My Life as Leia

Chapter 7 - Truce

"Wait, hang on. You're letting me come with?" Leia nearly squealed with excitement.

She was hoping that he'd give in, but she didn't actually believe that he would.

Han only frowned and said, "Yeah, well, only 'cause we're too far away from Alderaan to turn back now."

"Oh, okay. Well—" Leia cut off. She took a moment to pause and think.

What had Han just said? That "Alderaan was too far away"?

The Princess's eyes widened with shock and recognition.

"Wait! What makes you think I'm from Alderaan?!" she exclaimed, hoping she sounded at least halfway convincing.

"Nice try, Your Highness. I figured it out about five minutes ago."

"But how?"

"Kid, it's the only planet we landed on since we left Coruscant. We would've found you if you had hopped on before that," Han said with a smile. "So. Admit it. You're from Alderaan?"

Leia shifted her eyes nervously from left to right. She had two options.

Option A: Lie about it and make a believable excuse (she was getting good at those), or. . .

Option B: Admit the truth and risk being brought home.

Who am I trying to kid? He already knows the truth.

There was no point in denying what Han already knew to be true, so Leia nodded. . .but not without shooting him a deadly glare.

"Fine, you got me. I'm from Alderaan," Leia said, throwing her hands in the air, still glaring at him.

"That's what I thought. And that means. . .Han trailed off in disbelief.

"You—are you the Princess of Alderaan?!"

Slightly concerned about where this was going, Leia nodded her head cautiously. Han let out a long breath.

He ran his fingers through his hair and looked at her with almost a scared look on his face. Leia picked up on it right away.

"What? What did I do now?" she asked, frowning in bewilderment. Why did he look afraid? She wasn't that threatening, was she? If anything, she should be afraid of him.

"You just put me in one of the worst positions so far, Princess."

"What? Why?"

"If somebody sees you with me, that. . .won't be good."

"How come? Nobody really knows me. Well, that's a lie. People do know of me, but why should it matter? I doubt everyone on Tatooine will recognize me."

At that, Han leaned against one of the bigger crates and sighed.

How was he supposed to explain this to her? She didn't need to know his history with crime. He needed her to really trust him, not freak out and disintegrate the fragile foundations of trust they already had.

"Han? Hello?" Leia said, jumping up to wave a hand in front of his face like he had done to her earlier. "Still there?"

"Oh, yeah," he said, shaking himself out of his daze. "I, uh. . .I guess it's time you found out."

This was concerning to Leia.

"Find out what?"

"You won't want anyone to see you with me because. . .'cause. . ."