A/N - This scene was inspired by the Dark Horse comics storyline where Fenn Shysa turns up on Endor, post Jedi, and a snafu with the piloting computers leads to Solo and Skywalker being grounded for a mission that Shyssa and Leia undertake together. I suspected Han would have been more than a little jealous and wrote this scene. That's really all you need to know so don't worry if you haven't read the comic. it's not about Fenn Shysa. it's about Han and Leia. :-)

Reconcilable Differences

The Princess strode purposefully from the meeting room, into the hangar bay, with Solo trotting angrily behind her. "Wait a minute, Leia, will you, please?" he called, irritated that she was ignoring him. "Hey!"

She whirled and stopped, hands on hips. "What?"

Caught off guard, he stopped dead, just short of running into her. "Listen, Leia. I'm not so sure I like this plan very much."

"And what part of the plan don t you like, Han?" Her voice was dangerously calm. Most people who knew Leia Organa would have backed off immediately, upon hearing that tone in her voice.

Han knew, better than most, what that tone meant, but he rarely heeded the warning. He dug in his heels and stood his ground. "I don't like the part where you go off with that Fenn Shysa guy."

"Really? It s not the part where you're grounded and Lando's flying the Falcon again that you don't like?"

He flushed but didn't back off. "Well, no, I don't like that part much either, but I especially don't like the you-and-the-Mand'alor part."

"And, why didn't you mention your concerns in the meeting, where General Madine could have addressed them?"

Han said nothing, just glared at her. He knew, as well as she did, that his reasons were entirely personal, and would not have had any impact on General Madine's decision.

She sniffed. "Just because you don't like him is not a reason to exclude him from this mission."

Scowling, he muttered, "It's not that I don't like him, it's more that I don't like the way he looks at you." Han regretted this comment the moment it left his mouth, as Leia's eyes narrowed dangerously.

"So no one but you is allowed to look?"

"Maybe looking isn't all he wants to do," he said, meaningfully.

"Maybe," she snapped, her voice rising, "you could think about trusting me!"

He met her annoyed look with an angry glare of his own. Suddenly, everyone in the vicinity found urgent reasons to be elsewhere.

Wedge Antilles, approaching from the other side of the hangar, stopped in his tracks, whistling softly. The hastily retreating personnel around him, as much as the sound of the Princess's raised voice, told him that he had gotten here too late.

He hadn't been invited to the meeting Han and Leia had just departed, but he'd just come from a briefing on the mission particulars and he had no doubt what Han's reaction to Fenn Shysa's involvement would be. Wedge had been hoping to head Han off at the hangar, but saw immediately that Leia had beat him to the punch. He had long experience with these two, though, and knew the climate could change again at any moment. He stayed put, and waited them out.

With strained patience, Han said, "It's not that I don't trust you. It's him I don't trust."

"Why do you find him so untrustworthy? What's he ever done to you?"

"It's not what he's done to me," Solo growled, his patience snapping, "it's what he'd like to do to you." Leia reddened and opened her mouth to speak, but Han was on a roll and didn't give her a chance to interrupt. "I don't trust him because I know exactly what he's thinking, Princess. Every time he looks at you."

Staying out of sight behind an X-Wing, Wedge chuckled to himself. "Right, 'cause you're thinking the same thing, my friend." Then he frowned. He had seen the way the Mand'alor looked at Leia, and thought Han was probably right on that count at least. Fenn Shysa was not the kind of guy you sent your girlfriend off alone with.

Han was still talking, although he was running out of steam. "You need to be careful with a guy like that, Princess, is all I'm saying."

"You're just jealous because he's flying today and you aren't, and you're taking it out on me!" Wedge grinned. He'd been thinking the same thing.

"No, I'm jealous because I see a hot shot pilot flirting with you and sticking his nose in where it doesn't belong, trying to impress you..." Solo broke off, abruptly, and smiled crookedly as the irony of what he'd just said hit him. "And that's my job," he finished, with mock indignation. He was laughing now.

Leia's annoyance vanished as quickly as Han's had. She laughed too and put her palms flat on his chest. "That's your job, all right." She came up on tiptoe and gave him a swift hug. "And nobody does it better, fly boy," she whispered in his ear. They stepped apart and smiled at each other for a moment and Wedge decided it was safe to come out from behind the X-Wing.

"I hear you're flying with us today, Princess!" he called to her.

"I am, indeed, Wedge. It's been far too long since I've been in a flight suit."

Wedge took a chance and wagged his eyebrows at her, teasingly looking her up and down. "I'd have arranged it sooner if I knew how good it would look on you."

Solo shoved the pilot aside with good humor. "Look, but don't touch, Antilles. She's mine." He was smiling as he said it, though, and the Princess nudged his hips with her own, her eyes twinkling.

"Don't worry, Han, all right? He may be thinking plenty, but he's not going to get to do anything about it." And they all knew she wasn't talking about Wedge.

Han grinned and swatted her backside. "Go on, Princess. Don't keep them waiting." She gave him another quick hug, and he kissed her cheek. And then she turned and headed across the hangar to the waiting fighters. He called after her, "Hey! Behave yourself up there, your Highness."

She turned to wave back at him. "You too, your Generalship."

Wedge punched Solo on the arm. "Aren't you supposed to be over at Mission Control, giving us fly boys ground support?"

Han glared at him and made a show of rubbing his arm. "I oughta write you up for insubordination, Antilles. Aren't I your superior officer?"

"Not today, Solo. You're grounded, remember?"

"That's General Solo, Commander."

"Yeah. Right. Sir."

Han let out a long sigh. "Listen, Wedge..." he began, not sure how to ask what he wanted to ask.

Wedge put his hand on his friend's shoulder and said, lightly, "She can take care of herself, you know."

"Yeah. Right." Han echoed. "Even so..."

Wedge nodded and answered the question Han hadn't asked. "I'll make sure the Rogues know she's up there with us. We'll have her back here in one piece. And I'll keep an eye on the Mand'alor."

"Personally?"

"Personally."

"Thanks, Wedge."

Han turned around and walked, very slowly, toward the Control Center. To sit in a chair while someone else fought his battle, flew his bird, and looked out for his lady.