Chapter 6---
The first day passed without much incidence. Ganner organized their supplies, scouted out the surrounding area, while Analee kept watch over the still unconscious man whom they had learned was named Nikko. He had no family with him, so he had become their responsibility. Ganner watched as she tended to him the best she could in spite of her extended stomach. He noticed she had to stop every once in a while and catch her breath, and he'd lost count of how many trips she'd made to the refresher. When he jokingly mentioned it to her she responded curtly.
"Talk to me when you've experienced a human being doing constant flip-flops inside of your belly!"
They laughed together, but still there was a sense of uneasiness between them stemming from their kiss the night before. Both of them were unsure of what it meant and how to handle the feelings it stirred within. Ganner had always used humor and lighthearted teasing to cope with his insecurity. Analee had always chosen to simply avoid the situation and act as if it never happened, which was what she was doing now.
Nightfall was once again coming and Ganner had another fire blazing outside. The evening air was chill, and he didn't want Analee to get cold. While they could have simply spent all of their time on the ship, he found he enjoyed the open air. It was something he hadn't had much of over the past few years. Too much of his life had recently been spent inside the cold hull of spaceships as he traveled around fighting against the Vong.
As he lay stretched out beside the fire, leaning up on his elbow, he stared blindly into the flames. It was so quiet, apart from the sounds of nocturnal insects buzzing and chirping in the fading light, that he was forced to remember things he didn't necessarily want to recall.
His first thoughts were of his parents, his mother especially. They had always been close. Klarhys Rhysode had been the epitome of social grace and highbred ideals, which she had embedded into her only son. She'd taught him how to handle people. women mostly, and he had taken to it like a Mon Cal took to water. For most of his younger years he had been an irresponsible, arrogant playboy who didn't realize that his ability to 'persuade' females of any age and race was owed to his Force powers. Now that he reflected on those times, he cringed with self-loathing. How could he have been so immature?
Perhaps that was why he and his father had never gotten along. Jarvis Rhysode was the complete antithesis of his wife. He avoided society as much as humanly possible and concentrated on his business, which was one of the largest on Ganner's home planet and allowed Klarhys to continue living so lavishly. Ganner had an inkling that his father's money was the only thing his mother was interested in. She'd taken on several 'personal assistants' over the years, and Ganner figured out soon enough that these men weren't exactly well versed in the latest dictation methods. At first, he was appalled and waited for his father to do something about it. But time went by and Jarvis turned a blind eye to his wife's exploits in order to keep her happy. When Ganner saw how much 'fun' his mother seemed to be having with no repercussions, he willingly followed in her footsteps, turning his back on his father and the company he was sure to inherit someday.
Although Jarvis never spoke out against his wife, he had no such reservations about his son.
"Ganner, you're a disgrace to the Rhysode name," he'd said on more than one occasion. "You persist in squandering away your inheritance, your youth, and your dignity. You disappoint me, son."
Ganner could see his father's face in the flickering flames of the campfire and hung his head in shame at the memory of those words and his own response. He'd laughed in his father's face, told him he didn't want the company anyway and made some derogatory comment about his father being a cuckolded old fool. After talking to his mother, who had embraced him and said Jarvis's opinion didn't really matter, Ganner had gone for a walk in their extensive gardens and found a secluded spot to sulk. Despite his outward indifference, his father's words had cut deep, but still it took a few more years and the Yuuzhan Vong to turn him around and put him on the path to redemption. Even though it was too late to show his father the man he was becoming, he was doing it for himself.
Every Vong he stopped, every life he saved was one more step on his long and arduous road to becoming a man he could be proud of. one his father would have been proud to call 'son'. Maybe that's what kept driving him on, in spite of the evil he had been witness to that would have caused a lesser man to run and hide in terror. Force knew after Myrkr and Anakin's death, that's exactly what he'd wanted to do. That whole team had been too young to suffer as they did. Anakin Solo was too young to die.
"It should have been me," Ganner said, not realizing he spoke out loud.
"What should have been you?" Analee asked joining him near the fire. He took the ration kit she handed him but avoided her eyes.
"Um, nothing. I was just thinking out loud," he replied sitting up and crossing his legs.
"Do you do that often then?" she teased with a smile. Ganner couldn't help but smile in return.
"Only when I'm stranded on wild planets with an unbelievably beautiful pregnant woman who is about to give birth," he added with a wink.
Analee felt her face heat up. She had told herself that she was going to stop feeling so foolish around the Jedi. She knew it was silly to indulge herself in the merest thought of him romantically, so she had determined to keep him at arm's length. Besides, he couldn't really be interested in her anyway. The situation she found herself in was not a desirable one. He probably just felt sorry for her and was being kind out of his Jedi duties.
Plus, she'd come to realize, he was a bit of a flirt.
"I've embarrassed you, haven't I?" Ganner asked peering over at her as she nervously fidgeted with her ration kit. Analee thought she heard him chuckle, but refused to look at him. "Well, now, this is interesting." He sensed her embarrassment and debated whether to ease it instead of make it worse. Quietly contemplating his next words, he finally spoke.
"What if I told you that when I said 'it should have been me', I meant that it should have been me to--," he paused for a moment before completing his sentence, "to die instead of your husband?"
Analee's head snapped up and stared in shock at the man next to her. "Oh, Ganner! That's awful! Don't say such a thing!"
Ganner studied her face. He wasn't sure what kind of reaction he'd expected. He didn't even know why he had said what he did when he'd almost said something quite different. Quickly he wondered how she would have looked if he had said what he'd first intended.. that it should have been him to be the father of her child.
I don't think she'd be much more shocked than I am at myself for even thinking it!, he contemplated. Why had he had such a thought? Surely it was just his sense of responsibility kicking into overdrive at seeing a woman like Analee in such a predicament. Of course it couldn't be anything else. They'd only known each other for barely even two days. Maybe he'd hit his head unknowingly in the crash. He brought his hand up to examine his head and found no lumps, then returned his attention to Analee.
"And why is that such an awful thing to say? If it had been me, then your husband would still be alive and you wouldn't be alone without a companion or a father for your child. Doesn't sound so bad," Ganner suggested.
Analee's hand jutted out and lay gently over Ganner's forearm. "No," she said softly. "It was meant to be. All things happen for a reason. I believe that. And I do have a companion.. You!" she added trying to cheer him up. "Besides, Tahmis wouldn't-" She stopped abruptly and pulled her hand away to busy herself with the ration pack again.
Ganner sensed that she had been on the verge of revealing something important and his curiosity got the better of him. "Tahmis wouldn't what?" he prodded.
"Nothing," Analee responded quickly before finally sticking the stubborn food pack under his nose. "Would you open this, please?" Ganner paused and then took the pack from her hand.
"You're avoiding my question, Mrs. Garsone," Ganner chided playfully as he opened the package with one small jerk and handed it back to her. Finally, he caught her eyes and urged her to tell. "It's not like we have other pressing business to attend to, and besides, I'm a good listener." He could tell she was wavering so he continued his coaxing. "How about we make a deal? You tell me something personal about you and then I'll tell you something about me? Sound fair?"
Analee's eyes narrowed as she looked at him. "Aren't you assuming that I'm interested in learning more about you?" she replied teasingly. "Okay, you've got a deal, but--- only if you tell me anything I want to know.. anything." Her eyes twinkled with mischief.
Ganner inhaled sharply through his mouth. "You drive a hard bargain, m'lady. All right then. I concede to your conditions."
Analee licked her bottom lip and breathed deeply. "Okay," she said with a small nod. "Tahmis.. Tahmis didn't know about the baby," she stated quietly. She looked at Ganner and saw his brief look of shock. "He was quite a bit older than me, and he preferred not to have children. He felt his calling was as a doctor, helping the galaxy in that respect. He thought having children would. hinder his ability to focus on his duty." Saying the words aloud sounded ridiculous to Analee's ears now, but when Tahmis had said them, it had seemed to make more sense.
Ganner was speechless. How could a man not want to have children, especially with a woman like Analee? He was dumbfounded.
"Didn't he like children?" he asked, his clear blue eyes fixed on Analee's shadowed face.
"Oh, he liked them. sort of. Don't get me wrong, Tahmis was a good man."
"I'm sure he was," Ganner interjected trying to keep Analee from feeling the need to get defensive.
"At first, I agreed to not having children. I was still rather young and just starting out in my career. But as time passed, my feelings on the matter changed. I tried to discuss it with Tahmis, but he always put me off. When he left on his last mission, I hadn't yet told him that I was secretly trying to become pregnant. I thought if it happened, then he would have no other choice but to accept it and be happy. He'd been gone almost two months when I found out. I wanted to wait and tell him face to face. but I never got the chance. He was killed soon after our last contact."
Analee was gazing into the fire now. Facing her own demons, Ganner assumed. "Well now," he muttered after a few moments of silence, "that was heavy."
Analee chuckled nervously. "I was so worried about how I was going to tell him, and now I guess I don't have to worry about that." She fought down the tears beginning to well in her eyes. "I loved my husband, Jedi Rhysode. He was a good man."
Ganner didn't respond. He knew she wasn't really trying to convince him of her love for her husband. She was trying to convince herself. Instead he changed the subject.
"Okay, then, what will it be?" he declared, sitting up straight before leaning back on his elbows. "What mystery of my past would you like to know about? My childhood? My reckless youth? My many romantic and/or military conquests?"
"Your scar," she stated plainly and without hesitation. Ganner paused with his mouth hanging open.
"My scar?" he repeated, his hand reflexively coming up to touch the mark on his face.
"Yes, I'm pretty sure that's what I said. Your scar."
"You had this all planned out, didn't you?" he eyed her suspiciously.
"I'll never tell," she answered with a demure smile.
"Well, then," he began, "what exactly would you like to know about it?"
"Everything. How you got it.why you still have it. Most people would have had it removed." The baby kicked and she brought her hands to her stomach, rubbing it gently back and forth as she waited for Ganner to tell his story.
"I'm not most people," he offered. Taking a deep breath and pulling up to a seated position, he began his tale as he stared into the flames of the fire.
"I know you'll find this hard to believe, but I was once arrogant and vain."
Analee chuckled lightly under her breath. "Are you going to let me tell this story or not?" he asked. She immediately stopped laughing and nodded her head.
"Sorry."
"Now, where was I?"
"You were arrogant and vain," she reminded him. He shot her a phony exasperated look and she tried not to laugh again.
"Right, well, I was both of those things. I thought I was better than everyone else in the galaxy, in fact I was convinced of it. Even at the Jedi Academy where I trained, I looked down my nose at most of the others, even those who were more experienced than I was. I suppose I was the result of an overindulging mother and extreme wealth."
Analee shifted to get comfortable but she kept getting little pains in her lower back. Ignoring them, she continued to listen to Ganner's story.
"When the Vong first invaded, we didn't know much about them. I simply assumed since I was a Jedi and could use the Force that if I ever came up against one, it would be no contest. Surely I, a trained Jedi knight, could easily dispose of this newest threat." He paused and snorted through his nose.
"I was on Garqi, ever hear of it?" Analee shook her head no. "A few of us were trying to liberate some of the inhabitants who'd been taken captive by the Vong. To make a long story short, in my overconfidence, a Vong warrior showed me that my whole life up until then had been a lie. I'd been fooling myself for years, and in the process I had risked the lives of innocent others." His hand traced the line that ran from above his left brow all the way down to his jaw line.
"The scar is a reminder. It constantly tells me that I'm no longer that Ganner Rhysode, self-serving and egotistical child in the Force. I'm a different man. one that others can count on. one my father would be proud of-if he were alive."
He stopped talking and all Analee could do was stare at him.
"Your father would be very proud of you, Ganner. I'm sure of it. You're a good man," she added. He glanced over and offered a smile. She was so refreshing to be around. not a Force-wielding Jedi, not a hotshot pilot, not a dishonest politician. No, she was simply Analee.
"Thank you," he said graciously. Analee shivered and Ganner was instantly offering his cape. However, she refused it.
"I think I'll go back inside and try to get some sleep, if that's possible in my condition," she mused. She struggled to stand up and Ganner was right there again to assist in her time of need. She regained her balance, patted him on his arm and walked away. "Goodnight," she called back over her shoulder.
"Goodnight," he called back.
Settling back onto his mat by the fire, his mind drifted away to other not so comforting thoughts of the mission on Myrkr. The look of terror and rage on Jaina Solo's face as she spewed Force lightning from her fingertips in order to regain her brother's dead body. the heartbreak they all felt knowing Jacen Solo had been left in the clutches of the Vong, and then later the deep grief as they felt his life force being snuffed out for good. All of those memories were fresh wounds, not likely to be healed for Ganner anytime too soon.
After all of the losses this war had caused, what was he supposed to believe about the Force anymore? It certainly wasn't helping the Jedi win against the Vong, so what good was it? Aside from stopping minor criminals and performing meaningless telekinetic tricks, what was he worth now? He sure didn't feel very important, but maybe helping Analee and her baby would give him some purpose in life, if only for a few more days.
** Ganner!**
He jumped up the instant he heard, or rather felt the call. It was coming from inside the ship.
"Analee!" he shouted as he ran up the boarding ramp and tore down the aisles. Searching frantically from one side of the cabin to the other, he couldn't find her. Then he heard a low moan coming from the refresher in the back. He charged down the aisle and ripped open the door only to find Analee sprawled out on the floor groaning in pain.
"Analee! Wh-what is it?" he exclaimed. His heart was beating at hyper speed as he knelt beside her and lifted her to a sitting position.
"I-I'm having a baby," she muttered, her eyes wide with fear.
"Yes, luv, I know you're having a baby. I'm not blind, you know, " he teased.
"No!" she yelled grabbing him by the shirt collar and yanking him to within inches of her sweat-streaked face. "You don't understand! I'm having a baby RIGHT NOW!"
"Oh," was all he said.
The first day passed without much incidence. Ganner organized their supplies, scouted out the surrounding area, while Analee kept watch over the still unconscious man whom they had learned was named Nikko. He had no family with him, so he had become their responsibility. Ganner watched as she tended to him the best she could in spite of her extended stomach. He noticed she had to stop every once in a while and catch her breath, and he'd lost count of how many trips she'd made to the refresher. When he jokingly mentioned it to her she responded curtly.
"Talk to me when you've experienced a human being doing constant flip-flops inside of your belly!"
They laughed together, but still there was a sense of uneasiness between them stemming from their kiss the night before. Both of them were unsure of what it meant and how to handle the feelings it stirred within. Ganner had always used humor and lighthearted teasing to cope with his insecurity. Analee had always chosen to simply avoid the situation and act as if it never happened, which was what she was doing now.
Nightfall was once again coming and Ganner had another fire blazing outside. The evening air was chill, and he didn't want Analee to get cold. While they could have simply spent all of their time on the ship, he found he enjoyed the open air. It was something he hadn't had much of over the past few years. Too much of his life had recently been spent inside the cold hull of spaceships as he traveled around fighting against the Vong.
As he lay stretched out beside the fire, leaning up on his elbow, he stared blindly into the flames. It was so quiet, apart from the sounds of nocturnal insects buzzing and chirping in the fading light, that he was forced to remember things he didn't necessarily want to recall.
His first thoughts were of his parents, his mother especially. They had always been close. Klarhys Rhysode had been the epitome of social grace and highbred ideals, which she had embedded into her only son. She'd taught him how to handle people. women mostly, and he had taken to it like a Mon Cal took to water. For most of his younger years he had been an irresponsible, arrogant playboy who didn't realize that his ability to 'persuade' females of any age and race was owed to his Force powers. Now that he reflected on those times, he cringed with self-loathing. How could he have been so immature?
Perhaps that was why he and his father had never gotten along. Jarvis Rhysode was the complete antithesis of his wife. He avoided society as much as humanly possible and concentrated on his business, which was one of the largest on Ganner's home planet and allowed Klarhys to continue living so lavishly. Ganner had an inkling that his father's money was the only thing his mother was interested in. She'd taken on several 'personal assistants' over the years, and Ganner figured out soon enough that these men weren't exactly well versed in the latest dictation methods. At first, he was appalled and waited for his father to do something about it. But time went by and Jarvis turned a blind eye to his wife's exploits in order to keep her happy. When Ganner saw how much 'fun' his mother seemed to be having with no repercussions, he willingly followed in her footsteps, turning his back on his father and the company he was sure to inherit someday.
Although Jarvis never spoke out against his wife, he had no such reservations about his son.
"Ganner, you're a disgrace to the Rhysode name," he'd said on more than one occasion. "You persist in squandering away your inheritance, your youth, and your dignity. You disappoint me, son."
Ganner could see his father's face in the flickering flames of the campfire and hung his head in shame at the memory of those words and his own response. He'd laughed in his father's face, told him he didn't want the company anyway and made some derogatory comment about his father being a cuckolded old fool. After talking to his mother, who had embraced him and said Jarvis's opinion didn't really matter, Ganner had gone for a walk in their extensive gardens and found a secluded spot to sulk. Despite his outward indifference, his father's words had cut deep, but still it took a few more years and the Yuuzhan Vong to turn him around and put him on the path to redemption. Even though it was too late to show his father the man he was becoming, he was doing it for himself.
Every Vong he stopped, every life he saved was one more step on his long and arduous road to becoming a man he could be proud of. one his father would have been proud to call 'son'. Maybe that's what kept driving him on, in spite of the evil he had been witness to that would have caused a lesser man to run and hide in terror. Force knew after Myrkr and Anakin's death, that's exactly what he'd wanted to do. That whole team had been too young to suffer as they did. Anakin Solo was too young to die.
"It should have been me," Ganner said, not realizing he spoke out loud.
"What should have been you?" Analee asked joining him near the fire. He took the ration kit she handed him but avoided her eyes.
"Um, nothing. I was just thinking out loud," he replied sitting up and crossing his legs.
"Do you do that often then?" she teased with a smile. Ganner couldn't help but smile in return.
"Only when I'm stranded on wild planets with an unbelievably beautiful pregnant woman who is about to give birth," he added with a wink.
Analee felt her face heat up. She had told herself that she was going to stop feeling so foolish around the Jedi. She knew it was silly to indulge herself in the merest thought of him romantically, so she had determined to keep him at arm's length. Besides, he couldn't really be interested in her anyway. The situation she found herself in was not a desirable one. He probably just felt sorry for her and was being kind out of his Jedi duties.
Plus, she'd come to realize, he was a bit of a flirt.
"I've embarrassed you, haven't I?" Ganner asked peering over at her as she nervously fidgeted with her ration kit. Analee thought she heard him chuckle, but refused to look at him. "Well, now, this is interesting." He sensed her embarrassment and debated whether to ease it instead of make it worse. Quietly contemplating his next words, he finally spoke.
"What if I told you that when I said 'it should have been me', I meant that it should have been me to--," he paused for a moment before completing his sentence, "to die instead of your husband?"
Analee's head snapped up and stared in shock at the man next to her. "Oh, Ganner! That's awful! Don't say such a thing!"
Ganner studied her face. He wasn't sure what kind of reaction he'd expected. He didn't even know why he had said what he did when he'd almost said something quite different. Quickly he wondered how she would have looked if he had said what he'd first intended.. that it should have been him to be the father of her child.
I don't think she'd be much more shocked than I am at myself for even thinking it!, he contemplated. Why had he had such a thought? Surely it was just his sense of responsibility kicking into overdrive at seeing a woman like Analee in such a predicament. Of course it couldn't be anything else. They'd only known each other for barely even two days. Maybe he'd hit his head unknowingly in the crash. He brought his hand up to examine his head and found no lumps, then returned his attention to Analee.
"And why is that such an awful thing to say? If it had been me, then your husband would still be alive and you wouldn't be alone without a companion or a father for your child. Doesn't sound so bad," Ganner suggested.
Analee's hand jutted out and lay gently over Ganner's forearm. "No," she said softly. "It was meant to be. All things happen for a reason. I believe that. And I do have a companion.. You!" she added trying to cheer him up. "Besides, Tahmis wouldn't-" She stopped abruptly and pulled her hand away to busy herself with the ration pack again.
Ganner sensed that she had been on the verge of revealing something important and his curiosity got the better of him. "Tahmis wouldn't what?" he prodded.
"Nothing," Analee responded quickly before finally sticking the stubborn food pack under his nose. "Would you open this, please?" Ganner paused and then took the pack from her hand.
"You're avoiding my question, Mrs. Garsone," Ganner chided playfully as he opened the package with one small jerk and handed it back to her. Finally, he caught her eyes and urged her to tell. "It's not like we have other pressing business to attend to, and besides, I'm a good listener." He could tell she was wavering so he continued his coaxing. "How about we make a deal? You tell me something personal about you and then I'll tell you something about me? Sound fair?"
Analee's eyes narrowed as she looked at him. "Aren't you assuming that I'm interested in learning more about you?" she replied teasingly. "Okay, you've got a deal, but--- only if you tell me anything I want to know.. anything." Her eyes twinkled with mischief.
Ganner inhaled sharply through his mouth. "You drive a hard bargain, m'lady. All right then. I concede to your conditions."
Analee licked her bottom lip and breathed deeply. "Okay," she said with a small nod. "Tahmis.. Tahmis didn't know about the baby," she stated quietly. She looked at Ganner and saw his brief look of shock. "He was quite a bit older than me, and he preferred not to have children. He felt his calling was as a doctor, helping the galaxy in that respect. He thought having children would. hinder his ability to focus on his duty." Saying the words aloud sounded ridiculous to Analee's ears now, but when Tahmis had said them, it had seemed to make more sense.
Ganner was speechless. How could a man not want to have children, especially with a woman like Analee? He was dumbfounded.
"Didn't he like children?" he asked, his clear blue eyes fixed on Analee's shadowed face.
"Oh, he liked them. sort of. Don't get me wrong, Tahmis was a good man."
"I'm sure he was," Ganner interjected trying to keep Analee from feeling the need to get defensive.
"At first, I agreed to not having children. I was still rather young and just starting out in my career. But as time passed, my feelings on the matter changed. I tried to discuss it with Tahmis, but he always put me off. When he left on his last mission, I hadn't yet told him that I was secretly trying to become pregnant. I thought if it happened, then he would have no other choice but to accept it and be happy. He'd been gone almost two months when I found out. I wanted to wait and tell him face to face. but I never got the chance. He was killed soon after our last contact."
Analee was gazing into the fire now. Facing her own demons, Ganner assumed. "Well now," he muttered after a few moments of silence, "that was heavy."
Analee chuckled nervously. "I was so worried about how I was going to tell him, and now I guess I don't have to worry about that." She fought down the tears beginning to well in her eyes. "I loved my husband, Jedi Rhysode. He was a good man."
Ganner didn't respond. He knew she wasn't really trying to convince him of her love for her husband. She was trying to convince herself. Instead he changed the subject.
"Okay, then, what will it be?" he declared, sitting up straight before leaning back on his elbows. "What mystery of my past would you like to know about? My childhood? My reckless youth? My many romantic and/or military conquests?"
"Your scar," she stated plainly and without hesitation. Ganner paused with his mouth hanging open.
"My scar?" he repeated, his hand reflexively coming up to touch the mark on his face.
"Yes, I'm pretty sure that's what I said. Your scar."
"You had this all planned out, didn't you?" he eyed her suspiciously.
"I'll never tell," she answered with a demure smile.
"Well, then," he began, "what exactly would you like to know about it?"
"Everything. How you got it.why you still have it. Most people would have had it removed." The baby kicked and she brought her hands to her stomach, rubbing it gently back and forth as she waited for Ganner to tell his story.
"I'm not most people," he offered. Taking a deep breath and pulling up to a seated position, he began his tale as he stared into the flames of the fire.
"I know you'll find this hard to believe, but I was once arrogant and vain."
Analee chuckled lightly under her breath. "Are you going to let me tell this story or not?" he asked. She immediately stopped laughing and nodded her head.
"Sorry."
"Now, where was I?"
"You were arrogant and vain," she reminded him. He shot her a phony exasperated look and she tried not to laugh again.
"Right, well, I was both of those things. I thought I was better than everyone else in the galaxy, in fact I was convinced of it. Even at the Jedi Academy where I trained, I looked down my nose at most of the others, even those who were more experienced than I was. I suppose I was the result of an overindulging mother and extreme wealth."
Analee shifted to get comfortable but she kept getting little pains in her lower back. Ignoring them, she continued to listen to Ganner's story.
"When the Vong first invaded, we didn't know much about them. I simply assumed since I was a Jedi and could use the Force that if I ever came up against one, it would be no contest. Surely I, a trained Jedi knight, could easily dispose of this newest threat." He paused and snorted through his nose.
"I was on Garqi, ever hear of it?" Analee shook her head no. "A few of us were trying to liberate some of the inhabitants who'd been taken captive by the Vong. To make a long story short, in my overconfidence, a Vong warrior showed me that my whole life up until then had been a lie. I'd been fooling myself for years, and in the process I had risked the lives of innocent others." His hand traced the line that ran from above his left brow all the way down to his jaw line.
"The scar is a reminder. It constantly tells me that I'm no longer that Ganner Rhysode, self-serving and egotistical child in the Force. I'm a different man. one that others can count on. one my father would be proud of-if he were alive."
He stopped talking and all Analee could do was stare at him.
"Your father would be very proud of you, Ganner. I'm sure of it. You're a good man," she added. He glanced over and offered a smile. She was so refreshing to be around. not a Force-wielding Jedi, not a hotshot pilot, not a dishonest politician. No, she was simply Analee.
"Thank you," he said graciously. Analee shivered and Ganner was instantly offering his cape. However, she refused it.
"I think I'll go back inside and try to get some sleep, if that's possible in my condition," she mused. She struggled to stand up and Ganner was right there again to assist in her time of need. She regained her balance, patted him on his arm and walked away. "Goodnight," she called back over her shoulder.
"Goodnight," he called back.
Settling back onto his mat by the fire, his mind drifted away to other not so comforting thoughts of the mission on Myrkr. The look of terror and rage on Jaina Solo's face as she spewed Force lightning from her fingertips in order to regain her brother's dead body. the heartbreak they all felt knowing Jacen Solo had been left in the clutches of the Vong, and then later the deep grief as they felt his life force being snuffed out for good. All of those memories were fresh wounds, not likely to be healed for Ganner anytime too soon.
After all of the losses this war had caused, what was he supposed to believe about the Force anymore? It certainly wasn't helping the Jedi win against the Vong, so what good was it? Aside from stopping minor criminals and performing meaningless telekinetic tricks, what was he worth now? He sure didn't feel very important, but maybe helping Analee and her baby would give him some purpose in life, if only for a few more days.
** Ganner!**
He jumped up the instant he heard, or rather felt the call. It was coming from inside the ship.
"Analee!" he shouted as he ran up the boarding ramp and tore down the aisles. Searching frantically from one side of the cabin to the other, he couldn't find her. Then he heard a low moan coming from the refresher in the back. He charged down the aisle and ripped open the door only to find Analee sprawled out on the floor groaning in pain.
"Analee! Wh-what is it?" he exclaimed. His heart was beating at hyper speed as he knelt beside her and lifted her to a sitting position.
"I-I'm having a baby," she muttered, her eyes wide with fear.
"Yes, luv, I know you're having a baby. I'm not blind, you know, " he teased.
"No!" she yelled grabbing him by the shirt collar and yanking him to within inches of her sweat-streaked face. "You don't understand! I'm having a baby RIGHT NOW!"
"Oh," was all he said.
