Saga The Long and Winding Road---Link to Sequel NOW up! 5/11

man! the adreniline (sp?) rush from this is worse that running a mile or two...

excellent.

oh most excellent! i'd forgotten how the T'lor/Rani bond helped with the sith witch!


have i mentioned how hard it is to read when you have your eyes squinted almost completely shut from fear?

the answer is VERY HARD. DOABLE, BUT VERY HARD.

good post, JKOW!

 

Great weaving of past posts, JKOW.

I look forward to more. yes, more.

 

Up again!

 

[face_shocked] [face_shocked] [face_shocked] oh, no!!! this is so not good! Does this mean Alex won't remember what memories the Sith Witch took from him!? i hope not! [face_shocked] more soon? please?

 

I feel so much for Meri and what she's going through here. To have lost her bond with Alex... poor, poor girl.

Wonderful linking of the USJS with your story JKOW.

Still reading, just not around as much as the moment.

 

Thanks for the replies guys, and YAY Calam! Was wondering where you've been.

Hope you guys don't mind that my post will be getting long now. I've finally finished this story, but it's still 45 pages left in WORD to post.

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It was late when Vail slipped into the apartment she shared with Master Arieh and his padawan. Quietly she tip-toed through the doorway, the sound of it swishing closed behind her faintly reaching her ears as she crept forward.

An unsavory word popped into her mind as she tripped over an unseen piece of furniture in the main room. Biting her lower lip to keep from mumbling aloud, she wished for once that she had the Jedi's almost feline-like grace. She had no doubt that any of her Jedi companions could easily navigate a dark room without second thought. As it was she hoped the keen ears of the Jedi master or apprentice wouldn't hear her stumbling about. She didn't want to awaken either at this late hour.

No sooner had the thought passed through her mind than a hair-raising scream ripped through the silence. Vail froze at the entrance to the short hall that led to the two bedrooms and 'fresher. She had only time to wonder what was going on when the heavy stillness was torn by another scream of terror; this one broken off by panicked sobs.

Vail startled, then stumbled her way quickly down the hall to Meri's room, expecting at any moment for the tall Jedi Master to come racing out of his room as well.

Tripping through the doorway, Vail paused at the entrance and palmed the lightswitch as the sound of choked sobs reached her ears. The lights flashed on, momentarily blinding Vail with their brilliance. When her vision cleared, Vail turned violet eyes towards the sound of broken crying, finding a disturbing sight.

Meri sat huddled on her bed, back against the wall, with her knees pulled up to her chest. The apprentice was trembling violently and tears streamed down her shockingly white and terrified face. Even as Vail looked on, she noticed Meri was having trouble breathing. In fact, it looked like she was hyperventilating...

Rushing over, Vail placed a steadying hand on the older girl's shivering arm. "Meri? What's the matter? Are you okay?"

Her concerned questions elicited no response in the distraught apprentice. It was as though Vail weren't even there.

"Meri?" she questioned again louder, this time shaking the other girls arm slightly. Meri barely responded, her eyes only flickering towards Vail as the other girl tugged on the padawan?s arm.

In her dark eyes Vail could see fear and she thought it was because Meri couldn?t breathe. She needed to get her to the infirmary, but there was no way she would be able to carry her.

Pulling away, Vail ran down the hall to the master's room, only to find it empty when she palmed the switch. Where was the Jedi master at this time of night?

Racing back to Meri's room, Vail took one look at the deteriorating apprentice and knew something was very wrong.

?Can you walk, Meri? Please try?? she cajoled as she tugged again on the apprentices arm.

To her surprise the older girl stumbled to her feet, but within a few steps, crashed to the ground, holding her head in her hands, fighting to regain her breath.

Grasping for something to do, Vail thought instantly of An-Paj.
Turning on her heel, she left Meri struggling for breath and hurried for the Com unit.

Her hands fumbled and Vail had to force herself to slow down in order to key in the right number. Impatiently she waited for the Com to connect; twisting her hands, she stared at the blank screen, willing it to come to life.

The screen finally flickered to life, with a rather sleepy looking An-Paj standing before the Com; one hand running through his white hair standing on end, and his other holding his robe closed. It suddenly dawned on her that it was the middle of the night and she had just called him at home, but remembering Meri she suddenly didn?t care.

An-Pa

 

poor Meri! argh this is so depressing! but it was a fantastic post- i can't wait to read more!

 

Uppie!

 

Good posts! Loved the action, and nice pain filled drama in the next set.

 

I have a confession to make. I've been a lurker on this story for months. I am completely hooked and this story is getting better by the post. I can't wait for the next one!!

 

//sob//

 

Poor Meri... :'( Alex needs to wake up soon! And hug her and kiss her...

 

Thanks guys!!! And thanks for delurking JKC!! I appreciate knowing that you're at least reading.

Don't worry Healer Leona, there is a sequel.

Here is the next post. I wrote the last part, Derisa the rest.


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Rani was awakened by tears. Not the sounds of quiet sobs, for indeed her small private space was quite still, or by any rippling through the Force's fiery curtain, but by the actual sensation of ghostly tears sliding down her own cheeks, and the unheard shattering of a heart. Her wide blue-grey eyes opened, and she drew a slow, deep breath to still her own stir of emotion in response to what she sensed... no... felt. She was called to do whatever she could to help ease that desperate heart's anguish.

Silently, but strangely steady on her too-thin legs, Rani found her way to a cubicle lit only by the slow-growing daylight that crept through the curtained transparisteel window. A dark-haired girl sat at her master's bedside, her tears drying on her pale face, and she turned at the subtle shifting of air currents that announced Rani's presence at the doorway, raising large dark eyes to meet the older padawan's concerned gaze.

"Meri." Rani's murmur broke the stillness of the sickroom, and the younger woman drew herself up, clutching the remnants of her dignity about her as a shield against whatever might come between her and her master.

"What?" Meri asked quietly, her voice rough with emotion, "What do you want?"

"To help you," Rani answered simply. "You are so... sad."

Meri's reply was a weak scoff, a poor attempt at a laugh: "Sad. Good word for it."

"May I... help?" Somehow, Rani knew all she had to do was lay her hand on the distraught Padawan, and she could help her, ease her of some of that terrible burden of loss and fear, of penetrating despair that she bore.

But Meri withdrew, her dark eyes suspicious, holding her upper arms in a tight embrace, and drawing the Force between them, a very effective insulation from any sort of contact.

Rani drew her hand back, not wanting to force the younger girl, and leaned up against the jamb of the door. Meri sprang to her feet, almost reflexively, when she was thus reminded of the older girl's debility. "Please, sit," Meri said, halfway between a plea and an order. "You shouldn't be up and about yet, I'm sure."

"Like as not," Rani smiled warmly, "But since when has that stopped me?"

As Rani took the proffered seat, Meri sucked in several calming breaths, of which the last evolved into a long yawn. Rani observed this, and noted as well the deeply engraved lines of worry and exhaustion carved into the younger girl's face. "Meri, you should get some sleep," she frowned, although she was careful to keep her tone as neutral as possible.

The protective Padawan shook her head adamantly. "Ale- my Master needs me. I'll stay awake until he is... better...?"

Rani caught both the slip, and the hesitation there, and allowed her newly awakened empathic senses to pick up Meri's vibrations of uncertainty and confusion. Withholding her sigh at the younger woman's determination, she made the only offer she could. "Well, take a quick walk then, Meri: get some air and stretch your legs. You aren't going to do him any good all pinched up and cramped, are you?" She kept her tone light but serious.

Meri pondered this suggestion for a few moments and then looked back down at her beloved's face, his face frozen in a cold parody of itself. She bit her lip. "I can't leave him like this," she pleaded, and Rani felt the full meaning of those words. She's sure he's really gone, the older Padawan realized.

"Meri, I'll stay and keep watch for you," Rani offered gently, adding "It's okay, he's here, he's safe."

Meri looked towards the door, and Rani could read the flight reflex within the younger woman fighting with her sense of duty, and her deep love for the Jedi Master that lay near to her side, insensible to the wrenching internal battles bei

 

:'( Poor Meri... stupid sith ladything, making Alex forget her! Poor boy though... thinking he's still a padawan! The healers are going to have a lot of explaining to do!

 

oh, this is too evil! poor Meri! that's so awful! i hope he'll get his memories back! but killer postie! lookin forward to more!

 

wow.

 

Vampire chickee slurped out Alex's love for Meri!

Bummer.

 

Wow. I'm the worst, like, ever at actually responding, but this has really been phenomenal. I can almost *feel* Meri's anguish at realizing that Alex can't love her if he doesn't know her. Heartbreaking.

Keep up the good work, JKOW!

 

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!!!

How horrible for them both!!! Right, where's the sequel already???

 

Glad everyone is enjoying the story and thank you for reading and replying!

Here is the next post and the only thing I can say is, if you thought the last bit was sad, wait till you read this one

Derisa wrote the first few parts of this, I wrote the last.

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The Mind Healers were one of the most specialized vocations of the Jedi Order. These precious few individuals could sense the patterns of energy flowing within an individual?s psyche, and, using the Force in the most delicate of manipulations, could guide it back to more healthy channels. For generations, the Jedi had maintained a facility on a small, out-of-the-way system, where healing arts of all kinds and types were learned and practiced. Called Sanctuary, the chief Mind-Healer?s domain was an isolated island, tranquil and serene and surrounded by lush life in all its myriad forms.

Foremost teacher and practitioner of that esoteric calling, Reis-An Halle had breathed in the Force for almost eighty years, although she did not show her physical age in the petite lines of her frame, or in her serene visage, wise if mostly unlined. She was not, and never had been a pretty woman, but her calling and her outlook had granted her a certain, regal calmness of presence, and many had noted how the Force seemed to swirl through her, as though refining her with every breath: sifting through the core of her being and carrying away the dross with every exhalation.

Her whole life, she had been where she was called to be, where her particular skills and talents, her Gift, would do the most good for the most people. She was disturbed that she was needed *here*, of all places, but since arriving, she had felt the disturbances in the Force?s usual even flow. Disturbance creates disturbance, and the cycle builds, she thought as she moved down through the levels, sending out her personal peace like a herald before her, and leaving it like a wake of soothing energies behind her.

She moved through the Temple?s corridors, like a freshening breeze, heading for the Infirmary, where she felt a roil of disruptive emotions: fear and terror, confusion and sorrow reigning. She reached the infirmary and was ushered into the Master Healer An Paj?s small office.

?I cannot tell you how glad I am that you are here at this time, Master Halle,? he began, to open the conversation. His antennae quirked and through whatever esoteric and undefineable sense the Jedi accessed to touch the life-Force of the Galaxy, Reis-An could see him filtering bits of information from the flow of the Force around him. She gave a contemplative nod.

?I am, as always, wherever I am needed.? She drew another deep breath, and nodded for the Temple?s Master Healer to continue. ?Whatever else has happened to lead up to the present situations, is important, but more, I need to know. What is happening now, and who are the people I must see to??

A half-sigh of relief at her directness seemed to help the blue-skinned Master Healer refocus, and he detailed the situation surrounding the amnesiac master and his distraught padawan, touching on Meri?s history, and letting the Mind-Healer know about the other losses and injuries the ranks of the Temple Jedi had suffered in the previous two months.

Once she was fully cognizant of the situation as it now stood, the Mind Healer drew herself gracefully to her feet and thanked An Paj for his help. ?Would you come with me to see the master, Alex, was that right??

An Paj nodded, relieved that this puzzle would soon be solved. ?It is quite unlike anything I have seen before, Reis-An,? he reiterated as he led her into the infirmary proper. The Mind Healer stepped through into the small room that housed the damaged Jedi, Alex Arieh. Two others sat in the room, a too-thin, older Padawan who quickly moved to offer up her seat to the Mind-Healer, and a medical aide, who was checking the invalid Jedi?s vital signs.

As usual, the moment she had dedicated herself to treating a patie

 

poor Meri still! argh- that must be terrible! a great post- i can't wait for more! and i'm glad to hear that Alex might be able to recover his memories!

 

Wow, nice post JKOW! But so sad... darn Alex, disagreeing with his own self on taking Meri That mind healer better be good... for Meri's sake

 

double wow.