*****Finally! I made it! I know it's been forever and a half since I've updated. I suppose living an insanely hectic life isn't an excuse, huh? (Sighs wistfully singing "if I only had a life").
Anyway, please, please, please review! I don't care whether you love it or hate it, I am desperate for input! Pretty please with a cherry on top???*****
Voices murmured hazily in Sha'lee's mind. Groaning, she tried to turn her head—or at least open her eyes—but she was unable to groan, much less move. Pain raged rampant through her battered body. A stabbing headache drilled holes through her skull as a stinging lance of white-hot pain caressed her arms and chest. Her head echoed with noise: the hiss of lightening, the roar of rage, and the voice of someone screaming in mortal agony.
This time a muffled whimper escaped Sha'lee's lips. She found herself unable to think past the pain; she knew there was something important that she needed to know, something crucial. But the agony formed a constrictive cocoon around her body, a web of some innate fear trapped her in place.
"What do you mean an accident!" shrieked a voice from somewhere close by. The shrill words shot additional waves of pain through Sha'lee's head. "My daughter nearly died; she nearly burnt to death!"
"Ma'am," a voice murmured in attempt to soothe the hysterical woman. "We don't know what happened. Authorities are baffled. Perhaps, once your daughter remains consciousness, we will be able to determine what happened. Until then, we only have speculations."
"Speculations!" the voice snorted. "My daughter—"
"Yes, we are aware of your daughter," an impatient voice interrupted. "Right now, our main concern is making sure your daughter recovers! There isn't much more we can do!"
Merciful silence descended on the room for a moment of pure bliss to Sha'lee. She heard the whisper of cloth as someone fidgeted. It didn't take much for her to picture her mother's face red with rage. I wonder if she remembers our fight, some part of her mind thought groggily.
"Well what can you do?" Sha'lee's mother ground out.
"Right now, we're trying to find anyone who may have witnessed the event. Of the only two people we know of who were directly involved, one is as good as dead, and the other may be months in recovering. Do you have any insight?"
"No," Sha'lee's mother responded sullenly. "I don't know who would want to disgrace my family."
That stung. Sha'lee felt tears involuntarily well up in her eyes as her mother's last sentence viciously sank in. Of course, her mother wasn't really concerned with her own daughter's well-being; she was concerned about the family name, the family honor. There's no such thing as family honor! Sha'lee screamed mentally, venting her rage, fear, and pain. There's no honor in the royalty who wants to destroy everything this world holds dear!
"Did you hear something?" a disconcerted voice asked hesitantly.
"Of course not," Sha'lee's mother snapped.
"Either way," another voice gently interrupted, "it's time for you to leave. It could be days before your daughter even regains consciousness. Right now, she needs all the peace and quiet she can get."
"Very well," Sha'lee's mother replied stiffly. Sha'lee heard the irritated click of her mother's shoes receding into the distance. Quiet, she might get. Peace, was out of the question.
Soft footsteps approached Sha'lee's bed. She heard the whisper of equipment being moved around, and she had the distinct feeling that she was being given a sedative. The haunting agony faded around the edges, drawing Sha'lee into the refuge of unconsciousness.
Ra'yah watched the physician with a cool unshakable gaze. Her untouchable blue eyes failed to indicate that the powerful sedative that had just been administered had taken route in her veins. Slowly and deliberately, Ra'yah shifted her position on the cot and stood up. Shock and disbelief crossed the "good" doctor's face as Ra'yah met and captured his gaze.
"I want to know who hired you," she told him. Her sister had always claimed that Ra'yah's voice possessed an enchantingly musical quality. Her brother had always referred to her as a seductive siren.
"Wh-who hired me?" the doctor gulped as he took an involuntary step back. "Wh-what could you possibly mean?"
"I mean that a catastrophe took place yesterday at this time. I woke up to find someone had tried to imprison me in a hospital room, and you, my friend, tried to give me enough of that tranquilizer to knock out a raging bantha. You mean to imply that there is nothing sinister going on?"
The doctor watched her warily, his eyes darting to the sides. Probably looking for a way out, Ra'yah observed.
"N-no one hired me," the doctor insisted feebly. "It's-it's just that—"
"It's just what?" Ra'yah asked innocently spreading her hands and resuming her seat. "It's just anti-jedi sentiment?"
The doctor gulped again as he nodded his head. Ra'yah sighed; she knew he wasn't lying.
"Very well, then," Ra'yah commented, raising to her feet. "I believe I shall check out now. And if I discover you have tried to bill me for that dose of sedative, I will be most displeased."
"O-of course," the doctor stammered. "O-of course."
"Then it's settled," Ra'yah responded with her most charming smile. Without another word she left the sterile scented examining room and strode calmly towards the front counter of the hospital.
"Another dead end?" Eaglejade asked Ra'yah, arching an eyebrow.
Ra'yah shook her head, her loose auburn hair falling into her face. Tossing it back, Ra'yah offered her most enigmatic smile. "Of course not. I have another lead to follow."
"And where will we find ourselves this time?" Eaglejade asked cynically.
"Simply on another floor of this hospital," Ra'yah responded with her most innocent expression. "Just wait, I think a friend of ours can be found in this very building."
"You've never lead me wrong before," Eaglejade muttered looking up at the dull ceiling tiles. His eyes filled with overdramatic resignation. "Lead on."
"But lady Sha'lee's condition is still critical!" the nurse protested.
Ra'yah let loose a silent sigh and prayed for patience. "Lady Sha'lee's condition is stable. I just need to speak with her."
"Lady Sha'lee has yet to regain consciousness," the nurse retorted stiffly. "She is to have no visitors, no exceptions!"
"Of course," Eaglejade murmured taking a step forward. "But her life is on the line; I hope our reputation has preceded us."
The nurse hesitated for a moment. She seemed to be turning things over in her mind, however, was unwilling to take the initiative. "But her mother would disapprove," she finally muttered reluctantly as if the poor girl's mother would do more than disapprove.
Ra'yah flashed her most charming smile. "Her mother need not know of our presence since nothing of consequence shall result."
A blank look crossed the nurse's face as she silently worked her mouth a moment before falling silent. Ra'yah's gaze flickered to Eaglejade and back to the nurse. "Nothing of consequence shall result," Ra'yah repeated firmly.
"Nothing of consequence shall result," the nurse murmured absently.
"Now," Ra'yah suggested calmly, "if you'll lead the way."
"Of course," the nurse replied absently, still under the simple mind trick Ra'yah had failed to master. "Follow me."
Sha'lee knew she was hallucinating. She knew what she saw couldn't possibly be true. She knew she was normal, and normal people didn't see these things. But deep inside her heart, she knew that she wasn't normal, and what she saw was real. I've gone insane, she thought resolutely.
Tears welled up in her eyes as she struggled to remember what had happened, as she desperately tried to block the soul searing images out of her mind. Denial swept through her body; is she hadn't been in a semi-coma, she would have been violently ill.
Just end it, she pleaded mentally. A single tear trickled down a pale, ivory cheek. I can't do this. I just want this to be over.
Soothing blackness crept in around the edge of the glare. It was as cold in its own way, but it was more numbing than painful. Gradually, her body relaxed, the painful images gently erased from her mind's-eye. Her breathing and pulse slowed as her body temperature dropped. A moment of fear gripped her body in a painful grip, but she was too weary to fight the gaping void.
'It doesn't have to be this way,' a voice whispered from nowhere. Sha'lee didn't recognize the voice, but some innate part of herself unwilling to complacently submit to the darkness identified it. There was something kindred and familiar to the iridescent white light the voice represented.
'What's happening?' Sha'lee asked timidly.
The voice hesitated before answering sadly. 'You're dying.'
The fear returned as the knowledge slammed into her, paralyzing her. Did she really want to die? Why should she have to die? Anger kindled deep in her soul as years of social snubbing and abuse simmered and began to boil. Who had the right to determine the value or path of her life? For the first time in her life, Sha'lee was ready to fight.
'You need to fight, but,' the voice cautioned, 'you must not fight out of anger.'
'Why?' Sha'lee growled, but memory gripped her at the nape of her neck. For a moment, she was perched in a tree staring down at the malevolent group of boys. The snapping energy was so tempting. Sha'lee gripped it with her mind and grinned ferally as the boys began to scream and writhe on the ground.
Sha'lee felt sick. 'That's not what happened!' she screamed mentally, oblivious of the other presence wincing with pain.
'No, it's not what happened,' the voice replied firmly. 'But it could have happened. But the point is, you must not use the force out of fear or anger. Take my hand.'
Sha'lee knew her body was unconscious, but she saw a hand reaching towards her. This hand wasn't thin and ghastly like her dream from lifetimes past, it was young a strong. And feminine.
She hesitated. 'I can help you,' the voice reassured her, and it possessed the unmistakable ring of Truth. 'I know what you're going through. The unexplained changes in yourself and others. The way you just don't quite fit in with your peers. You don't have to be afraid, just live in the light.'
Sha'lee blinked as she turned this revelation over in her mind. It was almost too good to be true. She made her decision.
'I want to live in the light,' she informed the voice with the first real smile since her life had turned upside down and inside out simultaneously. She gripped the warm hand and walked into the light.
"I don't know what you intended to accomplish here," the prim voice scoffed, "but you must leave. Now."
Sha'lee opened her eyes slowly. She had just had the strangest dream.
A red-haired woman crossed her arms over he chest as she offered the nurse a level glance. "I achieved exactly what I intended and more. Look for yourself," she replied with a warm smile, inclining her head towards Sha'lee.
The prim nurse Sha'lee only vaguely remembered turned toward Sha'lee and jumped. At a loss, the woman began to splutter helplessly. "But she was in a coma!" she all but wailed.
A man that Sha'lee hadn't noticed earlier grinned mischievously at the helpless nurse. "Well, she's not any more!" he replied cheerfully as if nothing out of the ordinary had recently occurred. Sha'lee's mouth went dry when she noticed the metallic device attached to his utility belt; then again perhaps it hadn't as far as he was concerned. Sha'lee's mind went blank as her gaze flitted back and forth between the two jedi. Paralyzed muscles refused to move.
The red-haired woman smiled softly and slowly approached Sha'lee. It didn't occur to her to panic; memories of iridescent white light filled her mind. Sha'lee knew there was much more that she was unable remember; with a sense of growing certainty, she realized that her "dream" had actually been real, even if details eluded her. Closing her eyes Sha'lee thought, I'm too confused to think.
'All you need it time, little sister,' a voice whispered in her ear. Sha'lee's eyes snapped open, but the red-haired woman was too far away to be the speaker.
"My name is Ra'yah," the woman told her. Sha'lee blinked; Ra'yah's musical speaking voice sounded just like the whisper.
"What are you?" Sha'lee asked numbly around a mouth that tasted like cotton.
The man flashed a charming grin. Sha'lee fought the compulsion to smile in return. "I think it would be obvious. We, Ra'yah and my-charming-self, are jedi knights. Ra'yah is also a healer—the best I know."
"Oh," Sha'lee replied in a small voice.
"Don't let Eaglejade intimidate you," Ra'yah advised with a wry glance.
"No one will intimidate anyone! You must leave. Now!"
Sha'lee jumped, her heart thudding loudly in her chest; she had completely forgotten about the nurse. A snatch of half-remembered conversation floated to the top of her mind.
"There's nothing wrong with me," Sha'lee interrupted before the nurse's grating voice could continue.
A glittering look crossed Eaglejade's clear eyes. "There's nothing wrong with her. She's still in a coma."
Sha'lee blinked, a look of confusion written on her face. Her bewilderment only grew when the nurse repeated his words in a subdued voice. The woman's sharp eyes had abruptly become blank and oddly vacant. The ubiquitous tapping of her foot halted.
"There are other patients who require attention," Eaglejade said firmly.
"B-but who are you?" the nurse asked after she had repeated his words.
Eaglejade simply smiled. "We're just a figment of you imagination. You never met us."
Ra'yah watched the sleeping figure with a fond look of content. Shimmering gold hair flowed over the pillow as the girl slept with the ease of one released from the terrifying clutches of a nightmare. Her delicate features gave her a fragile appearance, but it was the strength of her eyes that fascinated Ra'yah. Eyes that were so dark and knowing.
"What are you thinking?" asked a soft voice next to Ra'yah's ear.
"I'm thinking that this girl has the potential to become a great jedi," she replied softly.
"You look at her as if she was your own daughter," Eaglejade commented with a hint of humor coloring his voice.
"I will never have children," Ra'yah responded with a tinge of remorse. There was no way for her to have children of her own, and Ra'yah had adamantly refused any technological "aid" or implants.
"Perhaps you may never give birth, but you seem to adopt every troubled child you come across." Ra'yah couldn't see his face, but she knew that he was grinning. "No matter what trouble it gets you into."
Ra'yah shrugged. "Your point?"
"I'm just commenting on your personality. You love children."
Ra'yah nodded with a wistful smile. "That I do."
Sha'lee stared dully at the bowl of broth in front of her. The smell, one she normally found quite appealing, only made her stomach turn. Her shoulders screamed with agony from the iron-hard knots digging into her shoulder blades. A now-ubiquitous headache raged in the back of her head, blurring her vision and making her nauseas.
"You must eat," a gentle voice murmured from beside Sha'lee.
Sha'lee turned her head to look at the red-haired woman—Ra'yah—with a bleak expression. "How am I supposed to live?" she whispered.
A knowing expression crossed Ra'yah's beautiful face. In one graceful movement, she pulled out a chair and sat down facing Sha'lee. Her blue eyes were grave, but offered a strength and hope Sha'lee found very comforting.
"Eaglejade would say all you need to do is breath in and out," Ra'yah said dryly, eliciting a tiny chuckle from Sha'lee, "but there's much more than just being alive. There's a difference between living and existing." Ra'yah shrugged.
"I guess 'living' depends on the person. To me, living is traveling around the galaxy ensuring the upholding of justice. To me, living is healing the sick and wounded. Living is taking great pleasure in music and art. To live, you need to find out who you are."
"How do I do that?" Sha'lee asked softly.
"I can't really tell you that," Ra'yah replied steadily. "You have to find out by yourself. I think what you need right now is a quiet place and the time to come to terms with all the changes. Life is only what you make of it."
Sha'lee nodded, looking at her bowl of soup again. "I just feel so numb."
"You just went through hell," Ra'yah informed her. "It's only natural that your body goes into shock. Right now, you're emotionally drained."
A hovercraft shot by outside the window, leaving a loud series of backfires. Sha'lee jumped and squeaked while Ra'yah didn't even twitch a muscle.
"Tell you what," Ra'yah told Sha'lee with a grin, "why don't we go for a walk. Right now we're on the other side of the planet, so I doubt you'll stumble into anyone you know."
The slightly trapped look that crossed Sha'lee's face was all Ra'yah needed to know. The last thing she needed was for the girl to retreat into herself and from the outside world. Ra'yah flashed her most charming smile at Sha'lee.
"Come on. It's a beautiful day."
*****So! Sha'lee did make it through after all. Everything is right on track, but the story is not set for smooth sailing. Wonder what the sith lord has planned…*****