Zekk groaned as he hit the interior wall of his X-Wing. He could see that the Hapan fleet was making their way to safety which was all that mattered to Zekk. He could sense Jaina nearby, hoping that she would stay safe as they got ready to draw fire from the Anakin Solo once more. He felt himself get hit and his head hit the other side hard enough to knock him out. His ship crashed through space at a dizzying pace before it crashed to the surface of the Anakin Solo itself. Upon coming to, Zekk felt his head and his hand was covered with blood when he pulled it away. He knew that he had hurt himself far worse than he could possibly know. He could not feel Jaina or much of anyone as he crawled from the battered X-wing to the surface, coughing up blood as he went. He decided that since he was there he should find a way to get the Anakin Solo turned about and away from all of his friends, what was one more sacrifice?
Staying out of sight, Zekk saw Jaina and Jacen fighting. He knew that this was a bad thing, remembering their days at the Shadow Academy. He wanted to help but he knew that Jaina would be livid if he got involved as he stayed out of sight. He still could not feel her and knew she could not feel him since she had not reacted to his presence. There were shots from blasters being fired and he knew if Jacen's crew found here there they would kill her for sure. He could not let that happen. He ran through the stairwells, pulling his lightsaber and activating it as he let out a distress call through his comlink to the Sith Royal Family, he knew Homicide would come if no one else. Zekk gasped as he came face to face with the crew, using the force to shove them all into the wall before running by them, ensuring that they would follow. Indeed they did just as several TIE Phantoms landed and Zekk watched as the Sith Prince Homicide Li jumped out followed closely by the Sith Empress Tai Li and their siblings Beauty, Passion and Fury. He was glad to see them as he stood beside them. Another ship was hovering just beyond and he knew who it was. It was Shada Solo and he knew without having his force bonds to anyone that she couldn't bring herself to choose a side and involve herself.
Zekk fought with several of the crew before he saw Jaina and Jacen fleeing the level they had just been on together. Several Jedi were right behind them which seemed wrong to him. He hoped that the Sith Family would not be recognized as enemies since they were helping him with the crew. He looked up to see that Shada's ship was under attack by more Jedi to see who she was as another ship prepared to draw fire on Jaina and Jacen who were fleeing together. He couldn't let them be hurt, not when Jaina still meant more to him than anything though he would never admit it to her in a million years. He ran into the control deck to see what he could do, but the wiring was messed up beyond all reason, due to the fact that several Jedi were disabling the Anakin Solo so that it could not fight back. He ran back down, grabbing a breathing apparatus and borrowing Homicide's TIE Phantom to take off knowing his friend would understand. He flew the best he could, hearing the chatter through the radios and the frantic voice of Leia Solo screaming that those were her babies, three of the ones being attacked. Memories of Jaina flew threw his head as he felt himself falling to the dark side once more to use powers that he had not used in so very long. He was not fully fallen when he flew above the ship that was firing at Jaina and Jacen, opening the hatch so that he fell onto it and using the breathing mask to breath long enough that when he put his hands on the ship he was now standing on they erupted into fire. He used the force to circulate air through the mask as he pushed the fire through the ship and jumped before it exploded, falling through open space just as another ship flew beneath him, catching him with ease as his memory went as black as his vision did.
Memories...or were they dreams? Yes they had to be dreams of Jaina standing at the alter with him. Zekk fought to open his eyes but he could not so he finally surrendered to them. Each moment was like eternity as he watched himself kissing Jaina, holding Jaina, laughing with Jaina. Before long he finally opened his bright green eyes to see a woman with long silvery-blond and coldest gray eyes taking care of his wounds. He had never seen her before or had he? She seemed familiar but at the same time he could not remember her or having ever seen her. His hands hurt the worse. "What happened to me? Where am I? Who are you?" he asked softly and the woman slid her fingers over his mouth. "Shhh Zekk, don't talk. My name is Luna Kyl-Ryo, you're on Dathomir, my home sweet home. You lit a ship on fire with your hands, a power not many aside from Dathomirians had but you were not ready and your hands are burned very badly. Since you broke glass and metal with them they will probably scar. The burn should be gone soon," she said smoothing a salve onto his hands. He watched her trying to figure out why she seemed so familiar. In a way he was reminded of Tai but in a way not. "Thank you," he said before slipping into his dream filled sleep as the woman watched him, knowing deep down the only reason she had helped him was because he was the friend of her grandchildren, whom she would do anything for. She did not know that he was a Jedi, only that his name was Zekk and that Homicide talked about him a lot when they spoke once in awhile. She did not know Jaina Solo had put out a search party for him or that in the morning Zekk would leave without a good bye or without finding out Tai Li was her granddaughter.
Zekk wandered a lot throughout the galaxy, his hands healing two months into his travels. He was used to being on his own having been an orphan and it didn't bother him as much as he thought it was. He knew the Jedi Order was worried about everything that had happened thanks to the news and he made sure to stay out of the public eye despite that Jaina was looking for him. It broke his heart when he found out the Jagged Fel and Jaina Solo were announcing their engagement. She was seeking him out yet she had broken his heart all over again without ever knowing it. He shook his head and walked out of the diner he had been in that day, ignoring the stares he got from his hands which he was sick of. He walked into the nearest store and picked up three pairs of black gloves, pocketing them without notice and leaving. Once alone he cut the fingers off all of them and pulled them on, hiding the scars on his palms from sight as he went on his way. It was months before he heard that Jaina and Jagged had ended their relationship through a drunk Tycho Celchu. He was heading home by this time since the order was getting back together despite the fact Luke was mad Jacen was alive out there supposedly rebuilding his Empire. He had heard that Luke even raided the Sith Palace on Naboo, trying to arrest the Li-Stone families for coercing and aligning with Jacen Solo which had not gone far since Beauty was now the Queen of Naboo and Fury was it's Senator.
Zekk arrived at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant during a speech that Luke Skywalker was giving, standing in the back beside his old friend Kyp Durron and Kyp's little sister Nina who had also shown up late. He saw Jaina sitting with Shada, both of whom looked bored as he berated them all for having anything to do with the Sith, forbidding it and all contact with them. Zekk shrugged, Homicide and the others were not Sith to him, they were just ex-Jedi that were his friends as far as he was concerned. He was glad he had cleaned up before he got there as they were dismissed as Jaina got up turning around to leave. His emerald green eyes met her brandy brown ones and he smiled at her as she stared, not believing her eyes. He saw Shada nod to him then look at Kyp but it was not the same look the two had once shared and he knew it was over between his friend and Shada. He moved forward swiftly, dropping his bag on the ground as he wrapped his arms around Jaina for the first time in six months as she grabbed hold of him tightly. He wished that this would bridge the gap, the division between them. He was still so in love with her but would never admit it. He held her tight in his arms feeling home and safe at last in the safety of her embrace.
Later that week, alone in his quarters, Zekk sat on the bed in just his baggy black pants and his gloves staring at her picture. "Jaina," he whispered, the sorrow in his voice mirroring the torment in his soul. He heard a racket going on outside with loud raised voices. He got up and walked outside his quarters as did so many others. His eyes met Jaina's as she stood there in her pants and bra before he walked with her to find out what was going on. Shada was not far behind them, dressed in her usual all leather smuggler attire as she had just gotten back from delivering to the flight crews. There in front of the temple stood Luke Skywalker having a heated argument with Jacen Solo. Jacen wanted to come back to the Order and Luke did not want to let him, claiming that he did not have to though Mara Jade, whom Jacen had thought he had killed, was standing up for him telling him he deserved a second chance. Zekk reached out taking Jaina's hand and held her close to him as they listened to the whole thing before Luke gave in letting Jacen come back to them. With Jacen back, the rest of the month seemed to change, like everything had gone back to normal and nothing at all had changed. He and Jaina even started dating which was amazing to him since before everything he had been brushed off a lot.
The months passed in blurs, he could hardly believe that Jacen was challenging Luke the way he was but Zekk himself sided with Jacen as did many. He was more than willing to accept the consequences that came with it. He found himself losing his friendship to Kyp, who had sided with Skywalker, while he and several others sided with Jacen but there was nothing anyone else could do about it. Luke had several of his Jedi intimidate them but it never broke their spirits. Not even when Skywalker brought him in for questioning about his scars and what he had been doing did he break. "I will have you thrown in Kessel again," Luke threatened but Zekk kept his silence, finding himself in Kessel that evening, not that he stayed long. He was released thanks to Jaina going to the Sith Royal family who had pull over people there and soon he found himself in Jaina's arms once again, feeling complete and the pieces of his once broken heart even more mended.
It was a week after that when Zekk brought Jaina to Corellia, not knowing that at the same time Jacen was getting ready to take over the Jedi Temple and having Luke Skywalker placed under arrest as he ate dinner with Jaina and proposed to her. His heart skipped a beat when she said yes, he wondered if he was still breathing as she kissed him deeply. That night they made love and it was the first time he ever showed anyone just how badly his scars on his palms were. He kissed her as they lay together that night remembering when her picture had once just been a bitter memory to him but now they were together and he was whole. He looked at his scarred hands as she slept remembering how and why he had gotten them, his bond to her opening at last as she slept. He did not know that his memories could possibly flood her dreams as he remembered smashing through metal and glass, remembered igniting his hands and the ship on fire. All to save her and her twin brother. He smiled softly, he would never regret it nor would he change a thing. He was grateful to just have use of his hands still and to have her by his side wearing the ring he had made her from Corellian diamonds.
Their first night together on Coruscant after his final mission was the first night that Skywalker had been arrested and Jacen was now in charge of the Order as they lay together in her apartment on Coruscant, just a floor above Shada who was on Hapes for the weekend. "I will always be here for you Zekk, to comfort you and be your solace," Jaina whispered kissing him deeply as he held her close to him kissing her back deeply. "I will be your completion and the end of your broken heart like you are for me Jaina, now and forever," Zekk whispered back kissing her deeply and vowing to protect her always from whatever dangers may lie in wait on the adventures the future was sure to bring them. He finally had everything he could ever want-a home and the woman of his dreams and he would be damned if anything took that away from him.