This was written in response to a challenge on another site. I hope you find it fun to read! This story is an H/L story placed between Han's rescue from Jabba and Endor. I would rate it T.
Disclaimer: Of course, these characters are part of the George Lucas universe, and I wouldn't even think about making money off of them without George's permission.
Title: Just Another Mission
Another day, another mission, another trip to the med center.
Han wondered how he got himself into these things. He supposed that he just couldn't say "No" to certain people in the Alliance. The Council had been preparing for their final assault on the Death Star, and Leia had been assigned the job of collecting the entrance codes to the shield generator building on Endor.
As usual, Rieekan had asked Han to accompany her. He would have preferred to have spent his time preparing his ship for the upcoming battle, but it was Leia, and she was to meet her contact on Corellia of all places, so how could he have refused?
Han had thought that it would give him a chance to procure a few cases of a Corellian Malt that was used in the most reverent of mating ceremonies. He planned to further his relationship with Leia as soon as possible after Endor, and the malt could be stored in the smuggling compartments of his ship until that time came. He had hoped, however, that it wouldn't have to be stored for an extended period of time. Now he was wondering if he would get the chance to use it at all.
The mission was a rather simple operation, as the dangerous part had already been done. Han wasn't overly concerned about the Princess' safety, as she was to meet her contact in a much used public building devoted to the free exchange of information for the purpose of recreation and educational advancement, otherwise known as a 'holorary'.
After depositing Leia among stacks of holos devoted to political history, Han knew that he'd have more than enough time to complete the quest for his creative Corellian concoction. The malt itself wouldn't be hard to find, but each clan had its own recipe for an 'additive' that would make it unique to each mating pair's union. The most difficult part of the process was finding the perfect mixture of herbs for the brew.
The previous day, when he and Leia had been shopping for fresh fruit in the open market, Han had fortuitously encountered an old woman vending spices. While Leia was checking the ripeness of each fruit, he had sidled up to the spice stand. He knew exactly which spices he needed, but the woman had been slow in gathering them for him. Losing his patience, he had snapped that she was "slower than a rancor in heat", but, fortunately, he had completed the purchase without raising Leia's suspicions.
Unfortunately, he was unaware that the old woman had been quite perturbed at his insult. Little did he know that, hailing from the remote world of Dathomir, the woman was quite acquainted with rancors and had her own way of dealing with people who affronted her. Evil eye glaring at him, she chanted under her breath:
"Beware the mhyet.
Double its power and allergy suffer.
Taste and touch will change as such.
Blow by blow trouble will grow."
Han and Leia had continued on their way, blithely unaware of the curse that had been placed upon them.
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Leia was actually looking forward to waiting alone for her contact in the holorary, as it would give her a chance to learn more about Han's home world. She chose a stack of disks, placed them on the edge of her individual viewing center, and became engrossed in a holo about Corellia's political clan structure.
Soon after, her contact sat at the center next to Leia's with her own pile. After completing her fourth holo, Leia accidentally knocked her stack to the floor. Her contact, as planned, turned to help her retrieve the fallen disks, knocking her own to the floor.
While sorting the disks, the woman made sure that the one holding the stolen codes was placed in Leia's pile. That was to be all the interaction they had planned to have, but the woman had more information for her than expected.
"Princess," she whispered, "you came with your usual pilot?"
Leia was surprised at the question and quietly replied, "If by usual you mean Captain So..."
The woman raised her finger to silence her and went on. "Listen quickly. The Captain's clan is aware that he's on planet and think that he's come back to claim a position as the head of the clan. Rumor has it that they plan to eliminate him."
Leia's eyes widened in fear and she questioned, "When? How?"
Calmly returning to her viewing center, the woman answered, "That's all I know."
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The cases of malt were stowed on the ship, and Han was experimenting with the ingredients for his mating recipe. He had acquired four spices that were known for their intoxicating aromas meant to enhance the senses, particularly touch and taste. Working in small amounts, Han finally found the combination of yarslep, gase, yosemarr and mhyet that met his approval. He poured himself a full glass of the malt with the proper amount of each ingredient for its final test. Just as he was about to take a swig of the stuff, he realized that he was late in retrieving the Princess. He quickly stored the spices in his cabin and hurried to meet her, leaving the glass of spiced malt, untouched, on the table.
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Leia was finding it increasingly difficult to remain focused, but she forced herself to peruse three more holos before moving to leave. Han was to have come back to meet her quite a while ago, but had yet to appear. She worried that he may already have fallen prey to his clan members somewhere on the streets of his home world. Leia agonized over each passing parsec. No longer able to wait, she finally left for the Falcon.
After leaving the holorary, Leia tried comming Han several times, and finally received a response when she was steps from the ship. Relieved to hear his voice, Leia commanded, "Get back to the ship right away. I need to talk to you." Han assured her that he was only a few parsecs behind her.
Looking around to be sure she wasn't being followed, Leia unlocked the ramp and entered the Falcon. After putting the disk in a safe place, she spied the bottle of ale and full glass on the holochess table. She downed the drink in three gulps to steady her nerves. A tingling sensation settled on her tongue, but the feeling was not unpleasant. Putting the glass down, she headed for the cockpit, hoping to get Han to take-off as soon as he returned to the ship. Leia breathed a sigh of relief when she heard the ramp lower.
"Le-ia! I'm ho-me!" Han sang as he walked down the corridor.
Leia turned and called, "I'm in the cockpit." At least she tried to say that, but her tongue refused to cooperate with her mouth. Leia spoke again as Han approached her, but no intelligible sound passed her lips.
"Voorpak got your tongue?" Han teased as he reached out to hug her.
She shook her head and pointed to her tongue.
"Looks good to me," Han commented as he bent down to answer what he thought was an invitation for a kiss. He didn't exactly get what he was expecting, as she pushed him away and shook her head. Putting his hands up in surrender he said, "Okay, okay, I get the message. No foolin' around! Now talk to me. What's goin' on?"
Concentrating with all of her will she very carefully placed her tongue on the roof of her mouth to say, "Leave now." What came out sounded more like, "Bleh, bleh." Leia threw her hands up in exasperation.
Grasping them, Han tried to calm her. "Look, sweetheart, take it easy. Take a deep breath and tell me again."
Electricity seemed to flash through her hands at his touch, but Leia steadied herself. She looked into his concerned eyes and tried one more time. "Eee, ah, ooo, bleh bleh."
Now, he was worried. He led her into the lounge and proceeded to his cabin to grab a data pad. Leia went to the half-full bottle of malt to pour herself another drink, but it slid through her grasp. She tried again, and yet again, but the bottle stayed put as if it was glued to the table.
Turning at Han's entrance into the room, Leia reached for the data pad, but it dropped to the floor. Han picked it up to hold it for her and she placed her hand on the pad, but her fingers would not obey her commands. She tried to type, "There is a plot against your life." What Han read was "eqwoia; dilnadnfgfl." She tried again, "ewqiouoiaj;fdlnkc." She would have tried a third time, but Han moved the pad away, put an arm around her shoulders and suggested, "Let's get some air."
He wasn't quite prepared for Leia's reaction to this, as she violently shook her head and shrugged him away.
Han folded his arms, plopped himself on the bench and questioned in frustration, "What did I do wrong this time?"
Leia stomped her foot and moved her arms in a rising gesture several times.
Losing his patience, Han stood and replied, "So you want me to stand up. I'm standin'. Now what!"
Leaning on the holochess table, he looked down and spied the empty glass. Understanding finally dawned on him. He stared at the bottle a moment, and then poured himself a drink. He downed it in one gulp and thought, 'I think I'm in trouble.'
Pouring another glass for himself, he watched Leia going through gyration after gyration, and he didn't even try to interpret what she was trying to communicate. She was waving her arms up, crouching and then jumping in the air, whirling her hands above her head, all to no avail. Han just stood back, bided his time and enjoyed the show.
When she finally stopped to see if he understood, he cocked his head and mumbled, "Med center."
Leia again reacted strongly by holding her hands over him and plunging them downwards.
Han replied nonchalantly, "I know you want to kill me, Leia, but I really think we need to get you to a med center."
She again tried desperately to make him understand his predicament. She placed her hands on her chest and shook her head, reached her arms out towards him, then did the plunging motions again.
Han put the glass down and guessed, "Ah, you don't love me anymore and you want me to kill myself."
Leia slapped her arms against her sides, stuck out her chin and glared at him in disbelief. At this rate, she thought, he deserved whatever he got.
Han didn't bother pouring what was left of the malt into the glass. He simply brought the bottle to his lips and drained it. "Okay, that's it. I'm taking you to the med center whether you like it or not." He threw Leia over his shoulder and left the Falcon with her protesting the entire way. He was glad that he couldn't understand what she was screaming and that her hands were basically useless. He thought for sure that, if his suspicions were correct, he would be a dead man in a matter of parsecs anyway. After describing her symptoms to the medic, the droid asked a series of routine questions:
"Do you have any allergies that you are aware of?"
Leia shrugged and shook her head.
"Did you eat anything that you might be allergic to today?"
Another negative response.
"Did you drink anything that you might be allergic to today?"
Negative answer again.
At that point Han felt that he had no choice but to intercede. "Uh, Leia, did you drink that glass of malt that was on the table?"
She nodded.
The med droid asked, "Are you allergic to malt?"
She shook her head.
Han intervened again. "How about yarslep?"
Leia shook her head.
"Gase?"
Again, a headshake.
"Yosemarr?"
Another head shake.
"Mhyet?"
This time a shrug.
Leia looked at Han in confusion. How would she have gotten mhyet into her system? As far as she knew, it was never used in food or drink, but was an ingredient in certain medicines that she had never taken. The medical droid then told them that mhymet was quite possibly the culprit and that there was no antidote for this type of reaction. He added, however, that her condition should not get any worse and that, at most, the reaction should last for no more than a week.
At this news Leia slumped against Han. How was she going to last a week in this condition? She had to help finalize the plans for the Death Star attack and, more immediately, warn Han about the plot against his life.
Leading her back to the ship, arm around her waist, Han realized that she had tensed considerably since leaving the med center. She continuously looked around and stayed as close to him as possible, which was not her usual behavior in public.
Thinking that she was worried about not being able to defend herself, Han offered, "It's okay, Leia, you're safe with me."
At that remark, Leia stared at him in pity. He could be attacked by his clan members at any moment, and she would be unable to stop it. 'Poor Han,' she thought, 'a target of his own clan. What must it be like to be so hated by your own relatives?'
Thankfully, they returned to the ship without incident. Han knew that they had no more time to linger on his home world, and they immediately prepared for take-off. Once they were safely in hyperspace, Leia threw him a loving gaze and stood. He returned the look and told her to make herself comfortable in the back and that he'd join her momentarily.
Leia sauntered into the lounge, accidentally kicking the empty bottle of malt that had fallen off of the holochess table during the jump to light speed. She bent down to pick it up, but silently cursed when she remembered that her fingers could not curl around the neck of the bottle. She slumped onto the bench and threw her head back against the cushion. Although despondent, she still took a moment to thank the Force that Han was finally away from the danger.
Han followed moments later, picked up the bottle and placed it on the table as he slid in beside his princess. He took her hand in his and started messaging it, hoping it would bring some comfort to her. He knew he should confess to Leia about the myhet, but wasn't sure how he could tell her without ruining his plans for the mating ceremony.
'Besides,' a small voice inside his head whispered, 'If you don't tell her, she can't blame you.' Leia looked at Han in gratitude and her eyes wandered to the bottle. Han's words at the med center began to replay in her head:
'Drink malt?...' Her eyes continued to study the bottle...
'Allergic to yarslep?...' Her eyes went to his face...
'Gase?...' Her eyes went back to the bottle...
'Yosemarr?...' Back to his face...
"Mhyet?..." back to the bottle...
Han stopped caressing Leia's hand as her face suddenly registered recognition of what had happened to her . She delicately pulled her hand out of Han's grip and slowly stood to face the man who had been, up to this point, the love of her life. Raising her arms over her head, she gestured in a plunging motion over and over again. In order to protect himself, Han escaped from the bench and ran to the fresher, Leia only steps behind him.
Slamming the door shut he could hear her unintelligible stammerings, "Um coa kee yah!"
Han realized that he was beginning to understand her and cracked the door open. "You said you're gonna kill me?" he asked.
Leia emitted a rageful shriek and started kicking the door as he locked it behind him.
'It's gonna be a long flight,' he mused. And so it was.
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Rieekan was waiting in the hanger for the Falcon when the ramp lowered, but no one exited right away. He heard a loud yelp and the sound of breaking glass, then jumped back as Leia stormed off the ship without a word. Han slowly followed, a bloody hand pressed against his scalp.
Handing Rieekan the data disk, Han answered his raised eyebrow with, "Don't ask."
Rieekan sighed and secured the disk in his pocket. Putting a hand on Han's shoulder, he silently lead him towards the med center, taking in every word of Han's soliloquy on the way.
"It really wasn't my fault! How was I supposed to know she was allergic to mhyet? But, you know, I'm still tryin' to figure out how she could hold that bottle and hit me as hard as she did. She couldn't have used her hands, because they were useless. So she had to have..."
Rieekan just shook his head, somehow believing every word.
The End