Chapter 149
Thexan almost jumped out of his seat out of happiness. He couldn't believe his ears. He was sure he heard it wrong.
"Are you sure? I mean ... How do you know?" He asked, stuttering with no focus.
"After you and Masters Jinn and Kenobi told me that Laetitia might be alive, I started looking for her. I owed it to her." Cal started.
Laetitia and Cal were good friends during their time in the Jedi Temple. She was close to a lot of Younglings and Padawans, but Cal was her best friend aside from Ahsoka. She used to call him 'the Carrot of the Jedi Temple'.
"Anyway, I started looking into Imperial Prisons and Detention Centers. I figured if she wasn't with you guys, she was captured by the Empire."
"Is she? ... Captured by the Empire?" Thexan slowly asked.
The thought had crossed his mind, but he didn't want to think his father would do that to her. Not that he wasn't capable of it. The opposite, actually. Thexan was afraid for her. He knew exactly what his father was capable of.
"There is a good possibility that after the explosion 3 years ago, she was captured by ... Prince Arcann ... your brother." Cal slowly broke down the huge and horrible news to Thexan. He knew who Thexan really was and was aware how he felt about his family.
All the happiness Thexan felt disappeared when he heard that. His brother had captured Laetitia. She had been with him for 3 years?! Who knew what things he could have done to her?
Actually, Thexan did. He, better than anyone else, knew how much Arcann despised Leah. Loathed her. He had wanted to get his hands on her since 7 years ago, when Leah exploded a bomb into his face. He had lost his right hand, half of his face and the rest of the body burned. Arcann wanted to make her pay for what she did to him.
And now, he had.
Thexan felt a dangerous anger towards his brother. No matter how much he loved him, he shouldn't have messed with Leah. She was his 'off-limits'.
"Thexan?" Cal's voice brought Thexan out of his thoughts.
Thexan cleared his throat and tried to focus. He needed to save Laetitia from his brother.
"Go ahead."
"I looked into the Imperial records. Apparently, right after the explosion on Nur, a prisoner was entered into the data but they were off-records. All I could get was the date of capture and the description. A female in her 20s, white hair and ... 'weird eyes'? And she's marked as 'absolutely dangerous and avoid at all cost'. Arcann is her interrogator, and he only interrogates Force-sensitives, so ..." Cal trailed off when he reached his point.
Thexan shook his head. There wasn't a name but everything matched Leah's. It was her. He could feel it.
"Where is she?"
"In an off-record Imperial Prison on Myrkr. It's like the Citadel, but worse. I don't know why we can't feel her in the Force, but this is all I have."
"Thank you, Cal. You have no idea what this means to me." Thexan sincerely thanked the Jedi Knight.
Cal smiled and shook his head. He had a few ideas what it meant to Thexan that Leah was alive.
"I just did what any friend would do. And when you do get her back, tell her 'the Carrot' is also doing alright, and she should stop being stubborn." He seriously joked.
Thexan let out a chuckle.
"Will do. Thanks again"
Thexan ended the transmission and leaned back against the chair. He let out a heavy exhale out of both relief and horror.
Laetitia was alive. After watching her die right in front of him, he was wrecked. He had never gotten the picture out of his head, especially since he was the reason she came out of hiding and risked everything for.
To know that she was alive was ... Thexan couldn't find a word for how he felt. Because as amazing as it was that she was live, she had spent the last 3 years in an Imperial prison, being interrogated by his brother, Arcann.
Thexan, of all people, knew how Arcann felt about Leah. He was the worst of all animals and Siths. The thought of her being alone with him was ...
"You ... okay?" A voice brought Thexan out of his horrible thoughts.
It was Luke, standing in front of him with worried blue eyes fixed on him.
"Uh ..."
"Who was it?" Luke jumped to the point.
"What?"
"Who called you?"
Thexan sighed. The boy was as stubborn as his sister. But how was he supposed to tell him that his sister might be alive with his brother?
"It was one of my friends. I'd asked him to look into something ... and he found something." He vaguely said.
"What did he find?"
Thexan prepared himself to say it. Luke, out of everyone else, deserved to know.
"Luke ... I think ... Leah is ... alive." He slowly said.
If Luke was affected by what he heard, he didn't show it. There was no expression on his face. No happiness, no anger, no relief, no anxiety ... Nothing. He simply sat on the bed, in front of Thexan. He didn't have enough energy to stand up on his own.
"Even if everyone tells you I'm dead, don't believe them if you don't believe it. If you don't feel it in your heart that I'm really gone, then I'm not gone. I'm just away … waiting for you."
"Luke?"
Thexan was so worried. He was half-expecting him to shout 'you're crazy' or 'you need to let her go'. But what he got was worse than any of those options. He just ... stared into nothingness.
"Where is she?" Luke finally asked.
Thexan blinked in surprise. He actually believed him?!
"Wait ... Why do you believe me?" He asked in confusion.
"You know how you thought you heard her 3 years ago? I actually heard that, too." Luke admitted quietly.
Thexan tried to hide his surprise. Luke had heard Leah's scream 3 years ago in her funeral? Why didn't he defend Thexan when he told Ahsoka bout it? Why didn't he tell him?
"I've always believed she was alive. Even she told me herself. 'If you don't think I'm gone, then I'm not and actually waiting for you to find me'." He remembered what his sister had told him the last time they saw each other.
"Now, where is my sister?"
"On Myrkr." Thexan said as he showed the planet in the HoloMap.
He had gathered everyone in the Command Center. Ahsoka, Lux, Rex, Han, Chewie, Luke, Mon Mothma, Admiral Ackbar and General Crix Madine.
Ahsoka let Thexan say whatever he wanted to say and then, give him a lecture. She wanted her sister to be alive more than anything but ... she was gone. She was never coming back.
"I have to say ... everything matches." Rex stated, which earned a glare from Ahsoka.
"I know what we saw. Laetitia died right in front of us. It doesn't make sense for her to be alive now." He replied to her glare.
"But?"
"But ... I've come to the conclusion that nothing about her makes sense when it comes to her. She's one of the strongest Force-sensitives I've ever known, and she's always had this weird ability to give life. Maybe that's what happened after we left her." He explained.
"'Maybe'!" Ahsoka repeated him to make her point.
"It doesn't matter. We have to find her." Han said.
"We are already down assets. We cannot afford to lose more." Mon Mothma tried to convince them.
"And that's what you think Leah is? An 'asset'?" Thexan said with anger and insult.
"That is not what I meant."
"Either way, it is too dangerous to go."
Ahsoka pressed her lips together in frustration. She eventually turned to Thexan. She looked like she wanted to kill him.
"Look, Ahsoka. I know it's a long shot. But ... we owe it to her to take it." Thexan quietly said to convince her.
"How long have you been working on this?" She demanded, ignoring him.
"Since her funeral." He admitted strongly. He was tired of walking on eggshells around her.
Ahsoka scoffed in disbelief.
"You've been in on this for 3 years?! And you didn't tell us?!"
"I did tell you. 3 years ago when I heard her. But I didn't wanna say anything else until I was certain. I may be patient but I wasn't gonna let you call me 'crazy' for the second time." He snapped at her.
Everyone in the room exchanged an uncomfortable look. It wasn't like Thexan to lose his cool.
"And are you certain now? Because it looks to me that all you have is a 'maybe'. We don't even know for sure that it's Laetitia. And you wanna risk everything she worked for, and died for, for a 'maybe'?"
"But she didn't!" Luke finally shouted, having enough of this.
Everyone turned to him. His face was red with anger and his eyes were wet from tears.
"I know Leah died 3 years ago. We held a memorial for her and moved on. But she is alive. I felt it then, and I feel it now. If she was dead, why didn't we see her body when we went back to look for her? Why did Thexan and I hear her 3 years ago? ... She promised me she would stay alive, and she is. I know it." He strongly said.
Ahsoka sighed with frustrated tears in her eyes. She felt her husband's hand on her shoulder.
"How are you sure that Leah is even still alive?" She stated.
"She is ... Ahsoka, you, of all people ... how can you not be in on this?" He quietly said with disappointment.
"Because she is gone. That is the only thing any of us can be certain about. She is dead."
"Dude! What is wrong with you? It's like you don't even want her back!" Han yelled in anger.
Ahsoka, filled with anger and insult, walked to Han. She opened her mouth to say something but Thexan jumped between them and stopped them.
"That's enough!" He ordered all of them.
His voice was echoed in the room. No one dared to say anything after him. They didn't want to mess with a Palpatine trained by a Skywalker.
"I already said I know it's a long shot. But I am going, whether you allow it or not. I'll go alone if I have to. But volunteers are appreciated." He strongly said, daring anyone to say another word.
"You're gonna need a ship, bro." Han said and Chewie roared in agreement.
"I'm coming, too." Rex grabbed his blasters.
"As am I." Luke said.
Thexan turned to Ahsoka, expecting her to say something. When she didn't, he walked out of the room to go and save Laetitia.
Done :)
