A
standard week after the entire rescue ordeal had occurred, Jacen Solo paced
anxiously in the living room of the Solo family's apartment. Tenal Ka had called him twenty minutes earlier
to let him know she had come out of hyperspace and was approaching
Courscant. He glanced at his wrist
chronometer for the fiftieth time in the last two minutes. She would be here anytime now.
After narrowly escaping from Hapes, Jaina had set the Rock
Dragon on a course heading for Courscant. Upon reaching their home planet, Jaina had used the comm to contact
their parents. She told them it was
vital that they meet her in the Solo family's private docking bay right
away. Han and Leia had asked questions,
but their daughter did not offer any answers, fearing that the communication
channels might be monitored by unfriendly sources.
With the Rock Dragon docked beside Han Solo's
ship, the Millennium Falcon, the group had disembarked from the ship and
into the waiting sights of Han and Leia. Both of them let out gasps of surprise when they saw that their oldest
son was no longer locked up in a Hapan jail cell. Their expressions filled with joy, the relieved parents had
grabbed Jacen and pulled him into a fierce embrace. His parents, especially his mother, had barely managed to
stop hugging and kissing him long enough to get out questions like, "how?" or
"when did this happen?" Leia's were eyes filled with tears of happiness at
seeing her son free, and Jacen noticed his father was having trouble
controlling his emotions as well, for his eyes were glistening with unshed
tears. His mother scolded them all for
not calling ahead and telling her and Han the good news.
When no one said anything, Han and Leia cast suspicious
glances at their other two children and their friends.
Jaina had given them a sheepish grin, hoping her parents
would handle what she had to tell them better than she thought they would.
Jacen
had watched her spend part of the flight home rehearsing how she was going to
explain the huge mess they were in to their parents. But the look on both their faces had told her that they wanted
nothing but the truth. Her planned
explanation forgotten, Jaina along with help from her brothers and friends,
spilt the entire story about breaking Jacen out of jail.
Jacen remembered the frowns on both his parent's faces
getting deeper and their eyes wider, as they proceeded to explain everything
that had happened.
The look of disappointment on his mother's face had been
understandable, considering what her children and their friends had just
done. Understanding and acceptance,
even pride, was evident on her face as well. Even though they didn't say it out loud, and probably never would, Jacen
knew his parents had been secretly proud at what the young Jedi Knights had
done. They had accomplished something
that the two of them had been unable to do because of the simple fact that they
would likely end up on some prison colony for the rest of their lives, or
worse.
As soon as she had heard the entire story, Leia began to
take charge of the situation, just like the leader she was. She had said that she needed to contact the
Hapan Embassy in the Hapes Cluster immediately, to try and forestall any future
incidents that might arise as a result of the repercussions of the young Jedi
Knights actions. She had taken Tenal Ka
with her, and had ordered everyone else to go back to the Solo residence and to
wait there until they had heard from her.
Within those next few hours, Leia and Tenal Ka working
together had managed to devise a plan that would absolve Jacen and everyone
else involved of any punishment. That
was of course, if the plan worked. And
that was the reason Tenal Ka had gone back to Hapes: to prove her friend's
innocence. They had all begged Tenal Ka
to let them go with her, especially Jacen because he felt like this whole mess
was his fault. Tenal Ka had been grateful
for her friend's support, but had firmly refused their accompanying her, saying
that this was her planet and as heir to the throne this was her responsibility
to take care of. She had left the next
morning, with barely a word to Jacen or anyone else. He remembered her kissing him good-bye, and quietly promising him
that everything would work out fine. He
had believed her, but had an awful feeling inside his gut that it would come at
a terrible price for Tenal Ka.
He hadn't spoken to her in days, not until she had called
to inform that she would be landing on Courscant soon, and that she would meet
him in his apartment. She gave no hints
to the outcome of her trip to Hapes.
His mother was busy as usual, stuck in a meeting about
what to do with the rising number of refugees, due to the increasing amount of
worlds that the Yuuzhan Vong were taking as their own. His brother and sister had said they were
going to help Zekk work on the Lightning Rod now that Tenal Ka had
brought it back with her. Zekk had been
forced to leave his prize possession behind when the group had to make their
quick exit from Hapes.
Jacen's father had also made up some excuse about repairs
that needed to be done on the Falcon. He knew his family was just trying to give him some privacy, which he
was extremely grateful for, considering him and Tenal Ka had not had a moment
alone together since they had landed on Courscant a week ago.
They had not said much on the return trip to Courscant
either after narrowly escaping from Hapes. They just sat together in the Rock Dragon's lounge, happy to be
together again, and not wanting to think about what the future had in store for
them.
The door chime interrupted Jacen's thoughts and his
pacing. He knew it was her without even
having to reach out with the force.
Not knowing what to expect, Jacen pressed the switch that
would open the doors.
With a quiet swoosh, the doors slid apart,
revealing a neutral faced Tenal Ka. He
invited her in, and led her out of the stuffy apartment and out onto the
balcony. A mid afternoon breeze ruffled
through their hair and clothes. Jacen
leaned up against the balcony's railing and Tenal Ka joined him.
This setting felt familiar to him, except now they
weren't on Hapes overlooking a beautiful garden, and the relationship between
them had changed drastically since that night on the palace's balcony.
"The plan that Ambassador Solo and I devised worked," she
said at last, turning to him, "with the help of my parents, we were able to
convince the council that Jaina and everyone else was attacking under my
orders."
As princess, Tenal Ka had the right to order anyone to do
anything she wanted, to refuse, was disrespectful to the entire Royal Family
and was punishable by execution in the Royal Court. Jacen wanted to break out in a huge grin, relieved that nothing
would happen to either his siblings or friends, but something in Tenal Ka's
face stopped him.
"There's more," he said, knowing she hadn't told him
everything.
Tenal Ka sighed, knowing she was going to have to tell
him.
"I took responsibility for everything that happened between
us in front of the Royal Court," she said slowly.
Jacen sucked in a long breath of air. "Tenal Ka – "
She held up a hand to prevent him from saying anything
more. "Please, Jacen, let me finish,"
he nodded silently and she continued, "it was the only way to get you absolved
of all charges. I had to tell them what
they wanted to hear,"
"And what exactly was that?" He asked.
She looked away from him and stared out over the balcony,
watching the many different speeders and ships pass through the air on
Courscant. "I said that I forced you
into having an affair with me,"
Jacen's eyes grew wide. "You said what?" He shook his
head in exasperation, "I can't believe you did that. If I had known you were going to do that, I would've never let
you leave here without me,"
"It was the only way to get the charges against you
dropped," she said, trying to make him understand.
"What happened to you when you said that?" He was afraid that her statement may have
cost her her rightful position as heir to the throne.
"The Royal Council decided that the best punishment for
my actions would be public humiliation in front of my family and the Royal
Court of my confessed infidelity," she tried to say it nonchalantly, as if it
were something she were used to, but Jacen knew her better than that. Tenal Ka was a proud warrior, and it must
have been so hard for her to stand there and let them disgrace her, especially
with her parents watching. Tenal Ka
could care less about what those scheming Hapan nobles thought of her, but
Jacen knew she must have hated more than anything embarrassing her parents like
that.
"What did your parents have to say about your decision?"
"They were proud of me for defending the honour of my
friends,"
"I'm sorry you had to go through that by yourself," he
said taking both her hands in his, but he understood now why she had not let
him or anyone else go with her. She
hadn't wanted them to see her publicly
disgraced on her home planet. But Jacen
wouldn't have cared, he would have supported her even if she was humiliated in
front of the entire New Republic.
He
needed to make her understand that no matter what anybody said about her, he
would never stop loving her, and that whatever happened he would be there for
her. That's what led him to say, "we're
a team, you and me, and that means you don't always have to do things on your
own. You have to learn to let me help
you,"
She knew he was right, and he knew she knew he was
right. She had spent her whole life
depending on herself and no one else. While she thought that had made her stronger, in reality it had made her
weaker. She didn't know how to
ask for help because she had spent so many years relying on her own skills and
wit.
Jacen was staring at her, watching her ponder over his
statement, and was surprised to see the corners of her mouth turning up in a
small smile – he was still getting used to the idea of seeing her smiling
often.
"What?"
She raised an eyebrow at him, trying to be serious, which
wasn't really working with the smile present on her face, "you accuse me of
taking on too much responsibility but I know for a fact that you would have
done the same thing had our positions been reversed,"
Jacen gave her a roguish grin. "Is this a fact?"
"This is a fact,"
"Well, " he began leaning in to kiss her, "I guess I
should follow my own advice,"
"That sounds like a good idea to me, Jacen my love," she
murmured to him before they kissed.
But there was still one thing troubling Jacen. "What about Zeille?" He asked her when they finally parted.
Tenal Ka snorted. "He will get over it," she assured him, "He is being generously
compensated by my grandmother as we speak,"
Jacen was more than thrilled to hear that Zeille would no
longer be causing them any more problems. Now they could continue their relationship without fearing any more
consequences as a result of it.
Tenal Ka leaned against him as he wrapped his arm around
her shoulders. The two of them watched
in content silence as the afternoon sun begin to set and the moon began to rise
in the night sky.
Jacen had no idea what the future had in store for him
and Tenal Ka. But the one thing he knew
for sure was that whatever happened they would face it together, just like they
always had.