Instead of the immense, impressive Temple that the Jedi of the Old Republic once resided in, Denon's Jedi Temple wasn't so much of a temple as it was a small three-storey mansion that would, at most, harbor about three dozen Jedi at anytime. It was at the insistence of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and his Council of appointed Masters to the Galactic Alliance administration of Cal Omas that the Temple of the New Jedi Order would remain relatively small and humble instead of the great structure that Yoda's Order was used to.

Not only did it not need government funding than a more impressive Temple would require since the previous owner, a Jedi sympathizer who died of old age, had given his home to the Jedi in his will, but the mansion also reflected the more humble, self-seeking values of the New Jedi Order.

Looking out upon it from outside the fenced-off grounds of the Jedi Temple, Jacen appreciated that his uncle and his fellow Masters were taking the Unifying Force philosophy seriously; oh, sure, a mansion was nothing to sneeze at, but compared to a magnificent Temple like the one that he visited under Vergere's tutelage, it was definitely a sign that the Order was taking on a new, more enlightened view of both themselves and the Force.

Jacen was about to press the button that would open up the gate and let him inside when the gate simply opened for him. His resultant confusion was soon relieved once he felt his Uncle Luke's familiar presence through the Force give off the sentiment of, Welcome back, Jacen.

He then walked into the Temple grounds, and after the gate closed behind him, he was soon met by a landspeeder piloted by a dark-haired, fair-skinned human female who looked like she was barely out of her teens. She smiled at him as she asked, "Jacen Solo, is it?"

Jacen reciprocated the smile with a nod. "I am."

She waved him over. "Come on in, I'll save you the trip."

Jacen vaulted to the passenger side of the speeder and clicked on his safety harness before the pilot cruised over to the Jedi Temple several yards away.

"I heard a lot about you, Jacen. Or do you prefer to be called Jedi Solo?" the woman asked, glancing back and forth between the Temple and Jacen.

"Jacen will do," he replied in a friendly tone. "And you are?"

"Jedi apprentice Nelani Dinn," the pilot answered. "I heard that you were responsible for introducing the idea of the Unifying Force to the Order."

"Well, it was Vergere who introduced it to me in the first place, in a weird sort of way, through her tutelage on Coruscant," Jacen said. "So all the credit should go to her."

"Wasn't she with the Yuuzhan Vong at the time?" Nelani asked.

"She was, but only to save them," Jacen explained. "She didn't want them wiped out by their own barbaric culture, or by the powers of the galaxy itself. So she lived with them from the time she left this galaxy until she set me free from their captivity."

"So that they could be saved by Zonama Sekot," Nelani concluded.

"Precisely," Jacen said.

Nelani fell silent, as if she were holding back a disagreement. "You know, I gotta ask, why aren't you letting the rest of the galaxy know that you were the one who ended the war?" Nelani inquired.

"What?" Jacen asked.

"I heard about the rumors about a second power behind the Supreme Overlord's throne," Nelani clarified. "I asked Master Skywalker about it, and he told me that it was because it wasn't necessary to tell the rest of the galaxy about this Onimi's death being what convinced the Vong to surrender. Why didn't you tell the galaxy about this after you left the Order, Jacen?"

"I never left the Order," Jacen said. "I did what I thought was best for myself as a Jedi."

"Well, it seemed like you left the Order," Nelani said. "No other Jedi did what you did; not even Jedi Cilghal. She's still helping people."

Jacen grimaced. It figured that someone would think that he was selfish for going off on a self-discovering sojourn after the war had concluded, just as Raynar had pointed out. Alas, however, Jacen did what he thought was right for himself, and it hurt no one else, even if it didn't help anyone else (not counting Raynar himself, of course).

"Here we are," Nelani said as she docked the speeder in the lot outside the Temple. She shut off the engines, unbuckled her harness, and got out of the vehicle just as Jacen did.

He then followed her inside, where she led him down the Temple's hallways to Luke Skywalker's office.

"Well, I have to get back out, in case we get anymore guests," Nelani stated to Jacen outside the office. Her tone was a little clipped and stoic; almost completely opposite to the smiling face that greeted Jacen out on the grounds.

"Go do what you have to, then," Jacen said awkwardly before she turned and left.

He then turned back and opened the door to Uncle Luke's office, who looked up from his datapad and smiled at his nephew.

"Jacen," Luke said with his soft smile. For a moment, Jacen wondered if, like his interaction with Nelani, it would start out like this, but then devolve into something a bit more hostile later. It would be little wonder if Luke was starting to lose faith in the Unifying Force; he did tell Jacen, prior to the end of the war, that he still believed that the dark side of the Force existed, even if it contradicted with the Potentium.

"I'm so glad you've finally returned," Luke continued. "I already let your parents and Jaina know that you're here."

"Where are they?" Jacen asked.

"Off on errands through the rest of the galaxy," Luke answered. "Would you like to have a seat?" He waved to one of the two guest chairs on the opposite side of his desk.

Jacen nodded wordlessly before approaching the chair and sitting down. "Are they still cleaning up the mess that the war left behind?"

"Your parents are," Luke said. "They just helped the Ithorians find a new home in a nebula that they discovered a while back. You may find this interesting, since the planets in the nebula had been terraformed to the point where no fauna would have been allowed to thrive, only flora."

Jacen's eyebrows were raised in curiosity. "So I presume the terraforming effects were reversed to allow fauna to thrive there with the flora?"

Luke nodded. "The Galactic Alliance scientists pulled through. The ecosystems have been balanced to allow flora and fauna alike to exist on these planets; just as we Jedi continue to balance the light and darkness within ourselves."

At first, Jacen thought that maybe he wouldn't have any philosophical arguments with his uncle when he said that; but now that he thought about it... "Are you saying there's something wrong with fauna being there in the first place, balancing out with the flora?"

Luke shook his head. "Sorry. I didn't mean it like that. Of course, you do have to keep in mind, Jacen, that without flora, there would be no fauna."

"There can't be darkness without light to offset it," Jacen agreed.

"Interesting, though, that flora was able to exist without the likes of bees or other insects to pollinate," Luke pointed out.

"Some flowers can do that just through releasing their spores in the air," Jacen said in a reluctant way. His argument with Akanah was coming back to him, it seemed; why did darkness need to be balanced out with light, when it seemed, to many people, that there was no need for a balancing darkness? "But then, not all plant-life can do that, can it?"

"Not all, no," Luke agreed.

Jacen sighed. "I suppose you still have your doubts about the Unifying Force, Uncle Luke?"

"I always had my doubts about it, Jacen," Luke said. "Granted, I don't think it's completely wrong. So far, there haven't been any Jedi who have become so conflicted about this balancing act that they were unable to keep from going into too much light or too much dark."

Jacen couldn't help but notice how his uncle called it a balancing "act," as if the Unifying Force was nothing more than a facade. But maybe Jacen was reading too much into it; or maybe not, given how he had called his uncle's doubts so well in his mind.

And then there was the, "So far..."

"Darkness always has its place in the Force and within us, just as fauna and other sentient beings have their place in the galaxy," Jacen said.

"I suppose," Luke said. "And while I don't argue against the propagation of beings that aren't flowers, you'll understand if I, by experience, am still unsure about why we should continue to acknowledge darkness as something we must live by."

Jacen looked at his uncle even more curiously now. "We always do that; it's something the Jedi wrestled with even with the ideology of the light and dark sides."

"True," Luke said. "But to temper light with darkness deliberately instead of always doing that with light over darkness, Jacen?"

"Too much light, and it can burn," Jacen said. "Or worse yet, as I told Akanah on Pydyr, it can become darkness itself."

"You talked to Akanah?" Luke asked.

Jacen nodded. "She was one of your old girlfriends before you settled with Aunt Mara, right?"

Luke grinned. "Something like that. I suppose she took your view of the Force less lightly than I did?"

"You know her well enough to guess?" Jacen asked.

"That's what I thought," Luke conceded.

"Of course, too much light can burn," Jacen said. "Without some sunscreen to temper it."

"Which is usually white, if not other colors," Luke said. "Black can absorb colors to the point where it can burn, like if you wear black clothes on a hot, sunny day."

"Can't disagree with that," Jacen said. "Of course, too much light, and it's possible that it can become darkness itself."

"Maybe," Luke said. "I wonder if Palpatine had been such a saint in his early life that it was what made him so evil later on."

"If it was, then Yoda's Order's complete temperance of darkness with the light side didn't save them from Palpatine's wrath," Jacen countered evenly.

"But it didn't completely destroy them," Luke argued. "That's why this Order is still alive."

"The Unifying Force hasn't destroyed us yet," Jacen said.

"Not yet, no. But given time..." Luke trailed off deliberately before: "Who knows? Maybe we'll never recover."

"The Unifying Force was what helped us stop the war," Jacen pointed out. "So I doubt it can be all that destructive to the Order later down the line, even after both of us have passed into the Force."

"There are always costs, Jacen," Luke said. "Yes, the Unifying Force was what helped us stop the war, and how you defeated Onimi, and even saved me from the venom in Shimrra's amphistaff. But don't you think that it would prove detrimental in the long-run, even if it hasn't after all these years?"

"I guess it's possible," Jacen acknowledged. "Anything is possible. But again, the light and dark side ideology may have brought about the end of the Sith, but we still fell from them nearly a millennium later."

"The Sith were never truly destroyed, in case you forgot," Luke said. "They were just reduced to two a generation."

"Sure," Jacen agreed. "And the rest of the Order didn't sense two Sith every generation seeding chaos through the galaxy to the point where the dark side blinded them completely until it was too late to save themselves?"

Luke sighed. "Maybe you're right. Perhaps the Unifying Force will not lead to the Jedi Order's downfall. My only hope is that if there are ever Jedi who were conflicted over this ideology, they would only be a few."

"Understandable, Uncle Luke," Jacen said. "But keep in mind, there were some Jedi who were conflicted over the light and dark ideologies in Yoda's time; just look at my grandfather, your father. We can only hope that no Jedi under the Potentium will fall like him; or, if they do fall like Anakin Skywalker, then they can be redeemed like him, too. That's really all we can hope for."

Luke didn't say anything for a while before he changed the subject. "Jaina's fine, in case you're wondering."

"What's she been doing?" Jacen asked, rolling with his uncle changing the subject like that.

"Chasing down pirates, renegade Yuuzhan Vong who escaped our radar after Zonama Sekot returned to the Unknown Regions, and other criminals throughout the galaxy," Luke said. "She was just engaged to Jagged Fel, by the way."

"Really?" Jacen asked. "Mister Block-of-Muscle-and-Wood? I didn't think those two would make it, what with him being in the Chiss Ascendancy and all; not to mention his dazzling personality." His voice was dripped in sarcasm in regards to talking about Jag's personality.

"Well, Jaina sees something in him aside from his looks," Luke said. "Must be his dedication as a flight pilot. And, of course, since the Jedi aren't constrained to the Galactic Alliance as the previous Order was to the Old Republic, Jaina is acting as a Jedi representative in the Chiss Ascendancy."

"Along with chasing down pirates and other thugs in the rest of the galaxy?" Jacen asked. "Must be a busy woman now."

"She manages," Luke said. "Especially with Nom Anor still out there."

Jacen's eyes widened and his mouth dropped in shock. "Nom Anor?"

Luke nodded with regret. "I'm sorry I didn't let you know in any of our past communiques. I didn't want to disturb you on your sojourn, even with some of our disagreements. And I asked your parents and Jaina not to let you know either. If you want, you can help find him."

"What's he been doing?" Jacen asked. "How did he survive that explosion in Onimi's ship?"

"According to the sources that Jaina interrogated in the galactic underworld," Luke explained, "he's apparently been trying to racket up a new crime syndicate that he hopefully wants to rival the glory days of Black Sun. He's been getting some renegade Yuuzhan Vong, former Peace Brigade members, and generally other criminals; even some former Black Sun members as well.

"We don't know how he survived. For all we know, this could just be a rumor, and someone's just using Nom Anor's name to scare people; he hasn't made himself seen in public yet."

"Is Aunt Mara helping Jaina with the search?" Jacen asked. "I imagine she still holds a grudge against Nom Anor for that coomb spore virus he gave her before the war began."

"Since Jaina is too busy acting as a Jedi representative to the Chiss, she obviously can't dedicate as much time to catching Nom Anor, if this even is Nom Anor," Luke said. "So Mara's been hard at work over the past few months finding him, which is when we first heard these rumors of Nom Anor resurfacing, by herself."

"Where is she now?" Jacen asked.

"Somewhere on a world called Marfa, as that was where Nom Anor was rumored to be hiding out on," Luke said. "She hasn't found anything yet, but she won't stop until she finds a lead there."

Jacen was silent for a moment before he asked, "You know, since you're busy running the Order and Mara's been chasing leads on a possibly-false Nom Anor, how's Ben been doing?"

"I make time for Ben here in the Temple," Luke said. "But most of the time, he's taken care of by his YVH nanny, Nanna."

"YVH?" Jacen asked. "You mean a Yuuzhan Vong Hunter droid is babysitting Ben?"

"Nanna's been very good protecting Ben and nurturing him to the best of her abilities," Luke said. "She might be even more patient with him than Mara and I could be." He chucked lightly. "Especially Mara, knowing her."

Jacen shared in a chuckle before saying, "I wanna help Aunt Mara find Nom Anor."

Luke nodded. "If you can depart. But I think we've digressed too long from why you came here; there was something about your doubts about yourself, is there? I can feel it from you, Jacen."

Jacen sighed. "Yes. When I rescued Raynar Thul, he told me that he saw me years ago, while I'd been in captivity under the Yuuzhan Vong."

"How is that possible?" Luke asked.

"Because I flow-walked, a technique I learned from the Aing-Tii," Jacen explained. "I told them that I wouldn't abuse it, and that I would only be able to look back to past events without affecting them."

"Yet you were there, wherever Raynar was, and you flow-walked back to when he saw you," Luke said. "I can see how you might be conflicted about this."

"Are we able to talk more about this, or should I go and help Aunt Mara?" Jacen asked, looking rather nervous.

"No, I think we can talk about this, Jacen," Luke said. "But before I talk about what I think this means, I have to ask: What do you think this means?"

Jacen looked to his feet before looking back up to his uncle. "I think this means that I did something wrong; that in my travels, I was somehow destined to abuse this power and cause this kind of thing to happen through the Force. And I had apparently fulfilled my destiny of doing just that by altering the current of events by letting Raynar in the past see me. And I'm not sure what that means for me in my future."

"That might be possible," Luke said. "But tell me, did past Raynar seeing you help you save him?"

Jacen thought about it. "Maybe. I guess. I don't... really know, actually. Maybe Raynar seeing me was what allowed Lomi Plo and Welk - the Dark Jedi who took him during the Myrkr mission - to know that I would have this power and call for me."

"And you responded and saved Raynar, and defeated Plo and Welk in the process, right?" Luke asked.

"Well, actually, Raynar killed Plo, but I did kill Welk," Jacen said. "But, yeah... I guess maybe Raynar seeing me there did save him in the long-run."

Luke smiled. "Then maybe it's the Force that allowed you to have this; that it destined you to save Raynar."

"By my own free will, though," Jacen said. "Which still can allow me to do untold damage in the future with these powers."

"But you can still be stopped, though," Luke said. "For either way, it is the will of the Force, Jacen." His smile brightened further. "Maybe you're right; maybe the Unifying Force won't lead to the Jedi's downfall."

Jacen reciprocated that smile; so this conversation began and ended pleasantly, even if it did erupt into a mild argument. "Now can I go help Aunt Mara?"

"Yes, you can," Luke replied. "I'll let her know. In the meantime, you can return to your ship and head to Marfa. Goodbye, Jacen." He then took out his commlink as Jacen stood up, bowed respectfully, and promptly left the office.