11 ABY (Age 24)

They'd stopped on Tatooine for a quick visit, and Ferb had asked for a ride to Yavin IV. Luke was setting up a Jedi Academy there, and had asked Ferb to help research ancient Jedi technology that had been found.

"This is so cool!" Phineas said, reaching out with the Force to manipulate the rubbery material. It shaped itself to match his desires with barely a thought.

"Luke's asked me to investigate it, and see if we can find a more practical application," Ferb said.

Phineas looked over at Isabella. "Why don't you try?"

She glared at him, and stomped back up to the cockpit, shaking her head.

Phineas looked at Ferb. "What?"

Ferb shrugged.

"What's wrong?" Phineas asked that night as they lay in bed together. He was spooned behind her, his arm across her stomach.

"Nothing," Isabella said.

"Really, what's wrong?"

She couldn't think how to put it into words. She was worried that Ferb would pull Phineas away from her, that he'd decide that working with Ferb was more important than being with her. It was irrational, and she knew it. They'd been married for four years now, and he'd been traveling with her for six. But some core part of her still was terrified that he'd leave her.

That was it, she realized. She was afraid. She'd prided herself on not being afraid of anything, but watching how easily he'd worked with Ferb had frightened her.

She rolled over, pressing herself against Phineas, seeking reassurance. She kissed him, and was quickly reminded how well Phineas could distract her from her concerns. She briefly worried that Ferb could hear, but then that concern dropped away like every other.

"Wow, this is your lab? It's really cool!" Phineas said as he and Ferb looked around the room that Luke had given Ferb. Isabella glowered at the two of them; they didn't notice. With a sigh, she turned and left the two of them to investigate the lab as she walked aimlessly through the ancient Massassi temple that had been turned into a Rebel base, and now a Jedi academy. The halls were mostly empty, with occasional brown-robed students of many species hurrying past on errands of their own, ignoring her.

She heard a child crying, an unexpected sound here, and looked into the room. A tall brown-haired man was walking back and forth with a small infant, patting the child on the back. A bottle sat on the table next to a rocking chair. The child gave a small belch, and the man said, "There, isn't that better?" Isabella stopped short as she recognized the voice.

"Solo?" she asked incredulously.

Han had just sat down again, and looked up at her. "Hey, Isabella. What brings you here?"

"Dropping off my brother-in-law. How about you? Is...that...yours?"

Han laughed. "Yeah. I guess you didn't hear. I turned respectable a while back. This is my youngest, Anakin. Two months old." He picked up the bottle and resumed feeding the child. "I guess you could say I'm here for my brother-in-law as well, actually."

Isabella cocked her head, confused.

"Luke Skywalker - the guy running this place - is Leia's brother. She needed to come visit to talk to him some stuff about the Academy's relationship with the New Republic."

"Wait, you married Leia? Bail's daughter? New Republic Chief of State Leia Organa...Solo? Oh. Yeah, I should have realized."

Han hugged his son a bit as he smiled. "Yeah, I'm still not sure just how I managed that. But I'm glad I did."

Isabella came in and sat down across from him. "How..." She paused, trying to form the question she needed to ask. "Obviously, you two can't spend all your time together. She's got duties, and presumably so do you."

Han nodded.

"How do you make it work? How do you cope when she's not there?"

Han shrugged. "I worry a lot. So does she. And we make the most of the time we do have together. But I couldn't hold her back. If I did...what I'd have wouldn't be the woman I fell in love with."

"Just like I don't try to hold him back either," Leia said from the door. "Sorry to eavesdrop, it's a bad habit I picked up from my father. Why do you ask?"

"I..." She looked down into her lap. "Just thinking a bit. I think I got my husband stuck between a rock and a hard place, and I think you two just helped me figure out what I need to do. Right now, I think I need to go track Luke down."

"Come on, I was heading that way myself," Leia said.

"Thanks, that'd be great." Isabella stood up. "Han...I owe you one."

"Any time, Isabella."

Phineas was busily talking to Ferb about the things they'd found out as they reached the commissary for lunch. He kept talking as they grabbed a quick meal, then his words trailed away as he saw Isabella sitting and talking to Luke. She said something, and Luke laughed, shaking his head.

"Hey, honey," Phineas said, sitting down next to her. Ferb took the seat across from him, next to Luke.

She leaned into him with a smile. "Hey yourself. How's the research?"

"Oh, it's so cool! I think with another couple days we can..." He paused, suddenly remembering they were supposed to leave later that day.

Isabella caught his hesitancy, and took his hand. "It's okay. I've been thinking. You want to stay here and work with Ferb, right?"

Phineas nodded his head hesitantly. He'd expected Isabella to blow up at the idea.

"Luke and I made a deal. Some of what you're going to be doing includes going out to find more artifacts, right?"

Ferb nodded.

"You'll need a ship. So Luke's putting me on retainer. If you aren't going out for a bit, I'll do some supply runs as well. So we'd have a couple nights apart when I'm doing that, but..."

Phineas squeezed her hand. "You'd do that for me?"

She leaned over and gave him a quick kiss. "Yes. Yes, I would."

Isabella stretched for her discarded sleepshirt as Phineas gently stroked her bare side. "I'm going to miss you," he said softly.

"I'll be back in two days." Having put her shirt back on, she pressed into his side. The bed in Phineas's quarters was larger than their bunk on the Chihuahua, but she found she didn't want the space. They were used to sleeping practically on top of each other.

"You're really okay with this?" he asked.

"I really am." She rested her head on his shoulder, listening to his heartbeat.

"Isabella...thank you."

I don't have any more solid plans to continue this setting from here, although it is in a nice position to do so. I suspect I'll be back eventually.

As always, I thank you for your time and your attention. They are a precious gift that I greatly appreciate.

I will be taking the month of November off of fanfic to work on NaNoWriMo. I expect to be back in December.