Chapter 2: The Slow Burn of the Fire
Leia and Han had fallen into a comfortable silence sitting across from each other on logs they had dragged around their fire. Content to enjoy the relaxing crackle of their campfire after an early dinner of tasteless rations and smuggled coco melted on biscuit bread.
In another life this might have felt romantic, but so focused on the meetup tomorrow was Leia, she didn't pause to consider the romantic overtones of camping with her handsome fake husband on their fake honeymoon.
"Whatchya thinking about, your Worshipfulness?" Han broke into to her thoughts of the mission. She looked up irritated.
"I'm trying to prepare for tomorrow, and why do you always do that?" She asked sharply, annoyed by his constant and grating fake royal titles.
"Do what, talk to you?" He did that thing where his eyebrows lifted to his forehead to indicate innocence.
"No, I mean call me those made-up royal titles? It's obnoxious, Solo." She said curtly.
"So what, I should only call you Princess Organa, General, or your Royal Highness going forward? As you wish, your majesty!" He answered testily and looked a little hurt that he thought she was pulling rank on him.
Leia sighed impatiently. "No! Kriff! (using language she definitely would not have learned in princess school) Look, why can't you just call me Leia? Like Luke, Wedge, and Chewy do? Everyone tiptoes around me as if I might crumble or blast them at any moment." She gave him a pleading look.
"Language, Leia!" Han winked at this. His face became thoughtful, but he used that lazy sabacc bluffing draw when he wanted to sound casual and mildly flirty.
"Only I use those other names when you are acting like a royal pain in my ass. And you might not like to hear this, but even when you never ask for special treatment, even when you always pull your weight, you wear your royal upbringing on you like a tierra. You are a princess. Everyone else is either intimidated by a combination of your brains, strength, or beauty, or else they're just showin' you the respect you deserve as a member of high command and the Last Princess of Alderaan. Face it, Leia, you are not only the face of the rebellion but its heart. You're an untouchable. And Chewy's name for you isn't Leia by the way, it translates to something closer to 'Little Warrior Princess' so I don't know why you're just yelling at me."
"Uh…". She felt stunned! She didn't know what to say. Han had packed a lot of thoughtful compliments inside some of the well-tred insults. She hadn't really given him credit for being a thoughtful man, but his words had been touching and maybe a little tender. Certainly not what she was expecting from him. She looked at him, hoping to convey her appreciate for his pep talk, smily shyly.
"You say everyone else is intimidated by me, but not you…Why?" She asked this softly, void of any edge to her voice. She too curious to keep her mouth shut.
Leia looked away towards the spring as she felt a warm blush creep up her neck and into her cheeks. She heard an inner voice warning her to change the subject with Han. It was getting way too personal.
Han's voice replied low and soft, "It's not that I don't find you brilliant, strong, or beautiful…"
Danger in the Woods
He immediately fell silent as their chronos pinged simultaneously. Something tripped the hidden sensors.
Leia and Han each reached for the ankle blasters hiding under their pants and made eye contact. They had an entire silent conversation in seconds with their eyes and hands coordinating their next moves.
Han quietly moved close next to Leia. They put the arm carrying their blasters around the other's waist with blasters concealed under each other's jackets. They would look like a couple cuddling around their fire to anyone that approached.
Leia was trying to focus on the potential danger. Was it an animal? Had they been compromised? She listened intently for any noise. However, she was very annoyed to discover that her body was responding to the warmth and energy radiating from Han. They were sitting so close to each other, touching from their ankles to the top of her head against his shoulder. She was beginning to feel breathless.
"Get it together, Leia," She warned herself silently. "Won't have time to think of chemistry or what Han was about to say if you're dead."
Han's chin snapped up suddenly at the sound of a twig cracking, and movement at the edge of the now dark woods.
They both held their breath as whatever it was approached the shadowy tree line.
Both of them let out a surprised laugh at the same time as the tension broke. It was a 15 kilo animal of some kind that appeared quite harmless.
In their laughter, they had leaned into each other even more, Han squeezing her side.
Leia stiffened at the touch (she had felt electricity radiate out from the her side). Sensing her discomfort, Han immediately disengaged from her and stood up.
Leia busied herself with stoking the fire with more kindling and wood.
A Steamy Bath and a Proposition
"I'm going to get into that Spring. After a month freezing my ass off on Hoth, this might be my only chance at a warm bath for who knows how long." He began removing his boots and socks before taking his shirt off and starting to unbutton his trousers.
Leia tried not to look, she really did. But he had asked her a question and she unthinkingly turned around to answer him.
Her breath caught and her face, her body was blazing with heat. She put so much energy in not letting herself for anything at all. He was gorgeous. Lean and muscular with narrow hips. So tall. Strong arms without being too brawny.
She couldn't help but imagine how it would feel to be pressed against his broad chest, held in his strong arms as they kissed passionately.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts. "I'm sorry Han, what did you say?" She asked in what she hoped sounded like a normal voice.
Judging by Han's smirk, she didn't think he missed her strong reaction to seeing him in his boxer briefs.
"I said, Leia (he emphasized this, referencing their prior conversation), would you care to join me?" He toed the warm water before stepping in. "The water is perfect."
"No thank you." She said this too quick and prim. Damn it, why couldn't she just act normal around him? "I, uh, didn't bring my bathing costume."
Han snorted out a chuckle. "Leia, just go in your tank top and shorts. I'll be a gentleman and give you privacy until you get in."
He slowly turned to face away from her. He looked like he was suffering from swallowing the bawdy joke he desperately wanted to make but must have correctly guessed she wouldn't get in if he did.
Leia hesitated. The water looked wonderful, and goddess knows she could use a relaxing soak. Despite Han's inappropriate joking at times, he had never given her a reason to think she couldn't actually trust him.
But…she was fighting a gravity that pulled her towards him. She was a woman and had needs and wants like any other, she just tried her absolute hardest to hide them from everyone. And besides, distraction was something she could ill afford when they were at war.
Leia chastised herself for overthinking this. A soak in a hot spring didn't have to mean anything at all.
She undressed down to her Alliance issued sports bra and plain underwear. Looking at the well worn undergarments, she couldn't help feel relieved at how un-sexy they were.
She groaned involuntarily and closed her eyes as she luxuriated in the steamy warmth of the bubbling mineral water as she waded up to her shoulders.. It felt wonderful!
"Ok, I'm in," she told him.
Han turned back around to face Leia and froze, hungrily taking in the exposed skin, a hint of lean muscle in her shoulders, her slender neck, and the way the water bubbled around the curve of the top of her chest.
He looked like he might say something, but shut his mouth and they looked at each other as they awkwardly fell into silence, occasionally sneaking quick glances at the other.
Talking about their mission was safe ground, she thought desperately as the silence began to make her even more nervous.
"Tomorrow we have to follow another four waypoints before we meet up with the contact. The contact knows we are posing as honeymooners and they will approach us on a lookout point and offer to take a holo of us using their own instant holo camera. We will accept the offer, then I will offer them the bottle of Port in a Storm. They will secretly scan the bottle to access the verification code to ensure we are with the Alliance and hand back the instant holo to us, which will have the codes we seek embedded in it. They will then depart and we will return to the ship."
"Got it" Han said, all business now. "Is the location of the meetup classified, or do you not know either?"
"I don't know either, we will have to navigate to it using the clues at the waypoints," She confirmed. "It's obviously a risk, but the codes are invaluable, and well worth the danger, as I previously went over with you during mission prep."
"Leia, I've still got bad feeling about this. It smells like a set up. Why didn't we arrange to have a third person as a lookout?"
"Han, the contact is providing us this information at great personal risk and threatened to bail if anyone else was involved. It was a risk we had to take."
"Look, I get it. Anything for your rebellion, but it's my job to protect you. That's why I'm here. What's the plan if things go south on us, General?"
Her face shone with a genuine smile. She always got a completely inappropriate thrill that heated her belly if he called her by her military rank. "Well Captain, if it goes sideways on us, then we shoot first and ask questions later. Your usual MO."
Han chuckled at this. "I think I'm starting to rub off on you with this non-plan. At least Chewy will be on standby with the Falcon if we need to beat a hot retreat."
Han caught Leia's eye with a smile as he stood up and waded towards her. She looked at him with panic in her eyes, about to protest. He read her unease and slowed down.
"You have something in your hair, Leia." Her eyes grew huge as she thought of critters getting caught in her braids and she started swiping at her hair with a deranged look of panic on her face.
"Whoa there, sweetheart, stop flailing and let me get it!"
He gently took her flailing arm down and held her wrist between their bodies stomachs. She could feel the heat coming off Han's torso as he stood inches from her, softly placing his fingers from his other hand into her hair and gently pulling out the stuck thing. She heard him flick it away, and then tuck a stray strand of her behind her ear.
The gentle brush of his hand against her head felt nice and she unconsciously leaned into the touch.
"It was just a twig," He whispered in the deep baritone that lit her entire body white hot. "Your braid is coming out, Leia." He started reaching removing her left braid tie.
Leia snapped back to her senses and slapped his hand away hard and pushed his chest as far from her as she could, looking livid. Her eyes flashed dark in simmering anger.
"How dare you! This is a mission! I am not having...I'm not sleeping with you!"
Han had a host of emotions cross his face. Shock, anger, then confusion. "What the fuck, your worshipfulness? You're acting like I propositioned you. I took a twig out of your hair and offered to fix your braid. You're crazy!"
"Kriff off, Solo, you did proposition me! I should report you for sexual harassment, you sleaze!" Leia tried to catch her breath and get control of her temper as she stormed out of the spring and made a run for the fresh clothes in their tent.
If Han wasn't so angry at Leia's completely bonkers behavior, he would have paused a little longer to admire the curve of Leia's hips or her flat stomach as she exited the water, but he was too busy trying to figure out what the hells just happened.