Bela rubbed his eyes and tried to go to sleep, but it just wasn't happening. He was on his way back to Coruscant after having completed another making another trade and taking Shaw his share and he had come away from their meeting a little unnerved. His gut was telling him Shaw was up to something, but what it was he didn't have the faintest clue. He could only hope that the man had found another protégé to adopt and would leave him alone.
Business had slowed down lately and he couldn't help feeling that Shaw was the reason. Bela's reputation usually preceeded him and he had more clients than he had merchandise. He wondered if Shaw was trying to make a point with him since he had tried to leave the trade and then had come back. Bela sat up and threw his legs over the side of the bunk, resting his head in his hands. He felt like he had gone crawling back even though he hadn't.
Sitting back and resting his head on the wall, he closed his eyes and thought of his other issue. Usually, he was eager to get home, but he found that he wasn't this time. Another ephiphany he'd had in the last few weeks was that he realized that he didn't love his wife anymore. That wasn't totally correct. He loved her as a person and knew she was special, but he didn't love her like he did Kalira. A smile broke out on his face at the thought of the blue-eyed blonde that had passed her coloring on to their son. A sigh escaped his lips and he grimaced. He hadn't thought about Jade like that in a long time, even going so far as to not contact her as much or send her gifts home like he used to. She had left him a few messages, regarding any senate things he had needed to know, but there was never anything personal in them.
Bela didn't want to hurt his wife, but he had a feeling he already had. He couldn't go home and tell Jade about his other family and ask for a divorce. His career in politics would be over and he didn't want to heap that kind of stigma on either woman. There had to be a way to fix this cleanly.
Then there were the attempts on Jade's life. He had an inkling of who it was, but was ill equipped to do anything about it. Bela could hire someone to take care of the problem, but it wasn't that easy. He didn't have proof and the target was extremely hard to kill. Many had tried and each one had failed miserably. While he may not love Jade like he should, he didn't want to see her hurt or worse killed. He had been relying on the Jedi master to keep her safe and from all reports he had done an excellent job so far.
Bela sighed and closed his eyes. Some days he thought about just up and leaving everything behind. He had a feeling that might happen a lot sooner than he ever imagined.
/____________________________________\
"So you've got the second shift?" Jag asked Jaina, as he tried not to chuckle. She punched him in the arm and gave him a small glare.
"Yes. Ben and I are going over later." She told him from the seat next to him. They were on their way to the bar for Kyp's party. Jaina was going to use the speeder when she and the boys left to go and guard Jade and Jag would just walk home. She reached over to grab his free hand and he glanced at her briefly.
They were essentially going out again, even though the exact words hadn't been uttered yet. Jaina had spent most of her free time at Kyp and Jag's apartment the last week and had even stayed the entire night. Jag hadn't asked her, it had just sort of happened. Not that he was complaining. He had been carrying the feeling of waking up next to her around all day and it was definitely a good feeling. Jaina squeezed his hand and brought him out of his thoughts.
"You ok?" She asked, quietly.
He smiled and focused on the traffic again. "Yeah. Just thinking."
"Ah. Is that what that smell was?"
"Cute Solo."
"Yes you are." She said, a grin on her face. He chuckled as they pulled into a parking space near the bar. Jaina was already out of the speeder by the time he made it around the car and he stopped her when she started towards the building. Pulling her closer, he brushed his lips over hers and hugged her tight when she put her arms around him.
They walked in and found some people already there. Jag had his arm around Jaina's shoulders as they walked over towards the group and he started to pull it away, when she stopped him. Grabbing his hand, she held his arm in place and looked over at him.
"Leave it there, flyboy." She yelled over the noise. When they approached the table, a few eyebrows were raised at the picture they presented, but Jaina sensed relief at the sight more than anything. Taking their seats, Jag glanced over at Han and was met with a grin.
"So I see my daughter finally pulled her head out of her ass." Han shouted over the noise and got an elbow and a "Dad" from his wife and daughter respectively. If anything, his grin got wider. Jag said nothing, just returned the smile knowing Han was probably going to corner him at some point tonight.
/____________________________________\
Kyp was in his room, getting ready to go out that night, but he didn't feel like partying. He would much rather stay home and just be with Jade right now. Not only because he liked being with her, but after the bomb she had gotten dropped on her today, he was reluctant to leave her alone. Instinctively, he knew the pain didn't come from the fact that Bela had cheated. That might be a small part of it. It was mostly the fact that she had wanted children for a while now and had been shot down each time she brought the subject up. He sensed her sadness was more for what could have been.
That afternoon, they had talked for a few hours after Iella had left. He knew she was racking her brain, trying to find a reason why he had done this. Personally, Kyp thought he was an idiot, but he was slightly biased on the subject. The only reason he could come up with himself, was that Bela really hadn't loved Jade as much as he tried to profess. He knew, in his heart, that she probably didn't have a lot of love left for the senator after all of this, but it still had to hurt.
Sighing, he sat down on his bed and stared at the wall. Their bond had gotten stronger the more he helped her access the force. At first he had tried to keep it closed, afraid that he would unconsciously push his feelings on her. But it had been painful, quite literally, so he had stopped. He had experienced force bonds with people before, Jaina being the foremost in his mind, but he had never felt anything like this. Never felt so complete when he felt her joy and happiness and so distraught when he felt her disappointment.
A knock sounded on the door and he stood up to answer it. Jade was standing there, sleep pants and a tshirt on and a smile on her beautiful face. He knew her heart wasn't in that smile though. Kyp could feel her pain, though distant, and he felt himself trying to think of a way out of going again.
"Kyp, you're going. I'll be fine." She told him quietly as she finished buttoning his shirt and smoothing the collar. For a moment, the domesticity of the action hit him, but she continued speaking and didn't notice his jerk. "Jared is already dressed and actually looks presentable and there are too many people you would disappoint if you didn't go." She added. He searched her eyes and realized that he had fallen in love with this woman standing before him. Her quiet determination, her unique innocence and her ability to love completely and without thought of reward, had wrapped itself around him somehow, when he wasn't looking. He reached out to touch her cheek and gently caressed it.
"I'm not really worried about them."
"You shouldn't be worried about me either. Unless you don't trust the replacements, ones that you hand picked I might remind you." She told him with a grin.
"I need a favor guys." Kyp had told his friends when they had finally gathered in the same room so he could ask them all at the same imte. Jade had given him an idea when she had told him to get other people to guard her. He didn't know why he hadn't thought of it before.
"What's up?" Jaina asked and he smiled. Straight to the punch. Kyp had called Jag and told him his idea and the younger man had agreed to get a few people together that would be interested in the job. So now Jag, Jaina, Corran, Valin, and Ben sat in a conference table at the temple, waiting to hear what he wanted through the comm.
"I can't go out tonight and leave Jade unprotected. So I was wondering if you guys would mind being watchdogs so no one has to miss." His idea was met with silence and he couldn't decide if he was disappointed or elated by that.
"No one except Jade." Jaina commented and he sighed.
"She said she didn't want to make it harder than it needed to be. Listen, if I had my choice I wouldn't be going out tonight, but it's out of my hands."
Corran got a smirk on his face and Kyp groaned silently. "Never thought I would see the day you let a woman tell you what to do Durron."
"No, I trust them or they wouldn't be doing it."
"Then go. Have fun and don't worry about me." She whispered. Kyp nodded, albeit reluctantly, and placed a kiss on her forehead.
"I won't be out late." He told her.
"If you're back early, I swear I'll never talk to you again." She told him with a glare. He grinned and walked past her, briefly leaning over to whisper in her ear.
"Guess we'll have to find something to do besides talk then." Kyp could feel her shock in the force and laughed as he made his way to the living room.
/____________________________________\
Seated on the couch were Corran and Valin. He wouldn't leave Jade's safety to anyone else, except maybe Han and Jag. The second shift would be here in a couple of hours. That way, everyone got to enjoy themselves and he didn't have to worry about Jade. At least not that much.
Kyp stopped in front of the sofa where Valin had taken a seat, Corran standing behind him surveying the room. Jared came down the hall at the same time as Jade, who had finally recovered from Kyp's comment, and they chuckled at the sight.
"Now I don't want any wild parties. No strange girls and no drinking. Is that understood?"
Both Horns were unsuccessful in keeping the smiles from their faces. "Yes dad." They said in unison. Kyp rolled his eyes and turned to leave, but not before glancing at Jade and smiling. She smiled back and he grabbed Jared by the arm and went out the door before he could change his mind.
They had just made it to the speeder when he heard Corran call his name. His fellow master jogged over and stopped on the passenger side of the car where Kyp was. Kyp raised his eyebrows in question.
"Listen, don't worry about her. We won't let anything happen." Corran reassured him.
Kyp smiled and clapped him on the shoulder. "I know Corran, because I would hate to make Mirax a widow before her time."" Corran's laughter followed him until he shut the door.
/____________________________________\
"Are you going to play or think?" She asked the Jedi master as he sat contemplating his next move.
"Patience, young one." Corran mumbled as Jade and Valin rolled their eyes.
"Patience? Dad, it's been 15 minutes! Go already!" Valin told his father.
Corran looked at his son out of the corner of his eye and huffed. "Fine." He said and took his turn. Young people. Always in a hurry. Corran thought to himself.
Jade played her turn and Corran groaned. She had won. Again. Neither he nor Valin had won a single hand tonight.
"I'm done." He told the other two as he stood up from the table and stretched, making his way into the living room. Checking his chrono he realized the others would be here soon and decided to go down the hall and check the monitors.
/____________________________________\
"So, how are things with you and bad ass?" Jag asked as he took a drink of his ale. He and Kyp were standing over at an aeropool table, watching Jaina and Han competing. Kyp was surprised they hadn't progressed to having a mock lightsaber fight with the sticks yet considering how competitive they were. He took a drink of his own ale and leaned back against the wall.
"She told you about that huh? Actually, they're going quite well. I just have to remember not to corral her too much." Jag snorted but didn't say anything. He was going to leave that alone considering he didn't have much room to talk.
"What about you two?" Kyp asked. "Everything going ok?" Jag didn't answer him, and when he turned to see why, he burst out laughing. His friend had obviously gotten distracted when Jaina had leaned over the table to take a shot and given him a nice view of her backside.
"Fel!" Jag jumped and looked up to find Han giving him a look. The young man cleared his throat and looked away, Kyp still laughing beside him.
"Nevermind. I think that answered my question." Kyp told him when he finally stopped laughing. Jag rolled his eyes and took another drink. His gaze roamed over to the chorno on the wall and he sighed.
"Hey Goddess. It's time for the second shift." He called over, trying to keep his gaze above her shoulders so Han wouldn't hit him with the stick he held in his hands. Jaina looked at the same chorno and mirrored his sigh. She wouldn't complain since she had promised Kyp she would do this for him. Walking over to where the boys stood, she smiled and gave Jag a brief kiss.
"Finish my game for my flyboy?" She asked him quietly, not pulling back from him very far. Jag raised an eyebrow at her question.
"I thought you liked me?"
Kyp snickered and Jaina shot him a look. "I do, but it'll be good for you and dad."
Jag took his turn to snicker and downed the rest of his drink. "As you wish Goddess." Taking the stick from her he walked over to the table. Jaina watched his journey for a moment, then turned back to Kyp. He took a drink then gave her an inquiring look.
"Walk me to the speeder?" She asked him causally. Kyp nodded and set his drink down to follow her out the door. Neither one spoke until they made it outside.
"You ok?" She asked him and his head shot up at her question.
"Yeah, why?"
"Because you feel all jumbled." She offered and Kyp took a deep breath, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I feel all jumbled."
"Is everything going ok with you and Jade?"
"Everything is fine." He told her, but didn't offer any details.
"Then what's wrong?" Jaina patiently waited for him to try to phrase his answer just the way he wanted.
"I think I'm in love with her." He whispered, turning his head up to gaze into the sky.
"Oh."
"Oh?"
Jaina smiled and snaked her arm through one of his. "Then what's the problem?" She asked, resting her head on his shoulder. Personally, she thought they made a cute couple and were definitely more compatible than Jade was with her husband. Kyp had told Jag the basics of why he had been assigned to the ambassador earlier and Jag, in turn, had told her. She hadn't really gotten a chance to meet the woman, but Jag seemed to respect her quite a bit which was enough for Jaina. Maybe tonight she could get to know her a little better.
"I just hope she doesn't think she's making a mistake when it's all over." He said quietly. His ears were still ringing slightly from coming out of the bar into the relatively quiet night and he felt a headache coming on.
"A mistake?" She asked, looking up at him, confused.
"Yeah. With me."
"The only mistake she would make is if she walked away from you after this Kyp. Give yourself some credit dear. An old man once told me, give yourself a chance to be happy for once. Even if you think you don't deserve it." Kyp smiled and kissed Jaina's forehead.
"You realize I'm going to kick your butt at our next sparring session for calling me old."
"You're going to try." She threw back at him, as she turned to watch Ben walking their way.
/____________________________________\
Jaina and Ben made their way up the steps of Senator Mnaa's mansion, no words spoken between them. Jaina was thinking about what she and Kyp had talked about and Ben must have sensed she didn't want to talk. Ben rang the door chime and Valin's face greeted them when the door opened.
"Hey guys. How's the party?" Valin asked as he followed them into the living room. Jaina scanned the room as they walked, taking in her surroundings.
"Oh it was great." Ben offered. "I'll be surprised if Jag is still breathing when it's over though. Jaina left him playing pool with uncle Han." Jaina whipped her head around to glare at her cousin and both boys laughed.
Jade walked into the room from the kitchen and smiled at the new arrivals. "Ah. The second set of babysitters." Jaina chuckled, then turned to Valin.
"Where's you dad?"
"He's in the security office watching the monitors." As soon as the last word left his mouth, the room was plunged into darkness.
/____________________________________\