One standard day after Leia's arrival on Naboo....


Community Med Facility
Theed, Naboo.




"Leia.... Leia...."


Leia found herself coming out of a deep sleep. She was confused, groggy. Her head hurt, she felt dizzy and disoriented.


"Leia... can you hear me?"


The voice was soft and prodding; a man's. Leia groaned unconsciously and stirred. A hand gently pressed down on her shoulder to settle her, and she opened her eyes to assess her surroundings. Her eyes quickly adjusted to the comfortably dim lighting of the room.


She was in a bed in a hospital room, and the man standing next to her was dressed in rumpled hospital scrubs and a crisp white lab coat.


It all started coming back to her.... she looked up at the doctor, who started to speak again before she could form a question to voice.


"Just relax, you'll feel the effects of the drugs for maybe another hour or so. The procedure went well: you still have a final bacta treatment scheduled for later today, and after that you'll be allowed to go home. Once everything is completely healed you should have full use of both wrists again. Expect some stiffness and pain for the next few days, but after that everything should be fine as long as you take it easy. We weren't able to prevent scarring, however... whatever alien abomination that caused those wounds secreted some very curious enzymes into you."


"That's fine," Leia interrupted, and looked down at her wrists. They were both heavily bandaged and each propped up on pillows above the blankets.


Finally... she wouldn't have to deal with that anymore... they had been trouble for long enough.


The doctor had taken Leia's right hand into his own.


"I need to test for motion range now, to make sure the mendings were sucessful..."


As he spoke, without warning the doctor pushed Leia's hand closed, into a fist. A very distressed look crossed Leia's face, and she cried out in pain. The doctor smiled happily and met her gaze with a merry expression.


"Ah, pain.... good!"

The bacta tank would be taken to the medical facility to be examined. It was shown in the backdrop of the landing pad as the, doctor's and captain were taken away by the security officials. The focus went on to the bacta tank as it was being taken care of quite nicely. The city doctor's were on the case right away. Soon to only find that it was just a matter of time before the sith would awake. He was in coma.

Next came the doctor's and captain of the shuttle. They walked past the metallic hallway that looked alot like Courasant. The mind of metal was indeed all around.

The crew was being detained in the lower facility. The catacomb's as they came to be called. There they awaited their fate. For death take them or their god's release them. Scared, and shivering they all were. And who would not? their lives depended on the outcome of whatever the authority said. Indeed it was a scary time for the crew.

The doctor's and captain reached a large grey door as they stopped. The security official's opened the door with a code key and entered them in. It was a metallic desk with a chair facing the outside window. A small room it was, maybe only could hold six people. The sound of the metal rubbing each other as the chair turned around to face them...

Later that night...


Having been released from the med center much improved, Leia had returned to her ship to collect her things and to sign a stack of major ship repair orders. After completing her business at the docking bay, she was finally ready to return to the Academy. It had been a long, long time since she had last stepped foot there...




It was getting late, and the stars twinkled brightly in the clear night sky as Leia passed through the main gate of the Jedi Academy and into the courtyards. At this hour many of the others would probably have retired to their quarters or one of the common rooms, and she hoped that perhaps she would be able to slip to her own room unnoticed. She was tired, and wanted nothing more than to just go to bed.


Leia was grateful to reach her quarters unbothered, and after quickly punching a code into the keypad mounted on the wall next to the door, it slid open with a soft hiss and she disappeared into the room.

The lights came on automatically as they detected her presence, illuminating the room in a soft, pleasant light. Everything seemed to be the way she had left it, except for the noticeable layer of dust that now coated everything.

The room wasn't small, but it wasn't very large either... just large enough to accommodate a desk, an overstuffed chair, a dresser, nightstand and her bed. There was an adequate amount of open floor space to move around freely on, as well as a fairly large closet (which Leia's extensive but rarely used wardrobe filled every inch of), and an adjoined 'fresher.

Not exactly what Leia recalled the archives had described as an ideal traditional Jedi living space. But then times had changed quite radically, and Leia was most definitely not a traditional Jedi...

Leia sighed warily and let the heavy travel bag that she had been carrying slung over one shoulder fall to the floor with a dull thud. She would worry about that tomorrow.

She was asleep before her head even hit the pillow.

With a jerk of his control stick, Tec pulled his fighter up quickly. He opened himself to the Force, which would help his reflexes and keep him calm. He was good at battle, but he wasn't this good. As he gunned the throttle to full speed, he checked his console and saw that the fleet he had run into was not quite 10 capital ships, but still...ten capital ships meant more than a thousand guns ablaze, all aimed at him, and then there were the other fighters.

Muttering a curse that would make even the dead blush, Tec juked his ship up, then left and down as turbolaser fire flashed by him in a burst of intense heat. Crap. Shields would be excellent right now.. Without thinking, he turned on his shields and spiraled up, coming out of the spiral behind a TIE interceptor. They were fast, but he was faster. He was, of course, a battle oriented Jedi, with his reflexes honed quicker than the eye, and that was mostly without the Force. Maybe it was unrealistic, but his life was less than ordinary, and to live it, he had to be tough.

Having lost the love of his life not too long before his first capture, and having not grown with parents, he was almost completely alone. Then he had been captured, and he had been broken, shattered like glass. The second time was different, but longer; in the passing time, his best friend had been married, and a good Jedi friend of his had turned. He had little left, and so directedall of his time trying to perfect that which seemed to attach itself to him to most--danger, adventure, and pain that should not be felt. But that was life, and he was still alive.

Firing a double burst of laser fire, Tec immediately turned his fighter right, firing again as he did so. The flash of that interceptor was almost...brilliant...in comparison to the other. Now to get out of here, before I'm overrun by these pieces of space dung. Taking a look around, he spotted the quickest route towards a hyperspace open area and sped towards it. He was almost there, but about that time, his ship shuddered and he was thrown forward, slamming into his console. His grip on the Force kept him conscious, but only barely as his Defender went into hyperspace. It was a random jump, and he could only hope to come out far away from a sun or black hole...maybe, just maybe...but before he could think another thought, Tec blacked out. In the back of his head, something thought along the lines of "This will be interesting..."

“Tyscio! I knew you would come!” the sultry smooth voice of the Jedi Master shouting from the floor.


Korban’s eyes instantly took the situation in and had already began responding. On the floor propped up on two hands was Leia Organa Solo, her hair in sexy disarray and her silky nightgown (though ripped) showing a stunning lack of grime.


Being the utter gentleman that he was, his eyes lingered merely a microfraction of a second noticing that one convenient rip had displayed a bit more (sweaty) cleavage than modesty allowed.


Still he dwelled on it not for his lightsaber ignited as he turned to face her attackers.



Invaders!



“Let… her… go!” he grounded out through clenched teeth and not too little melodrama.


The Yuuzhan Vong, faced with such a brave and implacable warrior as Tyscio, shrunk in fright knowing their days were now numbered in seconds.


Facing the Jedi was one thing.


But facing an angry Tyscio Korban was something else altogether.



With two quick strokes he had beheaded nearly twenty of her assailants. Switching off the saber, he moved quickly over to Leia kneeling gently to scoop her in his arms.


And yet, Leia, not one to be outdone, pulled the heroic Tyscio down to her with a strength that belied an innocent and submissive appearance.



“I am the luckiest woman in the galaxy to have a man as strong as you, Tyscio!”


Korban did all he could not too but, in the end failed, as his signature lopsided grin came out. “I’d grab the universe and wrap it in a bow for you my dear.”


“Oh you’re sweet, darling.” Then her eyes flew up in concern, “You must be tired. Lay back and let me massage your strong shoulders.”


“Yes, Ma’am..” Tyscio complied knowing better than to get in the way of what Leia wanted.


She could be so single-minded at times..



“Your shoulders are soo.. massive..” she murmured, sitting on his stomach. She pulled his right arm up and began to caress her face with his hand.



Tyscio closed his eyes momentarily as she drew his palm to her lips and kissed it.



Tyscio shifted pleasantly and Leia pulled the palm away.


Looking down at him, she smiled and then..




..began to lick his palm..




*




Tyscio shot awake from his rather pleasant slumbering knowing two things instantly:


1. That he wasn’t the Master of the Universe and
2. That a wolf was licking his right hand.



“Leno!” he nearly shouted, adrenaline causing his body to awaken more quickly. Upon seeing the man now up and about, the wolf stopped and moved away barking loud enough to be heard outside.


Out of the morning mists near the edge of the forest where Tyscio kept his residence, smaller little pups bounced out. A long ways off, Korban caught the view of a Theed emersed in fog and the occasional ship coming and going (though mere specks).


He caught himself from rubbing his eyes with the wolf-slobbered hand and Leno yipped in amusement.


“Quiet you..” Korban said quite grumpily. He never liked mornings.



*



Coming out the refresher, he glanced at his wrists remembering an old experience. A woman named Iriana had saved him as he tried to sway her from a Sith Lord’s dark persuasions by sacrificing himself.


She had jumped in after him and had healed his wrists and yet, in doing so, had imparted to him a measure of her abilities, one of which was the ability to communicate with certain types of animal life, Leno being one.



It was a strange ability to get used too and he still found it disconcerting sometimes. But he came to appreciate the value of differing intelligence.



Sadly, he could no longer feel Iriana's presence and sincerely hoped that it was because of his limited abilities with the force and not because she had met her death. She had fallen to the persuasion but he had held out hope.



Hope burned eternal.



And yet, as weak in the force as he was, he still felt the dark presence. Somewhere…



A testament to how truly powerful the man was.



I will see him die one day.., he thought as he began to dress.



“What shall we do today, boys?” he called out walking out onto his front porch seeing the pups scamper towards him. “A trip to the city?”





And he forgot about Recon Klain…

The sound of metal chair swinging over to the doctor's and captain was ringing. To shock the established men...

-----------------------------

The medical faculty had drained the bacta tank to release the Sith. His pale face and white hair had all soaked into the slimy bacta. They placed his body in a decompression tube for monitoring purposes.

The analysis was simple they had to wait. He was in a state of coma and only time would tell. His body was frail, and even after he awoke it would be a couple days before he could be fully healed.

The day started to die down.

-----------------------------

To the captain and doctor's amazement, it was a general from the battle of Honoghr. He had been a member of the Purge. And to what end was he here on Bpfassh? General turned a superior officer of Bpfassh?

He had smirk on his face, unable to tell if he was going to aid them... or execute them. He leaned over the metallic table and spoke...

General Dakkor: Greatings, I am General Dakkor. You may know of me from the battle of Honoghr... I aided the Axis in retrieving the holocron. Your crew will remain detained till the sith awakes. You two will also be watched on high alert.


Captain: ...

The general turned his chair back to face the cold metal of the walls. They would soon be escorted out. The sun outside started set. They were being escorted not to a regular prison.

-----------------------------

It looked like a suite, with much luxure's all around. But of course, under high alert with guards on every corner and outside the door.

They had reached the area where they were supposed to be held. The doctor's had much fear as did the captain, for what place would they be in? untill the sith awoke... maybe years.

They were suprised... it was nothing they had expected. It was a beautiful place. But yet, they wondered why... why had the General helped them? yes they were ally’s on Honoghr but to their knowledge the Axis had been destroyed and the sith went rogue. They only had now... to sleep.

-----------------------------

Inside the cold room of the medical facility, he slept. The sith, his dream's were dark. Alway's... dark. But something was weird a disturbance in the force had arose... something that threatened the stability of sith.

<font color=white>They were standing together atop a large unearthed rock; a sort of pedastal. Both covered in Caprician dirt and the resulting filth of prolonged battle...

In the war torn fields before them, a fierce cry rose up as a Vast army of Yuzzhan Vong gathered and formed a charge towards their position.

Around them, a motley assembly of filthy and battle weary

Caprician soldiers looked up to them for encouragement, inspiration...

It was not a time for words or speeches.

"Shall we tempt the winds of fate?" Tyscio asked her, still looking out over the advancing Vong army.

Leia grunted. "I've fought the odds before and won."

Tsycio slowly turned his head back to her, a grin forming on his lips. He pulled out his lightsaber hilt and touched hers, the metal making a clinking noise at the contact.

"Well... " he murmured and drifted off.

"Well what?" she asked impatiently. "We'd bet--"

He had moved in cutting off what she was about to say, his lips touching hers with all the abandon and passion of a person jumping off of the Crystal Falls.

Mathias grinned as her instinctive pushing abruptly stopped.

Laughter was suddenly heard in some quarters as the two people held each other locked in their embrace heedless of the mass of soldiers.

Tyscio pulled away, both of them slightly gasping for breath.

"My lady.." he said, bowing dramatically.</font>




Leia's eyes opened in sudden wakefulness. She remembered that moment as clearly as if it had happened only a few seconds ago. That entire day had given Leia a new definition of hell, but that one moment...

A slow smile came to her lips and she lazily stretched out on her back in the bed. A pleasant warmth spread across her as she recalled past memories. She missed Tyscio...

That lopsided smile of his. The way he always stepped up to the occasion, his warm embrace when she needed it most. His...

A loud and insistent knock sounded at her door, interrupting her reverie.

Annoyed, Leia grudgingly pulled herself into a sitting position and half heartedly looked around on the floor for a pair of slippers. The visitor outside knocked again, and failing to locate any she shrugged and padded across the room to answer the door.

Leia paused to shake her long nightshirt down so that it properly maintained her modesty, and then hit the door release. The door slid aside to reveal a tall man in a sharp suit that Leia did not recognize.

"Hello..." she said, with a touch of unsureness in her voice.

The man smiled down at her. He was a good foot taller than her and was well built, but he did not seem imposing at all.

"Ah, Princess Leia. So the rumors are true, you have finally returned."

Princess...?

Leia blinked obliviously at the man for a moment, before rebuilding her composure and flipping a long lock of loose hair out of her face.

"Yes, I have, but.... who are you?"

The man's expression suddenly turned apologetic.

"Ah, I am sorry, I should have introduced myself immediately. I am Tom Ambriose, and I am here to inform you that the Queen wishes to see you immediately. It is also my duty to see that you arrive safely at the Palace."

Leia simply gaped at the man. Both his arrival and his news had caught her completely offguard.

"The Queen? I've been back a day, I mean nobody..... how does she...?"

The man smiled patiently.

"We recieved word that your ship had arrived at the spaceport yesterday, and your identity was confirmed when you checked into the med center. The Queen is very anxious to meet you, as you should know elections were held while you were away, and the people of Naboo have a new Queen to lead them. If you don't mind my saying so, Ma'am, she is quite an extraordinary young girl."

Leia rubbed her forehead with one hand.

"Yes.... well, uh.... if you could give me some time, I could make myself more presentable..."

Tom nodded once, briskly.

"Yes, of course. Take as much time as you need. I shall wait for you in the courtyards, looks like quite a nice day is forming up outside."

With a courteous bow, he turned and dissapeared down the hall.




Leia quickly showered, and then wandered over to her closet.

What to wear...

Her hand hovered over the meticulously laundered and pressed Jedi robes that only came out when Leia was expected to project the image of a powerful, pristine Jedi Master to someone... or the general public. She was most likely expected to show up like that yes, but....

Her hand landed on a sleek, sleeveless white floor length dress. It seemed simple yet elegant at the same time, with it's smoothly tapered skirt. White.... Leia's color. Clean and pure.... even prestigious. As soon as she saw it, she knew it was the one.

A full half hour of makeup application and wrestling with her hair later, Leia evaluated her efforts in the mirror. The shining image of a royal Princess and polished diplomat stared back at her. Leia smiled at herself, and couldn't help but note how eagerly she had slipped back into the role. It had been so long...

Well, now it was off to the Palace to play Royal Highness for a while. Then maybe she could get back to that vacation she had been looking forward to...

Theed




Walking along the skiff dock, Tyscio had noticed several gungans doing odd jobs. He had heard that they had not fared very well from a direct attack against their underwater capital city.

In fact, as far as he knew, that city had been destroyed but details were sketchy.


Still, he was glad some had survived. They seemed likeable enough chaps with a most cheery disposition.


Survival of Spirit is was Hespante would call it.


He grinned at the thought of his Retainer off on Capricia with a mystery of his own. He pondered the consequences of someone possessing the ability to wipe a Simulacrum's memory.

It was a technology that just did not exist.

At least in this era..

Which led Tyscio to think about what other technology had survived the ravages of time.

What else was floating around out there?


Relax, Korban, my boy. Hespante is on the case. Trust the man to do his job!



His mind began to turn to something a bit more important in the immediate sense as he entered a rather popular breakfast establishment.


After a bit of trouble with the menu translations, he had ordered and sat back in his chair to observe the myriads of people walking to and fro outside. He was seated near a large window with a grand view of the activity outside.


The people of this planet are very ... interesting.


A planet with a rich history and a knack for getting itself in trouble.

He chuckled to himself.


Just like me...


One of the restaurant staff brought his drink and he stretched feeling rather content with life at the moment.

The day had arisen once more for the planet of Bpfassh. A day once more for the doctor's to check on the sith. Normal as usually they figured, he was still in coma and his heartbeat stayed the same pace.

Remaining inside a. tube, a wonder of how he would react to this prison would be suprising.

The sith still within his dream's, not knowing if reality was a fact or fiction. He floated in his dreams and all the while in these dreams he had a feeling... a disturbance.


A prairie field of wheat was laid out before a young boy; he looked to be of sixteen. It was a farm boy. A lake laid nearby the farm, a beautiful scenario. It was Aargau.

Suddenly the nicest thing faded into yelling. A man came out of the farm and started to yell at the boy.

The sun's coming down soon! get that damn wheat in here! Send you back to the miner's we will! Hurry up!

The boy was working as fast as possible with the sun blazing down for its final hour of the day. He hated his master, always working him to near death. The life of a slave.

Finally the sun had come down and wheat was all taken care of. The boy started to walk towards the farm where he slept. A set of fishing gear was near the door; nets, lines, spears, etc.

The man came out of the shed and started yelling once more.

Hurry boy! your dinner wont catch itself!

With a slight laugh... like he enjoyed pissing off the @#%$ out of the boy. The angry boy wanted to rip the heart out of this man. You would think of a hard day's work and now he has to fish... at night. What a retarded idea, but he kept it to himself. As bad as this was... it wasn’t as bad as the mines.

He started to get the gear that lay before him. This had to be one of the worst days of the year. As the man started to walk away, you could see through the window he was eating steak and fish... the @#%$. Even made the boy more... angry.


The heart rate of the sith started to rise heavily as the doctor's went surprised. His pulse started to excel and it would only be a matter of minutes before he would awake. No mortal can sleep through that heart rate...

Leia patiently sipped stimtea from a tall travel mug as the speeder she was riding in wove its' way through the busy streets of Theed, towards the Palace.


Seated beside her was Tom, and Leia had noticed that ever since they had gotten in the vehicle he had been trying hard not to stare at her.


After another few minutes and a close encounter with a street vendor's runaway fruit cart, the speeder came to a stop in front of the Palace. Leia moved to open the door and get out, but found that somehow Tom had managed to hop out and hurry over to her side to open the door for her. He spoke as she stepped out to stand beside him.


"Welcome back to the Royal Palace, Princess Leia. Hopefully this little trip isn't inconveniencing you too much..."


There it was again... Leia had also noticed that every time he addressed her he called her Princess. She was accustomed to being called that occasionally as well as under certain circumstances, but she could not figure out why Tom would have any reason to use it...


"No, it's not a problem at all... I hadn't planned to do anything else this morning anyways."


They were now ambling along a paved walkway, towards the main entrance of the Palace. Leia paused for a moment before glancing sidelong at Tom curiously.


"So... why do you keep calling me Princess?"


Several long moments passed before Tom finally replied.


"Well... actually I grew up on Alderaan. Well, at least until it was uh, well you know? I was offplanet luckily, I had just joined the Rebellion... served on a small Mon Cal cruiser rest of the war.


But anyways, my family... Well, we never really had much. My father worked as a librarian for one of the larger libraries in Aldera. We had a small house on the outskirts... it was nice."


He paused for a moment as if there was something he wanted to add, but was afraid to say it. Leia smiled over at him, her expression indicating great interest. Survivors of her still beloved home planet were far and few between. It wasn't as if anyone had seen the planet's destruction coming... Who could have known that the Empire would go so far?


Tom apparently decided to go for it, because what he said next caught Leia by surprise.


"Heh... When I was in my early teens I even had a crush on you, though I suppose that was a rather common thing. I mean you were a beautiful rich Princess, what guy doesn't dream of having a girl like that all to himself?"


When Leia did not comment, he continued.


"I remember one day your father was giving a speech for something or other, I don't recall now. But you were supposed to be there, so a few friends and I went to go see. You might remember it, because.."


Leia swore she saw him blush bright red, and he started talking notably faster.


"...I was the one who put the itching powder down the back of the robe you were wearing that day, in case you noticed any uh, discomfort... and it looked like you clearly did."


Leia remembered almost instantly, and stopped dead in her tracks to gape at Tom for the second time in as many hours, shocked.


"You... You did that?"


"Yeah, that was me..."


Tom avoided meeting her incredulous gaze and focused fixedly at some invisible point in front of them, unsure of how Leia would react.


Slowly a small smile started to form on Leia's lips, eventually turning into a wide grin.


"Good thing we're both a lot older now. If I'd known you did that back then, I might have killed you with my bare hands. God, that was the one of the most hellish days of politics I've ever experienced. It spread all over me, but I didn?t have time to change or to do anything about it before we left to spend the rest of the day in the Senate. I had to sit through the entire day like that, and then I was covered in the most horrible rash for the next week!..."


They had resumed walking, and now found themselves in one of the bright, cheery hallways of the palace. Tom looked quite sheepish.


"I'm so sorry about that now... Doubly so. I did it on a dare, actually... I was quite the little troublemaker then."


Leia sighed, and continued with a hint of sarcasm.


"Well I guess I'll forgive you, but only this once?. How did you do it, anyways?"


Tom blinked.


"Pardon...?"


"How did you do it, how did you even get close enough to me to do such a thing? As I recall security was pretty tight..."


Tom chuckled, appearing much more comfortable now.


"Well..."


They had reached the Royal chambers, and he trailed off as he opened the door and stepped aside to let Leia through with a bow.


"...I guess that's a story for another time, Queen Cordé awaits. Enjoy your day Princess, it has been an honor."


Leia smiled and nodded to him.


"And a pleasure here, take care."


She stepped into the chambers, and Tom closed the door behind her. Before her she saw the Queen seated on a sizeable throne, outlined by the blinding light flooding in the enormous windows behind her. A small ring of advisors and the like were seated at a long table of which the throne was arranged at the head of. They all turned to look at Leia.


Leia offered a half bow to them all, as she was not really subordinate to any of them; including the Queen herself.


It was the Queen Leia focused her gaze on first. She was a young girl, maybe of only 16 or 17 years old. She wore the traditional elaborate robes of her place, and seemed to exude a strong, confident presence. She seemed to know her place, and also how to handle it.


It was the Queen who spoke first... in a deep, strong voice that might have surprised others. Leia however recognized years of conditioning and discipline behind the visage.


Ironically if she had ever known her mother at all, she might have realized striking similarities between the two...


"Jedi Master Solo, it is a pleasure to finally meet you."


Leia approached the throne with slow, deliberate steps.


"Likewise, Queen Cordé. I apologize for us not having met earlier, but I have been... indisposed for some time"


Cordé smiled in response, and gestured to an empty chair at the table.


"So I have heard. Please join us, so we may talk..."


Leia slid smoothly into the indicated chair: opposite the Queen, and carefully placed the mug she had still been carrying on the table in front of her. It was time to settle in for a long morning - there was much to catch up on...