Well. That wasn't the truth, not entirely. More than anything she wanted to see Jacen, to make sure for herself that he was alive, that he was okay, that he was there, but also...
So much had changed since they'd last seen each other. Maybe too much. They were just Jasa-and-Jaya anymore, or maybe it was that they weren't even Jasa-and-Jaya. There was Jacen and god only knew what had happened to him, and then there was Jaina, and then there was the gaping hole that was there instead of Anakin.
She drummed her fingers against her bottle of Butterbeer and wished she'd decided to forgo being the responsible prefect and had just ordered Firewhiskey. The thought that she was dealing with too many of her problems by getting drunk crossed her mind but she ignored it, taking a sip of her drink and not tasting it, watching the door.
Jacen realized, almost off-handedly, how ridiculous he must look at the moment--wearing a disheveled robe that was now three too many sizes too big for him, holding onto a particularly garish (the word Winter had used when he was six and picked it out) suitcase and walking into a bar. It was funny, but the fact that he met Jaina's eyes and knew that the magical bond between them was gone drained all the humor out of it.
Jacen put his best foot forward and went to meet her at the bar, knowing that there wasn't really much to say at the moment, and if there was, he didn't know what it was. He kept on a grin as he sat next to her in silence.
She'd look away from only a moment, and it was of course at that moment that the door decided to open. Her head jerked up and her heart stopped because standing in the door frame was Jacen.
It hurt to look at him, Jaina noted absently as the rest of her mind went blank. He had lost so much weight - his clothes were hanging off him, he looked sick and the worst part (most terrifying) was that when she had met his eyes it had taken a second to click, a second to get it, the fact that this was really Jacen. The twin bond lay between them, dead and unresponsive.
He sat down next to her, grinning like everything was fine and that it was all going to be okay, and despite months of separation and uncertainty, she could still tell that it was so, so fake.
That was what did it. Because when all was said and done, Jaina could still tell when he was lying; this wasn't some stranger, it was Jacen and he was still her brother no matter what.
"Don't do that," she admonished, before quietly leaning over and wrapping her arms around him.
Jacen felt himself sag in a way he hadn't been able to for quite some time, a more genuine grin crossing his face at feeling the embrace of his sister, his twin, the one half of his whole that had been missing for so long he hadn't realized how much it hurt to be without it.
"Do what?" He asked quietly, grabbing onto Jaina's arms and squeezing, trying to communicate through touch all that he couldn't tell her.
It came out of him, a little bit, as he closed his eyes and felt life building itself around him. The chuckle wormed its way up from his gut and out of his mouth and when Jacen laughed it stung all the bruised bones in his body but he found he didn't mind.
Comments 5
Well. That wasn't the truth, not entirely. More than anything she wanted to see Jacen, to make sure for herself that he was alive, that he was okay, that he was there, but also...
So much had changed since they'd last seen each other. Maybe too much. They were just Jasa-and-Jaya anymore, or maybe it was that they weren't even Jasa-and-Jaya. There was Jacen and god only knew what had happened to him, and then there was Jaina, and then there was the gaping hole that was there instead of Anakin.
She drummed her fingers against her bottle of Butterbeer and wished she'd decided to forgo being the responsible prefect and had just ordered Firewhiskey. The thought that she was dealing with too many of her problems by getting drunk crossed her mind but she ignored it, taking a sip of her drink and not tasting it, watching the door.
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Jacen put his best foot forward and went to meet her at the bar, knowing that there wasn't really much to say at the moment, and if there was, he didn't know what it was. He kept on a grin as he sat next to her in silence.
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It hurt to look at him, Jaina noted absently as the rest of her mind went blank. He had lost so much weight - his clothes were hanging off him, he looked sick and the worst part (most terrifying) was that when she had met his eyes it had taken a second to click, a second to get it, the fact that this was really Jacen. The twin bond lay between them, dead and unresponsive.
He sat down next to her, grinning like everything was fine and that it was all going to be okay, and despite months of separation and uncertainty, she could still tell that it was so, so fake.
That was what did it. Because when all was said and done, Jaina could still tell when he was lying; this wasn't some stranger, it was Jacen and he was still her brother no matter what.
"Don't do that," she admonished, before quietly leaning over and wrapping her arms around him.
Reply
"Do what?" He asked quietly, grabbing onto Jaina's arms and squeezing, trying to communicate through touch all that he couldn't tell her.
It came out of him, a little bit, as he closed his eyes and felt life building itself around him. The chuckle wormed its way up from his gut and out of his mouth and when Jacen laughed it stung all the bruised bones in his body but he found he didn't mind.
Reply
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