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“It's fine, Luke and I can definitely handle everything!” Han lied.
Even though the blue tint of the holo, Leia’s swollen eyes gave an unbelieving stare. “Really. You know how to bake suddenly?”
“I have a lot of different skills you don't know about.”
She rolled her eyes, though with that grin that always did more to Han than he liked to admit, and shook her head. “No, what's one more year off after the last few? Don't worry about it, I don't think I’ll feel up to eating much anyways.”
Han gave a casual wave of his hand. “So keep it small and classy, I can do that.”
“It’s not worth the headache to pull together," she said. "I’ll have my boys home for the day, that's enough. Thank you again for picking up Luke.”
“Jumping around the outer rim is my specialty,” he said, even as his mind began to turn ideas over. “We’ll be back soon. You just focus on sleep and feeling better.”
Closing the holocall, Han sat back heavily into the flight chair of the Falcon, hearing the faint creak of the metal.
“Was that Leia?” Luke asked, walking into the cockpit through the hatch.
“Yup,” Han sighed. “Med droid confirmed the flu, she's out of commission for the next two days, minimum.”
They were kriffed.
With the restoration of the New Republic and after literal years spent rushing from ship to hidden base to rebel encampment, Leia had been thrilled to finally be able to celebrate a proper Alderaanian Life Day. She had been talking for weeks about how she missed her family’s traditions and how much it meant to be able to host a night like her parents had organized each year. She was going to make her mother's cookies, decorate like her father loved to do, it would be a victory party and family holiday all in one.
Which meant if he wanted to give her what she'd hoped for, he and Luke now needed to plan a fancy party up to a Senator and Queen’s standards on two days' notice.
Definitely kriffed.
“Are we canceling Life Day?” Luke asked.
Han chewed his lip. “That's what she said, but I feel like we could figure it out. It's just a few of us, can it really be that hard to do?”
Luke looked amused. “Do you know anything about Alderaanian Life Day traditions?”
“Nope. Any chance you do?”
“No idea,” Luke said with a laugh. He paused and eyed Han for a moment. “You really want to try to do this?”
Han shrugged, trying to sound casual. “We might as well throw something together. Could be fun.”
“You're a party planner now?” Luke asked.
Han sighed. “Look, this is the first Life Day Leia’s been able to celebrate since she lost her family. I know she always acts like she's in control of everything, that nothing ever upsets her, but,” he trailed off, not able to find the words.
“Just because she takes care of everything and everyone else, doesn't mean she doesn't deserve it too sometimes?” Luke suggested.
“Don't go too touchy-feely on me now,” Han sneered. Perceptive weirdo. “But...yeah, something like that. I was thinking maybe we could throw together a small thing for her?”
He looked back to see Luke grinning at him. “Oh, kriff you,” Han bit out.
“No, it's adorable seeing how bad you’ve got it for my sister!” Luke said with a laugh. As Han rolled his eyes the kid slapped him on the shoulder. “It’s a great idea. And you're right, she deserves this. I’m sure Threepio knows all about Alderaanian Life Day stuff. We’ll just comm him when Leia’s asleep and have him buy whatever we need, then put it together when we get there. It'll be a surprise!”
“Yeah,” Han replied. The tin can would know everything her parents used to do, and with this New Republic going they had plenty of money for any ingredients they needed.
They were a famous Jedi and a General/former smuggler, how hard could organizing a small Life Day party be?
The answer, it turned out, was excruciatingly, miserably, difficult.
Han looked around the mess of their suite on Coruscant.
The useless droid had insisted he could recall all of Leia's favorite Life Day decorations and would purchase replacements.
Unfortunately neither Luke nor Han had thought to specify to Threepio that they meant adult Leia. They had arrived home to find the suite covered in plastiform blue streamers, brightly colored printed flimsi on strings draped over the lights, and a centerpiece that was clearly a children's toy - a globe filled with glitter and a small scene of a family standing together around a bonfire.
Not exactly the elegant decor Han would picture a Queen choosing for her fancy parties.
The traditional food had been a bust too. Luke and Han had spent ages looking up recipes on the holonet for the dishes he remembered Leia mentioning, but every file they found gave completely different ingredients and instructions - some of the “cakes” cooked in pans were made out of fried tubers, others claimed to make the same dish from cheese?
And that was a dream compared to decorating Life Day cookies! Hundreds of planets talking in basic while every single culture decided to use a different definition of cookie/cracker/cake/scone/whatever, which made it utterly impossible to determine what Alderaanian cookies even looked like. Luke had finally offered to make his Aunt Beru’s Life Day spice cakes they could try to decorate, but now the two men were coated in melted icing that dripped right off what to Han’s eye was clearly a donut.
It didn't help Han’s mood that Lando was audibly snickering from across the room as he and Chewie watched the mess Han and Luke were making in the kitchen while drinking the fancy cider he had brought.
Whoever decided “open concept for ease of entertaining” was the best style for housing deserved to be crushed in a trash compactor.
At least they wouldn't starve. Han had no idea what sort of meat was in the container Chewie had brought, but there was a lot of it and if it tasted half as good as it smelled that would be something.
And the wild rancor chase he and Luke had gone on while searching for recipes had included getting one from Mon Mothma (that General title he had was useful for a couple things, including getting patched through to the Chancellor the morning of Life Day). The woman had been a bust for remembering any of Breha’s holiday favorites, but she did send a recipe for Chandrillan soup she swore the Organas had loved.
With more help from Lando than Han appreciated, they had gotten the soup made. Now it was happily simmering on the heating element and should be something Leia could keep down. Hopefully.
It was still a far cry from the sort of classy shindigs a princess would have planned.
If he was lucky, she would stay sleeping until they had at least finished the icing and cleaned up this wreck they had made.
“What's all of this?”
Han’s eyes flew up to the doorway to the bedroom where Leia stood, looking with wide, still slightly glassy eyes at the chaotic mess in her previously elegantly decorated suite.
“I can explain,” Han started, trying to brush as much of the sticky sugar off his hands as he rushed towards her.
“We threw you a Life Day party!” Luke said, still fiddling with the definitely donuts, now more glazed than iced as more melted frosting dripped steadily onto the counter.
Leia’s lips turned up into a grin. “I can see that.”
“I know it's not what you wanted but,” Han said, but she cut him off with a tight hug, burying herself into his chest and sighing happily.
“You're here,” she said, leaning heavily into him as a warm weight against his chest.
Han held her tightly, taking all the extra weight she would lay on him. It was a rare treat to get the chance to hold her up for a change.
She turned slowly around the room now, looking with far more wonder than their poor attempt deserved. “How did you know about the decorations?”
Threepio tottered over. “They asked me to procure ones that I could recall you had selected in the past.”
“My father always let me pick something to include,” Leia said, her voice thick with emotion. “I think the snowglobe was when I was nine. I thought the little family looked like mine.”
“I figured out the icing!” Luke shouted excitedly from behind them.
As Han and Leia turned to see, Luke was holding his hands around the small cake, the frosting now moving opposite to gravity, then held suspended for an extra several seconds until it finally set with a soft sheen.
Leia gave a laugh that turned into a cough but still managed to sound full of joy. “They look wonderful.”
“We couldn't find the right recipes, so we improvised,” Han said apologetically. “We did get a soup one from the Chancellor-”
“You asked Mon?”
“I know we probably shouldn't have bothered her but I hoped,” Han began, but was interrupted.
“Was it the brothy one?” Leia asked excitedly, licking her lips, still chapped from the fever. “I'm hungry but didn't think I could stomach anything, but that soup of hers would be perfect!”
Between the droids, Han, and Lando, Leia was quickly pressed to the couch and ordered to rest while they all managed things, along with an offer from a very worried Threepio of a sedative if they excited her too much. After Han had brought a mug of steaming soup and a glass of water to help rehydrate, she excitedly demanded to know all the details of how each of their group celebrated growing up and where they had learned the different recipes they had brought.
Han watched Leia's smile as Threepio translated for Chewie about how the meat on Kashyyyk was cooked slowly for hours till it fell apart in your mouth, and Luke shared stories about getting up early with his uncle to make his famous bantha stew. Lando regaled everyone with a “true story,” (which Han thought anything but), involving stealing the recipe for the mulled cider he had brought from a Miralanian princess who had tried to lure Lando to her bed.
As people eventually began to shuffle over to the kitchen to make up their own plates from the array of dishes there, Han stayed right where he was, arm wrapped securely around Leia.
She nestled against him and released a deep breath. “Thank you for this,” she whispered. “I know this isn't your idea of fun.”
“It's still not the Alderaanian Life Day you wanted,” Han said quietly. “You had something much nicer in mind, and you deserve it. Whatever you need for next year, we'll make it happen.”
“Han,” she chuckled, looking up at him, “It's perfect, really. We have food I can actually eat,” she said, motioning towards the almost empty soup mug she held cradled against her chest, “everyone is enjoying themselves, and our whole family here. What more do you need for a holiday?”
“A kitchen that doesn't look like it was attacked by stormtroopers?” Han quipped.
The way her eyes gleamed as she smiled, the warmth that shone in her face, was enough to stop even his mouth from running.
She dropped a kiss to his shoulder. “This was my idea and my responsibility. You shouldn't have had to worry about any of it. A messy kitchen for me to clean up later is well worth it.”
Han was much better at teasing banter than this sort of thing, but she needed to hear it. “Hey, you were sick. And we'll clean it all up, you still need to rest. You don't have to be responsible for everything on your own, you know?”
“I know,” she said softly, then kissed his cheek. “Thank you.”
After several moments of just enjoying the peace together, Leia shifted in his arms, looking towards the dark wall of windows.
“What's wrong?” he asked, not seeing anything beyond the usual scattered lights of Coruscant.
She blinked, then lay her head down against his shoulder, a soft smile on her lips. “Nothing.”
He knew that wasn't exactly true, but he had learned sometimes it was better not to poke.
“My parents would be happy I have you to spend Life Day with,” she finally said, quietly against his chest. “I’m certain of it.”
Han huffed a laugh. Happy she was with someone like him? He very much doubted it.
But it was sweet of her to say.
If he could see the faded blue outlines in the darkness, smiling as they watched their daughter be cared for and loved, perhaps it wouldn't seem quite so impossible that they could be glad their princess had found a scoundrel like him.