Chapter Seventeen

"Shh! It's me," a deep voice whispered as Jaina struggled to free herself from the hand over her mouth, as well as the one around her waste.

Jaina snapped around quickly, breaking away from her attacker's grasp. Her jaw dropped when she saw whom it was. "Lehada! What the hell--"

He held up a hand. "Quiet, sweetheart. Your yelling is the exact reason I got you like that in the first place."

Jaina sighed and slowed her heartbeat down. Trying to relax and regain composure, she took deep breaths, and planned her next retort. However, she had been so startled that all she could come up with was, "Oh. So that's why my danger sense didn't kick in."

Lehada raised an eyebrow. "I must have really riled you up if that's the best you can do," he smiled. "Sorry."

"My mind is somewhere else, which's why I was startled. Trust me, Lehada, nothing you can do can get me riled up," she snapped back.

"It looks like just my words can do that," he said, eyeing the scowl on the young Jedi. "Don't fool yourself...you'd get excited if you heard someone mention my name."

"Ha!" Jaina snorted. "It'd take a hell of a lot more than that--"

"Oh really," he said quietly, and rubbed his hand over her cheek. Jaina didn't resist; instead she met his gaze. "It looks like--"

"Like what?" she responded, as he held his palm on her face. "Does it appear that I am getting excited?"

"Hmm...unusual amount of resistance," he muttered. "That works on most women."

"I'm not like most women," she said sternly, and he laughed.

"No, Solo, no you're not," he replied, "but this'll get any woman." He leaned forward and brushed a light kiss on her lips. Jaina's heart fluttered. "See?" he asked.

Jaina stepped back. "Stop," she responded. Jaina turned quickly around and didn't notice the smirk on Lehada's face. Focusing her thoughts yet again, she turned back to face the brash young man. "Where's Jacen?"

"Jacen? Why, being the ever-responsible Jedi and continuing on with the mission. He's outside somewhere, scouting for a way to get some parts for the ship."

"Oh, and you decided to come in here and bother me."

"No, I decided to come in here and figure out what the hell you're doing in here. We could both sense you. But Jacen and I learned pretty fast a while back that people on this rock are not so friendly to Jedi...so I snuck in."

"I am so pleased," Jaina responded, rolling her eyes.

"I knew you would be," he smiled, and continued, "So what are you doing in here? And where's Rhysode?"

Ganner. Jaina's thoughts flashed quickly back to him...sitting in the jail...and here she had been flirting with another man. Her heart suddenly ached, and Lehada noticed her conflict.

"Is he all right?" Lehada asked, mistaking Jaina's pain for one of loss rather than one of regret.

"At the moment, yes," Jaina said sincerely. "But I cannot guarantee that that's going to hold true much longer..."

After telling the story of how she wound up here, in the capitol building of this mysterious city, Lehada couldn't help but laugh. "You are definitely a Solo," he smiled, shaking his head.

"Yeah, except..." Should she tell him about her name change? Knowing that the fact she had chosen his last name would swell his head to the size of a Hutt's, she wasn't so sure. But...he needed to know.

"Except what?" he asked.

"My name isn't Jaina Solo here--it's Lieutenant Jaina...Lehada."

Mat Lehada's eyes widened, but he quickly controlled his shock. Or so he thought.

"Don't get so excited," Jaina replied. "I only picked it because it was the first name that came to my head--that no one would recognize."

It took Lehada a moment to recover from the implications that comment had, but he responded, "Ouch...but it's still the first thing that came to your head."

"Whatever," she responded, not willing to argue with him anymore. "But that's the name I gave them."

"Well then, what name shall I give them?" Lehada asked.

"What do you mean, what name? You do not need to give them a name. You need to stay here."

"Oh please, Jaina, do you really expect me to stay hidden while you're off trying to save Rhysode and figure out what is going on here that they so badly do not want the New Republic to know about?"

"Actually, yes, I do," she said sharply.

"Well, you know very well that I will not do that. So, get your wheels turning again, Solo. We need another story."

* * * * *

Jacen Solo wandered aimlessly around the outskirts of the city; his Jedi robes replaced with a mechanic's suit he had "borrowed" from a sleeping repairman. He blended in just fine, but that still didn't mean he was about to go barging into this city...this city with the strange aura to it.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Jacen muttered, sitting down for a moment, and contemplating exactly what he should do next.

Again, I would like to apologize for the amount of time it has taken for me to post this next chapter. I'm going to try to post more often, but I can't guarantee that will happen...If you'd like to receive an email when my story is updated, I would be happy to do so. ***PLEASE NOTE: My email address has changed to alliemunroe321@hotmail.com.*** That way, you won't have to keep checking back to see when this incredibly slow author has posted again! Thanks for reading, and I appreciate your comments!