Signs of Life
By JalendaviLady
Chapter 24
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Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars.
If you recognize any characters, locations, or things in the following story, George Lucas owns them.
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Luke yawned, stretching weakly. He stared blankly at the door for a moment. Father's not coming today, he reminded himself. He told me he was going to talk with the SkyLords this morning.
He settled down again, closing his eyes again. Now, what were the first movements of the kata he showed me yesterday...
He had worked himself to the point of sweating by the time Leia came with breakfast. "Luke, you're still injured. You should be resting."
"I need to get moving again. Garlen okayed Father and I doing limited exercises together. We've been doing so for the last few mornings. He left for the SkyLords before I woke up, so..."
She set the tray down on a table and sat next to him on the bed, gently embracing him. "Just be careful, Brother." She kissed his forehead. "You've been hurt enough without damaging yourself."
"Any news from Biggs yet?" Luke asked as Leia retrieved the tray.
"Duria said they eased up on the sedatives yesterday. He should be able to wake up whenever he feels like it; now all we have to do is wait for him to do so. Vital signs and brain waves are normal, so they aren't worried."
"And Duria's doing well?"
"Yeah. She's getting anxious, but she should calm down once he wakes up."
I hope he can walk again. Luke momentarily thought of the tiny box sitting in the crate of Biggs' things and of what might have been. Biggs was ready to ask, and from Duria's reaction to the crash, she was ready to accept.
Brother and sister sat in companionable silence as Luke ate breakfast.
Kendalina sat, hands folded and fingers twitching. Why am I even on this mission? I'll break down crying the second I see a sane prisoner with shock marks.
Too late to turn back now. We're only a few hours out.
What if someone there remembers me? Her blood ran cold at the memories of what she had seen and been forced to do while under the Empire.
Shh, Kendalina. You are going to help heal the injuries you and your colleagues once caused.
I have been a shame to my people, my planet, my blood, my degree, my raising...
She started pacing the length of the tiny observation room, tears slowly running down her cheeks.
Trike... What did we do to you? She couldn't help but smile at the mental image of the young, handsome man who had captured her heart years before, when she had just been starting out.
She closed her eyes, leaning her head against the cold transparisteel viewport. Trike... I still love you.
It was strange to sit at the table of honor in the Comet's mess hall, between Alend and his eldest son Conradin. Miram was seated across the table, between Alend's wife Jyota and a visitor from another Clan, engaged with a plate of some form of pasta.
There was a pidgin Basic present in the Clan, something that surprised Anakin because many terms were very current. The SkyLords were an insular people; before the attack on his father's ship, Anakin had never been exposed to anyone human who had not been full-blood SkyLord two generations back. It certainly wasn't complicated or nuanced enough for negotiations, but it was there.
Jyota and Anakin were laughing together between bites of stew, making simple but hilarious cross-language puns. Here and there in the huge room other bursts of laughter broke out, and there was the occasional strand of untamed melody from a musician who had grown bored waiting for dessert to come.
They are a joyous people.
It was almost difficult for Anakin to accept that fully half of those present had some form of Force-strength and that the laughing woman he was talking to seemed more adept in the Force than most of the Jedi Knights he had known when he was a Padawan.
We would have fit right in here, he thought sadly, remembering his suitemates from his Padawan days.
The world was a muzzy sort of nothing. There was rhythmic noise nearby, but it was washed out somehow. The air was devoid of smell.
He moaned slightly.
"Biggs?" Something warm pressed against the side of his face.
Duria?
"Shh. As far as they can tell so far, they did the procedure as well as they possibly could. They think you'll get at least some movement back..."
He barely opened his eyes, enough to perceive a blur of brown, pink, and blue nearby. "I love you, Duria," he mumbled as he closed his eyes again.
"Shh." She kissed his cheek. "Just sleep, Biggs. You've been through a lot recently and you need to rest..."
Author's Note: Due to formatting issues with uploads, all formatting denoting Wookie-speak, Force-speech, and several other important things has been stripped upon upload every single time I have attempted to update. Several other authors have the same problem. As nothing has changed this issue, whether in the form of browser switches, file type switches, or system updates, I have been forced to stop posting this story in this location. The most recently updated versions are on my own website as listed in my bio here and on the JediCouncil Forum at (which tends to be the most recently updated of the two). Thank you for reading.