"Still, she's got a lot of spirit..." – Han Solo, Episode IV: A New Hope
Han watched Leia direct a squadron from where he stood at the back, half-hidden in the shadows. It was attractive, watching her take charge like this. She exuded confidence, with that gleam of passion in her eyes for what she believed in. No wonder all the men were willing to go out and risk their lives for their cause – Leia was a born leader. She knew what she was doing and she was good at it too. He'd only ever seen that self-assurance falter a few rare times. When she was under extreme emotional duress and when...well, when she was doing something she was new to. She wasn't fond of taking big risks, she liked being in charge and she certainly didn't enjoy relying on others.
Under his guidance in the past weeks, she'd managed to impress him. Even if she had lacked a bit of perseverance in the beginning, she sure as hell was making up for it now. She refused to back down from any challenge he threw at her and was steadily becoming quite the fighter. He liked that about her. He liked her spirit.
And Luke had noticed.
"You've been spending a lot of time with Leia lately," the boy had muttered shiftily.
"It ain't my fault Rieekan's made me take the Princess up to task," Han had retorted offhandedly, "I'm just as happy about the whole situation as she is."
"You can't hide from me, Han," Luke told him seriously, "You like her."
"Kid, if there's one thing I've learned and held to heart from my smuggling days, it's never to mix business with pleasure. Remember that. It might do you some good, as well. Sure, I flirt with Her Worship, I flirt with all the ladies."
"Yeah, but-"
"Don't worry yourself. I don't plan on breaking any hearts – in fact, I rather doubt she has one," he joked, ruffling Luke's hair, "Might just be a little heart-shaped ice cube in there."
Luke had eased up then, with a little chuckle, "She's not that cold, Han, she's just nice to everyone else but you. And she's got more sense than to allow her heart to get broken by you."
Han had realized then, that perhaps Luke had not been as jealous, as much as feeling protective about Her Highness. The kid had a good heart and Leia was his friend – he was attracted to her, yes, but beyond that, he cared about her own feelings more than anything else. Which was good, in a way, because it meant Han didn't have to feel so guilty over his own attraction towards her.
Now, as he realized he was staring at her, he swiftly turned around and walked in the opposite direction. If he wasn't careful, he'd be turning into some moonstruck oaf. It was one thing to admire her for her leadership – quite another to make sheep's eyes at her while she was at it. Han Solo wasn't known for making sheep's eyes at anyone. Women came to him, not the other way around.
Leia sighed in resignation at the sound of the familiar voice trailing behind her, "I hope you know what you're doing. We wouldn't wanna be surprised by a wampa."
They were out on a round with their tauntauns in the morning. She appreciated the crisp bracing air outside, even if the brightness of the sunlight and the snow could be a little jarring. Something had been jamming their communicators and signal, so she and a few of the men had decided to go out and search for the cause. There were a number of possible stations, so they'd split up and Han had evidently decided he was her "partner" for the day.
"I know what I'm doing, Captain, not to worry," she replied dryly as a sudden sharp gust of wind hit her, "And if a wampa attacks, maybe I'll get to practice what you've taught me."
He chuckled, "I doubt it'll come to that. You could probably just shoot him one of your freezing glares and he'd cower in fear."
"Pity the same tactics don't work on you."
"I'm made of tougher stuff than a giant furball."
She liked this sort of ease they'd established between them. It was...well...refreshing to have a light-hearted conversation with someone who didn't treat her like she was up on a pedestal. While he could certainly be annoying, moments like these were comfortable. It was a far different story when he'd been training her. Despite more inches of protective material between them, it was still disconcerting to have him all around her, being pinned to the floor or lifted up effortlessly over his head. Now, however, she didn't feel the need to run as far as possible in the opposite direction, she didn't mind the companionship at all.
"You're a man," she rejoined with a light scoff.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Clearly, his dignity had been wounded.
"It means you're of a single breed. Easily offended, coupled with overwhelming urges to make impulsive displays of bravado...I can deal with you..."
"Oh, can you?" he sounded amused, "And what if I told you, you're just a woman? Quick-tempered, slow to forgive the tiniest of mistakes and easily flustered by the proximity of a handsome, strapping man in his prime, such as myself?"
"I'd say you were deluded," she replied sweetly.
"Is that a challenge, Your Worship?" she could hear the cocky smirk in his voice and knew trouble was drawing near.
"It's not a challenge, it's a fact, laser-brain," countering one of his nicknames for her with one for him.
"We'll see about that..." he replied and she began to seriously reconsider the sense in pretending she wasn't attracted to him.
"Here, we're here," she stopped, pointing ahead, "The wire's been snapped." She hopped carefully off her tauntaun and trudged forward through the snow.
"Probably a wampa," Han muttered, striding ahead of her, looking around warily, "There aren't any track marks so it's been a while since it's done this. Hopefully it won't reappear any time soon."
She went back to her tauntaun to retrieve her pack, "You keep look-out, while I fix this."
"Fine by me," he patted his tauntaun. She concentrated on fixing the wire; it was difficult with her gloves on, but it was far too cold to remove them.
"So, Your Worship..." Han broke the quiet with a casual tone, "What do you think you'll do when the war's over?"
"Who knows when that'll be?" she replied with a shrug. In fact, she hadn't really thought about it. She'd dedicated her life to this...what would it be like to have peace at last?
"No one. But, if the war does end...what would you do then?"
"I guess...work on rehabilitating my people? We'd need to search for a new planet with the rest of the survivors and try to rebuild what we've lost."
"That'd include repopulating as well, I s'pose."
She stopped, frowning, "Yes." She hadn't thought of that, but she supposed it would be her duty to marry some Alderaanian male. Unless they were in dire financial straits and then she'd probably need to marry someone rich. She didn't have much of a choice in either matter and that bothered her. She enjoyed her freedom here, she didn't want to be tied down by any man. That hardly mattered now, she shook her head, getting back to work and queried, "How about you, Captain? What will you do? I don't exactly see you as the settling-down type."
He snorted at the idea and then said, "I'll do what I've always done."
"Smuggling?"
"Living."
It made sense. He wasn't burdened with any duties or obligations to anyone, he could do whatever he wanted. It made her wistful, knowing she could never have that future...and she also felt a surprising pang of regret, knowing that she wouldn't have him around anymore. Difficult as it was to admit, even to herself.
She reattached the wire, "All done."
"About time, I was worried we'd be frozen into-" A high-pitched squeal from the tauntauns interrupted him and he turned around warily, "Something's spooked them."
"I don't see anything-"
"Get over here!" he hit the tauntauns' rears, forcing them to move away and grabbed her arm, pulling her behind a large snowbank. She shivered, despite the warmth of him next to her; it was getting colder. It was a smart move of his, pushing the tauntauns away. If they were lucky, the wampa or whatever creature it was, would go after the animals instead, especially with their strong, distinctive odour.
"How long do we have to wait?" she whispered.
"At least until a few minutes after we hear the screams," he replied grimly.
If Han had admired her poise while addressing the rebels, it was nothing compared to his appreciation for her levelheadedness now. He had teased her for being "just a woman" but in reality, she wasn't. Not at all. Most women he had known would have been trembling with fear, crying, even bemoaning their fate...but Leia did none of these things. At his blunt reply to her question, she simply nodded and that was that. Even when the shrill screams of the tauntauns being eaten alive pierced the silence, she didn't flinch.
"The communicators should work now," she whispered, drawing her forearm close to her mouth and pulling back the cover, "Hello? This is Princess Leia. Hello?"
A slight crackling of static when a voice answered, "Princess? You've fixed the-"
"Yes, but Captain Solo and I have lost our tauntauns, there's a wampa nearby. You'll need to send a starfighter – we're too far out to make it back on foot."
"We're tracking your location right now...okay, got it," the man replied.
Leia closed her communicator with an almost inaudible sigh of relief – the first sign of concern for their fate he'd seen from her. "They're coming for us."
"Good, good," he leaned back, "They better get here before the wampa does. It might still be hungry."
"The optimism in your tone makes me hopeful," she replied wryly and then shivered.
"Cold?"
"I'm fine."
"Your nose is turning blue."
"I'll live."
"Alright," a pause and then, "You know, it'd be helpful if you showed some sign of freezing to death other than the physical ones because being taxed with murdering Princesses out in the barren wilderness isn't exactly on my to-do list."
She smiled, amused, "What is, then?"
"Don't evade my point. Just because you think you can withstand any sort of-"
"I'm afraid of small, enclosed spaces, not big, open ones."
He realized his case was lost, there was no way she'd admit she was turning into a literal ice princess for him to snuggle up to her, so he'd just have to do it himself. "Get over here," he grunted, putting an arm around her.
"I said I wasn't c-cold," she protested, though she didn't move away.
"Well, I am," he retorted, "And I ain't planning to die on some godforsaken ice planet." He rubbed her arm, "You're shaking, you know that, right? Or are you planning on telling me that's not from the cold, it's from the proximity of the dashing man on your right?"
She chuckled, "If it comes down to that, yes, I'm cold."
"Knew I'd make you see reason," he settled her more comfortably against him, she was half in his lap, but at that point she was evidently too cold to resist. She was so small, even bundled up in all that snow-gear and thick pants. It made him feel oddly protective. He wasn't used to feeling that way over a woman.
She was too quiet. "Hey, don't fall asleep now," he shook her slightly.
"I'm not sleeping," she replied with exasperation.
"Guess I've gotten used to you yelling at me all the time. The silence is a bit unsettling."
"If I didn't know any better, I'd think you were actually worried about me."
"The cold's making you hallucinate, Princess," he grinned.
"That must be it. If I'm allowing you to hold me, there must be something amiss."
He liked the friendly rapport. They'd come to understand each other, but too often they ended up arguing over some matter, too often the air between them crackled with tense awareness. Now, however, the banter was light and good-natured – he didn't feel like he wanted to pin her against the ground and kiss her either, he merely enjoyed holding her like this. It made him feel content, which was strange. He'd never been a cuddly sort of lover. Chewie would roar with laughter and taunt him relentlessly until his dying day if he could see him now.
He wasn't doing this out of enjoyment, he sternly told himself, he was doing this for their mutual survival, that's what it was.
"I can see you're not flustered by my closeness, yet," he said.
"I'm hardly flustered by a man holding me, Captain," there was no defensiveness in her tone, only slight amusement.
"I plan to take you up on your challenge, you know. We'll see how long you last before you succumb to my charms."
"That kind of cockiness is what's gonna get you killed on the battlefield, flyboy."
Somewhere along the line, they had crossed from amiable repartee to flat-out flirtation and he knew they were both treading dangerous territory here.
"It's never failed me yet," he smirked.
"One day it will. And I just hope I'm there to see it," she burrowed her face into her fur-lined hood, the action peculiarly endearing.
"You hope you'll be the cause of it, you mean," he snorted. He knew her too well.
"It's about time a woman put you in your place."
"My place?"
"You're too used to getting all the female attention."
"Ah, you've noticed."
"I don't miss the women shooting daggers at me with their eyes when we go off for a training session, if that's what you mean."
"And what do you think I have to deal with from the men? They revere you," he pointed out, "If I ever did you any wrong, I'd have half the encampment at my throat."
"You think so?" he could hear the satisfied pride in her tone.
"Look who's used to all the attention now?" he retorted.
"It's not that kind of attention. I'm just a good leader."
"Oh, it's not just your leadership qualities they admire-" he stopped himself before he went too far.
"Do enlighten me, Captain."
"Somehow, I don't think your ego needs more inflation."
"Isn't that supposed to be my line?" she teased and he smiled.
The whirring sound of a starfighter made them both look up. "Looks like they found us before the wampa did," Leia said cheerfully, getting up.
He said nothing, though he felt a small twinge of regret. The moment was gone, though maybe it was a good thing. He wasn't used to feeling protective or, or...cuddly. And certainly not with the Princess. Warm, fuzzy emotions like that could only signal trouble.
And when had he ever been one to invite trouble?
Perhaps that question was better left unanswered.
A/N: So I struggled a bit with writing this chapter, probably because I'm so used to writing them arguing or with them talking things out, or with all that simmering tension ;) It was a lot different, writing something more sweet and light - but that's what I was going for because I feel like somewhere along the line, Han would have realized Leia was different from any other woman he had ever been attracted to and his own response to her would have been different as well. We've seen the caring/sweet side to him in ESB in Cloud City and in ROTJ at the end where he holds her by the fire and I wanted to bring out a little of that here. We've seen a softer side to Leia as well, especially in the third film, and I like to think they weren't continuously bickering all three years between ANH and ESB. Anyway, I'm looking forward to reading what you thought of this! Thank you for the response I've gotten to this fic, it really means a lot that you guys are enjoying it so far and thank you also for patiently putting up with my irregularly-timed updates :')