*OK, this chapter took a new direction at the end that I didn't expect

*This is the first time Jaina's written herself so easily

*Yay for over-protective fathers!

*And duh, I don't own Jaina, Kyp, or anything Star Wars

*If I did, well, NJO would have Ani and K/J, it goes without saying.

*Enjoy!

~~

Kyp stood up in his X-wing and looked round the hangar of the Errant Venture carefully, wondering vaguely what kind of welcoming committee he was going to get. Surprisingly, the only person there was Luke, and Kyp jumped down, noticing the rest of his pilots do the same.

"Welcome, Kyp."

"Hi, Master Skywalker."

"I'd like to talk to you privately for a moment. Your Dozen can go to the lounge just down the corridor."

Kyp nodded to his pilots, and they walked out, talking and laughing amongst themselves. Once they'd left, Luke led Kyp to the office he had taken over when he realised would be on the Venture for a while. Kyp looked round at the sparse room, and his eyes fell on the holo on the desk, of Luke, Mara and a tiny, red-gold-haired bundle.

Luke followed his gaze and smiled to himself. "That's my son, Ben."

"Oh – congratulations." Kyp tried to smile.

"Thanks. Well – sit down." Luke fell into his desk chair, glancing up and motioning for Kyp to sit in the chair in front of the desk. "It's about time we talked about what we're doing in this war."

"Are you going to tell me something you haven't already told me a dozen times before?"

Luke sighed. "As a matter of fact, yes. I'm starting to think that maybe the Jedi do need to take a more pro-active role in this war. I need your input with that. Would you be willing to help?"

Kyp thought about it for a moment. This was coming a little late, in his opinion, but maybe it wouldn't be too late. Sure, the war effort could've done with a lot more Jedi at the start, but they could still do with them just now. If that's what Luke was offering… "OK. I'll see if I can't help you out. But is everyone else going to be involved, too?"

"Hopefully. I'm going to call a meeting – not everyone will be able to make it here, but I can certainly try. Maybe we can have a rather more successful event than a few months ago on Coruscant."

Kyp smiled wryly. "Maybe." He lapsed into a thoughtful silence.

Luke studied him for a moment, trying to work out why he was being so quiet, so agreeable. He didn't seem like the Kyp Luke knew at all. "What's on your mind, Kyp?"

"Oh – nothing." Kyp looked up, slightly startled, then smirked. "Just wondering why I'm not Bantha fodder yet."

Luke laughed lightly. "I don't think Han knows you're here, or at least, he didn't when I left their quarters. But you're right, you're probably best to stay out of his way for a while…"

"Is… Is Jaina OK?"

Mildly surprised, Luke nodded. "I think so. She spoke to Mara, but Mara didn't tell me what they said… I got the impression she's fine, though."

Kyp nodded, as if Luke was merely confirming what he already knew. "Good…"

"Alright. Well, you best go find your quarters. Unfortunately, I think Corran was in charge of assigning them, so they might not be top quality."

Kyp groaned and stood up. "Just my luck." He sighed and moved towards the door, glancing back at Luke. "Please try and convince Han not to kill me."

Luke grinned. "Will do."

Not altogether reassured, Kyp left, returning five seconds later to ask Luke which deck the accommodation was on.

"I should start handing out maps," Luke noted dryly to himself.

Kyp didn't ask what he meant.

~~

After showering and dumping his belongings in the quarters he had been assigned – which weren't as bad as he'd been afraid of – Kyp made his way back down to the pilot's lounge where his Dozen were, thinking to relax for a couple hours before sacrificing himself on Han Solo's blaster. But almost as soon as he stepped foot in the room, he knew it was a mistake.

"Kyp!" One of his pilot's called out to him, then laughed and pointed to the screen they were all crowded round. "They're replaying the news report from the other day! Come watch!"

Kyp groaned and ran a hand through his hair. "I don't think so."

But he found himself being forced into a seat in front of the holo-projector anyway, trapped among the laughing pilots of his squadron.

"…why Jaina Solo, fast becoming a respected hero in her own right as a Jedi Knight and Rogue Squadron veteran, chose Kyp Durron, the rogue Jedi Master, mass murderer and a man twice her age…"

"I'm not twice her age," Kyp told the projector indignantly, then shook his head. "And I've not been chosen for anything. Nothing to be chosen for."

An anonymous hand clapped him on the back, and its owner laughed. "Sure, Kyp. That kiss sure didn't look like nothing!"

And there it was again, on the screen – the kiss after the battle. Kyp couldn't watch it and instead, he stood up, pushing his way through the crowd and out of the room. The pilots all looked up curiously as he pushed past them, but no one made any further comment, and Kyp managed to escape. He stood for a moment in the corridor, leaning on the wall outside the door.

Now what am I going to do? He could go back to his quarters and meditate. Yeah, right. He could go find something to eat. Where? In fact, a lot of his own suggestions ended in "where", and Kyp was starting to appreciate Luke's map comment.

"Guess I need to find a data terminal or something," he muttered to himself, and looked round the corridor. Nothing. He sighed and pushed himself away from the bulkhead, starting down the corridor to find either a terminal, or someone to direct him to one.

What he didn't count on was that someone being Jaina.

~~

Jaina stopped suddenly before she turned the corner, then wondered why. Shaking the feeling off she stepped forward again and almost fell over as she crashed into someone.

She rubbed the back of her head and looked up. "Sorry about that, I… ah."

Kyp tried to smile, but failed miserably. Stang. Why does that keep happening? "You weren't paying attention to your surroundings, huh? Not very good for a supposed Jedi Knight."

Jaina quickly doused the flare of annoyance at Kyp's remark. "Quit with the Master spiel, Kyp. What're you doing here?"

"Here?" Kyp frowned thoughtfully for a second. "Looking for the galley."

"The Venture, Durron. What're you doing on the Venture?"

"I believe the objective of your mission, before we got so wonderfully sidetracked-" At this, he flashed her a smirk. "-was to bring me here anyway. So I came."

Jaina raised an eyebrow. "And you're going to listen to Uncle Luke? See what he has to say?"

Kyp nodded. "Already spoke to him, and will be doing again. Seems he really is ready to be a leader." He looked round suddenly, frowning thoughtfully again. "But while this hallway conversation is fascinating, I really want something to eat. Feel like telling me where the galley is?"

Jaina shrugged. "Well, I was headed there myself, so sure. This way." And she pushed past Kyp, down the corridor he had just left and through a door not twenty feet away from the pilot's lounge he had just been in.

Kyp stared at it in disbelief and, shaking his head, followed her.

~~

Kyp picked at the food on his plate and finally speared a piece of… something… on his fork, putting it in his mouth and chewing thoughtfully. "Huh. Ingenious. Tastes almost exactly like nerfsausages."

"You don't want to know what it really is."

"No, I don't suppose I do." He grinned ruefully and Jaina hurriedly shoved a forkful of the… food… into her mouth, to distract her from the flip her stomach made.

Sithspit, I thought I'd sorted that. But, apparently, all her reasoning had been ground to space dust the moment she saw Kyp again. She didn't want to feel like this, she really didn't. No matter how much she liked him as a friend now, that was all she wanted him to be – a friend. So why do I feel like this now?

"…right?"

Jaina looked up with a jolt. "Uh… right."

Kyp cocked his head and studied her for a second. "You weren't listening."

"I was!"

"You just agreed that your brother would make a great dancer in the Mos Eisley cantina."

Jaina stared at him for a second. "Which one?" she said finally.

Kyp laughed. "Jacen," he managed eventually.

Jaina pretended to think about it. "And what makes you think I wasn't listening?"

Kyp laughed again, and Jaina joined in, causing the two pilots at the other side of the galley to stare at them warily. After a while they calmed down, Kyp nearly bursting out laughing again when he caught Jaina's eye.

"So," he said, forcing himself to calm down fully, "why were you so lost in yourself? What were you thinking about?"

"Oh… nothing."

"Na-ah, Sticks, you can't hide that easily. At least make up a good cover story."

"OK, uh…" She thought for a second. "My little cousin?"

"You're really not a good liar, are you?"

"No, you'll have to teach me one day."

Kyp winced. "OK, left myself wide open for that one. But I thought we… resolved that… I did say sorry, didn't I?"

Jaina sighed. "About a dozen times. And yeah, it's done. We sorted that."

He smirked. "Amongst other things."

"Yeah… about that…"

Kyp glanced away for a moment, and when he looked back at Jaina, the smirk was gone. "I won't push you into anything, Jaina. If you want me to step back and leave you alone, I will."

"I…" And suddenly, Jaina wasn't so convinced anymore. "Not exactly… I still want to be… friends, but I don't know anymore than that."

Kyp nodded and seemed to accept this, but Jaina could sense a little disappointment in him, despite his shields. Sithspit. Why is this so hard? Why does it somehow feel wrong to say no?

Suddenly, Kyp's gaze focused on the door to the galley, and all the colour left his face. "Stang," he whispered, and tried to sink into his seat.

Jaina twisted in her chair and groaned inwardly. Her father had just walked into the galley and upon seeing Kyp – despite his futile attempts to hide half-under the table – forgot about getting any food and stalked over to their table.

Kyp realised how useless it was trying to hide and instead went for the feigned innocence approach. He grinned reassuringly at his old friend and waved to the seat next to Jaina. "Hi, Han! How're you? Sit down and join us for some delicious mush."

Han glared at Kyp, ignoring his invitation to sit down. His hand was, thankfully, not on his blaster, but it was straying perilously close. "Had quite enough mush, thanks. I think we need to have a little talk."

"But I don't-"

"Listen, Durron. You may be one of my be one of my friends but that sure as hell doesn't give you the rights you seem to think it does."

Kyp swallowed and risked a glance at Jaina, who had her head in her hands. He looked back up at Han and tried to smile again. "No rights. Got it."

Han reached out and grabbed the neck of Kyp's shirt, dragging him to his feet. His angry gaze burned right into Kyp's eyes and Kyp was suddenly glad Han didn't have any Force powers. "If you ever – and I mean ever – lay a hand on my daughter again, you won't be alive long enough to regret it."

"Oh for Sith's sake – Dad! Dad, stop it, this is stupid. It wasn't Kyp's fault."

Kyp forgot about Han for a second and stared at Jaina incredulously. "It wasn't?"

"Well, OK, it was at first. But you saw it, Dad, I kissed him back. I enjoyed it as much as he did-"

Kyp couldn't help but smirk at that.

"-so don't go killing him for it unless you plan on doing the same to me."

Han loosened his grip on Kyp's shirt as he turned to Jaina, and Kyp let out the breath he'd been holding in. He reached up a hand to adjust his collar, but Han glared at him again and he dropped it quickly.

"Jaina, this is Kyp. You don't- you can't-"

"Can't I?" And before she knew what she was doing, Jaina stood up and grabbed Kyp's shirt herself, leaning up on tip-toes to press her lips to his in a short kiss. Stunned, Kyp barely had time to register what had happened before she pulled back and glared at her father.

Han shuddered visibly and stepped back. "Thought I said I had enough mush for today," he muttered and stalked out of the galley, throwing a last glare at Kyp over his shoulder before retreating.

Kyp watched him go and turned his incredulous stare to Jaina. "What the hell was that? I thought-"

"So did I," she whispered, and leaned up into him again.

~~