He found her sitting on the ramp of the Millennium Falcon, bouncing her feet off the edge, a heavy sulk adorning her features.
Han Solo sighed.
"What did Mom yell at you for this time?"
His daughter glared at him with eyes brimming with tears.
"I hid Jacen's pet... thing and Anakin's starfighter set to teach them a lesson, and they ratted on me."
"So you're grounded, huh?"
Jaina looked away in defiance.
"Jaina, you know Jacen gets frantic if he can't find one of his pets, right? He has to take care of them. They're living creatures. What if it ran away? Or died?"
Jaina looked sullen at his not taking her side for once.
Han regarded her with sympathy.
"And Anakin will simply drive your mother insane unless he's kept occupied with something. You shouldn't tease him like that."
Jaina's lip swelled even more and one fat tear leaked down to her chin. Angrily she scrubbed at it, leaving a grease-mark from her dirty fingers.
Han sat down beside her, putting an arm around her shoulder.
"Look, I'll cut you a deal. You promise that you'll go and apologize to them and you and me can take the afternoon off and go get some ice-cream. How's that, hmm?"
Jaina's eyes shot up to find his.
"You'll buy me ice-cream?"
Her father nodded.
The tears vanished in a flash and the old mischievous grin found it's way back to her lips.
"Astral! I promise. Now let's go!"
Han's arm was nearly tugged out of its socket by his eight-year old daughter in her insistence that he take her now!
The red hair stood out like a beacon as Han Solo approached his ship and he knew just who to expect sulking there.
"Alright, who yelled at you this time? Mom or Dad?"
"Mom."
Ben Skywalker's reply came out muffled from between his knees.
"Congratulations, kid! You've probably broken the galactic record for the number of times someone's messed with Mara Jade and gotten out of it alive! You just never learn your lesson, do you?"
Sullen tear-filled blue eyes glared out at him from under his nephew's trademark red-gold mop.
"What'd you pull?"
"I accidentally deleted some files of Mom's when I was downloading a speeder game onto her datapad."
Ben very self-righteously stressed on the word "accidentally".
Han sighed.
"Did you apologize?"
"She was yelling at me!"
"What did you expect?! There was probably very important stuff in those files!"
He returned to glaring up at him.
"You sound just like her."
Han broke into a lop-sided grin.
"Oh? And would she make you the offer I'm about to make you?"
The blue eyes now looked faintly more curious.
"You and me are going to take a walk. We're going to get some ice-cream and then I'm going to take you back home where you will tell your mother just how sorry you are and that you're never going to do something like that again. Deal?"
"Ice-cream?!"
It seemed to be the only word that had caught his eight-year old nephew's attention.
Han nodded, still smiling.
"Deal!"
Ben stuck out his hand in a classical gambler's pose, emulating his uncle down to the lop-sided grin.
Han Solo grabbed the little boy by his collar and spun him round towards the exit, pleased to hear once again the squeal of laughter the little devil was best known for.
A nexu tail waving from behind the Millennium Falcon's boarding ramp alerted Han Solo to the location his granddaughter had been hiding in for the last hour or so. He crept up, jumping out only at the last minute, startling the poor child and eliciting a loud mewl of surprise from Anji.
"So there you are, little gundark! Do you know your grandmother has been searching for you for the last hour?"
Allana bit her lip.
"Is she mad?"
"You think?"
The eight-year old looked up at her grandfather with grey eyes round with trepidation. Neither of them liked to be on the wrong side of Leia Organa Solo if they could help it.
"Who were you hiding from?"
"Threepio."
"Why?"
"I have to study Ancient Galactic History with him today."
Han could instantly sympathize.
"Well, since you're going to be Chume'da one day, I guess you'll have to know which planet decided to bomb which other one and when."
Allana scowled, clearly disagreeing as to what the desired level of knowledge of a Chume'da should be.
"But if you promise to sit through your lesson like a good little princess, we can go get some ice-cream before I have to deliver you to your grandmother and Goldenrod."
The future Hapan Queen Mother jumped up with a whoop clearly unbecoming of her dignity, further startling her poor nexu.
"Yay! C'mon Grandpa! I want the one with extra chocolate sauce and loads and loads of starry sprinkles!"
Han Solo was only too happy to oblige.