Disclaimer: Star Wars isn't mine.
Aeria sat on the couch in her parents' apartment. She was reading about the war. She wanted to contribute. She wasn't sure what she could do, though. She hadn't flown much. She wasn't a Jedi. The only thing she had training in was bartending. That wasn't going to help win any battles. Aeria was sure that making some interesting drink would not make the Yuuzhang Vong lose.
She was a pretty good shot, though. She had to be. She would be useful for ground assault. Intelligence did a lot of work like that. Sure, a lot of the war was done in the skies, but some had to be done on land. Aeria imagined she could probably pass for a good gunner too. She just hoped she had that Solo luck.
Aeria put down the datapad. In all reality, she had been trying to take her mind off Kyp. She was grateful that he had reached out to her. She was attracted to him, but she wasn't about to date someone just because they looked good in khakis.
Aeria leaned back her head, closing her eyes. Why did everything have to be so complicated? She had ended a serious relationship six months ago. Was she ready to try again? What about Kyp? Did he have an interest in her or was he just being nice?
Aeria stood up. Sitting around here wasn't going to solve
anything. She was going to find Kyp.
--------------------
Jaina followed Syal around a huge store on Csilla. Syal had insisted on taking Jaina shopping. She had told her that she was going to need something to wear in a few months, plus the baby would need supplies. Jaina had agreed, reluctantly. She felt a little guiltly.
"Jag's sister, Wynssa is coming home tonight," Syal told Jaina as they walked down the aisles.
"I'm looking forward to meeting her," Jaina responded.
"She doesn't know your here. She will be so excited," Syal told her. She stopped in front a display, "Go pick out something."
"What?" Jaina raised her eyebrow. In front of her was some rather...provocative nightwear.
"Jaina, I am going to tell you the same thing Soontir's mother told me when she found out I was pregnant with Davin," Syal said, "the parents need to have fun too. Now go get something."
Jaina chuckled and
walked into the section. Her father would kill her if she knew about
this. Good thing he didn't.
----------------------
Alarms
blared through the base early the next morning. Aeria ran into the
main room.
"An attack!" Leia told her hurriedly, "come on."
"Can you shoot?" Han asked.
"Yeah."
"Every been a gunner before?"
"No."
"Well, kid you are going to learn," Han told her as they ran to the Falcon.
Leia was receiving instructions over her comlink, "Most of the squadrons are here, but Wedge wants us up there. We have to destroy the fleet."
Aeria nodded. She noticed that Jacen wasn't with them, but she didn't ask. They made it to the Falcon. Han quickly explained her basic tasks while they boarded. She strapped in the lower quads. One of the Noghri had the upper.
Aeria's first fight had begun.
--------------------
Wynssa had worn Jaina out. She had
arrived home early, right after Syal and Jaina returned. Wyn had
demanded to know who she was. Syal told her and Wyn about burst in
excitement. She asked Jaina every possible question and then some.
Jag had come home in time to rescue her. He had taken Wyn aside and spoke to her. Now Jaina was waiting upstairs for Jag. He had told her that he had a surprise in store.
Jag entered, "Get ready to go."
"Where are we going?" she asked.
"It's a surprise."
-----------------
Aeria squeezed a shot off at another
coralskipper. She was getting the hang of it. She really hadn't been
paying that much attention to the chatter in her earpiece.
"Aeria!" Han's voice barked.
"What?"
"We're evacuating! I'm taking the Falcon to the surface to pick up any stragglers. I want you to go to our quarters and get anything valuable."
"Understood," Aeria answered. She knew what Han was talking about. He and Leia had shown her a secret locker in their quarters. Inside was some vital information, she didn't know what.
The Falcon touched down. Aeria raced out of the ship. She passed her sister's quarters. She ran inside and found all of her sister's belonging and took them. She then hurried to get everything out of theirs.
It didn't take long. They didn't have much, just like Jaina. Aeria raced back to the hanger. She dumped everything in the Falcon, then went to find her parents.
Aeria jumped as she heard a loud crash. She ran over to the far door where it had occurred. A large mental sheet had fallen over. Aeria pulled it back. Lying on the ground was a young man, no older than sixteen. He was injured. She climbed over the wreckage to help him.
"No!" a voice screamed, but
it was too late. Aeria's world had turned black.
---------------------------
"Jag, are we there yet?"
Jaina asked impatiently. She was sitting in his father's speeder,
blindfolded.
"Yes, but no peeking," Jag told her as he stopped the speeder. He stepped out, then went to help her out. He began leading her across the snow covered ground.
He led her on to a soft surface. He took off the blindfold. Jaina let out a gasp. They were standing on a cliff that over looked a frozen lake. Snow frosted trees covered the landscape.
"Oh, Jag, its beautiful," she breathed gripping his hand.
"Its not the only thing," Jag responded. He wrapped his arms around her waist, resting his chin on her shoulder. They stood like this for awhile, watching the sunset. Right before it slipped away, Jag turned to face Jaina.
"Jaina, I love you. You are an amazing and wonderful person. You mean everything to me," Jag dropped down on one knee, "Make me the happiest man alive and marry me? I'm not asking because of our child, I'm asking because I love you and want to spend the rest of our lives together.
Jaina smiled joyously, "Yes!"
Jagged slipped a ring on her finger, then kissed her passionately.
"I love you," Jaina said.
"I love you too," Jag kissed her nose, "Its freezing. We need to get back."
Jaina nodded. They climbed back into the speeder and drove home.
Syal was
waiting for them, looking solemn, "Jaina, I have just received
word from you aunt. Aeria's been injured."
---------------
Han Solo sat on a hard chair in a room in a medical frigate, chin
resting on his hands. His daughter was in a bacta tank right now. His
daughter whom he had only known for a week was in danger. A sixteen
year old boy had shot her. He had been injured, but recovered enough
to shoot her. He was being treated for injuries now.
Leia rested her head on Han's shoulder, "She can't die, Han. We just got her back."
"I know, Princess," Han answered, putting an arm around her shoulders.
A doctor came into the waiting room, "She's stable. While doing a blood scan, we discovered a neuro-toxin in her system. No one has seen it before."
"Is it lethal?" Han demanded. He was not going to lose her again!
"We don't know," he responded, "She's in a room now. You can go see her, but she's in a coma."
Leia nodded thanks and the man left. She
stood up, griping Han's hand. They hurried to their daughter's room,
where she lay in a world of haze.
---------------
Jaina ran
toward the medwing. Her and Jag had just arrived on the medical
frigate. Jag was following her.
Luke was waiting for them. He quickly explained to Jaina and Jag what was going on. He then led them to the room. Jaina held on to Jag's hand tightly.
Aeria lay in a coma on a white hospital bed. Various monitors were showing her vitals. Jaina looked at her parents. Leia had her head on Han's shoulder, looking exhausted.
Jaina stood against the wall. She regretted how little she had spoken to her sister. Her parents couldn't lose another child. Anakin's death had hit everyone hard. Aeria's would break the fragile glass holding them together.
Jag's arms snaked around her. He kissed her cheek, then whispered, "It will be alright."
"I hope you're right," Jaina
replied, "I really do."
-----------
Aeria Solo
floated between worlds. She stared at the night sky around her. She
felt nothing. She didn't know how she got there, but here she was.
Sometimes a voice would come across the distance, but it didn't mean
anything. All Aeria cared about was the stars. She was safe in the
stars. She couldn't be hurt in the stars. She was at peace.
----------------
Two beings stood in a dark hallway in the
former base. One handed the other one a stack of credits. No words
were said. The younger of the two took to the credits and hurried
off. A third being appears. It handed the other a small tube, then
the two of them left.
Jacen Solo watched all this with great interest. He saw Aeria when she was shot. He had called a med team. He hid and waited for them to come. They also took the asailent. He then checked the area for some kind of hint. He found a datacard with details of a meeting.
Jacen had seen it. He had left when the alarms first went off to find a way to help. He had a feeling in the Force that something big was going on and he was going to find out what, no matter what it took.
His family had lost enough.
They weren't going to lose anymore.
--------------
Jaina sat
in the waiting room, staring at her hands. Mara sat next to her.
"Something's wrong."
Jaina raised an eyebrow at her aunt, "Yeah, Aeria."
"No, I mean with you. Something is bothering you," Mara responded.
Jaina sighed, "I'm not suppose to be here. I should be on Csilla."
"I know, Jaina."
"There's more," Jaina answered. She held up her hand, ring sparkling.
Mara gasped, "Jag proposed!"
"Yes, right before Syal told me," she answered, "Mom and Dad don't know, niether was Jacen. Speaking of, where is he?"
Mara shrugged, "Nobody knows. It concerns me."
"He's not in danger. I would know it if he were," Jaina responded. Jag entered the room. He sat down next to Jaina, handing her some food, "Here, you need to eat."
"Yes, mother," Jaina grumbled.
"No, that would be you, my dear. I don't plan on giving birth," Jag responded.
"Wuss," Jaina mumbled.
"In that department, yes."
"Just don't get yourself killed or anything and leave me alone," Jaina told him, "I'm not doing this alone."
"I-" Jag started, but was interrupted by Luke.
"I just spoke with Wedge. We are relocating within the next day or so."
Jaina nodded, "Does he need me?"
"He said he would contact you," Luke told her, "Heard anything about Aeria?"
Jaina shook her head, "No, they are doing some tests."
Luke nodded, "That will take awhile."
"Dad will tell us if anything new comes up," Jaina stood up, stretching. She turned to Jag, "I'm going to see if I can get a hold of Wedge. You coming?"
Jag nodded and followed her. Luke turned to Mara, "She's up to something."
Mara shrugged, "She's a Solo. When aren't they up to something?"
Luke chuckled. She was right. They were always up to something. Of course, Skywalkers got into their share of danger too.
"Force help the galaxy," Mara mumbled, "More are coming."
Yes, Luke agreed
to himself, Force help them all.
-----------------
Jacen found
himself a hiding place. The Vong had left the Peace Brigade to deal
with the old base. It would be easier for Jacen to find out his
information.
Jacen stared at the datacard. Written on the top was the heading Serpindal. Jacen had read it later. It was an entire document talking about the death of the Solo family. Whoever made this wanted them dead, that was for sure. Aeria had been poisoned. No cure was listed, or even if their was one. There had to be.
Jacen scrolled down the next entry.
Jaina.
---------------------
"Someone needs to go to the fleet,"
Mara was saying. Only the medical frigates and one cruiser were in
the area of space. The rest of the fleet was somewhere else.
Jag looked at Jaina. He could tell she was debating in her mind whether she should leave or not. He hated seeing her so torn.
"I'll go," Jag volunteered, glancing down at Jaina who was in his arms, "if you'll be okay."
Jaina nodded, "Go on. Find out what you can."
"I'll find out where Jacen is," Jag promised. He told everyone goodbye, then Jaina walked him to the docking bay, "Take care yourself."
"I will."
"I mean it."
Jaina smiled at him, "Don't worry about me."
"If you need me, I'll come back," he told her solemnly.
"I know," she kissed him, "I love you."
"Love you too,"
he answered, then climbed in his clawcraft and took off.
-------------
Kyp plowed people over running to the docking
bay. He had just heard that Jag was landing.
Kyp ran over to the clawcraft, waiting impatiently for Jag to get out, "Come on, Fel. If Jaina was down here, you'd be here by now."
Jag climbed down, surprised to see Kyp, "Hello, Kyp."
"Where's Aeria? Where is the entire family, for that matter?" Kyp demanded.
Jag stared at him, a slow grin blossoming on his face. He chuckled softly, "Wait till Jaina hears this."
Kyp glared at him, "What?"
"Oh,
nothing," Jag waved dismissively, then sobered, "Aeria's
been hurt."
--------------------
Kyp stared at Jag,
thoughts racing through his head as Jag explained the situation. When
he finished, Kyp demanded, "Take me there."
"What? You have to stay here and take care of Jaina's squadron," Jag stated.
"Fel, I'm going," Kyp argued, "if that were Jaina you'd be right there. I am going to be there for Aeria."
Jag nodded solemnly, "Does she know?"
"Know what?" Kyp asked, impatient.
"Does she know how you feel?" he asked quietly.
Kyp shook his head, "No."
"Hurry, before its too late. Here are the co-orindinates. Tell Jaina I'll be there soon," Jag said, handing Kyp a datacard, "I have to talk to Uncle Wedge."
Kyp nodded and sprinted towards his X-Wing. He had to hurry.
--------------
Walking around the base had been easy. Jacen
was able to disguise himself. He had learned that a Vong supervisor
would be arriving soon. He had to be gone before then.
Jacen made his way into the former command center. The head of the Brigaders, Jak Trulong, was staring at a computer screen, distracted. Jacen crept over to a terminal close enough for him to hear, but not to look like he was eavesdropping. He pulled up some random file and pretended to read it with great interest.
"Hey, Jys!" Jak called out to a woman standing across the room, "Come here!"
The short woman walked over. She stood next to him, whispering, "They are all together, except the boy."
"Did you tell Dasha?" he mumbled.
"She knows. There is a search going on for the boy now."
"I'm not concerned about the boy! I want the girl dead! She is the major threat!" Jak snapped.
"What about her parents?"
"They will be so devastated they won't do anything. Her Uncle and Aunt are of no concern now," he replied, plainly irritated.
"Alright," she nodded and slipped off.
Jacen frowned. He had to get a message to Jaina unnoticed,
but how?
--------------
Jaina greeted Kyp with a tight hug,
"What are you doing here?"
"To see Aeria. Jag wanted me to tell you he would be here soon," Kyp told her, "Where is she?"
Jaina led him to the medical wing, "No one is in there right now. Mom and Dad went to get some sleep. Uncle Luke kicked them out. He and Aunt Mara went to rest, too."
"You need to go get some rest," Kyp told her, "if Jag comes back and sees you not taking care of yourself, he'll kill me."
Jaina chuckled, "Yes, sir. Let me know if you need anything."
With that, Jaina left. Kyp walked into Aeria's room. He pulled up a chair next to her and took her hand, "You have got to wake up. I have something I have to talk to you about."
Aeria didn't respond. Kyp closed her eyes and began thinking of what to tell her when she awoke.
