If there was one thing Jaina disliked, it was a Vong worldship. If there were two things, the second was a diplomatic banquet. And this wasn't the only banquet she would have to suffer through during the negotiations. There was another scheduled at the completion of the event. If everything went according to her plans, she would be off planet by then.

Jaina stood on a balcony overlooking the banquet hall. It was crowded with diplomats and politicians, people she had been trying for years to avoid. She tugged uncomfortably at her stiff, formal dress uniform. Her eyes darted from face to face until she recognized the countenance of Jag Fel. She was a little disappointed to see him down amongst the others; she had hoped to sidetrack him before he got there. After all, they had not had any time alone since before she left for Bakura.

Well, she could always grab him on his way out, possibly make him buy her a drink at the officer's club.

At the moment, Jag was deep in conversation with a Chiss Jaina didn't know. She sighed and glared meaningfully at him until he looked up. His eyes flicked down almost immediately, but he obviously got her unspoken message. After a few more words the Chiss walked away, leaving Jag standing alone. He looked back up at her and nodded ever so slightly towards the ornate staircase. Jaina obeyed.

Jag offered her his arm when she reached him. She smiled only slightly, because Jag was behaving in his usual formal event manner. He greeted her with a stiff nod and a murmur of, "Colonel Solo. I'm sorry I haven't been able to come see you in the last few days, but I've been flying patrols almost every waking hour."

"Yeah, those shifts are murder."

"How have you been?"

"Better. Nothing hurts as much as it used to."

"That's good. When will they let you fly again?"

"I'm going back on duty tomorrow morning. And it's about time. That new guy from Hapes they called in, Major Tsugaret, was placed as my second in command, and he is not ready to lead a squadron yet. I've been doing his paperwork for the past three days."

Jag shook his head. "By this point, to be second in an elite squadron like the Twins, he ought to have at least led a normal unit."

"You'd think. But then again, the Twins were my first command."

"Yours was a special case, Great One." Jaina only rolled her eyes. She had given up the Yun-Harla facade when the Vong fell, but some of the people who were behind the trick still brought it up. "After all, times of war call for more desperate measures. As we are no longer under the constant threat of invasion, someone more competent ought to have been found."

Jaina didn't really like her command to be referred to as a "desperate measure", so she decided to change the subject. "I wonder if you have heard anything about a file my brother, Tahiri, and I retrieved?"

"Yes, General Antilles was telling me about it yesterday. Apparently, it came quite encrypted. The analysts have not yet finished with it yet, but he said they ought to know something by tomorrow."

"That's good." They wandered over to the tables where the invited pilots were sitting. "They're really serious about all of this, aren't they?" Jaina said with a smile, gesturing to the cards at each place.

"Should they not be? The future of your government could depend on these meetings." Jaina rolled her eyes at his statement. Jag nudged her and pointed at one of the tables. "Isn't that nice of them?" The two pilots had been located side by side.

Jaina shrugged. "What can I say? I have friends in high places." They sat down.

After a few minutes of idle conversation, they saw Wedge go up to a podium at the head of the room. Over the microphone, they could hear him clearing his throat awkwardly. "If you would all please find your seats, we can begin."

As the night wore on, Jag couldn't help but notice how little attention was being paid by the pilots around him. Most were staring into space, a few were talking quietly, and one was even asleep. Jaina herself was gazing at the speaker's with a sort of cloud over her eyes. The only time any of them showed the slightest interest was when food had finally been produced.

That had been nearly two hours ago. Even Jag was starting to get bored. It was with great enthusiasm that the pilots woke up and applauded the last speaker. Finally they were dismissed.

"I think they were trying to make it last long enough that the officers' club would be closed before the end," Jaina commented as the crowd slowly filed out of the banquet hall.

"Actually it's still open for another half hour."

"You're kidding! In that case, I'm going to drop a hint."

"Fine, we'll go."

Jaina grinned. "You catch on quick."

Once they got out, Jag stopped in his tracks and swore under his breath. "No. I was hoping to avoid them tonight."

"Who?"

Jag nodded up the street. Soontir and Syal Fel were casually walking towards them. "Sith, there's nowhere to hide."

Jaina laughed out loud. "How bad can they be?"

Jag only shook his head. He had been putting off the meeting between his parents and Jaina for as long as he possibly could. He had no way of knowing how they would react to Jaina's less than savory reputation. But there was no time left to do anything about it. The Fels were upon them.

Syal smiled warmly and held out her hand. "You must be Colonel Solo. I'm Syal Fel."

Jaina smiled back and shook the proffered hand. "I'm pleased to meet you." She turned to Jag's father and saluted sharply. "General."

Soontir returned it without expression. "Colonel."

"We were just heading to the officers' club for a drink," Syal said. "Would you two mind joining us?"

"I would be honored," Jaina answered. Jag knew that she had had enough drinks with generals throughout her life to consider it no such thing. All of Jag's hopes for this consisting of a few polite handshakes and no conversation were dashed into the ground.

Still, this was inevitable.

As they set off, Jag cleared his throat and headed the discussion into mindless banter about attack patterns. It was the only ground he could think of that couldn't turn into an argument.

At the bar, Syal and Jaina did most of the talking, discussing Jaina's career. To Jag's relief, Soontir said nothing. Doubtless, he had a few choice opinions about the way she had handled her life as a pilot.

As Jaina was relaying to Syal the mission that had gotten her promoted to full colonel, Soontir nudged Jag and pointed to an empty table. Jag followed his father over to it, mentally preparing himself for whatever criticisms the older man might have.

To his utter surprise, none were given. Instead, Soontir just looked Jag in the eye and said, "I thought about what you said and had your sister give me her opinion. I know what this is all about." With that and a stern look, he walked out.

Jag stared after him in surprise for a second before walking back to the bar. "Where did he go?" Syal asked with a frown.

"I don't know. He just left."

Syal shook her head. "I'd better be going, then. It really was nice to meet you, Jaina."

After she left, only Jag and Jaina were left in the club. Jag ordered a mug of cheap beer and drained it. Jaina gave a low whistle. "I didn't know you could chug."

Jag ignored that and said, "Come on. I'll walk you home."

As he said goodnight to Jaina outside her quarters, Jag realized something. He knew he would still have to deal with his father, but things had gone much better than he had ever expected. They weren't perfect, of course, but neither were they disastrous.

What Jag didn't know, however, was that things were not going to get better any time soon.