I know it's been a while since my last post, but I had tried to put this up at the beginning of the month and something went wrong when I uploaded it. I just now realized that it hadn't been put up, so without further ado:

Chapter 28

Cem was freaking out. All he had wanted to do was go on a friendly walk with Tahiri to get away from everything that had been happening. And now he was stuck in the middle of nowhere with a girl in labor!

Trying to decide what to do, Cem sat down next to Tahiri and held her hand. "It's okay. You'll be fine."

"Oh yeah," she managed through clenched teeth, "do you know how to deliver a baby?" At the sight of his befuddled expression, she answered her own question. "I didn't think so. But you better learn fast buddy, because you're about to take a crash course in baby birthing."

Cem turned a little bit green at her comment. Getting an idea, he grabbed Tahiri's comm link and called Mara Skywalker. She would know what to do.

After a few moments of silence, someone finally answered. "Skywalker here." From the sounds of screaming in the

background, Mara knew something was wrong. "Tahiri, is that you? Are you ok?"

By the time Cem got the chance to reply, his hand was being squeezed so hard he was surprised he could make a sound. "No, this is Cem Fel. Tahiri and I had gone out for a walk and now she's in labor. I don't know what to do."

"Where are you two?"

"I'm not really sure. We walked for a couple of hours before this happened and now I don't know how to tell you where we are." He gave her a general description of where they had gone in hope that she would be able to get there.

"You two stay put. Were on our way now to come find you two. But Cem, listen closely. You are probably going to have to deliver Tahiri's baby. Try to get her into a comfortable sitting position and keep her calm. Help her breath and tell her to push with all her might. We'll be there as soon as we can."

"Thanks Mara. Hurry."

By the time the Skywalkers and Solos found the two, Cem was holding a newborn baby girl in his arms. When questioned, he said that he had cut the umbilical cord with a pocketknife. Beside him laid Tahiri, passed out from exhaustion and blood loss. They all knew that it was very important to get both Tahiri and the baby to a medcenter as soon as possible.

Picking up his foster daughter, Luke carried the girl the entire way back to the base. It was early the next morning before she awoke.

Glancing around, Tahiri noted that she was in a medical ward, although she couldn't quite remember why. She stirred slightly in bed, which woke Mara who was sleeping in a chair next to her.

Calling out quietly to the others in the room, Mara said, "Hey, she's awake."

Leia walked over to join her sister-in-law. "Good morning, sweetie. You gave us all a terrible scare. The doctor said that you had lost so much blood that you could have died. And I don't know what any of us would have done without you. You gave me my first grandchild."

Han placed his hand on his wife's shoulder. "Yeah, you did a great job, kid."

Rising from her chair, Mara said, "And speaking of kids, would you like to meet yours?"

At that moment Luke walked in holding a little baby girl wrapped in a blanket. Handing her to Tahiri, he said, "There. Now how does that make you feel?"

Tahiri was completely in awe of the little baby she held in her arms. This was her baby. Hers and Anakins. She had created this beautiful little girl.

"What is her name?"

That caught Tahiri a little off guard. She had forgotten about that part. Thinking for a moment, she said "Menley. It was my mother's name."

"It's beautiful. Now Tahiri, not too long ago you had said that you didn't want to keep the baby. Do you still feel the same way?"

"How could I give away something so beautiful? No, I want to keep her if that's alright."

"Of course its alright. After all the trouble you went through having her, I would be disappointed if you didn't want to."

Tahiri brushed her fingers over Menley's skin. It was the first moment since Anakin's death that she had felt truly happy. Anakin…If only he could have been here.

But unknown to all of those in the room, Anakin was there. He had been watching over Tahiri the entire time; making sure nothing happened to her and his girl. His girls. He let his presence brush gently against hers, telling her that he was there. That he always would be.

The events of the previous night had gone on while Jaina and Jag were completely unaware of them. They had fallen asleep in each others arms not long after arriving in Jaina's room, but when she woke up the next morning he was gone.

She was about to go look for him when she received a call on her commlink. Jaina answered it and realized that it was her mother calling her for some reason.

"Jaina, you need to get down to the medcenter."

"Why, is someone hurt?"

"Oh, no. Tahiri just had her baby."

"What! I'll be right there." All thoughts of looking for Jag were now gone.

By the time Jaina arrived, a very refreshed looking Cem and a much happier Wyn were already there. Everyone took turns holding the baby and giving their congratulations to her ecstatic mother.

It was around an hour later when Jag finally arrived. Huffing and puffing, he looked like he had ran the entire way there. "Sorry I'm late you guys, but there was something I needed to do."

Walking over to Jaina, he got down on one knee. Out of his pocket he pulled a small jewelry box. "Jaina Solo, will you marry me?"

Shocked, Jaina didn't know what to say. "Where did you get that?"

"I picked it up while we were still on Csillia. I was looking for the right time to ask you, and I guess now is it. But you can say no if you don't want to…"

The whole room was silent, at least until Tahiri called out, "Come on, Jaina. Cut the guy some slack and tell him you love him."

Pulling Jag up off of the floor, Jaina cried, "Of course I'll marry you!"

The two exchanged a kiss that would make even Han Solo blush before Jag slipped the engagement ring on her finger. "I love you Jaina."

"I love you too."

And the whole room cheered.

Chapter 29

Tahiri was still in the med ward a few days after the birth of her daughter because of her heavy blood loss. She had had many visitors, but so far the one person she really needed to talk to had yet to come see her alone.

But when she woke up from a mid-afternoon nap, she found that the man she was looking for was sitting in her room waiting for her. Still a little groggy, she managed, "Cem, hey."

Hearing that she was now awake, Cem sat forward in his chair some. "Hi. I'm sorry if I startled you, but I thought that I needed to come see you and find out how you were doing."

"I'm pretty good. Thanks to you. I mean, if it wasn't for you, Menley and I may have not been here today. You saved our lives."

Blushing a little, he replied, "Oh, no. It was nothing. But the main reason I came here today was to apologize to you."

"Apologize? For what?"

"For the way I've been treating you this whole time. I never

had any sort of disrespect for you, I just wasn't real sure of how to act around a beautiful, spunky girl like yourself. I'm really sorry."

To be completely honest, this was not what Tahiri had expected. She had gotten so used to Cem's full of himself, obnoxious attitude that she didn't even know he had it in him to open up to her and say he had been a jerk. Completely taken by surprise, Tahiri said, "It's ok, I forgive you. Just don't act like that anymore. I like this Cem a lot better than the old one. Friends?"

"Friends."

Over the next couple of nights, Jaina had a lot of trouble sleeping. She was plagued with nightmares about her brother Jacen and she would wake up every morning in a cold sweat with an odd feeling like something wasn't right. Although she knew her mind was just playing tricks on her, she could have sworn that she was able to feel his presence, as if he was moving towards her. Crazy.

But after a while, the feelings became stronger. Jaina didn't want to get her hopes up, but she knew something was different. Jacen was coming back to her.

Darkness. Pain. Loneliness. These were what Jacen had known over the past seven months. He had been in the hands of the Vong for what had seemed like an eternity, and now with Vergere's help, he was free. But he wasn't the same old Jacen any more. The goofy, animal-loving teenager was gone, and in his place was a new man; a changed man. There was no way that someone could have gone through what he had for these last few months and not change.

But none of that mattered anymore. He was going home, or at least to wherever his temporary home would be this time around since the Vong had destroyed both Coruscaunt and Yavin Four; his only true homes. And more importantly, he was going back to his family. Mom, Dad, Jaina. Tenel Ka…these last seven months of torture and emptiness had left Jacen with plenty of time to think about her and how stupid he had been to not tell her from the moment he had met her that he loved her.

But those days were over. He now knew how fragile life could be, and he was not going to waste any more time. Not with Tenel Ka, not with anything.

If only he had had the chance to make everything right with Anakin. They had spent most of their last two years together fighting over the littlest things, all of which now seemd so insignificant. But from here on out, Jacen decided, he would always be loyal to his brother's memory. And he would soon fulfill Anakin's last request.

All became clear not only to Jaina but also to the other Jedi on the base when Jacen's ship docked. Many of them had strangely felt his presence for the last couple of days but had refused to get their hopes up.

But now, here they were. The Solos, Skywalkers, Tahiri Veila holding her newborn baby, and several other Jedi who were stationed on the base were standing at the docking bay, witnessing a miracle. Before their very eyes, Jacen Solo disembarked his ship and stared at his small welcoming committee.

He was almost unable to believe his eyes. Standing before him was his friends and family. After a moment of still silence, he dropped his things and went running full speed toward them; overjoyed at their presence.

Both Han and Leia were about to break down in front of the entourage. Neither had felt such blessed joy in their entire lives. Their boy had come back to them. Nobody quite knew how or why, but he had, and it was the greatest feeling a parent could experience.

The Skywalkers stood off to the side for a moment, giving Han and Leia the first chance at Jacen. But they too soon joined them, expressing their joy at having him back.

Jacen was beginning to feel overwhelmed by his greeting. All of these people that he had resigned himself to never being able to see again were now with him, and he didn't quite know what to do. Cry, laugh, it was a mystery to him.

After finally separating himself from his parents, he walked over to Jaina, the last person in line to greet him. Before she even knew what hit her, he had picked her up off the floor and threw her over his shoulder, spinning around. He was whole again.

But his joy was slightly dampered when he noticed that Tenel Ka was not among the group. Looking around quickly to make sure he hadn't just missed her, his heart dropped when he realized she was not there.

Sensing his disappointment, Jaina spoke up, "She isn't here. I'll explain everything later."

"Let me get this straight. You were married to Isolder. But then you two got a divorce because you had a thing for Jag Fel? And now Tenel Ka is the new Queen Mother."

Sighing, Jaina realized how complicated the last few months had been, "Pretty much. Oh, and by the way, it's not just a thing between Jag and me anymore; we're engaged."

Jacen was shocked. "Engaged! But he's so…serious."

Getting defensive, Jaina said, "Not around me he isn't. Besides, you can't help who you love."

"Uh huh. And what is it that I've been hearing about Tahiri? That she just had a baby?"
"Oh, how could I forget? Tahiri just gave birth to your niece a few days ago. Menley. She is just beautiful, and she looks a lot like Anakin." The two paused for a moment.

"Hey Jaina, what do you think I should do about Tenel Ka?"

"I think you should go see her on Hapes. She may be the Queen Mother now, but she is still the same person. You need to tell her how you feel; I'm sure it's mutual."

"Yeah, I hope so." But he sounded slightly less than convinced.

Alright, so Jacen is back (yay!) and Tahiri had her baby. In the next post (which I will hopefully have up by Monday): Jacen fulfills his promise to Anakin, and some J/Tk mush! Oh yeah, please review ;)