The Jinn men
Tahl’s first inkling that something was terribly wrong came when she stepped off the shuttle. The tiny town that thier farm was located by was all in a hubbubb over something, and she felt a disturbance in the Force. On reflex, she reached out to check on the three life signatures she held as dear to her as her own.
When she did, her blood froze in her veins.
Matti- heartaching worry, anger, and a terrible gaping fear.
Corbin- pain, dull but present, the aftereffect of a healing, and a guilt so great it threatened to swamp her.
And Qui-Gon…
…barely present. Fading.
He was dying.
No.
Forgetting about the crates she had traveled to Nar Shadda for, forgetting the seeds and supplies, forgetting everything except him, the focus of her world, the crystal in her lightsaber- her heart of hearts.
Tahl ran to the hospital and left it all behind.
INAGALAXYFARFARAWAY
“…mistaken identity, doctor.”
That voice was crisp, icy, and utterly implacable. It could be heard outside the hospital ward where Qui-Gon rested, comatose.
“You have mistaken me for someone who cares. Move. Please.”
“Ma’am, his condition-“
“Very well. I did try. You will allow me to see my husband.”
“…I will allow you to see your husband.”
“You will not bother me agian.”
“I will not bother you again.”
“You will go home and take a learning annex course in compassion.”
“I will go home and take a learning annex course on compassion.”
“Thank you.”
The door to the room slid open. Tahl, still in the clothes she wore when she arrived, mudsplattered to the knees from running, stepped inside. Her eyes widened in shock, flicking first to Matti, then Corbin, then Qui-Gon prone on the bed.
Corbin looked over as the door to the room opened, eyes widening when he saw his mother enter. Shock grips him for a moment before his face crumbles. Tears blurred his vision as he managed to take a few steps towards her before slumping down at her feet. Giving a heart wrenching sob.
“I’m so sorry momma. I’m so s-sorry..!”
His voice cracked from his tears which fall into his lap. His arms hugged his middle as if trying to hold himself together or he might just shatter. Sobs ripped through him, sounding almost painful. He kept apologizing over and over as he rocked where he sat. His body ached from the motion, still to ‘new’ from the healing. But he welcomed the dull pain. To feel anything other than this raw, sucking guilt that consumed him. He felt he deserved it at this point anyway.
He nearly broke his family apart. This was all his fault. His father might die, because he was a fool. A stupid, stupid boy. He would never forgive himself for this if Qui-Gon didn’t make it.
Matti started awake, looking at her surroundings in utter confusion for a moment. Then her gaze landed on Corbin, on the floor, crying and apologizing. It landed on Tahl, her mother, here at last. Her eyes welled up with tears from relief that Tahl was here now. Matti believed in her heart that Tahl could and would fix everything. That innate feeling of security one gets when their mother is near.
She felt Corbin shatter in the Force, the sting of his anguish raw on her own nerves. Tahl couldn't not sink to the ground, wrapping him in her arms like she had when he was small and scared of the dark. He was crying- hard, gutwrenching, soultearing sobs of agony and telling her that this was his fault, somehow, and he was sorry, so sorry.
Matti, formerly asleep, jerked awake. In contrast to her brother, her relief in the Force was almost tangible. Mom was here- mom would fix it.
The burden settled in her gut even as she squared her shoulders and accepted the fact that yes, she would fix this, no matter what.
Cradling her boy, she projected calm and love to him, and to Matti, a silent assurance that she would make this better- somehow.
"Shhh, shhh, my son," she murmured. There is no emotion, there is peace.
The old Jedi tenet came to her lips, and she focused on it as a way of controlling her own deep fear. Unfortunately, her children had little such training, and not for the first time she regretted this.
