From a Certain Point of View
Han arrived in front of Leia's apartment and stood there for a moment. The sound of voices on the other side of the door stilled his hand from pressing the bell right away. He recognized the sound of Leia's voice and heard a man's voice as well. Glancing to his side, he saw someone walking towards him down the hallway so he finally pushed the intercom.
The conversation inside of Leia's apartment fell silent at the sound of the chime inside. Han looked up toward the holocamera pointing down at him and then heard the swoosh of the apartment door as it opened.
Leia was standing in front of him, her eyes bloodshot and the skin on her face was red and blotchy. She looked down at her feet as she stepped back and said, "Come in."
Han stepped in and noticed Roman standing next to the table in the dining room, glaring at Han while he watched Leia intently.
"Just give me a minute," she whispered as she shut her apartment door and motioned for Han to enter her living area.
Han walked over towards the couch as he watched Leia and Roman disappear into the kitchen.
Standing for a moment, Han looked around Leia's apartment. It was scantily furnished and lacked any personal items as far as he could tell. The living area in which he stood had a cream-colored lounger that looked as if it had never been touched much less lounged in and two conformed chairs flanked the kaffe table on either side of the lounger. There wasn't a holoscreen in sight and Han wondered just what the hell Leia did on her days off as he finally lowered himself down onto one of the conformed chairs and waited.
The apartment was eerily quiet; Han couldn't even hear the traffic outside of the large window against the long wall to his left. He watched the bustle of Coruscant as he tried not to listen to the harsh whispers coming from the room next door.
He heard Leia tell Roman that she needed time to think and Roman replied something along the lines of 'with another man?' Han shuffled uncomfortably in his seat and became quiet again. Roman told Leia that he wanted to help her through this and Leia replied that he could help by giving her some space and time. Their voices fell to a softer whisper and Han couldn't make out what they were saying anymore.
Finally, there was a silence. Not a whisper or word could be heard from the pair in the other room and Han imagined that Leia might be kissing Roman goodbye. He wondered how a desperate kiss from those lips might feel and taste. He wondered if her hands were wrapped around his neck and just where that creep's hands were on Leia. Before his mind could get worked up any further, he heard the two exiting the kitchen and he stood up to greet them.
Leia walked out of the kitchen and stood at the table where Roman had been earlier, her eyes following her boyfriend as he walked toward her apartment door. Roman gave one glance to Han and nodded his head very slightly; Han did the same in return as he watched the man let himself out the apartment without a word.
Turning back to Leia, she looked at him and said, "He's just worried about me."
"It's alright," Han replied with a shrug.
Leia walked over to him in small, tentative steps. It was the first time that she had ever appeared to be frightened to Han and that in itself scared him. He wanted to ask her if the reports were true and if she had already known, but he clenched his jaw and waited for her to speak.
She came to a stop on the other side of the lounger from him and placed her hands on the back of the piece of furniture almost as if to steady herself. She looked out toward the window for a moment and then back at Han and she asked, "Would you be willing to take me somewhere?"
"I told you I would."
"I mean, somewhere off-planet. On your ship. You may be gone for a few days."
"That's not a problem," Han answered as his mind spun with obligations and commitments that were speckled on his calendar in the next couple of days. What was it about this woman that made him think everything else paled in comparison to her immediate needs? He barely knew her and yet whatever she needed he felt compelled to provide it.
She opened her mouth as if she was going to speak but no words came out. She looked as if she was trying to figure him out and decide whether or not she could trust him. Her demeanor had changed from fear to trepidation.
"You can trust me, Leia," he said in answer to her unspoken concern.
She nodded her head and whispered, "I know." Taking a deep breath, she swallowed and said, "Just give me one more minute." Disappearing down a hallway, she left Han standing alone once again in the middle of her living room.
Han stepped towards the large window and looked out over Coruscant once again, at the millions of people all heading in different directions, each with their own story. Han wondered just what story he had walked into today and just what direction it would take him. He heard footsteps coming down the hallway behind him and he spun around to find Leia approaching him.
She had splashed water on her face, or something, because her skin had calmed down and there was only a slight pink tinge around her eyes now. She had a small bag slung over her shoulder and she asked him, "Are you ready?"
"Yeah," he answered and then said, "There was quite a mob scene going on outside when I got here though."
"Oh, that reminds me," she replied as she turned toward a shut door off the living area and palmed it open. "C'mon," she said, as if talking to a child and Han wondered just what was going to come waltzing out of that room when he heard a familiar whiz and beeping noise.
As Artoo rolled out into the living room and chortled a greeting to Han, Leia looked at him and said, "Artoo can activate the service lift for us and we can exit through the back of the building."
Han wondered where Artoo's annoying counterpart was, but thought better of asking about him should that give the Princess any ideas about bringing him along too, so he replied, "Okay, good," as the trio headed for the exit.
Leia comm'ed the door man and had a hovercab waiting for them at the rear of the building. They were dropped off at the hangar and started to make their way to the Falcon in silence. For the first time since this whole mess started, Han thought about Chewie. He wondered if the Wookiee would want to just pick up and leave to tote Leia to goddess-knew-where.
As the Falcon came into view, Han saw that her ramp was shut tight, indicating that Chewie was probably still out to dinner or a card game and Han's chest tightened at the thought of leaving him without so much as an explanation.
Pressing the codes into his ship, Han looked at Leia while the gangway slowly lowered. Feeling safe to ask now, he said, "Where's old goldenrod?"
The pathetic, mournful warble that Artoo let out was more than enough explanation for Han, but Leia translated anyway, "He didn't make his transport when we left Hoth." Her voice tripped over the word transport and the word Hoth was nothing more than a faint whisper.
Han mumbled an apology as he followed Leia and Artoo up the Falcon's ramp. When had news of a droid's demise ever affected him this way? Maybe it was Artoo's strange, sentimental attachment or Leia's shattered look when she told him, but something inside of Han made him vow that he would go back to Hoth one day and find that stupid piece of machinery. How hard could it be to find that annoying hunk of junk on a planet full of ice?
Han began to punch in the locking code on the Falcon's ramp as Leia said, "I went back…to look for him."
As the ramp closed up behind him, Han turned to look at her. Had she been reading his mind?
Leia continued, "The entire base had been decimated. There was no way…"
"C'mon," Han replied as he motioned for Leia to head towards the cockpit. "Let's get our clearance from the tower."
Han sat down in his pilot's seat as Leia slid into Chewie's large co-pilot's chair. Turning to Leia, he asked, "Where're we going?"
He watched her looking out of the viewport in a daze and she answered him without looking at him, "Tell 'em we're going to Naboo."
"Alright," Han answered as he submitted his request and waited to get clearance.
Once they lifted into real space, Han asked her again, "Okay, where are we really going?"
Leia stood up and walked over to the navigation console and began to punch and twist at the controls. "We're going to make a short jump in the direction of Naboo, just in case they're tracing our vector." She slid back down into Chewie's seat and added, "The coordinates are set, Captain. On your ready."
Han didn't know what he found more disconcerting, the fact that Leia had just fondled his ship's control systems like she owned the place or the fact that the entire display had turned him on a little. Thinking better of questioning her expertise, he pulled the lever that shot them into hyperspace and then turned his head and looked at her. Her jaw was clenched shut and he studied her profile as she looked out the viewport. Her skin was smooth and milky white. He followed a small trail of light freckles from the bridge of her nose down to her neck. He wondered how someone so strong and cool could look so...soft and inviting.
Releasing a long, deep breath out of his nose, he asked again, "Okay. Now, where're we really going?"
She turned and looked at him for a moment, and then she replied, "Dagobah."
Han shrugged his shoulders and looked back at the controls of his ship. Dagobah? He didn't quite get it; the entire planet was nothing but a dirty bathtub. But if she was looking to disappear, then maybe it wasn't a half bad place to do just that. The Falcon slid back into real space and Leia reset the coordinates in the nav computer. Jumping to lightspeed once again, the old freighter headed to Dagobah.
The nav system had calculated the trip to take at least a standard day and once all the coordinates and alarms had been checked, that left lots of free time for the two humans and one droid aboard the small ship.
Han immediately set about the task to make dinner. It seemed after everything that had happened that day, the pair would actually be able to share that meal together.
As they sat at the holochess table and ate, Han bided his time patiently waiting for Leia to say something. As their meal was almost finished, his impatience got the better of him and he asked, "You wanna talk about it?"
She was sitting about as far away from him as she possibly could, but not quite across from him. He watched her head immediately begin to shake in the negative as her eyes rested at a point somewhere on the bulkhead across from her. Finally, she turned to look at him and arched her eyebrow as she said, "No." Her tone was defiant and left no question on whether or not she was serious.
The sound of their utensils occasionally clinking against their dishes was the only noise for a long while.
Leia set her fork down on her plate and then looked at him and asked, "Where should I sleep?"
He looked at her; she looked tired. Where her eyes were pink and puffy earlier they now had dark circles. He sighed heavily and said, "You can take my cabin."
"Okay."
He had expected an argument from her and her abrupt acceptance of his proposal stunned him. He watched as she stood up and began picking up their cups and plates.
"I'll get that," he said, as he began to stand and reached for the dirty dishes.
"Please, Captain," she said, her voice firm and pleading at the same time. He looked at her for a moment and she said, "Let me do this."
He straightened up and raised his hands in surrender. She looked at him for a moment and then gave him a weak smile as she picked up the last cup and spun around and headed for the galley.
Turning around, he headed for his quarters, remembering they could probably use a bit of tidying up before a woman might want to sleep there. He started with his 'fresher, quickly straightening it up before he moved to his cabin. Walking around the room, he picked up anything that wasn't bolted down and piled it up in his arms and then shoved it into his locker. He was just finishing up placing new sheets on his bed when she walked in.
He scooped the discarded sheets up off of the floor and heaped them into his arms while he looked at her. Her eyes went from his face to scanning the room and then back to him.
"You didn't have to go through any trouble."
"It wasn't any trouble," he responded as he walked towards the 'fresher and shoved the sheets into the autovalet.
As he turned the knob to start the machine, he heard her say, "Where will you sleep?"
Stepping out of the 'fresher and back into his cabin, he said, "In Chewie's bunk."
She looked at him and he saw a vulnerability in her eyes that tugged at his heart.
He took a step towards her and asked, "Are you sure you're alright?"
She looked down at her feet, shaking her head in the negative as she said, "Yes, I'm just tired." Bringing her gaze up to meet his, she added, "I can take Chewie's bunk."
This time it was Han who shook his head in the negative and said, "No, I'll take his bunk. It'll be bad enough if he smells me in there. Believe me, if you slept in there I'd never hear the end of it."
They both smiled at each other and then Leia said, "You left without telling him anything."
"He'll understand."
"It was selfish of me to ask you to take me."
"Don't worry about Chewie, or me. Just get some rest and everything will be better in the morning."
"I wish I could believe that."
"You can believe whatever you want to believe."
"Yes. But that won't make it true."
They looked at each other in silence for a moment and then said their goodnights and went to bed.
As Han climbed into Chewie's bunk, he thought about his old friend. Thinking about how Chewie might have reacted when he returned to find the Falcon had disappeared along with its pilot, brought a smile across Han's lips. This wasn't because Han thought Chewie would have gone berserk and caused a scene, but because he could imagine the Wookiee walking right passed the empty docking bay as if it had been planned out between them for months – this departure. Chewie never let the universe surprise him; over two hundred years of living had taught him that.
Turning on his side, Han's thoughts went to the woman sleeping on the other side of the wall that he was facing. The mystery that was Leia Organa became more and more puzzling and intriguing by the day. There was the calm, strong façade that she wore so well and Han knew was more than just a show. She was definitely a woman that was in control and used to being there. But there was a softer side seeping through that was thoroughly tantalizing. To be needed by a woman that didn't need anyone was a novel feeling indeed.
In the final moments before he dozed off, Han wondered what thoughts were filling Leia's head as she drifted off and in particularly if she thought of him at all. The gentle pull of sleep overcame him and he entered the world of his dreams with thoughts of her on his mind.