[X] Jedi Master Micah Giiett is
alive.
How does a love story start when you know it's going to fail?
"You know, you almost beat me to the top," she said, breathless, heart pounding at nearly being caught sneaking out. "We could be rivals. But I think it would be better if we were friends."
"Let's be friends," he agreed, a serious mien overtaking him as if he had just declared a new law of physics.
She snorted, unable to process the intensity he stared at her with, how she knew in her very being that he would treat his pronouncement as serious as he could treat anything.
She didn't know what to say to that.
In lieu of answering, she dunked her head back into the water and swam a half dozen meters before resurfacing. The sun's rays were ephemeral and glorious, each water particle shimmering under it's light.
"Friends forever!" Tahl called at him, her heart racing as the moment seemed to stand still. She didn't have the patience to let it hang, however, "Deal?"
"Deal," Qui-Gon Jinn agreed, sealing the pact between younglings.
Forever.
It is a hundred different moments tied together with love and blood, woven into a soul, a trap handmade with adoration by the victim.
She had been able to beat Clee Rhara.
"Guess that leaves us," she whispered to her best friend as they bowed. "Don't worry. I'll go easy on you."
The smile he gave in return was just on the funny side of mocking. The idiot.
They had both made it to the finale of the yearly Initiate Exhibition tournament.
It was downright scandalous that a pair of ten-year-olds had upstaged those older- the eleven, twelve and thirteen-year-olds.
They had dueled each other countless times.
Every strength and weakness was laid bare and open to each other.
She had agility: able to run off walls and perform acrobatics with only the boundless energy an excited ten year old could possess.
His mind for strategy made her envious; able to find ways to negate her every action. Every move and counter and reversal was met.
Their blades danced, sparks flying, a crowd of hundreds watching their every twitch.
Yet they didn't notice, for their struggle was just between the two of them. A continuation of the matches they had fought since they had been old enough to pick up lightsabers.
Perhaps the Master running the event would have been smarter to set a time limit for their match continued even as their muscles screamed in protest, arms going numb from the effort, their feet unsteady.
Neither made a single mistake as green and blue blades met in flurries of exchanges.
Her karking foot slipped on the sweat soaked mat.
Green blurred and before she could even right herself, in that moment when her hand loosened from the center of gravity shifting, the lightsaber left her hand.
"Match to Qui-Gon."
She barely had the energy to bow to him.
They both collapsed against each other.
"A good match," he said, panting, unable to breathe normally.
"It'd have been better if I'd won," she groused.
He shook his head in dismay, "Don't you ever give up?"
Her vision went dark as she wiped the sweat off with a towel. "Never."
When she pulled the towel away, he was staring at her with raw admiration.
A tired grin tugged at her unwilling lips.
...maybe losing wasn't too bad?
A trap walked into, knowing each step was just deeper into a sinking pit. There was this inherent knowledge that the happiness and joy would be brief blips compared to the despair and heartbreak at it's end.
She had no idea why Master Fay had brought them to this planet.
She'd been Fay's apprentice for a few years now and usually she had some inkling of what her teacher was doing, but she had no clue why the pair of them were on this world.
They seemed to be… unneeded here.
Of course, her teacher was being frustratingly quiet about why they were here. Totally out of the norm for her teacher since Fay was pretty good about explaining, usually. Usually being the operative word.
She truly hoped that what happened hadn't lost Fay's trust.
Once upon a time it would have grated on her- to walk in silence and wait. Perhaps even last week.
But that was then and here was now.
The difference being the lives lost by her haste.
It weighed heavily on her, her failure.
A miasma that clung around her, dragging her down and making her doubt her every action, her every word, her every thought…
Perhaps… perhaps her teacher was right to not trust her with-
"Oh look, I believe that's your friend… Qui-Gon, was it?"
Fay said it as if one was commenting on the weather. A normal, routine thing.
Not the almost completely impossible anomaly of running into her best friend at random.
Then again, the Force was at play and it worked in truly incomprehensible ways at the best of times.
All that was to say, she was staring at him as if he had just grown wings and turned incandescent purple.
A nudge and a smile.
"Go on, we have time."
An idea caused a giggle to slip from within her.
Walking as casually as she could, she got up right beside him. He was lost in his thoughts which made it quite easy. Classic mistake.
"I heard the Corellian Dreadnaughts lost, 4 to 7."
"Ugh." He sounded so disgusted. "Still better than the Carvertz Carvers. At least the Dreadnaughts scored."
"Keep telling yourself that." Still so snobbish about smashball. "How many championships have they won?"
"Th-"
"This century~?" She singsonged at him.
He rolled his eyes. "I have good taste, unlike you. You just like the Carvers because of their logo."
"Good as any reason to pick a team." She shrugged. A cute bug mascot was a valid reason in her mind. "You aren't from Corellia, either."
Something glinted in his eyes, even as she could barely see them from the side, "Ah, but my grandmaster is. I have a connection now. You could even say it's part of my lineage."
"Sure, sure, whatever you tell yourself to sleep better at night."
"You're insufferable."
"Takes one to know one."
"Why are we even friends?!"
"You like me, for some reason."
"Perhaps my sanity should be questioned," he dryly commented.
"Hey, you said it, not me." She merely patted him on the shoulder in a consoling manner.
He turned his head to-
"Tahl?! How? Why!? When?!"
Qui-Gon's mouth opened and closed like a fish as she cackled.
She didn't even notice the miasma fading.
Tahl knew she was going to live for a long time.
She knew it deep in her bones that she was going to survive through thick and thin. What Fay taught her merely extended that belief much further than should have otherwise been possible.
"You kriffing rim rat! You cheated! I'll drink your blood through a straw when I'm done with you!"
She had dirt everywhere and playing against the worst cheater on Zekulae was doing wonders for her patience.
"Strange that you're the one so upset." Her dry comment cut through the guttural indignation, "When I'm the one's been cheated."
The zeku's face went still, anger dancing through his every thought, murder thickening in his mind.
She stood up.
It was a motion that commanded attention, the entire cafe watching the pair, anticipation threading every being's mind.
Fight or Flight.
She moved the moment he did- his hand never even getting to a weapon before he lost all feeling in his arm. A numbness that turned into pain. With a simple motion, she tapped him back into his seat while scooping up the chips she was owed.
"Let's call it even," she said. "And I'll buy you a drink. Wouldn't you rather live to see the sunset?"
Threatening with a cheery smile always added a certain… unrealness to her words.
Hence why he nodded, his facing contorting in pain.
The smile left her face, its purpose over.
She flicked a chip over the bartender. "Something special for my friend here."
She didn't look at either of them as she made her way out of the establishment, tucking the chips in her belt. To get hired by the local syndicate she needed reputation and it was the little things that really added to it. The merc who came out of nowhere with only successful contracts to their name was far more suspicious than the ones that had little incidents like these scattered through the sector. It wa-
A decade had passed since they had last seen each other. Her skills and abilities had made monumental leaps forward and she was able to do things she couldn't conceive since then. It also meant how she perceived everything had changed. Meeting old friends was like seeing them anew.
Yet she could never mistake Qui-Gon for anyone else.
There was a certain quality to him, even in the Force, that was quintessential and unforgettable.
"Well, it's you." She sat down across from him, a smile on her lips. "It's been so long."
"Too long." He readily agreed.
"I only have a minute," she said, for she truly needed to be headed towards her next objective. "I'm on a mission." She leaned towards him, "So tell me everything as fast as you can!"
"I don't think a minute is long enough." He shot back.
She rolled her eyes. Always so smart with his mouth. "You look well. I hear you are now a Knight?" Master Dooku had seemingly gone through Qui-Gon's training with almost lightning quickness, or so said wagging tongues at the Temple.
"As are you," Qui-Gon stated, ever so amused, "I'm thinking of taking on a padawan." Oho, that was new. "Yoda is urging me to consider it."
She didn't think she'd take on a padawan for several years and as such had only taken a cursory look through those eligible when she was at the Temple. None stuck out to her.
"Do you have a candidate?"
"Feemor."
It took her a moment to recall who exactly that was.
"Truly? He seems solid though not exactly noteworthy."
Qui-Gon raised an eyebrow, "Does he have to be noteworthy?"
"No-no-no, I just can't fathom what drew you to him. I don't know if he would be the right one for you."
"I haven't seen you in years, and you're already giving me advice?" he teased.
"Who else in the galaxy understands you so well?" she answered with a smile.
"No one," he admitted freely. "You were wrong about that. Remember what you said when we said good-bye?"
She could feel her smile soften. "I'm glad to have been wrong about that. I'm glad to still be the one who knows you best. And we never said good-bye. Remember?"
He looked at her warmly, the warmth pervading his feelings as she could feel them diffuse into the surroundings, twining and threading.
It made her happy in a way she could not describe; she couldn't think of a descriptor that would do justice to the nuance of what she felt.
Yet she could feel an ephemeral clock ticking down on her.
"I have to go," she stated as softly as she could. "I will see you soon. Missions can be short, you know."
It was a poor reunion for having been out of each other's lives for years.
Tahl treasured it all the more.
It wasn't that Tahl thought she was going to live a
long time. Rather, Qui-Gon burned too quickly, rushing in every direction, a wick alight from both ends. Much like a shadowmoth, she was drawn to him.
Ragoon VI was perhaps the closest she could get to an untouched world within the Core's well traveled hyperspace lanes.
It was beauty and danger, sleek and utterly incomprehensible, a hundred thousand stories untold and unobserved throughout the lush planet. The product of life's eternal struggle, having evolved over the course of millions of years to be perfect for this environment and unfettered by outside influences.
Naturally, he failed to enjoy even an iota of it.
She couldn't blame him, either.
His padawan had rejected the Jedi Order, fell to the dark side and fled into the solar winds.
Made worse by the fact that he had been the one to bring Xanatos to the Temple more than a decade ago.
He had been the one to check in on him throughout the time the boy was an initiate.
He had been the one to bring back small gifts for the youngling as the boy grew up.
He had been the one to guide him through his first meditations.
He had raised the boy as much as any single Jedi really could.
She didn't know how to help him.
She had never experienced that level of loss before. Qala had been knighted a few years ago and seemed to be doing alright.
In the end, all she could do was be there for him.
Admittedly, getting to sit at the top of a valley filled with every manner of colour with her greatest friend was also a nice side benefit.
Though, at the moment, she was feeling something and decided to take a chance.
"Do you see that flying irid?" She pointed towards an avian in the distance. "Look at the yellow on the underside of its wings."
There was a pause as he searched, his eyes not as keen as her's.
"Beautiful."
She could pinpoint the moment he saw it as observing it caused a ripple in his emotions.
"Yes. But they are horrible birds. They attack their own kind. It's strange, though. They nurture their young with great care. They teach them to fly, to hunt, to nest. Yet when their young reach maturity they are just as likely to eat their parents as each other."
He didn't look at her.
"Are parables supposed to make me feel better? I know you are talking about Xanatos. I nurtured him and he betrayed me. It was not my fault. It was his nature. Is that what you're saying?"
"I'm talking about irids," she stated. "But now that you brought him up…"
"Excuse me, I didn't-"
"I'd like to make one point." Her tone was edged with durasteel, stopping his retort dead. "You can't control everything you touch, Qui-Gon. You can't make sense of everything, either, no matter how much you analyze or meditate. Not even you."
"This is not about ego."
She shot him a look, "Isn't it?"
She watched his emotions as they roiled and twisted.
She hated to see him like this and she knew that what she was saying was just deepening the wound and yet at the same time, she knew in the long-term, it would perhaps be better for him.
Seeing Qui-Gon happy evoked a feeling in her that she could not describe and it was utterly unique.
A feeling Tahl knew he felt just as well.
Even at his most aggravating and infuriating.
Finding him at her destination did not bring joy to her.
Rather a frown etched itself into her face.
They had been arguing recently.
A lot, actually.
She hadn't intended to run into him in the star map room.
Yet she should have known he would be there. It was his favourite place in the Temple.
He was staring at her.
She could feel his emotions and surface thoughts firing off rapidly- not in any great detail. He was a Jedi Master, after all. They were dancing between two extremes.
She knew what one of those extremes was and wanted nothing to do with it.
"I'm sorry." It felt awkward to say. "You came here to be alone."
Before she could even take a step, his presence decided on something in the middle. "Stay, please."
With greater care than she wanted to admit, she took a seat next to him.
What was she even supposed to do in situations like this? How should she sit? Hold her hands? Her posture?
No manner of etiquette she had learned covered this.
A fragment of a long-gone time came to her as she sat in a posture she probably hadn't since she was a padawan. Knees tucked up to the chin. An old comfortable pose.
A pose she could only do still without pangs and aches because of Fay.
She could feel surprise and then recrimination waft off him.
She felt guilt in turn; she hadn't meant to invoke that in him.
"I'm disturbing your refuge." Her head tilted, long braided hair shifting with the motion, "Well, sometimes you need disturbing, Qui-Gon."
"No doubt." Short and to the point. Like he was waiting for something to go wrong.
Why not indulge his worry?
"You know, your calmness can be infuriating," she stated, words edged ever so slightly. "But this moodiness is worse. I'm trying to not take it personally but either you avoid me or you smother me with concern because of blindness or you attack me about how I am with my Padawan." Months of mounting frustration leaked from her. "If you're trying to test our friendship, you're doing a very good job."
Her voice was light as a feather, the edge hidden under its softness yet each sharp point found its mark.
He was taken aback.
She felt vindictive glee for just a moment then guilt at such a feeling.
Losing her sight was… difficult on her.
She could at least admit that to herself.
"I'm only trying to look out for you," he said, each word carefully selected. "Then when I do, you push me away."
"Why shouldn't I push you away when you crowd me? You should be used to me by now. Y'know I have to find my way. We all do. You've had more experiences as a Master, it's true. But you also know that each Master finds a separate path with their Padawan."
"I do know that."
"Then why can't you let me find my own?"
It hung between them, the question, the accusation.
The overcrowding just added to her loss of agency.
She knew he was trying to make sure she was safe, but she didn't bring Bant with her for a reason. She didn't think she could keep the girl safe some times. At least not until she had adjusted to her current circumstances.
She knew it hurt the girl but she would rather have the girl's heart hurt than for her to be physically hurt.
Another decision solidified within him.
"You're right," he admitted. "I was wrong."
The building vitriol died a sad death within her.
"Stars and galaxies," she muttered. "I wasn't expecting an apology. I was expecting another argument."
"Well, there are things I could say-"
She smacked his knee.
"I know that. How about we just be quiet, for once. We can't get into any trouble that way."
She knew that they'd be arguing in the morning. She was about to leave on another mission without Bant once again.
That didn't change the fact that she treasured being able to sit in silence, the soft glow of the holograms blanketing them that she knew was there in her mind's eye.
The Force was wondrous, truly, for just being seated next to each other, she was able to feel Qui-Gon's presence next to her. It made her worries seemingly wash away as if they were minuscule. That her lack of sight didn't make her feel like a cripple. Didn't make her feel less as a Jedi and a person.
However much the two fought, Tahl always knew that he would back her.
That was one of her few refuges in recent days.
She forever knew that this would end in tragedy- either for Tahl or Qui-Gon. Yet somehow she knew...
"Sooo." Fay stretched the word out as she cheerily regarded her.
It was the third time they had ran into each other this year. Higher than the usual average. She suspected it had something to do with being recently blinded.
"Yes?" she already knew she wasn't going to be happy with whatever her former master was about to say. There was not an amount of excellent tea that Fay had prepared that was going to be worth this.
"When shall you tell Qui-Gon how you feel?"
She barely, barely resisted an indignant squawk.
Nearly fifty years old and Fay could still right through her.
"No."
"I taught you better than that." She could feel the frown in her teacher's words. "There is only so much time you have."
Only so much time Qui-Gon has.
"I don't think your teaching involved me inviting temptations." She arched an eyebrow back. "Or possibly going against the Code."
"Bah. The Code changes with the wind. It's a guideline at best."
"You are sidestepping the issue."
"No, I'm explaining." The old master said softly. "You are a Jedi. Don't let it consume you and you've done nothing objectionable."
Despite the dismissive tone, she could feel that was being affected.
"But I-"
"Tahl." A gentle hand on her arm. "Listen, please."
She nodded.
"You will look back on this, if you don't, with grief." Her teacher stated this with absolute certainty. "I've met the man. I know you. Neither of you will Fall."
She stayed silent.
"What are you feeling right now?" Fay inquired, politely.
All of her secrets were always bared open to her old master. The question was merely a nicety.
"Fear."
It burned her to admit it.
"Why?"
There was no judgment in her tone.
"Because of what it could mean… how it will change us, what it could do to us. How it would ruin us."
Those are what-ifs, Tahl. That is the fear talking." Warmth brushed against her senses, grounding her in the moment, pulling her from a spiral.
"What do we do with our fear?"
It was one of the first lessons Fay had taught her.
The Force was a super conduit to all things, and that meant feelings were felt more than conventional biology had evolved to handle.
"Strangle it with itself."
Already she could feel her emotions settling.
"And then?"
Tahl felt uneasy as she answered.
"Don't let it control you."
It was never going to end in any other way than this; Tahl watching Qui-Gon's body reduced to ash leaving her naught but ever fading memories.
"Dear friend," she regarded his presence, "there have been too many arguments between us. Do not let another one arise."
"I did not ask for privacy to argue with you," he said.
The arguments had only gotten worse. He had even followed her on a mission. Admittedly he had pulled her out of a nasty situation but she could feel the possibility of their dissension on the edges of existence. A hair's width of balance to keep it from emerging into existence once more.
"I wish to tell you something," she could hear his hair move as he shook his head, "well, two things. The first is that I agree that you should be the one to go to the meeting. But we will not take the twins and go, not until you return. I cannot leave New Apsolon without you. I have a deep conviction that if I do, I will not see you again."
She stilled.
"You feel this strongly?"
She would never disparage him of his skills. To feel that…
"I do. I felt foreboding back at the Temple. I was in a fever to see you again." That enlightened her to his barging into the High Council's deliberations. "Once we were together here, despite the fact that so much was unsettled, I did not care because I knew you were safe as long as we were together."
If she had to guess, it sounded like he had experienced a vision, a portent of ill-omens.
She nodded slowly. "But Qui-Gon, I am not your Padawan." There was something else they could be that would never be voiced by her. "We cannot always be together."
"Ah, this brings me to the second thing I must say."
He froze.
Frenetic energy bubbled beneath him, spiraling and condensing, forming dozens of things she didn't have a chance to perceive before reforming and unforming.
She waited.
She had an idea of what he was stuck on.
Her expression softened.
Yet still she held her peace.
"I have come to know something," he said. "I cannot let you go, I cannot let another minute pass, without telling you this. I did not come to New Apsolon only because you are my friend. I did not remain because you are a fellow Jedi. I have come to see that you are not just a friend and a fellow Jedi, Tahl. You are necessary to my life. You are necessary to me. You are my heart."
Despite her best control, heat blossomed across her cheeks, insidiously creeping up her neck. "You are not speaking of friendship."
"I am speaking of something deeper; I am speaking of everything a being can give another. This is what I offer you. I offer myself."
Thoughts raced.
Hundreds of conversations.
The thousand moments they had shared.
A feeling that had been nurtured by him – grown deep into her psyche, labyrinthine and rooted.
The hope that she had harboured.
The fear that kept her from committing to it.
The knowledge that they could be more.
"If you do not feel the same, I will step back into place and be your friend again," he said, mistaking her hesitation for rejection.
"No!"
The blush only deepened with embarrassment at the outburst.
She could not and would not let the fear of what-ifs constrain the hope.
"No, do not step back. Let us step forward together. I feel as you do, Qui-Gon."
They both took a step forward. It felt natural as their fingers intertwined.
"I did not know it until this moment," she lied before giving a very fake cough. "Or maybe I did. Maybe I've known it for some time."
His fingers were warm and strong around hers. "I pledge myself to you, Tahl."
"I pledge myself to you, Qui-Gon."
Tahl felt no fear.
The grief within was without end.
How does one measure pain?
That was a question that came up in first aid, the very typical one through ten scale.
Tahl suspected that the sensation of watching Qui-Gon
burn was at least a nine.
Her heart, fracturing into shards that grounded down the edges of each piece into impossible to perceive dust. Those pieces would never fit back together. The person she was had ended.
She couldn't figure out which was worse; the sheer physical knowledge that he was gone or realizing that something within her had shattered forever. Made worse that the Council was right here, watching a Jedi Master become undone.
Truthfully, she didn't want to be here.
Tahl would have rather said a private good-bye. That was not to be. Too much to do.
She was left with only a singular option.
Grief and pain and loss flowed through her and then out.
To bottle up the emotions, to suppress them was something most Jedi could do. To not feel and yet remain anchored in the now was beyond her.
Instead they wafted off of her- she was a mere boat riding the currents. At the mercies of nature yet not fighting it. To fight straight-on against something that could consume you whole without even noticing your existence was utter folly.
It hurt.
All the happiness seemed to be a dark sucking void within that merely magnified the pain.
One day, Tahl knew that the memories would outweigh the pain.
That day was far, far off.
"What's your assessment?"
Saesee Tiin looked unwell.
A sickly miasma hung on him like a shawl, weighing him down.
That made sense considering he had sojourned into the Sith vessel for hours.
"I concur. A Sith Lord."
Evidently it only made him weary externally for his voice held no weakness. Rather, his presence seemed to burn the cloying snake of temptation that twined into him- the shadow of a shadow finding no soft flesh to dig its teeth into.
The Council member regarded Tahl and Qala.
They were outside the spaceport, two streets away, past the rudimentary quarantine that had been set up for those that had guarded the dark side taint for longer than any unprepared person should.
"There were eleven artefacts of Sith origin." Tahl had only faintly sensed them, buried under the darkness that the vessel extruded. "Four Jedi holocrons." Leathery skin creased as nothing left the bounds of his mind. "Three beyond repair."
"
How? How did he get them?" Tahl couldn't help but ask. "Our holocrons are accounted for. We haven't had any lost in centuries."
It wasn't that Jedi Holocrons were some deeply regulated thing. Rather, each one created was an achievement and celebrated. Maybe, one in fifteen masters ended up completing one. Tahl hadn't even thought about creating one. Master Fay hadn't either.
Qala looked between them. "Perhaps the chain truly runs that deep." She posited after a moment.
That thought was alarming and Tahl was increasingly wishing she had not put words to the thought.
The Jedi Order's Shadow-Master regarded the pair.
"There will be a recall- a gather in the coming days."
The Shadows were being recalled for convocation.
The Shadow-Master turned solely to Tahl.
"You intend to train Skywalker?"
"For now. Unless he bonds with another and chooses them to apprentice under." Tahl would not stand in Anakin's way if that was how it broke down. She would see him taught as a Jedi even if the path did not continue through her.
"Good." A thought slithered into her mind, quick and seamless, "He'll be under your protection until then."
I agree with what you told the Council. See to it.
She nodded. "Understood."
A passive trap, then.
He turned to Qala. "You will be joining me on taking it back to the Temple. The computers were completely wiped. Vos can delve further."
The Jedi Master looked back towards the starport.
"Stay vigilant."
It was a dismissal for what it was. Namely to guard the vessel until he returned.
That just left Qala and Tahl headed towards the darkness.
"Skywalker?"
Tahl shot her former padawan a sad smile. "A final request from Qui-Gon."
A low, rumbling hum from Qala. "I do not recognize the name."
"Him and Obi-Wan encountered… a boy, I believe, that is supremely strong in the Force."
"Is he…?"
"He's so bright, I can't see him." Tahl confirmed.
"Are you certain you are ready to train another?"
Tahl raised an eyebrow, "Is that an accusation, my dear? Besmirching Bant's good name?"
She could feel the younger woman roll her eyes, even in the Force. Tahl was almost certain Qala had figured out how to do that just to annoy her after she lost physical sight. "No. Just concern. I can't imagine picking a padawan just like that."
"Speaking of, how is Qu these days?"
"He's hit that stage where he is all awkward and long-limbed.
Ugh. Aliens. So uncoordinated. Not a drop of elegance to them. Uncivilized one might say. Fu-"
Tahl kicked her in the leg.
"Stop mocking Irinelle."
"She makes it too easy." Qala gave a throaty chuckle. "He's fine. There'd be sparkles in his eyes if his
grandmaster gave him some pointers, though."
"Literal or figurative?"
"It could go either way."
Tahl made a non-committal noise. "I'll be around the Temple for a while. I'm certain we shall run into one another at some point."
Another sensation of Qala rolling her eyes.
A silence between the two brewed.
It was not total quiet- Theed was a city in the midst of upheaval; recently liberated and then having their representative in the Galactic Senate elevated to the highest office in the galaxy.
Jubilation was underselling it.
Children with boundless energy, relieved families, mourning parents, amorous lovers… it was a cacophony of feelings that swirled and tangled creating a tapestry that Tahl knew she would forever associate with the city and most likely the planet.
"Truly. Are you ready to take another on?" Qala asked quietly. "You waited a decade before me and another before Bant." Concerned leaked from her as a fine mist.
"Who knows?" Tahl shrugged. "Sometimes it's best to jump right in. He may not accept the offer to be my padawan. There's better than even odds he will mesh with another Jedi."
"That seems unlikely."
"But not impossible."
"Deeply unlikely."
Tahl sent the eyeroll sensation back, eliciting a choking laugh from her former student.
"Truly, the epitome of wit. A peerless response."
"Shut up, Master." There was something to hearing a seasoned Knight whine that caused Tahl to smile.
Qala nudged Tahl ever so lightly, a feeling of mirth butting against her for a moment causing her to
actually roll her eyes.
Tahl appreciated Qala trying to give her some normalcy. Truly.
The vestiges of that feeling fled as they neared the starship.
The native security officers guarding the starport had changed, pulling further back, and mixed in with them were several judicials. There was no need to put anyone in further danger from the taint of the ship unless they had to.
Truthfully, the ship itself was not
that egregious. It took Tahl a while to peel away the layers and realize that the artefacts contained within were the root of the problem.
Lieutenant Sykes was present, giving her a salute that she acknowledged with a nod. Qala went unnoticed as she split off.
They stood, unmoving, two figures overseeing nearly twenty others. One overlooking his officers and the other probing the unseen.
Even with the celebrations and revelry occurring throughout the city, the miasma hugging the vessel seemed to muffle it, creating an eerie quiet.
"Any idea when it will be removed, ma'am?"
"Soon. Within a few days."
"Good. It gives me the creeps." He shook his head. "I don't know how you Jedi are so unaffected by it."
She tilted her head towards him. "Experience."
"You have experience with murderous spaceships?" Interest coloured his tone. "They can't be that common."
"A few."
"How?" Disbelief thickened.
"I tend to anger uncooperative people."
He stared at her, incredulous.
"Diplomacy is an art that leaves every side ill-content on a good day."
"And that leads to murderous ships?"
"Indeed."
"…"
"Stick to the RNSF, lieutenant, you will have less stress in your life."
"I think I will, ma'am."
"A wise decision."
He snorted, "If a Master Jedi tells you something, I'm pretty certain not doing it is stupid."
"One would think that, wouldn't they?" Tahl said lightly, "You'd be shocked at the number of people who think that they are going to be the one who is going to pull something over on me." She tilted her head in the opposite direction. "Of course, if they did, I wouldn't know. Perhaps many have hoodwinked us over the years."
"Doub-"
-a wave of unease across an old bond-
Her body tensed.
"Something is wrong."
-thrum of energy streaming-
The
push and
pull didn't seem to move her in any which way- the tides of probability were murky and dim.
-hum of contained tibanna gas-
"Status check!" Sykes was already yelling into his comlink.
-squeals of repulsorlifts-
Unbidden, her lightsaber hilt came to a rest in her hand.
-mounting anticipation-
Something was off.
-ghastly reflected shadows-
She changed tack. In moments like these, she didn't have enough time to muddle through that which wasn't coming to her.
-the grip on implements of war adjusting-
"-all generators are operational-"
-two dozen lives readying to be lost-
What was present and what was not…
that was key.
-and yet there was no pull from-
"The tractor beams aren't working." Tahl stated.
"What? They are reading green-"
Have something manually check. Now!"
A flicker, the
pull and
push shifted at a speed that made Tahl concerned.
The
push was back towards the vessel.
It built, deafening in its weight.
Tahl didn't wait.
In a blur, she rushed.
Her feet moved faster than thought.
With a
scream the vessel
fired.
Tahl had been around many types of ordinance.
That did nothing to stop the air leaving her and throwing her from her feet when it felt like a new star had appeared, burning bright and hot.
-the thrum died-
The shield stopping its flight was gone.
She rushed past the barricades.
It was within reach.
-a swell, no plan to stop its breakout but rather...-
Engines roared.
She couldn't reach it.
Even as she pushed off the ground, soaring into the air, it had cleared the lip of the ventral opening to the hanger.
That did not mean she was without recourse.
The Force was not bound to any single form or shape. To try and categorize it as such was the height of folly.
As such it went without saying that shields were not limited to mere protection.
The vessel shook and let out a high pitch whine as it's ascent slowed.
Slowed but not stopped.
A spiraling web calcified, dozens of strands thick.
Energy and metal met which defied all description.
Sublight thrusters
burned.
The strands stretched.
Reactors cooked.
The net was slipped.
In the flashes between fireworks, the star courier disappeared.
All this happened before Tahl's feet touched a solid surface.
Even within the Force, she could only get a vague idea of where it was.
Trying to track it was akin to trying to hold down oil. The echoes of it swirled about her, mocking, even as she raised her comlink. "It's headed- kriff! It's headed to the southwest! It's turned west, still ascending!"
Starfighters zoomed after her directions.
The problem was that all it amounted to was Tahl yelling out directions, herding the fleeing vessel. A vessel its pursuers could not see on their sensors.
The sound of liquid dripping was the first indication Qala had joined her atop the starport.
The taint gained distance. It was inescapable.
Within a matter of minutes, it was gone from her senses having fled into hyperspace and beyond what Tahl could perceive.
She released the button on the comlink.
The vessel had escaped.
Tahl turned to the figure who had been standing next to her.
"Were you able to…?"
"Yes." The Sith species were predators and even in her limited perception that was afforded her, Tahl could see her former padawan's teeth form a grin that promised results.
The vessel may have escaped, but it had not escaped
cleanly.
Across from her sat a supernova, coruscating and vibrating so much that the contained energy was more a blur than not.
Tahl sipped her tea, its taste light on her tongue.
They were headed back to the Temple.
As such, it was time for a much overdue conversation with Anakin.
She still couldn't see past the brightness.
The freighter they were on was imperceivable to her, visually. Even her hand in front of her face was nothing but glowing fuzz, indistinguishable from everything else.
The click of a tumbler on a hard surface was the indication she had amongst many that he still sat in front of her.
"I talked with Master Yoda."
That got his attention, susurrus of clothing moving ever so slightly closer to her.
"You will be trained at the High Temple as a Jedi." Her tone was warm. "Congratulations, Anakin."
"Really?"
She smiled.
"Really."
A breath was expelled, a multitude of warm emotions fluttering out with it.
Relief. Jubilation. Triumph. Happiness. Pride. Excitement. Joy.
Tahl imagined that if Anakin was not seated in front of her or was more on his lonesome he would have done a happy dance or some such thing to burn off the swell of emotion within him.
Ah well.
Things have finally slowed down enough for Tahl to have a proper conversation with Anakin Skywalker.
Please select
THREE of the following;
[] What does he think a Jedi is?
[] Has he ever managed to consciously use the Force before?
[] Does he have any questions for Tahl?
[] Tahl asks him about himself, what's he like?
[] What are his goals for the future?
[] How does he feel about the past few weeks?
Author's Note: IT'S FINALLY DONE, FINALLY!
The first scene just about killed me. No literally, but it was painful to do and definitely the reason this dragged on and on. In my head each of those flashbacks were maybe 100-200 words not the 500-1000 each ended up being. Fay was in a few of them and I even got Feemor mention in there!
I hope I made someone out there teary-eyed.
We're finally leaving Naboo. Damn planet with its forests and swamps.
I… probably would have something profound to say if I wasn't so glad to finally get this out. Bloody hell.
Things be happening in the chapter.
As always please vote and discuss! The activity has been what's spurring my muse for this quest quite heavily.
