"I do wish you'd reconsider," Jag said sternly as he placed his hands on his hips, trying to look imposing. He set his jaw, standing firm as Jaina glared up at him. For nearly half of a standard hour they'd argued over which ships they should take on their journey and an end to their squabble wasn't in sight.

"Jag, it's just not practical!" Jaina cried, waving her hands around in the air. "We shouldn't divide such a small group into separate ships! One ship is sufficient!"

"One ship is NOT sufficient," Jag insisted coldly. "It's too easy to pick us off with just one ship. At least if we have separate ships then we can cover each other's backs."

"If we travel in many small ships then we'll resemble a star fighter squadron. It'll draw attention and it'll get us killed, Jag!" Jaina growled, her eyes smoldering.

Jag opened his mouth to retort but ultimately thought against it. He considered that any contrary response to her statement would cause her to believe that he thought them to be invincible. It wasn't necessarily the best thing to say to a young woman who had just lost one brother and almost lost another. He didn't even believe it himself. He bit back his desire to be right in this circumstance and responded with a simple nod.

"You're right," He said simply, his frosty green eyes still staring holes into her. "We'll travel in one ship. The real question is about which one we should take."

"That's easy," Brodey called cheerfully from the other side of the hangar. The young man was dressed for travel in plain brown robes, not unlike the ones that Kyp often wore. He walked toward them briskly, shifting the nerf-hide satchel to a more comfortable position on his shoulder as he went. "We're taking mine, of course."

"All right, great," Jaina replied, her mood lightening. "I didn't want to speak for you when you weren't here. Speaking of here, where are Kyp and Anja?"

"Oh, they just got into another disagreement in the corridors. It ended with each one throwing the other one's bags against the wall. They'll be here once they pick everything up." Brodey explained with a small grin.

Almost on cue, the three heard a long string of cuss words echo down the hall. A few seconds later a very perturbed Anja stalked into the hangar. Kyp followed lazily behind, a huge grin spread across his face. Brodey was truly fascinated by the amount of pleasure Kyp seemed to get from annoying Anja. It was almost as if Brodey and Anja were opposing poles of two invisible magnets whereas Kyp and Anja were similar poles. One dyad attracted. The other forcefully repelled.

"Stupid sithin' bastard, gonna kill, strangle with my own bare hands, kick the snot out of, stupid Kyp! ARRRRRRGH!!" Anja screamed. The young woman flailed about as if she was possessed and spoke in tongues before storming up the landing ramp onto Brodey's ship.

"Well, is everybody ready to get going?" Kyp asked, distinctly cheerful.

Jaina shook her head. "Jag and I haven't gotten to the pre-flight check yet. You two can get onboard and put down your bags. Relax for a bit, maybe."

"Will do," Kyp replied, glancing up at the ship with a fiendish smile.

"You know what, Kyp? One of these days Anja is going to beat you senseless," Brodey said with a sigh. "And I'm not going to do anything to stop her."

"Fine by me," Kyp laughed as he ascended the ramp.

"In fact, I'm rather going to enjoy it," Brodey responded as he followed doggedly at Kyp's heels. "I can't wait to see Anja give you the comeuppance that you deserve. It'll put a smile on my face."

Kyp smiled smugly back at his apprentice, sending the non-verbal message to Brodey that it would be a cold day on Tattooine before Anja got the best of him.

Brodey found Anja scowling in the back as she pretended to be engrossed with a holographic map of the galaxy. Her attempt at feigning calmness was quickly failing as Kyp looked in at her as well. Brodey couldn't tell what face the jedi master had on but it definitely wasn't a pleasant one. He had one chance before Anja blew up and remodeled the entire interior of the ship.

"Out! Now!" Brodey yelled firmly as she shut the door in Kyp's face. Through the door he could still hear his master snickering. He turned around as he sensed her growing calmer by the second, and he noted that she probably couldn't hear Kyp from all the way over there.

He sniffed in again as something in the air seemed to change. A quirky smile that puzzled him tugged on her lips as she rose to her feet. She tiptoed stealthily over until her body was pressed ever-so-slightly against his.

"You know, there is that business that we still need to take care of," She whispered as she traced the outline of his lips with her index finger.

"You think?" He asked slyly but was silenced by her shushing him. Her lips returned, along with the molten magma that ran through his veins whenever she was near. He was in a blissful state unlike any other, completely engrossed in the passion of their embrace. His fingers brushed against delicate skin, his tongue wrestled against the force of her tongue, and he ran a probe along the surface of her mind, trying to figure out the effects she had on him.

In his altered state of consciousness Brodey suddenly became aware of a new stimulus. He glanced down at her fingers as she worked deftly to undo the fasteners to his shirt. Once she had all of them completely undone her soft kisses traveled downward. Her lips grazed along the smooth contours of his chest and the lean muscles of his abdomen. It was around this time that he noticed a completely different stimulus.

Anja went from relaxed to rigid in a matter of seconds as she finally detected the gagging sounds coming from the other side of the door. She reached for the hydrospanner, kissed him quickly, and reached for the control panel to the door.

"We'll discuss this again sometime," She promised before rushing out the door and brandishing the weapon at a fleeing Kyp. The two ran down the ramp, almost knocking over Jag and Jaina as they entered.

"What, dare I ask, happened just now?" Jaina cried, her mouth hanging open as she viewed the argument and Brodey's unfastened shirt.

"You don't want to know," Brodey sighed, shaking his head. Kyp and Anja fighting was such a common thing that he felt he didn't need to explain it anymore to anyone.

"I was actually talking more about your shirt," She answered snidely. "What happened there?"

"With all due respect, you shouldn't have to ask that question, Commander," Brodey answered carefully.

"I figured as much. And DON'T call me Commander. It's Jaina on this mission, Brodey."

"I hear and obey," Brodey laughed as he gave her a cocky salute.

"Good, then you can go bring those two back on the ship so we can get going," Jaina ordered.

Brodey poked his head out of the ship's doorway and whistled loudly, straining to get their attention over the shouting. This time it happened to work as both of them looked back at him.

"We're leaving without you if you're not on this ship in ten seconds," He called. Kyp decided that he'd had his fun and jogged back over to the ship. Anja still seemed a bit peeved but followed reluctantly.

"Wow, what happened to you?" Kyp asked as he decided to take a break from picking on Anja so he could make fun of Jaina and her rumpled hair.

"Probably the same thing that happened to Brodey," Jag retorted calmly. "Got a problem with that, Durron?"

"No, absolutely not!" Kyp cried and then muttered under his breath, "Gods, I'm IN a holonovel."