-hill fur ball is retired and legally blind!"
There were more growls, moving from aggressive snarls to plaintive bellows.
"I don't care if you were bored!" Han replied. "How many times have I told you that the point is to keep her out of trouble, not put on a collar and shuffle along with her schemes!"
He got a low rough rumbling in response.
"Chewie! Did you just say that in front of my son. Leia, did he just--"
"Han! Chewie came to me. The Wookie ambassador is also breaking quorum. He knew I'd want to go too, and he knew I'd need a good ship."
There was a distressed rolling grunt in the background. "No, No, he didn't mean to insult you," Jacen said reassuringly, his voice slightly distorted. "He's always said you could build a better engine than anyone else blind-folded and upside down."
"The Wookies are not happy," Leia continued, ignoring them. "Jania says the embassy has been buzzing with battle howls for months. She's glad she talked them into trying this before they decided to march on Gree Percival's embassy in protest. The Wookies aren't exactly known for their peaceable assemblies."
"You've let our only daughter work among angry Wookies? For months?" Han asked, zeroing in on the only relevant info.
Leia sighed heavily, "I don't get to let Jania do anything, anymore, sweetheart. Neither do you. All we get to do is try and help."
"I'm helpful. I'm always helpful."
"Good, then go deliver my letter and say something inappropriate and nasty to Gree Percival."
"How nasty?" asked Han.
"Nasty enough to sooth any angry Wookies that might be watching."
This was the part she enjoyed. He knew exactly how her eyes would twinkle. Chewie roared excitedly with suggestions.
"I'll keep that in mind, buddy," said Han, smiling himself. "What else?"
"Tell Jania I love her," said Leia, "I didn't get to say goodbye."
"How about I tell her to get a safer job?"
"There's also a letter for Luke," Leia continued, her voice shading slightly. "You should take it to him if things go badly."
"Luke? Your brother is more useless now than he was thirty years ago. Wait, what do you mean 'if things go badly'? How badly could they go?"
There was an uncomfortable pause.
"I love you," Leia said, and suddenly Han was actually afraid.
"Leia, you're not answering my question."
Her voice felt very far away from him. His own voice, even farther.
"I know," she said, and the signal cut off.
"Leia? Leia!" Han threw the silent com across the room. When the red cleared from his vision he realized 3PO was trying to get his attention.
"3PO! That woman!" He let the droid push him toward Leia's senate box.
"Yes, Sir," replied 3PO, as he punched the entrance code.
"She set me up!" He angrily tugged at his sleeves and coat tail pulling out the wrinkles.
"Yes, Sir. It does appear so, Sir," said 3PO, as the doors opened and the vast sphere of the Senate amphitheater opened up before them. "But circumstances have been rather dire lately and the Princess has been very careful of late, even around even her most trusted confidants."
Han pulled his foot back, ending his step across the threshold before it happened.
"Dire? What do you mean dire?"
"Really we must go in now, sir." A giant projection of Han filled the middle of the sphere.
"Politics" Han muttered, and it echoed on a massive scale.