part
3
Further disclaimer: Blame no one but me for the exceptionally banal lyrics-- this was written rather early in the morning, and I'm not any kind of poet. I apologize in advance.
"Debut" - part 3
“Jacen? Jacen?!” He shook his head.
“Jacen, are you all right?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah. Just a little distracted. Sorry.”
“It is quite all right,” Tenel Ka replied. “The course is plotted.”
“All right,” said Jacen, “preparing the jump to hyperspace.” He reached out to the levers, to find his hand immediately covered by Tenel Ka’s own. They looked at each other in surprise, then pulled the levers pack gently, together. The pinpoint stars before them stretched into bright white lines, then dilated into a whirling corridor of light.
“Tenel Ka?”
“Hmm?”
“You can move your hand now.”
“I know,” she replied. Her fingers curled, lacing with his atop the controls. Both relaxed into their chairs. “Jacen, I wanted to thank you again for agreeing to do this.”
Jacen lifted his hand, fingers still laced with hers, to his lips, kissing her hand. “Then I’ll tell you again-- it is my pleasure and my honor.” Tenel Ka removed her hand from his to adjust a control.
“Then tell me something else. What preparations have you already made for the ceremony?”
He smiled. “But that would ruin the surprise, wouldn’t it?”
“Yes, but--”
“But you’re worried.”
Tenel Ka frowned. “This is not a fact. I am _not_ worried.”
Jacen sighed. “It’s me, Tenel Ka. I’ve known you long enough to be able to read you pretty well. Maybe ‘worried’ is too strong, but you’re at least _concerned_ that I won’t be well enough prepared for the ceremony.”
“I--” she started “-- You are correct, friend Jacen, as usual. Although I am not sure _why_ I am... concerned. It is most certainly not a lack of confidence in _you_.”
“That’s nice to hear. All right then, are you worried about my possibly embarassing myself, or even you?”
“I do not embarass.”
Jacen smiled. “Oh yeah? What about that time--”
She cut him off. “I do not embarass _easily_. But I do not wish for you to be embarassed, this is a fact.”
“You may also be concerned about disappointing your father and Ta’a Chume.”
“This is also a fact.”
“All right,” Jacen said, “I’ll tell you _some_ of what I’ve been studying, to ease your mind. Ask me... three questions.”
Tenel Ka thought a moment. “On which side of me should you stand?”
Jacen’s answer was immediate. “I am to stay to your right at all times when we are standing, sitting, or walking.”
She nodded. “The proper terms of address for my immediate family?”
“‘Queen Mother’ for Ta’a Chume, ‘Honored Lady’ for your mother and ‘Honored Sire’ for your father.”
Tenel Ka opened her mouth, but Jacen continued. “Or I could call either of your parents ‘Your Highness’.”
She nodded again. “And your primary duty as escort?”
“To serve, honor and protect the celebrant,” he replied officiously. “Feel better?”
“Yes,” she answered. “I am impressed, but not surprised. You are capable of most impressive things, friend Jacen, and you have a particular talent for making me feel better.”
“Is that a fact? Then why don’t you ever laugh at my jokes?”
“As I have told you before,” Tenel Ka said gently, “the fact that I do not laugh at your jokes does not mean I do not find them amusing, and most definitely does not mean they are unappreciated. I do not smile often--”
“Just the once, as I recall,” Jacen remarked.
“But that is only on the outside. Believe me,” she continued, her gray eyes fixing him with a warm gaze, “in my heart, I _always_ smile when I am with you.”
Jacen was nearly speechless. “I’m not sure what to say to that,” he managed.
“That is surprising,” said Tenel Ka, her mouth just beginning to tug upwards.
He nodded. “Just don’t get used to the silence-- I’ll be sure to think of something silly to say.”
A titter escaped Tenel Ka’s lips before she was able to clamp her hand over them.
Jacen’s lopsided grin beamed. “Oh, this is too much-- now you’re laughing, too? I’d better quit while I’m ahead.”
She fought her way back to her usual demeanor. “This is a fact.”
Silently, they watched the coruscating tunnel of energy speed by for a few minutes. “Why don’t you get some sleep?” offered Jacen. “I’ve got some studying to do, anyway.”
“Very well,” Tenel Ka answered. She rose and turned for the aft compartments, but stopped. The warrior girl placed her hand on Jacen’s shoulder. “Thank you.”
Jacen looked warmly at her, patting the hand with his own. “It’s my pleasure. But you may not be saying that once you’ve seen me dance. Now get back there-- you look tired.”
“Do I?”
He nodded. “Beautiful as always, but yes-- tired. Been making plans with Ta’a Chume, huh?”
“This is a fact. Very perceptive, Jacen, very perceptive.” With a final nod, she exited the cockpit.
Jacen checked over the autopilot settings, then swiveled his acceleration chair around to face the display monitor beside the controls. The young Jedi removed his data card from his chest pocket, and placed it into the computer. With a sigh, he began scrolling through the information.
**********
Tenel Ka opened the hatch to the small cabin. A pair of recessed sleeping pallets were to one side, with a desk/dresser and chair beside, and the hatch to a small refresher unit opposite. On most of the *Rock Dragon*’s voyages, she would share this cabin with Jaina. An identical cabin across the passageway was where the young men would sleep-- Jacen in a pallet and Lowie in a hammock hung well above the deck.
Sitting down before the mirror, Tenel Ka began the slow process of unbraiding her red-gold hair. First, she removed the few small adornments, then began undoing the many plaits. When she was done, the rippling, fiery mane hung past her shoulders. Playfully, she pulled the hair into a few approximations of the upswept coiffures she would soon be choosing from. Quickly, she stopped. The warrior girl looked at herself carefully.
Beautiful. It was a word she’d heard often, but rarely heeded. When it came from Ta’a Chume or any of the other Hapan royal house, Tenel Ka dismissed it as empty flattery. The word meant nothing to her people on Dathomir. When she’d heard it from her parents, or her friends, she took it in stride-- no one would say that someone they cared for was unattractive.
But when Jacen would call her beautiful, and he did more and more often these last few months, it was different. The word brought the smallest of flutters to her stomach, and the faintest warmth to her cheeks. *Perhaps,* she thought to herself, *it is not so much as the fact that he says it, it is _how_ he says it.*
Jacen’s eyes would sparkle as they always did, and his face would soften. He would say the word so deliberately, so honestly, she could not help but believe him. Tenel Ka was a supremely self-confident young woman, but the attention of this one young man was her only conceit. She loved his attention. *Because of who it is coming from,* she decided, *not for its own sake.*
Still pondering this, she stepped into the refresher. A few minutes later, she emerged, showered and relaxed, and wriggled into bed. Tenel Ka removed a data pad from her belongings and began scrolling through the text. Softly, absently, an old, sweet song began to whisper past her lips.
**********
Jacen sat back, rubbing his eyes. He sighed heavily. *My brain has reached saturation point, no doubt about it.* The young man swiveled his chair around, looking over the controls. Sure of their flight, he got up and headed for his cabin, intending to use the refresher.
He was at the door when he stopped suddenly, his ears catching the faintest sound. It was a quiet, almost trilling melody. Jacen turned and pressed his ear to the door of Tenel Ka’s cabin. Sure enough, he could recognize her voice, but not as he’d ever heard it.
Gently, Jacen found the door unlocked and slid it open.
Tenel Ka was sitting up in her bed, reading. Her voice was untrained,
but clear-- an alto, Jacen decided-- and the song was familiar. Soon,
he recognized it as an old love song, with Standard lyrics wrapped around
a traditional Calamarian melody. It was a duet, he realized, and
Tenel Ka was humming the other part. As Jacen leaned against the
doorframe, enjoying the moment, her voice came back in.
I can always know where you are,
For our love is as strong as the sea,
But please hurry home from your star,
And find your way back to me.”
And we’ll watch the moons rise once more,
From a Calamarian shore,
Hand in hand, and arm in arm,
In love.”
“Say something,” Jacen said, smiling, “I can’t have been _that_ bad.”
She shook her head. “Oh, no, Jacen-- it was very nice. You simply… surprised me, that is all.”
“I suppose I must have, at that. You have a beautiful voice, Tenel Ka.”
The slightest shade of pink touched her cheeks. “Thank you. As do you, my friend.”
“Why thank you,” he said sheepishly. “Where did you learn that song?”
“My mother would sing it to herself sometimes. I think it had a lot of meaning for her and my father, but I never asked her. It always seemed so personal.” By then, a wistful smile had curved her lips. She looked up at Jacen, whose own lopsided grin was beaming. “What?”
“Nothing. It’s just you’re not usually this sentimental.”
“This is a fact. Where did you learn the song?”
He chuckled. “Would you believe my Dad?”
“I would not. He can sing?”
“Oh, no, no. We were on one of his ‘Guys’ Night Out’s-- he takes me out to someplace or other, just the two of us, every now and then. Anyway, we’d gone to this little cantina on the far side of Coruscant. We were joking around when this singer comes out on stage. She starts singing ‘Calamarian Moonrise,’ and Dad gets real quiet. He told me that song reminds him of how he and my Mom took so long to get together.”
“My parents were the opposite. They knew each other only a few days before they knew they were in love. I suppose that when it happens, it happens. It is up to the person in love to figure that out.”
Jacen nodded. “I suppose so. Well, I’ll let you get some shut-eye. Good night, Tenel Ka.”
“Good night, Jacen.” The door slid closed.