Author's note: Sorry this wasn't posted on time, but a technical glitch from this site made it impossible to upload the chapter. Look for the next chapter to be posted late this afternoon. Enjoy!
Han Solo drifted into consciousness on a wave of pain. Every part of his body seemed to hurt, though the dull throbbing and terrible stiffness seemed surprisingly bearable considering he had been shot at close range. The startling memory of that incident brought him fully to consciousness, and he scanned the surroundings for clues. There was just enough light in the pre-dawn hour to determine that he was sprawled out on the trail where he had been attacked. There was no sign of Ugatph anywhere, but for some reason, he could not move fully.
As he turned his head to the left, he saw the reason for his immobility: Leia. Though she was clearly asleep, she clung to him tightly, almost desperately. Her hair fell in disarray, and her face was tear-stained and smudged with dirt. Nevertheless, Han thought her to be the most beautiful woman in the world.
He reached out to brush a loose strand of hair away from her face, then caressed her cheek lightly with the back of his hand. His fingertip then lightly traced the outline of her lips, marveling at the fact that he had been given another chance to touch her, to be with her. Just a few hours ago, he was sure that he would die. How in the world had he survived that encounter?
He didn't have much time to reflect on that question, because Leia began to stir at his touch. Opening her eyes, she was greeted with a familiar smile and a soft caress. Shocked, Leia struggled to form a coherent thought. Han seemed so healthy, so alive—she couldn't believe it.
"I must be dreaming," she said aloud.
Han smiled more broadly then, countering, "Sweetheart, if your dreams involve spending an uncomfortable night on the ground in the middle of a hiking trail, then I'm worried about ya. Maybe Doctor Han can help you find some better dreams…or just keep you occupied with other...um… more pleasurable activities."
"Han, do you ever stop?" she replied in an annoyed-sounding tone laced with pure joy.
"Nope," he said, his grin widening. "Ya know, if someone had told me that all I had to do to get you to sleep with me was to get shot, I'd have jumped in front of blaster fire long ago."
Unfortunately for Han, his lighthearted banter did not have its intended effect. Leia's smile vanished immediately, and she reached for the medical scanner. When the scan revealed only relatively minor injuries, she threw the thermals off to the side and visually surveyed his wounds. Though his shirt was burned away, his wounds seemed to have miraculously healed. A once gaping hole was covered by reddened and slightly puckered skin.
"This can't be real! It can't!" she screamed, turning away and steeling herself against the cruelty of her dreams.
As tears slid down her cheeks, Han sat up and placed his arms around her. "Leia, I'm okay."
Shaking her head forcefully, she replied, "No, he shot you with a blaster at close range."
"Leia, I know that, but he must have had the blaster set on stun or something."
At that comment, she snapped her head around to face him. Eyes flashing, she said, "You don't understand. You were dying! I saw those terrible wounds. I felt the life draining out of your body. I…."
Unable to continue, Leia began to sob violently. Han pulled her close, stroked her hair, and whispered soft words of comfort. When her tears finally ceased, he lifted her head, looked into her eyes. Gently wiping the moisture from her face, he said simply, "I love you, Leia." He then lowered his head to hers and placed a tender kiss on her lips.
Leia responded hesitantly at first, but soon gave in to the sheer joy kissing Han. This is not a dream, she thought. He's injured, but he's okay. I can feel his warmth, his strength, his heart beating close to mine. I must have just panicked last night.
With that thought, all of the fear and terror drained out of her—Han was alive, he had come back to her. She took the initiative then, deepening the kiss and running her hands all over his body. Such passion was short-lived, however, as exhaustion quickly overtook her. She had never felt so weak in her life, and she collapsed unceremoniously on top of Han.
Concerned, Han asked, "Leia, are you alright?" He began to wonder if she had taken more of the blaster fire than he realized.
"I'm fine," she said with more confidence than she felt. "I just got dizzy, that's all."
"You are definitely not fine, Sweetheart. Lemme check you out."
With that, Han grabbed the scanner and ran a series of tests. Though the scan revealed no serious injuries, her system was definitely off kilter. She was low on bodily fluids and her body was drained of energy reserves. She had even lost six kilos since her pre-flight medical scan. Han was concerned, but he was determined not to show it.
"Well, Doctor Han. Am I going to make it?" Leia said, half seriously and half playfully.
"You'll be just fine, Princess, if you follow the doctor's orders."
"Oh, really?" she said seductively. "And what does the doctor suggest?"
"Well…," Han drawled. "The doctor has a number of remedies, including a therapeutic visit to the hot tub."
"Mmm…sounds like my kind of therapy," she said, reaching out to touch Han.
Han stopped her progress by placing a ration bar in her hand. "For now, though, you need to build your strength. The doctor suggests lots of food and water for energy."
"Sounds good," she said, realizing her lack of strength. "We'll save the hot tub for dessert."
Smiling in reply, he said, "I just love it when you follow orders."
"Enjoy it while it lasts, flyboy," she said, with just a hint of annoyance. Han certainly knew how to push her buttons. She was feeling stronger already.
After consuming their entire supply of rations, Han and Leia prepared to make the trek back down the mountain. They investigated the area thoroughly to make sure that Ugatph had not survived their unfortunate encounter. They also had another motive for the search. Both were secretly hoping to find the bounty hunter's blaster in order to decisively explain the events of the previous night.
Being such practical people, Han and Leia were equally uncomfortable with the notion of the miraculous. After all, there had been no miracles for Alderaan, no mystical phenomenon to save Han from his miserable childhood. Such ideas created false hope and were better left to the realm of fairy tales and hokey religions.
Unfortunately, however, they would find no trace of the bounty hunter or his weapon. They were sure that he had been killed, because no one could survive a dead-center shot from Leia and a fall off of the side of the mountain.
However, they did have other concerns about Ugatph. Han had never known him to work with a partner, but if someone noticed his disappearance or one of his associates awaited their return, they could be in serious jeopardy.
For their own safety, then, they carefully removed any trace of their ordeal from the mountain path. They were pretty sure no one would have reported them missing, but they were determined to leave no suspicious evidence behind.
As they made their way down the trail, they leaned on each other out of physical and emotional necessity. They set a slow pace and talked only when necessary. They had made fairly good progress when they heard the sound of other hikers approaching.
Han quickly pulled Leia to the side of the trail and began kissing her passionately. Surprised, it took Leia a moment to respond fully to the kiss. Once she did, however, she immersed herself in the feel of his lips on hers and was completely oblivious to the couple that passed them on the way up the trail.
Han, too, was lost in the moment. What began as a tactic to explain their presence on the trail became an emotionally charged expression of his feelings for this woman. What if I had lost her? What if a more competent bounty hunter had surprised us on the trail? He shuddered at the thought, breaking the kiss and stepping away from Leia.
Leia looked up at him, confusion evident in her eyes. "What's the matter, Han?"
"Nothing," he replied, meeting her eyes with a forced grin. "I was…just thinking we'd be more comfortable elsewhere."
Not quite believing him, Leia decided to let the issue drop for the moment. "Then why did you start something you couldn't finish?" she said lightly.
Leia could see the heat rising in his eyes as he said, "Oh, I plan on finishing this, Sweetheart. But, as a wise woman once said, 'I don't think we really need an audience.'"
"Well, if you didn't want an audience, flyboy, why did you kiss me in front of those hikers?" she asked mischievously. "Did you need to feed that massive ego of yours?"
"Actually, Princess, I didn't want to arouse suspicion. Wouldn't it seem kinda strange that we were walking down the trail this early in the morning?" Then he smiled broadly and added, "Kissing you was just a bonus."
"I'm flattered," she relied, laughing. "Who would have thought that Han Solo was smart as well as sexy?"
"Well, Leia, we all have our hidden talents."
"And I'm sure you've got some more you're just dying to show me." With a wicked gleam in her eye, she added, "Now what was it you were saying about arousal?" Shocked at her own boldness, Leia thought, Did I just say that? What kind of influence is this man having on me?
Han was stunned as well, managing to stammer, "I…um…Let's get back to the hotel room."
She took off running, calling behind her, "Last one there is a nerfherder."
Han immediately took off after her, but after only a few meters, they realized that running was probably not the best idea.
"Maybe…we should…save our…energy…for later," Han managed.
Out of breath, Leia replied, "Sounds…like a…plan."
They took it easy for the rest of the trip. As they approached the hotel, however, they were greeted with the frightening sight of Imperial officers swarming the streets.
"Blast it!" Han swore, shrinking back into the shadows. "What is going on here?"
"I don't know, but we need to find out."
In response, Han stopped a passerby, saying, "Man, someone really must have pissed off the Empire to have this many officers after him."
The man laughed, replying, "Nah. They're having some kind of officers' meeting in town. Hey, at least they are good for my business. Speaking of which, I've got to run." "Hope you enjoy the Imperial company," he said cheerily.
"Great," Han muttered, ducking into an alley.
"Well, it could be worse. They could be looking for you, me or both of us."
"Thanks for looking on the bright side, Sweetheart."
"Anytime. So, what do we do now?"
"I think our best bet is to go to the hotel room and hide out. The Falcon is too far away, and we can be spotted easily during the day."
"But the hotel is probably filled with Imperials."
"True, but once we get to the room, we don't have to leave. After all, we're honeymooners," he leered.
"Good point. Okay, so we stay in the hotel today and leave tonight?"
"Hey, Sweetheart, if they aren't looking for us, we can just hole up there until they leave. No one will be the wiser, and we can have a nice, long honeymoon."
"Tempting, flyboy. But I don't feel comfortable with all those Imperials around."
"I don't either, but I don't wanna go out in public with the Imps everywhere. Besides, we have that nice hot tub waiting for us."
"Do you ever think of anything else?" she asked laughingly with a hint of exasperation.
"I try not to, Sweetheart. Let's go. Whenever any officer gets close, we'll just use kissing as our cover."
"Well, in that case, we better practice before we go out there," she said, snaking her arm behind his head and pulling him toward her. "We don't want our cover to be blown."
"You know what they say…practice is key to mission safety…."
And then they spoke no more.