Potential Enemy (or, Darth Vader's Granddaughter)

(Leia's POV)

Kyp veered and circled wide, closing in on the frigate above us. Streams of red light poured from his X-wing and pelted the enemy ship. The dovin basal absorbed most of Kyp's shots in miniature gravity wells and dodged nearly all the rest through a series of deft, economical movements.

"Not bad," Han muttered, frowning at the midsized 'Vong ship, which suddenly pulled away and described a tight, rising loop.

I clutched Han's arm, eyes widening. "It's coming right into your line of fire!"

"Yeah." I could almost feel the smirk he was trying to keep down and I shot him an incredulous glare. What on Alderaan did he think he was doing? He ignored my glower and I sighed. Well, I just had to fall in love with a scoundrel, didn't I?

He shook off my grip on his arm and reached for the intraship comm. "The big one's mine, Mara. You can pick off anything it brings our way."

"You're the captain," Mara replied.

My mind cleared as I realized what path Han's thoughts were taking. "Jaina?" I queried, pointing at the mottled rock-like frigate. "In that enemy ship?"

"One way to find out," he replied, voice taunt.

He fired a missile at the frigate, waiting a hair's breath longer than he had with Kyp. The 'Vong ship rolled deftly aside, as if its pilot had been expecting the attack. Han's missile struck one of the skips that trailed protectively in its wake. A shielding singularity swallowed the first assault but Mara finished the job with a quick one-two attack.

Han's face relaxed and his lips curved into an almost-smile. "That's Jaina," he said firmly. "Thousands of pilots can get from here to there in an X-wing, but how many could make a hunk of rock twirl like a Twi'lek dancing girl?"

And I hadn't sensed her – not the Jaina I knew, that is. "Han – "

"Two," he stated, answering his own question and ignoring me. "And I'm the other one."

Uncertain, I reached out to Jaina for confirmation. Again I perceived not the vivacious, impulsive energy I'd always associated with my daughter, but a storm-cloud presence – cool, impending, ruthless.

I frowned. Anger led to the dark side – I'd heard it many times – yet the emotions that ran off Jaina were disturbingly familiar, and very much like my perceptions of my father – not the spectral that had begged forgiveness, but the ruthless and cold Darth Vader.

I hadn't considered the idea that Jaina – the most pragmatic and least complicated of my children – might slip into the Dark side. Unless… More insistently this time, I reached again for Jaina. This time I was swamped with Jaina's rejected pain and her unacknowledged thirst for revenge, heightening my concern.

After Davin's death, Jaina had been a flame of energy, throwing herself into everything and ignoring her grief. She had refused to talk to anyone about "Dav" and I had worried about her. She had tried to pretend nothing had happened, but her pain and anger had been a fire that steadily attempted to consume her. It had exploded most noticeably when Kyp used her to destroy the worldship. Slowly, with each passing day of not speaking of Dav, Jaina's blood seemed to turn to lava and I had been helpless to do anything but watch.

But ice could be as deadly as fire.

The 'Vong had taken Davin, the man Jaina had loved. And now they had taken her brothers. I swallowed, and my hands curled into fists, my knuckles white. Had I lost another child, this time to something far more terrible than death?

"Decide," Han said tersely, breaking into my thoughts. "The Yuuzhan Vong could blame that frigate's manoeuvre on the scrambled yammosk, but sooner or later Jaina's gonna have to pick a side."

Yes, she definitely would – but I wasn't sure I wanted to know which side she would come down on. I switched the comm. to hailing frequency, praying my suspicions were wrong.

"This is Leia Organa Solo aboard the Millennium Falcon." I forced my voice to stay strong. "The Yuuzhan Vong frigate nearby is under the command of my daughter, Lieutenant Jaina Solo.'' Who could be under the control of the grief from both Davin's and Anakin's deaths, not to mention Jacen's disappearance. "Her Yuuzhan Vong escort does not realize this. Hold your fire, and we'll see that the frigate escapes, and the coralskippers do not."

For a moment the X-wings remained where they were and my breath caught in my throat. Had they somehow read my fears through my voice? What if they pursued Jaina despite my protests? What if they should bring her down?

Finally, the X-wings pulled away, and the intercom crackled. "Leia, are you sure about this?" Mara asked. "I hate to admit it, but I don't feel Jaina out there."

All the more reason to worry – and Mara didn't even know about Davin. Increasingly unnerved, I glanced at Han, who nodded. I cleared my throat. "We're sure."

I watched as the Yuuzhan Vong frigate shot off in rapid acceleration and disappeared into hyperspace, taking my daughter and all her pent-up pain and her likeness to her grandfather with it. The Falcon followed, following the short jump Leia had programmed.

Han's shoulders slumped and his hand found mine, claimed it. "We did the right thing, didn't we?" he asked, his forehead creasing, trademark grin nowhere to be found. "I mean, letting a potential enemy go?"

A potential enemy. Force, Han would never know how true those words could be.

I met Han's eyes and saw the rare self-doubt there. "That was Jaina," I asserted. It was what he needed to hear.

His eyes sharpened. "Then why do you look so worried?"

For a moment I was tempted to share my doubts, to see if they would be nonsense once I spoke them. But if I was wrong…giving Han's that seed of doubt would be cruel. Jaina was the child he understood best, the one that followed him around, the one that held him the longest as a child before she went to sleep, the one that took to his talents. He would grieve terribly if Jaina was killed, but he would come to terms with it in time. This, though – this suspicion, this darkness, he could never comprehend.

I swallowed and turned away, unable to answer. But in my silence I was painfully aware that Jaina was Darth Vader's granddaughter.

Jaina…wherever you are…don't do something stupid. Please.

-Tjz