It's update day!

Thank you to everyone for sharing your differing points of view. I can honestly see both sides and by the end of this story you should have an idea of my feelings on the subject. But, for now, I will keep my thoughts to myself so that the ending might be a surprise ;)

To the guest reviewer who told me not to be intimidated: No worries, I am not intimidated. I find the discussion interesting and this story was written and completed some time ago, so the outcome is already done and will not be changed by anyone's opinion.

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Leia looked up from her datapad at Han sitting across from her. It was difficult to concentrate in his presence.

"Would you teach me to shoot?"

His eyes moved quickly to hers, his brow shooting up to his hairline. "You mean a blaster?"

"What else would I shoot?"

One side of his mouth shot up. "Well, if I had my ship, I could teach you to shoot the laser canon."

"What's the name of your ship?"

"The Millennium Falcon."

"I would love to see it."

"Doubt that'll ever happen," he snorted.

"Why not?" She frowned.

"It's on Tatooine."

She tipped her head to one side, questioning. "How did you end up here?"

He seemed to mull over whether or not to answer. "I was doing a run for a Hutt."

She interrupted before he could continue. "Meaning, you were smuggling?"

"Yeah," he answered as if it were self-explanatory. "We got boarded in Alderaan's airspace, so we got away in an escape pod. But, we lost the shipment."

"Who is we?"

"Me and three other guys who had been hired."

"What happened to them?"

"Don't know, don't care."

It seemed a rather mercenary attitude. "You just abandoned them?"

Defensiveness marred his handsome features to a scowl. "They're not my friends. I need to get off this planet and back to my ship."

She sat back, a bit put-off by his attitude, so she let it go. "So, you're trying to get back to Tatooine?"

"Among other things."

"What do you mean?"

He sighed. "I gotta pay for the shipment. Well, part of it."

"You have to pay the Hutt?"

"Yeah."

She frowned. "That hardly seems fair."

Han laughed without humor. "Hutts don't care about fair."

"So, you need this job to earn money to pay back the Hutt?"

"You catch on quick." His tone bordered on a sneer.

Leia took a moment to process this information. "What would happen if you couldn't pay him back?"

His expression was pointed. "You don't wanna know."

A wisp of anxiety trickled through her. She returned to a safer topic. "So, will you teach me to shoot?"

His guard lowered slightly but not completely. "Sure."

"Now?"

"Right now?"

She smiled. "Do you have anything better to do?"

"Can't say I do," he drawled. "So, whadda you wanna shoot?"

She thought for a minute before an idea caught. "I'll be right back." She stood.

He was on his feet before she could move. "You know I've gotta go with you."

It was sometimes difficult to remember that Han was there because of perceived danger. Leia so enjoyed being with him that the threat was the last thing on her mind. She turned and he trailed her inside.

In the kitchen, they were greeted by Klarina.

"Good morning, Princess. Han."

"Good morning, Klarina. How are you today?" A glance at Han showed him smiling congenially.

"Very well. How are you?"

"I'm good." Leia opened a nearby cabinet to a row of tall glasses. "I'm going to use some of these glasses."

"Okay, Your Highness."

Leia took eight glasses in total, gesturing for Han to carry some. She loaded him with four, then took four herself. They returned to the balcony and placed the glasses on the table. Leia looked around.

"Where should we do this?"

"You're gonna destroy all these glasses?" Han asked, perplexed.

She smiled slightly. "We probably have a hundred glasses. Now, we will have ninety-two. I think that's enough."

Han shrugged. "All right."

"We can't do this here…" she trailed off, thinking.

"Why not?"

"Father might not like it. He's been delaying my shooting lessons."

Han smiled, although why, Leia wasn't sure. Inspiration hit and she picked up her four glasses. "I know. Come." She gestured with her head and he took the remaining glasses.

Down the stairs and across the path, Han followed her into the sprawling gardens until they came to a rock at a bend in the path. The rock was as tall as him.

"What about here? We can place the glasses on the rock." She turned to look at him, craning her neck as he stood so close. He was so handsome. Something in her chest squeezed tightly; it often hurt just to look at him. What were these feelings? Was this love? These unfamiliar emotions confused her. At times, she wanted to tell him how she felt. But then, she remembered that he thought of her as a child and defensiveness welled deep inside.

"Here's good," he replied, unaware of the turmoil that roiled inside her.

He placed his glasses on the fairly flat top of the rock, then took hers and added them to the row. He bent down and removed the blaster from his boot, turned to her, and appraised her for a moment.

"How many times have you held a blaster before?"

"Once."

"Once?" He seemed surprised.

"Yes." She bristled slightly.

He let out a short breath. "Okay. So, we're takin' it from the top." He held up the blaster, careful to aim it away from both of them. "First thing: if you're not planning on using it, always keep the safety on."

"I know that."

"Okay." He sounded uncharacteristically patient. "This is a holdout blaster, so it's smaller than most. My regular one is much bigger." He indicated a small button. "This is the safety." He flicked the button to one side and she heard a click. "Now, the safety's off."

Leia watched him, enjoying the efficient way he was explaining it to her. She also reveled in the opportunity to look at him without feeling self-conscious.

He held the blaster out to her but did not release it. "Most important thing of all: do not ever, ever aim it at anyone, including yourself, unless you intend to shoot them."

Leia's palm was up to receive the blaster. "No kidding, Flyboy." She lowered her lashes and her lips curved to a small smile.

His hands fell to his sides. "You want the lesson or not?"

Leia raised her head and forced a serious expression. "Yes. Please, continue."

He handed her the blaster and moved to stand next to her. "So, now you're going to aim. Are you right-handed?"

"Yes." She examined the blaster in her hand, enjoying the way it made her feel confident and able to protect herself.

"Okay, aim at a glass. But, don't shoot yet!"

She held the blaster up towards the middle glass, itching to pull the trigger.

"Now, close your left eye and line your right eye up with the sight on top. See it?"

"Yes." She followed his instructions.

"Okay, when you can see that the sight is lined up with the glass, pull the trigger."

Leia concentrated on the glass and the sight…pulled the trigger…and missed, the bolt flying off into oblivion. She released a frustrated groan.

"Hey, don't let it get you down," Han said from beside her. "It takes practice. Here, lemme show you."

He came behind her, placed his hands on her arms and nudged her to raise the blaster towards the glasses. And suddenly, his body was warm against her back and his arms were surrounding her, his cheek lowered beside hers. A warm rush flew through her and the blaster, the glasses, everything else was forgotten. Overwhelmed, she closed her eyes for just an instance.

"Here's what you gotta do." His voice thundered beside her ear, his steamy breath tickling. Her pulse quickened and her breath grew fast and hot. She took a long, deep breath. "You okay?" he asked suddenly.

Her voice sounded thick to her own ears. "Yes."

"Okay. So, here we go. Close that left eye again."

She felt him take control of the blaster and Leia was glad, since she was having trouble both seeing and thinking.

"Is the sight lined up with the glass?"

"Yes," she breathed, hoping she was right.

"Okay. Stay still, don't move. Slowly, squeeze the trigger."

Stay still? Were her hands shaking? Forcing her concentration on the glass, she adjusted the sight by a hair, steadied her stance then squeezed the trigger.

The bolt hit the mark and the glass exploded to fragments.

Han's arms fell away from her. "You did it!" One arm returned to squeeze her into a half-hug. He let go before she could register it.

She offered him a distracted smile, a swirl of emotions churning through her, the blaster barely registering as a factor. A whisper-moth seemed to have taken up residence in her belly, its wings tickling and titillating, making her crave the heat of his breath and arms again.

Han was smiling, oblivious to her inner turmoil. "Let's do the next one."

Unable to think, she shook her head, gaze on the dirt beneath her feet. "No, I don't want to."

Puzzled, his head tilted, his eyes squinted. "Why not?"

"I have a headache," she lied.

He nodded. "Okay."

"I think I need to lie down." Leia handed the blaster to him and headed back down the path. Her thoughts were paralyzed. She had never before been driven to such distraction. She could hear him following her and almost felt as if she could sense his confusion.