After I wrote "Three Baths," a number of readers wanted to know whether the "to be continued" on Hoth was ever continued. So I wrote a little answer to that question. Originally posted to Tumblr for Scoundress Saturday.
To be continued
Leia was still a bit breathless.
An hour ago, she'd been down to her skivvies, soaking in the Rogues' makeshift hot tub with Han. In fact—though she could barely believe she'd actually done this—she'd invited Han into the hot tub with her.
His face, when she'd said, "I'll go in if you will"? Priceless. There's one way to wipe away that smirk.
But it wasn't his smirk that had her preoccupied at the moment. It was his smile, his genuine smile, as he'd told her that he planned to stay. And that look he'd given her after she'd hugged him, his face bending toward hers…
Finally, she'd thought.
The Rogues had had terrible timing or wonderful timing, Leia couldn't quite decide which. Their noisy return had given Leia and Han just enough time to get out, dry off, throw clothes back on, and resume their conversation about Han's trip the following day, in which he would be taking back the parts from the hot tub.
Leia found herself wondering whether they'd dismantled it yet.
What the hell are you thinking, Organa?
This was a terrible idea. She knew better. You're being ridiculous. It was just the excitement of the moment…of almost getting caught…
This line of thinking was not helping. This line of thinking was going to lead somewhere she was sure to regret. Somewhere she'd been warned not to go for years, most of those warnings being her own.
But I don't care. Suddenly, she felt like she was sixteen again, making plans to sneak out of the palace for a swim in Aldera Lake. Even though that seemed like an impossible amount of time ago. When did I get so old?
She and Han had agreed that whatever this was, some part of it was to be continued. She wasn't entirely clear on what that meant.
Maybe she should go ask him.
Maybe she should check on whether the hot tub was still together.
Maybe she should try to concentrate on this report she'd been trying to write for the last hour and forget the whole damned thing.
She took a deep breath and went back to her datapad, pulling up the draft of her report.
A minute later, she stood up, shut the datapad, and strode toward the door before she could tell herself no. She was moving so quickly that she nearly ran right into Han.
The smirk was back. "Going somewhere?" he asked.
"I was just—" she looked down at the two insulated mugs in his hands. "Is that for me?"
Han's smirk fell away, and he looked almost…nervous for a moment. "Well, uh. Thought you might need warming up. After…" He trailed off, but handed one of the mugs to her.
"Thank you." She took a sip, her eyes remaining on his face. "Come in," she said, stepping back into the room. The door whooshed shut behind him.
They were silent for a moment, then Leia spoke. "I thought I'd just see—how the, uh, hot tub was doing." That came out wrong.
"Oh yeah?" he asked. He was grinning at first, but his face took on a regretful look. "Rogues are in it. One last hurrah, then they're takin' it apart," he said.
"Oh," she said, trying not to sound too disappointed.
"Yeah," he agreed.
They were silent for a moment, then Leia reached behind Han and locked the door.
There was that astonished face again, the one from the hot tub.
In what seemed like a single motion, she took Han's mug from him, placed both mugs on the side table, and put her hands at his waist, guiding him backwards toward the desk.
He knew better. She knew better. Alarm bells were sounding in her head like crazy, datapads and flimsies were crashing to the floor, but it didn't matter, nothing mattered but his face finally, finally bending the rest of the way towards hers, the feeling of his lips, his tongue, his hands as they…continued.
