Story Hour

by JadedMara

Mara, Iella, Jaina, Mirax and Leia get together for a little chat -- with often hilarious results.

Category: New Republic
Keywords: Mara, Jaina, NJO, humor
Spoilers: reading the NJO not necessary, but be familiar with
the EU
Summary: Leia, Mara, Jaina, Iella, and Mirax hang out on the
Pulsar Skate and chat . . .with often hilarious results

STORY HOUR

By Jen Bakht (JadedMara@hotmail.com)
Aka Mara03 (TF.Net) or JadedMara

*The girls explain what they've been up to during
the NJO . . and surprise! No Vong!*

Disclaimer: Same deal as always. Not my characters. Just wanted
to toss 'em in a hurricane and whirl 'em around for a bit.
Yeeehaaaww!

This was once a story called "Lifelines", that just didn't want
to be born. Another previous incarnation had been "Reflections of
You: A Celebration of Womanhood in the Skywalker-Solo Family."
That didn't want to be born either. So, instead, I forced out a
compromise between the two ideas. Congratulations to me! It's a
story!

NOTE: about characterizations..I'm trying to fit the personality,
but sometimes the situations are too much for ppl trying to stay
true to the character.

I had betatesters for "Turn" worried because I had raunchy scenes
of truth and dare b/w the Solo kids and their older family
members. OF COURSE that wouldn't happen in real SW, but I
explained to them that this was MY twisted view of the galaxy so
some things just won't ring true…and if the scenes themselves
were written as vinnegtes they'd be accepted.

It's just because I'm writing them as part of a larger "serious"
story. Well, these vignettes make it into my stories. So,
although I would be pissed if a profic writer ever had Wes Janson
flirt with Jaina Solo..and Jaina Solo flirt right back with
serious sexual tension..well, it's acceptable in my diagonal
universe. Sorry!

Oh, and sorry about the spelling and bad grammar of that
disclaimer. It's actually just the notes to the real disclaimer,
but I'm too tired to make it into something workable...

SPECIAL THANKS TO:

The people who have been reading my stories for a few years now.
You guys know who you are; thank you for your awesome emails,
etc.

AND, to the wonderful denizens of TheForce.Net, both in the MJFC
and in the Fanfiction Forum. Y'all know who you are too.

A more specified thanks to those in the Fanfic forum who have
been following this story. You guys kept me going! Thanks for
your collective willing suspensions of disbeliefs.

SPECIAL NOTE: The last chapter . . .i.e. Chapter 9, is best read
with the Titanic soundtrack playing. (I know, I know, don't say
it, but it's really beautiful.) I wrote/imagined it in
conjunction with Track 15. Gorgeous!

Other stories: "Jade", "Always Chasing After You," "[Insert
Pretentious Title of Choice]", "Enjoy the Meal (or else)", and
"Turn"

So, without any further ado:

ONCE UPON A TIME . . . .



PROLOGUE: GIRLS NIGHT OUT

Mara looked around at the wreckage, and swore. "We're
dead."
Jaina looked up with a wry smile. "Seems I remember saying
something like that whenever Jacen and I messed with a droid or
something. Things always seemed to work out."
Leia looked over at her daughter. "That's because you had
*me* to deal with, not a planetary government!"
"Aren't all of you being a little pessimistic? So we
wrecked a bar. Big deal. It was just an anniversary party."
"An *anniversary party*?" Mirax glanced at Iella, askance.
"Who's gonna buy that?"
"Well, it is yours and Corran's anniversary. We decide
that we feel bad that Corran's away again, for another year, and
make up for it by going out to a bar to help you forget that your
husband's on a mission."
"And just *how* are we going to explain . . . all of
this?" Leia waved her hand in the general direction of the mess.
"We were sitting here, minding our own business, and
suddenly a couple of rowdy men get into a barfight and began to
tear the place up. We hid under some tables and emerged when
everyone left."
"*I* don't hide under tables," Mara interjected proudly.
"Fine, Mara, you were swinging from the ceiling glowrod,
yelling *hey everybody, look at meee! Wheeeee!* and managed to
scare the swoopies off."
Jaina stifled her giggle at Mara's glare. Mara grimaced.
"I'll just join the rest of you under the table, thanks."
Mirax frowned. "Sounds like a perfectly tame explanation.
Doesn't involve us in any of this at all. The question is: will
our husbands believe it?"
"Your husbands won't have to know." Jaina held a datacard
up, smirking. "This just came through last night. Colonel
Darklighter and General Cracken have classified our mission as
top secret and need to know. And not even General Antilles needs
to know."
Iella smiled a broad smile. "Score one for the NRI!"
"Don't look too proud of yourself," Mirax growled.
"Yeah, Iella," Leia added. "One day this hobby of yours is
going to land us on Kessel. . .or worse."


"I've always wanted to be a drill instructor," Iella
explained back in the *Pulsar Skate*. "I also like to make
people happy. Those guys we see in those bars…they're trying to
drink their lives away, trying to forget the stuff they've had to
go through. A few moments of abject silliness pierces that
bubble of alcohol and depression, and the lessons of camaraderie
and letting go can last a lifetime."
"So," Mara interjected, "when Cracken came to her with a
program about studying different energy signatures being let off
by people used to different gravitational pulls, she had a
brainstorm."
"Yeah, it sounds like it's totally unconnected. But it's a
recent, and still secret, discovery by NR Medical that these
energy signatures exist. And if we can compile an accurate
database of which planets have which type of population, it'll be
invaluable in identifying imposters and spies. If someone says,
for example, that she grew up in Corellia, built in sensors can
check her energy signals. Those signals may indicate a planet
that's higher-gravity than Corellia. Then she'll have some
explaining to do." Mirax leaned back in her chair. "It's weird."
Jaina frowned. "I still don't see how it's connected."
Iella raised an eyebrow. "Don't you see? It's like the
Force – well, I imagine it's like the Force, and that's why Mara
became my partner in crime along with Mirax on this. The energy
signals ring true most when the people are relaxed, happy, not
stressed and tense. So, I decided to combine the two: men making
complete fools of themselves and listening to everything I say,
and this project of studying signatures. I go to bars that seem
to have the most of the native population in it, so it's an
accurate sample. There aren't usually a lot of women there,
so we have another agent using her own methods to get those
samples. It's not an urgent mission, so whenever I get to sent
to some random remote planet for a mission, I bring the girls
along and I do this on the side. Since Mirax, Mara, and I already
were on a vacation jaunt, it seemed like a perfect opportunity."
Leia nodded. "So Jaina and I happened to be here too for
Colonel Darklighter, so you enlisted our help too."
"The more the merrier! Too bad we don't have Winter and
Tionne."
Mara narrowed her eyes. "Why *did* you and Jaina get sent
here anyway?"
Jaina shook her head. "Like I told you, it's need to know.
And—"
"-- We don't need to know," Iella finished.
Mirax frowned. "What I can't understand is what went
wrong today."
Leia giggled. "It was Mara's pink tutu. It got the guys a
little too excited."
"I was *trying* to look like a fairy godmother," Mara
insisted. "You know – the whimsical aspect of things gets them
more eager to listen to our commands."
Iella shook her head. "We just miscalculated. They were
too drunk – violently drunk. They would've been no good for the
readings anyway. When I told them to imitate a flying mynock,
they started swooping around like crazy."
"Hmm…so we didn't lie when we said a gang of *swoopies*
finished off the bar."
"Right you are, Jaina, right you are. And then Mara just
got a little too violent when she tried to calm them down."
"I could *not* help it if my training didn't include
non-violent riot control, okay?"
There was a pause. Then Leia asked, "So, why *are* you
guys on vacation, anyway? It's not like there are any major
holidays coming up, unless you count Mirax's anniversary."
"Well, that's part of it," Mirax explained. "The girls
wanted to keep me company since Corran wasn't here. But I think
we just needed to get away from it all."
"I've been so stressed that I even had a fight with
Luke...and we *were* on vacation when that happened."
Leia frowned. "Why'd you fight with Luke?"
"I felt…I dunno..trapped somehow. It's confusing. We made
up, but I realized that I had fallen in a rut and needed some
excitement again .. ."


CHAPTER ONE: MARA

"When I was young and insolent, my youthful gaze of anger
could make me look actually precious and delicate -- a deceptive characteristic that hid the competence of my mark and the
ruthlessness of my strike. Coming across as an auburn spitfire
rather than a blood-red assassin, I had a bite worse than my bark.
Even Vader,in the beginning, saw me as a mere annoyance, and
often found amusement in what seemed to be only a spunky nature.
He later reevaluated that assessment, I thought with a grim smile.
It was . . .yucky outside, winds strewing leaves and
straw across the windowpane and the water of the shallow creek
overflowed into the marsh, making it look like a river.
There was, however, a sort of infinite comfort in the scene,
knowing that the galaxy was not, and could not be, perfect.
"A balance in the Force". The words seemed to echo in
my mind. That's all the Force was, really: a balance of good
and evil,and good could not always prevail.
"That, of course, is an oversimplification, Mara."
I turned quickly and saw the smiling face of my husband. I
scowled.
"I can't believe I didn't sense you behind me."
Luke looked at me with a worried smile. "I can't believe
it either. You were always better at multitasking than I was,
and you have always had that highly developed danger sense to
alert you to
anyone's presence."
"I guess I don't consider you more dangerous than a felinx,"
I quipped.
To tell the truth, I was worried as well. But not because
my Force powers were in any way diminishing. They were, in fact,
growing, or probably were, if the voices in my head were any
indication…"

"Whoah, woah, wait a minute," Mirax exclaimed. "You told
us you fought with him, not that you were clinically insane!"
"I'll explain that later. I wasn't insane. It was really
Ben and Vader –"
"WHAT?"
"Calm down, Leia, it's not a big deal. I'll get to that
later, okay? Back to the story."

"Where was I? Oh yeah, I was thinking how my Force powers
must have been growing because I kept hearing…shut up.
I was so busy keeping that thought buried far beneath me
in order for it not to catch Luke's attention through our constant
link, that I jumped when I heard him silently say: *Light and
darkness are not exactly two sides of the same coin.*
"What did you say?" I asked.
"Mara, to imply that the Force is only a balance is to
give credence to beliefs that loathe even the presence of Jedi
– the Bakurans, for example. They believe that any concentration
of the Force is wrong, even if it is of the Light Side, and that
one should maintain the balance in all living creatures. But I
disagree. The idea of balance refers less to good and evil
existing in equal parts than to the turmoil that would result
if there was too much evil..or too much good, for the state of
affairs should eventually return to a semi-equilibrium. But that
Light .. Mara, that Light in the galaxy should shine brilliantly,
at the expense of the Dark Side, and should be in the majority of
people's lives. It just should not overpower the Dark Side and
eliminate it all together, for without the darkness one cannot
appreciate the light." "

"That sounds like Uncle Luke," Jaina grumbled

"I looked at him for a few seconds, and then turned back to
the window.
"Jaina's smitten with some kid in her squadron."
If Luke was annoyed that his wife ignored his lecture on
the nature of the Force, he didn't show it.
"Well, that's good. Jaina deserves someone after what she
went through with Zekk."
I was silent again.
Luke cleared his throat, no doubt unsettled by this new
tension in his marriage.
Happiness. Yes, Jaina deserved happiness. It comforted me
that the galaxy wasn't perfect, because then one could find joy
in the little things.
Such as the joy I used to feel when I erased the smirk
off anyone who had underestimated me."

"Yikes, Mara, you were in a bad mood."
"I know, Iella, I know. I was just so…melancholy."
"Hey Jaina," Mirax called. "What kid in your squadron? The
one I met?"
"Oh Space, that's a long story. It actually has to do with
Mom's and my mission, so I can't explain it all the way. But I'll
get to it after Aunt Mara finishes."

" So anyway, Luke had said: "Mara, we're on *vacation*. This
is our chance to get away from it all. I really would like to enjoy
this with you." Luke had sounded exasperated. We were in the thick of
it. I was MAD. . and I didn't know why.
"I'm just *confused* -- about life and how weird it is. I'm
confused by what brought us together. I'm confused by the fact that
our easy camaraderie worked well because it was offset by *some*
hostility, and now we can't do that anymore because it's not the
way married couples are supposed to be. All of a sudden, I'm a
Jedi Knight. I give reports to the Senate and I try to host a
dinner party. I'm the mother of a one year old. I'm domesticated.
I'm supposed to be sleek and poisonous and young and anonymous
and dangerous and a mystery - I'm Mara Jade."
Luke had looked at me with anger for one of the first
times I could ever remember. "So what are you saying? That
you're *bored?"
I began to protest --
"Mara," Luke continued, "there *is* such a thing as making
sacrifices. People settle down. That's the way life is for
many people --not all, of course -- and that's want you
*wanted*," he pointed out.
"I . . .I know I'm content. I'm just not sure that I'm
*happy*."
"Everyone feels like that at some time," Luke reassured me.
I looked at him as if I hadn't heard him. "It just that . . ."
I hesitated. "I'm just not sure I like being the other half of
someone's *soul*."
Luke looked at me for a long moment as if in shock, then quietly
walked out of the door.

"Oh, Mara . . " Leia looked at her sympathetically.
"Poor Luke, " Iella observed. "How'd he take that?"
"Oh, he told me after we made up."

"He had let it slam behind him. How could she, he was thinking.
How *could* she, anyway? Isn't that what marriage was *supposed* to
be about? Becoming one person? Especially with a Jedi bond.
He knew that what he had before had been right. That everyone
felt the way I felt at some point. That things come out that
shouldn't, and often the things that come out aren't true
anyway -- melodrama or indicative of frustration.
But that was another part of what marriage was about. I should
have known better -- should have had control. I should have
attempted to separate fiction from reality, frustration from real
concern. It was especially true when dealing with insecurities --
such as in Luke's case; he still had not been able to completely
grasp the concept of my wanting *him*; the bumbling farmboy he
still was, and wanted to be with him for the rest of my life,
giving up a life of being answerable only to myself – in the
personal sphere, at least. In life, people always failed to do
just that. But in a marriage, it was essential, because one person
had the power to hurt the other very badly. I should have thought
before I had ripped my husband to shreds."

"When Luke walked in," she continued, "I stared out across
the desk into nowhere -- I knew Luke could sense that I was sorry --
my thoughts in turmoil. I couldn't handle a fight, not then.
Thankfully, Luke understood that and came up behind me,
putting his arms around me and drawing me close. I buried my head
in his chest, reveling in the scent of his cologne.
"Let's talk," he said softly, leading me to the couch.
"So, you really bored?" he asked kindly.
"No," I said, wishing that I could somehow take those
words back. How selfish could I be, making him hurt like that?
"It's not that, I mean, I don't want to lose you or Ahna -- I love
being a wife and mother. It's just that I miss my old life too" --
here, I grimaced, cursing whatever gods decided to make me
inarticulate that day -- "I feel tamed somehow. I can't have
it both ways, I guess, and if I had to choose I would choose this.
It's just that people aren't afraid of me anymore. It's a type
of power that I've lost. So I put up walls -- barriers. Still
threaten Fey'lya, still disparage Lando, still rib Han. Because
it's the only way that I can be Jade.
"But at the same time, I adore you. I'm dependent on you,
but that's okay,because you are on me. You're my husband. I can't
imagine life not being tied to your soul. I love the trust people
give me now. That's another sort of high, that counterbalances the
euphoric effects of power. It's just . . still alien for me.
After all these years." I looked up at him with a sheepish smile.
"I'm just having a mid-marriage crisis."
"We've only been married for 6 years."
"So I'll have a couple of them, then."
"Oh Space." "

" . . So, I decided I needed another vacation," she concluded.
"Away from Luke, away from Ahna. Just us girls, acting up."
Leia looked away. "Maybe this mission with Jaina's good for me,
too. I mean, with Han being able to go out and do his own thing
now . . . he found his old self, out there having adventures and not worrying about the political implications or anything. I haven't felt
that for a long time…gosh, I'm not sure I've *ever * felt that way.
I've always been the leader, the one who's had to think of the big picture."
"You've never had a break, have you , Leia. Even after the Death
Star blew."
Leia nodded at Iella. "And even that, just, gosh, it had so
many implications for me, for my life. I felt superfluous somehow.
Turns out I wasn't."
"How did peace feel? Or at least the promise of peace?"
"Well, it was a nice change in my life when our government
became established. Well, I mean, not to complain, but it *was*
a hard adjustment. It was good and bad, a double-edged sword,
when the war was over. You know what's funny?" She giggled
nervously. "I wrote about it in my journal, and I still remember
to this day what I wrote. I don't know why."
"...As the raging night gave way to the quiet calm of day,"
she began to quote, " I began to truly *live*. That, you must
know, is hard to do when everything, *everything* you've worked
for has finally arrived. No, everything hadn't arrived, really,
but the complacency with which comes victory gives way to
a maddening, undefeatable, stagnation, not only politically, but
personally. How hard to was! to finally find myself without purpose,
to know that I was fallible, that I was not the galaxy's most
important human being. And thus I learned what it is like to be
alive."
"Sounds like you were having the same sort of identity crisis
I was having."
"Yeah, but Mara, don't you see? It's being human. It means
that we are not automatons. We're *alive *, we change, we grow.
Not all of it is for the best, but we'll never be truly happy with
what we have if we keep second-guessing ourselves."
"I know. I realized that later that week, one night when I
finally felt at peace. I toweled off after my hot bath, sighing
with the feeling of dampness and coolness that soothed my muscles
and cleared my mind. *My version of a meditation,* I thought to
myself. "
"You don't seem like one to mediate," said Mirax.
"I don't," she growled. "In fact, I knew it was wrong to
think of it that way; meditating by its very definition involved
releasing the mind from its physical limitations, whereas steaming
in a tub was all about sensory stimulation. But I wasn't one
to bask in the metaphysical; my philosophies came from that
which I could *experience*, and my appreciation for the Force was
tempered by my reliance on my training and seasoning."
"Oh Space, don't tell Jacen and Anakin that, or they'll
start philosophizing again."
"I thought of that, Jaina -- the discussions that Anakin and
Jacen often seemed to have about the importance of relying on the
Force versus practice, practice, practice. After you wowed your
whole family -- and many others – by acing Calrissian's belt run,
Jacen pointed to the way you, as I put it, "fell into it" -- gave
yourself up to the Force to stay in the asteroid belt for as long
as you did. Anakin insisted that the reason you made it as far
as you did was the fact that you piloted *constantly*. That,
with the Force, made you formidable.
"Thinking about that, though, made me grimace. The following
battles with the Yuuzhan Vong affected both of their views on the
Force. They learned to appreciate the other's point of view --
but I wished that the lessons didn't have to be so painful. I knew,
however, that that was the way it always worked.
Then I smiled. Your father had once told me that he proclaimed
to Ben Kenobi, "Hokey religions are no match for a good blaster
at my side." He had then turned to me and said, "If I had known
then what I know now . . " I had grinned and said, ". . . you
would have argued that point that much more loudly." "Yeah",
he grinned, lopsidedly.
How much of life could be summed up in those words? "If I
had known then what I know now." Would anyone honestly not be
surprised if they looked twenty years in the future? I sighed
again as I fell into bed and looked up into the smiling eyes
of my husband. I heard his thoughts, mirroring mine: about
the first time he had met me, about how weird life was, about
how lucky he was that such an independent, strong, dangerous
woman could love *him* of all people."

Mara smiled. "It made me think. Sure, I felt weird,
but I didn't need to take it out on Luke. I think I had been
*go go go * for so long that I didn't have time to go through
stuff like that, to clear my head. That's when I called the
girls up. I knew eventually we'd get into one of these late
night talking sessions, and I could get perspective on these
things. So I just sent to him: *You're damn right you're lucky* ,
shifted my body closer, and dreamed sweet dreams of our long
journey together."

CHAPTER TWO: MICH

"AWWWW!" Four women erupted into a chorus of adoration
as they looked at their friend.
"Okay, okay, very funny girls. Can we have a rowdy
story now?"
"I want to know why you were hearing the voices of my
father and Emperor, Mara."
"Another time, another time."
"*Mara *!"
"Leia, it's not my turn anymore." She looked at Jaina.
"Okay, spill the beans. What's up with you and Mich?"
"Umm, we're not together anymore."
"What?" Mirax looked heartbroken. "He was quite the specimen."
Leia shook her head. "Yeah, wait 'till you hear this
story, Mirax. He was a snake, that's what he was. It's too
bad we can't get into too much detail. Some of it's classified."
"I'm NRI."
"Well, then General Cracken can tell you. Let's just say
that I'm with Jag now."
"WHAT?" The four women stared at her.
"You didn't tell me that, young lady," Leia said sternly.
"The *hottie *?" Mara squealed.
"Ooh, Mara, it's our niece and our nephew," Iella gushed.
"I liked Mich," Mirax sniffed.
"Okay, then, Mirax, imagine this scene. While you were
probably holding Jysella and gushing to Corran what an adorable
couple Mich and I made, Mich Stonner is sitting in a cantina,
glancing at his chrono, cursing me for surprising him in the
shower. . .

"He was 10 minutes late for his debriefing, and his patron
most definitely would take account of that.
He slid in booth next to the aging man who was nursing a
drink slowly and surreptitiously -- and with an obvious guilty
look mixed with forced nonchalance. He grimaced. Politicians
never were one for cloak-and-dagger ops, and it figured that the
big man in charge would send a virtual incompetent to be his
contact for all things concerning his mission. But the ersatz
agent was the one giving him the orders, and he was honor bound
to follow them, whether or not he thought that they were just playing
holo-detectives when they could be . . .
"So," the old man asked him after the obligatory 30-second
count, conversationally and in a very loud voice, "you got yourself
a girl yet?" Mich looked about in alarm, wondering why the guy was
discussing things so openly. He realized belatedly that he was
attempting to actually *detract* attention by being obvious.
"Idiot," he thought in contempt.
"Yeah, she's a real steal," he responded, more softly.
"Anyone I know?"
"You've probably seen her around." *In your files.*
"Hmmph. I think I know who you mean. Isn't she a bit . ..
dull?"
"Uh, yeah," he answered, following his lead. "Pretty little
thing. Doesn't like to *party* much though." This was ridiculous.
But he quickly suppressed the thought, for losing respect for his
superiors was the best way to get cocky and slip up.
"Well, that's too bad. Guys like us, we need to live on
the edge. Having the women around to shake things up a bit makes
it just more interesting."
"She's dedicated to her work. Wouldn't ever abandon her
post."
"Well, *that*'s no good. No good at all. How are you two
ever going to have any fun?"
Mich sighed. How indeed? First he needed to get her to trust
him, so she could be persuaded to do a bit of . . .extra credit for
him. He was working on it, but he just needed to cut through that insufferable perkiness, dedication, Jediness, Jag Fel . . .
He looked at the man with forced confidence. "Don't worry
about that part, Boss. Being madly in love will undoubtedly loosen
the . . ." here his eyes gleamed, "inhibitions of the dear
girl." "

Mirax shivered. "So, who is he? A spy?"
Jaina shook her head. "Can't tell you too much. He's part of
a group that tried to create a PR scandal to discredit Mom and her
family and associates, which of course includes all of us, plus
probably Admiral Ackbar, General Cracken, Talon Kardde…the
possibilities are endless. Mom's been around, you know."
Mara snorted at that.
"Mich tried to get Jaina to inadvertently front their
group. The plan was to create a PR scandal that will topple the
"Skywalker Dynasty" and ensure Fey'lya's hold on power, " Leia
explained.
"The Skywalker Dynasty? Give me a break," said Mara,
privately wondering what it would be like to be part of a
dynasty.
"Fey'lya's part of this too? How is he still President
of the Republic with all that he's pulled?"
"It's corruption, Mirax, plain and simple." Iella paused.
"You know that his still being in power is somewhat Cracken's doing.
We have our reasons . . .for example, keeping him in power is one
way to ferret out troublemakers like Stonner."
"Yeah, I guess I could see that," Jaina said. "Mich was part of
an NR faction that is NOT happy with peace with the Remnant or the
Chiss. You know, that splinter group that Feyl'ya tried to head off
a couple of months ago – the RTR."
Leia shivered. "Don't get me started on that."
Mirax frowned. "You know, I always thought that the RTR was
the one behind Corran's "exile" last year. This whole thing about a
PR scandal? It makes sense. And now he's trying to get Leia, right?"
Jaina grimaced. "He's trying to get Colonel Darklighter messed
up too. But that's another story. Of *course * I got stuck in the
middle of that one, too."
"So how'd you find out about Stonner?" Iella asked.
"When we were on a mission, I mentioned to him that my birthday
was coming up. He gave me a once-over and said he had a surprise
for me. It just . .well, something didn't seem right then and there.
A few days later, we were in the munitions module of our base. It's
a little ways off from the command module, and I was alone with him.
It was FREEZING. He turned away for a second, and I spotted the
pendant…oh, I didn't explain the pendant. It was a little …um, gaudy …
and I didn't want to be caught dead with it. He had bought it for me
and told me to put it on, and I said that I didn't like it."
"Direct, aren't we, Jaina."
"Well, Aunt Mara, if you saw that thing..anyway, we got into
a fight about it, he looked like he threw it out in anger, and I
forgot all about it. I saw it again in the module. I groaned to
myself, hoping against hope that *that * wasn't his surprise for me.
If that nerf honestly thought that getting that thing for my
birthday would get me to give in to his demands…I crept closer
to it, trying to get a better glimpse at it without actually
*touching* the disgusting thing . . .. . .and then belatedly,
I remembered where I had seen that symbol before."
"Where?" The four women, including Leia, who already knew
the story, leaned in close.
"Well, I can't tell you," she answered amid the chorus of
groans.
"I hate classified information," Iella groused.
"Let's just say that I had seen that symbol before when my
mom and I were briefed about the whole mission we're on now. If
I wore that thing on my neck, it would hold implications for
certain groups. Mich couldn't have known that I was familiar with
the meaning, and that was his downfall. When I saw it, I finally understood".
" "Oh my Space," I whispered to myself. My heartbeat
quickened as my breath caught in my throat, and I felt a chill go
through my body as knowledge entered me of something about to go
very wrong. I felt a mild sense of panic. What should I do?
Confront him? I had no weapon on me, no way to arrest him. Turn
him in once we got back to the base? Yes, that was it. I needed to
play it cool, attune myself with the Force and calm down, act as if
I had noticed nothing, which meant quieting the sound of my ragged
breathing that was filling my ears . . ."
Mirax looked as if *she * had stopped breathing. "So what
happened?"
Jaina blushed. "I was stupid. He caught me looking at it, saw
the look on my face, and attacked. I rolled to the right to avoid
the swift kick, and ran out of the room, trying to reach the main
command module, using the Force to create an avalanche of munitions
to buy me time. I could have stayed and fought him, defeating the
alcohol-muddled man – oh, did I mention that he was drunk on duty?
What a winner – anyway, his being drunk, I could have beat him in
no time with my Jedi training, but I wouldn't do it. I just
couldn't believe yet that he was an enemy."
"Men," Mara growled. "They're always the enemy."
The girls looked at her with apprehension on their faces.
"Remind me to warn your uncle," Mirax whispered.
Jaina grinned. "Will do. Anyway, my thoughts raced as I
entered the narrow corridor that led to the supply module's speeders.
We were about to move our base, so in preparation, several crates
had been placed in the corridor for easier loading, and soon had
filled the small space up. Mich and I had had to crawl over
endless towers and crawl through narrow tunnels of boxes to get
to the main warehouse.
Mich. As I began navigating through the clutter, my teeth
clenched with disgust just as my eyes watered with regret. I didn't
want to have to deal with this, not again, not the way I had had to
accept Zekk's fall to the Dark Side all those years before. *He* had eventually found redemption, but I knew it wouldn't be like that
this time. He had been a mole from the beginning.
Neither was this a romantic tragedy, full of nobility and
sacrifice and circumstances. This was not the holodrama "I loved
a Rebel," this was not on the level of Ulic Qel-Droma and Nomi
Sunrider -- love that went on even as truths were revealed. I had
been cruelly manipulated, and that was all."

"Poor baby," Mirax sniffed.
"I know," Leia smiled. "Jaina's had bad luck with boys."
"I meant Mich."
They all stared at her. Jaina shook her head. "She's not over him
yet." She went back to the story.

"In about a minute's time, I was almost at the hangar. I
picked my way carefully, but with an increasing sense of urgency.
Mich undoubtedly recognized, as I did, that one could get out of
the warehouse through the air shafts -- one of which opened into
the corridor. The only delay he would experience would be in climbing
up and reaching the hole in the ceiling.
A tingling at the back of my neck confirmed that I indeed
needed to hurry. As I climbed over the last pile of boxes --
I went down with a Whump! just as I cleared the last crate.
Through the painful haze I cursed myself for not preparing for an
ambush -- for not considering that he was already lying in wait for
me. My danger sense could not be used to tell me from where I could
expect my threat -- I had made the rookie mistake of relying too
much on the Force."

"Have I taught you *nothing *, Jaina?"
"Sorry, Aunt Mara."

"Mich jumped down from the top crate to pin me down, and
I matched his descent with a swift kick upward, which connected
with his chin and sent him rapidly spinning to the right. Mich
continued the spin to gain momentum, bringing his meaty hand to bear
across my face.
I turned my face with the punch to minimize the impact, and
caught sight of a pole lying across a crate. Grabbing it, I hit
Mich square in the midsection.
He went down and painfully worked his way back up. With a
roar, he caught me so I began scrambling for the hangar, and slammed
me violently against the wall. However, the impact, his being hit
earlier, and the alcohol caused him to stagger slightly as I
connected with the bulkhead. I used the opportunity to step
somewhat to the side, one arm still under his armpit, and pull
him almost toward me so his head collided with the wall. I then
began a quick series of jabs on his face and stomach, finished off
with a side kick . . ."

The women smiled. "Good girl. So you got him," her aunt said.
"Um, not exactly yet, Mara"

"As I was saying, I finished off with a side kick . . .and
was stopped as Mich caught hold of my leg and flipped me onto the
floor facedown. I responded by bringing my two legs up and
backwards, catching him between his legs and flipping him as well.
I kicked him again, violently, in the mouth -- insanely, in my mind
was the constant admonition to never kick an animal when down, but
I had no choice at that point -- causing blood to spurt out between
his teeth. He gagged, and even as he grabbed my leg, pulling me
down, I reached for the pole that was far over to my right --
and quickly slammed it against the back of his head, knocking him
out. I stared at him for a long moment, letting the emotions of
hurt and betrayal that had been filed away during the adrenaline
rush of the fight wash over me. Strangely, there was no hate
there."

" – Because hate is of the Dark Side," Mara finished
dutifully.
"Well, that wasn't the point of the story. The story was
so Mirax would stop mourning my breakup."
"That was on Asra?" Iella asked.
"Yeppers, and not too long ago. It's been so hectic there
that we haven't even moved our base yet . . .we're trying so
hard to find out exactly what leaks we're dealing with. Colonel
Darklighter called me in around the time that Uncle Luke and Aunt
Mara were on vacation, and here I am."

Leia picked up the story at this point. "I was covertly
listening on three-way when Gavin talked to her. I had been talking
to him about the new Senate budget for Starfighter Command when
Jaina chimed the door, and he wanted me to tell him what he thought
of the mission he was going to outline for her . . ."

~~~~~ " "So, where'd they go?" Colonel Gavin Darklighter
took a slow sip of the mug of caf he held steaming in his hands.
He winced at the pungent odor, brought on by the native mixture
of berries and grek syrup, and then sighed in contentment
as the hot concoction warmed him up. It was forever cold in
the Asra Flight center, an irony given that the name meant
"fire" in several languages related to Basic and due to a
broken climate control that the New Republic still had not d
eemed fit to fix.
"Aldivy", replied the pretty brunette sitting before him.
Gavin winced again. "Why would your aunt and uncle want
to vacation on a farmworld devastated by the Empire?" Aldivy
was the supposed home-planet of the ersatz Flight Officer Lara
Notsil, an identity formed to get her out of the Provisional
Government's hands and into Zsinj's waiting arms. Didn't quite
turn out that way though..
Gavin shook his head clear of the memories as Lieutenant
Jaina Solo spoke. "I dunno," she said, shrugging her shoulders.
"The marshlands are pretty. And besides, it's a good planet to
get away from the galaxy, considering no one goes there."
Gavin thought about how much *he'd* like to get away from the galaxy for awhile. He smiled. "Well, I wish them all of peace from this vacation. They needed it, after the last fight with the
Yuuzhan Vong."
"Sir," she pointed out, "*everyone* needs a vacation after all that we went through."
"True," he replied, running through his mind the roster of the people he had lost during the last battles. Good men and women, all of them. They were all so young . . . and the war was far from over. He would lose more as the battles raged on. He looked back up at Jaina.
"We have a temporary reprieve from the Vong. In that, we are lucky. But I called you in here because we have another battle to fight . . . and in some ways, it's far more insidious, because we're
dealing with an unidentified threat, one that could tear us apart from inside out."
"Is he happened to be named 'Fey'lya'?"
Gavin smiled tightly. He had no love for the current President of the Republic, and had never forgiven him for what he did to his relationship with Asyr. However, Gavin was running a military unit,
and it did not do any good for those under his command to become
overly political.
Although Jaina *did* have a damn good reason for her bias. First
her mother, and now she was hurt by Feyl'ya's schemes.
Gavin merely raised his eyebrows, and the lieutenant got the
silent reproof.
"Sorry, sir," she said, looking up at him with quiet
determination. "What do you need me to do?"
"Just want to touch base with you before our mission briefing
later this afternoon."
"Okay."
Gavin hesitated. "The way your uncle's academy works these
days is that newly minted Knights are paired with a mentor?"
"Something to that effect, sir. I was a Padawan learner to my
Aunt Mara. Still am, actually."
"And she advises you on matters of the Force . . .she was
responsible for much of your flight training, correct?"
"Yes, sir, she was a profound influence."
"Did she aid you in any . . .commando training?"
Jaina furrowed her brow. "Just some hand-to-hand combat
training, a lot of which every Jedi learns. She spiced it up with
a lot of specialized techniques she learned over the years, and
that doesn't necessarily need to be combined with the Force."
"So would you be adverse to utilizing your Force gifts on,
say a covert mission?"
Jaina frowned. "Well, there are different views on that
topic. I, myself, seem to share my aunt's view that the Force is
just another part of my overall package of skills and assets. It's
a tool that isn't the be-all-end-all to everything and shouldn't be
used as a crutch, but it's a tool nonetheless. I mean, it would be hypocritical for me to use the Force every time I fly in a combat
situation but not want to be ordered on a covert mission on the
same grounds."
Gavin nodded and dismissed her, lost in thought, and then
turned to the hidden – and active – holopanel beside his desk. "~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You see," Jaina explained, "He was going to send me and Brett
Ashbey in..Ashbey because he's from Esseles, you know, and Esseles
is so close to Brentaal that maybe he'd be able to help out with
native customs and such. But it was a stroke of genius to use Mom
as my partner instead. Two Rogue Squadron officers on Brentaal may
attract some unwanted and suspicious attention, but the former
Chief-of-State and her daughter here can be construed as a tour of
the Core worlds. And with Mom, like me, being Jedi but not really identifying primarily as Jedi, we have the perfect cover."
"Of course," Leia added, "Hanging out with the three of you
would have also been perfect, until you decide to rip apart that bar.
Now you all are just liabilities because of negative attention. But
if we leave now, people will wonder why we're parting company."
"So you're stuck with us now. Can we help?" asked Iella.
Jaina and Leia looked at each other. Leia shrugged, and
made a judgement call. "Okay. We're trying to track some embezzled
funds through the Perlemain Trade Route or the Hydian Way. We know
it starts here, but what we don't know is which economic route it's
going to follow. Then maybe we can find out who exactly is still
working for the RTR."
"Is the RTR still active? I thought that scandal was dead
and gone," said Mirax.
Iella, the intelligence agent, shook her head. "The RTR won't
be dead and gone until Feyl'ya's dead and gone. You think it's *his*
funds, don't you." It wasn't a question.
"Well, of course Fey'lya's the one embezzling funds; he's the
most corrupt member of this government . ." Mara trailed off slowly.
"Wait. Do you mean to say *his * funds? As in his governmental
salary?"
Mirax whistled. "He's embezzling his own money. I wouldn't
put it past him."
"Well," Mara said, "This planet revolves around commerce. It's
a good place to start. What I wouldn't bet that the old Brentaal
Houses are involved."
The Brentaal houses were noble families that, during the time
of the Empire, controlled a major part of the Brentaal economy.
Being at the intersection of the Perlemen Trade Route and the
Hydian Way, the Core world Brentaal was a transfer point of money,
people – and, at times, crime.



CHAPTER THREE: FEY'LYA

"What I wouldn't bet that *Fey'lya's* involved," Leia shot back.
"Fey'lya brings out my homicidal tendencies," Mirax joined in.
Mara smiled a broad smile. "The best way to deal with Fey'lya
is to not get mad."
Leia looked at Mara. "You've got to be joking. I'd never thought
I'd hear *you * say that."
"Don't you remember that time at your apartment, when you
had a little get together and he said: "Don't you feel out of place
here?" I said, "What do you mean?" I was completely non-threatening
and playing it cool. Then he jerked his thumb back beyond the sofa.
"Look at all those people, reliving their misadventures and heroic
deeds during the Rebellion," he said. " Does it not bother you
somewhat that you can't join in, considering your greatest
accomplishments probably consisted of murdering their loved ones
in cold blood?" "
"OUCH!" said Jaina. "He actually said that?"
Mirax laughed. "I *do * remember that. The area around them
was suddenly silent. Wedge made a move as if to restrain one or
both of them, if necessary, and I see Mara glancing at Luke
sitting in the background, looking serene, as if he trusted in her.
Then she looks back at Feyl'ya and says, her voice soft:
"You're a sad, sad man, Borsk," And then she quietly gets up and
walks away."
"That's awesome, Mara. You know girls, Fely'lya's behind a
*lot * of our adventures. Take the time we went to Roon because of
him and the RTR," added Iella.
"Right. When Iella told us . . .

~~~~~"He's WHAT?" Mara had screamed.
Iella sighed. "Fey'lya's going to be acquitted."
"How do you know that? The trial hasn't even been
finished."
"Mara, Fey'lya's going to be acquitted, and we need to
go to Roon. That's all I can tell you, for now."
"You must be joking." ~~~~~~~

Leia grimaced. "Iella, I still don't understand the NRI's
position on this guy. That trial was for his reprehensible neglect
in the war against the Yuuzhan Vong. *He * was responsible for our
troops not making it to Ghyor on time, and the spooks let him go!
And wasn't it just before the three of you were going to pack up for
Roon that Fey'lya tried to tear the New Republic apart?"
"Actually, Mara and I had that conversation a week before
Fey'lya actually was acquitted and then sent that galaxy-wide
simulcast of his defection. We even had that gala in-between,
remember?"
"I'll never forget that simulcast. I was standing there,
in person, in the Senate chambers as he tapped into the Coruscant
Broadcast Network. Fey'lya snarled, and managed to look imposing
even across my desk holoscreen that I was looking at to avoid
looking directly at him. "I have given my life to this *Republic*,"
he spat out, "And am still dealing every day with its corruption and
bias." "
"Oh, give me a break!" Mirax groaned.
"I know. I rolled my eyes in the background. I knew what he
meant, but *he * was the reason for the corruption. Feyl'ya
squinted in my general direction, as if knowing what I was thinking.
"I have done all I can," he continued, "to save my government, as
well as my people. I have fought valiantly against the overrunning
of our democracy by Imperials, bigots, and criminals. However, the
New Republic, and its vaunted so-called leaders, led by Organa Solo
and the Skywalker dynasty, are the ones most responsible for courting
these undesirables. I was elected President by the people because
they wanted strength back in their government, and faith. I have
failed, because I have been held back by the *true* leaders of
this government. From the background, they have directed the
workings of politics. I am tired of failing my people." "
"Right, right," Jaina joined in. "And then he had the dramatic
pause –" Jaina paused to illustrate the effect.
"And then he said, "Therefore, I announce a *new* 'New
Republic'. It's time to retake our government. From Bothawui I
am establishing the RTR – RETAKE THE REPUBLIC! --" "
"And Coruscant erupted in cheers," Mara deadpanned.
" " -- as a legitimate government," Leia said, continuing
Fely'lya's speech.
"You have this memorized?" Iella looked at her aghast.
"It was a command performance."
"I do too," said Jaina. "He then said: " Any system that
wishes to join me is welcome." Then he snarled, like this –"
"GRRRRRR," provided Mara.
"Beautiful, Aunt Mara. "It is within NR laws," he continued,
" to let any system leave that wishes. The people have spoken. Soon,
your vaunted government will cease to exist." He cut off the
transmission, and the Senate Chambers were left in silence. But only
for a moment. Then, the chaos began."
"Very dramatic, Jaina."
"Thanks, Mom."
The women sat back, reminiscing about when their government
almost fell apart because of a furry guy with bad breath and a
severe hate-on for the Skywalker. Dozens of worlds and systems had
left. However, for the moment, it was also a time of celebration
as the Jedi are again welcomed, as were the Horns, because Fey'lya's
leaving had made the political climate safe for Corran Horn to
finally become recognized for the hero he was. People surmised that
it was for the best that systems were leaving, for those who were
dissatisfied with the NR rule had a viable exit option, and the
first generation of leaders, who had bemoaned the bureaucratization
of the government saw a change back to its earlier spirit.
"And Wedge was nominated for President," Iella chuckled. "He declined,
of course, but people are STILL pushing him."
"Let the good times roll," Mara contributed.
However, in the background, NR Intelligence was worried, as
was Galactic Intelligence that works with both the NR and the Empire.
The RTR had refused the treaty with the Empire and was trying to
take systems from the Imperial Remnant. The NR was asked to help,
but had to do so quietly, for fear of losing more systems to the
RTR because of anti-imperial bias.
In addition, Cracken was worried that the NR and the RTR could
not coexist peacefully.
"Fely'lya was still up to something," Leia said aloud.
"Cracken suspected that many worlds that were leaving the
NR to join the RTR were not doing
so quite voluntarily," Iella responded. "That's where Mara, Mirax,
and I come in."
"Let the good times roll," Jaina echoed, shaking her head.


CHAPTER FOUR: THE GIRLS

"Let me explain my perspective on this, Iella. So there I was,
at one of those receptions we had soon after Fey'lya left. I guess
it was weird, having state dinners at a time of republic-wide turmoil,
but it was necessary. We needed to celebrate what *had * gone right –
the Jedi were back in favor, Corran was recognized as a hero, and
besides, Fey'lya was *gone *, no matter how much trouble that put all
of us in. Of course, his cronies were still around, and I, for some reason, was stuck talking to some of them. . .."
Mara began her story:

"I stifled a little yawn as I found myself in yet *another* discussion about the minutiae of bureaucratic shipping laws. Yes,
I had a unique perspective on the matter, due to my experience as
a smuggler and as a well known trader with a good grasp on both
economics and politics, but I suspected that the politicians got me
into these conversations to just goad me. Only in this way could
they expresstheir undying hostility for me.
Luke held my hand sympathetically for a moment and walked over
to Corran and Admiral Ackbar. *Jedi!* I sent to him contemptuously.
It was always support at face value, then abandonment, I thought,
grinning.
I turned back when I heard my name. "Listen, Captain Jade,"
she was being told, "I understand that in your mind, these laws are
just made so one can break them, thus increasing your stature and
infamy among your comrades. But to make it a republic-wide crime
to smuggle anything to or from any New Republic world will make it
that much easier to stop this galaxy-wide corruption!"
"But," I protested, "it's OUT of the Senate's jurisdiction! Individual worlds should prosecute crimes committed against them.
You cannot expect a Corsec officer, for example, to catch a smuggler,
from, say Tatooine. Ask Corran Horn someday about how much work it
was to police just the Corellian sector."
"Well, Captain Jade, considering your obvious bias . ."
"I'm sure *Jedi Skywalker* is above bias at this point in her
career, my dear colleague, and is thinking only to ensure the rights
of individual sectors in the republic," broke in a more
sympathetic Senator. (one could always tell in the way in which
they chose to address me: Captain Jade, Mrs. Skywalker,
Jedi Skywalker, Ms. Jade Skywalker, Priggin' Imp . . .) "

Iella sighed and stretched. "Does anyone want some hot
chocolate?"
Mara glared. "Do you mind? I'm trying to tell a story here."
"I'm bored."
"Don't worry, you'll be in it soon."

"Leia had always told me," she continued, "that I was the
one chosen for these discussions because I was widely respected
and had the added legitimacy of being a Jedi and a Skywalker,
unlike, say, Booster Terrik or Talon Kardde, who were still
considered criminals (and,in all fairness, were.) But then, I
really couldn't imagine anyone hassling Mirax that way, and she
was a hell of a lot more respected and had the legitimacy of being
a highly successful import-export dealer.
I shot the senator a look of gratitude, but I felt a bit
guilty doing so, because, in truth, I *was* biased. If smuggling
became a crime that was punishable in any jurisdiction, then
people like Karrde or Terrik wouldn't even be able to show their
faces on Coruscant. (And I had long suspected that Mirax too
wasn't exactly living as honestly as her Jedi husband would like.)
Likewise, the military couldn't ever avail themselves of their
services. The way it had been from the beginning of the Alliance
was that working with smugglers first was a welcome necessity, then
a necessary evil that many grumbled about but did anyway. Now,
although Cracken's asking Terrik or Karrde for information was
something that was done surreptitiously, it wasn't illegal.
That would all change.
*Then everything would change.* "

Iella shot a furtive look at Mirax while Mara paused. Mirax
raised her eyebrow, her face a study in nonchalence.
Jaina, tactless as always, asked: "So, *are * you still
smuggling?"
Leia gasped and Mara grinned tightly. She was wondering
that too. That's why she started a trivial story at *that * point
in time.
Mara explained, "You see, Jaina's question is a good one.
Because I was thinking this: why in the world would you not be
approached by senators? Instead they bug me. You're just as
legitimate as I am – being a hero and all, and being married to a
Jedi hero -- and you still have the distinction of being a Master
Trader while I gave up that life. Unless, *unless *, Feyl'ya's
flunkies suspected something of you already and therefore didn't
trust you . . ."
"Or," Mirax contributed softly, "They suspected something
of me already and already *had * information on me, and wanted to
trap you in a scandal too."
Iella kept her face away from them, her eyes tracing the
bulkhead perimeters. "Well, thank Space that the reshuffling
of the government after *Feyl'ya's * big scandal made people forget
all about you, Mirax.
Leia looked at her accusingly. "You knew. You had something
to do with this."
Iella shook her head. "Cracken had something to do with this.
Mirax told me about it though. She keeps tabs on Booster, and Cracken
lets her continue her most lucrative business. That was a *long *
time ago, though. I didn't know all that was still applicable."
"It's not, exactly. I stopped way back when Booster stopped
making everybody nervous with his ISD. After years of it just
falling apart, the ship is more comic relief than heartburn for
Cracken. I'm back, though, because lately, the places my business
takes me is a good way to keep an eye on the effects of our
government on the Outer Rim, and the opportunity to smuggle
"legally" was just too lucrative to pass up."
Mara shook her head. "Oh, Mirax, you were a prime target
for those carrions, because if they could get you, they'd be
able to get Cracken on one end and Kardde and your father on
the other."
"And then Leia and her family," Iella supplied.
"So it's a good thing they 'forgot' all about it, right Iella?"
Iella smiled and took a sip of her hot chocolate. "Get back
to the story, Mara. I want to hear about me."

"All right, Iella. Well, you come in kinda last. While I
continued to defend my old friends, I heard my name again. "Mara
Jaaaadde Skywalker," a pretty voice drawled across the room. I
turned, and a smile immediately tugged at my lips. Mirax Terrik
Horn -- chunky hair, sparkling silver spaghetti straps with a slip
cut to the thigh, hands on her hips and a jaunty grin. I squinted
her eyes at her, pretending to not know who she was."

"Figures," Iella drawled as she handed steaming mugs and some
of Mirax's rhyscate to the other women. "You always *did * like
her best."

"Enough, Iella. So I see Mirax across the room. . .
"Hey girl!" I finally called back at her.
"Well, what do you think you're doing? Get over here!"
I gave my apologies to the circle of politicians and made
my way across the room.
"I thought I would save you," my friend whispered when I
arrived.
"From what? I was having a nice little discussion . . ."
"Mara!"
I turned halfway this time. "Wedge Antilles! How ARE
you!"
Iella Antilles . . .see, there you are dear . . . came up
from behind him and gave me a hug. "Hey dear! I feel as though I
haven't seen you in ages."
"Too long."
"Well, *you're* the popular one," one of Fey'lya's loyalists
sniffed as he walked by. I snarled and stared after him.
"A Jedi knows no anger," Corran chuckled from behind me.
"Shut up Horn, or all the telekinesis in the galaxy wouldn't
get your lightsaber from out of your --"
"Hey, that reminds me," he interrupted loudly. "When are we
gonna have that rematch?"
"Whenever you're ready to lose for the second time."
He shook his head at me. "I didn't lose that first time;
we didn't establish different rules to take into account my lack
of TK."
"No Dark Jedi is gonna make special rules for you because
you can't lift rocks."
"I don't exactly showcase my other skills in mere lightsaber
dueling, but let me tell you that absorbing energy and warping
minds ain't nothing to sneeze at."
"Do you two *ever* stop?" Luke asked as he joined the couples.
I ignored him. "Okay, so when *are* you ready to lose? You
wanna go now? C'mon, let's take it outside --"
"Oh yeah, let's have a lightsaber duel in the middle of a
diplomatic functio--"
An aide came up to the group and indicated to Iella that
General Cracken wanted to speak to her.
"I said *outside*, you brainless --"
"Hey kids," Iella called as she walked off, "why don't you
take all that hot air and work on a way to make a discussion
between our three families slightly *less* nastier than a Hutt's butt?" "

Jaina giggled. "You just wanted to hear Mara quote you on that,
didn't you."
Iella lobbed a pillowcase at her.
"What was the point of this story, Mara?" Leia asked,
confused.
"Well, General Cracken, to whom the aide led Iella to,
suggested to her that she invite some people along with her on
her mission for 'backup' . . . not that he didn't think that
Iella could take care of herself, of course, but he knew what
she could come up with when she had the proper inspiration . .
namely, Mirax. He didn't have to know that she had already told
*me * about the mission, and that therefore there would be three
very dangerous women going to Roon."
Mirax chuckled. "And this marks the first 'bar hop' that
Mara and I attended, although Iella had confessed her hobby to
us some years before."


"So, Iella walked up to us with a devilish look in her eyes,"
Mirax continued. She said, "How would you girls like to go on a
little jaunt with me?"
"Courtesy of the NRI?" I asked, curious.
"Mmmhmm." She jerked her thumb in Mara's general direction.
"Already told her about it."
Mara adopted a mock look of glee. "Do we get to .. ." her
voice dropped to a barely contained stage whisper " ...blow
things UP?"
"Mmmhmm."
I looked at the redhead next to me, shocked. "Mara Jade!
There are things MUCH more important that THAT." I turned to Iella.
"What's the report on shopping?"
"We're going to a major trade sector that specializes in
elegant clothing and home furnishings."
I covered my mouth to catch my escaping squeals of glee.
Mara giggled. "What do *you* get out of this, Iella? I get
bombs, Mirax spends loot ...your passion?"
Iella just looked at her with a crooked smile.
I stopped whooping. "NO way."
Mara's mouth dropped as she realized what her friend was up
to. "You little ..."
Iella kept looking at us, trying valiantly to keep a
straight face. "Mmmhmmm"
All three of us erupted in peals of laughter, ignoring the
strange looks from nearby dignitaries and the three men standing
across the room, who whirled as if one at their wives' laughter,
turned to their comrades-in-pain, and buried their faces in their
hands, wondering who the hell introduced those women to each other."

"Poor men," sniffed Jaina.
"Poor Roon," Mara said, grinning broadly. "That planet will
never forget us. Especially the city of Nunurra."
"Wait," said Leia. "Roon? What in space would possess you to
go to Roon?"
"Cracken was afraid that the RTR was going to try and influence
Rodia and Roon to ally against the New Republic."
"Ah," said Leia, "Because it's very close to Bothawui, it
would have been a logical planet for Fey'lya to try something.
Obviously he didn't, though, because I would have heard about it."
"Don't be so sure," sniffed Iella. At Leia's raised eyebrow:
"Okay, you're right, nothing happened."
"I've never known Cracken to be wrong about these hunches."
"He wasn't. In fact, even Booster thought of it," Mirax
groaned. "What went wrong was that we were detected. Borsk may be
stupid, but he's not an idiot."
Mara shook her head. "On the way in, the *Blade * got pretty
banged up in the Cloak of the Sith."
Leia and Jaina groaned. The Cloak of the Sith was a region
around the Roon System filled with all sorts of dangerous meteors,
asteroids, and planetoids.
"Mara's being somewhat *protective * of her ship," explained
Mirax, "We had no choice but to set down at the Nunurra spaceport
and effect repairs."
Mara glared. "Oh come on, I would never compromise mission
security. The ship wasn't spaceworthy! We would have died on
the way out. I can't believe I let something out of smuggler's
legend get me," she finished, muttering.
"We still got some stuff done, though," consoled Iella. "We
first went to the dark side of the planet, and got a inkling of
a major economic operation at work – a criminal organization
that billed itself as the next Black Nebula – not that it ever
got itself off of Roon, of course," she scoffed.
"Notice, she said Black Nebula, not Black Sun. It was
trying to copy a copycat," chuckled Mirax.
"Tied to Fey'lya?"
"Can't prove it."
" Their cover operation was a scavenger effort to find the
planet's legendary untold treasures," finished Mara. "After finding
them, blowing stuff up for my benefit, and realizing we couldn't do much else, we hit the tropics of the planet, let Mirax go shopping, and
I had my first experience with Iella's physiological energy
survey."
"Nunurra would never be the same," sighed Mirax.
"Yeah," added Iella, "Imagine us, about an hour before we got
run off the planet . . .

"The three of us burst in the saloon with one kick of Mirax's
stilettoed heel. We glided in majestically, or at least it seemed so
to the men sitting drunk at the bar, not to mention to the men lying
drunk on the floor or facedown drunk on a table. In actuality, we
retty much stumbled in themselves.
"Okay, girls," announced Mirax. "It's time to clean house."
We women got to work. We arrayed themselves in a passable
imitation of the Rogues' splayed diamond formation. I whistled once,
to get the men's attention. "BOYS! How would you like to have the night
of yourlives?"
Amid the ensuing catcalls and pleas to "Take it all off!",
Mara stealthily activated her physiological stress recorder.
Mirax put her hands on her hips. "Okay, okay, if you want
to have fun, you're going to have to listen to us."
I nodded. "Everyone, stand up."
After a few moments of grumbling, puking, and obscene
comments, the men managed to get themselves into something
resembling three lines of 6.
Mara led them through some basic line-dance steps, the Chad
conga kick, and aerobic lunges. After a while, it was forgotten
that most of them had expected a strip tease. The previously
grumbling and misanthropic beings began to laugh and smile, pat each
other on the back, and offer encouraging and constructive comments
on technique.
I took over, yelling, "Now show me a NERF! Very good, very
good…no sir, your nerf looks more like the Mantooine minuet. Stop
trying to be graceful. Be a NERF! An ANIMAL! Very good. Now down on
the ground, hands splayed against your ears like this. Bounce with
me, bounce with me. Roar. Very very good. You all make beautiful
Mogos."
Mirax followed my moves and tried to look over in Mara's
direction. Keeping her smile forced, she grinned at her friend
and spoke through her teeth. "How's it going over there? I can't
stay obscenely happy for much longer."
So Mara looked back over at Mirax and schooled her features
into a wide, feral grin. Mirax's smile vanished, and she looked
terrified. Then she burst out laughing. The men all caught the
bug and starting giggling uncontrollably, which *really * helped
our readings.

And because of that, I *always * beg Mara from now on to use
the Force at that point. "It's just SO much more effective if it
looks to them that three gorgeous women just morphed into grotesque
demons," I argue.
"The Force isn't for sideshows," she always retorts."

"Exactly," said Mara. "I have standards."
Mirax added: "We raised enough of a stink, though, that
some security types looked like they were checking us out. And I
don't think they were the planetary police force. Since we already
had a close call at the spaceport --"
"—We got on the backs of a couple of Mogo – those black
furry animals that people around there ride – and made our way back
over to the *Mar's Blade * --" continued Iella.
"--So we never got enough evidence to implicate Fey'lya. And now
he's back," finished Mara, groaning.
"Now he's back," Leia echoed, putting her head in her
hands. "How he managed to run against me this time and *win *
will forever be a mystery."
Jaina looked suspiciously over at Iella. Iella shrugged. "Stuff
like that is need to know ---"
"--And we don't need to know," she finished by rote.


CHAPTER FIVE: JAG

"But what we *do * need to know, Jaina," said her mother
threateningly, "is about Jag."
"Mo-om! Come on, I'm an adult. I didn't tell you about
Jag because the subject didn't come up!"
"Right, like *you * have a great track record with boys,"
Mara pointed out. "She's just worried about you."
"Whatever happened to Zekk, anyway?" Iella looked confused.
"Get with the times, woman," said Mirax.
Mara laughed. "Zekk was her boyfriend when she was 15,
Iella. That was a long time ago. And after he was mean to her,
he had a date . . . with me."
"Ouch. What'd you do?"
"Oh, she just tripped him in front of one hundred
assembled Jedi and fifty kids," said Jaina. "Don't do me any
favors, Aunt Mara." She groaned. "At least no one realized it
was her..it was so *childish *. Hmmph, the wife of the Master
Skywalker."
Mirax raised her eyebrows. "Hey, your aunt loves you, kid,
okay? But what did he do to you to deserve that? Mar, you said he
was *mean * to her? The way you were talking earlier this night,
it sounded as if he did something more horrible than let out a snide
comment or two."
Mara narrowed her eyes. "Turns out he only dated her because
he knew that she was interested, and wasn't man enough to tell her
that he *wasn't*. So instead, he took the easy road, and asked her
out . . .small consolation when it turns out that he confided to
Raynar that he was only with her out of the goodness of his heart."
Jaina shook her head. "I forgave him a long time ago, and
Aunt Mara just pretends that she's still mad. We both know it's
not the Jedi way to hold grudges like that, and besides, he *was*
trying to do the right thing."
"I guess it's trivial stuff compared to what you're going
through now," Iella pointed out.
Jaina shrugged. "Yeah."
"Don't want to talk about it ?"
"No, not really." She grinned shyly. "I'd rather talk
about Jag."
The other women smiled at each other, exchanging knowing
glances.
"To be that young . . ." Mirax said, voicing what had
gone unsaid.
"…so, yeah, after I found out about Mich, I ran to Jag for
comfort." Jaina blushed. " I won't go into detail about *that*."
"I know Jag was jealous of me and Mich," she continued.
"But then, there's a lot that he doesn't like. Like last year
when you and Corran were still not exactly citizens of the New
Republic anymore . . ."

~~~~~~~Jagged Fel clenched his teeth in disgust as
he observed the conversation between his uncle and Corran Horn.
Not at either of them, of course. They were both honorable men --
warriors -- both Rogues, one a general and the other a Jedi.
What he was disgusted with was the reason why Corran Horn was
speaking via Holonet instead of being in the briefing room with
them. It was politics, pure and simple, that had led the man to
his self-imposed exile on Corellia following the destruction of
Ithor.
Ithor did not represent the only devastation following Jedi
Horn's duel with Sheedo Shai. He saw how much his absence grated
on those close to the Jedi -- his uncle Wedge, Jaina's brother
Jacen, his
friend Ganner, even the novice Rogues who had equated him with the
legendary status of Wedge Antilles and squadron commander Gavin
Darklighter. Likewise, Mirax Horn was sorely missed by his aunt
Iella and Jaina's aunt Mara, who together had a "three person female
reign of terror," as they had liked to boast. Jaina had distantly
wondered aloud one day if the women perhaps were the reasons why
their husbands had felt the pressing need to band even closer
together after their marriages.
Jaina. . . .Jag grimaced as he watched her following the
conversation, one hand on Mich Stonner's shoulder. Corellian
and a fellow Rogue -- perfect for her. Politically speaking,
that was. Admitting interest in Jag would have been akin to
playing with fire, and he knew that she was still recovering from
being burned in a previous relationship. Jag found himself
mildly disappointed. He had expected her to be stronger and not
worry about what people would say to her dating someone with
Chiss and Imperial connections.
Jaina had shaken her head in exasperation when he had
pointed that out to her. "You've got it backwards, Jag," she had
explained. "Being with you would be politics, pure and simple.
Everyone would expect us to get together -- both elite pilots,
arguably from an elite socioeconomic class. It would be
delicious -- the daughter of Han Solo and the son of Baron Fel.
Our aunts are even best friends. And the conflict of ideologies --
that would make it even more delicious for Coruscant-watchers.
These days, Jag, it's the mismatches that delight people -- my
mother and father, Luke and Mara, Corran and Mirax-- well, you
know what? I'm not playing that game. I'm not going to take on
the challenge of figuring out your absurd psychology just because
it would make for an interesting story."
And that had been that. And Jag had yet again been
disappointed in this New Republic he had so reluctantly allied with.
At least one disappointment had been somewhat lessened.
Corran Horn was soon going to join his father-in-law on the
*Errant Venture*, ostentatiously to help manage his business.
Jag did not like the fringe, in principle -- a sentiment he felt
that he shared with Jedi Horn -- but the new development provided an opportunity for the New Republic military to surreptitiously
monitor the Rim for Vong activity. The Vong were expected to
be silent for the next few months -- but only because NR analysts
were sure that they were regrouping for a massive offensive. But
for once, the NR had an ally on the fringe who was motivated
purely by principle, not profit.
He turned his attention back to the briefing. Gavin
introduced Jag, and explained that his squadron was going to
be working with Rogue Squadron for some time. For now, Jag
would be acting as the liaison while Spike Squadron would be
patrolling Imperial Remnant space. Corran and the Errant Venture
were going to be hooking up with Spike Squadron there.
Jag didn't like being here while his officers were putting
themselves in danger out against the Yuuzhan Vong. But, it was
necessary. Jag didn't like just *following* orders, he wanted
to make them. And to do that, he needed to be in the planning
process. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"Jag always feels like he needs to be in the middle of
things. Mission planning, a battle – and in the middle of the
lives of people he cares about. He was there every step of the
way during mine and Mich's relationship, saw how upset I was
whenever we fought, notice how the smile didn't quite reach my
eyes even when I was ecstatic. He was the first – and maybe only –
person to realize that something wasn't quite right. But I wouldn't
hear him. I ascribed it all to jealousy – and maybe it *was* just
that. But things would have been a lot easier if I just wasn't
so darn stubborn." Jaina sighed. "Then again, it made it just
that much more special when we finally got together."
The women leaned in closer.
"That's all," she finished.
Mirax groaned. "Come *on*."
Leia shook her head, smiling. "Don't encourage her. She's
still my baby."
Mara gave Jaina a sidelong glance. "You and me, later,"
she whispered. Jaina grunted in amusement, but stopped as she
noticed her mother's saddened frown.
Iella took note of Leia's expression, understood what
it was about, but decided that she couldn't do anything about it.
*The three of them need to work it out for themselves* she thought
to herself. Aloud, she changed the subject. "You know, Wedge is
pretty protective of Jag – just as protective as he seems of you.
Maybe that's where he got it from. In fact, I remember one time,
during Fey'lya's gross negligence trial, that some of his cronies
were bugging the kid:

" "So, Colonel, your given name is . . .?" the guy asked.
"Jagged, sir," he answered as politely as he could.
"Jagged," the senator sniffed. "Interesting name." I narrowed
my eyes, but it didn't seem to have much of an effect. How petty
could grown men be?
"It was my grandfather's, *sir*," he said.
"I wasn't even aware that Baron Fel *had* a father," he said,
looking around and gaining chuckles from the retainers around him.
None of it was a big deal, and I knew he was a grown man who
had faced far worse than any of this, but I saw still Jag's
shoulders sagged in relief as Wedge walked up and put a comforting
hand on his arm. "He was named after his *maternal* grandfather.
Jagged Antilles."
*That* shut them up, and they walked away in silence.
Wedge stared after them. "Jag?"
"Yes, Uncle?"
"Do you get the nasty feeling that Fey'lya hasn't run out of
tricks yet?"
Jag followed his gaze. "His supporters sure are getting
virulent tonight."
"He's going to be acquitted. I can feel it in my bones." I
had to scoff at that. Little did he know.
"The Chiss generally don't feel things in their skeletal structure,
Uncle." He grinned up at him and walked off.
Wedge snorted and leaned in toward me. "Thrawn would argue
that point", he whispered."




CHAPTER SIX: THE FAMILY TREE

Iella had closed her eyes to better remember her story, and
when she finished, she opened them to quite a different scene than
from the beginning of the night.
Jaina had gotten up to drag a pillow over from the Mirax's
cabin, and now held it protectively in front of her, looking
malcontented. Leia was glaring at Mara looking away. Mirax,
concerned, looked as if she was about to meddle.
Leia, turning to Iella, finally spoke. "To tell the truth, I'm
a little worried about Jaina. She seems to have this wild streak
in her that just can't be extinguished. She hasn't had much
opportunity to act on it, considering her life, her station, her
obligations, but she *is* young. The rumors about her . . .
She can bat her eyelashes and any boy would jump through hoops of
fire just to be near her. She has that power. Han told me once that
I had the same type of pull. The difference is...I didn't know it.
Jaina is all too aware of her sexuality."
Jaina choked in disbelief. "Care to talk about me as if I'm
not here?" she asked sarcastically.
"Aren't you being a little hard on her? I mean, you were about
her age when you used to sidle into the Imperial Senate using nothing
but a good body and a sharp tongue to get your way," Mara said,
fuming.
Leia's voice turned chilly. "I'm going to ignore some of the
more *hurtful* things in that statement. But first of all, you
have no right telling me how or what I should think of Jaina. She's
*my* daughter, not yours."
"And that's what it's all about, isn't it. You're jealous."
Leia looked away, not willing to answer. A storm seemed to
pass over her eyes, then transform to mere distant clouds.
"You're very close to her. I'm very glad that she's found
you, and you're a wonderful role model and friend, but," she
shrugged, "I was separated so much from my children when they were
young, and now they're growing up so fast, that I miss them.
Especially Jaina." She looked at her daughter affectionately.
"I'm sorry I was acting so childish, sweetheart."
Jaina shrugged in response and waved the apology away.
"And Mara, I love you. I am so --"
"Forget it, Leia. It's over. Besides, you never knew your
mother, and I'm sure you just want to make sure that your daughter
knows hers."
Leia giggled. "I wish, on some level, that *I* was the one
to trip Zekk that day in the Temple."
"Mom, I would have *killed* you if you did that."
Iella smiled sympathetically. "How much do you know about your
mother?"
Leia sighed. "From what we can discern, she was probably the
head of a planet, although I'm not sure as a queen or as an elected president. That we get from various rumors in the pre-Imperial era
about what happened to Anakin Skywalker after he "died." As for
what I think, my mother obviously was a strong woman, considering
where Luke and I am today. I only wish I knew how to find her. "
"She's probably dead," Mirax supplied.
Leia shook her head at her. "Yes, I *know* she's probably dead,"
she snapped lightheartedly. "In fact, I do believe she died when
I was young. I meant that I wish I could find her..*about* her.
Who was she? What was she like? I feel as though if only I could
find out about her I could touch that untapped power inside of
myself...that inner strength that she just *had* to have, that
she just *had* to have somehow passed on to me. I don't see
myself as a particularly strong person. I try. I have a projected
aura of self-assurance...but, sometimes, I just want my mother.
She could...she *would*... make it all okay."

"But what am I saying," she continued, looking at Mara. "It
must be harder for you, not even knowing who your parents are."
Mara smiled. "Yeah, I fell a sort of kinship with you and
Luke, and with Han, too, because of our screwed up childhoods. I
mean, you may have had a loving family, but growing up a princess
must have been somewhat trying, in a screwed up way."
"Try growing up a smuggler's daughter," Mirax supplied.
"Then again, Wedge's family kept my childhood pretty normal."
"Luke actually had somewhat a normal childhood, to tell the
truth," Mara continued. "I mean, yeah, Tatooine wasn't the greatest
place to grow up, but his experience was no different from Gavin's
or any other young person on that decrepit rock. But now he's
obsessed wondering about his mother. I wish I could just call in
my resources and find out about her for him, and for you,
Leia."
"So, you don't remember your parents at all, Aunt Mara?"
asked Jaina.
Mara blew her breath out through her teeth. "I talked to
your mom about this not long after you were born. I told her that
I seemed to remember my being taken away, and my parents' not
wanting me to go. But even *that* memory has faded with time.
Now sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with little
snatches of the truth, and I feel as though I'm grabbing on to
them, afraid of letting go – the truth that is, not my parents,
although I see the parallel. But I always lose whatever I was
getting at, and nothing – not trying to write it down, not
memory enhanced by the Force – can impart it all to me."
"Can't Luke help you extract those memories through the
Force?" asked Mirax. "I seem to remember Corran doing things
like that to remember details about old cases."
Mara shook her head. "I think the Emperor did something
to my brain," she said quietly.
Silence. No one was willing to speak. Mirax opened her
mouth, thought better of it, withdrew once more.
Mara finally spoke again. "My . . .mom . .I don't know.
She was probably a peasant girl, with a kind strong farmer
husband, and they had to give me up. "
Mirax began to giggle, just to be able to *laugh*, to
let out all the uncomfortable tension that had built up within
the cabin. "A kind . . strong…farmer . . ." She dissolved
into giggles once more. The rest began to chuckle, grateful for
the diversion.
"I'm *serious*!" Mara exclaimed. "Luke's mom would
become an icon. My mother would probably turn out to be some poor
sop from some backwater planet."
"Mara," Leia reproached her, "That's incredibly mean and
judgmental."
She harrumphed. "Well, let's just say that I will NOT be
happy if I'm from Aldivy."
"I'm sure you're not from Aldivy, Mara," Iella consoled.
"Thanks for reassuring me."
"Yeah, with your karma," Jaina couldn't help saying, "You're
probably from Agamar."
Mara groaned as she recalled Loran, Antilles, and Donos'
"Dod/Fod/Lod" act.

"I miss my mother," Mirax cut in softly. "It was hard for
me when my father got sent to Kessel, because then *everyone* was
gone – my dad and mom, the Antilles' – I ended up growing up, but
not before anyone's eyes. Just by myself."
"I think we all had to grow up too fast," said Iella. " I had
probably the most normal childhood compared to anyone, but I met
Diric when I was very young, so even then I felt as though I should
act older than my age."
Jaina smiled sardonically at her mother. "Mom always told
me that she grew up too fast, and that she would try with all her
might to shelter me from the same fate."
"Oh yeah, great job, Leia," said Iella. "A seventeen year
old pilot in Rogue Squadron . . ."
Leia shook her head. "I know. But the war doesn't leave
any of us much choice. It's the same way it was when we were
young. Peace lasted for such a short time . . ."
"Most kids my age would be entering University or getting
ready to go into the family business."
"Jaina, you *are* in the family business," said Mara,
laughing. "Putting your life in danger, rushing off on fool
crusades -- that's the Skywalker-Solo name for you."
Jaina was quiet, lost deep in thought. It was kind of
scary, how much she had taken the normal route of "growing up
and growing old" and twisted it to fit her own mangled legacy.
"I think I was catapulted into a different realm of being ...
from protected and loved daughter to sudden adult," she explained
to the assembled women. "There, in Rogue Squadron, no one has the
luxury to treat me as the "resident kid." Out of necessity, I was
accepted into the Fold right away, one of the gang . . ."
"I act the part well," she continued, "but sometimes, on
the inside, I get scared. not the kind of scared that impedes me
from acting responsibly. It's not fear. My Jedi training, along
with my natural disposition, keeps me from acutely feeling that
type of fear. it's that other kind of scared ...like I'm missing
something out of this part of my life, and like I'll never have
the chance to get it back. I've wanted to grow up my entire life.
I *am* grown...I *am* more mature than most others my age. It
*is* my destiny."
Mirax frowned. "Jaina, aren't you worrying about something
that's not exactly new? You have never been the "protected daughter"
from what I can tell. You've been traveling around the galaxy
with your parents, have trained to be a Jedi Knight from the time
you were eleven – you've been catapulted into charged situations
and have risen to them. I dare say you've thrived in them."
Jaina shrugged. "I know. But still. . . I yearn to be nagged
by my mother to get home at a decent hour. I yearn to be struggling
with finding a minimum-wage job, hitting the books, and partying all
at the same time. I want to be nervous around boys, not risk my
life everyday with men that now are my close friends." She turned
to the woman at her side. "I think Aunt Mara loves me because
she sees me as the teenager she never was. I don't know. I think
she's a bit off."
"Mom, well let's just say it's hard to live up to your
accomplishments, and just to you as a person. You're revered.
You've, like, done everything anyone could possibly ever do,
and you're still so young. I do things that sometimes I stop
and think: "Would Mom ever do that?"--"

"—and usually," Mara added, grinning, "the answer is no."
Jaina glared at her. "Yeah, yeah, that's your influence
talking."
"Don't talk to me about influence, young lady. I have enough
of my own accounting to do. I don't need to be responsible for
someone else's mistakes too." Mara flashed a quick smile to make
sure no feelings were hurt, and then turned herself inward. She
could joke about her mother being a farmgirl (a perfect match
considering her husband's rural roots), she could smile in triumph
over her success in corrupting Jaina, but the ugly truth was that
sometimes, Mara just didn't feel like a *good person*. It didn't
matter how far she came in life. She couldn't escape the fact that
she was the tool of evil, hatred, and suffering. Would anyone
truly care if her mother were ever found? Wouldn't she be pitied,
not only for having to give her little girl up, but because that
girl turned out to be her?
Or wouldn't it be worse, if her mother actually *did* have
a choice in giving her up? How could Mara be sure that her
memories were accurate – they came to her only in gauzy and
disjointed images. Maybe she *did* do something. Maybe she *wasn't*
a saint. That would certainly explain how *she* turned out.
Maybe she didn't want to know about her mother. Maybe she'd just
be disappointed.
She couldn't very well express those feeling aloud, however.
She had already put a damper on the group more than once in the
current conversation, and did not feel like having Mirax or Leia
look at her once more with sympathetic eyes. She knew it was not
pity; she was too close to them for that. However, something
inside of her still rebelled against shared empathy. Of course, what
had come to the tip of her tongue at that moment was no less than
insane. But then again . . .
She looked at the community of women before her. They were
all daughters, four were mothers – of daughters, no less. They
would understand.

"Ahna is cursed, " she said, looking around the room
for support.
All she got back were stares. Jaina finally rolled
her eyes.
"What?" she exclaimed poutily, sounding all the universe
like Han Solo.
At least she had gotten a reaction from Threepio the
last time she brought it up, along with her fear that Ahna would
one day run off with a boy and would never see her mother again.
"Daughters? Curses? Boys? Oh my!" he had said.
Mara was *convinced* that Ahna fulfilled some sort of
fatalistic prophecy. Look at her! She was the granddaughter of
Vader, the daughter of the Emperor's Hand. Something was wrong
there. Add to that Mara' s willfulness and Luke's curiosity, and
she had a demon on her hands.
No one ever took her seriously, though. She sighed. One day,
they would see. She decided to express more everyday thoughts.
"Ahna is my hope for the future, my redemption, the promise
that things will be right in the galaxy despite my intervention," she
sighed.
" 'Despite your intervention'?" Iella echoed. "Mara, enough
being hard on yourself. All you can do is be responsible for what
you do *now*, how you pass on your values and experiences on to
your child."
"I know, I know," Mara said. "Fine. I hope to be a light of
virtue for her --"
"Good girl."
"-- That way when she finds out about me," she continued, "she
won't be able to say, "Well, it was obvious all along that she
wasn't the greatest woman in the world." "
Iella shook her head in exasperation. Mirax looked as if
she were about to protest.
"Joking!" Mara insisted.

"Aunt Mara, do you ever just drive people *insane*?" asked
Jaina.
Mara glared at her. "Respect your elders."
"She drives *reporters* insane," Leia grumbled.
Iella looked confused. "Isn't that a good thing?"
Leia sighed. "It's bad enough that Han yells at them, that
Chewie used to roar at them, and the the Noghri just plain give
them nightmares, but then there's Mara and her . . .charm. Like
the media frenzy right after the RTR crisis, when the Jedi were
finally back in favor and Corran was welcomed back into the New
Republic, a reporter came by to do a profile story on me.
Instead, he decided that it would be a *wonderful* idea to portray
the dynamics of the different female members of the family : me,
Jaina, Mara. Mara was over there cooking dinner –"
"Don't remind me," she growled. "The stupid housedroid had
to mix up the power couplings in my heating unit. Not only did
*I* have to cook – considering that the droid had all but melted
down – but I couldn't even cook in my own home."
"Anyway, she overheard the reporter's proposal, and said --"
"You should have sent a female reporter. You'd never
understand us," supplied Mara.
"Sounds valid," said Iella.
"Yeah, but the poor guy was trying so hard to be nice and
courteous, so he talked to Mara for a bit and finished by saying,
"Thank you for being so candid." Mara takes one look at him and
said, "Listen, if you want to deal with me, there's one thing
you should know: I'm never sincere. Hmm, was everything I said
true – or false? Or a bit of both? You'll never figure it out."
"Mara!" laughed Mirax.
"Well, he was a young reporter who had no idea what he
was doing, and it's not like he was working for the Coruscant
Daily News or anything. Facts are important at his paper, and
he didn't seem that well prepared. Just wanted to teach him a
lesson in trust."
Leia put her head in her hands. "At times I feel as though
I'm parked diagonally in a parallel universe," she mumbled.
"What was that? Didn't quite catch that."
"Nothing Mara. Just wanted to mention that *then*, after
he had eaten some dinner, he complimented you and you had to
respond by saying, ""So what you enjoyed the meal? Don't even
*think* about getting seconds!" "
"What?" Mara looked around the room. "He was overstaying
his welcome!"
"Yeah, and then he got fed up with your attitude – no pun
intended – and decided to make the profile story an *expose* --
on all the scandals our family had supposedly gotten into the past
few months."
"Like what?" asked Iella.
Jaina groaned. "Oh, I remember this article now. Like what?
Like all the stuff that the RTR and Mich's group had been putting
out for months and months. There were accusations of a Jedi
hegemony, stories of incest . . .oh, and lets not forget me and
my scandalous ways.
"So much for teaching him to check his facts," Mara sniffed.
"Yeah, I'm supposedly extremely promiscuous – which is why
I got mad at Mom earlier for even *touching* the subject. And
with my parents' friends too!"
"*My* husband included?"
"Yeah, they think something's up between me and Corran.
Ewww. Not to mention Kam, KYP?!? –Hello? -- . . .and then, after
that article, I remember I was *so* upset about some of the
accusations, and I talked to Colonel Darklighter about it, and we
became close, because we first-hand had seen how stupid our
bureaucracy and media could be, especially after all that stuff
about Colonel Horn. And of course, *that* friendship led to
*another* article . . ."
" . . . and Jaina finally nipped it all on the bud by writing
a scathing response to the paper."
"You should sue."
"It's hard. We're public figures."
"Of course, being relatively quiet about it is what allowed
Mich and his group to start it all up again," Jaina qualified.
"How'd it go?" Mirax asked her.
"What?"
"Your response to the paper."
"Oh, it was a beaut. I was very proud of it."
"That's good."
"I had a good title too."
"What was that?"
" 'Me, Corran, and a Flight Stick'," she deadpanned. She
got the second pillow thrown at her that night.
"You sure know how to enervate your elders, don't you," said
Mirax, mock-threateningly.
Mara sniggered.


CHAPTER SEVEN: THE JEDI

"And she asks if *I* drive people insane," said Mara.
"She probably fits in well with the Rogues," contributed
Iella.
"Hey!" Jaina protested. "Stop talking about me as if I'm
not here!"
"Did you hear something?" Leia asked.
Jaina rolled her eyes again. "Hey – what's worse than a
briefing full of Rogue veterans?"
"What can compete with Wes and Hobbie?" Mirax thought aloud.
"Oh, I know—"
"—the Wraiths," she and Iella said simultaneously.
"Oh, well, I meant a briefing full of Rogues and Jedi."
"Well, Rogues who *are* Jedi can be a pretty volatile,
ridiculous, and all-around exasperating combination," put in Mirax.
"In fact, I can think of two who fit that bill."
"Corran and Uncle Luke?"
The look that Mirax gave Jaina assured her that she was
wrong on one count. "HEY!"
Mara turned to Leia. "Did you hear something?" she echoed.
"Well, you're right about Corran," Jaina continued. "Especially
when he's paired with Kyp."
Mara groaned. "Yeah."
"Jedi have really been integrated into Rogue operations. Even
before Corran rejoined us, he and Kyp, or Kam and Mara, would show up
for a briefing, or would inevitably save our butts during an
operation. Like that time we had that covert co-op, that ended up
being a huge melee of New Republic Starfighter Command and Jedi
fighting with elements of the RTR . . ."
"That almost was a disaster," Leia concurred.
"Yeah, and I *knew* it wouldn't go right. I even brought
it up that day when General Antilles briefed us."

" So there I was," Jaina began, "when I just got a
*headache.* I raised my hand.
"Lieutenant?" said General Antilles. I got a little nervous.
Sure, I knew Wedge from before, and sure, I was a valued member of
the squadron, but I had been dissenting a *lot* lately, and Jag
was bugging me about it. He said that I never showed enough respect.
Anyway,
"I don't understand, sir," I said, "If this operation is to
be done . . quiet-like . . .for political reasons, why send the
Rogues? We're a rather high-profile squadron."
"It's worse than you think, Lieutenant," he replied. "We're
getting some extra help that also is rather high profile.
Colonel?" General Antilles turned to Gavin.
"Sending in the Rogues, Lieutenant Solo, is a political
move actually masterminded by your mother." My headache got
worse with that. "

"No respect," Leia muttered.
Jaina laughed. "No, sorry, Mom, I meant that the logistics
behind it gave me a headache. I still don't quite understand
it."

"So anyway, Colonel Darklighter explained it to me, saying
approximately that with the Rogues and the Chiss squadron
coordinating activities on the Imperial/RTR border, anyone who's
queasy about aiding the Empire won't *think* to look beyond a cover
story of military exercises. Doing things ultra secretively, like
sending in an intelligence unit, is more of an open invitation
for scrutiny."
He then stopped suddenly as his comlink beeped. "Yes, send
them in, " he said, sparing a glance at General Antilles. The doors
slid open, admitting two Jedi.
Darklighter turned to his pilots, smiling. "Rogues, here's
some of that extra help the General was just mentioning. With the
New Republic's finally sanctioning Jedi activities, we've been asked
to work with members of the order in stopgapping the RTR threat to
the Imperial Remnant."
I pinched my forehead for a moment. *This is as high profile
as it gets*, I thought to myself.
"Rogues," continued the General, "I'd like you to meet Jedi
Knight Corran Horn and Jedi Master Kyp Durron. Many of you recognize
Corran as the man who *saved* the people of Ithor –" here, a couple
of the Rogues clapped softly in support – " with the truce he created between our forces and the Vong. He is an early member of the
reformed Rogue Squadron and became one of its brightest stars.
Master Durron is one of the few Jedi Masters in the galaxy, and --"
*and is a complete jerk*, I bet he wanted to add, " --and we
welcome them both," he finished graciously.
Corran was laughing and exchanging greetings with Gavin,
Alinn, and Inryi, gave a nod to Wedge as he was talking, and winked
at me. Kyp merely solemnly inclined his head in greeting, and I
raised my eyebrows melodramatically.
"Please," Gavin indicated, "Have a seat. There are chairs,
um, well, they're pretty far away. Let me . ."
He stopped as Kyp raised a finger and as a chair came sliding
from out of the alcove to rest neatly behind him.

"Wait," Leia interrupted. "He did that *again *?"
"Oh, yeah," said Jaina.
"What do you mean, 'again'. He does that often?" asked Mirax.
"Until he finally snapped out of "show-off" mode and grew
up. But that wasn't until a few months later."

Corran rolled his eyes and shook his head, and jogged over
to the alcove, grunting as he dragged his chair back with him.

"Why don't you guys ever have enough chairs at the briefing
table?" asked Iella, suspicious.
"Oh, we usually do. But we had a betting pool going that
whichever Jedi Uncle Luke decided to send would pull the same trick.
Of course, since it was always the same *person* . . ." Jaina
shrugged. "We're gonna try it again."

" "Sir?" I continued.
"I know, you don't get it," the colonel told me. Well, actually,
what follows isn't *exactly* what he said, because I *still* don't
get it. "

"It was Jaina-speak," Mara whispered to Iella.
Jaina ignored her.

"Okay, here it goes. He told me that the obviousness is
two-fold. Actually three. First, no one would believe that we
would be stupid enough to use military exercises as an excuse for
increasing activity in the region, so people will believe that it
*must* be the truth. Second, even *if* systems investigate, it's
that much better so General Cracken can work on *his* pet projects
on the matter without scrutiny.
"What are his projects?" Brett interjected at that point. By
the way, he's handsome, wealthy, and from Esseles, if anyone's
interested.
Wedge shook his head. "Need to know basis. Even I don't
know, exactly."
I smiled enigmatically. *That*, at least, was something
that I understood.
Inryi raised her hand. "What's the third? The third reason?"
Corran laughed. "C'mon, Inryi, you've been a Rogue longer
than that! The third reason is that no matter what the politics
are, sending Jedi and the Rogues is enough to guarantee success
in *any* mission. We're the best chance this galaxy has got." Corran
always says stupid stuff like that. "

"The mission took us to the Parmel Sector," she continued.
"To the resort planet, Gacerian. I have never seen a more stark
place! beautiful mountains seem to rise out of nowhere, amid nothing
but rock and coal. It's pretty much right on the Imperial Remnant
border, and was in danger of being taken over by the RTR, and
Rogue Seven – Hythri Huan – is a Gacerite, so that's where we
ended up. We also ended up in the middle of a riot, one of those
that started to pop up amidst the turmoil in the Republic at that
time. There was a speaker rising above us on a platform, and
obviously he identified us as off-worlders. We stood out like short,
hairy appendages among a sea of people nearly three meters tall,
absolutely devoid of body hair, and with dark orbs for eyes. Of course,
the planet had been off the safe travel lists for some weeks then --
the political unrest there was known – so we were the only non
Gacerites there. The agitator convinced the crowd that we were
meddlers, come to rob the Gacerites of their freedom – whether we
were New Republic, Imperial, or RTR didn't matter. All that mattered
was that they were proud of the relative liberality with which
their Imperial governor had run the planet, and were even prouder
of their newfound independence. Hythri tried to step in to help us,
but to Gacerites, what's worse than an off-world meddler is a
home-planet collaborator. They first tried to throw stones at us,
but then their automatic battle systems came out. They're proud of
their army, you know, so there were droids, and also flesh and
blood fighters, playing music the entire time they came toward
us."

Mara nodded as Jaina spoke, familiar with the Gacerite
galaxy-renowned music. She grimaced. "Palpatine loved Gacerite
dirge opera."
"Well, the mood of whatever piece they were playing seems to
fit that description."
Leia shivered. "I hate hearing about you being in danger. Not
just physically, but everything in your stories makes me worry,
because I feel as though you've grown up and that I missed it
*all*."
Jaina patted her mother's hand reassuringly. "That's why
we're here together *now*, Mom. Don't think I don't know the real
reason why you convinced Colonel Darklighter that you should be my
partner for this mission."
"I wasn't trying to keep an eye on you, you kn –"
Jaina smiled. "—I know."

"I looked around at the scene before me, discouraged.
"We're dead," I thought, butI couldn't say it aloud -- wouldn't.
It wouldn't look good for the youngest member of the squadron to
give up so quickly and effortlessly while the veterans fought tooth
and nail to prove that they would *never* believe it was over.
I spared a glance at Colonel Darklighter, who had his blaster drawn
and was ready to charge in there, giving it his all against the
automatons. He looked at me.
"How many of those things can you stop, Solo?"
I understood that he was talking about my Force ability.
The presences of Kyp, with his telekinetic genius, and Corran,
with his ability of to effect mental imagery, would have ensured
our safety, but they were on this ship, taking a side mission.
"There're too many, sir," I said grimly.
He sighed, running options through his head, and nodded to
his two squadron commanders for suggestions.
"Sir," Major Forge said unhelpfully, "It seems what we need
are a lot of . ."
She stopped when I gasped. "Solo?" asked Guther. I didn't
answer. I felt a familiar ting --
"Look!" cried someone -- either Brett or Kitch. Major Varth
grabbed her macrobinoculars. "There are two ships entering orbit,"
she reported.
"I can't tell whether friendlies or hostile"
"Friendly," I confirmed, a big smile growing on my face as
I recognized the touches on my mind.
" . . .Jedi" Colonel Darklighter said, finishing Major
Forge's sentence. "

"So, although our cover was blown, the damage wasn't too
bad, considering that major elements of our military were called
to the Parmel Sector to Vohai."
Leia nodded. "Yes, the Bothans attempted to sabotage their
unirail –" the famous Vohai monorail ran around the planet –
"and we were afraid that it had the makings of an interstellar
incident."
"So, with that, the New Republic couldn't hide anymore that
we had interests in the Parmel Sector, so the whole reason behind
our mission was shot anyway –"
"—and since your brother was part of the Jedi complement of
the Vohai mission, he could sense that you were in a bit of trouble
over on Gacerian, right?" asked Iella.
"Kind of. Everything happened so fast that Jacen wouldn't have
been able to get there *that* quickly. It's more like he just sensed
that it was really important that the *Best Chance* and the *Pulsar
Skate* get permission to leave formation and find their way over to
the system. It was good! I got to see Tenel Ka again, who I hadn't
seen in *forever* --" she stopped suddenly and looked down.
"Jaina?" Mara prodded.
"Jacen hadn't seen her in a while either," Jaina explained
sheepishly.
"Ohhh," said Mirax. "Still awkward between them?"
Jaina nodded. "I talked with him about it afterwards . . . ."

Jaina explained how she had walked up to the redheaded
princess and enveloped her in a fierce hug. "I've hardly seen
you since the master/apprentice system was developed." She said
"Jedi Tionne has kept me busy," Tenel Ka returned. "Of
course, it seems as though you have been busier, my friend."
Jaina beamed, and pointed to her lieutenant's rank. "I
can hardly believe it," she whispered. She shook her head. "I
bet Jacen hit the roof when he finally saw you again."
Tenel Ka hesitated. "Actually, we were on different
ships . . .he was with General Antilles and Jedi Horn on the
*Pulsar Skate* while most of the Jedi were on the *Best Chance*."

"Jacen walked up at that moment," said Jaina.

~~~ -- and the three friends experienced an uncomfortable
silence. Jacen blushed, aware that he was getting curious looks
from Jaina's squadron mates because he looked so nervous. He looked
at Tenel Ka, trying to think of something to say that would
characterize how much he missed her friendship. "Wanna hear a
joke?" was all he could manage, and the words came out quicker
than he could bang his head against the wall. To his surprise,
Tenel Ka burst out laughing.
"I didn't think I was *that * funny" he retorted.
"Yes," she answered. ~~~~~~~`

"Awww," said Mirax. "That's so cute!"
"Yeah, when we were *kids*," Jaina retorted.

~~~~~Jacen racked his brain. Stupid! Now he had to think
of something other than the corny jokes he used to make when
he was 14. "Um, how many Jawas does it take to screw in a
glowrod?" he asked. Great. Just great, Jacen.
Jaina looked at him in mock shock. Tenel Ka grimaced.
"I *know* that joke, pottyhead."~~~~~~

"*I* don't know that joke," said Leia.
Mara leaned over and whispered in her ear, "The punchline
is: 'I don't know. How many can fit in there?' "
Leia still looked confused.
"Never mind," Mara sighed.

~~~~Jacen did a perfect imitation of his father's "Who,
me?" gesture, and got a thumbs up from General Antilles as he
walked by.
"Jacen . …" said Tenel Ka, sounding perturbed.
"Okay, so then how would *you* know it, my pure and
pristine princess?"
She hesitated. "My fiancé told me."
Jaina's face lit up, then dimmed a little as she looked
at her brother.
"Your . . fiancé, " he repeated.
"Yes," she said, looking a bit guilty. "I'm sorry, my
friend...both of you . . .I tried to get word out but things
were just . ."
"No, no," Jacen replied quickly. "It's okay. Don't
worry about it." He looked around quickly. "Have you talked to
Corran yet?"
enel Ka shook her head no, and Jacen waved him over. "Corran! D
o you remember Tenel Ka?"
We've met," he responded,smiling, "but I wasn't teaching at
the Academy when you kids were there."
Hello, Jedi Horn."
Just Corran, thanks"
You are a teacher now?"
Yeah," he shrugged, "pitched in when Mara got sick, and I
guess I'm back on the job now that the NR is a bit back to normal.
I think Luke gradually handed Jacen over to me, so now *I'm* stuck
with him as my Padawan learner. " He ruffled Jacen's hair
affectionately. In reality, he didn't see Jacen as a kid anymore.
He was a man, but it was fun to treat him the same way he would
treat Valin.
Speaking of, " he continued, "I need to talk to him about
something. Jacen?"
They walked away, Corran's hand on his shoulder. "Now,
tell me what's *really* going on," he whispered.
"What?"
"What's eating you?"
Jacen sighed. "She's engaged."
"Who?" He turned back to the girls. "You mean . .you're in
love with the princess?"~~~~~

Leia buried her head in her hands. "Why does that sound so familiar?"

~~~~~"No!" Jacen said defensively. "We're just friends. Old
friends."
"Like you and Danni Quee?"
Jacen sighed. "When Danni let me down, my ego was hurt, but
that was about it. I got over it really quickly, and I probably
became interested in her because we were both half-naked on the
stylus ship . . " he blushed. "Anyway, Tenel Ka is . .
different. We've never acted as if there was anything more than
friendship there, but for some reason, I was really nervous to
talk to her tonight." He put his head in his hands. "It must've
been the Force warning me that I was going to make a fool of
myself. I . ."
"You really really like her," Corran finished for him.
"I really really like her," Jacen echoed, sighing.~~~~~~~~~~~

"So what's Jacen doing now that she's had her wedding?"
asked Iella, curious.
Jaina hesitated. "He's still trying to win her heart," is all
that she would say.
The women shifted a little, uncomfortable.
Jaina frowned a bit, lost in thought. She thought of her
friend, still struggling between cultures. Although she had made
it well known that she embraced her Jedi heritage and was *not*
content with sitting on a throne, and although she was a strong
young woman who wouldn't even allow a prosthetic arm to be put
on her, sometimes, well, one just couldn't avoid one's roots.
Some people gave in to some things, fougght feverishly the others.
This must have been Tenel Ka's time to just...accept.


"So," Leia said, trying to break the tension, "What about them
voices in your head?"
Mara laughed and explained.

~~~~~Sometimes, he thought, life has an eerie way of not
changing. He could hear Han Solo in the background, working on
the *Millenium Falcon*. *That hunk o' junk * he remembered
fondly. He always wondered, however, if people used that phrase
to refer to the *Falcon* or to its pilot.
"Are you *trying* to make those readings jump more than excited
gya flies?" he heard the man roar. Ben smiled tightly. Gya flies got constant muscle spasms during their mating seasons, based on a certain
set of harmonics emitted during that time.
"Sorry, Dad," a younger voice uttered. Was that Leia's twin
boy? He searched his memory. They were going to name the boy . . .Jacen.
Ben turned to his companion, gave him an amused nod. The
excitement of the man standing next to him was palpable. No matter
how far they had come, no matter what had transpired, no matter the
years that loomed in between, he would always be that little boy
whom he first met in the passenger cabin of the Queen's ship. Ben
chuckled to himself. He was quite wary of him that day, this new
excited youngster who had threatened to replace him as Qui-Gon's favorite.
So much time had passed since then. In fact, it even had been
sixteen years since Ben had cut his ties to the mortal world. Ani
had not seen his children since he came to Leia shortly after his death.
The captain of the *Millenium Falcon* finally came into view,
scowling at the incompetence of his young helper. Ben and Ani both
took in his appearance and then glanced at each other. Oh, the
march of time. . .yet again, some things just didn't change.
The man was obviously older, with graying hair and a face
that had become more and more leathery with every adventure and
every bit of damage done to him. Yet his build was even more wiry
than before, and gave him a look of a man who still had the power
to enervate, cajole, wheedle . . .and fly like never before. It was
obviously still the same Han Solo, tending to his beloved ship. The
one difference Ben could see about him was that potential to look
dignified when necessary. At that moment, however, covered in
grease and soot and his scowl dimpling the scar on his chin, it
looked as though, indeed, not much had changed.
What worried Ben somewhat was that, however, that the man
*did* heavily resemble the Han Solo of before…for the last time he
checked, he was settled with his wife, eagerly awaiting the birth
of his children, and ready to work with this new government that he
had help establish. Now, he sensed more a feeling of buried grief
and a spacer's independence – just as in the man he had first met
in the Mos Eisley Cantina.
"Da-ad," the younger voice said. The owner of the voice
followed Han out from the other side of the ship. Ben took a good
look at him, too: brown hair that looked as if it could lighten to
sandy or dirty blond, full cheeks, yet slight frame. 'Han's son'
he thought to himself. 'Leia's son.'
"Can I *please* recalibrate the –" the youth started to
continue.
Han whirled on his son. "The last time you tried to mess
with those instruments, I ended up almost –don't roll your eyes
at me!" He sighed paternally. "I know you have the ability to make
this ship surpass even *my* specs, Anakin, but I like her the way
she is."
The boy just nodded, understanding the peculiar bond between
his father and his ship.
Ben again turned to the man next to him. "Anakin?" he whispered.
He tried to keep his Force-sense down while talking to him; he could
sense great potential in the boy but did not want to reveal himself.
The older Anakin – Ani, as Ben decided to think of him –
shrugged but looked to be at peace. "She named her son after me,"
he sighed, smiling.
"Maybe she had decided against Jacen – no, he looked to be
younger than seventeen years. Another son, then," Ben thought aloud.
Ani shrugged again in response. "What matters is that she's at peace
with her heritage."
Their conversation was interrupted by a strong Force signature
– at least as strong as the boy's, but more mature, controlled.~~~~~~~~

"Hmm, 'mature'? 'Controlled'? Nah, couldn't be you," Jaina
said, sticking her tongue out at her aunt.
"Shut it, young one."


~~~The woman strode into the hangar, poised, confident, and
with a shock of thick red-gold hair that somehow managed to seem
perfectly groomed and elegant yet rebellious at the same time. As
she entered, she seemed brusque, businesslike, and not just a little
rushed. Her eyes flashed quickly over the second ship in the
hangar, then softened as she turned to look at the pair by the
*Falcon*.
"Are you two at it *again*?" she asked, amused. Ben was
surprised by the kind, resonant voice that came out of this
seemingly-unapproachable woman. He turned to Ani to make a comment
about appearances' always being deceiving, but then noted the
thoughtful frown on his face.
"What's wrong?" he whispered.
Ani began to speak, and then hesitated as the woman furrowed
her brows. He nodded to Ben to diminish their force presences again.
"We have to be careful," he said, when they had diminished so much
as to only be hanging on to the physical realm by a thin,
metaphysical thread, "She and – my grandson – are very strong in
the Force."
"You recognize her." It was not a question.
Ani continued to frown. "I knew her as the Emperor's Hand –
one of his personal agents. The last mission of hers that I was
aware of was to assassinate my son. Of course, I didn't know of
that at the time; I found out just before –" he stopped, lost in
thought. Ben knew he was referring to that fateful day that included
the battle with Luke, and his own death.
"It seems as though she has switched loyalties. Unless of
course, you believe that there is still deception involved."
"Well, far be it for me to question a turn to the light. She,
in fact, never *was* of the Dark Side. It was safer for the Emperor
that way."
They turned their attention back to the conversation. "So, what
are you up to, Jade?" Han asked. "Aside from tormenting me, of
course."
A nod from Ani confirmed that it was not a pseudonym. "Mara
Jade," he whispered.
"Oh, me and the girls are heading of to Brentaal on the
*Skate*. Just wanted to make sure the *Mar's Blade* won't fall apart
on me while I'm gone."
Han shook his head, looking at the second ship. It was
impossibly sleek, silver, and parts of the hull gave a suggestion
of wings. "I *really* don't think the *Blade* would ever fall apart
on you. Then again, you haven't had that much luck with
ships . . ."
"Only since I hooked up with your brother-in-law," she
retorted.
"Where is Uncle Luke, anyway?" Anakin asked.
Both Ben's and Ani's faces reflected surprise. "Well, for
all the Light of the Force, I never thought about those two together,"
Ani mused. "Although, it does have some poetic irony to it."
"Isn't that a mixing of terms?"
"I couldn't decide on bitter irony or poetic justice," he
deadpanned. He stopped short when Mara Jade whirled in their
direction. She squinted.
"Well, me and the kid are going inside to scrub the cargo
holds, now.." Han began.
"Yeah, yeah." Mara waved them off. Anakin looked at her
knowingly. "Just go, Anakin. I'll be okay," she whispered.
When they had gone, Mara looked straight at them, although
Ben knew she couldn't see them at all. "Okay, that's it. Game's
over."
Ben and Ani tethered themselves to physical reality. No one
spoke for a moment.
Finally, Mara scowled. "So it's the two of you that have
been preventing me from getting any sleep."~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Leia gaped. "No way."
"Turns out all this time, I was hearing them talking as
they made their journey back to our realm."
"I didn't know it took a Jedi a long time to appear as a
spirit," said Jaina, confused.
"It doesn't, *unless* you're a Jedi who has already released
himself from the physical. Most Jedi do, after a while, and stay
that way. Ben and Anakin, being the free-thinkers they had been
during their youths, decided that they were curious and wanted to
take a look. They were so far away, you know, that they didn't even
know what events had transpired after Ben left for good."
"Isn't curiosity one of those paths to the Dark Side?"
asked Iella.
Leia did a mental checklist. "Nope. Think they missed that
one."


CHAPTER EIGHT: THE ROGUES


"So *those* were the voices in your head?" Mirax asked,
wheezing with laughter. "Just two dead guys having a chat?"
Leia shook her head. "Hey, have some respect." She sighed.
"I would have liked to see them again."
"Even your father?" Mara asked pointedly.
"Like *he* said, I'm at peace," she replied.
Iella shook her head. "I never would have guess that *that*
was why you had voices in your head, Mara."
"*I* figured it out," Jaina sniffed. "It was *obvious*." She
winked.
Mara and Iella laughed loudly. "Tsk, Tsk. Making fun of Kitch?"
asked Iella.
"Who else?" Rogue 6, Kitch, was a sardonic, short alien – of
what species, Mara could not quite remember, although for some reason,
she always associated his name with the image of an Ewok. "He once
told Iella and me that an answer to a problem was *obvious*,"
Mara explained. "Mirax overheard, walked up behind him, and tapped
him on the shoulder."
Mirax imitated what she told him. "Honey, if *we* couldn't
figure it out, then it's definitely not obvious. *We* the masters
of de-duc-tion." She folded her arms like a kingpin, but her voice
was nasal, smug, and lovably innocent.
Jaina snorted. Leia shook her head.
"And then," Mara continued, "Wedge leaned over to
Corran:

'Wouldn't that be *mistresses* of deduction?' he said.
Corran offered his hand to Janson. 'Good morning. My
name is Deduction.'
'Awww yeah' "

"The Rogues *are* a bit like unruly children, aren't
they," said Leia,shaking her head in fond memories.
"Hmm, that's an understatement."
"I would just love to spend a day in your shoes, Jaina,"
said Mara, "Just to see what it's like to be in that craziness
for such a long period of time."
"You want to hear a day in my life? Okay, I'll pick one
on Coruscant, without missions and battles, so Mom doesn't get
all nervous again. Actually, all of you were there that day, so
never mind . . ."
"It's storytime," interrupted Mirax. "Who cares if we were
there? Go for it."

"Okay," Jaina began, "well, my favorite time is always
in briefings, because we joke around and temporarily forget
that we're planning missions that in a few days would become
reality and test us to the limits of courage, intelligence,
and presence of mind. I love the eclecticism of the group, because
we have us younguns, and now because of the war we are continuously
graced with the presence of not only veterans like Colonel
Darklighter, and Major Varth and Major Forge, but also with people
like Colonel Celchu and General Antilles. It's a little easier
for me, because I knew a lot of them as a child, but at the same
time, it's awe-inspiring to actually be *working* with them,
dealing with them on a level of superior to subordinate as opposed
to child and family friend.
"Anyway, all of us younger Rogues are always banding together
against the craziness of the Rogue veterans. There's me, of
course, and then there's our resident jokester Kitch, Rogue Six,
who's -- well, I have *no idea* where he's from. And then
there's Brett, Rogue Four, whom I already mentioned. Wow, rich
*and* handsome...he's got a lot going for him but at the same time,
he has a horrible family life and is always sure that people are
out to get him, and in the beginning, if we complimented him on good
flying or anything, he would assume that we were being sarcastic
and were jealous of his status in life or something. Anyway, then
there's Hythri, Rogue Seven, the Gacerite I was telling you about.
Did you know that they have two sets of nostrils? Each set leads to
a set of lungs. That's how they can breathe and sing at the same
time. Mich used to be Rogue Ten – although he was on a leave
during this story -- but he's been replaced by a former thief
named Katrina," – Jaina looked at Iella at this point – "General
Cracken and Colonel Loran discovered her. She was supposed to be
in Wraith Squadron, but with the opening after Mich was
caught . . ." Jaina shrugged, then giggled. "Then there's Guther."
She giggled some more. "Rogue Eight. Man, that kid is *green*!
General Janson loves making fun of him. To get back to that day
on Coruscant . . ."

~~~~~~~~In the silence as all waited for Ackbar to show up and
start directing him, Wedge finally asked the question they all had
been wondering.
"So . . . yesterday was your birthday?"
The kid looked horrible. Absolutely pale. Only three people
in the room seemed utterly unconcerned by it.
"Yes, sir"
"What did you do?" Wedge asked, although he had a feeling
he didn't want to know.
The squadron's newest member, and second youngest after
Jaina Solo, smiled proudly, "Got rip-roaring drunk, sir!"
Corran looked at him askance. "Guther,I thought you didn't
drink?"
"I don't usually, sir, but five of my newfound dearest
friends convinced me that it was my birthday and I should
um .. .hang loose, as they put it."
Tycho looked around, disbelief on his face. "I'm surprised
the lot of you don't look much worse for the wear."
It was, of sorts, a reunion of pilots under Wedge's command.
Many veteran members of Rogue Squadron, included Wedge, had
retired six years earlier after peace with the Imperial Remnant,
only to be reactivated by the New Republic Starfighter Command
because of the Yuzhan Vong threat. With the political chaos that
ensued with Borsk Fey'lya's recent departure and establishment of
the RTR, larger mission-groups became commonplace in Gavin's
Rogue Squadron, owing to the number of people determined to keep
Feyl'ya from tearing down both the government and those loyal to
the old school: Organa Solo, Ackbar, Cracken, Bel Iblis.
That day boasted a rather large mixture of former Rogues,
Gavin's new pilots, some of the Wraiths, and weirdest of all, two
Jedi padawans. *At least, * he reflected, *having them all here
ensures that some humor still exists in our lives *.
Janson snorted. "We made a pit stop at the medcenter before
the briefing."
Hobbie's mournful voice joined in, muffled as it was because
his head was smack down on the table. "Didn't help ME much,
though."
Wraith Squadron's medic, Elassar Targon, looked over at
Rogue Squadron's Brett Ashby and grinned maniacally. "Yes,
imagine my profound faith in this bunch when four of our premier
pilots come in my medcenter with screaming hangovers."
Corran looked around, counted Wes, Hobbie, Guther, and Face,
whom he was sure was the fourth culprit. "Ah, two support personnel
round it out, right?"
Hythri whistled a tune while letting out a deep sigh. The
Gacerite double-lung system, which allowed them to breath while
still talking or singing, never failed to amaze his compatriots.
"Of course," he fairly sang, "What would the Rogues do if they
were not able to spread their delinquency to others?"
Face grinned. "Yeah, Shira Kays and Joh Carey. They're pretty
cool".
Wedge looked at Hobbie sympathetically. "Gonna make it
through the meeting?"
"Don't worry, boss".
Jaina looked at them all askance, only partially mocking.
"You know, you all *do* realize that you veterans are setting
bad examples for the kids here." She waved her hand in the d
irection of the padawans, who looked rather intimidated. They were
young – maybe 12 – and visiting from the Jedi Temple as part of a
class project.
Janson rolled his eyes. "First of all, *you're* the kid, and
second, I'm sure non-Rogue Jedi are just as wild as you and Horn
pretend to be." He winked at Ganner, just walking in, who had
already become popular with his smart mouth. "Right, Rhysode?"
Corran groaned. "What's *he* doing here?"
"Relax, Corran. Dropping off a note to the General from
Master Skywalker. I have to admit, I'm surprised that you
wrinkled old-timers can keep up with us younguns. You've now
officially jumped five points in my book."
Hobbie slowly raised his head. "Heyyy, who're you calling
wrinkled."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Ganner said sarcastically, as he made
his way back out. "I meant, with the exception of *Fountain of Youth*, here."
Brett shook his head at Guther. "Well, I just hope you learned something."
Face sniggered. "Yeah, we learned that Guther has a *delicate
constitution*."
Janson ran his hand over his mouth. "And some of us
old-timers *just* learned never to mix lomin ale and Chandrilan
whiskey."
The room erupted in murmers. Wedge just said, "Oh my,"
Brett gaped in astonishment, Jaina said, "Yikes," and Ganner
said, "Who did THAT?"
"Wait." Guther looked around in confusion. "Wait, what
does *that* do?"
Face jerked his thumb over at Hobbie. "Remember him puking
his guts out every three minutes?"
Corran looked sympathically over at Hobbie.
Guther seemed lost in thought. "Oh, yeah. Wow. I'll, um,
now know never to do that."
Hobbie smirked in self-deprecation. "Yeah, that's me. The
living textbook."
Janson put his arm around him in support.
"Yeah, can you imagine?" Gavin broke in at the first time,
perhaps finally recovering from his squadron being overrun by
its rowdier former members. "We could call it, *The life of
Hobbie Klivian: What NOT to do*."
The room erupted in laughter.~~~~~~~~~~

"So then, to take advantage of all his old friends being
around, General Antilles invited them all to dinner . . at
Shugin's."
Leia was still shaking her head. "Those poor Jedi children.
They're trying to learn restraint and decorum . . ."
Everyone else ignored her.
"Shugin's?!? You must be *joking*," said Mirax, shaking
her head. "Wedge, old friend what am I going to do with you?"
Mara started cracking up. "I remember this."
"Shugin's," Jaina continued. "The typical male-bonding
bar/restaurant. *And*, I was invited. Not only was I the only
female member of the party, compared to everyone else, who
was either a General or a Colonel, I was a little *kid*. T
urns out General Janson wanted to invite me because he thought
it would be funny."

" So, I was feeling just a bit uncomfortable. So I whispered to
Corran: "I feel a little out of place here…I'm the only woman
here for *miles*."
Janson looked as if he overhead me, and grinned in response.
"Who else is coming to dinner?" he asked.
"A Jedi," Wedge said simply.
Corran rolled his eyes. "I don't like Jedi."
"Right."
"No, really, not most of them," he said, acting perfectly s
erious. "Unless it's Kam Solusar."
Wedge answered with a grin. "Sorry, it's not Kam."
Corran put his head in his hands. "Then we're doomed."
"I'd think you'd have just a bit more faith in Mara."
I looked up, pleasantly surprised. "My aunt Mara's coming?"
"Oh, well, then it's gonna be okay," said Corran, brightening
up.
Janson aped our excited tone of voice. "Mara Skywalker? AKA
the babe with the lightsaber?"
"He did NOT just say that," said Gavin, increduously.
Hobbie looked up mournfully. "Wow, just add Mirax and Winter
and Iella and it'd be a party."
Tycho turned to Wedge, loudly whispering, "Are they coveting
our wives?
"I think they're coveting our wives."
"Just leave the girls to them -- they'll take care of 'em,"
Corran said, laughing.

"Mara walked in the bar a few minutes later," said Jaina,
"And -
"And Wedge offered me a chair, but apologized because it was
on the other end of the room," said Mara, rolling her eyes at her
niece.

Jaina continued. "Janson adopted a melodramatic theatrical
voice:
"Mara, Mara, Mara..marvelous Mara! Let ME offer you my chair,
my lady."
Mara shared a look with Corran. "You never give up, do you,
Janson."
The room erupted in laughter. Janson looked astonished, and
continued in his theatrical voice: "Did anyone ever tell you . .
that you look --" he paused and adopted a striking pose -- "*angry*
when you're beautiful?"
Hobbie snorted like a schoolboy.
Mara looked. . .well, scary. "Janson . . ." she started.
Janson kept going. "Just .. think of the . .children we'd
have together. We could name our girl -- " he paused for dramatic
effect, and sketched his hands in the air -- "Jade Janson." "

Mirax stifled a giggle. Mara glared.
"*That* was a great start to the evening," said Mara, shaking
her head. "Afterwards, we went over to Iella's place for her annual
get-together for hers and Wedge's former and current officers."
"Plus dignitaries," added Iella.
Leia rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me of that day…we
*were* all there, you know."
"*I* wasn't," Mirax supplied. "What happened? Tell me."
"Well, it all started with watching one of Face's holovids . . ."
" *I Loved a Rebel*," supplied Mara.
" *I Loved a REBEL?*" Mirax groaned.
"Familiar with it?"
"Mara, I *have* it."
"Here?!?" Mara squealed.
Mirax leaned over to Leia. "She seems to like those Imperial
holodramas a lot," she confided.
The women's eyes unfocused as they mentally reviewed the
saccharine sweet – turned- propaganda plot, and then Mirax, with
glee, dug out the vid and popped it in the holoprojector:



~~~~~~~~~GARIK LORAN AND WINYSSA STARFLARE IN:

I LOVED A REBEL ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

read the title, projecting from the holoscreen. The vid
opened with pounding suspense music, as viewers got an eyeful of
the female lead's posterior, as she frantically worked on disabling
a shield system. "Almost there," she muttered to herself,
cursing as her hand made contact with something violent and
electrical. She recoiled, then doggedly kept going on. "Just
need to attach this hidden signal . . ." she said aloud, for
benefit of the viewers. A noise. She stopped suddenly.
As she froze, a second voice from behind her intoned,
"Katial." – the woman's name. It was a voice full of regret
and sadness at the situation. A blaster was pointed straight
at her very blonde and very pretty head.
As Katial turned around, slowly, the viewers saw that
she was pregnant – and very far along.

"Yeah," Mara snorted. "I never looked *that* good when
pregnant with Ahna."
"Try being pregnant with twins," said Leia.
"Hey, it's Jag's mom," said Jaina. "Of *course* she'd be
gorgeous."
Iella and Mirax just looked at her and rolled their eyes.

The camera shifted to Katial's point of view. As she
turned around, she could see nothing but Vish, his green eyes,
framed by wild black hair. Her eyes moved slowly down to a
shaky hand, blaster, and they took in all of his wiry frame as
they paused down at her feet. She quickly flashed back upward,
though, to those eyes, and knew that she too had a look of grim understanding etched in hers.
They both knew that their relationship was over, and they
both acknowledged their sadness.
"Remember, I'm carrying your child," she whispered. Duty
meant nothing to her – just saving her baby's life – and maybe,
just maybe, saving their love. *No*, the voiceover intoned,
broadcasting her thoughts to the audience, *their love could not
be saved. She had thought she had found a love, pure and true –
but how can such a love exist, among monsters?*
But even Vish, the enemy, was capable of feeling. He
wavered, but followed his own call to duty, and kept holding the
blaster. He inched closer to her, until he got her firmly
secured in his grasp, preventing her being able to escape
without endangering herself and the baby. Yet the hold was
still soft, wistful. *Katial felt a burst of elation*, declared
the voice. *Could he still love her?*
Katial knew it was useless, anyway. She was trapped. She
nestled her head in his shoulder, bathing in the paradoxical
atmosphere of tenderness in the midst of war. Her conflicting
emotions roiled through her, this loyal Imperial lieutenant
who wanted nothing but to be held by the Rebel commander.
She finally found her voice. "You're a good man, Vish,"
she choked out. "Most men would have said something to the
effect of, 'any child of an Imp is no child of mine.' You don't
belong with the Rebels."
Vish didn't answer for a long moment. "Tell --" he faltered,
started again. His eyes were detached, and he hardly looked at
her. "Tell me this, Kati, did you ever love me --?" His suddenly
fixed her with a glare. " – or was this one of those sick
imperial plans?" The hurt in his voice could not be denied, but
he stood tall, straight, like the leader he was born to be. He
began to walk her out of the corridor, blaster still aimed at her.
Kaital knew that there would be fierce shaven armed Wookiees
oustide, waiting.
She thought back to when she first saw him, sitting at
the window of a café. A dimension-less rebel, supposedly, yet
he was handsome to her even then. She knew who he was – a
deep-undercover assignment for her.

"Wasn't Colonel Loran just a boy then?" Jaina asked. She
grinned. For once, at least, the stereotypical vid age difference
went the other way around.
"Yeah, but what a boy he was . . ." said Leia. She caught
herself, and grinned sheepishly.
Mirax snorted. "So how many of you were drooling like this
when you were watching the vid with him in the room?"
Iella waved her hand dismissively. "Ah, he's getting old."
Now it was Jaina's and Mara's turn to look at each other.
"Right," said Mara, shaking her head.

She was to pretend to fall in love with him and take
advantage of him. The baby was not part of the plan. Neither
was actually falling in love with him.
She looked over to the man she loved. Her voice sounded
strange to her, soft, scared, as she spoke. "I . . the basis
of our relationship was false, Vish. I was assigned to seduce
you, to get your secrets." A single tear fell down her cheek.
She wished she had the freedom of movement to wipe it away. *In
the Mighty Emperor's name!* she thought to herself angrily. *I'm
stronger than this!*
"The progression of our relationship, however," she
continued, "Was real. I really and truly fell in love with you.
I –" she hesitated. "I *still* love you."
"Then give this up. Join our lawless anarchy movement."
The Rebels? What was he thinking?
"Vish," she started patiently – and haughtily – "I am
loyal to the Emperor, and I would never *ever* join the power-hungry
Rebels. Besides, no matter what you promise me – and I do believe
that you make those promises in earnest," she added, tenderly,
"no matter what *you* believe, the scum would never let me live."
"You should join *us*, Vish," she added. "You're a good
man."

"What a load of bantha poodo," Mirax giggled. "I can't
believe Face and Syal actually became big stars because of
propaganda vessels such as this."
Mara smiled sadly. "Remember, this was over twenty years ago.
The galaxy was a different place. Just think – the fact that
holovids such as this were needed to be made means that the
Rebellion was considered a threat."

He harrumphed and led her out. "Promise me--," she said with
a note of panic as they reached closer, "--promise me that they
won't do anything until I give birth."
Vish stopped and looked at her."I can't promise that
nothing will happen to you, but I give my word that the baby
will be okay. We'll induce if we have to." He paused. "You think
they'd hurt
you?"
The words sounded so innocent. Katial rolled her eyes.
"Vish, you've participated in many a torture session."
"Interrogation."
"Torture."
"Well, at the very least, I definitely won't be present
at this one" His voice seemed to break and he gave her a subtle
kiss on the top of her head, before handing her off to the fierce
shaven Wookiees.
"Vish, I know you'll be at this one," she said as they took
hold of her, "They'll make you."
Vish signaled for the beasts restraining her to wait.
"Whatever are you talking about?"
Katial sighed. "Vish, it'll be a test of your loyalty and
a way to break the last vestiges of love for me. I guarantee
you'll be ordered to be there."
"They'd never make me do that."
"I wish I had your faith in the Rebs," she answered dryly.
Commander Vish Aranu motioned for the Wookiees to lead
the prisoner away.

The women watched the rest of the vid in silence, as Katial
gave birth to a little girl – induced, so they could begin to
interrogate her. Vish was there, watching from the doorway,
as the medics pronounced the child to be healthy. He walked in,
slowly, purposely.
"Thank you," he said softly to the medic. Katial noted
with disgust – as the audience was meant to as well – that
the . . . *creature* . . . who had aided her in giving birth
was a Sullustian. The alien held the baby unnaturally, as if
she were an animal cub.
Vish took the baby out of the medic's arms, and cradled
her softly. Katial had to smile at the loving look in his
eyes. He glanced over at her.
"She's beautiful," he whispered. "Thank you for our
child."
And then Katial watched in horror as he just as slowly
began to walk out of the room.
"Wait," she called – well, she meant to call, but her
voice was hoarse, her throat parched. It came out as a croak,
but the pleading tones came through loud and clear. "Wait,"
she repeated. "Where are you going?"
Vish looked surprised. "I'm taking her to the nursery.
I'm not going to harm her, Kati. She's just as mine as she is yours."
She shook her head. "I know . .I know. But please…let me
hold her."
Vish shook his head as well. "I can't."
"Please . . ."
He pitied her. She could tell.
He hesitated. "Okay. For a moment," he said, and placed
the child in her arms.
As she held her little miracle, Kati had a flashback to a
beautiful day, all sun and laughter at Planetary Park. She
had told Vish just the day before that she was going to have
his baby, and he immediately arranged for the two of them to
be taken off duty shifts for their Rebel cell for the next day.
They had spent the whole day together, and Kati remembered
happiness, filled with a healthy dose of dread – dread for
the day she would have to betray him, betray his love, leave
the planet with their child and never see him again.
Of course, she had never expected that she would get caught.

They had tossed around jokes, and insults, and kisses . . .
and baby names. "Bertha," Vish had pronounced suddenly, a smile
on his face. "If it's a girl.
Katial had shaken her head. "Well, then, my dear .." She
leaned in a gave him a kiss. " . .let's hope we have a son."
She could have sworn his smile got even more rakish. "Oh
yeah, I'm hoping. Then we shall name him Graockstern."
She had punched him playfully. "Nerf."
"Now that's a name." He had smiled. "What's a girl's
name for you?"
Katial had sighed. She had a name in mind, but there was
no way she could suggest it considering her cover identity.
"Whatever you do, don't name her Ahna."
"Whyever not?"
"It's Scottalian for, 'I finally give my love to the
Emperor."
Vish had made a gagging noise. "Such an ugly meaning for
such a pretty name."
"Quite," she had agreed, crossing her fingers behind her
back.

Katial smiled wistfully at the memory, and leaned in
softly to give her daughter a kiss.
Her lips lingered behind her baby's ear, giving the
impression that the mother was lovingly nuzzling her child. As
she breathed in the sweet smell of a newborn, she fished out
with her tongue a small tracking device hidden on the roof of
her mouth, and stealthily placed it at the recess behind upper
earlobe and hairline.
She was *not* planning for this to be the last time she'd
see her child. Not by a long shot.

She didn't know how long she had been there. Days, weeks –
they were all a blur. She had been tortured – that much stuck
clear in her memory, and she never would be able to forget the
look in Vish's eyes during that time. Yes, they had made him be
there; they had made him ask questions, questions that he knew –
they all knew—that she would never *ever* answer. She was a
loyal daughter of the Empire. She knew that much to be true.
Katial sat in her cell, sore, tired, but not broken. She
was furious. She was frustrated. She wanted out.
And the amazing thing was – she could swear that he still
loved her. As for her – well, there were times, and then there
weren't.
Despite her fatigue, she rose into a fighting stance when
she heard the commotion outside, and prepared herself to lunge
when the cell door swung open to a creaking halt. The man in the
doorway, foolishly, did not have his blaster pointed at her.
"He's going to regret that mistake," she thought to herself.
No aimed weaponry, no backup. What – did they think she was . . .
"No," she growled in her mind. "Sore, tired – but *not*
broken."
All of her thoughts occurred in the space of a split
second. The man hit the wall with a thud as she attacked, and
curiously, did not offer much resistance as she pounded him.
"Wait – wait --" he managed to gasp. His voice hinted some
pain but also was amused. "Kati – Lieutenant Sheen --"
She knew that voice. She sat back in shock, and took a
good look at his chiseled and aristocratic – albeit somewhat
abused – face. "Lieutenant Garon?" she asked, surprised.
"*Tug*? It's you!"
Tug Garon huffed in amusement. "I'd hate to be a Rebel.
You pack some power into those punches of yours. To think we
ever doubted you because you're a woman."
Katial sighed. "A mean punch didn't stop me from getting
captured," she said, dryly.
"Happens to the best of us," he shrugged. Katial shook her
head. Tug Garon was one of the most laid-back Imperial officers
she knew. She didn't understand how he could have lasted so
long in the service. "The Emperor rewards *success*, Tug," she
said aloud, for the benefit of the viewers.
"And we succeed," he said, with a gleam in his eye, "now.
We got the shield down. The Rebel garrison is going to blow."
"My child --"
"—is safe and sound thanks to that tracking device. We
have her." He stopped, and looked at her. "She's beautiful."
"She's part Rebel."
The commotion near them grew louder. "We need to go,"
he said, giving her a blaster rifle. "Move!"
All around them, there was the familiar and comforting
sight of stormtroopers ransacking the garrison. The Rebels may
have thought that they were prepared for an assault, seeing as
Katial was the advance force, but they weren't prepared for the
sheer *size* of it. The Empire was taking no chances with the
traitorous scum. They slunk through the corridors, shooting
enemies on sight but tried more to stay out of view. "They're –
going – to plant explosives," Tug said between breaths, "soon.
We need to get out as quickly as possi--"
He stopped in mid-sentence as Katial swung around. She
thought she had seen – no it couldn't have been – but there he was,
right before her eyes, wounded, bleeding, slumped against a
bulkhead.
"Vish!" she gasped, and began to run to him. She was
promptly held back. She struggled. "Tug, no! Let me go!"
Seeing him lying there, all she could remember were his
bright green eyes, soft kisses – the park. She had to preserve
that memory, and a last glance at him dying in a doomed garrison
was not something she could deal with . . .
"No, Kati, it's too dangerous," Tug said, softly but
firmly. "He's conscious. He's a fighter."
"Please, he'll die when the garrison blows up. Please…we're
not monsters . . ."
And that had been the deciding factor. The Imperials were
not monsters. They would not stoop to the scum's level. With a sigh,
Tug grabbed the Rebel commander and half-dragged, half-carried
him out of their fortress.

Katial took deep, calming breaths before she steeled
herself and walked into the interrogation room. There he was. He
was sore, tired -- broken? The light in his eyes was gone. She stood
in the doorway, not speaking, not moving. He did the same – and
they stood silently, maintaining a shielded distance in the midst
of a thick swirl of sadness.
Vish finally spoke. "We should name her Ahna," he said s
oftly.
Katial nodded silently and turned her head, tears brimming
in her eyes.

And the vid ended. The women too sat in silence, and then
Mirax began to giggle. "You know, I've enjoyed this vid more since
your daughter was born."
Mara smiled. "Yeah, some people picked up on the tribute.
It's a tribute to the vid, by the way, not the actually meaning of
the name. Cult favorite and all--"
"I never asked Luke how he felt about the name, although I
guess we found out" Leia said.
Mara shook her head. "Yep, he didn't know . . ." She smiled
as she remembered his reaction after seeing the vid that night …

~~~~~~~"WAITTAMINUTE! You named our baby "I finally give my
love to the Emperor???"
"No, in Scottalian it actually means 'deep love'. Typical
propaganda."
"But still, Mara, you've seen that holovid, you KNEW .. .
oh goodness."
Leia had ignored her rabid brother. "That wedding march
they played at the end was so bittersweet.."
"It's the same march from my wedding," said Mara.
"Yeah, I remember," Han contributed. "Wouldn't it have been
ironic if someone accidentally slipped in the Imperial March
instead of a wedding one while you were gliding down the aisle?"
Mara gave him a glare. "No, Solo, it wouldn't have been funny."~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mirax hiccuped. "I wish I had been there."
Mara narrowed her eyes. "Lemmee see your cup."
"Why?"
"Let me *see* it."
"No!" Mirax said, pouting. "It's mine."
Mara turned to Iella. "Okay, *what* did you put in it? Mirax
has been asking you for refills all night."
"Yeah, and why aren't *we* that happy?" Leia chimed in.
"Because you aren't spending your anniversary away from
your husband," Iella retorted. "I put a little something extra
special in for Mirax."
"Did *Mirax* know about this?"
"Yeah," Mirax chuckled. "Why do you think I've been asking
her for "a wee cup of chocky" instead of "hot chocolate"? It's
our code. It's also contraband. Why, did you want some?"
Mara and Leia inspected the label on the bottle Iella
handed them. They looked at each other. "No," they grumbled
together.
"Yes! I would, please," said Jaina. She then saw the
expressions on her aunt's and mother's face.
"No," she grumbled in the same tone.
"That would explain the giggling," Leia observed.
"What's wrong with a bit of drinking?" asked Jaina, still
upset. "By the time Iella's party was finished, we *all* were
pretty spaced."
"Sweetie, the stuff in there ain't your average cocktail,"
Iella whispered to her. Jaina looked over to the other women.
They nodded sagely.
"Hmmph," said Jaina, crossing her arms. "I ain't your
average girl." She got a sly look in her eye. "At least, that's
what General Janson told me."
"WHAT?!?"
Jaina smiled. She'd known she'd get a reaction out of
*that* one.

"It was after the vid ended," she began. "The party was
back in full swing. A Corellian gypsy song came on, and I
was . . .well . . .unconsciously moving to the beat. I was
joking around with Guther and Brett, and as I laughed, I swung
my hair over my shoulder, making eye contact with Wes. He
was just standing there, with a lomin ale in one hand, looking
at me intently. I had to look away. It was just too weird.
I turned back to Brett. "Is he still there?"
"Who," he whispered back to me, kinda laughing, bemused.
I frowned. "Nevermind." I must have been imagining
things. I looked across the room again.
He was still there. "Sith!"
"What?" asked Guther, concerned.
"He did *not* just wink at me." Well, if he wanted to
play the lecherous old man, I wasn't going to pass up the
opportunity.
This time I was *consciously* moving to the beat. I grabbed
Guther's hand. "C'mon. Let's dance."
"But Jaina, I don't *know* how to . . ."
I stopped mid-stride. "Guther, do you *often* get the
chance to dance with gorgeous women?"
"No, but . .oh, right."
"Yeah. Be grateful," I said, and led him toward the
center of the room.
By the end of the dance, I bet more eyes than just
Janson's were on me. Dad looked as if he was about to spit
blaster bolts. "

She hesitated. "Good thing you ladies were in the kitchen."

" I bit my lower lip and flicked my eyes to the
balcony – a silent invitation as I slipped outside. The air was
warm, for Coruscant; I took off the stohle of my dress, breathed
in the night air, and leaned into the lighted expanse. I sensed
a curious mind – Janson's -- coming up behind me.
"Enjoying the view?"
I turned around and regarded him with interest. "Just a
little overwhelmed by all the famous people in there." Melodramatic
faint.
"Yeah, right, *Solo*," he said, emphasizing my family
heritage.
He flashed me a casual smile and took out a cigarra, lit
it in a flash. He hesitated for a moment, and pulled out
another, and offered the lit one to me.
He was instantly surprised as I nonchalantly and expertly
puffed it, breathing in deeply, releasing with a little sigh of
contentment. I leaned against the rail with a casualness
matching his smile.
"Yeah, you're right," I admitted. "But really, I was
watching all you guys acting up and everything and reliving the
old times and I turned to Guther like 'This is SO cool' and he
was like, "You're the *last* person I'd thought would say that.'
But it *is*."
I blushed a bit when I realized I was rambling – well,
acting my age, I guess – and hoped he wouldn't comment on it.
Janson considered my statement, nodded. "I thought you'd
choke on that," he said instead. "Not your first time?"
I grinned. "My aunt introduced me to it, and said to
consider it part of my training. Then, she got a bit protective
and lectured me on the health dangers – told me to do this 'only
when its essential to the situation,' " I said, finishing by
mimicking an authoritative voice.
"Spoken like a true operative," he said dryly.
"That's her, all right."

"Mara!" Leia looked at her sister-in-law in disapproval.
"She needs to know how to fit in with the less desirable
elements of society," said Mara, unapologetic.


" "So, was this . .essential to the situation?" he
asked me, amused.
"Caught you off guard, didn't it?" I responded saucily.
He smiled at me, and playfully punched my shoulder. "I bet
you're full of surprises."
His hand stayed on my shoulder.
"You know I can tell everything you're thinking," I said,
raising my eyebrows.
"Reading my mind," he said softly, looking at me. I felt
as though I were under intense scrunity.
"I don't read minds. You're just broadcasting," I whispered
hoarsely.
"So, what am I thinking?" he challenged.
I flushed. We were getting closer and closer, and I could
smell the alcohol on his breath. A perfect gentleman, I know,
but it was more *my* lack of control I was fearing at the moment.
"You're the one thinking it," I finally managed. "You
tell me." "

Leia looked shocked. "This was happening right under my
nose? Janson better have stopped *right there*."
"Stop being so overprotective, Mo—"
"Don't –" she sighed. "Never mind. You're an adult."

" Don't worry, Mom. Right after I stunned him
with that, he removed his hand. He cleared his throat nervously.
"We'd better stop before this gets out of hand and someone
sees us . .or that Fel kid comes barging out here," he said.
I found that infinitely amusing – well, at the time. "Jag?
And me? Yeah right. Besides…you're jealous of a 19 yr old kid."
"I'm jealous *about* a 17 yr old girl."
"True. I *am* kinda young for you," I said with an ironic
laugh. I moved away, the spell broken.
Janson grinned – you know, that sexy, slow grin that
just…nevermind. "If only I were . . ."
I snorted. "Oh please, that doesn't quite work in this
situation."
He looked incensed. 'Why not?"
"Because if you were my age you wouldn't be the Rebellion
hero. You'd have all those adventures ahead of you, not under
your belt."
"And that's a bad thing?" he wondered. "I mean, think about
it. You've got all those adventures ahead of you, and wonder, and
youth . . . 20 years from now you're going to be one on a balcony
with some 17 yr old hot guy and he's going to be all: 'Wow, you're
a hero.' And you're gonna wish you had his enthusiasm. And you
*are* gonna be a hero."
"So sure about that?" I asked, looking skeptical.
"It's in your genes," he said. "*Solo*." It was supposed
to be an insult. Instead it came out endearing.
"I don't think heroism is in anyone's genes."
"Yeah, but I can just tell with you. And you're already
in Rogue Squadron. That's instant fame…or infamy." Wes grinned
– well, rougishly.
"Yeah . . ." I said, crinkling my face.
He laughed at my expression. "What are you thinking?"
I started rambling again. "Just about Rogue Squadron.
I mean, we're still all elites, and the symbol of the New Republic,
but it's just not the same as it was, I imagine, when you are in
it. It's like we're *beating a dead nerf*" I pounded his shoulder
for emphasis.
"Ow," he said, rubbing it.
I smiled at him like I would at a baby. "Sorry." My hand
found his for a second, then pulled away. It's like a simulacrum
of what it used to be. "You and my uncle and Wedge and Hobbie
and Tycho ..you didn't join the Rogues because of its legend. You
were the original Rogues, and there *was* no legend. *You guys*
created it, because yours' was the story of the ordinary guys who
became heroes. I feel as though we're just playing at it." I
opened my hands helplessly. "Even though every moment of it is
real."
He didn't say anything. Just scrutinized my every move.
"What?" I asked, irritably.
"You're --" he laughed and raked his hands through his
hair. "You're something else, Jaina Solo. Not your typical Rogue,
or typical Jedi – or typical teenager, for that matter."
"Oh, that." I said, waving it off. "I hate being average."
We stopped speaking again, looked at each other, and
started chuckling. A bit nervously.
"Let's go back inside," he said.
"Let's." I answered.
"Shall we Lady Jaina?" he asked, offering me his arm.
"You're no prince, but I'll take what I can get," I
replied jauntily. I took his arm, and we soared back
into the ruckus, where some of the Rogue veterans were gathering
to begin a drunken night of tales and revelry. "

"And?" Mara said suspiciously.
"That was that. General Antilles was beginning to regale
everyone with tales of the early days, and Wes jumped to it like
a bantha in heat."
"Bad image!" Mirax croaked, and then burped. "Oops. Eshcuse
me. I . . ."
" . . .need some *caf*," Iella finished. "Stat." She smiled
an evil smile. "Then you can settle in and be entertained by
Wedge's stories."
"Oh no, oh no, we're not getting to this part of the
evening." Leia put her head in her hands.
"Don't worry, they were all too drunk to remember the
next day," consoled Mara.
"*I* remember," put in Jaina, unhelpfully.
"I'll tell the story," Mara said quickly. "To make this as p
ainless as possible, Leia."
Leia wondered to herself why she didn't have the requisite
faith in her sister-in-law's sense of charity and consideration.

" "You know, I really didn't know Commander Skywalker
that well," Hobbie was admitting when I walked in from the kitchen.
Wedge turned to Luke. "He's right. Why is that? The rest of
us were pretty buddy buddy with you."
Luke grinned. "It's because Hobbie spent most of his time in
a bacta tank. We only saw each other between periods of big blue
hazes."
"Nuh-uh. The reason we didn't hang out was because I was
too busy admiring Janson's ass," the pilot said dolefully.
Wes shook his head. "Hobbie, we're telling these stories
to impress girls. Giiirls."
"Wait a minute," Wedge interjected, "That's why. Luke
didn't hang out with Hobbie too much because he had his own girl
problems."
Jaina bit her lip in sympathy for her uncle. "Girls didn't
like him?"
Wes turned to her, astonished. "Hush, my little Rogue,
you obviously haven't been with us long. Rogues emit magnificent
sex appeal. Girls were all over Luke. It was just the matter of
them being the wrong ones."
By this time, Luke had left to talk to Leia and Ackbar.
"That reminds me!" Wedge called across the room to Luke,
"Hey, Luke! Remember that blonde named Crista from that bar?"
Luke was aware of the rest of the party watching the
exchange, eager for any glimpses into the life of this Jedi
Master from when he was still just another fighter jock.
"Uhh, kinda."
I looked at him, amused. "Who's Crista?" I asked.
"Sit your cute self down and we'll tell you," Wes offered.
I eagerly complied.
"Uh, guys? You * are* aware that the whole room is listening
to this."
"Don't worry, Luke," Wedge assured. "We won't embarrass you
too much."
"So, we were at this bar -"
"There were bars on Hoth?"
"NO, Mara. Our base was at Hoth, but we were on a mission
to Ralltiir because we had gotten information that an Imperial
agent - a beautiful woman posing as a dancer - had wiped out a
whole Rebel ce -" Wedge stopped suddenly and we looked at each
other, as my eyes got wider and his face reflected shock.
"Um . . .yeah".
"Yeah."
"Anyway," Wes continued, "It was me, Wedge, Luke, Dack,
Hobbie, and Tycho, and we had decided to get some shore leave
because we really weren't finding anything."
"Yeah," Wedge continued, shooting a grateful look at Janson.
"And Luke was all down in the dumps because of -- you know about
the love triangle, right?"
"Yeah, he told me," I said, laughing out loud.
"Well, naturally, he was despondent over this illicit
love triangle, because it just didn't seem to be going his way.
And we were sitting there, keeping him company, while he was
moaning on and on about how he'll never find anybody for the
rest of his life. When all of a sudden, this beautiful blonde
walks in and says, . . .Wes?"
Wes modulated his voice to a falsetto drawl. "I'll
cheer you up, sunshine."
"And Luke says -" Wedge stopped for a minute to chuckle
and for dramatic effect. He brought his voice down to a low
timbre. " He says -"I've already given my heart to another." "
As Jaina and I laughed, Wedge continued, explaining how
Luke finally gave in and how he woke up the next morning finding
everything gone – including his flight gear and his flightsuit.
"He had to fly back to Hoth in Tycho's long underwear," he
explained, "And froze his butt back all the way to his quarters."
He turned to look at his friend, gauging his reaction. He
* did* just ruin a Jedi Master's reputation, after all. But Luke
was taking it in typical farmboy stride --
-- He was blushing furiously.
"I'm going to kill you," he said.
"Hey, buddy, a Jedi knows no anger."
Luke scowled and took a swig of his hot chocolate, looking
again like the typical Rogue.
"Besides," Hobbie chimed in, sprawled out on the couch and
as drunk as possible, "You owe him for not mentioning that the
woman you were in the love triangle with turned out to be your
sister."
Luke spit up his drink. Leia buried her head in her
husband's shoulder, while Han chuckled. Wedge shook his head,
mortified for his friend but secretly glad that someone had said
it without * his* getting his hands dirty. I, who knew that
eventually one of the lubricated pilots would spill the beans,
fell on the floor laughing.
Corran, who was leaning against a wall observing the
conversation, looked astonished. "Hey, when I was joking Gavin
about Tatooine-ites kissing their relatives, I didn't know it
was true!"
"Hey," Gavin protested, trying to save the reputation of
Tatooine natives galaxywide, "It's not like he actually . ." he
stopped when he saw Luke's expression. "You did? You kissed your
sister?"
"It wasn't my fault! Besides, I'm not the one who kissed
his own *cousin *" Luke shot back. "And he was *male *"
"Hey," Corran shrugged. "Everyone has a right to what makes
him happy."
Wedge glared at the current Rogue leader. "You kissed
Biggs?"
Iella marched up to him. "Wedge Antilles, you're drunk".
He ignored her.
"No! I mean . .yes . but I didn't, well, I mean, I thought
he was a girl!"
The entire room burst out into laughter.
"I mean, but, " he gave up, frustrated, and waved his hand
in Luke's general direction. "They tricked me!"
"Who?"
"Luke and Biggs. I was 12 and I had never kissed a girl
and Biggs dressed up like one. Luke told me that she was from
a whorehouse in Mos Eisley."
The room's occupants had the same reactions as before. I
again fell on the floor. "There aren't any whorehouses in
Tatooine!" I said to Luke accusingly.
"And how would *you * know?"
"Probably from sleeping her way to the top of Jabba's
organization," Lando chimed in.
I glared at him. "If I did *that *, Calrissian, you wouldn't
be alive right now."
Again, the guests followed the conversation in wonder,
amazed that the participants were able to joke about my past.
"Ooh, it's the big bad assassin. I'm really scared, Mara."
I stood up and put my hand on the hilt of my lightsaber.
"Don't test me, Calrissian," I warned.
"You probably aren't all that dangerous. In fact, Luke, me,
Han and Leia *wouldn't * be alive right now if you were any good."
"Uh, Lando," Corran interjected, "From long experience as
well as the scar on my leg, it probably isn't the best idea to
goad Mara."
Curiosity got the better of him. "When'd you get a scar?"
"14 years ago, training on Yavin."
"Yeah, he called me scum, I called him Corellian, and things
just went from there."
Hobbie looked up mournfully. "Mara! Maybe he deserved the
scar for what he said to you, but did you *really * have to insult
him as bad as to call him Corellian?"
"Watch your tongue, Klivian," Wedge warned. "You just
might lose it."
"Okay," Iella broke in. "It's time for all good little Rogues
to go to bed. Come on, Wedge."
"But Iella, I didn't do –"
"Come on."
"But everyone else is a lot worse off than I am, and
*their * wives aren't making them go home."
"Do I look like everyone else's wife?"
"But Hobbie and Wes and Tycho were doing the same thin –"
"If Hobbie and Wes jumped down a sarlacc pit, would you?
Never mind, I don't want to know the answer to that question."
As Iella dragged Wedge out the door, I, citing loyalty to
Mirax, tested Corran for sobriety. "You're pretty well off."
"Mara, you know that Jedi can absorb alcohol"
"Speaking of Jedi . . training . . *did* I ever give you a
scar?"
Corran laughed. "Of course not. You're not the loose cannon
that you seem to want Lando or some other people to think. I was
just supporting you. You looked a little upset that Lando didn't
seem that threatened by you anymore."
I looked up at wonder at my friend. "Skywalker's the only
other person can read me as well as you seem to. Thanks for being
a great buddy." I scowled. "Now, be a friend and help your flyboy
buddies get home. We really don't need Rogue Squadron's political
enemies to see this sight."


CHAPTER NINE: THE END

Leia snorted. "Not that it mattered. The Rogues are legendary
for their excess . . ."
Jaina closed her eyes, melancholy. "The Rogues .. .are
legendary for their loyalty. Their bravery. Not that it mattered
. . .so many people died in those early days. So many." She turned
to her mother. "What's it like, Mom? What was it like to be surrounded
by so much sheer courage that ended up in death? What was it like to
lose so many, and what's it like now to keep going, to keep seeing
that a life's work never ends?" She sighed. "I'm . . I'm sorry. I
was just thinking about that ceremony a few months ago, the
tribute to the Rebellion, to the cause, to an anniversary of willpower
and moral right being able to finally make a difference. . ."
"I think that ceremony got a whole *galaxy* thinking, Jaina,"
said Mara, putting her arms around her niece affectionately."
Leia looked over at Mirax. "Do you remember?" she said
quietly.
"Oooh, yes, and *how *. I'll never forget that ceremony."
Mara closed her eyes, as Jaina had a moment before. "We were
in an arena. The rows and balconies went up and up as if they reached
into the heavens, and there was light, everywhere. The candles'
flames lashed and spitted out, and I could swear I could hear their
hisses and crackles with every movement. There were that many of
them. I walked slowly down an aisle and the world seemed to be in
slow motion. But I couldn't feel anything. All I could do was see
and experience. Faces blended in, one by one, yet at the same time
I can still see each one distinctly. I started to just focus on
putting one foot in front of the other, as if I was gliding down
the aisle for my wedding. I looked down at myself. I was wearing a
white dress, just as I was that day. It fit me at the waist and then
flowed out. The hem rippled, like waves, and the music provided for
its movement – it danced to the song, in joy or in tribute, I could
not know. I kept walking. One foot, then the next. Luke was beside
me, solemn, face held high, his eyes reflecting the past as if it
played on his irises like flashes on a holoprojector. The real
holoprojector kept flashing images, lashing out at the audience,
names, faces, events, rolling by and tolling the dead – the heroes,
the forgotten, the beloved. The music was low, mournful, yet
beautiful, with wailing pipes and a choir0like symphony of voices.
I followed those chosen to participate in the ceremony and ended up
in a semicircle at the center. We held our candles out, and closed
our eyes as they were lit, one by one."
Iella smiled. "There were so many beings there, in the arena,
of different races, of different ages, backgrounds . . .it was a
galaxy-wide period of mourning and appreciation. As I held my candle
out, I saw the flame pull, as if it wanted to join the others and
form a burning column of light."
"You know," said Mirax, "afterwards, a lot of people were
just wandering . . .around the palace, around the city, deep in
thought."
"Wedge and I were at Corellian memorial," said Iella. "Sitting
there amid the names of the dead and drinking whiskey, reminiscing."
"Luke and I were a few of the wanderers," said Mara. "We ended
up at the entrance to the Imperial sector of the Palace, the section
that's been closed off, that had the old throne room, the planning
centers. I just stood there for a long time, thinking about how long
it had been since I used to walk to palace, thinking about how *this*
was different during the Imperial era or how *that* never would have
been to the Emperor's liking. I always used to compare like that,
especially the first time I stayed there as a guest of the New
Republic, when I had woken from my month-long coma and found myself
to be where I had been raised."
Leia shook her head. "After the ceremony, I flew myself over
to the Manari Mountains, to be alone. Han wanted to stay behind and
hang out in the Galactic Museum. He said he felt old enough to be an
exhibit there."
"A carbonite Han would look stunning hanging on one of those
walls . . ."
"Mara!"
"Just kidding, Leia."
Mirax mockingly interposed herself between the two women,as
if to ward off a fight. "Corran went to meditate at the Jedi temple,
and I went home to be with my daughters and with my father." She
smiled. "Sometimes I realize how much I love my father. That day,
he transformed from sarcastic, eclectic former criminal to my
daddy, kind and strong and true."
"My brothers went home too," said Jaina. "And for once, they
weren't arguing. And for once, they didn't want to speak about
philosophy, or ideals, or strategies. They had enough thinking and
solemnity for one day, and instead they wanted to take their minds
off the sadness. So they played vid games all night, like they
used to, before . . .well, before they had to grow up. I went to
the squadron's hangar bay, watching the activity around me. I
tried to imagine being there 25, 30 years before. Wondered who would
be sitting there 20 years from *now*, trying to imagine what it was
like to be sitting where I was then. I immersed myself in the
hustle. I tried to memorize every face, every sound, breathe in the
charged air."
Silence. The women sipped their drinks slowly.
"That ceremony . . ." breathed Mirax again.
"The ceremony," repeated Leia. "I could *sense* , at that
moment, the emotions of everyone around me, and it was an eclectic
mixture. I couldn't get over it."
"I talked to people afterwards," said Iella, "and some had
said they felt despair, some peace, some happiness. It was a
bonding moment for probably the whole planet. I looked at Wedge,
and his eyes were misted with tears. I looked up and saw why: the holoprojector had come to the Rogues fallen in battle. By Space!
he knew most of them – almost all of them. Lived, laughed, ate,
joke with them – and now they were a focal point for galactic
grieving. I started crying too. All I could see was Diric's face,
when we got married, whenever he solved one of my cases, when he
smiled at me. Diric's smiling face juxtaposed with Wedge's crying
one. And then I saw Myri and Syal, holding our hands, and they
etched a word: family."
"I just imagined dancing," Jaina said softly. "Whenever I
hear that song, that's what I imagine. I'm always dancing with
some unnamed person – I guess sometimes it was Zekk, or Mich, or
even a member of my family. Now I see myself dancing with Jag –
and it's like I'm spinning, and laughing, and all of a sudden it
doesn't matter whose daughter or niece I am, it doesn't matter
that I have a family tradition to uphold. I'm just … weightless …
for one moment in time."
Leia smiled at her daughter. "Everyone probably thought
I recalled seeing Alderaan blowing apart, because I started
sobbing. But what I saw was my father – Bail – holding me up in
the air and twirling me around. And then I saw my babies, saw me
loving them the same way Bail loved me, and I knew that I was able
to carry on his legacy, one way or the other."
Silence again.
"I told you. I didn't see anything. I didn't feel
anything," Mara said stonily.
"Oh, sweetie . ." said Leia softly, putting her arm
around her.
"I didn't have any visions. I was just *there *, stuck
there, hyperaware of everything going on around me. I could feel
myself gripping the candle, and the hot wax dripping on to my fingers.
I could feel Luke leaning against me supportively. I could see
everyone sobbing, and hear the undertones of the music. I was just
*stuck *, feeling as though I should feel something, see something,
*do * something. But my eyes just kept tracking. There weren't
any epiphanies, just a sense of loss and regret, but there was
euphoria, from being able to be there, witness it all, be with
my family and my friends. My past washed over me, but it also
washed away. All I could be was in the present, with my past
dancing a jig in the background, trying to sneak its way in but
rebuffed by the light all around – whether it was candles or
spirits. I keep seeing myself in that processional, quietly
holding my candle, head high, face solemn. I wanted to dance too,
Jaina. I wanted to twirl to the beautiful music, spin and hold
my arms out as if I could collect the emotion and hold it tight
against me in memorium."
"You know what I saw?" Mirax smiled. "I saw the *Pulsar
Skate * sailing in space. Then it winked at me and took off. We
were all on it…the five of us, and my children, my husband, my
father and mother, the Antilles' . . everyone that I ever had
held dear." She leaned in conspiratorially. "I think that means
something," she whispered, and giggled.
"We were seeing the tapestries of our lives," said Jaina.
She had her elbows on her knees and was cupping her face
elfishly. "What it all means is that we rely on each other, on
the ones we love. Without that, our lives don't mean anything. The
same way we all talked tonight, took time out from secret missions
and galactic conspiracies and .. and tearing up bars." The others
chuckled.
In the background they could hear the ship's diagnostic
functions whir up for a nighttime checkup. Mirax stretched. "Oooh,
I think the *Skate *'s trying to tell us to get some sleep. Good
night, all."
The five women got up and washed their mugs, worked out
kinks from their necks. Mara walked in the cockpit and looked out
through the ship's viewport, saw the freighters and fighters in
the hangar stretch on for an endless expanse, looked up and saw
stars twinkling through the atmosphere. The others slowly joined
her. Then, as one, standing side by side, they put their arms
around one another and sighed. They waited for someone to speak.
Iella let out a long breath. "Girls?"
"Yeah?" asked Mara.
"What bar should I hit *tomorrow *?"
Grumbling, they shook their heads and went off to bed.
Mara growled, "Most girls dream of sugar plums. Iella just
dreams sweet dreams of men and Mogos." And Mirax is going to have
one hell of a hangover, she added mentally.
That night, Mara, the formerly pink-tutued fairy princess,
dreamt of pillow fights and hot chocolate and female bonding, and
she realized that she while she was looking for adventure, she
found what she needed the most: a family. And while that family
would always be there whenever she wanted to go crazy, or laugh,
or needed a supportive shoulder, she could find that too with her
real family: her husband, her daughter, and the day to day life
she realized she missed oh-so-much. It was time to go home.



. . . AND THEY ALL LIVED HAPPILY EVER AFTER