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"Come on, Anakin," Jaina Solo said deviously into her little brother's ear. She let the shot glass go as she felt Anakin's finger grip it. "Your first drink. You know you want to," she almost sang. Perhaps she had gotten a head start.
She stopped for a moment and wondered. "This is your first drink, isn't it? I got so caught up in your birthday 'bash' that I forgot to ask. We haven't spoken much these last two years. Maybe you've grown up without us."
Anakin felt a grin slowly spread across his blushing face, and swept the brown bangs aside that tickled his forehead with his free hand. "No drinking yet," he admitted. He brought the shot close and gave it a slight sniff. His Jedi training stopped the gag that would have risen in his throat. It might as well have been the cleaning product or even the adhesive he used on his many mechanical projects in his younger years.
"Are you sure this stuff is safe?" he asked.
Jaina cackled and pointed over to Jacen who was three shots deep. "If he drinks it, I think you can count on it being safe. He didn't even spend half a week worrying about its place is the Force. True Solo after all - as dad would say." Then she took her third shot.
Anakin grimaced for her, though she didn't seem to struggle at all. He gave the shot another sniff and resolved himself. He had drunken worse things to survive on Yavin - when he rescued Tahiri. The thought gave him pause.
"Someone's in love!" Jacen teased from across the room.
Anakin glared, and for the first time in years, it was for something other than philosophical debate. At least there was that. He took the shot, hoping it would dampen the harsh feelings he felt towards his brother, or at the very least, make him retch.
It burned, and he instantly felt a daze assault his mind.
He tried to speak, and only coughed, much to the amusement of his chuckling sister.
"Yep," he struggled to speak when he could. "About as bad as I thought."
Jacen grinned as he leaned forward in his seat to slide another shot across the table and picked one up for himself. "Now how about one with the big brother! Birthday tradition, or something."
"You just made that up," Anakin said, his throat still burning. Despite himself, he felt a happiness rumbling in his chest. This was the most positive interaction they had had in years. It was nice to not be at odds, so without a second thought, he leaned forward as well and picked up his drink, offering it to Jacen in a toast.
With a clink of their glasses, they took their shots. Anakin grimaced, but it went more smoothly than the first, if for no other reason than being familiar with the substance and how to dampen its pain-inducing properties with the Force.
He leaned back in his chair and let the buzz of the drinks take him, thinking about what had led up to this. It was his birthday, never an important day to him, though the twins and Tahiri had always taken to trying to make something special with it. As a child, he would have preferred to be tinkering with a machine project of his, but the twins always wanted to go on some adventure. And later, at the Academy, Tahiri had quickly joined the tradition when his siblings had the misfortune of being away on his 'special' day.
Now, a part of him would have preferred to be alone, working on his plans to battle the Vong, or with Tahiri. She often helped him in his planning, as she was now in many was the leading Yuuzhan Vong expert in the galaxy. Spending time with her was special. They were best friends, but lately, it was almost more. They had kissed more than once, spent most of their days together, and even slept together in the most platonic of ways, finding it difficult to be apart at times as Tahiri recovered from her shaping.
He felt a smile spread across his face as he closed his eyes, only to be shaken awake by his sister. She tsked at him.
"Can't go falling asleep after your first two shots," she chided.
"I suppose not," Anakin conceded as he sat himself back up. He glanced around the room to see the rest of the party, consisting of his siblings and a small number of their close friends, hidden away in a far room of the Errant Venture. Tenel Ka, Lowie, Zekk, to name a few. He wished Tahiri was here, but he understood his siblings needed to steal him away. They were all underage drinking, depending on just where the Errant Venture was residing in the galaxy on any given day. Tahiri was quite a bit too young though to look the other way, nor would he want her to risk addling her mind any further.
"Plus," Jacen added with a grin as he climbed over the table and took a seat on the cold metal. "We have one more adventure, for old time sakes."
"Just like old times," Jaina promised, still seated next to Anakin.
Anakin rolled his eyes. "Why not. When have your adventures ever ended badly… wait," he teased.
"This will be different than the undercity," Jacen swore.
"And the underforest," Jaina added with a giggle, referencing that trip to Kashyyykk when Anakin was 10.
"One last trip as a family," Jacen exclaimed as he pulled his siblings into a hug. "Group hug!"
Anakin shook his head against Jacen's shoulder. As weird as it was, he could come to like this new Jacen. Stench of alcohol and all.
-as-
"You see, Anakin," Jaina said as they climbed to Force knows where. "Jacen and I discovered this last week."
"You were climbing up a derelict repulsorlift shaft for fun?" Anakin wondered as he pulled his weight up by his now experienced muscles. This would have been a lot more difficult when they were younger, despite their smaller size. But now climbing up an elevator shaft by spare cables and damaged panels was fairly uneventful compared to what he had done throughout the war and particularly on Yavin.
"We were looking to see what damage had been done by that last Peace Brigade attack. This whole sector of the ship has been locked down for a month, and is what prompted Uncle Luke to start working on the Eclipse station."
"I was just looking for a good place to meditate," Jacen chimed in from below, as he allowed his two siblings to lead the charge.
"Now that, I believe," Anakin said.
"Eclipse is going to be big for us," Jaina said. She launched herself from the cable to the wall of the shaft, the launched herself straight up towards an open lift door. "The Great River the Uncle Luke set up - it all ends at Eclipse. It will be a place for the Jedi to be safe, despite all of the betrayal."
Anakin nodded. The Jedi surely needed that. His recent adventure with Tahiri taught him that the Peace Brigade was everywhere. No Jedi, no Force-sensitive nor Force using individual was safe from this machine of war and betrayal as the Vong tore their galaxy apart. It would be nice to have a moment of peace he hadn't felt since he left Yavin shortly after the war began, before they knew the true horror the Yuuzhan Vong wrought.
"Hiding as the galaxy dies," Jacen said quietly from below. His voice cracked for a moment. "I'm sorry, today is not the day to argue."
Anakin smiled down softly at Jacen. He knew his brother was trying. "I don't think we should be hiding either," he said as he launched himself and followed Jaina's movements. "We should be fighting, but now, we need time to recuperate and learn how to fight them better." He launched himself up to Jaina's waiting arms, who pulled him up the rest of the way.
"I don't want to fight, as you know," Jacen said, mirroring his siblings' leaps. "But sometimes, I wonder, if we did hand ourselves over, would the Vong grant more mercy. No, don't tell me I am wrong. I know that," Jacen added as he leapt up to his siblings' arms.
Jaina and Anakin worked together to pull Jacen up, the heaviest and most muscular of them all despite his loathing of combat. As Anakin's eyes met Jacen's, he spoke calmly.
"Never."
They pulled Jacen up until they were all sitting in the ajar lift door.
"We could never hand ourselves over to the Vong," Anakin said as he stood up. "They will never grant our galaxy mercy. Until we…" he bit back his words. Until we kill every last one of them. Jacen would not like those words, and when Anakin thought about it, neither did he. He saw the Shamed Ones on Yavin, saw that there were people, yes people, on the Vong's side who needed saving. "It's so much more complicated than we have yet considered."
Jacen stood and gave Anakin's arm a tight squeeze. Almost proud.
"You'll do great things for the order, Anakin," he intoned. "I'm sorry I ever doubted you."
Anakin nodded. He didn't know what to say.
"Sometimes, I'm glad to have you two do the thinking," Jaina said as she pulled her siblings into a walking hug as she led the way to their destination. "Just give me a fighter and a lightsaber. I trust you two to aim me well." She thought of Kyp, and pushed those dark feelings aside. They all fought to win this war, but she knew that Kyp was wrong. Her brothers, however, would find out what is right, with her as their sword.
Jacen, true to his word, went along with it, not chastising her as he often did.
Soon enough, they walked out into the void of space, or what felt like it. Anakin was almost in awe, not expecting such a sight. He looked around, seeing that they were in a dome of some sort that offered a view of the stars.
"Booster had the materials to seal this sector off in a bubble. Not quite secure enough to have anyone stay here, but would hold the ship together until he dropped all the Jedi off on Eclipse and could risk going to a repair yard."
Anakin nodded, accepting Jaina's explanation.
"Soon, now," Jacen said quietly.
Anakin turned to him and saw a wide grin on his face as he stared out into the void.
"Any moment," Jaina added, taking a seat on the durasteel flooring.
"What?" Anakin questioned as he followed her lead. Watching space as if they were waiting for sunrise on top of the Praxeum.
"Little brother," Jacen said, a goofy quirk in his voice. "You have got to pay attention more. Though I hear you are busy lately…"
"... with a certain blond girl," Jaina added, her voice teasing beyond all belief.
Anakin blushed, though he found himself happy to be ganged up on by his siblings. Just like their childhood.
"I wouldn't say busy, exactly," Anakin said. "We spend a healthy amount of time together."
"Yeah," Jacen said. "I heard she stays in your room for quite a while sometimes. Even overnight."
"Jacen!" Jaina exclaimed in mock shock. Then she turned to Anakin. "Do we need to have the talk though? I can assure you the medical staff here offers protection, and you can use the For-"
"Stahhhpp," Anakin groaned as he fell onto his back and covered his hands over his face. He breathed out slowly. "It's nothing like that."
"So you don't spend a lot of time in your bed?" Jacen queried.
"By the Force, Jacen," Jaina cackled.
"We do - no, I mean, that's where we sit. We just talk. About the Vong, and her lightsaber form, and…" his voice quieted, ready for ridicule. "Our relationship."
No ridicule came.
Jacen leaned back next to Anakin and Jacen followed, all looking out to the stars.
"I'm done," Jacen promised. "No more teasing from me. I'm glad you found someone. Who would have thought it would be your best friend?"
"Well, all of us have dated our best friend, haven't we?" Jaina asked.
"Runs. In. The. Family," Jacen said, annunciating each word. "We are all so similar, yet so different."
They were quiet for a time, enjoying just being siblings after two years as warriors. Child soldiers robbed of the last years of their childhood.
Soon, they saw what they came here to see. A quiet planet, lacking anything of note, came into view.
"Eclipse," Jacen spoke. "We will start transferring over in the morning." He checked his chrono. "Just about 4 hours now. Our new home."
-as-