The
sun shone brightly through the clear sky on Hapes and a warm breeze filled the
air. It was a perfect day for a
wedding.
The
ceremony was to take place in the large, vastly decorated ceremonial chambers
of the Royal Family's Estate. Next to
it was the gigantic ballroom where the reception would be held later on.
Guests shuffled in one after another, and in no time the
entire room was filled. The High Priest
of the Royal Family would perform the ceremony and had taken his place at the
front of the room. Ta'a Chume and Tenal Ka's mother had taken their
respected seats up at the front, with an empty seat between them, most likely
Isolder's spot. Jaina was standing
across from the priest in her maid of honour dress, with Zeille's best man, a
Hapan of course, stood opposite her.
The gathered guests conversed amongst themselves,
discussing everything from the weather outside to the much-anticipated arrival
of the Princess of Hapes and her soon-to-be husband.
Jacen tuned it all out and turned around to see his
parents sitting only a few rows behind him. His mother was busy talking to some Hapan diplomat, likely discussing
all the potential the Hapes Cluster had to offer if they some day decided to
join the New Republic. Leave it to his
mother to still be looking out for the best interests of the New Republic while
attending a wedding.
He caught his father's eye and Han gave him a Solo grin
that wasn't nearly as lopsided as usual. Probably because he was still worried about his son's state of mind, but
Jacen smiled back at him to reassure his dad that he was all right and turned
back around.
Less than a minute later, the sound of a choir of Hapan
trumpets spread throughout the room. Almost instantaneously the talking stopped and everyone turned to face
the doorway. Including Jacen, along
with Danni, Zekk, Anakin and Tahiri beside him.
The trumpets ceased their sounds and everyone waited
anxiously for what they knew would come next.
The two Hapan guards standing by the doorway opened the
huge wooden doors and stood at attention off to the sides. The music started up again but with more
grandeur and elegance than before. Jacen ticked off the seconds in his head until he saw her walk in,
linking arms with her father, Isolder.
Later on, he wouldn't remember if he had stood there
gaping at her like an idiot. She took
his breath away. That was the only way
he could describe it. The long white
dress Tenal Ka wore seemed to flow like water behind her, while the rest of it
clung to her figure showing the flattering curves of every part of her body, up
to where the dress ended just below her shoulders. Instead of her hair fashioned in the usual warrior braids, it was
put up, with a few loose strands of red gold hair bouncing up and down with
each step she took. Tiny, sparkling
jewels that could be found within the Hapes Cluster had been fastened into her
hair. Jacen could have never imagined
her looking anymore beautiful than she did at that moment. She was absolutely breathtaking and no
matter how hard he tried to keep from staring, he couldn't take his eyes off
her.
He was standing at the edge of his row, and he was hoping
she would turn to look at him as she walked passed, but she didn't. She kept her expression neutral and looked straight
ahead as she walked passed him. But
Tenal Ka could feel Jacen's eyes on her and when she opened herself up to the
force, she had to do everything humanly possible to keep the flush of red from
spreading across her face when she felt the powerful emotions radiating off
Jacen in waves towards her.
She strode past him and Isolder handed off his daughter
to Zeille before taking his place between his wife and mother.
That
was when it hit Jacen like a ton of duracrete bricks. He was only minutes away from losing the best thing that had ever
happened to him. The one person who had
always made him feel special. The one
who had always stood by his side – been willing to die fighting at his side,
and the one person he had ever loved. He was about to lose all that because he had been too afraid to take
that finally leap and tell her how he really felt. How he had always felt.
His father's advice echoed in his head.
Love isn't something you can find whenever you
want. Some people never find it. That's why if you have the chance, you have
to take it. If you don't, you're gonna
spend the rest of your life regretting it…
What a fool I've been, Jacen
thought. I was too pocket hare to
risk our friendship and now look what's happened.
The ceremony going on in front of him seemed to vanish
before his eyes, replaced by images of the jungles of Yavin Four. Tenal Ka and him swimming together in the
lake one night before dark. That
time he had joined her for her morning run and she practically had to carry him
back to the temple when they were done. The two of them trapped on the cold side of Ryloth, holding each other
to keep warm. The time her lightsaber
had shorted out when they were sparring and his own saber had sliced through
her arm. Fighting the Bartokk assassin
insectoids side-by-side at the Crystal Reef Fortress. Running away from the Second Imperium through the dangerous lower
levels of Kashyyyk. The kiss she had
given him by the lake after the defeat of the Diversity Alliance. He could still recall the exact words she
had spoken to him as if it were yesterday: were you surprised, friend Jacen? And then hugging her good-bye after
graduation and leaving Yavin Four for good.
The memories flooded through him, each one lasting only a
few moments, but leaving him with feelings of happiness, excitement, guilt, and
sadness. All of the important events in
his life she had been a part of. She
had become a presence in his life that he could not – and did not – want to
live without. He didn't want to imagine
a future without her in his arms sharing those same feelings that he felt for
her right down to the core of his very being.
When the world around him started coming back into focus
he dimly heard the words, "–if there are any objections as to why the union of
these two should not take place, speak now."
Tenal Ka tensed. She had this feeling in the pit of her stomach that something was about
to go wrong. She quickly assessed the
crowd gathered but saw no one about to protest. Relieved, she turned back to the priest.
Satisfied, that no one objected to the union of these two
people, the High Priest went on. Turning towards the Princess, he said, "Now, Princess Tenal Ka– "
"Stop!" A voice
shouted.
Loud murmurs rose up through the guests as a nervous
looking young man stood up.
Tenal Ka spun around, so did Zeille. She would recognize that voice
anywhere. What in the name of the force
was he–
"Tenal Ka, you can't marry him, " he said quickly. The tone of his voice was pleading. Jacen swallowed hard. He couldn't stop now even if he wanted
to. "You can't marry him
because…because I love you ." Once he
spoke those three words he could not believe he had been so afraid to say them
all these years. He wanted to break out
into a huge silly grin but the look on Tenal Ka's face stopped him. Her expression was full of…anger? But before he could think about it anymore,
she had picked up the front of her dress and raced down the aisle.
Jacen
grabbed her arm, "Tenal Ka – " he began, but she broke free of his grip and
continued running. Out of the chambers
and out the Palace doors.
By
now the quiet murmurings had turned into cries of disbelief and surprise.
Jacen
did not waste anytime. He took off
after a very upset looking Tenal Ka, with a fuming Zeille hot on his heels.
He
raced out the doors of the Palace in time to see Tenal Ka running away in the
direction of the city. Despite being in
a wedding dress, her athletic prowess had allowed her to get an amazing head
start. If not for the seriousness of
the situation he would have laughed at Tenal Ka running at a pace just slower
than lightspeed in a wedding dress.
The
sky that had been clear and full of sunshine earlier had turned a dark
gray. Droplets of rain began to fall
from the sky.
Before
he lost sight of her, Jacen yelled at the top of his lungs, "Tenal Ka,
wait!" He moved to start running after
her again when a strong hand shoved him against the wall.
"What
the hell do you think you were doing in there, Solo?" Zeille demanded angrily.
Jacen
pushed him aside. He didn't have time
for this. "I need to talk to her,"
"Don't
you think you've done enough already?" Zeille growled at him, "if she wanted anything to do with you she
wouldn't have ran off like that."
Jacen ignored him and ran into the rain in the direction he had seen Tenal Ka going. Now more than ever did he need to find her. Once he found her, they could talk everything out and he would be able to tell her everything he should have told her years ago. And he would start off by telling her how big of a fool he had been.