solo_sword | The Arms Hotel- Friday evening

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The Arms Hotel- Friday evening

Jaina had been through this before, she knew (sort of) what to expect, and she knew the instant Anakin got here. It was both the best and the most anxiety-inducing feeling, because there was so much more everything now, starting with the two fifteen-month olds who were already getting overtired.

So she'd stayed at the hotel, because at least if they threw fits or anything they were contained, and she wouldn't have to worry about it stopping a needed conversation in public. And she opened herself up in the Force, knowing he'd know how to find her, and tried not to be too nervous.

It was fine.

[For one!]

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He'd done this before, so Anakin knew his way around the island by now. Not that he would have really needed to be familiar with it to find his sister. He'd recognize that Force presence anywhere, easy as breathing.

Hi, he sent through the Force just before knocking on the hotel room door.

Know what she wasn't going to do? Cry before she even saw him. She took a half a second, composed herself, and then was hugging him immediately upon opening the door.

"Hi."

To tell the truth, Anakin was relieved that she wasn't crying (yet, at least), because there was a situation he'd never been that great at handling.

"It's good to see you," he said, hugging her back pretty much as hard as he could. "Weird as this is, it's really good to see you."

He glanced past her into the room and caught sight of the twins. "Oh. Oh, wow."

That probably explained why he'd been called back this time.

"Yeah, so.... surprise," she said, smiling and watching that reaction. "It's been a while."

"No kidding," Anakin said, wide-eyed and a little bit flaily because hi, he was still a fifteen-year-old kid. "Whose, um -- you and who?"

Oh yeah, really living up to that great Jedi hero reputation.

"You know that Jag Fel guy?" she said, holding up her hand to show off the wedding ring.

Anakin opened his mouth, closed it, and opened it again before managing a very eloquent "Buh."

He shook his head and tried again. "The pilot from the Chiss fleet?"

To be fair, it had been a very confusing time for keeping track of Jaina's love life right before he died, ~~because what the hell, writers~~.

"That's the one," she said, feeling sorry for his brain. "Do you want to meet the boys?"

Well, Anakin's brain was still working through the whole concept of Jaina has kids, but luckily he was good at multitasking. A slightly confused but eager grin lit up his entire face.

"Are you kidding? Of course I do."

Oh, she could break his brain harder on the kids front, too.

The floor was kind of a mess between toys and kids, and she went over to pick each of them up in turn and put them on the bed. "This is Daniel, and Dax. Can you say hi to your Uncle Anakin?"

Apparently not, because Daniel was already trying to get back down on the floor.

Anakin laughed a little bit at that, and ran one hand through his hair (for all the good that would do). "Hi, guys," he said, crouching down partway. "Yeah, I can definitely see the family resemblance."

He meant the part where Daniel was trying to make a getaway. Well, looks too, but. You know.

Jaina sighed and scooped Daniel up again, getting the whimpers of a kid who wasn't getting what he wanted right now for that. Then she sat cross-legged on the bed with him in her lap so she could keep them both together.

"I know what you mean by that, because I hear it from Jag all the time," she said wryly.

"Can you blame him, though?" Anakin found a clear spot on the edge of the bed and sat down, still apparently fascinated by the twins. "We were a huge handful."

And Dax was fascinated right back, because he liked the attention, offering smiles and everything.

Whereas Jaina was trying not to focus on how Anakin looked like a baby now.

"And I'm trying very hard to cut all that behavior off at the pass," she told him. "I apologize to Mom and Dad a lot, decades late."

"Next time you do, add an apology from me too?" asked Anakin, because yes, he was also keenly aware of the fact that he was closer to the twins' age than he was to his sister's. "You don't have to tell them it's from me, though."

He extended a hand out to Dax in invitation, with a quick glance at Jaina. "Can I?"

~~Why, narrative, why?~~

"Of course," she said, watching as Dax inched forward a little, like he wasn't quite sure how to move around here. "They're your nephews. And he likes you."

~~Because we like pain?~~

"That's it, Dax, come on," Anakin coaxed, and shot a glance at Jaina. "I hope you've only been telling them good things about me."

Dax pulled himself to his knees, and then up onto his feet slowly, took one step, and kind of fell right toward Anakin. While giggling.

"I really only have good things to say," Jaina pointed out. "But I make sure they hear it."

He was easy to talk about. Jacen was more complicated.

"Really, you -- whoa!" Anakin started to reach out in the Force to catch Dax, but it turned out he didn't have to when he was within reach. And now he appeared to be holding his nephew.

That was still such a mindblowing concept to process.

"Hi, uh . . ." He flailed around for a nickname, something, because he hadn't exactly had time to come up with one. Finally, sheepishly, he just settled on, "Hi, Dax. It's really nice to get the chance to meet you."

His eyes flicked back to Jaina on that last line, though his amazement and gratitude were probably clear in the Force anyway.

She was trying not to think about it too hard. It wasn't working, but she was trying.

She was also pulling her phone to her hand to get a picture, because they were too young to remember this later, and because she had to.

"You're lucky you got here before they're old enough to really talk back," she said, a little more quietly. "I'm glad you get to meet them too."

"Even if I feel a little weird having one-sided conversations?" Anakin paused and thought about that for a moment. "Well, if we were any indication. . ."

They were related to Leia. Odds were good that once they could talk, they'd be dangerous when it came to getting people to do what they wanted.

"It's nice to know you still come back here to visit after so many years," he said, and wiggled his fingers to get Dax's attention. "Really good timing, too."

He turned his attention toward Daniel for a moment, still processing this whole nephews thing. "It -- dying, I mean, was definitely worth it," he murmured, "if it meant you got to have this."

Well that was going to choke her up a little. Luckily she'd gotten better at managing that sort of thing.

Which was partly because of the boys, one of which had managed to end up laying sideways with his head on Jaina's knee, knowing he was trapped for the moment and watching. It didn't even look comfortable.

"I wouldn't mind having them and you around," she said. "I'm selfish that way."

How was Anakin not going to look at that pose and not laugh? A little sadly, true, but it was a fun sight anyway.

"I guess you're allowed. Besides, I wouldn't really mind that either," he admitted.

"I don't suppose there's any way Fandom decided this is more than a weekend thing, huh?" she asked.

"You never know," Anakin offered. "First time for everything, isn't there?"

He frowned slightly. "It's probably not a good idea to count on that, though. Really, you don't think it would be weird with me being that much younger now?"

Of course it would be weird, Anakin. It was a Fandom thing. Though when it came to Fandom weird, you could argue that Jaina was as much of an expert as you could get.

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The Arms Hotel- Friday evening

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