Chapter Three
Part Two

The slaves were rocked from side to side as blasts hit the ship. Four of the six guards had left the room, called to defend the ship.

Telma looked up at the warrior standing next to her. She had a pack of arsensalts on his right side, closest to one of her unsecured lekku.

The ship lurched. Britna gasped as she was jostled around. She'd been tortured a mere ten minutes ago. Her restraints were still hardening.

"Britna," Telma hissed, "Can you break free?"

Britna looked at her with wide, scared eyes. Blood trickled from a scalp wound down to her left eye. She nodded her head slowly, and then winced with pain. She slowly began to pull at the restraints as the ship bounced around.

Telma took several deep breaths. She'd known she had Force potential, but never trained. She didn't know if she possessed enough control to do what she was about to do, but she had to try. Telma slapped the warrior's leg with her right lek. He jerked. She pictured the pouch on his leg and grasped it with her mind. It jiggled. She concentrated harder, jerking it free. She sent it wildly across the cabin.

"Jeedai!" the warrior spat, grabbing her lek and pulling up. Telma bit back a scream.

Britna managed to loosen her bonds enough to scoot along the floor and snatch the arsensalts. The blorash jelly blobs were wiggling around her, trying to hold her down. She opened the bag and threw the salt on her bonds, and then passed the bag on.

The other warrior grabbed her by the back of the throat, squeezing tightly. The rest of the slaves quickly dissolved their bonds and tried to find a way to aid their comrades.

The ship rolled as the pilot avoided a laser blast, knocking everyone off his or her feet. The warrior clutching Britna lost his grip. As they rolled, the Wookiee slave managed to knock the warrior into the living wall, rendering him unconscious.

Telma's warrior held on tightly. She could feel his clawed implants trying to rip the lek from her head. She let out a scream as the warrior tore off a large chunk as he fell away from her. Blood ran down her back. She stared at Britna, who had fallen next to her.

"Telma!" Britna gasped.

"Get his…staff," she ground out in pain. Britna nodded, and then scrambled to the fallen warrior, only to find him incapacitated. During the commotion, neither female had noticed that the ship had ceased movement.

Britna looked up from her spot on the floor. A man with dark brown hair stood over the fallen warrior, an emerald green lightsaber blade casting an eerie glow over the room.

He turned his head and called over his shoulder, "They're in here."

Jaina irritably slipped on the cognition hood of the stolen vessel. Between the three squadrons, they'd been able to take out the coralskippers and secure the vessel.

Unfortunately, Jaina was the only one who knew how to pilot a living vessel effectively. She snapped for one of the soldiers standing next to her to tell everyone to hold on tight.
Jaina flew the ship towards Csilla. Her husband was in the slave hold, she could sense him. She hadn't seen him in four years and she was forced to wait until they landed. Taking the vessel had been fairly easy. The boarding party was able to take down or capture the few warriors and multiple Shapers aboard the vessel quickly, or so she had heard. She'd been forced to sit in the cockpit.

The vessel landed twenty minutes later. The docking bay was empty, except for a team of Chiss commandos waiting to board and take the prisoners to a secure facility. The shapers had been stripped of their adornments, but could not be trusted. A medical team waited to take the slaves to the nearby military hospital for examination, slave-seed extraction and treatment.

Two soldiers lowered the ramp. The slaves were escorted out, with Jacen following, a severely wounded Twi'lik in his arms. As they exited the ship, the commandos ran inside to take the prisoners. The medical team rushed forward and whisked the slaves to their transports, ignoring Jacen's request that Jag stay behind. Jacen handed the Twi'lik to a medic and waited for his sister to leave the ship.

Jaina rushed out, glaring at the medical transport as it whisked away.

"You couldn't have stalled them?" she snapped, and then looked worried, "Is he okay?"

"He's fine. I didn't tell him you were here. I doubt he even knows who I am, anyways," Jacen told her as they walked towards the door to the parking bay that held several speeders, "The medics won't let anyone near them until the slave seeds are gone."

"He wouldn't hurt me," Jaina stated as she climbed in the driver's side door of the closest military landspeeder. She swiped her ID into the ignition lock and started it. Jacen was still fastening his belt when she took off.

Jagged Fel couldn't believe where he was. Not only was he free from the Yuuzhan Vong, but he was on Csilla. He had no idea how this had happened. He had known the Chiss had entered the war; several slaves had brought in that information. What amazed him was how integrated outsiders seemed to be with the military. Right now, a human doctor was removing his slave seed, taking samples and scanning him for spores.

"Is Telma, the Twi'lik, going to make it?" he asked.

"She's in surgery now," the doctor replied, "Friend of yours?"

"Yes."

Jag could hear arguing outside his door. He could not distinguish the words, but he could tell it was a female and two males. The female sounded particularly agitated.

The doctor sighed as he glanced at his beeping comm. He excused himself and exited the room.

Jag rubbed his hand over the back of his neck where the slave seed had been implanted. A bacta patch was covering the spot. He was underweight and needed a haircut. He'd been able to keep his hair from growing too long by cutting it with a living harvesting knife, but it hadn't done a neat job. He wanted a shower.

He wanted to find out what had happened to his wife and children.

The door opened. The doctor stepped back inside, "Normally I strongly advise against any visitations so soon after rescue but I've been ordered to allow it."

The doctor stepped back out the room. A brown-haired blur raced in, knocking the doctor out of the room. The door closed behind her, leaving the two alone.

Jaina stopped short of the table Jag sat on. Her left hand was over her mouth as her hand reached attentively out to him.

"J-Jag?" she said, voice shaking.

He nodded and slid off the table. He grabbed her hand, clasping it in his own and pulled her to him. Both clung to each other; relief, joy, sadness, love, elation radiating off each other. Shoulders shook with sobs. Tears soaked shirts. Jaina looked up to face Jag, hands tracing his face and neck, as if she was trying to make sure he was real. His lips descended upon hers, capturing her with slow, passionate kiss.

The landspeeder pulled up to the Fel estate. After a jubilant reunion with his father, Jag had insisted on going straight home to see his two children. Soontir, Jacen, Jaina and Jag climbed into Soontir's landspeeder and traveled to the estate.

Jaina had insisted on entering first. She needed to prepare Davin and Ani. She squeezed Jag's hand before slipping out of the speeder and taking the garage exit to the house. Jag climbed out, eyes darting around the hanger/garage. Everything looked as it had years ago.
Jag glanced at Jacen nervously. He'd only just met his brother-in-law. Jag had to wonder what horrors Jacen had endured under the Yuuzhan Vong captivity and how he escaped. At the moment, however, he didn't have time to dwell on such thoughts. He was concerned about what his children would think. Would Davin remember him? Was he angry? Would Ani be receptive to him or treat him like the stranger he was?

"Relax," Jacen said quietly.

Jag nodded absently, but couldn't relax. He'd been waiting for this moment for years. He'd feared this moment for years.

Three adult figures raced out of the house and towards Jag. Syal made it first, throwing her arms around her lost son, tears of joy streaming down her careworn face. No sooner had Syal slightly loosened her grip did Wynssa and Cem embrace their brother.

Cem was the first to back away. He said, "Jaina said to tell you to come inside."

Jag nodded as an onslaught of nerves hit him. Syal, sensing her son's anxiety, reached out and squeezed his hand. He smiled gratefully, took a deep breath and walked toward the house.

Davin was bouncing up and down on the couch in the den. His daddy was back! He could hardly contain his excitement. His mom had said that his dad would be coming in the room any minute now.

Ani was seated next to Jaina, fidgeting. She was confused. She knew who her father was, of course. He was Jagged Fel. He was a pilot. She didn't know him, though. She'd never known him. She was scared of what he would be like. She was scared he wouldn't like her. She was scared she wouldn't like him, which would make her mommy sad.

"Ani, it'll be okay," Jaina said softly, caressing her hair. She stopped and looked toward the doorway. Jag entered the room slowly, not taking his eyes off Davin and Ani. Upon seeing him, Davin jumped off the couch and tackled his father. Jag knelt down to capture the boy before he hit his legs. Davin and Jag clung to each other tightly. When Jag finally loosened his hold enough to stare at him son, Davin spoke.

"Daddy, I took care of Mommy and Ani while you were gone."

"I'm proud of you, Davin," Jag said with a thick voice. Davin wriggled down from Jag's grasp, took his hand and pulled him to the couch.

Davin looked at his sister and said, "Ani, this is our daddy. Remember? Uncle Cem told us all about him."

Ani gave Davin and Jaina a look of uncertainty that broke both parents' hearts. Davin nodded to his sister encouragingly.

Jag knelt down in front of his daughter. Her brown hair was curly, like his mother's. She had pale green eyes and Jaina's face. She was beautiful.

"Hello, Ani," he said gently, waiting for her to make the first move.

Ani studied him, and then slowly slid of the couch. She studied Jag for a few moments, smiled and then hugged him saying. "You feel like Davin said you would."

Later that night, Jag sat on the bed in Jaina's- his and Jaina's- room. Davin was seated next to him, demonstrating the proper method to draw a Clawcraft. Ani was cuddle up against his other side, eyes half-open.

Jaina walked in the room and smiled at the sight. It was a picture she'd only dreamed of.
"Okay, kids, it's time for bed," she said, drawing groans.

"Will Daddy be here tomorrow?" Davin asked.

"Yes, of course," Jaina answered, "Now come on. You have school tomorrow, Davin."

Davin pouted as he slid off the bed, "Do I have to go?"

"Yes, your father has to go into work with me tomorrow. Then you can spend the whole evening with him," Jaina told him while Jag slid off the bed, carrying an almost sleeping Ani.

"Okay," Davin mumbled. He stalked into his room and prepared for bed with little fuss. Jaina had to awake Ani and assist her throughout the process. Finally, both children were settled in their beds. Ani had already fallen back asleep.

As Jag walked away from Davin's bed, the young boy snatched his hand.

"Daddy?"

"Yes, Davin?"

"I'm glad your home."

"Me too son, me too."

The hour was late. Moonlight reflected off the snowy landscape. Jacen Solo stared out the window into the night, as he usually did. He couldn't remember what it felt like to sleep an entire night.

He turned his head as he heard a noise. His brother –in-law entered the room. His eyes expressed the surprise that Jacen did not feel.

"It never goes away," Jacen said, knowing why the other man was here.

Jag nodded, "I hope Telma made it. I was told she was rushed into surgery, and then dumped in a bacta tank."

"A friend?"

"She was there almost as long as I was," Jag explained, "We worked together to help the others."

Jacen nodded, "I'm sure she'll be okay."

They lapsed in silence, staring at the landscape. A lone bird flew over the snowy landscape, casting a brief shadow on the otherwise perfect ground.

"How did you do it?" Jag asked suddenly, "How did you manage to integrate yourself back into normal life?"

"I never managed to, completely," Jacen responded, "Ani actually helped me get things back on track though."

"She did?" Jag asked, curious.

Jacen nodded, "She was only a year old but she clung to me. I suppose she brought light in the dark."

"It's remarkable," Jag mused, "She's nothing and everything like I imagined. With Davin, I had a general idea, but Ani was a complete mystery. I wasn't even sure if that was her name."

"Jaina told me she didn't want to change it," Jacen responded.

"We weren't completely sure," Jag explained. He ran a hand over the back of his neck. He had removed the bandage a couple hours earlier. One more scar wouldn't make much difference. Jag noticed various scars on Jacen's face and forearms.

"Tomorrow you'll undergo a debriefing and psychological analysis. The doctors will tell you ways to recover from post-traumatic stress. They'll want you to explain what you went through. You can't. No one can. What the Yuuzhan Vong do to captives isn't in the books. There's no way to understand it. I spent years with the Yuuzhan Vong, learning their culture. I still do not understand every aspect. The only person who truly understands the Yuuzhan Vong is Tahiri Veila," Jacen stated, "And even she can't explain enough to stop the questions. Everyone wants to know about it but they shouldn't. It's too horrific to press on others."

Jag did not respond. He didn't need to. He understood what Jacen was telling him. He never believed that he would recover from his captivity.

Did anyone really recover from captivity?
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