Archive of Our Own

Day One: A Mission To Remember

Han followed the Princess down the hall of the Rebel base to the Falcon. Their mission? Get resources for the Rebellion. From an Imperial ship. He shook his head. Normally the Spectres were in charge of this, but they had their own mission right now. Some kind of dangerous artifact that this Zabrak friend of theirs had found and that they now had to destroy. After them, tasks usually fell towards the Rebels’ other resident Force-user—though Han still wasn’t sure how much of that was true—Luke Skywalker. Unfortunately, he was training today with that Kenobi guy—whom he could apparently see even though he was supposed to be dead. So now the mission fell to Luke’s two best friends. Han and Leia. The only good part of this mission, thought Han, was that he got to do it with Leia. He glanced at the Princess, who looked as beautiful as ever, even though she was wearing plain clothes and had her hair in a simple braid. She smiled at him. “Something wrong?” He looked away. “Nothing.” He might enjoy teasing her, but even Han didn’t want to argue on a mission. Eventually they pulled up to the cargo ship. Finding the crates went perfectly, as did loading them. It was only when they came across a guard at the door that they ran into a problem. He looked at them suspiciously. “And what are you two doing here?” Han froze. He had no idea what to do here… Leia put her arm around him and stepped forward.
“My husband and I were just a little lost. Can you give us directions to the nearest refuel station? We have to get back to our home, we don’t want to be away from our children too long.” Han nodded, extremely grateful for the fact that he didn’t blush easily. The guard’s face softened. “Of course. I have a family back home too. It’s my eldest child’s birthday today. We’re having the party this evening.”
Leia gave him that smile of hers that never failed to make Han’s heart melt, though he’d never admit it, and replied, “I hope you have a wonderful celebration.” The guard nodded and directed them to a refuel station on the nearest planet. As soon as they were out of sight, Han sighed in relief. “I can’t believe that worked!” Leia laughed. “Me neither…” After a few moments of silence, she planted a kiss on his cheek. “Shall we get home to our children, dearest?”
Han nodded, laughing. He knew she was just teasing, but some part of him wished it was true…

So this is an AU where the Rebels and Maul all survive, or maybe the events of Rebels happen a bit later during post-ANH and pre-ESB time. Not sure which. Also Han not being able to blush is based on me, because one time when my and my family were watching the scene when they escape from the Imperial ships following them in ESB and Leia kisses his cheek, my dad said something to the effect of “how is he not blushing” and I thought he’s probably melting on the inside but doesn’t show it.

Day Two: Canon Divergence
Jedi-In-Training Leia Skywalker would not mess up this time. She’d recently joined the Rebellion, and of course they had to put the one Force-Sensitive on the mission to rescue their leader, Prince Luke Organa. On the one hand, it made sense, but on the other hand she wasn’t all that skilled yet.
And now she was faced with an Imperial officer… Should she try a mind trick? Should she try to fight?
She waved her hand, telling him, “The Prince is in another cell…”
He nodded, repeating her words, and walked down the hallway. She sighed in relief and opened Luke’s cell. But just as they were about to escape, that officer came back!
Leia pulled out her lightsaber, and she saw Luke draw his blaster out of the corner of her eye.
The officer gave them a smile and stepped to the side.
“Don’t worry. I just wanted to congratulate you on your rescue.“
Leia deduced that her mind trick hadn’t actually worked, and he’d just faked it. He bowed to Luke, and gave Leia an even brighter smile. She had to admit, he seemed quite nice.
“Hey, Prince. Is there anything I have to do to join your… revolution?” Leia froze.
Brave, too, if he was admitting this right where anyone could overhear…
Luke looked just as shocked as Leia felt, but he simply asked the officer’s name and told him to come around sometime.
The officer nodded.
“Name’s Han Solo. I’ll be sure to come around sometime soon.”

Day Three: Earned Peace
Han took a deep breath as he got off the Falcon. He’d just gotten back from an extremely long mission with Luke, Leia, Chewie, and the droids.
And he was tired.
Without a word, everyone went off in their own direction to clean up and get some rest. Unfortunately, Han couldn’t sleep. He heard a noise outside his door, and decided to check it out.
He opened the door to a woman in a white dress with brown hair in a braid down her back.
Leia.
He smiled at her, though for some reason his heart was beating faster now that she was here.
She smiled back at him.
“I couldn’t sleep… I guess you couldn’t either?”
Han shook his head.
“Too quiet all of a sudden.”
There was a moment of silence before Leia cleared her throat.
“Need to relax a bit before bed?”
Han nodded.
Why was his brain doing this to him? She meant relax together like friends did… so why did he imagine something else?
They walked over to the couch together, each picking up a book, and reading side-by-side.
Or… at least that’s how it started out.
Eventually Leia put down her book and closed her eyes, leaning against Han. The smuggler-turned-Rebel froze.
No, don’t say anything… just enjoy it while it lasts…
He put his arm around her and leaned back. Eventually the two of them drifted off to sleep at last.
The last thought Han had before he fell asleep was how nice it would be to wake up next to his princess the Princess in the morning.

Yes, the not-sleeping-because-it’s-too-quiet-now was inspired by TCW when Ahsoka and Barriss can’t sleep so they raid the kitchen. (Let’s go eat.) Also I know they don’t exactly have books in Star Wars but they must have something to that effect.

Day Four: Favorite Scene
Han Solo wasn’t sure what to do. The Falcon was at a bit of a standstill, inside an asteroid, believe it or not. It was a long story. Luke was away doing… something, and had taken R2 with him. Meanwhile C-3PO, Chewbacca, and Princess Leia were all working on different parts of the ship.
He sighed.
Might as well join them…
Absentmindedly, Han entered an area of the ship he assumed nobody was working on. And of course, he had to pick the one area she was working on.
He debated turning around before she noticed, but he’d have to face her sometime, so why not now? He and Leia had had a few arguments recently, and now was as good a time as ever to get back on track.
He preferred to get along with her, though he treasured any time spent with the Princess.
He stepped forward and reached around her for a lever, but she shoved him backwards.
He frowned.
Apparently she wasn’t as eager to make up as he was.
“Hey, Your Worship! I was only trying to help.”
She returned the frown. “Would you stop calling me that?”
Han nodded, unsure how to respond to that.
“Sure, Leia.”
Leia just rolled her eyes, not looking away from the panel she was fiddling with.
“You make it so difficult sometimes…”
Han had to laugh at that. “I do. I really do.”
He paused.
“You could be a little nicer, though,” he muttered.
The Princess smiled slightly at this.
Han grinned back at her.
“Come on, admit it. Sometimes you think I’m alright.”
Leia flinched, having gotten distracted enough to pinch her finger in the panel door.
“Occasionally, maybe. When you aren’t acting like a scoundrel…”
Han raised an eyebrow. Normally, he would have been insulted, but somehow every attempt Leia made at insulting him ended up sounding more like a compliment.
“Scoundrel? Scoundrel? I like the sound of that…”
He took her hand and rubbed it, trying to make the pain go away.
She stared at him for a few moments in surprise before muttering, “Stop that…”
“Stop what?”
“Stop that… My hands are dirty.”
Han could tell that was her attempt at stopping this from going any further.
He knew why. Luke had once told him that Leia preferred things simple. And so far, their relationship had been anything but. And the possibility that it might be taken up a notch only complicated things more.
“My hands are dirty too.”
He could feel her hand shake in his, and couldn’t help noticing she was quivering slightly all over, presumably from a mixture of excitement and fear over… whatever this was. Han felt the exact same.
“What are you afraid of?”
Leia blinked.
“Afraid?”
Han smiled slightly.
“You’re trembling…”
She shook her head, and Han noticed a slight pink tint to her cheeks that hadn’t been there before.
“I’m not trembling…”
“I think you like me because I’m a scoundrel. You need more scoundrels in your life.”
Han said this kind of thing all the time, why was speaking to Leia so daunting?
Leia shook her head again, and the pink in her cheeks darkened.
“I happen to like nice men,” she whispered, though as she said this, a smile crept across her face and she inched closer.
Han’s heart was pounding. He couldn’t look away from her.
“I’m ‘nice men…’”
Leia’s smile got even wider, so wide that she couldn’t hide it… or didn’t want to hide it anymore. “No… you’re not… you’re…”
Han couldn’t tell which one of them made the move. Perhaps both of them did. But before he could react, their lips were pressed together in a kiss.
After a few seconds, Leia pulled away, gazing at Han with those big beautiful brown eyes.
“Okay, hotshot,” she murmured, putting her arms around him and kissing him again.

I’m pretty proud of this one. It was simultaneously easy to write, because the scene already exists, and hard because I had to remember the dialogue (unless stuff is really iconic or cements itself into my brain somehow, I just remember it as a generic version of the line. Also, not gonna lie, I had to look this scene up. Just to give you some idea, I had misremembered the “Hey, Your Worship” line as “Easy, Your Highness.”)
On top of that, how do you describe what they’re doing here? Leia is just fiddling with a box on the wall, Han reaches for some unknown part of either the wall or the box, and then Leia seems to hurt her hand by… pushing too hard on the box. I hope I described it well enough.
Finally, the “okay, hotshot” comes from a deleted version of the scene where literally everything is the same except they kiss twice and she says that in between. (The only other difference is it goes “my hands are dirty too. What are you afraid of?” “Afraid? I’m afraid of… of getting my hands dirty!” “Is that why you’re trembling?” And I’m really glad they changed that.)

Day Five: Cuddling
Sorry this one is short, there’s not a lot of plot anyway, and I was slightly rushed writing it.

Han Solo wasn’t up for guard duty. He was tired and just wanted to go to bed early. But he volunteered anyway.
Not because Leia was also on guard duty, of course. That had nothing to do with it. Or if it did, it was because she and Luke were the other guards and they were all best friends. That was it, they were all friends.
He tried to keep that thought in mind as he greeted Leia, who had a plain uniform and was wearing her hair up in a simple braid, yet still looked as beautiful as always. She sent him a smile and headed into the watchtower.
Han just stared after her for a moment.
He glanced back at Luke, who looked about two seconds away from bursting into laughter. Luke looked away and ran into the tower ahead of Han.
There were three chairs all in a row, and Leia had chosen the seat to the right.
Luke cheerfully sat on the left, essentially forcing Han to sit in the middle…next to the Princess…
He hoped that was unintentional, but judging from Luke’s smile, that wasn’t likely.
The night went by quickly, despite Han’s tiredness, as Luke and Leia were very fun to talk to… although every time Leia said something, Han couldn’t help the little flutter his heart did. He hoped it didn’t show.
Soon enough, he was too tired to keep his eyes open. He leaned back, hitting the recline on his chair.
Leia smiled.
“Mind if I join you?”
Han smiled back at her.
She just meant she wanted to rest a bit… she didn’t mean anything else…
Leia moved a little closer.
Luke grinned.
“It’s okay, I can guard the base myself. That’s what the Force is for. You two should get some rest.”
At that, Leia rested her head on Han’s shoulder. Before Han could change his mind, he put his arm around her. She snuggled closer, drifting off to sleep. Han took one last look at the Princess before joining her in dreamland.

Day Six: Early Days/Kindness
Han Solo had no idea where to go. This base was just so big, and he wasn’t used to spending extended amounts of time in places… especially not staying there possibly forever… and he knew literally no one here.
Luke had wandered off somewhere, and Leia had gone to do whatever duties she had as the Rebellion’s leader.
Thinking of Leia, Han sighed a little before he could catch himself.
Oh, no. You are not falling for the Princess! You don’t “fall for people” in the first place, and she’s a leader with important things to do! Not to mention she probably doesn’t like you very much…
Han couldn’t deny the sad feeling that thought gave him, though.
But she didn’t like him. She’d been yelling at him the whole time… except for that time in the trash compactor when she’d hugged him after they’d gotten out… but that was just relief, right? On the other hand, when Han and Luke had gotten back after their assault on the Death Star, Leia had run to him and exclaimed that she’d known he cared…
That thought made Han feel a little better. He told himself it was because someone had acknowledged that he could be nice… not because Leia specifically had approved of him.
As he rounded a corner—where was he, anyway?—he suddenly bumped into someone.
Glancing back up, he saw the Princess staring at him.
“Need some help?”
Han’s heart skipped a beat, though he managed to answer, “No, why do you ask?” in a relatively confident voice.
Leia smirked.
“Oh, maybe because you’re standing in this hallway that is nowhere near the bunkers, which is where I assume you were going, and you still have your bags. And a confused look on your face.”
Han was relieved Leia had taken his expression for confusion and not… whatever it was she made him feel.
Reluctantly, he nodded.
“I… got a little lost.”
Instead of laughing at him like he expected, the Princess just smiled.
“It’s okay. I got lost my first day here, too. I’ll show you to the bunkers.”
After Leia helped him to his destination, Han sat down on his bed.
It had been quite the day.
Han retraced the day’s pleasant experiences in his mind as he always did before drifting off, and just as expected, his thoughts kept returning to Leia.
But he couldn’t have feelings for her…
He sighed in frustration.
Why not? Why couldn’t he have a crush on the Princess? She was sweet, and kind, and, on second thought, seemed to like him secretly. Han was pretty sure she just liked him as a friend, but somehow that didn’t bother him. And maybe someday… we could actually be together.
That was Han’s last thought before he fell asleep, a smile on his face.

Wow, I really need to find some other way to end a romantic story than falling asleep to pleasant thoughts of your crush. That’s the third time I’ve used that one this challenge! The moral of this story? Aromantics do NOT always write incredible romance.

Day Seven: Free Day
I am so sorry, the next one is super short for a finale, and it’s also a surprise birthday party, which is like my go-to for fluff it seems (I use it in the Luke Week Finale too. Which will be posted as well sometime.)

Han Solo had no idea why his friends were being so weird today. Luke had been giggling more than usual, while everyone else had just been avoiding him.
Suddenly Luke rounded the corner, grinning.
“Han… I have something to show you…”
Han followed, confused. Luke led him into the common room, which was decorated with any sort of fun-looking decoration the Rebellion had on hand, and just about every Rebel that knew Han was standing in the room.
Leia grinned. “Happy birthday, Han! Chewie here told me it was your birthday.”
Han just stared at them, a smile creeping across his face. He’d honestly forgotten it was his birthday, he hadn’t had much reason to celebrate before.
After cake and games came presents. Han enjoyed the gifts he’d gotten from everyone, but the best part came when Leia, as she gave him his gift, leaned in and kissed him right on the lips.
When they broke away, Han noticed Luke grinning at them.
Guess it wasn’t a secret any longer…
As the celebration went on, Han couldn’t help thinking that this was the best birthday he’d ever had.