Heir to Skywalker ⤇ Finn

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

"Han?" Padme asked after the big speech. He stopped and waited for her to continue. "We should talk."

Han turned around. Chewie stopped and patted his friend on the shoulder. Padme was amused that even Chewie knew this was not what they wanted, but it was what they needed.

"Right. The usual place, then?" Han asked his niece. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. "Alright, some other place then."

"How about my old room?"

"You mean the scrap room? That was never your room, kid," Han said, causing Padme to smile a bit, remembering a simpler time. "That was your hiding spot when you were angry with your dad."

"Wait it's a scrap room now?" She asked him, still in the room they were in before. "It was my favorite room!"

"Padme it was garbage! That thing hasn't been cleaned in years!" He told her. Padme crossed her arms in dismay.

"Ok, cockpit? We could just watch the stars pass," She offered.

Han liked the idea. "Yeah, sure."

The two walked through the short corridor to the cockpit and sat down in the pilot's seats. They sat in silence for a minute or two, watching the white lines and contemplating what they were going to say next.

"I'm sorry -"

"I wish I -" They said at the same time. When they stopped, they chuckled a bit. It was the first time they had truly laughed with each other in a while. "You go first," Han said.

"Okay," Padme stuttered on her words. "I'm sorry I got so upset, I just," She tried to keep a stable voice, but she could feel the anxiety blooming in her throat. "You left us when we needed you the most, and Leia -"

"I know."

"We were worried. It was just us. You weren't even letting us know if you were alive or not," Padme scolded lightly.

"I should have come back sooner," Han told her.

"You didn't come back Han, you found your ship that I happened to be on," Padme started. "Wait," Her heart dropped. "You weren't planning on coming back, were you?" Han sat silent, trying to figure out how to answer. "Of course," Padme scoffed. "Look, Leia needs you. And as much as I hate to say it, especially right now," Han looked at his brave niece. "I need you too."

"You've grown kid," Han told the young girl. He almost didn't even recognise her anymore.

"Yeah that tends to happen when -" Padme stopped. No, he wouldn't. She wouldn't. Would they?

"What is it?" Han asked.

"What?"

"You've got Leia's thinking face," Han tried to joke, but Padme wasn't having it. Not right now. Her heart was broken, but she couldn't ask. Not right now. She couldn't know if they had known. She couldn't bear to hear whether or not her own family had known about Ben.

"Nothing," Padme settled for an excuse. "It's just," She planned a subtle questioning in her head. "I had a run-in with Kylo Ren on Jakku," She stated. She looked at Han, but his face hadn't changed much, only to anger.

"Did he hurt you?" Han asked, grabbing for her hand.

"No, I'm fine," She told him. "But my friend wasn't so lucky," She explained. "We crashed in the dunes," She felt her heart rip further, even though she thought that wasn't possible. "He drowned in the sand."