It was the day before the school break that Jinn had asked his mother about. Thrawn kept hearing the boys voice in his head and seeing Sarabeth's anxious but resigned look. Looking out at the jump lines around the ship he left the bridge and headed down to his quarters, it was almost time for the communication.
There was a new picture on his desk, of a three year old Jinn with his mother kneeling behind him and both smiling at the camera with a mountain view behind them. It was the only vacation they had ever been on and that was because Darth Vader had insisted they accompany him to Naboo so he could keep an eye on them. It was when Sarabeth was still in shock that she had been allowed to keep Jinn as they beamed at the camera.
Never would Thrawn admit that he looked forward to communications with them more than he had with anything in his life. Maybe Thrass was right, and he came by caring for others later in his life rather than when the others in his year did. Something that the careful pile of communications paid testament to, as well as the camera that he would use to record the different fighting styles with. How much Thrass would have loved this, and part of him wished he could tell his older brother about it.
Thrass had disappeared helping him avoid a war. Thrawn knew he was dead, and wished he could have been given the funeral proper for a warrior. Strange how these thoughts came now when they hardly bothered him before, and he looked to the picture of the Wings again. Before he could start to analyze himself the new batch of communications came and among them was a personal message for him. Before he met Sarabeth and Jinn he didn't know there was such a thing as a personal message.
Pressing the proper buttons to start it, he sat back in his chair. Jinn appeared on the screen jumping up and down in the living room of the Wings apartment, "Uncle Thrawn! Guess what happened!"
Sarabeth's voice came from the kitchen, "Jinn, this is a recording. Why don't you just tell him?" He could hear the love and joy in her voice. As well as amusement for her son's actions.
Jinn beamed and burst out, "We're allowed to go to Bothnia with Le'nea and her family for the break!" He had started dancing with excitement, "We are also getting a Storm Trooper escort for our safety!" The boys face lost some of the excitement as he whispered, "Lord Vader wanted us to take some Inquisitors along, but Cornel Yularan convinced them it wasn't necessary. His agent will be enough when we get there."
Sarabeth appeared by him, "But we won't even notice the Agent with how much fun we'll have Jinn." Kneeling beside the boy, "With all the food to try and the places to see, I don't know if we'll have time to do it all."
This did the trick and the boy clapped his hands, "It will be great Mama!" Jinn went on to tell Thrawn all of the things that they were going to do, and when he finished he said he hoped to see his Uncle Thrawn soon.
"Why don't you start packing Jinn, I'll be there to help you in a minute." Sarabeth said at the end of it.
The boy nodded, "Okay Mama." Then ran off, there was the sound of a door closing in the background.
Sitting down Sarabeth looked at the camera and through it to Thrawn, "I know you orchestrated this, don't even try to deny it." The brilliant smile broke through her attempt at severity, "Thank you for this. There is so much we aren't allowed to do and I wish you didn't have to use Cornel Yularan to set it up," realizing she was starting to ramble she stopped herself. Trying again, "Thank you Thrawn, and I also hope we'll see you soon." With a gentle smile, "Be careful out there, until the next transmission."
Thrawn couldn't help his answering smile as he tuned off his computer. Yes, he would see them soon. In the meantime, let them enjoy themselves.