Chapter 6 – Force Overload

Tenel Ka regarded her best friend for a long moment, reeling at what Jacen had showed her. When they were younger, all he had ever wanted was a better understanding of all the varied assets of the Force, and how had the Force re-paid that curiosity? With despair and pain. The Force had taken the sweetest, most compassionate person she was ever likely to know and turned him into a bitter, jaded shell of a person; a person that was begging her to destroy him. For the first time ever, she found herself hating the Force, and wished that she had listened to her grandmother all those years ago and remained ignorant about the ways of the Jedi.

Jacen took a step forward and tried to take her hand, wincing as he did so. She had broken at least three of his fingers, and with all of the swelling it was almost impossible to make a fist. Recognizing his effort, Tenel Ka gently took his hand and started a modest healing effort to reduce the swelling in his remaining hand.

He quickly gave her a smile of gratitude and tried to explain his plan, "I misinterpreted my vision on that damned asteroid." Closing his eyes, he let out a pained sigh, "I've come to believe that the Force was telling me that I was the reason Uncle Luke would die, not Nelani." Raw despair now filled his voice, "I killed an innocent person because I chose not to believe what I saw."

Tenel Ka could only answer with a small nod. "Why did you not tell me earlier?" More than anything else, the fact that he did not trust her with his visions hurt deeply. He was the only one outside of her father whom she trusted implicitly, and it hurt to know that he did not trust her fully as well.

Jacen's head fell in shame. "I should have. I guess I thought that you would not understand." He paused and looked at her earnestly, "You mean the world to me, you know."

The Queen Mother nodded, "I know." She cocked her head, "I could never hate you, Jacen. I have loved you for far too long." Seeing his face light up slightly, she continued, "This Plan B, will it work?"

Jacen tilted his head in response. "It should." He paused and closed his eyes, clearly going over the plan in his mind. Tenel Ka did the same, trying to ascertain the plausibility of this plan. After a few moments, she scrunched her nose in worry; all she could feel from the future was more loneliness. Perhaps her present was influencing her future? Opening her eyes, she started to voice her concern but saw his goofy smile.

"The theory is sound, but this has never been done before." He commented optimistically.

"Fact." Tenel Ka had spent years trying to rid herself of her speech habits, but she always seemed to fall back into her old ways when she was around him. Her eyes sparkled when she heard his chuckle; it had been far too long since she had heard him laugh. Her face turned serious, "Are you ready?"

Jacen shrugged, "No." He struggled to dig out a comlink out of his pants pocket and then held up his left arm as she removed her 'saber from her waistband and once again ignited the turquoise blade, the snap-hiss sounding painfully loud in his ears. "But, I doubt that waiting will make this any easier."

Tenel Ka shook her head, pointing at his right arm with her 'sabre, "Other arm please." She left unsaid the reasons why: she wanted to feel his caress from a real hand, she wanted Allana to have a real hand to hold on to as they crossed the street, she wanted to feel his real hand run down her back while they made love. Jacen seemed to understand all of this and swapped arms, angling his body to give her the best angle on his outstretched right arm.

Looking into his eyes, "This will hurt."

"I know." He nodded to her left arm, "It has for years."

Closing his eyes again, he stretched out through the Force and found his ship, the Solo Journey. He pressed the 'Call' button on his comlink and… nothing. Even with faster than light technology, it still takes time for a signal to travel from Hapes to Coruscant. Finally, after several agonizing moments, Jacen felt his ship explode. Not wanting to open his eyes, he reached out for Tenel Ka and found her presence right there with him, waiting. Knowing that he would never be able to do so again, he poured every ounce of love he felt for her into their bond and felt her do the same.

Taking a deep breath, he sent further reassurances to his Queen and commanded quietly, "Now."

Tenel Ka sent even more love through their link and Jacen heard her lightsaber move through the air and then a sickening 'thump' as his right arm hit the ground. Just as with the destruct signal, it took a few moments for events to catch up with his perception. Suddenly, pain like he had never felt before surged up his arm. His last thought before being overcome by darkness was: Tenel Ka is right, this does hurt.

It seemed to her that time slowed as she swung her lightsaber, watching it cut through his right arm just below the elbow, the sickening 'thud' as his arm hit the ground. In that split-second, she realized that she had now heard that sound three times in her lifetime, including twice in the last ten minutes, and it was a sound that she never wished to hear again. She closed down her 'saber immediately after it had cut through Jacen's arm and time seemed to resume it's regular pace as Jacen let out a low, agonizing scream. Suddenly, she felt his presence explode in a massive Force fireball and then, just as quickly, implode on itself - as if Jacen had become the center of a black hole.

The Queen Mother gasped as her breath left her, the pain was like nothing she had ever experienced before, not even when she felt Jacen 'die' all those years ago; it felt as if someone had reached into her chest, grabbed her soul and ripped it from her body. Still struggling for breath, she saw Jacen's knees buckle and watched horrified as he started to topple over. Somehow, she moved to catch him and slowly lowered him to the floor, laying him on his back. Checking for a pulse, she breathed a quick sigh of relief; it was weak, but steady.

A/N: Thank you to all who are reading and following! Apologies for the short chapter...I'll make it up to you as the next is quite long. I'm planning on twice a week updates until the conclusion...Chapter 15...I'll let you do the math on how many weeks that is! Please review if the urge strikes!