A/N: Zaura, Tahiri didn't die in this story. She died in one of my other stories "We're All Breakable Sometimes". I hope that gets rid of your confusion.
CHAPTER FIVE: TAKE MY ADVICE
It was still early Courscant time when Jacen decided to take a stroll up to the Jedi Training Facility for a quick morning workout.
The room had been constructed – at his Uncle Luke's insistence, on the top level of the Imperial Palace, more than a year ago.
He hoped that by skipping breakfast and heading straight there he could get in a workout before anyone else showed up. He trained better when there wasn't anyone around to distract him. And as of late, he found himself seriously lacking in the concentration department. Tenal Ka was the reason for it. As much as he wanted to deny it, they were drifting apart and the rift between them was getting bigger. It would have been easier to refuse to believe what was happening if he was the only one who noticed it – but he wasn't. Jaina had picked up on it too. Another one of the downfalls to having a twin who knew you as well as you knew yourself, sometimes even better. At least Jaina respected his privacy enough not to confront him on it. If Tenal Ka had said anything to her, he didn't know. She probably did more talking to his sister then to him these days.
He still had these thoughts in mind as he walked into the training room, soon discovering he wasn't the only one who had decided on an early morning workout.
Tahiri Veila was there, looking more like she was fighting a life or death battle then a mere training exercise.
With her electric blue saber, she was attempting to fend off four remotes hovering close to her. Judging by the amounts of laser fire they were throwing out at each turn, they had to be programmed on a high setting.
She was blindfolded and pouring all her concentration on the remotes, keeping her from being alerted to the other Jedi's presence.
Looking at her now, he couldn't help but privately envy the relationship she had with Anakin. They hadn't wasted years like he and Tenal Ka had, fighting the obvious. The two of them shared a bond that was stronger then the one he shared with Tenal Ka. When he saw them together, he was reminded of how he and Tenal Ka used to be. He missed that intense feeling of wanting to be close to her. It was as if they had grown too comfortable with one another. He liked comfortable, but he wanted more than that. He wanted the excitement and adventure like when they had first gotten together and even before that.
He shifted his concentration to the show in front of him. He was more then a little surprised at Tahiri's skill with a lightsaber. It was obvious she had improved a great deal since the last time he had seen her use one – so much that she was taking on four remotes single handedly. Not even Tenal Ka tried that. Anakin must have been working with her. It showed in the aggressive nature she swung her blade to deflect the remote's blasts.
But no one had superhuman reflexes, and a few stun blasts managed to work their way through her defenses. But she never flinched or cried out, if anything, it brought her determination to a new level. Another trait she must have picked up from Anakin.
She harmlessly batted a stray bolt aside, unintentionally sending it whirling in Jacen's direction.
He cried out in surprise, having been caught off guard, and brought his lightsaber to bear. Reacting with reflexes honed from years of practice, his emerald blade swung out in front of him, batting aside the bolt heading straight for his head.
"End program," he heard Tahiri say out loud. The remotes obediently powered down and hovered silently in the air.
She ripped off her blindfold, finding the source of surprised yelp. Jacen stood near the training room entrance, his saber still ignited in his hands. "Sorry," she quickly apologized. "I didn't know you were standing there,"
"That's all right," he said, powering down his weapon and hooking it back onto his belt. "It was a good test of my reflexes this early in the morning. I'm glad to see I passed,"
"How long have you been standing there?" She didn't know why, but it made her uneasy knowing he had been watching her workout.
"Long enough to wonder if you were planning on adding a fifth remote,"
"I guess I did get a little carried away," she said with a sheepish grin.
He looked down at the red welts forming on her hands and wrists from where the remote's blasts had broke through her defenses. He couldn't see any on her arms, but that was because her sleeves were rolled down. He was sure there were marks there as well.
"You should put something on those," he commented.
"These?" She said, holding up her palms. "There nothing, really. They don't even sting,"
"You should still put some ice on it to keep the swelling down,"
His tone was all too familiar to her. "You sound like, Anakin,"
He gave her a lopsided grin. "You make that sound like it's a bad thing,"
"One overprotective Solo in my life is enough, thank you,"
"He can't help it. It's in our blood," Jacen's grin broadened. "That, and our good looks,"
She rolled her eyes. Was he flirting with her? The notion was preposterous and she didn't give it more then a fleeting thought. "What are you doing here?"
His smile disappeared. "Same as you. Trying to work out some early morning frustration,"
"Who says I'm frustrated?"
"I do," he said, folding his arms across his chest. "You don't take on four remotes on their highest setting, while blindfolded, if you're not,"
"Maybe I've just decided to step up my training since nobody around here seems to think I'm capable of taking care of myself,"
"The only things that would make you step up your training that much would be if you were mad at my brother, or if…" he silently trailed off, but his unspoken words hung in the air as if he had said them out loud.
"This has nothing to do with what I told you," she insisted.
"I may not be Anakin, but I can still tell when you're lying,"
She put her hands on her hips and gave him her iciest glare. "Can you tell what I'm thinking right now?"
He could not make out any distinct words, but he got the gist of the hostile emotions she was sending his way.
"I keep thinking it's a really bad idea you not telling anyone what you told me," he said, unwilling to drop the subject. It wasn't what he had come down there for, but he thought he could reason with her, and get her to see the huge mistake she was making by keeping Anakin in the dark.
"Exactly. Told. Past tense. That means it's over and I've moved on. End of story. Can you drop it? I'm fine," she said, growing irritated.
"You're bleeding,"
"What?"
"Your arm," said Jacen, pointing at the dark crimson colour seeping through the gray sleeve of her left arm.
"It's just a scratch," she said, covering it up with her hand.
He moved closer to her. "Let me look at it,"
"NO!"
She had only intended to keep him from touching her, but she ended up unconsciously summoning the power to hurl him into the nearest wall. He got up slowly, rubbing his right shoulder. His eyes locked with hers and she could see the unspoken questions there. He tried to cover it up, but she felt the fear coming from him. He was afraid of her.
"I'm sorry," she blurted out. How could she have lost control like that? "Jacen, I – "
She never finished the sentence.
She bolted out of the training room and down the corridor, praying she wouldn't run into anyone else and cause more damage then she already had.
Ganner had told her that Zekk needed time, implying Jaina should leave him alone. Jacen had voiced a similar opinion, but Jaina chose to ignore them both. It was not that she didn't value their opinions – actually, she valued Ganner's opinion less than a Hutt's right now, but that wasn't the point. The point was she remembered how awful it had felt to lose Chewie; what her dad had gone through, and how her little brother had reacted when he thought Tahiri was dead. What Zekk was feeling would be similar, if not worse. She needed to see for herself if he was handling it okay.
It wasn't too difficult for her to make the trip down to the apartment Zekk and Peckum had called home for the past ten years. She had been there so many times before, she was certain she could reach it blindfolded if needed.
It was a fairly decent building located just east of the Imperial Palace, mostly occupied by retired pilots and other beings who could not afford the glamorous life of the Imperial Palace or anything else high above ground.
When they were younger, she and Jacen had gotten their share of groundings whenever their parents or Threepio had found out they had gone for a stroll through the lower levels of the Imperial City by themselves, searching for their scavenger friend, Zekk.
She reached the door to his apartment and knocked on it. She waited a few moments and then knocked again when she got no answer. She knocked harder that time, but still no one answered. She reached up to knock for a third time, but the door opened, revealing a very haggard looking Zekk. He was wearing an old pair of pilot pants and a shirt with a dozen different sized holes in it. The dark bags under his eyes were almost the same colour of his hair, which looked like it hadn't been combed in days. He looked as close to death as possible for someone who was supposed to be living.
"What are you doing here?"
His voice was so emotionless when he spoke, she almost didn't recognize it.
"I didn't off myself, if that's what you were worried about,"
"I wasn't," she responded when she found her voice.
He walked back into his apartment and she wordlessly followed him inside. The place was beyond its usual mess with crates of junk stacked up against walls, some having fallen over and strewn about on the floor were gadgets Peckum had come across over the years. Zekk made no attempts to hide the mess as he sunk into a chair with the upholstery falling apart.
"The funeral's the day after tomorrow," she told him.
"I already knew that," he said. "I'm not going,"
She stood shocked by his response. He made it sound as if he had just made the decision not to update the Lightning Rod's entertainment unit. "Zekk, you have to go. You'll regret it if you don't,"
"I won't regret anything. I already said my good-bye. There's no reason for me to go,"
"Zekk – "
"It's not a subject open for discussion, Jaina," he said in a harsh voice. " I've made up my mind,"
She wished she could make him see what a huge mistake he was making by not going. He would regret it. But he wasn't going to listen to her. She couldn't force him to go. The decision had to be his.
"Is that all you came here for?" He asked when she remained quiet.
She shook her head. "I wanted to see how you were doing,"
"How do you think I'm doing?" He snapped at her.
"Zekk, I know it's hard – "
"No, you don't," he cut her off sharply. "You have no idea what I'm feeling. And don't bother bringing up Chewbacca to use as a comparison. Just because you lost one person doesn't make you an expert on feelings or what I'm going through,"
Jaina's voice shook when she spoke. "I would never compare your loss to mine, but don't you dare try to make losing Chewie sound as if he were nothing more then a distant Uncle I would see once or twice a year. You don't have the right,"
Zekk let out a bitter laugh. "You're one to talk about rights, Jaina, when you come down here, expecting me to bear my soul to you when you've been treating me like I don't exist for weeks now,"
She didn't know what to say to that. He was right, of course. She had been giving him the silent treatment from the moment he had decided yet again, to remain at the Jedi Academy. But what had he expected from her? Had he really thought she would be happy to see him again?
"The only reason you're standing here, talking to me," he continued, when she didn't bother to defend herself, "is because you feel sorry for me. Not because you feel any compassion towards me or care about me in the least,"
"Zekk, that's not true. I do care. We're – " she hesitated, "– friends,"
"Friends?" He snorted. "Friends don't cut each other out of their lives and then decide to start talking to them again because someone died." He looked at her hard. "We're not friends, Jaina – and we never will be. There's too much history between us. You know that and I know that. So why don't you do us both a favour and get out – and don't come back,"
She didn't move. It wasn't registering in her head that he was kicking her out – not only out of his apartment but out of his life. She could pass it off as grief talking, but she didn't really believe that. She should have been happy. This was what she had wanted since his return, but not like this.
"Are you deaf? I said get out," he snarled. When she still made no move to leave, he got up and headed for the door. "Fine, then I'll leave,"
He shoved past her and out the open door, not bothering to close it behind him.
Jaina lost track of how long she stood there after he had left, but by the time she made her way back to the surface, it was dark out and a chilly wind had picked up. Compared to what she was feeling inside, it was a warm summer breeze.
"Anakin, we need to talk,"
Uh-oh. His dad had probably found the secret 'modifications' he had done to make the laser canons use up less energy when fired. He hated when Anakin did things like that without checking with him first. He remembered how much trouble he had gotten in the last time he had gone ahead and done shield modifications without his father's permission.
"Dad, if this is about the teeny, little change I made to the targeting systems, I was going to ask you but you were busy, so I went ahead and did it,"
Han Solo frowned. "What change – " he shook his head. "Never mind that right now. I'll decide whether or not I should be angry with you for doing that later,"
"What's going on?" Anakin said, both a little suspicious and curious as to why his father was unusually calm after what he had just told him. He should have been raging with anger at that moment.
"Nothing's going on, son. Your mom just thinks it's time I had a talk with you about certain things,"
Anakin raised an eyebrow, waiting for his dad to continue because he certainly had no idea what he was talking about.
"I know Tahiri was here with you yesterday when I came by,"
Anakin's mouth dropped open. "How did you – "
"Know? Well, for starters, you weren't working on the aft thrusters. I fixed them myself last week. The second thing being the guilty look on your face when I mentioned Tahiri,"
Tahiri was right. He was a horrible liar. "And the third?"
Han couldn't resist grinning at his son. "You just confirmed it for me a few seconds ago,"
Anakin felt like smacking himself with his lightsaber. Some Jedi he was. His own father, who was as force blind as they come, had managed not only to tell that he was lying, but to make him confess too.
"Does mom know?" He dreaded the answer.
"Yes, and that's why she wanted me to talk to you,"
"Talk to me about what?"
"Sex,"
Anakin stared at his dad in disbelief. "Dad, Tahiri and I are not having sex,"
Han looked extremely relieved to hear his son say that. "That's good to know, because your mother and I are too young to be grandparents,"
"Dad! "
"Grandparents aside," Han continued, "when you and Tahiri finally decide to have sex – which I hope won't be for a very, very, long time – you'll be responsible about it,"
"Dad, I already know all this,"
Honestly, did his father think he had been living under a rock for nearly seventeen years? Sure, Tahiri was his first girlfriend and the first person he had ever fallen in love with – though he had not yet worked up the courage to tell her – but he wasn't stupid. He knew about sex. He wasn't an expert on the subject, but he knew enough about it.
"I'm glad to see my youngest son thinks he knows everything," said Han. "Because here I was thinking I was going to have to waste my time scaring you about if Tahiri were to get pregnant, and how the two of you would deal with it, seeing as you're both still young. There's always adoption or you two could get married. Then you'd have to figure out where you're going to live – you'll have to find a place of your own, of course. Then figure out how you're going to pay for this baby, if it's going to train to be a Jedi, and so on. But before you make any of those decisions, you have the job of telling the unsuspecting grandparents-to-be on both sides that in about nine months time they can expect a new addition to their family." Han looked thoughtful for a moment. "I can just picture Kam Solusar's reaction,"
"I thought you said you weren't going to scare me," said Anakin.
Han gave his son an innocent look. "Did I say that? I guess I just got carried away there. "Anakin," he began, going back to the serious tone he had taken since their conversation had started, "contrary to what you may think, I'm not trying to fill your head with all kinds or horrible thoughts to keep you from having sex. I just want you to be aware that with sex comes responsibility – and that responsibility can sometimes have consequences,"
Anakin was taking this all in stride. Han saw that as a good sign that his son was still listening to him at all. He hadn't been at all sure how this 'talk' was going to go.
"I'm no expert," he told Anakin, "but I have had a lot of experience. Don't go getting any ideas, but I was doing it before I was your age," he saw the questioning look forming on Anakin's face and added, "don't ask me how young because I'm not going to tell you. The point I'm trying to make," he went on, "is that sex with anyone is just that – sex. But with someone you love, it's an experience that can bring two people closer then even they thought possible. I don't expect you to wait until you're my age, but I do hope you'll wait until you're both ready,"
Anakin thought for a moment. The incident the other day in the Falcon came to mind. "How are we supposed to know when we're ready?"
"It's something the two of you will have to figure out on your own. You and Tahiri have been best friends forever, but this new level in your relationship is still something you're both get used to. I don't know where the two of you are at, but this is definitely a subject you both should discuss and think hard about before you go making any final decisions,"
That was all his dad had wanted to say to him. If anything, Anakin had been expecting to be on the receiving end of a long lecture from his dad about sex. His dad had never been one to lecture, though. He was making an effort to relate to his teenage son and Anakin appreciated that. Growing up on the streets of Corellia, he was sure his dad knew a lot more about the subject then he was letting on. The important thing was, he wasn't in trouble like he had thought. He was sure if his mother had talked to him it would have been a different story.
Han crossed his arms over his chest. "Now that that's out of the way, what's this change you made to the targeting systems I should know about?"
Let me know what you think of the story so far. All opinions are welcome.