Beyond - Legends First Love, Last Love May Challenge Thread - Where did we go Wrong?

Welcome to the offical thread for the May 2006 Challenge stories for the First Love, Last Love - Jaina/Zekk Index.

If you would like to participate, please simply link your story back to this thread - they will all be compiled in the section of our Index for challenge fics for easy finding.

Lastly, there are no deadline for these stories and we only have a few rules:

1) Please keep the submissions to either vignettes or short stories for easy reading. No epics please.
2) The story must be a Jaina/Zekk story of some kind. Friendship or romance.
3) The story should include all of the elements of the challenge.
4) Have fun!

These challenges have been submitted by authors, or devised by the First Love, Last Love team to provide you with entertainment and enjoyment for writers and readers a like.

Enjoy!

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[color=limegreen][hl=darkblue]May Challenge[/hl][/color]

The ?Where did we go Wrong?? Challenge.

[b]Write a fic that deals with the Jaina/Zekk quasi-breakup between YJK and NJO[/b]

May the Force be with you and good luck!

 

Title: Change
Author: Jade_Max
Timeframe: Post YJK, Pre NJO
Characters: Jaina Solo and Zekk
Summary: Sometimes you have to move on before you can grow up
Notes: Breakup Fic - J/Z Index challenge fic.

Change

Zekk ducked away from the after party excitement, leaving Jacen and Tenel Ka to fend for themselves with their relatives and friends.

He needed to be alone.

A lot had happened in the last few months. He'd turned eighteen; the twins were now sixteen, Tenel Ka seventeen. They'd brought down an evil plot to ruin the galaxy, and they'd been knighted. Knighted. He sighed, looking down at the saber hanging from his belt as he leaned against the railing, looking out across the jungle of Yavin IV.

He'd been given an honor he didn't really feel he'd earned yet, one he wasn't certain he was ready for. Just one more burden in a series of burdens. One more choice in a series of choices. Some choices more difficult than others.

"Credit for your thoughts."

He'd known she would come looking for him. Part of him was grateful; he enjoyed no one elses company like he did hers. "Just thinking."

"I figured as much." She came to stand beside him, following his gaze out across the jungle. "It's crazy in there, huh?"

He nodded. "Crazy." he echoed. He fell silent, wondering how to broach a sensitive subject without hurting her feelings. The silence between them felt awkward, forced, as it hadn't been before. They both knew what was coming, but neither really wanted to face it.

Finally, he turned to face her. "Jaya, we have to talk."

"I know." She slanted a look at him. "I'm too young for you."

He blinked. "Pardon?"

She shrugged, her hair being teased by the light evening breeze. "I'm too young for you. You're an adult, a Knight in your own right. I still need training and I need to grow up. Right?"

He chuckled. "Wrong." He shook his head, wondering where she'd ever gotten the impression. "Our paths aren't going in the same direction anymore Jaina. You're being apprenticed to your Aunt, I'm going off to find my own way. It's not fair for me to hold you down."

She sniffed, and he swore he saw the sparkle of tears on her lashes. But as she turned to face him, her eyes swimming with tears, she smiled. "You know I'll never forget you right?"

He lifted his hand to gently brush the tears off her lashes. "This isn't a goodbye forever, Jaya. We'll meet again, you'll see."

"When I'm old enough for you?"

He chuckled. "You're old enough for me now, I swear. I just can't... we can't expect to do this long distance. I'll ever be your friend, no matter what happens."

She launched herself into his arms, hugging him tightly. "I'll hold you to that, Zekk."

He hugged her back, resting his chin on the top of her head, his heart aching. She wasn't ready for what he wanted to ask her, she might never be, and so he was choosing to let her go. That didn't mean he couldn't enjoy one last hug.

Jaina finally pulled back, dashing one hand across her face. "Would it be too much to ask for a goodbye kiss?" The question was soft, uncertain.

He couldn't deny her that. His head came down and he gently brushed his lips across hers. Her lips tasted bittersweet, a tantalizing forbidden fruit that wasn't his to sample. He pulled back. "I'll see you around, Jaya."

"You too." Her throat closed as she spoke. She held onto him, reluctantly letting him slide from her grasp as he moved away and disappeared back into the temple. The only comfort she could derive from that last embrace was that he was as reluctant as she to let go.

He was simply the stronger for doing so.

Fin

 

Nice Jade_Max
I fully intend to get a little something written for this one, if I can find the time.

 

Beautifully done, Jade_Max!

 

Bravo!

I'm going to have to thank my sister, Jaid, for introducing me to your fics, Jade_Max! Your shorts are a great way to start off a day before going to college.

 

Beautiful job...I really enjoyed it.

J/Z...*sigh*

 

That was so beautiful...and yet so sad. Beautifully written and very emotional. I really enjoyed it.

 

Neo-Paladin ? Thanks Paladin! I look forward to yours

VaderLVR64 ? Thank you, VaderLVR64!

Jedi_Allegra ? Your sister introduced you to my fics, Jedi_Allegra? I?ll have to thank her myself! Thanks for reading, I?m glad you enjoy them!

ZekksGoddess ? Thanks ZekksGoddess? maybe I?ll do a companion piece for the next challenge. Their reunion.

DathomiranAuthor ? Thanks DA! I had fun with it.

 

Somehow, that wasn't as sad as I expected it to be. I like that they both still care about each other, even though they know the time isn't right for them to be together.

 

Very nice. That wasn't so angsty after all. I was prepared for something really sad, but that was perfectly balanced emotion-wise. Still, I'm going to have to try to come up with something really humorous and off the wall for this challenge to prevent the atmosphere from clouding over completely once everybody else starts with their entries.

 

That was sweet.

 

Author Neo-Paladin
Title Not Looking back

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Jacen tore through the corridors of the Jedi Academy. As he broke through a knot of masters standing in the hall, Jacen shouted, ?Sorry!? without turning or slowing. He was running out of time. Even with his Force enhanced abilities, he was afraid he wasn't going to find what he was looking for. What he needed was Zekk's ability to intuit the how and the where to find things.

Unfortunately, Zekk was what he was looking for.

Jaina was about to lift with Mara, their first assignment together. It was some minor thing, they would probably be back in a week, but it was momentous nonetheless.

Jaina was trying to hold Mara long enough that she could say good-bye to Zekk, but Zekk wasn't there to see them off. No one had seen Zekk all day. Jacen was sprinting through the facility to find Zekk, and bring him to the launch platform.

Unfortunately, Jacen was running out of places to look for him. If he didn't find him soon the only place left to look would be the Jungle, and he'd never find Zekk before they lifted. As it was Mara was already annoyed that they were delayed.

It wasn't like Zekk didn't know she was leaving today. It wasn't like Zekk to miss something important like this. If anything, he had a gift for staying aware of his surroundings.

Relief flooded Jacen's system when he heard a quite hum of a lightsaber coming from one of the storerooms.

Jacen burst in on Zekk. Zekk was alone in the storeroom. His eyes were closed as he was balanced on a single hand. His other hand was 90 degrees from his body, and the pommel of Zekk's lightsaber was balanced on two fingers, as Zekk stood still as a rock. It was an intense meditation technique to hone focus and control.

?Zekk, come on, you're going to miss them!? Jacen said in a rush.

Zekk drew a long breath in and let it out twice as long as it took to draw in before he carefully, let his feet touch down. As he stood his lightsaber fell from its tenuous position to fall into Zekk's sure grip.

?I'm not missing anything,? Zekk said firmly.

?Zekk, they're leaving, now! Jaina is holding them up so you don't miss them!? Jacen insisted.

Zekk deactivated his lightsaber, and sighed as he looked up at the ceiling.

?Come on!? Jacen insisted.

?I'm not going,? Zekk said firmly.

?Did you get your switches scrambled?? Jacen asked incredulously.

?My switches?? Zekk asked with equal outrage. ?What do you think is going on Jacen??

?What's going on?? Jacen asked, bewildered. ?You're going to miss saying good-bye to my sister. What else is going on??

?Jacen...? Zekk began before pausing and sighing. ?Look, we've had some good times. We've gotten into trouble, we've gotten out of trouble, maybe we even saved the galaxy a couple of times. It's been a good run. Let's not kid ourselves or each other.?

?What are you talking about?? Jacen asked.

?Look,? Zekk began, ?you, your sister, and your brother all have some big things going on. It's been great running with you, really. But from the beginning, I figured this would only last so long, and you'd go on with the course you've got plotted, and my route would take me elsewhere.?

?You're leaving?? Jacen asked.

?No,? Zekk replied with a bitter laugh, ?You are. I'm not going to just ride along, so I'm not going to keep up with you unless I can get myself there.?

?We're all knights,? Jacen objected.

?Yeah, knights. It's a nice thought, but since when are knights are apprenticed to masters again??

?Oh, you're mad at my uncle because you didn't get a master, and you're taking it out on my sister,? Jacen accused.

Zekk sighed and looked up to the ceiling again. ?Look,? Zekk paused before saying, ?I hate that you said that, so there's probably some truth to it.

But like I said, lets not kid ourselves here. I tried hard, I thought I had proved myself; to be honest it hurts that I haven't. But here we are. You got masters, I didn't, for whatever reason. I'm not going to be able to run w

 

jedi_of_ennth ? I really was joing for sad, j_o_e, more like? kind of morose. I?m glad you enjoyed it!

emeraldshadow ? emeraldshadow! *tackle hugs* You?re back are you? Great to see you! And you?re right, you?re going to have to write something fun for this challenge ? you have no excuses now!!

JediBettyBug18 ? Thank you, JediBettyBug18, that?s very much what I was going for!

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Paladin, this was supposed to be a Jaina/Zekk response, not a Jacen, Zekk :P

None-the-less it was very well done. I love how it?s [i]implied[/i] J/Z, and how Zekk learned never to say ?goodbye?? that was probably my favorite line! Nicely done my friend!

 

Jade_Max:Yes, she did. No problem! I enjoy reading fics before/after work and rehearsals. It's kind of relaxing.

Neo-Paladin:Whoa, what? Where was the quasi-breakup? I do agree with Max, though, it was very well done!


My addition to this Challenge is yet to come! I'm out of school tomorrow so, I'm probably going to work on it tonight and tomorrow after school. Right now there is this girl at school who has never written a Star Wars fic in her life and she wants me to help her write the story. She never gives me a break. Otherwise, I would so work on the fic during school.

 

Thanks JM. I know it's Zekk/Jaina, but relationships are never that straight forward, are they?

Thanks Jedi_allegra. Where was the quasi-breakup, you ask? I was aiming for the ultimate passive-aggressive quasi-breakup!

 

I know it's Zekk/Jaina, but relationships are never that straight forward, are they?
No, they never give us that little bit to make it easier.

Nice addition to the thread, NP!

 

Neo-Paladin: Nice entry. I completely understand Zekk's frustration, but sheesh, Zekk, tell your friend good-bye. I imagine Jaina was none too happy with being ignored.

 

Admit it ZG, if they gave us that little bit, the pairing wouldn't be nearly so compelling
And thanks.

Thank you JoE. I see you, 'got' it. I wanted to turn the challenge on its ear a bit, and I wanted to make Zekk a little more clearly damaged. Perceived rejection hurts, and when Zekk is hurt he gets all too defensive. I too think he was in the wrong, but it's hard to fault him for it.

 

Good point, Paladin... I hadn't considered that - though I should have Ah well, good thing you're on the ball!

 

Well, the romantic tension was one of my favorite things about the parring. I mean Zekk is cool and all and Jaina is... Jaina; but the tension is what keeps the two interesting. The quasi-breakup that this challenge deals with sort of turned that tension into an unresolved confusion, but such is pro-fic.

 

Title: Just Isn't The Same
Author: Erisi
Timeframe: YJK-NJO
Characters: Jaina and Zekk (Jacen, too)
Summary: The graduation ceremony is dawning and Jaina has a heart-to-heart talk with her brother about Zekk and she realizes that something is going to end.
Notes: This is my first fic...so yeah. ?Quasi-breakup? ? May 2006 J/Z index challenge



~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Jaina marked another day off of her holo-calendar as
the day came to a close. There were three more days
until the graduation. She was excited, yet she wasn?t.
The temple was buzzing with pre-graduation
preparation. That meant sending out holo-invites all
across the galaxy to long lost family members that
cared. For the young Solo, that part was a piece of
cake; her family practically lived at the temple. Well
they were having more along the lines of a long and
very much needed holiday.

What really bothered her was the fact that Zekk had
invited Anja. Jaina knew her emotions were getting in
the way of her consciousness, but that didn?t mean she
wouldn?t like to strangle Anja that very moment in
time. She began to mumble aloud to herself.

?Why did he have to invite her? Anyone, but her! That
little Sith Witch, why I would-? She stopped short as
Jacen entered.

?I would appreciate it if you informed me of the fight
before it happened. I?d be honored to attend the death
of the so-called ?Sith Witch.??

?You're not helping,? she said. A frown slid onto
Jaina?s face as Jacen took a seat on her bed.

?So, why are you so bothered with Anja coming?? Her
mouth about fell five feet to the stone floor.

?You know how I feel about her. You know she?s been a
little Sith since she arrived!? Jaina was frantic.
Jacen knew where this conversation needed to go.

?Is it her who?s been the Sith, or is it you??

Jaina stopped her pacing and faced him, arms folded
across her chest. ?What??

?You know what I said, Jaina. It?s not really her
who?s been the little Sith Witch. It?s been you.?
Jacen called one of Jaina?s many decorative items to
him and levitated it above his palm. ?Am I right??

Jaina nodded slowly taking a few deep breaths. ?You?re
just jealous that Anja is coming because you know
somewhere deep inside Zekk, he has feelings for her,
just like he does you. What it comes down to is, you
are being a little over-protective about your
boyfriend.?

Jaina knew he was right, most of the time he was, yet
something inside her didn?t want to listen. Jacen felt
for his twin.

?I know how you?ve felt him pulling away since
graduation has gotten closer, but that?s all fear
Jaina. And you know what Uncle Luke always says about
fear.?

Jaina hated when her brother could find the truth with
in her. It broke her to know how self-centered she had
been. She swiped at her pale cheeks. She knew she
needed to talk to him, and she knew just where to find
him.

Zekk relocated his lightsaber, feeling Jaina?s
presence as she entered onto the balcony. They both
started, ?We -?

Jaina blushed and Zekk rubbed his neck uncomfortably.
?Go ahead.? Zekk motioned politely.

?Well, we need to talk.? She was as jittery as a
Rancor on feeding day.

?I know.?

All light-heartedness that she had seen over the last
few years was gone. His once bright face was as grave
as a darkening sky. She didn?t look surprised. ?First
of all, I need ? well, want to ask, why did you invite
Anja?? She was blunt, and subtle in her question,
asking for the truth and nothing but the truth.

?That?s why we need to talk. I invited her because
she?s a good friend of mine. Anja contacted me awhile
back and asked me to inform her when the ceremony
would be, so I did,? he confessed and looked out on
the setting sun.

?Yet, you knew how I felt about her, Zekk. So tell me
why, because I know it?s not the truth.? Tears pricked
at her brandy brown eyes, yet she forced herself not
to cry.

?Jaina, you know I?m leaving.?

?Don?t change the subject, Zekk. I want to know why.?

?Why are you asking me? You already know why.? He
tur

 

*sniff* *sniff* Awww.... that was just so sad!

Zekk made her cry


A wonderfully different take on the challenge Jedi Allegra, bravo!

 

Jade_Max: Thank you! I have one comment!! *dances*