Fic: It's Just Pretend, Chapter 7
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, drama?
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 Seven
In a matter of seconds, several things happened.
Uncle Luke and Kyp both tried to contact her through the Force; a muttered curse was heard, followed immediately by running footsteps headed for the stairs; and Jaina's comlink beeped urgently.
Jaina cursed and reached for her comlink to turn it off. She couldn't risk Rune hearing it and realizing she was still in the lift.
Distractedly, she realized Kyp and Uncle Luke had felt her being cut off from the Force and then, just as suddenly, showing up again. She sent a wave of reassurance to both men that she was fine and she'd talk to them later. Her brain also registered that Rune probably thought that she'd gotten off on the second floor and had left to try to catch her up there.
Jaina waited a few moments, then ran through the lobby to the main door. But she stopped abruptly on the walkway by the busy street, realizing with a start that she had no idea where to go.
She needed a place to stay. She couldn't stay in the government building, Rune had access and he could find her there. Her next instinct was to go to her parents' place but Rune's father was there. She could hide at Luke and Mara's, but they were also with her parents and she didn't know their door code. Besides, Rune would look for her there too. No matter where she would try to go, he'd find her, and harass her again. She growled in frustration.
She had to go somewhere he wouldn't think of, a connection he wouldn't know of, someone he hadn't met...
Jaina turned in the direction of the lot to run for her speeder. She was inside and had turned it on when another thought occurred to her. If he could get her door code, he would be able to track her speeder too.
Jaina gritted her teeth. She was ready to march right back in there and take care of Rune. Anger flooded through her, clouding her vision. Anger at Rune for making her uncomfortable the past few days, anger because he broke into her home, anger at him for trying to subdue her and intimidate her. Anger for him trapping her into a corner. There was also anger at herself for not having seen this coming, for underestimating Rune.
The sound of a speeder brought her out of her momentary reverie. Her head snapped up. "Kyp?" Her eyes widened.
The Jedi Master sat in a speeder that had pulled up next to hers in the lot, looking relieved to see her, and then, looking none too happy.
~~~~~
Kyp had been on alert for some time. The sense that something was wrong had been building and his thoughts almost constantly dwelled on Jaina. So Jaina's sudden surprise, fear, and disappearance from the other end of their old bond set him into motion instantly.
Luke had contacted him telepathically moments later and asked him urgently to look into what was wrong. Kyp replied that he was already on it, and Luke informed him that Jaina had been headed for home.
Concern for her had driven away everything else as he sped towards her apartment. When she popped back into the Force, her Force signature seemed almost...disoriented. She'd thrown up a shield to telepathic contacts but it didn't seem to be a conscious thing. What worried him more was the fear coming from her which made him break several speed and traffic laws in an attempt to get there faster. Stang, if anything had happened to her...
Her dismissal of him only annoyed him and increased his worry. So when he finally spotted her sitting safe and sound in her speeder, his first reaction was absolute relief.
And then came the irritation and the hurt. His emotions were a mess, as worry and affection and annoyance and relief all for her and directed at her fought for dominance. He leveled a gaze on her, knowing his eyes expressed his worry, slight betrayal, and disappointment. Why hadn't she asked for help? They were partners, weren't they? Or had that been another casualty of war?
She returned his gaze, surprised as well. "Kyp?"
"What's wrong?" He finally found his voice, and it came out harder than he intended. "You're not answering your comlink and you're blocking me."
Jaina looked down. "Nothing's wrong."
"Jaina, don't lie to me." His voice held a slight bite of reproach, and the hurt was still there. Why didn't she trust him?
"I was just on my way to your place."
"My place?" he repeated. Maybe she did trust him.
"Can I sleep on your couch for a couple of days? The... painters came early."
Or maybe she didn't. Kyp sighed, his hands resting on the speeder controls. Force, Jaina was being a horrible liar, and they both knew it. But he wouldn't call her on it, not now, not when she seemed so rattled. "Of course," he finally answered, his manner softening somewhat.
He couldn't deny her anything when she looked at him like that. In fact, he wasn't sure he could deny her anything no matter how she looked at him. Unless, of course, it was information relating to someone or something that might be endangering her. With that, he would never rest and never let up.
He studied her as she got out of her speeder and into his. "No bag?"
She halted momentarily. "Um, I didn't have time."
His hands gripped the controls. "Jaina, are you in danger?" As if he needed to ask.
"Kyp, can we please leave?" she interrupted before he could say anything else. "I need to contact Uncle Luke. In private."
He felt her urgency through the Force and pulled out into traffic. Her relief was so palpable that he fell silent and tried his best to send her relief and reassurance. She seemed grateful for that, at least.
The further they got away, the more Jaina relaxed. He wanted to ask her. He wanted to demand she tell him what was going on. But she remained silent next to him as he pulled up to his building. Kyp bit back a sigh. He felt he'd been more than patient and considerate; after all, he'd stayed silent for the entire three-minute ride to his place and he was rather proud of himself. "Jaina--"
"Kyp, please," she said imploringly. An electric shock went through him when she placed a plaintive hand on his lower arm. Her eyes were wide and brown, pleading with him. "Let me contact Uncle Luke. If he says it's okay to tell you, I swear I will. It was his idea not to. Just trust us, okay?"
Kyp sighed and accepted this, for now, reaching up to put a hand over hers and squeeze it lightly. She smiled tightly at him, then turned to get out of the speeder.
Several minutes later, pacing in his living room, he was still waiting for an explanation. Jaina had refused to turn on her comlink and asked to borrow his. She was now in the spare room, talking to her uncle. So far, Kyp had ordered takeout for the both of them. He'd nearly worn a hole in his floor from pacing. And he hated how tedious waiting was.
Kyp needed something to occupy his mind and his hands. The food wasn't due to arrive for another 15 minutes; still, he moved into the kitchen to get out plates and utensils. He straightened up the kitchen, rearranged the chairs.
Kyp sighed. He wanted to be angry, and a part of him was. Why wouldn't she trust him? What wasn't she telling him? For that matter, what wasn't Luke telling him? In frustration, he was about to reach out with the Force to listen in when the door opened and Jaina came out.
His head snapped up. Jaina was holding out the comlink for him. "Uncle Luke wants to talk to you."
Kyp eyed her as he took the comlink. Their fingers brushed and he let his hand linger a moment longer than necessary to savor the touch. "Durron."
"Kyp, I need you to do something for me," came Luke's voice.
Jaina leaned against the counter to listen. He kept his eyes leveled on her. "I'm listening."
"I need you to keep an eye on Jaina for the next few days. Keep her with you, accompany her wherever she needs to go."
Kyp stiffened, understanding what Luke was carefully choosing not to say. "She is in danger, then." He'd known it already, but hearing Luke ask him to basically be Jaina's bodyguard confirmed his worst suspicions.
"We believe someone may be targeting her," Luke replied carefully. "But we don't think they're working alone."
"Do we have any leads?"
"The Steiners."
"Of course." After all, Jaina had been acting oddly ever since they'd arrived.
"I wish we could keep her out of sight until we figure out what's going on, but we don't want to make anyone suspicious. So I'll need you to accompany her to the reception tomorrow night."
"Understood."
"Thank you, Kyp. I know she's in good hands."
"I'll report in every few hours."
"Understood. Skywalker out."
Kyp shut off the comlink and set it on the counter.
"Why wouldn't you tell me this before?" he asked carefully.
Jaina shrugged. "Uncle Luke thought you might go after them yourself before we could find out what was really going on."
There was something she still wasn't telling him, but at least he was with her now and could watch over her, so he let it go.
"I had a condition with Uncle Luke, that I would go alone to the reception," she said grumpily, though Kyp sensed it was mostly a pretense. "Under the circumstances, I guess I'll have to go with you."
"You don't have to sound so thrilled about it," he said dryly, giving a half-smile. It hadn't been what Kyp had in mind for going with Jaina to the reception, but he'd take it.
He saw through her show of trying to be brave, though, and concern welled up again. Concern turned into protectiveness and anger at whoever was threatening her. "What aren't you telling me?" he asked firmly. "What happened back there?"
Jaina shook her head, her jaw tightening and almost jutting out. "I'm fine, okay? It was nothing. Leave me alone."
But Kyp also noticed that she was hugging herself, a gesture he knew the Sword of the Jedi didn't use very often. Without even thinking about it first, he felt gently along their bond, and instantly felt remorse in pushing her for answers.
She was trying to hide it, still trying to be brave even though something had shaken her earlier. Underneath it all, she felt so forlorn, so empty, and watching her stand there in his kitchen hugging herself, that Kyp couldn't do anything else but step forward and gather her in his arms. "Hey, c'mere. I'm sorry."
Jaina seemed reluctant at first, but then her breath hitched softly as he pulled her closer and she relaxed into him. His arms tightened.
It drove him crazy to not know exactly what was going on; stang, Jaina drove him crazy, but he would accept no further explanation simply because she'd asked him to.
"It's going to be okay, Goddess," he said softly. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. I swear."
He had explanation enough by putting the pieces together. He would watch out for her, guard her, and maybe eventually even work up the courage to tell her how he felt. Someday. When this was over.
-----
I forgot to post this, like, two weeks ago when I posted it on the boards! Sorry tears_of_nienna!
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, drama?
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 Seven
In a matter of seconds, several things happened.
Uncle Luke and Kyp both tried to contact her through the Force; a muttered curse was heard, followed immediately by running footsteps headed for the stairs; and Jaina's comlink beeped urgently.
Jaina cursed and reached for her comlink to turn it off. She couldn't risk Rune hearing it and realizing she was still in the lift.
Distractedly, she realized Kyp and Uncle Luke had felt her being cut off from the Force and then, just as suddenly, showing up again. She sent a wave of reassurance to both men that she was fine and she'd talk to them later. Her brain also registered that Rune probably thought that she'd gotten off on the second floor and had left to try to catch her up there.
Jaina waited a few moments, then ran through the lobby to the main door. But she stopped abruptly on the walkway by the busy street, realizing with a start that she had no idea where to go.
She needed a place to stay. She couldn't stay in the government building, Rune had access and he could find her there. Her next instinct was to go to her parents' place but Rune's father was there. She could hide at Luke and Mara's, but they were also with her parents and she didn't know their door code. Besides, Rune would look for her there too. No matter where she would try to go, he'd find her, and harass her again. She growled in frustration.
She had to go somewhere he wouldn't think of, a connection he wouldn't know of, someone he hadn't met...
Jaina turned in the direction of the lot to run for her speeder. She was inside and had turned it on when another thought occurred to her. If he could get her door code, he would be able to track her speeder too.
Jaina gritted her teeth. She was ready to march right back in there and take care of Rune. Anger flooded through her, clouding her vision. Anger at Rune for making her uncomfortable the past few days, anger because he broke into her home, anger at him for trying to subdue her and intimidate her. Anger for him trapping her into a corner. There was also anger at herself for not having seen this coming, for underestimating Rune.
The sound of a speeder brought her out of her momentary reverie. Her head snapped up. "Kyp?" Her eyes widened.
The Jedi Master sat in a speeder that had pulled up next to hers in the lot, looking relieved to see her, and then, looking none too happy.
~~~~~
Kyp had been on alert for some time. The sense that something was wrong had been building and his thoughts almost constantly dwelled on Jaina. So Jaina's sudden surprise, fear, and disappearance from the other end of their old bond set him into motion instantly.
Luke had contacted him telepathically moments later and asked him urgently to look into what was wrong. Kyp replied that he was already on it, and Luke informed him that Jaina had been headed for home.
Concern for her had driven away everything else as he sped towards her apartment. When she popped back into the Force, her Force signature seemed almost...disoriented. She'd thrown up a shield to telepathic contacts but it didn't seem to be a conscious thing. What worried him more was the fear coming from her which made him break several speed and traffic laws in an attempt to get there faster. Stang, if anything had happened to her...
Her dismissal of him only annoyed him and increased his worry. So when he finally spotted her sitting safe and sound in her speeder, his first reaction was absolute relief.
And then came the irritation and the hurt. His emotions were a mess, as worry and affection and annoyance and relief all for her and directed at her fought for dominance. He leveled a gaze on her, knowing his eyes expressed his worry, slight betrayal, and disappointment. Why hadn't she asked for help? They were partners, weren't they? Or had that been another casualty of war?
She returned his gaze, surprised as well. "Kyp?"
"What's wrong?" He finally found his voice, and it came out harder than he intended. "You're not answering your comlink and you're blocking me."
Jaina looked down. "Nothing's wrong."
"Jaina, don't lie to me." His voice held a slight bite of reproach, and the hurt was still there. Why didn't she trust him?
"I was just on my way to your place."
"My place?" he repeated. Maybe she did trust him.
"Can I sleep on your couch for a couple of days? The... painters came early."
Or maybe she didn't. Kyp sighed, his hands resting on the speeder controls. Force, Jaina was being a horrible liar, and they both knew it. But he wouldn't call her on it, not now, not when she seemed so rattled. "Of course," he finally answered, his manner softening somewhat.
He couldn't deny her anything when she looked at him like that. In fact, he wasn't sure he could deny her anything no matter how she looked at him. Unless, of course, it was information relating to someone or something that might be endangering her. With that, he would never rest and never let up.
He studied her as she got out of her speeder and into his. "No bag?"
She halted momentarily. "Um, I didn't have time."
His hands gripped the controls. "Jaina, are you in danger?" As if he needed to ask.
"Kyp, can we please leave?" she interrupted before he could say anything else. "I need to contact Uncle Luke. In private."
He felt her urgency through the Force and pulled out into traffic. Her relief was so palpable that he fell silent and tried his best to send her relief and reassurance. She seemed grateful for that, at least.
The further they got away, the more Jaina relaxed. He wanted to ask her. He wanted to demand she tell him what was going on. But she remained silent next to him as he pulled up to his building. Kyp bit back a sigh. He felt he'd been more than patient and considerate; after all, he'd stayed silent for the entire three-minute ride to his place and he was rather proud of himself. "Jaina--"
"Kyp, please," she said imploringly. An electric shock went through him when she placed a plaintive hand on his lower arm. Her eyes were wide and brown, pleading with him. "Let me contact Uncle Luke. If he says it's okay to tell you, I swear I will. It was his idea not to. Just trust us, okay?"
Kyp sighed and accepted this, for now, reaching up to put a hand over hers and squeeze it lightly. She smiled tightly at him, then turned to get out of the speeder.
Several minutes later, pacing in his living room, he was still waiting for an explanation. Jaina had refused to turn on her comlink and asked to borrow his. She was now in the spare room, talking to her uncle. So far, Kyp had ordered takeout for the both of them. He'd nearly worn a hole in his floor from pacing. And he hated how tedious waiting was.
Kyp needed something to occupy his mind and his hands. The food wasn't due to arrive for another 15 minutes; still, he moved into the kitchen to get out plates and utensils. He straightened up the kitchen, rearranged the chairs.
Kyp sighed. He wanted to be angry, and a part of him was. Why wouldn't she trust him? What wasn't she telling him? For that matter, what wasn't Luke telling him? In frustration, he was about to reach out with the Force to listen in when the door opened and Jaina came out.
His head snapped up. Jaina was holding out the comlink for him. "Uncle Luke wants to talk to you."
Kyp eyed her as he took the comlink. Their fingers brushed and he let his hand linger a moment longer than necessary to savor the touch. "Durron."
"Kyp, I need you to do something for me," came Luke's voice.
Jaina leaned against the counter to listen. He kept his eyes leveled on her. "I'm listening."
"I need you to keep an eye on Jaina for the next few days. Keep her with you, accompany her wherever she needs to go."
Kyp stiffened, understanding what Luke was carefully choosing not to say. "She is in danger, then." He'd known it already, but hearing Luke ask him to basically be Jaina's bodyguard confirmed his worst suspicions.
"We believe someone may be targeting her," Luke replied carefully. "But we don't think they're working alone."
"Do we have any leads?"
"The Steiners."
"Of course." After all, Jaina had been acting oddly ever since they'd arrived.
"I wish we could keep her out of sight until we figure out what's going on, but we don't want to make anyone suspicious. So I'll need you to accompany her to the reception tomorrow night."
"Understood."
"Thank you, Kyp. I know she's in good hands."
"I'll report in every few hours."
"Understood. Skywalker out."
Kyp shut off the comlink and set it on the counter.
"Why wouldn't you tell me this before?" he asked carefully.
Jaina shrugged. "Uncle Luke thought you might go after them yourself before we could find out what was really going on."
There was something she still wasn't telling him, but at least he was with her now and could watch over her, so he let it go.
"I had a condition with Uncle Luke, that I would go alone to the reception," she said grumpily, though Kyp sensed it was mostly a pretense. "Under the circumstances, I guess I'll have to go with you."
"You don't have to sound so thrilled about it," he said dryly, giving a half-smile. It hadn't been what Kyp had in mind for going with Jaina to the reception, but he'd take it.
He saw through her show of trying to be brave, though, and concern welled up again. Concern turned into protectiveness and anger at whoever was threatening her. "What aren't you telling me?" he asked firmly. "What happened back there?"
Jaina shook her head, her jaw tightening and almost jutting out. "I'm fine, okay? It was nothing. Leave me alone."
But Kyp also noticed that she was hugging herself, a gesture he knew the Sword of the Jedi didn't use very often. Without even thinking about it first, he felt gently along their bond, and instantly felt remorse in pushing her for answers.
She was trying to hide it, still trying to be brave even though something had shaken her earlier. Underneath it all, she felt so forlorn, so empty, and watching her stand there in his kitchen hugging herself, that Kyp couldn't do anything else but step forward and gather her in his arms. "Hey, c'mere. I'm sorry."
Jaina seemed reluctant at first, but then her breath hitched softly as he pulled her closer and she relaxed into him. His arms tightened.
It drove him crazy to not know exactly what was going on; stang, Jaina drove him crazy, but he would accept no further explanation simply because she'd asked him to.
"It's going to be okay, Goddess," he said softly. "I'm not going to let anyone hurt you. I swear."
He had explanation enough by putting the pieces together. He would watch out for her, guard her, and maybe eventually even work up the courage to tell her how he felt. Someday. When this was over.
-----
I forgot to post this, like, two weeks ago when I posted it on the boards! Sorry tears_of_nienna!