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Jaina
Jaina resumed her vigil, holding her knees and looking at the floor. From a distance, it would look as though she was lost in herself, oblivious to the world. This was far from the truth. She was well aware of the feelings that were swirling around her. After she had fallen to the Dark Side, the force boundaries her former friends had put up around her meant nothing. She was now strong enough to push them aside as if they were feather-light, and she was careless enough to think nothing of it.
Jaina could feel that her brother was grieving inside, blaming himself for what happened. Jacen was always blaming himself for every thing that happened to Anakin, from scraping his knees to the mishap with centerpoint, to letting him go and be killed. Jacen was like their father. He had always felt a need to protect everyone, even if they did not need protecting. Jaina found this to be annoying at times, however, she could not forget how many times this quality in her younger sibling had saved her life. He was always there when she needed him; there had always been a warm force bond between them. Now, however, he felt as far away to her as home, and the warmth she was used to was gone, replaced by something akin to a damp cold rag. Jaina shivered, and pulled away from him. She longed to have the same relationship that she had always had with her brother, but that consanguinity had been severed when she fell on the dangerous side of the force. Something deep down inside her wanted to hurt Jacen for what he did to her. Why couldn't he just be like he always was? Why didn't he protect her family? Why didn't he protect her?
Jaina suddenly had an urge to hurt him. It came from somewhere deep in her psyche; somewhere she had never ventured before and didn't even know existed. She wanted to strangle him. She wanted to watch life drip slowly from his body, and marvel at the fact that she did it. Jaina felt darkness slowly rising in her, and she felt her left and get warm. Looking up for a moment, Jaina raised her hand and saw one, lone blue spark escape her fingertip.
The ex-pilot swallowed a cry, and bit down on her anger, pushing deep down inside her, until she no longer felt it. The heat-energy brought on by the dark side left her hand, and Jaina sighed. A quick look around the room confirmed what she had already felt. As she suspected, no one had noticed what had just happened. Did she just make that up? Was it all in her head? 'Am I going insane?' She thought. There was no way an incident of anger like that would go unnoticed in a room full of Jedi. No possible way. Another thing, she wasn't even angry with Jacen. 'Where did that come from?'
Leaving all of her silent questions unanswered, Jaina stretched out again, resolving to get her mind off her brother. The next person she found was Ganner. He was grieving a bit, but most of his emotions resembled relief. Relief that the mission was over and that he was safe. He was also anxious to get home to his girlfriend. Nothing interesting there. Jaina felt anger wash up again. This time it was centered on the fact that Ganner was not very concerned about her brother's death. Before her mind again got out of control for no apparent reason, Jaina moved on.
The next person Jaina found was Tahiri. The young girl was a complete emotional mess. Jaina could not get one clear thought from her. Thee girl's mind was completely shriveled up, as though she had gone insane. Not finding anything useful, Jaina left her to grieve.
Jaina didn't even bother trying to read Alema or Tesar. She had never been very good at reading non-human minds. The next and last person she came to was her ex-boyfriend, Zekk. Just as she suspected, he was thinking about her. 'Lusting after me, most likely'. She mused to herself.
When Jaina pressed deeper though, she found that not to be the truth. Zekk, for the first time in his life, seemed to be concerned about her. He wanted her back on the light side, and he had resolved to get her back there himself. This infuriated Jaina. It was not his place to even be thinking about her, much less resolving to change her life.
Zekk spoke suddenly, and Jaina drew back. " We are almost at Harnij." He said, turning around to fact her. "Are you sure you want to continue to Bastion?"
"Positive." She replied, her cold stare boring through him. Regardless, Zekk looked unfazed.
"Who do you know there, anyway?"
Jaina pulled a name out of her head. It wasn't just a random name; it was one that she had taken a bit of time to think about. It was a name that would strike Zekk where it hurt him the most, his heart. Jaina smiled as she imagined his face falling, his emotions getting the best of him. 'So he wants to pursue me? Let's see how he likes this one.'
So with Zekk looking at her expectantly, and the dark forces once again overwhelming her good judgement, Jaina let the name slip from her lips.
"Jagged Fel."

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Tahiri

She was cradled in Jacen's arms, unmoving, unfeeling. She had to keep herself emotionless, lest she would break down again. She didn't mind breaking down; really, it was more of a need to save everyone else. The lot of Jedi Knights were all grieving in their own way, and Tahiri knew that they didn't need her getting emotional all over them.
Tahiri had looked around the room once she had calmed down, and she saw her companions sitting around her. Jaina was glaring at the floor, unmoving. A cloud of darkness surrounded her, and Tahiri retreated, shivering. Ganner was sitting behind Jaina, on a bench. He locked eyes with the young girl, and nodded his head once, expressing his sympathy. Tahiri forced a small smile, and then turned away before he could see the tear that was running down her right cheek. She raised her hand, wiping away the tear, and then got out of Jacen's lap, walking towards the galley. He immediately awoke, and grabbed her hand, preventing her from leaving. A concerned look was on his face. Tahiri did not want to deal with his possessiveness, so she thought up an excuse to leave the lounge. She just wanted to be alone.
"Fresher." She mumbled, giving him a pleading look. After a moment, Jacen conceded and dropped Tahiri's hand, allowing her to leave. She walk-trotted out of the lounge and past the galley, into the sleeping quarters. There, she opened a maintenance hatch and climbed into the small compartment inside. The space was small, however, if she hugged her knees to her chest and rested her head against the bulkhead, she found her niche to be quite comfortable.
Tahiri wanted to cry. She wanted to loose herself in her tears as she had before, and leave the world behind her. No matter how much she tried, though, she was all cried out. As strange as it sounded, she had no more grief left inside of her. When she though about Anakin, her mind didn't go to the time when he had died, but to the pleasant moments that they had shared before he had died. Memories of Anakin as her friend, and as her boyfriend flooded back to her, and she could not help but smile at one memory in particular. They were sitting in a small space, very much like she was in now, and he had kissed her. As fast as that memory had come, it faded away, and was replaced with a different, but just as pleasant, one.
*****"Anakin!" She called, climbing out of the transport behind him. "Wait!" They were back from their encounter at the Verpine station, and they had just docked with the Errant Venture. After feeling his Aunt Mara's pain aboard the transport, he was in a hurry to rush to his side. Tahiri, seeing that Anakin had turned the corner out of the docking bay, looked back up the ship's ramp. Corran Horn was coming down, a bit unsteady on his feet. His envirosuit had decompressed after being hit by an amplistaff on the Verpine station. He had fallen unconscious then, and had just recently woken up. Tahiri hurried up the ramp and offered the aging Jedi her hand. Corran accepted, and they walked down the ramp together. Booster Terrik was at the bottom, waiting for them. He smiled at Tahiri, and then gave his son-in-law the once over.
" What in the hell happened to you?" He asked, raising his eyebrow.
"Long story." Corran grunted. He shrugged Tahiri's arm away, and stood, abet shakily, on his own two feet. Tahiri could tell that Booster was trying to keep a smile off his face.
"Well, whatever. You might as well come to the medical bay. That where everyone seems to be flocking today."
"Why is that?" Tahiri asked, interested. "Is Mara okay?"
"She's about as okay as she can be after giving birth." Booster replied, with a shrug of his shoulders.
"Mara had her baby?" Corran asked, perking up.
"Yes." Booster replied as he began to walk towards the medical bay. He motioned for the other two to follow him. "Your real quick, Horn, you know that?"
"Not now, Booster." Corran replied, glaring at the older man.
Tahiri smiled at the men's bickering, and allowed them to lead her to the medical bay. After pushing their way through the crowd of people at the door, they walked into the room. Mara Jade Skywalker was sitting up against massive pillows on a bed in the middle of the room. A crowd of about ten people were standing around her, cooing at the bundle in her arms. Anakin smiled at Tahiri, and motioned for her to come stand by him. She moved out of the way as Mirax Terrik dragged her injured husband away from the room and towards the medical droid.
Mara smiled as Tahiri came towards her, and pulled the blanket away from the baby's face so the girl could see it better. She smiled as she saw him. He was slightly pink, with bright green eyes and almost invisible downy blonde hair covering his head.
"What's his name?" Tahiri asked the new parents.
"Ben." Luke replied a smile on his tried face.
"That's perfect." Tahiri stated, giving a return smile of her own.
"May I hold him?" Anakin piped up, from behind her. Mara looked at him, and then raised an eyebrow.
"Sure, once you have taken two sonic showers." Anakin looked down at his stained, dirty envirosuit, and blushed.
"Sorry." He mumbled. Mara laughed.
"That's alright, honey. Go get cleaned up and then come back here in a few hours. He should be taking a nap now, anyway." Anakin, nodded, and turned to leave the room. Tahiri looked down at her own attire, and seeing that she was in the same predicament, quickly followed him. They crossed onto a turbolift, and then went up two levels to the living quarters. Anakin walked to his room, and keyed the lock open. As he did that, Tahiri slapped her face with her hand. Anakin looked at her questionably.
"What's wrong?" He asked. Tahiri kicked the door to her room, which was directly across the hall from Anakin's, and then walked over to him, rolling her eyes.
"My keys aren't in my pocket." She said, annoyed. ' I think I left them in the transport." Tahiri mentally kicked herself again, and then started to walk down the hall.
"Wait!" Tahiri turned around, and she saw Anakin waving her back. "It will take forever to go all the way back to the docking bay to find your keys. Just come get ready in my room." She shrugged, and followed him into his room. He closed and locked the door behind him, and then turned on the lights. Anakin sat on his bed, pulled his boots off, and then got up again.
"I going to take a shower." He announced. "I won't be long." Tahiri nodded, and he disappeared into the fresher.
Tahiri watched the door close behind him, and let a small sigh escape her lips. Much had happened between them in the last few days, more than had ever happened in the entire five years that they had known each other. He kissed her. Well, they had kissed, but he had initiated it. It happened in a storage locker on the Verpine station. They thought that they were about to die, and with no warning, he touched her cheek, and then brought his lips to hers. It had been nice. Weird, but nice. After a few more kisses, they decided that if they survived, they would figure out where they were in their relationship. In hyperspace, on the transport ship, they had discussed what had happened between them. Anakin told her that it had not been a mistake, and that he had feelings for her. Tahiri had confesses similar emotions, and they resolved to talk about it more later. Partly because they knew that Corran was probably lurking in the shadows listening to them, and partly because there was not much they could do in envirosuits.
Now that they were alone again, Tahiri was a bit shaky. What would happen when he came out of the fresher? What would he say? What would they do? Tahiri shook he head clear of these thoughts, and laughed lightly. What was wrong with her? This was Anakin, for gods' sakes. He had been her friend and confidant for the last five years, and she had never been apprehensive about him before. Tahiri squeezed her eyes shut and laid back on the bed. She stretched her arms out above her head, and tried to calm herself down. She did a few Jedi breathing exercises, and then listened to the steady sound of the shower in the next room.
For all the good that did. After thinking about the shower, an image of Anakin naked popped into her mind. Tahiri groaned in despair, and turned over on her stomach, putting a pillow over her head. She was trying so hard to block the image from her mind that she didn't hear the water turn off, or a moment later sense him coming into the room.
"What are you doing to my pillow?" He teased, drying his hair off with a towel. Tahiri started, and then turned around and glared at him. He had put on a fresh gray coverall, and his feet were bare.
"Very funny." She retorted, filliping her legs over the edge of the bed and then sitting up.
"Are you okay?" He asked, walking towards her. Anakin sat on the bed next to her, so their thighs touched. Tahiri moved a bit to the left so she had some space and was more comfortable.
"Yes." She responded. "Why do you ask?"
"Well, you seem…weird."
"How so?"
"For one thing you just moved away from me when I sat by you, and second you are acting like a scared womp rat." Tahiri glared at him.
"I am not."
"Fine, whatever." Anakin bent over and picked up his boots then started to pull them on. He didn't even get past the first one when Tahiri found that she could not contain herself anymore and spoke up.
"How can you act so calm?"
"Huh?" She turned so she was facing him, bending her knee and putting one leg up on the bed.
"Don't you even remember what happened between us?"
"Yes. I remember." He responded, working on his other boot.
"Well, we said we were going to talk about it."
"So let's talk." Tahiri looked at him, and then scowled.
"Well, I'm not going to talk to you if you're not even looking at me." He threw his boot down, exasperated, and looked at her.
"Here!" He said, raising his hands. "I'm looking at you. Talk."
"Don't yell at me." Anakin lowered his eyes for a moment. He looked back up at her, and said,
"I'm sorry. What do you want to talk about?"
"I want to know where we are." She stated honestly. "You kissed me in the storage locker, then we talked about it a bit on the transport, and now you act as though nothing has happened."
"I'm not trying to push you away Tahiri. And don't shake you head, I know that's what you are thinking." He sighed, and looked up at the ceiling. "I guess I've been thinking about you in a new way lately. Like, a girlfriend, not just a friend. I started to have feelings about you. And then, a few months ago, when I thought I had lost you to the Vong, all of those feelings rushed up to me, and I've never really thought of you as a friend since. That's why I kissed you in that storage locker." His feelings out in the open, Anakin looked back down and locked eyes with her. Tahiri smiled, and he blushed and looked down again. She laughed to herself, and leaned into him, lifting his chin up with her hand so she would look at him. Once again, his blue eyes locked with her green ones, and he leaned foreword, putting a hand behind her head. He drew her in, and their lips met.

*******.
Tahiri was knocked out of her reverie when she heard a voice calling her name. Se realized that it was Jacen, and she opened the compartment, and got out.
"There you are." He said with a smile. "Are you okay?" Tahiri nodded, and allowed him to take her hand and lead her back into the lounge.
"You have to get strapped in." He said. "We are about to jump out of hyperspace at Bastion." Tahiri nodded, and sat down on a bench in the lounge, strapping herself in. Memories of Anakin would have to wait until later.
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