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Anakin sat in the rear seat of the Jedi ground car; Jaina beside him, staring out the window watching the pedestrians as they traveled along. They followed the defined path from the Temple to the medical center, moving at an almost sedate pace through the shopping district. Their pace slowed even further as they neared a large crowd. Anakin shifted his attention so that he was looking out Jaina's window.
He saw the twisted, smoking wreckage of the transport, and he blinked his eyes a few times, not quite certain if he believed what he was seeing. That's what hurt Aunt Mara.
Jaina gasped, and slammed her hands against the window. He leaned forward slightly, to see exactly what had caught her attention.
Frowning, he saw it on the ground; the crumpled remains of a strawberry cake.
Jaina dropped her hands from the window, and seemed to shrink in on herself. Her shoulders began to shake, and tears slashed down her face.
Jaina, he thought as he worried about her; wondered how he could help her.
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Side-by-side, they stood at the observation window, looking into the small medward where Mara lay on the cot unconscious. Bandages were wrapped around the top of her head, a bright bruise marred her right cheek and eye, and through the oxygen mask strapped to her face, he could make out a thin cut at the edge of her mouth.
After they had stood there silently watching her for a few moments, the Jedi Healer Cilghal stepped up. "We'll do what we can," she began telling us. "But if she remains in this state... I won't lie to either of you, as long as she remains this way, her life remains in jeopardy."
He felt Jaina's emotions twinge. Her pain was a gaping wound in the Force and turned to look at her, seeing the hurt, fear, and tears in her eyes.
Cilghal retreated, and in silence they stood watching Mara's unconscious form. Shortly, he took Jaina by the elbow and led her down the hall to one of the small, comfortable waiting rooms. Making sure she was comfortable, he walked down the hall to the holonet, and quickly placed a call to his parents, making sure that they knew Aunt Mara had been injured.
After getting off the holonet, he rubbed his face, and then returned to the waiting room.
Kam stood there, watching Jaina, a frown on his face. As Anakin entered the room, he turned to face him.
Anakin bowed, and said, "I commed our parents. They said they would be here as soon as they could get here."
Kam nodded his head. "Is there anyone else we should try to contact?"
He shook his head. "Jaina?"
Anakin frowned as he watched the back of Jaina's head. She didn't respond, didn't move, just continued to stare down towards her hands. He sighed, and turned to find Kam watching her again. "Jaina... be strong, all right. The Force will work its will. If you need anything, you can contact either me or Tionne." When Jaina still didn't move, Kam turned and started to leave. He paused by Anakin. "Contact me if anything changes."
Anakin nodded his head. "Will do, Master."
Then he was gone, leaving Anakin and Jaina alone. He turned away from the closed door, and watched Jaina where she sat on a couch, her head bowed, as she watched the floor.
"Jaina?"
No response.
"Don't worry, Jaya. I'm sure she'll be fine."
Later that night, the door to the waiting room opened, and a nurse stepped into the room. Anakin bolted out of his seat. "Did something happen?"
The nurse blushed slightly, and then shook her head, holding out a couple of blankets. "No. There's been no change. I just thought you two would like to have some blankets."
Sighing, Anakin walked to the nurse and took the blankets. He returned to the couches, and unfurled one of them to wrap around Jaina's shoulders.
Jaina still did not move or respond. She just watched the floor.
Anakin sighed again, and returned to his place.
The next morning, the doctor stepped into the room, a frown on his face. He was an elderly human, at least 50 standard years old, with iron grey hair and dark eyes. As he walked around to the chairs and couches, Jaina reacted for the first time in hours. She lifted her head to watch the doctor.
The doctor dropped onto one of the chairs, and allowed his eyes to flicker between them. "There still hasn't been a change in Master Skywalker's condition. Likewise, we think that her condition will remain unchanged for the foreseeable future. We'll contact you the moment something changes, so why don't you two go home and get some rest?"
Anakin nodded his head. "Thank you, Doctor."
The older man stood up, and started from the room. He paused as he passed Jaina. "Just make sure to keep your comlinks on you and on at all times."
Anakin nodded again. "All right."
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They got to the apartment, and Anakin opened the door. Jaina walked in, her movements stiff and unnatural. Without looking around, she walked into the kitchen and sat at her place at the dining room table.
Anakin closed the door, and followed her. He settled into the chair beside her. Silence hung heavy around them; a weight pressing down on his shoulders.
Interrupted by a bright cheerful, "Ikrit!"
He looked down, and saw the white creature sitting a few paces from him, its head cocked to the side, intelligent blue eyes boring holes into him.
Anakin grinned at the creature. "Ah, we left you all alone didn't we? You must be starved." He stood up, and placed a hand on Jaina's shoulder. "And we should eat something also."
She continued to look at the top of the table, ignoring him.
He sighed, and went to the kitchen. First he laid out something for Ikrit to eat, and then he went and made his and Jaina's breakfast.
A short while later, he placed the food in front of her. "Here you go Jaina. Hope you like it, but it's the only breakfast food I know how to fix. And you need to eat, aft-"
"It's my fault," she interrupted him, speaking for the first time since the trip to the hospital the day before.
Startled, he almost dropped his plate of food. Carefully, he set the plate down, and then looked at Jaina.
"It's... it's because I wanted strawberry cake. That's why.... that's..."
"Idiot!" Anakin interjected. "What are you saying?"
Jaina jumped, and then pushed back away from the table. In one smooth movement, she was up and running for her room.
"Jaina!" he called after her, even though he didn't expect her to stop.
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Anakin stopped in front of Jaina's door. He stared at the simple barrier, and then looked down at the plate he held in his hands. Gently, he rapped on the door three times. He waited, hoping that she would respond. Some part of him, knowing better.
"Jaina?"
There was no response.
"I'm going to the Temple," he told the door. "I need to tell the Masters, and pick up our bags."
There was still no answer, and he looked down at Ikrit, where the creature was calmly sitting near his feet. Sighing, he knelt down and placed the plate on the floor.
"I'm leaving your food here. Make sure you eat."
Then he left and went to the Temple.
Once he had finished talking to the Masters concerning Mara's conditions, Anakin went and retrieved his and Jaina's school bags from their classroom. Then he wandered back towards the front of the Temple, intending on going home to Jaina. As he neared the stairwell leading to the ground floor, someone called out, "Anakin!"
He turned and tossed a glance over his shoulder to see Raynar running towards him. He forced a grin to his lips, and replied, "Hey."
Raynar stumbled to a stop in front of Anakin. "Uhm... so how is she?"
"She's still getting treated."
"I see," Rayner replied. "How's Jaina?"
Anakin looked away, not really wanting to tell Raynar how Jaina was behaving.
After a moment, Raynar blurted out, "I see." Then he dropped his hands onto Anakin's shoulders. "Hang in there! If there's anything I can do, then I'll do it."
Anakin watched his friend for a moment, and then nodded his head. "Yeah... thanks."
As he left the Temple, and began the walk towards the apartment, he saw a smattering of hulls on the ground. He stopped in his tracks, recognizing the hulls as being the shells of vweliu nuts.
Suddenly, images flashed across his mind once again. Him, knocking away the rhyscate that Jaina had made him, even as he raised his hand to strike his sister. Pain and sorrow gripped his heart, as his shoulders slumped under the weight of the memories, and the emotions they unlocked.
Once he arrived back at the apartment, he went to Jaina's room. The plate of food he had left her still sat in the hallway, and Ikrit sat beside it, staring intently at the closed door to Jaina's room.
He rapped on the door twice. "Jaina, I've come back. I... I stopped by the medcenter, but there's not been a change so far." No response came to him, and he frowned. "You're in there, aren't you? I'm coming in."
He grabbed the handle, but it refused to turn.
Frowning at the handle, he continued speaking. "Hey, I've got your books and bag from school, so open the door already."
Jaina finally responded, her voice quiet and weak. "Just leave it there."
"Jaina! I want to talk to you," he said as he began to beat heavily on the door.
"Stop it," the quiet voice replied.
Anakin ignored her, and continued to beat on the door. "Jaina!"
"Stop it!" she screamed at him. Startled, he took a step backwards, and a moment later she continued speaking, once more in the quiet, weak voice. "Please. Just stop it. I'm sorry, Anakin."
He dropped her bag beside the uneaten plate of food, and then went to his room. Throwing his own bag onto his bed, he sat at the desk. On top of it sat the small winged doll, Tahiri's lost item. He sighed, and opened one of the drawers, and picked up a thin flimsie with a still image on it. A still image showing, himself, Jaina, Mara and Sannah.
He stared at Sannah's smiling face, struggling to keep the tears from coming.
If she were around, he thought. If she were around right now, would she have brightened the mood?
The latch of his door shifted, and his head snapped that way as it began to swing open. His breath caught in his throat, as he watched it.
Then he sighed, as Ikrit came strolling through, his large blue eyes watching Anakin. Anakin dropped his head onto his desk, allowing it to thump hard against the wood. Squeezing his eyes shut, he was once again granted an image of memories. Specifically, the memory of him raising his hand to hit Jaina. Of him, knocking the rhyscate she had made him to the ground.
Then another memory came to him. A newer one. Jaina in the kitchen helping Sannah prepare a rhyscate, an odd, sad look in her eyes. Noticing him, she turned towards him and had asked, "Anakin, does the smell of this rhyscate remind you of anything?"
He felt a tear escape, and slice its way down his cheek. "So she remembered that all these years," he muttered to himself. "But... why was I crying that day?"
He lifted his head, and looked out the window. I remembered Sannah, and Tenel-Ka and even Jaina... but I'm still forgetting something. Something.... And I know that it's very important.
The next morning, Anakin once more knocked on Jaina's door. "Jaina, I'm going to the medcenter. I'll just leave your food here."
No answer came, and he sighed, and left the apartment.
Once he arrived at the medcenter he spoke shortly with the doctor and then sat with Mara for a while. Once the silence began to eat at his mind, he went to the Temple and spoke with Master Horn, explaining that they would still be out for a few more days. Then he went and bought some more food. As he walked through the produce section of the market, he noticed a container of wveliu nuts. He sighed, and quickly made his purchases and returned to the apartment.
When he opened the door, he found Ikrit waiting for him, sitting, watching; his blue eyes as piercing as always. As soon as Anakin had entered the apartment, Ikrit turned and darted into its depths, heading towards the hallway where the bedrooms were.
Anakin dropped his bags, and followed Ikrit into the hall and noticed that Jaina had eaten some of her food.
He knocked on the door again. "Hey Jaina? Have you calmed down now?"
Ikrit weaved through his feet, and butted the back of his legs. Then he darted forward and started scratching at Jaina's door. Hesitantly, Anakin reached out and gripped the handle, and twisted. Surprise shot through him as the door unlatched.
Pushing it open, he called out, "I'm coming in."
Slowly, the door swung open. The lights were out, the room itself neater than he could ever remember seeing it before. Sitting on the floor, in the darkest corner, near one of the windows was Jaina. She was huddled into a ball, her arms wrapped tightly around her legs with her back facing him.
"Anakin," she said. "Get out."
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Jaina's voice was cold, harsh and filled with grief and pain as she said, "Get out Anakin. I don't want to talk to or see anybody right now. I... I want to just be alone."
Anakin frowned at his sister for a moment. "It's been a while, Jaina." He laughed nervously, as he continued. "Was my cooking good? Of course compared to Aunt Mara's it'd be-"
At the mention of Mara's name, Jaina's back tensed, her whole presence seemed to deflate ever so slightly.
Anakin sighed, and watched her for a minute before continuing. "Do you plan to continue blaming yourself? Mara will be all right. Do you think that she'd let something so small keep her from us?"
"Anakin... Can you make a miracle happen?"
Anakin's mouth dropped open, as he wondered what he could say to her.
"For the past few years, I've lived here with Aunt Mara. Ever since... Jacen... You remember Jacen now, don't you Anakin? I know you two never got along all that well, but he loved you. He was my twin, I know it. I, I felt it. Yet, when he died, I couldn't do anything. I couldn't breathe, or eat or even sleep. Mom and Dad fought so often, and when they weren't fighting, they were treating me with kid gloves. Trying to make sure that I didn't break or cry. Yet that was what I needed. Finally, I couldn't stand being there, in the house where we all lived, any more and I fled. Aunt Mara found me two weeks later on Azbrian.
Jaina paused for a moment, sniffling back tears. "She asked me to be her apprentice, and I came to Yavin IV with her, and we've been here ever since, save for the occasional mission which Uncle Luke would send us on. She... she saved me. She told me that it was okay to cry; to rage against the universe. That I could be angry and miss Jacen, but that I couldn't let it control me. She taught me how. I was hurting, missing the bond with my other half--with Jacen. And the training bond saved me. It gave me an anchor on which I could rebuild my life. But here I am, once again alone. Only... only this time it's my fault that my anchor is gone. It's my fault that I'm all alone."
"You're not alone," he replied. "You've got a lot of friends up at the Academy: Kiori, Raynar, and your teammates. And I'm here as well."
"You?"
"Yeah. I'm right here by you, aren't I?"
"Six years. After forgetting about me for six years?"
Anakin felt the pain of her accusation stabbing deep into him.
Then she spoke another word, one he could just barely make out through her tear strained voice. "Liar."
She started crying in earnest, and after a few minutes, looked up at him. He could see the tears shining brightly on her cheeks. "You never took any of my calls, never replied to any of the messages I sent you."
"But I did view them all."
"When I never heard anything back from you, I wondered if you had even forgotten me. I..." she paused, and exhaled. "When I went to pick you up at the landing field that day... I was scared. Scared that you would have forgotten my name. Scared that you had forgotten me."
He squeezed his hand into a tight fist, and started walking towards her. "I remembered what happened at the landing field that day six years ago. What I did." He knelt down beside her. "I... I'm sorry about the ryshcate. Won't you forgive me?"
She lowered her head, and once more refused to look at him. "It's in the past."
"Can't... Can't I at least sit in here with you?"
Her shoulders started to shake again. "You can't. You... can't... "
The clouds outside her window parted, and brilliant light from Yavin flooded the room. Jaina lifted her head towards the gas giant, and started crying even harder. "I... I can't smile anymore... I'm alone again..."
"Jai-"
"Get out!" she yelled at him.
Startled by the vehemence of her reaction, he jerked backwards, slamming his head against her desk. He heard something rolling, and watched as the red marble he had bought her rolled of the desk, and dropped to the floor. It bounced once, and then came to a rest in front of Jaina.
He reached his hand out towards her, and she yelled once again, "Get out!"
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Anakin lay on his bed, his arms crossed beneath his head as he stared up at the ceiling. Ikrit was curled in a ball beside him, softly snoring as he slept.
Miracle, huh? he thought to himself as once more the image of him knocking the rhyscate from her hands flickered through his mind. How callous of me to say that "I'm here" after forgetting about that for all these years... Frowning, he shifted his head slightly until he could see the small winged doll on his desk. But something like that happened years ago.
The world began to waver, as he started to drift off to sleep. Someone got hurt... and hurt badly... and I couldn't do anything about it.
The next thing he knew, he was once more dreaming. Running through the Academy, heading to the temple where he knew she would be waiting. He raced down a flight of stairs, jumping off the last five. For a moment, a grin slashed across his face. He knew that his uncle wouldn't have approved of that.
Then he was running once more. He turned a final corner, and then darted out into the open field in front of the Jedi Temple. Turning to the north-east, he raced into the woods, dodging low hanging branches, and pushing aside the vines that tried to cling to him. Finally, he arrived at their temple and found her sitting on a log, her arms crossed over her chest, and a scowl on her face. She looked up at him, and declared, "You're late."
He chuckled. "But you said I could show up whenever I wanted to."
"Even still, you're late."
Raising the bag he held in his hand, he replied, "Well, I brought a snack to make up for it."
Her eyes lit up with joy as her lips twisted into a smile. "Canapés?"
He laughed as he pulled out the pastry and handed it over to her. "Would I bring you anything else?"
"No," she muttered between mouthfuls.
Silence hung over them while they ate. Once she had finished, she looked over at him, her face falling slightly. "So, have you gotten all packed up yet?"
"Nope. Besides, you don't have to worry about it, because today's our last day."
She stomped her foot onto the stone floor hard. "It can't be our last! You promised we would get to meet again."
"Right," Anakin replied as he popped his last bit of canapé into his mouth.
She looked up at him, her green eyes wavering, her eyebrows upturned slightly. "You promised we would come here again."
"I know; it's a promise."
"Yeah," she replied sullenly. "A promise..."
"Tell you what; the next time I come I'll introduce you to my sister. I'm sure the two of you will get along great."
She chewed on her lower lip for a moment, and then nodded her head. "All right... I guess."
He stood up and held his hand out towards her. "Come on; let's get back to the Jedi Temple."
She grasped his hand, and together they raced through the woods until they arrived at the clearing. Anakin looked around and stopped in his tracks. Over near the large river was a silver raft. It glimmered in the brilliant light of the afternoon sun. He swallowed hard, knowing that he had seen that raft before in a dream. As if he were on autopilot, he walked towards it, Tahiri following closely behind him. Together they climbed aboard, and pushed the raft out into the river.
It wobbled slightly, and they both gripped the sides, then they were in the current, being pulled downstream by the powerful river. Anakin looked over his shoulder and saw the Jedi Temple shrinking in the distance. Then he focused on Tahiri who had a look of utter terror on her face.
"What's wrong?" he asked.
She shook her head viciously, causing her hair to whip from side to side. "I... Nothing... It's just I've never been on water like this before..."
Anakin nodded his head, and then looked up at the sky. "This is the raft from our dreams, but the sky is blue and clear."
Tahiri lifted her head to look up at the sky, and slowly nodded.
In silence they traveled further down the river. Suddenly the sky darkened, and with a crack of thunder rain began to pelt them. Tahiri screamed in surprise as the first fat drop of water struck her nose.
The river, barely calm at the best of times, developed a chop, and began to rock the boat hard.
Lightning struck a tree on the back, and it crashed into the river. The wave from the tree's collapse slammed into the side of the boat, capsizing it. Tahiri's scream was cut off when she struck the water.
Anakin hit the water hard, and the breath exploded from him. He broke the surface a moment later, and frantically began looking around for her.
A splash sounded close by his ear, and he looked up just in time to see another fist-sized piece of hail slam into the water.
"Tahiri! Tahiri!" he called out, growing more and more scared as she did not appear.
Finally she broke the surface about two dozen meters from him. He began swimming over to her as fast as he could. Ten meters from her, was when it happened. It was another chunk of fist-sized hail. It was a hard, hollow sound, and she went under almost immediately.
He screamed her name once again and taking a deep breath, he dove in after her. Following the trail of red left in the water, he swam deeper and deeper. His lungs began to scream with the need to breath, but he pushed on. He touched the bottom, and found her. He pulled her to him, and then pushed off the river bed as hard as he could. Pain etched at his sides as he kicked towards the surface, the need to breathe a painful burn in his throat, chest and even tracing around to his back.
Finally he broke the surface, and sucked in a deep breath. He looked down at Tahiri, and saw how pale she was, almost a blue color, and began swimming as hard as he could towards the shore. His arms and legs burned with the exertion, and he felt hot tears mingled with the freezing rain and river. Finally, he made it to the shore, and he drug Tahiri out of the river and up into the forest.
He laid her as close to one of the massive trees as he could; used it to shelter them from the worst of the hail and rain. He shook her slightly, and with a start realized that she wasn't breathing. Squeezing his eyes shut, he struggled to remember the CPR lessons that all the Jedi trainees were forced to take. Uncertainty tugged at him, as he tilted her head back, and then took a deep breath, and pressed his lips to hers, exhaling forcefully.
Pulling away slightly, she still did not respond, so he repeated the process.
She coughed, spitting out a mouthful of water in the process.
He barked a laugh through his tears, as she opened her eyes.
"An... Ana...kin..."
"Don't talk," he cried out. "I'll get Uncle Luke and Master Cilghal."
"I...it...."
Anakin reached out and grasped her hand. As he lifted it, he noticed the blood that had pooled beneath her, and his body hitched. "It's... it'll be all right."
"I... fell in..." she replied as a tremor raced through her body. "I knew I had nev...er swam before.... but I..." She blinked her eyes, and gasped. "I... I can't feel the pain anymore."
"That's good, isn't it?" Anakin responded, scared somehow at how dim her eyes had gotten.
Those green eyes, which usually were so bright with life and laughter, shifted towards him. "Anakin, what's going to happen to me?"
"I... You're not hurting, so it'll be fine."
"I can't move, Anakin. Why can't I move?"
He squeezed her hand tighter. "It's all right if you can't move. I'll carry you back to the Temple."
He watched as tears flowed down her cheeks. "If I can't move, how can we... have more adventures? How can we play... again?"
Anakin felt his own eyes burn with tears, and he scrubbed his face with his free hand.
"Anakin?" Her voice was weaker now, barely a whisper. "Will you... play with me... again?"
"O-of course."
Her lips twitched into a smile, as her eyes began to shut. "Th-then it's... it's a prom...promise..."
Her body convulsed once and then went limp, and she shifted slightly. Anakin tilted his head back, and screamed "Tahiri!"
With a start, Anakin bolted upright. Tahiri's name still echoing around his room, and Ikrit was sitting at the foot of the bed, his blue eyes watching him. Anakin covered his face with his hand, his entire body shaking from the dream. He looked up, and saw the small doll sitting on his desk.
Without really thinking about it, he jumped out of bed and snatched up the doll, and then he raced out of the apartment. As he was leaving the building, he ran into someone. Stumbling, he twisted around to look at who it was, and found Raynar standing there.
"Raynar."
Raynar turned around, and looked at him, a frown on his face. "I came to check on you and Jaina." He lifted a bag of food. "And I brought something for dinner. Is something wrong?"
"Raynar... I... I remember. Now I remember."
Confusion was evident on his face. "Huh? Remember what?"
"Tahiri's.... Tahiri's...."
"Uhm, what's wrong with Tahiri?"
Anakin shook his head, and began running again. "Take care of Jaina for me."
"Hey! Anakin!"
But Anakin ignored him, and raced towards the river, and the Temple just beyond it.
As fast as he could, he ran up the path, dodging branches and fallen logs. Finally, he arrived at the melted temple, and stood there clutching the small doll, as he turned in a circle. "Tahiri!"
Frowning when she didn't respond, he raced deeper into the woods. All the time, calling out Tahiri's name.
He crested a ridge, and looked down into a dry creek bed. Suddenly, a large rain drop hit him in the head. He lifted his face to the sky, as the rain began in earnest. Instantly, he was drenched. He turned to the right, intending to follow the creek bed for a ways, when the ground suddenly gave out from beneath him. His ankle twisted, and he could hear a snap even over the sound of the pounding rain, and pain flared to life in his ankle.
Then he hit the creek bed. The wind whooshed out of him, and he struggled to regain his breath. Finally, he was able to sit up. He looked around, and saw Tahiri's doll. Snatching it back up, he stood, and instantly fell back to the creek bed. His head cracked against a rock which jutted up out of the ground.
He lay there on the creek bed as the water began to flow around him.
If I just lay here like this, he thought. Will I be able to go where she is? I'm sorry everyone....
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The traveled in the open cargo bed of a wheeled ground car. The wind pulled at her long blond hair as they sped through the tunnels, headed ever lower and deeper into the planet's crust. Noelani knew that they had been near the bedrock level of Coruscant before, and she had the distinct feeling that they were going down yet further; descending deeper and deeper into the massive city.
Yet for the first time the undercity did not feel oppressive and claustrophobic. It did not feel constrained.
Noelani looked down at where her hand still clasped Chase's and couldn't help but grin. She allowed her eyes to trace up his arm, and finally settled onto his face.
His eyes were closed as he slept, his lips parted slightly. She felt her grin growing larger, forming into a full fledged smile even as she started to blush. Quickly she averted her eyes before he woke up to find her watching him. Instead she looked around at the children that cuddled close to them. Of the ten that she had defended, four had decided to stay by her side, while the other six had decided to try to survive on their own.
It was an eclectic mixture that had stayed with her: two human little girls, both as blond as she was; one red-skinned Twi'lek girl; and finally a Bothan male. The human girls appeared to be sisters; at least they had given the same surname when asked. The smaller one was five standard years old, and named Prilla Geet, while the elder girl was eight and named Jena. The Twi'lek gave her name as Asyra'mata and was the oldest of the four children that had stayed with her at eleven years old. The Bothan refused to speak, and Noelani had to guess his age at six. She had decided to call him Huff after her father, and he answered to it readily enough; at least as much as he answered to anything.
Three of the four children clung to her side, a blanket wrapped around them as they dozed. Noelani found herself smiling at them, warmth seeped into her heart at the thought that she had helped them. That she had found a way to help these four survive.
After a moment, she allowed her eyes to flicker over towards the fourth of the children—the one closest to her own age. She blinked as she realized that Asyra'mata was staring at her. Her eyes were locked on her, steady, staring. Slowly, sinuously, the young Twi'lek blinked; the simple movement enough to jar Noelani from her reverie.
"Why?" the girl asked.
"Why what?" Noelani responded.
"Why did you help us? What do you want with us that you would risk yourself for us?"
Noelani shook her head. "I… I don't want anything. I just wanted to help you, all of you."
The girl barred her teeth and laughed, a short, sharp, bitter, adult laugh, as her lekku twitched around her. "You want to help us? I've been helped in the past."
Noelani shook her head again. "I'm not asking you to trust me implicitly, but I promise; I'll do everything in my power to help you."
Asyra'mata's lekku twitched and twined around one another and her eyes turned cold and hard as she stared at Noelani. For her part, Noelani just met the stare, keeping her face blank and calm.
After a few moments, the Twi'lek looked away, and out at the blurred scenery. "Are you a Jedi?"
Noelani sighed. "Why do you ask that?"
"You used a lightsaber. I don't know if any of the others knew what it was, but I did, and Threll might have as well. It would explain why he didn't come with us." She paused for a moment. "So, are you?"
Noelani shook her head. "No. I'm not. I was going to be… but they…"
She felt tears sting her eyes, and with her free hand rubbed the tears away. Asrya'mata leaned forward slightly. "What did they do?"
Noelani looked down at where her hand was clasped with Chase's, and sighed. "I was raised on Tatooine as an orphan, and about 3 years ago, came to the Jedi to be trained. After a while, I was assigned a Master for some one-on-one training, she was smart, beautiful, a cunning warrior and everything that I had ever dreamed a Jedi was supposed to be. Last month, I was told the truth about my parentage. I had been taken away from my mother by Jedi Master Luke Skywalker and taken to the man who I called 'dad' on Tatooine. I learned that my Master was my mother, and then the Council took me away from her again. So I left. I came down here to find Chase."
She felt the pressure on her hand tightening, and turned to look over at Chase. He was staring at her, his brown eyes expressive and shone with sympathy. "Noelani… I'm sorry, I…"
She smiled for him, and shook her head. "It's all right. You didn't know. None of us did." Then she turned back to Asyra'mata. "So, now you know my story. You know why I'm not a Jedi, though I still hold to the ideals which the Jedi claim to espouse. That's why I'll do everything in my power to help you."
Asyra'mata stared at her for a moment longer, and then needed her head. She turned her back to Noelani, and pulled the blanket up over her shoulders. "I'll give you a chance. But if you betray me or any of the others, I'll kill you."
Noelani smiled. "Fair enough."
Then the truck slammed over a bump, jostling them all; waking the other children. Noelani lifted her head, and looked forward as the truck began to slow down. Before here was a set of massive doors. The truck pulled to a stop outside them and a few moments later, there was a creak.
Then with a rumbling roar, the doors began to slide open. Dirt and dust rained down on them as Noelani stared at the opening doors. A shaft of light erupted from the door seams, nearly blinding in its brilliance.
She had been in the dim light of the undercity so long that the bright light almost burned her eyes. Once the doors were fully opened, the truck started up again, and rumbled forward. As they passed through the doors, they began to close once more with a rumble.
Noelani looked around, and discovered that they were in a massive underground cavern. Strips of lighting ran across the ceiling, simulating natural sunlight. Small buildings, the tallest appearing about four stories, dotted the area, with a number of parks and gardens all around them.
The drove through the underground town, until they stopped at one of the smaller buildings; gold numbers were affixed over the front door, detailing that this was building 7-Aleph-85. Neolani looked it over, simple permacrete in an earthy, reddish-brown color; similar to every other building on Coruscant. The main difference between this building and those that stretched to the sky on the surface was that this one was only two stories tall. To Noelani, it looked more like the houses on Ambria or Lorrd than a building on Coruscant.
Evir got out of the truck and gestured towards the building. "This will be your home here."
Noelani blinked at the building. It appeared even larger than her home on Tatooine. "Ours?"
Evir laughed. "Well, I'm not giving everyone in your little group a building to themselves; we'd run out of buildings sooner or later. Besides, you wanted these kids taken care of, so that's part of your responsibilities; it just makes sense then that they should live with you two."
Noelani frowned for a minute, but could not fault the older man's logic. She sighed, and glanced over at Chase just as he jumped out of the truck. He landed on the hard rocky ground, and began to help the smaller children from the truck. Noelani picked up her satchel, slung it over her shoulder and then jumped out of the truck herself. A moment later, Asyra'mata dropped onto the ground next to her.
Evir climbed back up into the truck, and looked out at Noelani. "Someone will be back to pick you and Chase up for your first meeting with my team in a couple of hours. Get settled in for now."
Still feeling stunned, Noelani nodded her head, and then walked up the walk path towards the front door. Hesitantly, she pushed on the door, and despite being told that the building was hers, was surprised when it swung open. She entered, followed by Chase and the children.
The first room she came too had no decorations, but did contain a few couches and a holonet terminal. Through doorways on the far side she could make out a kitchen unit and a dining area. She turned away from those and went into the next room. It was a wide open area, set up like some type of workout room. Springy mats made up the floor, and there were a variety of melee weapons on the walls, the only ones which she recognized were the vibroswords.
She returned to the hallway and went up the stairs where she could hear the children laughing. Once there she found that there were eight bedrooms, each containing a dresser, a writing desk, a double sized bed and a simple refresher.
She chose the one closest to the stairs, and walked into it. It reminded her of the room she had in the apartment she used to share with Tahiri in the Jedi Temple. She tossed her satchel onto the bed and then sat down beside it.
A knock on the door drew her out of her reverie, and she looked over to see Chase leaning against the jamb, a smile touching his lips.
"So," he began. "It looks like we've managed to get ourselves a family."
Noelani shook her head. "Looks it. Did you see the training salle downstairs? Lots of pretty weapons, wish I could have brought the gaffi stick my Mast… my mother made me."
Chase entered the room, and sat down beside her, taking her hand. "You want to talk about it?"
Frowning, she looked away from him. "Well, it was about a meter or so in length, made out of titanium, so it was strong and light, and…"
He snorted in amusement, interrupting her. "Not the gaffi stick, your mother and the Jedi. I got the feeling that the story you told Asyra'mata wasn't quite everything."
Noelani sighed and then shook her head. "No, it wasn't, and no, I don't; at least not right now."
Chase squeezed her hand and then stood up. "All right, but when you do, I'll be here to listen."
He then disappeared, leaving her alone with just her thoughts and the pain of her memories.
She sighed, and then closed the door and quickly stripped out of her dirty clothes; determined to scrub the sludge and slim off of her, and out of her hair. She hoped that she would feel better once she had gotten cleaned up.
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Anakin once more recognized the dream.
They were standing inside one of the Massassi temples, silk webs where everywhere, a weak shaft of light came in through one of the windows. They stood side-by-side, staring down into the darkness. He reached down, and found a thigh bone. Frowning at it, he stuck the bone into the web and twirled it, wrapping the web around the end of the bone. Then he pulled out a multitool from his pocket, and turned on the igniter, setting fire to the webbing.
Tahiri stepped into the shaft of light, holding the small, winged doll he had given her. The one he had told her would grant wishes. She raised it up by the thin string loop that came from the back of its head, watching as it swung back and forth in front of her eyes. They were dark with fear, glittering slightly in the flickering light of their torch.
"For my second wish.... I wish that we'd always be together. That we'd be here training with each other; that I'd get to go home with you; that you'd always be my friend. That you'll always be by my side." She looked up at him. "Is that okay?"
He nodded his head. "I promised that I'd grant anything that I can." Then he smiled at her. "Tell you what. This is our special place. It's not the praxeum, but it's our school. One just for us, where we don't have to deal with tests or training. Where we can do whatever we want, and whenever I come back for training, we'll come here."
She smiled back at him. "And we'll have canapés every day for lunch?"
He snorted with laughter. "Well, everyday is a bit much..."
"But we'll meet here, right?"
"Right."
"Good," she replied. "Then it's a promise.
----------------------
His alarm clock went off, and he sat up. He looked around, and sighed. Then he rolled out of bed and stretched. Walking over to the clock, he pressed the button to deactivate the alarm. He continued forward, walking towards the door to the balcony, his fingers trailing lightly over Tahiri's backpack as he walked past it.
He opened the curtain, staring out at the bright morning sunlight. He lifted his hand, staring down at the dirt that stained it, the dirt that was still caked beneath his fingernails.
In his mind, he heard Tahiri's voice once again. I'm sorry, Anakin. I... I don't think I'll be able to meet you anymore.
Sighing, he allowed the curtain to close and went to get ready for his day.
Once clean and dressed, he walked into the kitchen. Mara looked up from her cup of caf and nodded her head once, sharply. "Good morning, Anakin."
He smiled weakly for her, and glanced over, noticing Jaina already dressed and eating a slice of toast. "And I see you're up early this morning."
The toast paused just shy of Jaina's mouth. "So, Tahiri didn't come back last night?"
"Yeah," he replied, turning away from his sister.
"What could have happened?" she asked. "Could she have gone home?"
He felt Mara's stare, and turned towards her. One of her eyebrows arched slightly. "Anakin, if you're not feeling well, I'm sure I can convince your uncle to give you the day off."
He merely shook his head in reply, walking into the kitchen to get his breakfast.
-----------------------------
Anakin had lunch with Jaina in the Academy's cafeteria.
He pushed the food from one side of his plate to the other, not really hungry.
Jaina chewed thoughtfully, "So you don't have any way to contact her? Not her address nor her comm number?"
"Nope," he replied sullenly. "I never asked her for them."
She finally noticed that he wasn't eating. "You've got to eat properly. You've not touched your lunch, and you didn't finish your breakfast."
He shook his head. "I just don't have any appetite."
Jaina lowered her head slightly. "You really love her, don't you..."
Frowning, he lifted his head. "What did you say?"
She quickly shook her head. "No, it's nothing."
After training was over for the day, Anakin retraced the path he had traveled with Tahiri the night before. Following the river, deep into the woods until he came to the broken, blasted Temple. He stared hard at the rubble, wondering what had happened there so many years ago.
Sighing, he turned away, and went back to the town. He found himself wondering through the shopping district, ending up in the small park which contained the bench that he would meet Tahiri at.
He dropped his chin to his chest. It was as if he could almost see her sitting on that bench, an angry scowl on her face as she chided him for being late.
He sucked in a deep breath of air, fighting back the urge to break down into tears.
"Anakin!" Jaina called out from behind him.
He turned, and saw her walking towards him.
"Have you found Tahiri yet?" she asked when she got within a few meters of him.
"No," he replied. "I had thought... had hoped, that she'd come if I waited here, but..."
"Here? Why?"
He smiled. "Because I always waited for her here."
"I see..."
Later, they were sitting at one of the small tables at Poltz. Jaina with a cup of tea in front of her, Anakin nursing a cup of caf. Jaina slowly stirred some sweetener into her cup, and then set aside her spoon.
She lifted her eyes to stare at him. "I asked some of the other trainees, the ones that have non-Jedi family. None of them know anything about a school near that burned out temple."
"Okay," he replied, taking a sip of his caf.
A strained silence stretched between them, and he noticed Jaina frowning at him, yet he couldn't bring himself to care.
Finally, she broke it. "Did you find what Tahiri had lost?"
"No," he replied. "Come to think of it, everything's just strange. That temple. Tahiri's lost item... and... and why don't I remember?"
He sighed as he stared out the window.
"Don't worry," Jaina said, smiling at him. "I'm sure she'll come back, after all you've got her bag, and it's her favorite, right?"
"Yeah," he replied, a weak smile appearing on his lips. "That's right."
He knew what his sister was trying to do, and though in his heart, he wondered if he would ever see Tahiri again, he was still happy that Jaina was trying so hard to cheer him up.
Then Jaina started waving her hand at a waitress, and he looked up. She was grinning, as she called out, "Excuse me! Can we get two strawberry parfaits over here please?"
The server droid beeped in acknowledgement and rolled back towards the kitchen.
Anakin frowned at her, and she smiled brightly at him. "If you eat something tasty, you'll cheer up."
He chuckled, shaking his head slightly.
------------------------------------
Anakin and Jaina stepped into their apartment. He looked around and saw Mara Jade sitting on one of the couches, bouncing Ben on her knee.
"Hey, Aunt Mara. We're home," he called out to her.
She looked up and over at them. "Welcome back."
"So, did Tahiri com while we were at the Academy?"
Slowly, Mara shook her head. "No."
"I see," Anakin replied, frowning down at his shoes.
Then he walked down the hall towards his room. He could almost make out Jaina and Mara talking, but pushed it from his mind, and went in. Dropping his school bag on the floor by the door, he walked over to his desk, and picked up Tahiri's bag. He opened it and once more looking in all its pockets, frowning at the fact that it was perfectly empty.
"Nothing that might be a clue," he muttered under his breath.
Dropping into his chair, he spun it around so that it faced out the window. He could see a slice of sky and noticed that it had taken on the orange and red hues of a sunset. His voice was nothing but a pained whisper, as he said, "Tahiri..."
There was a knock on his door, and he turned back towards it as Jaina pushed it open.
"Hey Anakin, have you done your assignment yet?"
He frowned and shook his head.
"Good," she replied, smiling at him. "Then we can split up the workload."
Five minutes later, they were sitting on stools beside each other at a workbench in her room, their assignment spread out around them.
He looked at his sister, frowning slightly. "You do know that we don't have to work together on this."
She nodded. "I know. But we have an easier workload like this. It's not just for you that I decided to do it this way, you know."
Anakin barked a short, sharp laugh. "Ah, so you're just after making your life easier."
"Well, then, does that mean you're going to do all of it by yourself?"
She smiled brightly at him, and he sighed, looking down at the workbook he had opened in front of him. "So, which ones am I in charge of?"
Leaning towards him, she pointed out a few different problems.
A short while later, he finished making notations in his datapad and then lifted his head, and looked around. He frowned as he saw Jaina stretched out on the floor, snoring lightly.
"Hey, Jaina. If you're going to sleep, sleep on your bed."
"Go 'way, 'Kin. I'm sleepy."
He sighed, and shook his head. Standing, he walked over to her bed, and pulled the comforter off of it, and then returned to her side, and gently laid it out over her.
Sighing contentedly, she pulled the cover up to her cheeks and snuggled down into it.
Smiling, Anakin turned away and left the room, pulling the door closed behind him. Right before he closed it, he looked back into it, and said, "Thank's for cheering me up."
Then the door was closed, and he walked across the hallway, returning to his own room.
--------------------
A stiff cold breeze slashed through his light jacket. True Night had fallen, and with it came nearly freezing temperatures and nearly perfect darkness, made worse by the darkness of the forest they were traveling through. The only part of his body that seemed warm was his right hand, where it was tightly clasped by a pair of hands. He cast a glance over his shoulder to see who was clinging to his hand, and saw a 9 year old Tahiri. He turned back to face the direction he was walking.
"Anakin, it's dark out here," she whined, a hint of fear in her voice. "I'm scared."
"Don't worry, I'm with you," he replied.
"Yeah..."
He tossed another grin over his shoulder. "Besides, that temple is in a clearing, there'll be more light there when we get there."
They walked a dozen more meters in silence, when she suddenly squeezed his hand tighter. "Don't let go of my hand, okay?"
"Yeah, I have you tight."
She fell into silence again, and they stepped out of the forest into the clearing to look up at the temple. Ominous in the daytime, it sent a superstitious chill racing down his spine looking at it in the nearly perfect darkness.
Tahiri pulled her hand from his, making a gasping noise. She rushed over towards the bushes and began digging. A few moments later she pulled a metal canister with a faded Alliance symbol on its side. Standing, she lifted the canister up and held it out towards him. "Anakin? Have you ever heard of a time capsule?"
He frowned. "Yeah, it's something you put stuff into and bury or put into space so it can be looked at sometime in the future."
Her smile dazzled him. "Do you think we can use this for that?"
He took the canister from her and unscrewed the top, looking into it. "Yeah, I think it's airtight. What are you going to put into it?"
She took the canister, leaving him holding the lid, as her free hand dug into her pocket. She held up the small doll that he had given her, and said, "This!" She paused, frowning slightly. "Or do you not want me to?"
"You can, but you still have one wish left."
"I've had two wishes granted," she said as she smiled down at the small doll. "So that's enough for me. This last one is for the future me... or... or it's for someone else who needs it."
"But... but I'm the one who grants the wish."
She dropped the doll into the canister, and took the lid from him, screwing it on tight. "Good luck then."
She giggled as she knelt down, and grabbed a stick. Using that, she quickly dug a hole and then dropped the canister into it. After covering the canister up, she stood, wiping her hands on the legs of her jumpsuit.
Anakin looked around, frowning. "Will we be able to find it without any markers?"
"We'll definitely be able to find it," she replied, beaming a smile at him. "When there's someone who needs it, it'll appear."
A short while later, they are once more at the Praxeaum, standing just outside the bright glow coming from the still open hanger. Tahiri turned towards him. "Tomorrow, we're going back…"
------------------------------------
The next day, Jaina and Anakin walked together, heading towards the Temple.
He looked over at her. "Hey, Jaina, why did you stay on Yavin all these years?"
She stumbled slightly, and then looked at him for a moment, before turning away. "I... I had to complete my training. I was Aunt Mara's apprentice after all."
"Ah," he replied. "That's right. So, you two spent a lot of time together?"
She quickly nodded. "Yeah. I love her a lot, and she's helped me through a whole bunch of things."
"But wasn't it lonely without ever seeing mom or dad?"
Jaina lowered her chin for a moment. "A little, but they did come here to Yavin a few times. And there was Aunt Mara and Uncle Luke."
"I see."
"But you're here now, so I have even more family."
He chuckled. "True."
Then she lifted her face towards the sun. "But it would be nice for Tahiri to come back..."
After training was over for the day, Anakin, Raynar and Jaina were in the woods on the path leading to the remains of the temple from his dreams. The one which Tahiri had told him was her school.
Raynar looked over at him, leaning against the shovel he was using. "And are you sure that Tahiri's lost... thing is here?"
Anakin nodded his head. "Yeah, at least this is near where she was digging."
"Well," he replied, once more digging the shovel into the ground. "I've got nothing better to do right now, so I'm good."
"Sorry, and thanks."
A few minutes later, Jaina sighed. "It's not around here at all."
Raynar looked over at her. "Well, if there were a few more people, we could probably find it faster but..."
"But," Jaina continued for him. "We can't help it since we can't ask Kiori."
Anakin grunted, not really interested in talking about Nelani. He felt his two companions staring at his back, but just continued digging. After a few moments, he heard them begin to dig once more.
Suddenly, Jaina's spade clunked against something hard. Both Anakin's and Raynar's head snapped towards her, as she drugged her hands through the loose dirt. With a quick tug, she yanked out the shell of a mouse droid. Holding it up so they could see, she shook her head. "This isn't it, is it?"
Anakin sighed, and turned back to his own hole. "No..."
As night neared, the three turned back to the path, and looked down it, seeing the three dozen holes they had dug.
"We'll probably get yelled at if we don't fill them in," Jaina said, weariness weighing on her voice.
Wiping his brow with his sleeve, Raynar looked up towards the sky. "Could it have gotten dug up by someone else?"
Anakin turned away, and dropped to the ground. "It's possible, but..."
"But it could still be buried, right?" Jaina chimed in. "So, let's keep looking for it, okay?"
"That's right!" Raynar joined in.
"Yeah," Anakin replied, turning to look up at them.
Raynar smiled, and took a few steps forward, and shoved the shovel into the dirt close to a stunted, young tree. He pulled out a shovelful of dirt, and tossed it to the side, and repeated the process. This time though, the metal edge thunked loudly against something.
"Hey!" he called out. "Could this be it?"
Anakin scrambled over, Jaina a few seconds behind him.
He reached the hole Raynar had dug and could make out the edge of the canister. Reaching in, he pulled it out, holding it up towards the sun. The Rebel Alliance symbol even more faded with time. Carefully, he unscrewed the cap and looked inside of it.
A smile brightened his face. "This is it!"
------------------------------------
Anakin leaned against the balcony. In his hand he held looped string attached to the small winged doll and watched it twist in the wind. Jaina stepped out onto the balcony, and walked towards him.
"Do you think that's a clue for finding Tahiri?'
Anakin frowned for a moment. "I'm not sure." Then he looked over at her. "And sorry for making you do so much for me today."
Jaina shook her head. "It's not a problem. It was kind of fun, actually."
----------------------------------
The next morning, someone was shaking him awake.
"Anakin! Wake up Anakin. We have to eat breakfast."
He opened his eyes, squinting against the bright sunlight, and saw Jaina leaning over him.
"Anakin," she continued. "If you don't wake up, we're going to be late for classes."
Screwing a fist against an eye, he sat up in bed. "This has got to be a dream."
"It's not a dream," she replied. "Hurry and wake up."
Anakin shook his head. "I couldn't possibly be being woken up by Jaina. It... It's not natural..."
"You're being kind of mean, Anakin."
She shoved his shoulder, and stormed from his room. Chuckling, he quickly got ready for class, and went down for breakfast. Jaina was already eating, while Mara was in the kitchen getting the container of caf.
He sat down in his place, and looked at her. "Why are you up so early?"
She laughed. "Well, I just wanted to wake you up for a change."
Mara snorted in amusement. "It would be kind of nice to see this happen every day... but I guess I'd miss the usual routine."
Mara poured him a cup of caf, and then filled her own cup up as well. She then turned and went back into the kitchen.
Jaina watched her for a moment, and then turned towards him. "Both Sannah and Tahiri are gone, so... Aunt Mara liked it when it was lively; you're not going to disappear to are you?"
He grinned at her. "Of course not. This is my home now."
Jaina watched him for a moment, and then nodded her head. Together, they turned and looked at Mara.
She paused, a scowl coming to her features. "What?"
Jaina grinned. "What's for dinner tonight?"
Mara lifted a finger to her chin for a moment. "I hadn't thought about it truthfully. Is there something you were wanting?"
"Strawberry cake!"
"Strawberry again?" Anakin asked, dismayed.
Jaina turned towards him. "If it's strawberry, I don't mind if it's for breakfast, lunch and dinner."
"Fine," Mara replied. "I'll get a cake while I'm out shopping."
Jaina smiled brightly. "Thanks Aunt Mara."
------------------------------------
Anakin and Jaina calmly walked side-by-side, heading towards the Temple. Neither spoke, but Jaina still had a smile on her face from Mara's decision to get a strawberry cake for desert that night.
They stepped off the bridge, and stopped to stare at the Temple in the distance. The morning sun gave it a golden hue. Jaina paused, and then her head shifted slightly, so that she was staring at a broken down, old transport sitting at the edge of the field used for Jedi transports.
"Hey, Anakin do you remember..."
Anakin looked at her for a moment, and then shifted his gaze out to the transport. An image of a ryshcate flying from someone's hands flashed through his mind.
Just before he could focus on who he was seeing, Raynar ran up towards them.
"Hey, you two," he called out. "You better hurry, or you'll be late for class."
Jaina looked down at the chrono strapped to her wrist, and replied. "Shavit. We're going to be late."
Then she was running towards the Temple, only a few steps behind Raynar. Sighing, Anakin started following them, walking at a much more sedate pace.
A short while later, he was sitting in Master Horn's class, once again not paying attention to the lecture. Instead, he stared out at the garden where he used to meet Nelani for their talks. Suppressing a sigh, he glanced at Kiori's empty seat, and then moved his attention on to Jaina, who he noticed was enthralled with Master Horn's lecture.
As he watched her, a memory slipped out, and overtook him.
He was sitting on a bench on the ground level of the Temple. Tears streamed down his face, and his body shook with the sobs. His grief in the memory was a palatable thing; slamming across his awareness.
"Anakin!" he heard a young feminine voice call out.
Lifting his head, he watched as Jaina ran towards him. She was dressed in the simple Corellian style clothes they wore while on Coruscant, and in her hands carried a box.
"Anakin!" she called again, as he dropped his head back to his chest; the tears and sadness refusing to leave him as she continued speaking. "I'm glad that I got to find you before you left to go back to Coruscant."
She slowed to a stop a few paces away, and he could feel her stare; her concern.
"Anakin... I... I'm sorry... I made this for you." She held out the box, and lifted the top away, revealing a ryshcate. The smell of the warm cake tickled his nose, and his body hitched again. "I... it took me a long time, but I was able to make it on the way out here. Dad helped me a little, but I really did most of it."
She paused, as if waiting for his response.
Then she continued once more. "Mom and Dad told me what happened to t.... Will you accept this? D-dad said that ryshcates are used to celebrate life so... I thought it would be okay..."
He lifted his head, as a dark, black rage overtook him. Anger, hate and pain flared in his heart, and he bolted to his feet. In one simple movement he knocked away the ryshcate from her hands, sending it tumbling to the ground. Then he lifted his fist over his head, his body straining with the desire to strike his sister. A dark voice whispered in the back of his mind to hit her; to take out his grief and pain on her.
She yelped in surprise as the cake fell away; cringing back from him.
He snapped back to the present, his mouth dropping open as he realized what he had done to Jaina all those years ago.
At that moment, the door to the classroom opened, and Master Salusar stood in the doorway. His face was strained and pinched somehow as he nodded to Master Horn. Then he focused on Jaina.
"Jaina, could you come with me please?" he paused for a moment, his attention shifting slightly to Anakin. "And you as well, Anakin."
Jaina shifted her focus onto him for a moment, and he merely shrugged his shoulder as he stood up. Together they walked out into the hallway, shutting the door behind them. Kam stood there, his back straight. After a moment, he turned back towards the two siblings, and sighed.
"Jaina... we've just called your Uncle back from his diplomatic mission to the Remnant because... well... your Aunt Mara was in an accident this morning."
"Wh-what happened?" Jaina stammered out.
"She... she was returning to the apartments from the bakery, and a transport just lost control. One of those silly, mechanical failures that no one can predict. It struck her head on, and she's currently in the med-center." He paused, scrubbing at his face for a moment. "They're not entirely certain that she'll make it through."
Anakin felt empty inside, as Jaina shook her head. "No... no... no… not Aunt Mara too..."
She dropped to her knees, and covered her face with her hands as her shoulders began to shake.
Not quite knowing what to do, he knelt beside her, and wrapped an arm around her.
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Chase dropped from one level to the next, rolling to his feet, he looked around and saw a group of ferals scrambling at a building. Lifting his battered pipe, he watched the ferals. Their snarls and moans oddly echoed back at him, as some of them grabbed at the broken edges of the walls, trying to widen the opening that they were struggling to get through.
He frowned, he rarely saw that many, that intent upon getting into a structure. They were usually much happier staying outside of buildings, or at least as close to being outside that one could get while this close to bedrock level on Coruscant.
He took a hesitant step away from the ferals; there were a dozen he could see, and an unknown number inside the building. For a moment, he wondered what could be drawing them, urging them to go into the building.
He paused, and struggled to hear anything. Just over the groans from the ferals, he could make out an oddly pitched humming noise, and the cries of some small children.
The humming noise prickled at his subconscious, as he knew that he had heard that particular noise before, yet he could not place it.
The cries of the children were what prickled at his conscience. He could not ignore that. Looking around he found a large chunk of ferocrete; probably broken from the wall or ceiling of an upper level. Hefting it above his head, he threw it as hard as he could towards the closest of the ferals; who appeared to have once been human.
It slammed into the back of the creature's head. The feral went down, as brains, bone and coral splattered around it.
He lifted his piece of battered pipe and felt his lips twist into a snarl, as three of the ferals turned from the opening and started ambling towards him.
He jumped forward and slammed the pipe against the head of the closest feral, reveling slightly in the simple movements of battle.
Landing, he slipped on the ichor that coated the ground, and had to back peddle to keep a feral from grabbing him. He didn’t' recognize the species, but its head was raised on a stalk, and didn't look like it had enough room to have a brain in it.
He took a few more steps back away from the feral, creating a gap between them to give him some time to think before he had to attack.
He looked towards the hole which most of the ferals were still trying to get through, and saw a flash of white light. Then as the humming noise shifted its pitch, a feral screamed in frustration and pain.
He focused once more on the two ferals ambling after him: the unknown species and what looked like it was once an Acornian.
For a moment, he wished the Acornian was closer. He knew where their brains were at.
Feinting left, the unknown feral lurched in that direction. Chase dove to the right, bypassing the unknown, and coming up behind the Acornian. With a yell coming from his lips, he swung his pipe, striking the Acornian at the base of his neck.
The Acornian crumpled to the ground, and Chase raised his pipe and brought it down as hard as he could against a bump on the back of the unknown feral.
It convulsed and dropped to its knees.
Chase took a step backwards, and watched the feral, but it was unmoving. Giving an internal shrug, he turned back to the group of ferals, and raised his pipe once again.
As he struck the next feral in line, the humming noise grew louder. He noticed that the number of ferals trying to get into the building had thinned, while the number of body parts lying about the ground had gotten a lot higher.
He looked and saw the final feral trying to get into the building; a former Bothan. Closing the distance, he slammed the pipe into the head of the feral at the same time as a shaft of white light erupted from the creature's back. Instantly recognizing the type of weapon it was, he stumbled backwards, getting out of range of the lightsaber.
The blade's owner heaved, and it slid vertically, nearly severing the Bothan in two.
The feral fell away, and Chase could see the welder of the blade. It was a girl, maybe a year or two younger than him. Exhaustion and sweat shone on her face, her blonde hair, which had at one time been up in a pony tail now framed her face, almost appearing to be a halo. Her clothes were covered in stains and blood, and her chest heaved as she gulped air.
As her blue eyes lifted and met his, he felt his heart skip a beat.
He could barely believe that it was her. A thousand thoughts raced through his mind, everything from how pretty she still was, to wondering what she was doing in the Underworld.
Then her face lightened, brightened as her lips twisted into a brilliant smile.
"Chase!"
He felt his mouth open and close, but no sound would emerge and then the humming noise stopped as she shut down her saber.
Moving almost too fast for him to follow, she flung herself at him. Her thin arms snaked around his neck as she buried her face against his shoulder. Suddenly, she began trembling and crying, and he instinctively wrapped his arms around her, and began whispering nonsensical noises.
A babble of words rushed from her. He caught snippets of what she was saying: trouble on Ossus, Ben Skywalker, kiss, mother, Tahiri, family.
It was a rush of words that he didn't have time to fully process; especially while trying to comfort her.
He stroked her hair, trying to tame it somewhat, letting her cry herself out.
Finally her tears slowed down, and she pulled away from him. Her eyes were rimmed with redness, and had that puffy look to them that a girl's eyes always seemed to get when they cried. He smiled at her, and raised his hand to her face. With a flick of his fingers, he brushed away one of her tears.
"Feel better?"
She nodded slowly, and then hiccupped before saying, "I… I was worried there for a minute. There were a lot of those… those ferals."
"Why did you stop and fight then?"
She looked over her shoulders into the darkened building. "I was running from that pack, and darted into that building to hide for a moment and catch my breath, when I discovered that it had a bunch of kids hiding in it."
"So, like a good Jedi, you stopped to help them out?"
She tittered a bitter laugh, and glanced away from him again. "Something like that."
She took a step away from him, and went back into the building. He followed her; a mixture of joy and relief at seeing her again boiled through him. He frowned as he considered his emotions, wondering why everything just felt lighter now that he was with her.
He watched her. Her shoulders seemed slumped, as if there was some great weight upon them, while her movements, dancer-like before seemed more terse; tenser, abbreviated somehow.
He shrugged his shoulders, not really paying attention to what she was asking the group of kids; focused instead on the way her hair bounced against her shoulders as she shifted to look at the child talking to her.
He felt his lips curling into a smile, and wasn't certain why.
She cast a glance over her shoulder at him; her brows knit together, an angry look on her face. "These kids were here as bait."
His eyes opened slightly wider. "Bait? For the Ferals?"
Noelani nodded her head. "Yeah, and I want to get to the bottom of it."
He frowned, and looked around the area. "Who would want to use them as bait?"
A hoarse, gruff voice sounded from the hole in the wall. "That would be me."
Chase turned and saw an elderly human standing there. He wore what appeared to be the tattered remains of an Imperial uniform. Arthritis curled his hands into talon-shaped hooks, and he hunched slightly to the left. His greasy grey hair was long and straggly and despite its length from the sides, the top of his head was totally devoid of hair. Chase could make out jagged scar tissue running across the man's scalp. Folds of sagging flesh showed that at one time the man was close to being morbidly obese.
Chase frowned at him. "And who exactly are you?"
His eyes glittered and his mouth twitched. "Surely no one that you ever heard of, but for simplicity's sake you may call me Evir."
Noelani stepped forward, her eyes flashing as her fists clenched together into small tight balls. "Why were you using these kids as bait?"
He arched an eyebrow. "Why to study the Ferals of course. It's quite an ingenious disease, and one I'm hoping to cultivate one day."
Chase blinked his eyes, as he processed that statement. "Cultivate?"
Evir nodded his head, the folds of empty flesh jiggling obscenely. "Yes," he replied. Then almost as an afterthought, he added, "One can't cure a disease unless one is able to cultivate it."
Chase glanced over his shoulder at the kids clutched together. "But why not just capture the Ferals to study?"
Evir glanced over his shoulder, and Chase caught movement in the shadows out there. "Oh, I could have done that, and have done so in the past, but the point is to watch the progression of the disease from point of infection to where they become part of one of the Feral combines." He looked back at the two of them. "Now, how would you two like to assist me? I have fifteen men out here, and they assure me that the two of you killed the Ferals much more effectively than they could have done, despite that they are trained soldiers."
Chase glanced at Noelani for a moment, and saw that she was chewing on her lower lip. Finally, she looked up at Evir. "What's in it for us?"
Evir smiled at them. "Food, boarding, the chance to cure the disease. Maybe even figure out why there are more and more Feral attacks here in the lower levels these days."
She shot her thumb back towards the group of huddled children. "And them?"
His eyes flicked over her shoulder at him. "What about them?"
"No using them, or any other children, as experiment fodder, and make sure that they have food and a safe place as well, and the same applies to any other children we find?"
Evir rubbed at his chin as his eyes flicked between Chase and Noelani. "I think we can manage that. So you two will work for me; help me stop the Ferals?"
Chase glanced at Noelani who tossed a look over her shoulder at the children behind them. Finally she looked up at him, a light had appeared in her eyes, and he now realized that it had been missing earlier. Silently he nodded his head once.
She smiled at him, and then turned back to Evir. "I think you have a deal."
Evir's smile grew broader, and Chase had to suppress a shudder, as his imagination supplied him an image of Evir eating both him and Noelani; like a witch from those old fairy tales.
"Wonderful!" Evir exclaimed as he clapped his gnarled hands together lightly. "Wonderful. Now everyone follow me, and we'll go to where we've set up our combine."
He turned away and hobbled from the building. Noelani looked up at Chase. "Is this okay, really?"
He nodded and held his hand out towards her. "Yeah. It's fine with me. But… I need to apologize to you."
She frowned slightly. "What for?"
"For leaving. I… I should have stayed with you."
She smiled; a brilliant thing that caused his heart to pound harder in his chest. "You're here now."
Then she grasped his outstretched hand, and pulled him out of the building, trailing after Evir. Chase glanced behind him and saw that the group of children was following them both.
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Breaking the kiss, she pulled away from him, dropping back to the flats of her feet. Opening his eyes, he saw hers slowly open as well. An emotion Anakin could not define shone in her eyes, and though her tears had stopped flowing, some still lined her eyes. Her mouth opened, and then she shut it quickly as she took a step back from him, chewing on her lower lip. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and he wondered for a moment just what was wrong.
"I... uh..uhm.. I'm sorry," she stuttered.
"D-don't apologize," he snapped at her.
"B,but I ignored your feelings," she replied, lowering her head, her eyes seemed to darken somehow. "I...."
Without realizing what he was about to say, he spoke. "I love you, Tahiri."
Her head snapped up to look at him, her eyes opening wide, one hand coming up to cover her mouth.
"Do you love me," he asked her.
"I.... I... I do. I've loved you for years and years." She looked down into her hands for a moment, and then back up at him. "I... I think that if you loved me, then I could love you. Forever." Blushing, she looked away from him once again. "I don't really understand it, but I think it's something like that."
He watched as the blush on her cheeks grew darker and more pronounced.
"Uhm..." she began. "What am I saying? I shouldn't be talking about things that like that. It isn't like me."
"No, my thoughts are the same," Anakin replied, smiling down at her. "We've lost six years. We need to regain that time."
"Anakin..."
Then she flung herself at him, wrapping her arms around his chest, squeezing him tightly.
"Then let's meet here tomorrow. Here at this bench, it will be like old times. We'll meet just like we used to."
Letting his own arms wrap around her, Anakin nodded his head. "Yeah, like we used to."
------------------------
He pushed open the door and stepped into the apartment, Tahiri entering right behind him. He looked around, and went into the kitchen area, Tahiri still by his side. Once there, he saw Jaina wiping down the table as Mara prepped a meal in the kitchen.
His aunt looked up from the vegetables she was cutting and smiled at them both. "Welcome back, you two."
"Uh... Yeah, we're home."
A frown flickered across his face, as he quickly glanced down at Tahiri. Something about the situation rankled, and he wondered how Mara and Jaina would feel about the change in his relationship with Tahiri.
Trying to think of something to change the subject to, he looked over at Jaina once again. "Ah, so Jaina, you're helping Aunt Mara tonight?"
"Yeah," Jaina replied, one eyebrow lifting slightly. "So, you met up with Tahiri... did you find the lost item?"
"Nope, not yet," he said, and then looked down at Tahiri again. "Right?"
"Yeah," Tahiri replied, a blush cropping up on her cheeks.
Anakin noticed the smirk that Mara was fighting to keep from her face as she shot a look towards his sister. Internally, he sighed.
She waved her hand towards the bedrooms. "Why don't you two go wash your hands and get ready for dinner?"
Anakin nodded. "Yeah," he said as he looked down at Tahiri. "Come on, let's go."
He then walked from the room, noticing the slight hesitation before Tahiri followed him. As soon as the left the kitchen, she bolted past him, running down the hallway towards her room.
Startled he watched her disappear into her room. He stared at the closed door for a moment, wondering if he had done something wrong. If he had hurt her somehow. Sighing, he entered his own room, and dropped onto his bed. He put his hands behind his head, and looked up at the ceiling, thinking about this afternoon; about the kiss.
Ikrit jumped up onto the foot of the bed, and started walking up his legs. Frowning, he kicked, knocking the white creature back slightly.
As he felt Ikrit once more climbing towards him, he closed his eyes...
Opening his eyes again, he found himself huffing as he ran through the Temple. Everything seemed oversize, too big, the doorway, the com units, benches, everything. He frowned, and then suddenly realized that this must be another dream.
Turning a corner, he stumbled to a stop; there was the dream version of Tahiri. His breath caught in his throat, and he suddenly felt his palms grow slick with sweat. She sat on a bench, idly kicking her feet as she hummed one of Tionne's ballads, her head bounced from side-to-side in time with the music. Slowly, he approached her, struggling to regain control of his heart.
"Ah, sorry I'm late," he said.
She looked up at him, a smile touching her lips. "I'm just happy that you're here."
She jumped up off of the bench, and reached out for his hand. Instinctively, his own slid out and grasped hers. Together, they turned and ran giggling from the Temple. Heading towards the great river where it glittered in the dim sunlight.
The river itself appeared the same as always. Meters across, and with a fast current. Anakin watched a limb as it bobbed up in down, pulled downstream by the current. He looked around the area, flickers of memory superimposing themselves over what he was seeing.
He frowned, when he saw the raft. It was wood, worn, a dingy brown color, and beached on the shore a few meters to their left. Staring at it for a moment, he then looked around again. Turning back to the raft, he then scratched at the top of his head and said, "I thought it was supposed to be silver?"
Tahiri paused as well, and looked up into the darkening sky for a moment, before turning her attention back to the raft. "In the dream it was, but that's just a dream. I'm surprised to find a raft here at all."
"I don't know..."
"Oh, come on, Dummy," she said, sighing loudly as she walked to the raft and began punishing it out into the river.
Sighing, he followed her, and began to help her push the raft into the river. They clambered into the rocking boat, and Anakin picked up an oar.
He slipped the oar into the water and pulled it towards him, propelling the boat down river. He frowned. This was nothing like the dream. There were no clouds, no storm. Finally, they stopped at the broken old temple from their dreams. He beached the raft, and climbed out, turning to help Tahiri get to land.
She stared into the darkened doorway. "What do you think is in there?"
He shook his head, an instinctive fear clutching at his heart. "Dunno, but we're here now, and this is where our dream is leading us... so we need to find out."
He held his hand out, and she looked at it for a moment. Then she reached out and slipped her hand into his. Smiling at her, he gently squeezed her hand, and then faced the doorway again.
Together, they crossed the threshold and went into the darkness beyond.
------------------------------------
Anakin walked past the table, yawning. Ignoring everything but the strong scent of caf, he went into the kitchen and poured himself a cup, and after adding in an appropriate amount of sweetener, took a first, hesitant sip.
"Good morning, Anakin." Jaina said from the table.
He looked up to find her sitting there, wide awake and already dressed for school. In his surprise, he coughed, spewing caf over the counter in front of him.
A frown flickered onto her face. "You're overreacting, Anakin."
"What's going on?" he asked. "I thought you didn't have morning practices any more because the tournament was over."
"The tournament is over, but she still has to practice," Mara said from her seat opposite of Jaina.
Jaina stood up from her seat. "Well, I'll be off now."
Mara stood up as well. "Do you think you'll be home early today? There's a couple of things I want to go over with you."
"I'm sure I can manage that," Jaina replied as the two left the kitchen.
Frowning slightly, Anakin took another swallow of his caf.
A short while later, he was walking down the path, Tahiri there beside him.
"You're up early too," he said.
"Yup," she replied nodding her head vigorously. "It's good to be the first person to class on occasion."
"Is your school that much fun?"
"Of course."
"Why?"
"Well," she said, as she lifted her head to look at the sky. After a moment, she raised a finger. "First, there's seeing friends that I only see at school." Suddenly, she stopped and looked around, turning in the direction opposite of the Temple. "Well, this is it. Don't forget your promise for after school."
He grinned. "Don't go following a stranger, even if he gives you a canapé."
She stomped her feet, and yelled, "I'm not a child!"
He crossed his arms over his chest, and smirked at her. "You're a child until you can solve hyperspatial cubic equations in your head, like it's child's play. Do you even know what hyperspatial cubic equations are?"
She frowned, and started to chew on a knuckle. "Not really..."
Smiling, he tucked his thumbs behind his belt. "I don't either."
"What!" she yelped and then reached out and smacked his chest.
------------------------
After school, Anakin ran through the shopping district, heading towards the bench where he had promised he would meet Tahiri. He glanced at his chrono, and realized that he was already fifteen minutes late. Finally, he arrived at the bench, and staggered to a stop.
Scowling, she flipped her hair over her shoulder. "You're late, Anakin."
"Sorry," he replied, his breath coming in deep gasps. "But, I had to help clean up after the lesson."
"Oh, I see," she replied, bouncing up off the bench. "Well, in that case, I guess it couldn't be helped."
Anakin looked up at the sky. "Well, it'll get dark if we don't hurry."
She grinned at him. "So, where do we get to go?"
"Why that place, of course."
She tilted her head, a frown flickering on her lips. "'That place?' Where is that place?"
Anakin shrugged his shoulders. "Is it the shopping district? You always seem to be here."
"Ah," she responded. "Yes, it's the shopping district."
"Great," Anakin smirked, holding out his hand towards her. "Shall we go holding hands?"
Her face shifted towards crimson. "No, it's embarrassing."
"Kissing is fine," he said, arching an eyebrow at her. "But holding hands is embarrassing?"
"Uh... That... uhm... Well..."
Anakin chuckled and then turned away and started walking. "Come on, if you don't hurry, I'll leave you behind."
"Wait!" she called out, running to catch up to him.
They walked the first block in silence, and he could see the blush that was still on her cheeks.
"I don't really mind holding hands," she muttered.
"What?"
Then she reached out and grasped his hand, squeezing it tightly in hers. "See... isn't that warmer?"
"Yeah..."
The two then spent the next two hours searching the shopping district for Tahiri's lost item. Unable to find it before the sun had set in the west, Anakin bought them both a canapé, and they retreated to a bench. He leaned his head back, and looked up at the stars.
"So," he began. "We still couldn't find it today."
"Yeah," she replied, her voice soft and low. "But you know... maybe it's better if we don't." She reached over and covered his hand with hers. "What I'm looking for is something I must not need, if I'm this happy."
She looked away, and he saw a blush crop up on her cheeks. "Besides," she continued. "I don't think I mind that I don't have it now. If I need it later, I can always look for it then."
"Okay," he replied, smiling at her.
---------------------------
Anakin stepped out of the refresher, toweling the water from his hair, when he heard Jaina's voice echoing down the hallway.
"Just as I thought, you look cute in that."
Then he heard Tahiri's reply. "Well, I think it might not fit right."
As he knocked on the door, Jaina was speaking again. "That's not true; it looks good- Come in!"
He opened the door and stepped into the room. "What are you two d-"
The ability to form words fled him as he stared at Tahiri wearing one of Jaina's outfits--the one cut along Corellian lines which she used during tournaments. Though Tahiri was the younger girl, she was taller, with slightly different, larger, proportions than his sister, which meant that the outfit was snug, showing off every curve of her body.
Anakin could feel his cheeks flaming, as he stared at the blond girl.
"What do you think Anakin?" she said, as she spun around.
He closed his eyes, and exhaled slowly. "Are you going to take up lightsabers or something?"
"You know it's my outfit," Jaina replied while rolling her eyes. "But she looks good in it, doesn't she?"
"I wished I went to your school," Tahiri said wistfully. "It sounds like a lot of fun."
Anakin shrugged his shoulders. "Well, yours is nice and relaxed. Come to think of it, I've never seen you study."
She giggled. "As long as I study at school, I can manage."
Jaina frowned for a moment. "You school is just over the big river, right?"
Tahiri quickly nodded her head. "Yes, it's just downstream a little bit."
Frowning, Jaina tugged on a lock of her hair. "When did they put a school up over there?"
------------------------------------
Anakin sat in the chair at his desk, a headset blasting music into his ears as he read the text for the next day's class.
A crack of thunder drew his attention and he looked outside to see the rain pouring down. Thick sheets, interrupted occasionally by a blue-white flare of lightning. He watched the rain for a moment, and then turned back to his terminal, getting lost once more in the finer points of biotechnological ethics.
When the current song ended, there was a pause before the next song came on, and he heard a knocking sound. Frowning, he took off his headset, and the knocking grew louder. He got up, and walked over to the door that led to the balcony, and opened the curtains, to find Tahiri on the other side. She was sodden, her hair hanging limp around her face, as her arms were clutched in front of her chest. Shivers wracked her body, as she pleaded at him with her eyes.
"Tahiri!" he shouted in alarm as he pulled open the door.
She stumbled inside, dropping to her knees, her body still shaking. He ran and grabbed a couple of towels, and then returned, rubbing down her hair and shoulders. Once he had moped up most of the wetness, he yanked the blanket from his bed and wrapped it around her. Then he picked her up, and dropped her onto his bed, rubbing her shoulders, trying to help her warm up.
A minute or so later, he straightened, and said, "I'll be right back with some caf."
He went to the kitchen, and quickly prepared a cup of caf for her. When he got back to his room, he handed her the cup, and she took an experimental sip, sighing as she swallowed the warm drink. Her teeth still chattering, she looked up at him. "T-t-t-that w-w-w-was c-c-c-cold."
"Sorry," he replied, scratching at the top of his head. "I didn't realize you were out there."
"Don't worry, I was the one that did it. I just can't believe I let my door lock behind me."
He grinned at her. "So, you're here as a robber tonight?"
She growled slightly, her head snapping up to look at him. "A robber wouldn't have knocked."
"Well then, what were you doing out there?"
Blushing, she turned away. "I... I just came to talk with you."
He laughed. "Then why not use the hallway?"
"I was worried that I would wake up Jaina when I walked past her door."
Anakin sighed, and shook his head. "Jaina's such a heavy sleeper, little things like footsteps have no chance of waking her up."
"Well," she replied, looking back at him. "That may be... but..."
"You're such an idiot."
Anger flushed her cheeks as she narrowed her eyes and stared at him. Her lips compressed into a thin line, as she said, "You don't have to be so blunt about it."
"But," he continued, dropping down to kneel in front of her. "That's one of the things I like about you, so I guess I'm an idiot as well."
The redness on her cheeks flared brighter as her face softened in surprise. "Really?"
Chuckling once, he nodded his head, and then glanced out into the rain. "But seriously, if you get scared so easily, why'd you go out there?"
"Because I wanted to see you," she replied, and then she looked down at her hands. "It's lonely being alone in that room by myself."
Leaning forward, he lifted himself up slightly, and placed a gentle kiss on her forehead. He lingered there for less than a minute, but it felt like forever. She was quiet, her eyes large and round, and her mouth opened slightly.
Straightening up, he smiled down at her, and then walked over to the door. He opened the curtains and then stared out into the night and the storm. A few moments later Tahiri stepped up beside him, and leaned against him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and could feel how chilled her arm still was.
"Are you still cold?" he asked.
"No," she replied, shaking her head into the side of his chest. "I'm fine. Thank you."
They stood in silence for a few moments before Tahiri spoke again. "Anakin? Do you like it here?"
He glanced down at her for a moment, and then looked back out at the rain. "I... yeah, I think I do. So much stuff has happened since I came back, but despite it all, or maybe because of it all, I think I'm happy here. I like being a Jedi. For the first time in years, I can say that I'm truly happy."
He looked down at her, and saw the wistful smile she had on her face.
"Y'know, if you weren't training to be a Jedi, we could have gone to the same school."
"I'd like to see your school, and why aren't you in training yourself? I remember you used to be."
"Well, I'll take you to my school tomorrow after your training is over. As for my training, I... I don't quite remember... I don't think I made it. I... I think they might have told me that I couldn't be a Jedi. That I needed to wait a bit before trying again."
He watched her for a moment, the way her eyebrows had narrowed, and her eyes flickered back and forth as she thought hard, the way she was chewing on her lips, and the way she wrung her hands together. He decided to not ask any more about her Force potential. Instead, he turned back to the night. "Yeah, we'll go tomorrow afternoon."
"Great," she said, a large smile coming to her face. "Then we'll meet at the bench. Look forward to it, okay?"
He couldn't help but be warmed by her smile. He nodded his head. "I will."
------------------------------------
Anakin stepped out into the hallway, Tahiri still leaning against the door jamb watching him. Then the door to Mara's apartment opened up. Looking that way, Anakin saw her emerge from her apartment dressed in a set of dark green Jedi robes. The Jedi Master smiled at them, and Anakin waved bye to Tahiri.
Together, he and Mara stepped onto the lift, and he pushed the button for the ground floor.
Smiling, he looked over at Mara. "You're out early today."
"Yes," she replied with a chuckle. "Someone scheduled a Council meeting for this karking hour."
She's on the Council? he wondered.
"Are you still having trouble with your memory Anakin?'
"Yeah..."
"You don't remember anything about what happened six years ago?"
"No, not really," he replied, rubbing his hand down his face.
"I see," she responded and then looked away.
"Is there something that you're not telling me, Aunt Mara?"
"No, it's nothing. Only... well, only one of the Temples was razed, and..."
Then with a ping, the doors slid open for the ground floor, and without finishing her thought, she stepped off the Lift and walked away. Anakin watched as she disappeared through the door, wondering what she had been talking about. Wondering exactly what it was that she knew that he didn't.
Sighing, he left the building, and began the long hike to the Jedi Academy.
-----------------------------
He was sitting beside Tahiri on the bench, staring at the clouds as they rolled across the sky. The sun was nearing the horizon and cast an orangish-red tint over everything. He had bought them each a canapé, and she was happily eating hers, humming a tune he didn't recognize.
Suddenly, the tune stopped. "Hey, Anakin? If... well... if..... What would you do if you were my first love?"
He thought for a moment, and then decisively nodded his head. "Well, I'd ask you to change that this moment."
"What? Why?" she asked, panic causing her voice to rise slightly.
Blushing, he looked away from her. "It's often said that first loves don't come true."
She jumped up out of her seat, and stood in front of him, leaning over so that she would be eye level with him. "Anakin! Could it be that you're saying something embarrassing?"
"Leave me alone..."
She giggled. "But your face is all red."
"That's because of the sunset."
She straightened up, and took another bite of her canapé, chewing thoughtfully. Swallowing, she asked, "What was your first love like?"
He looked at her for a moment, and then averted his eyes from her again. "Well, I don't know if she was my first love or not... but I had a crush on an older girl."
"Oh? An older girl?"
"Yeah," he replied, blushing. "But other than that..."
Part of an image flashed through his mind's eye. Blond curls, lips twisted into a scream. He shuddered, and as fast as the image appeared it was gone--lost to the fog in his mind.
"I don't remember that well," he continued. "But I do remember that something sad happened..."
"Something sad?"
He lifted his head quickly and grinned at her, noting the worried expression painted on her face "Nothing. I'm just talking to myself." He stood up. "Don't worry about it, it's in the past. Tahiri, are you happy right now?"
She smiled brightly for him. "Yep, I am." Then she lowered her face slightly as her expression darkened. "But sometimes... sometimes I'm not so sure."
"Not sure?"
"I'm scared of the happiness," she explained. "It's so frightening, and I'm uneasy, and it feels like the reality right in front of me is nothing but a dream."
"You're thinking too much," he replied.
"Yeah," she said, not sounding entirely convinced.
"Besides, it doesn't suit you to give such serious lines.
She looked up at him, her eyes narrowing once again. "Dummy, don't tease me."
He grinned at her. "It's not the same as it was six years ago. I'm not going anywhere this time. I'll be here for you. I'll be right beside you."
Tears lined her eyes, as she sniffled. "Serious lines don't suit you, either."
"Well, I'm sorry," he replied.
Then her shoulders began to shake, and the threatened tears began to fall. They sliced down her face, splashing against the half-eaten canapé in her hands.
"You're canapé's going to get salty."
She laughed through her tears. "That's okay... it'll be a nostalgic taste."
----------------------------
They were walking towards the north, just leaving the shopping district. In the distance, Anakin could make out the great river, and the bridges that spanned it for the new construction on its far banks.
"How long does it take to get to your school?"
"Oh, about thirty minutes," she replied.
"So, it's a walk," he said, looking up at the sky, and noticing that the next wave of rain clouds were starting to roll in. "Let's hurry; it looks like it's about to come down again."
They reached the river, and she looked around for a moment, as if she were confused. Then she turned right, and started walking towards the forest on the river's edge.
He caught up with her quickly. "So it's out this way? It's at a really inconvenient place..."
"Yeah..."
He looked down, noticing the odd expression on her face; a mixture of fear, and concern. Frowning, he asked, "Hey, are you sure there's a school this way?"
"There is one," she replied. Then her face hardened slightly. "There is definitely one!"
She took off running, dodging the undergrowth.
"Tahiri!" he called out after her, giving chase.
They ran for fifteen minutes, before Tahiri paused and looked around her. Anakin leaned against a tree, his breathing coming in ragged gasps. "Hey, are you sure you're going the right way?"
She looked over her shoulder at him, and he noticed that she wasn't even breathing hard. "I'm sure." She turned away from him, and continued speaking. "It's the school I've been going to. I went to it today, and I met my friends there."
Then she started walking deeper into the woods.
He noticed that they had begun to walk up a hill, and Tahiri's pace quickened. "See! You can just now start to make it out. Beyond that ridge is my..."
She had crested the hill and stopped.
He stepped up beside her and looked out at a field that had at one time contained a Massassi temple. The stone work was still standing in some places, but most of it had been melted down by turbolaser. Anakin looked around, a frown coming to his face.
"No... it's... it's nothing," Tahiri muttered.
In the back of his mind, he heard Mara's words again: one of the Temples was razed, and...
Tahiri started moving forward, heading towards the melted stone. Anakin watched her, listening as she mumbled, "No... way... why... I was... why?"
She stopped a few meters shy of the first bit of stone. "I know this place. School? I was... was... but... then... why..." She raised her face towards the heavens, her shoulders started to shake, and he could hear the tears in her voice. "Am I not supposed to be here? It's a joke! It can't be."
She dropped to her knees, and put her hands over her face, her body shaking.
"Tahiri!" he called out, running forward.
Suddenly, she yanked the school bag off her shoulder, and undid its clasp.
"I had school today, I was here," she screamed at the bag.
Her body froze as she stared into the bag.
"Tahiri," he said, as he neared her. "What's wrong? What's going on?"
She set the bag on the ground in front of her, and he noticed that it was empty. "I... I have to search for it," she replied as she stood up.
She turned towards him and then ran past him.
"Hey! Tahiri!" he called out. He ran over and snatched up her bag, and then chased after her.
She ran through the woods as if she were a part of them, while the limbs and branches seemed to snag him every time he moved forward. As he ran, he looked up and noticed that the sky had darkened appreciably.
Panting, he ran faster, pausing as night finally fell around him. "Tahiri!"
He received no answer, and then continued running. He passed a path, one lined with lights, and slowed to a stop. Sitting in one of the pools of light was Tahiri, her hands digging into the dirt beneath her.
Working to get his breathing back under control, he stood there watching her.
Finally, he started forward, worried that she would run again. He stopped a few paces from her. "Tahiri, what are you doing?"
She just continued to dig in the dirt. Leaning over, digging her fingers into the hard packed ground, and then pulling her hands towards her.
"What are you doing?" he yelled.
She jumped, and slowly lifted her head. Her green eyes were bright with pain and fear and her voice was soft and weak. "Searching for my lost item."
She then turned back to her digging.
"Lost item? It's somewhere around here? Buried?"
She nodded her head once, quickly. "Yeah..."
"Then we can look for it together, tomorrow once the sun has come up."
Her shoulders started to shake. "I can't," she said. Then she looked up at him again, the tears once more streaming down her face. "I can't... because the night might never end."
He watched her as she watched him. Then she looked down at the ground once more, and began to dig.
Anakin set her bag down beside him, and took off his jacket which he then draped over her shoulders. Kneeling on the hard ground, and he too began to dig.
"Anakin..."
He looked up, and saw the tears that shone in her large green eyes. He smiled at her. "You have to find it, right?"
She nodded again. "Yes."
He turned back to the hole he was digging. "Then let's hurry and find it."
Three hours later, they had dozens of holes, and still had not found Tahiri's lost item. Standing, they looked back at the holes that were scattered down the path.
He sighed. "We're a mess."
"Yeah," she agreed lifelessly.
He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her tight against him, as a light rain started. "We'll try again tomorrow." Then he looked around, saying, "Let's see... your bag is..."
Spying it on the ground a few meters away, he let Tahiri go and started walking towards it.
Behind him, he heard Tahiri's pain filled voice. "I'm sorry, Anakin."
He chuckled. "This is nothing."
"I... I don't think I'll be able to meet you anymore."
He stopped. He couldn't move—everything seemed frozen. His heart pounded in his ears, and he found that he was afraid to turn around and look at her.
She continued speaking, "We got to see each other again, but... It's been six years since we last met but..."
His shoulders started to shake, and he squeezed his eyes shut; wishing for some way to stop her voice.
"I'm really sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Anakin..."
Finally, he found his voice. "Hey! What are you sa-" He had turned around, and all he saw was his jacket lying in the middle of the path. "Tahiri!"
Slowly he retraced his steps back to his jacket, and looked down. He frowned as he realized there were no other footprints in the fresh mud from the rain.
He heard her voice, an almost echo in the back of his mind.
I don't think I'll be able to meet you anymore. We got to see each other again, but... It's been six years since we last met but... I'm really sorry. I'm so, so sorry, Anakin...
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Noelani ran around the corner; her heart pounded in her chest, a constant thudding that worked in time with the shallow gasps of breath that were all she was able to take, and the throbbing of pain that had appeared in her side. She tossed another glance over her shoulder and saw the six ferals still chasing after her, moving almost as fast as her Force enhanced speed allowed her to move.
Slipping in a puddle, she darted down a side alley and stretched out with the Force. This was the first time in over a week that she had actively used it in this way, the first time since leaving the Temple, and she hoped that the Jedi wouldn't feel her use it. She did not want to alert them to her location; she did not want them to find her.
As she grasped at the Force, awareness flooded into her. She could feel the frayed, damaged existence of the ferals, and she could feel small pockets of regular beings. The regulars were close, and Noelani could feel them huddled in their darkened rooms; feel their fear at the ferals' moans and cries.
What she couldn't feel, was a way to escape the creatures.
She could feel her lightsaber hanging heavily on her belt, but did not want to use it on the ferals. After all, they had not asked to be turned into mindless creatures by the Yuuzhan Vong.
Turning another corner, she found herself in yet another alley. To the right was a series of open doors. She glanced behind her, and noticed that for the moment, she was out of the sight of the ferals. Instantly making up her mind, she dove through one of the open doorways. Her chest heaved as she gulped air, and struggled to calm the stitch in her side.
A scampering noise attracted her attention, and she lifted her head to find herself staring at a group of children; the youngest barely at an age where it could attend school, the eldest roughly her own age.
Her eyes flicked out over the ten or so children; their scared, dirty faces stared at her. She turned towards the doorway, instantly deciding that she couldn't hide here; that there was too much of a risk of bringing the ferals to these innocent children.
She refused to have their deaths on her conscience.
Yet, as she faced the gaping hole through which she had entered, she saw one of the ferals stumbling into the room. It groaned an almost subsonic sound which caused the children behind her to whimper.
Sighing, knowing she had no choice, she pulled out her lightsaber and thumbed its activation switch. Its harsh, white light threw the room into relief, revealing the horrendous caricature of a face which the feral sported.
She raised her blade and put herself between the children and the feral. It moaned again, and ambled into the room. Over its shoulder, Noelani could see more of the creatures coming in her direction.
Muttering a curse she would often catch Tahiri using, Noelani darted forward and slammed her saber into the shoulder of the first feral, aiming it down and across its chest. Sawing through the protrusions of coral, she finally succeeded in creating a diagonal slice through the creature.
The two halves of its body rolled away from each other, and Noelani turned her attention to the next feral in line. Raising her blade to a midguard, she prayed to the Force that she would be able to destroy them all before even more of the creatures appeared.
-------------------------------
Tahiri clutched at the edge of Jacen's cloak, twisting it into her fist, as she stared hard at her younger self. She was all of 12 years old, and knelt over Anakin's form. He was still, unmoving; a long gash from whatever had attacked them was on his forehead, blood flowing freely onto the dusty ground.
Her body hitched with a sob. Indistinct memories of this event flickered through her mind. Though she could not recall what it was that had attacked them, she knew without a doubt that it was at this moment. At this single eye blink in time, that she had realized that she loved him.
It took her another two years to garner enough courage to admit that, and even then, it was his courage to kiss her that spurned her to action.
Her younger self, knelt lower, pressing her tear streaked face against Anakin's chest, and the elder Tahiri could feel her body convulse through the pain.
She could feel herself growing more in tune with this time plane.
It had always been his courage that spurned her to action.
Jacen hissed into her ear. "Concentrate. Don't let the past affect you so that you don't become a part of it."
Biting back a scathing retort, she nodded her head, and slowly exhaled; struggling to keep her emotions under control. Not wanting to become a presence in her own past, and not wanting to break down in front of Jacen. He had enough control and power over her as it was.
Sniffling back tears, she turned to him once more. "Now what?"
Jacen smiled at her, causing her heart to jump into her throat once again.
"Now," he replied. "You try to take us forward in time to where we belong."
"All right," she said, and then closed her eyes, stretching out to feel the flow of the Force and time around them. Their little bubble in the past seemed different from everything else; unnatural somehow.
Making a mental note to ask Jacen about that feeling, she gripped the Flow, and imagined paddling a boat upstream; using that mental construct to control her movements up the Flow.
After what seemed an eternity, she collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath. Looking around, she saw that they were on the same plain that they had been standing; only now there were no longer the younger versions of Tahiri and Anakin on the ground.
She looked up at Jacen, her breathing still heavy. "Did I do it? Are we back in the present?"
Jacen's stony face looked down at her, and he closed his eyes. She could feel him reaching out in the Force around them, and then he slowly nodded. "Yes. Or near enough to not matter."
She looked around them, not wanting to look at Jacen. "In the past, when I reached out around us, there was a bubble of… of, wrongness around us."
"Yes," he replied. "That was because of our presence. We're not supposed to be in the past. It's forcing our will upon the Flow. That is why it feels so unnatural."
"Ah," she said, and began chewing on her lower lip.
She sat there for a few more minutes, before Jacen spoke again. "So, have you made your decision? Will you help me? Will you do what I need you to do? What I demand you do?"
A small part of her winced inwardly at the demanding nature of his request, yet she knew that this was the only way that she could learn how to Flow Walk; that this was the only way that she could possibly go back in time and change the past to fix the present. To fix the present so that Anakin was alive and she would be able to raise her daughter with him by her side.
She would pay any cost to be able to have those two simple things.
Nodding her head, she focused on him once again. "Yes. Yes I will."
His smile was cold and hard, and sent a shiver racing down her spine.
-------------------------------
The Millennium Falcon floated in space a parsec from Coruscant. A dozen new burns adorned her mottled hull from their narrow escape from Coruscant security forces.
Inside, a thin greasy looking smoke hung at knee height throughout the various corridors, seeping from a crack in one of the orange coolant lines that ran the length of the ship.
Leia stepped gingerly through the mist, not wanting to stir it up, because she knee that the coolant was poisonous to humans. She was just thankful that this particular coolant was heavier than air, and so it sank to the ground.
She still remembered Han cutting a coolant line on a replica of the Falcon so many years ago, and the plume of noxious smoke that it had created.
Sighing, she turned a corner to find Han leaned over into one of the many maintenance panels. Odd bangs sounded from the depths of the ship, and she lightly touched his back.
He jerked, and a stream of curses erupted from his mouth as he extricated himself from the panel.
Scowling, he looked at her, "Yeah?"
She smiled at him, and his expression softened. "Are you all right with everything that happened on Coruscant?"
Turning away from her, his shoulders slumped. "No. No I'm not ok with things. Where did we go wrong? What happened to him? The Jacen that we raised would have never used Mara's funeral in an effort to have us arrested."
"And Luke?"
"I don't want to talk about Luke until I get to talk to Luke. His betrayal of Tahiri, and us, still smarts."
Leia watched her husband for a moment, wondering when he had gotten so bitter about her brother. Knowing, deep down that she was just as bitter and heart broken.
Sighing, she turned away, and continued around the curve of the corridor until she stopped in front of the entrance of the cockpit. With a moment's hesitation, she stepped into it, and dropped into her chair. First she allowed her gaze to flicker over the co-pilot's station, once she was certain there was nothing wrong, she lifted her gaze and just stared out into space.
Her heart was heavy and hurt. It seemed like since the start of the Vong War a heavy blanket has covered the galaxy; a shroud which blanketed joy and happiness, which stifled life.
First faithful Chewbacca, then her own son Anakin, and now Mara; all were dead, each a painful cut into the heart and soul of her family.
Now her remaining son had gone Dark, and her own brother had hidden her grandchild from the girl's mother and her and Han.
The galaxy was painful and dark, and she saw no way she could fix it. She saw no way she could help it. Her family was scattered, broken. She feared they may be damaged beyond repair, that Mara's death, the discovery of Luke's betrayal and Jacen's fall had finally severed the bonds that held them together.
She longed for a way to repair things, a way to make things right again.
Yet she could not think of anything. The Force was silent and uncaring. Her own heart was cold and hard.
Her family. Her galaxy. Her heart. All were breaking. Broken.
And she could fix none of them, which she realized was what pained her most of all.
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