Chapter 26: Ramifications.

"Tahiri? Tahiri, can you hear me?"

His voice sounded a million miles away to his own ears, so when his girlfriend's eyes fluttered open at those words, he was more than a little shocked that she'd been able to hear them.

"Anakin?" she croaked, straining against the tight hold he had her in.

"Shh," he hushed, bringing a hand up to gently stroke her clammy forehead. "It's ok; I'm here."

The fact that she'd woken up so quickly after losing consciousness was a good sign, but the dark liquid that had continued to ooze from her puncture wound, even after he'd covered it in bacta gauze, was not.

"Are you ok?" she asked in a low murmur.

"Am I ok?"

Anakin would have laughed out loud at such a question, had the situation not been so dire. Tahiri was lucky to be alive after such a severe injury, and there was still no guarantee that she would survive – and she was asking if he was ok?

"Of course I'm ok," he told her, letting his free hand envelope hers and giving it a short squeeze. "Do you remember what happened?"

The youngest Solo leant closer to his girlfriend as her face creased under the pressure to recall the events which had led to her subsequent injury.

"I… remember…"

"You remember?" he prompted.

Anakin was vaguely aware of the two presences that joined him at Tahiri's side as he continued his gentle probing, hoping to find an answer as to how the young girl had found herself in a circle of enemies.

"Tahiri?"

"I remember falling over… and seeing you… and…" she stopped abruptly to catch her breath, her emerald eyes brimming with unshed tears.

"I'm…"

"It's ok," he soothed, rubbing at the falling tears with the back of his thumb. Through the force, he could feel her mental barriers being erected at a frenzied pace, blocking him from her thoughts and feelings.

She was afraid.

"Whatever it is, you can tell me, Tahiri."

The blonde Jedi nodded through her tears, flashing him a weak smile. "I know I can, but…" Her eyes focused on something behind his left shoulder, and narrowed ever so slightly.

Flicking his head around, Anakin met the straight-faced form of the decoy leader, Ganner Rhysode. He looked to the opposite side and saw his elder brother resting on his haunches.

Was their presence the reason for Tahiri's hesitation?

"Could you two give us a moment, please?"

Jacen mumbled something that sounded to Anakin like "sure" and limped over to where the rest of the group had gathered. Ganner, however, was more reluctant to leave, giving the wounded girl a long, hard look, before following the other Jedi.

Once he was confident the two men were out of earshot, he turned his attention back to Tahiri, still lying in his grasp on the hard ground.

"Now, what was it you were trying to say?"

"I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Is that it?"

Anakin couldn't believe his ears; he'd sent Ganner and Jacen away for an apology?

"What more do you want me to say?" she wheezed. "I'm sorry; I didn't think when I jumped over that speeder. I saw Jacen in trouble, and I knew he wasn't going to make it in time, and…"

He didn't hear the rest of what Tahiri was saying, as the mention of his brother's name had sparked something in him – a memory of what he'd told his elder sibling to do, shortly before he'd lost sight of them both.

"Jacen, take her!"

Anger brewed inside Anakin, the feeling of his rising ire like nothing he'd ever felt before. He'd ordered his brother to look after his girlfriend, but Jacen had failed, and now she could die.

And it was all his fault.

Jacen's.

The young Jedi saw the lanky form of his elder sibling in deep conversation with Tenel Ka, and couldn't contain his feelings any longer.

He let go of Tahiri and rose in a burst of fury, the darkness flowing from him and lapping at the edges of the meld.

Anakin saw Jacen spin around to face him, the corners of his brown eyes crinkled with bewilderment.

That was when he charged.

Springing from his stationary position, he flung himself at his brother's throat, screaming a hundred different obscenities as his momentum pushed them both against a decayed wall.

"What in force?" Jacen managed to choke out, before the younger boy tightened the grip on his neck, blocking off his airway.

"I told you to take care of her!" Anakin bellowed. "You were supposed to keep her safe! You left her – you left her when she needed you the most, and now she's dying! She's dying, Jacen, and it's all your fault!"

Angry tears streamed down both cheeks, but he didn't care. His brother had just condemned the girl he loved most in this galaxy to death, and there was no way he was going to let a few tears stop him from making the one responsible pay.

Just as he was about to swing his clenched fist toward the older Jedi's exposed face, a strong hand clamped down around it, stopping him.

"Get a grip, Anakin! It wasn't your brother's fault!"

The young leader rolled his eyes at the man now towering over him, addressing him in a venomous tone. "And how would you know that, Ganner?"

"Because Jacen gave me responsibility of Tahiri when Tenel Ka needed his assistance!"

Anakin's eyes narrowed to a pair of almost non-existent slits. "So what you're saying is it's your fault that Tahiri could die?"

"I suppose so; yes."

In less than a second, the young man had his balled fist wrapped around the base of Ganner's jaw, the hard contact eliciting a loud crack as skin and bone split under the pressure.

"Anakin!"

Now it was his sister's turn to step in, pulling back on his arms to prevent him from continuing his aggressive assault on the decoy leader.

"This is insane! What has gotten in to you?"

"It's his fault; it's all his fault!"

He collapsed then, his straining legs giving way beneath him as a torrent of suppressed grief washed over his body.

Tahiri was injured, and she was dying. With Tekli still out of it due to a blow to the head, there was no one with enough healing experience to fix her; and as each moment passed, his best friend fell further and further into the depths of the force.

And the most horrible part was that there was nothing he could do about it.

----

Jacen watched the sobbing form of his baby brother and, despite what had just happened, felt an overwhelming sense of love for him. He knew in his heart that Anakin would never intentionally hurt anyone - least of all him.

The young boy was angry at the world more than anything else, Jacen knew, and understandably so – one of the people he cared about most had just been fatally wounded, and even the great Anakin Solo couldn't fix it.

Not this time.

His gaze traveled over the rest of the group, coming to rest on the huddled frame of Tahiri, who'd remained unusually silent during the heated exchange.

Even though Jacen knew that her injury wasn't his fault, he couldn't help but feel an extreme amount of guilt over the outcome of the battle.

After all, if things had gone according to plan, he would be in her place right now. He was the one who was supposed to suffer the deadly injury of Anakin's destiny – not Tahiri.

And now everything was a mess.

He ran a hand over his stubble-covered jaw and surveyed the damage of their interference: Tahiri was on the verge of death, and Anakin was on the edge of despair, while Tenel Ka…

At the hint of her name in the force, the Hapan Jedi lifted her head in his direction from her vigil over the lifeless Chadra-Fan, and as soon as her eyes locked with his, they turned as cold as frozen durasteel.

He'd damaged their relationship permanently during that battle, and no matter what he said or did, knew that she would never look at him the same again.

Jacen didn't blame her – he wasn't sure if he could look at himself the same after what he'd done.

One thing was for sure – Tahiri had certainly been right when she'd told him about his future life – anyone that could do what he'd done today, without even giving it a second thought, had to have been born evil.

He knew now, without a doubt, what he had to do.

And no one – not even Anakin or Tahiri - was going to stop him.

----

The air of distrust around the Jedi hung in a cloud so thick that it was almost suffocating.

Welk grinned toothily at his dark partner. Things couldn't be going more their way if they'd planned it themselves.

After watching the strike team's leader lay into first his brother, and then the senior member, Rhysode, it became apparent to Welk that he and Lomi would need to do very little in terms of the subtle mind manipulation they'd intended.

The Jedi didn't need any help in creating a shroud of doubt; they were doing a fantastic job all on their own.

Or rather, one particular member was.

The tiny blonde Jedi the Solo boy called Tahiri was deliberately sabotaging the mission, for reasons Welk was at a loss to figure out.

Not that it mattered, really; as long as she continued to put the strike team's Jedi in disarray, he and Lomi were quite content to leave her be.

Welk's fingers slipped inside his tattered robe, gliding lightly over the glossy hilt of his stolen weapon.

Yes, he thought, things are definitely swinging in our favour. Soon, we'll be off this rock, and the Jedi will learn what it truly means to be selfless.

He resisted the urge to cackle out loud, instead drawing his hand away from his concealed saber and backing into the shadow of a twisted tree.

Spotting the brooding frame of Ganner, hunched against the support of a broken building and alone, Welk smirked to himself and spread his mind a little further into the force. It wasn't difficult to see what the decoy leader was thinking about, and all it took from the Dark Jedi was a simple force-trick to push the other man's thoughts into overload.

----

As soon as she saw the silhouette of Ganner Rhysode approaching her, the panic set in. Even in her groggy state, she could clearly feel his distrust and resentment towards her radiating from his force aura.

"How are you feeling?"

While the words seemed caring enough, Tahiri knew that there was no real feeling behind them.

"Fine."

He scoffed at this reply, probably because it was very clear to everyone that she was far from fine.

"What do you really want, Ganner?" she croaked.

Her bluntness visibly caught him off guard, but he recovered quickly.

"I don't trust you. You have an agenda, Tahiri, and I want to know exactly what it is."

The tone of his voice was so harsh and out of character that for a moment, Tahiri was at a loss for words.

"Are you going to tell me what's going on, or do I have to alert the rest of the group about what I saw during the battle?" he whispered, leaning closer so that his conversation remained a secret to the others.

"What are you talking about? What did you see during the battle? I don't understand!"

"You mean you don't remember knowing the Yuuzhan Vong's every move? Knowing how they were using the slaves, and when they would attack, and where?"

His tone was accusatory, but this time, it was his words that rendered Tahiri speechless.

He knew!

She must have kept her mouth open for far too long, because the next thing she knew, Ganner was bending even closer to her, his breath a tickle on her cold earlobe.

"I'm right, aren't I?"

Before she could answer him, Anakin appeared at her side again, his face all red and puffy from crying. He gave her a soft kiss on the forehead, and in return, she flashed him the brightest smile she could muster under the circumstances.

As his attention drifted to Ganner, she was surprised to see the older Jedi bristle under the leader's gaze, touching the spot on his chin where he'd been struck earlier as if he was still licking his wounds.

"I'm sorry about that, Ganner," Anakin said, staring at the swollen, purple lump forming on the edge of the older man's face.

"No harm done," the decoy leader laughed offhandedly. "I'm tougher than I look, you know." He stood tall and flexed his body in an exaggerated stretch, nodding in Tahiri's direction. "I'll talk to you later."

"Can't wait."

"What was all that about?" Anakin asked her as soon as the older Jedi was a safe distance away.

"Nothing," she lied. "It was nothing."

When she could see he was about to press for further details, Tahiri pushed herself up on her elbows and attempted to stand.

"What are you doing?" he cried, his expression changing from confused to concerned in the blink of an eye. "You need to rest; you need to wait for Tekli!"

"There's-no-time," she grunted out, disregarding her boyfriend's efforts to keep her down and rising on trembling knees. "We can't stay here – it's not safe."

It was the most pain Tahiri had felt since her torture at the hands of the Yuuzhan Vong, but she gritted her teeth and managed to make it to her feet, using Anakin's arms to steady herself.

"I'm staying with you," he announced firmly, holding her under the armpits and steering her slowly towards the waiting group.

"No!"

"Don't even bother arguing with me, Tahiri. I'm the leader of this mission, so what I say goes."

"You're right; you are the leader, and as the leader, don't you think you'd be able to do a better job directing this mission from the front of the group, rather than lagging behind in the back tending to me?"

She could feel the conflict flowing within him; his need to do the right thing and lead the time, while at the same time, the clashing duty to stay with her and protect her from further harm.

In the end, his duty to the group overrode his desire to look after her, and he sighed heavily.

"I can't fix this, can I?"

The quivering emotion behind those words was so powerful that it almost knocked Tahiri off her feet. It was despair and anger, mixed with a hollow realization that no matter what he did, there was no turning back.

She didn't know what to tell him; what did one say when they knew they were going to die?

A ghostly echo sang through her mind, of a time so long ago that it was almost too difficult to recall.

"I'm fine; it's just a cut."

Tahiri smiled bitterly inside as the understanding that Anakin had known he was going to die, right from the beginning, swept over her. He'd spent the entire mission lying to everyone; promising them that he was going to make it.

Now, it was her turn.

"You don't need to fix it," she told him as optimistically as she could muster. "I'm fine; it's just a cut."

He wasn't about to drop the subject that easily, so to distract him she grabbed his left hand in hers and gripped tightly. "Don't give up on me just yet, ok? I'll be fine."

Grinning widely to mask the agony she was in, Tahiri lifted a finger at his older brother, who was standing off to the side by himself. "Besides, Jacen will watch over me, so you have nothing to worry about."

"Jacen?" Anakin asked skeptically. "I don't know about that…"

"Now is not the time to hold grudges," she groaned in return, slumping against his supportive hold on her. "What happened to me wasn't his fault; or Ganner's. It was my fault."

When he still didn't give in, the blonde girl added indignantly, "I trust Jacen with my life, and you should, too. And if, for some reason you can't, you should at least trust me to make my own decisions!"

She could tell by the way Anakin's blue eyes regarded her pouting face that he was a little taken aback by the frankness of her remark, and when he responded some time later, his tone was almost apologetic.

"You're right. I'm just worried about you, that's all."

"I know," Tahiri said, giving the young boy a feather-light kiss on the cheek. "And I love you for it."

Through the grit and stubble covering his face, she thought she saw the slightest hint of a blush, before his vulnerable expression disappeared for a more rigid one.

"Jacen?" he called, the reluctance in his voice very identifiable.

"Yes, Anakin?" the elder Solo replied, coming to rest a front of them.

"I need to you take care of Tahiri for me. Don't let her out of your sight for one second."

Jacen nodded briskly. "Of course I'll keep her safe, little brother. I won't let you down again."

"Thank you." He placed his hand on his sibling's shoulder briefly, and the two smiled nervously.

Tahiri could see the beginnings of tears forming in her boyfriend's eyes as he passed her over to Jacen's open arms. Touching her delicately on the face, he whispered: "You need to stay strong for me, ok? I can't do any of this without you."

A small smirk played at the edges of the young girl's mouth, and she grinned in spite of her throbbing pain. "That's a little selfish, don't you think?"

He laughed and ruffled her hair affectionately, his expression turning serious once more. "I meant it, you know."

"I know."

Tahiri bit back tears of her own as she received a soft kiss on the lips from Anakin, who then moved to the head of the group, giving the orders of the next course of action to take.

She'd almost forgotten Jacen was holding her upright when his hushed voice sounded in her ear. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know."

And that was the truth. She'd thought saving Anakin would be easy, but it wasn't, and although so far he was injury-free, the rest of the group was far from ok. As a whole, the strike team had sustained a lot more damage this time around; Jacen, himself, was limping badly from a gash in his calf, and Raynar had taken a powerful hit from a stray grenade.

Everyone was battered and bruised, and people were still dying.

The worst part was that this mission was far from over, and Tekli, their only healer, was still unconscious.

And the worst was yet to come.