Luke and Leia - Rebels [2]

15: Catalyst

One year later

Leia Skywalker crossed her arms and shivered against the cold with a scowl. "I can't believe I'm back." She griped, glaring around her. "I escaped this base for a reason."

An elbow jabbed her shoulder on her right. "Oh come on, it won't be so bad." Luke smirked. "All it is is cold."

"Exactly. That's all there is." Leia replied in exasperation.

"If I didn't know any better I'd believe you were thinking about disobeying a direct order." Han looked down at her with a cocked brow from up on top of the Falcon. "But I do know better."

Leia shot him a scowl. "Says the one who dragged us into that mess on Ord Mantell. If it weren't for that we'd both still be on Hesk."

Han and Leia had been on a supply run on Ord Mantell a few days ago and started to return to Hesk only to find that their base of operations was in danger of being under siege, so their commanding officer had them both rerouted to Hoth instead of back to Hesk much to Leia's chagrin. It didn't help that they'd run into a bounty hunter while they were on Ord Mantell who knew about Han and the bounty Jabba had over him, making subtlety much more difficult and resulting in an almost all-out firefight as they fled the atmosphere.

"And if it weren't for me we'd probably both be dead." Han finished before disappearing again. Leia rolled her eyes but reluctantly knew he was right; on the way out of the planet's atmosphere the Falcon had been hit, singeing a few unfortunately important wires. Leia had flown copilot with Chewie while Han had fixed them.

Leia turned to her brother to find him staring at her with a smile she didn't like at all. "What?" She snapped.

"Nothing. I'm just glad to have you two back is all." He responded, but the smile lingered in a way that made her instinctively want to punch him in the arm. Luke had arrived on Hoth a week or so before them, and before then as far as Leia knew he was out exploring various parts of the galaxy for any Jedi knowledge he could find. Leia didn't approve of this but had known better than to try and stop him, but one thing that had worried her was that every time he had returned to base he'd seemed a bit more distant and distressed than before. But Leia could feel his mood had shifted once she and Han arrived, much to her relief.

"Commander Skywalker."

Luke and Leia both turned to the deck officer strolling towards the Falcon. "Yes?" They responded simultaneously.

The officer faltered, looking between the two sheepishly. "Er, Luke Skywalker, General Rieekan wants to see you."

Luke uncrossed his arms and pushed himself off of the Falcon's landing gear he was leaning on. "Is everything alright?" He questioned, his brow furrowed slightly. In the meantime Han popped his head back over the side, listening intently.

"Yes Sir, he just wants to go over your border patrol schedule and flight practice schedules as well since the speeders are almost ready to brace the cold." The officer informed him, making glances in Han and Leia's direction and nodding towards them. "Captain Solo, Commander Skywalker."

Han gave the man a small dismissive wave while Leia shot him a warm smile. Luke nodded at him. "In that case lead the way." He gestured for the officer to start walking, with him following close behind.

"Have fun." Leia muttered, but it was loud enough for Luke to hear because he turned back and shot her a glare. In response she just waved back cheerily, and he rolled his eyes before continuing.

Leia craned her neck to see Han peering down at her suspiciously. "What?" She asked defensively, crossing her arms.

He swung his legs over and hopped down, wiping his hands on his pants and giving Leia a mocking look of shock. "No need to get so defensive Your Highness, am I not allowed to look at people?"