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Leia had asked him to join her for a private meal in her quarters. Luke told himself not to overthink her request. Of course he'd carried a flame for Leia since even before they met. The first time he'd seen her, he'd felt a spark flash through his body unlike anything else he'd ever experienced. Whenever they were in a room together, he was filled with a potent mixture of happiness, security, and low-key arousal he ignored for the sake of his pride. He felt good in her presence and sometimes he thought she felt the same. He couldn't count the number of times he'd entered a room and Leia had instantly looked away from her work to see him, even if he'd been quiet, or had come in from a door well outside her view.
Romance wasn't something he had much experience with back home. Aunt Beru had always said his best bet was to show up clean and be polite. With her advice in mind, he'd washed the one shirt he owned that belonged to him rather than to the Rebellion, and he'd used two days' worth of his shower water ration to scrub down an hour ago.
He told himself this was only dinner. That didn't prevent the thrilled nervousness consuming him as he made his way down the ship's long interior corridor.
He checked his chronometer. He was almost fifteen minutes early. He should go back and wait, and not show up until the right time. Leia would think he was too interested, and maybe she would end their dinner date before it started.
The word "date" rattled around in his brain. The nerves came back.
Luke stood in front of what he was almost sure was her door. Command had suites on this deck, and he thought the number on the panel matched what she'd told him. Artoo would remember, but Artoo was back in the hangar making repairs to his X-wing's targeting computer. He could make it to the hangar and back in fifteen minutes.
The door opened. C-3PO stood in front of him in shiny pleasantry. "Master Luke! How delightful for my optical receptors! I'm so very glad you've come to visit me!"
Leia's voice came from inside, "Let him in, Threepio. Then please go run that protocol I asked you to."
"Of course, Princess Leia." Threepio allowed Luke to step in and went through the door. "If you would prefer me to stay and help…."
"Not now," she said, and there was the faintest hint of strain. Leia had known him for years, but after a few hours in his presence, she clearly needed a break. Luke adored him but understood.
"Thanks," Luke said. "I'll see you later." He pressed the inner panel and closed the door.
Leia made an amused noise in her throat. "My father hired one of the best slicers he could to write that protocol. It keeps Threepio's processors busy and silent for over an hour, and at the end, he thinks he's been helpful."
"My uncle would have told me to turn him off." Threepio had been with them for such a short time that Uncle Owen hadn't spoken to him more than once, leaving Luke to imagine his exasperation with their golden friend's talkative habits.
"That was my mother's suggestion," she said with a smirk.
She gestured at the little table in her cabin that doubled as her desk. She'd moved her piles of datapads and flimsies to the small dresser top. Her chair was her work chair, and a second was for guests. Luke had seen her room twice before: one brief visit to escort her elsewhere, and a longer one when she'd invited a few friends over for her birthday, which happened to be Luke's birthday as well. Her cabin was smaller than his bedroom back home had been, but she made it feel cozy rather than cramped. Luke took the second chair at the table. He smiled as she took the lids off their plates.
"I knew you got the good rations," he said, poking the familiar protein strips with his fork. He'd been terrified at his first formal dinner with more cutlery than he'd seen in his life, and Leia had quietly walked him through things then. Tonight he was grateful for the single fork.
"Command staff gets the packs that only expired a year ago instead of back during the Clone Wars." Leia took a bite of her protein strip. "Not that you can tell the difference from the taste." She took a sip of water. "How was your day?"
"Fine. We did drills."
"New pilots coming along well?"
"They seem to be. I'll be getting a new set from the training General tomorrow, and these will transfer to Wedge's squadron."
Leia asked him more about his team, about how Wedge was doing with his own. Luke tried to ask her questions about her own day, but he knew much of what she discussed with the rest of Command was classified. She told him jokes instead, something funny this Admiral said, a wry observation from a General he knew. Light, meaningless, but filled with personal touches. Leia was very good at not saying anything when she didn't want to. Oddly, he could almost hear the words she wasn't saying, like small bubbles of thought not spoken yet shared between them. "I feel so bad for her," he was sure Leia didn't say when talking about a colleague he'd only met once, but the words came through as she took another drink of water.
There were other words in the back that he couldn't hear but which seemed to color her amusement and worried at her laughter.
"Leia, what's wrong?"
She went to push his inquiry off, then saw what he hoped was an open, listening expression.
"I have to get married."
Back on Tatooine, that statement meant one thing: someone had a baby on the way, and that someone's parents had blasters pointed at the idiot who'd gotten her pregnant. Luke knew for a fact he hadn't gotten anyone pregnant, and while he occasionally wondered at the undercurrents to Leia and Han's constant arguments, he was positive Han hadn't gotten her pregnant either.
Did that matter? His friend (and whatever else he might wish Leia to be she was his friend first) was trusting him with this information. He had no reason to concern himself with what had happened, only what Leia was going through now.
The odd sympathy between them ran both ways. Leia read his expression and said, "I'm not pregnant."
"Oh. Is someone forcing you to do this?" His questions had been dropped and replaced with a deep protective urge.
She shook her head. "I'm not being forced into anything. It's been pointed out to me that as the last surviving member of the royal family, my marriage would be a show of strength to Alderaan's survivors and to the Rebellion in general. Weddings promise new life and renewal of purpose." She sounded like she was reciting, and Luke stopped her.
"Do you actually want to get married?"
She sat back, not looking at him. Her shoulders made a defensive huddle he knew well. Leia would either come out fighting or shrink into her own head. "I want what's best for my people."
"That's a no."
"You don't understand. I love stories about your life, Luke. You've grown up with so much freedom and you don't know it. No one ever decided for you who you were allowed to see romantically, who you were going to be allowed to marry. You could wear what you wanted, eat what you wanted, dream what you wanted."
Leia's view on his past was tilted. Sure, Luke could wear anything he liked as long as it was one of the three outfits he'd owned. He could eat whatever food they had on the farm, which was always enough to eat but was never more. He could marry anyone he wanted, which meant fewer than a dozen people his age left in the Anchorhead area by the time he'd fled to the stars with old Ben Kenobi. He could dream about escaping all that, and he had dreamed those dreams, and now he was here. Leia's life had been so different that she believed his own had been a perfect dream of escape for her.
"You could tell them no."
"I told them I'd think about my options. There are dozens of Alderaanian men, or high ranking families from other planets, who'd be happy to acquire the last Princess of Alderaan as one of their decorations."
Luke could picture that too easily. "But that's not what you want."
"Politics is the art of saying no while making the person you're talking to believe you're thinking things over. No, I have no intention of marrying someone like that. It would be beneficial if I told them I was betrothed to someone else."
Her other words weren't spoken, and he had no reason to believe she would be thinking 'someone more pliable' but there was the bubble of unsaid words between them again, and he knew she was thinking about him.
He'd be lying if he said he hadn't dreamed about someday screwing up his courage to ask Leia for something more than the friendship they had, hadn't dreamed about it since the moment he'd seen her face in that hologram and known his entire life would be dedicated to making her happy.
"What do you need from me?"
She gave him a gentle, relieved smile. "The last thing I want is to put you in an awkward position. If there's someone else?"
"There's not." The words spilled out of his mouth too quickly. He ought to have held back and pretended to consider, but he didn't want to lie to her. The closest thing he had to someone else was the same man Leia spent the rest of her time arguing with, but if Han was tight-lipped about how he might feel about Leia, he was as silent as cold space about reciprocating anything Luke felt. Han was about actions: swooping in to save Luke's butt, or embracing him like the missing part of his soul. His words were all sarcasm and distance, never opening himself up in case he got hurt, and Luke had learned to live with that.
Leia's eyes took him in for a long moment. He wondered if Leia saw the words he didn't say. Then she nodded, to him or to herself.
"A betrothal is easy," she said, as though the matter were settled. "You and I already spend time together. I can announce that we've been keeping things quiet but have decided to come forward."
"Will anyone believe you?"
"What do you mean?"
Luke felt the old doubts circling inside his head. "You're the most beautiful princess in the galaxy, and I'm just some farmboy from a planet no one's heard of."
Her face broke into one of the sweetest smiles he'd ever seen, and he felt embarrassment creep up his neck. He'd never told her out loud how pretty she was. He steeled himself for her laughter.
"Luke Skywalker, hero of the Rebellion, do you ever listen to your own words?"
"I'm not," he said, then stopped. Fine. A lot of the Rebellion, especially the newer pilots, held him in a bit of awe over that stunt at the Death Star. He hadn't been idle since, racking up more victories as he could, and sure he'd talked about becoming a Jedi and he had the lightsaber, but he was still learning to use that.
"There are quite a few corners of the galaxy where you're more famous than I am. I'd hate to bring someone more trouble by turning a spotlight onto them this way, but you've already been standing there for months." She returned to her meal, finishing it off in a few solid bites. Luke sat opposite her, his mind racing. Leia hadn't laughed at him, and she thought he was a hero, which might strictly be true even if he didn't feel like it. And they were engaged now?
"Does Alderaan have any customs for betrothal that I should know about?"
Her eyes flashed with a quick pain that she hid as fast as it came. Luke was the only person she didn't mind talking about Alderaan casually with. He often asked her questions, letting her talk about her home, because she knew that he knew what it was like to lose everything in a single day.
Maybe they were as well-matched as he'd always secretly dreamed they might be.
"It varies. My parents courted each other with long walks and talks until they decided it made good sense to get married. I've known some other couples or trios to make a huge to-do. There's usually an exchange of gemstones, but that's considered somewhat old-fashioned these days. What about on Tatooine?"
"Oh, generally you'd show up on their doorstep with flowers."
He could practically see her thought: 'That's it?' Then she turned her head in thought. "Tatooine's a desert world. Flowers must be very expensive and hard to come by."
"Most people would grow them in a little pot over months. They take so much water to keep alive. Uncle Owen said he was so shocked when Aunt Beru showed up one day with an armful of lilies and a determined look in her eye." His uncle had always told the story with a warm smile. Luke had imagined finding someone some day who'd be worth nurturing some rare bloom with every drop of water he could spare. "Engagements last about four weeks, long enough to get the wedding planned and figure out where they're going to live."
"It was closer to a year or more on Alderaan." He heard her nearly stutter over the word 'was' and knew no one else would have noticed if they hadn't been listening. She put herself together again within a moment. "Let me state now that I neither expect nor want gems or flowers from you. Telling everyone we're going to be married should buy us some time, but the entire production is going to be about the wedding."
"Production?"
"It's a show. It's for the survivors of my planet and the propaganda arm of the Alliance to show hope in defiance of the Empire. The better the play, the easier the story will be to tell them."
"But it's not real." His own hope, which had bubbled with effervescent glee in his veins for the last several minutes, finally caught up with reality. This wasn't some grand romance. This was Leia fighting for the Rebellion every way she could.
"It's as real as we decide it should be. Luke, I don't want to hurt you." He heard the truth inside her words. "If this is too much like a lie for you, I wouldn't dream of asking you to go along. It's your choice."
She meant every word. He could offer his apologies and walk away, and she'd find someone else to play the part she needed. Not Han, not now. Maybe one of the highborn suitors she had no other interest in, and maybe a decently-ranked member of Command who understood duty. Leia had long ago decided her own happiness was far less important than her other goals. It meant a great deal to him that she liked and respected Luke enough to think his did matter.
There was a very short list of potential husbands or wives she'd choose from who would make it their life's work to make her happy regardless. Luke knew he was at the head of that list.
"Leia, would you do me the honor of agreeing to marry me?" The words were corny in his mouth but some things had to be done properly, flowers or no flowers.
She smiled at him widely, and it was full of light. "Yes."
When the announcement made its way down to the pilots, Luke received a few backslaps and a lot of questions. "We wanted to keep things quiet. You know how people gossip." He declined to give a single description. "Leia says she's trying to protect my reputation." That got him laughs, and room to exit the conversation gracefully. Most of his friends seemed happy for them. He noticed more smiles as he passed by, even from people he didn't know. Right after the Battle of Yavin, he'd been greeted with this same kind of buoyant good will. Leia's advisers had been right: telling them she and Luke were to be married was very good for morale.
For almost everyone.
Threepio was pleased to help Leia plan a wedding but Artoo went into a sulk like Luke had never seen before, mournfully beeping at him though he wouldn't say why. Luke couldn't figure out what was wrong with his little friend, but even as he considered peering into the droid's psych components for a malfunctioning chip or diode, Artoo wasn't his primary worry.
Their squadron had two skirmishes with Imperials before Luke finally had the confrontation he was really dreading.
No one in the galaxy could look casual the way Han did. He could lounge on a charging cable, and when called out on it, he'd only give a little shrug or a "Who, me?" smirk. Today he was wearing his "I don't have to care about this conversation" face, which always hid his "but I do" heart while he waited for Luke in a corridor Luke could swear hadn't been empty a few moments ago.
"Kid, what have you got yourself into now?"
"Nothing we couldn't handle. Those new TIEs have a habit of dragging their port wings when they turn. We should use that advantage before they retool the model to fix it."
Han's face didn't lose the careless faint smile, but his eyes gave away the annoyance. "Sure, we'll send Darth Vader a letter to complain. Or did you forget half the intel we get on him these days says he's looking for you personally? And here you just painted another target on your head."
"Let him look. I beat him at Yavin."
"We beat him, because we got lucky. I can't always fly in to save your butt when you're in over your head."
Luke gave a token glance around them, but Han was good at this. In a crowded base where no one got any privacy, he'd found a quiet corner where they could be alone. "I'm not in over my head."
"Leia talked you into this, didn't she?" Han was never one for dawdling around the point.
"Technically, I asked her."
"Technically, you're an idiot. You've got to know this is all some weird Rebellion propaganda stunt. It's not that Leia doesn't like you," he said, seeing the hard line growing on Luke's face. "Leia adores the hell out of you. But this is some game she's got going, and she's wrapped you up in it. I don't want to see you get hurt."
Han often played the uneducated scoundrel just here for the easy score, but Luke knew him better than that. Han was smart. He'd seen right through the ruse where all of Luke's other friends only saw what Leia intended for them to see. Luke could play off questions from the others. He didn't want to lie to Han.
"I know what I'm getting into. Han, I love her. I loved her the minute I met her. I can't explain it. You're right, this isn't some romance, this is something Leia is doing for the sake of the Alderaanian survivors, and yeah, the Alliance is going to show us off to the Empire. I'll do what I can for her, and I'll do what I can for the Rebellion, but I'd have asked her anyway if I ever managed to get the words right. It might be for appearances sake for her. It's real for me."
Han watched him, and now his face was still, not giving anything away. His sabacc face could learn lessons. "I know," he said after a long moment. "That's why I'm worried. If Leia ever has to decide between the Rebellion and you, she's going to pick them and it's going to break your heart."
He was completely right. Luke was still muzzy about what Jedi powers he might have. He was sure he couldn't see into the future and he still knew Han was right. Leia's first love was freedom. He'd known that from the start, too.
"I'd rather have a broken heart from someone who's willing to be with me for a while than one from always wondering what could have been if either of us had said something."
Han looked like he wanted to speak, and Luke held still, not sure what he hoped Han could say. Then Han folded back into himself, another mask on, another con to play if only on himself. "All right, but when this goes sour, don't say I didn't warn you."
"I'll let you throw a base-wide 'I Told You So' party," said Luke with a half-laugh to cover the quiet disappointment that Han hadn't said something else.
The first thing Luke learned about being the fiancé of the last Princess of Alderaan is that it meant exactly nothing in terms of learning more about what went on in Command. Leia might be privy to the Rebellion's long and short term plans; Luke remained in the dark except for what his superiors felt he needed to know.
"She's got to have said something," Wedge said as they both struggled to get some sleep after a tense day.
"Not a word. She closes her files when I'm around."
That led to a chorus of light chuckles around them in the dark. The second thing Luke had learned was that everything he said would be taken as a risqué insinuation about the sex life he still wasn't having. Every time it happened, he reminded himself of a Jedi meditation he'd found during long searches for any scrap of information he could dig up about the lost order, and he tried not to think about the other details he'd uncovered, including the part where a would-be Jedi shouldn't have a fiancée. He let the words of the meditation calm him, ignoring the titters from his friends.
The third thing he learned was that he was expected to accompany Leia when she went on official missions. Her work varied in ways he'd only seen glimpses of. Sometimes she joined spy missions, joining one or more of the Fulcrums as they identified sympathizers to the cause. Sometimes she flew sorties with the rest of the squadrons; she was a capable pilot even if she wasn't in love with her cockpit the way the rest of the space jockeys were. The most vital missions Leia went on were when she served as an ambassador and mendicant, appealing to her wealthy high society peers, the affluent and influential movers within her social sphere. The Alliance needed their support, and their money. Leia possessed a perfect skill set to convince them to donate both to her cause.
"Alderaan used to support the Rebellion quietly. We funneled ships and supplies to the rebels before the Alliance was even formed." Her eyes weren't sad tonight, but proud. "It's my job to convince these fine people to open their planetary purses and buy us weapons." Luke had thought it strange that she carried so many nice clothes with her. Now he understood the fine dresses and simple jewelry were as much her uniform as his flight suit was his.
He'd been lent nice clothes for this evening's event, something simple and black that fit him well out of the spies' stores. This tunic he wore might have played a pivotal role in some anti-Imperial espionage for all he knew, but he wasn't sure how the mission could have turned out well if they'd itched the previous owner this badly. The uniform would have been better, but Leia had demurred, suggesting he wear that after his next promotion. "I'm getting promoted?" he'd asked her as she'd fitted a subtle sash around his shoulders.
"I wouldn't know," she'd replied, and brushed off the question as she'd brushed off dust from his tunic's hem.
And now they were here, and Luke was back to not knowing which fork to use or what to say. He followed Leia's wake as she moved through the party. The rapport they shared, which seemed to be growing the more time they spent together, allowed him to pick up on her cues: taste this wrapped dainty and avoid this other, accept this glass which contained a light fruit punch rather than the various intoxicants on offer, smile warmly at this former Senator's jokes as the pompous fool tried to impress a war hero pilot and son of a famous Clone Wars war hero while Leia metaphorically picked his pocket.
Luke was uncomfortable bartering on his father's name. He'd never met Anakin Skywalker, nor the pretty senator whom old Captain Rex was sure had been Luke's mother. He'd lost count of the people he'd met who'd known his father, or had heard great things about him. Luke himself had grown up with stories that were careful lies. Leia had been helpful researching information about the woman who might have been his mother, but his parents remained mere stories, holograms from a lost time.
"You look very much like him," said another of the galaxy's elite, someone else Luke didn't know.
"Thanks, I hear that a lot." Laughter tittered around him, but they didn't understand and Luke didn't share.
After the reception, the guests filed into the great room set aside for tonight's entertainment, which was to be a short concert by musicians drawn from the local population. Luke watched as they set up on the stage, clearly nervous at the attention from the various wealthy patrons and dignitaries surrounding them. They launched into a heart-pumping frenzy of large pipes with hand-pumped air bellows and deep, booming drums. Another musician played a stringed instrument that danced along the melody called out by the others. A singer threw out words into the mix, almost shouting to be heard. The effect slid directly down Luke's spine and into his feet. This wasn't music to listen to while sitting primly in lined chairs, this was music created to dance to around bonfires celebrating the arrival of seasons. He wondered if he was allowed to tap his toes.
Leia leaned over to his ear, her whisper surprisingly clear to him above the joyful noise. "I'm surprised the organizers let them play this one."
"What's it about?"
"Pride. Revolution. The lyrics are about throwing off your chains. Today is the only day, and you must be free."
"Sounds like a good anthem for the Rebellion."
"Our hosts aren't for the Rebellion. Yet."
The concert continued, and after the musicians took their bows, they pulled out their secreted weapons and opened fire. The planet might not support the Rebellion, but it was starting a rebellion of its own. Luke and Leia fought their way past the security guards swarming in, and the rush of aristocracy rushing out as alarms sounded outside.
Thank the Force their extraction ship had remained close by, and their ride kept his mouth shut as he and Chewie managed to get them off-world before the real fireworks began. Leia stewed in annoyance about the wasted effort and was only mollified a few days later when the newly-installed planetary government announced they were joining the Alliance. For the moment, she shut herself in her cabin as they made their way back to base.
Han said, "I never thought you'd get yourself killed going to a party."
Luke settled in to the seat he was starting to think of as his. "Leia goes to much wilder parties than I thought."
"You still sure about this?" He wasn't asking about the party, and he wasn't looking at Luke.
"I've never been more sure."
Luke's impression of weddings back home were that the prospective couple walked or drove up to the local registry office, showed their scandocs, or in the more rural areas licked their thumbs and left prints on flimsy, then the magistrate would sign them as married. There were other customs, depending on your species and your wealth, but signing the register together made it real in the eyes of the law.
His own wedding looked to be much more complicated. Leia was handling all the details. Luke would be expected to show up on time in his uniform, and Han was not to get him drunk the night before and make him miss the proceedings or pass out during the dull middle parts. Luke had agreed to the terms; Han had agreed but he'd said it so sarcastically that Leia still didn't believe him. Chewie had grumbled his own agreement, ruffling Luke's hair as he promised to watch both humans for Leia's sake.
"You're supposed to be on my side, fuzzball," Han had said, but Chewbacca had simply rumbled back that Leia was nicer and besides Luke had taken a week to recover from what Han talked him into drinking the night of the Death Star victory party.
"It wasn't a week," Luke had insisted but no one was listening to him.
There were going to be speeches. Mon Mothma herself would attend to walk Leia forward in lieu of her lost family. Leia had told him about this tradition, how a family member walked each of them to each other. "It symbolizes safe passage across the ocean of your younger lives before you share the journey with your new partner." Luke had only seen oceans from orbit, and none of his family was alive to bring him to her. She'd said, "It's fine to wait up front for me. Not everyone wants their family present." The last words had spilled out and fell into an awkward pause. They both wanted their families present, and they'd met because that could never happen.
They had yet to settle on an appropriate celebrant. Alderaanian royal marriages were strictly secular, and the closest thing Luke had to a religion was his Jedi practices, which seemed to have no marriage customs at all.
"We'll ask one of the starship captains," she said, focusing her attention on the tailoring changes she was sketching out for her gown.
"Han's a starship captain. He could marry us." The phrase felt strange on his lips, like he meant one thing but his heart considered another.
"No. We'll find someone appropriate."
Luke tried one more time. "He's a famous war hero."
"Half the people I know in Command are famous war heroes, and all of them will show up wearing clean clothes and won't tell off-color jokes to the head of the Alliance."
"It was one joke and he didn't know who she was." But he knew the matter was settled. Leia would find someone more respectable. Han wouldn't marry the two of them.
When Leia's attention turned from her gown, Luke changed the topic to something else that had been preying on his mind. "After the wedding, am I moving into your quarters?"
"I assume so, yes. I won't fit in your rack in the barracks." Luke had observed that plenty of his friends made do with the narrow bunks together, but he saw her point. She glanced around the crowded cabin. "Do you have many possessions?"
She already knew the answer to that, but she'd been distracted and he could forgive her anything. "No."
"Shouldn't be an issue then."
"Leia," he said, reaching for her hand and half-expecting her to dart away. She settled comfortably into his touch, and as ever, warm shivers went through him at hers. "We're going to be married. Am I going to be staying here with you?" The question felt awkward but Luke had always tripped over his tongue when it came to talking about sex. Biggs used to tease him about how red his face got when their friends sat around together making up stories of what they'd very obviously not had a chance to do.
Her eyes rested on his face, and for a moment, she gave Luke her entire attention, her thoughts so thick he could feel them fluttering against his face. "You're worried about our wedding night." He anticipated the same teasing, and there was a hint of a smile on her lips.
"I'm not worried."
Leia took his face in her free hand, pulled him close, and kissed him. Luke held the moment as long as he could. After the wedding there would be hundreds more kisses, but each one was a treasure. He expected her to pull away again but instead Leia deepened the kiss, stroking his neck with her fingers.
"I'm looking forward to it," she said when she finally did break away.
"I was thinking, we could get some practice in now so that the wedding night could be perfect."
Leia did laugh at him then. "Go sleep it off, Flyboy. Soon enough."
The big day arrived at last. Luke had avoided anything that remotely threatened a hangover the next morning, and to Han's credit, he hadn't pushed, instead opening the Falcon to the rest of Luke's friends for a night of cards. Chewie had kicked all of them off the ship except for Luke by lights out in the barracks, which had made for the tamest bachelor party in the history of the tradition. Luke stayed on the Falcon to sleep in the guest cabin that had become the closest thing he had to a home. He wasn't tired, though, and he and Han had spent half the night talking, not exactly about anything. Luke had crawled into bed later than he'd intended, his brain stuck poking at the holes in the conversation neither of them had dared to fill with words.
But that was last night. Today he was in a cargo bay on Home One decorated for the occasion and he was wearing his good uniform after a long shower. He'd insisted that Han and Chewie get seats right up front on his side, along with Wedge and Hobbie. Leia could pack the rest of the guest list with notables and what press could be trusted by the Alliance as long as Luke had his friends close. He sat with them while the other guests filed in, with a section to the side for the droids. Back home, both families would have crowded in to the magistrate's office if there was no other wedding, and it wasn't considered a proper wedding unless someone from your family and someone from your new spouse's family got into an argument over who got to stand where.
"Be glad you're not doing this on my home planet," said Hobbie in a low voice. "Otherwise you'd be spending the day building a big hut for you to get married under, and you better hope you get it done before sunset if you didn't want your father-in-law coming after you with a knife."
Wedge yawned. "You made that one up. Two days ago you swore the way to get married on your planet was riding matching sea beasts."
"Different part of the planet," said Hobbie, but he'd already lost them. Luke now had images of attempting nuptial carpentry with Mon Mothma breathing over his shoulder and criticizing his hammering while he balanced on the back of a whale.
Wedge asked Han, "What do they do on Corellia?"
Luke's ears perked up. Han didn't talk much about his life back on Corellia. And that continued now. "No idea. I didn't get married on Corellia." Chewie said something Luke didn't catch. "Yeah, the sea beast thing does sound interesting. That one."
"Flowers," said Luke. They looked at him, which nearly made him uncomfortable until he remembered everyone was here today to stare at him. "On Tatooine you bring flowers to the person you want to marry, then you sign some papers. Done."
"Kid," said Han, "did you remember your flowers?"
"On Alderaan they exchanged gems. Leia said we could skip both."
"I'll bet," Han said.
Soft music sprang up around them all, something sweet and haunting from Leia's lost home. The remainder of the guests took their seats. Luke scrambled to his feet and met Captain Dayes at the front.
"I was wondering where you were," Dayes whispered, amused. He was an older Duros who'd known Leia since she was a little girl at her father's knee roaming the Senate halls. Respectable and kind, a good choice to officiate even though Han had shaved and shown up in his good shirt today.
"Waiting for my moment, sir," Luke said, quoting an old pilot's axiom and earning a soft laugh in return.
"Seems you've found it." Dayes looked past Luke and he turned to see Leia enter escorted by Mon Mothma. The moment had arrived.
He saw Leia in her gown and finally understood the sketches: someone had taken one of Leia's existing dresses and modified it in a few important places, adding a pleat here and a tuck there, rendering what had already been a lovely outfit into pure art draped over the form of the most beautiful woman he'd ever met. The dress was as much a part of the show they were putting on as anything else, and he didn't care. If he died now, he'd die having seen her today and he'd consider his life complete, although the immediate followup thought was that he'd prefer not to die until tomorrow morning at the earliest, maybe mid-afternoon if possible.
Leia approached him, then gave a deep bow to him. Luke had been coached on this part and bowed deeply to Mothma first, thanking her for Leia's symbolic safe passage, then to Leia herself. He stood. Leia took his hand.
Dayes smoothly moved into the words of today's chosen marital rite, a mixture of Alderaani custom and spacer traditions older than most worlds. He nodded to Leia to recite her vows.
The proximity alerts blared, drowning out the music.
An announcement boomed over all channels. "Imperial squadron just came out of hyperspace!"
In a moment the guests had scattered: the commanders to their stations and the pilots to the hangars. Luke's instinct was to run, but Leia's grip had turned to iron in his hand.
"Captain?" she said, in a stern, commanding voice. "The short version, if you please."
Dayes flipped his datapad to the last section. "Do you wish to be together for the rest of your lives?"
"Yes," said Leia, and Luke managed as firm a "Yes" as he could around the pounding of his heart and the strength he felt flowing through her hand into his.
"Then you are already wed. May the Force smile upon your union."
Before Luke could even register the moment, Leia pulled his face in for a fast kiss. "More later, now go, and don't you dare make me a widow."
"Yes, ma'am," he said before hurrying off behind his friends.
Two Star Destroyers with full complements of TIEs had emerged from hyperspace close to the fleet. Chatter over the comms came to the quick conclusion that this wasn't a fully-planned attack, even as their fighters engaged in sparkling emerald and crimson crossfire. The Empire had gotten lucky, and they were now taking their shot when they'd found the bulk of the Rebellion fleet in their rendezvous. Had this group known who they were meeting here, Luke was sure they'd have brought a lot more friends.
"Home One under attack!" came a shout over the comm. "Gold Squadron, move in towards those Destroyers and get their attention. Blue Squadron, defend the capital ships." Luke waited, his attention half-taken by the ships zooming around him, many of them intent on killing him, until the orders for Red Squadron came through to keep engaging the TIEs.
He tried not to swing his nose into view of Home One. He couldn't worry about Leia now. He had to trust his fellow pilots to do their jobs just as he was doing his.
The first three capital ships winked out of sight into hyperspace.
Wedge got a TIE on his tail, and Luke intercepted, firing on the enemy ship with a quick barrage. "Thanks," said Wedge over the comms. "Watch your own tail." Sure enough, a moment later Luke saw the bright green flashes barely missing him from behind.
The fight continued as more of their transports fled to safety. The TIEs kept swarming one ship in particular. They knew where Mon Mothma was, and the Empire wanted her dead more than any other target. Luke swooped between fighters, engaging as many TIEs as he could get to focus on him instead of the rain of fire they sent down on Home One. He dodged their blasts, and dodged the larger blasts coming from the Star Destroyers. Already the ship had taken heavy damage. Smaller ships emerged from the hangars, and Blue Squadron provided them cover fire to move free.
Leia wasn't on any of those. He felt that much but with the rest of the fight going on around him, he didn't have the spare moment to reach out to sense where she was. He received the code beacon that Mon Mothma had been taken to safety. For security purposes, none of them were told which transport held her.
The order to abandon ship went out. Luke's squadron switched from distraction to protection alongside Blue. Fires boiled from multiple wounds along Home One's port bulkhead. The ship wouldn't hold much longer.
"I got her," came Han's voice in his ear, and he wasn't talking about Senator Mothma. Luke's eyes flickered to his panel, where he saw the light telling him the private frequency he and Han shared was broadcasting. "Chewie's sending coordinates the second we have a jump solution." In the background he heard Threepio telling Han to make sure he reassured Master Luke that Threepio had also escaped safely, which Han ignored.
Luke couldn't see the Millennium Falcon, not with the mess of burning ships and blaster fire. Artoo whistled when he received the data. "Meet you there soon," he said, and the channel went quiet. They'd made it safely away. He was sure. Luke turned his attention back to the remaining ships that needed his protection, but they were rapidly running away. The order came through to find their own jump points. The jump coordinates weren't the same ones Han had sent.
Artoo whistled a query. "We're meeting up with the Falcon." Artoo whistled louder. "We can rejoin the fleet after that."
Luke waited for the last capital ship to jump then activated his hyperdrive. A moment later, they were safe in the blue swirl of hyperspace. Artoo could stew for a while. Luke's bride would meet him at the coordinates Chewbacca had sent. Luke didn't intend to keep her waiting.
The stars of realspace appeared around them, and his scanner soon found the Falcon close by. He sent his call signal and banked around for the difficult connection to the airlock.
"Sorry, buddy. I can't bring you inside, too. Go to low power and charge."
His droid whistled once more, low and mournful. Luke would have to take a look inside him later to see what in blazes had gotten into Artoo. Not right now. He climbed out of the cockpit and into the airlock, aware that his flight suit stank of sweat. He longed for a shower. He wondered if Leia would meet him as he boarded the ship. Instead he was alone. From the other end of the ship, he heard the sharp tones he'd learned to associate with any time Han and Leia were in a room together.
With a sigh, he pulled off his helmet and set it aside before making his way towards the cockpit. Chewie saw him first and growled a greeting that was underlaid with his annoyance at Han and Leia's latest spat. That caught their attention from whatever it was they were arguing about. For a moment, Luke was pinned in place by the sudden bright light on both faces as they saw him.
"About time you got here," Han said around his smile.
"Did you see how many ships escaped?" Leia asked, even as she went to his side and did a quick check-over to confirm to herself Luke was all right.
"I saw the Daybill destroyed." It was Captain Dayes' ship, and Luke was sure he'd been aboard. The very last thing the man had done in his life was to marry them. It wasn't fair, but little in this war was fair. "Most of the other transports and freighters escaped."
Han said, "And there's nothing we can do about any of it, as I was explaining before you got here."
Leia said, "We should rejoin the fleet."
"Technically, the two of you are on leave," said Han. "As I was also saying. You're supposed to be on R&R for the next four days. It's a problem when I'm the one who remembers you're supposed to be on your honeymoon," he added, gesturing at himself with his thumb.
"We don't need a honeymoon," she said.
Luke said, "I'd like a honeymoon."
"Without Captain Dayes, there's no one to document as witness. We're not even technically married without his word saying we did."
"We know it, though. And if you want someone official, he can do it." He gestured at Han.
Han put up his hand and said in his most sarcastic tone, "Sorry, I'm not appropriate enough to marry you."
Leia snapped her head back to Luke. "You told him?"
"No!"
"Ha!" said Han, pointing at her. "I knew it. I knew you'd say it. He didn't have to tell me. You don't think I'm good enough to marry you." Luke heard both sets of words at the same time, and both meanings. He was sure Leia did, too, as she stared at Han for a long moment, neither of them ready to acknowledge the other half of what he'd meant.
Leia turned away first. "All I want is for my wedding day to go smoothly. We're going to rejoin the fleet now and grab the first person with their own ship to sign the docs. Then we need to get back to work. The other fleets might be under similar danger. We might have to exchange troops. There are a lot of plans to be made."
"Princess Leia," Threepio twittered at her, "I should point out that the Alliance has many good planners on staff, and I was instructed by Senator Mothma to make sure you 'took a break.' I'm afraid this order supersedes the rest of my protocols."
"Override."
"I am terribly sorry, Princess, but you don't have that authorization."
"Luke, can you override?"
"I wouldn't know how."
"Han?" she asked, without hope in her voice.
He folded his arms. "Far be it from me to go against Mothma's orders." He almost managed that without a smirk.
"Fine," she said. "Four days and we rejoin the fleet."
Luke said, "Most people are a little happier on their honeymoons."
"Then let's get happy," she said, and grabbed his hand, dragging Luke past Han and into the guest cabin.
As soon as the hatch slid shut, she sat hard on the bunk, a defeated line pinning her shoulders down. "Sorry. I'm sorry. Han always drives me up the wall. I think he does it on purpose."
He did, Luke knew. He'd always understood why Han and Leia needled each other so much, even if neither of them wanted to admit the reason. Two people who always needed to be right, to be strong, to not need the approval of others, and who so badly wanted the other to break first and say the words they already both knew. Luke wasn't the same kind of fighter even if he recognized his own reflection. He loved Leia with all his heart. Inside his own counsel he knew he loved Han with all his soul, but if Han wouldn't make the slightest gesture in return, it didn't matter. Leia was here, and Luke loved her.
He sat next to her on the bunk and wrapped his arm around her loosely, enjoying the feel of her body as she rested against him. He was her comfort, the bulwark against which she could brace herself and fight each day. And maybe that was all he'd ever be.
He took her hand and threaded their fingers together. "I know this isn't a real marriage to you," he said quietly. "You'd do anything for the Rebellion, and you know I'd do anything for you. I want you to know that I can live with that. Tell them anything you want. I'll back you up."
She pulled away and looked at him with a piercing expression he felt cut deep, as though she were examining the smallest iota of his existence. Then she blinked and shook her said with a sigh. "You are an idiot sometimes."
Leia kissed him, and under the kiss he felt the desire flowing from her, carefully caged for weeks, months, tonight finally allowed free. She devoured his mouth like a wave. He held onto her as though he'd be consumed by her. Luke had wanted her ever since the moment he'd seen her sweet face on the hologram, had only grown in his longing with every single moment they'd spent together, from the hopeless times when he'd known she was far too good for him, through their friendship and engagement. Now it was their wedding night, an impossible hope brought to life.
She whispered into his ear, "I've practiced. We're safe." His head swam until he caught on to her meaning. Like the med droids kept instructing them, Leia had practiced to regulate her own body's fertility cycles.
He was lost, not knowing where to put his hands, not knowing how to hold her. Fire burned in his chest and through his groin at each touch, threatening to embarrass him before he'd even stripped out of his clothes. Again, he became aware of the sticky press of the suit's fabric against him. "I should clean off," he said between kisses. "I'm a mess."
"We can get messier first," she said, her fingers finding the clasps to his flight suit. Her mouth moved into a smile when she saw his undershirt. "I thought I was the one who wore too many layers."
"Let me help you with those," he said but she pushed his hands away to deal with himself and turned her attention to her own clothing with its complicated snaps and lacing. The gown was indeed gorgeous but the sight he'd remember most was watching her drop it into a pile on the floor. Her own underclothes looked soft, with a frill of white lace at the edges. She found his hand and brought the palm to her lips for a soft kiss before pressing his touch to the warm swell of one breast barely covered by a white silk camisole.
And that was enough. Luke let out a despairing cry as a wave of pleasure overtook and overwhelmed him. He'd had one chance at making tonight perfect and he'd failed at his first step. As his brain swam he wished for a hole to appear in the deck and swallow him.
"Hey," she said, reaching to cup his face. "You okay?"
"Leave me here to die of shame," he said, not able to meet her eyes.
She let out a short laugh then kissed him again. "From that? I was wondering how we'd get you off quickly before we got started." She pressed her nose against his, smiling. "Go clean up in the shower, but don't be long." She pushed him towards the tiny cubicle, and he stumbled, still weak in the knees.
Luke took the fastest shower of his life and struggled briefly wondering if he should dress or emerge naked. He settled on a small towel at his waist and stepped out. Leia had already picked up her gown from the floor and hung it to prevent wrinkles. She'd placed the rest of their clothes in a neat pile to one side, including the remainder of her underclothes. She lay back, resting on her arms, her hair coming loose from the complex braids she'd worn earlier, every inch of her pink and inviting.
"You've never done this before, right?" she asked him.
"I… No." Even before the casual lie could form on his tongue about some old flame back home, he knew nothing would get past her, nor did he want to try.
"Me either, but I've studied, and my friends gave helpful advice." The smile was back on her face, directed entirely at him. She reached out one hand and he took it, letting her pull him down beside her. Friends? She had to mean Command, and unbidden, faces flashed by of highly-ranked Rebels who could have taken Leia aside and given her pointers on how best to bed her new husband.
Her mouth pressed against his again, and she took his hand, placing it back against her breast, which was even softer and warmer now that he felt her bare skin. For a moment he feared a second awful performance but his desire had been banked for the moment, and he could focus on how she felt.
"Not that I need to tell you," he said, "but yes, let me know when I do something wrong. Or right."
"Happily." She pushed him over onto his back, and brushed her fingers over the few hairs on his chest, the growing swell of his muscles. He'd always been wiry in his youth, but the hard regimen of his current life had given definition to his arms. He took the opportunity to stroke her in kind, feeling the quieter but firm definition of her own biceps, and the hard plane of her belly suspended centimeters above his. He paused there until her free hand took his and pushed his fingers lower into the soft tangle of her hair.
"Touch me," she said, and it was more than half an order. His hand groped blindly before finding the soft brush of skin which parted at his touch. She gasped as he fingers began stroking the skin there, already slick and aching. "Keep doing that." Luke kept up the motion of his fingers as he watched her face move above his. He bent up for a kiss, and Leia groaned into his mouth.
Luke's experience was limited to the grainy holoporn the other youths in Anchorhead had passed around, and the slightly better quality recordings the pilots shared in the barracks. He knew ninety percent of what he'd seen was invented by people who had only passing interest in what real sex looked like for the various species they were filming, and every interest in the baser needs of their intended audience. But a few things had probably been right.
"I want to put my mouth there," he said around another kiss and she couldn't speak, only nodded. She slid her body up the bunk until she was right above his face. Luke wasn't exactly sure how this part went but he was positive Leia would let him know.
His thumbs parted her again, and she was gorgeous here, too. He spent a moment stroking the deep pink skin with one awed finger, then went in with his tongue. The taste was nothing like he'd known, and everything he wanted to know. He recalled the movements his hands had made and went to that now, licking and tasting with quick swipes. Already his own desire had returned, making him needy even as he delved his tongue inside her. Leia's hands grasped the thin pillow to either side of him, squeezing as she held on to herself, her thighs trembling against his hands as he held her, too.
"Right there," she said, and he focused in on where his tongue was, drawing quick circles in one spot until Leia let out a sweet cry. Her entire body shook and his shook in sympathy, echoing with the same pleasure, as though he could feel what she felt. Leia fell back, resting on him as she gulped her breath back.
"Not bad," she said in a wheeze. "Definitely potential there."
"Leia," he said, and his own needs had shoved to the top of his brain. He couldn't articulate what he wanted, but she saw the naked lust on his face.
"All right, but we're taking it slow." She shifted her body down, dragging her soft, damp curls across the hard line of his cock before scooping him into her hand. Her touch nearly pushed him over again as she made a few firm strokes. He wanted her to keep doing that, wanted her.
She positioned the head of his cock against herself, and it took every effort not to thrust blindly up into her. Luke held still, let Leia adjust him and herself, sliding the tip into herself with a soft gasp. The porn he'd watched told him sometimes human women experienced pain, but the flow of her emotions spoke only of pleasure as she settled inch by inch down onto him. His own pleasure was unspeakable, impossible. The warm sheath of her body gripped him, her internal muscles still quaking. Leia began rising and falling above him, and Luke could do nothing more than thrust, his hands gripping her waist for purchase as they moved together in an awkward rhythm.
Thank the Force he'd spoiled himself early, or he'd already have spent himself inside her now. Even with his first thirst slaked, his nerves sparked in growing waves, which he felt rolling from her in her own rebuilding need. She didn't have to speak for him to know to touch her again now, his hand seeking the same place he'd found before. He was rewarded with her soft grunt as she moved against his hand while her hips moved faster.
He was spiraling again, ready to fall again, and he sped up the movement of his fingers, begging for her to finish first, and instead feeling the light burst inside her as he came hard, swears dripping from his lips like dew. Leia kissed them away, drinking him in as they moved, each seeking the last dregs of pleasure from each other. Finally she pulled away from him, collapsing beside him in the bunk. Luke, too tired to move, turned his head and kissed her limply, words no longer having any meaning in his mouth or his mind.
Leia was his wife. No other words mattered.
Ship's day crept up on them. They'd wakened once in the deep night, or what passed for it here, lips meeting in the darkness and hands reaching for each other again. Luke barely remembered. The sleepy smile on Leia's face suggested she remembered a bit more.
"Good morning."
"Hi."
She kissed his cheek and rolled out of the bunk past him. "I need a shower, and I need breakfast. Care to join me for either?"
The shower cubicle was too small for two people, but they made do.
Han wasn't in the lounge when they finally emerged from their cabin. Chewie and Threepio were in the cockpit, where Threepio was updating Artoo on all the details of Threepio's day since they'd last seen each other. Luke decided not to tell him that Artoo was probably still in low power mode and wouldn't hear him.
Chewie told them they knew where the galley was if they wanted food.
They both did. Luke spent a lot of time here, and Leia had spent more than one escape from the Empire, or transport for a mission, on this same ship. The galley wasn't stocked with much at the best of times. Curiously, Luke found a stash of his favorite flavor of rations bars, which were always hard to get, along with several packets of Leia's favorite berries. Not bad for their first meal together as a married couple, he decided, and brought both to the lounge.
"Enjoy," he said, tossing her a packet.
"Where did you find these?"
"Han's got a lot."
She made a face. "Probably hoarding them to sell later."
Luke bit into his bar and chewed. "To who? You're the only one who likes those."
"More for me then," she said, sitting back and popping berries one by one into her mouth. He didn't miss the look of bliss on her face. He felt his loins stir, and pushed away thoughts of feeding her berries in bed before he wound up with an enormous erection at breakfast.
"Where is Han?" Luke asked the air. Chewbacca hadn't said, and Threepio was too busy telling his sleeping counterpart about the small squeak he was hearing in his left knee.
After they finished eating, Luke went down the corridor to Han's cabin. The hatch was closed. Normally he'd have rapped on the metal, but things were awkward this morning, especially if he and Leia intended to duck back into their cabin. But Luke was worried.
He knocked once.
"Yeah?" came Han's voice from inside.
"Can I come in?"
He heard strange noises from inside, then, "Sure."
The hatch slid open. Han wore his innocent face, which meant he was hiding something. "What's up, kid? I won't ask if you had a good night."
"And I won't tell you." Luke stepped inside. Han's cabin fit him well: sparsely decorated, but with a ton of hidden storage holes and compartments. You saw one thing with Han, and missed all the rest he'd hid from view. "What are you doing?"
Han leaned back, lounging against the bulkhead. "Right now? Having a boring conversation. We're stuck here for four days unless you and the missus want to go sightseeing somewhere. I didn't expect you to come out of your cabin for most of the trip."
"And you're going to spend it holed up in yours?"
"I'm catching up on my reading."
That kind of bold lie was Han all over. So was telling on himself. Luke saw the compartment that was still ajar, with a light inside. Closed, it would look like another bulkhead to anyone who didn't take the time to measure the walls. "You're reading in the closet?"
Han's eyes didn't even dart over. There was a reason he'd won this ship in a card game. "Beats Leia standing there telling me I'm reading it wrong." Luke took a step towards the open door, and Han intercepted. "Nothing you need to see in there."
"Right. None of my business."
"Exactly. Go spend time with Leia. This is as good as it's going to get before she gets stuck in war planning again."
And he almost did. Later, years down the road when it was his turn to mind the kids Luke would watch them play and his thoughts would drift back to this day. He'd wonder how different things would have been had he just gone back to his cabin with Leia. Then he'd remind Ben to play nice with his sister.
Luke was just a little faster than Han, and the door was easily opened. Lights were strung from the ceiling, glowing in brilliant display. Beneath them, half a dozen potted flowers preened in the artificial sunlight, soaking up energy for their blooms that were about to unfurl. Luke knew these flowers: they grew back home, rare as they were, and tended with the greatest care.
Luke turned to Han, and he waited.
"I got them for a good price. Thought they'd brighten the place up."
"Han."
"Leia's the one who's good with words," Han said.
Luke kissed him. Han took his shoulders and gently, pain on his face, pushed him back. "You're a married man. And she's a married woman."
"Leia!" Luke shouted, knowing she wasn't far. Sure enough, her footsteps were outside the doorway in a moment.
"I see you found him." She'd grown closed off again. Han might almost put words around his feelings. Leia had not actually said 'I love you' even to Luke, even after last night, even though he could practically see the words in the air above her.
"Look in there," Luke said a moment before Han said, "Do not look in there." Given the choice, Leia followed Luke's lead. They both watched her face take in the flowers with a curt nod.
"I wondered. What about the gems you smuggled out of Arlan Base?"
Han was about to launch into a wounded attack on his innocence but Leia could see through him even more easily than Luke could. "Second drawer." Leia went into the little room and opened another small compartment. Three shimmering gemstones, each the size of a pluatl fruit pit, fell into her palm as she tipped out the soft black bag she'd found. She nodded a second time.
"When did you plan to ask?"
"I didn't. Call it a backup plan if you two managed to screw up your own wedding." He was trying one last con, and Leia would have started shouting again if he had. Luke stepped between them.
"The answer is yes," Luke said, "if you promise never to lie to either of us again."
Han's eyebrows shot up and his face went completely still.
Leia frowned. "There's no way he can keep that promise."
"Hey," he said, turning towards her, "I can keep it fine."
"See? That's already a lie."
Han brought his finger up between them. "I should…."
Luke said, "You should kiss her."
Han and Leia glared at each other. Han sighed, and he bent to her mouth, kissing her once with far more softness than Luke would have suspected. Leia sighed in that vaguely annoyed way she had. Then she pulled him in for a much deeper kiss. Luke stood close by, watching, dimly aware of the effect this display was having on his own libido. As much as they got on each other's nerves, there could be no doubt left how much desire burned between them.
Luke asked, "Han, do you want to be with us for the rest of our lives and yours?"
Han stepped back, the worried look he kept hidden back behind the locks of his eyes. Love was easy, words were hard, and trusting his heart was just about impossible. "Where else would I be?"
Han's bunk was nicer than the one in the guest cabin, and had room enough for three if they budged up. He was more experienced than they were, too, though that wasn't difficult. Luke didn't care how much of Han's experience was exaggeration when his mouth was wrapped warm and wet around Luke's cock, sucking with a soft pressure that turned Luke's brain into fire then into mush as he came. Leia didn't seem to mind Han's fingers buried inside of her and Luke's mouth latched onto one breast, leaving Luke to inhale the full sweet overflow of her pleasure as she shook in her own climax.
Han and Leia kept up their needling even while naked together until Luke kissed them both breathless to get them to shut up. He'd made peace with the fact that he was their buffer, the one thing they could both agree on. If he had to spend the rest of his life pressed up right between them, Luke's lips against Leia's neck and Han's hand stroking him lazily from behind, there were far worse fates in this galaxy.
Explaining their new situation to Alliance Command would cause no end of headaches. The public relations victory of their first wedding was about to get a messy addition.
It didn't matter. Nothing else mattered except tonight, and the warmth of their touch. Today was the only day, and this was freedom.