All the little children
Names: Anyone and everyone. Specifically people who commented to this post. But open.
Location:The Halls of the school
Week: 49
Time: Whenever
Rating: PG13 to be safe.
( In the lost and found )
Location:The Halls of the school
Week: 49
Time: Whenever
Rating: PG13 to be safe.
( In the lost and found )
She laughed to cover the sad train of thought her mind had gone off on. "In a place like this? I imagine that would be easy to do. I don't know about amazing, I only just arrived after all."
It was soon after that they reached the simple door with the golden plaque informing her that this was the entrance to her quarters. "Here we are," she said needlessly, pushing the door open and gesturing for Jaina to follow her.
She wouldn't be surprised if her daughter happened to recognise the place. It wasn't an exact replica of their own house - much less chaos, without Han and the remnants of the children's presence there - but arranged as it was to Leia's simple, elegant tastes, it was certainly familiar.
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She cut herself off. Her mom knew all this already.
"Mom, this place has tons of amazing rooms," Jaina explained somewhat impatiently, "I mean, they have nothing on the summer house in France, but still. They're pretty, I guess." She said, flushing a little.
Jaina followed her mother's lead, her mouth breaking into a wide, lopsided grin, "Mom! It's set up just like our flat in London!" She declared, the pangs of homesickness abating slightly.
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She nodded at the nearby couch for her daughter to sit down, doing so herself. "Now. I can guess that you've heard about this potion that's affected a great deal of the school?" she asked, having come to her decision. There was no way she could simply pretend that nothing had changed - if nothing else, Jaina would have her own photos and belongings from beyond the age of thirteen. She wasn't stupid, she would figure it out.
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Jaina took in her mother's question, "Yeah, the crumpets or whatever they were. Although, one of the new professors says that it's like kids' week or something," a shrewd look crossed over her face. Jaina was always one for solving things in the most practical of matters, "I wonder why there'd be two conflicting stories though..."
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Leia's lips quirked slightly at the look she was sure Jaina thought looked shrewd, but was really just adorable. "The professor is likely trying to keep the younger children from panicking," she explained. "You're right with the crumpets - a lot of the staff and the students were de-aged as a result."
She pulled her wand from where it had been nested in her simple bun (simple for Leia) and cast a summoning spell. The picture frame that she kept near her bed flew from the room she now slept in and into her hand. "The reason things seem a little off, Jaina, is because you were one of them, Jaina," she explained, handing the photo over. "I'm sorry, there's not really a gentler way to tell you."
She'd used this photo because it was the most recent one of all five of them together as a family - Luke had taken it. They had been holidaying in France (where else?) when her brother had insisted on getting all of the Solos (and the Organa Solo, Luke!) into a family photo. It had been chaos, with all three children up to their usual antics, but eventually they had managed to get one nice shot. "You're sixteen in the photo, and it was taken a little over a year ago," she added.
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"That's probably the best idea. I know I ran into a little boy named Yuugi earlier who was definitely unsure of what was going on," Jaina said, seeing her mother's reason and agreeing with it. However, her shrewd expression fell dangerously into the 'slack-jawed' category at her mother's explanation.
"I'm...I'm sixteen?!" She said breathlessly, her eyes widening before she began to fidget with her hair in a nervous manner. While she was a little excited, after all, what thirteen year old girl didn't dream of being all grown up and sixteen- she was mostly...scared. Three years-
-Jaina paused, corrected her math.
"Oh, seventeen I guess," she admitted sheepishly, worrying her lower lip. She let that settle in for a moment before her eyes brightened, "That's me?" She asked, pointing at the girl in the picture Leia summoned, "She's so pretty..." she said softly, punctuating the thought by her fingers snagging in a knot in her hair. She looked at it, as rich and full as her mother's and she frowned slightly. It was hard to imagine that she would grow up to be as confident looking as the person staring back at her in the photograph, but at the same time...
At the same time it was there! Her mom had it in her hand, so it had to be true, right?
She looked at her twin and younger brother, a goofy grin forming on her face, "Jacen still looks like a dork," she paused, eyes brightening, "Hey! Mom, Anakin should be here then, shouldn't he? Didn't he say he was going to attend Hogwarts next- um, two years ago?" She frowned, "How come you're not talking to him too?"
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"It probably would have been a better idea to have a staff meeting first and decide what to do from there, but you can't change what's already happened," Leia mused, before glancing sidelong at Jaina's rather slack-jawed reaction. She reached over, and very gently untangled the girl's fingers from her hair before giving her hands a soft, comforting squeeze.
"She's you, Jaina," she reminded her. "And you're jsut as beautiful now as you are in that photo."
Her own grin formed along with Jaina's as her daughter inspected the photograph. "Jacen doesn't change," she laughed. It was with a supreme force of will that she managed not to choke at her next words, or even let her smile falter more than necessary for the story she'd thought of in case Jaina had asked. "Anakin? He's ill, unfortunately. It was just Christmas holidays; we decided it would be better to let him recuperate at home rather than make him come to school sick. He shouldn't have any trouble catching up, after all."
She smile she wore hurt, but she allowed none of that show through. She wouldn't do that to Jaina. She couldn't.
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She was oblivious to her mother's emotional turmoil, and instead merely gave a small tsk of disapproval, "He probably wasn't wearing a coat or something, boys," she said even though there was the slightest bit of worry about her. She didn't like the fact that her baby brother was ill enough to miss school. He'd have a ton of homework to catch up on when he returned!
But then again, it was Anakin. He was definitely the genius of the family.
Jaina paused, staring at the photograph for a few more seconds before she was reminded of something. She looked away from her future family and faced her mother, "Hey mom, you're..." she began to fiddle with her hair again, "You're not here to spy on me, are you?"
Stupid Kirk and his stupid ideas.
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Jaina, at least, hadn't seemed to notice anything in her mother's demeanour. Thank Merlin for small mercies, the woman mused to herself. "I think it's some sort of stomach bug," she decided. "It's nearly run it's course though, he should be back soon."
Her daughter could - and likely would - hate her for that lie later. But Leia had the feeling that in this situation there was little, if anything, that she could do to prevent that. She hadn't been able to protect the older Jaina from anything, but she would protect her thirteen her old from this.
She blinked down at the thirteen year old in question, and had a laugh startled out of her. "Would you believe that's not the first time I've been asked that today? Do have happen to have SPY stamped across my forehead or something?" She shook her head, still smiling warmly. "No, Jaina, I'm not here to spy on you. I'm here because I realised it's time I set aside my duty to others and concentrated on my family." She paused. "And also because I like History of Magic."
She was speaking less to the Jaina before her and more to the Jaina who would return in a week. Not that she thought her daughter would listen, but she had to try it.
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"That's good, you don't want his grades to suffer," Jaina agreed before deciding to drop the subject entirely with a mental note to write to her brother after she left her mom's rooms and ask how he was feeling.
"No, it's just..." Jaina frowned heavily, "That's all Kirk can talk about! He's convinced you're here to spy on me for some reason, and I told him you weren't-" she sent her mom a meaningful stare that seemed to communicate that Leia should be appreciative of her thirteen year old rising up to defend her honor, "-but he didn't listen. He's so stubborn," she said with a huff, rolling her eyes.
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Her smile softened. "I'm sure he'll do just fine," she said lightly. "Now, weren't you talking before about your own grades? Something about about French, wasn't it?" She had hardly forgotten, but it seemed that her daughter had.
Leia raised her eyebrows. "Kirk? Would this be the same Kirk you've been writing about in your letters?" Something to keep an eye on. Her lips twitched slightly at the look she was receiving from Jaina. "Thank you for coming so readily to my defence, Jaina," she told her, voice sincere behind the teasing. "Although you'll find as you go along that boys seldom stop being stubborn, just as they hardly ever grow up and stop being boys."
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Jaina grimaced once her mom brought up the French translation again, "It's...it's not French class, I'm just trying to get an E on my potions course this year, and I thought that maybe writing the instructions in a separate language might bolster my grade," Jaina would never admit to her mom the real reason why she asked for her assistance. Even though Jaina most definitely took after her father, a small part of her wanted to be able to be as...calmly dignified as her mother. As refined. Sometimes she didn't just want to be the girl covered in engine grease, sometimes she wanted to be the one that knew every species of dragon like Jacen, or the one that could solve problems before they were even presented to her like Anakin. Or...or someone as refined as her mother.
Not that she had a problem with her aptitude for machinery--because she didn't. Not in a million years! She just...wanted to be well-rounded. That was all.
Jaina scowled at that, "Mom, you make it sound like I talk about him all the time!" How embarrassing. Who'd want to talk about Kirk of all people? "Oh, I've noticed. Trust me. You should meet some of the boys in my year."
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