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Reconciliation
By : LexiLupin
Category: Star Wars (All) > AU - Alternate Universe
Views: 3594 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars; I make no money.
Chapter List
- 1-Reconciliation
- 2-Part 2
- 3-Part 3
- 4-Part 4
- 5-Part 5
- 6-Part 6
- 7-Part 7
- 8-Part 8
- 9-Part 9
- 10-Part 10
- 11-Part 11
- 12-Part 12
- 13-Epilogue
- 1
- 2
Reconciliation
Part I

A cold, tingling anxiety began to worm its way across her spine, making her body tense, her gut clench, her lungs freeze in her chest… through their ever-strong link, she could sense Jacen urging her not to give into fear, that they would get out of this as they had every other tough spot in which they had found themselves in their action-packed fourteen years.

Something was different this time though.

In the weeks they had been imprisoned by the Shadow Academy- was it four weeks or five? Six?- they had helped one another, bolstered each other’s strengths through the Force as they were taken away by Brakiss or Tamith Kai, sometimes together, sometimes individually; sometimes, one would be taken away, leaving the other alone and helpless in the cell to feel their sibling’s tension from afar as their sadistic captors attempted to break them, to get them to unleash their anger…

But they had remained strong, vigilant, relying on the links they shared with each other for strength, with the links with their mother and uncle for reassurance and the knowledge that they were being sought, they had not been abandoned, no matter how Brakiss tried to convince them. Even when they were separated for days at a time, forced to spend the nights alone in cold, dank cells, through their twin-bond they shared a warmth and comfort that Brakiss could not take away.

Now though… Jaina could not place the source of her discomfort, but she craved Jacen’s presence again, knowing that someone- something?- was coming for her. Brakiss had dragged Jacen away from their cell some time ago… fifteen minutes, half an hour? Five minutes? Jaina could not keep track of time anymore… and now someone else was coming for her. But it didn’t feel like Tamith Kai’s coldly calculating, cruel presence. It was something hotter, something bitter, angry…

Something familiar… but twisted, corrupted… wrong.

The presence drew closer, and Jaina retreated further into her own mind, desperately reaching for Jacen’s comforting touch. He was distracted, but not alarmed, not in pain, and she wondered what Brakiss had planned for him. Before she could try to convey her curiosity, she froze, sensing the manipulation of the controls at her cell.

With a whoosh, the door slid open, and Jaina unconsciously drew her body tighter together in the corner before hesitantly- never betraying fear- raising her eyes to the newcomer. And in an instant, her heart froze and her stomach dropped and churned, and everything she knew about the galaxy ceased to be true…

“Zekk,” she breathed.

X----X----X----X

Jacen stood impatiently, tense as Brakiss closed the door to the room behind them. In weeks, they had tried everything- making Jacen fight his own sister, nearly killing them with stones and knives, separating them, blasting them with Force-lightning- and no matter what, they surged back, reinforced by each other, helping one another to heal, sharing warm and comforting thoughts of being back on Yavin with Uncle Luke, or on Coruscant with their parents…

“Jacen,” Brakiss’ smooth voice slipped him out of his reverie, “I imagine you must be wondering why I’ve brought you here today.”

Jacen just stared at the deceptively handsome man.

“I must confess,” Brakiss continued, unbothered by Jacen’s silence- just as he had been for the past month, “I find myself impressed by your resilience, and that of your sister. I was sure by now that she would have cracked at least- she does seem to be somewhat… hot headed.” Jacen scowled, proud of his sister for entertaining no more thoughts of allowing the dark side to infringe upon their minds than he had. “But no matter… it becomes clear to me that the two of you will continue to hold out a fool’s hope for rescue, that no amount of physical discomfort or pain will persuade you to give in to your anger- when inflicted upon yourselves…”

His stomach clenched, and he vaguely felt Jaina searching for him in the back of his mind, her own anxiety beginning to take hold.

“Yes,” Brakiss murmured, “I have not been giving you enough incentive, have I? Anything I’ve tried to do to you, you’ve simply absorbed it, let your body heal, and done it all over again the next day, the next week… but how would you feel if that pain were inflicted on another…?” His cold eyes bored into Jacen’s brown ones. “I wonder… you haven’t asked about your friend, the one we found on Coruscant…”

“Leave Zekk alone,” Jacen bit.

Brakiss’ cruel smile widened. “Oh, I think you misunderstand, young Jacen… Zekk has been a most… eager addition to our little academy.”

Jacen frowned. “Zekk isn’t a Jedi.”

“Ah,” the man held up a hand. “That sort of attitude is what has enabled me to shape your young friend so thoroughly. Come, have a look…”

Reluctantly, Jacen followed him to a holoscreen. Brakiss depressed a button and a holovid began playing, and Jacen frowned on consternation, seeing one of Tamith Kai’s students raise his lightsaber challengingly. An opponent stepped into view, brandishing his own blade, his long dark hair tied back…

He closed his eyes, not wanting to see. “Pay attention,” Brakiss urged, “see how deeply mistaken about your friend you’ve been…”

Cringing inwardly, Jacen watched the fierce duel between the two, and his gut lurched unpleasantly when Zekk emerged the victor, killing Vilas and being dubbed the ‘Darkest Knight’ of the academy. In total honestly, Jacen wasn’t sure if he would have preferred Zekk to lose the duel to the death, and avoid the fate that had now been laid upon his shoulders.

“A pity,” Brakiss murmured in mock-sadness, “that Zekk’s own friends chose to ignore his abilities, allowed him to remain an urchin in the undercity of Coruscant. Zekk hasn’t taken too kindly to the lie, I assure you. He feels that some… vengeance… may be in order…”

Scowling, Jacen thought about the impending attack that Brakiss and Tamith Kai were undoubtedly planning against the Praxeum on Yavin IV. But then, a wave of something flooded his senses from Jaina, a heart-wrenching recognition and, for the first time since they had woken up captive… the beginnings of a cold seed of fear… he exhaled loudly and bit his lip before whirling on Brakiss. “Zekk would never hurt Jaina, I don’t care how far down the path to the dark side you’ve dragged him.”

“Are you so sure of that, my young apprentice? Would you be willing to stake your life on it? What about your sister’s?”

And he understood and cold sadness welled up inside him. Brakiss wasn’t talking about inflicting pain on Zekk… he was going to have Zekk hurt Jaina…

In the hopes that Jacen’s anger would finally boil over.

X---X---X---X

His eyes, five shades darker than the last she had seen him, burned into hers, and she couldn’t look away. With a fast slap to the door release, he closed the door behind him, but did not move from the space in front of it, sizing up her huddled body as she fought back against the cold wave of dread that his dark and uncannily blank eyes elicited in her.

“Zekk…” she finally managed. “They told us they captured you… I’d hoped it was a lie…”

He laughed, a cold sound that froze her in place. “You hoped?” he sneered. “You hoped to keep me where I was, a dirty little trash-collector, powerless to challenge you and your brother, your little Jedi friends. You never wanted to see me achieve anything and now… now I am the one in power, Jaina.”

His cruel, cold assertion startled her from her frozen position. Scrambling against the cold floor, she made to stand. “Zekk,” she pleaded, “that’s not true, we never wanted to see you suffer…”

“Silence!” he demanded, and thrust a hand forward. Jaina fell backwards against the wall before she even registered what was happening…

Zekk could tap into the Force. Zekk had Jedi potential. And they had never known.

X---X---X---X

Jacen reached desperately into his sister’s mind, giving her strength, urging her to stand up against Zekk, not to let herself be overcome by fear and doubt, tried to impress upon her how dangerous Brakiss had made Zekk in the mere weeks of his capture…

A panicked answering touch alerted him to the fact that Zekk was already there with her, and he could sense her sadness and guilt, and he knew that she had realized that they had overlooked his ability to become a Jedi for so long, and now it was too late, someone else was using that to turn him against them.

“Can you sense her fear, young Jedi?” Brakiss murmured lowly next to him. “I can; she doesn’t seem to operate under your own fallacy that your supposed friend won’t harm her.” He leaned down closer, lips only centimeters from Jacen’s ear. “There’s no one to help her, Jacen; I even doubt that I could stop him, he seemed quite resolved when we parted ways this morning…”

A flash of helpless anger made his vision tunnel. He could feel Jaina distractedly pushing him to rid himself of it, not to play into Brakiss’ ploy, that it wasn’t really Zekk’s fault, he’d been corrupted and manipulated, and if Jacen allowed himself to be goaded into anger, than he would just become another one of Brakiss’ pawns…

Abruptly the rush of encouragement ceased, and Jacen stiffened at new sensations of alarm flooding his sister’s senses. There was a flash of pain and Jacen put a hand to his head, doing his best to send his own reinforcing vibes to Jaina. “Jaina,” he moaned softly as her panic flared and a rush of fear, pain, despair, and anxiety assaulted his senses.

He could sense Brakiss’ dark delight and he fought against it, but it was too much, his own uselessness was smothering him, making him angry, made him want to lash out, to get Brakiss out of his way so he could go to her, so he could stop Zekk, hurt him, kill him if he had to…

And then, with a whispered apology, it was gone.

So was Jaina.

“Jaina,” he whispered, sinking to the floor in anguish.

X---X---X---X

His hand was grasping her hair, forcing her head back, making her stare into those cold eyes that had once been so vibrant, carefree, friendly… now, they were dead, as though a part of Zekk had simply ceased to exist, as though Brakiss had ripped his very soul right out of his body and left just a dark shell that resembled her friend in appearance only. His warmth, his feistiness, his affection for the Solo twins- Jaina first and foremost- they were simply gone, evaporated into the depths of the Shadow Academy.

“Zekk,” she said softly, “this isn’t you. You’re my friend, you’re kind and gentle…” his grip tightened and she whimpered quietly as he yanked strands of hair from her head. She continued gamely on. “Don’t you see that Brakiss is using you?”

“Shut up,” he hissed. “He’s given me more than any of you ever did.”

“At what price, Zekk?” she murmured, willing the fear not to show in her face. “He’s taking advantage of you, of who you are, of our friendship… the anger you feel isn’t really yours, Zekk, surely you can see that…?”

He slapped her hard across the face, and she grimaced, but barely noticed the blood trickling from the corner of her mouth. In the back of her mind, she could sense Jacen’s worry, but didn’t distract herself trying to reassure him. Zekk’s expression had darkened even further, and the flutter of fear in her stomach was increasing.

“You could come to Yavin with us, Zekk,” she said quietly. “I’m sorry that we never realized you were Force-sensitive, but you can still come train to be a Jedi…”

He shoved her hard onto the cold floor, and her palms stung with the impact, her wrist throbbed as she jammed it against the durocrete. Biting her lip to stop the cry of surprise and pain, Jaina barely had time to register her own despair at Zekk’s behavior before he was dragging her back off the ground and shoving her against the wall, a hand pressing firmly against her throat.

She struggled for breath, willed herself not to use the Force against her friend, and felt Jacen’s flaring anger; she understood in a heartbeat, knew that Brakiss had timed it so he could goad Jacen as he felt his twin’s pain, could urge him to give into his anger, possibly even sacrificing Jaina to ensure that one sibling turned…

There was only one thing to do, she thought mournfully as Zekk hurled her roughly to the hard cot that served as one of their beds. Acting on pure instinct, she pushed past her own terror and sought the strong connection in her mind, that special bond that kept her linked so constantly with her twin… and with a fluttering apology that she hoped reached him, as she watched Zekk stalk towards her, she severed that link, and felt an instant coldness, an emptiness that threatened to consume her, that terrified her more than Zekk ever could…

Setting her face in firm resolve, forcing that emptiness aside, she reached out once with the Force- not for Zekk, as he seemed to expect by the sudden tensing of his shoulders, but for the security holocam in the ceiling. With a fast, unskilled pull, she yanked the connecting cables, unseen and hidden in the wall, from the unit and a shower of sparks erupted around it. Zekk growled deep in his throat as he grabbed her arm, pulling her roughly into a sitting position and making muscles in her shoulder scream in protest.

All that mattered, though, was that Jacen was protected; she couldn’t let him surrender to his anger on her behalf.

X---X---X---X

Brakiss scowled as he switched off the holofeed, though a part of him was impressed with the girl’s resourcefulness, her insight into his motives in the midst of her own terror and impending pain. He glanced back and saw her twin kneeling numbly on the floor.

“What did you do?” Jacen croaked.

Brakiss sneered. “I did nothing; your sister, it seems, is much more level-headed than you, she’s cutting you off.”

“She…” Jacen searched deep inside himself and realized that he could still sense Jaina in a detached sort of way, but her presence and feelings were not nearly so overbearing as those they shared through their special bond. He wondered if she had even meant to do it, but at least it gave him a chance to clear his head. “Outsmarted by a fourteen-year-old?” Jacen asked coolly. “I suppose your little experiment fails then, you can have Zekk stop whatever he’s doing to scare her…”

The dark Jedi glanced amusedly down at his young captive. “Oh, I don’t control my darkest knight. He will do what he wants, take what he wants from her, and then you will be returned to what’s left.”

He paled and fought the rising anger. “What’s left… what the hell is that supposed to mean?” Jacen demanded.

“Language, my young apprentice… whatever would the chief-of-state think, hearing her son speak in such a way to his master?”

“You’re no master of mine,” Jacen snarled. “And whatever kind of monster you’ve made Zekk into, he’d never kill her, so don’t waste your breath.”

Brakiss’ voice was mockingly mild. “Did you not just tell me that he’d never hurt her at all?” Jacen scowled and looked at the floor, trying to hide his anguish and feeling strangely empty inside. “But no need to fear, he has explicit instructions to leave the girl alive. Besides, I do believe that his intentions lie in a more… pleasurable direction; for him, anyway.” He smirked as Jacen’s eyes widened in horror as he took in Brakiss’ meaning.

“You… you sick piece of huttfilth…” mouth working soundlessly, trying to formulate words around his outrage, Jacen strode to the door which Brakiss had left purposefully unlocked, he thought. He made it five steps before a cold voice rang out.

“We are not yet finished here, Jacen Solo.”

He continued walking. “Like hell we aren’t.”

Brakiss just shook his head sadly and waited until Jacen depressed the button to release the door. It swung upwards… and Jacen dove left as a burst of Force-lightning erupted where he had just been standing, disappearing into the corridor beyond. The boy rolled and came to his feet several meters from the door, staring daggers at Brakiss, crouched, ready for a fight.

“You have your lightsaber,” Brakiss pointed out mildly, gesturing to the blade Jacen had been given as encouragement to test his skills, now sitting untouched on a nearby table. “If you wish to leave… you must first defeat me.”

X---X---X---X

She cringed as rough hands tore at her jumpsuit, and she desperately tried to misconstrue Zekk’s intentions, tried to deny the lustful gaze in those ever-absent eyes. This was her friend, someone she had long cared for even when she didn’t understand it, someone whose emerald eyes had made her heart flutter whenever she saw him in the last two years… someone who, until mere minutes ago, she had thought would always care for her in a similar way, might even be more than a friend one day when she was old enough to want such things…

Someone who was now gripping her chin roughly in one hand while other applied pressure to her injured wrist, as his cold, empty eyes dared her to fight back.

“Please, Zekk,” she said softly. She didn’t beg; she wouldn’t. But she would ask nicely, just once, would ask him to come back to himself before he did something he would never be able to live with, if he ever escaped Brakiss’ evil influence. “This isn’t you. Don’t do this; not like this. You don’t want to hurt me, you’ve never hurt me. We’re friends.”

His response to her entreaty was to slam her head back against the durocrete wall. Blinking stars from her eyes, groaning against the pain in her head and her injured wrist, she finally felt the beginnings of hot tears forming in the corners of her eyes, and she knew it was over. With a sort of detachment, she watched as he tore her tattered jumpsuit from her body, leaving her in an undershirt and shorts that enabled the chill of the room- the chill of Zekk’s eyes- to freeze her very core.

Her failure to struggle, her unwillingness to fight against him only served to further enrage him, and he smacked her across the face once more. She turned her head with the blow but remained otherwise unmoved until she doubled over involuntarily with a punch to the stomach, and he pushed her from the cot.

Crying out softly as her injured wrist caught much of her weight, she attempted to draw the Force in around her, to lessen the pain, the horror at what was happening as he kicked her lightly-clothed form, as she hoped beyond reasonable hope that he would tire of her unresponsiveness, would move on to a more interesting toy in her stead… part of her wanted to reestablish her link with Jacen, but she couldn’t risk his own fall like that, couldn’t enable the descent into darkness that had already claimed Zekk, possibly irrevocably.

As he hoisted her limp body- using the Force- back onto the cot and used a rough hand to drag her onto her back, something inside of her teetered, threatened to snap… and with her last strength of spirit, she reached out one last time in the Force, brushing Jacen fondly, urging him to be strong and then… surprising even herself… she reached out to Zekk, briefly but softly, letting the simplest of sentiments to drift into his mind…

I forgive you.

His hands stilled as they roughly grabbed at her undershirt, and furious green eyes met distant, fading brown ones. With a snarl, he abandoned his efforts and stood back, and Jaina could sense rather than see the energy crackling at his fingertips, and moments later her body was assaulted with the tragically familiar pain of electricity lighting up every nerve…

And just as abruptly, the pain stopped as something inside of Jaina snapped and, with a last whimper, she retreated deep inside her own mind, unable to comprehend her own sorrow, her pain, her fear, her despair as Zekk continued to assault her body with lightning, snarling angrily at her, enraged at his inability to draw a reaction save the reflexive twitching as nerve endings erupted in spasms.

X---X---X---X

“Enough!” Brakiss barked as a strong blow knocked Jacen’s lightsaber from his grasp. With an effortless flick of his wrist, the blade came spinning towards him, and he deactivated it as it landed in his palm. “Clearly, you’ve learned nothing since you’ve been here. No matter; it is time we returned you to your sister.”

Jacen’s face paled and he sucked in a breath before turning back to the door. This time, Brakiss did not stop him, merely following five meters behind as Jacen, on pure instinct, navigated his way through the catacombs of the Shadow Academy vessel back towards the cell where he had been forced to leave Jaina behind… how long ago was it now? An hour? Two? Thirty minutes?

His pace didn’t slow as he neared the door in question, and he reached out desperately for his sister, but found only a strange, detached emptiness in place of the soft glow she usually emitted to him, and he slapped the release on the door… and found himself hurled aside by a Force-shove, landing in a heap against the wall, vaguely cognizant of the fact that it was Zekk, a dark shadow of the boy he had once known, striding from the room without shooting a second glance in his direction.

Scrambling to his feet, he ignored the taller boy and dashed into the room, heart sinking at the sight before him.

Jaina was unconscious on the small cot on the far side of the room- the one where he usually slept, when they were permitted to stay together. A lingering smell of burnt flesh, all-too-familiar after their encounters with Brakiss and Tamith Kai, permeated the room, and Jaina was covered in bruises and blood, red patches showing through her white undershirt near her ribs and stomach, a dribble spilling from the corner from her mouth, another dripping from one nostril…

“Jaina,” he whispered, leaning over her, stricken, probing instinctively with the Force, trying to ascertain the worst of her injuries, to find the area where her body needed the most help healing. A small part of him swelled in anger, in hatred, but he shoved it down, knowing that he needed to help Jaina now, first and foremost, and that his anger would get him nowhere. Ears ringing in fear for her, he was only vaguely aware of the conversation taking place outside the door, but filed it away in his memory.

“I thought your interest in the girl lay in a… different… direction.” Brakiss’ tone was mild and curious.

Zekk shrugged. “Her lack of fight made me lose interest.”

“I see…” Brakiss trailed away and frowned, approaching the bed. “I hope you haven’t killed her, she could still be of much use to us…” he leaned forward and tilted Jaina’s head towards him, lifting an eyelid to gaze into her blank eyes.

“Don’t touch her!” Jacen barked ineffectually, attempting to block Brakiss’ access to Jaina; he was merely shoved aside with a flick of Zekk’s hand.

“Her injuries are not life-threatening,” the dark teenager continued as though Jacen had not spoken. Jacen looked up into his green eyes and saw that they were nearly as blank as Jaina’s, though they never left her prone form as he spoke. “Whatever trance she’s in, she retreated into it of her own volition.”

Jacen dragged himself back up off the floor and took Jaina’s hand in his; it was limp. For several minutes, long after Brakiss and Zekk departed, he sat there, holding her hand, stroking her hair, damp with sweat, from her face.

Using his own rudimentary diagnostic and healing abilities, he forced himself to clear his mind and meditate, sending healing vibes towards his sister’s most dire wounds. After a minute, he felt, distant but strong, his uncle lending his support to the effort, his thoughts laced with concern and Jacen realized that he had felt, to some degree, Jaina’s pain and withdrawal from reality.

He did his best to reassure Luke that Jaina would live, but laced the thought with an urging, telling his uncle that their time was surely running out, that they had to help them soon, or it would be too late.
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Reconciliation	By : LexiLupin Category: Star Wars (All) > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 3594 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I don't own Star Wars; I make no money.

Reconciliation