Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars or anything associated with it. Apart from a big plastic lightsaber! Other than that… nope, I got nothing.

A.N. Hi everyone! I'm back again! I'm so sorry I haven't posted anything for ages, but I'm overloaded with homework, and I was away on the school ski trip ('Twas great fun! I got a big plastic lightsaber, a little pewter Yoda and loads of Star Wars magazines, and we saw a life-size Lego model of Jango Fett! Whoo-hoo!), and my Young Farmers is practising like crazy for the Arts Festival (it's a drama thing and we got through to the Gala on 28th March, so we'll be practising even more!)!

I apologise again for the long wait in posting chapter 3 of 'Wedding of the Century', but, if you read my apology, you'll now that everything just went wrong. Then I started getting annoyed and decided to write this random little fic instead, but I promise I'm still intending to finish WOTC, and I'll get a new chapter up a.s.a.i.c.b.b. (as soon as I can be bothered)!

Well, this is basically Leia reminiscing about how Han and her got together, just before their wedding. I would have put in some stuff from 'The Courtship of Princess Leia' and things, but that'd be too confusing for me! So I just tried to keep it shortish and to the point, but of course I just had to put in the kiss scene! So R+R, and please enjoy!

Loosened Lips

So here I am.

Leia Organa. No, wait. Princess/Senator Leia Organa. And Skywalker's in there too.

Me.

Me with the long name, the awesome power, the tight lips.

I discovered I was a Skywalker shortly after turning nineteen. Hence the long name.

I become a Princess -and a Senator- long before that. Hence the awesome power.

I was powerful. I knew it. And I showed it. I wasn't telling people to look at me. I was telling them not to mess with me.

Hence the tight lips.

But. Ah, there's always a 'but'.

Well, the 'but' is that my lips aren't so tight any more.

They loosened somewhere between the 'awesome power' and the 'long name'.

Because of one man. One 'stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking' man, to be precise.

Han Solo.

Han Solo.

The one man you'd never think someone like me would end up with.

Why not?

He's a pirate, he's a scoundrel, he's a low-life. Me, I'm a Senator, I'm a Princess, I'm in a pretty high place, if I do say so myself.

But it didn't matter.

Nothing mattered.

Of course, I hated him for a while. All I saw in him was a cold, heartless, stuck-up mercenary. That was certainly what he was trying to put himself across as.

But I soon saw through this tough image. He let me see his feelings. Not his real, deep feelings, at first. He just flirted. A lot. I heard him ask Luke shortly after I met him if he thought there was a chance for him with me. Luke quite firmly told him, 'no'. I think Luke had feelings for me too. I did, for him, but they were… confusing. I don't know if they were quite the same as I had for Han, but there was something there. Then, of course, we discovered we were twins, so those feelings shifted pretty quickly into brotherly (or sisterly!) love.

But, going back to Han, I eventually realised there was more to him than lust for life, money and fame. His harmless passes became more… sensitive. Serious. He realised that I wasn't going to let myself be just another notch on the bedpost. And even when he did, he didn't give up his vain attempts to charm me.

Hoth. The south passage. Where, apparently, I 'showed my true feelings' for him. (After telling him he couldn't go because he was a good pilot. Weak, I know.) Then I told him he obviously 'didn't know everything about women yet', and gave Luke a not-so-subtle little kiss to prove my point. I must admit, it was enjoyable to see the look on his face. Harmless, but fun.

Eventually I realised that I really did have feelings for him. I was scared that I was just acting like a silly schoolgirl, taken by his handsomeness, his mannerisms, that captivating lop-sided smile… but hey, I hadn't had much time for a love life lately, and I eventually gave in and let him proceed, as such.

Proceed, as in, kiss me.

We were on the Falcon, she had taken a little temper tantrum (as usual), and I was trying to turn a handle after a small repair job. And I couldn't, so… he just discreetly slipped his arms around me. Of course, I shoved him away. I was a bit shocked, and embarrassed that he had seen me not being able to do something. He said something in his defence, calling me 'Your Worship' in the doing. It was starting to annoy me, and I told him to stop calling me that. It was probably the first time he actually called me 'Leia'. Then he told me I should be nicer, and that he knew I thought he was all right. I thought for a wild second that I had done something stupid to expose my feelings when I calmed down and realised this was just his normal, slightly cocky side showing through. So I admitted that I did think him ok, sometimes at least, but in my defence, I also added that he normally acted like a scoundrel.

While I was shooting this answer back at him, he had taken my hand and was now holding it up to his chest, gently stroking it with his fingers. He took the whole 'scoundrel' thing as a compliment. I noticed him holding my hand and weakly told him to stop, lamely telling him my hands were dirty.

I remember the rest.

"My hands are dirty too, what're you afraid of?"

"Afraid?"

"You're trembling."

"I'm not trembling…"

It's hard to think of a witty answer when Han Solo is closing the gap between him and you.

"You like me because I'm a scoundrel."

I tried to shake my head.

"There aren't enough scoundrels in your life."

I did my best to regain self-control. "I happen to like nice men…"

"I'm a nice man."

How did he stay so calm?

"No you're not, you're………"

Imagine my frustration when that fool of a droid walked in, yelping some rubbish about a power flux.

As Han thanked him sarcastically, I ran off to the cockpit. After that, I wasn't sure what I should do. Whether the kiss had actually meant anything. I felt different, though… I was relieved I didn't have to keep releasing my anger on him to hide my feelings, and, for some reason, relieved that he now knew how I felt.

I mean, I hadn't exactly rejected his kiss.

I'm glad I didn't.

Look where it led me.

Me. Princess/Senator Leia Organa-Skywalker. Soon to be Organa-Skywalker-Solo.

Me. Bride-to-be of Han Solo.

Me. The luckiest woman in the galaxy.

A.N. So, what d'ya think? Hope you liked it! I'm working on about four other fics now, apart from WOTC, so I'll make sure you hear from me again soon (lucky you)! Thanks for reading and please review with your comments, good or bad! MistyRiver xoxo -p