Disclaimer: Same old one, none of these characters belong to me. I am making no money off of this. If you have any questions, or want to see the complete disclaimer and list of characters, see the Prologue
A Complicated Friendship:
The Story of Jag Fel and Jaina Solo
Chapter 25:
Strange Things
The two sat in the room for a while; soon it started to get dark outside.
Jaina got up and stretched. "You alright Sticks?"
She smiled, "Yeah, just fine. Come here, I want to show you something."
He just looked at her, puzzled. "Ok."
Jaina then sat on the grass, Jag joined her.
"We are lying on the grass because?" he asked.
"Because that rock is uncomfortable and if you lie down here you can see the stars and planets," she commented pointing at the transparisteel ceiling.
He looked to Jaina, kissed her once more, then grabbed her and fell backwards. They both landed laughing.
"Jag, if you wanted to hold me and lie down, all you had to do was ask," she said smiling, knowing she was making him blush.
And boy was he blushing. "Jaina, you know how I am, it is going to take some time for me to get used to."
"I know, I'm just joking," she said snuggling into his embrace.
"Look, there's my home world."
She pulled away a little to look in his face, "You miss them don't you?"
"Yeah, but right now I don't want to be anywhere else," he said pulling her close again.
"You're sweet."
"I know."
"You're cocky," she said grinning.
"And you love every bit of it," he shot back at her as she lay her head on his chest. She gently traced her hand across his stomach as he played with her hair.
"Do you miss you family?" she said getting back to the subject.
"Everyday," he replied. "I haven't' heard from or seen Mom and Jade since I left. I speak to Dad every once in a while, but it's mostly about business. Neeja informs me of how everyone's doing."
"I wish I could meet them…Wait a second, Neeja? You've heard from him?"
"Yeah, of course…That's right, I haven't told you yet. Neeja made Spike Squadron, second highest marks ever," he said proudly.
"Wow, that's great! Who has the highest?" she asked.
"Yours truly," he said grinning from ear to ear.
"I should have known," she said chuckling.
They lapsed into a comfortable silence, each lost in their own thoughts.
'I could stay like this forever,' Jaina thought.
"Yeah, I could too," he remarked. 'I probably have the most stupid grin on my face.'
"You could what?"
"What you said, stay like this forever."
"But Jag," she said sitting up suddenly, "I thought that. What's going on, why do we keep hearing each others thoughts?"
"Jaina, Ben told me that they think I'm Force-Sensitive."
"What?" she asked shocked. "I can't hear Jace that well when I try, or Ben and our bond is somehow stronger that a twin bond. If I have to try to hear them, then how can I hear you clearly and we don't even try?"
"They think we have a force bond, like Luke and Mara's."
"Wow," she said feeling slightly dizzy.
"Sticks, you're still not well. Let's lat back down and let you rest." As he drew her back into his embrace and she lat her head on his chest, he felt her wince. "What's wrong Sticks?"
"Nothing, just these bruises on my face. No matter how much I try to heal, they won't go away. They should have, everything else is ok."
"I'm sorry. I wish there were something I could do."
"But Jag, it's not your fault."
"Ben thinks it might partially be, not on purpose of course. But that's beside the point, I just don't like seeing you in pain," he said kissing the top of her head and smiling. He then began stroking her bruises with feather light touches, so as not to hurt her more. He didn't know why he did, but something just told him to.
"You're sweet," she said. The more he traced the bruises, the more the pain receded. "That feels good," she said in a sleepy voice. They stayed like that for a while longer. Then Jag lifted her chin to gently kiss her, but stopped startled.
"Jag, what's wrong?" she mumbled.
"Your face, the bruises, they're gone!" he said astonished.
"Guess if you're Force sensitive :yawn: that your talent :yawn: is healing."
"Guess so," he kissed her gently, "get some rest, you've earned it."
"Love you Jag."
"I love you, too, Sticks. Now go to sleep." With that she was out.
Jag thought to himself for a few minutes. 'If someone had told me a few years ago that I would show emotion and depend on someone else, I would've laughed in their face. Sticks, I love you and depend on you, even though I don't deserve you. I'll never hurt you.' "I love you Sticks," he said as he wrapped his other arm protectively around her. He was soon taken by sleep also.
Outside on the balcony:
Zekk felt a surge of emotion shortly after he left the palace. It was sadness followed by hope then happiness then…love.
"No!" Zekk shouted. Then he turned to go back. "I'm taking care of this now, once and for all!"
He got back to the balcony in just enough time to hear their confessions.
~"Love you Jag."
"I love you, too, Sticks. Now go to sleep." ~
He took a few moments to collect himself. Then he pulled his blaster and looked in the window to see the young couple sleeping comfortably in each other's arms. He was targeting Jag as the door flew open.
'Sith, not again,' he thought. 'I'll just wait until Jaina is alone and see what happens.' He started to formulate his plan as he left the balcony.
In the palace:
As Ben was talking with his family about Jag, his danger sense suddenly went off. He jumped up and ran out of the room, leaving a confused family behind.
Ben hurried down the hall to where Jag and Jaina were. He knew something wasn't right. He arrived outside the room and burst inside. The flare from his danger sense was gone.
Jaina stirred slightly, while Jag woke up.
"Are you guys ok?" Ben asked.
"Yeah, we were just sleeping. Sticks is finally getting some rest," he said smiling, and then looking at her.
"She's healed!" Ben said astonished.
"Yeah, we think, if your suspicions are correct, that I may be a healer, or at least have some ability," Jag told him.
"Well, that would explain why she had such problems," he stated, "but I don't want to go into more until we test you and talk to Dad. Let's go."
"Whoa, Ben, I'm not going anywhere right now. She's still asleep and I'm not leaving her right now. I have this bad feeling that if I leave her alone something will happen. I've always learned to follow my gut instinct."
"You've got that feeling too. Well let's get her back to the suite, we can test you in there."
"Well what are we waiting for, let's go," Jaina added.
"How long have you been awake Sticks?" Jag asked.
"Long enough," she grinned that famous Solo grin. "Seriously, since Ben came in and you woke up."
"Well, let's go. Jay, you seem to have healed, physically and emotionally," Ben commented.
Jaina walked up to Ben, "Thanks Punk, for everything."
He smiled, "You're welcome, Sticks. I'm just glad you're happy and healthy."
They left the room, Jag and Jaina in the front leading the way, Ben following behind. Something wasn't quite right, he had a bad feeling. He stayed back far enough to be able to draw his light saber out if necessary. Soon they arrived at the Solo/Skywalker suite to meet Luke, Mara, and Corran.
In the Skywalker suite:
Luke, Mara, and Corran sat talking while waiting for Jaina, Jag, and Ben.
"Ami's not dating until she's 50," Luke said kidding.
Corran just chuckled, "50? I'm never letting Jysella date."
"Men," Mara said exasperated, then smiled. "Come on Luke, Taylor dating Sean isn't that bad."
"No, but Sean and I have an understanding: along with Ben, Han, Corran, CJ, and or course, you."
"Watch it farmboy," she said with a mock evil glare. "So Corran, have you heard from everyone when they are arriving?"
"Wedge, Iella and the girls should be here by the end of the night."
"Well Ben should be happy," Luke commented grinning.
"Yeah, Hand and Leia will be here in the morning with Tenel and Tahiri."
"Well that will make Anakin and Jacen happy," Mara said. "I don't think I've seen anybody more love-sick that those two." They all laughed. "When will Mirax be here?"
"Well she picked up Rostek yesterday. She met up with Neeja this morning, now they are heading off to pick up a surprise for Wedge and Jag."
"What kind of surprise, I don't think poor Jag can handle much more," he said half serious.
"Well, I hope his parents and sister are a good surprise."
"He'll love it, I'm sure he missed them," Mara commented.
"Sshh…They're outside the door," Luke said. They shielded their thoughts so Ben and Jag wouldn't learn of their surprise.
