I make my way downstairs, where Han and Chewbacca are sitting at a table having something to eat.

"So?" asks Han when he sees me. "How did it go?"

I take a seat across from him, shaking my head. "Not good," I tell him. "She's angry, hurt and resentful."

"You kind of expected that though, didn't you?" he remarks.

"I suppose so," I admit. "I guess I was just hoping for a miracle."

"Seems to me you've had more than your share of miracles lately, Anakin," he says with a grin.

I smile, realizing he is right. "Yes, you're right about that."

"If she's anything like her daughter, she'll be sore for a while, but will eventually simmer down. Trust me on that," he says.

"Well, Leia's temperament is much like my own," I tell him. "A little too much actually."

Han laughs. "Now that you mention it, I see what you mean. Say, how did your wife react when she saw Luke and Leia? Must have been a shock for her."

I nod, a smile on my face. "It was," I tell him. "At first she refused to believe they were truly alive. It was only when she saw the two of them with her own eyes that she finally believed."

"So why was it necessary for her to think that they were dead?" asks Han. "Was it because of what happened to you?"

"I'm sure that was a part of it," I reply. "If the emperor had been able to get his hands on either Luke or Leia, he would have destroyed them."

"Like he did to you," Han observes.

I nod. "Yes, he knew that any children of mine would be a threat to him, so he would see that they were dealt with one way or another."

"So separating them from their mother was the only way to guarantee their safety?"

"I suppose that was the thinking," I tell him. "I imagine the decision to do so was extremely difficult, and made under pressures of time and circumstance. Remember, the Jedi had just been wiped out, the galaxy was in turmoil; I can't damn Yoda for making such a decision under those conditions. I didn't exactly leave a lot of options open."

Han nods. "Well, the main thing now is that she's with them now. Right?"

I sigh, looking back at the staircase. "Yes, Han, you're right. It is wonderful to see the three of them reunited."

"One big happy family at last," he says with a smile.

I nod. "I just wonder how or even if I fit into that family."

Han frowns as he considers this for a moment. "Listen to me, Anakin," he says. "If someone had told me a year ago that you and me would be talking like old friends, I'd have told them they were crazy. If someone had told me that Princess Leia Organa would now love you and accept you as her father, I would have called them crazier. The point is, you've won us over, and neither of us are exactly easy sells. Padmé loves you, so it only makes sense that in time she will get past all the anger she's feeling and accept you, too."

"Padmé loved me, Han, loved...past tense. I don't know if she does, don't see how she can. Not after everything she's been through because of me."

"I'm no expert on love, or women, especially women," he tells me. "But from what you've told us, the love you shared was rare, intense and deep. That kind of love doesn't just go away, even when there is hurt and anger involved."

I look at this one time smuggler, and realize once again way my children hold him in such high esteem. His wisdom is remarkable, and certainly belies his outward appearance of the cavalier mercenary I had once believed him to be. I smile at him.

"Thank you Han," I tell him. "Your words mean more to me than I can say."

Han shrugs, seemingly uncomfortable with my comment. "Hey, I'm just trying to get in good with the future in-laws," he quips with a grin.

I laugh. "Ah," I say. "Method to your madness, is there?"

"Always," he replies.