Well. She certainly hadn’t expected it to go so well. It was the first....no, second, joke she had ever said/done to somebody. They were laughing, at one of her jokes this time.

Serves him right for all of the jokes he had told, or tried to tell her. Or maybe she had chosen him for some other reason? No. She pushed the thought away. Not that it hadn’t been felt good and... right ? No. Not her. She knew her feelings and she could not be having these feelings for one of her closest friends.

Enough of that. From now on, think rationally.

Uh-oh. Why was he staring at her? He couldn’t be thinking that she had meant it?

“Why not? You think you may have meant it”

Annoyed, she shook her braided hair in an attempt to make the voice in the back of her head silent.

But why was he still watching her? The others had changed the topic several thought-ramblings ago. She could tell through the force that he wasn’t thinking about it. In fact, it seemed like he wasn’t thinking at all.

“Alright, it’s time you kids headed back. You can’t sleep out here, ya know.” called Han Solo, appearing almost mystically from the darkness.

“Ok Dad, we’re coming” Answered Jaina, obviously annoyed at not being able to spend more time with Zekk.

He couldn’t believe it. She liked him. She had even kissed him. Maybe they would become a couple. Wow. A couple! He was going to have to get her something for her birthday and everything. What to get a princess who already has or can get everything she could possibly want? When was her birthday, anyway?

His mind continued to go at about a thousand kilometers per second, he was so surprised at what she had done. Maybe we can get married some day. Would her grandmother allow that? Tenel Ka’s parents probably could convince her, if necessary. Would she try to capture him the way they do on Dathomir?

A few possible wedding dates. Anniversary presents. Baby names. Retirement plans.

He was really getting into the whole “Let’s spend the rest of our lives and beyond together” thing. That was a surprise. Jaina had always been the one to dream up romantic visions of the future. But this time......

His mind kept wondering, as he slowly fell asleep.

“Hey, Tenel Ka wait up!” Jacen panted, not used to the warrior’s fast pace. He wanted to talk to her about last night.

“Yes, Jacen?” This couldn’t be good. He was never awake this early in the morning, if he could help it. She stopped and waited for him

Feeling abnormally bold, Jacen ran to be at her side and before she could start jogging again, he kissed her.

“Good Morning!”

Why did she look so surprised? After what she had done last night, weren’t they “together” now?

Not Good. Not Good. Not Good. She had been afraid of this. He had taken her seriously.

“You almost took it seriously also.”

Go Away! She did NOT want to deal with her meddling conscience at the moment.

“Umm Jacen, you see, last night was...”He was not taking this well. “just a joke.”

Oops. Probably not the best way she could have told him. She could only hope that he wouldn’t be to mad or to....hurt?

“I didn’t mean for you to take me seriously. It was sort of pay back, you know? For all of the times you’ve told me jokes?”

This could not be happening. A joke? No. This was the joke, pretending that her kiss had been a joke.

She sighed. At least he had approached her when none of the others would be around. But, then again, maybe she did have some feelings that were a little more “friendly” than she had previously thought.

“Ok Tenel Ka, I get it.”

After studying her face for a few moments, he had finally realized the truth. How could she do that to him? At least he hadn’t told her about all of the stuff he had thought up the night before. That would have made it even worse.

“I was just playing along, You know?”

Had he really said that? What a relief. She couldn’t bear the thought that she had hurt him.

“Good, you had me worried for a minute.”

Or had she been hopeful?

“So....I’ll just head back to the Academy, and get some more sleep. K?”

Such a relief...

“Alright, I’ll see you at morning meal, then?”

Just a joke...

“Yeah, Later”

He ran off quickly, faster that she had been running before. He didn’t want to see her for awhile.

She knew he had taken her seriously. Well, now she knew that he did have “feelings” for her, but it was to late to tell him about hers, wasn’t it?

How could she? At least he had gotten away fast, so he couldn’t embarrass himself any more.

Just a joke?

He quickly swallowed the new found lump in his throat. He had gotten away before he had started crying, another blessing. What would she have thought if she had seen him doing that?

Just a joke. We’ll have to see about that, Tenel Ka. He had seen the doubt in her eyes, he knew there was something for him in there.

We’ll see how much longer this “joke” lasts.

Well? What did everybody think? Why don't you tell me?