"What about Hoth?" General Rieekan proposed, the chatter in the room ceasing at the sound of his authoritative voice.
"Hoth's structures are small. We don't know if we're going to be able to fit the majority of the Rebel Alliance in." Chancellor Mon Mothma countered from his left. Alliance High Command stood around a holo table featuring a map of the galaxy in a meeting to decide the next location of the rebel base. It wasn't an urgent matter, but the routine of moving bases occasionally was too important for information leaks before the Rebellion was prepared.
"It's enough for everyone until we can expand it for comfort. I've seen it myself; it's possible." General Dodonna chimed in.
"This plus the hostile environment means that the Empire are somewhat likely to pass it over." Princess Leia added, analysing the information in her head. "They won't expect the numbers we have to be on Hoth, at the risk of freezing to death."
Mon Mothma relented, "Is everyone in agreement for Hoth to be the location of Echo Base?" Every member of Alliance High Command nodded. "Hoth it is then. Continue with the usual moving protocol, but make sure everyone gets issued an extra coat. We can't literally be at the risk of freezing to death."
"Leia!" Luke reached for his friends once she had finished briefing various commanders on the move to Hoth. "Captain Holdo was looking for you. She said something about you owing her a crate of Gatalentan tea for Hoth?"
Leia didn't know whether or not to laugh or roll her eyes. "Amilyn's not a fan of the cold Luke. Hoth is not her ideal planet."
"Oh. Is it true that conditions are going to be a lot… tighter than usual?"
"We will have to wait for extra quarters to be constructed before the base is as big as this one, yes. I might even bunk with Mon Mothma." At the look of horror on Luke's face, Leia let her composure slip and giggled. "I'm joking Luke, that's not going to happen any time soon."
"The extra proximity will make up for the cold, body heat and all that right?" Luke grinned.
Leia could see that her friend was setting her up for something, but she couldn't tell what. Deciding to play into his little trap, she replied, "Yes, although we do have temperature controls for that to Luke."
"So I won't call Han and let him know that you need him to warm you up?" His grin stretched so wide Leia worried that he would pull a muscle.
"Han? Who I haven't seen in almost three years? Wow Luke, the amount of times you bring him up you make it sound like you like him a lot more than I ever did."
Turning on her heel, Leia concealed her own smile at Luke's expense. "Alright, I'll tell Amilyn that you need extra body heat. Although you're together so much I doubt she doesn't already know!" He yelled down the hanger at her, intent on teasing the princess as much as he could.
"We're friends Luke, not that you would know what those are!" Leia didn't need to look back to know that Luke would be equal parts amused and fuming over her yet again having the last word in their good-natured teasing. And Luke didn't need to see her face to know that the mention of her friend Amilyn Holdo was enough to make her blush, let alone his insinuation. The pair had been friends for years, but he noticed that Leia had some difficulty in steering away the conversation from a certain captain when she wasn't around.
One standard week, fifty-thousand klicks, and two blizzards later, Leia finally got to retire to her own sleeping quarters. It was the first time in that week that she could think about sleeping quarters without giving herself a headache - after realising that there really wasn't enough room in Echo base, Alliance High Command had to reassign themselves to other rooms. Leia didn't dare suggesting to Mon Mothma the pair share a room in fear that the Councillor would take it seriously. Dodonna argued that having similar quarters to the rest of the Rebellion would undermine their authority, Leia herself argued that it would show the rest of the Alliance that they were not idols to be placed on a pedestal since they had to do the same as everyone else, Mon Mothma approached it with the same rough pragmatism she had always did, and Rieekan muttered something suspiciously like 'I'm getting too old for this shit.'. In the end he clapped a spluttering Dodonna on the back, insisting that it would be 'just like the old days' despite never having much of a shared history, Admirals Raddus and Ackbar paired off together, and Mon Mothma instructed Leia to 'find someone suitable' while she assigned herself with a Vice Admiral Leia recognised from the Imperial Senate. A little bewildered that such a simple task had taken several political and strategic leaders two hours to complete, she had set off in search of Amilyn, knowing the captain would jump at the chance for extra time with her friend.
Sliding open the door to their room, Leia allowed herself a relieved sigh. The sound of the water running in the small room to her left indicated that they at least had a private 'fresher, unlike the old communal ones they had to bring back to life for the rest of the base. Hoth's icy climate had been merciless on the water pipes, even though the rest of the structure remained in working order. She flopped down onto the bed before she even removed her boots, grateful for finally being able to rest. "Leia?" a soft voice emerged from the side of the bed: Amilyn. Leia's eyelids fluttered open, the image of a towel greeting her.
She shot upright, "Amilyn?"
"Yes, that's me." Her pale pink hair floated over her bare shoulders, perfectly dry despite the shower. "The 'fresher's free." It spilled over her back as she motioned behind her. "The bed's not though. You sprawled over the whole thing like a Hutt."
Her brain slowed by tiredness (and a very short towel), Leia paused before responding, "Bed? Why do you care how much space up in my own be- oh." Looking around her, she took in the room: a small wardrobe half-full of Amilyn's captain's uniforms and weird crystals she picked up from all over the place on the opposite wall to their refresher, her few bags by the door, and the double bed she was sat on. The only bed in the room. "Why have we only got one bed?" Without admitting to herself the real reason butterflies sprouted in her stomach at the thought of sleeping next to Amilyn for weeks, Leia ascribed her nervousness to not sleeping so close to anybody for such an extended period of time. "Wouldn't it save more room to have bunk beds?"
Amilyn laughed. "Apparently Dodonna drew the line at Alliance High Command sleeping in bunks. But he and Rieekan snagged the last singles, so we've got this." Her monotone didn't betray her humour at the situation, but Leia knew her well enough to that she was amused at Dodonna's overdramatics, as well as Leia being so sleepy and out of it herself. "Go get yourself under that hot water before you turn into stone. We both know that you won't want to get up early tomorrow morning to shower."
At the mention of waking up early, Leia whined, a sound she knew Luke would never cease to tease her about if he ever heard it. Amilyn laughed, pulled her to her feet, and pushed her into the direction of the 'fresher.
Once under the spray of the hot water, Leia's cares melted away, running down the drain with all the dirt of the day. She could make it through the next few weeks in such a close proximity to Amilyn, it would even be fun, she reasoned. They had been meaning to have a proper catch up for over a year, but one or both of them had to pull out to serve the Alliance. As Leia commandeered the Alliance after the Battle of Yavin, Amilyn rose through the ranks of her own accord. They could share weird Gatalantan teas and political gossip (political information, if anyone but Amilyn asked her what had them in such hysterics) just like they did when they were younger. Yet at the thought of doing as she did even a few years prior chilled Leia as if the hot water had been replaced with ice, and fear clawed its way around her stomach. That was before the Death Star, before Alderaan had been destroyed. It had been three years, and she still felt the familiar sting of bile at the bottom of her throat.
"Amilyn?" Leia pattered out into their room, clad in silver sleep leggings and a fur-lined sleeved top. While she did not believe she would actually freeze on Hoth, she wasn't taking any chances.
The woman in question looked up from her datapad on the astrological charts of the Hoth system (a detail that Leia found endearing - only Amilyn could bring astrology charts with her to a rebel militia), smiling automatically. "You're about to say that this day has felt like a lot more than twenty-four hours, and you're going to try to start some sort of stilted conversation despite actually wanting to do nothing but go to sleep, aren't you?"
Appearing much smaller than usual in her sleepwear, Leia hovered by the edge of the bed, taken off-guard by being stripped down due to Amilyn's astute observations. "You know me too well." Not to mention that she and all the blood pounding in her ears were all too aware of how stripped down Amilyn herself was - Amilyn had decided that only a silk top and underwear would be suitable sleepwear. Leia had to fight to keep her eyes on Amilyn's.
"Come on then, get in." The captain placed her datapad carefully on the floor (they were sorely lacking in bedside tables), and pulled back the blankets to pat the space where Leia would sleep. "You do like the right-hand side of the bed, when you can't have the middle, right?"
Slipping under the covers, Leia replied, "Yes - how did you even know that?"
"I like the left side. You have to like the right." As Amilyn clicked off the overhead lights, the last thing Leia heard in the darkness was: "And you know, if you are feeling like the day is getting suspiciously long, remember that time is just an abstract concept and doesn't mean anything."
"Where is the rebel base, Princess?" A gruff voice filled Leia's head; a chilling presence gripping her mind set her brain on fire with pain. "I know you know. The information is in here somewhere…" He would not let go. The needles of the interrogation droids would not cease, filling her full of drugs to stop her thrashing but they could not dull the pain -
"No… no!" Leia muttered in her sleep, small screams stuck in her throat. Her delicate body convulsed in her bed, the blankets twisting around her and holding her down only increasing her panic.
Next to her, Amilyn stirred, awoken by her friend's sharp movements. "Mmmm Leia?"
"No… I don't know anything!" She cried, her hands growing paler by the second as she grasped the bedcovers.
Immediately Amilyn realised what was happening, "Shhhh Leia, you're okay. You're with me, We're on Hoth now, remember?" Her tone had changed from its usual monotone to a gentle whisper: a rarity for the captain. She raised her hand, softly brushing Leia's tense arm, hoping to break her out of her violent trance. "You're safe Leia, I promise." Leia whimpered, still asleep but calming slightly at the touch of Amilyn's smooth skin. Amilyn shuffled closer to her, facing the tormented princess. Moving her hand from Leia's arm to her face, Amilyn brushed Leia's heated cheek with the back of her fingers.
Leia's eyelids fluttered open, her vision hazy. Through the mist of sleep and panic, a kaleidoscope of pink and silver met her eyes - a far soothing sight than the reds and the blacks of her nightmare. "Amilyn?"
"Yes, Leia, I'm here. We're in bed, on Hoth. We're both safe."
An elongated sigh rushed out from Leia as she closed her eyes again. Her mouth was a desert as she spoke, her lips sticking together, "I thought… I thought I was back with Vader," Her face contorted with pain as she said the Sith Lord's name.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Amilyn asked in a whisper.
"No - not really. I probably should though."
"Then don't. Some demons are better faced in the light of day." Suddenly remembering herself, Amilyn began to pull her hand away from Leia's face, yet before she could tuck it back under herself, Leia opened her eyes again and captured Amilyn's wrist in her own tiny hand.
"Please stay." Those two little words were barely uttered as more than a whisper.
"I'm not going anywhere Leia." The pair refused to rip their gazes away from each other, Amilyn's vast ocean eyes reflecting in the sheen of tears in Leia's brown ones.
"I mean forever."
While shocked at Leia allowing herself to be so vulnerable, Amilyn didn't show it. "I'm not going anywhere Leia, ever."
The unshed tears threatened to spill over Leia's cheeks. "I love you."
Then Amilyn raised her eyebrows in surprise. Mistaking her silence for rejection, Leia finally turned her face away from Amliyn's, trying not to be embarrassed. Leia Organa did not get embarrassed.
"Leia." Amilyn finally said, twisting round her bare wrist to take Leia's hand in her own. "You are incredibly mighty. The white palaces in Aldera you miss so much live in you. Which is impressive, considering how tiny you are." Leia was so shocked she almost missed Amilyn's joke.
"Is this your way of trying to say you love me too?" Her voice was stronger now, bolstered by Amilyn.
"Oh! Yes. Is it stupid to say that I forgot to say that I love you?" Amilyn's focus on Leia was intense, but mirth crept over her lips at seeing Leia smile.
"When have you ever cared about other people thinking that you're stupid?" Leia pulled Amilyn's hand closer to her, resting it on her chest nestled between her own hands.
"I care about you." Amilyn said it so simply, as if it didn't change anything. Which it didn't, but Leia's mind was still whirling with elation.
"I know." Leia reached out, her dainty hand cupping one side of Amilyn's face as if she were a precious glass sculpture in a rare collection. She leaned forward, brushing Amilyn's cheek with her own as she whispered in Amilyn's ear, "Now kiss me."
Amilyn obliged. Her lips met Leia's as she brought the hand free from Leia's firm clasp onto the nape of her neck, caressing the spot where Leia's hair pulled upwards into a braid.
"You can take them down if you want. I didn't have time earlier, I was too tired, but sleeping on them will be uncomfortable." Leia breathed against Amilyn's cheek.
"You're sure?" Amilyn paused her ministrations, the significance and intimacy of unweaving an Alderaanian's hair not lost on her.
"Yes. Not now though, you wouldn't be able to see the clips in this darkness. Just… sleep with me?"
Amilyn understood what Leia meant as though she were reading a children's book. Leia needed comfort, but most of all she needed sleep - she was exhausted to her bones. It was a draining feeling Amilyn was familiar with. She nodded, "Come here."
Leia shuffled forward while Amilyn raised their intertwined hands above her head so Leia could turn her back into Amilyn's stomach: a ballroom dance ending with Amilyn protecting Leia instead of Leia shouldering all the hurt in the galaxy. Tucking herself further back into Amilyn's long body, Leia murmured sleepily, "Thank you."
Amilyn kissed the crown of Leia's head, closing her own eyes and falling into Leia too, "You're welcome anytime Leia."
Sincerity and sleep hung in the air for the remaining peaceful hours of the night, with nothing more disturbing the couple until the bustle of the next day arrived.
A/N: The title is from 'I'll Keep You Safe' by Sleeping At Last, since it's a fitting song.
This is not the only Holdo/Leia fic you'll be getting from me - I'm currently writing a multi chap, slow burn, soulmate/modern day/multi-universe au (it's complicated okay) for the pair, but I'm waiting until it's (almost) finished before I upload it. I'm possibly a third of the way through right now, so it's going to take a while, but it will be good, I promise :)