The two men spotted each other through the crowd of people milling about. Some were shopping, carrying large bags and pushing strollers of young children along. Others were just killing time, looking in windows and walking aimlessly.
The men greeted each other with a hug, both stepping back to appraise the other.
"Good to see you, kid. You need to get away more."
"I know, I do. You're looking trim."
Han Solo shrugged. "It comes naturally," he deadpanned.
Luke Skywalker laughed. "You obviously haven't changed."
The two men, joined the line to buy tickets at the window.
"You buying?" Luke asked.
Han scowled. "Aren't I always?" But he placed his credits in the money tray and held up two fingers to the clerk. "Two."
"Which holo?" the clerk asked disinterestedly.
"Uh, which are we seeing?" he turned to Luke.
"'Dragon's Star," Luke told him.
""Dragon's Star," Han repeated in the window. Their tickets were slipped under the window. Han handed one to Luke. "Want some popcorn?"
"Yeah, love some."
While they waited, Han gave Luke a frank stare. "Like the look," he told him. His fingers rubbed over his own jaw, feeling the stubble of a few days' growth.
Luke smiled. "Thanks. Been away for a while. Thought I'd grow a beard. Think it looks OK?"
"Oh, yeah. Majestic," Han said. A few years ago Han also had a full beard, and his son's teenaged friends had told him his dad's beard was 'majestic.'
"I see you're still going for scruffy."
Han grinned. "I don't shave weekends."
They grabbed their popcorn and made their way into the theater. It was already crowded, and they squirmed past kneecaps to take two seats in the center of an aisle.
"So what's this holo?" Han asked. "I never was much for the cinema."
"'Dragon's Star," Luke told him for the second time. "It's a fantasy."
"'Dragon's Star? Wasn't that popular like thirty years ago?"
"Yeah, they brought it back."
"It's a remake?" Han popped some corn into his mouth.
"No, whole new story. Got some of the same actors from the original though."
"Huh. Money always talks."
"Yeah." Luke usually found Han's overly cynical viewpoint on life irritating, but he thought maybe the former smuggler had a point this time.
The screen got dark and music filled the theater.
The theme song was familiar to Han. "Oh, I remember this. With the princess, and the dragon."
"It's called 'Dragon's Star, Han," Luke said wryly. "Of course there's a dragon."
"You know, if dragons were real, I'd like to fly one I think."
In front of them a woman turned around and glared at them.
"You'd fly anything," Luke said, bringing his voice to a whisper and leaning towards Han so as not to annoy the lady in front anymore.
"Are you two going to speak throughout the whole film?" the woman demanded.
"Maybe we are," Han retorted rudely. "Better than looking at your boring head."
"Han!" Luke chided under his breath. "Sorry," he told the woman. She huffed and turned back to the movie.
Luke and Han allowed themselves to become engrossed with the story line and special effects.
The audience cheered when one of the original actors finally appeared.
"Hey, there he is," Luke commented in a voiced whisper. "I wanted to be him when I grew up."
"The cool one," Han identified. "The one that got the girl." He looked at Luke meaningfully and Luke laughed. "So where is the girl?"
"Maybe she didn't sign on to return."
The woman in front of them turned to stare pointedly. "Ssshhh!" she hissed.
Han cocked his head to lean into Luke's. "Thirty years, though. And he's got the same life? Come on."
"Kinda sad, isn't it?"
"It was cool when he was young. Didn't he marry the princess or something in the last movie? Shouldn't he be a king? It's like his character got sent back to the first movie and they forgot the rest."
"I'm all about character at my academy," Luke said.
"I just bet you are, kid. And you're too cheap to supply razors."
Luke's popcorn fell out of his mouth as he snorted in laughter and the woman turned around again. "Please stop talking," she said through clenched teeth.
"Please stop listening," Han returned. But he settled deeper in his seat, trying not to fidget and swallow the urge to comment to Luke.
The plot moved on in a somewhat predictable pattern. "I like the new cast," Luke whispered.
Han waved a hand. "They're not bad. The dragon's cool though." The holo's plot spent the middle portion of the movie on the new princess and her relationship with her dragon tender.
"Jacen didn't want to see it," he whispered to Luke.
"Really? Why not?"
"Thought it was a mushy romance."
Luke laughed. "Still afraid of girls, huh? What's Leia up to?"
"Catching up on some work at home," Han muttered from the side of his mouth. "You coming back with me?"
"Yeah, I want to see everyone."
"I've had enough!" the woman in front snapped at them. "You are ruining everyone's holo experience."
"Not everyone's," Han said evenly. "Just yours."
"No," another audience member chimed in. "You two are talking a lot. Please be quiet."
"At least he asked nicely," Luke muttered.
The lapsed into silence. Han concentrated on being quiet and Luke on being polite. More than midway through the holo, the holovid finally focused on the actress who was cast in the role of princess thirty years ago.
"There's a little nostalgia for you, kid," Han whispered. "She looks good."
"She really does," Luke agreed. The two men watched as the character's history was explained.
"What?" Han complained. "First the cool dude is doing the same thing for thirty years, not cool, and now we find out he didn't even keep the girl!"
"They look like they still love each other," Luke said.
"Oh, and now they have an evil son," Han said sarcastically. "He the new bad guy? That's just so unfair."
The woman stood up. "I'm getting the manager."
"Go ahead," Han waved his hand. "The manager can't do anything about this script. Sorry."
"You'll miss the movie though," Luke said.
"I'm missing it anyway!"
"Sit down!" audience members began to call out and the irate woman took her seat again.
"Seriously," Han said. "I'm not buying it."
"What, that a marriage can be strained beyond repair?"
"That poor princess," Han said. "What a sad life, huh? Didn't she have to witness her parent's death in the first film? And she had all that torture and stuff? She's got a dragon now, is all. And she's not even the one riding it!"
"Well, they're hugging now. So maybe they'll get back together."
"Didn't you just hear her? And look at him – she sent him after Evil Son. He's going down, and he knows it too."
Luke thought maybe Han was right, but the woman in front of them started yelling. The whole audience seemed disrupted.
"Maybe we should move seats," Luke suggested. "Go off to the side where we don't bother anyone."
"We're not the only ones talking," Han protested, but begrudgingly he got up and followed Luke, squeezing past grumbling comments and knee caps, trying not to spill cups of popcorn.
The auditorium was crowded, and there weren't any places Luke and Han could be off by themselves, but Luke settled in end seats near the wall as a gesture of conciliation to the rest of the audience.
"Luke," Han muttered in a little while, "why's he going on that bridge?"
Luke shook his head. "He shouldn't," he agreed. "Don't go on the bridge," he urged the cool character aloud.
Han snorted. "Told ya, he's going down. He's stupid to do it on a bridge."
"Maybe he's being noble."
Numerous 'shut up', 'shh' and 'be quiet already' were shouted from the audience.
"His own son," Luke said sadly.
"Yeah," Han said. "Now his whole life has been meaningless shit."
Luke sniffed. "Sad way to go."
Han turned to him. "You crying, kid? It's just a movie."
"I know. I didn't think they'd do that to him. I told you, I wanted to be him when I grew up."
"Well, now you've outlived him." Han stretched his legs into the seat in front of him and earned another angry glare.
"What about the Princess?" Luke wondered aloud. "Now she's really alone."
"At least the dragon is sad."
"The new princess is really something. Think she'll kill the evil son?"
"Not this holo. Obviously setting up a sequel. Money talks, kid," Han said sagely again.
"Oh, that's just silly," Luke scorned. "Now they have to go on a quest to find the wizard. Why would someone disappear and then leave a map?"
"Do you have to comment on every single plot nuance?" a stranger demanded haughtily.
"Sorry, I'm sorry," Luke atoned. "I don't usually go in theaters."
"Then please never go again. You're talking over everything!"
"Sorry."
Han snickered and tossed some popcorn.
"Han, stop that."
"People are being babies."
"I suppose they have a right to be. I guess we are very distracting."
"Hey, look at the wizard," Han said happily. "He's got a beard like you." The wizard actor looked longingly at the princess but didn't speak. "Nice scenery, eh? So he has no life either? He's been there thirty years?"
"That's it?" Luke exclaimed as the music swelled and the movie ended. "That's all he gets? He didn't say a word! And it's over? He was in it less than a minute!"
The house lights came back on and people stood and stretched. Some were quiet, some talked, and many threw dark looks toward Han and Luke.
Luke blinked at Han in the light. "Well, I don't know what to think. I really loved those holos when I was a kid. What'd I buy into?"
Han clapped him sympathetically on the shoulder. "Pop culture, son."
"Wanna sit through it again?"
"Nah. I'll bring the kids, though. Wasn't half bad. Jace will be glad it wasn't too mushy."
"I don't think they'll let you back in this theater."
Han laughed and tossed more popcorn at Luke. One got stuck in his beard.
"That's it, I'm shaving," Luke announced.
Han tossed his arm around Luke's shoulder. "Come on, kid. Let's go bring lunch back for the others. The kids are dying to see you."