Chapter Nine

Jacen Solo dropped to his knees behind the ferns, pulling his twin down 
beside him and pressing a finger to his mouth.  Above them, a flustered 
See-Threepio stood in the middle of the forest path, jerking his golden 
head left and right, his optic-scanners searching for the charges who 
tested his tolerance programming to its zenith.  The droid had long ago 
computed that the primary reason the twins misbehaved so frightfully 
while in his care was because they knew that he was not programmed to 
act upon such disobedience.  He was quite certain the children never 
tested their parents in this manner.

Behind the ferns Jaina pressed her hand to her mouth, stifling the 
ever-present giggle of a ten-year-old girl, and her brother scowled at 
her over his shoulder.  After another few moments of fruitless 
searching, Threepio finally continued down the trail, scanning the 
forest before him as he went, calling the children's names.  As he 
disappeared around the bend, the twins came out from cover.

"Control!" Jacen scolded his sister.  "You must learn control!"

"Oh, hush!" Jaina giggled lightheartedly.  "You're just an old fuddy-
duddy.  Threepio was funny and you know it.  You just don't know how to 
have fun."

"Yes I do," Jacen countered.  "I just don't like to foul up a mission."  
He had listened to Dad talking with Chewie many times, late in the 
evening, sometimes sitting beside them as if he were a real member of 
the team.  Before leaving the Imperial Palace, Jacen had often crept 
from his bed to crawl stealthily down the hallway and crouch outside 
the living quarters.  He would listen with rapt attention to his 
family's heroic exploits, experiencing the thrills vicariously, if 
clandestinely.  Jacen thought his father the smartest and bravest man 
in the universe, although his Uncle Luke came a close second, and he 
fantasized about the day when he could share their exciting adventures.  
Maybe he could even go on a mission with them!

Jacen Solo, Junior Jedi, smiled at the thought, puffed up his chest in 
pseudo-importance and looked down at his twin sister from imagined 
superior height.  "Come on," he growled, in a tone that was vintage 
Solo.  "Let's explore!"

Jacen and Jaina started down the forest path at a trot, in the opposite 
direction of their home.  As they went, Jaina probed her twin's Sense 
for clues to their destination; the images she retrieved were a 
confusing mixture of trees and tall grasses, punctured with plaintive 
whispers and beckoning arms.  "Where are we going, Jacen?" she asked, 
jogging effortlessly beside him.

Jacen stopped at the edge of the trail and pointed excitedly toward a 
sprawling meadow visible through the trees.  Its willowy grasses swayed 
gently in the mid-afternoon breeze, and in its song he heard a summons.  
"There," he announced.  "There's something big up there.  And we're 
gonna find out what it is!" 

******************

Leia was resting in the bunk she shared with Han when Anakin began to 
cry out in his sleep.  Almost before her eyes opened she had risen from 
the bunk and gone to the children's cabin, where she discovered Anakin 
had drifted off to sleep over a pile of book chips.  She moved toward 
her son and bent to smooth his dark curls.  "Tree," he moaned.  "Go 
away!  Leave me alone!"  Leia leaned closer to him, puzzled.  What in 
the cosmos was he dreaming about?

After a moment, his mother's soothing projections had their desired 
effect and Anakin settled back into the deep sleep of a child's 
afternoon nap.  Pressing a soft kiss against his brow, Leia returned to 
the captain's cabin, and started as she caught sight of her reflection 
in the bureau mirror.

She was continually stunned at the proportions that her pregnant body 
had assumed during the final weeks of pregnancy, and she still had a 
good three weeks until her due date.  If she continued to expand at 
this rate Leia doubted she'd be able to move herself by the time the 
baby came, much less move the family into their new home.

She noticed her hair tangled from her recent repose and reached for the 
brush that sat on the small bureau built into the walls of the cabin.  
Just as she started to remove the end clasps from the thick braid, Han 
appeared in the doorway, taking a break from the day's work on their 
house.  Wiping his forehead and neck with a towel and sweeping it down 
and across his chest, he watched her in the mirror.  She smiled at his 
reflection and he moved toward her.

"I'll do that," he murmured, standing behind her, a little half-smile 
on his face as he took the brush from her hands and returned it to its 
place on the bureau.  He removed the bindings, slowly unwinding each 
portion of the rich plait.  Unbound, her hair cascaded about her like a 
shining chestnut veil, and Han indulged his urge to plunge his fingers 
into the silky mass, resting his hands against the sides of her head 
and pulling slowly back, combing her hair with his fingers.  Sighing 
contentedly, Leia closed her eyes, enjoying his touch.

A subtle shifting in his Sense alerted her to a redirection of intent.  
She opened her eyes again, meeting those of her husband in the mirror, 
and there was no mistaking the glimmer that danced in their merry 
depths.

"You've got to be kidding!" she breathed, inciting a low chuckle from 
him.  "But I'm enormous!" she protested as he turned her to face him, 
laughing at her expression.

"Enormously beautiful," he growled and stifled her surprise with his 
mouth on hers.  After a token resistance, she quickly relaxed, 
wholeheartedly submitting to the sensations that washed over and 
through her, delighting in her husband's continued desire and blessing 
the day they had decided to return to Endor.

"Mistress Leia!  Master Han!"  The sound of See-Threepio's approaching 
voice effectively extinguished their growing fervor, and Han inwardly 
cursed the droid and its lousy sense of timing.  Reluctantly pulling 
his lips from Leia's, Han glowered at the source of their interruption.  
"What?" he snapped, his tone conveying a thinly veiled threat that this 
had better be important.

"I'm terribly sorry to disturb you, Master Han, but Master Jacen and 
Mistress Jaina have disappeared again."  Threepio waved his golden arms 
in a very good imitation of human exasperation.  "I have used all of my 
available faculties in an effort to locate them; they simply are not in 
the vicinity."

"How long have they been missing?" Leia asked, concerned, automatically 
reaching for her children through the Force.

"Approximately three-quarters of an hour," the droid answered, hovering 
nervously in the corridor outside the door to their cabin.

 Han looked at Leia and raised an eyebrow.  "Well, sweetheart?" he 
asked.  "Can you tell where they are?"

She could usually detect the presence of her children when she 
consciously reached out for them, just as she could detect the presence 
of her husband and brother.  If she could just reach a bit further... 
she found them hiking along a familiar forest path, on a happy 
exploration, and she relaxed, her smile assuring Han and Threepio of 
the twins' well being.

Maintaining a loose mental contact with Jacen's subconscious, she 
turned her remaining attention to her husband.  Sensing the passion 
that still simmered just beneath the surface of his gruff exterior, 
Leia found herself yearning for the taste of his mouth on hers.

"Dismissed, Threepio," she murmured absently, palming the mechanism to 
the doorway and moving toward her husband as the door slid shut.  
"Council will continue," she ordered, winding her arms around his neck 
and pulling him to her.  She did so enjoy living here!

*******************

Jacen plunged his hands through the thick grasses before him, plowing a 
path for his sister and himself through the lush verdure of the meadow.  
Destination uncertain, he followed a path that had only recently 
appeared in his mind, and he now led his twin deeper into the forest, 
tracking an elusive scent of Force. 

Eventually the grasses parted behind his hands and he gazed upon a 
monstrosity of a tree, branches twining about each other, then reaching 
upward and out, their tips pointing finger-like into the clear blue 
skies.  To Jacen, its girth seemed large enough to park a landspeeder 
inside, with room to spare.  The twins had never seen anything like it, 
on any world, even Endor where the trees were impressive beyond 
description.  They stared at it, open-mouthed, simultaneously 
enthralled and apprehensive; for in its whispering leaves they heard a 
summons.

//Jedi children, your destiny lies with us...come...//

Jacen took a step toward the tree and Jaina caught his arm, now 
frightened.  "Jacen, no!" she begged, shaking her head and setting her 
braids to bouncing against her shoulders.  "Leave it alone.  It doesn't 
feel right!"

Jacen pulled out of his sister's grasp, feeling the summons that 
enfolded his being, emanating from the tree and calling him inexorably 
forward.  He stood for a moment, reaching with his Jedi senses and 
coming away more than a little puzzled.  Jaina was right, he thought, 
staring hard at the looming giant.  There was something not right here.  

This was a dark spot, though he had never experienced one in his young 
life.  But, dark or not, Jacen felt impelled to go forward, driven by 
instinct to investigate the unknown.

Jacen Solo, very much his father's son, took a deep breath, swallowing 
the sudden, nervous lump in his throat, and rejected his trepidation 
with a shrug of his sturdy shoulders.  Leaving his worried twin to wait 
at the edge of the meadow, he continued undaunted toward the enchanting 
tree, now determined to learn its secrets.

*******************

Leia gasped and pulled her lips away from Han's, her eyes strangely 
unfocused.  There before her was the twisted tree she had seen in the 
clutches of her nightmare, just before they fled Coruscant.  She cried 
out, turning away and trembling violently, chilled to the core by the 
vision she now shared with her son.

Stunned, Han looked at his wife, trying to imagine what could have 
frightened her to such a degree.  She stared at the walls of the cabin 
in mute horror, her slender hands covering her mouth, her fingers 
shaking visibly.  Han moved in front of her, took her shoulders and 
gave her a little shake.  "Leia?" he asked, concerned.  "What's the 
matter?  Is it the baby?"

She stood stiffly within his grasp, frightened and confused.  Jacen had 
found the tree!  It hadn't been just a bad dream, as she had half-
convinced herself all these weeks past.  It had been a Vision, one 
whose purpose continued to elude her, even now.

Her Sense instinctively cried out for Luke, yearning for his 
interpretation of the vision, but she severed the connection at the 
belated memory of his goal to take her baby away.  Leia's soul cried 
for the loss of her twin, the part of her that belonged with him now 
anguished and alone. 

Han watched her, confused, wondering what could have possibly happened 
to get her so upset.  He pulled her into his arms and held her until 
her trembling eased and she leaned heavily into his embrace.  He 
caressed her shoulders, stroking her hair, giving her the time she 
needed to regain her composure.

"Leia," he said finally, quietly.  "Talk to me, sweetheart."

She took a deep breath.  He deserved to know the truth.  "That 
night...our last night on Coruscant.  You remember I had a nightmare?"

"That's putting it mildly," Han murmured, remembering the night well.  
"You never did tell me what that was all about.  As I recall you 
ordered me to make you forget."

He very nearly had, she thought, snuggling deeper into the comfort of 
his arms.  She had succeeded in putting the dark vision out of her 
consciousness so completely that it had been totally eradicated until 
just moments ago when her Sense-link with her son had broadcast his 
discovery to her via his eyes.

"You want to tell me about it now?" Han prompted. 

She nodded and recalled her terror, as if she were living the dream all 
over again.  In a few staccato sentences, she recounted the dream to 
Han:  herself as a child, hiding from her mother in the meadow. Then 
her older self, lost and searching, calling a name she could not hear.  
Finally finding Arcadia nestled in the branches, and presenting the 
child proudly to her own mother -- only to realize too late that her 
beloved mother was a minion of evil.

Han held her tighter as he remembered the terror in her eyes when he 
had finally been able to pull her to wakefulness, and he suddenly had a 
whole new understanding of her hysteria that night.  "It was just a 
dream, sweetheart," he assured her, hugging her snugly against him.  
"Dreams can't hurt you.  And they can't hurt our baby."

She pushed away and stood looking up at him with her huge, haunted 
eyes.  "But you don't understand," she protested.  "It wasn't just a 
dream.  I had convinced myself that it was but now I know that it 
wasn't.  Jacen found the tree!"

Han shook his head, confused.  "Where?  When?"

"Here, on Endor!" she cried.  "Today, a few moments ago, while we 
were...you know..." she stumbled, unable to finish.

Well, no wonder, Han thought, her trauma now perfectly understandable.  
"Is Jacen okay?" he asked anxiously.  "Is Jaina with him?"

Leia opened her mind to the essence of her older son and felt Jaina's 
presence beside him, a bit confused, perhaps, but not overly impressed 
with their afternoon's discovery.   Jacen's Sense, however, was quiet, 
deeply troubled yet blocked to her, as if he were hiding something from 
himself.

"They're okay," she told Han.  "In fact, they're on their way back."  
She quietly resolved to speak with Jacen about the matter later that 
evening, and looked up at her husband, contrition plainly visible in 
her eyes.  "I'm sorry we were interrupted," she said softly.

"It's not our usual ending, that's for sure," Han muttered, then 
chuckled quietly to himself, relieved that his children were indeed 
safe and his wife's composure more or less restored. 

"But," he whispered in her ear  "there's always tonight."  He pulled 
her close again and they stood quietly holding each other, deep in 
thought.

Han noted the sudden tautness in the belly his wife pressed against him 
and wondered once again at the marvel growing within her.  "It's gonna 
be okay, sweetheart," he assured her, kissing the top of her head.  
"Nothing is going to take this baby from us.  I promise."

After a few moments more he held her away from him and grinned 
lopsidedly.  "Come on, Princess," he nodded toward the door.  "The 
Junior Jedi are on their way back.  They ask enough questions as it is 
without us giving them one more to ask.  We'd better get out there and 
wait for them." 

******************

"So, what kind of neat discoveries did you guys make today?" Han asked 
the twins, who were trotting at his heels as they walked along the 
forest path that led to the Ewok village.  Chewbacca had been spending 
more and more time with the furry little creatures, sensing a hairy 
kinship with them, Han supposed, and Han wanted to check with his 
partner concerning some of the settings of the medical droid.

There was something in the way Leia carried herself these last few 
days, something reminiscent of her appearance just before the birth of 
the twins and Anakin.  Han had a sneaky suspicion that Arcadia wasn't 
going to wait out the full term of the pregnancy.  In fact, he worried 
about leaving his wife alone, even for this short period of time.  He 
quickened his pace, anxious to carry out his mission and get back home.

"Wait, Daddy!" Jaina called, hurrying to keep up with him, and he 
forced himself to walk slower, tempted to carry the little girl on his 
shoulders so he could make better time.

"We found a talking tree," Jacen announced importantly, hurrying to his 
father's side and looking up at him as if reporting to his commanding 
officer.  "A big old twisted tree with arms that reached up to the 
sky."

Han remembered Leia's description of her nightmare.  Jacen had said 
that the tree "talked" to him.  But then, all sorts of living beings 
had communicated with Jacen, through the Force, since he was two years 
old.  This tree could simply be another instance of the same phenomena.  
Then again, Han thought, maybe not.  Maybe he ought to go have a look 
at this tree for himself.

"Where was this tree, Jacen?" he asked his son, looking down at him 
with great interest.

"Back that way," Jacen pointed opposite their destination, pleased to 
know something his father did not and bursting to share that 
information with him.

Han thought a moment.  "You think you could take me there, Sport?" he 
asked his son.  "Let me check it out?"

Jacen's face brightened, his dark eyes wide and full of pride.  "You 
mean like a recon, Dad?"  Finally, he was going on a mission with his 
father!

Han grinned, reached out and tousled his son's curly hair.  "Right," he 
said in his old general's voice, and clapped Jacen on the shoulder.  
"Think you're up to it, soldier?"

"Yes, sir!" Jacen snapped to attention, saluting with an imaginary 
lightsaber.

"Okay, buddy," Han said, quickening his steps as they approached the 
Ewok village.  "Soon as we finish up here, I want you to show me that 
tree."

*********************

Han stood before the massive twisted oak, rubbing his chin, trying to 
determine what about it could terrify his wife to such a degree.  Aside 
from its height and rather impressive branches reaching skyward there 
was nothing spectacular about it.  He had examined it as far as he 
could without a pair of macrobinoculars and found not the slightest 
notch to mar the smooth surface of its trunk.  There was certainly 
nothing large enough to hold a baby, even a newborn.

He shook his head and ambled back to the twins, who waited at the edge 
of the meadow, stubbornly refusing to come any closer to the tree.  The 
children didn't exhibit the utter terror of it that their mother did, 
but they weren't exactly itching to climb it either.  Han looked again 
at his son.  "Jacen, you said this was a talking tree.   What exactly 
did it say to you?"

The boy shuffled his feet and looked uncomfortably toward the spot 
where the tree grew, a spot his Jedi senses already knew as "The Dark 
Spot."  He shifted his gaze to his father.  "It just called me and I 
came," he mumbled.

Han eyed his son, assessing the element of truth in the boy's words.  
"How close did you get to it, son?" he asked.  "Did anything happen 
that you want to tell me about?"

Jacen was in a quandary.  The tree had told him not to tell anyone 
about his experience before it, and Jacen had promised to keep it a 
secret; but now the boy struggled mightily with his conscience, pained 
at keeping such details from his father.

He shook his head.  "I just went up and touched it," he finally 
answered, not quite telling a fib, for it had drawn him steadily, 
willing him to approach.

When he touched its surface, it seemed as if those massive limbs had 
descended from their upward thrust and held him captive within their 
grasp.  Jacen had listened, enthralled, as the Tree told him a story, a 
sad story about a race of people very much like him, peaceful beings 
who were strong in the Force but who had one day been taken away in one 
fell swoop.

Somehow Jacen felt funny about telling this to his father, for as much 
as Jacen loved him, he wasn't sure his hero could understand the 
mysterious calling of the Force.  Perhaps his mother would understand.  
Or maybe his Uncle Luke.  Jacen sighed.  He missed his Uncle Luke. 

Han looked over his shoulder one last time, and finally turned back to 
his children, tapping their shoulders with his hands.  "Come on, guys," 
he said, nudging them toward the path that would take them home.  
"Let's get back to your mother and Anakin."

Just before they turned onto the trail leading to their clearing Han 
nudged Jacen's shoulder and crooked his finger at him, signaling him to 
lean close.  "You know, pal," he began in a conspiratorial tone, "your 
mother isn't feeling very well these days and we don't want to worry 
her.  So unless she comes right out and asks you about it let's keep 
this business about the tree just between the two of us, okay?"

"Okay, Dad."  Jacen nodded sagely, then threw a glance in his sister's 
direction.  "I can keep a secret but what about her?" 

Han stifled a grin at the tone in the boy's voice; years still from 
puberty and already Jacen had an attitude toward the fairer sex.  Leia 
was right, he thought; Jacen was his father's boy.

"I'll take care of her," he assured his son, and looked toward Jaina 
where she skipped along the path ahead of them.  "Hey, Little 
Princess!" he called to his daughter.

Jaina stopped in mid-skip, flashed her magnificent starburst smile and 
scampered back to her father.   "Yes, Daddy?" she answered, turning her 
liquid-brown eyes up to him, taking his hand and swinging it between 
her smaller ones.

"Your mother hasn't been sleeping very well lately," Han confided, 
brushing the heavy bangs from her wide eyes.  "She had a mean dream 
about a tree and I think it might be a good idea if we don't say 
anything to her about the one we saw today, okay?"

"Sure, Daddy," she smiled.  "I can keep a secret, too."  She made a 
face at her brother.  "Even if Jacen doesn't think so!" 

That settled, Han straightened and ushered them in the direction of 
home.  As they rounded the last bend and came in sight of the clearing 
he stopped, proudly admiring the fruits of his labors.

Spread before them, twenty meters above the ground, their fairy-tale 
treehouse nestled amidst the sheltering arms of the massive hardwood.  
It had taken them nearly three months, but once again he and his 
partner had pulled off the near impossible.  In a few days the family 
would finally be able to leave the claustrophobic confines of the 
Millennium Falcon and officially take up residence in their new home.

Glancing at the skies above him he, estimated the remaining daylight 
hours, anxious to get home to Leia, and quickened his pace, suddenly 
nervous at the thought of her alone but for a habitually nervous 
protocol droid and an eight-year old boy.  With a little bit of luck, 
he thought, she would have put all thoughts of the tree out of her mind 
and they could enjoy a pleasant evening.

Somehow he had the feeling this wasn't to be.

*****************

He should have known better, Han later scolded himself, than to think 
he could keep a development such as this from the forefront of Leia's 
mind.  She had resolved to ask Jacen about his experience at the tree 
during the evening bedtime routine and Han had unconsciously tensed as 
he listened to their exchange. 

"Jacen, I was with you for a little while on your exploration this 
afternoon," she began, easing herself carefully down to sit on the edge 
of his bunk. "I felt like maybe you found something pretty interesting.  
Can you tell me about it?"

Jacen looked at her from his comfortable nest within the confines of 
the bedclothes, his dark eyes darting toward his father, returning 
reluctantly to his mother and trying desperately to block his Sense 
from hers.  He hadn't been aware of the touch of his mother's mind 
during the excitement of the afternoon, and he now wondered how long 
she had been in contact with him, just how much she knew.  He decided 
to play it cool.

"Yes, ma'am," he mumbled.  He didn't want to upset her, but Dad had 
said that he could talk about it if she asked him first.  Unsure how 
much was enough to please her, Jacen decided to start small.  "It was 
big," he said quickly and ducked further down in the covers, turning 
his back to her as if in dismissal.  "Time for sleep," he said and 
closed his eyes.

Leia smiled at the child, glancing up at Han's expression of amusement, 
and lightly caressed her son's back.  She didn't want to pry but she 
felt instinctively that he knew much more about that tree than he was 
letting on.  "Can't you tell me a little more about it, honey?" she 
asked him gently.  The child ignored her, feigning sleep.

"He calls it 'The Dark Spot', Mama," Jaina piped up from her bunk and 
Jacen's head popped from his pillow like a shot.  "You keep quiet, Nerf 
Herder!" he shouted warningly at her.  Han turned his back abruptly to 
hide the grin he couldn't stifle, and made a strange sound that might 
have been a cough.  Jacen cut his eyes to his father, calling out an 
apology.  "I'm sorry, Dad.  I tried not to tell Mom about the tree."

Han rolled his eyes, trapped, and looked uneasily over his shoulder at 
his wife, now fixing him with a look he knew all too well.  In the 
vornskr house again, he thought.

Leia arched a cultured eyebrow.  "Well, Nerf Herder?" she prompted.  
"Do you want to tell me what's going on here?"

He seized upon her desire to settle the children first and foremost.  
"Later," he promised, coming to her and placing a quick kiss on her 
forehead.  "I promise I'll tell you all about our afternoon."

She looked at him a moment longer and concluded that he was prudent to 
think of the children first.  Putting her curiosity behind her, she 
turned to the task at hand.  Which was settling the children for bed.  
She looked at them.  "What will it be tonight?  Stories or songs?"

*********************

Han leaned against the holo table in the make-shift living area that 
had once been the lounge, watching his wife make her way carefully down 
the corridor from their cabin where she had gone to don her 
nightclothes.  Hairbrush in hand, she slowly crossed the compartment  
to one of the self-conforming chairs, and eased herself carefully into 
it.  As she started to take down her hair, Han came forward and took 
the hairbrush from her.  Leaning over her shoulder, he spoke in a 
suggestive tone.  "You realize, don't you, that you're at my mercy when 
you sit in one of those chairs?"

Belatedly, she saw the truth in his statement.  The nature of the chair 
made it virtually impossible for her to heave her burdened body out of 
it without assistance.  "You wouldn't torment me so when I'm this close 
to delivery," she returned easily, leaning her head back and closing 
her eyes.

Han looked at her for a long moment, searching for whatever it was that 
was broadcasting to every instinct he had that all systems were go for 
Arcadia's arrival, though not yet full term.  He felt a strange mixture 
of excitement and disappointment as he looked longingly toward their 
cabin, the sad realization striking him that it was going to be some 
time before they could again enjoy the more basic delights of their 
marriage.

Leia craned her neck, looking up at him.  "You want to tell me about 
that tree now?"

Han groaned, admitting defeat, and recounted the trip to the Ewok 
village and the subsequent journey to the tree.  Hoping to keep her 
somewhat soothed during the disclosure, he tempered his words with the 
magic of his hands, unwrapping her hair, taking the brush to it in long 
even strokes that made her scalp tingle.  Her hair rose eagerly to the 
bristles, crackling with a life of its own.

When he finished, he was quiet for a moment, waiting for her to speak.  
At her continued silence, he peered around the curtain of her hair, saw 
that her eyes were closed, and that her head nodded sleepily.  He put 
down the brush and helped her from the chair.

"Come on, sweetheart," he murmured, and started with her down the 
corridor to their cabin, supporting her with an arm around her 
shoulders.

Moving to their bunk, he gently eased her onto the cool, crisp sheets, 
and she sighed as her head touched the pillow, surrendering to the 
irresistible lullaby of sleep.  Han stood gazing down at her as she 
smiled softly in slumber, his eyes savoring every centimeter of her 
face, watching her, thinking that he would die for her, for her and the 
children they had created.  He gingerly put his hand to her belly, 
roaming about until he detected movement.  Smiling with renewed wonder, 
he relaxed for a moment, enjoying the contact with his child within 
her.

Han considered himself fortunate to be off the hook with her this 
easily, for Leia had never been one to take kindly to subterfuge.  With 
a little bit of luck, by morning she would have forgotten about his 
errant advice to Jacen, and Han would be in the clear.

He turned from her to remove his clothes, reached to lower the lights 
in the cabin and finally climbed into the bunk beside her.  As he 
settled his head on the pillows, he was startled to see her dark eyes 
looking back at him.

"How long have you been awake?" he asked warily.

"Long enough," she murmured, reaching out to him, caressing his cheek 
tenderly.  "You're sweet to be so protective."  Her eyes were misty, 
shimmering like twin pools of melted chocolate. 

"You're not mad at me?" he asked, catching her hand and kissing it.  
She was doing it to him again; making him crazy but now unable to do 
anything about it.

"I'm mad for you," she whispered and touched his lips lightly with her 
own, their honeyed sweetness lingering to tease him as she turned with 
some difficulty and snuggled her back against him.  She brought his 
hands around to rest on her swollen belly, and he rubbed her stomach 
lightly, lovingly, its tautness reminding him of the need for control.  
"I love you, Nerf Herder," she whispered softly over her shoulder.

He pressed his lips to her hair and smiled to himself.  "Ditto, you, 
sweetheart."  He caressed the baby one last time, feeling once again 
that the time was fast approaching when she would be joining them in 
the flesh.  "Ditto all of you.  Now let's get some sleep," he urged.  
"If I remember correctly, a good night's rest is going to be somewhat 
of a commodity in the very near future."

"I think you remember correctly," Leia agreed, yawning.  She sighed, 
relaxing against him, firmly putting the disquieting events of the day 
aside.

Eventually the family slept, some of them peacefully, others haunted by 
dreams of a formless darkness; and in the children's cabin next door, 
little Anakin Solo tossed his curly head on his pillow and dreamt of a 
beckoning tree.

[End Chapter]