Midnight Rendezvous

 

Leia rolled over in bed and glanced at the chrono on her nightstand for the umpteenth time. Groaning, she rolled over again and then attempted to fluff her pillow, which only managed to get mangled by her aggravation.

An hour to go! What am I going to do with myself? I can’t sleep – I’m too nervous. I can’t exactly walk around the house without waking everyone. Arrrggghhh.

Her head crashed back onto the pillow and she stared at the ceiling, waiting for the appointed midnight hour…  

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“How do I look, Chewie?” Han asked as he tried to carefully control his anxiousness, in spite of his wildly beating heart that seemed to thump uncontrollably in his chest.

His companion barked and nodded his head, approving of his friend’s choice of clothing.

With a look of impatience settling in on his face, Han Solo walked into the fresher and glanced into the mirror. “Hmm, not bad…I guess.” He scrutinized his attire; black trousers and his trademark boots, a gray linen shirt that he had buttoned about three quarters of the way up his chest – exposing just enough to perk someone’s interest. He turned around and grabbed his dark leather vest and began to throw it on and then stopped. He looked at it and then at himself in the mirror again and finally decided. Tossing the vest aside, he checked his teeth, grinning like a Cheshire cat in the mirror.

“Good. She’ll never know what hit her, she’ll be so dazzled by my charms.” Han told himself as he checked his breath by breathing into the palm of his hand. “Uh, maybe I better fix that. I don’t need her fainting on me for the wrong reasons.”

The minutes ticked by and then Han finally emerged from the fresher and checked his timepiece.

“Off I go!” he said cheerfully. Grabbing the flowers he had set aside earlier, he lightly tossed them into the air and caught the bouquet as it came back down again. “Don’t wait up, Chewie,” Han called out to his friend as he began to whistle on his way out the door.

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Almost time…

Leia got out of bed and quickly dressed into her burgundy pullover shirt and dark pants. She had already planned on what to wear and now all she had to do was tidy herself up, instead of looking like a ragamuffin.

She ventured into the fresher she shared with her twin brother, Luke, and brushed her teeth – being careful about any kind of noise. Luke was a light sleeper and she didn’t need him waking up and barraging her with questions…or lectures.

She quietly went back into her room and brushed her long brown tresses, making it shine in the dim moonlight that found its way through her window. Glancing around, she tried to find her favorite clip to hold her hair but it was nowhere to be seen.

Odd, she silently grumbled. I know I left it –

A tap on her window interrupted her thoughts and she raced over to look out. Outside, standing beneath her window some six meters was none other than Han Solo – pilot extraordinaire and the one man her father, Anakin Skywalker, wanted to throttle.

She waved down at him and turned around to quickly look for her hair clip once more only to find it in Luke’s hand as he leaned against the frame of the door to the fresher.

“Going somewhere, sis?”

“Uh…” Leia paused. “Can’t sleep. I’m going to get some air.”

“Why not just stick your head out the window?” he deviously asked.

“Luke,” Leia put her hands onto her hips, “let me have that.”

“What?” he asked innocently.

“That,” Leia pointed to the object in his hand. “I’d like to have it back.”

“Oh, this?” Luke held up the hair ornament.

“Yes, that!” Leia was growing exasperated.

“Ssshhh,” Luke chastised, holding a finger to his lips. “You don’t want to wake anyone else.”

“Luke, please,” Leia’s voice nearly begged but her eyes displayed her impatience.

Another tap on the window proved to be Leia’s final undoing as Luke waltzed over and waved at the man waiting beneath.

“Luke –” Leia began.

“I’m not going to tell, Leia. I’m not a little kid anymore. But if dad finds out…”

“He won’t. I’ll be back in a little while.”

“I hope not – for both your sakes.”

“As long as you’re up… Would you mind helping me down?”

“That’ll make me an accessory, ya know.” Luke winked playfully at her.

“Thanks.” Leia gave her brother a quick peck on the cheek and slowly opened her window. She climbed out to the ledge and immersed herself into the Force.

Not wanting to see his sister get hurt, Luke too reached into the Force and assisted Leia in jumping down to the ground, albeit with a much softer landing.

He watched the two embrace and Han’s offer of flowers and then they both took off at a run – Leia’s hair billowing out behind her.

“Be happy,” Luke whispered. Turning, he went back to his room and crawled into bed.

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An hour passed and then another…

Han and Leia strolled along through the trees, oblivious to anything around them. They talked, laughed, and simply enjoyed one another’s company. His arm securely around her shoulders as they walked, Han suddenly stopped and brought Leia closer to him. He gazed into her eyes, slowly tilted his head to the side, and bent forward.

Leia licked her nervous lips and little by little inclined herself toward him.

Their lips barely touched one another as they each slightly pulled back. However, the lapse wasn’t long as their lips once more touched – this time they locked and held. Han gently wrapped his arms around his Princess while Leia’s hands rested on the nape of his neck, pulling him close to her.

The couple was having such a grand time that they didn’t pay attention to anything other than each other. Suddenly an irritating beep radiated in the still night air. Leia jumped and glanced at her chronometer in a mixture of horror and shock.

“I better get home! Now!” Leia trembled.

“Leia, you’re twenty years old. I think you can make your own decisions.”

“You know my father, Han. Would you want to upset him by having him find me out in the middle of the night?”

“There are worse things…” Han said sardonically.

“Such as a Jedi Master going berserk?”

“Uh, yeah, that would be one, I guess.” Han visibly winced.

 

As they neared Leia’s home, arm in arm, a figure emerged from the darkness and came toward them. Leia couldn’t tell who it was and in trying to use her Force sensitivities, she still couldn’t decipher the person – but she had her suspicions.

“Go, Han. Don’t let him see you!” Leia whispered and pushed Han away. “Go, now!”

“I’m not going to run away, Princess,” Han retorted.

“Stubborn man!”

“You got it, sister.”

“Will you both be quiet – you’re liable to wake the dead!”

“Luke?” Leia asked uncertainly.

Luke could detect the quiver in her voice. “Relax, it’s me Leia. You’re lucky I covered for you.”

“What do you mean?” Han wondered.

Luke flashed his crooked smile and tilted his head slightly to the side. “Dad woke up shortly after you left. I heard him in the hallway and got up. I stopped him just as he was heading toward your room. He asked what I was doing awake and I told him you were in a Force induced dream, but that I woke you up from it and then you fell back asleep. That seemed to appease him and he went back to bed. I’ve been waiting up for you since.”

“Hey, thanks, kid.” Han offered his hand to Luke.

Luke chuckled as he shook the offered hand. “If you had a father as strong in the Force as ours, you’d think twice about getting caught too. Matter of fact, I’d keep certain body parts in mind if you ever think of doing something so foolish again,” he said with a wink.

Han’s eyes widened and he shook his head in agreement. “My mistake,” he concurred uneasily. Turning toward Leia, Han kissed her tenderly and whispered, “Dream of me, sweetheart. I’ll see you later.”

 Leia giggled. “You’re such a scoundrel.”

 “And that’s why you adore me,” he responded and then turned to leave.

 “Night, Han,” Luke called to him as the pirate walked away.

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Leia lie awake in her bed, unable to sleep when she felt, rather than heard, someone enter her room. She turned her head and watched her father sit down beside her on her bed.

 

“Leia,” Anakin began, “I know you’re not a little girl anymore…but in my eyes you always will be.” He paused and took a deep breath. “If you want to be with Han Solo so much, do it during respectable hours. I don’t need to worry about you sneaking off in the middle of the night and your brother covering for you.”

Leia was about to speak but Anakin stopped her by placing his fingers up to her mouth.

 “I love you, Leia and I don’t want to see you hurt. Whatever makes you happy…makes me happy.”

 As he held out his arms, Leia sat up and embraced her father as tightly as he did to her. “I’m sorry, Daddy.”

 “I know, Princess…I know.”

Anakin released his daughter, stood up, and walked toward her door. He glanced back at her over his shoulder and said, “And if he does hurt you, I’ll throttle him.”

 Leia had to suppress her smirk. “He won’t, Daddy. G’nite.”

 “G’nite, Princess.”