Leia was pacing in her quarters, utterly frustrated and more than a little irritated. She had the desire to strangle Han Solo and blow that junk of his ship into oblivion.

She bristled, remembering their latest exchange in the medical centre, where she had gone to visit Luke after his misadventure with a ferocious predator and his bacta soaking…

They had been talking for a while when Solo entered the room, looking smug as usual, followed by his ever-present Wookiee shadow.

"Hi kid, you look strong enough to wrestle a Gundark," he said.

"Thanks to you and Ben," Luke answered. "I know he told you where to look for me."

Han ignored the comment and added, "That's two you owe me, junior." Then he crossed his arms over his chest and turned to face Leia with a big, devilish grin.

"Well, your Worship, it looks like you arranged to keep me close by for a while longer," he said, referring to his desire to leave the Rebellion and the discussion they had the day before.

"It has nothing to do with it," Leia tried to make it clear. "General Rieekan thinks it's dangerous for any ships to leave the system until we know where that probe came from."

"Probe? What probe?" asked Luke, his eyes darting from one face to the other.

"That makes a good story. But I think you just can't bear to let me out of your sight," Han commented, looking, if possible, even more smug.

"I don't know where you get your delusions, laser brains," Leia answered, feeling her irritation increase. That man was really impossible!

Chewbacca let out a sound very much like a sarcastic laugh, and the smuggler did not like it at all.

"Laugh it up, fuzz ball. You didn't see her alone with me in the south passage."

Luke sparked to this, and looked at Leia, who replied to his unspoken question with a: "I don't know what he's talking about."

"Ooops! I guess you haven't told Luke about that yet," Had smiled.

"About what?" Luke inquired, his voice hard.

"Now don't get the wrong idea, pal. She was just trying to express her true feelings for me."

"Why you low-down, stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder," Leia all but exploded, furious with the man's arrogance.

"Who's scruffy-looking?" Han had walked near Luke and bent down to say in the younger man's ear, "I tell ya' sweetheart, I must've hit pretty close to the mark to get you hoppin' like this. Doesn't it look that way to you, Luke?"

It was then Leia knew she had enough and decided to teach a lesson to Solo.

"Oh it does, does it?" she exclaimed, stepping closer to Luke's bed. "Well, I guess you don't understand everything about women yet…" Leia leant over and kissed Luke on the lips.

Then she stood, smirked knowingly at Han and walked out the room, leaving the others speechless.

However her good mood had not lasted long, as her current pacing showed. She was not proud of herself and her actions.

True, Han Solo got on her nerves but she had no right to use Luke in that way, just to make a point. She was just glad Obi-Wan had not witnessed that scene.

Leia closed her eyes. Obi-Wan. It annoyed her having to admit he and not Solo was the real reason behind her current frustration and irritation. Or better, she was frustrated and irritated with herself for how she behaved with him.

Leia had always been courageous and daring. She could – and she had – led a charge inside an Imperial outpost. She had faced and held her ground with Darth Vader and Tarkin. She had even done intelligence work on Coruscant, sneaking inside the Imperial palace when she was only sixteen. And yet, here she was, unable to confront the man she had fallen in love with and tell him of her feelings. Unable to act for fear of his rejection. Unable to bear seeing compassion or pity in those kind eyes she longed to see brighten with passion.

Leia slammed her fist on the table, making the datapads piled on it rattle. She was behaving like an idiot, and wasting precious time.

Solo had reported destroying a probe droid and, hopefully, he had done it before the machine transmitted their base's location to the Empire. However, it was also possible the Imperial fleet was already travelling to Hoth.

Leia was a realist, not a dreamer. She knew she could die at any moment—and she would gladly do so if her sacrifice would help the Alliance to restore the Republic.

But I don't want to die without knowing what he thinks of me, she said to herself, stopping her pacing. I don't want him to risk dying without knowing what he means to me. Without knowing how much I have come to cherish the time we spend talking or walking together. How my heart rejoices when he smiles at me. How the sound of his voice makes me feel so warm. How just being in his presence makes me feel happy.

No, she could not wait any longer. She wanted Obi-Wan to know, even if he did not reciprocate her feelings. She needed to tell him. Now.

Her decision made, Leia left her quarters, fully knowing where Obi-Wan would be. She had this strange awareness of him, and she always knew where to find him.