Oblivion: A NJO Han and Leia Missing Moments Series

* SCREAMS!* This is SO good. I jus read the entire thing, and I can't get enough of it! It is well written, the characters are portrayed extreamly well, AND IT MADE ME CRY! I never cry in fanfics, NEVER! but by the Force, you had me going. I don't even read Han and Leia fics. ( See what you can discover early in the morning when you can't sleep. ) This is my first one, and I must say I am lovin it. Please, post again soon. I am hooked. I'll be waiting with a box of tissues by my side!

 

Whew!! I had some trouble and couldn't seem to post this morning, but here I am.

HanSoloLover: Thanks for the song!! I like it!

LadyKenobi: Thanks!! Crying is a compliment.

Thanks to boushh2187 for this scene. You are the Idea Master, I say it again!



With the children away, and Han treating their home as merely a place to sleep during the early hours of the morning, Leia was left alone most of the time. She hadn't felt so lonely in a very long time, since before...

There was no use dwelling on memories. They hurt too much.

The tension that constantly gripped her was taking a toll on her physically as well as emotionally. She wasn't sleeping and she was barely eating.

In the old days, Han would have nagged her about increasing both, but now he was unaware of what she did.

Again, she pushed aside the thoughts of what used to be. The need for sleep was overwhelming now, and so she decided to take a real water bath, in the hopes that it might relax her enough to make sleep a reality.

She left the door slightly ajar to allow some of the steam to drift out. After adjusting the water temperature to the perfect setting and dropping in fragrant soap crystals that instantly coalesced into a bubbly surface, Leia dropped her clothing to the floor and stepped into the warm, soothing water. She settled down with a soft sigh, trying to allow the tension to ebb from her body, as well as her mind. The warm water felt so good, she could feel the physical strain draining from her body, if not the emotional stress.

She relaxed against the back of the large, marble tub, trying unsuccessfully to clear her mind. These days, thoughts and images seemed to swirl within her, in an almost tragic montage of the way things once were. She felt helpless to still the images that only served to upset her more.

They drifted through her mind without any logical order. Her wedding day, the way Han had looked into her eyes and recited his vows, ignoring the nervousness of standing before the huge crowd. The ceremony had merely been a formality; they'd already felt married in their hearts.

Their first kiss while hiding inside what they'd assumed was the cave of an asteroid...she could still recall the nervous way her heart had pounded in her ears as he'd drawn closer, how startlingly handsome he had looked, the way the feel of his lips had overwhelmed her, making her dizzy, forcing her to feel things she'd never imagined.

Bakura, the first time they'd made love...Han's patience, his desire to please her and take things slowly for her.

The memories made her heart ache with a dull throb that ripped her spirit and splintered her soul. With the passage of years, their bond had only grown stronger, and she had never imagined that she might have to live without the intimacy that she had come to take for granted.

One final memory invaded, before it all became too much for her: the last time they'd made love, not long before Sernpidal...the spark between them had still easily fanned to a flame, a bright beacon amidst the chaos that was their life.

*I love you, Sweetheart*, he'd breathed against her lips when they were both replete and breathless. *More than anything, always*.

He loved her still, deep down, beneath the anger and devastation he was feeling. She knew this. But it didn't make his callous attitude any easier to take.

The sorrow, the heartache, bubbled within her, breaking the surface of her practiced, calm stoicism. As always, she tried to remain strong, to gulp back the tears, but she could hold them in no longer. They choked her, begging for release.

And so she cried, in soft sobs, the tears streaming down her cheeks to trickle gently into the warm bathwater. She leaned an elbow on the rim of the tub, resting her face in her palm, releasing the pain and regret with no restraint now. It had been many weeks since she had last allowed herself to cry like this, and she found it freeing in an odd way that she had never acknow

 

Aw man, poor Leia. Ah, you're writing her so well that I can like feel what she is going through. Awww....I just wish I could take her for a girls' night out or something. Although her problems seem a lot heavier than the usual sucky jobs or bad break ups I'm used to dealing with...hmph.

Great as always, Dant. I look foward to more painful and heart wrenching stuff tomorrow.

 

DantSolo: You're welcome, my young padawan.

Yanksfan: I'm trying to picture you and Leia at a cantina talking about Derek Jeter and Han... I bet it would be a pretty amusing conversation.

 

I'm with Yanksfan...my heart bleeds for Leia Poor girl....

 

Great job once again, Dant. You're doing a beautiful job portraying Han's inability to balance his desperate need for his family with his utter fear of losing them. And of course it's having a devastating effect on Leia, who alternates between being guardedly hopeful and profoundly discouraged as he searches for that balance.

I just LOVE your descriptions of the depth of his feelings, too. So accurate! And the walk down memory lane was great.

Can't wait for more!

 

*SOBS*

You did it again. AGAIN you made me cry, but I was prepared this time. I had my trusty tissue box with me.

That last post was simply beautiful. Your writing style and the way you portray what Han and Leia are feeling is supurb! Please, please post again soon!

 

Another great post Dant - you're writing Leia really well and making Han as much of an enigma to the reader as he is to her.

Hope they make up soon!! (Don't read the books so have no idea of official seperation time)

 

Dant, I just can't say enough nice things about this story.

I can feel Han's desperation of wanting to reach out to Leia and still not able to do so and I can feel Leia's anguish and the hopelessness she feels at not being able to help him. And as set271 mentioned, the walk down memory lane is a nice touch. This is so heartwrenching, but I love it.

 

Dant, that was so beautiful. I like the trip down memory lane too.

 

The bathtub scene! I LOVE this scene! IMO, it's one of the best scenes ever written. THE Mush Master strikes again! Dant, you are one hell of a writer!!!

There is something about this line that just gets to me:

The memories made her heart ache with a dull throb that ripped her spirit and splintered her soul.



Oh, and as for the trip down memory lane... ahh, I remember it well... there they were, kissing... on the asteroid (hee hee)

 

::Blushes:: Aw, you guys are too nice! Thank you so much!!!

J_Girl: ROTFL!!!! That ol' asteroid kissing will do it everytime. And thanks.

Yanksfan: Yeah, someone pass that poor woman an ale.

set271: Very eloquently put, and thank you!



The fresh air felt marvelous as Leia strolled through the rooftop marketplace with her daughter. It was a huge marketplace that spanned the entire roof of Corucscant's second largest entertainment complex building, Galactic Starscape. Hundreds of vendors, from hundreds of worlds had booths here. It was quite possibly the largest outdoor marketplace in the galaxy.

This was the first time Leia had left her apartment for anything other than business in months. As much as she was still upset over circumstances with Han, she felt marginally better just being outside. She followed Jaina to a brightly colored booth selling jewelry. Jaina studied a table of beaded bracelets, the Twi'lek attendant immediately offering assistance.

Leia stood, staring blankly at a table of jeweled hair pins, admiring one studded with swirling, yellow-orange fire gems. It was just the sort of thing that Han would have surprised her with upon returning from some trip or other. She sighed deeply and followed Jaina away from the booth.

As they resumed their leisurely walk through the throng of the crowd, Jaina asked the dreaded question. "How's Dad doing?"

Leia swallowed against the lump that instantly formed in her throat. How to answer that question? "Your father is...still grieving." She admitted without looking at her daughter.

"Yeah, that's what I hear," Jaina mumbled.

Leia glanced at the girl's pinched expression. She must have been talking to Jacen and Anakin. Leia found herself feeling defensive...after all, Han couldn't defend himself. And even if he were there to do so, she was certain he would not bother. "He'll be fine, sweetie," Leia said with a half hearted smile. "He just needs time."

Jaina sighed. "Yeah, I know." Her brow furrowed and she stopped walking. "But, Mom..." She looked at Leia with genuine confusion in her eyes. "How can you stand the way he's been treating you?"

She had *definitely* been talking to her brothers. "Jaina, sometimes we just have to stand by the people we love, even if we don't agree with them."

Jaina nodded, as if she had heard all this before. "I know, Mom, I know. But---"

"Jaina, this a very hard time for him. You know what Chewie meant to him." The feelings of loss still swept through her, bubbling painful emotions past her practiced calm. "If he can't count on us, who can he count on?"

"But, Mom, you've always been so strong." She said this almost sadly.

"Exactly. I have to lend your father some of that strength right now."

Jaina shook her head, disbelieving, and started walking again. Leia strolled alongside her. As similar as Jaina was to her mother, she was still quite young. Flying with Rogue Squadron did not instantly make her an adult.

Leia knew how much Jaina adored her father, so it honestly surprised Leia to be having this conversation at all. She was almost afraid to ask what her brothers had told her.

They continued through the marketplace in silence, neither one all that interested in the booths they perused. Jaina eventually led them to a booth near the end, among the food vendors, selling a mixture of spiced meats and vegetables cooked over an open flame and skewered on a stick.

"When's the last time you ate, Mom?" Jaina asked, eyeing her mother's unusually gaunt form as they waited in line.

Leia raised an eyebrow at her. "This morning," she lied. "Why?" She tossed Jaina a pointed look.

"You've lost a lot of weight," Jaina replied bluntly.

Leia made a face. "Not that much."

Jaina released a disbelieving grunt and Leia gave her the familiar look that told her to drop the subject. After purchasing their food and drinks, they found one of few empty tables and sat down. The breeze ruffled Leia

 

Wow! I REALLY liked that! Jaina was even likable in that part. That was very touching and exactly the kind of relationship that I think Leia would have with her daughter. Once again, Dant, you are out-doing yourself. This is fabulous!

 

This is really great Dant. I love the mother-daughter chat. Just the kind of loving and supportive relationship I would envision Leia to have with her daughter.

 

cbjedi - The twins Jaina and Jacen are around 17 or 18 and Anakin is about 16.
They are all Jedi. Jaina flys with Rogue Squadron and Anakin and Jacen travel about doing whatever assignment Luke asks of them.

 

Oh Dant, this was wonderful. I love the mother/daughter relationship you have established. Thanks so much for writing this.

 

Thanks, guys!! *I'm* actually starting to believe I can write!! Imagine that!!

 

Starting to believe? ? Believe it! Believe it! I've read a lot of fanfic Dant, and I can say that yours is without question some of the best I've ever read. I just hope you don't run out of stories to tell.

 

Oh man, now you drag Jaina into this and I like *even* her. What are you doing to me, Dant? Great stuff, though. But I must warn you now--I'll draw the line at Isolder.

Anyways, great scene between Leia and *gulp* Jaina. Very sweet, can't wait for more!

 

Dant - admit it - you took three totally different children that happened to have the same names as the Solo kids!

Nice scene with Jaina, not sure I'm a fan of them all having jobs that young, the idea of teenagers and an X-wing?

 

Elektra: Nope, just writing them the way I see them. And let's not forget that Leia was a Senator at, I believe, 16 years old.

Sologal: My most sincere and humble thanks.

 

...and Amidala was the elected ruler of her planet at 14!

Really Dant, that post was great and all, but I just couldn't concentrate after I read this:

Jaina eventually led them to a booth near the end, among the food vendors, selling a mixture of spiced meats and vegetables cooked over an open flame and skewered on a stick.

MMMMMM...
HUNGRY NOW.

Always thinkin' with my stomach.

Seriously, great job! As with everyone else, I LOVED the mother/daughter interaction. The dynamic is so different from the mother/son interaction we've seen so far. And I loved Leia's recollections of the early days!

Dying for more, as usual!!

 

Again, I am amazed! This is a beautiful fanfic! Believe me, you can write, you can write good!!!! I have been sick for like the past week and it is so nice to have a really good story to read. Makes me feel better. Keep up the good work. Can't wait for more!!!

 

So let's see... everyone seems to be liking this story... everyone seems to think Dant can write...

So let me just say this to Dant...

Now do you believe me?

 

Oh, you just hush, boushh2187!