Murky Water
Leia leaned her head back all the way and fluttered her wrists. She sighed with happiness as the water gently massaged her neck. She sensed her own movement in it, too, her bare body cutting through the water, and the power felt satisfying.
This was the best idea she'd had in a long time. It took a while for it to come to fruition. There was the stakeout of the pond, seeing what critters swam in it, as well as who visited it. She didn't mind the local forest denizen, but there was no way she was going to take off her clothes and go swimming if any of the base personnel had the same idea. But after three days of walking to the water's edge and sitting and observing, she'd been the only one to come.
It was a good-sized pond, wide and deep. Tall rushes grew along the bank, obscuring a clear view from the land. Her clothes were folded and set on a stump a little past the trail from the base. She'd also brought a towel, and the volume of her comm was set on high, just in case someone tried to reach her. There wasn't anything she hadn't thought of, she felt.
Her eyes were closed against the angle of the sun in the afternoon sky, and the sounds that came to her ears- birds, and rustles of leaves in the breeze- were clear and crisp. The sun's beams warmed her nose, her cheeks, found under her chin, and the water over her body was a cooler and pleasing contrast.
Everything was perfect. A quick getaway. No work, no war, no thoughts. Just sensation. She floated for a while.
"... don't like the feeling on my face."
Leia jolted erect and tread water. What was that? Had she fallen asleep? It sounded like Luke.
What if he was here? She panicked quickly. She was in the middle of the pond. She wouldn't have time to swim back to the bank before he would spy her.
And then she thought, oh well; it's Luke. It seemed the pond was another thing they shared; one more surprising detail of the many things they held in common as they had learned about each other in the recent weeks. And how sweet that he talked to himself.
Upon reflection, she found she was not bothered by the idea of his possible nakedness. It was Luke. It wouldn't make her feel differently about him. He was just a friend; a male friend, true, and he was as entitled to enjoy the pond as she was.
"...used to it."
Leia took a breath and submerged herself up to her eyes. He was with someone! And by the sound of the three syllables of melodious baritone it was Han!
Why was dread a flotation device? And was the water clear? She checked, watching her hands circle outward under the water. It was as she thought. The water was tinted brown by tannic acid. She took a breath and submerged herself and started to swim for the rear bank, using the smoothest stroke she knew.
She surfaced for a breath, and heard Han warn, "Someone's here."
She could picture Han (naked!) with his hand out, stopping Luke from entering the water. Then she heard the hum of Luke's lightsaber.
Hope filled her. Maybe they weren't naked, if he had his lightsaber handy! But surely Han would also have his blaster, and since he hadn't shot the pond- and he took any excuse to show off that speed draw- he must be pantless-
Goddesses help me, Leia thought.
"What's that thing do in water?" she heard Han ask curiously.
"I don't know," Luke answered, but he must have tested it.
"Huh, look at the water sizzle," Han observed.
"Maybe it warmed it up for me," Luke said hopefully.
"I doubt it. C'mon, throw it on the bank with your clothes. Let's wade in."
Leia kept swimming, her back to them, smoothly and efficiently. But she knew it was a matter of time.
"Well," and in the one note she knew his expression, the cynical delight, as Han said, "look who's here."
"Hi, Leia," Luke said, as if coming upon each other skinny dipping was a natural thing.
Leia stopped and maneuvered to face them. She tested the bottom: the water was still too deep to stand. Which was fine, since they were looking at her.
"What are you two doing here?" she snarled at them.
The water thankfully had covered the men up to their bellies. Han stood with water about an inch above his navel while Luke, being shorter and a little further in, was covered up to his waist. Neither seemed embarrassed.
"I suppose there's lots of reasons to think why two men would go swimming naked together," Han began, that sly humor filling his eyes, even from this distance, "but it so happens I'm teachin' Luke to swim."
"He is," Luke confirmed.
"Are you royally naked?" Han called out to her.
Two men, Leia's clinical gaze noted. One not as tall, not as broad, without the shadow of dark hair covering his chest. But she knew that much already. And it was an interesting experiment, to see which body type appealed to her-
Oh, who was she kidding. Even with clothes on, it was easy to know that- except she'd expected Han's chest to be hairier than it was; the low neckline of his shirts failed to conceal that-
He went under water and surfaced quickly, smoothed water away from his face with his palm. He started to swim to her.
"Han, wait-" Luke said apprehensively. "It's getting deep-"
"Don't come closer," Leia warned. She was watching the water carefully, the little wake his feet made, the height of his shoulder rotation, if his rear remained innocently under the water or would she be able to glimpse the rise of cheek-
If she'd had a blaster she'd have shot him.
"Why not?" His mocking whine was ruined by that smile.
"I don't want to see you naked!" she said loudly, perhaps a bit passionately.
"Why not?" Han said. "I'm beautiful."
Luke laughed. "We see each other naked," he told Leia. "You're just another body."
A female one, she wanted to point out, but didn't think it wise to hear Han's opinion.
And she asked herself, if she came with another woman, would they just peel off their clothing, as if it were the most natural thing in the world?
Why wasn't it, she wanted to know. She would turn her back. Give her friend some privacy. Was it just her?
It was Han's fault. Always was.
"Is there anything to be afraid of that far out?" Luke called out to her.
Yes, she silently answered him.
Water concealed. Hinted. It was mysterious, alluring. He might indeed be beautiful, but water was also dangerous.
"I'm beautiful, too," she raised her chin at Han. "But I'm afraid you won't be able to handle it."
He stopped to tread water, and water streaming from his brow clouded his eyes the tannic brown. He swallowed. "You might have something there," he said, very subdued, like a man pulled from drowning.
They looked at each other, both treading water. They could cross the distance between each other with just a few strokes, Leia estimated, and then there would only be slippery, moving water between them.
And then what- taste the water off his neck, or carve a path for water to follow through his chest hair-
"You win, Princess," he said, resigned. "You swim to your clothes and I promise me n' Luke won't take a peek."
"Speak for yourself," Luke said. "I can't put my head under water yet."
He broke her spell and rescued her again from herself. She watched Luke, splashing water on his shoulders with his hand, and she gave Han an unreadable smile, and took a breath, and disappeared under the water.
Her feet made a wake, she knew, and her shoulders glided through the water, and she couldn't help if the way her body floated revealed the tiniest swell of her rear fighting to break the surface...
She crawled along the soft pond bottom, stirring up silt, and checked to see if the two men remained honorable. Their backs, broad and wet, Luke's with a mole under his shoulder blade and Han's wearing another scar, were facing her. She dressed quickly and slipped away, and she could hear their quiet voices, talking about breath, and water, and movement, following her as she walked on the trail.
The sun was a little lower in the sky, and the leaves were quiet on their branches, and a few birds flew overhead.