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Breathing heavily, Jacen Solo pressed himself into a corner behind an intricate Hapan plant, sitting in the corridor of the Fountain Palace. The guard passed, having no idea that he was there and Jacen smiled.
He was obviously still in shape, being only twenty-five years old.
I could do this all day.
Just twenty-four standard minutes earlier he was sitting in his quarters.
Jacen was taking a two month long vacation to Hapes, to visit with his very close friend Tenel Ka, whom he shared a romantic relationship with... that no one knew about.
Not even his twin sister. She could probably figure it out if she tried, as could his mother. But they didn't think there was anything to figure out.
They thought he was going to Hapes to visit with his good friend, Queen Mother Tenel Ka.
Little did they know, he was going to visit the woman he fell in love with, the woman who he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.
The second month was almost half over and he would dread leaving her, to go back to his boring military position in the New Republic. Jacen loved being with Tenel Ka, he loved when he made her smile, he loved the way she smelled. He really loved the look of pure shock on her face when she woke up next to him in his quarters one morning, snuggled up in his strong arms. Jacen remembered her jumping out of bed, wrapped in the burgendy Hapan silk sheet, hissing at him.
"Calm down, your worship! The guards came by last night, looking for you. I told them you were in the Gardens taking a walk and you wanted to be alone, REMEMBER?" He paused then continued, "When the guards were standing there, you were hiding behind me at the doorway, wrapped up in that sheet, giggling, REMEMBER?"
Her eyes had trailed to the ground. "I was not 'giggling'," she snapped.
"Sure you weren't," A smirk had crossed his face, causing Tenel Ka to lose her composure even more, growling and ignoring Jacen.
Jacen had never seen her lose her composure until that moment.
She looks so cute when she loses it.
He sort of even loved the fact that they had to hide their relationship. It gave an edge to things. Although one day, soon, he would want it out in the open. And he would want Tenel Ka to be his wife, no matter what the circumstances.
But for now, they were hiding it, and doing a very good job of it.
Exactly twenty-four minutes before Jacen slid down behind the plant, Tenel Ka had entered his quarters.
"Jacen. I have a secret."
There was no emotion in her words at all and he couldn't feel anything out in the Force. Jacen didn't know whether it was something bad, or something good. He was seated on the ground meditating in his favorite pair of Hapan silk pants.
Random strands of shaggy brown hair fell into his face as he tilted his head to look up at her, "What kind of secret?"
She arched an eyebrow, "A secret one."
"What's the point of telling me you have a secret if you aren't going to tell me what it is?"
Tenel Ka put her right hand on her hip, "I enjoy taunting you."
Jacen's laugh echoed in the guest quarters as he pushed himself up to his feet, "Well if you put it that way... I'll give you a twenty second headstart. I catch you in a standard half hour, you tell me. If I don't? You can choose whether or not you want to tell me, since you don't seem to want to tell me now."
Tenel Ka's eyes widened, "Ah. Aha. A challenge. Jacen Solo. What makes you think you can win?"
"The longer you stand here and tease me, the shorter your headstart becomes, your highness."
A snicker broke Tenel Ka's unreadable gaze as she spun around, jogging out of the quarters, her loose copper braids waving as she sped up. Jacen watched after her, giving her a couple extra seconds headstart.
A huge game of predator and prey broke out through the Fountain Palace. No one even knew about it. Except Tenel Ka. And Jacen Solo.
And here he was seated behind a plant, tracking her Force signature, now twenty-five minutes past the initial challenge.
Five minutes left.
His brandy-browns scanned the corridor for any sign of guards. Seeing that there were none around, Jacen jumped up and moved north down the hallway, his barefeet padding silently on the velvety cerulean carpet.
Tenel Ka was moving towards her own quarters. Jacen could feel where she was, but he couldn't read her emotions, which is what he really wanted.
He had planned to intercept her where the hallway he was headed towards met up with the one she was currently dashing down. Jacen turned left at the bend in the hallway and ran right into a tall, female guard.
"Master Jacen Solo, what are you doing running down the hallways? Bare-chested, no less?" The obviously Hapan guard arched a slender eyebrow.
"Just going on my uhm... morning jog!" He smiled and put his hands on his hips, "Now how did I end up in the Palace again? I could've sworn I was out in the Gardens. Hm! How about that?!"
The guard moved aside to let him pass, "First of all, young Solo. It is nighttime. Second of all. You are inside. The gardens are outside."
Jacen plastered a wide-eyed, big-grinned look on his face.
"Just watch yourself Jacen Solo, you are beginning to seem a bit odd."
"Thank you kindly, ma'am! Have a nice day--- er--- night!" Jacen rushed off down the hallway, running as fast as he could.
He only had two minutes left.
Navigating the hallways to the Queen Mother's quarters proved to be a minute and a few seconds worth of time, seeing as how Jacen made a few wrong turns.
He stopped in front of her open door and peaked in. There she was standing beside her bed currently counting down the seconds left.
Ten.
Nine.
Jacen was counting them down in his head also.
Seven.
Throwing himself into the room at a full run, slamming the button to the door behind him, Tenel Ka growled as she saw him.
Five.
She knew there was no way to go. She debated tripping him with the Force, but that wasn't her style.
Three.
Two.
Jacen tackled Tenel Ka back onto her huge bed, pinned her down and watched as her head sunk into the feather pillows resting at the headboard.
"I win. Tell me."
The Queen Mother broke the gaze of Jacen's questioning eyes and turned her head to the side, biting her lip.
"Come on." Jacen leaned down, placing his left ear near her mouth, "I won fair; what is it?"
She drew in a deep breath and softly whispered something into his ear.
Jacen slowly pulled his head up as Tenel Ka turned hers back towards him. They stared at each other silently for a few moments.
He crawled off of her and plopped down on his stomach. She just stayed put where she was, lying on her back, staring at the ceiling.
That's why she wasn't open in the Force. I would've felt...
Jacen moved himself towards her and turned his head, resting his left ear on her torso.
Through the Force, inside of her, he could feel Tenel Ka. And he could feel himself.
Together.
As one.
His eyes closed as he let his head rest on her stomach. He could feel the Force's ignition of life.
An unknown amount of time passed. It could've been minutes, it could've been days. Jacen Solo didn't know, he was busy listening to life.
A smile crossed Jacen's face as he picked his head up. Laying down beside her, he planted a small kiss on her forehead before faintly murmuring in her ear, "I love you, Tenel Ka."
"I love you too, Jacen Solo."
They fell asleep beside each other that night, with Tenel Ka snuggled up in Jacen's arms and Jacen dreamily pondering what the future would hold for him, Tenel Ka and their family.
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