The next day, Leia woke up from her curled up position on the main hold's floor. That was where she had been hiding since her harsh words with Han.

Leia smiled faintly as she thought about how she had actually called Han a. . .a. . .

The Princess frowned as she tried to recall what exactly she had called Han.

A. . .oh. A "scruffy looking Nerf herder".

Right. Where did I even come up with that? I almost feel bad for Han.

Almost.

Technically speaking, Leia knew she couldn't just hide there forever. Now that she knew that Han had plans to take her home, she needed to start planning an escape. The last time she'd "escaped" from somewhere was when Leia had run away from home. That, however, wasn't exactly planned.

The thought had entered her mind, she had taken it, and eventually she had taken action. But it was by no means thought-out. Running away had definitely been a spur of the moment idea. And, now that she thought about it, it was beginning to seem kind of. . .drastic.

Unfortunately, the time for changing her mind had long since passed. The only thing Leia could do now was make things up as she went, hoping events would work out in her favor.

The only thing that was sure was that she needed to get away from Han. And fast.

How does someone get away from another person when they're both on the same ship? The solution was simple: wait until the ship landed.

From that point on, Leia really had no idea what she was going to do. It was going to be chaos.

Before she could think about the matter any longer, she heard a noise sound throughout the room — a noise that really sounded like footsteps.

Within a few more seconds, dark boots appeared in front of Leia's eyes. It didn't take her long to figure out who it was.

"Oh. Han," she said flatly, finally standing up.

"Yeah, happy to see you too. I just thought I should tell you—"

"Tell me what? Tell me that you're gonna betray me? That you broke your promise? That you're an idiot? Because in that case—"

"No, no, and no. I wanted to let you know that we've landed."

Immediately, Leia perked up.

"Really?! Well, why didn't you say so? What are we waiting for?" she exclaimed. The Princess jogged to the exit/entry ramp and waited for it to lower. Han came up behind her.

"Where do you think you're going?" he said, putting his hands in his pockets.

"Uh, outside? I've never been here before. You can't expect me to stay here, can you?"

"Actually, Your Worship, I can. Like I said: Tatooine's cantinas and streets are no place for someone like you."

Leia scowled and placed a hand on her hip.

"Oh, really? But I can hitch a ride on a smuggler ship, can't I? Oh, wait. You would know that already."

"Hey, that was your decision! I didn't do anything! You deliberately stowed away on my ship!"

"That's right, which is why I can handle whatever Tatooine has to offer."

"No," Han replied, shaking his head.
"Nice try. You'll be staying here with Chewie."

"What? With him? I can't!"

"Oh, right. Why not?"

Leia mumbled something incoherent.

"What was that?" Han asked, leaning closer.

"Because he freaks me out!" she yelled.
Han took a step back.

"Freaks you out? Are you kidding me? It's Chewie. He's not scary."

"Maybe not to you! You spend every waking moment with him! I don't trust him."

"You don't — why?"

"Because! I don't even completely trust you. You can't expect me to stay here and trust the Wookiee."

Han only gaped silently while Leia stood firm.

When Leia finally accepted that Han wasn't going to budge, she came up with a fast plan.

I really need to think things through more. Here goes nothing.

"You know what, Han? You're right. I think I'll just stay here."

The pilot frowned at her sudden change of heart. Leia's voice had become sugary sweet all of a sudden. That couldn't be good.

He didn't fully believe that she wasn't going to try something drastic. Han had only known her for a few days, but she had a lot of spirit. If she was left alone, she'd probably run off. Or worse: take off, as in "fly the ship".

"Okay," Han said hesitantly. "You wait here. I'll go tell Chewie that you'll be staying onboard with him."

"Sure thing," Leia nodded. "I'll wait here." A cheerful smile.

Too cheerful.

Han slowly began to walk backwards into the hallway. Occasionally, he would pause to glance at Leia to make sure she was actually staying there.

The Princess raised an eyebrow and made a "shoo!" motion with her hands.

Finally, Han left the area, leaving Leia alone.

Immediately, she darted away with intentions on finding the cockpit.

By some miracle, she managed to get there in record speed. She made her way to the front control board.

What would it be? A lever? A button?

Leia scanned the numerous controls for something that would lower the ramp. To her, all the flashing lights and buttons looked very similar.

She calmed down and took a second to think. She'd seen Han work these controls a few times; she just needed to find the distant memories and pull them out.

Leia closed her eyes and envisioned herself finding the control. To her surprise (and also terrific delight), an image popped into her mind. In it, she walked to the controls covering the wall and pushed a large black button.

Her eyes opened, and she gasped.

Following her mental image, she observed the wall controls. Brown eyes found the button, and small fingers pushed it without hesitation.

Escaping was a rush.

A noise was heard from the other side of the ship. Leia knew it must be the ramp lowering. With that, she took off down the hall again.

She reached the ramp and found it lowering noisily to the ground. Before it was even all the way down, Leia stood on the partially vertical ramp and began scrambling out of the ship.

The sight outside was something Leia had never seen before in her life.

It was nothing like she'd imagined.

Her feet sunk down into a warm, grainy substance.

Sand.

She had heard about sand before, but it was an entirely different experience to touch it.

Leia tilted her head to look at the sky. It was a crisp, clear blue, with not a cloud to be seen.

Then she saw the Suns. Two massive, bright, red Suns shone in the sky like glowing eyes. One was slightly higher than the other, and they let off a light so intense that Leia was already panting from the heat.

Not too far in the distance, Leia could see some kind of town. . .at least, it looked like a town. For all she knew, it could be more sand dunes — the desert stretched on for miles in every direction.

Regardless, she wanted to get away from the Millennium Falcon and its cocky pilot. Therefore, Leia began running in a steady sprint towards the town.

At one point, she almost looked back at the ship she left behind. She almost took one more glance at the ship that Han lived on. Maybe she was wary of what she might find in the town, or maybe she would just miss Han.

No, Leia. Don't think like that. You won't miss him. You barely even knew him. It's not like you wanted to get to know him better, right? Right.

She continued until she reached the peak of another gigantic sand dune. The town was just a little further. . .she could make it if she ran. Han could be running for her, after all. The faster she reached civilization the better.

Leia picked up the pace, breathing heavily.

Meanwhile, on the Falcon, Han was standing with his head in his hands at the lowered ramp.

He had practically allowed her to run away.

How could you be so STUPID, Solo? You just lost a PRINCESS. Now what?

He knew, obviously, that he couldn't just let her roam the streets of Tatooine. She was only a few years younger than himself, but Han wasn't exactly fond of the "abandon the runaway" idea. She had a family out there somewhere that was most likely worried out of their minds for her.

Tatooine was full of scum in its entirety. She was an easy target for any bounty hunters and/or dangerous civilians. She'd end up starving or dying of thirst.

All good reasons for him to go after her. But maybe Han had another reason. A more personal reason. A reason that he wasn't going to admit or acknowledge.

"Chewie, let's go!" he called into the ship's interior.

Once his copilot had joined him, they both started out into the unforgiving desert of Tatooine.

Diary of Leia Organa

Now I've REALLY done it. You thought running away from home was bad? How about running away from home AND from the ship you stowed away on?!

That's right. Princess Leia's at it again. I couldn't stand to be on that ship any longer. So, I fooled Han, lowered the ramp, left the ship, and ran into the seemingly endless desert of this planet called Tatooine.

I'm currently sitting behind a large rock near the town that I spotted earlier. I don't feel comfortable going into the town at night, so I decided to lay low right here for now. Since the Suns (TWO OF THEM) set, it's not so hot.

Guaranteed, Han will be here first thing tomorrow to look for me. I need to find a place to hide tomorrow.

On the bright side, nobody will suspect me of being royalty. I'm wearing one of Han's dark blue shirts and my grey leggings. The shirt is obviously way too big for me (it might as well be a dress) and my hair is just down.

I think it's safe to say that no one will notice me. My hope is that I blend in.
I should probably try to sleep. I have a feeling that tomorrow is gonna be a big and busy day.

-Leia