The ceremony over, the Alderaanian's had begun celebrating in renowned style – a simple and open-handed affair. They put great store in their agricultural way of life and produce and baked goods had been brought in and arranged on tables around the hall. Plates were generously shared with Luke and Han, and even Chewbacca had been given some particularly tasty meat which he was eating, still sitting safely within easy access of the large doors.

Leia and Pax circulated like two polite hosts. Han felt a pang of jealousy watching them but quashed it with a fond feeling for her. She wanted to share her past life with him and, without Alderaan, this was the closest thing she could get to it. He could now see this side of her instead of just imagining it and considered what a spectacular life it must have been. The fact that she loved him; had chosen him, made his heart swell. With this thought filling his head, Leia turned to look at him and then made her way towards him. Taking his arm she said,

"I'm neglecting you. Come and meet some people." She turned to Luke. "Join the party, Luke. I think the Star will be safe where it is and I have sent for 3PO to come and guard it anyway. I'm sorry I was overly cautious."

"It's no problem. I'll sense if something is wrong." He looked more seriously at her. "Leia, you realise your abilities are what activate that crystal, don't you?" She just smiled patiently at him.

"Go and enjoy the food, Luke." Shut down again, he nodded.

"This food is certainly good." He went to find some more.

Leia introduced Han to a group of security force pilots, a young exuberant bunch who reminded him of an Alliance squadron in their camaraderie. He met several musicians, an ageing professor from the Aldera university and a group of elderly female cloth weavers who clucked over them like they were a newly married couple, making Leia blush. He particularly liked a tall, tanned man of about his own age who Leia explained was a nerf herder from a village not far from Aldera. She was particularly amused when she told him the man's occupation and the joke wasn't lost on him. The man was lively and shook his hand vigorously, chatting to him about the difficulties of getting a good price for his herd and feeding all seven of his children, who were laughing and playing nearby. Han appreciated the financial difficulties and described his often fraught negotiations for cargo contracts. Even though they had different occupations, they had a lot in common. His wife was a homely woman with a weathered but attractive face and Leia spent a long time talking to her.

The youngest of their children, a little girl of about seven standard years, tugged at Leia's dress and she crouched down to give her her full attention. Looking at Han the girl said,

"Is he your husband?"

"No," Leia replied kindly. "He's not my husband."

"Is he your boyfriend then?" The girl began to giggle a little and Leia looked up at Han.

"Yes, he is my boyfriend." The little girl giggled more as did a couple of older girls who were nearby egging her on and they all ran off laughing.

#

Towards the evening, the party dwindled and the crowd and dignitaries dispersed, leaving a couple of security officers, the Duke, 3PO and the four of them in the hall.

"It's been a lovely day," Pax said to Leia as they all now stood by the pedestal.

"Yes, it has been lovely," she agreed. "You have done a wonderful job looking out for them all."

"I wanted to thank you for doing what you did today." He moved towards her. "I know it has meant a great deal to them."

"Please, don't thank me. I should be thanking you for retrieving the Star and returning it to me," she replied, standing next to the open box and gazing at the orb. The Duke looked thoughtful, his brow furrowing.

"I wonder whether I might ask another favour of you," he continued, now standing closer; a little uncomfortably close in Leia's opinion.

"Oh? What's that?" She wasn't sure she wanted to know. The loaded question was weighted with uneasy ambiguity; in her mind anyway. She hoped he didn't ask something awkward.

"As you are of the opinion that the Ceremony of Light is now redundant and are not likely to take part in it again, I wondered whether you would consider giving the Star to me." Well, at least it wasn't another marriage proposal, but still, the question caused a slight churning feeling in her stomach.

"Pax, why would you want it? It's useless to you." She bought time while she thought of a diplomatic exit. Did he know there was a crystal inside? Even if he didn't she didn't want to hand it over to anyone but Luke now that she had it.

"I need it. I mean... as a symbol to the people." She detected a note of agitation in his voice and her nagging, tense feeling began to return. She wasn't sure exactly why but she was certain she shouldn't agree.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Luke step subtly closer and caught Han's frown but she remained fixed on the Duke's face. Han immediately read her body language as she raised her chin and became suddenly icy cold; her well practised, no nonsense stance.

"I'm sorry, Pax. I can't let you keep it. The box belongs to my family and I intend to give it to Luke for safe keeping." Han hadn't seen her do it, she was using her face and her voice as a distraction, but her hand was now resting on the box lid.

"All you have to do is leave the box open and I can use it the same way." Pax was quite frustrated now. "You don't need it Leia. Just let me have it." Leia slammed the box lid shut and the seal hissed as it locked. Pax was taken by surprise and instantly enraged. "That was stupid." He spoke quietly but with tremendous venom. Han's hand went to his blaster. Chewbacca was now on the steps, his bowcaster drawn. "You'd give it to the Jedi but not to me? All I need to open it again is your hand, and I don't need to marry you for that." He grabbed Leia's forearm so hard it hurt and she felt her legs buckle.

The room went black. The burning smell was overpowering and the deafening rumble threatened to burst her ear-drums. Through the darkness she could make out that she was standing on charred ground but, as she recognised it as such, it became unstable and broke up beneath her feet. She began to fall. Fire was everywhere. Then, just as suddenly, she was back in the hall and Han's blaster was pressed so hard against the Duke's temple it was leaving a mark.

"Let her go!" Han spat. He meant business; his face flashing with anger. Luke had drawn his lightsaber but Han had obviously been closer and Luke was letting him do his thing. Leia steadied herself on the side of the pedestal as Pax released her arm, and Luke moved to support her. "I suggest you don't choose to stick around or I might be persuaded to get my friend here," Han thumbed in the direction of Chewbacca. "to relieve you of your arms and feed them to you one finger at a time." Han spoke very close to his ear, his blaster still in position. "Take your friends," He indicated the two security guards "and leave. Right now!"

Pax glared at Leia who glared back defiantly, trying to retain her composure. He waved his hand at the guards and they swept from the hall. "Chewie," Han instructed. "Make sure they make it all the way to their ship." Chewie growled an affirmative and jogged after them.

3PO was waving his arms about in alarm.

"Oh, Your Highness.  Are you alright?" Han holstered his weapon and quickly took Leia's face in his hands.

"Are you alright? What happened?" He searched her eyes as if the answer would come to him.

"I don't know," she said falteringly, allowing herself to show her shock now that the Duke had gone. "I saw the same thing I did when we arrived, just worse." She thought hard to unscramble the images. "Fire and death and then, I was falling." Luke was still supporting her.

"I felt something too but it was over in a second." She looked at him, confused.

"It seemed like longer." She suddenly felt cold and visibly shuddered.

"Come on. Let's get you home," Han said, taking over from Luke, his arms round her shoulders.

"Luke." She turned, looking urgently at him. "Bring the Star." Luke picked up the box and followed them.

"Come on 3PO," he reminded the droid, who appeared to be suffering from shock himself.

#

Once back at their suite, Leia sat heavily on one of the sofas and leant forward, her head in her hands. Han unclipped her cloak and wrapped a blanket round her shoulders.

"3PO, can you manage to bring her some spice tea?" he asked the droid.

"Of course, General Solo. Can I bring anything else?" 3PO fussed.

"No, that's all thanks," Han replied, sitting next to Leia and rubbing her back. Luke put the metal box on a sideboard and came to crouch in front of her.

"Are you feeling better?" He was still concerned.

"Yes, much," she reassured him with a weak smile. "I'm so sorry. I knew this was a bad idea. I should have trusted myself." She tried to run over the events of the previous couple of days, mentally searching for clues she perhaps should have spotted that hinted at her friend's behaviour. So much had happened, so much emotional turmoil that she had allowed herself to make a mistake, putting her sense of duty in front of plain common sense.

"It's not your fault." Luke put his hand on her arm to comfort her. 3PO brought a mug of tea and Luke passed it to her.

"Yeah, you weren't to know your friend would turn out to be a Gundark," Han joked. That cheered her up a little.

"I should have gone with my gut and not done it. I shouldn't have let Mon Mothma talk me into coming here." She looked from Han to Luke. "Still, we have the Star and I guess that's worth something."

"I'm more concerned about these visions," Luke worried.

"I can't explain it. On two occasions they have coincided with Pax touching me, but he's touched me on other occasions and nothing has happened at all. The vision doesn't include him either. I don't know what to tell you."

"I think you need to get some rest," Han decided for her.

"I'm going to see if Chewie needs help expelling our guests then I'll inform Mon Mothma what's happened. She might need to avert a diplomatic incident," Luke said, rising and leaving the room.

Leia reached up to her hair and removed the headdress, placing it on the table. Leaning back she took a sip of her tea, closing her eyes briefly.

"Thank you for coming." She directed her words to Han sleepily. "I know you hate that sort of thing."

"Hey, it wasn't so bad. Well, apart from the last bit. Some of it was actually enjoyable."

"I knew you'd get on well with that nerf herder." She opened one eye to watch his reaction then closed it again and smiled.

"Very funny," he said dryly. Good.  She was making jokes. "It's bed time for you," he ordered softly, taking her mug and placing it on the table.

"I'm actually really tired," she conceded. The whole day, handling the crystal, it had sucked all the energy out of her.

"I'm going to let you sleep and go and ready the Falcon. I expect we'll want to leave as soon as we can. Right?" he double checked.

"Absolutely. The sooner the better." She got up from the sofa heading towards the bedroom.

"Do you need me any further this evening, Your Highness?" 3PO offered from the edge of the room. "It's been such a traumatic day, I think I might need to recharge my energy cells."

"No, thank you, 3PO. You can power down for a while." She continued towards the bedroom then paused. "Oh, 3PO?"

"Yes, Your Highness?"

"Thank you for the marvellous job you did arranging my clothes today."

3PO looked flustered, then almost inflated.

"Oh... of course, Your Highness. It was my pleasure." He stood straight and powered down. Han and Leia exchanged smiles.

"Goodnight," he said. "See you in the morning."