Star Wars_ The New Jedi Order_ Dark Tide 01_ Onslaught - Michael A. Stackpole [100]
“Romance was pretty much a part of my life that I’d deferred until later. Perhaps later is now, I don’t know.” She gave him a smile. “Were you a bit older, or me a bit younger, and circumstances altogether different, I don’t know. I mean, I have feelings for you, Jacen, but they’re all mixed up with everything. You’re so thoughtful, bringing me the holographs and mementos from Belkadan. You can’t know how that made me feel . . .”
“With all that’s going on, you don’t trust your feelings?”
Danni nodded. “Liquids under pressure don’t boil when they should, and emotions tend to act the opposite way. I think you are wonderful, and I treasure you as a friend. Anything else, well, as you said, the future is constantly in motion.”
Jacen felt a twinge of hurt. Growing up at the academy, he’d certainly had his share of crushes on other students, but Danni was the first woman he’d been attracted to outside of that setting. He agreed that having been pressed into close quarters with her in a rescue capsule had certainly gotten them acquainted with a degree of physical intimacy that wasn’t usually associated with first meeting someone. He’d entertained his fantasies about her, but also realized they were as much tied up with the traditional romance of a hero saving a damsel in distress as they were anything else. Reliving how my father met my mother . . .
Her gaze searched his face. “I’ve hurt you, haven’t I?”
“Jedi Knights do not know pain, Danni.” Jacen gave her a brave smile. “In times like this, a friend truly is a treasure. Given what is going on here, and with my life and yours, being friends is probably the best thing possible for us.”
She reached up and stroked his right cheek with her left hand. “That’s a very mature answer, Jacen. You’re very special indeed.”
“Thanks, my friend.” Jacen sighed and turned to focus on the darkness. “Friends tend to bring the best out in me.”
Anakin stopped as the door on the cabin used by Mara and his uncle Luke slid open. Luke emerged and smiled at his nephew. “She’s resting for the moment.”
The boy nodded. “I won’t disturb her.” He pointed back over his shoulder down a passageway. “I’ll just—”
“I’d like it if you would walk with me, Anakin.”
Anakin caught a slightly distant tone in his uncle’s voice and recognized it immediately. “Yes, Uncle Luke.” He dropped into place a half step behind Luke, on his left. Anakin had learned that was the proper position for a right-handed apprentice; that way, if he were to draw and ignite his lightsaber in a sloppy way, he wouldn’t accidentally bisect his Master.
Luke glanced at him and grinned. “I’m glad to see you up and around. The Yuuzhan Vong did their best to carve you up.”
Anakin shrugged. He could still feel bacta patches affixed to some of the cuts; the superficial wounds were not serious enough to warrant a complete dunking for him. “A Jedi knows no pain, Master.”
“But a Jedi knows gratitude.” Luke stopped, then turned to his nephew and rested his hands on Anakin’s shoulders. “You did a wonderful job taking care of Mara. She’s told me all about it, and I am very proud of you. I never thought sending you with her would demand so much of you. I’m ashamed to say that if I knew what was going to happen, I might not have sent you. Now I am glad I did.”
“I wasn’t going to fail you, Uncle Luke. I wasn’t going to fail Aunt Mara.” Anakin shrugged and hooked his thumbs in his belt. “I just did what my mission required. I’m sorry I couldn’t save the Sabre or the blasters and other things we had on it. If I’d thought—”
“No, Anakin, no reproof. What you did was the best that could be expected.”
“You’re being too generous.”
Luke shook his head and gazed down at his nephew in a way that sent a thrill through Anakin. “When I had a vision of where you would be and