Fic: It's Just Pretend, Chapter 5
Title: It's Just Pretend
Author: kaladhwen, aka Mia, aka Alliana, aka...well, you get the idea.
Fandom: Star Wars, post-NJO
Rating: PG, pretty much.
Characters: Jaina Solo, Kyp Durron, OC
Genre: romance, humor
Keywords: K/J, romance, humor
Summary: Jaina is forced to take interesting steps to avoid unwanted attentions from a visiting politician's son.
Author's Notes: Yay, my first SW EU story I've written all by myself. The Steiners are mine, everyone and everything else belongs to Lucas.
Thanks to sparrows_girl, kasdie, and darthishtar for betaing and offering encouragement and feedback, as well as others in my FanForce. :) Also posting this on the JCF here.
Previous chapters on LJ
It's Just Pretend
Chapter Five
The two women gaped in shock. Men in various stages of dress and undress were walking around and changing, some getting clothes in or out of their lockers. A few of them stopped and turned to stare back.
Steam rose up from an area off to the right and several men came out dripping wet, dressed only in towels wrapped around their waists.
"Shavit," Jaina swore. She turned to palm the door open... but on this side, there was a spot for an access key card that only maintenance crews and droids held. She tried to open the door anyway. It beeped mockingly at her. She reached out with the Force in desperation...
"Jaina?" said a male voice from behind her.
Sithspit.
Her head whipped around and her eyes widened at the sight of a wet Kyp Durron, also only in a towel. She swallowed hard.
"What are you doing here?" Kyp asked in complete surprise and confusion.
Leia averted her eyes and quickly turned away, to try her luck at opening the door.
Jaina tried to come up with a suitable explanation. "Uh, we uh... well we were in the access tunnels, and um..."
Kyp's eyebrow raised. A call went out through the locker room that there were ladies present and to cover up. Consequently, the group of men gathered there to watch turned into a crowd.
"Sweetheart?" said another male voice.
Leia slowly straightened from fiddling with the door and turned around.
"Dad!" Jaina said in surprise. Her father was in workout clothes and, from the looks of it, had probably been working out with Kyp.
Han stared at them with the same bantha in the headlights look as Kyp had. "Jaina? Princess? What are -- How did you get in here?"
Jaina turned to see her mother struggling to keep her composure, but right now her expression was somewhere between embarrassment and the glaring looks she occasionally shot her daughter.
"Yes," Kyp murmured, "is there a reason you two are in the men's locker room?"
"I don't believe so," Leia answered, then whispered fiercely, "Jaina! Stop staring!"
Jaina jerked her eyes away from Kyp and felt a deep blush creep up her neck. "Oh, come on, Mom, it's nothing I haven't seen before."
Kyp turned bright red and gripped his towel a little more tightly. Both of her parents noticed the exchange and raised their eyebrows very, very high. Jaina didn't believe it was possible, but she was pretty sure her face just turned a deeper shade of completely-embarrassed-in-front-of-her-parents-and-a-locker-room-full-of-half-dressed-strange-men scarlet.
Jaina fumbled. "Well, during sparring, I meant, not -- not like this..." Oh, Force, let the floor open up and swallow me whole.
Han broke the tension by suddenly laughing, coming over to them and slinging an arm around Leia's shoulders. "Sweetheart, I'd lead you out, but I still need to change."
"I'm sure we can find our way out," Leia said in a somewhat clipped voice, with another sidelong look at Jaina. "We found our way in so well."
Jaina nearly winced at the sarcasm.
"Door's that way," Kyp pointed in the general direction of the exit.
Leia took Jaina by the arm and they hurried through the crowd, which parted for them with the men staring on slack-jawed. Jaina didn't remember the women's locker room being this large, but this was taking an eternity as they wound their way around lockers, benches, and half-naked men.
Once the doors shut behind them and they were safely in the hallway, both breathed a sigh of relief. Jaina's was short-lived, however.
"The right door, huh?"
"It seemed like it at the time!"
"Young lady, you have some explaining to do."
"Can we talk about it somewhere else, please?" she asked urgently, already on the lookout for her nemesis in the large corridor.
Leia gestured to an empty room nearby and Jaina gratefully slipped inside, feeling relaxed once she'd found a sanctuary.
"Jaina Solo, you are going to explain to me what's going on right now."
"Mom... it's... complicated."
"Complicated? Complicated is how I ended up with you in the men's locker room!"
Underneath her mother's irritation, Jaina could sense concern. She sighed, but as she thought about it, maybe her mother could help. Leia was still one of the most revered diplomats in the galaxy and she might have some ideas on what to do.
"Rune Steiner, you know, the son?" She waited for Leia's nod. "He's been hitting on me."
"...Hitting on you? You mean flirting with you?"
Jaina resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes, Mom, flirting with me, trying to get me to sleep with him, for Force's sake. He follows me around everywhere and he won't take no for an answer, no matter what I do or say. I can't tell him off or use the Force, even though I'd like to," she grumbled, "because you know what would happen to the Jedi."
"Oh dear Force." Leia pinched the bridge of her nose.
"So? Do you have any advice?"
Her mother sat down and thought carefully. "Going to his father isn't quite an option. He could support his son, and if we offend either of them--"
"--Yeah, I know," Jaina interrupted, then she growled in frustration. "I just know he's waiting around, trying to find me, waiting to ask me to that reception."
"And that's how we ended up in the men's locker room?" Leia asked, her eyebrow betraying her hint of amusement.
"You're never going to let me forget that, are you."
"Nope." Leia shook her head.
Jaina looked glum. "Sorry."
"Do you have a date for tomorrow night? He won't encroach upon that."
"Who would I take?! Besides, I kind of...already told him I had a boyfriend, which isn't true anymore, and so no matter who I take, if I take anyone, it'll be easy to see I've been lying to him. Because there's no way I could pull off anyone here as my boyfriend."
"Jag's still on Csilla?" Leia saw Jaina's nod then sighed softly. "Dear Force. You know, Luke may have some ideas on what to do."
"No!" she protested. "Mom, I can handle this."
"Like how you handled it by leading me into the men's locker room?"
Jaina groaned and buried her head in her hands. "Okay, I give in, if you just stop mentioning that."
~~~~~
Five minutes later, they were sitting in Luke's office. Her uncle had that perpetual worried look on his face as Jaina finished explaining everything.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Luke asked, very concerned.
"Why?" Jaina shot back. "What could anyone do? Dad would shoot Rune on sight and then where would we be?" Maybe she was imagining it, but did Uncle Luke just give her mother an 'I told you so' look?
"And you're sure there's no one you can take tomorrow night?" Uncle Luke continued.
"Look, I had a boyfriend all throughout the war, I don't need one to 'save' me now, okay?" Jaina was surprised at her strong reaction to that and took a deep breath to center herself. "Why can't I just tell him I have a date?"
"Would he leave you alone?" Leia asked.
"No, probably not," Jaina sighed. "Can I just skip out on this one, then?"
Leia and Luke looked at each other and shook their heads. "We need you there, Jaina, and this way we can also keep an eye on you."
Jaina eyed her uncle suspiciously. "What do you mean?"
"I want to put you under protective custody."
"What?!"
Uncle Luke stared at her evenly. "Is there someone you'd feel comfortable hanging around with the next few days?"
"A Jedi?" Leia suggested. "What about Kyp?"
Luke shook his head. "He's just as likely to react as Han if we tell him what's going on."
Leia gave him a double take.
Jaina watched them. "I am still here, you know. And I don't think telling Kyp is a good idea either. I'll be fine."
"Just for our peace of mind, may I post a team of Jedi at your apartment tonight?" Luke held up a hand to stop her protest. "I know it's hard to accept help, Jaina, but right now I'm not giving you a choice, as your uncle and as head of the Jedi."
"Fine, but I'm still going alone to the reception."
"Fair enough."
Luke glanced at his chrono. "We're actually meeting Steiner soon for an early dinner and meeting at our apartment with Mara and Han. His son won't be there, but I'll have two Jedi sent to your place as soon as possible."
~~~~~
It was an exhausted Jaina that trudged up to her apartment on the third floor a short time later. She wanted this whole business with Rune over with, and was hoping against all hope that his father would not be appointed to the government position after all so that his son would go away.
She got up to the door to enter her keycode when she felt a flaring of warning through the Force. All of her senses went on alert as she tensed; the team of Jedi couldn't have had time to arrive yet.
She carefully opened the door to her apartment and stopped in her tracks.
"Hello, Jaina. Miss me?"
------
[Whee for cliffies!!]
Author: kaladhwen, aka Mia, aka Alliana, aka...well, you get the idea.
Fandom: Star Wars, post-NJO
Rating: PG, pretty much.
Characters: Jaina Solo, Kyp Durron, OC
Genre: romance, humor
Keywords: K/J, romance, humor
Summary: Jaina is forced to take interesting steps to avoid unwanted attentions from a visiting politician's son.
Author's Notes: Yay, my first SW EU story I've written all by myself. The Steiners are mine, everyone and everything else belongs to Lucas.
Thanks to sparrows_girl, kasdie, and darthishtar for betaing and offering encouragement and feedback, as well as others in my FanForce. :) Also posting this on the JCF here.
Previous chapters on LJ
It's Just Pretend
Chapter Five
The two women gaped in shock. Men in various stages of dress and undress were walking around and changing, some getting clothes in or out of their lockers. A few of them stopped and turned to stare back.
Steam rose up from an area off to the right and several men came out dripping wet, dressed only in towels wrapped around their waists.
"Shavit," Jaina swore. She turned to palm the door open... but on this side, there was a spot for an access key card that only maintenance crews and droids held. She tried to open the door anyway. It beeped mockingly at her. She reached out with the Force in desperation...
"Jaina?" said a male voice from behind her.
Sithspit.
Her head whipped around and her eyes widened at the sight of a wet Kyp Durron, also only in a towel. She swallowed hard.
"What are you doing here?" Kyp asked in complete surprise and confusion.
Leia averted her eyes and quickly turned away, to try her luck at opening the door.
Jaina tried to come up with a suitable explanation. "Uh, we uh... well we were in the access tunnels, and um..."
Kyp's eyebrow raised. A call went out through the locker room that there were ladies present and to cover up. Consequently, the group of men gathered there to watch turned into a crowd.
"Sweetheart?" said another male voice.
Leia slowly straightened from fiddling with the door and turned around.
"Dad!" Jaina said in surprise. Her father was in workout clothes and, from the looks of it, had probably been working out with Kyp.
Han stared at them with the same bantha in the headlights look as Kyp had. "Jaina? Princess? What are -- How did you get in here?"
Jaina turned to see her mother struggling to keep her composure, but right now her expression was somewhere between embarrassment and the glaring looks she occasionally shot her daughter.
"Yes," Kyp murmured, "is there a reason you two are in the men's locker room?"
"I don't believe so," Leia answered, then whispered fiercely, "Jaina! Stop staring!"
Jaina jerked her eyes away from Kyp and felt a deep blush creep up her neck. "Oh, come on, Mom, it's nothing I haven't seen before."
Kyp turned bright red and gripped his towel a little more tightly. Both of her parents noticed the exchange and raised their eyebrows very, very high. Jaina didn't believe it was possible, but she was pretty sure her face just turned a deeper shade of completely-embarrassed-in-front-of-her-parents-and-a-locker-room-full-of-half-dressed-strange-men scarlet.
Jaina fumbled. "Well, during sparring, I meant, not -- not like this..." Oh, Force, let the floor open up and swallow me whole.
Han broke the tension by suddenly laughing, coming over to them and slinging an arm around Leia's shoulders. "Sweetheart, I'd lead you out, but I still need to change."
"I'm sure we can find our way out," Leia said in a somewhat clipped voice, with another sidelong look at Jaina. "We found our way in so well."
Jaina nearly winced at the sarcasm.
"Door's that way," Kyp pointed in the general direction of the exit.
Leia took Jaina by the arm and they hurried through the crowd, which parted for them with the men staring on slack-jawed. Jaina didn't remember the women's locker room being this large, but this was taking an eternity as they wound their way around lockers, benches, and half-naked men.
Once the doors shut behind them and they were safely in the hallway, both breathed a sigh of relief. Jaina's was short-lived, however.
"The right door, huh?"
"It seemed like it at the time!"
"Young lady, you have some explaining to do."
"Can we talk about it somewhere else, please?" she asked urgently, already on the lookout for her nemesis in the large corridor.
Leia gestured to an empty room nearby and Jaina gratefully slipped inside, feeling relaxed once she'd found a sanctuary.
"Jaina Solo, you are going to explain to me what's going on right now."
"Mom... it's... complicated."
"Complicated? Complicated is how I ended up with you in the men's locker room!"
Underneath her mother's irritation, Jaina could sense concern. She sighed, but as she thought about it, maybe her mother could help. Leia was still one of the most revered diplomats in the galaxy and she might have some ideas on what to do.
"Rune Steiner, you know, the son?" She waited for Leia's nod. "He's been hitting on me."
"...Hitting on you? You mean flirting with you?"
Jaina resisted the urge to roll her eyes. "Yes, Mom, flirting with me, trying to get me to sleep with him, for Force's sake. He follows me around everywhere and he won't take no for an answer, no matter what I do or say. I can't tell him off or use the Force, even though I'd like to," she grumbled, "because you know what would happen to the Jedi."
"Oh dear Force." Leia pinched the bridge of her nose.
"So? Do you have any advice?"
Her mother sat down and thought carefully. "Going to his father isn't quite an option. He could support his son, and if we offend either of them--"
"--Yeah, I know," Jaina interrupted, then she growled in frustration. "I just know he's waiting around, trying to find me, waiting to ask me to that reception."
"And that's how we ended up in the men's locker room?" Leia asked, her eyebrow betraying her hint of amusement.
"You're never going to let me forget that, are you."
"Nope." Leia shook her head.
Jaina looked glum. "Sorry."
"Do you have a date for tomorrow night? He won't encroach upon that."
"Who would I take?! Besides, I kind of...already told him I had a boyfriend, which isn't true anymore, and so no matter who I take, if I take anyone, it'll be easy to see I've been lying to him. Because there's no way I could pull off anyone here as my boyfriend."
"Jag's still on Csilla?" Leia saw Jaina's nod then sighed softly. "Dear Force. You know, Luke may have some ideas on what to do."
"No!" she protested. "Mom, I can handle this."
"Like how you handled it by leading me into the men's locker room?"
Jaina groaned and buried her head in her hands. "Okay, I give in, if you just stop mentioning that."
~~~~~
Five minutes later, they were sitting in Luke's office. Her uncle had that perpetual worried look on his face as Jaina finished explaining everything.
"Why didn't you tell anyone?" Luke asked, very concerned.
"Why?" Jaina shot back. "What could anyone do? Dad would shoot Rune on sight and then where would we be?" Maybe she was imagining it, but did Uncle Luke just give her mother an 'I told you so' look?
"And you're sure there's no one you can take tomorrow night?" Uncle Luke continued.
"Look, I had a boyfriend all throughout the war, I don't need one to 'save' me now, okay?" Jaina was surprised at her strong reaction to that and took a deep breath to center herself. "Why can't I just tell him I have a date?"
"Would he leave you alone?" Leia asked.
"No, probably not," Jaina sighed. "Can I just skip out on this one, then?"
Leia and Luke looked at each other and shook their heads. "We need you there, Jaina, and this way we can also keep an eye on you."
Jaina eyed her uncle suspiciously. "What do you mean?"
"I want to put you under protective custody."
"What?!"
Uncle Luke stared at her evenly. "Is there someone you'd feel comfortable hanging around with the next few days?"
"A Jedi?" Leia suggested. "What about Kyp?"
Luke shook his head. "He's just as likely to react as Han if we tell him what's going on."
Leia gave him a double take.
Jaina watched them. "I am still here, you know. And I don't think telling Kyp is a good idea either. I'll be fine."
"Just for our peace of mind, may I post a team of Jedi at your apartment tonight?" Luke held up a hand to stop her protest. "I know it's hard to accept help, Jaina, but right now I'm not giving you a choice, as your uncle and as head of the Jedi."
"Fine, but I'm still going alone to the reception."
"Fair enough."
Luke glanced at his chrono. "We're actually meeting Steiner soon for an early dinner and meeting at our apartment with Mara and Han. His son won't be there, but I'll have two Jedi sent to your place as soon as possible."
~~~~~
It was an exhausted Jaina that trudged up to her apartment on the third floor a short time later. She wanted this whole business with Rune over with, and was hoping against all hope that his father would not be appointed to the government position after all so that his son would go away.
She got up to the door to enter her keycode when she felt a flaring of warning through the Force. All of her senses went on alert as she tensed; the team of Jedi couldn't have had time to arrive yet.
She carefully opened the door to her apartment and stopped in her tracks.
"Hello, Jaina. Miss me?"
------
[Whee for cliffies!!]