Ghost Family Grows:

D199/4 ABY, Lothal

Zeb landed the Phantom 2 on the landing pad beside the Lothhawk while Jacen bounced in his seat, already spotting Sabine waiting for them on the duracrete. The boy jumped out of his seat the moment the shuttle settled into place and ran to the back, jumping up and smacking the door release. Zeb laughed and powered down the shuttle, following after the kit at a much more sedate pace.

Sabine opened up her arms as Jacen neared and braced her feet, ready for the missile disguised as a boy to launch at her.

"Sabie!" Jacen squealed as he literally jumped across meters into her arms, using the Force without even thinking about it.

Despite being prepared, Sabine still rocked backward and had to catch herself as Jacen hit her. She closed her arms around his form reflexively and laughed. "Jeez, kid, you keep growing and jumping from further away. One of these days we're not going to be able to do this anymore or you'll knock me right over."

Jacen giggled and kissed her cheek. He reached up and patted Sabine's short lime green hair. "We match again! That is so cool."

Sabine kissed his cheek back and put him down, ruffling Jacen's darker green hair. "You know I did it just for you, sweetie. I might even leave it in this time until I see your mother again, just to see her reaction."

Jacen and Zeb laughed, the lasat hearing the comment as he came around the side of the shuttle with their bags slung over his shoulder. "I dare you to do it," Zeb commented. "Just make sure I'm there to see it."

Sabine smiled at Zeb. "You're on. I'll leave it till I see Hera." She looked back down at the boy practically plastered to her leg. "I have a surprise for you." Then she glanced up at Zeb. "Both of you."

Jacen hopped up and down, eyes wide with excitement. "What is it? What is it?"

"Yah. What is it?" Zeb said almost as curiously.

Sabine smiled sweetly at them. "You'll just have to wait and see." She started walking down the stone path that led past the tower to one of her favourite masterpieces; Spectre House. "Come on and I'll show you."

Jacen skipped after his favourite person who wasn't his parents and Zeb followed them both. Sabine came to a stop when the full view of the mansion was visible. Jacen and Zeb stopping beside her. Spectre House was a three story, multi-winged, stone sided, sprawling work of art that had a landscaped courtyard in both the front and the back with imported trees and flowers. There was a section in the middle for everyone to gather in with a huge dining hall, kitchen, and living room, and lots of glass windows. The four wings that branched off all had a view of a courtyard and were made as separate living quarters with their own kitchens and living spaces for Hera and Jacen, Zeb, Kallus, and Rex, guest quarters, and finally, for Ezra and herself when the tower wasn't big enough anymore. (She was assuming that they'd have their own kids eventually.)

"You finished it!" Zeb exclaimed.

"It's beautiful," Jacen said in awe.

Sabine gazed happily at her work of art. "Yah. It is. The outside's done anyway. I've left a lot of the inside unfinished so you guys could paint and decorate your sections however you want. I'm waiting for Ezra to come home for our part. I want us to finish it together." Her voice was a little wistful as she said the last part, but Sabine mentally shook herself back into the moment. "But this isn't your surprises."

Zeb and Jacen looked at each other and shrugged, following after Sabine who strode towards a side door of the mansion, leading into Hera's wing. For the moment, almost everything in Hera's section was painted a base coat of white and there wasn't any furniture or appliances. She led the way up the stairs to the second floor which she had finished. Hera's third floor bedroom was blank too, for now. Sabine paused in the stairwell, not turning the corner yet that would reveal her surprise. She bent down and picked up Jacen. "Okay, buddy. Close your eyes. I hope you like it."

Jacen was almost vibrating with excitement as he scrunched his eyes shut. The last time he'd been here, Sabine had brought him to this same spot and said this was going to be his room, but it was just a big empty space. Now he felt her walk two more steps and turn a corner and stop, Zeb's signature stopping beside her.

"Okay, Jacen. Open your eyes," Sabine said, a hint of anxiety in her voice. She'd gone ahead and decorated Jacen's room on her own, wanting to do something for him as a present. Plus there was the new addition that she really really hoped he liked, or she'd get stuck with it. Not that she'd minded cuddling and caring for the tiny thing, it was adorable after all, but still...

Jacen opened his eyes and stared in wonder at his room. First of all, it was HUGE. Second. It was perfectly awesome. Sabie had painted his walls with her signature art. Everywhere he looked he saw the Ghost or the Lothhawk or the Phantom or a Defender zipping through space. Some were chasing TIEs with laser shots streaking across the wall. Some were flying through hyperspace. Some were floating amidst spinning galaxies and imploding star clusters. One side of the room was full of new toys. Another side had a big closet and a door leading to his very own refresher. And in the middle, facing a wall of windows, was a BIG bed, covered in a dark blue, star covered blanket. And on that blanket... There was a tiny black lothcat kitten with a white chin, white striped ears and tail, a few white dots on his body, and four white paws, staring back at him expectantly with eerie, almost glowing silver eyes.

Jacen looked up at Sabine, love shining his eyes. "My room's perfect, Sabie. I love it," he said, hugging her neck and then wiggling to get down so he could walk to the bed.

Sabine breathed a sigh of relief as Zeb squeezed her shoulder gently. "I like it too," he said. "I wish I had a room like this when I was a kit."

Jacen held his hands out to the kitten, connecting to it through the Force like Ezra taught him, reassuring it that he was a friend. The kitten jumped up into his hands and started to purr, immediately curling into a ball of fluff in Jacen's hands, closing his silver eyes contentedly as he found the person he was meant for. Jacen snuggled the kitten against his chest and looked back at Sabine. "Is he for me?"

Sabine nodded, smiling at the adorable sight. "Yep. A lothwolf brought him to me this morning. The kittens usually end up with the kids at the orphanage, but I'm guessing this one's special and the lothwolf knew you were coming or something. I've never seen a black one before either and I've seen a LOT of lothcats," she said wryly. "He's a little young to be away from his mother, so I'm guessing he's an orphan. You'll have to take really good care of him to start with until he grows a little more."

Jacen gazed down at the kitten with adoration. "I can do that. I love him. I think I'll call him Spacey, cause he's black like space and has spots like stars." The kitten opened his eyes and licked Jacen's hand like he was giving his approval and then promptly went back to napping.

"Sounds good to me," Sabine said. "Zeb and I are going to the main living room. You remember how to get there?" Jacen nodded absently, enthralled with his new pet. "You can come down whenever," Sabine continued. "And Spacey too of course, if he wants to. Dinner's in an hour."

Jacen nodded again, climbing onto his bed and lying down on his stomach carefully so as not to disturb the kitten's nap. "Kay," he mumbled, still watching his kitten with big eyes, unable to believe he actually had his very own pet.

Zeb placed Jacen's bag on the floor and followed Sabine back down to the first floor and down the hallway to the common living space. "I sure hope Hera let's him keep it," he commented.

"Me too," Sabine replied. She stopped with her hand on the button to open the door that opened into the big living room. "And now for your surprise." She pushed the button and then stepped to the side so Zeb could go first.

Zeb walked into the room and abruptly stopped, barely registering the huge room decorated in Sabine's framed artwork and colourful, yet somehow still managing to be tasteful, couches and chairs, because sitting on the couches were four lasats, all of which he knew, but two he hadn't seen since before the massacre on Lasan.

The four lasats rose at Zeb's entrance. Chava and Gron smiled in anticipation to see Zeb's reaction to the surprise they'd brought him instead of going straight to Lira San with the lasat refugees who'd been hiding on an obscure planet that Chava had found through the Ashla.

Zeb kicked himself back into motion and walked up to the purple striped lasat that looked so much like him. "Zek?" he asked in barely audible disbelief.

The younger lasat by two years grinned and wrapped Zeb in an enthusiastic hug, squeezing the air out of Zeb's lungs. "It's really me, big brother," Frezek Orrelios said just as softly.

Zeb choked up, almost crying as he hugged his brother even tighter than he was being squeezed. Zeb rested his forehead on Frezek's shoulder, at a loss for words at seeing his brother again after fifteen years, believing him to have perished in the massacre as well. But if Frezek was alive that meant... Zeb pulled back from his brother's embrace with a squeeze to the younger's shoulder. "It's good to see you, my brother."

Frezek nodded in complete agreement. "You too, Zeb. You too."

Zeb turned to the beige and brown striped lasat and knelt in front of the lasat he'd last seen as a barely teenage kit, under Frezek's protection, just hours before the Empire had begun their devastation. "Your Highness, it warms my heart to see you well and all grown up."

Rolanej Zanolios chuckled and pulled Zeb back up onto his feet. "Just Nej is fine, Captain. I haven't been the heir to anything for a long time."

Zeb smiled ruefully. "Call me Zeb then. I haven't been a Captain of anything for just as long."

The two lasats exchanged looks of mournful understanding before all five lasats began an animated conversation about everything that they'd been doing for the last fifteen years.

Sabine leaned against the wall, smiling softly, listening as they slipped into their native language and completely forgot about her existence. Which didn't bother her at all. She hadn't expected to be a part of the reunion. This was Zeb's moment and she was so happy for him to have found his brother again. It was easy to see the family resemblance. Except for the difference in facial hair, Frezek was basically identical to Zeb. When she'd received a rerouted holo call from Chava yesterday that she was looking for Zeb, Sabine had told her to come here, since Zeb was coming this way too. She'd almost been fooled by Frezek, thinking Zeb had somehow managed to arrive at the same time and in the wise woman's company.

With a little sigh of happiness for her friend, Sabine slipped from the room and made for the big kitchen, thinking she might as well start dinner.

Jacen placed his kitten on the bed carefully, then climbed off, making for his bag. Digging around, he found the communicator his mama had given him so he could call her anytime he felt like it. Well, he felt like it. He NEEDED to tell her about his new pet. Jacen punched the button that had her wrist comm signal already pre-programmed in. "Mama!" he said excitedly as soon as she answered with a 'hello?'

"Hi, baby. One sec." Hera replied warmly. She glanced at Mon, nodding towards the exit, letting her know that she'd take her call in the hallway so the others could continue their war meeting without further interruption. Mon nodded slightly in acknowledgement even as Hera was inching towards the door. As soon as the door closed behind her, Hera leaned back against the wall, closing her eyes as she relished the sound of her son's voice. "Okay. I can talk. How are you?"

Jacen went back to his bed and climbed back on, petting his kitten with a finger softly. "I'm great, Mama. You'll never guess what Sabie did as a present for me."

"What, sweetie?" Hera said curiously.

"Sabie made my room! It's wonderful. There's ships everywhere and it's enormous! And guess what else?"

"What?"

"I got a kitten!" Jacen whisper cried happily. "He's black and white and I'm calling him Spacey. Isn't it great, Mama?"

At the word 'kitten', Hera froze for a second, her whole being screaming 'uh oh', but then the absolute happiness and adoration in Jacen's voice registered and Hera knew she could never make him give it back. So she did what all parents do when faced with a situation that they don't like but have to live with; she lied. "That's great, baby! I can't wait to see him. I'm sure he'll be a very good pet."

Jacen gushed on. "Oh, yes, he will. He's very smart, I can tell. He likes his new name, and we connected through the Force. This is soooooo awesome!"

Hera felt herself warming to the idea of Jacen having a pet the more he talked about it. Having another thing running around the Ghost couldn't possibly be that much worse than the chaos she'd already dealt with over the years. It had to be better than the Chopper / Zeb war, right? "I'm glad you're happy, sweetie. I can't wait to meet Spacey. Hopefully this Death Star battle goes according to plan and I'll see you in a few days at the most, okay?"

"Kay, Mama. I'm not too worried. Daddy said he'd take care of you. And I had a dream about Rowan. He was inside the Death Star fighting M-OC. Rowan won and the Death Star blew up. It was pretty awesome."

Hera sucked in a shuddering sigh, desperately hoping that was an accurate vision of the events to come. "Thank you, baby. That makes me feel better."

"Welcome, Mama. I think it's dinner time. I better go now. Love you," Jacen said as he scooped up his kitten and put it on his shoulder for the journey through the big house. Spacey purred in his ear after licking Jacen's cheek, making him smile.

"Love you too, Jacen. Be good for Sabine and Zeb," Hera said.

"Yes, Mama," Jacen said, rolling his eyes. He was always good. "Bye."

"Bye, baby," Hera replied, not wanting to end the conversation, but knowing she had to and get back into the meeting. She couldn't wait for this to all be over so she didn't have to have long distance conversations with her son anymore.

When Jacen wandered into the dining room for diner (with his kitten), he wasn't surprised to see four more lasats because he'd felt their Force signatures long before he got anywhere near them. What he was surprised to see was a Zeb lookalike. "Zeb! There's another you!" he exclaimed, making everyone laugh.

"Little kit, this is my brother, Zek," Zeb introduced.

"Hi," Jacen said enthusiastically. "Are you going to live with us too?"

Zek shook his head with a smile.

"Actually..." Zeb said. "Would you miss me terribly if I went to live on Lira San with Zek?" he asked. "We'd come visit, of course."

Jacen was instantly disappointed but did his best to hide it. "I would miss you, uncle Zeb. But I'll be okay if you go. As long as you promise to come visit at least twice a year."

Zeb ruffled the boy's hair. "Thanks, little J. You're the best, you know that?"

Jacen put on a brave grin. "Yep. But what about uncle Kal? Are you going to leave him behind too?"

The other four lasats looked confused while Zeb and Sabine exchanged looks of befuddlement. "Uhhh. That is a very good question," Zeb finally said. "Kal doesn't know about Lira San."

"Maybe it's time you told him," Sabine suggested.

"Who's Kal?" Zek asked, tilting his head in curiosity.

"My best friend," Zeb answered.

"An ex Imperial," Sabine also said.

"Zeb's boyfriend," Jacen said too with a big grin.

If Zeb could visibly blush, he probably would be doing so at the gape mouthed looks he was getting from his brother and the other three lasats. "For the five millionth time, Jacen, he's not my boyfriend!" Zeb protested loudly, much to the amusement of those present.

Sabine and Jacen winked at each other in the most obvious fashion possible, since this was their running joke against Zeb. "I think he's protesting too much, don't you, Jacen?" Sabine said with laughter in her voice.

"For sure," Jacen nodded wisely. "Besides, his Force signature blends with uncle Kal's whenever they're together, almost like yours and Ezie's.

Now Sabine was on the verge of visibly blushing, and she didn't have any convenient fur to hide it.

Fortunately Zeb's sputtering took the attention of the others. "We do not... blend... or whatever. But even if we did, it's just cause we're such good friends."

"Still protesting too much," Sabine said in a loud whisper behind her hand to Jacen.

Jacen giggled and Zeb crossed his arms with a huff.

"So who is this 'Kal', really?" Zek asked again.

Zeb sighed. "His name is Alexsandr Kallus and he's a human ex Imperial who was one of the commanding officers that executed the people of Lasan."

"How are you friends with that!?" Nej exclaimed loudly, green eyes almost popping out of his head in disbelief.

Zeb snorted. "We weren't, not for years. More like the bitterest of enemies. Then one day, after yet another fight, we got stuck on an ice moon together. We had to work together to survive. Somehow, I converted Kallus to the side of the Rebellion and he began to spy for us, while still pretending to be an agent of the Imperial Security Bureau. I found out that when Kal was younger, his team was slaughtered by a lasat working for Saw Gerrera. He thought all of us were monsters and had no problem following orders when the Emperor decided that we should all be eliminated. I forgave him for what he helped do to our people a long time ago. When you meet him, Zek, I hope you can do the same. You too, Nej, because I think that I WOULD like to tell Kal about Lira San. And maybe even show him. He's been carrying a lot of guilt about what he did for a long time. I think it would make him feel better if he knew he didn't help almost wipe out our entire species. I've almost told him a hundred times over the last four years, but the timing never felt quite right. Now... Now I think it is."

"This human is that important to you?" Zek asked seriously.

Zeb nodded. "Yah, he is. I know I got all excited about moving to Lira San so we could be together again, brother, but I can't see myself not having Kal in my life either."

"Then bring him with us," Zek said. "Our family is small enough as is. If you consider him part of your family, then I'll welcome him as well."

"Thank you, Zek," Zeb said, getting a little teary eyed, blinking rapidly.

"You should surprise him," Chava suddenly said after being silent all this time.

Zeb looked at the old woman with wide eyes. "What?"

"Surprise him. Tell him you're taking him on a vacation or something, and we'll stay hidden on a different part of the ship." She shrugged her stooped shoulders a little. "Surprise him."

A smile spread across Zeb's face as the idea took root. "I like it. I'm gonna surprise Kal. Do you know how hard that is to do? He's always a step ahead of everyone." Zeb rubbed his paws together in anticipation. "This is gonna be great."

Sabine and Jacen grinned at each other again as she poured a cup of blue milk for the boy and a saucer full for the kitten. "Totally boyfriends," she whispered loud enough for everyone to hear.

The kitten chirruped as if in agreement before diving into his milk. Literally. Jacen laughed as Zeb scowled and the other lasats chuckled in amusement.

After dinner, Jacen got to see both his daddy and Ezie, which made him very happy. They both thought his kitten was special as well and was very strong in the Force for a tooka. They spent a very nice hour together practicing Form I, and then another half hour working on floating control as Jacen made all the toys in his room dance and Spacey run like mad trying to catch them, and a final half hour meditating. Jacen loved when he got to practice his Force stuff with both his father and big brother. Not just because he got to see them both at the same time, but also because he got to watch how happy they were to be spending time with each other as well. Jacen could sense the unbreakable bond between them that was clearly apparent even with both men being basically just a projection. Jacen's bond with both of them was just as strong, but different, more familial. Their Master / Padawan bond ran a little deeper somehow, more within the Force. Jacen knew the odds of him ever finding his own Master were slim to none, and he was okay with that, happy to be trained by his father and brother, but he occasionally wondered what it would be like to find that kind of connection with another person.

Nevertheless, Jacen went to bed that night thinking his life was pretty awesome right now and wouldn't change it for anything. He was in his new room, with his new kitten sleeping in a ball of fluff on the pillow beside his head. The only thing missing was his mama, but if he concentrated just a little, he could feel her presence in the Force blending with his daddy's. Sighing in contentment, Jacen ran a finger over the fur of his kitten and closed his eyes, falling into a deep sleep almost instantly after such an exciting day.