Author's Note:
Uh… Falcona? You're panicking. I haven't started killing people yet. When I do, it'll begin with a minor character. Then you can worry all you want, okay? ;)
I am currently 1 chapter ahead of this one in writing, & right after this chapter is another diary entry. If no one can make the connection after this entry, I will be greatly surprised. Sorry about the slowing updates, but I've got to write the story, you know. And proofread, and edit, and [sigh…]
Enjoy, readers! :)

Part Two: Allies



Chapter Seventeen

"By the Force!" Jedi Knight Jaina Solo stared in horror at the wreck that was left of Dan Stanley's XJ3-wing. Damage he'd taken for her sake. Damage she hadn't even sensed coming.
"Jaina?" Tahiri Veila skid to a stop next to her. "You all right?"
She started shaking, remembering all those times she'd taken her flight into that debris field for practice. All those times she'd been up there with Jag…
"Jaina." Tahiri took her shoulder and shook her. "Get a hold of yourself!"
She slapped younger Knight's hand away and backed a few steps. She gulped. "It's a mine field!"
"The debris field is actually mine field?" Uncle Luke took her other arm.
How does he know what happened? She shook the thought off. Of course Uncle Luke knew what happened to her. "Yes," she croaked. "Is he…"
"He's alive." Strain showed by Uncle Luke's eyes, and he looked at the bloodied mess medics were removing from the wreck's cockpit. "I think."
"He's alive, all right." A petite humanoid woman scowled at the Jedi Master. "Tell those clutzes to leave him alone before they kill him."
Beside her, a Human girl chewed her stiff small side braid, her large one pinned up on her head. Her expression was surprisingly childlike. "…Should I get—"
"Silence, Padawan!" the older woman snapped at her. "Stay out of the way!"
"But—"
"Padawan!"
"But Si—"
"Yni Lecarr!!" the tiny woman bellowed far louder than should have been possible. After a long glare at the young woman, she headed to Stanley's gurney.
"Yni?" Uncle Luke asked puzzledly. "Are you the girl Lando's been telling me about?"
The spindly young woman's brandy brown eyes widened, and she glanced wildly at Jaina. "Uh… I… Um… Well…"
Suddenly, she looked where the humanoid woman had been, noticed she was gone, and absolutley panicked.
"Master?!" She jumped, tripping herself in midair, landing in a heap; scrambled back up; looked frantically around; stumbled again…
"I'm right here, Yni." The woman called from by Stanley. "He's stable." Her eyes looked like little beads as she glanced at Jaina and her uncle. "Now what did you want to tell me?"
Again, Yni glanced fearfully at Jaina—sidelong, this time. "Sh… shouldn't we…"
The other woman tapped her foot impatiently. "Yes, Padawan?"
Suddenly the girl grabbed her head and shrieked. "Sis!" She fell to the floor in a heap.
The humanoid woman kicked her. "Come on, Padawan. Get up." No response. Her tone turned sharp. "Yni Lecarr, this is no time for games! Your sister is dead, Yni. She's been dead for years. Now stop this nonsense and let's go."
Yni groaned. It took a long moment, but she obeyed, casting a resigned smile at Jaina and her uncle.
"Sometimes the dead can return."
Jaina looked at Uncle Luke in surprise. Of course they could, theoretically; but why was he stating that as a fact?
The woman sighed, shaking her head, and looked at the Jedi Master. "Only if they're Force-sensitive, boy."
"Or if they're moved directly from one body to anoth—Ow!" Yni winced at the kick, but didn't rub it or anything. Her face soured. "Excuse me, Master; perhaps you'd prefer if I jumped off a cliff!" she snapped.
"I can think of one young man who might prefer it, at any rate. What were you thinking, bringing up his wife?"
"He's got to face it sometime—"
"If that man recognizes you—"
"I don't care!" The woman's outburst seemed to shock her caretaker silent. "I don't care if Palpatine realizes his archenemy had a dufus for a baby sister, all right? I don't care if the Sith torture me to death! I just don't care!"
Yni gave a slight laugh, shaking her head. "The only reason I am here… is so… she… can live again. Do you remember what she once was? Have you seen the shell that's left now? A shell that's left unfilled because she fears it'll crack, instead?"
"The Senator is none of your concern, Yni—"
"My name is not Yni!" the girl screamed, face red.
"Padawan," the woman said warningly, beginning to get angry, herself.
Breathing heavily, she glared at her Master, blood pounding. "None of my concern?" growled Yni. "So Vergere isn't yours?"
The humanoid woman stepped back as if slapped. "Padawan!"
"Thracia Cho Leem." A tall well-built man put a hand on her shoulder, his long brown hair pulled back, his blue gaze sympathetic. "Give your apprentice some breathing room. She feels responsible for… Stanley's… accident."
"I should've warned him!" Yni agreed in a tiny voice, kicking the floor. "I should've—"
"Ah, young one." The man moved to Yni, lifting her chin so she'd have to look up. "He knew what he was getting in to. He's been piloting since he could walk." He guided Yni towards the gurney. "Come. Let's see what we can do to help his recovery."
For some reason this insulted Thracia Cho Leem. "Excuse me—"
"Oh, go kill a Sith."
"Not funny!" The woman grabbed his arm to be easily shaken off. "This is my patient!"
Yni snorted and hid a smile. Her Master glowered at her, and the man looked amused. "Yes, young one?"
She looked shy, and glanced over at Jaina and her uncle, again. She cleared her throat. "It's just that Anakin once said—"
"Anakin?!" Uncle Luke joined them. "You know him as Anakin?"
Jaina was lost. So 'Dan Stanley' actually had the same name as her grandfather and brother? Tahiri looked intrigued, though.
The girl continued as if he hadn't spoken. "Anakin once said if he had a choice between having Barriss or Master Cho Leem as his Healer, he'd rather have his brain picked."
The man chuckled. "That sounds like him, all right."
"Uh…" Everyone looked at Tahiri, who blushed. "I can go get Barriss, if you want."
He smiled at her. "You must be Tahiri. Please do." Tahiri bowed and ran off.
"I'm Luke Skywalker. This is my niece, Jaina Solo."
The man nodded respectfully at them, an amused quirk to his lips. He raised a questioning eyebrow at Luke, then at Stanley.
"I know who he really is, if that's what you're asking."
"Do you, really?" His smile widened at Uncle Luke's nod. He turned abruptly to Yni. "Who is your sister, anyway?"
"That's none of your business!" Thracia Cho Leem grabbed her 'Padawan's arm and started dragging the girl away.
Yni acted out getting stabbed in the chest and nodded in his direction as she was pulled out of sight.
He had gotten very still. "Oh."
"Oh, wh—" A tan-skinned brunette with regular gray streaks in her hair blushed and bowed respectfully. "Forgive me—"
"See to Anakin." The man nodded at Luke to follow him as he headed out, hitching Jaina's arm in the process.
She tried to writhe away, but it didn't work. "Let me go!"
"You need to eat something." The man's long strides didn't falter. She had trouble keeping up. "Can you give Barriss access to your healing facilities?"
"Of course." Uncle Luke looked curious. "Are you… an old friend?" he asked hesitantly.
A regretful grin appeared on the man's face. "I'm the one who got him off Tatooine."