"Planning"
By obi's girl
I smiled one more time at Jag as I punched in the code for my quarters in the pilot's hall. I hesitated a moment, feeling something familiar but let the feeling slip as the door whooshed open and I nodded Jag come inside. I wrapped my arms around his neck, our mouths finding their way to the other.
Even if it was dark, I know I felt his hand slip off my jacket and as it started for my blouse, the light flickered on. I rolled my eyes – now was not the time for any more surprises. Jag nodded to someone behind me as I swirled around, confronting my parents.
I scowled, facing my aunt Mara, Uncle Luke and parents. Usually I would be thrilled to see them but I really wanted this time with Jag. I shrugged, straightening my shirt. "What are you guys doing here? Isn't it late?"
Luke nodded to Leia. She stepped forward, taking my hands in hers and all of the sudden I could feel her motherly essence and a whole speech about me growing up so fast. I almost laughed about that but remembered I wasn't alone. "Jaina, you're engaged to be married which means – something has to be done about the wedding. There's so much to do and take care of..."
I scowled, waving my hand, "That's great mom and I look forward to it but it's kinda late..."
"I already talked to Gavin and he said you're off, Jag too. You're free to plan your wedding. Now, I have a few ideas but I wanted to run them by you first..." mom started. I glanced at my Uncle Luke, dad and Mara. Mara only grunted. I nodded to Jag.
He stepped forward, putting his hands on my shoulders. "Maybe tonight is a bit late. I mean, we're all tired I'm sure and we could always work something our during the day."
During the day? That means mom's going to want me to wake-up early and have breakfast with and over breakfast, talk about decorations and stuff. Thanks, honey. Of course, Jag and I could always elope and then we wouldn't have to worry about the fancy stuff.
"Sleep tonight. I'll meet you at the apartment tomorrow and we'll have breakfast and make plans." Mom instructed, as she nodded to Han and my Uncle Luke. They rolled their eyes and took Jag aside. I frowned. "Oh don't worry about Jag. Your father and Uncle Luke are going to have a talk with him; it may take all night."
Talk? Oh Sithspawn! I worriedly glanced at mom. I really didn't my fiancée terrified of my family and me. "Mom?"
Leia smiled back at her, "Don't worry Jaina. Han and Luke are just going to talk. Nothing else...right Han?"
The Corellian turned and shrugged, "Sure." He smiled the goofiest smile I had ever seen and left the apartment with Jag.
Mom and I looked at my Uncle and he nodded, "Don't worry. I'll make sure Han doesn't do anything to scare him." And the Jedi Master left.
Leia rolled her eyes, nodding to Mara. The woman scowled, removing herself from the shadows. "No offense Leia but I have to rest..."
"What about Jaina? You're still coming to the breakfast tomorrow, aren't you?" she asked, almost snarling.
I smiled to humor her and she nodded yes, leaving. "Oh mom, before I forget – there's something you should know. Wedge's sister, Syal, she's here." Leia raised an eyebrow; suspicious I only said that to get rid of her. Actually, that the reason why I said it. I tired and I need my beauty sleep. "Seriously, I met her in the sim room. She and Wedge are talking in his office, I think."
**
As Wedge Antilles escorted his sister to her husbands' quarters in the pilot's hall, the two of them bumped into Jag, Han and Luke. Han had a lopsided grin on his face and Jag looked really worried. "Han, where are you taking Jag? He looks horrified."
"The Underworld. We're gonna have a little chat. Future son-in-law to future father in law." Han reasoned,
Luke nodded to him, "Jaina's with Leia, in her quarters. Probably still there, Mara left though. She's tired."
"Um Han, it's kinda late, couldn't we talk later?" Jag asked, eyeing his Uncle but Han only slapped his back.
"Nonsense, kid. If we talk later, well, you and Jaina would be married already and it would be pointless to ensure you with my wisdom. Now, come on." Han reasoned pushing him forward down the hall as Luke trailed behind them, nodding his head.
Wedge looked at his sister and the two of them burst out laughing as she walked to the door, calling the Baron. There was no answer, which meant he was still out, probably at some briefing or something. She smiled back at him, "You better check up on Jaina."
He shrugged, "I wouldn't worry too much about Jaina. She has a way of getting rid of her parents when she needs them gone." The two of the fidgeted a moment before Wedge continued, "It's really great to have you back, Syal."
"I know. It's been a long time, a whole decade even." She laughed as she entered in the password for her quarters. The door swooshed open as she ordered the lights on. "Well, I'll see you tomorrow little brother." And she wandered inside.
**
I felt my body bolt straight up as my alarm went off without warning. Mom, my mind screamed. She did this, I know she did. I grumbled, pulling myself out of bed and stumble towards the fresher. On the way, I glanced at the chrono. It wasn't even afternoon. It was morning, probably still dark out. Hmmm. Maybe there's still time for Jag and I to elope.
**
Wedge took another sip of his caf as he head towards the lounge and almost ran me over. He laughed, "Sorry Sticks. Where are off to in a hurry, this morning?"
I shrugged, "Probably the same place you're going, the lounge. My mom set my alarm last night, which means she's expecting me for breakfast and to talk some things over about the wedding, no doubt."
"And you're not particularly excited about that? Jaina, it's your wedding." Wedge cried as the two of us entered the lounge.
"I know. I want it to be perfect, but chances are, it's not going to be perfect which means something big is bound to happen. It's sort of a tradition. Big bad crashing the party." I reasoned.
Wedge frowned, confronting mom, Iella, Syal and Mara, sitting together around a circular table, chatting away. Correction, Iella and Leia were chatting away; Syal simply sat back listening, smiling while Mara slouched on the chair. "Hey." The two women smiled, looking at us as Syal grabbed two more chairs. "What are you guys talking about?"
Leia shrugged, "Just some ideas for your wedding. Wanna hear them?"
"Why now." I answered.
Syal sat forward, smiling, "When you and Jag look for a place to hold the ceremony, can I come along?"
"Sure. I don't think that will be a problem." Syal smiled back okay, then once again, sat back next to Mara. "Your ideas?"
"You have a couple choices about the location. You can have it here, on Coruscant, or Yavin 4. If you choose Yavin, that's fine. It's beautiful there and I'm sure Luke wouldn't disagree." Leia paused briefly, "And there's also the issue of her maid of honor and flower girls. Do you have anyone in mind?"
I shrugged, "What about Tenel Ka for maid of honor. She's my best friend and maid of honor should be your best friend."
"And flower girls?"
"I don't know. Everybody I know is either my age or older than me." I added.
Syal leaned forward a bit, interrupting again, "Two of Jag's brother's are already married and have two girls."
"I guess that takes care of that. I better go and make sure Jag's all right." I joked, standing up but froze, sensing something else. I turned back to them, frowning, "You have more ideas don't you?"
Iella nodded yes, "Taking care of location, maid of honor and flower girls is only a portion of the work we have to get done. There's also food and guests, figuring out the time of day, the reception. Which should only take a few hours."
I smiled, sitting back down, "Few hours? Great."
Eloping with Jag doesn't sound like a bad idea right around now.
**
The Vong officer knelt before villip as the yammosk slipped from his face to reveal several tattoos and his dark blue eyes. The yammosk shook its head briefly as it changed into the face of Yamin Carr. "Yes?" it answered.
"Commander, I have some news. The Jedi are preparing for some type of ceremony called a "wedding", a joining of two lovers. They are distracted – if you wish to attack, you must attack on the day of the ceremony." The Vong reported as Carr flinched.
He growled showing his crude teeth, "I give the orders, not you! I will think on it. Continue to monitor this gathering and take note of who comes to it. If there are more Jedi coming...It will be even better."
The Vong nodded as the face on the villip disappeared and the Vong stood up, morphing into a human Jedi with dark black hair and blue eyes – Zekk.
**
As soon as mother was finished going over plans for my wedding, I left promptly to meet up with Jag. I stopped, looking back at Wedge and Syal. She said good-bye to him before catching with me. I rolled my eyes. More plans, no doubt. Eloping to me really sounded like the best plan.
She smiled at me, "Jaina, if you're meeting with my son, I'll come with you. We need to work out a schedule to look at places for the ceremony."
Schedule? I wander if planning for mom and dad's wedding was ever this complicated and aggravating. I shrugged, "Sure. Come on." I mumbled, gesturing she follow me.
**
Luke Skywalker held Mara as she rested in his arms. She was able to leave early from planning, after complaining about "back pains" which was non-existent. Luke was a bit troubled that Mara lied to get out of leaving his niece's wedding planning but understood from her tone, that she really didn't enjoy it. Luke rested hand on her belly and smiled. Mara looked back at him, "Feel anything new?"
He shrugged, "Nothing. Maybe he's sleeping."
She flinched, her eyes narrowing, "I thought we agreed not to speculate our child's gender?"
Luke smiled, kissing her cheek, "If we don't speculate, we won't know what clothes to buy, what colors to bring in to paint a nursery; not to mention – decorating."
Mara laughed, snuggling his chest, "Already thinking about a nursery? You really are ready for this father business."
"Well, we've waited a long time; a very, very, very long time." Luke joked, kissing her shoulder.
She rolled her eyes, smiling contentedly, "You get like this all the time, and we'll have more children than we can count." Luke hissed, continuing to kiss her neck but frowned when someone beeped their door. Both growled, glaring at the door. Mara rose from the bed, sulking, "I'll make sure to get rid of them."
Luke laughed, "Not violently, Mara. The last thing we want is a dead man laying around our apartment."
She turned to him, glaring before answering the door. The lighting was a bit dark, so she ordered the lights on completely. Brown tunic, lightsaber and brown boots. Mara almost screamed but didn't, except throw her arms around her visitor. "Sithspawn, Corran! What are you doing here?"
He shrugged, "I heard through connections that Wedge's sister was here and that Jaina's engaged to Wedge's nephew, a Jagged Fel."
Mara only laughed, gesturing he come in. "Your source is pretty close to the mark, Corran. Is Mirax here with you? The kids?"
"Only me," he replied, looking down briefly, "but I can see you're in the process of having on yourself. When did this miracle happen?"
"Unexpectedly – like your visit Corran." Luke said, surprising his old friend. Both men hugged, "It's good to have you back,"
Corran smiled back, sitting down on one of the counter stools. "It's good to be back. Besides, I couldn't keep away with all the new events happening back here. Corellia can get pretty boring sometimes."
Luke and Mara sat down opposite him, looking concerned. "Is Han's cousin still being praised as a hero?" Mara asked.
"Unfortunately yes. They just had another dedication to him last weekend. Another dedication to add to a long list of praises, he doesn't deserve." Corran mused, "So, what's the story with Jaina's fiancée?"
"Jag is Wedge's nephew; he's Syal's son. Which means when she and Jag are married, Wedge will be an official part of the legendary Skywalker-Solo family." Luke reasoned, scratching his chin, "It's been hard to actually get this fair for those two. Zekk was here recently; he may still be. He was trying to win Jaina back but he lucked out. She's in love with Jag."
Corran nodded, "And Syal? Did she know about her son's romance with Jaina?"
Mara shook her head no, laughing, "Actually, it's funny because when Jag called her to meet him in the lounge, she ran into Syal but didn't know it was her. They didn't actually meet until later when she and Jag returned to the sim room." She paused, "You can ask Jaina for the story."
"I will when I meet up with her. I take it she's still in the Squadron, then?"
"She is, but she's temporarily off, planning for the wedding." Luke replied, "The planning session she had with Leia, Iella, Mara and Syal is over."
Corran eyed his friend, whom only shrugged, "I complained of back pains, so I got to leave early. Five hours early. Leia, she just wouldn't stop talking. Even Jaina couldn't add any ideas because she kept on rambling. Syal just sat back, listening to Iella and Leia had their own conversation about details."
He laughed, "And Wedge?"
"He tried to maneuver himself out but Iella kept glaring at him to stay, and he reluctantly obeyed. He's probably in his office now, thankful that whole dreadful planning session is over. I know, I am." Mara finished, "How are the kids? Mirax?"
"They're fine. We're actually staying with Booster as guests. But swear as soon as he can, he'll kick us out, I'm sure of it." The Corellian's smile brightened, "Mara, boy or girl?"
She shrugged, nodding to Luke, "At this point, we're not speculating. We – I was surprised to find I was pregnant; we weren't expecting this. But I guess the Force had other plans."
"When the due date supposed to be?"
Luke and Mara looked at each other, shrugging as Luke placed his right hand on hers, "We didn't really look into that. Goes along with the whole surprise scenario. Mara could always use the Force to figure that question out, but she's refused to."
"I haven't refused; I'm just still a little weak from the disease and hello, this kid eats so much in a day, I'm exhausted by dinner time I don't want to move!"
"Well, the next generation of the Solo legacy wouldn't be complete without a Skywalker in the mix. Congratulations."
~~
I glanced back at Syal one more time before keying in my entry code for my apartment, "Are you sure you want to come with us? I mean, wouldn't you rather continue planning with my mother and Iella?"
She nodded no, "No. I don't think those two needs any help in that department. Your mother is so enthusiastic about the wedding. I don't think she'd listen to anyone else."
I laughed, scratching my head, "Ha. Yeah, that's true. I couldn't even tell her my ideas and it's my wedding."
Syal laughed, "You'll get your chance, Jaina. I promise."
I smiled thanks before the door swooshed open. I didn't spot Jag anywhere, something that worried me immediately. What if he's still in the UnderWorld? I bit my lip, resting my jacket on the couch as I ran about the apartment, searching for him. After sometime, I asked the computer, "Computer, where's Jagged Fel?"
"Jagged Fel is in the UnderWorld."
I groaned, looking back at Syal. She frowned slightly. I nodded, grabbing my jacket again and her arm, "Let's just hope he's still alive." I mused.
~~
A few hours later, Syal and I were inside the UnderWorld, a hidden gambling casino, in the depths of Coruscant. Not many people knew about the place because it was buried, literally, but those that did, well, either lost their lives in the place or their money. I just hope I didn't lose, Jag. After describing him to the bartender, he directed us to a small booth in the back.
Jag was slumped over the table; Han was long gone but Uncle Luke had stayed him to make sure no body went near him. I smiled thanks to my uncle Luke as I scooted in the booth and held Jag's head. He was out cold, slobbing all over the table and his breath smelled of Corellian ale.
I waved my hand over my face, propping him up and shaking his shoulders, "Jag, honey, wake up." I shook him a couple times before glancing back at Syal. Funny, how she hadn't said anything during this adventure. That couldn't be a good thing. I scowled, slapping Jag across the face. Luke looked at me like I was crazy but it worked.
"Jaina? Mom?" he cried, his eyes half-open.
I smiled yes, "Yeah Jag, we're both here." I kissed his forehead and turned back to Luke, "Where's Dad?"
He shrugged, "Han left awhile ago. Also drunk. He was going to spend time with you but I guess, he maybe, along the way, he got lost."
My scowl deepened, "Wonderful. I have a drunk fiancé and a father Sith knows where and a mother who won't even let me plan my own wedding!" I cried, aloud. Everybody in the cantina stopped what they were doing and stared at me.
I rolled my eyes, glancing at Luke again, "Help me get Jag out of here." He immediately rushed over to my side as I dragged Jag out from the booth and slid his right arm over Luke's shoulder.
~~
Instead of going directly back to my apartment, we made a side-trip over to moms'. If my thinking was right, dad would be there, sulking over a Sith large headache. I was right. I smiled, resting Jag on the couch as I confronted Dad, slobbing over the table as Jag had. Luke had warned me to control my anger but now, I was the edge of madness.
First, I couldn't even plan my own wedding because it was being planned for me and second, my fiancé is out cold all over the couch – same as father dearest. Daddy dearest.
Mom saw me come in and was about to say hi but I glared at her, telling her to be silent. I gestured that Luke come over. I nodded for him to help me take Dad to the fresher. He looked at me suspiciously but didn't question me. We lugged Han over the fresher, turned on the water, fixing it to cold and removed his jacket and shirt. I turned on the water, setting it on 'gradual wash' then closed the door.
We stood outside for a few minutes before hearing a high-pitched scream, "COOOLLLLDDDD! COOOOLLLLLDDDD! J-JJ-JJAI-NNNA!"
I laughed crazily then walked over and picked up Jag from the couch and left, as mom simply laughed, amused by my actions but not surprised.
~~
I pulled my bed cover of Jag's body and turned off the lights. I figured I'd let him sleep off his intoxication. Hopefully, he would be awake later and more coherent. I met Syal in the main, where sat down at the table, drinking some caf. It was late. The planning session with mom had taken up most of the morning and we were both tired. I stretched my arms, plopping down on another stool.
"Wild day, huh?" I mused.
She only laughed, patting my hand, "Don't worry about looking for a place tonight, Jaina. I'll come by tomorrow when things are less hectic. And I won't even set your alarm clock. You can sleep in."
"Thanks. I really need it. The alarm this morning, I wasn't ready for that… and mom. How much caf did she have before I came?"
"I don't know; I think she was just hyped. You're her oldest daughter and soon, you'll be a married woman. It's a big thing." Syal added, "Aren't you excited?"
I frowned, propping up an arm to rest my chin in, "To be honest, not as excited as I should be. The first time the engagement was announced, I wasn't even ready. The second time was great, with the exception of my Jacen coming in making out with an older woman – it's just become too much. Completely overwhelming."
Syal laughed, "There's certainly never a dull moment around here."
I frowned, "And what's worse? What if
something goes wrong during the wedding? There are a number of things that
could happen. And I'm not just talking about decorations. Un-welcomed guests."
She nodded, "Hmm. I understand. A couple things could go wrong there. Vong, for one."
"…And my ex-boyfriend. He's probably still here; I wouldn't doubt it. Probably lurking around somewhere in the shadows, something he's really good at."
"Ex-boyfriends can be a problem. But what about your Aunt Mara? It looks like she's about ready to deliver." Syal added, as I hid my head in my arms, moaning.
She stood up and poured me some caf as I continued, fidgeting, "I know everything may not go smoothly. I don't expect them too."
"You shouldn't put so much stress on yourself. That's what wedding planners are for – your mother, Iella and me." She paused, "We'll take care of everything."
Suddenly, a thought dawned on me, "Hey, why do you want to come with us to looking for a place, anyway? I mean, I know you said you wanted the best for us but what's the real reason?"
Syal leaned over the table, whispering, "To be honest, I want to make sure the place you pick has good, no, not good, excellent acoustics."
Acoustics? Why would that…? I gaped, smiling, "You're going too – sing for my wedding?!"
"Hush! It was supposed to be a surprise wedding present, but I guess this is one thing your mom and Iella can't touch. It's your present if you want me to sing."
I nodded yes, "Absolutely yes! Of course. Syal, thank you." I grabbed her a huge hug, "Thank you, thank you!"
"Hey, what's going on here? What's all the yelling about? My head still hurts." Jag cried, coming out of the bedroom. I ran over to his side, hugged and kissed his cheek. "What's going on, Sticks?"
"Your mother is going to sing at our wedding!" I cried.
Jag's eyes shot up, staring at his mom. "Sing? But mom, you haven't written anything in years…or even sung…"
She waved her hand, smiling, "Don't worry about it. And I have written some songs. It's the type of habit you can't break. I've written a couple – if I change the lyrics a little bit it could work. But besides the place, I need back up singers. My voice isn't what it used to be."
I nodded yes, "We'll hold auditions for you. You can supervise them of course. Syal thanks again."
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