Happy Friday everyone! Here's the next chapter, thanks so much to those of you who have reviewed. I really appreciate it! Hope you enjoy this next installment...

Han returned to their apartment that evening later than usual. When he entered he was immediately greeted by the smell of something cooking in the kitchen. He smirked. Leia never cooked. It was not her strong suit and after several failed attempts at learning they both agreed that it was not worth the risk to their health and happiness that her cooking imposed. If she was "cooking" anything it was probably a frozen meal that she was re-hydrating. She was superb at re-hydrating. But the fact that she would even make the gesture let Han know that she was probably feeling a little guilty about the situation. If Han had encountered some questions and remarks throughout his day, chances were Leia had experienced the same.

Han looked down at himself and realized just how filthy he was. Deciding he wasn't quite ready to face Leia anyway, he quietly walked to their bedroom and disappeared into the 'fresher. He tried to use his time in the shower to calm his attitude and predisposition to fight with Leia when he saw her.

He exited the 'fresher and wrapped a towel around his waist. As he walked through the door to their bedroom he halted at the sight of her sitting on their bed looking at him. She looked beautiful, as usual, dressed in a khaki skirt that hit her at the knees, a simple white short-sleeved blouse with iridescent buttons down the front. Her hair was in a loose, single braid and it was slung forward over her shoulder, the end of it barely resting on her lap. She was barefooted and her shirt was un-tucked. She looked relaxed and apprehensive at the same time. Han didn't know how she pulled that off, but she did.

"Hey." He spoke to her as he stepped forward and offered a kiss.

"Hey." She replied as she tilted her head forward and accepted it. "I didn't hear you come in." Han heard that as, I know that you are avoiding me.

"Problems with the aft stabilizer, I wanted to get cleaned up." His half-sentences were a dead giveaway that he was hiding something. He knew it, she had told him so before, but he couldn't help himself. He pulled a pair of boxers out of a drawer, dropped the towel and slipped them on.

"Uh-um." Was Leia's only response. Han heard, So you're going to make me pry it out of you.

"What smells so good?" He tried to recover and change the subject all at the same time as he turned to her and began slipping on a pair of casual pants.

"What's wrong, Han?" She exhaled as she said it, as if she wasn't in the mood to play games.

"What?" He answered innocently as he rummaged for just the right shirt for this conversation. Han was in the mood to play games; it was far more enticing than having this conversation.

"Come on, you come home late, you go straight into the 'fresher without even telling me hello and you're acting…aloof."

"Aloof? That's a good one. I told you I wanted to get cleaned up, is that a crime?" And do you really want to talk about this?

"Alright, if this is how you want to play it, let's go eat before it gets cold." Her tone was sharp as she spat the words out at him.

She got up from the bed and walked past him. He was just finished pulling his shirt over his head as he saw her body brush by. The tone of her voice angered him; she had no right to be irritated. Grabbing her by the arm, he turned her body to face him. She glanced down at his hand with indignation and looked into his eyes with an icy glare. She was prepared for battle and now Han was ready to aim and shoot. "I'm not playing anything, sweetheart. This is no game to me."

"What is it, Han? The Isolder thing? What? Did some of the guys give you a rough time?" She was being condescending and it infuriated him. Making light of his feelings was alright for him but not her. She spoke the words out of exhaustion, like it was a conversation that they had had numerous times already when in reality they had only spoken about it once. He also did not like the way she referred to it by his name, Isolder, not the Hapan thing or something else. It was if she had slapped him in the face with her casual use of that man's name.

"Yeah, the Isolder thing, and I don't get bent out of shape from idle gossip, you know that." He said it with determination and meaning, even though he did feel that it was not entirely true.

"So what is it? What happened that has gotten you so hot and bothered since we talked about all of this yesterday?" He had let go of her arm and she swung her hands out when she said "all of this" as if encircling volumes of conversations on the subject.

"We talked about it for two seconds in bed last night, Leia. I'd hardly call that a completed conversation."

"Ok, well, then what else do we need to clarify on the subject that we didn't discuss last night?" She crossed her arms and waited for his reply, her expression was one of annoyance.

Han didn't reply right away. He could usually read her fairly well and he could tell she was putting up a front. She was acting as if she felt she was totally in the right which was usually a sure sign that she felt completely in the wrong. So he formulated his next words carefully, not wanting to fight about the Hapan thing. That's not what upset him; it was only the catalyst to the reaction. So he said, "You told me no."

He watched her face turn from confusion to enlightenment in a nanosecond. Her demeanor softened and she uncrossed her arms, looked down at the ground and then back up to him. While she shook her head back and forth she said, "I told you I wanted to wait."

"You used the word no, to me, and you told him you would think about it."

"Han, you know why I answered the way I did-"

"Yeah, I know, because it's all politics and politeness when you're dealin' with anyone but me."

"You know that's not true."

"Marry me."

"What?"

"Marry me, now. All those reasons you gave me on Endor are no longer valid, right? So why don't we get married now?"

"I'm not going to let someone else dictate when we get married."

"I don't want to marry you because of the Hapan thing, I've wanted to marry you since Endor."

"You haven't brought up marriage since Endor, Han. If it's not the Hapan thing then why is it all of a sudden such a big rush? Why now?"

He grabbed her by both arms up near her shoulders and held her eyes for a moment before he said, "I think the question is more along the lines of, why not now, Leia?"