Where are you? Jaina thought at Jacen.
The response was instantaneous, as only thoughts could be. I'll be at the cantina, with a friend.
A friend?
Yeah, I'll tell you all about it later.
The image of a face flashed in Jaina's mind—a sandy-haired boy with dark green eyes and charming features.
Do you have a crush? Jaina teased. She remembered when she and her brother came out to each other the previous year. It was full of stammering and awkward pauses and looks— before they tapped into their bond, and realized the same truth for both of them. He liked boys and girls— she liked boys and girls.
It was as simple as that.
Inside the cantina, Jaina approached the counter to the kitchen to receive her daily lunch. The cantina had tablecloths that were made by some of the pilots and mechanics when they sat around and waited for missions.
Assorted Jedi, pilots, mechanics, and operatives sat about, enjoying a nice meal illuminated through the skylight with a working mechanical roof— also designed by Rose and Rey.
The current attendant was a four-armed dark purple alien with a feathery short fur attached to his body. He moved quickly, handing Jaina her tray of food and refilling her canteen with water.
The food had been grown in the agriculture room in one of the most protected rooms on the base, besides the archives and panic rooms. Jacen in particular liked helping cultivate plants for food for the various species on the base and for animals used as livestock.
Jaina didn't have much patience for that stuff, but she was happy her brother liked it so much. It kept him out of her hair.
She left the line, looking for her brother.
"Hey, Jaya!"
Jaina turned to see Jacen sitting at a table with some new boy, and Tash Arranda and Elora Daan. Jaina internally groaned as she came over.
That's not very nice.
She tried to hide her frown. Get out of my head, Jaysa.
She could feel his presence withdrawing. Satisfied, Jaina sat down next to Tash, across from the new boy. She understood almost immediately why her brother had sent the image he did. New Boy was pretty.
Her and Jacen met each others' eyes. She had inherited her mother's hazel eyes, while Jacen had dark brown ones. His face was more angular than hers, with a prominent nose. They both looked rather awkward through the initial stages. Only now, a year past fifteen, were they finally starting to reap some benefits from puberty.
"Hi, Jaina," Tash said eagerly. "How are you doing? I've been working on translating Jedi texts with Master Elora that Master Rey brought from the First Jedi Temple. I'm learning so much! Did you know that the Prime Jedi—"
"Is a figure still shrouded in mystery, but we're starting to get a breakthrough on these records," Elora said, her tone chiding. "We can't say much yet, since we haven't properly looked through everything. Hopefully, our archives will be as complete as the ones on Coruscant that belonged to the Knights of the Old Republic."
"Right, I forgot that we aren't supposed to say too much," Tash said, wilting at the slightest disapproval from Elora. "Sorry, Master."
"It's alright, Tash," Elora said. "I'm just happy that you're passionate about our history."
So am I, Jaina thought as she viciously stabbed the fruit on her plate.
"So, you're Jaina Skywalker?"
Jaina looked up to see New Boy watching her. She felt a strange ease, looking at him, as if they had met before.
"Yeah," she said. "I'm Jaina. What's your name?"
"Kyp Durron," he said, a smile on his face. "Jacen told me he had a twin sister."
"Yeah, she's alright," Jacen said, shooting Jaina a death glare when Kyp wasn't looking.
She let a roguish smirk fill her face— then covered her mouth with her hand. Her front teeth were still disproportionately large compared to the rest, and she still hated her smile because her teeth made it look stupid.
"Are you okay?" Kyp asked.
"Yeah," she said, searching for a way out of this. "I just bit my tongue, that's all."
Liar, Jacen thought at her.
Kyp looked to Jacen, and Jaina took the opportunity to stick her tongue out at Jacen.
"Anyway, Jaya," Jacen said, "Kyp's from Deyer, and he helped the Wraith Squadron escape a sticky situation. And he's going to be a Jedi, too!"
"Really?" Tash cried. "You're going to love it! Who's going to be your Jedi Master?"
Jacen's face fell.
You're really not going to like this, he thought at Jaina.
Who—
"Rey Skywalker said she'd teach me herself," Kyp said, oblivious to the twins.
Jaina stabbed her nerf-sausage sandwich in anger.
She makes some new pretty boy a Jedi before us, her own children?! Jaina practically thought-screamed it, but her face remained mostly pleasant.
"Everything alright?" Kyp asked.
Jaina realized he could probably sense her distress. She smiled— with closed lips!— and said, "Of course. I was just wondering if you wanted to talk about your adventure. You must've been so brave."
"Oh." Kyp thought a moment before nodding. "It was terrifying, and I wasn't thinking about being a hero or anything. I just didn't want innocent people getting hurt. But sure— if you guys want to hear it."
Jacen and Jaina both probably nodded a bit too eagerly than was necessary.