DreamingIce- Thanks for the review! And Valin and Syal, I do love that pairing, 'tis cute. Glad you like it.

chimpo- Yes, she did screw everything up nicely! ;)

Chapter 20

Luke Skywalker was seated on the cold stone floor of his bedroom inside the new Jedi academy on Naboo. He was lost in meditation; deep within the inner circles of his mind. He could feel the Force flowing all around him. It was like oxygen; he could never get enough and it was vital to his survival.

But in the midst of the flowing energy surrounding him, Luke suddenly felt overwhelmed by darkness. Anger, hate, betrayal. These feelings rushed through him, causing him to stir from his trance-like state.

Coming back into the present, Luke was left with an image. His nephew, Jacen, swallowed in darkness. He knew that Jacen was the source of the negative flow of feelings that had just swept through him. And Luke knew that Jacen, his former apprentice, his nephew; had given into his heritage. He had let the Dark in.

Luke glanced up as the door to his bedroom opened. Mara walked in with Landon in her arms. She had a cool expression on her face and Luke knew that she had felt it too. "Something's happened."

"I know. To be completely honest, Jacen has had me worried for a while. Ever since he got back from his captivity with the Vong he has felt slightly unstable. It won't take much to swing him."

"I think something already has."

Mara walked over to Luke and placed her hands on his shoulders. "Jacen is strong. He can fight whatever he is going through right now. We need to have faith in him though."

"You're right," he said, taking his small daughter into his arms. He gave her a kiss on her tiny forehead before standing up to kiss her mother on the lips. "I love you, Jade."

"I know Farmboy," she said, a smile crossing her face. "In fact maybe we should put little miss Skywalker down for her nap and then you can show me just how much you love me."

Luke was wrapping his arms around his wife and preparing something clever to say back to her when they heard a soft knock on their front door.

Mara let out a small growl of frustration before she walked out of her bedroom to open the front door. Glancing into the hallway, she was surprised to see that their visitor was little Jysella Horn.

The little girl was standing at their door, her dark curly hair framing her face and her big brown eyes staring up at Mara. "Master Skywalker, may I come in for a minute?" she asked politely.

By this time, Luke had joined the two females standing in his doorway. "Hello Jysella. Of course you can come in."

The dark hared girl followed her masters into their small living room and plopped down on their couch in between them.

"What can we do for you today Jysella?" Mara asked while trying to sound as kind and reassuring as she could. She could tell that the girl was busy eyeing Landon, who was now asleep in her father's arms.

"Can I hold her?" Jysella asked, her eyes flashing from Luke's to Mara's and back again.

"Sure," Luke said with a smile on his face. He carefully positioned the girls arms and instructed her on how to properly hold the baby.

Once Landon was carefully settled into her arms, Jysella decided it was time to discuss what she had come there about. "Masters, I wanted to ask you something very important."

A look of amusement passed between Luke and Mara over the girl's head. "Go on," Luke prompted.

"Well, I was outside watching Tahiri and my brother spar this morning when Jaina Solo walked up."

"Uh huh," Mara said, not understanding where the question was in this.

"She started talking to Tahiri and then all of a sudden she got sick. When my brother asked if she was all right, she said she was pregnant."

This caught Luke and Mara's attention. They knew that Jaina and Jag had been trying to get pregnant for a while now with no success.

"And I was wondering- how can I get pregnant?"

Luke nearly choked when he heard this. "What do you mean, sweetie?"

"I mean I want to have a baby too. How do I do this?"

Mara was shooting her husband a look of pure panic when she said, "Jysella, honey, I think this is something you should discuss with your mom and dad."

"Well, I thought about that, but they haven't had a baby in a really long time. You guys on the other hand just had one." She indicated the sleeping little girl in her arms. "How can I have one?"

Luke was already at work on finding a way out of this situation. Unfortunately, he couldn't think of anything. "Um, you can't have a baby yet Jysella."

"Why not?"

"Because you don't have a husband," Mara chimed in.

"Do I really have to have a husband first? Boys are kind of icky."

"Yes they are," Mara said while she patted the girls head and shot an amused look towards Luke. "And no, you don't have to have a husband before you have a baby, but it is better to so that you have someone to help you take care of the baby."

"Tahiri doesn't have a husband."

"I know that, and she has had a difficult time taking care of Menley alone. But Luke and I help her out some."

"I'm sure my mommy and daddy would help me out too if I had a baby."

Luke began to look uncomfortable again. "Yes, I'm sure they would, but you really have to be older to have a baby."

"How old?"

"Very old."

"Like you guys?"

Annoyance shot across Mara's face again. "Yes, Jysella. Like us."

"Oh. Well thanks for trying to help me anyway," Jysella said as she handed Landon to her mother. "I'm gonna go tell my mom that when I get old like her I will have a baby."

"Okay, you do that," Mara said with a grin as she escorted the girl out. Once the door was securely closed, she let out a laugh. "Children."

Luke was still seated on the couch in the living room, pondering something Jysella had said. "Do you think Leia knows that Jaina's pregnant?"

"I don't know. I would think that she would be running around and shouting it to the world by now, but you never know."

"Maybe I should call her." Luke stood up and walked to the comm station. He placed a call into his sister's apartment that was accepted by Han.

"Hey, kid," he cried. "How is everything going?"

"Pretty good Han," Luke said, "but I just got done having a rather interesting conversation with Jysella Horn. Is Leia around?"

There was a pause as Han went off to locate his pregnant wife. Once she was there, Luke continued, "It seems that Jysella overheard Jaina tell Tahiri that she was pregnant. Had she told you already?"

"No," Leia said, shock in her voice. "They had been trying for awhile, but the last I heard she still wasn't." A smile began to grow on her face. "That's great news. We'll be pregnant together! That's so exciting. You know what, I should hold a baby shower for her. It could be a surprise. In fact, I might just throw one together this afternoon. You two should come."

Luke and Mara could hear the excitement in Leia's voice. "Sure, we'll be there. And we won't say anything to Jaina."

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