In a large room aboard the Shikkar's Edge that had been converted to a sparring ring to whatever it had previously been, Ben and Vestara dueled hard for a solid five minutes under the watchful gaze of several other Tyros, Sith Sabers, and even Grand Lord Vol himself. And by the end of those five minutes exactly, as sweat slicked both Ben and Ves' bodies, the former ended it when he abruptly dropped to his haunches and swiped his opponent's legs out from under her with his left one. She landed hard on her back, and she had no chance to deflect his crimson training blade as its tip was suddenly levelled to her face.

A few seconds later, a single set of claps rang out from from Grand Lord Vol before his applause was followed quickly by the other observers. Only when Vol stopped clapping did everyone else cease.

"Well done, young Skywalker," Vol said as Ben and Ves' blades deactivated. As the boy helped the girl up to her feet, the Grand Lord continued with, "I am truly impressed. Though that winning move is quite a basic one, you executed it flawlessly, and the fact that you had used it so suddenly after simply relying on pure lightsaber combat is quite... Sith-like, I must say." Vol looked at Ves much less favorably then. "Still, I would expect better from a Tyro who had spent much more time among the Sith." He turned away and regarded the audience. "Dismissed!"

As everyone began filing out, Ben and Ves joined the crowd and she asked him, "So, you wanna do lunch?"

Ben looked at her quizzically. "You're not mad that I beat you?"

"Should I be?" she asked coyly.

He shrugged. "I would think you'd be mad that the Grand Lord thought you were... less-than-perfect back there."

She mirrored his shrug. "It's standard around here. Loser always gets at least a mild scolding from a Sith Saber. Or a High Lord. Or even the Grand Lord himself."

Ben's eyebrows lifted as they entered the corridor leading away from the sparring room. "I'm surprised you're not as vindictive as I expected."

"Why, because I'm a Sith?" Ves asked.

"Well... yeah," Ben answered warily.

Ves' expression remained blank for a few seconds before she burst out into a light chuckle. "Oh, Ben. Not all us Sith are as mean as the Jedi would lead you to believe. I would think the Grand Lord would've told you that in his little heart-to-heart with you."

"Still," Ben said, "my experience with Sith before the Lost Tribe hasn't exactly been... all that great."

Now Ves' expression narrowed into one of sympathy; again, uncharacteristic for a Sith. "I talked to the Sith Meditation Sphere, Ship, not long after we got here. He told me everything that happened to you. What your cousin did; what you went through on Ziost."

"I don't wanna talk about it," Ben said as he looked forward and away from Ves.

"I understand, you know," Ves said seriously.

He stopped in his tracks and looked at her. "Do you now?"

"Yes, I do," she said firmly. "I lost my mom on Kesh when the Jedi and their Galactic Alliance invaded. And that was thanks to Darth Judicar, or Jaina Solo as you once knew her. I was betrayed by her, too. I was the first member of the Lost Tribe to be taken offworld by her; she helped me become a better Sith than I could've been by teaching me how to kill. And with her help, we built up this fleet of ships, and in so short a time, too! Weeks, it took! After five thousand years of being stranded on that planet, my people were able to amass a fleet from ships we took from pirates and other people in weeks!"

"But in the end," Ben spoke up, "Judicar wanted to save her skin, so she ratted you and your people out."

Ves nodded as sadness deepened her eyes. "So, yeah. I know how you feel, Ben. But I wanna let you know, we're not like Judicar or Lumiya. We won't rat each other out, and we wouldn't use you to get back at the Jedi. We only want you to become one of us. To hell with what the Jedi think! They can all burn for all we care!"

Ben stared at her silently for a moment before he nodded and said, "Then, yeah. I'll have lunch with you, Ves."

The sadness lifted from Ves' expression as a soft happiness replaced it.

"But, first," Ben said, "I gotta take a shower. I'll meet you in the galley in half an hour."

"Great, I'll see ya," Ves replied.

They turned and went their separate ways.

. . .

The nearest refresher from the Solo Quest II's cockpit was off to one side of the threshold that bridged the cockpit and the passenger compartment. Thus, any time Jaina had to use the 'fresher since the Quest departed Shedu Maad for the Maw, she would always have to avert her gaze from her Uncle Luke, who was seated in one of the front starboard seats. That, of course, became much more difficult to pull off naturally whenever she had to visit the galley for a cup of caf or something to eat. But so far, in the few days of travel with the Jedi convoy to Sinkhole Station, Jaina had successfully avoided direct contact with Luke.

That was until he finally spoke her name when she was on her way to the galley once they were about a day away from Sinkhole.

She froze in place, her left side facing him directly, and it was about several seconds before she finally mustered up the courage to look at him and ask, "Yes, Master Skywalker?"

"Sit down," he responded curtly; his eyes remained forward at the bulkhead next to the cockpit.

With only a couple seconds' worth of hesitation, Jaina sat herself down in one of the port seats. Then Luke looked at her.

All of the weariness in his eyes and face that Jaina had seen back on Shedu Maad, after she returned with her pregnancy, was gone. Now in its place was a restrained but unmistakable rage and Jaina felt herself withering under that glare.

"So," he said, "you're now in a position to understand the pain that you had caused me."

Once again, the fear that Jaina experienced on Shedu Maad—the paranoia that led her to believe that her uncle would do anything to her unborn child as revenge for what she did to Mara aboard the Errant Venture—returned. She didn't know what to say in response.

"Make no mistake," Luke continued with that undercurrent of anger clear in his otherwise even tone, "I meant what I said. Your child shouldn't have to suffer for your crimes. But you know as well as I do that this changes nothing; at best, it'll only delay what's coming to you."

Jaina swallowed and replied with a humble, "I know."

"Do you now?" Luke asked as he regarded her with a tilt of his head. A small but tangible moment of tension permeated the silence between them as he gazed into her regretful eyes before he said, "Yes. Yes, you do." Then he turned back to stare ahead at the bulkhead.

"Is... is that all, Master Skywalker?" Jaina asked.

"It is."

Jaina's lips thinned. A part of her wanted to apologize for killing Mara and kidnapping Ben so that he would undergo his torment on Ziost, but she knew that would only make things worse for Luke; she could feel it. He wasn't expecting an apology from her and he didn't want one from her because there was nothing she could say or do that could make what she did better between them. And Jaina knew that if she stayed around in this seat any longer, she risked incurring her uncle's wrath.

Still, despite what she knew and felt, she also felt like she had to say something anyway.

"I wish I could take it all back," she said somberly. "I wish I could've been a better Jedi. I wish I could've put my emotions under much better control. But I didn't; I failed. And because of that failure, because I let my id dictate my actions, many people got hurt. Many people died. I know I can't expect your forgiveness, Uncle Luke-"

"Don't call me that," he interrupted.

Yet another moment of tense silence passed between them before Jaina continued with, "I know I can't expect your forgiveness, Master Skywalker. But I just wanted to let you know that I'm willing to pay whatever price there is to make things... well, if not right, then at least... atoned, for lack of a better word."

Luke scoffed; it was an uncharacteristically cynical thing for him to do, Jaina thought. "We both know that's not true. You'd fight to protect your child; we both know that."

Jaina winced. "Well... anything but my child," she admitted softly.

Now Luke gave a bitter, sardonic grin. "Who would've thought that all it would've taken to give you back your humanity was just to have you impregnated?" He shook his head in disappointment. "If it weren't for that, you'd still be that monster that was kowtowed by a beating by your own brother. What does that say about you, Jaina?"

"I don't know, Master Skywalker," she replied as tears started to form in her eyes. "What do you think it says about me?"

"It tells me you haven't truly changed," Luke said. "Not deep down anyway. Darth Judicar might be gone, but the Jaina Solo who became Judicar is still there, buried beneath all the hormones and the maternal instinct that's sprung up in you." His voice raised slightly as he said, "Deep down, you're still the same selfish and narcissistic harpy whose dark tendencies toward violence were used by the Dark Nest to manipulate your mind into doing their bidding. And even after you were freed of that influence, you allowed your own heartbreak for what Jagged Fel became under the Chiss Ascendancy to lead you further down the path of the dark side. And as a result of that, your judgment was so overcome by your anger that you killed a Jedi Master in cold blood because she had wounded your friend, even after that Master was blinded by an attack you gave!

"I would blame myself for everything you did since I was the one who sent you on that mission to find Tahiri and the others; I was the one who gave you the chance and I should've known better, what with how reckless you've been since you were a teenager! How you loved to be a starfighter pilot more than a Jedi during the Yuuzhan Vong War, I should've seen it! Of course that kind of life would attract a dark sider! But I didn't make you do any of what you did since Hlest; that is all on you! That. Is. All. On You. So if you honestly think that you can ever truly be redeemed, you have another thing coming, Jaina Solo!"

At the end of that rant, Jaina had turned away from Luke and began sobbing silently as her head was bowed forward to her legs. But in the midst of her crying, she knew for a fact that her uncle was glaring unsympathetic daggers at her.

"What's going on here?" Jacen asked as soon as he stepped through the threshold from the cockpit.

Jaina still sobbed with her eyes spilling tears to the deck; that just left Luke to regard his nephew with an iron glare. Jacen, in turn, regarded his uncle warily.

They stared at each other like that for several seconds, Jaina's quiet sobbing the only thing that filled the silence between them, before Luke stood up and headed to the galley. Only after his uncle was gone did Jacen head to his sister's side to place a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me," she said as she elbowed him away; she still didn't look at him. After a little more sobbing, Jaina said, "He's right. He's absolutely right. About everything."

Jacen winced as he stepped away. A part of him wanted to just return to the cockpit and sulk privately to himself.

But another part of him, the one that won out, headed to the galley. There, he saw Luke seated at one of the tables but with his back facing the doorway.

"I'm not interested in speaking, Jacen," Luke said without looking at his nephew.

"Quite frankly, I don't care if you are, Uncle Luke," Jacen countered defiantly.

"I told you before," Luke said as he stood up and fully faced the Jedi Knight, "it's Master Skywalker."

"Not right now, it isn't."

Anger scrunched Luke's face. "You are out of line, Jedi Solo."

"Oh, so what?!" Jacen said as he waved his arms out of either side mockingly. "If you get to be out of line back there, then so can I!"

"You think I was out of line?!" Luke countered incredulously.

"Yes, I do," Jacen answered emphatically, "and we both know it."

"Your judgment is clouded because that's your sister," Luke pointed out more aggressively than he intended.

"What, and your judgment isn't clouded either?"

"Don't you dare go there."

"Why not? The whole issue is hanging over all our heads, so we might as well get it out now!"

"Get out of this room right now, Jacen."

"No, I won't."

"Leave now, Jacen," Luke growled.

"It's my ship, you can't tell me what to do here, Uncle Luke."

"Jacen, if you don't leave right now-"

"I heard everything you said to Jaina just now! I heard what you said about how you don't really blame yourself for everything that's happened, but we both know that's a lie! Yes, everything Jaina did is on her, but you feel it, don't you? You feel the guilt eating away at you for what happened to Mara-"

At that, Jacen was cut off from saying anymore before he was telekinetically lifted off his feet by a powerful invisible grip around his torso and pinned to the bulkhead above the galley's exit. Soon after, his limbs were also pinned in place, and Jacen couldn't help but feel a slight pressure around his throat, too.

And he knew it was all coming from Luke.

Just as spots started to form in his vision, Jacen heard Jaina scream, "Stop it!" before her violet-bladed lightsaber sprang to life in her hand. She rushed across the galley, prompting Luke to release his hold on Jacen and allow him to collapse prone to the deck. Meanwhile, Luke had unhooked his lightsaber from his belt and activated in one smooth motion to deflect Jaina's blade.

The two of them traded blows for several seconds before Luke quickly dropped to his haunches and swipe-kicked Jaina's feet out from under her. She landed hard on her back and was so stunned that she wouldn't have been able to block Luke's next two-handed strike before Jacen's own blade intercepted his.

A split second later, Luke backhanded his nephew across the face with his mechanical hand, sending him stumbling back across the galley.

And only then did he realize, as his expression dropped to one of instant regret, of what he had done. He first looked down at Jaina, who regarded him fearfully but made no move to strike at him. Then he looked over at Jacen, who gave a disgusted glare at his uncle.

This time, the silence between the three of them was broken by the hum of their lightsabers; and Luke was the first to deactivate his. He then walked past Jaina's downed form, past Jacen, and returned to the passenger compartment where he retook his seat.

And then he started to sob.