Disclaimer: (bends down on knees) You're the bestest person in the world, George. Can I have- No? WHY NOT! grrr... evil. Not mine, don't sue.
A/N: I am SO sorry it took so long, like... a month... erm... yeah. Chaos was reigning my life, as was school work, and general confusion.But we're back! I don't think we'll have such long delays again any time soon, so w00t and yay for that.
Thanks to the Editor for such great suggestions, and big thanks to Del'Cera Osirin for beta-reading. (And all other reviewers, now that we mention it, you make our world go 'round.)
-Yavië Jinn
Chappy XI: Tears of Healing
"'Maru- you've been so quiet lately. What's wrong?"
Alcanar rested her small hand on her twin's shoulder, a concerned look in her eyes. Imaru had been sitting and staring out the window, separated from the group, until Alcanar had noticed and promptly decided to remedy that fact.
"I'm fine, sister dearest."
Alcanar gently poked her in the shoulder. "No, you're not. We've all noticed it, even Master Qui-Gon. You've seemed so sad, it makes me worry when you're like this. I don't want you to hurt, 'Maru."
Imaru was silent for a time, but when she spoke, her voice was very soft. "There's nothing you can do for me, Alca. And we can't talk here, not with everyone listening."
"Alright then, tonight, we're going up and spending the night in the Observatory. The stars are beautiful from there, and late at night, there won't be too many people. We can talk then, but I want to talk with you."
Imaru just stared at her blankly.
"Look, 'Maru, you're coming. I'll bring something for us to curl up under, it can get chilly up there at night."
Slowly nodding, Imaru turned back to the window. With a parting poke to the shoulder, Alcanar left her alone and rejoined the group of plotting younglings.
Later that night, Imaru and Alcanar snuck out of their room that they shared with Nûniel, Liam, Enya, and Chiara, Alcanar with a large bundle under her arm. When Imaru had seen it, she had looked at it questioningly.
:Um, Alca? What's that:
Her sister had merely placed her finger on her lips and smiled.
They stole silently through the wide halls of the Temple, making their way to the Observatory. Just as Alcanar had predicted, it was deserted. They scurried into a far corner, where Alcanar laid down the bundle.
"So, Alca, where'd you get the blankets? I didn't know they were missing. You're more of a little sneak thief than I thought. Where'd you find them, the laundry?"
Alcanar's grin just grew broader. "Even better." With a dramatized flourish, she shook it open. "What does it look like to you?"
Noticing that it had a hood and sleeves, Imaru smirked slightly. "You did it again, Alca. I swear, you're obsessed with that crazy robe. Does Master Jinn knew you took it?"
Still grinning, Alcanar grabbed one of the hems and buried her face in the soft wool cloth. "Nope! This is a spare, though, he brought his other one on his mission. And yes, I happen to like his robe." With that, she made a small sound that sounded curiously like "mrrp."
"What the- did you just go mrrp?"
"mmmhm! fwrrp?"
"You're insane, sister. But I love you anyways. So, what did you want to talk to me about?"
"You've been so quiet. You almost never spend time with the other younglings, you're always by yourself, and you seem to be so sad. I know you've always been quieter, but now, ever since we got to the Temple, you're isolating yourself. I still love you, Kaisha, but I'm worrying about you."
With the use of the old nickname that Ele had affectionately used, Imaru turned to face her.
"Whatever would we do without worrying sisters?"
"You'd be a sad person, Kaisha. But now you're stalling. Talk. Now. What in the name of the Force is bothering you?"
"Alca... do you remember what happened to me on the way out of Jabba's palace?"
Alcanar quivered at the thought. "Yes, I do. Is it still bothering you? How can I help? Do you think that you should talk to a mind healer, or a Master, like the little troll, or Master Jinn? I think they know more about this than me."
"NO. Don't tell anyone, please. You deserve to know, I endured it for you, to protect you. I know you're older, but you're not brutal enough to have survived as a slave on your own, I've always been your protector. I would've done anything for you, sister."
Looking slightly put out, Alcanar sent a piercing look in her twin's direction. "I still think that I should tell someone, so they can help. Master Jinn, at least. Why not? You've protected me, physically at least, but... afterwards, I've done everything I can so that I don't see you hurting. That was the worst part about being a slave, all the people in pain. I couldn't stand it, and now I still don't like seeing you hurting like this. All I want is for you to be happy."
"That's what makes us different. You're so compassionate. It's a good trait for a Jedi, and a healer at heart like yourself. But I'm different. I don't mind being alone now, it's not that bad, though I do still love you. But I have to stay strong, and I don't think that the Masters can even help me. But to go asking for help afterwards, that's just weak of me. I'll deal with it on my own."
"It's not a weakness to ask for help. Especially after what you've been through. It just hurts me to see the one person I am closest to, who I've known all but a couple minutes of my life, in such pain. Anything I can do for you, I will. At least spend some more time with us. Please."
Imaru reached over and patted her twin on the head, stroking the tangled mass of dark hair that continuously flopped into Alcanar's face.
"If it would make you happier, I will. You have my word on that one. At least some more time. But I will keep throwing myself into saber practice and all, I need to become the best Jedi I can be."
"That's fine, 'Maru. That's a good goal for you. I'm glad that you could at least talk some to me. However, as nice as your lovely chatter is, I'm tired. I, unlike you, don't have unlimited energy and saber skills. How's abouts we take advantage of this lovely robe we have, curl up, and go to sleep?"
The two unfolded the robe and laid it out like a blanket, curling up next to each other under the deep brown folds of cloth. To Alcanar, it seemed to contain the essence of the big Jedi to whom it belonged.
"Good thing that Master Jinn is so big, or we wouldn't be able to both fit under here."
Imaru grinned at that, then reached out towards Alcanar's hair again. "You need to cut this mess, Alca, or at least control it. Get it out of your face. See, I was smart to cut all my hair off."
Smiling mischievously, Alcanar tugged on her sister's short red hair. "Heh. I can still pull yours, though. You can't win." With that, she smiled contentedly, clinging onto Imaru's shoulder and resting her head in that general vicinity. Very soon, she was dead out asleep and snoring slightly. /Always love your sleep, sister. I'm glad I could put your mind to rest some... but then, there's still my mind to worry about. Ah well./ Sinking into a slight meditative trance, Imaru also drifted to sleep, huddled with her sister under a robe on the floor of the Temple Observatory.
"I- OH! I see them, they're back in that corner! Master Yoda, I found them! Oy!"
Imaru awoke to hear the voice of Xanatos in her ear. Immediately she sprung up from her sleep, while Alcanar merely turned over and mumbled something like "people yelling...huh? I wanna sleep, there's a bantha after my lightsaber... the banthas are coming..."
"Idiot sister person! You're in the Temple, no banthas here!" Imaru turned to Xanatos, who was looking a bit panicked. "What's wrong, Xani? What do you need us for?"
"It's Master Jinn. He was seriously injured when we were away on our mission, I know that the two of you are also fairly close to him, and that you both, and especially Alcanar, are good healers, we were wondering if you might be able to help him in any way."
At the words 'Master Jinn' and 'seriously injured,' Alcanar's head had shot up in alarm, suddenly awake. "Where is he? We need to hurry."
Xanatos smiled at her response. "At the Healers, in the intensive care unit. I do believe that hurrying might be beneficial to his health and survival."
Banishing the fog of sleep from her mind, Yavië stumbled up and started to run in the general direction of the Healers, still clinging tightly to Qui-Gon's robe.
When the three arrived at the Healers, they found Qui-Gon, comatose, stretched out on one of the longer beds. His chest was deeply bruised, and there were several places where the skin had been broken, in some places more deeply than others. His hair looked to have mostly come out of his half-ponytail, the brown streaked and matted with the rusty colour of dried blood. One shoulder appeared to have been hit by a blaster bolt, and both his arms were hooked up to various IV pumps.
Alcanar placed her hand on his uninjured shoulder. "What- what happened to him? He looks absolutely terrible."
Bowing his head, Xanatos explained quietly. "While we were on our mission, he had left our apartments to go out and take a walk around the city, though I don't know what he was up to. I was a bit tired, so I stayed back in our quarters. We had a formal banquet to go to that night, so my Master said that he'd be back relatively soon. I waited relatively patiently for him to return until it was about a half an hour until the banquet, when I decided to go out to search for him. I tried to follow his Force-signature, but it was fairly weak, i got the sense that it was unconscious. I ended up wandering around the city for quite a while, until I finally found him, like this, in a small alley. His Force-sense was seriously dampened, which had been what had given me the problems, but I don't know why. I commed the Council as soon as I managed to drag him back to our quarters, and they agreed to let us come back and send another team to finish the negotiations. He hasn't regained consciousness at all, and we still don't know what happened. I hope you can do something..."
The young girl nodded slowly, placing her small hands on the Jedi Master's temples. "I'll do what I can. I've never even tried to heal something this serious before, though, I don't know how much I can help, but-"
She was cut off by Imaru. "Alca. Shut up and work. We know this is big, but just do it."
"Okay, I'll see what I-"
"Sis. Work. Now."
With that, she closed her eyes, reaching out to what she now knew well to be the Force. She felt Imaru's support beside her, giving her energy. She reached out to the wounds of the battered body before her, asking the Force for assistance, the pure song of the midichlorians filling her ears, as they always did while she was healing. Pushing waves of healing into Qui-Gon's body, she abandoned her physical self, existing only as a being in the Force.
How long this continued, she couldn't be sure. When she eventually returned to herself, she looked down at Qui-Gon, and, to her disappointment, he was still unconscious, and the wounds on his shoulder was barely healed. Though his Force-signature was a bit stronger, it didn't pulsate with his usual pure light. It seemed as if Alcanar had barely done anything.
"I-I did try. I did everything I could. I'm sorry I couldn't do more, but I'm drained now, even with 'Maru's help 'n energy. Is there anything else we can do?"
Xanatos looked over at her. "We'll wait for him, hope that he gets better. Hope that the Force is with him. I know that you did everything that you could, Alcanar, but I guess none of us are all-powerful."
Imaru looked up at that. "Well, why not? Maybe we should be. Then we wouldn't have people suffering like this."
Swaying with exhaustion, Alcanar sat down heavily in a chair beside the bedside. "I think that that's one thing we'll never know, sister.
Qui-Gon remained in his unconscious state for days still after Alcanar's attempt to heal him. He did not get significantly better, but at least he didn't get too much worse. However, the Healers still worried for him. No one knew why he was still unconscious, it was most unusual for any Jedi to be so incapacitated for so long. He spent quite a bit of time in and out of bacta treatment, and his Padawan and the two girls were always by his side, barely taking time to eat, and they had even been given permission to miss classes to be with him.
After he had been unconscious for a week, though, people started to get even more nervous about him. Master Yoda came and visited, probing into his Force-awareness, trying to find clues to help him, and getting nothing but the sense of an exceptionally deep meditative state. Qui-Gon had been receiving nutrients and liquid through an IV tube, but was weakening substantially. At this point, it was decided that Alcanar try again, linking with Imaru and Xanatos for additional energy.
This time silent, she went through her usual healing routine, drawing from Imaru and Xanatos, feeling the power that they held within them, as well as her own. Instead of gently probing and reassuring, though, she pushed, forced life into the withering body of the Jedi Master, grabbing at any shreds of his mind, yanking them back to physical life. Holding back nothing at all, she willingly sapped the energy out of her companions and into Master Jinn.
But when she was done, and almost passed out from overexertion, as were Xanatos and Imaru, he was still lying supine on the hospital table, no better than before. Alcanar let out a cry in hopelessness, nearly sobbing.
"I can't do it! His mind has gone so far from his body, I can't bring it back, there's nothing anyone can do. Not even Master Yoda could..."
Now full out crying, she bent over the Jedi, examining his peaceful-looking face. As she leaned over, one of her tears slid off her chin, landing on Qui-Gon's cheek. As if this was a signal, the only thing that pierced through his deep trance, he stirred faintly. As Alcanar felt the small movement, she looked up, her tears turning to those of joy. Qui-Gon's blue eyes flickered open to meet her now-joyous gaze, then looked around to see his loyal Padawan and little Imaru standing with him as well. He tried to speak, but his voice was weak from being unused so long, so Xanatos quickly fetched a glass of water from the hospital sink beside Qui-Gon's bed. Raising it to his Master's lips, he helped him drink, and then, speak.
"Padawan- thank you- so much. 'Maru, Alca... you- you're like daughters... you didn't need to help me, stay so long... I felt your touch, it called me back. I love you- all three of you, like my own children. Thank you."
With that, he fell back into unconsciousness, but this time into a light sleep, peaceful and healthy. Quietly, Imaru went to tug on the robes of a Healer to tell her of the Master's recovery.
Okay, a couple of questions: We're going to be skipping ahead a few years soon to where the girls are a bit older, and get to the main story. (finally!) But there's still a bit of background we need to get established first, and were wondering if we should go into more detail and prolong it over the next few chapters, or summarize it and, as God, the army, and the Old Man from Scene 24 said: "GET ON WITH IT!"
Your input is greatly appreciated, and to do that, I suppose you have to REVIEW! You know you want to...
(waves hand)
