Beyond - Legends The Table Was Crowded... (L/M, AU) [update 3/22]

Nyota’s Heart: Thank you!

Hazel: Thank you, Hazel.

dancing_star: Star!!!!! Good to see ya!!! Thank you.

Falcon: Sweet, and not bitter-sweet. Not at all. And that’s what I love about it. Hee. Thank you, JediFalcon.


Update tonight.

 

It was three hours into her shift when oddness turned up in the form of a courier with a thick package who refused to give it to her. The clerk sighed. “You won’t or can’t?”

The courier, who was from a species she’d not seen before, shook his head. “I was ordered to give this only to the patient.”

She frowned at him before pulling out her list of requests still pending… and then her hazel eyes widened and she pulled the slip of paper off the request it had been attached to. Showing him the slip with the information that had started the request on its way, she asked… “Is it this one?”

He read it and then nodded. “It is.”

She smiled. “Ah. Where’d you come here from?”

“Polis Massa. It’s not…” He paused. “Not that far, all things considered.”

She nodded and turned to look at one of her fellow clerks, who’d been watching with interest. “I’ll be back in a while. Have to go find a nurse.”

The other clerk chuckled and waved her off. “Oh, go on. Come back after lunch.”

“That’s two hours.”

“Are you complaining?”

“Not at all.”

“Good, because it might take that long to find the right nurse.”

~*~*~*~*~

Jaelle was busy going over an inventory list at the nurses station when the records clerk approached her with another person, and when she looked up, she discovered it was someone from a species with which she was unfamiliar. One whom was holding a thick package. “Um…”

“If I understand it right, he can’t give it, whatever it is, to me or you,” the clerk told her frankly. “Needs to give it to the patient in particular.”

Jaelle stared at her for a very long moment. “And it’s...”

“Your records request, yes.”

“Ah.” She peered at the courier. “You really have to give it to the patient?”

“Yes,” the courier answered in an accent that was definitely non-Nubian. “I have specific instructions. Blood relative, family member, or patient themselves.”

As she got up from the desk she’d been sitting at, Jaelle was very glad that this was happening today and not last week or next week. She went down several doors to the room where Mara was, and looked in to find the man she sought sleeping in the reclining chair beside the bed while her mother and Mara talked amicably. “Um... Mara? I kind of need Luke out here.”

Mara glanced at him before frowning at her. “It’ll be a while.”

“Can’t you wake him?” The frown deepened and Jaelle winced. “Right. Sorry.” Just then, the courier cleared his throat and Jaelle turned back to look at him. “What?”

“He’s in there?”

“Yes.”

The courier wordlessly stepped around her, went to Luke’s side, pulled out a small familiar device, and read the information from Luke’s intradermal tag. Nodding in satidfaction, he stood back up and looked at Mara. “Are you his wife?”

“I am,” Mara answered dubiously.

“Then you are a family member and I can give this to you,” he said as he handed it to her and then pulled out a datapad. “Thumbprint for chain of custody, please.” Mara obliged him, and he nodded to her again respectfully.

Mara frowned suddenly, his wording, and the seal on the package, stirring memories of official actions from the Imperial Court. “Diplomatic Courier?”

“Yes.”

Mara nodded in understanding and watched him go. Then she saw the clerk standing at the door with Jaelle. “Thank you.”

“Aren’t you going to open it?” Jaelle asked impatiently.

“Not mine to open,” Mara told her as she glanced at Widia. “Diplomatic rules apply.”

The older woman smiled. “That they do.” She looked at the records clerk. “Come on over here, I can see that you’re curious.” The clerk blinked at the invitation, but entered the room and came over to look at the baby. “You must not get to see this side of things very often.”

The clerk smiled down at the baby and shook her head. “No. Usually, it’s just words on a computer screen, or numbers, or… you know. Not the actual seeing of patients.” Then she nodded to Mara and left the room.

Mara glanced down at what she now knew was a diplomatic pouch, and wondered why anyone would send records in something like this. Whatever the reason, it could wait until her husband woke up.


TBC...

 

I enjoyed the air of mystery; I'm glad Luke will get to see the inside of the package, and the rest of us.

 

A mysterious diplomatic package? My curiosity has been peeked. What's in the package and how could you stop it there


more soon

 

A mystery package... how can Mara resist?

 

Nyota's Heart: Oh, he will... Thank you.

Falcon: As pointed out over PM... it's not a mystery. Just for the charas. And... more? Working on it. Thank you.

Hazel: Not all that easily, probably... Thank you, Hazel.


Next update... probably this weekend, depending on what we're doing on my birthday.

 

A/N: We’ll be getting to the diplomatic package soon enough, but for now… update!!!!

~*~*~*~

As a child, there had been a game she’d often had to play. It was called ‘the waiting game,’ and was usually played in such a way that was not only uncomfortable, but incredibly memorable. The lesson usually began with a lecture that boiled down to “There’s a moment. All you have to do, your only job, is to wait for it,” and ended with her somewhere she never wanted to be. It didn’t ever matter what moment or thing she was waiting for, just that there would be waiting for something involved in some form or another.

It never mattered where she had to go, either… even if it was a revolting sewage waste tunnel far underground. The lesson had always been the same… and she always had to wait for it. A cold, miserable hour on a rooftop, a night in the darkness in a smelly tunnel far underground, waiting for just the right moment to ricochet a blast up an out take tube… or dancing for a crime lord, waiting for a moment of opportunity that would never come.

It was that lesson that came to mind now as she watched her mother singing softly to the newborn baby girl in her arms. She had a question which had been trying to force it’s way past her lips for weeks, but the time had never been right to ask. Now, here with just the two of them while her husband slept on in the healing trance… now felt right to ask.

“Why didn’t you come and get me?”

For a ceaseless, unending span of time, her mother froze and simply blinked down at the infant in her arms, and Mara wondered if she’d really spoken the words at all.

When she finally did reply, Widia did not raise her head and look at her, and her voice was nearly a whisper. A very controlled whisper. “What did Vima look like when she caught up to you?”

Mara frowned. What did that have to do with anything? “A really raggedy homeless street person. Why?”

“That’s why we didn’t rush headlong into danger. Didn’t do anything, really, except get drafted into the Nubian resistance.” At Mara’s answering silence, Widia finally looked at her, and the unbridled emotions in the woman’s eyes startled and stunned her. “I wanted nothing more than to go and get you, to steal you back just as you had been taken, stolen from us, but… we would have been rushing headlong into danger without any back-up to speak of.” Mara stared at her, not quite understanding at first what she meant. “The Purges, Mara. It wasn’t just one or two or ten that were killed. It was very nearly the entire Jedi Order. And we weren’t trained as warriors, but as scientists.”

Mara continued to stare at her. Everybody? Slowly, little things about Vima’s observed began to make sense. “So that’s why someone, anyone, calling for help, would have gotten Vima’s attention. It meant there was someone out there who could ask. Who knew how to ask.”

“Exactly.”

Mara nodded slowly. “I think I understand.”

“Understand what?” the doctor asked from the now-open door, startling them both.

Widia smiled slightly at the sight of her son-in-law. “A mystery that needed answering, Nerun.”

“Ah.” He came to her side and looked down at the infant, then at her mother, then at the still-sleeping Luke. “Mara?”

“It’s a healing trance,” she told him curtly. “I woke him at an early hour with labor-induced violence, and I could feel the soreness… after.”

Nerun frowned as he took in that information, obviously not sure what to think. “Oh. I was going to set about discharging you, but…”

“Shouldn’t be too long before he wakes,” she offered. “And I’d really rather not have to spend the night again unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

He looked at Widia, then looked back at Mara. “It’s not. I’ll go and get the process started.”

~*~*~*~*~

Renna watched as the shuttle set down, wanting to shake her head in disbelief that they’d been incommunicado for so long, but then maybe the politics had been interesting. She smiled when her brother and his wife saw her waiting for them and shared nearly the same look of surprise.

“Weren’t you going to be on that project for eight months?” Alena wondered when they got close enough.

Renna chuckled. “Something came up and Jaelle commed me in the small hours of the morning. Cryptically.” She glanced at her brother, who was holding three travel bags to Alena’s small one. “And you’re an uncle again. How was the summit?”

“Educational,” he grunted as she took one of the bags from him. Then he paused, frowned, looked her up and down. “Wait. What?”

Renna simply smiled in return as she led the way to the speeder.

~*~*~*~

When Luke awoke, it was to his brother-in-law studying him and poking around at his shoulder at close range, and he couldn’t help but stare at the man. “Nerun, I’m not your patient.”

The doctor chuckled and continued to examine him. “For right now, you are. Mara wanted me to check your shoulder.”

Luke looked past him to find Mara sitting on the bed in non-hospital issue clothing, holding their daughter. “It’s fine.”

“Let me be the judge of that, if you don’t mind,” Nerun told him pointedly. “Especially since you slept through having vitals taken by three different nurses, food trays coming and going, a diplomatic courier turning up to confirm your identity with a scanner, and everybody talking and visiting in here while meeting your newborn.”

Startled, Luke blinked at him. “It was a healing technique.”

“Which, until Mara finally explained that she injured you when she went into labor, actually reminded me of a coma, and not some Jedi thing.” Nerun sat back and regarded him with calm, if slightly irate, brown eyes. “I can’t find anything wrong with your shoulder.”

“Good,” Mara said from behind him. “Thank you, Nerun.”

He turned and looked at her, smiled. “And now that he’s awake, you’re free to go.”

Luke watched the man stand up and leave the room. “Are all medics like that, or do I just seem to catch them on off days?”

Mara laughed. “Be glad you weren’t at Pinnacle Base. We had a medic run away screaming because of Rogue Squadron’s mascot, and Cam, suffering from having been attacked by his patient.”

Luke frowned at her. “What mascot?”

“Janson has a stuffed Ewok toy and made Roganda carry it around with her due to an anger issue.”

“Oh. And Cam?”

“Quest jumped him, gave him really specific amnesia, and managed to escape with drugs.” Mara moved to stand, and sighed when Jaelle appeared at the door with a wheelchair. “I am not sitting in that thing. I can walk.”

Jaelle smiled at her. “I’m sure you can, but it’s policy. Humor me.”

She motioned to Luke. “How about he sits in it, then?”

Jaelle looked at Luke appraisingly, smirked when he shook his head, and looked at Mara again. “Nope. Besides, Mom and Dad are waiting with the speeder outside, and Dad threatened to recite every plant genus he knows backwards in reverse alphabetical order if you protested sitting in the wheel chair.”

“Backwards?”

“Yep!”

Mara considered that possibility for a moment as she handed her one and only bag they’d brought to the medical center, and the baby bag given to them by the hospital. “In which language?” At Jaelle’s good-natured laugh, she sighed. “All right, fine. Stupid wheel chair it is.”

Luke followed them, wondering what it was that Mara had against being wheeled anywhere.



TBC…

 

Wonderful moments & conversations among family.

 

We had a medic run away screaming because of Rogue Squadron’s mascot,


Love it

and Dad threatened to recite every plant genus he knows backwards in reverse alphabetical order if you protested sitting in the wheel chair.”

Just the thought of this will make anyone listen

More soon

 

Wow,im can't believe I've missed so much, absolutely amazing by the way.

 

Nyota's Heart : Thank you.

Falcon : Thank you.

Tevase2 : Thanks.


A/N: Way later than I meant it to be... yep! Update!!!! (Though I choose to both blame and thank my Psych teacher for DWB finally releasing it's annoying grip...)


Eight or Ten Weeks Ago...
Sacorria


She entered her living room to find Rala staring at a painting she'd done in those first few months on Sacorria, and frowned. "Not that I'm not happy to see you, Rala, but usually it's not the wee hours of the morning when you drop by."

Rala snorted in derisive laughter. "True. I just had to look at this thing again, to see it for myself."

Taloh blinked. "What?"

"And speaking up being up way early, why are you?"

"I'm always up this early, Rala."

"Ah."

"And Amos has been having nightmares of things exploding."

Rala frowned. "Things exploding?"

"And people dying." She shrugged. "It made no sense."

Rala turned and looked at her thoughtfully. "Ordinarily it wouldn't, no. But a planet was blown up recently. When did the nightmares start? Say... eight to ten weeks ago?"

She blinked, surprised. "Why... yes. He's been having them less often, though. So... what blew up?"

Rala simply looked at her for a moment before sitting down on the couch with a sigh. "You've not heard of the place, but... Dantooine. Sparely populated, very out of the way..."

"And you know this... how?"

"I hacked into the NRI network."

"Rala!"

"What? I was bored!"


Now...
Naboo


Two hours and meeting the brother who had been off-planet at a Sector Confrence the entire time they'd been on Naboo later, Mara was settled into bed in what had become their bedroom at her parent's house. Luke watched as she nursed their daughter, wondering if someone had told him a year ago that this would be his family... if he'd have laughed in their faces or not.

"I would have," Mara told him quietly, causing him to blink at her in confusion. "We've both wondered the same thing, and I can feel your uncertainty."

"Oh."

"And I nearly did, actually, when I had a Force-induced vision." She smiled down at the infant girl. "Of her. You saw me with Dark Star, I saw myself at a window overlooking the street outside the hospital while holding a baby and talking to my mother."

Luke slowly stood up from his chair and then bent over and kissed her, at once understanding her reaction when he'd asked her about it originally, and then carefully sat down on the bed next to her. "Oh."

"Happened today," she told him. "While you were sleeping."

Luke kissed her again and Mara smiled against his lips, enjoying the moment. When they parted, she was still smiling. "What?"

"There's a diplomatic pouch that arrived for you earlier in my bag, and I'm curious, because it was obviously under an eyes-only classification, or the courier would have been able to give it either to the nearest embassy, or the medical records clerk who sent the request out."

As Luke went to get the requested item out of the bag in question, he frowned. A records request that resulted in a diplomatic pouch? That didn't make any sense! It made even less sense when he sat back down in the chair by the bed and got a good look at the seal on the front. Alderaan?!?

"Really?" Mara asked of his silent exclamation.

He showed it to her, the fact that she'd heard his internal confusion not even phasing him in the slightest. "Leia has a pendant with this exact crest, and I've seen it any number of times at the Alderaanian Embassy on Coruscant."

Readjusting her hold on their daughter, Mara scooted a little father over to allow Luke room as he opened the pouch and layed out the contents on the bed. At one small baggie containing what were obviously datachips, he frowned. "What would memory chips for Threepio be doing in this?"

Mara blinked and frowned at the label when he handed it to her. "Weird."

"Maybe not," Luke replied as he kept pulling things out. The last one was a small piece of tech in a baggie, labelled as a journal for someone named "Padme." The device was rectangular, small, and had a screen.

Finished nursing for now, Mara carefully laid their daughter on her other side and then picked up the envelope closest to her with Luke's name on it, opened it to reveal several sheets of flimsie. Studying the one on top, she frowned. "This is your birth certificate."

"It is?"

"Yes." She shuffled through the flimsies and her frown deepened. "Medical report on you, paper work releasing you to be placed with your family, Owen and Beru Lars on Tatooine, under their Guardianship." She glanced at him. "They would have recieved something like this, right?"

Luke shrugged. "Neither one ever told me much." He picked up the one with Leia's name on it and opened it to find another birth certificate, a medical report, and... "Adoption and name change?" He peered at the dates on the adoption paperwork, then frowned again and actually read the medical report. "Oh. I... oh."

"What 'oh'?"

"Our mother died in childbirth, with Obi-Wan in attendance. And... they note him as having been treated for minor burns." Luke paused and looked at her. "As incongrous as those two things sound, it actually does make sense."

Mara frowned back at him. "It does?"

Luke nodded. "From what little evidence I could find when I finally started looking into things, the carbon scoring I cleaned off of Artoo initially could have come from somewhere very hot, with lava."

Mara blinked in surprise. "Lava?"

"So if there was lava, then burns make sense."

A pale face flashed up at her from the bond, one scarred... and bald. Mara's frown deepened. "It's not just carbon scoring on an astromech that's making you think that."

"No, it isn't."

Mara glanced down at the birth certificate still in her hand and read it thoughtfully. "I wonder..." She set the certificate down and reached for the personal computer that Widia had given her to use, and looked something up. "Ah-hah! You've got relatives."

Now it was Luke's turn to blink in surprise. "What?"

"That's right. Relatives! And now we know why Jaelle was so insistent on getting your records... those Force urgings can be down-right pushy sometimes."

"How do you know it was the Force?"

"How do you know it wasn't?"

"Good point."

~*~*~*~

The morning had dawned bright and clear, if somewhat chilly, and now Luke understood why Mara had been hesitant when it came to actually knocking on her parent's door. They were standing on what was possibly his grandparent's doorstep, and he wanted to turn around and forget they'd considered doing this at all.

Mara finally rolled her eyes at him and did the knocking for him with the arm that wasn't cradling their daughter securely. [Once was enough, Luke.]

He chuckled nervously. [Thank you. I still think Leia should be here with us.]

[We could have waited until tomorrow, but you were getting impatient. We could still-] The door opened, effectively cutting her off in mid-thought. [Or not.]

The woman standing there was older, but there wasn't much gray in her brown hair, and Mara was reminded of Mon Mothma for some odd reason. Maybe it was her confused expression just barely hidden behind a mask of professionalism. "Can I... help you?"

Luke nodded slowly. "We're looking for my grandparents."

She frowned at him. "What?"

Mara sighed, knowing how it sounded. "Luke, you're confusing her. Ma'am, we recieved information a couple days ago that led us here to your doorstep. Can we come in and share it with you?"

The woman considered it for long moments, then stepped aside and motioned them to come in. "Of course. I would love to hear your story."

~*~*~*~*~

The woman led them to a family room where an elderly woman was folding laundry. "Who was it, Sola?"

Sola's lips quirked. "Someone claiming to be your grandson, Mother."

The elderly woman paused in folding a shirt and looked up at them, her eyes going from one person to the next before settling on Sola. "Huh?"

Luke handed the diplomatic pouch he'd been holding to Sola, who in turn gave it to her mother with reluctance. "Leia should be here for this, but..."

"Luke was impatient," Mara confided as she sat down carefully in a chair across from Jobal with a wince. Standing for long periods of time still hurt.

Jobal frowned down at the seal on the pouch, clearly recognizing the significance. Opening it, she began to pull flimsie after flimsie from it while Sola moved the already-folded laundry to a waiting basket. She studied the documents in silence with wide eyes for long minutes before raising her head to look at Luke, then at Mara, and then at the baby in Mara's arms. "Is that my grandchild?"

Mara carefully stood up again, went to her, and handed the infant girl to her great-grandmother with a smile. "Her name is Neesta."

Jobal took the baby in her arms and simply looked at her as she absorbed the reality the situation. When she looked up again, her gaze met Luke's and she couldn't help but smile. There would be time for talking later, but for now, there was a grandson smiling back at her and a great-granddaughter to hold.


TBC...

 

Fantastic! I love locating long lost relatives type stories. Heart-warming. I can well believe Luke was impatient.

 

Sich a sweet update! ♥♥

 

Nyota's Heart and Hazel: Thank you both.

 

A/N: One... back story for this update can be found here and here. Two... I promised MirandaFair I'd put out a warning for hilarity. Warning issued. Enjoy.


Six years on...


It was a busy, but not very crowded, day at the Senate District shopping center as Ailee escorted her charge to the monstrosity that called itself Ewok Fun Land. She'd only been there once, on a medical call while working flight detail, and she had hated it then. The place was very... perky. Also terrifying. What had possessed Roganda to hold a child's birthday party there, she'd never know. At least, and she had this on good authority, there would be no clowns. Roganda, apparently, could not stand clowns.

"So why do you use a pen for a light?" Neesta suddenly asked her, and Ailee glanced down at the five year old walking beside her, who had spent the morning at Coruscant General with her due to General Solo being a little too overwhelmed with children, and Minister of State Organa Solo helping Roganda set up for the party.

Ailee smiled, then continued to scan the area as they walked. "To..." Just then, a woman passing out and being caught and lowered to the floor caught her attention, and she scooped Neesta into her arms and rushed over to them. "I'm a medic, can I help?" She set the child down again as the woman with red-streaked blond hair glanced up at her, nodded.

"She seems fine, but another opinion is always good."

Just then, the patient gasped and sat up, blinking at them. She looked at the man next to her. "Sorry."

"Don't be. Could have happened to anyone," he told her. "I was about to break out the smelling salts, though." At that, Ailee frowned. What would this guy be doing with smelling salts?

The patient shuddered. "Ugh." Then she turned her attention to Ailee herself and stared. "Ailee?"

Ailee frowned again at the familiarity. "How do you know my name? I didn't say."

The patient turned her attention to Neesta, who was crouching with them, and stared. "Ranko?"

"What?"

"This isn't the same place. It really, really isn't." She moved to get up, at which Ailee put a hand on her shoulder and shook her head, and the woman's eyes went blank for a moment before she pushed her hand away. "I'm fine, all right? You don't need to go all medic on me."

"Let me be the judge of that," Ailee said as she pulled out a pen light. She'd not been planning on giving a demonstration with the pen light for the kid, but... "Follow this with your eyes, please? Up, down, to the side... other side. Thank you. Now... how many fingers?"

"Two."

"Good. You can get up now if you want to."

The patient rolled her eyes and got up with assistance from the man next to her. "Thanks."

Ailee glanced at the little girl. "Well, munchkin? Still want to go to Ewok Fun Land after this?"

The little girl nodded. "Yes! I wanna go, Ailee!"

She sighed. So, so close! "Then we will go... after I found out how you know my name, ma'am." She looked hard at the woman, who glanced at her companion. "And what do you mean by this not being the same place as before?"

She shook her head. "It's a long story, and I'd rather not say."

Ailee glanced around, sighing. "Great." She bent down to look the little girl in the eyes. "Do you mind if we put it off an hour or two, Neesta?"

At that, for some reason, the patient's companion chuckled. "We took a left turn at Albuquerque, didn't we? Wow..."

Another of their group laughed. "Chris, that explanation only works for Bugs Bunny."

And then another voice spoke up: "Oddly appropriate, though."

At the familiar voice, Ailee looked and blinked at who she saw. "Rala, what are you and Whuki doing here? You never come to Coruscant!"

Before Rala could reply and make things more confusing, Susan held up a hand. "Stop. I think I know where we are. Frisbee, please." Rala gave it to her and she studied the indicator reading, then she chuckled. "Ah. Well... crap. I guess I have to explain after all."

Rala frowned at her. "Huh?"

"Your mom landed here." She looked at Ailee, who was looking at her with narrowed eyes. "Eight to ten years ago, right?"

"The hospital tourist..." Ailee muttered as she stood and helped Elsie up off the ground in doing so. "Yes. It has been that long. About."

The woman with the red-streaked blonde hair held up a hand. "Wait. Rala's mother landed here? Ten years ago? And... okay. Confused now." She looked down at Neesta, frowned at the child's facial features and her hair coloring... "And why do I get the feeling that I've met her parents?"

"You know Mama and Daddy?" Neesta asked.

"Because you do," The patient told her. "You fell asleep during their wedding reception."

"Oh."

"I, unfortunately, did not." She bent down and looked Neesta in the eyes, which Ailee was finding really odd. "It's good to see you, Little Needle. And yes... we know your parents. Sort of. In a way."

"Stop!" Ailee interrupted. "Just... stop. Or I swear I'll give up accepting weirdness again."

Rala frowned. "Again?"

"Yes. Again. Really, now. Rala, what are you doing here?"

Rala frowned and looked at Susan, who shrugged. "We're on our way home the long way from a mission. And I have no idea who you are. Yet. So... accident?"

Ailee took that in as she took cleansing breaths. "Oh. You are so going to have some explaining to do later." Then something one of them had said caught up to her and she looked at the hospital tourist. "And what do you mean her mother?"

Susan sighed. "This isn't the time, and weren't you going somewhere? And can we go with? I didn't get to see Ewok Fun Land yet, as we were helping make a wedding happen when we were last on Coruscant."

Oh. Right. The party! "I... guess."

~*~*~*~

Roganda frowned as she saw Ailee arriving with Neesta... and a group of people in black jumpsuits that would have looked military-ish if it hadn't been for the different colored piping on each one. "That's odd."

Leia glanced at her from where she was sorting through party favors. "What is?"

"Them."

Leia followed Roganda's line of sight and also frowned. "You're right."

Ailee reached them and sighed. "I think I have a situation to deal with, but first... Rala? Come here!"

Rala joined them with a very confused expression. "What? I've met Leia before."

Ailee chuckled. "Roganda, Leia... meet Ralarna Trason, my sister-in-law's niece."

At that, Rala blinked in surprise. "What?" Then she blinked again and stared at Roganda. "Oh... crap. Double crap."

Roganda laughed at her reaction, then held out her hand in greeting, which Rala shook hesitantly. "Not the usual way people say hello, but... all right. Good to meet you, Ralarna."

"Your reputation precedes you," Rala muttered before smiling. "And someday this will make sense to me, probably. Good to meet you, too."

Ailee motioned back to the group she'd entered with. "Rala didn't warn me they'd be dropping in, so..."

"Didn't warn you?" Leia wondered. "Was she supposed to? And why are you talking about her like she's not standing right here?"

"Because apparently I'm crossing my own timeline and decided to be mean," Rala explained unhelpfully. "And I had a choice to make... which I already did, if I'm understanding everything right. I hate causality loops!"

Roganda frowned and looked at Ailee. "What's a causality loop?"

Before Ailee could answer, Rala chuckled. "This. This is a causality loop."

Ailee smiled. "When you're already here and have been for ten years?"

"Apparently. So... need any help with the finishing setting up?"

Roganda shook her head. "Nope. Mostly done now..." She looked down at Neesta, who was watching them intently. "It's just too bad your parents aren't back yet. They're missing cake!"

"And cheesy surroundings," Rala muttered as she looked around the restuarant that had clearly been decorated for kids with an Endor theme. "Does this have..." Right then, the music started and dancing Ewoks came out of little doors in the walls. "Ah. It does."

Ailee winced. "Did it seriously have to be here?!?"

Roganda simply smiled at her. "Yes. Think you'll be able to last?"

"Not. Funny."

~*~*~*~

On Sacorria, a woman making breakfast pauses and looks at her wall-mounted calendar for a moment in question. Seeing the date, she allowed herself a moment to chuckle in memory of the confusion had what now felt like a lifetime ago. It hadn't been completely her choice not to warn the medic, but then... apparently she hadn't the first time around, either.

Arms wrapped her shoulders from behind and she continued making breakfast. "It's today."

"I know. Think we should call?"

"Nope. No need to add to the confusion."

~*~*~*~

Ranko sighed as she sat down at one of the tables and looked at Susan. "So when were you planning on telling me something other than 'the situation handled itself,' huh?"

"Well... it did. Sort of. And the ships we didn't blow up were actually extra ones from here," Susan told her.

"Here?"

"Yes."

"Oh. No wonder it was early."

"Exactly." Susan paused, frowning. "And... wait. What did Elsie mean by it being unfortunate that she didn't pass out from exhaustion during the reception? It was a good reception!"

"I can answer that," Dawn said as she joined them at their table, nodded toward where the medic, Leia, and Roganda were now hosting a lively birthday party. "The medic and the little girl."

Susan frowned at her. "What about 'em?"

"They were ghosts at the reception. That's why Elsie fainted when we got here... when last we saw Ailee and Neesta, they were translucent."

Susan considered that for a moment. "Oh. Makes sense now. I think."

"Thought it might," Dawn muttered.

"If you knew that, why didn't you explain?" Ranko wondered.

Dawn smiled. "And make for more confusion? No." She glanced back toward the party. "Only we could go on an emergency call, blow things up, end up at a wedding, get kidnapped by Rita Repulsa for a second time, and, among other things, also end up at a birthday party thrown by Roganda Ismaren on our way home."

"Team bonding done right is not without it's perils."

"Well... yes, but usually there's less kidnapping by evil sorceresses." Dawn paused, glanced at Ranko. "Still want to play that round of golf?"

"Heavens, yes."

~*~*~*~

A week later, portal charged up, the Wave Rangers left Coruscant for a second time while Ailee watched. It had been an interesting experience, having them around... if odd. It was only after that she suddenly realized who Ralarna had meant, years before, when she'd been talking about 'golf' over messaging. She was still wondering what 'golf' was...

~*~*~

To: Black Wave
From: Stitches
Re: You Forgot?!?

Rala, when I come home next time, you have some explaining to do. Seeing you here is one thing, but... evil! Very evil! (And I want to know why your friend who fainted wouldn't stop staring at Neesta and I. She's creepy.)

-Ailee

To: Stitches
From: Black Wave
Re: No, I did not forget...

It was a choice between telling you or not, and I left it to Tally to decide... she decided that we wouldn't have told you the first time around. Sort of: we didn't tell you because we didn't tell you. So... blame her.

As for Elsie... would you believe me if I told you? Probably not. Know that she had every right to be shocked, and also that Darvis did something and something else did not happen because he did it. Why do I know that? Same reason she was staring at you, you wonderful person.

-Rala
To: Black Wave
From: Stitches
Re: Evil, evil...

If I'm so wonderful, why are you hedging instead of giving me a straight answer?

To: Stitches
From: Black Wave
Re: I am not evil, it just looks that way...

There are many answers to that, I'm former (and somewhat present) military, and some things are best left to silence. This is one of those. Leave it there, please.

To: Black Wave
From: Stitches
Re: Right...

So the thing that Darvis did... was it good?

To: Stitches
From: Black Wave
Re: Not-evil things and partial answers...

Yes, dear medic. It was. (Ask your mother-in-law sometime about missing person cases having to do with the Double Worlds. That's all I'm going to say on the matter. All I need to say, really.)

To: Black Wave
From: Stitches
Re: Someday, maybe this week will make sense...

Huh... she said that he solved a mystery after having nightmares. Still wondering why you think that what he did was "awesome," and what that had to do with her sending him lightsaber parts that compromised his identity.

To: Stitches
From: Black Wave
Re: Mysteries

**sigh** Think this through... you were there when he had the nightmares, Ailee. How did he act upon seeing you? Reminiscent, I think, of my team mate's behavior, yes? You're smart, you can piece the rest together for yourself. And he saved at least one life... so, yes. Awesome.

Quote for you: "Whoever saves one life, saves the world entire."

To: Black Wave
From: Stitches
Re: Oh...

You're right. I'm better off not really knowing, though I really would rather argue the point that you tell me everything. Thank you, though, for hinting enough to help me understand. I remember him being very spooked for days, and Moira wouldn't explain it as anything more than a "missing persons case" that was brutal. And now... now they don't need to explain. I get it. Or think I do, anyway.

What is that quote from?

To: Stitches
From: Black Wave
Re: The things best left to silence...

...are not usually involving solved missing persons cases, but in this case, it is one of those. And I wish I could tell you why, Ailee, but... while I am not in the medical profession, or was I ever, I did take an oath to protect and do no harm where possible. This is possible, so this I'm doing.

As for the quote... I'll save that for your next visit home, I think. It's a story best told in person. It's kind of tied in with Aunt Tally, really.

To: Black Wave
From: Stitches
Re: So I'm going to be wondering for a bit...

Tied in with my sister-in-law, hmmm? Must be an interesting one. Those usually are... although I really hope this story does not involve (again) odd things like blowing up buildings and monsters that shape-shift.

To: Stitches
From: Black Wave
Re: **grin**

Nope! That's a whole other story. This one... well, things blew up, but there weren't any monsters that shape-shifted. Just... people. And, again, this is best told in person.

~*~*~*~*~

At the landing pad, Ailee waited with Leia and Neesta as the ship landed. She wasn't entirely sure why she'd joined them for welcoming Luke and Mara home, but something told her it was important. As soon as Neesta caught sight of her parents, she ran to them, and Mara caught her child in her arms and swooped her up. "Hello to you, too!"

Neesta giggled. "Missed you!"

Luke ruffled her hair and did not hide his smile as they came closer. "Anything interesting happen while we were gone?"

Neesta nodded exuberantly. "Met new people! One of them fainted!"

Mara laughed and looked at Leia. "New people?"

Leia shrugged and glanced at Ailee. "Fainted?"

Ailee smiled. "She's not wrong. One did faint. They left a week ago, though."

"Ah." Mara turned her attention back to Leia. "So how was the party?"

"Good," Leia answered truthfully. "And you're coming with me. Han said he'd have dinner ready."

"But we were planning on a night at home," Luke started to say, until Leia glared at him. "Never mind. Lead the way."

Ailee watched them go and allowed herself a chuckle.

 

Great updates but now you have me left wondering when will Leia get to meet her relatives from Naboo?

 

Yup, lots of time-intersecting and hilarity! Glad Neesta was able to keep it all straight.

 

That was really fun!

 

Falcon: Um... time is relative. (Meaning: I had to do something in order to see past it.) Thank you, though, for the nudge.

Nyota's Heart: She's five... five year olds have an amazing capacity to adjust. Thank you.

Hazel: So, so fun! Thank you, Hazel!