CHAPTER EIGHT: POWERLESS
Nearly a week had gone by since the incident in the kitchen between the two brothers that Jaina had walked in on. And Anakin, still did not look any more ready to have a civilized conversation with Jacen.
He had returned later that morning – from where Jaina could only guess had been Tahiri's – fought with Jacen some more, since it looked like Tahiri had not told him anymore then he already knew, and then the two brothers just stopped talking altogether.
She understood where Anakin was coming from. Jacen was unintentionally interfering with their relationship. If he ever wanted Anakin to talk to him again, he better tell him what was going on with Tahiri, or get her to tell him. At this point, she was pretty sure that even if Jacen did decided to tell Anakin what Tahiri was keeping from him, it wouldn't make much of a difference in the way Anakin was acting towards him.
She had thought that maybe the two of them could put aside their differences for the meeting their Uncle Luke had called, but the one characteristic the three Solo children had in common – besides the obvious – was stubbornness. Anakin had walked to the meeting alone and stood as far away from his brother as possible.
Jaina saw Tahiri walk by, flanked by Kam and Tionne on either side. Jaina caught her brother's eye as he watched them pass.
Jacen knew that look. "Jaina, whatever you want to say, just say it,"
"I know you had good intentions when you made that promise to Tahiri, Jace. But it's those same good intentions that have put you in the middle of her and Anakin,"
He sighed. "I never thought this was going to happen,"
"How could you not have? Put yourself in Anakin's position. How would you feel if, say, Tenal Ka had confided in Anakin about her disease and left you in the dark?"
He would be furious, that was for sure. But the current situation with Tahiri was not the same thing at all. "This is different, Jaina,"
"Different people, but it's the same scenario," she shook her head. "You still don't get it. Anakin may look like he's furious with you, but its more jealousy than anything else. Tahiri is his best friend – not to mention his girlfriend now – and she tells you some big secret instead of him. Do you have any idea how that must make him feel? You need to fix this now, Jacen, or Anakin might never speak to you again,"
Jacen was saved from having to come up with a response when his Uncle's voice boomed through the auditorium, bringing the assembled Jedi to order.
"I'm glad that this many of you were able to make the trip here. I have news that will affect the future of not only the New Republic but the rest of the galaxy.
"The Tsirran have agreed to help us fight the Yuuzhan Vong. Eusi-Rakk, the Tsirran Elder, has met with me on several occasions and we have agreed on an alliance between their species and the Jedi. The New Republic has nothing to do with this at the moment. Chief Fe'y'la as well as numerous others in the Senate are not ready to look beyond their own hatred of the Yuuzhan Vong to join sides with a race that is their blood relative. They do not sanction our alliance, but they have informed me they will not try to stop it as long as the Tsirran prove true to their word,"
At that precise moment, three Tsirran joined the Jedi Master on stage. Their sudden appearance stirred up a quiet commotion among those present. Some of the Jedi still had never seen an actual Tsirran, and on a first glance they looked exactly like a Yuuzhan Vong. But once the initial shock wore off, the differences between the two races were rather obvious. Tsirran did not mutilate themselves or cut off parts of their body as a sacrifice to the gods. Their green skin was smooth and free of any markings, save for the one's who were leaders of their clans. Only one of the aliens on stage had that specific marking.
Jacen felt a disturbance in the force at that exact moment, immediately jumping to the conclusion that the Tsirran's lives were in jeopardy that but he quickly realized the disturbance was not the kind that would warrant any danger.
There collective murmuring that was finally beginning to die down, picked up again – and this time it had nothing to do with the Tsirran. Jacen glanced over at the walkway in time to see a ghostly pale Tahiri run out of the auditorium. It wasn't long afterwards when Anakin ran out after her.
Tahiri was out of sight by the time Anakin made it to the deserted hallway. He had broken into a sprint after her before realizing what he was doing. No matter how mad he still was with her, he could not ignore the fact that there was something terribly wrong with Tahiri after seeing her run out like that.
He reached out with the force to locate her and immediately regretted doing so. He broke out into a cold sweat and his legs were so shaky, he fell to his knees, finding himself overcome by a powerful wave of nausea. The pain in his head was blinding. It was all he could do to keep himself from lapsing into unconsciousness. He tried breaking his connection to her, but it wasn't enough. He raced to the nearest trashcan and threw up into it.
When he felt the sickness subsiding, he stumbled over to the nearest bench and collapsed onto it. The nausea was over, but he didn't trust himself to stand just yet. The pain in his head was gone too, but he knew that was no ordinary headache he had felt. The intenseness of it had been too excruciating. It was as if someone had attached a thousand little electrodes to his brain, and had programmed them to cause searing pain whenever he tried to think or move. If his experience had been that horrible, he could only imagine how bad it had been for Tahiri, experiencing it firsthand. He was almost afraid to reach out to her again after what had just happened, but he was sure he would know where to find her even without using the force.
When he found his walking legs again, he started for the female 'fresher, located around the corner from the auditorium hall.
Even under the current circumstances, he did not feel right just barging in there. He knocked on the door and called out to her.
"Tahiri?"
No response.
"Tahiri, I'm coming in,"
"Please, Anakin, just go away,"
Her voice was weak and lacked any conviction to the words she had just spoken.
There was no way he could turn around and pretend what he had felt hadn't happened. Without further warning, he walked inside the 'fresher. He found her standing in front of a sink, clutching the sides of it for support. She wouldn't look at him even when he was right beside her.
When he got close to her, he could see how badly she was shaking. He had never seen her like this before and it frightened him. She looked ready to collapse at any second. He fought to maintain a calm appearance; it wouldn't help her to see him scared. He attempted to brush her damp hair out of her face, and the back of his hand came into in contact with her hot forehead.
His eyes widened in alarm. "Tahiri, you're burning up. We need to get you to the med center,"
She looked at him for the first time and he saw how sick she really was. Her face was paler then he thought was humanly possible.
"I'll be okay," she said weakly, "just give me a minute,"
Even with the condition she was in, she still had to argue with him. Well, he had news for her. He was taking her to the med ward if he had to pick her up and carry her there himself. One look at her told him he would probably have to do that anyways.
Anakin had put up his own shields to dampen the connection they shared, but their bond was too strong – too deep – for him to feel nothing when Tahiri started clutching the sides of her head and screaming in agony. He fought to keep himself standing upright.
She clutched his arms tightly, her gaze burning into his. "Please, make it stop," she begged him through her tears. "I can't – "
Her unspoken words caught in her throat and the last thing she remembered before passing into oblivion was Anakin's arms reaching out to catch her.