CHAPTER SIX

The halls of the main Jedi residential level thankfully were devoid of activity as Jaina hurried through their lengths. As it stood she was late, and there wasn't time to say a cursory welcome let alone socialize – not that she wanted to wish a good morning to anyone. Hers certainly hadn't started out well. She had found waking up extremely difficult, a lingering effect of Facsren's longer daily rotation. Only Cappie's insistent chirping had alerted her to the early morning comm – the one concerning her current appointment, which she just might make. Rounding the final turn, she exhaled in relief. This hall led to one lone apartment, and it was her destination.

Trotting the last couple of steps, Jaina drew her feet together before the door. She checked her wristchrono quickly – barely a minute to spare – then brushed a hand down to smooth her tunic. Her appearance really shouldn't have mattered for this visit, but subconsciously it did. Luke and Mara were her uncle and aunt – family was family – but they were also her superiors – and goals were goals. After the war, Jaina had identified a distinct set of priorities, the list she needed to accomplish before she settled down. Earning a seat on the Jedi Council was her loftiest ambition, and she needed to impress the Jedi Masters Skywalker if that was going to happen any time soon. Besides, once there she would be able to set her own priorities, stay in one place, and protect and raise her family from a real home.

Satisfied her appearance met specs, Jaina reached out and triggered the door chime. The door opened immediately, and a bundle of flailing legs and arms sprinted through the portal with a welcoming cry.

"Jaya!"

She would have made a move to greet her enthusiastic cousin except for the binding grip that engulfed her legs. "Hey, Bennie," she said while ruffling the mop of sandy-red hair nestled into her legs.

Ben tilted his face upward, never relenting on his hold. His blue eyes danced in impish delight, only to be followed by a grin deserving of a rogue. It was the fact that the grin stood out in such striking contrast to the dark smears all over his fair skin that caused Jaina's joy to turn to instant dismay.

"Ben Skywalker, what have you gotten into?!"

"Da motimouse got away!"

"It did? Did you catch it?" Apparently the wrong twin had stopped by for a visit. While Jacen would have relished scurrying around to find a wayward critter, the thought had no appeal to Jaina whatsoever.

"Uh-huh."

"Oh good," Jaina said with a little smile. No critter chasing today.

With one arm Ben partially released his crushing hold on Jaina and extended his hand upward. His fingers uncurled to reveal a quaking motimouse. "You wanna see? I found him in da -"

"Beh-en," Jaina moaned. She reached down in an attempt to wrest the tiny pair of arms from around her legs. Managing to free one, she groaned at her discovery. Sure enough, her pants were now as dirty as her cousin. "What…oh…blaster bolts! Where have you been?!"

"Ben Skywalker!" The bellow of Mara's voice caused both Jaina and Ben to jump. The boy ended with his back pressed to Jaina's legs. One hand clutched the material of her pants, the other squeezed the motimouse so hard it squeaked.

The sight of Mara marching into the front room with a bedraggled plant wilting in her grasp, trailing a path of dirt clumps behind her, made Ben draw back even further. Instinctively Jaina placed a reassuring palm on his shoulder. She had been on the receiving end of Mara's wrath enough times to sympathize.

"Ben Skywalker, what happened to my Drangorian roses?" Mara shook the uprooted plant to emphasize her question, and a few more clods of dirt fell to the floor.

"I…I…" Ben stammered.

"Well?"

"I lost Snuggles," the boy said quickly, holding out his hand to reveal the motimouse.

"And you found him in my garden," his mother finished with a frown. The unfortunate rose plant thumped unceremoniously at her feet.

"Uh-huh." Ben answered despite his mother's exacting glare, but a second later he spun to bury his face into Jaina's legs and began to cry.

Without giving thought to her actions Jaina scooped the blubbering child into her arms. She kissed the top of his head and smoothed away the hair in his eyes. Only then did she notice Mara's pose, complete with an uncompromising glare and fists propped on her hips. Looking into her aunt's green eyes, Jaina instantly recognized her mistake. She grinned sheepishly.

"Hey, Ben," Jaina whispered. "Maybe you should say you're sorry and give your mom a big hug." He shook his head defiantly. "Ah, come on. Your mom's a big softie…It always worked for me."

Ben wrinkled his brow. "It did?"

"Yep. Give it a try?"

He mulled it over for a couple of heartbeats. "Kay."

"Okay." Jaina set Ben back down, then sent him on his way. After a quick look down, she blew her bangs in dismay at the damage wrought to her once pristine tunic.

In the meantime the five-year-old toddled across the floor to his mother with the motimouse clasped to his chest. When he arrived, Ben lifted his pensive gaze and blinked away a tear. "Sorry, Mama."

Mara's hands left her hips, one going to her chest, the other wrapping her waist. It was heart-wrenching to watch a mother's love wrestle with the disciplinarian inside. In the end, Mara's rational self won out. "Don't do it again, young man."

"But Snuggles –"

"No." Mara held up a finger. "Next time ask for Mama's help before you go rooting around in the flowers."

Ben's head drooped in acceptance. "Kay."

Mara chucked her son on the cheek. "Go put away Snuggles and get cleaned up."

The boy nodded before shuffling from the room. He barely made it a few steps down the hall, though, when Luke's voice greeted his son. "Hey kiddo. What happened to you? You're a mess!"

Ben's response was muffled.

"I bet she was," Luke's disembodied voice said. "Go do what you were told and hurry back. Breakfast is almost ready."

The pattering of feet disappeared into the apartment just as Jaina's uncle appeared from the hallway. Luke paused once he realized Jaina was standing in the room. "Hi, Jaina…Oh, wow. Looks like you're a mess too."

"Serves her right," Mara muttered.

Jaina shot her aunt a perturbed upturned eyebrow, then turned back to her uncle. She held out her arms, partially in disgust, partially in embarrassment over the current state of her clothes. "I guess I am."

"You can borrow some clothes from Mara and change before we sit down for breakfast," Luke said.

"Breakfast? I thought you called me over to brief me on my next assignment?"

"I did. But we hardly get to spend any time together as a family these days, with you running all over the galaxy and our time tied up with one thing after another at the Council." Luke crossed to Mara and wrapped an arm around his wife. "We thought breakfast would be a good enough excuse to get you to hang around for more than the usual five minutes it takes you to absorb a mission briefing."

As if on cue the smell of eggs and bacon reached her nose, and Jaina's stomach grumbled audibly. "Can't argue with my stomach, especially if the food is going to be as poor at my next destination as it was on Facsren."

Mara and Luke exchanged a knowing look.

"Where's the Council sending me? It can't be worse, can it? Please say it isn't."

"No, I don't think so." Luke released his wife and walked over to Jaina. "In fact, I think this assignment will agree with you…and your stomach."

Jaina crossed her arms and cocked her head. "So?"

Without a word, Luke reached out and guided Jaina around by the shoulders until she faced the hall. "Don't you want to change? We can discuss this all after breakfast."

Jaina dug in her feet and remained rooted in place.

Mara sighed. "Just tell her, farmboy. You know she won't budge until you do."

"Very well. The condensed version for now?" he suggested.

"Fine," Jaina agreed.

"I need a team of top pilots to bolster the military presence backing up some sensitive diplomatic talks between two systems in the Outer Rim."

At the word pilots Jaina's interest piqued. "Why Jedi? Why not simply send Rogues or the Aces?"

"It's never as simple as that," Mara said.

No, it never is, Jaina thought.

Luke tipped his head in agreement with his wife. "As you know, resources are still spread very thin, so the Galactic Alliance doesn't have a lot of available units, and shifting manpower causes ripple effects throughout the galaxy. But most importantly, in this case the political situation is a little sticky –"

"Sticky?" Time for the Jedi. We always make a good fall guy when things go sour. Better yet, Jaina Solo makes a great fall gal.

Luke paced across the room, his hands clasped behind his back. "One of the systems I question remained neutral during the war, and the other sided with the Galactic Alliance. The second system, for all intents and purposes, is in the wrong this time and –"

"And the bureaucratic stick-in-the-muds don't want to appear to side against our friends," Jaina finished.

Luke grinned. "Exactly."

At that moment a thought hit Jaina right between the eyes. "Hey, wait a minute. These systems wouldn't happen to be Vikova and Achebi, would they?"

Luke's grin grew even wider. "Your boyfriend has got you up to speed already."

Mara rubbed her hands together. "Great, then we can go eat."

Jaina pursed her lips. Things were happening much too fast for her liking. And it seemed that people in her life were conspiring against her. She didn't like it. Not one bit. Jaina ignored her aunt. "Not really, Uncle Luke…At least not in the telling-your-girlfriend-you-were-scheming-to-get-her-to-come-for-a-visit-any-way-you-can sort of way."

"Oh, this wasn't Jag's idea."

Jaina snorted. "Right. And I'm a Hutt."

"Honestly," Luke said with all seriousness, and Jaina detected no deception in her uncle's reply. "Jag and I did talk yesterday, but he only requested that I pursue options within the Council because the Alliance commanders' hands are tied. Actually, if you're going to accuse anyone of scheming, it should be your brother."

"My brother?!" Jaina blinked. "No wait. I believe you. Jag would never think a dozen hotshot pilots could make a difference to a couple of feuding systems."

Luke coughed. "…quite a dozen."

Jaina couldn't have heard him right. "What's that?"

Mara chuckled. "Oh, you heard him correctly, all right. Your uncle said, Not quite a dozen."

Jaina shot her uncle an incredulous stare. "How many?"

"Six," he said.

"Six!" Jaina decided her uncle had gone insane, or suddenly had reverted to the naïve farmboy who had left Tatooine with her father over twenty years before.

Mara tiptoed over to where Jaina fumed and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. "At least there's this…your uncle is going to let you handpick the Jedi team."

"Good," Jaina snapped. "Then my meddling brother's got himself a new assignment."

"Why don't we get you cleaned up and discuss the specifics on a full stomach," Mara suggested.

Jaina shot her aunt the not-you-too look, but her former Master was unimpressed.

Mara merely tipped her head in the direction of the hall. "Come on. I'm getting hungry."

This time it was Jaina's turn to sigh. "All right. You win."

Mara's gaze shifted to Luke; their eyes conversed silently. Then she smiled warmly at Jaina. "It's not about winning, Jaina…" Her aunt stopped the lecture short. The corner of Jaina's mouth curled in appreciation, and the two women started to walk.

They strolled comfortably the short distance down the hall before turning into the master suite. Once there, the two women parted. Jaina paced uncomfortably around the open floor while Mara rifled through her closet. "What's the long face for, Jaina?"

"I'm trying to figure out how I'm going to say no."

Mara's head shot back out of the closet. "To your uncle?"

"No. To Jag." Mara's quizzical gaze prompted Jaina to elaborate. "He commed last night – after I got back – and asked me to go home to Csilla with him after this mission. And meet his parents."

Mara had disappeared into the closet at some point during the explanation. Jaina paused, expecting a response. She got none, only the sound of clothes rustling.

"Once I'm out there, it will be hard to explain why it's not a good time to go to the Unknown Regions."

Mara emerged suddenly with a familiar dark green tunic and matching pants Jaina had seen her aunt wear many times before. "These should serve your purpose."

"Thanks." Jaina stepped forward to accept the clothes, then continued on to the refresher. Although she preferred the privacy to change, she left the door open hoping her aunt might…

"So why wouldn't you want to go?"

Jaina paused halfway out of her stained pants. "Umm…because." She sidled the rest of the way free, and reached for the clean pair. "Because I don't have time to spare for a vacation. There are still important things left to be done. And because I don't want to give Jag the wrong impression." Jaina had finished fastening the pants and ripped off her tunic. "He might think I am ready for more before I truly am." She yanked the clean tunic over her head and stepped out of the refresher. "Besides, the timing is just all wrong."

Mara looked up from where she had propped a hip on the bed and taken up folding a basket of Ben's tiny clothes. "Seems like you've made up your mind, then."

Jaina furrowed her brow. "That's it?"

Mara rolled together a pair of socks and placed them in a neat pile on the bed. "That's it. There's not much more I can offer if you've already thought this through."

"But you think I'm wrong?" Jaina knew the answer to the question, but she asked it anyway.

Placing her fingertips together, Mara sat quietly for several slow breaths. Finally, she looked up. "No. I think I was wrong." Jaina started to ask about what when her aunt continued. "For years I charged through life - and ignored the greatest gift offered to me - simply to prove something to…myself. I had an agenda, a plan…a goal. Somewhere in the course of my life I decided that self-reliance was the only way to self-worth. I was so utterly wrong."

"I know, though, that when I was your age, no one could have told me otherwise. I was so certain that I was always right. There was always something important left to be done, another crisis to be averted. And I avoided your uncle because I didn't want to give him the wrong impression –"

"But your circumstances were so different." Jaina stepped across the room and settled on the bed to take Mara's hands in her own. "You were afraid to love and to be loved. It's not like that with me and Jag."

"It's not?"

"No. Jag knows how much he means to me. But I've got my plan. We talked about it on Zonama Sekot and agreed this was right, for both of us. Even back then he understood why I couldn't go to Csilla. At least not yet."

Mara tightened her grip on Jaina's fingers. "Of course. You and Jag are both intelligent, thoughtful people, who know what's best for your situation. I guess silly sentimental me just wants to see everyone married and happy like I am."

Both women laughed at the idea. When the giggling finally stopped, Mara donned her Jedi Master mask one last time. "Can I just ask you one question?"

"Of course. Anything."

"How does it make you feel to know your parents approve of and respect Jag?"

"Happy." The answer was out before Jaina could even think about it. Finally Mara had made her point, and Jaina saw where she had gone all wrong. "It makes me really, really happy."

Jag deserved no less.