Catching the Flame

[Setzi Lunelle]

Continuation of No Longer Chasing Ghosts​

Location: Deneba​

While Deneba was not an inhospitable planet, it was no Voss. There were no lush green fields, apple trees and gardens, blue oceans and majestic snowy mountain peaks. Deneba’s surface was reddish in color and dusty, rocky and dry, though life did thrive despite the desert-like conditions. Still, Setzi kept telling herself the pair of Jedi were not there for a vacation. This time they were not searching for Chastity though clues about her disappearance would be more than welcome.

The goal was to collect information relating to the Jedi Knight’s twin daughters, one of which was rumored to be with the Sith.

However, the lack of information proved to be so frustrating that finally after a few long days of visiting small villages with a translator droid and interviewing the locals, Setzi spied an unusual desert retreat between Mount Meru and the spaceport. She and Connor Harrison had not spoken much since that day on Voss when they’d allowed an attraction between them to form and now took tentative steps towards what felt like - at least to Setzi - a real relationship. Not Master and Servant as her previous pairings.

She would not cling to the assumption that she was naturally a bad seed. Connor made her feel that her imperfections were okay, that the darkness had been just a tool. It did not define her. New and wondrous feelings of hope and optimism were blossoming inside the Lunelle sister and it didn’t matter that the grass and shrubbery around the lush Maru Spa was artificial, she would enjoy it just the same as the company she’d be keeping and getting to know the man who’d helped her in so many ways, even when he had not been standing by her side as he was now.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The Silver Jedi Master stood still to relax, finally, after the somehow awkward journey, the walking around outposts and villages, and then a long walk to this elegant retreat and placed his hands on his hips.

He looked at the marvel of the building, the shrubbery around it all and the seemingly endless natural spas and pools surrounded by a world that seemed to be a mix of Tatooine and Voss in one. Orange deserts, brown mountains, blue skies.

”Not a bad place at all.”

Connor gave a nod of approval with Setzi by his side, and turned, indicating for them to walk on.

”So. Remind me again why I agreed to this. I don't think we are going to find anything here. We've been to enough places now to get some lead, but we've got nothing.”

He sighed, chewing his bottom lip but determined not to give up, really.

”If you really want my help, you've got to tell me a little more about your children. And the father. Let me help you, remember. I can only do that with so much information.”

The thought never left his mind that not too long ago he and Setzi Lunelle - former Sith Lord Azurea - were trying to kill each other in a battle of Light v Dark.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

“You’re right,” Setzi said with a benevolent smile. “We will find nothing specifically here, but I brought you this place today, so we could do nothing for a change.” While a conflict raged somewhere in the galaxy, this small and secluded piece of nirvana would let them forget about that for awhile.

“And I don’t know about you, but I’d like to swim before the sun goes down.” She beckoned him to follow her into the lobby where she retrieved a room key. Twirling the keycard between her fingertips, it was apparent that the two would be staying at least the night, if not a couple of days.

As they walked to their room through the winding corridors draped with the same magenta-flowered vines as on the building exterior, Setzi finally began filling Connor in on some of the more personal details of her life, the ones that he did not bear witness to firsthand - like their shared love for her sister or her very physical attack on him on Toola.

“As I’ve told you the twins are named Astrid and Amata. They are fraternal and Amata inherited the more athletic genes of the Togruta species, while Astrid is smaller and more petite like me or Chastity. Both are Force sensitive and quite capable of surviving on their own due to summers on Shili. Because they were raised on The Retreat in the Chiloon Rift they’ve aged faster than normal near-humans. Both would be about twenty-two years old today.”

After a lengthy walk to their room, Setzi finally stopped at a stone door and opened it with the key card. “I don’t know what happened to their father. We lost contact awhile ago.” This was said a bit more abruptly, and it was clear the Jedi Knight did not enjoy speaking of the Sith Lord with whom she had resided with… certainly not as fondly as she described her children.

The room was as luxurious on the inside as the spa was on the outside and contained almost anything either of them would have wanted from the spa itself - whirlpool, sauna, deluxe entertainment center and a stunning view of the grounds and the painted desert beyond it.

And even though she grew quiet over the more difficult memories, he would see in Setzi’s hazel eyes that her trust in Connor was implicit. She just wasn’t completely sure he felt the same way despite his reassurance on Voss.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor followed, hands behind his back, walking with a sense of pride and duty with each step. The Skywalker hilt hung at his side. The Force around him, around Setzi and the planet itself was soothing and he was determined to continue doing what was right.

Even if it meant helping Chastity's sister, then so be it. Was she simply using him? Was she...deceiving him? She had shown her true colours once. Why not again? He looked at her now and then as they walked, and she talked, but he couldn't place anything off. She was being honest.

Walking into their room, Connor exhaled, seeing only a double bed. Was this something more than what he thought? Why was he over-thinking things so much? He caught her looking, and he flashed her a smile and walked across the room.

”So you want to find your children, but you come here to do nothing. The Lunelle gene is rampant in you. Chastity was....” he stopped, and rolled his eyes. ”Sorry. Forgive me. You just have a way like her.”

Moving across to the double windows, he opened them up and looked out across the gardens, the pools and the mountains in the distance. Far above, the Meru space-port hanging in orbit.

”Certainly different to Voss, but similar in some ways.”

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

“What do you mean?” she asked with mock surprise. “Are you saying the Lunelles are lazy?” Pointing her finger at him accusingly, she exclaimed, “Look, I wasn’t the one who decided to moon around over her own Jedi Master.” A sad expression flashed across her face, and then it was gone. But finally being able to joke about the situation meant that Setzi was much less emotional now about their loss, and that some healing had taken place between Chastity’s disappearance on Ziost and today.

The Knight sat down on the double bed and bounced once and then twice, testing out the mattress's firmness. She bent over and began unlacing her boots. Once they were loosened and kicked off, Setzi turned her head to look at Connor as he stood by the window, admiring the height and constancy of his form. No wonder she fell head over heels for you, she thought.

With a half-smile to let him know she wasn’t angry at his jab, she said, “Of course, we’ll continue looking. I just thought it would be nice to relax for a couple of days. While I know both you and I meditate, when was the last time you, Master Harrison, had a proper vacation? You give so much to your students. You’ve given the galaxy just the most incredible gift. Your knowledge, wisdom and time.”

Walking softly to him in bare feet now, she put a gentle hand upon his arm, softly to not startle him. Did he still resent her for their contest on Toola, how reckless and suicidal she’d been.

“Does something trouble you?”

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The Jedi stared out at the peaceful desert world for a long time, feeling no pressure or rush or expectancy on his answers to Setzi.

”No. Not overly.”

He reached out and put an arm around her, rubbing her shoulder.

”I just…struggle sometimes to comprehend things. To make sense of things that don’t MAKE sense to me in the first place. Things are changing all the time, and I struggle to think where I will be during it all.”

He was talking about the Heavenshields and their strong focus on family, growing more and more. Losing Padawans to the Sith, like Chastity, and even trying to guide those like young Aria in the Shadows.

”Sometimes I think I should talk to Thurion about stepping in to take on the Grandmaster role one day. To lead the Silver Order. To craft it and make it something stronger There is so much…so much weak ties to it at the moment, it often looks like a place I don’t remember joining years ago.”

His brow was furrowed, thinking and talking out loud now as if Setzi wasn’t even there.

”And of course there’s us. You. You were so set on revenge and bloodlust, but now you’ve found your way back and it’s like Chast has been dead and buried with Azurea. At one point you were going to kill me for any information on her, now it’s like she doesn’t matter to you. I just hope your heart is true to the path you’re following. It’s not easy to deceive yourself, and it will only get worse if you do.”

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

His arm slipping around her, Setzi fell into the warmth of Connor’s body against her ribs. With a soft chuckle her own hand traced his spine to rest at the small of his back. “I understand. Family is the strongest bond we have and even that seems easily broken by the strength of the darkness in this galaxy. But I don’t know… I try to still believe that our blood bonds can transcend any evil.”

She stood now on tiptoes and gave Master Harrison an unexpected kiss upon the cheek. “You’d make a fine Grandmaster someday.”

Though at times she worried about sentiments such as this. Connor had an ambitious streak which stood in contrast to his gentle, pedagogic nature. Yet Setzi believed he had so much to give back to the various Jedi orders which practically raised them both.

And next he spoke of Chastity, his words slicing into her but with a muted pain as though her insides were numb, the thick hide of emotional anesthesia protecting her from feeling any acute grief. “I’m not sure what you mean,” she admitted. “And are you still sore about Toola?” Setzi was in that kind of mood that nothing could get her down and if heartbreak loomed she was going to deflect and parry. “I should have just surrendered to you then and saved myself a bunch of trouble.”

Unbuttoning the top button of her rugged grey shirt, she said, “I dare you that I can hold my breath underwater for longer than you can. Do you accept?”

She was still determined to swim no matter what.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The mention of Toola raised a smile. Then, a chuckle. He looked down at the balcony before the window, leading down to the spa pools in the front of the grounds.

”Well I think I did pretty well considering I brought a Sith squad to a Silver world and managed to avoid a complete meltdown, don't you?” He glanced down to her. ”Bit of a weak Sith really weren't you. Not really having the gall to do me in when you had the chance.”

He grinned and sighed and looked back out.

”You go on for a dip. I'll be out in a few minutes. Sometimes I just like to...to watch. And take things in, you know?”

Of course, he was going to unwind a little. Hopefully. There was a great deal of weight on his shoulders, and a building stress with the current situation on Voss that wasn't going away. Questions and answers blending into one. But, he was here and couldn't do much else.

Rolling his tongue and teeth across his bottom lip, he looked to Setzi and nodded for her to go with a reassuring nod.

”Don't pass out under water please. Can't afford to lose another Lunelle.”

The facial expression was a teasing one.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

As Connor teased his apprentice, there was a flash of something in her eyes - resentment, anger, bravado - all three were fair game swimming in those chestnut irses. She hated being bested, and Master Harrison’s words stung in a way that surprised her.

“I suppose,” she said with a shrug, not wanting any conflict to come into play between them. He could believe what he wanted.

Anyway you slice it, I’m a horrible Jedi or a Sith. It’s why I am here with Connor - so all of those pesky emotions could be kept under control. So she could learn to suppress all of the passion and recklessness that had plagued both Lunelle sisters.

Setzi understood the need to be alone. How many times had she piloted the Pirate’s Foe right off into open space, relishing in going nowhere, stopping at a random planet or two and then finally coming home to her underwater abode? To an empty house - all the better.

Laughing at his taunt, Setzi said, “You do realize I lived on Glee Anselm for the last year? Sure it was a prison, but I assure you I won’t drown.”

With that, the Jedi slipped out of her pants and left the room unbuttoning her white shirt. Her suit was underneath, and from the window he’d be able to see his apprentice shed the shirt as well and dive into the cool blue water.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

There was a lot of anger in Setzi. He could feel it. Either brought on by Connor's attitude, or the Jedi lifestyle she had to follow, or the missing sister, or a combination of all three mixed with the seed of darkness that never died.

Watching her slink out over the balcony and down to their small spa pool, Connor rested on the iron railing and watched her undress with a ready swimsuit beneath, and then dive in with little splash.

The girl wasn't Chastity. That was the issue. He had just about gotten over the fact she had fled Voss corrupted by Sith poison administered by Sage Bane. And without help, she was gone. He should have followed her. Helped her.

Now, the sister was here wanting his help. Could he do it all again? Could he risk more trouble and distraction from trying to keep the Order together?

He sighed and looked out beyond the pool into the distance, losing himself in the view and hearing her splashes as she did some lengths.

He couldn't just leave. He had to stay and work something out. Maybe in time she would take what she hand and leave to find Chastity on her own.

There was no real way he could train her as a Jedi. Not yet. Not in his current situation. It would be far too dangerous.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

As she dove into the clear, blue water, shipped in from a nearby world and chlorinated so much that her eyes burned after plunging in, Setzi did a couple of quick laps and then sat at the bottom for awhile, just holding her breath.

Breath Control was a light side power, and she was successful at employing it for nearly thirty minutes until she finally felt her lungs clench, the desire to breath real oxygen tugging at her, and she swam back up. Living upon Glee Anselm for as long as she did, Setzi had reaped the physical rewards from the constant swimming and had a very strong breaststroke, but the pool was too small to do any real exercising, so after awhile she draped her elbows on the ledge and let her tanned legs float in front of her, her head rolling back, the sun lulling her into a deep sense of contentment, despite the anger and frustration she’d felt earlier.

After awhile she gazed back at their room, only able to see Connor Harrison’s shadow in the window and not his entire form. “Come down,” she called to him telepathically. “The water is relaxing, and even Jedi’s need some time off.”

Lying there in the water, staring up at the Deneba clouds which formed and reformed into both vague and recognizable shapes, she realized that during this moment she hadn’t thought of anything nor of those she acutely missed like her sister and her twins. For a brief moment everything was right in the galaxy, and Setzi did not want it to end.

Of course it was easy to pretend for awhile that they could just stay on Deneba in this Elysium forever. Anyone could impersonate the semblance of normalcy and control, but that did not mean it was there.

[member="Connor Harrison"]