Some random rebel base after Yavin
"Clearance code confirmed. Millennium Falcon, you have permission to land." The female voice held a hint of anticipation, "Welcome back, Captain Solo." Han Solo felt a quick rush of pleasure at the tone until he realized that the pitch of the voice was too high to be that of a feisty dark-haired princess. "Got a large shipment today?" The flirtatious tone was clear this time.
Shaking off his unexpected disappointment, he replied in kind, "Yeah, a special delivery. Hey, tell the Princess I've got a package 'specially for her, ok?"
"Some girls got all the luck," came the envious response. "I'll tell her, Captain."
Han Solo finished with the shut down sequence while Chewie headed aft to prepare for unloading the latest shipment of supplies for the rebel base. The unloading went quickly as the supply chief supervised his personnel. Among the expected military supplies, and cases of fresh food, there were several large containers labeled as coming from a renowned computer systems company.
Han saw Princess Leia approach as he headed down the ramp. He gave a cocky grin and a wink. "Hiya, sweetheart, you sure got here quick - you must've missed me."
The princess rolled her eyes and shook her head slightly in exasperation.
"I'm almost afraid to ask, but is there really a package for me? Or was that just another innuendo?"
"Don't worry Princess, I got somethin' special for you right here." He placed a hand on her elbow led her around the ship to the loading ramp.
She shook off his arm and stopped in her tracks, glaring at him suspiciously. Giving her an innocent look, Han reached in the cargo hold and pulled out a padded envelope.
"See?" he said, "I was asked to give it to you personally." He leaned forward and whispered in her ear, "Was there another package you were thinkin' about?" The princess reddened and pulled away, but before she could retaliate-
"Captain Solo," interrupted Lieutenant Ghant, approaching from the side. "These containers from SimCorps are not on my requisition list, where did they come from?" The Ordinance Officer looked confused.
Han frowned, "What do you mean? They were loaded by our contact along with the rest of the supplies."
Princess Leia forgot her potential retort and regarded Lt Ghant with a hint of excited curiosity, "SimCorps?"
"You know about this, Your Highness?" Lieutenant Ghant questioned.
"It's something I've been working on, Lieutenant." She snatched the envelope that was still in Han's grasp and tore it open eagerly. "Yes! This is very good news, gentlemen." She flashed them a smile Han hadn't seen since the aftermath of the battle of Yavin.
"Just put those boxes from SimCorps in the east pavilion, Lieutenant. Excuse me." She rushed off in the direction of the Command Center.
"Idiot's Array!" There were groans around the table as Luke gleefully scooped up his winnings. "Not bad, Luke," Han congratulated him, "Looks like those tips I gave you finally started to sink in."
Luke laughed, "Yeah, I never thought I would learn how to keep a sabacc face."
The pilots of Red Squadron had developed a pattern of getting together weekly for some R & R. Mostly they would drink, talk and make bets, but tonight with Han back from his supply run, the evening turned into a Sabacc match in the common room with pilots from other squadrons joining in.
"Hey, did you guys hear about the new SimCorps simulator?" asked Xand, a young pilot from Gold squadron.
"That must be what was in those boxes I hauled in." Han observed.
"Yeah, it's being installed in the east pavilion. I heard from Shania, the equipment tech, that it's new technology, hasn't even hit the market yet." Hobbie cut in.
Han interjected, "Then how can the Alliance afford it? Those ships you're flying and most of the equipment around here is second and third-hand – some of it's older than you are."
"I heard Princess Leia arranged it," replied Wedge. "I heard that the Alliance's purse is fat again thanks to her, too."
"Humph, well she's good at fundraising that's for sure. I just wish she'd stick to it and leave the military operations to the officers," grouched a pilot named Balen.
"What are you talkin' about?" Luke demanded.
"Well, the General has her acting like a military commander. She's helping with strategic planning, delegating missions and giving orders to the men. I just don't see how "princess training" makes her qualified to do that -"
"Hey, did you forget I'm Alderaanian?" Xand, the pilot who first mentioned SimCorps, leaned over the table and pointed a finger at the offending pilot. "That's my princess you're talking about! Don't you know the base on Yavin wouldn't even have existed if not for her? She helped plan, finance and recruit that whole damned cell!"
"Cool your thrusters, Xand! Okay, so she's a great administrator, but this is a military operation. Does she even know the hot end of a blaster? I mean, come on- what does the princess of a peace-loving world know about warfare?"
"More than you realize, Balen." It annoyed Han that this guy obviously had no clue what the princess was capable of. "Luke and I can speak from first hand knowledge that the Princess can hold her own against anyone here." Han was irked at himself for being annoyed. Why did he care if these guys underestimated her?
"Yeah, you guys haven't seen Leia in action!" Luke exclaimed.
"We all know how you feel about her, Luke, but I'll believe it when I see it!" came the grumbled reply.
There was excitement around the base over the next few days, escalating up to the unveiling of the new SimCorps training simulator. Word spread from the first practice group that the new technology was vastly superior to the base's old simulator and was the next best thing to actually being on a live training mission. Commanders Narra and Willard were in charge of setting the programs and scheduling each pilot and ground soldier to small training groups. Teams eagerly awaited their appointed time on the roster and there was a wave of competitiveness as each man tried to beat the others scores. The general consensus was that the new simulator was an unqualified success.
There was enough talk to pique Han's curiosity. He wasn't officially a member of the military, so getting his name on the training list wasn't happening. He decided instead to circumvent the official path and go straight to the person he thought could find him a way in through the backdoor. Of course, meeting with the Princess proved to be almost as difficult as getting on the wait list. After a full day of being informed that she was in meetings or unavailable, and unsuccessfully staking out the cafeteria (didn't that girl ever eat?), he kept an eye on the passage to her quarters, then finally gave up. Too restless to sleep, he changed into exercise clothes and decided to go to the base exercise room instead of using the small cardio/strength training area on the Falcon. It was an added incentive that the base's facility was located adjacent to the east pavilion, so he could get a glimpse of the new simulator while he was there.
The base was quiet at this time of night and the hallways were empty, but as he approached his destination, he saw light spilling from the open door and the sound of the cardio-conveyor in use. He stepped through the doorway and saw Princess Leia running on the conveyor, dressed in lightweight fatigue pants and a simple cotton tee shirt. Her hair swung behind her back from a high braided ponytail. Leia's eyes widened in surprise as she saw him enter, and she started to remove her headphones, but he waved at her to continue as he took the conveyor next to hers. He set his program, and began his run, noticing that her stride was long and steady. It intrigued him to realize that she obviously ran regularly and led him to wonder what else he didn't know about her.
Han tried to focus on his program but couldn't help occasionally glancing sideways at his companion. The exertion had brought a flush to her cheeks and dampness to her skin that Han found temptingly erotic. His pulse quickened and he felt a tightening in his loins when her lips parted and she began to breathe more heavily. Her tongue slipped out to lick her lips and Han had to clamp down on a train of thought that had him speculating what she would look like if –
He snapped his gaze forward and struggled to focus on something else. Just to annoy her, he reached over and snagged her left ear bud, dodging the princess's lunge to snatch it back. Adjusting it to his ear, he heard the sounds of a heavy guitar and steady drums pounding out a throbbing tune that he dimly recognized. Hmm, not what I expected. He reached for the wireless control sitting on top of the cardio trainer, but Leia surprised him by swiftly throwing a defensive block with her left arm, flipping his arm away. She then quickly thumbed off the music and stopped her training program. Suspicious, Han reached again for the music control. Anticipating a repeat of her maneuver, he slipped under her defense with his other arm, successfully stealing the little gadget.
"Give that back!" the Princess demanded.
What's goin' on? Han thought. He stopped his conveyor and looked at her more closely.
She was flushed, perspiring, breathing heavily and in her dark eyes there was a hint of something…tears? She looked away before he could be sure. She stretched over as if to grab the offending item out of his hand, but he moved his arm to the side, out of her reach.
"What's on here that you're trying to hide?" He asked suspiciously.
"I'm not hiding anything, I just like my privacy!" she spat, stepping closer.
He moved backwards off the treadmill and started to turn the music back on, but before he could, Leia stepped down in front of him and lunged again, grabbing and twisting his wrist in another trained maneuver that caused him to release the device.
Astonished at her physical aggression, but reasoning that she had started it, Han felt no qualm at closing his fist firmly around her wrist. "Uh, uh. I don't think so."
She responded by turning her shoulder into his chest, and sweeping her leg under his, knocking him off balance. He was flat on his back on the mat before he knew what had happened.
Leia seemed hardly less surprised at her own actions, "Han, I'm sorry," she gasped. "I didn't mean to do that, I just reacted."
Angry now, he tightened his hold on her wrist before she could slip out of his grasp and gave a good yank, pulling her down on top of him. She struggled to push away but he clamped down on her other wrist and held her to him in a viselike grip.
"Let me go, you bully." She struggled to pull away, but his grip was unyielding.
"You're the bully. I'm just trying to defend myself here." Han asserted. "Are you going to stop now?"
"Not until you let me go!" she gritted out.
"Fine, you asked for it," the smuggler warned as he rolled them both over pinning her beneath him. He made sure to angle himself in such a way as to protect his most vulnerable areas as she tried to push him off. "What is this all about? Now calm down and give me that."
Breathing heavily, she finally stilled and looked him in the eye. "It's not that important, Han, really."
He stared at her disbelievingly, "Yeah, I can see how unimportant it is to you." He replied sarcastically.
He took the controller from her and pressed play.
The music was a little dark for what he would have expected of Leia. But then the meaning of the screaming lyrics registered on his brain.
Leia lifted her chin in challenge as Han's face revealed just what he thought of her choice in music.
"What in the nine hells are you listening to? Is that what you're thinking about? Suicide?" Han fumed. He couldn't remember ever being so angry, but didn't want to acknowledge the reason behind why he was so affected.
"Don't be ridiculous!"
"It better be ridiculous, 'cause I didn't save your neck just to have you go and off yourself first chance you get!"
"All that effort for nothing, right?" Leia mocked. "Don't worry, I won't let the hero's image get tarnished by the rescued princess trying to kill herself!"
"This is not about me. This is about you." He gazed at her searchingly. "Are you okay?"
"No I'm not, you're crushing me. Let me up." Leia pushed ineffectually at his chest.
"Not until you give me a straight answer," Han insisted.
It had been less than a year since the destruction of Alderaan, yet this was the first time Leia had revealed even a hint of her true emotions. She's fooled everyone into thinking she's recovered from her ordeal, accepted her loss and adapted to her new life. But I bet she's only just begun to let herself grieve. How do you ever get over the destruction of your entire planet? Never gonna happen.
The princess was looking down, her expression hard.
"What do you want to hear? That everything is fine?" She looked up with eyes filled with a combination of anger and unbearable sadness. "Well, I hate to break it to you, but it's not! The Empire 'cut my life into pieces'. Leia quoted the song's lyrics bitterly. "Even that's not right, really. Its not in pieces-it's gone. Everything I had, everything I am, my whole future – gone. I'm not living…I just…exist." She looked him directly in the eye. "So if I want to listen to music that's dark about death and dying – I have that right. It's therapeutic. It doesn't mean I'm going to kill myself - or cut myself either, like the song implies; you can check for yourself if you ever let me up." She sighed and the tension left her body. "Dying would be easy –and since when have I ever taken the easy path?"
"Well that's true. You're the strongest person I know, sweetheart." He reached up and tucked back a stray lock of her hair.
"Can we get up now?" Leia asked sharply, brushing his hand away.
"No way. I'm kinda likin' this," Han gave her his lopsided grin. "Besides, you're the one who put us on floor."
Leia huffed in exasperation, then raised an eyebrow mockingly, "No, I merely encouraged you to fall down at my feet. The rest is all you. Now let me up."
Relenting, Han got up and pulled her to her feet. But he couldn't resist the verbal gauntlet.
"I'm sure you're used to men falling for you. It must annoy you that I'm the first man who hasn't fallen for your charms." Han said teasingly.
"All evidence to the contrary, Solo. You were at my feet not a moment ago." She responded in kind.
"Yes, but I fell for your combat skills, not your charm." He quipped, knowing that she wouldn't realize the truth behind the joke.
She rolled her eyes. "Right," she half laughed, half groaned.
Turning serious, Leia placed a hand on his arm and confided, "About our conversation - I can't believe I said all that. I've never talked about it before."
"Yeah, you keep it pretty well hidden."
"I'd really like to keep it that way, Han."
"I promise I won't tell a soul, as long as you promise you're just listening to snuff music, not acting on it."
"Don't worry." She held out her arms, "See."
"I think I need a more thorough inspection to be sure. Not everyone cuts their arms."
"Try again, Captain."
"Maybe I will. Let me escort you to your quarters, Princess. You never know what undesirables might be wandering the base this time of night."
"You mean other than you? Thanks, but I don't need you to defend me."
"After your earlier demonstration, sweetheart, I'm counting on you to defend me."