There were some things he'd miss about his time with the rebellion, Han admitted to himself, but kriffin' Hoth was not one of them.

The wind stung his face, and despite being covered in layers of protective outerwear, he couldn't stop the chill from reaching him. "Be glad to leave this planet behind," he muttered to himself, forgetting that he was still on the comm with Luke.

"You really have to go? Now?"

Han sighed. "Yeah, kid. I gotta go."

"But what about Leia?"

Luke's words stung even more than the bitter temperatures. What about her? he wanted to reply. He'd poured his heart out to her, sort of, and she refused to talk to him. "Doin' this for Leia," he finally replied bitterly. "Not that she gives a damn."

"She's hurting. You know she cares about you."

Do I? Han shook his head; Luke's Jedi patience was getting to him. "If it goes all right, maybe I'll be back," he said.

"I hope I see you again, Han," Luke's voice crackled over the commlink. "May the Force be with you."

"Yeah… you too, kid. Take care of yourself." He paused for a few seconds before adding, "Take care of her."

"Always."

"Ready to head back?"

"You go on ahead. I want to check out this meteorite."

He smirked a bit, imagining Luke's wide-eyed curiosity. After spending his entire life on a desolate desert planet, the kid was fascinated by anything in nature that didn't involve the sun or sand. "All right, don't stay out too long. I'm heading back before this smelly thing croaks." And with that, Han nudged his tauntaun and turned back toward the base, leaving his friend behind.

Hours later, he was still stuck in the hangar, frustrated at Chewie, at the Falcon, at himself. He knew what it must look like-that his big show of leaving was all talk, again-and it was all he could do to keep from slamming his tools into the open engineering pit in front of him. Why did the Falcon need to let him down now? Now, when he'd finally worked up the nerve to go? He could swear he saw those Rogue Squadron pilots hangin' around gazing at him, mumbling amongst themselves about his continued presence.

Just when he thought things couldn't get any worse, he saw a metallic gold figure approaching, trailed by a blue and white astromech. Great. Figures Goldenrod would pick now to say his goodbyes.

"Captain Solo! Captain Solo!" Threepio cried, echoed by R2's beeps. "Captain Solo-"

"Yeah, I'm here, Goldenrod. Whaddaya want?"

"The Princess has been trying to reach you!"

Leia?! He reached in his pocket for his comm, realizing he'd turned it off hours ago. Switching it back on, Han immediately recognized the flashing red light as a sign of a missed message. "What's she want?" he asked hesitantly, afraid to get his hopes up.

"It's Master Luke. He hasn't returned since his perimeter check hours ago!"

Han shook his head. How could that be possible? He'd come back in with Luke and-

No. He'd left Luke behind. He never actually saw him come back to base.

"Kest," Han swore under his breath. He stormed over to the nearest officer, the droids hot on his heels. "Hey, you! Has Commander Skywalker come back yet?"

"N-n-no sir!" the officer responded. "It's possible he came in through another entrance-"

Han pursed his lips and growled, trying not to take his anger out on this young guy, barely out of his teens. "Forget it. I'm going after him. Are the speeders ready?"

"No, Captain Solo."

Perfect. Of course. Why would the speeders work? Why would anything work in this half-baked army? Han knew his only option was to go out on tauntaun. The sun was setting on Hoth, and the temperatures quickly dropping. None of these odds were good. He lifted his comm to his lips, quickly pushed a sequence of buttons that he'd memorized long ago. "Hey, Leia. I'm gonna find him." Not giving her a chance to respond, he clicked the commlink off again and approached the tauntaun pen.

"Sir, it's much too cold!" a more senior officer protested as Han pulled himself up on the loathsome, smelly creature. "You'll freeze before you reach the first marker!"

"Then I'll see you in hell!" Han called out as he raced out the blast doors.

Sometime after midnight, Leia found herself wandering into the hangar.

She knew the odds. She knew that Luke had probably met some unfortunate fate before anyone even noticed he was missing. She knew Han had foolishly gone after him anyway.

Threepio had rushed to her station in the command center, screeching her title. "Princess Leia! Princess Leia!"

Before she had a chance to shut the droid up, he'd continued on about Han, going out in the cold after Luke. On tauntaun. And how neither of them had been heard from since.

Leia had taken a moment to gather herself, aware that her reaction was being watched. Mon Mothma happened to be in the control room, and she was observing carefully. Before she could figure out how to respond while still keeping her dignity, she felt a hand on her shoulder.

Carlist.

"Thank you, See-Threepio," he'd answered quickly before turning to Leia. "Your highness, perhaps you should station yourself in the hangar."

He was giving her an out, and she knew it. A protest rose in her mind, yet all she could say was, "If you insist, General."

Hours later, long after they'd looked to her for permission to close the blast doors, she remained in the hangar, thinking of what she was about to lose. Luke, so innocent and good, nowhere near fulfilling what she was sure was an epic destiny. Han, so... Han.

She knew she'd probably lost him, too.

She'd thought she lost him after Ord Mantell, but this was something different. The finality of it was brutal, and she realized she'd been holding onto the slim hope that when Han left, when he took care of his debt, he'd come back. For the Rebellion. For Luke. For her.

Leia wanted him to come back. And she hadn't told him. She hadn't told him anything.

Because I love you! His words rang in her head. She hadn't been able to deal with them, but now all she could think about was all the things she should have said.

Please don't leave. We can figure this out. I want you here.

I love you too.

She caught a glimpse of Chewbacca standing on the Falcon's open ramp, and he gave her a mournful howl. Moving closer to him, Leia wrapped his arms around the Wookiee in a hug.

"Chewie," she spat out as tears filled her eyes.

Don't worry, little one, he growled. He is strong. He'll come back.

Leia shook her head, refusing herself the comfort of hope. "I ruined everything," she confessed.

Chewbacca looked at her curiously. Perhaps it's not too late.

With every fiber of her being, she wanted him to be right.

Leia wasn't sure when she'd fallen asleep in the captain's quarters, but before she knew it, a giant furry paw was shaking her awake.

They've found them!

It took a moment for her to remember the events of the previous night, and then she shot up, tossing the blankets aside. "Are they…?"

They're alive!

That was all it took. She leapt out of bed and ran ahead of Chewie, through the Falcon's curved hallways and out the ramp. A crowd had gathered as the hangar doors slowly opened.

Two medical techs rushed by with a hover-stretcher, and Leia barely had time to register Luke's unconscious form. "Luke!" she cried, bending over him as the techs were forced to stop.

"He's alive, your highness, but we must get him to the medbay immediately," one of the medical technicians prodded gently.

She stood straight and nodded, and they were off again. Turning back towards the hangar door, she found what she was looking for-no stretcher, no help needed, still a swagger in his step despite the chill that had clearly taken root in his bones. Ice chips had formed in his stubble and his face was bone white, but his eyes held the same intensity they always had when they met hers. Walking steadily towards him-no, running, crowd be damned-Leia didn't stop until her arms were around his neck and she was crashing into him, nearly knocking him over before his arms wrapped around her waist and held her steady. Then she was kissing him, breathing life back into him, restoring him by crashing her warm mouth against his cold one.

She knew that half the base was watching, but she didn't care, it didn't matter anymore, all she wanted was this, him, him. He kissed her just as passionately, hand moving from her waist to her hair, practically bending her backwards with the intensity of it.

Finally, their lips parted, though he still held her, and she still leaned against him, finally whispering-

"I love you."

He touched his forehead to hers, a grin forming on his face.

"I know."