A/N: I don't own any of this. Disney lets me peep in on Han and Leia and gosh, whaddayah know, I blushed. ALOT. Disney lets me share the story with you as long as we don't get paid for it. So let's keep our voices hushed and enjoy the show.

A/N: This is a story for the Tumblr prompt Han and Leia Appreciation Week Day 4 "Hoth" for the blog han-leia-solo. I wrote it on day four but submitted day five. Oh well. Then it became two, no three chapters. *sigh* Better late than never.

Timeline: pre-ESB Hoth

Grasping Perception

Chapter One

"Go back into that dark alley you crawled out of you filthy minded Corellian gutter rat!" The petite princess finally snarled in irritation at the tall brown haired pilot looming over her. Princess Leia continued, unabashed at what she had just uttered in public. Gods! He got her riled with his teasing and flirting. "I have no intention of letting you just…." She trailed off, faltering at his expression. The background hum of activity in the command center had died down suddenly. Han Solo's eyes widened and he took a small step back. He ran a hand through his unruly hair and paused to gawp down at her in ill-disguised shock. She noticed his glittering hazel eyes shift to a dangerous dark gray green. He worked his jaw side to side as if chewing on what he wanted to say to her in retort.

Instead he turned on his booted heel and nodded curtly to General Rieekan. "I'm outta here at twenty two hundred hours." The general met Han's eyes and inclined his head slightly in acknowledgement.

"Han…" Leia started without realizing how informally she had addressed him. She began to reach for his arm.

Han briefly glanced at her, then stormed out towards the door. He was almost through it when he slammed into Wedge Antilles, who was just in reporting back from his patrol. Their shoulders bounced off one another. Han stopped the young fighter pilot in his tracks with a finger pointed at Wedge's chest. He hissed what sounded like an accusation at the younger pilot in their mother tongue.

Wedge considered the silent command center momentarily and then his eyes travelled back to the fuming smuggler confronting him. He shook his head emphatically, the meaning clear. No.

Han's finger retracted into his fist and he seemed to shake it in warning at his fellow Corellian. Then with a snarl, he was out the door, striding angrily down the icy halls of the Rebel base, his booted feet echoing behind him.

Leia slapped her datapad down on the console, scowling at Rieekan. "I can't believe you would just let him out there. The Imperials have that region nearly locked down. He'll never get past the sentry ships."

General Rieekan smiled grimly at Leia. "Your Highness, we need those generator core stabilizers. Solo is the best pilot we have with the best ship for the mission. He has the bargaining skills and the contacts to get us a fair price. The window for getting out of Hoth's system and still avoiding the Imperial sector patrols is getting smaller by the day. Someone has to go, and soon."

"It doesn't have to be him. I would be a much better candidate for negotiating the deal." She mumbled, studying her gloved hand. She knew the general was right at heart. Han was the most qualified and they all knew it. She just hated seeing him leave. He drove her into a blind rage half the time with his insubordination, bluster, and incessant flirting. Not that she minded the flirting. It brought a warm glow to her center and Leia typically bandied back at him. Their flirtation was usually witty and playful. He pushed, tempted and teased, and she argued, deflected and insulted him back. It was an innocent game, but today she had lost her temper and hurled something at him that had clearly opened a wound.

She had never considered the rough and tumble Han Solo, with all his courage, seeming indifference and bravado, actually could be hurt by her words.

"Alright then, clear the flight-line for him for twenty-two hundred." She finally agreed. "I'll give him the information he needs, the navigation co-ordinates and any orders." She tapped the datapad rapidly in front of her. The general turned to a lieutenant to relay the flight clearance.

"Highness," Rieekan started after a moment. Leia looked up at the older man. He had a thin gentle smile on his face, eyes full of concern for the young woman he felt a fatherly responsibility to. "It's twenty hundred hours. " She caught his meaning and began to gather up the unsteady pile of flimsies and datapads. Rieekan put his large hand gently over her arm, slowing her. On Alderaan he would have never touched his monarch. Never even been allowed to get close. But here, their world and people obliterated by the Death Star, protocols collapsed and they became human beings of an almost equal level.

It was her turn to nod solemnly. She grabbed only the relevant datachips now and hurried to the command center door when she noticed her protocol droid. "Come along Threepio." Leia instructed the tall metallic droid.

C-3P0 responded in his core-worlds prissy voice as she marched through the corridor, "Of course Mistress Leia! I will be most pleased to assist you with the…" He didn't finish as she whirled and put her finger over the rectangular speech synthesizer that served as the droid's 'mouth'. The hallway around the pair was momentarily empty of personnel.

"Threepio, what did Han say?" The princess probed the droid quietly, keeping an eye out for anyone that might stumble into their conversation. Then she quickly clarified, "To Wedge I mean."

The stiff golden hued robot quoted literally in his own annoying accent, a much less gruff version of the language Han had hurled at Wedge.

Sighing, Leia pinched the bridge of her nose in exasperation, squeezing her eyes shut. "No, no, Threepio. A translation, please." She emphasized.

"I believe ma'am, the polite translation would be 'Did you tell her anything?' The literal translation is rather offensive I believe. It was- " She had cut him off again with a swipe of her hand in dismissal.

"No, that's enough Threepio. I get the idea." She pushed the stack of necessary mission information into the droid's hands. His metal fingers snapped shut lightly over the surface of the pile. "When we get to the hangar I want you to give these to Chewbacca and inform him of the flight status. After that, get back to General Rieekan and personally inform him of the delivery." That would keep Threepio out of her hair for a bit.

She hurried away from her droid, ignoring C-3P0's indignant "Well, really!" The chill in the ice caverns' air deepened as Leia entered one of the vast hangars of the Rebels' base. Pilots and technicians straightened and saluted as she strode past. A half dozen x-wing pilots from Wedge's patrol clustered around a heater stationed near their fighters. They stiffened as she went by, the conversation quietened. She responded with courteous nods to each individual or group, still feeling their questioning gazes on her back when she was out of earshot.

This hangar had been a vast glacial cavern, naturally eroded and after artificially expanded by rebel engineers to accommodate mainly the snowspeeders and snub fighters. The cargo and passenger transports, along with other midsized starships resided in another larger hangar nearer the surface of the glacier. In the hangar that Leia rushed through, the sleek fighters surrounded an ancient dilapidated looking light freighter that she made a bee-line for. C-3P0 was left scurrying and complaining halfway across the hangar by her quick pace. He headed in the direction of his princess and the Millennium Falcon. A two and a half metre tall furry being on top of the starboard mandible stopped working and waved congenially at Leia when she approached. He roared a warm welcome when she stopped beneath him.

"Hi Chewie. " She responded with friendly affection for the smuggler's co-pilot. Leia studied the bay area around the Falcon before continuing in a lower voice. "Is Ha- Captain Solo around?" She corrected herself quickly. The rumor mill on base regularly featured the latest spat, and what it all might mean between the princess and the smuggler. She felt no need to reinforce the ridiculous theories of her staff by being too casual sounding about the handsome pilot.

Chewbacca responded with an expressive wave of his shaggy arms, roaring and growling at her in his native language. Having known the smuggling pair for nearly three years, she could just barely pick out the odd individual word or name amongst his growls. She recognized the sounds he used for her, Luke, Han, the droids and the Falcon itself, everything else was an interpretation of his gestures, eyes and facial expressions. She vowed to herself that if someday Han and Chewie actually bothered to officially commit to the Rebellion, she would have the Wookiee teach her more of his species' complex tongue.

Tonight, Chewie's gesticulations were clear. Han had gone up to the observation level on top of the base near the glacier's edge. And Han was angry.

Eyeing Threepio as he approached the Falcon, Leia decided to hustle. She didn't want the droid following her. Leia thanked Chewbacca, wishing him a good prep and flight. He grinned down at her from his perch and cooed in the direction she needed to head to confront Han. She managed to slip away just as the protocol droid ambled up behind her to pester the Wookiee. As soon as the last Princess of Alderaan estimated she was out of view, she broke into a brisk jog.

What she didn't notice was Wedge Antilles sauntering up to the group of pilots at the far end of the hangar from the Falcon, filling them in on the latest drama in the control room. There were a few groans and high-fives. Credits were exchanged, new wagers were made, and the Rebel Alliance gossip mill started grinding again.