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Leia shifts uncomfortably in her bunk, pulling her blanket up over her shoulders and to her ears in the process. “Piece of space junk,” she mutters under her breath. Han Solo, who tends to run warm, hasn’t gotten around to fixing the Millennium Falcon’s heating units yet, which means that the twins, especially Luke, are always freezing their asses off. Leia, realizing that her efforts to get warm in her bunk are fruitless, sighs, shoves the blanket off her frame, and swings her legs over the side of her bunk.
Leia rises from her seated position and heads toward her closet located on the opposite side of the room. Han’s boxers and her thin sleep shirt just aren’t going to cut it inside the heatless Falcon. She reaches in and pulls out a pair of thick, black pants and a sweater. Leia slips on the pants and pulls the sweater over her head before realizing one vital piece of her cold-weather outfit is missing: her vest!
Since acquiring that white, puffy vest to wear on Hoth, it has become a security blanket of sorts. Anytime Leia feels even the slightest bit of a chill (and sometimes even when she doesn’t), that vest is the first article of clothing she reaches for. She basically lives with it on when they’re on the Falcon or on a planet with a colder climate. So its absence from her closet is a mystery. Leia digs through her closet a couple of times before moving on to the rest of her room. There really aren’t many places to look; Leia keeps a very tidy room—if the vest were out of place, she would have noticed it immediately. Leia also wouldn’t have just mindlessly left it lying out in the Falcon; Leia keeps a very good track of her things. That means that somebody must have taken it out of her closet, but who? Literally all of her shipmates, that's who. Personal space is something unheard of in the Millennium Falcon.
C-3PO, despite being a protocol droid, still hasn’t learned the human etiquette of knocking; R2-D2 does whatever he wants; Chewbacca—well actually Chewie is pretty respectful, he probably wouldn’t have barged in and taken it, anyway; Han Solo thinks he has free reign of everything on the ship; and Luke, in true twin fashion, has a history of stealing Leia’s clothes. That means that everyone on the ship (save for Chewie) is a suspect. And Leia, goddamn it, is going to find her vest.
Leia exits her room and steps into the corridor. Leia’s first encounter is with R2, who is just outside her door messing with something or other on the Falcon. Leia crouches down beside the droid and asks, “Artoo, you wouldn’t happen to know anything about the vest missing from my wardrobe, would you?” R2 chitters in response. “Well, I don’t know what use you’d have with a vest, I just thought I’d ask,” Leia responds in mock sarcasm. R2 turns back to his work while Leia stands up and continues further down the corridor. Just around the corner, she spots C-3PO (3PO is never far behind R2, Leia notes). “Oh! Princess, how lovely it is to see you this morning,” 3PO greets, charming as ever. “Morning Threepio,” Leia greets back, “I can’t seem to find my vest. You didn’t take it, did you?” “Now, Princess, what use would a protocol droid have with a vest?” That’s exactly what R2 said… weird, Leia notes. Not weird enough to stop her from her mission, though, after exchanging goodbyes with 3PO, Leia heads further down the corridor and into the main hold. Which is where she finds Chewie and Han bickering.
“Oh, come on, you big oaf! Give me the right tool for once, would ya! I asked for the 3/8ths, not the 1/2,” Han yells up at Chewie. Chewbacca roars in response, clearly annoyed. “Whaddaya mean they all look the same? They don’t! You just have big furry hands…” Han mumbles the last part, smart enough to know not to get his arms ripped out over some tools.
“Boys!” Leia shouts to get their attention, “As much fun as it is watching you two fight, I have a serious question.” “Yeah? Whaddaya got?” Han replies, pulling himself out from underneath the ship and toward Leia.
“Vest. Where is it?”
“Didn’t touch it,” Han responds, wrapping his arms around Leia and burying his face in her neck. Han feels a slight pinch at his side, “Ouch!” He feels a slightly harder pinch. “Okay, okay. Promise!” He adds. This seems to satisfy Leia.
Chewbacca groans, startling the both of them. Han loosens his grip on Leia and spins around to look at the Wookie. “What did he say?” Leia questions, still not fully grasping Shyriiwook. “Oh, he’s just jealous he wasn’t invited to the hug,” Han smirks. Chewbacca rolls his eyes at this quip. Leia pinches Han’s side again, “Okay! Geez, you gotta stop doing that. Chewie says he thinks he saw Luke with it.” Chewbacca roars again. “He says he thinks Luke was heading back to his bunk.” Leia lips begin to curl upwards into a smile. She pecks Han on the cheek before saying, “Thank you, Chewie. You’re the only helpful person on this ship.” Chewbacca roars in amusement while Han stammers in protest.
Leia circles back around the main corridor and steps into the crew quarters. She walks up to Luke's door and knocks lightly. “Come in,” Luke responds, slightly muffled, through the other side of the door. The door to Luke’s room wooshes open, and Leia sees him sitting on the floor, cross-legged, wrapped in a blanket, and wearing, yes! Her Vest! Leia walks towards him and mimics his pose directly in front of him. “What’s up?” Luke asks. Leia scrunches her face and points at his torso, “That, as I’m sure you’re well aware, seeing as you broke into my room and stole it, is my vest.” Luke quickly stands up, letting his blanket fall to the ground,
"That's what this is all about? You barge into my room and start interrogating me over a vest?” Luke says, in annoyance.
“First of all, I knocked, no barging was going on, and second of all, you barged into my room and stole my clothes!” Leia replies, crossing her arms over her chest.
“You know I get cold! I don’t have very many winter clothes, seeing as I’m from a planet with two suns!”
“Well, you could have at least asked!”
“If I asked you wouldn’t have let me borrow it!”
“You’re right, I wouldn’t have! Because they are my clothes! I’m sorry you’re not on your crummy planet anymore!”
Luke pouts at Leia’s last sentence. “You know I get cold,” Luke says, much softer this time. He takes his seat back on the floor. Leia stands in place for a moment before joining Luke on the floor. “Luke, I'm sorry. I didn’t mean it,” Leia apologizes, reaching out to touch his arm. “I know. I shouldn't have taken your vest without asking. It’s just,” Luke pauses, “It’s so much different from home out here. I get so cold and feel so lonely, even though I’m surrounded by so many great friends. The vest just made me feel a little bit warmer and a little closer to home. To my family.” Tears start to prick at the corners of Leia’s eyes, “It’s okay, Luke. I don’t mind that you took the vest. Not really. I didn’t know it meant that much to you, or I wouldn’t have made a big fuss over it.” Leia takes her hand away from Luke’s arm, “I understand what you mean, the whole feeling lonely thing. I lost my entire family, and I feel their absence all the time on this ship. But I also know that here I am beginning to start my own family, with you, with Han, with Chewie, with Threepio and Artoo. And despite the loneliness I may feel at times, I don’t think I will ever be truly alone, not with you.” Leia stops for a moment and meets Luke’s eyes, “Anyway, what I am just trying to say is that I love you. Oh, and you can keep the vest.” A smile begins to appear on Luke’s face as he leans forward to pull Leia into a hug, “I love you too. Maybe we can share the vest?” “That’s certainly one of your better ideas,” Leia quips. They both chuckle, still not letting their grip on each other loosen. Maybe Luke should steal people’s clothes more often.