Originally posted on Tumblr in response to a drabble prompt: "Could you be happy, here, with me?"
"Credit for your thoughts, Sweetheart."
Leia was leaning back in the booth at the dejarik table, her bare feet propped up on a crate, Han's borrowed shirt hanging loosely on her shoulders. They were starting to run out of things to fix on this ship, so these quiet afternoons were becoming more and more frequent.
She sat up a bit and idly stirred the tea she'd been drinking. "I was just thinking," she said.
Han grinned and leaned in closer. "I know that. The credit's to find about what."
Leia sipped her tea and leaned back again. "Hmm," she said noncommittally.
Han frowned and held back a little. Maybe I've stepped in it. "Heavy thoughts, or not so heavy thoughts?" he asked.
She looked at him carefully before answering. "Actually," she said, "I was having a little fantasy."
"Oh yeah?" He drew closer again, raising an eyebrow.
Leia shook her head, though she was smiling. "Sorry, Sweetheart," she said, imitating his usual speech pattern, "not that kind of fantasy."
"Huh," he said. He scooted closer to her, putting up his feet next to hers. They were both quiet for a few minutes.
Not looking at him, she spoke again. "What if we just ran away?"
"Ran away?"
"After Bespin. After we get the ship fixed. What if we just—never went back to the fleet?"
Han moved to put an arm around her, but all he said was, "Huh," again.
"They've probably already moved on from the rendezvous point. Who knows whether we'd even be able to find the fleet at this point," she reasoned. She leaned into Han's shoulder. "We could just go on the run together."
"You and me," he said.
She nodded. "And Chewie, as long as he still wants to."
"He goes where I go. We should take him home to visit, though."
"We could do that. I've never been to Kashyyk." Leia seemed to really be getting into this idea. "Maybe we could hide out there for a while."
"Malla would like you," Han said. "Probably better 'n me," and Leia laughed. "So, we'd just run around the galaxy?"
"Maybe pick up a smuggling job or two to pay the bills," Leia said, snuggling closer to him. "Keep this old ship from falling apart."
"Fix 'er up a little, maybe win a race or two," Han suggested.
"Ah, that's the spirit. That reminds me—" she said, punching him playfully in the arm— "you're supposed to be teaching me how to fly this thing."
"Hey, 's not my fault we keep getting distracted," he said, giving her a gentle kiss on the neck.
She arched a brow at him. "It's a little bit your fault we keep getting distracted," she said, and then promptly disproved her own point by pulling him down into a kiss.
After a few minutes, he pulled away and looked at her, suddenly struck with the seriousness of their situation. "Could you be happy here, with me?" he asked.
She blinked at him, and got that look she always did when she was considering something carefully. So, even though she seemed like she was surprised by it herself, he believed her when she said, "You know, I think I could. I really do."