Han and Luke watched Hanna's attacker being dragged away by a friend. All present agreed that the human girl had been hit unprovoked, including his friend, so Han was left alone.

The music began to play again, and the bustle of the cantina returned. Having nothing else to worry about, the two reluctantly turned and looked at each other, silent for a long time. Neither knew what to say. Finally, Han scratched his neck nervously and asked, "Uh...What are you doing back here?"

Luke took a deep breath to calm his jumpy nerves. "Hanna and I come here to rock-climb. We've been doing it for years. It's...it's kind of part of her Jedi training."

Han nodded. After a moment he smiled ironically, trying to hide how shaken he was. "My daughter's a Jedi."

"Yes. She is." He paused, looking his old friend over, taking in everything about him. His hair had turned gray; he'd gained a little weight; he was quieter than Luke remembered. But his facial expressions, his heavy Corillian accent, his smell...they were all the same. His dark eyes still managed to look soft and cocky at once. He still couldn't manage to wear a clean shirt or to button it up all the way. His blaster was still carried at his thigh, the holster hanging from a low-slung belt.

"We were going to leave today for home, but Hanna's X-wing keeps malfunctioning. I can't find anything wrong with it-"

"Probably got a bug."

"That's what I thought. We're meeting someone here-Windy, a friend of mine-and he's bringing equipment to run a diagnostic on the computer."

Han nodded. It really didn't matter to him, not at this point. He looked Luke over, taking in everything about him. His basically unchanged hair: still the same dark blond without a trace of gray. His Jedi robes, all black save for his white under-tunic, of which only the collar was visible. The faint lines in his skin around his eyes from smiling and worrying. His unchanged quiet, almost unearthly demeanor, which broke occasionally to let out the old Luke, the easy-going one who had gotten along so well with Han, put him at ease, and made him smile.

Luke saw the way Han looked at him, and he wondered if he could see anything of his twin sister in him. "How are you, Han?" he asked softly, genuinely wanting to know.

Han shrugged. "Can't complain I guess. As long as the price of spice is high and the Falcon still flies..."

Luke almost choked. He hadn't heard something so funny in a long time. He laughed out loud. "The Falcon? You're still flying the Millennium Falcon?"

Han smiled. Here was the old Luke, the one he could joke with, the one who had, when he was just a boy, declared his beloved ship a "piece of junk."

"She's still got it where it counts, kid."

Luke laughed again. "I'm forty-two."

Han blinked. "What?"

"I'm forty-two, Han. I don't think that's the most appropriate nick-name for me anymore."

"So what? It's my name for you. Always has been."

"Yeah."

Han didn't answer. He played with the stirrer in his drink, and Luke could feel his anticipation. He was bracing himself to ask one of the many huge questions he needed answered. "Luke...what's she like?"

"Hanna?"

He nodded.

"She's..." That was a loaded question. "She's smart, and spirited, and...lots of fun. Like you said: she's a little spitfire. You'd like her."

He half-smiled. "Would I?"

"A lot. She's...a lot like you."

Han sighed, his jaw set in...what? Anger? Fear? "It'd be better if she was like her." He quickly downed the rest of his drink.

"Like who? Leia?"

He didn't answer, but Luke knew what he had meant.

Han had never been good at expressing his emotions. Luke knew he had a lot of questions, and that he would get the answers one way or another. But how to ask without exposing his soul? "Where's Leia?"

"Coruscant."

He kept quiet again.

Luke regarded him, as the other refused to meet his eyes. "Han, I know you're dieing to know about Hanna."

Han simply caught Luke's eyes for a moment. He knew that meant yes.

"Were should I start?"

"At the beginning."

So Luke told Han everything, everything that he thought he had a right to know. He told him about how upset Leia was when he'd disappeared without a trace. No one knew where to find him. When Leia had to announce her pregnancy publicly, she'd been so scared, so ashamed. And when she'd started to show, she tried to wear things to hide it. But all of that changed when Leia felt her daughter kick for the first time. Suddenly, she was so in love with the baby, so happy with her life. Except one thing-she wondered if she'd been hasty in sending Han away. She started to wonder if she should have given him a chance. When she'd gone into labor, Luke had helped her through her contractions with Jedi breathing techniques, and Hanna was born fairly easily. From day one, Luke and Leia and their friends had been amazed by Hanna's gifts, her personality, her beauty, and her resemblance to her father. Hanna had learned to read and write very young, as well as other skills necessary for the daughter of Leia Organa to know: piloting, self-defense, government and political theory, and, thanks to her uncle, the Jedi arts.

"She's remarkable, Han," Luke finished. "You'd be proud of her."

Han had listened intently, his eyes far away. "Yeah, I guess," he was finally able to mumble. "But would she of been so 'remarkable' if...naw, never mind."

Luke let him withdraw his question and keep his silence.

"How old is she?" Han could bring himself to ask that. "I've been trying to keep track, but...I don't know her birthday. Nineteen?"

"Almost. Next month."

"She's short for nineteen."

"She's taller than her mother."

Han looked at Luke quickly with eyes like daggers. Then he let his eyes soften. "I don't really remember..."

Luke hesitantly put a hand on Han's shoulder. They'd been so close once, like brothers. Luke had never found another friend he loved like he had once loved Han. "Han, I know she hurt you-"

"Damn strait she hurt me!" Han raised his voice, but Luke didn't draw back. "I never recovered from that! Do you have any idea--?"

"Han, I've been hurt before, too."

"Not like this you haven't. You ain't never been hurt like that woman hurt me. Do you know what it's like to have a kid somewhere out there that you've never even seen?"

"No."

Han quieted again. His anger, his hurt, was old. Luke knew that he would never stop hurting, but he had gotten used to the pain. "You have kids, Luke?"

"No."

"You married?"

"No. I just...haven't found the right girl, I guess."

"Is...she...does Leia..."

"No." Luke wondered if he should be telling Han this. "After you...she never looked at another man."

Luke caught the glimmer of hope in Han's eyes. His chest tightened. Did he still love Leia? After all these years?

They say that true love lasts forever, Luke thought. And they way Han and Leia used to act together in the old days...why'd she ever let him go?

Han tried to act as if Luke's comment hadn't phased him. "I'm seeing this girl right now...she's all right. I dunno. Seems like there's a new chick every week, right?"

Luke frowned. "Right..."

Then he'd gone back to his old ways. Luke shook his head. Leia would just love that.

Luke caught himself. Trying to play matchmaker, aren't you? He asked his mind. That won't work. Han and Leia need to follow their hearts, not yours.

Luke got up from the stool. "I'd better go check on Hanna. If Windy hasn't got here yet, he probably isn't going to."

Han stood in a hurry. "The Falcon's computer can run those diagnostics. If you guys want to..."

Luke smiled cautiously. "If it's all right with Hanna." He let himself smile freely. "It's great to see you again."