{{ urbania's void - chapter 29
...the trick is to keep breathing (day thirty-one / +31)
A whimper in the dark hallway.
"I can't move it."
"Shhh... it'll be okay. Come on, sit down."
Jaina Solo helped Jagged Fel to the wall, where he propped himself up against it. They had just finished dealing with a group of exceptionally vicious Quadripdici, one of which fractured Jag's forearm. The hallway was fairly long and very dark. Kyp, Jaina and Zekk were attempting to heighten their senses with the Force -- they were succeeding to an extent but something was holding them back.
They couldn't make out each other’s facial features easily and they had to squint to see silhouettes of one another.
That changed when the hallway turned on.
"Huh?" Jaina bolted upright from her position kneeling beside Jag and peered around.
The walls, the ceiling, even the floor. It was like the hallway was made up of hundreds of holo-screens. And each and every one of them showed the same thing.
"Tenel Ka?" Kyp inquired, staring to one of the many screens in the wall beside him.
It was an image of a room, a bedroom, everything was black. Tenel Ka was asleep in the bed and a figure loomed over her.
"Kaidin..." Zekk whispered, under his breath.
Gadell pulled Tahiri down behind a control console full of holo-screens in one of the many dark, empty rooms on the tower's upper floors.
"I thought I heard something," he heaved, letting his eyes shut for a moment as his breath slowed.
"Quit hallucinating, you big lunkhead! Let's go!" She yanked him out from behind the console, by the sleeve of his black flightsuit. They both froze as all the screens on the console flickered to life, giving the room an eerie monochromatic glow.
"Tenel Ka!" Gadell scrambled to the console of screens, letting his gaze travel across them, from the ones in front of him up to the ones on the wall. Further study of the screens caused the Admiral's hope to crash and burn.
"That's Kaidin, isn't it?" Tahiri stepped up behind him and clutched his right arm, which was resting on the console's control panel. "Why would Jacen even dream of having that Mindmap anywhere near him, let alone Tenel Ka?"
Gadell's head slowly shook back and forth, "That can't be Jacen."
The four of them had separate cells, all lined up next to each other. Each cell was identical. Four walls, three solid, one of gathered energy that burned at the touch and on the back wall, a single holo-screen.
Lowbacca roared maliciously as the screens flipped on and Tesar hissed at the image they all showed. Tekli closed her ebony eyes and looked away and Alema could be heard cursing loudly as she slammed her fist into the solid wall beside her.
Screaming mindless drivel in his own personal cell, Jacen could feel his eyes searing with tears.
He hadn't been this angry since... since...
I've never been this angry...
Jacen Solo had his face practically pressed against the holo-screen as his voice died down to a fervent whisper.
"Tenel Ka... it's not me... it's not me... wake up and realize it's not me..."
Who is it then? Who took my Mindmap and is using it against me? Against us?
And the three groups as well as Jacen, stared in shock and horror as they held their breaths.
Kaidin's hands descended on Tenel Ka.
In her sleep she could feel hands moving across her body. They were burning, like they produced insane amounts of heat.
Like they were on fire.
Hard, cracked skin trailed down her side, over the thin nightgown that still had the appearance of being singed around the edges -- a dark crimson tinged with black, rough, ashy hems. Kaidin was seated on the bed beside her sleeping form, debating on what to do to her first. For now, he was just content with petting her.
The Queen Mother stirred a bit, rolling over onto her back. Her eyes slowly pulled themselves open and a small part of her brain was telling her to scold Jacen for laying his hands on her, especially while she was sleeping. But in the dark room, as she held her eyes half closed, she realized something.
She could easily tell that the hands sliding across her skin weren't Jacen's.
But she recognized the feel... she knew... the Mindmap... he had the Mindmap on!
Scrambling to a sitting position, Tenel Ka slammed her back against the onyx headboard. In the darkness, she could see a silhouette - the faint trace of neons drifting over a streak of green set in a sea of black.
"Jacen... I thought you said you didn't have the Mindmap..." Her voice was trying to escape her as piercing, almost silver eyes peered up to her worried face. Her eyes were tearing up and her vision was blurring. What she could make out of the silhouette, which wasn't much, seemed to meld together into a pool of water as the tears began to flow. Her right hand was clutched over her mouth as she gazed at the strong figure.
"Jacen... why?" She murmured, her voice gaining a pleading edge.
She was beginning to open back up to him. He had apologized and she was beginning to forgive him... and now...
"Tenel Ka!" Jacen's voice was hoarse, ragged, stressed, as he beat his fists on the walls and watched the screen.
Kaidin outstretched his hands and placed them on her knees, which were tucked up near her chin. "Hey there, sister." Kaidin's voice was a guttural growl, desire seeping out of every word and syllable. "What are you so scared of?"
Tenel Ka shook her head back and forth, in disbelief. Her arm twitched with the urge to lash out and rip her open palm against his cheek; or better yet, her clenched fist.
But this was Jacen, the man she was forgiving.
The man she knew she loved.
"It's not me!" Even with the ysalamiri's surrounding his cell, Jacen still knew what Tenel Ka had to be thinking. His heart hammered in his chest, overjoyed with the fact that Tenel Ka didn't want to hurt him, but terrified by what he had the feeling he was about to witness.
Serasai pulled her knees down in a heartbeat and he had slithered on top of her, his vicious grin hovering roughly a foot in front of her pale, empty visage.
"Jacen..." Her plea was just above a whisper.
"I'm here, love." Jacen had heard her voice through the screen's speakers, his own unheard reply taking the tone of defeat.
Almost smothering her under his body, Kaidin planted lustful kisses on her neck, on her cheek, her collarbone. She squirmed under him uncomfortably, the tears still flowing. She could feel his mess of hair tickling her neck as his lips trailed downwards. Her mind was spinning wildly out of control, trying to decide exactly what course of action to take. It didn't hit her until Kaidin picked his lips up from her skin and hissed loudly:
"You think you would've figured it out by now, sister! They'd be going off in your head --- the sirens, the warnings, the lights---!"
As he spoke the last word, with volume and emphasis, the lights in the room raised. Maximum brightness.
A fatal error the man in the Mindmap would never forget.
Realization dawned on Tenel Ka's face as she looked at Kaidin. He still had the same skin shade, the same hair color, eye color... But his hair was cropped shorter and his face was structured a tad differently. She let one of the basic rules of the Mindmap sink into her head.
The user has to change their own hair style to match that of the Mindmapped person.
And that's when Tenel Ka slammed her fist into Kaidin's jaw.
Jacen's shaggy, almost-shoulder length brown hair fell away from his face as he threw his head back and thanked the Force.
"Where is Jacen?" Tenel Ka inquired firmly, drying the tears from her eyes with one swipe of her hand.
"I'm right here, baby." Jacen whispered, as his eyes latched back to the holo-screen.
Kaidin sneered, pulling away from her, like the name Jacen was a curse or something. He slid off of the bed and slinked about the room a bit before twisting his neck and tilting his head towards her, feigning the most innocent look possible. "What if I told you I killed him?"
"I would not believe you." Tenel Ka slowly stood, her barefeet padding across the black carpet, towards Kaidin, a glint of anger in her calm gray eyes.
Everyone was holding their breath.
Jaina was kneeling beside Jag staring upwards to the screens, Kyp and Zekk standing near the walls, watching them intently, wondering just who this was. Was it Jacen?
Tahiri peeked around Gadell, her fingers digging into his arm out of nervousness. "That can't be Jacen..." he mumbled, "look at his hair."
Tekli was even watching wide-eyed as each screen in each cell showed a determined Tenel Ka, stalking up behind Kaidin. They all knew she wanted to rip that Mindmap out of his eye with her fingers.
"Do it." Jacen seethed.
Kaidin knew she was coming. He spun around and slammed his fist into her stomach. It only caused her to stumble back a bit. She was angry for being deceived, for being lied to, by whoever this was. And whoever it was, they would pay.
Tenel Ka sprung forwards after a deep breath or two, shoving Kaidin back into the wall. He turned the tables and spun it around, joining her back to the wall and that's when her right hand reached outwards and upwards, grabbing an ebony wall decoration. It looked like some Ithorian design, and Tenel Ka thought it looked quite nice smashing into Kaidin's face as well.
Growling and holding his now bleeding face, Kaidin rammed his body forward again, pressing it to hers. Blood trickled into his eyes, blinding him for a moment... and that was all she needed. Her hand quickly worked it's way to his nose, where she grabbed it and twisted it a tad.
The Mindmap fell to the floor and before the effects wore off, the fading Kaidin leaned down and scooped the device up, pocketing it. And then he stood straight up, staring into the face of his childhood companion.
"Raynar?" She choked on the name, feeling her throat close tightly around it.
"Raynar?!" Jaina and Zekk cried out at the same time. Jag stared in disbelief.
"No way..." Kyp shook his head.
Silence had taken over Gadell and Tahiri as they gazed at the image of the blonde male, Tahiri slowly mouthing soundless words.
Lowbacca's roars were louder than the outcries of "What the kriff?!" and "It'z Raynar!" ...along the row of cells.
Jacen Solo stumbled backwards stopping in the middle of his cell, where he fell to his knees and let his chest heave in and out slowly. His breathing was disrupted by a swooshing noise.
His door had opened.
Raynar Thul stood against Tenel Ka, holding her back against the wall. "So nice to see you again. I heard you're the Queen Mother of Hapes now. How's that working out for you?" He didn't even leave room for a breath as he charged ahead, covering her lips with his own, giving her a heated kiss.
"That's from Kaidin." Shoving her away from the wall, she crumbled to the ground in confusion and Raynar dashed out of the room and down the hallways.
"Raynar." It was Jacen Solo, coming back from his cell.
Jacen could've made a few other turns and easily have made his way out of the tower, but he had to find Tenel Ka.
"Solo." Raynar took the Kaidin Mindmap out of his pocket and tossed in the air, catching it and smirking to the General. "Better go check on your girlfriend --- I think this has all been a bit much for her."
Completely forgetting about the man they had come here to rescue, Jacen barged into the room, the door instantly shutting behind him. He paid it no mind. His eyes were drawn to the crimson pile on the other side of the room, shivering slightly.
"Tenel Ka!"
Her head turned and her wide gray eyes landed on him. On Jacen Solo.
He just stared. Her nightgown was not only singed now, but also ripped in countless places. Her eyes were bloodshot, puffy, dry. She was sniffling --- and all while trying to act as regal as possible. She pulled herself to her feet, almost tripping, and just stood, swaying back and forth, her hand brushing sweaty strands of copper hair from her face.
"Tenel Ka..." Jacen jogged to her and placed both of his hands on her shoulders. He wanted to wrap her up in his arms, but he was still worried about how close he could get without making her feel uncomfortable.
Their eyes locked for a moment, both people looking haggard and worn. But their eyes were ablaze with something totally different. Hope. Passion.
Love.
"We'll get out of this soon," he whispered.
He was surprised when she threw her arm around him and pulled him closer, burying her head in his neck.
"I promise..."
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