Twin Suns

Summary: The Sword of the Jedi is sent to hunt down Alema Rar. Jaina never wanted to see Jagged Fel again. She also never wanted to get to know Tatooine – but Tatooine already knows her. Multi-chaptered- Jaina, Jag. AU.

Warning: This story is set in the Legends-universe. In other words: it is AU. *sigh* I mostly messed with time-lines and some key-events. (My version of the "Sword of the Jedi"-trilogy I was impatiently waiting for and that might never be released now…)

Set: Story-unrelated. (Extended version of # 44 (Moon) from the SW drabble collection "From the Inside".) (Can be seen as AU from The Swarm Wars on.) (Edit after 12.000 words: VERY extended version.)

Disclaimer: Standards apply.

Correction: In "From the Inside", Tatooine is said to have two moons. This is incorrect: It has two suns (Tatoo I+II) and three moons (Ghomrassen, Guermessa + Chenini). (Source: Star Wars Wikia)

Dedicated to IrrelevantIsKey. Who knows why. Thank you, again – I hope this is to your liking! Otherwise I will try to think of something else. Something fluff-related. And possibly wedding-related, too! :)

And last, but not least… Merry Christmas (or whatever you are celebrating) 2014!

Prologue: Arrival

She had expected the heat.

Tatooine's two suns burned down relentlessly onto the dry, hot ground of the desert village. Even between the ducking houses the heat was dry and choking, so unlike the warm, humid climate of Yavin Four. She had expected the exhausting flight to the outermost Outer Rim planet in the known galaxy, as her uncle had called it, and the stiffness that came with being cramped into a StealthX cockpit for hours. It had been followed by a three standard hour flight on a civilian passenger shuttle packed with beings of every race and nationality, voices, cries and laughter blending into a mix that, combined with the heat, the closeness and the stink, made her want to throw up. She had expected the worn, dirty and ugly space port of Mos Eisley, the horrendous protective tariff collected by a bickering, reeking hutt (of which probably more than half would wander into his own pockets) and the difficulties of finding a guide who was willing to lead her out into the desert and where she needed to go. She had spent almost nine standard hours questioning, bargaining and growing more and more annoyed as every potential desert runner, after learning what her destination was, more or less hurriedly (and more or less impolitely) declined her request. After eight hours, the news had finally made the round that a crazy woman was looking for a guide. She was met with snickers and flat-out refusals before she even had made an offer. She had grown more and more weary, and more and more desperate, until she had finally found a sun-tanned, wrinkled woman with the annoying habit of chewing on the stump end of an empty pipe. Or had the woman found her? She had been sitting against a wall of the clay-walled huts squatting against the larger structure of Mos Eisley space port as if aware of the protection it offered. She had almost overlooked her. In hindsight it must have meant the woman had hidden her Force aura, which meant she possessed at least a modicum of Force ability. But then she had only heard someone call out to her and had stopped, guardedly, to locate the source of the voice.

"Girl. Jedi."

The Jedi knight had taken pains to conceal her identity. The fact that the woman knew her instantly aroused the suspicion she had collected over a lifetime of fights – wars, political intrigues, the likes – and increased her already high level of alertness. But the streets around them did not feel more hostile than before, and she could not feel any disturbance in the Force around her. There was no threat coming from the person – woman? – in front of her.

"I hear you are looking for a desert runner."

"News travel fast," she answered, carefully, and her hand tightened around her small blaster hidden under her wide cloak. She did not want to give away her identity, but she would have preferred her light saber here and now. "Do you know someone who can take me to the place they call Valley of the Spirits?"

She was throwing a gamble here, she knew. Giving away where she needed to go had not gone well with the many other guides she had asked before, but she was tired and close to something that felt dangerously like desperation. Instead of howling with laughter, like half of the guides had done, or looking at her as if she was crazy, what the other half had done, the woman just got to her feet and circled her once, mumbling something incoherent.

"What did you say?" Patience never had been her strongest trait.

The woman stopped in front of her – the Jedi wasn't tall, but the woman was even shorter – and smiled at her.

"I knew you would come."

"Pardon me?"

The woman waved off her prior statement, much to her annoyance. "You seem smart enough not to try going out there all by yourself. What's your name, girl?"

The Jedi forcibly relaxed her hand. "Teresa Mathis."

The woman stared into her face long and hard, barely blinking. Her Force presence was striking, intense in a way the Jedi knight had never encountered before. There was a hint of something – disapproval?

"Suspicious, eh. Well, it can't be helped." Stepping back, the woman closed her eyes, as if listening to some melody only she could hear. The Jedi fought her own internal battle: this woman clearly wasn't in her right mind. But she had offered to guide her, and in the place the scum and criminals called Mos Eisley she probably wouldn't find another person willing to take her to her destination. There was nothing in her Force signature that hinted at a mental instability, or even an intention of double-crossing her. On the other hand, the feeling she was getting was so alien she wasn't even sure she was actually facing a human. However… Clenching her jaws, she decided she could just as well risk trusting the woman. She had a mission to complete, after all, so she waited, motionless. After something that seemed like an eternity, the woman opened her eyes and sighed.

"Tomorrow at dawn. I'm Valyrianamia Stormchaser. Call me Valia. And be on time." She leant forward until the Jedi could see the flecks of gold in her dark eyes. "There is no need to hide your identity. We have waited for you a long time, Jaina Solo."

Then, she turned around and walked away.