A/N: I don't own any of this. Disney lets me peep in on Han and Leia and gosh, whaddayah know, I blushed. ALOT. Disney lets me share the story with you as long as we don't get paid for it. So let's keep our voices hushed and enjoy the show.
A/N: This is a story for the Tumblr prompt Han/Leia Appreciation Week Day 4 "Hoth" hosted by the blog han-leia-solo. I wrote it on day four but submitted part one on day five. And then it became two parts. Okay maybe three. Oh well. Better late than never.
I'd like to think this a cute bonding chapter between Han and Leia. But really it's a thinly disguised verbose ogling of our Hoth Han. ;) Oh, and an intro into the main kernel of the story.
Remember- Comments make baby Wookiees smile. Many thanks to my chapter one early commentors: Mal'ury'ush, Statsgrandma57, knitzkampf and guest. You inspired me to run with this story.
Timeline: Star Wars rebellion era. pre-ESB Hoth
Grasping Perception
Chapter Two
Princess Leia jogged lightly down the salvaged star cruiser decking lining the icy accessway to the rebel base's upper observation deck. She avoided a full tilt run to prevent skidding on the slippery portions between the flooring sections haphazardly placed along the corridor. A sign caught her eye, she slowed, turned left, took a few short steps and pushing with all her might, slid aside a heavy manual door leading to a metal spiral staircase rising up into a tunnel leading to the exterior. A series of dim illumination panels on the walls automatically brightened at her movement in the room, the translucent ice absorbing and reflecting a deep teal luster. With a grunt of effort she slid the hatch closed behind her. The chill of the access stair's hall sent a shiver through her slight frame. She reached behind her head and unfurled a white fur trimmed hood from a hidden pouch in the neck of her thermal jumpsuit, snuggled it over her elaborately braided hair, framing her round face. With a sigh Leia started up the frost encrusted staircase.
As she trudged up the stairs, Leia reflected on what had brought her here. What exactly had she yelled at Han that had sent him off? He never reacted to her insults. Why today? If she wanted to, she could literally command Wedge to tell her whatever he might know regarding it. But she didn't want to abuse her authority as a commander for what might be a personal issue. Leia stopped at a landing halfway up, catching her breath. Should she really care if she had hurt the feelings of some two-bit smuggler that cared only for himself? Why did she find herself chasing after that ass when they argued? She had sworn to herself she would try not to think about that part, or those annoyingly mischievous eyes, the way his hips moved when he sauntered away, that wide feline grin that held promise of… Well, she had better stop thinking about that too. She hated the fact he'd made her feel like a love-struck teenager the moment she had set eyes upon him. He made Leia feel she could lower her shields around him and just be a friend, a confidante, maybe something else she barely dared to think about– and that just scared the hell out her.
In any case he needed to be informed of the mission, and odds were, his comlink was shut off, as it always was when they squabbled. Leia growled irritably to herself and started again on her ascent, again mentally inventorying all the things she thought she disliked about Captain Han Solo; Damn Corellian overconfident, immature, swaggering, thinks he's oh so smart, tight pants squeezing his little brain, mouthy, disheveled… Leia groused.
Arriving at the top, she paused at a wall console and punched in a series of codes to unlock the door at the surface of the glacier. The round access was a repurposed hatch from an old blockade runner starship. The aperture split into three sections that retracted into the surrounding metal panel that was set horizontally into the thick ice. The machinery squealed and complained as the frozen gears worked. No point in trying to be quiet. Leia thought, irritated.
Ascending the last staircase that led straight up to the exit, the temperature dropped significantly as she crested the glacier. An uncharacteristic stillness permeated the icesheet, the typical bone chilling wind absent. Her breath caught at the invisible wall of extreme cold that slapped her in face. The princess emerged from the round door and gingerly stepped onto the hard surface of the icefield, the door cycled shut behind her white booted feet. Scanning the indigo surface of the icefield, her brown eyes settled on a lone dark shape seated near an outcrop that hung over the large doors for the ships entering the hangar bay. The snow crunched noisily under her slight weight. Moving quietly on the snow proved impossible. Each step yielded a new sound announcing her approach to the being ahead of her.
The man didn't move when she trudged up behind him. She knew he was fully aware of her. Leia inhaled the frozen air deeply, preparing to speak. The figure's head tilted slightly in the hood of the parka as if listening, the steam of his breath curling in a thin wisp upwards. She noted the movement and found herself studying her gloved hands, hesitating. She just didn't have the energy for another heated row.
"What." His voice was flat, cold, dull. It wasn't a question. Just an acknowledgement of her presence and an expression of his irritation.
She didn't answer, choosing to settle down on the glacier's surface next to him, mirroring his pose. Leia glimpsed briefly at a late scout nearing the base's doors far on the plain beneath them. She tilted her head sideways and took a long look at Han Solo's strong profile in the chill night air. He had donned his own dark blue fur trimmed parka and Alliance-issued thermal boots before venturing topside. He hadn't bothered to put on his snowpants as she noticed the snug chocolate brown trousers with a narrow broken yellow stripe military decoration running down the side seams. He sat on his rump; feet planted, knees raised and elbows draped over them. His bare hands were half in his coat's sleeves, clasping each other loosely in front of his legs. Han stared off into the horizon before them, his expression neutral, unreadable, an emotionless card playing face.
She was mulling over an answer, when he reached underneath a knee and pulled out a bottle of dark amber liquid. His long fingers quickly unscrewed the cap, and he tilted the bottle to his mouth, wiping his lips afterwards on the sleeve of the parka.
Leia made a face, "You're drinking? "
Han eyed her curiously, after a half second's consideration he offered the bottle to her. Leia detected the powerful odor of a woodsy, herb spiced liquor emanating from the mouth. She received it, sniffed it, drew back wincing and studied the label. There was a cartoony image of a rakish pirate captain, complete with lace cuffs, an ancient tricorn hat and dueling pistols. The Aurebesh lettering was partially in Basic, the majority in Corellian, she guessed. The numbering, however, was clear - forty percent.
"Drinking" Leia reproached, shaking her head. "Before a mission." She snorted irritably and capped it, setting it down next to her, wiggling the bottle so it settled securely into a hollow in the snow, significantly out of his reach. She eyed him narrowly, and made a show of shaking her head as if reprimanding a child. "I should revoke your flight permissions." Leia threatened.
"Chewie is perfectly capable of flying the Falcon without me." Han growled. He leaned back, assessing whether he could reobtain the confiscated rum.
Leia shifted on her bottom, blocking his line of sight. She swatted his hand away when he made a half-hearted grab around her. "Stop! Grow up! " She snapped, her voice harsh. "You're going to Tethar in less than two hours for that trade run."
Han gave her a look of disdain, "I'm a big boy, your Worshipfullness."
" I sincerely doubt that" Leia smacked Han's reaching hand away again, this time with some actual force. "No! Back off, or I will pour it out in the snow."
Han lunged for the bottle, his long arms and lithe torso stretching around Leia's small form. His fingers brushed the rum, it teetered, fell over and began to roll to the glacier's precipice. They both dove for the bottle, Leia was closer though, and had no issues about roughly pushing away the pilot, who was easily twice her mass. Han backed off, realizing that horseplay near the glacier's edge was not necessarily the smartest idea. Noticing his reticence she boldly took the cap off the bottle and held the neck at an oblique angle. A few drops of the pungent liquid dribbled onto the snow, the alcohol melting into a depression until it diluted enough to freeze.
"Not playing fair there Highnessness. You're wasting my rum. At least have a drink if you are going to pour it somewhere."
"Solo, I am on duty, I have responsib-" Leia snapped at Han.
"No, you're not." Han interrupted her.
"-bilities" Leia attempted to continue, but Han blurted into the middle of her sentence again.
"No, you're not." He insisted.
Leia's focus floundered, "eh, What?"
"I know that you have been 'on shift' since oh-five hundred hours. Exactly one ration bar for a meal. You've had eight cups of my ship's galley's kaffe today. Three in the last two hours." He leaned in her direction, "I know you're not on duty, simply because you should have finished your shift shortly after noon. C'mon princess, you've got a right to be done for the day. Even princesses need a break." Han waved absently at the bottle.
Did he really keep tabs on her like that? The last thing she needed was to be babysat by this buffoon. Leia sighed, "I have responsibilities. Okay?" She added out of sheer frustration, "Maybe if you grew up, you'd realize that, Captain."
Han's face darkened with anger, "I grew up, Princess. Trust me, I grew up much earlier than most of you rebellion berks." There was an uncharacteristic hitch in his snarl. Leia felt slightly unbalanced as a result. She had to stop this before it developed into a full blown yelling match…again.
"I had Threepio deliver the flight data and mission orders to Chewbacca since you were not available. " She started officiously. She didn't know why she had started out so aloof, when all she intended was to draw him out of his hard shell.
"Guess you found me. Obviously you knew where I was." He said in a detached tone, looking a bit confused at her topic switch. His head tilted towards her, fixing her with dark glittering orbs. "Did Chewie tell you?"
Leia nodded, relieved that Han decided to play nice, a slight smile graced her lips. She knew the Wookiee had a lifedebt to the irascible captain. Chewbacca honored his obligation to protect the Corellian, yet if he thought it was in his captain's best interests, he would go against Solo's wishes. "I asked," She admitted.
"Huh, I'll have to tell him to get out of my hair with this. Damn Wookiee." Han groused.
"Out of your hair?" She grinned at him, going for a joke. Han smirked at their reference to his shaggy co-pilot and his best friend, he leaned over and nudged her shoulder with his own. Leia punched his arm lightly. Han might drive her crazy; other than Luke though, there was no-one else she felt she might be able to confide in, as a friend. The trio of humans and the wookiee were bonded by their heroic adventures on the Death Star three years prior, both in the archives of history, and the warmth of what had become a foster family to each other. Their strong personalities often clashed, but together the quartet was nigh unstoppable on dangerous missions. They worked well and played well together. When we're not arguing. She thoughtfully amended.
Leia lowered the bottle, her threats dissipating with her anger. She sniffed it experimentally, then shot back a healthy sized swig. Han grinned, proud of his young friend. The herbed blend piqued on her tongue, smoothing out the harsh taste of the booze. Her insides felt vaguely warmer, she started to relax. Another, and she would need to get back to her bunk.
Han cleared his throat after an uncomfortable moment, "Anything I can do for you, your Worship? Coming up to slum with the alley dwellers?" His tone cracked on the harsh words. A surge of anger rushed out of her towards him for continuing the fight, and equal animosity towards herself for the urge to give in to the challenge. She resisted his goading.
Out with it Organa! She mentally chided herself. " I came-, I actually came-" She scrambled at his bemused expression, anticipating the lewd remark she saw behind his eyes, "to apologize." Leia inhaled deeply, "To apologize for my lack of professionalism in reaction to your insubordination" her professional tone wavering.
…WHAT?! Where did that come from? Idiotidiotidiot. Leia silently chided herself.
Han snorted, reading her completely. Still chuckling cynically, he shifted to lean on his elbow, his back propped against the concave indentation of a wind hardened snowdrift. He made a point to intently study the crystal clear view of the arc of the star studded sweep of the night sky. Leia moved to retreat to the base hatch.
"There," his hand on Leia's arm stopped her. "There, right by that nebula cluster. Just a finger's width to the right, below that red giant." Han pointed at a spot in the galactic expanse above them.
Leia migrated closer to him, following his outstretched arm. He pointed to a clear, white unblinking star.
"What is 'there'?" she wondered, suspicious of a joke being cracked on her behalf.
"Alderaan," the pilot said simply, waving his hand casually at the thousand year old light of her decimated homeworld's sun.
Leia's eyes brimmed at his small token of peace, her heart bittersweet at the reminder. Not trusting her voice in that moment, she slipped off her glove and clasped his work roughened hand in thanks. She swallowed deeply and brought herself back to the present, the princess opened her mouth to say something when her attention was diverted by a flare of lavender in the sky emanating from the direction of Hoth's northern pole. It skirted across the stellar panorama, translucent and bright. She was suddenly wary, shrinking back to Han's shoulder. "Wha-"
"Oh, that's the aurora." Han took in the wavering ribbon of light. The glow reflected off of his eyes, his neck craned up at the sky, and she saw the appreciation for the spectacular lightshow on his sculptured features. Gods, He's gorgeous. Leia mused. Han continued, "Natural phenomenon on planets with a strong magnetosphere." She understood immediately, she had often glimpsed the beautiful dance of light on approach from high orbit, she had never thought to appreciate them planetside. The curtain shifted and shimmered, a deep blush of luminous scarlet shot through it and Leia gasped. Han threw her a flirtatious smirk, "it's caused by the collision of charged particles." Han must have caught her staring at him, because there was a flash of white teeth as a grin as wide as a nexu's spread across his lips. "I take it you like what you see, Princess?" He teased.
Her cheeks must have flushed as pink as the sky above them, because she felt a rush of heat through her core. Her normal reaction would be a searing retort designed to emasculate his mischievous ardor, but she was oddly comfortable. Leia met Han's eyes shyly and settled closer to his shoulder. Lost in the undulating waves of light gracing the star filled sky above her, she imagined she sensed a faint buzzing in the air around her. Leia took her hand back to swipe at some ice that had gathered on her lashes, she blew on her fingers to warm them up. Solo took her exposed hand in his, fingers wrapping around, encompassing her tiny fingers and slid their joined hands into the warm envelope of his coat pocket. Both their gazes turned heavenward.
Leia surprised herself by not pulling away.
Wordlessly they admired the show above in Hoth's atmosphere. The polar light streamed over the two unlikely friends in striations of multicolored glowing waves. Leia lost track of the minutes, she became acutely aware of the world around her. She settled into the ambient warmth and shelter of the maybe not so annoying, but seriously handsome Corellian smuggler beside her. A light wind blew off the glacier, dispersing the diffuse veil of moisture vapor from their exhalations, the fur trim of Han's parka hood tickled at her left temple. She felt at peace, yet utterly hyper-aware. The parts of her body making contact with the hard surface of the glacier seemed to feel the world's surface drawing her into a rich deep well of calming power. The surrounding air simmered around her with a living, thrumming energy. Leia's consciousness spread out as she took in the deep hues of the distant mountains, the crystalline white of the snowy surface of the vast area of the glacier spread before them. Behind her, Han's breathing matched in time to hers, and she felt the rise and fall of his broad chest at her shoulder, there was a distant, comforting sensation of his raw protective masculinity wrapping her presence like a warm cloak.
Safe. Leia relaxed, drifting off into the swell of energy embracing her. She could swear there was an electric current communicating between her and Han's intertwined fingers. Snippets of memory swirled through her head, some she immediately recognized as her own, and many more were unfamiliar to the princess. She tried to distinguish them more clearly through her mind's eye, sorting what might be dream from reality, when there was an abrupt vortex of pain, fear and fire. She perceived herself being sucked into a hazy recollection of staring at the crudely wrapped feet of an extremely young child. Through the child's perspective, Leia was aware of the wet chill seeping up from the trash strewn street beneath. The winter night's sleet crusted in the child's hair, melting to drip into the neckline of the shivering youngster's threadbare wrap.
Leia physically shook in discomfort, but dove recklessly into the dream vision, empowered by the vibrant mystical energy encompassing her.
