Jaina stared through transparisteel and bacta at Jag. Most of his body was covered in second- and third-degree burns. He had cuts and abrasions all over. According to Telki, he also had major internal injuries. She and Taesa had worked for what seemed like an eternity trying to stabilize him before unceremoniously dumping his body in the bacta tank.

Taesa and Telki came and stood on either side of Jaina. "Telki put him in a healing trance before we put in him the tank," Taesa told her. "It probably won't work as well on him as it would on a Jedi, but we think it might help some. At least, it can't hurt."

"How long until you can pull him out?" Jaina asked quietly.

"Five to seven days," Telki answered. The little Chanda Fan looked up at Jaina. "He was very close to the explosion, almost as if it was set to detonate when someone was close enough." She paused for a moment. "Anyway, the blast caused major damage, and the piece of debris landing on him only worsened his condition. Some of the scars may never heal."

Jaina nodded, not looking at either of her companions. She continued to look at Jag, silently thanking the Force that he was going to be okay. After a few moments, the two healers left, leaving Jaina alone with her thought once more.

She didn't know how long she stood like that, arms crossed over her chest, feet spread apart slightly, before she felt her parent's join her. She didn't turn and greet them, or even acknowledge their presence. In fact, she completely ignored them.

Finally, Leia spoke. "You're taking this harder than I took your father being frozen in carbonite."

"Yeah, well you two weren't married at the time," Jaina told her mother not-quite-snidely.

"And you are?" Han asked sarcastically.

"Our one month anniversary was three days ago," she told him, finally turning to look at her parents, wondering at their reactions.

Her mother looked shocked, but also like something finally made sense to her. Han didn't disappoint either. His eyebrows shot up to nearly his hairline, his eyes widened to saucer-size, while his jaw nearly dropped from his face. He looked incredulously at his only daughter.

"What?"

"Jag and I got married one month and three days ago," Jaina said slowly, as if speaking to a child. "Fifteen minutes before we left Borleias. He moved all of his stuff into Kyp's room when you showed up here. We were trying to figure out some way to tell you where you wouldn't shoot him on the spot."

Han seemed about to go into a rage, but Leia stopped him with a hand on his arm. She turned to her daughter. "Why didn't you want us to know?" she asked quietly, hurt evident in her voice.

Jaina visibly struggled for a moment to come up with an answer. "Because Dad would've acting like he is now, and you would have tried to talk us out of it," Jaina finally answered quietly. "We just wanted a quietly little ceremony, which we got."

"But then why didn't you just tell us?" Leia persisted.

"Because of this!" Jaina exploded. "Because I knew that you would react like this. We just wanted to be happy! We didn't want our parents to freak out, but I guess that was a given, wasn't it?" Her voice now held more venom than ever before. She looked her parents in the eye and continued, letting her voice drop the venom and become almost pleading. "Can't you just be happy that I found someone to love and spend the rest of my life with? Can't you forget your opinions of Jag for just one minute, and be happy for us?"

"We are happy for you," Leia told her daughter quietly. "We're upset and disappointed that you didn't tell us earlier about this. And no matter what you think, we don't hate Jag. We think that he's a nice young man. And don't pay attention to what your father says about him. He's just being overprotective."

Jaina turned back around so that she could look at Jag floating in the bacta. "If you don't mind, I'd like to be alone now," she told her parents over her shoulder. Neither Han nor Leia said a word, but Jaina felt them leave. She continued to gaze at Jag, wondering which scars would heal and which ones wouldn't.

Well, Anakin, looks like I didn't have much of a choice about telling Mom and Dad, Jaina thought, hoping somehow that her brother would hear her. Now all I have to do is tell everyone else. Somehow, I have a feeling that'll be harder than telling Mom and Dad.

Jaina sighed, not looking forward to the experience any.


"You're what?" Mara asked, incredulously.

"Jag and I are married," Jaina repeated.

It was three hours after her encounter with her parents in the medical bay. She had gathered the rest of her family that didn't yet know about the marriage in the lecture hall at the center of the base. They had all been sitting comfortably until Jaina's revelation. Now, Mara was on her feet, her stance indicating what she thought of the union.

"Isn't this a little soon?" the red-haired woman asked. "A little rash?"

"Don't talk to me about rash decisions!" Jaina exclaimed, jumping to her feet in front of her aunt. "I remember when you and Uncle Luke got engaged. You went on that mission acting barely civil to each other and you come back totally in love and engaged. Don't you daretalk to me about rash decisions!"

"You were ten years old at the time!" Mara shot back. "How would you know what went on between your uncle and me before that mission? You were just a child!"

"Calm down," Luke interjected, placing himself between the two women. "Both of you. What's done is done and can't be changed. So stop this useless bickering."

"Fine," Mara conceded first, returning to her seat. Jacen, who had been handed Ben when Luke stood up, passed the child to his mother.

"Jaina?" Luke persisted, turning to look fully at his niece. He noticed for the first time how weary she looked. Almost losing the person you love more than anything can do that to you. I should know.

"Fine," she said. "Whatever. I'm really not in the mood to fight about this right now. It's not like I have to justify myself and our reasons to you people." She turned and headed towards the door. "If you need me, I'll be in my quarters, trying to get some sleep," she called over her shoulder.

Luke returned to his seat next to his wife. He slouched down in the chair and turned to Mara. She was clearly upset about Jaina's marriage, but seemed to be trying to work through it. He caught sight of Jacen sitting on Mara's other side, looking shell-shocked. Luke inquired if he was alright.

Jacen didn't seem to hear his uncle. He asked in a clearly confused voice, "Jaina's married?"


Jaina lay on her back in bed, staring at the ceiling. She had left the lecture hall nearly four hours ago, but hadn't closed her eyes for more than the time it took to blink. Though she was bone weary, she was afraid to fall asleep, afraid of having another vision. So she had stared at her ceiling, trying to divine the secrets of the universe from the sound-absorbing tiles.

She wasn't having much luck in this endeavor when a knock on her door made her nearly jump out of her skin. She took a couple of calming, deep breaths before getting out of bed and pulling a robe on over her pajamas. She walked across the room, disengaged the lock mechanism on the door, and pushed the button that opened the door.

"Come on in, Uncle Luke," Jaina said, stepping out of the way so that the Jedi Master could enter. As soon as he was in the room, the door swooshed shut behind him, darkness engulfing the room. "Lights: level one." The lights came on dimly, just enough so navigating the room wasn't hazardous.

"I hope I didn't wake you," Luke said, taking a seat on one of two chairs salvaged from an old capital ship. Jaina sat in the middle of the bed, facing her uncle.

"No, I wasn't asleep," she answered. "I was just laying here." She looked at Luke for a moment, silent. "I'm scared to go to sleep, or meditate for that matter."

Jaina felt Luke's probe as he spoke. "What's wrong? Why are you scared?"

"I had a vision last night," she started. "That's why I was up at such an ungodly hour. I went for a walk and found Jacen in a meditation chamber. We talked, he fell asleep, and I tried meditating. The vision came again, and I saw Anakin there. He told me that the fate of the galaxy rested on when I told you all about Jag and I being married. That's why Jag was heading for the pilot's lounge so early. We were going to talk about it. I guess that really has no relevance now."

"Tell me about your vision," Luke persisted, looking intently at Jaina. "Why are you scared of having another one?"

Jaina tore her gaze away from her uncle's and recounted her vision to him in full detail, leaving nothing out. She told him of the wedding holos, the holos of her family, and of Anakin's warning to her. "That's not what I'm scared of, though. I'm scared of the pain. It hurt so much; I felt like I was dying. I don't ever want to feel that again." Jaina felt tears forming and pooling in her eyes. She looked down at her hands, could see them shaking. She tried to will them to be still, but to no avail.

Luke noticed and moved from his perch on the chair to sit across from Jaina on the bed. He took her shaking hands in his steady ones. "It's okay to be afraid. Just don't let it consume you. That leads to the Dark Side. I know you know its dangers, so I won't preach to you. I just want to let you know that your family loves you, and we would hate it if you fell again."

Jaina couldn't keep the tears back anymore. They made tracks down her cheeks, and dripped from her face onto the bedspread, leaving tiny, dark spots. She began to sob and Luke pulled her into a tight embrace, holding her close. She sobbed into his chest, his shirt absorbing her tears. He rocked her gently, side to side, and stroked her thick hair in an effort to calm her, but he offered no words. After a while, her sobs and tears stopped, but she still clung tightly to her uncle.

"Feel any better?" he asked, still stroking her hair.

"Yes," Jaina answered truthfully. "I guess I've needed a good cry for a while now."

Luke pulled back slightly so her could see his niece's face. "But this isn't the reason that I came here."

"No, I figured it wasn't," Jaina said, scooting back so that her back was against the headboard of the bed. She patted the bed beside her, gesturing for Luke to join her.

Luke got himself comfortable and then turned his head to look at Jaina. "Kam and I have been discussing the situation that you're currently in. Namely, you're an apprentice, and you're married. And according to Jedi mandate, apprentices are not allowed to marry.

"Even though you've been with the Rogues, away from Mara, for almost four years, you are still technically her apprentice. I'm hoping you see the problem here." Jaina nodded mutely. "Kam and I have come up with a solution. After Jag comes out of bacta, I will officially announce your Knighthood.

"I want you to realize one thing, though. I'm not doing this because you're my niece and you've gotten yourself into a sticky situation. I'm doing this because you deserve it. Traveling to Myrkr to destroy the voxyn queen was your final trial. When I announce your Knighthood, I'll also announce that of all of the survivors of that mission."

Jaina stared at her uncle a moment before speaking. "You don't know how much this means to me," she said, her voice quiet and full of emotion.

"I think I have an idea," he told her, just as quietly. "You watched your brother die, and thought the other one died. For months you thought you were the only Solo child left. You fell in love, and broke every rule the Jedi have to be with him. Then your twin comes back. Your surviving family is finally all together again. And now, your childhood dream is coming true. Am I right?"

Jaina nodded and threw her arms around Luke again. She rested her chin on his shoulder. "I love you, Uncle Luke," she said, and Luke could feel her smile.

"I know," Luke said, throwing their family's oft used phrase at her. Jaina smacked him in the back of his head lightly, and she could feel his amusement and knew that he was smiling the same smile that Jaina herself did on occasion. "I love you, too."

She pulled back from him and pushed his shoulders lightly. "Now, leave. I'm tired, and I want to get some sleep."

"What about your visions?" Luke asked, getting up. He stood next to the bed and looked down at his niece.

"I don't care anymore," she answered. She pulled off her robe, threw it across the room. She climbed under the covers, shifting until she was comfortable. "If one comes, it comes. If one doesn't, all the better. I just have to trust in the Force."

Luke nodded, then leaned down and kissed Jaina on the forehead. "Sleep well," he told her quietly, heading toward the door. He opened the door and was about to step through when Jaina's voice stopped him.

"Give Aunt Mara and Ben my love," she called. Luke nodded, then stepped into the corridor, the door shutting behind him, leaving Jaina alone. "Lights off." They shut off, leaving the only illumination in the room from the bedside chrono. Jaina glanced at it: 13:57. Then, she rolled onto her side, her back to the chrono, and settled down into the old-fashioned mattress. She closed her eyes and was almost immediately engulfed by sleep's welcome embrace.