Once the battle was over, there wasn't much left to do besides wait for new orders. And thanks to how Han and Leia had found her, neither of her parents had seemed intent on letting Jaina jump right back into work. It only took twenty years and one incident that was pretty tame in comparison to other things for them to get overprotective.

She was still on the Golan, with Prann and his people in custody, and the battle station now occupied by some military personnel as they waited. And, at the moment, she was sitting around a table in the mess with Wedge, Han and Leia, complete with glasses of brandy. Jaina had no idea when drinking became okay in front of her parents and a family friend she'd known since she was born, but there she was.

"If this station had lips," Wedge said, "I'd kiss it. Since it doesn't, Colonel Solo, I'll drink your health instead."

"Hear, hear," Leia said, and they all raised glasses.

She also didn't know when she got toasted by her parents and a family friend she'd known since she was born. "We really have Prann and his people to thank, in a way," Jaina mused. "I mean, it's not like they intended to help, but if it weren't for them..."

"Yes, if it weren't for them we would have all died," Wedge agreed. "Even as it is, we lost way too much here. Pash Cracken, Judder Page... Old friends, young people I never knew. You'd think I would be used to it by now."

"You don't get used to it," Han said.

It was weird. She was sitting here with people who had been fighting in a war years before she existed. To think about all the people they'd known and lost, and everything they'd seen... it seemed unreal. She didn't like when they said things that suddenly made them look their age, or older. She'd rather see them as invincible, untouched by everything they'd experienced. And she had possibly two more wars ahead of her before she hit thirty-five. What would she sound like then?

She was almost relieved when she saw movement out of the corner of her eye, giving her a reason to stand at attention. "Grand Admiral Pellaeon, sir," she said, saluting.

"Please," Pellaeon said, waving them to sit. Han had barely stood, but he was the only one who'd ever been Imperial military. "At ease, Colonel Solo. After what you've been through, you deserve a rest."

People kept saying things like that. Now the Imperial admiral was saying it. That just wasn't right.

Pellaeon offered Wedge a stiff salute. "General Antilles, I've come to offer my apologies. Captain Devis's man found us, but we hadn't had time to prepare the fleet for lightspeed before you arrived here. I should have joined you regardless, but when our communications failed..."

"You did exactly as I would have done, Grand Admiral," Wedge told him. "The battle plan was explicit. It simply didn't take into account that all our communications might fail."

"That's very generous of you, General Antilles. I hope if I were in your situation I could be as forgiving."

"I wonder if you would care to join us for a drink," Wedge offered. "I believe the brandy is from your home province."

Pellaeon paused. "I would very much enjoy that, General Antilles, but at the moment, duty calls. I was wondering if I could make an inquiry of my own. Captain Devis hasn't returned to his command. Do you know his whereabouts?"

"I'm sorry, Admiral, he, ah- didn't make it," Han said regretfully. "He died helping to take down the interdictor."

Jaina saw the look on Pellaeon's face, but that wasn't what bothered her. It was the feeling she caught in the Force, something she'd felt from people before, and something she knew she'd feel again.

"I see," he said.

"He said to tell you he did what he thought was right," Han continued.

Pellaeon nodded, looking a bit uncomfortable. "Well, yes, that sounds like him," he said. "He was a great admirer of yours, I believe, Captain Solo, despite the fact that in Imperial holos you are most often portrayed as something of a villain. Or perhaps that's why he admired you." To the rest of the group, he said, "Ladies, gentlemen. Until I have time for that drink."

"Villain?" Han repeated as Pellaeon retreated. "Maybe I need to see some of these holos." The holos Han had seen put him in a very different light, and still made him money off the royalties.

"That was a little odd, don't you think?" Leia asked.

"Yeah," Han agreed. "Devis was a good guy, sure, but..."

"Is the Grand Admiral married?" Jaina asked suddenly.

Leia shook her head. "No. They say he's never made time for it. Why do you ask?"

"Because I think Devis was his son." That kind of loss was something she knew well enough to recognize now. Maybe she wouldn't need two wars to sound like Han and Wedge.

The table fell into a heavy silence, and Jaina decided she didn't mind the overprotectiveness right now after all. She got it.

Finally Han raised his glass. "To all of our sons and all of our daughters," he said, "be they with us or beyond."


[Once again with the NFI, NFB, and all that fun stuff. Dialogue from The Final Prophecy by Greg Keyes.]