Coming Home

[Kaili Talith]

“Now we’re talking grand larceny!” Kaili perked her brows to-the-max. “Sooo that means leftovers and half the cookie jar.” Hey, if the best baker in town, Kira Talith, had no intentions of sharing them then she shouldn’t have baked them either. It was only fair. Kaili snapped her finger at Micah. “Cheese. See if they have any cheese, or cheeses, that we could borrow.” One could never have enough cheese. “More pasta. Definitely some tomatoes. Oh, I could use more milk. Do they have any bottled wa-...”

Kaili stopped herself and scratched the back of her head in shame.

“Okay, maybe they can keep, you know, half the house.” She let out a muted chuckle. “Just focus on the leftovers, the cookes and the cheese.”

“I think in the end they would just appreciate that we don’t take half their fridge away, right?”

That had to mean something? Right?

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

A knowing snicker crept over his chiseled lips. At his age now, Micah was well on his way on looking more like a man than the teenager he once was. His face was angular, but under his body were the lean whipcords of muscle of nearly two decades of training. Their uncle Cameron and father didn't hold back one inch when it came to that.

"Nohei... Nohei, Nohei, Nohei," he would chant, reaching out to muse her hair again. Just was hard to resist. "Like they aren't used to us eating them out of house and home?"

With four kids so close in age, and Micah practically a garbage shute, it was a wonder how fast they all managed to eat and the extent of it.

There had been a lot of steaks.

"One satchel. No more. No less. Whatever we can find I'll bring with."
[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

The pheasant was ready for the oven and Kaili promptly knelt down, tray in hand and stuck it in there. The heat had been set to low and with that the duo had around three, maybe four hours before the smoke detector would cause a racket. Kaili looked to her brother and nodded in affirmation that now was the time to move out on their bold quest to gather the necessary items required to make this visit far better.

“We should move quickly.” The kid sister passed her brother and grabbed a nearby keycard. “As much as I want to say I trust this won’t take more time than necessary, I don’t want to risk starting a fire while I’m away.”

Keycard in hand she ushered Micah out the door, turned around and locked the door before turning back around once more to face her brother.

“Tea, something to drink, father’s leftover and cheese.” Tall order. “Aaaand anything else we can gather.”

“That about it?”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

Alex would stay in the shop for now, leaving both his sister and he to do the dirty work. He would hop off the step towards the small path off of Nohei's doorstep. With a skip and a slight backward walk, Micah gave a slight bounce in growing devilry.

"'About it for breaking and entering." he would state with an ample amount of amusement riding in citrine eyes a mirror of her own. Hopping from one island to the next wouldn't be too troublesome. They'd be able to take a small air speeder. It was the being sneaky about it that was the most important part of it all.

The Talith would rub his hands together in glee. "Well come on... you're the one who will have to take us there." he gestured to her. After all, she was the one who had the luck to not crash them into something.

Although speeders were okay.... Micah was just feeling lazy.

[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

And so Kaili placed herself in the driver’s seat. Her heart pounded at her chest as she felt the panic grow. Hands on the steering she closed her eyes and took a deep breath before looking at Micah. She wore the pendant around her neck, yet it had still been a very long time since she hadn’t touched the controls of one of these in a very long time for reasons that her brother of all people were the most well aware of. She opened her eyes and looked at her brother before nodding in determination.

She could do this.

The ignition kicked to life and the engine not long after it. She put it into gear, switched it into drive and with the gentle push of the pedal she let the engine roar for a second. Kaili took a deep breath and gave her brother another determined nod.

“I can do this.” She spoke under her breath mid-exhale. “Hold on to your butt.”

She gave the pedal another push and with it she got the two Taliths out of the garage and on the road. Which wasn’t to say her heart was still pounding far harder than it should have, but so far it was all manageable.

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

There is a rhyme to every reason.

Nohei had to cross that bridge of not being afraid to pilot again. It had been one of her passions ever since he could remember. Since she was barely at their father's knee height. The crash had been difficult and a wretched experience for her, but one could not live in fear all of their lives.

Nohei had to remember what it was to live. And Micah would be damned if his little sister was going to squirrel herself away and not do what she she found passion in the past.

Needless to say, there was a distinct measure of pride in his eyes when Nohei stepped up for the plate. There was still that stubbornness in her. That ambition that had her create such amazing things, that drove her to do her best. The wind tossed their hair into the air and all they could smell was the salt water and the sea.

The warmth of the sun poured down upon the two siblings, and with no distinct pleasure, Micah popped out his arms and tucked them behind his head, giving the illusion of one merely being as lazy as he.

"So what have you managed to sell so far eh?" he asked her over the roar of the engines and the blowing of the wind.


[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

She wasn’t shaking, but she wasn’t particularly thrilled as well. At the moment her mind was like a three-way battle between her sense of security, her fears and her attempts at remembering how to maneuver; and they all duked it out over who got to control her consciousness. She could feel her own fear reek off of her, the concentration of remembering how the controls worked and the strained calmness of stilling both of them.

“Droids.” Kaili tried to shrug but failed. “Droid repairs, met a nice woman who wanted help with a BB-unit.”

“Her name is Allyson, she’s been helping around the shop every now and then.” Kaili did not take her attention away from the ‘road’ no matter how much she wanted to. “So, I guess my little workshop has two employees now.”

“Been teaching her the basics of what I do. Technomancy, droid repairs, that kind of thing.” The youngest Talith finally averted her attention from the ‘road’ and looked at Micah for a few seconds. Her eyebrows perked, head tilted backwards in a small shrug. “She’s good people.”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

Nohei was still a bundle of nerves.

He could tell that simply by looking at her. Only their mother would be able to tell from the most subtles of tells, but Micah had that innate ability and the years of practice.

Not to mention the near two decades of being the one to rile her up something fierce.

It was all about keeping her talking. Distracted but not too distracted. She needed to be able to focus as much as blanking out the fact she was pressing the throttle.

"Oh? That so?' he would quip out with notable intrigue, "What are you paying her? In droid parts?" came his half joke, humor dancing in his eyes, half moving a bit away in case he'd get smacked. Truth be told, he was happy that Nohei was at least making new friends. That she had hired someone meant she was working through that fear. Ever since the crash, making connections was difficult on his youngest sister, and while Nohei wasn't the social butterfly he was by any degree, she had been a rather open and friendly individual.

It would be good to see her get back to that again.

"So what is your new grand project? Think you can do a co-op with me with stun bolas or grenades?'

He had an idea that he wanted to share with her.

[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

“No, with hugs and kisses.” Kaili deadpanned and rolled her eyes all the way back to the controls. “I pay my employees, Micah. I’m not a slave driver.”

The speeder soared through the landscape and with it Kaili felt her nerves wind down. But only by a little. The controls of this thing were still the same as it was a few months ago and the sensation of being in control of something hurling through the air was still as enticing as before. The only real difference being the magnitude in which she worried about the up-and-coming landing, but they would worry about that when the time arrived to worry about such things.

Micah spoke about grand projects and Kaili held back the same urge as before to simply shrug. All things considered all she really wanted to do at this point was to continue with her business and see it grow.

“I don’t know, Micah. This sounds like... Battle... Stuff.” She turned to look at her brother. “You know how I feel about that.” And then she sighed. It was her brother, maybe an exception could be made to ensure he didn’t die in a field somewhere because of her. “Lay it on me, what is your idea?”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

"Hugs and kisses eh?" there was a discernible snort that came from the Talith then, hella amused and a wicked gleam within those citrine eyes. "What did you do? Open up a kissing booth right next to your droid shop?"

Oh that was soo going to get her riled up!

A snicker and a sudden jerk to the side brought his hands up to block any attempts at his beautiful face. "What!? It is valid question! I wonder how mum and dad would that." oh the devilry in his eyes only increased tenfold with every second. He was enjoying this far too much, but it was a two fold effect. It allowed Nohei to relax a bit more by the typical banter they shared, making her feel more at ease. It might seem contradictory that riling her up would do so, but Nohei fed off her quick wit and instinctual thoughts.

And I graduated from the Academy of how to piss off your little sister with flying colors!

"Hey, hey!" one would manage to deflect as he added, "Just a electronic shock grenade! Made up of smaller ones! Kinda like my shock gauntlet but only mobile!.... I've also this gravity clamp that I think you might enjoy tinkering with me."

[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

She had the comeback all lined up. Something along the lines of ‘Nah, it is right inside’, but her brother ruined all attempts at a comeback. Her eyes peered straight ahead in a bitter stare. She really wanted to use that phrase, and then Micah had to ruin it by bringing up ‘mum and dad’ into the equation as if her own emotions weren’t confused and riled enough on the subject as it was. Perhaps that was what Micah knew, abused their bond to poke at Kaili.

Well, she could do that too.

“Wanna be like that, huh? Well, Instinctive Astrogation it is then.” Kaili said and briefly turned to Micah with a grin before looking back at the road again. “We’re doing this.”

Her feet pressed the pedal to the metal, the entire speeder tilted downwards and with it the kid sent the speeder towards the surface of the water before balancing the speeder back to normal again. That fear nagged at the back of her mind, but she had better plans than to listen to some sort of inner voice telling her of what could have happened. Micah made this one personal.

... -ish.

“Okay, so, tell me about the shock grenades.” She grinned once more at her brother. He was bound to know she had a plan here. Not the good kind of plan. The ‘I am getting you back’ kind of plan. The kind of plan in which Kaili flipped the entire speeder upside down and kept on going towards their family home. The water roared just beneath (or perhaps in this case, above) their car and if someone were to stretch an arm out they would without a doubt catch the top layer of a salty spray.

“Do you have a plan on how to build this grenade? Also, tell me about this gravity clamp.”

“Well? I’m listening.”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

By now, one would tell themselves that perhaps pushing Nohei this much was not good for one's longevity.

However, most sapients in the galaxy were not Micah Draith Shamalain Talith -- and Micah, well Micah enjoyed living on the edge. Not to mention, there was a part of him that saw beyond what was going on in the here and now.

Nohei was still very much afraid of crashing.

For as long as he could remember, his younger sister had shaken her tiny fist at the Talith curse and gave it her all to be able to learn how to fly. She suffered scrap after scrap. Crash after crash. Broken bone and several of their parents lectures as stubbornly as genetics made her.

Nohei had been determined to one day soar.

Seeing her ambition and determination - and the fact that his mother was intensely worried - their father created Nohei a good luck charm that would counter that curse. The first time his youngest sister had been able to successfully pilot her way on a vehicle larger than a speeder, she had been beaming with so much joy with the largest grin that could rival Toufles's own.

Micah wanted to see that smile on Nohei again.

So he didn't mind the threats. He didn't mind her spinning the speeder around even as salt spray stung his eyes. No, instead he did what he always did.

He was Nohei's older brother.

No mention of the grenade. Instead, he began a singsong.

"I-iiii can show you the world..." his hand came down, skimming across the surface of the water.

"Shining shimmering SPLASHING!"

With a deft scoop, he sent a handful of saltwater over to splash upon [member="Kaili Talith"].

Yes. And he laughed.

Hard.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Staying upside down required focus. Kaili had pretty much shut the world out by the time Micah had started his song. Mind on the controls, on following her instincts. The very same instincts that told Kaili herself to move. She wasn’t sure at first why she herself would have to move, but the reason why would become apparent soon enough. She felt the water slide against her cheek, into her eyes and nose and splash across the windshield in front of her. Instinct said to toss herself at the wheel, and so she did.

The speeder rose upwards in a loop until it evened itself out again. Kaili, still in shock from her brother’s stupidity, coughed and sneezed as the water slowly made its way through her nose. The vehicle came to a stop with it Kaili’s hands clinged to the wheel almost to the point where Micah could almost see it crack. Her knuckles grew paler and paler. Her hunched head was covered by her hair, but if only Micah could see the distinct red pigment it had picked up in the matter of a few seconds.

Teeth gritting. Fuse about to blow...

“MICAH. DRAITH. SHAMALAIN. TAAAALITH.” She was practically steaming. “WHAT. THE KARK. WAS THAT.”

There was no small measure of... Very immense fear in the tone of her voice, in her very eyes. Kaili hyperventilated, felt her hands let go of the steering wheel, and with it, launch themselves at her brother in very rapid succession. One swing at his pretty little face for each word that came out of her mouth.”

“WE. COULD. HAVE. DIED. WHAT. IS. WRONG. WITH. YOU.”

Her nerves began to wind down. The punches did not.

“I am-... Terrified-... Already-... As it-... is!”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Two strong hands latched themselves upon Nohei’s wrists. There were few times Micah ever used his physical strength against his younger sister. The bulk of the time it was just in silly duels or friendly banter, never anything particularly serious.

This was another matter.

His blunt, calloused fingers laced around her slender wrists, holding her in a firm but gentle grip. He had taken the brunt of her blows without fighting back, but at the point she mentioned she was terrified, when it bled out like some putrid rank from her very core, he simply reacted.

Blood was a metallic tang at the corner of his mouth, the dull ache inconsequential, but the deliberate quickening embers in the Twin Suns of his eyes were not.

“Yes. We could have.” he told her, firmly but simply. There was no joke in his voice. “Or not.” He drew her closer then, until her hair was a gossamer blonde tangle by his face, where she could see the firm flex of his jaw and a seriousness in his expression reminiscent to their father.

“We could have also died by food poisoning. Could have also died on Telti. Could have also died that first crash back when you lost your memory.” his voice was curt, purposeful.

“We are dying the moment we are born Nohei.” he gave her a little shake. “But we choose to live instead.”

“I won’t coddle you. I won’t stop acting the same way I have since you first decided to throw pancake bits at me with your sticky fingers when you were two.” his brows furrowed in determination. In getting it through her head.

“You always struggled with your anger. Yet you overcame it. Fear is just the same. You can let it run your life, inhibit yourself from what you love and become a shadow of what you were… or you can simply attempt to live.” his lips pursed.

“How many times did you crash to learn how to fly?” his fingers flexed upon her wrists. “How many times did you break your bones? Did you come home bleeding pretending you were okay so that father and mum wouldn’t notice?

How many times did you sneak off trying to take apart anything that could get you into the air just to put it back together and try to fly it again? And when you crashed, simply got back up and did it again… and again… and again.” each time it was with pointed emphasis.

“Living life is a risk. Letting fear take over your life is what is going to get you killed Nohei…. letting it ruin your focus and blocking out your gut instincts. Not me splashing you with water.” his voice began to gentle.

“You are a fantastic pilot Nohei… stop blaming yourself for actions that were beyond your control. If anything, you saved us that day--- there was no one else there to do it.” he exhaled through his nose in a frustrated sigh.

“Mum would have tried to do the same. As would I.”

 

[Kaili Talith]

She struggled at first. Eyes welled up by the time Micah grabbed Kaili by the wrists and gave her the most seriously look she could ever remember him putting on. He drew her closer and she did her utmost to listen. Part of her wanted to struggle against that too as if she had something to gain from not listening, but she did listen, and she did remember. Mother’s worry as she got back home with another broken arm and the talking-tos that followed. The amounts of times she had got caught trying to reach the damn thing in the first place. Enough for their father to craft the pendant that hung around her very neck. She closed her eyes to let the tears trickle down her cheeks. The worst of the immediate fear was gone, but the taste still lingered. Like two salty waters drying against her cheek.

“I still see Maila in my dreams.” She finally sobbed up in a hushed whisper. “I think I finally forget what happened, but everytime I do it seems as if my dreams intend to prove me wrong.”

She brought her hand up to wipe away the tears one after another. Her voice, her breath, everything shivered. Fear, anger, regret and remorse. A cocktail of Kaili's deepest fears.

“I was eating with Allyson.” The thought caused her to smile. Almost. It tugged at her lip before fading away. “There were kids there, playing. They screamed like kids do and... Just like that I was there again.”

“How do I stop the fear if it follows me no matter where I go, Micah?” Kaili grabbed the steering wheel. “I don’t know.”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

At that, Micah's jaw gave a slight twitch. Silently, the Talith drew the trembling body of his sister into his embrace. He tucked his chin over the crown of her blonde head, wrapping his arms around her as he held her. He had said that he wouldn't coddle her, but that didn't meant he wouldn't comfort her.

Micah loved his sisters. They may get him annoyed from time to time - more often than not the other way around - but they were always there for one another. They were family. Blood. Their connection went deeper than than perhaps any other family, and maybe that was just Micah being a bit arrogant in that. Blunt callused fingers would start a cafune, his scruffy cheek resting along on top of her head.

"Fear is not real." he said quietly. The sun would reflect off the blue water of the ocean that surrounded them. His bright citrine eyes staring off into the distance. "The only place fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination, causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist." his hand would continue to stroke her hair.

"That is near insanity Nohei." his eyes would fall to her.

"Do not misunderstand me, danger is very real, but fear is a choice."

His voice thickened in emphasis.

"But you can choose who controls it. You." he said deliberately, slowly so that she would understand. "Or it. Who will be the master in this Nohei?"


[member="Kaili Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

She slowly blinked. Holding back the rest of the tears that were trying force their way through the viaducts. Micah wrapped her arms around her and with that she leaned against him. Fear wasn’t real, a construct of human perception. She wouldn’t agree or outright tell herself she was convinced, but to deny Micah had a point would be outright silly. Insanity, perhaps that was the definition that would fall a little too close to home. Spending every waking day since the crash worrying about the small things and blowing them out of proportion on a way that wasn’t really plausible or feasible.

So who was the master of this?

“I am.” She whispered in quiet before clearing her throat and repeating the same just a little louder. “I am.”

She returned the hug in full. Merely leaning in and letting the man wrap himself around her wouldn’t do.

“I will find a way.” Kaili squeezed her brother in what could seem like an effort to suffocate him. A small snicker parted her lips. “You always know what to say, Micah.”

The kid let go. “It’s just... A lot. I’m sorry. I will... I will try to... You know. Get better.”

“But for now, we should get moving.” Kaili had another smirk pulling at her lips as grabbed the steering wheel again. “We’re wasting time.”

Gentle push at the gas pedal to send them on their way.

“...Are you sure we shouldn’t just ask mother for the items we need?”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

That was more like it.

Before [member="Kaili Talith"] pulled away, Micah brought his lips down to press a kiss on the crown of her golden head. Much like Esmae, Nohei had the same blonde hair as their mother, only that Nohei's managed to find the exact shade that the Jedi Master had. With Esmae's constant work outside, it had bleached portions of her blonde hair to an almost platinum hue. Nohei, however, maintained that same shade, if a few sunbleached portions that framed her face.

The ball was all in her court now. Micah had all the faith in his younger sister, but there were times where she would stagnate herself and fixate on a particular item. She had a tendency to worry much like their mum. Actually, there were a lot of things Nohei had a tendency to do much like their mother.

"Good." He told her, the familiar scoundrel grin cutting his face and along the shadow of his jaw. At the query of asking their parents, he gave a slight arch of his eyebrows. He appeared to consider it for a few moments, before giving his youngest sister a look of daring.

"But what would be the fun in that?!" he exclaimed in mock affront. "Half the challage is seeing if we can do it without her knowing!" their mother had excellent hearing. That came from her previous training in Theran Force listening. There was a reason why they would get rapped with the kitchen spoon for sneaking cookies. In their youth, they would all conspire to get that lofty goal. Sometimes they managed, other times a few had to be sacrificed for the greater good.

It all turned out in good fun none the less.

 

[Kaili Talith]

Which in a sense had always struck Nohei as a bit of an oddity. She shared the abilities of their father, yet the personality of their mother. Pedantic cleaner, a staunch pseudo-pacifist with keen senses and a penchant for droids. Some would say she was a good mix of both, and quite frankly she was willing to believe it too. The part about worrying wasn’t how she tended to be. She liked to tell herself that at least. But ever since the crash she had grown increasingly cautious. In a bad way, as was apparent by the methods her brother had to employ to get her out of it. She had a tendency to resurface every now and then, but something just held her back.

Fear. Fear held her back, and everyone was just as tired of it as Kaili was.

Still. Her lips contorted into a smile again as her brother reaffirmed her statement of being in charge of herself. Kaili was the only one who could control her fear without letting fear control her. At least she had all the people around her who helped. Who knows what would have happened if not for them.

She turned to look at her brother again as her smile turned into a grin.

“You know just as well as I do that mother let us take those cookies as kids.” She tried to chuckle. It sounded more like she was clearing her throat. “We were pretty adorable. I don’t think I would have said no either.”

Then again... Seeing if mother still had it in her was exciting in itself...

“But you know what?” Kaili looked back at the ‘road’ again. “Why not?”

“We’ll be doing her a favor, if anything. Make sure she’s still got it, you know?”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Now that was more like it!

Reaching over to his younger sister, Micah took her into his arms and gave her a quick rub on the head, musing the golden hair as it went in all directions,"Good!" he quipped out, grinning from ear to ear in satisfaction at that. Oh their mother most certainly likely still had it. One doesn't simply lose their skills as the Master of Shadows or a Jedi Investigator.

She only became quicker with the spoon! In memory, he pulled his arms from Nohei and rubbed at his shoulder. "You'll go distract her. I'll do the pilfering." odds were that their mother would actually be happy to see and chat with Nohei again. Kira Talith was a worry wart. That much was clear when it came to the kids whereabouts and their well being.