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.

Comments

[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

[sand_wormie]

Luke was hanging around, walking past one of the public pools. He was thinking about learning to swim... it was one of those things he knew would be useful, at some point. This would be the best possible time to learn. He was nervous about it, though.

It wasn't sudden. But a bit at a time he felt... something. He wasn't sure how to describe it. He might have ignored it, but if he did have Jedi powers, should he?

Luke left the causeway and found a wall to lean against, more or less out of the way, to try to explore the feeling. It was something he'd sort of felt before, when his best friend came back early from a trip. But different, and it didn't bring a name to mind. Probably not Revan kidnapping Biggs, then.

"So what should I do?" he asked under his breath. It seemed like there was a response. Not in words or in images, in understanding. It was very soft, very subtle; he was lucky he'd even picked up on it. But he had. It didn't feel strange. It felt... warm, companionable. Familiar. Like part of him, but... not.

Reach out, it

[soloing]

It was strange, as he struggled for a moment to piece out present from past, that he could feel his uncle's presence, even as the memories and vision faded away. But something was different, sharply different, not just in the strength of that presence, but in...

He had reached back automatically, reflexively, before it became clear to him that this was not his timeline at all, and that the Luke he was sensing was outside his time.

He sent a wave of warm reassurance to accompany his initial confusion.

[sand_wormie]

It was the strangest feeling. Luke wrestled with it for a moment, and then... he pictured himself walking out in the Dune Sea, and scuffing through the sand to find scales beneath - and the sudden sense that he was actually standing on the mother of all krayt dragons, impossibly huge, buried in sand, and aware of him.

He felt very small, and almost breathless but - it wasn't scary, not like he'd have thought. The dragon knew him. And he knew it. He'd known it all his life. It seemed to speak to him - he couldn't understand or even hear it that well, but the vibration of its voice resonated up through his legs and shivered the air.

And there was someone else standing on the dragon, and just like the dragon knew Luke and Luke knew it...

Luke blinked. There was no dragon, obviously. He had no idea what that was about, if his imagination had run away with him, or if... well, there was no dragon. He'd met krayt dragons, they were nothing like that. Something of the feeling stayed, though.

There was someone out there. Recognition/

[soloing]

Jacen was surprised for only a moment when Luke attempted to respond, and then felt a certain strange pride in his chest. It was odd, to feel proud of his Uncle, of the one who had always been strongest, through his entire life. The man who had trained him, revived the Order that had been so central to Jacen's life until...

But of course, this Luke was not the man who had done all that, and feeling him grow now, even in this small way, was still fascinating in its own right.

To make it clearer, he focused on projecting his identity, thoughts and feelings Luke might have already come to identify as Jacen's. They hadn't spoken enough yet for it to be particularly a strong connection, but he still had no doubts that the boy would grasp it.

[abovetwinsuns]

It'd been almost seven days since Jaina had camped herself out in front of the kolto tanks, wearily watching them for any sign of hope that would indicate the return of her twin. The droids had come by a few times to ensure that she was still 'medically sustainted', but the quiet and the isolation was something she felt she had wholeheartedly deserved.

How many times had it been since she had reached out with the twin bond and found nothing?

More than she could count.

Jacen's death by Malak kept replaying over and over in her mind, refusing to let go or subside in its hurt.

Jaina sighed, running a hand through her disshelved hair and staring at the scuffed toes of her boots.

He had to come back.
Jaina wouldn't let herself be the reason for Jacen's death.

As the hours took their toll, sleep began to fight its way past Jacen into the forefronts of Jaina's mind, and heavy lids began to close- a parting call through the Force bond being the last thing she could articulate.

Where are you?

[soloing]

Jacen stood over his sister's sleeping form, following his reunion with Tenel Ka, watching her expression. It was rare to see his sister actually look "at peace", or anything like it, and though her rest was obviously far from untroubled, there was still less angry in the lines of her face.

There was, however, a certain vulnerability there, and he felt responsible for that, at the moment.

He reached a hand down gently, to brush against her shoulder, gently, closing his eyes and reaching through to her mind even in sleep, injecting his presence slowly, so as not to overwhelm with the realization when she woke.

I'm here now.

[nonerfherders]

Leia felt...something. A flicker. No more than that. She would have ignored it.

But she was beginning to wonder. Luke was her brother, and she knew he had Jedi potential...did it mean she did as well?

A flicker, a connection. She'd begun noticing those. Tenuous things that she couldn't quite grasp, but couldn't ignore, between her and the people she was beginning to realize were her family. Family she didn't know she had. Family she didn't have, yet.

This one had flickered back into existance from nothing, and she had only one guess about who it might be.

Leia turned on her datapad. If Jacen was back, was real was...well, hers, hers and Han's, strange as the idea still seemed...she wanted to meet him.