CHAPTER 12:

"No!"

When pulling Princess Leia Organa by her legs didn't move her out of the range of the creature's mouth, Han Solo spread his legs as far as they could go, grabbed her waist, and pulled her under him.

However, that didn't help much either. The creature just stretched its snake like body, widened its mouth, and came down on Leia. Instead of recoiling, she pushed Han's hands from her waist and launched herself forward. When she was directly under the creature's mouth, Leia thrusted her arm up and shoved her knife into the roof of the creature's mouth. It howled and recoiled before its long spiked tongue shot out towards Han. Han whipped out his blaster and shot the appendage. It splattered all over him, Leia and the walls.

Leia looked over her shoulder and gave him stink-eye before she slashed the angry creature's throat. Its blood spurted out and covered her and Han. Her cut was so deep that she practically decapitated the creature. Han grabbed her waist and pulled again before the creature's head landed on her.

They both panted hard. Leia rolled over to her back so that Han hovered over her. He gazed into her face as he tried to catch his breath. While her expression still projected the remnants of fear, her victorious eyes smiled up at him. Han couldn't look away from of her blood-covered face. Even covered in the grotesque creature blood and guts, she was still beautiful.

"That was close," she breathed.

"Too close."

Han lifted one hand and used his thumb to wipe away the guck on her cheek. Leia didn't swat his hand away, nor did she wiggle her way from underneath him. She lay frozen in place. Her large brown eyes were wide (was it fear? Did she fear him?) and unblinking. There was something there, a glint, that he had never noticed before. Or was this the first time she looked at him that way?

Of course, Han's interaction with Leia mostly consisted of sharp snark and loud outbursts. And those large eyes of hers were usually narrowed and angry. But it was possible that glint was always there…maybe he just didn't notice…maybe he was just too busy arguing with her to even imagine there was a chance that she more than liked him.

I don't want you to leave. Leia said that when she was healing from the spider bite.

I don't want to leave either, Han thought in this very moment.

Leia then sat up, and her face was inches from his. She reached up and wiped away the creature's guts and blood from Han's face. Her breath once again warmed his face; her eyes fell to his lips before returning to his eyes. Han gazed at her as he inched his face closer to hers…

Leia turned her head to look over her shoulder.

"Should we continue forward? Or go back?"

Han hung his head. "Forward. I don't want to run into that thing we heard behind us."

The princess couldn't help but brush up against Han as she flipped to her hands and knees. She hissed as her knees touched the ground.

"You okay?"

She changed the subject. "We'll have to climb over it."

Han imagined her nose wrinkling.

"Yea."

"Do you think you'll fit?"

"What choice do we have?"

"Right."

Leia squeezed past the gruesome head of the creature and then climbed on top of its squishy body. Han followed suit, but he had to slither on his stomach to clear the ceiling of the vent. Han watched Leia's knees sink into the creature and envied her because she didn't have to press her whole body against the monster to pass it.

It seemed like forever before they cleared the creature—at least it did to Han. He returned to his hands and knees, crawling along until Leia stopped and sat on her haunches. Han looked over her shoulder.

"Why'd you stop?"

"I think there's an opening in the floor."

Han looked over her shoulder. "There's light coming from it. Could be a way out. Can we fit down it?"

"I think so, but as far as we know that's where the creature came from."

"The one we killed might've been only one."

Leia twisted her head over her shoulder. "What about the one we heard coming from the other direction."

Han frowned. "Right."

"Looks like there's an adjacent corridor before the hole."

"The light is dimmer than the hole. For all we know, the creature came for there."

"For all we know, it's a way to get out."

"I say we go forward," Han suggested.

Leia crawled in the direction of the opening in the floor but stopped when they reached the turn. She looked down it.

"We're going this way."

"No, we're not."

"Yes, we are."

"No, we're not, and I'm in charge."

Leia sat on her haunches and raised an eye-brow.

"Who made you the one in charge?"

"Me."

"You're doing a pretty bad job then."

With that, the princess turned down the adjacent tunnel. Han grabbed her ankle and yanked.

"Let me go!"

"Will you keep it down?"

"I think we're beyond staying quiet. Now, Let. Me. Go."

"At least lemme go first."

"No."

Han grabbed the skirt of her dress and jerked her so that she slid between his legs.

"What do you think you're doing! Oof!"

Solo put his hand on the princess's head, and shoved her the rest of the way between his legs. He then started forward. Leia "huffed" and launched herself upon his back before slithering her way over him. Before Han could grab her ankle, Leia kicked his hand and scrambled away from him.

Han cursed and followed her. "What is wrong with you?"

"You!"

"You're the one that's a pain in the ass, Your High-and-Mighty, Stubborn Worshipfulnessness."

"I think you got that backwards."

"How did I get stuck with you?"

"It was your plan."

"And now I'm thinkin' it was a mistake."

Leia twisted around and narrowed her eyes at him. "Trust me. I'd rather be trapped here with Luke."

"Of course, you would."

"What was that?"

"Nothin'."

The princess stared at him for a pulse and then continued forward. The vent widened, and they didn't have to crawl anymore. Leia bent forward at a forty-five-degree angle as she walked. Han was having a harder time of it. His back made a ninety-degree angle, and his thighs burned with each step.

"Ow!"

"You okay?"

Han rubbed the top of his head. "Yeah."

Solo cringed at the sound of his and Leia's boots clicking against the floor of the vent. If there was anyone—or anything—below them…well, he knew they were attracting a lot of attention. However, the ruckus they made when they killed the creature had to be much worse. Since no blaster fire had shot through the vent, and no one was looking for the source of the commotion he and Leia made, Han didn't worry about being discovered.

Of course, there were the creatures to worry about. The racket he and the princess made could attract unwanted creature attention. They heard one and fought another; who knew how many of those monstrous beings were out there?

Han tugged the skirt of Leia's dress. She turned around.

"What?"

"Take off your boots."

Han sat down and began to pry off his boots.

"In here?"

"We're makin' too much noise."

"Too late for that."

Han tugged on the heel of his right boot. The princess bit her lip and looked down at her feet.

"I don't want to attract the attention of any more creatures in here."

"I'd rather face any dangers wearing shoes."

"I'd rather not face another creature."

Leia's brow furrowed as she watched Han fight with his boot. She held back her laughter by pressing a finger to her lips.

"Do you go through this every time you remove your boots?"

"No," Han grunted.

"By the time you get them off, we'll be creature-fodder."

Han sighed. He wasn't crazy about maneuvering through the vent without shoes either, and he didn't know the terrain; what if Leia cut her feet on something sharp? Her knees were already scraped up because of him. He reflected on her strength as she pulled him onto the roof.

"We're wasting time, Flyboy."

Han huffed. "Fine. Just be quiet-like."

"You're the one that sounds like an elogragh stampede."

He mumbled a few curse words as he pulled on the top of his boot and stood up. Leia had already began moving toward the light. Han quick-stepped it to catch up with her. He grimaced. Leia was right; his footfalls were louder than hers. At least the light was getting brighter.

They passed another opening to their right. Han looked down it as they passed. It was illuminated as well, but at a lower intensity.

"No."

Han rolled his eyes and continued on, stewing over Leia's bossiness. Of course, he was doing what she wanted; what did that say about him?

Solo pushed that question out of his mind and stared ahead. The light silhouetted the princess. Her movements—even in the awkward positions they were forced into—remained graceful, even regal. It must've been all that royal training she received growing up in a palace. What was it like, living in a palace? Han knew only the streets as he grew up. Normally, he would envy someone like her who was pampered and spoiled. Who would he have been if their positions were switched?

Han doubted Leia would be any different that she was now, or that she was as pampered as he believed princess's to be—spoiled, yes; why else did she expect everyone to do as she said? Other than her bossiness, this princess wasn't what he imagined "royal" would be. She may move like a princess, but she brandished a blaster as if it was an extension of her body, and she never complained about the rough living conditions of the rebel bases.

Elegant yet tough. Stubborn but selfless. Strong and independent. Sometimes vulnerable, fragile-something she hid from everyone, but she couldn't hide it from Han. In those brief moments when her guard slipped—just a flash in those large brown eyes—he could see her susceptibility. Leia always came down harder on him than usual after those moments; that's when her words could sting the most. He'd snap back just as sharp. However, he understood where her cruelty came from; he wouldn't want anyone to see him in his weakest moments. And there were those times when they were alone that Leia showed her true self to him. Quiet conversations between night and day, in the cockpit of the Falcon after a particularly rough mission. And there were those few times she cried in front of him.

Did she drop her façade with Luke when they were alone? Or were those precious moments reserved for Han?

He decided to believe the latter just because he couldn't handle the jealousy the former incited in him.

There was no question that Han admired Leia for both her strengths and weaknesses, loved her especially for her weaknesses, for who she was inside. She wasn't the most beautiful woman the smuggler had known, but it was who she was that made her beautiful, made her the most beautiful woman to him. The emotions she stirred inside of him…he had to admit, they scared him and made his heart beat erratically. Love wasn't new to him; there were a few times he fell in love with a woman. However, he never loved someone in the way he loved Leia.

And Han did love Leia.

Leia backed into Han. That was when he heard it: a skittering tapping and scratching against metal. The light ahead dimmed. This new threat didn't sound like the creature they encountered before. No, this wasn't another worm-like creature, and it wasn't just one threat coming their way.