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“That is our hope, as well.” Traest Kre’fey again shook Admiral Pellaeon’s hand. “May your course plots be easy and your orbits safe.”

“The same to you.” Pellaeon nodded and started up the ramp. He looked back once, just to make sure he would remember them because he was not certain at all that he would ever see them again. Then the landing ramp retracted, and his shuttle carried him home.

Jaina still felt numb, sitting there in the Ralroost’s meditation cabin. Anni’s death left a hole in her life, which both surprised and horrified Jaina. The surprise came from her having known the woman for only such a short time. Yes, we flew together and bunked together, but . . . Anni had liked to gamble, and no one in their right mind would gamble with a Jedi so Jaina had found other things to do in her off time. When they were together, they did get along wonderfully, and she knew Anni liked her, and she’d liked Anni.

That they had become closer than Jaina had thought during her stint with Rogue Squadron shocked her. That she had not known more about Anni came as an even bigger surprise. Colonel Darklighter had said he was recording a message to go to Anni’s family and asked if Jaina would like to send one at the same time. It was then that she realized she didn’t know Anni had a family. Anni had never talked about her life outside the squadron, and Jaina had been a bit closemouthed about her own family life, assuming that Anni already knew as much about it as she would care to.

She glanced at the data card in her hand. She’d sent off a message to Anni’s family and had quickly gotten a reply. The holovid transmission captured on the data card had shown an older woman, clearly Anni’s mother, eyes red from crying, doing her best not to break down. She told Jaina that Anni had enjoyed having her as a friend and wing mate, that Anni always talked about her in every message she’d sent home. Anni’s mother added that she had some things of her daughter’s that she wanted Jaina to have, and that she would like to meet her if Jaina ever made it to Corellia.

I didn’t know. I should have known. I . . . Jaina covered her eyes with her left hand. Tears leaked out between her fingers. A sense of guilt compounded the loss. Intellectually she knew that there was nothing she could have done to save Anni, but that didn’t stop her from feeling that she should have found a way to keep her friend alive. Now I know how Anakin feels about Chewie.

She sniffed and straightened up, swiping at tears as the cabin door opened. She glanced at the silhouette and managed a weak smile. “Did Mom send you?”

Anakin shrugged and sat down on the floor. “I kind of nudged her into it. She knew you wanted to be alone. She didn’t want you to be alone, but she didn’t want you to think she thought you were too much of a kid to get through it. I hinted and she suggested.”

“You must have somewhere else you’d rather be.”

He shook his head. “No, I wanted to talk to you. Figured this would be the best place. It’s the only place I’m not underfoot.”

Jaina frowned. “Plenty of Jedi here.”

“Sure, but they’re all wounded or caught up in what’s going on with Corran. A bunch of them, like Wurth, wonder how it is I manage to kill Yuuzhan Vong warriors without much more than a scratch and they get hurt.” He sighed. “I make them doubt themselves, and they’re not very good at controlling that idea.”

“I can understand that, I guess. Not that they should take it out on you.” She smiled at her little brother. “Why did you want to be here?”

“You lost a friend. I did, too.”

“And misery wanted company?”

He shook his head resolutely. “Nope. I thought, well, look, when Daeshara’cor died, she said some stuff that made me think. I thought, maybe, well . . .”

Jaina softened her voice. “What is it, Anakin?”

“Well, she let me know, let me see that for her, it wasn’t so . . . I mean, it was bad that she died, but . . . she wasn’t mad at me . . .” His voice broke, and he smeared tears across his face with a hand. “Your friend Anni had to know you were safe. She didn’t die hating