This scene occurs within the events of pages 289-292 in Elaine Cunningham's Dark Journey. You will find that I have skewed the scene from Jag's POV and inserted dialogue that would have been missed in the book as the events unfolded around Jaina and Tenel Ka. I hope you find it worthy of the Jag I have fleshed out and that the return to the Jagged-in-Love is believable within the flow of events around our hapless pair.

Again as always, some of the dialogue and text is straight from the book and not my own. Nor do I take credit for it. I just weaved a little of my own magic dust into the mix and exposed the true misunderstood Jagged Fel in the process.

So without further ado (but a simple thanks to my beta Zara)

RECKONING

"There's a matter of some unsettled business."

Jaina spoke the words, and for a moment time stood still in the royal apartment. The two women exchanged some sort of silent conversation to which Jag was not privy before Tenel Ka spun on her heel and disappeared back into the alcove. Jag forced himself to look away, not wanting to intrude on a final farewell as the Hapan princess kissed her dead mother on the forehead. Instead, he eyed Jaina as she rubbed her lightsaber hilt while rocking from foot to foot. The action was unsettling in that its motivation was unknown and thereby caused a knot to tighten deep within him, two conflicting emotions fighting for supremacy.

Tenel Ka wasted little time with her goodbye, and soon enough she was striding toward the door with a purpose. She spared Jag a quick glance. "Colonel, you will want to witness this," she said in passing.

Jaina fell into step beside her longtime friend, and after pushing back his discomfiture Jag found himself side by side with Kyp, the two men looking for all intents and purposes like some honorary guard for a new queen.

What troubled Jag was that he was unsure exactly which of the two she was.

"It's quite a credit to the Chiss people for Tenel Ka to ask you to lead her mother's forces into battle," Kyp offered as he matched Jag stride for stride.

"I suppose it is," Jag noted flatly.

Passing through the endless maze of corridors, where revolving lights still warned of the impending attack in place of the initial blaring klaxons, Jag should have been concerned with strategy and defining his focus. But only one thought filled his mind. Now that the crown was up for grabs - what would Jaina do?

"It has never been about power, you know," Kyp remarked as if he had picked up on Jag's thought.

Jag shot the Jedi Master an accusatory stare. "What?"

Kyp had slowed his step so they lagged behind the women. "I just thought you should know that it's never been her intent to grab power. She just wants to stick it to the Vong for all her own suffering. I fear though that Ta'a Chume has used Jaina's fragile state of mind to serve her own selfish ends."

"And you're telling me this why?"

"Like I said before, because your opinion matters to her…"

Jag snorted. "You could have fooled me. It seems my opinion matters least of all these days."

Kyp grabbed Jag's arm, and both men drew to a stop, toe to toe, sizing each other up. "This Jaina – the one you saw throw bolts of Force lightning – is only a façade she hides behind. The girl I knew once, the one I hurt more than I ever care to admit, still resides under that hardened shell. And I am going to try to bring her back from this darkness, but you have to understand first how your actions in particular affect Jaina. She's not the monster you envisioned when we came to rescue you. She's really just a girl who is vulnerable to the scrutiny of others and yours most of all. Her pain is constant but it increased tenfold when you chose to regard her as nothing more than a scruffy Rebel…"

"I did no such thing," Jag protested vehemently.

"Yes, you did," Kyp returned. His words were quiet and forceful in the same breath. He inhaled before turning on his heel to resume his chase of the Jedi princesses. Without sparing Jag a sideways glance, he questioned him. "How do you suppose we found you today?"

Shrugging, Jag found no suitable response. With the large palace hall closing with each step, he looked to Kyp, supposing an answer was forthcoming.

Kyp obliged him, his wary eyes never leaving the two women as they disappeared into the beckoning maw filled to the brim with Hapans thirsty to draw blood. "She found a connection to you she didn't know existed. Jaina had a vision of sorts that led us straight to you."

Before either of them could dive into the churning masses where Ta'a Chume could be heard holding court, Jag gripped Kyp's tunic and yanked him to a stop. "What do you mean by she found a connection?"

Glancing first to the hand on his sleeve with a predatory gleam, Kyp refused to answer until Jag unhanded him. "Exactly that. On some fundamental level, Jaina relates to you. It's not something you turn on like a switch. These things just sort of happen…"

"And what's your opinion on this?"

"I have no right to an opinion," Kyp stated matter-of-factly.

"Isn't she your apprentice? I mean, don't you feel…"

Kyp harrumphed derisively. "Do I have feelings for her? Sure…" At the admission, Jag felt his heart stop and his gut plummet like he was performing one of those gravity defying rolls in his fighter. "…like a big brother. She's almost half my age and my apprentice for what it's worth. What do you take me for? I'm low, Fel, but not quite that low. Besides no one needs my baggage – especially not her. No, I'm more like her guardian or protector. For some reason the Force thrust me into her path in this time and place – maybe to show me not only the error of my ways but hers as well. Jag, I want to save her, but I can't do it alone, especially not from the fate waiting her in this hall."

There was an undeniable sincerity to the Jedi's words, a depth of emotion Jag had never imagined possible. Finally rectifying the Jedi Master's intentions for Jaina, Jag's heart jumpstarted at a thunderous pace and his stomach righted itself just like it always did when flying. "I just thought…"

"There you go thinking again." Kyp said with a snort. He poked a finger into Jag's chest. "Stop thinking like a Chiss and start feeling like a man. She's not in the state of mind to do it for herself so I'm leaving it up to you. I'm afraid that if you don't step up to your calling and make Jaina see the error of her ways…"

Kyp was interrupted as a pair of Hapan guards dragged a man out the doors and past them, the prisoner's boots scraping harshly against the polished floor the entire way. Abruptly, Kyp's head swung to take in the scene just inside the palace hall. With certainly no sensitivity for Jag's recent injuries, the Jedi Master grabbed his shirt and tugged him forcefully toward the room. "If my hunch is right, you may have to decide real quickly exactly what you do feel for Jaina Solo." With that he sent Jag tumbling into the milling crowd.

Somehow, Jag ended up standing next to Shawnkyr. The Chiss female spared him a cursory glance then indicated toward the front of the room. He followed her gaze to find Jaina and Tenel Ka standing before Ta'a Chume, whose eyes glowed with a feline satisfaction.

"It appears, Colonel, that your friend has been outmaneuvered," his second offered without a hint of malice. To the Chiss, a fact was a fact.

Suddenly, Jag understood what Kyp had been preparing him for the whole way here; Shawnkyr had been right. If Isolder offered Jaina the crown now, at a time of crisis, she could hardly refuse it. Ta'a Chume fully expected Jaina to eagerly seize the power. When the queen looked upon the Jedi pilot, she saw a younger version of herself. All the pieces of the Chadrapak board had been maneuvered into place; Jaina was all but cornered.

Kyp had taken up position at Jag's other side, opposite Shawnkyr. He leaned closer and whispered, "So now is the moment of truth. Are you willing to put a stop to this farce if it comes to that?"

"What!?" Jag barked, causing others to turn and look their way.

A discreet wave of the Jedi Master's hand and soon the outburst was forgotten. Kyp kept his eyes forward upon the two Jedi females locked in an intense conversation. "If she had a reason to question the logic of such a noble decision as taking the crown, then perhaps…"

"What is your point exactly? I hold no power over Jaina."

"Sure you do. She certainly won't listen to me, but you, well, you hold her heart in your hands as surely as Carida's sun will never set again. You can stop this…"

Jag looked from Kyp to the front of the audience, to where Jaina and Tenel Ka had forsaken words and now just stared at each other silently. This was it then. The balance point. The precipice. The blade's edge. Jaina mouthed something, and Jag saw a future he never realized he had held in his hands begin to slip from his grasp. It appeared Jaina was about to be lost to the designs of a master manipulator. But his heart demanded that he overrule the logic ingrained in his head.

In that moment, Jag took his first step, charging forward to grasp a future before it became irreparable. "No," he whispered.

Just as abruptly he was drawn back by a restraining hand. He turned to face Shawnkyr with the fierce expression of a man denied. The Chiss's burning eyes equaled his with a fire of pure defiance. "Colonel, you can't interfere…"

Jag ripped his arm free with a sharp tug. "This doesn't concern you, Lieutenant," he spat.

"Wait," Kyp exclaimed and grabbed Jag by the other shoulder. "I can't believe she's going to do it."

Jag had whipped his head to face the quicksilver intentions of the Jedi Master, then back after the odd announcement, intending to discover exactly who she was. In a surreal flip of fate, time passing in slow motion, Jag's world turned topsy-turvy as Tenel Ka and not Jaina stepped forward. The Jedi with flaming hair strode over to her father and dropped to one knee. Without hesitation, he placed the crown on her head.

Thunderous ovation swept through the room. The newly crowned queen rose and whirled toward the crowd, cutting off their applause with a swift, impatient gesture.

"I am a warrior, a daughter of warrior women. Teneniel Djo foresaw the Yuuzhan Vong threat and prepared. Shipyards hidden in the Transitory Mists have rebuilt much of the fleet lost at Fondor. These ships are on their way. Go and fight, and know that Hapes is strong."

Tenel Ka strode back toward Jaina, her pace quickening as she went. Jaina fell into step, and together the two Jedi women ran toward battle. The applause began again, with a fervor that swept them along like a gathering storm.

As the crowd parted to make way for their new queen, Jag stood frozen in place, Kyp at his side. He watched Jaina as she jogged toward them, time still in slow motion so that every thought and movement seemed to weigh heavier and hold more import. Her brown eyes met his gaze, and the faintest smile tempted her lips despite the gravity of the moment. "See you up there," she said with the tip of her head as she passed.

And he realized that perhaps Jaina had never intended to be queen of Hapes despite all of Ta'a Chume's machinations. He had sorely misjudged her then. But what had he been so mistaken about. Everything – her breeding, her bearing, her calling – pointed to that fact she was Jedi royalty, but perhaps Isolder simply was not good enough for her, not one of her own kind. After trying to implore Jaina to stick to her rank, Jag suddenly realized he might have been truly playing well out of his league.

Now out of time, with a fleet awaiting his command, Jag knew he would be denied the luxury of cataloguing these thoughts. So he tucked them away with practiced Chiss stoicism. For later, he thought. He was not sure how he would manage to shove aside these burning questions, but he looked at her smile and knew there was so much more riding on the outcome of the day's battle, simply their lives. Upon this revelation, time jumped to fast forward once again.

Jag gave Jaina a formal bow and then glanced to Shawnkyr. The Chiss pilots set off for the docking bay at a run, and Kyp fell into pace beside them.

"Jaina never intended to marry the prince," Kyp stated, indicating, too, that he had misjudged Jaina. But something in the Jedi's green eyes told Jag that he understood the reason why, that he knew the reason Isolder was simply not worthy.

Jag looked with interest over at the Jedi Master. Remarkably it seemed he might still get the answer to his question. "I see. He is not a Jedi," he admitted his fear with hopes Kyp would squash it.

"True, but that's not the issue," Kyp said. "I'm guessing that the only man Jaina would ever take seriously is one who can outfly her."

Jag ran along for several moments before answering. He was tempted to ask Kyp if his thoughts were so transparent to a Jedi that the Master could tell this was now their focal point, even tucked deep into the recesses of his psyche. He wondered how Kyp knew this was the one issue keeping his heart from making that treacherous drop back into the unfamiliar whirlpool where his actions were no longer driven by his mind but rather his heart. How had the Jedi identified and defined simply his last holdout against the fearful submission to his heart's desire to love and be loved in return?

"There are not many who fit that description," Jag observed, taking care to keep any hint of pleasure from voice. He was thankful for the insight Kyp Durron gleaned from his wayward thoughts, but there was a limit to what any man wanted another to know.

"Yeah, I've noticed that," Kyp responded in kind.

They skidded to a stop beside their docked ships. Jag extended his hand to Kyp. They clasped hands briefly. "Watch her back," Jag whispered softly, trusting without a doubt that Kyp was the one man who would understand his meaning. Bring her back safely so I have a chance to prove that I can outfly her heart. Then he swung up into his clawcraft where things were straightforward and uncomplicated, and he was simply Colonel Jagged Fel.

TKL/zr