Jacen sighed, and looked at his mother. Breath flowed in and out of her body, but slowly and more shallow than normal. He could tell that the quality of the Force around her was muted from the healing trance. Uncle Luke had said that there was no way to tell when she would come out of it, but he was confident that she would eventually. She still lay peacefully on the hospital bed, surrounded by blinking and beeping monitors. The colors of the room were soft and tranquil, yet they did nothing to calm Jacen from the sheer panic of seeing his own mother float between life and death.

"We're doing everything we can. I swear." He knew she couldn't hear him, but the words were reassuring to Jacen. He pulled the blankets over his mother more, tucking her in to bed as she had done for him and his siblings countless times in the past. Vacating the chair near her bed that he had been sitting in, he left the room quietly; the "beep beep beep" of her heart monitor faintly disappearing behind the door.

As he closed the door, he saw Tenel Ka walking down the corridor toward him, her high heels she had worn to work in her prosthetic hand, and her stockinged feet making little noise on the tile floor.

"How is your mother?" Tenel Ka gestured towards Leia's door.

"She's fine, just in a healing trance for now." He reached out for her empty hand and took it in his own. "Want to go for a walk?"

"Yes," Tenel Ka answered quietly. The two conversed softly. Though the doors and walls of the hospital wing were soundproof, it felt wrong to speak loudly. They walked back to the main palace area and Jacen invited Tenel Ka onto the balcony of his temporary apartment.

The sun had just set, and though there were no stars, the lights of the city planet were almost as captivating.

"So..." Jacen looked at his friend. They reclined on the chaise lounges on the high patio. Her eyes were closed, and a slight smile graced her lips. "How was today, really?"

"Mentally exhausting. Shielding my presence in the Force while maintaining the personality of another is difficult." Tenel Ka opened her eyes and sat up, gazing intently at the stream of ships and hovercars rushing around the city that seemed to only float lazily by. "It is...almost indescribable to live the life of another. This character, this person, this woman...she is so utterly different than myself."

Jacen smiled. "That she is. You're doing a wonderful job though."

"Thank you, as are you."

Tenel Ka gazed into the depths of Coruscant, clearly in deep thought. She could tell the next day would be just as mentally exhausting as the first, but looked forward to the challenge.

Jacen awoke that night to the incessant buzzing of his doorbell, and stumbled out to bed to answer it.

"Jedi Solo, sorry to wake you, but the suspect is acting oddly, asking to see you." One of General Niron's men stood at Jacen's door in full uniform.

Jacen ran his hand over his sleep-tousled hair, his tired eyes still shocked by the light emitted by the lamp in the hallway.

"Sir, uh, this is urgent. General Niron's orders that you come ASAP."

Jacen knew it must be important for him to be woken in the middle of the night so he threw his jacket on over his pajamas and stuffed his feet into the shoes by the door.

The officer led him back down to the lower levels of the palace, where the prisoner was kept. Jacen was led into a room already occupied by Niron and the prisoner. Niron looked alert and crisp as always, but the prisoner looked as if he had gone mad. He was unshaven and his eyes were bloodshot and swollen.

When he saw Jacen, he ran towards him, grabbing the front of Jacen's jacket and holding it tight as he spoke. "Please... please, I need to speak to you. Alone."