Archive of Our Own ^beta

"Tell me about the time that you saved mommy," Ben demands.

Han laughs as he says, "I've told you that one a thousand times, kiddo." 

Ben sends him a scathing look, and says, "I wanna hear it again, daddy." Han guesses that he shouldn't be surprised that Ben wants to hear it again. It's the most interesting story that's Han's to tell. 

"Alright, alright," Han says, "I give." Ben smirks like the entitled little prince that he is, but Han doesn't find himself minding much. The kid's an entitled little shit, but he's his entitled little shit. He can't exactly expect him to be anything else, all things considered. 

"It all started on a sketchy cantina on Tatooine," he says.

"No no no," Ben says, indignant that Han has not started the story the way that all proper stories begin. 

"Fine," he says, "a long time ago, in a galaxy far far away, I was drinking in a sketchy cantina, looking for work. Smuggling's not a steady source of income, and you've gotta fish for jobs sometimes." Ben nods his head excitedly, because he knows exactly how this story goes and hangs on every word. 

"Your uncle Luke comes up to me, the scrawny little thing that he was," Han says. The he looks over his six year old son, and smiles. 

"Just like you," he says, grabbing Ben and pulling him into his lap. He tickles him as he does, and Ben laughs and screams. 

"Dad!" He shouts as he squirms his way off of his dad's laugh.

"And Luke says to me," Han puts on a funny voice for Luke as always, "So I heard that you're a smuggler."

Han switches voices to the suave voice he always uses for himself, and says, "I am. What's it to you?" 

"How would you feel about breaking into a rebel base?" Han asks, switching to his Luke voice. 

"That would depend on how much you're willing to play," Han says smoothly in his own voice. 

"However much it takes," He says in Luke's higher voice. Ben giggles at that. 

"You sure about that, kid?"

"The Rebels kidnapped my sister. I want her back." The dialog changes every time he tells the story, because he can't remember their exact wording, but he remembers the gist. 

"The Rebels kidnapped your sister? Who are you?" Han sounds more incredulous than suave as he says this, but that's how he sounded way back when too. The Rebels weren't prone to just kidnapping random civilians. That alone should have clued Han into just what sort of a job he was taking. 

"Are you taking the job or not?" Han asks in his Luke voice. 

"Fine, whatever, but don't expect me to die for you. If the going gets tough, I get going." Ben giggles at that, and Han waits for him to finish. 

Then, he says in his Luke voice, "Wouldn't expect any less from a smuggler." 

He switches back to the tone that he uses for standard narration and says, "We found out where the rebel's base was, and then we flew the Falcon there and snuck in. It was actually pretty easy to find your mother's cell. Your uncle opened the door up with the force, and your mother said, "Aren't you a bit short for a rebel?" Then Luke laughed as he hugged her. "I missed you, Leia," he said. That's when I realized that I was in over my head. Way way way over my head." 

Ben laughs at that, and says, "No you weren't, daddy. You were right where you were s'possed to be." Han's not sure if he'd say that, exactly, but he knows that this moment changed the course of the rest of his life. 

He puts on his suave voice and says, ""Leia? Luke? You're the emperor's kids" Your uncle just smirked at me, and your mother glared. 

Han switches to the slightly snooty voice he uses for Leia, "That's imperial princess and prince to you,"  Ben starts laughing. Ben thinks that Han's Leia voice is hilarious. Leia however, would not.

"I knew you must be imps but I didn't know you were royal imps," he says in his suave voice. Ben looks entranced. 

Han switches back to his narration voice as he says, "Your uncle laughed and just said surprise. Then we shot our way back to the Falcon and flew our way off the base."

"To the imperial palace!" Ben shouts. 

"Yep," Han says, "right to the palace." Where Vader almost choked the life out of him, before the twins intervened. Where he learned that going back to his normal life was no longer on the table. Ben, however, doesn't need to know that.

"And that's how your Uncle and I saved your mom from the evil rebels," Han finishes, trying to keep the unhappy old memories from creeping into his tone. He doesn't want to dampen his son's sunny mood.

"I wanna be a smuggler when I grow up," he says, "just like you." Han's heart stops beating for a moment, too terrified to keep time. 

"But don't you want to be emperor, like your grandfather?" He suggests. Han knows how much Ben looks up to Vader, and if he can remind him of that, maybe he can kill this idea before it takes root. Leia will be pissed at him if Ben sets his mind on becoming a smuggler, or really, becoming anything but the perfect little prince/sith lord that she'd always planned on him becoming. 

"I'll be a smuggler emperor," he decides, and Han laughs. 

"I'd like to see that, kiddo," he says. Ben smiles and says, "I'm gonna do it. Just watch." 

Han stands up and says, "Of course you are, kiddo." He presses a kiss to his son's forehead. 

"Night daddy," Ben says.

"Night. Love you, Benny," he murmurs, and he closes the door behind him. Leia is standing right outside the door, sporting a dark, menacing glare. She courteously doesn't start yelling at him until they are far enough away from Ben's room for him not to hear. 

"You're coddling him too much," Leia says simply. It's not a fiery attack, it's just a statement. However, it's a statement that Han thinks is fundamentally wrong. By the time that they're through talking, Han suspects that it will escalate to to fiery argument status. 

"He's six, Leia," Han says. He's trying to stay calm, but he doubts either of them will. 

"He's going to be the emperor one day, Han," she says, sounding utterly tired, "he can't have a soft bone in his body." Han knows that Leia loves Ben every bit that he does, she just shows it in different ways. She thinks about what will be good for him in the future too much and ignores the way that he's feeling now. Han supposes that he should expect that from the woman that has already planned all of the major proclamations of her rule, before even taking the throne. 

"Please," Han says, "just let him be a kid for a while, not heir to the empire." 

"I wish that I could," Leia says, and she sounds genuinely regretful, "but when I take the throne, people will be looking for weaknesses. There are people who want Ben dead, you know that." 

"Leia-" 

"He has to start training," she says, "he can't keep living with his head in the clouds." 

"Ben is six, Leia," he repeats. Maybe Ben needs to become the perfect prince and a powerful Sith Lord someday. Han doesn't know, all he knows is that right now, his son is just a little kid and he should be allowed to act like one.  

"It doesn't matter, Han," she says, and she's using her don't argue with me tone. Han knew that they wouldn't be on equal footing the first time that they kissed, how could he have ever expected that when she was heir to the imperial throne? However, Han Solo is also not a man that gives in, even if he knows that, technically, his wife has all the sway in the relationship. 

"Ben shouldn't start training until your father dies," Han suggests. It's a compromise, and Han's sure that he just bought his son a couple of years, at least. Emperor Vader has not even shown any signs of aging yet. If he were really ambitious, he'd ask that Ben not start training until Rey is ready. Rey is an infant, though, and Han knows that there's no way that Leia would let that slide. He doubts that Luke will even have his daughter training if she doesn't want to. Rey will never have as much pressure placed on her as Ben, because she's not as crucial in the line of succession.  

"Han-" 

"Promise me, Leia," he says, "don't drag Ben into this until you have to." Leia Skywalker, heir apparent to the Galactic Empire, sighs deeply. 

"Fine, Han," she says, "I promise. Ben won't have to start training until after father has died." Han breathes a sigh of relief. For the first time ever, Han wishes Darth Vader a long and happy life.