Chapter Seven – Untold History
It was three weeks after the park incident. Kai sat, rocking back and forth ever so slightly on the couch, eyes open and staring at the floor in front of her. She had been sitting in much the same spot for the last fifteen minutes, eyes glued on the same spot. Past their unseeing gaze, Kai kept getting flashes of that night at Kessel. The memories sped up in front of her eyes, the moments replaying in a taunt of what she couldn't defend herself from, showing her again and again how much real influence she had over what went on with every aspect of her. Just in the same way she couldn't help liking- loving?- Tynian, she couldn't defend the one thing she really had complete possession of in this galaxy: herself. Not even with help from the Force had she been able to get a proper defense made. If only she hadn't left her lightsaber behind... If only...
Feeling a tear slide down her cheek, Kai quickly and silently wiped it from her face, eyes closing to stop any more from leaking out. Her uncle had literally dug past her shields three weeks ago to find out what had happened at the park. Since then, she'd kept getting flash reminders of her failures. Right now Uncle Bror, Aunt Nicola, and her own parents were all sitting at a table, talking about the events of that day, their constant subject whenever in the lounge. Kai quietly drew her knees to her chest and put her face in the material of her pants.
"Hey," a soft voice spoke next to her, "you alright?"
Kai shot her older sister a withering look even as the rest of the group that had been at the park gathered around to find seats. She returned her face to her knees and quickly freed her arms from being crossed between her stomach and thighs. Instead, they wrapped around her knees, almost as if she were afraid of the results if she released them. In a way, she was. She was afraid of what Ty would end up thinking of her in the long run, she was afraid of what would be said about her to Aunt Jaina or Keira. And, maybe most, she was afraid of what Lis and Inyri might say. If they told her to lay off flying for a while, she didn't know what she would do.
A hand on her shoulder startled her into realizing the other five were still there. Kai picked up her head again, to find that Ty had seated himself next to her. On her other side sat Lis and Inyri. And then, standing in front of her, were the Fel twins. Rane had his hand on her shoulder, a concerned look on his face. Out of the corner of her eye, and through her bond with Ty, she both saw and felt him glaring at Rane. Along with it came a sense of protectiveness, something Kai hadn't expected.
Ty, enough. He's going out with Lis, remember? She looked over at him quickly, still a bit surprised at how Ty was looking at Rane. Ty glanced at Kai, his expression changing instantly.
He seemed to sigh before he nodded. Still, I have every right to act this way.
Kai gave him an appraising look, raising an eyebrow. Ty returned the look and nodded quickly, seeming to be trying to convince both himself and her at the same time.
Davin put a hand on his brother's shoulder and, a second later, Rane withdrew his hand from her shoulder. Kai had to hide a smirk when she saw Rane glance at Ty. Deciding quickly to defuse whatever might happen before it actually did, she quickly pulled Ty to his feet and began leading him towards the lounge exit. Before they got there, Kai looked over her shoulder at her older sister, who Dav was now sitting next to.
"And Inyri," she said, getting a bit of pleasure from seeing her older sibling's head jump off her boyfriend's shoulder in just the same way Kai's had moved from Ty's on other occasions, "nothing was wrong."
Before any reply could catch up to her, she pulled Tynian into the hall. At that point, Ty pulled her off in an opposite direction from the one she was going to take. He led her down the hallway to the Junior Wraith squadron bunkrooms, which were now deserted. Kai gave a soft, surprised yet pleased gasp as she was pressed again a wall between doors, Ty's lips on her own.
Even before the kiss ended, she felt weak at the knees. This wasn't the first time she'd felt this way when kissing Ty, not at all. When Ty finally pulled away, Kai was smiling as she tried to catch her breath.
A hand brushed her loose hair away from her face, a voice speaking at the same time. "I love you, you know," Ty said softly to her, resting his cupped palm against her cheek. Kai kept her eyes trained on his, even as she turned her head to kiss Ty's palm.
"I know," she said, just as softly, "and I love you." It seemed to her that she was afraid to break the spell that had settled over them. A second later, she was kissing Ty again, all other ideas that seemed to implant in her mind after Kessel stripped away. Though momentarily dismissed, Kai subconsciously knew they'd be back.
This time she pulled away first, taking in the air that had been absent the past few moments. Her lungs refilled, she connected her hands loosely behind his neck, feeling his grip tighten a bit on her back. "What's really wrong, Ty?" she asked finally.
He sighed, glancing away from her a moment, before looking back. "I'm going to kill that bastard, Kai." Her gaze remained locked on his, even if her mind was telling her how close those words sounded to the ones her mother voiced. "He hurt you," Ty was saying, still holding her close, "He hurt you and I'm going to kill him for it."
Knowing it probably wouldn't do any good to argue, Kai merely tightened her hold on him and nodded into his chest.
A sudden voice startled her out of her thoughts and she raised her head from Ty's chest to see who was speaking. It was Doran.
"You know, it would be really nice if you'd get a room," he was saying. "That way we poor bystanders who were coming to get datapads don't feel like we're interrupting something."
Kai raised an eyebrow at him, ready to tell the nineteen-year-old to shove off, only to come up with a better idea. Keeping her face blank and tone innocent, she turned her grin into an exaggerated version of a seductive smile. "Well, by all means then Doran, perhaps you should let the rest of the group know that they should stick away from this hallway."
Doran gave her a disgusted look as he rolled his eyes. "Continue on like that, Kai, and people will start to think you let that Grandar guy have fun with you."
The second he'd stopped speaking, Kai had extricated herself from Ty's arms, his blaster now in her hand and aimed at Doran. Her joking remarks now forgotten, she took the few steps to where Doran was standing and put the tip of the blaster under his chin.
"Say it again, suggest it in any way, and I'll kill you," she told him, voice deadly soft.
Doran immediately dropped his datacards and his hands rose to the air at the sides of his head. "I'm sorry, really Kai. I won't say it again; I don't know why I even said it in the first place."
She stared up at him for a moment longer, her dark eyes studying his expression. Finally, she nodded and turned to walk back to Ty, her hair flipping over her shoulder. Even as she handed her boyfriend his blaster, she felt Doran's Force presence leave the immediate area.
Seconds passed and then Ty strung his arm over her shoulders. Through the Force, she could sense his feeling of fun. The smile on his face mimicked the feeling. Kai's face slowly began to copy his smile as she was led through the newly opened door. What if I agree with Doran about getting a room? his voice asked in her head, just as the door closed behind them.
Kai didn't answer him, in neither words, nor the Force. Instead, she let him pull her into his lap in his new sitting-on-the-bed status. On either side of his legs, her knees imbedded themselves in the blankets even as Ty pulled her down to him for a kiss. In some part of her mind, a voice was screaming at her to leave the room now. The other part that wasn't consumed with kissing Ty quickly shut the voice up, reminding her uncertainties that she and Ty had gone out for two years, that he'd never intentionally hurt her. And- the voice flared up again- that she wanted to do this.
This time her conscience was asking her if this wasn't just a bit soon after her run in with Grandar. She brushed the ideal off again; she'd worry about it later if she thought it was a bad decision. Kai felt herself begin to overbalance at that moment and began to attempt to correct the problem.
Ty rested back on his elbows as he watched her, a slight smile on his face. Unconsciously, Kai licked her lips as she tied back her shaken loose bun into a ponytail. The moment she finished the task, Kai felt a heat course through her again as Ty rose to meet her in a kiss.
* * * * *
The lounge at Wraith headquarters was loud, noisy, and body-filled. Jaina and Jag were sitting at a table to her right, where Tyria and Cloud were sitting as well. Nicola smiled as Adra whispered something into Inyri's ear, the girl immediately smirking. Face was looking at the rest of the Wraith kids, as thought looking for someone. Or a pair of someones...
Nicola looked around, suddenly noticing the absence of her son and his girlfriend. Quickly, she looked over to Adra, only to find her friend already looking at her.
Where's Kaizan? she asked her friend.
Adra raised an eyebrow at Nicola, her expression changed from the joking one it wore before. Dunno. Where's Tynian?
Immediately, both of them looked over at Koyi and Garik. The missing-in-action teenagers' siblings were sharing a kiss just as both mothers looked over. About to demand they get over to where she and Adra were, Nicola was interrupted by Face.
"Adra, where's Kai? And Ty, for that matter..." Face trailed off as he put some sort of two and two together. Glancing over at them, Nicola saw her friend patting her husband's knee, ignoring the direct question.
"Garik," she heard Adra say, just as Nicola herself said, "Koyi."
The two of them looked over immediately, not a hint of surprise or embarrassment filtering off of them. Koyi shrugged, grabbed Garik's hand, and pulled him over to where their respective parents were sitting.
Adra stood up at the same time as Nicola herself stood, and they glanced at each other. The room continued its noise, etc., but they didn't pay it any attention.
"Alright you two, where are your twins?" Nicola asked evenly. She saw Garik cringe, then heard a quiet sigh. "What?"
"Well, Kai... she cut herself off from me ever since Kessel. I couldn't tell you. I'm sorry," Garik said, shaking his head.
Koyi, it appeared, was deep in thought. Or the Force. After a moment, she shrugged. "Well, he's around base, but I couldn't tell you what he's doing. He's severed our bond for the moment. I only know he's on base because he seems really... I dunno... happy?" She shrugged again, then lead Garik away without waiting for the 'okay' to go.
Nicola slumped back on the couch, heaving a sigh. Adra, however, had turned to her. Or, rather, Bror. "She's your padawan," Adra accused him. "You're supposed to be able to find her."
Bror looked up at Adra, unimpressed with her argument, and sighed. Nicola looked at her husband sharply, unsure if she wanted to know. He looked at her quickly, then looked back at Adra. "Kaizan is shielding herself, as you've obviously pointed out. I made it a rule for myself when she started dating Tynian that I would not dig past whatever Force-walls she erected while both of them are missing, and obviously together."
Impressed, she blinked at her husband, then looked at Adra. Her friend's expression was none-too-pleased. But she sat back down next to Face and muttered something. Just so long as Tynian and Kai weren't doing anything stupid, Nicola thought to herself. And, considering what happened at Kessel, it didn't seem like much of a possibility.
* * * * *
Ty stretched, arms moving to rest behind his head. His arms were about halfway moved when he realized exactly what his surroundings consisted of. And that included a black-haired girl sleeping with her head resting against his chest. As he saw Kai's back rise and fall discretely in breath under the sheet, memories came flooding back.
A bit of Kai's dark hair had loosened itself from the entirety that was splayed over the sheet, and it had instead decided to cross over her face. Carefully, Ty pushed it off her face and tucked it behind her ear instead, trying not to disturb her at the same time. He smiled at her, enjoying merely watching her sleep in complete peace.
Not even bothering to move again, Ty continued to survey his surroundings. The chrono read 0742, and natural light was beginning to make entrance. Closer to home, there was an assortment of clothes piled somewhat sloppily on the floor, Kai's white tank top on top.
At that moment, his attention returned to Kai's face. Her left arm, which had been strung across his stomach, tightened its grip as if some sort of hug. Next instant, she was moving to roll on her side, a smile appearing on her still-sleepy face, even as she blinked away her tired feeling.
When she finished yawning, Ty grinned at her as she resettled. "G'morning," he heard her muffled voice say from his shoulder.
Chuckling a bit at her completely non-caring essence, he nodded. His grin widened as Kai huddled closer to him, her expression lost in Ty's shoulder. "Yes, it is. However, it was 0742 last time I checked and we're going to have to forego having this wonderful morning to ourselves, unless you feel like helping me explain to your father why we're both extremely late and entering the lounge at the same time."
Kai removed her head from his shoulder, raising an eyebrow at him. "Ah, Ty?" she said, "You do realize that Wraith squadron had an early-morning patrol, don't you?" He stared at her, blinking quickly. Kai laughed softly, the continued, "Apparently not. Anyway, they won't be back until 0900. So that only leaves us with explaining to your and my siblings and friends why we overslept. Either that... we could just sort of 'appear' at 0855, and that wouldn't give any of them much time to question us before we get to go on patrol." As she'd been speaking, she'd stretched and was now sitting up, sheet cover her still, in an unconscious thread of modesty. Kai used the Force to call her clothes to her and began sorting through them.
"Well, I'm going to take a shower," Ty said, looking at her with a smile as she pulled yesterday's tank top on. "I am going to assuming you're going back to your room to change and whatnot. Am I right so far?"
She smiled over at him, nodding, then distracted herself with pulling her pants right side-out.
* * * * *
Liselle glared across the docking bay at her sibling. Specifically the one who was leaning on his girlfriend's X-Wing while she checked something on one of her engines. Shaking her head, Liselle walked over to Inyri's X-Wing, just as her friend jumped down.
"What's going on?" Inyri asked. "More 'I'm going to kill my siblings' trouble?"
She shot her triplet a glare, but nodded after a moment. Heaving a sigh, she said, "Yeah. Sort of. Ty and Kai were late this morning, I know you noticed, but the only problem is that Mom knows... and so does Aunt Adra. And you know as well as I do that they're both going to all but interrogate those two."
Inyri shot her a look as she shooed Win away. The little R2 droid, named Win or Die in a joking tribute to Inyri's father, twittered away to Kaizan's X-Wing where Kai's red droid, SO, was twittering around under his owner. Two, Jacinta's droid, was there as well. Kai, who had just jumped down from her port wings, shooed the three of them off as well. Lis knew that Win, Two and SO would go to each and every droid around the place until they had all of Junior Wraith squadron's. Then they'd go find Vape, XO and Ditto to find out how they could act more rebellious and get away with it.
At that moment, the group of now-four droids scattered away from a very angry figure crossing the platform. Face Loran walked straight over to where his youngest child was refueling, her boyfriend next to her, talking about some subject or another. Lis saw Inyri's eyes widen as she closed her mouth. Even without the Force, Liselle understood why her friend had ducked behind her s-foils: Uncle Face was ticked.
"Kaizan Loran and Tynian Afyon," Lis heard him growl. "Get over here," he demanded.
Kai, who'd just finished up refueling, glanced at her father with a sigh. At that moment, Lis grabbed Inyri's arm and pulled her over towards the soon-to-be problem. Inyri didn't bother protesting; instead, she shook Lis's hand free and quickened her pace.
"Dad," Inyri said as soon as she was in front of her sister's X-Wing, standing between the enraged pilot and his victim. Her father seemed to snap out of his trance as he looked at her. Quickly, Liselle went over to stand by her friend. The hanger door opened again, this time admitting Adra Loran. The Jedi pilot stalked over to Face, grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him away.
Liselle glanced over at Inyri, meeting her friend's smirk with her own as they both tried to keep from laughing. Uncle Face was now looking at Aunt Adra, a silent battle of wills in full throttle. Her uncle looked away first. With a satisfied smirk, Aunt Adra shoved her husband off towards the building. Then she turned to look at Inyri and Liselle.
"You need to go over punctuality with your pilots again. And Nicola, Bror, Face and I need to speak with," she glared darkly at Kai and Ty, "our younger children." Without even waiting on a reply, Adra turned and walked after her husband.
She looked over at Inyri quickly, silver eyes searching. What do you suppose that's over? Liselle finally asked.
But it wasn't Inyri who answered. Instead, it was Kaizan's voice. "It's over the disappearing act Ty and I pulled last night. It is backed up with an argument about the two of us oversleeping this morning. After we are made to feel worse than scum, we'll be told to stay away from each other. Then, and only then, will they let us know what they absolutely had to tell us about some update on what we can or cannot do, where we can or cannot go." As she finished, Lis was looking over at her even as she heard Ty sniggering.
Lis was pleased to see Kai slap her boyfriend's chest to shut him up. If she hadn't, Liselle herself wouldn't have been so nice; she would've gone Targeter. However, that didn't stop her from poking fun.
"So," she said, glancing between them, "Doran's 'joke' wasn't quite a joke, was it?"
Kai's expression didn't chance in the least, nor did her Force presence. Slowly a smile weeded itself onto her face. "Maybe," she said simply. "It depends on whether you mean the getting of a room bit, or," her face darkened immediately and she looked towards the end of the hanger. After a brief pause, in which her gaze remained locked at the end of the hanger, she continued slowly and with half interest, "On 'letting' that Imperial bastard touch me."
As she'd been speaking, Lis noticed Kai had grabbed her lightsaber from her utility belt. The blue-white blade ignited with a faint snap-hiss and Kai walked slowly towards the door to the outside. Lis looked between the oddly-behaving Kaizan to Inyri, then her brother. Ty was watching his girlfriend, stance ridged.
By now, Kai was walking past the Wraith squadron crafts, just past Elex's X-Wing. A second before Lis saw it happen, her warning sense flared. Her hand fell to her lightsaber just as a shadowed figure came out from between Aunt Adra's X-Wing and her mother's A-Wing. Shouts rose through the Force and by voices, but not before a blaster had its tip again the back of Kai's head.
Lis looked quickly at Inyri, only to find her already running into the building. She looked at Ty next, seeing her brother rolling his hands into fists as he stared at the scene. The rest of the Junior Wraiths were standing near the fronts of their crafts, some of them with lightsabers in hand, the rest with blasters. Lis turned her gaze back to Kai and the Imperial, only to find the lightsaber was turned off as Reggie Grandar whispered something in Kai's ear.
Not even realizing her heart was pounding twice as fast as it usually did, Liselle watched as Kai turned to face the rest of them. Still under blasterpoint, her right arm was now twisted behind her back, held by the Imperial asshole. Silently, Lis hoped Inyri would get back soon, even though she'd hardly just gone.
Her wishes were granted, in a sense, as the door released into the hanger again. Inyri ran back over to Liselle just as she saw her mother climbing silently up the back of her craft. Her father was positioned by the ladder under it. The same process was taking place over the rest of the Junior Wraith crafts, all of Intel's top undercover group armed with one weapon or other.
At that moment, Tynian gave a shout, drawing Lis's attention away from the Wraiths to Grandar and Kai. The former was rubbing his knuckles on his jacket, the latter clutching the left side of her face. Liselle had to keep telling herself not to be stupid to keep herself from firing at the koochoo. He'd obviously used their divided attention to get in a better position to deliver a better-aimed punch at Kai's face.
It was obvious Ty was having a more difficult time resisting the urge to shoot, or other. Rane and Davin Fel had him by one arm each, even as Ty's shoulders heaved with each of his breaths. Lis kept her gaze on Grandar even as she checked the Force. The Fel's were all present, obviously having been visiting yet again.
Even as Lis watched, Kai's arm was released, only to have the arm that was holding it before now wrapped around the front of her shoulders, keeping her from moving away. Kai winced as the blaster tip was poked at a point under her jaw, making her lift her chin to keep the thing from jabbing.
Grandar was saying something to her again, something that didn't even make an echo at their end of the hanger. Quite suddenly, a green-white blade was ignited, its tip just inches from entering the Imperial's neck. As Adra began to speak, everyone could hear.
"Really Reggie? I was under the impression you enjoyed beating up the girls you knocked up." Something in the way she said it made Liselle suddenly wonder what had happened in her aunt's history.
The Imperial laughed, a hollow sound that echoed around them. Then the lightsaber came up, almost catching his chin. Kai was immediately released. Not only released, but shoved away just as the sound of a fired blaster met the hanger air. Grandar jumped back as the lightsaber jerked up to connect with where his head was. The only problem was that he was already out the door.
It was only then that Liselle noticed who or what the blaster had shot at. Kai was sprawled across the floor face down. Davin and Rane had already released Ty, so he was almost instantly at her side. The rest of the adults came down from their points of defense, all of them gazing over at Adra, Tynian, and Kai every so often.
Face Loran shoved past the line of pilots in front of them, absently ordering everyone inside. Inyri, however, grabbed Lis's arm as she made to go in. Lis looked over at her, an eyebrow raised. Her friend nodded to her sibling and Lis nodded. Inyri released her as the two of them began to walk over.
Ty's face was dark as he looked up at them, his shadow falling over Kaizan's shoulder. Over the shoulder that was growing in a rapid crimson color. Aunt Adra was holding her daughter's wrist, seeming to be checking for a pulse of some kind.
As Liselle looked at her uncle, she heard her aunt mutter something. Quietly, she took another step closer to see if she could hear the words. "I'm going to murder him," Lis heard. She cast Inyri a look that included a raised eyebrow, having just confirmed for herself that something had gone on between Reggie Grandar and Aunt Adra.
She wasn't given much a chance to ask, as it was then that Adra nodded to Ty. Her brother rolled his girlfriend over to her uninjured side and scooped her into his arms, moving past Lis herself to bring Kai inside the building. Aunt Adra glanced at her, then sighed and walked after her daughter, her husband with her. Silently, Liselle was glad they'd restocked the makeshift medcenter recently. With that, she followed her brother inside, Inyri walking next to her, though saying nothing.