#jrcashwrites

She suddenly felt as if she was intruding on him.  While he had given her an invitation to the Falcon earlier that day, coming aboard unannounced was unlike her. She began to turn to leave, her boots stepping against a loose piece of flooring that creaked loudly.  Stopping to avoid any more noise, Leia was frozen in place, hardly daring to move another centimeter.   

The music instantly died out, leaving the Falcon in silence.  She could hear Han move a few steps in the hold.        

“Who's out there?”  Han demanded.  Despite the fact he was currently docked on Echo Base and in his own ship, his hand rested against the end of his blaster as he cautiously stepped out from the hold into the hall to find the source of the creaking durasteel.         

Leia fought the urge to run as fast as she could off the Falcon to save herself the embarrassment of Han knowing she’d been lurking around the corner as he sang.  There was no sense in running, he already knew someone was aboard.  Stepping out from her hiding place, she called out down the hall.  

“It’s just me.  Leia”.  

“Gods”  Han said as he stepped into view, his hand relaxing away from his blaster. “At least give me a head’s up you’re aboard”.

“You seemed occupied” she replied as she took a few more steps towards Han. “I can go if you’d like”.     

Han let out a chuckle, realizing that Leia had heard him singing.  “No bother.  I need a break”.      

“I’ve never heard music like that before.  What was it?” Leia asked curiously. 

“Corellian folk song”.

“It was pretty”.  

Han chuckled, like he knew the punchline of a joke that Leia did not.  

“You want to hear the whole song?”  

Shrugging, Leia followed Han to the hold.  She hadn’t expected to spend her afternoon learning about Corellian songs from ages long past, but was intrigued.  He was offering her a rare glimpse into his life and culture, something he rarely spoke about and one she usually hesitated to ask about.   

As Han bent down to turn on the antiqued audiobulb to start the song over, Leia pushed aside a few tools on top of an overturned crate and sat down. The music was quick, the tempo nearly double any Alderaanian songs and much less polished. It was a simple tune, but catchy none the less, as she tapped her fingers along to the beat against the side of the crate.  Leia wondered to herself if it was some sort of drinking song, envisioning rowdy pilots chanting along in a cantina.     

“What are they singing about?”

“Basically it’s a story about a girl that is sent to the river to wash clothes” Han explained, loosely translating the lyrics.  “The girl’s mother gets mad since she comes home late and nothin’ got done since she fell in love with some guy”.

“So it’s a love song?” 

“Not really.  The father of the girl offers the guy a bantha if he takes the misbehavin’ daughter off his hands”.    

“That’s what Corellians write songs about?” Leia said with a smile.  

Han gave her a flat look, reaching to turn down the volume as the first few notes of the next song began.    

“I was just imagining something much different” she added.   

“Like what?”

Leia smiled softly.  “Songs about star ships and whiskey”.  

“We’ve got plenty of those too”.  

“Can I hear one?” Leia asked, adjusting her weight against the crate as she crossed her legs to sit more comfortably.  

“Sure” Han replied.  “But for those, we have to do it properly”.

“Does it involve selling anyone off for a bantha?” Leia joked playfully as Han pushed himself up from the floor and reached into the cabinet above Leia. Taking down the nearly empty bottle of Corellian whiskey, he passed it down to Leia.  

“It’s barely midafternoon.  I’m not about to start drinking” Leia protested as she held the dusty bottle in her hand and Han sat back down across from her.

“It ain’t drinking, sweetheart.  You are supposed to take a sip at a certain part of the song”.

Han started the audiobulb again, turning up the volume loud enough that the music echoed around them. Taking the bottle from Leia, he unscrewed the cap. 

“How do I know when?”  Leia asked, her voice barely audible above the music.

Han smiled, gripping the bottle tight as he began to hum along.  He noticed Leia tapping her foot, the music still enjoyable to her even if she didn’t understand any of the words.  

The song reached the chorus and Han openly sang along.  The melody grew louder as did Han’s voice.  Raising the bottle, he widely grinned as he took a quick sip before passing the bottle to Leia.  

“Za zdorovie!” Han said as he watched an apprehensive looking Princess rest the edge of the bottle against her bottom lip.

Leia took a deep breath and tilted the bottle back.  The amber liquid flowed over her tongue, burning the back of her throat as her eyes squinted shut and she forced herself to swallow.  Shaking her head, she opened her eyes and passed the bottle back to a still smiling Han.  She could feel the warmth of the whiskey in her chest, chasing away the chill of Hoth that seemed to have embedded itself in her very bones.  The taste reminded her of the liquor her father kept in a crystal bottle in his office, one that Winter and her stole sips of as teenagers and quickly regretted.  

“It ain’t that bad” Han commented before taking another sip.