~ I might be posting many new chapters this weekend. My play opens tonight. So, this might be it until next week. Sorry. Enjoy! ~

Chapter 14: Innocence

Jag sat in his clawcraft in the bubble of hyperspace. Gallinore, he thought, Jaina hates that place. He knew what Jaina had done there. She had told him everything. They didn't hide anything form one another. And now she was gone, torn away from him by Zekk. Jag's throat constricted. He couldn't lose Jaina. She meant too much to him. Every time he thought about what his life had been like before she came into the picture, he realized just how empty he'd been. About how meaningless his life was. But then she came into his life, like a fresh, cool breeze on a hot summer day on Tattooine, and he was complete. He had felt her leave. He knew that she was gone, that she had been taken. This should have been impossible, considering that he had not type of Force talents, latent or otherwise. But he knew, without a doubt, that Jaina had reached out for him. And he had felt her. None of the other Jedi knew about this. He wasn't even sure what to think about it. He just knew that this meant that he and Jaina were closer than he had ever imagined. He had to get her back. They were meant to be together. They were going to be married and have a family. Jag smiled through the tears running down his face.

I will get you back. Here's looking to our future, Jaya, he thought before letting the black of sleep claim him.

* * * * * * * * * * *

Jaina looked away from the viewport. He couldn't have brought her here. She couldn't be here. Gallinore was the last place she wanted to be right now. But then again, if she was on Gallinore and out of hyperspace, maybe she could contact someone. Hesitantly, she reached out with the Force to try and contact the closest Jedi that she knew of, Tenel Ka. But just as she had established contact, the connection was slammed shut. Confused, she tried again, but this time she found that she could not even sense anything beyond the ship through the Force.

What in the Sith is going on here? There aren't many ways that Jedi can be cut off. Jaina knew that there weren't any ysalamiri on the ship. This only left one other option. Someone, another Force-user, had cut her off. And there was only one other Force-user on this ship. Zekk. But this couldn't be possible, could it? True, Zekk was strong in the Force, but Jaina knew that she had more raw power than he did. She always had. But what if Zekk had learned how to harness his powers better? Did that mean that he could control who used the Force? A technique like that wasn't one that was of the Light side. Only people who used the Dark side could control the use of the Force in others. She turned to face him, trying hard to keep the fear from showing on her face.

"Did you cut me off?"

Zekk nodded, his intense emerald green eyes boring into Jaina. "It was for your own good."

"What happened to you? You never used to be like this." Jaina's voice quivered.

"Times change, Jaina. People change. I've changed." He took a step toward her.

Jaina stepped back. She was not going to let him get any closer to her. If he could cut her off from the Force, what else could he make her do?

Zekk took another step toward Jaina. She was here with him. They were finally together after all these years. And they were in the place they had always talked about coming to together. He was not going to let her resistance spoil this. She turned to flee, but he was too quick for her. He grabbed her wrist in a vice-like lock. She looked up at him, the fear in her eyes unmistakable. Yes, she would be scared now, but not after they had spent some time together. Zekk smiled down on Jaina. He was not going to let her get away this time. He lowered his head to hers and he could feel her struggling in his grasp. This was not going to deter him, though, because Jaina was his, despite that she thought the contrary. His lips brushed hers softly at first, and eventually he caught her up in a passionate, bruising kiss. He had hoped that she would go along with it, that she would react to him physically like he'd seen her react to her Imperial boyfriend, only she didn't. So, he decided to take things a little farther. He reached a hand under her tunic and Jaina pulled away from him, or rather, she tried to. He still held her tight enough to crush a diamond. She was going to be his, whether she wanted to or not.

Jaina tried to get away from him. She fought with all the strength she had in her body. In their time apart, though, Zekk had grown much stronger. She could feel his hand inside her tunic, exploring the sensitive flesh of her stomach and chest. She fought, struggled in his grip, but the more she fought, the tighter he held onto her. This was one fight that she was not going to win, no matter how hard she tried. But she was not going to give up. She couldn't. She fought as he picked her up and carried her back to the ship quarters. She struggled as he threw her onto the bunk. She clawed at him as he tore her tunic and pants off of her. She fought the entire time he took the last bit of her innocence, the part of herself that she had been saving for Jag and only for Jag. The only time she stopped fighting was when he finally released her and she fled from the bunks and into the cargo hold.

And she couldn't stop the tears from flowing from her eyes.