Title: Finders, Keepers
Chapter: Chapter One
Author: bactaqueen
Author's e-mail:
Category: Post-New Jedi Order, Alternate Universe
Keywords: Jaina Solo, Zekk, Alternate Universe
Rating: PG-13
Spoilers: New Jedi Order
Summary: A year after the end of the war with the Yuuzhan Vong, Jaina Solo resigns from her duties as military officer and Jedi, teams up with an old friend, gets a ship, and goes searching for lost treasures.
Disclaimer: "Star Wars" copyright George Lucas. Characters copyright respective owners. No profit is being made and no infringement is intended.

Finders, Keepers: Chapter One

Now the galaxy seemed a larger and stranger place to Jaina Solo. A year after the total and unconditional surrender of the Yuuzhan Vong, the Galactic Federation of Free Alliances was working to rebuild not only the government, but also each of the worlds devastated by the war. She knew reconstruction would be time-consuming and difficult. She knew that the GFFA and the Jedi Order needed volunteers, leaders, and doers. She knew that sentient beings dedicated to the restoration were necessary for the good of the galaxy. And she knew without a doubt that she could not be one of them.

Jaina strode into the Jedi High Council chamber with the swagger of a woman who knew what she wanted and was going after it. She wore the Starfighter Command dress uniform, and even the discomfort of the new, shiny black boots, black body stocking, and white jacket with the garish red trim couldn't subdue her spirits. The red edge of the jacket at her left breast was bare of rank insignia and her campaign ribbons now; she had just come from resigning her commission. She felt lighter. Free. And very soon, she would feel freer.

It was impossible to miss the curiosity in Luke Skywalker's expression as he watched his niece enter and cross the chamber. Though his face seemed worn, a slight smile curved his lips, and his blue eyes were bright, asking questions as they observed. He wore the black boots, pants, tunic, and robes he had favored since the end of the war with the Empire over twenty years before, and he sat comfortably in one of the newly replaced Council chairs with his back to the scarred Coruscant skyline. He looked every centimeter the Jedi Grand Master.

Jaina drew to a halt in front of Luke, in the center of the intricate red-and-yellow design laid into the floor. She bowed deeply. "Greetings, Grand Master Skywalker." Her voice seemed to echo in the nearly-empty chamber.

Amusement sparkled in Luke's eyes. "Good afternoon, Knight Solo," he intoned, mimicking her formality.

As Jaina straightened, she could feel Luke's piercing, inquisitive gaze on her. She did not allow it to shake her resolve. She simply stood at attention, her eyes locked with his, and waited for him to speak first.

For a moment, Luke seemed unsure. His amusement wavered, and the smile fell from his face as Jaina felt him reach out through the Force for a sense of what he should be expecting. Finally, he said, "What a pleasant surprise."

Jaina couldn't help the quick, humorless grin. Under other circumstances, it would have been pleasant to see her uncle. Under the current circumstances... "Hold that thought, Uncle Luke. I don't think you're going to like why I'm here."

Wariness cast a shadow over his face. "Should you be seated for this?"

With an emphatic shake of her head, Jaina answered, "No. If I sit, we'll talk, and this isn't up for discussion." She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders, and met her uncle's eyes. "I just resigned from the Galactic Alliance military."

Luke leaned back in his seat and frowned. She didn't need the Force to know he was thinking about her love of flying and her knack for command, and she knew he was considering that she had given it all up by resigning.

"I'm sorry to hear that," he said slowly. "The GA needs all the crack pilots and leaders they can get." He looked at Jaina as if the answers he wanted were written in tiny script on her irises, and if he looked hard enough, he could read them. "But this isn't about devoting more time to your Jedi duties, is it?"

"I am sorry, Uncle Luke." She knew this decision would hurt him, and she regretted inflicting that pain, but this was something she had to do. "I don't want to be the Sword of the Jedi." She took another deep breath; she had practiced the next words, but none of her practice had prepared her for the force of emotion she would feel standing before her uncle and Grand Master, rejecting all he had laid on her. "I'm resigning as a Knight of the New Jedi Order." She released her lightsaber from her belt and offered it, handgrip first, to Luke.

For several moments, he simply stared at the offered weapon. He wore the expression of a man who had been sucker-punched. Jaina could sense the tumult in him. She knew that there were a dozen other Jedi he had expected this from: Jedi at odds with him, Jedi who disagreed with some of his basic philosophies, Jedi who were just tired of being the failed guardians of a galaxy that didn't seem to want them anymore, even Jedi who had other duties and responsibilities and could no longer commit to the Order. He had not expected this from his sister's daughter.

Luke pushed her lightsaber away. "This isn't a CorSec holodrama where you have to turn in your blaster and badge." He took a deep breath. Then he took another. Then he looked up and met her eyes, and Jaina saw the hurt and hopelessness in them for a fleeting moment before his serene Grand Master mask dropped into place. "Why?"

Jaina winced. Even though he was trying to shield, she could feel how badly she had startled him. He had counted on her. He had placed his hopes for a strong Order in her. She met his eyes, and while she felt a pang of guilt for dashing his hopes, she was overcome by the sense of calm determination that had kept her standing at attention before General Antilles when she had resigned.

"Because I am done," she said firmly. "I've seen what being the Sword of the Jedi means. I don't want it. There's too much death. I don't want the destiny you decided for me. I want to make my own."

Luke looked shaken for a moment before he regained his composure. "I can't change your mind."

Jaina took a few steps forward and dropped to her knees. She laid her hands on Luke's knees and looked up at him, no longer a willful Jedi, now just a kid with her uncle. "For what it's worth, I didn't make this decision lightly. I didn't want to hurt you, and I really hope you can forgive me. This isn't personal at all."

Luke laid his hands on Jaina's. "I know you couldn't make this decision on a whim." He forced a smile, but it was a sad one. He leaned in and kissed her forehead. "You are too much your mother's daughter not to take your duties seriously. If you're doing this, you truly believe it's the best decision you can make."

Jaina nodded.

Luke pulled his niece into a hug, and Jaina held on. He looked suddenly a million years old, and she knew that this had broken a piece of something inside him. She hoped that it wasn't irreparable.

After several long moments, Luke released her. Together, they stood.

Jaina offered a small smile. "You're taking this better than I thought you would."

Luke laughed a tight, breathless laugh and ran a hand through his hair. For a moment, he was once again the teenaged farmboy out of his element. "I'm glad you think so."

"Thanks, Uncle Luke," she said, lifting on tiptoe to kiss his cheek.

"May the Force be with you, Jaina."

She gave him a lopsided grin. "This time, I'm hoping for plain old good luck."

Zekk was almost too big for the bunk. He was stretched out on his back with his shoulders leaving little bunk visible to either side, his Jedi robes acting as a blanket, his booted ankles crossed and the heels within centimeters of the end of the narrow bed. With his hands resting on his stomach and his eyes closed, he looked peaceful.

Jaina lingered in the doorway, studying her friend. As she looked closely, she saw the tiredness on his face, the dust in the lines of his forehead and at the corners of his eyes, the callouses on his fingers, the cuts and scrapes and short jagged nails that proved he'd been doing his fair share of rebuilding. The life of a Jedi was not always glamor and adrenaline.

He turned his face toward her and opened his eyes. They were greener than she remembered, the narrow coronas of deeper emerald around those very green irises were wider. Perhaps they only seemed greener in relation to the paling of his skin; somewhere along the way, maybe when the growth spurt had shot his height to two meters, he had lost that exotic green tinge. His shiny black hair was just as mussed and shaggy as ever, falling across his forehead and curling against his neck, loosened from the thong she knew was there to hold it back. Despite the changes, he was still recognizably Zekk.

"Hey, stranger." She grinned at him, glad that the war hadn't done much to change her feelings for him.

"Jaina!"

Zekk practically leaped from the bed, towering over her for a heartbeat before enfolding her in a tight hug. She was swimming in his robes, surrounded by the scents of him and sweat and stone, crushed against a chest that was harder and broader than she remembered. She hugged back fiercely.

A moment's hesitation betrayed his reluctance, but he pulled back. Zekk settled his big hands on her shoulders to brace her, to hold her at arm's length for careful inspection. Jaina suddenly felt the absurdity of the dress uniform, light makeup, and intricate braided bun into which she had twisted her hair for the day's previous errands. Finally, Zekk smiled again, but this time there was an edge to his smile, as though he didn't quite believe what he was seeing.

"What a sight you are. Are you here to help with the rebuilding, or are you just visiting?" Zekk dropped his hands and took a step back.

She had passed inspection, then. Jaina released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding, and excitement finally got the better of her. In the presence of her old friend, she wanted to bounce from foot to foot. She managed to control her body, but the grin was something she couldn't even try to control. "I have a proposition for you."

Interest and curiosity flared in Zekk's eyes. He stepped aside and waved Jaina toward the bed. "Have a seat."

Jaina crossed the small room in two steps, then settled herself tailor-style atop the rumpled blanket. She waited for Zekk to take a seat in the room's only chair, took a deep breath, and hoped that he'd say yes.

Zekk sank into the desk chair, his eyes never leaving Jaina. A rush of memories played in his mind as they always did upon seeing her for the first time after any separation, and as usual there was the stir of wanting more. He was so used to it by now that it barely hurt. It lay beneath the amusement he felt at seeing her in that ridiculous uniform and Alderaanian updo.

"How have you been, Zekk?"

"Surviving," he told her honestly, mentally kicking himself as the words left his mouth. He could have come up with something more positive. He suppressed the urge to wince. "How about you?"

A sly grin curved her lips, and her brandy-brown eyes sparkled. "Making plans."

Unable to resist her excitement, he smiled back. "The proposition?"

She nodded.

Zekk laughed. "Well?" he prompted.

Jaina held her hands before her, palms down and fingers spread, as though she was a general sitting before a map of the battlefield. "I want us to go into business together." Her expression hadn't changed, but there was a serious edge in her voice. "There are a lot of really wealthy beings in this galaxy who are eager to get on with their lives, and they're very interested in memorabilia and collectibles from the Old Republic, the Empire, the Sith, the Jedi... It's a huge market right now. There's an auction house on Kuat holding monthly events. I thought with your knack for finding things, we could make a killing."

Zekk frowned before he could help himself. He wasn't sure what he had expected, but this certainly wasn't it. "This is about money?"

"The money doesn't hurt, but no, it's not about money." She met his eyes again, and now instead of excitement, he saw a flash of desperation. Through the Force, he felt a sudden stab of need from her. "It's about doing something that feels good and doesn't end with someone dead."

Somewhat alarmed and confused, he frowned. "What about your squadron?"

"I resigned."

His frown deepened. "And the Jedi Order?"

"I resigned from that, too." Jaina bit her lip and for a moment looked like the girl he'd known on Yavin 4. Her expression was almost imploring when she said, "Please, Zekk? Do this with me?"

The emotion he felt from her through the Force tugged at his heart more than her words did. He had obligations and duties with the Jedi, and if he was honest with himself, he still felt he owed a debt of gratitude to Master Skywalker for taking him back in after all the mistakes he had made. But this was Jaina. He was incapable of denying her.

"We're going to need a ship. I don't have the Lightning Rod anymore-"

Jaina flew off the bed and landed in his lap, her arms going immediately around his neck and her face close to his. She was laughing. "I knew I could count on you!"

This close, her eyes seemed infinitely deep, and he thought he saw a spark of something else in them, something he hadn't seen since before he'd left the Academy. He shared her laughter and put his arms around her. "Always."

"I have six years' back pay in an account on Aargau," she told him. "The New Republic and GA didn't pay much, but it should be enough to get us started." After a quick peck to his cheek, she slid off his lap and stood before him, gesturing impatiently. "Come on. Get your stuff, and we'll catch a shuttle back to my place."

Zekk rose. His cheek was warm where she'd kissed him, and his body felt the lingering ghost of hers. Her eagerness was a tangible thing, even without the Force. This breathless adventure-seeker was the Jaina he knew. Just like before, she was dragging him into her adventures, trusting him to have her back and share her excitement.

After Myrkr, he had thought this Jaina was gone forever, just another casualty of war. To have her before him was almost beyond his ability to believe, but he never had been one to ask too many questions when it came to the Force dropping an unexpected gift in his lap.

He looked around the small room, then back at her. "Will you wait for me? I have to see Master Skywalker before I leave."

Jaina's grin widened. "How about you go see Uncle Luke, I'll pack for you, and we can meet in front of the Temple?"

Her eagerness made him want to laugh. Instead, he returned her grin. "Deal."