Jaelle and Torath watched as Bindle jumped down and looked back up at them for a quiet moment, and then walked off, tail high in the air and fading from sight as it did so. She glanced at Torath with a small smile. "That was nice, wasn't it?"

Torath nodded. "Yes." He stood up. "I'm going to go talk to Alena, and then Samir and I, because he said he'd help if it was needed, are going to go finish the baby's room."

"It's still not done?"

"Not all of it, no," Torath told her wryly.

"Why did you put it off so long that you..."

"I had a lot of it done, Jaelle. Just a few odds and ends are left."

Jaelle chuckled as he left the room. She could have sworn he was blushing.

~*~*~*~*~

Alena looked up from watching Mara and little Anakin with the baby, to find Torath standing in the doorway, smiling at her. "Hi there."

"Hi," Torath said as he came in and sat down on the other side, and kissed her softly. When he pulled back, Alena was staring at him adoringly. Torath smiled again. "Love you, too... Samir and I are going back to the house and he's going to help me finish the baby's room."

Alena nodded. "All right." Torath kissed her again, nodded to Mara, and left the room.

Mara stood up and placed the baby in the basinette next to the bed. "He didn't finish it, yet?"

"Kept getting sidetracked," Alena told her with a small smile and blushing slightly.

Mara paused at that admission, and then returned the smile. "Ah... distraction can be good..."

"It was."

"Distracted?" Anakin asked. "Why?"

Mara smiled down at him. "Lot's a reasons, Anakin."

"Oh."

Mara glanced at Alena. "You mind keeping him busy for a bit while I go talk to Leia?"

"Not at all... Anakin, would you like to hear some stories?"

~*~*~*~

Neesta was watching as her mother talked to Leia when a hand landed on her translucent shoulder. Blinking, she craned her neck and looked up to find Ailee standing there, smiling down at her. "Hi! What are you doing here?"

"Checking on you... Do they know yet?"

Neesta nodded slowly. "In pieces... Can I tell?"

"No, and you know why. They'll find out the rest, Little Princess."

"That's not my name anymore, Ailee."

Ailee bent down and looked into her eyes. "You'll always be Little Princess to me, Neesta... and really, if your grandmother was a princess, and your father is an unknown prince, then you, little one, are a princess."

Neesta frowned. "I thought that was my name."

"And now you know what I really meant. Makes sense now, huh?"

"Not really, no."

Mara glanced and saw Neesta staring at thin air. "Odd..."

"What is?" Leia asked.

Mara turned and looked at her. "Nothing really... Where are Jaina and Jacen? I know you didn't leave them on Coruscant."

Leia frowned at the subject change, but decided to let it slide. "With Han and Chewie at the spaceport... Dark Star is there, too."

Mara blinked at her for a moment before nodding. "I was wondering about that... especially after the ghost of the family pet showed up."

Leia frowned again. "Ghost of the what?"

Mara shook her head. "That one, I can't really explain."

"Weird?"

"Yes."

Leia nodded at that answer and decided to let it go. She was about to say something else when Luke entered the room from the kitchen, a glass of water in his hand. Mara stood up and met him half way. "Give me the codes for the speeder."

"Why do you want them?" Luke wondered.

"Someone has to go check on Solo, you know."

Luke nodded and handed her the flimsy with the codes on it for the speeder. "I could go..."

"You went yesterday, Farmboy. My turn today."

Luke handed her the glass of water with a smile. "Good point."

Mara accepted the glass of water and took a sip. "How'd you know I was thirsty?"

"You got really thirsty right off with Ben," Luke reminded her. "Figured that would be the case now, too."

Mara glanced at Leia, who was openly staring at them. "Sorry we didn't tell you, Leia."

Leia blinked slowly, then stood up to join them, hugging Mara in quiet joy. When she pulled away, Leia smiled at her. "I know how much it means to you both, and I'm just glad to know now."

Mara pulled out of Leia's grasp to set the glass of water down on the caf table, and then rejoined the hug, pulling Luke into it as well. "Thank you for understanding, Leia."

They stayed like that until someone cleared their throat from behind Mara. Mara glanced back to find Renna standing there, looking at them with raised eyebrows. Mara smiled and held out a hand invitingly, which Renna hesitantly took, and Mara pulled her into the group hug without hesitation. Leia hesitated only a moment, not having expected Mara to do that, and then nodded to Renna with a smile. She could see the tell-tale echoes of remembered pain in Renna's eyes and welcomed the woman she'd just barely met wholeheartedly.

Some things just didn't need to be spoken aloud.

~*~*~*~*~

A little bit later, after Mara had left, Renna was sitting on the couch and listening while Vima told stories to Ben about the Old Jedi Order when Leia sat down next to her.

"I'd forgotten how good she is with children," Leia said, with a measured glance at Renna.

Renna nodded in agreement. "She's better now than she was when she got here... not that I was actually awake for that or anything..."

"I'm sorry?" As Renna shook her head, Leia nodded. "Ah... want to talk about it?"

"Not really," Renna muttered as Widia joined them on the couch, a plate with a sandwich in hand. "Where did Samir go, anyway?"

"Samir went with Torath back to the house to finish setting up the baby's room," Widia told her as she handed the plate to Renna. "Eat."

Renna stared at the sandwich, then looked at her mother. "I'm not hungry."

"You missed lunch because you slept through it... and if Jaelle had her way, it would be jello."

Renna looked at the sandwich again, then began to partake. "Good point."

Widia glanced at Leia, who was looking on with a mild air of confusion. "We've had a busy couple of days."

Leia nodded. There was so much here that was a puzzle... the woman had slept through lunch, was obviously thin, and the echoes in her eyes reminded her of Mara after Luke had brought her home to Coruscant... "So I gathered... Has to have been odd at the very least."

"More than a little," Widia agreed. "Can I get you anything?"

~*~*~*~*~

Mara sighed as she sat in the speeder in the parking spot at the space port, taking a moment to collect herself.

"Momma?"

Mara resisted the urge to jump as she turned to look at the translucent child sitting there. "Yes?"

"I'm sorry."

As Mara stared at her, Neesta winced and looked away. "I'm not angry that you said nothing, Neesta."

"You're not?"

"I just want to know why you didn't."

Neesta shook her head. "Not as simple as it sounds."

"Oh really?"

"Really... How was I supposed to tell you that you had surviving family when it wasn't time yet? I mean... Ailee tried to hint, through Elsie, but..." Neesta shrugged. "There's a million ways to answer that, Momma... The Force forbid it until it was time?"

"You can't blame it on the Force, Neesta... Elsie knows?"

"What doesn't Elsie know?"

Mara blinked at the answering question to her question, because she hadn't really thought about it. Neesta had a good point... "That doesn't excuse it."

"Didn't say it did." Neesta held her mother's gaze. "It worked out, didn't it?"

Mara chuckled. "Yes, it did."

"Then no worries."

Mara looked at Neesta with raised eyebrows. "No worries?"

Neesta shrugged. "I spent a lot of time with Elsie while she was here, Momma."

"Ah..." Mara reached over and held out her hand. "Feel."

Slowly, Neesta took Mara's hand, and smiled when she felt what Mara wanted her to feel. "I'm a big sister again!"

"And a cousin, too." Mara waited, savoring the moment while they had contact, and then Neesta released her hand, and they smiled at one another. "You want to follow me to the Falcon, don't you?"

"Yes," Neesta admitted.

Mara turned and opened the speeder door, then looked back at her. "Well, alright then... No scaring anyone."

"Can't I at least bug Uncle Han a little?"

"No."

"Darn."

Mara snorted in laughter and got out of the speeder.

~*~*~*~*~

Jaina stood by and watched as her father put the finishing touches on the repaired game table, then looked down at the piece in her hand. "Are you sure you put it back together right?"

"Yes, Jaina. I'm sure."

"Then what's this thing?"

Han glanced over at her and saw the part that the eight year old girl was holding up for him to see. He sighed and took it from her. "I thought I got all of them."

"It's not going to work right, is it, Daddy?"

"No, it's not." Han sighed as he sat down at the aforementioned game table and looked at the part, turning it over and over in his hand.

"Hi, Aunt Mara!" Jacen yelled from the corridor leading to the exit ramp.

Han looked up to see Mara standing there, a quizical expression on her face, and he blinked in surprise. "Hi."

Mara held out a hand for the part, and he wordlessly handed it to her. She studied it, then glanced at him. "It's this part of the holo imaging photo receptor?"

"Yes... Mara?"

"What?"

Han motioned to the vest hanging on the chair. "That?"

Mara blinked at him as she set the part down on the holochess table. "Luke didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?"

"You can stop wearing that. Really."

Jaina frowned as she picked Dark Star up. "That's Daddy's?"

"No, Jaina," Mara told her after seeing the sudden expression of panic in Han's eyes. It was one thing to embarrass him with something silly, entirely another to make his daughter think he wore a floral vest when she knew he was manly. "It's mine."

"Then why..." Jaina paused at the look Mara shot her. "Oh... this is one of those things I should never ask about?"

"Yes."

Jaina looked at Mara for a long moment, handed Dark Star to her, and turned to leave the lounge. "I'll go see what Chewie and Jacen are doing, then..."

Mara watched her go, then looked down at Dark Star and chuckled. "He was supposed to tell you yesterday."

"He was distracted... Vima."

Mara nodded. "Understandable... I'm sorry about that, by the way."

"The vest? Don't worry about it, Mara."

"I made you wear a flowered vest for laughing, Han. How can you..."

"Easily and we all have our moments." Han shrugged, picked up the part up and looked at it again. "Guess I'll have to take the table apart again and put it back together right..." He glanced at her with a raised eyebrow, and Mara had to stifle a chuckle.

"Thanks."

Han motioned to the purring cat she was holding. "She seems happy to see you."

Mara smiled and scratched Dark Star behind the ears. "I'm happy to see her, too... She didn't give them any trouble did she?"

"I think Leia would have said something if she had."

Mara thought back to earlier in the week... she'd dropped Dark Star off at the animal hospital for a full check up, and then she'd... made Luke worry with odd behavior. "True... want me to take the kids off your hands?"

Han shook his head. "I like having 'em here."

"I'm taking Dark Star, then... especially if you're going to be taking the game table apart."

Unable to repress it, Han snorted in laughter. "Thank you for the vote of confidence."

"I've seen you fix things before... sparks are not a good thing, you know."

"Mara?"

"Yes?"

"Don't you need to be going?"

"So eager for me to leave, are you?" At his expression, she smiled. "But you're right. I simply must be going... baby is cute, by the way."

"Glad to hear it."

~*~*~*~*~

As Mara reparked the speeder in front of her mother's house, she had to pause at the sight of the extra speeders that hadn't been there before. Had Widia said there'd be people stopping by? She couldn't remember...

Parking the speeder and getting out, Mara picked Dark Star's carrier up and shut the door. "Let's see what we find... and Neesta?"

"Yes?"

"He's still here, isn't he?"

"In there, you mean?"

"You know what I mean."

"No, and Bindle left, too."

Mara nodded, satisfied at that answer. She climbed the steps, and opened the door, carefully entering and shutting the door behind herself. Dark Star meowed, and Mara set the carrier down as Luke joined her in the entryway with a newly-woken Ben.

"I thought we left her with Leia," Luke said after a moment's pause.

"Leia left her with Han," Mara told him as she watched Ben bend down and look inside the carrier.

Ben looked up at Mara. "She wants out."

"She always wants out, Ben."

"Can she come out?"

Mara shook her head. "She may have you on her side, but that's something we're going to have to wait on, okay?"

"Why?"

"Ben... this isn't home." Mara bent down and smiled at him. "Maybe later, all right?"

Ben nodded. "All right."

"Mara..." Luke said slowly.

"What?"

"Alena's family is here."

"So that's where the extra speeders came from. Was wondering about that..."

"Yes... and Leia knows one of them."

Mara took hold of Ben's hand and followed Luke to the common room.