Beyond - Legends Survivor's Guilt--Kyp/Jaina vignette before the last chapter of Invincible--LOTF spoilers

It was becoming easier every time to wake up. Her time in the bacta tank had definitely helped, but she had stayed unconscious until they were ready to take her out and move her to another torture chamber.

Jaina had never really liked hospitals. Luckily, in spite of being a fighter pilot and a Jedi Knight, she had not needed them as often as some, but each time had been unpleasant in its own way. This one was no different--they wouldn't let her have a normal bed until her burns had healed more and some idiot had given her a private room.

Maybe it hadn't been some idiot. Maybe it had been her mother's way of trying to help her. After all, a roommate would have asked all sorts of questions that Jaina didn't want to answer.

Hey, didn't I see you on the news that one time?

Was that who I THINK it is? Stars, I'd better tell my wife Princess Leia says hi.

So, kid, what're you in for?

The answer to the last question was the most complicated one. Jaina Solo was imprisoned here to reward her for having put an end to a tyrannical regime and to punish her for having done so by killing her own brother.

They had medics around here for everything. One of them was worried about the burns. Another one wanted to talk her into getting some replacements for the ribs that kept getting broken. Another one seemed to only talk about organ damage. Not one of them had bothered to talk about the events that had put her there.

Worst of all were the visitors. Jaina had seen the strained smile of her mother through the transparisteel of the bacta tank and had seen the way Dad's grin disappeared when he thought she wasn't looking. While she was getting patched up, it looked like they had been going through a few sessions with an interrogation droid. She had vague memories of Luke being there and might have seen Ben, but nothing made much sense from that time.

Now, when Mom came, she tended to talk about things such as the family trip that they had taken after the Vong war to Chandrila. Dad talked about everyone who'd commed to check on her and promised that Lando was coming for a visit. It was as if they were trying to talk about everything except what had been done to them. They'd been this way once before, right after the war, and she hadn't been fooled then or now. Neither Luke nor Ben had been to see her since she was taken out of bacta.

It was a surprise to wake up to find she had a new visitor. He slouched in a chair across the room, almost out of eyesight, but she would have recognized him in the Force even if she couldn't see him.

"Hey," she murmured as loudly as her parched throat would let her. "I was wondering when you'd come by."

"Sorry," Kyp said as he stood to pull the chair closer. "I've been by a few times and you were talking in your sleep, so it got pretty boring."

"Really," she mused. "What was I talking about?"

"Jacen mostly," he said. "Sometimes, it sounded like a nightmare, but sometimes, you just told him something wasn't funny or sounded like you were teasing him."

That made sense. She had been dreaming about the Academy a lot. She wasn't sure exactly why, but she suspected that it was easier to heal if she thought about the Jacen who had died at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong. That way of thinking made it impossible to think that she'd killed Jacen this year.

"Where've you been?" she grunted, turning her head to look properly at him. "You look like you haven't slept in a while."

He ran a hand over the stubble on his chin. "Well, not all of us can wrap up a war and spend two weeks in a medical spa," he pointed out. "I've been helping your uncle get some things straightened out."

That at least explained why neither of them had come around. "Good," Jaina commended him. "Are you here on his orders?"

He grimaced theatrically. "What, you think he's assigned us to shifts of cheering you up and I just have the first one?"

"Something like that," she said in kind.

"No," he insisted. "I'm here as a friend."

For the first time since w

 

Very powerful, here. You deal with the afermath far better than the profic did, Ish. Subtle, and good choice with Kyp. He knows. he knows...

 

This was an important addition to the story. Let's face it: who better than Kyp would know what Jaina was going through? Profic fails to recognise their relationship and that's too bad. Thanks!

 

Wow. That was majorly intense. Awesome job!!!

 

Wonderful as always. *nods* Kyp would understand.

Great fic.

CJM

 

Wow!

"How did you go on when you'd killed your brother?" she asked quietly.
His face lost a little color. "I didn't, really," he reminded her. "I delved deeper into the Dark Side and went a lot more insane."
That was not exactly the answer she wanted to hear, but she had not expected much else.
"What makes you think I won't do the same?"
He leaned close enough that if they hadn't been separated by a force field, he might have been able to kiss her cheek. "You have your parents and me as a friend," he stated. "The straight answer is it's not going to happen on our watch."

Family and friends... Makes these characters so very, very real.

 

RK_Striker_JK_5--Thanks. I'm glad it improved what was supplied by the profic because I was so intensely disappointed by the so-called aftermath. I've been planning to have a vignette like this for quite some time because I theorized that Jaina would have to kill Jacen. I just imagined her and Kyp having a very frank conversation over some good whiskey in a bar about the subject.

iamobiwan1970--Thank you for thinking it important. Really, Luke and Kyp have the most 'relevant' experience on this matter and would know the difficulty she's facing in recovering. I very much weep that profic doesn't recognize that relationship the way it should. You're welcome.

jadesabre75--Thanks. Glad you enjoyed its intensity. And thanks again.

canadianjedimama--Thanks for the 'as always' and for coming to read me again.

Blue_Milkshake--Aww, thanks. I really wish that there were a similar level of connection between family and friends as there was back in the OT. It really made the difference for Luke and Leia and Luke and Han and Leia and Han.