Yesterday's Today

By Star Fantasy – Linauri, Isildur, Drama_Princess87

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Prologue

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Jaina woke to the sound of her comlink buzzing insistently in her ear. Grumbling, she reached up to the collar of the jumpsuit she had yet to take off, and flicked the receiver of the annoying device on. One of these days, she was going to Force fry the thing.

"Who dares to disturb the Great Yun Harla when she sleeps?" she ground out. Whoever it was, it had better be good, she had only gotten to bed - she glanced at the wall chronometer - an hour ago? Forget good, someone better be dead.

"Forgive me Lt- err- Great One, but General Antilles is requesting your presence in the southwest lounge." came the slightly nervous reply of the communications officer. He didn't have to believe she was a goddess; he just had to fear an angry jedi. The effect was the same.

She groaned, and was tempted to tell him to go suck sithspit. Unfortunately, Wedge was still her commanding officer, despite the goddess charade they had started. Besides, he was the one who had ordered her to get some sleep. After her squadron got back to base she'd had to sit through two hours of debriefings. It wasn't until she had fallen face first onto the table she was sitting at, that Wedge had called a halt and ordered her to bed. He wouldn't be interrupting if it wasn't important.

"Tell him I'll be there shortly, and that he had better impress me, or he'll wish that he had never woken me." she finally growled.

With that, she flicked off the comlink, cutting off the comm officer's stuttered reply. At the moment, she didn't care that she had just threatened a superior officer and the defacto Supreme Commander of the New Republic Military. She snorted. What military? Without the backing of the idiots in the senate, they might as well be a private army. The New Republic was as good as dead. Those in charge were in hiding, and the military had been left to die. Everything was falling apart.

Jaina shook herself mentally. Thinking like that would lead to nothing but fear and depression. She'd had a close enough brush with the dark side as it was, no need to start that nonsense again. As long as there was the Force, there was hope. Finally pulling herself off the cot that served as her bed, she stumbled sleepily into the 'fresher. If she was going to a meeting, she was going to at least take a quick shower first.

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Throwing an amused glance at Han Solo, Wedge Antilles suppressed a chuckle as he listened to the comm officer's report. He couldn't blame Jaina for being grumpy. He had promised her eight hours of uninterrupted sleep, and here he was waking her not an hour later. He wished he didn't have to.

She and her squadron had been out on that recon for days, and none of them seemed to have gotten any sleep by the time they got back. If he were honest with himself, he would have to admit that he was a bit surprised that Twin Suns remained so intact. While every other unit was loosing people left and right to the Vong, her people were inventing new tactics that, for the most part, kept them alive and well.

Part of him sometimes wondered if perhaps she wasn't some sort of goddess after all. She was certainly living up to her new reputation as a trickster goddess. He did regret that her 'divine' status left her so isolated. If only they could guarantee that the Vong wouldn't find out if they told the base. He mentally shook his head at his own foolishness. Sure, he thought. And maybe jawas would fly.

Everyone looked up as the door whooshed open and Jaina walked in. With her damp bangs hanging in her eyes, she looked only slightly more awake than when he had dismissed her little more than an hour ago. He wouldn't have been surprised if the only thing keeping her together at the moment was the Force. He offered her an apologetic smile as she sat down next to her mother. She waved it off.

Once she sat down, she spared a glance around at the occupants of the room. Aside from Wedge and her parents, her uncle Luke Skywalker was there with his wife Mara, who was holding their slumbering infant son Ben. She would have thought this a family emergency were it not for the presence of Kyp Durron, the room's final occupant. On the other hand, Kyp was practically a little brother to Han. She sighed and turned her attention back to Wedge. Might as well find out what this was all about.

"Impress me mortal." Wedge grinned.

"Room's clean, Jaina." She nodded and dropped the superior expression from her face, waiting.

"I am sorry to pull you away from your bed, Jaina. But Kyp thought it best to show this the whole family, and I agreed with him."

Wedge turned to the holoprojector in front of him, and Jaina watched Kyp from the corner of her eyes. Well, that explained his presence a bit. Turning back to the holoprojector, she watched as an image formed in the air above her. It was all she could do to bite back the scream of surprise that rose in her throat. Her parents didn't manage as well. She whirled on Kyp, her eyes blazing.

"Where did you get this? Did you record it? Where is he?"

Kyp's eyes suddenly seemed to hold all the pain of the universe in them as he met her gaze. She found herself biting back tears at the pain that leaked through his mental shields.

"I didn't record that. It was delivered to me anonymously during our recon mission two days ago. I didn't get a chance to view it until we got back a few hours ago, when I brought it to Wedge's attention."

"Why him? Why not me, or my parents. Or even Uncle Luke or Aunt Mara."

"I thought it best to have the recording analyzed to verify that it was real, before mentioning it's existence to your family. I didn't want to raise false hopes." He broke eye contact with her to stare down at his hands, clenched tightly in his lap. "Or fears." he added softly. "That's probably why he sent it to me, instead of to you."

"Why he sent? I thought you said it was sent anonymously? Do you know who it was that sent this?" she demanded, waving her hand toward the holo. But it wasn't Kyp who answered.

"Jacen," came Leia's hollow voice from beside her.

They watched as she stood and walked toward the projector, her hand reaching up toward the gut-wrenching image that it was showing. When she turned back to them, tears were trickling down her cheeks, her eyes nearly dead. Jaina stood and placed a hand on her mother's arm, drawing her attention.

"Mom?"

"It was Jacen. He sent this to us so that we would know what happened to him."

A flash of guilt from Kyp drew her gaze back to him. He was watching Leia as she turned back to the holo, his face twisted into an expression of such guilt and pain, she wondered for a moment if he had killed her twin. Shaking that thought from her head, she walked over and knelt in front of him.

"What do you know, Kyp?" she asked softly, placing her hand gently over his. His eyes didn't leave Leia as he spoke haltingly. A very different Kyp Durron from the cocky, almost arrogant you man they were used to. Han had gotten up to stand beside Leia, his arm placed loosely around her shoulder as the two of them watched to holo.

"When I got the holo..." He shook his head. "No, before that. The night before we left for the recon. I was meditating in my quarters. I had a vision. Of Jacen. It was bad." Leia suddenly locked eyes with him pleading, for what was unclear. "It showed almost exactly what is in that holo. I swear I meant to come to you with it, but..."

"You didn't want to upset us needlessly. Me, especially, right before a mission." Jaina sighed heavily and shook her head. She suddenly felt older than her parents. "I wondered what had you so distracted while we were out." This earned a wry smile from Kyp.

"That obvious, huh?"

"I am the Great One, after all," she tossed back, matching his smile.

"You said your vision was almost exactly what is in the holo. What was different about it Kyp?" Luke asked from his seat beside Mara.

Of all of them, the Skywalker's seemed to be taking it the best, but other jedi could feel the turmoil under the surface. Jacen was his nephew and apprentice. He was the only one besides Jaina who had had a strong and conscious Force bond with him. Kyp turned to him.

"The vision played out longer that the holo does. Up until he..." His voice broke and trailed off.

"He what Kyp. We need to know. Did he escape?" Jaina was squeezing his hand to the point of cutting off the circulation.

"He...he was killed. I'm sorry." he whispered. Jaina stumbled back.

"But... but we didn't feel it. We would have... wouldn't we?" she looked desperately at her mother who was watching the holo sadly. Then to her uncle, who's eyes had dimmed distinctly.

"Wouldn't we?" she whispered desperately.

They might, but you wouldn't, whispered a cold voice in her head. Think about it, little jedi. You only felt the dimming of his life Force before because it came through others. He cut you off even then. What makes you think he wouldn't now?

No! she screamed back. It's not true. He only did that to spare me the pain. I know that now. It wasn't out of cruelty. He...

Shut you out. Face it little jedi. He's dead. You see it in everyone's eyes, but you don't accept it. He shut you out to spare you the first time. Now he shuts you out because the dark side lingers in you.

"NO!" she screamed, unconsciously smashing the holoprojector with the Force. "I don't believe it. He's not dead. I won't believe it this time. I WON'T"

"Jaina, honey..." her father spoke for the first time since she came in, reaching out to take her in his arms.

"NO!" she pulled away from her father's attempt to embrace her and ran from the room.

"Jaina!"

She ignored her mother's cries as she ran down the corridor. She ignored the stares that were directed at her fleeing form as she tried, in vain, to outrun the pain that was threatening to engulf her. She could not, however, ignore the sudden sensation of being sucked through a garbage chute into space. Only it wasn't the deadly cold of space that met her.

Her ears ringing from her impact, Jaina felt, more than heard her mother land beside her in the vaguely familiar hall. Her pain forgotten for the moment, she went to help her mother up, looking around curiously.

"We're in the Imperial Palace. On Coruscant." came her mother's strangled voice.

"Mom, the Palace looks much different. Especially since the Vong. You know that. It never looked like this." Jaina said, trying to dispell the sudden chill her mother's words sent down her spine. Or was it this place that created the cold in her? She hugged herself, rubbing her arms to warm them.

"Yes. It did. When the Emperor was alive." Leia whispered fearfully.