Chapter Text
Tahiri breathed slowly, staring back at Anakin and then at Jacen. Jacen was shocked to see his little brother, but for Tahiri, seeing Anakin again was too much. She honestly wasn’t expecting him to come back…the prophecy was very vague…She didn’t think it was even possible…Tahiri frantically shook her head, breathing hard as she stumbled about the room. Anakin tried to reach out to her but she refused, grabbing a random object to steady herself.
She had just gotten through almost losing Jacen because of the whole prophecy deal, and now her ex-boyfriend was alive, who happened to be her current boyfriend's younger brother. Tahiri moaned, it was just too much for the young blonde. She turned back to Anakin, staring into his eyes then fell back and then fainted.
Anakin’s smile disappeared as he glanced at his brother. His expression was unreadable but through the Force, Anakin felt he wasn't exactly happy to see him, and it looked like Tahiri felt the same.
Both brothers rushed to Tahiri’s side, Anakin taking her left hand while Jacen picked her up and carried her back to the medical bed. Jacen huffed, glancing at Anakin again. "She’s had a rough week. I think maybe we should let her rest," Jacen reasoned.
Anakin followed his brother out of the room. He looked back at Tahiri, still worried about her but followed Jacen. The brothers stood in the hallway, both unsure what to say to the other. They had been through so much together but now all that they felt was an uneasy, eerie feeling that their brotherly bond was broken and could not be mended but neither of them would admit it.
"Oh, congratulations -- for driving out the Vong and saving Coruscant," Anakin mused, smiling.
Jacen smiled partly, "It was your idea. I should be congratulating you." He playfully tousled Anakin's hair, something he used to do a lot when they were younger.
"Yeah, but it was your leadership that made it possible, and having a Vong expert on your crew...She did a good job, you both did." Anakin replied, referring to Tahiri.
Jacen scratched his head, "I'll be sure to tell her that once she wakes up." He wanted to ask him something, about the prophecy and his feelings for Tahiri but decided not to. He was already very proud of him for kicking Vong ass; there was no need to spoil the mood. "Oh, we're heading back to Borealis."
Anakin frowned, "What about Coruscant? You’re just going to leave without securing the planet?"
"It’s secured. A group of NRI agents and Rogue pilots are on the planet. It’s not a problem, but we need to report back to Borealis." Jacen replied, and then leaned off the wall, "Look, I need to check in on something. I’ll be right back," he hesitated with his next words, "Would you mind watching her while I’m gone?"
How ironic, Jacen thought, that's exactly what he asked me to do when he thought there wasn't a way for him to come back.
Anakin smiled, "Of course. I’ll just keep guard outside. I don't want to bother her. She’s been through a lot of shock."
"I agree. I’ll be right back." He smiled at his little brother, turned and left.
Once he was sure Jacen was gone, Anakin turned and entered the medical bay. He pulled up a chair and settled down next to Tahiri. He smiled, taking her left hand in his and looked at her,
"Hey baby, I’m home…there's much I need to talk to you about."
~~
Jacen gritted his teeth as he rounded another corner, walking towards Serleena’s cell. He really didn’t want to leave Anakin alone with Tahiri, especially if she woke up while he was gone - but he didn’t want to further complicate things. And things were even more complicated. The Jedi stopped abruptly in front of Serleena’s cell. He pounded the door, waiting impatiently for her.
She moved from the bench in the cell and stood up, leaning against the door, “Did you want something, Jeedi?”
“Just thought I’d let you know we were successful driving out your people from our space,” he hesitated, “We’re heading back to our base now, but I can’t risk you knowing the location for security reasons.”
Serleena smiled quaintly, “Something happened, something more significant than your battle for freedom.” Jacen didn’t reply; and Serleena’s smile widened, “Something did happen.”
“It’s not important now.” Jacen stepped closer to the cell, punching in some access codes, allowing the door to open. Serleena stood back, as he shut the cell door and removed a syringe from his pocket, “Turn around.”
Serleena curiously cocked her head, and then turned around. Jacen checked the syringe again before injecting it into her neck. She turned to him briefly, and then fell to the floor, knocked out cold. He stared at her limp body for a moment, and then stepped out of the cell, shut the door and walked to the medical bay.
~~
Anakin smiled, brushing his thumbs over Tahiri’s palm. After he crossed over, he vowed to watch over her everyday, be her guardian angel. But once he helped Jacen escape the Vong, he stopped watching her, figuring she didn’t need him anymore. She had been through so much pain, grieving for him but now he was back, it felt like he never left. The only difference was that the Vong didn’t occupy their worlds anymore. He stroked her blonde hair, feeling the curly strands glide through his fingers. He smiled.
Tahiri always did have the most beautiful blonde hair. Anakin raised his gaze from her hand to her face - still as beautiful as he remembered. He smiled, leaned over and kissed her forehead.
“I really am very happy to be back and to have returned to you…I remember, at one time, I thought it was impossible. Who actually comes back from the dead?” he frowned, remembering those before him who weren’t so lucky, “There have been many casualties in this war, many tragedies…some of them will never come back…Chewie…I guess the fact that I’m here makes me one of the lucky ones,” he paused and kissed her cheek, “but now I’m back, I’m never letting go of you again. We belong together. Forever.”
Tahiri tossed her head as she tried to sit up. Anakin sat perfectly still as she opened her eyes. It took awhile for her eyes to focus but once they did, and she saw Anakin, she shrieked. Anakin jumped slightly, not really expecting that type of reaction from her.
He smiled a lopsided grin, “Um hi, Tahiri,” and she shrieked again. “Calm down, baby. Can you calm down?”
“You…. Here…alive…physically here…not a spirit…not dead!”
Anakin laughed, “One, yes I’m here. Two, I’m alive and three, I’m not a spirit.”
Tahiri frowned, turning away, “That’s not funny, Anakin Solo! You were dead - there was no way
for you to come back.”
“But the prophecy…”
She turned back to him, “Understand me, you were dead. I grieved and now you’re back --- it’s icky and you’ve screwed up everything!”
Anakin frowned, angered by her reaction, “I’m sorry, I think I missed something. I thought coming back would be a good thing and make you happy,” he retorted, “but since I’m alive it looks like I’ve managed to screw up your life and everyone else’s!”
Tahiri crossed her arms, scowling, “I wasn’t expecting you to come back. No one else had risen before you - what else am I supposed to believe?” Anakin didn’t answer and Tahiri rolled her eyes again as Jacen walked in.
Jacen and Tahiri’s eyes met briefly and through their bond, they agreed they needed to talk. Jacen turned to his brother, “Ani, why don’t you relax a bit. I need to talk to Tahiri.” Jacen suggested at Tahiri hopped off the bed and stood beside him.
“Take her. You probably understand her a whole lot better than I do.”
~~
Once they were a safe distance away from the medical bay, Jacen dragged Tahiri into a random dark room. He wasn’t quite sure what the room was used for, but they were alone so they could talk candidly with each other. It was amazing how everything on the living ship was so sophisticated, compared to other Vong ships' he'd seen. Jacen turned to her, feeling her troubled emotions and that most of her anger were directed towards Anakin. Which meant only one thing - they had a fight and he had a pretty good idea who started it.
Tahiri only rolled her eyes as he glared at her, "What? It wasn't my fault!"
"What happened?" he asked.
Tahiri shrugged, "I remember passing out and my head hitting the floor…but I guess you’re probably more curious about why Anakin’s angry with me." He looked at her and she gave in, "I wasn’t expecting to see him there, and when I did, I shrieked a couple times.” Jacen chuckled, not really surprised she reacted the way she did. Tahiri ignored his reaction and continued, “I was confused…my words were a bit garbled, but basically I told him he screwed things up by coming back...which he did."
Jacen paced about the room, "Tahiri..." He cried, running his hand through his hair. His little brother was probably very excited to be back and returned to her, and now she was horrified to see him. Jacen looked down and mumbled, "You need to talk to him again."
This was something she needed to do, even though he really didn't want her to.
"Talk to him again? What am I supposed to say to him?”
Jacen shrugged, “You don’t have to talk to him about us. Just talk to him. You used to tell him everything before.”
Tahiri frowned, “Tell him I’m in love with his older brother...I love you, Jacen. You’re with me all the time and you always will be.” He smiled, blushing as she continued, “but we can’t be together as long as he’s here, even though he’s the one that pushed us together. It’ll be harder for both of us to keep this a secret. Everyone else already knows we’re together. Now, we have to lie and keep secrets again, and I hate having to tiptoe around the truth."
Jacen kissed her forehead, "I know. I hated having to lie in the first place, too.” He gasped, “I honestly don’t know what we’re going to do, but I know you need to talk to Anakin again."
"Talk to him about what? Things can go back to the way they used to be,” she fumed, her anger returning, “Face it, Jacen. You know you don't want that. You love me too much to lose me, and I love you too," she reasoned, "Aside from that, we can talk about the afterlife, if he met any famous people like master Yoda, or your great grandfather. Should make for some really interesting conversation."
"You’re being sarcastic."
"I’m being realistic, Jacen.” She cried, “He’s been gone far too long for us to bond again, you know it too. He’s your baby brother." Tahiri paused again, "Didn't you feel the same thing through the Force?"
He shrugged, "Anakin and I will always be brothers, that will never change…" he started, then looked at her again, "But you will always be his first love, and because of that I don’t think he’d willingly let you go."
Tahiri huffed, "Nothing will ever be the same…He's probably the only one that expects things to be the same, when in reality I’m desperately in love with his older brother.” She bit her lip, “So, what do we do?”
Jacen’s face hardened, “He hasn’t mentioned anything about ‘us’, so it’s safe to assume he doesn’t know or is still working things out. Until he mentions or asks, we both don’t say anything to him. Agreed?”
Tahiri smiled, “Agreed.”
The Jedi mirrored her smile, kissing her lightly and then passionately. Both knew they never actually had the chance to properly congratulate each other, but they would have to wait until later. Instead, Tahiri extended her hand to him and Jacen shook it. He looked down at her small hand, and pulled her towards him.
Tahiri grinned, “We really shouldn’t do this…Anakin’s like right around the corner…”
Jacen let his thumb slide down her lips and smiled mischievously, “So we can’t act our emotions, there are other ways…”
Tahiri looked at him curiously, “I’m not sure I understand what you mean, Jacen Solo…but seriously, we really shouldn’t.”
He frowned, slouching, “It really isn’t fair he came back when he did. We can’t even enjoy our time together. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy he's back...it just makes things more complicated for us.”
“Like I said, it's all his fault,” she mused, smiling, “So, all we have to do is resist the temptation and we’ll be fine. I mean, how hard can it be anyway?”
Jacen shrugged, “I don’t know. We only tried to deny our feelings once, in the beginning, but it didn’t work. How can we be sure the same thing won’t happen again?”
Tahiri bit her lip, realizing the same thing then suddenly smiled, “Oooh, I know…I have an idea.” And she bent down, whispering in his ear.
Jacen laughed, “You’re crazy?”
“What? It might work. Whenever we feel the temptation, we just recite the Jedi Code…that or take a cold shower.”
Tahiri laughed, kissing him again, “Okay, now I really have to go. I stay here any longer and I’m going to lose my mind.” As she turned to go, Jacen caught her hand and she fell back on the bed, both landing. “Now, this really isn’t good.”
“I agree.” Jacen replied, then caressed her cheek, “You are so beautiful, it’s unbelievable. You’ll be in my heart forever.”
Tahiri blushed, “Where have you been my whole life Jacen Solo?”
He only smiled, brushing her bangs aside, “I don’t know. You were always there, I just didn’t see you - see you the way I do now. You’ve grown so much, ya know that. We’ve both grown.”
Tahiri kissed him again, then moved herself off him and stood up. She turned to him, smiling, “I’ll be on the bridge, looking out for Borealis or the Eclipse .”
Tbc