Title: Multi Faceted

Timeline: During ESB

Characters: Han Solo and Princess Leia

Victorian Quote Roulette Challenge

"For he is such a disagreeable man, that it would be quite a misfortune to be liked by him." ~ Jane Austen, "Pride and Prejudice"

Princess Leia Organa did not usually consider Han Solo, nor did she understand him. At one time she had even told Winter, her most trusted friend, "For he is such a disagreeable man, that it would be quite a misfortune to be liked by him."

She would agree he was brave, however, was he loyal? Luke Skywalker did not understand her questioning the mercenary's loyalty. After all, didn't Solo return to aid in the attack on the Death Star? This act gave Luke the opportunity to take the shot needed to destroy the Empire's super weapon.

Leia finally began to look at Han with different eyes when he risked his life to go and find a missing Luke in the wastelands of Hoth. Leia had feared them both dead. She was both surprised and intrigued to find herself just as worried about Han as she was about Luke.

Luke Skywalker was special to her; they were connected somehow in a way she did not understand. It was more then friendship, yet not romantic by any stretch of the imagination. But what was Han Solo to her?

Her joy could not be contained when it was reported to her both were alive. Luke was seriously injured, but would be all right, and Han…well Han was just Han.

He still infuriated her, as was proven when she called him a scruffy looking nerf herder, among other things. How dare he think she had anything to do with him not being able to leave? General Rieekan had made that call, not her, and as soon as the energy shield was activated, he would be able to leave. The sooner the better!

But, she reminded herself, you really don't want him to leave.

She did not have time to reflect on these new emotions, because within hours, Hoth was under attack by the Empire. She had given her orders to the rebels and would remain in the command center until the last moment possible.

What she did not expect was Han Solo to come back yet again.

"You all right"? He asked. If Leia did not know better, she would have thought there was concern behind his voice.

"What are you still doing here?" She asked, annoyed.

"I heard the command center had been hit".

Leia briefly wondered, is he worried about me?

"You have been given clearance to leave!" She all but yelled. The longer he waited the more difficult it would be for him to leave, and she wanted everyone safely away from this planet and away from the Empire.

"Don't worry;" was the cocky response, "I'll leave. First, I'm going to get you to your ship.

Leia considered his words. These were not the words of a man who only cared about himself. If he only cared about himself, he would have been long gone.

Not knowing how to respond, Leia gave another order, "Send all troops in sector twelve to the south slope to protect the fighters."

Another blast shook the command center, and Han Solo was out of patience, "Come on, that's it."

Leia understood it was time to go, "Give the evacuation code signal. And get to

your transports!"

By the time her last order was out of her mouth, Han's hand was on her arm. Strangely, it was not unpleasant. He came back to get her out, and get her out he did, on the Millennium Falcon because their escape route was blocked. Or he tried to get her out on the Falcon, since the much needed repairs had not yet been completed.

Leia would have found the situation funny, had it not been so dire. "Would it help if I got out and pushed?" She asked sarcastically.

Some how they managed to get passed the blockade, but not before she said to him, "Someday your going to be wrong and I just hope I'm there to see it."

Han Solo grinned at her and Leia appreciated how handsome the man really was.

However, getting passed the blockade was only half the battle, they still needed to make the jump into hyperspace, and that was proving to be more difficult. After some quick maneuvering on Han's part, they managed to—against her better judgment—to enter an asteroid field and find a place to hide while they attempted to fix the ship.

Leia was never one to be afraid of getting her hands dirty, and jumped right into helping repair the Falcon. As she was struggling to re-close a valve, Han came up behind her to help. The close proximity of him made Leia rebuff his attempts to assist.

Ever the cocky one, "Hey, Your Worship, I'm only trying to help."

"Would you please stop calling me that?" She implored continuing to struggle with the valve.

The man shrugged and replied, "Sure, Leia."

By this time, Leia was exasperated, "Oh, you make it so difficult sometimes."

The man in front of her only smiled, "I do, I really do. You could be a little nicer, though. Come on, admit it. Sometimes you think I'm all right."

His statement caused her hand to slip off the valve, she did not know quite how to respond but replied, "maybe…when your aren't acting like a scoundrel."

"Scoundrel?" Han laughed softly, moving closer to her. "Scoundrel, I like the sound of that."

Before she knew it, Han had her sore hand in his and was massaging it. This confused the woman, because as much as she hated to admit it, she liked it. "Stop it."

"Stop what?" He asked.

Not know what else to say she told him, "My hands are dirty." Even she knew that sounded silly.

"My hands are dirty too, what are you afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid," she stopped mid-sentence as she looked into his eyes. She liked what she saw. He had piercing eyes and dashing good looks with confidence to spare. He never looked more appealing then in that moment.

He then took her other hand, "Your trembling," he softly said.

"I'm not trembling," was her half hearted denial. Unable to stop, she found herself gravitating toward him. Han saw this and moved her closer to him very slowly.

The kiss was everything and nothing like she expected. His lips were hot, but soft. He kissed her passionately, but it was not hurried. He acted as if he had all the time in the universe to kiss her. When their lips finally parted, Leia attempted to catch her breath, not knowing what she was going to say to him.

Gratefully, C-3PO took that moment to interrupt the two and she took that opportunity to exit the area.

She did not kiss him again until she was faced with losing him forever. The kiss was desperate and passionate, broken entirely too soon by stormtroopers pulling Han away from her.

In that carbon freezing chamber, Leia gave into her heart and told him, "I love you".

Ever the cocky one, Han simply responded, "I know." But his eyes spoke so much more. She knew he loved her too. Her heart was breaking at the thought of never seeing him again.

After Lando, Chewbacca, Leia, Luke and the droids escaped, she took the time to consider Han Solo. He was a pirate, smuggler, a scoundrel and a mercenary. But he was also a hero, trustworthy, dashing, loyal, and lastly he was a friend. Leia knew right then she wanted him to be more then a friend. Now as forces worked to separate them forever, she understood him.

He was not a mystery, but multi faceted.

Luke came over to her, recently healed with his new prosthetic hand, and put his arm around her in comfort. They had made it, all of them, except for Han.

Her heart told her they would find him. They had to. She needed him, besides there were many facets of Han Solo she had yet to uncover.

The End