A/N: Hello! long time no chat. Story's doin' great, though it seems as if it's been writing itself lately.At this rate, I might have been writing it for a year or so. Who really knows? Well, hopefully my career will soon take off, yet, this time not without me. (Ahh, how I've missed saying this:) Here's Chapter nine. Jon Foulds!
Jaina awoke ready to travel. She couldn't wait to meet up with her brothers. Although she was tired because she and Stryder had stayed up talking, she felt felt great. Though, what she would see today...
Jaina walked into the kitchen where she saw her mother eating breakfast and watching the holo-news. She took a seat. "Hey, mom. Eveything okay with you and Dad?"
"Oh, yeah, honey. Want some breakfast?" Leia replied.
"No, I think I need to go meditate on something." Jaina stepped out onto the balcony and breathed in the nippy morning air. She sat down. Inhale, exhale. Inhale, exhale. Soon, She had no actions, no thoughts, nothing was of her being exept the Force.
Suddenly, she caught the glimpse of a vision. A handsome man was looking down at her. He had a dazed, yet focused look in his eyes. Some sort of battle action was occurring behind him. She immediately knew who he was by the color of his lightsaber: orange. Zam. He extended his free arm to her. "Come with me. Quickly, Jaina, come!" He ordered. She took his hand. He took her to a nearby deserted alleyway. He was focused, and he spoke concisely. "Jaina, you shouldn't be fighting. I only wanted to tell you before either of us died how much I truly love you. I know you believe that we can't be together, and I know you don't feel the same about me. The other night, well, was a mistake. I hope you have a truly lovely and prosperous life. I love you enough to set you free." He stopped there. He let go of something that he was dying to do. He kissed her deeply, releasing all his passion and fire.
Then, a red-haired, muscular human rounded the corner. "There you are, Solo!" He screamed at her.
"Jaina, run! Go free, my butterfly!" Zam yelled furiously, swinging his lightsaber at the man. "Don't stall, you must hurry!" Jaina stumbled down the alley, watching Zam fend off the enemy. The vision ended. She couldn't see any more, no matter how hard she tried to put herself in tune with the Force.
"Zam!" She yelled, not realizing that she was back at home, no more vision. She was sprawled out on the patio floor, panting. Her entire body was drenched in sweat. She was desperately trying to catch her breath. It all seemed so real; the battle, the kiss, the voices, everything. She touched her lips. They tingled slightly. Zam, She thought. It must be a warning.
Leia came rushing onto the patio. "What's wrong? What happened?" She queried, concerned about her daughter.
Jaina tried to explain. "A vision...Zam...kiss...war...butterfly," She endeavored through gasps and pants. She didn't even know how to word it herself. She was so puzzled, not used to the feeling.
"Hon, I think that when we get to Dantooine, you need to explain everything to Zam, about you and Jag. For the meantime, you need to figure out how you're going to tell Jag about this. You must be honest." Leia advised.
Knock, knock. Someone was at the door. No one in the living room answered.
"Well, gee, don't all get up at once," Jaina said, this mostly directed at her Uncle Luke, who watching holo-vision. She stood to answer the door and wasn't at all surprised to see Master Braun and Jag standing in the doorway.
"Are we all set to travel?" The tan, elderly Master Braun asked as Jaina invited them inside.
"Just about," She replied.
At that moment, Han came out of the guest room with his blaster. Jaina could feel Jag's grip on her shoulder tense up. Han out it away in its holster, and this made Jag's grip relax slightly.
Should have shot him, Han thought.
"Honey, why don't we get this stuff to the hagar so we could load it on the Falcon," Leia said, knowing Han with a gun, and six other Jedi, a Wookiee, and Jaina's boyfriend was no good combination. She was certainly going to have to keep a watchful eye on Han when they headed to Dantooine.
"Raaaaaaawwl," Chewie howled in agreement.
When they arrived at the space hangar, everyone got to work loading the baggage onto the Falcon. Jag hesitantly stepped up the boarding ramp. He checked out the exterior of the Millenium Falcon, knocking on the outer wall. "Are you positive this thing is safe? It looks like a peice of Bantha poodoo to me," Jag asked Jaina.
"Absolutely," She replied as he tantetively boarded the ship.
"Okay, cargo space is tight, so everyone's going to have a roommate or two." He paused, seeing Jag smile at Jaina. "Guys in one room, and girls in the other. The refresher's 'round the corner." He finished, and he and Chewbacca started toward the cockpit. "Is everyone ready for take-off?" He questioned a minute later. Heads nodded in agreement, and you could hear the accelerating uproar of the engines turning over.
Han was leaning back in a chair, his eyes closed. Leia walked over to him and wrapped her arms around his shoulders, kissing him on the cheek. "I thought you said that you were going to aplogize," She said. "To both our daughter and Jag."
For a moment, Han didn't move. Then, he took a deep breath and replied, "I'm still figuring how I'm gonna word it.
"You promised," She reminded him.
"Leia," Han started.
"Yeah?"
"Why do you take to this kid so easily? I mean, why do you trust him?"
"Han, you are too protective of her. She's nineteen years old; old enough to make her own decisions. Jag loves her, and that should be enough for you. You really meed to learn to trust them both."
Han didn't like Leia lecturing him. He tried to change the subject. "Do you remember that night, almost two decades ago?"
Leia chuckled. "Vaguely," She teased. "We really are old, especially you."
"Don't remind me," He replied. He took her hand and pulled her into his lap. He hugged her and held her in his arms. "At least I'm old with you," He said sweetly, kissing her.
Leia gazed into his deep brown eyes. "Oh, Han..." She trailed off. Then she remembered what she had come in here for. She wiped her watering eyes. "You still have to apologize," She sniffled.
"Oh, my maker..." Stryder gasped when Jaina explained her vision and what she had to do. "I have no idea how I can help. You will explain everything to Zam, right?"
"Of couse," Jaina said, trying to sound sure. She and Stryder could both sense the lack of confidence in her voice.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Jaina?" Jag questioned from the doorway. She got up and answered the door, while Stryder pretended to be busy with cleaning her lightsaber.
"Hi," Jag greeted.
"Hi." Jaina smiled. "I'm absolutely flattered by what you said last night."
"Good, that's what I was aiming for. I love you, Jaina."
Jaina's heart skipped a beat. "Wow. I mean, yeah, uh, I...kinda noticed."
"What's wrong, don't you feel the same about me?" He asked, obviously hurt.
"Certainly," She replied.
Jag looked into her untrue eyes, confused. "There's something that you're not telling me," He said.
"No, no." She said. She looked him in his eyes. "Jag, I love you. You are my other half... You complete me." They kissed tenderly for a long moment.
"Jaina?" She heard her dad call from near the refresher. "I wanted to tell you some- Hey, buccko! What d'ya think you're doing with my daughter?" Han saw them just as they pulled apart. He was positively infuriated. Acting on impulse, Han drew his blaster. Instincively, Jag pushed Jaina behind him and had his hand on his lightsaber.
At that moment, Leia came by on her way to the 'fresher. "What in the seven hells of Correlia is going on here?" She yelled, this mostly directed at Han. "Jag, honey, you needn't draw your lightsaber. I'm almost certain this was Han's doing." She turned to Han. "Han! You were supposed to be apologizing!" She flashed him a stern look. Han was sure he could almost hear her growl with anger.
"Kydd, uh, Jaina, well, I'm sorry that I treated you and your friend the way I did," Han apologized, grimacing.
"Dad, to state the obvious, Jag and I are more than 'just friends'."