Jacen sighed, rubbing the back of his head as he stirred his coffeine.

It was simply too early to be up.

Then again, any time of the morning would've been too early with the night he'd had.

With the combination of Keil's midnight screaming and his own all-too-vivid dreams, it was a wonder he had gotten any sleep at all.

There were times he wondered if it wouldn't just be more worth his time to chunk it all and head into politics.

Then again, Master Yoda's life as a hermit on Dagobah was looking more and more appealing every day.

He sighed again.

"That's a happy face if I ever saw one."

Jacen jumped and turned.

Tahiri was leaning against the door, smirking. "Don't tell me you're having happy thoughts, too."

" 'Fraid you're going to be disappointed there." Jacen said dryly, setting his coffeine mug on the kitchen counter.

Tahiri raised one eyebrow. "Keil had a bad night?"

Jacen nodded. "He did. Woke up crying about midnight." He shook his head. "I knew I shouldn't have let him sleep so long yesterday. But no, actually," he grimaced, "mostly it was the dreams."

Tahiri became serious. "The same ones coming back?" her voice was sympathetic.

"Among other ones." Jacen admitted vaguely, sipping his caffeine again.

In one of her rare moments of reflection and thought, Tahiri allowed the silence to hang in the air for a moment.

"What happened last night?" she asked quietly, walking into the kitchenette to pour herself a cup of caffeine.

"Last night?" Jacen echoed.

"yeah." Tahiri reached for the sugar bowl. "At the pool."

"You mean the Matzi game?" Jacen asked carefully.

"No." she leaned back against the counter. "I mean after you left the Matzi game and started your own fun." She raised one eyebrow pointedly.

"oh." Jacen couldn't think of anything else to say.

Once again, Tahiri was uncharacteristically quiet for a few minutes.

"So," she broke back in finally, "are you going to tell me about it or," she shuddered, "am I going to have to pry it out of Tenel Ka?"

"What?!" Jacen winced inwardly at the terrified shock in his voice, knowing his eyes had to be wide. "Why?! Nothing happened!"

Tahiri sighed almost wearily, stirring another spoonful of sugar into her cup. "Jacen, something happened last night, and you were both shouting it."

Jacen sighed and dropped his head into his hands. "Great. And you're only the first in a whole long line of inquisitors."

Tahiri smiled and shook her head. "Nah. Your uncle's too worried about your aunt, your sister's too consumed with avoiding her former master, and your mom's too sensitive to say anything." She grinned. "That only leaves Aunt Mara."

Jacen groaned. "That's supposed to make me feel better?"

Tahiri laughed. "Well, in truth, I think Mara's a little occupied at the moment."

Jacen shook his head in disagreement. "Pregnancy never has never, nor will ever inhibit Aunt Mara in the least."

"Actually," Tahiri amended, "I meant she was too busy looking for the candy your uncle hid from her."

Jacen had to chuckle. "I think he gets smarter every day."

Tahiri laughed with him.

"You know what?" Jacen asked suddenly. "I think you deserve a prize: Most Annoying But Faithful Friend of the year award." He smiled at her.

Tahiri grinned back. "That's most annoying, irritating and faithfully pestering friend, and you know what I think?" she picked up her mug and moved to the door.

Jacen shook his head with a smile.

Tahiri turned, smiling as she held the door open. "I think there's someone who lives upstairs that you need to talk to, and I think you need to do it soon, because she won't be there forever, and I think," she became completely serious, "that if you will stop trying to save the galaxy for one kriffin' moment, you'll realize there's no way even you can fool yourself into thinking you don't love her."