Story Parameters

(EU/AU/Thriller/Action/Drama/Romance)

Cast of Characters:

Original Film/EU Characters:

Han & Leia Solo: Retired Galactic General, Leia Senate Representative to Jedi Council
Luke & Mara Skywalker: Jedi Masters, heads of Jedi Council, parents to Ben Skywalker Owners of The Jade Saber II.
Lando Calrissian: Friend to Solo family, loveable scoundrel. Married to Tendra, owner of Coruscant restaurant Star Delights.
Chewbacca: Han’s co-pilot, Wookiee friend.

Solo & Skywalker Children:

Jaina Racees: Senator for Naboo, Jedi Knight, married to Marxx Racees, has 3 year old daughter, Lynnia.
Jacen Solo: Jedi Master, head instructor Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, married to Raven Solo.
Anakin Solo: Jedi Knight, Prince of Hapes, married to Tenel Ka. Children, 3 year old triplets (all girls): Rowen, Ania, and Hana, Daughter Yssarri 1 ½ Year old
Ben Skywalker: Son of Luke/Mara, age 9, Jedi Academy Cadet

Racees Family Members:

Chariss & Rowlon Racees: Parents to Marxx, Raven, and Tanella. Grandparents to Krishta and Lynnia.
Marxx Racees: Jedi Master member of Jedi Council, married to Jaina, twin of Raven Solo. 3 year old daughter Lynnia
Raven Solo: Jedi Master, head instructor Jedi Academy on Yavin 4, married to Jacen Solo, twin of Marxx Racees.
Tanella Racees Starelli: Older sister to Marxx & Raven, mother of Krishta, nanny to Lynnia & Jayanti. Parents are Chariss and Rowlon Racees.
Krishtoff Starelli: Estranged husband to Tanella Racees, father to Krishta Racees.
Krishta Racees Starelli: 11 year old, daughter of Tanella Racees and Krishtoff Starelli. Jedi Cadet.

Children of Solo Kids:

Lynnia Racees: 4 years old, daughter of Marxx and Jaina.
Jayanti Racees: 1 year old daughter to Marxx and Jaina.
Tahiri and Shanari Veila: Orphans from the planet of Nebsca, both adopted by Raven and Jacen. Tahiri 11, Shanari 6
Zayne Kyp Solo: 6 month old son of Jacen and Raven Solo.
Ania, Hana, and Rowan: 3 ½ year old Triplet daughters to Anakin Solo & Tenel Ka.
Yssarri Solo: 1 ½ year old daughter to Anakin Solo and Tenel Ka.

Solo Friends & Jedi Knights:

Tenel Ka Solo: Jedi Knight, Queen mother of Hapes. Married to Anakin Solo, mother of 3 ½ year old triplets, Rowan, Ania, and Hana. Daughter Yssarri 1 ½ Year old.
Brukos Olissian: Gem Entrepreneur, multi-millionaire friend to Tenel Ka and Anakin Solo.
Nastya Chume’da: Cousin to Tenel Ka, fiancé of Brukos Olissian
Lowbacca: Jedi Master, Wookiee, friend to Solos
Zekk aka Onyx: Former Jedi trainee turned bounty hunter. Old friend to the Solo kids.
Danni Quee: Lead scientist at the Brukos Olissian Medical Facility on Hapes 8.
Pugh Ta Li: Medical assistant to Danni Quee.

Assorted Emerging, and/or Minor Characters:

Ta’a Chume: Grandmother to Tenel Ka, Mother of Isolder. Former Queen Mother of Hapes.
Teneniel Djo: Mother to Tenel Ka
Isolder: Father to Tenel Ka, Prince of Hapes.
Ahriman Soontiss: Supreme Chancellor of the New Republic
Shri Yarr: Senator from Drall in the Correllian System
Mother Anica: Mysterious spiritual leader of the Bu’Lar Nunnery.
Master Tionne: Jedi Master on Jedi Council, human female
Master Rodersuin: Jedi Master on Jedi Council, human male
Kyp Durron: Former Jedi Master, heroically died in Destinies Entwined: Unmasked Soul, destroyed Carida and lived with the consequences of his guilt his entire life.
Jedi Cadets: Mee-Qui, Kynne, By’tna, Roodnick, Jannay, Too’la,




What came before:

Destinies Entwined: Jaina’s Journey, Nubian Son, Unmasked Soul
To Court a Queen
Legacy of Light
Carida Avenged: Unnatural Selection


Timeline:

Return of the Jedi 0
Jedi Academy books 11 years later
Young Jedi Knights books 24 years later
Destinies Entwined 28 years later
To Court a Queen 30 years later
Carida Avenged: Unnatural Selection 33 years later
Carida Avenged Part II: Purity Control 34 years later

This fanfic is my continuing effort to rewrite/ recreate the EU as I believed it should have happened. I don’t like the idea and premises behind the NJO where the writers killed off main characters simply for the sake of making things “interesting.” When I write my stories, I try to always keep GL’s original visions foremost in my mind and they loosely follow events from the YJK books. I also hold onto the things that I love most about the SW films, particularly the OT - which is that the main characters were all such good friends. My stories center around the Solos and Skywalkers being very tightly knit family unit and very protective of each other. When I write, I also base my stories on the ideals of mythology and they tend to follow the more fantasy element, rather than sci-fi. Usually, they do at least…

This story is set 1 year after Carida Avenged: Unnatural Selection.

As per how I normally write, I am taking liberty with writing canon characters. I knew nothing about Danni Quee from the NJO books and wrote her from scratch – if there is zero resemblance to her in those books- that is why. Zekk, I only remember briefly – and I don’t believe I ever finished the YJK books- so again, I’m making things up as I go and based entirely on a faulty memory. Also, if you will note Tahiri Veila has had her past completely altered and she’s now the same age range as Ben Skywalker.

Welcome to the EU universe through PLJ’s eyes

Hold on and hang on…part one of Carida Avenged: Unnatural Selection was all set up for part 2. The title for this fic, Purity Control is my nod to my second favorite fandom…The X-Files.

Enjoy! All comments are welcome!




Carida Avenged Part II: Purity Control


Prologue

Moonlight cascaded through the large windows of the orphanage on Ord Mantell bathing the room in an eerie glow. Headmistress Nara nervously watched as the team of Galactic Special Forces Personnel silently marched towards the rooms of the orphanage. The moonlight gave their white hooded medical suits a ghostly appearance. Three days earlier a team of Medics had arrived under the protection of the Galactic Orphanage Bill and ran complete physical exams on all Orphans currently residing at the home. Nara’s heart had thundered in her chest when the news arrived that four of her children were considered to be too ill to be adopted.

Commander Tizo stood in the doorway of the shaking woman’s office, barring her from exiting the room or preventing his men from carrying out their duties as they carried two of the sleeping children out of the building.

Readjusting the sleeve on her robe, Nara confusedly said, “I don’t understand, Commander. Those four children have never shown a single symptom that they’re sick. In fact, I’d go as far as saying that they’re extraordinarily lucky…highly gifted in fact.”

The tall, gaunt man didn’t bother to glance at the woman. “What we do is not for you to question. We are serving the New Republic.”

“Yes, I understand that…I made sure that I fully read over the law last night, but…”

The man’s icy pale blue eyes glared in her direction, silencing any further arguments. Two more troopers exited the building carrying the final two children.

“Are they contagious? Do I need to worry about the safety of the other children here?” Nara demanded.

“No. Their problem is genetic. Your other wards will not be affected,” Tizo explained and peered out into the hallway, readying to leave. The last three personnel exited the building carrying boxes filled with the children’s meager possessions. The man turned around and said, “Don’t worry. Your children are in good hands, you have the Supreme Chancellor’s word on that.”

With a slight bow, the man left.

Nara felt an empty gnawing knot form in her chest. Somehow, she felt as if she had failed those four children, she should’ve fought harder to keep them here. However, she knew if she’d put up any argument that they might’ve found a reason to shut down her facility. With fifty other children under her care, she couldn’t afford for that to happen. Those four were the brightest of all of her charges, in fact, if she didn’t know any better she would’ve thought they were Force-Sensitive.

A cry from down the hall alerted her that the other children had just discovered that their playmates were missing. Shoving aside her own emotional distress she hurried down the hall in order to hedge off the emotional tide that was certain to rise when all of her orphans learned that four of their friends were gone.

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

Pink electric light sliced towards Luke Skywalker’s head. The Jedi Master ducked and attacked with his green blade, stopping the momentum of his opponent’s thrust. Effortlessly, he spun and attacked. Steadily, his opponent perfectly countered each attack.

“Stop being so defensive and attack me,” Luke ordered.

White teeth flashed a savage smile and the small woman leapt upwards, tucked into a ball and spun over his head. Landing effortless on her boot covered feet, she swung towards Luke’s middle, and danced towards him, her pink blade a dizzying shield of light. Luke sunk deeply into the Force to call on its strength to heighten his reflexes. The training room in the Jedi Temple on Coruscant filled with the electrical hum of lightsabers crashing, flicking off sparks. Luke felt his overall body temperature rise and sweat began to trickle down the back of his neck from exertion. His opponent surprised him with her agile movements and quickness at altering the directions of her thrusts and parries. He found it difficult to track her tactics…he was impressed.

“That’s more like it!” he announced, stepped back and pointed his lightsaber towards the floor indicating the end of the sparring match.

His opponent mirrored his posture and both simultaneously deactivated their blades.

Both were breathing heavily. She said, “I’m too old for this.”

“I don’t know, age seems to have actually strengthened your skills, Leia,” Luke responded.

Leia brushed a wet, stray dark hair out of her eyes and studied her twin. Grumpily she said, “Well I’ll admit that it IS a great way to burn off pent up frustrations.”

Both plopped down on the mat together and wiped the excess sweat off of their faces. Luke studied his sister and asked, “Why the sudden interest in lightsaber practice? You’ve never been interested in wielding your sword. You know that you don’t have to be a master at the blade to still be a Jedi Master. Your skills as a highly trained negotiator far outweigh the needs to be effective with the blade.”

Dark meaning filled her brown eyes as she replied, “You know why I’m practicing.”

Luke nodded in silent agreement.

For the past year the Jedi had been living on pins and needles. When Luke had killed Brakiss after he had released a bio-toxin into the Jedi circle, the Dark Knight’s dying words indicated that there was someone else masterminding the plot. So far, no one in the Jedi Order had been able to ascertain who that mysterious person could be. All sensed a cloud over the future and were completely unaware of what to do about it.

Since their enemy had yet to make his presence known they went about business as usual, happily inviting two new babies and two adopted children into their family, celebrating the union of an old friend, Lando Calrissian and his new bride Tendra, and anxiously awaiting another larger, grander wedding in the upcoming week of Brukos Olissian and Nastya Chume’da. Even through the celebrations neither Luke or Leia could shake off the feeling that something was terribly amiss in the Force. Leia often felt edgy and was highly irritable whenever she came out of the Galactic Senate sessions. When questioned, she could never pin point a cause or reason for her distress.

Slowly the Skywalker twins got up and exited the training room to shower and prepare themselves for their day ahead. All that they could do was wait and prepare themselves as best as they could, and trust that their efforts would not be in vain.

For people trained for action, waiting was even more unbearable than fighting a war.

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Chapter 1


”You worthless Womprat! You’ll never amount to anything! Look at you, you’re weak! You can’t do anything!”

The jeering face loomed closer and closer to the shivering girl. Loud screaming filled the girl’s ears as the approaching abusive woman descended upon her shivering form. The huddled child instinctively reached out her hand and squeezed. The result was almost instantaneous, the noise silenced and the woman gasped as her eyes bulged and her face grew grotesque in appearance. The old woman clutched at her neck, attempting to gasp air into her burning lungs. The face exploded, showering the girl with blood and gore.

Raven bolted upright in her bed, gasping loudly. Her eyes immediately flew to her hand and saw that her fingers were clenched into a choking grasp. Darkness clouded her mind as she realized that she was unintentionally drawing onto the Force. Shock and horror filled her senses as she heard a thud by her bedroom door. Throwing off her covers she saw her adopted daughter six year old daughter Shanari slumped to the floor. Her dark eyes wide were with fear as she gulped air back into her lungs.

Panic overtook Raven as tears burned from her eyes. She couldn’t believe what she had just done. Then an even more terrifying thought entered her mind and she raced over to her son’s crib. The child she had fought so long to give birth to, lay unmoving.

“No!” she frantically whispered. Pulling the baby out of the crib she laid him on the floor and checked for breath and a pulse. Not finding either she began to administer CPR to the tiny baby. After a minute of puffing air into his lungs, the child coughed and blinked back at her. She cradled her son against her shoulder and her heart burned with shame and terror.

Uncontrolled tears streamed out of her face.

She glanced over at her bed. Jacen peacefully snored on, completely oblivious to what had just transpired. The young woman shook from end to end as she silently cried. The young girl remained in the doorway, terrified.

Slowly the magnitude of her actions dawned on her; because of her nightmares and unresolved Darksider tendencies from her past, Raven had almost killed two of her own children. She whispered, “It’s not safe having me here.”

Silently she got up, kissed her son, Zayne, on the forehead and placed him back in his crib. After watching him take several breaths and feeling certain that he was fine, she threw some possessions into a bag. She glanced at her lightsaber, uncertain if she should take it or not, then decided that she’s better take it. She stared back into the crib, brushed tear covered lips over his forehead and then jerked herself reluctantly away. She stared at Shanari and squatted next to her. The girl had grown incredibly attached to Raven after her ordeals with abused by Brakiss, the girl only ever spoke to Raven. Now, as Raven stared into the girl’s brown eyes, she knew that fragile trust was shattered.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart,” Raven sobbed. She tried to reach out to the girl, but she recoiled in fear. Raven nodded her head. “I understand. I didn’t mean to hurt you or Zayne. Tell Daddy what happened. And please…tell him NOT to try to find me.”

Raven stood up and drank in the sight of her snoring husband. She looked down at her left hand and then tugged at the gold band that circled it. Sniffing back her tears, she kissed it and placed the ring onto his dresser. She felt naked without it around her finger. Before she could change her mind, she raced out of the Jedi Temple on Yavin 4 into the darkness of night.

Moments later the Academy’s small supply vessel lifted off of the landing platform and sped off into the sea of stars.

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“I look like a chump,” Brukos groaned, after examination of his reflection in the mirror.

“You do not,” Anakin countered. The six foot seven inch tall Jedi reached down and smoothed out the fabric on the shoulders of his best friend’s wedding jacket. “You look like a groom.”

“This thing itches like hell,” Brukos further complained as he twisted and jerked his neck about, attempting to get a more comfortable fit in his dress shirt.

Anakin laughed and smoothed back a pesky lock of dark brown hair out of his own blue eyes. He joked, “Well at least you don’t have to worry about flyaway hairs messing up your wedding holoimages.”

Brukos stared at his own bald head and grinned. “Gee thanks, Tiny.”

“And just think, those guys were caught selling combustible synthetic Glyrancythe, so you’re back in the billions again,” Anakin pointed out, reminding his friend of his recent return of fortune in his gem enterprise.

“And it’s a good thing too, considering how much this damned wedding is setting me back,” Brukos complained. The bald man studied his reflection and saw an olive skinned man with a long nose, bald head and hazel eyes gazing back. No one would call Brukos handsome, but when he smiled, his appearance was very appealing. He stared at his new hoverchair and sighed. Four years ago he had been injured attempting to help Anakin to rescue Tenel Ka from enslavement. The injury left him paralyzed from the waist down. Brukos had once been a big game hunter and after a nearly disastrous encounter with an army of giant Kinrath spiders on Kashyyyk last year, he was finally resigned to leaving a life of adventure behind him.

“Yeah well, it’s the price you pay for making your girl blissfully happy,” Anakin replied, unconsciously massaging his own wedding ring.

“So, how’re your ten daughters doing?” Brukos asked, smirking.

Anakin boxed his friend’s ear, causing Brukos to loudly laugh. “My four daughters are fine.” He leaned forward and scrutinized his hair, he said, “I’m surprised they haven’t given me gray hairs yet.”

“Oh no, that won’t happen until they’re teenagers!” Brukos said and laughed as Anakin paled. “Yssarri still eating plant leaves that she shouldn’t?”

Anakin groaned thinking about how his year and a half old daughter seemed to think her mission in life was to eat anything that wasn’t tied down. He smirked. “I bet you just can’t wait to be a parent can you?”

“Nope, I can’t,” Brukos admitted.

Anakin smiled and said, “Alright, I’m giving you a few moments to yourself, I’m going to go check in on the enemy camp and see how things are going, ok?”

“Sure, thanks Anakin,” Brukos said.

“Hey, that’s the job of the Best Man,” Anakin replied, grinned and exited the room. He stepped out into the brightly lit hallway of the Fountain Palace on Hapes and heard the happy twittering of guest’s voices coming from the Main Hall where the wedding between his buddy and Nastya, Tenel Ka’s cousin, would take place. He walked over to a door to the left and knocked on it three times.

“We are not ready yet!” Tenel Ka’s voice boomed through the heavy door.

Anakin chuckled, and cooed, “No worries, darlin’ it’s not time yet. You’ve still got a good half an hour to panic.”

The door flung open and Tenel Ka stood in front of him. Her fiery titian hair flowed in cascading rivers down her back. She wore a multi-layered gown the color of spun gold. Anakin caught his breath at the vision, she was stunning.

Ignoring his look of adoration, Tenel Ka said, “Well do not just stand there, get in!” She yanked him into the room and slammed the door shut behind him. His nose was immediately assaulted with the overpowering scent of fresh flowers. The air crackled with stress.

Anakin’s blue eyes narrowed with confusion over what could possibly be the problem, when he saw Nastya in the middle of the room standing on an ottoman while a pair of Palace seamstresses frantically buzzed about her waist. Teneneil Djo stood off to the side barking orders at the busily working women. He thought Nastya’s dress looked vaguely familiar.

“What’s going on?” Anakin asked.

Tenel Ka folded her arms tightly around her middle and scowled. She flashed angry gray eyes towards him and said, “The bridal shop burnt to the ground last night, destroying Nastya’s dress!”

“Oh, oh, that can’t be good,” Anakin replied.

“Look at your daughters – none of them are matching because their dresses went up in smoke also!”

Anakin saw his three and a half year old triplets sitting on the floor. Ania and Rowan, the titian colored darlings both wore their bright blue Life Day dresses, and dark haired Hana wore a pale pink gown. Yssarri, the plant eater wore a deep purple gown. His heart blossomed with love at the sight of his adorable little girls. “Awww but they’re so cute! They look like a rainbow!”

He then realized that Tenel Ka’s dress was one she recently wore at a Royal Ball this spring. His eyes then traveled back to Nastya’s dress – it was Tenel Ka’s wedding gown.

“Well, it looks like she’s got her ‘something old’ all squared away, right? And the twins are something blue!” he brightly stated, finding it very amusing that a clothing emergency was getting his normally sedate wife all riled up.

Tenel Ka glared at him. “My dress was supposed to be green to match your lapels, now we do not match!”

Anakin rolled his eyes at his wife. “Honey, I highly doubt after the end of the day that anyone will even remember or care that we don’t match. We’re all just holo-image filler, Nastya and Brukos are the stars of today.”

His wife drummed her foot impatiently. “I am the Queen Mother and you are my husband! Believe me, Anakin, people will care.”

“Well I don’t, and neither should you,” Anakin answered forcefully. He gently kissed her on the forehead and grinned. Tenel Ka huffed. He called out, “You look beautiful, Nastya!”

The brown haired, thin bride meekly smiled as she watched the seamstresses rapidly hand sew three rows of sheer silk around the slim dress’s middle. Nastya was so painfully thin that Tenel Ka’s slim-fitting dress made her look even smaller. The extra layers helped to make her appear fuller. She nervously replied, “Thanks.”

To Tenel Ka, Anakin said, “Let me know if you need a delay, alright. I’m sure Brukos would understand…”

“We will be fine,” Tenel Ka sternly said. Her words reached the ears of the two women and they rapidly increased the speed of their sewing, not wanting to displease their Queen Mother or her mother.

Anakin waved to the women and thankfully retreated from their estrogen filled sanctuary. The tall Jedi ducked his head and nodded confidently to the wedding guests as they passed. His eyes roved around the Main Hall seeking out his brother. Suddenly there was a tug on his left arm. Anakin saw Marxx Racees, his brother-in-law, staring at him with a grim expression.

“Come with me,” he ordered. Anakin and Marxx strode down the hall away from the festivities and towards the living quarters.

“What’s going on?” Anakin asked.

“Jacen’s panicking,” Marxx said.

“Why? He’s not the one getting married?” Anakin joked.

Using the Force, Marxx nudged open a door to a study and showed Anakin inside. The holo-emitter on the other end of the room projected a pacing image of Jacen Solo. Jacen looked like hell, his hair stood up on end, his clothes were disheveled, and his eyes were puffy from crying.

Worry immediately seized Anakin’s heart as he stepped within transmitter range, he asked, “What’s the matter, Bro?”

“She’s gone,” Jacen croaked. “I woke up, found she’d hastily packed some stuff, took our supply transport ship, and left.”

Anakin stared at Marxx. Jaina’s husband raked his fingers nervously through his curly dark brown hair and said, “My twin.”

“Well maybe she’s coming here,” Anakin brightly offered.

Jacen’s eyes were full of pain as he added, “She left this.”

Anakin gulped loudly, seeing Raven’s gold wedding ring glittering between Jacen’s fingers. “I don’t know what to say…any idea what happened?”

His brother wrapped his arms around himself and shook his head. “I woke up to find Shanari in bed with me, you know, nothing new there. The poor girl nearly always sleeps with us because she’s plagued by nightmares. When I asked her where Raven was, she shuddered and recoiled away from me. It took me ten minutes to calm the girl down. She kept looking over at Zayne’s crib. I checked on him and he looked fine. He was sleeping. I didn’t understand what was going on. He woke up and I just figured that Raven got up early for a jog or something, you know? So I bathed the baby and then saw something unusual.”

“What?” Anakin asked, feeling his mouth go dry.

“His neck was bruised. When I got a good look at Shanari, she had similar marks,” Jacen added.

Marxx shook his head in disbelief and turned his back on Jacen. An emotional conflicting sea of emotions moved over Marxx’s face. He didn’t know what to think, he knew that his sister was still a mess at times, but he couldn’t imagine her hurting her own children.

“She must’ve had a nightmare, or something,” Jacen said. “She didn’t know what she was doing. It wasn’t her fault!”

Marxx wheeled around and glared at Jacen. Tears started cresting in his blue eyes as he said, “You’ve got to stop making excuses for her, Jace.”

Jacen looked like he’d just been punched in the gut. “How can you say that, you’re her twin! You know what all she’s been through!”

Anger flared in Marxx’s eyes as he calmly said, “Yes, I’m well aware of her issues from her past. But it’s high time that you start thinking about your children instead of always putting Raven first!”

Anakin wished he could melt into the background. The tension was so thick in the room that the smallest wrong word could ignite a war. He was shocked by Marxx’s outbursts at Jacen. Calmly he advised, “Jacen, I think you need to talk to Shanari. Find out exactly what happened before we all start jumping to conclusions.”

“I have to find her,” Jacen said, massaging her ring.

Marxx opened his mouth to speak and Anakin raised a hand to silence him. To his brother he said, “You can’t do that. You have to stay there for the students.”

Raven’s twin spoke up, “Jacen, if she took off on you without consulting with you first, she doesn’t want to be found.” He stepped closer to Jacen’s projected image, his own eyes mirrored Jacen’s pain. “I can’t feel her, Jace, and I can always feel her.” Panic flared in Jacen’s eyes. “Don’t worry, she’s not dead, I’d know if that was the case. I think this has been building for some time. Raven needs some time to herself. She needs to reconcile with her past once and for all. She’ll come back when she’s ready.”

“You expect me to just do nothing?” Jacen asked, with disbelief.

“Yes.”

Jacen resumed his pacing. He shook his head and said, “She’s self destructive, you know that. If she’s left to her own devices she’ll harm herself or do something really stupid.”

“I know Jacen. Don’t think for one moment that I’m not worried, or terrified for her. She’s a part of me. You’re a twin you know what I mean by that! I’ll tell you what, when the wedding’s over, and I’m back on Coruscant I’ll start hunting for her. You need to stay there with the students, and be at the Academy in case she returns or tries to contact you,” Marxx offered.

“Again, you must talk with Shanari,” Anakin advised.

Jacen snorted. “She doesn’t talk to anyone, much less me.”

“Well you’re going to have to make her,” Anakin replied.

“Alright, I’ll do my best,” Jacen said.

“She’ll come back, Jacen. Don’t panic,” Marxx stated.

“I hope you’re right, Marxx. I’m counting on it,” Jacen darkly replied and severed the connection.

Anakin let out a deep breath and studied his brother-in-law. Marxx’s eyes were shot through with red lines. He shook his head and met Anakin’s eyes. “Jacen’s got to prepare himself for the worst, Anakin. He’s right about Raven being self-destructive. She lives for drama, I think. Just when everything seems to finally be going right in her life, something happens and she spirals out of control. My sister’s like a faulty canon just waiting for an ill-placed spark to set it off.”

The youngest Solo knotted his brows together and asked, “Jacen doesn’t know this about her?”

“Jace lives in a happy land of denial. He spends his time being overly happy to compensate for her darker mood swings,” Marxx explained. “My sister’s a mess and regardless of what Jacen thinks, she’s the only one who can fix herself.”

“Do you think she’ll be able to do so?”

“I hope so, I hate to imagine what would happen to your brother if she didn’t make it through this ok,” Marxx stated. “Come on, we have a wedding to get to.”

“Yeah, right,” Anakin sadly replied. Together they walked out the door. Thinking about the problems with the dresses and now this, Anakin had the worst feeling that this day, which was supposed to be joyous and full of love, might be doomed before it had even began.

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