Jedi Dawn – Chapter 13

By Sienn (2001)

 

Rating (for chapter):  NC-17

Protagonists: Luke/Mara

Category: Drama/Action/Angst

 

Spoilers:

See Chapter 1

 

Disclaimer:

See Chapter 1

 

 

Coruscant, Imperial Palace, Medic Bay, 1 Day Later

When Leia blinked into the pale, worried face of her husband, she didn't know where she was, or why she was there. Only slowly she became aware of the white, sterile room and the slow, mechanical sounds of the droid that stood beside Han and fuddled at some instruments.

Before she could utter a single question, Han had drawn her into his arms and hugged her so close that she thought her ribs would break in the next moment.

"Han" she croaked, trying carefully to push him away.

He held her on arm's length, stroke her face and whispered: "Leia. I'm so glad you woke up. You scared the hell out of me, Princess." Again, her Corellian pressed her against himself and rocked her from left to right.

Leia couldn't help but smile at him, then patted his shoulders softly: "It's ok, Han. I'm fine. I'm fine." It didn't surprise her at all that her husband frowned at her doubtfully, but he released her at last and sank onto the edge of the medical bed she lay in.

"How long have I been here?" Leia asked while she pushed her hair out of her face and leaned back, feeling a little sick as the events of the past evening came back to her.

"Almost a day," Han told her softly, worriedly eyeing her pale face and the thin lines around her mouth that had eaten their way into her skin since Luke had vanished without a trace.

"It was Luke," she murmured, clutching his hand into her cold ones, as if she had heard his thoughts. Probably she had.

"WHAT was Luke? Leia, I thought you'd die. You cried and cramped and..." Han's voice trembled and it was easy to see that he had to fight hard to maintain his composure.

"It was Luke," she repeated, then, when she saw that Han still didn't understand, she added: "They did that to Luke."

Han paled even more, then asked again, even more quietly this time: "WHAT did they do to Luke, Leia? And who's THEY?"

The big eyes of his wife were wide and stared at the wall behind him. She swallowed hard before she answered. "I don't know exactly, Han. I just know that it hurt. It hurt ME." Now she looked directly at him: "What I felt, Han, was Luke's pain. A part of Luke's pain."

"A part? You mean... you mean, he hurt even more?" he repeated in a voice that could barely be heard.

Leia pressed her lips together and nodded: "Whatever I experienced, Han, Luke did experience it ten times worse. Or more."

Han's stare broke away from hers and his eyes rested on her mattress. She felt a shiver go through him and the deep concern and almost downright fear for Luke.

When he didn't say another thing, Leia cleared her throat, then asked, softly caressing his hand: "What happened to me, Han?"

He took his time to answer, but when he did, his voice was firm once again: "We were just about to check the last couple of ships when you suddenly cried out and crumpled to the floor. We instantly called the medic - you cried some time, then you had these cramps." He took a deep breath, then added: "They said a part of your brain convulsed. But they don't know why. Do YOU know why?"

Leia sighed. "No. I don't really know why. I just know that they hurt him. He hurt so much," she whispered, shivering slightly. Han embraced her again.

"Have you any idea where he is?" he asked softly. Almost instantly, he felt Leia shaking her head at his shoulder.

"Again no. But I think with help, I can trace him."

"How?" Han asked befuddled.

"I can't feel his presence in the Force, Han, but... They're hurting him STILL. He is in that great a pain, I can FEEL it. I think I can trace the pain to where he is. But not alone."

"We will get you help, I promise." He whispered, then assumed again rocking her back and forth. After a long time of comforting silence, he murmured: "We will get him out. And these aliens will pay for whatever they did to him. "

"You think they are Yuuzhan Vong?" Leia murmured back, relishing, with eyes closed, the sorely missed feeling of being that close to her husband.

"I'm sure of it," Han growled, playing with her hair.

"He wasn't on the Criarto. We searched the whole ship."

"That they are Yuuzhan Vong doesn't necessarily mean they have connections to Lah." Han pushed her softly back onto the mattress and lay himself down besides her, still stroking her long, brown hair.

Leia smiled thinly: "So you trust Tsavong Lah?"

Han grinned back: "Up to a certain level, I do. I'm sure he's serious about a peace treaty. I don't think he particularly likes Luke and he would certainly take the opportunity to kill him in battle, if he should be able to, but he hasn't hijacked him."

"But who else?"

Han frowned: "I don't know. If the Yuuzhan Vong government is anything like ours, than there will surely be opposition to Lah's plans. And this opposition would certainly blame Luke for everything - well," he added, "they are right about that. He has blown their fleet into oblivion."

Leia grinned at the brotherly pride that crept into Han's voice. She extended her hand and caressed softly over Han's temples. "You fear for him, don't you?"

Han's hazel eyes stared into hers and he smiled weakly: "I neglected him very much after Chewie's death - I forgot that I had other friends after Chewie died." He stared thoughtfully at the ceiling.

"In the last few weeks I've spent more time with Luke than with anyone else and I've become aware of some things, Leia. Things I didn't know I felt and things I had just forgotten."

He was silent for some time, then looked again at her, his eyes showing something she seldom saw in them - fear and remorse. "I don't want to loose him, too. Not him, too," he whispered.

Leia felt tears brimming in her own eyes when she cuddled close to her husband: "Me neither." She felt like the tears would overcome her, but she was determined to prevent that. As soon as the droid would give his ok, she would be out of here, contact Kyp or Corran, or both at best, and would begin to trace Luke. She would get him out - no matter how.

Pushing herself up on her elbows, she leaned over Han and kissed him softly on his forehead. "Thanks," she whispered.

Han frowned: "For what? For taking half of your space in bed?"

Leia laughed: "No, you nerf-herder." She poked him gently into the chest, then became serious. "I wanted to thank you for how you've taken care of Luke after his breakdown."

Much to Leia's delight, a slight blush appeared on Han's cheek and just how she'd expected, he almost instantly waved her comment away. "Ah, can it, Leia. It was the least I could do after how I behaved in the last couple of months."

She shook her head firmly, the mass of her hair swirling around her: "No, Han. If not for you, he wouldn't have made it out of it the way he has."

Han perched an eyebrow: "He hasn't been exactly healthy before..." he trailed off, not wanting to say it out loud.

Leia took again his hand. "I know he wasn't, Han. But without you, he'd still sit in the cabin on the Ralroost, not eating, not talking. You took him out of that stupor - perhaps you even saved his life," she added quietly, recalling those shocking evenings when she'd found her brother staring at his picture in the mirror with his eyes full of hate.

She saw Han's eyes go hard: "He would never commit suicide, Leia."

"Han, he..."

"He would never do that!" Han cut her words off, pushing himself up, too, and crossing his arms before his chest.

Sighing, Leia now embraced him: "Han, he detests himself. You've seen it, too. We have talked about it. YOU have pointed out how he behaves when he meets other people."

It took Han a long time to reply to this, and when he finally did, his voice was strange - low and incredibly sad. "You're right. I wanted to talk to him about it the day he vanished. On the voyage to Corellia - I wanted to talk to him. About that and about this Vong priestess."

"What? What had Luke to do with the Vong Priestess?" Leia almost cried out, causing Han to twitch in surprise.

"This Vong female that has offered him her help with finding a cure for Mara," he answered incredulously.

Leia just stared at him, unbelieving.

Han frowned: "He didn't tell you about it?" Leia shook her head, then frowned herself, obviously deeply in thought. "He said he'd need to tell me something on the way down after the second talks. You think he wanted to tell me then?"

Han nodded: "Probably. He wouldn't have kept this from you for long, you know. He told me the first evening."

Leia bit at her lower lip, her eyes still reflecting the speed with which her thoughts raced: "So Priestess Elan offered her help to Luke. Interesting. Is she a doctor?"

Han shook his head: "No. She wanted to contact someone of a group called Shapers. Luke didn't know more than that they take care of the living ships and all this stuff. As nerf-herders do, I suppose."

Leia grimaced at him, then became serious again: "I will talk to Priestess Elan when we meet Tsavong Lah this afternoon. Perhaps she will continue trying to find a cure, even if Luke isn't here."

Han nodded: "Ok. But until then, you will rest. You're as pale as a ghost." Leia was about to refuse, but the stern look in her husband's eyes silenced her.

"Ok, ok, I'll take a nap. If I can," she added, though.

"You will be able to, I'm sure. And after this..." Han was interrupted by the whooshing sound of the door and a young officer that came to a halt before Leia's bed, blushing deeply red when he saw the rather intimate position his Chief-of-State and her husband were in. Totally befuddled, he stood there and stared.

"Yes?" Leia perched an eyebrow, eyeing him questioningly.

Gulping, the youth stared again at his datapad, as if he had suddenly forgotten why he had disturbed the President of the New Republic in the first place.

"Um, eh... I'm sorry to disturb you, Your Excellency, it's just that you ordered - I mean, you said under ANY circumstances and I thought I should act according to this, you know. I couldn't guess you'd be..."

"Listen, boy, either you tell us what's gotten you to race in here like a pod with a defect engine, or you reverse course and vanish, ok?" Han said, disentangling himself carefully from Leia's long hair that had wrapped itself around him in some places.

"The Jade Sabre has asked for landing permission and is scheduled for arrival in half an hour," he exploded, his eyes begging them to tell him he had been right to disturb them.

In the next second, Leia was out of bed and halfway through the door.

"Leia, wait! You should..."

She spun around on her heels, her eyes blazing and her voice daring him to challenge her. "I should what? Calm down? Be nice with her? Hear her out first? Should what, Han?" she almost shouted.

Han smirked: "You should dress first, dear."

Leia stared down at herself, noting for the first time the short, clinical dress she wore which barely concealed her thighs. Blushing slightly, she darted for the chair she saw her clothes lying on, not giving Han a single glance.

"But the other things would be nice, too, you know," he added, grinning from ear to ear after having pushed out the young officer to give Leia some privacy.

Now she shot him a glance that would have killed him if it had been a laser bolt. "Spare me, Han. She has left him!"

"Yes, but she deserves to be given the opportunity to explain herself." Leia opened her mouth, but Han laid his hand on her beautiful lips. "Besides, if anyone has a stronger connection to Luke than you, then it's her, Leia. She will be the best help you can get in tracing him."

Leia snorted, but didn't say anything else, which, as Han thought, was definitely a good sign. More or less content with his achievement of cooling her down, he followed her out of the med-center.

 

Deep Space

"Why have you sealed off the membrane, Kwaad? I want to see him!" Priestess Elan fumed while she restlessly paced before the black, shimmering barrier that separated her from her new pet.

Mezhan Kwaad didn't pay much attention to her, fully focused on cleaning her pincer with all due care. Only when Elan placed herself before her, the Shaper gave her a short glance.

"I already explained to you, Priestess Elan, that he needs calm. Time to recover."

"Time to recover? You said you wanted to break him, to make him obedient. And now you want to let him gather new strength?" the Priestess hissed, her dark eyes glinting with rage.

The tendrils of Kwaad's headdress cramped together in annoyance. "If I continued now, without giving his body time to regain a certain amount of new power, I'd most probably kill him. Do you want me to do THAT, Priestess Elan? Just say so."

Elan bit her lower lip, then huffed: "I see. But I won't accept that for long, Kwaad. I have no time to be patient, you know."

Kwaad rose and towered over the much smaller woman: "Don't tell me how I have to do my job, Priestess. Be grateful that I've agreed to help you in your disobedience. I'm risking my very life and the honour of my domain for your petty desires. Because I liked your idea. But if you continue to annoy me, I could change my mind."

For a moment, Elan seemed to want to explode in rage, but somehow managed to restrain herself. Instead of shouting at Kwaad and beginning a new dispute, she simply stated: "I want to see him. Now."

Mezhan Kwaad grimaced, shaking her head, but went over to the membrane nonetheless. "One could think you actually LIKE to look at this despicable individual, Priestess."

Elan smiled: "Perhaps I do, Kwaad, perhaps I do. Can I see him now, yes or no?"

Kwaad snorted: "As it happens, I want to check on him anyway, to make sure everything is going as it should. But you will do NOTHING without my permission, understood?"

Again, it seemed as if the Priestess wanted to object, but finally she nodded.

Kwaad smiled thinly, then laid her hand onto a certain patch of the membrane, which shivered and became clear at once. As soon as Kwaad had opened a part of it, Elan squeezed next to her into the cage-space and went over to the Jeedai.

Shaking her head, the Shaper wondered once again what Elan saw in this weak, little thing. But the Priestess seemed fascinated when she kneeled down beside the human, who sat slumped in the corner of the small space, not reacting in any way. His arms lay weak and unmoving beside him and his eyes were half-closed and filled with pain.

"He's so exotic, don't you think? He looks a little bit Yuuzhan Vong." Elan said, not letting her eyes off of him.

"He has broken his nose some time in his life, yes. But that has been a long time ago and I doubt it was on purpose," Kwaad stated, kicking the Jeedai viciously into his left thigh, exactly at the place the rapo had been sitting for over six days.

The human moaned in pain and obviously tried to get his arms to clutch the hurting spot on his leg, but, as Kwaad stated contentedly, he wasn't able to move them in any controlled way. They lifted a little bit from the floor, but then sagged back again. It was still more, though, than she would have expected him to be capable of just yet.

"Interesting," she murmured, kneeling down herself and pressing one of her sharp needle fingers into one of the naked feet of the Jeedai. His back arched and his eyes turned inward, his moans increasing. Kwaad frowned, then withdraw the needle just in time to keep the human conscious - or at least in the state he was presently in.

"What?" Elan asked. "Doesn't he heal?" her voice was suspicious and worried.

The Shaper shook her head. "On the contrary. He heals exceptionally fast. He shouldn't be able to control ANY part of his body just now."

Elan was obviously irritated and Kwaad tried to explain, though she couldn't help but sound unnerved: "It's nothing that will prevent your plans, Priestess. It just means we will have to be a little more thorough."

The Priestess nodded, then focussed on the dark quadratic blotch on Skywalker's forehead that constricted regularly, always resulting in a spasmodic twitch in the Jeedai's body and a slight, unarticulated moan of agony. "Can I see it already?" she asked eagerly, her finger hovering over the dark blotch. It was the same type of membrane that separated the cage-space from the rest of the ship, only that it was very small and young.

Kwaad frowned and focused again on the Jeedai's body, catching every single movement, as few as there were, then nodded hesitantly.

After stroking softly over the membrane-baby, the Priestess leaned back and watched as the black quadratic material convulsed and formed into a small ball.

"Explain it to me," Elan demanded, watching in delight as Skywalker's head twitched uncontrolled to the right, then to the left, as the membrane withdrew its body from the pores of his skin to form the shining, glittering ball.

Finally the ball, the size of her fingernail, lay in the midst of the most wonderful artwork she had ever seen. "It is wonderful. You are a true artist," she murmured, extending a finger to touch it. The Shaper clutched her wrist in an iron grip: "Don't touch it yet. Not you. And now be quiet and listen if you want to understand."

Elan nodded, still staring fascinated at the Jeedai's forehead. The membrane-ball lay in the centre of a delicate carving in his skin - her personal symbol. During almost a dozen of hours of careful work, Kwaad had carved it into his skin - it had healed well, though it hadn't yet any colour but the angry red of a still fresh wound.

"I'm glad you like my carving," Kwaad snorted, then pointed on the black ball. "Of course you are aware that it hasn't been the only thing done to him. What do you know about the process of shaping a familiar?"

Elan's forehead furrowed in concentration, but she came not up with very much but a slight shrug. Kwaad grimaced, then pinched one of her fingernails into the side of the membrane-ball, causing it to dodge to the other side. The Jeedai convulsed violently and tried uncoordinated to avoid the pain - it only resulted in spasmodic movements without any use.

Elan bent forward and could see that a sort of tendril extended from the black ball into something that looked like a hole.

"I have carved a tunnel through his skull just up to his brain tissue - a way for the drev - membrane to settle into the small space between the skull bone and the actual brain."

"Why?" Elan asked, curiously eyeing it.

Kwaad rolled her eyes, then explained: "The drev - membrane is the way we will control him - his thoughts, his movements." She gestured towards the almost catatonic Jeedai: "He will only be this way until the membrane has connected with his organism and the brain cells I had to damage are repaired."

"Damage?" Elan echoed.

"Yes. It is not to prevent, unfortunately. It's the reason why he has almost no control over his body at the moment. Every familiar I've shaped so far was completely unable to and unaware of anything after the procedure. But he heals exceptionally well, as I already said. He will be a tough case."

"But you will succeed, won't you?"

Kwaad gave the Priestess a smile: "Of course I will. Not long and we will be able to continue."

Elan grinned, then followed the Shaper out of the cage-space after they had sealed the wound again.

*~~

Luke didn't know much at the moment, wasn't able to think of anything but that this was the worst pain he had ever felt. He couldn't actually remember why, but for what seemed like an eternity, he had only felt pain - incredible intense and mind-shattering pain unlike anything he had experienced in his life.

He didn't know anymore that Kwaad had rammed the pincer-finger into his forehead; he didn't even know that his head-injury was the reason for what he felt.

At the moment, all he knew was that he lay and nothing more. His world was totally blurred; he couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything. The throbbing, cutting pain had extended into every single cell of his body and gave him no possibility to find the actual origin.

He didn't command the Force consciously to heal his head, it was an automatic reflex and he wasn't aware of it. He felt when Kwaad kicked him, felt when she pushed her needle-finger into one of his feet, but that was everything. He didn't know it was Kwaad, he didn't know why it hurt, he just knew it hurt.

For a long, long time he was left in this state, oblivious to everything around him, only aware of the pulsating ache in his whole body. When a part of his senses came back to him, it happened suddenly. As if he had just opened his eyes from a long sleep, his vision became clear and he was able to move - awkwardly and in pain, but he was able to. However, the memories that Kwaad had tortured him this way and what exactly the torture had been - they were not accessible for him, far away, shielded by a black, living membrane he didn't even know was there. His aches were so multiple, it was impossible for him to locate the one on his forehead separately.

Thus, he was not as suspicious, outraged or afraid as he should have been when Kwaad kneeled down beside him - and also the sight of Elan didn't more than trouble him a little bit, for he had no memories of her.

"You hurt," stated the Yuuzhan Vong woman with the tendrils on her head. He knew that they were Yuuzhan Vong. Yes, he knew that.

Slowly, he nodded, trying to co-ordinate the movement and feeling a little bit proud that it actually turned out to be as it should.

"Do you want the pain to stop?"

He nodded again, feeling his eyes widen in hope and his lips trying to form words - an inarticulate moan was all that came out.

It seemed to be enough for the Yuuzhan Vong, for she nodded: "Fine. Everything you have to do is say yes to what I tell you next. Understood?"

He nodded again, wishing he could do more, but not understanding why he couldn't.

"Very well. Just repeat this: I'm a Yuuzhan Vong and my name is Liin Kwaad. I'm Priestess Elan's familiar."

He had already opened his mouth to comply to the order, when a small voice in his head startled him. 'Remember' it whispered. 'You can remember. Just use the Force. They don't know about it. They can't control it.'

He frowned, opened his mouth again, part of him determined to obey in order to make his pain stop, but the other part of him stubbornly refusing to bring anything out.

"Say it. I'm a Yuuzhan Vong and my name is Liin Kwaad. I'm Priestess Elan's familiar." Kwaad persisted, her strange eyes never leaving the blue orbs of the human.

Again, he opened his mouth, wanted to say what he had been told to say, but again this voice appeared. And this time, the rebellious part of him followed it, followed its instructions and with a jolt of pain and recognition, the Force and with it the memories flooded his mind.

That was Mezhan Kwaad! She had hurt him! Horrifying images of her face, set in concentration while she tortured him, assaulted his consciousness, the grinding sounds in his head whose source he still couldn't identify. His head! They had done something to him.

"I'm a Yuuzhan Vong and my name is Liin..." Kwaad began again, but this time, not a single cell in his body wanted to comply.

"No!" he cried, calling on his very reserves to push himself onto hands and knees. With defiance and stubbornness burning in his eyes, he spat towards the Shaper: "I'm human and my name is Luke Skywalker. Whatever you tried to do to me, it went wrong."

Kwaad smiled: "No, Jeedai. It didn't go wrong. It just wasn't enough." And with this, she pushed him roughly onto his stomach, pressed his head onto the floor, and bent forward: "Don't have any fear. You will soon know again who you are." She cackled, and Luke wanted to reply something, but then an incredible pain shot from the base of his skull into his entire body and all he could do was cry.

*~~

"What are you doing?" Elan demanded to know, eyeing the contorted features of her familiar and the extraordinary amount of blood that spread over the floor with every helpless cough he made, suspiciously and worriedly. His eyes showed the white and except for his gagging and coughing, he didn't resist Kwaad in any way.

Kwaad paused, one of her fingers still deeply immersed in the base of the Jeedai's skull: "As I said, he is a tough case."

Reaching into her pocket, she took out another blotch of shimmering, black drev-membrane.

"He needs a second one," she said, grinning ferociously and focussing her attention once again on Skywalker.

 

Coruscant, Imperial Palace, The President's Personal Landing Bay

Han couldn't quite decide what he felt for the woman that descended the ramp of the Jade Sabre and walked determinedly over to them.

On the one hand, he was glad to see Mara alive and well - at least she seemed to be from the outside. On the other hand, he couldn't forget what she had done to Luke. And even if he didn't go for her throat immediately, he would certainly be reserved towards her.

He couldn't even guess how Leia would behave. Judging by her blazing eyes, she wouldn't be exceptionally nice to the Jedi Master.

To his utter surprise, though he supposed he shouldn't have expected anything else from Mara Jade, the fiery redhead didn't seem to be the least affected by Leia's angry greeting.

"Where is Luke?" she demanded to know, letting her eyes wander through the hangar bay, searching the well-known form of her husband. Now that she was closer, Han could see how pale she was - she looked exactly like Leia. The Corellian wondered whether she had also felt Luke's agony - he was almost sure she had.

"Oh, you actually care?" Leia spat, her right hand dangerously close to her lightsaber. Han shifted uncomfortably. Knowing Mara and Leia, it would certainly NOT surprise him if they began fighting each other here and now.

Mara's eyes narrowed: "Leia, I have felt his pain. Where is he? I have no time to waste - not with this bickering. We will talk later. First I want to see Luke."

"So, you want to?!" Leia shouted. "Then lead me to him! Because I don't know where he is. The Yuuzhan Vong have him and it's only because of YOU!"

Mara paled even more, her eyes widening in horror. "The Yuuzhan Vong have him?" she repeated almost inaudibly.

"And it's your fault! You have let him down!" Leia's voice trembled with rage.

"Leia, you don't understand, I had my reasons, I..." Mara began to defend herself, but that only made Leia more furious. And with a snap-hiss, just as Han had feared, Leia activated her lightsaber. Though she didn't charge yet. "Leia..." he began.

"Han, let me alone," she hissed and he backed away immediately, wondering whether she'd be able to block a mild stun bolt.

Mara had almost instantly activated her lightsaber, too, and just started to make a reply, when both women began to tremble and fainted with a cry of pure agony.

| To Be Continued |  Next cpater NC-17

 

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