a/n: Welcome to chapter 4 everyone! Thanks again for your sweet reviews! They always make my day.
Leia knocked on the door in the same manner that she had the day before and braced herself for another glimpse of Han Solo in his underwear, but he opened the it wearing significantly more clothing than he had been earlier. It didn't make him look any less enticing.
This morning, he wore another pair of what she assumed were exercise pants and a tight undershirt. Clearly just out of the fresher, his hair was a mess and his cheeks glowed with the warmth of the water. Leia swallowed.
"I'm up," Han said. "I figured I should at least attend one breakfast at this fancy resort. Breakfast food is my favorite."
Leia nodded. "Sure, It'll save me from having to sit alone while I wait for my food."
"Whatever you say," Han said, turning around to grab a warmer shirt from the bed. "I think you just miss me when I'm asleep."
Instead of wasting her time rolling her eyes, Leia just flashed him a sarcastic smile and grabbed her things for the day. "Can you believe we're taking a speeder tour of an artificial forest today? What a waste of time."
Han chuckled. "Of course you would see it as a waste of time."
Leia glared at him. "What exactly is that supposed to mean?"
"Don't worry 'bout it, Your Worship."
Breakfast was the only meal so far that had been satisfactory to Han. The two sat alone, away from most of the other guests that they found annoying. The service was fast and the food was delicious.
The groups were the same for the scheduled speeder tour, but today, Arlan and Sia joined their group. And as most people had come in couples, the speeders sat two people each.
"Of course I'll drive since I'm the gentleman and all," Han started.
"Um, the day anyone labels you as a gentleman will be the last day I live in this galaxy," Leia said. "Do you even have a speeder license?"
"Are you even old enough to have a speeder license?" Han said, climbing into the driver's seat of the small vehicle.
Leia narrowed her eyes, refusing to get in. Arlan and Sia noticed her standing outside the speeder alone and walked over.
"Leia, this is Han," Sia introduced. "He's a friend of ours from... work. Han, this is Leia. She's the daughter of the viceroy of Alderaan. A bit more famous than the rest of us if I might-"
"Oh, believe me, we've met," Han said through gritted teeth.
"Oh really?" Sia said. "How do you two know each other."
"Oh he transported some cargo of mine about a year back," Leia said. "He got me out of some trouble, but now I really can't seem to get rid of him."
"Well, at I'm sure you'll both be happy to have someone you know," Arlan said. "We were worried about you two not knowing anyone else here."
Leia just flashed him a smile before reluctantly climbing into the cab of the speeder. Han pushed the vehicle into gear.
"You know," Leia began. "You're kind of rude sometimes."
Han smirked. "Yeah, well you could be nicer."
She crossed her arms and refused to listen to the tour guide at the front of the pack with a loud speaker that amplified his voice and only made him more annoying. The tour seemed to have lasted hours already, but Leia could tell they had barely begun. She closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat.
"Really?" Han asked. Leia opened her eyes and looked at him. "I didn't think it was that boring. Some of this is actually interesting."
She raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, not really," Han conceded. "I really don't want to be here anymore."
"If we weren't supposed to be avoiding unnecessary attention, I'd say we steal the speeder and get out of here," Leia said seriously. "But that might raise some eyebrows."
"I like the way you're thinking," he answered. "But you're right. That would probably qualify as unwanted attention."
Leia smiled. "Oh well, we can always make fun of people."
"Now that sounds like my kind of plan."
Lunch was followed by another hiking excursion, this time into the forest that bordered the other side of the resort city. They took a speeder to the edge of the woods. When they arrived, Leia laughed out loud. Han tried hard to stifle a chuckle.
The trees were bright pink and the leaves were a sickly shade of green that reminded him of the smog on some of the less desirable smuggler's moons.
They finished the hike unwillingly, Leia finally getting tired from the past few days activities and returned to their rooms to clean up for dinner.
Han went to knock on the door to see if she wanted to walk down together, but he found another note on the floor instead.
You take too long, Solo. I'm down at dinner, probably sitting in the corner alone. Or maybe with Helena, I don't know. I'll order you some Corellian Whiskey. -LO
Han felt himself choke over the last line of her perfect handwriting in his mind. She offered to order him a drink? It seemed a bit too domestic for Leia, but he grabbed his key and flew down the stairs, not even bothering to take the elevator.
He found her sitting in the corner where she said she would, their corner, where they had spent the last few days' dinner avoiding the other guests at the hotel.
At first, he was just happy to see the glass of whiskey sitting on the table in front of her, but he slowly noticed what she was wearing. Her hair was tied up as usual, but a few loose pieces fell in front of her face and beside her ears. She was wearing a pink dress, the lightest pink he had ever seen. She was facing away from him and he could see the plunge in the back, a complete absence of fabric from the nape of her neck to the small of her back, continuing once again at her sides and at the very bottom of her spine. The dress stopped at her mid-calf, higher in the front than the back, and her shoes were a perfectly complementary nude.
Han stopped exactly where he was, and almost took out a waiter with a large tray of food.
"Excuse me!" The waiter exclaimed.
"Yeah," Han barely muttered, pulling himself back into the galaxy and walking toward the table where Leia sat.
He pulled out his chair and sat down, trying to regain some of his suave nature. "Who are you all dressed up for?" He asked, grabbing the glass that was set in front of him.
She smiled, but didn't answer, looking down at the menu for the seventeenth time it seemed, trying not to think about the real reason she had put on the dress. She had packed basically all of the dresses and other nice clothes she had remaining from Alderaan. She had dresses far more modest and event-appropriate than this one, but she'd put it on anyway.
The same waiter whose career Han had almost ended attended their table and before he took their order, he gave Han a deadly glare. Their food arrived on time, however, but Han was left wondering if the waiter had spit in it.
As they ate, they made small talk and eventually started telling each other stories about Arlan and Sia as they knew them. Leia told stories of how they improved the galaxy with their generosity, and Han told stories that were significantly more embarrassing.
"So there we are," he said, halfway through the story. "Arlan has a mouthful of Nerf's milk and Sia is trying to recite the alphabet backwards. Chewie still isn't back from the store and I was almost too drunk to see straight."
Leia had tuned out a bit after the story had started, distracted by the soft brown color of the longleeved shirt he was wearing. The nude tone made him look even darker, Leia thought.
"Right," she said, as if she had been listening the whole time.
"And to make a long story slightly shorter, Arlan and Chewie ended up taking care of me and Sia because we passed out about halfway through the night. When I saw them asleep in each other's arms the next morning, I knew they were getting married," Han shared.
Leia smiled as he finished his story and sat her fork down on the plate in front of her. Shortly, they were on their way back up to their rooms. The both settled in, putting away their things and relaxing. At first Leia was happy to have a break, but she quickly got bored without any work to do.
Han wasn't much better. Without his Wookiee, he never had much to do.
He found himself standing up and knocking on her door. She opened it, barefoot and still in her dress from earlier in the evening.
"Come in," she said.
a/n: Sorry for the sort of cliffhanger... Remember to try and review before you leave! I appreciate it!