Over the next few days, more missives came. There were a couple more postgrams, a scrap of paper slipped in with her morning memo, even a message in her alliance-issued data mail. She'd immediately responded but found the user blocked.

She wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or flattered. But, it was impossible not to look around every room she entered and wonder who the Secret Rebel might be. Every quick glance or lingering smile made Leia wonder.

"Whatcha reading there, your worship?"

Leia tried to stow the piece of paper away but wasn't quite fast enough for the street savvy fingers.

"You're the first thing on my mind every morning, the last thing before I go to sleep. It's your face I see when I fear the worst and your face I see when I hope for the best."

He skimmed the rest then chuckled to himself before sitting next to her with a thud.

"Is this a…love letter?"

Leia snatched it back and crushed it into a ball before slipping it in her pocket.

She'd smooth it out later.

"That is none of your business."

Han held up his hands, "Sorry, Princess, I'll let you get back to your glue.'

Leia looked down at the sticky porridge in front of her. Don't say it, don't say it.

"Would that be so surprising?"

Han looked back at her, blankly.

"That I would receive…a love letter?" Leia felt herself blush at the very phrase.

"No," he said after a moment, "But, I'd think you'd want a guy who could say it to your face."

Leia shook her head, lips quirking just a bit.

"Say what exactly?"

"I love you."

Leia's heart stopped, catching in her throat and then pounding in her ears. All before she could remind it that he'd been SPEAKING. IN. THE. HYPOTHETICAL.

"Well," she said, swallowing the sudden lump in her throat. Damn porridge glue. "Sometimes a person enjoys a little mystery, a little finesse, maybe even a little flattery. It's," she searched for the word anywhere but his face, "nice."

"Nice…" He murmured, "nice. Huh. Didn't know that was what your were looking for."

After that conversation, she couldn't stop thinking of him with each new communication, with each heartfelt piece of scrawl. She would hold every new composition up next to that simple phrase, said in his voice, aimed directly at her, and she'd wonder which was better.

"So, what? Are you just gonna keep writing love notes to her?"

Han glanced up from a gadget he was tinkering with.

"Don't forget, kid, I'm doing this for you."

Luke glared at him and crossed his arms, all but tapping his foot.

"Patience, patience," Han chided. "It's a delicate job, winning a girl's heart."

"Oh yeah, is that your expertise? I thought it was in getting between a girl's—"

"Shhhhh," Han chided. He leaned closer to the little box in front of him and listened for a second. His fingers moved deftly, and his hand twisted ever so slightly. Suddenly, the box stood up on a little set of wheels. Its lights flashed, and it emitted a little series of bleeps.

"What is that?"

The little thing turned toward him and rolled toward the end of the holotable. Luke reached forward with a start, but it caught itself on little pinchers that extended as it lowered itself to the ground.

"That," Han said, watching the little thing wheel around the room efficiently, "is phase two."

There hadn't been a letter today. Leia tried not to focus on it, losing herself in logging in a new shipment of medical supplies and debriefing officers from a recent skirmish in the Outer Rim. But, when she returned to her quarters she couldn't help but hope there'd be something there waiting for her.

She opened her door, eyes straying immediately to the floor searching for a little piece of paper. Her eyes swept from her shoes to the edge of her bed, and she saw nothing but bare floor. With a sigh she turned to start the heat when she paused.

Bare floor?

She turned back and couldn't quite believe her eyes. Her room was spotless. Bed made and neatly tucked, clothes no where to be seen. Her papers were piled neatly on her bedside table.

Her heart started beating a little faster as she thought about who could have cleaned it.

Had he been here? How would he have gotten her code? Shouldn't she be more upset at the prospect?

She reached up to remove her jacket, feeling a little flushed with her wondering. Out of long bad habit she dropped it onto her floor.

Gloob-gloob-BLU-BLU

Leia jumped as a little droid rolled out of the corner and scooped up her jacket, taking it to her closet. It rose on retractable legs and opened the door, hanging it neatly on a hanger. After closing the door, it shrank back to the size of a bread box as inanimate as a block of ice.

It practically blended into her floor. Except for the bright white piece of paper attached to it's top. Leia dove for it, yanking it off the droid and ripping it open.

Thought I didn't know your secret, huh? Don't worry, EQ-733 will keep it for you.

It wasn't really a love note, but it made Leia's heart soar.

Han hadn't been lying entirely. It was about money. Wasn't it always? Thing was, it wasn't the money that was keeping him here. It was the money that was taking him away.

Well, that and a handy little device implanted in his wrist.

Han rubbed the thing for the thousandth time as he contemplated his plight. Two more weeks till the thing blew. That meant eleven more days to complete his mission before he'd be hitting hyperspace to face his fate.

Eleven more days to make sure Leia was taken care of.

He rubbed his forehead as he thought about the mess he'd gotten himself into. It wasn't that he didn't think she could handle herself. She could run the whole damn base if she wanted to. Sort of already did. But, that was exactly it. She spent so much time and energy taking care of everyone else, she never managed to take care of herself.

Han had never considered himself to be a sensitive man. He was out for himself and maybe Chewie, that was it. But, the minute he'd realized he'd have to go and soon, he'd thought of Leia. Not of the pain of leaving her - that, he couldn't really fathom and chose not to focus on at all - but of all the little things that would cease to be once he left.

The meals she wouldn't eat because he wouldn't be there to shove a tray under her nose. The nights she would work herself to the bone because he wasn't inviting her to the Falcon. There she would more often then not curl into a ball of exhaustion on the acceleration couch. The only full nights of sleep she got were on his ship.

She wouldn't have the deep belly laughs he coaxed out of her with the help of a little fire whiskey. She wouldn't have the arms to hold her when she let it all out every once in a while. She wouldn't have that secret charge that lit the air whenever their eyes met across a room or their hands brushed under a table or they just happened to breathe in the same flick.

It would all be gone. Scattered between a hidden rebel base and the stomach of a Sarlacc.

He hadn't know what to do. About those things and the worry that accompanied their loss. They'd just gone round and round his head until he felt dizzy with it all. And the clock was ticking and the seconds were flicking by…and then Luke stumbled through his door and he had his solution.

It made a bizarre kind of sense after all. Luke had been the first one to love her. Before Han could wrap his head around a ball of fury that size and shape, Luke had had moon eyes the size of suns.

So he'd help him out. He'd get him the girl. They'd have each other, and he could do what needed to be done.

He didn't realize that in helping Luke he'd be giving himself parting gift. Up until now, he'd never known quite what to say to Leia. First she'd been so sad, and then she'd been so young, and then when both those things weren't such large concerns, she'd just been Leia.

One moment she'd be hard as nails, the next sweet as sugar. When he would banter with her, she'd want seriousness. When he'd get serious (usually in the midst of some life-threatening situation) she sass him and smirk his own damn smirk. One minute, he was sure he was too far beneath her to register on her radar and the next they were right there with each other, teetering on the brink of something life-altering…and frankly terrifying.

Now, under the guise of Luke, things were different. Now, he wasn't hampered by insecurity either of what she thought of him or what might be coming down the pike. Now, he was free to say exactly what he wanted without consequence.

Maybe it was cowardly, but it was for a good cause, so he'd let himself off the hook.

(Han was very good at letting himself off the hook.)

Today had been a treat. She'd looked so forlorn when she'd gotten to the lunch table, eyes darting around the room, cheeks flushing whenever she'd catch him catching her. When he'd asked her where her love letter was, she'd barely covered up her disappointment before changing the subject.

He didn't want her to suffer, but he couldn't help the warm feeling deep in his belly at the thought of her missing him. At the thought of her wanting to hear his words.

He'd upped the ante today, adding actions to those words. What had started as a strategic mission (and one that made him feel slightly queasy) had grown into something greater, something sacred. His one and only chance to show her how much she meant to him.

Sure, she wouldn't know it was him, but he was finding strangely that that mattered less than he'd thought. He just wanted her to be happy, to know she was loved.

Oh, how she was loved.

Rubbing the detonator once more, he sent Favra a lone grateful thought amidst the murderous ones he'd been sending her since Ord Mantell. She may have given him a death sentence, but she'd also given him a gift. Time. Time to say goodbye in whatever way he chose.

Well, this was his way. At least he'd go down smiling.

"I think she wants to meet you, kid."

Luke froze as he climbed down the ladder of his X-Wing. He'd just returned from a particularly grueling flight drill and the last thing he wanted to do was play matchmaker with Han Solo.

"You mean she wants to meet you?" he said tiredly, sliding the rest of the way down to the icy floor.

"She wants to meet the guy who loves her," he said, "And that's you, right?"

Luke turned to face him, swiping at a lock of hair in his eyes. He was getting really tired of this game. Of course he loved Leia, he'd loved her since the day he met her, but that love had never really been what he'd thought it was. It was sweet and comfortable, not the hot, leaping excitement he felt around Wedge (and Biggs too, if he were honest.)

"I do love her, Han. But so do—"

"Yeah," the smuggler said, look out into the hangar. "So, I'm gonna pull the trigger. Set up a date, you'll show up, and the rest'll be history."

He rubbed his wrist a bit then smiled down at Luke.

"You can thank me later."

Anon: So, how about a date?

Leia started as a message appeared in the top right corner of her datapad. She'd been sitting in her closet of an office, skimming through the latest status reports on the Empire's auxiliary forces.

LO: Who is this?

Her heart thudded none-too-gently in her chest as she waited for a response.

Anon: You really think I'm gonna tell you now after all this effort?

She couldn't help the little laugh that escaped as she responded.

LO: You know, I am part of command. I could find out who you are.

Anon: So, why haven't you?

Leia contemplated this for a moment, thinking of the last week and a half. It had been fun, so much fun being part of a mystery. It had been something to distract her from all the rest of it, something to warm her in this freezing place. She decided to answer honestly.

LO: And ruin the fun?

Anon: Haha. That's my girl.

LO: Send me a few letters and gifts and I'm 'your' girl?

Anon: Hey, they were good gifts.

Leia glanced at the most recent, a box carved in Alderaanian spruce which housed sixteen compartments full of seeds native to Alderaan. Starflowers, arallutes, t'iils, even gingerbells. There were cooking plants and acorns from oro woods and uwas. The message read, "Couldn't get you the flowers you wanted, so I figured I'd let you grow them."

LO: The flowers were beautiful.

Anon: I was inspired.

Leia couldn't help herself.

LO: I want to see you.

Anon: (…)

Leia stared at the screen. What did that mean? Wasn't seeing each other the whole point of this? Oh Gods—

Anon: That's what I was hoping you'd say.

Leia sighed. Feeling ridiculous and validated all at once.

LO: So, when?

Anon: Meet me in Hangar 12 at midnight.