Star Wars: Lightforce

Chapter 4

As dawn broke, it filtered through to Han's subconscious mind that he was uncomfortable. The blanket beneath him had given little protection from the hard, rocky ground and his joints ached. As he slowly drifted back to wakefulness, he became aware that the warmth of Leia's body next to him had gone, and a chill was starting to set in. He opened his eyes and looked around. Thick morning mist hung near to the ground and, although it was light, the sun's warmth was still hiding below the horizon with it's celestial body.

Luke was sitting in the same position as the evening before, cross-legged on his bedding. As Han stood, stretching his sore muscles, he pondered Luke's ability to sit motionless all night, and frowned quizzically. Artoo's familiar beep sounded nearby and, following the noise, he found the droid and Leia conversing quietly to each other in the look out spot they'd used the night before.

Leia crouched behind the rocky outcrop, looking through the macro-binoculars, her top fresh and her hair braided and tied in a low bun at the nape of her neck indicating that she had been up a while.

"Don't you sleep?" Han asked as he crouched beside her. She smiled and gave a little chuckle in her husky, rich voice that he found so sexy.

"You know I do, but it's not exactly comfortable." She had had very little sleep in the last couple of days she realised, but the fresh, cold air was keeping her awake. Han raised his eyebrows in agreement.

"Anything happening?" he asked.

"Not yet, but there's still a lot of cloud. I can't see much. Artoo will let us know if he picks up anything." She offered Han the macro-binoculars but he waved them away casually. He wasn't sure he would be able to see much more than she could. He thumbed in Luke's direction.

"What's up with Luke?" Leia couldn't see Luke from their position but knew that it was his Jedi's meditative pose that had caused Han's enquiry.

"Oh. He does that. Don't worry, he'll be here the moment he needs to be." Luke had perfected this discipline early on in his training. It honed his senses, sped up his healing process and, on long space flights in his X-Wing, could be used to put his body in a sort of hibernation so that he didn't have to make too many stops.

She sat back and looked attentively at Han, taking in the way his muscles filled out his sleeves, the glimpse of skin where his shirt was gaping slightly at the chest, his tousled hair that he was now running one hand through. She felt herself warm up a little at the proximity of him and subconsciously ran her tongue over her lower lip. She was painfully aware that, as usual, they were not alone.

"You said yesterday that you wanted to talk to me about something." She spoke before the effect of her imagination left her incapable of doing so. He looked at the ground.

"I was just thinking that with all my cargo runs and your official duties, we haven't had time to spend together and it would be nice to take a break... if you wanted. There are things I would like to show you - share with you. Things I'd like you to share with me." He raised his hazel eyes to look at her from under his eyebrows and she thought he looked like a shy little boy. It was an endearing, vulnerable look that he often wore when he was trying to soften her. He was very good at the cocky confidence of innuendo, but she knew he had more difficulty when it came to talking about things that were really personal to him, preferring to bottle them up.

"What sort of things?" she encouraged, curious. He got braver at her apparent interest.

"I don't know, just things. We don't know much about each other except for the time we have shared with the Alliance. I want to take you to see Corellia, it's golden beaches, crystal swamps. Coronet City, maybe, or even the giant flowers that grow in the jungles of Tamborra Major." Leia's eyes glazed and she was momentarily far away as she imagined what he was describing. She leant her head back on the rock behind.