Author : Wild-Melody
Disclaimer : They belong to George Lucas and their respective authors…I can't claim anything other than the story plot.
Class/Genre : Drama/Romance…I just so love romance.
Summary : Chapter 10 in its entirety, it's long, but not that long...You like, you review. You no like, me no finish. Capeashe? Good.
Actual Summary : Something disastrous happens. Read to find out what!!
A/N : You'll find a brief note at the end of the chapter. Hopefully Fanfiction.net starts to work properly here sometime soon.
STAR WARS : THE NEW JEDI ORDER
I'LL BE MISSING YOU
Chapter 10 : End of the Road?
Jaina slowly walked back toward Jag's quarters. The feeling of nausea hadn't left her, in fact the dizziness had returned with a vengeance. An uncomfortable feeling plagued her stomach and an inky blackness swirled around the outer edges of her vision. Unconsciousness threatened to engulf her as she leaned her back up against the wall of the hallway. The coolness and rockhard surface was comforting to her weary body.
I don't understand what is going on, what is wrong with me? She wondered as she stumbled into Jag's quarters. Her vision swam before her eyes, making everything a watery blur.
Maybe I'm just tired or really exhausted, she thought to herself. Maybe I just need some sleep. Her body seemed to confirm the suspicion as her eyes began to lazily close themselves, unbidden. A sudden bone-exhausting weariness exploded through her body and she had to fight herself just to stay awake.
Jaina actually pinched herself in an attempt to shock herself into a state of near wakefulness. It didn't work, it actually seemed to throw her further down into the grip of the weariness that had claimed er body and soul. Shaking her head, trying to clear the foggy passages of her brain, she stumbled further into the room.
She heard someone clear their throat and her eyes instantly darted up to face the unknown threat. Her whiskey brown eyes collided with green ones that were as green as the storm clouds just before a tornado. And just as turbulent.
"Kyp," she said, not recognizing that is was in reality Jag, her mind to weary and confused by what was happening to her body. "I'm really not in the mood to talk to you right now."
He took a step toward her and she retreated, afraid he was going to try and grab her.
Her eyes were glazed and unfocused, Jag could tell that from a seconds glance. "Jaina?" he asked, not sure what was wrong with her or why she was calling him Kyp. "Jaina, are you all right?" The question seemed so out of place, especially when he knew she wasn't all right, but it was the only thing he could think of to say at the moment.
He moved forward a few steps, placing himself a few feet from her. She now wore a look of a trapped animal, her eyes large and unfocused. "Jaina?" He tried again, taking another step toward her. "Jaina, its me, Jag, not Kyp." His hands were up in front of him, palms out toward her.
She focused on him, momentary recognition dawning in her eyes. "Jag?" She said softly as if she still didn't believe it. Then her eyes rolled up in her head and she began to fall forward.
Jag was in motion immediately. He dove to catch her before her head could hit the hard surface of the floor. He cradled her head on his lap as his left hand sought out the pulse on her neck. "Jaina, love, can you hear me?" He breathed out, barely even uttering the words. It felt like his world was suddenly shattering…loosing her the first time had been hard enough, he wouldn't loose her a second. He wouldn't.
Her eyes fluttered open and she looked up at him. "Jag?" She said softly s she raised a hand up to his face. "I love you," she said, then passed out.
Jag grabbed for his comlink, "Medical emergency!" He cried into it, "I need assistance at Colonel Jagged Fel's quarters!" It felt strange saying his name that way.
A moment later he heard a click and a mechanical voice came over the comlink. "Please state the nature of the emergency," it said.
"Lt. Jaina Solo has passed out," he said and it sounded so trivial to him all of a sudden. Nothing worth declaring as a medical emergency.
"Jedi Knight Jaina Solo?" The mechanical voice inquired.
"Yes!" Jag exclaimed. "Yes, JedI Knight Jaina Solo," he repeated a bit more calmly.
There was another series of mechanical clicks, then the droid spoke up, "Confirmation, Red Flag JedI Omega-1, transfer in progress." Then there were mechanical clicks.
"JedI Healer Cilghal, state the nature of your emergency please." Jag looked perplexed as he looked down at the comlink in his hand. What in the hell is going on here? He wondered silently to himself.
******
Cilghal stared down at the data pad in her webbed hands, various letters in various languages scrolled quickly across the screen. She looked up at Luke, "I'm testing a program at the moment that will automatically inform me when one of our JedI seek medical attention, even for something as simple as a small cut."
"You're testing it right now?" Mara asked from her place next to Luke. "So then you haven't implemented it yet?"
"The program has been activated here at the base, but its pretty much only being tested. If everything works properly here, then hopefully I'll be able to set the program up to relay through subspace to me at Shelter."
"This sounds like a good idea, and if anyone else happens to develop the symptoms that Arista came up with, you'll be appraised ahead of time." Corran said, speaking up for the first time in a while.
"That's the idea Horn," Mara said smartly, but smiled to let him know she was only joking.
"I wasn't sure if you'd be able to figure it out on your own or not," Corran said, verbally jabbing at her.
Mara opened her mouth to rebuke him but Luke held his hand up, "Enough you two, we're here to discuss what Cilghal has brought before us, not for you two to argue."
Mara looked at Luke then over at Corran and smiled innocently, We'll finish this later, she mouthed to him.
Luke looked at his wife and shook his head, " I don't know about you two." He finally said.
Corran and Mara just looked at him and smiled. Mara then glanced over at Cilghal, "You were saying?" she asked.
The Mon Cal JedI Healer nodded her bulbous head and continued, "If it'll work here at the Borleias base then I should be able to set the system up through sub-space relays and be informed if and when one of the JedI seek medical attention."
"Do you actually have it set up to run here?" Corran asked.
"Not really. It's implemented here at the moment, but it's not fully functional." (A/N : Now where have we heard that at before…Death Star anybody?) "I'm just testing the basics right now."
"I see," Corran began when suddenly Cilghal's comlink beeped. All three of the JedI Masters turned their attention to her. Luke nodded his head, briefly closing his blue eyes, giving the Healer permission to answer the incoming call.
"Yes," she said tentatively, unsure of who would be calling her here at Borleias.
A series of clicks erupted from the comlink and she traded curious glances with the other three. The clicks became a mechanical voice, "Red Flag, JedI Omega-1, transfer in progress."
"What the?" Both Mara and Corran said at the same time.
"It's the alert that a JedI has sought medical attention," Cilghal explained, though she was just as confused as the others. The program wasn't really even in effect yet though. It was just running through the basics here at the base, but yet a Red Flag had come through.
"JedI Healer Cilghal, state the nature of your emergency, please," she said into her comlink, unsure of whether this was a false alarm or not.
A voice responded over the comlink, full of emotion. Fear, anxiety, worry, but the fear was the most palpable. Panic made the person speak fast and severely rushed. "Master Cilghal," the speaker exclaimed, trying to calm himself down.
He was no JedI; Cilghal realized and was about to reprimand him for using her private frequency and calling her Master when he continued in a rush, "I'm sorry to bother you. I don't quite understand what is going on, I called for medical assistance for Jaina and I was transferred to you."
"It must be a glitch in the system," Cilghal began only to stop in mid-sentence. "Did you say Jaina?" She asked. Her eyes locked with both Luke and Mara's.
"Yes," came the reply.
"Jag?" Luke broke into the conversation.
"Yes," came the reply again, and the young man sounded surprised to hear his name when he had no idea who the speaker was.
"It's Luke Skywalker," Luke supplied and instantly felt a sense of ease pass over the young man. He could still sense the fear and uncertainty clashing around in the young man's emotions.
"Hello Master Skywalker," Jag said.
Mara cut him off before he could say anything further, "What's wrong with Jaina, Jag?" She asked, fear swelling in her stomach.
Luke sent her a quick look and she just looked at him and shrugged her shoulders. Luke then repeated her question back to Jag.
Mara glanced at him, Don't like being out-thunk Skywalker? She mouthed.
Luke just sent her another look, speaking in volumes the severity of the situation.
"I don't know sir," Jag responded, his voice sounding more under control. "She was acting a little weird when she came back to my quarters. She was calling me Kyp."
"Was she disoriented?" Cilghal asked.
"Yes, and I'd have to say a little confused too." Jag paused as he thought back over the past couple of days. "She been acting a bit strange the last few days." He finally said.
"In what way?" Cilghal asked, a cold knot of fear forming in the pit of her stomach. She had the worst feeling that something was not right, and in a big way.
"It's hard to explain," Jag said. "She was getting dizzy a lot, but she was trying to hide it from me. She'd become disoriented and confused, but not like she had this time."
"How do you mean?" Cilghal asked as she was getting up from her chair. Mara, Luke and Corran were right behind her.
"She'd never confused me for Kyp before." Jag said, his mind racing. "But this time she came stumbling into our-my quarters, and she didn't look-seem all right. She was stumbling around, unfocused, almost like she was intoxicated.
"Then she called me Kyp, told me she didn't want to deal with me-er, him. I tried to make her realize I wasn't Kyp. Just when she seemed to understand that, she passed out."
"Are you at your quarters still?" Cilghal asked as she and the others rushed out of the door.
"Yes," came his quick reply. "Is she going to be all right?" Jag was trying to keep the note of worry out of his voice, and he was doing a very good job of it, but the JedI could sense it through the Force.
"We'll be there in a few," Cilghal breathed out as the door whooshed shut behind them. "Is she conscious right now?"
"No."
"Ok, keep her flat on her back, and don't move her." Cilghal said, thinking of all that could possibly be wrong with Jaina. "Jag?" Cilghal paused, unsure of how to ask the young man this question in particular.
"Yes?"
"Have you and Jaina…is it possible…?" Cilghal paused, trying to think of how to phrase the question. "Jag, could Jaina be pregnant?"
The was a very long pause from the young man, and the Mon Cal healer could feel the shock radiating off of him in waves. "Jag?" she coaxed, needing to know the answer. If only it were possible than many of the symptoms that Jaina is displaying could be explained…if not, Cilghal didn't even want to think about that yet.
"No," Jag finally said. "It's not possible, we haven't done anything."
Cilghal left out a breath, half in relief and half in despair. She heard Luke and Mara release their own breaths.
"If she happens to come too, try to keep her immobile. Pin her down if you have too." Cilghal said, keeping the thought of what could really be wrong with Jaina in the furthest reaches of her mind. It wouldn't do to think like that right now.
"Pin…her …down…?" Jag asked hesitantly.
"Yes, you have to keep her immobile until I get there. I'm not sure yet what is wrong with her and I won't really know until I get there."
"Just exactly how am I suppose to keep her on the floor?" Jag asked, his mind a whirlwind of ideas. Some of them good, some of them not so good.
"Use your imagination," Mara said from behind Cilghal. "Lay down on her and pin her with your own body, that should keep her from moving." Everyone heard a sudden 'oomph' from Mara and her say angrily under her breath, "And just what was that for, Skywalker?"
There was his muted laughter along with, "Lay down on her?"
"Well, I don't think that your sister would be very happy if anything happened to Jaina. I mean after all, we don't want her to hurt herself, do we?" Mara replied innocently as she kept pace beside her husband.
"Hurt herself?" Luke asked incredulously, and risked a glance over at his wife. "You're worried about her hurting herself and yet you tell Jag to lay down on her?" Luke just shook his head and continued on his coarse toward Jagged Fel's quarters.
******
Jag checked Jaina's pulse again, for the thousandth time in fifteen minutes. She was sweating, but her skin was cool to the touch, Jag suspected that she was running a fever.
She began to mumble something and clutched at the hand he had against her neck. Suddenly she started to thrash about, all the while repeating the word 'No' over and over again.
"Jaina," he said, trying to draw her attention by the sound of his voice. "Jaina, you'll be all right, Cilghal is on her way. Just hold on a little while longer, Love."
A faint smile crossed her face, almost as if she had heard him. Her grip on his hand tightened, both of their knuckles turning white. "Jag," she breathed, the word whispering through her lips.
"Yes," Jag said excitedly, grasping her hand between both of his. "Yes Jaina, it's me!" He bent down closer to her and placed his lips against her forehead, not really certain whether she had actually heard him or not. Hopefully she had.
"I'm here Jaina," he said softly beside her ear. "I'm not going anywhere."
"Why?" The word was a whisper, as if she were reliving a memory. Her forehead was scrunched up, as if in thought. But her eyes were still closed.
"Why what?" he asked. It seemed all too familiar to him, but he couldn't place it right away.
"Why aren't you going anywhere?" She asked in her unconscious state.
It suddenly clicked for him, and he remembered the conversation all to well. And he remembered what had happened afterward as well. Their first kiss.
Jag smiled to himself and he spoke the words he knew she was waiting to hear. His lips still near to her ear, he said softly, "Because I don't want too." He saw the smile touch her lips and the shimmer of unshed tears beneath her closed eyelids. "And," he said slowly, drawing his lips even closer to her ear, "Because I love you Jaina Solo. Do you hear me Jaina? I love you, so you damn well can't leave me, not before we figure this thing out."
I hear you Jag, and I love you too, he heard her words whispered in his mind. He looked at her, unsure of how she had done it. They shouldn't be able to communicate that way, it just wasn't possible. Shouldn't have been possible. All things are possible with the Force, Jag, he heard in his head again.
"All things are possible," he echoed.
And with Love.
******
Mara felt a tremor work its way up her legs and she slowed her down into a fast paced walk and glanced around at the others to see if they had felt it too. She noticed that Luke and Corran had slowed down too, and that Cilghal had stopped all together.
She felt another tremor go through her legs and felt a vibration echo through the Force. She looked to Luke and Corran and saw her own confusion echoed n Corran Horn's face. Luke's eyes were closed as he reached out through the Force, trying to figure out what was going on.
Warning claxons suddenly flared to life as a deafening roar echoed through the biotics building. The slight tremor they had felt rose in intensity until it shook the whole of the building, threatening to drop them where they stood. Mara reached out for Luke, trying to steady herself and him at the same time. She felt his hand grasp her arm just above the elbow, adding his own support to her own.
"What the hell is going on?" Mara screamed above the deafening noise. "Is it another attack?"
"I don't think so," Luke said as he opened his blue eyes. "This is coming from the planet itself."
Mara opened up to the Force and suddenly felt what he meant. The tremors were running underneath the biotics building, shifting everything in their way. They were coming from one of the nearby mountain ranges.
"It still could be an attack from the Vong," Mara shouted, trying to be heard over the noise. "They could've burrowed something beneath the building, it sounds like something they would do."
"True-" Luke began.
"Attention all personnel," Wedge Antilles' voice echoed from their comlinks and through out the base. "Evacuation alert! I repeat, evacuation alert. All personnel, please evacuate the base. This is not a drill, please evacuate the base immediately."
His words were accompanied by a thundering echo moving in their direction from the hallway. "Quake?" Corran yelled over the noise. Tiny fissures raced up the walls and debris and dust fell down onto them from the ceiling.
"We have to reach Jaina!" Cilghal yelled, her voice sounding watery. "We get to her first, then we can leave the building." Her voice was thick with emotion, the determination evident.
Mara nodded her head in agreement, "Jag'll need help getting her out of here, if she's still taking an extended beauty rest."
"As long as he's not laying on her," Corran said with a snort. (What a time to be joking!)
"And what's that suppose to mean?" Luke asked as another tremor shook the building.
"Ask your wife, she's the one that suggested it," Corran said, trying to keep himself on his feet.
Mara wore a look of complete shock as a support girder in the ceiling came crashing down, no more than ten feet in front of them. She jumped back, a fluent stream of cursing coming from her mouth that would have mad even Han Solo blush. She bumped into Luke and sent them both crashing to the floor.
He took the brunt of the fall and cushioned Mara's body with his own, making sure she wouldn't get hurt. Corran helped Mara up then turned around and helped Luke get to his feet. Luke was dusting the dirt off of his flight suit as Corran asked, "Enjoy your trip?" He was smiling good naturedly, waiting for the JedI Master's reply.
"More like a fall, thanks for breaking it Skywalker," Mara said as she turned around to survey the damage done to the hallway. It was in complete shambles, the main support beam had brought some of the secondary beams down with it, making it almost impossible to get through. "I don't know if we're going to make it to Jaina this way, it looks pretty bad."
"We have to," Cilghal said, suddenly feeling that something was about to happen that would majorly change Jaina's life forever.
******
Jag heard his comlink crackle to life, then his uncle's voice boom out over it. "Attention all personnel," his uncle began, an undertone of fear mixed in his calm voice. "Evacuation alert! I repeat, evacuation alert. All personnel, please evacuate the base. This is not a drill, please evacuate the base immediately." There was a far off booming sound in the distance, like thunder. The ground beneath Jag's feet suddenly began to tremble. He looked down at Jaina's still form, still not moving, still as death.
"Jaina," he pleaded, "you have got to wake up. Please wake up!" Something was going on, and it was something terrible, he could just feel it.
Another tremor shook the base and dust and debris rained down onto Jag's head. The last thing he saw before the darkness claimed him was a large heavy steel beam falling toward the spot where Jaina was lying.
Haa! What a place to stop it at, don't you think? Gives a new meaning to watch for falling rocks, don't it? Well, let me know what you think. Hopefully Fanfiction.net will be up and operating soon so that I can get this bad boy posted. Oh, and by the way…REVIEW!!! I'm disappointed with Chapter 9 since it brought in no reviews, but that can be understood since the site wasn't really working properly when I posted it. Hopefully I get some half decent reviews for this chapter, or I'm not finishing it!! And I have so much planned for this story. Which means I'll finish it whether or not you review, but I just love the reviews…am I rambling? Ok, well, I've wasted enough of your time so I'll let you go. Hope you enjoyed, till next time. May the Force protect you. I'm going now, bye byes!!
