Remembering...

 

Author's Notes: I did this all from memory with insight from Lady Viper
as a human reference. So if I made any mistakes, my apologies, and if I
spelled any character names wrong, I apologize also.

~~

 Midalah rose gracefully as she walked over to the balcony that was
attached to her bedroom. Walking out she watched the stars twinkling
above. To look down and see the workers still clearing up the mess in
the garden and the castle reminded Midalah all too much of the insanity
that had taken over her life only a few short days ago. First the Empire
demanding her to join their ranks as an Imperial world. She shook her
head as she remembered the flash of annoyance she had felt from Princess
Anelis at her refusal to make any form of agreement at that time. When
Talman Winters had stepped forward and laid claim that he was a diplomat
from Corporate Sector and that they had control of Nebula, Midalah had
been livid. Something she wasn't able to stamp down from her mind that
night. When she was called before Anelis again to speak of how she felt
in regards to this new situation, she knew the anger was flowing off of
her in waves.

 Winters had shown up again. This time stating that he was taking
Midalah from Port Lansing and back to Nebula, no matter what the Empire
said. Apparently, though, he had made the mistake of hiring one of the
Empire's own to help in this situation and soon the Imperial court had
been surrounded. A voice in her head had reassured her that she was the
second most protected individual in that room, Anelis, of course, being
the first. Winters had been seized by the Household. Midalah had heard
someone refer to the group of people in this manner.

 Midalah brushed a white curl away from her cheek as she pulled her
dressing robe tighter around her. The breeze felt good but it also
chilled her knowing what had gone on during her meetings on Port Lansing
station. She had been pulled aside shortly after being dismissed by
Princess Anelis by Princess Azarra Vader, the supposedly late Emperor's
wife. Azarra had informed her that she and the other members of the
Embassy had been informed of a possible death threat on Midalah's life.
It was a shock to Midalah, and she knew she wasn't able to hide it
easily. She knew it couldn't be Reesha. She had been found dead in her
cell days after Midalah had reclaimed her rightful position on the
throne, and as far as Midalah knew, Melantha did not care to have the
throne again, and didn't have the courage to attempt to kill her cousin.
'Though the apple doesn't fall far from the tree,' she thought to
herself. If Reesha had been capable of it, Melantha could be too.

 Topaz, Tara Alderson's personal body guard, had been re-assigned, per
Tara's orders to her council, to protect her while she remained on the
station. Ebon Cheval, one of the people she had trained with alongside
Nik-Vie, had also been assigned to protect her after she herself had
telepathically made Nik aware of what was going on. They had thwarted
one kidnapping attempt, but they were not able to keep her handmaiden
and sister-in-law, M'Lissa, from being kidnapped while she had arranged
a meeting between Rachel Summers and Retroy Darkfyre. During that time,
a message from M'Lissa's kidnapper had arrived, and it had been
poisoned. Luckily for Midalah, Retroy had held an antidote that had
worked against the poison in her system.

 Tara seemed to have sensed something was wrong and had visited her in
her quarters on the station. With Rachel's help, Midalah was able to
faintly locate M'Lissa's whereabouts. Telepathically Tara had tried to
reassure Midalah that everything would be all right, she also told her
that she truly needed to complete her training. Something that Midalah
had agreed with. That was the last time she spoke with Tara on Port
Lansing. Whomever had been trying to kidnap her throughout the weekend
had finally succeeded with a concussive explosion that had knocked out
both Ebon and Topaz as well as Midalah, and she had been whisked away to
a ship.

 "M'lady, are you all right?" M'Lissa said behind her. Midalah turned to
study her. She didn't seem the worse for wear considering all she had
been through. During her own kidnapping, M'Lissa had been drugged, and
she had no memory of her kidnappers. From what she had told her upon
their reunion, M'Lissa had gone before the Jedi Council after she had
been returned to the station. Nik-Vie and Lon had been standing before
the Council at that time and it had been decided that both Lon and Ebon
would go to Nebula to find Midalah. Ricia Targen, Ebon's Jedi Master he
was training with, was to escort them. Midalah had smiled when M'Lissa
had told her that Lon had tried to overthrow Ricia to handle things on
his own. It sounded like something Lon would do.

 "M'Lady?" M'Lissa asked again.

 Midalah sighed. "I am fine, M'Lissa," she said.

 "You're thinking about him again, aren't you?" M'Lissa asked as she
walked into the room further. She sat on the edge of Midalah's bed.

 Midalah nodded, rubbing her arms. "Him, as well as everything else that
happened while on Port Lansing," she said.

 "He will be safe," M'Lissa said. "He proved how well he could handle
himself when rescuing you."

 Midalah smiled softly. "I've always known that Lon could take care of
himself, he just has a knack for finding trouble," she said.

 "M'lady." M'Lissa started.

 "M'Lissa, you are family, you can call me Midalah."

 "That takes some getting used to," M'Lissa said. "I didn't have time to
get used to being apart of the family before Rand was killed."

 Midalah nodded. She looked out over the grounds. She felt so far away
from the time when her family had been alive and they had been happy.
Her thoughts drifted back to what had happened. She had been kidnapped
by Corporate Sector Authorities and kept in a force dampened room. She
was extremely frustrated when she couldn't find Nik or Lon or Tara. Even
Ebon. That she couldn't contact them to assure she was okay. M'Lissa had
found a way back onto Nebula using her kitchen codes. Midalah had been
given a choice to make by one of the CSA men. Allow them to take
telepaths from the planet in exchange for taking care of starvation,
poverty and all the hardships that had been plaguing the planet since
Melantha had been Queen. Due to the stressful atmosphere she had been
in, mostly due to CSA, they allowed Midalah one month to choose.

 Midalah walked back out onto her balcony and looked around. The
decision had been taken away from her when Lon had shown up. Somehow CSA
perceived him as a threat, along with Ricia and Ebon, and a fight had
ensued. CSA had tried to overpower Midalah in her quarters. Lon had
sensed her distress and managed to keep her calm through a telepathic
link they had. He was able to see in her mind what was going on as her
guards had gone down, blood streaming from their nose and ears. They
were fine, and currently recovering at their homes, but it had scared
Midalah beyond anything she could imagine. A soothing presence other
than Lon in her mind had urged her to slowly walk backwards. When she
had she had disappeared through the wall and past S'Lara, who had a T-21
Repeating Blaster on her shoulder.

 Midalah hadn't even questioned the other woman. She had merely turned
and weaved her way through the corridors, keeping up her link with Lon
to reassure him that she was heading towards him. Until she was stopped
by the man from CSA that had talked with her on the ship. Darkness
surrounded him and was radiating from him in a rush that had frightened
Midalah.

"Your time is up," he had said to her. "Give in to your anger, you have
before."

Midalah felt her hands clench before Lon had shouted to her. "No! Don't
do it." Instantly Midalah had calmed. She felt stronger for some reason.
She had felt it when she had stepped back on Nebula. She hadn't sensed
it before but now she did. She also felt stronger with Lon's presence
with her. It was an odd sensation to have those two outlets calming her,
making her stronger. Lon's presence doing so didn't surprise her as
much. She had noticed it more while they trained with Nik so she knew
she could rely on him. She didn't know if he sensed it as well, but she
did.

She had demanded to know why Lon had been stopped and not allowed on the
planet when he had arrived. The man had merely stated that he shouldn't
have tried to sneak onto the planet. Midalah had informed him that Lon
was a citizen of the planet, as well as being of royal blood, and had
every right to see the Queen who was also a close friend. "I'll swat you
like a fly," Midalah had said at some point to him. The man looked
almost triumphant. When she heard S'Lara in her mind she had felt
confusion run rampant through her. All the other woman had said was
"Don't."

The man from CSA had first put a force clamp of some sort on M'Lissa's
brain. It was apparent as blood poured from her nose and ears and she
fell to the ground. He had then sent a fireball at her but she had
ducked. She hadn't been safe though. The ball had caught the train of
her gown and was slowly making it's way toward her. Midalah had closed
her eyes and concentrated everything she could on keeping the flame at
bay. She had grown very cold, barely sensing when Lon had stormed into
the alcove like room. She barely remembered the battle that had occurred
between the man and Lon, but she did remember Lon tackling him and
beginning to punch him forcefully. Taking the time to stop
concentrating, she rushed to M'Lissa and got the dagger she had hidden
in her gown. Midalah quickly most of her skirt off, tossing the still
flaming fabric to the side. She had wanted to help Lon but didn't know
how without hurting him. He finally managed to roll after S'Lara had
telepathically told him to move, and the Sith Lord was in plain view of
Midalah. S'Lara had shot him and Midalah hurried over and put the dagger
between his shoulder blades.

Midalah helped Lon rise and they backed up beside S'Lara. Midalah could
sense the dying around her, the chaos of what was going on around them.
She could sense Ebon and Ricia trying to calm things and keep people
safe that were running around in a panic. Suddenly a wave of darkness
watched over her and she looked as a hole burst through floor of the
tunnel they were in. It was dark and the energy coming from it was
strong. Midalah could sense Ricia hurrying towards them as the body of
the Sith Lord was pulled into this energy vortex that was building.
M'Lissa slowly started to rise, slowly clearing her mind. Midalah had
looked up to see the ceiling of the tunnel starting to crumble in that
wing of the palace.

Ricia had insisted everyone concentrate their powers, and they had,
creating a force bubble of some sort around them. They had made their
way out of the tunnel, via another tunnel that S'Lara had known about,
into the garden only to see the chaos outside. A ship that Midalah
recognized that was her own landed in the garden and the engines shut
down. CSA guards were backing off. As the realization that things were
going to be okay for now, Midalah had passed out with exhaustion. Lon
had easily caught her and carried her to the nearest area for medical
crews to look after her and M'Lissa both. M'Lissa had told Midalah that
the energy seemed to drain from him and he had dropped beside them, as
if in a daze after what had happened. Midalah had later been informed
that a young pilot named Mia Jesbar had managed to hold off the ships
after helping Lon, Ricia and Ebon when they had first sounded the alarm.

"Why did he have to leave so soon?" Midalah asked softly, her voice
almost inaudible.

M'Lissa walked towards her and put her arms around her sister-in-law in
a comforting hug. "He wanted to help Nik," she said. "He had to go.
He'll be back. He said he would."

Midalah turned, rubbing her arms as if she were cold. "I worry about
him," she said. "I did even while I was away, but now."

"I know," M'Lissa said watching her. "Have you spoken with Lady S'Lara
at all?"

Midalah shook her head. "No not yet," she said. "I haven't seen her
since she disappeared from us after the attack."

"I think you should," M'Lissa said.

"I know," Midalah said. "I need to speak with her about what happened
and see if she's had any success in finding Senator K'rinn."

"Then what?" M'Lissa asked.

"Then I am going to the Jedi Council," Midalah said heading inside. "I
need to finish my training. And if what that man said was true, this is
a force strong planet. Perhaps they would do well to train here."

"Would that be safe?" M'Lissa asked.

"What alternatives do I have?" Midalah asked looking at her.

M'Lissa sighed. "I don't know," she said honestly.

Midalah walked over and sat at a chair on her vanity, her eyes gazing
far off again. M'Lissa smiled slightly. "You're doing it again," she
said.

"Doing what?" Midalah asked looking at her.

"Tell you what, when he comes back to the planet to check on you, you
tell him how you feel," M'Lissa said.

"I can't," Midalah said looking away.

M'Lissa frowned. "Why not?" she asked.

"Have you ever been afraid of something that was staring you in the
face?" Midalah asked.

"Yes, I was terrified of Rand when we first began our relationship,"
M'Lissa said.

"I can't tell him," Midalah said.

"Midalah." M'Lissa said.

"I can't, not yet," Midalah said. She rose and walked over to M'Lissa.
"We shall find S'Lara tomorrow and speak with her. But I think you
should go and get some rest."

M'Lissa sighed a bit and nodded. "Good night, m'lady," she said, bowing
her head. "Get some rest. You know where I am if you need me." She
glanced once more at Midalah before heading to her quarters. Midalah
rubbed her arms and walked back out onto the balcony, her thoughts
wandering again. She had a job to do as Queen and she was going to do
just that.

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