Tahiri's eyes snapped open.
She blinked at the ceiling trying to focus on where she was, not where the
vision had put her. Ever since 'talking' with Anakin, she'd been having
nightmares about what might happen. She heaved a sigh and sat up. 'Better that
he had never shown me that. I have an odd feeling that I saw more than he
originally did though.' She thought as she made her self-presentable.
As she clipped her saber to
her belt, the door to her quarters opened. Leia stood there watching her finish
dressing.
Tahiri turned. "You could
have commed me."
"I wanted to talk to
you." Leia stated as she crossed the room. She held a small object in her
hand. A brief pained look came to her face. "This used to be Anakin's
room, but that isn't what I've come to say."
She held out the object and
thumbed it on. With a few quick inputs the scrambled picture focused. It was a
holo of the Solo family. One she hadn't seen since the day Anakin shut it off
and took it when he left the Academy. It had changed some since then. Recently
it appeared. He had added Ben to the large group of faces. Tahiri looked to
Leia. "You brought this because?" She half questioned.
"Because of this."
She manipulated another button and the group holo changed. It was Anakin and
her, it looked as if they were skydiving. Tahiri knew better. He had pieced
this one together from a memory. In this case, it was when they were holding
hands using the force to slow their decent in a turbo shaft. She looked to Leia
totally speechless. "That's not all." Leia tapped the button again.
The group holo returned. This time Tahiri's face was among the bunch. Not as it
had been before her captivity, but at it was now, with the domain scar
prominent on her forehead. The smile on her lips as bright as Tatooine at high
noon. Leia put the puzzle cube into Tahiri's hand. "This truly belongs to
you."
"I couldn't possibly keep
it. It-" she started as she tried to hand it back. When Leia didn't take
it she set it on the dressing table.
"Tahiri, you are family
in all but name." She reached into a her pocket. "He would have made
it official if he'd made it back. I just wanted you to know that even though
that will never happen, you will always have a place with us." She pulled
her hand back out, in it was a ring. "He gave this to Luke before you all
left, Luke gave it to me before we left Hapes. I give it to you now to
reiterate what I just said, you are my daughter-in-law even though it can never
be made official."
Tahiri felt Leia close her
shocked fingers around the thick metal band. She looked up. There were tears in
both their eyes. They wrapped each other with a fierce hug and cried. The other
her cringed back in disgust. This was weakness. A warrior did not cry. 'This
woman deserves to die for making me cry.' Tahiri's spine stiffened at the
thought. She pulled away and flung her saber handle at the door. "You had
better go." She gritted out.
"What's wrong?"
A dry laugh came from her
lips. "I lied to the psyche droids. The conditioning hasn't gone away,
it's just given me a second personality that I sometimes have trouble keeping
in check. And right now it has a death mark on you."
"Let it try. Tahiri you
are too strong for that to happen. Why are you so worried about it?"
The blonde heaved a sigh and
turned to gray-streaked brown haired woman. "Anakin came to me in a
dream." She sat hard on her bunk. Leia sat next to her. "He showed me
the reason why he came to rescue me in the first place. The only thing is that
it did not stop where his had. I now have a nightmare whenever I sleep in which
I am killing the last Jedi in existence." She paused for a breath and Leia
cut in.
"Well it could be assumed
that it may have happened..."
Tahiri placed a hand over
Leia's mouth to silence her next words. "You don't understand quite yet.
The thought that I am killing the last of the Jedi doesn't really bother
me." Leia's eyes widened at this statement. "It's the fact that the
person I am fighting is Ben."
She lowered her hand and Leia
started in. "How can you be so sure of the identity of the person? Most
visions are not that precise."
"It's the eyes. There are
only two others with those ice-blue eyes. One's dead and the other way to old
to be the young man in the vision." Her hands slapped to her thighs as she
stood. "I just do not trust myself, what if I turn?"
"You won't." Leia
said with conviction. She rose and put her arm around the girl's shoulder.
"If you ever doubt that, all you will have to do is look at that,"
She pointed at the laser puzzle, "and remember we're here for you."
Her statement was punctuated
by the sound of the comm. crackling. "Better get up here sweetheart, were
going to be coming out of hyperspace soon."
"Be there soon fly
boy." With that they left the room.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
If only I could be so lucky.
But life is a cruel taskmaster, just when things start to look up he punches
you in the gut. Then he sits back and sees how long it takes you to catch your
breath. She thought to herself as she strapped herself in. Well here we are,
about an hour out of Bakura and I still haven't caught mine.
She felt the ship shudder with
reversion to real space and for a moment so did she. Her eyes became unfocused,
staring at the droid across form her with contempt. In a chillingly sweet tone
she stated simply in Yuuzhan Vong, "Your days are numbered,
abomination. "
C-3PO looked at Tahiri.
"Mistress Tahiri? That certainly doesn't sound like you."
Leia came in before Tahiri
could answer though. "3PO get back to the cargo bay. Now." She said
when it looked as if he were going to question her. With his exit Tahiri
visibly changed, the tenseness went out of her and her eyes reverted to normal.
Leia looked at her. "What was that all about?"
Tahiri just looked at her with
pain in her eyes. "I . . . just lock me in my room. I can't do this any
more." She stressed gesturing absently with one hand around her while
rising. "I can not be trusted. I'm too close to the edge."
Leia's eyebrows drew together
as she frowned deeply. "But.."
"NO! You don't
understand. I don't think there is anyone that could; this has nothing to do
with Anakin. Well mostly nothing to do with him. It's more all me. Those
sessions in the tank. They did more to me than anyone really knows. If just
sitting here with 3-PO brings that out of me, then I really do not need to be
left where I may be able to do harm. Just do it and don't look back." Her
speech over she practically ran back to her bunk. Leia followed her silently.
"Tahiri."
"Do it and GO!" The
teen yelled at her.
Hearing the door hiss shut ant
the sound of the electronic lock cycling, she put her face in the pillow and
cried. Truly cried for the first time since before Anakin died. She cried so
long and hard that she fell into an exhausted slumber without realizing it.
