Author's Notes at the end.

Chapter 23

Epilogue: One Year Later

Anakin Solo really needed his caf.

They say that time heals all wounds. Anakin solo could certainly attest to that fact. But some wounds, he found, took longer to heal than others. The biggest change though, in his mind, was in himself. Not two days had passed after Vi's departure that Anakin had woken up, gone into the 'fresher on the Falcon- and screamed at the face he saw in the mirror. The horror he had been through had finally decided, once the stress had finally abated, to leave its mark by turning his once brown hair to silver-white.

Vi's words to Anakin had proven prophetic. For two years, Anakin had been stuck on a single continent on a single, rather primitive planet. Now that he was back, he found himself hurtling from planet to planet, putting out brushfires – sometimes, with his Uncle Luke, sometimes with Tahiri and Corran. On more than one occasion he seriously considered running back to Earth to get away from the onslaught of press and the craziness his life had seemingly become. Already used to be a public figure, with his parents being THE Han Solo and Leia Organa-Solo, Princess of Alderaan, he had been stunned with the amount of attention he himself now garnered.

"Next time, don't die." Jaina had told him in jest after one particularly grueling day. He had almost replied: "Next time, I'll stay dead.", but he had learned to keep such jokes to himself.

Resigned to not being able to fade into obscurity as easily or soon as he had wanted, Anakin had spent the greater part of the year on missions with either Corran or Luke, trying to bring relief to systems ravaged by the Vong invasion. When he wasn't away on missions, he stayed with his parents apartment on Mon Calamari, along with his sister- though all of their duties meant they saw very little of each other. Six months after the end of the war, Jacen's signal device on the PPG had gone off, and he had traveled to Earth to beginning training under the Masters of the old Republic.

Tahiri, who had her own particular loathing of the press due to her unique experience with the Vong, had come along on most of the missions, though her particular talents were more suited towards advising the fleet commanders facing Vong commanders who had decided not to surrender. They had not had any appreciable time together for the last two months, as they were both on separate assignments. But thankfully, his one year anniversary of his return came with an invitation back to Earth- a nice little vacation he and his family were looking forward to.

But first, he really, really needed his caf.

Unfortunately, his favorite caf shop on Mon Calamarai was having a bit of a problem. Namely, some thug holding the customers hostage.

"Morning Sergeant," the young Jedi said, walking up to the cordon around the shop. Local Mon Cal security forces were alternately holding back gawkers and training their weapons on the transparisteel windows, trying to get a bead on the perp. "What's going on?"

"What does it look like…" The Sergeant looked over irritably, but his expression brightened at the site of Jedi robes. "Oh, Master Jedi! My apologies…"

Anakin waved him off. "That's alright. I understand completely." He looked back to the caf shop. "What's the situation?"

"Hostage situation. Perp has twenty to thirty civvies and a high-powered blaster. We think he's a renegade Peace-Brigadier."

"My favorite kind of person." Anakin remarked dryly. "Want me to help?"

The Sergeant sighed in relief. "Yes, please. I'm afraid if we open fire, innocent civilians will be killed."

Vesper, the Twi'lek attendant, eyed the armed human nervously from behind her counter. They had been locked inside the café for the past half hour, praying the security forces would be able to help them. So far, all they had done was make the psychotic human even more nervous- and angry. She could see spittle flying out of his mouth as he talked to one of the officers over the holo.

"I want a hard-top hover-car, I want a ship with a working hyperdrive readied at the spaceport, and I want them in the next thirty minutes or I swear I'll start killing off this alien trash, one by one!" He swung the blaster towards the Twi'lek, "Starting with this thing!"

In the sudden silence, everyone heard the distinct sound of a toilet flushing. The hostage taker gaped in disbelief when a young man with silver hair calmly walked out of the 'fresher and walked up to the counter. "Man," he said nonchalantly, "no more breakfast burritos for me." He smiled at the attendant. "I'll take the usual, Ves."

"HEY!"

Anakin gave Vesper a calming smile and a wink before glancing over at the thug. "Hey there, sailor. Is that a blaster in your hand, or are you just happy to see me?"

"Where did you come from?" The man growled.

"The 'fresher."

"What were you doing in there?"

"Taking a leak." Anakin replied drolly. He glanced idly at the gun. "Oh, put that away before you shoot your eye out."

The man stepped towards Anakin menacingly. "I don't think you get what's going on here, friend." He growled. "Now put your hands up and move over there with the rest, or YOU'LL be the first to die!"

Anakin shook his head sadly. "You really have no idea who I am, do you?" he asked, turning to face the man fully. "It's the hair, isn't it? It always throws people off nowadays."

"I don't care who you are…"

"You should." Anakin's voice was quieter, with a force behind it that instantly shut the perp up. Idly, he brushed the edge of his coat back, revealing the curved hilt of his lightsaber. Anakin smirked as the man's eye's widened. "Yup, Jedi. As in, the people you and your fellow Peace Brigadiers spent so much time and effort trying to kill during the war. And while it's not a real Jedi thing to do- seeking vengeance and all of that- well, I lost a good friend on Yavin 4, and my girl was tortured for weeks because of your friends. So I'll have no problem dissecting that blaster of yours, and then dissecting you. Or I'll enjoy watching the security sharp-shooters blowing off your head in about a minute, since you were stupid enough to take hostages in a place that's practically all windows." He paused, letting that sink in. "Or you can surrender to me now, and at least you'll be able to walk out of here alive. But personally," he hand moved to hover near the lightsaber, "I hope you try something. " Anakin smirked at the pale, sweating man. "So go ahead. Make my day."

After he had gleefully presented the unresisting Peace Brigadier to the security forces, acquired two cups of caf from a grateful Vesper, and retrieving his robe that he had discard outside the small window he had climbed through to get to the shop's 'fresher, Anakin made his way back to his parent's apartment. He walked in, set the cups down, then shrugged off both his robe and jacket and hung them by the door. Picking up the cups, he made his way into the main room, where he spied Jaina sitting on a couch looking over a large sheaf of paperwork.

"Can't even go get a cup of caf without raising a fuss, can you Silvertop?" she asked without looking up. "Hope they gave you the caf for free."

"No, I paid for it." Anakin replied, ignoring the crack about his hair. "Besides, it was a Peace Brigadier. And I'd beat their asses for a Klondike bar."

"You realize that statement is lost on me, right?"

Anakin scoffed. "What are you doing?"

"Officers have paperwork." Jaina said, glancing up. "And I'm a bit behind."

"Yeah? Well Jedi have lightsabers. That makes my job cooler than yours." Jaina snorted. "Where's Tahiri?"

She nodded her head towards his bedroom door. "Getting dressed."

"Still?"

"She wants to look nice."

Anakin shook his head. "They've already seen her as a drowned rat…" he muttered, moving over towards the door. "Woman!" he called out loudly. "What the heck are you still doing in there?"

The first answer he got was a force-slap on the back of his head. Then he heard, "Call me 'Woman' one more time, and I'll never sleep with you again."

Jaina shuddered. "God!" she exclaimed. "I do not want to hear about my little brother's sex life, even in passing!"

Anakin glanced over at his sister with a droll expression. "And we don't want to hear your sex life either, but the sound-proofing in this place sucks. And I still can't eat at the kitchen table…" he was gratified to see her turn beet red, and she let out an 'Eep!' before quickly turning back to her paperwork. Anakin turned back to the door which had slid open a crack.

"I want to look nice when we go to Earth." She hissed at him. Anakin sighed.

"'Ri, you own five shirts, five pairs of pants, three robes and, in your case, no shoes. What could you possibly be trying to do with that?"

"Jaina and your mom lent me some outfits, and I'm trying to see which one looks the best."

"Sweetie, nobody is gonna care what you wear, just as long as you show up. You could show up naked, if you want." He leered suggestively at her and wagged his eyebrows. "Personally, I like that option."

"Down boy." Tahiri giggled. Anakin flashed a grin, and then held out one of the cafs to her. "Ooh, good boy. I think I'll keep you."

"Let me keep sleeping with you, and we'll call it even."

"Gag!" Jaina called out.

"Oh goddess, my goddess!" Tahiri shot back good naturedly, echoing a cry they had heard Jag make a few weeks ago. Once more, Jaina became suddenly engrossed in her paperwork, and the two young lovers snickered. Anakin leaned in and lightly kissed Tahiri on the lips.

"Just throw something on. I can feel the Folks and Masters Skywalker coming; they'll be here in a minute."

Tahiri sighed. "Fine." She moved back, and the door slid shut again. Anakin moved back towards his sister and sat down in the chair opposite her. She looked at him menacingly.

"You tell Mom and Dad about Me, Jag, and the table, and I'll kill you."

Anakin shrugged. "Vi'll just bring me back. It's what she does."

A few minutes later, the door opened once more and Han, Leia, Luke, Mara and little Ben entered. The little three year old boy's face lit up as he saw his favorite cousin.

"Ani!" he screamed and leapt at Anakin, who let out an 'Oof!' as he caught the toddler.

"Hey, Benji! Looking forward to seeing Aunt Vi?" he asked. Ben's eyes were alight and he nodded his head eagerly. Ben had never met Vi, but the young woman had left an indelible impression in his mind when she had reached out through the Force to help heal his father. Anakin looked up at his Uncle. "How are things looking on Ossus?"

"The new academy is taking shape." He replied, taking his son back from Anakin. "The main building should be finished in another six months; the rest of the buildings in about a year. I wish it could be done sooner, but most of the major construction firms are solely focused on Coruscant."

"Pay more. That'll get their attention." Jaina remarked, putting her papers in a small case that she then slid under the couch.

"Sure. I'll just take the extra money out of your allowance." Leia said dryly.

"I saw you've had a busy morning." Luke said, looking to his nephew. Anakin shrugged.

"I wanted caf. And so did 'Ri. Got to keep the old ball and chain happy..." he winced as Ben slapped him on the back of his head. "Hey!" he exclaimed as Mara laughed. "You're supposed to be on my side!"

"Good boy, Ben." Mara said.

"Yeah, your mom's taught you well." Tahiri said, ruffling the boys hair before glaring at Anakin. He smiled sheepishly.

"Nice outfit. You look great." He assured her, then darted forward and kissed the tip of her nose. "Got your konk." Tahiri rolled her eyes.

"Is everyone ready to go?" Leia asked, withdrawing a portal generator from a side cabinet that Jacen had brought with him the last time he had come home. She set it on the floor and turned the power on, and the device started to hum as the power built up in its capacitors.

"I hope this trip isn't as bumpy as my last one." Jaina noted, coming to stand next to her younger brother.

"Weren't you being tossed into an ocean by a Mandalorian that time?" Anakin noted wryly. "Well, unless Boba Fett suddenly shows up, you should be fine."

"Ha-Ha." She replied dryly.

A beep from the device signaled it was ready.

"Well," Luke said, using the Force to activate the portal generator. A flash of blue-white energy coalesced into a stable portal. "This should be fun."

One by one they stepped through the portal, arriving on Earth an instant later. Anakin was the last through, and looked around in surprise that the greatly expanded embarkation room. It looked to be three times as large as it had been the last time he was on Earth. 'I wonder why?' he thought to himself. His thoughts were cut off as a familiar, if older, face came into view, and he smiled.

"Greetings, Master Kenobi." Anakin said, bowing formally.

"Welcome back, Knight Solo." Buffy replied with an equally formal bow. Then she laughed and pulled him in for a hug. "Force I've missed you. It's been too long." She said warmly, then she pulled back, holding him at arm's length to get a good look. "Your hair!"

Anakin gave her a cocky grin. "I make this look good." He looked past her to his brother. "How's the learning, Jacen?" he asked.

"Pretty cool." He replied. Anakin rolled his eyes.

"He has been hanging with the Slayers far more than is good for him." Buffy admitted sardonically.

Anakin looked around. "Where's Dawn? And Vi?" he asked. He noted that Buffy's face momentarily took on a saddened look before she schooled her emotions.

"Dawn will join us in the hall." She told him. "As for Vi…" she nodded to the corner of the room.

Anakin had noticed the girl, but discounted her. She was a few inches taller than him, wearing regular Earth clothes. her brown hair was in a pixie cut, and he noticed a streak of silver running through it. But her eyes… His jaw dropped, and the girl smirked at him.

"Hey, big brother." Vi said with a twinkle in her eye. "What the hell took you so long?"

He smirked at her. "I just didn't feel like coming back." He laughed and launched himself at Vi, grabbing her up in a fierce hug. "Force I've missed you!" he said, putting her down. "How old-"

"You're still asking that question?" Vi looked past Anakin to Tahiri. "Haven't you trained him up yet?"

Tahiri laughed. "I tried, but it's like training an Acklay."

"And I'm standing right here." He looked up at her hair. "Nice hair, Nancy."

"You too, Gibbs." Vi replied. The two laughed. "Oh, I wanted to introduce you to someone." She grabbed the arm of the man standing next to her and pulled him forward. He extended his hand, and Anakin reached out to shake it. "Anakin, this is Raze- my boyfriend."

Anakin's hand tightened immediately, and he eyed the man distrustfully. "Boyfriend, eh? Hi, I'm Vi's disapproving, overprotective older brother."

"And I'm the boyfriend who doesn't give a damn." Raze said with a tight smile. Both let go of the other's hands.

"That accent- Mandalorian?" Anakin guessed. Raze nodded. "So Joyce must have introduced you, right? Joyce, Vi's Mandalorian Jedi-Slayer Aunt?"

Vi rolled her eyes. "Oh, brother…"

"That about sums it up." Jaina said with a smile.

"Actually, we met each other during the war."

Vi let out a pained sigh as Anakin blinked. "The war?"

"Yeah, the Vong war." Raze explained as if he were a dumb child. "What, didn't keep up with the news while you were away?"

"I wasn't made aware." Anakin said tightly, his gaze firmly back on Vi, who looked abashed.

The awkward silence that followed was finally broken by Buffy. "Well, Anakin, Jaina, and Jacen have already seen the compound; why don't I take the rest of you all on a tour?" she suggested.

"That sounds lovely." Leia replied. They all started to file out, with Vi heading out first, Raze right behind her. Jacen moved to follow, but Anakin's hand shot out and grasped onto his arm, stopping him in his tracks.

"Something you forgot to tell me, brother?" Anakin hissed.

"Vi told me not to tell you." Jacen said. "And to be fair, she's a lot scarier than you."

Anakin paid little attention during the tour; he'd seen everything, and he had more important matters on his mind. All too soon they entered the great hall where a party had been laid out, but Anakin stopped cold when he saw a new addition on the wall. Slowly he made his way over to the far wall, taking in the numerous pictures on the wall.

Dozens- no, hundreds of girls, all Slayers, he realized. Many of whom he remembered from his time on Earth. Rona, Molly, Kennedy, Michelle, Kate… he gasped when he saw the picture of Xander and Aayla from their wedding, and noticed other familiar faces- Roan Shryne, Serra Keto, Teryl Sibwarra… Anakin turned and looked back at the tables that surrounded the dance floor. He finally saw Dawn, standing next to her husband Zett, who was in a hoverchair. One side of his face was scared, and kit was obvious that he was paralyzed. He started looking at the others, and finally saw what he had been ignoring in the embarkation room- the telltale weariness of being surrounded by too much death.

"Hello, Anakin." Dawn said, coming up to him. She had felt his distress and desperately wanted to comfort him.

"What happened?" he asked without preamble, looking at Zett.

Dawn sighed. "He took an amphistaff to the spinal column, then was thrown into some burning wreckage." She said. "I had to prioritize his injuries, and his spine came last. It left him paralyzed."

Anakin nodded absently. It was too much. "Excuse me." He said, walking away from Dawn towards the exit. Dawn thought about calling after him, but sighed instead and went back to her husband. Before he could make it to the exit, Tahiri ran up to him.

"Ani, what's wrong?" she asked worriedly.

Anakin plastered a smile on his face. "Nothing." he lied. "I need to run to the bathroom. I'll be right back."

"Ani-" she started, but he cut her off with a kiss. "I'm fine. Stay here and enjoy the party. I'll be back ain a bit." And with that, he was gone.

Anakin wandered through the complex aimlessly. He found himself at the indoor pool, and looked around wistfully, remembering…

Anakin floated lazily in the heated pool even as he vainly tried to keep his distance from the water fight raging between half a dozen Slayers a few feet away. He sighed and began kicking towards the shallow end again, clenching his jaw at the pain shooting through his leg.

"I thought I told you to relax today?" a voice called out. Anakin tipped his head back as far as he could without submerging his eyes and spied Mara kneeling at the edge of the pool. "You can injure yourself further working this hard, you know."

"Not that I mind the vacation," Anakin started, kicking harder to get back to the edge of the pool, "but my family and friends are out there fighting and dying while I'm stuck in a pool party. And there are no guarantees that my parents will believe Jaina, despite whatever proof Joyce gives!"

"I know you're frustrated, Anakin," Mara said calmly. "But you won't help anyone if you die going back. You need to be healthy."

Anakin sighed in frustration. "I know, I know." He eyed her and noted the travel pack slung over her shoulder. "Where are you going?"

"Due to the time discrepancies, Dawn wants me to start training Vi now. We'll be leaving later today for the second world."

"Not to sound like a whiner, but what about me?" he asked.

Mara smiled. "Buffy will be taking over your training, and Anakin Senior will take over your healing sessions with Dawn." She paused. "Vi was going to see you before we left, but if you want you can go say goodbye to her now." Anakin nodded, and then made to grab Mara who just leaned back out of his reach. "You didn't think you could actually surprise a Jedi like me, did you?" she asked archly. Anakin just smiled.

"No, but I could distract you…" he trailed off laughing as Kennedy, who had snuck up behind Mara, pushed her into the pool.

Anakin shook his head. Most of the girls at that party were now dead. Kennedy was dead. And that damn time discrepancy… he sighed and walked out.

He walked through the empty halls, wondering if it was empty because everyone was at the party, or because most of the girls were gone? He found himself standing in front of the doors to the infirmary, and after a moment's hesitation, he walked in. It was empty, for once, and he looked at his former bed fondly.

Anakin lay there for a few moments, doing his best to suppress the pain he felt with the Force – and was mildly alarmed when it did not respond to him as quickly as it once had. He knew he was in bad shape- but not so bad that his Force sensitivity had left him! A few more moments to gather his strength and he forced his eyes open to face a most peculiar sight.

A young girl, no older than 7 or 8, sat on the edge of his bed. She had flowing brown hair and wide, curious eyes the color of molten silver that were peering down at him as if she was studying a bug through a microscope. But he didn't get the impression that she meant any harm, merely that she was curiously observing him, as if to see if he was actually alive. Anakin's eyes narrowed slightly as he instinctively pushed his head father back into the pillow, trying to out some distance between them.

The girl giggles and sat back on her haunches, balancing precariously on the edge of the bed. "Good morning, sleepy-head!" the girl said brightly. "I'm Vi! What's your name?"

He smiled at the memory, the first meeting of a girl who would forever change his life. He turned and walked out of the room, then paused and turned once more to head a short way down the hall. At the end there was a door to a guest room, and he found himself staring at the closed door.

"You've been here so long already, we figured that it was time you got your own room." Buffy said.

Hesitantly, he reached out and his the activation stud on the door, and to his reliefe it opened at once to show an unoccupied room. He moved inside and looked around at the Spartan furnishings, then noticed that leaning against the desk by the door was his cane. He reached out and picked it up, remembering when he had broken a similar cane to stake his first vampire- who had also happened to be his friend once.

"An'kin," Belle began in her Cockney accent, "Can I have a mo'?" Anakin nodded and the two moved over to a quieter corner of the gym. "I was wonderin' if you'd like to go out this weekend? Maybe have some fun?" she added, looking at him expectantly. Anakin noticed the look and his mind instantly flashed to a conversation he'd had with Faith about Slayers and the two H's. Still, he considered his response before replying.

"Belle…" he began awkwardly, cursing the fact that he didn't have his father's smoothness, "part of me would really like to…"

"Only part?" she teased. Anakin gave her a weak grin.

"It's just… there's this girl back home…"

"…and you want to wait for her." Belle finished. Much to his relief, she gave him a broad grin. "I think tha's sweet."

"Really?"

"Yeah, really. Mos' guys I know, they were in your shoes, they'd jump at the chance." She looked at him for a moment. "She must be a heck of a girl."

Anakin thought of Tahiri and smiled. "Yeah, she is."

He sighed. Belle had been killed that very night; worse, she'd been turned. She had hoisted Vi up by her tiny neck and pinned her to the wall, and would have killed her if he hadn't broken his cane in two and staked her through the back.

He staggered to his feet and snapped his cane in half, and then lunged at Bell, stabbing into her back and piercing her heart. Belle gasped and the demonic visage faded. For a moment, she looked at Vi, mouth the words 'I'm sorry', and then exploded into dust.

He put the cane down and left the room, heading toward the doors to the outside plaza. He remembered holding his little sister as she cried. "Hmmph." He said to himself. "Not so little anymore."

"Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." Anakin replied from his seat next to Vi on her bed.

"You know that Anakin- my Anakin, and Jacen and Jaina, are my cousins, right?"

"Yeah…"

"Well… my mom isn't ever having any more kids, and I've always wanted a brother…" she took a breath and looked into his eyes. "Would you… would you be my brother?" Vi asked.

Anakin was taken aback for a moment by the earnestness of the question, but soon he smiled and put an arm around her shoulder. "I always wanted a younger sister." He said.

Anakin stopped before the Memorial Wall, which he noted was greatly expanded. He looked sadly at the inscription of 'The Dawn Patrol', noting that the only four people to survive from either the original group, or its successor that he had helped with at times, were the three Jedi and Cassandra. He shook his head and smiled at that.

"Yeah, I'm not sure anything can kill that girl."

Anakin turned around to see Vi standing there. "Cassandra?" he asked needlessly.

"And it wasn't from lack of trying, either. Though she did have to spend a month in the infirmary."

"How?" He didn't expand the question. He didn't have to.

"We brought Zonama Sekot into the war early, and it ended up splitting the Vong. A good portion of them decided to make their home on the planet, but a full two thirds of their fighting force still wanted to totally conquer the galaxy. Near the end of the second year of the war, they launched a full scaled invasion on the planet. The Dawn Patrol, along with two hundred additional Slayers, were called up to defend it." She sighed. "Almost all of them died, along with friendly Vong warriors and G.A. troops. But the enemy was routed, and from that point on it was mostly a mop-up operation." She grinned mirthlessly. "We had the war won in three years. Yay us."

Anakin looked back to the wall, seeing Xander's name. In front of it was an eternal flame. "And Xander?"

"Died covering Thrawn's retreat from Bastion." She said tiredly. "Master Secura had died about six months before that. Thrawn was KIA'd about six months later. Palleon's in charge, now."

Anakin sighed tiredly. "Why?"

"That's a loaded question, big brother." Vi said. "Care to narrow it down a bit?"

"Why the HELL didn't you call for me!" Anakin shouted, spinning around and glaring at her.

She looked at him impassively. "Because we didn't need you." She said.

"I could have helped! I could have saved lives!" he railed.

"You did save lives!" she replied earnestly, moving close to him and taking his arms in her hands. "The information you gave us was invaluable. Your' war lasted over five years, right? Well, because of what you told us, our war only lasted three. Whole worlds were spared the wratht they felt in your universe. TRILLIONS of lives were spared! All thanks to you." She emphasized with a slight shake.

Anakin pulled away from her. He pointed to the wall. "It didn't save them!"

"This was never going to be a bloodless war, Anakin." Vi said reasonably. "There were always going to be casualties. All we could do is try to limit them."

"I could have fought-"

"You did fight!" Vi said, her won anger starting to bubble. "You fought! And you DIED! And I would be damned if it happened again!" she took a deep breath, trying to let her anger go. "You had your war, Anakin. You already suffered too much. I didn't want you to suffer anymore."

Anakin sighed, his own anger deflating. "I never wanted this for you." He told her quietly. "I never wanted you to see the horrors I saw. But now I look at you, I look into your eyes, and I see the same thing I see every morning when I look in the mirror. Eyes that have seen too much pain; too much death." He looked at her sadly. "I guess I always wanted you to stay like you were when we first met, after I woke up- curious and joyful."

Vi wrapped her arms around him and hugged with all she had. "That's a sweet thought, Anakin." She said, pulling back and kissing his forehead. "But we all have to grow up sometime. We can't stay innocent forever. And I am a Jedi, like my parent's before me. And I would never run away from my duties."

Anakin shook his head. "You know something, Vi?"

"What?" she asked.

"You are remarkable." He said.

She grinned impishly. "Thank you for remarking on it."

The two smiled at each other, the tension between them evaporating. "Now, come on." Vi said, grabbing his hand and pulling him away from the wall and back towards the complex. "We're missing a party!"

"I'm going to still pretend to be angry at Jacen, so don't let on anything." Anakin said, then he looked at her. "And what kind of name is 'Raze', anyways? Where did you meet that ponce?"

"Well, you know how in your universe the Mando's worked for the Vong at first before they saw what their agenda really was?" Anakin nodded. "Same in our universe. The Vong put a bounty on the Jedi, and Raze caught me."

Anakin blinked. "Wait, your dating the man who kidnapped you?"

"It was only for a little bit." Vi said defensively. "Then he saw what the Vong were doing to women and children, and that pissed him off. So we decided to work together. He'd take me to a Vong commander or a Peace Brigade troop- yeah, we had those idiot's, too- and say he'd captured me. Then he'd collect the bounty." She smirked. "Then, I'd 'break free', and we'd take them out." Vi shrugged. "What can I say? It was love at first sight!"

"That's not love, that's Stockholm Syndrome." Anakin said dryly.

Vi slapped him on the back of his head. "Shut up, Gibbs."

"If I'm Gibbs…" he reached over and slapped her on the back of her head, causing her to yelp. "If you can't take it, don't dish it Nancy."

"That's MISS LANGENKAMP!" Vi said dramatically, and the two burst into laughter.

The two walked back into the great hall and made their way over to their respective better halves. Anakin sat down next to Tahiri and smiled. "All better." He said.

"You sure?" Tahiri asked.

Anakin smiled and nodded. "Yeah, I'm sure."

"Oh good, you're back." Anakin looked up to see Joyce drop down into a chair at their table. "Have fun being depressed and mopy?"

Anakin chuckled. "Yeah. Finally realized that I'm not Superman." He stopped when he noticed the two young boys standing next to Joyce.

She saw his look and grinned. "Allow me to introduce the next generation- Oliver and Rylan."

He looked at her incredulously. "And whose children are they?"

Joyce scowled. "Their mine, Junior!"

"You spawned?" he grinned impishly. "That how Mandalorians do it, right?"

Joyce looked down at her two boys. "That there is your Uncle Junior." She explained. "Now, go kick him in the shins."

The two boys hooted with joy and ran at Anakin, who used the Force to lift them into the air and hold them back, much to their delight.

The party went on for several hours, with Anakin and Tahiri going around the room and catching up with old friends. When Anakin found Cassandra, the two hugged for over two minutes, mourning their lost friends. Buffy talked about the trials of being the Head Slayer, but how fulfilling it was. Dawn talked about the various new treatments she was looking into for her husband with Vi's help, and how confident she was that he would regain the use of his legs. Eventually dinner was served, and the Earthers turned the tables on Anakin, asking him all about how he was doing now that his galaxy was at peace.

As dinner ended the music started up again, and various couples moved out onto the dance floor. Anakin looked at Tahiri and grinned.

"What?" she asked cautiously.

"There is something I've wanted to do for a long time." He said, standing. He grasped her hands and pulled her to her feet. "I want to dance with you."

"Ani! I don't know how to dance!" she hissed.

"Don't worry about it, just follow my lead." He said, moving out onto the dance floor as a new song started up.

Fly me to the moon

Let me play among the stars

Let me see what spring is like

On Jupiter and Mars

In other words, hold my hand

In other words, baby , kiss me

Tahiri smiled as she moved with her boyfriend, gaining confidence with every step.

Vi had drug Raze out onto the floor and was similarly leading him in the dance. Anakin couldn't help himself. "You could always stand on her feet, Raisin."

"Blow me, Jedi." Raze said crossly.

"No, that's my job." Vi said with a smirk, causing both me to turn red from embarrassment. "Severs you both right, Now shut up and dance."

Fill my heart with song

and let me sing forever more

You are all I long for

All I worship and adore

In other words, please be true

In other words, I love you

By this time, all of the couples were out on the floor, some with their children. Han and Leia smiled in contentment as they swayed to the music; Luke and Mara both held onto Ben's hands as they danced. Anakin held Padmè, who laid her head upon his broad chest, while Buffy did the same with Obi Wan. Anakin looked at them all, a sense of contentment falling on him. He looked over her head at Vi, and smiled. Vi smiled back, then laid her head down on Raze's shoulder. He gave one last glance to the memorial wall, looking at the picture of the Dawn Patrol, then at Xander and Aayla's wedding picture, then at the rest of the girls, and sent a silent prayer to the Force that they would all rest peacefully.

Fill my heart with song

Let me sing forever more

You are all I long for

All I worship and adore

Tahiri grasped his chin and turned his face back to her. "Ani, are you sure you're okay?" she asked once more.

Anakin smiled. "I'm better than okay." He said. "I'm home."

Tahiri looked at him in confusion. "You consider Earth to be your home now?"

He shook his head. "No. Home is wherever you are." He said, bending down and giving her a soft kiss on the lips. He pulled back, basking in her smile, then pulled her in close.

In other words, please be true

In other words, In other words,

I love you.

-The End-

Well, look what I finally finished!

The sad thing was half of this has been written for about four years now. But I had been so burned out on Star Wars, I just didn't care. So let me and everyone else thank Timeless for his review on Past is Prologue- for without that, I probably never would have gone back and finished this up. And it wasn't easy, either- I took me a few days (and a re-reading of the whole story) to remember what I was going to do in the first place!

But this is it, the end of my Star Wars saga. Maybe I'll revisit this universe someday (maybe after Episode 7 comes out, who knows?), but for right now, I'm immersed in the world of Arrow. So come see me over at my new story, Past is Prologue, available on this site and on Ao3. Chapter 3 will be out on Monday, and I promise you won't have to wait as long for me to update it- I've written 19 chapters already, and am working on more. (I also threw in a little nod to Arrow. Who spotted it? Also threw in a nod to, of all things, 'A Nightmare on Elm Street.')

In closing, let me thank everyone who read this story, and especially those who took the time to review. Let me thank all of my past Beta's, and especially Fallenstar2, whose help had been invaluable. I don't know if she'll read this, or if she's even still reading fanfiction, but if you are, then thank you.

May the Force be with you all.

-Naitch03

Read more: Frank Sinatra - Fly Me To The Moon Lyrics | MetroLyrics