A/N: Thanks to edboy4926, Mako-clb, and Judy. Laura .L for leaving reviews.
vi. niiman
Jedi Temple
Hangar Bay Three
Galactic City, Coruscant
Jaina crossed the hangar, thankful to be back in her black and gold piping flight suit. It distinctively separated herself from the Jedi of the Republic, and it reminded her just how different the Order of her time was to this Order, still so connected to those first Jedi who gathered on Tython.
Her StealthX waited for her inspection, a borrowed astromech comfortably docked for when she would eventually depart. A couple Jedi trained mechanics were giving it a final look, though she wouldn't even slip into the cockpit without triple checking their work. From what little she had gathered, the Jedi of this era cared little for ship maintenance. Those of hers were little better, though they were so few compared to this time it was easier to notice with so many more. She wondered if it was a symptom of the disconnect she noticed in the few interactions between the Jedi and those they were sworn to serve and protect she had witnessed. Learning just how strict their rules about attachments were made her thankful her uncle had been wise enough to see the folly in the practice, or at the very least, the potential harm it could cause.
'Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering.' Those words of Master Yoda, passed along to her and many other Jedi by Master Luke Skywalker, haunted Jaina's thoughts briefly. She tried to reach out into the Force and find her grandfather, but he felt uncertain and disconnected, as if every fiber of his being was being pulled apart at the seams. It was so unlike Jacen during his descent into the dark side that she couldn't help but fear that her aborted fall during the Vong War was more akin to the fall of their grandfather than her twin's transformation into Darth Caedus.
She sighed, remembering just how well she understood those words once spoken by Master Yoda and of how those emotions could lead to the dark side. Her trial in those weeks after Anakin's death was a grim reminder of how something so instinctive and natural could destroy good and talented Jedi.
I only need to look at what happened to Jacen when he did nothing to let us know of his worries about Allana and his concerns regarding the state of the galaxy as Corellia and others fought to selfishly disengage from the GA. If we had been more aware when he used the GAG to go after perceived foes and began working with Niathal, maybe we could've stopped him.
"Master Windu," called out her grandfather. Jaina turned, StealthX forgotten, and watched as he approached the master. He glanced towards her, and she knew there was hope to stop his fall. Not all was lost to the dark side and its tempting sway.
There can be a future where there was never a Darth Vader or an Emperor Palpatine. Where there was never a Death Star to destroy Alderaan and an Empire to ruin a thousand worlds.
Jaina hesitated as quickly as the thought had come. She could change the future with a single choice. And yet she wondered how stopping that tragedy could affect everything else that defined her life.
Would my parents have met? Would Jacen and I have been born? Would Uncle Luke and Aunt Mara have ever met and married? What of Ben and Anakin and Allana? Could that Vader-less, Empire-less galaxy defeat the Yuuzhan Vong? What of my friends, my Uncle Chewbacca, the other Jedi I know? Would Jacen have ever fallen to the dark side without Lumiya to guide him, and without Vergere to corrupt him? Would I have ever met Jag or Zekk or even Kyp?
"Knight Solo?" She turned to face a Nautolan she didn't know. "I'm Master Kit Fisto. Master Windu has requested you join us."
"What for?" she asked, frowning. She had a sense that Master Windu didn't like her very much, or perhaps only thought her a distraction or a danger to the Order of his era.
"To arrest the Chancellor, of course. Knight Skywalker confirmed your statement about him being the Sith Lord we've been searching for."
Jaina almost scoffed. Palpatine was not a man to be arrested, but one who should be killed. Not out of fear or anger, but for peace. So that worlds like Naboo and Kashyyyk could have peaceful futures. So Alderaan could remain a shining beacon of peace and democracy in the galaxy, instead of a reminder of a tyrant's reach.
As much as she worried and feared she could irrevocably destroy the life and people she had known, Jaina Solo knew there was only one answer she could give.
"I am the Sword of the Jedi, and it appears I was called by the Force to do my duty in this time. If that means I have to settle for arresting a Sith Lord, then so be it."
As she joined the other masters in a shuttle, Jaina glanced back at her conflicted grandfather. At a terrified Anakin, who could only think of his wife and her uncertain fate.
Fear not, she thought, bolstering herself. Grandma Padmé shall live to raise Uncle Luke and Mother. She will see them become Jedi, just like her husband and their father. This is my duty—my destiny—as the Sword of the Jedi. To defeat those threats which would end us, be they past, present, or future.