This story was inspired by characters and situations created by George Lucas in his SW trilogy. It is not intended for sale or profit of any kind, only for
the enjoyment of the author and fellow fans who might find it of interest. Comments may be directed to Csillag39

This story takes place approximately six or seven months after the end of Aaron Allston's Starfighters of Adumar, which doesn't have any particular
significance beyond placing it somewhere on the timeline. It is not an action-adventure tale. It is a romance because the author is a big, sappy romantic
who wants to explain why Hobbie is the most melancholy Rogue and see him find happiness.

The most glaring discrepancy (there are others, but this is fan fiction) between this story and the officially published canon works is the marital status of Wes Janson. For the purpose of telling this story, he needed to be married. The author was graciously granted permission to borrow the character of Jehri Janson from the fan fiction work of Shanon Stavenjord. I liked the character she created for Wes. Thanks very much, Shanon. Also, references to earlier events and situations will be dealt with in another story hopefully to be posted soon.

Hobbie's Story

By: Csillag39

He read through the message on the computer screen again and picked up the nearest thing he could reach. A datapad went flying from his hand and smashed against the door to his quarters shattering into thousands of electronic components and shards of plastic casing. He didn't stop to look at the mess he'd made. He just stalked out of his quarters hoping that he did not cross paths with anyone for fear that he might do the same sort of damage to them that he had to the datapad.

He made it down to the hangar deck of the enormous Sivantlie Base complex without running into anyone and thought to himself ironically, "because none of them are here anymore. They've got real lives outside of the squadron and the military." He went straight to his X-wing and climbed aboard. He ran through a rapid pre-flight, but ignored the flashing light indicating a problem with one of his stabilizers, and called the base's control tower, "This is Major Klivian. Rogue Squadron. Requesting immediate clearance for takeoff."

The voice from the control tower crackled in his helmet speaker, "Good morning, Major. You're here early. The rest of the squadron isn't due for the training exercise for a couple more hours."

Hobbie tried to keep the tension out of his voice, "I know. I just want to run through some maneuvers before the rest of them get here."

"Sure, Major. Where are you going?"

"I'll be at the Northwest Flight Range."

"Okay, Major. Cleared to depart. Have a good flight."

Hobbie flicked off the comm unit and cut in the repulsorlift floating the ship off the hangar floor. He checked his monitors. Even on a planet that never slept, the early morning hours were a quieter time in terms of air traffic, which suited him just fine. He shot out of the hangar at a far faster speed than was considered safe and headed out to the Flight Range.

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

Wedge was startled out of a sound sleep by the urgent chiming of his comlink. He reached over and picked it up. "Antilles."

Tycho's voice came through and Wedge could hear the tension in it. "Wedge, meet me at the Medcenter. Hobbie crashed his ship at the Northwest Flight Range. He's in pretty rough shape."

As soon as he heard Tycho mention the Medcenter, Wedge sat up waking Iella who had been sleeping quietly beside him. "I'll be right there. Did you call Wes?"

"I'm calling him next. See you in a few. Out."

Wedge got up and started pulling on a day uniform, but stopped when Iella asked, "What happened?"

"Hobbie crashed at the Flight Range. He's in bad shape."

She started to get up, "I'll come with you."

Wedge looked at her and caressed her face, "Are you sure? You've got that little one of ours to think about." They had been married for nearly five months and Iella was carrying their first child.

She got up and gave Wedge a quick hug. "Hobbie is my friend too."

"All right. Let's get going then."

***********

Tycho, Wes and his wife, Jehri, Wedge, and Iella sat or paced in the waiting area waiting for word of Hobbie's condition.

"Do any of you have any idea what would have prompted him to go off on his own at that hour of the morning?" Wedge asked looking around at the group.

Heads shook all around, but then Jehri Janson spoke up. "He shouldn't have taken that ship out at all, Wedge."

"What do you mean?"

She shook her head. "Hobbie is too good a pilot to crash for no reason. I called Zraii and asked if he knew of any problem that his ship might have that might cause a crash." She looked up at Wedge with a bleak expression. "His ship had a stabilizer problem. Not a big deal to fix; about forty-five minutes' work. It was scheduled to be done this morning before your training exercise."

Jehri Janson was an extremely talented flight mechanic. While she wasn't assigned to the Rogues at present, she was very close to most of them. She had been assigned to them a few years before, which was when she and Wes had met and gotten married.

Wedge was surprised. "That's not like Hobbie at all. He is a stickler for having his ship in the best condition at all possible."

"In spite of that, he still has a magnetic attraction to the ground," Wes said. The joking tone did not hide his deep concern for his best friend.

"Something must have set him off," Tycho said. "We need to find out what so we can help him."

As close as they were, the Rogues most certainly did respect each other's privacy -- to a point. When something like this happened, they would do anything to help each other, even if it meant butting into private business.

"I'll go see if I can find anything in his quarters that might give us a clue," Wes said. "As soon as we hear something from the docs."

As if on cue, the door to the waiting area opened and a doctor came in. "General. Ladies. Gentlemen. I'm Doctor Keyans."

They all stood expectantly. "Is he going to be all right?" Wedge asked for all of them.

The doctor took a deep breath. "Yes, but he will be in the Bacta tank for a week. He was very seriously injured in the crash."

They all let out a sigh of relief. "Is there anything we can do for him?" Wedge asked.

"Not really. He'll be unconscious for at least the first two days. After that, he'll be semi-conscious. If you wish, you may come and see him while he's in the Bacta tank. Some patients seem to be able to remember seeing people outside the tank, which helps them with some of the sensory deprivation problems. But only one or two at a time."

"Thank you, Doctor."

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

Wes knew Hobbie's quarters like the back of his hand. He had spent many an hour here plotting various pranks and jokes, but there was nothing funny about what he found. The first thing he noticed because he could not avoid stepping on the pieces was the smashed datapad. A frown creased his forehead. Hobbie did not have a temper. What could have made him throw a datapad in a fit of anger?

Then Wes glanced over at the desk; the computer screen was glowing. Hobbie hadn't bothered to turn it off, which was also not like him. Wes walked over to the desk and read the message on the screen. And sat down in the chair, hard. "Now why would that make him storm out of here and crash his ship?" Wes asked himself.

He pulled his own datapad out of his pocket and copied the message still puzzling over it.

***********

They met again in Tycho's office a couple of hours later. "Did you find anything in his quarters to explain what happened?" Wedge asked.

Wes had spent the last two hours pondering the answer to just that question. "I don't know, Wedge. When I walked in, I stepped on a datapad that had been shattered into pieces from being thrown against the door."

Wedge and Tycho looked at each other, their eyebrows going up in matching expressions of surprise.

"Yeah, that's what I thought too," Wes said. "Then I noticed that his computer was not shut off. There was a message still on the screen. I copied the message, but there's nothing in it that would warrant Hobbie's reaction." He handed the datapad to Wedge.

Wedge read the message, then handed the datapad to Tycho. Hello, Derek. I just wanted to let you know that I will be arriving on Coruscant tomorrow morning. My new job begins in about a week. I hope we'll have a chance to get together and talk about old times. Sela.

"You're right, Wes. Why would he get angry about Sela arriving and wanting to get together? They've been friends and pen pals for years," Tycho said.

The three of them sat silently pondering the message.

Sela Milson was a little girl about five years old when Hobbie had met her fifteen years earlier. The Rogues had gone on a mission to find and rescue a hidden village that was being ravaged by Bilbringi Fever. Children had made up a large proportion of the refugees they had rescued. While the adults recovered from the Fever, many of the Rogues and other rescue personnel had befriended the children; and many of them had maintained contact with the children after they had been resettled. Sela had been found and rescued by Hobbie and Nia Ponsed, the nurse he had begun a pretty serious relationship with at about the same time.

Wes suddenly hit his forehead with the heel of his hand. "It's not Sela he's upset about."

Wedge and Tycho looked at him waiting for him to clarify his statement.

"It's Nia."

"Nia? She's been gone a long time, Wes."

"I know, Wedge. And you both know how devastated Hobbie was when he heard that she had died." His face, which normally wore a cheerful expression, had been serious. Now it showed real sadness for his friend. "I don't know if you guys remember this, but back on Home One just before the Battle of Endor, we took bets among ourselves about which of us would get married first, assuming we survived the battle."

Tycho shook his head remembering, "That was such a stupid thing for us to do, especially then."

"We were all young and fearless then," Wes said. "We had seen a lot of death and destruction, but we also saw hope for the future. The entire squadron picked Hobbie to be the first. It was an easy pick because it was obvious how much he loved Nia. I doubt if you guys knew this, but he told me right before the battle that he was going to ask Nia to marry him. It nearly killed him when he heard that she had been killed in the battle."

Wedge and Tycho sat back in their chairs recalling their friend's grief and understanding now why it had been so profound.

Wes rubbed a hand over his face and looked back in time. "I sat with him in our quarters while he forced himself to write the news of Nia's death to Sela. She had become like a little sister to both of them and he felt that he had to be the one to tell her. Sometimes, I think that the letters that little girl sent back to him were the only thing that kept him going."

"She's what, eighteen, twenty now?" Tycho asked.

"Yeah, something like that."

"But what does that have to do with Hobbie going off the deep end? I would think that seeing his young friend would be a happy thing," Wedge asked.

"Timing, Wedge. Timing." He looked from Wedge to Tycho and back again. "Sela's message reminded him of Nia, not that he could ever forget her. He and Nia were going to get married, but she died. Tycho is settled down; you're finally married and settled down. Stang, Wedge! Even I'm married and settled down, and everyone bet on me to be the last, if ever. He's always been really happy for us, but he has missed out on that happiness himself. The four of us are the last of the original Rogues who would even remember Nia and the fact that they would have been the first of us to get married." He shook his head. "Sela's message dredged up painful memories when he is feeling very much alone. Our lives are moving forward, but he feels like his stopped at Endor and he's being left behind."

Wedge was impressed with Wes's insight into his friend's feelings. "Now I understand why he always expects the worst in any situation. He's already suffered the worst thing that can happen to a person -- losing the one you love like that." Then a new thought struck him. "Sela!" He looked at Wes and Tycho. "She has no way of knowing about Hobbie's accident. She has to be here by now. We need to find her and tell her what has happened."

Just then the intercom on Tycho's desk chimed. "Excuse me, Sir. There is a young lady here asking to speak with Major Janson," his aide said.

"Who is it?"

"She says her name is Sela Milson, Sir."

All three of them sat up straight in their chairs. "Send her right in."

They stood and Tycho went to open his office door. A startlingly attractive girl of about twenty stood there. She had wavy blonde hair that just touched her shoulders and softly framed her face. Her clear blue eyes immediately picked out Wes among the three of them.

Wes stepped over to the door and greeted her, "Sela. I'm Wes Janson," he said extending his hand.

She smiled as she shook his hand, "I recognized you from the holos Derek sent, Major."

"Please, call me Wes." He ushered her into the office. "This is Wedge Antilles and this is Tycho Celchu. I'm not sure if you remember them, but they were at Atrivis too."

She smiled and shook their hands before taking a seat. " I do remember you. It's very nice to meet you again. I just arrived a few hours ago. I was trying to reach Derek, but he isn't answering his comm. I was wondering if you would know where I could find him."

Wes's smile of greeting disappeared and his voice expressed serious concern. "He's in the Medcenter. He was in a bad crash just this morning."

Her face paled and her hand flew up to cover her mouth. "Is he going to be all right?" she asked in a shaky voice.

Wedge leaned toward her from his chair, "Yes, Sela. He's going to be all right, but he'll be in the Bacta for a week and then be in for about a month of recuperation time."

"May I see him?"

Tycho offered her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "We were just going to try to find you, but you managed to find us first; we can take you over there. The doctors said that he'll be unconscious for the first couple of days and then only partially conscious after that, but we're all planning to visit him anyway. Why don't we go on over there now?"

"Thank you, Colonel. General."

Wedge smiled at her. "The first thing you're going to have to do, Sela, is drop those ranks. Just call us Wedge and Tycho," he said pointing first to himself and then Tycho. "We're not sticklers for protocol among friends."

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

The trip to the Medcenter had been a strangely quiet one. Wedge, Tycho and Wes did not want to upset Sela by telling her about their speculations about Hobbie's state of mind just before his crash, and Sela was obviously not going to be truly reassured until she could see Hobbie for herself.

The four of them walked into the Bacta treament facility and were directed to the tank where Hobbie floated. Wedge, Wes and Tycho hung back a bit to give Sela some slight sense of privacy as she saw her injured friend for the first time.

She walked forward alone and slowly raised a hand to the transparisteel encasing her friend in the healing Bacta fluid. She tried as hard as she could to control her emotions, but just couldn't do it. She started to cry softly and pressed her forehead against the transparisteel wall.

Wes walked up to her and put his arm around her shoulders. He turned her away from the Bacta tank, walked her over to a chair, and sat her down.

"It's all right, Sela," he said in a very gentle tone. "He really is going to be all right. He's come through a lot worse than this."

To Wedge and Tycho, Wes sounded almost as if he were trying to convince himself as well as Sela. They walked over and sat down with her and Wes. "Wes is right, Sela. He has come through worse than this," Wedge said.

She took a deep breath and wiped her eyes, then she said, "But he had Nia then." She buried her face in her hands and started sobbing again.

Wes put his arms around her and let her bury her sobs in his shoulder. He looked over the top of her head at Wedge and Tycho and knew that his own face reflected the bleak expression he saw on theirs.

None of them said anything for several minutes until Sela stopped crying . Then Wes asked her gently as he released her from his arms, "Sela, you're supposed to be starting a new job? Where are you supposed to go?"

She took a slow shuddering breath as she tried to pull herself back together. "I'm supposed to start my job with the Children's Services Bureau in about a week," she said, her voice still shaking from barely restrained tears.

"Do you have some place to stay?"

She shook her head. "I was hoping that Derek would be able to help me find a place. I don't know anyone here on Coruscant besides him."

Wes took her hand, "Oh yes you do," he said smiling at her. "You know us and the Rogues take care of their own. You're coming home with me. My wife will be very happy to meet you. Hobbie's talked about you so much she already thinks of you as his little sister."

"Oh no, Wes. I couldn't impose like that," she said shaking her head in protest.

Wedge smiled at her too and took her other hand. "It's no imposition, Sela. Wes just beat us to it, but Tycho and I were about to make the same offer." Tycho smiled and nodded his head in agreement as well.

She looked from one to the other of them and then back toward the Bacta tank.

Wes followed the direction of her gaze and said, "Hobbie would expect nothing less from us."

She almost broke down in tears again, only managing to stop herself by taking several deep breaths. She looked back at them. "Thank you."

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

Wes had called Jehri to tell her that he was bringing home a houseguest, then they had gone to pick Sela's bags up from the storage locker where she had left them. They stepped out of the turbolift and walked toward the Jansons' apartment. "Here we are," Wes said. "Home, sweet home." He opened the door and went in and Sela followed him tentatively.

Wes's wife came out of the kitchen to greet them smiling. "You must be Sela." She reached out and took both of Sela's hands drawing her further into the apartment. "I've heard so much about you, I feel like I already know you. Come in and sit down." She walked Sela toward the living area and offered her a seat.

Sela was overwhelmed at her warm greeting. "Thank you, Mistress Janson."

Jehri's smile stayed in her eyes, but her face momentarily took on an expression of mock indignation. "Mistress Janson?" She smiled again. "You just call me Jehri."

Wes had taken Sela's bags and put them in the guest room, but now came back to sit with Jehri and Sela. Jehri looked up at him and asked, "How's Hobbie?"

Wes's cheerful expression faded slightly. "He's in the Bacta tank, but won't regain consciousness for another couple of days. We're all going to rotate going to see him until he's out of the tank and afterwards."

He looked at Sela just a little self-consciously. "Sela, if you hang around the Rogues long enough, you'll find out that there's not much we don't know about each other's business, and that there's almost nothing we won't do to help each other." He paused a moment before continuing, "Wedge asked me to ask you something. Would you like to delay starting your new job until Hobbie is out of the woods? He's got the pull to arrange for that."

Sela's eyes widened. "He would do that for me?"

"He'd be doing it just as much for Hobbie, but yes, he would do that for you," Jehri answered her. She looked over at her husband and smiled. "I know Wes has probably already told you this ... the Rogues take care of their own. You're one of us; if there is anything we can do, anything you need, you have only to ask."

She thought for a moment, then shook her head. "Please tell him that I really appreciate the offer, but no. I've been anxious to finish school so that I could start doing this work. Derek and Nia were the ones who rescued me when I was little. I knew almost right from that time that I wanted to be able to help other children who were victims of the fighting. I chose to go into Children's Services to honor Nia's memory. I don't think I should put off starting what I've wanted to do for so long, and having something to do will keep me from worrying about him so much. Until I do start my job, I would like to be there at the Medcenter with him, though."

Jehri put a comforting arm around Sela, whose eyes had filled with tears again. Just then, two high pitched voices came from the back part of the apartment. A boy, about four years old and a girl, about two came running into the living room. "Daddy, Daddy! You're home!"

Wes picked them both up, kissed them on the cheek and swung them around. They responded with gales of laughter and Jehri and Sela smiled as they watched. He put them back down on the floor and sat back in his chair with his hands on their shoulders. "Kids, say hello to Sela. She is a friend of Uncle Hobbie's, and she's going to be staying with us for a while. Sela, this is Spanner," he said ruffling his son's hair. "And this is Gunnar." He kissed the top of her head.

Sela smiled at them, "Hello Spanner. Hello Gunnar."

Gunnar immediately went over and crawled into Sela's lap to give her a hug, which Sela returned smiling.

Spanner looked at her and asked, "Where's Uncle Hobbie?"

Sela's smile faded and Wes answered his son. "Uncle Hobbie's been in a bad accident. He's at the Medcenter."

Both children's eyes filled with tears. "Is he going to be okay?" the little boy asked.

"He will be, Scout," Wes said hugging his son.

Gunnar had started to cry softly when she heard about her adopted uncle and Sela hugged her tightly, her own eyes filling with tears again.

"Uncle Hobbie will be fine, Sweetheart," Jehri said to her son. "But it will take time, and he'll need our help." She stood up. "Wes, Hon, why don't you help the kids get washed up for dinner while I help Sela get settled in?"

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

The relaxed family dinner had helped Sela feel much more at ease in her new surroundings. She had enjoyed listening to the children tell Wes and Jehri about their adventures during the day and smiled at the way he joked with them.

The children were very curious about her too and asked lots of questions. Their eyes widened when she told them that Uncle Hobbie and their daddy had rescued her and a lot of other children when she was only a little older than the two of them. Wes smiled and nodded his confirmation of her story when they looked up at him.

"Do you still hear from those four little brothers that you and Tarrin rescued?" she asked him. "They didn't stay at the colony for very long after we were resettled."

"Oh yes. A couple of them came through pilot training. They are flying in Tarrin's squadron someplace in the Mid-rim right now, I think. The other two are here on Coruscant with their parents pretty close to finishing school." He smiled. "From what I understand, a lot of the kids we rescued stayed in pretty close touch with us and the other rescue team members. I don't know; something special happened with you kids out there."

Sela smiled back at him. "You made us feel safe when we really needed that."

"Okay, kids. You need to go get ready for bed," Jehri said.

"Okay, Mommy. Daddy, will you tell us a story?" Spanner asked.

Wes smiled at his son and then looked over at Sela. "I think Sela might know a good story, Scout."

She looked up at him and saw the glint in his eye. She couldn't help smiling. "I think I know which story your daddy is thinking of. You go get ready for bed and I'll come in and tell it to you."

***********

Jehri had just tucked Gunnar into her little bed and Spanner sat next to Sela, who put her arm around him. Wes had brought a couple of chairs into the room for himself and Jehri so they could listen to Sela's story as well.

Sela looked over her shoulder at the two of them with a smile and then at the children. "This story is called The Princess and the Giant Fire-breathing Dragon. Your Uncle Hobbie told it to me when I was a little girl."

She paused for a moment to compose her thoughts, then began. "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Leia. She lived in a beautiful land called Alderaan. Her people were very happy, but she knew that there were other people who lived in other lands ruled by an evil wizard. He had a giant fire-breathing dragon that he would send out to frighten them or hurt them. The princess and some of her friends snuck into one of the lands ruled by the evil wizard to find a magic spell that would destroy his dragon. They found the spell, but the wizard saw them and chased them. He captured the princess and imprisoned her, but she was able to send a message out of the wizard's land..."

Unlike the first time she had heard the story, Wes's children both stayed awake through the whole tale. Their eyes widened with fear for the princess and the heroes when they were in the most danger and they cheered when the dragon was destroyed. "Wow!" Spanner said when it was over. "That was a great story, Sela."

She smiled and hugged him, "I thought so when your Uncle Hobbie told it to me."

"Okay, Scout," Wes said to his son. "Time for bed." He bent down and kissed his daughter good night and piggybacked Spanner off to his own room.

She leaned over to kiss Gunnar on the cheek before she stood to move out of Jehri's way. Then she carried the chairs Wes and Jehri had sat on back out of the room.

"Here. I'll take those," Wes said to her. He put the chairs back where they belonged and ushered Sela back to the living room. "That story hasn't lost a thing in the telling," he said smiling at her.

Jehri had followed them and sat down next to Wes on the couch. "He's right, Sela. You captivated the kids with it. Wes told me about the story, but I had never actually heard it before tonight. He said he couldn't do it justice, and he knew it would be too painful for Hobbie to ask him to tell it. I'm glad I finally got to hear it."

"Your children are so sweet." She smiled at them. "That story got me through a lot of really rough times, especially after Nia died. I would hear Derek's voice inside my head telling me the whole story and it would always make me feel better." She took a deep breath. "Thank you so much for letting me stay here. I'll try to get out of your way as soon as I can."

"Sela, you're not in our way," Jehri said. "You're staying with us as long as you need to."

***********

Sela spent almost all of her time over at the Medcenter just sitting near Hobbie's Bacta tank, for the next couple of days. She met the rest of the Rogues and many of Hobbie's other friends when they stopped by to visit. Wes had already told them about Sela so they all greeted her as if they were already friends and soon she felt very comfortable with them all.

Hobbie's visible scars were fading, but Wes wondered if the emotional ones ever would. He and Jehri stood at the door watching Sela as she sat and watched Hobbie floating in the Bacta. They had come by the Medcenter to take her home with them so that she could rest. She insisted that she was very comfortable with them, but more than once they had heard her crying softly in the middle of the night.

Wes walked over to her and put a hand on her shoulder. "Come on, Sela. It's time to go home."

His voice and touch had startled her, but she turned and smiled. Then she spotted Jehri. "Both of you here to escort me home? What? Am I out past my curfew?"

Wes chuckled. "Yeah. You're out past your curfew. No. Seriously. You need to try to get some rest. There really isn't anything you can do for him right now. And you know that the rest of us are in here all the time. If there is any change, they'll let us know right away."

She stood and walked with him back toward the door.

Jehri took her hand and patted it. "Sela, you're wearing yourself out staying here all hours, and we know you're not sleeping well. The Doctors Janson hereby prescribe an evening of complete distraction for you. Tonight is Janson Family Fun Night. As a member of the household, you are obliged to participate."

Sela smiled. "And what goes on on Janson Family Fun Night?"

"First things first," Wes grinned. "Fuel for the frivolity. We pick up carry-out food that is totally unhealthy in massive quantities."

"Sounds good. Do you know a place that sells really good ice cream? I make unbelievable ice cream sundaes."

Jehri laughed. "A girl after my own heart. Ice cream is one of my favorite vices."

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

They were just finishing their breakfast and laughing over the fun they'd had with the children the night before when Wes's comlink chimed. "Janson."

Tycho's voice came out of the tiny speaker. "Hi Wes. Is Sela there?" His voice didn't sound strained or anxious.

"Yeah, Tych. She's right here."

"I stopped by the Medcenter on my way to the base. Hobbie is starting to regain consciousness. I thought she'd want to know."

Wes saw Sela's sigh of relief and smiled feeling relieved himself. "Thanks, Tych. We're just about to head over there now."

"Okay. Wedge just walked in. We'll wait for you. Out."

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

Sela was consciously having to restrain herself from walking faster to get to the Bacta treatment facility in the Medcenter. When she and Wes got there, they saw the doctor talking quietly with Wedge and Tycho.

"How is he, Doc?" Wes asked.

"He is coming out of the sedative slowly,but he should begin to become aware of his surroundings fairly soon. This is when it is a good idea for familiar faces to be outside the tank for him to latch onto. He is still in a considerable amount of pain, but if we leave him under for too long at a stretch, it will aggravate the sensory deprivation problems. Why don't you go on over to the tank so he'll be able to see you when he comes to?"

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

The first sensations Hobbie became aware of were a feeling of weight lessness and being totally submerged in warm liquid. For an instant he panicked and flailed slowly, but then realized that he was not suffocating. He felt the breathing mask on his face and realized that he was in a Bacta tank. Again. His thought processes were still slowed because of the sedative in his system, but he knew that if he opened his eyes he would dimly be able to see outside the tank. What he saw out there would tell him just how bad off he was.

He concentrated the sluggish command he had over his body on the task of opening his eyes and succeeded in the effort. He saw four silhouettes that gradually became clearer as they moved closer to the tank. Wedge, Wes, and Tycho. "I must have been pretty badly hurt for the three of them to be here together," he thought. Then he noticed the face that Wes was making at him right up against the transparisteel. It was their own private code worked out years ago. The sillier the face, the more serious the original injury, but a surefire way to let each other know that they would be all right. "I was pretty bad off. I haven't seen that face since Hoth."

Remembering his time in the Bacta tank after Hoth brought memories of Nia to the surface, which in turn reminded him of how he had wound up in the tank this time. "You idiot!" he berated himself. "You had no business flying a ship you knew needed repairs. It would serve you right if you were grounded." Then he remembered the message that had sent him out to do such a stupid thing. He narrowed his eyes to try to make out who the fourth silhouette outside the tank was, although he was pretty sure he knew. She put her hand up to the wall of the tank and looked at him intently.

Sela. He was glad to see her. She had always been a little island of innocence and serenity when he had been so often surrounded by chaos and war. He berated himself again for reacting the way he had to a simple message from his young friend. He tried to raise a hand toward hers to acknowledge her presence, but the pain became too much for him. The system monitors detected his growing distress and injected pain medication and a somewhat milder sedative and awareness slipped away.

***********

Sela saw Hobbie close his eyes as the sedative took effect. "Did he see us?" she asked Wes.

"Yeah, he saw us. He'll be okay. We just have to give him time now."

Just after the two of them had joined Rogue Squadron and realized that they might wind up in Bacta tanks periodically, Wes and Hobbie had devised a private code of stupid expressions that they would be able to read through the walls of the tank. The stupider the expression, the worse the original injury. Others who had seen them making those faces had never realized that they were not typical Wes and Hobbie antics. They were actually a means to reassure each other.

Wes felt as if a weight had been lifted off his chest. Hobbie's emotional well-being was still in question, but at least physically, he would be all right. He turned to Wedge and Tycho. "He's going to be okay."

Wedge smiled. As often as Hobbie had been injured, he knew that once Wes said he was going to be okay, he would be okay -- even if the medics were still waffling. The reverse was true as well. He was amazed every time he saw it, but was grateful that neither of them had been proven wrong yet. "All right. Now that Doctor Janson has made it official, how about if we go on to work?"

Tycho grinned. He knew exactly what Wedge had been thinking because his own thoughts were the same. "Yeah. Some of us have to work while Hobbie takes his Bacta vacation."

Sela smiled at their banter. She had really only known them for a few days, but felt as if she had been adopted into an extended family who truly cared about each other and about her.

Wedge reached out to squeeze her hand, "If you need anything, call. You've got our comm codes. We'll be right here."

Tycho also had some parting words for her. "You haven't met Winter yet, but she wants to meet you. She's going to stop by a little later."

Wes said nothing, but put his arm around her shoulders and gave her an affectionate hug.

She watched the three of them leave and then turned back to watching Hobbie in the tank.

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

"Sela? ... Sela?"

Sela jumped slightly in her chair and turned toward the voice that had been calling her name for a minute or two before it actually registered on her consciousness. She saw a woman standing a couple of steps away from her. She had a beautiful, kind face with piercing blue eyes, but the most striking feature about her was her white hair. It was arranged in a long braid that had been wrapped around her head as if she wore a crown. Her bearing was regal, but her expression was gentle.

"Hello, Sela. I'm Winter. Tycho told you that I would be stopping by, didn't he?"

Sela stood and smiled. "Yes he did. I'm pleased to meet you. You're a friend of Derek's too?"

"Yes. Actually, today I'm here on a spy mission for another friend of his; Councillor Organa Solo."

Sela's eyes widened. "The Princess?"

Amusement glinted in Winter's eyes. "The same."

"I met her when I was a little girl," Sela said in an awed, hushed voice.

"I know. She was very flattered to have been the inspiration for the story Hobbie told you." She looked over at the tank and asked, "Has he regained consciousness again since this morning?"

"No he hasn't."

Two more people approached from behind Winter. "Hi Winter. Hi Sela." Corran Horn's wife, Mirax, greeted them.

Wedge's wife, Iella smiled a silent greeting, then asked, "How is he doing?"

"He came out of the sedative for a little while this morning, but the monitors showed that he was still in a lot of pain so he was put under again," Sela answered.

"In that case, Corran ordered me to kidnap you and take you out of here for lunch today. Iella? Winter? Would you like to join us?" Mirax looked from one to the other.

"I have to be back in the office in an hour and a half, but I'll go," Iella said.

"I will too, Mirax," Winter said smiling.

"No, I really should stay..." Sela started to protest.

Mirax cut her off. "No, you really should go, Sela. You need to take care of yourself, which means not subjecting yourself to the stuff they mistakenly call food down in the cafeteria here. Now, come on." She took Sela's hand and pulled her toward the exit, with Iella and Winter close behind.

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

The four women had gone to a tapcaf not far from the Medcenter and had a very enjoyable lunch. Mirax had succeeded in distracting Sela by telling stories of some of the Rogues' adventures that she had gotten tangled up in. Sela responded by recounting Hobbie's version of those same adventures that he'd written to her over the years; some of the discrepancies causing outbreaks of laughter.

Iella and Winter mostly sat back and watched Sela, especially when she talked about Hobbie and Nia and the letters they had both sent her.

"You know," Sela said thinking back to those letters she had received, "even though I was only five when they started writing to me, they never talked down to me. They never wrote as if to a child; always as if I was an adult and capable of understanding what they said, and sometimes even what they didn't say. I could tell how much Derek loved Nia from the way he wrote about her. I knew they were going to get married."

Her face became still as she looked into the past. "I was heartbroken when I got Derek's letter saying that Nia had died. He wrote so honestly about what had happened, not wrapping it up in euphemisms, and how much it hurt that she was gone. Even at six years old, all I wanted to do was be able to make his hurt go away."

She fell silent and the others let the silence stay for a few moments as they exchanged glances full of speculation.

Iella reached over to squeeze Sela's hand. "We all want to make his hurt go away, Sela."

They left the tapcaf and walked Sela back to the entrance of the Medcenter. After she went inside, Mirax looked at Iella and Winter and asked, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Iella had a thoughtful look on her face. "She is in love with Hobbie. Listening to her talk, it seems like she's loved him since she was five."

"I think you're right, Iella, but she hasn't entirely realized it yet," Winter added.

"I'll bet if I called Jehri and asked her, she'd agree with us," Mirax said. "I wonder if the boys have figured it out yet?"

Iella smiled. "No, I don't think so. I think they've got her pegged as a little sister. They feel very protective toward her like a bunch of big brothers. It hasn't occurred to them that even though she's young, she is a grown woman."

Iella's first marriage had been to a man twenty years her senior. She'd had to overcome family and societal objections to her marriage, but it had been based on love and respect.

"The difference between your situation with Diric and Sela's with Hobbie is that you and Diric met when you were already an adult," Winter said to Iella. "Hobbie has known Sela since she was a child of five. As far as he's concerned, she is his little pen pal. He may not be able to see past the little girl she was to the young woman she has become. I just hope Sela doesn't wind up getting hurt."

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

To everyone's amazement, Hobbie's recovery went more quickly than even the doctors had projected. He was ready to come out of the Bacta tank two days ahead of schedule. Wes, Jehri, Sela, Tycho, and Wedge were at the Medcenter early that day. They stood and watched as the technician directed Hobbie to surface and helped him out of the tank. He was still weak, but with rest his strength would come back quickly. The medtech got him cleaned up and settled into a repulsor chair to move him to a private room for a couple more days of observation before he would be released, but first let him have a few minutes with his friends.

"You scared us again, Hobbie," Tycho said cuffing him on the shoulder.

"Yeah. Poor Sela gets here and finds you swimming in the goop again," Wes said, the expression on his face a combination of the usual good cheer and concern for his friend.

Hobbie lifted a hand from the repulsorchair toward Sela, who took it in hers and bent down to kiss his cheek. "I'm sorry about that, Sela. Have these guys been looking out for you?"

Jehri smiled. "She's been staying with us, Hobbie. The kids love her."

Sela's eyes lowered and she felt herself start to blush. "Everyone has been so kind to me since I got here. I would have been completely lost without them."

Hobbie's gaze traveled over the group surrounding him. "Thanks for taking care of her," he said feeling grateful that he had such caring friends.

Wedge smiled and reached over to ruffle his damp hair. "The Rogues take care of their own, Hobbie."

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

Hobbie did actually have a place of his own outside of the Sivantlie Base, but had almost never spent any time there. Even on a planet as crowded as Coruscant he had felt too isolated away from his friends, who were all associated with the New Republic military in one way or another. He did spend time with them in their homes though, especially with Wes and Jehri, whose kids considered him family. Realizing that he couldn't face going back to his quarters at the base after the stupid way he'd left there, Hobbie decided to do his recuperating in his own place.

Wes, Jehri, and Sela went to the Medcenter to take him to his apartment and get him settled in.

"Hobbie, there is not a single thing to eat in this place," Jehri said. "Come on Wes. Let's go get him stocked up so he won't starve to death while he is supposedly recuperating."

"Sure, Hon. Sela, why don't you stay here and keep him out of mischief till we get back?" Wes said with a grin.

Jehri kissed him on the cheek, "We'll be back in a little while."

They left and Hobbie and Sela sat in silence for a few moments. He looked at Sela marveling at how much she had changed. "How long has it been since the last time I saw you? You must have been about fourteen, fifteen?"

"Sixteen. You came for my prep school graduation," she said smiling.

"And now you're ready to take on the galaxy. Your mother must be so proud of you. How is she?"

"She's doing very well, but she was very upset when I told her about your accident."

Hobbie smiled. "Next time you write to her, tell her I appreciate her concern, but I'll be okay. It's not like this is the first time I've banged myself up this badly."

"I don't know what I'd do if I lost you too," Sela said her face showing dread at that thought.

Hobbie's chest felt tight as he was again reminded that Nia was gone from both their lives. "I miss her too Sela," he said quietly.

Their thoughts focussed on Nia, neither of them had recognized the deeper significance of what Sela had just said.

Hobbie decided to change the subject before his own emotions got the better of him. "Why don't you tell me about this new job you're starting?"

Sela sensed that it was not the right time for them to talk about Nia, but she could not begin to do as he asked without mentioning her. She just hoped that she would not add to his pain. "I wanted to work with children orphaned by the Rebellion because that's what almost happened to me. You and Nia made a huge impression on that five year old girl you rescued. I wanted to do something that would honor her memory. What I'll be doing is working to place orphans with new families. There are so many; it is a huge job." She looked at Hobbie and saw both sadness at Nia's absence and pride in her.

"She would be very proud of you, Sela. She loved you very much," he said still in a quiet voice. He took a deep breath, then asked her, "So, how do you like Wes's kids?"

She smiled, glad that they were onto a more cheerful subject. "They are so sweet. Spanner talks about nothing but Smashball except when he's asking when Uncle Hobbie will come over again. And Gunnar is too cute for words. She crawled into my lap and gave me a hug before she even said a word to me." She looked up to see how he would react to her next words. "I've been appointed official storyteller, but they only ever ask for one story."

To her relief, Hobbie grinned. "I'm not surprised you got trapped into telling that one. I wouldn't have minded telling it to them, but the right opportunity never came up."

She laughed, "Okay. Next time, you can tell it."

They continued their comfortable conversation and reminiscences till Wes and Jehri returned with the groceries.

"Are you sure you're going to be okay here, Hobbie?" Jehri asked.

He smiled at her concern. "I'm a convalescent, Jehri, not an invalid," he said with mock indignation. "Go on. Get out of here. I'll see you all tomorrow."

After they left, Hobbie sat on the couch and looked around the room. It was a relatively small apartment, but more than adequate for one person. What he had always hated about spending time in it was that it felt like a cold impersonal box. He remembered Wedge saying something before he and Iella got back together and got married about his own apartment being the place where he lived, but not home. Until today, that was what this place had felt like. "Just sitting here and talking with Sela for a couple of hours has changed it from the place where I live to my home. She came here to visit like normal people do." He smiled at that thought. "I like normal." He closed his eyes and fell asleep with a smile still on his face.

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

The next morning, Jehri Janson called Hobbie and invited him over for dinner that night. "The kids have been worried about their Uncle Hobbie. They want to see for themselves that you're okay. Will you come?"

Hobbie smiled, "Tell them I'll be there, and thanks."

"Shall I have Wes pick you up?"

He snorted. "You don't have to baby me, Jehri. I can get myself over to your place just fine."

She laughed. "Good. We'll be celebrating Sela's first day of work too. See you tonight."

As part of his recuperation, Hobbie had been told to begin light exercise, so he began his day with a workout. That took up about an hour, but he noticed that time really seemed to drag. He attributed it to the fact that he could not remember when the last time was he'd had absolutely nothing to do to make the time pass more quickly.

Wedge and Tycho both called to check up on him, but those conversations didn't take up much time either. Finally, out of sheer frustration, he left his apartment. At first, he had no destination in mind. Then he decided to see if he could find Sela and maybe take her to lunch on her first day at work. He located the Children's Services Bureau and tracked her down to the Placement Division. When he knocked on her cubicle wall, she looked up and a smile blossomed on her face. "Derek! How did you find me?"

"I didn't have too much trouble."

"Are you sure you should be up and about so soon?" she asked him.

He smiled at her concern. "I'm fine. If I didn't get out of my place for a while, they would have had to come and take me back to the Medcenter in a straightjacket." He looked at the piles of datacards on her desk. "Can I persuade you come and have lunch with me, or are you totally swamped already?"

She looked down at her desk and then back up at him, "It's my first day. I should really try to get myself organized so I can get something accomplished."

"Was that a lunch invitation I just heard you turn down, Ms. Milson?" a voice said from behind Hobbie.

He turned and saw a tall, formidable looking woman in her mid-forties standing behind him. She smiled at him pleasantly, but addressed Sela. "The work will be here in an hour, and you have to eat."

"Ms. Darrens. I'm sorry. I was just trying to sort through these..." She got flustered and decided to just make introductions. "Ms. Darrens, this is my friend, Major Derek Klivian of Rogue Squadron. Derek, Ms. Darrens. My boss."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Major."

"Likewise, Ms. Darrens," he answered shaking her hand.

"Now take this young lady out of here and don't bring her back for an hour." She turned back to Sela, "The first thing you have to learn around here is not to let the work bury you alive. It will always be there, but invitations to lunch with heroes of the Rebellion don't come along every day. Now, shoo!"

Hobbie grinned, liking the woman immediately. "You heard her, Sela. She's the boss."

Sela blushed, but stood to comply. They walked out with several sets of eyes following them with interest.

When they got out to the street, Hobbie said, "She seems to be very nice. What was that business about me being a hero of the Rebellion?"

Sela laughed. "Well, that's kind of obvious, isn't it? You're a Rogue and the Rogues had more than a little to do with its success, but I think she was actually referring to something I said in our meeting this morning when I first reported to her."

"Oh? What was that?"

She looked at him out of the corner of her eye before looking down at her feet. "I told her about how you and Nia and the rest of the Rogues rescued me and the other children when I was five. If you hadn't, I would have been an orphan too. That makes you as much of a hero to me as any battle you've ever fought in."

He didn't quite know how to respond to that. Instead, he offered her his arm. "Come on. Let's find some place to eat. She did say I had to have you back in an hour."

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

Jehri Janson answered the door buzzer and found Hobbie laden with two bouquets of flowers and a tissue wrapped bottle standing there. "For the lady of the house," he said smiling and handing her one of the bouquets as he kissed her cheek. He saw Wes come up behind Jehri and handed him the bottle. "Here. Make yourself useful. Go put that in the cooler."

Wes grinned. He was happy to see Hobbie in such a good mood. "What's this for?" he asked raising the bottle.

"Jehri did say we were celebrating Sela's first day at work." He saw Sela come up and presented the second bouquet to her. "For you in honor of your first day at work."

"Derek, you're going to spoil me. First lunch and now flowers," she said blushing.

Wes and Jehri both turned to look at her. "Lunch? You didn't mention that he'd taken you to lunch." Both of them had very amused looks on their faces.

"And you. Aren't you supposed to be taking it easy?" Wes asked looking back at Hobbie.

Hobbie grinned at him, "Well, today was her first day, and taking Sela to lunch is not what you could call strenuous activity."

Wes's eyes began to widen and he turned to Jehri with a questioning look. She smiled and silently mouthed the word 'later' to him.

Hobbie hadn't seen it because two little voices started yelling, "Uncle Hobbie, Uncle Hobbie!" He turned and Wes's children slammed into his legs.

He bent down to pick Gunnar up and hug her. "Uncle Hobbie okay?" she asked looking at him with her eyes wide.

"Uncle Hobbie's fine, Sweetheart," he said hugging her again. He put her down to tickle Spanner. "Who's ahead in the Smashball standings, Spanner?" he asked getting down on the floor on his back and holding the little boy up in the air straight-armed.

Wes couldn't help himself and burst out laughing. "If you're ready to wrestle with that kid, I'm going to tell Wedge and Tycho you're ready to go back to work."

Hobbie laughed too. "Please. I'm bored out of my mind with nothing to do."

Spanner stopped giggling long enough to ask Hobbie, "Did somebody shoot you? Is that why your ship crashed?"

Hobbie stopped laughing and sat up to answer the little boy seriously. "No, I crashed because I did something really stupid." He looked over at Jehri, "And your mother will tear strips out of me if I ever do anything that stupid again."

Jehri did not want the mood of the evening to change. "Hey, who's hungry?" she asked. A chorus of voices answered her and they all trooped into the dining room.

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

The celebratory dinner was a lot of fun for all of them. In addition to celebrating Sela's first day on the job, the unstated reason to celebrate was Hobbie's surviving yet another serious injury. This was the fastest Wes had seen his friend recover since he had been shot down on Hoth and Nia had been the one to help nurse him back to health. He was beginning to speculate that Sela's presence had something to do with it, which seemed just a little odd to him, since it had been her message that had sent him off on that ill-fated flight in the first place. He intended to ask Jehri what she thought, but not until he could do so privately. In the meantime, he just enjoyed his friend's good spirits.

The children were included in the conversation around the table, but they also patiently let the adults talk for as long as they could sit still. Finally, being children, they'd had enough. "Sela, tell us the Princess and the Dragon story again, please?" Spanner asked looking at her expectantly.

Wes and Jehri exchanged quick worried looks, but this time Sela's eyes glinted with amusement. "It's your Uncle Hobbie's story. How about if he tells it to you tonight?"

Both children cheered and ran off to get ready for bed. Hobbie was grinning, which surprised Wes and Jehri, but they weren't going to question what they saw as a good thing.

Tonight it was Spanner's turn to have story time in his room so everyone got themselves situated in there. Wes and Jehri sat in chairs near the door. Sela sat next to Spanner, who was tucked under his covers and Gunnar sat in Hobbie's lap wrapped in a blanket. Hobbie looked at both children and Sela and then began, "Once upon a time, there was a beautiful princess named Leia. She lived in a beautiful land named Alderaan..."

By the time Hobbie had finished the story, Spanner was all but asleep. "Thanks, Uncle Hobbie," he mumbled before closing his eyes. Gunnar, wrapped in the blanket, had succumbed to sleep earlier and her little head rested against Hobbie's chest. He stood to carry her back to her room and Sela followed after tucking Spanner back under his covers. Wes and Jehri said nothing, but smiled as they made their way back out to the living room.

When Hobbie and Sela joined them, Wes had the sense that it might still a little bit of a sensitive subject, but he couldn't help commenting, "It was really good to hear you tell that story again, Hob."

A fleeting look of sadness appeared in Hobbie's eyes for a moment, "Thanks, Wes." Then he smiled again. "I would have told it to them before, but you never asked me to."

Sensing that a change of subject might be a good idea, Wes said, "Hey, you got out of the Bacta bath just in time for the Admiral's bash."

"Oh yeah. That's coming up, isn't it? What? In a few of days?" He looked at Sela. "Would you like to go with me to the party?" Then another thought crossed his mind. "Ugh! Dress uniforms."

Jehri laughed. "Oh, you suffer so."

Wes chuckled too. "Look at it this way, Hob. No one is going to be looking at us anyway. We'll just be there showing off our dates."

Sela looked distressed. "I'd love to go, but I haven't got anything..."

"Oh, don't worry about that, Sela," Jehri smiled. "Mirax will help you find the right dress."

Hobbie had had enough of sitting. "It was a really nice evening earlier when I got here. Sela, would you like to go for a walk?" He turned to Wes and Jehri. "You don't mind, do you?"

They both laughed and Wes said, "No, we don't mind." Then, remembering Sela's comment about curfews at the Medcenter, he added in a mock admonishing tone, "Just don't keep her out too late."

Sela and Hobbie left for their walk and as the door closed behind them, Wes turned to Jehri and asked, "Now, why do I get the feeling that I should be out there chaparoning them?"

Jehri laughed softly again as she put her arms around him to give him a hug. "We were wondering how long it would take you to pick up on that."

He looked confused. "We who? Pick up on what?"

"Mirax, Winter, Iella, and I."

"Pick up on what?" he asked again, still confused.

She gave him another hug. "Men! Sometimes you can be pretty dense," she said smiling to keep the sting out of her words. "Don't you recognize it when your best friend is falling in love?"

"Falling in love?" Wes was stunned. "Jehri, she's a kid."

Now, her voice took on a note of asperity. "Wes, she is young, but she is not a kid. She is a grown woman, and she loves Hobbie very much."

Wes found himself with nothing to say, but quite a lot to think about.

Jehri saw that his thoughts were churning, and added, "For pity's sake, don't tease him. That would ruin everything."

He realized that she was right. "I won't Hon," he said giving her a warm hug and kiss.

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

Jehri smiled as she finished getting ready for the party. "Sela is going to knock his socks off when he sees her," she thought to herself. Mirax had outdone herself finding the right dress for Sela to wear. "Sela, do you need help with your hair or anything?" she called across the hall.

"No. I'm ready." She came out of her room and turned herself around to show Jehri the dress. "Do I look okay?"

Jehri had seen the dress when Sela had brought it home, but wearing it, she looked magnificent. "You look a whole lot better than okay, Sela. You look beautiful."

"Hey, are you two ready?" Wes's voice came from the living room.

They went out to join him and Wes's jaw dropped. "Sela, you look great!"

The buzzer sounded and Wes went to answer it. "Are you guys ready to go?" Hobbie asked stepping inside.

Wes said nothing as he stood aside so Hobbie could see Sela.

Her hair was twisted and pinned up in the back, but small shimmering golden wisps framed her face. The floorlength dress was an opalescent blue with sparkles of other colors dancing over the surface as she moved slightly and the light changed. It was sleeveless and off the shoulder and draped close to her body until the skirt began to flair out at her hips. A matching stole was looped behind her back and over her arms.

He stopped dead in his tracks and forgot to breathe. She was the most exquisitely beautiful thing he'd ever seen.

"Don't just stand there, Hobbie. Say something," Wes nudged.

He caught his breath. "Sela, you are beautiful."

Wes went over to his wife and offered her his arm. "Come on, Hobbie. Let's go show off these ravishing creatures."

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

The rest of the Rogues were already at the party when Wes, Jehri, Hobbie and Sela arrived. Hobbie had almost always come to these affairs alone and only stayed long enough to satisfy protocol. When word had gotten around that Hobbie would be bringing Sela, they were happy that he would actually enjoy himself for a change. His young friend had grown close to their hearts very quickly.

Wes and Jehri spotted the other Rogues and started to walk over in their direction with Hobbie and Sela following behind them.

Mirax had seen them approaching. She was standing next to Iella and winked whispering to her, "Watch this."

Wedge, Tycho, Corran and the others had turned to greet the newcomers, but stopped in mid-sentence when they caught sight of Sela. One after the other, they swallowed, or gulped or took a deep breath before complimenting her.

Hobbie had not entirely gotten over his own reaction to Sela, but he was enjoying the fact that she was causing such a sensation among his friends. He let them fuss over her for a few more minutes then took her hand, "Come on, Sela. Let's dance." The others smiled and turned to their wives to lead them out to dance as well.

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

When she had been a little girl, Sela had loved stories about princesses and dashing heroes. The story that Derek had told her when she was a child had been about a princess and her heroes. He'd even called her Princess Sela when she was little; and she had already admitted to him and to herself that she thought of him as her own hero. The music and the lights and the colors surrounding her seemed to sparkle with magic as she danced with Derek. She felt like the princesses in those stories she had loved. With his arms encircling her as they swirled around the dance floor, she came to a startling realization. "He is my hero," she thought to herself, "and my heart." She knew she had well and truly lost her heart to him long, long ago. If they had not already been dancing, she didn't know how she would have been able to contain the joy she felt.

Throughout the evening, Hobbie had reluctantly relinquished Sela to his friends while he danced with their wives -- also something he had done on only a few occasions. But he rarely took his eyes from her. Magical she seemed to him to be as well. Light danced around her as if she were not entirely in the same time and space as everyone else around her. No matter where she was in the room, though, her eyes and his always found each other's and he knew that she was his. He could not remember how long it had been since he had felt so happy.

He was dancing with Sela again and looking into clear blue eyes that shone with a glow he found himself unable to resist. He bent down to kiss her. Time seemed to stand still and the world disappeared around them. Holding her close in his arms, he was lost in the wonder of emotions that he hadn't felt in a very long time. Sela was, for that timeless moment, the center of his universe.

Suddenly, reality crashed back into his awareness shattering the magical light surrounding them. Sela. The little girl that he and his beautiful love, Nia, had taken into their hearts... "Oh Nia..." The voice inside his head made her name an anguished cry. "What have I done?!" He broke the kiss hardly able to look at Sela, and feeling revulsion at himself for what he'd done. He held her away from himself, then dropped his hands from her arms. "I'm sorry, Sela. I shouldn't have done that." He turned and walked away leaving her in the center of the dance floor confused and alone and hurt.

Wes and Jehri had been watching them smiling as they danced. They saw Hobbie break their kiss and walk away from Sela leaving her standing alone and looking lost. They wound their way quickly through the other dancers to Sela's side. She looked up at both of them, "What did I do?" she asked, tears of confusion and pain in her eyes.

"It's not you, Sweetheart. It's him," Wes said barely able to control his voice. He had never been so furious with Hobbie. "How dare he treat her like that?" Wes said to himself as he stalked off in Hobbie's wake.

Jehri, put her arm around Sela. "You didn't do anything, Sela," she said as she led her off the dance floor.

Wes and Jehri had not been the only ones to see what had happened. Winter, Iella, and Mirax had been sitting at a table and chatting and watching them. "I was afraid something like that might happen," Winter said.

Jehri and Sela came up to the table only long enough to pick up their handbags. "I'm taking Sela home." From the tone in her voice, it was obvious that Jehri was furious with Hobbie as well. She turned and led Sela toward another door.

Tycho, Wedge, and Corran had come up behind them, but the look on Jehri's face stopped them from saying a word until after they had left.

"What was that?" Corran asked as they sat down.

"What got into Hobbie?" Wedge asked looking around the table. "They were dancing having a great time and Boom!"

Iella looked at him with a sad smile. "You should know by now, Sweetheart, that love can be a very complicated and painful thing."

"Love?" he looked at Iella. "Hobbie and Sela?" He thought about it for a few moments. "Hobbie and Sela," he said, beginning to accept the notion.

"But what just happened?" Tycho asked, as mystified about Hobbie's bizarre behavior as the rest of them.

"They'll have to work that out between themselves ... if they can," Winter said quietly.

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

Wes had not been able to catch up with Hobbie before he left the building. He had looked around in every direction, but Hobbie had disappeared. He spent the next couple of hours looking in all the places he thought Hobbie might go, from his apartment to his quarters at the base to their favorite tapcafs and bars. He tried reaching Hobbie on his comlink, but he didn't answer. Eventually, he had no choice but to give up and go home. He would try again in the morning to find the best friend he wanted very much to punch out for treating Sela the way he had.

He let himself into the apartment quietly and found Jehri waiting for him in their bedroom. "Did you find him?" she asked.

"No," he answered. "But that's probably a good thing. I'm afraid I would have hit him if I had." He came over to Jehri to enfold her in an embrace, which was as much to calm himself as to reaffirm their emotional bond. "How is Sela?" he asked.

"About what you'd expect. She is hurt and confused, and now she thinks it was a mistake for her to come here to Coruscant." She took a deep breath and went on. "I was as angry with him as you were, but I've had some time to think. Do you remember telling me right after his accident about the discussion you had with Wedge and Tycho?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

"You said you thought that Sela's message had dredged up memories of Nia and how painful it was for him to have lost her."

"Yeah, but he eventually got over that."

"Did he?"

"Well..."

"Why do you suppose he has never had a long term relationship with anyone since Nia died? And why do you think he hardly ever even dated anyone?"

Wes looked at her frowning before enlightenment dawned on his face. "He still loves Nia? He'll always love Nia."

"It's not just that he still loves her or that he'll always love her. He's being faithful to her in his own way. He has never let himself love anyone the way he loved Nia." Jehri looked up at Wes with heartache in her eyes for their friend. "That it is Sela he's fallen in love with in spite of himself, makes it so much more painful for him now."

The last of his anger toward his friend dissipated as fresh concern for his emotional well-being reasserted itself. "Oh, Hobbie. Why did you do this to yourself? I have to talk to him; talk some sense into him."

Jehri held him tight. "He needs time to think; give him some time. You can talk to him tomorrow."

"All right, Hon. I'll talk to him tomorrow."

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

The last thing Hobbie wanted to do was go anywhere that he would likely be found. When he had left the party he'd taken a repulsorcab to a metropolitan park far from any place he had ever been on Coruscant. He had gotten out of the cab and started walking through the park aimlessly, ignoring the chiming of his comlink until it stopped. He found a bench under a tree and sat down heavily putting his head in his hands.

"What have I done?" he asked himself over and over.

He thought back to the first time he had ever set eyes on Sela. She was a beautiful little girl of five in a village of refugees being ravaged by Bilbringi Fever. Nia, his sweet, beautiful Nia, had spotted Sela in the doorway of the little hut she and her mother lived in. She had handed Sela over to him, while she had gone to take care of Sela's mother. While the plague victims recuperated, he and Nia and the other relief team members had befriended many of the children. It had been an amazing experience for all of them and many long-term friendships had started then.

After the refugees had been resettled, Nia and Hobbie had both written to Sela and she had answered every letter. He used to write her funny stories about the Rogues, and Nia had written about helping the sick and injured as well as stories of life with the Rebel fleet. Oddly enough, both of them had found it very easy to write to the little girl about their feelings for each other. When Nia had died during the Battle of Endor, Hobbie had agonized over the letter he felt he had to write to her. He could not hide the truth of what had happened nor how heartbroken he was from the little girl he and Nia cared about so much. The day he had gotten her letter back, he had taken it back to his quarters and cried. Sela had loved Nia as much as he did, and had wished for his hurt to go away.

In all the years afterward, they had continued their correspondence. He had even used some of his infrequent leaves to go and visit Sela and her mother like a big brother going home. Now, the big brother had violated the little girl's trust and abused her faith in him.

"What kind of a monster are you to have done that to her?" he asked himself, the voice in his mind filled with self-loathing. "And you, Nia," he said hating himself more with each passing moment. "I've betrayed my love for you too."

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

The next morning, Wes left early to go looking for Hobbie. He wanted to find his friend to try to help him, but even more he wanted not to have to see the pain he knew would be in Sela's eyes. He retraced his steps from the night before checking Hobbie's apartment and the tapcafs, but then he realized where Hobbie would be.

He went to the Sivantlie Base complex and back up to Hobbie's quarters where this whole nightmare had begun. He knocked on the door. There was no response. He knocked a second time; still no response. "Hobbie, open the door. I know you're in there." There was still no response. "I'll blast the lock if I have to, Hob. Now, open the door."

Finally, he heard Hobbie approach to unlock the door, but it still didn't open. By the time he opened the door, Hobbie was seated back at his desk with only the glow of the computer screen providing any light inside the room. A nearly full bottle of really awful Rylothean brandy was sitting next to him on the desk, open.

Wes was shocked to see how terrible Hobbie looked. He had looked better right after he had come out of the Bacta tank. "Been beating yourself up, I see," he said picking up the bottle.

"I thought I'd save you the trouble," Hobbie answered without looking at him.

"What are you doing?"

"Writing my letter of resignation from Rogue Squadron and the New Republic military."

Wes sat down on the bunk, stunned. "Why?"

"Why?" Hobbie exploded, spinning the chair to face Wes. "Because I don't deserve to wear the uniform, that's why?"

"What makes you think that?"

"What I did to Sela." The pain on Hobbie's face made Wes's chest ache.

"Leaving her standing alone in the middle of the dance floor in front of the Brass and all the holonews service cameras was not one of your more stellar moves, Hob," he said knowing perfectly well that was not what Hobbie was referring to.

"She trusted me, Wes, and I violated that trust."

"You kissed her, Hobbie."

"That's just it, Wes. Don't you see? I should never have done that."

"Why not? You love her."

"I can't!" He spun the chair back toward the desk. "That little girl trusted me..."

"Hobbie!" His sharp tone made Hobbie turn back toward him. "Sela is not a little girl. Not anymore. She's all grown up and she loves you."

"I can't, Wes. I can't." He put his head in his hands.

"It isn't just Sela, Hobbie," Wes said quietly. "It's time to let Nia go." He saw Hobbie's shoulders begin to shake and realized that he was sobbing silently. He sat quietly waiting for his friend to spend his grief.

After several minutes, Hobbie pulled himself upright in the chair. "I'd like to be alone for a while, Wes." His voice was ragged.

"Are you going to be all right?" Wes asked, giving his friend's shoulder a gentle squeeze.

"I'm not sure yet."

His eyes narrowed. "You're not going to do anything stupid, are you?"

"I don't think I could do anything stupider than what I've already done." He looked at Wes with a half smile. "Now, can you let me be for a while?"

Wes stood up to leave. "If you need anything..."

"I know. I'll call. Thanks, Wes."

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

It was late afternoon when the door buzzer sounded startling Wes from his reverie. He got up to answer it and found Hobbie standing there. He had cleaned himself up and looked much better than he had that morning. Still, there was something about his eyes that made Wes think Hobbie's pain was not yet completely gone.

"Is Sela here? Can I talk to her?" Hobbie's voice betrayed nervousness, as if he was afraid that she might be not be there.

"Come in, Hob." Wes said. "She's here. She's in her room." He looked closely at his friend. "Are you all right?"

"I'll know after I talk to Sela."

He went down the hall and knocked on Sela's door. "Sela, it's Derek. Can I talk to you?"

She opened the door, but said nothing turning to walk back toward the window. Hobbie closed the door behind himself and followed her. The hurt in her eyes squeezed his heart like a vice. "Sela, I am so sorry for the way I treated you last night. It was rude, selfish, humiliating, and totally unforgivable, but I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me anyway."

She turned back to look at him, "Why?"

"Because I love you."

Her eyes widened. "You do?"

"Yes, I do."

Her heart skipped a beat, then her mind reasserted itself. "Derek, I can't compete with a ghost. You still love Nia. You can't tell me that you don't."

Hobbie took her hand in his. "You're right. I'll always have a special place in my heart for her and so will you, but do you think she would begrudge us a future together? She would want us to be happy."

Sela looked into his dark, serious eyes and saw his love for her in them. She lifted her free hand to caress his face. "I've loved you almost my whole life."

Hobbie covered her hand with his own pressing it to his lips to kiss her palm. "I think I've loved you almost your whole life too." He smiled, the last of the pain in his eyes and in his heart finally gone. "I just had to wait for you to finish growing up."

He took her in his arms and kissed her. "I love you, Sela. Will you marry me?"

Her confusion and pain had disappeared as well. "I love you, Derek." The light was back in her eyes to stay. "Yes, I'll marry you," she told him, sealing her promise with a joyful kiss.

"Good. Let's go." Hobbie said, a joy filled smile breaking across his face as their lips parted.

"Now?" Her eyes widened in surprise.

There was a playful glint in his eye. "Yes, now. We've wasted enough time."

He took her hand and they ran back out to the living room. "Wes, is Wedge still officially considered the captain of the Lusankya?"

Wes looked at him as if he'd lost his mind. "Yes. Why?"

"Good. We need the captain of the Lusankya to marry us. Right now." He picked Sela up in his arms and spun her around kissing her as he lowered her back to the floor.

Wes grinned at them both. "Yeah, I guess you do at that."

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

Epilogue

(One year later)

Sela sat in a bed in a private room at the Medcenter. The room was filled with huge bouquets of flowers; and some were even from the other Rogues. She cradled a tiny, precious, blanket wrapped bundle in her arms and smiled at Hobbie, who sat beside her on the edge of the bed with his arm around her.

He teased the little baby's hand open and she clutched her daddy's finger tightly. "She's beautiful," he said. "Just like her mother." He kissed Sela and then took the baby to cradle in his own arms. "What are we going to name her?"

Sela smiled up at him. "Do you really have to ask?"

He looked at the tiny baby girl he held in his arms, completely captivated. "Our own darling little Nia."

The End