Chapter Four

:Aboard the RELIANT:

Zekk was at the controls. He seemed to always be at the controls these days. Jaina watched him pilot the ship into hyper-space, and away from the Jedi fleet. He had been silent for the past hour, and in a way Jaina was glad of it. She didn't want to be reprimanded. Perhaps if she didn't know she had done wrongly to snap at her mother she wouldn't mind his input, but she knew it was out of her place to argue with her.

Quiet in her seat, Jaina stared out at the starlines of hyperspace. She glanced over at Zekk again, reading his features as he piloted the small ship. She hadn't truly looked at him for a long time, but now she did. He had gotten older. The skin on his face was taunter also, as if he hadn't been eating properly for quite a long time. There were dark rings under his eyes, andhe looked tired.

Reaching over, Jaina slid her hand up under his long black hair, massaging his neck with her fingertips. With satisfaction, she saw him blink, letting his mouth relax for a moment, even his shoulders sagged. She smiled. "It still works doesn't it."

Zekk closed his eyes. "You haven't done that in a very long time."

Watching him turn his head, his eyes still closed Jaina sighed, "Perhaps I should never have stopped."

Zekk laughed quietly. "You might want to stop now, if you go on I won't let you stop."

Smiling, Jaina could see the old Zekk coming back. "This always was the spot on you, wasn't it."

/Five Hours Later/

Zekk watched Jaina sleep. Although he wished he could sleep too, it never seemed like he could. He had too many things on his mind. Jaina was on his mind...mostly. Other than the prospect of looking for ancient pre-rebellion Jedi, who he had no idea of where to look for. Jaina lay sleeping in his lap, absently he ran his fingers through her long dark hair.

It was correct, what the medical droids had been saying about Jaina's mental health. She was on the brink more nowadays than he ever was. Of course it must have had something to do with the death of her little brother, and the attack on the Jedi Fleet. However, he could also feel that she was tinged by the dark side. It was occurring in her fighting, even when she was in the cockpit. Although she never told him, it seemed that the majority of the reason that after every battle she came to him was not to mourn for the loss of the men...But for the shedding of the blood she had done in anger and hate. Somehow, he guessed that when she was with him...she found some sort of redemption.

But then again...was that all he was to her? Redemption. She had never once said that she loved him. Ever. How long had they been together? Three and a half years...that was a long time. He had always wanted to take the relationship to the next level, but it seemed she would never let him. She always had something to do. Someplace to go. Well...now she didn't, did she? Was there still any point? Perhaps. But he couldn't bring himself to part with her. And why was that? He loved her. Zekk rubbed his eyes, but love unrequited was useless. And it would dishonor him if he kept this up. Was she using him? That was quite possible. Perhaps she didn't know she was using him, but it was still quite possible. Sighing, he let his head tilt back against the seat, closing his eyes. He would see..

Inside Jaina's head...Zekk had thought she was asleep, but while she had laid there she was anything but. She had listened to his thoughts through the Force, and now all she could do was keep from shaking. She couldn't believe it...How could she have let this happen? She was losing him.

Three Hours Later

Zekk took the RELIANT out of hyperspace. Jaina sat in the co-pilot seat. She didn't really know what to say around him for some odd reason, but he didn't seem to notice, and that was good.

"Taking her down. Do you remember the coordinates that your mom gave to us?" Zekk was busy looking down at the planet, so luckily for Jaina he didn't see her fumble.

"Yes, 56 parsec south and 88 due east." Jaina felt it as Zekk guided the ship down through clouds onto a grassy green planet.

"It looks like lakeside country. Perhaps that's where these caves are."

Jaina nodded quietly. "Yeah..."

"I'm taking her down." Zekk glided the ship smoothly down, and they landed on a grassy meadow.

/Five minutes later/

It would have been a perfect picture. Jaina looked out over the meadow. Perfect, that is, unless the storm clouds hadn't been there. As it was, they darkened the sky, and threatened to send rain on them.

Walking out of the ship, Jaina hauled her bag of clothes behind her. "I read that there are some deserted dwellings on the edge of the lake. We can start looking there."

"Right." Zekk said, closing up the ship's hull, and locking it safe.

Before long, they were walking out across the rolling meadow. Jaina kept looking over her shoulder at Zekk, but luckily he didn't notice.

Suddenly, there was a crack of thunder, and rain began to come down in sheets. Both Jedi bolted over the last hill toward the lakeside retreat. Before Jaina knew it, she was sopping wet, and surprisingly...she was laughing.

Together, they ran up the stone steps and past the hanging vines into the shelter of a dark and deserted veranda. By the time they had got there, Zekk was laughing too.

"What are you laughing about?" Zekk asked, laughing himself.

"You don't know?" Jaina asked, pulling her rain-soaked hair out of her face.

"It's contagious, okay! Thank you very much." Zekk said defensively.

"It's just that...I haven't felt the rain on my face in about a year and a half." She caught her breath, looking at him.

Zekk's black hair had come out of the string he usually kept it in, and it fell about his shoulders. Then it seemed like he felt her stare and glanced up. "What are you looking at?"

Jaina shook her head, taking a few steps closer to him. Reaching up, she brushed a strand of black hair out of his face. She looked up at him, her heartbeat suddenly starting to go extremely fast. Coming closer, Jaina wrapped an arm around his neck, pulling him down toward her so that their faces were almost touching. "I love you." There it was, she had said it. It had been nothing more than a whisper, and it was barely even that.

Zekk paused, his greene eyes looking surprised for a moment. Then he smiled. "I know."

Jaina smiled too, and began to come up with some smart-allic reply, but that was quickly silanced by a long soft kiss.

tb continued.

(sorry this one was mooshy- i'll have more action in the next chapters.)