Jag's hotel- Coruscant- Tuesday afternoon

[solo_sword]

While getting one up on Daala had been pretty great, Jaina's personal life wasn't getting any better. Actually, neither was her professional life. While going after Valin and Jysella had earned her a tiny bit of good will, it wasn't a ton, and apparently none of that extended to Jag. And since he couldn't come to her at the Temple anymore, Jaina was spending more time at the quarters he'd taken since he'd been on Coruscant. It wasn't like she really wanted to be hanging out at the Temple right now anyway, even if it made her feel guilty, like she was choosing sides.

She did manage to put thoughts like that aside, though, like now. She was lounging on the sofa next to Jag, watching the vidscreen with the express purpose of seeing how they reported a certain incident.

"...remains uncertain who fired on the Millennium Falcon," the reporter was saying. "Galactic Alliance military spokesbeings categorically deny responsibility. However, the detonation was witnessed by thousands of civilian sensor operators. And several ChaseX fighter craft from the Nargi-class pursuit frigate Fast Death were in the vicinity at the time. Chief Daala's office has declined to comment."

Jaina muted the sound, then smiled over at Jag. "I'm beginning to see why Dad enjoys this guy so much," she said. "He has a way of getting to the truth despite the cover-ups."

"Or at least a version that your father finds palatable," Jag smiled, and asked, "Were there any casualties?"

Jaina shook her head. "Not on our side, at least. The Falcon and the Gizer Gut made their rendezvous as scheduled. They ought to be leaving for the Transitory Mists anytime now."

"Good." He paused. "Then you've actually heard from your father?"

"No, the message was from Mom." Jaina poked him playfully in the ribs. "But don't worry. Dad will come around."

She hoped. Han could hold a serious grudge, and Jaina was resorting to things like spending the days upgrading the Falcon's systems to serve as an olive branch. She didn't begrudge Jag's worry, either. He'd been like a part of the Solo family for longer than he and Jaina had been together. He'd been mostly cut off from his own. And now he took the brunt of everyone's anger because he was still the outside in a family he was going to actually belong to. That wasn't even taking into consideration the effect all of this had on Jaina…

Before she could say anything to make him feel better, the suite's resident valet droid made its way into the room. "Please forgive the intrusion, Head of State Fel," the droid said. "Our staff has just received advance notice about Javis Tyrr Presents. There will be a news item concerning you and Jedi Solo, and I assumed you would want to see it."

Yeah, that couldn't be anything good, and Jaina groaned. "What now?"

"I'm sorry, Jedi Solo," the droid said, using its controls to switch programs. "I'm afraid we weren't given details regarding the content."

Javis Tyrr's face appeared on the screen briefly before they cut to an image of Jag and Jaina in the backseat of Jag's crushed limo, and Jaina felt her heart sink. Beside her, Jag tensed, knowing just as well as she did what was coming.

"Here's a little clip of what passes between everyone's favorite couple when they have a little alone time," Tyrr said. "How do we do it? I can't tell you that, my friends, but I can say you're going to find this little gem very interesting."

And as the conversation in the limo began playing for every single being who was either watching this live or who would catch it on a replay, Jaina shook her head and turned to Jag, at a loss. "I don't know what to say. "I'm so-"

"Hold on," Jag said, turning to the valet droid. "VeeTen, will you please turn that off?"

The vidwall went blank. "Of course, sir."

"Now, please excuse us," Jag said. "And inform the staff that I won't be needing to see any more of Javis Tyrr's reports."

"Very good,sirs," the droid said, "If I did something to upset you or Jedi Solo, you have my deepest apologies."

"We'll be fine. Thank you."

The droid whirred out of the room, and Jaina dropped her chin. She didn't much care when she got into trouble. She always tended to bounce back from it just fine. But this was different. Jag was a political leader, trying some delicate negotiations that a lot of his constituents didn't want. This was going to cause him a lot of trouble, and she hadn't managed to catch whatever it was that let this get out… "Jag, I am so sorry," she said. "Tyrr must have been downloading data from that parasite droid the whole time he was walking down-"

"Jaina, stop," Jag said, tilting her chin up with his hand. "You didn't put the spy in my limo, and it's going to be okay."

Jaina stared at him. "Okay? How can you think that is going to be okay? If you had ever been a Jedi young one at Shelter, I would think you were going barvy, too!"

"It's not a problem. We're going to be okay," he assured her, and waved vaguely at the vidwall. "That is just politics. And I'm not going to let a little thing like politics come between us. I'm not going to let anything come between us."

Jaina wasn't going to stop worrying just like that. She had a feeling things were about to get a lot harder. "Promise?"

"I promise."

He seemed so calm about this, and while Jaina had a feeling things were about to get a lot harder for them, she wanted to trust in that calm. "Well then," she said, leaning forward to give him a kiss. "I promise, too."

[NFI, NFB, OOC okay. Dialogue from Abyss by Troy Denning.]