AN: This is a collection of short stories for ten different Jaina Solo pairings for a challenge over on LJ. Hope you like!
Just a Match- Kyp x Jaina
The trails of light in the space between them danced and reflected like dotted lines, rotating wrists making the sources of color whirl and spin fast enough to only register as a blur. Arms moved in deft strokes, graceful despite the obvious physical strain that was occurring between the two lightsaber duelists.
The younger one felt her jaw clench as she clasped the hilt of her weapon, light brown eyes taking in every movement, every possible movement of her opponent, judging and waiting for openings that would allow her to do the most damage with the least amount of effort.
The older one merely smiled, a dark sort of amusement flickering through his gaze as he matched her agility with his acrobatics, her speed with his strength. Youth and the adrenaline that came with it were on her side, but he had more than enough experience to make up for that.
Purple met purple in an electric clash as she blocked a strike aimed for her chest. Using the Force to enhance her muscles, she pressed the two interlocked weapons forward, eyes narrowed and nostrils flared as she struggled to gain an advantage in this standoff. Her eyes went straight to his own green stare, narrowed in defiance as she grit her teeth and allowed her frustration at the man in front of her to fuel her offense.
He smile grew into a smirk, as his wrists rotated, the two blades curving from their place between their chests and down far enough that the tips of the lightsabers were scratching the ground where they sparred.
Their breathing matched. In-out, in-out. Their arms both pressing down, their eyes focused on nothing but each other.
In.
"Is this the best you can do?"
Out.
"I'm not the one with their lightsaber pinned, Goddess."
In.
"I'm not the one sweating."
Out.
"Not yet."
She ducked into a crouch, using the low position to rotate her shoulder and pull out her weapon from underneath her opponent's in a swoop aimed for his lower body. The man's quick reflexes were the only thing that allowed him to keep his kneecaps as he flexed his muscles and utilized the Force to do a back tuck, earning him some ground from the infuriated young woman who pulled out of her squat and raised her violet lightsaber in front of her face.
The man's face was remarkably calm as he rushed her, his strokes even and almost poetic as they intercepted and countered her own more pragmatic thrusts. Her eyes narrowed perceptively, analyzing the more mature swordsman's movements to look for an opening in the way her aunt had instructed her, back when she was still green from Yavin 4.
She wasn't quite so green anymore, and she was going to make sure her opponent realized it before the match was over.
Noticing that he tended to favor his left side, she quickly spun, using her shorter stature to her advantage as she brought her weapon up and attempted to catch him under his left armpit. He surprised her by anticipating her movements, making her realize that the favoritism was a feint as he twirled, backing away and catching her saber with his own. However, the momentum she had put into her attack was far more than he had expected, and felt himself momentarily lose his footing. He quickly caught himself, using the hand not wielding his weapon to push himself into a kneeling position- blocking the downward strike she had planned while he had attempted to reassert balance. His free hand waggled a finger at her, side to side in a scolding manner.
Her disappointment was evident, and although his face was as cool and stoic as a piece of durasteel, he inwardly laughed at the sight of her slightly protruding lower lip. It was the pout that gave him the inspiration for an impromptu maneuver.
It was underhanded, but before she had time to register what he was doing, the man turned off his weapon, using the metal hilt to jab her soundly in the gut while he ducked out of the way of her descending blade. He felt her sag forward slightly before the momentum of his blow followed through and she toppled over backwards.
Everything paused, punctuated by that hit.
The air in her lungs somehow managed to exit out of her stomach, and her back hit the hard ground as she forcibly exhaled. Her abdomen throbbed from where he had managed to sneak in a hit with that downright scoundrel of a move, and she took a minute to allow her eyes to roll back and look at the sky.
"Ouch," she said dryly, refusing to move, and her now deactivated lightsaber rolled out of her hand.
A heavily booted foot rested on top of her sore stomach, like some sort of explorer claiming an Unknown moon, "Come on now, I didn't hit you that hard."
"Kyp Durron spared a little mercy on his former apprentice, someone alert the holocom operators," she said with a grunt between labored breaths, fingers already moving to get a grip back on her weapon.
"I believe that's current apprentice now," while he wasn't breathing as heavily as Jaina, beads of sweat had accumulated on his forehead, "And sulking is very unbecoming of a Goddess."
"And weighing more than an Outer Rim planet is very unbecoming of a Jedi Master," she snapped, and Kyp had barely enough time to hop off the irate Jedi Knight before a flare of purple traced after his heels, "And the condition was that you beat me, not sneak in a cheap shot."
There was the familiar hiss sound as her sparring partner reignited his own blade, a few shades lighter than her own, and the glow reflected in his eyes playfully, "Are you calling me, your senior and superior, fat?"
Jaina smirked, flexing her knees and crouching into a more offensive position, "I'm calling you a dirty fighter. So you better watch yourself grandpa, this might be a bit hard on your knees."
Kyp snorted, and immediately he copied the stance, although his was a more natural motion, due to almost a decade more of experience, "I'm not the one who was just on the ground."
"You will be."
A slow smirk pulled at the corners of his mouth, and an eyebrow rose in time to him repositioning his form into a basic defense stance.
"You know what I meant," Jaina said crossly in a tone that was only employed for two people- Kyp Durron and her young cousin Ben when she caught him messing with her hydrospanners.
"Of course," but the smirk stayed in place.
Jaina exhaled between her teeth, lashing out quickly with her dark purple blade, Kyp met and parried the strike easily. He sensed that this duel would last for an hour, at the very least, and although he'd never admit it, he enjoyed the prospect that this spar would be a long one.
His thoughts about the duration of the match distracted him from Jaina sneaking behind him and kicking out the backs of his knees. He barely had time to turn off his weapon before he face planted into the ground. Groaning in irritation, he quickly rolled over and prepared to get back up.
He wasn't surprised that Jaina pounced, slamming him back down and claiming victory. So much for a long match.
Kyp's left eye winced slightly at the hard ground connecting hard with his spine, and he rolled his only open eye to meet the stare at the woman who had a lightsaber at his throat. She was breathing heavily, and her thighs were on either side of hips.
"Got you," she mumbled, smugness radiating from her, her face was only a few centimeters away from his own as she craned her neck down to taunt him. If it weren't for the lethally focused laser between them, Kyp would have found this quite romantic.
He laughed, despite the air being knocked out of him, "I suppose you do."
Something about the way he said it made her eyes brighten with realization, and she quickly stood up and disengaged her lightsaber. She made a show of stretching, rolling her shoulders to signify that their elaborate conversation guised as a duel had come to a punctuation mark.
"Thanks for the workout," she said, and there was a hint of something devious in her expression as one side of her mouth twisted, "Master Durron."
Kyp's eyes widened at the title that for once held no sarcasm attached. He pulled himself to a knee to take a breath and cool down, "I let you win."
She smiled softly as she shouldered her pack and prepared to head back to her room, "You always do."
He wasn't sure if that was a glib remark or a compliment, so he decided to ignore the comment, "Same time tomorrow, my young apprentice?"
She snorted, "I'm not yours until you beat me. Way things are looking, I'll be a Master before apprentice."
"Masters still need instruction from time to time," he said standing up, "Look at me."
"Good point."
"You didn't need to agree so quickly."
"I'll see you tomorrow Durron."
"I plan on fighting dirty."
A snort, "You always do."
As he watched her walk away, Kyp couldn't help but contemplate that for someone who was so disgusted by the idea of him being her Master, Jaina certainly gave him plenty of opportunities to beat her.