A/N: Again, thank you all for the kind words in review! :) I'm writing this, as well as the next chapter, while watching the Last Crusade for some Harrison Ford inspiration - hope you enjoy!
III
A year was a long time for a human. Even for other celestial beings, it was a good hunk of life. Too much had happened to catch up completely, but it would be a start.
Being locked inside the carbonite was a hell of its own. Han as not awake, yet not asleep. He was frozen in time, position, and life.
Leia had tried to catch Solo up on the whereabouts of the Rebel Alliance since their last great adventure over the next hour. Thankfully, she hadn't much to tell. They were finalizing a plan to annihilate the rest of the Empire, but she wasn't told the details. She had none to pass on.
"They've left 'em alone for the past year, huh?" Solo asked.
It seemed as though to entire Alliance had postponed its missions in order to rescue him. Once again, he didn't feel so alone anymore.
Leia corrected him. "Not really alone. Mon Mothma and Admiral Ackbar have been tracking Vader's transport."
He leaned forward and rested his arms on his knees. "Well I'm here now. Tell 'em we're ready to go out and get those Imperial scum bags!" It was obvious that courage, or something like it, had never left the smuggler.
Leia smiled, appreciative. "They'll fill us in once we board," she promised.
"What about Luke?" Han asked. He had become very fond of the kid since their previous battles. Now, he felt like he owed him something for saving him.
"He'll rejoin us at base."
"Good." Solo paused. "Hey, you and the kid aren't…"
"No, of course not!" Leia burst out. For a second, she felt insulted. Then, she let it blow over. "Don't be so hostile all the time."
"Hostile?" Solo repeated. "More like—" Jealous. His mind wouldn't let him say it.
"Like what?" Now, Leia was intrigued.
"Nothing," he muttered.
Leia didn't believe him, but didn't press the matter. She didn't want to ruin any moment with Han. For once, she felt better about their relationship thus far. She had gotten him back, hadn't she? There was no saving Alderaan, but she beat the Empire this time. Maybe everything she loved wasn't lost forever.
"He's been training with a Jedi Master, you know," Leia told the Corellian.
"Huh."
"The Alliance could use his tricks to our advantage," the Princess thought out loud. Then, even though she knew Han didn't believe in the Jedi tricks, she felt it was time to tell him about everything going on between the two of them. It would make her decision easier for her, depending on his reaction. "He's been teaching me a little, too."
Han looked Leia over for a moment, judging by her face that she was being serious. He took a moment to figure out what to say back, and then, "Has he?" That was all.
Leia picked up the hint of disgust in his voice that he was trying to mask. "It's not all bad, Han."
"Just a little bit of delusion," he agreed sarcastically. "Yeah, nothing bad." Then, Solo sat back in his lone chair and relaxed, trying to look as untouched by the topic as he could.
"It works," she insisted.
"If you say so, Princess."
Leia was quiet. Solo wasn't mean to her about the Force, but he wasn't as understanding as she had hoped he would be, either. She should have assumed as much.
Han was about to open his mouth to apologize so she knew he wasn't trying to be the low life, sarcastic scoundrel she used to know, but they were soon interrupted by the footsteps of another human being coming down the corridors from the cockpit.
"Lando," Leia guessed out loud, trying to prove her worth to Han and show him the Force was growing stronger with her.
"Everything okay, buddy?" Han asked as his friend appeared in the entrance way to the main hold.
He confirmed as much. "Chewie's taking over for a bit."
Lando slid into the booth on the other side of Threepio, who was still resting, and sprawled out until he was comfortable.
"Careful," Solo warned. "Don't wanna wake golden rod."
"Lando," Leia greeted, glad to focus on something other than Han's constantly changing attitude. "How long until we reach the Alliance?"
"If I can understand Wookie like I think I can," he began, "Then we're about twenty-six standard hours out."
Han was surprised by his skill.
"I'll alert them once we get within three hours," Leia decided. "Thank you," she added, forgetting she had asked him a question.
Calrissian grinned. It was apparent that he wanted to know how the two were doing, but he didn't dare ask.
Han would have rolled his eyes if no one was watching. His friend was always one with the ladies, and it was no different with Leia. That being said, he seemed to have let up quite a bit since they had been in Jabba's palace.
The Princess must have told him how it is, Han decided.
Then, he was shown otherwise.
"So where's the beautiful Princess get to sleep tonight, Han old buddy?" Lando smiled deviously at Leia, who forced a fake smirk back before meeting Han's gaze with icy eyes.
Solo took the warning to heart. "Figured you could call the third hold home for tonight," he told his friend. "Got a couple blankets in storage that you can have."
"Ahh, you two love bird get the nice bunks, do ya?" Lando teased.
"Han and I will be sleeping in the crew quarters," Leia told him coolly. She still wasn't fond of his bold personality.
"And you never take a bunk from a Wookie," Han added, noting how angry Chewie would be if he found his space destroyed.
"Perhaps I should retire, then." Calrissian stood, bidding goodnight to his fellow shipmates. "You sure he knows where he's goin' up there?"
"Lando," Han began, amused by the question. "Chewie's piloted this baby just as much as I have. I don't doubt him for a second."
"Then I trust we'll get there safely."
Lando took a quick, small bow before disappearing into the corridors again. Leia sighed in relief, glad that she didn't have to try to avoid his attempted romance for long.
Solo looked in Leia's direction again as he got out of his chair. He held out a hand to her in a gesture that begged for her compliance. He wanted to know more about where they stood. He wanted to know how she felt about him now. He wanted her to tell him everything, but it had been a long time.
Hesitation spread across Leia's face.
"Don't worry, Princess. You can keep your bunk."
"Your bunk," she corrected. As she eased up, Leia took Han's extended hand and was on her feet.
"Ah, don't do that."
"Do what?" Her innocence killed him.
"This smuggler's had enough nights on that thing," Solo said, pointing at himself with his free hand as they walked out of the main hold. It was a gesture he did frequently. "'Sides, I could use a night in the cockpit. I missed this old girl."
Leia frowned. She froze in place, gazing up at Han with disappointment filling her brown eyes.
Solo read her expression, sighed, and looked around the hold before meeting her gaze again. "Do you love me?" The question was straight forward.
"I…" Leia thought. Yes, she loved him. But something was still preventing her from saying so. Then, she threw out an order without thinking. "Stay with me."
Han pulled her in close and kissed the top of her head.
He wasn't alone.
At some point during the night, everything seemed to become a lot smaller. The ship became home again. The crew quarters barely seemed to house three bunks, and the darkness enclosed the one that was occupied.
The Millennium Falcon rocked slightly. Its components moaned as it shuddered. Then, silence.
Leia mumbled and stretched out in her sleep. It was instinct to react to any sound with a jump out of bed, but the last year had left her vulnerable. The many nights she knocked out to Corellian ale and whiskey had left her soft.
For Han Solo, it was the opposite. The minute his ship faltered he shot up in bed, causing him to tumble to the floor. He wasn't used to sharing the small bunk with someone.
"Ah," Solo grumbled, rubbing his head.
Leia sat up, hit the switch to a small light above their bunk, and pulled the blankets off. "Han?"
"Go back to sleep, sweetheart," he ordered. "Just us kicking out of hyperspace."
Leia scanned him over. He slept without a shirt; something she hadn't seen before. She felt embarrassed for a moment for never changing out of his shirt she had stolen earlier. The long night on the pillow had left his head a mess. For once, he fit the part of 'scruffy looking'.
Smirking, the Princess got off the bunk and bent down to check out his head injury.
"Luck isn't in your favor, is it?" she asked him in good humor.
Han waved her hands off of him as she tried to part his hair to look for blood. He felt like a little kid being checked over. "Leia, I'm fine," he growled.
The Falcon faltered again.
Han's confused expression proved to Leia that he knew this was just the ship leaving hyper space.
"Han?" she questioned.
"Shhh!"
Solo held out his hand to keep her behind him and hushed the Princess. Then, another rock and the lights grew dim. He caught himself with his free hand on the floor to stabilize them both.
Leia tried to sound reassuring. "Surely the Empire wouldn't—"
"This isn't the Empire." Han got to his feet.
"What?"
"Lando." Solo began for the cockpit.
"Lando?" Leia repeated. "What about Lando?"
But Han was already on his way out of the bunk room.
Leia scrambled to her feet, but by the time she was ready to race after Han, the cabin dimmed and the lights shut down completely. She could hear the hum of the power supply cutting out and shutting off somewhere in the wiring of the ship.
"Han Solo, don't you leave me in here!" she shouted, stumbling as she tried to feel out the wall so she could stand up right.
