--some things about this chapter bug me... and in the next one... I must spend some time re-reading Conquest and checking up stuff...
--remember, no matter how much I wish I did, I don't own Anakin, Kyp or Jaina. But I do own Alli. :P

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Jaina watched her little brother's fighter dwindle off into the distance, a stark grey contrast against the rich viridian of jungle. She tried to shake off the intense feeling of uneasiness and concentrate on the battle at hand. No good worrying about Anakin right now; he'd already proven many times that he could take care of himself, and all Jaina needed was to let an unchecked worry distract her and get her shot down.

Something told her to swerve quickly to the left, and as she jammed her stick port side she saw a flash of scarlet out of the corner of her eye, followed swiftly by a battered E-wing. With a vague, inexplicable note of annoyance, Jaina realised it was Kyp who had warned her through the Force, and she frowned to herself as she jinked out of the way of more laser blasts.

"Got your back, Sticks," a female voice told Jaina. An instant later, as Jaina swerved round in a seemingly random manoeuvre, a Z-95 Headhunter exploded in a flash of brilliant light, causing Jaina's viewport to darken momentarily.

"Thanks, Two," she said quickly, swinging her own fighter round to find a target.

"Sticks," Kyp's voice came over her comm, "you're with me and Two, since your brother's not here. Can't let you wander round aimlessly like that much longer."

"Oh, what an offer," Jaina muttered sarcastically, even as she hit the thrusts a little to bring her X-wing in line with the other two. Bad enough I felt guilty and convinced myself to come; now I'm wingmate to Kyp Durron? "Brilliant."

"Yeah, I thought so too. That freighter, on my mark. Three, two, one, and mark."

Jaina obligingly let a volley of shots loose in the direction of a nearby Corellian freighter, weakening its shields but not penetrating through to the hull. The ship was similar to her father's Millennium Falcon, but smaller with a slightly different shape, and much less speed. It was slow and bulky, and though its firepower was formidable – which it was proving constantly by scoring hits here and there against the Dozen – its manoeuvrability was poor, making it an easy target for the nimble X-wings.

Jaina followed Kyp in closer towards the ship, close enough that the batteries weren't much of a problem, and any weak points in the hull structure would be easily visible. With a little help from the Force, Jaina found the location of the shield generator and hammered at the spot with her lasers until it blasted apart, bringing the ship's shields down to zero. Instantly, a volley of shots from Kyp's fighter, aimed at the engine room, broke through the hull and blew up the sublight drive, causing the whole of the rear of the ship to explode, and doing heavy damage to the cockpit area. The pilots weren't going to be flying anything again any time soon.

"All right, good job, Sticks. You and Two, on my wing again and we'll go for that corvette further out."

Jaina shrugged mentally. "Sure thing, Lead."

There was a moment's pause, then Kyp's voice came over the comm again. "Two?" No answer. "Uh, Two, you're out of range, right?"

Jaina scanned the sensors on her HUD and frowned. Just less than a thousand kilometres away, three or four E-wings and Headhunters had ganged up on an X-wing, keeping it stuck in within that zone and unable to escape. A quick ID scan confirmed it as Dozen Two. "Over there, Kyp," Jaina told him, routing the co-ordinates to him through her astromech.

"New priority," he said shortly, bringing his fighter in an about turn and heading towards the dogfight at top speed. "Get those fighters off her."

Jaina nodded to herself, clicking her comm and followed him towards the battle zone. She tried to get a lock on one of the E-wings, but it was changing directions so quickly that it was impossible. Not to mention the X-wing, whose pilot was taking her through a desperate series of manoeuvres to try and escape. Annoyingly, this meant that every time Jaina got a lock on one of the enemy fighters, Two's fighter would fly into her crosshair and shooting would be unthinkable.

"Two, what are you doing? Get out of there! Sticks and I will take care of the fighters, you just-"

"Can't." Two's voice was full of static; something had blown her transponder, causing it to short every other second. "Shields gone. Fuel's leaking. I'm going to blow, Lead."

"What? No!" Jaina could hear an edge of desperation in Kyp's voice, and distress in his Force signature, despite his shields. "We'll get the fighters! You just try not to get hit, we'll destroy them, and then you're out."

"Even a Corellian wouldn't take those odds. I'm out of it, Lead. Maybe if I blow now, before the fuel's all gone, I'll take these fighters out myself. You and Sticks get clear."

"That's crazy! Don't even think it-"

"Blaster's aimed at the canister, Lead. Get out of there."

"No way." In his frustration, Kyp let loose a few laser shots, managing to nick the shields of one of the E-wings. It wasn't enough to do any real damage though.

"Fine. Your shields can take the explosion from that distance. Two out."

Jaina watched on in horror as the X-wing's fuel canisters blew – with help from the pilot – and the ship exploded, obscuring the enemy fighters in a cloud of gas and fire.

"Alli!" Kyp's voice was a scream at his wingmate, impossible as it was for her to hear. The fighter and pilot were long gone, and as the canopy of Jaina's X-wing returned to normal transparency, she saw that Two's "crazy" plan had worked – all but one of the enemy fighters were destroyed, and the lone Headhunter was heavily damaged.

Even so, Jaina felt a surge of guilt, and renewed grief over her own wingmate's death a few months earlier. This pilot had saved her life earlier in the battle, and once again, Jaina had failed to return the favour; failed to look out for her wingmate. Never mind that Two had blown herself – if only Jaina had noticed her predicament earlier, if she had only been paying attention.

Kyp's fighter zoomed past her, fast in pursuit of the remaining Headhunter as it tried to escape to one of the transports. Not your fault, Sticks. Mine.

It took Jaina a moment to realise he hadn't spoken over the comm.

Gritting her teeth determinedly, Jaina brought her fighter round to follow Kyp and the Headhunter back into the battle, where the remaining larger ships were scoring more and more hits against the Dozen. That was two wingmates she'd failed now; she wasn't going to make it three, even if the third was Kyp Durron.

The rest of the battle went fairly well. By the time Jaina and Kyp returned to where the rest of the Dozen were fighting, the enemy fighters had all been destroyed and the only ships remaining were the original corvette, still out of action, and a larger ship that was easily taken care of when the Dozen combined firepower.

As debris seemed to float around them, and a single escape pod from the original ship fell away in a curve towards Yavin 4 – undoubtedly, if it landed near the Temple, Kam would handle it – the Dozen regrouped in orbit around the moon. Jaina could feel Kyp's grief through the Force, though he was trying to control it, and it tore her up inside. I should have noticed Two was in trouble… I should have helped…

"Alright, Dozen, good job with the Brigade." Kyp's voice was steady as normal, and Jaina knew she was the only one who could sense his pain. "We don't know when the Vong will show up – as they will, without a doubt – so we'll stay in system until the kids are out." There was a short pause before Kyp spoke again. "Sticks, you take them down to the surface, since you know where to land in the Temple."

"What?" Jaina was confused at Kyp's order, and a little worried at the same time. "Why, what are you doing?"

"I need to… scout the system, to make sure there are no more ships. On the other side of Yavin. Or further out. You can handle the Dozen for an hour or so."

"Yeah, but-"

"Lead out."

Jaina bit at her bottom lip, watching through the canopy as Kyp left formation and flew towards the gas giant. Scouting the system… There were no more ships in the system at all, Jaina could see that on her sensors and feel it through the Force. Sensors didn't show any Yuuzhan Vong ships, either… No… he just needs to… fly… And Jaina understood that perfectly.

"Uh, Sticks? Solo?"

Jaina shook her head to clear her thoughts, and turned her attention back to the comm unit. "Sorry… OK, Dozen, co-ordinates for the Temple here-" She instructed her astromech, Cappie, to route them through to everyone. "-and follow me for the landing zone. Uh… Sticks out."

She really hoped that Kyp managed to figure out whatever it was he had to figure out, and came back safe. This squadron leader lark wasn't something she was sure she could get used to.

-----

Anakin shifted his weight from foot to foot, slightly nervous. He was waiting in the Temple hangar for the Dozen to land. When he had landed earlier, he had – after his identity had been confirmed – been greeted by Kam, and led to the rec room to talk. After being run over by Tahiri in the hallway, that is.

Joined by Tionne and Master Ikrit, the Jedi had listened to Anakin as he told them about the Peace Brigade in orbit, and that, even though the Dozen would take care of those ships, the Yuuzhan Vong wouldn't be far behind. Kam had nodded sadly, as if already aware of the danger the Academy was in, and Tionne gripped his hand tight as if to reassure them both.

The conversation had taken up most of the last half hour, and only a few minutes more had passed before Anakin sensed his sister's relief that the battle was over. He had passed this on to the others, and while Tionne went back to gather and reassure the Jedi students, Kam, Tahiri and Ikrit had gone with Anakin to the hangar.

Anakin felt Tahiri's sudden apprehension, and even as he looked out into the late afternoon sky to see what was there, he smiled at the bond of friendship between the two of them. Even after he had spent so long away, it was reassuring to know that he could come back to Tahiri and their friendship would remain strong. At least, he was sure it would – something in it, either from Tahiri or himself, seemed different… But there was no time to work that out just now.

Squinting against the orange glow of Yavin, Anakin could see the eleven fighters of the squadron drawing closer… Wait a minute… Eleven? Last time Anakin knew, there were fourteen pilots in total – the Dozen, plus himself and Jaina. Since he was on the ground, there should be thirteen ships coming in to land… But he could definitely only see eleven.

He frowned thoughtfully and recounted the X-wings as they came in, landing in the almost empty hangar. For some peculiar reason, he noted that Jaina's fighter seemed to be the one in command position. He couldn't think of any plausible reason for this, and tried not to dwell on it.

A minute later, Jaina was standing in front of him, her flightsuit creased and her helmet tucked under her arm. To Anakin, she looked extremely weary, far more than just one battle should have made her. He frowned again and looked behind her to the other Dozen pilots. They were glancing round the hangar, and every single one of them looked as if they felt very out of place. They grouped together behind Jaina nervously, and Anakin noticed a distinct lack of Kyp.

"Uh… uh, how'd the battle go?" he asked his sister eventually.

Jaina sighed. "The Peace Brigade are gone, if that's what you mean." She glanced over her shoulder at the other pilots and winced. "Um, do you guys want to go, uh, somewhere and let us talk in private for a minute?"

The pilots' whispering stopped and they shared glances. Rolling his eyes, one fair-haired human spoke up for them all. "Where?"

Jaina looked lost for a second and shrugged. She turned to Kam. "Where can they go?"

Kam looked thoughtful for a moment, glanced round cryptically, then nodded to himself. "Valin," he called to the hangar.

There was a clattering of tools from somewhere behind the Jedi, and Tahiri jumped, nudging Anakin's shoulder by accident. A brief pause, as if whatever ghoul haunting the hangar had decided to hold his breath and wait, then-

"Valin, I know you're there trying to spy." Kam rolled his eyes and turned to look at a pile of crates in the corner of the hangar. "Come out and take these pilots down to the rec room for me."

The crates sighed, and then a tall, dark-haired boy stepped out from behind them. "All right, Master Solusar. Sorry for trying to spy," he added, mumbling. With the air of someone whose most brilliant plan had just been shot down, he walked over to the hangar exit and the turbolift beyond. He paused for a moment in the doorway, then turned and waved at the pilots in frustration. "Well, hurry up then."

Extremely bemused to be following a twelve-year-old boy, the ten pilots left the hangar with a last glance at Jaina. A moment passed as the Jedi listened to the fading mutterings of Valin and the amused chatter of the pilots, and then there was silence, and all five of the original group were once again staring at Jaina.

"So…" Anakin started again, hesitantly. "Where's Kyp?"

Jaina bit at her bottom lip nervously. "He's… scouting the system. To make sure there are no more ships out there, and no Yuuzhan Vong already in system."

Kam frowned. "Should he be doing that alone?"

Jaina seemed momentarily taken aback, then shrugged. "He'll be OK. I'll sense if there's anything wrong."

"Will you?" Kam seemed surprised at that. "I can't sense him from here… how far is he?"

"Uh…" Jaina frowned to herself, and Anakin sensed she was confused at that. He couldn't sense Kyp from here either, but it seemed Jaina definitely could. "Uh, I'm not sure…"

"Hm. Do you think there are any more ships?"

Jaina shook her head. "I'm pretty sure we got them all. Uh, Kyp just wanted to make sure," she added quickly.

Anakin was getting more and more confused by the second. Jaina could sense Kyp, and she was covering for him for something… but top of the list was why, in all the stars of the galaxy, had he handed control of the squadron to Jaina? "And… how come you're in charge then? I thought, strangely enough, Two was second-in-command?"

Jaina's face darkened at that, and Anakin caught a spike of guilt from her through the Force. "She didn't make it."

"Oh." Anakin waited, but Jaina didn't elaborate. "Oh," he repeated, adding, "sorry." He hadn't known Kyp's wingmate at all, but she'd seemed an OK kind of person, and a good pilot.

Jaina didn't answer him; merely nodded. Her guilt didn't diminish though, and Anakin wondered why she felt so bad about it. He knew she had lost a wingmate before, but that was months ago, and hadn't she been angry rather than guilt-ridden? Not that either was a very smart reaction. The dark side could be particularly potent during times of grief, Anakin knew. He didn't want his sister to fall into that trap. Maybe joining Kyp Durron hadn't been such a great idea after all… Oh sure, Anakin knew Kyp wasn't dark side at all now, but he did walk the line a little close, and if Jaina was feeling so guilty and angry with herself… would she take his methods too far?

Ridiculous. Anakin shook his head to get rid of the thoughts and glanced back at his sister. She's just as wary of the dark side as me. She's just upset just now. She'll get over it; she always does. Yes, that was Jaina alright – she wouldn't let anything get the better of her for long. Even the dark side. Especially the dark side.

Anakin felt pressure on his hand, and a reassuring touch on his mind. He glanced down to Tahiri at his side, and smiled.

Lost in your head again, hero boy?

Sorry…

"Hmph. Well, now Jaina's back, can we go get something to eat?" Tahiri turned from Anakin to face Jaina and the others. "I mean, we're about an hour overdue for supper, and I want to get down there before Valin eats everything in sight. Tionne better not have cooked everything already."

Kam rolled his eyes and gave Tahiri a chastising look. "There are more important things going on than meal times, Tahiri."

"I know that!" Tahiri told him indignantly. "But supper's pretty important too."

Kam sighed exasperatedly, but couldn't help a small smile. "Of course. I'm sure Tionne kept some food away from Valin for the rest of us. Let's get down to the canteen then." He glanced at Jaina. "If you want to clean up and change before the meal, you can use your old room. It's still free."

Jaina smiled wistfully. "Is it? Huh… um, actually, I think I'll wait here a while. I'm not too hungry just now anyway."

Anakin stared at his sister, unable to believe his ears. Jaina? Not hungry? But they hadn't really eaten since leaving Coruscant, and that was almost half a day ago. In fact, probably closer to a whole day, with nothing but a meagre ration pack to keep them going during the hyperspace journey. Not hungry? She'd rather wait here – for Kyp – than come get a decent meal? OK, now Anakin was worried.

Kam didn't seem to share the feeling. The older man nodded and turned towards the turbolift. "We'll keep some supper for you, then, and Kyp, if he wants it. Come on, Anakin, Tahiri."

Tahiri shrugged Anakin's arm away from her shoulder and grinned at him quickly, before running off towards the turbolift, reaching it before Kam. Anakin smiled softly, then glanced at Jaina. "Um… don't wait too long, Jay. He might stay out there all night or something…"

Jaina flushed slightly and glared up at her younger brother. "What makes you think I'm waiting for Kyp? Maybe I just want to enjoy some fresh air for a while."

Anakin blinked, wary of this sudden denial from his sister. "Alright, Jaina, I'm just saying… be careful."

"Careful? What are you talking about?"

Anakin shrugged. He couldn't exactly say, don't go to the dark side, could he? But was that what he was really worried about? Of course it was. He was just a little confused on top of that, and was trying not to let it get to him. "Just make sure you come get some supper before it rots away."

Jaina rolled her eyes, and turned away to face the jungle, looking out among the vibrant colours and ignoring her brother's curious stare. "Sure, little brother. Whatever you say."

Still worried and unable to explain to himself why, Anakin turned to head over to the turbolift, where Tahiri was animatedly explaining something to Kam. He stopped suddenly when he noticed Master Ikrit, a few feet away, studying him curiously. A moment passed, and Ikrit sighed, shaking his big head sadly. "Such a shame," he murmured.

That confused Anakin immensely. "A shame? What's a shame?"

"Destiny," Ikrit answered quietly, before turning away and scampering over to join Tahiri and Kam at the turbolift.

Alright, Anakin, this day is getting more confusing by the minute. Just don't let yourself think about any of it, and maybe it'll simplify, just like another equation. Confusion plus strangeness plus total absurdity equals life, right? Anakin groaned to himself as he reached the turbolift, and joined the other three inside. That sure was his life, anyway.

Was everyone else's life like this? Or was it just a Solo-Skywalker thing?

-----

Jaina sighed and hugged her knees close to her chest again, as she sat leaning against the cool stones of the temple wall. Now what?

Anakin's objective had been achieved... Kyp's Dozen had defeated the Peace Brigade hanging around the system, and Talon Karrde would be here to pick up the kids and their Masters before the Yuuzhan Vong arrived. They had a few days before the Vong would show up, anyway...

So, the kids were safe. The Temple, well, probably not - but the Academy wasn't a place, it was just a - an atmosphere. Anywhere Jedi could learn... would be an Academy. Whether it was on Coruscant, or on Karrde's ship, or Booster Terrik's Errant Venture, if he ever showed up...

So now what was Jaina going to do? She would return home to Coruscant, that's what, dragging her little brother with her if she had to. But then... no, she couldn't just leave, could she? Three times... she didn't want to make it three times... she didn't want to fail another wingmate...

Jaina forced herself to slow down and rethink that for a moment. Since when was Kyp Durron her wingmate? OK, sure, she'd flown with him against the Peace Brigade just then, but only for one battle. It wasn't worth anything... But then, why did she feel like it was? Why did it seem like, if she left now, she would be abandoning him? And why did she care? Kyp Durron, of all people... if there was anyone worth abandoning, it was him.

She shook her head to try and clear her thoughts. It was no use dwelling on it yet - she would find out what Anakin planned to do first. Now that he was reunited with Tahiri, he probably wouldn't want to go with the Dozen again anyway. He wouldn't leave his best friend again.

"Just one mission," she murmured. "I'm not in the Dozen, just flew one mission..."

She glanced up and to the left, in time to see Kyp's fighter returning, growing larger against the dull orange sunset. She stood up and brushed herself down as he landed, thinking, I really should have cleaned up before waiting here. Then she wondered why she cared that much.

There was a few moments' pause after the X-wing docked, and then a loud silence as the repulsors cut off. Another second passed as Kyp finished off his post-flight checks, and then the canopy opened. Kyp stood up and pulled off his helmet, stood frozen in the cockpit for a second, then decided it wasn't worth the effort and collapsed into his seat again.

Jaina frowned. He had been out flying since the end of the battle, almost two hours ago. The death – my fault - of his wingmate had obviously hit him hard. She couldn't recall him being this upset before, even over Miko's death just over a year earlier. "Kyp!"

"Huh?" Kyp leaned over the edge of his cockpit to see Jaina standing there a few feet away. He passed a hand over his face and sighed. "Jaina. What are you doing here?"

So he hadn't even felt her in the Force. Were her shields that good? "Waiting for you to get back. You were out there a long time... Are you - I mean, was..." Jaina sighed and went with the obvious question. "Are you all right?"

"Me? Huh. No, but I will be."

"Good, because you left me in charge of your squadron there, and I wasn't going to take them on if you killed yourself, you know."

Kyp laughed shortly, and shook his head. "Sorry, I didn't - I just had to stay out there for a while. You know..."

"Yeah." There was a longer pause, and Jaina frowned at how uncomfortable it felt. "Well, are you coming down or what? I think the evening meal's over, but we can probably find something to eat down there. Unless you're too depressed to eat."

Kyp half-smiled; not his usual smirk, which almost worried Jaina. "No." He hesitated a second, then- "You skipped dinner to wait for me?"

Oh, Sith, so I did. "I guess so."

Kyp nodded and jumped down from his fighter, using the Force to cushion his landing. "Alright then, Dozen Two. To the canteen."

Jaina froze and turned to look at Kyp. "Two?"

Kyp closed his eyes for a moment longer than a blink, opened them and shrugged. "If you want the position."

"What about-"

"She wouldn't want me to- look, I just... I'm not sure I want to talk about Alli just now. Maybe..." He glanced at his fighter, then out into the darkening Yavin sky. "She went out on her own terms and that should be enough for me. So..." Kyp turned back to Jaina and met her gaze. "I need a new wingmate and... you don't have to stay, but I'd like it."

Jaina bit at her bottom lip, her eyes fixed on Kyp's. She'd just gone over this herself, hadn't she? And decided... no... she hadn't really come to a decision. She couldn't now, either. But she couldn't abandon him now, right? "I don't know, Kyp... I'm still-"

"A Rogue, I know." He shrugged and turned away, heading towards the turbolift and the canteen. "I just thought... never mind."

Jaina ran after him, catching up just as he reached the turbolift. "Kyp, I just mean I have to think about it. And Anakin-"

"What's to think about? Rogue Squadron have all but dropped you." The turbolift door closed behind the two of them, and Kyp leaned back against the wall, opposite Jaina. "I know you might not think that, but it's true. But the Dozen... there'll always be a place for you in the Dozen, Jaina, on my wing. We make a good team, right?"

"Maybe..."

"So you want the position?"

Jaina squeezed her eyes shut, trying to sort through the confusion in her mind. She did and she didn't, and somehow, it was for the same reasons. Yes, she flew well in a team with Kyp, that much was evident from the battle hours earlier. But she didn't want to fly well with Kyp, she wanted to fly well in Rogue Squadron. And then there was the other reason, the reason that still twisted at her stomach, making her feel sick and excited at the same time. "Don't make me decide right now," she pleaded.

She felt Kyp's eyes on her, studying her for a long moment, and felt something - frustration, desperation, she wasn't sure - from him through the Force. After another moment, he looked away. "Sure. Until Karrde's people arrive, then. The Dozen'll be staying on-planet 'til then."

Jaina nodded silently, concentrating on the floor of the turbolift by her feet. She had to work this out, she had to decide, she had to figure out what Anakin was going to do, and whether she should do the same. She had to do what was right, and not be swayed by grief, or guilt, or a strange feeling in her stomach.

If only she knew what was right.

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