DREAMING AND SLEEPING
A week and a half after the start of the journey to Bespin found Han and Leia starting to weave the slender threads of familiarity and routine with each other into what was becoming something larger than themselves. It was early days, but considering that they'd been at each other for three years prior, it felt not unlike a homecoming.
Chewie was sleeping, and the two piloted the Falcon. She was bruised and battered, and they weren't exactly taking a shortcut, but in a way, both she and Han were grateful. They had to be vigilant, but they hadn't hit any asteroid fields since they'd barely escaped from the mouth of the giant space slug. Since they were talking the long way around, they hadn't encountered any Imperial traffic.
For once in the gods knew how long, Leia felt herself relaxing. Han had let her sit in the left hand seat and was acting as copilot.
"You know, you're pretty hot when you're piloting," Han commented to her.
"Only when I'm piloting?" Leia was having a hard time believing that she was engaged in casual banter while the war was going so badly. But right now, the war felt a long ways away.
"Well, you look pretty good with a welding torch, too. Oh, and when you wear my shirts to bed."
"I didn't exactly have time to pack."
"Yeah, I think we were all in a bit of a rush to get off Hoth."
"I don't like that we were attacked and the base destroyed, but I kept wondering how long we were going to be on that chunk of ice. I think I've finally thawed out."
"I'll say." Han winked at her.
"Does your mind ever get out of the gutter?"
"Nope. Been a lifelong resident. No plans to move."
Leia shook her head and chuckled.
"Chewie should be awake soon," she mentioned to Han. "I need to run some clothes through the valet before we go to bed, or I'm not going to have anything to wear tomorrow."
"I like that idea."
Leia tossed a koosh ball at Han. It was a souvenir from a hotel he'd stayed at more years ago than he could remember, and even if he did, he probably only remembered it because of the name of the hotel stamped on it. He suspected he'd been at least three sheets to the wind.
"You've got a deadly aim," Han remarked as the koosh ball bounced off him.
"You've seen me with a blaster."
"Oh, I certainly have."
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Later on, there had been slow, tender lovemaking. Sometimes their couplings were furious and fiery, other times languid and gentle. They'd gone with column B for this round and had drifted off to sleep, Han cradling Leia to his chest, she with her arm around his waist. Their breathing was soft, slow and easy. Neither could remember when they'd slept so well. It had been a long, long time.
Leia suddenly shot up in bed, bathed in icy sweat, and cried out "No!" Tears were streaming like rivers down her cheeks.
Han was immediately awakened by her. He hugged her tightly and rocked her gently.
"Alderaan?" Han asked Leia gently.
"No. It was...they were going to kill you, Han. They were going to take you away from me! I tried to stop them, but I couldn't!"
Han ran his hands through her long, satiny mane of dark chestnut hair. "Sweetheart, no one's going to take me away from you. No one. Not voluntarily, that's for certain."
"It was...so real." She was still crying, but less so now. "There was a pit. They dropped you into it. I was there, and so was Vader, and some others I couldn't recognize. They killed you."
Han turned on the lantern that gave the captain's quarters a soft glow. "Leia, sweetheart, believe me when I tell you this: I'm not going anywhere. I'm sure as hell not gonna get killed if I have anything to say about it. There's no way in the nine hells that anyone is gonna have the chance to pull us apart." He kissed her cheeks where the tears remained. "Let me get you some water." He stepped out of bed, grabbed a cup from the cupboard in the ship's tiny kitchen and brought it back. Leia sipped from it while Han crawled back into bed with her. The bed was far too narrow for two people, but perhaps not so much for two people very much in love.
"You've changed my life so much, Leia. Long before we kissed for the very first time, you...well, I'm not sure how to say it, but I think, for the first time in my life, I think you might be turning me into a decent human being."
Leia smiled. If they'd been sitting in the cockpit, they'd have bantered about, but this time was different.
"You already are," Leia said to him softly. "And sometimes, I think you know me better than I know myself. Only one of the many reasons I don't want to lose you."
"You won't, sweetheart." Han took her into his arms and held her close, lowering them both back on to the mattress. They kissed softly. Han's hands massaged her back. "Do you think you can sleep?"
Leia tilted her chin up. "As long as you're here, I can."
"And remember this: I shoot first."