through the broken glass and the morning light

[soloing]

Characters: Jacen Solo [open to responses through the Force, prose or action]
Location: The Bacta Tanks
Planet: Coruscant
When: Today.
What: Jacen returns.
Rating: PG.

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[heirtostay]

Tenel Ka's eye's flew open, mouth opened in a silent 'O' as she felt him, his presence flooding back into the Force where before there had been nothing. For a moment she was still, sitting cross legged on the roof of the apartments and focussing on him, and the sound of her own breathing, and him, before she abruptly unfolded herself from the meditative pose and headed towards him.

She reached for him through the Force, unable to hide her relief. There was something different about him, she could tell that even before the door hissed open for her and he was right there, but she could process that later. "Jacen."

[soloing]

It's unexpected, even with the way the strange dream state had mixed together for him his memories of a life in a world years in the past, removed from his path, and his destiny and course in the present. Tenel Ka's presence through the Force evokes memories that he feels like he hadn't realized he had: intimate memories of her emotions, her touch, hearing words from her he'd thought he'd never heard from anyone.

The pain of losing her. Those memories are sharp, as well.

And yet he can hardly remember the last time he spoke with Tenel Ka, not one-on-one, and he only just said his goodbyes to Danni.

The feelings sort themselves out with surprising ease, and his response to Tenel Ka is calm and warm.

I'm here. Her relief seems to make that the most appropriate thing to say, and as he sees a medical droid coming to attend to his vitals on the tank, he slowly starts to piece together his trainwreck of a timeline. It's alright, Tenel Ka. He sends her as much reassurance as he can, though he's certain she can pick up on his

[heirtostay]

It wasn't often that Tenel Ka found herself prone to outward displays of emotion, but her sheer relief, the sudden evaporation of her fear that he would remain dead mixed with his reassurance and the disorientation she could feel through the Force brought tears to her eyes. It had been a month of far too many ups and downs, and this was something akin to the final straw.

She didn't bother with words, lowering her mental shields so that he could feel her raw emotion. His death had been like an open wound, this past week, her uncertainty the salt rubbing into it. She stepped forward, towards the tank and spared a glance to be sure of his vitals before she released him. Not again, Jacen. It was an impossible request, she knew - one that she would later recant, most likely - but she couldn't help the way it slipped from her thoughts to his. Please.

[soloing]

Released from the tank, Jacen held Tenel Ka's eyes in silence that spoke volumes, as he assisted the med droid in removing the monitoring instruments hooked up to him. His legs felt stronger beneath him than he might have expected, which he thought might have something to do with her presence.

Her plea pulled at his heart. They'd been through this enough here, he had to agree. But he knew as well as she did that the promise wasn't one he could make and intend to fully keep. Neither of them knew what might happen, and if it came down to protecting her...

His fingers moved to brush her cheek, the moment he was free to move closer. Part of him ached for her in a way that echoed back through to the timeline where they weren't together, and where he'd begun to disbelieve they ever would be. Or could be.

Their lives were on entirely different tracks there.

Here, however, her life was a part of his. Thinking of it that way, he felt a moment of shared pain with her, but he still smiled, as he looked between her eyes

[heirtostay]

Her hand came up to cover his on her cheek, fingers tightening reflexively over it. The faintest hint of a smile touched her lips in response to his.

"I am not well-equipped to losing you, it seems," and her thoughts flashed to the damage she had caused in her room. She had returned it to its original state the day after, but had no returned to it, finding Jacen's room preferable in his absence. Her hand drew his from her face, fingers threading with his as she held his gaze.

"Ah. Something has changed." There was a hint of nervousness that was mostly swamped by relief at his return. Things were more complicated, in their own world, and she was unsure of how those complications might affect their relationship.

[soloing]

He caught a flash of the destruction from her, and his fingers tightened within hers. However, at her whiff of anxiety, he simply smiled gently and bent to kiss her once, softly. She had no need to worry about his feelings being altered by his time away. He wanted that to remain clear.

When he withdrew, however, his eyes were serious.

"A lot of things have. But not everything."

[heirtostay]

She returned the kiss lightly; that simple reassurance was really all that she needed. Tenel Ka wasn't the sort of person who dwelt on her worries.

"I would hear about these changes, when you are ready." A dry note enters her voice. "It seems I am the only left whose timeline has not yet been altered."

[soloing]

Other than Anakin, but Jacen tries to keep that thought to himself.

"Mine hasn't changed that much. It's been less than a year," he said, thoughtfully. "Just a very eventful one."