Unification Part Deux

Two months later…


Liza was sitting at her large desk when the first pain hit. She clutched her stomach and screamed in agony as the contraction rippled across her large stomach. She tried to rise out of her chair to find Joss but as she stood, another pain gripped her and she fell to the floor, blacking out.

Joss was talking with Anakin downstairs in his office when he jumped up, running from the room. Anakin followed quickly behind him, feeling the strong surge coming from Liza.
JossJoss burst into the room and found Groot bending over his Mistress, keening in agony. His eyes met Joss’ and they whirled with the deep purple and black of extreme distress. Joss strode quickly over to his wife, picking her up and moving out of the room, back downstairs to the large couch in the office.

“Liza, honey, wake up love.” Joss whispered as he carried her down the stairs, meeting Anakin halfway up. He moved back out of the way, reaching for the small communicator at his wrist to alert Acaciah to prepare the Temple. She was visiting with the Ravenas on Alameen, enlisting their support for the new order.

Joss laid Liza gently on the couch, stroking her hair back from her forehead, willing her to wake up. Another strong contraction gripped her body and his hand went to her stomach, trying to take some of the pain from her. “She’ll be alright,” Joss said. “I can feel the babies, they’re fine too. We still have time to get her to Alameen, if we leave right now.

“Acaciah is getting everything ready. We can be there in two hours.” Anakin said, moving towards the door; Joss picked Liza up carefully and walked out of the room, Groot following right behind him. They went up to the rooftop hangar, Anakin already in the pilot’s seat of the starship. Joss moved to the back, going to the large master suite and laying Liza down on the bed, sitting next to her. Her eyes fluttered open as he stroked her hair.

Liza looked up at him and smiled weakly, reaching for his hand as another strong contraction gripped her. He could feel the boys inside of her, ready to come into the world. Joss leaned over her and administered a small dose of a mild painkiller, just enough to take the edge off of the pain.

By the time they reached the atmosphere of Alameen, Liza was screaming in agony, the contractions coming about twenty minutes apart. Joss’ hand was almost numb with the strength of her grip as they landed at the strip outside the Temple. He picked her up and followed after the others into the large stone building.

Since they had taken up residence here, they had furnished the upper floors with every modern convenience. Joss took Liza into the small infirmary, placing her onto the bed, trying to absorb some of the pain as the strongest contraction yet seized her body, her back arching up against the pain.

Acaciah entered the infirmary with an Anolia healer. “This is Isoke,” she said. “Janae recommended her.”

He looked at the healer with worried eyes but she just nodded with clinical efficiency. “It is close, get her undressed, I have to check how far dilated she is.”

Joss stripped Liza’s sweat soaked clothing from her body, pulling her shoulders against his chest as Isoke did her exam. Liza screamed again in anguish and a warm rush of water spilled out onto the bed. Another strong contraction hit and Liza bit down on her lip hard, blood welling up. “I have to push!” she screamed and her face screwed up in agony. Isoke nodded and moved her legs up into the stirrups.

Acaciah and Anakin stood around the bed and tried to absorb some of the pain with a Force shield. The contractions came faster and faster and Liza panted in agony with each progressive one.

Finally, with a mighty groan, the first of the boys slipped into the world, screaming at the top of his tiny lungs. Anakin stepped forward to take him as Joss snipped the cord, wrapping him in a blanket and taking him over to the incubator in the corner. Isoke looked up and nodded at Joss, who picked Liza up again and pulled her against his chest, bracing her so she could push again.

Ten minutes later, the second boy came out as quiet as his brother was loud, Acaciah reaching for him as Isoke finished up with the afterbirth. Liza had collapsed back onto the bed and Joss was anxious to greet his children. Joss cut the second cord and they placed the babies on Liza’s chest, four solemn eyes staring back into hers. She began to cry as she cuddled them close. Joss kissed her forehead and named the boys, Goran Geo and Micail Dalton, the first of the next generation.

Using the Force, Isoke, Acaciah and Anakin helped to heal Liza quickly. They were going to anoint the new additions to their family and she needed to be strong enough to participate. Joss carried Liza as Anakin and Acaciah carried the babies into the large main sanctuary. The circle had been cast and Joss took his tiny family into the center, the others ringing around them.

Anakin handed him a small chalice, filled with the blood from the birthing as well as ink to mark them with. Liza held the boys, their eyes open and staring as the four began to chant, and the energy pulsing and swimming around them. “Chosen by the Force, and brought to life through our love, we accept Goran and Micail as our new brethren, one with us in the Force that binds us all.” Joss dipped his finger into the chalice, reaching first for Goran, painting the small o on his back. “I mark you with the symbol of legacy, the next generation.” Handing him back to Liza, he pulled Micail into his arms, marking his back with an identical mark. “I mark you with the symbol of legacy, the next generation.”

“By the will of the Force and those gathered here, I name my sons, Goran Geo and Micail Dalton Kadeen” he shouted as the whirlwind of the Force circled, branding each child with a symbol of its own. When the glittering whirlwind faded, each boy had a mark alongside the one their father had given them; Goran carried the small a representing Ansuz, for leadership and Micail carried the small c for Kenez, representing knowledge and enlightenment.