Beyond - Legends Life Among the Dead ~ Anakin/Tahiri post Rebirth AU *ON HOLD* (See author's note)

Wow, Anakin sure does have to put up with a lot. Tahiri's really taking her anger out on him now. I's beginning to feel kind of sorry for him.

It's good their going, though. I can't wait to find out who Tahiri keeps seeing in her dreams. I'm looking forward to finding out about Anakin's plan too.

Great job, Qwi!

 

Star-Yup.

Lonewolf-Thanks! Yup, Anakin does have to put up with a lot. He's helped Tahiri through a lot. She knows this, too...I think a lot of it is that she's afraid because of what she's been and done, and she tries to cover it up, and it comes out as anger and frustration. I think she's just frustrated with herself and isn't quite sure how to express it...but I'll get into that later.

 

This makes two fics of yours I'm now reading . I saw an Evanescence song, and A/T, two things I happen to love, and figured "okay, need to read this" . And I'm incredibly glad I did . You've captured Anakin and Tahiri's relationship perfectly, perhaps even better than Greg Keyes himself. I would point out a few of my favorite lines, but then I would be quoting like half the story so far . Great work so far! It's been too long since I've read a great A/T fic, and this certainly qualifies

 

Thank you so much, Kev! I'm doubly honored that you're reading this--you do A/T so amazingly well. I'm still feel kind of rusty on writing them.


Just to note to everyone, so I don't confuse you, I've broken up the Evanescence song from the beginning of this and I've posted (and will post) a lyric before each chapter. It works out better for me.

********

"You call this easy?" Tahiri whispered disbelievingly.

"Shh!" Anakin put a finger to his mouth in warning.

Tahiri rolled her eyes, but closed her mouth, glancing over her shoulder. If we get caught, it's going to look so bad for the Jedi. It hadn't been hard to get Artoo--he had been in Luke and Mara's room, and Anakin had sent him a signal. Minutes later, the little droid had rolled out into the hallway. If Luke or Mara had noticed him going, it hadn't mattered. Artoo pretty much went where he wanted.

Click. The door Anakin and Tahiri were standing in front of slid open. Artoo gave a low whistle, then wheeled back from the panel next to the door.

Anakin flashed Tahiri a grin as he peered into the space beyond. Tahiri peeked in, too, and saw no one. They cautiously stepped through, Artoo rolling along behind them. When the door slid shut, Anakin said, "See? Artoo can break into anything."

"Even a high security level hangar," Tahiri agreed.

"Do you see one we could use?"

Tahiri frowned. "A lot of them are damaged..." She prowled through the rows of Yuuzhan Vong ships, which had been captured by the New Republic during different battles. They were kept locked away by the New Republic, as scientists studied them to learn all they could of the Yuuzhan Vong technology. The more they learned, the better they could devise weapons against the aliens.

Artoo bleeped something, and Anakin said, "Yes. In a few minutes."

Vaguely wondering what the droid had said, Tahiri continued to browse through the Yuuzhan Vong vessels, stopping to examine different ones. That one won't be able to fly... This one's dovin basal is messed up... This one--hmmm... Tahiri thoroughly explored the ship. "This one," she finally declared. "It's a Yorik-vec assault cruiser. It's normally run by a crew of five, but I can fly it."

She was glad Anakin didn't ask if she was sure she could fly it--it made her feel a little more assured that he thought she knew what she was doing. He simply nodded. "Now it's time to get off of Coruscant."

"Oh yeah, that's going to be so easy," Tahiri said sarcastically.

"I've got it taken care of," Anakin gave his famous Solo half-smile. "Artoo has sent a message to the planetary defense, explaining that the New Republic defense is going to be taking a Yuuzhan Vong vessel out for a test run. The planetary defense thinks it's a message from Coruscant Security."

"Great. Is anything we're doing actually legal?"

"Nope."

Tahiri sighed. "Shall we board, then?"

Anakin nodded. "Artoo's going to open the hangar for us, then go back to the hotel. Hopefully no one will ever know he was involved."

"Hopefully," Tahiri repeated. "Or Luke and Mara might get blamed for this." If she didn't feel that it was essential that she go to Yavin 4, she wouldn't be doing this, for Luke and Mara's sake. They had shown her more kindness than some. There were many people--even Jedi--who knew who she was and what had been done to her by the Yuuzhan Vong, and regarded her as if she were carrying a deadly disease. It hurt more than she would admit. Luke and Mara had always shown confidence in her. Despite knowing that she had to do this, she felt an uncomfortable twinge of guilt. She only hoped that Luke and Mara's reputation didn't get soiled any more than it already was.

*

Hands in the living control gloves, face partially covered by the cognition hood, Tahiri piloted the cruiser away from Coruscant. They had passed through the planetary defenses with no problems. "Going to superluminal transport," Tahiri said, stroking her hands along a bank of indicators.

 

Horray for aggressive negotiatons, they must skip a generation . Don't sell yourself short, Qwi, you write A/T as well as anyone on the boards, if not better than everyone . I really like how we're beginning to see Anakin get a little frustrated -- the "It's always nothing lately, isn't it?" -- it makes him seem very real and you just can't help sympathizing. Great job .

 

This is a really great story, I've read your other ones too and it seems like you have a niche for developing an interesting relationship between Anakin and Tahiri, while also developing a good plot. Keep it up!

 

So, Anakin has inheritted the Skywalker 'getting into ridiculosly dangerous situations and coming alive, along with your would-be (or in this case actual) girlfriend'?

Coolness.

 

Qwi, I don't know if you remember me but I'm a fan from waaaaaaay back, before you were married. In fact, I remember when you took a break from writing in order to get married! And now you have a son...man. Congrats to you!

As far as the story goes, I see you haven't lost your touch. Your A/T was always among the very best out there, and you've certainly kept it up. I can't wait to read more!

JMA

 

oohh... another great A/T fic! Can't wait to read more!Great postie, Qwi!
And BTW, I am an oblivious lurker... I read and forget to post!

 

Kev-Thanks! I love exploring personalities and characteristics and seeing what certain characters will do if they wind up in certain situations. Anakin Solo especially has so many layers to dig through.

Sari-Thank you so much! I try to wind the plot into it--I just love writing Anakin and Tahiri's personalities and the way they go together. Thanks for reading!

Star-LOL! Seems like the Skywalker genes pass along more than just physical appearances, huh?

JMA-Of course I remember you! Thank you so much for stopping by and taking the time to read this story. I'm glad you're enjoying it. And thank you--I love being a mommy. Anakin is babbling on my lap as I'm writing this.

Chie-Welcome to the thread! I love when lurkers pop up. Thanks for reading and taking the time to post.

 

Fifth page? [face_shocked] Nononononononono! UP it must go! Up I say, UP!

 

Great story so far. I just finished A light in the darkness. Keep it up.

 

STAY UP!!!! *kicks thread* hee hee!

 

Thanks for the ups, Chie!

knightleia-You read through my A/T trilogy? [face_shocked] That's a big feat. Thanks so much for posting! I'm glad you're enjoying it.


*sigh* I apologize that I still have no post. I've been very busy...still trying to finish other posts or chapters for different stories that I'm writing, and dealing with Real Life. Anakin (my son) has been very unusually fussy this week, due to shots and teething, so I've been very busy with him. (Family comes first, you know!) I'll try to have a post soon! Thanks for your patience.

 

Wow, how did i miss this being updated?

Oh well, i caught up and i am loving it Qwi.

aggressive negotiatons

nina

 

I love the trilogy! I read through the whole thing (as in all three) in like a week! Totally one of the best fics on tf.n!

 

jainafel-Thank you! I have fun with throwing lines in from the movies. The aggressive negotiations one was fun.

Chie- I'm always in awe when people read through the A/T trilogy...it was my first venture into fanfiction. I guess sometimes I'm amazed people liked it.


Okay, just a quick update--I am writing a post for this now! I had to finish writing a chapter (fifteen pages...talk about having a fried brain) for a story I'm co-writing, and finished it last night, so I'm working on a post for my two stories on here now.

 

The Trilogy was great, looking forward to the next post.

 

Thanks, knightleia.


Whew! After being stuck in the middle of this post for like, a week, the rest of it finally came to me. Hope it's all right.

********

Bits of yorik coral shot everywhere. Anakin and Tahiri, their arms wrapped tightly around each other, floated gently to the ground, enclosed in a Force bubble. They touched the ground and waited until the dust had cleared before lowering the bubble.

Tahiri reluctantly pulled away from Anakin. It was nice being in his arms. It made her feel a lot safer than she had been feeling lately. Hoping that Anakin hadn't caught that line of thought, she turned away from him. "The coralskippers will be scanning for us. We should move."

"Right."

The two of them headed cautiously into the jungle, not sure if they would run into some kind of Yuuzhan Vong contraption at any given point. "Tahiri," Anakin whispered, "we don't even know where this ceremony will be held."

"It might be in the first place the Yuuzhan Vong set up...where I was Shaped. That's a fourth of the way around the planet from where we are, from what I saw when we were coming in. But we'll have to find a Yuuzhan Vong post--we saw a bunch from orbit, and I'm sure they have them spread through the entire planet. Then I can find out where it's being held. I can almost guarantee that all of the Yuuzhan Vong on the planet will be attending the sacrifice. It shouldn't be too hard to find out where they're all headed."

"So we're just going to walk randomly through the jungle until we find a Yuuzhan Vong outpost?" Anakin asked, eyebrows raised.

"Sounds about right."

"Can we do it by tomorrow at sunset?"

"Do you even have to ask? This is us we're talking about. Do we really have a choice?" Tahiri asked wryly.

Anakin gave her a grin. They continued on in silence. It was mid-afternoon on Yavin 4, and sunlight penetrated the jungle trees in places, casting a dim light on plants and creatures that scuttled around. I could almost fool myself into thinking that nothing happened to Yavin, and that Anakin and I are just on a walk outside of the Jedi Temple, Tahiri thought wistfully.

She froze when she caught sight of a creature slinking through the underbrush, grabbing Anakin's arm and yanking him to a stop. He must have caught her horror in the Force, because he shot her a quick frown, then scanned the area, looking for a threat.

Almost instantaneously, Tahiri let go of Anakin and swiftly yanked out her lightsaber, igniting it and running for the brush in front of them. He ran forward in time to see Tahiri slicing through some kind of creature. It was woody-looking, almost as if it was part of one of the tree trunks. Four long, spiky legs, almost like sticks, protruded from its body. Well, two stuck out from the back half, and two from the front half--the creature had been cut in half by Tahiri's lightsaber.

Tahiri bit back a curse. "Anakin! We have to move, now."

Anakin caught up with her as she hurried forward. "What was that thing?"

"It was a hor'resh. It's part of a hive. The Yuuzhan Vong only started shaping them just before I was captured by them, which is why the New Republic hasn't run into them yet. There's never just one hor'resh. The Yuuzhan Vong will have them spread throughout Yavin 4. They're used to gather information--what one hor'resh sees, all of them see. And whenever they get sent out to gather information, there are Yuuzhan Vong watching everything they see." Tahiri glanced at Anakin and saw the understanding in his eyes.

"They'll know where we are--that we didn't die."

"Yes. And more than that, they'll know who we are," Tahiri said tightly.

"So where are we going?"

"Anywhere out of the open. We can't be in here. We need to find a hole, a cave, anything out of the jungle." Even as she spoke, she was frantically searching for somewhere to hide.

Anakin was the one who found a spot. "Here, Tahiri."

One of the Massassi trees ha

 

Things aren't looking too good for our heroes are they?

 

Qwi this is one of the best A/T fics I've ever had the pleasure of reading. I can't wait to see what Anakin's reaction is and how they handle this Vong crisis they've landed in. Hope to see more soon.

Fireyforce

 

Great post. Can't wait to see Anakin's reaction. I hope Riina won't take over. Keep it up!

 

*runs in* *catches breath* Sorry... I'm... late... *reads*

Awwww!

Ohhhh I wonder what's causing the dreams... at least it went further this time.

*gives Qwi a crown* You are now the official queen of cliffies! Can't wait to see what happens... paitence is not one of my strong points, but I won't pester or threaten violence. Promise.

I love it!

 

"I'm scared because I love...because I love..." She trailed off and sank to her knees, her wrist still clutched in Anakin's hand. She was exhausted now, even more than she had been the last few days. She looked up and met Anakin's eyes squarely. "Because I love you."

YES! YES YES YES YES YES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

*ahem* I'm a little happy . She loves him! She loves him! *BOUNCE BOUNCE BOUNCE*

... oh, I liked that post a little . Oh, who am I kidding -- QWI! That was AWESOME!!!! *bounce* It was so un-clichéd, and it's just like Anakin and Tahiri to not have this kind of conversation until they're knee-deep in trouble (just think about where they were when they kissed for the first time ). I love it! They're so... so... Anakin and Tahiri . You have their characters nailed perfectly.

Okay, sorry about all that, but you had to know you were going to get a reaction from me something like that after a post like that . I A/T.

 

Kiss her Anakin!