Disclaimer: All characters mentioned in this story are property of George
Lucas. I am making no
money from this story. I have a sense of honor.
I know I promised to do a sequel but this story has been in the works for a while, so heck I'll put it up first and then I'll get to work on the sequel to "In Your Arms".
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Star By Star, page 429
Myrkr
"Sooner?" Tahiri voiced. "But healing trances take hours-even days!"
Tekli ignored Tahiri and continued to mend Anakin's wound. "Your spleen was punctured. I closed the hole but it will continue to seep until you enter a trance and heal it yourself."
"How's he going to do that?" Tahiri demanded. "We can't stop, not with the Yuuzhan Vong so close!"
Jacen watched the scene with mixed emotions and he tightened his lips into a straight line to prevent the tremble that would have appeared. His little brother was in no condition to carry on, he could even be dying.
By the Force, he swore that no harm would come to Anakin as long as Jacen was still alive. Knowing his brother, Jacen was sure that Anakin would insist on leading the mission despite his injury. Anakin was both reckless and selfless like their father.
'No. He can't carry on like that. The pain would be too much," he reasoned with himself. Yes, Anakin was the strike team leader and that rendered Jacen's thought irrelevant. Anakin had already shown his defiance towards Jacen back at the beginning of the mission. Still he had to try to make his brother see reason.
"Anakin, you have to go into a healing trance," he finally voiced out to his brother who was struggling to his feet with Tahiri's help.
"And just who is going to lead the mission? You?" Anakin warned and there was no mistaking the contempt in his voice. Contempt directed at Jacen.
Jacen's patience snapped like a twig and despite the urgency of the situation and the explosions of fragmentation grenades coming from Alema, Jacen's voice was audible. "Watch your mouth little brother, you may be the leader of this strike team but don't you forget that I'm you elder brother."
Everyone who heard Jacen's words were taken aback. Jacen usually kept his emotions in check and did not lash out at anyone. This was one of the rare times where he had dropped his calmness.
He lifted his right hand and the Force gathered around it and Anakin immediately knew what Jacen was attempting. Jacen had a renowned ability to push Force-users into a deep healing trance, rivaling that of the most accomplished Jedi healers. Anakin could have resisted his brother's probe but in his weakened state, the lures of a healing trance were irresistible as he finally slumped to the ground into a trance.
Jacen wasted no time with words and he simply pointed to Tahiri and then pointed to Anakin's body. For a moment Tahiri glared at him but she caught Jacen's instruction as she tentatively levitated Anakin with the Force. Jacen then turned to face the rest of the strike team.
"I'm taking over this mission," he stated, giving the strike team a piercing stare. Jaina gulped as she recognized the stare that belonged to her mother's. It was the stare that said 'I won't accept another alternative' that Leia used whenever she was dealing with over-active senators and Han. It was unfair that only Jacen had acquired that stare but then he had always resembled Leia closer than Han.
Jaina was surprised that Ganner was the first to step up and support Jacen's decision with a simple nod. That gesture brought the rest of the strike team onto Jacen's side as they acknowledge the plans laid out by their new leader.
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Star By Star, page 577 Myrkr
Jacen unclipped his lightsaber. "I'll need to concentrate on the voxyn, so we have to do this without the battle meld. May the Force be with you, my friends."
Taking her own lightsaber in hand, Tenel Ka stepped over to kiss him and was cut off by Vergere.
"And with you Jacen Solo." Vergere shooed him down the slope. "Now go before your quarry escapes."
Jacen rolled his eyes and flashed a trademark lopsided Solo grin at Tenel Ka. Although he might not survive this encounter with the voxyn queen, he could take in the knowledge that his siblings were alive, the strike team was well on their way home and that Tenel Ka had wanted to kiss him.
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Star By Star, page 583 Myrkr
"No" Despite the size of Vergere's hand, Jacen was too weak to resist its overwhelming strength. She took his lightsaber out of his hand and then took Anakin's which was resting on his utility belt. Jacen had no idea why he kept Anakin's lightsaber with him but he was beginning to regret it. "You have won your battles. Now you pay."
He remembered the torture that he had face aboard the Exquisite Death and he could feel his fear at such a treatment. At least the Jedi were safe from the threat of the voxyn. Compared to that, his fear meant nothing, his pain meant nothing.
"It will Jacen," Vergere said, surprising him since he had not spoken his thoughts aloud. "That I promise you, it will."
He felt a warm drop strike his face, then another and another. He craned his neck and saw Vergere wiping tears from her cheeks, her face turned so the other Vong warriors would not see.
"Vergere were you-"
"Yes, Jacen." She pressed a finger to his lips. "I was crying for you."
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Dark Journey, page 120
Hapan Space
White-hot pain speared through Jaina Solo's senses as she ripped off the cognition hood of the Yuuzhan Vong frigate to examine the look of pain she had seen on Ganner's face. She realized that the surge of pain had not come from the ship's nerves but from the other Jedi aboard it. All of them had formed only a singe solitary thought in their heads.
Jacen.
Jaina sat down in sadness and grief when she realized that Jacen had appeared in the Force but she had not been able to feel him. She knew that her own anger and grief prevented her from contacting him ever since she had fallen to the dark side on Myrkr. She had given in to her anger at those who had injured Anakin, at those who had taken Jacen away from her.
Jaina looked from one face to another and her grief edged up another notch when she saw Jacen's death etched on the faces of Lowbacca, Ganner, Zekk and Tekli. Then another searing storm hit her, from a source she barely confirmed as Tenel Ka. Tenel Ka's pain and regret were obvious. Regret that she never had a chance to confess her attraction for Jaina's twin.
"Jaina?"
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A strong surge in the Force jarred Anakin Solo out of his 'Jacen- induced' healing trance. His first reaction was to reach down to his wound and he found that it had healed. Mostly. He remembered how he had tried to fight the charms of a healing trance but his body had betrayed him. He lay sprawled on the floor for a while as he felt anger course through his whole body. Most of it caused by Jacen.
"Anakin?"
A silhouette of a head appeared in his vision but he could make out the name of the person judging from the pitch of the voice. As his vision cleared, he could make out blond hair and green eyes looking down at him. The face etched with concern and had seemed to age in years in just a couple of days.
"Tahiri?"
"Yes," she mumbled and she kneeled down. Anakin felt a warm teardrop on his face and soon many teardrops after. Tahiri was shedding tears because of him. Yet something in her Force presence said it was not all because of him.
"What's wrong?"
"You don't know?" she said. "He died."
Anakin had a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Who died?"
Tahiri's next words came out in a whisper and Anakin felt a burning inside him. "Jacen," she said.
This time anger burned in Anakin Solo like a Wayland forest fire and the fuel came from the death of his brother. Anger at himself for not giving his brother the respect he deserved, anger at the ones who were responsible for the death of his brother and anger at the cruelty of life itself.
He reached out with the Force to find his brother's signature presence. To show everyone that he was not dead, he was still alive. He came across nothing. Again and again he reached with the Force, searching desperately for any sign of reassurance.
All he came out was grief and deep sorrow spewing out from his mother, his uncle and his sister. Jaina. "Come on, we have to get out of here."
"No, you're still too weak and-" She stopped when she was met with his angry gaze and she folded. Standing up, she pulled him up to her height and he nearly dropped down again as his knees gave way. Slowly, step by step, they made their way to the cockpit as Anakin sobbed all the way.
They came into the cockpit and watched as all the other Jedi assembled there. Anakin knew that they too had felt Jacen's death. None of them seemed to notice his presence as they all hung their heads in sadness.
"Jaina," he uttered and for the first time all attention was fixed on him. He reached out and felt his sister's presence, it was cold. His sister looked old, even a few worry lines had appeared on her pretty face. Anakin had no doubt that his sister had fallen to the dark side. The question was when and how.
Jaina looked at him and in three long strides, enveloped Anakin in an embrace, mindful of his wound. Jaina sobbed into his chest, wetting his tunic and his tears fell freely from his eyes. He had never experienced such a loss. A heavy burden had been placed on his shoulders and chest.
"We're very sorry Anakin. It's a sad loss for the Jedi. Jacen was a good brother," Zekk finally said, laying a comforting hand on Anakin's shoulder.
"He was and he will always be," Anakin finally said the words that he had always known to be true. Despite the numerous fights and the harsh words Anakin had said, Jacen had always tried to support him as best as he could. He would really miss his big brother.
"I'm sorry Jacen," he mumbled.
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2 years later
Somewhere in Hyperspace
A lone Yuuzhan Vong transport that had once belonged to Nom Anor, streaked through the starlines. It's destination-the water world of Mon Calamari. The three occupants in the ship traded stories about the war, the Republic and also about Zonama Sekot though the tallest occupant had withdrawn into himself, contemplating.
One of the occupants, a roguishly handsome Jedi Knight, voiced his concern at the man whom he had gained a tremendous respect for. Ganner Rhysode regarded the man with genuine concern. His hand was resting on the once thought lost lightsaber of Anakin Solo. Ganner had used it to protect the man from Vong warriors while he communicated with the World Brain of Yuuzhan'tar.
The other was a female Fosh and also a Jedi Knight of the Old Republic and had spent a long time in Yuuzhan Vong captivation. She also held vital information for the New Republic, information that could turn the war into the Republic's advantage. Vergere regarded the man with nothing more than a quirk of her head and an unconcerned sigh before falling into meditation, her chest glowing bright orange.
The last occupant was deep in thought, not noticing the looks he had been given by the other two occupants. The only thought in his mind was about being reunited with his family after two long years. Two long years where he had been pronounced dead by everyone in the Republic except his own mother. Jacen Solo had been through much in his nineteen years of life. He had killed more Vong warriors than he could count, he had been stabbed in the chest, he had killed the voxyn queen but he did not know if he would have the emotional strength when he met with his family and friends again.
His parents, his uncle, aunt and their son. His friends, Jedi or otherwise and his siblings. He longed to reopen himself to his twin bond and let the familiar presence of his sister mesh around with his own. He also longed to see the brother that he had saved back on Myrkr.
Vergere had fooled him by projecting the illumination on his brother back on Yuuzhan'tar but now he would see him. In flesh and blood.
"Are you okay or have you been taking too much of the sacweed broth until it's jamming your brain waves?" Ganner asked as Jacen finally noticed him for the first time. Ganner chuckled at the joke and silenced himself when Jacen stared at him in deadly fashion. "We're going back."
"Home," Jacen muttered and then Vergere snorted.
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To be continued
Like it? Hate it? Give me your opinions. They matter to me.
money from this story. I have a sense of honor.
I know I promised to do a sequel but this story has been in the works for a while, so heck I'll put it up first and then I'll get to work on the sequel to "In Your Arms".
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Star By Star, page 429
Myrkr
"Sooner?" Tahiri voiced. "But healing trances take hours-even days!"
Tekli ignored Tahiri and continued to mend Anakin's wound. "Your spleen was punctured. I closed the hole but it will continue to seep until you enter a trance and heal it yourself."
"How's he going to do that?" Tahiri demanded. "We can't stop, not with the Yuuzhan Vong so close!"
Jacen watched the scene with mixed emotions and he tightened his lips into a straight line to prevent the tremble that would have appeared. His little brother was in no condition to carry on, he could even be dying.
By the Force, he swore that no harm would come to Anakin as long as Jacen was still alive. Knowing his brother, Jacen was sure that Anakin would insist on leading the mission despite his injury. Anakin was both reckless and selfless like their father.
'No. He can't carry on like that. The pain would be too much," he reasoned with himself. Yes, Anakin was the strike team leader and that rendered Jacen's thought irrelevant. Anakin had already shown his defiance towards Jacen back at the beginning of the mission. Still he had to try to make his brother see reason.
"Anakin, you have to go into a healing trance," he finally voiced out to his brother who was struggling to his feet with Tahiri's help.
"And just who is going to lead the mission? You?" Anakin warned and there was no mistaking the contempt in his voice. Contempt directed at Jacen.
Jacen's patience snapped like a twig and despite the urgency of the situation and the explosions of fragmentation grenades coming from Alema, Jacen's voice was audible. "Watch your mouth little brother, you may be the leader of this strike team but don't you forget that I'm you elder brother."
Everyone who heard Jacen's words were taken aback. Jacen usually kept his emotions in check and did not lash out at anyone. This was one of the rare times where he had dropped his calmness.
He lifted his right hand and the Force gathered around it and Anakin immediately knew what Jacen was attempting. Jacen had a renowned ability to push Force-users into a deep healing trance, rivaling that of the most accomplished Jedi healers. Anakin could have resisted his brother's probe but in his weakened state, the lures of a healing trance were irresistible as he finally slumped to the ground into a trance.
Jacen wasted no time with words and he simply pointed to Tahiri and then pointed to Anakin's body. For a moment Tahiri glared at him but she caught Jacen's instruction as she tentatively levitated Anakin with the Force. Jacen then turned to face the rest of the strike team.
"I'm taking over this mission," he stated, giving the strike team a piercing stare. Jaina gulped as she recognized the stare that belonged to her mother's. It was the stare that said 'I won't accept another alternative' that Leia used whenever she was dealing with over-active senators and Han. It was unfair that only Jacen had acquired that stare but then he had always resembled Leia closer than Han.
Jaina was surprised that Ganner was the first to step up and support Jacen's decision with a simple nod. That gesture brought the rest of the strike team onto Jacen's side as they acknowledge the plans laid out by their new leader.
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Star By Star, page 577 Myrkr
Jacen unclipped his lightsaber. "I'll need to concentrate on the voxyn, so we have to do this without the battle meld. May the Force be with you, my friends."
Taking her own lightsaber in hand, Tenel Ka stepped over to kiss him and was cut off by Vergere.
"And with you Jacen Solo." Vergere shooed him down the slope. "Now go before your quarry escapes."
Jacen rolled his eyes and flashed a trademark lopsided Solo grin at Tenel Ka. Although he might not survive this encounter with the voxyn queen, he could take in the knowledge that his siblings were alive, the strike team was well on their way home and that Tenel Ka had wanted to kiss him.
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Star By Star, page 583 Myrkr
"No" Despite the size of Vergere's hand, Jacen was too weak to resist its overwhelming strength. She took his lightsaber out of his hand and then took Anakin's which was resting on his utility belt. Jacen had no idea why he kept Anakin's lightsaber with him but he was beginning to regret it. "You have won your battles. Now you pay."
He remembered the torture that he had face aboard the Exquisite Death and he could feel his fear at such a treatment. At least the Jedi were safe from the threat of the voxyn. Compared to that, his fear meant nothing, his pain meant nothing.
"It will Jacen," Vergere said, surprising him since he had not spoken his thoughts aloud. "That I promise you, it will."
He felt a warm drop strike his face, then another and another. He craned his neck and saw Vergere wiping tears from her cheeks, her face turned so the other Vong warriors would not see.
"Vergere were you-"
"Yes, Jacen." She pressed a finger to his lips. "I was crying for you."
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Dark Journey, page 120
Hapan Space
White-hot pain speared through Jaina Solo's senses as she ripped off the cognition hood of the Yuuzhan Vong frigate to examine the look of pain she had seen on Ganner's face. She realized that the surge of pain had not come from the ship's nerves but from the other Jedi aboard it. All of them had formed only a singe solitary thought in their heads.
Jacen.
Jaina sat down in sadness and grief when she realized that Jacen had appeared in the Force but she had not been able to feel him. She knew that her own anger and grief prevented her from contacting him ever since she had fallen to the dark side on Myrkr. She had given in to her anger at those who had injured Anakin, at those who had taken Jacen away from her.
Jaina looked from one face to another and her grief edged up another notch when she saw Jacen's death etched on the faces of Lowbacca, Ganner, Zekk and Tekli. Then another searing storm hit her, from a source she barely confirmed as Tenel Ka. Tenel Ka's pain and regret were obvious. Regret that she never had a chance to confess her attraction for Jaina's twin.
"Jaina?"
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A strong surge in the Force jarred Anakin Solo out of his 'Jacen- induced' healing trance. His first reaction was to reach down to his wound and he found that it had healed. Mostly. He remembered how he had tried to fight the charms of a healing trance but his body had betrayed him. He lay sprawled on the floor for a while as he felt anger course through his whole body. Most of it caused by Jacen.
"Anakin?"
A silhouette of a head appeared in his vision but he could make out the name of the person judging from the pitch of the voice. As his vision cleared, he could make out blond hair and green eyes looking down at him. The face etched with concern and had seemed to age in years in just a couple of days.
"Tahiri?"
"Yes," she mumbled and she kneeled down. Anakin felt a warm teardrop on his face and soon many teardrops after. Tahiri was shedding tears because of him. Yet something in her Force presence said it was not all because of him.
"What's wrong?"
"You don't know?" she said. "He died."
Anakin had a sinking feeling in his stomach. "Who died?"
Tahiri's next words came out in a whisper and Anakin felt a burning inside him. "Jacen," she said.
This time anger burned in Anakin Solo like a Wayland forest fire and the fuel came from the death of his brother. Anger at himself for not giving his brother the respect he deserved, anger at the ones who were responsible for the death of his brother and anger at the cruelty of life itself.
He reached out with the Force to find his brother's signature presence. To show everyone that he was not dead, he was still alive. He came across nothing. Again and again he reached with the Force, searching desperately for any sign of reassurance.
All he came out was grief and deep sorrow spewing out from his mother, his uncle and his sister. Jaina. "Come on, we have to get out of here."
"No, you're still too weak and-" She stopped when she was met with his angry gaze and she folded. Standing up, she pulled him up to her height and he nearly dropped down again as his knees gave way. Slowly, step by step, they made their way to the cockpit as Anakin sobbed all the way.
They came into the cockpit and watched as all the other Jedi assembled there. Anakin knew that they too had felt Jacen's death. None of them seemed to notice his presence as they all hung their heads in sadness.
"Jaina," he uttered and for the first time all attention was fixed on him. He reached out and felt his sister's presence, it was cold. His sister looked old, even a few worry lines had appeared on her pretty face. Anakin had no doubt that his sister had fallen to the dark side. The question was when and how.
Jaina looked at him and in three long strides, enveloped Anakin in an embrace, mindful of his wound. Jaina sobbed into his chest, wetting his tunic and his tears fell freely from his eyes. He had never experienced such a loss. A heavy burden had been placed on his shoulders and chest.
"We're very sorry Anakin. It's a sad loss for the Jedi. Jacen was a good brother," Zekk finally said, laying a comforting hand on Anakin's shoulder.
"He was and he will always be," Anakin finally said the words that he had always known to be true. Despite the numerous fights and the harsh words Anakin had said, Jacen had always tried to support him as best as he could. He would really miss his big brother.
"I'm sorry Jacen," he mumbled.
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2 years later
Somewhere in Hyperspace
A lone Yuuzhan Vong transport that had once belonged to Nom Anor, streaked through the starlines. It's destination-the water world of Mon Calamari. The three occupants in the ship traded stories about the war, the Republic and also about Zonama Sekot though the tallest occupant had withdrawn into himself, contemplating.
One of the occupants, a roguishly handsome Jedi Knight, voiced his concern at the man whom he had gained a tremendous respect for. Ganner Rhysode regarded the man with genuine concern. His hand was resting on the once thought lost lightsaber of Anakin Solo. Ganner had used it to protect the man from Vong warriors while he communicated with the World Brain of Yuuzhan'tar.
The other was a female Fosh and also a Jedi Knight of the Old Republic and had spent a long time in Yuuzhan Vong captivation. She also held vital information for the New Republic, information that could turn the war into the Republic's advantage. Vergere regarded the man with nothing more than a quirk of her head and an unconcerned sigh before falling into meditation, her chest glowing bright orange.
The last occupant was deep in thought, not noticing the looks he had been given by the other two occupants. The only thought in his mind was about being reunited with his family after two long years. Two long years where he had been pronounced dead by everyone in the Republic except his own mother. Jacen Solo had been through much in his nineteen years of life. He had killed more Vong warriors than he could count, he had been stabbed in the chest, he had killed the voxyn queen but he did not know if he would have the emotional strength when he met with his family and friends again.
His parents, his uncle, aunt and their son. His friends, Jedi or otherwise and his siblings. He longed to reopen himself to his twin bond and let the familiar presence of his sister mesh around with his own. He also longed to see the brother that he had saved back on Myrkr.
Vergere had fooled him by projecting the illumination on his brother back on Yuuzhan'tar but now he would see him. In flesh and blood.
"Are you okay or have you been taking too much of the sacweed broth until it's jamming your brain waves?" Ganner asked as Jacen finally noticed him for the first time. Ganner chuckled at the joke and silenced himself when Jacen stared at him in deadly fashion. "We're going back."
"Home," Jacen muttered and then Vergere snorted.
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To be continued
Like it? Hate it? Give me your opinions. They matter to me.