Title: Postcards from Corellia
Author: Angel
E-mail: valarltd@hotmail.com
URL: http://www.geocities.com/lady_aethelynde

Rating: R

Warning: Slash.  This means homosexual attraction and activity.  If two guys
in love squicks you, leave now.  You have been warned.

Summary:  The boys take a vacation

Type: humor/romance Slash!  There, I've said it three times
and what I tell you three times is true.  This is your last warning.

Pairing: Luke/Han

Disclaimer: The boys belong to George, but if he kept
them busy, they wouldn't be making out in the stacks
where any librarian doing her shelving could stumble on them.

Acknowledgements: To the Luke_and_Han list for insisting on nothing less
than my very best.  To Irene, my beta, who stood over me with a bantha prod
in one hand and chocolate in the other, and zapped and rewarded by turns as
I needed it.

Notes: Gather Ye Pipers is property of Mikal the Ram (he said I
could use it).  Pride of the Angry Sea belongs to Dennis Drew
(ditto, he even sent me the words).  Red is the Rose is public
domain and sung to the same tune as Loch Lomond.

Feedback: I crave it. It's my favorite high.


***
Postcards from Corellia
2000, Angelia Sparrow
***



The light footfall behind him was obviously intended to be sneaky,
so Luke Skywalker withdrew his extended senses and let himself be surprised.
  Large hands clamped over his eyes.

"Gotcha!"

"On the contrary, I have you."  The tendrils of Force solidified in
an iron grip and pulled Han's hands above his head.  "And right where
I want you."

Luke kissed his bondmate and then, seized by some imp of the perverse,
ran light fingers over the spacer's ribs.

"Don't, kid."  Han twisted in the immutable bonds, as Luke indulged his
whim.

"Serves you right for sneaking up on me while I'm meditating,
alone and unarmed."

"I give already," Han gasped, cursing the day he'd let Luke
find out he was ticklish.

"Spoilsport.  I was just getting warmed up."  Luke kissed him
again, releasing his arms which immediately went around him.

"Mmm, keep the warming coming," Han mumbled against his hair.

Luke pulled back first.  "You didn't come all the way over here
just to pounce on me."

"Never know.  You're fun to pounce."

"Spill!"

"Or what?"

"Or else?"

"Don't sound to confident on that else, kid."  Han kissed him
breathless, hands sliding lower to cup his firm bottom, one
leg sliding in between Luke's, rubbing against the fullness
at the top.  "You're right, though.  I came down to kidnap you.
We're going away."

"Away?  Where away?"

"Home.  I'm taking you home to meet the folks."

Luke laughed.  "Going domestic on me, pirate?"

"Never.  I just got word from my youngest sister. Corellia
is having a planet-wide festival to celebrate five years of freedom.
We're going."

"Mmmm, and what does that entail?" Luke asked, disentangling himself,
and starting for the door.  "Tall ships, too much booze, and wild orgies?"

"I'm not sure whether to laugh or grumble about mind readers."

"When do were you planning to leave?"

"Now.  Everything's packed and the Falcon's ready.  It'll be
fun to get away by ourselves.  I'll take you sailing.  You'll love it.
Elka has a lovely little boat, totally wind powered."

"I don't recall being consulted about all this.  Maybe I have plans."

"It's called a surprise.  And after Stenov, Vuiam, and that trip
to Tatooine in the middle of sandstorm season, you said you'd
come quietly when I asked."

"You didn't ask.  You ordered.  Power going to your head...General?"

"Kid..." The jutting chin told Luke he was treading on thin ice with that
last crack.  With herculean effort, Han won the battle with his temper. 
"Would you like to go to Corellia with me for a celebration, Master Jedi
Skywalker?"  He tried to keep it to the same teasing level
Luke had, but wasn't sure he succeeded.  "My family wants to meet you."

"Of course.  It might be fun to go somewhere there isn't
a war or a crises or an insurrection.  Let me change."

"Need help?"

"I can manage."  The smile told Han his offer was not rejected, just
deferred to a more appropriate time and place.

Minutes later, Luke emerged in his familiar blacks.  "Told you I could
manage."

"Yeah, yeah, you always manage, don't you?  Manage this."  The kiss was
fierce, possessive and intense, pressing the smaller man against the wall. 
Luke opened eagerly, and felt the old excitement begin to build.  Feeling
like his knees were melting, he kissed back, trying to make his mate feel
all the passion he did.

Luke broke the kiss first.  He ducked down, breathing hard, his fair face
flushed.  "We'll be the talk of the Academy if anybody walks in.  Master
Skywalker and his bondmate acting like a pair of teenagers."

"You're the boss, do you care?"

"Not really.  But you said the Falcon was waiting.  And there's a
party in our honor waiting to get started."  Luke gave
a wicked grin that only Han ever saw,  "And besides, waiting until
we hit hyperspace will only make it sweeter."  He rubbed
his whole body against his lover, pressing their hips together
tightly.

"Tease."

"You started it.  Let me leave a message for Leia and Master Ral and we'll
go."  They walked out of the academy and caught a
hover-car to the landing pads.

"Just us?" Luke asked.  "Where's Chewie?"

"Went home for a while.  Malla's getting grumpy with an
absentee mate."

They ran the preflight quickly, both wanting to get back to unfinished
business.  Coordinates, jump, and it all went as smoothly as it had a
thousand times before.

****

The celebration rioted through the streets of HyperMatrixCity, as it had for
eight days and nights.  But a non-Corellian could only stand so much.  Luke
washed away dirt, sweat and second-hand lip-paint from a dozen strangers as
he basked under the hot water.  He'd been raised very strictly, and the
effusive abandon with which the locals greeted everyone, friend or stranger,
came as a surprise.  He'd been hugged and kissed by more people in the last
week than in his previous thirty years.

His slightly fuddled brain watched as a stream of blue ran off his cheek and
over his chest.  He smiled.  A tipsy young man, wearing appalling blue
lip-paint, had kissed him before taking a good look and saying "Y'know, you
look jus' like Luke Skywalker."

He'd laughed and said, "No, no, Skywalker's much blonder."  The guy had
wandered off and kissed the pretty green haired girl who crossed his path.

Sleepy, he wandered out of the 'fresher, towel held loosely at his hips. 
The sight in the living area of the tiny suite made him clutch the towel,
and press himself against the wall.  Surreptitiously, he managed to get his
bondmate's attention.

"Han, there are a dozen women in there!" he whispered urgently.

"Yeah,"  Smug and just a little too careful, Han kissed him.
"Finally found them all.  You sure you wanna go out like that?"
He licked away a drop of water from his lover's collar-bone.  "Not that
they'll mind."

"Han, _why_ are there a dozen women in our living area?  And why is
their lip-paint all over your face?"

"Han?" called one of them, "Are you coming back?"

"In a minute.  There's not a dozen.  There're fourteen."

The glaring blue eyes told him to talk fast.

"Little brother, I swear!  You've forgotten every manner I tried to teach
you."  The stern-looking older woman strode into the hall and looked Luke
over curiously.  "He's pretty.  Are you going to bring him out to meet us
any time soon?  Seska has to leave by 2."

"Elka, he's not dressed.  Luke, my big sister, Elka.  We'll be
going out to her place tomorrow."  Luke held out a hand, only
to have Elka hug him hard.

"Uh, let me dress, I'll be right out," he managed before scooting to the
bedroom and tossing on clean sleep pants and a robe.  He calmed himself
before walking into the living area.  All of the women smiled the same
lopsided smile at him.

Han introduced five sisters and nine nieces.  Luke lost track of
names after the sisters.  They were all tall, some dark like Han,
and some fair like Elka.  The women blurred into a strong-hugging,
smiling blur of faces and kisses, welcoming him to the family and
cooing over finally meeting him.

***

*The only thing worse than waking up with a hang-over,* Luke Skywalker
decided with the few brain cells not actively in revolt and razing
his cortex, *is waking up with a hang-over and having to face a smug
Corellian that never gets them, and whose idea this whole vacation was.*

Or worse, facing half a dozen Corellians, all of whom would
be teasing him about not holding his brandy.  He lay looking at the
white ceiling, and wondering if he could die in peace.

*Brilliant, Skywalker.  Way to impress the family.*

The low roar of breakers from the beach below hammered in his head like a
bantha stampede, and he buried his head under the pillow.  The sweet flower
and herb scent of the sheets nauseated him.

He remembered sitting on the deck after supper, staring at the ocean.
It still amazed him, even after all the worlds he'd seen, to see so
much water in one place.  Astri, Elka's oldest, had brought out a
small platter of sweets, and poured several glasses
of brandy.  Han had joined him, wrapping him in strong arms, and
they had sat silently, watching the tide come in before the rest
of the adults joined them.  He'd sipped the brandy and found
out it was the good stuff.  The conversation had been wonderful,
Han's wit obviously ran in the family.  He lost track of how
late he was up, and how much he'd had to drink.  The faint
noises coming down the hall told him he wouldn't
be allowed to die peacefully.

The door opened almost silently, but to Luke it sounded
like a sandcrawler with a bad engine.  Han's bare feet made
little sound on the thick carpet, but he would have sworn his mate was
wearing metal-soled shoes on deck-plates.

"Kid?" came the soft whisper.  "I brough kaf, and juice.  Sit up."
He sat up, carefully trying to keep his head from going nova,
and almost succeeded.  Yoda's voice complained "Do.  Or Do not.
There is no try."  He flinched as Han sat down beside him.
He leaned back into the warm, familiar chest, still
bare above the light sleep pants.  Once vertical and supported,
he swung his legs off the bed, and looked for his clothes.
They were all folded and clean, on a chair near the bed.

"After all these years, you should know better," Han scolded lightly
handing him the kaf.  It was hot but not scorching.  The queasiness
returned with a vengeance.  "You know three's as many as you can stand."

"Don't fuss," Luke rasped in a whisper, the effort making his
head pound worse.  He sipped the kaf.  It helped.

"Elka says to drink this once you finish the kaf.  Old
family cure."

"Was it obvious?"  Luke sipped the foul concoction and
found it helped more than the kaf.

"Kid, not an off-worlder alive can drink eight of
Stom's house label and come out without a hangover.
I can't even do it anymore."

"You let me drink eight?"

"No, you drank four.  If you drank eight, you'd be dead."

"Degenerate.  You're still corrupting me."

"If you can insult me, you're feeling better.
Not gonna toss, are you?"  He reached apprehensively
under the edge of the bed.

"No."  The soft, weak answer didn't sound too sure.

"Oh good."  Straightening up, he tipped Luke's
face back to him and kissed him very gently.
"Better?"

"Best help I've had.  More?"

"Elka's waiting breakfast, and Stom gets really
grouchy if his cakes are cold.  Let's eat and you'll
be all right."

They went down into the spacious kitchen.  Elka
took the cakes and meat from the oven, and Astri
passed around the toasted buns and jam.

Stom was feeding the smallest baby, while
the older children watched animation.  Hend and his wives helped
around the edges.

"Hey, late sleeper.  Thought you farmboys got up with
the sterkls," teased Stom.  "Yosh, put the terminal away.  The
distllery will be there after breakfast."  The order to his son
was so casually given, Stom not missing a stroke in
buttering the cakes, Han realized this was a morning ritual.

"Stom..." Han's warning rumble drew Elka in between her
husband and brother.

"He's not a Corellian, Stom.  Luke, eat.  And next time,
let that last glass sit on the table."

Astri turned off the holo, amid groans, while
Lissa and Marni chivvied the kids to the table.
The high-pitched chatter of the children to their
mothers and father made Luke's head throb.

The toast was the only thing Luke could contemplate
without nausea.  Once it was inside him, he felt
well enough to eat a couple of cakes and some sausage.

"Han, do you remember last time you were on-planet?"
Elka began.  Stom snorted, trying to swallow before he could laugh.
She turned to Luke.  "He was on leave from The Academy, and Stom
broke out the house-label.  The boys don't get the good stuff,
and after three, Han was standing on his head, one eye shut
and outscoring Stom at ring-toss."

Laughing, Luke discovered, brought the headache back
with a vengeance.  He drank more juice.

"Elka, could we borrow the Waveskimmer this afternoon
if Luke's up for it?"

"Of course.  I'll even pack a cold supper so you
don't have to hurry home.  Just be in before dark.
She doesn't have lights."

Yosh excused himself to go to work.  Stom stretched,
fed the baby the last bite of his cake and followed.
The younger women set to washing faces and picking up the dishes.
The older children followed Hend from the table, calling the family
cadance song as they marched to the schoolroom for their satellite
downloads, eliciting a wince from Luke.

"Want the last kaf, Uncle?" Astri asked Han.  He held up his mug
and she emptied the pot into it, before dropping a toddler in
each of their laps.  "Keep them busy or they unload
the sterilizer faster than I can load it."

"Elka, how do you manage?  Three grown kids, their mates and more
little ones than I can count."  Han bounced the knee the little one was on. 
Luke pulled his head out of range, wincing, as his charge began planting
sloppy kisses on his face.  "Is that one supposed to--"

"The girls are a big help, and everyone does their part," Elka stated as she
scooped up the crawler who had pulled up on the sterilizer and
was reaching for the dishes.

Han attempted to maneuver his kaf mug between the table and his mouth.
The child seemed intent on intercepting it for a taste.
"I'm not ready to run a blockade this early," he grumbled.
"Luke, this kid a Jedi?  He's got the reflexes of a TIE
pilot."

Luke relaxed and looked at the child's aura.  "No, he's not even sensitive."

"Here.  I'll take _her_.  You wouldn't
like that, sweetie," she told the baby who made one
last-ditch reach for the mug.  Elka put the four babies in the next room and
activated the safety gate.   "Now get dressed.
I made one exception in the house rules for you two today, I won't
bend two.  Tomorrow, you're dressed before breakfast."  Elka could
be pure steel when she wanted.  It was a necessity in a household her size.

"We're goin' sis."  Han pulled Luke out of the chair.  Elka opened her mouth
and he cut her off.  "I know.  I know.  Make the bed and bring the kaf mug
back to the kitchen."

In their room, Luke looked at him.  "She always this bossy?"

"Elka practically raised me.  She thinks she owns me.  She's
just grouchy you're not going to give me a dozen kids.  She likes you
though.  Thinks you're good for me."

They put the finishing touches on the bed.  Luke looked at it, with
a wicked smile.  "Wanna mess it up?"

Han kissed him thoroughly.
"You're definitely well.  You want to go sailing?  Hey,
catch your kaf cup.  If it's not there before
Astri turns on the sonic sterilizer, you have to wash it yourself
in the sink."