Daughter of the Force

Chapter 8

Turning back he locked the hyperdrive into hyperspace. Back on Naboo, the queen stood in the hangar bay, arms crossed over her chest. "I am sorry for my action, Your Highness. I ask for your forgiveness." I said bowing my head before her. She lifted my chin and said," All is forgiven, Shiraya. I have spoken with Teckla and she has told me everything. I understand now why you needed to leave this planet. I never should have sheltered you from the truth all these years. Forgive me for my actions against you." I leaped into her embrace, her head resting atop mine. I sensed Elan looking on in support of our new union. I asked," Where is Teckla?" She said," Inside her quarters, I'm afraid. She's very ill." I rushed inside, running to find Teckla's quarters down the hall from mine. She lay there on her bed pale, looking out at the light and peering through the window. Her head turned towards me as tears began to descend from her eyes. I said," Teckla!" I wanted to hug her but yet I was afraid to. She said," My baby is weak as am I now. I am glad you have arrived back here safely." The doors hissed open with Elan entering quietly. I said," Teckla this is Elan." He said," The pleasure is mine, Milady." She replied," Proper now that's something you don't hear every day." I placed my hand gently upon her swollen belly as a little kick bumped it. I said," It's alive." She smiled a little smile and said, "Of course, it is, Shiraya." Elan placed his hand beside mine and said," I sense a little boy inside you. He wants to meet you very soon." Teckla's eyes closed for a moment. Her body tensed as I knew the pain was ascending throughout. I said," Should I get one of the handmaidens?" She replied," No, I am fine." She winced again this time more forcefully. "Elan, go to the queen and tell her we need help." I said with worry lingering on my face. "Hurry!" He was gone in a dash as I grabbed a hold of her hand. I pulled off my cloak trying to wipe away the sweat trickling down her face. Within seconds Priya walked in with Elan behind her. She motioned for me to leave and I obeyed. I paced the hall wondering if Teckla was alright. Once Priya came out she rushed over to my side," Milady, the baby is coming. I will gather the other handmaidens for this task. Please stay out here but close so that Teckla can see you. Her body is very weak but I know we can bring her back." She once again dashed down the halls to find her fellow handmaidens. Outside Teckla's quarters, I could hear her screams of pain. I could hear the handmaidens coaching her on what to do. Elan sat down next to me holding me close with our backs firmly against the wall. He said,'' She is strong, I sense. Everything will be alright, Shiraya." The screams suddenly were silenced. I jolted up onto my feet rushing into her quarters. Priya grabbed a hold of the baby as a wail lurched from its lungs. I wrapped a blanket around the tiny baby placing it in Teckla's awaiting arms. "You have a beautiful little boy, Teckla." Priya said joyfully. As the handmaidens cleaned, I couldn't help but notice how this moment mirrored the moment I was brought into this galaxy. I said," What will you call him?" She replied," I would ask Ian but he's in Parrlay. I think I will call him Rori after our moon. Now, I have two beautiful moons in my life." Within the next few days, Teckla and Ian shared their newborn bliss. I of course took back to my studies with Priya until Teckla was ready to tutor me again. Elan decided to stay in Theed until he felt the need to return to the temple. Sitting on the palace steps I stared out into the light wondering if my parents were somehow looking back at me. "You think too much." A voice from behind me said. I replied," I don't need the Force to know your standing there, Elan." Sitting down beside me he grabbed my hand, caressing it softly. He said," I wonder what you're staring at." I said,'' Looking for hope, I think. Wondering if running away from here was the right thing to do." He said,'' I believe you needed to know for yourself what had happened to them after all these years. You are brave as you are strong, a true Force user." With that, I rested my head on his shoulder still thinking and hoping. Back inside the palace, Teckla began walking the halls with the help of Ian beside her. I kept a firm grasp on the baby in my arms as I watched them together. Elan's eyes never stopped glancing at me the whole time I held little Rori. I feel older now than I ever did. I sat quietly rocking him in my arms trying my hardest not to stir him awake. To think all those years ago I was this small not knowing what the galaxy had in store for me. Elan sat beside me gently lifting Rori from my arms. He looked so natural holding onto him. "You must have a lot of experience with babies." I said jokingly. He replied,'' No, it's just back at the temple I was always placed in charge of the infants that would come. So many of them were orphans, hidden away from their Jedi parents like treasure. I look into his eyes and I see many of them staring back at me now. He's less heavy than I expected him to be." I said,'' You'd make a wonderful father, Elan." A smile crept onto his face and he said,'' As long as they're like the woman I love most." For a tiny moment, a little yawn awakened the baby. His hands raised into the air, grasping a long bead strand from my headdress. Ian walked over to us taking him from Elan's arms. I said,'' He is truly your son, Ian." He smiled and walked back to Teckla's quarters where he stayed beside her at all times. As night fell over the city of Theed, I was stirred awake by Priya. She said, "Milady, the queen would like to see you." I walked quietly down the hall to the throne room and said,'' Your Highness, you have called upon me?" She replied," I have a mission for you. I need you to go to the Wookiee planet of Kashyyyk. A shipment of supplies is to be delivered there. I thought maybe you could go join Captain Pike in this mission." I replied," I would be honored, Your Highness. But, why call upon me?" She said," He asked for you to personally come with him." I bowed my head again and walked back down the dimly lit hallway to my quarters. In the morning Elan sat on the edge of my bed in his training robes. I asked," What's the occasion?" "We're going to train." He said grabbing my hands and pulling me out of my bed. I quickly got dressed in my custom Jedi robe and met him out in the forever-blooming gardens. Levitating my lightsaber out of my belt I went to the ready. Elan threw his shirt aside and bowed his head. Rushing at each other I used Force Jump, leaping over him into a somersault landing flatly on my feet. He began to circle me twirling his emerald green lightsaber. He said," Give up yet?" I shook my head using Force Push to my advantage, catching him off guard. He scores back against the grain of the tile beneath our feet stopping in a cloud of thick dust. Out of the blue I was caught up in his arms, twirling me around. I said," Come on, you said you wanted to train. This is not what I call training." He put me back down as I levitated him up in the air. "Okay now, this isn't funny." He said kicking blankly in the wind. Into the bushes, I threw him down. He stood back up with twigs and leaves poking out of his now-tangled hair. Using Force Push, I was dropped back onto the tile. He leaned over me and said," Now that was funny." Before he got up off of me he planted a kiss on my lips. He helped me back up onto my feet as I asked," What else are you going to make me do?" He pointed over to a pot of flowers and said," Move it." Focusing all my strength I used Force Repulse, throwing the pot back into a wall and breaking it into pieces. Using my mind I levitated the pieces, mending each piece back together one by one. Carefully, I placed the pot back down in its original place. It now looked like it had never been broken. I childishly pushed him back and said,'' Don't ever make me do that again." He placed his arm around my waist and whispered," I won't make you do that again, Shiraya. I didn't even know you knew how to do that. I was just expecting you to use Force Push, not Force Repulse. Where did you even learn that?" I replied," I don't know, it just came out of nowhere. We should probably stop for the day." Walking back to the palace steps I tossed his shirt back to him. He sat in front of me as I ran my fingers through his hair. He said,'' You did beautifully, Shiraya." "That's because I have a good teacher." I said placing a band in his hair to knot it together. "I hope I won't be doing that again anytime soon." He replied, "When are you leaving for Kashyyyk?" I said,'' How did you even know about that?" He said,'' I have my ways. All right I used Telepathy on your Captain when I passed him by this morning. I'm sorry he just looked like he was hiding something. So when do you leave?" I said,'' I don't know, Elan. When you were snooping did you find anything else hiding in his head?" "Yes and no." He turned around to face me. "You know that I know about Kashyyyk, that's the yes part. The no part is he knows your family's crest from somewhere besides the Rebellion's symbol that is. I think he knows where your parents are and he's not telling you." Placing my necklace in my hand I said,'' There is no way he could know my parents. He hasn't even ever met them in his lifetime. If he knows something about them it's probably because of what the queen tells him." He says," I disagree with you on that one, Shiraya. He knows more than what he's telling you now that's a fact." Behind us, I begin to hear footsteps getting closer and closer. Using my mind I try to find out who is coming toward us. I say," Captain Pike, you sure make a lot of noise for a captain in the Queen's Royal Security Forces." He sits down next to me and says, "You, Milady, are a horrible listener. I walk with grace and ease." I replied," No, you don't one bit." Elan grabbed his shirt and walked up the steps to the palace. He said," That boy is something isn't he?" I reply, "Captain Pike, I refuse to discuss my personal affairs in your presence. Why are you here?" He said," You're the Jedi so you tell me." I said," My mind tricks only work on the weak-minded. Your mind unfortunately doesn't count as weak." He replies, "Are you ready to go?" I nodded and said," But, first I must change into something more comfortable." After getting myself dressed I met the captain and Elan in the hangar bay. Instead of a transporter, my starship sat at the ready. I said," Why is it always my starship?" The captain replied," Because, Milady, it's the fastest. Don't worry we will be having an escort for security purposes." Beside my starship are two Royal N-1T Advanced Starfighters' waiting patiently for us to take off. For the jump into hyperspace, each starfighter took its turn to lead the way for us. In the cockpit, I managed the controls while Captain Pike put the coordinates into the navigation computer for the jump. Once he did that I went back to play on the Dejarik table with Elan. With every move he made, I knew somehow he was cheating. After two games I decided to quit playing but once I was about to go back to the cockpit when a large blow tossed me back. Lifting my head off the floor I look up to find Captain Pike pulling at the controls. Elan helped me up walking with me to the cockpit. I asked," What happened?" Captain Pike replied, "Milady, we're in a bit of trouble. I require you to sit down." I did as I was told locking myself into my chair. Outside I could see our starfighters blasting away at an unknown object. From under a cloaking device, a freighter became noticeable. I then knew we were being attacked by pirates. I yell," Captain, we're unarmed here." He didn't answer me but kept a hold of the controls in front of him. Behind me, I knew Elan was sensing my worry. On my side of the controls, I noticed the shield generator was not activated. I said,'' Captain, we need to activate the shield generator and make an emergency jump into hyperspace." He replied," Shiraya, take over the controls while I try to figure this out." I grabbed tightly onto the controls on my side holding her steady. Once I heard the shield beeper I knew we were going to be alright. The captain punched the ship into hyperspace leaving our starfighters behind us. "Elan, I need to know the damages." The captain yelled back to him. "There should be a toolkit back there to hold it till we land." In front of us, the planet of Kashyyyk came into view. I yell back," Do you want me to land?" He nodded as he went back to helping Elan. Using my Force powers as a guide I landed the ship safely onto the forest floor of Wroshyr trees. I turned myself around hoping they hadn't flown backward as I landed. But, no, they were hard at work fixing what was broken. In a flash of light, our starfighters crash-landed beside us as Elan dashed over to my side to push me down under him. I poked my head out from under his arm to see flames ascending beside the starship. Rushing out of my ship I noticed a clan of Wookiees trying to put out the towering flames in front of them. I rounded around the ship trying to find any survivors I could. Under the smoke, all I could see were the flames rising. From behind me, I felt Elan's strong arms pull me back from the rubble. "No, I need to find survivors!" I screamed. "Let me go!" Elan's nose brushed up against my neck and he whispered in my ear, "They're gone, Shiraya, they're gone. I'll only let you go if you stop fighting me." I relaxed in his arms as his grasp around me loosened. He escorted me back slowly trying not to have me fight him off. This is the first time in my life that life itself was fading right before my eyes. Elan picked me up into his arms and spoke to a Wookiee saying," Where is your nearest city? She's been burned." The Wookiee spoke in his native Shyriiwook and pointed up the trail ahead. Once I arrived in the city I found it to be the city of Kachirho. Translated into Basic it means Come in peace to our Home Tree Vikkilynn.