Li'aania coughed as she ran her hand along one of the shelves in her room, a cloud of dust billowing in its wake. When she'd proclaimed that this place would need a lot of work she'd obviously had no idea just how much was truly needed. After brushing the dust off of her hands she bent down and scooped a few circular discs from a box at her feet.

She placed a large silver disk onto the highest shelf, running her finger along the bottom of it and causing it to emit a blue glow. The top of the disk opened as a column of light shot up from the inside. In the center of the column were perfect miniature images of her three brothers smiling for the holocam on a weekend getaway to the polar regions of N'aanwaria.

A wave of homesickness hit her as she saw Ch'aanlei holding his chin up heroically after conquering the mountain, Brodey smiling warmly, and Ericho pulling a horrible face. It occurred to her that this was the first night she'd ever been away from at least one of them. Even when her uncle sent them into hiding she had Ericho and Ch'aanlei there to make her feel safe.

'You're being ridiculous,' Li'aania told herself. 'There's no safer place than here, among so many jedi.'

She sighed as she put other disks up on the shelves. One by one the faces of her parents, of Brodey and his wife and kids, of Ch'aanlei and Raiina, and of the girls of her sisterhood appeared before her. They all smiled cheerily back at her but the only thing she felt was sorrow. She didn't realize until their images began to blur that she'd been crying.

"Get a grip, Li'aa," She whispered harshly to herself, wiping the tears away fiercely. "You're an adult, and you have a job, so you might as well start acting the part."

Li'aa spun around abruptly as the chirp of the comm pierced through the room's silence. She reached out to smack the transmission button and made a face as her brother's image appeared through thick static.

"Happy to see me?" Ericho quipped, a goofy smile spreading across his face as he observed his sister's expression.

"Definitely happy to see you," Li'aania sighed, plopping down on her bed. "I miss you."

"Awwww, I miss you too, little sis!" Ericho cooed. "Has it been a rough first day?"

"It hasn't even begun yet. I'm still unpacking."

"So I see," Ericho observed, looking at the holos perched on her shelves. "Getting a little teary-eyed over them?"

"Shut up, you!" She whimpered, hiding her face from her brother as he laughed at her. "I got a bit emotional! You don't have to rub it in."

"Yes I do have to rub it in. I AM your brother," Ericho said, winking at her.

"So, how is everything at home?" Li'aa asked, changing the subject quickly.

"Well, Nik'aau is being his defiant little self, except that he learned a few new words. He's been driving Brodey and father crazy lately. Nil'aan is still pretty quiet and nothing like his twin. He seems to be a lot closer to his mother."

"How is she, by the way?" Li'aa asked curiously. "I thought I sensed something new going on with her just before I left."

"Well, that something new is another baby," Ericho said with a smile. "Her highness should be due in another seven months."

"Ugh. I don't know how she does it. Four kids in four years. Just the thought of it makes me cringe," Li'aa said with a grimace.

"You'll probably end up having more," Ericho said bluntly.

"No way," Li'aa groaned. "I am way too young to think about kids or marriage or boys or anything of the sort!"

"Denial is wonderful," Ericho laughed, cocking his head to the side. "Speaking of boys, did you run across that certain sexy someone that you pined over night after night?"

"Yes, I did, and no, I don't still have feelings for him, so you can shut up right now!" Li'aa yelled, running up to the comm screen and sticking a finger right in her brother's face.

"Oh, come on! Li'aania Durron has such a nice ring to it! You said so yourself!" Ericho cackled.

"I was a stupid little kid with an infatuation. We've all had those, haven't we?" She said, her voice taking on a dark inflection.

"Yeah, well, I'm working on acting on it," He muttered, looking down at his hands.

"You've been working on asking my best friend out for the past two years. I don't believe anything is going to change now, Ericho." She scolded, accentuating his name.

"If I get a date with your best friend then will you ask Kyp out?" He said, waggling his eyebrows at her.

"All right, it's a deal," She replied. "But only because I know how much of a coward you really are."

"Well sis, get ready for that date with Mr. Durron, because I'm going in!" Ericho proclaimed.

"Good luck!" She shot back.

"Listen, it's been nice talking to you. I wish I could stay on longer but I have to get down to business," He said, winking annoyingly again. "Bye sis!"

"Bye dork," She said, sticking her tongue out at him. Sometimes her brother could be so unbearably annoying and she wanted to strangle him. As his image blinked off the screen she realized she felt a bit better about being away from her family. At least she could escape his aggravating taunting.

'And why does he still bug me about Kyp?' She thought to herself. The only time she'd ever seen Kyp before today was at her brother Brodey's wedding. He'd totally impressed her at first glance and she'd been totally smitten with him for the longest time, but she was just a dumb kid back then. She was older now, and more mature. She didn't have any feelings for the man. She saw him in a new light, as a forty year old jedi master, someone who was twice her age. He was almost old enough to be her father. Of course, he still was just as handsome as he'd been four years ago. Perhaps even more so.

'Denial,' The echo of her brother's voice replayed in her head.

'Oh, shut up!' She thought back, forcing it out of her mind as she went back to unpacking.