I think Leia Organa, smiling in brilliance and utterly in love after Han's declaration is my new favourite thing.
So many soft touches and whispers of emotion, even before that final point, and yet it all feels to me as if they begin anew whilst embracing all that came before.
All the right ingredients, basically, for one happy, flailing fangirl!

I loved it!

Remember how I said I wanted to go and read all of your fics now? Well I read this one and it’s SO good. It’s just a gorgeous emotional piece that at the same time is not sappy — it feels realistic to Han and who he is. I love the notes about his awe at her — they felt really true and also really empowering. So often fic goes down the line of “all that strength is just a mask and he loves the true sweet innocent girl underneath” and I love that your Han likes and admired her strength and power rather than just wanting to get underneath it. It feels really mature and true.

Love post-rescue stories and this one is special. Thanks for sharing your version with us!

OKAAAAAYYYYYY! The whole fic is just a masterpiece, and everybody has already said what is so good about it! Nevertheless, I'm going to write what I love, too, as I adore stories taking place during this missing and so much wanted to be put in the movie moment from ROTJ. :)

Han, Han is so perfect in this story of yours. When we first get to know what's happening to him, we can feel he's not good, he's in pain. He wants to be aware of what is going on, where he is. The slow realization what's around him is very good, how he recognizes his pillow, his bunk, his HOME. Also, you wrote his physical state so well, the spots which ache, that he feels pain on his left ribs (I love this detail, we obviously know where it comes from... ;)). And then he hears the voice and he doesn't know who is talking to him. How much he just wants to survive there, the only thing that he cares about until he feels a hand stroking him gently, and admits to himself that this must be someone who knows him... When he suspects it's Leia, that he feels safe then because he remembers how his friends saved him... I love it.

Leia is so well written, you can feel the truest love radiating from her, how many feelings she has for Han and how much she wants him to rest, to feel better. I love that she checks his pulse. I love how tender her actions towards him are, how she kisses his shoulder blade, and even though she's concerned about his well-being then there's even a moment for a little joke about hurrying up Han's convalescence to brighten her mood. Amazing!

I love the detail about cabin lights and their "dull blue glow near the hatch". Such vision of the bunk the action takes place in makes the mood more intimate, quiet, peaceful, just the exact terms we need for this story to feel well and plausibly. Of course, the fact that Han, who can't quite see everything perfectly yet, knows this room by heart, is in-character, too. And the quote: "You're a sight for sore eyes" makes me melt, I love how much honest he becomes with Leia, I feel he means it wholeheartedly. And how slowly he relaxes after the information that soon he'll recover: even though he feels horrible he doesn't care because he wants to know what happened to Leia ("He wanted to know why her eyes were too big, why he'd felt her ribs when she'd launched herself into his arms aboard the skiff." Gosh, I love it and I love the picture of Leia staying close to Han on the skiff and not letting him go, as I feel it. Both of the characters' behaviors are spot-on there.)

And how good is the part when he contemplates that asking her if she's okay and not receiving any word from her is understandable; she's lost her entire planet and in addition, she had to somehow live without him for six months, live after spending so many days with him aboard the Falcon, not caring much about the things around them.

What throws us in the inside of his mind again and his thoughts: how much she risked for him and what it must mean. He feels loved, he experiences it, realizes it. He never ever felt such love towards him from anybody, so good.

"You're in pain." [...] "No, I'm right where I want to be. Don't go." I cried, alright? Don't think I'm getting mushy (!), but I just feel so much love coming from you for these characters, and how much they care about each other there - Leia wants to ease Han's pain, and he just wants to be beside her, missing her touch, her closeness... "The burn simmered beneath his skin, but the cool relief in holding Leia overrode the pain." Oh my God, yes. Also, to prove my words: "He kept the kiss light, more an expression of closeness than sexual need." Love the fact that there's no time for any sexual intercourse there, now they need to lie next to each other for a while, exist, peacefully. In general, the next several paragraphs are a pure delight to read, and I love how you depict Han's thoughts, his love, and of course, my favorite - "Leia made him feel safe." Such an easy sentence, and yet it has enormous power in it.

Their conversation about feelings, I love that it went not in the way I was anticipating it - I thought Han was going to just say he loved her, she was going to listen, and of course I'm not saying it to make you feel I think you would write such thing, which is, to be honest, an easy scenario, I think. No, he asked her if she'd meant it. I feel like he wanted to tell her he loved her without this question, but he was... maybe scared? Probably scared, maybe that she didn't mean HER words and then it would make him miserable as he loved her so much? I like how she responds to his question and how he's mad at himself for asking this, but trying to justify himself. Oh God, he cares so much about her. Also, when she tells him what she did to Jabba and how much he's in awe of her. The conversation between them is mature.

And when he says the words, yes yes yes! The thought of his that it wouldn't feel right and honest if he'd said it earlier - so on point. Her reaction? YES YES YES. "It took you long enough", ahh...

The ending is magnificent. "Rotten luck, he thought, but dismissed it as soon as he realized what the gesture meant. Not only was she not denying their relationship, she was actively embracing it. Wearing his shirt, lying in his bunk with him, taking care of him in his pathetic state." Or "He smiled against her lips, pulled her closer, happily wrapped up in the woman he loved." Oh yes, please, content muffins being happy with touching each other.

"That was worth it." Their relationship is surely worth it, and this fic was definitely worth a read. Congratulations! You wrote a beautiful story, and I'd like to thank you very much for making my HL spot in my heart "Good Better Best".

this was lovely :)

Reading your fic in general, and this one especially, is wonderful because its like coming home while still getting to discover new things! This is my Han! This is my Leia! And yet, there was still so much that surprised me while remaining spot-on.

It’s so great to see Han’s preservation instinct and how he walks himself through bad situations to stay alive. You write his physical condition so perfectly here, and his recognition of Leia is one of those things that now runs through my brain as I fall asleep.

The “it had fourteen hours to do that” moment! Han being humbled by Leia’s pain! “Stop makin’ me move”! “I’m right where I want to be, don’t go” *CRYING EMOJI* ! What have you been doing to yourself internal question MOAR CRYING EMOJI! Leia making *HAN* feel safe! “There was a proper way to do this” AAHAHAFLJ:AFJ:AJF:ALS:FJ: ! “It turns out you’re a sap, Pal” OMFG YES! “Are you serious?” IS THE BEST MOMENT! “Don’t ruin this for her”!

Its so great to see them so in-love and so well together, but still learning how to be together in this new relationship that they have.

I’ve always hoped you would write this moment, and you thoroughly exceeded expectations! Thank you so much for this wonderful piece!

That was so beautiful that I just teared up reading it

You've taken us on a quite a journey with Han here, from his nearly nearly nascent sense of himself to his fully-realized emotional (if not yet physical) self.
I love your turns of phrase throughout this piece. Here are some of my favorites: "He could imagine that she'd rationalize her own hypocrisy by assuming it was a ruse to sleep with her..." and, "He smiled against her lips, pulled her closer, happily wrapped up in the woman he loved." Happy sigh... This, though, completely undid me: "Leia made him feel safe." Truth.

Ugh this is absolutely wonderful. I have a big soft spot for stories that look at the post-carbonite moments in ROTJ when seen from Han’s pov, and you hit all the right points.

I absolutely love how you convey Han’s disorientation, confusion and intense physical pain. You make his fear and smuggler’s survival instinct so evident, and it makes the image of Leia’s hand (or anonymous hand, at this stage) even more beautiful and soothing. That line “The hand slipped across his cheek, along his jaw, beneath his ear, to the back of his neck.” is SO visual and beautiful I had to pause and re-read a few times.

You also (you, queen of Han characterisation) oh-so subtly and superbly convey Han’s internal struggle: someone used to trust no one and fend for himself, desperately trying to map out where he is, expecting the worse of every situation because that’s what his experience has taught him - and convinced that the most logical explanation is that Leia didn’t reaaaaally mean it when she said she loved him. Just, amazing and excellent execution.

“The hand knew him, knew the lines of his fear and the strain seized deep under his muscles.” THAT IS BEAUTIFUL!

“His two modes of operation the past few years had been pissed at Leia and wanting Leia. It had come as no real surprise to him when he had discovered that those modes were two sides of the same coin. His anger at her seemingly easy dismissal of him was born out of that want. He couldn't understand what had made her act like the connection wasn't there. Wanting Leia was simply a law in Han Solo's universe. It was, it always had been, and it always would be.” — that whole paragraph is perfect and screams “Han psyche” to me.

“The sweet comfort of being in bed with a woman without feeling the need to prove himself to her, without the pressure to be brave or brilliant, humbled him in unanticipated ways.” — absolutely love this, Han Solo finally relinquishing his desperate need to hide his real self.

“He was a man of action. He'd acted.” I may have said “yes!” out loud while reading.

And of course him telling her he loves her, which I fully accept as canon.

Best post-Jabba's Palace story ever. In the beginning we are on the same journey as Han, we have to figure out what's wrong and where he is. Slowly it dawns on us...his pain and misery is so well written, I was right there with him, completely transported into Han's head (not a bad place to be). I love Leia's tender and concerned care for him. I love that she's laying there with him. I love that he can feel her and that calms him. I love seeing his thoughts amidst the conversation. I love him feeling her braid (which sounds weird but it's just so intimate and sweet and sexy without being too sexy for the moment). I love it all. My fav story of yours has been Catch me by Surprise for so long, but this might just take its place. I love this timeline so much. I've used the word love like 25 times so far. I want to dig in and go through every paragraph but I'm on mobile and so I hope you can feel the love through this overly long and gushing review.

Thank you. This is lovely.

This was so beautiful, I could cry!

I felt Han's pain and helplessness so bad, how his first instincts were to assess his situation, find a way out, flight or fight. And then he hears Leia, and he feels better in his miserable state. Once again you did such a spot-on characterization of both of them, and their dialogue lines are brilliant - witty, comforting, reassuring, loving, tentative.

"...her weird sense of egalitarianism for all except him..." - oh, this poor thing!

"Han didn't have experience with that kind of love..." THAT WHOLE PARAGRAPH! So honest and emotional and powerful, one of my favourite bits.

I loved how Leia makes him feel safe, like a reversal of the typical "the man feels the woman feel safe". She gives him a security and love he's never had before, and it almost makes him a little afraid.

"Two declarations, bracketing six months of nothingness." - ugh, the whole realization of how long it's been, how much she sacrificed for him and what it costed her, but THAT sentence is brilliant.

I nearly gasped in expectation when he realized that he had to say it back! Loved how they were able to resolve the tension, and that he wanted to give her a way out - of course she'd be outraged! But then he says it, and it's beautiful, and the kissing and touching makes it so good! Really liked how you played with the idea that he's a man of action, so he had always shown her that he loved her in non-verbal ways, and that he knows she wouldn't have believed him, before, if he'd say it.

Gorgeous story, one of my faves for this classic missing moment!

Aww, this is really lovely! 3 Thanks for writing and sharing it!

Oh, I really like this one! You really captured their dynamics so well, as well as the changes in their relationship. A