Jaina did manage to be there when the golden ship touched down on the landing pad, smiling broadly as the Queen of 63 planets strode down the ramp.



Jaina embraced Tenel Ka tightly. "It's so good to have you here!"



"I too am glad to be here," Tenel replied, letting her friend go to look at Jaina carefully. "You seem..."



"Happy?" Jaina finished. "Maybe because I am."



"You and Kyp... have come to an understanding?" Tenel asked as the two women began to walk.



Jaina nodded, a slight smirk crossing her face. "Mm-hmm. Mostly when I punched Jag in the face when he was professing his undying love for me."



The corners of Tenel's mouth curved up ever so slightly. "Do tell..."'





It was later that Jaina looked out over the darkening sky and sighed quietly.



Behind her, Kyp turned slightly as he tried to knot his tie. "What is it?"



"We're really lucky, aren't we." Jaina commented quietly as she pressed a hand against the window. She looked over her shoulder to look at Kyp. "We have everything we could ever want. A beautiful home, jobs which interest us, our children..."



Kyp smiled and stepped towards her, twining her fingers into his. "Each other."



Jaina gave him a starry smile. "Exactly." She reached up to press her palms against his face, brushing her lips across his. She pulled back with a content look on her face. Her hair was pulled up into a loose bun, with ringlets falling over her shoulders. She wore a one-shouldered gold gown, the fabric deepening or lightening as she moved. The simple gold pendants which hung from her ears reflected Kyp's own face.



Her expression changed for a moment. "So why do I feel as though something terrible is going to happen?"



Kyp gave her a searching look. "How so?"



Jaina frowned then shook her head. "I don't know. I just had... a feeling for a moment. It's gone now. It was probably nothing." She smiled brightly at him. "Let's go. We have a couple hundred guests waiting for us, don't we?"



Kyp offered her his arm and she went to take it before giving him a patient look, reaching up to fix his tie.



Kyp rolled his eyes good naturedly. "Now am I presentable, wife?"



"I suppose..." Jaina laughed as Kyp pulled her along with him out of the bedroom. They stopped in the living room to say good bye to their children, then hurried out the door.



They didn't notice the woman standing at the end of the corridor. They didn't see the feral look in her eyes, nor the blaster in her hand.



Like the fishes in the sea they were suspended above, the people moved in slow, yet clearly defined patterns. Rank, wealth, an act of stupidity seen as heroism defined your place as waiter droids passed expensive alcohol to those assembled. And at the centre was the greatest power, that all had come to see and congratulate.

Jaina stood next to her mother, quietly and gracefully accepting the good wishes of the guests. She would occasionally reach behind her for the glass of iced Elba water and Kyp would easily pass it to her while not breaking his conversation with Luke. Han and Mara sat on a bench less than a foot away, quietly snickering at the pretension packed into the formal gardens underneath the Jedi Tower. Jaina too often had to restrain her laughter - unlike Leia, she could never take it all quite seriously. Leia was alternately glaring at Han, her recalcitrant daughter of whom she was so proud of and putting on a sunny smile to meet the next minor bureaucrat. Jaina ignored the look, so like the one which she gave her children, and smiled too, though hers was less sincere. Her eyes were still luminous, her skin still radiant, the shimmering dress casting a golden glow.

Yet she wasn't what she had been. From the edge of the crowd, leaning against the railing over the deep ocean, Jag watched her, feeling the loss of the love he had held for her. Whatever he had felt, it was lessened, softer… she was no longer the beloved Goddess, closer to the beloved friend or sister. The look he saw pass between her and her husband only reinforced that belief. It was an unsettling feeling for a man who didn't like to be unsure.

He drank from his glass, emerald green eyes raking the crowd. He was on the edge for a reason. Jag had arrived, greeting Jaina and her mother and then slowly had started to drift through the crowd. But he was part of no pattern, a stranger to this ordered environment. His status as the Chiss Ambassador, his involvement in the Vong was earned him a few polite nods, a word of greeting here and there. He had spoken to Wedge for a few long minutes, the men catching up on news of the family. But the Rebel Hero had been drawn away, to speak to a Senator who could shoot down a military funding bill, as much as the military Chief of State tried to prevent him.

And so Jag found himself on the edge. It didn't bother him - it was a better vantage point to watch all the guests. For he still would protect his beloved friend and her beloved husband, also a friend.

To one side, the crowd parted as it had not for Jag to let another guest slip away from the crowd. She was also foreign, but her beauty and power made her infinitely more attractive than Jag, and many had flocked to her. To pay obeisance, to try and charm the steel grey eyes… to beg for a shipping permit into the reclusive Hapes Cluster.

Jag straightened as she approached him. "Your Majesty," he greeted her with a bow.

Tenel Ka cocked her head towards him. "Admiral, it has been quite a while."

"Since, Jaina and I first arrived on Hapes I think," he replied guardedly.

She nodded, the breeze catching a few russet curls which had escaped from the bun atop her head, surrounded by a shining tiara. "I think so. You have done very well for yourself since then."

"As have you," he raised his glass towards her.

"May I?" she gestured and he nodded. She plucked the glass from his hand and took a long drink.

"Courage in a glass?" Jag hazarded and the grey eyes flashed with amusement.

"Patience, actually." Tenel Ka snorted delicately, "Bureaucrats."

The edges of Jag's mouth curled up. "I know what you mean, m'lday."

Tenel Ka gave him a long look. "I have something that I must discuss with you, if I may."

Jag frowned. "Of course."

"If I had not arrived here and seen the light returned in her eyes, I would have most likely ordered your execution." She stated flatly.

"You mean Jaina." Jag replied slowly.

"I hadn't thought you a stupid man, Admiral Fel. Of course I mean Jaina." She shook her head. "Many may think that because I choose not to express my emotions - that I don't have them. I do. And I believe loyalty to be the most important of all. She is my best friend - you were hurting her. My options were clear."

Jag looked down into the swirling amber in his glass. "I understand. But…. I woke up."

"Or did she wake you up?" Tenel Ka asked with a slight smile.

Jag looked up, suddenly struck by her beauty. She was quite different from Jaina, the light in her eyes was much more restrained, but as she stood in front of him, her hair looking like fire and the green dress she wore hugging every curve before fanning out in a train behind her… Jag realised he had never truly looked at the Queen before. He took in a breath. "Guilty," he conceded. "But I've realised some things myself. My feelings… have changed for her over the years. I don't believe that I am in love with her anymore."

"But you still love her?" Tenel Ka asked.

"As a friend. As a very confusing, often exhausting…. Friend. I don't think I could stand to be married to her - we would kill each other." Jag chuckled softly.

Tenel smiled at him. "That, I am glad to hear. Friends are precious in this universe - new friends especially." She reached out and Jag automatically took her small hand in his. Wondering if this woman could ever just be his friend.

He licked his lips nervously, silently amazed that he was feeling nervous. "Your highness,"

"Tenel," she corrected him softly, her eyes warm.

Jag smiled slightly. "Tenel, why don't we leave, I know - "

Above him, a massive explosion rocked the sky. Jag and Tenel threw themselves to the ground as did the rest of the crowd. Jag pulled Tenel next to him, trying to shield her from the worst of the debris that rained from the sky.

Only two remained standing, Jaina and Kyp's attention not on the ball of fire above their heads. But of their children's screams through the Force.



Jaina's fingers searched for Kyp's warm grasp as her knees began to crumble. His arms caught her, cradling her in the warmth, but the comfort they offered did nothing to heal the hole that had just been blown in her heart.



"Easy, goddess......." Kyp whispered into her ears, his voice thick.



"Our babies," Jaina started and stopped, breathing deeply.



A hand touched her arm and Jaina looked up into the eyes of Jag. "What just happened?" he asked worriedly, Tenel Ka laying a hand on his shoulder, extending her prosthetic hand to touch Jaina's.



Jaina just numbly shook her head and Kyp looked towards his former flight-mate. "The kids," he spoke simply. "Someone just hurt the kids." He looked down at his wife and shook her. "Jaina. Snap out of it!"



"Someone has our children Kyp!" Jaina shot back, oblivious to the crowd around them. "That was just a distraction! Someone just shot our babies!"



"You think I don't know that?!" He snapped back, glancing quickly at those around them. Jaina's parents were behind him, Luke and Mara next to his wife. "But the longer you act like it's the end of the world - the longer we're not going to save them." Green eyes met brown and Jaina lifted her chin, a look of determination on her face. It was almost immediately replaced with worry. "They're in our quarters, Kyp, we don't have any weapons."



Luke pushed the side of his robes over to show the lightsaber hanging at his belt. Leia shot her brother a look. "You were supposed to be checked for weapons at the door."



"Aren't you glad now that I fogged the droid?" Mara replied, pulling her lightsaber out from underneath her dress. "Here Durron," she passed Kyp the blaster that had been hidden as well.



"I'm with you," Jag told the couple, pulling his blaster out of it's hidden sheath.



Leia eyes him. "How'd you get that through security? You don't have the Force."



"Doesn't mean I don't know how to hit the right buttons on a security droid." Behind him, Tenel Ka pulled out her own lightsaber as Han found the small blaster hidden in the seam of his formal jacket.



Leia rolled her eyes. "Remind me once we rescue my grandchildren to fire whoever is in charge of security."



As Mara was pulling yet another weapon from the flowing sleeves of her dress, Kyp handed Jaina the blaster. "You ready to teach whoever has done this a lesson?"



"Completely." The adrenaline began to rush through Jaina as she prepared to go once more unto the breach, this time for the most important cause of all: her children. "Let's go."



The eight pushed their way through the crowds, stopping at the security checkpoint to relieve the droids of their remaining weapons.



Kyp led the group at a lope towards the towers, shouting orders to his family, Jaina on his heels. Jag went to follow them, but Tenel Ka pulled him back.



Her grey eyes were dark, but fiery. "I have another idea," she told him, inclining her jeweled head towards the repulsorlift sitting only a few feet away.



A grin grew across Jag's face. "M'lady, I like how you think."





A hundred and sixty floors above the ground, Manon snapped orders at the three men with her. "Each of you take one of the kids! That explosion went off to soon, dammit!"



The first cowered, "I swear I set the timer for longer! It must have - " He was cut off as she swung her blaster under his chin, falling in a heap to the floor.



"I guess I'll have to take one of the kids." She snarled, moving towards the smallest of the unmoving bodies. "Leave him to take the blame," she called over her shoulder to the other two.



They left the apartment in but a few moments, but Manon left a little gift for the Durrons. A holocube waited just inside their suite, her face hovering above it, repeating just one message, again and again.



"You'll never see your children again."



The small repulsor craft swiftly climbed higher and higher, Jag's hands guiding it expertly as Tenel Ka stood beside him. Her eyes scanned the building, though she looked with more than just her eyes. Her hand gripped Jag's shoulder and he leaned towards her to hear her as she shouted over the whistling wind.



"The roof! They are going to the roof!!"





The elevator shot towards the sky, red clouding Jaina's vision as the numbers lit and darkened at each floor. Red like their light. Red like her anger, growing steadily with every passing moment. She clung to reality as Kyp clung to her hands, standing in front of her. His green eyes caught her, and their vibrant hue lessened the red in her own gaze.



"Don't give in, Jaya," he murmured. "Don't give into the anger."



Their gaze did not break as his commlink beeped and Kyp reached for it - Han conveying the message they had found in the Durron suite. Kyp's mouth tightened and Jaina lifted a hand to his cheek.



"What is it?" she asked in a low voice - almost afraid to ask.



Kyp turned off his commlink - then crushed it in his palm. "They left a message for us - they think that we're never going to see our children again." He laughed, the red spilling into his own gaze and the couple smiled at one another, the lightning beginning to crackle around them.





The wind whipped around the roof as Manon stepped forward, her hair blowing across her face.



"Where's that stinking hovercraft?!" She shouted behind her.



"It must be on it's way!" her accomplice shouted.



They heard the whirr of the repulsors to their lift and both turned. To see a craft carrying an angry Queen rise to their level.

Manon laughed harshly. "What - do you think you can stop me one-armed?"



Tenel Ka stepped onto the roof, her face stormy as she activated her lightsaber, Jag drawing his blaster behind her.



"You will not succeed." She spoke softly but her voice carried over the whistling wind.



"I've planned this for too long to fail." Manon snarled. She lifted the baby she held in her arms. "I get away with even just one of their brats - and I win."



"You will never win!" Jag shouted as he followed Tenel Ka onto the roof.



"Oh really Impy? You should have joined us when you had the chance." Manon shot back. She moved backwards towards the edge of the roof, her accomplices right beside her.



"You should have learned not to mess with me when you had the chance." Jaina stood in front of the turbolift, Kyp behind her.



Manon shook her head. "On the contrary, you should never have messed with ME." She raised the drugged baby into the air, stepping back towards the edge. "I kill your precious baby - I win." She held the baby over the edge.



And the fire roared in Kyp and Jaina's eyes.



Tenel Ka stepped back. "Oh no."



With a crash of thunder, rain began to fall over the group. But the lightning that began to crackle around Jaina's hands was most definitely not from nature.



"Put her down," her voice was soft but harsh.



Manon grinned - a crazed look around her eyes. "No. Go ahead, kill me - turn into the real granddaughter of Darth Vader. But I'll still win, because I'm going to take your precious darlings with me." She stepped onto the very edge of the building, looking down onto the baby in her arms. "Such a sweet little princess..." she crooned. Her wet hair hanging down and sticking to her face, Manon began to sing a lullaby to the child she held. The lilting, haunting song drifted across to Kyp and Jaina.

... when the bow breaks, the cradle will fall

and down will come baby - cradle and all...

A smile slid across her face and to Jaina, she whispered, the lilt still in her voice."You lose." In a sudden break of mood, she motioned violently towards her compatriots. "Come on - move it!"



They began to inch towards her, keeping frightened eyes on the parents who were watching them with such malice. One turned slightly and it was all the chance Kyp needed.



There was a roar as a firebolt exploded out of his hand, it's intended victim only jumping out of the way to fall against the side of the building, hitting his head to lie motionless.



Jaina spun with a cackle, "Good shot, m'love."



Kyp grinned rakishly at her. "I try." He turned his eye to the other Peace Brigader, making a mad dash towards Manon. A peal of lightning lit the sky and though it didn't seem possible, the downfall increased. It threw the man off balance and he slid, ramming straight into Manon.



She was jolted and the small bundle was thrown out of her arms. As one, Jaina, Kyp and Tenel Ka leaped towards it, but it fell with a soft thud to the ground. Kyp sigh was broken and Jaina sobbed as she stood over her child - her baby. Dark, smouldering, hate-filled eyed went to the edge of the roof, where Manon stood - where a wave of Force power swept towards the other woman, slamming into her.

Manon screamed as she fell over the edge, but she flailed wildly, managing to catch the roof with one hand. Her fingers began to slip and the Peace Brigader saw nothing but a long fall and a wet fate below as footsteps approached. She was breathing heavily as she looked up at Jaina.

"Please," she begged. "Have mercy..." Her breath caught in a sob.

Jaina smiled. "Like sith I will." She raised her foot to slam down upon those thin fingers, to hear the crack of bones breaking.... as a wail rose up behind her.



The wail of a baby. Her own. Jaina froze and turned.



What had been a lifeless bundle lying in Tenel Ka's arms, raised a small fist as she drew another breath to protest the indignity and trauma of the evening.



Kyp was closer and so he had already scooped Lelila into his arms by the time Jaina reached his side. He was crying, whispering softly to the daughter he thought he had lost. Jaina reached out a tremulous hand to touch her infant daughter's downy cheek, covered with the dew drops of rain. With the simple touch, the hate faded from her eyes as she met those of her husband.



"Force Kyp," she asked, her expression slack. "What have we done?"



"Nothing that cannot be undone at this point," came the voice from beside them. Jaina turned slightly to look at Tenel Ka, just as drenched as she was, but still managing to look regal. She hadn't even noticed, but the Queen had lifted Manon from the edge - who was now being held in a Force bind.



"But we..." Kyp started before he was cut off.



"Went after your daughter."



"With hate in our hearts!" Jaina protested.



"Understandably so. You haven't killed anyone - you acted as any parents would." Jag spoke from their other side, but his eyes were locked on Tenel Ka.



She took up his gaze and his thread. "You touched the Dark, but I think in time, all will be well. You have your children." Tenel Ka's gaze darkened. "You have eachother." Her attention was not on the couple, who were wrapped up in one another and their child.



"Yes," Kyp breathed slowly, reaching out to touch Jaina's cheek. "We have eachother." Jaina's eyes grew lighter as a small smile touched her lips.



"Isn't this touching," Manon drawled.



Tenel Ka tore her gaze away from Jag to glare at the woman. "Don't think I can't touch the dark." The Peace Brigader was silent, as the rain lessened and finally ceased to fall. As the security forces reached the roof to take away the prisoners and escort the Chief of State, as well as her companions down, a small rainbow could be seen on the horizon as it began to dawn.