Ok guys. Sorry it took me a while to get this posted, but I just have not had a lot of spare time lately. Since I already have a lot more of this story written but not posted, I'm going to try and update more often (at least once a week) and I'm also going to make two posts today, so after you read ch. 18 go check out ch. 19. Hope you enjoy!

Chapter 18

Jag ran out of the kitchen and grabbed his coat. He had to go find Jaina and talk to her; see if she was ok. Walking out the front door he looked around for her, trying to see where she had run off to. Spotting her halfway down the block he called out to her, "Jaina!" She kept walking without looking back. "Jaina wait!"

Finally, Jaina stopped long enough for Jag to catch up to her. Huffing slightly from the cold, he grabbed her arm and asked, "What's wrong?" Pulling his coat off, he handed it to her saying, "You're going to freeze out here. Here, take my jacket. I'm sorry if I upset you in there, but I was just telling the truth. Were just friends, right?"

Accepting his jacket gratefully, Jaina tried to think of something to say. Technically, Jag hadn't done anything wrong. They were only just friends. "Yeah, friends. Nothing's wrong. I'm fine."

"Then why did you go running out of there like that? You can tell me. I'm sorry if my dad upset you, but he's not that bad once you get to know him."

"It's not your dad. Not really."

"Then there is something wrong. Was there more to yours and Isolders breakup than you let on? Please, just talk to me."

"Fine. A large reason why Isolder and I broke up was because he knew that my heart did not belong to him, that it never would."

"What are you saying?"

"I…I don't know. I'm not saying we're meant to be together, but what if we are? What if we never get the chance to find out? That is why we came here."

"Jaina I really care about you; I always did. But you chose him. If you two hadn't gotten married then maybe, but now I don't know."

"I didn't choose him, he chose me. There was nothing I could do about it. I tried to tell you a couple of times that it was you that I wanted, but you never seem interested."

"Never seemed interested? Do you know how hard it was for me to leave my room when you kissed me?"

"Then why did you?"

"Because it was the right thing to do. You were another man's wife!"

"I know, but I'm not any more." Jaina stood there and thought for a moment. All around them snow was falling and it was beautiful. "We could try again."

Turning towards her, Jag looked into Jaina's beautiful brown eyes. He could get lost in her alluring prescence. Jag gently lifted her hand and rubbed her palm. Was this right? And then a thought occurred to him, I don't care. He lifted her chin up towards him and closed his eyes. How many times had he dreamed of this moment? And finally his lips met hers in a soft and passionate kiss. After a few seconds he broke off the kiss because of a great need for oxygen and took her hand in his. With a smile, Jag said, "Let's go back inside."

By the time Jaina and Jag walked back into the house hand in hand, the kitchen was already cleaned and the small group had gathered into the living room to get to know each other a little bit better. Jaina was pleased to note that Tahiri was not only talking to the family, but smiling and laughing right along with them. Maybe the girl was starting to heal.

Looking up at the two as the walked through the door, Tahiri asked, "Where have you two been?"

Smiling secretively, Jaina answered, "Nowhere."

"Well, you just missed a great story about lover boy over there."

This caught Jag's attention. "Mom, what did you tell her."

With a smile Syal replied, "Oh, only the story of when you wore a dress."

Simultaneously, Jaina and Jag both yelled, "What!"

Laughing hysterically, Tahiri cried, "You have to hear this Jaina!"

Walking over towards Jaina and her son, Syal took the girls hand and sat her down on the couch. "When Jagged was only about five years old, he and his sister Cherith were best friends who would do anything for each other. Well, Cherith had always wanted a sister, so she convinced Jagged to put on one of her dresses and to let her play with his hair and put makeup on him. At first everyone thought it was hilarious, but when we tried to get him to change back into his own clothes, he kept saying no and insisting that his name was Janet and that he was really a little girl!"

Jaina began to laugh so hard that she nearly fell off of the couch, until she saw the ashamed and embarrassed look on Jag's face. "Oh, it's ok. Your secret is safe with me, Janet," she said with another fit of laughter.

"Ha ha, laugh it up. I'm sure your parents have plenty of embarrassing stories about you, too. Anyways, I'm heading to bed. I'm beat." He turned his back on cries of, 'Good night, baby girl'

Trying to suppress a yawn, Tahiri said, "I'm pretty tired too," and Jaina agreed.

Rising to show them where they would be sleeping, Syal said "You ladies can sleep with Wyn in her room. There is an extra double bed in there that used to belong to her sister."

Tahiri was about to ask where this mysterious older sister was, until she saw Jaina swiftly shake her head out of the corner of her eye. Turning to their host, Tahiri smiled and said, "Thank you so much for opening up your home to us. We really appreciate it."

Nodding, Jaina agreed. "We can't even begin to tell you how much this means to us."

"Anytime girls. I miss having five children, so you two are always welcome. Speaking of my children, I need to go tell Wyn that it is time for her to go to bed too."

A few minutes later the girl walked into her bedroom. "I hope you guys don't mind sharing that bed. It's really big and comfy, so it shouldn't be to bad I hope." Smiling mischievously, Wyn turned to Jaina and asked, "So what is going on between you and my brother? For some reason I get the feeling you two are more than just friends."

Joining in on the attack against Jaina, Tahiri asked, "Yeah. What happened outside earlier?"

Blushing slightly, Jaina replied, "I don't really know what we are. We're definitely more than just friends, I just don't know how much more. But believe me, I'm going to find out before we leave here."

Turning her attention to Tahiri, Wyn said, "And I think Cem has a thing for you, too. He kept talking about how hot you were and how you would be his girl in no time."

At that Tahiri snorted. "Believe me, that's never going to happen."

Sitting on the corner of the bed, Jaina looked towards Wyn and said, "You know, it's kind of funny how different your brothers are. If I didn't know any better, I wouldn't even be able to tell that they were related."

"Yeah, I know. Jag has always been the serious, conservative one. There is something you have to understand about Chiss culture; they don't accept just anyone into their lifestyle. You have to earn their respect, so Jag has tried his entire life to become one of them by copying their behavior patterns, such as his grim seriousness. But Cem on the other hand earned his respect years ago by proving how amazing a pilot he was. As good as Jag may be, Cem is better, and so he doesn't feel like he has to conform to become one of them in order to fit in."

Speaking to Wyn, Tahiri said, "Not being a conformist is all well and good, but your brother is just a dog. He kept hitting on me despite the fact that I obviously didn't want him to. Where does that come from? I can never see Jag treating a girl like that!"

"Well, there aren't that many other human families that live around here, so there has never been much of a selection as far as dating material goes. Since there wasn't many other guys around that would date them, all of the human girls in this area have always gravitated towards Cem. He was different and confident, you know. So I guess all of that has just gone to his head and he views you as one more girl to add to his list."

"Well that's one list I can guarantee you I will never be on."

"I don't know. Cem has his ways; you might just come around one day. All of the other girls have. I'm kind of surprised he doesn't want to go after you too, Jaina."

With a laugh, Jaina replied, "That's not gonna happen."

Climbing into her bed, Wyn merely smiled and said, "Sure it's not."

Well, that was it. I hope everyone liked it and will now go read ch. 19. Remember, reviews are always welcome!