Disclaimer: Make money from this? Certainly not.
Author's note: Sorry for the long-ish wait. I was unable to access the internet for a time. I hope I keep entertaining people with this story.
Chapter Four: In which food plays a disproportionate role and Han muses.
Han was by nature a cautious man. Not that anyone who knew him would believe that, but it was true in a certain sense.
Han would risk his life for few things. One was his freedom, and because of this, Han had acquired his status as a daredevil. He would also, on some occasions, risk his life to save people he felt obligated to look out for.
But Han wouldn't risk his life or freedom for spice, which explained why he had dumped his cargo to avoid being pursued by the Imperials. He wouldn't even (most days) risk those things for money. After all, money could usually be found more than one way.
Leia thought Han was with the Rebellion for an eventual (hypothetical) payoff.
Leia was mistaken.
Han had accepted Luke's crazy rescue mission aboard the Death Star because he had seen the money as his ticket to freedom from Jabba. And after his escape from Tatooine last year, Han had gained his freedom.
But he still stayed with the Rebellion.
Gods only knew why.
That wasn't necessarily true. After all, Han wasn't a stupid man, and he had begun to think his reasons had something to do with a short, fiery-tempered princess.
Han didn't much like this line of thought, though, and was thinking about all the reasons why it couldn't be that princess that kept him with the Rebellion (he wasn't finding very many) as he followed said princess to the hanger employee's work area.
There were currently two deck employees in the area. Both were Akonen, a species characterized by small, furry bodies and large heads. The Akonen were known as quiet and industrious beings, without a homeworld that anyone could remember. They had been in space so long, and there were so many of them dispersed through the galaxy, that there didn't seem to be any particular concentration of them on any one world.
Leia approached the one that was welding a casing for a droid together.
"Excuse me, but could you tell me what happened this morning?"
The Akonen exchanged glances, then the second Akonen spoke while the first continued welding.
"Fellow-being, the employee removed was convicted of murder earlier this morning. Your ship is now free to go, if that is what you wished to know."
Leia lifted her palms. "I was hoping for more information—a story, perhaps?" The Akonen looked at each other warily, and the negotiation for information continued while Han looked on, impressed that Leia know exactly how to address them. He had seen her respond perfectly to different species before, and knew this was one of the reasons she had been chosen for this particular mission. He almost never managed to get all of the nuances of communication with alien species correct.
The second Akonen finally returned the palms-up gesture. "A story. Yes, there is one in everything. This human had long been suspected as a thief, but not a murderer…or a traitor. Other eyes and ears left the hangar this morning as well, and others came to replace them."
Leia said, "A traitor?"
The Akonen said, "That is what the commander said as the human was led away today." He shifted his attention back to his work.
The Akonen obviously weren't much for elaboration, Han thought, but the details were clear enough: the unfortunate thief would have the murder pinned on him, and the Imperials were using him to ferret out the known rebel's connections and contacts; namely, Han and Leia.
"They had to know something important was going down," Han told Leia.
"I like this less and less." She sighed. They exited their docking station in unspoken agreement, heading for the market and lunch.
They sat down at a table outside a small Corellian place.
The waiter shuffled over. He placed two napkins down, and as he did so Leia noticed writing on the bottom of the one placed closer to Han. She said nothing as the waiter put down two glasses of water and left.
She looked over at Han, wanting to know if he had seen the same thing she did. Judging from the wicked gleam in his eyes, he had, he had an idea, and she wasn't going to like it.
Han reached across the table and tucked a strand of Leia's hair behind her ear. As his fingers brushed her skin, Leia shivered just a little. Then Han's forearm knocked over Leia's glass, dumping the water straight into her lap.
Leia jumped up, shocked and cursing.
"You half-brained, clumsy…" her brain caught up with her, and she lost her train of thought.
Han jumped up, too, grabbed the napkins and started apologizing and trying to dab at the wet spots on her skirt. Leia glared at him and grabbed the napkins.
"I'll be back," she said, and headed for the 'freshers she knew had to be inside.
Inside the 'fresher, she opened the napkin with the writing and scanned it quickly. It was a time and a location, presumably a meet. She flushed the napkin down the toilet. She then used a hand dryer—an antiquated and ineffective piece of machinery—to partially dry her skirt, giving her time to fume a little at Han.
She returned to the table to find food already waiting.
"I went ahead and ordered for us both. Again, I'm so sorry," Han offered.
Leia muttered, "No, you're not."
Han grinned—unrepentantly, Leia thought. She inspected her plate, finding to her surprise that it was one of her favorite Corellian dishes.
Han said, "You ordered that last year, at that place we ate at on the station."
"More like didn't eat. We were interrupted, as I recall."
Han leaned forward, "We have time today, though, right?"
Leia popped a piece into her mouth. "We're not in any rush."
Han said, "I used to get this all the time. I haven't had any, though, since I was…" he frowned a minute, then continued, "fifteen. Most planets don't have good Corellian food. As I found out." He grinned wryly.
Leia swallowed her third or fourth bite. She felt like asking Han what the rest of the story was, but did not want to seem too intrusive. He must have seen her curiosity, though, because he proceeded to tell her a hilarious story about a small diner, a Gamorean, and a Corellian spice known as j'fala pepper.
Leia found she enjoyed the lunch, even while she was worrying about napkins and contacts and Imperials.