Chapter Twenty

Han Solo stood in the cool night air and leaned against the equinoid fencing, taking a swig directly out of a bottle of Whyren's Reserve as he gazed over the green pasture enveloped in darkness. There hadn't been much left inside the bottle when he'd pulled it from the liquor cabinet or he would have also grabbed a shot glass to bring along, since he really didn't intend to get drunk - just pleasantly buzzed. He thought back to the evening, still in disbelief that Leia was back in his house. In his bed. It didn't seem real, even five timeparts later.

They had talked for a long time before she fell asleep in his arms, notably without them making love. Once Leia was asleep, Han had carefully extricated himself from her arms to go take a walk and think. Leia had repeatedly apologized for 'using' him back on Hapes, which he found absurd. He'd wanted her every bit as much as she had wanted him. And if she felt guilty, he was feeling his own sense of guilt over her being banished from the Consortium and losing custody of her daughter. He'd seen holos of the little girl, of course. She was beautiful and angelic looking, like a miniature version of Leia. Isabell bore little to no resemblance to her arrogant, stupid father, Isolder, which pleased Han a great deal. During their lengthy conversation, Leia had also informed Han that several weeks ago she'd contacted a lawyer on Coruscant to get the ball rolling on filing for custody.

Han had been completely serious when he told Leia he would do anything to get Isabell away from the Hapans and back where she belonged, with her mother. He realized with a pang that he wished he could have been Isabell's father. He took another drink from the bottle of whiskey, thinking dourly, If things would have turned out different, if I wouldn't have died because of that damn carbonite poisoning me, I could've married Leia. I would never have let her marry that Hapan slime-boy, even if I would've had to kidnap her.

"Things will still work out, if you allow them to run their course."

Dropping the bottle to the ground, Solo spun around and put his hand on his thigh, the place he used to wear his blaster without fail. Nowadays he seldom wore it, mostly because Lando and Pruitt had endlessly harped on him about how it 'didn't look good for his image.' So, of course, there was no blaster to grab and Han mentally swore at himself for listening to 'his handlers' as they liked to refer to themselves, even within his earshot.

A human male had been standing slightly behind him and off to one side. Han took a quick step back, putting distance between them, painfully aware he had absolutely no place he could take cover to protect himself if this man was armed and dangerous. For some bizarre reason, this man glowed... blue? And Solo could see the equinoid barn through this man. Han shook his head, trying to clear the effects of the alcohol from his brain. Just when he thought he was hallucinating the entire thing, the young man with curly blond hair spoke to him again.

"She desperately needs you. Be her rock, Captain Solo. Just like you've always been her rock."

This stranger knew his former name? How? Who was he?

The apparition smiled. "Allow me to introduce myself. I am Anakin Skywalker."

It took Han a few beats before his brain put two and two together. "Luke and Leia's father."

It wasn't a question, but the apparition answered him anyway. "Yes."

That admission didn't calm him much, so Han took yet another step back. "Darth Vader."

"Unfortunately, I called myself that name for many years."

Suddenly Han's fear morphed into anger and outrage. "Why are you here? Killin' me wasn't good enough? Now you have to come and haunt me? Go fuck off!"

"I am not haunting you," Anakin said sadly. "I would like to apologize for what I did to you on Bespin."

"Yeah? Well, sorry ain't gonna cut it," Han snapped out, furious and sincerely wishing there would be some way to beat up a ghost. "You tortured me and ended up killin' me. It just took a little longer than what you wanted it to take."

"I really had no desire to kill you with the carbonite chamber. I was only testing it to see if you would survive the freezing process so I could safely encase my son inside."

Han gave a bitter laugh. "Well, if you'd have succeeded with freezin' Luke, he probably would've died later from the after-effects, too, just like I did."

Anakin bent his head. "Perhaps. Or perhaps the Force could have cleansed his system from the poison. Either way, I am glad I failed at freezing Luke inside carbonite."

"So that's why you came here? To say, oops, sorry I killed you, Han. Oh, and take care of my daughter, 'cuz she seems to pick the wrong type of man?"

"She wasn't wrong when she picked you."

The Corellian drew back slightly at the unexpected praise. "Yeah, I thought I was a pretty good choice, myself."

The ethereal Jedi smiled at Han's cockiness. "You have the Force now, Han."

"Evin. My name is Evin."

"If you insist. Evin, then. You need to allow Luke to train you in the ways of the Force."

Han shook his head and laughed. "You Skywalkers are all alike. I don't give a shit about the Force or turning myself into a Jedi freak show... like you."

"But you're already using the Force, whether you are aware of it, or not."

"No, I'm not."

Anakin said patiently, "Yes, son, you are."

"No, I'm not," Han argued, unwilling to concede this point, then took a daring step forward and pointed his finger in this visitor's glowing face. "And I ain't your son."

"If you allow Luke to train you, you will be far safer from the insane beings that desire to kill you, simply because they are jealous of you, and for no other reason. And you will be able to safely leave this compound once you've learned how to use the Force to temporarily disguise your outward appearance."

"I don't want to be a Jedi," Han snapped at the persistent man as he dropped his hand back to his side. "Jedi can turn into Sith."

"Is that what you're afraid of becoming - a Sith?"

"I ain't afraid of nothin'." Although, in truth, that idea did scare Han. If this body had been created especially for Palpatine, surely it was possible it already was inclined toward the dark side? Han decided long ago he wasn't going to test out his theory.

The youthful looking Jedi smiled. "I find it highly unlikely you would turn to the dark side, Evin. Your inner strength and kindness are too strong."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Han muttered sarcastically. "I'll cherish it forever."

"The way you are using the Force is such a waste," Anakin said with a sigh. "So much effort, just to thrill the females."

"I don't have a clue what you're talkin' about."

"The exhaustion you experience after your concerts is not just due to your energetic moves onstage, Evin." Anakin grinned. "Although that certainly plays a part of it."

Han stared at the blue ghost, frowning as he suddenly understood what Anakin's words meant. "You're saying the only reason my fans like me is 'cuz I use the Force on them to get 'em excited and make them like me?" The idea offended Han down to his core, and he felt another surge of anger directed at the Force Ghost.

"No, that's not the only reason they like you," Anakin replied. "But it is one of the reasons. Your charisma on stage and off flows from the Force, Evin. I'm not even saying you could stop it if you tried, but it does demonstrate your true powers. If you harness those powers to use in a more efficient way, if you learn how to properly channel the Force, it would help you not to be so exhausted after a concert. As it stands now, using the Force as you do only serves to make you more exhausted. You need to allow Luke to train you."

"No."

"You are a stubborn man, Han Solo."

"So are you."

"Can I give you one more piece of advice?"

"Will you go away if I say, sure, let's hear it?"

Anakin laughed. "Tell Chewbacca."

And with that, the blue Force Ghost of Anakin Skywalker was gone.

The next week

Han hadn't told anyone about his strange visitor. In fact, the more he thought about it, the more he decided it was just the effects of some bad whiskey. Or lack of sleep. Or maybe both. But he was certain he didn't have a ghostly visit from the former Darth Vader, and if he did turn out to be real it would just upset Leia to hear about it. So he shoved it away under 'things to never discuss' with the Princess. Or Luke, for that matter. Luke would have bugged him about what his father said to Han, and the Corellian wasn't about to share those details.

"Do you ever go anywhere besides Coruscant or the places you go when you're touring?" Leia asked, looking up from where she was sitting on the sofa reading a flimsi 'zine.

"Whatdya mean?" Han asked, keeping his eyes on the smashball game on the holo-vid screen and shoved some popped maize into his mouth. At the moment, all the Jedi students were outside practicing under Luke's instructions. Leia had taken some of Luke's Jedi lessons during the past week as well, but today she wanted to stay inside with Han, even though he was currently engrossed in a stupid sports game.

"I mean, like going out to dinner? A holo-flick? A craft fair?"

The last comment got his attention and he looked over at her in amusement. "A craft fair? Are you kidding? That'd be like going to the hottest level of all the Corellian Hells, Princess."

"Okay, maybe not a craft fair," she conceded with a small smile. "A restaurant, then?"

"Are you tryin' to tell me I'm a boring date 'cuz I stay home all the time?"

"You're never boring, Evin," she replied, watching to see if he reacted to her use of his new name. He didn't bat an eyelash, so she continued, "Maybe Luke and Mara would like to go out to eat this evening? I know you live way out in the countryside, but there are small towns scattered around and we wouldn't have to go all the way to Coronet City. I saw a few restaurants when I was shopping with Mara."

Han sighed. "Princess, do you have any clue at all what happens when I go to a restaurant?"

"No."

He opened his mouth to start to explain, but then gave a her a wicked grin. "Fine, let's go out to dinner with Luke and Mara. Pick a nearby restaurant and make a reservation, but you'd better use the last name 'Jade', alright?"

Leia shrugged. "I can do that."

The first thing Leia noticed was the crowd of Corellian humans, mostly woman but some men, gathered around the gate that separated the main roadway from the private drive leading to and from Han's estate. She had also seen them when she left the grounds with Mara to go shopping, but when Leia had asked Mara who they were, Jade had only snorted and replied, "Idiots." With no further clarification, they had driven past the Corellians, who only gave them a passing glance as they exited the gates.

Han had insisted on driving the covered hover-car himself, claiming since it was his vehicle it was his right to be behind the steering control. When the gates swung open there was still a group of humans waiting. Now about twenty in number, they hurried over and surrounded the hover-car. Everyone was excitedly pointing and taking images with their small holocams. To everyone's surprise, Han stopped the hover-car, pressed the button to open his driver-side window, then smiled and waved at the fans. Several of the females actually started to cry and the braver ones stepped closer, shoving flimsi and a stylus toward Han. Again, he politely took the flimsi and asked them their names before signing his autograph and handing the flimsi back. This signing session took about twenty minutes before he put his window back up and continued driving.

"Now I know why we had to leave the house so early," Mara grumbled. "Do you indulge the idiots every time you leave the grounds?"

Han glanced back in the rearview mirror at Mara and Luke, who were sitting in the backseat. "Yes, in fact, I do stop and sign my name when I leave. They're not idiots, anyway. They're my fans, people that spend a lot of their hard-earned credits to buy my music holocube vids and come to my flicks, so I'm not gonna ignore them."

"I think that's very thoughtful of you, Han," Luke told his friend.

Leia nodded in agreement, wondering what had caused Han to change his mind about invasive reporters and autograph seekers, both of whom he resented when he was still Han Solo, smuggler-turned-General.

"Yeah, well, they pay the rent, Luke," Han said. "Turn 'em off and none of us will have a place to piss, if you know what I mean."

Now that sounded more like Han, Leia decided as she watched the scenery speed past her window.

They arrived at the restaurant. Although Princess Leia had grown up getting special attention and privileges while out in public, being with Evin Daysun took things to another level entirely. While the owner of the restaurant was falling over himself to get them the best table in the place, the entire wait staff fawned over him. Then the chef actually left the kitchen to come and speak to him, even asking Han if he could prepare the famous singer his specialty, "For your entire group, of course," he said, practically bowing down as he made the request.

Han looked over at the Princess. "It's up to you, Leia."

"What's your specialty?" Luke asked the chef. He wasn't interested in finding out after the fact it was slugs marinated in wine broth. In Luke's opinion, those things were just gross.

"Oh, it's braised nerf steaks in tarigett sauce, placed over a bed of fresh carju leaves, which have been hand picked and selected by none other than yours truly. You will have a side of broasted tuber roots in a port demi-glaze, which, trust me, is simply divine."

"And it'll be all on the house," the owner of restaurant added, rubbing his hands together in eager anticipation.

"That's really not -" Han started to say, but the owner interrupted his protest.

"I insist! Once word gets out that none other than Evin Daysun was actually sitting in my restaurant, eating my food -"

"MY food," the chef interjected, sounding a bit put out.

"Our food," the owner conceded, "my business will grow in astro leaps!"

"Well, if you insist," Han said, shrugging. "The specialty of the house, it is."

No sooner had the chef hurried back to the kitchen to start preparing the meal, two couples sitting inside the restaurant hustled over and asked Han for his autograph. He complied, and then the two women asked him for a kiss. He obliged, even though their dates - or maybe their husbands - didn't seem pleased.

Those had barely left when three more women hurried over, and the scene was repeated. And then repeated again. And again. Finally the food came out of the kitchen, but Han barely had time between autographing flimsi and kissing his female fans to get much food down his gullet.

After what seemed like eternity to Leia, they left the restaurant and hurried over to the hover-car before Han could be accosted once again.

As he pulled out of the restaurant parking lot, Han looked over at Leia and said quite calmly, "And that is why I don't go out to eat anymore, Sweetheart."

Leia now understood perfectly.