CHAPTER FIVE: THE ART OF SELFISHNESS
They had started work on the Lightning Rod early the next morning, which had not left Anakin with much of a chance to say more than 'hi' and 'bye' to Tahiri. He had been hoping to spend the morning with her, but the Tsirran were eager to help them fix Zekk's ship after what they had done to it the day before.
He and Zekk, together with two Tsirran, who carried enormous brown sacks on their backs, made their way to where the ship had been left. In the bright morning sunlight, the damage to the Rod looked to be a lot worse then it had originally.
There were jagged edges that looked like teeth marks protruding from around the opening of where the boarding ramp should have been. The ramp itself was lying several feet away from the ship – but was thankfully still in one piece. The only question was, how were they going to wield it back to the ship and be certain it would not fall off when they were in the deadly vacuum of space? The mysterious sacks the Tsirran had brought along with them solved that problem.
It was a pinkish jelly, similar to what had been used as wrist binders on them, that would stick to any surface and prevent air from leaking in or our once the ramp was closed.
Zekk had looked skeptical about attaching a type of living organism to his ship, and Anakin did not blame him. But if the Tsirran's had wanted to kill them, they could have already done so many times over.
The two Tsirran, who's names were Sui Vahung and Ulsi Essue, worked on the re-attaching the landing ramp, while Zekk and Anakin spent the better half of the morning clearing out the inside of the ship. The Tsirran bodies had already been removed whey got there, but there was still blood on the deck plates, equipment laying strewn about that had been sliced to pieces, and blaster marks lining the inside of the hull.
After that had been taken care of it was simply a matter of getting the ship's systems back online after the tractor beam on the Tsirran cruiser had short circuited them all. Zekk had some spare power couplings on board, which would make the job go a lot easier. They could probably have everything up and running within the next couple of days.
Zekk was perfectly capable of taking care of the repairs on his own, which was why Anakin had told him he was taking a break. He left him with Sui Vahung and Ulsi Essue, to go searching for Tahiri.
He probably should have stayed and helped Zekk, but right now he had other things on his mind besides tinkering with a ship.
It was mid-afternoon when he finally made it back to the village. He did not know his way around there, but knew that if he walked around long enough he would find her.
Along the way, he passed by several groups of Tsirran children, playing outside. He found it strange seeing children that looked so much like Yuuzhan Vong. He had to once again remind himself that these aliens were not Yuuzhan Vong. They were distant relatives but that was as close as the similarities got.
Anakin was still having a hard time adjusting to the fact that these aliens were not the same bloodthirsty killers that their cousins were. They treated each other as equals, and so far had shown no resentment towards humans or any other races. They were not the fanatics for living things that the Vong were. They had learned that both living and non-living items could be used together. He had discovered that when he had gotten a look at one of their ships that morning. They combined the technology of this galaxy with that of their own. They also did not cover themselves in tattoos or mutilate their bodies to indicate higher rank. He had noticed that some of the older ones had markings on their foreheads, and Tahiri had explained to him those were the ones who were leaders of their clan. Probably the most distinct difference between the Tsirran and the Vong was that the Tsirran wanted to work with the Jedi, while the Vong wanted them dead or used for their own personal experiments. It was hard to believe that two species who looked so much alike could be so completely different.
If he had understood correctly what Tahiri had told him, all these aliens wanted was to help rid this galaxy of the Yuuzhan Vong, and in return be allowed to stay where they were. They seemed honest enough – a quality he had never seen before in a Vong – but he still wasn't sure if they could be trusted. Just like the Yuuzhan Vong, he could not read the Tsirran through the force, and that meant they could be hiding a great deal from Tahiri and the rest of them.
He kept on through the village until he came across her glowing presence in the force.
There was a group of adolescent Tsirran crowded around what appeared to be a fighting ring. Anakin made his way towards it, pushing past the assembled crossed to see what was going on. A look of astonishment crossed his features not when he got a look at who one of the fighters was, but when he saw how she was fighting.
Tahiri was squared off against a Tsirran female, who was a good two feet taller and more muscular than her, but Tahiri was holding her own. She was fighting as if they were equally matched opponents.
Tahiri swung her practice amphistaff high – which was missing the poisonous outcropping of fangs at the end – and managed to sneak in a quick blow to the female's shoulder. She grunted, and struck out with her own amphistaff, fully intending to decapitate the Jedi, but Tahiri just barely brought up her own weapon to block it in time. They traded several more blows before backing off and circling each other warily.
Anakin could see how heavily they were both perspiring. They must have been going at for some time.
By the way they were exchanging violent blows, he could tell this was not some simple training exercise. It looked more like a match to the death. He really hoped Tahiri knew what she was doing.
With a sudden burst of speed, Tahiri charged at her opponent, swinging her staff out in front of her. Aggressively, she kept hitting the Tsirran's staff until she swatted it to the side, where it could no longer protect her. Rearing her amphistaff back, she belted the female Tsirran in the shins, knocking her off her feet. She landed hard on her back, and instead of finishing her off, Tahiri held out her hand to help her back to her feet. They exchanged a few close words and then went their separate ways, handing off their amphistaffs to the two Tsirran that were getting ready to fight next.
It was then Tahiri noticed Anakin for the first time standing nearby. The shocked look on his face told her he had seen at least some of the battle exercise.
"Don't look so surprised," Tahiri said, when she reached his side.
"I'm not," he said quickly. "I know you can handle a lightsaber and defend yourself, but I've never seen you fight quite so, uh – "
"Good?" Tahiri supplied.
"Aggressive was more the word I was thinking of,"
She placed her hands on her hips. "What's wrong with being a little aggressive? And don't say it leads to the dark side,"
"Fine, I won't," Anakin said, "It's just that I've never seen that side of you before,"
"Well, you better get used to it," Tahiri told him, "I've changed a lot since we last saw each other,"
"I can see that," he remarked.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing," he said, hoping she wouldn't press the matter. "Come on, let's go for a walk,"
Tahiri did not object as Anakin led her down a path away from the other Tsirran.
They walked along in silence, passing by Tsirran who were going about their daily business. A few acknowledged Tahiri and continued on their way.
"You were pretty quiet this morning," she spoke up, "even for you. 'Course I only saw you for all of ten minutes,"
"I had a lot of stuff on my mind,"
"Like what?"
Anakin stopped in his tracks. He had been debating whether or not to even bring it up, but the question had been on his mind since last night and he could not ignore it any longer. "Why didn't you ever try to contact me?" He sounded more hurt then angry.
Tahiri had been waiting for this conversation to happen since he had arrived. "I couldn't take the chance that the Vong would intercept the message and trace it back here," she said to him. "If they knew the Tsirran had survived and came to this galaxy, they would come here and destroy what few of them are left,"
"So, you were just going to let me go on thinking you were dead?"
"No. I would have found a way to get in touch with you,"
"When?" Anakin said, his voice rising in volume. "In a year or two? When I finally would have gotten over your death,"
"I don't know," she said, looking away from him.
"Geez, Tahiri, you couldn't even reach out to me through the force, just once, to let me know you were okay?"
"You don't think I didn't want to?" She said, her voice rising now as well. "So many times I wanted to open myself up to you, but I couldn't. Anakin, the Vong have ways to track us. There are Jedi traitors who are selling us out to them,"
"Come on, Tahiri," Anakin said, not buying that for a second, "the Jedi may have different ways of handling the Yuuzhan Vong invasion, but none of us would sell each other out. Who told you that there were traitors among us? You're new friends?"
"They saved my life, Anakin. They had plenty of opportunities to turn on me, but they didn't. I told you, they have people who have infiltrated Vong warships. They've heard stories of Jedi there, bargaining with them. And I believe them,"
"Tahiri, open your eyes. The Tsirran are related to the Vong. That means they are Vong, and that means they can't be trusted," he said, trying to make her see reason.
"I trust them," she said.
"And I guess you care more about them then you do your own family and friends," he accused.
"That's not true," she said shaking her head.
"How can it not be when you've been here for weeks, making a nice, new life for yourself, while everyone thinks your dead? Do you have any idea what Kam and Tionne have been going through? What I've been going through?"
"I'm sorry – "
Anakin wasn't listening to her apologies. It was a little late for that. "I went through hell when I thought I'd lost you. Do you know what it's like to lose someone who's supposed to be your best friend?
"It was the only way. If you had been in my situation you would have done the same thing,"
"I would never let you think I was dead," he said, coming dangerously close to losing his temper, "and if you think I would then you don't know me at all,"
"Anakin, I'm sorry I hurt you and that you feel like I betrayed you, but if I had to do the same thing all over again, I would,"
Anakin turned away from her. He couldn't even stand the sight of her anymore.
"I don't know what else to say to make you understand why I did what I did," she said softly.
"Neither do I," he said, and began walking away from her.
"Anakin, wait!" Tahiri called after him.
Anakin ignored her and continued his increasingly fast pace away from her. He had nothing more to say to her. She obviously didn't care about him as much as he thought she did. That was fine with him, though. He had spent the past couple of months trying to accept that she was gone, and just because she was back in his life now didn't mean any of that had to change. He could do just fine without her.
