This story is inspired by a short one by JediCooper555 called 'Timewarp Solo,' as well as the idea that I've had bouncing around in my head that when the twins were taken from Anoth to Coruscant when they were two-and-a-half that it really did a number on them (I personally think that it was the start of Jacen's trip to the dark side) I've altered things a little, making them a year older (Mostly so that I can write Jaina's dialogue in complete sentances) and having Han there. I may or may not get into an explaination of how/why that particular change came about. Anywho, enjoy. This being my first attempt at writing Jaya, Jace, Anakin Solo and many of the EU characters, I hope you can be forgiving.
Jaina watched as the Force Ghost of her grandfather talked to her two brothers. You love me best, right, Granda?
She felt the distinct impression that he was ruffling her hair. Yes, Jaya, I love you. You will be a great Jedi someday, better than I was.
He melted into the Force again, which made her sad. It was always a fun and exciting day when Granda came to visit. She watched as there were flickers of something behind her brothers. It was Old Jace. She knew somehow that it was her brother, watching the past. He always felt really sad when she felt him watching them. She carefully didn't look at the flickering image of her brother, but went and sat down with Jace and Anakin, and they were playing with blocks, so she picked one up to add to the stack. Aunt Winter came into the room, and she looked up through the weird image of her brother from the future and smiled. "Auntie Winter!" she said, pronouncing the words carefully. She had of late been working very hard to make sure that the 'R's came out correctly.
"Hi, Jaya. Are you three ready for lunch?"
"Yes," they chorused.
"Good, let's go into the kitchen," Winter said. She was sad, the way Old Jace was.
"What's wong, Auntie?" Jaina asked, sensing the sadness and turmoil inside Winter.
She smiled, but that was sad, too. "Your Mom and Dad are here. You aren't safe here anymore, so you're going somewhere else, and I'm not going to be going with you. I have some other things that I need to be doing."
"But how come you're not coming with us?" she asked, horrified.
"Well, I don't want to leave you kids, but it's really time that you were back with your parents. It will be ok, and I'll be around."
She was afraid, terribly afraid for the first time in her life. "I don't want you to leave, Auntie Win-win," she said, nearly in tears now.
Winter picked Jaina up, hugging her, "It'll be alright, Jaya. You'll be settled down in no time. Now we have lunch to eat, then your parents will be here."
Jaina cried into Winter's shoulder as she was carried into the kitchen, and her brothers walked along beside Winter. Winter sat her on the counter, and dried her tears. "I don't want to leave, Auntie."
"I don't want you to have to leave either, Jaya, but sometimes things happen that are beyond our control. We will always remember our special time here now, won't we?" she said, and Jaina sniffed, and nodded. "Good girl. You want some lunch now?"
Jaina looked up and nodded, her tummy suddenly rumbly. Winter set her down on the floor, and she walked over to her chair and climbed up into it. Winter set a sandwich that she'd cut into small squares in front of Jaina, and she ate her lunch in silence with her two little brothers.
Their parents walked in as she was finishing the last sandwich square. "Mom, Dad," Jacen yelled as he saw them.
"Mama," Anakin agreed, and the two of them headed off to greet their parents. Jaina, on the other hand, was not so happy about the situation. She watched Anakin waddle over to their parents on his wobbly legs. "Jaya, don't you want to go see your parents?" Winter asked her.
"No, no, no," she screamed, tears running down her face, "Don't want to leave. Don't want to go. She's not my real Mommy," she said to Winter, and ran out of the room.
She didn't want to leave with her parents. She wanted to live with Winter forever. She wanted to live with someone who would love her forever and never leave and never make her leave. She thought suddenly of earlier that afternoon, when Granda had visited them. He loved her best. She was his favorite. If Jace could see what was going on in the past, surely she could do the same thing, if she tried hard enough. She curled herself into a ball, squeezing her eyes tight as she concentrated on living with Granda.
She started hearing mechanical sounds, and someone breathing very heavily. Her eyes popped open as she felt the floor underneath her start to hum. She looked up and up and up some more as she encountered a very, very tall man in a suit of all black armor. She felt out with the Force, and realized who it was, and she grinned up at him. "Granda, Granda, I did it!"
He was quite shocked at her appearance. "Excuse me?"
"Granda, it's Jaya, don't you remember me?"
"Jaya," he said, repeating her name. "Why would I have reason to know you at all, child?"
She started to cry again then. "You promised, Granda, you said you loved me best. You love me more than Jace and Anakin. You promised."
He considered her stoically. "When did I promise this to you?"
"This morning. You told me I was going to be the best Jedi in the galaxy, and you love me best."
"I said that?" he asked her incredulously.
"Yes, so I came to live with you."
"Why?"
"Because you love me more than Mommy and Daddy and Aunt Winter," she said, carefully pronouncing her 'R's again.
"I somehow doubt that."
"But you do," she insisted, "Aunt Winter is making me and Jace and Anakin go away with Mommy and Daddy."
"Who are your Mommy and Daddy?" he asked her pointedly.
"I don't know. I don't remember them much, just a little. Aunt Winter always took care of us, and now she's leaving."
"Are you afraid of living with your parents?"
She nodded carefully. "I'm scared ,Granda."
"What does it mean to you when you call me 'Granda'?" he asked.
"You're Mommy's Daddy. She doesn't like you, but Unca says it's ok to talk to you."
"I am your mother's father?" he asked incredulously.
"I think so," she said, concentrating again. "That's how Unca 'splained it to us. He sees us more than Mommy and Daddy do," he considered her for a while as she hugged his leg. "You're going to let me stay, right, Granda?"
"You may stay until I can find something more suitable to do with you. A military vessel is no place for a child of your age. How old are you, anyway?"
"I'm three-and-a-half," she informed him proudly. She felt relieved as he picked her up, and she snuggled into the crook of his arm, and fell asleep for her afternoon nap.
Vader was walking along one of the many hallways in the Devastator when he felt a stirring in the Force. More than that, he started to see something happening directly ahead of him.
A small ball coalesced into a human child, and when the Force quieted, she, for there was no doubt in his mind that the child was a girl. "Granda, Granda, I did it!" she told him jubilantly.
A thousand emotions were running through him at that moment. "Excuse me?" was all that he could convince his voice to say.
"Granda, it's Jaya, don't you remember me?" she said, and the way that she said it made him think that he was supposed to.
"Jaya," he said, the name rolling off his tongue easily, and committing itself to his memory all too easily. "Why would I have reason to know you at all, child?"
The question was apparently too much for the little girl, as she started to cry. "You promised, Granda," she wailed, "You said you loved me best. You love me more than Jace and Anakin. You promised," she insisted again. He had no idea who Jace and Anakin were, but he was certain now that she was indeed who she claimed to be: his granddaughter. Only his child would have the desire and knowledge to name one of their children Anakin.
"When did I promise this to you?" he asked her.
"This morning. You told me I was going to be the best Jedi in the galaxy, and that you love me best," she said authoritatively, and maybe even defiantly.
"I said that?" he asked.
"Yes, so I came to live with you."
"Why?" he asked, totally baffled at why she would choose him over her parents, let alone how.
"Because you love me more than Mommy and Daddy and Aunt Winter," she explained as though the reason should be obvious.
"I somehow doubt that," he said, but he felt a tiny flame of warmth grow inside his heart for her already, and he'd barely known her for ten minutes.
"But you do. Aunt Winter is making me and Jace and Anakin go away with Mommy and Daddy," she said, and he wondered why she seemed to think of living with her parents as a negative thing.
"Who are your Mommy and Daddy?" he asked, wondering if he knew his child, the one who had cared enough about him to name a son with his name.
"I don't know. I don't remember them much, just a little. Aunt Winter always took care of us, and now she's leaving," Jaya said, tears threatening to start again.
Compassion swelled through him suddenly, like a dam breaking. "Are you afraid of living with your parents?"
She nodded, and then told him, "I'm scared, Granda."
"What does it mean to you when you call me 'Granda'?" he asked her, wondering if she would be able to explain to him her relationship to him.
The prospect of being able to explain something to an adult seemed enough to distract her from her tears. "You're Mommy's Daddy. She doesn't like you but Unca 'splained it to us. He sees us more than Mommy and Daddy do," she told him, proud that she had remembered it. So, it is your mother that is my child. "You're going to let me stay, right, Granda?"
He considered her question. It would be very difficult to have her on board the Devastator, but more difficult to leave her somewhere else. "You may stay until I can find something more suitable to do with you. A military vessel is no place for a child of your age. How old are you, anyway?" he asked, knowing that any child he had would beā¦nineteen. It took him a moment to reconcile the date of his encasement to the birth of his daughter.
"I'm three-and-a-half," she informed him proudly. He picked her up, wondering who had been taking care of his daughter, if she had been allowed to get pregnant at fifteen. He headed for his quarters with Jaya instead of to the Bridge as he had originally intended. Some things that Jaya had said started to stick out in his head. She had told him he had said that he loved her best. And she seemed under the impression that he should know who she was. Is it possible that she brought herself into the past? That I did really know her? That I can find my daughter, and convince her that what's happened is a big mistake? That I can truly be the grandfather that she thinks I am?
He arrived at the door to his quarters, and went inside. He had seen no one on his trip back, not unusual, but something he was grateful for anyway. He didn't feel like he wanted to leave Jaya alone, so he sat down on the couch, still cradling her in his arms, thinking about what her presence meant for him, and for the rest of his family. He fell asleep still cradling her, and every second in her presence cemented more firmly her place in his heart.