* Lectures on Love *
Pulling out a frail golden chain from his side pouch, Feng fumbled with it cool metal piece before handing it to Mara. He dropped the necklace in her open palm. "What's this?" she asked curiously.
"It's Jaina's."
The Jedi Mistress nodded in understanding. She remembered when he had told her everything that had happened in Yuuzhan Vong space while waiting to hear news on Jaina's condition. The Overlord Shimmera had pulled it from her neck before sending Jaina to the Embrace of Pain and Feng to his death. "Why are you giving it to me?"
"It's hers."
"Yeah, that much I figured." Mara sarcastically agreed. "You give it to her." She pushed the necklace back to him, but he didn't take it. "It would mean the universe to her if you gave it to her yourself." Silence stung the air between them. "Listen, you love my niece. You have told me this much and now that you've discussed this with her she told you she loves you as a friend."
"Love is a trickery. Only a tempting weakness used to betray one's heart to be stabbed by hurt." Feng argued.
"No!" she exclaimed. "No, love isn't like that and you know it. But Jaina loves you never the less. She loves you for you. For your friendship. If you hadn't been their to care for her so, then we would not be having this conversation." Mara paused for a moment, allowing her words to setting in his heart. This time when she handing the necklace back to him he grasped it. Covering her hand over his larger one, she saw his eyes go from them to her eyes. "Jaina will only give up your amity if you let it. She is not one who gives up on anything, and that includes friends. She's a Solo."
Nodding, the Yuuzhan Vong stared blankly at his hand. "It still hurts."
"Tell her. The only way for you two to be true friends is to be honest with your feelings."
"I will contemplate on these words, Mistress Jade." Feng exited the room. Mara turned to nursing Ben when someone interrupted the quiet once again.
"Well, who would have thought Mara Jade be the one giving a lecture on love." Luke laughed once the door to their chambers swished shut.
Rolling her eyes, Mara kept her gaze at Ben who quietly was drifting to sleep. "Pipe it Farmboy, or you're never going to receive any of my advice ever again."
"Alright, I'll stop." He jokingly pleaded as he dried his hair with a towel. Finally he had changed into something else that was fresh and clean.
"Good," she got up and laid Ben in his bed. "Now come over here and I'll give you some advice." She giggled.
*****
Jaina collapsed in tears of pain in his arms. Her chest suddenly constricted and grew painfully tight as if someone had taken a couffee and stabbed in into her very heart. "Force, this can't be happening," she cried out. "I should h—"
"Jaina, you couldn't have done anything." Holding her frail cold body in his arms Kyp held her close like if he let go of her she would shatter into a million pieces. He was not going to let that happen to her again. At least not alone. "Don't blame yourself. Anakin died trying to save you."
"He was m-my… brother, Kyp." She mumbled under her breath, before grief overtook her once again.
Hours passed and her eyes grew heavy. When she woke up, Jaina found herself sleeping on Kyp's shirtless chest. Startled, she remember what he had told her about her brother but all the tears had been cried out, and Jaina finally realized her position with him. Using her hands, she pushed herself off his body, but his hand met with her cheek.
"Kyp? What happened?"
Staring at her deep eyes, the Jedi Master didn't answer right away. "You fell asleep in my arms. I didn't want to wake you so I just laid on my back."
"Oh," she nodded in understanding and continued to get up.
"Hey, where are you going? You were keeping me warm."
"Yeah, in more places than not." She remarked. A smile of success appeared on her face as she saw his redden in embarrassment. "You better get back before someone finds you gone."
"Or finds me with you?" He looked down at his bare chest then back at her in the lone bathrobe. "Like this."
"That might be one thing." She noted as she sat on her knees.
Now, sitting up, his right arm reached around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "So let them." With that their lips connected and everything around them disappeared. All the worries and heartaches that weighed on both of their shoulders vanished and nothing mattered anymore. For the first time Jaina was caught off by his action. Kyp felt the surprise, and took advantage of the moment, kissing her in a deep warm way.
Lifting off her lips a bit, he teased her brushing his lips across her lips then lingering away from them just millimeters away.
Finally realizing his game, Jaina breathed out a Corellian curse.
"What you don't like this?" Kyp whispered in her ear sending tingles throughout her body.
"Mmmm…" she mumbled. "No that's just the problem, I love it."
A smirk of satisfaction crossed his face. Then he kissed her in a way that made Jaina's heart skip more than a few beats. The passion behind it held more fervor than ever before. Electric shocks spirals up and down the two's spines. They were so lost in one another's closeness, neither felt the third presence enter the room, but practically flew to opposite ends of the room in astonishment when the being interrupted the silence.
"Alright! When I thought you two were down each other's throats, I didn't mean literally!" Han's voice bellowed in the room.
The two lovers where now collecting themselves as fast as they could to their feet, both of their faces beaming in the awkwardness.
Han ran his hand threw his greasy hair. *Time to be the father, * he groaned.
"Listen, I don't know what happened between you from the time with your conversation on the Holo to now…" his voice lowered. *So what do I say to that? * Han had never been pushed into such an uncomfortable position, but at this moment he no longer viewed Kyp as a son, but more like the enemy that he was going to take his daughter away from him, but not in the sense of death, but in the sense of fatherly pride and protection over his child.
*Must be a father thing that kicks in, * but whatever it was, Han was at lost to what to do. This was not anything he was use to from Jaina. Back when she was a little girl, the only trouble she had was sneaking into the simulator room to fly.
Those days seemed so far away now, and now Jaina was way past old enough to be with someone. The only other person she had gone out with had been Zekk, but then heck broke loose, and the two puppy-loved teens did not have time to see one another. It had been a while since then, but he would have preferred anyone but Kyp. His happy mood just went down, and the Solo luck he always was proclaiming flew out the window.
"Dad—" she started.
Han put his hand up to stop her from trying to explain. "Not now Jaina. Umm…Kyp go to the conference room and wait for me, ok?"
"Yes, sir." Kyp was rarely scared of anything, but right now with Han so near, he felt petrified. The Jedi Master knew how he felt about his daughter and if Han had found anyone else doing what he was doing with Jaina… well, now he was just estimating the time he would have to spend in a bacta tank to be around six months at the least. Before he left his eyes caught Jaina's and he saw something he hadn't before, but the gaze was broken as he continued out of the room and with that he left the father and daughter.
Han turned towards Jaina and noticed she was only wearing a bathrobe. "Do I even have to ask?"
Jaina did not even dare try to lie to her father. He had always known since she was barely four when she was lying to him. Keeping her stare at the ground, she shook her head. "No. Kyp came to see me and I got out and…" her voice ceased to come through clearly.
"And what?" he asked in concern.
"He came to tell me about Anakin."
The sound of his younger son's name struck him, and he for the first time since he had entered the room felt sorry for his little girl. "Oh, Jaina. Come here." He opened his arms up and she fell into them as fresh tears found their way to her cheeks. Han gave her a few moments to get through her sobs till he spoke again. "So is that the reason why you two were all over each other on the ground, not exactly dressed?"
Pulling away from her dad, she looked up at him. "I fell asleep and then woke up and one thing let to another and—"
Cutting her off Han said, "Jaina, I know your going to be nineteen soon and I'm not going to get in your way. You're old enough to make decisions on your own." The statement shocked her, though it was the truth. "But, this involves another man with you, my only daughter, and so of course know that I'm going to talk with Kyp about this."
"I know." He had turned to leave her when she spoke again. "But Dad…"
"Yeah?"
She opened her mouth to say something when a frown crossed her face and she changed what she was going to say. "Don't be too hard on him, please?"
"Ah, but I won't be the one to determine that," he replied with a hint of humor in his voice.
"Dad, please?" she begged.
"You just get back into the bacta tank, and I'll take care of the rest."
"That's what I was afraid of," she remarked before he left the room and laughed.
Pulling out a frail golden chain from his side pouch, Feng fumbled with it cool metal piece before handing it to Mara. He dropped the necklace in her open palm. "What's this?" she asked curiously.
"It's Jaina's."
The Jedi Mistress nodded in understanding. She remembered when he had told her everything that had happened in Yuuzhan Vong space while waiting to hear news on Jaina's condition. The Overlord Shimmera had pulled it from her neck before sending Jaina to the Embrace of Pain and Feng to his death. "Why are you giving it to me?"
"It's hers."
"Yeah, that much I figured." Mara sarcastically agreed. "You give it to her." She pushed the necklace back to him, but he didn't take it. "It would mean the universe to her if you gave it to her yourself." Silence stung the air between them. "Listen, you love my niece. You have told me this much and now that you've discussed this with her she told you she loves you as a friend."
"Love is a trickery. Only a tempting weakness used to betray one's heart to be stabbed by hurt." Feng argued.
"No!" she exclaimed. "No, love isn't like that and you know it. But Jaina loves you never the less. She loves you for you. For your friendship. If you hadn't been their to care for her so, then we would not be having this conversation." Mara paused for a moment, allowing her words to setting in his heart. This time when she handing the necklace back to him he grasped it. Covering her hand over his larger one, she saw his eyes go from them to her eyes. "Jaina will only give up your amity if you let it. She is not one who gives up on anything, and that includes friends. She's a Solo."
Nodding, the Yuuzhan Vong stared blankly at his hand. "It still hurts."
"Tell her. The only way for you two to be true friends is to be honest with your feelings."
"I will contemplate on these words, Mistress Jade." Feng exited the room. Mara turned to nursing Ben when someone interrupted the quiet once again.
"Well, who would have thought Mara Jade be the one giving a lecture on love." Luke laughed once the door to their chambers swished shut.
Rolling her eyes, Mara kept her gaze at Ben who quietly was drifting to sleep. "Pipe it Farmboy, or you're never going to receive any of my advice ever again."
"Alright, I'll stop." He jokingly pleaded as he dried his hair with a towel. Finally he had changed into something else that was fresh and clean.
"Good," she got up and laid Ben in his bed. "Now come over here and I'll give you some advice." She giggled.
*****
Jaina collapsed in tears of pain in his arms. Her chest suddenly constricted and grew painfully tight as if someone had taken a couffee and stabbed in into her very heart. "Force, this can't be happening," she cried out. "I should h—"
"Jaina, you couldn't have done anything." Holding her frail cold body in his arms Kyp held her close like if he let go of her she would shatter into a million pieces. He was not going to let that happen to her again. At least not alone. "Don't blame yourself. Anakin died trying to save you."
"He was m-my… brother, Kyp." She mumbled under her breath, before grief overtook her once again.
Hours passed and her eyes grew heavy. When she woke up, Jaina found herself sleeping on Kyp's shirtless chest. Startled, she remember what he had told her about her brother but all the tears had been cried out, and Jaina finally realized her position with him. Using her hands, she pushed herself off his body, but his hand met with her cheek.
"Kyp? What happened?"
Staring at her deep eyes, the Jedi Master didn't answer right away. "You fell asleep in my arms. I didn't want to wake you so I just laid on my back."
"Oh," she nodded in understanding and continued to get up.
"Hey, where are you going? You were keeping me warm."
"Yeah, in more places than not." She remarked. A smile of success appeared on her face as she saw his redden in embarrassment. "You better get back before someone finds you gone."
"Or finds me with you?" He looked down at his bare chest then back at her in the lone bathrobe. "Like this."
"That might be one thing." She noted as she sat on her knees.
Now, sitting up, his right arm reached around her waist and pulled her closer to him. "So let them." With that their lips connected and everything around them disappeared. All the worries and heartaches that weighed on both of their shoulders vanished and nothing mattered anymore. For the first time Jaina was caught off by his action. Kyp felt the surprise, and took advantage of the moment, kissing her in a deep warm way.
Lifting off her lips a bit, he teased her brushing his lips across her lips then lingering away from them just millimeters away.
Finally realizing his game, Jaina breathed out a Corellian curse.
"What you don't like this?" Kyp whispered in her ear sending tingles throughout her body.
"Mmmm…" she mumbled. "No that's just the problem, I love it."
A smirk of satisfaction crossed his face. Then he kissed her in a way that made Jaina's heart skip more than a few beats. The passion behind it held more fervor than ever before. Electric shocks spirals up and down the two's spines. They were so lost in one another's closeness, neither felt the third presence enter the room, but practically flew to opposite ends of the room in astonishment when the being interrupted the silence.
"Alright! When I thought you two were down each other's throats, I didn't mean literally!" Han's voice bellowed in the room.
The two lovers where now collecting themselves as fast as they could to their feet, both of their faces beaming in the awkwardness.
Han ran his hand threw his greasy hair. *Time to be the father, * he groaned.
"Listen, I don't know what happened between you from the time with your conversation on the Holo to now…" his voice lowered. *So what do I say to that? * Han had never been pushed into such an uncomfortable position, but at this moment he no longer viewed Kyp as a son, but more like the enemy that he was going to take his daughter away from him, but not in the sense of death, but in the sense of fatherly pride and protection over his child.
*Must be a father thing that kicks in, * but whatever it was, Han was at lost to what to do. This was not anything he was use to from Jaina. Back when she was a little girl, the only trouble she had was sneaking into the simulator room to fly.
Those days seemed so far away now, and now Jaina was way past old enough to be with someone. The only other person she had gone out with had been Zekk, but then heck broke loose, and the two puppy-loved teens did not have time to see one another. It had been a while since then, but he would have preferred anyone but Kyp. His happy mood just went down, and the Solo luck he always was proclaiming flew out the window.
"Dad—" she started.
Han put his hand up to stop her from trying to explain. "Not now Jaina. Umm…Kyp go to the conference room and wait for me, ok?"
"Yes, sir." Kyp was rarely scared of anything, but right now with Han so near, he felt petrified. The Jedi Master knew how he felt about his daughter and if Han had found anyone else doing what he was doing with Jaina… well, now he was just estimating the time he would have to spend in a bacta tank to be around six months at the least. Before he left his eyes caught Jaina's and he saw something he hadn't before, but the gaze was broken as he continued out of the room and with that he left the father and daughter.
Han turned towards Jaina and noticed she was only wearing a bathrobe. "Do I even have to ask?"
Jaina did not even dare try to lie to her father. He had always known since she was barely four when she was lying to him. Keeping her stare at the ground, she shook her head. "No. Kyp came to see me and I got out and…" her voice ceased to come through clearly.
"And what?" he asked in concern.
"He came to tell me about Anakin."
The sound of his younger son's name struck him, and he for the first time since he had entered the room felt sorry for his little girl. "Oh, Jaina. Come here." He opened his arms up and she fell into them as fresh tears found their way to her cheeks. Han gave her a few moments to get through her sobs till he spoke again. "So is that the reason why you two were all over each other on the ground, not exactly dressed?"
Pulling away from her dad, she looked up at him. "I fell asleep and then woke up and one thing let to another and—"
Cutting her off Han said, "Jaina, I know your going to be nineteen soon and I'm not going to get in your way. You're old enough to make decisions on your own." The statement shocked her, though it was the truth. "But, this involves another man with you, my only daughter, and so of course know that I'm going to talk with Kyp about this."
"I know." He had turned to leave her when she spoke again. "But Dad…"
"Yeah?"
She opened her mouth to say something when a frown crossed her face and she changed what she was going to say. "Don't be too hard on him, please?"
"Ah, but I won't be the one to determine that," he replied with a hint of humor in his voice.
"Dad, please?" she begged.
"You just get back into the bacta tank, and I'll take care of the rest."
"That's what I was afraid of," she remarked before he left the room and laughed.