Work Text:
The food on Echo Base definitely left a lot to be desired, but it meant someone else did the cooking and cleaning, so if someone invited him to join in on a meal, Han usually accepted. Today it was just him and Luke for lunch. Chewie had decided to hang back at the Falcon fixing something, and it was late enough in the afternoon that most of the Rogues had eaten hours ago.
As Han shook his head at something Luke had said, he caught a flash of familiar white and brown out of the corner of his eye. A few feet away at the station for caf and ration bars was Leia. She held a ration bar in one hand and tapped the side of the caf dispenser impatiently with the other, brows furrowing over tired eyes. Han glanced from the bar to the caf to the dark circles under her eyes. She should really have a proper lunch.
“Han–”
“Hang on, kid,” he said, pushing away from the table and heading towards Leia.
She turned around the moment she heard his footsteps and sighed.
“Hey there, your highness-ness.”
“Captain. To what do I owe the pleasure?” she asked with plastered-on pleasantry.
“Well, I just noticed that bar you’ve got there doesn’t quite look up to royal standards, and I was wondering if you’d like to take your luncheon with me.”
Leia’s facade fell slightly, but she quickly arranged her features back to neutral. Han backpedaled frantically.
“I mean, us. Me and Luke are eating together. We’re no dukes and princes, but I’m told I clean up–”
Leia grabbed the caf cup, still only partially filled. “I should get going,” she said in a slightly higher pitch than normal, and she took a few determined steps away.
“Hey, wait, I didn’t–”
“Look, I’m just really busy, okay?”
He tried to step in front of her.
“Princess–”
She pushed past him. “Just please let me go and get this done,” she said with an edge of desperation in her voice that troubled him.
“Okay, ah, yeah, good…luck” he stammered, and by the time he’d finished speaking, she was gone.
He walked back to the table and sat down with an irritated thud. Luke stared at him with those big, easily-surprised eyes, fork halfway between his tray and his face, mouth slightly open.
“Close your mouth or it’ll freeze, kid. Guess Her Worship woke up on the wrong side of the snowbank this morning,” Han huffed.
“Next week is the Winter Festival,” Luke said quietly.
“The what? This some kinda rager the Rogues are throwing?”
“No, it’s a really important holiday…on Alderaan,” said Luke. “Leia mentioned it to me when we first got here. I was talking about the snow, and she said it was always snowy for the Winter Festival on Alderaan. Apparently it was a really big thing. There were a lot of celebrations and decorations and songs. People gave thanks for what they had and gave each other little gifts to show their gratitude.”
“Kriff,” Han swore. “And I had to open my big mouth with ‘highness-ness’ and princes and all that. I really made a mess of things, didn’t I?”
Luke wisely didn’t answer.
“And she just seemed so alone and worn down scrambling out of here with those stupid ration bars. Oh hells, I’ve gotta do something to make it up to her.”
“You’re going off-world for a couple days coming up. Why don’t you–”
“Find a peace offering! Something to bring back for her. That’s it!”
“I was going to say, ‘why don’t you let things cool down and then talk to her after,’ but what do I know,” Luke grumbled.
“Don’t be such a wet blanket,” said Han. “Now help me figure out what kind of thing I should bring back for Leia. I don’t really know what she’d like, ‘sides caf and work, and there’s no shortage of those here. And it can’t be anything too pricey. Your Alliance pays me, but not that well.”
Luke chewed the inside of his cheek thoughtfully.
“Jellyfish,” he said after a few moments. “She likes jellyfish.”
“Jellyfish…” Han echoed, a bit taken aback. “I think I can do jellyfish.”
Five days later, Han and Chewie were in one of the grittier neighborhoods on some Mid Rim planet and loading the last of the medical supplies they’d been sent to receive. When the final box was secure in the cargo hold, Han shucked off his gloves and strode back toward the ramp. Chewie followed him, loudly voicing his confusion.
“Keep your fur on,” said Han. “I’m just going to pick something up real quick, and then we’ll be on our way.”
Chewie blocked his path and growled disapprovingly.
“It’s not like that, pal. It’s got nothing to do with stuff from, you know, before. It’s just one little thing, don’t worry about–”
But he was cut off with a roar loud enough to make him wince.
“Okay, kriff!” Han threw his hands in the air. “If you need to know so bad, I’ll tell you. I’m getting something for the princess.”
Chewie gave a curious groan and tilted his head to the side.
“I made a mistake, that’s why! Is that so surprising? She’s been working so hard, and I messed up, and I wanted to get her a…a peace offering.”
Another groan, this one accusatory.
“It doesn’t matter what I did right now. What matters is I’m fixing it. I just need to go a couple streets over, get the thing, and then we’re out of here. Let me handle this, Chewie.”
Chewie moved aside to let Han pass and watched with curiosity as his friend’s form grew smaller and smaller in the distance.
Han, meanwhile, was determined to get that fish. He’d spotted a pet store as he and Chewie had traveled around the city, and getting the jellyfish was surprisingly easy. Not twenty minutes after arriving in the shop, he was walking out with a bag of food and a pale red jellyfish in a cylindrical tank complete with small rocks and a little plant. He whistled as he dragged it all onto the Falcon under Chewie’s befuddled gaze and growled questions.
“It’s a jellyfish, that’s what the hell it is. I thought she might like some company. She likes jellyfish; Luke told me.”
Chewie sighed. Of all the strange things he’d seen, at least this one seemed pretty harmless.
Leia was working on some reports when she heard a sharp knock on the door to the quarters which served as both her bunk and her private workspace.
“Come in!” she called without even looking up from her desk.
And in strode Han, with half a smile on his face and a…ball of towels?...in his hands.
“Hey,” he said.
“Hi,” Leia said cautiously.
“I just wanted to apologize for the other day. I went too far, and I’m sorry.”
“Thank you,” she said. “Apology accepted. Now if I may ask, what’ve you got there?”
“This is for you.”
Han set the bundle on her desk and unwrapped the towels to reveal a circular tank full of water and a light-red…something swaying inside.
“It’s a jellyfish,” he said, a barely-detectable note of pride in his voice.
Ever the diplomat, she said, “Right. Um, tell me more about it?”
“I heard you were going through a bit of a rough time, and Luke told me you like jellyfish. I thought you might like some company, y’know, when you’re working and stuff.”
Leia sat there, surprised, for a moment before a smile creeped across her face. She gave an exhale that sounded suspiciously like a laugh and covered her mouth with her hand.
“What?” Han asked.
“It’s fine!” Leia assured, shaking her head vigorously. “It’s just…the candies, Han. Those little gelatin things shaped like fish? Jellied fish? I mentioned them to Luke a few weeks ago.”
“Jellied fish,” Han echoed. “Damnit!”
“Don’t say that,” said Leia. “It’s such a cute little thing, and–” her voice grew quieter “--this might be one of the most thoughtful things anyone’s done for me.”
“Happy to be of service.” Han blushed and ducked his head humbly, but Leia could tell from his voice and his shoulders that he was rather proud. “Anyway, glad to see you’ve got some company here now.”
Leia looked at him forlornly. “I love it, but…it’s from a much warmer climate, and the heating in my quarters is spotty at best. It’s too cold here for it to survive.”
“Kriff me!” Han pinched the bridge of his nose. “Well, I can take it back next time I’m off-planet–”
“Wait!” she said, mind racing to come up with a solution because–stars help her–she was already attached to the thing. “There are places that aren’t my quarters and aren’t off-planet.”
“Like where?”
“Well, there’s the Falcon,” she suggested with just a hint of hesitation.
“The Falcon.”
“Yes. You could keep it on the Falcon, and I could come by to visit. The jellyfish,” Leia amended quickly. “And of course to feed it and such.”
Han smiled. “Well, princess, you’ve got yourself a deal. But listen, if you’re going to keep it, it needs a name.”
“Of course.”
Leia leaned closer to the tank to get a better look at the fish.
It was a pale reddish color with long, stringy tentacles and a few ruffly arms hanging from a squishy, circular bell. The edges of the bell drifted out and then back in, causing the whole creature to flutter and disperse ripples that bounced off the sides of the tank and made its arms wave. Between the color and the jiggling, it reminded Leia of a large spoonful of preserves that had been flung a bit too forcefully and landed with a wiggle on a piece of toast. It had been a while since the Alliance had proper preserves in the mess. She found herself daydreaming idly about the preservers they used to have at home. Starblossom had always been her favorite.
“Blossom,” she said softly, condensation beading on the tank from her breath.
“What’s that?” Han asked.
“Blossom,” she said, louder this time. “I’m going to name her Blossom.”
“Like a flower blossom?” Han squinted and cocked his head, trying to see the resemblance between the jellyfish and a flower.
“Like starblossoms. They’re a fruit, faint red in color. People made preserves with them back home,” Leia said wistfully. “I always thought they tasted like summer.”
“Blossom. I like it,” said Han.
With that, the pair wrapped Blossom’s tank back up in towels for the chilly journey back to the Falcon.
Han turned before he stepped out the door and said, “Well, I look forward to seeing you and Blossom on the Falcon.”
“Same to you,” said Leia. “And, Han? Thank you.”
Then, quick as hyperspace, she threw one arm around his middle and squeezed before retreating back into her quarters.
And so, the jellyfish, Leia’s happy little reminder of home, was tucked safely away on the Falcon. Blossom would be the first of many of Leia’s things Han had the honor of keeping.