Chapter One

Leia Organa Solo sighed and brought herself back to the present as she
finished her children's bedtime story.  The young ones had begged to
hear the tale of their father's kidnapping of the fiery princess who
would become their mother, and had sat enraptured as both parents
recanted their escapades on the wild, scarcely known world of Dathomir.

Leia sat on the end of Jaina's bed while Han occupied a similar spot on
Jacen's.  The twins had been captivated by their parents' rendition of
romance and high adventure, paradoxically lulled to sleep with the
security that lay in the certainty that everybody lived happily ever
after.  For the Solo children, all stories ended thus.

Leia now looked up at her husband and saw his hazel eyes soften, her
lips curving into a smile as his familiar crooked grin spread across his
face while he took in the peaceful forms of their sleeping children.

Jaina lay curled around the plush Wookiee cub given to her by Chewbacca
on the twins' last birthday, their tenth.  Her thick dark lashes lay
like a carpet on her cheeks, her lips parted slightly in a peaceful
pucker.  Her twin lay flat on his back, one arm thrown defiantly up and
over his head, ever at the ready.

Anakin, eight-and-a-half and highly autonomous, lay in his own bed
against the opposite wall, preferring to have his own little alcove
rather than be included in the twins' inner circle.  His dark curls
rioted about his head, sooty lashes covering eyes of such a delicate
blue that his mother often found herself lost in their cool beauty.

"Look at them," she whispered to Han.  "Just look at them."

"They're terrific, aren't they?" he said, wonder and pride plastered
across his face.  He eased off of the bed and moved silently to his
sleeping children, kissing each one lightly on the head, then turned to
their mother and grinned down at her, gallantly offering his arm.

A sudden stirring memory shone in Han's Sense, and Leia traveled with
him to an afternoon's walk, once upon a time, on a distant forest moon,
and the intensity of the remembrance was overwhelming.

Leia trembled as total recall brought a sorely-missed thrill to her body
and a girlish flush to her cheeks.

What happened to us? she wondered as she walked with her husband toward
their waiting chambers.  The past dozen or so years and the upheaval
wrought by endless political crises, coupled with the rigors of raising
three exceptional children, had managed to stifle feelings once so
important, even vital to Leia's happiness.  In the early days of their
marriage, the intoxicating lure of utter abandonment of self to another,
body and soul, had been constant companions.  Though Leia did not doubt
the continued existence of those feelings, she was saddened at the
realization that the ceaseless times of crisis had robbed her and her
husband of years of intimacy that should not have been lost.

Reaching their chambers, she closed the door behind them and leaned
against it, watching as Han crossed the room to their sitting area and
draped his long, lean frame over the couch, a tired sigh escaping his
lips.  Leia walked over to sit beside him and smoothed the hair from his
brow, consumed with a tenderness she had not allowed herself to show for
far too long.

Han opened his eyes and smiled up at her, enjoying the gentle touch of
her cool fingers.  Leia could sense the warmth of his thoughts against
her mind, and the heat of his desire, matching hers for him.  She leaned
down and teased his ear with petal soft lips.  "Run away with me," she
whispered.

Han's grin deepened, remembering a time when he had urged her to do the
same.   "Anytime, Princess" he murmured, calling her bluff.  "Anywhere." 

Leia's thoughts cried a destination, and she was filled with happy
memories of the last time she and Han had visited the sanctuary moon, on
the occasion of their honeymoon so many years ago.  There amidst trees
majestic in their antiquity, Leia had found her discernment of the Force
to be magnified to the point of exquisite perception, every movement,
every sound, every nuance of nature erupting into an almost unbearable
intensity such as she had never experienced before or since.

An inner voice summoned her, beckoning her, teasing her with memories of
halcyon days of long ago.  Leia now pictured the two of them, she and
Han as they had been then, young and crazy in love, consumed with the
utter ecstasy of finding each other after the long and bitter road they
had traveled so many years alone.

Leia suddenly felt it vital to flee, if only for a few days, and be
alone with him amidst the remembered glory.  She now longed to revisit
the sweet surrender found in the abundance of nature that strolled
hand-in-hand with amplification of the Force.  She recalled one
afternoon in particular, savoring its memory in delicious detail:  their
delight at the discovery of a secluded woody grove, the way Han had
urged her to the soft mattress of fallen leaves beneath the trees...and
the rapture that had followed, the sudden overloading of senses as
perception of the Force and love for her mate reached an apex.

She shivered with the intoxicating memory, and vowed to devise a plan to
transport the two of them far from the lunacy of galactic politics and
into their own private madness - on the forest moon of Endor.

A vacation had been in the planning stages for weeks, though originally
envisioned as a short trip for the entire family.  But, Leia thought
slyly, arrangements could be made, the schedule accelerated.  There were
some benefits to being Chief of State - and Leia was not above using her
status to her advantage if profitable to her loved ones.

"Pack your bags, Captain," she urged Han in a throaty whisper, her
obvious invitation bringing an unexpected thrill to the immediate future
and cracking the gruff exterior of his carefully donned mask of cool. 
"Meet me at the Alderaan in two hours," she continued, biting his ear
gently.  "- and don't be late." 

"Alderaan?" he asked, and she felt rather than saw the quizzically
raised eyebrow as he puzzled over her directive.  "Why the Alderaan? 
Why not the Falcon?"

She chuckled with the sheer delight of planning the unthinkable, and ran
her fingers lightly through his hair. 

"Because my ship is my place for whims and fancies, my love," she
explained patiently.  "You are, and ever will be, my favorite whim." 
Her voice dropped seductively until she fairly purred.  "And I fancy
some time alone with you."

She planted a quick kiss on his cheek and stood, turning away and
hurrying from the chambers.  Han watched her in stunned silence as she
retreated, looking back at him as she stopped by the door, favoring him
with a saucy wink before palming the mechanism and disappearing down the
hall, the sound of her slippers padding in soft retreat.

After nearly twenty years of watching this woman walk in and out of his
life, Han Solo had grown more or less accustomed to the fact that
someone or something would always be taking her away from him.  If not
the Jedi, then the New Republic, some cause or crusade; it seemed that
something would always manage to worm its way into the already hefty
burden of officialdom which Leia carried with a naturalness that suited
her.

Han normally found this continual state of readiness a necessary evil. 
But this time the sight of his wife's slender retreating form spoke to
Han not of farewell, but of invitation; and a promise of ultimate
fulfillment.

His lip curved upward in a roguish grin.  He had a hunch he knew what
Leia had in mind - and he hoped his hunch was right. 

*****************

Darkness smiled, sensing the return of its Prey.

*****************

Leia slowly awakened to the ethereal quiet of a forest in pre-dawn
darkness.  She sensed Han's warm presence beside her and turned her head
on the pillow.  Deep in slumber, he looked much younger than his years. 
Sometimes it was hard for Leia to believe that nearly twenty years had
passed since the day he had literally blasted his way into her life. 
His left arm draped casually across her, her husband held her close to
him even in sleep and Leia smiled into the twisted extended branches of
the tree beneath which they had made their camp.

Filled with an inner bliss too long absent, she tried to count the stars
barely visible through the branches far above them, and as she did so
Leia counted her blessings as well:  she had a husband whom she adored
and who returned that love in equal measure, giving her his undying
devotion as they worked to secure a peaceful galaxy for the future of
their children; Jacen, Jaina and Anakin were all healthy and happy and
living at home, no longer requiring sequestration from Dark Side
influences.  Leia felt complete as woman, wife and mother, at peace with
herself as a daughter of Alderaan.  Hugging her husband's arm, she
snuggled happily into his embrace, deeply content.

Without warning the air before her appeared to waver, the pre-dawn
darkness gradually swallowed by a faint glimmer of the Force.  As if the
breezes drifting with the early morning mist were moving the atmosphere
in slow motion, minute pinpricks of light danced through the air.  In
the center of the shimmering space there emerged the image of a little
girl; a little girl with silky, sun-kissed hair and delicate blue eyes,
slightly tilted at their outer corners; a child through whose pale
fragility shone an aura of immeasurable strength.  Leia knew deep within
her that she was gazing upon a child of hers, yet to be
born, perhaps only recently, or soon to be, conceived. 

The apparition faded as quickly as it had appeared, a faint echo of the
Force lingering in the spot where the child's image had been.  Leia lay
quietly, absorbing the revelation with mixed emotions; initial delight
turned to heart-wrenching dread as long suppressed memories rose
treacherously, painful recollections of the agonizing separations she
and her children had been forced to endure in their early years.  The
pain of isolation had been enormous and the thought now of repeating
such an experience was difficult to consider.  Leia fought to get her
emotions under control.

Behind her she caught a flicker of returning consciousness and felt her
husband's arm tighten around her, his lips burying themselves in her
hair.  Firmly she took hold of her anxieties and locked them into a
cubbyhole far in the recesses of her mind, a nugget to bring out and
examine at a later time, when she could more thoroughly analyze the
consequences of such a development.

Leia turned to meet Han's questing lips and wound her arms around his
neck, warm, willing and eager for the fervor of his mouth on hers, the
strength of the arms that held her tightly against him.  Worries somehow
seemed so insignificant at this moment, her senses throbbing with
enhanced Force-awareness.
  
The belated thought occurred to Leia that here was the very reason she
was facing the reality of another child at a point in her life when she
had thought her family complete.  Moments later all thoughts were swept
away by the irresistible pull of their mutual yearning.

Afterward, as they lay together entwined, Leia allowed herself to drift
into a state of dreamy euphoria.  So she was to have another child, she
thought blissfully, sated and happy.
  
Such were the consequences of loving one's mate beyond all reason.

Such were the ways of a man and a woman.  Such were the ways of the
Force.

*****************

Jaina and Jacen Solo, ten years old, were mirror images of their
parents, with Leia's dark eyes and hair and Han's lopsided grin.  It was
evident in the set of their jaws that they had likewise inherited the
formidable traits of their mother's stubbornness and their father's
guile, a genetic combination that made the job of keeping up with them a
challenge of the highest magnitude, even for a Jedi Master.

This morning, Luke Skywalker had agreed to let his niece and nephew
accompany him to the flight simulation chambers located just off the
main hangar at the New Republic's military installation outside Imperial
City.  He was there to oversee the upgrading of the facility's
holographic systems and doubted that there was anything two ten-year-old
children could throw at him that he couldn't handle.  He was soon to
discover how wrong he could be.

The day began pleasantly enough.  Luke had arrived at Han and Leia's
suite in the Imperial Palace just as the twins were finishing their
breakfast.  Leia's aide and trusted friend Winter led the way into the
eating quarters where the youngsters were just rising from the table,
their eyes lighting up when they saw their Uncle Luke walking through
the doorway.
 
"Uncle Luke!" they cried in unison, rushing at him and nearly bowling
him over in their enthusiasm to greet him.  Their excited laughter was
infectious and, as he hugged his sister's children, Luke thought how
simple everything was for them, how pure and good they were, how their
spirits seemed to glow with the essence of Light.  The Jedi Master had
vowed to nurture that innocence in the young ones for as long as
possible.  All too soon the realities of a galaxy in turmoil would
intrude upon their gentle lives, and they would be forced to assume the
mantle of maturity in confronting their individual destinies.

"Where's Anakin?" he asked Winter, looking around the room for his
youngest nephew.

"Asleep," replied Winter.  "He had a rather difficult night last night. 
He isn't sleeping very well these days."

Concerned, Luke raised an eyebrow.  "He isn't ill is he?"

"No, no," she was quick to reassure him.  "Just having mean dreams; and
recently, I suspect, missing his mother."  Winter smiled indulgently. 
"You may look in on him if you'd like," she said and led the way to the
children's wing of the suite.

The walls of the children's room were painted a delicate shade of blue
and adorned with pictures of pastoral scenes from Leia's home world of
Alderaan.  Luke had often thought that Han and Leia's youngest child had
assimilated the serenity of these images from his mother's past, for in
his Sense there was an unmistakable air of peace, so different from the
restlessness that dominated the combined Sense of the formidable twins.

As he gazed down upon young Anakin, Luke felt his heart go out to the
little boy, for the Jedi Master knew well the cold hand of fright which
all too often accompanied disturbing dreams.  Luke had known his share
over the years, some pleasantly resolved, some not, and he strove to
shield Leia's children from the Darkness that lurked in every aspect of
life, wishing with everything within him that he could somehow shelter
their very beings until majority was achieved.

Realizing belatedly that even adulthood would not be the end, Luke
silently chided himself and stopped this useless line of thought.  In
the ceaseless battle against the temptations of the Dark Side, it
saddened him to think that his loved ones would be ever at risk, and
that only they could determine the outcome of such trials.

Stroking the dark curly hair that rioted across Anakin's pillow, Luke
projected a mental caress to the little boy, willing unto him peace to
ease the nameless fears of the child's nightmares.  Sensing the calming
effect of his Force-driven suggestion, Luke turned and silently
retreated, the door to the children's room sliding softly closed behind
him.  He rejoined the boisterous twins in the living quarters, where
they were by now hopping about with excitement over the planned
excursion, quite obviously anxious to depart.  

The bright morning sun shone down upon the party as Luke and his charges
departed the hovercar that had ferried them to the hangar.  The car had
no sooner stopped than the twins bounded out, taking off for the massive
main door at a dead run.

Wasting no time with oral commands, Luke extended a gentle admonition to
his charges through the Force, touching their eager young minds with a
suggestion.

//Walk, do not run!  Wait for your Uncle Luke!//

Jacen and Jaina stopped immediately, smiling back at him impishly and
looking so much like their father that Luke couldn't help but smile
back.
 
Of all the challenges he had faced since learning the ways of the Force,
he had the feeling that getting through this day with a modicum of
sanity was going to be one of the toughest trials of all.

He raced to catch up with them.  Then, taking a deep breath, Luke
steered them into the hangar.

*****************

Twilight was creeping in on Imperial City when Luke returned to the
Palace with two tired children in tow.  As he waited for Winter to
answer his ring, a sleepy twin leaning heavily against either side, he
wondered who was more exhausted, Jacen and Jaina - or himself. 

Certainly Luke had never, in all his years of following the Force,
encountered a foe with the single-mindedness of his niece and nephew in
their quest to steal away on a waiting ship for a quick hop across the
galaxy.  Jacen was convinced that he was capable of piloting a transport
by himself ("But, Uncle Luke, Dad showed me how to fly the Falcon!") and
was intent upon absconding with a ship to take his sister and himself to
Endor to visit their parents.  At one point he had actually succeeded in
slipping undetected into a waiting X-wing, primed for maneuvers and
waiting only for its pilot.

As luck would have it, the ship belonged to Luke's good friend, Wedge
Antilles.  Luke had been retrieving Jaina from her precarious perch on
the long nose of the fighter (where she had levitated for a better look
at the interior of its cockpit) when the leader of Rogue Squadron
appeared at his side, an indignant Jacen squirming beneath his arm.

"I believe this belongs to you," Wedge said with a wry grin, depositing
the boy on the ground beside them.  "Another minute and he would have
launched without me," Wedge went on.  "Don't you think it's about time
he enrolled in the Academy?  If he's anything like his father and uncle,
the instructors will be foaming at the mouth over who gets him!"

"I'll take that up with Han and Leia when they get back," Luke said,
then turned his attention to his errant nephew and scowled.  "You," he
pronounced sternly, "are a handful."

Jacen smiled crookedly and, in a voice eerily like his father's replied,
"I know!"

It was one weary Jedi who strode through the door to the Chief of
State's quarters that evening.  Winter extracted Jaina from Luke's side
and led the way into the children's bedchambers, motioning for Luke to
follow.  When they emerged some minutes later, the Jedi Master heaved a
massive sigh of relief.

"Where do they get all that energy?" he asked of Winter, taking a seat
on the couch and running a hand through his hair.  If the New Republic
could perfect a method of harnessing even a portion of the stamina
exhibited by his niece and nephew that afternoon, Luke had little doubt
that it would be a potent weapon indeed!

Winter joined him on the couch, reached out to pat his arm in sympathy. 
"You should try all three of them at once," she suggested in the
smoothly modulated tones of a trained diplomat.  As Leia's oldest and
most trusted friend, Winter had been charged with the responsibility -
or rather, the honor, as she saw it - of looking after the young Jedi
during their initial isolation period.  Even now, though the children
had been living with their parents for some time, the memory of those
agonizing times was enough to bring tears to Winter's eyes.  She was
happy that her friend had been reunited with her little ones, but also
pleased to have the current opportunity to care for her former charges.

"I don't think I'm ready for all of them at once," Luke confessed.  "I
doubt that even Ben Kenobi would be up to that challenge."  Reaching for
Winter's hand he squeezed it in appreciation.  "I have the utmost
admiration for you and the outstanding job you've done with the kids.  I
don't know how Leia would have been able to survive those years of
isolation if she hadn't been able to rely on you to watch over her
children."

"The pleasure was entirely mine," Winter replied, her Sense radiating
its customary serenity.  "By the way, the Princess called earlier this
afternoon to check on things, and she asked that you contact her later
this evening."  She nodded across the room to the comm center.  "I left
the coordinates on the message pad by the comm board."

She stood, smoothed the folds of her skirts.  "If you'll excuse me, I
have some matters that I need to attend to in the study."

"Of course," Luke agreed, rising and nodding acknowledgment.  "I'll go
ahead and try to reach Leia now."  He moved to the comm center and
punched in the specified coordinates, hoping that his call wouldn't be
coming at an inopportune moment for the vacationing couple, as had so
often happened in the past.

Han answered the comm on the third beep, his face a picture of 
contentment, and Luke relaxed as his brother-in-law made visual contact
and favored the Jedi with his patented lopsided grin. 

"Hey, Junior," he said, running his hands through mussed hair, a
decidedly satisfied expression on his face.  "How'd you do with the Twin
Terrors?"

"I survived," Luke replied with a shake of his head.  "I have to say I
have a whole new appreciation for you guys.  Jacen came within a hair's
breath of taking off in Wedge's X-wing with Jaina in tow, ostensibly to
visit you two on Endor."

"That's my boy," Han said with a proud grin.  "I trust Wedge wasn't
upset?"

"On the contrary," Luke assured him, smiling ruefully.  "He wanted me to
talk to you about enrolling Jacen in the Academy, said the instructors
were foaming at the mouth to get their hands on him.  Something about
the combined talents of the Solos and Skywalkers."

"Yeah, well they're gonna have to get in line."  Han's tone left no room
for argument.  "The kids still have a long way to go with their Jedi
training, and once the Academy gets their hands on Jacen they won't want
to let him go."

Luke raised an eyebrow.  "What about Jaina?" 

"Nah," Han shook his head.  "Leia's already grooming the Little Princess
to be a diplomat.  Haven't you noticed how bossy she's getting?"

Leia came up behind her husband and shoved him affectionately.  Her hair
was down, tumbling over her shoulders in luxuriant chestnut waves.  She
wore a loose, incandescent gown that shimmered in rich, cerulean tones,
accentuating her natural beauty, and her dark eyes were luminous with an
inner bliss that had been too long absent.

"Assertive, Han," she corrected.  "Assertive...there's a big
difference."  She looked directly into the screen and smiled at her
brother.  "How are you, Luke?" she asked, and he felt the warmth of her
Touch from light years away.

"No problems here," he assured her.  "How about you two?  Are you
enjoying Endor as much this time around as you did the last trip?"

He watched Han and Leia exchange meaningful looks, and was happy for
them, for the love they had found and nourished, and for the galaxy as a
whole.  Through them had come three potential Jedi to follow in his
footsteps -- perhaps something more.

"We should be back in a few days." Leia said.

Han put an arm around his wife and pulled her close.  "More or less," he
added with a wink.  "You know how to get in touch with us if anything
comes up that requires our immediate attention.  If not, don't call us,
Junior, we'll call you!"

"Got you," Luke said, searching for insight into a certain indefinable
something he was picking up from his sister's Sense, something so
nebulous as to be almost invisible, even to his substantial abilities as
a Jedi Master.  "Take care and I'll see you when I see you."

"'Bye," they said in unison, and as their faces disappeared from the
screen Luke suddenly had it, though he doubted that even Leia knew it as
yet.

He felt a warm gush of emotion as the realization dawned on him: 
another little Jedi was on its way.

[End Chapter 1]