Star Wars_ The Han Solo Trilogy 03_ Rebel Dawn - A. C. Crispin [94]
She tapped her bottom lip with a manicured nail as she thought. Lando suddenly looked at her hand intently. “Hey …” he said, leaning forward to take her hand in both of his and examine it gently, “what happened, Bria?”
She drew a deep breath. “These old scars? A souvenir of working in the Ylesian spice factories. I usually cover them with cosmetics for social occasions, but I lost everything aboard the Queen, remember?”
“Drea promised me you’d get your stuff back,” Lando said. “I told her your cabin number.” He looked embarrassed. “I feel terrible for mentioning them. I just … well, I care about you. It’s painful to see them and know how much you were hurt on that world.”
She patted his hand. “I know. You’re sweet to be concerned, Lando. But I’m not the one you should be concerned about. People are dying every day on Ylesia. Good people. People who deserve better than a life of unending toil, malnutrition, and cruel deception.”
He nodded. “Han talked to me about it once. He feels the same way … but there’s not much we can do about it, is there?”
She gave him a fierce look. “Yes, there is, Lando. And while there’s breath in my body, I’m not going to give up on those people. Someday, I’m going to shut that hellworld down for good.” Bria grinned suddenly, recklessly, and at that moment, she reminded Lando very much of his absent friend. “As Han would say, ‘trust me.’ ”
Lando chuckled. “I was just thinking that you remind me of him at times.”
“Han was an important role model for me,” she said. “He taught me so much. How to be strong, and brave and independent. You wouldn’t believe what a spineless little crybaby I used to be.”
Lando shook his head. “I don’t believe it.”
She was looking down at her scars. They crisscrossed her hands and forearms in thin, white lines, like glow-spider webs against the tanned skin. “It used to hurt Han to look at them, too …” she murmured.
Lando studied her for a long moment. “He’s the only one, isn’t he?” he said, finally. “You still love him.”
She drew a long breath, then looked up at him, her expression very serious. “He’s the only one,” she said steadily.
Lando’s eyes widened slightly. “You mean … the only one? Ever?”
She nodded. “Oh, I’ve had a couple of offers. But my life is the Resistance. And …” she shrugged, “frankly, after Han … other men seem sort of … bland.”
Lando chuckled ruefully, realizing that, despite his best efforts and his fondest wishes, Bria’s heart was with Han—and there it was likely to stay. “Well, at least when he comes back from the Corporate Sector, I won’t have earned myself a punch in the nose for stealing you away,” he said. “I have to try and look on the bright side, I suppose.”
She looked at him and smiled, then lifted her wineglass. “I propose a toast,” she said. “To the man I love. Han Solo.”
Lando lifted his, clinked it against hers. “To Han,” he agreed. “The luckiest guy in the galaxy.…”
Interlude 3: Kashyyyk, on the way back from the Corporate Sector …
Han Solo stood in the middle of Mallatobuck’s living room, in her home on Kashyyyk, watching his best friend tenderly cradle his infant son.
They’d landed on Chewie’s homeworld just an hour ago, on their way back from the Corporate Sector. The Falcon was safely docked in the secret wroshyr-limb docking bay. This time, for Han’s benefit, the Wookiees provided a series of vine ladders for the Corellian to make the ascent through the wroshyr trees. Knowing now what a quulaar was, the Corellian had flatly refused to climb into one.
The moment that they’d landed, Han had noticed something odd. All of the Wookiees they met kept giving Chewie amused sidelong glances and nudging each other. Chewbacca had seemed oblivious to the byplay, however, so eager was he to see his lovely wife. After all, the Wookiee hadn’t seen Malla in nearly a year.…
And then, when they’d walked into Malla’s house, there she stood, holding a small bundle wrapped in a blanket in her