What Would You Miss?
By Hold-out Trout
Disclaimer: No, I don't own Star Wars. Thanks for asking.
Author's note: I haven't written a viggie in so long I was afraid I wouldn't remember how anymore. Drabbles don't count, no matter how cute or fuzzy they are. This takes place somewhere around ESB, in a more or less canonical version of the universe.
They fought over dinner, over everything they'd fought over before. She refused to give in before she knew if he would stay, and he refused to say he'd stay until she gave him something to stay for.
So they slammed their doors and sulked. Later, after the ship had been quiet and dark for hours, Leia crept out of bed and walked the corridors. There wasn't enough space on the Falcon to truly get lost, but she pretended she was anyway. Lost in the dark and by the engine. She crawled underneath a pipe into a space she only knew was back there because a tool had rolled back there the one time she'd needed it desperately to fix whatever had gone wrong that day.
She remembered finding the small spaces as a child, the spaces the adults forgot about as they became too big for them. There was something comforting about hiding away and being surrounded by something. Tonight, she lay her head against the wall and let the familiar sound of the engines drive away the memories of their arguments. There was no awareness of him down here, or at least not the same awareness as when she knew he was on the other side of the not-very-thick wall.
She fell asleep, and was awakened by a panicked voice calling her name.
"Leia! Leia! Damn it! How can a princess possibly get lost on a ship this size?"
She almost giggled, but stopped when he said,
"Oh, gods." It was a groan, a plea, and Leia knew she heard a lot more in those two words than she was meant to.
She started crawling back out immediately.
"It's okay, I'm here." Her head poked out into the corridor, his eyes saw her and his relief hit her in her stomach.
She swallowed. "I fell asleep."
His relief turned to anger. "How…What possessed you to…Leia, you nearly gave me a heart attack."
He helped her up and scooped her into a hug.
She breathed, "I'm sorry," and he tightened his grip.
"I looked everywhere. I even looked in the smuggling compartments." His tone was wry, though he didn't make any move away.
She finally laughed.
At that, he loosened his grip so he could give her his astonished look—the one he used when he was being unreasonable and knew it.
"You think this is funny? Well, maybe I should make you cook breakfast then, your holiness."
Leia shook her head. "You'll only be punishing yourself."
Han said, "True. But it might be worth it to watch you cooking. It's very amusing."
Leia realized he still hadn't dropped his hand from her waist. She reddened a little, and Han noticed. He tightened his arms and made a sly grin flash across his face.
"Or maybe you could apologize again." His voice was husky, and Leia knew he didn't mean in words. She thought about their fight last night, about all the reasons why she shouldn't--wouldn't--give in, but he moved just a little closer and she couldn't remember any of them. He'd thoughtfully leaned down enough that she just had to stretch up on her toes a little to reach his lips.
It wasn't very long until Leia pulled back. "What reason do you need to stay?"
Han said, "Why do you want me to stay, Princess?"
She thought for a moment and said, "I'd miss your ship."
Han laughed and said, "Good enough for now."