A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed – sorry this took kind of long, and I'm not even going of think of bothering you with excuses. Go ahead, read, and enjoy.

Part 2

It was a welcome transition.

Walking along a seemingly endless stone tunnel, edges limned only by the slightest glow of a light so tantalizingly close – yet so far away – and into a cave that was actually quite brightly lit, was indeed a welcome change, reflected Tenel Ka. Maybe the symbolism of the whole situation was getting to her – as it would, being stuck there with no lightsabers and only Jacen for company – but she actually felt quite… relieved. Had she been scared back there? No.

Uncomfortable, perhaps.

Jacen entered the cave after her, staring at the copious amounts of native algae and what-not, glowing gently in their bioluminescence. The soft blue-green light threw shadows over his face, bringing up in sharp relief his sharp facial features… and scars she had never seen before. In fact, there was a ruggedness in his face that seemed to have developed during the War, and afterward… a refining, and ageing of features that she had once found appealing in their softness.

Suddenly his gaze shifted to her, eyes burning with such intensity, brow knotted in a frown that seemed to have come out of nowhere, that any normal woman would've gasped, or taken a step back. But she being Tenel Ka, merely stared back at him, one eyebrow arched regally.

"Well, Jacen?"

He let out a breath through pursed lips. "Well, it seems that we have ventured even deeper into this labyrinth." He gestured vaguely to the walls of the cave around them. "This seems to be a dead end. We'd better retrace our steps."

Tenel Ka nodded, but neither of them made a move.

How strange.

The sight of the gently glowing plant life on the walls seemed to have transfixed her, involuntarily pulling her into the vortex of a whirlwind of memories that she'd rather ignore for the time being. Memories of pain, blood, fighting, loss… All this reminded her so much of… reminded her of…

"Yuuzhan Vong."

She looked sharply toward Jacen as he muttered these words, his own eyes glazed with some memory that he seemed to be seeing. As if he had sensed her gaze on him, he turned to look at her. "Yuuzhan Vong," he repeated. "All this would look quite at home in a Yuuzhan Vong setup, wouldn't it?"

"Yes, it would," Tenel Ka said, rather warily.

His eyes turned back to the algae, and a wistful look hovered over his features. "I certainly would prefer this light over a glowglobe…"

Then, as if shaking himself awake from a daydream, he shook his head sharply. "Let us try and find our way out of here now," he said, his voice strong, hard and decisive – just like the Jacen she knew.

Like the Jacen I know…

Tenel Ka pondered over the thought for an eternal instant, marveling at its absurdity. No, the Jacen she knew had been the opposite – wistful, indecisive, humorous – or so she supposed; that was what he had claimed, anyway – and… amusing. Appealing.

Adorable, even.

And then in a gap of just a few years, a gap in which the galaxy had faced its most trying war yet, a war whose scars would still blight the progress of the generations to come, Jacen had faced unimaginable trials – had seemingly come back from enemy captivity holding the key to the end of the war, when everybody – even his twin sister, even Tenel Ka herself – had assumed that he was dead, and he had changed.

Changed seemed to be too simple a word to describe what transition he seemed to have undergone. And yet, in its simplicity, the word was appropriate.

She wondered – briefly – which Jacen she would prefer. Then she abandoned that train of thought abruptly, for after all, whatever Jacen had undergone, how much ever he had changed, he was still Jacen Solo – the friend she was glad – glad? Yes, I suppose – to have by her side. And after so many years after having talked to him, the happiness was only doubled.

A ghost of a smile hovered over her lips, as she answered him. "I have only been waiting for you to say that, Jacen – it was not difficult to assess our situation at the outset itself."

He smiled rather embarrassedly at her, reaching up with his right hand to gently ruffle his wavy hair, like he used to do so much before. Tenel Ka just had to marvel at the flashes of the person he used to be that escaped his person at times, like summer rain that was refreshingly chill. "I guess you caught me day-dreaming again, Tenel Ka."

The smile widened. "Day-dreaming? I'm disappointed, friend Jacen. I was rather hoping that you were formulating an escape plan."

Jacen stared at her, mouth slightly open, before he threw his head back, and laughed. "Wow, you've gotten better, Tenel Ka." He grinned widely. "That was a joke, right?"

Unwilling to let him see her desperately trying to suppress her ever-widening smile – even a laugh that threatened to bubble out her mouth unprecedented – she swept past him. "No," she said. "I was being serious."

She was able to feel his surprised gaze even on the back of her neck.

Jacen shrugged, and turned back into the cave. "Well anyway," he said, "Before we leave, I'd better make sure that we have some light on the way to guide us."

Tenel Ka watched with something to akin to fascination on her face, as he removed a large, green, almost paper-thin leaf of one of the native trees of Naboo from somewhere on his person. Scooping some of the bio-fluorescent algae of the walls, and tearing thin rags of cloth from the edge of his Jedi cloak and plaiting them into very tight strips, his deft fingers got to work. Soon, he had prepared a sort of makeshift lamp, illuminated from the inside by the bio-luminescent algae.

The blue-green light of the florescent plant life, accentuated by the pale green, translucent outer casing, cast an ethereal light, even when dimmed in the cave, which was gently pulsating with light of the plant-life.

"Here." Jacen handed the lamp over to her, and she took it, continuing her fascinated examination of the makeshift invention. "It's alright, I hope?"

Tenel Ka nodded slowly. "Fact."

He smiled – a strange smile, a smile that startled her – then started down once again into the stone tunnel. "Good. At least you won't feel uncomfortable anymore."

A thrill raced up Tenel Ka's spine. Despite her best efforts at concealing her thoughts, he had sensed what she was feeling… He was able to do that, while he was these days, a blank slate to her more often than not. A suppressed snort lifted a corner of her lips, as she fingered the lamp for some moments, then started after Jacen.

Interesting, indeed.