Disclaimer: Oh, didn't you hear? I was GL in a former life… What? You say that doesn't count?... Aw dammit…



Chapter Fourteen



Mara looked at Luke's glowing form with tears in her eyes, "Hurts," she whispered inaudibly.

"The past can do that to you." He knelt in front of her and just looked into her eyes. "Why Mara? Why me? Why can't you?"

A harsh, dry laugh erupted from her. "One of my Emperor's many safeguards. I can't unless I have some method of centering my emotions – He was my center. Now that he's gone…"

"It doesn't take all that much control to use your talent, Mara." Skywalker ran one hand down her face; it was of no substance, but it felt warm and comforting.

"For me it does." Her voice was as fragile as crystal and almost as quiet.

Luke remained silent as his eyes slid shut. "I'm sorry…" he whispered softly and suddenly as a spearhead of blistering white suddenly sliced through her shields and destroyed her only links to the past. Her breath hissed as she felt all traces of Papetine shrivel up and fall away with even the slightest bit of encouragement from Luke. Her mind felt naked and clean – sensations that should have sent Mara Jade's skin crawling but instead made her feel secure.

"Sleep…" Luke crooned quietly and darkness clouded her mind.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

A fairly tall female with bouncing chestnut curls skipped down a large staircase that descended from the roof of her mansion as the three suns set over her world. Looking around mischievously, she froze after just a few steps and strained both her ears and her Force abilities to ascertain if anyone was coming. Her aquamarine eyes glittered with suppressed glee as, to her absolute joy, found that no one was around. The slender girl threw her right leg over the warm, honey-toned rainbow wood banister and slid on down it.

Seven… Six… Five… She mentally counted down the stories as she whizzed past them. Halfway between the second and first floors, she made her move.

Catapulting herself off her slippery perch, she rolled three and a half times horizontally over the patterned snowwood and blackwood floor before landing on her feet in a low crouch with cat-like grace. Her cheeks were flushed a delicate pink and her eyes shone with indescribable happiness. Scrambling to her feet, she shook out the long, generous layers of her sun-hued skirts; carefully smoothing out the sheer golden overlay, she tugged at her white bodice to get it fixed into position. Her good mood was not dampened, although she did let a few choice words slip her lips as her cheeks flushed even more as she struggled with her unwilling garments.

A quiet, contented sigh escaped her as she sauntered lazily over to a large, floorlength window reminiscent of the Royal Nubian style and leaned against one of the frames. The estate's extensive grounds spread out before her like a giant setting of precious stones. Her fingers reached up to her neck to toy with her seven pointed amulet, a rainbow gem surrounded by Sormahil fire gems. The fading light caught in the tiny jewels in her ring. Four Corusca jewels alternated with three ice-jewels, each no wider than the slender, silvery Mythiex band they were set in.

Her mood of dancing delight slowly drained away as she thought of the dark, brooding quality of a certain pair of green eyes. Her young heart ached as she thought of the boy who held her heart. Their bond had been very quiet as of late and something told her that the reason was far more serious then normal.

"Oh Qol…" she whispered softly, "Why won't you come home?..."

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

Zekk fought for his every breath as he stumbled down the seemingly endless hall. He's dead! DEAD! His mind cried at him, DEAAAD!!!

Zekk choked on a sob. He had only met Emperor Palpetine once. Now he was being stalked by his spirit.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

Ta'a Chume ran down the halls, decorum a forgotten memory of the distant past as her healthy fear spurred her on to greater speeds.

"Ziaen has escaped. Eeth Lor is no where to be found. Our military has traced the ship to Corellia, then we lost all trace of her."

"Ziaen has escaped. Eeth Lor is no where to be found. Our military has traced the ship to Corellia, then we lost all trace of her."

"Ziaen has escaped. Eeth Lor is no where to be found. Our military has traced the ship to Corellia, then we lost all trace of her."

"Ziaen has escaped. Eeth Lor is no where to be found. Our military has traced the ship to Corellia…

The formidable woman stormed into the Head of Security's office where Yaryne Te'eth lounged in a plain, unadorned chair. "Sit down, Former Queen Mother," the official said quietly, her silky voice as emotionless as her mismatched eyes. "You're here about Ziaen."

Ta'a remained standing and glared at Commander Te'eth with a fury that was almost righteous. "Yes." Her voice was clipped.

"I let her escape."

"You WHAT?!"

"Holding her wasn't doing anything."

"What."

"Koral is a beautiful girl but Isolder wasn't interested in her any more then she was in him. She really loves Neviyn. Why I can't even be-"

"Who gave you the authority." Ta'a Chume was fairly trembling with the force of her anger.

"The Queen Mother."

"She wouldn't dare."

"Wouldn't I?" Teneniel fairly purred with satisfaction as her mother-in-law whirled, her eyes wide with shock. "Why wouldn't I send away a woman whose only job was to steal my husband? Why wouldn't I allow her safe passage back to her own beloved husband? Why wouldn't I foil your schemes and delusions of grandeur?"

"Because it's not done!" Ta'a fairly yelled, her face growing faintly purple with rage.

Teneniel couldn't resist; she rolled her eyes and coughed. "I see..." Her tone was amused and vague. "The Old Bat" responded predictably.

Well, sort of. Teneniel hadn't anticipated a bodily assault.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

Qol's body was shaking as he awoke in the thirteen-by-five cell. His nerve endings were on fire but even that fire seemed muted, almost as though he was only feeling the ghost of the actual pain. A groan slipped out as he shifted his shoulders against the cold metal of the walls that supported his weight. A faint whimper stirred him to shunt all of his pain away from the front of his mind as he realized that Cait'ar lay next to him, her tiny body shuddering with each breath. Her face was a mass of colors – blues, blacks, greens, purples, yellows, and reds whose unnatural shades had been glassed over by tears cried and dried. Her slender form was curled up into a fetal position, with her hand gripping one of his and her head on his knee. A whimpered sob escaped from her battered and bruised body that had obviously already given too much of itself.

"Oh Cait…" His voice was rough and scratchy – neither was normal. Forcing pain away, he gently tugged at Cait until he had her facing him. Sliding one arm under her knees, he wrapped the other around her shoulders and hauled her into his lap. Oh Cait! His mind was half crazed with pain and fear of losing her. "Cait… Don't die on me… I promised your parents I would… Oh please, Cait…"

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

The guards outside cell 22-19A3 moved their eyes away from the young Jedi and her appointed guardian. When the two had been brought in, it had been assumed that they were charlatans who hoped to wriggle their way into the positions the rightful heirs held. Now they knew better. They knew that Qol and Cait were who they said they were. Just as assuredly, they knew they would die for harming Cait.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

//Barr?? Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarr….// Qol jerked awake as his younger sister's hysterical screaming through their bond escalated to new heights. //Qol!! Barr!! Qooooooooool!! Qo-//

//What?! What?!//

Sudden waves of relief and love poured over him simultaneously. //Where are you?? You've been shielding again, I've been forbidden to leave the house, and none of my men have been in to report!! I need to set intervals for when they need to check in,// she grumbled and Qol twisted his battered face into a grin. Callis was adorable when she pouted and even more adorable when she was fuming at herself.

//Sorry, Cait and I were undercover at Green Nebula when-//

//Were??//

//Were.//

//You got what you needed?//

//Well, almost all of it.//

//What happened?//

Wincing, Qol relayed to the fiery-tempered female, the entire story of how he came to be where he was, where he was, and several other miscellaneous details.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

Rosie stood next to Arazune and watched as Carson methodically pounded Azune into the ground. "I – can – too – be – a – boun – ty – hunt – er!" Each pause was punctuated by a blow. Her fist to his left eye; her heel to his stomach; a hand at the back of his head smashing his face against the floor; her teeth nearly taking a piece of his arm off.

Arazune was amazed. Robert had been trained since birth; two inches taller and only the Force knew how much more he weighed then his opponent. But the little four-foot-seven blonde was wiping the floor with his son, who was co-training with a little girl named Cait'ar C'baoth. Cait'ar beat Robert four times out of five but not even she had this kind of ruthless edge. He broke out into a cold sweat.

After almost ten minutes of pure, unadulterated beating, Carson let Robert slid down the wall from where she had him pinned. Turning around, she finger-combed her long hair and began twisting it into a braid. Pulling out a small red hair binder, she wrapped it around the end as she turned to her taller companion. "Well?" Carson asked abruptly, her eyes shining.

Rosie grinned and messed up her hair. Carson made a face and tried to brush it back in place. "You'll do Tahi. You'll do." Carson fairly glowed with pride. "Now come on, there should be a small shuttle in the hold that we can use…"

Arazune jerked up from his son's inert form, fully intending to stop the girls. They were already gone.

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

Carson was gasping for breath, trying to match Rosie stride for stride. "Ros–ie… Wai–ait.."

Rosie instantly slowed her pace, "Sorry," she said easily, turning around so she could run backwards. "I sometimes forget that I'm taller then most kids."

Carson's skeptical look told her that she didn't believe it.

"Honest!" Rosie protested, "I almost never get to go into port, and all the kids who are on board are slaves or killed." Rosie screwed up her face. "It's no fun. Although I can shoot a TIE interceptor in under ten seconds! That's one of the only perks."

Carson couldn't even find the energy to shake her head at Rosie. Rosie is baffling, she admitted

"Aha!" Rosie crowed triumphantly as she turned and raced full speed down the hall. About a minute later, she came speeding back on a swoopbike. "Come on Tahi."

"Thanks," Carson gasped, trying to figure out what the fuzzy, blurry dots in front of her vision were doing there.

"Heh, I need somebody to co-pilot with me." Rosie grinned as she punched up the throttle and gunned down the long hall way. Carson closed her eyes against both mysterious flecks and the rushing air.

Finally, Rosie stopped and waved a hand grandly, almost smacking Carson in the mouth. "Welcome, to my personal shuttle, Darkened Days!!"