The morning dawned bright and clear.

Gerod knocked on their door, greeting them with a wide smile and two sticks skewered with elk meat. "For the road," he explained. Ignoring Leia's protests, he swung their bags over his shoulder and led them jauntily out to the waiting wheeler.

The road from the town started wide and straight, interrupted with checkpoints at regular intervals. Beyond the checkpoints, fields dotted with crops and nerfs and compact farmhouses dominated the scenery. By the time they reached the foothills, trees had overtaken most of their line of sight and the road had relaxed into gentle switchbacks.

Gerod drove with one hand while waving the other at landmarks and sites of ancient battles. Less guarded than Maryk and Biron, he answered Leia's questions easily though was careful never to stray to close to topics that touched on the current negotiations. Han and Maryk said little in the seat behind them while Biron kept watch in the back propped against their bags, feet dangling off the side.

The road climbed up and over the first range of hills and they found themselves out of sight of Ilia surrounded entirely by the forest. Caldira's star was overhead when they stopped for lunch, Gerod passing around more sticks of elk along with a loaf of bread baked earlier that day.

"It's not much longer and then we'll hike the rest of the way," he offered. Maryk and Biron were conferring just out of hearing range.

The trees only grew taller and more severe as they drove. In the bends of the road Leia could catch glimpses of the snowy peaks extending far to the horizon. She thought about Alderaan, about the mountains she had visited as a child; although in her memory they were similar in size, the Caldiran landscape was starker and less inviting than the gentle warmth that pervaded her memories of her home planet.

An hour later they pulled to the side of the road. A narrow trail led into the dark woods. Gerod saw her eyeing the road they had abandoned. "We only take that at night. All other times we hike."

The path started flat enough but soon started to climb. Leia was sweating under her head wrap and had to remind herself frequently of the frozen tundra of Hoth. Despite the exertion, it was refreshing to be outside and moving. The cold confinement of Echo Base had proven to be an unpleasant adjustment to most of the Alliance personnel, herself included.

After another hour they stopped for a break. A slant of starlight broke through a clearing in the trees and Leia spotted a flash of color a few meters away. She approached a cluster of flowers, each one exploding in a riot of red and orange, and crouched to finger a slippery petal.

"Please don't touch that."

She turned at Gerod's voice. "Why? Is it poisonous?"

He shook his head. "Just the opposite. Those are roselias, prized for their healing powers. But only in the mature blooms. This one still needs more time."

He knelt down next to her and ran his finger down the stem. "The serum collects at the base and also in the thorns. In a few more weeks it will be ready."

"Have you ever used them to heal anyone?"

He stood up. "My sister was sick as a child. My mother collected as many roselias as she could, but they were not able to save her." He was focused on the distant range. "She died when I was nine."

"I'm sorry," Leia murmured.

"They are more prevalent in the north where I am from." He indicated with his head. "But they grow in the hills and mountains around here also." He started back toward the trail. "They are desired by the Veroni too. That is one reason we are careful around here."

She could hear Han in her head. Fighting over a bunch of flowers.

"But you must have modern medicine on Caldira?"

"We do." His face had hardened as if against a painful memory. "But many in the villages still rely on traditional healing practices."

They rejoined the others and Gerod picked up her bag again as they continued on the trail. She caught Han's eye as he fell in behind Maryk. He directed an amused look at her legs as if a wordless comment on her slower pace. Only Biron followed, careful not to overtake her. Out of the corner of her eye she saw him slip away occasionally to roam among the trees.

After a while the trail widened and started to flatten out. Gerod turned around and tossed a grin at her. "Not much longer now." She huffed a wry smile in response and bent down to adjust the cuff that had caught on her boot. Thank the Gods she had thought to wear pants.

There was a whizzing overhead simultaneous with the sound of broken branches off to the side. Instinct took over and she flattened herself on the ground and looked around wildly. In front of her Gerod was similarly crouched and motioned with his hand as he crawled nimbly into the trees. She followed, keeping her head as low as possible and then there was another whirr and Gerod, who had just perched cautiously on his heels to search for their assailant, toppled onto his side without a sound.

He was not more than five meters ahead of her and she scrambled desperately toward him. Her mouth opened automatically to call for Han, for anyone, when fingers suddenly clamped over her mouth. Fear descended on her at the same time her reflexive self-defense mechanisms kicked in and she angled her elbow to —.

"Shhh." Warm breath on her ear. Han. She slumped in relief against him as his hand left her face and smoothed down her leg. His knee drew up and for a split second she was confused until he pulled a blaster from his ankle holster and pressed it in her hand.

"I'll be back," he breathed, and then he was a blur darting up the hill.

Her position was only partially protected but she could make out what looked like an overgrown covert nearby. Scooting over on her elbows and knees, she sank down in the brush and drew her blaster. No signs of movement in any direction. She focused again on Gerod, though by now she had lost hope. Motionless, blood trickled from a single wound to the side of his head. He was still wearing her pack.

The silence was broken by a scuffle of bodies up the hill punctuated by clashes of metal and then a muted cry. Leia braced herself low in the brush and held her blaster steady.

Maryk and Han came trotting down the slope. "That's one," Maryk announced flatly. "Is —."

As if on cue, Biron climbed up from the trail wiping his knife on his tunic before resheathing it. "I got one." He froze briefly at the sight of Gerod before drawing alongside Maryk and Han.

"I didn't see any others," Han grunted. "You?"

Leia stood up. "No."

"I'll go on ahead to warn the village," Maryk said. He nodded at Biron. "Lead them there."

Biron unhooked Leia's pack from Gerod and slung it over his shoulder. "It's not much further. We should get there before nightfall," he warned.

Maryk was out of sight by the time they had gathered the rest of the bags and started up the trail. The pace was quick and the sound of Han treading behind her was muffled by her heavy breathing. The image of Gerod's blood running down the side of his face refused to leave her. She thought about his sister and about his parents who now had lost another child.

The burning in her lungs resided slightly when the path flattened out and dipped down. Although it was difficult to see clearly in the lowering light, they seemed to have come around to the opposite side of the hill. It wasn't long before the dirt road merged with their trail and pinpricks of light fluttered through the trees.

She and Han stood together on the edge of the village as Biron joined Maryk and a third figure who Leia assumed was the general in charge.

"You okay?" Han was looking down at her.

She nodded automatically. After all, what was there to say?

The trio approached them and Maryk introduced them formally to General Yavcik.

"I apologize that I can't give you a proper welcome tonight," Yavcik said. "But I must oversee the removal of the bodies and the search for more insurgents." His brow darkened. "They are getting bolder and bolder. We must rip them out by the root." He paused and looked at Han and Leia as if seeing them for the first time. "Let us meet in the morning. Maryk will show you where you can stay tonight. It's simple, but the women of the village keep it clean and stocked for those who pass through here."

The lightness that had infused Gerod wasn't reflected in Yavcik or anyone else they had met on Caldira. Leia wondered if that would have inevitably changed in him had he lived.

She stepped forward. "Please give my condolences to the family."

Yavcik inclined his head. "I will."

"Follow me." Maryk led her and Han through the village. Low-flung structures hugged the road on either side as they walked. Smaller paths branched off from a central artery and they took one of the last ones which led to a house that even during the day would be barely visible from the main road. At the front entrance, Maryk unhooked a key from a ring and handed it to her. He set their bags down and inclined his head. "Good night. We will meet with you in the morning."

Once inside, Han slapped along the wall until a dim light flickered on. Leia dropped her bag on the floor and scrubbed her eyes with the heels of her hands.

"One more dead," she muttered. "Because of me." Her voice rose as she slid the bolt on the door with more force than necessary. "As if an entire planet wasn't enough."

"Hey." Han looked over sharply at her. "He didn't die because of you, Leia."

She shot him a withering glance. "Of course he did, Han. If we hadn't come here, he would still be alive."

"Leia. Leia." Han was suddenly in front of her squeezing her arms so tightly that her skin stretched painfully under her clothes. "You didn't kill him. Those snipers who tracked us killed him."

"But he was there because of us. Because of me." She swallowed hard, trying to tamp down the tears that were welling up. Logic was no comfort at a time like this. Why couldn't she just wallow in self-pity for once?

"Leia. Look at me." His tone was serious and he spoke slowly, as if to a child. "People make their own choices. Those snipers chose to ambush us. Gerod chose to join the fight against the Veroni." He raised his hands to cradle her face, his thumbs brushing her cheeks tenderly. "You have to allow people to have agency for their actions, Sweetheart. Isn't that why you're fighting the Empire in the first place?"

She wanted so much to believe him. "I know, Han." She exhaled slowly, her fists clutching his shirt. "I know. But it seems that every time I — we —." The tears were threatening again and she hated crying, hated it. The gentle circles his thumbs drew on her cheeks weren't enough, weren't nearly enough, and she wanted to pull her head wrap off, that stupid wrap and her clothes too, so he could touch her properly with the entirety of his hands and his body.

"Take these out. Take these —." Her shaking fingers covered his and pulled them impatiently to the edge of her scarf.

"It's all right, Sweetheart," he said in a low voice. He removed one pin after another, the muted clinks as they hit the floor keeping time with his fingers. Just as she had on his ship, she closed her eyes and leaned into the warmth of his body; but unlike then his lips were now pressing along her hairline, following the path set by his fingers and the trembling of her body only increased.

When the last pin fell, they tugged the scarf off together and then his hands were in her hair and his lips were damp on her cheek, her forehead, her nose. She reached up blindly to cradle his face as he had hers and angled her mouth up to his in desperation. There was no hesitation when she kissed him, and the fervor that thrummed through her body only encouraged her to press into him harder, to run her hands over his chest and down his back and up under his shirt, his flesh hot and shocking and immediately satisfying.

The backs of her knees hit the bed — she assumed it was the bed — before he fell on top of her, his fingers maneuvering over her belt. Their mutual muttered frustrations died down once they were both naked and she sighed in relief when his hands were finally, finally, hungry all over her.

"Leia," he moaned into her ear before sucking sharply on the lobe and then trailing down her throat. He didn't stay in one place for long, his lips moving impatiently over her breasts, her stomach, and briefly between her legs before making the return trip up to her mouth.

It wasn't nearly enough. "Come here. Come —." She couldn't stop her hips moving beneath him but still managed to grasp him firmly — Gods, he was so hard and thick and why had they waited so long to do this — and spread her legs further, her heels on his buttocks urging him on. "Han."

And then he was inside her and it was so much better than any of her teenage fumbles, better than her own hand, and the motion of his hips, a circular snapping motion, created spikes of pleasure deep within that threatened to overwhelm her. Her body needed its release so badly that her orgasm hovered after the first few thrusts and she tensed to keep from falling over the edge prematurely.

"Han," she pleaded. He lifted his head from where it was buried in her hair and she saw his face clearly for the first time since they had landed on the bed, his expression hazy with pleasure and exertion and perhaps lingering confusion. His fingers moved between her legs, tracing a exploratory pattern over her nerves. "Like that?" he murmured.

It was enough and then it wasn't. "Yes," she gasped. "But harder," and for once he obeyed and then her climax crested and obliterated everything around her, including him.

Afterwards they clung to each other tightly, Leia breathing into the crook of his neck while Han smoothed his palms over her back. The months-long breath she had been holding finally eased and the significance of what they had done, of what she had initiated, faded away in the reality of their bodies entwined together.

Han lifted his head to survey the room. "Huh. Looks like the other bed is a lot bigger."

A laugh bubbled up in her that she didn't even try to stop and then she felt guilty for feeling such joy so soon after Gerod had died.

"Hey." He drew back to peer at her. "Are you —?" He sounded so nervous all of a sudden that her heart clenched.

"I'm good." She smiled up at him and ran her fingers through his hair. "Better than good, actually."

"Good." His nipped lightly along her jaw and neck. "You're amazing. We should do a lot more of that."

Despite his heat against her, cool air hit her nipples and the wetness on her thighs and she shivered.

He pulled away reluctantly. "You think they have hot water showers here?"

"I'll check for one." The thought of a real shower after the hike and the sex was more enticing than food or sleep. She extricated herself from his arms and padded over to her bag by the door.

The house was basic but functional, the beds in the front opening up to a small living space in the back. The first doorway she spied led to a small kitchen but the second one connected to a decent-sized 'fresher with a shower stall. As the water heated up, she unpacked her toiletries, grateful for her foresight in bringing them.

She was rinsing the shampoo from her hair when a dark silhouette clouded in steam filled the doorway. Without preamble, Han stepped through the barrier and she pivoted to face him fully, rivulets of water streaming down her shoulders and breasts, her wet hair plastered against her neck and back.

"Leia." His voice was hoarse.

He was so tall next to her, taller in his nakedness than clothed. He kissed her roughly, his teeth knocking against hers once before they slid into a slower, deeper rhythm. Her back was against the tiled wall and he was saying something against her face that she couldn't hear over the rush of the water. His hands were desperate on her breasts and then before she knew what was happening he was kneeling in front of her. He pressed his mouth against her thigh and circled her other leg with his arm to hold it aside. She clutched blindly at his head as he licked her insistently, his tongue hotter than the water raining down on them.

She came with a cry that couldn't be drowned out entirely by the sound of the water. The suddenness of her orgasm threatened to knock her off balance and she grasped the faucet to keep from keeling over at the waist. Han was still on his knees, his hands smoothing over her quivering thighs and as her presence of mind returned she pushed his wet hair away from his face and tugged at his jaw to pull him back up.

He kissed her greedily against the wall, his erection poking at her belly insistently. She wrapped her hand around him and his answering moan made it clear that he was in no position to leave the shower in this state. Breaking their kiss, he bowed his head to hers as she stroked him slowly, pausing every so often to replenish the soap on her hand. She kept a steady pace as his body grew tauter, his fingers digging into her ass whenever her thumb swirled around his tip.

The sounds emanating from him were more erotic than she expected and a shadow of her own arousal started building again in the pit of her stomach. Water dripped down her nose as she rested her forehead on his shoulder, her hand moving steadily up and down, up and down. He clutched at her sharply and then his hand covered hers, pressing it firmer around him for two, three more strokes until he shuddered and spilled onto her fingers.

They stood unmoving, their heads still bowed together, until the water grew cooler. Han reached out and swiped at the faucet, then brought his arm back around her to hold her tightly, the warmth of his skin counteracting the chill of the air. Pulling back, he gazed at her with a smile so relaxed that he looked years younger. He kissed the top of her head and stepped out of the stall, handing her a towel from the shelves along the wall.

Alone in the 'fresher she leaned against the counter and inhaled deeply to counteract the shakiness of her limbs. She felt looser, as if parts of her body had disengaged from the rest of her and floated away.

When she entered the kitchen dressed in her night clothes, Han was rummaging through the preserver. "I'll say one thing in favor of this planet. They don't waste time with formal dinners." He pulled out a stack of pre-cooked meals and handed them to her before diving in again.

They ate at the single table without bothering to heat anything up. Han cracked open two bottles of bitter ale, enjoying her reaction when she took the first sip.

Something occurred to her and she leaned closer, her voice low. "Do you think this house is bugged?"

He took advantage of her nearness to kiss her before responding. "I don't think so. I took a look around and didn't see anything suspicious." He grinned. "If it is, then somebody got a good show."

"Stop." She tried to look stern but failed. He was too handsome with his disheveled hair and faded shirt and shadow across his jaw. There was no reason to resist touching him now, so she arched her hand through his damp hair and down his cheek, the stubble raspy on her palm.

Something else occurred to her. "Um…" She pressed her lips together. "Are you up to date on everything?"

It took him a moment to comprehend. "Yeah. I am." He looked at her carefully. "You?"

"Yes." Her trips to the medcenter every few months had begun to feel depressingly unnecessary.

He brushed his thumb over her knuckles. "I figured. You're pretty responsible and everything."

She raised her eyebrow. "Apparently you are too. About this."

"Well. It's one of those things I've learned to be careful about. Had a few close calls when I was younger." He ran his hand through his hair. "No unexpected, uh, events that I know of, though."

It was another reminder of the gulf between their ages and ranges of experience. She studied the table, the whorls in the polished wood suddenly mesmerizing.

"Hey." He curved his hand over the back of her neck and drew her to him. He tasted like ale and the smoky meat and she felt her stomach settle again. Words were inadequate and imprecise, but this, his mouth on hers, their bodies together in resonance, could summon a clarity not expressible any other way.

They left the dishes in the sink and turned the lamps out in the small rooms. Both moons were above the horizon, the larger one crescent, the smaller one nearly full, and their reflected light shimmered through the thin curtains.

Han studied one bed, then the other. "Should we move to the bigger bed for the night? Or commit to the one we started with?"

"Let's try the larger one," she decided. "What was that old nursery rhyme again?"

"The one with the Wookies? With the different sized beds?"

She shook her head in affection. "Something like that."

They both stared at the bed, unmoving.

Han looked at her softly. "C'mon. I'm beat." He tugged her hand and she allowed him to pull her down next to him. He maneuvered them onto their sides facing away from the window and curled his body around hers, his arm draped over her waist, his hand loosely cupping her breast over her shirt.

She wasn't used to sleeping with anyone and it took a minute to figure out how to arrange the pillow so her head wasn't on his arm. The sheets were pulled haphazardly over their legs, but his chest radiated heat against her back and despite her thin shirt, she was plenty warm.

"You comfortable?" he murmured in her ear.

"Yes." She tilted her head and he kissed her tenderly, his fingers stroking her cheek.

He drew back. "I thought that you — wanted this. For a while." Like I did.

She shifted to free her arm and fingered the scar on his chin. "I have wanted this. I certainly thought about it a lot." She smiled wryly. "Though it was difficult to imagine actually — taking the step."

"And now that we have?"

She kissed him again, her lips feather-light.

"It feels right." She forced herself to leave out the rest: despite the war, despite the uncertainty, despite the fact that he might leave. Although those conditions were the reality in which they found themselves and would refuse to be ignored for long, she didn't want them to intrude on their new state. Not yet anyway.

He nodded and kissed her forehead and she settled back on her side, covering his hand with her own. Even under his weight, she felt lighter than she had in a very long time.