Well, here's the next chapter. Finally. I've been updating it at the Jedi
Council Forums, so I thought I'd put up the rest of the story here, for those
of you not on the JCF.
Disclaimer: Same as always.
"You're joking, right?" Valin asked incredulously. "This is just a big practical joke. It has to be. You're not really in labor." Belaying his words was his feelings. The boy was nervous and scared, and it was showing.
Tionne leaned her back against the wall of the turbolift and slid to the floor. "I'm sorry, Valin," she told him. "I wish this were just a big joke, but it's not." She stretched her legs out on the floor and winced as another contraction hit her. "And it seems that my baby is in a rush to be born."
Valin started to pace within the small confines of the turbolift. "Oh Force, oh Force, oh Force," he kept repeating under his breath.
The elder Jedi reached out for her husband and found him on the other side of the base. One of his philosophy classes is right now, Tionne thought to herself. She could feel his annoyance at his students' willingness to argue every point he made. Kam, she called out to him.
What's wrong? She sensed more than heard the words. She knew that he could feel her distress through their bond, just like she could feel his worry. Are you okay? Is the baby okay?
We're fine, she called back. But, I'm in labor and stuck in a turbolift with Valin Horn. She felt her husband's worry start to turn to full blown panic. Don't worry about us, Kam. Just get us out of here.
Kam cut their connection and Tionne sighed. She just hoped that her baby wouldn't be born in a turbolift. It would make a good story to tell her someday, though. The minstrel smiled, imagining telling her daughter stories from before she was born.
"Valin, calm down," she ordered the agitated teen. "I'm the one in labor, not you. If they don't get us out of here in time, you're the one with the easy job. Just sit down, breathe, and try to relax."
The young Jedi complied, and sat against the wall opposite Tionne. "I've never delivered a baby before, and to tell you the truth, I never want to. I'll leave that job to the doctors and healer, thank you very much."
"I sincerely hope that you won't have to deliver my baby," Tionne told him. "I don't want her born in a cramped turbolift."
Valin was silent for a moment. He pulled his legs up so that his feet were flat against the floor, and rested his forearms on his knees. "If you don't mind my asking, have you and Master Kam decided on a name?"
"We haven't been able to agree on anything," she said wearily. "It seems as if we have very different tastes in names." She grimaced in discomfort as another contraction hit her. They weren't yet bad enough to cause great deals of pain, but she knew that they would get that way soon enough. Valin moved to sit next to her and grasped her hand. Tionne smiled gratefully at him as he helped her through the discomfort.
"I have a suggestion for a name," Valin told her, letting go of her hand and sitting cross-legged next to her. "If you don't mind, that is."
"Any suggestion would be appreciated."
"Mekira." At Tionne's questioning look, he continued. "It was my Grandma Terrik's name. Mom's always saying that she was beautiful and kind and loving. I figure that any little girl raised by you would be like that. So, I think it kinda fits."
Tionne pondered it for a second, then smiled at her student. "Mekira is a beautiful name. I'm sure even Kam will love it," she said. "Thank you, Valin."
Before the young man could respond, the lights in the turbolift abruptly shut off. After a few moments, the dim, red, emergency glowpanels flickered on, casting an eerie, crimson glow in the turbolift.
"Great," Valin said sarcastically. "I wonder if the entire base is on emergency power, too."
Tionne reached out for Kam, and caught a glimpse of red-tinted corridors through his eyes. "Yes," she told Valin, pulling away from her husband. "Oh!" she cried out as a sharp contraction ripped through her. She panted for breath through the pain, squeezing Valin's hand.
After almost two minutes, the pain subsided. Tionne slumped back against the wall, still trying to get her breath. "Valin, I think you might just have to deliver Mekira. She's coming fast." She shifted to try to get more comfortable. "Help me here."
Valin helped her take off her outer robe, bundled it up, and set it on the floor. He helped her maneuver so that she was lying on the floor, the turbolift door off to her left, then helped situate her robe under her head, so that she was comfortable.
Tionne watched as Valin took off his own outer robe. She looked at him questioningly, still too out of breath to speak. "I don't know much about delivering babies," he told her, "but I do know that they have to be kept warm. I'm sure Mom won't mind letting Mekira use my robe."
The minstrel cried out as another, stronger contraction wracked her body. She felt Kam and all of her close friends sever their mental bonds to her. She knew that her anguish was rolling off of her, and to her friends, through the Force. She didn't like the feeling of being alone, but she knew that it was necessary.
Valin lifted up her other robes, and even in the red light, Tionne thought she saw him turn a sickly shade of green. His eyes were as wide as saucers, and he looked about ready to either faint or be sick.
"What's wrong?" Tionne demanded, half hysterical from the pain. The pain was unbearable, so bad that she was crying. She wasn't even remotely thinking straight. "What's wrong with my baby?!"
The young Jedi seemed to snap back to reality. "Nothing, at least as far as I can see. But I can see her head. I can see the top of her head!"
Tionne didn't bother to respond, but cried out as the pain of another contraction ripped through her. The pain wasn't just confined to her lower body, but it seemed to move through her entire being. She pushed with all of her might, willing Mekira to be born, sobbing in pain. "It hurts, it hurts," she sobbed hoarsely after the contraction ended.
Both occupants of the turbolift started as the door started to be levered open. Valin quickly turned back to Tionne. "Her head is out, Master Tionne," he told her. "You're almost done." He paused, a dubious look crossing his face. "I think."
The door continued to open, centimeter-by-centimeter. "Tionne, are you okay?" Taesa asked from somewhere out of sight. "How far has the labor progressed?"
Instead of answering, the minstrel cried out again. "Come on, you can do it," Valin told her encouragingly. "Just a little more."
Again, Tionne pushed with all of her might. She collapsed back onto the floor when she felt Mekira completely leave her body. She smile wearily when she heard her daughter cry for the first time.
"Does that answer your question?" Valin asked Taesa. He then leaned over Tionne and handed her a wrapped and squirming bundle. "Now, get us outta here! I'm not cutting the cord or doing anything else, you hear?"
Tionne heard the conversation going on around her, but ignored it. All she focused on was her daughter. She pulled Valin's emerald robe away from Mekira's face and saw her beautiful baby for the first time. She had her father's eyes, but Tionne's nose and mouth. What little hair she had was silver-white, like her mother's.
Sighing, Tionne closed her eyes and let her exhaustion overcome her. She let her head sink deeper down into her impromptu pillow. She felt herself drifting, and didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. The voices around her became more and more distant until she could hear them no more.
Tionne saw a bright light through her closed eyelids, but couldn't find the energy to open her eyes. She had just delivered a baby in twenty minutes. All she wanted to do now was to sleep and let her body heal.
Dimly, through the fog in her mind, she heard Valin say, "Master Taesa, she's bleeding an awful lot." There was a pause as the healer answered, but Tionne couldn't hear the other woman's words. "Yeah, but I think she's bleeding more than that. Her robes are covered in it."
The rest of Valin's words were lost as Tionne slipped into unconsciousness. Baby Mekira wailed for her mother, but to no avail. Tionne just kept slipping futher and further, away from her body, and away from her pain.
Disclaimer: Same as always.
"You're joking, right?" Valin asked incredulously. "This is just a big practical joke. It has to be. You're not really in labor." Belaying his words was his feelings. The boy was nervous and scared, and it was showing.
Tionne leaned her back against the wall of the turbolift and slid to the floor. "I'm sorry, Valin," she told him. "I wish this were just a big joke, but it's not." She stretched her legs out on the floor and winced as another contraction hit her. "And it seems that my baby is in a rush to be born."
Valin started to pace within the small confines of the turbolift. "Oh Force, oh Force, oh Force," he kept repeating under his breath.
The elder Jedi reached out for her husband and found him on the other side of the base. One of his philosophy classes is right now, Tionne thought to herself. She could feel his annoyance at his students' willingness to argue every point he made. Kam, she called out to him.
What's wrong? She sensed more than heard the words. She knew that he could feel her distress through their bond, just like she could feel his worry. Are you okay? Is the baby okay?
We're fine, she called back. But, I'm in labor and stuck in a turbolift with Valin Horn. She felt her husband's worry start to turn to full blown panic. Don't worry about us, Kam. Just get us out of here.
Kam cut their connection and Tionne sighed. She just hoped that her baby wouldn't be born in a turbolift. It would make a good story to tell her someday, though. The minstrel smiled, imagining telling her daughter stories from before she was born.
"Valin, calm down," she ordered the agitated teen. "I'm the one in labor, not you. If they don't get us out of here in time, you're the one with the easy job. Just sit down, breathe, and try to relax."
The young Jedi complied, and sat against the wall opposite Tionne. "I've never delivered a baby before, and to tell you the truth, I never want to. I'll leave that job to the doctors and healer, thank you very much."
"I sincerely hope that you won't have to deliver my baby," Tionne told him. "I don't want her born in a cramped turbolift."
Valin was silent for a moment. He pulled his legs up so that his feet were flat against the floor, and rested his forearms on his knees. "If you don't mind my asking, have you and Master Kam decided on a name?"
"We haven't been able to agree on anything," she said wearily. "It seems as if we have very different tastes in names." She grimaced in discomfort as another contraction hit her. They weren't yet bad enough to cause great deals of pain, but she knew that they would get that way soon enough. Valin moved to sit next to her and grasped her hand. Tionne smiled gratefully at him as he helped her through the discomfort.
"I have a suggestion for a name," Valin told her, letting go of her hand and sitting cross-legged next to her. "If you don't mind, that is."
"Any suggestion would be appreciated."
"Mekira." At Tionne's questioning look, he continued. "It was my Grandma Terrik's name. Mom's always saying that she was beautiful and kind and loving. I figure that any little girl raised by you would be like that. So, I think it kinda fits."
Tionne pondered it for a second, then smiled at her student. "Mekira is a beautiful name. I'm sure even Kam will love it," she said. "Thank you, Valin."
Before the young man could respond, the lights in the turbolift abruptly shut off. After a few moments, the dim, red, emergency glowpanels flickered on, casting an eerie, crimson glow in the turbolift.
"Great," Valin said sarcastically. "I wonder if the entire base is on emergency power, too."
Tionne reached out for Kam, and caught a glimpse of red-tinted corridors through his eyes. "Yes," she told Valin, pulling away from her husband. "Oh!" she cried out as a sharp contraction ripped through her. She panted for breath through the pain, squeezing Valin's hand.
After almost two minutes, the pain subsided. Tionne slumped back against the wall, still trying to get her breath. "Valin, I think you might just have to deliver Mekira. She's coming fast." She shifted to try to get more comfortable. "Help me here."
Valin helped her take off her outer robe, bundled it up, and set it on the floor. He helped her maneuver so that she was lying on the floor, the turbolift door off to her left, then helped situate her robe under her head, so that she was comfortable.
Tionne watched as Valin took off his own outer robe. She looked at him questioningly, still too out of breath to speak. "I don't know much about delivering babies," he told her, "but I do know that they have to be kept warm. I'm sure Mom won't mind letting Mekira use my robe."
The minstrel cried out as another, stronger contraction wracked her body. She felt Kam and all of her close friends sever their mental bonds to her. She knew that her anguish was rolling off of her, and to her friends, through the Force. She didn't like the feeling of being alone, but she knew that it was necessary.
Valin lifted up her other robes, and even in the red light, Tionne thought she saw him turn a sickly shade of green. His eyes were as wide as saucers, and he looked about ready to either faint or be sick.
"What's wrong?" Tionne demanded, half hysterical from the pain. The pain was unbearable, so bad that she was crying. She wasn't even remotely thinking straight. "What's wrong with my baby?!"
The young Jedi seemed to snap back to reality. "Nothing, at least as far as I can see. But I can see her head. I can see the top of her head!"
Tionne didn't bother to respond, but cried out as the pain of another contraction ripped through her. The pain wasn't just confined to her lower body, but it seemed to move through her entire being. She pushed with all of her might, willing Mekira to be born, sobbing in pain. "It hurts, it hurts," she sobbed hoarsely after the contraction ended.
Both occupants of the turbolift started as the door started to be levered open. Valin quickly turned back to Tionne. "Her head is out, Master Tionne," he told her. "You're almost done." He paused, a dubious look crossing his face. "I think."
The door continued to open, centimeter-by-centimeter. "Tionne, are you okay?" Taesa asked from somewhere out of sight. "How far has the labor progressed?"
Instead of answering, the minstrel cried out again. "Come on, you can do it," Valin told her encouragingly. "Just a little more."
Again, Tionne pushed with all of her might. She collapsed back onto the floor when she felt Mekira completely leave her body. She smile wearily when she heard her daughter cry for the first time.
"Does that answer your question?" Valin asked Taesa. He then leaned over Tionne and handed her a wrapped and squirming bundle. "Now, get us outta here! I'm not cutting the cord or doing anything else, you hear?"
Tionne heard the conversation going on around her, but ignored it. All she focused on was her daughter. She pulled Valin's emerald robe away from Mekira's face and saw her beautiful baby for the first time. She had her father's eyes, but Tionne's nose and mouth. What little hair she had was silver-white, like her mother's.
Sighing, Tionne closed her eyes and let her exhaustion overcome her. She let her head sink deeper down into her impromptu pillow. She felt herself drifting, and didn't know if that was a good or bad thing. The voices around her became more and more distant until she could hear them no more.
Tionne saw a bright light through her closed eyelids, but couldn't find the energy to open her eyes. She had just delivered a baby in twenty minutes. All she wanted to do now was to sleep and let her body heal.
Dimly, through the fog in her mind, she heard Valin say, "Master Taesa, she's bleeding an awful lot." There was a pause as the healer answered, but Tionne couldn't hear the other woman's words. "Yeah, but I think she's bleeding more than that. Her robes are covered in it."
The rest of Valin's words were lost as Tionne slipped into unconsciousness. Baby Mekira wailed for her mother, but to no avail. Tionne just kept slipping futher and further, away from her body, and away from her pain.