Chapter Twenty-Two

Tahiri was waiting outside the isolation chamber when Master Horn emerged from it. As an added precaution he had been kept there until the Ralroost's chief medical officer was convinced there was no trace of the Sickness virus in his body.

She threw her arms around her teacher and hugged him tightly. He appeared momentarily caught off guard by her show of affection before returning the embrace.

"Should I die more often?" He joked.

Tahiri pulled away from him, her expression not amused in the slightest. "That's not funny."

"Well, isn't this is a bit of a role reversal? You the serious one and me the light-hearted Jedi Master."

"Maybe I should talk to Danni and see if the cure didn't mess up a few brain cells."

Corran chuckled. "I'm sure I'll be back to my stern, no-fun self in no time."

"Mirax will be here soon," she told him. "Valin and Jysella are still with the other Jedi kids in the Maw but probably not for much longer."

A week had gone by since the Galactic Alliance's victory at Coruscant. The destruction of the Citadel and Shimrra's death had spread like wildfire throughout the galaxy, thanks to the HoloNet. The Yuuzhan Vong were still very much a threat but they were no longer advancing on worlds. With no Supreme Overlord or successor in place, and the World Brain destroyed before it could complete the transformation of Coruscant, they seemed at a loss for what to do. As the first symbol to restoring hope in the galaxy, Calm Omas had already announced plans to restore Coruscant as the capital of the galaxy. What he didn't mention was how long it would take.

"what do you remember about when you were infected?" She asked the Jedi Master.

"Not much really. There's some flashes and images but I'm having trouble making sense of it. They seem to be fading that I doubt I'll remember any of it given enough time. I can't thank you enough for what you did for me," he added.

"I was being selfish," she admitted. "I couldn't let you die. Master Horn – " She stopped speaking, her own voice thick with emotion now. He was a Jedi Master after all and seemed to figure it out for himself, for which she was grateful.

"Selfish or not, I'm proud of you." He lightly mussed her hair as he would one of his own children. "I understand you've been helping Cighal with Jaina."

Tahiri tried to discern if there was a lecture forthcoming, and it surprised her when there was none. Bacta had been unable to rid the toxins Onimi had put in Jaina's body, and when nothing else seemed to work the Jedi healer and herself had set to work on removing them. Cighal had experience with such things but she couldn't do it as quickly as Tahiri, so they had taken turns purging the toxins from Jaina's body before the damage they left behind was permanent.

"Tahiri, you're an adult in every way except age," Corran said to her then. "It's not for me or anyone else to decide what you should do with your gift – that decision rests entirely with you; I realize that now. What I hope is you'll be more careful now than in the past; that you've learned from your experiences."

"You mean my mistakes."

Corran's eyes shone with amusement. "You're never one to mince words, are you? In any case," he continued, getting back on topic, "I trust your judgement, as I hope you will continue to trust mine as your teacher. Health concerns aside, I'm worried about what kind of attention this will draw to you."

"It might be a little too late for that. While you were cured, the serum would have caused your heart to give out. Danni and her team are refining it now to see if it can be used on the worlds still infected with the Sickness. Danni's trying to keep what I did for you quiet, but who knows how long that will last."

Corran watched her closely. "You don't seem at all concerned."

"At least if they know I'm helping the side that's not Yuuzhan Vong, they'll stop thinking I'm a spy," she said, choosing to look on the bright side.

The Jedi Master's expression was a solemn one. "Be careful what you wish for. It may not be any better."

Tahiri rolled her eyes at him."Glad to see you back to your serious self, Master Horn."

"You won't be once I start up your training again."

She couldn't tell if he was joking or not, but Tahiri found she didn't care. Everyone who mattered to her had survived the war. She could survive any training regimen the ex-CorSec officer could throw at her.

[*[*[*[*[*[

"You actually look like a human being again," Kyp remarked, walking into Jaina's private ward.

She was sitting up in bed, propped up by several pillows. "I was really that bad?" Much of the first few days after the battle of Coruscant had been a blur; her time split between being dunked in bacta and having Tahiri and Cighal work on draining the toxins from her body.

"Let's just say you looked about as good as Corran did as a Jedi zombie."

She took one of the pillows and flung it him. She regretted it almost immediately as her newly repaired abdomen flared with pain.

Kyp caught it effortlessly. "Careful, you just got out of bacta. Considering it's still in short supply, the good doctors won't appreciate it if you need to go back in."

Her injuries had been life threatening, so there had been no choice but to put her in bacta – not that she would have been in any state to refuse the treatment. She was still sore but grateful to be alive.

"I sensed you earlier," she said to him. "Why didn't you come in?"

He shrugged. "There was a family reunion going on in here. I didn't want to interrupt."

It was true. Her brothers and parents had showed up to celebrate her release from bacta, followed by her Aunt and Uncle. The mood had been extremely light; lighter than Jaina could ever remember it being since before the start of the war.

"You wouldn't have been an interruption," she said truthfully.

"Well, I'm here now," he said, pulling up one of the empty visitor chairs by her bed. "I trust your Uncle told you about the ceremony planned?"

"The Knighting ceremony?" She said and Kyp nodded. "Chief of State Omas certainly didn't waste any time."

"You're probably to thank for that," Kyp stated. "It was your idea to take back Coruscant in the first place. Omas supported your plan; we emerged victorious; Omas' approval rating goes through the roof and now he's even more of a Jedi supporter than before. That's a big plus for us considering our reputation took some big hits these lasts few years. From what I hear, it's going to be a pretty big event – right over the top. Your Uncle wasn't crazy about the idea at first but he came around eventually." Kyp's expression suddenly became somber. "Their also planning to honor all the Jedi who lost their lives during the war."

"Uncle Luke mentioned that too," she said, voice distant. She could feel the Jedi Master's concern gaze and flashed him a small but genuine smile. "I'm not going to lie and say I'm fine, but I'm getting better. You don't have to worry about me."

"I'm always going to worry about you, Jaina."

From his expression she realized he hadn't meant to say that part out loud. A simple comment had manifested into an awkward silence that only seemed to get worse the longer neither of them said anything.

Eventually, Kyp cleared his throat, finally bringing it to an end. "Omas purposely delayed the ceremony so you could be there. I should get going and let you rest."

Jaina called to him before he could leave. "Thanks for having my back when it came to going to Coruscant. I wasn't sure if you were going to be on my side about that."

"You made a compelling argument. Just like you, I'm not a fan of surrender. I'd rather go down fighting. It doesn't mean I'm always going to agree with every crazy idea you come up with. I'm supposed to be the responsible teacher, setting the right example for you to follow."

Jaina snorted. "Sure, whatever you say, Master Durron."

"Why is it every time you say Master it sounds like an insult?"

"Maybe you should get your hearing checked. From what I've heard it's one of the first things to go with old age."

"Ha, ha," Kyp said sarcastically. "When you're feeling better, we're going to work on something called mutual respect."

"I'm looking forward to it," she said, practically laughing as Kyp vanished from her room.

[*[*[*[*[*[

Anakin had slept soundly that night. It was the first full night of more than three hours of uninterrupted sleep since the battle of Coruscant. Even with Shimrra gone there was still resistance on the planet and in space. With bacta still being rationed, his broken arm kept him sidelined from everything until he finally caved and let Tahiri heal it for him. Then he had taken Rogue Squadron up into space for clean up duty. For the galaxy as a whole, the clean up would likely take years, if not decades. Many worlds, including those that were Vong-formed, were likely damaged beyond repair. Calm Omas was urgently trying to start the healing process and he felt an important part of that would be a Knighting ceremony.

An order, straight from the Chief of State himself, had been given to all Jedi participating in tomorrow's Knighting ceremony to retire early from any active duty so they could be well rested for the event. Anakin hadn't realized how much he needed it until he had lied down and was fast asleep within minutes.

Glancing at his bedside chrono he could see there was still another hour before he would have to get up. Soon he wasn't the only one awake as there was a stirring beside him.

"Sorry, did I wake you?"

"No, your snoring did," came Tahiri's muffled response.

"I don't snore."

"Really? How would you know that?"

"I think you would have told me by now if I had a snoring problem."

"Maybe I was trying to spare your feelings."

At that, Anakin found it very hard not to laugh. "Right, because you've always been so worried about sparing my feelings in the past." That comment earned him a playful jab in the ribs before Tahiri rolled over and faced him.

"That makes me sound like a horrible person, Anakin."

"Not horrible, just brutally honest – though I probably deserve it most of the time."

"You do." She was trying to keep her expression stern but her green eyes danced with laughter.

They laid there for a time gazing at one another not saying a word. That type of communication wasn't always needed for them. Their Force bond took care of that, often making words unnecessary. Both had been so busy with their own duties lately, the only time they seemed to see each other was at night and by that point they were both too tired to do anything but sleep.

With Jaina still out, Anakin remained in charge of Rogue Squadron, and Tahiri's time had been split between helping with his sister's recovery and working with the thousands of Shamed One's on Coruscant. As Shamed One's were as much the Yuuzhan Vong's prisoners as those beings they'd enslaved from this galaxy, the Galactic Alliance had agreed to transport them to a world of their own, where they could live a free life.

"I still can't believe its over."

"I know. I mean, there's still going to be a lot of clean up going on around the galaxy, but we won."

Tahiri snuggled up close against him. "I wasn't always sure the both of us were going to survive."

Anakin swallowed. "Me neither."

"I keep thinking about your visions and what Meina Anbra said. I know it's stupid because none of it actually happened – but it could have. You were supposed to die and I never got over that. I didn't want to believe it then but I think she was right. If I thought there was a chance to bring you back – no matter how small – I would have done anything to make that happen."

"Tahiri, you don't mean that," he said, sensing where she was going with that statement.

"I do. Even if that anything meant turning to the dark side. No wonder Dark-Side-Jacen was able to manipulate me."

The mention of his brother stirred a different kind of emotion within Anakin. Tahiri, of course, immediately picked up on that.

"You're worried about him."

He had told her about what had happened in the duel between his brother and Onimi. For several minutes, Jacen had been enveloped in a glow of pure Force energy. It had been one of the most incredible scenes he had ever witnessed and Onimi had been powerless against him.

"Your brother is one of the most level headed people I know. If anyone can handle all that power it's him."

"I know."

"Good, so no more worrying about Jacen or anything else for the entire day. That goes for me too."

He quirked an amused eyebrow at her.

"It's a rule I'm making," she continued. "Today is the day we finally become Jedi Knights – officially. We're going to enjoy it and not let anything ruin it, okay?"

"So what happens if one of us breaks the rule?" He asked, playing along.

"That's not going to happen," she said confidently.

"Oh? How can you be so sure about that?"

"Because we're both going to be way too distracted to worry about anything."

Anakin found himself being pulled into a deep kiss, which he eagerly responded to. As Tahiri situated herself on top of him, he knew he wouldn't even consider breaking the rule she had set.

[*[*[*[*[*[

Jacen arrived early to the ceremony. So early in fact that aside from a few workers finishing up last minute preparations, the area was completely empty. He was impressed at the way the Ralroost's secondary hanger bay had been converted into a makeshift auditorium. All ships and cargo had been cleared out, replaced by several hundred chairs all facing toward a large stage. In a few short hours he would be up there with the rest of his fellow Jedi Knights.

Already dressed in his Jedi robes, there would be no need for him to leave and then come back – unless he was looking to avoid the hordes of well-wishers and HoloNet reporters that had barely left him alone since the final battle. Now, more than ever he marveled at how Tenal Ka managed to put up with the constant media barrage.

Although no one aside from his siblings had witnessed his duel with Onimi, everyone seemed to know about it. The three of them had kept tight-lipped about the details though. That would just lead to even more questions – most of which he probably wouldn't be able to answer. However, even saying as little as they did, the media had still spun it in such a way to make his battle with Onimi seem legendary and the reason freedom had been brought back to the galaxy. He was very uncomfortable with all the attention. His siblings were much better suited to handle that sort of thing. There was even talk that Jaina would be promoted to Colonel shortly, making her the youngest person in the Galactic Alliance to achieve that rank.

"It can be overwhelming."

His Uncle's voice dragged him away from his thoughts. If there was one person who understood what it meant to be the center of attention it was him. "It can't always be like this, right?"

"It depends on what you choose to do with the rest of your life," his Uncle replied, coming to stand beside him. "Considering who your parents are and the fact that you're a Jedi, it may be difficult to stay out of the spotlight entirely. Though I sense being the center of attention is not what's bothering you the most."

Jacen stared down at his hands, trying best to figure out how to vocalize what was on his mind. Fortunately for him, his Uncle happened to be the Grand Master of the Jedi Order and had some idea of what was going on in his head.

"The Force nexus of the old Jedi Temple was thousands of years old. The kind of power you absorbed would crush or overwhelm a lesser man."

"I felt like it was overwhelming me on Corurscant," Jacen admitted to him. He shook his head ruefully. "For all the times I've lectured Anakin about being reckless, it turns out I'm just a hypocrite. I insisted on communicating with the World Brain so we wouldn't have to destroy it. I achieved that and then got more than I bargained for. In explaining the Force power it had consumed and showing it what it was doing was wrong, it decided I was more worthy of that power and transferred it to me."

"There are several Jedi Holocrons documenting stories of Jedi who absorbed a vast amount of Force power," his Uncle said to him.

"And what happened to those Jedi?" Jacen asked when his Uncle didn't elaborate.

"It drove a few of them mad," Luke responded. "Others chose to live out their lives alone, fearing they couldn't control their increased Force power."

"That's not exactly encouraging."

Luke placed a hand on his nephew's shoulder. "It doesn't have to be that way for you, Jacen. Your maturity level is well beyond your years. You realize the magnitude of what's inside you and the need to understand it first before you can hope to control it. I'm here to help if you need it."

"Thanks, Uncle Luke."

"Myself aside, you have someone else who will make certain it doesn't get the best of you."

His Uncle threw him a knowing smile and Jacen glanced back over his shoulder seeing Tenal Ka standing a short distance away. Like Jacen, she was clad in her Jedi robes for the ceremony.

"I'll leave the two of you alone," he said still smiling.

With his Uncle gone, Tenal Ka now occupied the space beside him.

"You seem more relaxed now that you talked with your Uncle," she observed.

"I didn't realize I was that tense."

"You were."

Something occurred to Jacen then. "You arranged for him to talk to me?"

She nodded. "I hope you are not upset. You seemed unwilling to talk to me about what happened, so I approached Master Skywalker."

"I'm not upset," he assured her. "It's not that I didn't want to talk to you about it. You have enough going on as it is. I didn't want to put this on you too."

"Jacen, my duties as Queen Mother are important but nothing will ever be as important as you."

"Is this a fact?"

"It is."

Jacen felt more of the tension drain away the longer Tenal Ka was in his presence. That was until he thought about what would happen after the Knighting ceremony. "You're going to be leaving soon, aren't you?"

"I will remain for the celebration tonight but tomorrow I must return to Hapes."

"I'll come visit soon," he promised her.

"I will hold you to that," she returned, a smile forming on her face.

A roguish grin appeared on his face as he leaned in close to her. "I'm counting on that."

Tenal Ka pulled back just before their lips could meet.

"Sooner or later, people are going to find out about us," he said, knowing the reason for her reaction. "I know you think it's going to make me a target – "

"It will, Jacen," she said, tone severe.

"Well, then we can both be targets together."

"Your sense of humor is still strange," she said in all seriousness.

"While that might be true," he said with a laugh, "I don't want to have to hide our relationship. We'll just be careful, okay?"

"Before you seemed willingly to keep things secret. You even wanted me to entertain the idea of other suitors. What has changed?"

"Most of my family already knows. I don't want to ask anyone to lie for us. More to the point, I've had some time to think and I don't want to keep our relationship a secret. Why make things more complicated than they have to be?"

"You are starting to sound more like the Jacen I remember from our days at the Jedi Academy."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"No, it is not."

Tenal Ka's resolve finally seemed to break as she pressed her lips firmly against his, with neither of them caring who might be watching.

[*[*[*[*[*[

The massive cargo bay doors parted enough to allow a single person through. Jaina recognized the man as one of the Chief of State's aides. He seemed to be doing a head count of all the Jedi present and verifying it against the datapad in his hand. His face formed into a frown as he realized their numbers were off.

"Has anyone seen Jedi Veila and Jedi Anakin Solo?"

Many of the Jedi assembled snickered at that, including Jaina. Why was she not surprised that it was those two who were late?

Lowie let out a series of a growls and the aid appeared at a loss for what the wookie had said.

"Can someone translate that, please?"

"He said we might as well get started since they're probably going to be late," Jacen answered.

She caught her twin's eye and found it very hard not to laugh. If her brother and Tahiri missed their own Knighting ceremony they would never live that down.

"Let's give them a few more minutes then," said the aide.

"If they don't show up, which one of us is going to explain their absence?" Jacen asked her.

"You can have that honor. I'll save my opportunity for when something similar happens to you and Tenal Ka," she teased.

Jacen made no response but his face turned a deep shade of red.

She heard what sounded like two people running and turned in time to see Anakin and Tahiri appear at the edge of their group; both were flushed face.

"Sorry, we're late," Tahiri burst out. "There was a turbolift out of order."

There was another course of snickers as not one person seemed to buy that excuse except for maybe the Chief of State's aide. He didn't seem to care what their excuse was, just that they were there now and could finally start. He forced all the assembled Jedi into a line up according to their name - except for Tenal Ka. The aide wanted her to come out first since she was the Queen Mother but the warrior girl would have none of that. For the ceremony, she was just a Jedi like everyone else. When it became clear she wouldn't budge, the aide gave up in frustration and continued to line the Jedi up.

"Glad you could make it," Jaina said to her younger brother.

"Considering how strong this connection thing is that you two have you would think by now you'd have mastered the ability to shield your mind from others," Alema chimed in, adding to Anakin's embarrassment.

Anakin glanced back at Tahiri searching for some kind of support but the look she gave him suggested this was his own fault.

"As we've rehearsed, please proceed to the front and remain lined up in front of the stage," the aide instructed the assembled Jedi. "Master Skywalker will make a short speech and then will proceed to call you up one by one."

Jaina noticed there were a few nerves among the group but that was not the most prevalent emotion. With so many different personalities present, there was everything from excitement to disbelief that they had actually survived. Sadness also registered for their comrades who hadn't made it. Jaina's thoughts turned to Zekk. His lightsaber hung opposite hers and no one had questioned why she had two with her.

The image of her darker self from a few weeks earlier still clung to her like a bad dream. She couldn't let something like that happen again – ever. Even before that there had been times when she had been so close to the edge, practically touching it, but had ignored all the warning signs.

Positivity used to be her strong suit but somewhere over the last four years she had lost that. She knew she would never again be the person she was before the war started – a sixteen year old Jedi trainee who's only worry was whether she had the right spare parts to fix her next ship project. She had seen and done too much for that to happen. Zekk's death still left a gaping hole inside her but looking around her then, she realized how lucky she was. Compared to most, she had escaped the war unscathed. The only loss to her family had been Chewie and while that too still hurt deeply, for once she chose to focus on what she did have – her brothers, parents, Uncle Luke, Aunt Mara, Ben, Kyp, Tenal Ka, Tahiri, Lowie, Jag – though she still stuck by her earlier decision not to pursue any kind of a romantic relationship with him – and so many others.

With those thoughts in mind, Jaina filed through the doors with the rest of the new generation of Jedi Knights. The Yuuzhan Vong war was over and a new era was beginning for all of them.

The End