The ceremony was informal--more a gathering of skill, really. The rank had been conferred to her in an unofficial capacity three standard months earlier, and she'd shown her mettle for two years before that--her whole life, really. Han considered somewhat of an honor that he'd made the guest list. He was technically her partner in the field, and had been along on the missions that had served as proof that she deserved this rank.
Carlist Rieekan opened the small box.
“Leia Organa, it is my honor to bestow upon you the rank of Major General of the Rebel Alliance.”
Leia smiled as he pinned the metal insignia over her heart. She turned away from the row if generals pressed up against Dodonna's desk to Luke and Han.
It wasn't in his nature to salute, hadn't been since leaving the Imps. But something about her--her natural leadership, her commanding personality, the respect he had for her that he didn't have for anyone else--yeah, something about her made his spine straighten, his eyes point forward, his hand come to his forehead in a perfect salute.
“At ease, Solo,” she replied, her tone serious but her eyes sparkling playfully.
“Someone record the date,” Carlist added. “Solo finally remembered how to salute a superior officer.”
“Maybe there ain't been a superior officer here til now, Han tossed back lazily.
“Leia’s always outranked us and always will, and you know it,” Luke teased, giving Leia a congratulatory hug.
“Let’s get back to work, alright?” Leia suggested, ushering them out of the office. Luke gave a quick goodbye and took the stairs down to the hangar bay floor.
“So...do I have to call you General Organa now?” Han asked.
“Well…” Leia said slowly, thinking it over. “Technically, yes.”
“Technically?”
“When have you ever used my proper title?” Leia replied.
“Maybe it’s because those titles never really suited you. Now, General...that fits.”
Leia turned to face him, studying him for a moment. “‘Your worshipfulness’ fits me better than any other title?”
“Consider it a placeholder until a better one came along.”
Leia smiled. “Thanks. I think.” She gave him That Look as she walked off down the hallway.
“No problem,” he mumbled, watching as all the ensigns saluted as she passed. “Care to shoot for General Organa-Solo?”
Not long after Darth Vader learned about the true identity of the pilot who destroyed the Death Star, the visions returned. Vader did not sleep often, as it was particularly difficult for him to sleep with the weight of the respirator and his cybernetics.
After burning, the closest Vader got to sleep was deep meditation. While he meditated, until what would later be known as the Battle of Hoth, Vader saw his son.
He saw a beast dragging away Luke’s unconscious form, he saw the beast consuming Luke, he saw Luke dying of the cold, and more so.
Why the damned rebels would take his son, who’d grown up on a desert planet, to a snow world? Why would they leave him alone on such a world, too?
It enraged him, his visions tinted with red like his HUD.
These nightmares only served to fuel Vader’s search for the boy. IF he could intercept the rebels before they landed on whatever planet it was, he could save Luke.
The Dark Lord had also begun sending in spies into the infrastructure parts of the Alliance, any way to try to learn where they were headed.
Unfortunately for Vader, and by extension Luke, only the council members were privy to possible base locations.
The moment he overheard Piett and that idiot Ozzel arguing over some kind of finding, Vader knew Luke had been found.
Hoth- a desolate cold planet void of most sentient life? Where else would his foolish and gullible offspring be?
After ordering Veers to prepare his men, Vader returned to his quarters. It would take some time yet to reach the Hoth System, until then he would mediate, hopeful for any information the force would give him on locating his wayward offspring.
He would find Luke, he’d burn down all of Hoth and kill every revel who got in his way if need be.
Luke Skywalker would be his. This time there would be no escape for Skywalker. Luke would finally be where he should have been these past twenty years, at his Father’s side.
This picture has haunted me today. Why is Han standing so awkwardly? Yet Leia looks sweet and blissful. So I photoshopped this pic in my brain. I cropped them out of the circuitry bay and put them on Hoth. Alone. In the South Passage. Then, along with the #scoundressaturdays prompt, “she knew better, he knew better”, this is what happened.
She knew better than to let herself be caught alone with Han Solo. He’d offered to help her move some crates of miscellaneous tools and computer parts from her office to the southern storage units.
She thought it would be a quick chore. But she’d forgotten just how long the south passage was.
“You doin’ alright, princess?” he called from somewhere in the icy tunnel behind her.
“Yes,” she called back. She stumbled slightly though, almost dropping the crate. She steadied herself and kept going but her fingers were aching so badly, she wasn’t sure she could actually carry the heavy load all the way. She banged into a pipe running along the wall, making a clanging noise. She dropped the crate.
She stood there, rubbing her hands together as she tried to think. She did not want to have to tell Han she couldn’t carry it. He had suggested she take one of the lighter crates, but of course she had ignored him and grabbed the closest one to her, which was not anywhere near light.
She was about to pick it up again when Han came up behind her.
He knew this was a bad idea. But when he saw her standing there, hands on her hips as she stared down at the crate, he just stopped paying attention to the rational part of his brain.
“Hey, let me help.”
“I’ve got it, thanks.”
He ignored her and set his crate on top of hers, preventing her from picking it back up. She looked at him.
“I can do it, I just needed to rest for a minute.”
“I know. But it’s too heavy for you.”
She huffed and moved in front of him. Was she going to move his crate? He knew his was even heavier than hers. He took her arm, pulling her back.
“Leia, will you just let me get it?”
She stopped and looked up at him. She was very close and blast if she didn’t have the most beautiful eyes… He leaned down and kissed her.
She gave a startled sound.
“Uh. Sorry, I…” His words trailed off as he saw that her face didn’t look upset. At all. In fact she looked at his lips, then back up to his eyes. Well, okay then. He kissed her again. And again. Her arms came up between then, almost as if she thought of pushing him away, but she didn’t. He put an arm around her, bringing her close. He put his other arm on the wall behind her, afraid to completely wrap his arms around her for fear of scaring her off. But he felt no reluctance in her lips. He peeked to see her eyes were closed. She felt pliable and warm and he was just about to bring both arms around her and deepen the kiss when he heard a voice coming up behind them.
Leia jumped back, bumping into the crates he had stacked, knocking over the top one. The sound of metal crashing to the ground filled the air. She let out a small yelp of dismay.
“Oh hey, sorry. I’ll get it.” Han started to move around her just as two guys came around the corner. He glanced at Leia, whose face was burning red.
“Hey guys, can you give me a hand with this? I didn’t see where I was going and just about knocked the princess over.”
“Oh, of course. Are you alright, ma’am?”
“Yes, um. Of course. Thank you.” She moved to the side so they could get by.
“Hey, your highness, you can go grab the next crate. We’ve got this.” Han hoped he’d saved at least some of her dignity. The guys here didn’t appear to think anything strange was going on as they started picking up the tiny metal pieces out of the snowy ground.
“Okay,” was all she said before she quickly disappeared. Han watched for a moment. What had just happened? Could he be any dumber? He and Chewie had just this morning decided on leaving sooner rather than later. He needed to get this business with Jabba taken care of and they were both tired of this blasted ice planet.
He hadn’t wanted to admit to himself, much less Chewbacca, that he didn’t want to say goodbye to Leia. He didn’t know how...so he had put it off. Now...well, he sure hadn’t made saying goodbye any easier.
What had she been thinking? What in all blazes had made her think she could kiss him? Well, okay, he had kissed her, but she hadn’t stopped him. And when he had stopped, she’d been so disappointed, she had hoped that maybe he...well, he had. With his lips on hers all coherent thought had fled. They’d kissed for a couple of minutes, right there in, well, the dim light of the tunnel. But still. WHAT WAS SHE THINKING?
Mock-pummeling him now, the princess scolded and swore at Han, her language infinitely more colourful than it would be amongst her troops housed below. In return, Han affected a prim accent, and chided Leia for her atrocious language, so direly unbefitting a young lady of her breeding and position. Outraged, Leia resorted to smothering his teasing by smooshing her hands over Han’s mouth, an action which got them both to the point of cackling.
Yeah, he probably did lov–
“I hate you.” Leia’s dark eyes sparkled, and what came out of her mouth was entirely opposite to how it sounded. Han just grinned at her cheekily.
“I know.” He quipped, as if what she’d said was the most inoffensive thing in the world.
And when, with a snort, Leia joined in the laughter once more, dissipating the remaining tension with that gorgeous husky alto, it was–Han swore–at that instance– the most magical thing he had ever heard.
Princess Leia finds that understanding and controlling what's inside, involves seeing the world through the eyes of the person most unlike herself. Han/Leia on Hoth burgeoning romance. Rambling, angsty and directionless, this ship will hopefully hit port soon.
And three human orphans; from three different galactic sectors, three different walks of society and different destinies – were thrown together. And they became fast friends. As Leia reflected, she realized, perhaps even a family.
Family again…
Leia had to stop thinking about these people as such. She would only lose them if she did. And she didn’t know if she could take another loss without shattering completely.
