As Han piloted the speeder toward where Jacen had last seen that woman, he felt his palms sweating. He wished he could remember when it was he had lost the necklace, but in spite of the long-lost memories that had been slowly revealing themselves to him for the first time in years, none of them made the fate of the necklace clear to him.

He made his way toward the corridor Jacen had seen her in on foot, really having no idea what he expected to find there. It seemed odd that some woman would often just hang around this random hallway.

Just before the entrance, he noticed the old pawn shop right next door - the one that he had so often been sent to sell things when he was a child. His curiosity got to him, and he decided to walk in and see if it sparked any memories.

As he walked through the doorway, the first thing he noticed was the smell. Not that it was a bad smell, just that it was familiar. The smell of slightly rusted metal and old, somewhat musty wood. The scent of dust filled his nostrils, and he could clearly remember walking in here and experiencing the same smell so long ago.

Walking forward, he saw the orange counter he had noticed a few days earlier. He remembered it being just about at eye level, his younger self struggling to see over as he would deal with the merchant. Now the counter merely came up to his waist.

"Can I help you?" Han heard a woman's voice ask from behind him. Turning, he saw the face of a woman roughly his own age. She had wavy, shoulder-length brown hair and a soft, welcoming smile. Now, it wasn't that unusual for a child Jacen's age to think of anyone over the age of twenty as old. But he did not think this was the woman that his son had described to him.

"I'm… uh… I'm not sure." And he truly wasn't sure. He had no idea where to start with this woman. Something about this woman's face though told him he could trust her, in spite of the sort of business she was in. Not that pawn shops in and of themselves were illegal, but everybody knew that much of what they were sold had been stolen. They simply made it policy never to ask how something had been acquired.

"Well, then, I'm not sure I can be much help to you," the woman replied.

"Wait a second," Han said, reaching into his pocket. "Maybe there is something." He pulled his hand from his pocket and dangled the necklace in front of her eyes. "Have you ever seen this before?"

She took a good look and then her eyes widened in such a way that Han knew without hearing her answer that this was not the first time the woman had seen it. Han didn't know a whole lot about jewelry, but he knew the necklace he held in his hand didn't have much monetary value.

The woman's eyes met Han's. "She told me she found you, but I didn't believe her."

Now Han was very confused. "What?"

"My mother. She said she found the boy who had given that to her, but I thought she was crazy."

"It was my son. She saw my son and I guess she thought it was me. But who is your mother? I don't remember giving this to her."

"My parents owned this place before we were even born – me and my brother. She said there were some kids who used to come in here all the time selling stuff she knew they never should've been able to get their hands on. But nobody was supposed to ask any questions. She told me a story about this boy who would come in sometimes to sell jewelry or maybe a nice wrist chrono. She said she liked this kid because he would stay and talk to her, seeming happy just to be having a normal conversation about anything. And he reminded her of her son."

"Your brother?"

The woman nodded and Han could see a hint of sadness in her eyes. "He was killed in an Imperial raid when he was only twelve. It was awful for all of us, as you can imagine. But I think it started to do a number on Mom's mind as well. She was never really the same after that."

"I'm really sorry to hear about your brother," Han said.

"Thank you," she said sadly, then continued on with her story as normal. "Anyway, Mom told me how one day she saw this boy out in the alley getting beaten up. He was pretty scrawny and some bigger kids took advantage of him and stole a few of the things he was about to pawn. Mom went out and got them to run away and brought the kid inside."

Suddenly something sparked in Han's brain and a clear image came to him, of lying in a ball in the alley, his arms covering his head while three bigger kids took turns kicking and punching him. Then he heard a voice.

"Get out of here. Can't find anyone your own size to fight?"

Like most kids, at the sound of an authoritative adult, they immediately started to run away. Han pulled his arms away from his face and looked up to see a woman coming toward him – the nice lady from the pawn shop who would talk to him and sometimes even give him cookies.

Han sat up, feeling the throbbing pain throughout his body as the woman approached him with a concerned look on her face. Han tasted blood on his tongue, and she knelt in front of him and wiped the hair from his forehead in a motherly fashion. "Oh, dear boy, are you all right?"

He wasn't really sure, but even if he wasn't all right, he'd be in serious trouble with Shrike if he wasn't back before dark. So he nodded.

"Don't let those boys bother you. It's a real coward who picks on someone so much smaller."

Han was tired of being small. He hoped someday he could grow up to be big and strong.

She started to help him to his feet. "Come on inside, let me at least get you cleaned up a bit."

He shook his head. "No, I'm fine, I swear."

She looked at him skeptically. "Just do it for me, all right? If I were your mother I'd want someone to help you."

Han felt saddened once again that he had no mother who was going to help with his injuries, so he nodded. "Okay,"and he followed as the woman led him inside the pawn shop and to a small office room in the back.

Han remembered her putting bandages on a few of his cuts, and he remembered thinking about the boys who had come after him, and that they had stolen the things he was supposed to sell. He was going to be in a lot of trouble when he got back. But he was also greatly relieved that they had not stolen the one thing that he had no intention of ever selling. But now he feared it might someday wind up in the hands of some punk kid somewhere, and he'd never see it again.

He didn't understand why this woman was so nice to him. There weren't a whole lot of grown-ups who gave him more than a dirty look – although in all fairness, he did steal from a lot of them. He trusted this woman for reasons he didn't understand. And while he couldn't remember having asked anyone for help in the past, he found himself wanting to now.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the small, gold necklace he had carried around for as long as he could remember. Over the years his mind had blocked out how exactly it came to his possession, but he knew it was important to him and he knew he would be devastated if it was taken away.

The woman saw him pull it from his pocket and looked at the golden pendant. "What's this now, son? Something you want to sell me today?"

Han shook his head. "I was wondering if you could hold onto this for me."

She took it from his hands and studied it, her eyes telling him she knew it wasn't really worth much. "For how long?"

Han shrugged. "Until it's safe, I guess. Until nobody can take it from me."

Her eyes indicated understanding as she looked at him. "Why is this so important to you?"

Han looked down at the ground, not sure how to answer. "I – I think it mighta been my mother's. I think she gave it to me."

The woman looked confused. "You think?"

Han shrugged again. "I don't really remember everything." That was true. Han felt as though there was some memory there he had tried to keep from himself for whatever reason. Sometimes he'd dream that he saw a woman who his mind told him was his mother, but he could never see her face. All he knew was that for as long as he could remember, he'd been guarding that necklace with his life, constantly fearful that it would be taken from him. He was worried his luck was running out there.

He looked into the woman's eyes once again, and they looked watery. She reached out and took the necklace from him. "Young man, I will keep this safe for as long as you need me to. You just come back and get it when you're ready."

Great relief flooded through Han's body. Eventually Han knew he had to leave, even though he desperately wanted to ask if the woman would keep him safe as well. But something in the pit of his stomach told him that Shrike would find him no matter what. The punishment he'd take would be severe, and he would also get this nice lady in trouble, and he didn't want to do that to her.

Han remembered starting to walk home, the sun setting as the streets darkened. His heart started beating faster when he suddenly felt as though he was being followed and he started to run. He'd gotten quite good at running, but this time he was not quite quick enough. Feeling someone grab him, he was tackled to the ground and looked up to see the boys who had been chased away earlier, coming back for more.

They beat him into unconsciousness, and the next thing he knew, he was waking up on the Trader's Luck – the ship he'd had to call home for so many years. He had no idea how he had gotten there, or any memory of anything else that had happened that day.

Thinking about it now, Han suspected the beating had messed with his short-term memory. From then on he truly believed that he had never had any parents and forgot about the necklace completely. And that was where the memory ended.

"Mom said she'd been waiting for that boy to come back for his necklace. She hasn't really been in her right mind for years so I'll admit, we never really thought much of it. But then the other day she said she found him."

Han smiled. "Yeah, I guess my son looks a lot like I did at that age. Is she here somewhere? Your mother?"

She shook her head. "Not today, no. Like I said, she's not doing so well, so many days she's much better off if she just stays home."

"I'm here for about another week with my family. Do you think you could bring her by one day? I'd really like to be able to thank her."

The woman smiled. "I think she'd like that. I can't promise she'll remember you, though. Some days she doesn't even know who I am."

"It's all right. I think I'd still like to say thank you."

"Come back tomorrow. If she's having a decent day, I will bring her."

"Thank you, really."

"Thank you," the woman said. "I'm just glad to hear that that story she's been telling all these years wasn't just because she was crazy."

Han laughed. "Tomorrow," he said as he started toward the door, and the woman nodded at him just before he left.