The
morning before the wedding Jacen found himself to be anything but calm and
rational. He had blown his last chance
the night before on the balcony to convince Tenal Ka that marrying Zeille would
be the biggest mistake of her life. The
wedding would go on as planned whether Jacen accepted it or not.
He flopped down on his bed with a frustrated sigh. Tenal Ka's right, he thought
bitterly. Nothing I say to her now will
change her mind. What do I have to
offer her? Friendship?
"Yeah, that'll make her come running straight into my
arms," he muttered to himself.
He jumped up from his bed and began pacing. He had so many thoughts and feelings jumbled
up in his head that it was impossible for him to sit still for too long. He was so much on edge that he nearly jumped
out of his skin when he heard a knock at his door.
"What?" he snapped.
"Jacen?" came the reply of Han Solo.
"Dad?"
"Yeah, it's your old man. Can I come in?"
"Uh, sure. Just
hold on a sec." He ran his hands
through his hair, trying to make himself look more presentable, and he tried to
smooth out the wrinkles in his clothes so they wouldn't look like he had slept
in them. Then he opened the door.
Han Solo stepped in and greeted his son with a huge bear
hug. When they broke from the embrace,
Jacen was the first to speak. "I
thought you guys weren't coming 'til later," both him, Jaina and Anakin had not
expected their parents until that afternoon.
"Well," Han began, flashing his son a lopsided grin,
"your mom pulled a few strings and managed to get some other political
officials who owed her a favour, to take care of all her appointments for
today, and so we're here early," he gestured by spreading his arms out. "Besides, " he continued more seriously,
"your mom needs a break from all this Yuuzhan Vong business. She's really stretching herself to the
limit. So this gives her a chance to
spend some time with you and your brother and sister."
"Where is mom?" Jacen was surprised that his father had come alone to greet him.
Han shrugged, nonchalantly. "You know Leia and Isolder are 'old friends'. She had some business to discuss with him
first, and I opted not to go along. Me
and Isolder never really got along in the first place."
"I see," Jacen did his best to try and cover up a smile
that was forming on his face. He knew
that his father had been responsible for stealing his mother away from Isolder
and winning her heart, and he never let Isolder forget it.
"Besides," he said, eyeing his son's disheveled outer appearance,
"it gives you and me a chance to talk."
"Talk?" Jacen echoed, "about what?"
"About whatever it is that's bothering you," he said
coming around to sit on a nearby chair.
Jacen crossed his arms over his chest. "There's nothing bothering me," he responded
unconvincingly.
"Look son, I may not have the force like everyone else in
our family, but I like to think I can tell when something is bugging one of my
own kids. Am I right?"
Jacen sat down on the edge of his bed and said
nothing. He waited for his father to
try and coax him into coming out and saying what was bugging him, but his
father remained silent, waiting for Jacen to make the next move. Jacen sighed. He knew his dad wasn't going to leave until he got a straight
answer from him. He looked down at his
feet and took a deep breath. "It's
Tenal Ka," he admitted finally. When he
looked up at Han, he was surprised to see a look of understanding and even
sympathy on his father's face.
"The girl's got you heart, doesn't she?"
Jacen nodded but said nothing.
"She must be pretty special," Han remarked.
Jacen felt a smile forming on his face. He tried to stop it but failed. "She is. She's perfect. I've never met
anyone in my life that means as much to me as she does,"
"This sounds familiar, " Han said in a reminiscent
voice. "Reminds me of your mother and
me,"
"Yeah, well, I don't think kidnapping Tenal Ka and taking
her to Dathomir will make her fall in love with me. She's a Dathomirian warrior, you know."
Han chuckled. "No, I suppose not,"
"I don't deserve her anyways. She's probably better off with that other guy," he remarked
reluctantly.
"Hey, don't say that," Han said, coming over to sit next
to his son on the bed. "That's not the
Solo attitude. If a lowly scoundrel and
smuggler, like myself, can win the heart of a beautiful princess and rebel
hero, than you, " he said, pointing at his son square in the chest, "a Jedi
Knight, son of the former chief of state, and nephew of the Great Jedi Master
Luke Skywalker, deserve any girl out there. Including Tenal Ka."
"Yeah, well,
whether I deserve her or not, it doesn't matter. Tomorrow's the wedding and Tenal Ka's made it clear to me that
she has every intention of going through with it."
"Did you give her a reason not to?"
Jacen glanced up at his dad. "Like what?"
"Well for starters, you could tell her how you really
feel."
"She knows how I feel," he insisted.
"Does she?" Han said raising an eyebrow at his son. "Cuz if I were in her boots, I'd think there
was something going on between you and Danni Quee." When Jacen remained silent, Han went on, "son, love isn't
something that you can find whenever you want. Some people never find it. That's why if you have the chance, you have to take it. If you don't, you're gonna spend the rest of
your life regretting it, thinking about the what if's and could've been's."
He placed a firm hand on his son's shoulder. Han hated seeing his son this miserable but
the only thing he could do was be there for him and offer him advice. What Jacen did with that advice was entirely
up to him.
The words he spoke next lifted Jacen's spirits.
"If you really love her, don't give up on her just
yet." Then he got up and left the room,
leaving Jacen to ponder the truth of his dad's words.