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“Wouldn’t want you to,” Han continued. “We want her to stay so everyone can see how wrong they’ve been about her.”

Leia moved forward. “Gentlemen,” she said, “everything I have to tell Tahiri Veila concerns only my own family situation.”

Family … oh no … “Is something wrong? Did something happen to Amelia? Or Jaina?” The words came quickly from Tahiri’s lips.

Han dropped a big hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “They’re fine, they’re all okay,” he said, his voice gentle. “Look—I can step out if—”

“I want you here when we tell her,” Leia said quickly. She turned to look at her husband and Tahiri could see the glitter of tears in her eyes. She had been shut down in the Force, but now she opened to the Solos. There was pain, but there was also a strange, quiet joy.

The guards exchanged glances. “We’ll leave you alone, but your conversation will be monitored,” one of them said.

“I appreciate even that much,” said Leia, gracing them with the smile that still managed to melt hearts. The guards left and the door slid heavily back in place. True to his word, the small cam focused on Tahiri continued to blink, indicating it was still active.

“Leia, Han—what’s this all about?”

They each drew up a chair to sit beside her. Han draped an arm across her shoulders, while Leia placed her small hands on Tahiri’s own. Deep concern was in her brown eyes. Tahiri thought it little short of a wonder that, barely two years after the two of them had tangled in a very violent lightsaber battle, when Tahiri had foolishly tried to arrest the Solos on Jacen’s orders, there was this level of caring between them. The Solos, as she knew they did, had great hearts. This was just one more example.

Leia gave a quick, casual gesture in the direction of the cam monitoring Tahiri. It sputtered, and Tahiri smiled a little as she realized that Leia, unable to get the guards to agree to privacy, had simply and practically Force-flashed the device.

“I have to be careful about what I tell you,” Leia began. “I’ve gotten certain information—from Ben and Luke.”

“They’re all right?”

“For now,” Han said. “They—”

Leia cleared her throat and shot him a meaningful glance. He closed his mouth with an audible click.

“They’re fine,” Leia said soothingly, squeezing Tahiri’s hands. “That’s not what I want to talk to you about. They … I suppose we can say they had a sort of … vision, except much more accurate than that. In their investigations, they made a mental and spiritual journey and came across a place called the Lake of Apparitions. There is a part of the lake called the Mirror of Remembrance. In this place … they believe you can speak with the dead.”

And suddenly Tahiri knew. She felt the blood drain from her face, knew that her blue eyes were wide and staring, her face and lips ashen. Han’s arm across her shoulders tightened. If Luke Skywalker believed this encounter with the dead was real, then Tahiri did, too. And the fact that Leia and Han must have pulled all kinds of strings in order to see her told her exactly who Ben and Luke had seen.

Tears welled in her eyes, slipped down her face. She tried to lift her hands to wipe them away, but the wrist manacles were connected to the ankle manacles and she couldn’t complete the gesture. Instead, Leia’s hand, small and soft, gently stroked away the droplets running down the younger woman’s cheeks.

“He saw Mara, and Jacen … and Anakin.” Leia’s voice was warm and calm. She had already had her shock of the news and recovered from it, though it still obviously moved her deeply and likely always would. On Tahiri’s other side, Han Solo cleared his throat. Tahiri couldn’t take her eyes from Leia’s, but she suspected that Han, who might very well have been her father-in-law by now had Fate decreed differently, was struggling to control his emotions.

Tahiri opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Is he at peace? What did he say? Does he remember me?

“Anakin was the first one who appeared to them,” Leia continued. “Luke