Jacen Solo knelt in front of his uncle, in a small lecture hall. A week after the Knighting ceremony was supposed to take place, it finally was happening. Everyone had decided that the primary lecture hall was no longer an appropriate place to hold the ceremony, and so the location was changed to a small, secondary lecture hall.

Looking around at his fellow newly-Knighted Jedi, Jacen felt a pang of grief. Alema Rar, who should have been there to celebrate with them, was gone. She had died, trying to fight Taesa Andryh, who had gone crazy and tried to incapacitate them all.

She succeeded in getting me out of the picture, Jacen thought. She almost killed me. Well, me, Jag, Jaina, Tionne, and Mekira. Force, she must have really had a grudge to want to kill a newborn.

"Your actions have proven that you are truly Jedi Knights," Luke Skywalker was saying, jolting Jacen out of his reverie. "This ceremony is simply a formality, as I believe you all know."

Jacen watched as his uncle's gaze moved around the room, his eyes landing on everyone present, if only for a second. His gaze lingered slightly longer on Kyp than on anyone else. He had to kill his sister at the last ceremony, to save everyone. Uncle Luke sympathizes. So do I. I don't think I would ever be able to kill Jaina, self-defense or not.

"Alema Rar, who lived well and died fighting, died a full Jedi Knight," Luke continued. "She died bravely, defending those around her. Honor her by always fighting in the light, and never abandoning yourself to the Dark Side."

Jacen glanced at his sister, only to find her gazing right back at him. She knew that he feared for her, after her fall that he hadn't been around to help her through. Don't worry, her expression seemed to say, I won't fall again.

I trust you, he sent, knowing that she got the meaning, if not the exact words.

Glancing to his other side, Jacen found Tahiri Veila also already looking at him. Her expression seemed to say, Don't worry. I'm not afraid anymore.

He turned back to his uncle as the latter began to talk again. "There is nothing more to say to you, except: May the Force be with you."

As one, all those kneeling stood and turned around. They all called their lightsabers to their hands from the small table on the back of the table in the back of the room. They all clipped the hilts of their blades to their belts, and as one, began talking excitedly.

"Congratulations, Tahiri," Jacen told the blonde girl. "The youngest Jedi Knight in history."

Tahiri blushed. "Only as far as we know," she said. "We don't know much about the old order. There could have been a six year old Knight for all we know."

"No, I doubt that," he said with a smile. Over Tahiri's shoulder, he saw Tenel Ka talking to Ganner Rhysode. Tahiri followed his gaze.

"Jealous?" she asked, turning back to him with a smile.

"No," he said, and realized, with a start, that he wasn't. He still considered Tenel Ka one of his closest and best friends, but he no longer had any romantic feelings for her. Maybe I never did, he thought. Maybe it was only a childhood crush.

After a moment's silence, Tahiri said, "Come on. I heard a rumor that the students were going to throw us a party. I hate going to parties alone."

"Why, dear lady, are you asking me on a date?" Jacen asked playfully.

"No," Tahiri said, smiling. "I'm ordering you to escort me to this party. Now let's go."

"Of course," he answered, holding out his arm. Tahiri slipped her arm through his, and they walked off together, talking and laughing.

I'm finally healing. I'll be okay, from now on. I might not be the person I was before this war, but I'm still a Jedi. Now, and forever.

"Not only do I want you to escort Tenel Ka back to Hapes, but I want you to stay there and act as her bodyguard."

Ganner Rhysode's jaw dropped, his face a mask of shock. "What?"

"I know you don't think that she needs protecting, but I do," Luke Skywalker told the younger man patiently. "Yes, she is a Jedi, and that's the reason I want you to stay on Hapes. The Ni Korish are still around, and I don't think they would mind knocking off their Jedi Queen Mother."

"Wouldn't the fact that I'm a Jedi just make the situation even more volatile?" Ganner asked, getting his wits back about himself. "I mean, if the Ni Korish hate Jedi with a passion, won't I just make the situation worse?"

"I don't believe so," Luke answered. "It might discourage them from attacking her."

"How do you plot that course?"

"When Tenel Ka is in her 'Queen' mode, she can't carry around a lightsaber," Luke explained. "A sharpshooter could kill her with one blast. Sure, she might be able to sense the danger, but she won't be able to protect herself. If you are there, as her bodyguard, you can carry both your own, and her, lightsaber. It will discourage any would-be assassins from making a move."

"If you say so," Ganner said, clearly not believing Luke's reasoning. "I take it we'll be leaving as soon as Tenel Ka is ready?"

"That would be my assumption," Luke told him. "You would have to talk to Tenel Ka about that, though." Luke stood and offered the other man his hand. Ganner shook the Jedi Master's hand. "May the Force be with you, Ganner Rhysode."

"And with you, Master Skywalker," he returned, turning to leave the office.

Once he was out of the office, and alone in the hall, he leaned back against the wall, closing his eyes. Great, he thought sarcastically. Now I really have a problem. How am I going to be around Tenel Ka all the time and not surrender to these feelings I seem to be having? This is going to be one interesting assignment.

Kyp Durron stood in the middle of a meditation room, looking out the wall of transparisteel at the black holes that surrounded the Jedi base. He stared at one spot, indistinguishable from any other in that region of space.

After a moment, he spoke. "Do you remember the exact spot where your brother's body was cremated?"

"I could get there with my eyes closed," Jaina Solo Fel answered, coming up to stand beside him. "Is that where Taesa's body finally disappeared into the black holes?"

Kyp nodded, not taking his eyes off of the spot in space. "I hadn't seen her for almost fifteen years before just a few weeks ago," Kyp told her. "She never forgave me from when we were slaves on Kessel. I let Doole sell her to some other slaver. There was nothing I could do, and she never forgave me."

Jaina didn't respond, and for that, Kyp was glad. The only things she could say would be meaningless platitudes, and Kyp was sick of those. He had been getting them for almost two weeks, since the ill-fated first attempt at the Knighting ceremony.

After a long silence, he spoke again. "All my family is dead. My parents died in the mines, and I killed my brother in a stupid attempt to save him. And now I've killed my sister, too. Their blood is on my hands. It's my own fault that I have no family, but I can't help but want to blame someone else."

"You have family, Kyp," Jaina said, her tone compelling him to look at her. "You have me, my parents, Jag, the squadron." She paused, took a breath, her eyes sparkling. "And, in nine months, you'll have my children to be an uncle to."

It took Kyp a second to comprehend what she had just told him. "Jaina, you're..."

"Pregnant?" she finished for him, smiling. "Yes. Twins."

Kyp smiled and swept Jaina up in an enthusiastic hug. "That's great, Jaina. Congratulations!"

Jaina was laughing as he set her down. "Thanks," she said, still smiling.

"How many people know?"

"Oh, you know, the usual," she said, a mischievous glint in her eyes. "Me, you, Jag, and Telki. It's another great secret!"

"No, Jaina, you are not getting me stuck in this again," Kyp said, groaning. "Tell me that you are going to tell your family soon."

"Don't worry, Kyp," she said, laughing. "It's not like we could keep a secret like this from a bunch of Jedi for long. Jag and I were planning on telling my parents and Jacen at dinner and then everyone else afterwards."

Letting out a sigh of relief, Kyp hugged Jaina again. "I can't tell you how happy I am for you," he said.

"I think I can tell," she stated. "You're broadcasting." She laughed again, pulling back from their embrace. She turned her gaze back to the stars, Kyp following suit.

"The pain will fade eventually," she told him quietly. "You'll hurt for a long time, but after a while, it won't be quite as painful to think about her. You'll heal."

"I know," he replied, just as quietly. "I know."

The End

Notes: Thanks, folks, for taking this ride with me. I hope you've all enjoyed it as much as I have. I am working on a sequel, but I have no idea when/if I'll be able to get it out. I think I've said it before: I'm a university student and very busy. I'll try to write when I can, but my free time is at a premium. Anyway, now that we're done here for now, I'll let us all get back to current canon.