The beach- Thursday evening

[solo_sword]

Jaina's portal was delayed. She had no idea how a portal could be delayed, but here she was. After a while of waiting at the causeway, she'd come to the beach, figuring that if she was going to be stuck waiting, she should at least get a change of scenery.

Watching the waves made her think too much, though. About her grandfather and Tiny Mom,

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[cataclysmicluck]

There were countless reasons Zayne could have been walking by the beach, but blaming it on the Force was a convenient excuse, so let's go with that.

"Hey Jaina. Back in town already?" Zayne asked as he made his way over.

[solo_sword]

"Hey," she greeted him with a little smile. "Some family stuff popped up I had to deal with. I'm on my way back out tonight."

She glared at her phone.

"Assuming I don't have to murder a gnome."

[cataclysmicluck]

"Try not to do that. It's not really very Jedi," Zayne noted.

He didn't realize how serious she may have been.

[solo_sword]

She had very seriously given a thousand-year-old vampire permission to go to town on the Portalocity gnome. Never underestimate her hatred for that gnome.

"What if I said I was doing the multiverse a favor?"

[nonelikemesince]

Anakin had kept to himself a bit since the conversation with Leia and his grandfather the other day, but he'd been keenly aware of Jaina's presence on the island.

So he made his way down the beach toward her this evening, face set in a thoughtful (if not scowling) expression.

"Had a fun trip?"

The deadpan expression hinted at how he suspected the answer was no.

[solo_sword]

"You know I've had better?" she said, but smiled a little and patted the sand next to her. "Heard what's going on?"

[nonelikemesince]

Anakin dropped easily into the sand and tucked his knees up to his chest. "You mean with our family on island?" He grimaced. "Yeah. I barged in on that conversation."

[solo_sword]

"That part I didn't know," she said, wincing. "This is what happens when timelines collide really badly."

[momslilassassin]

"I'd ask what you were doing here, but I know better," Ben announced, flopping down next to her in the sand.

[solo_sword]

"It's been a while since we've had something like this happen," Jaina said. "So I guess there's that?"

[momslilassassin]

"True," Ben said, linking his hands behind his head to stare up at the sky. "How are you doing with it?"

[solo_sword]

"Feeling guilty and sorry for everybody, and weirded out that I have done a complete 180 turn since I first showed up in Fandom. You?"

Well she was honest.

[tatooine_doofus]

"If it isn't my favorite niece," Luke said, smiling at her as he walked closer.

[solo_sword]

"Does that include all the different realities?" Jaina asked, smiling. "Should have figured I'd see you here."

[tatooine_doofus]

He reached out to give her a tight hug. "Dad called for reinforcement."

[solo_sword]

Sometimes Anakin was smart. She hugged him back, agreeing, "If there is one person that's good to have around right now, it's you..."

[auroryborealis]

After Leia left, Rory had spent the afternoon with the television turned off and playing with her daughter. And when Anakin had come home, she'd surrendered Juliet to him, because she knew him well, now. There was one daughter who unconditionally loved him now, at least, and he needed to remember that.

And she needed to make a phone call, anyway. So she'd escaped into their bedroom, searching through her contacts before she found the name she was looking for, and waited for Jaina to pick up.

[solo_sword]

By now Jaina almost expected Portalocity to be using some kind of automated system to tell her that her portal was canceled, so she picked up without looking at the ID. "Solo."

[auroryborealis]

"And hello to you too," Rory replied, amused. "Are you very busy, or do you have a second?"

[solo_sword]

"I'm waiting on a portal that's never showing up, so I have a lot of seconds," she said. "Hi, Rory. What's up?"

Though she could make some guesses.