Stop Motion
Chapter 10: Persuasion
by Amy L Hull
Written for alderannianprincess in the Han/Leia Summer Secret Santa Challenge 2017. Many MANY thanks to the last-minute beta-reading support (and the LOTS of moral support throughout) of the following lovelies: oldtoadwoman, graciecatfamilyband/imnothere24, mandatheginger/mandyq/mandrinaq, and gondalsqueen
ooo
All through dinner Han looked...suspicious. He was up to something. He kept glancing at her, seeing if she was looking at him, opening his mouth as if to say something then closing it again.
Leia resisted feeling for him in the Force. It felt...an intrusion of sorts, especially while he was still uncertain of it. Anyway she didn't know for sure if she could check the surface only or if she'd punch right through him, so it seemed a particularly bad idea.
Once he'd cleared away their dishes, he rubbed his hands together. "Um...I have...something to show you." He pointed towards the corridor. "Wanna see?"
She chuckled. "I think that's up to you." She reached for him.
He carried her to the bunk and sat down on it with her on his lap. "You've been doing so well. I don't think you need all of the med capsule monitors anymore." He reached toward the pillow. "I'm afraid of you sleeping without extra oxygen, though. So today I dug through the supply cupboard and found extra tubing to extend the feed over the bulkhead." He pulled out an extra oxygen mask. "Do you think that'll work?"
She stared at the mask in his hand and grinned. "I think it will." She pressed her face against his neck, squeezing his shoulder with the arm slung around him. "I've missed being close to you."
"Don't ever do that to me again." His tone started as teasing, but his voice cracked. Leia could feel him shaking. "When I didn't know what hit you, ...how much you'd recover… Leia, you went gray. All we had was that oxygen. If you'd stopped breathing..." He wrapped both arms around her and held her close. "I couldn't watch you die."
She nodded into his skin. "I know how that feels. I know." She set her palm over his heartbeat, her lips against the pulse in his throat. "I'm not planning on a repeat. You're not going to get rid of me that easily." She let his tremors fade as he clutched her. "We've been so lucky. So many people died. Some are blind, hell, Luke lost a hand, and others will never walk or hear. I was terrified of what I wouldn't be able to do."
"Those first couple of days, I knew I could handle any of that so long as you lived."
She leaned back and took his face in her hands. "I lived. I'm going to be fine. I'm going to stay with you." She kissed his forehead, then his nose, then his lips. "When I was asleep earlier, I felt like the Force...welcomed me home, for lack of a better term. I think it's looking out for me. Maybe it always has been." She put her forehead to his. "Let's go to bed."
"Don't have to ask me twice."
After evening preparations and settling into the bunk, Leia sighed. "Oh, this is so nice. I've missed a soft mattress. And being with you."
"I've missed being with you." He stroked her arm. "How'd your work go this afternoon?"
"I updated Command on our encounter, and sent my recommendations. I think we're going to need to return to Arkanis with at least a full squadron when larger targets are achieved. The monarchy there is either still friendly to the Empire, or it's being controlled by the faction at the Imperial Officer Academy."
Han nodded.
"Either way, they're not going to rejoin the Republic without...persuasion."
"There's a lot of persuading left to do," he said.
"Quite a lot. All we have to do is keep winning until we've won them all."
"I think that's just a matter of time."
He tucked her back against him, arms around her, chin on her head.
"You know what else is a matter of time?"
"What's that?"
"Me being strong enough for whatever else you have planned for this bunk." She turned, and he kissed her one more time before she settled the oxygen mask in place.
"That's not gonna take any persuading. I'm all set to blow your world."
"I'm entirely persuaded. It sounds like we need to step up my exercises so we can...enjoy."
He pressed a kiss into her hair. "Good night, wife."
She was more relaxed, felt more safe, than she had since before Naboo. "Good night, husband."
end