Coming Home

He feels the shift in the Force almost immediately as if there was something missing for so long, and now it's there again. It's a presence he hasn't felt since the Starkiller base, and he feels his chest hurt as he knows that what he's feeling cannot be true. There's some sort of manipulation going on. There's no way he senses his father's presence in the Force, not when he was the one who had ended his father's life. It's not possible.

He tried to brush it off; to pretend it wasn't there. But he can tell from his mother's nervousness that she senses it too. That she's not saying anything to him about it because she doesn't believe it to be true. She doesn't believe that Han is still alive any more than he does.

He tries to reach out to Rey through their bond, to sense what had happened, but she's not responding to his attempts, and he thought she's probably occupied with her scouting mission that his mother had sent her and Dameron on.

But it cannot be a coincidence that she left for a mission, and all of a sudden he senses his father's presence through the Force.

Her ship arrives moments later, and as she lands, his mother runs to the air field. He knows she needs to see for herself what had happened. If his father is alive, and how it possibly could be so.

He knows why she feels that way, for he does too. He inches closer to the field, staying in the background but close enough to be able to tell what has happening. He cannot afford to get his hopes up; not when he is the reason his father was dead in the first place. It's selfish of him, and he refused to be that optimistic. He doesn't deserve to be optimistic.

He watches as Rey comes out of the ship, helping Poe walk down the ramp, as he's limping. Clearly he's been shot, and medics run to his side immediately to help take him to the medbay. He's wincing, but Ben can't bring himself to focus on the fact that their scouting mission must have gone very wrong.

"What happened?" Leia asked calmly, clearly thinking the same thing. "You were simply to scout the base, not to engage with the hostiles. You were not to make your presence known to them."

"They were hiding something," Rey explained, "They were using the Force, somehow, to hide the presence of something. To mask it from the Force. We needed to know what it was before we engaged, especially if it was dangerous."

"That was not your orders," his mother said strictly. "You should have asked for back up if you believed you needed to engage. Not go in alone."

"But then where would I be, Leia?" he heard a soft, but familiar gruff voice call out, and Ben's breath caught in his throat. He looked up, and saw Han walk down the ramp of the ship. "They're lucky we got out when we did. But they did save me."

"Han?" his mother's voice choked out, as they got the confirmation they needed. His father was very much alive and had returned to the base. "How?"

"I believe we all would like to know that," Holdo said. "You are very much supposed to be dead, Han Solo. So how is it that you are alive? Why are you alive? How do we know this is not some sort of trap planned by the First Order?"

"Because I can sense it," Leia snapped, "I would know if this man was not my husband."

"With all due respect, General, Seastriker said stepping forward, "But your son killed your husband. You may be slightly biased in wanting your husband to have returned. For it would mean your son innocent of patricide, and your husband alive."

"I sensed it too," Rey said standing forward. "I do not have as much of a stake in Han being alive as the General, but I can sense that it's him."

"As would I," Luke said, as he stepped forward, making himself known. "Are you questioning this many Force users in being able to identify one man?"

"He's supposed to be dead," Seastriker reminded them. "How do you explain that? The Wookie claimed he fell to his death. That there was no way he survived. So how is he here right now?"

"I fell down a ventilation shaft," Han said, stepping in. "I was dying, I could feel it. But then some Stormtroopers came, and took me prisoner. I should have died in their presence, but they healed me. I didn't understand what was going on, why they would repair my wounds, instead of left me to die. I didn't understand why until Snoke came to visit me later. He was furious that the Starkiller base fell. And he wanted Ben to pay for letting it happen. He wanted to let me know that my son was too far gone to redeem, but even if he was able to be saved, then Snoke would personally kill him."

"So why keep you alive?" Holdo asked curiously, "No offense. Clearly it's good that you are with us today. But it was easier to let you die. Why save you?"

"Because he wanted to punish Ben. To test him. To see if he truly regretted killing me, or if had embraced the Dark Side. For if Ben was Dark, then he would have no problem killing me again. And if he was slipping away, then he would be forced to kill me again as a punishment."

Ben choked on that, trying to hold back a sob. It had been bad enough killing his father a first time. If he had been forced to do it again, he didn't think he would be able to survive.

"You're home now," Leia said, wrapping her arms around his father. "That's all that matters."

His father smiled softly, and Ben could see how weary he was. Thankfully, the other Resistance leaders looked satisfied with his presence. The First Order was many things, but they would not be able to fake someone's presence, no matter how much they wanted to. Especially given the amount of Force sensitive members on the base.

"Home," Han said softly, and the other members began to give them some privacy. His mother had grieved for her husband. She deserved some time alone with him.

And so he turned to leave. His father probably would not want to see him anyways. Not after he nearly killed him.