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“And you, sir,” C-3PO said. “If you don't mind my saying so, sir, your home is quite exquisite.”

“This home,” Han corrected. “They got six of them. Or is it seven?”

“Actually it's eight since we bought a small place on Kuat,” Lando said. “But this is becoming our favorite.”

Leia could see why. Lujo was a gem of a world, the equatorial regions especially, where the climate was balmy year-round and the aqua ocean glinted under a golden sun. A cluster of beautifully appointed interconnected pavilions, the Calrissians' place was only a hundred meters from the sea and open to the cooling breeze.

Outside of a brief get-together a year back, the last time Leia and Han had spent extended time with Lando was during the Alliance–Confederation War. Leia's Noghri protectors, Cakhmaim and Meewalh, had just lost their lives, and the Falcon, fired on by the Star Destroyer Anakin Solo, had lost both gun turrets and large sections of armor. At Tendrando Refueling and Repair Station in the Gyndine system—and at his own expense—Lando had had the Falcon rebuilt and had joined Han and Leia in executing a mission in Corellia, bowing out only when he'd received word that Tendra was pregnant.

“What happened to the cane?” Han asked.

Lando threw Tendra a look. “Someone convinced me it was an affectation. Made me look older than my years.”

“At least she allowed you to keep the mustache,” Han said.

Everyone laughed again. Last time, on Coruscant, Jacen had been the white bantha in the room, his actions during the war and his death too painful to discuss. The four of them had talked around those events, talked about anything but what had happened only two years earlier. It was different now. They had all moved on, a fact that was as disconcerting as it was comforting.

“So what brings you to Lujo?” Lando asked.

“We're on an adventure,” Allana announced.

“Really? What sort of adventure?”

“We're going to find all the people who ever owned the Millennium Falcon.”

Lando turned to Han. “Is that right?”

He nodded. “It's something I promised myself I would do one day, and there's time to do it now.”

“Well, that's a grand adventure,” Lando said, turning back to Allana. “Did your dad tell you that I once owned the Falcon?”

“Yep. He said he won it from you in a game of cards.”

Lando put his tongue in his cheek. “More or less. But what's important is that I knew how much your dad loved the Falcon, and I had so many other ships, I decided to let him keep her.”

Han cocked an eyebrow.

“I can't even imagine where we'd all be now if it weren't for your dad and the Falcon,” Lando continued. “But I doubt he would have ended up marrying a princess and becoming a galactic hero.”

Han had his mouth open to reply when a silver protocol droid stepped down onto the veranda. “Everything is prepared, Captain Calrissian.”

“Captain?” Han said.

“Of the good ship Windchaser,” Lando told him.

“What d'you do, sell the Love Commander?”

“She's not a starship, old buddy.” Lando pulled a billed cap from his pant pocket and slapped it down over his graying hair, tipping it at a jaunty angle. “We're all going sailing.”

Han and Lando sat side by side on the catamaran's bridge, Lando with the old-fashioned wheel in hand, the main sails fluffed, iced drinks in the cup holders. The ship was doing a good speed through pellucid water, the sun brilliant gold and easing toward the horizon. To all sides rose steep-sided islands lush with foliage and rimmed with beaches of white sand.

“I notice you've got an auxiliary motor,” Han said.

“Solar. Imagine me becalmed.”

“I can't.” Han peeled his shirt off and luxuriated in the warmth of the sun. “Nature's not so bad when you get used to it.” He gazed into the sky. “Amazing to think that people used to live like this.”

“A lot still do. You could if you wanted to.”

Han dismissed the idea. “You know me. I can't sit still.”

Lando fell silent for a moment. “You two doing all right?”

Han understood. “We're beginning to. I try not to think