AN: Reviews!!!! *Dances around the room gleefully* Lovely reviews! Especially when they are so entertaining, thanks 'Nox. So here's a little mush for everyone, and then after that…. ACTION! I like action. * grins devilishly* And in other news… Have a great weekend!
Chapter Five: Gobi Spaceport
"You'll be happy to know that I now have the location of the place we're supposed to meet Luke and Mara. It's at a cantina attached to a hotel near the spaceport," said Jaina the next morning when they met by their fighters in the hanger bay. She was wearing a tight red flightsuit with a trader insignia on it, and her shoulder length brown hair was straight and glossy. Her cover once they reached Kalahari was a trading scout looking for a deal on kiwashi. Jag was her partner, but he retained his ordinary black flight suit. Jaina noticed the gaping look on his face when he first saw her outfit, but only raised an eyebrow and shook her head. He caught her meaning and tried his best to look indignant, but Jaina noticed his eyes wandered when they were supposed to be running checks on their ships.
"Ready Lieutenant?" he asked teasingly when they were both in their cockpits.
"Four lit and in the green," she replied, "All set Colonel."
He laughed over the comlink and then they hit the repulsors and Jaina took the lead out of the hanger. They were on the edge of the Gobi system and could see the yellow sun shining in the middle. After making a brief micro-jump that placed them very near the planet's orbit, the voice of a planet traffic control official.
"Please state your name and the nature of your business," he requested smoothly.
"Joi Belos and Zak Thomree. It's business and trading," replied Jaina, equally smooth.
"Which city is your destination?" the official asked.
"Kalahari."
"You may proceed," he confirmed.
"Thanks," Jaina said, firing her thrusters in unison with Jag and landing in their berth in the city a few minutes later.
"Well," said Jaina to Jag as she climbed out of her ship, "That was easy."
"It's always easy to get in," Jag pointed out, "Usually the hard part is getting out."
"Don't be such a pessimist," Jaina admonished, giving him a playful shove.
Jag's response was to adjust his blaster holster.
The cantina/hotel was easy enough to find. They made a few turns and read some of the street signs and, consulting the datapad with the maps on it, managed to reach the large, domed roof, white building within a few minutes.
"Alright," said Jaina when they reached it, "Now what do we do?"
Jag looked at the light baggage they had carried from the ships and then to the hotel. He considered the hot, humid air that made their clothes stick to their skin, a result of Kalahari being enveloped by the dense, vibrant jungle that bordered the edge of a large desert.
"Check in, most likely," he decided, but looked at her to see if she thought otherwise.
"Good by me," Jaina shrugged and they walked up the rough stone path to the entrance.
It was much cooler inside the lobby, and the receptionist at the front desk politely took their names and gave them a key to their room, which turned out to have two single beds, a holoplayer and refresher with a shower.
"It's not fancy precisely," Jaina commented as she walked in and threw her stuff on one of the beds, "But not seedy either."
"And it has two beds," Jag noted innocently.
"You'd be sleeping on the floor if there wasn't," Jaina said in a tone dripping with false sweetness.
Jag laughed, "Okay, I'm taking the refresher first for that."
Jaina shrugged and flopped down on the bed, staring up at the white stone ceiling. She heard the water in the shower start to run and gave a small sigh. It seemed that despite what she had promised herself at Ithor, she had, in fact, fallen for Jag Fel. Her consolation was that it hadn't been all her own fault, as he had been the one to express feelings for her first. Jaina shivered, remembering the clarity and hope in his eyes. It scared her that they had moved through the stages of friendship so quickly and that she could be important to someone like Jag Fel. What scared her more was that he was important to her too.
Jaina had never believed in love at first sight and romance was foreign to her, and yet… Love might be too strong of word, but she knew she liked Jag very much. The feeling gave her contentment.
Opting to spend the rest of the day traversing the city, for lack of anything better and because Luke and Mara had yet to show, about an hour later Jaina and Jag were wandering through an open air market. They wandered slowly down the streets, with stalls of fruit and exotic produce on either side, packed as densely as the hundreds of dark-skinned, white clad inhabitants of Kalahari. All around them was the babble of people speaking and bargaining and wagering, and the entire market seemed to pulse with life.
The moist hot air was refreshing after days most commonly spent on cold spaceships and as they wandered along, Jaina found it pleasant to merely be surrounded by the vibrant and the high-spirited locals. Jag was fairly quiet at first, absorbing the new environment with awe that Jaina felt he contained on the inside, but he gradually opened up as they went.
"Who was your role model growing up Jaina?" Jag asked with interest after Jaina had explained an incident she and Mara had gotten themselves into before the days of the Yuuzahn Vong.
Jaina cocked an eyebrow at him and faked suspicion, "Why do you ask?"
"Just hoping to gain some insight into a very complex woman," he admitted.
Laughing, Jaina replied thoughtfully, "Well, I didn't just have one role model. I don't think a person should have just one role model unless that role model is practically perfect. I admire different things in different people. I'm constantly amazed by the kindness and honesty my uncle Luke displays, he's a very genuine, caring person. In terms of guts, bravery and independent spirit, I really look up to my Dad, because he taught me everything about those virtues, just because of the way he is. And my mom is someone I constantly look up to for her compassion, strength and stubbornness. As for my teacher, Mara, her tough, "I don't take crap from anyone" attitude I kind of absorbed from her training, not too mention the incredible survival skills she passed on to me. She's a lady that knows how to take care of herself."
Jag looked impressed by this thorough explanation and didn't say anything for a moment as he logged this new information.
"What about you Jag, who do you admire?" Jaina asked softly.
Jag gave her that subtle smile and immediately said, "My father, my older brother, my mother and my uncle. Each has instilled something different, and valuable."
"I take it you had a talk with Wedge?" Jaina guessed.
"Yes, we had a very long, worthwhile conversation," Jag affirmed, "I'm lucky to have someone like that looking out for me."
"I was thinking the same thing Jag," replied Jaina, "The very same thing."
For the moment, he was absorbed in the way her face looked when she was concentrating, the focus and intelligence displayed her eyes and smile on her lips as she agreed with him. A slight trickle of guilt worked it's way through his body as he realized that while he was here, spending a literal vacation on a beautiful planet with a woman he was eagerly becoming more familiar with, other members of his squadron would be burdened with the tedious escort duty towards the envoy to the Imperial Remnant. He tried to think about something else.
Jag Fel was the kind of person who spent more time thinking, planning and strategizing than he did feeling or sorting out emotions. Any temper or joy, he was taught, should not be allowed to control one's actions. The immediate feelings he had were always quickly translated in a calm, direct manner towards the person he intended to convey them to. That was what training, discipline and devotion to his principles had done for him, but in this instance, for the past few days in fact, those teachings were inadequate. The manner in which he expressed his current feelings would probably get him slapped.
As Jag was sorting out his inner dilemmas, some locals were trying to get the front posts of a stall ahead of them to stand up. The flap of material that protected the seller from the sun had fallen in and the posts were weighted down with a heavy, rock hard fruit hung in groups on them.
Just as Jaina and Jag were approaching, caught up in their own respective dazes, the flimsy supports finally buckled. There was a painful creaking noise and splitting of wood, and Jag's head swung around to see the timbers plummeting towards them.
"Look out!" he screamed at Jaina, grabbing her as he dodged out of harm's way.
CRASH!!!!
Pieces of fruit spilled out in the street and a monstrous cloud of dust was picked up. Amidst all the chaos, Jag realized he was safe and Jaina Solo was standing tensed against his chest, with his arms surrounding her protectively. Her face was pressed into the front of his flight suit, and her shoulders were in a cringe.
She seemed to realize that everything was okay and looked up at him, her expression slightly confused, her eyes surprised and scared.
"Are you alright?" Jag asked in a panicked tone, bring his hand up to touch her face, hair, and head, an almost unconscious gesture to make sure she wasn't bleeding or injured. His hand stayed touching her cheek, concerned and worried.
Jaina nodded, recovering, "You?"
"Fine," Jag assured her. He realized that he was still holding her tightly and their faces were merely centimeters apart. One part of him was embarrassed and sought to release his clutch, but mostly, he was just relieved and it felt wonderful just to stay in that position.
Jaina smiled knowingly up at him.
"You're not going to get a better chance than this Flyboy," she whispered softly, knowing his thoughts.
"I hate it when you read my mind," he whispered back, smiling slightly, then closed his eyes and tilted his head forward a short distance to kiss her sweetly and gently on the lips, not caring one bit that they were surrounded by strangers. For one of the few times in his life, as her arms wrapped around him and he pulled her closer, Jag Fel was completely, utterly, absolutely happy.