Leia sighed as she went over her notes. She had been assigned one of the less favored jobs in the senate: looking into endangered children. The senate had only recently added these assignments to the long list of things for Leia to do. She usually didn't mind them. Most were children under the age of 10, and almost all were obedient, sweet kids who just needed a nice home, because the ones that they were in weren't fit for even a Hutt to live in. Many of the children had grown up in poverty with adoptive families who had been cruel to them. But this specific case had caught Leia's eye.
Only rarely did anyone get assigned a child older than 12. But she had been assigned a girl of an unknown age. She had just been discovered, as her name wasn't in the system. This would be a difficult case, Leia thought as soon as she got it.
There was very little information on this girl. She was above the age of 12, most likely nearing 15 or so. That was all they had about her age. She went by several different names, ranging from Ace, to Gypsy, to Elizabeth, or anything she felt fit her personality at the time. The only definite physical feature known about her, was that she had freckles. But she covered them up most of the time. Her hair was several different colors, and changed often. Sometimes it was red, sometimes blacker than coal. Her eyes were the same way.
The girl was obviously very strong with the force. From reports that were in the system, she used the force when she fought, and apparently that was very often. This girl was a lot like Han. Restless, fearless, and often reckless. Leia needed to find this girl and fast. She was wanted by bounty hunters who had been hired by the Hutts. She had stolen millions of credits from them, and they not only wanted them back, but they wanted the head of the the thief.
Looking at her medical records, Leia found the most recent entry. It was from just yesterday. The girl had been found with a blaster wound to the side. Apparently she had been taken to a medcenter involuntarily, and after a whole night of fighting with droids, and even the human supervisor, she had been allowed to leave this morning. Looking at the clock on the wall, Leia sighed again. It was nearly 10 hours ago that she was released. By now she could be halfway across the galaxy.
Liea heard footsteps in the hall. She knew it was Han, but kept looking through the records. Han came up behind her and hugged her around her waist, and put his chin on top of her head.
"That still for the senate?" He asked.
Leia nodded. "Yep, and its driving me nuts. There's absolutely NO information on this girl!" She complained.
"Can I help?" He asked as Leia snuggled into his embrace.
"Yea. You can help me find this kid." She flipped through more information, none of which was helpful to the search, when she came upon one lone photo. "ah ha!" She exclaimed, overjoyed.
"Let me see that." Han said, and took it, holding it in a position they could both see it. The photo was grainy, but he could make out some of the obvious features. The girl was tall; he guessed she was around 5 foot 7 or 8. She had long, flowing hair that extended down to her waist. It this photo is seemed to be a mix between red, brown, and blond.
The girl was dressed in all black: black jeans, and a black jacket. Han guessed that the shirt underneath was the same color, but he couldn't tell because it was zipped up. It was obvious that this girl was past the age of 12, as the reports had said. She could pass as 20 easily with some makeup. Both the Solos figured that she was around 16 or so, judging from her size and her features.
But there was one thing that Han saw, that he didn't know if Leia saw. It was the defiance in her eyes. Even from the distance the photo was taken at, Han could see that this girl was a fighter. It was evident in her eyes.
Just then, they heard the doors open, and a loud conversation between their three children was heard. No doubt it was about something that was unimportant to grown ups, but to two 16 year olds and a 13 year old, it was a matter of life and death.
The three of them came trampling up the stairs.
"Mom! Dad! Jaina and Jacen are fighting again!" Anakin called out jokingly, earning a smack on the head from Jacen.
"Are not! Little brat you keep your mouth shut or I'll ducktape it shut." Jaina said. The threat always made Anakin shut up, because she had done it once, and it had taken an hour to get all the duct tape off. And even after that, it had ripped off hair from his face: a painful experience he did not want to relive.
Han sighed and walked out of his and Leias bedroom and towards the kids. He was about to ask how their day at the Academy was, but Jaina spoke up first.
"Hey dad, you've got to hear what happened today!" She said, enthusiastically. Jacen and Anakin faces registered the remembrance of whatever they had seen, and they nodded.
"Well, out with it then." Han said, smiling. He loved hearing about their day.
"Ok, well there's this girl that one of the instructors brought with him today to show around, and we were all playing that game that they played a long time ago… oh whats it called you guys?"
"Kickball" Both boys said.
"Yea, that. Anyway, we were playing that on the field, and the referee told her to give it a go. Well, when she kicked, it went so far and so fast, that it went out of the field!"
Han couldn't believe what he was hearing. Even professionals couldn't kick that hard! But this kid had!
"And," Jaina continued, "when she was in the outfield, Ben kicked it REALLY hard, and she went after it. AND the most crazy thing is that she caught it! Not only that, but she dove for it! She caught it and went sliding for at LEAST ten yards!"
Han was amazed. Ben Skywalker, his nephew, was the hardest kicker at the academy, and when he kicked, no one dared try to catch it. One boy tried once, and was admitted to the Med-center for a month because his ribs had been crushed when he tried to catch it.
"Is she ok?" He asked.
"Oh yea!" Jacen piped up. "She got up and threw it to us like nothing had happened. But she had to take off her jacket because it was so muddy from diving like that."
Jacket? The word hit him suddenly, and he got an idea just as Leia came over. "What did she look like?" He asked.
"She was tall, long, brownish red hair, wore all black… I guess you could say she looked kinda like a Sith. Oh! That reminds me! Somebody teased her about that and they got a slug in the nose! They had to go home because it hurt so bad!" Anakin said, apparently pleased with the fact that there was an actual fight.
"Was this before or after the Kickball game?" Leia asked.
"After" Jacen said. "But she didn't deny it, and thats what got us."
Leia and Han looked at each other silently, both feeling like they had been kicked in the gut. Was this the same girl they were looking for? If it was, they were in for a hell of a hard time.
