"Veila, you got a visitor!"
At the sound of the human male guard's voice outside her cell, Tahiri, sitting on the cot provided to her, looked up from the floor and watched as the door to her cell slid open. Her eyes widened when she saw who her visitor was.
"Hey, Tahiri," Jacen Solo said with a nervous smile before walking into the cell. The door behind him closed abruptly, as if the guard intended to trap him in there, too. "How've you been?"
Instead of replying immediately, Tahiri stood up on her cot and retreated to the far corner on her right, regarding Jacen warily. "What are you doing here?" she growled with fear.
"Well, I came to say hi, is all," he said, scratching the back of his head. He then let his arm drop to his side instantly before allowing Tahiri to retort. "Oh, that, and the fact that you won't be judged in a Galactic Alliance judicial system for killing Pellaeon."
Tahiri's expression shifted from fear to curiosity. "What?"
"You see," Jacen began, "it's gonna be a while before the Jedi depart Coruscant to destroy the Lost Tribe of the Sith on Kesh and-"
"Wait, wait, what Lost Tribe of Sith, what's Kesh?" Tahiri asked.
"Long story," Jacen waved off. "We discovered a bunch of Sith before I killed Abeloth, and now we're all prepping to leave in a couple days or so. Anyway, the point is, with you, Uncle Luke managed to convince Daala that you should be judged in the Imperial Remnant for Pellaeon's death. After all, since you murdered an Imperial Grand Admiral, your fate should be judged by the Imperials themselves."
Tahiri face displayed a mixture of pleasure and fear; on the one hand, she would escape death in the hands of a tyrant like Daala, even if she was popular in the political polls right now. On the other hand, Tahiri doubted that being judged for murdering Pellaeon would be a better solution.
Then it clicked. "How did your uncle convince Daala that sending me in the jurisdiction of a government run by your sister's boyfriend, who'd probably go easy on me for what I've done, was a better idea?"
Jacen shrugged. "That's why Daala had a little chat with Jag after discussing your fate with Uncle Luke. Jag assured Daala that he would have you judged fairly and can and will administer any punishment that a court of law will deem necessary; hence, she won't worry that Jag will be doing something for his girlfriend, like, say, save the last remnant of her late younger brother's life."
Tahiri ground her teeth angrily. "Never. Mention. Anakin. Again." Her growl was deep.
Jacen raised his hands in a gesture of surrender. "Just letting you know about where you'll be going after this."
"Thanks. Now leave."
With a muted sigh, Jacen turned and gave three knocks on the door. It slid open, and Jacen walked out, with the guard who announced his arrival to Tahiri standing there with militant patience. Jacen gave Tahiri one last sad look, which was only returned with pure hostility on the latter's part, before the door slid shut again.
.
In the blue of hyperspace, Han and Leia relaxed in the pilot and copilot seats of the Millennium Falcon respectively. At their ages, it was the best they could do to prepare for the upcoming battle with the Lost Tribe of the Sith before they get their adrenaline pumped up for the war against them. That, and the fact that they left Allana back in their apartment on Coruscant with Leia's childhood friend Winter Celchu looking after her made the old Solo couple a lot less tense than they'd normally be.
"Han?"
"Yeah?"
"When do you think we'll talk to Jacen again?"
Han looked at his wife with a weary expression. "Why should we?"
Leia shrugged, though what would have amounted to simple aloofness was tinged with something more. "Luke seems to have forgiven him. Maybe we should get around to doing the same."
Han shook his head. "Luke's a Jedi. Forgiving people is what he does. We don't need to follow his example, honey."
Leia raised an eyebrow. "I'm a Jedi, too, in case you've forgotten, dear," she replied with condescension. "Following his example is what I should be doing."
Han waved absently. "Fine, you wanna forgive that little bastard, be my guest, but don't try to draw me into this-"
"He's not a bastard!" Leia blurted. "He's our son, in case you forgot! Or do you still think you should've chucked him out the window when he was born?"
Han fell silent as he pursed his lips. He looked away from his wife, not knowing what to say.
Leia sighed. "I'm sorry, Han. It's just that... well, Jacen's been given another chance at life. Maybe we should give him that, too."
Han continued to avoid his spouse's gaze. "Even if I could forgive him for rounding up Corellians on Coruscant, forcing Ben into becoming a soldier, killing Mara, and almost everything else..." He trailed off before looking back at Leia with a heavyset glare. "I could never forgive him for nearly burning down Kashyyyk."
Leia didn't need to know why her husband wouldn't forgive their resurrected son for nearly burning down Chewbacca's homeworld. The old Wookiee had sacrificed himself so that Han and his and Leia's youngest child, Anakin, could live, only for Anakin to die later on in the war against the Yuuzhan Vong, so that Jacen, Jaina, and the others on the Mission to Myrkr could live. And Jacen - or rather, Darth Caedus, the monster who replaced Jacen - rendered all that meaningless during the Second Galactic Civil War, completely cinching it for Han when the Anakin Solo nearly burned Kashyyyk to cinders; by then, Jacen was as dead to him as he was to everyone else.
Han sighed. "But perhaps... I could accept Jacen again, if nothing else."
Leia drew a small smile and nodded. "It's a good start."
