Wrath of the Empire

Suffering

Leia was alone in the room again. She tried to take her mind off Han and get back to reading, but she couldn't, no matter how hard she tried. After about 15 minutes she couldn't take it anymore and went out on the balcony. The sun was setting, and she could see the lights being turned on in the houses nearby. She tried to control her feelings, but it was difficult. She tried to do all the Jedi relaxation tricks that Luke had shown her, but it didn't help. Soon she couldn't hold it together anymore and burst out in tears. She missed Han so much, even when she was near him. They almost couldn't get a moment for themselves, and it was killing both of them. The only moments they got to spend together was at meetings with other members of the New Republic and when they went to bed, and there they were so tired that they both fell asleep within five minutes. "What am I going to do?", she asked herself. But she already knew the answer. There was nothing she could do. With the position she had, she couldn't just take a vacation, and neither could Han. She would just have to wait until things started to fall a little more into place.

"Leia? Leia, what's wrong?" Leia suddenly got pulled out of her thoughts and returned to earth. "Leia?" She turned around and saw Luke coming towards her, and now she noticed that the sun had set and that it was completely dark. She discreetly wiped her tears away with her sleeve. "Nothing. I'm all right." Luke looked at her with an investigating look. "No, you're not. I felt your pain and heard you crying, that's why I came up here. Tell me what's troubling you." Leia sighed. She knew that she couldn't hide anything from Luke. He would find out eventually. "Well, it's...it's..." "It's Han, isn't it?" She looked at him. She was still sometimes surprised with his ability to sense these things. "Yes." Just the thought of Han leaving made her want to start crying again, but somehow she managed to hold back her tears. "I can see how hard it is for you, and Han, too." Luke put his arm around her, and they turned around and saw the billion lights from the houses of the Galactic City. "But it will get better soon. I promise." Leia leaned in to Luke's arms and rested her head on his shoulder. "I hope you're right.", she whispered, still trying to hold her tears back. "Come on.", Luke said. "Let's get you inside, it's getting cold. Han and Chewie are supposed to leave in 15 minutes, they want to say goodbye." Leia nodded and followed Luke inside. She knew he was right, it would get better. But there was something in the back of her head, a feeling that she couldn't quite identify. A feeling that something was about to happen.