Ronik Pierion: Ahhh…Thank you!! As for Zekk, he does need a chill pill, hopefully over time Marleena can rub off on him. As for Allana..you need to remember she probably is still upset that someone would try to kill her daughter, a daughter that she wouldn't even have if she hadn't been forced to sleep with her brother-in-law to have to begin with. Not to mention that very same brother-in-law died saving the life of the daughter now knows was his. And besides, you're right dear cousin Krayt is behind it all…. Thanks for reading and enjoying.

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Author's Note: I have to admit this isn't exactly what I'd planned for Zane and Cassa...originally it was just another love story, but decided I didn't want to write another one of those. Zane is 42 in this, Cassa 40..so I revamped my plans and had some inspiration from an outside source...

I recently read Susan Kay Law's latest novel The Paper Marriage, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes contemporary romance with a well-written, heartfelt story with real meat to it. Anyway, I have to give her credit for inspiring Lusi and her story...though I've completely made it my own and my circumstances are totally different from those of Ms. Law's.

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Vignette 9

All in a Name
(Part 1 of 2)

Ossus
86 ABY

Jedi Master Zane Skywalker sat back in his chair and rubbed his goatee as he considered what the Grand Master of the Jedi Order had just told him. Kyp Durron, the only Master left from the original class of Jedi became the single reigning Grand Master upon the death of Zane's grandfather two years ago. At age 91, Kyp was still healthy and as opinionated as ever, but the past two months have been hard on him. His wife of 40 years, Alexandria Winger, had taken ill and things weren't looking good. Her heart was failing.

Finally, he said, "Kyp, I'm flattered, but I'm hardly in a position to take over the Jedi. I'm not even sure I should even consider it."

"Why not?" Kyp didn't wait for an answer before continuing, "Zane, you are one of the most powerful Jedi in the Order." At Zane's disbelievingly raised eyebrow, he assured, "And I should know, I did train you. You never failed to surprise me. You've been a Master since you were twenty-five, even if not officially. I've spoken at length with the other Masters, we all are in agreement. It's time for you to take the reins."

Zane shook his head. "Kyp, I'm not sure I believe your estimation of my power, but either way, it doesn't matter. What about Tahiri or Lowbacca or, any of them. They've all been Jedi a lot longer than me."

Kyp grinned that lopsided grin that used to infuriate Zane to no end when he had been his apprentice. "They don't want the job." Zane opened his mouth to speak, but was forestalled by Kyp's upraised hand. "I know I've broadsided you with this, but…" he looked down at his hands and took a deep breath before meeting Zane's eyes again, "well…it's just I want to be there for Alex right now. I'm not retiring." He chuckled. "I'll still be your co-Grand Master just as I had been with your grandpa, Corran. Anyway, Jedi don't retire, but I'm not going to be the voice of the Jedi any longer. I'll quietly sit on the Council and give my opinions, but I won't be making the decisions any more. I'm tired of listening to the nonsense of our wonderful elected officials. I'm tired of trying to placate them. And, most of all, I'm tired of them not listening to me and doing what they damn well please anyway, which always requires us to come to the rescue and fix their screw-ups before the galaxy ends up in war again.

"The assassination of Thern Lang has been the last straw."

Thern Lang, a Doros Senator, was mysteriously found dead two weeks ago in her apartment. After the autopsy revealed that she was poisoned, it came out that she had met with Bothan Senator, Tras Bwua'tu, only an hour prior to her expected time of death. Lang had been the most likely to become the next chief of state. The Bothans were easy targets for the finger pointers, mainly because they sat on the fence between being a member of the GA and joining the Empire. Lang had been something of a hardliner, demanding that the GA standup and stop letting planets just slip off to the Empire.

Zane shook his head of short auburn hair and laughed. "You know, Kyp, it's a good thing you're so old, because you'd starve if you ever decided to become a traveling salesman. That was the worst sales pitch I've ever heard."

Kyp smiled and shrugged. "Yeah, but you're gonna do it, so I don't have to be a good salesman."

"Yes, I suppose I will. At least, you'll still be there, Grand Master Durron." He pointedly glared at Kyp, who gave a single nod of his silver head. Then Zane remembered something. "Wait. I thought the Grand Masters were going to be elected by the Order. Even you and Grandpa were elected. That's how you two ended up sharing the position to begin with. There was a tie between you. Seems to me we're skipping something."

Again Kyp shrugged. "We'll put it out to the Order, but do you really think someone else will step up to the plate? You're the grandson of two of the last Grand Masters and trained by the third. Not to mention you're a Skywalker." Kyp smiled sadly. "No, Zane, there is no escaping who you are."

"Tell me 'bout it. I'm half tempted to name my son Tainer just so he can avoid the shoehorn."

Kyp threw back his head and laughed. "There still would be no escaping, he's your son."

Before Zane could respond, his comlink sounded. He sent a glare to his old Master as he answered the comm. "Skywalker, here."

"Uhhh…Master Skywalker, this is Apprentice Emme Lindit at the reception area. There's a young…uh…woman here who is insisting that she sees you. I offered to call your wife, but she refused. Said that she'd only talk to Zane Skywalker."

"Thanks, Apprentice Lindit, I'll be right there. My meeting is about over."

"Yes, Master," she said and severed the connection.

Kyp's smirked as he stood up as gracefully as a man half his age. "See what I mean? You're destined, as much as you're cursed. Like it or not."

Zane moved from around the simple wood desk and scowled. "I should have changed my name to Horn."

Kyp's smirk turned to that sad knowing smile again. "You'd still be Luke Skywalker's grandson. And you would always be the Jedi Order's example of hope."

x

Zane entered the reception waiting area of the Ossus Temple not sure what to expect, but it surely wasn't her. The young woman, turned out to be a human girl who couldn't be more than fifteen. She met him with black out-lined, wide, hazel eyes set in a hauntingly familiar tattooed face. Her dark, almost black, hair was cut at various lengths, tinged bright purple on the ends, and had what appeared to be nerflicks all over her head. Her all black clothes were tight and far too revealing for a girl of her age.

"I'm Master Zane Skywalker. How can I be of assistance?"

She looked him up and down, obviously scrutinizing him. Her expression was about as unfriendly as a Vong's as she said, "I'm Lusi Wymissin."

The name meant nothing to him at first, but then a niggling memory came to mind, an old memory and one that he hadn't even thought of for over fourteen years, if not longer.

"Oh, this is just kriffin' perfect," she said after misreading Zane's puzzled expression.

She shook her head and scowled at him once more as she tried to brush past the Jedi. He gently grabbed her arm and stopped her. Turning her to look at him, Zane said, "First off, you came here looking for me. Secondly, I'm a Jedi Master and you should show me at least a small amount of respect. Now, do you wish to tell me what you are doing here?"

She stared up into his face for a long moment. Zane took the time to reach out into the Force. He was surprised to find that she was Force-sensitive; a wild, untrained power bubbled within her. However, that wasn't the only thing he felt; her presence was shockingly too familiar. He dropped her arm as if it burned him and took a step back as he stared wide-eyed at her.

"Who are you?" he asked again, dreading the answer.

"Oh, kriff! This isn't worth it," she declared and headed for the door again. However, it slammed closed before she reached it. She turned and stared at him indignantly, with her hands crossed over her chest."

"Who sent you here?"

She stared at him for a long moment. Finally, she pulled a holorecorder from the black bag she carried slung over her shoulder. She tossed it to him and said, "It's all in there. Knock yourself out, Master Skywalker."

Zane easily caught the recorder and held it in the palm of his hand as he willed it to life. The face of a woman floated over the small device.

"Hello, Zane. I know you probably don't remember me. I wouldn't expect you to. I hear you're happily married to your Jedi partner and have a baby on the way, if I can believe the Coruscant gossip mags, that is." She paused and looked away for a moment. She looked older and sadder than Zane remembered. She looked sickly.

He looked up at the girl who was openly glaring at him, and it was easy to imagine her as this woman's daughter. Raina Wymissin's daughter.

The continuation of the sultry voice brought his attention back to it. He remembered that voice and how it had set his desire on fire all those years ago, and a small smile came to his lips. "I know this will all come as shock to you. I was only a fling. I know that, and, honestly, that's all you were to me. We met in a Coruscant cantina, you were between missions and stuck on a planet you despised, and I was on the rebound after a bad relationship. I knew no future could ever come from it. Never expected one, didn't want one, regardless of how great the sex was." She smiled and it lit her face up as much as it had that very first time she approached Zane in a Mid-level bar over sixteen years ago. "But you gave me one, Zane."

She paused again and lost the smile, her eyes suddenly moist. "I'm dying. Actually, by the time you see this, I'll be dead. I have a brain tumor that has progressed too far to operate and treatment hasn't worked either. I have to get through this recording before my meds wear off. Once that happens, I can barely remember my name. I'm sending Lusi to you. She needs guidance now. I feel that I may have failed her, despite my love for her. I know that by now you've figured it out. I'm sorry that I never told you about her before now, but I knew that you'd have wanted to train her to be a Jedi. I—I just couldn't let her go." Tears were streaming down her face as she went on, "She's the best thing that's ever happened to me, and I'll never be able to thank you enough for her."

Zane's heart was hammering so loudly in his ears at that moment that he nearly missed her last statement.

"Take care of her, Zane. I've had almost sixteen years with her; it's time she got to know her father."

He slowly looked up at the girl who was trying far too hard to look uninterested and tough, but he could feel her desire to be accepted by him.

But what the hell do you say to a child you didn't know you even had, and most definitely never wanted?

He swallowed hard. She looked so small, so fragile at that moment. Her grief was profound, and it filled the Force with its bitter tang. She was holding back her tears, but he could see the moistness in her eyes. Finally, he softly said, "I'm sorry. When…when did she…"

"Three months ago. She told me about you and gave me that recorder right before she died." Lusi was quiet for a long moment, and Zane thought that was all she was going to say, until she added, "So, is it true? Mom always said that I had this great power. Is it true?"

Zane let a gentle smile play on his lips. "Yes, you have the Force. We can explore your actual ability later if you'd like." She shrugged and glanced away as if to indicate she wasn't in the least interested. Then he realized why she looked so familiar. "You look like my mother," he said in voice that was deeper than it usually was. "I never knew her. She died after giving birth to me, but I have seen plenty of holos of her. I'm surprised that I didn't realize it at the start."

"And why the kriff…"

"Stop saying that. It's inappropriate."

She raised an eyebrow. "You have no place to tell me to do or not do anything, Master Skywalker."

"Oh, but I think I do. Like it or not, your mother put you into my care. I am your father."

She rolled her eyes and looked at the ceiling. "Ahhh…sure, what-the-kriff-ever. I'm almost sixteen. I don't need you or anyone. In two months I'll be old enough to make my own decisions."

"Then why come here at all? Ossus is nearly a galaxy away from Coruscant."

She stared at him and shrugged. "Morbid curiosity? Or, maybe I just wanted to throw your mistake into your perfect, good-doer face." She paused and let a smile slither onto her blue-tinted lips. "But I may stick around to see you explain me to Mrs. Skywalker. That should be entertaining for a little while."

Zane smiled and said, "I'm sorry to disappoint you then, because Cassa will understand. I met your mother long before I married my wife. In fact, Cass and I couldn't stand each other then. She hated me and I, well…" he paused and wondered how much he should tell her, but then he went on, "I was angry with my grandfather for pairing us up. She was the reason I was on Coruscant."

She shrugged and said, "Again, why the kriff would I care?"

But Zane didn't let her statement hurt him, nor did he let it rattle him. He could sense through the Force that she really did care. She cared a great deal. Instead, he smiled and said, "Well, I think it's time to get you to your new home."

XXX

"Everything is going as it should be," Tekli announced as she finished with the exam. The Chadra-Fan smiled and added, "But I didn't expect it to be any other way, Cass."

Jedi Master Cassa Skywalker sat up and rubbed her rounded abdomen. "Thanks, Master. I guess I'm just a worrywart."

"Oh, that's understandable," her mother piped in from the chair in the corner.

Cass grinned at Tahiri Tainer and countered, "If you say one more thing about me being just like my father…"

Her smile broadened as she stood and moved over to the examination table. Her graying blond hair was pulled severely back into a braid. The scars on her forehead had faded until they were barely noticeable. "No, I was going to say that it's all your husband's fault."

Cass rolled her eyes and Tekli laughed. "Zane Skywalker can be a royal pain in my ass, but he's good for few things." She swung her long legs over the side of the bed and her grin turned wicked as rubbed her belly. "He's very good at them, in fact."

Tahiri held up her hand, she knew her daughter's sordid sense of humor all too well. "If you are going to elude to anything you and Zane do in the privacy of your bedroom, I don't want to hear it."

She stood up and innocently adjusted her robes. "Who says we only have sex in the bedroom."

Tahiri threw up her arms and shook her head in hopelessness. "Agh! I swear I've been cursed." She glared at a sniggering Tekli and added in mock indignation, "My father-in-law and husband aren't enough. The Force had to grace my life with a daughter just like them."

Cass laughed and bent down to kiss her mother's cheek. She was several centimeters taller than Tahiri, due to inheriting her father's and grandfather's height. It was true she was more like Kell and Doran Tainer in her fun-loving way of attacking life, but she adored her mother. Zane Skywalker was her soul mate, but her mother was her best friend. "Oh, I know you wouldn't have me any other way. Think about how boring I'd be."

"I hardly believe that." Then she glanced over at the tiny Jedi Healer. "If we are finished here, I'd like to take this gundark out for lunch." As she spoke, she slipped her arm around her daughter's back.

"We're done for today's visit. I'll see you in two weeks, Cassa."

"Two weeks? Not a month?"

She smiled. "You've hit the last trimester. I want to make sure everything stays normal." She laid her hands on Cass's belly and briefly closed her eyes. When she opened them, she said, "He's going to be a strong one, that's for sure."

XXX

She was exhausted. Today had been a taxing day, and she was still trying to figure it all out. Lunch with her mother had been cut short when she got a comlink call from her husband. He'd wanted her to meet him back at their house as soon as she could. Cassa figured that he had wanted to talk about the meeting he had with Master Durron. However, she knew that wasn't it the moment she heard his voice.

She and Zane had been married for ten years, and, although they deeply loved each other, they didn't always get along. The biggest hurtle for them had been their differing opinions on children. Cassa wanted kids, Zane didn't. He wanted to end the Skywalker line. It didn't matter to him that he was the only one in the clan that felt that way. The Fels definitely didn't. The birth of Prince Roan proved that, and if anyone was close to treading the line between the Light and Dark Sides of the Force it was the Emperor. Eventually, she won the argument.

However, Zane still seemed not too excited about pending fatherhood. He rarely came to Cass's med visits, and he never asked her questions about her pregnancy. It was almost as if he was afraid of it. Her father had told her that he may feel intimidated. Doran admitted that he did when Tahiri had been pregnant with her. It just seemed too amazing to believe that the woman he loved carried something of his. But Cassa didn't completely buy it. Zane didn't want kids, he was only indulging her.

And then he hit her with this. He had a teenaged daughter whose mother was dead. It was almost more than she could believe at first. Zane had always been so careful, at least, he was with her. She wasn't jealous of the woman or what had happened, because they hadn't been married then, hadn't even been dating then. Force knows she didn't come to their marriage bed a blushing virgin bride. But how could he let this happen? Had he known? The recording he'd shown her said that he didn't, but had he somehow? These questions and a million more bounced around her mind, making it hurt from it all.

The evening had been anything but pleasant. Dinner was strained and silent. Lusi was trying everything in her power to be annoying, and if she wasn't Zane's daughter and her mother dead, Cassa's good-humor and general niceness would have worn off long before the girl had two bites of her nerfberger down.

"So, are you going to sit there and stew all night, or are you gonna just yell at me and get it over with."

Cassa looked at her husband through his reflection in her vanity mirror. He was sitting slumped over his knees on the edge of their bed. He'd stripped out of his clothes and was wearing only sleep pants and a dark tee-shirt. She laid the brush she'd been using on her long golden hair on the polished wood top. Taking a deep breath she let it out slowly, trying to find calm. Finally, she said, "No, I'm not going to yell at you, Zane. You didn't cheat on me; you didn't even know she existed. But I want to know what you intend to do now. She's so misguided and she's trying so hard to be an outcast." She turned on the stool to face him.

"I don't know what to do, Cass," he said at long last. "Maybe if I'd known about her, I could have figured something out. But she can't go on with these feelings of hate and anger that she has. But how in the galaxy am I going to reach her. I think she despises me." He ran his hand though his short hair, stood up, and moved toward her. He knelt before her and gently ran the back of his fingers over her cheek. "I know you're hurting right now. I'm sorry."

"I know. You didn't plan this. You never wanted to be a father and here you are with a troubled teenager, who looks like she could scare a Sith, and a baby on the way."

He smiled and Cassa felt her heart skip a beat. It was really was one of his best qualities, along with his intense blue eyes. He held her hands as they laid on her belly. "She does look like she would, doesn't she?" Then he sobered, losing his smile and looking down at their joined hands over the evidence of their child. "I'm scared, Cass. Force, I've never been so scared in my life." He looked up and met her bright green eyes. "What if I don't get through to her? What if she falls like my father did? What if…"

She placed her fingers over his mouth to still his words and said, "Zane, you can't go through life afraid of what might happen."

"But how can I not be? The Skywalkers are cursed with the Dark Side. But that's not all." Then he let go of the hand he still held, and laid his palms on her belly, something he never did, and then he reached for their son. Cass felt the baby respond, he always did.

Softly, Zane said, "I'm afraid of what kind of father I'll be. My father tried to kill me before I was even born. I have these dreamlike memories of my mother. I think it may because she somehow tapped into my power when she carried me when she fought my father, which connected our minds more firmly than what's normal. It gave me an awareness I should never have had."

"Is that why you're so distant about the baby?"

"Yeah," he breathed after a long moment. Then his face took on a far away look of a pain long better forgotten. "This whole pregnancy thing…" He shook his head, not knowing how to explain. "I remember her fear, Cass, fear for my father, fear for herself, but mostly her fear that I would die if she did. I felt her hopelessness, her sorrow and pain. I even remember how desperately she clung to life just so I'd live." Hauntingly, he met her eyes again and added, "I even remember her dying and the emptiness I felt when she left me." He shook his head again as if to rid himself of the memories. "No child should have those memories, that awareness. No child should know that his mother was willing to sacrifice everything to stop the monster his father had turned into."

As she sniffed back the tears that threatened, she ran her hands through his thick dark red hair at his temples and held his face between her hands. "Zane, love, you will be a wonderful father. But you won't be doing it alone. I'm here and our baby boy is fine. He's healthy and strong. And I'll be here for Lusi, too. Force, I love you."

Then she tenderly kissed him.

"I love you, Cassa. I don't know what I'd do without you." He pulled her into his arms and stood with her. Holding her as close as he could with her rounded abdomen between them, he picked her up and carried her to their bed. They settled into the softness and held each other.

"Zane, Lusi is grieving right now. She's lost and lonely and I think she's testing us…well, testing you. She wants to see how far she can push you before you snap. She probably figures that you've been absent from her life because you didn't want her."

"But I didn't know about her."

"It doesn't matter. She's not looking at this rationally. All she knows is that her mother died, abandoning her to a father she doesn't know and who may very well not want her."

He looked down into her eyes. "If you have any idea what I have to do, please tell me." Cassa was a Jedi, but she also had a psychology degree from Coruscant University. She had spent the past ten years teaching at the Jedi Academy and worked as a councilor.

She shifted to better meet his gaze, and then said, "You have to love her, Zane. You have to show her that you aren't going to abandon her now and that she is worth something to you. I know that's hard when she acts like she would rather serve you to a rancor for dinner, but you have to find something about her that you can love and love it."

"She looks like my mother," he said softly, "except for her eyes." He paused and smiled as he added, "I remember Grandma telling me once that my mother could be extremely stubborn if she wanted to be. Maybe more of Mom is hiding in there."

She regarded him for a moment, then cautioned, "Don't go looking for something that's not there, Zane. Your daughter isn't your mother. But if her appearance helps you relate to her, then you have to grab on to that and hold on."

"For dear life," he added and pulled her down onto his chest again.

XXX

She watched as the other student painstakingly moved a pebble from the pile to stack it on top of the vertical tower in front of him. She could feel the energy that had always swirled around her, but, now that she had been taught a little about tapping into it, she could feel it so much clearer.

Fen finally accomplished the task without knocking over his complete tower. Cassa smiled one of her soft smiles as a form of praise as if his three little stones were actually important.

Lusi had been on Ossus for a month. She still wasn't too sure about her father. He seemed distant sometimes, then others he wanted to play dad by asking her questions about what she liked and disliked, what she thought about, asking her about her life and friends on Coruscant. Sometimes she'd tell him things, and others she would say something harsh, and usually with as many kriffs as she could possibly fit into a sentence just to piss him off. However, even then, she had to admit she liked it when he talked to her. Though, she liked it even better when he'd talk about his family and teach her things about the Force.

She didn't tell him, she'd probably never tell him, but she knew all there was to know about him. Well, at least, what there was to know from the HoloNet. She even spent the last few weeks learning about the Skywalkers. She was shocked when she discovered that Zane's cousin was the Emperor. Kriff, that made her related to him, too!

That wasn't all she had discovered. She had heard of the name Skywalker in history class, when she decided to stay awake, that is. And they were famous enough that they would show up on the HoloNet gossip shows. She had studied about Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and knew that he had been something of a hero during the Clone Wars, but turned evil and became Darth Vader. She'd read about Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia Organa and Han Solo, and Jaina, Jacen and Anakin Solo, but she never realized she could possibly be related to them. It was all too much to believe.

Even her grandfather, Ben Skywalker, was famous. Not a good famous, but still. And kriff, that was only the Skywalker side of her father's family. She had just begun studying the Horns!

Suddenly, Cassa's soft voice brought her out of her musings. She liked Cass, though she really hated to admit that. She was supposed to hate her step-mother, wasn't she? But Cass was too kriffin' nice to dislike. She was also too funny. She even liked Cass's parents. The big guy, who was her dad, had even requested that she call him grandpa. She still thought he must have had one too many deathsticks in his time to be that happy all the time, but she liked Knight Doran Tainer all the same. Master Tahiri was different, but nice enough. Though she about peed her pants when Cass told her that Tahiri had actually been the one who preformed the wedding between her grandparents, Ben and Jysella.

"Your turn, Lusi," Cass said as she stood before her. Cass taught the class of older Jedi hopefuls. There were only ten others in the class besides Lusi. They were from ages twelve to twenty, and were all at different skills levels, but somehow Cass kept them all straight. It truly did boggle Lusi's mind. She and Fen were the two newest members in the class, and from the looks of it, neither one of them were great at moving things with their minds.

She hated levitation. She just didn't get it. If she concentrated really hard, she sometimes thought she could read other people's minds, but she couldn't move a stupid rock. Her father told her that she just needed to keep trying.

"Concentrate on the pebble, Lusi," Cassa's voice soothed. "Feel it, visualize it in your mind."

Lusi took a deep breath and closed her eyes. She could feel the Force as it moved around and through the little stone, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't pick it up. Frustrated she huffed. "I can't kriffin' do it!"

At the other ten student's surprised gasps or sniggers, Cass admonished, "Lusi, that's not appropriate language. Please refrain from using that word and you must learn to control your anger."

She almost told her to go fly a bantha, when she suddenly thought better of it. Cass was nice to her, and she did teach her a lot about the Force, except this levitation crap. Maybe, she should do as she said. Besides, she wouldn't want to be blamed for corrupting these damned lily-white babies.

"Yes, Master. But why can't I do it, Master Cass? Everyone else can."

Cassa considered for a long moment. As she thought, she mindlessly rubbed her belly. Does the woman ever not do that? She wondered. Finally, she said with a smile, "Let's try something else." With a groan, she sat down on the floor between Lusi and Fen.

Lusi immediately wondered if she'd have to help her up off the blasted floor as she watched Cass arranged herself, trying to find a comfortable place to put her long legs under her huge belly. After a moment she said, "Okay. What I want you to do, Lusi, is try to move the stone again. Close your eyes and concentrate as hard as you can. See and feel the rock move. But instead of just visualizing the pebble as we've been teaching you, I want you to actually picture it moving. Make it as clear an image as you can, as if you really were watching it move. Think you can do that?"

"Uhh…sure. I suppose." Then Lusi took a deep breath, as she let it out slowly as she'd been taught, she imagined the stone as Cassa requested. She suddenly felt the Force around the stone shimmer and she nearly lost the hold on the image when she sensed the stone move. She lifted it and easily placed it on top of another one of her stones.

"Hey! I did…it?" Her excitement quickly died as she looked from the stone to Cass, who was smiling like a dancing monkeylizard. "Why didn't it move? I felt it move!"

She was halfway off the floor when she realized everyone was staring at her, wide-eyed and opened-mouthed. "Why are you all staring at me?" she asked uncertainly.

Finally, Cass said, "Because you made us all see the stone move."

"But it didn't. Stupid thing anyway." She sat back on the floor with a indignant huff and scowled at the little pebble.

Cassa laughed and explained, "I have a feeling you are experiencing the same thing your great-grandfather Corran Horn felt when he couldn't quite get this either."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't have the skill of telekinesis, Lusi. But neither did Corran Horn or his son, Valin, or your grandmother, Jysella. I guess you've inherited the Horn skills and talents rather than the Skywalker ones." She then unfolded her legs, and with a grace that no one that pregnant should have, hopped to her feet. She turned to a goggling Lusi and winked. Then she said to the others, who were starting to whisper among themselves, "Class dismissed. See ya tomorrow. May the Force by with you." A chorus of the same words came from the departing students.

Finally, after they all left, Cass's face lit up with a smile as she said, "I would like to try a few more things, but first, let's go and see your Dad. Your father, I think, will be very happy about this."

And for the first time since she got there, Lusi smiled, an unguarded one that set her eyes alight.

(tbc in part 2)

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Thanks for reading!!