Man, that was wonderful!
Thanks.

Oh, the angst! If Han wasn’t safe and in Leia’s arms at this point, I don’t know what I’d do. Probably go read some DB for good measure. Nice work with the first person, in any case!

What a lovely bit of introspection from Han! Very nice, thanks!

Lovely

This truly is an empathic as well as soulful and touching into Han' s musings and feelings. I think during their "courtship" Leia and Han both had fears of inflicting hurt and pain to the other, because of the burdens they had to carry (Leia' s has been quite obvious, and Han knew about the looming danger because of Jabba, plus in IMO he also felt a touch of unworthiness).
You have nailed Han' s POV straight to the point and I agree action speaks for both of them so much more than word. Also to me Han' s decision to officially join the rebellion and accept a dangerous mission is the ultimate thing for him to do to prove his commitment to Leia and her "prescious rebellion". An aspect of his arc in the OT, which is underexplored in the movie and to which "Louder Than Words" pays a thoughtful and sensitive tribute. Absolutely well done!

I just realized my review, which I left earlier today is going to appear as a guest review. Because I have been on my phone and forgot to log in. Silly me. Anyhow, I enjoyed this very much. Just as in all your stories, this one lives from your profound and perceptive grip on the characters.

I think I'm a bit misty-eyed right now. It's really beautiful.
How you write Han's thoughts is amazing, he's very concerned about Leia here. It's amazing. His regret that he' just got with her and now he must go away. It's very sad but so well-written. His thought that he should've left her before the Bespin thing happened but he couldn't, just because he loves her so much.
And he knows that she loves him too. He finds her so strong, and it's true.
His "I love you, too" shown in actions is how they truly tell themselves they love each other.
I love it!

Have I mentioned how much I like this? If not, shame on me. It's short and simple, but it's powerful.

This is lovely, particularly this: "But I know your real mother tongue, Leia, and it ain't words, it's action."

Such a wonderful companion to ROTJ. Such a fitting insert in the timeline. Such a in-character way of showing the similarities of these two characters: neither one of them trust words only. Beautiful!

Splendid!

Beautiful. Simply beautiful. Han's POV is everything I hoped he could have said after the rescue in ROTJ. Fantastic!

So sweet! Love it when Han gets sentimental.

Oooh, you write Han's voice SO well. Totally nailed it. I love your writing.
And I think he's right about Leia: her mother tongue is action, not words.

This is beautiful.

Beautiful, as always!