Star Wars At Reef Fortress Island

Tenel Ka was having her lightsaber skills pushed; farther than even her master Kirana Te had made her push them   
before. Her braided red hair was drenched with sweat from her exertion. Her muscles were beginning to show signs of fatigue, and   
she wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up.  
  
The man sparring with her was showing considerably less strain. His forehead had only recently begun to show small   
droplets of sweat. He was still moving at speeds that she had originally thought humanly impossible, and his stamina   
seemed endless to Tenel Ka.  
  
Kirana Te had warned Tenel Ka not to under estimate this young man. He had been apprenticed to Master Skywalker   
himself, and had always been among the strongest of his generation.  
  
In spite of her master's concern, she had been confident that she would be more than a match for her best friend   
from the Jedi academy. He had recently gone through a period where he simply refused to use the Force. He had never been   
one to practice a lot and she couldn't remember having ever seen him practicing since his trip to Duro. This, she thought,   
would give her an advantage. But apparently, she had been very wrong.  
  
Jacen locked their lightsabers together and made a circular motion with his, forcing Tenel Ka to lose her grip on   
her own weapon. It began to fall toward the sandy beach, but before it had a chance to touch the ground it flew into   
Jacen's outstretched left hand and he deactivated it.  
  
"I think we'd better stop before your parents get too worried," Jacen said while handing the rancor tooth pummel   
back to Tenel Ka and looking up to the balcony where Tenel Ka's parents were standing. "It's probably time for us to get   
ready for dinner anyway."  
  
Tenel Ka had been so focused on their duel that she hadn't noticed her parents coming out onto the balcony to watch   
them. Her parents were certainly not overprotective, but her having lost her left arm in an earlier lightsaber duel with   
Jacen had definitely made them more concerned for her safety, and this duel in particular probably made them more than a   
little nervous. "Yes" Tenel Ka said with a little disappointment.  
  
"Hey, what ever happened to 'this is a fact'?" Jacen asked, using her often-used phrase in an attempt to lighten   
the mood.  
  
"'Yes' is much simpler," Tenel Ka said, showing no signs that Jacen's attempts to lighten the mood were succeeding. "You were correct, we must prepare for supper."  
  
"Yes" Jacen said, matching Tenel Ka's tone in another futile attempt at humor.  
  
* * *  
Dinner went uneventfully. Teneniel Dio and Isolder, Tenel Ka's parents, talked politics the whole time. Later in   
the meal Teneniel informed everyone that she would be leaving to mediate a conflict between two of the Hapen planets about   
trade agreements, but everyone knew that it was really about the vote over whether the Hapens would join the New Republic   
in the fight against the Yuuzhan Vong. That vote had wound up killing more Hapens than it had Vong.  
  
Jacen and Tenel Ka had remained quiet during the meal. Jacen had remained silent because he didn't want to distract   
Tenel Ka's parents during their political banter. Tenel Ka, who knew better than to worry about distracting her parents   
when they were immovably set in their political talk, had kept quiet for a completely different reason. She couldn't   
understand what she had done wrong. Jacen had beaten her so easily during their sparring match and she couldn't figure   
out why. She exercised and practiced her lightsaber skills every day, and every day she got stronger, and faster. But   
without any apparent effort, Jacen had leapt beyond her. Even with only one arm she had been sure that she could have   
defeated him. This thought was what held Tenel Ka's attention all through dinner, and Jacen knew it.  
  
Now, Jacen was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the same room he had slept in the last time he had been here on Hapes.   
The room was like one big salt-water aquarium. All the walls of the room were made of transparasteel that held back the   
most exotic fish on the planet. The lighting was dim and the air was a little salty. All things considered, Jacen thought   
it was the most peaceful room in the reef fortress.   
  
Jacen had not yet started meditating when he heard a knock on the door to his room. "Just a second," he said while getting   
up and making his way to the door. When he opened it he found Tenel Ka standing there in her usual lizard hide armor,   
staring at him with her green eyes so intensely that it surprised him.  
  
Tenel Ka had always been extremely serious. Jacen could only remember her ever having shown her emotions three times in   
the time that he had known her. The first time was when he had tried to apologize for cutting her arm off; the second   
time had been when she had thought he was dead; and the third time had been when they left the academy. Tenel Ka had   
always been very strong (physically and mentally) and she usually got what she wanted. Now she was looking at him with   
the same look she always got when she was intent on getting something.  
  
"May I come in?" Tenel Ka asked.  
  
"Sure" Jacen said while stepping away from the door to let Tenel Ka in.  
  
Tenel Ka sat down in the only chair in the room and said, "I wish to discuss our duel earlier today."  
  
"Okay" Jacen said while plopping down onto the edge of his bed across from her.  
  
"What did I do wrong?" Tenel Ka asked bluntly. "How could you have beaten me so easily? I haven't seen you practice since   
you went to Duro."  
  
"You haven't seen me practice my Telekinesis or lightsaber skills since Duro. That doesn't mean I haven't been practicing,"  
Jacen said. He had been expecting this conversation, but he hadn't expected her to feel so strongly about it.  
  
"What other type of practicing is there?" Tenel Ka asked, genuinely confused.  
  
"Meditation" Jacen said simply.  
  
"But Master Kirana said that meditation is intended to calm and revitalize a Jedi, what does that have to do with how you   
beat me?" Tenel Ka said. Now she was beginning to get more frustrated.  
  
"Meditation is also intended to deepen our understanding and connection with the Force." Jacen said, sensing her rising   
level of frustration.  
  
"But Master Kirana said that that is what we practice with our lightsabers for; that by using the Force to anticipate our   
opponents movements, we deepen out connection and understanding of the Force." Tenel Ka said, letting a little of her   
frustration show in her voice.  
  
"To an extent, that is true, but I find it to be a limiting perspective." Jacen said without hesitation.  
  
Tenel Ka sat there for a little while, until the magnitude of what he had just said hit her, and then she stood up and   
stormed out of the room. She was infuriated that Jacen had called Kirana Te, her Master and mentor, a limited Jedi.   
  
"How dare he," she thought while pounding down the hall to her room. "Kirana Te is a great Jedi and he has no right to   
insult her!"  
  
***  
  
The next morning Isolder was standing on the same balcony that he and his wife had stood on to watch his daughter   
and Jacen Solo duel the day before. Today, however, Tenel Ka was not dueling Jacen. She had rigged one of the sentry   
laser cannons to fire at her. The canon would fire a high power laser bolt at her, and she would deflect it up into the   
energy shield over Reef Fortress with her lightsaber. The laser bolts were so strong that even Tenel Ka's Jedi wookiee   
friend, Lobacca, might not have been able to hold his ground after deflecting such a powerful bolt. Tenel Ka, on the other  
hand, was deflecting the bolts with out giving any ground at all!  
  
Isolder heard Jacen walk up beside him to watch Tenel Ka's morning exercises with him. "She's not very happy with you"   
Isolder said without taking his eyes off of his daughter.  
  
"I know" Jacen said. "I think it has to do with what I said to her yesterday; about why I beat her."  
  
"What exactly did you say?" Isolder asked.  
  
"I kind of said that Kirana Te has somewhat of a limited perspective of the Force." Jacen said wincing.  
  
Isolder winced with him "That would definitely explain her mood this morning. She cares a lot for her Jedi master and she   
is very protective of her." Isolder said while watching his daughter. "I suppose a Jedi of your skill and strength finds   
this display completely unimpressive" he said, gesturing to his daughter.  
  
"On the contrary, her ability to do that with only one arm is very impressive." Jacen said. "I wouldn't be able to do that  
with both arms."  
  
"Then how did you beat her yesterday?" Isolder asked, turning around to look at Jacen, genuinely confused.  
  
"Your daughter is very strong physically; stronger than I am, but her understanding of the Force is not what it could be."  
Jacen said.  
  
"So you know more about the Force than she does, and so you know how to use it better." Isolder said, thinking that he was   
finally starting to understand.   
  
"In part yes, but it has more to do with how I listen to the Force. The Force knew what she was going to do before she   
did, and the Force told me. And so, I knew what she was going to do before she did." Jacen said. "It wasn't that I was   
moving so much faster than she was, I was just two steps ahead of her the whole time."  
  
They stood there watching Tenel Ka for awhile longer, before Isolder finally asked "Why are you here Jacen? Did   
Master Skywalker send you here?"  
  
"No, I came because I wanted to make sure that every thing was all right. I still feel a little guilty for what happened   
at Center Point Station, and I also heard that your relationship with Teneniel isn't what it used to be, even that your   
marriage might be falling apart." Jacen said, with concern evident in his voice.  
  
"My mother," Isolder said with some bitterness, "has a gift for exaggerating everything 'imperfect' with my marriage to   
Teneniel. But she has a point; Teneniel and I do disagree about what to do about Tenel Ka."  
  
"What do you mean?" Jacen asked.  
  
"Teneniel insists on letting Tenel Ka do what she wants. She believes that she is an adult now and that she has the right   
to choose her own path. I want nothing more than for my daughter to be happy, but Hapes needs her to rule when her mother   
steps down. I don't trust anyone else." Isolder said.  
  
"Tenel Ka is smart and she's a Jedi. She does have the right to make her own choices, and all we can do is help her to   
make the right ones." Jacen said, looking back to Tenel Ka. "I have faith that she will make the right choices."  
  
"I hope you're right." Isolder said.  
  
***  
  
Later that day, during lunch, Jacen, Tenel Ka, and Isolder were sitting around a small round table in the kitchen of Reef   
Fortress. They had decided to forgo the elaborate setting of the dinning hall for their midday meal. Most of the staff   
had left with Teneniel, and so they had no one to cater to them in the big dinning hall.  
  
There was still some tension between Jacen and Tenel Ka, and in this more intimate setting he felt a need to clear the air.  
"Tenel Ka, I am sorry for what I said yesterday. I didn't mean to imply that Kirana Te was a bad Jedi; she's not. What I   
meant was that there are still things you need to learn about the Force, and that practicing your lightsaber skills isn't   
going to get that done." Jacen said.  
  
"Apology excepted, although I believe that I over reacted." Tenel Ka said, remembering the last time he had apologized to   
her and how it was futile to try to take all the blame.   
  
"Good, now that that is settled; Tenel Ka I would like to talk to you about your future." Isolder said, apparently feeling   
a similar need to clear the air. "I love you very much, I want you to be happy, and I know I can't make you stay here,   
but Hapes will eventually need you to rule in your mother's place. I don't trust any one else to do it and neither does   
your mother."  
  
"I understand that father, but you must realize that, whatever I decide, I will never abandon my obligations as a Jedi."  
Tenel Ka said with exasperation, as if they had been through this conversation before.  
  
They all ate quietly until the end of the meal when Tenel Ka asked "Jacen, could you show me some of the meditation   
techniques you were talking about?" while putting her dishes and utensils in the washer.  
  
"Sure, after we're done cleaning up we can go to my room and work on it, or should we use your room?" Jacen asked, while   
putting his own dishes in the washer next to Tenel Ka's.  
  
"Your room would be acceptable." Tenel Ka said.  
  
***  
  
Tenel Ka followed Jacen into his room and sat down cross-legged in the middle of it. After closing the door, Jacen sat   
down in front of her with his knees almost touching hers and said "Now, I want you to join with me through the Force."  
  
Tenel Ka closed her eyes and stretched out with the Force. She could feel his strong presence in the Force, and she sought  
to intertwine herself with it, while he did the same. She knew that Jacen had done this before. Jacen's connection to his   
twin sister, Jaina, was extremely strong, and they could probably fall into this level of joining without even blinking an   
eye. But to Tenel Ka this felt incredible.  
  
To say that their ability to sense what the other was thinking and feeling increased, would be to vastly understate the   
case. They became so aware of what the other person was doing that it became very difficult to determine who's thoughts   
were who's, and who was doing what.  
  
They sat like that, bathing in the glow of their joint existence in the Force, for some time. When Tenel Ka was used to   
this, Jacen began to guide her into the deepest level of meditation that she had ever experienced. He began to take her on   
a guided tour of the Hapen planets. Through the Force she could feel all of the life on those planets. Some of that life   
was sentient but most of it was not, and she felt a strong desire to protect that life. Then Jacen took her to all the   
planets not yet inhabited by the Vong and all the life on them and she felt even more strongly that all the life in the   
galaxy needed to be protected.   
  
After that Jacen took her somewhere she didn't know could ever be reached, into the very flow of the Force itself. There   
she saw her past; she saw her self and Jacen at the academy together, and the duel that they had had where she had lost her  
arm and changed her life forever. Then she saw them sitting here, in this room, meditating. And she knew, through the   
Force, that this was exactly what she was supposed to be doing right now. She realized, then, that this was what Jacen was  
talking about. Not to just let the Force guide your lightsaber in battle, but to let it guide your whole life. That was   
the path to becoming a great Jedi.  
  
Slowly, Jacen released his connection to Tenel Ka and she did the same. They sat there for a while, thinking about what   
they had just experienced. "That is how I think of the Force; as a guide," Jacen said, opening his eyes to look at   
Tenel Ka.  
  
"Yes" Tenel Ka said, still in awe with what she had seen and felt. Every thing was starting to make more sense now.   
Jacen's connection to the Force seemed so much stronger than hers that it was no wonder he had beaten her the other day.   
And he was right; she would have to work on this type of meditation if she was to ever become a great Jedi.  
  
***  
  
Later that day Jacen left in his little shuttle and headed for Coruscant. He had gotten a message from his sister that   
his uncle Luke was calling another meeting of the Jedi, and he wanted to attend.  
  
Tenel Ka had stayed behind to take care of her parents. Jacen had really enjoyed the connection they had shared while he   
had been there and he hoped that the experience had enlightened her. Before he left, she had promised to practice her   
meditation while he was gone. Jacen didn't expect, or want, her to ever see the Force the exact same way he saw it. The   
way she saw the Force was a fundamental part of who she was and he would never want to change that. All he could do was to   
show her a more complete view of the Force and hope she would use it to improve her abilities.  
  
But right now, Jacen was in his little shuttle getting ready for bed. Something in the Force told him that he was going to   
have to get all the sleep that he could because he was going to need it.  
  
Then he heard the console in the cockpit beep. Jacen went to check on it and found that it was an incoming call from   
Coruscant. Jacen answered it and saw his sister's face pop up onto the small display screen.  
  
"Hey sis, what's up?" Jacen asked.  
  
"Hi Jacen, I just got word that Kyp is also coming to the meeting." Jaina said.   
  
"Wonderful" Jacen said sarcastically "Why does he even bother, he's not going to listen to what Uncle Luke has to say."  
  
"Probably to try and undermine Master Skywalker's authority even more." Jaina said with frustration in her voice.  
  
"Well let's not worry about it; we're going to hear what Master Skywalker has to say. We disagree with Kyp's way of   
dealing with the Vong but there is little we can do about it, so worrying is kind of futile." Jacen said trying to calm his   
sister.  
  
"I know, he just makes me so mad. Sometimes I wish that someone would just teach him a lesson." Jaina said, still very   
frustrated.  
  
"He's a Jedi, and that type of lesson he can only learn on his own. Right now though, I recommend we get a good nights   
sleep, I have a feeling that we're going to need it." Jacen said.  



End file.

Star Wars