Disclaimer: I'm tired of writing these things, see the previous chapters.
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Callista couldn't restrain a laugh as the girl who was playing at being a Jedi walked away. She had been so easy to manipulate. Did she honestly think Callista was that stupid. Well it didn't matter, Jaina had responded exactly as she had hoped. This would be much easier than she had thought. She really could sense the potential in the girl, though, her veins sung with the Skywalker blood like her grandfather before her. Still it wouldn't matter if the girl did decide against joining her in the end. Then Callista would have an excuse to make her sorry for ever siding with that lying pretender, Mara Jade.
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"NO, THERE IS NO WAY IN ALL OF MY SITH SPAWNED FROMER MASTER'S DOMAIN THAT I WILL DO IT. YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR MIND SKYWALKER." Mara Jade Skywalker screamed at her husband. She was furious, in a rage to be more precise. What Luke was asking her to do, well it was underhanded in a way she didn't think Luke would treat his own wife.
He was using her love for their son to manipulate her into taking that stupid piece of Hutt slime Callista to Shelter with her, and Luke knew precisely what he was doing. He was well aware of the fact that she was almost dying to see her son and it would be insane to send Callista to Shelter in another ship when Mara was already going. It would have been the logical thing for her to do had it not involved any of the people that it did.
Still Mara couldn't believe that he had actually asked her that. Her thoughts raced in a confused and angry, circle that was giving Luke a headache and he wasn't even the one really in his wife's head. He walked up behind his furious wife and soothingly put his arms around her from behind.
"Mara," he asked quietly. He didn't say anything else, he just waited for her response. He allowed her to feel his love for her, enveloping Mara.
"Don't Skywalker," she said, breaking out of his embrace, and raising a hand, almost as if to ward him off as she turned to face him. "I know you love me, Luke," she said softening slightly, "But Luke, this is Callista we're talking about."
Gently he asked, "Is Callie so bad, really?" The moment he asked the question, Luke knew it was the wrong thing to say to his wife.
Mara's green eyes glittered dangerously. "You want to know what's so bad about Callista, Skywalker? Have you heard about what she'd done since she got here. Besides Luke," she said forcing herself to talk to him in a more reasonable manner. Both of them were incredibly stubborn people and shouting at each other could last for hours while succeeding only in getting them nowhere. "I don't know if I want Callista near Ben. He's just a child and no matter what you say Farmboy, I don't trust her."
Luke had no answer for that argument.
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Elsewhere on Mon Calamari, Jaina Solo stood on a deserted patch of duracrete waiting for the squadron of x-wings, her squadron to descend and deliver to her the person she had spent an anxious week and a half waiting for and missing, Jagged Fel.
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Jaina watched impatiently as his clawcraft touched the ground and he climbed out of the cockpit. She had to admit, he was gorgeous. Of course, she would never tell him that, he was enough of a vain nerf as it was. Still as he stood there, she took the opportunity to take in his features, including the distinctive white streak that ran through his hair. The distinguished, more mature appearance it gave him matched his mostly formal personality. Still Jaina was discovering another, more whimsical side to his personality that she already adored. She had missed him, all of him, more than she had expected and it all most scared her.
The moment their eyes met across the landing field, her fear disappeared though. Slowly they walked towards one another, finally stopping when only a foot or two separated them. Jaina wished she had just a small portion of her mother's eloquence because at that moment, she couldn't think of a thing to say. Her mind was totally blank now that Jag was standing in front of her. It appeared that he was equally at a loss. However, the silence didn't last long.
To Jaina's horror, the terror of Rogue Squadron and the hero of Wraith Squadron, Wes Janson appeared at her side. "Hello most beautiful Goddess," he said with a mocking bow. "I see you've found our good Colonel here. I'm sure he'll regain his ability to speak once he leaves your magnificent presence." Wes clapped a familiar arm around Jag's shoulder.
Jag, for his part, was torn between glaring blaster bolts at Wes and blushing an amazing shade of read. If Jaina hadn't been so furious at Wes for interrupting the first private moment she'd had with Jag in almost two weeks, she would have found a blushing Jag hilarious. At it was at least her fury at Wes had allowed her to regain her ability to think and speak.
"What is the meaning of your interruption, Mortal," she demanded. Glad for once that her role as Yun Harla allowed her to treat Wes terribly. Unfortunately for both of them it didn't seem to dissuade Janson, merely seemed to egg him on.
"I apologize for the interruption, Your Loveliness, but I merely wished to bask in the Goddess's presence for a moment. I'll leave you with your manservant."
For some reason Wes's explanations seemed suspicious. In fact, Jaina had a very bad feeling about the whole thing. Her bad feeling only got worse as Wes walked away with a parting, "Yub, yub, Goddess."
"He was like this the whole time."
The moment Jag spoke, Jaina forgot about Wes Janson and all of his ewoks, stuffed, fictional or real. "I'm sorry I left you with such torturous duty." This conversation was pitiful, but neither cared. They were just soaking up the other's presence. "C'mon," Jaina said after a moment, "I have an idea."
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An hour later Jag sat next to a gorgeous blonde woman with the tattooing native to Andoran III. They were sitting next to one another in a cozy and elegant Mon Calamari restaurant eating local food and chatting like old friends.
"I believe I no longer owe you dinner." The cocky tone was right, but the voice was all wrong. Still Jag didn't care as long as he could hang out with Jaina like this.
Of course, no one else could tell that the woman sitting next to him was Jaina and the force suggestion she was using was so good that even he couldn't see through the disguise. Privately he had to admit it was a bit odd to know that he was talking to and kissing Jaina when it looked like completely different person. Of course, her disguise was the cost of their freedom to act like they wanted to in public. Still Jag hoped that one day they wouldn't have to hide their relationship.
"Am I that boring of company?" Jaina asked teasingly.
He turned his head slightly and gave what passed for a smile with him. "You could never be boring, Jaina," he whispered.
Raising one hand, Jaina traced the features of his face and said, surprising him, "I missed you, Jagged Fel. I missed being able to do this," she reached up to kiss him.
He smiled when they pulled apart. "I missed you too."
Jaina sat back and grabbed a piece of fried seaweed off of her plate and munched on it while she listened to him talk. It was unusual to here him talking about normal things; they were usually too busy with missions to think about anything that might pertain to normal life. As she slipped one of her hand's into Jag's, under the table, she had to admit she was enjoying acting like a normal couple who didn't constantly risk their lives for the sake of the galaxy.
So Jaina waited a moment until he had finished talking and then asked him a "normal question" of her own. "What's your family like?"
Jag smiled at the mention of his family, but she could see a sadness in his eyes that echoed her own when she thought about her brothers.
"I have two younger sisters," he said softly. "Wyn, short for Wynssa and Cem. The three of you would get along well."
"They wouldn't be upset that you're dating a Rebel."
Jag laughed softly. He was acting so differently when he had a brief reprieve from his heavy responsibilities. They both were. In truth, they were simply acting their ages. "Only if you refuse to let them examine your x-wing."
"They're both pilots then?"
"Could the children of Baron Fel be anything else," he asked rhetorically. "Cem's pretty good for her age and training, but Wyn hadn't enrolled the last time I was home. I don't know how she's doing."
"You miss them," Jaina stated matter of factly and despite how much it was killing her to say it, she added. "You could go home and see them you know. You're here by choic."
Jag looked surprised at her words and she knew he had never even considered it. "I won't leave you to fight alone, Jaina. Not unless I have to and maybe not even then."
Jaina couldn't suppress a smile as a feeling of warmth spread through her whole body. It grew as he continued.
"The next time I go home, Jaina. I want you to go with me. I want to show you_"
"So this is where you're hiding," cut in a harsh voice that Jaina was becoming all too familiar with.
Callista. Jaina would have been furious enough had anyone interrupted this wonderful moment, but she suspected that Callista had done this on purpose. "What do you want Lady Callista," Jaina struggled between rudeness and absolute formality.
"Oh I just suspected you were wasting your time with the non-sensitive here, again, so I brought an assignment for you, starting immediately." She casually set a datacard down in front of Jaina on the table. Jaina could feel her hand clinch into a painful grip on Jag's. "I was serious about our previous conversation, Jaina. I want your help with this and I will have it."
Before Jaina could begin to speak, Jag was on his feet using their joined hands to draw her up next to him and then wrapped a supportive arm around Jaina. "First of all, Lady Callista," he said firmly in a neutral voice, laced liberally with polite disdain, "You are not Jaina's superior, so I believe that's her choice and second." He paused there to reinforce his point, "Jaina has never and will never shirk her duty [i] to the war[/i]." he emphasized carefully. Throwing out all pretenses at politeness he added with intensity, but not anger. "Jaina was out fighting the Vong while you were still hiding in safety. Don't even talk to her about that."
Turning away from Callista, Jag kissed her quickly on the lips and said, "Come on, Darling, let's go."
The walked onto the streets, leaving Callista still silent behind them. Ten minutes later when they were sitting quietly in her quarters, Jaina spoke first. "Thank you for saying that to Callista, but you didn't have to. I could have handled it."
Jag smiled, for the first time since Callista's untimely appearance. "I know, but I wanted to. She [i]was[/i] rather insulting."
Jaina laughed. "She was. It was probably a good thing you handled it. It wouldn't have been pretty when I got done." Jaina sighed, dramatically and moaned, "I should have listened to Kyp and just blasted her. It would have been so much simpler."
Jag grinned. "You know, you can't solve all of your problems with a blaster, Darling," he replied mischievously.
Jaina sat up abruptly. "That's what Jedi have lightsaber's for." She cocked her head at him as if suddenly realizing something. "Jagged Fel, Mr. Grim, did you just make a joke," she questioned teasingly.
"I believe I did," he said with mock-disbelief, "What are you going to do about it oh-powerful-Jedi/"
To Jag's surprise his teasing words seemed to hit Jaina like a slap and she fell back in her seat, her good mood disappearing at a rate faster than the speed of light. After a moment of tense silence, Jaina asked bluntly, "Will the fact that I'm a Jedi Knight be a problem for you?"
Clichéd it may be, but reviewing will make my day!
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Callista couldn't restrain a laugh as the girl who was playing at being a Jedi walked away. She had been so easy to manipulate. Did she honestly think Callista was that stupid. Well it didn't matter, Jaina had responded exactly as she had hoped. This would be much easier than she had thought. She really could sense the potential in the girl, though, her veins sung with the Skywalker blood like her grandfather before her. Still it wouldn't matter if the girl did decide against joining her in the end. Then Callista would have an excuse to make her sorry for ever siding with that lying pretender, Mara Jade.
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"NO, THERE IS NO WAY IN ALL OF MY SITH SPAWNED FROMER MASTER'S DOMAIN THAT I WILL DO IT. YOU'RE OUT OF YOUR MIND SKYWALKER." Mara Jade Skywalker screamed at her husband. She was furious, in a rage to be more precise. What Luke was asking her to do, well it was underhanded in a way she didn't think Luke would treat his own wife.
He was using her love for their son to manipulate her into taking that stupid piece of Hutt slime Callista to Shelter with her, and Luke knew precisely what he was doing. He was well aware of the fact that she was almost dying to see her son and it would be insane to send Callista to Shelter in another ship when Mara was already going. It would have been the logical thing for her to do had it not involved any of the people that it did.
Still Mara couldn't believe that he had actually asked her that. Her thoughts raced in a confused and angry, circle that was giving Luke a headache and he wasn't even the one really in his wife's head. He walked up behind his furious wife and soothingly put his arms around her from behind.
"Mara," he asked quietly. He didn't say anything else, he just waited for her response. He allowed her to feel his love for her, enveloping Mara.
"Don't Skywalker," she said, breaking out of his embrace, and raising a hand, almost as if to ward him off as she turned to face him. "I know you love me, Luke," she said softening slightly, "But Luke, this is Callista we're talking about."
Gently he asked, "Is Callie so bad, really?" The moment he asked the question, Luke knew it was the wrong thing to say to his wife.
Mara's green eyes glittered dangerously. "You want to know what's so bad about Callista, Skywalker? Have you heard about what she'd done since she got here. Besides Luke," she said forcing herself to talk to him in a more reasonable manner. Both of them were incredibly stubborn people and shouting at each other could last for hours while succeeding only in getting them nowhere. "I don't know if I want Callista near Ben. He's just a child and no matter what you say Farmboy, I don't trust her."
Luke had no answer for that argument.
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Elsewhere on Mon Calamari, Jaina Solo stood on a deserted patch of duracrete waiting for the squadron of x-wings, her squadron to descend and deliver to her the person she had spent an anxious week and a half waiting for and missing, Jagged Fel.
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Jaina watched impatiently as his clawcraft touched the ground and he climbed out of the cockpit. She had to admit, he was gorgeous. Of course, she would never tell him that, he was enough of a vain nerf as it was. Still as he stood there, she took the opportunity to take in his features, including the distinctive white streak that ran through his hair. The distinguished, more mature appearance it gave him matched his mostly formal personality. Still Jaina was discovering another, more whimsical side to his personality that she already adored. She had missed him, all of him, more than she had expected and it all most scared her.
The moment their eyes met across the landing field, her fear disappeared though. Slowly they walked towards one another, finally stopping when only a foot or two separated them. Jaina wished she had just a small portion of her mother's eloquence because at that moment, she couldn't think of a thing to say. Her mind was totally blank now that Jag was standing in front of her. It appeared that he was equally at a loss. However, the silence didn't last long.
To Jaina's horror, the terror of Rogue Squadron and the hero of Wraith Squadron, Wes Janson appeared at her side. "Hello most beautiful Goddess," he said with a mocking bow. "I see you've found our good Colonel here. I'm sure he'll regain his ability to speak once he leaves your magnificent presence." Wes clapped a familiar arm around Jag's shoulder.
Jag, for his part, was torn between glaring blaster bolts at Wes and blushing an amazing shade of read. If Jaina hadn't been so furious at Wes for interrupting the first private moment she'd had with Jag in almost two weeks, she would have found a blushing Jag hilarious. At it was at least her fury at Wes had allowed her to regain her ability to think and speak.
"What is the meaning of your interruption, Mortal," she demanded. Glad for once that her role as Yun Harla allowed her to treat Wes terribly. Unfortunately for both of them it didn't seem to dissuade Janson, merely seemed to egg him on.
"I apologize for the interruption, Your Loveliness, but I merely wished to bask in the Goddess's presence for a moment. I'll leave you with your manservant."
For some reason Wes's explanations seemed suspicious. In fact, Jaina had a very bad feeling about the whole thing. Her bad feeling only got worse as Wes walked away with a parting, "Yub, yub, Goddess."
"He was like this the whole time."
The moment Jag spoke, Jaina forgot about Wes Janson and all of his ewoks, stuffed, fictional or real. "I'm sorry I left you with such torturous duty." This conversation was pitiful, but neither cared. They were just soaking up the other's presence. "C'mon," Jaina said after a moment, "I have an idea."
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An hour later Jag sat next to a gorgeous blonde woman with the tattooing native to Andoran III. They were sitting next to one another in a cozy and elegant Mon Calamari restaurant eating local food and chatting like old friends.
"I believe I no longer owe you dinner." The cocky tone was right, but the voice was all wrong. Still Jag didn't care as long as he could hang out with Jaina like this.
Of course, no one else could tell that the woman sitting next to him was Jaina and the force suggestion she was using was so good that even he couldn't see through the disguise. Privately he had to admit it was a bit odd to know that he was talking to and kissing Jaina when it looked like completely different person. Of course, her disguise was the cost of their freedom to act like they wanted to in public. Still Jag hoped that one day they wouldn't have to hide their relationship.
"Am I that boring of company?" Jaina asked teasingly.
He turned his head slightly and gave what passed for a smile with him. "You could never be boring, Jaina," he whispered.
Raising one hand, Jaina traced the features of his face and said, surprising him, "I missed you, Jagged Fel. I missed being able to do this," she reached up to kiss him.
He smiled when they pulled apart. "I missed you too."
Jaina sat back and grabbed a piece of fried seaweed off of her plate and munched on it while she listened to him talk. It was unusual to here him talking about normal things; they were usually too busy with missions to think about anything that might pertain to normal life. As she slipped one of her hand's into Jag's, under the table, she had to admit she was enjoying acting like a normal couple who didn't constantly risk their lives for the sake of the galaxy.
So Jaina waited a moment until he had finished talking and then asked him a "normal question" of her own. "What's your family like?"
Jag smiled at the mention of his family, but she could see a sadness in his eyes that echoed her own when she thought about her brothers.
"I have two younger sisters," he said softly. "Wyn, short for Wynssa and Cem. The three of you would get along well."
"They wouldn't be upset that you're dating a Rebel."
Jag laughed softly. He was acting so differently when he had a brief reprieve from his heavy responsibilities. They both were. In truth, they were simply acting their ages. "Only if you refuse to let them examine your x-wing."
"They're both pilots then?"
"Could the children of Baron Fel be anything else," he asked rhetorically. "Cem's pretty good for her age and training, but Wyn hadn't enrolled the last time I was home. I don't know how she's doing."
"You miss them," Jaina stated matter of factly and despite how much it was killing her to say it, she added. "You could go home and see them you know. You're here by choic."
Jag looked surprised at her words and she knew he had never even considered it. "I won't leave you to fight alone, Jaina. Not unless I have to and maybe not even then."
Jaina couldn't suppress a smile as a feeling of warmth spread through her whole body. It grew as he continued.
"The next time I go home, Jaina. I want you to go with me. I want to show you_"
"So this is where you're hiding," cut in a harsh voice that Jaina was becoming all too familiar with.
Callista. Jaina would have been furious enough had anyone interrupted this wonderful moment, but she suspected that Callista had done this on purpose. "What do you want Lady Callista," Jaina struggled between rudeness and absolute formality.
"Oh I just suspected you were wasting your time with the non-sensitive here, again, so I brought an assignment for you, starting immediately." She casually set a datacard down in front of Jaina on the table. Jaina could feel her hand clinch into a painful grip on Jag's. "I was serious about our previous conversation, Jaina. I want your help with this and I will have it."
Before Jaina could begin to speak, Jag was on his feet using their joined hands to draw her up next to him and then wrapped a supportive arm around Jaina. "First of all, Lady Callista," he said firmly in a neutral voice, laced liberally with polite disdain, "You are not Jaina's superior, so I believe that's her choice and second." He paused there to reinforce his point, "Jaina has never and will never shirk her duty [i] to the war[/i]." he emphasized carefully. Throwing out all pretenses at politeness he added with intensity, but not anger. "Jaina was out fighting the Vong while you were still hiding in safety. Don't even talk to her about that."
Turning away from Callista, Jag kissed her quickly on the lips and said, "Come on, Darling, let's go."
The walked onto the streets, leaving Callista still silent behind them. Ten minutes later when they were sitting quietly in her quarters, Jaina spoke first. "Thank you for saying that to Callista, but you didn't have to. I could have handled it."
Jag smiled, for the first time since Callista's untimely appearance. "I know, but I wanted to. She [i]was[/i] rather insulting."
Jaina laughed. "She was. It was probably a good thing you handled it. It wouldn't have been pretty when I got done." Jaina sighed, dramatically and moaned, "I should have listened to Kyp and just blasted her. It would have been so much simpler."
Jag grinned. "You know, you can't solve all of your problems with a blaster, Darling," he replied mischievously.
Jaina sat up abruptly. "That's what Jedi have lightsaber's for." She cocked her head at him as if suddenly realizing something. "Jagged Fel, Mr. Grim, did you just make a joke," she questioned teasingly.
"I believe I did," he said with mock-disbelief, "What are you going to do about it oh-powerful-Jedi/"
To Jag's surprise his teasing words seemed to hit Jaina like a slap and she fell back in her seat, her good mood disappearing at a rate faster than the speed of light. After a moment of tense silence, Jaina asked bluntly, "Will the fact that I'm a Jedi Knight be a problem for you?"
Clichéd it may be, but reviewing will make my day!