Watching the Falcon depart, Leia decides that she's done living with "almost."
Almost
Almost, Leia realized, had pretty much been the defining aspect of the trip, this emergency evacuation turned desperate escape, turned equipment failure, turned passionate interlude, turned Imperial trap, turned near-tragedy. The only reason it was only almost a tragedy was that they'd rescued Luke from his perch below Cloud City and Han had been taken away still alive.
Of course, Leia and Han's relationship had practically been built on almosts. If she had a credit for every time she and Han had almost kissed, or for every time she'd been on the precipice of admitting something she'd sworn to herself she wouldn't, or every time she'd wondered if Han had been on the verge of admitting something himself (he had been, she'd verified later), she'd be able to fund the whole Alliance herself.
Now, as Leia stood in Luke's room on the medical frigate watching the Falcon take off, she was grateful that she'd finally thrown the almosts to the wayside during their slow crawl to Bespin. As much as she regretted waiting so long to finally take the leap and confront her feelings for Han, she could only imagine how much worse she would be feeling right now had she left her walls up. If she were standing here knowing that she could have been loved, but had chosen the false safety of her fears. But no, she'd let him in, and she'd finally said the words that she'd felt for years but had never been able to tell him before: I love you. In front of the Goddess and Darth Vader and everybody.
Luke put his arm around her as they continued to gaze at the stars the Falcon had just left behind. Her friend's presence was comforting. He knew about her love for Han; she'd told him. Crazily enough, after going to such lengths to deny any attachment to Han in the past, she couldn't seem to stop telling people now.
Something fundamental had changed for Leia. She was no longer willing to settle for almost. Safety was an illusion; there was nothing safe, not anywhere. But safety wasn't the point. Living was. Loving was. And she was still afraid—"everyone's afraid, Leia, anybody who claims they ain't is a liar," Han had said once. But their love had made her brave.