Star Wars: Heroes of Another Kind

[Mirage_Patrick]

ok....so first thing I do when I get to work is to download this thread....

...and now I am sitting here with a bit of tear in my eyes.



Great story

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 201: Human Ways

They went south. A great distance south into what Shadow told Ak---Jyren...Jyren now. She seemed to b e adapting to that better than he was. It was easy to just say ‘you’. But according to her, they had gone into the Blackflame Clan’s territory. They came to a stop in a rolling, tall grass covered field. It was like nothing Jyren had seen on the planet. He’d been so used to forests and...and forests that he hadn’t even thought about grasslands.

Off in the distance, he could see structures, not unlike what the Palace was made of, but it looked more separated compared to the single gigantic Palace. But that was in the distance, and his father had his full attention now. The three of them walked through the tall grass as the wind calmly whisked towards them. Jyren...he was still going over the name a thousand times in his head. Shadow had caught onto it at one point, and informed him that it meant something close to ‘Last Warrior’, which he couldn’t help but find appropriate, considering. It was a good name...it felt right. It felt like him.

Raan...Raan Maxwell. Where had that come from? It was so long ago that he didn’t even feel a connection to the name anymore. Almost as if it was just another person...well, in a way it was. More than one way. So much had changed since those days. He’d learned to survive on that name. He learned what friendship was with that name. He’d learned what real love was...and what real loss was. The meaning of life and death, and all of it just connected to two words. Two words that were his, and his alone for so many years. But where had the name come from? It just seemed to have always been there...

Now, Akan Tavos, he remembered well. For a while, he’d just told himself that it was something he’d thought up on the moment. That day he decided to just disappear. But there was more to it than that. There was something in that name. Something more than just sounds that he’d come up with to use as a new identity. And, truthfully, he still wasn’t sure of it, but he now made a point to find out. It was important...or at least, felt important.

Jyren. Jyren...Keros. His real name. Given to him by parents he’d never known until now...or at least, one of thme. But no, he was not Jyren Keros even now. Despite that, he was a part of the BlueIce family, still. Why that mattered, and why it even occurred to him, he didn’t know, but it was there, and it was true. Jyren BlueIce. Jyren...BlueIce. His past, present, and probably even future, all in just two words. It really was perfect.

“What are you smiling about?” Shadow interrupted his thoughts, and he was actually surprised that she’d spoken out loud. Probably...no, definitely trying to get his father’s attention him, too. She seemed to enjoy observing them and took at least some delight in watching Jyren get lost and confused.

“Ah...nothing,” Jyren mumbled, squirming a little as he knew she had been working through his thoughts and knew the answer anyway. She was just trying to get him worked up. He could see it in the grin tugging at her face and the thoughts through the link. She was actually...happy.

His father stopped them a moment and looked out across the fields. Glancing to Jyren, he smiled and motioned ahead of them, “Your mother and I used to bring you out here when you were just learning to walk. You would try to hide in the grass and sneak up on us,” the smile became a familiar grin, “...you were very good at it for your age.”

“He’s lost the edge,” Shadow added sarcastically.

In a few more moments, they’d all sat down in the grass, and Jyren couldn’t help but grin when he noticed that, while he and his father sat with their shoulders comfortably over the grass, Shadow was up to her chin. He was smart enough to only grin, though, as she glared at him when he thought it. Slowly, they started to talk. His father asked him about the war he’d fought in...and Jyren just found himself talking about it as a neutral observer. He wasn’t that person anymore, anyway.

And then, the conversation made its way to why they were back to Alraxia in the first place. As an ambassador, his father knew of the details of what was going on, so not much had to be explained. But it seemed to be going in circles.

For the third time, his father was shaking his head and saying, “It will not come to war, Jyren. There has not been a war for nearly five thousand years, and the Mrrakesh would never risk it with the strength of the alliances within the Empire.”

And Shadow, every single time, nodded and agreed. Finally, though Jyren was getting annoyed and glared at the ground, “You’ve said its come close before, but you’ve also said that there hasn’t been a Mrrakesh on this planet since the Darkwing Wars. Think about it. Put the pieces together! There is a traitor with a great deal of power to get that Mrrakesh here and it can’t be just a one time thing! Its too much of coincidence that Ket and Nine just happen to be lying low.”

“They are lying low because even the Mrrakesh would destroy them for risking a real war,” Shadow said flatly.

“You saw the droids!” he yelled suddenly, “There weren’t just a handful! They are waiting for us! I can feel a trap forming!”

“You are paranoid, son,” his father said calmly, resting a hand on Jyren’s shoulder, “The day after tomorrow, I will begin talks with the Mrrakesh. This will not come to a war. We don’t have wars. We don’t even have a military! The Mrrakesh don’t even have a military!”

“But Halpak does,” Jyren said slowly, grinding the word out one at a time.

Shadow actually nodded, “Yes, and we’ll deal with him, but the Mrrakesh aren’t stupid. Ket is the target, here, don’t get yourself confused.”

For some reason, that was just too much. Something in Jyren just clicked and he glared to both of the Alraxians next to him, “Have you all gone blind?! There was a Mrrakesh on this planet! Here! That can’t just happen! Why would Halpak have anything to do with that when he’s got his own army?! They are connected, but there is still more! If you don’t step back and look at the whole picture you’re going to get lost with the details!”

“We are not Humans!” Shadow snapped back harshly. The words silenced everyone for a short moment before she said a little calmer, but just as harshly, “Yes, Ket is greedy and out for revenge. Yes, the Mrrakesh would love to have the Empire. But neither Ket nor the Mrrakesh are stupid enough to gamble everything by attacking the Empire itself. They can’t. They know it.”

“They can’t do it alone, yes,” he responded simply, “But why not together? One has an army, the other the urge to take these planets. If you don’t see that, then I don’t even know why we’re here in the first place!”

“You don’t know anything about this, that’s the damned problem!” Shadow yelled at him suddenly, “You are not Human anymore! We are not! We do not work like Humans!”

She then stood up, and turned to storm off. After two steps, however, she turned back and bowed to Navik, saying flatly, “I apologize, but I will not stay here with your son. Maybe he will listen to you.”

And then she was gone. Between father and son, there was a long silence, and then, slowly, Navik said quietly “One day, you’ll have to tell me how the two of you met.”

Jyren, suddenly confused by the change in subject after the outburst, turned to stare blankly at his father. The older Alraxian just laughed and patted his son on the back gently, “She is very beautiful, son. There will always be little things though...learn to work through them and you’ll do fine.”

“What...?” he still looked just as confused as before, but had at least managed to speak instead of leaving his mouth wide open.

Again, his father laughed, getting to his feet and offering a hand. Jyren took it, and as he was pulled to his feet, Navik said, “Come, lets go. I’d like to show you our...my home before we eat.”

((Thanks for the compliments. Just so you guys know, there's at least one more big moment on its way soon before we cut right into some action again. I believe its also something a few of you are waiting on, too. Hope no one minds the 'slow' stuff.))

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 202: Home at Last

It was so much like the Palace that, if he didn’t look up and see the darkening sky above, Jyren would have believed he was still in the endless corridors. But this city was not one gigantic building. It was hundreds, constructed in much the same way, but with streets instead of hallways. There were no alleyways between the buildings, and though some were of different construction than those adjacent, they all flowed from one shape to the next. Near the middle of one of the long rows, Navik stopped and the door irised open to reveal a short entrance way.

Jyren followed his father in, and was soon given a small tour of the home. There were still traces of a family all throughout. If not directly like the small table with two extra places, but indirectly in the overall feel of the building. When Navik showed him his study, Jyren only noticed one thing. Or rather, three things.

Resting on top of the single desk in the room were three holos. Navik had started to lead Jyren out when he had noticed them, and Jyren slowly walked over and stared at them. The first showed two adult humans, male and female, and a small child. Right away, Jyren recognized the male as his father, looking almost exactly the same as he did now, only without the lines and weight of time along his face. The child, held by both of the adults, was obviously himself probably not even a year old, but smiling happily at something out of view. But it was the young woman who had Jyren’s attention. She was probably only a few years older than he was in that holo, with soft features and a warm smile. Two bright ice blue eyes had the same warmth to them, though Jyren could see a strength and even a dangerous edge within them. But, ironically enough, it was the woman’s hair that caught the most of his attention. Shoulder length, straight brown hair, the fringe of it hanging off in front of her face on the right side, touching just above the nose.

He grinned at that, glancing through his own hair, even if it was a metallic blue in front of his eyes, to see such a similar look in his mother. She was so young, there...

Next to that holo was another of a child, probably around a couple years old then. He sat on patch of grass with a small toy of some animal that Jyren didn’t recognize in his hands. Again, there was a smile on his face. One thing that Jyren could see in it that he couldn’t see in the other was in the child’s eyes. It wasn’t something that couldn’t be put into words, but it was him.

And then the last of the three holos, he found himself reaching over and picking up the small projection device to hold it close. It was of his mother. She wasn’t much older than in the first image, but Jyren was more focused on just how she looked. The way she stood there, looking forward with a smile. He couldn’t help but see himself there, and it was haunting in a way...but only for a moment. And when that moment had gone, a smile found its way onto Jyren’s face.

He felt his father’s hand resting on his shoulder then, and turned to look at the older Alraxian. Quietly, Jyren said, “I wish I could have known her.”

Navik looked over his son’s shoulder to the holo in his hand and nodded, “So do I.”

There was a short silence between them, and then Jyren turned to place the holo back on its place. But as he reached, his father grabbed his hand and said, “No. You keep that.”

“I can’t keep this,” Jyren whispered softly, turning around and instead handing it back to his father.

But Navik wouldn’t take it, and shook his head, “Yes, you can. You need something to remember her by.”

The odd tension suddenly faded when Jyren smiled broadly, and Navik couldn’t help but see the similarity to the boy’s mother. Again, Jyren handed the holo to his father with one hand, the other reaching down and taking the lightsaber off of his belt, “I already have that...and she’s saved my life a thousand times.”

His father smiled, too, though Jyren could see tears in the old Alraxian’s eyes as he nodded and took the holo. After it was placed back on the desk, Navik turned and led his son to the last room in the home. Somewhat nervously, he opened the door to reveal something completely different than the rest of the building.

In contrast to the soft, cream coloured walls of the rest of the home, this small room was a bright red. The floor was a brilliant shade of blue and there were multicolored toys of every sort all around. In one corner, was a bed, with bright red sheets and a small toy that Jyren recognized from the holo sitting on the pillow. Very carefully, almost as if he had to push through an invisible barrier, Jyren stepped into the room.

Behind him, his father said quietly, “I...I never moved anything...I’m sorry its so...childish, you can have my bed if you’d like and I’ll find a spot in my study. I usually sleep in there anyway...”

“No,” Jyren shook his head walking over to the bed and picked up the small, palm sized toy. It was a most similar to a dragon, green, with bright red wings, and a short stubby tail. It was soft...calmingly soft, which didn’t even make sense. But it was. Somewhat distractedly, he said over his shoulder, “No, I’d like to...to stay in here.”

“But the bed’s so small...” his father mumbled, obviously embarrassed at having kept the room this way for nearly twenty years.

But Jyren just smiled and turned to look to his father again, “I don’t mind.”

Slowly, his father seemed to accept it and nodded, “I’ll get you some blankets later. Come...its about meal time, and this isn’t the Palace. If you aren’t there to eat, you’ll just have to starve.”

Still smiling, Jyren nodded and followed his father out of the room. Before they left for the meal, though, his father stopped and took a deep breath, “If you...if you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to announce to the Clan that you are my son.”

When Jyren fidgeted and looked ready to object, Navik laughed, “So much like your mother. She was the same way with the formalities. But, please, I would be...I would be even more honoured than I already am to tell my Clan mates that my son has returned, a Jedi Knight, and the Emperor to be.”

For a split second, Jyren nearly shook his head. He nearly started to say that he wasn’t anything close to a Jedi Knight. He nearly told his father that he had no idea what was going on with the political end of things. He nearly said a thousand other things that, in the end, really didn’t matter. But he didn’t. Slowly, Jyren nodded and said as calmly as he could, “I would be more honoured just to be seen as your son.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 203: Sleep

Jyren was led to the large, open room that was currently occupied by a very large number of Alraxians, of all shapes, sizes, and colours. It was an interesting sight, and he might have liked it if they weren’t all staring at him when he and his father entered. After being led to a seat, he stood a moment while his father talked. It was in Alraxian, so he didn’t actually understand a word of it, but from the smiles and stares, he knew what was being said. It was the whole ‘you know how this is! Guess what? Its my son!’ speech.

And by the end, Jyren was sitting and staring very intently at the table while there was a very loud applause. Food was already in front of them, and as the noise died down into simple conversation, his father had a seat next to him and motioned for him to eat. The food was good. It never wasn’t, truthfully. While his father talked with a the others around, Jyren did his best to just sit and eat quietly.

On his other side, a female Alraxian, probably about his ‘age’, sat and tried to start idle conversation. She could speak Basic...better than Kato could, at least, but Jyren wasn’t in much of a mood to talk. In fact, as the minutes passed by, he found his appetite was also gone. And he knew exactly why.

He was angry with himself. Angry with Shadow. Angry with...everything, really. He knew he was right. He knew that war was inevitable in this situation. He knew there was so much going on that there wasn’t a thing that could be done to stop it...and yet, even Shadow didn’t believe him. And she didn’t because she knew that it wouldn’t come to war. She knew there was a lot going on, but that it was still containable. She knew what had to be done to stop it.

Through the link, this was obvious. But he was as right as she was, and it was a stupid argument anyway. It didn’t change what would happen. It didn’t change what they needed to be doing. But no...instead of finding Ket and stopping things from going any farther, they argued and sat around. And tomorrow, there was supposed to be some kind of celebration. Celebration of what?! What was there to celebrate? It didn’t make any sense.

He left early, nodding politely to the young woman, and then walking back to the small house alone. Jyren walked back slowly, though, taking in the sights and noting that the streets were empty. Everyone was back there...eating. Such a social species. His. It was all still dawning on him that this really was home, and at least walking down the quiet street alone gave him time to think about that rather than worry about what was going to happen.

Arriving back at the house, Jyren’s first inclination was to simply lay down on the sheets that had been lain out on the floor in the small, bright coloured room for him, but he found himself walking back into his father’s study. Walking back and picking up that holo of his mother again. Slowly, Jyren sat down in his father’s chair, staring at the human woman without even knowing what to think. He didn’t even know her name. A day earlier, he hadn’t even known she existed. And here it was...the mother he’d always quietly begged the Force for.

How could he have even guessed that he would find this on Alraxia? What were the chances? It wasn’t coincidence. If anything, it simply proved that there really was no such thing as coincidence. It was just too perfect. Too...clean. So much so that Jyren nearly second guessed it. But no...it was true. He could feel it. That Alraxian was his father...this planet was his home. This...this woman who look so much like him was his mother. Hidden away in a corner of the galaxy no one knew about.

Sighing, Jyren finally placed the holo back next to the others and retreated from the room. He lay down on the floor of his old room just as he heard the door open. His father was back. Jyren had told him that he was tired...so as not to make his father worry, Jyren used a simple technique to slow his breathing and mimic sleep. A couple of minutes later, the door opened slowly and his father peeked in. For a split second, Jyren wondered if the older Alraxian could tell he wasn’t sleeping, but when his father stepped out and quietly closed the door, he didn’t worry about it anymore.

Jyren couldn’t sleep. This place was home...but it wasn’t right. He missed...he missed the room in the Palace. He missed the bed. He missed...he missed Shadow. All the more reason to be angry with himself for bickering about such a stupid thing. It was amazing, his skill for destroying days that should have been so wonderful. That night, Jyren simply lay there in the red room, doing nothing but beating himself up all night.

* * * *​

Shadow had returned to the Palace still annoyed. So much so that she didn’t speak to anyone, even Kyren, for the rest of the day. She ate, yes, but sat silent and left as soon as she could. To calm herself, she went out into one of the courtyards and ran through as many strenuous training forms as she could. Exhausting her body and mind with focus on technique and perfection.

For hours, Shadow stayed out in the courtyard. Well into the night, to the point where one of the moons provided enough light that it felt like dawn. But eventually, when tiredness had finally taken its toll, Shadow retreated to her room. Changing into simple nightclothes, she half spoke to where Ak—Jyren usually was, but caught herself just as she’d opened her mouth.

Sighing and wondering why he had to make thing so difficult all of the time, she switch the lights off and climbed into the cold bed. It felt bigger than usual. Much bigger...and colder. Grumbling to herself, she closed her eyes and forced all thought away so that she could sleep.

But just as she did so, there was a scratching noise from the door. At first, she buried her head under the pillow, but the sound simply continued. Over and over and over again in a soft, but constant repetition.

Finally, with a growl, Shadow took her head out from under the pillow and yelled at the door, “Akan isn’t here, Toby! Go back to the nursery!”

For a moment, the scratching stopped. It stopped for long enough that Shadow figured the little brat had actually left. It was naive to think that. The door opened. Silently, but enough light came in to cause Shadow to groan again. She heard the sounds of soft movement before the door closed.

Then, quietly, a familiar voice called out into the dark room, “...Akan...?”

“I said he’s not here,” Shadow grumbled, rolling over to face the other direction and forcing her eyes to stay closed. Maybe the child would just go away. Again, a naive thought. Or rather, stupid.

She heard nothing for a long moment, and then a sudden weight appeared at her feet. Shadow froze and tried to not exist as the weight moved, one small appendage at a time, up to her back. When she felt the weight shift and begin to settle down, Shadow groaned again and said, “No, Toby...go back to your own bed...”

There was a whimper. It was that whimper that was obviously before a bursting of tears that would last for who knew how long. At hearing that, and knowing what would follow, Shadow finally gave up, “Fine...”

She grumbled it and rolled over, idly wondering if she could just crush him. But instead, she shifted so that he lay against her chest, and brought an arm over him. Her excuse was that the arm was meant to shut him up. It didn’t work, but that didn’t matter. When he started to purr quietly, Shadow opened one eye and said, “...just be quiet and go to sleep or I’m calling your nanny.”

The noise stopped, and just before she closed her eye again, she saw him staring up at her in near terror. But when Shadow closed her eye again to go to sleep, she could feel Tobias’ tension fade. Just as she was finally fading back into sleep, she heard a soft, muffled voice, “...night, momma...”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 204: And We Haven't Even Left Yet

There was a noise. It was...muffled...no...just soft...no, that wasn’t right. It was...getting louder. Much louder. And it hurt. Shadow groaned at the noise, still half asleep and attempting to write it off as dreaming. But it didn’t go away. In fact, it got louder. Much louder. Slowly, Shadow became aware that the sound, which was almost a constant rhythm was accompanied by a similar shifting in weight on the bed every few seconds.

Finally, though, the impossibly loud noise started to make sense. Or rather, it became words, “Wake up! Wake up! Wake up! Waaaake up! Wake up! Wake up wake up wake uuuuup!!!”

Shadow’s eyes opened to see Toby bouncing around on the pillow next to her, yelling at the top of his lungs. It was amazing how something so small could yell so loudly. But he wasn’t being quiet, even at seeing her eyes open. Another few seconds of his yelling passed before she suddenly yelled back, “ALRIGHT! I’m up! Be Quiet!!”

He did. Amazingly enough, there was one last “wake up!” and then he plopped down and purred, a big smile on his face as he started to pad around pouncing at the folds in the blankets around him. As he did this, Shadow sat up and yawned, blinking as she started to slowly wake up. But something wasn’t right. Something was different...it was too...too dark. Why wasn’t the morning light coming in the window...?”

She looked behind her out the window. It was black. Black. BLACK! Pitch black!! Suddenly growling in anger, Shadow spun around and yanked Tobias up to hold him at eye level where she could glare properly, “The sun isn’t even up yet!! You woke me up before dawn! I can’t believe you woke me up before dawn?! Its not even close!!”

Her loud voice didn’t seem to phase the small child, as he only blinked and his ears twitched slightly. After a moment of the two of them staring eye to eye, Tobias got bored and started trying to bite at her arms playfully. This did nothing but get Shadow even more angry, and she growled again in frustration, shifted him under her arm and buried her face back in the pillow again. There were a few muffled sounds from Toby as he tried to fight, but eventually he stopped moving...asleep again. Somehow, Shadow managed to follow.

Hours later, Shadow awoke to the sunlight. Yawning, she opened her eyes, glad that it was actually a decent time to awaken. However, just as she started to sit up, Shadow noticed there was a problem. Tobias had moved. Somehow escaping her hold he had curled up on her stomach. Carefully, she poked him, grumbling something about him needing to wake up.

He didn’t move. Glaring tiredly, Shadow attempted to poke him again, but more roughly. The little child shifted slightly, but didn’t wake up. Typical. He wakes her up in the middle of the night and then sleeps like a rock in the morning. She made a note to never let Aka...Jyren go away without taking the brat with him.

After a few minutes, though, Tobias was awake and clinging to her like a parasite. She had tolerated it for a short time...getting out of the bed and walking across the room. But upon detaching him, he started wailing. Immediately, she let him cling again, if only to shut the noise off. It made things interesting, though, as he made an effort to wail as loud as he possibly could every time she detached him or even pulled on him. That, of course, made showering difficult, but she took a devious pleasure in cleaning him like her nanny had used to do with her.

Once dressed(which was also difficult), she exited her room to find that things were already getting ready for them to leave. In fact, her parents were already aboard the ship, as was Kyren(who would be leading the Guards) and a few others. Before leaving Alraxia, they would make a quick detour south to pick up both Jyren and his father. Shadow just hoped it would happen soon, as she was starting to get tired of having extra weight attached to her while she walked.

When she stepped out into the courtyard where their ship was, a few of the attendants came over, bowed, and then attempted to pry Tobias off of her. This, of course, meant more wailing and claws digging into her. After only a few seconds, she pushed the attendants away and yelled “FINE! He can come!”

The youngest of the attendants seemed to expect this, bowing and then quickly disappearing into the Palace. A few minutes later she returned with a small pack for Tobias, which he actually willingly let go of Shadow to put on before clinging again. Shadow then walked over to the ship, climbing into the large Kanyak to find that she was the last one to arrive. No surprise.

Her mother and father smiled to her, and while she scanned the area for Kyren, she walked right over to an empty chair and collapsed into it. Tobias was suddenly wild again, climbing all over her and pouncing anything that moved, but Shadow did nothing. She felt far too tired to deal with him, and tried to just ignore the small jai climbing all over her.

It was only a few minutes later that Jyren and his father stepped into the ship. The young man looked tired, but not nearly as much as Shadow did. She didn’t seem to notice him, though, too busy with her eyes closed and trying to ignore the wild Tobias. He didn’t head over to her, though, instead following his father over to where the Empress and Emperor sat.

As Navik smiled and sat next to the Empress, immediately starting up a conversation, the Emperor sat up and pulled Jyren off to the side. The older Alraxian glanced across the cabin from Shadow and then back to Jyren. Quietly, he said, “I hear the jai woke her up in the middle of the night yelling at the top of his lungs...he’s had at least three crying fits since this morning and hasn’t let go of her since,” slowly, a grin grew on Cole’s face and he nodded towards his daughter, lowering his voice to a whisper, “Go be her Jedi hero.”

Jyren raised an eyebrow at that, but was pushed off by the older Alraxian and didn’t have a chance to say anything. He got within a meter before Tobias caught sight of him. The little child’s eyes suddenly lit up, “AKAN!!”

In a flash, Tobias jumped from Shadow’s leg to Jyren’s chest, and he was caught and lifted up. Jyren grinned as the jai poked his nose, “Not Akan anymore. Jyren now.”

“Jy...ren...?” Tobias idly played with the words, but suddenly nodded deciding that it had made sense in some way.

Slowly, Shadow sat up, acknowledging Jyren through their link instead of out loud. He started to have a seat next to her when Tobias poked him, “Akan always play...Jyren play?”

“Not right now, Toby,” he answered, starting to put him down on the floor, “Go find something to do, and I’ll play later.”

Once on the floor, Tobias stared up with a hurt look, sniffling and mumbling as he padded off in the other direction “...like Akan better...”

The parents all heard that, and, of course, grinned.

Jyren looked down at Shadow, noting that she felt as bad through the link as she looked. But who was he to dodge fate and not ask the stupid question she was waiting on? Having a seat next to her, Jyren asked, “You alright?”

Shadow just gave him a stare that would melt durasteel. Thankfully, he’d built up an immunity to that. So he just nodded and then lowered his voice, “I’m sorry about yesterday.”

That got some life into her. She returned the nod, then surprised him by leaning over and hugging him, mumbling, “I’m sorry, too...” as she started to make herself comfortable on her shoulder, she grumbled, “...you’re not allowed to go anywhere without Toby ever, ever again...”

Jyren grinned. At least, for a few seconds. Then, both of them noticed that all eyes were on them, with those unique smiles that only parents could use. A mutual thought passed through the link, and Shadow got to her feet before offering Jyren a hand, “Come on, lets go talk some place quiet.”

He nodded and took her hand, “Yeah, I’ve got a few hundred questions for you.”

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 205: Questions and Arguements...Just Like Old Times

It had started as simple small talk. Pointless conversation as Shadow was waking up, and Jyren was doing his best to make sure she wasn’t still angry at him. She was, but too tired to really care. They’d found a small room not far away, and idly sat on the single couch looking out at the passing stars in front. The ship was in hyperspace...and, apparently, would be for many hours.

Shadow had given up after about ten minutes, yawned, and rested her head on his shoulder again. Having been awoken so early by Tobias was still getting to her. Of course, she couldn’t just sit there for long, and eventually gave in and tickled Jyren. The attack lasted for a few minutes before Jyren laughed and managed to pull her wrists away, still pinned down and stuck.

“So...uh...where are we going?” he asked, finally catching his breath.

“It’s a um...” she trailed off a moment, struggling to get one arm free. She succeeded, and laughed as the attack continued, also speaking through their link as she did. [Celebration for the Crown Princess and her...ah...ticklish mate, apparently.]

At that, he froze. What other reaction was there? She managed an apologetic look and shrugged weakly, “After that...I get free reign to hunt Nine, though.”

“That’s good news, at least,” Jyren grumbled, finally sitting back up and rubbing the back of his head. He sighed, and looked at her again, “Is there nothing we can do about all of this?”

She hung her head and returned the sigh, “I...there is a way but...” she trailed off, then, on noticing that it seemed to get Jyren’s attention, Shadow looked out the viewport ahead of them and said quietly, “I am, whether I like or not, royalty...you must have seen royalty back in the Core Worlds. They...something...unions for political reasons.”

That got his attention even more. So much more, because Jyren picked up on the traces of her thoughts through the link. He managed a whimper, before mumbling, “No. No, that can’t happen.”

“Mother is a healer...she’s not a fighter,” Shadow said towards the floor, “It would be...expected of me. I know it has already been talked about.”

“No,” this time, Jyren spoke more firmly, almost angrily, “You can’t...you can’t leave...”

Carefully she avoided looking his direction, “I wouldn’t leave...I mean...I...he would come here...and I could still see you. Just...just when he allowed...”

“That’s not happening,” Jyren ground out the words through gritted teeth this time, not even completely sure why he was so angry all of a sudden.

Reluctantly, Shadow said, “I cannot see a way out of it...it is the only way to avoid the war.”

“Then we’ll fight the war.”

Silence. It lasted for five long minutes before the link started to become more active. Eventually, something came to Jyren’s mind and he said more positively, “Oh! I wanted to ask you something...what is this, exactly?”

Slowly, he pulled the small, Dragon toy out of his pocket. He’d kept it with him for some reason. Shadow turned back and looked at the small thing, and then said flatly, “It is an Oony. It is a toy of some kind. It doesn’t seem to do anything but waste space, though.”

The last sentence caused Jyren to actually feel hurt for some odd reason, “Its not a waste of space, at all!”

“Then what does it do?” Shadow turned to regard him carefully, a look of honest curiosity on her face.

“It...it...” he trailed off, trying to actually describe it in words. How could you? It was a toy! You played with it! And yet...she didn’t seem to grasp that. Such a simple concept made no sense to her. He sighed heavily and looked the other direction, “Forget it.”

“No,” she reached over to touch his shoulder to get him to turn back, “Please, explain it to me.”

“I can’t!” Jyren snapped back suddenly, “I...I shouldn’t have said anything! I should have known you wouldn’t understand! You never can understand anything so simple!”

“How am I supposed to understand if you just yell at me?!” Shadow growled, now angry, too.

“I said, forget it! It doesn’t matter!”

“If it doesn’t matter, then why bring it up in the first place?!” she glared at the back of his head, idly trying to burn a hole through his thick skull.

“Because...because...” again, Jyren sighed, “This was an important part of a life I didn’t even know I had! I thought that...I thought that you might at least understand that. I didn’t think you’d get angry and start yelling at me. I was wrong.”

“You were the one who started yelling,” she nodded simply, “If you’re just going to bring something up and then yell at me without answering an honest question then you should just keep your mouth shut.”

Jyren turned back to face her, an equally angry look on his face, “Its not something that can be explained! Not everything is that simple!”

“You just said it was simple!”

“Its not!” he growled, his face getting slightly red as the obvious holes in his words got pointed out.

She simply met his gaze, a cold, emotionless look in her eyes, “I never had anything like that, Jyren. You know that. If you wanted to bring that up simply to hurt me, then I applaud you for such a great success.”

Swiftly, Shadow stood and left the room, heading back out to the main cabin and ignoring everyone there to lay down and catch up on some sleep. Jyren just sat in the same room, staring down at the floor. She was right, of course. He was stupid to try to bring something like that up. Why did he get so angry, though? It didn’t make sense! Nothing did, in fact.

Sighing, he closed his eyes. It was like being a teenager all over again. He’d done that once. Twice was far, far too much for anyone to have to live through. One day, he was due for some payback from the Force. After all this negative feedback he’d been given for the last twenty years, he deserved at least something to make up for it all. It was funny, though, because it was right there in front of him, just waiting for him to stop sulking and open his eyes. But that took effort, and Jyren was too busy sulking to care about what might be right there.

((Kind of short, sorry. Kind of tired today, and I'll try to get a longer and meatier update tomorrow. Again, sorry about the slowness and lack of action. Just stick with it a little while longer, we'll hit the payoff moment, then things gun it again.))

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 206: Our Own Private World

Eventually, Jyren risked heading back into the main cabin. He found that his father and the Empress were still involved in some conversation, with Tobias idly sitting between them and watching curiously. Why Toby was actually sitting still, Jyren couldn’t understand, but he figured it couldn’t be all that bad. Cole was watching him. In fact, it was a very serious look, and when he noticed that Jyren was looking at him, the Emperor started nodding to his right.

This continued for a couple minutes before Jyren realized what Cole might be hinting at, and slowly, Jyren looked that direction. Shadow was laying back in a chair, eyes closed and feeling asleep. Ah. So that was it. With a sigh and a nod to Cole, Jyren walked over and had a seat next to Shadow. At the shift in weight, she was immediately awake, though her eyes stayed closed and she only shifted slightly.

However, through the link, she said flatly. [Oh...you.]

Jyren forced himself to not react, simply leaning back and closing his eyes, trying to ignore that they were being watched again. When his eyes closed, though, something slightly odd happened. The link grew slightly stronger, and he could feel the Force doing something, and suddenly he could see. Standing in front of him, a blank white nothing surrounding her, was Shadow. He stood not far away, and glanced around to see the white nothing became a flurry of colours and random images behind him.

Somehow managing to ignore how...odd it was, he took a few steps forward and said quietly, “Look, Shady...I’m sorry. I really am.”

Staring at him, she said nothing for a long moment, then, “You’ve said that before.”

“I...I know...” he hung his head and sighed, the colours behind him shifting to a much softer and somewhat depressing tones, “I’m sorry for a lot of things. But I do mean it...I made mistakes, and I’m trying to admit to them. I just...just want you to be able to let me in.”

“This is in, Jyren,” she said simply, motioning around them, “I have let you closer to me than anyone has ever been. And yet, every single time I let you in, you wound me. And I, you, it seems. I am beginning to question the wisdom in letting you in, in the first place.”

Jyren bit his lip and looked back up, the colours behind him going slightly wild as a thousand thoughts ran through his mind. He latched onto one, and then said softly, “No one gets along perfectly...you just have to...to work through the problems.”

Shadow nodded, “Which is why I’ve let you in again, against all sanity. Look around me. See this? I have control. Look at you...you have no control over your emotions and thoughts at all. They run wild and you act without thinking. Its gotten us both into trouble, and gotten us both hurt.”

“So has your controlled way of working,” Jyren added at the end of that, as delicately as he possibly could without sounding insulting.

To his surprise, she nodded again. And then, the white nothing behind her became a familiar sight. It was her room...their room...whatever. Idly, she walked over and had a seat on the bed, “If you do not learn at least some control, you are going to get us both killed.”

To that, Jyren could only nod as he walked over and had a seat next to her on the soft bed...the soft bed that wasn’t even really there. Odd...shaking off those thoughts, the world behind him shivered and she caught a glimpse of the two of them from a couple nights ago. The same image that had been spreading through the Empire like wildfire. But it was gone in a second, and she raised an eyebrow at it, “What was your home like?”

The sudden change in subject surprise Jyren. It was so surprising that he found himself answering before thinking about it, “It was...empty. It felt nice, but at the same time, it hurt. I don’t ever want to go back there.”

“You mean you’re not going to show me you’re home?” there was a slight grin tugging at the edge of her lips at that as she tilted her head to look him in the eye.

“I...I just don’t really want to go back,” he mumbled, sounding more like Tobias than anyone else.

Shadow’s face became as stern as her voice, “I want to see your home.”

Then, behind Jyren, she saw that...that image again. The two of them...she shivered at the thought and then decided it was worth bringing up, “Are you having trouble? That is the second time you’ve...I’ve...that has appeared.”

Realizing that his thoughts were displaying themselves so easily, Jyren went a deep crimson. As did the world behind him. Quickly, he said the only thing that he could think of, “I...I’m sorry!

“No,” Shadow shook her head, “No, its alright. I...it was...I had never done anything like that before...it was kind of nice.”

He froze. When she saw him freeze like that, Shadow started to worry she’d done something wrong. But slowly, he looked over to her with a somewhat terrified expression on his face. His mouth opened, but he didn’t managed to speak at all. And then he opened his eyes.

When Jyren’s eyes opened, the real world was back. Just that easily, he was back in the cabin with Shadow sitting next to him. Slowly, she opened her eyes and managed to look apologetic, still slightly worried that she’d done something wrong. In fact, fairly sure she had. However, after politely ignoring the fact that anyone else was in the cabin, she leaned over and hugged him again, saying quietly, “You’re forgiven this time.”

Then, Shadow rested her head on his shoulder and fell asleep. Jyren sat there somewhat lost for a few moments before glancing up to see that things were back to ‘normal’. His father and the Empress were talking again...Toby was idly playing with some toy between them. And...and Cole. The Alraxian was grinned proudly, and, when he thought that no one but Jyren was looking, he gave him a little victory sign.

The Empress caught it, though, and just rolled her eyes.

((Little thing for you guys. I've started an Art Thread down in the Art Forum that I'll be updating pretty regularly, and a good amount of the content will probably be Story Hour art. Currently, I've put up that picture of Jyren's mother, though its not finished yet.))

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 207: No Regrets

Hours passed uneventfully as the trip to the Capital world continued. But, finally, it came to an end. They were ushered to a large, open section of the ship just before exiting hyperspace so that a the planet below could be seen. When the blue of hyperspace faded, not far away, hanging in the star pocketed blackness of space was a planet, not at all unlike Alraxia. Soft greens and blues rolled across it, and as they got closer, Jyren noticed that there seemed to be more greens than blues, which mostly looked like rivers more than oceans.

In a few more minutes, they were skimming through the atmosphere of the planet, and Jyren watched a distant white approaching. It grew to the point that he realized that the...city they were approaching was probably at least five times the size of the Alraxian Palace. The pearl white city consisted of flowery towers, domes, and walkways that crisscrossed the multiple levels. It was like a miniature, pearly coloured Coruscant.

Jyren was so caught up in looking over the hundreds of different shaped buildings and towers that he almost missed the one they were approaching. It was the centerpiece, and looked almost exactly like the Palace, simply transplanted in the middle of this insane mass of structures. By the time they were over it and the ship was setting down, he could no longer see anything but white in all directions except for up, and even then it was hard to see very far due to the density.

When the ship had finally set down, they all were ushered out and to a large delegation of guards and other Alraxians. But as they were pushed into the all too familiar looking interior hallways Shadow and her mother went off one direction, with Cole staying behind and speaking with some other Alraxians, and Jyren found himself and his father going the other way. He managed to be polite enough to just go along with it until the guards and other people disappeared, leaving he and his father in a room that resembled a living space.

“Where’d Shadow go?” he asked it fairly quickly as his father had a seat in a large chair.

“To get prepared, I would expect,” Navik motioned for his son to have a seat in another of the chairs.

Jyren did after pacing for a moment, then looked down at the elaborately decorated carpet lining the floor, “So what exactly is going on? She never really told me...”

Navik leaned back in the chair and answered his son fairly quickly, “It is a celebration for ah...the two of you.”

Before his father could say anything else, though, Jyren turned to regard the older Alraxian with a dangerous look. But his father just laughed quietly and went on, “Don’t blame me, son, you’re the one who asked the question. Besides, I don’t know why you’re so touchy whenever anyone says anything about her. There’s nothing wrong with it. Its not like you could have done better.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?!” Jyren nearly yelped, his claws digging into the chair’s arms very slightly out of reflex more than anything.

His father just pointed, “That’s exactly my point, son. Every time anyone says anything about her you go crazy. Just calm down...we aren’t going to criticize either
of you. Despite what some may say about royalty, they still deserve a choice, and you should be glad for that.”

Slowly, his father’s words started to actually make sense. Which was a problem. Jyren, now a deep shade of crimson, stared down at the floor and mumbled, “There’s nothing like that. It was all an accident. You all just assume too much.”

“Oh, we do...?” Navik fought to keep the smile off of his face, “You sound like I did twenty five years ago.”

For some odd reason, that got Jyren’s attention and he looked up to meet his father’s gaze, “What happened then?”

Navik smiled then, “I met your mother for the first time.”

Jyren growled and furiously turned away again, more annoyed at himself for openly walking into that than anything else. It was like he couldn’t think straight anymore! And it wasn’t fair! When he grumbled the same excuses again, his father scoffed at them.

“Come now, Jyren, if we’re all assuming so much why do you keep feeding us things to assume about?” his father was not sounding anything other than honest, and that was why Jyren did try to find something to throw at the older Alraxian. He looked up again with a questioning glance, and his father just rolled his eyes, “You know exactly what I’m talking about, son! If we’re assuming too much then why are you so defensive about it? Why was she clinging to you the entire flight here? What about that child, hm? And really, I suppose the best question is, why did you kiss her?”

Silence. Silence in which Jyren became so warm that it was amazing the chair didn’t burn under him. Jyren tried to speak something to defend himself, but only incomprehensible noises escaped. This lasted for a few minutes before his father got up and walked over to him. Calmly, the older Alraxian knelt down in front of his son and reached up to rest a hand on the young man’s face.

Looking his son in the eyes, Navik said quietly, “Its alright, Jyren, you don’t have to defend yourself to me. I trust you. I can’t not trust you. Not now that I can see you here. Just, please Jyren, understand that no matter what you do, I will always be proud of you. And so will your mother. But don’t you ever, ever be ashamed of your choices. And don’t ever have any regrets about what could have been or what should have been...alright?”

Another short silence before Jyren slowly nodded. His father was right. So very right. All his life, Jyren had been dragging himself down with regrets. And here, in this corner of the galaxy hidden away from everything he thought he knew, it looked like all of those regrets were being undone. He had a family...he had a reason to keep going...he had...he had something he thought he’d lost.

But before he could say anything, his father smiled and pulled them both to their feet, “Come on, lets go get you ready for tonight. Its my job to do this diplomacy and dressing up, so I’m used to it...however, from the look on your face, I doubt you like it, so lets just get it over with fast and then you can enjoy the party, hm?”

Jyren simply nodded again, and his father then led him out of the room. It was going to be a long night. A very, very long night. And at the end of it...possibly a light.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 208: Enjoy Yourself

Being dressed like he had no idea how to do it himself was something that Jyren would never get used to. He made a point to never like it either, as the damned attendants had a habit of moving him around and bending him in places that shouldn’t be bent without at least giving him some warning. Being bathed was not all that different, but he did his best to just not think about that. At least they didn’t try talking to him. They seemed far too busy for that, and Jyren had no idea what exactly he’d say in the first place.

Three long hours later, the flurry of activity was over, and Jyren found himself clean, neat, and dressed. Thankfully, there was no argument over his hair this time, and they seemed to accept that he could at least look slightly scruffy. The tunic he wore was...interesting, to say the least. It was a flat silver piped in blue that matched his stripe, which was definitely not a coincidence, and had a very high collar. Something was attached to the back of his neck, which dug in and hurt for a moment before he forgot about it altogether. It was explained to him that it was a small device to keep him warm enough, as the planet was not nearly the same general temperature as Alraxia and he wore no morphsuit to fix it.

So, the high collar was likely to keep the thing hidden, but that didn’t mean it was any good. He found it actually dug into his skin when he tried to look down, and it itched far too much. At least the trousers and boots were comfortable. In fact, all of it was except for the damned collar.

After ten minutes of tugging at it and wondering where his father had disappeared to, the door to the small room opened, and an older Alraxian woman motioned for him to follow her. Not one to argue or even question at this point, Jyren nodded and was led down the long, seemingly endless hallways. Jyren wondered if it was normal to see no one else around, but ended up deciding that it probably was...considering how huge it was.

And then they stopped, the Alraxian woman bowed to him and said softly, “Please wait here for a moment.”

When Jyren nodded, she smiled and stepped into a nearby door. So he just stood there. Waiting. Waiting on what? He was lost enough as it was, so what did one more question really add at this point? Bored, he found himself idly rocking back and forth and looking around at the blank, nondescript hallways. And then the door opened again.

It slid open quietly in that usual iris-like motion, and a vaguely familiar figure stepped out. It was Shadow. It...it had to be. She just looked...all...different. For one, her hair was shining slightly and up in some interesting style so that it only fell to her shoulders. She wore a long, flowing off white dress that hugged her torso until flowing out, and it was lined with a soft gold colour. On her face, was a scowl. At least something was the same.

Of course, she’d stepped out while he’d been swaying back and forth, and Jyren nearly fell on his face in surprise. Somehow managing to catch himself, he managed a weak smile and nervous laugh. Her scowl did not fade. A few silent moments passed before she rolled her eyes, “If you don’t close your mouth you’re going to swallow a bug and choke.”

Realizing he’d been gaping, Jyren quickly snapped his mouth shut, and nearly bit off a chunk of his tongue in the process. Thankfully, though, this was the end of his idiocy for the next few minutes, as Shadow was ushered out of the doorway by an attendant. She was then pushed over to him and, like before, their arms were linked and they were then pushed off down the hallway.

[This again...?] Jyren asked, trying to do his best to watch in front of him and not constantly glance over to look at her...

She sighed out loud and nodded...not that he saw her nod, of course. [Worse. Trust me. Much, much worse. Just smile, nod, and let everyone talk, and it’ll all be over with in a few hours.]

[A few...a few hours?!]

[Exactly.] she didn’t sound pleased, either.

They walked for what seemed like ages before being stopped before a pair of large doors, twice their size. Jyren and Shadow exchanged worried looks for the short moment before they opened. Because when they did, it really was all over. Slowly, the doors opened to reveal a gigantic, domed room that could probably fit at least five large space transports. There were stairs to upper levels, columns all over, and large windows directly opposite them, showing the outside...which was now dusk, and gave an interesting view of the rest of the city. But none of that really got either of their attention.

It was the people. Hundreds of them. And not just Alraxians. There were so many different species that Jyren lost count after he got to about fifty. And all of them stared straight at the two of them. All of those eyes. It was a silent moment before the two of them were ushered in along the pathway that was opened up for them between the crowd, and it eventually led to the center of the room, with the Empress, Emperor, and Jyren’s father standing there waiting.

The three of them smiled warmly upon seeing the two young Alraxians. When they came to a stop, the Empress turned and spoke to the huge crowd gathered around. She spoke in Alraxian, so Jyren had no idea what was being said. However, at the end of it, there were cheers and the once silent chamber was suddenly ablaze with conversation in at least five different languages. The Empress then looked to Jyren and Shadow and they were led to one end of the huge room where a seemingly endless series of tables were set up.

Along most of them, was every single kind of food one could imagine...and then some. But at the end of it all, where they now stood, was a table filled with what could easily have been someone’s junk. However, at that thought, Shadow had elbowed him in the ribs. [Those are gifts, not junk!]

[Gifts...?] he glanced from her to the...the things all over that table.

[Yes, gifts.] Shadow rolled her eyes again. [If you’d stop staring at me for a moment and actually listen to what I’ve said, you’d have remembered this is a celebration for us. Can you figure the rest out or do I need to kick you in front of all these people?]

He didn’t answer. He would have, but the Empress started speaking in Basic to the two of them, “There is a group that would like to personally deliver their gift to you.”

Smiling, she stepped to the side to reveal five tall, thin creatures. Attached to their arms, were soft, feathery wings, and their heads were just as avian. The five of them walked over to Jyren and Shadow and bowed deeply. Jyren didn’t need Shadow to tell them these were the Jendari she’d talked about before. They gave off an aura of calm and...and...he couldn’t pinpoint it, but they were amazing creatures.

In perfect Basic, with no accent at all, the Jendari in front looked to Jyren, an interesting smile on the avian face, “We have waited many years to see you again, young Jyren.”

All eyes were on him again. Even Shadow’s. Why that one extra pair of eyes made it worse, he wasn’t sure, but it definitely did. Not sure what he could say, but knowing that everyone was waiting on him Jyren stumbled out, “...you...you have?”

Shadow rolled her eyes...well, mentally. In a way, she couldn’t blame him, but in another, it was just far more satisfying to blame him. He’d get over it...well, no, he was always going to be a bit iffy when it came to thinking, but it could be worse. How...? She blinked, shook off those odd thoughts again, and looked to the Jendari again.

The Jendari simply held his smile and nodded, reaching back and to one of the others, who handed him a small object. Very gracefully, the Jendari’s arm pulled around and presented a small, somewhat translucent green cube object to Jyren, “Your mother wished for you to have this. We are all very sorry she could not give it to you herself.”

Carefully, Jyren took the small cube, finding it was about the size of his palm and felt...interesting. Or maybe he was just nervous. After looking at it a moment, he went slightly red and looked back up to the Jendari, “Thank you very much but...what is it?”

Reaching out to rest a fragile hand on his shoulder, the Jendari just said, “When the time is right, you will know.”

Typical. So very typical. And yet...somehow, it was satisfying. Jyren smiled slowly, and nodded, glancing down to the small cube, then to the hand on his shoulder. He followed the winged arm back to the Jendari’s thin body and bowed, “Thank you. Somehow, I feel that receiving this from you is just as good as receiving it from my mother.”

When the Jendari nodded, the Empress turned and said something to the rest of the crowd, spoke something else, and everyone started moving. Some went for food, others simply to talk. Most, though, made their way to Jyren and Shadow, if only to say a few words in person.

It slowly began to fade off after a few minutes, and the Empress stepped over to them, leaning down and whispering to her daughter, “No running out on this. Enjoy yourself...please.”

Surprisingly, Shadow nodded, and the Empress smiled as she then walked off to join her mate, Jyren’s father, and the Jendari that had presented the gift to him...which was now in a pocket. Finally finding an opening, Shadow took Jyren’s arm again, and led him to a slightly less densely occupied section. They then both became aware of music, and when Shadow looked around, she sighed, then shrugged and looked to him, “They’re going to expect us to dance.”

“I don’t dance.”

“Neither do I,” Shadow grumbled, noticing that there were a few more eyes on them again, and that her father seemed to be trying to secretly signal Jyren for something...not that it made any sense. Sometimes, she truly did not understand that man, “However, I have been ordered to enjoy myself, and that means doing what they all think we should.”

“Wonderful...” Jyren sighed, “But thankfully, there’s a problem.”

“Oh, there is?” Shadow raised an eyebrow, idly leading him a little closer to where her parents were so they’d actually see she wasn’t trying to disappear.

Jyren nodded, a smile slowly finding its way onto his face, “Of course there is. I don’t know how to dance...especially this formal stuff.”

“That won’t get you out of anything,” she poked him somewhat roughly in the side, “Besides, its not that hard. I’ll teach you.”

He looked shocked, “Wait, wait...you actually know how to dance? Not only that, but you sound like you actually want to! What have you done with Shadow?”

Laughing slightly, she smiled and shrugged, “I was told to enjoy myself. Maybe it won’t be so bad...”

“You really have done something to Shady, haven’t you?” Jyren asked, finding out it was already too late for sarcasm. Of course, Cole was still trying to say something to him through not-so-discreet hand signals and motioning. None of them made any sense to Jyren, and besides, he was suddenly caught up in being taught how to dance by...of all people, Shadow. Already, he could tell it was going to be a very interesting night.

 

[Ankh-Morpork Guard]

Chapter 209: Three Simple Words

It was no surprise that somehow the two of them had migrated to pretty much the center of the dance floor. Migrated wasn’t exactly the correct word, though, as everyone had stopped what they were doing to watch them...and both Shadow and Jyren had simply walked to a point where they were equally distant from all of the eyes. It was the only safe place, it seemed.

With a sigh, Jyren looked from the crowd and back to Shadow. Very quietly, he whispered, “They’re waiting on us...aren’t they?”

“You catch on quick,” Shadow grumbled, rolling her eyes. A short moment passed after she looked over Jyren’s shoulder to see her mother nod. Sighing, Shadow looked back to Jyren, “If we just get this over with, they’ll all stop staring again.”

“All?”

“...most,” she admitted with a weak shrug. Then, carefully, she reached over and took his arm. After placing it around her waist, Shadow then got the rest of things set up ‘correctly’, and sighed into his shoulder, mumbling, “Step on my feet and I swear I’m going to kill you. Its hard enough to not break my ankles in these damned shoes.”

Jyren didn’t answer. What answer was there? He knew he was dead. It was a given. There was past experience weighing in to seal his fate. So, with death imminent in the next minute, he gave in and it started simply. By the time the two of them started actually ‘dancing’, if one could really call it that, the watching eyes began to slowly turn to one another as they talked, commented, and some couples joined in, thankfully.

Amazingly, Jyren didn’t step on her feet. He blamed that on their link, giving him the advantage of knowing exactly where not to step...though that led to some very awkward dodging, and he bumped into at least five people in the process of trying to save his life.

After another minute, Shadow looked up to him with a curious look on her face, “You lied.”

“What do you mean?” he knew exactly what she meant, but was smart enough to play innocent. That was another intelligent way of not getting himself killed. Another was not in any way speaking the thoughts that kept coming up when he looked at her.

Her curious expression became a mild glare as they dodged another pair behind him, “You’ve done this before. I can tell.”

“You sound like an expert,” Jyren commented, dodging her accusation as subtly as a turbolaser blast.

Of course, that only got the glare to increase slightly, “You could have told me, you know.”

That was interesting...she almost sounded...hurt that he hadn’t told her. Taken aback by that odd sound in Shadow’s voice, Jyren stumbled for a moment again, nearly falling tripping over his own feet, before mumbling and shrugging, “It wasn’t worth mentioning...I uh...it wasn’t ah...it wasn’t exactly a wonderful time.”

Shadow’s glare faded into a grin as she picked up on some of his stray thoughts through the link. The curiosity returned, and as they continued to dodge others, finding a fairly simply rhythm in the dancing so that it was like they were just walking normally, she couldn’t help poking him in the back, “Details. I’m curious now.”

He sighed, but decided that talking was at least an easy way of distracting himself from all of the insanity and the thoughts that weren’t going away, “A couple of weeks before the assault on Coruscant, there was some formal thing we Zephyrs had to attend with a few other Squadrons. I uh...well...Mare kind of tried teaching me to dance then. I stepped on her feet three times before tripping over my own, falling to the side, taking out another pilot and bringing Mare down with me because I was dumb enough to not let go. And, of course, I hit my head falling down, so it all went blurry.”

Shadow stifled a laugh. It didn’t work too well, and instead she ended up giggling into his shoulder for a minute before calming herself, grinning, and nodding, “At least you’ve grown up a little since then. Now you’re only half tripping.”

Not really knowing what to say to that, Jyren simply went on with what they were doing and glanced over Shadow’s head. He caught Cole’s eye, who grinned and started motioning again. Sighing, Jyren decided it was best to not try figuring that out, and looked back to Shadow. She was...she was looking back. Why that was unnerving, he didn’t know or even really want to know, but it was, and he nearly fell over again.

Realizing he was getting stuck focusing on those odd thoughts and messing up more, he quickly latched onto a random question and asked it, “So uh...what happens tomorrow?”

“I start my hunt for Nine,” Shadow said simply, a slight hint of relief in her voice at the conversation returning. He wasn’t alone in trying to fight off the curious thoughts, but he was lucky to not have the still somewhat distinct ‘Marix’ personality berating her with comments that could not ever be acknowledged. Even if he didn’t look all that bad...and even if she didn’t mind what she was wearing...and...NO! No, that was all wrong and best ignored. Yes. Of course. But he was right there and it was impossible to just ignore them and...and...

“You?” Jyren interrupted her thoughts, “You mean us.”

“I mean me,” Shadow said, again relieved at being able to speak and not think, “You can’t go with me.”

“What?!” he nearly yelled it, and at least two others around them stopped and stared in surprise. Somehow, Jyren managed to not freeze, though, “Why am I even here, then?! I have to go with you. I can’t just...sit around here.”

“I know how you feel its just...just...” she trailed off, knowing exactly what she should say but not saying it and keeping it well hidden from the link. It was just that he couldn’t go. He couldn’t. She wouldn’t be able to focus. She couldn’t fine Nine if she had to worry about him...she couldn’t...shrugging off those odd thoughts one more time, she managed to keep a straight face, “Its my task.”

Why Jyren didn’t argue with that was as much beyond him as about everything was. But something was starting to take hold. She was going to go do it on her own. He could feel it. He knew he couldn’t argue. And he also knew what the stakes really were...she couldn’t take Nine and Ket alone. She would get herself...no, them killed. And he couldn’t do anything about it. Or...well...why not? What was the point of fighting it anymore?

He sighed heavily, took a deep breath, and said quietly, “Listen...Shady. I...I know I can’t fight you on this...so I just...I just need to say something.”

Shadow blinked, slightly confused as the link wasn’t making anymore sense than his words were. She didn’t even ask him to say it, instead just nodding and looking up to him curiously, trying to search his expression for at least something other than confusion.

And then, somewhat nervously, Jyren spoke the three words he probably should have spoken months ago. And though it was quiet enough that only Shadow heard them, across the large chamber, Cole smiled proudly and leaned over to tell the Empress, who also smiled as they both turned to watch distantly. Reading lips was a skill that Cole never regretted possessing.

((And on a completely unrelated note. Happy Birthday to me. ))