Themed Drabbles, set One

Beginnings

He holds onto the thin steel cable with his bare hands. Every whip turn of the speeder, it burns worse as he slides further down. He glares vibroblades at the driver, a Devaronian smuggler, who he was assigned to capture. The Devaronian smiles, all pointed teeth and malice as he pushes the speeder down and to the left.

Ben is tossed away, the friction too much, and flies through the transparisteel window of a mid-level Coruscant apartment. He rolls to a stop, and closes his eyes, cursing his luck.

When he opens them back up, is when he sees her.

Middles

With a resounding thud the door closes in his face. Startled Ben watches it for a second, unsure what to do. He takes a step away and despair washes over him. No this is not how it ends. He knocks on the door.

“Go Away.”

He frowns, and punches in the code to open it, and walks in. She is on the couch, her arms curled around her legs. “Get out Ben.”

He shakes his head. “That’s not going to happen, Noelani. I love you to much too just walk away.” He knees before her, grasping her hand. “Marry me?”

Ends

He holds her hand gently, lovingly, careful to not disturb the tubes in the back of it. The steady metronome of medical equipment provides white noise for his thoughts, a symphony for his tears.

Even here at the end, he finds her beautiful. He cracks a smile for her. “I remember when I first saw you, do you?” He pauses, not expecting an answer. “I had crashed through your window. You came running out in that night gown.”

With his free hand he wipes away a tear. “I loved you even then.”

The beeping subtly shifts into a solid tone.

First

He escorts her to the door, her hand in his having claimed it while helping her from the speeder. She turns and leans against the door, a coyness playing on her lips.

“Do I get my hand back?”

Laughter shines in his eyes. “Do I get a kiss?”

She darts forward, her lips briefly caressing his, an electric shock of touch and sensation.

Then she pulls away, and her hand slips free. The door opens, and Ben sees the patched window.

“Can I see you again?”

She enters her apartment, and as the door closes, he hears her reply. “Tomorrow.”

Last

He watches her still form, as it lies on the pyre. His firstborn son stands ready with the torch. He grasps her hand, wishing once more to hear her part of their banter.

It doesn’t come, he supplies his.

“Do I get a kiss?”

He leans down, and his lips gently press against hers.

A tear falls on her face.

He stands, and steps back, as his son steps forward. The yellows, oranges and reds of the flames caress and kiss her, and Ben sobs. His turn again.

“Can I see you again?”

In reply is the crackle of flames.

The Ride

“Dad!”

Ben rushes down the street, sliding to a stop in front of his foster-father. He presses his hands against the bullet wound in the old man’s chest, and looks at the man slowly walking away from them. With a growl erupting from his chest, he starts to stand, but a sharp cough attracts his attention.

Abandoning thoughts of immediate revenge, he turns back to his father, to the man who raised him ever since himself and six others were dropped off on this backwater planet. He had argued with his dad about taking this position, becoming the sheriff of this scum-infested town, but his father had not listened, had told him that if good people did nothing, then they supported evil.

The other six who came here with him, all became deputies at that point, or shortly thereafter. When Ben turned eighteen, he dutifully became one as well. Not because he believed his father’s statement, it was just that Jysella did.

Another cough drags Ben’s focus from the past to the here and now. “Dad?”

He is greeted by silence, and he lets loose a scream into the afternoon sun. A hand drops to his shoulder, and he looks up through tear-rimmed eyes to see his cousin, Anakin, standing there over him. “You can’t help him Ben, especially if you give into your hate and rage.”

Ben’s face hardens, as he stands. Keeping his eyes on the still form of his foster-father, he speaks to Anakin, “Gather the others; it’s well past time we cleaned this town out.”

“Ben-”

Ben spins towards his cousin. “I said gather the others. We’re cleaning up this town.”

Anakin tersely nods his head. “Don’t give into hate Ben. That is not the way.”

An hour later, he walks into the Sheriff’s Office, glancing once at the closed door where his father spent so many hours. He looks at those gathered, the six others who were abandoned on this planet along with him.

Jysella Horn, a dark-haired woman, a few years older than him, walks to him, and wraps her arm around him. “I’m sorry Ben.”

He looks down at her, and nods his head, and then he allows his gaze to travel to each of the others: Valin Horn, Myri and Syal Antilles, and Anakin and Tahiri Solo.

“Do any of you have any questions?”

They all shake their heads.

“Good, then we start with the scum who killed my pa. We don’t hold anything back, we are here to clean up this town, and make sure that none of these scum are around any more to inflict pain and suffering on the citizens around here. That’s our job. Now let’s ride.”

Ben walks out the back of the office, to a stable. Within it are seven horses, which Ben and the others quickly saddle up. When they are done, they ride out of the stable, the hoofs thundering against the hard packed dirt which makes up the road.

As they near the edge of the town, Ben pauses closing his eyes, deciding which way to go. After a moment, his eyes pops open and he takes off towards the south again, at a full gallop, heading towards the Illiko Mountains, and their numerous caves and caverns and Ullaso Pass.

As they near the pass, Ben pulls back on the reins, an unsettling feeling causing his stomach to clench. He reaches for his pistol, drawing it as he scans the mountains and hills on either side of the pass.

A cold sweat appears on the back of his neck as he glances towards a darkened overhang.

Something dangerous is up there.

He frowns, wondering how he knows that.

The crack of a rifle shot rings out on the still air.

He pulls down on the reins as his horse rears back, and as he looks around he growls in anger at the sight of Myri on the ground, her hand grasp protectively around her stomach. Ben can see blood flowing from her back as Syal screams out her name, and another rifle shot rings out.

Another name is screamed out, but his time it is Valin screaming Syal’s name.

Yet Ben saw where the shot came from, the darkened overhang. Aiming his pistol, he lets it drift to the left, and pulls the trigger.

A rustle of rocks and that sickening knot disappears from his stomach.

He turns back to the group, and sees Valin down next to Syal, who is bleeding profusely from a bullet wound to the shoulder. Valin looks up at him, an angry scowl on his face. “I’m taking them back to town.”

Ben nods his head, and starts down the pass once more. As he nears the end, he closes his eyes again, quieting his mind, trying to make up his mind.

Should he go on forward? No. He his instincts tell him to go to the west, further up into the mountains. Slowly.

Opening his eyes, he looks at the four that are left with him, and slides off his horse, and begins walking slowly up the trail leading higher into the mountains. Without looking behind him, he knows the others are following.

Two hundred meters up the mountain, Ben kneels on the path, looking at the footprints, and then he lifts his head and scans the hills around him. Frowning he stands back up and once more starts walking down the path.

As he slowly climbs upwards, that sickening feeling once more appears in his stomach, a knot of worry which causes his hands to become damp. He stops, and looks around; frowning as there is nothing within sight where a rifleman could be hiding.

He once more advances, and with every step that knot grows larger.

The explosion takes him entirely off guard, tossing him up onto a small ledge hidden from the path. He tries to lift himself up, but a wave of vertigo washes over him. He gives a quick glance over the edge, and sees Jysella on one side of the pile of rocks, and Tahiri and Anakin on the other. Then darkness claims him, and he rolls away from the edge of the ledge.

He comes to, in stages. The first thing he’s aware of is the thirst which burns his throat. Then it’s the myriad number of aches and pains.

The finally he is aware of the stone beneath him.

He opens his eyes and lets out a curse as the sun hammers down at him. He lifts himself up, fighting the vertigo, and looks down at the pile of rocks. He sees Anakin and Tahiri there, Tahiri fussing over him, as his leg is trapped beneath some rubble.

Then he looks to where Jysella was laying, and lets out another curse as the only thing there is dried blood. Slipping and sliding he gets off the ledge and back onto the path. As soon as he is down, he starts once more, hunting not only for the man who shot his dad, but also for Jysella.

Ben follows the occasional drop of blood, until he nears a copse of trees. The smell of burning wood and cooking meats tells him that he’s near a campsite. Slowing down, he creeps closer, and hears the deep laughter of men who are drunk and planning something they shouldn’t.

Looking around, he walks back down the path, and then climbs up a small hill so he will be able to look down onto the overlook. Once he gets into position, anger and disgust flares in his chest. He sees five men surrounding a fire. Off to the side is Jysella, her arms and legs bound, and a gag in her mouth.

Ben aims for the first man, and pulls the trigger. The man twitches backwards, and slams into the dirt. Then Ben starts slipping and sliding down the hill, and lines his pistol up with the second man. As the crack of return fire reaches him, he pulls the trigger and a second man flies backward, and lands unmoving.

The crack of the pistol again, and Ben can feel a brush of superheated air flash by his cheek, as a burning sensation takes up residence there. Then he pulls the trigger a third time, and a third man drops unmoving.

Ben reaches the bottom, and pulls the trigger again, but the Ben’s landing throws his aim off slightly, instead of the fourth man being killed, he twists around, screaming at the wound in his arm.

Ben walks over and fires his gun again, killing him as he looks for the fifth man, the important one, the leader of the gang.

He sees him, hiding behind Jysella, his pistol pressed against her ear.

The man smiles. “Howdy boy.”

“Let her go.”

“Now, I can’t do that. Her pretty little body is the only thing keeping you from killing me.”

“Then you realize that if you hurt her you’re dead.”

The man shrugs. “That won’t mean much, because she’d be dead as well, and then where would you be?”

Ben narrows his eyes, his lips tugging downwards.

The man’s smile grows larger. “Why don’t you drop your gun?”

Ben hesitates, and as the man presses his gun harder against the soft point beneath Jysella’s ear, she lets out a muffled squeak.

“All right, I’m dropping it.” He lets go of his gun.

“Good, now kick it over here.”

Ben complies, kicking it halfway between himself and the man.

Ben is amazed as the man’s smile grows even larger. “I don’t think I’ve ever killed a Sheriff, the Sheriff’s son and the Sheriff’s son’s girlfriend all in the same day before.”

Then time seems to slow down for Ben. He can see the man move his arm, and point the gun towards him. The puff of smoke from the barrel, and the bullet as it heads towards him. Ben is already twisting trying to move away from the bullet, but his body feels sluggish, as if it’s under water.

Then the bullet strikes him, spinning him around and dumping him to the ground. Ben lets out a growl of frustration, and closes his eyes wishing his pistol was still in his hands.

He hears a footstep at the same time he can feel a thump in his hand. Opening his eyes, he sees his pistol once more in his hand, and he turns, and sees Jysella on the ground staring at him with fear in her eyes. He sits up and points his gun towards the man, who was coming over to see if he was dead or not.

Fear widens the man’s eyes. “How’d you get your gun back?”

Ben smiles. “Magic.”

Then he pulls the trigger.

The Darkening: Chapter Ten

In darkness one may be ashamed of what one does, without the shame of disgrace

Luke Skywalker is standing over the prone body of his nephew. He leans down, and peers closer, getting a close look at Jacen's features. His blue eyes taking in the trickle of blood that still slowly drips from Jacen's eyes and nose. He slowly blows his breath out, and stands up turning around the room, closing his eyes, stretching out with the Force, Luke tries to get a feel for what occurred here.

All he can sense is Jacen's desire, Jysella's fear and then the sudden burst of energy that is tinged with Jacen's pain.

"Hey Dad, you have any questions for Jysella or can I take her home now?"

Opening his eyes, he turns back to the doorway, where his son is leaning against the jamb. "Yes, I want to ask her a few questions."

He follows his son into the living room, and sees Jysella sitting on the couch, wrapped up in Ben's robes, her arms clutching her legs as she rocks slightly, resting her chin on her knees. Luke drags a chair over in front of her, and sits down.

"Jysella?"

Jysella raises her head, and looks at Luke, not saying a word. Luke hesitates a second, and then asks his first question. "Why did you come here?"

"I wanted to apologize to Jacen for what my dad did."

"Why do you think Jacen did this?"

As he watches her face, more tears start flowing from Jysella's eyes. "I don't know. I thought he was nice." Her body hitches with a sob. "I thought he liked me."

His son steps forward at this point. "That's enough Dad; I'm taking her home now. Any other questions can wait until later."

Without giving his father a chance to respond, Ben effortlessly picks Jysella up and cradles her gently in his arms, walking out the door. Luke frowns for a second, and then standing up, returns to Jacen's bedroom, wondering once again what would make Jacen act in such a manner.

Slowly circling the room, he starts looking at the various objects on the shelves, mementos of Jacen's five year journey of self-discovery. Most of these things Luke has never seen before, but one catches his eye. It is a book, bound in the skin of a falleen. Picking it up, he opens the cover, reading the title written in a unique rust-colored ink. The Weakness of Inferiors. Luke frowns, remembering the Emperor reading to him from this book, when he became the Emperor's apprentice.

Tucking the book underneath his arm, he turns back to his catatonic nephew. "Just what were you learning during those five years, and what have you been teaching my son?"

He doesn't receive an answer, and was not really expecting one. Sighing, he once more takes to scanning the artifacts on the shelves.

"Master Skywalker?"

Luke turns, and sees two medics standing in the doorway. "Yes?"

The closer of the two speaks again. "If you're finished, we'd like to take him to the medcenter for some tests."

Luke nods his head. "Yes, take him there, and thank you. I must go tell my sister now." With a heavy sigh, Luke walks past the medics and out of the house, nodding to the crime scene technicians as they walk past him, heading inside.

Luke starts walking towards the Jedi Temple, intent on putting the book into storage with other Dark Side artifacts. As he arrives at the special section of the archives, he slowly walks down the long hallway, and opens the door to the vault.

He frowns as red pulsing lights flow out from the closed vault. Pushing the door the rest of the way open, he sees the five Sith Holocrons he has recovered where all pulsing with that weird red glow. He throws up a shield as a wash of Dark Side energy flows over him. Quickly placing the book on a random shelf, he swings the door closed, and leans against it, wondering what has happened to activate those holocrons.

He closes his eyes, immersing himself into the Force, trying to wash his presence of the spiritual filth left over from the flow of dark energy; he can suddenly feel a sense of alarm from his son. Cursing, he runs from the vault, unaware as the door slowly creeps open behind him.

-----------------------------------------

Ben walks out the door of Jacen's house carrying Jysella. He looks down at her, noting the way she has cuddled her face into his shoulder. Once outside, he looks around at the slight crowd that had gathered with the arrival of the medics and crime techs. Frowning as he spots Kai and Merida in the crowd, he carefully puts Jysella into the passenger seat of Jacen's speeder.

A few minutes later, he lands the speeder in front of the Horn house. He rushes around to help her out, but by the time he gets to her side, she is already standing there, holding his cloak tightly closed around her. She glances up at him, a pain filling her eyes; to Ben she looks like a wounded whisperkit. "Can you stay with me for a little while?"

"I'd be happy to."

She gives him a weak smile that does not reach her eyes, and opens the door to the kitchen. Sitting there at the table is her mother, who has obviously been crying. As the door opens, Mirax looks up and sees the two teenagers standing there. She jumps up and rushes to her daughter, hugging her tight.

"Where have you been?"

Jysella ignores her, and walks past, keeping her head bowed. Ben watches as the door to the hallways closes, and then turns towards her mother. "Apparently Jacen tried to rape her this evening."

"What?"

As Mirax returns to her seat, Ben sits down heavily in the chair next to her. "I know, I'm having a hard time believing it myself. I knew he was interested in her, because we had an argument about it, but I-" Ben stops here for a second, then resumes speaking on a different tangent. "To protect herself she used the Force to basically lobotomize him."

A few minutes later, Jysella returned to the kitchen, dressed in a nightgown. She walks over to Ben's side, her voice barely audible. "Please come and sit with me."

Ben stands up, and follows after her. They arrive at her room, and Ben slips into the chair by her desk. Nearly as soon as her head touches the pillow, she is asleep.

After about a half hour, he reaches out with the Force, and feels how deep of a sleep she is in. He walks to her bedside, and brushes the hair from her face. Then he gently kisses her forehead and starts to turn around. As he faces the nightstand, he notices that there is a box sitting there, emitting a red pulsing light. He pauses for a second looking at the box, and then completes his turn, running straight into Corran Horn.

"Why are you in my little girl's room?"

"She had a rough day, and she asked me to sit with her until she fell asleep."

Ben watches as Corran's hand tightens on his saber, and allows his own hand to slide that way. He sees Mirax appear in the open doorway. "Corran! Where have you been? I've been trying to get in touch with you all day."

Corran ignores her questions, and keeps his focus on Ben. "I told you to stay away from her. She's mine." With that said he ignites his lightsaber and attacks.

The Darkening: Chapter Nine

To know the darkness is to love the light,
to welcome dawn and fear the coming night.

She finds herself moving through the woods once more. The power of her anger and hate fills her, makes her strong. Tonight she moves slowly, because her prey is not on the move, but sitting in a single room. She stops and looks into a window of that room, confident in the fact that her prey will not see her, due to the darkness of the night, contrasting with the brightness of the room the prey is in.

As she moves closer, she recognizes the prey. It is a student at the Academy named Kai. She smiles, and raps on the window and then steps back into the night. As she expected, Kai opens the window. Then she darts forward and reaches in, dragging the girl out through it, quickly slapping her hand over Kai's mouth, to muffle the scream.

She can taste the girl's fear, savors it. Then she places her hand on Kai's forehead, and pushes with all of her anger and hate. She smiles as Kai's eyes roll back up into her head, and blood begins to dribble from her nose.

"Jysella!"

Her mother's voice cuts through the fog of sleep, and Jysella sits up, blinking in the harsh glare of the afternoon sun as it streams through her window. She looks towards the doorway and sees her mother standing there. "Yes ma'am?"

"Dinner time."

Jysella gets out of bed and follows her mother to the kitchen. As she enters, she notices that her father's customary place at the table was empty. She nods to her brother and then sits down and eats. As she finishes she stands up, and looks outside noticing that it is nearly dark. "I'm going for a walk okay?"

Her mother looks at her warily. "I'd prefer it if you would change into clothes that are a little more respectable."

Jysella hesitates for a moment, and then nods her head. "Okay." Then she returns to her room. As she walks in, she presses her palm to the top of the holocron, smiling as the red hologram flickers into existence. The Custodian gives her a slight bow. "Good evening child."

"I'm going to take your advice, and test Jacen."

She turns away and starts looking for an appropriate article of clothing in her wardrobe. From behind her, a red mist seeps from the box, and floats towards her, wrapping around her legs as it flows up. When it reaches her bare midriff, it is slowly absorbed into her skin.

After a second, Jysella steps out of the clothes she is in, and then slips into a light green tunic and a darker green pair of pants. She glances into the full length mirror, and as if she is on autopilot, reaches up and rips her tunic down the middle. As she slips into her heavy brown overcloak the yellow light fades from her eyes.

-----------------------------------------------

Jacen is sitting in his chair, going over some notes regarding his investigation. This is the third time that he has had to read them, as his thoughts continue to drift to Jysella and Corran at lunch. He frowns as he remembers the sheer anger and hate that rolled off of Corran. A far cry from the usual calm competence the older Jedi Master usually exudes.

Giving up, he tosses the datapad onto a table, and slips onto the floor, assuming a traditional meditation pose. Just as he closes his eyes, the door chime rings. Standing up, he walks over to the door and opens it. He smiles as Jysella is standing there looking up at him. "Hello Jysella, this is a pleasant surprise."

He steps aside, and waves her in, and she silently walks in, looking around the room. He watches her as she slips out of her cloak, dropping it on the couch, and then silently walks into the bedroom. Frowning he follows her. "Are you okay?"

She nods her head, casting a glance over her shoulder at him. Then she shrugs her shoulder, causing her tunic to slide off her arms, leaving her chest bare. She reaches the bed, and then shimmies out of her pants, slowly pushing them down her legs with her thumbs. Stepping out of them, she walks over to him, and he can't help but notice the way her hips move as she walks, then she's there pressing herself against him, and wraps her fingers into his hair.

He can feel as she tugs her face towards him, and he flows with her demands, lowering his face to meet hers. As she kisses him, she pulls him towards the bed in the center of the room, twisting around and then pushing him down onto it. As he lands on his back he looks up at her. "Jysella, I don't know if this is a great idea."

Anger flashes in her eyes. "What? I'm good enough to take to dinner, but not good enough for other things? I thought you liked me. Don't you like me?"

"Yes I do."

She climbs onto the bed, straddling his legs, a pout coming to her mouth. "Don't you find me attractive?"

Jacen glances down at her breasts, and then back up, and nods his head. "Yes, yes I do."

She leans down to kiss him once more. "Then what's the problem?"

As she raises herself from the kiss, he shakes his head, trying to dispel the confusion. "I'm not sure, this just doesn't seem right."

"But it feels right." Then she once more leans down and kisses him, as he wraps her in his arms. She pulls him into a sitting position and quickly removes his tunic, tossing it back towards the living room. Then they're kissing again, and he flips her over, pushing her down onto the bed, never breaking the kiss.

He can feel her fingers as they start rubbing his hair, and notices a small niggle in the Force. He opens his eyes, and pulls away as he sees hers staring at him, their normal color subsumed by a storm of yellows and reds. He has a second to fear, as she smiles at him. "You should have turned me down Jedi."

Then he can feel an outpouring of Force energy flowing through his brain. He recognizes what she's trying to do, and attempts to stop it, to redirect the energy. When that fails, he grabs her arms, trying to pull her hands from his head, but for all his strength, he can't get her to let go. The last thought that flows through his brain before the hemorrhage destroys his higher brain functions is to wonder when she became so powerful.

----------------------------------------------------------

Ben is doing his nightly jog, every night four kilometers around the outskirts of the community surrounding the Jedi Temple. It is one of his favorite activities, just the simple act of moving, the clean joy of exercise.

As he rounds the corner, coming into the last stretch of his circuit, he can see the quarters where his Master stays, and a few houses down from that, the one he shares with his parents. As he begins to run past Jacen's house, a strong surge flashes through the Force, causing Ben to stumble. Ignoring the spike of pain, throbbing in his forehead, Ben rushes to Jacen's house, pushing open the door.

He looks around, noticing an overcloak on the couch. Picking it up, he frowns, as he realizes that it is too small for Jacen, after a second he recognizes by the style and cut that it is Jysella's. Turning around, he sees that the door to Jacen's bedroom is open, and there's a piece of clothing on the floor between him and the door. Walking to it, he reaches down and picks up the light green tunic. As he looks it over, he notices that whoever opened it did so by ripping the front apart. Again, the tunic is too small for Jacen, and is a female's garment. A deep feeling of unease settles into his stomach, as he decides that the tunic is probably Jysella's as well.

Dropping the tunic back on the floor, he enters the bedroom, and can hear a muffled sobbing. He flicks the light on, and looks around the room. The first thing he sees is Jacen laying prone on the bed, a touch of blood coming from the ear that Ben can see. Then another sobbing hitch attracts his attention, and he turns and sees Jysella huddled in a corner, her bare arms wrapped around her bare legs.

He walks over to her, and places his hand on her shoulder. With a start, she looks up and tries to press herself further into the corner. Ben kneels down beside her, so he can look her in the eyes. "What happened?"

He watches as her lower lip trembles. "H-he tried to r-r-rape me." She swallows hard, and presses her head back onto her arms.

Ben sits down beside her and gently wraps an arm around shoulders, drawing her into an embrace, noting the large bruises on her arms. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I came over to apologize for how my dad treated him at lunch, and he grabbed me and ripped my shirt off, dragging me into the bedroom. I-I didn't know what to do. I-" She once more lowers her head crying.

"What did you do Jys?"

Her words are muffled, but Ben is able to figure them out. "I fried his brain with the Force."

Dinner and a Show

Anakin Solo grins as his speeder twists and turns, weaving in and out of the lines of traffic. He is late. He had promised his wife Tahiri that he would pick her up for their dinner reservation at 1730 hours. Glancing at the chrono, and noticing that it is already 1805, he utters a curse, and pushes the accelerator further down, allowing the speeder to jump ahead, as he takes even more reckless and daring maneuvers in an attempt to get to their apartment on time.

With a squeal of stressed metal, he brakes to a stop on his landing platform, jumping from the speeder, and rushing to the lift. A glance at the chrono on the lift’s wall reveal it’s 1815. He mutters another curse again as he steps off the lift and rushes down the hallway to the apartment.

He opens the door, and finds her standing there, her arms crossed over her chest, her foot tapping slightly, a perturbed expression on her features. He allows his gaze to travel up and down her form, noting the shimmersilk gown she wears, form- fitted with a slit up the thigh. Then his gaze lands on her neck, and the tiny golden chain which disappears beneath the collar of her dress. His eyes continue to move up, following the braid of hair draped over her shoulder. Finally he allows his eyes to fall down, to see her perfectly manicured toes as they tap in her irritation.

“Um, hi.”

“You’re late, hero-boy.”

He walks the rest of the way in, holding his arms open in a conciliatory manner. “I know. I’m sorry.”

She doesn’t move, except for a single eyebrow which quirks slightly. “You can kill Dark Jedi, stop rogue Yuuzhan Vong, and even come back from the dead, but you can’t make it home on time for a dinner date?”

He lets his arms fall. “I know – I had trouble getting away from the Council meeting.”

She makes an odd noise. “Well the dinner and the show we were going to is off now, as it’s already started, so where are you going to take me to eat? And you better not say that greasy diner down in the Senate District!”

“I like Dexter’s!” He pauses and thinks for a minute, and then a light appears in his eyes as he starts to smile. “I know the perfect place, and I think you’ll love it!”

Five minutes later, Anakin is driving through the Coruscant traffic at a much more sedate pace, exhibiting none of the wild and reckless maneuvers he took in getting to his apartment. As he drives back towards the Jedi District, he glances at his wife, admiring the tiny wisps of blonde hair that the wind has pulled from her braid. She catches his stare, and gives him a small pout, and he can’t help but smile at her.

Finally he stops at the restaurant, and helps her out of the speeder. She glances up at the sign, and her eyebrow quirks again, twisting the three scars on her forehead slightly out of shape.

“The Baanu Miir?”

Anakin nods his head. “Yeah, it was opened by a former shamed warrior named Kunra. Supposed to be the best Yuuzhan Vong food on this side of the planet.”

She leans over and gives him a kiss on the cheek. “It had better be.”

Hand in hand they walk into the restaurant, and look around, noting the décor, and the sounds of various insects and small game animals. Situated around the room, are grill biots, with a table built around three sides, and a number of low chairs around each of them.

A Yuuzhan Vong walks up to them, a warrior by the tattoos and scar patterns. His right fist slams against his left shoulder with a meaty thunk, and his tattered lips twist into a grin. “Will it be just two tonight?”

Anakin nods his head, and they’re lead to one of the table-grills. He notices the warrior glancing at the scars on Tahiri’s forehead, and a frown creases his own features for a moment.

The warrior pulls out her chair. “Would you prefer a ha vi?”

Tahiri graces him with a small grin. “No thank you.”

The warrior nods his head and retreats, leaving the two of them alone. Anakin leans over towards her, whispering, “Whats a ha vi?”

She laughs. “It’s a form of Yuuzhan Vong chair. Has a number of spikes which dig into the flesh and consume the blood.”

Anakin grimaces. “Sounds painful.”

She leans over and nibbles on his ear. “It is.” Her voice is low and breathless, and is enough to startle him slightly.

As they wait, two more couples are sat at their shared table. Finally, a Yuuzhan Vong walks up. The tattoos and scars identify him as a member of the intendent caste, and he is followed by a cart-like biot.

He smiles at the group of diners, and nodes his head. “I am L’lav Tavor, and I will be your chef today.”

With that said, he pulls out a long coufee, and a second item with appeared to be a Yuuzhan Vong equivalent of a spatula.

With a flash of his teeth, he begins twirling and spinning the items, occasionally smacking them together or slamming them down against the burn surface of the grill-animal.

Through out the entire display, he keeps up a story about Yun-Cuito, the Yuuzhan Vong deity of cooking.

From beside him, Anakin can hear Tahiri give a little giggle at the theatrics of it all.

Finally he stops, and reaches into the a basket of the cart, after a moment, he removes his hand, and Anakin can hear the one of the other diners gasp as the L’lav displays his hand, with a dozen or so bloated clip beetles attached to it. With a skill obviously borne of long hours of practice, he teases them off him, and cracks open their bodies, tossing the small bits of flesh to the grill.

And that is how their dinner progresses, a steady stream of banter, the occasional hyperbole about Yun– Cuito, the mounds of grilled meats and vegetables, and finally, a selection of coufee eel and grilled villip stalks. The dessert is a chilled fruit, which Anakin recognizes as the precursor for the lambent.

As L’lav begins to clean the workstation, Anakin leans towards Tahiri.

“So, did you enjoy the dinner and the show?”

She glances at Anakin, an odd light in her eyes, and turns her full attention towards the chef.

“L’lav?”

He looks up from his cleanings, and nods his head.

“Would you mind if I seasoned your coufee before you put it away?”

A hesitant expression crosses his face as he looks from Anakin, to her, and his eyes finally linger on the three scars across her forehead. Finally he nods his acquiescence. “I would be honored, She-Who-Was-Shaped.”

He holds the coufee out to her, and Anakin notices the other two couples staring at her intently. He almost chuckles because he knows what she is about to do, and he knows the others at the table might not like it.

She takes the blade, and spins it in her hand twice, and then lays the long cutting edge on her palm. Anakin watches as a ghost of a smile crosses her lips as she slices the blade down and across, leaving a long gash in her palm.

She squeezes her hand into a fist, and Anakin has to subdue the desire to laugh as the lady sitting closest to her gasps in surprise at the blood that drops to Tahiri’s plate.

Tahiri closes her eyes as she hands the coufee back to L’lav, and then takes the healing patch he holds out for her. Anakin takes her hand before she can put the patch on, and briefly floods the wound with the Force, stopping the blood flow, and ensuring that it would heal cleanly and with minimal scarring. He looks into her eyes as they open, bright green emeralds framed by the tan skin of her face, he allows a grin to creep onto his features. “I’ll take that as a yes.”

She smiles at him coyly. “Take me home, hero-boy, and I’ll show you exactly how much of one it was.”

He stands, helping her from her seat, his grin changing into a full-fledged smile. “It would be my pleasure.”

Becoming An Adult

Jaina leaned against the bulkhead of the Jade Shadow, her eyes dark, and a scowl on her face, as she watches her Master and her little brother duel. The hum of the sabers, followed by the occasional crackle when they actually connect, soothes her nerves, calms her thoughts. Which is good, because everything else about the situation does the opposite to her thoughts and nerves.

She doesn’t want to see what she is seeing.

There are some things that should never be.

Of course, part of growing up, of becoming an adult, of becoming a Jedi Knight, is seeing those things which you never want to notice.

The first of those things for Jaina Solo is the fact that her Master, her mentor, her aunt, has replaced her.

With her brother.

A flip, a lunge, a parry, a thrust.

The blindingly fast movements of two Force empowered individuals. It is a mosaic of blurred lights and harsh sounds. Jaina’s eyes narrow slightly, as the duo’s sabers slam into each other, their bodies centimeters apart.

She feels like an intruder, an interloper. The tension in the room is worse than when she was around that pilot back on Ithor. It’s not the bad type of tension, such as when Master Horn and Master Durron show up at her father’s house on the same night. It’s the other type of tension, the one she felt with the pilot, the tension she felt from Jacen when Jacen rescued that scientist.

It is a tension that is equal parts lust and self-control.

That is the second of those things which Jaina wishes to never see, that tension between her Aunt Mara, and her little brother. It is an underlying aspect of everything the two of them do together.

And if Jaina is brutally honest with herself, if she would ever truly admit such a thing to herself, she wonders if her aunt has betrayed her uncle.

How can she not wonder that, when she feels as if her Master has replaced her with her brother? She has to wonder if she is not worthy enough to be Mara’s apprentice, or does Anakin just have something to offer Mara which Jaina herself cannot. She wonders if her Aunt could, would, replace her uncle with her brother.

The crackling of interlocked sabers once more intrudes on Jaina’s awareness, as she looks around, and finds the pair of them. She notes that Anakin is on one knee, with Mara standing over him, forcing him down at an odd angle, overpowering him.

She lets a small curl twist her lips, as the uncharitable thought of Mara accidentally wounding him slices through her brain.

Then Anakin is spinning, and Mara is on the ground. With flair, Anakin pounces, straddling her legs, and slipping his saber next to her throat.

“Kill point.”

Mara smiles and her eyes flash with amusement. “You expect me to be impressed?”

Jaina snorts at Anakin’s sudden discomfiture, attracting the pair’s attention. She can feel her annoyance flare, as Anakin suddenly jumps up, and turns away from her, barely acknowledging her presence. “Hey sis.”

Jaina walks over and helps Mara up, looking her up and down. “You know, we haven’t sparred in months. If I didn’t know better, I’d think you didn’t want me as your apprentice anymore.”

Mara quirks an eyebrow. “Then shall we?”

“But you just had a duel.”

Mara barks a laugh. “Afraid you’d lose to me?”

“No. Fine, we’ll duel.” Then Jaina slips out of her robe, throwing it to the side, and ignites her saber.

Mara steps forward, her blade held unlit and at her side and she starts to bow. Jaina doesn’t give her a chance; she just pushes forward, her blade slicing in towards Mara.

With the crackle of released energy, Jaina’s blade is halted against Mara’s. Mara smirks for a second, before speaking. “That’s not playing nice.”

Then Mara pushes the blade away and goes on the offensive. Jaina falls back under the onslaught, unable to find a way to turn the tide, unable to once more gain the upper hand.

Their blades lock, each struggling to overpower the other. Mara’s voice intrudes on Jaina’s single mindedness. “So, what is really bothering you?”

“You and Anakin.”

The quizzical look that crosses Mara’s face irks Jaina, and she slips out of the lock, dumping her aunt to the floor. Before she can get her saber over the older woman for the point, Mara is back on her feet, and once more attacking, pushing Jaina backwards.

“What about me and Anakin?”

Jaina takes a second to glance around, ensuring that Anakin has left the room. “You know!”

“No. I don’t know.”

“He loves you.”

“Of course he loves me, I’m his aunt.”

Jaina barks a harsh, bitter laugh. “No, Aunt Mara, he’s IN love with you.”

Mara’s jaw goes slack, her mouth forming a silent ‘O’ as she steps back and away from Jaina.

For her part, Jaina frowns at the older woman. “Don’t tell me you didn’t know. The tension in here could have been cut with a knife.”

Jaina watches as Mara’s mouth works, as her mind tries to wrap itself around the proton torpedo that Jaina just slammed into her. Jaina can feel her own mouth tighten down into a thin line as she extinguishes her saber.

Then without another word, she spins from Mara, and walks out. Her heart crushing, breaking at the fact that Mara never denies it.

The Darkening: Chapter Eight

It lies to her. It tells her things only a child can understand. To her, it simply is another child. To us, it is The Beast.

Jysella is sitting on her bed, her tears flowing freely down her face, as she talks to the Custodian. "And then he hit me!"

"And it made you angry, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then use that anger, convert it into raw power. Reach for the Force with your anger and hate, and it will come to you readily."

Jysella looks away. "I don't know. That seems to fly in the face of what Master Skywalker teaches."

"Is it? Is it really? Consider what you told me of the fight between your father and this Ben. Was not your father using his anger?"

Jysella nods her head slightly, and focuses once more on the sigils that are on the box, their red glow pulsing slightly. "Yes, I could feel his anger as he struck me."

"Then does that not tell you that you can use your anger to fuel your power? That your teachers tell you otherwise just so you will not have access to your full range of abilities?"

Before she can answer her comm unit chirps. Pulling it out, she flicks it on. "Hello."

Jacen's voice comes from the small device, making her smile. "Hey Jysella, I was just wondering if I could take you to lunch."

"I'd love to."

"Great, meet me at the Temple entrance in about fifteen minutes, okay?"

"I'll be there."

She turns off the comm and looks at the Custodian. "I'll think about what you said." Then she walks from the room, not seeing the twisted smile that appears on the Custodian's face.

-----------------------------------------

Corran walks out of the medical center, the bacta patch on his leg an odd bulk. He glances towards the Jedi Temple remembering Luke's words to go there and have a talk. Frowning he takes a step in that direction, and then wonders why he needs to go listen to the farm boy as if he's still an untried, untested trainee.

"I'm a Jedi Master; I don't need to go have a talking to from Luke."

Glancing around, he sees a tapcaf and walks that way. Entering the dark room, it takes a moment for his eyes to adjust. When they do, he heads towards a booth in the darkest corner, and slips within it, ordering a bottle of whiskey from the droid as it rolls past.

A few minutes later, the droid drops the bottle and a glass off, and takes the credit chit from Corran, rolling away, leaving him to his thoughts and whiskey. About an hour later, Corran has finished half of the bottle, and he hears a laugh that he recognizes.

Looking up and around, he sees her sitting there with Jacen Solo. As he watches her laugh, a red flame ignites in his thoughts.

She's yours. Take her away from him.

Startled he looks around for who had spoken. I'm part of you. Now, take her. If the boy complains, punish him.

Corran nods his head, and then stands shakily to his feet. He stumbles over to the table that Jysella and Jacen are sharing. The two look up at him, and he notices as Jysella shrinks back slightly. He stares at her hard. "First Skywalker this morning, and now him for lunch? Is it a different boy for every meal?"

Corran feels an intense glee as she starts to blush. As Jacen lays his hand on his arm, he turns towards the young Jedi Master. "And you! Have you no shame? You're old enough to be her father!"

He reaches out and grabs her arm, dragging her from the tapcaf. He growls in frustration as the sun pounds against his eyes, and ignores her pounding on him, trying to loosen his grasp.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jysella feels her tears of frustration and embarrassment as they flow down her face. She stumbles slightly as her father pulls on her arm once more dragging her towards their house. Finally, he stumbles and she is able to twist free from his grip. She turns to run, and Corran grabs her hair, pulling her to a stop with it. She can feel as he twists his hand into her hair, drawing her closer to him.

As she turns to look at him, she can feel her anger building at his treatment of her. She knows he is her father, but she doesn't understand why he has started acting this way. He pulls her close, and she winces at the smell of alcohol. "You need to stay away from them. Am I clear Jys?"

Jysella hears the words, but all meaning is lost in the red haze in which she finds herself as he slaps her again. The anger is a palatable thing, coiled within her, ready to strike, begging to be used. The Custodian's words about anger bounce around in her head.

Sniffing back her final tear, she looks up, and reaches out with her anger, with all those years of being left behind as her father went off to be a Jedi and her mother went out to run her business, her anger at all those years of being the outsider of the academy.

She smiles as the Force burns away her concerns about anger and hate, filling her with power. For a second, fear flashes in the drunken eyes of her father, as she reaches out with the Force, and smash into his pain centers, setting every nerve he has on fire.

He screams, releasing her hair and falling to his knees. She leans down close to him. "Never hit me again." Then she pulls back her booted foot and slams it as hard as she can into his stomach, enhancing her kick with the Force. She walks away to the sound of him retching, in the dust of the pathway.

She reaches her home, and rushes upstairs to her room, closing and locking the door behind her. She climbs into the bed, buries her head in her pillow and begins to cry.

"What is wrong child?"

Jysella looks up from her pillow, and tells of her father's actions this afternoon, and of Jacen's inaction. The Custodian nods his head. "And you felt the anger, it helped you."

"Yes. Yes it did."

"It made you powerful, it saved you from his grasp, gave you the power to overcome."

"But I worry about it, what if Master Skywalker is right, what if his anger is why my Dad is acting this way?"

"But why would your father be angry?"

Jysella looks out the window, and asks herself the same question. The Custodian is quiet for a few minutes and then attracts her attention with a soft noise. "Now, about Jacen, do you still wish to test him?"

Jysella hesitates a moment, and then nods her head. "Yes, I want to know."

"Then this is what you shall do. Go offer yourself to him; if he turns you down, he is honorable. If he does not, then he does not love you."

Jysella ponders the Custodian's words as she reaches out and once more traces one of the sigils on the side of the box, smiling as the icon glows slightly where her finger runs. After a few more minutes, she looks up from where she's tracing to stare at the red hologram. "What else do you know about?"

"I am a repository of arcane and forgotten Force lore."

Jysella sits up in her bed, suddenly very interested in the box. "So you really are a holocron."

"I never said I wasn't."

Jysella opens her mouth, and then quickly shuts it as she remembers that particular conversation. She thinks for another moment, before opening her mouth to speak once more. "Can you teach me what you know?"

The Custodian's smile is large and happy. "I thought you'd never ask."