The sun was setting on Yavin IV. The gas giant hovered over the horizon, casting an orange glow around the temples. Jacen sat on one of the large pieces of rumble scattered about the great temple, with Tenel Ka at his side.

“Has it only been a day?” He asked.

“Has what only been a day?” Tenel Ka turned to look at him.

“This, of course.” Jacen carefully touched her cheek with his hand. “It feels like so much longer.”

“We have felt this way for much longer.” She replied.

“Yeah, but it feels like we’ve always done this. I mean, I could swear I’ve thought about how beautiful the sunset is, and yet how it pales in comparison to you a thousand times before. Have I already told you this? If I haven’t them I’m saying it now.” Jacen said.

“Jacen, Jacen.” Tenel Ka said.

“What?” Jacen asked.

“You’ve gotten to be such a sap.”

“Have I? It’s all your fault, I promise.”

“Sure, shoot the messenger.”

“Shoot? I’m not that violent. As I recall, you’re the one with weapons scattered around her room.” Jacen said, smiling.

“Oh, but I would never hurt you.”

“Promise?” Jacen lost his smile, and he took Tenel Ka’s hand into his own. “Promise not to leave me if your family says no?”

Tenel Ka looked into his eyes, meeting his brown ones with her gray. “I promise. They will not stand in our way; I can get my mother to pull a few strings. She probably has already, knowing how much I hate being forced into anything.”

“That too, Tenel Ka. Do you really want to get married? I mean, we’re still so young.”

She sighed and squeezed his hand gently. “I think we should wait. It’s not done anymore, marrying at our age. Regardless of tradition, we need time.”

“Time?” He asked.

“Yes, time.” Tenel Ka gave him a rare smile. “We’ve already wasted four years; we’ve got some catching up to do.”

“Catching up? What kind of catching up?” Jacen asked.

“I think you know.” Tenel Ka said, moving closer to him.

“Ohhh, that kind of catching up.”

Jaina woke slowly, her body loudly voicing its dislike of being disturbed. Asinine Angelica had gloated for nearly two hours before she’d slept. And now Jaina had to endure the fatigue and headache that came from running around in someone else’s body when she ought to be asleep.

Climbing to her feet, Jaina glanced towards her mirror. Yuck. Dark rings under her eyes contrasted sharply with her pale face, making her look skeletal. She didn’t want to even start about her hair, at the risk of sounding like Angelica.

After staring at herself for a few more minutes, Jaina cautiously made her way to the refreshers. It was dark out, but not late enough that she could be certain of not being disturbed. As she had suspected, a quick look into Jacen’s room showed that he was still up. Although Jaina doubted she had much to worry about; Jacen was probably with Tenel Ka, and Jaina would be left alone for a long time, maybe even a couple of weeks, before Jacen started hovering around her again.

Jacen would be completely enamored of Tenel Ka, more so than before, Jaina predicted. She thought she’d be glad to see those two finally get together, but now she was left hanging.

No, not at all jealous. It wasn’t like she wanted to be in Tenel Ka’s place, Jacen was her brother, anything like that had a major ick factor involved. However, there was occasionally the “I want a boyfriend” feeling hanging over her head, but Jaina knew there wasn’t anyone suitable at the Academy. If she’d ever wanted a guy, the odds were good, but the goods were odd, so to speak. The force tended to turn them into omniscient monks.

But Jaina was making too broad of a generalization, not all of them were hopeless. Just all of the ones she knew. Besides that, there had been some one who would of been a nice guy, but who was he again?

Arriving at the refresher, Jaina shook her head. It always came back to him, didn’t it? And how could she ever forget who he was? Not that she didn’t want to forget, at times.

Closing her eyes, Jaina could almost see him again. The shining green eyes, and his smile that would always make her want to melt. Jaina opened her eyes. Would he smile if he saw her now? Way too thin, and sometimes downright cruel to her brother. Which didn’t matter too much because Jaina was fairly certain Zekk wasn’t coming back. Maybe she’d track him down after leaving the Academy. Would be a nice way to kill a few years.

Jaina adjusted the settings on the refresher’s shower. Her headache had just escalated to being a pounding in her ears. It was a harsh reminder of her exhaustion. Leaning against the ceramic wall, Jaina sat down slowly. Barely able to force her eyes open, Jaina tried to gather strength. It didn’t make sense; one minute she would be only moderately tired, the next she could hardly stand. Jaina shrugged it off. Some things would just have to be dealt with in their own time.

Jaina carefully left the refresher, making sure no one else was around before leaving. Hesitating at the door of her room, Jaina decided the rumbling in her stomach was more important than sleeping and being caught in a dream again, she changed course for the cafeteria.

About halfway there, Jaina stopped and steadied herself against a wall. Something had to be wrong with her; her mind was exhausted, but her body shouldn’t be. It didn’t seem fair that she was the one who had to go through those dreams. Wasn’t like she knew anyone real in them.

Reaching the cafeteria, Jaina was surprised to find it empty. Or at least it looked empty before Mara popped up out of nowhere.

“Mara?” Jaina asked. “What are you doing here?”

“Nothing much, just hanging around.” Mara answered.

“No, I mean at the Academy. I thought you avoided this place.” Jaina said.

“You too?” Mara asked, surprised. “Your brother had a similar reaction when he saw me with your uncle. It was like he didn’t remember Luke and I got married.”

“Probably because we didn’t know about it, but at the moment I can’t say I care. My brother doesn’t happen to be hanging around here, does he?”

“Not to my knowledge.” Mara said. “Say, Jaina, I couldn’t help but listen to Luke whine to me about your brother whining to him about you. Is there anything I can do to help?”

“No, it’s nothing I can’t handle.” Jaina said. “But I have been having some trouble sleeping,” she admitted. “Do you know of anything that could help that?”

Mara thought for a moment before responding. “I do have a book on meditation, do you think that’ll help?”

Jaina shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt.”

“Great, here you go. I’ve got to go meet with Luke about some new trainees.” A book materialized in Mara’s hands, which she gave to Jaina and then left in a hurry.

Jaina shook her head. Had that just happened? Well, she figured it must have happened because there was the book. Probably wouldn’t do her any good, but she wouldn’t know until she tried.

You know, feedback really is very inspirational. Seriously it is, because it makes me feel guilty so I just have to write more.