Well, this was just supposed to be a simple story about what a Sweet Sixteen might be like on Hapes.  I guess when you're a Young Jedi Knight, wherever you go, trouble follows.

“Debut” - part 4

Tenel Ka winced as the needle pricked her once again.  Normally, she was far more stoic when it came to pain, particularly for something so small, but it was well past the fiftieth time.

“I am sorry, Princess,” chirped the seamstress.

Tenel Ka stood atop a wide stool, in her grandmother’s dressing room.  Surrounded by mirrors, she watched with bored detachment as one of her Passage Ball gowns was custom made around her form.  With four days before the actual event, the dress was mostly complete from bodice to hem.  The bulk of the remaining work was to add the intricate finishing touches.  After twenty minutes of standing for the very first fitting, Tenel Ka believed she had discovered the ultimate torture.  By now, she was sure.

The seamstress and her assistant continued circling the young woman, tailoring the fit around Tenel Ka’s athletic fiugre.  The two of them chittered and clucked and made lots of noises and comments which Tenel Ka had tuned out long ago.

The Jedi girl sighed.  *I am grateful Jacen does not need to suffer through this.*

**********

“That’s a little too tight,” Jacen croaked.  The tailor slipped the shirt collar open a centimeter or two.  Jacen breathed deeply.  “Much better.”

The shirt fitting was just about over.  It had been preceded by the trouser fitting, and the jacket fitting, and the initial fitting.  Jacen had never been this pampered in his life, and he hated every second of it.  The tailor nodded, and placed his datacard into a pocket.  “That will be all, Master Solo,” he said as he removed Jacen’s shirt.

“Thank you,” Jacen replied, and picked up his clothes.  Pulling on his comfortable pocket-laden flight suit, he shook his head as he discovered it had been neatly pressed during his tailoring session.  Just before he could touch the panel to open the door, it slid open.

Before him stood the tall, lithe form of Ta’a Chume’s assistant, Mea Velara.  She was a stunningly beautiful woman, as were many of the high-ranking staff attached to the royal family.  But, as Jacen had discovered over the last few days, she was also stunningly dull.

“Ah, Master Solo,” she said in her high, nasal voice, “your session is over... as scheduled, this time.”

Jacen smirked.  “It wasn’t my fault,” he replied.  “The tailor... poked me with a very sharp needle.”

“I see,” Velara replied.  Jacen shrugged.  He knew he was wasting the attempt at humor, but he had to try.  “It is time for your dance lesson.”

The young Jedi rolled his eyes, then stopped.  “Does that mean Tenel Ka will be there?”

“No.  The Princess already has a basic knowledge of Hapan ceremonial dances, and the two of you will be able to practice... tomorrow, perhaps.”

“Terrific,” Jacen griped.  “I see her at morning meal, and at supper, then for the whole ten minutes of free time we have before we’ve got to turn in.  Now I’m learning how to dance with her, and she won’t even be there!”

Velara waited wordlessly for Jacen to finish.  He sighed, knowing he might as well argue with a durasteel wall.  “Lead on,” he said resignedly.

**********

Tenel Ka slumped heavily into a chair.  It was getting late in the evening, and she was more than ready to turn in, but she was waiting.  Jacen would be by any minute to spend their precious few minutes of free time together.

She swiveled the chair towards the mirror, and began unbraiding her hair.  Tenel Ka rolled her head, feeling the tightness of the tendons in her long neck.  She caught a flicker of movement in the mirror.

“Jacen,” she said, with a great deal of relief.

“Don’t move,” he replied.  Tenel Ka stayed still, and raised an eyebrow as she heard Jacen rubbing his hands together.

Suddenly, the warmed fingers wrapped around the junction of her neck and shoulders.  Jacen gripped, and began kneading the taut muscles.  Tenel Ka held her breath for a few moments, then let it out in a long sigh as the massage began to do its work.  Working slowly and deliberately, Jacen soothed the aches and worked out the stress-formed knots.

“Where,” Tenel Ka began, her voice breathy, “did you learn to do that?”  She could almost imagine herself melting under his hands, all her tension dissolving, replaced slowly with other, warmer thoughts.  Soon, it felt as if his touch sent tiny, thrilling electric shocks through her body.

“I’m sure you can imagine how much stress my mom is under,” he replied.  “A good neck rub is something of a nightly ritual around the house.  Whenever my dad isn’t there to take care of her, it’s my job.”

His voice was soft-- a near whisper that didn’t surprise him.  Jacen’s breath was almost taken away from being this close to her, feeling her smooth skin and breathing in the clean, sweet scent of her.

Her eyes half-lidded, Tenel Ka slowly placed her hands atop Jacen’s and ran her fingertips along them.  Suddenly, she grasped them and lifted the hands from her shoulders.  She spun the chair around to face Jacen.

“What’s wrong?  Did it hurt?”  Concern tinged his features as he took her hands in his.

“No, no,” Tenel Ka protested.  As she shook her head, she tried to keep the flush in her cheeks hidden.  “I simply need to get some rest now.  It didn’t hurt at all.  It felt... wonderful.”

Her breath caught.  He was so close...

“Thank you,” she whispered, rising slightly.

Jacen leaned a bit forward.  She was so close...

“My pleasure,” he answered, his voice wavering.

The pair gazed into each others’ eyes, their lips scant inches apart.  They moved closer-- slowly, as if drawn together.

There was a spark and a flash as their lips barely touched..

Jacen and Tenel Ka sprang back from each other.

“Did you feel that?” she said urgently.

“Yes,” he whispered.  Then they felt it again.  “A disturbance in the Force.”

Suddenly, there was an explosion.  As deep in the palace as they were, the sound was muffled, but the walls and floor shook violently.  Reacting immediately, the two Jedi ran beneath the doorway as the palace rumbled.  A meter-long crack split the ceiling above Tenel Ka’s dresser.

After a few seconds, the shaking stopped.  Jacen and Tenel Ka found themselves clutching each other tightly.  They stood silent for a moment, then raced off down the hall, hand in hand.

**********

As Tenel Ka and Jacen hurried across the marble floors, they needed only the growing acrid smell of smoke to tell them they were getting close.  A few dozen meters from the apartments of the royal family’s personal staff, they were stopped by a pair of burly guards.

The hallway beyond had borne the brunt of the explosion, and the burns and stress markings indicated that it had come from inside a single room.

The tall, handsome figure of Prince Isolder exited the room, his face darkened with emotion.  When he turned and saw the two teenagers at the end of the hall, Isolder seemed washed with relief.  Isolder covered the distance in a few long strides, and placed a protective arm around his daughter.

“Daughter-- thank the stars you’re safe!”

“Thank you, Father.  But why would I not be?”

Isolder looked confused.  “Mea Velara...”

“It was her apartments?” asked Jacen.  Isolder nodded.  Jacen turned to Tenel Ka.  “Velara wanted to speak to us.  I was coming to tell you when I came to your room.”

Tenel Ka nodded, understanding how narrowly they’d escaped being much closer to the destruction, and exactly what it was that had saved them.  She turned to her father.  “Mea Velara?”

He opened his mouth, but was stopped by the appearance of Teneniel Djo, Tenel Ka’s mother, and like the Jedi girl, a born warrior.  Teneniel Djo’s visage was as unreadable as stone.  She stood beside her husband.

“Mea Velara is dead,” she said plainly.  “I believe someone has targeted the royal family for death.”

“Then we will face them,” replied Tenel Ka.

Isolder turned to the other Jacen.  “I am sorry that you had to become involved in this, Jacen.”

Jacen looked from mother to father to daughter.  “I don’t mean any slight to her ability as a warrior or Jedi, but I have to say this: I’d rather be here to fight beside Tenel Ka than not.  If there’s one thing we’ve learned,” he said, squeezing the hand he had never let go of, “it’s that we Jedi are stronger together.”

Both Isolder and Teneniel Djo nodded in appreciation, and moved down the hallway to where Ta’a Chume had just appeared.

“We should see if the Force can tell us anything about what happened,” said Tenel Ka.

Jacen nodded and let her lead him towards the smoking remains of Velara’s apartments.

As her son and her daughter-in-law filled her in on the explosion, Ta’a Chume noted with satisfaction the young Jedis’ clasped hands.