I do not own Star Wars!
Special thanks go out to my beta: oldjedinurse.
Part 1
Every parent dreads this particular comm call. "You need to come to the medward immediately. Your daughter has been an accident." Unfortunately, Han Solo had received more than his fair share in his parenting career. This time, Leia was in a meeting with the High Council when his commlink went off but he knew that Leia sensed her daughter's distress and would meet him at the medward.
Han Solo ran at top speed towards his daughter. She might be twenty years old, and he might not be able to protect her from pain, but she was still his baby girl. His commlink beeped again; he answered without breaking stride.
"Wedge, what happened? How is she?"
A battle-weary voice responded, "I don't know the exact details, her squadron is still out in battle. From what we can gather her fighter was hit by a stray detonator which rendered her communication and flight data useless." Wedge paused and responded to someone in the background. "Sorry, anyway, we didn't know her status until Colonel Fel reported that he was bringing Jaina back to the base and that we should alert the medward."
A strange sensation passed through Han. On one hand, he was eternally grateful that Colonel Jagged Fel had been there to take care of his daughter, but on the other hand, there was a sense of regret that there was another man in her life besides him that was looking out for her. By the time he reached the medward he was out of breath and more scared than he'd been in a while. The doors to the emergency center opened and he was surrounded by a bustle of activity. He spotted Cilghal giving directions to a young medical apprentice and hurried to receive information about Jaina..
Master Cilghal spoke quickly. "Captain Solo, Jaina is resting comfortably and sustained only minimal damage."
"What sort of damage?" He didn't care if her injuries were minimal or not. His little girl had been hurt and might be in pain..
"Just a mild concussion and some hand and face lacerations." Cilghal looked down at her datapad. "Her injuries only require a few hours in the bacta chamber and she should be ready to go home in the morning."
There was a sense of relief he felt knowing that Jaina's injuries were not life-threatening. Still, he would not be completely satisfied until he saw her for himself. "Well I'm glad you were here to take care of her." He nodded his head in gratitude. "Can I go see her? Leia should be here any minute and I'm sure she'll want to know what's going on from you, so if you could just point me in the right direction I'll leave you to your work."
"She's right down that hallway, second room on your left." She pointed a webbed hand. "Colonel Fel is with her right now."
Again Han felt a strange pang but still could not pinpoint what the feeling was. He nodded again at the Master Healer and went to find his daughter. He soon found the room but stopped short from entering when he saw Jagged Fel sitting close to her bedside, holding her hand. 'Ah, that's the feeling,' he thought to himself. Jealousy. His little girl, the light of his eye and reason for living had found another man to share her heart with. The private moment he was witnessing made him recall an old memory from when Jaina was a five-year old.
"Daddy!" A high-pitched yell woke him from an afternoon nap. "Daddy!" This time the call was accompanied by loud sobs. He jumped from his chair and ran to the source of the commotion. Jacen and toddler Anakin were standing in the corner of the room with their hands behind their backs wearing their 'We didn't do anything' faces. Jaina, on the other hand, was in the middle of the playroom holding her knee and screaming like there was no tomorrow.
"Daddy," she cried. "It hurts!"
He bent down to look where she was holding. "Ok, little Princess, calm down and tell me what happened."
Her cries had subsided to silent tears running down her face. "Me and Jacen and Ani were playing Jedi and, and, and..." She started crying again. "They made me fall and now my knee hurts!" She lifted her tiny leg so he could inspect the scraped knee.
"Well baby girl, what did I tell you and your brothers about playing Jedi? You all need to play nice, remember?" He looked deep into her brown orbs, so similar to her mother's which made his heart melt. "Why don't you and I go get your knee fixed up?" He scooped her into his arms and she clung to him tightly. "Jacen, why don't you take your brother and read him a story?"
Jacen nodded. "Okay, Papa. Sorry you got hurt Jaina." His face was set with determination and a bit of sorrow. He took his little brother's hand and led him out of the playroom.
"Daddy, don't be mad." She snuggled closer to him. "They didn't mean to make me fall, I just slipped."
He smiled inwardly. She was always trying to protect her brothers. "I know, Princess. You just need to be more careful when you play Jedi. I never want to see you get hurt, okay?" He carried her into the kitchen and set her onto the counter. He retrieved a clean cloth and ran it under the cold water. "This might hurt a bit, baby girl."
She sniffled. "It's okay Daddy, I'm brave."
He leaned forward and kissed her forehead. "Yes you are, Princess." Once he was done, he put a small bandage on the scratch and kissed it. "There you go, good as new."
She threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "Thank you Daddy. I love you."
"I love you too, Princess."
Han was brought back to the present when a voice spoke beside him. "Captain Solo, Jaina wanted me to tell you it's okay to come in and see her." He turned to the look the man who had taken Han's place next to his daughter.
"Thank you, Colonel Fel, for recovering my daughter and bringing her back more or less in one piece. As I understand it, had you not reached her things would have been much worse."
"Sir, no thanks are necessary. I only wish I could have been flying her wing so she wouldn't have been hit in the first place." Jag said thoughtfully. "But if you'll excuse me, I need to return to the base and see about writing the mission report. Would you tell Jai- I mean Knight Solo I will be back later tonight to check on her recovery?"
"Yeah, kid." He waved the Colonel off, not wanting to think about exactly why Jag was so eager to return to his daughter. "Anyway, thanks again for bringing her back." Jag did not respond but simply nodded his farewell and left Han to his daughter.
Han entered Jaina's room and was rewarded with a smile. "Hi, Daddy." She leaned forward to accept his embrace. "Sorry to cause you to worry, I promise I wasn't planning on getting shot down today." She attempted to lighten the mood.
He sat in the chair Jag had recently vacated and smiled to let her know he was not mad, only concerned. "I know. Plus it would take more than a simple detonator to take you down." They remained silent for a while, just enjoying one another's company. "So what's going on with you and the Colonel?" He decided to break the silence.
"Nothing."She looked at him with an age-perfected innocence. "He was just trying to help me out for the good of the squadron."
"Uh, huh. Then why did the good Colonel tell me to inform you that he would be returning later to check on your recovery?" He gave her his famous smug look.
She studied him for a bit and decided to tell him the truth. "Honestly Dad I don't know what's going on between Jag and I." She paused as if trying to recall a specific memory. "I know that he has feelings for me and I have feelings for him. But I don't know where that's going to take us."
Han sank a little further into his chair absorbing the information. He looked down to see that she had taken his hand.
"But I will tell you this. Even if there is something happening between Jag and me, no man can ever replace you."
He squeezed her hand back, grateful for her words. "Jaina, honey, you will always be my little girl. I might not always be there to protect you, but I want to let you know that if there's going to be another man there to look out for you, well, I approve of Jag."
Tears welled up in her eyes. "Thank you, Daddy. That means a lot to me." She tried to hide a yawn and shifted uncomfortably in her bed. Han took the hint and moved to help her lie down.
"This might hurt a bit, baby girl."
"It's okay Daddy, I'm brave." She responded.
Once he was satisfied that she was in a comfortable position Han kissed her forehead. "Yes you are, Princess." By the time he straightened she was fast asleep. The cares of the galaxy erased by the grace of slumber. He gave her one last look and exited the room. He saw Leia talking to Cilghal near the entrance and moved to join her but a familiar figure caught his eye.
Han stood before the young man. "Jag? I thought you went back to the base to get some work done?"
For his part, Jag looked as uneasy and Han had ever seen him. "Well sir, I decided I could do my work just as well from the medward as I could the base so I came back to make sure Jaina didn't need anything."
The feeling of jealousy returned but this time there was also a sense of gratitude. His little girl had found someone who only wanted to protect her. He looked Jag up and down before responding. "That sounds like a good idea. But make sure you do it real quiet-like because she's sleeping and needs her rest."
"I wouldn't dream of waking her, sir." Jag met Han's stare. "I"ll make sure she's looked after."
"Very good, son." Han held out his hand to shake Jag's. "Take care of her." When Jag returned the handshake Han pulled him in close. "'Cause if you ever hurt her, I promise I have many ways of making your death look like an accident." With that he released Jag's hand and moved to meed with Leia.
While Jaina might have found another man to give her heart to, he knew there would always be a part of her that belonged only to him. Because she was his Little Princess.
