"I mince such medicine against sleep failed; I sing,
Only to weep again the pity of this house
No longer, as once, administered in a grand way.
Now let there be again redemption from distress,
The flare burning from the blackness in good augury."
—Agamemnon

Chapter Two: Redemption from Distress

Carth sat in the room he shared with Connan, on the head of the bed, leaning back against the wall. He simply stared.

He wanted to throw things, but that was childish; and it was more Connan's thing than his. He wanted to pull at his hair, or yell at something—someone—or hit something.

He could barely put words to his thoughts at the moment, let alone name what he knew was Connan's ailment now.

Of course. Why hadn't he figured it out before? He'd seen the signs before; he knew what to expect. He just never expected it to happen now, of all times.

He was angry that Connan never told him, and that she would rush headlong into the same dangers as before, not caring that she was endangering another. He didn't think that she was that bent on revenge.

I mean, how could she? Did she honestly think that he wouldn't find out? Maybe she thought she would get her fill of war in before he discovered and would start to restrict her movements. Maybe she thought she was doing the right thing, gallivanting through the galaxy, leaving herself open to harm, endangering more people than herself, endangering helpless people.

Why did she see fit to not tell him something like this? She willingly got into an X-Wing fighter and took on the Death Star, knowing that she was—was—

He couldn't even think it.

It was just that—that she knew what was going on and she still kept herself in danger. She was simply ignoring the others she was putting in danger and didn't seem to care anymore than usual about getting herself hurt.

It was like she was Revan all over again.

Carth's rapid thoughts stopped there, and he shifted his position on the bed, lying down with his feet at the head and his head at the feet.

Now, that hadn't been too fair of him. Connan might have been many things, but she had never been thoughtless to other people's safety. Especially children. When they'd discovered Sasha when they landed on Kashyyyk, she spent hours in the cargo hold with the girl, learning her language and making conversation, making the girl feel at home. She'd been nearly in tears when they made their way back to Dantooine to give her back to her parents.

Maybe he was being too irrational. Maybe he wasn't looking at this like he should be. Connan hadn't really been looking for fights lately, and had in fact been staying out of most confrontations they found themselves in. She'd involved herself intimately in rescuing Leia from Makrin because—well, it was Leia, and Connan wasn't about to let Luke or Leia get hurt while she was there.

So Carth took a deep breath, and stopped thinking about it like he thinks through things, and started going through the problem through Connan's position.

So far, Connan hadn't actually done anything stupid, or rushed into an impossible situation just to prove it wasn't impossible. She was making sensible decisions. If she didn't have to take the risk, she wouldn't take it.

And now that he thought about it, if she ever got into situations where being hurt was a probability, she would get angry and blast her way out of the danger.

She was, in her own strange way, taking care of herself.

Carth sighed and shook his head. Connan's way of "taking care of herself" consisted of not doing the insane things she does on a daily basis, and instead only doing them when they needed to be done.

But she hadn't been alone, if Carth had overheard correctly. It seemed that Han also knew of her condition. Who else knew? More than likely Mission was aware of it; not a day went by that she didn't ask the usual questions: are you hungry? are you all right? are you cold?

So she wasn't alone. That was a good thing. She had other people taking care of her.

Why hadn't she told Carth? Maybe she—

The door opened and Connan bounced through, flicking a finger at the lights and turning them on as she skipped over to Carth.

"Mon Mothma came, and she brought a man named Kota with her. They're going to give us information about suspected Jedi that survived Order 66, and we're going to go look for them." She sat down next to Carth's head and draped an arm over his chest. "And it turns out that the man who started this Rebellion—someone named Starkiller—is still alive even though people think he's dead, so we're going to be looking for him, too." She looked down at Carth and frowned at him. "You know it's much more comfortable with your head on the pillows."

Carth sighed, taking her hand off of his chest and tracing the fingers. "I know." He replied.

"What's wrong, Carth?" Connan asked.

"Nothing," Carth replied, massaging over a rough patch on Connan's calloused fingers.

Connan rolled her eyes. "Even if I couldn't feel your thoughts racing all over the place, your mouth is set." To accentuate this she kissed him lightly. "Clearly a sign that you're thinking about something unpleasant."

Carth smiled a little bit, making Connan gin. "Come on, Mr. Tough Guy. What's bothering you?"

Carth sat up and wrapped an arm around Connan, settling her head onto his chest. He held her tight for a moment and took in a deep breath.

"Is there something you want to tell me, Connan?" He asked. "Something I should know about?"

Connan didn't tense, but she sat up and stared at Carth. "Tell you?"

"Yes, Connan."

Connan sighed, leaning her head onto Carth's shoulder and wrapping her arms around him. "I'm assuming you're asking because you already know."

Carth nodded, returning her embrace tightly. "I overheard you talking to Han about it."

Connan shuddered. "I was meaning to tell you, you know." She whispered. "Especially after the Battle of Vactooine. When 12-4C-41's army nearly killed us all, I decided I needed to stop lying to you." She took a deep breath. "Carth, I'm pregnant."

He knew that already, based on the conversation he'd overheard earlier, but hearing her say it was a different matter altogether.

Connan continued before Carth could figure out what to say. "Jolee told me about two weeks before we came here." When Carth did say anything, Connan continued. "You have no idea how torn I was, Carth. I don't like putting anyone's safety at risk, especially someone who can't defend himself, but we can't control when we get dragged here, and frankly I'd rather have come back now than seven or eight months from now."

Carth chuckled and shook his head. "That's true."

"You're not mad, are you?"

"That you knew about this and chose to fight anyway? No. If you'd have come in about ten minutes earlier, though, I would have." He pressed his lips to Connan's hair. "Look, I realize that we're in a tight spot right now, and Palpatine is going to be scouring the galaxy for you, so you're going to be fighting anyway. I've also noticed the way that you've been handling things in a safe manner, and you're not trying to do things to prove you can do them.

"Am I mad that you didn't tell me about this the moment you heard about it? Of course I am." Carth continued. "I've been worrying about you for six months, Connan. I didn't know what was going on. I mean, damn it, Connan, I've been jealous of Han and I've been watching him for six months because I thought he was going to try something on you, and I couldn't stand that. For a while I was upset because I thought you were actually very sick and no one wanted to tell me."

"Carth, I thought you would try to forbid me to fight period, when that's clearly impossible, and I didn't want you constantly worrying about me."

"Which I ended up doing anyway." Carth replied. He shook his head and sighed. "We keep joking about it, but we really have to get you cured of saving other people from trouble."

Connan chuckled. "If we make it through this, I'll talk about whatever you want to talk about." She hugged him tightly to her. "I love you, Carth. I've never done something like this before, and I'm a little freaked about it. I don't enjoy putting others in danger, but I'm definitely forced to, now."

"Then you should have let me help." Carth answered. "It's true that I wasn't there too much for Morgana's pregnancy with Dustil, but I want to be there for you. Forever. Always."

Connan looked away and bit her lip, turning red as she tried not to burst into tears.

"Good." She replied, her voice shaking. "Because I really need help. All these mood swings and bursts of power and food cravings and morning sickness—which is a lie, because there are plenty times when it's not morning and I'm sick—are driving me insane." Connan stood and wiped at her eyes angrily. "You think this is easy? This stage was supposed to last for three months, damn it, and here we are, six months later, and this is still happening. I read that pregnancies were supposed to be fun. This is anything but fun! The longest human pregnancy ever recorded comes from me because a psychotic emperor is on my case four thousand years in the future, and I'm stuck like this until we can fix it!"

Carth laughed and opened his arms. Connan fell onto the bed next to him, welcoming his embrace.

"I'm hungry." Connan whined.

Gods, he loved this woman. Carth kissed her soundly on the lips before replying. "Let's go get some food. You can tell me the details of our new mission then."

XXXXX

Carth entered the room, luckily finding only Han, Chewbacca, and Mission inside. Chewbacca and Mission were playing a game of dejarik, which Mission was failing miserably at.

"Hey, Carth." Mission said absently. "Where's Connan?"

"She went to see General Kota about the Jedi names." Carth replied.

"What's wrong?" Mission asked, looking up at Carth and seeing him half-glare. "You look like someone switched your Tarisian Ale with Twi'Lek Liquor."

"Connan just told me." Carth stated. "How long have you known?"

Mission froze. She stared at Carth quizzically before answering. "I was with her when Jolee told her. She really freaked out. I've never seen her as upset before, except for our escape from the Leviathan."

"I know." Carth said.

"You heard us talking, didn't you?" Han guessed. He sighed when Carth nodded. "I thought so."

"Well, Mission, and Han too, I suppose, I just wanted to thank you for looking after her." Carth scratched the back of his head. "Since I wasn't able to."

Mission looked at Carth like he wasn't himself. "I thought you'd be angrier."

Carth groaned. "I was. I talked myself out of it."

"So you didn't yell at Connan?"

"No." Carth smirked. "She yelled at me, though."

Han laughed. "No kidding. That's hilarious."

Carth chuckled a few times under his breath. "That's all I wanted. I should go check on Connan."

As Carth left, Mission and Han stared at each other.

"See?" Han said. "I told you he wouldn't be angry."

"It still was too risky." Mission stated, grinning. She turned to the dejarik board and made a move. "How did you know he'd follow you?"

"Are you kidding?" Han snorted. "He's been watching me around her for six months. He couldn't resist it."

XXXXX

Connan entered the bar, with Han at one shoulder and Carth at the other. She looked around thoughtfully.

"You see him?" Han asked.

"Nope." Connan replied.

Carth groaned. "So what now?"

"By now, Mission and Leia should have scouted their spots out and are watching for Stormtroopers." Connan answered. "So, we do this." Connan pushed her way forward and sat at the bar.

Carth sighed, glancing at Han. "She always starts with the bar."

"I'll have ale." Han ordered as he sat down next to Connan.

"The same." Carth nodded to the bartender.

"You know what really drives me crazy?" Connan asked. "I come here to Poderis to take a spin on the Podeki Run, and what happens when I get here?" She slapped the table. "My speeder breaks. Not that I can find a suitable replacement; my speeder is one of a kind, but do you think I can find someone to at least try to fix this thing on this planet? No. I'm going to have to turn around and fly us back to Dantooine where we came from to get it fixed."

Carth groaned. "We're going back?" He asked. "It took us ten days to get here!"

"Not my fault." Connan replied. "Blame Mr. Everything-I-Touch-Is-Automatically-Made-Better over here."

"Oh, don't you blame this on me, cookie." Han stabbed. "You said the repulsorlifts weren't working, so I went and fixed them."

"No." Connan replied, wagging her finger in front of his face. "I said the only thing on the speeder that worked was the repulsorlift! Or did you not see it hovering in the air?" She slapped the back of his head.

"Look, missy," The bartender stated, turning his blood-red eyes to Connan. Honestly, Connan wouldn't tell if he was human or not. "If you need to fix your speeder, Mr. Proko is the one you should talk to."

Connan smirked. "Mr. Proko?" She repeated.

"Yes, ma'am." The bartender answered. "The man over there." He pointed to the corner of the bar. "He's been here, oh, about twenty or so years. Fixes speeders like they're nothing."

"Well, thank you, kind sir." Connan slid him a few credits and leapt off her chair.

Qid Proko sat in the back of the bar, sipping at something yellow and cloudy. He didn't look up at Connan as she took a seat on the opposite side of his table.

"We've been looking for you." Connan stated.

"So I've heard." Proko replied, taking another drink and running a hand through his long, gray hair. "You picked up Vima-Da-Boda about two months ago, didn't you? And Ikrit before that."

"You hear a lot." Connan grinned. "So you know what I want."

Proko looked up and met Connan's eye. "Miss Jedi, I knew what you wanted before you did." He shook his head and sighed. "And you know why I'm going to refuse."

"Of course I do." Connan answered softly, patting his hand. "You don't want to die. You'd rather sit here all day, doing a second-hand job fixing speeders, talking about the old days when this and that happened."

"And I suppose you want to bring the old days back?" Proko asked, rolling his eyes.

"Of course not." Connan laughed. "I wouldn't want to bring that kind of ignorance back into the galaxy. What I want is a more informed galaxy that works together to make laws and peace to best get along with each other. For that, we'll need to get rid of whatever kind of government this is now." She shrugged. "For that, we need Jedi."

"And you want me?" Proko laughed. "I haven't picked up my lightsaber in years."

"But you still remember. You know what to do." She grinned. "You can search for others with these powers."

Proko paused. "There'd be no battles?"

Connan snorted. "Of course not. I wouldn't force you into battle unless you volunteered." She pulled out a datapad. "I do, however, have a bunch of names of Jedi who haven't been accounted for as either dead or alive. Knowing they were either would be a load off of my shoulders."

Proko sighed and took the datapad. "I suppose I could look into one or two of these for you." He flipped on the datapad and skimmed the names. "By the way, how did you find me?"

Connan shrugged. "I hear a lot more than you do."

XXXXX

"General Kota!" Connan smiled. "Nice to hear from you. How have you been?"

"I've been better, to tell you the truth." Kota scratched his head on the screen. "Mon Mothma seems to want me constantly by her side. I'd rather be out doing something." Then he smiled. "Much like you are. Wow, Connan, I must say I'm impressed. You've gathered up twenty Jedi in a year."

Connan grinned. "We've been busy." She ran a hand through her hair. "Did you get the stuff I asked for?"

Kota nodded. "Yes. I'm sending it to you now." He frowned. "Why are you asking for a list of Dark Sided Outer Rim planets?"

Connan shrugged. "Just a hunch. I was thinking yesterday about good places for people to hide, and I remembered that during the Jedi Civil War, Jedi started hiding on Dark Sided planets as well as well-populated planets."

Kota nodded. "That sounds plausible. It's been fully uploaded."

"Thanks."

"Is that all you needed me for?"

"Well, yes, actually. But are you going to be near Hoth anytime soon?"

"I'm supposed to assist Mon Mothma in moving the troops there."

"That's where we're stationed for the moment." Connan replied. "Luke crash-landed here so we came and helped. Since Mon Mothma and the Commander have decided that this is the new headquarters, we're holding down the fort. When you show up next, we should talk face-to-face."

"I'd like that. We'll be there in about a week. I assume you have more questions."

"I always have questions." Connan waved. "Until next time!"

"Good bye."

Connan shut off the monitor and took the datapad, newly ejected from the console. She skimmed the contents.

Well, she had her work cut out for her. There were over two hundred planets on this datapad, and each one would have to be researched singularly before any judgments could be made.

"Why didn't you tell him we're looking for Starkiller?" Carth asked from behind her.

"I don't want to get his hopes up." Connan replied, shivering and rubbing her shoulders. "If we end up not finding him."

"You're cold." Carth changed the subject, reaching for a blanket and wrapping it around her shoulders. "You should put something else on."

Connan shook her head. "I'm fine. It's a cold planet. Being cold is inevitable."

Carth sighed, annoyed. "Look, you've been doing a great job of taking care of yourself. I haven't had to nag you much at all. Don't make me start now."

Connan cocked an eyebrow at him, a smirk tugging at her. "What if I miss the nagging?"

Carth smiled, tugging Connan close. "If you want me to pester you, you should just ask."

Connan spluttered. "What's the subtlety in that?"

"Connan, I'm a man. I don't do subtle."

"Oh, but you do do other things." Connan asked, grinned as Carth kissed her nose.

"I certainly can." He retorted, pulling her out the door and toward their temporary room.

XXXXX

It took her six weeks. Six weeks of pouring over that datapad, finding a planet and investigating it as closely as she could. Each possibility had been shot down. Either it wasn't inhabitable, or it wasn't Dark Side enough, or it wasn't very populated, or it just didn't feel right.

Connan had gone through each and every name on the datapad, from Aurek to the middle of Leth, and finally landed on a name that sent her hackles straight into the air.

Yes, the voice inside her head yelled at her. He's there!

She didn't even need to research it. Connan saw the name of the planet on the screen and swore. Why hadn't she thought of that before? Everything else in the galaxy had been a coincidence for her, why shouldn't this be, too?

Connan stood and walked into the main hold. She and Luke, Leia, Han and Chewbacca, Mission and Carth had been on their way in search of more Jedi. They were in a bit of a lull at the moment because Connan had stopped everything so she could thoroughly look into each and every planet.

"I know where he is." Connan stated. Carth looked up at her from his game of pazaak with Mission and they both stared at her.

"Are you sure?" Han asked.

"Of course I'm sure." Connan replied. "There's no where else he could be. I don't know why I didn't think of it before."

Mission smirked. "Is it somewhere we've been before?"

"Oh, yeah." Connan plopped down on the couch next to Leia. "We've been there before."

"How long will it take us to get there?" Leia asked.

"It'll take us about three days to get there from here." Connan thought.

"Where are we even going?" Han asked.

Connan sighed. "We're going to Lehon."

XXXXX

I'm sorry it took so long to get this out. Wookiepedia went down for a while and I couldn't get any information off of it, so I was stuck for a while last week.

I hope I'm doing the timeline well enough. I've got a few more things to do before I actually get into the movie, but I'm working on it. If I'm lucky, I'll be in the movie by chapter four or five.

It's Spring Break this week, and hopefully it'll be better than last year's. I'll be camping for the first half and Wednesday through next Sunday I'll be hanging out with friends.

I saw He's Just Not That Into You last night. Who else thought it was an awesome movie?

So good luck guys and I'll see you next week.

Amme Moto