Beyond - Legends Impossible Destiny (Anakin Skywalker, Jaina Solo/Jag Fel, etc. ROTJ-FOTJ) update: goodbyes are hard

PART TWO

Chapter Four

CORUSCANT; DOCKING BAY; MILLENNIUM FALCON 13 ABY

Anakin found Jaina in Han?s lap, her father?s arms forming a protective barrier around her four-year-old body. They were hunched over a circuitry board, and though there were dry tear-streaks left on her cheeks, Jaina?s dark eyes were fixed determinedly on the device before her.

Anakin smiled. It seemed as if it had been years since he and Han had fought over who was the better mechanic?and while he was still certain that he could fix anything better than Han any day, it was also becoming painfully obvious that Jaina would?someday?surpass them both. For now, though, she simply looked up at her father with questioning eyes, waiting for his approval.

Han reached into his tool box, placing a hydrospanner in his daughter?s little hand.

Anakin itched to go over to her, to hold her or offer advice, but he knew better than to intrude. This was Han?s time with his daughter?time that Anakin hadn?t had with Leia. As much as he yearned to comfort his granddaughter, he didn?t want to deprive Han of the honor. Even if Han wasn?t a Jedi, he seemed to know exactly what Jaina needed, and at this moment it was apparently dismantling a circuitry board. Han and Jaina shared a special bond that even Leia couldn?t figure out, a bond that came out of simply being father and daughter, a bond that not even the Sith could break.

Anakin Skywalker was envious.

Jaina looked up from the board, her eyes glistening with the gladness of mechanical work. ?Hey Grandpa!? she said cheerily. ?Guess what??

Anakin cleared his throat, tentatively stepping forward. Han ran one hand gently over Jaina?s head, brushing her long bangs from her eyes.

?What?? Anakin asked.

Jaina grinned conspiratorially. ?Dad says I can have my own multi-tool!?

?Does he?? Anakin tipped his head in Han?s direction questionably, but the ex-smuggler merely shrugged.

?I was about her age when I got my first multi-tool.? Han grinned crookedly. ?And Jaina?s made a big-girl choice. She?s ready for it.?

Jaina?s eyes grew dark, and she nodded somberly at the memory of this morning?s fiasco. Anakin felt his own heart fall, too. Because Jaina had decided that she and her twin were too big to share a room anymore, she?d made the choice to ask her parents for her own room. They could afford it, she said reasonably, and, besides, big boys and girls weren?t supposed to share rooms. But Jacen hadn?t seen that way, and Jaina?s choice had resulted in the twins first real fight. Ever.

?But she has to promise not to use it when I?m not around,? Han continued. He looked down at Jaina. ?That right, sweetheart??

Jaina nodded, then froze. As she looked over Anakin?s shoulder, her eyes grew even darker, so Anakin had a good idea who had come in behind him. Hoping to execute a little damage control, he and Leia had dragged Jacen and three-year-old Anakin Solo out for a day at the holographic zoo, but Jacen had been pouting all day, worried about his fight with Jaina.

Sure enough, Jacen was standing there, his long bangs covering his quickly hardening gaze. After an excruciating moment of silence, he simply turned on his heel and stormed for his room. Jaina?s face tightened. Before she could start crying, Anakin hastily excused himself.

Jacen was lying face down on his bed. Anakin went to sit on the edge, patting his grandson?s back.

?You can?t share the same room forever,? he said, his throat tight. ?Eventually, it had to change.?

Jacen rolled over, looking at Anakin with those wide, heartbreaking eyes of his. Anakin felt like he was being torn in two?burning on Mustafar had been worse than looking Jacen Solo in the eye.

?I don?t want things to change,? Jacen pouted.

Anakin smiled. ?You can?t stop the change?not any more than you can stop the Tatooine suns from setting.?

Jacen made a face. ?Why now? Just another year??

?Jaina?s made her decision, Jacen,? Anakin said placidly. ?Being Jaina, she?s going to follow through. You just have to respect her decision.?

Jacen nodded

 

glad to see this story return. I really like the sibling rivalry between Jaina and Jacen. I loved Anakin Sr. reaction to Luke being with Mara. Looking forward to more. Can't wait to see Jag and Jaina meet and what Anakin thinks of Jaina with the son of Baron Fel.

 

I was really excited to see there was an update to this, and I wasn't disappointed when I read it. Excellent!

 

I'm so glad to see this back! Jaina and Anakin Skywalker have a really great dynamic, and it's good to see someone truly understand her. I love the twin dynamic too.

 

*cyber hug* You're back!

I LOVED the family interactions and love Jaina and Anakin Sr.'s relationship.

 

LOVED IT!

It was well worth the wait.I love the interaction between Jaina and Grandpa Anakin.

As for that PM list, I'm Game.

Cant wait for more!

Keep up the great work!

JJB

 

Anakin and the kids are so cute. Throw me on that PM list, please.

Nice to see you around again,
B

 

This . . . good . . . fic . . . can't . . . die!

 

No. . . it. . . can't!

Please, Darkwriter! Come back to us!

JJB

 

I hope that whatever is keeping you away ceases to be a problem.

MtFbwy!

 

I am really interested in what is going to happen next, more please. I would love to be put on the PM list if there is one?
Please and Thank You

 

Add me to the PM List Please!

 

Help us Darkwriter, you are our only hope!

 

please add me to the PM list

 

Please come back!

 

Hey all -

Thanks so much for the encouraging comments. I really do love this story, so it's great to see that others do, too. I'll try to keep up my posts this time. I'm sending PMs out to everyone who said they wanted one last time, so just let me know if you want to be added or subtracted.


Chapter Five

CORUSCANT; LUKE SKYWALKER?S QUARTERS 2O ABY
¬pre-Union

Luke?s quarters didn?t feel like a jail cell anymore, though not much had changed. Luke wasn?t one for decoration or moving things around, but maybe Mara Jade would change that. Anakin doubted it. Jade was sitting on Luke?s wide, blue couch?in Anakin?s usual spot. Her flaming hair was braided loosely at her shoulder, and she was leaning over the glass table, reading something off flimsiplast. Probably a holozine article.

Anakin cleared his throat, and she looked over at him, her green eyes shielded with caution. Not that he blamed her?this was their first meeting since the fall of the Empire. Somehow, she?d managed to go from Emperor?s Hand to Jedi Master?s fiancée. And Anakin was no longer donning the black suit, no longer felt the urge to throw a chair at her.

Yes, things had changed.

But Anakin strongly suspected the same competition existed between them, not for the Emperor?s favoritism, but for Luke?s. Because Luke had saved them both, loved them both. This time, Anakin was certain who the victor would be?she was young and pretty. While he had served the Emperor, the same thought had irked him, because even an older Sith Lord was still a Sith Lord, and Jade had just been an assassin. Now, it made more sense that Luke would choose her, because he couldn?t very well marry his father.

Still, it felt like losing.

Jade nodded at him, the same way he remembered she tipped her head at Vader. Briefly, Anakin wondered, if he?d succeeded in turning Luke to the Dark Side, would he have ended up with Mara Jade anyway? Maybe. But Han and Leia would have been doomed, Jaina, Jacen, and Anakin never born. Anakin couldn?t imagine living in a universe without them.

Luke emerged from the kitchen with two steaming cups of hot chocolate in his hands, his face lit with bliss. He raised his brows as he saw his father standing at the door, and smiled.

?Come in, Dad,? Luke said. He sat next to Jade, setting their mugs down on the glass table. ?Do you want some hot chocolate??

Anakin declined the beverage, coming to sit in a chair across from Luke. Even though he no longer wore the suit, he kept to his normal diet: water and nutrients fed his system well enough. Indulgences complicated the mechanics in him.

Luke frowned. ?Something wrong with your hand, Dad??

Anakin looked down. There were sparks flying out of his forearm, wires eroding. ?Oh.? He smiled. ?I was letting Jaina tinker.? He looked towards Jade, his eyes glinting. ?She?s quite the mechanic.?

Jade tipped her head, and Anakin sighed.

?Well,? he said. ?Congratulations.?

Luke and Jade smiled.

?Well,? Anakin said, feeling immensely awkward. ?How is it we?ve never run into each other before, Jade? When you?ve been seeing my son all these years??

Jade raised her steaming mug to her lips and offered him a secretive grin. ?Very careful planning.?

?Plus, the New Republic has kept you on a very short leash,? Luke said to his father.

Anakin scowled. That was another thing?Mara, an assassin who?d murdered with her bare-hands many more times than Vader had (Force-choking was tricky that way), had been granted nearly an instant pardon for her help during the Thrawn Crisis. But the New Republic still watched Anakin Skywalker, even if it was in the comfort of Leia?s home.

It just didn?t seem fair. He?d been good for almost twenty years?had helped Luke build his Jedi Order up from nothing?and still the New Republic didn?t trust him. With his Force powers, flying prowess, and efficiency in mechanics, he could more than make up for the ?crimes? he?d committed during the Emperor?s reign. If someone just gave him a chance.

At least Gavrisom let him wander Coruscant on h

 

YAY FOR NEW POST!

Have i said how much i love this story! Cus i really do like it alot!

Ha! The whole Anakin disapproving of Zekk is perfect!

(although i never liked the Jaina/Zekk romantic ship, i really did like the friendship dinamic the two had. It just got really awkward when they tried to take it a step more.)

Fantastic job! I can't wait to see more!!!!
~JJB

 

Yay, a new post!

Ha ha, love Anakin Sr.'s reaction to Zekk. And love that Jacen knows that Zekk isn't the one.

 

Somehow, she?d managed to go from Emperor?s Hand to Jedi Master?s fiancée. And Anakin was no longer donning the black suit, no longer felt the urge to throw a chair at her.

How big of him.

?Oh.? He smiled. ?I was letting Jaina tinker.? He looked towards Jade, his eyes glinting. ?She?s quite the mechanic.?


Oh Anakin, calm down. Just a first crush.

 

Jaya_Jag_Ben I'm glad you love it; so do I! I've been really having a lot of fun with Anakin, especially as he observes his children's and grandchildren's budding relationships.

(although i never liked the Jaina/Zekk romantic ship, i really did like the friendship dinamic the two had. It just got really awkward when they tried to take it a step more.)

It's funny - I seem to cycle through these boys at the same rate that Jaina does. When I was in middle/high school, I was a big Zekk fan, and that was about the time I was reading the YJK. Because I read the NJO out of order, I held onto Zekk for a while. I can't definitively say when I became a Jag fan. I know that his presence in the NJO made me a little angry...and then suddenly I decided that Zekk was lame and Jag was awesome. It was probably that conversation Jag has with Shawnkyr, the one in the Force Heretic Trilogy about whether or not they would go back to Csilla. Or maybe it was when I finally found and read Dark Journey. Plus, Jag reminds me a lot of Han.

I think this works well for me. Since I used to be a J/Z shipper, it turns out that I still love Zekk and love writing him (I seem to have a thing for angsty fictional boys)...but I don't want him with Jaina.

Lady_Misty Glad you're still liking Anakin! When I started writing this, I was worried that he would be too mellow. But he tends to give me these nice surprises...like the fact that he's held on to imperial ideologies, despite his predicament, and wants a nice imperial boy for his granddaughter!

As for Jacen: I like to think that Jacen was the kind of kid who was too wise for his age. Having read the YJK, I know that this wasn't actually the case, but I think it makes a better combination with his carefree personality at that age. Especially since we know what he turns into. He surprises me as much as Anakin does; because as I've been writing I've also been interested in not only Jaina's changing relationship with her father, but the small nuances that exist between her and her twin brother. It turns out that Anakin and Jacen are great contrasting characters, because, well, you know...

FelsGoddess I'm so glad you liked the Luke/Mara passage! I honestly wanted to do more with them, but I've been staying away from including Anakin in canon plot in any big way. I don't really want to change the plot; I don't have the patience or the time. But it's so tempting (especially when I think about Jacen). I'm trying to get to Jag as fast as I can.

Have you read Tim Zahn's Allegiance? It's got a single scene that occurs between Vader and Mara Jade...and it's hilarious. He does throw a chair at her, and then she turns out the lights when he tried to attack her.



Chapter Six

CORUSCANT; IMPERIAL PALACE; SOLO RESIDENCE 25 ABY
pre-Vector Point

Jaina Solo sat at the kitchen island, feeling inexplicably morose and maudlin. How many times had Zekk sat at the same island, with the same expression on his face? But that was typical Zekk. The miserable emotions coursing through Jaina now were enough to spark additional irritation. She didn?t like this feeling, this depression. A Jedi was supposed to be at peace, but right now she just felt like she wanted to smash something.

Over, she thought. We?re over.

What use was there in crying about it? The termination of their relationship had been her idea, after all.

Jaina?s grandfather entered the kitchen diffidently, not his usual behavior. He scraped a stool out to sit across from her, looking at her with an open, understanding expression.

Jaina scowled as irritation gave way to irrational anger. She didn?t want to be understood. She didn?t want to mope, either. What she really wanted to do was go out in the X-Wing Wedge Antilles? held for her in the main city hangar, but she wasn?t allowed to go out on her own?a stupid rule; at sixteen, she had already fought Dark Jedi, bounty hunters, political radicals, and B

 

Have you read Tim Zahn's Allegiance? It's got a single scene that occurs between Vader and Mara Jade...and it's hilarious. He does throw a chair at her, and then she turns out the lights when he tried to attack her.
I've read half of it. I'll have to check it out-especially that scene.

He mostly took orders from her, and that wasn?t what she wanted in a partner.
Exactly. He's a great guy, just not what she needs. Understandable for her to be upset though.


Han had walked away from his family at a time that they needed him the most. He couldn?t berate Han for the fact without becoming a hypocrite himself, as Leia would most certainly call him on it, but the feelings were there all the same.
Never thought about what Anakin Skywalker- and Padme- would think about Han's behavior after the loss of Chewie. That's a good point.

Great update!

 

Darkwriter, you're back! Forgive me, I did not realize I was logged out of TF.N and therefore was not receiving any PMs. So, I combined my reviews!


Anakin scowled. That was another thing?Mara, an assassin who?d murdered with her bare-hands many more times than Vader had (Force-choking was tricky that way), had been granted nearly an instant pardon for her help during the Thrawn Crisis. But the New Republic still watched Anakin Skywalker, even if it was in the comfort of Leia?s home.

It just didn?t seem fair. He?d been good for almost twenty years?had helped Luke build his Jedi Order up from nothing?and still the New Republic didn?t trust him. With his Force powers, flying prowess, and efficiency in mechanics, he could more than make up for the ?crimes? he?d committed during the Emperor?s reign. If someone just gave him a chance.

I half-expected him to throw something across the room, sink to the floor, and cry out, "It just isn't fair!"




Jaina Solo sat at the kitchen island, feeling inexplicably morose and maudlin. How many times had Zekk sat at the same island, with the same expression on his face? But that was typical Zekk.

Wait one kriffing minute. This sounds sorta familiar...

Padmé looks at Jag, who is a void of emotion, and back to Zekk, who is still drooling on the kitchen table, looking wide-eyed at Jaina. She sits next to him and gives him a sympathetic look, patting his shoulder

Hmmmm....

Jaina sighed. ?Jacen, Tenel Ka doesn?t like showing emotion. If you ever want to know how she really feels about you, you have to tell her first.?

?I?m not even sure how I feel.?

?You love her,? Jaina said confidently.

Again:

Jacen simply cannot wait any longer. Rather abruptly, he gets down on one knee and turns to Tenel Ka. Everyone gasps, but Tenel Ka has no expression whatsoever, even as Jacen surely is going rabid before her.



Jacen actually flushed. ?It?s nothing. I?m just?questioning stuff, you know??

Uh-oh. Could somebody warn Jacen, please? We all know what happens next:


But Jacen does not care. He is a silly boy, and very dim. He likes fire, because it is pretty?and shiny. And Jacen Solo is easily distracted. Sometimes he gets so distracted that he goes to random places for fives years without telling anyone.

Just trying to inject some humor into the situation. Not that it needs it, I'm enjoying it immensely.

Peace,
Bea

PS: Will I be seeing you next week when Darth Z moves in?

 

Don't quite remember the chair but I do remember the turning off the lights bit.

So Anakin Sr. is free to go where he pleases?

Aw! Anakin Sr. and Leia are on very close now.

 

I don't come here often anymore, but I have to say I'm always happy to see this fic updated. Thanks!

 

I just found this little corusca gem..
..AND ITS AMAZING!
I want to see Anakin's reaction when he meets Jag...THE Imperial.
Keep at it! I really love where this is going.