Sprawled comfortably on his stomach in the bed he shared with his wife, Leia, Han Solo was sound asleep. He was in the middle of a dream when he started hearing an odd noise, similar to a Gamorrean growling. That seemed particularly strange because that certainly hadn't been what he was dreaming about, but the sound became louder until it finally awakened him and he realized it hadn't been part of his dream.

His face was pressed into his pillow, and he opened one eye to look at the sleeping form of his wife next to him. She was lying on her back, and his own hand was resting comfortably on her stomach as it rose and fell with each breath that she took. Her mouth was agape and he realized that the noise he'd been hearing wasn't that of a strange creature, but in fact Leia, who was currently snoring more loudly than he'd heard Chewbacca on his worst nights.

This was not typical. Although she'd been known to occasionally utter an incoherent phrase in her sleep, or maybe make noises of distress while in the grips of a nightmare, his princess certainly wasn't typically one to snore. He propped himself up on his elbow to get a better view. The volume of the noise coming from her throat was almost enough to make him wake her up from laughing so hard, but he managed to contain himself.

Normally she was an image of perfection, and he thought about what people might think if they saw her now, snoring like a Wookiee, her hair disheveled and covering half of her face. He had to admit that she still looked adorable, but now he wondered if he was going to be able to fall back asleep considering the noise. He didn't have to contemplate that thought much longer, as Leia's breath caught in her throat and it seemed that she had actually woken herself up.

After catching her breath and licking her obviously-dry lips, her eyes slowly opened, first looking up at the ceiling, and then turning towards her husband when she finally noticed him looking at her.

"Hey, you," Han said.

She still seemed half asleep. "What are you doing awake? And why are you staring at me?"

"Well, sweetheart, I don't know if you noticed or not, but you were snoring loud enough to pull me out of the middle of a dream a couple of minutes ago. I've never heard that kind of noise coming from you. I'm impressed."

"Oh, no. Was that me? I thought I dreamed that." Her voice sounded lower and more raspy than normal.

"Nope, it was definitely you."

"Sorry," she said quietly before reaching up to place her hand on her forehead. "Han, I don't think I'm feeling too well."

He reached over and pressed the backs of his fingers against her cheek, feeling it a bit warmer than normal. "You do feel a little warm. What's wrong?"

He heard a loud sniffle from her before she responded groggily. "Well, my head hurts, I'm achy, I feel a little chilled and congested, which is probably why I was snoring."

"I think you might have the flu, sweetheart." He brushed his thumb along her warm cheek soothingly.

"I can't get sick. I have too much to do."

"Honey, I'm sure you'll be fine in a few days. You just need to rest a little and let me take care of you, okay?"

She let out a sigh. "Okay. Thanks."

"You want a glass of water or something?"

"Thanks, that sounds good."

Han went to the 'fresher and returned with a cup of water for Leia, who drank eagerly, although she seemed to have some trouble swallowing.

"Thank you, that's better."

"Now, you think you can go back to sleep for a little while without snoring too much?"

"I'll do my best, but I can't really do much about it when I'm this stuffed up."

"Maybe just try not to lie on your back."

"I thought that's how you liked me best." She gave him a little smile, seemingly quite proud of herself for that retort.

He was attempting to formulate an appropriate response, but she suddenly burst out in a mild coughing fit and sort of killed the mood. "Doesn't seem like you're quite up for it tonight, sweetheart."

She let out a final cough and reached up and covered her eyes with her hand. "I don't think I'd even be able to stand right now. My head is spinning. I hate being sick."

"It happens to the best of us. Let's just try and get a little more sleep. It's a few more hours before sunrise." He moved closer to her and wrapped his arm around her waist, feeling the heat radiating off her body. "You really are warm, aren't you?"

The only response he got was the sound of her snoring beginning again.

Han had decided to get up a little earlier than normal. Eventually he had become tired enough to fall asleep in spite of Leia's congestion-induced snoring, and at least managed to get in a few more hours.

After he had showered and dressed she was still sleeping. He had turned off her alarm, knowing that she was in no condition to attend to any of her duties that day. The woman would normally work under any circumstances, but given her current condition she was likely to be of no use to anyone, and she would surely get better faster if she took the time to rest.

He was in the kitchen pouring her a glass of juice when he heard a holo call coming in. He figured it was either Luke or Chewie at this time of the morning, but was surprised when he saw the image of a professional-looking blond woman appear.

"Greetings, Captain Solo! How are you this morning?"

Han was more than a little bit confused. It wasn't that often they got calls from strangers. "Uh, fine I suppose. I'm sorry, do I know you?"

"Oh, no, sir. Not yet, anyway. I was hoping we could arrange a meeting soon. You see, my name is Rena Star and I'm an editor over at Sentient Beings magazine, and once a year we dedicate a whole issue to our favorite men, and you have been selected as this year's sexiest man alive!"

Han was glad that he hadn't yet started eating his breakfast, because he was fairly certain that he would've choked to death. It took him a moment to find his voice. "I'm sorry, is this some sort of joke? Did Lando put you up to this?"

"I can assure you I am completely serious, Captain. And if you'd be willing, we'd like to do a feature article and a whole photo spread on you."

Han was trying to think of a good way to get out of this, but he was coming up empty, so he decided to stall for some time. "Well, let me think about it, okay? I'd like to talk to my wife about it, first."

"Absolutely, sir. Although I can't imagine why any woman would object to being told that she was married to the sexiest man alive. I'm going to need an answer by tomorrow, though. We have a deadline to meet and if you don't do it, we're just going to have to find someone else. Perhaps your friend Calrissian, he seems like a good candidate."

Han winced at the thought of Lando being told that he was the sexiest man alive. The rest of them would never hear the end of it. But he still felt funny about accepting the title for himself - at least without taking a little time to think about it.

"All right, I'll have an answer for you as soon as possible, all right?"

"Great. I look forward to hearing from you – and hopefully meeting you soon."

"Okay, goodbye, Miss Star."

"Goodbye, Captain Solo."

Sexiest man alive? Really? Han had heard of that particular magazine, and had known he'd been mentioned in it a few times since he had become more well-known, but he had never been interviewed or asked to be in an article. And he'd certainly never posed for a photo shoot before. With the exception of his wedding to Leia a year earlier, he'd never had a professional take photos of him.

He took a glass of juice in to Leia, who had her cheek pressed against her pillow, facing the edge of the bed. He sat down next to her, and the movement of the mattress caused her to open her eyes.

"Good morning, sweetheart."

She didn't seem all that happy to be awake. "What time is it?" Her voice was scratchy and she hardly sounded like herself.

"Oh-nine-hundred," he replied.

Her eyes widened and she went to sit up, but seemed to instantly regret it when she grabbed her head and collapsed back down to the pillow, squeezing her eyes shut.

"I guess that means you're not feeling much better," he said before reaching down to smooth the hair away from her forehead.

"I think my head might explode. Why did you let me sleep so late? I haven't slept this late in months!"

"Leia, you need to rest right now. I know you hate being sick, but if you don't get some rest you're only going to be sick longer. Here, I brought you some juice."

He held the glass up to her, but she looked at it in disgust. "Maybe later. Right now my throat feels like it's on fire."

He placed the glass on the bedside table and decided he should go ahead and tell her about the call he had just received. "Well, I just got an interesting call."

She pulled her hands from her eyes and looked up at him. "Really? Who was it?"

"Some editor over at Sentient Beings. You know that magazine, right?"

"The one with mostly non-news, right?"

"Well, yeah. Anyway, apparently they want to do an article on me."

She looked at him skeptically. In the past, that same magazine had announced their engagement as well as doing a short blurb about their wedding – which they had not been invited to but chose to cover anyway – but they had never done any interviews with them before. They had mostly focused on holostars or other such celebrities that people seemed to love to gawk over. "What kind of article?"

She barely got the last word out before releasing a powerful sneeze that made Han duck out of the way. He handed her a tissue which she readily accepted. "Well, uh, apparently they've voted me this year's sexiest man alive."

He waited for her reaction, having no idea what her response might be. "You're kidding, right?"

He smiled and crossed his arms over his chest. "Nope, not kidding. Just got the call from the editor, herself. They want to do a whole article and a photo spread. What's the matter, sweetheart, don't you agree with their assessment?"

"Maybe I just don't think that your ego needs that kind of a boost. Do you really want to put yourself out there like that? You've never been much for having your picture taken. They might even force you to wear makeup, Han."

"Well, get this – she said that if I said no then maybe they'd just go ahead and call Lando."

"I'm surprised they didn't call him first, actually." Her tone never changed, as her voice was still quieted from being sick, but she still seemed to be enjoying teasing him.

"Hey, now. You like Lando better? I'm sure he'd take you up on it."

"Oh, shut up, nerfherder. Look, if you really think it's a good idea, then you do what you want. I'm sure not too many people take that magazine seriously, anyway. Surely after this, I value their work even less than before."

"Well, I'm glad to know how you really feel about me." He waited for a response from her, but she simply groaned in annoyance. "You're sure, now? You're not just saying yes because you're sick and not thinking straight and later on you're going to decide that you should've said no?"

"Han, if you want to do it, just do it. I'm sure some lowbrow magazine isn't going to suddenly change people's opinion of you. Now will you please leave me alone and stop making me talk? My throat is killing me."

"Sure, sweetheart. Sorry." He leaned down and placed a gentle kiss at her temple. He could feel the heat of her fever on his lips. "I'm going to bring you some medicine first, though. Hopefully it will bring that fever down a bit and maybe clear your sinuses and take away that headache."

"Yes, thank you."

Han went into the 'fresher and grabbed a few tiny pills and a glass of water. When he returned, he handed them to Leia and helped her sit up to take them. After one, visibly painful swallow, she sank back down against the pillows.

"All right, now. Are you sure you'll be okay?"

"Han, I love you, but will you please just leave me alone so I can try and go back to sleep?"

"Just let me know if you need anything."

She responded with a barely perceptible nod and Han left her alone in the bedroom to contemplate his response to that editor. He flopped down on the couch in the living room, wondering what he should do. He felt a little funny being the center of such an article. While he certainly didn't have a low opinion of himself, it still didn't seem right to go around advertising himself as the sexiest man alive. He liked to think that Leia felt that way about him – and he certainly felt that she was the sexiest woman alive – but he wasn't sure he was completely comfortable with potentially hundreds of random women thinking that about him.

That thought made him laugh. There was a time earlier in his life where the idea of being lusted after by so many women would've been thrilling. But things were different now. He had Leia, a woman that he loved more than he ever thought he could love anyone, and he didn't need that kind of publicity.

Then he remembered the threat of Lando being the next choice. Surely the galaxy needed to be spared of his handling of such a situation. The man was already quite good at leaving a trail of one-night-stands in his wake, and that was when he had to do all of the work himself. He didn't need to have the women breaking down his door just so they could say they'd been with the sexiest man alive. Surely if Han said yes they would make it very clear that he was already taken, and everyone would realize that it was okay to look, but not touch. What was the harm in it, really?

He decided he didn't need the rest of the day to decide, and he got up to place the call to Rena, who seemed to have been eagerly awaiting his response. "Oh, Captain Solo! So glad to be hearing from you so soon. I hope you have some good news for me."

"Yeah. I guess I'd be willing to do it. I am a better choice than Lando, after all."

"Oh, I certainly agree. Thank you, I think you will enjoy this. I know I will."

She gave him a look that made him slightly uncomfortable. "Uh, right. So what do we need to do now?"

"Well, how about we set up a meeting as soon as possible and then make time for the photo shoot. I'll call my photographer and let you know. We need to move fairly quickly on this, so is there a time soon where you can meet up? The magazine would pay for a meal, wherever you wish."

Well, this wasn't sounding too bad at all. He took a moment to consider when he should meet with her. Even from the next room he could hear Leia snoring again, and considering her attitude towards his presence at the moment, maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea to get out for a little while. "Well, I'm free for lunch today. What about Tazedo's? They have some great, spicy food. My wife never wants to go there."

"All right, Tazedo's it is then, say thirteen-hundred?"

"Okay, see you then."

"I'm looking forward to it, Captain."

"Uh, me too."

The transition ended and although Han was certainly looking forward to a good meal, he was already wondering what he had gotten himself into.