AN:

Charlie Hayden: Yes.

rimera:Probably not.

TriGemini: Yes, Jaedrea is her father's child.

Chapter 9

Luke woke, intent on his immediate surroundings, but found that there was something far worse going on. He breathed in and out once in an effort to calm the maelstrom of emotions that he was engulfed in. Something terrible had happened, but he wasn't sure what. He worked to center himself within the Force; they would need to get back quickly, he wasn't now sure that they would be able to have the luxury of the time that Jasmine wanted to spend there.

He was suddenly anxious to check on Jasmine. Mara had been determined that he wouldn't get up without her there to drag him back to bed, and was practically laying on top of him. He wasn't above Force-suggesting sleep on her, but if it was going to come to that, he might as well have her awake. He sighed, and didn't try to hide his waking from her; he didn't need to get himself out of her good graces; that was easily enough done anyway.

"I'm going to go check on her," he whispered to her sleepy form. She would come get him if she thought that he was taking too long, of that he had no doubt. He extracted himself from her protective embrace, and went into the tech bay. He noticed first that her lightsaber was sitting on the workbench in front of her, apparently finished, considering that her head was lying on her folded arms. He took the opportunity to examine her lightsaber. It didn't look like a lightsaber, at least not initially. He supposed that was mostly the color. For the most part, the crystal had become the deep shade of violet that he'd seen her energizing it to. What ought to have been switches were rearranged parts of the crystal, but these were still the original bronze, she'd put more switches on it than he knew what to do with, but there were uses for a fourth button, he just didn't know what hers was supposed to do.

He considered briefly whether he wanted to try it or not; he decided against it, since he trusted that she knew what she was doing, and that she could show him later. He clipped it to his belt next to his own lightsaber, and picked her up, cradling her slight form against his chest. He carried her into the cabin next to his, took her boots and her belt off, he clipped the new lightsaber to her belt, curling it up and laying it on the headboard. He tucked her into the blankets, and headed into the cockpit to lift the ship off, glad that he hadn't had to interrupt her work.

Leia barely had time for anything not related to the twins. She had classes on parenting, classes on Jedi parenting, her training with Chewie, and a class in the pool. She took a little bit of time for herself, though; she wanted to have lunch with her mother. In between her parenting classes, she was supposed to have time for a quick bite, but she couldn't leave the Temple, so she decided to skip one, and kidnap her mother.

She walked into the Chancellor's office, and the whole staff was in a flurry of activity. Bail was there, having retreated from the center of the chaos. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Hmm? Oh, Leia," he said as he noticed her. "Your mother has decided to dismiss her Economics Staff, and her Trade Staff. She would have done it sooner, but she wanted to have replacements ready before she did."

"Really? Why is she doing that?"

"Apparently your brother made a rather interesting presentation to her and the Jedi Council a few weeks ago. Cedric is a very bright young man, and he put together a rather alarming string of events. Since he did what they could not, she's getting rid of the whole lot, and starting fresh."

"I hadn't heard about this. I'll have to ask him about it."

"Well, I'm sure you'll get more detail from him, but apparently it boils down to the Sith are isolating the Outer Rim."

Leia paled a little bit. "Do you think I can still steal her for lunch? This is important, I don't want to interrupt."

"I would encourage it; she doesn't relax enough. It's done, but this is just everyone trying to get her to change her mind."

"Thanks. Are you going to head off the crowd for her while she's gone then?"

"I'm sure that won't be necessary. She won't change her mind, so there's not much that I can do for them, and they won't be satisfied until they've tried everyone they can to appeal to reason on this, but the problem is that she sees this as reasonable."

"Do you?"

"I do see her reasons."

"But it isn't the decision that you would have made?"

"Oh, no, I would have done exactly the same thing. I've seen the presentation."

"So it's bad?"

"Someone should have caught it."

"How's the press spinning this?"

"Some are praising the action as a long-needed house-cleaning; some are condemning this as completely unnecessary. The rest are just reporting it. The usual."

"Thanks, I'll go get her now," she said with a quick kiss on the cheek for the man she still thought of as her father.

That morning, Mara fought the urge to ask more questions than Jasmine would be comfortable with, but she was curious, and Jasmine was, at least now, talking to her, an improvement over even the day that Luke brought her home. She tried to keep it simple, while Luke was cooking for them again. "So is it finished?"

"I think so. I need to test it, and I might need to make some adjustments to it, but it is ready for me to try out, at least."

"Are you going to be able to talk about it to other people? I'm sure they will be curious about it."

She looked down, realizing that Mara was right. "I don't know if I can talk to other people about it. I don't think I will too much."

"But you're talking to me about it," Mara pointed out.

"That's different. You aren't other people."

"What do you mean by that?"

"You're my sister," Jaz said, as though it should be the most obvious thing in the galaxy, but Mara was touched beyond words by her blatant acceptance of her place in the family. She gathered Jaz up in a hug, which the girl accepted, but wiggled out of rather quickly.

"Can I see your lightsaber?"

"Yes," she said, some of her innate shyness coming back over her. She picked up the lightsaber and handed it over to Mara.

The grip part of the handle had narrowed considerably, to accommodate her tiny hands, but Mara could feel that the crystal flowed, and would continue to adjust to Jasmine's grip as the years passed. It was an interesting concept, but considering how unusual her lightsaber was to begin with, she doubted that there would be a very practical application for the discovery. "So what does each of your buttons do?"

"This is the on switch, intensity dial, length dial, and this one switches the matrix."

"Switches it?"

"Yeah. It makes it safe."

"Can you show me later?" she asked as Luke set plates in front of them.

Jasmine nodded, and tried the food. It looked like eggs with several different things chopped up and mixed in. She tried it as well; it was good. She looked over at Luke, who was not acting right. He seemed closed off, troubled; it was not unlike how he had acted right after he'd gotten back from his last mission. It troubled her, but she didn't want to say anything about it in front of Jasmine. She really ought to have known better, though, as well as she was finally getting to know the little girl. "Master, what's wrong?"

"I'm not sure, Jasmine," he answered her, and Mara remembered him saying something about it being absolutely pointless to try to hide their feelings from her. She was perceptive beyond what even most Jedi Masters were.

She looked up at the ceiling for a few seconds. "Daddy's worried too. I can't tell about anyone else from this far out."

Luke looked at her like she'd said something interesting. "I'll see if he knows anything."

Mara reached across the table to him, and he squeezed her hand. "I'm ok, it's just a feeling that something somewhere is very, very wrong," he told her, and she felt silly for needing the reassurance that he hadn't started worrying about her or the baby again.

Leia kept herself quite busy, and she'd started to get up around dawn, which seemed to be the proper time for meditation. But by the time that dinner was finished, she could do little beyond her evening meditation. She considered her pool class more or less busy work, to keep her active while she was so big, without putting too much strain on her body. She was happy to be finally settling back into a routine that was actually starting to feel familiar to her.

She hadn't had time to slow down for long at all. She missed Luke, and she missed Han, but both of them were supposed to be home soon. She'd had dinner with Chewie after her lesson with him, the last thing that she was scheduled for during the day. He escorted her back to her quarters, opening the door, as she was still speaking to him. "I don't know, Chewie, I just can't figure it out. It's hard with Luke gone," she flipped the light in the 'fresher on, and started running a bath.

Chewie growled something, but she couldn't quite make it out over the rushing water. "What about me?" she heard a familiarly sensual voice ask before she could answer Chewie, as her husband wrapped his arms around her very swollen belly.

She twisted in his arms so that she could kiss him, to show him exactly how much she'd missed him. "Was Chewie saying hi to you?"

"Yeah. He said he was proud that I returned intact."

"I'm happy you got home in time."

"In time for what?"

"For these two, of course," she said, rubbing her tummy. She looked over her shoulder to see that the tub wasn't over-filling, but it was just about full.

"Am I invited?" he asked as she turned off the water.

"If you want. I need to soak; my muscles are so sore."

"What have they got you doing to make you sore so close to the end of your pregnancy?"

A slight flush crept up her cheeks. "It's not their fault."

"So what are you doing to make yourself so sore?"

"I'll tell you about it later."

"When you aren't so sore?"

"Yes," she said, backing away from him after another long kiss so that she could undress.

Cedric buried his head under the covers. "Cedric, it's time to get up!" Liz said through his door. He'd been having another dream about her, although it was actually taking a nice turn. She was sorry for what she'd done, and he'd been comforting her, and…other things. He hadn't had a dream that specific before. He shook himself, because that was exactly what it was, a nice dream. He despaired that she would ever be what he needed her to be. It would take a miracle to make it happen. He got up, and started getting ready for his day.
Jasmine was excited about the actual Ceremony; it was an acknowledgement that she and Luke were Master and Padawan, and it only included the Jedi on the Council, since her father was already a part of that, and her mother. If he hadn't been on the Council, he still would have been included. Both parents nearly always attended, and she'd convinced her mother that she didn't need to bring all of her children with her.

Jasmine came to the conclusion that her parents had too many children to lead the kind of lives that they led. She didn't like that conclusion, but it seemed correct nonetheless. It was sometime after she had turned four when she'd started to sense it. Her mother had relinquished her possessiveness for the triplets. They belonged to the Temple, more than they did to her. It did not escape her notice that her fourth birthday also happened to be the day that she'd gotten elected to the Chancellorship.

She wondered at that for a little while. They'd had such a large family, when most Jedi with families had been content with three or four. There were a couple of other big families, and every one of those children, herself and her siblings included, were welcomed with open arms into the greater Jedi family. She considered it for a moment. Her mother had never really set out to have so many children, that was a biological predisposition. She was going to have her third set of twins soon, thus soon she would no longer be the youngest.

She wasn't bothered by this fact, although it had been her station for nine years; actually, she was sort of excited by the impending event. She would have someone around who would listen to her for a change. She wouldn't try to rub it in their faces, the way that Jae had her. Maybe Luke was right. Maybe she needed to let Jae fall on her face until she did learn. Her new siblings would be interesting, at least. She could tell that much from their force signatures. Nothing like her soon-to-be niece, but interesting in their own right.

The Ceremony was about to begin, bringing her out of her thoughts. She looked up at Luke, who gave her an encouraging smile. I can do this, she repeated to her self as she prepared to step into the center of the Council Chamber, and to speak in front of the largest group of people she'd ever spoken in front of in her entire life.

She listened to the Vow of the Master, as it was recited for Luke to repeat, "I vow that I will guide my Padawan on their path in this life; to teach them and to learn from them; to protect them, and teach them to protect others; and to show them the truth of the Force in all things. This I vow of my free will, as guided by the Force."

Her Vow was shorter, thankfully, but it still took an effort to get it out. "I vow to obey my Master, and to learn the lessons that he teaches as he guides my journey, for our two paths are now one. This I vow of my free will, as guided by the Force."

Master Windu turned to her father, their father. "Do you accept the will of the Force in this matter?"

"Yes, this is the will of the Force," he answered.

Then Master Windu turned to their mother. "Do you accept the will of the Force in this matter?"

"If Jasmine is happy, I'm happy," her mother said quietly.

"Then it is done." Master Windu declared. He handed her the lightsaber that she had constructed. "Here is your lightsaber; may it always light the true path for you."

Anakin watched with amusement as the party Padmé had planned was conducted in the Grand Hall. He wouldn't have imagined seeing such a thing in his lifetime, until about six weeks previous. He'd gotten his Padmé back. After that, anything was possible, including the biggest party he'd ever seen, for the shyest child they had had together. He felt that it was partly his fault. Had he paid enough attention to her? Had he loved her enough?

She was apparently coming into her own, according to Luke. It felt odd to him that Luke actually knew more about her than he did, but they'd been close before, and were bonded now, so the surprise shouldn't really be, but it was still there. Almost every Master had reported experiencing this disconcerting feeling of wrongness somewhere. A number of them had also reported, as Obi-Wan and he had, a great shock of fear through the Force, then sudden silence. He could remember what it had felt like when Alderaan was hit. He'd shielded himself as tightly inside his shields as he could when it happened, and it was still thousands of times more powerful than the wave that they had experienced about a week ago. Luke was among only a handful of Knights who had reported the same experience as the majority of Masters, and he was by far the youngest. It was an indication that he'd learned far more in the four years he'd fought for the Rebellion than he'd previously appraised his son as having done. Or maybe it had been his experiences in the past. Or the combination of the two.

He broke out of his reverie as the two of them approached him. "How are you today, Padawan Skywalker?" he asked, and was happy to see how she fairly glowed through the Force.

"Fine Daddy," she whispered, but he heard her. He always did.

"We need to talk about what happened last week," Luke said.

"I agree. Later though," he knelt, folding himself so that he was Jaz's height. "First though, I want to see that Lightsaber of yours."

She drew it out of the folds of cloth that it hid in, something that was sometimes necessary for Jedi to do, but she'd had the alteration made to all of her clothes. The deep violet hilt surprised him; then again, Leia had seen it necessary to plate her lightsaber in jade, so it wasn't exactly strange for his children to sport exotic looking weapons.

When he touched it, he realized that it wasn't plated in this violet crystal; it was made from it, through and through. "Wizard," he said, with all the wonder he'd ever said the word with, igniting the lightsaber briefly, to see the blade, which mimicked the crystal, a bronze core with a violet-shaded glow, and his deep examination of it told him a great deal about it.

He flipped the blade off, scooping Jasmine up in a hug. "I do believe that you are my child, after all," he said, teasing.

"Silly Daddy! I just am quiet."

"Yes you are, and woe to any who underestimate you. You will be a powerful Jedi someday, Jasmine," he handed her lightsaber back as he set her down and ruffled her hair affectionately, and Jaz beamed at the heartfelt praise from her father.

Anakin felt that Luke was about to send her back into the gauntlet, when something disrupted the party. He directed himself toward the disruption, and Jaz and Luke came with him. He grinned when he found the source of the trouble; His first grandchildren had announced their immanent arrival. He didn't even pause when Leia's look told him that she was not amused. He assumed a slightly calmer demeanor, so that he didn't upset her. She was still quite touchy. Her private life and her public life had both been thrown into upheaval. He had only had his life given back to him, and Luke had only had Mara to deal with. "Come on, Princess. Let's get you down to the Healers," he said and he offered her his hand. He only half expected her to take it, if even that much, but she did.

He smiled, and Luke went to the other side of her, and the two of them helped her out of the room, and Jasmine trailed behind them, radiating thankfulness that she'd been permitted to escape the party. "Jasmine, do you think you could find Han?" Luke asked when they were in a quieter hall.

"He was across the room, but someone told him what was going on. Someone will make sure that he gets where he needs to. He's been to the Healer's before," Jaz informed him, and Luke laughed.

"I'm really sorry about your party, Jasmine," Leia said.

Jasmine looked at her quizzically. "Don't be," was her only response.

Leia radiated puzzlement at that, but contractions kept her busy for the next few minutes, as they got her situated under the care of the Healers.

Once she was settled, Jaz crawled up onto the foot of the bed, and he and Luke tried to settle themselves nearby.

"Aren't you going back to your party?" Leia asked.

Jaz wrinkled her nose. "No. You don't remember me yet, do you?"

The shock on Leia's face made Anakin laugh. "I wonder sometimes if the shyness is an act," he said.

Luke looked amused as well, but he hadn't laughed, at least. "I think she's had more to worry about than you, Little Bit."

"I know." Jasmine said. "But she should at least remember something about me."

"Don't pout. She'll remember in her own time. Leia, I'm sorry. This really isn't the time for this discussion," He said with a pointed look at his Padawan.

The door opened, admitting the soon-to-be father.Chewbacca was right on his heels, howling what could only be a Wookiee birthing song. Leia smiled at him, having spent a good chunk of each day with him for the last few weeks. Anakin was sure that the next person through the door would be Padmé, but it was instead, Leia's Master.

Anakin stayed out of the way, as Aayla Secura took his daughter's hand. The last person in the room was Padmé, who took up position near the head of the bed, and she kissed Leia's forehead in greeting. The healer came in then, insisting that he, Chewbacca, Luke and Jasmine leave. He took this in stride, knowing from his own experiences that the less people that were in there, the less stressed Leia would be. He opened the door to leave, only to be assaulted by the rest of his children, and bombarded with questions as to her condition.

"She's fine. It's going to be quite some time. Sit down and relax, before you wind up thrown out of the whole Healer's Hall."

Jaedrea paled slightly at the thought. She sat down, and concentrated very hard on not moving, so much so that she was twitching. He sat down across from her, and Jaz crawled up in his lap, giggling softly at her sister's discomfort.
Anakin looked at Luke as the two of them sat in the common room of Luke's quarters. "I believe that the only conclusion that the Council has come to over the last week is that you far surpass your peers in power. There are only a couple of Knights who sensed even something amiss, but your description is like that of most of the Masters around who are not on the Council."

"Does that make me a Master?"

"In power, probably, but you will also grow into an additional level of power, later, like Obi-Wan, or Qui-Gon."

"And you?" Anakin nodded, acknowledging that he also had that level of power, though it was more like a level of control for him. "So, what is your opinion on this event?"

"Death Star. They've hit somewhere small and remote, testing it. It was fainter than Alderaan, but I was right on top of that event. Yet it felt the same, just more distant. They probably tested it on Endor or Dantooine, maybe, the target was a living world.

"Of more concern is who would have the resources to waste on one. From what I've gathered from your memories of Alderaan's destruction, and how distraught Ben was over it, and how Obi-Wan is acting now, I'd say that it's just a smaller scale of what was done before, fewer sapients."

"I didn't feel anything; Ben had just introduced me to the whole concept of the Force," Luke sighed, "It feels so weird to have two sets of memories for any given moment in time. On one hand, when I was nineteen, I had only just been introduced to the Force, and had only seen one holo of my sister, and lived on Tatooine all my life, while on the other hand, I was a senior Padawan, teaching people older than I was techniques that I'm not entirely sure I could do today, and had never lived anywhere but Coruscant, except visits with our Grandparents."

"I understand, Luke. I just wish Leia would talk to one of us. She's having more problems with this than both of us put together, I think. I worry for her."

"I think she's not entirely ready to let go of what happened in the other reality. I'll talk with her, if I can get her away from Han. I don't think she's told him, not that I blame her."

Anakin chuckled, "Yes, telling your husband that you don't remember him as being quite as respectable as he is doesn't sound like a good way to keep a relationship on the up and up."

"You told Mom, though."

"Well, that's different. She knew before she married me that there was at least a chance that this would happen. And she met me, while we were in the past, although I don't know if she realized it at the time. And you told Mara, but she's also a Jedi. She's bound to take it better than Han. You simply hadn't met her, that's different, too."

"I remember. I think Mom would have figured it out, eventually, putting everything together."

"It's probable. Did you know that I was never told about the truth behind the two of you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I was nine, I met you and Leia, and I knew that you were special, but I didn't know how. I connected with you, but I didn't know why. When we left, my nine-year-old self was left wondering where you were, and why you left. Obi-Wan told me the truth, that the three of us were from the future. I asked him if I would ever see the two of you again, and he told me that he thought so. I never understood, until I became me."

"If I hadn't gone through the same thing, that would have been confusing."

"It's still confusing. Padmé never said anything about it either. I don't really blame her; I don't think I would have believed her."

"I'm sure that I wouldn't have either, but it's still weird."

Luke woke to Jasmine's restlessness. He threw shields up around her mind, which calmed her almost immediately. He had become attuned to her moods over the last few weeks, as they were a very important part of who she was. She settled back into a deeper level of sleep under his protection as he sought the reason that she'd nearly been woken, since the source was obviously external, not internal, or his shields wouldn't have helped. Cedric, he thought as he found the source of anguish. He pulled a shirt on, and padded out to the balcony barefoot.

"Cedric," he said, crossing his arms and leaning against the side of the building.

He looked up at Luke, a slight blush covering his cheeks. "Sorry."

"You nearly woke my Padawan up."

He looked very ashamed of himself, "I didn't mean to."

"I think that you need to talk to someone about this. It's becoming a problem."

"I don't need to talk to anyone else," he said defensively.

"As much as I love seeing the sunrise over Coruscant, I don't think that this is at all good for you."

"Promise me that you won't tell anybody about this," he said, sounding almost desperate.

"I can't promise you that, Cedric. I don't think I'm capable of helping you at this point, and you are defiantly in need of help. I'll be careful who I tell, and maybe we can get you sorted out. You don't have to go through this alone, Cedric, but you seem to be insisting on it."

"I don't know that I understand what's going on, so it's hard to explain to someone else."

"And since I'm not demanding every detail, because I know what it's like to deal with the emotional turmoil of loving someone who's let that demon into their soul, it's easier to talk to me."

"I guess," he said, not sounding sure of himself.

"I think you need to talk about exactly what happened with someone. There are obviously some lingering issues with what's been going on."

The averted eyes told Luke that he'd struck a chord. He wrapped his arms around his little brother, letting the boy get a good cry. He was so conflicted inside, almost like the understanding that he shared with her went too deep.

Leia enjoyed the respite from visitors. Everyone it seemed had turned out to congratulate her on the twins; even Bail had stopped by, though she suspected her mother might have had something to do with that.

Han had locked the door, warning off anyone but the Healers as they enjoyed their new family. "So what are we going to call them?"

This debate had been going on since they'd found out. "I was thinking that we could call her Sabé," she felt, and she wasn't quite certain how, his confusion.

"Sabé, huh? Sabé Solo," he said testing it out on the little girl he held in his arms. She cooed with delight as he said her name. "Well, she seems to like it." He held her for a little bit longer, while he waited for her to finish feeding the little boy.

They switched, which ended up being a lot more complicated for the new parents than it had initially sounded. They figured out a system, though, and she fed Sabé while they talked about the boy's name.

"I'm rather partial to Han Solo, Jr."

She laughed at him; it was an option he'd been bringing up since the beginning. "I don't see him cooing over it, so I don't think so."

He didn't seem too disappointed, which she took as a good sign. "Jacen?" he asked, but that didn't feel right either. Maybe later on.

"No, that's not right," she said, then she thought about one of the people that she'd met on her trip in the past, and smiled. Her daughter was named for one of her mother's friends; could not her son be named for one of her father's? "Kitster," she pronounced.

"Kitster Solo?" he asked disbelievingly, but the baby cooed delightedly over his new name, much to Han's shock. "Alright, kid, but don't blame me when the other kids beat you up 'cause you've got such a funny name."

"I don't think that will be a problem in Initiate Training," she told him, but a memory popped into her head of the first day that Mara was in their class, and the bruises that her brother had sported when they went home that night, but she dismissed it as the beginnings of love.

"Eh, probably not. Kitster, huh? I guess I can call you that. Hey, honey?"

"Yes?"

"You don't think he understands me do you?"

"I don't know. I remember a couple of things from when I was this young; it's possible."

Han looked a little worried. "I don't know that I like that."

"It's ok. It's more just feelings, images, knowing that I was loved."

"How do you know it's from so far back?"

"I just do," she said, not wanting to get into the details of a life very much different from the one she was now living.

Han looked at her skeptically, but let it drop, turning to a more serious topic. "I got a letter from Lando, and I think he's in trouble."

"Let me see it," she said, taking the datapad that he handed her, and read the short letter. "It sounds like a desperate cry for help."

"What can we do about it?"

"I'm not sure. Why don't you ask Dad?" she asked as she handed the datapad back to him. Just because she didn't feel like talking with him, didn't mean that Han had to stay away from him, too.

"If you'll recall, he's never been exactly happy with our relationship."

"Oh, I'm sure he's forgotten about that. Besides, this is important enough that he'll listen."

"I'm not sure…"

"I am. He is a reasonable man, if you give him a chance to be," maybe I should take my own advice. He remained unconvinced, but readied himself for a talk with the intimidating Jedi Master.

Celia pulled Cedric aside before breakfast. "Cedric," she hissed into his ear. "We need to talk."

He looked at her, and she was shocked by how run-down he looked, like he hadn't been sleeping well. "What, Celia?" he asked, clearly not wanting to talk to her.

"You look terrible. I'm worried about you. You haven't recovered from whatever happened on Berma Pleaix. If anything, you've gotten worse. Something's going on, and I want to know what. You've shut yourself off from me, and it hurts Cedric," tears brimmed in her eyes.

"I'm talking with Luke about it. I don't need to talk to anyone else about it," he informed her sullenly.

"I wish you would. A burden shared is halved."

"And I'm already sharing. I'll be fine, sis," he turned away from her, and she couldn't help herself. She burst into tears, and ran from the room, rounding a corner, straight into Luke.

"Go ahead, I'll catch up," he said to Mara and Jaz. He turned to her, "So what's up with you?"

"Cedric, he won't talk to me," she curled herself into his embrace. He tucked her under one arm, guiding her to a nearby bench.

"He's been deeply troubled," Luke said noncommittally.

"He said he's been talking to you, though."

"I don't know that I would say he's been exactly open with me, either," Luke said, sounding a bit frustrated.

"But at least he's said something to you. He shut down, for whatever reason, on Berma Pleaix. And it's getting worse. Something else has happened, but he's so far inside his shell that I really have no idea what."

"I was about to talk to Dad about this. He's too young to be pulling this 'I can handle it by myself' poodoo."

"What are you going to do?"

"I don't know. That's up to Dad. I hope we can scare him straight, but I don't know how much it will take to do that."

"He doesn't show it like the rest of us, but he's got a deep stubborn streak. I've talked to Master Allie and to Master Ti about him, but it hasn't helped; they think I'm over-reacting, or at least that was the impression that I got."

"I know. No one's been making him talk about it, and it's something that needs to be dealt with. And remember, Dad's just as stubborn. And someone's got to get through to him," and with that Celia sighed, relieved that someone was going to try to fix her twin.

"Thanks Luke. I'm glad that you care about us so much."

"What else is a big brother for?"

"I don't know. I know little brothers are stinkers, that's for sure."

Luke laughed, and she was able to laugh with him. Luke would do everything in his power to make sure that Cedric started healing, instead of letting the wounds of his heart fester.