So many thoughts rushed through Jon's head as he ran. The Millennium Falcon was on Jakku. It was the first time Jon had seen it since before Han had left. What was it even doing on Jakku? And if the ship was here, did that mean Han had been on Jakku this entire time? If that were the case, did Leia know? Was that the reason she insisted Jon go to Jakku, to not only find out clues to where Luke was, but to also reunite with his father? But something about that theory just didn't add up. Before Jon left D'qar, Leia had only mentioned knowing Han was still alive. She'd made no hint of a possible location, which meant that she didn't even know herself. And Jon also knew his father well enough to guess that even if Han had been to Jakku at some point, he wouldn't have stayed here for six years. The Falcon must have been here alone for all that time. But how? And why? Because one of the last things Han Solo would ever do is consciously abandon his beloved Falcon, especially on a planet as desolate as Jakku.
Jon then thought of something else. A few minutes ago, Rey had just referred to the Falcon, a ship that had always been home to him, as "garbage." And she was nineteen, the same age as Luke and Leia when Jon had first met them. He remembered how they, too, had insulted the Falcon upon first seeing it.
"Hey, this ship is not garbage!" Jon exclaimed.
"How do you know?" asked Rey.
Jon wanted to say "Because it's the Millennium Falcon!" What he actually said was "Because this is a Corellian YT-1300 series model light freighter! These were the pride and joy of the CEC-the Corellian Engineering Corp. Well, at least, that's what my dad always told me."
"That may have been true in your dad's day!" said Rey. "Hell, maybe even while you were growing up. But times have changed. The YT-1300 line is all but obsolete! Not even the parts are worth that much now!"
The Falcon loomed even closer. Jon was now able to see that its ramp was lowered. Jon was grateful for that, because he didn't think he'd be able to open it from the outside.
[We found a way outta here!] BB-8 chirped, rolling past Jon, Rey and the boy. Jon had nearly forgotten he was still with them. The boy yelped as another blast went off near them. Then the group finally boarded the Falcon. Jon took a second to breathe in the ship's familiar, comforting scent.
"Dad, I'm home," he said, keeping his voice low so Rey and the boy wouldn't hear him. Of course, he now understood that Han wasn't here, but he'd said it in the hopes that, somehow, wherever he was now, his father had heard him. And now if he wondered if, once the Falcon got off Jakku, he could use it to go looking for Han and Chewie.
No, he told himself. That's not my mission. I have to get BB-8 back to the Resistance. But if I return there in the Falcon, Mom will be so surprised to see it. Of course...things just won't be the same without Dad. He pushed the thought aside.
"Gunner position's down there," Rey told the boy as she raced towards the cockpit, and he went where she indicated.
"There's one on top," said Jon. "I'll take it."
"How did you know there was one on top?" Rey asked, still running for the cockpit.
"Like I said, this is a Corellian YT-1300," Jon replied. "They're all built this way." Jon settled into the top gunner seat. As he did so, he realized that he and the boy were sitting in the exact same spots that Han and Luke, respectively, had taken when TIE fighters attacked the Falcon after it's escape from the first Death Star when Jon was just ten.
"You ever fly this thing?" asked the boy. It took Jon a second to realize he meant this for Rey.
"No! This ship hasn't flown in years!" Rey answered, sitting in the captain's chair.
"Great," the boy muttered.
"Hey, about how long has it been here for?" Jon asked. "Do you know?"
"I'm not exactly sure," said Rey. "It has to be several years, at least." She and Jon heard a banging sound as the boy swung his gunner seat from side-to-side.
"I can do this, I can do this," he muttered.
"I can do this, I can do this," Rey told herself.
"I can't believe I'm doing this, I can't believe I'm doing this," said Jon. All of a sudden, the thrusters fired to life. The Falcon lifted off the ground. Rey had done it! Jon was finally leaving Jakku, on the Falcon, no less. But that feeling wavered as the ship listed to one side. In fact, as she tried to maneuver it, Rey crashed into Niima Outpost's arch, destroying it. Even though Jon couldn't see this happen, Unkar Plutt ran after the Falcon.
"Hey! That's mine!" he shouted angrily. Then, finally, at last, the Millennium Falcon was airborne again.
"Wait, stay low!" said the boy. "Hey, stay low!" Because they were right next to each other, Jon could hear him perfectly. From her position in the cockpit, however, Rey had a harder time.
"What?!" she asked.
"Stay low!" the boy repeated, his voice now coming in through the headset, which prompted Jon to put on his own one. "It confuses their tracking."
"BB-8, hold on!" said Rey. The droid was in the corridor.
[Ok!] he beeped.
"I'm going low!" Rey announced. And she did just that, turning the Falcon around in a sharp bank, then descending. The TIE fighters continued to pursue them. One shot at the Falcon, hitting it. This caused the boy to grunt.
"What are you two doing back there?!" Rey asked. "Are you ever gonna fire back?!"
"I'm working on it!" the boy called in reply.
"As for me, I can't seem to get within range," said Jon.
"Are the shields up?" asked the boy.
"It's not so easy without a copilot," said Rey.
"Try sitting in this thing," said the boy.
"Hey, you seem to be handling it yourself," said Jon. But on the inside, he cursed himself for being so stupid. Of course the Falcon flew better with both a pilot and a copilot. And this was something Jon understood better than most people. But there was no way he could abandon the gunner station now. Then he and the boy were finally able to fire off shots.
"Yeah!" Jon whooped. "Now, that's what I'm talking about!"
"We need cover, quick!" warned the boy.
"We're about to get some!" said Rey. "I hope," she added to herself in a whisper. They all quieted down as Rey continued to maneuver the Falcon in order to evade the TIE fighters. Jon and the boy were still firing off shots, and BB-8 hung on the ceiling using his extension cables. Rey closed in on the wreckage of a Super Star Destroyer, which may have been the very same one Jon had made camp at the other day. Then they hit turbulence.
"Damn it!" the boy hissed under his breath. Rey swerved the Falcon away from the massive ship.
"Come on! Come on!" The boy grunted. He sighted a TIE fighter, taking a shot which blasted it to bits.
"Nice shot!" Rey congratulated.
"I'm getting pretty good at this," the boy said proudly. But his joy was short lived, because another TIE fighter fired a shot at the Falcon that disabled the canon he had been using.
"Come on, come on," he urged, but the canon made a clicking noise and wouldn't budge. "Uh, the canon's stuck in forward position. You gotta loose 'em."
"But my canon still works just fine," said Jon. "Let me handle this."
"Get ready," said Rey, ignoring Jon.
"Ok," said the boy. "For what?" Rey flew the Falcon right into the exhaust port of the Star Destroyer.
"Are we really doing this?!" asked the boy.
"Yeah, kid, we are," Jon replied. That's when he realized he didn't know this boy's name. He had just been calling him "Kid" the whole time. It was almost like an instinct. Thinking back on all the times he'd ever heard Han call someone, most often Luke Skywalker, "Kid," Jon supposed he was more like his father than he thought.
The Falcon zoomed through the bowels of the Star Destroyer. A TIE Fighter was on their tail. This whole situation reminded Jon of the stories Lando Calrissian, Wedge Antilles, Shara Bey and Norra Wexley used to tell him of their attack on the second Death Star. Then Rey brought the Falcon back out into the open again. She She flipped it over. This allowed the boy to blow up the TIE fighter.
"Whoo!" he exclaimed. That was the last of the First Order ships that had been attacking them. Now that the coast was clear, Rey brought the Falcon up higher out of Jakku's atmosphere, and into space. Jon hoped he would never have to visit Jakku ever again. With a sigh, he removed his headset and climbed out of the gunner seat. He reached the corridor to find Rey and the boy conversing.
"Nice shooting," said Rey, but Jon couldn't tell if she was talking to him or the boy.
"Now that was some flying," said the boy.
"Thanks!" Rey exclaimed. Jon found it funny that back on Jakku, Rey had met this boy by hitting him with her staff, and now they were talking like lifelong friends. But he supposed there are somethings you can't share without ending up liking each other. And escaping from a desert planet on an old Corellian YT-1300 model freighter, after taking out First Order TIE fighters, was one of them. And as Jon knew firsthand, friendships-and even families-had been formed in more unusual places and situations; such as a Cantina on Tattooine, or the the first Death Star. And he liked seeing two young people bond and congratulate each other. It brought him back to his own youth.
"How did you do that?" the boy asked Rey as the circled each other.
"I don't know!" Rey answered excitedly.
"No one trained you?" the boy questioned.
"I've flown some ships, but I've never left the planet!" said Rey. "Your last shot was dead on! You got him with one blast!"
"That was amazing!" said the boy "You set me up for it!"
"It was perfect!" Rey gushed.
"That was pretty good," the boy agreed.
"Both of you did really well," said Jon. "With a little help from me, I might add. Just don't get cocky about it." He raised an eyebrow at the boy. "Especially you, kid," he added slyly. The boy bit his lip, almost nervously. Jon frowned. "Relax, kid. It's just a joke."
[Why is this guy still with us?] BB-8 asked from behind them. Rey turned around, and crouched down in front of him.
"You're ok," she said. "He's with the Resistance." BB-8 glanced curiously at the boy, who cast his eyes away from the others. That's when Jon started wondering if maybe there was more to this boy than he was letting on.
"He's gonna get you home," Rey continued. "All three of us will." She stood up again, turning back to face the boy. "I don't know your name."
"Finn," the boy introduced himself. "What's yours?
"I'm Rey," she answered.
"Well, who's he?" Finn asked, looking at Jon. "What's his name?"
"My name's Jon," said Jon.
[You still won't say your last name, Jon,] BB-8 piped up.
"Oh, yeah, that right," said Rey. "What is your last name, Jon?"
"Hey, I didn't hear you or Finn give last names, Rey," said Jon. "So, why should I?"
"Rey...Jon..." Finn began. But then he was interrupted as a pipe burst, a section of the decking in the lounge went flying and a hissing vapor filled the ship.
Figures that right after I get the Falcon back, it starts falling apart on me, thought Jon. Oh, if only Dad were here.
"Help me with this! Quick!" Rey said as she ran towards the hole in the floor, lifter up another section and jumped down into it.
"Woah! What's going on?!" asked Finn. He, Jon and BB-8 rushed to Rey's side.
"That's what I'm trying to figure out," Rey replied.
"Hey, I'm gonna go see if I can try and find some tools," Jon said, turning away from the others.
"Ok! But hurry up!" Rey called after him. Jon raced through the Falcon. He found himself being drawn to the main cabin. Han's cabin. He still remembered where it was, and opened the door, stepping into it. Like the rest of the Falcon, this cabin held so many memories. They all came back to Jon in a flash, but he forced himself to ignore them. There would be plenty of time for reminiscing later. First he had to help Finn and Rey with repairs. He riffled through the cabin until he found a fully stocked toolbox.
"Thanks, Dad!" he whispered before dashing out of Han's cabin. The found the door to his own cabin right next door. He was tempted to step inside it, just for a moment.
"Jon, where are you?!" Finn called.
"There'll be another time," said Jon. He rushed back to Finn, Rey and BB-8 in the lounge.
"Here are the tools," he said, setting the toolbox down near Rey.
"Where did you get this?" she asked.
"Never mind where I got it," answered Jon. "All that matters is that I found tools for us, ok?"
"Sure," said Rey, ducking down.
"This ship just keeps getting weirder and weirder," said Finn. "The moment we get off Jakku, it starts to break down. And you know, we technically stole it, which could lead to even more problems."
"We can handle it," said Jon. "Especially after the way we took out those TIE fighters."
"Rey, do you have any idea who this ship might belong to?" asked Finn.
It belongs to me, well...actually, my dad, but he's not here, thought Jon.
"Not exactly, but I have have found some clues pointing to past owners," Rey answered from the hatch. "Like a pair of golden dice hangs inside the cockpit." Jon looked up at that. They were the dice Han had owned for as long as his son could remember.
"And there are series of initials etched on the wall outside the cockpit door," Rey added. "H.S., J.S., L.O., L.S., L.C. and B.S. I think those might be stand for this ship's former captain and crew."
Well, you're half right, Jon thought. The H.S. stands for Han Solo, my dad. And the L.C. refers to Lando Calrissian, who owned the Falcon before my dad. Of course, he didn't even put his initials there until a few years after the Battle of Endor. Also, that J.S.? That's my name, Jon Solo. Dad and I did ours together, when I was really little.
Leia had initialed her name shortly after she and Han got married, with Luke doing so some time later. Jon remembered when Ben had carved his initials. He was about four or five at the time, same as Jon when he'd done it. Ben had been so excited, and Han was very proud of him for continuing a family tradition. Jon always imagined doing this with his own kids, when, and if, that time ever came. With the Falcon now back in his possession, that started seeming like a very real possibility.
"One of those initials is 'B.S.'," said Finn. "Doesn't that stand for 'Bantha Shit?'" Jon stifled a laugh at the unintentional insult towards his brother. But thoughts of Kylo Ren made him grow serious again. Would Finn or Rey even recognize that name? Rey knew two Resistance fighters now, between Jon and Finn, even if Jon held doubts about Finn's story. But how much did she really know about the Resistance's fight against the First Order?
"And the L.S.," Finn went on. "Do you think that could mean Luke Skywalker?" Jon widened his eyes at the younger man. How could he have possibly known that?
"I still think Luke Skywalker is a myth," said Rey, still not coming up. "But even if he were real, what would he ever want to do with such a decrepit ship as this?"
Oh, if only you knew, Rey, Jon thought. And like you, Luke was no stranger to insulting the Falcon. There was a beeping sound, then Rey popped her head up.
"It's the motivator!" Rey explained. "Grab me a Harris wrench, check in there." She pointed to the toolbox, which Finn started digging through.
"How bad is it?" he asked.
"If we wanna live, not good," Rey answered after she ducked down again.
"Well, isn't that just lovely?" Jon asked snarkily.
"They're hunting for us now," said Finn. "We gotta get outta this system!"
"BB-8 said the location of the Resistance Base is "need to know." If I'm taking you there, I need to know! "
"This?" Finn asked holding up the Harris wrench before tossing it to Rey, who caught it with ease. Then she went back to work. Finn crawled over to BB-8.
"You gotta tell us where your base is," he said softly. This proved to Jon that Finn hadn't come from D'qar.
[No, I won't!] BB-8 chirped with a shake of his head.
"I don't speak that!" Finn exclaimed in a whisper.
"He said he wouldn't tell you," Jon translated. "Yeah, I understand droid binary, and so does Rey, as you can probably tell."
"Oh, well, that's good to know," said Finn. "Thanks, Jon."
"No problem," said Jon.
"All right," Finn continued speaking to BB-8 in a whisper. "Between us, I'm not with the Resistance, ok?" BB-8 cautiously rolled back from him.
"I knew it," Jon mumbled under his breath, so as to not let Finn or Rey hear him.
"I'm just trying to get away from the First Order," said Finn. "But you tell us where your base is, I'll get you there first. Deal?" BB-8 tilted his head to one side. "Droid, please!" Finn begged, copying the gesture.
"Pylex driver, hurry," Rey said, popping her head back up. Finn resumed searching through the toolbox.
"So, where's your base?" asked Rey.
"Go on, BB-8, tell her," Finn encouraged. The droid swiveled his head between Finn, Rey and Jon. "Please!" Finn whispered pleadingly.
[It's in the Illeenium System,] BB-8 told Rey.
"The Illeennium System?!" Rey repeated incredulously.
I could have told them that, thought Jon. But for some reason, I didn't.
"Yeah, the Illeenium system, that's the one!" said Finn as he tossed Rey the pylex driver. Once again, she went back to work. "Get us there as fast as you can." Finn flashed BB-8 a thumb's up. In return, the droid raised his welding torch.
"Um...Finn...I think BB-8 just gave you his version of a gesture that is very different from a thumb's up," said Jon.
"I'll drop you three off at Ponemah Terminal," Rey said before Finn could even ask Jon what he meant about BB-8.
"I need a bonding tape, hurry," Rey added.
"What about you?" asked Finn.
"I gotta get back to Jakku," Rey replied.
"Back to Jakk..."Finn began through gritted teeth. "Why does everyone wanna go back to Jakku?"
"Well, if it makes you feel better, Finn, I don't wanna go back there," said Jon
"It's not that one," Rey said pointing. Finn had picked up the wrong kind of tape. He picked up first one roll, then another. "No, no," Rey repeated.
"That place is..." said Finn.
"The one I'm pointing to," Rey interrupted. "NO! NO! NO!" Finn continued to pick up the wrong rolls of tape. "If we don't patch it up, the propulsion tank will overflow and flood this ship with poisonous gas!"
"And I don't think any of us wants that to happen." said Jon. BB-8 lowered his head at yet another roll tape. Finn picked it up.
"This?" he asked.
"Yes!" Rey exclaimed. Finn tossed the bonding tape to her, and she began fixing the leak.
"Hey, Rey, you're a pilot," Finn said, crawling to the edge of the vent. "You can fly anywhere. Why go back? You got a family? You got a boyfriend? A cute boyfriend?"
"None of your business, that's why," Rey answered sternly.
"Well, what about Jon?" asked Finn. "Is he your boyfriend?"
"No, Finn, I'm not," said Jon. "I only just met Rey the night before we met you. Plus, Rey's too young for me. I'm forty-four, she's nineteen. And while that's not illegal, since she's over eighteen, it's still too much of an age gap for me. Speaking of which, how old are you, Finn? Just wondering."
"Twenty-three," said Finn. "Well, Jon, do you have a girlfriend? A cute girlfriend?"
"That's really none of your business," Jon said, glaring at Finn with a pointed finger.
"Oh, yes he does," Rey crooned, grinning. "And her name is Calista."
"Rey!" Jon groaned. "Just because I told you about Calista doesn't mean you can go blabbing about her to the entire Galaxy! Especially when you haven't even met her. Also, Finn, she's the same age as me."
"Ok, take it easy," said Rey. "I'm sorry." That's when the power on the Falcon drained. The main lights in the lounge went out, to be replaced by the red glow of emergency lights. Everyone looked up.
"That can't be good," said Finn.
"No, it can't be," Rey agreed.
"If it's not one thing, it's another with this ship," Jon said, shaking his head. Neither Finn or Rey picked up on the touch of fondness in his tone as he said this. Rey climbed out of the hatch, leading the way to the cockpit. Jon, Finn and BB-8 followed. When they got there, Rey settled herself into the captain's chair, while Finn took the copilot's seat and Jon sat in the seat behind Rey. Rey started flicking switches on the console.
"Someone's locked onto us." she said. "All controls are overridden." They all looked up at the sound of a dull clanging. Finn and Rey glanced at each other, then Finn got up and stood on his chair, craning to get a better look. He balanced himself by putting his hand on Rey's head.
"Get off!" she grunted, slapping Finn's hand away. "Get off!" A new red glow filled the cockpit, but it wasn't coming from the Falcon.
"See anything?" Rey asked.
"Oh, no," said Finn. The ship that had locked onto the Falcon was pulling them in with its tractor beam. Jon stood up to see that this new ship was a gigantic, enormous and bulky freighter. It practically swallowed the Falcon.
"It's the First Order," Finn said as he sat back down.
"Oh, great," Jon grumbled. "That's all we need. Finn, you said you were trying to get away from the First Order? Well, so am I." If this ship really did belong to the First Order, did that mean Kylo was there? Jon wasn't sure he wanted to find out.
"What do we do?" asked Rey. "There must be something."
"You said poisonous gas," Finn remembered.
"I fixed that," Rey reminded him.
"Can you unfix it?" asked Finn. Jon raised an eyebrow, wondering where Finn was going with this. Hearing another bang, Rey turned her seat around, stood up and exited the cockpit. Jon, Finn and BB-8 went after her. The three humans each grabbed a gas mask off the rack. They hurried back to the hatch Rey had been working in earlier.
"Come on, BB-8," Rey urged. Jon and Finn had already jumped down into the hatch. Rey was helping usher in BB-8.
"I got him," Finn said as he grabbed the droid, hoisting him down. But BB-8 was heavier than Finn realized, because they both went tumbling to the ground. Finn yelped.
"I'm ok," he reassured. "BB-8, get off me!" The droid rolled away from Finn, who sat up. Rey joined them just as power returned to the Falcon. She pulled the grate over the hatch, the got to work on the pipe.
"Do you think this will work on the Stormtoopers?" asked Rey.
"Yeah. Their masks filter out smoke, not toxins," Finn explained. Jon nodded as he remembered hearing something like that in a Resistance briefing.
"You Resistance guys really know your stuff," Rey said, impressed.
"You know what they say: Know your enemy," Finn said with an uneasy smile. Then he stood up and opened up the hatch a little bit. Jon had already put on his gas mask as he heard metal clanging and the approach of footsteps.
"You know, if we are brought onboard that other freighter, for whatever reason, I hope it isn't infested with Mynocks," said Jon.
"What?!" asked Rey. And even though Jon couldn't see it, Finn furrowed his brow in confusion.
"It's a long story," said Jon.
"Hurry!" Finn urged.
"I'm hurrying," said Rey. As metal whirred, Finn closed the hatch again with a clang. He and Rey put on their gas masks, continuing to work the pipe. But Jon crouched away from them. He'd just made a joke about Mynocks, referencing an incident from when he was thirteen. However, from the moment the Falcon got pulled into this freighter's tractor beam, he remembered being ten-years-old as the Falcon was pulled aboard the first Death Star. And now, just like then, Jon was hiding under the floor while the Falcon was being boarded. Jon's heart pounded as he relived that moment. He shut his eyes.
"Jon, are you ok?" asked Rey. "Jon?!"
"What's wrong with him?!" asked Finn. It was as if Jon hadn't even heard them. His eyes remained closed, and he started hyperventilating.
"I don't know," said Rey. "It's like he's having a panic attack or something."
"Chewie...we're home." Jon's eyes flew open, and he gasped. That was his father's voice. And Jon knew he wasn't imagining it. Han Solo was actually here, completely unaware that his son was literally under his feet.
"Now what?" asked Finn. "Jon, what's going on?" Jon turned to Finn and Rey, his breath still coming out in ragged gasps. How could he even begin to explain to them that this ship was called the Millennium Falcon, and it belonged to his father, Han Solo, who had just come aboard?
*At last, we found it.* In spite of himself, a smile tugged at Jon's face as he heard Chewbacca's familiar voice.
"What the Hell was that?!" Finn asked, alarmed.
"A Wookiee," Jon and Rey answered at the same time.
"Are they dangerous?" asked Finn.
"Not usually," said Rey.
And especially not this one...most of the time, Jon added to himself.
"What do you mean, not usually?" asked Finn.
"Just don't get on a Wookiee's bad side, is what we're saying," said Jon.
*The ship seems all right,* Chewie remarked as he and Han inspected the Falcon. Rey heard instruments beeping as she, Finn and Jon got back to work. But then she dropped the tool she had been using. It fell to the ground with a clatter.
"Nice going, Rey," Jon hissed.
"Sorry," Rey said meekly. Then the hatch was ripped away. Jon shrank down, his back turned. But Finn, Rey and BB-8 looked up to find themselves face-to-face with Han Solo and Chewbacca, even if they may not have realized it. Han had his trusty DL-44 blaster pointed at them, and Chewie was doing the same with his bowcaster.
"Where are the others?" asked Han. "Where's the pilot?"
"I'm the pilot!" Rey exclaimed.
"You?!" Han questioned.
*But you're so young!* Chewie growled.
Uncle Chewie, have you forgotten that I've been flying the Falcon since I was thirteen? Jon wondered to himself.
"No, it's true," said Rey. "We're the only ones on-board. The three of us, and our friend here." She She elbowed Jon in the back, but he wouldn't budge.
"You can understand that thing?!" Finn asked in disbelief.
"And 'that thing' can understand you, too, so watch it," Han warned. "Come on outta there." Finn and Rey removed their masks and climbed out of the hatch, but Jon and BB-8 stayed in there. Jon kept his mask on, and his back was still turned.
"You, too, buddy!" Han ordered. "Turn around!" Jon spun around, tore off his mask and looked up into the eyes of his father. Han's hair was gray, just as had been the last time Jon saw him. His hazel eyes, which Jon shared, still blazed intensely. He wore a brown jacket, with a white shirt underneath and his pants with the gold Corellian bloodstripes. Han's eyes widened and his jaw dropped as he recognized his son.
"Jon," he breathed.
"Ol'val, Athair," said Jon. It just seemed fitting that the first words he spoke to his father in six years were in Corellian. Then Jon climbed out of the hatch to join Han, Chewie, Finn and Rey. BB-8 stayed inside the hatch.
Back at the Resistance Base, Leia was looking over some charts when she felt a ripple thorough the Force. She had been able to sense Han even through their separation. But in all that time, his Force-Signature had never been as strong as it was now. Jon's flared up, too. It could only mean one thing. Father and son had just been reunited for the first time in years. It was a feeling that warmed Leia's heart.
"Welcome back, Han," she said softly.
End of Chapter 4.
Author's Notes:
1.) Han and Chewie are finally back, and have reunited with Jon! But the story's not over yet. In the next chapter, I will really start exploring Jon and Han's dynamic at this point in their lives, including what things have changed between them, and what's stayed the same.
2.) Jon obviously isn't Rey's boyfriend, nor will he become so, but Finn asking Rey if she had a boyfriend just opened itself up to Finn having a misunderstanding about Jon. And I think this chapter, more so than the previous one, and even before that, when Jon had just met Rey, is where I really started to establish the friendship he is starting to build with her and Finn. Also, I followed up on what I said about the relationship between Jon and Finn mirroring Han and Luke's in the OT, what with Jon calling Finn "Kid," the two of them sitting in the exact same gunner seats Han and Luke had taken in ANH and the allusion to the "Great, kid! Don't get cocky!" line.
3.) When Han is introduced, he of course says his iconic "Chewie... we're home" line, but Jon did his own version of it when he says "Dad, I'm home" as he steps aboard the Falcon.
4.) This chapter includes the first time the Corellian language has been spoken so far in TFA, when Jon said "Ol'val, Athair." And that means "Hello, Father."
5.) The part about there being "some things you can't share without ending up liking each other. And escaping from a desert planet on an old Corellian YT-1300 model freighter after taking out First Order TIE fighters, was one of them," was a nod to the part in Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Or Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone, if you live outside the US.), by J.K. Rowling, that describes the beginning of Harry, Ron and Hermione's friendship like this: "There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them." I've talked often enough about how I based Jon, Finn and Rey's friendship on that of Han, Luke and Leia in the OT, but Harry, Ron and Hermione were just as influential to me as well.
6.) I ended this chapter with Leia sensing Han and Jon's reunion as both a nod to when she felt Han was alive after he had "died" in ROTJ, (If you've read when I did that book, you know what I mean) and also as some foreshadowing for when she'll sense Han's death, and the subsequent pain it causes Jon, later in this book.
7.) Ever since ANH, when I introduced the carvings Han and Jon did of their initials outside the Falcon's cockpit door when Jon was really little, they've appeared in ESB and ROTJ. Of course they had to show up here, in TFA. Originally, I was just gonna have it be that Ben did this a child, so Han could share it with both his sons. But I then thought it was appropriate if Leia, Luke and Lando joined in as well at various times over the years. And maybe, eventually, Jon might have children of his own to carve their initials there, too.
8.) When Finn said "You know what they say: Know your enemy," it came from the novelization of TFA. And when he mentioned that he was 23, that information came from the TFA Visual dictionary.