Okay, the usual disclaimer: These characters/situations aren't mine.  This 
particular situation came from a story by Cindy Olson, and the 
characters/situations in general belong to Lucasfilm, Ltd.  This story is purely 
for the entertainment of the reader and the author; no money is being exchanged.  
Feel free to distribute this story to anybody, but make sure this disclaimer is 
attached.

For Susan Gator.

Cease Fire
 by Stacy Galler (known as Lelila on ClubJade)


     Leia drifted back toward consciousness.  It took her a moment to figure out 
where she was. And then she remembered.  The previous evening had been a 
productive one; it had even been satisfying in some ways.  She'd actually 
_talked_ to Han.  Not yelled and screamed and butted heads, but talked.  And she 
felt more at peace being near him. She grudgingly admitted to herself that she 
enjoyed his closeness and his touch.  She snuggled into his arms a little more, 
letting herself become somewhat intoxicated by the smell of him.  She glanced up 
at him.  Asleep, with his tousled hair, he looked almost boyish.  She
grinned to herself, knowing she'd knocked a few chinks out of that armor of 
bravado he wore.  She still didn't have a clear picture of what lay underneath, 
but the glimpses she'd seen definitely intrigued her.
     She absently stroked her fingers through his chest hair, and she became 
more aware of the weight of his arm against her side.  She remembered how he'd 
held her last night, how he'd kissed her.  She'd kissed men - boys really - 
before, but never, never like that.  Never
with the fire and passion that seemed to well up from the depths of the soul as 
had happened last night.  Despite everything, her responsibilities, the war, 
their respective statuses, she wanted that again.
     And then it hit her again.
     Like a blow to the stomach, she remembered the feeling of foreboding she'd 
felt in the middle of the night when she'd woken up momentarily.  She was going 
to lose him.
     She closed her eyes against the thought.  She didn't want to think it.  And 
then she remembered something a young pilot she'd read the riot act to for being 
unnecessarily daring in what should have been a standard docking procedure had 
said: "Well Princess, I look at it this way: when you live a life where the 
circumstances could change any minute, you have to live for the moment."  
     Leia gained resolve from that idea.  She looked up at Han again, and felt 
her heart beat a little harder.  She swallowed, and decided that, for the moment 
at least, she was going to live for the moment.
     Tentatively, she gently pressed her lips to his chest.  She wasn't exactly 
sure what to do; she'd never made love to a man before, and Han, being as 
experienced as he presumably was....she shoved that thought aside, and moved up 
a few centimeters to kiss his collarbone.
     Han stirred.  He wasn't quite sure what had awoken him...he glanced down; 
Leia was kissing the base of his neck.  He grinned; gently stroked her hair.  
"Good morning," he said huskily.
     Leia looked up, smiled awkwardly, and rest her chin on his chest.  "Good 
morning," she returned.
     "Sleep well?" Han asked.
     Leia didn't say anything, just nodded marginally.  Han continued stroking 
her hair.  He looked deep into her dark brown eyes; there was so much in them: 
the sorrow of a wasted youth, the weariness of a military and political leader, 
an innocence that betrayed how inexperienced in some things she was, the 
loneliness that came with a position such as hers, the pain of the loss she had 
seen, the earnest beginnings of desire.  For the first time, they truly were a 
window to her soul.  Han thought they were fascinating; he'd never seen eyes 
like those; eyes the absolutely didn't hide anything; eyes you knew wouldn't 
betray you.  Han got lost in them.
     Time seemed to stop.  Han could feel his breathing quicken as he fell 
deeper and deeper into the depths of this woman's soul.  Something in the back 
of his mind tugged at him: "Don't start what you can't finish!" it warned.  But 
he didn't care.  He could look at those eyes forever.  
     Leia gravitated closer to him.  After what seemed like an eternity, she 
softly touched her lips to his.  They were soft and warm, yet the sent a chill 
through Han's body.  Leia pushed herself more fully against him, and Han 
enclosed his arms around her.  For what seemed like forever, he just kissed her 
tenderly, just holding her.  Her fingers gingerly worked through his hair as she 
somehow found a way to press herself even more tightly against him.
     Hoping it wasn't too forward, but encouraged by Leia's initiation, Han 
pushed his tongue between her lips.  She accepted it after what Han thought was 
a moment's hesitation.  He let his hands roam over her back.  He felt the 
outlines of her slight form through the dress shirt of his that she was wearing: 
her thin waist, the curve of her hips. It suddenly dawned on him that he'd never 
seen her in anything horribly figure-revealing. Even those dress robes she wore 
were loose.
     Han felt her somewhat tentatively push her tongue into his mouth. 
Surprised, but delighted and encouraged by her forwardness, he let her explore 
the inside of his oral cavity for a few moments.  He could feel his own heart 
beating with growing excitement. Taking her tightly in his arms and holding her 
close, as much to keep her from falling off the bunk as anything else, he rolled 
over on top of her.  For the first time, he moved his mouth from hers, and 
gently nuzzled her ear.
     For her part, Leia was floating.  She had never imagined anything could 
feel like this. A warmth spread from deep within her to the very tips of her 
fingers and toes, and a desire she had never known before began to manifest 
itself.  She wasn't sure what to do. The few steps she had taken previously had 
seemed very bold to her, but Han seemed to take them in stride.  While Leia was 
inexperienced, she wasn't exactly naive, and she knew she wasn't exactly 
throwing herself at him.  Truth be told, she wasn't quite sure how far she 
wanted this to go; all she knew was that she loved what was happening to her 
right that moment, and she didn't want it to stop.
     She suddenly felt Han lick her ear; it sent a startling thrill through her, 
and she moaned softly.  She ran her fingers over his muscled shoulders and onto 
his back; she was pleasantly surprised to find out how well defined it was.  The 
skin of his back was soft, and her fingertips tingled as they ran slowly over 
it....
     Han loved having his back caressed.  Most of the women he'd been with 
clawed at it, which really annoyed him, but Leia seemed to know instinctively 
how to do it just the way he liked.  A soft "hmmm" escaped his throat as he 
kissed his way slowly down her shapely neck. He let his hands wander over her 
body, caressing her belly and side, and finally finding their way up to her 
breast.  He cupped it gently. He suddenly had a mental picture of how she would 
look in a shape-revealing dress, and realized she would be a knockout.  But in 
that same flash, he also realized that he already found her beautiful. It 
radiated from her; she just hid it behind a scowl much of the time, at least 
when he was around.  He guessed he'd just never thought of her that way because 
she didn't fit into the mold of what he had always considered "beautiful:" too 
much make-up and oversprayed hair.
     He felt her nipple harden under his touch; another moan escaped her lips, 
and she started to kiss the top of his head fervently, and he felt her slightly 
dig her nails into his shoulders.  One of her legs drew up next to him.  He 
moved his hand down away from her breast, down over her belly to her thigh.  He 
came in contact with her soft skin, and boldly, but gently and 
non-threateningly, slid it up her thigh and under the shirt.  With his other 
hand he moved to undo the top button...
     Three muffled thuds sounded at the door; they were not the tentative 
metallic raps that Threepio would have given; it had to be Chewbacca.  Both Han 
and Leia started, and Han jumped away from her as if he'd been burned.  
"What??!!" he barked, much louder than he really needed to.
     The Wookiee's muffled reply floated through the door. Han listened intently 
with a very obvious scowl on his face.  Leia, however, turned in and buried her 
face in Han's chest, her emotions suddenly conflicting.  What was she _doing?_
     "Aw, dammit," Han said.  "All right, I'll be out in a minute."  He got up 
and crossed to the closet, rummaging through it for a clean shirt.  Leia curled 
up into the fetal position on the bed, facing the wall.  Han, now dressed, 
turned around and looked her, bewildered.  Why....?  He sighed as it dawned on 
him; she was obviously having some
problems with this.  He took a step toward her; saw the look on her face.  His 
heart about broke.  He would have given anything to stay there and just hold 
her, but he knew that if he didn't go and help Chewie, they might never make it 
to Bespin.
     He gently placed a hand on her shoulder.  "Leia," he said softly, "I have 
to go and help Chewie with some repairs.  You...you can stay here as long as you 
like."  It was a lame thing to say, because it had already been established that 
this was her cabin for the trip, but he couldn't think of anything else.  She 
nodded marginally.  His stomach twisted. How he wanted to stay...but he 
couldn't.  He ran the back of his hand over her check and gently kissed her 
temple.  And then he left.
     Once he was gone, Leia let herself go.  She started to cry.  She couldn't 
remember the last time she cried...it had been long ago.  What was she 
_thinking_?  She couldn't have a relationship with this man; he'd made that 
clear himself.  Why was she setting herself up for a fall like this?  And there 
was that foreboding sense of doom again. It settled over her like a chilly 
night, and she couldn't shake it off.  But oh...the touch of him, the smell of 
him...she couldn't deny it; she loved it.  She cried for several minutes, 
letting herself go
numb.  And then she swallowed, took a few short breaths, and decided that crying 
wasn't going to solve anything.  She got up and began to get dressed.

     Several hours later, a tentative tap came at the door.  Leia opened it 
without saying anything.  Han stood there, holding a couple plates of food.  He 
smiled sheepishly.  "I thought you might be hungry," he said, rather lamely.
     "A tad," she replied, rather coolly.  "You don't expect me to eat all that, 
though?"
     "I was hoping we could eat together," he answered, biting back the "Your 
Hignessness" that had formed with the statement.
     "I guess that would be all right," Leia stated, still somewhat aloof.
     "Okay, great."  He handed her both plates, and ducked back out into the 
corridor to get a folding tray that held two beverage cartons and some utensils.  
He set it between them, and took the plates from her and set them down, trying 
in vain to be suave.
     Leia started to eat before he even got settled onto the bed, and didn't 
look at him once he did.  Han looked at her for a long moment, unsure where to 
begin, and then tried some idle chatter.  "Well, the good news is, I'm pretty 
sure we'll make it to Bespin in one piece, provided we don't run into some 
Imperial chums, that is."
     "The repairs weren't serious, then?" she replied, her tone neutral.
     "Naw, they just required four hands."  He looked at her, unsure of what to 
say beyond that.  She seemed so withdrawn.  She paid total attention to her 
food; wouldn't look up at him.  He took a few bites, pondering in the silence 
what to do.  He decided on the approach he usually took to things: head first.
     "Is this about last night?"
     "No," she replied softly.  "It's about this morning."
     Han fidgeted.  "Look..I'm sorry if I did anything...I said we didn't have 
to do anything you didn't wanna do..."  He trailed off.
     "I know.  I'm not blaming you."
     "Then...what?"
     She sighed, and finally looked up at him.  "It's just...the whole 
situation.  I have really mixed feelings about it."
     "A princess and a guy like me, huh?"
     "Among other things," she said.
     Han yearned to know what other things; yearned to help, but figured if she 
really wanted to talk about it, she would.  He would just give her time and 
space.  He reached out and softly put a hand on top of hers.  "Well...if nothing 
else comes of this, we can at least say we got to know each other a little 
better and realized that we can get along without annoying the hell out of each 
other.  Maybe we could, um...call a cease fire?"
     She looked up at him.  Suddenly, the wall broke, and she smiled.  "I'd like 
that," she said.
     "Great!" he replied, patting her hand absently.  They looked at each other 
for a long few moments, both of them grinning like idiots. Suddenly Leia's view 
shifted, and she broke out laughing.
     "What?" Han queried.
     "Your elbow's in your food!"  Leia fell back on the bed, laughing 
hysterically.
     Han looked, and sure enough, she was right.  When he was sure she wasn't 
looking, he wiped it off on the end of the sheets, and started laughing himself.  
He listened to the sound of her laughter: it was clear and bell-like, and he 
loved it.  He made a resolution to himself to make sure she did it more often.
     She laughed for several minutes, holding her sides.  When it had reduced to 
giggles, he grinned at her, and offered her a hand.  "C'mon, Princess, you'd 
better eat before it gets cold."
     Leia sat up, picked up a fork, took one look at Han, and started laughing 
again.
     "What??"
     "Nothing, nothing," she replied, settling down somewhat.  She took a sip of 
water.  
     He grinned at her.  "You looked like you needed that."
     "It's not something I get to do often, that's for sure."  She took a bite 
of food.  "You make this?"
     "Yes...."
     "It stinks."
     He glared at her, but she started laughing again.  He started to laugh too, 
and tackled her, pinning her to the bunk.
     "Wha...Han!" she screeched, but before she could protest further, he 
started to tickle her.
     She laughed uncontrollably.  "No...don't..." she gasped.  "I'm horribly 
ticklish.... don't..."
     "Not until you say 'Han Solo makes the best Corrilian goulash outside of 
the Corrilian sector.'"  He tickled her some more.
     She gasped. "Han....Han..."
     "What was that?"  He tickled harder.
     "Han...Solo... makes the best...Corrilian goulash...outside...the CORILIAN 
SECTOR!!"
     "That's better," Han said with a smug grin.  He stopped tickling her, but 
stayed leaned over her, placing his warm hands on her waist and ribs.  He let 
himself look back into those intoxicating eyes of hers, now merry with laughter.  
She blinked a few times, smiling at him.  She reached up, and brushed some hair 
from his eyes.  He leaned over, and kissed her gently.
     For a long few moments, they just stayed like that, kissing softly, and 
letting this warm moment of peace pass between them.  Then the moment slipped 
away, their lips parted, and Han found himself looking into those eyes again, 
now just simply content.  He reached up and caressed her cheek, reveling in the 
quiet serenity.
     "I'm hungry," she whispered after a bit.
     "Oh!  I'm sorry," he said, getting up.  "Yeah, there really is nothing 
worse than cold Corrilian goulash."
     They sat up, and Leia said after a few bites, "Ya know, I lied.  This 
really isn't that bad."
     He grinned that lopsided grin at her.  "I know."