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This fic was originally posted on theforce.net, where I go by the screenname of SaberBlade. If you recognize this, don't worry, it isn't plagiarized; I'm simply reposting it here also.
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General Disclaimer: Star Wars belongs to George Lucas and the characters belong to their respective authors. Anything you don't recognize is mine; please respect my muse. I don't intend any infringement with this fic; it was created because I have an abiding love for Star Wars and a wish to share my interpretation of it with the world.
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Details:
Name: Miracle
Time Frame: Post-NJO
Pairing: Kyp Durron and Jaina Solo
Summary: A crash landing leaves Jaina lucky to be alive, but she can't remember the last ten years of her life. What will this mean for her and the man she was to marry?
Rating: PG to PG-13.
Post: Chapter 4 of ?
Story Status: Work in Progress.
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As always, reviews are appreciated.
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Jacen was the first awake, as usual. Unlike the rest of his family, he was happy in the early hours as the sun rose. He enjoyed the stillness, the faint hint of light, the glorious colors of dawn. Each sunrise was different. Each taught a lesson.
He cupped his hands around a hot cup of his favorite drink and eased himself into the living room. To his surprise, his sister occupied his usual chair. She was asleep, head pillowed against her arms, wrapped in what Jacen thought was Kyp's black cape. He started forward, wondering why she wasn't in bed, and in his care to move silently, barked his shin up against the end of the couch and nearly scalded himself with his drink. He cursed.
"Interesting morning show," Jaina said, voice rough with sleep. She yawned, stretched her arms out and peered curiously at him. "Does Mom know you use those words?"
Jacen grimaced, one hand rubbing his leg. "As it's Yuuzhan Vong and Mom doesn't speak it, I think I'm safe. Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you."
But Jaina was already wide awake. "It was? But I understood what you said."
"I'm not surprised. Tahiri and Harrar and I made you learn quite a bit." As he straightened, Jacen came over to her and sat on the arm of her chair. "You might not remember learning it, but language is one of those things that we're hardwired to understand. It would take a pretty hard hit to forget a language."
"Mm," Jaina said, and stretched again.
Jacen sipped his drink, then frowned at her. "Why are you out here?"
She rolled the kinks from her neck with the practiced ease of a combat pilot used to sleeping in tight quarters. "I couldn't sleep," she said, uncurling and flexing her feet. "I came out to think and I guess I nodded off."
Jacen shook his head. "Don't let Mom find out."
She grinned and settled herself more comfortably. "Do I look stupid?"
He laughed. "I won't answer that. Here," he said offering her the steaming mug, "want some hot chocolate?"
Jaina made a face. "Ick, no."
Jacen laughed again, pulling the mug back closer to his body. "There, you just remembered something."
"I did?"
He nodded. "Ten years ago," he reminded her, "you love the stuff. Then you joined Rogue Squadron, which frowns on anything nonalcoholic, and slowly grew addicted to caf. Then you turned seventeen and they decided you were old enough to find out what good Corellian whiskey tastes like." He shook his head sadly. "Turns out you inherited Dad's hard head in more ways than one. Anyway, it got to the point in the war where it was easier to find something alcoholic than hot chocolate. Once we finally found the stuff again, you decided you didn't like it anymore." He raised his mug in salute. "Just one more casualty of the war."
Jaina groaned. "So now I like bad moonshine over hot chocolate? Not fair. I'm an idiot. Here, let me have a sip." She took the mug and cautiously tasted the steaming liquid. She considered for a moment, then handed it back to him. "Sithspawn, you're right." She made a face. "Maybe the whiskey killed my taste buds."
"Most likely," Jacen agreed.
"But I remembered," she pointed out. "I didn't want hot chocolate even though I didn't remember why."
He shrugged. "You didn't think about it. Tekli said you're most likely to remember things when you're not thinking about them."
"A lot of good that does me," Jaina muttered. "All the things I want answers to I can't stop thinking about."
"Kyp," Jacen guessed.
Jaina heaved a breath. "Yes. Mostly." Her fingers stroked the cape; Jacen wondered if she even knew she was doing so. "But some other things. Falling to the Dark Side. This entire unifying Force idea. Anakin. Commanding a squadron. Lots of things."
The sun was rising behind her; Jacen ignored it. He had seen many dawns in the past few years, but he hadn't seen his sister this troubled before. "Can I help?"
Jaina's gaze swung back to the pinks and purples of the sunrise. "I want to think you can," she murmured. "But I just don't know."
"Are you comfortable around me?"
Her head jerked back to him. "Of course. You're my brother."
"How about Mom and Dad? Are you comfortable around them?"
She hesitated, and he knew he had made his point. "It's a different sort of comfortable," she said at last. "I'm more shielded around them, more careful."
"But you're still comfortable around me. You trust me." He smiled and put a hand on her shoulder. "You and I argued a lot, early in the war. Not as much as Anakin and I did, but we had our fair share of disagreements. But we were always friends. Friends can tell each other things they can't tell their parents."
"Yeah." Jaina returned to watching the sunrise. "I understand what you're saying. Since I'm comfortable around you, you and I must have still been friends when I lost my memory. If I wasn't, then I'd feel edgy or something."
Jacen nodded, and ventured, "Are you comfortable around Kyp?"
She was silent for a long while, as the sun climbed wholly above the horizon. "Yes," she said at last. "But again, it's a different sort of comfortable. And I know that wasn't there ten years ago." She looked down at her hands, and Jacen saw her fingers stroke across her engagement ring. "I think I'm most able to be myself around him, and I don't know why. Well," she amended, "I know why, I just can't remember why. He saved me from the Dark Side, didn't he."
It wasn't a question; Jacen winced. "He kept you from going deeper, and helped you find your way back."
He could almost hear her thinking. "And then he just sort of stuck with me?"
"That's a way of putting it." Jacen considered his words carefully. "He was still looking out for you, I think."
Her silences were growing longer. The next time she spoke, the light was no longer rosy but golden, the sun well above the horizon. "How did you react when you found out that the two of us were together?"
"I was surprised," Jacen said after a moment's recollection. He had never really stopped to consider it before. "We all were. Aunt Mara threw a fit. Uncle Luke seemed really concerned, but he didn't say anything. Mom and Dad... well, Mom didn't really understand why you and Jag got together in the first place, much less why you two split up, and she was a bit worried you were with Kyp because you were grateful for his help. Dad took it the best, I think– he just laughed, threatened to kill Kyp if he so much as looked at you wrong, and went off muttering about how old you were." Jaina made an amused sound, and Jacen continued. "I was... concerned, I guess."
"Why?" Jaina asked, turning to look at him.
Jacen weighed his words. "He's almost sixteen years older than you, and he'd hurt you before. But mostly, I didn't think he loved you."
Her eyes flickered, and she quickly returned them to the window before Jacen could catch the emotion. "Did he?" she asked quietly.
"He did." And Jacen ached for him, to have come so close to being happy only to have Jaina pulled from his grasp. "When you two got engaged, everyone calmed down. Aunt Mara and Kyp even had a conversation with no death threats involved."
"She doesn't get along with him?"
Jacen chuckled. "Well, let's see– Kyp fell to the Dark Side, destroyed a planet, nearly killed her husband, spent a few years going against everything her husband preached, lied to her first apprentice, and wound up stealing you right out from under her, and you were her first real apprentice at the time. So no, the two of them don't get along so well. That's one of your projects, getting them to be civil to each other."
"I like impossible things, don't I?" Jaina mused. "All right, next question, and it's a bit random. Why does Kyp still call me 'Goddess'?"
"Why does Dad still call Mom 'Princess'?" Jacen shot back, and laughed when she looked taken aback. "More people than Kyp still call you that, Jaina. You use it as your callsign sometimes when you fly, and a lot of the military still tease you by calling you 'Goddess' or 'Great One'. I think Jag still calls you 'Great One' to annoy you, come to think of it," he added.
"Hm." She stared out the window for a long minute, then shook her head as though to clear it. "Well, back to the original question: yes, I feel comfortable around Kyp. But it's a dangerous sort of comfortable. It doesn't make any sense. I'm relaxed and my shields are down, but it's like I'm always waiting for an attack, always expecting something." She gave a quick bark of laughter. "I don't know. It's a strange feeling. Maybe I keep expecting him to kiss me or something. Not how I feel about you."
Jacen nearly choked on his chocolate. "I should hope not."
A smile hovered at the edges of Jaina's lips. "Same old Jacen," she said quietly, rapping her hand gently against his leg. "I'm glad some things haven't changed."
He tousled her hair. "You're welcome."
But he regretted it as a spark lit in her brown eyes and a mischievous smile spread across her face. "So, help me catch up with Jacen Solo, Jedi Knight," she said. "Got a girlfriend yet?"
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Thanks!
-Keth
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