The Jon Solo Chronicles Book 1: A New Hope

Chapter 9: A Hero's Welcome

Even though fewer ships had returned than those that had left for the battle, Yavin IV's hangar still felt as busy as ever. Everyone crowded around Luke's X-wing. When Luke disembarked, the whole hangar erupted into cheers for the hero of the hour. Luke quickly climbed out of his X-wing.

"Luke!" Jon and Leia shouted at the same time. They ran up to him.

"Hey!" Luke cried happily. He took Leia in his arms, and spun her around, both of them laughing. When that was over, Luke bent down to let Jon hug him.

"Congratulations, Luke!" said Jon. "You did it!"

"Thanks, Jon," said Luke.

"Hey! Hey!" Luke and Jon turned to see Han and Chewie jump off a cart, and come bounding towards the group.

"I knew you'd come back!" Luke said has he hugged Han. "I just knew it!"

"Well, I wasn't gonna let you get all the credit and take all the reward," Han said as he playfully slapped Luke's face.

"Hey, I knew there was more to you than money," said Leia. She hugged Han around the waist.

"There's another reason I came back," said Han. He broke free from Leia's embrace. "I had a promise to keep. A promise to my son. Hey, Jon."

"Hey, Dad," said Jon.

"Listen," said Han. "I'm sorry if you're mad at me for leaving you like I did. I tried to tell myself that I had no other choice. But at the same time, I felt as if I'd made a huge mistake."

"Dad, it's ok," said Jon. "I'm not mad. You're my dad. I could never be mad at you. And you came back, just like you said you would. But I was scared that I'd never see you again."

"To tell you the truth, son, I was afraid of that, too," said Han.

*Hey, what about me?* asked Chewie.

"Yes, Uncle Chewie," said Jon. "How could I forget about you?" He hugged Chewie. And then, as if suddenly remembering he hadn't done it before, Jon hugged Han. "I love you, Dad," he said, his voice barely more than a whisper.

"I love you, too," said Han. Father and son would have been content to keep hugging for as long as possible, but Luke's next words brought them both back to reality.

"Oh, no," Luke groaned. Jon looked up to see R2-D2 being lowered down from Luke's X-wing. He as barely recognizable as the happy, cheerful astro droid Jon had first met back on Tattooine. His entire body was covered in scorch and burn  marks. This was all a result of his being hit during the battle. And to make matters worse, R2 looked completely unresponsive, which made Jon nervous.

"Oh, my! R2!" 3-PO exclaimed worriedly. "Can you hear me? Say something! You can repair him. can't you?" This question was directed at the two techs who had lowered R2 down from the X-wing.