A/N: As a weekend present, I think you'll be getting three chapters today instead of just two. Whoo!
Part IX
"Leyla, stop." She did so, but did not turn to face her great-aunt Mara, who was approaching the comm center from the opposite direction to the one in which Leyla was attempting to flee unnoticed. "You're in turmoil and you're angry."
"Shouldn't I be?" she demanded softly. "They lied to me, all of them."
Mara's voice was sharp. "Did they lie? Or were they just protecting you from a hard truth that you were too young to understand for a long time?" The girl said nothing, but turned to lean heavily against the wall, refusing to meet her aunt's eyes.
"You knew." It was not a question.
"Yes; but it was never my story to tell. Nor was it your grandparents', your uncle's… your parents- all three of them- made a hard decision a long time ago about what to tell you and when. That plan was derailed four years ago, when you found out Kyp was your father but were still too young to fully comprehend the dark side, to understand how and why he did what he did. He repented, he's made amends, he's been forgiven by Jaina and Jag- that should be enough for you."
She bit her lip. "I had a right to know."
Mara bit down on her rising temper. "Yes, eventually; do you think I told Ben when he was still just a child that I used to work for the Emperor, that I was his personal assassin?" Leyla flinched. "Your parents' decisions were made for good reasons, Leyla, do not punish them for trying to protect you. It changes nothing about who you are, about your relationship with your parents, with Kyp."
But as she looked into the devastatingly stoic face of her great-niece, Mara wasn't entirely sure about that.
X-X-X-X
Jaina and Jacen descended through the space lanes of Coruscant, always teeming with traffic, regardless of the time of day. Despite the hundreds of times when Jaina had made nearly identical approaches and landings in the hangar of the Jedi temple and other places around the city-planet, she was distracted and having trouble concentrating this particular entry- and as much as she tried to deny it, it was due to her last conversation with Jag.
Perhaps she had been mildly unfair. But she had been so frustrated, and it had caused her to lash out at Jag for being… well, for being himself. Jag's duty was almost as much a part of him as his love for her and for Leyla was, and it was not fair for her to blame him for the bad timing of the political turmoil in the Ascendancy.
Trying to keep that firmly in mind as she settled her StealthX down on the durocrete of the hangar bay beside Jacen's own fighter, she removed her flight helmet, unfastened the collar of her flight suit, and swung herself over the edge of the cockpit to perch lightly before dropping softly to the ground. Opposite her, Jacen was doing the same, removing his helmet and dropping it behind him back into the cockpit before descending. Dirt was smudged around his eyes where the goggles rested against his face, and she grinned as the effect took years off of his features.
"You could use a sanisteam yourself," he commented wryly, clearly picking up on her amusement and line of thought.
"Later," she shrugged and headed towards the bay doors. Jacen fell into step beside her. "I need to check on messages and…"
"Get a call through to Jag?" he queried.
Flashing a semi-guilty smile, she nodded. "I was a little abrupt when we talked a few days ago," she conceded. "I should apologize."
Her twin studied her a moment. "Are you going to tell him…?"
"Not yet. I still want to wait. If he doesn't make it back in another month, well…"
"Mom will figure it out, you know," he warned. "And Uncle Luke. You're practically glowing like an ion efflux just thinking about it."
Clamping down on her tentative happiness as she thought about what Jag's reaction would be to her news, whether it was in person or otherwise, Jaina darted down a side corridor towards a communications center. "I'll see you later, okay?" she called over her shoulder.
He sketched a sarcastic salute against his forehead and continued the way they had been going to check in with their uncle.
The first thing Jaina did as she settled herself behind the console was to key in her private encryption that was linked to their apartment comm unit. In the three days since she'd last checked, she only had two messages. Noting serenely that one was from Jag, she chose to save that one and first selected the one from Ossus, curiosity peaking.
It was not Leyla though, who appeared before her, but her aunt Mara.
"Jaina, I know you're probably not going to get this for another day or so, but don't worry, no emergency; I just want to talk to you when you get a chance and… you might want to bring Kyp."
That was strange. Jaina frowned at her aunt's fading visage, but decided against contacting the flame-haired woman immediately- she had said no emergency, after all. Instead, she selected the remaining message, the one from Jag, and smiled… before her expression fell at the distress in his eyes, clearly visible as much as he tried to keep the emotion from his face.
"Jaina, I'm sorry; you were right, I'm letting my duty come before more important things. Please contact me as soon as you can, but know that I'll be returning home as soon as we make it back to Csilla. I estimate a week or less before I am en route back to Coruscant." His eyes flickered once before softening ever so slightly. "I love you, darling, and I'll be home to you soon. I promise- and this one, I intend to keep."
She should have been ecstatic; instead, all she felt was guilt. Had her sharp words with him caused this obvious distress, made him question everything he had ever been and believed in?
Message from Mara all but forgotten, she quickly started the transmission sequence to reach Ashik, who she knew remained behind on Csilla, but would track down Jag for her. As the link established itself, she did a quick calculation and flushed guiltily as she realized that it would be in the middle of the night there; surprisingly though, Ashik's face appeared almost immediately before her once the connection was secured, and he did not appear to have been asleep.
"Ashik," she smiled tentatively. "I'm sorry to call so late."
He waved aside her concern. "I am not inconvenienced, Jedi Solo-Fel," he always addressed her by her title, despite her constant entreaties that he call her by her given name; this time, she didn't bother.
"I wonder if you are aware if Jag is available for comm traffic at the moment?"
A flash of worry darted across the blue face. "I have not been able to contact him since late yesterday," he told her. "Though that is hardly cause for concern, given the isolation of the sector where he traveled with General Fel and Aristocra Formbi."
"But you are concerned?" she asked shrewdly.
"Observant as ever," he bowed his head gravely. "It is likely nothing…" he hesitated. "Colonel Fel took a call from your daughter yesterday- regarding what matter, I am unaware," he answered her unspoken question. "And afterwards, he bade me to forward his holomessage to you, and I have not heard from him since. He seemed… ill-at-ease."
As she was now. "It's nothing, Ashik," she said slowly. "Family problems; I wouldn't give it much thought." The chiss male looked only mildly reassured. "Needless to say, I'm back on Coruscant; whenever Jag does break comm silence, will you tell him that I got his message and commed?"
"Of course, ma'am."
"Thank you."
When the image dissolved, she sat and stared impassively at the screen for a moment. Her broodings were interrupted however, when her comlink beeped. "Yes," she called absently as she depressed the button.
"Jaina," it was Jacen, "Uncle Luke wants you in the Council chamber when you get a minute."
She only tarried a moment as she signed out of the system and grabbed her small canvas bag with a change of clothing. Feeling dirty from spending days stuck in her StealthX cockpit, she decided to simply throw on a cloak over the wrinkled and sweaty flight suit. With that, she was on her way out of the door towards the higher levels of the temple.
X-X-X-X
"What's going on?" Kyp murmured as he slid into a seat beside Luke. "Omas hasn't graced us with his presence in a while now…even his virtual one…"
Luke smiled ruefully but held up a hand for silence as the room filled and holos appeared of absent Masters, including Kam and Tionne Solusar and Mara on Ossus. The usual suspects filed in, looking mildly curious but sitting down in the circle without comment.
"Master Skywalker?" the forever-harried voice of Cal Omas emitted from a speaker below a large screen, where Omas himself occupied the right half; it was divided, and moments later an elderly blue face appeared on the left half, sharply juxtaposed against the GA chief-of-state. "Are you prepared to begin?"
Kyp saw Luke glance up at the sound of the door opening a last time; he followed his gaze, and saw the diminutive, cloaked figure duck in apologetically, settling down in the back unobtrusively. "We are," Kyp turned his attention back to Luke as the Jedi Master addressed Omas. "Can I inquire as to the topic of this conference?"
"I will answer that," the chiss spoke silkily. "Master Skywalker, I have been nominated to represent the Ruling Families at this… difficult time for us all."
Luke quirked a brow. "I see, Aristocra… Mitt'royvr'yni," he pulled the name from his mind directly, making the chiss scowl slightly before he mastered his expression. "And what news do you bring from the Ascendancy that concerns the Jedi, as well as Chief Omas?" he nodded politely towards the image of the latter.
"An unpleasant business to be sure," he returned. "Chief Omas, Master Skywalker… it is my solemn duty to inform you that, by majority vote of the cabinet and parliament, and by unanimous consent of the council of the Ruling Families, the Ascendancy is hereby seceding from the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances."
A ripple of surprise and hushed murmurs spread across the chamber, including a particularly strong spark of alarmed surprise from the back of the room…
"I see," Luke said slowly as Omas spluttered and attempted to regain his composure. "I must confess myself confused, Aristocra, and I imagine Chief Omas would say the same. I thought the issue was more divided, we've been working with Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano for months now to try to bridge our differences before we split completely. Has he then changed his mind, if you say the vote was unanimous among the ruling council?"
A fast look passed over Mitt'royvr'yni's face. "I am also duly appointed to inform you of the unfortunate demise of the honorable Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano," he said in a somber voice, tinged with a terseness that put Kyp on edge.
Luke looked stunned. "How did this come about?" he demanded.
"A sad matter," the elderly chiss said coolly. "Unavoidable though; a simple accident, but a deadly one."
"I see…"
Kyp's attention drifted again towards the back of the room, where surprise was being slowly replaced by confusion maybe…
"As you know," Mitt'royvr'vni continued quickly, "we are a non-aggressive people, we have no qualm with the Galactic Alliance, we simply do not feel it to be suited for us anymore. I hope our respective peoples can maintain friendly relations through this political split," the look on his face suggested just how apathetic he felt about the idea either way.
Omas finally found his voice. "Wait just a moment," he demanded. "What happened to diplomacy? Why is Ambassador Fel suddenly silent on this matter? He's been working hard to bridge the gap between our peoples for years, Aristocra!"
For a long moment, red eyes glided over the room as he hesitated. "My apologies, Chief Omas," he finally murmured. "I did not fully explain the situation; Aristocra Chaf'orm'bintrano met his demise in an accident aboard General Soontir Fel's corvette during a reconnaissance mission to the outskirts of our territories; the bridge was almost entirely destroyed in an explosion.
"The general and his son were killed as well."