wordless ways to say "i love you": 6. tucking your head into their neck during a hug.
a/n: two prompts? that's greedy :P you can have one for now. inspired by this post, a different take on Leia?
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Her body used to be softer, Leia thinks. Rounder, warmer, pliable, solid. Not like now, when she feels like she’s been filed off into cold sharp angles, when she feels like she could become unmoored and float up and away. She was a river stone, softly shaped by a tenderness that grounded her. Now, she’s a spike.
Affection is second nature to her, and her body remembers that. She was raised to the comfort of touch; she knows to offer it with ease. She thinks nothing of touching a stranger’s arm, of hugging a colleague in triumph, of wrapping an arm around a grieving soldier’s shoulders.
She’s starving; she hungers for touch. It’s not the need that scares her, that hungry void; it’s the fact that she can’t seem to take to touch like she used to. Her body viscerally rebels against it. When she gets injured and they tend to her wounds, she shivers and feels nauseous. Chewbacca gently ruffles her hair, and Luke pats her back, and Han drapes himself over her shoulders, and she stiffens even as she smiles, her skin turning to durasteel. She gets into her cot and piles up the grand total of two blankets she’s been given and all of her clothes on top of her, and the weight isn’t enough, but she closes her eyes anyway and pretends she’s being cuddled.
A year goes by, then two, and her body slowly smoothes down the memories of brutal hands on her shoulders, on her arms, the uncaring needles puncturing her spine, the cold muzzle of blasters at her back. Little by little it’s been nourished back to a healthy diet of companionable, of caring, of careful touch, which she welcomes, and reciprocates.
Except—
Her body does not extend the same courtesy to Han; it still stiffens, and vibrates, and frizzles at his touch, and she doesn’t know why. She’s long past feeling uncomfortable around him; she’s never felt unsafe. She likes his company, even, most of the time. Likes the way they work together. The way he talks to her like few people have dared talk to her before. The way he challenges her without disrespecting her, without making her feel like she couldn’t rise up to it. She likes the way she catches him looking at her sometimes.
It should not be a big deal every time he puts a hand on her lower back their fingers brush as she hands him a datapad he brushes a strand of hair out of her face she touches his arm to get his attention in a meeting their knees bump under the dejarik table, she’s a grown-up woman who doesn’t swoon at the sight of a bare ankle, it’s not that, it’s that it’s not enough, and the want, the impossibility of it, makes her recoil.
So what if he tells her things about him she’s sure he hasn’t told a lot of people? What if he brings her caf from the Falcon every morning? What if he brings back little things from his missions just for her?
What if she wants him to leave because she fears she’s in too deep and the thought of losing one more person she cares about terrifies her, and what if she wants him to stay for the exact same reason?
What if all of those words stick in her throat and she can’t tell him, not now, not ever, not until she’s done her duty to all the ghosts she owes her life to.
***********
They lost contact with the Falcon four days ago, received a confusing, static-filled transmission from Chewbacca twelve hours ago, and the freighter is late by two days. On the third day, Chewie says they’re on their way. On the fourth day, they arrive, and she’s got medics standing by, but she’s the first one to walk towards the ramp. He’s limping as he almost hangs from the Wookiee’s neck, something bulky under his shirt, his face pale and haggard. But he sees her and one corner of his mouth lifts, and when she steps up to him and hugs him, so very careful of whatever injuries almost kept him back from her for good, and he melts around her, and her face presses against his warm, beating neck that ripples with something unsaid, she thinks, finally, that she’s not starving anymore.
For Sleepover Saturday — top 5 Star Wars characters? You can do top five of all time across any media or you can do a top five for the movies and top five for things outside the movies, or however you want to do it.
I am incredibly basic, so
Leia
Han
Luke
I'm finding it really hard to name the last two. Do I like other characters? Sure! Do I like any enough to be able to pick two for a top 5? Apparently not! So that is my very silly answer, lol.
For Sleepover Saturday, for songwriting inspiration, are there particular songs or artists that are your go-tos?
LA JULIE?! Literally I think of you and @otterandterrier as the celebrities and leaders of the hanleia fandom so this is an honor 😭
This question means so much to me. Thank you so much for asking! I've been writing music and parodies since I was a kid and I have so many people I am inspired by.
I will start by saying Freddie Mercury from Queen has been my biggest music inspiration (for both singing and songwriting) since I was a teenager. Freddie wrote Bohemian Rhapsody – which is one of the greatest songs of all time. Of course, the other band members Brian May and John Deacon wrote other Queen songs that I love as well!
In fact I am working on a Queen song right now for my next project ... 😉
As for parodies in general, Weird Al has to be my favorite parodist. He's iconic, hilarious, and is extremely clever with his songwriting.
Pop music artists I look up to for songwriting inspiration:
Billie Eilish/her brother Finneas
Olivia Rodrigo
Max Martin
Again, thank you so much for this question. I don't get a lot of questions about music, so this means a lot. 🥹
Thanks for the prompt! This is pretty short, but I hope it's enjoyable all the same!
Prompt: Hand Holding - only realizing it when they have to let go
The glimmer of the sun reflecting off the Falcon’s hull brought with it a wave of relief. Han’s lungs burned and feet ached as he dodged yet another blaster bolt from behind. Leia lurched in the direction he’d darted, her legs moving twice as fast as his to keep up with his longer strides.
Chewie wouldn’t be expecting them for at least a day — the mission had obviously been cut short once it became clear an ambush had been planned — so Han readied himself to punch in the ramp code on the ship while the princess covered him, just like they’d done the three other times this exact scenario had played out. He fired his blaster in the general direction of the stormtroopers running after them while keeping his focus on the Falcon up ahead.
As they approached the ship, Han reached for the keypad, but was hindered for a fraction of a second by the viselike grip Leia had on his fingers. He looked from their entwined hands to her face as she let go and turned her back to him, firing her blaster at the enemy on their heels. Cool air shocked his skin as he typed in the code, preparing to shove the princess aboard the moment the ramp was low enough.
They’d made it just in time.
Send a number between 1 and 60 and I'll write a ficlet!
Star Wars Legends Highlight of the Week: Razor’s Edge by Martha Wells
This is a new feature where a fan will share one thing they love from Star Wars Legends – a book, a comic, an author, a character, an event, or anything else they want to highlight – and tell us more about it.
If you, too, love Legends, follow @from-a-legends-pov and check out our upcoming Star Wars Legends fanfiction event, From a Legends Point of View, HERE. Signups open April 28 – please encourage your favorite Star Wars writers to participate!
Today’s highlight is Razor’s Edge (also known as Empire and Rebellion: Razor’s Edge) by Martha Wells (yes, that Martha Wells, for all you Murderbot fans out there), a 2013 Legends novel, and we’re talking with @lajulie24.
Tell us about your Legends highlight. What is it? What’s it about?
Razor’s Edge is a novel set between Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back centered on Leia Organa. Leia, Han, and a group of other Rebels are on a mission for the Alliance when they are attacked by Imperials (led to them by an Imperial in the Rebels’ ranks). They flee into pirate-controlled space, where they encounter a ship of Alderaanians who survived the disaster, became pirates, and are now severely in debt to the Lorrdian pirate leader, Viest. Basically Leia needs to figure out how to protect her surviving shipmates, complete her mission, help the Alderaanians (who have pretty mixed feelings about Leia and don’t particularly want to be helped or give up their pirate lifestyle), and keep from being killed or turned over to the Empire should Viest figure out her true identity. Oh, and there’s also the matter of her growing attraction to Han (who is in ride-or-die mode when it comes to Leia already, even though they are ostensibly just friends), her guilt and grief over Alderaan, and her internal conflict over her commitment to the Rebellion.
Why is this a Legends highlight for you? What do you love about it?
Leia has always been one of my favorite characters, and I love that she gets her own spotlight in this book. She’s also written very well – she’s smart, capable, devoted to her cause and to the people she cares about, and at the same time she makes mistakes, she fails, and she struggles with her loyalties to the Rebellion, to Alderaan, to her friends, and to herself. Like me, Martha Wells is a HanLeia shipper (and she’s a former HanLeia fanfiction writer), and many of the scenes in this book have a fanfiction-y flavor to them, such as a UST-filled strategy conversation they have in the ship’s ‘fresher. You can literally see Han and Leia falling in love with each other, see the friendship and trust they have with each other, but that’s happening in the background while the action of the plot is in the foreground – and it’s a fun, intricately designed story, with lots of schemes, betrayals, rescues, and action sequences. Han and the new original characters are also very well written. I also like that the fights and action sequences feel real, with real stakes; for instance, there’s an attack early on in the book and we see that several Rebels have died and Leia’s trying to help the others even though she has a concussion and a splitting headache and isn’t able to think very straight.
Favorite moment?
Hard to choose, but there’s a lovely quiet moment toward the end of the book, where Han and Leia are waiting together to see if their ally will accept Leia’s offer, and it’s not looking good. It brings together a bunch of the themes of the book and also shows their care for each other as well as for the cause.
And of course, there’s my favorite quotation from this book: “Good luck, crazy human lady. It was fun destroying things with you.”
To learn more….
If you’d like to read more about Razor’s Edge, you can check out its page on Wookieepedia or find the novel at your favorite library or used bookstore (it no longer seems to be in print for new copies, sadly).
And be sure to check out @from-a-legends-pov and our From a Legends Point of View fanfiction event; as another reminder, signups open April 28, 2024!
An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
Leia's attempt to put some distance between herself and Han falls apart. Which might be just fine.
Written a while back for the 2020 @hanleiacelebration as a gift for @lajulie24!
Leia was no stranger to doing audacious things in plain sight—it was a natural part of spying for the Alliance in the Imperial Senate—but they were usually things that could make or break a years-long effort to save the galaxy from tyranny, and not about trying to avoid an awkward situation entirely of her own making.
Perhaps it wasn’t such a problem. Han, after all, was oblivious to the awkwardness, reading with enthusiasm from a holonet page about the eighty different kinds of spiced cider one could procure from a stall at the winter market they’d be visiting tomorrow, just the two of them, alone.
We meant to post this immediately after all gifts were complete. Oops. Hopefully you can revisit some of these or peruse some of the ones you missed! Above all, please thank your authors by leaving kudos and comments!
Rated Teen and Under
A Lot Like You by @lajulie24
An Alderaanian Sweater by @theorganasolo
Corellian Whiskey by @gillanna47
Cover Me by @lajulie24 (thanks for pitch-hitting!)
The Honeymoon by @princessvaderskywalker
I Know by @wishfulfanficing
Just to Make Happy Someone Like You by @otterandterrier
Late Night Worries by @megandchill
Not the Time by @princessenator
Present Your Case by @jainadurron
Stand By Me by @jakku-princess
Sweet, Sweet Victory by @hanorganaas
Teach Your Children Well by @amilynh
This Whole Damn City Thinks It Needs You (But Not as Much As I Do) by @saltmaven
Undisclosed Desires by @equusgirl
A Wonderful Winter on Hoth by @maggzblair
Your Move by @i-ll-be-the-moon
Rated Mature (NSFW/Explicit)
Dirty Laundry Looks Good On You by @equusgirl (thanks for pitch-hitting!)
V. An abandoned or empty place for Han/Leia, please! Thanks!
Takes Place in the Legendary Heroine Verse at a later date:
“I hate it here,” Leia sighed as she wrapped the blanket Han had provided tighter around her.
Han looked up from the small campfire they had created in the abandoned underground tunnel located on the outer rim planet they had escaped to. He furrowed his brow. He couldn’t help but agree. He wished he was back home on the beach front house they had built together on Corellia,
It was warm and sunny with the sound of the ocean soothing them perpetually, not dark and cool with the sound of the sound of dripping water to drive them mad. But they had no choice.
The First Order had increased in power now with the backing of the Knights of Ren. With Ben....who now called himself Kylo Ren, hell bent on revenge for something Leia didn’t do, Leia had a target on her back. They could have stayed with the newly formed Resistance. But with their daughter Jaina amongst the ranks, Leia knew there was a bigger risk of her being killed if she stayed with them.
Their only choice was to run and hide. Stay as far away from their loved ones as they can until the First Order was defeated or someone convinced Ben to go back to the light.
“It could be worse,” Han said trying to make light of the situation, “we could be back on that one planet that was filled with nothing but hot lava.”
It didn’t help. Leia buried her face in her hands and began to sob. Her sobs so violent her body was trembling. Han quickly got up from his task of building the fire to keep the place warm and lit and walked over to Leia’s side.
He wrapped his arms around her like he did many times before when she in distress and pulled her close. He soothingly rocked her back and forth, tracing reassuring circles on down her spine.
“Shh it’s okay darling,” Han whispered placing small kisses on her forehead. “I’m here.”
“At least you’re with me,” Leia sniffled before burring her head into his neck, “it’s the only thing making this hell more bearable.”
A small smile formed on on Han’s lips. He went from having the life he dreamed of, a comfy house with a wife and children, to living in this nightmare, running from place to place and fearing for his life. His universe was shattering around him.
But being here, wrapped up in the woman he loved’s embrace, this was home to him. He wouldn’t trade it for anything in the galaxy.
