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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Ankh-Morpork Guard" data-source="post: 2154262" data-attributes="member: 10079">Chapter 191: Healing WoundsAn hour later and half the palace was awake and up. Shadow’s mother and father were doing their best to calm people down and slowly people were starting to go back to bed. Faban had been called to the palace from his dwelling on the other side of the planet, and he currently stood a few meters away, scowling at Marix and Akan. Akan had just finished speaking with Cole, who now had at least a slightly better understanding of the situation and what needed to be done.    Now, though, she was being lectured by both her mother and father about not fighting in the palace...and especially for using the metal dagger. As her mother talked and healed her wounds, Shadow rolled her eyes. But Cole saw this and clipped her across the back of the head for it. She looked up to glare at him, and that got her clipped across the back of the head again, but this time from her mother. Shadow gave up, and slumped down to be as uncooperative as possible.    And then finally, her mother at the point of screaming at her, Shadow responded simply. She pointed to Faban, and said in not-to-polite words that if he didn’t fix the link, because somehow it had to be his fault, that she would kill him right there in front of everyone.    That, of course, got her two more smacks. Though they were definitely because both of her parents knew she was being serious. A few more minutes passed as Faban denied any knowledge of the occurrences before, finally, he stepped over in front of her.    The older Alraxian leaned down to touch Shadow’s head, but she jerked back and nearly punched him. The only thing that stopped it was Kyren, who was doing his job and keeping the peace...which currently meant catching Shadow’s fist before it reached Faban. But this did not deter her. Something in Faban’s eyes enraged her even more. He knew all about it. She could feel it.    And so, it was only a short time before Kyren was holding her down to the chair as she struggled and cursed. Faban moved down and firmly placed his hands on either side of Shadow’s head, and, of course, she growled and tried to do anything to him. But Kyren held her tightly as Faban put his forehead to her’s. An odd sensation ran through her head for a long second, and then it suddenly turned into a sharp pain.    The pain faded away when Faban let go of her and got back to his feet. Without a word, though looking very annoyed, the old man turned and immediately left the room. But Shadow barely noticed it. She was focused on the change. She grinned suddenly. [I seeee you...]Akan looked up suddenly, his eyes wide in surprise. A smile slowly worked its way onto his features, and a familiar ‘voice’ echoed through her head. [...thank you.]    Shadow then found herself looking around the room. Her mother had moved over to speak with Kato, and Shadow couldn’t help more of a grin when she saw that her cousin was crying. It wasn’t enough to be completely satisfied, but it was a start, at least.    It was another half an hour before she and Akan were allowed to go to bed. They both quietly reached the room, and though neither of them said anything...they didn’t need to. They could feel each other’s minds again, a little weaker than before, but it would eventually return completely. It was enough, though, that they didn’t really need to speak. Idly, she wandered over to the cupboard and opened it. Shadow was surprised to find more than just her usual two tunics and armor. Now, there was a huge number of clothes...for the both of them, in more styles than she knew existed.    She picked out a plain, clean tunic and tossed it onto the bed. With a sigh, she pulled off her own shirt and wandered into the bathroom, placing the now bloodied shirt off to the side and looking at the old scars. She could vaguely see two scars across her back...Kato’s from a few days earlier. Muttering to herself, she idly traced along the scar across her chest. It was an older one, but a scar was a scar.    “Akan...” she called back into the main room, “How bad are they?”    Not that he needed to walk to look...he’d been watching her. Staring. It wasn’t his fault. He really didn’t mean to...but it was hard not to. She wasn’t wearing anything beyond her trousers and he still wasn’t completely used to the whole Alraxian lack of modesty.    “Huh?” he snapped back into reality, realizing she’d asked a question, then remembered it, “Oh!...right...”    Somewhat nervously, he walked over and stood behind her to examine the scars along her back, trying to ignore that he could see clearly over her and into the mirror where her reflection was. Forcing that back, though, he looked down at the scars, “All the way down your back...they really don’t look good...I can um...try to fix them. I know I’m not very good at it...but I could try.”    When she nodded, he placed a hand over the scar that was higher up. The second that his hand touched her skin, Shadow froze, but then suddenly she jumped away and actually squeaked. Realizing what she’d done, she mumbled something that didn’t make sense, went a deep shade of red, and tried not to look at his face in the mirror. After a deep breath, she steeled herself this time.    Akan gave her a confused look(as the link didn’t make any sense of it, either), and then decided that it was best not to ask. Slowly and more carefully, he tried again, placing one hand over each scar and channeling the Force through them. The entire time, her muscles were tense and she was still a deep shade of red. But at least her breathing was under control. Though in front of her, where he couldn’t see(even in the mirror), she was clenching and unclenching her fists.    Eventually, the scars faded away, though it left Akan even more tired than he already was. Healing was not his thing, and he was really surprised he’d managed to do as much as he did. Once they were gone, though, he idly rubbed her back, telling himself he was making sure they were completely gone.Shadow was surprised, but couldn’t help but admit that his rubbing her back felt good. She was surprised more to find herself purring, but didn’t stop and didn’t move. Both Akan and Shadow knew that there was at least one scar left. At least ten minutes passed before Akan yawned. It was the kind of yawn that made him stretch, too, like a big cat. She grinned, and in an odd moment for herself, realized he actually could see over her in the mirror. Which meant...    A new sense of modesty shot through her, and Shadow quickly walked back into the main room, picking up the clean tunic and pulled it on. Besides, they needed to get some sleep. It had been a long day. Akan walked back confused, finding that Shadow was already climbing into the bed. She looked at him and grinned, “Plan on sleeping in your clothes?”    There was a level to that which Marix caught and grinned at, though Shadow didn’t...Akan didn’t either, thankfully. Instead, he looked lost, whimpered, and then looked more lost. She smiled and pointed to a cabinet, “Second drawer from the bottom.”    In another few minutes, Akan was in nightclothes and climbed into the bed. The lights went off, and there was silence. It was the kind of silence where you could hear every single sound far too well. Finally, Akan broke it, “Is everything back to normal now...?”    Shadow shrugged, and though Akan didn’t see it, he felt the blankets move from it, “I...think so. The link will return to its strength over time...and...and Kato will stay away from you.”    Akan nodded, closing his eyes a moment, “So what do we do tomorrow?”    “I have to talk with mother about some things...don’t worry about it now,” she said calmly, and then the silence returned. It lasted a few more seconds before Akan felt Shadow shift closer, and heard her voice in the darkness, “...back rub good.”    She was about as subtle as a thermal detonator. But Akan smiled and rolled over to move closer. He carefully slid his hands up the back of her shirt and rubbed her back until she’d fallen asleep. A few minutes later, he, too, fell asleep. It was so easy to fall asleep to the sound of purring...</blockquote>

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