EsmeAmelia: Thanks for your comment. I also thought Han & Leia could use a little more alone time. My only concern with this chapter is that letting them get this close now implies a fight later if I try to keep to canon. But I wanted to see if Leia could comfort Han when he was upset ...


Princess Leia Organa couldn't sleep. She attempted to divert her thoughts, tried to think of anything besides him, but after three hours with no success, she gave up the pretense. Her mind simply would not rest. Checking her comlink once again, she found no evidence of any missed comms and no new messages. Clearly, he's avoiding me, she thought, and if I had the intelligence of a nerf, I'd leave him alone. I must be insane.

She got up and changed into her day clothes - no way she was making that mistake again - and left her quarters. Despite the late hour, she wasn't entirely surprised to find Luke when she arrived in the hangar of Echo Base. The young man appeared forlorn, walking down the Millennium Falcon's entry ramp with his head bowed.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

Luke thrust a shoulder toward Han's ship. "Chewie couldn't sleep, so I brought him home. I thought maybe I'd talk some sense into Han while I had the chance."

"How'd it go? Did you convince him to go to the med lab?"

Luke shook his head. "He's beyond reason."

Leia gave Luke a quick hug before he walked away. She moved cautiously toward the ship, a sense of trepidation clinging to her like a bad odor. "Han?" she called up the open ramp.

The captain appeared in the doorway, disheveled but alert. "Are you here to lecture me, too?" He folded his arms and glared down at her.

Leia shook her head and held her arms open wide, palm side up, in a placating gesture. "No. I couldn't sleep. You wouldn't return my comms."

Han turned away, but gestured for her to follow him. After closing the ramp, he led Leia into the lounge. Sliding under the Dejarik table, he offered her a glass to match his. "Care for some brandy, your highnessness?"

Given Chewie's earlier comment about Han's drinking, Leia eyed the half-open bottle as she sat on the lounge sofa. "No, thank you," she said primly. How much has he had to drink? she wondered. He seems perfectly lucid.

"Suit yourself," Han shot back at her, taking a slug of liquor. He set the glass down with a clunk. "So, spill it. I'll bet you can lay an even heavier guilt trip than Luke. Go for it. Tell me what a selfish barve I am." His hostile face wore a fiercely guarded expression.

"I just needed to know you were okay," Leia said softly, and watched as his mask crumbled. Her eyes caught his and she held his gaze briefly before he broke off contact.

"Well, I'm not," he admitted heavily, looking away. The eyes he finally raised to her were bloodshot and vulnerable. Her heart twisted, and she found herself inching toward him until they were sitting side by side on the lounge cushions.

"How are you feeling?" she asked quietly. She tentatively extended a hand toward him, and Han laced his fingers through hers.

"Like a nerfherder," he admitted. "I was really hard on the kid." He dropped her hand and folded his arms across his chest.

"What did you do?" Leia's protective streak extended to Luke and she found her anger rising. When he didn't answer, she pressed, "You did apologize, right?"

Han held up a hand to silence her as he activated his comlink. "Hey, Luke," he said, when the other man picked up. "I ... uh ... just wanted to tell you that I'm sorry. I was outta line." Han broke into a brief smile when the younger man forgave him, saying they could talk more tomorrow. Only after Luke had clicked off did Han turn back to Leia.

"Yes, I apologized. Let's just say I didn't throw anything at him. But I came pretty close."

Leia shook her head. "All that because he cares about you?"

Han shrugged and took another sip of brandy. "I don't like people tellin' me what to do."

"So me, Chewie, General Rieekan, Luke ... it's not because we're trying to help you, it's because we want to control you?"

"Something like that." Han stretched his legs. "When you live with a bounty on your head, you learn to never stay in one place too long. If things get complicated, it's time to go." He spun the glass through his fingers. "It's been a long time since ... " Han's voice trailed off and he started to fidget.

She placed a hand on his knee to still him. "Since what?"

"... since I had friends who really care about me." She squeezed his leg and he snuggled closer to her, slouching over to rest his head on her shoulder.

It wasn't long before Han was snoring, his head in Leia's lap. For a long time, she sat and watched him by the dim glow of the Millennium Falcon's emergency lighting. Han looked younger when he was asleep and far more vulnerable.

She remembered the first time she had met the captain and had accused him of taking care of no one but himself. It hadn't occurred to her then that the flip side of that statement was also true - Han didn't let anyone else care for him either. A quirk of fate had brought Chewbacca into Han's life, but it wasn't until his ill-fated trip to Alderaan that the smuggler had started to let people in. Leia knew that was mostly due to Luke - his warm and trusting nature brought out the best in people. But Han had begun to trust her too. What did that mean? Did he see her as a friend or more than a friend?

Right now, she decided, it doesn't matter. Han needs me.

Easing his head from her lap and onto a lounge cushion, she stood up and stretched before heading into Han's quarters. Standing over his bed, she picked up his pillow and the faded blanket she had worn over her nightclothes just that morning. Funny how much stronger she felt now in her regal white dress than she had in her fluffy pink pajamas.

Leia crept back into the lounge. Han was stirring in his sleep, moaning piteously. She placed the pillow under his head and draped the blanket over him. His arms began to flail as his cries grew louder.

She grabbed him by his shoulders and shook him. "Han! Wake up! You're having a nightmare," she said, sitting on the sofa beside him.

Bleary eyes blinked back at her. "Where's my mother?"

After she had recovered from the shock of that question, Leia felt her own eyes prickle with tears. So many nights she woke up just like that, all alone and confused, missing her father more than ever. She tried to think of something comforting to say, something that she herself would want to hear. "She's not here right now, Han honey, but she loves you. Go back to sleep."

"Leia?" Han queried. He sounded slightly more alert, but still disoriented.

"I'm right here." She reached for his hand, but Han clung to her, wrapping his arms tightly around her small frame.

"Will you stay here tonight?" he whispered. "Just to keep me company? I promise to behave."

"Of course," she said, breaking out of his embrace to look at him. To lighten the mood, she added, "I'll take your room."

He nodded in all seriousness. "The extra linens you used last night are on my dresser."

And that's how Princess Leia Organa found herself spending a second night aboard the Millennium Falcon.