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            This fic was originally posted on theforce.net, where I go by the screenname of SaberBlade.  If you recognize this, don't worry, it isn't plagiarized; I'm simply reposting it here also.

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            General Disclaimer:  Star Wars belongs to George Lucas and the characters belong to their respective authors.  Anything you don't recognize is mine; please respect my muse.  I don't intend any infringement with this fic; it was created because I have an abiding love for Star Wars and a wish to share my interpretation of it with the world.

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            Details:

            Name: Whole

            Time Frame: Post-NJO

            Pairing: Kyp Durron and Jaina Solo

            Rating: PG to PG-13

            Post: Chapter 8 of ?

            Story Status: Work in Progress

            Notes: There is a prequel, Broken, which can be found both on this site and on theforce.net.  I recommend reading it before this fic, though it isn't technically needed.  This story starts a few hours after Broken ends.

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            As always, reviews are appreciated.

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Leia paused in the doorway and put a hand up on the frame, taking time to watch the scene before her.  The family dinner had gone well.  Having her family around her was a blessing she no longer took for granted.

            It wasn't the same family that it had been five or even ten years earlier.  They had all changed.  There were new members and missing members, but despite everything, they were still a family.

            Han was still Han; maybe a little slower, maybe a little greyer, maybe with a few more wrinkles, maybe closer to old age than he'd like to admit.  But he was still the man she loved, the only man she could imagine sharing her life with.  Besides, just as he had aged, so had she.  They were no longer young.  Even their children were grown up- or just gone.  Anakin's absence no longer hung over her, coloring every her every thought and action.  But it was times like this, times when she had her two other children home, when she missed him the most.

            Jaina and Jacen were twenty-three.  That never ceased to amaze Leia; how had over twenty years gone by when just yesterday she had been watching them learn to walk?  And soon they would be twenty-four.  Time flew ceaselessly on.

            And change rode just behind time.  Jacen laughed at something his wife said and draped an arm over her shoulder.  He had married just after the war had ended, to a woman that he had grown up with.  Leia respected Tenel Ka immensely.  Respect had grown into affection; her daughter-in-law was a woman Leia was proud to call a friend- although having the Queen of Hapes as a daughter-in-law was something of a shock.

            Jacen had left after the war to start exploring the ways of the Force.  The first place he had gone was the still-recovering planet of Dathomir, both to aid in the recovery and to learn from the witches.  Tenel Ka had been there, retreating from the Hapan politics she was now the center of, and somehow the two had met up. 

            They had been married barely two months later.  Han had gone around cracking bad rancor jokes and reminiscing.  Leia saw the irony in it, but refused to give into the desire ask Jacen if any kidnapping had been required.

            So now the Solo family had been expanded by two: Tenel Ka and Veren.  Just the idea of her little boy being a father was enough to give Leia pause.  But Veren was a joy: he had his mother's red hair and his father's eyes, but each time those brown eyes lit up with joy Leia was strongly reminded of Han.  The thought always made her smile; if Veren turned out anything like his grandfather, she feared for the sanity of Hapes' politicians.

            The little boy shrieked with laughter as Han tossed him high in the air; Han was grinning like an idiot.  He might complain about being a grandfather, but Leia knew he enjoyed every minute spent with his grandson.  Han would spoil Veren rotten if he could. 

            Han called out to Jaina, and she caught Veren easily as Han dropped him onto her lap.  Veren wrapped small arms around her neck and burrowed into her, secure in his welcome in his aunt's lap.

            Leia couldn't keep the smile from her face.  Jaina looked happy for the first time in a long time.  Of all her children, Jaina had never been the one she worried over when they were young.  That had changed during the war, when Jaina had been the one to slip and fall to the Dark Side; after war, she had seemed such a shadow of her former self that all of Leia's maternal instincts had come to the fore.  Jaina was the one that Leia worried over now; she supposed that it made up for the years of not worrying when Jaina was younger.

            Jaina shifted Veren's weight and replied to whatever sally her father had tossed at her.   She sat in the chair across from her father; Tenel Ka and Jacen were sitting together on the couch.  Even as a part of the group, Jaina somehow seemed apart to Leia's eyes.  Somehow lonely, out of place, separate- even with her nephew clinging to her like a burr, even as she was laughing and talking with her family. 

            For a few years, Leia had been sure that she would be welcoming Jagged Fel to a gathering like this.  She wasn't quite sure what had happened between the Chiss pilot and her daughter, but whatever it was had occurred nearly two years ago.  She couldn't say that she was disappointed that Jaina and Jag hadn't married.  In fact, she was a little relieved that their relationship had died down to friendship: Jag was a decent, handsome, and honorable young man.  He just didn't belong with her daughter.

            But since whatever romance he had shared with her daughter had ended, Jaina hadn't even made attempts to find someone else.  Not because she was pining for Jag- at least, Leia didn't think so- but more because Jaina just couldn't seem to motivate herself to try.  It worried Leia.  She understood that some people could go through life on their own, perfectly content not to be tied down to one person.  But Jaina wasn't one of them, not in Leia's mind.  Not when, with a mother's eyes, she could feel the emptiness inside her, see the loneliness.

            Leia wondered vaguely if she should send Jaina to Dathomir.

            Jacen turned toward her, putting an end to her musings.  "Come on, Mom, sit down," he encouraged.

            She smiled at her all-grown-up little boy, and moved away from the door frame.  "I suppose I should.  I've just been thinking."

            "What, again?" Han asked, moving to wrap his arms around her.  "I told you, no thinking allowed tonight."

            She laughed and rested her head against him.  "It was good thinking," she promised.  "I was thinking how glad I am to have everyone here."

            "Yeah," Han agreed.  "Okay.  That type of thinking is allowed."  He pulled her over to the couch, but before he could force her to sit, the comm unit beeped.  He looked pleadingly down at her.  "Uh, sweetheart, I'm allowed to ignore that, aren't I?"

            "You are," she said with a sigh, ducking out of his arms.  "But your children aren't.  I'll answer it."

            Leaving Han grumbling behind her, she moved to the wall unit and opened the link.  To her surprise, rather than a member of the military for Jaina or a Hapan diplomat for Jacen and Tenel Ka, Kyp Durron's face appeared.

            "Leia," he said.  "Can I have a word with Jaina?"

            Han's hand descended on her shoulder.  "Only if it's quick, kid.  We were about to compare embarrassing childhood stories."

            Kyp's lips twitched.  "No more than a minute," he promised. 

            Jaina stood and moved over to the wall unit, twisting Veren to her hip so that she could see the screen.  "What do you want now, Master Durron?" she asked, the smile on her face easily audible in her voice.

            His smile spread to match hers.  "Nothing much, Goddess.  I just got our ship assignment; Command said that you were still off-duty and unreachable, but I figured you'd want to know."

            "Yeah, thanks.  Where are we going to be based?"

            "Both our squads are launching from the Nightfall," he said.  "That's commanded by Captain Meirsin."

            Jaina frowned.  "The Nightfall?  I thought that the Interceptor was going to be the main ship."

            "Secondary ship," he corrected her.  "That's where Octa and De'zarin will be."

            "All right."  Her frown vanished; Veren turned his head to gaze at the screen.  "I'll talk with you tomorrow when we launch."

            "All right.  Have a good time with your family, Goddess.  Sorry to interrupt."

            Jaina reached down and toggled the screen off, then returned her hand to Veren's back.  "The Nightfall," she repeated thoughtfully. 

            "It's a good ship," Han said. 

            "Yeah.  But I haven't served on her before."  She shrugged.  "I guess I don't have to deal with it until later tonight when I'm back on duty."

            Leia reached up to tuck loose hair behind Jaina's ear before Veren could catch it in his hands.  "It was good of Kyp to tell you," she agreed.  "How are you two doing these days?"

            Jaina rolled her eyes and moved back to her chair.  "That seems to be the question of the week," she said.  "We're doing fine.  We're friends still."  A strange, bemused smile played across her face.  "Partners.  Whatever that means.  He's agreed to help me sort some things out."

            "Is that a good idea?" Han asked.  "Kyp's never really been known for being good at that sort of thing."

            Jaina shrugged again, unconcerned.  "He helped me before.  He understand what's wrong with me."  Then a hand came up to touch the nearly-faded scars along her face, and when she spoke again, her voice was somber.  "He knows what I've gone through."

            "All right," Han said dubiously.  "If you say so."

            Leia laughed, threaded her fingers through his, and tried to draw their daughter out of the pensive mood she was falling into.  "He still calls you 'Goddess', Jaina.  I thought you were done with the Trickster."

            Leia's ploy worked; Jaina grinned and gave the drowsy Veren back to his mother.  "Yes, I am.  But Kyp says it's a hard habit to break.  Are we going to share blackmail stories now?"

            "Yeah," Han chimed in.  Like father, like daughter, Leia reflected wryly.  "Come on, Princess, enough thinking."

            Leia stared at her husband, voices ringing through her head.

            "Have a good time with your family, Goddess."

            "Come on, Princess, enough thinking."

            "Kyp say's it's a hard habit to break."

            And then, like an echo of times long gone, a snatch of conversation long forgotten rose to the front of her mind.

            "Would you please stop calling me that?"

            "Sorry, Princess, too late."  A roguish and much-loved grin hovered before her face in the memory.  "Habit."

            She blinked.  Han was looking at her, a frown creasing his forehead, concern etched into his expression.  "Honey?  You all right?"

            "Fine," she managed, and smiled.  "Fine.  Who's going to start the blackmail?"

            But even as stories were shared and laughter rang out, Leia was pondering the connection, listening to voices bouncing off her head.

            Princess.

            Goddess.

            She glanced at her daughter, who was currently leaning forward listening to her father's recollection of a spice trip.

            She wasn't sure if she liked the direction her thoughts had taken.

            Princess.

            Goddess.

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Reviews make my day!  Tell me what you think I did well or horribly.  I appreciate constructive criticism and honest appraisals…

Thanks!

-Keth

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