Beyond - Legends Something Unexpected |Fic Gift for WarmNyota_SweetAyesha |H/L

Title: Something Unexpected
Author: Raissa Baiard
Characters: Han Solo, Leia Organa Solo, C3PO
Genre: Romance, humor
Timeframe: Beyond Legends
Synopsis: Han tries to get Leia a special dress for a romantic weekend away, but things don’t work out as planned.

Notes: This is a Holiday Fic Gift for WarmNyota_SweetAyesha. Her request was:

Spoiler

Want a Story in Saga Legends or Beyond Legends

1. Humorous exchange clearing up a non-urgent misunderstanding (can be in person or via the SW equivalent of messaging)
2. A scene taking place at a lake or on the beach, author's choice
3. A kiss at sunset or moonrise, author's preference
4. Include the line: "I've gotten used to having you around."

Characters: H/L or L/M
No character exclusions
I do not want any serious angst

Ny--
It was a pleasure to write this story for you. You are so encouraging and supportive, not just to me, but to the entire fanfic community. Your enthusiasm and kindness adds so much to the boards.

Thanks to @Findswoman for beta-reading
---------

“Aww, bumblefluff!” Han swore, jerking his finger away as one of the power couplings on the Millennium Falcon’s hyperdrive motivator sent up a shower of hot blue sparks. He winced, not because the shock he’d gotten was all that painful, but because he, Han Solo—smuggler, rogue, and scoundrel—had just said “bumblefluff”.

Former smuggler, one-time rogue, and mostly reformed scoundrel at any rate. These days he was Han Solo—retired general, law-abiding citizen, respectable husband and father. And while domesticity had certain charms, there were times that he missed the days when he and Leia were a notorious rogue and a feisty princess trading barbs and stealing kisses in the corridors of Echo Base instead of parents wrangling seven-year-old twins Jacen and Jaina and five-year-old Anakin and saying things like “bumblefluff”.

Which was why he’d arranged for Winter and See-Threepio to look after the kids this weekend while he and Leia spent some time alone together at the very exclusive, very adults-only Crystal Sands resort on Iloh. He’d taken care of everything—a private beach cabana and a bottle of chilled Corellian wine would be waiting when they arrived. Han had even picked out a special dress for Leia, one that would let her know that, while she might be Chief of State and Princess and Mom, to him she was still that irresistibly spirited girl who’d taken charge of her own rescue and taken over his heart.

Unfortunately, he hadn’t had a chance to order it, because the Falcon’s hyperdrive motivator had blown while he was running routine diagnostics, something it had a habit of doing with depressing regularity no matter how many times he and Chewie repaired or replaced the thing. And if he didn’t get it repaired before Leia got home, the Falcon would be useless and the only sunset walk he and Leia would be taking would be to the ice-on-a-stick stand in Orowood Center with the twins and Anakin. Again.

This was exactly the kind of situation that certain protocol droids had been constructed to handle. Han only hoped that for once Goldenrod wouldn’t talk his ear off when he called.

——-

The holo-comm in the Organa-Solos’ conversation circle chimed. Threepio answered per his programming, which now included domestic and administrative duties for the household as well as his more formal programming in etiquette, protocol and the ability to speak over six million languages fluently. He was surprised to see that the call was from Captain Solo’s personal comm frequency; he rarely commed when Mistress Leia was at the office. For some reason he preferred not to speak to Threepio, despite his exceptional helpfulness and efficiency. Therefore, Threepio treated his master’s rare calls as a chance to demonstrate these qualities. “Why, hello, Captain Solo! What a pleasure to hear from you! I hope the preparations for your trip with Mistress…”

“Listen, Threepio, I need you to place an order for me.”

Threeepio was too well programmed to sigh, even if that were possible for an entity who lacked breath. Still, it never failed to amaze him how lacking in the social graces Captain Solo could be. He would not let that affect his own impeccable courtesy, though. “Certainly, sir. I am always glad to…”

“Great. I need you to order the dress on page 37 of the Lorrd and Tey’lur’s holo-catalog. Have it sent to Leia with the message ‘Can’t wait to see you in this—Han.’ Got that?”

“Of course, sir!” Really, he was fluent in six million forms of communication and had served the royal house of Alderaan in one capacity or another for more than twenty Galactic standard years! Placing a simple order was unlikely to task his circuits unduly! “I shall… oh, my!” Threepio exclaimed as he accessed the relevant page of the holo-catalog via the apartment’s central holonet link and scanned the description: Shimmering pink vinesilk maternity robe… “Are you certain this is the item you wish to order, Captain Solo? It seems to be…”

“I said it was, didn’t I?”

“Oh.” Threepio’s processors whirled. Really! Another youngling on the way? This was quite unexpected! And while Threepio was not sure how he felt about this new development—the three Solo children were quite a handful at times and he was uncertain whether his programming could withstand more of such chaos—propriety and familial loyalty demanded that he express an appropriate level of felicitation. “Well, then, may I be the first to offer my congratulations to you, Captain Solo! How wonderful for you and Mistress Leia!”

“Uh...thanks…?”

“When will the arrival be, if I may ask?” A new youngling in the household would require many preparations. Threepio began composing a checklist of tasks that needed to be accomplished: assembling a nursery with appropriate furniture, bedding, and layette, youngling-proofing the entire apartment, and finding a suitable nanny droid (for he certainly wasn’t programmed for such things!).

“Arrival? Well, it better arrive before we leave tonight.”

Threepio felt several circuits pop inside his head. “Oh my!” How could he possibly get everything done by then? How could Captain Solo be so cavalier about the impending arrival of his child? Would Mistress Leia’s physician’s permit hyperspace travel so soon after giving birth? Why hadn’t anyone said anything to him before now?!?! “Sir, if you don’t mind my asking..”

“Actually, Threepio, I do mind. I’ve got a lot to do here, so just get the dress ordered and sent to Leia.”

Captain Solo disconnected without so much as a word of thanks, leaving a thoroughly nonplussed Threepio staring at the holo-comm. “Well, really!”

——

Leia returned home from the Senate to find a sleek white box with a silver ribbon waiting for her on the table. There was a small envelope half-hidden underneath the bow. She slid out the deckle-edged card and read ”Can’t wait to see you in this—Han”. She half-smiled, half-smirked to herself—oh, she could well imagine the kind of outfit Han couldn’t wait to see her in. She wondered how much actual fabric had been used in its construction. She lifted off the box’s lid, pulled back the delicate tissue flimsi…

And her eyebrows shot up.

——

Han finished coaxing the recalcitrant hyperdrive motivator back to life in time to return to Orowood Tower by 17:00. He was a little surprised to find Leia waiting for him at the door instead of reassuring Threepio about some fussy last minute detail or dealing with one of the kids’ crises of lost toys or answering their endless list of “but-what-ifs”. But then again, their bags were already packed and they’d been looking forward to this trip for a long time. “Hey, sweetheart, ready to go?” He leaned forward to kiss Leia.

She leaned away. “I think we need to talk first.”

“All right…” Han answered, even though he had a bad feeling about this. Nothing good ever came of a woman saying “we need to talk”. It was no use protesting, though; better to go with it, take your lumps for whatever imaginary offense you’d committed, and get it over quickly. “What’s up?”

Leia picked a shiny white box off the hall table. And pulled a small card from the folds of rumpled, silver-flecked flimsi inside it. “‘Can’t wait to see you in this.’” she read, fixing Han with a particularly inscrutable female look. “Is there a message here, Han Solo?”

Leave it to a woman to make things complicated. You gave your wife a sexy dress for a romantic getaway and she wondered what you were getting at? Really? “I would have thought the message was pretty obvious.”

“And you thought this was the best way to tell me?” Leia’s expression was somewhere between astonished and appalled. “You’ve never mentioned anything about this before now!”

Okay, never was laying it on a bit thick. Han was pretty sure he’d told Leia that she was beautiful more than once or twice in the past eight years. He may even have used words like “gorgeous”, “stunning”, and “ravishing” on occasion. Sure, he wasn’t some kind of poet and he couldn’t say it in six million languages like Threepio, but to say he’d never mentioned it? “Yeah, well, I guess I’m not good enough with words,” he said, an edge of annoyance creeping into his voice.

He should have tried harder to hide it, should have just agreed and told her she was right so they could get to the part of their trip where she actually wore the dress, because Leia’s mouth twitched into a frown. “Don’t you think this is something we should have discussed together before making any decisions?”

“Decisions? Discuss?” All right, this was getting ridiculous. All he’d wanted to do was give his wife a nice present and make her feel special, and here she was making a Galactic case out of it. “What’s to discuss? It’s not hyperspace physics, Leia.”

“Han! You want to have another baby and you don’t think we need to discuss it?!”

“Baby?! What?!” Han spluttered. What had he just missed here? “I don’t… Where in space did you get that idea?!”

Leia thrust the white box into his hands and pulled out a shimmery, sequin-y bright pink flowered shapeless… thing. “It’s a maternity dress! And you can’t wait to see me in it.”

Han gaped. This...this was not what he’d picked out. The dress he’d chosen had been this flowy white strapless number with a silver belt. Very princess-y. Very Alderaan-y. Very Leia. This thing...this was an abomination; even Han could see that. “Threepio!”

The protocol droid tottered in as quickly as his stiff-baited legs allowed. “Yes, Captain Solo?” Threepio raised his hands in a stilted gesture of surprise. “Oh, I see your present for Mistress Leia arrived! And may I offer my heartiest congratulations…”

“Yeah, can it, Goldenrod. What happened to the dress I told you to order?”

“This is the dress, sir,” the droid replied, tipping his head to the side the way he did that meant “I’m too polite to call you a nerf-herder, but if the nerf-herding shoe fits…” His optic sensors flicked over the dress Leia was still holding at arm’s length as if it smelled worse than the inside of a tauntaun. “Though it does look rather large. If I may say so, Mistress, I never would have known you were expecting if Captain Solo hadn’t…

“No, this is not the dress I told you to order!” Han stalked over to the conversation circle, snatched Leia’s datapad off the caf table, pulled up the Lorrd and Tey’lur’s holo-catalog and flipped to page 37. “This is the dress I told you to order.” He stabbed a finger at the shimmering image of…

The same monstrosity Leia was holding. “Wait…. what happened to the dress?”

“Perhaps it was on a different page, sir?” Threepio offered oh-so-helpfully.

Han frantically flicked the virtual pages back and forth until he found the white dress. On page forty-seven. “ What?! That’s… I…” He shot a helpless look at Leia.

The corners of her mouth had quirked and she was shaking with silent laughter. “So you don’t want more children?”

“Kriff, no!” Han swore devoutly (and as a Corellian, he could swear quite fervently indeed). “I mean... Unless you do?”

“No!” Leia’s exclamation was less profane but no less sincere. “Three is plenty. We’ve got our hands full as it is! And speaking of them, Winter is already here, so we should go tell them good-bye.” She took the box from Han and deposited the hot pink maternity thing in it, leaning forward to murmur in his ear, “And then we can swing by Lorrd and Tey’lur’s and exchange this dress for the other. Because I can’t wait to wear it for you.”

——

Iloh’s moon was just rising over the ocean, touching the wave crests with silver, when Leia stepped out of the beach cabana in the white dress. Her hair was dressed in a single plait that fell past her shoulders and down almost to her waist, she was barefoot on the crystal sand, and her long, flowing skirt fluttered delicately in the sea breeze. She looked like a spirit of moonlight from some ancient tale. Han let out a low, appreciative whistle.

Leia smiled archly. “I take it you like the dress.”

“You could say that,” Han replied, pulling her into his arms. “But I like the woman wearing it more. You could be wearing that pink sequined tent and you’d still be the most beautiful woman in the galaxy.”

“Pretty smooth talk for a scoundrel who’s not good with words.”

“Hey, It’s me.”

“I know,” Leia said, and drew him down towards her. “I know.”

Those long ago stolen kisses in hidden corners might have been exciting and passionate, but none of them could have been more heartfelt than that moonlit kiss on the beach. It carried not just passion but steadfast love that had lasted through trials and tragedy. It held the promise of more kisses, not just tonight, but for always.
____

Notes:
Lorrd and Tey’lur’s: a pun on department store Lord & Taylor’s

 

Aw! This is so adorable! You’ve really got both Han and Threepio’s voice down pat.

What a perfect misunderstanding, too! I can imagine the reticence to talk about pregnancy, such a private topic, and romance (another private topic) would lead to lots of “you know what I mean” when clearly, ya don’t.

Lovely story! So nice to see the Legends Han and Leia again.

 

Very nicely written...what a special gift for a H/L fan (as I am also).
Can just imagine Han's consternation at the 'gaff' order.
Lynda V.

 

MEGA MEGA MEGA SQUEEAGE! This is so UTTERLY perfect! The mix-up hilarious and Threepio's and Han's voices fantastic! Leia and Han were wonderful with one another from start to finish, her indignation, his "what I didn't order that!" to "You'd be lovely even in that mother-to-be outfit"

Passion and steadfast love -- that's our H/L.


Thanks ever ever so for this!

 

This was sweet! Han and Leia at their best, and where would they be without 3PO?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

This is a gem of Han/Leia humour and mush!

I loved the dress mix up! And the awkward talk regarding more kids or not.

Glad they got some alone time at the end, with a different dress, a beach and kiss or two.

Really enjoyed this!