Chapter 4

0400. Leia sighed and silently rubbed her forehead. This night was not going well. Not only had Anakin - she was positive it was a boy - decided to do a little dance inside of her as soon as her head hit the pillow, but she had a pounding migraine from the kids' hyperactivity.

0400. Curse that number.

Aside from that, Leia had an odd feeling - a tickle at the back of her mind, something she couldn't even put into words if she had wanted to. Something just didn't feel right.

Deciding that it was useless to try to sleep, Leia slipped on her robe, hoping that a cup of warm tea would soothe her.

As she stepped into the hallway, she stopped when a near-silent sound came from the twins' room. She poked her head in the room and heard a muffled sob.

"Jacen?" she whispered gently, walking over to the boy's bed. He turned as she placed a hand on his back.

"Mamma," he sniffed, "make it stop."

Leia wasn't sure if she jumped from Jacen's words or Anakin's kick.

"Pwease, Mamma."

Leia gathered up her son into her arms and carried him into the living room. After turning the lights on low and putting a pot of water on, she sat on the couch and pulled Jacen onto her lap. He laid his head on her chest and squeezed his eyes shut.

"Jacen, what's bothering you? A dream?"

Jacen looked up at his mother's face with wide brown eyes.

"No," he replied, then drew his lips into a thin line.

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked gently. "Talking helps."

She watched as her son took a deep breath, his eyes darting to the hallway.

"Otay." He looked down at his hands.

"Would you like some hot chocolate first?"

The corners of his mouth turned up before he lifted his head.

"Alright, I'll be right back."

Moments later, she handed a mug to Jacen and settled next to him with her own cup of tea. Jacen took a sip and seemed to relax a little. Leia pulled him closer and waited for him to speak. It was a few more gulps of cocoa before he did so.

"It was a voice," he said, looking into the brown liquid in his mug. Leia did her best to reveal no emotion, but her shoulders did stiffen.

"It made me feel sad," Jacen continued, looking at his mother.

"What did it say?"

"Nofing. I just was sad when I heard it."

Leia admitted to herself that this certainly was strange. However, Jaina had heard a voice just the night before, and now, here was her precious son telling her the same thing.

"But you don't know what it said." Leia looked over the top of her cup as Jacen nodded his head, affirming the statement. Leia couldn't suppress a deep sigh, and she closed her eyes for a moment.

Jacen set his mug down on the coffee table, then curled up next to Leia.

"Can I sweep with you now?" he asked, absentmindedly petting Leia's stomach.

"I'm not going back to bed," Leia replied, "so if you're sleepy, you can sit here with me."

"Otay." Jacen curled up tighter, and after a few minutes, his breathing became quiet and even. Leia pulled the soft blanket off the back of the couch onto her small son.

In the early morning light, climbing down from the small starfighter and wiping his hands on the pants of his flight suit, Luke looked to two of his good friends and most advanced students, Kyle Katarn and Corran Horn.

Kyle had been an Imperial Stormtrooper until the fall of the Empire. Luke had discovered his Force presence when he hand his newfound trainees returned to Coruscant after Luke's search. Even though he had been the last to join the group, he had advanced quickly and impressed Luke with his skill.

Corran had been introduced to Luke by Han Solo. The two had been friends, having grown up together, but when Han went down his own path, Horn had followed his father and joined the Corellian Security Force, where he stayed until joining the New Republic and later, the Jedi Academy. While he didn't have many strong areas, he was faithful to his studies and to his fellow students.

"We couldn't find him," Kyle said to Luke. "Not even in the Force. He's obviously already up and practicing something."

Luke shook his head in slight annoyance. He had wanted to put Kyp in charge while he was gone - with Katarn and Horn nearby, of course - but as usual, the boy was nowhere to be found. Kyp was probably the strongest of all the students, but he was still young, and therefore sometimes very forgetful of life outside of his practices.

"Never mind, then," Luke said. "I'll just leave you two to keep an eye on everyone."

"Will do, Master Skywalker," Corran replied with a small salute.

Kyle clapped Luke on the shoulder in a friendly manner and said, "You don't need to worry about us, Luke. We've got everything covered here. Go and enjoy your time with your family - we'll be fine."

Luke grinned at his brown-haired and -bearded friend and winked.

"You know me," he said, "always worrying about you here."

Corran gave a small snort and said, "Luke, you'd make a fabulous mother."

The three laughed, and as Luke turned to climb into his X-Wing, Corran said, "But seriously, Luke."

"Alright, okay, I get it," he said in mock annoyance. "See you soon."

Luke closed the hatch and powered up the fighter, and Katarn and Horn turned to walk back to the Temple as Luke's ship entered the sky.

Han entered the Solo's home carrying an armload of groceries, and was surprised when silence reached his ears. Glancing into the living room as he passed, he noticed the twins on the couch watching a holovid and smiled. He set the packages down and sampled some soup on the stove before putting the groceries away. He then ambled in the living room.

He was greeted by C-3PO - however, the droid wasn't talking incessantly; he was powered down, but his arms were raised as if in scolding. Han laughed, and Jacen turned around.

"Hi Daddy," he said, flashing a smile just like his father's. Han walked over to his two children.

"What's with Threepio?" he asked with a smile.

"He was annoying," Jaina said simply, not taking her eyes of the holovid screen. Han laughed out loud and patted her head.

"Where's Mom?"

The twins shrugged in unison. Han decided he wasn't going to get anything more out of them, so he went to find Leia on his own.

Leia heard Han outside the door before he entered, and she quickly stood and bodily blocked the screen on the computer terminal as he stepped into the room. It didn't go unnoticed, for Han's eyebrow shot up.

"Hey, Your Worship," he said. "What's up?"

"Nothing," Leia replied. "Just...looking for...recipes for tomorrow night."

Han stuck his hands in his pockets as he walked over to her and easily looked around her small form.

"'Dealing with children's nightmares'? What in the world?"

Leia sat back down on the chair.

"The twins have been dreaming a lot lately," she conceded. "I was just trying to find out if there was a way to help them, you know, stop."

"Leia, they're just dreams." Han looked confused, which normally amused Leia. "Everyone has bad ones occasionally."

"Not like this," she muttered.

"What?" Han asked. "What are they dreaming about?"

Leia sighed and walked over to the bed, then motioned for Han to sit next to her.

"I didn't want to tell you until I talked to Luke about this," she began, running her fingers through the looser part of her hair, "because I didn't want you worrying if it was nothing."

"Well, it obviously has you ruffled," he said simply. "It must be something."

Leia ran a hand across her eyes, then looked at Han.

"That's what I'm afraid of. Han, the kids have been hearing voices."

Han gave a small laugh.

"What?"

"Two nights ago, Jaina told me that Jacen was whispering things about monsters to her," Leia went on, "and last night, Jacen told me he heard a voice that made him feel sad."

Han was staring at the floor, rubbing his chin, when Leia looked at him.

"Sithspawn, Leia, this is more than nightmares," Han said.

"I know that," Leia answered. "That's why I'm having Luke come. I want to talk to him about this. It's very convenient that this happened so soon after they showed us Force abilities."

Han's gaze seemed to grow hard for a moment, but he looked at her composedly. Leia took ahold of his hand, and he reached up behind her to gently massage her neck.

"Hopefully it's nothing," she mumbled, as if to soothe her own thoughts.

I wish I could say the same, Han thought, but instead of voicing it, simply leaned over and kissed her cheek.

Just then, the couple heard Threepio's servomotors as he came down the hallway.

"Mistress Leia, you won't believe what the twins have done to me…"