Part 2

"Wake up," Kay'leb murmured, poking his sister with his walking stick. "Come on, sis, if you don't get out of that bed soon, people are going to think Luke traded his wife in for a Hutt…"

"Go away, Kay," Aubé groaned, pulling the covers over her head. "If you're just here to give me – "

"Now now, Aubé…" Kay'leb cut her off with another poke of the walking stick. "That's not a nice thing to say! You don't want your son to hear things like that!"

"Kay'leb Canaille, I am so warning you…"

"Or you'll what?" Kay'leb pressed. "Try to hit me with a blaster shot? Dear sister, I'm as blind as a moon bat, and probably have better aim than you do these days!"

Aubé rolled over to face her erstwhile tormenter, snapping brown eyes meeting sightless white. "Kay, I know what you're trying to do, and honestly I don't give a mynock's acid dropping! Healer or no, blind or not, I can still – and will – kick your tail into the Rishi Maze if you don't shut up!"

"You couldn't hit the light side of a planet with a Star Cruiser, you've gone so soft!" Kay'leb mocked, although he noticeably took a few steps back. "Come on, then!"

Now Aubé was angry – too angry to feel her brother's gentle examination through the Force as he made sure that although she was emotionally riled up, that physically she and her unborn son were fine – and with great effort she pushed herself into a sitting position on the side of the bed. "Shouldn't you be making yourself useful with Leia?" She grumbled. "Luke said they would be taking her to the Healer's center soon..."

Kay'leb closed his eyes in the momentary truce, and once again reached into the Force. "They don't need me just yet," he replied softly. "You, however…"

"Is something wrong?" Her eyes widened, fear now taking the place of anger. "Kay – my baby – "

"Is fine," Kay'leb finished for her. "But you, dear sister, need a swift kick in the bloodstripes."

Aubé's eyes narrowed. "What in the Seven Hells do you mean?"

Carefully, Kay'leb made his way to the bed and sat down next to his sister. "You know perfectly well what I mean, Bé," he said with sudden gentleness. "You've been in a pretty low place – too low for even Luke and Pem to pull you out of – ever since Pappa died… and before."

"Luke understands…" Aubé muttered under her breath, but it was a lie and they both knew it.

Kay'leb placed a rough arm around his sister's diminished waist. "Not everything, dear sister," he corrected her gently. "You never told him about… you know…"

"That I asked you about ending the first pregnancy, when I first found out?" Aubé said bitterly, wiping away the tears glistening in her eyes. "That I was more afraid then I am now? Of course not…"

"And why not?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "I guess in part because it's in the past, and I can't change that…."

"And?" Kay'leb let the question hang there, knowing that Aubé would answer only if she was ready.

After a long pause, she did. "I thought he would hate me for it," she said at last. "I didn't think he would… understand."

"Like Pappa…"

"He was so angry," Aubé sighed. "I mean, furious… at least at first."

"And then he cried, do you remember that, Aubé?" Kay'leb murmured, pulling her close. "He wouldn't tell us why, just asked you to go think about it for a few days, and to remember that either choice was irreversible… it was the only time I actually remember mother being angry with him, at least in front of us."

"She told me to go meditate on it. That it was my choice, ultimately… I went to the old fort by the sea, and just… listened." Aubé lay her head onto her brother's shoulder. "I never knew that four years later I would be mourning my son there…"

"And you've never stopped…" Kay'leb finished for her, kissing her cheek with infinite tenderness. "Bé, you need to let him go…"

"And act like he never existed?" Aubé said sharply, pulling away from her brother. "Kay'leb! How could you say such a thing?"

"Of course not, you silly grasser," Kay'leb soothed, pulling her close once again. "But dear sweet Aubé, even Luke will tell you that you need to learn to let go… for his sake, for their sake…"

"I don't know how to, Kay." Aubé sighed, "And I don't…"

"Walk with me, sis," Kay'leb said at once. "We've got time before Luke's sister will need me…"

"But what about Luke?" said Aubé. "He'll be worried – well, more than he is now – we should at least leave word."

"I'll com him while you get dressed," Kay'leb replied with a wink. "Unless you want me to walk you through the streets of Coruscant wearing only your good intentions?"

A smack, much gentler than the one she had wanted to give him only a short time before. "Go on – I'll be ready in a few minutes – I want to wash first."

Kay'leb smiled, and taking his walking stick in hand, made his way to the bedroom door where he paused. "Bé ?" He called. "Be sure to wear something extra nice…."

A loud banging woke Han up.

"General Solo, General Solo!" The worried voice of See-Threepio called. The droid had learned the hard way that he should never trespass into their masters' sanctuary without express consent from them after narrowly avoiding a blaster shot from a certain irate Corellian in the early days of their marriage.

"What's up, Goldenrod?"

"It's Mistress Leia, General, she's behaving in the most unusual..."

Another loud banging interrupted the droid. Ignoring Threepio, Han hurried to the the door, his eyes doubled in size with the scene exposed before them. On all fours, his wife, the High Princess of Alderaan and former Senator – twice - and Chief of State of the New Republic was emptying and cleaning the cabinets under the sink. By hand.

"Sweetheart? What are you doing?" He asked carefully.

"What does it look like?" She growled.

"I know what it looks like... But why?"

"I swear I saw a bug hide in here..."

"Bug?" She had never been afraid of bugs. In fact, that time they had gone for a Diplomatic function to Ad'Fragun, he had seen her take an insect as long as half her palm out of her plate and keep eating as if nothing had happened.

"Yes, a bug!"

The chiming of the com interrupted this interesting subject. Healer Kampher was on the other end. "How is she doing?" The older woman asked, not waiting for answer. "Is she breathing as I taught her?"

"What?"

A warm chuckle answered him, almost as a gentle reminder that she has seen this scenario played out a thousand times before. "She's been having strong contractions every five minutes for the last half an hour, didn't she tell you? I think it's time for you to get that speeder, General Solo."

**

At their destination, construction workers, curious tourist and locals of the core, and the occasional probable Jedi Knight – only another Force sensitive would have been able to pick them out through the throng, as they weaved and danced through the masses like flickers of candlelight in a dark room – despite the lateness of the afternoon, the area was still bustling with the activity of a hundred beings, and yet they gave the pair a wide berth, as if Kay'leb's walking stick generated a shield around them. For this, Aubé was profoundly grateful.

"Kay, what are we doing here?" she asked, unconsciously stroking her belly. Since their arrival at the Jedi Temple, her unborn baby had instigated a flurry of activity, performing hereto unknown gymnastics in what had become very tight quarters. She grimaced. "I'm going to need a fresher in a moment…"

"Again?" Kay'leb flashed her a grin, but kept puling her forward as they climbed the steps of the main entrance. "I'm sure there's one inside."

"Right by the door I hope," Aubé sighed as small hands and feet began to beat a tattoo on her bladder. "I swear, until this baby is born, I'm not drinking so much as another drop of water!" Gamely, she made her way up the stairs, only pausing at the entrance. "Are you sure you want to go in here? I mean…. Is it… well, safe for you?"

Blank eyes looked at her with marked curiosity. "What do you mean, sis? Is it because this is where I had my accident? Pappa and Luke and the others have been coming here for months, and they said it's all right – "

"I know," she replied, fully aware that her brother could sense her unease. The Temple had been the place where her brother had been seduced by something dark that had lain in wait, that something had cost him his sight and nearly the lives of her father, Luke and herself. Luke had assured her that it was different now. Cleansed and pure, but she was still afraid.

"You shouldn't be, Bé," Kay'leb said gently, as if reading her thoughts. "It's been nearly nine years, and Pappa worked so very hard to help bring Luke's vision of the new Temple to life… come and see…

**