AN: Thanks to everyone who read and enjoyed BTWTS and to everyone who wished me well on my brief hiatus/vacation! I'm back now, and we have plenty of HanxLeia and Star Wars goodness ahead of us! This story takes place on Hoth, Pre-ESB, and is my birthday gift for the one and only Sofie C. for being absolutely magnificent as a loyal reader, a wonderful reviewer, and an all-around delightful lady. I hope you enjoy this, my dear, and have a splendid day!
Whose kriffing idea was it to send people outside on this planet? Wasn't it bad enough having to kick around in the ice-caves below the surface? Why did they have to go out and do surface checks? Han would gladly send goldenrod out in his stead. That might at least get him some peace and quiet once in a while.
Han shivered as he pulled off his parka, reaching for the climate controls and pushing the temperature up a few degrees. He shivered his way to the galley for some hot kaf and then to the lounge to sit for a few minutes. There was a huge pile of blankets that hadn't been there when he left this morning. That was odd. Chewie didn't mind the cold so much, so he wouldn't have been the one to dig out the blankets from the cabinet. Han shrugged and moved to shove the pile over so he could sit down. Chewbacca wuffed quietly at him from the door.
[Don't touch those, cub. The little one made a nest and is sleeping in there,] he warned. Han looked back to the mound and could see a crown of brown braids peeking out from the edge of the blankets. Chewie waved him into the corridor.
"Leia? She came here to sleep? Of her own free will?" Han asked. Leia could sleep on his ship anytime she felt like it if it meant she actually slept. He knew she had nightmares, and that the barracks were always frigid, and she rarely slept in the first place. He was constantly thinking of excuses to invite her to stay the night in the crew quarters where it was at least warm and he would hear her if she woke up. She very rarely took him up on his offer unless it was below 0 in the officer's quarters.
[She came looking for some kaf. I thought she looked tired and she said something about it being too cold to sleep in her quarters. I offered her a blanket and she curled up on the bench. She fell asleep right away, but she kept shivering, so I threw a few more on her,] he explained.
"Hmm," was all Han could come up with. He decided to drink his kaf in the cockpit. Leia was still sound asleep when he put his mug in the galley and went to work in the forward hold.
When he returned for the hydrospanners 45 standard minutes later, Leia was just sitting up, rubbing sleep out of her eyes and extracting herself from the tangle of blankets. She looked absolutely adorable, and Han tucked the image into his mind for a chilly morning.
"Welcome back to the land of the living," he teased. She shot him a look that would have been scathing if her cheek wasn't imprinted with the image of her hand where she'd been sleeping on it. "Are you at least feeling better?"
"Who said I was feeling poorly in the first place?"
"You finally admitted you needed some sleep. That's the first time since we met three years ago that you've admitted that you're actually human." She rolled her eyes and sobered slightly.
"I didn't sleep well last night. It was too cold."
"You could'a slept here, you know. I don't care."
"It's alright. I managed to get by in my quarters."
"I happen to know that you spent the entire night in the command center," Han stated. She dropped his gaze, not even questioning how he knew such things.
"One of the squadrons was late getting back."
"So you decided to sit up all night and wait for them to get in?"
"They had to be debriefed," she shot back. "Anyway, thanks for letting me sleep. I haven't been so warm in…a long time," she added, fingering the edge of one of the blankets.
"That's a nice blanket, isn't it? It's called a Corellian Maiden's blanket. See, Corellians, men especially, have a higher body temperature than your average human being. Girls get them when they move out if they aren't gettin' married right away. Makes up for not having a husband to keep 'em warm at night," he said with a wag of his eyebrows. The corner of the blanket fell from between her fingers.
"That's ridiculous and a bit sexist," she began. "Wait. If it's a maiden's blanket, why do you have one? Something you're not telling us, Captain?" she teased.
"For your information, Your Worship, it belonged to my mother. You can keep the blanket, sweetheart," Han offered with a smug grin. "Unless you'd rather have a real Corellian man, instead."
"It has been rather cold in my quarters lately," Leia smiled coyly at him. "I thought Captain Antillles was sleeping with that new supply officer," she continued nonchalantly, "but if you know something I don't in regards to that…well, tell him I'll leave my door unlocked."
"Are you trying to imply that I'm less of a man than Antilles?" She shrugged and flounced out.
00
The temperature in Leia's quarters was below freezing. She was wearing two sweaters and three pairs of socks on top of her thermal longies. She had about five blankets thrown over her, including Han's infernal Corellian thing, which had mysteriously appeared in her quarters the day after she'd fallen asleep on the Falcon. And it still wasn't enough. Space heaters had been banned in individual quarters so that they could be used in communal spaces like the command center, the mess hall, and the barracks.
Leia didn't recall leaving her door unlocked, but she must have, because it swept open and Han entered a moment later.
"What are you doing here?"
"You're cold," he answered, as if it were obvious.
"This blanket is not doing its job.
"I told you. That blanket is second-place to a man," he replied. "Unfortunately, Antilles is still wound up with that supply officer, but I could give it a try," he offered. "It'll be tight, but I don't mind if you don't."
Leia slid against the wall, making room. He toed off his boots and found his way under the blankets with her. She could feel the heat of him even through the layers of clothing between them and it drew her like a magnet. His arm snaked beneath her and his other arm wrapped over her hip. Her face nestled into the crook of his neck, her cold nose pressed into hollow right above his collar bone. His shirt was untucked in the back and she slipped her fingers beneath it, into the heat at the small of his back. He started at the chill and his quick inhalation of breath made the taught muscles of his chest brush against her.
"What's the verdict?" he breathed into her ear. Leia thought she might die of…something. Something great.
"What?"
"Am I enough of a man for you?" His fingers had finally worked their way beneath her sweaters, and as he splayed his hands across her back, and Leia realized she was definitely not cold anymore.
"Yes," she whispered into his chest. "Han, I want you to kiss me." He leaned down to oblige her, and Leia found herself trembling with anticipation.
Her alarm blared in her ear and Leia sat up suddenly, cracking her forehead on the metal base of the bunk above her. She clamored to silence the alarm and realized she was very much alone. She felt a lump growing on her forehead already, and she cursed the planet and that stupid blanket and that infernal man. This was his fault, of that she was sure. She just hadn't figure out how yet—her head was pounding too hard to think about anything else for a moment.
00
"What happened?" Luke exclaimed as Leia sat down to breakfast.
"What? Oh, it's nothing."
"It's obviously not nothing, Leia," he said, brushing the goose egg gently. She cringed as he touched it lightly.
"My alarm startled me this morning and I hit my head on the upper berth," Leia explained.
"Well, it bled," Luke informed her.
"I know. Where is Han?"
"He's on a supply run, remember? He'll be back tonight. How hard did you hit your head?"
"I just…forgot. It's not because of this." Luke looked at her with concern for a moment before turning back to his tray. After eating a few bites of crushed grains and blue milk, Leia started on about her day.
She was thankful that Han would be off planet for at least most of the day. That wasn't the first dream of that nature, no, far from it. It was the first, however, in which she initiated. It was always awkward to see him in real life after those dreams. Hopefully, she'd be able to get over the overwhelming feeling of wanting to drag him into the nearest empty closet by the time he touched down.
Han landed late that evening. Leia was still in her office when he came up to drop off his manifests.
"Did you miss—what happened to your forehead?"
"It's a fashion statement," she sniped. The lump had been black and blue by the time she sat down at her desk this morning, and putting make up on to lessen the coloring had turned it a sickly yellow-green. He lifted her chin to get a better look at it and Leia swatted his hand away.
"Really, Leia, that doesn't look good. Did you get hit by the ice? I head there was a cave in in the lower levels."
"No, that hall was deserted, thankfully. I hit it on the upper bunk this morning," she admitted quietly.
"Were you having a nightmare?" he asked tenderly, the sincere concern on his face making her stomach churn.
"It wasn't exactly a nightmare," she said without thinking. A satisfied grin grew across his face.
"No? What was it, then?" he teased, and a crimson blush stole up Leia's cheeks.
"It was—nothing—can't a girl hit her head without half the base—it was really nothing of the sort—" she stammered.
"I told you that blanket would keep you nice and warm. I guess I didn't realize the effects it would have on a non-Corellian."
"Don't you have supplies to be taking care of?" Leia demanded. Han chuckled and walked toward the door.
"Sweet dreams, Princess."
Leia decided that the blanket was going in the trash.
Tomorrow.
AN: Thank you for reading! If you liked it, please drop me a review! Next week is a story that takes place in this same era, but before the rebellion comes to Hoth. I hope you'll come back!