The next night Han was alone in his bed while he slept, but Luke was still awake, and not in his own room. Instead he was in Vader's quarters, laying with his head on his father's durasteel thigh. It was something he'd done since he was a small child when he couldn't sleep because he was upset. It was also however, what Luke hadn't done that night Vader had called Han to come see him. For two days Luke was irritable, upset, and towards the end he was clinging to his father begging him to find Han, all the while never saying why, he was too much on the defensive for Vader to get past his shields for the answer. That they were back to this old custom gave the dark lord a little more peace of mind even though Luke's shields were still up too much for him to get any idea what was going on.
"What is troubling you, my son?" he asked as he lightly raked his leather-glad fingers through Luke's hair.
Luke didn't say anything at first except to exhale a small sigh before answering, "I just feel bad for Han, he's had to go through so much...and he's had to miss so much."
Luke had always been a sensitive child, always so empathetic towards other people, he must've gotten it from his mother.
"He never even got to know Mom," Luke said.
Vader often wondered just how much Luke remembered of Padme, being so young himself when she died, but the fact remained he did remember her, their bond was closer than most parents and children. He had truly worried for Luke's sake when his wife died, being so young and not able to fully understand what was going on. It had been a hard adjustment for both, but they had adapted.
An idea came to Darth Vader.
Han had put on his most formal uniform and went with Luke and Darth Vader to a piece of land out behind the palace, away from everything and everyone, a place where there was only green grass, blue skies as far as the eye could see, and his birth mother's tomb.
The block of carbonite that marked her burial looked like the lid of a sarcophagus, it had been decorated with an image in her likeness as she was in life. It was the first time he'd gotten to see what his mother had looked like. Pop was right, she was beautiful.
No words were exchanged between the three men, Han stood over the grave marker and gazed down at the picture of his mother, in absolute awe. Even the times he tried to imagine what his birth parents looked like, nothing he ever could've thought up compared with the real thing.
On one hand, he had never known this woman, he had no memories of her, he knew by all logic she must've held him at least once, but there was just no bond between him and this woman, who despite giving him life, was a complete stranger to him. On the other hand, it was his mom, the woman he'd wondered about his whole life. He'd always figured she had to be dead, but actually being here, seeing it for himself, seeing her, it made his chest tighten and his throat swell shut with tears threatening to escape. He felt his balance shift and he half slipped, he put an arm out to catch himself and found himself practically draped over his mother's grave. He didn't feel the strength in him to move, somehow it just felt like this was right where he was supposed to be.
He heard footsteps behind him, felt a presence, felt a hand on his back, a flesh and blood hand, Luke. His brother stood beside him, made no effort to move him away from their mother's final resting place, merely joined him.
They stayed there for Han had no idea how long. The sun was setting and the sky was pink and gold, he was only faintly aware of it. Finally he heard their father step behind them and they heard his modulated voice say, "Come, my sons, it's time to go home."
They walked back to the palace together, Vader between his sons, one durasteel arm draped over each son's shoulders, holding them close to him.
Han had a strange feeling something was amiss. He opened his eyes and was met with almost pitch darkness, but he could see he was in his bedroom. He sat up to look around and realized what it was, when he saw his little brother curled up in a ball at the foot of his bed, like he'd sneaked in hoping his brother wouldn't notice him.
Outside he heard rain pelting the side of the palace, there was an occasional rumble of thunder far up in the atmosphere.
Han pushed up on his elbows. "Luke? Luke!"
"Hmm?" the younger man turned on his side and his eyes slowly blinked open.
Han wasn't sure he even wanted to know. He just reached to the other side and patted the mattress. "Come on, get up here."
Luke didn't need to be told twice, he scurried up to the head of the bed and crawled under the covers.
"You okay?" Han asked.
Luke nodded. "Yeah."
The room briefly lit up as there was a flash of thunder, followed by a louder rumble of thunder.
"They have storms here regularly?" Han asked.
"Uh, sometimes," Luke answered. "Do they have them on Corellia?"
"Once in a while," Han said. "Not usually a big deal-"
The last syllable barely left his mouth before the room actually shook as there was a combination blinding white flash of lightning and a deafening BOOM of thunder from above. The next thing Han knew, he and Luke were both emerging from under the covers, they shared a mutual look and laughed at their own expense.
Han entered Vader's office and saw he and Luke together talking.
"Sorry, is this a bad time?" he asked.
"Not at all," Vader answered. "What is it?"
"Uh, well," Han sheepishly answered, "I've...made a decision...I figured out what, what I want to do now that...uh, I got something to show you guys outside."
Luke's interest was piqued, as was their father's. They followed Han out to the palace grounds and saw just what it was he wanted to show them.
"It's a cargo ship," Luke said as he took in the sight of the grungy looking off-white YT-1300 light freighter.
"A Corellian cargo ship. It needs a lot of work," Han said as he led them over to the boarding ramp, "in and out, but I've got big plans for this baby."
Luke followed Han onboard the ship a little more enthusiastically than their father did.
'Needs a lot of work' was the understatement of the millennium. After getting the grand tour, Vader was able to conclude this ship wasn't just an eyesore, it was an albatross: minimal living space, only two bunks, a small fresher, no room for a bacta tank. If Luke had picked this ship that would make more sense, he was young and naive, Han was old enough and experienced enough he could've picked a far better ship than this for...for that matter...
"What exactly is your intention for this ship?" he asked his firstborn.
Han looked surprised by the question. "Well, Pop, it's a freighter ship."
"Your decision is to be a cargo hauler?" Vader wasn't sure he was hearing right.
Some of the light left Han's eyes as he realized this discussion wasn't going the way he'd expected.
"Well I know it's not what...what," he glanced towards Luke, then looked back at their father, and shook his head, "you don't like it?"
"Start from the beginning, a little slower," Vader said as he found a place to sit down. "First of all, where did you get this ship?"
"Uh, well actually," Han shifted his weight from one foot to the other as he stumbled over the answer, "I actually won it last night in a sabbac tournament."
"Really?" Luke was impressed.
Vader refrained from asking 'as a consolation prize?', he couldn't figure out what Han saw in this thing, but for some reason it meant a lot to his son, so he'd hear him out anyway.
"I've seen it around here and there the last few months," Han said. "When I saw the guy entering the tournament I decided to try my luck."
Vader also refrained from commenting how he'd hate to see what Han would've wound up with if he'd lost. Oh well, at least it didn't cost Han anything to obtain this...thing. It looked like a credit pit to him.
"I know what you're thinking, Pop," Han said.
"Oh I seriously doubt that," Vader shook his head in response, the vocoder not picking up the small chuckle that escaped him.
"I'm going to completely overhaul this thing," Han said, "it's going to be the fastest ship in the galaxy."
Hmm...now that idea had some potential. All the same though, the dark lord couldn't resist asking, "To be a freight hauler?"
Han shrugged, "Well it's not the most prestigious work, but it's something I can do and I'd get out plenty with it, it'd..."
Even without a bond through the Force, Vader picked up on what Han wanted to say but wasn't sure how. "It would be your home away from home."
Han nodded, "Yeah, I want to fix it up, make it mine, actually have something that's my own."
"I understand," Vader replied. And he did. He'd been thrilled to have Han staying with them at the palace, but he knew looking at it from Han's perspective it just wasn't home, not his home anyway. Despite their efforts to make him feel welcome, he clearly saw it more as just being an extended guest. It wasn't unreasonable, Han was fully grown, he had his own life, and now that he wasn't in the Imperial Navy anymore, he had to explore and redefine just what that life consisted of for him.
"It will be costly to actually see this through," he noted.
Han nodded, "I know, and I'm not asking for anything, I've got a good credit roll saved up from my time in the Navy, it's going to be timely more than anything, but I figure I could get it done a lot quicker if...I had somebody to help me."
He turned towards Luke, whose eyes lit up. He absently pointed a thumb to himself and asked, dumbfounded, "Me?"
"What can I say?" Han shrugged. "You're a Skywalker, if anybody's qualified to do it, I can't think of a better one."
Luke turned towards Vader, wordlessly hoping and seeking permission.
"I think that would be a great idea," Vader told his sons. It would be a timely affair, it would give these two a perfect opportunity to bond as brothers, Luke would get a lot of hands-on experience he wouldn't get at the flight academy.
He saw a sparkle return to his eldest son's eyes as the corners of his mouth turned upward in a small but genuine smile. "Thanks, Pop."