Dancing in Moonlight between the Headstones (complete)

[Muad Dib]

Stashing the grimoire at the small of his back he leaped from the raised dais and pulled his beskad from the floor before moving to where Arabella was. Dropping to a knee his eyes scanned his lover for wounds seeing several injuries before turning to look into the shadows.

"What's a Jia?"

Through their bond he gifted Bella energy as she had done for him. The Force bond between the two had been strengthened and reinforced through shared experiences and he felt the flash emotions that were nearly overwhelming. All he could pull from the muddle of flashing memories was a girl's face.

 

[Jia Darkhold]

The arrow was stopped by the Sorcerer King and sent straight back towards her. The choice made, Jia new the consequences of her actions would most likely end in her demise. But her decision had been made. The freedom to make her own fate was freeing for mere seconds until the knowledge that she was to die became obvious. But even in death, she would be free.

But the arrow was defected by her mother and sent off course. Melting into the shadows she watched in shock as her parents not only defeated Quasi but killed him. Drifting deeper into the darkness she watched in awe as they came together to search for her by name.

So she did what any teenager would do. She fled to get room. Once there she quickly packed her belongings completely lost to the idea that she was the captain of her own fate. But she knew not what she should do. Slowly she sank onto her bed in confusion at the loss of everything she knew and the emergence of her parents that she thought she would meet.

[member="Arabella Darkhold"]

 

[Arabella Darkhold]

[member="Muad Dib"] | [member="Jia Darkhold"]

Bella felt the warmth of the energy given to her by Muadie she was hurt and the pain was reaching overwhelming, but she had to find her. Closing her eyes even as puffs of smoke rose up from her clothing smoldering from the blast by the scepter.

Bella shook her head, "Jia....it's the girl" she whispered knowing Muadie would hear her. She couldn't tell him the other part yet and she knew him well enough that he would figure it out. "She's...."

The force was trembling with emotions that Bella tried desperately to sort out. She slowly made it to her feet. Each breath she took harder than the last she felt the wheezing in her chest she needed Tia. A deep breath and move, she leaned on the wall. Where is she?

Bella tried something else.

Telepathy

Where are you Jia don't...be afraid..please don't run.

Bella slid down the wall again she knew she had more resolve than this. What to do? She looked for Muadie.

"Muadie, search your feelings, search the force.....see it there...I know you can." Of course he could...they had found each other many times in the force even before the bond. He could find Jia.

 

[Muad Dib]

Taking a knee beside Arabella he lightly brushed her cheek as he tried to decipher her incomprehensible words. But it wasn't the words that brought revelation. Diving into their bond he searched her emotions and thoughts and slowly began unraveling the mystery that had overwhelmed her. Placing his other arm gently around her he placed his forehead against hers and breathed, still feeding her energy from his reserves while seeking the answer that was eluding him.

With a snarl he jerked away from her, breaking their physical contact and attempting to clamp down on his side of their bond. Reeling back he stumbled as the knowledge threatened to overwhelm him. Rage and anger rolled from him as flames in an inferno.

"No. No. No. No. No. This cannot be. This can't be. No."

Roaring in anguished rage he turned and punched one of the pillars to focus on the pain that radiated from split flesh. With blood dropping from his hand he turned back to Arabella, his eyes guarded and spoke in a subdued voice.

"Go. Find her. I won't."

Turning away from her he moved away into the darkness, shrouding his presence as his form moved past the throne and into a separate chamber.

[member="Arabella Darkhold"]

 

[Arabella Darkhold]

[member="Muad Dib"]

Warmth and fire his presence filled her with energy. The gentleness that he handled her could only be shown by someone who knew love. She loved him with all that was hers to give. Then when it seemed he had found what she begged him to see he jerked away with such force she nearly fell over. She watched him retreat hearing the harshness of his tone.

What to do?

She shook her head she felt better the blood seemed to have stopped.

She looked in the direction Muadie had gone. She wasn't sure but perhaps she understood.

Neither of them had really thought that they'd find one person to truly be who they were with. A soul mate. A bond mate. A playmate. She smiled she treasured their memories.

He however had always thought he would be alone. That in all the fights he had been that he would have died by now. A number of times she thought he would have too. Sheer panic at the thought of him leaving of him dying pushed her to live every day with him to the fullest that they could. In their hearts and minds they were married by an unbreakable bond.

They never discussed children. She being a creation made in a test tube. He in his madness. Children were not considered.

then she reached out to Muadie.

She might not be our child. It could just be something he told her for her cooperation. We should test her be certain before we react. But I know this she's alone. You and I both know what alone is, how it feels. If she's a pawn its best she be told. If she is more then we have to decide what to do, how to react. But Muadie, I need your strength right now. I need the madman with me so that I can do this. don't make me face this alone. In our toughest times you have never left. I know you'd rather fight 10 rancors right now. Be strong come back.

She peered to the darkness would he come back, she turned to look the other way. She didn't want to go alone. What if she was their child? How? When?...it had to be a lie. In the back of her mind it felt like truth. But she needed proof.

 

[Muad Dib]

Pushing through the doors into the room filled with treasures, weapons, and artifacts he should have been in gleeful wonder. Yet all he saw was a red rage that threatened to overwhelm him. He was not a father, a family man, a good influence. How could he even believe it to be so. He was made for war and death, not peace and life.

Through their bond he still could feel as Arabella spoke to him attempting to comfort him and pull him from his dark reveries, attempting to placate him with the idea that Quasi had kied and orchestrated the memories. That the Sorcerer King had created the scenario that had him dead and them with a daughter. Worse then that he sensed that Arabella truly believed the youth to be their daughter. And that shook him to his core.

Attempting to contain his fury he felt the cajoling of Bella as she played to his ego and pride. He didn't fear anything, he didn't run from anything, he was bull headed and stubborn. Yet the thought that he could have a child frightened him. He was no father. He had taken enough sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, he had no right to be one himself.

You know I won't leave you, but this .... I'm not equipped to handle. I'm no father. I'm a killer.... Bring on the rancors ....

Slowly he left the treasure room and made his way back to Arabella's side. His body was rigid and his mind aflame with the possibility, the one thing he never imagined could happen.

[member="Arabella Darkhold"]

 

[Arabella Darkhold]

[member="Muad Dib"]

"Neither of us were meant to be parents Muadie. You know my origins, my father created me. I am....not like others. We are not like others." Bella sighed shaking her head, "we never talked about children because we never thought to have them. It was enough we had each other."

She felt him coming closer and drew a comfort from this, she turned her head and spoke to the darkness, "I'll fight the rancors with you. You and me against them all." She looked up to see his eyes blazing blue and the emotions he felt she tried to absorb. She could take on some of it but not all.

"I don't know anything about children, and she's not a child she's..grown." Bella reached up for Muadie to pull him down to sit with her while her strength grew. The calmer she became the clearer the force became to her. She put her head to Muadie's shoulder. "I'm afraid my love. You have always been the stronger of us. I"m selfish and self centered, and all about you. I know nothing of.......mothering. I've had no mother..."

She drew another breath it was easier to breathe now. "we can go rancor hunting after this." She smiled hoping she had eased his mind just enough.

 

[Muad Dib]

"I killed my own mother. And father."

He smiled weakly down at Arabella as he felt the emotional rollercoaster she was on. He was oh too familiar with the drama of her parentage and the way she came to be. At times he figured he had it easier then her. The expectation thrust upon her was more difficult then being completely free of a parent's wishes for their child.

Placing an arm around her waist he raised them both up to their feet and looked into her eyes, usually a cobalt blue, but occasionally an onyx black. No matter what color her eyes were he knew the soul beneath them. There was a child like innocence within her. A carefree attitude that guided her. Despite having the ole Mando grump, Sith Lord, Darkhold as a father and the strict, high court, former queen Organa for a mother Bella was her own person.

"Let us go and see what we shall see. Together."

Opening himself to the force and their bond he followed the senses they both had that told them where to go. So they began travelling the dark hallways towards their destination. Their child.

[member="Arabella Darkhold"]

 

[Arabella Darkhold]

[member="Muad Dib"]

It was a slow walk for them both following a link to another that knew nothing of them and yet had helped to save their lives. It had to be confusing Bella glanced towards Muadie knowing he was lost in thought.

She saved us ya know. She didn't have to, she could have killed us. Bella chose not to speak outloud, words carried and she didn't want the girl Jia to hear. Bella could feel the sticky blood on her arms as her shirt began to stick to it. She needed a shower.

Do we have to be different now? She stopped for a moment a touch of panic in her eyes. Words hung in her mouth she couldn't speak them. Does she hate us?

My god there were so many questions, so much to try and know and understand and yet beneath it all something said to her, my child.

They made a turn in the hall ahead of them dimly lit a light filtered from beneath a door. Was this it? Were they ready to push that door open.

I love you always Muadie no matter what.

She needed to say it hear it feel it. Fear bubbled inside her.

 

[Jia Darkhold]

The rucksack was tossed over her shoulder and she paused at the bed, slipping the vials into the pocket of her jacket. A final glance was all she could spare to her room, her home, all she had known that was stable in her life. And she was leaving it behind. First Quasi then her room. Nothing would ever be the same. Especially not her.

Raising the hood Iver her head she walked to the door and opened it to step into the hall. But suddenly she paused and went into a crouch, curved daggers appearing in either hand as she saw her 'parents' mere meters away. Her glowing blue eyes were visible beneath the hood until slowly they turned dark. An obsidian.

These two had created her. And they had destroyed everything. Her life had been because of the strength they had shown, and they had destroyed her present in killing the Sorcerer King. Now she had nothing. All she had was herself. A growl escaped her lips as she began to back away, eyes unwavering from their forms.

[member="Arabella Darkhold"] I [member="Muad Dib"]

 

[Muad Dib]

"Since when do we conform to anything?"

His smile offered to [member="Arabella Darkhold"] was genuine. He could feel her need for affirmation through their bond as if this single event could change everything. And it well may, but some things were unchangeable. He shared his first feelings of her deep within the Temple, the moment he felt her during the BattleLord ritual, the anguish as he choked the life from her on Tatooine, the visit on Alderaan and the cabin. It was unmistakable. As unmistakable as the fact that the youth that stood before them in the hall now was, indeed, their child.

Moving from Bella he watched the eyes of the youth flicker from glowing blue to black as night. He could sense the power that existed in her form. But he also felt her fear. She was in the cusp of either fight or flight, and he did what was unnatural for him.

Taking several steps forward slowly, Muad closed the gap between them and watched the young woman as she tensed. He eased to his knees and kept his eyes locked on Jia. He was showing he wasn't there to attack by taking a subservient position. But his eyes held her to show that he saw her. He knew.

"I never knew you existed ... Jia.... You have nothing to fear from me. If you wish you could strike me down right now, and I wouldn't stop you. I don't have the answers. I don't even know the questions right now. But what I can offer is something that I didn't have until I was grown into adulthood. People who won't turn their back on you. People who will fight for you. Someone who has been and done things no sane person would or could, and that person will never judge you."

He watched as the youth looked from his kneeling form to Arabella standing behind him.

 

[Arabella Darkhold]

Bella couldn't help but smile as she watched him move towards Jia. This was a side of Muadie that she had only seen ever. This gentleness, this understanding a side that few ever would know existed.

She moved slowly herself.

"I don't know what you've been told about anything. But I can feel a mixture of emotions within you. Fear. Hate. Anger. We know these emotions. We live every day with them. They help make the days go by. We can be with you, we can find our way together. I don't know anything about you. But I want to learn. I want to there. Muadie and I both want to be there." She wasn't sure what to say she was so lost with all of this except that she knew if she was a parent she wanted to do things that her mother had never.

Be there.

She watched her face unsure of what else simmered below the surface with that growl. She put her hand on Muadie's shoulder. "if anything let us take you away from this place. You look like you want to leave anyhow." She half smiled.

[member="Muad Dib"] [member="Jia Darkhold"]

 

[Jia Darkhold]

In a moment, a mere second, she had chosen to fire upon the Sorcerer King. And because of her actions everything had changed. The Sorcerers of Tund had lost much today. They would rebuild eventually, but did she wish to continue to be a puppet of death for the new regime? This was her chance to escape, if nothing else. But here, in front of her, were her parents. Another opportunity she never thought she would have.

As she listened to these people, Jiaasjen straightened slowly. Whether she was to find a common ground and a place with Arabella and Muad, they were her opportunity to escape. Her eyes eased back from their onyx to a glowing blue. Then from glowing to cobalt blue. Eyes that were the same as her mother's. Tightening her grip on to her pack she nodded slowly.

"I'll go with you, but I can't promise anything else."

 

[Muad Dib]

"A beginning is all we ask."

Rising from the floor his eyes flicked to Bella as he nodded as well. Life was never easy, nor was it without pain. But it was worth living. Like this situation. Finding out you had a grown daughter nearly was overwhelming, but to have something you never dared dream of, was a priceless thing. Motioning toward the hall he turned to [member="Arabella Darkhold"] with a smirk.

"Lead the way, oh great matriarch."

Tund had offered answers to unknown questions while delivering new questions as of yet unfathomable. Was he ready to be a father? Did he wish to be a father? Was he capable of being a father? Once he thought he knew the answer, but in light of new events he wasn't so sure anymore.

As he went to follow Bella he turned his head and saw that Jiaasjen had begun to glide along in their wake. He offered a half smile to the girl before turning back to Bella. The future was always changing

 

[Arabella Darkhold]

Fin