TITLE: "My Sassy Princess"

AUTHOR: Maiden of Endor

RATING: K

GENRE: Romance/Humor

DISCLAIMER: I don't own the copyright of Star Wars! Just for fun. 'Nuff said.

SUMMARY: During lunch at the Rebel Alliance Bespin Headquarters, Han gave Leia an ice popsicle as a peace offering, to make up for the fight they had that morning.

CHAPTER III- "Care for a Carbonite Popsicle?"

That afternoon, after the meeting they had, Leia went off by herself to eat lunch at the canteen downstairs. Her stomach was already making grumbling noises due to lack of breakfast. She also hoped that she would not bump again into that nerf herder, a.k.a. Han. She still felt angry with him for calling her a "nerf brain".

Upon arriving at the canteen, she fell in line to buy food. After choosing her meal, she sat at a table and started eating. Leia played around with the thought of eating lunch alone, and with finding herself as company more often, she was finally getting used to the idea of having no family and friends to be with her all the time. Recently, she lost her father and her loved ones when the Death Star blasted the planet Alderaan, her home planet, to bits. She was still mourning over the death of her adoptive father, Bail Organa. She felt like going mad, blaming the forces of the universe for handing her such a tragic fate. But there is nothing I can do now, she thought. No amount of tears will ever bring my father back to life. I have no choice, but to move on with life and try to be happy.

Leia felt a hand placed gently on her shoulder. "Your highness, can I sit here with you?"

She turned her head and looked at the source of the male voice coming from behind. It was Luke Skywalker. He gazed at her with sympathetic eyes and a smile. Leia smiled back at him. "Oh sure," she replied. "Have a seat". She gestured towards the empty chair in front of her. Luke thanked her with a nod of his head and went to sit in front of her.

Not a word was said as they ate. Once in a while, Luke would ask Leia about trivial matters, then, afterwards, would went back to finishing their meal. I feel so at ease with Luke, Leia thought. I feel as if I've known him for a lifetime. I like the way that he doesn't treat me the way boisterous Han does. I'd try to be with him more often.

"Your highness, can I ask you a question?" Luke asked. Leia lifted up her head and said gently, "Sure. What is it?"

"I hope you don't mind if I ask you this, but I've noticed a lot of times that you and Captain Solo are not in good terms so often. Are you angry with each other?"

Leia sighed deeply, and felt her blood boil at the mention of Han. She grew silent.

Luke felt embarrased with her gesture. "Oh, forgive me. Maybe I shouldn't have asked you about this."

"No, it has nothing to do with your question," Leia smiled sheepishly. "Han has been a pain to be with these days. I don't like the way he treats me so shabbily." With that, she started confiding to Luke about all the mean things Han did to her. How he would call her names like "nerf brain", how Han would do annoying things to her to lose her temper.

"Your highness," Luke smiled, shaking his head, "You know what, you should be more patient in dealing with the people around you, especially with Han. Don't look for yourself in other people, because you're just setting yourself up for a major disappointment. Just have more patience."

Leia felt a bit relieved with Luke's advice. "I admit that I can be a proud person, but I just can't help but be annoyed with Han everytime I'm around him."

"Maybe Han likes you a lot, that's why he kept on doing those things to you to capture your attention," Luke said.

Leia laughed slightly. "Him? Why would he like me?"

"It's a possibility. The more you hate, the more you love."

"I would never like Han," she said haughtily.

"Be careful with what you say, your highness. You might eat those words someday," Luke said smilingly, with a twinkle in his blue eyes. "Speaking of Han, I think he's here now." Luke waved at Han from afar. Leia turned her head as she watched Han approached their table. Luke stood up as he greeted him, while Leia remained seated.

"Good afternoon comrade!" Luke said to Han. Both slapped each other on the shoulder playfully.

Han turned to Leia, who was giving him a mean stare. "How was your day, your worship?"

He smiled at her mischieviously, thinking, I hope you'll forget about what had happened this morning at the cab. "I hope lady nerf brain's okay now," he whispered to Leia.

Leia felt her blood boil again. "If you don't stop calling me a nerf-brain, I will..." she suddenly blurted out loud. She stood up and discreetly grabbed Han's wrist, trying to twist it. "Owwww!" Han winced in pain.

Luke reprimanded them for acting so childish, having noticed that all eyes were on them. "Stop that!" he whispered. "Everybody's looking at us."

Leia looked around and noticed that most of the people had their eyes averted towards their place; some even lifted up their heads while they ate their meals to see where the commotion came from. Shocked and embarassed at the same time, she let go of his hand. Leia slumped back in her seat, while Han apologized to the nosy crowd. "Hehe..." he smiled sheepishly. "Sorry for that." Then he took a seat beside Luke.

"Having a lovers' quarrel, right?" Lando Calrissan, the newly appointed rebel general asked, as he approached their place.

"Yeah, right," Han replied sarcastically, folding his arms across his chest.

"Mind if I eat lunch with you Luke, along with these two lovebirds?" Lando asked again as he sat beside Leia, who was obviously annoyed. Do we look like a couple? she thought.

"Good afternoon, your highness," he greeted Leia.

Leia tried to hide her annoyance over Lando's statement. Lovebirds. She forced herself into a smile. "Good afternoon too, General Calrissan." He shook her hand while she said, "I hope you don't mind, but I have to go now, as I'm finished with my lunch. So you'll have plenty of time for a guy-to-guy talk." The truth is, she was making an excuse to walk away from a situation that might put her again into embarassment, what with Han back in her sight again.

"Oh, that's nothing. Fine with me." Lando replied. Leia stood up and walked away. From afar, she waved her hand at the three men who was left at the table. When she was out of earshot, Lando asked Luke. "Are they quarreling over something?" he whispered.

"As always," Luke replied. Both laughed.

"Must be her time of the month," Lando joked, and they laughed some more.

"Women are so hard to understand sometimes."

Han, who was lost in his thoughts, got distracted with the sound of their laughter. "Are you talking about me?" he asked.

Both denied the fact that he and Leia were the topic of their conversation. "Oh no," Luke said as he shook his head.

"We were just talking about what we would like to have for lunch, right Luke?" Lando said. He stood up while Luke followed suit. "Let's fall in line now and buy our lunch, matey!"

"Sure! Why not?" Luke turned to Han and said, "We'll just leave you for a moment while we get some food. Do you like anything?" he asked Han.

"No thanks. I'll buy my own meal later." Han actually didn't felt like eating, having lost his appetite to Leia's tempestuous attitude. This woman really gets under my skin. No wonder, she's so fun to tease and made fun of. Then a realization struck him. But maybe I shouldn't tease her that often. Her ice queen demeanor gets colder that way. A brilliant idea went off his head. Standing up, he went to the lunch line. This gesture will make her talk to me, Han thought, smiling.

After she ate, Leia took a short leisurely walk by herself around the building. I'd rather be alone here than have that scruffy nerf herder tease me all the time, she thought. Thinking of Han made her angrier, so she diverted her thoughts to something else, when all of a sudden, she heard that all too familiar voice.

"Care for a carbonite popsicle, your highness?"

Leia turned her head and found Han standing in front of her. In his hand he held an orange-colored twin popsicle. He broke the popsicle in two and gave the other half to Leia. Speechless, she didn't know what to make of this gesture. Was he trying to apologize for being mean to me? She felt she had no choice but to accept this peace offering, if that was really the case. Leia took the other half of the popsicle absent-mindedly. "Thanks", she said shyly.

He followed her while she went to the balcony overlooking the magnificent view of Cloud City, its tall skyscrapers almost touching the feathery-white clouds, while speeders and cabs zoomed back and forth. Both didn't say a word to each other as they ate their popsicle.

Han broke the silence between the two of them. "Your highness," he said hesitatingly, "Are you still angry at me?" he asked.

Deep in her heart, Leia was actually touched with this gesture. I can't believe he went out of his way just to make ammends with me. "Why are you doing this?" she asked.

Han smiled and said, "I won't last a day if you're still not going to talk to me, so to get your attention, I brought you a popsicle. I thought you might like to have one for dessert."

"Thanks for the effort." Leia said, smiling. "By the way, did you eat your lunch? You might be hungry."

"Nope." Han denyingly said.

"Are you nuts? We still have a long day ahead of us. Go get something to fill your stomach."

"Alright, your worship. As you said so." Han bowed his head as a sign of respect before he walked away. He looked at Leia for the last timebefore he made his way back to the canteen. Han thought he saw Leia flashed a sweet smile at him. It was the first time she smiled at him like that, and he couldn't get the picture of her smile out of his mind. Maybe she has a softhearted side, after all.

Along the way, Han whistled a tune. Am I feeling so happy just because she is speaking to me again? he asked himself. He realized that he won't last a single hour without hearing the sound of her voice, never mind her mood swings. I'll do anything just to get you to talk to me, your highness.