Author: Jag-Fel
Genre: Romance (I admit it, J/J mush)
Characters: Jaina Solo and Jagged Fel
Era/Setting: Post-The Unifying Force, AU NJO.
Disclaimer: The situation is mine, everything else isn't. Jaina Solo and Jagged Fel belong to their respective copyrights.
Welcome to the first of the Through Your Eyes vignette trilogy.
Denon was a quiet world in the later evenings. Quiet, but peaceful, Jagged Fel thought, looking out one of the transparisteel windows of Jaina Solo's flat. Jag slowly checked his chrono, making sure their reservations would hold while he waited for Jaina to finish dressing. They had lots of time, but Jag felt uncharacteristically nervous. No reason to be nervous, Fel, he reprimanded himself. His anxiety was replaced by swelling affection that he knew Jaina had caught. It didn't matter that she caught him at an uncollected moment, as she often did. Jag wasn't afraid of open himself up to this Solo girl.
She wore a gorgeous black gown that hugged her every curve. The black was woven with some kind of silver thread that twinkled in the light every time she moved. Her hair was woven in a bun that allowed tendrils to frame her face, and others to flow down her back. Jaina wore a crystal necklace, dotted with small semi-precious stones that glowed the same way her dress shimmered. She told him it had been a gift from her mother.
She beamed at him, "See, Jag, I can be a lady when I want."
The corners of Jag's lips turned up in proximity of a Jag Fel smile. "Are you ready to go, Jaina?" Jag asked, extending his hand for her.
Jaina smiled, stumbling in her high heels, "Yeah, let's get going. I can hardly wait to see this place. Mom and Aunt Mara said it was the best restaurant on planet when they visited it."
He returned her smile, and they walked arm-in-arm down the causeway that lead to the restaurant.
The restaurant Jag had decided to take Jaina to was open-air, illuminated only by the candles lit at every table, the stars above, and the glowlamps lighting the dance floor, corners, and exit. The Starlight Sanctuary was an absolutely stunning establishment, dotted with couples dancing, talking in hushed tones, and soft music flowing from a musical quartet in one corner. They walked together, were guided to a candle-lit table, and seated. Looking across the table, Jag admired the holo-perfect image of Jaina Solo. She was delicate without being frail, forceful without lacking grace, and beautiful without being arrogant. They had been dating since shortly after the end of the Yuuzhan Vong War, and he had no problem imagining Jaina dressed from head to toe in shimmering white, a veil across her face, tears in her eyes, and love in her heart. He could easily see himself spending the rest of his life with this woman.
Jagged had been assigned the liaison of the CEDF to the Galactic Alliance, and made sure that he ran into Jaina as much as possible. Their night together was partly that Jag had just returned from Chiss space, and part celebration in honor of Jaina herself. A Mon Calamari Jedi, Cilghal had stepped down from President Cal Omas' Advisory Council, and Jaina got her secret wish when Omas and Luke announced that Jaina was taking Cilghal's place.
A waiter came over to take their orders, and Jag quickly chose something that he was familiar with, having forgot to look over the menu while lost in his Jaina fantasy.
"Good evening, sir and ma'am. I am Daelyn, and I will be your waiter this evening..."
Both Jag and Jaina drifted out while the waiter drawled on about various specials and the like, until he finally asked what they wanted to order. Jaina went for a soup & salad combo, and Jag went for a poultry dish. The wine he ordered wasn't the most expensive bottle on the menu, but it was close enough that it would be a decent vintage.
When their meals came, neither could keep their eyes from glancing up at the other every couple of minutes, between mouthfuls of food. Jaina couldn't resist staring at Jag, his fluid movements, his piercing green eyes. He was the only person she had ever met who could completely capture her attention, make her float like a feather, and make her feel so safe and secure that even she could not explain it. Her feelings were so vast, seeming so complicated, but the answer was so simple: she loved Jagged Fel.
When they had finished their meal, Jag looked across his wine glass at Jaina, and gave her a full, genuine, sincere smile. Searching her memory, Jaina couldn't remember a single moment in her recollection of Jagged Fel that ever included a memory of such a genuine smile. She returned the beam, and stared longingly into his eyes.
Jag stood, and proffered his hand. "Jaina, will you honor me with a dance?" When she nodded eagerly in agreement, she took his hand, and he lead her onto the central dance floor where only a few couples swayed in motion to the music. Jag waited until Jaina was preoccupied staring at the sky until he nodded at the orchestral quartet, signaling them to play a song he had directed them to earlier that day before he picked Jaina up. The band started a slow harmony that Jaina instantly recognized as a slow song from Corellia, something her father often played for her mother during anniversaries. She let Jag lead, he pulled her closer to him, and moved with the melody. A feeling of pure, unadulterated comfort and security fell over Jaina, so that she wondered for a brief moment if she hadn't stumbled into a dream. Her hand resting on Jag's chest reminded her that she had not, and she lie her head against his strong shoulders, lost in the moment and melody.
Jaina pulled away as the song was coming into its second chorus, the vocals of a beautiful young lady smoothly echoing the quartet's sweeping tune. "Jag, was this all for me?" she asked slowly.
Jag smiled down at her, "It is. I wanted this night to be perfect for you, Jaina."
She sighed lightly, and lie back against Jag's shoulders. "It is," she whispered quietly, closing her eyes.
Resting his cheek against the top of her head, Jag closed his eyes, too. Everything was so perfect. Here he was, the best night of his life, nothing could be better.
Then it started to rain.
The droplets started couples bounding off the gallery, fleeing the tiny raindrops. The candles soon went out, as waiters and servers grabbed perishables. The band continued initially, but folded and fled the rain when the drops increased in intensity. Jaina and Jag lingered for a few minutes more than anyone else, luxuriating in the cool sensation the droplets caused as beads of rain slowly soaked both. Finally, Jag removed his dress jacket and wrapped it around Jaina's bare shoulders, guiding her to the exit.
They fled the rain drops, trying to share Jag's dress jacket above them to prevent total saturation. They laughed together, as the wet causeway splashed their legs with every footfall. At last, they reached Jaina's flat, walking across a cobblestone patio, both soaked from head to heel. Abruptly, Jaina turned on Jag, and stopped his footsteps in the open air of the patio. She trailed a finger up Jag's wet chest, past his chin, and traced the slight indentation of his scar that slid back into his hairline.
"We need to get you out of those wet clothes, Jag," she murmured, sliding her hands down around his waist to slip him out of the sopping undershirt. He raised his arms to let the saturated garment fall to the wet stone patio, grasped Jaina's shoulder firmly with each hand, and pulled her tightly against his wet torso, leaning down for her lips. Rising to accept his mouth with her own, Jaina Solo returned Jag's passionate kiss. A moment later, they broke away, needing air. She swept up to Jag once more, and took one hand in her own, and planted his other firmly on her opposite hip. Together, they didn't need musicians to perform music. The music came from their very souls. It came from their loving bond.
Jaina giggled as the rain intensified once more, and the droplets began to pelt them with a fervor that surpassed Yuuzhan Vong thud bugs.
"Looks like a real storm cell is settling in," Jag said at last, acknowledging the increasingly poor weather. "We ought to get inside before it gets worse."
In contrast, Jaina's suite was warmer and far more dry. Jaina removed her delicate shoes, and padded barefoot across the carpeted floor. She slipped out of her soaking gown, and replaced it with a light night gown. Watching her through loving eyes, Jag waited until she turned around and walked back to him before moving. When Jaina returned, her hands found their way to his shoulders, and she leaned lightly against him. Words were forming on her lips, which seemed odd that Jaina was finding it hard to express her true feelings or say whatever she was trying to. Jag felt that it was unusual for Jaina's eloquence to fail, even after the incredible night.
"Jag, will you stay with me?" Jaina finally asked, her voice barely audible even at their close proximity. Unexpectedly, Jag realized why the words had been so hard to say. They had been through a lot, and it all seemed to rise until this night. She looked up at him questioningly, "Please, will you stay here with me? I don't want this night to end, Jagged."
Her tiny voice made Jag's knees weaken. He reached down and brushed a lock of wet hair from Jaina's forehead. "Of course, Jaina." Then, remembering an earlier promise he had made on Borleias, "I'll never leave you."
Jaina grasped his hand, and lead him to her bed. He discarded his dress pants on the way and climbed into the bed beside her. Jaina's somewhat wet hair chilled Jag's chest, but the heat her little body produced was enough to keep him warm all night. Body heat and sheer affection warmed his whole. Jaina was still looking up at him, his heart threatened to collapse in on itself. He longed to be with her, to take away all her troubles, to go to bed and wake up every morning with the same vision he had now.
He wanted nothing more than to tell her everything. Jag wanted to spill his soul to this tiny woman, to show her just how much he loved her... but he realized she was already part of him.
"Jaina," he whispered, choking on her name even as he tried to form the words. "Will you..." he began. Her eyes widened at the soft utterance of two important words. "Will you marry me?"
Jaina's heart exploded with joy, and her tears with tears that shook her small body as she heaved Jag into the tightest embrace ever. "Yes, of course I'll marry you, Jag!" she cried.