Chapter 30 - Solo Escapades

"Chewy, are you sure about this?" the eighteen year old pilot asked.

"Grrrrrrrumphh" his companion growled something in Shyriiwook. "Grraaahwroh."

"What do you mean, you have a good feeling about this?"

"Grroooogrrraaaawrrrrrrrrmph."

"Oh don't you get poetic on me. I'll have enough of that in these classes you signed me up for."

"Grroooh." The Wookiee shoved the pilot down the ramp and onto the tarmac below.

'Whatever does he mean, don't be late again. When was I late to begin with?' The man starts walking anyway. They had come to Tatooine to work for Jabba. The Hutt, rumors had it, was paying good credits for pilots to smuggle spice and other illegal goods around the system. That was what they came here for. So why then am I on my way to school? In Anchorhead of all places? The rural town wasn't even worth a pitstop. But Chewy had heard about this center, and he insisted Han go there. When a two point three meter Wookiee, one hundred and twelve kilograms of muscle, insists on anything, it's hard to refuse.

The building looked simple on the outside, much like the other industrial buildings in that section of town. Inside it was airy and bright. He walked up to a desk where a woman in her mid thirties sat. "Hi sweetheart." he was going to continue to flirt with her. Perhaps get her to check the little box next to 'class attended' on his records and get the Wookiee off his back, but then she gave him a look. A serious, no nonsense look that meant she had heard it all before and he'd get nowhere with her.

"Name?" She inquired.

"Han, Han Solo," he answered.

"My name is Mrs. Skywalker. Mr. Solo, do you have your entrance evaluations?" Han nodded and pulled a datapad out of his bag. Mrs. Skywalker looked over the results.

"Look, Ma'am. I know I'm not that smart. Street kids don't have much use for reading and all that. But I'd appreciate just being able to take these classes and move on. I've got a job lined up and…"

"She absent mindedly nodded. "You're not the first student we've had who'd never learned to read, Mr. Solo. I am going to recommend you take the Basic language skills class, but to save you time, I will allow you to start the career courses. I am assigning you a tutor. That will help you progress faster too, especially since you can't read the lessons yet."

"A tutor? Uh, thank you." Han almost protested the idea of having a tutor to look after him and help him with his homework, but he didn't want to push Mrs. Skywalker any more.

"Lets see." She read over some information on her own datapad. "My son Luke is in several of these classes with you. And he does need the tutoring credits." She clicked a few things, making it official, then handed Han back his datapad. "He's in the gym now. Wait by those doors. I'll message Master Kenobi and he'll send him out to you when his class is finished."

"Hmm. Wha?" Han was just contemplating the idea of the woman he was talking to having a son his age, when the rest of what she said occurred to him. "Master, Kenobi?"

"He's not as bad as he sounds. Actually you'll have your Negotiation and Political Discourse course with him also," Mrs. Skywalker said.

Han was sure Chewy signed him up for that course as a joke. "What else do I need to learn?" he had said. "I'm a natural at talking us out of trouble. Aren't I." Of course the Wookiee yowled something about always room for improvement. And something else about maybe keeping them out of trouble to begin with. To which Han couldn't argue him out of. 'Maybe Chewie has a point.'

"Thank you Ma'am." Han replied. "If I asked him, would your Luke be willing to come out to my ship to study. I don't exactly have a place yet, but the Falcon is a comfortable ship."

"Yes, I'm sure we could work something out. Just, he's not allowed to pilot. I don't care what he says." Mrs. Skywalker had a very serious face when she said this.

"No flying, got it." Han nodded. 'Gee, I wonder what the poor guy did to have his license revoked. This Luke guy sounds cool.'


Han sat down on one of the large, plush chairs and waited for his tutor. Several minutes later a young blond boy and a brunette girl the same age walked out of the gym door. The two children seemed to be giggling over something personal. Still Han looked up when he saw them. If their class was ending now, his tutor's class should be ending soon too.

"Han. Han Solo?"

"Hmm?" Han looked around, not sure who addressed him.

"Are you Han Solo?" the little blond boy asked.

"Yes, do you know Luke?" Han thought it wouldn't hurt to ask after the man. "I'm supposed to meet him here."

"Yes, I'm Luke?" The boy answered and Han's mouth dropped open. The kid couldn't be more than ten years old, if that even.

"No, um Luke Skywalker?" Han corrected. This had to be a mistake.

"Yup, that's me. Pleased to meet you?" young Luke offered a hand.

"And you." Han took his hand, his mind still spinning from shock.

"They say you're a pilot. That you flew the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs. My Daddy said that's impossible," Luke babbled on.

"Well, your Daddy's wrong kid. You gotta come see the Falcon some time. She's a beautiful ship," Han offered.

Luke's eyes went wide. "REALLY! Can I fly her? Please, Oh please. I'm a good pilot, really I am," Luke started to beg.

"How old are you, kid?" Han asked.

Luke looked to be thinking for a couple of seconds. "Sixteen." He lied. Han suppressed his laughter.

"NO-ooo!" Squealed the little brunette girl from across the way. Luke's face went red. "He's nine years old. Just the same as me, because we're twins."

"Ley-a-ah," Luke whined.

"And he's never flown anything but a speeder. And only when Dad was there."

"Come on princess, stop embarrassing your brother." A man with dark blond hair and a scar above his eye said from across the room.

"Daddy!" Leia stomped over to the man and protested, but he put his hand on her shoulder and ushered her to go with him.

'What a crazy family!' Han thought as he turned to Luke again.

Before their father left he turned back. "I spoke with Padme earlier. She's gonna go with you to your ship, so you and Luke can study. She'll meet you after your class today."

Han nodded as he left. "So Padme, is she another sister of yours?"

"No, she's my mother," Luke corrected him. "Let me see your schedule. Come this way. I'll give you the grand tour."


"Alright class. We're almost done for today. For homework, I want you to prepare a rebuff to the statement in your books on page twenty-two."

As the class filed out, Han went up to his teacher. "Mr-uh, Master Kenobi, sir."

"Yes Han?"

"It's just. Do I really have to do this? I mean, me debating politics hardly seems fruitful," Han tried to argue.

"There are politics in a lot of things, young Han. When you fly and are stopped by the empire, do they need probable cause to search your ship?"

"No," Han laughed.

"They used to. Before the empire. I fear that the biggest mistake of this generation will be to let young minds, like yours, forget the time when there was a probable cause and a standard for law and order. That's what this lesson is all about. It comes from an ancient manuscript on politics, far older than the Empire and even the Republic. Luke will help you read it, and you can give your rebuff either written, or orally if you prefer that."

"Thanks, Master Kenobi." Han sighed in defeat and left the classroom.


"Han," young Luke called out.

"Hey, Kid. Are you ready to come out and see the Falcon?" Han asked.

"Do you even have to ask?" Luke rebutted.

Han laughed. "No, guess not."

"We are very eager to see your pride and joy. My boy's already told me so much," Mrs. Skywalker, the woman who greeted him that morning, said.

"Ma'am," Han greeted her.

"It's ma'am now. I think I preferred sweetheart," she teased, laughing. Han blushed and Luke gagged.

On the way there Han and Luke discussed their favorite ships. Luke, he discovered, had a deep interest in anything mechanical that flies. Padme walked silently with them.

They were part way through the main street in Anchorhead when Han looked out and saw two eyes looking at him from across the way. Those same two eyes seemed to be following him in the next block. He couldn't think of a reason why they would be following him, but experience taught him to be wary. He decided to take a different route to the falcon, a route that used several catercorner pathways, and a few back alleys that made it harder to follow.

By the time they made it to the ship, Han was sure he'd lost the unexpected and unwelcome tail. "Chewy, we're home," He announced.

"Graaahraaahoh," Chewy called out.

Luke's face went wide. "A Wookiee. This is the coolest ship in the galaxy!"

"Aaahrah." Chewy replied.

"He said," Han started.

"Oh, I know what he said. My friend Galen was raised on Kashyyyk. He taught me a few words. Thank you, included."

"And you meet a lot of people in my old line of work," Padme added. "Hello Mr. Chewbacca."

Chewy proceeded to growl more Shyriiwook, which Luke mostly understood, and only asked a few times for a translation, which his mother provided. In the end Luke agreed to bring Galen by, and Chewy offered to show Luke the hyperdrive, which the boy was very eager to see.

After a while it became apparent to Han that he was going to have to revise his strategy. There were just too many interesting things on the Falcon to distract a nine year old boy, and if he wanted to get any work done, it wouldn't be on board.

"Alright Luke, you have a job to do here. Remember Mr. Solo needs you to help him study," Padme interrupted.

"Ooh Mom," Luke whined.

"I'm sure if you do, he'll show you more of the ship later. Maybe he'll even take you for a ride." This got the boy's attention and Han was suddenly very thankful that she came today. "Well, I'll have to get home. I trust you can walk him home when you're through," She said to Han.

"Yes…" Han remembered the strangers eyes following him through town that day. He knew whoever it was likely saw Padme with him earlier. If he did get himself into trouble to earn them trailing him through town, he didn't want it to bother this family. "Chewy can walk with you. Yes, Chewy would love to walk you home." He added before the Wookiee could argue.

"Alright, if you don't mind." Chewy motioned for her to come with him, and the two left.

Han sat down with Luke to start his homework. "This is the political statement. I need to make a rebuff to it. Master Kenobi said I can do it orally, but you'll need to read it for me, I never learned to."

"Okay. When we're done you should ask my sister for her advice too. Politics is like her favorite subject." Luke opened his eyes disbelievingly.

"Your Sis- Oh, yeah, the princess." Han thought out loud.

Luke laughed. "Yeah, don't let her hear you call her that though."


When they were finished, Han flew Luke back to his home.

"Leia, LEIA!" Luke ran into the house calling after his sister.

Gra-aah rrrh roh," Chewy was in the living room having a conversation with a little green man.

"Chewy, I see you've made a friend."

"Rahaah," Chewy said.

"You knew him already! From where?"

"Whooooh Roh Woooh," Chewy continued.

Han's eyes went wide. "J-jedi." He looked back at the unassuming little, green, aged man, then back at Chewy.

"Yess. On Kashyyyk, I was. Helped me to escape the purge, your friend did. Yoda, my name is. A Jedi, I am." Yoda bowed his head slightly in greeting.

Han just stood there stunned. He made a few noises, but his breath was completely taken away.


Hello Everyone,

Lately it seems that this site has been having an issue with it's views counter. The general stats have been lower, and repeat views have completely disappeared. Others have noticed this glitch as well on the forums. I'd just like to encourage you to take the extra effort and leave reviews on whatever fanfiction you read this month. We writers really do appreciate the feedback.

Bringing Han Solo into the story always felt like something that I had to do. The only thing left was to figure out how and when to do it. Han Solo's exact age is never very specific in Canon. I read a bunch of sources and they seemed to center around him being ten years older than the twins. But then I read that this was based on one early book which stated that he was "Not more than Ten years older than Luke." To me "Not more than," means less than, which is my only excuse for my nine year age gap here. The twins are Nine, and Han Solo is Eighteen. Nothing will happen between him and Leia until she is of age though.

I know the Solo movie is not the most favorite of fans, but my character is supposed to be right after that movie. When they get to Tatooine after Han and Chewy meet. Though it will be only loosely based on that, and I may be fusing some of the Legends background to him too, along with just making stuff up as I see fit. It's been a while since I've seen the Solo movie, so I couldn't use it as much of an influence if I tried. I am imagining a younger Harrison Ford for this, as he always has been the best Han Solo.

I had a lot of fun writing this, and the chapter seemed to be far longer than expected. Part two is tentatively titled 'Han does something Heroic.' It will also be in Han's perspective. The ending to it will be a cliffhanger and the chapter after that will be at least mostly in Anakin's POV. There won't be any time jumps til after that, as I see it now.