Lando had left after midnight, as she continued to look over the files. She arranged them in piles, read them, re-read them. He watched her.

"It's late, General, you can take the spare bedroom."

She never moved. Never looked at him. "It's late, you should sleep," she continued, as her eyes never left the paper.

"So should you."

"I'm not tired."

She looked so small to him. She had seemed so small before, but now she looked like a skeleton. She could hide it. She could hold her head up high and seem so tall and tough, but here in the flourescent light, she was tiny. "Leia…."

That broke her gaze. She had heard it. The concern. "I need to go over this file one more time, then I promise I'll try and sleep."

He stood up. Her eyes went back to the paper. "You know where everything is."


He felt dawn behind the curtains, as he dressed in the semi-dark room. As he fastened his belt, he opened the spare room door, only to see her curled up on the couch.

A blanket laid half on the floor as she was curled up in a ball with the previous days clothes on. He watched her chest rise and fall. It wasn't unusual for her to fall asleep on the couch. Late nights always had her coming to bed past midnight or falling asleep on the couch, but usually he brought her to bed when he found her missing.

He reached out to move hair off her face and felt the softness of her skin. He finally realized how much he had missed her.


A week went by, he watched her. Their days were filled with reading files, eating, sleeping. Well her days were filled with files. His was watching her, watching her bite her lip in concentration while reading, watching her play with her hair.

On Saturday, there was a whoosh of the door in the early afternoon. He watched Leia cringe as she heard the voices in the hallway. "Sith!" she muttered.

"Leia, oh my princess, where are you?" a female voiced called sweetly.

"Sith!"

He looked up from his smashball game. There was Lando and a woman.

"Tendra," Leia said sweetly.

"Oh, honey, when was the last time you brushed your hair?"

He watched Leia roll her eyes. "You have guests, you must present yourself accordingly," Tendra scolded.

Han stood up. Lando began the introduction, "Han this is my wife, Tendra. Tendra, this is General Han Solo."

He shook her hand, "Pleasure, General," she cooed. "Now, Leia, we have a shopping appointment, manicure, pedicure…."

"Whoa, Whoa," Leia put up her hands, trying to halt the incoming words.

"Nope, I'm back in town! Now, nice outfit, the boys will be taking us out to a fancy dinner tonight." Leia shook her head. "No more moping," Trenda continued. "Lando told you about this yesterday."

He watched Leia arch her eyebrow at Lando. "That would have been good to know."

"Oh don't turn me this on me!" Lando said.

"You need a break from this….." Trenda waved her arm. "Whatever, this is."

Leia laughed. "Fine. But it better be a good restaurant."

"Would I let the boys take us to a seedy restaurant?"


Lando and him watched smashball the whole afternoon. Naboo had one the first match, Corellia the other, now the third was tied, as he stood in the spare room getting ready.

What had Trenda done to Lando? And why didn't Leia fight her more? He was happy to see Leia get away for awhile though. She needed a break from the files, the reading. It was too much even for him. He felt like a cage tiger, watching her every day. Tonight would be a break from the mundane.

He buttoned his shirt, as he heard female voices come from the other room. He brushed his fingers through his hair before entering back into the living room.

There she stood, dressed in a white dress that went to her collarbone, it pinched at the waist before flaring out.

"Isn't she beautiful?" Trenda asked, enthusiastically.

He simply nodded. It was similar to the one on Yavin, during the medal ceremony. This one was a little less revealing.

"Well, give him a spin honey," she said, nudging Leia.

He watched the Princess, spin slowly, showing him the large cutout of the dress, showing of the curve of her pale back. No, it was definitely revealing. She turned back to face him, her cheeks burning pink.

"Beautiful."

She smiled at him. He walked up to her and bent his elbow, giving her his arm. She took it willingly before leaving the apartment.


Dinner had gone smoothly. He watched her laugh and smile, as Trenda recounted him with stories from past adventures, including how Lando had wooed her. He watched the Princess blush every time Trenda mentioned something personal about her.

It was if Trenda brought out the womanly side of Leia. A side he had rarely seen of her. She always held a job in a man's world that sometimes made him forget that she was a woman.

At one moment during dinner, she moved her hand to his thigh, casually drawing circles. It was something she was known to do at high social gatherings, when she was bored. It wasn't until he tried to interlock their fingers that her hand snaked away and up onto the table.

After they were done, he had hailed them a taxi back to her apartment. Now she stood in the living room.

"Thanks."

"Thanks for what?"

"For tonight. You didn't need to ….."

"You needed a break. Though what I suspect is that you also need a vacation."

She smiled at him, meeting his eyes.

"Trenda always likes to remind me that I'm a woman and I should do womanly things."

He watched her slip off her heels. The dress now seemed like it engulfed her.

"Want a drink?" he heard her ask.

"What kind of drink?"

"Whiskey."

He nodded. She poured him a generous portion, as she did herself. She handed him the glass, her fingers grazing his.

"Tell me something."

She arched an eyebrow at him. "How often does Trenda make you into a Princess, again?"

Her eyes looked at him quizzically. "See in the past week, I haven't seen the Princess I knew four years ago. Today I did."

"Once a month, I'm forced to get dressed up and have a nice dinner."

She sipped her whiskey, moving to sit on the couch.

"I like it. It looks good on you."

She blushed.

"I'm sure you did similarly with Kaylee. How is the wedding planning going by the way?"

"Why don't you tell me?"

She looked at him. Brown eyes meeting hazel. "What do you mean?"

"You know she called it off."

She exhaled the breath she seemed to be holding. "No, I knew when she got off planet by herself, not the why portion."

"I don't believe you."

"Despite what you may have read in your file, General. I do not ease drop on my missions. I do my job and get out."

He leaned towards her. "Tell me, how exactly did you get on and off my ship without me noticing?"

She smiled. "It's easy to stay in a cargo hold for a week without anyone noticing. Plus, I had some help."

"From….."

"Your former first mate."

"Of course, he'd betray me."

He watched her shake her head. "Chewie was only looking out for you."

"Like you were looking out for me?"

"Han….."

"I read the file. Were you ever going to tell me? Were you going to risk your life for me until I died?"

"Yes."

There was no pause to answer. No hesitation on her part. Her brown eyes showed no remorse for the words. He reached for her hand resting on the couch.

"What isn't in the file?"

"Han…"

"I deserve to know."

"I know you do."

He scooted closer to her, testing her boundaries. She didn't move. She didn't withdraw her hand.

"What is the big secret you are hiding?" he whispered, his face mere inches from hers.

"I can't tell you," she said softly.

His fingers interlocked with hers. He inhaled her perfume. He watched her lick her lips. She still wanted him.

"Why did you do it then?" Not pushing the other subject.

"Someone had to protect you."

"What about you?" he asked. "Who protects you?"

"No one," she whispered so silently that he almost didn't hear her.

Her eyes broke away from his. His heart broke. He had left her and she still protected him. She still saved him time and time again. And he left her with no protection, with no one. His other hand brought her gaze back to him. A tear escaped one eye, rolling down her cheek. He brushed it away.

"I should….."

Before he could stop himself, he kissed her, softly as not to startle her. She kissed him back, her fingers in his hair. He brought her onto his lap, the tender kiss soon becoming more passionate, hungry even. Minutes passed before she broke it off. Her forehead touched his.

"I promise you can read everything once this is over."