Beyond - Legends One Afternoon on Naboo (AU; Jaina/Jag, Kyp, post-TJK)

Author's Note: This is something of a missing scene from the AU I've been writing; there, Jaina and Jag are married, and by the time LOTF opens, have a daughter. But how did Kyp react to Jaina's decision ... ?

This is set just after Khapet al'Yun:

http://boards.theforce.net/beyond_the_saga/b10477/29518150/r29521829/

DISCLAIMER: LFL's are LFL's. Marvel's are Marvel's. OCs are their own. This is a work of fiction. No money is being made off of this. Please don't sue.

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34.11 ABY: Theed Power Generator, Naboo:
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She could sense him approaching - confusion, shot through with outrage, a surprising amount of fear for her, which part of her almost found touching, and a seed of anger and resentment.

Ah, Kyp, Jaina thought, sighing as she finished taking the purple crystal out of her lightsaber and stood beside one of the massive plasma columns in the generator.

She saw Kyp enter, then gave Jag the crystal and kissed his cheek. "Go. I'll deal with this," she told her fiance'.

"Are you sure?" Jag asked - Jaina appreciated his concern.

But she had already won the fight that was coming.

"I don't want you getting in the crossfire, Jag. This needs to be done, and I need to do it. Tell Grandma I'll be back in time for the dress fitting," Jaina assured Jag, and he nodded.

He turned - leaving by a different door than the one Kyp had entered - and spared Kyp a polite nod before departing.

Kyp gave Jag a confused frown, then turned back to walking toward Jaina, his black cloak billowing behind him as the plasma streams gave his blue and black robes an eerie glow. Somehow, the same light didn't cause the same effect on her simple brown jumpsuit.

He stopped, maybe a meter and a half away from her on the catwalk, as he realized her lightsaber was basically gutted in her hand.

Jaina couldn't help but let some of her pity and resolve seep into her own Force signature.

"This is where Obi-Wan killed that Zabrak Sith of Sidious' - sort of where the whole Skywalker 'tradition' began," she said.

"Seemed fitting to try and break the cycle in the place it started."

And she tossed her lightsaber into the plasma stream, watching it hiss, spark, and quickly evaporate, before turning back to see Kyp's face.

The look on his face almost matched the spike of outraged shock in his Force presence.

Finally, he managed to sputter, "That was - you're serious."

Jaina cocked an eyebrow, but tried to keep it from being sardonic. He's really shocked and hurt, she realized, saddened.

But it was far too late for might have beens that never should've been.

"Almost a day ago, I slapped Luke and very nearly killed Jacen back on Ossus. So yes, I quit, Kyp - after Ben, my little cousin, all of eight years old - showed more emotional maturity than I had, and begged me not to put Jacen down like a mad nek," Jaina said calmly.

"There's a corollary to sparing an accused planet-executioner in there somewhere."

Kyp seethed and snapped, "Jacen tricking you and the others into attacking Thrago was NOTHING like Carida."

"Maybe. Maybe it was a bad comparison. I'm sorry if I insulted you. But I still needed to quit the Order, Jag or no Jag. His proposal just came at the right time," Jaina said, managing a smile.

She gazed at the corusca gem in her engagement ring, then at Kyp, who was shaking his head. "Fel took advantage of your mental state just after you'd been freed from the Taat hive - and then after you learned about Jacen's betrayal! You weren't in your right mind," he began.

Jaina almost laughed at that. "Jag's never tried to mess with my mind, Kyp. He let me vent - let me make my own decisions. I chose to accept his ring. He's been one of the few people during this mess with the Killiks who never tried to influence my decisions - he came after me at the Tusken's Eye, got me out of there after Ana

 

She gazed at the corusca gem in her engagement ring, then at Kyp, who was shaking his head. "Fel took advantage of your mental state just after you'd been freed from the Taat hive - and then after you learned about Jacen's betrayal! You weren't in your right mind," he began.

Jealous much?

She just gave him that calm, sad smile, and said, "When will it end, Kyp? Where's your happy ending? How many lives do you have to save and causes you have to champion before you forgive yourself?"

Very good question.

Jaina kissed his cheek and said, "Go have some caf at a corner tapcaf. Make non-Jedi friends. Have a Katunda-night sabaac club. Stang, go print Daala's face on flimsi and make a dartboard out of it."

Perfect idea with the dartboard.

I don't have much knowledge about your other stories, but as I've said before, it all seems highly interesting. I enjoyed this piece very much.
I like how Jaina's the calm one, how she's trying to make Kyp see that there's still a life out there for him to lead.

Wonderful.

 

Thanks, Ceillian.

I wanted to be sure that when I wrote this, it treated Kyp with the respect due him, and that it wasn't something that bashed him or Jaina or Jag.

And both he and Jaina are right ... and are wrong ... at this point in time. Jaina was emotionally off-kilter just after Thrago; Kyp is fighting an uphill battle.

But she's also landed, and has found some peace; and eventually, Kyp's crusade did help bring Jacen back to some degree of normalcy, and smack some sense into Luke.

Years later. But that's another story ...

- Thanks again,
Onderon1