Bakura Pillows - A Missing Moment/Valentine's Story by JZHanFan

Here's a Missing Moment/Valentine's Story combo submitted by JZHanFan.

It takes place during "Truce at Bakura" which is the EU book that follows ROTJ and answers the question of just what happened with all of those inflatable pillows... 

**

"He took her hand and tugged her around the freestanding divider of crates. She set her cup beside his.

"I – " he stopped. Leia looked down into a nest of self-inflating pillows. "Chewie – " Han growled. He dropped her hand. "I guess that's a little blatant. I never should've trusted a Wookiee."

Leia laughed. "Chewie set this up?"

"Wait till I tell that big wet-nosed furball – " Still laughing, she braced herself against a bulkhead and shoved him over backward. He caught her hand and went down flailing."

- from "The Truce At Bakura" by Kathy Tyers

---

They fell together into the surprisingly soft pile of pillows.

Leia, who'd landed in an awkward sprawl across Han's lap, struggled to sit up, but her efforts were thwarted by the arm he threw around her waist, pinning her in place. Laughing, she surrendered to the inevitable and let him tuck her more comfortably into the curve of his shoulder. Her head lifted and she nudged his chin expectantly.

Quite pleased with this development, he brought his hand up to caress her cheek and moved in to kiss her. Unfortunately, his motion set the pile of pillows wobbling dangerously, and before either of them had time to adjust, Solo found himself abruptly dropped through a gap onto the deck below.

He gave a yelp of pain as his elbow cracked against the metal plating and a tingling spread, rapidly, down his arm to his fingers, radiating from the point of impact. Cradling his arm, he opened his mouth to bellow some choice words about his co-pilot's poor choice of materials, but the laughing mouth of Princess Leia silenced him completely.

For several long moments there was nothing but the taste of her lips and the soft weight of her body as she pressed tight against him.

"Hey," he growled, breaking their kiss and pressing his forehead to hers. "Just what do you think you're doing, Princess?"

"I think," she whispered back, blowing out a long, shaky breath, "that I am getting your attention."

"Oh, you have my attention, all right." His hands closed around her backside and guided her hips so she could feel the extent of his arousal. "You have, " - he began to kiss his way down her neck - "all of my attention."

"All of it?"

"Mmm hmm. Every bit. How about you? Do I have your attention?" His fingers were working at the buttons of her jumpsuit, and she lifted her hands to help him. Her flesh was warm and soft beneath his hands, and his palm closed, urgently, around one firm breast. Expertly, his thumb teased her nipple erect and she gave a small cry, arching her neck.

"Oh, yes," she breathed. A loud hiss of air escaped from one of the pillows as they shifted about and the mood broken, she suddenly began to giggle. "You sure know how to pick a romantic setting, Solo."

"This isn't exactly what I had in mind," he shrugged, apologetically. "Chewie sort of… ran with it."

"Just what did you have in mind?"

"I dunno… something more, subtle?" He frowned at her amused expression. "Look, I just… I wanted you to see I was serious about making time for you… for us. Making room for you in my life."

"Making out with me in your cargo hold," she added, still amused.

"Well, if you insist," he grinned, tugging the tails of his shirt free of his trousers.

"Keep your pants on, hot shot," she retorted, catching his hand as he made a move toward his belt. "I am not doing this here."

"Where, then?" he asked, unable to keep the plaintive note out of his voice completely.

"I don't know," she sighed, "just… not here. Not now. Not with Luke and the fleet out there battling, who knows what… while we hide out."

"This isn't hiding out. This is me doing my job, which is keeping you safe."

"That's not why you're here," she began, and he cut her off.

"They didn't pick me for my diplomatic skills, sweetheart. I'm here because I want to be. Because you matter to me."

"As much as your precious ship?" She wanted the words back as soon as she'd said them, but he didn't seem fussed.

"More," he said, solemnly, without hesitating.

"Better not say that too loud," she muttered, "she might hear you."

"Are you jealous of the Falcon?"

She looked embarrassed all at once. "Maybe." Lifting a hand, she displayed her thumb and index finger, held close together. "A little."

"Why?" he asked, simply.

"I don't know… because she's been with you for so long... because of the way you look when you talk about her. It's like… I'll always be second best."

"Hey," he said, more serious than he'd ever been. "Don't talk like that. She's my ship, and they don't come better than the Falcon... but you? You're my princess. You don't ever need to worry about being second best."

"Do you think she's jealous, of me?"

He gave this serious consideration before answering. "Nah. I think she likes you. You two girls have been through a lot together."

"I hope you're right," she said, touched by this display of sentimentality, even if it was directed at the Falcon. "I hope she likes me, because I plan on spending a lot of time with her Captain."

"A lot, huh?" Once again, he wasn't entirely able to conceal the hopefulness in his voice.

"Yes," she laughed. "But I was sort of thinking along the lines of the bunk in the crew cabin and not a pile of pillows in the hold."

"You're joking. The crew cabin's not private, Chewie sleeps in there, too."

"It's more private than the lounge. Doesn't the door lock?"

"Course not. The fresher's in there. Why would we lock the door?"

"Honestly, Solo. How in space did you manage before now? Surely you don't lock Chewie out of the ship?"

"Not exactly, but... well, Chewie knows when to make himself scarce for a couple of hours. And I don't always bring girls back to the ship." He winced as he realized how that sounded. "I mean… a lot of times we'd go to her place."

"Her place?" Leia suppressed a giggle at this mental image. "What, in the women's barracks?"

"No," he said, stiffly. "In port, I mean."

She flushed, abruptly understanding just what sort of women he meant. "You are hopeless, you know that, don't you?"

"Yeah, but that's why you love me."

"I don't think that was it."

"No? What was it then? My amazing personality? My winning looks?"

"No, but I'm sure there was something..." He silenced her with a kiss and when they came up for air, she finished her sentence with a smile. "Yeah. That."

Then his mouth was on hers again, and for a very long while, they didn't talk at all.

---

"Without hesitating, Chewie swatted the comlink. It beeped from Han's shirt pocket… "What?" …

"Uh, oh," Leia said softly against his shoulder. She pushed up to her feet.

"Okay, Chewie, we'll be right there." Han made sure it sounded more like a threat than a promise.

- from "The Truce At Bakura" by Kathy Tyers