My dad insisted that we attend our lessons that day.
So after we ate first meal, we went to our rooms and got ready. I noticed I had a message on my terminal. So I logged in, and found that the merchant on Naboo had finally sent a reply.
I opened the message, and read the story. Apparently, it belonged to a former queen, one Queen Amidala, later known as Senator Padme Naberrie, who had died near the end of the Clone Wars. During the days of the Empire, that particular family disappeared, and all their belongings were repossessed by various government officials. A former handmaiden, by the name of Sabe, sold the icon to the merchant. And there it had set for nearly fifty years until I had bought it.
I sat there and just stared at the monitor.
I had a hard time getting that concept around my head. That icon had been my grandmother's. For a moment, I sat and tried my best to figure out why my grandmother would own a Japor icon. It was a Tatooine wood.
And then it hit me.
My grandfather had been from Tatooine. My guess is that either he gave it to her, or she got it as a reminder of him.
That tidbit of family history explained the connection I felt to it. Of course I still did not understand why the dark one was putting it around those that were being killed.
I was frustrated. I wanted to know what it meant to whoever was doing this.
I felt Jysella's questioning probe through our bond; she had apparently felt my frustration and was worried. I sent reassurance to her and started heading towards the front door to go to class.
As I reached the door, I heard Jysella behind me say, "Ben, wait for me."
I turned and found myself once again watching her. She seemed more confident, more sure of herself this morning than she had in the past few weeks. I noticed little things, like the strand of hair that had escaped from where she had pulled her hair back. I noticed that she tucked it behind her ear twice as she walked down the hallway.
It was at that point, that I realized I thought of her as beautiful.
As she got closer I held out my hand and she took it in hers and smiled at me. "Thanks for waiting."
I started opening the door and any reply I might have made was cut off, by her scream.
Our house had a porch which the roof extended to cover. Leading up to the porch was a set of five or six steps. At set distances around the porch were columns.
Jysella had screamed, because tied to the columns, directly over the steps, right in front of our door, hung Saba.
Someone had skinned her. I saw something on the walkway behind her, and noticed that it was the same color as her skin used to be. It took me a few moments to realize that it was her skin. It took me another couple of moments to realize that it had been cut into the curls and swooshes of the Japor icon.
I focused on Saba again, and saw her lift her head and was amazed as she opened her eyes. In a hoarse voice she whispered "Thiz one hurtz."
As the thought that whoever had skinned her had done so while she was alive crossed my mind, I looked at Jysella and realized that she was starting to hyperventilate. I reached out for my parents, and felt them coming from the back of the house.
I felt a small tingle in the Force, and stepped closer to Jysella, between her and Saba.
Then Saba exploded.
The force of the explosion threw me and Jysella back into the house. I used the Force to pull her to me, and then tried to bleed some of our momentum. As we hit the wall, I felt my shoulder either dislocate or break as well as something in my arm give. Regardless, I heard myself scream. I could smell the stench of human and barabel flesh burning, making me nauseous.
When the first piece of shrapnel pierced my side, I twisted my screaming body around where I was covering her, protecting her.
At this point something warm, moist and heavy hit my head, and I lost consciousness.
I woke as someone slipped their arms under me. I felt myself being lifted, and wanted to stay in the dark where I felt no pain. Then whoever was picking me up, shifted me, and my burned back rested up against them. I screamed. I could hear my dad talking, but could not understand him, as I felt his Force presence flow into me, soothing me, calming my nerves, and turning off my pain receptors.
I was happy when oblivion claimed me again.
I awoke, and found myself once more in a Bacta Tank. I looked around and could see Jysella standing at the tank smiling at me. I could feel her joy at seeing me wake through our bond. A swift tug on my face mask caused me to look up, and I could see a tech up there, motioning for me to come up and get out.
I was happy to oblige.
Apparently when they brought me in, I was in bad shape. I had a concussion; I had dislocated my shoulder, and broken my humerus and ulna when I hit the wall. That piece of shrapnel that got me first was actually the primary crystal mount for a lightsaber and it had nicked my liver. Dozens of synthwood splinters were lodge in my back, arms and legs, the longest about the length of one of my fingers. And then there were the burns.
Like I said, I was in bad shape.
It did make me happy, to learn that Jysella, did not have nearly the injuries I did, and spent only a few days in Bacta, as opposed to my week.
As I was taken to my room at the med center, I could feel Jysella behind the orderlies, hovering. Laughing slightly to myself, I had to wonder if she felt this way when I did the same thing to her.
As soon as the orderlies had left, she jumped onto the bed and held me. I could feel her joy and happiness through the bond, even as I heard her start to cry. I held her and told her that everything was ok.
She lifted her head up and looked at me, the tears there in her eyes and said, "I thought I had lost you too. I really don't know what I would have done."
I touched her check. "You didn't lose me. I'm still here."
With that I pulled her head back down to kiss her, and there was a cough from the doorway.
She glanced that way, then pulled away fast, almost jumping out of the bed, as a blush crept up her cheeks.
I looked to her, saw that she had her head down, and was blushing furiously. Then I looked towards the doorway and saw my parents, and my aunt and uncle standing there.
I could feel the amusement from them all, but only Uncle Han spoke as he said with a smirk, "We're not interrupting anything are we?"