Han rubs at the sand on his arms, listening to the twins talk about the plan. He welcomes the steady warmth of Leia next to him, feeling content with her near presence. The wind is swirls harshly against his skin, but he is too tired to care right now. He is tired to his bones, to his very core.
He hears Luke turn to him, saying goodbye as he hugs him.
Luke leans in to hug Leia, who remains next to Han.
"See you soon," Luke says.
Leia responds with an affectionate smile and a soft "Yeah." She's grown attached to both of her boys.
As Luke takes off headed for Dagobah, Lando boards the Falcon, leaving Han and Leia alone outside. Dust blows wildly around the ship, though she shelters them from the worst part. Leia stands watching Luke's X-Wing disappear into the storm. She takes one last look around Tatooine, though she can't see five feet past the ship due to the sandstorm.
"Let's get off this planet," Leia tells Han. She grabs his hand and leads him up the ramp. It closes behind them with a solid click, shutting out the howling wind.
The ship seems silent compared to the noise from the storm. Leia keeps holding Han's hand as she walks to the cockpit. She gives Lando the coordinates and he plugs them in. The Falcon shudders as she starts and fills with a pleasant humming noise. Han smiles at it and trails his fingers over one of the Falcon's walls. Leia, looking at him, smiles too, and squeezes his other hand.
Han starts to step down into the cockpit, feeling his way to the pilot's seat slowly.
Leia pulls on his hand as she asks him, "Where do you think you're going?"
He turns to her, his eyes landing just above her face. "I'm flying the Falcon. What does it look like?"
Leia shakes her head. "You are blind. I am not risking your ship for your pride."
"I can see fine," he protests.
Leia rolls her eyes. "Sure you can, especially since you're talking to the ceiling."
At that, Han drops his gaze downward, trying to make eye contact with her.
Leia lets go of his hand and holds hers up in front of his face. "Han, how many fingers am I holding up?"
By the expression on his face, Han is guessing, "Two?"
"Wrong," Leia says. "You are not flying anything right now."
"I'm not letting Lando pilot the Falcon!"
"Han," she repeats, "You cannot see. It would be dangerous for you to fly. You can fly tomorrow when your sight returns."
Han grumbles, "I hope that happens…"
"It will. And Chewie's piloting with Lando. He won't let us crash."
Chewbacca lets out a reassuring bark.
Han sighs, and lets Leia guide him up and out of the cockpit. Before they can get far, he turns around and speaks to the wookie. "Don't you dare crash the Falcon. And no flying through asteroid fields. Or by any Death Stars. Or by anything dangerous!"
Chewbacca roars softly and Han nods at him, then turns back to Leia.
Leia smiles at him, even though he can't see it. She tugs on his hand to slowly lead him through the ship. Neither one of them drops their hands, though both know that Han could probably make his way to his cabin, even being half-blind.
They make it to Han's cabin, and Leia guides him to the bed, where he sits down heavily. He rubs at his eyes as Leia moves away from him for a moment. She comes back and stands in front of him. "I'm just going to wipe your face off."
As Han nods, she places her hand against his neck. Her touch is light and she carefully eases the towel over his cheeks and across his jaw. The towel is damp, but warm, and Han's skin is cold. She notices he is shivering lightly.
He places his hands on her waist, moving his fingers over the skin slowly. He pauses as he realizes that he is touching warm, bare skin.
"Leia…?" He asks slowly, as his hands drift up her body. "What is this?" His fingers find the metal collar.
He can hear her swallow and place the cloth down on the bed.
She is quiet when she speaks. "It's a slave outfit, from Jabba."
There is a pause. Suddenly Han is yelling, screaming at the wall. "That kriffing son of a bitch! He is a worthless, rotten scumbag!" Han clenches the sheets of the bed tightly, looking as though he will get up and hunt down Jabba that very second. He practically spits in contempt, "I will use him for target practice before I kill him!"
"Stop! Han, calm down!" Leia grabs his hands and he quiets, appearing to look down and study their joined hands. "Jabba is dead. He can't hurt anyone anymore."
Han sobers at this fact. "Did you kill him?"
"Yes," Leia replies simply.
"Good." He thinks for a moment, then asks, "Did he- did he-?"
"No," Leia answers firmly, knowing what he is asking. "I'm fine. I promise."
Han lets out a breath, then nods once. "Can you take this off? Please?" He asks, touching the metal lightly.
Leia nods, then realizes he can't see her. "Yes, let me grab a shirt." She pulls her hands from his and he can hear her bare feet on the floor as she walks away from him. Han rubs his hands roughly through his hair, flinging the dust from it.
Leia comes back towards him. She turns around and guides his hand to clasp at the neck. His fingers are cold against her skin. They are shaking, but he manages to undo the clasp. Leia shrugs out of it and lets it fall to the floor with a clunk. He hears her kick it away. She steps out of the bottoms and kicks them away too.
"There." she says. He hears the sound of fabric against skin as she pulls on a shirt and pants.
"Now, you need to shower, take painkillers, and get some sleep." Han appears half-dead, showing his exhaustion in his face and slouched posture.
"And I'm showering too. I have sand in places I never thought possible."
Han chuckles a bit at that.
"Can you make it the 'fresher?" She asks. Han gives a noncommittal response, but then nods at Leia's silent question.
Han starts to stand and manages to reach the door before he stumbles. Leia, who was following close behind him, steps to his side. She slides an arm around his waist and presses against him, supporting some of his weight. His arm falls across her shoulders, his fingers gripping the fabric of the shirt at her shoulder. He lets out a shaky breath and they start to move forward together.
They walk slowly through the Falcon, but make it to the 'fresher. Leia pulls the door shut behind them.
Once inside, Leia strips quickly and ducks into the shower to turn the water on to let it warm up. She comes back out to find Han struggling to pull his shirt off. She helps him with it and tosses it into the corner of the room, where the rest of their clothes are.
She stares at his chest, which is covered with scars and a few more recent cuts. The cuts are long, but shallow and no longer bleeding. Han shifts and Leia clears her throat. "Your injuries aren't too bad. I'm more worried about your eyesight. Is is improving at all?"
Han waves a hand in front of his face, and frowns. "No, still just shadows," he answers. Leia frowns too.
She guides him to the shower and slips in under the water after him after letting her hair out of its braid. Han is feeling around for the bar of soap, but can't seem to find it. She steps forward, grabs it, and places it in his hand. "Thanks," he mutters.
As he begins to wash, the soap slips out of his grasp and falls to the floor. Han mumbles a curse, "Damn it." He starts to bend down to retrieve it, but groans in pain. Leia leans down to get it for him. She curls his fingers around it when she places it back in his palm.
In the loud shower, Han can barely hear her saying "It's okay, it's okay."
He scrubs at his body, as if to cleanse it from the entire experience. When he finishes, he hands Leia the soap. She washes quickly as he lets the water run down over his back. He closes his eyes and he leans against the wall.
"Han?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just a little dizzy."
Leia takes a step toward him, frowning with concern.
Han straightens up. "Don't make that face, princess. I'll be fine."
"How…?"
"I can hear your worry from here," He says with a small smile.
"Hmmm." The sound of the running water fills the silence for a moment before Leia speaks again. "Hold out your hand, I have shampoo." When he does, she takes his hand and squirts his shampoo into it, then takes some for herself.
When Han turns around to rinse his hair, she notices that his back is covered with more scars. She doesn't ask him about them, and he doesn't explain, though he knows she can see them.
Leia trades places with Han at the touch of her hand. She rinses off quickly and turns off the water. They stand in silence for a moment, Han savoring the feeling of being clean and Leia savoring the very presence of Han.
Leia steps back around Han, steadying him with a hand on his arm. She gets out of the shower, grabs two towels, and gives one to him. As he dries off slowly, she changes and then brings him some clean clothes.
"Here," She steps closer to him and hands him a pair of soft cotton pants, pressing them into his hands.
As he pulls them on, he teases her, "No shirt, Princess?"
She laughs, but says, "You have some cuts on your chest that need to be bandaged. The shirt can wait. Let's go back to your cabin."
Han holds his hand out to her and says, "Lead the way, your highness!"
She shakes her head with a smile, but reaches out to take his hand.
They walk back to Han's cabin, Leia remaining close beside him the whole way.
Leia helps Han sit down on the bed, then sits down next to him. She asks, "How's the pain?"
"Could be worse," he answers, "It's mostly just soreness everywhere."
"Are you starting to warm up?"
He nods.
"Okay, I think the best thing I can do right now is cover these cuts and give you some painkillers. Then you need to sleep; you look exhausted."
He pulls a half-smile, but doesn't disagree.
She tells him that she'll go find the bandages and stands. She squeezes his hand once before pulling away from him and leaving the room.
Han is left in his cabin by himself. He runs his fingers over the sheets absentmindedly. He grips the sheet as he notices something. He brings the sheet to his face and smells it.
When he hears Leia come in the room he quickly pulls the sheet from his face. Knowing she saw him, he starts to ask, "Did you-?"
"Sleep here? Yes," She answers. "How did you know?"
"The covers are all messed up, and they smell like you."
"Interesting that you know what I smell like," she says.
"Very."
He hears her coming nearer. "Okay, I'm just going to bandage these cuts."
Leia brushes a hand against his arm before she touches his chest. She works quickly, applying ointment to each cut and then pressing a bandage over it. She asks him to turn around and he does, revealing the muscles in his back. She also gets a closer look at scars on his back, evidence of his mysterious past. Checking him over, she finds one last scratch on the back of his arm and takes care of it. She sets her hand lightly on his back and rubs her thumb across a particularly wide scar on his shoulder. She sets aside the bandages and stands up, quietly saying, "All done."
Han turns back to her and simply says "Thank you."
There is a beat of silence before Leia asks, "How is your eyesight?"
Han answers, "Everything's still a blur."
"I'm surprised that you didn't shoot Lando."
"I got lucky."
"You seem to get lucky a lot."
Han yawns as he nods.
Leia rummages around for painkillers and pulls out a bottle, then heads into the bathroom. Han hears filling a glass of water and licks his lips reflexively. They are chapped and dry from dehydration.
Leia walks back over and drops the pills into his hand brings him a glass of water. He places the pills on his tongue and swallows them easily with a mouthful of water. She lets her eyes flick down to his lips because he can't see her. He drains the glass and Leia gently takes it from him.
While she walks to put it away, the glass falls from her fingers. It shatters loudly against the floor, breaking into hundreds of shining pieces, some barely missing Leia's bare feet.
Leia starts to cry. She starts to sweep a few pieces into a pile. Han stands up, concerned, and steps toward her, following the sound of her crying.
Han tells "It's okay, Leia. We'll take care of it in the morning. We're both too tired right now."
She shakes her head stubbornly, saying, "I'll just clean it up now. I don't want you stepping on it if you get up in the middle of the night. And don't come any closer, I don't want to bandage any more cuts tonight."
Han steps back, sitting down on the bed. He listens to the sound of glass shards being swept together.
As she starts dumping handfuls into the trash, she asks him, "Do you remember everything that happened?"
Han narrows his eyes. "What kind of question is that?"
"I'm checking for memory loss." She doesn't look at him, standing up and facing the door.
"Oh." There is a lengthy pause, then Leia hears the bed shift behind her and Han's sigh of "Leia."
She blinks once before turning around. There is another beat of silence before Han says, "I love you."
He holds one hand out to her. She slides her hand into his and suddenly they're hugging. Leia presses her face against the side of his neck and tightens her arms around his neck. "I know," Leia says, her voice incredibly fond.
Han laughs. "Not that tight, Princess. I'm not going anywhere." She releases her hold a bit, but still clings to him. He puts his arms around her and chuckles. She can feel his laugh, and presses her lips to the side of his neck. Han leans down to kiss head, one hand threading through her damp hair. She smells clean and familiar, due to using his soap and shampoo.
When Han yawns again, Leia reluctantly lets go of him and tells him, "You should sleep."
Leia guides him to the bed and pulls the sheets down for him. She sits on the edge of it, looking down at him. She is overwhelmed at the sight of him, after so long spent missing him. She isn't sure whether to leave or stay, but she doesn't want to let him out of her sight or leave him alone.
She watches him. After a while, his eyes close and his breathing deepens.
Just when she thinks he's asleep, he mumbles, "Stay, Leia?"
He pats the sheets next to him and shifts over a little bit, leaving a space beside him.
"Okay," she says, and crawls under the covers to lay beside him. He wraps his arms around her and pulls her in close before pressing another kiss to her head. She curls up against his bare chest and presses her ear against it so she can hear his heartbeat. His skin is finally warming up.
Han tucks his feet in between her calves and Leia's toes curl up and she flinches away from the cold touch.
"Han! Your feet are freezing!"
His only response is a smile.
She pulls the covers tighter around them, trying to help him warm up with her body heat.
Han is asleep in minutes, his breathing becoming even. Leia stays awake for a bit longer, watching Han with an affectionate smile. Soon she closes her eyes and settles into Han's arms, determined to remember this feeling.