* Belated Betrayal *
The shock of the kiss sent her heart racing. The soft touches of Jacen so close to her shivered up her spine. When she finally realized what she was doing, it was too late.
Pulling quickly away from Jacen, she felt Anakin run down the halls. Never in her life had she felt so terrible. Half of her wanted to run after him, the other half wanted to believe this was all a dream.
*********
"Anakin," Jacen called out to his younger brother and ran, leaving Tahiri behind.
When Jacen finally caught up with Anakin, he found his brother locked in his rooms. While catching up on his breath, the older boy leaned one of his arms against the door. "Anakin, please l—"
Opening the vacuum door, Anakin pulled his brother in his room and locked the door once again. This was between him and his older brother, no one else. "Please what? You knew! Jacen, you knew! How could you? How could she?"
"Hold on, none of this was Tahiri's fault. It was mine. Completely." Jacen confessed.
Staring in astonishment at his older brother, Anakin shook his head not believing what he was hearing. "Then why did you?"
Jacen had no answer for him. At loss of words, he cast his eyes to the ground feeling terribly guilty and horrible. He honestly did not know why he had kissed Tahiri, all he had wanted to do was to help her empty her mind of him and just keep her focus back on Anakin and her duty as a Jedi. Now he probably left her mind and heart both in total chaos. "I know, 'I am sorry,' is never going to erase what I caused, but I am. All I intended was to talk with her, to straighten things out with her mind. It has been so cluttered with life; well she just needed to clear her mind. And that's what was happening, until… I am sorry."
Anger spiraled inside of the young Jedi Knight, but he dismissed the emotion. He was not going to give into the darkside no matter what the cost, no matter how much it hurt. Instead, a feeling of betrayal entered Anakin. He turned away from his brother. "Listen, Tahiri's all I've got and right now and with what I've been assigned to do…"
"What, when, where, who?"
Letting out a long breath of tension, Anakin explained. "There's nothing I'd rather do than strangle you for what you did to me, but unfortunately I don't have the time. I have to go on a scouting mission with Corran Horn. There has been some disturbance over on the border between Yuuzhan Vong Space and what is left of the Inner Core."
"You're leaving?"
"Yeah, just because everyone's back together doesn't mean the war automatically stops Jacen. You of all people should know that," Anakin threatened, implying the time Jacen stopped using the Force all together.
Shoving his brother in the side, Jacen felt ready to pound the younger boy into the wall. "Hey, don't compare me with the past. You of all people should know that."
Slowly turning around, Anakin resisted the urge to punch Jacen in the face. "I have to go."
"Now?"
"The ship deports in three minutes."
Both brothers just stared at one another, both knowing they did not want their last conversation with one another to be of hard feelings, but at this point, there was nothing to be said. "Later, brother."
"Later."
The shock of the kiss sent her heart racing. The soft touches of Jacen so close to her shivered up her spine. When she finally realized what she was doing, it was too late.
Pulling quickly away from Jacen, she felt Anakin run down the halls. Never in her life had she felt so terrible. Half of her wanted to run after him, the other half wanted to believe this was all a dream.
*********
"Anakin," Jacen called out to his younger brother and ran, leaving Tahiri behind.
When Jacen finally caught up with Anakin, he found his brother locked in his rooms. While catching up on his breath, the older boy leaned one of his arms against the door. "Anakin, please l—"
Opening the vacuum door, Anakin pulled his brother in his room and locked the door once again. This was between him and his older brother, no one else. "Please what? You knew! Jacen, you knew! How could you? How could she?"
"Hold on, none of this was Tahiri's fault. It was mine. Completely." Jacen confessed.
Staring in astonishment at his older brother, Anakin shook his head not believing what he was hearing. "Then why did you?"
Jacen had no answer for him. At loss of words, he cast his eyes to the ground feeling terribly guilty and horrible. He honestly did not know why he had kissed Tahiri, all he had wanted to do was to help her empty her mind of him and just keep her focus back on Anakin and her duty as a Jedi. Now he probably left her mind and heart both in total chaos. "I know, 'I am sorry,' is never going to erase what I caused, but I am. All I intended was to talk with her, to straighten things out with her mind. It has been so cluttered with life; well she just needed to clear her mind. And that's what was happening, until… I am sorry."
Anger spiraled inside of the young Jedi Knight, but he dismissed the emotion. He was not going to give into the darkside no matter what the cost, no matter how much it hurt. Instead, a feeling of betrayal entered Anakin. He turned away from his brother. "Listen, Tahiri's all I've got and right now and with what I've been assigned to do…"
"What, when, where, who?"
Letting out a long breath of tension, Anakin explained. "There's nothing I'd rather do than strangle you for what you did to me, but unfortunately I don't have the time. I have to go on a scouting mission with Corran Horn. There has been some disturbance over on the border between Yuuzhan Vong Space and what is left of the Inner Core."
"You're leaving?"
"Yeah, just because everyone's back together doesn't mean the war automatically stops Jacen. You of all people should know that," Anakin threatened, implying the time Jacen stopped using the Force all together.
Shoving his brother in the side, Jacen felt ready to pound the younger boy into the wall. "Hey, don't compare me with the past. You of all people should know that."
Slowly turning around, Anakin resisted the urge to punch Jacen in the face. "I have to go."
"Now?"
"The ship deports in three minutes."
Both brothers just stared at one another, both knowing they did not want their last conversation with one another to be of hard feelings, but at this point, there was nothing to be said. "Later, brother."
"Later."