I'm back from my vacation today and I have another post for everyone! Yay! Anyways, here is ch. 36 for your reading enjoyment ;).

Chapter 36

As Jacen gradually began to wake the next morning, he kept thinking about a crazy dream that he had had the night before. In his dream, Danni Quee had invited him to come stay the night with her and he accepted. Just the thought of it blew his mind.

But as Jacen rolled over in bed to stretch, his hand landed on a shock of curly hair. Oh, no he thought as he pealed his eyes open. And just as he feared, there lay Danni beneath the thin sheet.

She began to stir a bit and eventually opened her eyes. "Good morning."

Still not completely believing that the woman laying naked in the bed next to him was real, Jacen could only manage a weak, "Yeah."

This caused Danni to let out a small giggle. "Everything okay there, Jacen?"

"Of course, it's just I can't believe I'm actually here. With you."

Danni laughed again. "Don't act so innocent. There is no way that last night was your first time."

"Well, not exactly. But still, I don't have much, almost no, experience in that area. And you were amazing."

"Thanks," she said with a hint of a blush rising in her cheeks. "I'm just glad to see you smile again. But shouldn't you be getting back? They've probably been wondering where you were."

"Yeah, I should," he said a little reluctantly. Jacen climbed out of Danni's bed and began to pull his clothes back on. How was he going to explain this to his parents, or worse, to Jaina? "I'll see you later." But before he walked out the door, Danni had gotten out of bed as well with the sheet draped precariously around her and grabbed his arm. Stepping close, she kissed him, and then backed away.

As Jacen left Danni's room he couldn't help feeling guilty. He knew that last night wasn't about love. It was about grief, and pain, and lust. But he had enjoyed himself. In fact, it was the first time he had been truly happy since Tenel Ka told him that she would not marry him. Still, something wasn't quite right.

Once Jacen reached his parents place, he tried to open up the front door as quietly as possible in hope that he would be able to sneak into his room without anyone noticing he was gone. But he only made it as far as the couch before his sister began to stir.

When she opened her eyes, Jaina glared at her brother. "Jacen, where have you been? I stayed over here all night waiting for you to come back, and you never did!"

"Sorry Jay. I walked Danni home last night."

"And it took you eight hours to get back?"

"Not exactly. She kind of invited me to stay there with her."

"I sincerely hope you slept on the couch."

"Once again, not exactly."

Amazed at her twin brother's apparent stupidity, Jaina practically yelled, "Then where did you sleep?"

A guilty blush spreading up his face, Jacen said, "In her bed."

"Jacen, how could you be so stupid? I thought you wanted to get Tenel Ka back."

"I do-"

"Well, sleeping with another woman isn't the best way of going about at achieving that goal!"

"I know, Jaina. It's just she looked so beautiful when she was standing there in her doorway, and I've kind of had a crush on her for years now. Plus, Tenel Ka told me no! What am I supposed to do? Resort to a life of solitude and self-pity like Uncle Luke once did?"

"No, but having a one night stand isn't going to get you anywhere either."

"Who said it was a one night stand? I think she might actually like me!"

Jaina looked doubtful. "Maybe." Standing up from her seat on the couch, she began to gather up some of her things. "Look Jacen, I don't have time to argue with you about this. Kyp just arrived back on planet from a mission that Uncle Luke sent him on and I have to go find him and take him to a debriefing we have this morning. But we'll discuss this some more later."

By the time Jaina made her way down to the hangar, Kyp was on his way out, also looking for her. The two met up in the hallway and exchanged a quick and friendly hug. They had become pretty close over the past year; ever since he lied to her about the Yuuzhan Vong world ship she unknowingly helped to destroy.

Which was why she found it hard to tell him what she was about to. Jaina hadn't been completely honest when she told Jacen that she had to go find Kyp to bring him to a debriefing. While that was true, she also wanted a moment alone with him to tell him the good news about her and Jag. The only problem was she didn't know exactly how he would respond.

Kyp liked Jag, but Jaina wasn't sure if he would be happy about her getting married to him. But still, she felt guilty already about not telling him sooner. True, he had been gone on a mission, but she still could have called him and told him the good news.

Pulling away a bit, Kyp, with a concerned look on his face, asked, "What's wrong?"

Forcing a smile on her face, Jaina replied, "Nothing's wrong. In fact, I have something to tell you."

"And what would that be, Goddess?"

"I'm getting married!"

"Again? And who is the poor unlucky guy this time?"

Jaina swatted him hard with the back of her hand. "Yes, again. But this time for real. I'm marrying Jag Fel."

A look of surprise and shock crossed Kyp's face. "You are? I mean, I realized you kind of had a thing for the guy, but I didn't know it was that serious." After a moment he realized there was something he forgot to tell her. "Congratulations, I guess."

"Wow, don't sound so excited," she said sarcastically. "But thanks anyways. I know it's kind of sudden, but we love each other and don't want to wait."

"What does your dad think about all of this?"

"He came around eventually. Jag is a really nice guy once

you get to know him."

"Yeah, I know. I'm just giving you a hard time. I really am happy for you, though. It's nice to know that someone will get to have a little peace in their life in the middle of this god-awful war."

Hugging him against her again, she said, "Thanks Kyp. I needed that."

"Anytime."

Tahiri was exhausted. Last night after dinner at the Solo's she had tried to put Menley to bed like usual, but for whatever reason, the girl refused to go to sleep. Tahiri had tried everything she could think of, but nothing made the infant stop crying. Even Luke and Mara gave it a shot before Tahiri told them to go ahead on to bed while she stayed up with the baby.

So here she was, at lunchtime, having only gotten no more than five minutes of sleep. Being a mom is tough. After her third cup of caf, Tahiri decided she would fix the midday meal for the Skywalkers that day in order to help keep herself awake. Amazingly, over the last few months when she had been staying with them, Tahiri had learned to cook without catching everything on fire. It took a while, but after eating a couple of Mara's meals, Tahiri decided that she definitely needed to learn to cook if she wasn't planning on starving to death.

The food was nearly done when both Luke and Mara Skywalker walked through their door. "Tahiri, that smells delicious," Luke commented.

"Thanks. I've been trying to keep myself awake. I don't know if I can handle another night like last night. How do you do it?"

"Do what," Mara asked while picking up a cooling piece of meat.

"Make them go to sleep?"

"You can't. Not really. But she will soon; she has to be

exhausted."

"Yeah, I am too."

As he finished setting the table, Luke turned to Tahiri. "While we are on the subject, there is something that Mara and I need to talk to you about."

Tahiri settled down in a chair across the table from the Jedi Master before replying, "Okay. What is it?"

"Tahiri, Luke and I are going to Shelter in a few days to visit Ben."

"That's nice, but what does it have to do with me?"

Luke spoke up, "We want to take Menley there with us."

"What!"

"I know it's hard, but it's for the best. You can't keep her in danger here. And besides, you're not really ready for the pressures of motherhood. You need to try and enjoy the rest of your childhood while you still can. She will be in good hands there, I promise."

"But how can I just let her go like that?"

"It's not forever. Only until this war is over. I'm sorry, but I don't know what other options you have."

Tahiri was about to cry. Give up her daughter? While the thought sounded rather appealing several hours ago when Menley wouldn't stop screaming, she knew she could never do that. But keeping her here meant that her daughter was in constant danger. "Alright," she said in a small voice. "I would do anything for my daughter; even if it means letting her go."

Only four more posts to go and I'm going to try and have chapter 37 up by Tuesday. Have a good week everyone!