The Legend of the Jedi Queen

82. Blood of Han

Inside the medical center of the Imperial Palace, Tallis lay in one of the medical beds, still in a coma. Already, the lack of Abeloth and the stress she brought had caused some of Tallis's hair to naturally grow in dark again.

Princess Nellith Solo stood over the pod, her fingers hovering inches from the duroglass.

"No one else knows he's alive?" Nellith asked.

"No one who isn't loyal to you," Ben said.

"I'm not sure we should hide this," Rey admitted as she folded her arms over her chest. "Anyone reasonable in the galaxy would understand that he's not the one to blame for anything that happened. In fact, he technically ended the war."

"Technically," Nellith agreed. "I don't know whether to announce it or not. But I still can't help but worry. . ."

"Those crimes are on Andromeda's head, and she's dead," Rey said.

"But how much of it actually was her?" Nellith asked. "She was different, at the end. She knew she was wrong, about everything. About avenging Snoke, about waging the war."

"She still would have had to answer for what she started," Ben said. "He wouldn't. He's always been on our side."

"On my side," Nellith murmured. The distinction made all the difference. She thought a moment. "Do they have any idea when he'll wake up?"

"We don't even know if he'll wake up," Rey said. "But we'll hold onto him for as long as we can. What you did— we can't completely understand. The Throne of Balance is beyond everyone's understanding. We don't know what you did."

"I'm not even sure of what I did to him," Nellith admitted.

"Well, all we can do is wait," Rey said, placing a hand on her daughter's shoulder. "Believe me, I know how hard that can be."

"Does it ever get easier?" Nellith asked.

"Yes," Rey said. "You learn how to be patience, how to fill your time and your mind as you wait. And you have all you need."

Nellith smiled weakly.

Nellith walked into the winter woods. Bundled up nicely, with two lightsabers and a blaster on her belt, everything felt right with the world. Well, almost everything. She could sense the draw of the ice cave— along with the presence of her aunt. Like a flaring firebrand, she reached out to Nellith.

"I'm coming," Nellith murmured aloud.

She hopped over a rockside, recognizing the dents from the Millennium Falcon's untimely crash on Uphatu on the fateful day that had started the whole war. It had been so long since she had been here. She was so different now from what she had been then.

She continued onwards into the ice caves. She heard the whispers of reverence drift from the walls. The dead recognized the Jedi Queen, and her command. In the center of the cave, Jaina Solo sat cross-legged, staring at the image of her father on the wall.

"I'm sorry, Dad, I wasn't there to save you that day," Jaina said, tears trickling down her face. "If I hadn't run from my destiny, hadn't been like Luke—"

"I wanted you to run, sweetheart," Han said. "I did what I did that day because I loved Ben. It was my choice to make. You have to understand that I understood what I was doing. Nothing that happened that day was your fault."

Nellith stood paralyzed by the image of her legendary grandfather. She'd heard about his exploits, held his old blaster, and had driven his old ship. Chewbacca was his best friend— hence why he stuck around the Solos after his death.

Now he was standing in the glass. He looked much younger than he must've when he died. He appeared like he did in the holos of the Rebellion, like he'd just been taken out of carbonite.

"I miss you so much, Dad," Jaina said, as she swiped her tears off her face. "I still don't understand what you did, but I can understand the facts, I guess."

"It's a fatherly thing," Han said, a smile so much like Jaina's on his mouth. "I get it, you'll never have kids— and that's not a bad thing, sweetheart. If you don't want little Jedi brats, don't get them. Trust me, they're a handful."

"I suppose we were," Jaina said, laughing slightly. Her expression crystallized into something more serious. "Do you regret—"

"Having you kids?" Han's eyebrows rose, his face incredulous. "Never. Nothing happened that didn't make it the proudest day of my life. Not even Ben stabbing me could do that. You're still my kids. I can't explain it, Jaina. And maybe it's one of those things I'll never be able to teach you. But Ben knows it. Doesn't he, Nellith?"

Jaina looked over her shoulder, sending her long curtain of brown hair flying over her shoulder.

"How long have you been listening?" she asked.

"Only for a little bit," Nellith admitted. "I felt your presence in the woods, and I knew you were sad. So I wondered if you wanted company.."

Jaina smiled. "Sorry about that. I figured, if we could talk to ghosts here, I thought I might as well work some things out."

"I heard," Nellith said awkwardly. She kicked some snow. "I know everything that happened, all before I was born, it left everything in a mess."

"It did," Jaina said, patting the snow beside her. "I'd ask your father for the full story— he's the only one who can truly tell you all of it."

"I wish I'd known what was happening with Ben earlier," Han said from the ice. "I wish I could've gotten away from all the Jedi stuff. It wasn't hokey, but it wasn't any good for the kid either. I knew that from the start, but Leia insisted, and Jaina, you had been ready for so long. . ."

"I think we all failed each other," Jaina admitted.

"We did," Han said, pausing after those words. He looked to his granddaughter. "Nellith— hells, that's a mouthful. Can't say that every time. Will Nell do?"

"Absolutely," Nellith said.

"Damn Ben, he always hated having a short name," Han said. "Of course he had to make it complicated. I'm proud to have you as a granddaughter, and as the pilot to the Falcon. She deserves someone who cares about her. I only wish I'd actually gotten to know you, and not through all this hokey Force stuff."

"Me too," Nellith said.

"I see you got my blaster, too," Han said. "Did I ever tell either of you the story behind it?"

Jaina rolled her eyes. "Only every night at bedtime."

"Because you and Ben requested it," Han said with a laugh.

"I haven't heard it," Nellith said softly.

Han grinned. "It starts when I was a boy on Corellia. . ."