Editing Princess Leia (section)

==== ''The Empire Strikes Back'' ====
In ''[[The Empire Strikes Back]]'' (1980), Leia is commanding the Rebel base on [[Hoth]]. As Han prepares to leave the base to pay off Jabba, he tries to make Leia admit that she has romantic feelings for him. When Imperial forces arrive and assault the base, Leia leads an evacuation. She then flees with Han, Chewbacca and [[C-3PO]] in the ''Falcon''. While hiding in an asteroid field, Leia and Han share a kiss. With the ship needing repairs, Han seeks out his old friend [[Lando Calrissian]] in [[Bespin|Cloud City]]. Lando welcomes the group graciously, but has betrayed them to the Empire. He turns them over to Vader, who hopes to use them as bait to capture Luke. Leia confesses her love for Han as he is frozen in [[carbonite (Star Wars)|carbonite]] and handed over to the bounty hunter [[Boba Fett]]. As Lando, Leia, and Chewbacca escape from Cloud City, Leia senses that Luke is in trouble, and she orders Chewbacca to turn the ship around and rescue him. He was wounded during a [[lightsaber]] duel with Vader, and used the Force to contact Leia.

Commenting on Han's attempt to pry a confession of affection out Leia, Rosenberg asserts that "Han's not wrong that if Leia doesn't figure out that she's a person with needs, she's going to burn out ... In a way, it's an early confession of love: Han's anxious about the bounty hunters who are still pursuing him ... But he would stay and give his love and support to Leia if she could just acknowledge that she needs him."<ref name="WP Icon" />