The Path of Dreams

~Chapter 22~

Jysella’s Apartment, Vincent, Krylon

Ben held Jys as the taxi flew through the dark streets. Traffic was heavy and an accident involving two delivery transports brought them to a halt. After Jys commed the district police captain to make sure the Jedi weren’t required and being assured that they weren’t, she laid her head against Ben’s shoulder again.

Then his belly growled. He blushed as she snickered, “Someone’s hungry.”

He shrugged. “Well, I’m a growing boy. And I’ve spent five hours in hyperspace.”

She looked up at him and said, “That’s what rations are for.”

He grinned and poked her in the side causing her to flinch away and giggle. “Yeah, but I was in a hibernation trance for most of the trip so that—”

“That—what?” she asked, gazing into his eyes. He could get lost in those green pools.

He lost some of the levity and whispered, “So that thoughts of what I’d like say and do to you wouldn’t drive me crazy.”

He felt Jysella shudder and her breathing quickened, but it was her blush that affected him the most. He swallowed and attempted to temper his desire as he whispered, “You are so beautiful.”

She lightly kissed his lips. Smiling, she softly replied as she pulled away, “Thank you.” After a moment she went on, changing the subject back to Ben’s empty stomach, “I’ll get you something when we get home. I’m hungry too. I’ve been too excited to eat much today.”

“I think first I should get out of this flightsuit and get a santisteam.”

“Okay. I hope nerf steak is palatable to you.”

Ben grinned, “Hey, if you’re cooking it, I know it will be. Besides, I’ve eaten ship previsions for what seems like months now.”

She nodded and sighed contentedly. “Then I’ll have to make sure I season them just right.”

After a long moment of resting against his shoulder, she shifted and looked out the window as the droid driver got the taxi moving again. “I’m glad that I wasn’t needed. I love helping people but sometimes it’s just so exhausting. There are just too many beings crammed into the cities and there’s not enough breathing room.”

Her voice sounded wistful. Suddenly, Ben wished that he could take her away from her duty for just a few days. He asked, “Is there anyway we could go out to the countryside? The land looks beautiful; at least it did as I was flying in.”

Looking back at him, she shook her head and said sadly, “I wish we could. But the plains are just too dangerous.”

The taxi slowed and lowered onto its repulsers and Jys brightened again. “Well, here we are—home sweet home.”

The Jedi exited the airtaxi at the building that served both as a base of operations and home to Tahiri and Jysella. The apartment was situated in the center of the city near the capital building for the planet. As Ben looked up when they came to the front door, he noticed it was identical to all of the other buildings in the city.

Jysella told Ben that Krylon’s economy depended mostly on farming and export. However, the rich fertile lands were dangerous, especially since the Yuuzhan Vong invasion. Much of the land had been reclaimed but several very vicious predators lived in the open grasslands and farmland. They had always been there but after the Vongforming of the planet, they had mutated into even more hideous monsters.

She went on as she keyed the code into the main door, “So all farming is done with droids now instead of by beings living on the land like in the past. Even the maintenance of the farming droids is done by droids. It’s just too dangerous for a living being to be out on the plains for very long. The areas that can be farmed are doing exceptionally well. It’s been said that the land is even more fertile now than it had been before the invasion.” The entered the entryway and Jys lead them up the flight of stairs. Ben looked through an open doorway and saw the darkened waiting area of the Jedis’ small office space.

“That’s why there is so much trouble in the cities? People can’t live on the plains?” Ben asked as he followed Jys up the narrow stairway.

She looked over her shoulder at him and nodded. “Yes, Vincent has three other sister cities, all of them reaching near ten million beings each, and the Reconstruction Authority is building a fifth city. The problem is that Krylon is becoming too successful for its own good. Every citizen is able to buy into the government run farming agglomerate, which entitles them to be paid a stipend every local month. So those who are Owners don’t really have to work. Those who don’t have the funds to buy into the agglomerate, or Waiters, are the ones who provide the services that are need to run a civilized city. However, the government is run by the Owners. Of course, most of the people living on Krylon are Waiters, with only a handful actually owning anything. As you can imagine, there’s a large clash of classes and species which create a lot of problems.”

Ben said, “Why are they called ‘Waiters’? Is it because they wait on the others?”

She smiled and opened the upper door and led them into the main living room of the apartment. “No, they’re waiting for the chance to buy into the farms.”

“Oh.” Ben sat his duffle down on the floor by the door. As he looked around, he said, “This is nice.”

The walls were painted a sunny yellow color and over the windows were simple valances of pale blue and yellow print. The furniture was functional and of a medium brown color, but even that seemed to have a famine touch. The throw pillows on the couch matched the curtains. Ben shook his head and sniggered, “Who’s you’re decorator? I never expected you and Tahiri be so—so girly.”

She chuckled and said, as she led them toward the dining table, “Well, we are girls.”

Ben sat at one of the chairs while Jys entered the small kitchen. He raised a coppery brow and said dryly, “That you are, but since when did you like yellow daisies?”

She looked over the large room and snickered, as she brought back a pitcher of blue milk and plate of cookies. She set them down on the table and turned to fetch two glasses. “You have a point. Although, for some reason, I like this,” she said placing glasses on the table and then poured them half full with the milk. “Roanne Korr did this and Tahiri and I decided we’d keep it.”

Ben looked around the room again. He couldn’t help the snicker. “Oh, I’m sure Jaden loved the yellow daisies.”

She joined his chuckle at the expense of the older Knight and his non-Jedi wife, Roanne. “I’m sure.”

After they each had a cookie from the plate, Ben inquired, “Where’s Tahiri?”

She shrugged and said, “She commed me after I reached the spaceport to tell me that she had an emergency in the Western District, but she didn’t tell me what it was about or when to expect her back. I think she just wanted to give us some space.”

Ben’s answer was to simply nod and sipped his milk.

Suddenly, Jys sat her glass down on the hard table top with a thud and said, “Now you go get that shower, flyboy.”

Ben returned several moments later wearing one of two sets of civilian clothes he owned. “Emmm…something smells good,” he said as he came up beside her as she pushed a few buttons on the food processor and turned around.

She smiled and exaggeratingly sniffed the air. “So do you. Now.”

She giggled at him as he desperately tried not to blush. “Uh…Did I really smell that bad before?”

She turned and smugly nodded. After pecking him on his cheek, she assured him. “But I didn’t mind. I missed you so much, Ben.” She ran her fingers through his damp red locks and pulled him down until their lips met. He deepened the kiss and he felt her delight mix with his own.

She slowly pulled away and mischievously said, “This is different. Not often I see you out of uniform. I like this.”

She patted his shirt causing him to look down at his simple blue pull-over shirt and tan trousers. “Yeah, well, I am off duty and on leave. I thought I should look the part.”

He then met her eyes again and for a long moment they got lost there as they had so many times before. Suddenly, the processor beeped. Jys grinned crookedly and said, “Dinner’s ready.”

He helped her dish out the nerf steak and local vegetables. He couldn’t help but feel content.

After sitting down at the round table, Jys reached for the salt shaker and began to sprinkle her orange, red and yellow vegetable mixture. She picked up her fork and looked over at him. “Ben?”

He was chewing a bite of the steak with relish, but when he noticed the almost pitched, uncertain expression, he knew what she wanted to say. She wanted to ask about Marcia. Suddenly, he wasn’t hungry anymore.

“Yes?”

She looked at her food and picked at the vegetables. “I felt it when you killed that terrorist.”

“Jys, I’m not really sorry for what happened at Mon Cal,” he so quietly said that he wondered if he had actually spoken the words or just thought them, but her instant tenseness let him know that she had heard them.

“Ben?”

“I only did what I had to. If I hadn’t used my anger and hate for that bounty hunter when I attacked him, he would have killed me.”

“Ben, you don’t know that,” she protested, pushing the plate away. Obviously, she lost her appetite too. “The Light Side is stronger than the Dark Side.”

He shook his head as he laid his fork on the plate. Taking a deep breath, he let it out slowly before answering. “Jys, he was winning. He had two lightsabers and he was good. He easily killed one of my men and he wanted nothing more than to kill me. He knew who I was, which meant that to kill the son of Luke Skywalker would give him some bragging rights. He had no qualms at using his anger and hate to attack me. He was Jensaarai and well trained. I only did what Jacen’s taught me, Jys. I only did what I had to do to survive and end his reign of terror.”

“Ben, I’ve never felt so much coldness in you as I felt that day. You promised me that you’d never touch the Dark Side again.”

He knew this would happen. Why did they have to talk about this now? Of course, he knew the answer—she needed to truly trust him.

“There is no Dark or Light Side. There is only one Force, Jys. I only used the whole Force when I fought with Marcia, because he was more than willing to use it to defeat me. If I hadn’t got the upper hand, he could just as easily do to me what I did to him.”

Jysella slowly shook her head. “But, Ben, I felt what you were feeling. You didn’t just want to stop him from hurting others; you wanted to hurt him in the worse way possible. You enjoyed his pain, you fed off it like—like—I don’t,” she shuddered and shook her head again as she looked at him, not really finding the words, “—I don’t know how…

“Ben, what I felt within you that day frightened me. You felt like a stranger to me. You felt—you felt…” She looked away and Ben suddenly felt like a fool bringing this up as he watched a tear escape her eye. Then she met his gaze again and whispered, “Ben, I felt a ruthlessness in you that could have been akin to evilness. I was afraid of you.”

Her words shocked him. He never realized that she could have sensed all that from him. Her touch that day had been so fleeting. Taking a deep breath, he took her shaking hands into his and whispered, “I’m so sorry, Jysella. I never want you to be afraid of me. ”

She returned his squeeze to his hands. With a concern in her eyes that Ben wished wasn’t there, she softly pleaded, “Just promise me that you won’t ever go that far again.”

Ben did the only thing that he could, he answered her request. “I promise, Jys.” The words were soft and he had every intention of keeping the promise, but as she leaned over the table toward him and met his lips with hers, he wondered if he could.

Later, after the dishes were put into the washer, they settled in the dimly lit living room before the entertainment center to watch the HoloNet. They sat in silence with Jysella laying against Ben’s shoulder with her arms around his chest, while he held her to him. Despite the earlier topic that nearly spoiled their dinner, the feeling of loving contentedness fell over them again like a warm blanket.

Suddenly, she shifted and looked up at him. He smiled down at her. She whispered, “I love you.”

“I love you.” The drama they were watching forgotten, he pulled her more into his lap and leaned down to capture her lips. The kiss was tender, but all too soon it gave way to the awakening passion they both were feeling. She kissed him back with as much abandon as he was her. She was taking his breath away without really having to try.

After breaking the kiss, he pulled away and looked into her eyes—those fathomless, loving, jade eyes that haunted him as much as the krayt dragon nightmare did. As he gazed into her soul, he knew everything. He knew of her love, her trust, her forgiveness, her desire and her hopes for their future. He could feel them as clearly as he felt his own feelings. He loved her and he knew he’d never be able to live without her.

That was when the idea came to him. “Jys, I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” he hoarsely whispered.

She cupped his face, smiled and just as passionately replied, “And I want only you, Ben. You’re the only man I’ll ever love.”

He was taken aback by her last words, “Do you really think I’m a man? Everyone else still thinks I’m a kid. Sometimes, I think even Jacen does.”

“Yes, Ben. I think of you as a man. You’re the man I want to spend the rest of my life with.”

Ben shuddered as her hands slid from his face and down his chest to slip around him again. His went into her hair, that wonderful black silk that ran through his fingers like water. As he intently met her gaze, he said, “Then let’s make it official.”

“What do you mean?” Her words were breathy.

“Marry me, Jysella Horn.”

She gasped but before she could respond he went on, his voice betraying him with a slight tremor of nervousness as he felt her shock through their bond. “Become my wife, and no one will ever be able to keep us apart. I’ll be entitled to more shore leaves and, more importantly, our parents won’t be able to prevent us from being together. I love you, Jysella. I know that I’m young, and most people would say that I’m too young to be thinking like this, but I do. I need you more than I need air. Without you, it would be like being in cold space. I’d feel nothing and I’d be nothing.”

She was crying, he realized as a tear escaped from the corner of one eye. Then she broke into a smile that melted him. Her voice was shaky as she spoke, “Of course, I’ll marry you, Ben Skywalker. Nothing would make me happier.”

“Jys…” He pulled her close and devoured her lips with his own, relishing the sweetness of her mouth and the saltiness of her freely flowing tears of pure joy. He breathed in the heady scent of Corellian lilies that surrounded her as his lips moved from hers to her ear. There he hoarsely whispered, “I don’t want to wait. I want us to get married before I have to go back to the Anakin.”

~

She gasped at his words, her mind was a spiraling jumble of unconnected thoughts and emotions that were both his and hers. She was beyond feeling just happiness, as his lips nibbled on her neck, she was in heaven.

Wondering if she had lost all sanity, she pulled away from him to gaze into his fiery eyes as she said, “I—I don’t want to wait either. But what about our parents?”

As he stroked her teary face with the back of his fingers, he responded, “What about them? They don’t want us together, Jys. You know that. But this is our life, not theirs. You’re an adult and, in most societies, I’m one too. Kriff, I don’t understand Coruscant’s laws sometimes. I’m old enough to hold rank and a commission in the military. I’m old enough to make life threatening decisions for myself and those that I command, but I’m not old enough to decide how I want to spend the rest of my life? I don’t get it.”

“Krylon doesn’t have any laws regarding legal age,” she quietly broke into his tirade.

He stopped and stared at her. After a moment he said, “We could get Tahiri to do it. Then later, if you want, we can have something on Coruscant with our families. I just think that to wait isn’t going to be easy. I don’t like sneaking around to see you. That’s basically what I’m doing. Jacen told me to come now because he knew it would be easier to get away from him than it would be, once the Anakin went back to Coruscant. Once we’re married, I might be able to have Jacen get you reassigned or, if you like it here, at least, I will be able to come and see you more often.”

He paused as he pulled her to him again. Hugging her close, he whispered in her ear, “I can’t go another eight months without seeing you. It about drove me crazy.”

“It did make me crazy.” He looked at her and she giggled nervously. “Because I have to be to agree to this. We’ll ask Tahiri when she comes home. I’m sure she’ll not want to do it, but we’ll have to convince her…somehow.”

He laughed. “Somehow, we will. By the end of the week you will be Mrs. Ben Skywalker.”

She was giddy, they both were. “I like that…Jysella Skywalker.”

Then she leaned in and again they were passionately kissing, while the totally forgotten HoloNet played an old Wynssa Starflare and Garik Loran drama.