A/N: My sincerest thanks, one last time, to all the people who have been reading this story and took their time to let me know what they thought. Each single one of your reviews meant a lot to me. Special thanks to Trickfortreat, greenmulberry and Neila Nuruodo for sticking with me until here! Greenmulberry - thank you. You seem to feel about Star Wars in a similar way I do, too, and I'm glad you were enjoying the story. I think I only read little SW fan fiction precisely because of what you pointed out. All the happier I am if you thought my story and style fitting.

This is the last chapter.

epilogue - and come by the high way home

The door to the Grand Master's quarters in the Temple of Ossus opened with a hiss when Jaina approached, leaving no doubt as to the fact that she was being expected.

Jaina remembered Uncle Luke's quarters in the Temple of Yavin: small and cramped, but surprisingly neat. (Why surprising? He was her mother's twin, after all.) How often had they snuck inside to ambush the leader of the rising New Order, and how often had he let himself be ambushed? Oh the games they had played, Anakin, Jacen, Luke and she. When the Temple had moved to Ossus Mara had insisted on larger rooms and Luke had conceded. The quarters were spacious and bright, with large transpari glass windows that allowed a view over the green Academy grounds of the Temple of Ossus. In the shade of a massive three, a group of Padawans were training forms under the critical eyes of Master Sebatyne.

The door hissed closed again behind Jaina and she stopped abruptly in surprise: The chair behind the desk was empty, Uncle Luke not in sight. Instead, Mara Jade Skywalker smiled up at her former student from the sofa to the right hand side, a bright light in the Force. The red-haired woman had always felt like a beacon to Jaina. She had presented everything Jaina had wanted to be, not least because she seemed to be the opposite of Jaina's own mother. Leia Organa Solo was too calm when Jaina wanted to scream, smiled when Jaina's face puckered in disgust. She threaded lightly when Jaina wanted to stomp, turned when Jaina wanted to barrel on. Mara was impatient, and unrelenting, and didn't care much about what people said about her. At least, that was what Jaina had always thought. But she had seen her mother act in a way Jaina would have judged was out of character for her, and she had seen Mara yield to causes. So she had watched, carefully, and had reached the conclusion – over the years – that Mara and Leia were quite similar when it came to some things. And Jaina was proud to say that she had inherited – and learned – some of the best traits her mother and her teacher, respectively, displayed. Mara's husband was beside her, a warm, familiar, welcoming glow that felt like home and safety and love.

Luke Skywalker was curled up on the couch – and fast asleep.

Mara lifted her finger to her lips and smiled at Jaina in greeting. She looked thin and frail and a part of Jaina was struck speechless in horror at how the wonderful, strong woman she had known had changed. She was fragile now, and paler than she'd ever been. There were shadows under her eyes, and in them, but they were as vibrantly green as the sea. Mara sensed Jaina's distress and a shadow passed over her face, but her Force presence didn't darken. She gestured towards something instead and Jaina needed a second – and a loving but insistent Force-push against her own mind – to process what her aunt wanted to tell her. There was a hover chair parked just in reach of the sofa she was reclining on. Jaina moved through the room and pushed it closer, the electronic whirring painfully loud in the quiet room. Unsure what to do next, she paused, but Mara waved her closer, her eyes resigned. You know what has to be done. So she bridged the last step between them and lifted Mara from the sofa carefully, trying not to disturb the peacefully sleeping Grand Master, and settled her into the moving chair. With a whispered thanks and a loving glance at Luke, Mara moved towards the door of the adjacent room, and Jaina followed her.

"Jaina."

In the open kitchen that merged into a simply furnished, comfortable living room, Jaina took another second to look at her aunt again. She did look different – there was a certain bitterness in her Jaina couldn't deny. It was normal, she supposed. Mara herself would suffer most under the restrictions placed upon herself by her own body. The former Emperor's Hand had loathed being impeded by her own physical limitations and had always fought to overcome them. Mara read her correctly and, as was her nature, forestalled all questions. She'd always hated being pitied.

"I know. I really hate the fact that there is stuff I just cannot do anymore. Let's face it, though: it could have been worse."

Jaina had nothing to say to that. She'd always known being confined by anything was the one thing Mara dreaded most. She'd always been moving, always shifting, so alive- But there was a strange sense of peace in her now, too, one Jaina didn't completely grasp.

"Enough of that. Welcome back, Student mine, it is so good to see you again!" Holding out her arms, she frowned. "Are you going to give me a hug? I'm not going to break, you know."

Chuckling, Jaina complied and leaned down. "You look…" She settled for the absolute truth. "Better. Much better. I am so glad to see you again. How are you? How have things been going?"

"Oh, you know." Mara waved her hand in a non-committal gesture. "The same old. Masters trying to discuss themselves to death instead of acting. The Galactic Alliance trying to re-establish itself. Nataasi Daala – you heard of her? – tried to run for election and was shot down. Good riddance, I'd say. There's this young man – he's not even a politician, he was part of Daala's election campaign team – who discovered some Moffs were plotting to use Pellaeon's temporal weakness and to take over the Empire and the Alliance together with Daala. They even had some GA senators working for them. He became famous overnight, and now the senators are pressing him to run for the election. He didn't seem happy, but he's a good man. In the meantime, we've been dealing with the fallout of‑" she stopped, closed her eyes, took a deep breath and continued on. "Luke sent most of the Knights out to search for traces of the Sith colony Jacen mentioned. Oh, and the Empire has requested another conference, but I'm sure your mother has told you everything. What about you, Jaina? Alema Rar is dead, Luke felt it. Everything went well, I hope?"

She had never been able to hide things from her former Master: Mara knew her too well. It also went the other way round. Jaina had noticed how Mara had carefully skipped herself and her own health in favor of things that were of more importance to the galaxy but that worried Jaina little in comparison to the well-being of her aunt. But now, Mara's questioning glance was focused on her.

Jaina felt the still-unfamiliar smile tug at the corners of her mouth. "More or less."

Mara's brows wandered up into her hairline. "What happened? Why are you smiling like that? You met someone or what?"

She didn't answer. She didn't have to.

"You did? Sithing Hell, Jaina Solo, this was supposed to be a covert operation, not a blind date. Luke even sent the bounty hunter for backup-" She stopped, putting one and one together. "Fel, huh? I should have known it. Force, you are blushing. Wait till your parents arrive, they're due in two days' time. Of course they ditched everything and everyone once you commed in to meet you here… Sit down, I'm getting a kink in my neck looking up at you."

Jaina carefully lowered herself onto a chair opposite to her aunt.

Mara settled into business mode. "Let's do the official debriefing first, then you can tell me about Flyboy. I hope you don't mind that I didn't wake Luke. He hasn't been getting enough sleep lately."

Of course she didn't.

Mara listened carefully and concentrated, only interrupting her now and then to ask for details. Jaina found herself reliving her journey: from the dirty streets of Mos Eisley to the silent and cold desert nights, through the Jundland Wastes, the attack on the caravan and the krayt dragon until the discovery of the Dark Side nexus in the ruins of the village in the Valley of Spirits.

"So Alema Rar was drawn in by the Dark Side there," Mara concluded. "But she didn't survive the encounter. You said she was smiling?"

Jaina still couldn't make anything of it. "Yes. And happily. It was Alema Rar, not the crazy woman that attacked Mom and Dad."

"Sounds like she saw something," Mara said, gazing off into the distance. "Certainly a better way to die than alone and abandoned. And a Dark Side nexus… Luke never said anything about one being on Tatooine. And from what he told me Obi-Wan Kenobi had been living close to the Wastes for a long time, too. Did he know about it, I wonder?"

Jaina had wondered, too. "Valia – the Force-sensitive desert runner who guided us – said something about not seeing something when being too close to it. To me, it sounded like she was implying Uncle Luke knew about it. Or, at least, had something to do with it."

Mara shook her head. "Maybe Tionne can find something in the Archives on Coruscant if you give her the location of the ruins," she suggested. "It seems like there's nothing else we can do about that mystery right now. Oh, and maybe describe the Force apparition to her – it was a Force apparition, wasn't it?"

Jaina had debated whether she was supposed to tell her aunt about the ghost and then had done so. She'd just left out the feeling of familiarity she had sensed then. "I'm pretty sure. He looked quite young, too, but what's that to say in a Force apparition?"

Mara nodded sagely. "True. The nexus is closed now?"

"Yes." Jaina frowned a bit. "It felt a bit like it was trying to keep me away, you know? Like it deliberately wanted me to turn around."

"It also tried to kill you," her former teacher said, her voice sharper than before. "Don't delude yourself, Jaina. It was darkness. If it tried to send you away it was because it feared it wouldn't survive an encounter with you."

"Probably." Sighting, Jaina looked at her hands. "I don't know. It felt… Familiar, somehow. The desert, I mean. It was…" Searching for the right words, she floundered. "… Peaceful, I guess. Like a part of me recognized it although I'd never been there before. I think… I could have stayed there."

When Mara didn't answer, she looked up. Her former Master was looking at her with a gaze that held equal parts of fondness and exasperation. "What is it with Skywalkers and the desert? Heat and sun and sand everywhere are very low on my personal list of potential home planets. Luke thinks someone hung the moon over Tatooine."

Jaina snickered. "Or, three moons."

Mara threw her head back and laughed out loud. "That's what he told me when I said the same to him," she said, smiling fondly. "You are just…" She stopped, and Jaina was glad for it. One second later, and she almost wished her aunt had continued with her prior topic.

"So. Fel," the Jedi Master said, a mischievous grin appearing on her face. "I want to hear all the details."

Jaina felt her face heat up again. "It's nothing like that."

"That's what they always say." Mara's gaze was mocking and yet gentle. "But it could be something?"

"Again?" Unable to sit any second longer, Jaina stood and walked to the window. The view of the Campus was a different one from the kitchen. The flowers Tekli had planted along with medicinal herbs in a small garden stood in full bloom, colorful and bright. "It didn't work out the last time. I don't think I want to wait until all comes down around me again."

"That bad, huh." Mara's voice was laced with understanding. "That's what they usually do to us. Where is he now?"

Jaina felt like laughing and crying at the same time. "On his way here. He said he had to talk to Uncle Luke."

"Maybe I should greet him personally…" Mara sounded dangerously wistful.

Jaina looked up, alarmed by the tone. "Don't you dare do anything-"

"Me?" Her aunt's smile was angelic. This woman, Jaina didn't have to remind herself, had been the Emperor's Hand. The one woman that had been able to make Luke Skywalker settle down. "How could you even think-"

"I know you," Jaina shot back. "And if anyone's nearly as snoopy and overprotective as my parents, it's you."

Mara laughed. "Thank you."

"Not a compliment."

The two women smiled at each other. Jaina walked back to the sofa and sat down next to her aunt. Closing her eyes, she let the calm and serenity of the apartment rush over her, bathing in the comforting presence of her aunt and uncle. After some time though, Mara shifted. When Jaina opened her eyes again she saw another look on her aunt's face, something only one person- "Someone's awake," Mara said.

The door hissed open only seconds later and Luke entered. His face was glowing with a smile. "Jaina."

She jumped off the sofa and hugged him, hard. His arms came up around her protectively.

"I'm glad you're back, Jay," he whispered into her hair and let go of her again. Only now Jaina had the time to look at him closely, as well: he'd lost weight. There were possibly more lines around his eyes and silver streaks in his hair, and there was a note of tiredness in his Force aura, like he had stretched himself thin for too long and only now was beginning to relax again. But his presence was familiar and welcoming, his smile was warm, and his eyes of the same, icy blue she remembered them-

Blue. Familiar. The puzzle pieces in her mind came together, one by one. That smile-

Tatooine.

Well, damn her. She should have realized it far earlier.

"Jaina?" Mara regarded her, a worried expression on her face, and Jaina realized she had spaced out for a few heart beats. "Are you alright?"

"I think so," she said, honestly.

Why didn't you tell me, Uncle Luke?

His gaze was concerned now, as if he wasn't sure what to expect from her. But he didn't seem surprised. It was his Jedi Master glance, as Ani had called it once, "the one when you can see he wants to hear something from you but you have honestly no idea what…"

It was a test, whispered through her mind. Uncle Luke's lips tightened fractionally and Jaina knew she had been right. What had he been testing? Her integrity? Her ability to endure? Her mental strength? Hadn't she proven often enough that she was capable-

No. It hadn't been that kind of a test. Uncle Luke hadn't wanted to test Jaina on anything. She had needed to test herself – and she had done so. She had found something. She'd gone through hell and back and had emerged shaken. She had needed this journey – this trip to the heart of the desert and the heart of darkness – to find the light within herself again. Uncle Luke hadn't been able to help her there – except that he had. Somehow.

Did you find your answer?

When Luke felt understanding dawn in his niece, he smiled. Jaina smiled back with a surge of affection that encompassed both him and Mara.

"Well, I'm back," she said.

The warmth of her uncle's and aunt's combined senses enveloped her completely.

"I can't remember having agreed to that," Han Solo complained, loudly. His voice was partly swallowed by the cable shaft he was currently working in – and yet, enough of it echoed through the Falcon to reach anyone who was bothering to listen.

"You don't? How strange. I remember very distinctly you said you'd like to visit Tatooine again, as long as there were enough magazines in your blaster."

"I didn't," he protested. "Oww! Damn these switches – I said I wouldn't go back there even if two banthas and a hutt dragged me out and through Mos Eisley."

Leia Organa Solo had had years of time to finely hone the secret power of adding a subtle undercurrent to her tone that made people actually see her frown without seeing her face. This was her you're-behaving-ridiculously-childish-for-a-man-of-your-age-voice. "And I told you to never say never, because the day would come we would have to go there one more time."

"I see no reason why I should return to that Force-forsaken hellhole of a desert planet that wasn't even able to serve me a decent drink the last time I walked into a Cantina…"

"The last time we were there to walk into something you did so literally. You were blind."

"Not the point, really, Princess-"

Jaina listened to her parents bantering and suppressed a smile. Leia was updating the ship's communication software, Han was fixing some minor trouble in a cable duct and Jaina was working on the hydraulics of the ramp that had been malfunctioning here and there but which they never had bothered to actually replace since it worked once it had been kicked and cursed thoroughly. Jaina had wanted it fixed now, though. The work relaxed her. The hangar around the Millenium Falcon was pretty much empty except for a few stray mechanics on their lunch break, a droid and some of Ossus' native birds that had curiously ventured through the open hangar doors. At the very end of the spacious hall, a blinking light signaled the arrival of another ship. It was as if nothing had happened at all. As if the Jedi had always lived on Ossus, calmly and in peace.

Routine came back so quickly. Jaina had slept almost a day after her first arrival, and then meditated for another. On her third day back, she had met Zekk in the morning for some sparring. She had taught a class – Tionne had been busy, so Jaina had filled in for her. Usually, she felt nervous when she had to stand in for another teacher. Today, however, she'd almost enjoyed the task. It was invigorating, working with children, seeing and hearing and acknowledging their brightness and their astounding intelligence when it came to things adults thought they'd never understand. Still, Jaina wasn't a teacher at heart. She left that to Tahiri, Tionne, Kam and the other Masters and didn't feel sad about it. Uncle Luke had smiled and had told her to enjoy the time she could spend at the Academy however she felt like, and Jaina hadn't complained. Her parents had arrived forty-six hours after she had set down her StealthX in Ossus' hangar bay and they had a family dinner with Aunt Mara, Uncle Luke, Tenel Ka, Allana and Tahiri. They'd eaten a lot, talked even more. Jaina had enjoyed being surrounded by the people she loved once again in a way she'd never imagined possible. She'd gone on a walk with her father, and had helped her mother clean the kitchen area after dinner. Sometimes they had talked, sometimes not. And slowly, slowly, almost too slow to notice and, at the same time, too fast to be real, Jaina was getting used to it again: to having a normal day, with normal tasks and normal worries.

It felt strange.

Jaina had run for such a long time she had forgotten how to stop and take a deep breath, and she had to learn to look at the world at normal pace again.

It was different. It was scary, too, terrifying in a way she could never have imagined. As if something had been missing, something essential, something she had lost long ago but had been unable to pinpoint until she actually stopped and thought about it. And now it wasn't back, but at least she knew what she had lost, and she could accept it. It was… relieving, in a strange, not unwelcome way, albeit the pain the memories still caused. Chewie, roaring merrily and bouncing them on his knees while they pulled at his fur. Dad, so much younger, promising Jaina she would fly the Falcon one day but that this certainly isn't today, young Lady! Mom in a beautiful dress, smiling at them: You look beautiful, Mom! –You are beautiful to me every day, my twins. Anakin, asleep in the gardens, tired of a long day, and Jaina watched him and felt her heart spill over: she wanted to protect him, now and forever. And Jacen. Jacen, her twin, her other half, smiling so vividly in her mind. Their Force bond might have broken, but he still was her twin. He would always be a part of her, even if he was light years away.

She would go to Yuuzhan'Tarr, she vowed.

The hydraulics whirred and gave an ear-splitting shriek as she hit the closing button. Jaina jumped backward in surprise and hit her head on another open duct. Seeing stars, she rubbed the newly emerging bump on the back of her head and cursed.

"You alright, Jaina?" Leia called from the cockpit.

"WD-40?" Her father offered wearily, from somewhere deep inside the innards of the Falcon. Jaina heard her mother laugh, her father mumble something in reply.

It was so good, hearing them joke and laugh together.

Walking over to her tool box, Jaina grabbed the spray can and perused it on the new hydraulic system. The next time she entered the command, the ramp lowered almost noiselessly. Satisfied, she threw spray can and screwdriver back into the box and wiped her hands on her overall. In the distance, the hangar doors opened and light spilled into the hall like waves onto the shore. The familiar roar of a ship's hyperdrive going into landing mode was heard and a sleek ship swooped into the hangar. It was battered and yet beautiful, much like the Falcon.

"You were the one who dragged me there," Han Solo accused his wife, sounding wounded. They had found another topic of conversation, Jaina had no idea how it had started. "I'd never have set a foot onto Dathomir if it hadn't been for that stupid Isolder."

"Nobody asked you to follow me," his wife shot back. "You could have gone and made a fortune with smuggling."

There was the dull thump of feet hitting the ground and a few more steps, moving towards the cockpit.

"Yeah, I gave up on being rich and settled on being with you." There was a short pause, and then a small laugh.

"Oh, Han."

Jaina could picture her parents: standing in the middle of the cockpit, their arms around each other. Locking out the world, lost in their own: like always. She had never resented it. Leia Organa Solo and Han Solo always had shared their love with their children, even in the hardest of times. But she couldn't bring it over herself to disturb them now, so she stayed where she was. The air smelled like engine oil, welding sparks, green grass and peace. Outside the hangar doors the sun was beginning to set, silver and red and golden against the backdrop of the blue sky.

Tomorrow, she would take Mara out into the gardens.

The ship on the other side of the hangar powered down its drive. Jaina watched from the corner of her eyes as the hatch opened and a lean, tall person dropped down to the ground without using the ladder. She had known he was close from the moment he had orbited – maybe earlier? And she found that all the time she should have had in order to prepare for this had been in vain. He recognized her even from the distance of the large hangar bay, or maybe he felt her, too. Pausing in his step, he seemed to consider something. Then he adjusted his path and came towards her. When he crossed a last beam of sunlight that fell into the hangar, the white strip in his otherwise dark hair shone.

Jaina couldn't hear anything else over the deafening beat of her own heart.

Jagged Fel walked very straight, his face set. He was clad in a black flight suit and black boots; his beskar'gam discarded for once. His emotions were calm except for a tightly-controlled something she didn't dare to touch. Suddenly Jaina was very aware of the fact that she stood there, leaning against the hydraulics of the Falcon's ramp, wearing a dirty and old work overall of which the upper part fell down over her hips and whose arms were knotted behind her back in order to stay out of her way. The top she was wearing was stained by oil and engine grease, as well. She resisted the urge to cross her arms over her chest defensively.

It was fitting, she thought. Here she was: a small, insignificant figure against the looming backdrop of the old, loyal Millenium Falcon. A woman standing in the hangar bay of what was her home because her parents, her family and her friends lived there, too. A woman living in a place that reminded her of all the places she had been in with her brothers, a place that reminded her of her brothers and her losses even more. And still, she would choose to stay. Not because of duty and loyalty, or, at least, not exclusively because of those values. But because she had run and lost and sacrificed, and in the end she had realized she'd always had known where to look for what she had so desperately been searching for. She still had her parents, her aunt, uncle and nephew, she had Tenel Ka and Allana and Tahiri and Tekli and all the others. And she had Jag. The greatest miracle ever: to find something one had thought lost forever. Suddenly, everything was clear.

On my way home to you I've made every possible mistake.

In the hangar bay of the headquarters of the Jedi Order, the Temple on Ossus, Jaina Solo felt the thread of Jagged Fel's consciousness touch hers. Warm, familiar. She wanted to run down the ramp and throw herself into his arms, wanted to feel them around her and never let go. She wanted– A glimpse of something: herself, standing at the ramp, her hair loose, her clothes stained, and yet beautiful. Beloved. She needed a moment to process – and understand – that the feeling he was sending her was love.

It took her breath away.

Jag stopped at the foot of the Falcon's ramp. When he looked at her, his eyes were bright.

"Solo." Jay.

Her name danced in her mind. A caress, soft as a feather and full of something she had thought she would never have again. Jaina couldn't help herself: she smiled.

"Fel."

Let's do it better this time.

The End

Twin Suns, a star wars fan fiction by fiesa.

Thank you for reading.

Misc. Information

The Dune Sea, the Valley of the Spirits and the Jundland Wastes are actual places (well, as much as possible) on Tatooine.

"The Jundland Wastes are not to be travelled lightly" is a quote from Obi-Wan from "A New Hope".

"come by the high way home" is a line from the poem "Reluctance" by R. Frost.

Krayt dragons do exist, though I might have taken a few liberties with their character and description.

The caravan master Salim A'hayun's first name is borrowed from a male main character in the Temple Knight trilogy by W. Hohlbein.

I'd already written the part of the story playing in the Jundland Wastes. Then I read a fan fiction, looked them up in Wookiepedia and re-wrote the entire paragraph in order to suit the canyon landscape.

Yes, the Force apparition was supposed to be Anakin Skywalker.

I moved the Academy to Ossus earlier than it would have moved had I kept to the original time line. This is only insofar relevant as to when Luke takes the younglings to Ossus to protect them from Abeloth, the planet's flora and fauna hadn't really recovered from the shockwave the explosion of the Cron Cluster had caused which had destroyed the planet's ecosphere completely. Since this story is AU, it went this way: the terraforming that would have taken place on Ossus either way in the future occurred sooner in "Twin Suns", so the Jedi could inhabit a living world when they came there to break cleanly with the GA after Jacen's fall.

Before Valia left her speeder at the abandoned farm at Orion City (which, by the way, is completely my invention), she extricated the ignition plug.

The chapter title(s) (fragments) "Wasteland" and "Living Things" are references to a song/an album by Linkin Park. Unintended, but fitting.

I love the idea of Saba teaching younglings how to move in a fight, comparing it to a hunt. I bet the kids had fun.

In my head canon here, Tenel Ka abdicated the throne and came to live on Ossus with Allana. Tahiri didn't follow Jacen and became a teacher at the Academy, Alema Rar did most of the work Jacen had Tahiri do in the original story line. Poor Ben didn't get mentioned a lot in here. Currently, he's leading the search for the Sith planet Jacen discovered on his travels and threatened to use against the Jedi. Perhaps that way, a lot of the events around Abeloth and the Keshiri can be avoided. (I wouldn't mind if the entire Vestara affair would be skipped that way.) And obviously, I refused to let Mara die. She was one of the best things that ever happened to Luke (and the extended universe) and I hopehopehope she'll be featured in the new movies.

Obviously, Luke isn't forced into exile, since Daala never became president of the Alliance.

Engineer's problem-solving flow chart. If it moves but shouldn't: fix it with panzer tape (special kind of duct tape which is said to fixate everything). If it doesn't move but should: fix it with WD-40.