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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2021075" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 146: Always and ForeverIt seemed that the name Alderaan was simply cursed. First, the planet was destroyed, then Jen’s shuttle was shot down on that horrible desert planet Arranis, and now the Alderaan II was also a wreck. But it was still in one piece...mostly. Enough that Titus had been able to get the ship into a short hyperspace jump before limping to a nondescript and empty section of space. There were no planets, stars, or any other celestial bodies within a thousand light years...which was a good thing. Getting away from those damned bounty hunters, as they’d called themselves on a very arrogant transmission not long after Akan and Shadow left, was hard enough.    The first thing Titus had done was to check on Jen. It seemed like she was having as much trouble as the ship, always ending up in that small, makeshift infirmary. This time it was with three broken ribs and an uncountable number of bruises and scratches. The latter he was able to treat easily, but the broken ribs were a bit too technical for the basic combat medpac use he’d been trained in. As she was conscious, he’d left her suggesting she attempt to use the Force to heal herself. It would be slow, yes, but faster than anything he could do for her. It seemed to make her content, and that gave Titus a chance to go check on the damage systems of the ship. Two of the back rooms had to be sealed off because of a hull breach, but thankfully the ship’s automatic systems had done that.    It left the badly damaged hyperdrive to Titus’ amateur touch. From what he could tell, it was leaking coolant or something similar. But he did managed to patch up a few other sections with Jen’s help...despite the awkward way of doing it. Simply yelling across the ship and describing things, with Jen asking questions and yelling back the answers. Apparently, the yelling didn’t hurt her...but he didn’t really believe it all that much. She’d insisted on helping, and the last thing he was going to do was to make her feel useless. But that didn’t get the repairs far, and he decided it was best to just leave it to her when she was better. Whenever that ended up being.    Besides, there was something else he needed to do. Something he’d avoided out of worry that bringing it up would simply cause trouble. But ignoring it would likely make everything worse. So, after allowing Jen to sleep for a few more hours, he quietly slipped into the room and sat in a small seat next to the medical bed. Her eyes half opened, Jen smiled slightly and said tiredly, “Hey.”    “Hey,” he returned the smile and reached over to take her hand in his, “Any better?”    She shrugged as best as anyone laying down with a complete body ache could, “Somewhat...” her voice trailed off and her expression changed a moment. She could feel something...distant, but still close. After a moment, she asked quietly, “What’s wrong?”    Titus’ smile weakened slightly. He was glad she could recognize emotions well, but that didn’t alleviate the trouble he was having in finding the right words. Find the right words? It sounded like he was attempting to lie to her. No. No, just use the truth. After a deep breath and gently squeezing her hand, Titus said, “I’m worried about you, Jen. Ever since we left Coruscant you’ve been...more aggressive. Especially down there with Nine. Its dangerous to do that, I know that better than anyone.”    He was surprised when Jen simply looked confused, “You, Akan, and Shadow fight. You’re all aggressive. You get things done when it’s the only choice left, just like you should. There’s no difference...”    Titus found himself nodding, but then stopped himself, “No, I’m sorry, its not that simple and I shouldn’t be so evasive about it,” pausing, he took a deep breath, “Its not your actions that worry me. It’s the feelings. Of all people, you know I can tell.”    “You’re starting to sound like Akan,” she mumbled, a grin tugging at her face. It was almost as if she didn’t think he was being serious. Maybe she didn’t.    “I mean it, Jen. This is serious.”    She sighed, “Nine killed all those people just to get our attention! She murdered all of them! I don’t understand how the rest of you can just pass that over like its nothing!”    “We don’t,” Titus said, keeping his voice as calm as he could, hoping she would follow his example, “And you’re right, she did murder them. She had no right to, but she did. But you can’t fight with that clouding your mind. You know that...and now I think you’re finally learning how hard it is to do.”    Jen’s expression was neutral, but her voice had calmed down, “I’m just angry. What was done to Sh...Marix was bad enough, especially to see it first hand...but now...Nine is killing people just to get attention.”    “Anger is natural, don’t let anyone tell you otherwise. Not even the most perfect Jedi can be without it. Its part of being human,” he took a breath an gently rested his other hand over hers, “But you can control it. You must. I don’t want to lose you, Jen. I can’t. You’ve brought light back into my life, and I don’t ever want to lose it again.”    She managed a smile, “I’ll always stand by your side.”    Nodding slowly, Titus let out a last stress-releasing sigh, “I know that. I just wish we could leave right now and never worry about any of this again.”    “But we can’t,” Jen said, shaking her head, “Our friends are out there and knowing them they’re in over their heads. They’re family, Titus, as much as you and I are.”    Again, he nodded, “Of course. But they’re going to have to learn to do things on their own...we can’t always be there to jump in at the last minute.”    “We can try,” she grinned.    That finally got a smile out of him, “I guess we can do that, though.”</blockquote>

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