Alphabet Drabbles, There With Us
Jun. 26th, 2009 08:58 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
juxtaposieOne of many responses for the Alphabte Drabbles Meme.
Title: There With Us
Prompt: M is for matter, for![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
lyraeinne
Fandom: Star Wars EU
Character/Pairing: Jacen, Jaina, and/or Anakin
Rating: PG
Author's Notes: The requester and I have this in common - we love fic with the Solo kids taking care of each other in their parents' absence. I'm just not sure she knew I shared her love. Hopefully there's no question now. :) And I know you're having a hard time, so hopefully this will at least put a tiny smile on your face.
It was only after Jacen shook her awake, whispering her name frantically with an insistent hand on her shoulder, that Jaina realized the dream she’d been having wasn’t her own. That happened to her often enough that she was no longer scared, or even surprised by it, but usually when she shared dreams she shared them with Jacen; it was part of being twins.
But sometimes, when Anakin’s nightmares became more than he could bear alone, he reached out.
Jacen, who always woke first (being both more empathetic and a lighter sleeper than Jaina), followed the same course of action every time: he woke his sister. Jaina didn’t know why he didn’t just wake up Anakin and save her the trouble – she’d always forgot to ask him – but she figured it was because she was the oldest, and the only girl, which translated, in her nine-year old mind, to being wiser, and more mature. She was good at taking things in stride.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she kicked the covers back and reached for Jacen, and together they shuffled to Anakin’s bedside. Their little brother was curled up on his side, fists clenched tight beneath his cheek, his knuckles white in the faint blue underlighting of their room. Crawling across the foot of the bed instead of walking around it, Jaina knelt next to Anakin and put her hand on his shoulder, but his eyes were open half a second before she made contact.
“Hey,” she whispered as he looked blearily between her and Jacen. “You okay?”
Anakin looked for a moment as if he wanted to nod, but the longer he lay still the further his face fell, until he was squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head. “I couldn’t breathe,” he mumbled. “Backed into a corner, and he just kept… kept multiplying, pressing me into the wall. The room was full. Couldn’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”
He was shaking under her hand, and Jaina glanced up at Jacen, who was laying a hand across their brother’s forehead. He frowned. “Your face feels hot,” he said to Anakin. “Maybe you’re sick.”
“Prob’ly,” Anakin muttered back, curling further into his pillow.
To Jaina, Jacen said, “I’m gonna go get Winter.”
Jaina nodded. Her eyes followed Jacen from the room as her hand moved in soothing circles across the tense muscles in Anakin’s little shoulders. After a few moments, she thought she felt him begin to relax.
Our brothers and sisters are there with us from the dawn of our personal stories...
~ Susan Scarf Merrell
Title: There With Us
Prompt: M is for matter, for
lyraeinneFandom: Star Wars EU
Character/Pairing: Jacen, Jaina, and
Rating: PG
Author's Notes: The requester and I have this in common - we love fic with the Solo kids taking care of each other in their parents' absence. I'm just not sure she knew I shared her love. Hopefully there's no question now. :) And I know you're having a hard time, so hopefully this will at least put a tiny smile on your face.
It was only after Jacen shook her awake, whispering her name frantically with an insistent hand on her shoulder, that Jaina realized the dream she’d been having wasn’t her own. That happened to her often enough that she was no longer scared, or even surprised by it, but usually when she shared dreams she shared them with Jacen; it was part of being twins.
But sometimes, when Anakin’s nightmares became more than he could bear alone, he reached out.
Jacen, who always woke first (being both more empathetic and a lighter sleeper than Jaina), followed the same course of action every time: he woke his sister. Jaina didn’t know why he didn’t just wake up Anakin and save her the trouble – she’d always forgot to ask him – but she figured it was because she was the oldest, and the only girl, which translated, in her nine-year old mind, to being wiser, and more mature. She was good at taking things in stride.
Rubbing the sleep from her eyes, she kicked the covers back and reached for Jacen, and together they shuffled to Anakin’s bedside. Their little brother was curled up on his side, fists clenched tight beneath his cheek, his knuckles white in the faint blue underlighting of their room. Crawling across the foot of the bed instead of walking around it, Jaina knelt next to Anakin and put her hand on his shoulder, but his eyes were open half a second before she made contact.
“Hey,” she whispered as he looked blearily between her and Jacen. “You okay?”
Anakin looked for a moment as if he wanted to nod, but the longer he lay still the further his face fell, until he was squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head. “I couldn’t breathe,” he mumbled. “Backed into a corner, and he just kept… kept multiplying, pressing me into the wall. The room was full. Couldn’t breathe. I can’t breathe.”
He was shaking under her hand, and Jaina glanced up at Jacen, who was laying a hand across their brother’s forehead. He frowned. “Your face feels hot,” he said to Anakin. “Maybe you’re sick.”
“Prob’ly,” Anakin muttered back, curling further into his pillow.
To Jaina, Jacen said, “I’m gonna go get Winter.”
Jaina nodded. Her eyes followed Jacen from the room as her hand moved in soothing circles across the tense muscles in Anakin’s little shoulders. After a few moments, she thought she felt him begin to relax.
~ Susan Scarf Merrell
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Date: 2009-06-28 12:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-06-29 05:15 am (UTC)