It had been quite some time since Qi'ra had seen or even thought about the man who had become Han Solo. The now leader of Crimson Dawn after Maul's demise, less active than she had been back in her glory days, and a complete restructure of the workings of Crimson Dawn. She had of course, heard that Han had made quite a name for himself, had married and had a son.
She'd hoped one day she would have met up with him, as well as Lando but time and circumstances had kept her busy. She worked hard not to get caught up in the eye of the empire and now the first order, the messes that had ensued - to anyone else they'd have perished long ago. She was a survivor, always had been.
Even on Corellia, she had become head girl and worked her way to becoming Dryden's top lieutenant. This had been her life. She had regretted, of course, her decision to leave Han so long ago on Savareen, but she needed to do what she had to. He would have been killed otherwise.
She'd taken the pain of never seeing her childhood love and turned it into her driving force. Perhaps, no, she knew - if they'd ever met again it wouldn't be on the best of terms.
She had, however, kept in touch with Lando. He had kept her informed on her lost lover, how he had become a great man - just like she always knew he was, helping the rebel alliance and the resistance. The smile always in place as her friend spoke of Han and his accomplishments in life.
She'd settled for repairs on Cloud City and to keep in touch with her old friend. At least forty years of friendship between the two, her smile wide as she spotted the debonair making his approach from his beloved city. His face, however, didn't hold the brightness that it usually did. Something wasn't right - something terrible had happened, she didn't need the force to read his tear stained face.
"Lando..what…" She was interrupted with a hand held. "Qi'ra...we should go and sit in my home, news like this isn't meant to be taken standing." Her heart raced and she could only nod, following him closely. "Qi'ra...when was the last time you saw Han?" Lando asked, she could tell he was doing his best to mask any emotion in his voice. "Not since Savareen, when I'd promised I'd go with him...why?"
"That's what I was afraid of…" He spoke as he escorted her into the lift to his quarters. "Qi'ra...you're one of my oldest and dearest friends...despite everything we've been through, I need you to be ready for this." The lift had brought them to his quarters, where he had ushered her to take a seat. "Qi'ra… I'm sorry… Han is - Han has passed."
Time had slowed and Qi'ra's gaze was straight forward, holding back her tears. Han has passed, he was killed on Starkiller base, by his own son, Ben. It took her a moment to process, not even realizing now that tears were streaming. She'd never see Han again, even if she wanted to. She imagined how hard it must have been on his wife and Chewie and those closest to him. "W-what...about his wife? Chewie? Are you sure he's…?" Denial - she didn't want to believe it. Shaking her head as she stood. "No...he's not - Lando tell me, he's not dead!"
The male stood behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder in hopes to calm the woman down. "I was...I wanted more time, to see him, to apologize." The woman was in disarray, the only consolable soul had now taken her into his arms. "Qi'r...he knew, he forgave you a long time ago...he always knew." She returned the hug, gently feeling the tears stain her face.
The ship fueled, she said her somber goodbyes to Lando, a course set for home. Corellia - the place where it all began. Corellia had changed, only slightly. It still reeked and there were still slums, knowing the streets like the back of her hand. A small smile as she approached the alley where her and Han had lived with the other scrumrats, opening up a small grate and pulling out small box with Han's name scratched on the top, opening it to find a few credits and a small piece of parchment that he'd scribbled 'Get out of here with Qi'ra' on it. A smile on her face, as she held the box close to her body - standing in the only place where they'd both known.