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Her anger toward Lando was dulling around the edges. He’d gotten them out of Cloud City, helped rescue Luke, and the hyperdrive had worked. Eventually. She knew Lando had done what he had to, but Han was gone and focusing her anger on a real flesh and blood target was a strange sort of comfort.
Lando had been giving her a wide berth too. Busying himself with ship system checks with Artoo, chatting with Chewie or quietly checking on Luke.
Leia had lost track of him—lost track of time—as she sat at the game table. Too exhausted to eat. Trying to hang on to her anger to keep her strong. She didn't remember falling asleep, but she must have because she blinked and caught sight of Lando spreading a blanket over her.
"What are you doing?" She frowned, grasping for that anger.
"Sorry." Lando sounded very sorry, but she suspected not for bringing her the blanket.
Silence stretched between them.
"I know I should be mad at Vader. I am mad at Vader. But part of me—"
"Is still mad at me," he finished.
She nodded.
"I can't blame you for that. Not one bit." His eyes darted over her for a moment, and he smiled. "It's probably not what you want to hear right now, but you won't be rid of me until we have Han back."
Despite herself she smiled. It hadn’t been what she wanted to hear, but maybe it was what she needed to hear. It was impossible to stay mad with Lando being so earnest. So open. For the first time, she realized he’d lost Han too. She reached up for his hand and tugged him down to the curved bench next to her. Her eyes prickled with tears, but she ignored them, blinked them back. It was starting to make sense.
"I'm sorry," she said.
"No, Leia—”
“You love him too, don’t you?”
Lando snorted. “Against my better judgment.”
The fact that someone else knew her pain was a strange relief. She took Lando’s hand in both of hers, offering a reassuring squeeze.
“Once we have him back I’d like to hear what he did to deserve that greeting.”
“I could tell you about it now.”
That didn’t feel right. That would be like mourning.
“No,” she said with a sniffle and a shake of her head. “I want to see his face when you tell the story.”
Lando laughed. “Deal.”