Aand, you do remember the summary mentioning "will", not "what", right?
Part 3It seemed like aeons had passed.
No words had passed between them since their departure from the algae-cave; Tenel Ka seemed to be lost in her thoughts. Which, by itself, Jacen thought, was a prime example of the effect the cave was starting to have on them.
The lamp that Tenel Ka carried cast an ethereal globe of light around her – a perfect sphere of gold, tinted slightly by varying shades of red and green. Jacen noticed that she leaned ever so slightly to her left when she walked, a sort of subconscious compensation by the body for the arm she had lost – lost in that careless battle between the two of them, many years ago. Jacen didn't flinch this time, though, as he thought about it – he had gotten past that guilt.
Besides, there were things a lot more precious that she could have lost – and had lost, in fact.
But dwelling on that wasn't going to do him any good, now.
Reaching into the Force, Jacen spread his perception in the area around him. The rocks were still too unstable to try and force their way out – triggering another earthquake might mean cutting off their supply of air.
He delved deeper, letting the Force wash through him. A spark of sentient energy – energy that seemed to pulsate from the very ground – flickered to life on the crest of that wave and, curious, Jacen reached out for it…
Before he could do so, however, it exploded in an explosion of light and the resulting waves slammed into his consciousness with the force of a rampaging Wookiee. He withdrew quickly from the Force, as the world seemed to swim in a mixture of gold and black, interspersed by vague formless sounds that slowly materialised into a voice – a voice that was shouting his name…
"Jacen? Jacen!"
Jacen opened his eyes – without recollection of when or why he had closed them – to see Tenel Ka holding the lamp to his face, concern in her eyes. "What happened, friend Jacen?" she asked, a frown darkening the clean lines of her face.
Jacen ran a hand through his hair in a nervous reaction. "I'm wondering… could there be more planets… awakened planets… like Zonoma Sekot?"
Tenel Ka's eyebrows lifted in comprehension. "Are you saying that Naboo is something like Zonoma Sekot?"
He shook his head. "Not really. But considering what's happened so far, I'm willing to consider it as a possibility."
Before Tenel Ka could have the chance to comment on his statement, the ground beneath their feet started trembling again, as wave after inexplicable seismic wave pulverised the already-unstable rock. Dust showered around them, and Jacen shook his head in exasperation. "We'd better get out of here before the tunnel –"
Without giving him a chance to complete his sentence, Tenel Ka nodded, grabbed his hand and started running, holding the lamp out in front of her. The walls around them started collapsing like a pack of sabacc cards, while Jacen kept any from hitting them through the Force. The next few minutes flew by in a haze of dust clouds, collapsing rock, sharp turns, hot, short gasps, the pounding of feet against the heaving ground… before the rumbling stopped abruptly, throwing Jacen to the ground, and Tenel Ka on top of him.
"Déjà vu… in reverse," Jacen remarked dryly.
Tenel Ka got off immediately in response, allowing Jacen to stand up as well, dusting his cloak. The two refused to meet each other's eyes, as an inexplicable tingling rose up Jacen's spine once again. I haven't felt anything like this since Yavin 4… he thought laughingly – the humour tinged with a little bitterness as he remembered the fate that had befallen that planet.
A gentle, fresh breeze blew through the ruined cave, and the two Jedi's eyes widened with hope. "This earthquake must've uncovered the exit," Jacen said, resuming his stride down the tunnel, Tenel Ka following in his wake.
"Fact," Tenel Ka, said smiling, pointing ahead of them, where sunlight shone through a newly exposed hole. Handing the makeshift algae-lamp back to Jacen, Tenel Ka heaved herself through the hole and onto the ground. She reached down and helped Jacen up as well, who heaved a sigh of relief at having solid planetary ground back under his feet again. He turned around to see both of their lightsaber pommels lying safely beneath an outcrop of rock.
How curious…He reached down to pick up his lightsaber, when that sensation that had struck him within the cave swamped his consciousness again. And in the farthest reaches of that sensation glowed something familiar – something that he had once known very well, something that was very close to his heart…
"Do you feel it?" Tenel Ka asked suddenly, coming to his side.
Jacen nodded slowly.
"It… it felt like Anakin," she continued tentatively. Her voice trailed away as he fingered his lightsaber pommel silently. Anakin, but why?
"The question is deeper than the answer itself…"
That statement, spoken what seemed like centuries ago, and at the same time, just a few seconds before by his mentor, had never rung more true. He turned toward Tenel Ka, who was observing him with stoic patience. It was funny, he thought, how she managed to look beautifully regal even when her face bore a fine sheet of soot and her clothes blackened. He reached with his hand and wiped a bit of the dust away from her lips.
She shivered slightly under his touch, but made no move to stop him. His finger slowly traced a line from her lips, across her cheek, before gently lifting her chin. As his face moved closer to hers, Jacen thought of the years he had spent travelling in the darkness of space, in otherworldly planets and among little heard-of civilisations. Even when in pursuit of the light of knowledge – of the Force, of his role, of his place in the galaxy – darkness had always overshadowed a long-ignored part of his soul. He could still feel it, biting at his heels…
His lips brushed across hers, tentatively at first, then intensifying in passion. In that moment, the darkness crumbled, dissipated, lost in the spectacular wave of feeling that was flooding through him…
And then there was light.
Finis