Strong Enough
Chapter 11
Jaina woke the next morning to a cramp in her thighs. They were numb from the knees down, her toes tingling from a lack of circulation. She opened her eyes, lifting her head, disoriented from her strange position. Something hard was under her knees, yet someone held her. Her backside was starting to go numb and there was a strong heart beat beneath her ear. Kyp. His hands tightened on her waist and shoulders as she looked up into his face.
"Good morning," he said softly.
She smiled. "'Morning." She examined his face, "Did you sleep at all?"
"Not yet."
"Kyp..." she said warningly. "What if we have to scramble?"
"I'll manage," he told her mildly. "It won't be the first time I've pulled a long shift."
"And it won't be the last," she sighed. "I know, I know." She slowly shifted in his lap, putting her feet on the ground and gasping as the blood began to rush back into her legs.
"Easy there Goddess," he chuckled, keeping a firm grip on her so she didn't slide to the floor. "Let your legs remember how to walk first."
She lay back against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Remind me never to sleep like that again."
He folded his hands high on her stomach, standing slowly. She hissed at the shift and he squeezed her apologetically. "Sorry, I want to check on Tahiri before she wakes up."
Jaina grimaced as she let go of his arms, taking a couple of jerky steps. Kyp caught her quickly, dragging her back into his arms. She looked up at him questioningly and he kissed her lingeringly. Her arms tightened around him again as she opened her mouth to his. Kyp obliged her, deepening the kiss for a long moment before pulling away, "Now," he told her softly before letting her go, "it's a good morning."
She smiled, dragging him back, "Oh no, more than that," she insisted, "as of today I'm a free woman."
He laughed, bending his head and kissing her thoroughly, feeling her open completely to his kiss, arching into his touch, her mouth moving sweetly under his, burning him completely, willingly, and his fingers slid into her hair, angling her head under his. She moaned softly, seeming to curl towards him, her body flush against his for longer moments before he slowly lifted his head. She stayed where she was, her forehead leaning gently against his as she locked her knees to keep from sliding to the floor. Kyp gently stroked her face with the backs of his fingers before pulling away completely and walking over to the bed where Tahiri still lay sleeping.
The young woman slept soundly, undisturbed as she had for the night, but as they watched her forehead crinkled and she moaned. She shifted in her sleep, rolling over and reaching out as if searching for something or someone. "Anakin..."
Jaina froze, hearing the almost desperate edge to the girl's plea. Without thinking, she backed away, unable to deal with Tahiri's loss, with her own. Her gaze went to Kyp as he approached the blonde and she swallowed hard. Would that be her fate one day, Jaina wondered silently, if anything happened to Kyp? She couldn't be sure, but she had a feeling if that wasn't it, it would be extremely close.
"Anakin! [i]NO[/i]!" Tahiri woke before Kyp got to her, sitting straight up in her bed, her hands reaching, searching for something that was beyond her grasp forever. She seemed to fold in on herself for a half-second, as her hands came up empty, before she screamed. A vortex of wind sprang up through the room, dragging everything that wasn't nailed down towards her in a sudden surge.
Kyp intervened quickly. "Tahiri!" is eyes flashed and he dampened her powers, killing the tantrum, the vortex, before it really started.
Tahiri's head came up and she glared at him, but underneath it was a solid wall of pain and despair. Both Jedi could sense that Tahiri was holding on by barely a thread. And that thread was fraying quickly.
The door opened and Zekk stepped inside. He was half-dressed, obviously just woken up, but his gaze was only for the small blonde. "Tahiri!"
She looked up at him, her demeanor shifting instantly from hostile to desperate as she held her arms out to him, tears glittering in her eyes. Zekk didn't spare Jaina or Kyp a glance, just stepped straight to her and enfolded her in a tight hug. "I'm here," he told her softly, stroking her hair with a gentle hand.
She buried her face in his shoulder, beginning to shake as he held her tightly. Her broken hearted sobs reverberating through the room, barely muffled by Zekk's bare shoulder. Zekk held her tightly, his gaze finally going to Kyp and Jaina.
Jaina looked ready to bolt, her courage obviously faltering as she watched Tahiri's break down. Kyp placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder as she stepped to his side, meeting Zekk's gaze. Kyp waited in silence as Tahiri slowly stopped shaking, tucking Jaina into the curve of his body and lending her his support as she watched with difficulty. Zekk slowly pulled away from Tahiri and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Life will get easier," he told her softly, fervently believing it though she'd only seemed to get worse in the time since Anakin had died.
"You promise?" she asked brokenly.
Zekk nodded. "I promise."
Tahiri closed her eyes, sagging against him, "It's so hard," she told him, her voice but a whisper, "I don't want to feel. Don't make me feel again." She pleaded softly.
Zekk sighed. "You're human, Tahiri, to feel is to know you're alive."
"I don't want to live."
Jaina's heart went out to her. She knew how that felt. "Tahiri..."
Tahiri's head came up and she seemed to suddenly realize that she and Zekk weren't alone. Her eyes narrowed. "Get out!" she screamed, her eyes flashing dangerously, "Leave me alone! I don't want anything to do with you or... or..." her hands came up and Zekk quickly grabbed them.
"Tahiri, stop this! They're here to help!"
"Help?" she demanded scathingly, pushing away from him and backing across the mattress until her back was flush against the wall. "Help?" she laughed, a note of hysteria ringing in her words, "Nobody can help. Not you, not them, and especially not [i]her[/i]!"
Jaina, who hadn't wanted the job in the first place, stepped away from Kyp and glared at the younger woman. "News flash, I don't exactly want to help you, you spoiled little brat," she bit out. "You're ungrateful and spiteful-"
Kyp slapped a hand over her mouth, cutting off her tirade. "We're trying to help her," he said mildly, though his words held a note of caution, telling her to shut up, "not encourage her darkside tendencies."
"Encourage me," Tahiri spat, "Nobody could encourage me to take a journey where I didn't want to go!"
Zekk's voice sliced in before Kyp could respond. "Not even me or Anakin, Tahiri?"
She lunged at him, knocking him off the bed and to the floor, screaming. Zekk seemed to have done this before and rolled, pinning her to the deck plates while dark energy sizzled around them, his hair standing on end. She seemed to transform under their gaze, growing smaller, less menacing as tears streaked her cheeks again. "No-nobody can t-talk about Ana...Anak..." she trailed off, closing her eyes and turning her face away.
Kyp carefully let Jaina go and to his surprise Jaina knelt next to Tahiri and Zekk as Zekk pushed himself to the balls of his feet but remained crouched beside them. Jaina stretched out her hand to place a comforting hand on Tahiri's shoulder, drawing the younger woman's gaze. "You can't hide in a void of pain forever, Tahiri," she said softly, "someday you'll have to face how much you're hurting."
"Like you did?" Tahiri came back quickly, "After Jacen was taken away? After Ana-Anakin d-died?"
Jaina's gaze was filled with remembered pain and the sting of last night's confrontations. So much pain in her life; so much effort to continue. She had a good idea of what Tahiri was going through. "I was wrong, Tahiri. Letting my grief, my anger, consume me was wrong. Thankfully," she glanced up at Kyp, "someone cared enough to not only help me through it and understand, but to pull me back from the edge."
Zekk rose to his feet and left the room quietly as Jaina spoke to Tahiri, neither woman noticing his absence, but Kyp watched as the younger man left. He could read the pride in Zekk's body language, the pain. Zekk had cared enough about Jaina to do the same thing Kyp had; he'd just not had the conviction or experience to deal with her. Kyp shook his head. If Zekk had been the one to help Jaina, would he be the one she'd be turning to now?
Kyp let go of his disturbing thoughts and knelt next to Jaina, offering his hand to Tahiri, "We want to help you, Tahiri, but we can't if you don't let us."
"I don't want your help," she shot back quickly, carefully pushing herself into a sitting position. "I don't want your sympathy, I just want Anakin back!"
The desolation in her tone broke Jaina's heart and she bowed her head as Tahiri curled into a ball, wrapping her arms around her legs and ducking her face into her knees. Kyp watched them both, wondering if this was how he was going to be spending his days for the next little while. Watching his apprentice, and his former apprentice, butt heads and share sob stories. He hoped not. Though, he had to admit watching them duel would certainly prove interesting if it ever came down to it. "Tahiri," he said softly, "Anakin won't be coming back. He's gone and he wouldn't want-"
"How do you know?" she asked, her head snapping up, rage blazing in her eyes, "How would anyone know what he would and wouldn't want? Anakin was my best friend and I love him... I loved him..." she trailed off, her face crumbling.
Her quick shifting emotions, going from blinding agony and suffering to anger in a snap of his fingers was starting to get unnerving. Yet Kyp knew he'd deal with it. Tahiri needed their help and, whether she wanted it or not, she was going to get it.
Tahiri was a difficult person to reach without Zekk. Jaina found that she could barely stand the younger woman anymore, she'd changed so much - and not for the better. She was angry all the time, throwing tantrums that involved whipping things around with the Force and throwing lightning when things got really bad. She refused to even speak with Jaina, simply glared at her, or shouted accusations that Jaina hadn't a foot to stand on because of her own actions when they'd thought Jacen and Anakin dead.
Jaina secretly agreed that she was the last person who should be trying to help Tahiri and simply left her alone with Kyp, slipping out into the hallway as Kyp forcefully took matters into his own hands. The door slid shut and Jaina slid to the ground, resting her chin on her knees as she blinked back frustrated tears. She didn't need this right now.
"Tough time?"
She looked up as Zekk slid to the ground next to her, their shoulder brushing as he settled comfortably, his back to the wall. She smiled faintly. "You don't know the half of it."
Zekk was examining his hands, "Actually I do," he admitted softly. "Tahiri's always been an acquaintance but I've really gotten to know her over the last little while, Jay. She's special, but she's in a lot of pain. She reminded me of you."
Jaina sighed. "I'm sorry I pushed you away," she admitted. "You only wanted to help, but I couldn't take it. I saw your face when we were on our way to Hapes. You wanted something I couldn't give you."
"I understand," he told her easily. "My feelings have been one-sided since this whole war started. Your relationship with Jag forced me to admit that and try to move on." He smiled faintly. "I felt like I failed you when I just let you go without trying to check your fall. I felt like I failed myself too. I was too caught up with what I was feeling to even try to help you." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Jaya, I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me most."
She reached over and squeezed his hand. "I wouldn't have accepted your help," she admitted with difficulty. "You're the best friend a girl could have, Zekk, but there wasn't anything you could have done."
He looped a companionable arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his shoulder. "Thanks," he whispered softly.
They were quiet for long minutes, Tahiri's screams of anger clearly audible through the door to her room. She felt Zekk tense. "Is there really a girl back on Calamari waiting for you?"
He jerked slightly, "Yeah, amazingly enough there is."
"What's her name?"
"Cyan," he told her, his smile clearly audible in his voice.
"Have you known her long?"
"A couple of years. I met her on Hapes before leaving you there. She was on the ship that helped me out of the system."
Jaina was quiet for a few moments. "What's she like?"
Zekk's voice was hushed, the muted sounds of the ship almost drowning him out. "Not unlike you," he admitted, "Only she's a Twi'lek."
Her head came up and she grinned. "Was she a dancer?" she teased.
Zekk chuckled. "Not for me to tell," he winked at her. "Let's just say she's built like one."
Jaina snorted, "Most female Twi'lek's are," she pointed out, jabbing him in the chest with her finger. "Is she Force Sensitive?"
He nodded. "Not as much as you or I but she's pretty awesome with her lightsaber."
Jaina cocked her head at him. "You sound positively smitten. Do I detect a proposal coming up for a certain Jedi?"
Zekk squeezed her shoulders. "Not in the near future, but if you happen to see me shopping for a ring or something in a vision, don't discount the possibility."
She hugged him. "If I didn't have Kyp, I might be jealous." She told him smiling. "I'm glad you found someone, Zekk."
Zekk kissed her cheek. "Yeah, well, I couldn't wait you forever, however much I like the idea."
She smiled. "So how long are you staying?"
He looked at the door. "I should take my chance and go while Kyp is in there. I don't like leaving her alone, though."
"She won't be alone." Jaina assured him, "Either Kyp or I will be with her most of the time. She may not like me too much, but I won't let her side beyond all hope. I've been there, same as you," she shivered. "The climb out is treacherous and dangerous, I won't lose the one person who meant more to Anakin than his own life. He wouldn't want her to suffer like this."
"I agree," Zekk told her softly. He pushed himself to his feet. "I'm going to say my goodbyes while it's quiet in there. Take care of yourself, Jaina. I'll be here if you ever have need of me."
She reached out, capturing his hand. "Likewise. Thank you."
He flashed her a smile before disappearing into Tahiri's room. Jaina pushed herself to her feet, but couldn't find the courage to enter the room just yet. Imagine, the Goddess afraid of her dead brother's girlfriend. It was almost laughable. Almost - if it hadn't hurt so much.
The door opened and a hand grabbed her, dragging her inside. Jaina was about to protest but the surge of electricity that shot through her system told her Kyp had been the one t bring her in. She couldn't very well resist since she was supposed to be helping him with Tahiri, her personal feelings aside.
"I have to speak with Zekk," Kyp's voice was low as he left Tahiri and Zekk a moment to themselves. The blonde was crying, begging Zekk not to go. "Can you stay here and keep Tahiri from following?"
Jaina swallowed hard, nodding once. "Yeah, I think I can. Just don't be gone too long, alright?"
He smiled at her and she reached up to brush his bangs back off his forehead. Kyp caught her fingers and brushed a light kiss over her fingertips. "Be good. Remember, you know where she's been and anything she throws at you, you can negate. She's pretty exhausted through."
Jaina nodded and watched as Zekk extracted himself from the blonde. He was leaving because it was best for Tahiri to get through this on her own - but he wouldn't be too far away. Zekk was their wild card. If Tahiri got too difficult to handle, or unresponsive, he would be called back. Only Tahiri didn't know that. Jaina frowned. How had she known it? She watched as Tahiri curled herself onto her bed, Zekk and Kyp stepping from the room, and settled herself into the chair. Tahiri's sobs were soft, heart wrenching with their depth and Jaina's heart went out to her. Here was a young woman who'd lost everything and now she was losing her only friend. Jaina's gaze went to the door and she silently urged Kyp to hurry. Tahiri needed to have something to keep her occupied and Jaina, who'd never had an apprentice before, didn't have a clue where to start.
Chapter 11
Jaina woke the next morning to a cramp in her thighs. They were numb from the knees down, her toes tingling from a lack of circulation. She opened her eyes, lifting her head, disoriented from her strange position. Something hard was under her knees, yet someone held her. Her backside was starting to go numb and there was a strong heart beat beneath her ear. Kyp. His hands tightened on her waist and shoulders as she looked up into his face.
"Good morning," he said softly.
She smiled. "'Morning." She examined his face, "Did you sleep at all?"
"Not yet."
"Kyp..." she said warningly. "What if we have to scramble?"
"I'll manage," he told her mildly. "It won't be the first time I've pulled a long shift."
"And it won't be the last," she sighed. "I know, I know." She slowly shifted in his lap, putting her feet on the ground and gasping as the blood began to rush back into her legs.
"Easy there Goddess," he chuckled, keeping a firm grip on her so she didn't slide to the floor. "Let your legs remember how to walk first."
She lay back against him, resting her head on his shoulder. "Remind me never to sleep like that again."
He folded his hands high on her stomach, standing slowly. She hissed at the shift and he squeezed her apologetically. "Sorry, I want to check on Tahiri before she wakes up."
Jaina grimaced as she let go of his arms, taking a couple of jerky steps. Kyp caught her quickly, dragging her back into his arms. She looked up at him questioningly and he kissed her lingeringly. Her arms tightened around him again as she opened her mouth to his. Kyp obliged her, deepening the kiss for a long moment before pulling away, "Now," he told her softly before letting her go, "it's a good morning."
She smiled, dragging him back, "Oh no, more than that," she insisted, "as of today I'm a free woman."
He laughed, bending his head and kissing her thoroughly, feeling her open completely to his kiss, arching into his touch, her mouth moving sweetly under his, burning him completely, willingly, and his fingers slid into her hair, angling her head under his. She moaned softly, seeming to curl towards him, her body flush against his for longer moments before he slowly lifted his head. She stayed where she was, her forehead leaning gently against his as she locked her knees to keep from sliding to the floor. Kyp gently stroked her face with the backs of his fingers before pulling away completely and walking over to the bed where Tahiri still lay sleeping.
The young woman slept soundly, undisturbed as she had for the night, but as they watched her forehead crinkled and she moaned. She shifted in her sleep, rolling over and reaching out as if searching for something or someone. "Anakin..."
Jaina froze, hearing the almost desperate edge to the girl's plea. Without thinking, she backed away, unable to deal with Tahiri's loss, with her own. Her gaze went to Kyp as he approached the blonde and she swallowed hard. Would that be her fate one day, Jaina wondered silently, if anything happened to Kyp? She couldn't be sure, but she had a feeling if that wasn't it, it would be extremely close.
"Anakin! [i]NO[/i]!" Tahiri woke before Kyp got to her, sitting straight up in her bed, her hands reaching, searching for something that was beyond her grasp forever. She seemed to fold in on herself for a half-second, as her hands came up empty, before she screamed. A vortex of wind sprang up through the room, dragging everything that wasn't nailed down towards her in a sudden surge.
Kyp intervened quickly. "Tahiri!" is eyes flashed and he dampened her powers, killing the tantrum, the vortex, before it really started.
Tahiri's head came up and she glared at him, but underneath it was a solid wall of pain and despair. Both Jedi could sense that Tahiri was holding on by barely a thread. And that thread was fraying quickly.
The door opened and Zekk stepped inside. He was half-dressed, obviously just woken up, but his gaze was only for the small blonde. "Tahiri!"
She looked up at him, her demeanor shifting instantly from hostile to desperate as she held her arms out to him, tears glittering in her eyes. Zekk didn't spare Jaina or Kyp a glance, just stepped straight to her and enfolded her in a tight hug. "I'm here," he told her softly, stroking her hair with a gentle hand.
She buried her face in his shoulder, beginning to shake as he held her tightly. Her broken hearted sobs reverberating through the room, barely muffled by Zekk's bare shoulder. Zekk held her tightly, his gaze finally going to Kyp and Jaina.
Jaina looked ready to bolt, her courage obviously faltering as she watched Tahiri's break down. Kyp placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder as she stepped to his side, meeting Zekk's gaze. Kyp waited in silence as Tahiri slowly stopped shaking, tucking Jaina into the curve of his body and lending her his support as she watched with difficulty. Zekk slowly pulled away from Tahiri and gently wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Life will get easier," he told her softly, fervently believing it though she'd only seemed to get worse in the time since Anakin had died.
"You promise?" she asked brokenly.
Zekk nodded. "I promise."
Tahiri closed her eyes, sagging against him, "It's so hard," she told him, her voice but a whisper, "I don't want to feel. Don't make me feel again." She pleaded softly.
Zekk sighed. "You're human, Tahiri, to feel is to know you're alive."
"I don't want to live."
Jaina's heart went out to her. She knew how that felt. "Tahiri..."
Tahiri's head came up and she seemed to suddenly realize that she and Zekk weren't alone. Her eyes narrowed. "Get out!" she screamed, her eyes flashing dangerously, "Leave me alone! I don't want anything to do with you or... or..." her hands came up and Zekk quickly grabbed them.
"Tahiri, stop this! They're here to help!"
"Help?" she demanded scathingly, pushing away from him and backing across the mattress until her back was flush against the wall. "Help?" she laughed, a note of hysteria ringing in her words, "Nobody can help. Not you, not them, and especially not [i]her[/i]!"
Jaina, who hadn't wanted the job in the first place, stepped away from Kyp and glared at the younger woman. "News flash, I don't exactly want to help you, you spoiled little brat," she bit out. "You're ungrateful and spiteful-"
Kyp slapped a hand over her mouth, cutting off her tirade. "We're trying to help her," he said mildly, though his words held a note of caution, telling her to shut up, "not encourage her darkside tendencies."
"Encourage me," Tahiri spat, "Nobody could encourage me to take a journey where I didn't want to go!"
Zekk's voice sliced in before Kyp could respond. "Not even me or Anakin, Tahiri?"
She lunged at him, knocking him off the bed and to the floor, screaming. Zekk seemed to have done this before and rolled, pinning her to the deck plates while dark energy sizzled around them, his hair standing on end. She seemed to transform under their gaze, growing smaller, less menacing as tears streaked her cheeks again. "No-nobody can t-talk about Ana...Anak..." she trailed off, closing her eyes and turning her face away.
Kyp carefully let Jaina go and to his surprise Jaina knelt next to Tahiri and Zekk as Zekk pushed himself to the balls of his feet but remained crouched beside them. Jaina stretched out her hand to place a comforting hand on Tahiri's shoulder, drawing the younger woman's gaze. "You can't hide in a void of pain forever, Tahiri," she said softly, "someday you'll have to face how much you're hurting."
"Like you did?" Tahiri came back quickly, "After Jacen was taken away? After Ana-Anakin d-died?"
Jaina's gaze was filled with remembered pain and the sting of last night's confrontations. So much pain in her life; so much effort to continue. She had a good idea of what Tahiri was going through. "I was wrong, Tahiri. Letting my grief, my anger, consume me was wrong. Thankfully," she glanced up at Kyp, "someone cared enough to not only help me through it and understand, but to pull me back from the edge."
Zekk rose to his feet and left the room quietly as Jaina spoke to Tahiri, neither woman noticing his absence, but Kyp watched as the younger man left. He could read the pride in Zekk's body language, the pain. Zekk had cared enough about Jaina to do the same thing Kyp had; he'd just not had the conviction or experience to deal with her. Kyp shook his head. If Zekk had been the one to help Jaina, would he be the one she'd be turning to now?
Kyp let go of his disturbing thoughts and knelt next to Jaina, offering his hand to Tahiri, "We want to help you, Tahiri, but we can't if you don't let us."
"I don't want your help," she shot back quickly, carefully pushing herself into a sitting position. "I don't want your sympathy, I just want Anakin back!"
The desolation in her tone broke Jaina's heart and she bowed her head as Tahiri curled into a ball, wrapping her arms around her legs and ducking her face into her knees. Kyp watched them both, wondering if this was how he was going to be spending his days for the next little while. Watching his apprentice, and his former apprentice, butt heads and share sob stories. He hoped not. Though, he had to admit watching them duel would certainly prove interesting if it ever came down to it. "Tahiri," he said softly, "Anakin won't be coming back. He's gone and he wouldn't want-"
"How do you know?" she asked, her head snapping up, rage blazing in her eyes, "How would anyone know what he would and wouldn't want? Anakin was my best friend and I love him... I loved him..." she trailed off, her face crumbling.
Her quick shifting emotions, going from blinding agony and suffering to anger in a snap of his fingers was starting to get unnerving. Yet Kyp knew he'd deal with it. Tahiri needed their help and, whether she wanted it or not, she was going to get it.
Tahiri was a difficult person to reach without Zekk. Jaina found that she could barely stand the younger woman anymore, she'd changed so much - and not for the better. She was angry all the time, throwing tantrums that involved whipping things around with the Force and throwing lightning when things got really bad. She refused to even speak with Jaina, simply glared at her, or shouted accusations that Jaina hadn't a foot to stand on because of her own actions when they'd thought Jacen and Anakin dead.
Jaina secretly agreed that she was the last person who should be trying to help Tahiri and simply left her alone with Kyp, slipping out into the hallway as Kyp forcefully took matters into his own hands. The door slid shut and Jaina slid to the ground, resting her chin on her knees as she blinked back frustrated tears. She didn't need this right now.
"Tough time?"
She looked up as Zekk slid to the ground next to her, their shoulder brushing as he settled comfortably, his back to the wall. She smiled faintly. "You don't know the half of it."
Zekk was examining his hands, "Actually I do," he admitted softly. "Tahiri's always been an acquaintance but I've really gotten to know her over the last little while, Jay. She's special, but she's in a lot of pain. She reminded me of you."
Jaina sighed. "I'm sorry I pushed you away," she admitted. "You only wanted to help, but I couldn't take it. I saw your face when we were on our way to Hapes. You wanted something I couldn't give you."
"I understand," he told her easily. "My feelings have been one-sided since this whole war started. Your relationship with Jag forced me to admit that and try to move on." He smiled faintly. "I felt like I failed you when I just let you go without trying to check your fall. I felt like I failed myself too. I was too caught up with what I was feeling to even try to help you." He sighed. "I'm sorry, Jaya, I'm sorry I wasn't there when you needed me most."
She reached over and squeezed his hand. "I wouldn't have accepted your help," she admitted with difficulty. "You're the best friend a girl could have, Zekk, but there wasn't anything you could have done."
He looped a companionable arm around her shoulders and she rested her head on his shoulder. "Thanks," he whispered softly.
They were quiet for long minutes, Tahiri's screams of anger clearly audible through the door to her room. She felt Zekk tense. "Is there really a girl back on Calamari waiting for you?"
He jerked slightly, "Yeah, amazingly enough there is."
"What's her name?"
"Cyan," he told her, his smile clearly audible in his voice.
"Have you known her long?"
"A couple of years. I met her on Hapes before leaving you there. She was on the ship that helped me out of the system."
Jaina was quiet for a few moments. "What's she like?"
Zekk's voice was hushed, the muted sounds of the ship almost drowning him out. "Not unlike you," he admitted, "Only she's a Twi'lek."
Her head came up and she grinned. "Was she a dancer?" she teased.
Zekk chuckled. "Not for me to tell," he winked at her. "Let's just say she's built like one."
Jaina snorted, "Most female Twi'lek's are," she pointed out, jabbing him in the chest with her finger. "Is she Force Sensitive?"
He nodded. "Not as much as you or I but she's pretty awesome with her lightsaber."
Jaina cocked her head at him. "You sound positively smitten. Do I detect a proposal coming up for a certain Jedi?"
Zekk squeezed her shoulders. "Not in the near future, but if you happen to see me shopping for a ring or something in a vision, don't discount the possibility."
She hugged him. "If I didn't have Kyp, I might be jealous." She told him smiling. "I'm glad you found someone, Zekk."
Zekk kissed her cheek. "Yeah, well, I couldn't wait you forever, however much I like the idea."
She smiled. "So how long are you staying?"
He looked at the door. "I should take my chance and go while Kyp is in there. I don't like leaving her alone, though."
"She won't be alone." Jaina assured him, "Either Kyp or I will be with her most of the time. She may not like me too much, but I won't let her side beyond all hope. I've been there, same as you," she shivered. "The climb out is treacherous and dangerous, I won't lose the one person who meant more to Anakin than his own life. He wouldn't want her to suffer like this."
"I agree," Zekk told her softly. He pushed himself to his feet. "I'm going to say my goodbyes while it's quiet in there. Take care of yourself, Jaina. I'll be here if you ever have need of me."
She reached out, capturing his hand. "Likewise. Thank you."
He flashed her a smile before disappearing into Tahiri's room. Jaina pushed herself to her feet, but couldn't find the courage to enter the room just yet. Imagine, the Goddess afraid of her dead brother's girlfriend. It was almost laughable. Almost - if it hadn't hurt so much.
The door opened and a hand grabbed her, dragging her inside. Jaina was about to protest but the surge of electricity that shot through her system told her Kyp had been the one t bring her in. She couldn't very well resist since she was supposed to be helping him with Tahiri, her personal feelings aside.
"I have to speak with Zekk," Kyp's voice was low as he left Tahiri and Zekk a moment to themselves. The blonde was crying, begging Zekk not to go. "Can you stay here and keep Tahiri from following?"
Jaina swallowed hard, nodding once. "Yeah, I think I can. Just don't be gone too long, alright?"
He smiled at her and she reached up to brush his bangs back off his forehead. Kyp caught her fingers and brushed a light kiss over her fingertips. "Be good. Remember, you know where she's been and anything she throws at you, you can negate. She's pretty exhausted through."
Jaina nodded and watched as Zekk extracted himself from the blonde. He was leaving because it was best for Tahiri to get through this on her own - but he wouldn't be too far away. Zekk was their wild card. If Tahiri got too difficult to handle, or unresponsive, he would be called back. Only Tahiri didn't know that. Jaina frowned. How had she known it? She watched as Tahiri curled herself onto her bed, Zekk and Kyp stepping from the room, and settled herself into the chair. Tahiri's sobs were soft, heart wrenching with their depth and Jaina's heart went out to her. Here was a young woman who'd lost everything and now she was losing her only friend. Jaina's gaze went to the door and she silently urged Kyp to hurry. Tahiri needed to have something to keep her occupied and Jaina, who'd never had an apprentice before, didn't have a clue where to start.