Beyond - Legends Leave (Major AU Vignette for COPL)--Han and Leia (uppin' the post)

Title: Leave
Author(s): leiamoody
Timeframe: Approximately a month after The Courtship of Princess Leia
Characters: Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo
Genre: Romance, Angst, AU
Summary: Leia and Han run away from the New Republic to start a new life.
Notes: This was first posted as a challenge response on another SW board (Echo Base, for the record, for those who maybe heard of it).
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"I have a confession to make."

Leia kept watching the two little girls running along the quay. One was taller than the other, yet both seemed to be around the same age. Friends, perhaps, or cousins, rather than sisters. Both had the same tanned skin of children who spent their lives under a tropic sun; children of the fishing culture, children of the sea. Children who had no worries, who didn't have the plague of nightmares about a Sith Lord as a father or the faces of loved ones washed away by death. No, these girls were free to be alive, to play along with the gulls and the waves and the clouds.

"Han, I want out." She had to keep her attention away from him, to keep her resolve. His face was usually her comfort, but right now, it could be the one factor that influenced her to stay on the course that threatened to destroy her sanity, and possibly her life, and their relationship. She must hold firm, and not shatter into mirrored fragments that would reflect her past and force her to remain a slave to the government and ideals that she once thought were so important. But there was no truth in them now, not after what they wanted.

"I want to resign from the Provisional Council."

Now Leia braved a glance over at her husband (they were married just yesterday; at sunset, on the beach by an elderly holy man, with only themselves, the ocean, and their immortal kin as witnesses). Han stared down at the half-imbibed blue wine in the frosted tall glass in front of him. She knew that he knew this decision was inevitable, but also knew that he hoped it never showed up. It burned her soul to bring this anguish to their doorstep, but she needed his support. To know that he was fine with her wish, that he wouldn't be disappointed in her for "giving up" rather than standing on shaky ground and trying to fight the losing battle.

"I don't care about loyalty anymore. Or duty to the cause. My..." what, then, what part couldn't take the chaos anymore? Her mind, her spirit, every particle in between the two entities? "I just cannot handle the pressure. What they expect from me is wrong. And unfair. The Council's turned into a catastrophe, and it's going to take the Senate right along with it. And none of them care anymore. They think sending wave after wave against the Remnant will work. But it hasn't gained us anything so far. And now their tactics are so futile and outdated. But they refuse to bend." Leia closed her eyes and leaned back in the chair. "They don't listen to me anymore. Not even Mon."

"You usually call her Kaliane," Han muttered, still contemplating his drink.

"Yes, well, she's Mon now because of that blasted Hapan affair." Leia turned her gaze back towards the ocean. The sun continued its descent into the sea. Not literally, of course, but she liked the notion of a solar body taking its rest surrounded by the safety of the eternal element that made all life possible. "To think she would dare ask me to wed that...she and Horm thought I would actually consider leaving you to marry a prince." Her laugh was bitter and choked. "Do they think I'm a fool? Or a gullible little girl who would gladly trade her life for supposed peace with a stranger?" She was betrayed by those her father had called friends. The ones she must always trust, no matter the circumstances.

"Father, you were deceived," she whispered.

"Bail couldn't have known they were so stupid." Han's voice was calm, but his Force aura held the distinct note of reasonably contained anger layered alongside an equally strong aura of frustration with the whole matter. "That's the trouble with friends sometimes. They've got masks on, and you never can tell what's really going on underneath. One face is smiling, but the other one is ready to spit fire."

"That's the most poetic set of words you've ever said." For a moment, her heart went aloft, just above the interior gloom. So few would ever suspect Han could make observations with great meaning in plain language.

"Yeah, this garbage is bringing out the philosopher in me," Han replied, finally looking into her eyes. "Look, I don't want you to be part of this group anymore, since they're expecting you to become a puppet. " He reached across the table and placed his hand over top of hers. "But I wonder what's gonna happen next if you decide to quit the Republic."

Leia frowned, and looked back over to the beach. The two girls had moved away from the dock, and were now scampering along the water's edge. The taller girl bent down as a line of whitecaps swept up towards her ankles. The smaller one was consumed within her own sphere, placing her hands into the sand as the tide receded. Leia then saw in her mind's eye the shore of Lake Aldera, and those days when she tried to make castles from water and earth. They never quite came out as they should have.

Many things are that way, it seems.

'I never got to do stuff like that," Han said. So the girls caught his attention too. "Never any time for being a kid when I got stuck with Shrike."

She sighed. "I know." That was what hurt more than anything else about this mess. Han had suffered enough throughout his life. And yet others were still judging him. He was punished for having worked on the wrong side of the law, even though she and everyone in the Rebellion had also been illegal for so many years. These people, her friends who gathered under the banner of equality and justice for all...were liars. They thought Han wasn't good enough to be her consort, as Threkin said. Her consort? Why would she need a royal partner? The House Organa was dead, and it was never going to be reborn. And to even dare suggest she allow herself to be wed to that Hapan...yes, he was pretty enough for a man, and he seemed to possess integrity. Surely he would make a great ally for the Republic someday if he should be allowed to inherit the throne. But anything that might transpire between his kingdom and the New Republic must be done on terms where she wasn't offered as a sacrifice.

She had no desire or need for a consort. A husband would do just fine, and he was sitting across from her.

"No regrets?" Her question wasn't entirely serious. He had made the decision to come here the same morning the Hapans packed up their Dragon ships and scuttled back to their little corner of the galaxy. The preliminary treaty was signed despite her refusal to become a princess bride. Yet Fey'lya took advantage of her faux pas and pushed through a recommendation to have her replaced on the Council, as she was obviously unfit to participate in the governing process.

Leia wasn't surprised when Mon agreed to consider his suggestion. Not after the way she had been viewed and treated as a commodity by some of her oldest friends. To Mon, Ackbar, and even Threkin, she wasn't human anymore. Just a symbol, and a dejarik piece that could be pushed around the game board according to their mutual whims.

So they wanted her out of the way. For how long? Going back to the months when she spent more time searching for Han than running around trying to win the favor of dissenting systems to make them join the Rebellion? Most likely, yes, it was during that time. It was assumed she would set aside her emotions and continue to be the pretty, articulate, and political automaton who never felt anything other than devotion to a cause. All her life, all her life, she had been so good, always following the will of others.

A rebellion that didn't allow for rebellion was nothing but a sham. And it had no room for the flow of life, so it was dead and fossilized, just like the Old Republic. Just like the Empire.

"We'll leave," she said, turning once more to watch the little girls on the beach. They had begun the first stage of a sand castle. Just two small mounds close together, irregular humps that would take time to form into solid shapes that would become towers. But a good start for a fortress, a safe place.

"Where will we go?"

He asked a logical question. But once again, just as she had done not so long ago or far away when he was taken from her, Leia was ready to defy logic, and think with her heart.

She leaned across the table and kissed him. Then she asked him the simplest question in the galaxy.

"Is here good for you?"

 

I loved it the first time and I love it now too. Go Leia!

 

Very nice little AU. But... Now Leia braved a glance over at her husband (they were married just yesterday; at sunset, on the beach by an elderly holy man, with only themselves, the ocean, and their immortal kin as witnesses). - Not even Chewie and Luke were there?

 

Excellent!

 

Well done! I really enjoyed it.

 

Unlocked thread, solved the massive case of truncationitis, and upped the post for current consideration.

 

Oh, just just just SQUEEEEEEEEEEEEE! That is one of the best characterizations of Leia I have ever read, ever. Wonderful. OK, this is officially the way it went. Brilliant reboot of COPL.

Thanks for unlocking this.

 

This is a really intriguing idea, and I too second the reader who expressed some curiosity about Luke and their other not-so-political friends -- but for all we can tell here, they may be in on the escape plan. I'm sure having this develop into a series is the stuff that writer's plot bunny headaches are made of... but I think it would be seriously cool! The New Republic did have a lot of garbage going on behind the scenes and you've done a really good job of explaining how Han and Leia feel about the whole Hapan mess. I also like the sense of trust and loyalty betwen them here. Reminds me of some of their more unguarded moments on Endor in ROTJ.

 

I can't quite remember COPL very well (it's been years) but I do remember having a strange feeling about the whole Hapan marriage proposal thing - that it was a false thing for Leia to be doing. Either she is lying to Isolder or she is lying to Han, but either way she told someone she cared and she didn't mean it. And that wasn't the Leia I knew from the trilogy. This makes so much more sense given her character.

A rebellion that didn't allow for rebellion was nothing but a sham. And it had no room for the flow of life, so it was dead and fossilized, just like the Old Republic. Just like the Empire.

Perfectly stated. If it isn't true (whether it's politics, love, or friendship) then it's a lie. And no one should live a lie. Great work!

 

Before I leave a proper reply, I need some help:

1. Is Han a Force-sensitive in this AU?

2. Who is Kaliene? I get photos of girls in bikinis when I google that.

 

Thanks for the readings...and once again, replies are as follows...

First off, to clear up these particular questions:

1. Nope. Other people have written good AU's with Han as Force sensitive...but no matter how many parallel universes exist that I might write about, Han is just a really, really talented dude, but I can't write him as Jedi material. The Force likes him, and in my primary AU, some conscious otherwordly beings take a particular interest in him, but he's still not Force sensitive.

2. That was just some random name I came up with for Mon Mothma, because I never knew what it was supposed to be in the EU. This was written several years ago, as you can tell, and if she was ever given a proper name since that time...well, I never gave a rat's arse enough to notice because I gave up on the EU. Interesting detail about that name being associated with girls in bikinis...maybe Mothma just needed to get off the Republic merry-go-round and go beachy like Han and Leia in this particular story.

If this explanation is TL;DR...oh well.

Leia has always been one of my favorite characters in anything that's ever been written, so I like to think I have some kind of understanding how she works. I hated the way she was portrayed in COPL...I didn't recognize her AT ALL. Even trying to read the book a couple years ago, I still didn't know who that spoiled brat with her name was supposed to be, but it wasn't the Leia Organa I remembered from my childhood and later years. That wasn't the woman who went to hell and high water and back again to help rescue the man she loved. Leia had a transformation from ANH to ROTJ...she wouldn't suddenly go backwards just because somebody snapped their fingers and told her to obey like a dog.

I did this several years ago, and it would be kind of hard getting back into the rhythm of what I intended for the story...and yet I did have the notion of following it up at some point. I'd just have to make myself read some of the later EU in order to work out how the New Republic worked when it came to Han and Leia's relationship. I stopped reading the EU after COPL, so the only things I know is they had three kids, one of whom went Grandaddy Darth Dark, and their other son died, and their only daughter got cursed to hold up the entire freaking Skywalker legacy except for her cousin...and that's probably all I need to know.

But the idea of doing a couple of follow-up chapters is appealing. Who knows, the Muse might bite me in the butt and say, "Write this!"

I wanted to portray this unified trust between Han and Leia because it WAS present in ROTJ. How they could have slipped into this weird sadomasochistic relationship that was written in COPL...I don't get it. Han would never kidnap Leia, and she would never just "get over it" and marry him at the end. WT...well, you can figure out the appropriate letter.

I remembered just enough to remember that I hated it. It was definitely a false note that Leia would have accepted that Hapan proposal, or that she would have been swayed by Prince Fabio. Of course it was definitely a false note that Han would have suddenly turned stalker and kidnapped her. It was insane Leia would have forgiven him for that in the end.

 

None of that is TL;DR, I just wanted to be sure, so thank you.

Wook says that Mon Mothma is her actual name, so, well, that's one thing I still don't get.

I like the idea of the AU where everybody has turned their backs to Leia. While I cannot possibly imagine Ackbar doing it, that's the beauty of AUs and, well, the others do have a bit of a power trip every now and then. Leia outright rejecting Isolder aka Fabio (LOL) shows that she would rather be happy than be a puppet and that's admirable...regardless of the consequences.

"That's the trouble with friends sometimes. They've got masks on, and you never can tell what's really going on underneath. One face is smiling, but the other one is ready to spit fire."

Han sure had some interesting friends, since he categorises people who spit fire as friends. But yup, very poetic and true if one adds quotation marks around "friends".

 

Admittedly I wrote this particular fic without any memory of details from COPL. Maybe I committed a random act of character assassination when it came to Ackbar . I would have to go back and try reading the book again and see what, if any, viewpoint he was supposed to have about the whole Hapan marriage matter. Maybe it could be a skewered opinion from Leia's POV (when you've got one of your dearest friends and longest supporters encouraging you to enter into a political marriage for the money and to gain another New Republic ally, I don't really think you could trust ANYONE).

When it comes to Leia's independent spirit...well, yeah, that's her.

As for Han having interesting friends...didn't he used to have a girlfriend that was a magician in the EU? Maybe that's what he meant about friends who could spit fire.

 

I thiiiiiiiink Ackbar is an aro-ace. His opinion on marriage would probably be "whatever".

 

He still might have appreciated some notification about their marriage. He could have bought them a nice turbo-blender for their kitchen.