Beyond - Legends Fragile - An Anakin and Tahiri Story Repost Completed

Can't wait to see how you wrap this story up.

 

MOREEEEEEEEE!!!!!

*sigh* I am so in love with this. Like literally...I have to fight the urge to go back and re-read the whole thing like once a week because I love it so much.

Love the action (always love Anakin doing his awesome thing!) and the backpack hit me right in the heart!! And then you had Leia come to the rescue in a way that is SOOOOOO her...I just love it. Also, love the little bonding moment with Jaina and Tahiri!!! Yay big sisters!!

The Jacen/Tahiri thing was good. I was hoping she would just run him through....but I know that's not realistic. I like your reason for why he hated her and continued to hate her. It made total sense to me...especially the part about him subconsciously thinking they would all stay together like magic (that's like literally my husband's mindset too about his siblings!) and I LOVED the Luke/Anakin talk. It was perfect. Can they just hug and make up?

I'm terrified how you're going to end this. If Anakin or Tahiri dies....I don't know what I'm going to do with myself. If Jacen dies, you will officially be my favorite person. If Luke or any of the Wraiths die....I'm not sure how I'll feel.

MORE! MORE! MORE MORE MORE!!!!!

Irish

 

Happy Saturday Kids!

Positng in a few, thanks for the continued reading and kind words!

 

Chapter 26​

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First Things First​

Anakin watched as Hal and Tron made their way through the roughly two hundred beings gathered in the Shamed Ones’ makeshift meeting hall. It was already a tight squeeze; the two were turning their bodies sideways to shoulder their way through the crowd, to make their way back to where the team was gathered near the front of the room.

When Hal reached Anakin’s side he bowed slightly, still more reverentially then Anakin was comfortable with, but the two had finally stopped with the ‘domain’ part of his name every time they greeted him or tried to get his attention. They’d also refrained from calling him the Jeedai Who Stood With Vua Rapuung for over a day now, though Anakin suspected it had less to do with Hal and Tron lightening up and more to do with the fact that Anakin could answer before they got to the ‘stood with’ part of the salutation.

Their Basic had also gotten markedly better.

Hal straightened from his bow quickly and met Anakin’s gaze, then launched quickly into his report.

“We were able to find another hundred crèche brothers. They are bringing more of our own here now. They are also looking for the Prophet, to bring him to hear your mate. They believe it will take close to your standard hour. Can Tahiri Veila wait that long before she begins to speak?”

Anakin grimaced, then looked over at his wife, who was grimacing too.

Tahiri was being partly shielded by the rest of the team, shielded from the ever growing crowd of Yuuzhan Vong, hidden from view while Face put the finishing touches on her makeup. The three Domain Kwaad ‘scars’ Face was adhering to her forehead weren’t exactly like the ones Tahiri had had removed shortly after Will’s birth, but they were close enough that none of the Yuuzhan Vong she was about to show them to would know the difference. That was all that mattered.

Tahiri had heard Hal’s comment about the ‘Prophet’.

“No,” Anakin finally told Hal, “we need to start sooner. We’ll have to fill your Prophet in on what’s happening later.”

Anakin and Tahiri had originally hoped they’d be able to pull this all off while avoiding the ‘Prophet’ all together, though they’d both known it was a long shot; a really, really long shot. Plan ‘B’ had been for Tahiri to get her speech out and they could get moving way before the ‘Prophet’ had actually gotten himself here.

Now it looked like they may wind up having to rely on plan ‘C’.

Plan ‘C’ was to tell Mara that the ‘Prophet’ was Nom Anor and let her have her way with him. As usual, they’d use the old ‘according to Tahiri’s sources’ excuse to explain how they knew or suspected that Nom Anor was the ‘Prophet’ and let the chips fall where they may. If Luke didn’t step in and try to temper Mara’s temper, she just might be able to dispatch the ‘Prophet’ for them and he would cease to be an issue. If not, Anakin hoped that Mara stayed true to form and kept an eye on him—and jumped really fast if Nom Anor did anything even slightly suspicious.

Turning back to Hal, Anakin said, “I’m going to fill the team in and we’ll get started,” then signaled to everyone that he needed to brief them. When they were all together he knelt down and used a stick he’d picked up to draw a rough circle in the dirt, indicating the basic layout of the Sacred Precinct and where the various targets were located; as he did, he started explaining the plan.

“Okay, our time is up. The GA is going to start their initial attack in space in about four hours. If they’re successful, that gives us about six hours to get to the Sacred Precinct, so we don’t have a lot of wiggle room. Hal has just informed me that more Shamed Ones are on the way, but we can’t wait for them. Tahiri is going to have to start now and anyone who isn’t here is going to have to get the story from their friends as we make our way in. If we’re lucky, the information will translate well and the new comers will attack the right people…”

“If we’re lucky?” Jaina asked, sounding a little horrified.

Anakin laughed gently, and put a hand on her arm. “I’m kidding Jaina, the information will translate. All the Shamed Ones joining us will know who to fight.”

Satisfied that his sister was satisfied, Anakin turned back to the group, “I’ve also just been told that the Prophet is on his way here now.”

“Who’s the Prophet?” Jaina asked, her horror turning to confusion.

“A Shamed One,” Anakin explained, “recently shamed, a self-appointed leader who has done a lot to see that the Jeedai heresy story has spread throughout Yuuzhan’tar.”

“So he’s on our side?” Jaina now sounded relieved, and Anakin almost hated to burst her bubble, especially since he knew that her next expression was going to be ‘incredulous’.

If Mara didn’t beat her to it.

“He’d like us to believe that, but we think he’s actually Nom Anor, which means…”

“Nom Anor?” Mara asked, incredulous.

Anakin turned to his aunt and smiled. “Exactly, which is why we can only imagine that his motives are self-serving, or that he’s a plant put in place by the higher-ups. Either way, not to be trusted, which is why Tahiri needs to go on now, I’d like to get this show going before he gets here. If we can keep him somewhat isolated, maybe we can keep him from informing anyone else of what we’re trying to do.”

Anakin looked from his aunt to his sister, made sure they were both mollified, and wondered at his good fortune that his brother and uncle had remained quiet, then took a quick breath and went on.

“Since we've had to modify our plan of attack anyway because of the World Brain issue, I’ve decided to totally restructure it; we’re breaking up into three teams instead of two. Team one is going to be Jacen, Tahiri, Huane and a group of Shamed Ones. They are going to take a route that leads them from here to the World Brain in a circular path.”

Anakin drew a line from the point in the dirt that indicated where they currently were, to the Well of the World Brain, what had once been the New Republic Senate Building.

Looking up at his wife and brother he instructed, “Use every weapon you have. Destroy. Obliterate. Annihilate. Demolish. Don’t be afraid to throw everything you brought with you and anything you can get your hands on. If something moves along this path; torch it, shoot it, crush it, tear it down.”

Anakin knew that Tahiri would have no problem with his orders; his wife had never had an issue with destruction if she could justify the necessity. And here, she would have no problem justifying it; in Tahiri’s mind ending the war was the only way to ensure Will’s safety, and succeeding on this mission was the only way of ending this war. Jacen was the one Anakin was worried about, but, as with the shifting in the colors that surrounded Jacen, and with his behavior on this trip so far, with what he’d done to get Tahiri alone and the talk they’d had… clearly there were changes taking place within Jacen, and Anakin had to believe, was choosing to believe that Jacen was making choices that were for the good of the mission, were for the good of their family. Because of all of those things, Anakin was also choosing to believe that he was not making a mistake in trusting Jacen to keep Tahiri safe. And really, it was the only choice he had.

“Now,” Anakin continued, “the only way to get in to the World Brain is the front entrance of the Senate Building. All of the other entrances to the building have been cut off by Vongformed life. There is a very real possibility that you guys may not make it inside to deliver Huane’s poison. But, you may be able to create enough of a diversion that Team Two will still be able to scale the Citadel to wire the ship without being seen or stopped.”

Anakin looked around at all the faces, made sure that everyone was with him and then kept going.

“Okay, Team Two is Luke, Face, Kell, Tron and me. We’ll go in the opposite direction from Team One.” He made another line, again rounded, that ended at the back of the Citadel. “We’ll have all the same weapons, plus the explosives for the escape ship, and our own group of Shamed Ones, but we won’t be making quite as much noise”

Kell raised his hand and when Anakin nodded to him he asked, “Can I go with Team One? It sounds like they’re going to have more fun.”

Anakin shook his head as several in the group chuckled, then looked down at his drawing in the dirt and made a third line, this one straight from the location they were at to the Sacred Precinct.

“Mara, you and Jaina will lead Team Three. You’ll be taking Hal, and the majority of the Shamed Ones. We’ll make a general announcement to the crowd to follow you, then we’ll hand pick individuals to go with the smaller teams and tell them quietly that they’ll be with us. This should keep teams One and Two safe and our missions from being widely known by all the other Shamed Ones.”

“Which means Non Anor won’t be able to tell anyone where you are or what you’re actually doing because the Shamed Ones with us won’t have heard what you pulled your teams away for,” Jaina concluded.

“That’s what I’m hoping,” Anakin sighed. “Of course with groups this big, there’s always room for mistakes, and we can’t exactly pat them all down for villips and stuff. We have to trust them. And, I may just be being paranoid. The Prophet may not be Nom Anor… or may not show up,” Anakin looked back to Mara, “but if he does, and if he so much as sneezes…”

“I’ll do what I think is best,” Mara finished for him.

“Mara…” Luke gave his wife a warning look and Anakin wanted to laugh at the look she gave him back.

“I can take care of the situation without getting angry,” Mara told Luke, with utter calm, though Anakin suspected she felt anything but calm. Given what she’d been subjected to at the hands of Nom Anor, what she’d nearly lost, he could hardly blame her.

“Mara knows what to do,” Anakin soothed, then he turned back to face his aunt. “Just keep your group focused on the middle ground. You’re going to be marching up the center while the other teams are coming up the flanks, and the longer we can keep Nom Anor in the dark… the happier I’ll be. He’s going to know the rest of us are here somewhere, but I’d like him to not know exactly what it is we’re actually doing.”

“Understood.”

“Alright, any last minute comments before I throw my wife to the vonskyrs?”

“Anakin…” Tahiri gave him a look that made Anakin feel even more guilty than he was already feeling. Somehow, in trying to avoid using her as bait, he’d ended up doing that very thing, numerous times, it felt like, on this trip, and he hated himself for it.

“Anyone else having anything to say?”

When the rest of the team just shook their heads, Anakin nodded his own. “Alright. Give us a minute and then we’ll get started.” He grabbed Tahiri’s hand and pulled her up, then pulled her aside as everyone else stepped away and allowed the couple a moment alone.

Anakin wrapped his arms around Tahiri, laying his cheek on her head for a second before pulling back. “You sure you’re ready for this?”

Tahiri looked up and smiled sweetly. “To incite a riot and instigate what promises to be the biggest, baddest battle in this war for galactic domination?”

Anakin closed his eyes and blew out a resigned breath. “I’m glad to see you’re not trying to downplay the situation.”

“Me? Never.”

“I’m serious.”

“Anakin, we've been over this a dozen times, and we don’t really have a choice, given that we’re already here. It’s not like I can back out and catch a ride home at this point.”

“I could shove you into a bush somewhere and come back for you when this is over.”

Tahiri laughed lightly. “Yeah, I’d like to see you try. Especially since a few dozen Yuuzhan Vong are already pointing at the freakish looking yellow haired infidel. I think I’ve probably already been recognized, and if not, they’ll figure it out as soon as I utter the first words in their language. So, sorry, but I’m not going anywhere, hero boy. You’re stuck with me.”

Anakin pressed his lips to her forehead then whispered, “Don’t listen to them, you’re not that freakish looking.”

“Ah, that’s the most romantic thing you've said to me in ages.”

Anakin leaned further down and rested his head on her shoulder and pressed his lips lightly against her neck before saying, “I told you I can be romantic.”

Tahiri giggled softly. “I don’t give you enough credit.”

“You really don’t. And if we manage to survive today, I will take you on that honeymoon I’ve always promised you.”

“Really?”

“Really really. “

“Like a vacation type honeymoon?”

“Yeah, to a hotel.”

“With room service?”

“And a beach, and even babysitting.”

“We wouldn't need to take a fully armed nanny or a commando squad to watch over our son?”

“Or weapons.”

“Wow… you really know how to woo a girl.”

“I’ve been planning it for ages. Now off with you. Go incite your riot. Rile the masses, make me proud.”

“Show the universe that I deserve to carry the Solo name, if only by marriage?”

“Oh, you’re a Solo alright, even if you still refuse to let me call you Mrs. Solo when anyone else is around.”

“Maybe if we do survive this I’ll let you have your way, change my name legally and everything.”

“You’re such a tease.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

​

​

​

Jacen watched Tahiri jump up onto the rock she’d picked to speak from, then walked over to stand beside Anakin.

“You okay?”

Anakin breathed out a heavy sigh. “Yeah… no.”

“She’ll be fine. We’ll keep her safe.”

Anakin let out another breath and Jacen tried to image how hard this must be for his brother, and realized that he couldn't. He’d never had a Tahiri.

Not that he’d ever want a Tahiri.

Stars… Even with all the talking and getting things out and reaching an understanding and putting the past behind them, Jacen still wasn't quite sure how Anakin put up with her. She was incredibly annoying, and opinionated and stubborn and bossy.

His brother certainly loved her though, practically worshiped her, and didn’t seem at all bothered by her incredibly annoying personality characteristics. Of course, Tahiri didn’t seem at all bothered by Anakin’s incredibly annoying personality characteristics either, so Jacen had been right when he’d told Tahiri that she and his brother were a match made in Hell.

What was that old Corellian saying about couples? The Force makes them and they find each other?

Now though, Jacen could tell by the pained look on Anakin’s face that he wasn't happy letting go of his wife’s hand and watching her leap up onto that rock to stand in front of a crowd that had grown to somewhere in the neighborhood of three hundred Yuuzhan Vong. It was maybe the hardest thing Anakin had ever done in his life, because, despite what Jacen had just said, there was no way that they, and Luke and Mara and Jaina, stood a chance of keeping Tahiri safe if this growing group of Vong decided that they’d like to see her in six, or seven, or fifteen pieces.

But he figured that probably wasn't a wise thing to say to Anakin right now.

As Tahiri began to speak, she instantly got the attention of the Vong gathered near her, and Jacen leaned into Anakin to ask what she’d said.

Anakin rolled his eyes. “If I could understand a word coming out of her mouth do you think she would be here?”

Jacen was about to agree that Anakin had a good point when Huane stepped up and gently placed a hand on Jacen’s forearm, then whispered, “She said that she knows that they have heard of the Jeedai heresy, that the Jeedai are not to be feared, but are the key to their salvation.”

Tahiri spoke again, drawing on the Force to amplify her voice, to carry it further out into the room, but the crowd was already buzzing, and even without being able to touch the aliens, Jacen could practically feel the Vong come alive with excitement and anticipation.

He placed his hand over Huane’s, internally chastising himself when he registered that he’d allowed his fingers to thread into hers, where they still rested on his arm, then pulled them back and asked, “Now what…” but she cut him off, beginning to translate—verbatim, Jacen assumed—as Tahiri continued to speak.

“You have also heard rumors that you are not cursed… that you are not damned… that you are not Shamed. I am here to tell you that that is true. You are not held in disfavor. The Gods do not hate you. The only beings who hate you are the warriors and the priests and the shapers. It is they who hold you down and refuse you honor. My comrades and I are here to help you throw off the yoke of slavery.”

As Tahiri continued, Huane continued, and Jacen watched the crowd’s excitement grow.

I can hear you asking how an infidel can speak the tongue of the Gods. I can hear you asking who I am. I am one of the Jeedai you have heard stories about. I am Tahiri Veila. I am the Jeedai Who Was Shaped.

Jacen watched the crowd in fascination as Tahiri lifted her bangs to show her scars, and with her other hand lifted her lightsaber and ignited her blade. Cries and shouts began to ring out as first the Yuuzhan Vong standing close recognized who she was, then the others, those standing further away, unable to see, but able to hear what the others were saying, realized what was happening. The buzz Jacen could feel grew stronger, more pronounced, as the Shamed Ones’ hopes grew. It was clear they could feel that something important was taking place.

With me here today are more Jeedai; more Jeedai who want to help you find honor and defeat those who have held you down.

Tahiri waved her hand towards the team, drawing the attention of the mass of beings towards the Jedi.

Standing before you is the leader of all Jeedai, Master Luke Skywalker, his mate, Master Mara Jade Skywalker, the Jeedai twins, Jaina and Jacen Solo, and the Jeedai Who Stood With Vua Rapuung, Anakin Solo.

The frenzy grew to fever pitch when Tahiri said Anakin’s name, and Tahiri motioned for Anakin to join her on the rock. Jacen watched Anakin’s eyes widen in surprise as he hesitated, then stepped forward and jumped up to stand next to his wife.

The Gods smiled on him on Yavin, they guided him in his search for me and helped as he stood with Vua Rapuung against many warriors.

Tahiri leaned over to Anakin, then Anakin held up his lightsaber pommel and ignited his blade, holding it high above his head.

The Gods led Anakin Solo to the lambent fields and guided him as he built a new lightsaber using a lambent crystal. His lightsaber, the lightsaber he holds now, the weapon of the Jeedai, is made with a Yuuzhan Vong lambent. Would the Gods allow an infidel to use a lambent in his weapon if the Gods hated the Jeedai? No. Would the Gods allow Vua Rapuung to redeem his name with the help of a Jeedai if Vua Rapuung was truly cursed? No.

Many thought Anakin Solo perished on the worldship Baanu Raas, but he survived. He spent a year on the planet Myrkr, living off the land, alone, unable to use the Force, and finally escaped and found his way back to his crèche mates. The Gods smiled upon him again, as they did on Yavin, and helped him survive so he could lead you to victory in this final battle against your oppressors. Join with us, join with the Jeedai who stood with Vua Rapuung, help him defeat the warriors who spill your blood as though your lives mean nothing.

Huane kept going, not only translating what Tahiri was saying, but also what was being said by the audience. And still the hall continued to fill up, the space growing more densely packed, a steady stream of Shamed Ones entering, as Tahiri continued to speak, as she promised these beings a life they had only dreamed of.

Help us end this war and we will take you to Zonoma Sekot where you can live in peace.

Tahiri’s final words were nearly drowned out by the cries of the Shamed Ones. Huane was barely able to translate what Tahiri was saying, or what the Shamed Ones were saying, but it didn’t matter anymore. The message was clear: the Shamed Ones believed Tahiri, they believe the ‘heresy’. They would follow the Jeedai, they would join the infidels. They would join the Galactic Alliance and fight for their redemption. They would fight to end the war. They would fight for their own salvation.


First Things First/Phantom Planet

 

Chapter 27​

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Life Is A Battlefield​

Thrust, parry, twist, pull.

Thrust, parry, step back, slash, kick.

Breathe.

Thrust, slash, kick, twist, sidestep.

Run, jump, flip, crouch, spring, snapkick.

Breathe.

One hundred and four.

Tahiri could see the Senate building.

No, she could see the Well of the World Brain.

She could also see the hundreds of warriors standing between her and it.

She could also feel the exhaustion threatening to take her down, but she couldn't let it, she had to keep going.

Run, jump, spin, land, kick, thrust, stab.

Breathe.

One hundred and five.

She could also feel death, all the deaths she had caused. She couldn't feel the losses in the Force, like she would feel them if she had gutted and speared and decapitated humans or Twi’leks or Rodians or Wookies, but she could feel the deaths in her soul and they were weighing her down as much as the fatigue was weighing down her muscles.

Kick, parry, thrust, uppercut, swing, hack, duck, swing back around.

Breathe.

One hundred and six.


Kick, spin, snapkick…

Then she felt the ground shake.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

Mara was finding it surprising easy to split her attention.

Nom Anor was a coward.

For all his proselytizing, for all his talk and encouragement to the Shamed Ones to rise up against their oppressors as they marched toward the Sacred Precinct, he was doing a very good job at hiding behind them when they encountered the warriors he was encouraging those Shamed Ones to attack. That left Mara plenty of room to fight those same warriors and not have to worry about where Nom Anor was.

He was always hiding behind those Shamed Ones.

Each skirmish that Team Three had gotten into so far had proven fairly easy to deal with. Either Shimmra was sending out the second string, or the Shamed Ones were better prepared and more fed up with their lot than Mara had imagined.

Though they hadn't had many weapons to start out with, the survivors from the first few skirmishes had picked up the amphistaffs left by the dead warriors. They’d also picked up thud and razor bugs, and carried them into the next skirmishes and hadn't been shy about using them.

The Shamed Ones had done better as they’d kept going, not only picking up weapons, but picking up friends. By Mara’s guess they were only a kilometer from the Sacred Precinct now and had far more Shamed Ones with them than when they’d started out.

Jaina was leading the throng now, Mara only a meter behind her and to the left. Nom Anor was between them, off Jaina’s left shoulder, in clear striking distance of Mara’s lightsaber, if he so much as sneezed, as Anakin had said. Mara had barely taken her eyes off of him in the last twenty minutes, just begging the Force for him to sneeze.

Then he did sneeze, but Mara suspected it was because of the smoke from the fires that were beginning to break out in the shrubs all around them.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

Anakin crouched down at the base of the wall surrounding the Sacred Precinct and braced himself with his hands on the ground as it shook again, watching in horror as the Shamed Ones threw themselves at the warriors in front of them.

It was like watching a mass suicide.

These were not the warriors that Mara’s Shamed One’s were fighting; these were Shimmra’s elite guard, these were the guardians of the actual Citadel. The only beings stronger, tougher, or more brutal would be the warriors in the throne room itself, the warriors standing in front of Shimmra.

These Shamed Ones were lucky if they lasted five seconds before becoming decorations on the tips of these warriors amphistaffs; they’d last even less time in the throne room and the wave of nausea Anakin was feeling was competing with the wave of guilt for the dominant emotion as he watched the melee in front of him.

He’d known, from Older Tahiri’s descriptions of last time, that Shamed Ones would die, but still, knowing it was a possibility, even a probability, and watching it actually happen were two entirely different things.

Anakin looked away from the scene to see Luke hunched and making his way over.

“Time yet?”

Anakin shook his head. “Tahiri and Jacen are about forty meters from the opening to the Brain. They've got about a hundred and fifty Shamed Ones with them still, and more are pouring into their section of the Precinct, but there are about five hundred warriors over there. And they lost Huane.”

Luke reeled back in surprise. “Did they lose the poison?”

“No, Jacen caught her as she was going down, stayed with her until she went. He gave the canister to another one of the Shamed Ones to take care of until they get in.”

“How much longer do you want to wait?”

Anakin scrunched his nose and sighed. “I just spoke to Mara. Fires are breaking out near them. Between that and the quakes, and all the fighting, I’m not sure if we need any more diversions. Wedge and Kre’fey are going to be here soon and troops are going to start landing. We’re going to need that ship disabled. Before too much longer our safety is going to become a secondary concern.”

“Good thing Tahiri didn’t just hear you say that.”

“I’d be sleeping on the couch for days.”

“Face and Kell are good to go, so whenever you’re ready.”

Anakin looked back out at the fighting, saw that the Shamed Ones weren’t doing any better and sighed, “I guess there’s no time like the present.”

“You sure?”

“Why not. Let’s go wreak a little havoc. Why should our wives get to inflict all the mayhem?”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

Jacen looked over to see Tahiri yelling something to a group a Yuuzhan Vong. He assumed she was telling them to stay at the entrance to the Well, to not let anyone else in.

There were over two hundred of them now, two hundred Shamed Ones crowding the entranceway of the Well, and they all seemed to be following the smaller group that Tahiri was giving instructions to. When she’d finished talking to the ‘leader’ of the group, the Shamed One who had been standing closest to Tahiri for most of the march, the one who had been making sure that Tahiri’s orders were being carried out by all the other Shamed Ones, Tahiri joined Jacen.

Huane had described what they would find, a maze of ceremonial trees and shrubs, and if the looks of the greenery in front of them was anything to go by, then they were indeed in the right place.

“Wow, it’s even creepier than I thought it would be,” Tahiri whispered as they began walking.

“Yeah, sort of like the descriptions you read about of the garden in the Fourth Corellian Hell.”

“Then you should feel right at home,” Tahiri giggled.

Jacen grinned and shook his head as he followed behind her, hoping there was only one way to go. “I thought we agreed to put all the name-calling and insulting behind us.”

“I didn’t agree to anything.” She laughed, then after a moment she asked, “Are you feeling sort of giddy and giggly because we actually made it here and we didn’t die?”

Jacen laughed with her. “Yeah. And the war may be over in a couple of hours.”

Tahiri grabbed Jacen’s hand a squeezed it. “I can hardly believe it. I barely remember what it was like to not be at war.”

Jacen took a deep breath. “I know, but the war isn’t over yet, and we have a job to do, so let’s get serious.”

The path ended quicker than Jacen would have imagined, considering what it was leading to, but once out of it, a sense of foreboding threatened to overwhelm him.

They were in the cavernous room that had had held the galaxy’s Senate pods for thousands of years, the room where democracy, and briefly, imperialism, had reigned. Now, the room was nothing more than a yorik coral shell; living rock had consumed the duracrete and plastisteel that had made up the theatre, wiping away the décor that had once hung from the walls, witness to hundreds of generations of legislative history. There was nothing left to remind future generations that the New Republic, or the Old Republic, or even the Empire, had ever ruled from this building. There was nothing left to testify to the fact that billions of beings’ lives had mattered to those who traveled these halls, beings for whom governing was not only a life's work, but a passion.

Instead of the passion, or even the anger, Jacen often felt infused in the very air whenever he entered this building, he felt a damp, sticky, ominous hunger. Coming to a stop, Jacen took in the sight before him – a pool, or pit, filled with a gelatinous goo, tentacles floated gently under the surface of the opaque fluid. He could almost swear the Brain wanted something, or wanted them. He knew he had to be imagining that though; he couldn't feel anything from Yuuzhan Vong life, but still, he didn’t like the sensation he was getting from the room, and he wanted out of it.

“Are you feeling like the Brain can feel you?”

“I’m not sure,” Tahiri said, “but I do know I don’t like it in here.” She pushed buttons on her wrist comm—trying to reach Anakin, Jacen knew, letting him know they were in the Well.

Jacen opened the canister Huane had carried on the march and sighed, wishing she could have been here to deliver this herself, knowing that she would have taken great pride in the knowledge that her work had helped her race, then tipped the container, spilling the contents onto the Brain.

As soon as the fluid made contact the ground began to shake.

Turning to Tahiri, he said, “Let’s get the hell out of here. I gotta a bad feeling about this.”

Tahiri looked up and scowled. “Great, Jacen. Isn't that Solo-ese for ‘let’s kriff this up’?”

Jacen raised his hand to jab a finger in her face, but instead, used that hand to grab her shoulder to keep her from falling into the Well as the rocking of the ground grew stronger. The Brain’s tentacles began to undulate wildly, splashing liquid high up into the air. The shaking grew faster and harder, causing Jacen to lose his balance. He used the Force to keep himself from falling onto the Brain, and pulled Tahiri as he fell away from the hole in the ground, just as he heard his brother’s voice coming from Tahiri’s wrist.

”What’s going on? You've got a bad feeling about what? Jacen? Tahiri?”

Jacen grabbed Tahiri’s hand and brought her wrist to his mouth. “We’re in Anakin, we delivered the poison.” Jacen shouted.

"Is that what’s causing the new shaking? It’s worse than before.”

“I think so. The Brain started reacting right after I poured the toxin.”

The light mist of yorik dust began raining down as the sound of coral grinding against itself caused Jacen to throw himself over Tahiri, though he shouldn't have bothered; all he got for his effort was an indignant glare, and an elbow in the ribs before Tahiri knocked him aside and sat up.

”Jacen, get Tahiri out of there.”

Jacen reached over and yanked Tahiri’s arm back, and yelled to Anakin, “I will,” before smiling smugly at Tahiri.

“If you had kept your mouth shut…” Tahiri grumbled as she got onto her hands and knees, and the pushed herself to standing.

“The roof wouldn't be caving in? Yeah, right.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

The smoke from the fires was so thick that it was becoming increasingly harder to see the wall that surrounded the Sacred Precinct. This was both good and bad. It afforded the Shamed Ones cover from the warriors, but it also made it difficult for Mara to tell how many warriors were up ahead. It also made it difficult to tell how many Shamed Ones were behind her and she hated not knowing how many allies she had at her back.

In reality all she really needed to know right now was who was right in front of her—and who was right in front of her right now was a warrior with an amphistaff, poised to swing it down towards her head.

Mara brought her lightsaber up in a high horizontal block, then whipped it down, flicked her wrist, thrust the tip of her blade up through the throat of her attacker, then cut the blade and watched the warrior fall.

As the giant hit the ground, Nom Anor came into clear view behind him, standing behind Jaina, with an amphistaff in his hand, and that was all Mara needed to see.

Using the Force to propel herself up and over the body of the warrior she had just taken down, Mara ignited her blade as she landed behind Nom Anor, and thrust the tip through his back, straight up his spine. She placed her left hand on his shoulder and with a final thrust, ground her blade as far as it would go into his body, making sure to sear his heart and lungs, making sure there was nothing but charred flesh left of whatever vital organs might have resided in his upper chest cavity. Then she flicked off the ignition switch on her lightsaber and pushed Nom Anor forward, and watched him fall face first into the dirt.

Jaina turned around and looked first at the body at her aunt’s feet, then up at her aunt.

“I guess he sneezed?”

“And didn’t say ‘excuse me’.”

Before Jaina could comment again, the ground shook, a sharp, jarring shake, causing both her and Mara to fall to their knees.

“You think Jacen and Tahiri made it to the Brain?” Jaina asked when she was finally able to stand.

“Let’s hope,” Mara said, as she stood as well. “Though I don’t know if that’s going to make the fires better or worse.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

​

​

​

Anakin ground his toe into the yorik coral of the ship, digging the hook attached to his boot in to anchor himself, then did the same with the other foot. When he’d steadied himself he fixed the winch on his rope to keep himself level, took the lightsaber from his belt, pressed the pommel against the side of the ship and hit the ignition switch, creating a round hole just the right size to insert the stick of dyna-plas. When he’d inserted the stick he pressed Kell’s wire into it, then passed the wire to Luke.

Then they scooted over two meters and started the process again.

They’d been doing this for forty-five minutes. Face and Kell were on the other side of the ship doing the same thing, and the plan was that the four would meet up in the middle, bring all the wires together, Kell would then braid the wires, run the braid down to the ground and into a box that connected to a switch. Once they’d all backed really far away, Kell would do something magical to the switch that would make all the sticks of dyna-plas blow up at the same time.

If all went well, the sticks would create an explosion that would cause the top of the Citadel to fall in on itself, rendering the vessel unspaceworthy, and trapping Shimmra and Omini inside the throne room.

If all went really well Shimmra and Omini would be crushed by the tons of yorik coral caving in on them, but Anakin was trying not to get his hopes up.

Another quake shook the Citadel and Luke lost his footing, causing him to reel back away from the building. On pure instinct Anakin reached out with the Force and grabbed his uncle, pulling him back to safety.

“Anakin…”

“Please don’t start with the ‘you shouldn't use the Force’…”

“Actually,” Luke cut in, “I was going to thank you.”

“Oh.”

Luke grinned at his nephew, but before he could say anything else another voice caught his attention.

“Fancy meeting you here,” Face said jovially. “Enjoying the shaking?”

“Yeah, it’s fabulous,” Anakin answered. “How’d you guys manage to stay up here? We’re Jedi and even with the Force we nearly got thrown off this thing several times.”

“It’s all our fancy Wraith equipment. We can scale anything and stick.”

“I’m beginning to wish we had taken you up on your offer of fancy Wraith equipment,” Luke sighed.

“I’m assuming your wife and brother are to thank for the last half hour of fun?” Face asked Anakin.

“Yeah, they got through. Hopefully the death doesn't take much longer. I’m ready for the roller-coaster ride to end.”

“Me too. Let’s rappel off this thing so Kell can get his kicks and we can see if our handiwork had the desired effect. Wedge and Tycho should be dropping in soon and I’d like to be home in time for dinner. Tycho promised to make me something Alderaanian if we did a good job down here.”

Luke chuckled as he began to let the tension out of his rope. “Do you guys really only think about food?”

Kell grinned as he began lowering himself beside Luke. “Of course not. I think about blowing things up too.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

Tahiri stood with Mara and Jaina and Jacen and looked out at the scene before her and could hardly believe what she was witnessing.

The ground had been still for over five hours.

The World Brain was dead.

The rain was dampening the fires that had been burning all afternoon.

Fences were being put up by the Alliance Engineering corp. Warriors and Priests and Shapers were being rounded up, stripped of their weapons and tools and interred in the makeshift holding areas.

Shamed Ones were being checked out by med teams and given water and food. Survivors from the First Battle of Coruscant were slowly making their way to the surface and relief workers, already being brought in by the government, were seeing to their needs.

Fighting was still going on in the air, but the GA starfighters were herding the rogue coral skippers and cruiser analogs away from the Sacred Precinct and there hadn't been a suicide bomber anywhere near this area in over two hours.

Anakin had commed three hours ago to say that Shimmra’s body had been found in the Citadel, then Kenth Hamner had notified Cal Omas.

The Supreme Overlord was dead.

Everything was happening so fast.

If they could just find Omini’s body, the war would really be over.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

Anakin had been searching for hours.

It hadn't been difficult to get into the throne room once Kell had blown the ship. It hadn't been difficult to get past the few warriors that hadn't been killed by the blast. It hadn't been difficult to determine that Shimmra was dead. But then he’d torn what was left of the throne room apart looking for Omini and finally determined that the jester wasn't there, and he’d been more scared than he’d ever been in his life.

He’d been searching for hours now.

He and Luke had gone through what was left of the palace and come up empty.

Omini was nowhere to be found.

There was no body, no trace of a body, no indication of where Omini might have gone. Nothing to tell them where to begin looking. So Anakin had gone wondering around the palace, going from room to room, lightsaber blazing as he’d searched and searched and searched.

He’d been filled with an inexplicable sense of dread for sometime now, filled with worry that he was missing something, something that he should know, some sign that the Force was trying to show him and that he was missing. He was becoming steadily more frantic as he searched the palace, and finally left the Citadel, trying to find the little Vong that he knew was the key to really ending the war.

He was outside now, in the plaza, making his way toward the ruins of what had been the New Republic Senate building. As he walked, his attention was drawn to a rain soaked blonde head, fifty meters away, and on the other side of a low barricade that had already been erected by the Alliance.

Tahiri

Anakin’s danger sense screamed as she turned and caught sight of him approaching.

He watched her raise her arm up and smile widely at him, her joy unmistakable, both on her face and in the Force. He felt it at almost the same time he noticed the Shamed One walking ahead of him, between him and Tahiri.

He was horribly misshapen, this little Shamed One, horribly disfigured, his gait hindered by a limp, one leg markedly shorter than the other, one shoulder raised higher than the other.

For a moment a sense of familiarity filled Anakin, a sense that he knew this being—no, that he knew something about this being, that he was familiar, and then it dawned on him – this being was filled with the Force – he was drawing on it, the Force was powering this being’s thoughts, and his actions, and his strength, and the amphistaff that was leaving this being’s hand was being guided by the Force.

The Force was also informing Anakin’s actions. It guided Anakin’s motions as he raced forward, lifted his arms and crossed his two lightsaber blades. The Force powered his strength as he scissored his blades across the base of Omini’s neck, but the amphistaff had left Omini’s hand before his head had left his body, and the amphistaff had found its mark before Omini’s head had hit the ground, and Anakin was screaming Tahiri’s name as he leapt over Omini’s falling body.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

​

​

​

Jacen felt the Force screaming at him to act.

He thumbed on his lightsaber and threw it up in front of Tahiri before he was even sure why he was doing it. He had flicked his wrist and pushed down against the shaft of the amphistaff before it even registered that he had just prevented the weapon from shattering his sister-in-law’s chest. All he knew was that he hadn't done enough and that he needed to do more.

He needed to do more.

Somewhere in the distance, Jacen was aware that Anakin was screaming Tahiri’s name and that he was trying to get to her, he also knew that Anakin was too far away to help.

Jacen dropped to his knees beside Tahiri as blood gushed from the wound over her right lung, and flooded from her mouth and nose. Jacen knew from her gasping that she would drown in her own blood soon if he didn’t do something.

“Tahiri, I need you to calm down.” Jacen soothed.

But she couldn't. Her eyes were wild and she was desperately kicking at the ground and clawing at his and Mara’s arms as they tried to hold her while Jaina called for help. Jacen realized that the only thing he could possibly do to help her was get her into a healing trance.

Jacen grabbed Tahiri’s chin to force her to look at him.

“Tahiri, please, I’m trying to help you, you need to go into a healing trance, let me help you.”

Tahiri shook her head, and Jacen could see the fear in her eyes.

“Tahiri, please, for Anakin, so you can see Anakin again, you need to let me help you. So we can get you to a medic. Let me help you. So you can be with Anakin.”

He used the Force to push her, to guide her, to lean into her and felt Tahiri begin to give, felt her resistance waver.

“That’s it. Don’t fight me, I’ll help you get to Anakin, just relax, let me help you.”

As he looked into her eyes and he continued to reach for her in the Force, he felt her resistance continue to ebb, then he watched her eyes begin to roll and prayed she was going into a trance and was just losing consciousness.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

Tahiri saw Anakin at almost the same time she saw the strange little Shamed One limping in front of him. He caught her attention because there was something about him that felt familiar, but before she could put her finger on what it was her chest was burning, and then she was lying on the ground, and Jacen was leaning over her and she was scared.

She needed Anakin, she needed to see Anakin, because she couldn't breathe, she was drowning, but then she realized that she wasn't drowning in water like when they were kids and she’d fallen over the side of the silver raft, she was drowning in blood, in her own blood.

Anakin! Help me!

But Jacen was leaning over her, and pushing on her mind, and she couldn't let him in, because he couldn't see.

Anakin… please… help me.

She needed Anakin.

Anakin had always saved her, had always come for her, had always made things right, because he just knew… and Jacen wasn't supposed to know, Jacen couldn't know.

But there was so much blood, and she couldn't breathe, and her chest hurt so badly, and Jacen was pressing on her mind.

Blood… Anakin, see Anakin… no Jacen, stop…

She couldn't let Jacen in, Jacen couldn't see, Jacen wasn't supposed to know, Jacen couldn't find out, but it hurt so much, and she couldn't see Anakin anymore, and she wanted to see Anakin, and Jacen was telling her it was for Anakin…

See Anakin… Anakin… Jacen… blood… Jacen…

She needed Anakin, but he wasn't there anymore. She’d seen him, and then he was gone, Anakin was gone and she was in so much pain, and Jacen had said that he would take her to see Anakin.

See Anakin…Jacen, stop… blood…

Jacen would take her to see Anakin, he would take her to see Anakin and if she could see Anakin she wouldn't hurt anymore… would she? Jacen was doing this for her and Anakin… all she had to do was listen to Jacen… listen to Jacen… do what Jacen was asking her to do and she would get to see Anakin.

Listen to Jacen… blood… Jacen…

And then she wouldn't hurt anymore… just listen to Jacen and do what Jacen said and then she wouldn't hurt anymore… it was for Anakin, he was doing it for her and Anakin, and he was pressing on her mind… he told her he'd take the pain away… he would take her to Anakin.

Make the pain go away… take her to Anakin… to Anakin… Jacen… blood…

Jacen was going to make the pain stop. Jacen was going to take her to see Anakin. Jacen was doing this for her and Anakin. She just had to listen to Jacen and do what he was asking her to do.

Jacen… Anakin…blood… flow… Anakin… see… walk… Anakin… blood… fin… blood… fin… flow… Jacen… bloodfin… Jacen… Sith… Jacen… bloodfin… Sith… Jacen… walk… flow…


Life Is A Battlefield/Susie Suh

 

Superb action!! I do not think I've ever read such gripping action! Bravo on the whole Jacen and Tahiri thing, and Mara with Anor. That just took the prize!

 

What a ride.
Maybe a bit too fast but whatever.
Nom Anor is dead! Yay! Love him but yay!
I love the Wraiths.

 

*Happy dance Nom Anor is Dead!!!* *Happy dance Mara got to kill him!* *Happy Dance they got to the world brain*


OH MY GOSH TAHIRI DON'T DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So so so so so good!!!! I can't even tell you how amazing this is!!!! Ugh...if Tahiri dies, I am going to be heartbroken. BUT...is this where you reunite Old!Tahiri and Young!Tahiri???

 

Chapter 28​

​

You Are The Sea​

30 ABY
Medical Frigate, Coruscant Orbit, Core


Leia walked into the room and stopped immediately when she saw Anakin.

Though there were at least twenty people crowding the small space, her son was sitting alone; an island in a sea of grief.

Leia steeled herself for the conversation she was about to have, then stepped over and took a seat next to Anakin and rubbed a hand over his back.

“Hey,” she said softly.

He looked up, his eyes red-rimmed, but he didn’t say anything, then he looked back down.

“Have the medics come out yet?”

Anakin nodded his head silently.

Leia gave it a moment, then asked what they said.

Anakin sighed, then, in a quiet voice explained; “Several shattered ribs and her right lung was shredded. Bone fragment…. from her ribs, punctured her heart, the left lung, the aorta, the vena cava, and several other arteries and veins. If Jacen hadn't deflected the amphistaff…” his breath hitched, then he took another deep breath. “If Jacen hadn't… slowed it down… it probably would have shattered her chest completely and killed her instantly.”

“So, Jacen saved her life?” Leia asked, trying to brighten Anakin’s mood.

“Or… maybe… prolonged it by a few hours.” Anakin closed his eyes, leaned his head back and thumped it against the wall gently, then sat back up. “We won’t know for a while. They've removed her heart and both lungs, they’re in Bacta trays. They’re working on removing all the bone fragments and the Bacta will hopefully heal all the damage. She’s on a Bacta bypass machine…”

“You were on that when you were found.”

“I’m sure Darth Vader was too, sort of becoming a nice little family tradition.”

“Smart mouth.”

Anakin smiled weakly before going on. “Once the Bacta does its job, if it works, they’ll put her heart and lungs back in her chest. If her body doesn't reject the organs being replaced they’ll submerge her in Bacta and then wait to see if she comes to.”

“So… when will we know if she’s going to be okay?”

Anakin closed his eyes and Leia could feel the pain rolling off of him in the Force.

“Don’t know. If she doesn't die in the next few hours, that would be astral. If she doesn't die tomorrow, that would be really stellar too. If she isn’t dead next week… that would be awesome.”

“Somehow I don’t imagine that the medics worded it like that.”

“Between being a genius and having the Force… I’m pretty good at reading between the lines.”

“What did they actually say?”

“That a whole bunch of things need to go right before they can give me a better idea of the situation, but right now it’s ‘touch and go’. They have her in a sterile environment because her chest is open, so the organs can remain partially attached while they’re in the Bacta trays, but that means that the risk of infection is high, because even a sterile environment isn’t totally sterile.”

“Does a sterile environment mean you can’t see her?”

Anakin nodded again. “If I’m lucky, they may let me in for a few minutes tomorrow, but I’ll only get to touch the top of her head, if they let me touch her at all.”

Leia nodded, then reached over and took Anakin’s hand and squeezed it, and the two sat silently for a few minutes before Leia spoke again.

“Jaina and Jag have taken the Falcon over to the Lusankya to pick up Winter and Iella. They should be back in a couple of hours. They’re bringing Will with them.”

Anakin closed his eyes for a long time, but didn’t say anything.

“I found some clothes for you, you have time to shower before they get here.”

Anakin nodded, then spoke. “Can you do me a favor, can you com them and ask them not to come yet? I’m not ready.”

Leia hesitated for a moment, then pressed on. “Will needs to see you honey. He felt it, and he needs to know that you’re okay.”

“But she’s not,” he whispered, “and I’m not ready. What am I going to say? I promised… I promised him I’d bring her home, and I didn’t. And what am I going to do without her? I can’t do this alone. I can’t raise him without her.”

“Anakin look at me,” Leia reached over and took his chin in her hand and forced his gaze up. “When you were gone she never gave up on you. No matter what any of us said, she never gave up, and you aren't going to give up on her. Every second she’s still alive, that’s a second she’s fighting to come back to you and Will. Every breath she takes with help or not, that’s a breath she’s taking so she can come back to you. She’s in there fighting like hell to live, she’s not giving up, and you aren't going to give up on her, just like she didn’t give up on you. And what you are going to tell your son is that momma has an owie and that she’s trying to get better and that the medics are helping her get better.”

“But what if she doesn't get better?”

“We aren't going to think about that right now. What we are going to think about is how strong she is and that we love her and that we want her to be okay and that she will be.”

Anakin let out a slightly hysterical chuckle. “So we’re going to live in denial?”

“Yes, as a matter of fact, that is exactly what we are going to do. We are going to take a screen from your wife’s data pad. It worked for her, so we’re going to go with it. Like I said, she refused to believe that you were dead, she lived in denial, and it worked for her.

“In the mean time you are covered in blood, and frankly, it’s gross. You need to get cleaned up. It will help your state of mind tremendously to get out of those clothes and take a shower.”

“But it’s her,” he whispered.

“Anakin, you can’t do this to yourself. And you know very well that Tahiri would have a fit if she saw the condition you’re in right now.”

Anakin closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the wall again and sighed. “She’d also burn these clothes.”

“Yes she would. Now come on. Your father is standing outside with Jacen. They’ll take you to the shower. And it’s a water shower, not a sanisteam. Take as long as you need, shave, brush your teeth. If the medics have any more news I’ll come get you.”

“Promise?”

“Of course. I know exactly where you’ll be. I just got out of the shower myself.”

Anakin leaned his head over onto Leia’s shoulder and whispered, “Thanks Mom.”

Leia brushed his hair back and kissed his temple, “You’re welcome Anakin.”

​

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

Anakin looked at the people around him and wondered if this was always the case; you didn’t know how loved you were until you were dead, and he wondered if this had been what it was like when everyone had thought he was dead.

He’d had a flash several days ago to those last hours on Eclipse, to watching the Tahiris, his Tahiri, and remembered thinking that no one loved her but him, thinking that no one would mourn her but him, and thought how different things were now.

The med center was packed.

The Lumbunts had all been given leave to spend as much time as they wanted or needed with their commander. Valin and Paloma hadn't left Anakin’s side since they’d guided the Falcon here ten days ago. Moeller and Ryke had taken some of the others out on maneuvers, but only because they’d been going a little stir-crazy, and needed a distraction.

The Wraiths had been coming and going, taking turns sitting vigil. Face and Kell had only left a few times, to be debriefed by the Intel agents Iella had assigned the task of finishing up the reports on the Coruscant mission. Anakin could tell that they were suffering over what was going on. He’d actually over heard them talking at one point; wondering if there’d been anything they could or should have done differently. Anakin had instantly translated that into guilt on his own part; was there anything he should have done differently.

The Commandos had taken up residence, never leaving Will’s side. They’d come over a week ago with Will, Iella and Winter. Leia had finally persuaded Anakin on day three that Will had to be brought over, and Anakin had finally agreed that his mother was right.

Wedge and Tycho had been coming and going as their schedules permitted, popping in to sit with Anakin or their wives, who had taken turns sitting with Anakin and Will when they could justify skipping out on work.

Apparently the Peace Treaty had been signed, or was being signed, or was being drawn up… Anakin wasn't sure. But he did know that at some point, when the Antilles and the Celchus and the Skywalkers hadn't been with him on the med frigate, they were actually participating in a major Galactic event. Anakin just wasn't sure what it was, and, frankly, didn’t care.

Anakin’s parents and brother and sister had been present for most of the past ten days, making sure Anakin and Will had anything they might need or want, which wasn't much, but Anakin appreciated the gestures.

There were even a fair number of Jedi who had found their way to the med frigate, which surprised Anakin, since neither he nor Tahiri had seen many of them in the past three years.

When Anakin had time to think, or cared to, he’d found the situation ironic.

Tahiri had no idea how loved she was, how missed she would be and it seemed that it was a cruel fact of life that it was only when life was over, or hanging in the balance, that one’s importance became evident. Here, crowding a small observation room were all these people, telling Anakin how much they cared for Tahiri, people who hadn't taken the time to tell her that they cared, people who had taken the time to tell her that they didn’t agree with choices she’d made in her life, and she was unconscious when they made an effort to share their feelings.

Bastards.

Anakin closed his eyes and rolled his head from side to side, trying to work the kinks out of his neck, but it didn’t really help. He’d been sitting up for what felt like months, in the same chair, staring at the same Bacta tank, praying, willing, begging the Force for Tahiri to open her eyes.

Actually, he wasn't picky; he didn’t need her awake, at this point he’d settle for semi-conscious. That might be enough to at least feel her in the Force.

When Iella and Winter had brought Will in on the third day, Anakin had taken his son, the child’s eye’s red rimmed from crying, and hugged him to his chest. Will had then sat back, rubbed his own chest and said, “No Mama.”

Anakin had swallowed the lump in his throat and replied, “Mama night, night.”

Will wasn't a stupid child.

“No Mama nigh, nigh.” He’d then rubbed his chest, the spot right over his heart, and repeated, “No Mama.”

Anakin knew exactly what his son was trying to say; Will couldn't feel Tahiri in the Force. Neither could Anakin. Tahiri was comatose. Not reaching back. Practically void.

Anakin’s response? “Mama sustained a severe chest injury when she was fighting during the liberation of Coruscant.”

Leia had batted the back of Anakin’s head, clearly not impressed with how he was handling the situation, but Will’s little blonde brows had instantly knit together, and he’d stared at Anakin for a long moment, then he’d asked; “Mama owie?”

Several of the adults in the room had chuckled at the exchange, but Anakin just smiled, then leaned forward and kissed his son’s head before saying, “Yeah, Mama has an owie. A big owie.”

“Em –ee may id beh-erh?”

“Yeah, MD is trying to make it better.”

Then Will had leaned into Anakin’s chest, shoved a thumb into his mouth and grasped a handful of Anakin’s hair in his other hand.

It wasn't a handful of Tahiri’s hair, but it was all Anakin could give him.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

​

​

​

Anakin rolled onto his side and wondered why it had taken fourteen days for someone to think to bring a med bed into the observation room for him to lay on.

It wasn't that he’d actually have slept at any point in the past two weeks, but it still would have been nice to have lain down.

Of all the things that people had brought him; clothes, food, data pads, puzzles, holovids, novels, reports…

Seriously? His wife was dying and someone thought he was going to read and sign performance evaluations?

But no-one had thought that he might want to lie down?

Of course, he hadn't asked anyone to bring him a bed in the fourteen days that he’d been sitting in a chair staring at his dying wife either.

He rolled over again, trying to find a comfortable position, and realized that maybe the reason he hadn't thought of it was that it didn’t really matter whether or not he was sitting up or lying down; watching your wife’s life hang in the balance was not conducive to resting.

During the first several days, every time he closed his eyes he saw images of Jacen leaning over Tahiri, the two of them soaked in blood, a gaping wound, larger than Anakin’s fist, in Tahiri’s chest, bubbles gurgling up through the blood.

More visions, worse visions, came after he’d been allowed in to see her in the sterile room. Images of her cut open from her collarbone to her stomach, organs lifted out of her body and sitting in dishes placed on trays beside her. In the worst of the visions she was awake and talking to him, which somehow, was more disturbing than in the visions where her eyes were closed. Maybe it had something to do with the fact that in the visions where she was talking, she always wanted to know why he hadn't stopped Omini from hurting her, why he had failed to save her.

In those first few days, he wasn't sorry to be missing out on sleep.

Now, the dreams weren’t quite as gruesome, they were less graphic, more emotional, but all had the same theme; where was he when she needed him? Why hadn't he stopped Omini from hurting her? Why hadn't he helped her? Where was he when she went down? Why hadn't he gotten to her side before Jacen put her into the trance? Why were her last few moments spent with Jacen and not him?

The two questions that haunted him the most were why did it take him so long to get to her side, and why did she spend her last few moments with Jacen?

And the answers were; it all happened so fast, and; it all happened so fast.

From the moment the amphistaff left Omini’s hand to the moment Anakin reached her side was less than three minutes. Anakin had run, dodged other beings, jumped over fallen bodies and the barricade, tripped and righted himself twice, covered a grand total of less then 100 meters, and Jacen had still gotten Tahiri into the trance before Anakin had gotten to her side.

That was a good thing though. Had it taken longer, Tahiri might have died right there. But Anakin had missed seeing her, or getting her into a trance himself.

There was another aspect of Jacen putting Tahiri into the healing trance that was gnawing at Anakin, something that popped into his head every few hours and terrified him, something that had caused him to steer clear of his brother since they’d been on the med frigate and he was dreading the possibility of Jacen bringing it up again; Jacen had pushed on Tahiri’s mind. Jacen had commented on how hard Tahiri had resisted him. Tahiri had a large gaping chest wound that was about to kill her, Tahiri was on the verge of death, and fought Jacen’s help because she didn’t want Jacen in her head.

Did Tahiri give anything away?

Did it matter anymore?

Did Anakin care?

If faced with the possibility of losing Tahiri, of having to face life without her, did he care what happened to the Jedi, or his brother, or the Sith?

No, he didn’t.

Anakin tried to cling to Leia’s advice, tried to live in denial, tried to tell himself that Tahiri was going to be okay, that she was going to wake up, and, as one day slipped into the next, as the first week slipped slowly into the second, as her organs healed and were, one by one, returned to her body and she was finally submerged into a Bacta tank, Anakin had to admit, things were looking good, but between not being able to feel her, and his growing fear of Jacen, it was still hard to sleep. No matter what time it was, no matter how long it had been since he’d closed his eyes for any real length of time, no matter that he should have done his own healing trance, no matter that he was long overdue for dialysis and should have been eating more cookies, he knew he wasn't going to get any significant rest until Tahiri opened her eyes.

And then he was going to sleep like the dead.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

Anakin lay flat on his back on his med bed trying to shut out the noise around him, with little success.

Paloma and Valin were on the floor with Will eating cake, or, trying to keep Will from getting cake all over the place.

The Holds were passing whiskey around to the Solos and the Skywalkers and the Commandos and the Lumbonts, and anyone else who wanted some.

Face and Kell were regaling everyone who hadn't been on Coruscant with stories of the trek to the Sacred Precinct, even though everyone who hadn't been there had already heard the stories.

Corran had even told a story. About Anakin and Tahiri and the airless locker in the space station over Yag’Dhul.

It was Tahiri’s birthday and everyone felt like celebrating.

The fact that the guest of honor was currently all but naked and floating for the eighth consecutive day in Bacta, after ten days of being laid out on a slab like a side of nerf in a sterile room, wasn't dampening anyone’s good time. In fact, it seemed to be adding to everyone’s giddiness. Which was the only word Anakin could think of to describe the mood.

Anakin wasn't feeling particularly giddy.

In fact, he was feeling cranky. It didn’t seem right that his wife was missing out on her own birthday and had been very vocal about not wanting to have a party, but his mother had ignored his protests. She seemed to think everyone else needed to cut loose, and that Tahiri would be glad that three weeks after nearly dying it was only a matter of time before she would wake up, nearly fully recovered, and that her family was celebrating her life, and the fact that she had a life to live.

As cranky as Anakin was, he’d found it hard to argue that, so he’d let them have their little celebration and had shoved his med bed into a corner of the observation room and stayed on it, and out of everyone’s way.

He and Tahiri would have their own celebration when she woke the kriff up and he was released from the hell he’d been enduring since the moment she’d gone down.

Anakin took a deep breath and reached for the Force, reached for calm, and, amazingly, found it. Found calm, and peace, and warmth that had been absent for so long. Then he sat bolt upright and turned to face the tank.

Will had turned too, and Anakin got off the med bed just in time to see Will walk over and place his hand on the tank, fingers splayed out, as a hand on the other side of the glass reached down to press fingers to his.

“Hi Mama.”

Anakin felt, more than saw, all the eyes of the room follow him as he joined his son.

Will turned his little face up to Anakin, a wide smile lighting his features.

“Mama no mo owie.”

Anakin nodded, then faced the tank, and watched Tahiri straighten, watched her press her hands to the glass again, four fingers of one hand held up, two fingers of the other.

Forty-two.

Anakin pressed his own fingers to glass, in mirror of her, and nodded, then watched her kicked her feet, propelling herself up to the top of the tank, and slam her fist against the lid.

She wanted out.

Twenty minutes later a medic opened the door to the observation room and stepped out.

“Colonel Solo, Agent Veila is being put into the shower…”


Anakin didn’t wait for the rest, and faintly heard the medic tell the rest of the room that someone might want to get him some dry clothes, and then heard laughter. But he didn’t care, because by that point he had Tahiri back, and she was in his arms, and she was whole, and she was safe, and the war was over.


Green Eyes/Coldplay

 

Epilogue​

​

Love Is Stronger Than Death​

​

​

“You really don’t have to take him,” Tahiri protested. “Anakin will be back any minute, we’ll be fine on our own until he gets here.”

“Tahiri…”

Iella’s tone of voice matched her warning look and Tahiri knew that fighting was useless. Even though Will was about to take a nap, getting him to actually take a nap would require energy Tahiri simply didn’t possess yet. Besides that, once he’d been wrestled into sleep, Will really would rest better in the next room; in the med room that had been set up as a makeshift nursery.

“Alright,” she sighed, and then quickly tried to pretend that the action wasn’t agonizing. The coughing fit that immediately followed gave her away though.

“Ah uh,” Iella scolded. “When are you going to stop being so stubborn and just lay back and let us take care of you?”

When Tahiri caught her breath she gave Iella a sheepish grin, then half whispered, “Okay, okay, you win. Take him. I’ll just lay here like the invalid that I am.”

Iella leaned over and smoothed a hand over Tahiri’s hair before kissing her forehead. “You know very well I don’t mind, and you are not an invalid. You are recovering from a wound that would have killed anyone else and you will, miraculously, be up and back to your old self in no time. So quit feeling sorry for yourself because you aren't already taking down Bram and Junip, and kiss your son.”

Iella leaned Will over Tahiri for a kiss, which he happily accepted.

“Now,” Iella continued, “Anakin will sear me if he comes back and you’re tired out, so I expect you to nap as well.”

Tahiri smiled as Iella turned toward the door and Will waved over her shoulder, then sank back into her pillows. She was almost asleep, just on the verge of oblivion, when a presence she’d been praying she wouldn't have to face alone approached her room.

“Oh kriff.”

So far both she and Anakin had managed to avoid this, but they both knew they couldn'tget away with it forever, and apparently her time was up, as the gentle knocking on the door proved.

“Come in,” she whispered.

When the door didn’t open, she used the Force to trigger the switch. Her lungs were still too weak for her to speak loudly enough to be heard out in the hall.

“Hey,” Jacen said. “I’m not disturbing you, am I?”

Disturbing wasn't quite the word Tahiri would use, but what could she say?

“No, I’m just… laying around.” Deciding she couldn't escape the inevitable, and knowing that leaving him standing in the doorway was rude, she finally said, “Come on in.”

He did, though he seemed nervous, shuffling a bit, reminding Tahiri a little of what he was like back during their academy days.

“You look… good.”

She laughed at that, or wheezed rather.

“Anything would have to be an improvement over the last few times you saw me.”

Jacen grinned, then reached up to rub the back of his neck. “Yeah, that’s true.”

“Between covered in gore with a giant hole in my chest and naked in a Bacta tank… pale and barely able to talk above a whisper practically qualifies me for beauty queen status.”

“Hey, you’re alive, that’s all that matters. But enough about your stunning good looks, how are you feeling?”

Tahiri tried to take a breath, coughed a few times, then laughed, which made her cough some more.

“Wow,” Jacen chuckled as he stepped forward and sat on the edge of the bed. “I didn’t count on a demonstration.”

“Sorry. From what the medics say it’s going to take a few weeks before the lungs are working at full capacity, and the muscles are still pretty tender, even with the healing trances. Thank the Force your brother hasn't said anything funny in the last few days.”

“Has my brother said anything funny in the last few years?”

Tahiri grabbed her chest with one hand and shot the other one out at Jacen, an accusatory finger pointed at his face.

“Don’t you dare. If I end up back on a respirator because of you, I won’t protect you from Anakin.”

Jacen grabbed the hand pointed at his face and threaded his fingers with Tahiri’s. “Sorry, I’ll do my best not to make you laugh. Though I have to admit, that’s one promise I’ve never had to make before.”

Tahiri thought for a second about pulling her hand away from Jacen’s, but he seemed very intent on holding it, like he needed to touch her, and for some reason, she felt like it was a small kindness that she should give him, so she allowed him to continue holding it.

“So, uhm, listen,” Jacen began, though he was now looking at the bed covers, not at Tahiri. “There’s something I need to ask you about.”

“Yeah?”

And here we go.

“When you went down…”

Stall, stall. Anakin! Where are you?

“Thank you, by the way. I know that Anakin thanked you…”

“Tahiri, don’t. That’s not why I’m here. And I don’t want you to say ‘thank you’. I… I don’t know how to explain this, but somehow, hearing you say ‘thank you’… say ‘thank you’ when I pass the nerf butter at dinner. This isn’t a ‘thank you’ situation.”

Tahiri relaxed a little at that, and was glad she hadn't pulled her hand away from Jacen’s, and squeezed his fingers, and also regretted every thank you she’d expected or wanted from him in the past, because he was right: saving a life was not a ‘thank you’ situation.

“What I wanted to talk to you about, what I needed to say was, when I was trying to help you into the trance, there were thoughts, things you were thinking—I wasn't trying to hear, or ‘eavesdrop’, they were just there, sort of running through your mind, and they sort of scared me.”

Tahiri just looked at Jacen, waited, hoped he’d give her a starting point, a place to jump off from, a place to begin her lie from. She also hoped Anakin would show up and either help her or that his arrival would end this.

But Anakin wasn't showing up, and Jacen kept going.

“It was words, no images, just words, and feelings. And a lot of fear with the words and feelings.”

“Well…” Tahiri started, “I did think I was dying… so the fear is understandable.”

“Yeah, but it didn’t seem like fear related to what was happening. That’s the weird part. The part that stuck out, or what really startled me so much at first… it was more like fear for you and me, not fear for yourself so much. And that was also part of what I found so weird. And there was also longing. There was this longing for Anakin, as though he’d been gone for a really long time, like for years. It didn’t feel like you just wanted him by your side right then, like you didn’t want to go into the trance until you saw him, but that you’d been waiting years to see him.”

Jacen was looking at Tahiri now as though he expected her to answer him, but he hadn't actually asked her a question, so she just looked back at him, and tried to keep herself quiet in the Force while he continued.

“I know that sounds odd, to have been able to pick up so much in only a few seconds, but the feelings coming off of you were so intense, so powerful.”

Finally, she felt like she had to give him something, so she went with the obvious: biology.

“Well, like I said, I was dying, and I was afraid, who knows how many millions of synapses were firing at random intervals, giving off bizarre information that had nothing to do with reality.”

“Yeah, I suppose that’s true.”

“I mean, maybe for a second or two I was dead. All kinds of electrical impulses could have been at work, trying to get my heart beating again, or keep it beating. All kinds of crazy things could have been happening. I could have actually been one with the Force. You could have been feeling or hearing things that happened in the life of some other person.”

Oops. Stupid, stupid.

Jacen cocked his head at an odd angle and Tahiri thought she might have kicked herself if she’d had the ability to get out of bed and bend her leg that way.

“You know, it’s funny you would say that. I’ve spent a month thinking about all this, and that’s sort of what it felt like; like I was hearing you relive someone else’s thoughts. As though someone had told you a story and you were remembering the story in your head while you were dying, only the words were sort of jumbled.”

Tahiri worked really hard to keep her breathing under control, worked to hide her fear and anxiety, worked to pretend she couldn't imagine what it was that Jacen was getting at as his gaze dropped again and he stared down at their joined fingers, seeming to contemplate his own words.

Then he came at her from a totally different angle.

“Do you know what a bloodfin is?”

“Hmmm.” She pretended to think. “It sounds vaguely familiar. Should I?” she asked, hoping he wouldn't detect her deception if she only half lied.

“They’re a creature from the Outer Rim. ‘Bloodfin’ was one of the words that passed through your mind, and I was wondering why.”

“Like I said…”

“I know,” he sighed. “I was trying to figure out some things.” Jacen ran his free hand through his hair again, obviously becoming more agitated, then nearly knocked Tahiri off her bed when he asked, “Do you think you and I could ever go Sith?”

She looked at him for a long moment, then finally whispered, “What in the stars would ever make you think that?”

“It’s just that when I was trying to get you into the trance, I felt so much darkness, about us, you and me, and I’ve been trying to figure it all out.”

Tahiri took as deep a breath as her still weak lungs would allow, and placed her own free hand over their clasped ones. “Jacen, I was dying, I was scared. I was terrified. Any darkness you might have felt was likely due to that. I’m sorry, but that’s all I can think to tell you.”

“And the Force has never shown you anything? I mean, about this?”

Tahiri sighed and closed her eyes, and made a decision she hoped she wouldn't live to regret. “I think the Force speaks to us at different times in different ways and for different reasons. When I got pregnant with Will, I believe it was the will of the Force that I found him before Myrkr.”

Jacen chuckled lightly. “The ‘will of the Force’?”

“Exactly. Had I not found him when I did, and told Anakin, I would have gone on that mission and I know, in my heart, that things would have been very different. Instead of losing Anakin for a year, I truly believe that we would have lost him for good. Don’t ask me how I know that, I just do. I also know that had Anakin never come home, had I not had Will, a lot of our lives would have gone very differently. But Anakin did make it back, and I did have Will and as a result, you and I, and everyone else who matters to us, are on a different trajectory than we would, or could, have been on.”

“So you’re saying that if it weren’t for Will, and if Anakin had died, you and I could have gone Sith?”

“I’m saying that life is a fragile thing. Had I not told Anakin about Will, as Leia had once wished, things could have been very different. Or, had I told him and gone to Myrkr anyway, things could have been very different. Things that seem like small choices, or small events, send ripples out into the galaxy and the farther away from the choices those ripples go, the larger the ripples become, until they are waves.”

“You and me becoming Sith would certainly have made waves.”

“Large waves, with the impact of huge surf crashing on a beach and wiping out sand castles.”

“We could have done a lot of damage.”

Tahiri chuckled. “Hypothetically.”

“Your little Will of the Force should be thanked.”

Tahiri leaned forward and looked deep into Jacen’s eyes. “Do you trust me?”

When he hesitated she squeezed his hand again and went on.

“The biggest lesson I’ve learned in the last three years is that the Force comes to you when the Force decides it wants something or needs something from you and that’s where the fine balance lies; in knowing how to interpret and act on what the Force tells you. And I think it knows what it’s doing, and when it wants something from you it will come to you and let you know.”

“So the Force wants me to be ignorant.”

“Hardly, it just doesn't need you to know anything specific at this point.”

“So, I guess I’ll just hang out and wait for it to comm me?”

“That’s what I’d do.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“One other piece of advice. Don’t go wandering off. Your family needs you. Stay here with us. We love you.”

Jacen nodded his head slightly, then stood up and leaned forward to kiss Tahiri’s forehead.

“Hey… if there is any kissing of my wife to be done… I should be doing it.”

Nice timing Solo…

Jacen smiled down at Tahiri, then turned to his brother and said, “I was just thanking her for not dying on me. I really wasn't looking forward to you blaming me for that one.”

Tahiri grinned as well, but it was when she peered out from behind Jacen, and smiled at Anakin and mouthed ‘we’re good’ that she felt his relief in the Force, because they’d done it.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

31 ABY
Lusankya Med Center, Denon System

Tahiri stood at the counter in the med center signing data pads.

She glanced through the document, signed her name, moved it to the ‘signed’ stack, then continued on to the next one; glanced through the document, signed her name. Move, glance, sign...

Tahiri Veila Solo

Tahiri Veila Solo

Tahiri Veila Solo…

“Look at you out of bed. Iella got you back to work already?”

Tahiri looked up to see her in-laws coming down the hall and smiled.

“Even if I didn’t have work, there’s no room for me in there,” she said, nodding toward the doorway behind her.

She watched Han’s eyes take in the sight on the other side of the hatch; Anakin curled up on his side… in the middle of her med bed, snoring.

“He must really be out if he didn’t notice you getting up and leaving the room.”

Tahiri felt her heart swell with love. “He’s exhausted. He’s been through a lot.”

Han snorted. “Yeah, watching you give birth really took it out of him.”

Tahiri laughed while Leia batted her husband affectionately on the chest. But she was quick to defend her own husband.

“It actually did take a lot out of him. After missing Will’s birth, and then thinking I was going to die last year, and then going through the pregnancy, and then getting to watch her being born. It was very emotional for him.”

“And does ‘her’ have a name yet?” Leia asked.

Tahiri deflated. “No. At least not anything we can agree on.”

Han laughed gently. “Still not going for the commemorative names?”

Tahiri groaned as Han continued.

“You didn’t like Bacta Solo?”

“My daughter was not conceived in a Bacta tank,” Tahiri gritted out.

“Med Center Shower Solo?” Han continued.

“Ugghh. And she was not conceived in a med center shower, and you all damn well know it. It wasn't even physically possible… I was still on a respirator.” Tahiri huffed while her in-laws laughed. “It wasn't even really a shower. They were just rinsing the Bacta off of me. I could kill him for that one.”

It was Leia who defended Anakin this time. “He was very happy you were okay, I think he just thought it would be nice to mark the occasion.”

“Well he’s not marking it by naming our daughter for a place she wasn't even conceived.”

“I thought Lusankya Solo was a winner,” Han went on. “We could have called her Lucy for short.”

Tahiri rolled her eyes then looked at her mother-in-law. “Now that I know where Anakin got his sense of humor… I’m wondering how you've put up with it for so long.”

“Will’s wife will be asking you the same question in thirty years.”

“Speaking of my grandson,” Han cut in, “where is the little guy?”

“Unka Acen has taken him to the zoo and to lunch.”

“You let Jacen take Will planetside?” Han and Leia asked in disbelieving unison.

Tahiri laughed then answered. “Well, Bram, Junip, Paloma, Valin and Stoker all went too, so I figured they couldn't get into too much trouble. But I told the guys to keep about thirty meters back so Jacen feels like he’s actually doing the work and to only step in if Jacen really looks like he’s in trouble. Lomi went along to shop, and Valin just needed to feel solid earth beneath his feet.”

“So the odds of still having a son and a grandson at the end of the day are pretty good then?” Han decided.

“I’d say so,” Tahiri confirmed. “And you know Anakin would never have agreed to it if he didn’t think Jacen was in good hands.”

“I never would have agreed to what?” Anakin asked through a yawn, as he shuffled into the hall, cradling his infant daughter.

Tahiri felt a wave a joy and pleasure and love wash over her at the sight of her husband and little girl, and reached out to take the baby, then cuddled her and rubbed her cheek against the tiny pink one.

“Hello...” She said to the tiny bundle, then sighed and turned to Anakin. “Anything?”

Han and Leia both laughed again.

“Actually,” Anakin said, the wide grin on his face telling Tahiri that he had it, that he’d finally come up with the name. “And I can’t for the life of me figure out why it’s taken me this long. I should have had this instantly. I should have had this years ago. In fact, I should have known this when we were fifteen and seventeen. I should have always known we were going to have a daughter with this name.”

Tahiri was nearly bouncing now. “Anakin, what is it.”

Anakin put his hands on her shoulders and kissed her forehead, then looked into her eyes. “I want to name her for the two people in the galaxy that I owe the largest debt of gratitude to…”

From beside them, Han made a gruff, ‘ah shucks’ sound, and Tahiri turned so see his chest puffing out.

Anakin got a slightly uncomfortable look on his face, before saying, “Ah, sorry dad…”, as Tahiri realized that Han had misunderstood where Anakin had been going with his announcement, but Tahiri still wasn't sure where he was going.

As Han’s chest deflated, Tahiri turned back to face Anakin full on, his hands still on her shoulders, as he looked into her eyes again.

“I want to name our daughter for the two people I owe the greatest debt to but can never thank. The two people who gave me you; Tryst and Cassa. I want to name our baby Tessa.”

Tahiri felt her jaw drop, then her lower lip begin to quiver as her chest began to ache with the intensity of the love she felt for Anakin, and how loved she felt. She knew she wouldn't be able to get any words out, so she simply nodded her head, then leaned forward to press her lips to his, and reached up and threaded her fingers into his hair to hold him close. She finally pulled away when she felt the cool wetness of tears running down her cheeks.

“Tell me you’re crying because you’re hormonal and happy and touched and you like the name and not because you’re hormonal and about to whip out your lightsaber like you did when I suggested ‘Bacta Solo’.”

Tahiri laughed through her tears, then finally said, “It’s beautiful, and you’re beautiful, and I love you.”

“I love you, too Tahiri;” then Anakin wrapped one arm around her and pulled her tight against his body, and with the other, reached up and ran his hand over the little bald head of their daughter and whispered, “and I love you, Tessa Solo.”

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~​

​

​

Eclipse Station, Deep Core

Tahiri took a deep breath and rubbed Anakin’s shin, then lifted his legs off her own and stood up, and stretched.

She turned to face the bed and Anakin stood to join her. It was still awkward at times, just being with him. He wasn't her Anakin, yet he looked just like him, talked just like him, smelled just like him. And sometimes watching the two of them, Anakin and his Tahiri, touch each other, was like feeling a vibroblade being driven into her heart.

She was supposed to have had that.

She had had that, and it had been taken away from her. He had thrown it away. He had thrown their lives and their future and their baby away and he didn’t even know it.

She wondered what choice this Tahiri would make. Younger Tahiri…

Typical kriffing Anakin, categorize, separate, quantify… find a box and a reason and a purpose for everything…

Would Tahiri tell Anakin about the baby? And if she did, would it make a difference? Would he be so reckless? Would he leave her behind? Would this Anakin make better choices because he had so much to live for?

Anakin wrapped her in a tight hug and she melted into him. He tucked her head under his chin, swaying slightly as he stroked her hair. After a moment, he pulled back and placed a long, sweet kiss on her lips, then lifted his mouth and kissed her forehead.

Looking deeply into her eyes, he said, “Thank you. I really can’t think of anything else to say, except maybe, I know he loves you, and I know he’s going to be very happy to see you when this is all done.”

She smiled slightly at that. “I hope you’re right. He’s going to be so upset with some of the stuff I’ve done.”

Shaking his head, Anakin brushed her hair behind her ear just like he used to do. “He’ll forgive you.”

“Oh, Force… I hope you’re right,” she whispered. One of her greatest fears, what had been keeping her up at night since Shedu Maad, was the idea of finally being reunited with Anakin in death, and his not forgiving her. “Thank you. You’re not my Anakin, but you’re a wonderful man, and I’m really grateful that we’ve had this time together.”

“Me too. For more than just the obvious reasons.”

Younger Tahiri stood up to join them and Tahiri turned to face her, then hugged her hard and sighed again before stepping back and cupping her face.

“Remember; there is no right or wrong choice, only the one you can live with.”

Younger Tahiri burst into tears again. The poor girl had cried a lot today. Tahiri rubbed her back and told her; “You are far stronger than you think, and you are going to have to be far stronger than that, but you’ll be okay, no matter what choice you make. I promise.”

“Okay.”

“Now, have a good life. If I run into you again and you've kriffed this up, we’re going to have words.”

Younger Tahiri just snorted a laugh.

Stepping back from them, Tahiri tilted her head and smiled. “Goodbye Anakin and Tahiri. May the Force be with you both.”

“May the Force be…” they whispered, but she didn’t wait for them to finish the phrase, she simply let go of the flow… and they were gone.

The room that moments ago had been filled with Anakin’s machine parts and droid bits, Younger Tahiri’s data pads and spare clothes, the couple’s few holos that hadn't been packed up yet, now only contained the four air canisters, Tahiri’s lightsaber, and the bed the three had all been sitting on just moments ago.

Three of the canisters were empty, the fourth almost. The indicators told her there were only a few minutes of clean air left; less than five minutes to live.

Her original plan had been to use her lightsaber to kill herself when she’d come back this time, but was that necessary? Was that how she wanted to do it? Was she ready? Did it matter? Was simply lying down on the bed and going to sleep a better way to do this?

Sighing, she took her blade from the counter at the head of the bed and lay down and closed her eyes.

The timing mechanism on the last air canister began to chime; a mechanized warning to anyone near that the clean air gone.

Tahiri ignored the sound and reached for the Force, allowed herself to drift off into its currents as she fought the fear welling up inside of her, fought the instinctual desire to gulp in the air that was quickly turning toxic around her.

She concentrated on the swirls and eddies, focused, and finally began to feel different, felt an otherness that she’d never felt before; felt a fear and loneliness that weren’t hers.

Younger Tahiri’s?

Then she realized; Anakin was gone.

They’d failed.

Almost instantly she felt another emotion. A bitter sweetness that was also new, and she felt a warm squiggly wetness against her body that matched a weight in her arms; a baby.

The will of the Force

Will.

Their baby.

Their baby had survived, and Tahiri was full of a joy she’d never known before because her other self had a piece of Anakin that she’d never had.

Feelings and emotions and visions began to bombard her, memories from a life she hadn't lived, but should have, overwhelmed her senses.

And all the images were of Will.

Then… elation.

Anakin was alive. He’d been found and was alive and back with her.

Relief.

The war was over and they were okay.

Joy.

Another baby.

Tessa.

Years flew by. Celebrations, weddings, birthdays. Joys, sorrows, triumphs.

She watched friends get married…

Jaina and Jagged Fel.

Jacen and Eryl Bessa.

Valin Horn and Nelani Dinn.

More babies were born. Children grew up and had children of their own, and through it all Anakin was right there at Tahiri’s side, alive and happy and healthy.

Then the funerals began.

She watched as Anakin and Jacen and Jaina lit funeral pyres for first Han, then Leia, and finally Luke and Mara.

Then she watched as people she knew in her heart to be Will and Tessa and their own children lit a pyre for Anakin himself, but unlike the soul crushing agony she felt on Hapes all those years ago, this time she felt peace as she watched the flames lick up to consume the shell that had contained the spirit of her other half. This time she knew that he’d lived a full life, and this time she knew, she’d be joining him soon.

In the far off distance the chiming sound began to fade, so too did the colors of the world in Tahiri’s mind, until all she saw was white. The sounds of people talking and children laughing became a low hum until they were nothing, until she was nothing.

Silence surrounded her for a second and for an eternity, and then, she heard a low rustling, like wind blowing through the leaves of trees. As the sound became louder, more distinct, the sound became familiar, became a voice, a voice she’d known in her heart and in her mind and in her soul forever, calling to her, whispering to her, welcoming her home.

“Forty-two my love, forty-two.”



Love Is Stronger Than Death/The The

 

Tah Dah!

Thank you readers and posters! Hope you enjoyed the end.

Elle

 

Holy cow. What an emotional ending.
So Jacen somewhat knows.
Jacen and Eryl Bessa?
Not Tenel Ka?
Tessa. I like it. Han's names were hilarious.
Good to see that we got to see older Tahiri again before the end of the story.
Wish we could have seen Anakin and Tahiri reacting to future Tahiri's death but oh well.
Or doing a memorial or something.

I love the NJO era!

 

OMG, OMG, OMG. That was - breathtaking with a capital B!

Leia's warmth and empathy, Jacen's candor and humor.

Tahiri's indescribable resilience.

She, Anakin, Will, and Tessa

Thanks for sharing, and I feel blessed to have been able to read this again!

!!

 

Hi! A dilettante for the Legends universe post-ROTJ here. Weeping like a complete idiot. And I only touched the tip of the iceberg.

Saw this as you were posting it, saw the nomination it got and the award it received in the not-so-distant past and glanced through it a couple of times, until I realised that it was most likely an esoteric story and that I should give it a go for that sole reason. And now that I managed to re-read the prologue and figure out what was going on...yes, I definitely want to read the rest. I must. I'm obsessed with the concept of multiple deaths and you are giving it a whole new meaning in this story. While I'm afraid that I will have to go to Wook a lot, skim through books et cetera in order to understand the details, I am trying to read this the same way I would read, say, an OC story.

The song used as the title of the prologue and the whole concept underneath it are a wonderful combination. Tahiri has taken the duality of about everything in this universe a bit too literally - she will either go back to her past or die. The description of the measurements she undertook, the place she chose for either her mission impossible or death, destroying the traces (so she would imply that she died in a starship accident?)...it's chilling. It's a space take on The Big Blue, in some way.

Then there is also the fact that she is in her thirties now. At a certain age, one is willing to take things to their extremes for completely different reasons. It's not that one's as callow as a teenager would be, it's just that one is not willing to wait anymore. Even non-Sith start dealing in absolutes. And there is nothing wrong about it. If you cannot have the thing you wanted the most, why have anything? The fact that she remembers every single detail of this encounter with her beloved that she is willing to go back to speaks for it.

Morbid, dystopian romance at its best.

I will be back later. This is upsettingly beautiful and beautifully upsetting, and I have to take it in smallest doses possible! Thank you for deciding to clear it up and repost it!

 

Ahh yes I remember reading this fic years ago. One of the best. It was great fun reading this again. I'm still bitter about how SBS ended and as much as i enjoyed watching the new SW movie I can't help but feel sad that my favorite Starwars EU characters growing up didn't make it past disney

 

This fic is being updated on Ao3. Go good to be reading it all over again.

 

Force Smuggler! You are awesome.

I've been away from the boards and fic for so long - I didn't even realize you could read this here. Unfortunately you can read parts of the hacked up version of Fear & Love too - so I'm gonna toddle on over and see if I can get that removed. I am working on updating, editing and finishing that too.