Outline: This is a collection of "missing moments" based on the development of the relationship between Han and Leia. Every chapter can be considered a separate issue, so you just have to choose your favourite moment!
Han and the first cures he receives in the allied base after the long period of hybernation.
Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me, but are George Lucas's property; this story hasn't been written for profit.
CHAPTER 6: the aftermath of the Carbonite
Mon Mothma had noticed that Princess Leia'd been the first to raise at the end of the allied conference and, even though nothing seemed able to graze her strict and imperturbable air, she started to feel seriously concerned for what was soon to become of public domain.
She knew well Bail Organa and knew that he had raised his adoptive daughter with the only purpose of making her one of the Republic's main exponents, but, unfortunately, he'd died too soon and Leia's education still presented some gaps.
The girl had sometimes shown a temper which was difficult to tame. She was obstinate and stubborn in her decisions, always eager to show off, even with serious risking, not very inclined to listen to other people's advice and totally unaware of her true origins… but she was also governed by sound principles, and when she talked she could reach the people's hearts. She was undoubtedly born to be a leader.
The Alliance had always been Leia's first thought and her dedication had increased even more after Aldeeran's tragic disappearance. Lately, though, something totally foreign to politics had worked its way into her life and had monopolized part of her attention, which was absolutely inappropriate for a woman of her status and who was so hard to subjugate: a dangerous weakness called Han Solo.
Mon Mothma wasn't going to overlook the matter, she had seen far too many times what dramatic epilogues love could lead to, but she had promised herself to give the girl the possibility to understand on her own that such a relationship didn't have any chance of a future. She really hoped she wouldn't have to personally intervene, after all Captain Solo was a valid help for the Alliance… if only he'd officially enter in it.
xxx
Princess Leia couldn't wait: she'd managed to save the man she loved and was looking forward to hugging him again, maybe to spend some time alone with him. She felt the need to tell him all the things she'd been keeping to herself for the whole period of his imprisonment and she absolutely wanted to stay near him during his convalescence, aware of the fact that the first hours after the awakening from the carbonite were the most important. Unfortunately, though, she had had to give priority to the thousands of obligations of the General Allied Headquarters since Mon Mothma had totally submerged her with affairs to follow.
In that moment, Han was immersed in the bacta's fluid and a droid was carefully monitoring his vital functions. Theoretically the patient shouldn't have been disturbed, at least until the end of the treatment, but Lando and Chewbacca had already gone to visit him and they had found him quite in good shape.
«Certainly our friend has kept his good nature… especially with the droids!» Lando had begun as he saw the princess coming towards them.
Leia smiled as she heard the Wookie's roar of confirmation. She knew that Han didn't love doctors at all and she didn't find it hard to imagine his mood.
«That's good, otherwise I would've worried! Anyway, he should be almost finished, shouldn't he?»
«No.» Lando answered grinning, then, recovering his composure, added: «He has to do two more hours of therapy… it seems like he suffers from tachycardia and it's better if he stays under check for a bit more».
«Tachycardia? Is it because of the hibernation?»
«Well, it's more because of Jabba the Hutt! And a little bit because of you…» At that point Lando and Chewie burst out laughing, leaving Leia quite puzzled.
«Okay, I get it. I better go check myself, you're not telling me everything.»
«I think the patient is looking forward to it! But I advise you: no strong emotions, or he will risk to stay the whole day soaking in the bacta.»
«I'll be careful to keep him calm.» Leia promised, starting to grasp Lando's hinting.
xxx
Han was in a huge transparent bathtub full of bacta liquid, only his head came out off that disturbing red bulk. The specialized droid assigned to him was analyzing the impulses coming from his body, highlighting on a big screen every piece of data it collected. The only noise allowed in that deep silence was the electrocardiogram's beeping.
Cautiously moving forward, Leia was happy to see that her beloved's situation seemed good: normal arterial pressure, regular breathing, still slightly low, but recovering body heat, calm heartbeat… her only concern was for a flashing peak underlined in red.
Before his awakening, no doctor could have been able to guarantee his full recovery, but on the other hand, no one, until then, had been hibernated in carbonite, so there were no terms of comparison. She'd mentally talked to him for hours and hours, ever since they'd been brutally separated until she found him again, convinced that her thoughts' strength could overcome every distance and every physical barrier and hoping that this could help him resist that dreadful torture. Now that he was finally there, a few steps from her, with that sulky expression of a punished child, he moved her very much and she could barely control the urge to hold him in her arms.
«Hey, hot shot, how are you?» As she came out into the open, Leia noticed that he'd turned his head towards her, a sign that his sight was coming back.
«Much better now that you're here. Are you alone?» His face had lit up with joy.
«Yes». Her voice was cracked by emotion, it took her a couple moments to go on: «Can you see better now?»
«Little by little, but, from afar, everything is still unfocused. Why don't you come closer?»
Even though that innocent request was utterly plausible given his conditions, there was something in his tone that induced her to think it a clever excuse.
«Are you sure that your doctor agrees? I would never want to interfere with the cures…» In spite of that, she stepped closer, smiling.
«I don't care what that stupid droid is saying! I swear that I'm leaving in two hours, with or without its permission!» An electric shock instantly reached him: unit 2-1B used quite convincing methods in order to get even the most stubborn patients to understand.
«Try not to get upset. If it's holding you here there must be a good reason, don't you think?»
«I'm perfectly fine. And if I got out of here I'd be even better!» He snorted, hitting the liquid's surface, annoyed.
Right after this, though, as he noticed the red bacta stain on Leia's dress and her expression, which was halfway between annoyed and resigned, he calmed immediately. «Whoops, sorry… I didn't want to splatter it on you, I hope that isn't your favourite dress, because this junk hardly washes off».
«Don't worry, I'm not particularly fond of this one. Anyway, it seems that your sight miraculously returned in these last minutes!»
«Huh?» Caught red-handed, Han displayed one of his best smiles. «Well yeah, you caught me... I was bluffing, I admit it».
That smile, I've missed it so much! She thought, with her heart in her throat.
She felt like she was close to tears, but she firmly held them back. She didn't want him to understand how bad she'd felt, she didn't think it was fair. He had already suffered too much because of her and now they both needed to leave that ugly event behind them.
«By any chance, were you bluffing on the Falcon earlier as well… right after we left Tatooine?» she asked him in order to loosen the tension up a bit, using a willingly more sensual tone.
The electrocardiogram's accelerated beeping anticipated his answer: «No, I wasn't pretending then! Unfortunately I wasn't able to see anything… unlike others».
Leia was never going to forget his expression on that occasion: while the other members of the crew barely had the courage to raise their gaze on her, because of the scanty outfit that Jabba the Hutt had forced her to wear, Han, with the innocence of his temporary blindness, had instinctively run to hug her. Once his hands had placed themselves on her bare back, though, he had been literally petrified, almost like he was doubting the sensations coming from his senses. Clumsily apologizing, he had moved his hands, looking for a covered place, but he couldn't find it on her hips, nor on her arms. Realizing what the situation was, he'd violently blushed and, hearing Lando laugh scornfully in the background, he'd turned towards him with a menacing expression, hurrying to order to Chewbacca to bring her something to cover herself up with.
«Yeah, I imagine your friends had a lot fun in telling you the details you missed, isn't that so?» She already knew the answer, but it was interesting to observe his body's reactions on the big screen.
Beep-beep-beep… Han's heartbeat kept on accelerating.
«Who? Lando and Chewie?» He asked pretending carelessness. «They might've mentioned something, but nothing relevant».
«Uhm… A hint connected to that red flashing peak?»
The sound of the electrocardiogram inexorably betrayed each one of his attempts to deny.
«Uhm… yes».
Strong with that advantage Leia was feeling a certain pleasure in poking him: «What did they tell you that was so upsetting?»
«Nothing in particular, believe me, it's just that…» Turning frustrated towards the screen he gave up, snorting. «Those two rascals have been doing nothing but rouse my imagination… and since I haven't been able to do anything but meditate these last months, I'd say that I've become rather good at it, almost at the level of a Jedi Master».
«Interesting. And what were you thinking about exactly during your captivity, Captain?» She'd come closer to the bathtub, still remaining a couple inches out of his reach.
«You. Just about you.» He answered with a velvety voice. He was starting to appreciate that game, even if it wasn't really on equal terms.
«Oh really? And was the slave outfit a part of your meditations?»
«Well, it doesn't sound that nice if you put it like that… let's say that I've thought a lot about you, both spiritually and physically». Now that her face was so close to him, he could take in all those details that had remained only in his memory for a long time.
Even if one of her eyebrows was slightly raised as if she were trying to intimidate him, her beautiful eyes denied that false severity and her mouth, lightly tense, was having a hard time restraining the smile which was enlightening her soul.
«Wow, I'm struck by such profundity. Is that really you or did they switch you with someone else?» Realizing that she had dangerously crossed the safety distance, she hurried to take a step back, laughing at his annoyed expression.
«Just wait until I get out of here and you shall see».
«Then I fear that I will have to wait a lot!»
«Two hours, not a minute more!» In order to avoid more splatters of red fluid, Leia started walking around the bathtub, while Han followed her movements, trying not to get tangled in the electrodes' wires.
«Listen to the doctor, try to control yourself».
«Everything's perfectly under control! I don't see why that droid continues to keep me inside here. Aren't six months imprisoned in the carbonite enough?»
Since the patient didn't look as if he would calm down, Leia thought that it probably hadn't been a good idea to go and see him before the end of the treatment, but on the other hand she hadn't been able to help it.
«Since my presence upsets you too much, I should go and let you meditate in peace, don't you think?»
«Very ironic!» At seeing her leaving, though, he hurried to call her back: «No, come on, Leia! Wait…»
«See you in two hours». Sniggering she kept on walking towards the exit.
«You'll just leave me here like this?!»
Once she got to the door, she gave into temptation and turned back towards him: how could she ignore him with such a downhearted expression?
«I'm doing it for your own good.» She reassured him.
«For my own good?! But I only feel good if you're here!»
Without saying anything, she gave him a radiant smile, lightly blushing. Nonetheless she was determined to leave the room, in order not to further worsen the patient's situation.
Han though was reluctant to let her go and his mind was quickly working in order to find another excuse. Luckily, a moment before she left, his genius found the inspiration: if his romantic side wasn't enough to detain her he could still instigate her on a context far more congenial to him…
«Hey, Leia. One last thing…»
«What is it?» The princess didn't know what to expect but, noticing the veil of mischief in his eyes, she immediately was on the alert.
«The slave's costume… did you throw it away?»
She knew that, sooner or later, he would've raised the subject, but luckily she'd already prepared her answer: «Why? Is there some corner that remained unexplored by your touch?»
«Well, to tell the truth, I felt everything except the costume…» His gaze had darkened as he relived the sensations of that contact.
Caught off her guard by his audacity, she answered without thinking: «Fine, save the memory of it then! I doubt that your hands will have the pleasure of visiting certain zones again anytime soon».
Immediately after, though, realizing the huge allusion contained in the last sentence, she violently blushed, finding it almost impossible to believe that she had let those words escape without a minimum of control.
Han was agape, incapable of replying. Noticing the blush on her face, he guessed that she was probably regretting what she'd said and maybe, in order not to upset her more, he should've pretended not to notice.
On the other hand, though, he couldn't deny that he had remained pleasingly struck by her words. The subject was very interesting and he would've liked to deepen it in detail, but he didn't want to seem one who "only thinks about that"… even if he had actually thought about it!
Suddenly the deafening hiss of unit 2-B1 brutally interrupted his inner conflict. When he saw a new red peak appearing on the big screen he immediately understood that what he feared the most was happening: «No, damn it! I can't have crossed the threshold, not another time!»
Using the situation, Leia took her chance to retreat: «See you in four hours, my dear. Please… don't meditate too much!»
xxx
Alone again, Han looked at the screen downhearted, hitting a nice amount of bacta liquid on the droid, as a sign of protest.
What was he going to do for four more hours inside there, without her?
Annoyed, he tore all the electrodes from himself and, in spite of unit 2-1B's electric shocks and the dozen acoustic alarms which were piercing his eardrums, with one leap he got out of the bathtub, determinedly heading towards the exit.
Noticing that the intensity of the alarms was increasing the further he went, he turned one last time towards the droid, pointing his index finger at it as a warning and saying: «Shut up! Captain Solo has something better to do now!»
«I doubt that your hands will have the pleasure of visiting certain zones again anytime soon».
She couldn't know what she had roused with that sentence, not because of what she had denied him now… but, more than anything, for what she'd offered him for later in a veiled manner.
The doors of his imagination had literally unhinged themselves at that thought. He only hoped he had enough patience to be able to wait for her without ruining everything.
First of all, he had to reassure her about the honesty and the seriousness of his intentions and, in order to do it, he needed an impressive gesture worthy of his reputation. He knew far too well that nothing like his recruitment in the allied army would've made her happy. For years she'd tried to convince him and now that he had finally returned to be a free man he felt compelled to return her trust.
A new battle against the Empire was impending and this time he wasn't intentioned to draw back. He had to find General Madine immediately in order to get enlisted, he didn't have more time to lose!