Chapter 17

Zaffi had been stationed on Almania for the last several months. She had thought about taking

on a padawan before leaving Coruscant but just didn't feel the right connection. Unfortunately,

before she could continue her search, the epidemic had begun to break out on Almania.

She volunteered immediately to join a group of healers and scientists to go to the planet. No

cure for the disease had been established. In fact, it was so new and so little was known about

it, it had yet to be given a scientific name.

However the locals had already came up with a name when Zafii and her counterparts arrived.

They referred to it as the [i]yeenzo[/i] in their native tongue. It's translation [i]the painful death[/

i].

As a Jedi Knight and a peacekeeper, Zafii's role was simple: Comfort the dying and console the

living. This was her specialty if she ever had one. To simply be with people, to keep them in a

state of calm and peace. It all came very naturally to her.

The illness was an airborne pathogen. Because of this, anyone who was not infected had

to wear breathing apparatuses at all times when he was not in a controlled environment.

The disease itself was very painful to watch someone go through, even more so to experience.

Large boils accumulated on the skin all over the patient's body. They itched and burned

tremendously but to scratch the infected area was almost instant death. If the sores were to

break open, after the initial puss fell from the wound, the blood flow was too hard to stop.

Families watched as loved ones perished, day after day and Zafii was witness to it all. While

she cared for every single person she talked with, she was ashamed to admit that she was

getting used to the misery that surrounded her.

Traffic was unusually heavy. Kyn had made a considerable amount in tips. He was currently

chauffeuring two shady looking individuals from one of the many corporate buildings to another.

One was a human male; tall and lanky with scraggy grey hair. The other was a Twi'lek with

green skin. They were clearly rich; both were wearing expensive clothes. Kyn could hear them

talking about some major contraband deal. It was a multi-million credit deal.

Kyn had an idea. He missed Zafii. He wanted to hate her, but he couldn't. He needed to put

himself in danger without planning a way to escape. He knew it was stupid. He knew it was

selfish. He did not care. He was a lowly hover cab driver, for Sith's sake! He didn't have an

honorable, good job like Cole. He wasn't a promising student like Kyra. He was Kyn, the kriffing

taxi driver!

"Driver, change of plans. Take us to the docking bay on Penn Street. I need bay number 4562,"

the Twi'lek said.

"Yes, sir," Kyn responded. He changed lanes and drove off to the docking bay. It only took

fifteen minutes to arrive. The human handed him a large commission.

"Hey, kid," the human said.

"Yes, sir?"

"Don't think I didn't notice you listening to our conversation. You want to make some quick

credits?"

"I suppose."

"Good. Come on."

Kyn ignored the voice in his head telling him to turn back. He turned off his cab, set it to

autopilot so it would return to the garage and followed the two criminals to their shuttle.

Zafii was in an established clean room, taking a break from her counseling. She was trying

her hardest to meditate but she was continuously interrupted by mental pain and anguish.

She couldn't explain it. She was used to the misery that surrounded her on Almania.

[i]I need your help."[/i]

Zafii's eyes shot open. She looked around but no one was in her small, private bedroom with

her.

[i] "Zafii, I need your help." [/i]

"Who is this?" Zafii said through the Force.

[i] "Zafii, can you hear me? I've prayed to the Gods that somehow you would hear me." [/i]

"Kyra? I can hear you, Kyra."

[i] "Zafii…"[/i]

His shirt was torn. The sleeves were gone. A large sweat stain covered its back. His hair and

face were dirty. The knees were ripped from his pants. Kyn had never worked so hard in his life.

As soon as the criminals' shuttle had arrived on their large freighter, the [i]Next Chance[/i], they

had put Kyn to work organizing the shipment of spice and weaponry.

A loud clang ran through the ship and Kyn was knocked off his feet. He landed on the floor,

banging his head on the wall. [i]Well that should get Zafii's attention,[/i] he thought. He pushed

himself upright and glanced at the other man in the storage hold.

"You alright?" he called.

The man glared at him and grunted. Kyn shrugged and stood up. He moved to continue working

when emergency klaxons filled the air. A voice over the intercom called for those aboard to take

evasive action.

They were under attack.

Zafii landed her starfighter outside of the apartment building she last knew the Fuller's to live at.

"Stay here R7." She said.

Zafii took the lift up to the Fuller's apartment and buzzed herself in to make her arrival known.

"Thank the Gods!" Rayna exclaimed. "Tyon, it worked!"

"What's going on?" Zafii said. "Where is Kyra?"

Kyra came running down the hallway and nearly knocked Zafii over with a thunderous hug.

They separated and looked into each other's eyes. Kyra was taller, much taller than she had

been two years prior. She was now a young lady.

"I can feel the Force within you. I heard you halfway across the galaxy." Zafii said.

"I've been calling for you for days. Kyn has gone missing!" Kyra explained.

"The Jedi won't help us. They say he hasn't been missing long enough to be considered a

missing person and the fact that he is legally an adult." Tyon added.

Zafii stepped into their apartment and tried to take everything in. She had left Almania in a rush

with hardly any explanation to her team where she was going. Now she was back on Coruscant

and had no idea how she would ever explain this to the Council.

"Perhaps he is not in trouble?" Zafii pointed out.

"This isn't like him. He never came home. He lives on his own now and Cole was visiting him."

Rayna began to explain. "I don't know what to think but Kyra says she knows he's in trouble."

"Kyra?" Zafii said her name, looking at her.

"I can feel it," Kyra said. "He's my brother and I know he's in trouble."

"I don't understand though," Zafii said. "The bond between us. If he were in trouble…"

Rayna shook her head, "Can't you see? It's not a bond with Kyn. It's Kyra. Every single time

you showed up to save Kyn he was not alone. Kyra was always with him! Kyra does have the

Force and I've always known that. The Jedi wanted her but we refused them twelve years ago.

There is no bond with Kyn. There is a Force Bond apparently between you and Kyra though.

I'm not a Jedi, you can figure that out later I suppose. Can you help us?"

Zafii didn't know what to say. All this time she had shunned Kyn and his family because of a

bond they believed existed. Now that she knew the bond was with Kyra, it all seemed rather

silly. Perhaps she was truly afraid that her destiny was to be romantically involved with Kyn,

which would cost her, her spot in the Jedi Order.

"I need a lead," Zafii stated. "Where do we know for sure he was last at?"

"He works for [i]Big Lohul's Air Taxi[/i]." Tyon said. "You have to call in to be picked up from

their service."

Zafii nodded and looked at Kyra, "Reach out and feel the Force. Go ahead… close your eyes."

Kyra did as she was told.

"Do you feel him? Is he still alive?" Zafii asked.

"I…" Kyra's eyes shot open and she looked at her parents. "I hope so…"

Kyn found himself crouching in a doorway, clutching a blaster to his chest. They were being

boarded. He didn't know if it was a Republican ship or other criminals. He honestly did not care.

Kyn pressed himself against the frame of the doorway. He could hear metal scraping against

metal as the boarding clamps locked into place. He didn't want to kill anyone, but he knew that

he'd shoot if he had to.

Blaster shots rang through the air. Kyn gripped his blaster tightly, waiting for the fight to come

his way.

The freighter shook. Kyn gripped the doorframe to keep himself upright. He could hear shouts

and screams of the others on the ship.

Suddenly, a body landed on the floor in front of him. It was the Twi'lek criminal he'd see days

before with a smoking hole in his chest.

Kyn decided it was time to run. He turned and dashed to the back of the ship. In most vehicles,

Kyn knew that's where the escape pods were located. Kyn didn't know what part of the

he was in, but it had to be better than here.

"Where do you think you're going, runt?" the human's voice called. Kyn ignored him and kept

running. The man shoved a repulsor cart toward Kyn. It slammed into the back of his knees and

sent him to the floor.

"Where the hell do you think you are going? You brought these people here!" the man snapped

as he marched over to Kyn. He kicked him in the back, causing Kyn to groan in pain. The man

grinned and kicked him again.

"I didn't lead anyone here," Kyn ground out as he rolled away from the man.

The man lunged for him and grabbed his shirt. He pulled him closer and then punched him. Kyn

flinched and swung one arm around to dislodge the man from his shirt.

"You're pathetic," the man ground out. "You're going back to steal my Ryll!"

"I don't want your spice!" Kyn spat as he scampered away from the man. He tried to grab his

blaster, but it was gone.

The man pulled out a knife and threw it at Kyn. Kyn went to jump out of the way, but the ship

rocked. The sound of screeching metal filled the arm. Kyn and the man were thrown to the

ground. Kyn rolled to his feet quickly and ran to the escape pods.

Again the ship rocked and Kyn was thrown off balance. He found a stray blaster and picked it

up.

"Pirates!" Kyn spat, looking at the viewport.

Suddenly blaster bolts were being fired at him from behind. Kyn took over behind a doorway,

his blaster held high waiting for another opportunity to shoot. Blaster bolts flew through the

open space of the doorway and he gulped. She wasn't coming. He wasn't the key, he realized

that now. He now knew he would die on this ship, never seeing Zafii again.

Suddenly the blaster bolts began coming from the other direction, back through the doorway

Kyn was hiding behind. His head became fuzzy, knowing the end was near now. They had him

surrounded.

He could hear groans coming from the original direction. His opponents had been hit with

blaster bolt. His eyes regained focus and he saw a green light dancing in the air coming closer

to him, deflecting each bolt with amazing precision.

There she was, Zafii. She had come after all. She took cover on the opposite side of the

doorway, looking at him.

"I've never told anyone this," Zafii said, using the Force to throw things at the remaining men

shooting at them. "But I think you are a total idiot!"

Kyn didn't respond but used this opportunity to get a couple of shots in of his own.

"And I've never said I love you before." Kyn said, firing away.

"Again," Zafii said deflected bolts. "You truly are an idiot."

Zafii pointed to an opening past the doorway and Kyn took it, walking back towards the action instead of retreating. He now hid behind a stack of cargo. Zafii soon joined him and now

they were right next to each other. She held up her lightsaber and without even looking at the

blaster bolts was able to redirect them at the original shooter.

"You're amazing," Kyn said. "I knew you'd come for me. I knew this would work."

Kyn reached and cupped the back of her head and drew her near. Blaster bolts were flying

past their cover yet he still found the time to passionately kiss her. It was what he had been

dreaming about for three years. Initially Zafii kissed back, angrily. There was a sense of

closure in the way her lips responded to his and then she broke away.

"I came for you because of Kyra. The Force bond is with her, not you; you… arrogant little boy!"

Kyn was shocked by her words and even more so when he saw her stand up and ignoring her

cover. He could tell by the sounds coming from down the corridor that she was mowing them

down.

Once more the ship rocked and the ceiling above them began to breach.

"This ship is going to tear itself apart," Kyn yelled.

"Over there, EV suits. Get one on!" Zafii commanded.

Zafii covered Kyn by deflecting several pirate blaster bolts. Kyn fumbled with the EV suit but

after a minute or so he was finally able to get it on.

"Now fly boy, your turn to cover me!" Zafii yelled.

Kyn jumped into the middle of the corridor wearing his EV suit and began to shoot at the pirates

like a mad man. No one was going to hurt Zafii!

"I got them!" Kyn said, enthusiastically.

"Way to go," Zafii shot back sarcastically.

She was now wearing an EV suit as well. If the ship did start to tear into pieces before they

could make it to an escape pod, they would at least be able to breathe.

"We have to get out of here now. Any planet or moon will do." Zafii instructed. "Do you know

where the escape pods are?"

"This way," Kyn pointed.

Before he could start leading the way the ship did what it had been threatening to do for the last

several minutes. The roof tore off and flew into space and Kyn was sucked out into it.

"Kyn!" Zafii's yelled was muffled by the EV.

The bottom of the ship then ripped apart right at her feet, leaving her standing on the edge of a

ship and outer space. The only thing keeping her glued to this spot was the Force.

Zafii had not realized it how close they were to a small planet when she had docked on the

ship. Kyn was not only floating in space, he was being sucked by the planet's gravitational pull

towards a very hot and deadly atmosphere.

The ship itself was now on a collision course with the planet as well. The motors were now

dead and the gravity would take everything it could envelope.

Planting her feet solidly, Zafii closed her eyes and with her right hand made a thrusting motion

towards the remaining part of the ship. With her left hand she made a cupping motion and

flexed her arm with every fiber of strength she owned.

Simultaneously she was Force pushing the ship away from the gravitational pull of the planet

and Force pulling Kyn back to her.

How could this feat be accomplished? Maybe one or the other by the most powerful of Jedi but

not both at the same time.

Kyn was helplessly reaching out towards Zafii as he fell to certain death. His body jerked in free

fall and he thought his back was broken. He was now miraculously being pulled away from the

planet and to a ship that was moving away from him.

"A little help here," Zafii muttered. "If anyone is listening."

She continued to Force pull and Force push simultaneously. She could feel Kyn slipping

from her grasps. It was too much. She had to let go of one and concentrate on the other.

A decision was made without even thinking about it. She let go of her control of the ship and

turned and made a pulling motion with both of her arms, reaching out with everything she had to

pull Kyn towards her.

It was as if he was shot out of a rocket, sent hurling through free space. He tackled Zafii on

accident and even though the slope of the ship was going against them, they flew up the slope

from the momentum. Kyn was on top of Zafii, they were lying on the floor of the burning ship.

"I love you." Kyn said, out of breath.

"Get us to an escape pod. The ship is going to crash into the planet." Zafii said weakly.

Kyn stood up and pulled Zafii to her feet. Her body was limp and Kyn was forced to carry her

dead weight. Finally they made it to the escape pod and closed the blast door.

"Where are we going?" Kyn asked. "Zafii?"

She weakly opened her eyes. "Anywhere… just… do it now. Call the Jedi Council once we

land."

With that, Zafii fell over onto the small, cramped floor of the escape pod and they were

jettisoned out into space.