Disclaimer: I am not George Lucas, I am not making any money from this, and I do not own Star Wars, or any of these characters, although if he lets me use them I will return them in good condition, I promise! Or, well, as good a condition as his writers left them in, anyway!

Roonie, no, sorry, this story won't be that AU, although Anakin isn't really gone, from a certain point of view. (I love that phrase!) You'll see in this chapter. Thank you for your encouragement!

MistiWhitesun, I thoroughly intend to enjoy it, when it finally starts! The dream sequence isn't quite a dream, per se. It's more a mental representation of the spirit world. Die in a dream and you wake up. Die in the spirit world and you're, well, dead.

Star Wars - Anakin Solo's Legacy

Chapter 6 - And back again

"Tahiri," Jacen called. "Tahiri, come back to us." Her barely felt presence shifted, as though she was considering it. Then came a single word, laden with grief, loss, and deep hopelessness.

"Why?"

"Tahiri, no!" The girl sucked in one convulsive breath, let it out... and didn't breathe again. Her body stilled. Tears slid down Jacen's cheeks. First Anakin, and now Tahiri. Trembling, he reached up and closed her staring eyes.

He collapsed against a wall and sobbed as his grief for Anakin, combined with grief for Tahiri, overcame him at last.

####

Lightness and joy enveloped Tahiri as she stepped through the gate. She felt as though she was floating in a sea of happiness, and the cares and grief of the world fell away. Her eyes sparkled, and she lifted her head and took her first steps away from the gate into this new land. Something was wrong, however, and she stopped as her mind picked at it, wondering what could possibly be wrong here. Then she had it. Anakin's presence.

She had felt him in front of her the whole way, leading her on, and she still could. Yet there was a presence behind her now, much stronger, and it also felt like Anakin. It was calling to her. Slowly, she turned and walked back to the gate, stopping just inside. The presence shifted, dancing along the path she'd trod, beckoning to her. She couldn't see anything, but she knew it was there.

Anakin was dead. She'd felt it herself, yet... In this dream-like state, she was no longer certain what was real and what was not. Could he be alive? All at once, the happiness of this place soured. If he was alive, she shouldn't be here! It would be worse than wrong to follow him into death if he wasn't dead!

She sprang for the gate, suddenly afraid that it wouldn't let her out, but it did. She ran back across the plain, chasing the presence, calling, "Anakin!"

####

So absorbed in his grief was Jacen, he almost missed the faint Force call. "Anakin!" a voice yelled. He opened his eyes. The word came again, more clearly. "Anakin!"

Tahiri's voice.

His gaze, along with everyone else's, snapped to the body lying in the center of the chamber. A third shout, "Anakin!" came, so 'loud', so full of desperation and, strangely, hope that Jacen winced. Through his tears, he stared in shock as Tahiri's eyes flew open, and she drew a deep, shuddering breath. And another. And another. Suddenly, her eyes focused and she sat up. Her frantic gaze flicked around the room and settled on Jacen. "Where is he?! Where's Anakin?"

Stunned, Jacen could only manage a weak stutter. "H-he's dead."

"No, he's not! I felt him! He was here, he led me back! Where is he?!"

Confused now, Jacen shook his head. He didn't really trust his voice. Seeing him not answer her question, Tahiri impatiently reached out in the force, feeling...

All the color faded from her face in an instant, and she sagged back on her hands, jaw hanging open. Jacen could feel shocked understanding and disbelief flood from her like an explosion, and without thinking he reached out, trying to feel what had surprised her so. In that moment of shock, her thoughts were bare, and he saw...

No. Kriffing. Way.

####

Her world spun. A part of her insisted that it couldn't be true, she could not have felt what she had. Another part insisted it was true, and seemed elated at the prospect. A rather larger part knew it, and was scared out of its wits.

By the Force, she had never expected this to happen. Pregnant!?

She could feel them. Twins. Incredibly tiny, incredibly fragile, yet she knew they were strong as well. For even in this state, they had had the power to drag her back from the brink of death. She knew now whose presence, so much like Anakin's, she'd followed.

Anakin was dead, she knew now, and however much she longed to do so, she couldn't follow him. As unthinkable as it was to live without him, it was just as unthinkable to take these small pieces of them into the dark with her. They deserved a chance at life.

She realized that the other members of the strike force were looking at her, confusion evident on their faces. All except Jacen, who wore an expression of shock much like the one she imagined must be on her face right now. Somehow, she wasn't surprised. If anyone would know, he would.

Zekk hesitantly asked, "Jacen? What-"

"It's nothing," replied Jacen quickly. Zekk seemed inclined to disagree, but the look on Jacen's face told him not to press it. "We have to move. We're still too close to the cloning grashal. Even if they're not able to get down the tunnel after us, they have to know where it goes. Cmon."

Without a backward glance, he walked out of the room. Throwing curious glances at Tahiri, the rest started to follow. Tahiri jumped up and tried to dash out of the room, and nearly fell as her legs refused to immediately support her. Ganner caught her, and she nodded her thanks before exiting the room, a bit more slowly.

She caught up to Jacen, and in a low voice said, "You know, don't you."

He looked at her sadly. "Yes. I'm sorry, I didn't meant to." A thought occurred to him, and he asked, "When?"

"A week before we left," she replied quietly. "He-" her voice broke. "He asked me to marry him. I said yes." She lowered her head, and tears silently slid down her cheeks.

Jacen was stricken. "I'm sorry. I didn't know, I shouldn't have asked."

She tried to dry her eyes. "No, i-, it's ok." She looked up at him. "Just let me... let me be the one... to tell..."

He understood. "Of course," he replied sadly. "It's the least I can do."

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Well, I went for a couple of days, and then plans change, and I come right back. sigh Revised revised plans for the vacation involve leaving next monday-ish, and I decided I couldn't leave you all in suspense that long. However, turns out I will have computer access, so in between sightseeing from mountains, exploring caves, sailing, swimming, and stargazing, I should be able to write another chapter or so.

Aren't ideas weird? On the way home, the idea for the epilogue, of all things, bit me and wouldn't leave me alone until I wrote it. So now I have an epilogue to a story that's less than half done. Strange, huh?