| abstract
| - Halls of Healing - Ord Mantell The Halls of Healing are a center of healing and renewal of life for wounded Jedi. An infirmary is housed within the walls, holding over a dozen bacta tanks and three times as many beds. It is staffed by Jedi Healers. The Halls' blue-green floors and walls, lined by pink pillars, created a soothing atmosphere for the injured. Along the Hall, small chambers can be accessed and assigned to Jedi undergoing treatment. The Chief Healer also has an office in the wing, with an examination table in a room adjacent. Some frantic hours have passed as the Jedi Healers looked after those who were affected by the Emperor's unexpected attack on the Jedi Temple. While Alika Kiben made sure that the most seriously injured were seen to first, she still tended to Jessalyn who seemed modestly unhurt, but for some scrapes and bruises. But Jessa wasn't her primary concern anyway. "I'm not supposed to believe in luck, being a Jedi and all," she says with some amusement in her glittering blue eyes. "But you're lucky. I don't think he harmed you or the baby." Sighing with relief, Jessalyn bobs her head, swinging her legs around the side of the examination table until the Healer stops her. "But let's play it safe, hmm? Stay and rest. Let us keep an eye on you for a while." It suited Jessalyn all right, since they wouldn't let her see Paul, anyway. Two of Alika's students saw after the Corellian, who was almost immediately placed in one of the facility's bacta tanks. The Temple has been under attack before, but never like this, and the younger students are nervous and edgy as Alika monitors Paul's status both through the equipment's monitoring sensors and her keen sensibilities through the Force. When Jessalyn finally awakens some hours later, one of the assistants is hovering at her bedside, and she gives him a frantic look. "What is it?" she murmurs, sitting up slowly and grateful when her head doesn't spin. "I believe Doctor Nighman should be waking up," he replies, offering her an arm as she smiles at him and slips onto the cold floor with her bare feet. "Is he all right?" Jessa asks as he leads her around the corner to another examination room where Alika is tending to Paul with a bemused expression on her face. His thoughts have been thoroughly scrambled, and in the aftermath of the attack Paul's mind has been awhirl. Sedation kept him under for the necessary bacta treatment, but his mind was on a whirling ride through space and time, strange, distrubing, and violent 'dreams' peppering his reality. Dreams of burning from Malign's terrible insects or the Emperor's terrible lightning, Jessalyn going over the edge of the maw, falling to her death, or being burnt to a crisp while the Emperor watched, laughing. Like an endlessly looping holovid, the images just repeat and repeat and repeat, the Corellian unable to wake them to break the cycle. As such, when his eyes do finally flutter open he stares at the ceiling of the room he has been placed in with a deep and profound sense of relief. This doesn't last for long though, as he manages to wade through his muddled thoughts to the last memory he had. Jessalyn and the baby in danger and then the pain ... and then Jessalyn falling, calling out her name before he blacked out. As such he jerks upright, or would if the hand of one of the students hadn't gently pressed down to prevent him from doing so. But he rasps anxiously, "Jessalyn? Where's Jessalyn?!" Alika frowns as Paul tries to sit up, and she rests a hand on his shoulder not to restrain him, but to send her patient a wave of comfort through the Force. "Paul," she says, addressing him less formally in an effort to get his attention. "She's all right, see?" She nods toward the doorway where Jessalyn is standing, and when the Healer gives her a nod, she comes over beside her and tries on a nervous-looking smile as she gazes down at Paul. But for being pale and suffering from a few scratches on her face and bruises on her arms, she looks the same as she did that morning. "How are you feeling?" she asks worriedly, suppressing the urge to wring her hands. He resists at first, the comfort meaningless till he sees Jessalyn standing there looking relatively alright, a breath escaping him before he slumps back against the cushions. Hazel eyes lift to gaze up into Jessalyn's leaf green ones, his gaze going a little hazy as he ponders the question seriously before replying, "Toasty. Tired and toasty. All my nerve endings feel like they're tingling, like there's still a low level of electricity running through them ..." He lifts a hand slowly, opening it and offering it to Jessalyn as he asks, "Are you alright? Really?" Knowing that if the Emperor had really wanted to, he could have instantly killed Paul with the Force lightning, Jessalyn can't help but feel relieved that he's awake and recovering. Her hand is cold and trembling as she takes his hand and closes her eyes for a moment. "You scared the hell out of me," she chides him softly, and Alika gathers the others up with her eyes and herds them for the door, leaving the couple some privacy. "I'm all right, I promise." She touches his forehead with her free hand, brushing back his hair before meeting his hazel gaze and trying to dispel his worry. He frowns a little at her cool hand, his eyes opening and closing in a slow blink as he sighs and confesses, "Scared the hell out of myself." He squeezes her hand gently and blows out a breath before he asks, "What the hell happened? What was he doing? What did he want?" He frowns and mumurs, "That definitely wasn't Malign .... the Emperor then?" He's still a little disoriented, his brow creasing as he tries to concentrate and focus his thoughts. "He was inside my head. He was trying to convince me to kill you. And then you were inside my head." Paul pauses for a moment before he notes, "There really should never be more than one person inside my head at any given time." "I don't know," Jessalyn sighs, squeezing his hand in return. "I mean, I don't know what he wanted. But I'm sure it was the Emperor. He was somehow battling Luke at the same time as he was trying to take over you... I'm not sure he wanted anything other than to try and turn us against each other." She strokes back his hair again and listens as he sorts through all that happened, and she can't help but chuckle at his words. "I agree. I'm sorry for that... but it was the only way I could force him out of your mind." The fact that Paul apparently didn't give in to the Emperor's coercions makes Jessalyn blink slowly as she gives him a long, assessing look. "But he couldn't get to you, Paul. There was something in you he couldn't touch, whether I was there or not." Shaking his head, Paul murmurs, "I don't think he was really trying that hard. Although Malign didn't enter my mind, didn't even try, I know that he could have if he wanted to. He could have made me do anything, say anything, if he had wanted to. The Emperor didn't control my mind, he just tried to convince me that I wanted something so much that I would willingly kill you just to have it. He didn't understand at all how completely impossible it was to merely coax me to hurt you." Shaking his head, Paul rolls cautiously onto his side and muses, "He wasn't really trying. I think it was more that he wanted to hurt you through me." Which again makes Paul frown uncomfortably. Once again, he is defenseless, a pawn to be played against Jessalyn. Her hand curls tighter around his as Jessalyn frowns. "I think he was trying harder than you think," she says quietly. "He was enraged when he couldn't force you, I sensed it. Most people couldn't resist him, Paul." However, she hadn't known exactly what it was the Emperor was trying to force him to do, and her heart pounds in her chest at the thought of what she would have done if he'd succeeded. She manages a small smile at him and rests a hand on her belly. "Well, I'm glad it wasn't easy for him to convince you to kill me," she teases, worried at his frown. "But if there's something that you want that badly enough, you don't have to kill me to get it, you know." His lips curl into a small smile, though he clearly doubts and disagrees with Jessalyn's assessment of the matter, merely replying, "Are you /flirting/ with me?" Shaking his head again, Paul murmurs, "I think he was just frustrated that it wasn't as easy as he thought it would be and because he underestimated you and Luke." Lifting her hand, Paul places a kiss upon her knuckles before he shifts to slowly work on sitting upright, propping himself against the headboard of his medical bed, his eyes noting for the first time the monitors next to him and the freshly scrubbed quality of his skin due to the fact that a fair amount of it is bacta brand new. "Yeah, that was a bad call on his part. You'd have to offer me a lot more than a bottle of Corellian brandy to make me off you. He should have at /least/ offered two bottles ..." At his suggestion that she's flirting, Jessa's eyes widen and she laughs so hard she has to wrap her arms around herself to hold it in. "No, do you want me to?" she says with a wink. "All right, I confess, I'm -always- flirting a little bit with you." She takes a step back to give him room as he sits up, tugging the blanket up around his lap and arching her brows. "Two bottles? And they've lost value since Corellia came back! I think I'm hurt." But she's not convinced that his resistance to the Emperor is so easily explained. Such a violation of the mind and spirit is no small thing, and she knows that the Emperor is more powerful than any Force user they've come across, more powerful even than Luke. "I'm glad you're okay, though," she murmurs, resting her hands at the small of her back and glancing at him from beneath the screen of her lashes. "You could, but sadly I don't think either of us are in any condition to do much about it," Paul teases back softly with a wink. His shoulder shrug as he replies, "Okay, maybe three, and I would have haggled him up from there big time. Promise." He tugs on her hand, urging Jessa to sit on the edge of the bed, one hand shifting to her back and gently rubbing the tender small of it where he knows she can get sore and achey. "I'm glad you're okay too," he murmurs softly, his gaze going serious as it drops to her large belly. "I thought I was going to lose you. Both of you. That wasn't okay." With a bit of effort, Jessalyn eases up beside him on the edge of the bed, her breath coming out sharply from her lungs as she sits since there's not much room for anything besides her belly, "Oof. Thanks," she says as she leans her head on his shoulder, cradling her hands beneath her lap and sighing softly at his worry. "I'm sorry... We're both okay, Alika said so, I promise," she says ruefully. "And I'm sorry for everything else. I want you to be happy... I don't want them targeting you. It's not fair..." Eyeing her belly Paul murmurs softly, "We're gonna need a bigger bed ..." before shifting over some more to make room for her, his arm wrapping about her back protectively to keep her up there with him. Fortunately the bed isn't very high. Shaking his head, however, Paul counters, "You have nothing to be sorry about. And I am happy, Jessa. Occasionally scared, uncertain, and worried, but happy nonetheless. I just don't want you to always have to be worried about me. I'm like the weak link in your chain of friends and family. I don't want you to be hurt through me." A shallow sigh leaves her lips as Jessalyn settles against his arm as comfortably as possible, though her muscles are aching, her back is stiff, and she hasn't gotten a good night's sleep in a while due to the restless kicks and stirrings of their impatient child. "You're not quite the weakest link," she notes softly, rubbing her belly. "I suppose I should have tried to keep things secret. It's hard to be just a regular person and a Jedi, too, but I wouldn't be happy, if it was any other way. And I would worry about you if you were a Jedi Master... or if I was just a lowly mechanic back on Corellia and you were a professor..." She tips back her head to look at his profile, considering his words and how she should respond. Jessa swallows hard and asks in as casual a voice as she can manage, "So... you're not just sticking around because of the baby?" "Ummmmm, I hate to break it to you sweetheart, but when you're eight months pregnant, there ain't no way to keep it a secret," teases the Corellian. Well it's her own fault for being so vague about what 'secret' she's talking about! He turns her slightly, recognizing the signs of strain, his hands gently massaging tense and stiff muscles, soothing them as he notes, "I don't think you would /need/ to worry about me quite so much if I were a Jedi Master. You Master types are pretty good at taking care of yourselves and just about everyone else too ... and I don't think either of us would be in much danger if you were just a mechanic and I was a professor. These are not professions of great adventure and daring-do." But at her deceptively casual question, Paul turns his head and meets Jessalyn's gaze directly, shaking his head from side to side. He's almost shocked, about to protest her question vehemently, but instead he replies directly and clearly, "No, absolutely not. I am not sticking around just because you're carrying our baby." She giggles at his teasing, but then her eyes slide shut as his hands start to knead and soothe her sore muscles, and she groans with relief. "You're too good to me," she says, meaning it, as she rolls her shoulders and leans her head forward, muffling her voice somewhat as she goes on. "But I meant keeping -us- secret, silly, though there have been plenty of secret pregnancies in history, right?" She winces slightly as he finds a sore spot and arches her back. "Worry is worry. But all any of us can do is be prepared and live in the moment instead of letting the fear of what might happen keep us from appreciating what we have." Jessalyn gazes up at him quietly when he answers her question, her hand clenching against the outward curve of her belly, and then she smiles and nods her head. "Good. Because I wouldn't want you to," she notes. "No matter how much I want you with me..." "I don't know about that ..." Paul returns softly and thoughtfully. "I don't take care of you any more than you deserve ..." But he is bemused by her words, his hands stilling for moment on her back as he asks, "Keeping /us/ secret? What do you mean exactly?" His shoulders shrug, hands resuming their task of soothing aches and strain as he rumbles with a hint of humor, "That's tricky business, hiding pregnancies. You need mighty fine seamstresses and strategically placed furniture to pull that off." Frowning slightly Paul rocks back and pulls Jessalyn closer, curling his arm about her and resting her head on his chest, his hand reaching up to stroke her hair, the other coming to cover her hand over her belly. "I love you Jessalyn. And I will love this child of ours. I may have doubts and fears about being a father, about the future, but neither of those things will ever change." "There's no way I deserve all this," Jessa says with a grin, her eyes closing and her head lolling from side to side as he works on her sore muscles. "Well, I could have been more discreet about who knew we were interested in each other. I could have tried to prevent Malign from finding out about you. I wasn't as careful as I could have been." She chuckles at the thought of suddenly wearing elaborate flowing garb that is not her style at all, but those thoughts fade as she gazes back into his gold-green eyes and Paul pulls her into a closer embrace. She leans her cheek against his heart and closes her eyes, turning her hand to squeeze Paul's fingers. "I love you, too," she murmurs quietly, pondering his words even as they make her cheeks flush with warmth and emotion. "And that won't change, either. I'm not sure what the future holds, but I guess it's time we start planning for it as best we can, though. I know you're not content here... I know it's not like a real home." Shaking his head, Paul dips his head, dropping a kiss to Jessalyn's brow as he snorts, "I think we were and are more than just 'interested' in each other, and that is not something that should be hidden or kept secret. And I don't see that there is any way you could have protected me from Malign or hidden me from him. He clearly has an effective intelligence system and it would have only been a matter of time before he knew who I was and with whom I was associating." He laces his fingers with Jessa's, his head pressed against hers as he quiets and listens and then remains quiet and thoughtful for a few minutes afterward. "Well, you do own a house you know. Though I might need to apply for a pardon from the Empire before I can return to Corellia." Paul's breath lightly stirs Jessalyn's hair as he simply breathes and thinks. "I'm not discontent ... I'm just trying to find my way again. And for a man who left the only home he ever knew when he was 16 I can't say I've ever really had a proper home. So I guess the question is, what do you want? I think that Kiri needs to be near his friends and that both children need a safe and stable home. But since he has been separated from you for so long, I would think that Kiri will want to be with you now?" Jessalyn thinks of how Malign had learned so much about her simply through the memories and events reflected through the Force bound in the necklace she usually wears. Provided he was able to get close to her, he could find out almost anything he wished to know. She squirms inwardly at the feeling of invasion, but tries to put those thoughts from her mind, merely nodding her head as she listens to him talk and to the steady beating of his heart beneath her cheek. "You know, I could probably swing the pardon..." she muses thoughtfully. "But even if the Empire were to let you return to Corellia, I doubt they'd smile on me showing up there. I'm sorry, Paul. I'd love to settle there. Maybe the politics will change. I do sense that things are going to change... for better or worse, I'm not sure, but the Force is with us." Her breath catches involuntarily as the baby gives her ribs a good kick, and she whispers. "Did ya feel that?" She leans up and kisses Paul's cheek. "I have been thinking... Kiri could divide his time between training here with the group and the teachers here, and being with me wherever I might be. And I want him with me now, he needs me. Maybe it all depends on where you can find work, or... I don't know. I'll still need to be away a lot. Luke intends to put me back to work as soon as I'm able." He shrugs and notes, "I can't say that I'm dying to move back into my childhood home, but I know how much Corellia and family mean to you. You could be close to Jace the children there, you own a house there. But for all I know you own several houses on different worlds." His hand shifts over her belly, stroking it as he mumbles sleepily, "Feel it? She could have made a shockball score with that kick ...." He brushes his lips against her temple and asks, "What do you want? Where would you like to call home?" Nuzzling her nose into his neck, Jessalyn muses, "No, I don't own anything else, unfortunately. Maybe I could sell it and find a better one somewhere." As appealing as Corellia sounds, right now it simply isn't a practical option, and so she goes quiet, considering her answer thoughtfully as he kisses her forehead. "Really, Paul, as long as you're there, it doesn't matter to me where it is," she finally replies, covering his hand with both of hers and closing her eyes again as she smiles widely. "As long as it's not Tatooine. I should add that caveat." "Well, then I guess we'll just stay put for now, see what develops. I have work, you have a place to live, and of course the Temple is here, and I'm sure that Luke will want you here when you're not needed elsewhere." He reaches up to draw a stray lock of hair from Jessalyn's brow and then leans in to drop a light kiss upon her mouth. He chuckles though at the caveat about Tatooine and nods soberly. "Yeah, cause sex and sand ... so not happening." "All right," Jessalyn sighs. "But we'll revisit the issue as needed. Though I would like to at least visit Corellia sometime, see Jace and Rachel. I bet I can arrange something along the lines." She smiles at the thought, and then closes her eyes as he kisses her. "Mmmm. You're reading my mind," she teases, shifting slowly and sliding her feet from the edge of the bed. "I better let you get some sleep so you'll be up for sex later, speaking of," she says in a gravely amused voice. "Promise me you'll rest for a while, love." "I'm also sure that they would be more than happy to take a trip here. After being in forced isolation on Corellia, I'm sure that they would love to get off-world for a bit." But Paul leaves the matter at that, knowing that they will mostly not make it back there. It's just too risky between his escaped prisoner status and Jessalyn's strong ties to the NR and her position as a Jedi. But the Corellian is tiring, his eyelids drooping as he reaches up to absently scratch at his freshly grown skin. "Yeah, sorry babe ... I think sex is off the docket for a little while for both of us ...." His eyes flicker closed as for once Paul simply nods his head in assent, more than willing to rest for quite awhile.
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