Promises
By
Disclaimer: Young Jedi Knights and all associations belong to Lucasfilm Ltd. and George Lucas, and I mean no infringement. Please don't sue!
Author's Note: Send only pleasant criticisms to teneljade@netzero.net. Thank You!
Rating: PG
Jacen snuck into my room last night. I loved it. He risked so much, the least of which was his Academy scholarship, but he did it for me. Of course, I had to punish him for his impudence. He didn't seem to mind much.
But when it was all over, our passions exhausted, I told him not to come back. I told him I loved him, but we couldn't be together. I told him a lot of things, but not the truth. Which was that we were risking his scholarship, and mine, and both of our lives if my grandmother caught a whiff of what we were doing. I had tears streaming down my cheeks by the time I was done with my little speech.
Jacen didn't buy my excuses for a second. "Tenel," He said. I looked up at him, swiping at the tears which I detested so.
"Yes?" I asked softly.
"This is about your grandmother, isn't it." His voice made the question a simple statement.
I looked at my feet for a moment, then back at Jacen. "Yes," I whispered.
Jacen smiled at me, unconcerned. "Tenel, you should know better than to worry about your grandmother. We've faced the Shadow Academy and the Diversity Alliance, and the Black Sun, and you're worried about your grandmother?"
I laughed a little. The way Jacen put it did make it sound a little ridiculous. "No. I guess not."
His face grew serious. "Well, then, what is it?"
I thought about this for a minute. I'd been trying so hard to convince myself that my grandmother was the problem that I guess I had. Then, all of a sudden, the real problem reared its ugly head, and I looked at the floor.
"I...don't want to lose you, Jacen." It was true. I was so afraid of having him ripped away from me that I wanted to make him leave, and get it over with. At least, if I made him leave, I was making the choice.
Jacen tilted my head up, and smiled a little. "What makes you think you're going to lose me?"
I shrugged my shoulders a little. "I don't know. But if I lost you, I...I don't know what I'd do."
Jacen shook me. "Stop it! You're a strong person, Tenel. You'd go on with your life, like we all know you would." Then his voice and his stare softened. "But you won't lose me, Tenel. I may be young, but I know the meaning of what you and I have, and I won't let it slip through my fingers."
I buried my head in his shoulder and sobbed. Jacen stroked my hair like I was an upset puppy, and when I had regained my composure, I looked up at his face, and was surprised to see his eyes were shining suspiciously. "Jace?" I asked.
His eyes cleared a little, and he looked at me. "Tenel, I have an idea."
"Yeah?"
He pulled a piece of folded paper from his pocket, and a small black box. He pulled me up off the bed, and slipped a sheer, silk nightgown over my naked body. Then he pulled on a pair of pajama bottoms, and motioned for me to sit on the edge of the bed.
Pulling the paper from behind his back, he presented it to me, and then sat on the bed beside me. "Tenel Ka...we're too young to be married. So...I thought that maybe this was appropriate."
The piece of paper was a contract for a Hapan promise agreement. On my homeworld, when teen lovers wish to be married but face familial controversy, they often sign and take to a promise agreement instead of a marriage.
The promise says the same things as a marriage, but is less formal. And furthermore, on Hapes, it must be honored, no matter how young the couple is. The parents can oppose only traditional marriages.
A promise agreement can be executed privately, too. No witnesses, no priest, just two young people in love. I was shocked. And thrilled.
When Jacen saw the tears trickle down her cheeks, he looked more anxious than I had ever seen him. And when a smile started to pull at the corners of my mouth, he kneeled on the floor, one knee up, facing me with the sweetest look I have ever seen on his face.
Jacen pulled the black velvet box from behind his back, and opened it. Inside, I saw a plain silver ring with an intricate green vine pattern on it, and a bright turquoise ring, slightly smaller, with a black vine pattern on it, and a small white crystal stud.
He reached for my hand, and I eagerly gave it to him. "Tenel Ka Chume Ta'a Djo," He started. "I love you more than life itself, and I promise to love you and honor you, in sickness and in health, for the rest of our lives." He bit down on his bottom lip, and said the words that were the traditional way to formally ask for a girl's hand in a promise. "'Til death do us part, Tenel?" He asked anxiously.
I held out my ring finger on my left hand, where a promise ring goes to signal that the girl is taken, and uttered Jacen's words back to him softly, sealing the agreement. "'Til death do us part, Jacen."
Jacen waited with baited breath as I took the other ring, and slipped it onto his left ring finger, then, apparently unable to wait any longer, literally jumped in the air with joy. "Whoo-hoo!" He picked me up and swung me around, then kissed me. "I love you, Tenel Ka!"
I grinned like an idiot, and kissed him back. "I love you too, Jacen Solo. Forever and always."
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