Between the Lines

by suezahn

Disclaimer: All characters depicted herein are the property of Lucasfilm, Disney, etc. My only profit is in the form of readers' feedback. Please be generous!

Note: This story was originally written in 1995 and has now be revised and updated for consistency with the rest of the Kismet series. Please note that the OC name Kristin Aldritch = Keris Aldric now. I decided the old name was too "Earthy." A very special thank-you to my lovely proofreaders: Erin Darroch and Marjorie Joyce. The original story was awarded STAR aWARdS Best Long Story 1995.

Chapter 14

Leia once again found herself waiting, but this time she welcomed the delay as the Med Center's untroubled peace surrounded her. She needed the quiet to regain her composure and reflect on the past few days. She felt herself on a careening course over which she had no control. Reacting to events as opposed to anticipating them was a poor way to run her life and she knew it. Somehow, the knowing didn't make the stopping any easier.

Luke groaned and shifted in his slumber. Watching him from the opposite side of the tiny recovery room, Leia felt her concern for him displace her bout of self-doubt. Too-Onebee had reassured her that Luke was now on his way to a full recovery, but she still couldn't ease the ache of worry. She wondered if he would always bear the scars that even Bacta couldn't erase.

Seeing that Luke was still sound asleep, she settled back into the chair. It was just as well that he wasn't conscious; she wasn't in the most sociable mood yet. She could feel her blood begin to simmer at the mere thought of Han Solo.

Where was the smuggler now? Leia felt a wicked grin creep over her face as she drew her legs up to sit atop them, propping her bent elbow on an arm rest and a chin upon her fist. He was probably chewing General Rieekan's ear off at that very moment. Better him than me. She was tired of having to shoulder that rather onerous privilege alone; let Rieekan deal with the troublesome spacer this time.

Spacers! She'd forgotten all about that damned coin. No surprise that Han had misinterpreted how or why she'd come to possess such an incriminating item. He was wrong, of course, but it would be a wasted effort to explain that the lucky charm had been an unsolicited gift from a sadly deluded friend. From his very manner, Leia knew he believed he held an advantage over her. Well, he was in for a rude awakening if he'd indeed tracked Rieekan down.

She couldn't deny a deep curiosity for the merhant spacer subculture, but it was part of her job, wasn't it? She needed to understand it in order to work with them, arranging shipment and underground trade routes. The fact that Han was part of that culture was a coincidence, wasn't it? There was no reason for him to be so smug about it. Yes, she sometimes liked being around him, and relished his vitality and sense of humor, but other times his ever-flexing ego was enough to make her bend durasteel with her teeth. She was accustomed to chivalrous courting and nice men who catered to her wishes, not snide backtalkers who made erotic proposals and necked with her on couches, only adding fuel to inappropriate fantasies. Was something wrong with her to feel so attracted to a man so unlike anything she'd ever considered desirable?

"Leia?"

The princess snapped out of her reverie to find Luke wide awake. He was studying her from his reclined position. "You were far away," he observed with a weak smile.

Avoiding the prompt, Leia unfolded herself from the chair, moved to settle on the edge of his bunk, and brushed a lock of blond hair from his forehead. "How are you feeling?"

Seeming to appreciate her gentle touch, Luke closed his eyes. "Much better, but don't stick me in that blasted Bacta tank again."

"Don't pull another stunt like that and you've got a deal."

Luke had to chuckle but clearly regretted the movement as he winced. "Never thought I'd ever miss Tatooine, but it sure beats this place."

"I know what you mean. Imagine it, Luke, I used to like snow when I was a child." She grinned at his mystified look. Without thinking, she reached to tuck the corners of Luke's blanket closer around him. "So, are you going to tell me what happened out there?"

"I don't really know," Luke muttered. "I don't know what attacked me, but—"

Leia's dark eyes grew wide. "You were attacked?"

He shifted into a more comfortable position from which to talk. "Yeah, whatever it was whomped me right off my Tauntaun. When I came to, I didn't stick around for a formal introduction, but I'm pretty sure I was lunch."

"What was it? Could you describe it to someone in Security?" Now all business, Leia felt concern for the Rebel patrols out there now conducting surveillance. They needed to be warned if some unknown native predator was on the prowl.

"Sure, I think so. Give me a little time to think, okay?"

"Of course." Relaxing, Leia offered a little smile of apology for being so methodical. "Whenever you feel ready."

Luke nodded in acceptance but then frowned. "I don't even know how I got back here. I remember…." He sighed at his attempt to describe an indescribable sensation. "It was a weird dream, maybe, but I remember Ben Kenobi saying something about going to someplace called Dagobah and finding a Jedi Master named Yoda."

Because of the Empire's genocide of the Jedi and the campaign of propaganda against their ilk that followed, most citizens these days knew little of the general teachings of the Force. Leia was an exception, being raised with a healthy background in the lore. She was familiar with the histories and legends, but that was a far cry from witnessing it in person, and she couldn't help feeling a little uneasy as she listened to Luke speak of a very personal mystical experience. It was one thing to watch contraband holodisks about paranormal Force-users; it was something else to know one this closely. She felt a tickling up her spine and reached a hand up to rub the nape of her neck. She hoped he wasn't experiencing delusions of wish-fulfillment; he'd suffered a blow to the head, after all.

"Han found you last night," Leia changed subjects.

Alarmed, Luke propped himself up a little higher onto his pillow. "Is he all right? It was so cold and—"

"He's fine," she soothed. She reconsidered her words after a moment and shrugged. "Well, he's normal. Normal for Han, anyway."

Relieved, Luke relaxed again. "Why are you two still fighting?" he asked in mild amusement.

Leia's attitude transformed into self-conscious avoidance; Luke could be so inconveniently perceptive at times. "It's complicated."

"Come on, Leia. Han and I were in the hangar bay when—"

The door to the little cubicle swished open with a suddenness that caused Leia to leap off the edge of Luke's bunk. She watched as See-Threepio shuffled into the room, followed closely by his ever-present companion, Artoo. "Master Luke, sir, it's good to see you fully functional again." Artoo-Detoo rolled forward and twirled in a tight circle, emitting a string of enthusiastic beeps and whistles that echoed within the room. "Artoo expresses his relief, also."

Before Luke could voice a reply, the door slid open once again and Han Solo, with Chewbacca in tow, joined them in the small recovery room. Without sparing a glance of acknowledgment toward her, Han leaned over Luke and gave him a healthy poke on the shoulder. "How you feeling, Kid? You don't look so bad to me. In fact, you look strong enough to pull the ears off a Gundark."

"Thanks to you," Luke said with honest gratitude.

"That's two you owe me, Junior." Han held up two fingers to emphasize his point. Without further preamble, he then pivoted on his heel to face Leia. Propping himself on the edge of Luke's bunk, he focused his attention, and a killer smile, on her.

Leia crossed her arms over her chest in a pose that she belatedly realized was more defensive than nonchalant but she recognized trouble when she saw it—Han Solo was trouble incarnate. And he was looking far too pleased with himself for her own peace of mind.

"Well, Your Worship, looks like you managed to keep me around for a little while longer."

Leia restrained herself by gritting her teeth. Of all the names Solo regularly tagged on her, she hated that one the most. He must have lost the shouting match with Rieekan but was far from capitulation; his cocky stance shouted, This isn't over yet! Now he was resorting to twisting events to fit his own warped agenda.

"I had nothing to do with it. General Rieekan thinks it's too dangerous for any ships to leave the system until we've activated the energy shield."

"That's a good story." Looking far too satisfied, Han dropped the final sabacc card he'd been holding. "I think you just can't bear to let a gorgeous guy like me out of your sight."

Leia's internal sirens were too late in sounding a warning of Han's flank attack. He'd fired her own description of him back at her in such a casual manner that she felt dizzy. He'd played the long con, waiting for the right moment and then pouncing with all the lethal accuracy of a wild Pantera. Leia's tactical retreat now threatened to become a full-scale rout. It was time for a defensive maneuver. "I don't know where you get your delusions, Laserbrain."

Chewbacca let out the Wookiee equivalent of a belly laugh, clearly tickled by the new name. He glanced down at his captain, awaiting a rebuttal. «Laserbrain.»

Solo shot a disgusted look at his copilot. "Laugh it up, Fuzzball." He'd obviously expected such a dodge from her because he sprang off the bunk and moved to her side. "But you didn't see us alone in the south passage." As if posing for a family portrait, he wrapped a familiar arm around her shoulders, tugging her in tight to his side and flashing a massive smile to their small audience. "She expressed her true feelings for me."

"My—?!" Provoked beyond tolerance and feeling like a Womprat backed into a corner, she struck out at the smuggler with a well-aimed knuckle into his ribs. He immediately released her and moved back towards Luke. "Why, you stuck-up…half-witted…scruffy-looking…Nerfherder!"

Han swung around. "Who's scruffy-looking?"

Leia abruptly ran out of steam. That was the last taunt she'd expected a reaction from. He's a lunatic.

Han shared a conspiratorial glance with the reclined Luke before returning his accusing gaze to Leia. "I must've hit pretty close to the mark to get her all riled up like that, huh, Kid?"

That was the final insult. She waited for Luke to come rushing to her defense as usual, but was rudely disappointed when Luke changed sides mid-battle by answering Han's rhetorical question with a hesitant nod. They both looked up to her as if awaiting an explanation.

"Well," Leia stated with a finality that threatened retribution for the unexpected betrayal, "I guess you don't know everything about women yet." Not sure which man she was more perturbed with, she directed her broad statement at them both. On pure impulse, she marched to Luke's bunk and bent over him. Steadying his head with both of her hands, she planted a firm and lengthy kiss on his mouth. When she finally broke off the embrace, she glared up and was rewarded by the grimace on Solo's face. Sort that out, Flyboy!

«She got the 'half-witted' part just about right, if you ask me,» Chewbacca observed as he ended the stunned silence.

Too exasperated to bother acknowledging the Wookiee's quip, Leia moved around the little clutch of shocked onlookers and exited the room. She didn't need this sort of abuse. She would see to it that Solo was given clearance to leave, no matter what Rieekan said. Her heart would rip in two but she didn't want to care about that anymore—she would get over it just like she'd gotten over all the other losses in her life.

Leia passed through the exit then paused in the middle of the main corridor, glancing up towards the carved-out ceiling as the public address system crackled to life from a hidden speaker. "Headquarters personnel, report to the Command Center immediately." It was an oddly urgent command. Something was wrong on the base. Her breathing constricted with palpable tension as she resumed heading towards the Command Center.

"Leia!"

She continued walking, refusing to acknowledge the baritone voice. The hallway was deserted, of course, right when she needed a crowd to disappear into the most.

"Leia, wait up!"

Why can't he just leave me alone?! She plowed to a stop and swung around, fists set on her hips, poised for further battle. Han mirrored her stance but then he deliberately relaxed and closed the distance between them, his gait loose and nonthreatening.

"We have to talk."

A little disarmed by his actions—tantamount to a truce—Leia reflexively softened her own posture and tone. "There's nothing more to talk about."

"You're wrong." Han stopped within reach of her and seemed to mull over an elaboration. "You know why I can't stay."

Leia felt her face grow warm under his intense gaze. "Yes, I know." Her voice nearly betrayed her distress; after everything they'd been through together, she still couldn't believe this was about to happen. There was bitterness in her defiance. "You've been telling me why for the past two years."

Han nodded, not attempting to duck her verbal jab. "I deserve that."

"Headquarters personnel." The loud words echoed down the corridor once again. "Report to the Command Center immediately."

Leia fought the urge to fidget. There was an emergency on the base but she was facing a crisis of her own right here in the hallway. Unable to comprehend Han's uncharacteristic passivity, Leia felt her own hands clench at her sides. All she knew was that she couldn't go on like this any longer. "I'll see that you get your clearance to leave."

"Leia," Han ground out, his frustration beginning to show through again.

"I don't have time for this, Han." She began to turn away.

"Sooner or later, you've got to find the time!"

A flash of fury made her eyes narrow as she looked sideways at him. How dare he? Who's abandoning whom?

"May the Force be with you," Leia said the ancient farewell. Tearing her gaze away from his hazel eyes was no small task, but the princess turned her back on Solo and headed for the Command Center.

The End