When, Leia wondered for the hundredth time that afternoon, would
they be getting the hell off of Endor?

The entire command unit had shipped down to the Enchanted Forest,
as she'd taken to sarcastically calling it, to assess their victory and to
ascertain the Alliance's next move. She understood the reasoning,
since most of the fleet was now either parked somewhere on
the forest moon or docked in nearby space. But those furry little
Ewoks were beginning to drive her mad...

And on top of everything else, she hadn't seen Han since he'd left
her bed that morning. And that was threatening to put her into a
singularly foul mood. So when she found herself with some time to spare,
she'd made a beeline for the Millennium Falcon, not needing any kind
of Force-induced nonsense to figure out that that was probably where
he was holed up.

Neither human nor Wookie greeted her at the entrance to the ship, but
the boarding ramp was down. Taking that as an invitiation, she went
inside and headed for the cockpit.

When she got there she hesitated in the entranceway and just admired
the sight of him, drinking him in. The memory of their lovemaking from
the night before sent a pleasant shudder through her. It was all so
overwhelming. Being with Han was like a thrill ride that she was terrified
would soon come to a complete stop. And she wasn't wearing a safety
harness. "I thought I'd find you here," she said quietly.

He didn't turn around. "Where else would I be?"

Her heart sank. Oh, boy. What now? Determined not to let him get
to her, she sidled over to the pilot's chair and ran a hand through his
thick brown hair. "I've been looking all over for you."

He looked at her and his face lit up, sending a wave of relief washing
through her. He tugged at her arm like a child asking for candy, and
she complied, easing into his lap and placing her arms around his neck.
"Why were you looking for me?" he asked.

She pulled back a little, raised an eyebrow. "I wasn't aware I
needed a reason."

"Sorry." He pulled her to him again, and she responded by resting her
head on his chest, breathing in the warm scent of him. He stroked
her hair gently, almost reverently. "I needed to do some thinking."

"About?"

He was silent for too long. Then: "About what's next. About what
I'm supposed to do now."

She stiffened, then forced herself to relax, not wanting him to know
he was making her anxious. "What do you mean?"

He cleared his throat nervously and tightened his embrace. "Well,
I mean, the war's over right? So now what? I'm sure you'll
have no problem moving right into whatever form of government
gets cooked up, and Luke has his whole Jedi thing to keep him
busy, but what about me? I only know two things, sweetheart:
fighting and flying. The Rebellion -- the Alliance -- doesn't exactly
need fighters anymore, at least I hope not, and somehow I
don't think taking up smuggling again would be good for our
relationship."

"You got that right," she snorted against his chest. But his
statement intrigued her. "Relationship, huh?"

He squirmed in her embrace. "Uh, yeah. Isn't that what they're
calling it these days? I mean, unless you don't think --"

She cut him off by tilting her head up and pressing her lips to
his. They kissed fervently for a long moment, then she broke
away. "Does that answer your question?" she whispered.

He grinned. "More or less."

"Good." He moved to kiss her again, but she pulled back. "So
go on."

He shot her a resigned look as he realized he wasn't going to be able to
change the subject so easily. "Well, I just feel like there's no place for
me in the Alliance any more. I did my job, and now...I guess I need to
find something else to do."

Her expression froze. "You're going to leave, aren't you? I thought
now that Jabba was dead we wouldn't have to...I wouldn't have to
worry about you leaving anymore. That I could finally count on you.
I guess I was wrong." She got up from his lap and moved to the
co-pilot's seat, staring out the cockpit window at a group of
sickeningly cute Ewok children frolicking in the Enchanted Forest,
and fighting to keep her anger in check.

"Hey," he said urgently. "Where the hell did that come from?"
He shifted in his seat, turned to face her. "Leia, the one thing I doknow is that I can't be without you. You're the only thing I'm sure of
right now. You have to believe that."

"I want to believe it," she said coldly. "I just don't know if I can."

"Look, Your Worship --" he began, then cut himself short when he
realized how he sounded. "Leia. I love you. I've never felt this way
before about anybody, and trust me, I've been around. Hell, I've
been spending the whole time since I got thawed out wondering
when you were gonna drop the bomb that I didn't really mean anything
to you, that what you said on Bespin was just because you thought
you'd never see me again."

Bastard. "I don't tell someone I love them unless I mean it," she said
tightly. She filed the "I've been around" comment away for another
time.

He sighed in exasperation. "I know, I know. But you have to see where I'm
coming from, here. Right now I feel like little more than a two-bit smuggler
turned paper General."

She stared at him in disbelief, her surprise jarring her out of her anger.
"Han, how can you say that? You're the one who pulled this bunker
mission together, who helped make it a success. The fleet never would
have gotten even close to the Death Star if it wasn't for us -- for you.
We both know Lando sure as hell couldn't have pulled it off on his own."

"Granted. But now that that's done with, I have to make sure I'm not just
'the Princess' boyfriend.' I need to find my own niche."

"Han, you have to know that there's a place for you in the new Republic we'll
be establishing. I wasn't kidding back on Hoth." Gods, that felt like a lifetime
ago. "You are a great help to us, you are a natural leader. And those
kinds of people are always in demand." She shook her head wearily.
"I want you to do what makes you happy, Han. But I'm terrified that it will
mean leaving me."

He smiled reassuringly. "Never. I'm afraid you're stuck with me, sweetheart."

"Oh darn," she replied, suppressing a grin.

Their eyes caught, and his face took on that familiar leer that never failed to
send electric tingles straight to her nether regions. "C'mere."

She tilted her head, debating whether or not to give him a hard time. Oh,
hell, she'd only be depriving herself. "Of course, General."
This time she straddled him, placing her legs on either side of the
pilot's chair.

He grinned at this pleasant turn of events and embraced her eagerly.
She leaned over and kissed him, softly, exploring. Kissing Han was still
a new experience, something to be savored and cherished. He returned
the kiss hungrily, pulling her closer, and she could feel his breathing
quicken. It was such headying power, to realize the physical effect she
had on him. To know that he was as affected by her closeness as she
was by his.

They kissed for ages, enjoying the feeling of togetherness, of aloneness.
In the back of her mind she wondered if it would always be like this, trying
to stake out time for themselves in the middle of neverending crises.
His lips moved to her neck, nuzzling, questing. He took her sensitive skin
between his teeth and sucked tenderly. She leaned her head back and
sighed at the maddening heat of his mouth.

"Do you have any idea how much I want you right now?" he whispered
against her ear.

It was difficult to find her voice. "Show me," she finally managed, her voice
sounding unnaturally loud in the quiet of the cockpit. His hands moved to
tug at her uniform shirt, and she helped him pull it over her head and toss it aside.
He just touched her at first, tracing the lines of her bra, brushing his thumbs
over her nipples through the smooth fabric, covering her breasts with his
hands and kneading gently. She licked her lips anxiously. The way he
looked at her sometimes, like she was a rare creature to be studied and
explored...it thrilled and unnerved her at the same time. And if he didn't do
something more concrete about it in a minute she was going to scream.

Finally, he reached up to undo the fastening of her bra and slid the garment
down her arms. Free of the encumberance, he caressed her breasts
again, this time more roughly, possessively. When he leaned down to take
one nipple into his mouth she let out a sharp sound that suspiciously resembled
a whimper.

For long moments he lingered there, teasing and tasting, their harsh breathing
and the sounds of his suckling the only noise in the cockpit. She moaned softly,
beginning to move against him, feeling his hardness through his black trousers.
When she whispered his name he finally lifted his head, breathing hard, and
their eyes met.

It was like a dam breaking. Suddenly they were kissing again with desperate
urgency, hard, rough, bruising. Leia practically ripped his vest and shirt off
and then held him close, loving the feel of his bare skin against hers, the way
goosebumps broke out on her skin at the contact. And the next thing she
knew they were on the floor between the seats, tearing at the rest of their
clothes, cursing under their breath with impatience.

"Where's Chewie?" she thought to ask as she was wriggling out of
her underwear.

He froze. "What?" he asked, annoyed, uncomprehending.

"Is anyone going to walk in," she said, explaining.

"Oh. No, he's busy, don't worry about it ahhh...." He moaned as she
grabbed his cock, stroking it deftly. "You're a very cruel woman,
Princess."

"You love it," she said in a strangled voice as he fought fire with
fire, his hand finding his way between her legs and manipulating
her with an expert touch.

"I do, I really do," he whispered, kissing her cheeks, her forehead,
her neck.

"Enough, you damn nerfherder, now..."

And then he was inside her, the world narrowing to their coordinated
movements, rising and falling and rising and falling. She lifted her
hips as high as she could, trying to take him in deeper, wanting her
inside of her, part of her, committing to her. They were both too
close to the edge to take things slowly; within moments they were
moving swiftly, urgently, purposefully.

"Han...I'm going to...oh..." And she dug her nails into his
back as the orgasm engulfed her, sending her over the edge, wave
after wave enveloping her. When it subsided she opened her eyes
to see Han's cocky grin. He paused.

"You're enough to drive a man crazy, you know that," he said, eyes
sparkling, and then his expression changed, growing intense, focused,
and he drove into her until it hurt, and then finally, finally, released
himself inside of her, groaning her name.

When he was finished he collapsed, falling on top of her, lying there
until she choked. "Han, I can't breathe..."

"Oops." He withdrew from her gently and moved to lie down next to her,
but as soon as he was on his back she climbed up on top of him, covering
his body with hers. "Mmm," he mumbled happily, his hands traveling
up and down her bare back. "Now this is a nice way to spend an
afternoon."

She chuckled throatily. "Is this the first time you've ever been naked
in here?" she asked.

He looked up at the ceiling. "Actually..."

"Never mind, I don't want to know," she said in disgust. And
disappointment.

"Hey." She looked up at him. "I can honestly tell you you're the only
woman I've ever had sex with in here."

"Aren't I lucky," she drawled, doing a passable imitation of his own sardonic
leer.

It was his turn to laugh. "You're a little too good at that, you know."

"There are a couple of other things I'm not so bad at either."

"I've noticed." He pulled her head down to his and kissed her thoroughly,
making the blood pound in her ears. "Wanna move this party back to
my cabin?" he asked when their lips parted.

She checked the chronometer on her wrist, and Han groaned in trepidation.
"Well...I have one hour before I have to meet with the brass again," she
said with satisfaction. "That enough time, flyboy?"

He grinned his trademark grin. "I think we'll manage. Sweetheart."

end.