Part XXII

Heavy booted footsteps walked quickly through the temple corridors, winding their way down and around towards the med center. He was almost there, too, when an approaching presence made him halt, pursing his lips together as he waited for the other to catch up.

"Jacen," Kyp gasped, out of breath. "Sorry, Master Skywalker just told me you arrived…" he gestured down a side hallway. "She's down this way."

But Jacen first turned and eyed the Jedi Master seriously. "Kyp, I thought you had this under control."

"I did."

"Then why did I get a call informing me that Tekli and the other healers were doing an emergency operation to get the baby two months early because Jaina panicked and, somehow, couldn't handle carrying the child anymore?"

"Because I let her rely too much on my presence, let her use me to lean on in every facet of life. When my bond with her was cut, she couldn't handle it." They stepped through to the private area. "When I tried to reestablish the connection, she fought me- unintentionally for the most part, I don't know if she even remembers much of what happened."

Jacen sighed. "Why was the connection severed at all?" he demanded.

"A strange combination of accident and miscommunication, misunderstanding."

"Which room?" Jacen asked testily. Kyp pointed to a door on the left several meters away, and Jacen stared at it a long moment. "I can sense her again," he murmured slowly.

Kyp smiled mysteriously. "I have faith that you'll find her a wholly changed woman."

"Where's the baby?"

He paused and reached out, searching for that little mind he'd spent so long connected with… "He's in there. So is Leyla."

Jacen swallowed. "It's a boy?" he asked softly. "Has she named him yet?"

"Naviin."

The younger man looked curiously around at him, hand resting on the door handle. "Where did that come from?"

"It's a Cheunh word," Kyp returned slowly.

A shadow passed over Jacen's face. "Really? Seems a little… inappropriate, don't you think?"

He pushed the door open. "It means 'new beginning,'" Kyp murmured as Jacen stepped through the door, and he followed behind.

"Uncle Jacen!" Leyla exclaimed in a slightly hushed voice, hurrying over to the door. "Shh… mom's asleep…" she gestured, grinning, over to the bed, and Jacen followed her gaze, and the shock radiated from him in the Force as he met the green eyes of Jagged Fel. After a stunned few seconds, he turned wryly to Kyp.

"Thanks for the heads up."

"Anytime, kid." He laughed. "Leyla? How about we leave them some time to get reacquainted?"

She nodded and hugged Jacen once before skipping lightly out the door after Kyp. Once they were gone, Jacen turned back and studied the sight before him. Jaina was asleep, turned slightly to her side, looking calm and serene. Jag sat on the edge of the bed, bundle of baby and blanket resting in the crook of his arm. "Long story?" Jacen asked sardonically.

"The longest kind." He stood slowly and Jacen clasped his shoulder tightly.

"It's good to see you, Jag. I'd ask how you've been, but…" he shrugged apologetically.

Jag smiled thinly. "Not all that bad, actually," he confessed. "I at least knew that Jaina and Leyla were safe," he glanced bitterly towards the bed. "And we haven't really talked much about it, but from what little Kyp's told me, and Luke…"

"It's been hard," Jacen acknowledged quietly. "But… even asleep, I can sense that she's happier, more peaceful than she's been in a long time." He hesitated. "When did you get here? I won't even bother asking the how yet…"

"Two days ago," Jag returned evenly. "And before you ask, yes, it was my fault that Kyp lost his connection with the baby, my fault that this almost ended tragically…" he shivered once, and Jacen put a reassuring hand on his arm. With effort, he drew a deep breath and smiled forcedly at his brother-in-law. "You have a nephew."

Smiling broadly, Jacen accepted the boy from Jag and laughed softly as little eyes, the bright blue of a newborn, blinked up at him. "Hey, little guy," he murmured. "I'm your uncle Jacen."

"Not a bad look for you," he looked over and saw Jaina propped up on an elbow. "Ever think about getting one of your own?"

He grinned and went to the bed. "How you doing?" he asked softly. He placed Naviin in her waiting arms.

Smiling, eyes soft as she looked down at him, she murmured, "I'm doing wonderfully."

X-X-X-X

Luke and Mara met Han and Leia as they disembarked from the Falcon, and they hugged quickly before Han started quickly towards the temple proper, not bothering with further pleasantries.

"She's doing well, Han," Luke called after him wryly.

"Believe it when I see it, kid."

Leia shook her head in exasperation- perhaps more confident of Jaina's well-being, given her own awareness in the Force- and fell into step between Luke and Mara. "So everything turned out… okay?"

"Better than you could imagine."

His sister fixed him with a long stare. "You're being 'mysterious-Jedi-Master-Luke.' I hate that."

Han whirled and stopped. "Mysterious? What? Is there something we should know? You said Jaina and the baby are good, right?"

Luke raised his hand and smiled. "Everything is just fine. I… have some big news for you, but it'll have to wait until we're somewhere more private," he murmured. "It's still a bit… on the quiet."

Leia and Han exchanged a quick look. "Maybe we should talk before we go see her then," Leia said softly. "There's something we want to talk to you about, but I don't want Jaina to overhear anything."

That quickly gave Luke and Mara pause. Hesitating a moment, Luke directed them into a small private meditation room a couple of corridors over and, when he shut the door behind them, he turned back and cocked his head slightly. "You've heard news out of the Ascendancy?" he guessed.

Han nodded. "We had a message waiting for us when we dropped out of hyperspace, from Talon Karrde."

Mara shook her head ruefully. "Should have figured. He always did know what was happening in the most obscure corners of the galaxy before everyone else."

"Yeah, well he said that he's been hearing some strange things, about a failed conspiracy to pull the Galactic Alliance into a conflict with the Chiss, a plot that was to be waged through the Jedi…" Leia shook her head worriedly. "And… rumors about…"

"About Formbi and the Fels being alive?"

Han and Leia started. "Did Karrde…" Leia paused, studied Luke and Mara's faces, and then a broad smile lit her features. "Jag's here, isn't he?"

"Alive and well, and proud father of a three-day-old son."

Han laughed cheerfully and slapped Luke on the back. "That's great, kid, just great." He stopped and something seemed to occur to him. "Had to be a bit of a shock for him when he showed up though… how did that go over?"

"He punched Kyp Durron in the face."

Leia winced. "At least we know now that everything we planned was… very convincing."

"Come on," Luke smiled warmly. "Let's go and see them."

X-X-X-X

She slept for barely an hour before the med-droid brought in a fussy Leyla and gave Jaina a patient lesson in nursing the infant. For his part, Jag finally settled in a comfortable chair and dozed lightly for a half-hour or so, finally waking up to find Jaina still holding the baby, now asleep, gently caressing the top of her head with little wisps of dark hair, sometimes taking one of her little hands and watching in fascination as she reflexively squeezed her finger, even while asleep.

Jaina glanced over at him as he stood and smiled softly before turning back to Leyla. Jag perched on the edge of the bed and watched them for a moment before reaching over and gently tilting Jaina's face towards him, leaning down, and capturing her lips in a soft kiss. She sighed against him before leaning back tiredly in the bed. He gently lifted Leyla from her arms and placed her in the waiting bassinet next to the bed before sliding more fully onto the bed himself to drape an arm around Jaina's shoulders and pull her close to him.

"I've been doing some thinking," he murmured.

"While you were asleep?"

He ignored the gentle tease. "And I was wondering… as far as naming her goes- her last name," he clarified. "I thought maybe it would… make sense… to name her Fel." Jaina looked up at him in surprise. "It'll only reinforce what everyone will assume anyway, and if it provides that last little bit of protection for her…"

Eyes a little wide, Jaina was quiet for a moment. "I- I appreciate the offer," she said quietly. "But, Jag… that would be making a huge commitment to something that…" she shrugged listlessly. "I couldn't let you take that responsibility if something were to happen to me, or between us."

He looked at her with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes that gave her pause. "That sort of brings me to my next question, actually…" she quirked a brow, and he smiled and took her hands in his. "Jaina, I love you; and, I know that a lot is uncertain right now, but… this war can't last forever. Eventually it will end, and we'll all have to move on with our lives and… wherever that moving on takes me, Jaina… I'd like for it to include you- and Leyla." Her expression was slightly owlish as he leaned forward to kiss her softly once more, simultaneously letting her right hand drop while his fingers deftly sought the fourth finger on her left hand.

"Jaina Solo," he slid something around her finger, "will you marry me?"

X-X-X-X

Jaina ran a finger over the raised pink scars that were the only remnants of the healers' incisions after five days of bacta treatment. After a moment, her wrist was gently seized; Jag raised her hand to his mouth and trailed soft kisses up her inner forearm before pulling her tunic up the rest of the way and over her head.

"Still think I'm pretty?" she grinned.

His eyes softened. "You're beautiful, Jaina."

He held up her robe and helped her shrug her shoulders into it, reaching around and pulling it across her body before wrapping his arms around her, embracing her gently. She let herself sink into his touch, relieved to finally be held by him after she had essentially been bed-ridden for five days. "I've missed this," she murmured. "Force, you have no idea how I've missed this."

"I do," he released her and gently turned her around to face him. "I promise you, I do." Leaning forward, he captured her lips in a heart-stopping kiss that she lazily thought could have gone on for about ten minutes before she needed to breathe again… and then a soft cry broke them apart, and he shrugged guiltily. "Guess he's impatient."

She moved to the bed- back in the cabin now, finally free of the med center- while he retrieved a fussy Naviin from the bassinet that was newly placed in the room. "What if he's… I don't know… used to the artificial stuff that Tekli's been giving him?" Jaina asked as she took the boy.

Jag chuckled. "I doubt, at the tender age of five days, that he's developed particularly picky sensibilities yet. And unless she's been giving him bantha blue milk, I think the synthetic milk is designed to, you know… be a close replacement." He watched as she carefully maneuvered the baby on the bed and turned to her side, opening her robe to give him access to start nursing. "There, see?" he spoke softly as he gently lowered himself to the bed on the other side of Naviin, propped on his side so he could face Jaina.

She winced a couple of times, but smiled as tiny hands moved purposelessly against her body. "He's already gaining some weight," she murmured.

"He's hungry enough of the time, I'd hope so," Jag muttered. "Don't worry," he touched her cheek. "He'll be just fine, and he's certainly got enough of his family looking out for him."

"And Kyp," Jaina said softly. "I don't think he realizes I've noticed, but he checks on Naviin constantly, he's like a nervous hawk-bat mother on a nest. No matter what anyone says, I think he feels like he's somehow to blame for not being able to reconnect with him, but… it was no one 's fault- and everyone's," she grinned, "except Kyp's. I'm the one who asked him to do it. I'm the one who wouldn't just calm down enough to stop what was happening, and it's because I let myself get utterly dependent on Kyp, without even realizing it, that I was paralyzed when the link broke. I was selfish, I wouldn't try to save my baby because I didn't want to feel any pain. It should never have come to that."

"You found yourself widowed and unexpectedly pregnant," Jag caressed her cheek. "I think the expectations sort of go out the window."

She bit her lip and looked up at him. "I... maybe this isn't the time… but I have a few confessions."

"Oh?" he gave a lopsided smile.

Shifting to get more comfortable, wondering at the astounding power of little Naviin to eat more than seemed possible for his small size, she met his gaze steadily. "First… I was lonely and confused, for a long time, and when it all just got too much to handle, I thought that, maybe… if I could just connect on a personal level, an intimate level… maybe some of that would lessen, would go away. So I uh… made a complete fool of myself trying to seduce Kyp, maybe five or six months ago now."

He blinked in surprise. "Was that punch merited after all?" he teased gently, but she looked away, going red.

"No, he got pretty stern with me, laid out exactly what I was doing and why, and it made me feel awful… but he stayed with me that night, and every so often afterwards, when I was feeling at my worst, he would just come and hold me until I fell asleep…" she trailed away and glanced down as Naviin yawned. "I thought you should know that though."

He shrugged. "Jaina, I'm only just starting to understand just how much Kyp has done for you, for the baby while I was gone, but… it's clear that I owe him a lot."

"He'd say you were even."

"He already has."

For a moment, they regarded each other. Then, she sighed and continued. "Secondly… I had already suspected for a few days that I was pregnant before we spoke for the last time, when Jacen and I were on Reecee. I chose not to tell you."

"Why?" he asked, eyes curious.

"I wanted to check with Cilghal and be certain," she sighed. "And… I was determined that I tell you in person, if at all possible."

He nodded, smile a little sad. "What's third?" he asked softly.

She hesitated, knew that this one would be the hardest for him to hear. "The pregnancy… it wasn't as unexpected as you think," she whispered.

"How so?" his voice turned cautious and even.

"I… hid something from you, Jag, something I had no right not to tell you, but I didn't want to upset you, didn't want to start a rift between you and… Kyp."

He frowned lightly. "I'm not following."

She drew a deep breath. "A couple weeks before Leyla left for Ossus and you for Csilla, I went to see Cilghal, to see if she had anything to say that the other doctors didn't about the… trouble we were having. She posed a theory, one that explained the lack of physical causes for my not being able to get pregnant again."

"And that explanation was Kyp," Jag finished quietly.

She nodded miserably. "I talked to him, and we both went back to see Cilghal, and she came to the conclusion that… what Kyp did with the Force, thirteen years ago now… it left traces of his Force-signature on my body, traces that… rendered me, not unable to bear children, but… unable to bear yours… or anyone else's..."

"But Kyp's."

"Yes," she cringed. "But he didn't know, and he was horrified when she said it, and he undid the damage, but we weren't even sure if it would work, so I just sort of… put it out of my mind, figured that I'd worry about it again in a few months if… nothing happened…"

Jag sighed softly. "And then they summoned me back."

"I'm sorry," she murmured, turning slightly away from him and straightening her robe; he looked down to see their son already asleep again, full and content. "I was… afraid that you'd be angry and bitter, and maybe you are, or you will be later, but… it was also because of his lingering Force-presence that Kyp was able to connect with the baby through my shields when no one else could, not even me."

He looked at her closely for a moment while she bit her lip to stop it from trembling. He leaned forward, careful of the sleeping boy, and kissed her forehead softly before pulling back and picking up the baby and carrying him back to the bassinet. Returning to the bed, he slid in on the other side, behind her, where he could pull her back into his arms and hold her comfortingly.

"I'm not angry," he whispered into her ear. "I'm not bitter. I don't want you to worry about anything right now, okay?" She nodded slowly and he pressed his lips to a sensitive spot below her ear. "New beginnings, remember?"

Despite herself, she laughed, and he brushed away the lone tear that had escaped onto her cheek. "Yes," she murmured. "New beginnings."