Jaina didn't entirely trust Hapes (because she was a sane person), so she didn't tell Jag any specifics until she got home. They could have a personal conversation, she was able to tell him she was okay, and he got briefings that would tell him the basic information, so she wasn't worried about that. She hadn't thought he'd be this unhappy when she showed up with Allana, though because they had Responsibilities now, they had to wait until the boys had been put to sleep (and then put to sleep a second and third time) for a proper argument, which took some of the wind out of the sails of said argument.

Once the boys were out, and the door was closed, and they'd retreated to the living area to collapse on the too-large sofa, Jag noted, "We should probably put them in separate rooms going forward, if we don't want this to be our life."

"Probably," Jaina agreed. "So why are you mad at me?"

Might as well get to it.

"I'm not mad at you," Jag said slowly. "I'm concerned."

"Okay, why are you concerned at me?"

He almost looked like he was trying not to roll his eyes at her, and anyone who didn't know him well wouldn't believe that. "The Empire is not on the best of terms with Hapes. What does it say when people find out that Allana's here, instead of at one of the neutral Jedi schools?"

"It says that she's had a pretty turbulent childhood and would prefer to be around family at a time when people are trying to kill her. Really? This is about politics?"

"It's always about politics, Jaina," Jag said. "I don't want it to be, but it is."

"She's my niece. Our niece."

"I know. And as myself, I'm glad to have her here. As Emperor Fel, people who care that she's here won't care about an answer like that."

Jaina snorted. "Anyone who doesn't care about the well-being of a twelve-year-old doesn't deserve me caring about their opinion."

Jag turned himself so that he could face her better. "I don't mind that you'd rather not embrace the empress job. You were collateral damage in that and I love you for going along with it as much as you have. If you want to do Jedi things, then I'm happy you're happy. But these are things I have to think about, because when I'm asked, I need to have good answers. I am unable to just not care."

She fell silent as she considered this. She thought her answer was good enough, but he was right. It wasn't just him that she had to explain this to.

"My other concern," he continued, slowly enough that Jaina knew something bad was about to come up, "is that if the Sith are after Allana, then her presence will draw them here."

"No one knows she's here," Jaina replied.

"For how long? She's the chume'da. If she disappears after an attack on her, there are a few obvious places they will think to look."

"Then we handle it," she insisted.

"The Jedi don't even consider your schedule before sending you out on missions," Jag pointed out, and that had actually been a point of contention more than once. She juggled things the best she could, but there was a balance between bringing in the bad guys and being there for something important for either the kids or for the government she was supposed to be running, and she didn't always find it. "If you're not here, then we're left with… one Master and a handful of trained Jedi? They overran the temple on Coruscant."

"I remember, I was there," Jaina said, dropping her head back onto the top of the sofa. "I'll talk to the Council. Maybe they can send more people, stop putting me on missions for the time being until things settle down. Hell, maybe with some help we'll even be able to bring more students in here, actually get bigger."

"Is that what you want?" Jag asked curiously. It had to be a surprise, considering how hard she used to fight him on having the school at all.

She raised her head again. "Well, yeah. We have good students, but it's mostly Imperial resources going into keeping the school running, and if we're going to do this, I'd like to do it right. That means more people now that we know how to do it. Let the kids feel like they're part of something instead of being a weird offshoot."

"I don't know how I feel about being a weird offshoot," he said.

"You know what I mean. And I get it. Given everything, sometimes I feel a little weird about the Imperial thing, too," Jaina said, and added quickly, "Which doesn't mean I'm not committed to it, but it's hard to wrap my brain around sometimes. There's a lot of history, and some things probably look like red flags to a lot of people. But we're never going to be seen as legitimate if we don't try to grow and prove ourselves, either."

"Is there anything I can do to help?"

"I think this has to be me," she told him, a tad apologetically. "I'm mouthier."

Jag looked amused. "Is that what gets the job done now?"

"It's what gets the job done forever."