Herding Nexu
By Andrew J Talon
Foamwander, Dac
Cilgahl stood next to her patient, who was standing beside her with his eyes closes. On the other side of the viewport was an expansive reef overflowing with fish and marine plants. Kam's breathing was steady, his hands open and at his sides. Her presence was a calming one, just like usual.
Cilgahl had met him right the landing pad when he was dropped off and had been a constant companion of his from that very moment. She never spoke unless he'd finished and her insights were as deep as the oceans of her home world. Ackbar's niece was putting him on the path to getting a firm grip on himself after years of service to Palpatine.
Kam wondered what he'd do without her.
"I want you to reach out with your mind," Cilgahl told him from her spot on the couch. "Take in everything." Kam took a deep breath and shuddered a little.
"It's cold but there's...so much movement. So much life. I can feel the sun a little."
Colgahl nodded. They were maybe three meters beneath the surface so sunlight was easily penetrating the surface of the water.
"I can feel the movements of the fish."
"How many?"
"Two schools at the moment. Wait, no, three."
"How do they move?" the Mon Calamari asked.
"They're darting behind some weeds. I think they can tell a predator is nearby but they're not sure where." Cilgahl smiled.
"Anything else?"
"Too much to focus on, to be honest." She giggled.
"Alright then. Open your eyes." Kam did so and took in the sight of the reef.
"I remembered what you told me about being near Palpatine. About how there was no warmth when he entered a room. How there was no warmth in your surroundings." Kam sighed.
"Palpatine was like a black hole, a force of pure cold darkness. It was..."
"Unnatural?"
"Yes. My quarters when I served the Empire were just colored white, grey and black. They felt lifeless."
"In that case, do you know why I had you do this?" Kam nodded.
"The water outside is cold but it's a natural cold. There is light in it, life in it. It's vibrant." Kam smiled.
"I could feel a bit of warmth from you as well. I take it that means we've gotten satisfactory results."
"You could say that." Kam looked at her oddly.
"I don't know if it's just because I'm still processing what I've felt just now or me going back to a normal sleep schedule, but you're somewhat more attractive than I first noticed."
Cilgahl blinked and her whiskers quivered with embarrassment. She put a hand on her head.
"I think it's just you." Thankfully, her com link chirped and she answered it.
"Yes?"
"The Falcon has arrived in system," Gial told her. "They should be here in a half hour."
"Thank you uncle."She looked at Kam, who was now somewhat red in face.
"I'd...like to continue with the exercise if possible."
"Of course." The Mon Cala smiled.
"Try not to let my beauty distract you."
"I will try my best," he said bashfully.
Leia was tensed up from the moment they'd left Coruscant. But as they landed on the landing pad at Foamwanderer Hospital on Dac, Han could see her knuckles turn white as she gripped her dress. He held out a hand, and rested it on hers gently. She started, and looked up at her husband.
"Sorry," she murmured, "I'm just..."
She glanced at the holocommunicator. Han followed her gaze, and nodded.
"I know," he said softly, "I've been resisting the urge to call back all flight, too."
Leia smiled warmly.
"I know Winter and Chewie will look after them," she said, "but... Still..."
Han nodded. He touched the flimsy of the twins he kept in his jacket. Leia watched him, and beamed.
"Come on, let's get this over with so we can go back and see 'em," Han declared, standing up and guiding his wife out by her hand. She graciously accepted as they walked out of the Falcon's cockpit. Threepio was waiting at the entrance, polished and fretting as usual.
"Ah! Apologies, Mistress Leia, Captain Solo: I came out of my recharging cycle right as we landed! I hope I'm not jumping the blaster, as it were?"
"Not at all, Threepio," Leia said with a fond smile, "we just had to make some checks as we landed."
"Oh, naturally, naturally!" Threepio said, as the landing ramp descended. They headed down slowly.
"By the way, Captain Solo," Threepio said cheerfully, "I again must thank you for the Cybot Galactica Model P0 Recharging and Maintenance Alcove! Oh, I've needed sooo much maintenance! I was completely wrong about you!"
Han smirked softly.
"Not at all, Threepio," he said, "I'm a man of hidden depths."
Leia covered her own smile. The fact of the matter was, Han had bought that elaborate recharge station for one reason only: It ensured Threepio was silent whenever he was aboard the Falcon. And as fond as she was of the golden droid... He did have a bad habit of blundering into places at the most inopportune times.
Han squeezed her hand, his smile mischievous. He knew what she was thinking, all right. She returned the smile, as they met their guide at the hospital entrance.
Yes, they would definitely be enjoying Threepio's recharging station on the way home...
The interior of the hospital was like most modern Mon Calamari architecture-Pristine white corridors with soft, organic lines. Ever since Dac had joined the New Republic as a founding member, it had been getting a lot more offworlders. So they'd begun to expand their presence on the surface of their world to accommodate all the new traffic.
Some people had trouble telling Mon Calamari apart. But it was easy to identify Cilghal, with her dark orange skin, and peppy attitude, as she talked with several interns.
"Cilghal!" Leia cheered, waving her hand.
Cilghal looked away, and beamed happily.
"Princess! Captain!"
Cilghal nodded to her interns, and they headed off. Cilghal then walked over and hugged Leia and Han. Han accepted it in good humor-Ackbar's niece was just too nice to push away.
"It's so good to see you!" Cilghal said happily. She nodded to Threepio. "You too, Threepio! I'd hug you, but, you know-"
"Oh no! You are free to hug me as well!" Threepio said cheerfully, "I have recently been upgraded with a full system waterproofing! Thanks again, Captain Solo!"
"Don't mention it," Han said, as Cilghal gamely hugged the droid. She pulled back after he awkwardly embraced her back, and beamed.
"Do you want to get to business immediately? Or can we socialize first? There's a great new restaurant that opened up near the hospital!"
"Business first, then we'll have more time for leisure," Leia said cheerfully, much to Han's faux horror. She smirked at him, as he sighed and nodded.
"As the Princess wishes," he said.
Cilghal led them down several corridors, until they reached an office area. She led them to a conference room, the door of which shut tight behind them. The beautiful ocean was on full display before them, overlooking a gorgeous reef teeming with thousands of aquatic creatures, lit by Dac's ever present sun. Cilghal sat down at the table, as Leia, Han and Threepio took some seats.
"Sorry, I don't have my own office yet," Cilghal apologized, "I just use this room for private chats. Anyway! I've begun doing the tests as you asked. Just with volunteers, mind you. People are touchy about invasions of privacy, given the Imperial years..."
"And?" Leia asked.
"Well, I have found a few potential candidates for Force Users," Cilghal said carefully, "using Kam's responses as a baseline. But they're almost all within the margin of error." Cilghal sighed and bowed her head.
"I'm really sorry, Leia," she said, "I wish I had better news."
"It's all right," Leia sighed, "the Jedi Temple's records were all destroyed or confiscated. Having to start over from scratch was never going to be easy."
"I guess it wouldn't be as easy as someone just floating a cup over their head, huh?" Han asked. Cilghal smiled wryly.
"It would be nice if it was that easy, but apparently it's very rare for telekinesis to emerge in untrained Force Users," she said. "Still, I-Oh, Captain Solo? You might want to move to another chair?"
"Why?" Han asked... Just as the chair creaked, and gave way. Han's reflexes were still on point, so he was up on his feet in an instant before the chair would have sent him falling down to the floor. He stared down at it, and then back at Cilghal, eyebrows raised.
"... Thanks," Han managed, grabbing another chair and slowly sitting in it. Cilghal nodded.
"Yeah, we got a big shipment of lousy chairs last week. They've been doing that all-Threepio, you'll want to-"
"ACK!"
Threepio fell hard to the floor, his reflexes not as sharp as Han's. Leia and Han looked over at the struggling droid, and then over at Cilghal.
"How did you know that was going to happen?" Leia asked slowly.
Cilghal shrugged.
"Like I said, we got a really lousy shipment of chairs! The owner of the company is Quarren, and our administrator began buying them as a gesture of goodwill but he just... Oh hang on a second."
Cilghal tapped her communicator.
"Alosa? Check on Mister Gadus please?"
An annoyed huff came over the communicator.
"I checked him twice today, Doctor, he's just... Oh no wait, he's crashing! Get the cart!"
"Try 30ccs of Razzopam, that should do it," Cilghal advised. She waited, tense. It took a few minutes, before a response came over.
"He's stable. He'll be all right, Doctor. One of the newbies accidentally gave him Dialaphin, which mixed with his post-op meds and-"
"I know, I passed my first year at med school, thank you," Cilghal growled, "tell the newbie his patient should be dead! And he'd better be more careful next time!"
"Yes Doctor," Alosa replied, before Cilghal closed the channel. She turned back to her friends, smiling.
"Sorry about that," Cilghal said, "it has been hectic."
Leia and Han very slowly looked at one another, communicating silently. They then turned to look at Cilghal.
"Cilghal," Leia began, "did you by any chance test yourself for Force Sensitivity?"
Cilghal blinked, as Threepio awkwardly got back up to his feet.
"Why? Do you think I might be a candidate?" She asked.
"You're not just doing all this to mess with us, are you?" Han asked, eyes narrowed.
"Doing what?" Cilghal asked. The two humans and droid stared at her. The doctor stopped, and looked thoughtful. Her whiskers quivered with embarrassment.
"Oh. Ohhh..."
"Yeah," Han quipped.
"Oh my," Threepio muttered, "how embarassing."
Cilghal held her head in her flipper-like hands.
"Oh Stars... I did all this research into what I could find of Jedi Mind Healing and the Force to help Kam, but... Ohhh..."
"You do have a tendency to hyperfocus," Leia said consolingly.
"Look on the bright side," Han grinned, "you found another candidate for Luke's Jedi School."
"I just became a resident," Cilghal groaned.
"You don't have to join if you don't want to-" Leia tried, but Cilghal dropped her datapad loudly on the table.
"No!" Cilghal cried.
At Leia and Han's surprised looks, she quickly shook her head.
"I-I mean, honestly, I would love to! I don't know if I could, but..."
Her face became wistful, like a child staring up at the stars for the first time.
"I've read legends about Jedi healing people with their powers. If I could learn that... All the beings I could help? It would be amazing! It's just... It's a lot to take in, all at once."
Leia reached out and squeezed the Mon Calamari's hand. Cilghal immediately felt a lot less tense, in the Force and elsewhere.
"It's all right," Leia said soothingly, "let's go get dinner, huh? We can bring some to Kam too. It'll be a celebration."
Cilghal's whiskers fluttered again in embarassment.
"I... I hope he'll be happy to know he's not alone," she murmured.
Han and Leia's holocomms went off. Han got his first, as Leia felt something strong through the Force.
"This is Solo?"
"Han," Ahsoka's worried face came into view, "there are bounty hunters after Kam. I don't know when they'll get there but-!"
A alarm went off overhead. Leia, Han, Cilghal and Threepio looked out to see doctors and nurses begin rushing about, as security Mon Calamari began running down the hallway.
"Kam!" Cilghal gasped.
"Yeah, we know," Han stated, "how far away are you?"
Ahsoka winced.
"Maybe an hour?"
Leia unclipped her lightsaber, as Han pulled his blaster.
"Get here as soon as you can, we're gonna need the back up," Leia ordered.
Cilghal can come off as a tiny bit of a ditz because she gets so into what she's doing, but she's a wonderful, kind and very smart person. At least that's how I am characterizing her. Just a fun little quirk for her.