I'm no Jedi (ahsoka_tano) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2017-05-26 15:09:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, ahsoka tano, li-ming |
If you look like this
Who: Ahsoka and Li
What: Li defeats Diablo and wakes up on fire. Literally.
When: Recent
Where: Their place and then the hospital
Status: complete
Rating: PG-13, warnings for burns and hospital stuff
It had been one hell of a few nights for Li. Her dreams came each night, and with each night she fought her way further into Heaven. She dispelled the corruption that was spreading. She freed tormented angels from their prisons. She slaughtered demons in her wake. She was even taunted by ghosts of those who had died and were being used by demons. Leah had been the first one, and while Li had seen through the illusion and knew it wasn’t Leah, it had still hurt. Li had failed her, and had helped the Prime Evil come into the world.
Tonight’s dream was the culmination of all the fighting. Though she really did wonder if she’d actually fight Imperius, the archangel of valor. He may be an angel, and the leader of the Angiris Council, but he was quick to want to kill Li, blaming her for the state of the High Heavens. She wouldn’t hesitate to fight him if it came to it, but her focus was on Diablo and stopping him from destroying Heaven and turning all of creation into Hell.
The fight with Diablo was not an easy one, which had been expected. He unleashed several different attacks. He’d even grabbed hold of her once, squeezed her and slammed her into the ground. Luckily she had enough defenses that she didn’t die then and there, but it had definitely hurt. The part of the battle that took place in the Realm of Terror itself had been...unexpected. Especially when she was fighting shadow versions of herself. But she’d managed to fight her way out despite the fact Diablo had taunted her, saying no one had escaped his realm before.
Well, Li did. So there went that record of his.
But then the fight in the High Heavens resumed when she’d escaped that dimension, and Diablo seemed stronger than he had been before, even if he was still injured. He unleashed different attacks. Lightning that looked rather similar to Belial’s, only it was laced with fire. There was basically a lot of fire. Li hadn’t been able to dodge them all, and she’d gotten burned a few times. And this time, Kormac wasn’t by her side. He’d been trapped in a cage of thorns on the way into the place where Diablo was. This fight, she was truly alone for.
Yet she’d managed to single-handedly defeat Diablo the Prime Evil. The Black Soulstone was taken by Tyreal so it could be hidden away. The High Heavens were restored, and Li was truly a hero. She’d done what the angels could not.
Li stirred from her sleep and instantly knew something was wrong. It felt like part of her body had gone to sleep. It was numb. Frowning a bit. She moved to flip a light on and she pushed the covers back. Li was actually wearing pajamas that night, but when she pulled the hem of her tank top up she instantly regretted it.
“Holy fucking shit,” she cursed in Chinese. She then pushed the waistband of her shorts and underwear down, trying to gauge how much of her skin was severely burned. The skin was charred. Definitely third degree burns that required a doctor. The area that was burned seemed to be her right hip. Part of her lower stomach and upper thigh were also caught in it. She wasn’t in pain, but she was starting to panic a bit. “Ahsoka,” she nearly pleaded, hoping that her girlfriend had been woken up by the stirring or the light. If not by whatever movement that she may have done during her sleep.
It had been a difficult week. Yang seemed distant and Li was suffering and Ahsoka did her best to help. Tea in the morning for Li, first aid when needed, an ear to listen or arms to hold. Whatever it was that Li needed as she battled through heaven and hell.
She was already awake, sitting in a chair and watching her girlfriend toss and turn. The smell of burning flesh reached her nostrils and she had burn cream ready. But then she watched as the burns spread across Li’s hip and stomach and knew there was no way in hell burn cream would help.
Ahsoka rushed over, “I’m here. I’m here. Can you feel it? Look at me.”
Hearing Ahsoka, she looked up at her. She really shouldn’t look at the burn because it looked...absolutely horrible. “No, I don’t feel anything. It’s numb.” Which wasn’t a good sign. It meant the nerve endings had been destroyed. The fire had burned through both layers of skin. The area also seemed to be swelling. Fire had definitely directly hit her. Sometimes she hated how skimpy her armor could be in the dreams, but currently she was very glad for the skimpy because it meant that her armor hadn’t melted into her skin. It had just been a direct fire-to-cloth-and-skin incident.
“Fuck.” That was not a word Ahsoka said all that often, and she calmed herself, placing a hand near the burn but not on it and calling on the Force to do something anything. She wasn’t a healer, but maybe it would listen. “I’m going to cut your underwear off of you, we want to avoid anything tight over that wound, then I’m going to take you to the hospital.”
How they were going to explain this one she didn’t know, but she wasn’t a healer.
Ahsoka wished she’d paid more attention to that kind of thing when Barriss had explained it to her.
“Okay,” Li said with a nod. She really did try not to look at the wound. It would only serve to freak her out to look at it. It was bad enough that she couldn’t feel it. That alone was starting to send her into a panic. But she tried to keep as calm as possible. It really wouldn’t be easy to explain how she got a burn like this. Getting hit by a fireball wasn’t exactly a good enough explanation of it. Though maybe getting pushed against a red hot engine or something in a repair shop?
Working her jaw, Ahsoka stared at Li, then waved her hand in front of her face. “You’re calm. You’re not going to panic.”
Li could yell at her about that later, Ahsoka thought she was in too much shock to resist right now, but it would do neither of them any good to panic right now.
Whether or not the mind trick worked, Ahsoka cut the knickers off and gathered Li in the sheets and then into her arms.
Luckily for both of them, the mindtrick worked, and Li remained calm. She’d probably have something to say about it later, but right now, she didn’t precisely care. When Ahsoka picked her up, Li leaned into her. She didn’t resist and just let Ahsoka do the walking. Or running.
She carried Li out to the car and laid her inside the back seat, then rushed around the front to get in. She was going to speed if she had to, and had decided they couldn’t wait for an ambulance. Besides, if any cop tried to pull them over she could mind-trick them too.
Ahsoka didn’t have to. No one tried to stop them on the way to the hospital and at this hour there was no traffic. So she ran inside with Li on her arms. “She has third degree burns on her hip and leg!”
Li just laid there and closed her eyes. She was calm, but she was also in shock. It wasn’t going to be an easy recovery process, but she was alive. It was going to take a lot of care and time, but Li would eventually be able to live with this.
When Ahsoka announced the third degree burns, that shot Li to the front of the line, a couple nurses came rushing out to lead Ahsoka and Li back to an exam room. A doctor was notified while vitals and other such things were checked.
“What happened?” One nurse asked Ahsoka. It was always better to ask a lucid person as opposed to a patient in shock.
Ahsoka waved her hand. “There was an accident. We were working on an engine and she fell against it.”
It would serve as a lie and Ahsoka could make sure the lie stuck until they didn't need to worry about it any more.
A nurse pulled the sheet away so they could get a look at the burn. And it was definitely bad. She gave out some orders of what was needed and they set to work. A doctor arrived shortly thereafter to take a look.
Li was laying on her good side, allowing the medical staff to better assess her injury. “Ahsoka,” she said, reaching out for her hand. She wanted the contact, and some assurance as well.
Ahsoka gripped her hand tightly, moving to one side of Li to give them room to work. She’d have to leave soon but she wanted to give Li as much time as she could. It was tempting to trick them, to say through until they were done with her girlfriend, but she’d used that technique too much today and they were good people doing their jobs. “I’m here. At least until they shoo me away. They’re doctors, and they’re really good at what they’re doing.”
Li held onto her hand, nodding a bit. Though it wasn’t long before Ahsoka was shooed away and Li was taken off. They had to get rid of the dead skin and thoroughly clean the wound. It was a severe burn, covering a somewhat large area of her hip and thigh. Once the burn was cleaned and cleared of dead skin, Li was prepped and taken into surgery to get a skin graft done. A doctor informed Ahsoka of what they planned to do.
The procedure went well, and Li was taken to the recovery area. Once she started to wake up, the doctor went to tell Ahsoka the procedure went well and took her back to see Li.
“She will need to stay in the hospital for a couple days so we can ensure the skin graft takes.” He said.
Ahsoka spent the whole time pacing, unable to sit still. It was very unjedilike, but it was very much a girl in love with someone who was seriously injured and going through a medical procedure.
She nodded smiling at the doctor. “Thank you. Can I see her, or is she still recovering?”
“You can come see her now. She should be mostly aware of things. Though she will be on pain medication.” He led Ahsoka to where Li was, explaining the somewhat grotesque details of the procedure that was done. Mostly just so someone that wasn’t under the effects of strong pain medication was aware of what had happened.
When they got to the room, Li was alert, though still somewhat shaking off the effects of the anesthetic, but she was aware of her surroundings. The bed was in the upright position, allowing her to sit up. For someone who had just sustained a horrific wound and gone through surgery, Li actually looked decent, if a bit pale.
Heart in her throat, Ahsoka approached the bed. She gently took Li’s hand, rubbing her thumb on her hand. “So. Did you win?” She pulled a chair over with her food and took a seat.
Li smiled at Ahsoka, squeezing her hand. Though it did take her a moment to discern what Ahsoka was asking about. “Yes, I did. It wasn’t easy, and I was completely on my own during it. But I finally managed it.” She bore the scars from each fight she had with a demon lord. While the scars from Azmodan weren’t physical, each battle had left mental ones. The fight with Diablo had left a lot of trauma in its wake.
“I saved Heaven and Sanctuary. Didn’t have to fight Imperius, even though I wanted to give him a smackdown.”
“If you look like this, I hope the other guy looks a lot worse.” She put Li’s hand between both of her own, squeezing lightly. Ahsoka needed a few minutes to actually freak out, but she’d do that later, when Li was asleep again. She hadn’t felt like this since Kaeden had been captured by the Empire, or that time Anakin had almost died.
“I always knew you could do it, Li. You’re so strong.”
“He doesn’t have a body anymore,” Li confirmed. She’d watched Diablo fall from the Pinnacle of Heaven, how his body had burned up until only the Black Soulstone was left. At which point Tyreal went to secure the soulstone in a place where demons and angels alike couldn’t find it.
“Thank you,” she responded with a smile and squeezed Ahsoka’s hand. Li had always believed she could do it as well, at least in the dreams. Prophecy had guided her, and prophecy had been correct. “I guess it pays off to be the only person in creation that wasn’t mentioned on the Scroll of Fate, so I could write my own fate.”
With the way things went, chances were Diablo would rise again. But that wouldn’t be Li’s problem. Ahsoka squeezed her hand back, then kissed a fingertip. “Fate is funny that way. I’m sure it would think that you did exactly what you were supposed to.”
“No, not in this respect. I met the Archangel of Fate. He wrote everything in the Scroll of Fate that would come to pass, except for me. He’d written of the fall of Heaven, of Diablo’s rise, but he’d left me out of the scroll. Probably on purpose so that I could defeat Diablo, that it would be a mortal who decided the fate of all creation.” It was a stunning realization on her part, and Li wasn’t certain if the drugs were helping that or not.
“Fate can have a hand in things even if it does nothing. Perhaps especially because it does nothing. But you’ve won, and you’ve avenged the loss of your friends and so much more.” Ahsoka smiled at her. “I’m proud of you. And the doctor says you’ll be fine. But you’re going to be here a few days at least.”
“A few days?” Li whined a bit. She didn’t like being in a hospital. And she certainly didn’t like being confined to a bed. She leaned her head back against the pillow. “I feel fine.” Which was just the drugs talking. If she didn’t have those, she’d feel pretty damn crappy.
“A few days,” Ahsoka sternly said. “It was really bad, Li. Really bad. I wish I had some Bacta to put you in.”
Li pouted a bit. “Fiiiiine,” she whined. Li didn’t like it, but she didn’t really have much to do or say about it. Maybe later when she wasn’t as drugged up, she would. After all, she was relatively certain that Ahsoka had done something to her mind earlier.
She couldn’t help it. Ahsoka chuckled. Li was being adorable and being very cranky and it was adorable and Ahsoka fell in love a little more. “I’d rather have you home too. Even in my dreams you’d need a day. It was… a little frightening.”
“Maybe they’ll let me go home early.” It really all depending on how the skin graft took. They’d know within a couple days if it took. Until then, it was keeping Li still as much as possible. Which would be difficult when she got more antsy. “At least you’re here. I’m glad you’re here. I love you.”
“I’ll see if I can be extra convincing,” Ahsoka promised. But she didn’t want Li out of the hospital until the doctors were sure the graft took. She hadn’t yet really processed what that meant or what Li was going to be going through. She’d never experienced a skin graft and it wasn’t something commonly done in the Republic or the Empire. Not with your own sin, anyway.
“I love you too. You’re babbling a little.”
Li hadn’t even processed what was happening injury-wise. She’d been too much in shock to fully comprehend it before, and right now she was too hopped up on drugs to completely grasp. This wasn’t going to be an easy healing process to go through for anyone around Li, let alone Li herself.
“Am I? Maybe I should sleep. I feel heavy.”
“You get some rest.” Ahsoka leaned over, then kissed her forehead, before lowering the bed. “I’ll be here when you wake up. I promise.”
And she was, though she took twenty minutes in the ladies room. Ahsoka didn’t generally freak out but she was still ultimately a twenty-year old girl, despite her other life. And seeing Li like that had shaken her.
Suddenly, Anakin made a little more sense.
Another ten minutes to meditate, and she was back at Li’s side, where she… continued to meditate.
It didn’t take long at all for Li to fall asleep. The drugs in her system, along with the surgery and the sheer trauma her body had undergone was enough to put her into a deep sleep. And she slept for several hours. The only dreams she had were drug-induced ones, none relating to her dream life. She eventually woke up. The ceiling came into view first, and she was momentarily confused. Turning her head to the side, she saw Ahsoka sitting there, meditating.
“Ahsoka?” She croaked, her throat dry.
“I’m here.” Ahsoka opened her eyes, taking Li’s hand. “How are you feeling?” The nurse had told her she could give Li some water or ice. She squeezed Li’s hand. “Do you want some water?”
“Like Diablo picked me up in his hand, squeezed me and threw me into the floor,” she responded. Which….had actually happened. “Yes, please,” she said, squeezing Ahsoka’s hand back.
“I love you.” she got up, retrieving a cup with some cold water, and then returned. Tilting Li’s head up, she helped her drink. “Just a little bit, the nurse was very clear that you shouldn’t drink too much too fast.”
It was only when she said it that how big Diablo actually was registered in her mind. Li wasn’t exactly tiny, and the demon had picked her up with one hand like she was a toy. It probably was a miracle that she wasn’t dead. She sipped the water, ensuring that she didn’t choke on it.
Despite her meditation, Ahsoka looked frazzled. Even her glamour looked frazzled, and there were bags under her eyes. She was worried, very worried, and too tired to really hide it. “There you go.”
“Thank you,” she said. The water was amazing, and she felt like she could talk again. Li looked at Ahsoka and noted the way she looked. “Are you alright?” Asked the one who had just gone through surgery and would be dealing with healing and recovery for a while yet.
“I’m a lot better than you are.” Ahsoka fixed her a look. “I’m okay. As long as you’re okay, I’ll be okay.”
“I’m okay.” Li responded. She tried to shift a bit but the hip that the skin graft had come from protested and she hissed a bit. “Shit, that hurts.” That was to be expected, the donor site hurting more than the actual burn site itself.
Ahsoka reached out, using the force to steady Li and to also shield the grafts from any friction. She figured that wasn’t really abusing it. She just couldn’t stand to see Li in pain if there was something she could do about it. “They did kind of rip a piece of your skin and put it somewhere else. That’s bound to be painful.”
Li settled down after some moments of Ahsoka using the force to help her. She then looked at Ahsoka, blinking a little. “It was that bad? I mean, I remember seeing the burn when I woke up, but I couldn’t tell how bad it was.” All she knew was that she hadn’t felt anything there.
Ahsoka nodded. “Covered a lot, and you couldn’t feel it. You were starting to panic, so I had to… help you with that.”
“How did you help me?” Li was trying to make sense of what had actually happened there. She knew something had, just not what exactly had happened.
“A mind trick. I told you not to panic.” Ahsoka looked a little guilty, but she’d honestly do it a again if she had to. It wasn’t the worse thing she could have done and it kept Li from moving around too much and hurting herself more.
“So a force ability?” It wasn’t actually a question, more a statement of fact. “I’m glad you did that to keep me from panicking. But just so we’re clear, no using that on me without just cause like that in the future.” Li didn’t think Ahsoka would use such an ability without just cause, but she wanted to draw the line.
“Yes.” Ahsoka took the admonishment gracefully, nodding her head. “And I would never use it on you without just cause. I doubt it would work if you were in your right mind. You’re very willful.”
“I don’t know about that, I don’t know how to shield my mind from such things. Mind control and other similar things don’t really exist in my dreams. There are things that can force you to flee in terror if you get hit by something, but it only lasts a couple seconds, that’s about it.” There weren’t any spells that Li knew of that could influence people’s minds for prolonged periods of time, thus she’d never needed to learn to defend her mind from such attacks.
“Hopefully we never need to find out.” Ahsoka still wouldn’t do it, not unless things were grave. She trusted Li to take care of herself. Besides, the Jedi had used it so liberally that Ahsoka sometimes balked at the idea. Free will was supposed to be important.
“Hopefully not.” Li didn’t want to find that out either. She may be very powerful, but her mind was an open book, in a matter of speaking. “So I guess that I’m restricted to eating hospital food.” She’d heard stories of how terrible hospital food could be. She wasn’t looking forward to it.
“We’ll get you whatever you want as soon as you’re free of this place.” Ahsoka grinned at her. “And tomorrow I’ll sneak something in for you. I don’t think you’re on any sort of special diet.”
“Oh good, that was going to be my next question about what I can eat.” That was the good thing about having a skin graft done, she didn’t have to have any special diet due to surgery or some internal problem. “And I look forward to the contraband as well.”
“I just hope this is the last of it,” Ahsoka admitted. There was only so much pain she could watch Li go through. She’d always be there for her, but it had disturbed her calm. It was hard to find that balance between compassion, love and attachment. She was dangerously close to attached to Li.
“That is hard to say. The Black Soulstone still exists, so there will always be a threat from evil.” Li admitted. She had a feeling that defeating Diablo wasn’t the end. “But I hope it’s the end of injuries like this.” She’d survived the battle and knew that her fight against evil wasn’t done yet. But what came next, she didn’t know. After defeating the remaining lords of Hell and the Prime Evil, what could come next aside from just killing normal demons and sending them back to the Burning Hells?
“I suppose you’ll have to be vigilant, but I hope you’re allowed a chance to recover, and a chance to actually rest and celebrate.” After all, defeating evil wasn’t something you did every day and getting a chance to celebrate that was important. You could congratulate yourself on a job well done. But having a little fun after it helped make it worthwhile.
“I’ll be fine once Kormac heals me. It pays to have a templar as a friend, he has a healing ability that’s saved my life more than a few times.” Especially during the times when they got overrun by a horde of enemies and Li’s armor spells wore off. “Though I hope we can celebrate at least a little. Still, whatever may come, at least I’ll have you to help me through.” She said with a smile.
She hoped it would translate to the waking world. Otherwise Li was looking forward to a long recovery. And Ahsoka was a little worried about her dealing with the scar. And herself, if she was honest.
“I’m not going anywhere, I promise.”