Chapter Text
Corscant - 8 ABY
Orowood Tower, Organa-Solo Apartment
Leia only allowed herself a moment before removing her hand from the bedside cabinet and moving towards the walk in closet Han had motioned to before her mind attempting to focus on the task at hand rather than allowing herself to drown in the uncertainty and confusion that surrounded her.
The closest, while not as big as the one she had had back in the Aldera Palace, was quite sizeable but the majority of the pieces were of colour so Leia simply pulled out the first white thing her eyes caught which happened to be a simple floor length gown with short sleeves. Leia slipped the gown on over her head and paired it with a pair of boots before secretly slipping her blaster inside.
Leia suddenly remembered the sate of her hair and tried to force herself not to blush as she also remembered how Han had technically seen her without her hair down a privilege she hadn't granted to anyone outside her family and handmaidens. She brushed the memory and how it made her feel as she reminded herself to focus on the task at hand.
Vaguely remembering seeing a vanity in the room earlier, Leia made her way out of the closet.
As Leia walked towards the vanity she started to have a proper look around. It was a fairly large room with white walls and one or two cream outlines of flowers in the corners. The room was well furnished but it wasn't particularly fancy Leia supposed at least not by the standards of the palaces and penthouses she'd grown up in and surrounded by.
The bed looked to be super king size with a dreamsilk canopy above it, white shimmersilk sheets and a pile of pillows with a chest at the end of the bed, presumably for extra blankets and pillows, and a bedside cabinet on either side. Both the bedside cabinets had a lamp and a coaster on them and the one of the left had a datapad. Leia tried to turn it on but it didn't appear to have any important documents or anything like that.
Leia then realised that the top drawer, which she had pulled the blaster out of, was still open. Leia moved to close it and took a more furrow look through the draw and saw that as well as Han's DL-44 heavy blaster pistol there were a few . . . items that the decision to put them in the same locked drawer as the blasters was more to avoid embarrassment than danger. Leia, flushed with embarrassment, quickly closed the top drawer and briefly, deciding to dedicate herself to seeing what else was in the room, looked through the other drawers. The rest of the bedside cabinet drawers just had some odds or ends like a pack of sparksticks, a glowrod, some more holobooks, some lip balm, a pair of glareshades and a few pieces of chewstim. Similarly the drawers on the other side of the bed were mostly filled with small items without any kind of organisation or even necessarily purpose.
Leia then saw a folded up blanket on top of the chest at the end of the bed. Leia immediately recognised it as the gillendown blanket that she had been wrapped in when she went to sleep and which Han had given to her as a present as he remembered her telling him about the blankets made from gillendown that she used to wrap herself in during the winter on Alderaan where she would watch the snowfall from the cushioned window seat in her room at the Winter Palace and the baby blanket made of fine gillendown which she was wrapped in the day her father brought her home. A part of Leia wanted to hide under the blanket and pretend that she was a little girl at the Winter Palace again or that she would close her eyes and wake up back in her room at Echo Base but she pushed back such a childish impulse.
The wall opposite from the wall was made of glass, probably one way, and led out to a balcony that overlooked Courscant. On the balcony was a small dinning area and a hot tub as well as two small Jelucani fogstone statues of a thranta, creatures that were native to Alderaan that were now likely extinct. Leia forced herself not to linger on the small statues.
There were a few sets of chest of drawers as well as some holo-images on the walls and an on-suite bathroom but Leia decided that she had had enough exploring and moved towards the vanity to do her hair.
The three mirror vanity table was similar to the one that she used to own on Alderaan and Leia's breathe caught in her throat for a moment as she sat down on the vanity stool and saw a potted Malastarian orchid like the ones that she used to plant with her mother in the palace gardens. There were several cosmetic products on the table along with a box of hair pins, several different hairbrushes and combs, a silver hand mirror, a wooden jewellery box, a white stone, a holocube and a few other odds and ends such as ribbons and hats pins.
Leia took one of the hair brushes and started gently brushing through her hair then pulling it back into a simple braid before tying the end with a piece of white ribbon.
Leia then noticed the white stone and placed it in her hand to inspect it more closely. Something about it looked familiar but she wasn't sure exactly what it was. The stone was pure white and slightly smaller than her palm. There was black writing engraved onto the smooth stone but Leia couldn't tell what only of it meant as the writing was in Old Corellian. Giving up, Leia gently put it back and picked up the holocube instead.
As soon as Leia saw the holo-image inside she almost dropped the holocube instantly. She saw Han, dressed more smartly than she had ever seen before, with his arms gently placed on the waist of the woman who he was smiling down at and holding close to him. Leia saw that the woman was her. She saw herself wearing an elegant and modest gown, her hands on Han's shoulders, the two clearly engaged in some kind of ballroom dancing, as she smiled up at him as brightly as he smiled down at her, but what really caught her attention was the way she had done her hair.
They were in tradition Alderaaian wedding braids.
This was her wedding picture.
It made sense, she supposed, she and Han had woken up naked together in the same bed. There weren't a lot of platonic reasons for that. She knew her feelings for Han weren't purely platonic either but that wasn't why this shocked her. It shocked her because she was shocked that there was another version of her that had clearly acted on her feelings for Han. Leia wouldn't-couldn't do that.
Leia threw the holocube back onto the table and distracted herself by looking through the wooden jewellery box. Inside was her mother's chalcedony waves, an oro-weave bracelet, some signet rings, a pair of golden aurodium earrings, some kind of amulet, a wooden pendant with weird symbols engraved on it and a hololocket though Leia didn't look inside it. Leia then noticed two rings that had fallen to the bottom of the box. One was made from two thin pieces of Corellian gold that were wrapped around a Corellian diamond and two Nabooian pearls on either side. The other was a simple golden band with the entails 'L.O.S' engraved on the inside.
Leia slammed the jewellery box shut and stood up from the vanity and made her way out of the room.
Leia avoided looking closely at the apartment but managed to find her way to the kitchen relatively quickly. As she walked in Han passed her mug of caf which she quickly gulped it down, ignoring the burning sensation in her throat.
Hoth - 3ABY
Echo Base
Leia had almost forgotten how large Echo Base was. To be fair when she thought back on her time here she found that the immense cold was the more memorable between the two as well as the slight drama that was going on with her and Han. This, along with the fact that she hadn't been to Echo Base in five years, made it difficult to make her way around.
Leia passed people as she went and most seemed to briefly acknowledge her before moving on. They all seemed to be wearing what Leia recognised as the Alliance uniform as they wore things such as thermal gloves, command gauntlets and Alliance cold weather backpacks. Leia didn't recognise any of their faces though.
Suddenly Leia stopped in the middle of one of the hallways as she realised that she truly had no idea what she was doing. She had no idea what was going on or where she should go. Perhaps the command centre? Or maybe the main hanger? But she had no idea who or what was going to be there. Leia didn't even know if she had been brought there intentionally or if she was going to be cursing at Luke about the Force again.
Then it hit her.
Luke! Luke could help her! Even from Yavin he would be able to hear her.
Leia closed her eyes and reached out for Luke through the Force. She quickly found his presence but something felt off. Luke was here on Hoth with her, which was a good thing she supposed, but their connection felt so . . . weak like it was only being held together by a single thin piece of thread. Admittedly, Leia wasn't as well versed in the Force as her Jedi Master brother but she had trained under Luke for a time and therefore knew the basics but still she knew that this wasn't right. Leia then noticed another presence near Luke and she felt relief rush over her.
Han.
Han was here but like with Luke something felt off. It was definitely Han, Leia knew his presence well, but it felt different somehow.
However Leia didn't really have many options and while their presences and her and Luke's Force bond felt different it was still unequivocally them and Leia could sense no deception or Dark Side presence nearby. Besides, if there truly were nefarious intentions behind how she had returned to Hoth then she knew that she couldn't leave her husband and brother behind or anyone else on the planet.
Leia allowed the Force to guide her to the main hanger where she saw Han and Luke standing together at the bottom of a ship ramp which looked to be the Falcon. Leia could also sense Chewie's presence nearby but she could not see him so she assumed that he was aboard the ship.
Leia pushed down her first instinct which was to run towards him. She reminded herself that just because the people nearby wore old Alliance uniform didn't necessarily mean that they were linked to the New Republic or even that they could be trustworthy. She would need to rely on old skills that she had cultivated in her teenage years as a spy for the Rebellion.
So instead of running, Leia walked at a normal pace towards the pair and made sure to smile politely, like a true politician, and give a brief acknowledgment to those who acknowledged her though she still didn't recognise any of them whose faces she saw briefly.
"Hi guys," she said to them as naturally as she could once she approached them.
There clothing was odd but she supposed that it was no older than her own as Han was wearing his old blue jacket with his yellow bloodstripes and Luke was wearing his orange flight suit which Leia didn't even know he still owned anymore. The last time Leia had seen him wear it was at the Battle of Hoth when they had to evacuate the base, because Luke hadn't met with everyone else at the rendezvous command of Rouge Squadron was given to Wedge Antilles and after the events on Bespin Luke was more focused on his Jedi training and relocating Han.
Leia also had to suppress the urge to run up to Han and hug him, she couldn't afford to show vulnerability in this moment and Luke probably wouldn't appreciate seeing his best friend and sister make out . . . again.
"Hey Your Worship," Han greeted her with the tone that indicated he was worried about her reaction to something.
However it wasn't the tone that confused her so much as what he was calling her. Han didn't refer to her by his mocking tittles much theses days, after they first began their romantic relationship properly he started preferring other pet names like'sweetheart', and when he did he was either joking or he was annoyed at her. This didn't seem like it was either.
"Hey Leia," Luke greeted her cheerfully.
Leia couldn't help but smile back at him, it had been a while since the last time she had seen her brother, but it confused her more when she saw Han tried to hide a scowl.
Leia glanced around at the people around them.
"Do you guys mind if we talk on the Falcon?" Leia asked them.
Han and Luke shared a glance but then Han shrugged and motioned for them to follow him up the ramp to the main hold. Once they were safely inside Leia made her way to the gallery and made them each a cup of caf before coming back to the main hold and placing them on the dejarik table. She then turned towards Han and Luke's confused faces.
Corscant - 8 ABY
Orowood Tower, Organa-Solo Apartment
"Soooo," Leia said as she sipped on her caf some more, at a loss of words for probably the first time in her life.
Han raised an eyebrow at her and despite how casual the movement was Leia felt as if he was seeing into her soul. Leia resisted the urge to shuffle under his gaze so instead she reached into her pocket and placed the rings on the counter.
Han's movement was so quick that if Leia hadn't been looking directly at him then she probably would have missed it. Han scooped up the rings into his hand and looked down at them. Leia wasn't quite sure how to describe the look on Han's face. He then held the rings between two of his fingers and placed a gentle kiss onto them. After a moment Han placed the rings into the back pocket of his trousers before turning back to Leia looking about as awkward as she felt.
"Ummm . . . yeah," was all Han managed to say and Leia couldn't really blame him.
They sat in awkward silence for a moment before Han turned around to finish breakfast then presented Leia with a plate with stack of flatcakes on it. Leia took it and immediately started eating so that she could have a better excuse not to talk. Han joined her and they both ate silently which was only slightly less awkward than the previous moment of silence.
When they were both finally finished it was ultimately Leia who choose to break the silence.
"Have you commed Luke yet?" she asked, falling back to acting practically.
"Ah, no not yet," Han said as he finished the last of his caf. "I'll do that now."
Han stood up and for a moment it looked as though he was leaning towards her before pulling himself back. He nodded towards Leia and made his way out of the kitchen leaving Leia alone.
Leia took a brief look around the kitchen. It appeared to be well equipped with a cooling chamber, a conservator, a nanowave stove, a nanowave stove, a laundering unit, a sonic dishwasher, a therma-slice, a matter catalyst, an automatic brewer and a thermajug. In the middle of the kitchen was a large counter where they'd had breakfast and where the skin and a few absorbmats were.
Suddenly a beeping noise sounded out and Leia turned around to see the communications console on the wall going on off. Leia paused for a moment before going to answer. Once she answered she was relived to see a familiar face in a blue holographic form.
"Winter!"