Two standard months later

Jacen watched with subdued, but unquestionable pride as Ben moved through one of the more advanced katas that were taught to initiates into lightsaber combat. They were in a practice room that had been reserved for one on one tutoring by Jacen the day before. Jacen's mind was elsewhere however, and he paid only minimal attention to his young cousin's motions, merely cataloguing them and only noticing the error several seconds after it occurred, at which point he maintained his stoic silence, choosing to reign in any criticism until after the session had ended.

What occupied him to a far greater degree was the stalled decision making process in the high council, whose inability to elect a new Grand Master was beginning to take on a distressing level. The order was in a state of transition and the majority of its members felt leaderless, and conjunctly directionless. Mara, who sat on the high council now, kept him informed of the proceedings, but it seemed that there was an inability to find any unanimity in the sessions. Kenth Hamner was reportedly lobbying for the inclusion of a Galactic Alliance government liaison who would be allowed a single vote in order to grant the government a voice in the decision.

Jacen was infuriated by this new development. He had always argued for the order's independence and Hamner's suggestion, which had only been made two days beforehand, was beyond absurd. The order's most important structure, i.e. the Jedi Temple, being upon an Alliance world, the Alliance's capital no less, was bad enough. He personally thought it would be best to maintain the temple as a meeting place for the Galactic Alliance and the Jedi order; and to relegate the Order's main activities to Ossus, leaving only a small portion of its members on Coruscant. He by no means advocated a complete rift between the Order and the Alliance, but he did believe a certain level of autonomy between the two would be conducive for improving public opinion of the Order itself and allow the order to grow along a path of its own choosing, rather than adhere to the demands of the people holding the purse strings.

He prodded Ben with the force, signaling his desire to leave. Ben extinguished his lightsaber, sweating profusely. He caught his unofficial master's eye and Jacen nodded at him, signaling his approval. Truthfully, Ben was making remarkably rapid progress and had a natural affinity for swordsmanship which, considering his lineage, was no real surprise. His progress in opening himself to the guidance of the force was progressing at a less promising rate, however.

"I'm hungry," Ben informed him, as he approached, while he clipped his lightsaber to his belt.

"I'm taking you home. Have your mother get you something." Jacen replied, tersely.

Ben looked up at him with a pleading glint in his eye. "But we'll drive by the bantha burger joint we both like."

Jacen frowned. "I like it once a week. Not every day Ben."

They began to make their way to the parking deck were Jacen had left his speeder. "What if I pay for it?" Ben asked.

"With what money?" Jacen asked, grinning.

Ben's emotional force signature shifted to one of wounded pride. "I have money."

"Did you help yourself to your mother's cred chips?" Jacen asked, still amused.

Ben now seemed aghast. "No! I sold some of my toys to another Jedi initiate."

"Why?" Jacen asked, pressing a button that would take the lift to the appropriate level where he'd lodged his speeder.

Ben looked at the floor. "I'm too old for toys now."

Jacen's distraction was dispelled by his cousin's somber tone and he granted him his full attention. "At the ripe old age of ten?"

"I need to concentrate on my lessons so I can become as powerful as dad, like you always say." Ben explained.

"I've never said that." Jacen denied vehemently.

Ben nodded. "Not like that. But it's what you mean when you say, 'concentrate Ben!' or 'you can do better Ben, I know you can' or when you sigh and shake your head like it's all hopeless and pointless."

Jacen's eyes widened in shock and he exited the lift and approached his speeder at a rapid pace. After both of them had entered the vehicle, he manipulated the controls deftly and exited the temple parking deck. "Maybe I've been too hard on you," Jacen said, after a lengthy silence.

Ben did not respond. As they passed the bantha burger place Ben had wanted to go to, Jacen decided to let the boy have his wish after all. He pulled into the fly-through, and ordered what he knew to be Ben's favorite. When he handed his cousin the bag of food, he caught the mischievous glimmer in Ben's eyes. Jacen suddenly realized, with a jerk, that he'd been played like a fiddle. He found himself laughing out loud. Handing the desired food to his clever cousin, Jacen nodded in respect. "Well played…"

Ben smiled sheepishly, somewhat embarrassed that his ploy had been caught.

The rest of the flight to Mara's apartment, to which she had recently moved along with her son passed in relative silence, if one discounted Ben's munching and Jacen's almost audible thoughts.

Several minutes later they were standing in front of the door to Mara and Ben's apartment. Mara answered the door and ushered the two inside. Mara glanced at the remainders of Ben's unhealthy meal, which the boy was still enjoying and shot Jacen a pointed look. Jacen shrugged. "Don't ask… please."

Mara cocked an eyebrow but acquiesced to Jacen's wish. "Would you like a drink?"

Jacen nodded. "I won't say no to a Corellian brandy."

Ben didn't seem to pay attention to the adults and promptly plopped down in front of the entertainment center and activated a hologame. Jacen walked over to him and placed his hand on Ben's shoulder. "Didn't your mother ask you to sanisteam before playing your game?" he asked.

Ben looked up at him, and frowned. He stood up grumbling and walked in the direction of the refresher. "Well played," he said, echoing Jacen's earlier comment.

Jacen grinned and turned to Mara who had watched the exchange silently with two glasses in hand. Jacen accepted the alcohol and sat down on the couch, chuckling. "I don't think he knows how to use that phrase."

Mara smiled, sitting down opposite of Jacen. "You're very good with him."

Jacen took a sip from his drink. "He's a good student and a smart kid. It's easy to be good with him."

Mara nodded thoughtfully staring into the liquid in her glass. "You've made it easier on him, though. Being distracted by trying to learn what the other initiates already know at his age keeps him occupied. And your guidance has allowed him to make headway."

"It is his father's teachings that echo through me." Jacen said, humbly.

"And Vergere's?" she asked pointedly.

"Not really. At this point I am teaching him traditional Jedi dogma and techniques. The Potentium teachings, and those of the many other force sects, cults, and practitioners I've studied over the last six years would only confuse him." Jacen corrected.

Mara shook her head sadly. "I wouldn't even mind if you taught him other perspectives. Pure Jedi learning did not save his father, so another, more survival oriented belief, may well be what he needs to learn."

Jacen cocked his eyebrow quizzically. "Survival huh? That is not really the most Jedi-like of outlooks."

"Don't patronize me. I'm entitled to a bit of ire in light of what happened to Luke. Jedi teachings encourage self-sacrifice, and by what you've told me about Vergere's teachings she placed emphasis on survival and friendship." Mara rebutted.

"Perhaps…" Jacen mused, not fully believing Mara's estimation of Vergere. "What was the result of today's council meeting?"

Mara brought her glass to her lips and downed the concoction in a single draft. "Don't get me started."

Jacen grinned. "That bad?"

Ben came stumbling into the common room, and returned to his video game, trailing droplets of water. Mara frowned at her son. "Were you unable to locate a drying cloth?" she asked, her voice rising over the loud sounds of Ben's game.

"I did dry myself." Ben insisted, staring at the holo-projection of his game.

Mara walked up behind him and ran her hand through his hair. "Not your hair."

"I like it like that. It's cool." Ben explained.

"My carpeting doesn't though." Mara replied.

Ben sighed exaggeratedly. "Mom!"

Mara shrugged and returned to a former seat across from her nephew. Jacen nursed his drink and calmly waited for her to address him.

Mara's eyes narrowed in thought. "I threw your name into the nominee pot today." She said, breaking the silence.

Jacen's brow furrowed. "What?"

"Pardon me?" Ben amended, critiquing Jacen's bad manner while maintaining eye contact with the holo-projector and his game.

Mara smiled amused. "I nominated you for Grand Master of the Jedi Order."

Jacen, was confused by her smile, but considering her emotional projection he assumed that her amusement was a reaction to Ben, rather than her statement. "Why?"

Mara shook her glass gently, causing the liquid to slosh around in a circular motion. "What do you mean? Do you think you're under qualified?"

Jacen nodded. "Amongst other things."

Mara sighed. "I very much doubt you'll actually be elected, truth be told. But you might as well be." Mara looked at him pointedly. "You're the most powerful Jedi alive . . . now. You're the most conscientious Jedi of your generation. And you scare people. That's not a bad thing. You're an unknown quantity. Some fear goes a long way towards inspiring a healthy level of respect."

Jacen steeped his fingers thoughtfully. "While what you're saying is generally true, it does not change the fact that there are older, more qualified Masters alive, including yourself, who will go much further towards inspiring the proper combination of respect and comfort amongst the order as a whole." Jacen took a deep breath. "And for the record, that last part of what you said sounded very . . . Emperor's Hand."

"My mom used to kick ass!" Ben interjected.

Jacen chuckled while Mara glared at the back of her son's head. "… still …" she corrected icily.

Ben hunched over, as if by the weight of her glare. "My mom still kicks ass!" he amended.

"Aunt Mara I must point out that your son's vernacular leaves much to be desired." Jacen added, grinning lopsidedly.

"Perhaps he needs a new mentor . . . with a firm hand. It's so hard to find good help these days." She fired back.

Jacen raised his hands in mock surrender. "Ouch." He emptied the rest of his glass of the yellow-brown liquid. "However, back to the matter at hand…"

Mara nodded solemnly. "If it reassures you I can assure you that there is no way that you will be chosen as Grand Master." She stared at him studiously, gauging his reaction, searching for any hint of disappointment. Jacen carefully guarded his facial expression and made sure to not give away any sort of emotion, one way or another. "Too many of the Masters, such as Kyp and Corran, are very uncertain as to what you represent. Everyone knows you are against further absorption into the GA. But no one," Mara continued, leaving 'not even me' unsaid, "quite know what path you would encourage the Order to pursue; should we manage to dissect our political ties to the Alliance. And that uncertainty will stand in the way of your election."

Jacen stared at the bottom of his glass for a moment or two and then redirected his attention at Mara. "No doubt you are correct. And luckily I have no grand ambitions which stand to be dashed to the ground by your assertions."

He stood abruptly, ready to leave after the double layered conversation. Mara's face betrayed momentary confusion at his abrupt rise. He walked to her liquor cabinet and placed his empty glass on the platter. "Thank you for the drink, Mara."

Mara frowned and rose just as rapidly. "Did I offend you?"

Jacen glanced at Ben who was obviously paying keen attention to the two adults in the room while pretending not to. "No. I merely finished my drink and realized that I have a pressing engagement."

Mara grasped his arm firmly and lead him in the direction of the door, out of earshot of Ben. The moment they reached the entry way, she fixed Jacen with a questioning look. "I'm not trying to saddle you with a job you don't want, you know…"

Jacen scoffed. "Yes you are. And you never consulted me about your plan to throw my name into the pot, which doesn't offend me but is nevertheless inappropriate. And then you try to guilt me into revealing more about my "agenda", which is only insulting because you always assume that I have one."

Mara smiled knowingly. "Don't you?"

Jacen did have one and it was disconcerting how well she knew that he did. Against his better judgment he rose to her bait. "Why are you always insinuating that I am plotting something . . . someone might accuse you of being paranoid."

Mara crossed her arms. "Cute. But the truth is you've been blinking like a beacon on my plotter radar since the day I glanced in your direction when we first met you after your five year sojourn and you turned and looked at me, sensing my casual look through my shields as though it was nothing. You were different. And you were up to something. You've been trying to push agendas, subtly, for several years now. And lately your manipulations are affecting things at a truly grand scale, as evidenced by the last several months of the Swarm War."

Jacen frowned. "First off, you've never just glanced at someone in your life." Jacen amended. "Quite frankly it is that paranoia I'm alluding to which is palpable in the entirety of the claims you're making. I don't know what you're trying to imply about what you think I'm doing but if its anything like what it sounds I'd best avoid coming by in the future, since you've obviously written me off as some megalomaniacal puppet master whose trying to control the galaxy."

Jacen infused his words with all the righteous indignation he could, painfully aware of how right she was in many ways.

"Aren't you?" Mara asked snidely, arching her eyebrow.

"I'll let myself out." Jacen said angrily, and turned away from her, making his way to the door.

He was already half way out the door when her voice brought him to a standstill. "Wait." Mara's voice was timid and utterly uncharacteristically weak. Jacen turned in time to stop the closing door with his foot and the moment the door sensor force the passage to open back up, Mara crashed into him, forcing him to wrap his arms instinctively around her.

"I'm sorry," he heard he say into his robe, her voice muffled. Her body was shacking and Jacen was unsure what to do. She hadn't cried since their flight back to Coruscant.

"It's alright." He offered lamely.

Mara snorted. "No it's not. I shouldn't have said those things." Mara pulled back and Jacen found himself looking into her tear stained eyes and felt utterly distressed to see his independent and powerfully capable Aunt in such a sorrowful and vulnerable state. "You've been so supportive. You've taken care of Ben so well and you come here so often to check up on me and keep me company and I…" she smiled half-heartedly and wiped he cheek with the back of her hand. "I'm sorry."

Jacen smiled gently and placed a hand on her arm. Inwardly he was conflicted because he knew that if Mara knew why it was so important to him to see Ben trained as quickly as possible, namely to make sure he was ready to face the single most powerful force entity next to Zonoma Sekot, she would be less positively inclined towards him. "It terrifies me to see you like this."

Mara frowned confused. "Why?"

Jacen shook his head slightly, unsure. "I guess it's because you've always been such a rock to me and everyone in the family; you and my father."

Mara simply looked at him silently, seemingly encouraging him to continue his thought process.

"You've always scoffed at the odds, not foolishly but valorously. You've always been reliably unfaltering and seemingly impervious to the afflictions most mortals suffer from." He elaborated. "It's scarring to see you this…"

"Weak?" Mara supplied, stiffening a little and drawing in on herself slightly.

"Vulnerable." Jacen amended, his tone reassuring.

Mara wrapped her arms around herself and stepped back against the walls that led to her apartment's door. "Do I really seem that way?"

Jacen nodded slowly. "Yes."

Mara sighed. "You know, I never wanted to be that kind of woman who needs a man or who can't be alone or who requires a male support person in her life to ground her. Is that really what I've become in my time with Luke? Dependent?"

Jacen shook his head vehemently. "Don't think like that. About yourself or about Luke. You do the both of you a disservice."

Mara smiled sadly. "But what if it's true? What if Luke really was such a force of destiny that his life and fate had such a powerful gravitational pull that it pulled less fated people into its orbit, and now that his life has ended like a star gone nova he has left a black hole that is going to suck me in, damning me along with him?"

Jacen frowned and walked up to her and fixed her with a meaningful stare. "You have a son."

"I know. But I need more than that. I need a purpose. And sitting around in the high council room debating about who should be the next Grand Master for the next few months is not going to cut it." Her voice rose in anger towards the end of that statement.

"Perhaps you should consider doing what my father did after Chewbacca died." Jacen supplied, advising.

"Go on an adventure, all by myself, and rediscover my penchant for all things dangerous, odds-defying, and furry?" Mara asked skeptically.

"Well something a little more tailored to your own expertise and interests… but in general yes." Jacen nodded, smiling.

Mara smiled herself now. "And who's going to take care of Ben?"

"I will, of course." Jacen stated matter-of-factly. It would give him more of a free hand to teach Ben as rigorously as was necessary, without the constant maternal oversight. And it might do Mara actual good.

"It might help," Mara agreed, thoughtfully.

"So, do you really want to do this?" Jacen asked, after momentary silence filled the corridor they were standing in.

Mara tilted her head thoughtfully. "I'm definitely considering it."

Jacen waited in patient silence while contemplating the strange circumstance Luke's death had forced him into. He would have never, in his right mind, considered giving his aunt personal, or even professional advice before, but considering how quickly she could become unraveled lately, he felt it his duty to help. In some weird way he felt it his duty to take care of the family his uncle had left behind. In weaker moments he came to the conclusion, that if he had just let his aunt die the first time that they had encountered Lomi Plo, he and Luke would have killed the Unseen Queen without his uncle having to die. But such speculation was of course futile…

On his way to his favorite local caf shop in the Temple's proximity, some days prior, his eye had been caught by an article on the front page of a newspad. Granted, the publication that it had been printed by could, at best, be termed a gossip rag, but it had nevertheless angered him. The headline "Is the Eldest Scion of the Solo House doing more than comforting his late Uncle's Widow?" was scandalous, and angered him greatly. That insinuating headline was accompanied by an image of him embracing his aunt at the entrance to her apartment. Regardless of the obviously platonic, comforting pose of the hug, he could see how certain people could well read too much into the gesture and pay credence to the rumor. And even a small percentage of people giving this sort of nonsense attention was bad for his reputation. If he was ever to marshal the necessary resources to destroy Abeloth in Sinkhole Station, and locate and eradicate the Sith remnants that would attempt to seat their leader on the Black Throne on top of that, he would need public opinion of him to be high. It would require him ascending to the heights of power after all.

Mara suddenly smiled broadly, interrupting his train of thought. "I'll do it."