Previously on The Kyp and Jysella Show...
Jysella finally figured out what that feeling was…
And
Kyp still didn't understand what the Force was trying to tell him...
Season 3
Episode 10
Interlude, Part 5
You must understand that the touch of your hand
Makes my pulse react
That it's only the thrill of boy meeting girl
Opposites attract
It's physical
Only logical
You must try to ignore that it means more than that
What's love got to do, got to do with it
What's love but a second hand emotion
What's love got to do, got to do with it
Who needs a heart when a heart can be broken
What's Love Got To Do With It?/T. Britten, G. Lyle
A Suspicious Mining Facility, Sakiya, Mid Rim Region
39 ABY
Nine Years After The Yuuzhan Vong War
Kyp hated caves.
Kyp hated enclosed spaces that lacked lots of light.
Jysella was well aware of this and sometimes found it miraculous that he could handle being in an X-wing for days at a time, but put the man in a cave and he became an ill-tempered, hyperactive seven year-old. She was mildly impressed that he never began to chant 'are we there yet' when they found themselves in situations like the one they were currently in. But aware she was, and had, therefore, spent the last hour trying to keep him talking, focused on something other than the fact that they had walked a very long way, through a seemingly endless series of tunnels, each more narrow than the one before.
"So what you're saying," she asked, "is that the secret to finding inner peace is to find the right… job?"
Kyp laughed, and flicked her shoulder. "Purpose. The word you're looking for is purpose."
Of course it was, and they both knew that, but the laugh was what she was going for. She grinned back at Kyp and waited for him to continue.
"In every life, but also in each day and in each moment, you need to find purpose. Like your purpose in the last hour has been to keep my mind off the fact that you're dragging me through a dark, dank enclosed space."
"If you know that's what I've been trying to do, then my powers of diversion must be diminishing rapidly."
"Hardly… and you're developing other skills at a phenomenal rate so I wouldn't be concerned."
Jysella's heart skipped a beat, and then settled back into a normal rhythm. "Be that as it may, you've given me a lot to think about. It's making me hungry."
Almost instantly Kyp was holding a ration bar out to her, the wrapper already peeled back, the only 'flavor' she could choke down, saying, "Breathing makes you hungry… it's sort of fascinating you don't weigh as much as a Hutt…"
"Eee, ank ewh… ah ink," She replied, mouth full of dehydrated critrel berry plasti-board.
"Where was I before you nearly fainted from hunger, again?"
She took the bottle of water he offered, and pulled in a long drink to wash the dry 'food' down, swallowed and sighed gratefully, "Today's discussion, Master, has been on finding inner peace…"
"Which must have thrilled you until you realized I actually had something to say on the subject."
"I'll admit I expected this to be shorter than other lessons. But once again you've managed to surprise and impress me."
"Is that is your sarcastic and devious way of saying that you'd rather talk about X-wing engines and hyperdrives than Jedi values."
"Only five years and you've already figured me out. I did really like the new TYG45s we saw last week at the Garqi show. Think you could teach me how to go EV and lose a fighter so I can put in for one?"
"I find your lack of respect disturbing."
"Oh… no you don't. You'd be insulted if I didn't pretend to be bored, instead of intensely interested in the profundity you have to offer, oh philosophical one. But I have to know… am I really going to be asked about any of this by the Council when they're knighting me?"
"I doubt it, but given my history, and our history, I'd like them to have at least some sense that you and I didn't just spend all of our years together swinging lightsabers, losing X-wings, and fighting with each other."
"And how many X-wings did we lose?"
"Right, I lost X -wings, you're just a compulsive gambler who's hacked into the data files of everyone who has ever lived on, been to, or flown near Ossus…"
"I have no idea what you're talking about… and I'm not a compulsive gambler, I'm Corellian."
"I used to think there was a distinction, but it's the same thing as far as I can tell. Oh, and you did reverse that bank transfer you gave me, right?"
She smiled, still impressed with her own handiwork in her latest attempt to rile him. Every girl needed a hobby.
"Jysella, I know you think it's funny, but I could get arrested for that."
"Relax, it wasn't really a transfer, I just made it look like that on your datapad."
"And that altered holoimage of Kenth Hamner and the baby Bantha?" She could tell he was trying not to laugh as the words were coming out of his mouth. "Very well doctored, I will concede."
"Off the Jedi Order's main Holonet information page, as demanded, Master."
"Good girl." Kyp reached over and wiped a crumb from her lip, and Jysella swallowed her heartache, painfully aware that he had no clue that tender little gestures like this sent her pulse racing. "Now, where was I this time?"
"If the Force is kind, about to startle me with the great revelation that's going to bring this lesson to an end."
"Right, inner peace."
She rolled her eyes, deciding that kind was the very last thing the Force was.
"All right… the abbreviated conclusion. There is no such thing as a perfect Jedi, the closest one can come to perfection is finding and maintaining inner contentment from knowing that his, or her, intent is true, and acting for the betterment of the universe, and the individuals that make it up.
"Purpose, or one's job," he looked over and flashed a grin, "should be a lifestyle. Being a Jedi is a lifestyle, a way of being, but as important as being a Jedi is; is it any more important than what Cormig at that Alderaanian restaurant on Jungran does? He provides a service, and is the best you and I have found. What he does brings joy to our lives, a joy that makes us want to go out and make the universe as safe as possible so that we can continue to go to Alderaanian restaurants. It's all related, like links in a chain, and who is to say that any one link is more important than another?
"When people are being persecuted, and the Jedi are asked to step in and defend, the Jedi are probably more important in that particular situation at that particular moment than some guy who spends his life making Crème Grulean. But when you are cranky, and hungry, and have a craving for Crème Grulean, trust me, I'd trade in my lightsaber in a heartbeat for Cormig's secret recipe.
"The ability to do something, and do it well, to want to do it to bring joy and ease to someone else's life, is a huge step toward finding inner peace through purpose, and the point of this lesson."
"You're either becoming an authority on the subject or…"
"…a chef." they said simultaneously, both laughing.
"I don't know about that," Kyp went on, "but peace does seem to come easier for me now than it has in the past."
Jysella smiled, hoping that she was no small part of that, knowing she probably was. "You've been talking about my getting knighted a lot lately… do you think it's going to happen soon?"
"Honestly? I'm not sure why it hasn't already. I keep telling them you're ready… I'm beginning to suspect that my involvement in your training might have something to do with it, and Jella, if that's true, I'm sorry."
"I'm not. I'm perfectly content to stay with you. I don't need to go out on my own."
"You'll be a great knight."
"Of course I will, but that doesn't mean I want it." She paused, sadness welling up in her as she asked, "How long a break do you think they'll give you before they assign you a new apprentice?"
"They won't."
"Says who? Maybe teaching is your purpose, your own personal road to inner peace."
"My own personal road to something, but I don't think peace is what it's called."
He looked over at her again, briefly and she suspected that the thought of Kyp with another apprentice was as unpleasant for him as it was for her. Despite not loving her the way she loved him, she knew he regarded their relationship, and their years together as special.
"Perhaps Jedi Master Kyp Durron was meant to be a teacher and not a warrior. Maybe I've just been a tool of the Force to help you discover your true purpose."
Kyp shot her an inscrutable look before saying, "No, I'm definitely more a warrior than a teacher. And I'm not taking another apprentice. It would only work..." His voice trailed off, but Jysella had no idea why.
"It could happen." She shrugged, though she didn't really believe it, or didn't want to believe it.
"No, it couldn't."
"Why?"
A little voice in her head, the one she'd come to know so well in the last several months and recognized instantly as her fantasy Kyp voice, the one that said the things she wished Kyp would say to her said, "Because I'm madly in love with you, Jysella Horn, and all I can think about is running away with you and making you mine."
Then, the real Kyp said, "Because you're special, Jel, there'll never be… there's no one else like you."
She smiled, her heart soaring, and her own little voice inside her head said, "Okay… I'll take that".
They stopped in front of what looked to be a door, not very well disguised to look like part of the cavern wall, and the real Kyp said, "This must be it."
67 Seconds Later
Kyp leaned down and sighed. "Hey, Jel… you think you could hurry it up?"
She was squatting in front of him, head slightly down, balancing her weight on the balls of her feet, left elbow planted on her left knee to hold that arm steady while she punched keys on her custom built, ultra powerful, and deceptively small datapad; a meter-long cord running from it to the data terminal embedded in the wall next to the door. She had bitten down on one fingertip of her right hand glove to pull it off, and was still holding it between her teeth when she replied, "You have someplace more important to be?"
He pushed back up to standing, and ran a hand through his hair, thinking vaguely that he could probably use a trim. "Yeah… not in a cave."
He watched one corner of her mouth lift in clear amusement, then she pushed a few more buttons and stood up as well. Pulling the glove from her mouth and settling the hand holding it on her hip, she cocked her head.
"How about showing a little appreciation for my skills instead of irritation for my not having been able to do the task in under a minute."
"Sorry."
"I mean, c'mon. How did you break into places before I came into your life?"
"I stuck the burning tip of my lightsaber blade into the nearest locking mechanism."
"How subtle."
"Subtly may not be one of my strong suits."
"Ya think?"
"Ok Miss Finesse… is your method going to get us inside any time today?"
"Is now soon enough for you?"
Kyp jutted out his lower jaw, and put his own hands on his hips. "You had it unlocked before I even asked, didn't you?"
"Just about."
He took a step forward, forcing Jysella to tilt her head up to continue meeting his gaze. "You could have told me that."
She quirked a perfectly sculpted eyebrow, a mischievous glint in her eye, "And pass up the opportunity to teach you a lesson?"
"And what lesson would that be, Master?"
She bit down on her lower lip for a second before her tongue darted out to wet it. "That by showing the appropriate gratitude and just a hint of patience… you'll get yourself inside the control center of a locked down, illegally-operating mining facility quicker than if you complain about the length of time it takes me to hack into a security system I've never seen before and break through the encryption so I could access the code for this particular door without alerting the entire place to our presence." She formed her mouth into a perfect circle and let out a mock gasp before continuing, "And look: no tell-tale scorch marks on the wall."
Kyp had been having the most peculiar series of sensations lately. The first in the sequence was always a feeling of a white-hot, solar type heat sweeping through his body while the thought that Jysella Horn might be the hottest woman he had ever laid eyes on spun wildly through his mind. That sensation was always followed quickly by an overwhelming mixture of shame and fear. And finally, right on the heels of that came the cold, stark reality, rearing its ugly head, which was vaguely reminiscent of having a bucket of icy water thrown on him, and generally served as a reminder that it wasn't appropriate to think about how mind-numbingly sexy his twenty year-old apprentice was. No matter how she looked in fitted… very well fitted, low slung pants, jumping out of a star-fighter… or, standing in a dimly lit tunnel, the insanely expensive datapad she'd built and programmed herself in hand, her brilliant mind making mince meat out of binary code and encryption data, informing him that if he would just cool his jets and relax a little, she'd give him exactly what he wanted… if what he wanted was to get through the door she was currently standing in front of.
She was probably expecting an answer to her last smart mouthed remark, because that perfectly sculpted eyebrow was raised again, and Kyp was feeling the need to run.
Maybe what he really needed was a little time on his own; needed to look up Gorka, or Tyteeno, or even Aleeta; they weren't far from Tholatin, after all.
Or, maybe he needed Jysella to go visit her parents for a few days. She usually came back from those trips in a terrible mood and took her frustrations out on him… which, he could only imagine, would put a damper on this new and very persistent view of her as a phenomenal beauty. That's what he'd do. He'd send her to Corran and Mirax. He could even hang out with them for a bit, just until they all got good and tired of each other and started arguing. If he was lucky, he'd find them on the Errant Venture and Booster would be there to weigh in with a cantankerous comment or three; the whole family could devolve into screaming lunatics within a few hours of setting sights on each other. Force knew there could be no way for Kyp to see Captain Terrik-Horn's baby, Master Horn's little girl, Booster's cherished granddaughter, as even remotely alluring, let alone a goddess. It was the woman standing in front of him, his Jella, that was causing his heart to stutter, and that was wrong on too many levels for Kyp to count.
Yeah, he definitely needed a break. He needed to regain his perspective, needed to put Jysella in a situation where she acted like the obnoxious fifteen year old he had first been burdened with and not the smart, witty, capable woman with the stunning body that she was now… and who had, somehow, over time, become one of his most cherished companions and trusted friends, without him even realizing it was happening.
Not that he could remember the last time she behaved like an obnoxious fifteen year old… maybe that was part of his problem too.
"Kyp…" Jysella had placed her bare hand on his arm, and Kyp fought off the thoughts of how delicately beautiful her fingers were; didn't want to wonder how she managed to keep her nails looking so polished and perfect given the work they sometimes found themselves doing. "…are you ok?"
He patted her hand and gently removed it from where it rested on his bicep, trying not to look like he was flicking it away in disgust, when the only disgust he was feeling was with himself, and his inability to control his thoughts. "Of course, I was just thinking… about what you said earlier."
"What'd I say earlier?"
"That we haven't had a vacation in a while… we should take one. The minute we leave here."
"Don't we have to look at one more facility, and then report to the Council?"
"I'll comm Luke, have him get someone else to do it. Come on… you got the door open, let's finish up and get out of here."
And maybe get a drink...
Jysella smiled, though he could tell she wasn't really sure she believed that he'd been thinking about a holiday, and pulled her lightsaber from her belt. She stood to the side of the now unlocked door, and nodded to Kyp, indicating that she was ready for him to open it and enter. He drew on the Force, reached out to feel for any life forms in the room, and when he was certain it was empty, triggered the sensor.
Inside, they found exactly what Jysella had wanted access to: a bank of data terminals, all showing what was happening in various sections of the mines.
"How long is this going to take?"
Sitting down and plugging the same cable she used on the other side of the door into a jack, Jysella laughed lightly. "What was I just saying about patience?"
"I've got a bad feeling about this, Jel."
"Have a seat and meditate. Maybe the Force will tell you what's causing that feeling. And while you're at it, ask the Force where you're taking me for lunch."
"You just ate a nutrient bar, Huttella."
Her fingers were flying over the data keys as she smiled. "What can I say?" she asked absently, "I burn it off fast."
Kyp ground the heels of his hands into his eyes, trying to dispel the image of various ways she could 'burn off' calories. He really had to get a handle on this. If she were ever to find out what his imagination had been up to lately… he hated to even think about it. But even more, hated to think that she would be offended, or feel betrayed, that the one person she trusted implicitly would view her like this.
He was so caught up in his thoughts, or rather, trying to dispel them, that he caught the sense of danger much later than he should have. Grabbing Jysella's arm, he jerked her out of her chair, and pulled her to the farthest wall from either door.
"Illusion!" He hissed into her ear, pressing his back to the wall, and pulling her tightly against him.
He felt her waist expand against his arm, felt her back sink deeper into his chest, as she drew in a breath and drew on the Force, focusing on the minds of the three humans and one Twi'lek who were entering the room. None of the four seemed to see or sense them, and Kyp was about to breathe himself, then the Twi'lek noticed Jysella's datapad, still sitting on the counter, plugged into the security system.
"Hey, what's this?" He asked his clueless companions.
Jysella gasped and lost her hold on the four minds, causing them to look right at her. One of them was already pressing an alarm button, another raising his weapon to fire a shot, when Kyp threw a telekinetic blast, knocking them all into the farthest wall, but it was too late. The blaster fire went wide and hit the command plate to the door Kyp and Jysella had come through; they'd have to use the other door now to get out and more armed forces were surely on their way. He pushed Jysella far enough forward to get a grip on her arm so he could pull her along as he dashed for the exit, only to feel her twist out of his grip and race for the desk.
"What are…" But he knew exactly what she was going for, though when she stopped and began to frantically type more commands into her datapad he thought he'd lose his mind. "Send messages later, Jysella!"
She yanked furiously on the cable and pushed the button on the side of the pad to retract it into the device, shoving the whole thing into the holster on her thigh that she carried it in when she needed her hands free, then scowled at him, "I was saving what information I'd managed to get, Kyp!"
He wanted to say something really smart back… but couldn't. As much as he would blame himself for being too distracted by her to sense the approaching guards in time to get them safely out of there, he knew her well enough to know that she'd blame herself for leaving the datapad out in plain view and then losing her concentration during the illusion. And, as scared as they both were that they had just gotten into something they wouldn't be able to get out of, he knew she'd done the right thing by grabbing the datapad. They would both be furious with themselves if they lost the very thing they had come for.
Pulling her lightsaber off her belt again, Jysella lifted it and stood at the ready, "Kyp…"
"Later. There are already a lot of them…"
"Kyp…"
"We're going to have to fight our way…"
"Kyp!" Jysella yelled in exasperation. She planted a hand on her hips and shook her head. "Are you ever going to learn?"
He looked at her, still confused. "What?"
"Before you open that door and go racing into the corridor swinging a blazing lightsaber, would you like to know what direction you should be going in?"
Sweet Force, she was amazing.
Kyp grinned widely at her, "Just waiting for you to tell me."
Next time on Fear and Love...
It all comes crashing down...