Titles: 1: To Love Thy Friend, 2: Over the Mountain, 3: Love Will Prevail, 4: A Future of Promise
Author: Flowerlady
Timeframe: during and post-DN
Characters: Jag/Shawnkyr
Genre: AU, Romance, Angst, Vignette Series
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary:Jag Fel and Shawnkyr Nuruodo discover despite their diversity they can find love.
A/N: This series of vignettes are companion pieces to my novel, Always Have, Always Will. You do not have to read that to understand this, but you should know that I have taken some liberties with the events of the Dark Nest Trilogy. First, I make the Killiks out to be the bad guys. The Jedi who were called to the hive was in a sense tricked by the Dark Jedi. In the process, the Jedi not only try to help get the "captured" Jedi free from the Killiks, but also help the Chiss. Also, the GFFA come to the aid of the Chiss which opens the door for the Chiss to join the GFFA. Finally, Jag is not shot down by Leia but rather becomes a hero when he helps destroy the Dark Nest
Used with Permission: Thevan (Shawnkyr's father), Marel (Shawnkyr's mother), although I changed the spelling to Merel, Tako—the pet name Shawnkyr refers to Jag along with it's meaning, and Ailen Mel—the pet name Jag refers to Shawnkyr along with it's meaning. I would like to thank Inara (a theforce . net author) for the use of these characters and the pet names that she has invented. She is a great author and I appreciate her generosity. Thanks…
Vignette One (timeframe: immediately after the Joiner King)
To Love Thy Friend
He was whistling an old tune that he had heard his father whistle on occasion as he busied himself with putting clothing into the traveling case. He moved back to the closet to grab another shirt when her voice startled him.
"You are certainly happy about something."
Jagged Fel turned to find his mother stepping into his room and suddenly felt a pang of apprehension as she hit the door control, sending the door sliding closed. He pursed his lips, knowing whatever his mother had to say she wanted to say privately—not good.
Syal Antilles Fel, ex-holostar, moved with a grace and beauty Jag had seen few women possess. The only other he had encountered that even came close was probably Leia Solo. Syal came before the open suite case that lay open on his bed and picked up one of the shirts he had just packed. She opened it up and studied it. Jag watched her in silence; he knew she would speak when she was ready.
Finally, she refolded the shirt and placed it back as she said, "Jagged, we need to talk." Then she turned bright blue eyes to her son.
Jag took a deep breath, smiled weakly and walked over to sit on the edge of his bed. "I assumed so. What have I done to have you so concerned that you feel the need to study my shirts as if I will not return?"
Syal pushed the case back far enough from the edge to allow her room to sit beside him. Once settled she looked at him and quietly inquired, "Jagged, do you think this is wise?"
"What?"
She peered at him as if she was trying to determine the best way to say what was on her mind. Finally, after a sigh she said, "Going on another holiday with Shawnkyr?"
Jag stiffened, he had not expected this. "We have deserved the time off and we haven't been climbing for a long while. The weather this time of year is delightful in the Zarian Mountains. It's the perfect time to go hiking."
"Yes, but why not take Cem with you as well?"
Suddenly, Jag understood, it wasn't his holiday in the mountains of the temperate planet of Zaria that concerned his mother, it was his companion. He was immediately taken aback, "Mother, why is my traveling with Shawnkyr suddenly concerning you?"
Syal looked away a moment then stood and faced her son. As she looked down into his eyes she said sternly, "I am worried that you are treading on dangerously thin ice, my son."
Jag evenly responded; although, he had a feeling he knew where this was going, "And this concerns Shawnkyr?"
"Yes," she reached out and placed her hands on either side of Jag's shoulders. "Jagged, I fear that you have let your emotions carry you away. And I fear what will happen if you attempt to explore those emotions and—desires," she added intently.
"Mother, what are you talking about?" Jag tried to force a light chuckle but it only came out strangled. Suddenly he felt like a child caught with his hands in the pastry jar before dinner.
Syal never wavered her stance, she bore her intense gaze into his, "You, my son, have fallen in love with Shawnkyr." She must have expected his reaction because she immediately stepped back.
Jag jumped to his feet but he couldn't hold his anger at what should have been a preposterous accusation, because her accusation was dead accurate. He stared at her for a long moment then sighed deeply and sat back down defeated.
Syal just stared at him.
Finally, he looked up at her and said quietly, "I'm not sure when it happened but, yes, I'm in love with Kyrn."
"Does she know?" she asked as she resumed her seat beside him.
Jag shook his head and looked down at his folded hands that lay in his lap. "No, she does not know."
"Is she—" Syal began then changed tact, "Does she harbor feelings for you?"
He looked up at his mother and responded weakly, "I know she is loyal to me and would fallow me to the end of this Galaxy and has done so. She is my dearest friend and I am hers. She is my confident and we share everything." He paused and looked away again then added, "But I do not know if she loves me outside of friendship." However, Jag did not tell his mother that he suspected that she did have some feelings for him. There were times when he would catch her watching him with a gleam in her eyes that had not been there in the past.
X
Syal Fel shook her head and suddenly wondered if her son was cursed to love women who could not or would not return his love.
First, there was Jaina Solo; the Jedi who strung him a long for nearly three years then rejected him when the war was over. She was glad she never met the daughter of her husband's former academy classmate, because she would have given her a piece of her mind. Jag came back to Csilla with a broken heart after the war with the Yuuzhan Vong.
Now, he was flirting with disaster again. However, Syal feared this time would be far more damaging because Shawnkyr would not be able to apply the balm she had the last time. For, this time she would be the cause of Jag's broken heart.
"Jagged," Syal turned to him and put her arm around his shoulders. She waited for him to turn his light blue-green eyes back to her before continuing. "Jag, you have grown up among the Chiss. You know how they feel about humans. We are tolerated at best because our family has served them well over the years. Your friendship with Shawnkyr is scorned by several who feel you are unworthy of her devotion." She paused allowing her words to sink in then she lowered the final blow that she knew he would not want to hear, "Jagged, if you pursue this love for her I fear you are going to be not only hurt but very possibly ostracized from the Ascendancy."
X
Jag stared at his mother feeling like she hit him. After a moment he sighed audibly and said very quietly, "I know what you are saying is true. But I can't give up my love for her." He paused and looked away and then added defeated, "I know that I could lose everything I've worked so hard to achieve, especially if she does not feel the same towards me. But I am willing to risk it because I think she does."
"Why? You didn't wish to risk this much for Jaina Solo."
Jag turned bright eyes back to her and smiled, "That's because I did not think Jaina Solo worth the risk. I did not love her as much as I love Shawnkyr."
XXXX
Shawnk'yr'nuruodo closed the lid to her travel case and stood, placing her hands on her hips as she looked around to make sure she had not forgotten anything. She was excited about the trip Jag had sprung on her after the trouble with the rogue Jedi and the Killiks seemed to ease up thanks to Leia Organa Solo's intervention.
She and Jag were going to Zaria. She hadn't been there for well over two years and the last time had also been with Jag. She knew her father disapproved of her spending what seemed to be all of her off duty time with her human friend, but she had no one else she would rather spend it with.
She had known Jagged Fel since she was twelve and he was fourteen when they attended the military academy together. While there they formed a friendship and since then the bond had strengthened. She would do anything Jag asked and she would and had followed him anywhere. He was her best friend, her only true confident and the only person she truly trusted.
The soft knock at her door brought her out of her reverie. She turned towards the door and said in the crisp, formal Cheunh, the language of her people, "Come."
The door to her sparingly decorated bedroom that she maintained in her father's house opened. Thevan stepped through the portal and she met her father's stern expression. She could tell by the set of his jaw that he had not finished his part of the discussion they had over dinner the night before. Thevan had something else to say about what he called her wrongly placed attachment to Jagged Fel.
"Father," She stood even straighter as she said his name. Her own jaw took on a stubborn tilt. "I do not wish to discuss this matter further." Then she turned her back to him and focused on the closed latch of the travel case that sat on top of her bed.
"Shawnkyr, I can not forbid you from seeing your human friend, but others are beginning to question your blind dedication to him," her father said as he moved across the room to peer out the window at the falling snow, then he turned to face her. "People are wondering why you have not made a marriage alliance yet and they are wondering if the reason is Commander Fel."
"I do not concern myself with gossipers, Father," she responded coolly. She knew, however, that if her father was listening to them himself it was because he was thinking the same thing.
"Daughter, I am concerned that your friendship for Jag has gone beyond what is morally and socially appropriate."
Shawnkyr stared at him; her heart began to race because she knew he was correct in all that he said. She had not meant to feel this deep emotion, this attachment for Jag. It happened gradually over the past five years. She had helped him through his heartbreak when Jaina Solo rejected him and through the process became closer to him.
She could not say when her affection for him became love but it had. At first, she was appalled that she would even consider the thought of loving her human friend; however, as time went by she put those feelings aside. She had always accepted Jag and his humanity, and she decided that she could love him with the same acceptance; in some small way, it was those differences that attracted her to him. Besides, Jag was as much Chiss in his thinking and beliefs as he was human.
Realizing her father was waiting for her to say something, she sighed and said, "Father, I am quite aware of what a relationship with Jag would do, not only to me, but to my friend. I will not allow that to happen. If you want me to speak the truth then I shall. Yes, I feel affection for Jag beyond the perimeters of friendship, but I intend to keep those feelings to myself." She paused then and quietly added, "I will do nothing to harm my friend's career or his standing among the Chiss."
She knew her father wasn't expecting her to be so candid. She watched as he nodded and stepped towards her door. She turned towards him when he asked with his back toward her, "Has Commander Fel expressed any inappropriate attachment to you, Daughter?" He then turned his expression stark.
Shawnkyr met her father's sternness with her own stubbornness, "No, Jagged has never proven himself to be more than my closest friend."
"That is most fortunate for you, Shawnkyr." Then her father's expression and voice softened ever so slightly as he went on to say, "I should not have to tell you this, Daughter. You have been around enough humans to understand that they let passion and their emotions rule their thinking. Jag may conduct himself as a Chiss when it concerns his military duties, but he is still human and is still cursed by human narrow-mindedness when it concerns matters such as these. Be careful, Daughter, that is all I ask. You are an attractive female and if Jag does harbor improper desires towards you, you may end up getting hurt. Jagged Fel's exploits are well known even to me." With that Thevan opened the door and stepped through, leaving Shawnkyr pondering his words.
To Be Continued...