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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
- 9
- 10
- 11
Part X

They were standing in a dimly lit cell, a groggy, dirty teenager pulling himself out of a groggy sleep- or unconsciousness- on a hard cot on the far side of the room. He had barely managed to sit up when the door slid open and he shrank back slightly, squinting against the brighter light of the corridor outside. The light was soon gone though as the door slid closed once more, and a tall, blonde, handsome man approached, standing before the bed as the boy sat up, scowling.

"Who are you?"

A sly smile graced the man's features. "All in due course, my good man. First, I'd like to apologize for my colleague. She can be a bit… enthusiastic."

"Where am I?"

A low chuckle sounded. "I see you are not to be distracted. Now- your name is… Zekk?"

He scowled. "How do you know that?"

"I have my ways, young master Zekk. My name is Brakiss; I'd like to tell-"

"I know who you are!" the boy sounded scandalized, green-eyes widening. "You… you kidnapped my friends!"

Brakiss frowned. "You're confused; all the others came willingly…"

"Not them," he bit. "You kidnapped Jacen and Jaina!"

For a moment, Brakiss seemed at a loss for words. "You know the Solos then, do you?" This time though, the teen was wary, perhaps realizing that he'd given the man a weapon against him, volunteered information with nothing foreseeable in return… "You needn't worry about them, they're here, they're safe."

"I want to see them."

"All in due course, to be sure," Brakiss allowed the smug smile back on his face, calculating mind going to work. "But let me ask you something… did your friends ever tell you that you could be a Jedi, just like them?"

He looked suspiciously at the man. "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh," Brakiss adopted a sympathetic look. "I was afraid of that. I just thought… the children of the chief-of-state and a Coruscant underling, they must have had some reason to consort with someone so far from their own position in life. But no matter; I'm sure they had very good reasons for not telling you about your potential to use the Force."

"They must not have known- or you're lying. Jaina would never keep that from me."

Brakiss' brows rose. "But Jacen would?"

"No!" he was flustered and angry. "They both would have told me something like that if it were true."

"Oh, but it is true, my friend; in fact, you show far more potential for power than either of them. Maybe that's why they were afraid of you, wanted to keep you safely beneath them while they ran off to become Jedi…"

"That's not how it is!"

With a shrug, the man turned. "We'll see. For now though, accept my apologies for my Tamith Kai's behavior. We'll get you moved to a better room in due course, and soon… I'll show you just how powerful you can be, Zekk…"

And he was gone. For a long minute, he stood staring at his memory-counterpart, until a soft touch to his arm brought him back to reality- or whatever one might call this, he thought ruefully.

"Should we move on?" her voice was soft and sad, and it made him wonder how much the prior scene had affected her.

"Oh… yeah…"

Everything dissolved- nowhere near as smooth a transition as when she did it with seemingly effortless fluidity, but it got the job done- and they were standing in a room that they both knew, though only his past self was present… along with Brakiss, who was handing him a lightsaber.

"Turn it on," the man whispered, "feelit in your palm, feel its weight, its power." The weapon ignited, and the teen's eyes darkened in anticipation. "It is the weapon of the Force- though your friends have thus far proven too cowardly to use them. They don't want them enough, don't want to know what that kind of power feels like… but you do, don't you, Zekk?"

Eyes contracting nervously, he switched off the blade. "I…"

"You've been powerless for too long, Zekk; you have the potential to be great, but to achieve it, you need to focus your emotions. Give in to your frustrations and your anger, let them guide you…"

He scowled and held the blade at arm's length. "I thought the idea of being a Jedi was to control your feelings."

Brakiss chuckled, a low and dangerous sound. "That depends on your school of thought; for those lesser-minded individuals, those weaker friends of yours, the disciples of Skywalker… they try to trick the galaxy into believing them gods, when in reality, it is little more than sleight of hand that they practice. Your friends boast about their ability to purge their emotions, but let me ask you, Zekk- would you want to? Why should be abandon feeling, when it guides us every day? Do you want to live a life without joy, satisfaction, fear, anger… love?"

"The Jedi can love," he countered, albeit a bit unsurely. "Even Master Skywalker is married…"

"Skywalker did not grow up in the teachings of the old order," Brakiss said smoothly. "He was already an adult before he began his training, as were all of his current 'Masters.' Much harder to impress the concept of an attachment-less life on pupils who are already married, have already tasted love, lust, affection… but what of the new order? What of the students who are growing up in the Jedi ways? What of… Jaina?"

"What about her?" he demanded hotly, not noticing the darkened satisfaction in Brakiss' eyes as he so quickly gave into his emotions, didn't realize the irony.

"You feel for her… don't you?"

He scowled. "She's my friend; so is Jacen. I care for them both."

"Zekk," Brakiss shook his head, "do not attempt to deceive me… you're so easily read. You have strong affections for the girl, you have for years…" he said nothing. "But you've been waiting for her to grow up, haven't you? You're sixteen now, you want more, but she's still the child you met five years ago in some ways…"

"She's not a child."

"But she doesn't reciprocate your feelings?"

A red flush was rising in his pale cheeks, and he looked away from the smirking man. "She's been… busy. We don't see one another often, since they left to start their training."

"Yes," Brakiss murmured lowly. "She's off learning how to 'control her feelings,' as you put it, and you're back in your dangerous, predator-ridden undercity pining after her…"

"I don't pine!"

"And one day, she's going to come home and laugh at you for ever having entertained such thoughts, ever thinking that a Jedi heiress, a chief-of-state's daughter could care for someone like you the same way you care for her."

Setting the lightsaber down on a worktable, the boy crossed his arms over his chest defiantly. "You're wrong."

"We'll see, my young apprentice…"

The scene shifted, and he looked around in confusion at a small cabin that looked like it belonged in a small vessel, a shuttle maybe…

Or the Millennium Falcon.

She was lying on the bottom bunk, curled on her side- older now, only months before the present. The door slid open and her brother walked in, closing it quickly behind him as he went to her side and sat down, pressing a warm hand against her shoulder. She rolled over, and his heart clenched to see her red, swollen eyes, tear streaks still glistening on her cheeks.

"Sh," her brother wrapped his arms around her as she sat up and leaned into his embrace. "He'll be okay, you know he will… and we'll go home in another two months for dad's birthday, and we'll see him again…"

"I hate it," she hiccoughed. "One day we're going to come home and Zekk will have forgotten about us, will have grown up and moved on with his life…"

Jacen's brow quirked. "Without you?" he teased, earning a vibrant blush from his sister. "Never…"

They stood, watching the twin siblings comfort each other for another few minutes before he took her hand in his for the first time in the seconds… hours… years… that he'd been here with her. "Come on," he murmured, pulling her through the door, emerging in a barren corridor back aboard the battle station.

"Master?" his wide-eyed counterpart was hurrying alongside a distracted-looking Brakiss. "What is this test, exactly?"

"A duel," Brakiss replied smoothly, glancing at the boy briefly. "You are to prove yourself the Shadow Academy's best student, our darkest knight, by defeating Tamith Kai's best student."

"Vilas?"

"Hm," Brakiss pursed his lips and nodded, perhaps wondering if his pupil was ready.

He shrugged. "We've sparred."

Brakiss' mouth quirked once as he pushed open the door to the large training room, where spectators were sitting eagerly behind transparisteel view panels. "Do not underestimate him, Zekk. Tamith Kai's training is ruthless."

"And Vilas won't be able to tolerate second-best status?" Zekk grinned.

"There will be no second-best," Brakiss said softly, backing out of the door. "This is a duel to the death. Good luck, my apprentice." And he was gone, leaving a startled, wide-eyed teen in his wake, staring at the lightsaber Brakiss had placed into his hand.

He spared her the duel itself, skipping ahead to him slipping into his quarters that were so familiar to them both. The door slid shut and he went to the desk, leaning heavily over it, breathing hard. His robes were torn and burnt, bruises were rising on his face, and his expression was one of blank shock- the look of one who has just killed for the first time, and for no good reason to boot. Simply to prove himself the better fighter, the better swordsmen, the more cunning duelist…

With a shout of rage, he sent everything flying from the desk with a shove in the Force; a datapad smashed into a wall and cracked, a chronometer shattered into dozens of little pieces, a few pieces of flimsi fluttered around before drifting to a slow stop on the floor.

He wasn't looking at the injured, triumphant boy, however; he was studying the girl next to him as she watched him, and he could tell by her sad expression, her resigned eyes, that she understood- this was the moment when his innocence had been irrevocably shattered.

They didn't linger; he wanted to move on, to push through the next part that he knew had been the tipping point…

Brakiss was standing beside a small holovid screen, finger hovering near a button. "You never ask about your little friends anymore, Knight Zekk," he admonished.

"You never tell me anything," he countered.

Brakiss laughed. "True; I was trying to spare your feelings, I confess, but… I think you're strong enough now to understand just how mistaken you were about them…" he depressed the button, and a recording appeared- a holo taken of the twins, alone in their little cell, sitting side by side, huddled together for warmth.

"Do you think it's true, what Brakiss said about Zekk?" she asked, voice sounding disinterested.

He shrugged. "Who knows?" his tone was equally dismissive. "But, if it weren't, how would he have known about him anyway?" A stinging reminder of how much of a nobody he was…

"It's not like Lowie would have mentioned him," she put in snidely. The observing boy scowled at the way she dismissed his importance…

"I don't get it though," the boy slung an arm around his sister's shoulders. "What would Brakiss even want with him anyway?"

He continued to stare at the screen, a dull ache reminding him how painful that moment had been, that realization that Brakiss was right, that he was nothing more to them than an amusement on Coruscant…

"Wait." He turned and glanced at his companion; she was staring, befuddled, at the two males in front of the vid-screen. "That's not…" she frowned.

"Hey," he said, "it's okay, really…"

"No!" she countered angrily, before relaxing and letting her eyes drift closed. "Take us back again, to the start." He did so, confused, watching as she raised a hand to the scene before them, and another to his own head. "Relax a moment…" she touched him lightly for a few seconds before pulling away, and watching the scene continue.

"True," Brakiss was saying again. "I was trying to spare your feelings, I confess, but… I think you're strong enough now to understand just how mistaken you were about them…"

"Do you think it's true, what Brakiss said about Zekk?" her voice was urgent, alarmed, worried…

He shrugged. "Who knows?" Concern was etched on his face. "But… if it weren't… how would he have known about him anyway?"

She looked just as concerned as he did. "It's not like Lowie would have mentioned him," she said, all too aware that their friend would never give away a personal piece of information that could be used against them- it was obvious in her tone, that was what she meant, now that he thought about it…

"I don't get it though," Jacen's face was twisted in legitimate confusion, and he pulled his distraught sister to him, wrapping an arm around her shoulders. "What would Brakiss even want with him anyway?" Well of course- if they didn't know he was Force-sensitive, then they would be confused…

The import of what just happened struck him like a blow. He sank to his knees, ignoring the continuing scene around them, head in his hands. "No…" he muttered, heart tearing apart as the horrible truth crashed around him. "No…"

Warm arms enveloped him, and he leaned against her, dry sobs wracking him as the terrible realization of just how completely Brakiss had manipulated him- going so far as to alter memories- to turn him against them, against her, finally sank in.

"How could he do that?" he cried. "How could he change entire memories like that…?"

She rocked him gently and murmured in his ear. "He had already planted the seed of doubt," she said softly. "That made you susceptible."

"But… but I told him he was wrong!"

"An idea like that is hard to shake… especially about someone you do care for, and who you'd like to think cares for you."

He continued to kneel there, face buried in his hands. "I thought you said it wouldn't hurt…"

She reached over and touched his cheek, startling him. He looked up, startled- but not overly surprised, in retrospect- to see that they had moved again, they were sitting on a deserted beach, cold air blowing about them, but not chilling them, barely ruffling their garments. "Where… where are we?" he croaked.

She shrugged. "I just made it up. And I never said it wouldn't hurt, I said you had to allow it the power to hurt you. That's what you're doing."

"How do I stop it then?"

"By recognizing that the pain, the fear, the anger will get you nowhere fast. By realizing that, here, there can only be understanding, that nothing can change, that we can't affect anything we learn, we can only embrace it and use it to make us stronger… or allow it to destroy us forever."

"Like the dark side."

She laughed again, the soft peal of joy that made his stomach twist and his heart warm. "Zekk… we're talking about the dark side. That's where the pain, fear, and anger will lead you- where they already have, in your case. Your fear of rejection, of returning to a life where you had almost nothing… they gave you ambition, but in the worst way. You thirsted to prove yourself, at any personal cost, to the one who gave you everything, to show him that he wasn't misplacing his trust. But the part of you that clung to your old self… that part gave over to anger when Brakiss sent you, without warning, into a duel where you had no choice but to kill or be killed."

"And the pain?"

Her smile faded, and she sank back into the sand, staring thoughtfully over the water of the imaginary tide. "That part, Brakiss had to fake. For everything you've been through in your life, Zekk, you were always a remarkably selfless and happy person. But he found your weakness, and he found it early, and he used it to his greatest possible advantage. First he made you doubt… and then he made you mad… and last…"

"He tried to break my spirit."

She smiled again. "Yes. But you resisted- and we're going to find out why."

X-X-X-X

"This is… fascinating."

Luke looked up wearily towards Cilghal, lack of sleep getting to him. Jacen was worse off, though adrenaline kept him going whenever anything came up, or someone had a different theory to pitch. They were starting to worry though- it had been six hours since Zekk had delved into Jaina's mind, two since Luke had showed up, and neither of them had moved once since then. They had briefly toyed with the idea of maneuvering a second small cot in the room, or perhaps a hover-gurney, but were all reluctant to risk any physical interruptions in what was happening. And so, for six straight hours, Zekk remained leaning over onto Jaina's bed, her hand gripping his- an odd situation that Luke had been thinking about for some time- but now he had basic vitals monitoring hooked up, a fluid line, and a few sensors on his head.

"What is it, Cilghal?"

She beckoned him forward, and showed him a chart display on a screen behind the bed, using her webbed hand to move the image back in time. On the chart were two separate lines that rose and fell in sharp spikes, sometimes in gentle lulls, sometimes hardly moving. Brainwaves.

"If you look at their respective wave patterns," she pointed to the top for Jaina's, the bottom for Zekk's, "there is nothing unusual, per say. They go through periods of heightened activity and lessened activity, much like one would expect when a being is sleeping and intermittently dreaming."

Jacen came and stared at the image, and Luke sensed the wave of surprise from his nephew. "They're… alternating."

He frowned and looked again. Jacen was right though- the periods of high activity for Jaina- fewer and far between during the past two hours than Zekk's- were perfectly alternating with his, and his own brain activity lessened when hers spiked. "What does that mean?" he asked, brow furrowed.

"Their minds are obviously linked; it… looks like they're communicating."

"But… wouldn't it be a more consistent pattern?" Jacen asked skeptically. "This looks like…" he scrolled through the waves again. "It looks like Zekk is active for most of the first hour here…" he continued scrolling. "And then there's a little blip where Jaina takes over- yelling at him maybe?" he joked hopefully. "But then it's all Zekk again until the end here where Jaina's been active…"

But as they watched, it shifted again, and Zekk's presence once more became the dominant one in the connection.

"Not necessarily," Cilghal murmured, considering Jacen's question. "Not if they're… taking turns."

"Turns?" Luke cocked a brow. "What, like they're sharing… dreams?"

She stared at the graph, then at the two unconscious teens, and then shifted her eyes to Jacen, considering their failed experiment at reaching Jaina's unconscious self. "Not dreams, no," she said slowly. "Jaina's brain patterns hadn't shifted enough before he joined her for her to have been dreaming at all. More like… memories… visions maybe…"

"What about this spot here," Kyle Katarn finally roused himself to take interest in the conversation, having ignored Luke's suggestion that he go to bed. He pointed, and indeed, there was a brief flicker showed them both with high activity.

"Shared memory?" Jacen suggested.

Cilghal pursed her lips and scanned the readout. "I don't know. But I would very much like to find out…"

X-X-X-X

"My darkest knight," Brakiss held out his arms welcomingly as the dark boy strode forward across the deck, intimidating in a black uniform and flowing black cape. "You've done well on your mission, I hear; many new recruits to fill our ranks!"

"Yes, master," he replied stiltedly, tense and stiff from the excursion, the sneaking around, the long shuttle flight back. "I am glad to hear that you are please, my lord."

Brakiss beamed, the smile never reaching his cold eyes. "I hope you are not too weary- I have a task that, I fear, only you can assist me with." A dark brow cocked curiously, but his face remained otherwise impassive. "I think it's time for you to pay a visit to your old friend, Jaina."

He scowled. "I don't want to see her."

"I understand, dear boy," Brakiss patted his arm sympathetically. "And rest assured that she doesn't want to see you; however…" he trailed away and peered about the deck, as though looking for eavesdroppers. "I'm afraid that my efforts to turn them have been… unsuccessful. I am beginning to think that they need additional… persuasion."

That got his attention more fully. "Surely you and Tamith Kai have done everything in our power here aboard the battle station…?"

"Yes, we have," he smiled cruelly. "But I think that your presence will unhinge the girl more than ours… depending on… how you treat her."

A lengthy silence met his words. "And… what does my master suggest?"

"Oh," Brakiss waved the question aside, "itis entirely up to you. But I thought that someone as familiar to her as you, someone she views as entirely non-threatening… that will draw a reaction from her in a way that our efforts have not yet been able. Besides…" he glanced furtively at the thoughtful young man, "you have unfinished business with the girl."

Green eyes turned up to him sharply. "I do?"

"Certainly!" Brakiss exclaimed. "Do you not desire vengeance for how she has treated you all these years?" The young man looked uncertain, and Brakiss' voice became heavy with the power of Force-suggestion. "Are you not bitter, angry at the way that she's strung along your affections, only to laugh at you behind her back with her brother?"

The green eyes had gone curiously blank. "Yes."

"Well, then… if you choose… this is your opportunity to exact your own little revenge, to show her that she is the powerless one, that it is not wise to treat young men as her… playthings…"

"Of course," he replied tonelessly. "I shall."

The scene started to change, when the control was wrenched from his hands, quickly shifting into something else- the very scene to which Brakiss had just been alluding. "Jaina," he murmured, "I don't think we really need to see this one again…"

She held up a hand, concentrating, and they found themselves watching as he hit her, pushed her to the floor, before hoisting her back to the bed once more, where she stilled, eyes wide, as he approached and reached for her shirt, having already divested her of the jumpsuit. Moments later though, his entire body stiffened before he backed away furiously.

"What happened here?" she queried, ignoring the sound of electricity crackling at his fingertips before hurtling towards her body.

He frowned, memory foggy. "I… I'm not sure. I felt something…" he looked away, sighed, and then turned back to her sharply. "You did something."

She smiled serenely. "Do you remember what?"

"I… no," he searched. "But… I suddenly couldn't stand to touch you like that, it seemed… wrong, but I was furious- at you, myself, or Brakiss, I'm not sure." He paused. "So what did you do?"

Grinning cockily, she shook her head. "Uh-huh… you have to figure that one out for yourself." His brow furrowed. "Don't worry about it now; it'll come to you in due course." She exhaled deeply, turned, and saw Jacen dashing into the room and smiled lightly at her brother's tender concern. She listened as Brakiss spoke with his dark knight in the doorway, watched as the older man approached her listless body, saw those green eyes focused on her, deadened, but with a flicker of something… "Huh," she said. "Interesting."

"What?" she quirked a brow. "Oh- another I have to figure out for myself?"

"Yup. Let's move on."

X-X-X-X

"Master, I really must protest the usefulness of this arrangement…"

"Knight Zekk, I know the girl's presence irks you, but you have the upper hand here; her fear, her discomfort will rile her brother as long as she is forced to stay with you, regardless of how you choose to treat her. It is entirely up to you."

A heavy sigh. "Yes, my lord…"

He winced as he progressed the timeline to late that night when he lashed out at her as she sat silently against the wall, dragging her to the middle of the room, hitting her, kicking her… and then abruptly stopped and told her to clean herself up, prepare for bed. Despite her new injuries, she had fought him about it, finally relenting in a huff, even more annoyed when he ordered her to leave the door open while she showered and dressed.

The skipped ahead again, until she laid a hand on his arm. "Go back," she murmured. "To the next morning."

He frowned, but did as she asked, and they saw his figure standing at the desk, eyes closed, thinking hard… and then with a long-suffering sigh, he went to the far corner of the room and lifted her small, bruised body in his arms and laid her on the bed. With a click, he removed the cuff from her wrist and pressed a hand to her temple, and then stopped in surprise…

And she was waking up and hurling him across the room reflexively.

She frowned and turned to him. "What were you doing?"

"I…" he again fought through hazy memories. "I was surprised- I realized that Jacen had somehow forced you into a healing trance in your sleep."

"But what were you doing?" she emphasized.

He shook his head. "I'm not sure."

Pensive, she turned and saw her snarky form stalking back to the corner to return to sleep. "I think… I think Brakiss did more to your mind that day than just alter that one memory. Your memories are remarkably keen… until you start to soften towards me, or something tries to pull you out of the darkness…"

"Oh," he deadpanned. "Right."

"Don't worry about it," she said brightly. "You've obviously shaken his hold, or you wouldn't have been able to leave with us." Well that was reassuring, anyway. "What's next?"

She was mildly surprised when they found themselves in a corridor watching him converse with Jacen; her brother's tone was heated, his own mocking.

"I want to see her."

"That wasn't the deal."

"It was her deal, not mine."

She cringed at her brother's ire, but said nothing, watching the scene with keen interest.

"And it was made with Lord Brakiss; take it up with him, then."

"You're a fool, Zekk… Can't you see that it's you that Brakiss is playing here? Not me, not Jaina- you."

"Ah. But it is you who is begging to see your idiot sister."

"What do you think is going to happen, Zekk? Where do you think this ends? Why do you think he agreed to hand Jaina over to you? Because she's the one person you never would have hurt before, the one person you would have done anything for… the one person who you'll never be able to forgive yourself for hurting now..."

"You presume far too much, Solo. Do not blame me for your sister's poor decisions."

"What happens when her use is at an end? He'll push and push, you'll hurt her more and more… until either you're broken or she is. And if she breaks first, Brakiss will tell you to kill her- because if you kill Jaina, you will never be redeemed, your own soul will be so far shattered and you'll become exactly what Brakiss wants from you- a deadly machine with no remorse… just an endless supply of regret and bitterness at the utter betrayal of your true self."

"Have a care, Solo. You're time will come soon enough- once I'm through with your sister, who will remain with me and alive until I desire otherwise."

"Just remember two things… she's fourteen years old- barely more than a child; and until a week ago, you meant the world to her."

"You and your twin, Jacen Solo, are most certainly not children."

For a long moment, she stood and stared at the two teens, one with short brown hair, the other with long, tied-back dark hair, as the latter closed the former's cell door and retreated down the corridor. Then they were spinning through a fast blur of memories, most of them going by so quickly that he could not tell where they were, let alone when the memory took place.

When the whirling finally stopped, and he could focus on where they were, he was initially confused and a little dizzy; they were sitting on top of a building overlooking a jungle canopy, the sounds and smells of plants and animals, a faint smell of hydraulic fuel drifting over them, and he realized that beneath them, the Millennium Falcon was settling down in a clearing.

Atop the Jedi temple then.

A slightly younger version of her was dashing out the doorway that led back into the building, but the present one made no attempt to follow, simply settled down cross-legged on the cobblestoned roof and closing her eyes, calming a flurry of emotion.

Hours passed as he stared serenely, watching exotic birds dive among the treetops, watching the young twins dash to the landing ramp and meet their father, saw Lowbacca roaring a greeting at his uncle, before they all disappeared inside the temple… maybe it was only minutes then.

Eventually, he turned to glance at her, and she sensed his attention, opening her eyes and raising her earnest face to meet his gaze. "He knew," she murmured, shaking her head sadly. "Jacen saw everything; how was I so blind?"

He sat at her side, reaching a hesitant hand to touch her shoulder, relieved when she did not recoil. "He was more… detached from the situation," he suggested.

"I just… I should have seen it," she replied regretfully. "I might have been able to do something…"

"Hey!" he reached out and tilted her face towards him again. "Remember what you told me- nothing can change here, we can only embrace the understanding, allow it to better us, learn from it… no regrets, Jaina."

For a moment- or a day- she stared at him, wide-eyed, and he wondered if he had offended her, or hurt her feelings. Then she was beaming and standing, pulling him up with her, and wrapping her arms around him. "You are paying attention," she murmured approvingly. "Good… very good. How goes the quest for your own understanding though?"

"What?"

"Zekk!" she admonished. "Why do you think we're here?"

He hesitated. "To… to understand who I am… by recognizing what I've been…"

She sighed. "You're just regurgitating what I said earlier. Yes, that's part of it, but… what about reconciliation, Zekk?" He stared, and her brow furrowed. "You need to reconcile the different sides of yourself before you become paralyzed by what you could become again. You need to understand how it happened… so that it can never happen again."

He blinked once or twice, and then frowned. "But why are you here then?"

Her tone was soft when she answered, after a moment's pause. "I too need to reconcile the two- or three, or ten- different sides of you. Because it tore me apart to see the utter split in your self, in your mind, in your soul… and I need to understand it before I can begin to recover. And…" she looked away pensively. "I may have a hidden agenda or two."

He didn't ask; he just accepted. And then he took her hand in his once more, and led her away.
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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