A/N: Hey guys, sorry its been a while – I got caught up in another fan fic and then I had exams to study for…but here's the next part :D

Chapter Three

Leia sat down next to the holotable. Right then she needed something to beat the crap out of, or fire a blaster at and disintegrate…but that wasn't advisable on board of a spaceship. One hole in the wall and they were all dead.

R2-D2 rolled up to her and whistled.

"Hey Artoo," she said.

He beeped again.

"I wish I could talk to you but I don't actually understand a word you're saying," she said, calming down slightly.

Somehow the small droid seemed to have its own personality, not like most R2 units. Leia felt as though when it beeped it was actually talking to her, only she couldn't understand him. A part of her felt bad for not being able to understand him.

He whistled sadly.

Just at that moment Luke came around the corner, looking as though he was heading somewhere.

"Going somewhere?" she asked, stopping him in his tracks.

He turned to look at her, seeming startled for a moment. "Uh, to take a nap…"

"Oh," Leia said, turning back to the holotable and staring at it blankly.

"Hey, you OK? I mean, you know he's just kidding right?" Luke walked over and sat opposite her.

"Of course, but the conceded nerf-herder seems to think that I'd care if he left, well I don't, he can leave for all I care," she replied, raising her voice.

Luke didn't reply, but sat opposite her, studying her for a moment. It unnerved her when he did that, she never knew if he was using the Force, or if he was just waiting for something more of a reaction out of her.

"But that's the thing…" Luke said, a small smile crossing his face, but not quite reaching his eyes.

"What?" Leia snapped at him, annoyed at his constant calm.

"You do care…"

Leia opened her mouth to reply but found no words to retaliate with. Instead she closed her mouth and looked away for a few moments, recollecting herself. Artoo whistled something and Luke's smile turned into a grin.

"I agree Artoo," Luke said.

Leia looked back at her friend. It always amazed her how he could understand everything the little droid was saying, even without something to translate it. Luke looked back at her.

"He thinks you're in denial," Luke said, almost as if reading her mind.

"I am not!" she replied, standing up, ready to leave.

"Leia, sit down…all I'm saying is that we, the rebellion, can use more guys like Han, and you know it. Just because you two don't always see eye to eye…"

"…ever…" she interrupted

"…doesn't mean that you don't appreciate him as a pilot, and even a friend," Luke finished.

"Han Solo is not my friend…" she replied.

Luke shrugged and stood up. "Whatever you want to tell yourself…I'm gonna have my nap now, we've got half a galaxy to cross before we reach Ord Mandell."

Leia watched him leave, unable to find the aggression in herself to be angry at him. Even though they were exactly the same age, he somehow managed to seem like he was ten years younger than her, except for every now and then when he seemed to have wisdom beyond his years, a mysterious, calm, reflective part of him seemed to take over. He confused her something, she wasn't entirely sure who he was inside, although she was sure that he didn't know either.

That was one of Han's upsides, you knew who he was, he said what he wanted to and he acted like he wanted to act. There was no mystery about Han Solo.

She flicked a switched and map of the solar system appeared on the holotable, a feature she knew Han never used, and had no use for, but she found interesting. She felt a stab in her chest as her eyes rested on Alderaan. The map was old, older than the Empire for that matter, older than her.

Han yawned as he walked through the Falcon towards his sleeping quarters. He didn't understand women, and the day that he did…well it was never going to happen. He did however understand exactly how to annoy them, and it seemed to work especially well when Leia was involved. Although he hadn't expected her to react so strongly to him threatening to leave the rebellion, what did that mean? Or was she just being a woman and overreacting…

He stopped as he entered the room. Leia was sitting at the holotable staring at an enlarged hologram of some planet.

"Wow, you must be bored," he muttered, instantly regretting when he realised what planet it was she was staring at.

Alderaan disappeared and Leia turned to glare at him. "Leave me alone."

"Sorry, your highness…I just came to…never mind," he grabbed some tools that were lying on one of the seats and turned back around.

"Han…" Leia started.

"I don't wanna hear it, Princess…I'm going back to the cockpit and I'm gonna stay there until we've reached Ord Mandell and hopefully avoid you until we get back to the ice rock we're calling a planet…"

"I'm not in the mood," she muttered, turning back to the table and flicking Alderaan back on.

He stopped, watching her. Leia wasn't in the mood for arguing with him? He wondered what had possessed her to bring up the planet map of Alderaan. He walked slowly over to where she was sitting and sunk himself slowly onto the bench opposite her.

She ignored him, focusing her eyes on her planet.

"You, ah…wanna talk?" he cringed as he said it.

Alderaan disappeared again and he was left staring into the sad eyes of an incredibly pissed off woman.

"Which part of 'I'm not in the mood' didn't you understand?" she asked, but her voice didn't come out angry, more tired.

"I'm just trying to help, your highness, but don't worry, I won't try again," he moved to stand up.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Han stoped halfway between sitting and standing. "You're sorry?"

"Yes, just…go away," she muttered.

Disregarding her request he sat back down. She was staring at the table blankly. He didn't know what to do or say, this was Princess Leia Organa, diplomat, one of the leaders in the rebellion, a strong leader who gave in to no one and let nothing stand in her path, the woman he fought with on an hourly basis, yet looking at her now he couldn't see her as 'her highness' or 'her majesty'…but he saw her Leia, probably for the first time since he'd met her.

"So, uh, was it pretty?" he asked, cautiously.

"What?" she questioned, looking up at him.

"Alderaan, I always heard it was pretty…was it?"

"It was the most beautiful planet I'd ever seen," she replied, looking down again. "The entire thing was covered in big mountains, there was always plenty of water, yet it never seemed to be raining. We had no weapons, my father didn't believe in violence as a solution to things…"

She stopped and looked him in the eye.

"Just go away…" she said, her voice agitated all of a sudden.

"I'm not leaving…" he started

"Han!" now she was angry.

"Would you let me finish for once?" he shot back. "I'm not leaving the rebellion…happy?"

He stood up and walked out of the room, confused and wondering what it was that she had against him that made her stop in the middle of a discussion and tell him to go away when she realised that she was opening up to him too much.

For the first time he found himself leaving the room and worrying about Leia Organa…

Leia watched him leaved, completely and utterly confused. Why had she just opened up to him? What in the blazers had possessed her to open up to Han Solo? Of all the people in the entire universe she'd just, almost, revealed a part of herself to him. She regretted it, utterly and completely…

At least that's what she was telling herself. As he left she felt suddenly very alone. Alone in the Falcon, alone in the galaxy. A part of her wanted to run after Han and stop him, to sit down and talk to him.

"Leia you're being stupid," she muttered to herself.

However she did find herself standing up, but heading to her room to sleep off the rest of the journey. Being stuck almost alone in a spaceship with Han was not exactly what she wanted to do at that moment in time.