Leia pushed a tendril of hair back behind her ear, out of her face and returned to her task. She was glad that she had added an extra layer to her regulation snowsuit, borrowing a large coat from the supply room. She had pulled her hair back and the hood of the coat up. With the regulation snow pants and boots, she could easily be mistaken for Commander Skywalker if it weren't for her height.
With the base stretched so thin, she had found herself thrown into a cave to hang exploration lights for the squadrons who came through the tunnel on a daily basis. The squads who would normally be in charge of this kind of maintenance were all preoccupied. They were either needed for something more pressing on the frozen planet, like a rescue from one of the frequent cave-ins, or they were ridden with a nasty cold.
Hanging a large, white light on the wall and fastening the clamp, she backed up and sighed. The high command had insisted that she rest, that they simply didn't need her at this time, and had basically kicked her out of the command center. Refusing to take a break when there were things to be done, Leia looked for anything to occupy herself.
She was regretting her decision now, thinking faintly about abandoning her job and taking a quick break in her bunk. However, as soon as she resigned herself to take a short shower and a nap, an angry Han Solo came bursting into the cave, shouting behind himself toward the hangar.
"Do whatever you want you big walking carpet!" He said, over his shoulder to Chewie. He continued walking quickly through the cave and ran chest first into the princess.
"Hey, watch where you're-" he started.
"Captain Solo, have you any care for any being on this planet besides yourself?!" Leia snapped quickly.
"Sorry Princess," he retorted. "I'm just trying to get as far from that Wookie as a can. We're not agreeing on much today. I'm trying to get off the damn planet and he takes apart the hyperdrive for 'repairs'."
Leia chuckled and turned back to the lights she was hanging.
"What are you doing?" Han asked, genuinely confused.
"There was nothing for me to do in the command center, so I asked around for something to help with," she responded.
"Oh. Have you talked to the kid?" Han asked, leaning on the wall of the ice cave and almost taking down the lights Leia had just put up. She gave him a glare.
"Yes, I spoke to Luke," she answered. "He's doing better. Almost ready to come back to the force I would say."
"Good, good," Han answered, looking down at their feet.
"So are you just here to bother me or did you need to be somewhere? Because if you don't, I'm sure there's a rescue group somewhere that could use your help," Leia asked, barely paying him any attention.
"Believe me, sweetheart, I'm always up for bothering you," he quipped, giving Leia a quick smirk.
She scoffed and moved on to the next lamp.
With an eye roll she reluctantly asked, "Well then, maybe you could help me. That whole wall still needs done." She vaguely gestured across the cave.
"Sure thing, Your Worship," he said, grabbing a strand of lights.
They worked in a slightly uncomfortable silence for a few minutes.
Suddenly, the system of caves rumbled with the vibrations of a collapse somewhere.
"What the-" Leia began.
"Hush," Han answered, holding his hand up in front of the princess.
"Han, what the hell was that?" She asked.
"Didn't I say be quiet?" Han asked, looking at her sternly.
Leia closed her mouth.
"If we're not careful, this cavern could cave in," Han whispered. "That last collapse sounded nearby."
Leia suddenly became aware of the closing distance between herself and Han. He had reflexively moved toward her when he heard the crash. She shuffled away very gingerly, uncomfortable with the sudden closeness.
Her tiny shuffle seemed to be all it took for their system to collapse on itself. Han quickly dove for the ground taking Leia with him. The ice and snow seemed to come down around them for minutes before the shaking finally ended.
Leia opened her eyes and realized she was pinned under something heavy. Terrified that it was a large piece of ice, she began to shove it off.
"Hey Your Worship! I'm not trying to start anything. More like save your life," Han said, scrambling off the princess.
"Sorry," she said, sitting up too look at her surroundings. Suddenly her commlink to the command center came to life.
"Your Highness, we have registered a collapse in your area. Are you trapped?" The device on her wrist asked.
"Yes," she answered calmly. "Myself and Captain Solo."
"Are there holes in the ice?" The command center asked.
Leia looked at Han, who was inspecting the wall of ice that had them sealed off from the rest of the base. He turned and nodded at her.
"Yes," she responded again. "We won't run out of air anytime soon."
"Probability of hypothermia?" The command center asked curtly, having gone through this protocol multiple times this week.
Leia looked at Han once again for the answer.
"Low, but possible," He answered into the comm at her wrist. "The princess and I are both wearing cold weather gear and we're shielded from the wind, but it's definitely below freezing in here."
"Okay Princess, Captain Solo, we've locked onto your location and we'll send a squadron as soon as one is available," a voice answered. "But we're pretty loaded up with accidents and you aren't in danger of hypothermia. We'll prioritize as necessary, considering you're a member of the high command, Princess."
"Well don't lose a life for mine, Commander," Leia answered, shutting off her comm.
She looked at Han. He seemed surprisingly calm in this scenario, but it looked like he was already in deep thought.
"Give it up, Solo," Leia said. "We're not getting out of here without help, but they'll come for us."
That seemed to pull Han out of his trance and back into his usual personality. "First with the kid, now you," he started. "I need to stop getting myself stuck out in the cold."
Han pounded on the wall of the ice cave and sat in the snow, thankful for once for the layers upon layers of clothes he was expected to wear. "At least we're inside this time."
Leia sank down across from him. "Don't count on that to be our saving grace. It's pretty cold in here."
"You afraid we might have to snuggle Princess?" Han asked with another smile.
"I'm not afraid of anything, Han," Leia shot back. "You should know that."
"Well good," He said, laying back further into the plush snow. "Because it's going to be a long night and I can't have you clinging to me because of the cave monsters."
Leia smiled, an actual genuine smile, for only a moment. She let herself enjoy Han's presence for a second too long. He noticed.
"What's the problem, Leia?" He asked. "I usually have you in stitches at this point."
"That's not true," she answered, barely a mumble. "But if you must know, I'm a little disappointed in what you said about leaving the system. The alliance."
Han sighed. "Leia, you know why I have to leave."
"No I don't," Leia said angrily. "That's exactly why I'm mad." The Princess was almost yelling now.
"Relax, your Highnessness," Han said. "You might bring the rest of the cave down with your voice. And I don't think we should talk about this right now."
Leia sighed and sunk down into her coat.
"You could tell me about what's going on between you and Luke," Han said, bringing forward his own slight anger.
Leia looked up in confusion. "Me and Luke?"
"Well I mean you seemed to be pretty close when you had your tongue down his throat."
Leia dropped her jaw. "I did not have my- What are you- There's nothing going on between Luke and I."
"Then why did you kiss him?" Han asked, trying to look at her in the eyes.
"Because, I was relieved. I was worried about him. He had been out in the snow all night. He could've died!"
"Huh, and here I thought it was to make me jealous. And if you're handing out kisses to men who spend all night out in the snow, then you owe me one. Two if you count tonight."
Leia looked down again, trying to hide the faint blush she felt in her cheeks. Silence once again filled the cave. The tension of unasked and unanswered questions was palpable between the two. Han recognized another type of tension that he would never dare mention to the princess in this situation.
"What time is is?" Leia asked, suddenly feeling a fatigue take over her body.
"Base time is 2300," Han answered. "How come? Are you getting tired?"
"No, I've pulled all-nighters for way more pressing things than a cave-in recently. I think my body is beginning to adjust to staying up all night," Leia defended, clearly trying to convince Han that she was more than alright.
"Its okay if you want to rest, Leia," he said, almost tenderly. "I won't let you freeze in your sleep."
"How thoughtful," she said, with a roll of her eyes. "But I'm fine for now."
"Whatever you say, Princess," Han said, stretching his legs a bit before settling back against the wall.
Leia stood up and grabbed one of the lamps she had been putting up on the walls before Han had interrupted her. She plugged it in and clamped it low on the wall, close to where herself and Han were situated.
"What're you doing?" He asked.
"These lamps don't do much, but they do provide a little heat. I figured we could put one here so that we could at least see each other while we try not to freeze," Leia responded, turning on the lamp and bringing the captain's face into full view.
"Believe me, Organa," he said with a chuckle. "It ain't 'trying not to freeze' until you have to stuff your friend inside a Tauntaun."
Leia smiled at this remark even though it was a very valid point. "You know you can call me by my name, right?"
"Yeah, Leia. It's just that I hear people around the base call you crazy names and refer to you as 'Your Highness' all day and sometimes I forget when it is and isn't okay to just say your name."
As the night got later, Leia became slightly more comfortable with their situation and began to loosen up, figuring that there really was nothing that could be done until morning. The two passed the time by playing a few card games with the mostly-there deck that Han had in his jacket for some reason, but it became difficult when they realized that there was almost an entire suit missing. They resolved to sitting mostly in silence, Han shuffling the deck over and over, Leia carving something into the ice with a broken shard of glass she had found on the floor of the cavern. After about an hour of this, she became frustrated with the silence.
"If I ask you a question, will you answer honestly?" Leia finally said.
"That was a question, Sweetheart," Han answered, not looking up from the cards in his hand. She shot him a pointed glare. "Sure," he resigned.
"Why are you leaving?" She asked, looking up at him.
Han stopped moving his hands. "I told you. I have to pay off Jabba."
"Yeah, I believed that for about a minute, until I realized that you could just transfer him the credits."
"That's not how Jabba works. He has to see the payments. I don't even think he believes in the credits system."
"Still, we have an entire army. I'm sure we could negotiate a deal with a Hutt."
Han sighed. "No."
"No?" Leia said, raising an eyebrow.
"No, as in I would never let you anywhere near that scumbag," he said, looking up at her.
"Han, I'm a senator and a child of war. I was born and raised to negotiate and manipulate situations for my gain. And I'm pretty sure I could hold my own against a giant bag of slime."
"Maybe, but its not just Jabba. If you and your alliance piss him off, half of the galaxy would be on your tail. The Empire would be the least of your concerns."
Leia suddenly furrowed her brow. "So you're leaving... to protect us."
"To protect you," Han answered, looking back down at the deck of cards he was holding. "You're the only thing I care about in this war. Well, you and Luke."
"That's not true," Leia said, suddenly angry. "You believe in this cause. I've seen it."
"Maybe, but its mostly you that I believe in."
Leia calmed, partially satisfied with her answer, but without the nerves and anger, the chill of the cave began to set in, and she shivered. Han pretended not to notice for most of three minutes, but ultimately cared too much to watch her suffer.
"You cold?" He asked, finally.
"No," Leia said, lying.
"Come here," he said, gesturing to the snow beside where he was sitting.
"No," she said again.
"Seriously?" Han asked, angry. "You'd rather freeze to death than sit beside me?"
"I can't trust you not to make a move on me!" Leia defended.
Han laughed at that. "I'm done trying to make moves on you, Leia. Now come sit here or freeze. Those are your two options."
A little hurt, Leia reluctantly moved to the spot right next to him. She kept a few centims in between them, but she could still feel the heat from his body. Already this close to him, she decided she no longer cared about the veil on their conversations.
"Are you really done 'making moves' on me?" She asked almost timidly, as if timid was a characteristic one could ever assign to Leia.
Han sighed. "It hasn't gotten me anywhere, has it?"
"I wouldn't say that," Leia chimed, Han looking at her in surprise. "I mean it got you stuck in this cave with me, didn't it?"
"Sure did," Han replied, not looking her in the eye.
"I don't think I would give up, if I were you," Leia said bravely.
Finally, he looked at her. "Really?"
She smiled and looked at the icy floor of the cavern, but this seemed to bring her back to reality. Her head snapped up.
"It's so damn cold in here," she said, avoiding the previous subject. Han was disappointed, but he didn't dare push her.
"I will agree with you for once, Princess," he answered, rubbing his own arms, as if it provided any warmth at this point. Leia was to the point where she was considering her options seriously. She could either snuggle up to Han or freeze to death.
Not to death, she corrected herself. You'd get mild hypothermia at the worst. You'll be fine. But Han's presence next to her seemed so alluring at that moment that she actually moved closer to him. She went to lay her head on his shoulder but stopped herself. That was too much too fast.
"I thought you said you weren't going to cuddle," Han said, ruining the tension.
"I thought I told you that I wasn't afraid of anything," Leia said, moving closer and finally resting her head on him.
Once he knew for sure that she was asleep, he put his arm around her. He tried his best to stay awake in case a rescue squadron came by, but by this point it had to be past 0300 and Leia was so warm that he was out within ten minutes.
That's how Luke's rescue squadron found them in the morning, blissfully sleeping and unaware of the attack that was to come later that day. Luke was sure that he'd never seen anyone blush as deeply as Han and Leia when they were woken up by their rescuers.
A/N: Please leave me a little review if you liked that! I appreciate it.