All Stories are True

[Scherezade deWinter]

"That's why I asked," she said, understanding. It was silly, but it was what it was, and she was not going to impose it on either of them.

Grabbing a Jedi robe from Josh, she headed off to the refresher, cracking the door open only to toss her sweaty clothes out so he could take care of it while she showed.

Less than ten minutes later, she was out, feeling like she was swimming in too much fabric.

"How do you wear this on the regular?" she complained, "the fabric is too rough. Is your entire body calloused or something?"

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"You know I have more than just Jedi robes right, I even offered pajama-Oh, forget it" Josh would trail off as he would just let her do what she wanted. Pretty much summed up their relationship, really. This was almost like a late-stealing of his hoodie after they slept together. Except this was Madelena. Not Scherezade. Was there a difference? He wasn't sure. Still, at least she was understanding about the rules for Jason. A bit strict? Sure. But she needed to set a good example, he had said this already. They couldn't convey to Jason that walking around naked in public was normal, right?

While she showered, he would pop her clothes into the washer, and go to feed Porgbert - which Jason wanted to help with in any way he could. When Madalena would come out, she would begin to complain about the robes. "They're an older pair" He explained. "I prefer the softer material of the ones I wear nowadays. I'm also only wearing robes because I haven't had a chance to change back out into my casuals" He spoke. "Actually, if you can watch Jason for a few..."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Sure, she could watch Jason for a few.

Madalena waved Josh away as she took her place by him. For the amount of time Josh took, Madalena and Jason played together with Porgbert. Jason found it hilarious when she produced some crackers for the animal, and showed him that they could get Porgbert to fly around wildly while they tossed them one by one into random directions. The most important bit was to toss them high so that they'd have a lot of air space. Porgbert was a real MPV, catching quite a lot of them. Whatever he missed was cleaned immediately.

When Josh returned, he would find both Madalena and Jason rolling with laughter on the floor, Porgbert flying from one to the other madly, trying to find more Porg-crackers.

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

“Jason is going to get into the crackers and Porgbert is going to get fat” Josh pointed out with a laugh as he would walk out. He wore a black leather jacket with a loose, plain red t-shirt with black pants and casual boots. He walked over as he watched Porgbert dart around looking for more crackers.

“I see he’s been fed for the second time this hour” He commented amusedly. “I was thinking maybe we could watch a movie until we arrive? I think we have just enough time.”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena blinked as Josh came out, wearing a red shirt. She couldn't recall ever seeing him wear... Color? It was always stuffy Jedi related stuff. She wasn't sure red was his color, but it was definitely refreshing.

At the offer of the movie, she nodded, as did Jason. They could watch anything, really. Movies weren't her forte, and one didn't difference from the other, but she supposed they were going to watch something suitable for Jason anyway. Something with very happy sounds and a lot of bright colors. She almost regretted agreeing to it.

While Josh set it up, Madalena moved over the room, cleaning up bits of crackers that had managed to escape her notice earlier, and soon enough, the three of them were on the couch.

If anyone asked her what movie it was, she wouldn't know what answer to give. It had been a long day for her, and she had not slept since she woke up before the interview, with Josh and Jason on her ship. Less than five minutes, and her breathing had changed, indicating that her body was shut off for now.

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Jokes on her. He wore blue at Zeltros. She just didn't remember. It was also the same jacket. He only had the one jacket. He also wore another outfit at the zoo... But once again, she would not remember. He had other outfits, she just usually only saw him on the way back from work, or when he was at the Temple where he usually wore his robes. He never wore them at home though... Not that anyone besides Jason was ever at home with him to see that.

Josh picked one of those superhero movies, something that would appeal to Jason with all the boom boom and the bright colors and the cool effects. Before long, the three of them were crashed on the couch, watching the movie together. This was surreal for Josh, considering the night they had met had been similar, but far less happy than it was right now. When he realized that Madalena had likely fallen asleep, he would smile lightly and pull her to him, leaning his head on her in turn. Jason was still enthralled with the movie, but he seemed to be starting to drift off a bit.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Perhaps it had been an hour. Perhaps it had been an hour and a half, but certainly no more than that. Madalena lay sleeping on the couch, Josh holding her and leaning her head on his as well. Somewhere in the back of her mind, something scratched, but she was too tired to give it any attention. Although she looked much happier now and had been since she woke up on her ship, she had still not slept, and while she had eaten, a single meal was far from enough to cover up for two months of damage caused by a girl that no longer existed.

Her eyes moved beneath her lids. Gently at first, and then wildly. Her body began to shake, at first with just spasms, but then harder and harder.

Suddenly, the movement of her eyes ceased, as did her breathing. It was a heart beat before she breathed again, but only to inhale before she began to madly scream and move, eyes still closed as she violently shoved against Josh, the screams of sheer terror never stopping.

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Jason had dozed off, and Josh had followed suit soon after with Jason's head leaned against his father's side. It was an interesting sight, the three of them all asleep together on the couch. Sort of like a family of three, all together. But... It wouldn't last. Eventually, the two of them would be awoken by the screams of Madalena, who would shove Josh and almost knock Jason over. Josh would be up with a start, and Jason would begin screaming in terror when he had woken up, startled by the sound and now terrified at the screaming. Screaming turned into bawling as Jason started to break down in a vat of tears as Josh would stop what he was doing.

The fireball in his hand pointed at Madalena would disappear, before he could fire it. He had gotten his hand up on instinct. He had just woken up and something had registered as a threat to Jason. Once he had his bearings, he would let out a sigh as he would wrap an arm around her, and bring her to his lap. And then did the same for Jason. "Shh... It's alright... I'm here..." He spoke to them both. He didn't know what else to do. What else could he do? He couldn't comfort one and ignore the other.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Her eyes were still closed when Josh held her closer, her screaming still not stopping. It wasn't until something inside her realized that there was a child next to her that her eyes snapped open. The look of horror was still on her face as she took the scene in, trying to make sense of it all. Her heart was racing, she was sweating again, and... And...

"Josh?" she whispered with a mixture of fright and confusion.

She looked at Jason, seeing him cry and whail, and... And somehow, she knew that she had been the cause of this. "Jason, Jason, I'm sorry," she began to apologize, trying to lower her neck so she was at eye level with him, "I'm so sorry I scared you, I'm sorry... I'm sorry..."

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Jason would look up at her, and promptly scream and hide behind his father, starting to bawl even louder. He was scared of her. Considering she'd just screamed like a banshee while he was sleeping, it was no shock. Josh would take a deep breath as he would look around, before finding the large stuffed porg that Jason had dropped on the floor when he had fallen asleep. The stuffed porg that he had not let go of pretty much since she had given him it. Speaking of porgs...







"GREEE-REEEEE, GRRR-REEEEE!"

Porgbert had begun flying around frantically, startled from Madalena's screaming. Josh would pick up the stuffed porg, deciding to handle Jason first, and gave him back the stuffed toy which the child would immediately cling to as if for life. He would stop screaming, but he continued to sob into the toy as Josh would pick him up and relax back onto the couch. He considered asking Madalena to help Porgbert, but... No. Not as she was now. She might hurt him.

"Porgbert! Come here, Porgbert!" Josh called to the porg, who soon enough would land on Jason's head, which seemed to calm the toddler and the porg down a bit being in each other's company.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena stared in horror as she saw what was happening around them. Josh was doing whatever he could to help Jason, help Porgbert... Covering up for a mess that she caused. Her face was wet and she realized she was crying, but there was nothing she could do about it right now. She'd made Jason be afraid of her, had caused Porgbert to panic probably too...

So she did the only thing she could think of. She got up from the couch and locked herself in the bathroom. Maybe if she was out of sight for both Jason and Porgbert, Josh would have an easier time calming them down.

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Eventually, Josh would manage to get the two to calm down. Once the two of them were asleep on the couch, the Jedi would let out a sigh as he would get up, putting a blanket over the child, the stuffed porg and the actual porg as he would then head toward the bathroom, where Madalena had locked herself some time ago. One more to go, it seems.

"Maddie?" He asked as he would knock on the door. "Maddie, are you alright in there?"

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

While Josh was taking care of Jason and the porg, Madalena had to use all the mental resources available to her to stop crying. Only then did she dare to look in the mirror, her reflection confusing the daylights out of her. She was a mess. The black beneath her eyes had seemed to deepened somehow. Wasn't the opposite supposed to happen when you didn't drink anymore? Sure, it's only been a day, but...

But she was remembering. She remembered what happened. She had been sleeping, peacefully, and then...

There was a knock on the door.

Madalena opened it. "I'm better than Jason and Porgbert," she said quietly, still trying to shake the memories away, "I'm sorry, Josh. I didn't know that I was screaming. I would never have done that to scare or hurt either of them."

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"You... Didn't know you were screaming?"

Josh would tilt his head, confused at that. How did one not know they were screaming? She was clearly awake so it wasn't sleep-walking. But he did notice the black mess beneath her eyes. Was it running makeup, perhaps? He wasn't sure. She had always had those dark lids under her eyes, it hadn't sunk in yet that they were less of a mess than before after her memory wipe. He just figured it was a part of her. Perhaps not.

He let out a sigh, and shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Jason will warm back up to you eventually. It'll just... Take time. He's timid, overall. He gets scared easily, and without trust that he'll be okay with them, Jason usually avoids people if he can. It'll just take a bit of time, a bit of work, and it'll be like it never happened."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"So... A bigger porg stuffie next time?" she asked, trying to smile. It probably wouldn't help at this stage. She was just... Going to have to figure it out.

Of course she hadn't known she was screaming. She'd been asleep. Sweet sleep. Her body had been craving it, needing it. She'd been safe on Josh's couch and then with Josh's head on hers. And then...

"I thought I was going to be sleeping for a long while," she admitted with a sigh, leaning against the door's side, "I didn't have the time to, not since we were on my ship. And then I had a nightmare. I didn't know I was screaming until I woke up and realized I'd been hearing myself scream inside the nightmare too."

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

He smiled lightly. "Maybe just try to spend time with him. He's two, he's easily impressionable. You just need to earn his trust and he'll adore you. It's what Jyoti did. She babysits him a fair bit when I'm on mission, and has made a crochet or two for him. He adores her. Calls her aunty."

On that thought, he realized... Why did [member="Jyoti Nooran"] babysit him so often? Was it just him or did she babysit the other younglings and children of the Silver Jedi members as well? He didn't recall any of her apparent duties being babysitter... Strange. Maybe Jason had just made a good impression on her? He'd figure her to be far too busy to do it, just on a good impression though... Hmmm...

He listened to her explanation. The Darkness couldn't have taken her, if she was here, and awake, right? Then what was it? Was it just a nightmare? "Odd" He spoke, scratching his head. "Perhaps next time you'd be best sleeping in a room with me. My room has sound dilution in case I either snore or sleep-talk, so as not to wake Jason, though I can hear the outside of this room just fine as it's one way. That way you can try to sleep again, and if it happens again I'll be there. And it won't be a risk to Jason. I can always sleep on the floor, it's no big deal."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena nodded. She would love to spend more time with Jason, that was a given. If the Shadow Lady could do it, and gain his trust, so could she. She was great with kids, most of the time. And... And she wanted Jason to trust her too. Call her aunty too.

But when Josh offered they shared a room, she shook her head. "I think it's a better idea if I just sleep on my own ship next time," she said with a tired smile, "maybe I'll buy a night lamp or something. I don't remember suffering from nightmares before. This was something fierce."

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"I don't snore that loud. Or all the time" Josh joked in turn with a small smile. Sheesh, was he that repulsive that she didn't want to sleep in the same room even if to help her? A joking thought, that. No harm done. So the Jedi would just shrug his shoulders, and nodded his head. "Hey, if that's what you want" He answered. "Was probably just a fluke anyway. You'll be fine next time, probably."

He doubted it was a fluke. She'd had problems with sleep before, right? "Do you recall what the nightmares were about at all?"

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Did she recall what the nightmares were all about? Madalena nodded meekly. "Yes," she answered, "but you'd think it's stupid. It probably is."

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

The Jedi shrugged his shoulders. "Last night I dreamed that a giant chicken burned down a giant gingerbread house" He spoke with a deadpan, completely serious, stone-faced and stoic expression and tone. "Such a waste of gingerbread."

"Your turn."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]