Star Wars, page 35
“What?” she asked, laughing at his look.
“Just wondering if, now that we’ve fought off the Empire again, saved a whole world again, and proved ourselves to be the heroes of the new republic, if now, finally, we can celebrate our honeymoon.” He smirked. “Or did you have some committee you needed to go be on first?”
“Now that you mention it,” Leia said, “I do need to send a quick message to the chieftess on Inusagi.” She turned on her heel, heading back to the sofa, where she’d left her communicator.
As she started to retreat, Han held on to her wrist, spinning her back to him. “Uh-unh,” he said, a wicked smile curling over his lips. “No way.”
Leia laughed. “For the rest of this trip, you—no, we—come first.” Her words were a solemn promise. “If Mon needs me for something, she’s going to have to pilot a ship to Synjax herself and pull me off the beach.”
“If she tries that,” Han said, his words also a promise, “I will blast her.”
Han rubbed her fingers in his hand, and she looked down at the way he held her. Turning over his palm, he revealed a ring.
Leia gasped. The dark-gold metal fit her finger perfectly as Han slipped it on. It was a large ring, with gold snaking down to showcase a round, purple-blue stone at the base of her finger and then looping up to display a second stone past her middle knuckle. It was a ring that demanded to be noticed.
Han had bought it on his way to pick up dinner, the whole reason he’d bothered to step foot outside the suite as soon as he got his wife into it.
“Did you think I didn’t notice the other ring broke?” Han asked softly.
Leia looked up at him with a watery smile. “Yes.”
“Well,” Han conceded. “You were right. I didn’t notice it was gone.” Just as he hadn’t been aware of when his own vine ring had broken apart, although he hadn’t bothered buying himself a replacement yet. “But I noticed you were sad. And I figured it out.”
Emotion welled up in Leia’s eyes. Oh, no. He didn’t mean to make her cry. He’d been trying to set an entirely different mood instead. “This one’s not going to break,” he said, hoping that would reassure her.
Leia’s fingers traced the looping gold ring, lingering over the two stones. There had not been a large selection of jewelry at the shop, and he’d known that ring was large and showy, but he’d liked the two different stones because—
“One for me and one for you,” Leia said, echoing his unspoken thoughts.
“And the gold reminded me of the amber vines.”
“It’s perfect.”
Han tried to believe her. “I know…” He paused, trying to find the right words. “I know we’re going to have to trade out this ship,” he said, gesturing to the wealth on display in the suite, “for the Falcon. And it’s not what you’re used to, but—”
“The Falcon’s been more my home than anyplace since—” She stopped, redirecting her thoughts. “For more than a year,” she finished. “I love it.”
“Good. But I’m adding some things for you, at least, to make it more, I don’t know…homey?” He was doing this all wrong.
“Homey?” Leia asked.
“Chewie’s making some modifications. For you. Us. You.”
“Like what?” She looked befuddled.
“Well…Cleaning up some.”
“That will be nice.”
“It wasn’t that bad!”
Leia didn’t bother answering.
“And,” Han continued, “adding a kitchen area.”
Leia barked with laughter. “A kitchen?”
“What? I thought you’d like—”
“Do you think I can cook?” She was practically wheezing at the idea.
“Well—I don’t know!” Han said. “I just thought—”
“A kitchen!” Leia had tears in her eyes again, this time from laughter.
“I thought it was a nice thing to do!”
“Oh, it’s very nice.” Leia snorted. “I’ll be sure to burn you a nice piece of toast, maybe.”
“But—well, I—” Han growled, throwing his hands in the air. Try to turn his ship into a home and all he gets in return is mockery.
“It was a very nice thing to do,” Leia said in a patronizing tone, choking back giggles. “If you promise never to make me cook for you, I promise to never accidentally poison you with whatever I could manufacture in any kitchen I come across.”
“Deal,” Han grumbled. Thankfully, Chewie was a good cook.
“Oh, come on, don’t be mad.”
“I was trying to be—”
“Nice, I know.” Leia shot him a sardonic, teasing look. “I suppose, despite some evidence to the contrary, that you really are a nice man.”
Han’s voice dropped an octave. “Why don’t you admit you like me just as well when I’m being a scoundrel?”
But Leia didn’t rise to the bait. Instead, she trapped him in those big eyes again and said, “Maybe I do.”
Well, this was a game he could play. “You sure about that?” he asked. “I noticed there was a magic act going on in the dining room. A nice man would take you out on a proper date, buy you a drink…”
Leia rose up on her toes, her lips close to his. “I have all the magic I need right here,” she whispered.
“I’m starting to think you’re the rogue, not me,” Han muttered.
Leia ran her fingers through his hair. “You’re right. Let’s stay in tonight. It is, after all, our honeymoon.”
“Wait, wait,” Han said.
“I thought the point was not to wait anymore.”
“I just want to savor the moment.”
Leia raised an eyebrow. “What moment?”
“The moment where you say I’m right.”
Leia groaned. “Don’t get used to it, hotshot.”
Han gave her his best roguish grin. “Never, sweetheart. But you know,” he said, gently running a finger down her cheek in a way that made her sigh. “I could get used to this.”
Leia looked as if she was about to snap off a witty retort, but instead, she simply said, “Me too,” and pulled him down for a kiss.
To scruffy-looking Corwin
and Jack, the nerf we’re herding
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I’ve known ever since I read my first Star Wars novel on the back of the school bus—The Rise of the Shadow Academy by Kevin J. Anderson and Rebecca Moesta—that I one day hoped to write for Star Wars. What I didn’t know then was that it wasn’t just writing the characters that was a dream, it was working with the people who loved the characters as much as I did. Every single person I’ve had the privilege to work with throughout the Star Wars literary universe has been brilliant.
Special thanks to Elizabeth Schaefer for sharing about a million exclamation marks with me over the course of this project, and Jen Heddle, who read each draft with an eye on where to add more kissing and banter. Matt Martin knows the Halcyon inside and out, Tom Hoeler helped me balance Han’s bravado, and Kelsey Sharpe and Pablo Hidalgo helped me keep everything in order. Michael Siglain reached out to me in a dark time and embodied what it means to bring light and hope. I am consistently blown away by how awesome everyone on the team at Lucasfilm and Del Rey truly are; these are the types of people authors dream of working with.
Additional thanks go to Jennifer Randolph, who swapped Star Wars books with me on that school bus; Merrilee Heifetz, who’s been with me from the beginning of my writing journey; and my mother, who had no idea what was going to happen when she taped those old movies off television when I was a kid and let me use a PVC pipe as a lightsaber. Thanks also to Wordsmith Workshops and the friends who did online writing sessions with me and who had no idea I was working on this novel at the time.
At its heart, this is a love story. It’s my kind of romance, with a moon crumbling, a space battle, and kissing in between snarky comebacks, but it’s very much a love story. I don’t know if I could write love without having experienced it, and to that, I owe my heart to Corwin Revis, and an additional thanks to the organ donor who literally gave him a heart so we could continue our story together.
My six-year-old son was less helpful in the creation of this novel, but he was always quick with the advice to add more explosions. I know I don’t have enough in this book to suit his taste, and he thinks the kissing is gross. Sorry, kid.
My greatest thanks go to you, dear reader. Thank you for letting me visit your galaxy.
BY BETH REVIS
Star Wars: The Princess and the Scoundrel
Star Wars: Rebel Rising
Blood and Feathers
Give the Dark My Love
Bid My Soul Farewell
A World Without You
The Body Electric
Across the Universe
A Million Suns
Shades of Earth
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Beth Revis is a New York Times bestselling author with books available in more than twenty languages. She writes science fiction, fantasy, and contemporary novels, including Across the Universe, Star Wars: Rebel Rising, Give the Dark My Love, and A World Without You. A native of North Carolina, Beth lives in a rural corner of the state with her son and husband.
bethrevis.com
Twitter: @bethrevis
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Beth Revis, Star Wars
