Jaina had begun fighting in this war either five years ago, or two and a half, depending on who you asked on what planet. She'd taken command of Twin Suns either a year and a half or three years ago, also depending on who you asked on what planet. She'd been a fighter, a leader, a goddess, a dark side adept, she'd worked her way up to colonel and seen the worst side of herself.

And when it was over, she had no idea what to do about any of it.

She'd opted to stay longer than she'd planned, by a long shot. It'd been almost two months now since she'd left Fandom, but missing some time there was completely worth seeing things through to their end here. She'd fully recovered from Onimi's venom, though she was a little hazy on the details of what happened on that bridge. Luke, who'd suffered life-threatening injuries while he'd battled Shimrra, was already good as new. There'd been massive casualties at Mon Calamari and Coruscant. Five million dead, ten million injured, just on the Alliance side alone. Jaina knew to count herself and Luke extremely lucky, and as horrible as it was, she had to be a little relieved that at least all the funerals that happened after the battle weren't for anyone she'd been close to. With the Alliance, Hapans, Smuggler's Alliance and Imperials fighting, just about everyone she'd ever known had been involved, and she was aware of how things could have gone.

What happened next would be years and years of cleanup action. Some planets were destroyed entirely, some just needed work to be habitable again. Refugees needed to be relocated, with the bulk of the Yuuzhan Vong (at least those who hadn't committed suicide upon losing the war) going with Zonama Sekot to rebuild, criminals and warlords were bound to start coming out of the woodworks in the ensuing chaos, and none of it was going to be easy. On the plus side, the Jedi kids, including three-year-old Ben, were returning from the Maw to be reunited with their families. Luke and Mara would be going to Ossus with their son to begin work on the new Jedi academy there, and that was only the start of all the rebuilding work that needed to happen. When Onimi died, the destruction he'd been causing on Coruscant had come to a halt, so the planet would be able to be reformed into becoming the capitol again, with operations moving to Denon for the time being. Having seen what had become of Coruscant, Jaina had no idea how they were going to salvage it for that purpose, but it had been reclaimed once already, after the Empire had fallen, and it could happen again. Besides, the benefit of knowing from Fandom that some things turned out okay was freeing.

Jaina had returned to work with the military there for some time, trying to figure out just what it was she wanted to do next, and she knew when it was time to leave. Hours after leaving Kre'fey's office, she'd gone to say goodbye to her astromech. She'd named Cappie after Anni Capstan, her wingmate that she'd lost at Ithor at the very beginning of the war, right after she'd first come to Fandom. It was probably silly, saying goodbye to her droid, but given that there was a droid or two she more or less considered family, it wasn't silly to her. That was the reason she was in the hangar when Jag found her, and considering how he zeroed right in, Jaina figured he'd actually come looking for her.

"I've noticed most people give up their command and a weight seems to be lifted off of them," he noticed, falling into step with her.

Jaina kept her expression even. "You heard, huh?"

"I asked," he replied.

She shrugged, and explained, "Twin Suns has fulfilled its purpose. I only ever got command because I was posing as a goddess, and it's safe to say that's completely over. I'm just freeing everyone up to go where they're most useful now."

He tilted his head slightly at her, curious. "Should I take this to mean you've decided what you're going to do?"

"I'm going back to Fandom," Jaina said. "Three years of everyone else telling me why I should stay... At this point, kriff it, I only have a semester left. I haven't resigned, just gone on leave, so I'll keep working from there like I have been, splitting my time between the Jedi and the military, depending on who needs me to do what when."

"Meaning you've going to bore yourself to tears without work coming in at all times."

"Pretty much," she said with a little smile. "And I'm sure you'll be much happier without me calling to harass you into sharing what's happening."

"I didn't mind those calls," Jag admitted.

Hm. "Know where you're off to yet?" she asked, going immediately for the subject change.

"Csilla, actually," he said. "For a time."

"Some family regroup time wouldn't be a bad thing," Jaina agreed. Meanwhile it was like she was watching hers break up. There was definitely a part of her that wondered if everything she'd feared happening during the war, being left all alone at the end, wasn't coming to pass in just a different way. "And then?"

"And then, I've been appointed by the CEDF as a liaison to the Alliance."

She looked at him in surprise. "You? A diplomat?" Oh, Jaina. If only you knew.

"I can be very diplomatic when I need to be," Jag assured her. "This does mean our paths might cross again."

That wasn't a bad thing to her. She liked Jag. He'd become a good friend over the last few years, and she wouldn't especially mind running into him in the future. "There are worse things," she said lightly.

"What are you doing right now?" he wondered.

"Going to pack. I'm shipping back out to Zonama Sekot tomorrow."

"Come have a drink with me first," Jag said. "We can celebrate before I leave you to your thrilling plans."

She was pretty sure she was reading him correctly. She was willing to bet he knew she was single now, too. Between her parents and Kyp, someone had probably cued him in by now, in which case she appreciated him waiting this long. "I don't know, Jag," she said, deciding to just be straight with him. She knew she'd kind of freaked out at him a few times this trip, he deserved to know where she stood. "I recently got out of a really serious relationship with a really messy breakup. I'm not quite ready for a rebound yet."

And, she realized, if she ever did decide to go down that route with Jag, she wouldn't want it to be a rebound. The fact that she could even think that with the way her personal life had gone over the last few months was probably a good thing, too. A sign of healing, or something. Was she ready to start something with anyone new yet? There was no way to give a more emphatic no in response to that question. But, eventually she knew she'd get there.

"You misread my intention," Jag said immediately, but there was something either in his tone, or in the way he said that so quickly, that told her she hadn't. She had, however, bruised his ego. It occurred to her that he'd spent years now working alongside her, harboring feelings for her, and knowing the whole time that she was with someone else. She could relate to that now, and looking at him from that vantage point maybe explained some things for her.

"My mistake," she said anyway, and sighed. As long as she'd made her point there, there was no pressure, and no reason to say no to hanging out with a friend her last night aboard the ship that had served as the closest thing to home for five(ish) years now. "All right. In that case, lead the way."


[NFB, NFI, OOC okay. I think I stole a line or two of dialogue, so let's credit James Luceno of The Unifying Force for it. Also if anyone is curious of just HOW FREAKING MASSIVE that last battle was in this book, check out the sidebar on the right.]