Best Man's Duty
Author: LVB
Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to Lucasfilm Ltd. No infringement intended, this is for entertainment purposes only.
Summary: AU. Han is hungover at Luke and Mara's wedding. Can he survive the day without making a fool out of himself? Sequel to Boys Night Out and Girls Night Out.
A/N: I got a bit trigger happy with my posting today. Just competed and unbeta'd for your enjoyment.
Han groaned as a thousand banthas came stampeding across his temples. A very loud screeching noise was pounding into his brain along with the sound of many blasters going off. He opened his eyes and took in the fuzzy image that greeted him. All he saw was white. Nice, fuzzy white, which happened to be accompanied by the loud screeching yet again.
He let his eyes focus. The white suddenly took a shape…one with lean figure, brown hair and a voice that could wake up the icicles on Hoth. "HAN SOLO!"
Oh right. That woman he called his wife. The screeching was actually coming from her wonderful mouth. He mumbled something that was supposed to resemble a 'leave me alone, Leia' but ended up sounding like "livmiloneia".
All he wanted was more sleep; more precious sleep. But no, the wife was persistent. The screeching was just getting louder and louder. He grabbed the pillow and covered his face. Just as he thought he had won, he was snapped back to the reality. Leia had thrown icy cold water on him.
"I am up woman!" he screamed, hurting his own head. Within a second his stomach had caught up with the program and he raced to the refresher, pushing Leia out of the way in a very ungentlemanly like manner. Why was he feeling so sick? It all came rushing back…in fragment form, of course. Last night had been Luke's bachelor's party. And there had been copious amounts of alcohol. Mostly being consumed by himself. And since Luke's party was last night that mean today was the big day.
Kriffing hell.
--
Han groaned for the hundredth time that day. His head still ached, the lights were way too bright and his stomach had been emptied more than once. Never had he been so hung over in his life. He didn't understand why he was feeling so ill. He could most definitely handle his liquor. Maybe Anakin had spiked his ninth Corellian ale.
But there was no time to think about that now. Luke and Mara were just about to get married and he was the best man. It was his duty to be right next to his brother-in-law as he entered into the oh-so-wonderful institution of marriage. He couldn't even recall if Luke had been drunk last night. He secretly hoped so, that way he wouldn't look like the odd one out.
He peered down the aisle as the music began to start. He was suddenly reminded of his and Leia's wedding. It had been a circus with the Holoreporters trying to gain access right up until Anakin barricaded the doors. Mara's dress was nice and was a definite change from the skin-hugging leather he had spied her wearing more than once. Luke was a very lucky man, especially if Mara had decided to keep some of those outfits for the wedding night.
Finally Mara reached the altar. Han nudged Luke quite forcefully as he began to get teary-eyed. Nobody had cried at the Solo wedding, so why should the Skywalker wedding be any different?
Han stood beside Luke as the Holy Man went through all the mumbo-jumbo about respecting one another and other stuff Han had taken no notice of during his own nuptials. Frankly it was hard enough to keep down the contents of his stomach due to a severe hangover let alone because of all the mushy love stuff.
The one part Han was supposed to be listening out for finally arrived. The Holy Man turned towards Han. "Now the best man will present the rings."
Han smiled at the happy couple and reached into his pocket and grasped…nothing. He tried not to panic as he dug further into his pocket and found yet more nothing. Trying not to betray his utter shock and embarrassment he quickly stuffed his other hand into his other pocket. He could practically feel everybody's (including all those Holonet Reporters) eyes on him as he dug around to find the rings.
Had he actually put them in there? Please, gods of the galaxy, let him actually have put them in there. Han didn't need the Force to tell that Luke and Mara were planning on beheading them with their lightsabers simultaneously.
"They're here somewhere, I'm sure of it!" he said loudly and swore under his breath. "Kriffing kriffing kriff."
Luke glared at his brother-in-law and felt Mara's annoyance pulsating through the Force also. "Anytime now, Han," he whispered through gritted teeth.
Han shot Luke a look and began searching through his suit. Leia was so embarrassed by this point that she had put her head in her hands. Meanwhile, Han tried to re-trace his steps from this morning. He remembered Leia forcefully waking him up. He remembered a hot shower but everything after that was a little blurry. Finally in his back pocket, he found the two rings.
Grinning sheepishly Han held up the rings in full view of the guests. The glares delivered from the father-of-the-groom, Anakin did not go unnoticed but right now, the supreme feeling of knowing he would in fact live to see another day won out over the need to rub his victory in his father-in-law's face. He proudly handed the two rings over to the a very irritated Holy Man. Holy Men were not supposed to be irritated but Han felt compassionate enough to overlook that small fact.
With a watery smile, Luke pledged his sickeningly undying love for his beautiful redhead and as soon as the pretty rings were on their respective fingers, applause filled the hall. Luke dipped his new wife and planted a kiss so loud, Han was sure even the monkeys on Yavin were vomiting, firmly on her mouth. The ceremony was over, and now he only had to survive the reception.
By the time the reception had taken full swing, Han had been convinced that he was back to his usual self. Unfortunately his usual self meant frequenting the mobile bar unit that had followed them all day, providing refreshments during the Holos. As he downed his second Alderaanian wine, Han fleetingly felt like an alcoholic. The feeling dissipated once Anakin had given him a slap on the back and accused him of being a "lightweight". Nobody called Han Solo a lightweight and got away with it, so Han readily accepted the 'stronger stuff'.
Boy, was he regretting it now. He was nearly 100 sure that neither Luke nor Mara had clones but alas, he was seeing four of them during the bridal waltz. As the music died down, he heard a familiar tapping and the MC for the evening Obi-Wan Kenobi announced the speeches would now take place.
Han took his place next to Luke on the main table and tried not to fall into drunken oblivion as Anakin, Obi-Wan and Luke all had their turn at saying a speech. "And now for the best man, Han Solo!" Thunderous applause snapped Han out of his drunken stupor. He would have to summon up all that Solo pizzazz he possessed and somehow make it through the entire speech without making a fool out of himself.
Fate unfortunately, was not on Han Solo's side. Standing up, Han surveyed the room. There were sure a lot of important people at the reception, dignitaries and whatnot. There were even a few Holoreporters. He better make this good then. Just as he was about to open his mouth to compliment the beautiful bride, a nauseating feeling assaulted his stomach. Knowing he could not possibly last, he took one apologetic look at his brother-in-law and ran out of the room to graciously empty his stomach beside the stage. No wedding would be complete without the entertainment, thought Han. And since he was clearly the entertainment at this wedding, Luke would have to thank his best man for performing his utmost best.