A/N : Not some of my best work and extremely short, this is just an idea that popped into my head and I ran with it. Set just after Jaina-Jag's wedding in Apocalypse.
But exciting news for next week- An epic journey begins! You heard right, folks. The magnum "Death Star" opus is finally complete and dying to be posted! :-D
I once had a girl/ Or should I say/She once had me...
-" Norwegian Wood", The Beatles.
Ben Skywalker looked around with a relieved sigh at the now almost-empty docking bay on-board the Hapan Queen Mother's Dragon Queen I. The wedding had been a grand success. A small smile tugged at his lips until a sudden thought struck him and he frowned. He realized that no-one had seen his uncle since the culmination of the wedding ceremony. But Ben knew his uncle, and he knew where he would find him at a time like this.
He was right. Ben approached the galley of the Millenium Falcon with soundless steps and cautiously poked his head around the doorway. There he was, sitting in silence at the empty dejarik table with a curiously vacant stare, swilling a half-empty glass of his favourite Whyren's Reserve before him. Something about the scene released a pang of sadness in Ben's heart. Han Solo had never been alone. He had always had a partner, of one kind or another. But tonight was different.
Ben resolutely walked towards him, stomping his boots a little harder than necessary to announce his presence.
"Hey kid," his uncle acknowledged, in a gruffer tone than usual.
Ben slid into the seat opposite him and for a while, none of them spoke.
Finally, it was the older man who cleared his throat and broke the silence.
"How come you're not with the others?"
Ben shrugged.
"They can do without me for now."
Han shuffled in his seat uncomfortably.
"Yeah, well...Just thought I'd be alone for a while... That was quite some party, eh?"
Ben smiled, still continuing to look unnervingly intently at his uncle.
"I know what you're thinking, you know," he said softly.
Abruptly the older man rose to his feet, swaying but slightly.
"The hell you do! Don't you even think about pulling your Jedi mind tricks with me, boy! I've had it up to here with them!"
Even if Ben hadn't expected such a sudden outburst from his uncle, he didn't react to it.
Han stumbled towards the cabinet on the other side of the galley to refill his glass.
"I don't need the Force to tell me what you're thinking, Uncle Han. Not now."
Ben's tone was as soft as it had been before. Han would have had to strain to hear him, standing where he was. Neither even looked at the other.
"You're thinking you've lost her, haven't you? Jaina, I mean."
Han swiped furiously at the unexpected wetness in his eyes, his hands trembled and he banged his glass down harder than usual. Downing his second drink in a gulp, he reached for the bottle a third time, then stopped, sighed and lowered his head.
"So? What if I am?"
He tried to sound defensive, but too much defeat had seeped into his voice.
"She's gone, isn't she?"
"Do you really need me to tell you you're being silly?"
Han curled his right hand into a silent fist.
"Of course I'm being silly. But then, I'm her father."
Ben didn't say anything for a while. Then,
"You should be out there, celebrating with everyone else. You should be happy for her."
"I am happy for her, stang it!" Han shouted.
"It's her wedding day! Don't you think I know it?! I'm the one who just walked her down the aisle! I'm the one who...who gave her away..."
He couldn't control himself anymore and openly sobbed into his hand.
Ben was staring at his uncle in astonishment. He didn't know what to do. He walked slowly up to him and put a tentative arm around his shoulders.
"Uncle Han, I-"
With a giant effort of will, his uncle controlled himself.
"Sorry, kid. It's just...just, it hits me, ya know? All of you," he looked at his young nephew with watery eyes.
"Even you. You've all grown up. So fast. And-and... you've all gone away. I seem to keep losing bits of my own family. I lost Chewie and Anakin, and then Jacen, even your mother. None of them could even be here today. I-I'd promised myself I'd take care of all of you. And I failed."
"No, Uncle Han," Ben choked back tears of his own. "You can't think that way."
" And now... Jaina. She was the last one, Ben. The last of my birds has flown."
He hung his head in dejection.
"You're wrong."
There was a muted fierceness in his nephew's tone that made Han look up into his eyes.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Han, but I'm a Jedi. I don't look at death quite the same way you do. You've gained family today. The Fels are now part of us. And what about Allana? Tenel Ka? And how can you say you've lost the last of your kids, Uncle Han? You still have me."
Han looked at Ben for a second and then pulled him into a tight Corellian hug. He had never seen him reflect his father quite so much as at that moment. The love, the loyalty, the unshakeable faith in his friends. And family. The kid was right. He had something left after all.