Jag carefully kept control of his own breathing as he felt for a pulse on Jaina's neck. It was a weak one, but he thankfully felt one. He dimly heard Jacen and Han's voices in the front of the ship, cursing at its inability to get off the ground He only felt relief when he felt the repulser's kick in and they lifted off.

He reached below the medical bed and pulled out the aid kit. Starting to survey Jaina's damage he realized that her injuries might be beyond his skill to heal. He was just starting to get nervous when he saw Jacen come into view, a worried look on his face.

Jaina's twin dropped next to her. Jag saw him lovingly stroke her hand and close his eyes. He felt a pain of jealousy at not being able to have such a connection with the woman he loved, but it quickly passed as he saw Jaina's eyes flutter open. They flickered to Jag and then back to Jacen. She opened her mouth to say something before her face began to spasm with pain. At the same moment, the Falcon took a hard hit, rocking the group. Jacen turned towards jag, his hand still grasping his sister's.

"I need to stay here and help Jaina get into a healing trance," he said in a low voice. He motioned his head toward the cockpit. "My dad could use one of us up there." Jag nodded reluctantly. He wanted to stay with Jaina, but he knew that now, Jacen was the one who could help her the most. Reaching up, he kissed her forehead and murmured some words of encouragement. She smiled at him through pain filled eyes, squeezing his hand in return. He reluctantly pulled away and ran towards the cockpit, his thoughts staying with his love.



Jacen turned back to Jaina after watching Jag leave. He felt the pain radiating off the Chiss pilot, and Jacen couldn't blame him. It's not easy for someone to leave the person they love, especially when they're hurt, but Jacen now had no choice in the matter. He took Jaina's other hand in his and offered her a smile.

"You did great sis…" he said smiling.

"I would never have thought there could be so much…pain…" she whispered through clenched teeth. Jacen did a quick scan of her body through their connection. He found that both her legs were swelling rapidly, from not having enough time to recover. He also found the broken arm that jag had mentioned, and indeed there also was a large bruise covering her other arm. On top of Jag's predictions, Jacen found several broken ribs and on examining her body with his eyes, he saw the scratches and bruises that covered nearly 3three fourths of her body.

"It's only pain…" Jacen joked, trying to cheer her up. It made her smile a bit, for she too remembered that Jacen had gone through much worse, for a much longer period of time. But her happiness ended as the ship was jerked, throwing her body against the hull again.

Jacen himself winced as he saw the tears fill her eyes. He stroked her hand. "You have to let me in Jaina…" she turned her head away. He sighed. It was the same argument as before. Ever since Jacen had come back, their bond had never truly been opened. Jacen had heard of Jaina's Dark Journey, but their bond had never flared as it used to. Now, with her life on the line, they needed to completely open up again.

"I can't get you deep enough in a trance without the bond…" he tentivly probed at her shields, and felt her flinch just a tiny bit. Finally she closed her eyes with a sigh and their bond was complete much more. Jacen felt the immense pain radiate form her body. E felt her sorrows and joys that she had bottled up and never let anyone touch…

But he need to focus on her health now. Gathering his strength, he sent her deep into a trance, one he was sure would last at least a week, if not more. As he opened his eyes and saw her sleeping peacefully, fear grabbed at his heart as he saw the memories in her mind. Her experience with the Embrace had been almost as bad as his, though she wasn't there for nearly as long. Her memories brought up his own, and tears sprang to his eyes.

He dropped to the ground next to her bunk and tried to regain his composure. His mind drifted to the gunnery, where Jag Fel sat, blasting the enemy away with all the power that he could muster. But on top of all the vengeance and anger, Jacen felt Jag's continual love and concern for Jaina shining above all of them.

He allowed himself a small smile as he felt the hyper drive finally kick in and the ship jump into hyper space. Jag came bolting down into the med bay, and rushed to Jaina, taking her hand in his.

No matter how much he tried to deny it, he couldn't imagine a better companion for his sister. And as his dad strode into the medical quarters with a grin plastered on his face, staring at his future son-in-law, Jacen could tell he wasn't the only one who thought that way.

He caught his father's eye and was given a wink. Jacen smiled again and stood up, walking out of the room with his father, and leaving Jag alone with Jaina.