3 YEARS LATER
"Mom, I had that dream again last night. They kept fighting and fighting, ready to kill each other over me. This is one of the few things I really fear: the men I love dying over me. Once again, I woke at the climax of the battle. I'm just not sure what I can do about this," Jaina explained to her mother over the comlink.
Leia had a pensive look on her face. "You know, Jaina, dreams tell a lot about your future. Maybe you should meditate on this," Leia advised."Is your uncle Luke there?"
"Yeah, hang on. Uncle Luke, Mom wants to talk to you!" She called to her uncle.
"Sure, I'll be there in a minute!" He replied. "Hi, Leia," He said when he got to the comlink. He smiled. "Are you guys taking care of Ben? It's tearing me apart not to see him take his first few steps. Will you get someone to record it on an empty holovid chip and then relay it to Mara-Jade and then me?" He questioned as tears welled up in his eyes.
"Sure," She replied. "How bad is it at Tarka?"
"Well, they can't do much more to us. I don't know exactly what their motives are, yet. The ships look like they could possibly be Hapan, though, I'm almost positive that the Hapans are very benevolent beings," He explained.
Leia looked thoughtful. "Luke," She said. "You know that I've been training Stryder." She was talking about the force-sensitive orphan from Vantwhikye. On a diplomatic mission for the rebels, Luke and Jaina discovered that she was living on the streets. They sheltered her and took her back to the Jedi acadamy.
"Yeah," Luke said suspiciously. "What are you getting at?"
"Well, she's just as good as Jacen, and getting better daily. I'd really like to help our cause, brother. I've already talked to Han about it. We wouldn't be a burden," She explained.
Luke seriously thought about this, and then smiled. "Are you jealous of my name, sister?" He joked.
"Well, commander, maybe a teensy bit."
"We could actually use more Jedi to fight for the rebels. It doesn't hurt to be a Skywalker, either. Okay, get the Falcon and Stryder, then report to Tarka immediately."
Just as he disconnected the signal, the comlink started beeping again. He was delighted to see Mara-Jade and her red curly locks.
"Hi, honey. How's Tarka?" She greeted.
Luke smiled. "Probably not as good as Dantooine."
Jaina came out of the refresher and saw her aunt on the com-screen. "Ask her how Anakin's doing," She ordered to her uncle.
"Well, he's like a bat outta one of the hells of Luranea," She replied.
"Leia and Stryder are joining the Jedi fleet to fight for the rebels. They're going to report to Tarka, and then Han will take us to the army base on Dantooine. Is the Nebula squadrant there?" He explained.
" Yes, all exept for Han."
"We need to pack. I love you, Mara."
"I love you, too."
"Bye, Aunt Jade!"
"See you."
Luke hung up the com-link. He turned to Jaina. "We need to start packing. By the time we're finished, all the Jedi on Tarka will have recieved the order to report to the army base on Dantooine."
-
Almost as soon as they were finished packing, Jaina heard a knock at the apartment door. Immediately after she opened the door, she was greeted with a very long and dramatic kiss. This happened right as Luke walked out of the refresher. Jaina and Jag quickly seperated when they eventually saw him. Jaina fidgeted embarrassedly.
"Well, uh, hello, Commander Skywalker. I was just, um, greeting your neice," Jag recited nervously.
"Hmmm," Luke said suspiciously.
"We were just...going for a walk, right, Jag?" Jaina said.
Luke turned to finish packing. "Sure, go ahead."
-
Jag and Jaina held hands as they ambled through the park. He put his arm around her waist. His hand kept moving lower and lower until, finally, he found what he was looking for.
"Jag!" Jaina gasped as she shoved him away. "I'm apalled!" She tried to look serious, though she couldn't keep the smirk fom her face.
"What? What did I do?" Lately, that was his favorite answer for everything.
They both sat down on the park bench and began to kiss. Jag, hoping that his lips were enough of a distraction, reached down and started to unbutton Jaina's blouse.
"Jag, it's broad daylight," She stated.
"I can see that. So?" He said as he kissed the nape of her neck.
"Not here, not now," She replied.
"Aww, come on," He insisted.
Jaina felt his lips move to her left ear. The she felt something wet right beside her padawan's braid. She giggled. "Jag, you heard me, you animal."
"Hey, an actual compliment," He joked. "Come on, love. We can play rainforest wildlife. Grrr...I like em' fiesty!"
"Jag, I mean, we're about to go to war." He suddenly stopped. Every time she said something of that nature, it always ruined the mood. "Do you and master Sen-Sho Braun have a ship to travel to Dantooine?" She questioned.
"Not exactly. We were going to travel by charter," He replied.
"Gross, charters are nasty. My family is coming in this evening. They're gonna stay the night, and we travel tomorrow. You can travel with us."
"Oooo, a sleepover! Goody, can I come?" He asked playfully, mimicking a child. Jaina flashed him a serious look. "Just joking. Okay, so you want us to accompany you to Dantooine, is that it? Well, I liked every part of the plan exept the 'parents' part.
"Hey, be nice to them. Especially my father," She ordered.
"Jaina, he's Correlian. You know how ill-tempered they are," He complained.
"Hey. Dad just needs some time...adjusting."
"Adjusting? Jaina, I'm pretty sure your dad hasn't liked me scince you were thirteen. And, frankly, he scares the wits outta me! And why shouldn't he scare me? He's a general in the army and an ex-smuggler. In battle, I'm his enemy. Remeber when he shot me at blaster target-practice?"
Jaina couldn't speak. She was trying to figure out if she was sad or angry at her boyfriend for insulting her father. So she just burst into tears instead.
"Oh, Jaina, sweetie. No, no. I didn't mean it, you know that. I love your family; they're wonderful! It's me. I'm the one that's reckless, daring, deviously handsome. The one that's always getting you into trouble. I'm a bad influence on you." He stopped, trying to figure out what to say next. "Remeber when I broke your window by throwing rocks at it. We each got in trouble. We had to scrub the acadamy floor for weeks. Remember when we put the rags on our feet and slid across? Remember the bruises?"
Jaina smiled through her tears.
"See, honey? Dry your tears. I promise I won't bite them. This time."
"Swear?"
"Every word."
Jaina couldn't resist any longer. She leaned in and kissed Jag tenderly. He reached up and gently dried her tears. "There," he said. "All better?"
"Almost." She replied as she ran her hair throughhis short hair. "I need one more thing. This"
She kissed him again, completely lost in the feel of his arms around her waist.
He pulled her close, feeling her take his jacket off. He followed her lead, playfully squeezing her behind. She squealed as he kissed her neck.
Just then, Jaina reluctantly pulled away. "They're here," She said enthusiastically.