33 ABY
En route to Takodana
CLASSIFIED
TO BE DELIVERED TO & DECYCRPTED BY GENERAL ORGANA ONLY
Dear Leia,
Hi, sweetheart. I really wanted to tell you this in person, but the Falcon is probably being tracked right now and I want to keep radio silence. So an old-fashioned subspace message is gonna have to do. Sorry it's not in person.
Sit down, please.
You sitting? Don't be stubborn. Just take my advice this one time and sit down. And then scroll down to the next page of this message. After you sit down. And get to a quiet spot. And switch off Threepio. And don't tell me I'm being bossy.
Leia, I found her. Our daughter.
I found Breha, and she's all right. She's fine. She's terrific, in fact.
You know how I ran into her? She stole the Falcon from some thief on Jakku, and I tracked the ship right to her. Of all the ships to steal, she picked mine, if you can believe that. So I've got her, and I'm bringing her home to you. But the First Order is looking for this little droid Breha's got with her, and they probably figured out the droid's on board the Falcon, so I'm stopping at Maz's on Takodana to switch to a clean ship. You remember Maz Kanata, don't you?
Yeah, anyway, back to Breha.
She calls herself Rey now. Remember how the boys used to call her that, cause Ani couldn't pronounce the "BR"? I'd totally forgotten that nickname. Like she's forgotten her real name. She doesn't remember much of anything from her childhood, actually, except Shyriiwook and the fact that her family loved her. She knows she was snatched away, and she's convinced her parents will come find her someday. I didn't tell her that today was 'someday.' I'm waiting for a quieter moment; so far, we've been attacked by pirate gangs and chased around by rathtars…pretty much what you'd expect as a typical afternoon outing for our family, I guess.
Part of the reason I'm heading to Maz is to get her take on Rey. If she's Force sensitive, Maz will know it. And that'll be proof that she's ours. Not that I need much proof. She looks like she did when she was little, just, you know, bigger now. She's nineteen. Same age you were when I met you…a million years ago. She acts like you, Leia. She's strong-willed and independent and tough, but she's also got a really sweet, generous heart. Oh, she's your daughter, all right. Rey knows ships, too—that part of her is like me. I mean, things've been breaking on the Falcon the whole trip, and she can figure out how to fix everything faster than even I can. She's very, very smart. She's...the perfect combination of the two of us. It's unbelievable, Leia. I looked over at Chewie at one point, and we just shook our heads at each other without a word. She's just…beautiful.
I can't believe I found her, after all these years of searching the dregs of society. I always figured she'd end up in the slave trade or in smuggling, you know, something in the underworld. She didn't. Nothing real bad ever happened to her. So I guess I'm finally gonna have to start trusting in the Force a lot more than I used to. (I can already see Luke rolling his eyes at me, with a big dramatic sigh and "I told you so." I'll never live it down. He's gonna tease me forever.)
Leia, when I left, I told you I wouldn't be back until I'd found our daughter. I wasn't running away from you, I was just running towards her. Maybe you didn't believe that then, after that last fight we'd had. I'm sorry for what I said that day. For all of it. I've apologized before, but it doesn't really count if it's just via subspace. I'll apologize better when I see you. Maybe finally having Rey back will help heal whatever rift we still have between us, so we can be a family again. That's what I want, anyway. What I hope. I haven't wanted anything in a long time, but I want that. We just need to put all the bad memories on one datacard, then delete those files and start over new. With our daughter. That Breha-shaped hole in both of our hearts can finally be filled in, so that maybe we can be whole again.
Please come to Takodana, if you can. Otherwise, I'll bring Breha home to you in a few days.
I love you.
Han