Finding Tranquility

[Allyson Locke]

Allyson stared at Jyoti with a confused look. She blinked quickly, confused as to why she was failing at this. Leaning back away, she pondered what was going on. A hand covered her mouth as she tried to figure out where she had gone wrong. There had to be something flawed with her approach.

“I was sure…Are you lying?” Groaning, Allyson focused harder this time and stared at the card. Once again, the image of the armored person with a large sword appeared in the back of her mind. Cursing, she frowned.

“I’m getting the same thing again. It’s a dude with a sword and some armor a mando? Yeah It’s a Mandalorian with a sword.” Allyson was confident this time and she was prepared to wrestle the card from Jyoti’s hands to prove it.

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

For a few moments, she thought about messing with Allyson again, but the Corellian looked like she was about ready to snatch the card away from her - Charlie this was not.

"Okay, okay, just chill. Here it is."

Slowly, she flipped the card around, revealing that Allyson had been right all along.

"I'm sorry, love. Good job." She broke out into a big smile, then leaned in to give her a kiss. It was risky out in public, but she felt like Allyson deserved that one now.

She leaned back, shuffling the cards again. "It's still just so surreal witnessing you tap into abilities in full. Everything between us just feels so complete now. I just..."

She trailed off, so jittery from excitement. Allyson had awakened, and now she was going to become a Jedi. She didn't believe in fate, but this moment had her coming close to changing her mind.

"Ah...ready to continue?"

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

The frustration faded from her face as Jyoti showed her the card. She was right all along, but before she could express herself, the Echani woman surprised her. The softness of lips touching threw the Corellian off as her expression melted into a sheepish smile. To hear the excitement in the woman’s voice made Allyson continue to smile – forgetting that she was tricked earlier.

“It feels like I’m doing something right. Like I felt so lost and then this morning I woke up and everything felt like it was finally falling into place. Maybe that’s what I needed something just to trigger the right order of things?” Allyson shrugged and reached out and caressed the hands of her love.

“This is the second-best day of my life. I feel you so much more now. Like completely and it’s amazing.” Allyson couldn’t help herself, she was so excited by the new experience. “Let’s do some more – I want to see what I can do.” Seeing success was a good feeling and she wanted to learn as much as possible now. As much as the whole Jedi concept made her nervous, as long as Jyoti was there to help ease her into it – she welcomed the newness of her life.

“What kind of stuff can you do with this sensory stuff? Is it like when I sense out uh hyperlanes and routes in hyperspace?

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

Jyoti smiled and nodded, picking out three new cards from the reshuffled deck.

"Extrasensory perception," she corrected, "or ESP for short. You're right, though, Instinctive astrogation is but a form of ESP. Basically, it's the ability to perceive the world beyond your normal senses. That's why you're hearing all the "voices" you described earlier - you're perceiving the world around you on a metaphysical level now."

She held up all three cards at once (x,x,x) to give Allyson more of a challenge this time. Her senses were actually pretty good from what Jyoti could tell.

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

Allyson nodded with the explaining of what this was all about. She wondered if this was something the padwans did while they were younglings. Thinking about that made Allyson feel a bit behind on things. Focusing again on the cards she blinked seeing that Jyoti had grabbed three of them.

“Well at least its something that I’ve kind of done before…but three?” Allyson looked straight into the silver orbs of the Master and shook her head with a smile. “Okay. Let’s see…” She focused on the back of the first card maybe dividing and conquering would work. That didn’t prove to be as effective though. She as welcomed to several images at once.

“Gross some weird sith spawn on a boney horse and some tower in the distance?” They couldn’t all be the same image, so she tried harder to separate each image. Tilting her head, she opened her eyes back at the Echani and smirked. “Do I get x-ray vision if I train this?”

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

Jyoti rolled her eyes. She would like to think that Allyson was just joking, but then she was...adventurous.

"No Allyson, I think you've read too many comics. You got all the cards right, though. Impressive."

She dropped the cards back on the deck, then set it down on the bench between them. Next, she raised her hand. Moments later, a few leaves would gracefully land atop an outstretched palm. Depending on how keen Allyson's sense was at that point, she may have been able to follow Jyoti interacting with the hedges to summon a few leaves with telekinesis.

"With just your thoughts, try to take a leaf from my hand, and transfer it to your own."

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

Allyson grinned as she saw the eye roll and the comment about her comic book addiction. Shrugging, Allyson continued to grin. “You can’t blame me, it would uh, be a helpful tool in the field right?” They both knew what Allyson would want to use the power for, nothing pertaining to the field.

She watched as the leaves made their way rather gracefully to Jyoti’s hand. It was a curious thing and she wondered how long it took the woman to gain the control to do this. It wasn’t hard to figure out that it was telekinesis that was doing the movement. The whole concept of it is what Allyson had grown up understanding was “the force”, the more she learned about it though the more she realized there was a lot more to it than moving things with your mind.

“Alright shouldn’t be too hard.” Staring at the leaves, the Corellian tried to focus the energy she felt - just like she did when she would control the electromagnetic fields around machines. It was hard to differentiate between Jyoti and the energy around the leaves, but she focused a bit more and soon the leaves blew back into Jyoti’s face.

“Uh oh wow, I’m sorry.” Allyson tried to help clean up the leaves, but laughed all the same.

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

"Me, I just use good old fashion charm if I ever fancy a gander," she quipped right back. The Jedi certainly didn't need the Force removing knickers.

It was amusing that Allyson thought she would move the leaves perfectly in the first go, but she held back her snorts until after Allyson made her attempt and flung the leaves into her face.

"Oh it's fine," she said, chuckling with Allyson. "That's why we started with feathers rather than rocks."

She could remember testing another initiate with some smooth pebbles without thinking much about it. On that initiate's first attempt, she struck her own chest with enough force to leave a bruise. Jyoti wasn't keen on letting Allyson give her a black eye here.

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

Reaching over, Allyson pulled a stray leaf from Jyoti’s hair and blew it from her hand. The laughter calmed down and she nodded. “Makes sense. Though you should have all the faith in me to pick this up quickly.” Her voice deepened as she puffed out her chest and spoke of her greatness. “I am Allyson Locke, the greatest Jedi to ever set foot upon the Rest.” She exhaled with laughter and fixed her brunette hair from her face.

“Still feels odd even trying this. When I was younger I remember meeting a Jedi. My father was showing him around the ships that he was designing. We ate dinner with him and he was really cool. He did the leaf thing, just with my brother’s toy soldiers.” Talking about her family was usually painful, but something made her want to have Jyoti know them, like she did. “I remember the stories he told. I wished and wished I could do the things he could, but never happened so I gave up.”

Finally, the joy she had been feeling pushed back the surprise and the fear, “Everything feels like its falling into place.” Nodding, she fixed herself and grabbed the Echani woman’s porcelain toned hand. She put the leaves back into her palm and smiled. “I want to try again.” Focusing harder, her tanned face started to show some red as she focused as hard as she could. This time the leaves moved and levitated for just a moment, but then puttered out of Jyoti’s hand to the side of the bench.

Allyson gasped for air as she smiled just happy over the small movement that occurred. “I kind of did it! Right?!”

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

Jyoti was quiet the whole time, but she listened to everything Allyson had to say, feeling special as the enigmatic Corellian revealed more of her past as a child.

Allyson tried once more, displaying more effort than Jyoti had ever seen out of her before. Even if she didn't succeed, Jyoti was pleased she was at least try ing to apply herself.

She would, in fact, fail again, but she did display more control in the process. That was good in Jyoti's book.

"Yes, yes you did." she replied, reaching out to give Allyson a pat on the shoulder in congratulations. "You're much farther than when you started yesterday - as recently as then you couldn't even be able to make the leaf budge. Let try a few more times."

She summoned the leaves back to her hand for the third time, then waited for Allyson to try again.

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

[SIZE=10pt]Exhaling, Allyson watched how easily Jyoti placed the leaves back into her hand. It was inspiring yet also somewhat defeating in a way. Here she as probably not much younger than the Echani and she couldn’t even move leaves with the Force. A small mental reminder that she had never done anything like this before, nothing beyond making machines bend to her will. Though putting it like that made her sound like a monster. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]“I’m starting to get a headache, that normal?” Maybe it was because Allyson was focusing for once in her life. Mechu Deru was something she could do in her sleep, she did it without effort along with Instinctive Astrogation. Those things just appeared and happened for her, she had some training with it with Kaili – but nothing repetitive. Doing this, it was something that pushed her and she enjoyed it for the most part. What helped is feeling the joy coming from the Echani in front of her. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Another exhale as Allyson focused on the leaves. She focused on pretending she was physically picking them up. The leaves shook in Jyoti’s hand as Allyson’s face started to turn red slightly from the focus. The fact that she held her breath probably was the reason she was getting a headache, but still her eyes focused and she felt the shift in the Force around her levitating the leaves for just a moment and then blowing them all which ways, but not giving up, the Corellian focused on one of the leaves and guided it from its flight into her hand.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]A cheeky smile spread across the red faced Corellian. “I did it!” [/SIZE]

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

Allyson made have finished beat red in the face, but she had done it, moving at least one of the leaves. Jyoti studied the leaf in her hand for a few moments, then slowly closed her fingers.

"Well done," Jyoti complimented, reaching out to caress Allyson on the cheek. "I knew you had it in you. We've gotten past the first big hurdle, now it only gets easier as you understand what to do. It's really just a matter of exercising your mind like a muscle. However, for now, we should take a break."

She really didn't want the Corellian popping a blood vessel, which seemed a real risk at this point. She gave Allyson a pat on the thigh, then swung back on the bench to enjoy the scene of the garden around them.

"I think this is a good time to meditate and reflect on your progress."

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

[SIZE=10pt]Allyson smiled, she was a bit lightheaded from the strain. The compliment and the touch to her face made her smile. Progress was something she hadn’t expected. Hearing Jyoti say that she knew the ability was inside of the Corellian, made Allyson smile wider. It was hard to believe in yourself at times, but with the support of others it made it easier. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Maybe Allyson had it all wrong about the Jedi or maybe she had just met some weird ones. Either way, this path oddly felt right. Moving to put her feet on the ground as they sat at the bench, she looked up towards the sky and sighed. “It’s so weird seeing the leaf move, to feel everything like this.” Eyes closed and Allyson focused on the feeling of the others that were around her, the buzzing of machines didn’t fade, it was just in tune with the greater buzzing. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]“Jyoti, how did your training go? I don’t think we’ve ever talked about it.” Allyson looked over at her partner on the bench and shrugged. They were both private – she only barely touching on her own past with the woman despite everything. Allyson didn’t expect much in the form on an answer, but curiosity still got her. [/SIZE]

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

"You never showed an interest," Jyou reminded Allyson during her idle gazing. "Even when you started living at the Rest, you hardly ever came over until I asked."

That fact had honestly irked her, but she chalked it up to the fact that Allyson was wary after several negative experiences with other Jedi. She had met some of them herself back in the day, finding them all callous and self-absorbed.

It was little wonder that a Sith Lord like Taeli fit right in.

"In the beginning, I was classically trained at the old temple on Coruscant. I was slated to obtain a master, but the Sith killed him during their razing of the original temple there. For a while, I neglected my training altogether, focused on fighting for the Republic as a Padawan. Not that I could have done much if I had stayed with the Jedi anyway - most of them had abandoned the Republic at that point."

She was still quite bitter about how the Jedi had turned its back on the Republic, all because of the lame actions because of their pissing contests with the Senate, right when the people needed them the most. For the longest time, she had resented both the NJO and SJO because of this.

But now the NJO was gone, while the SJO was under her thumb.

Even in death, the Republic had the final laugh.

"However, I completed my training with the Silver Order on Voss after the fall of the GR. From Padawan to Grandmaster. A good run I suppose."

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

[SIZE=10pt]Allyson smiled sheepishly as Jyoti reminded her that she wasn’t that interested when they had met. It was hard, the Corellian didn’t want to put someone she was fond of into the pile of those that she didn’t fully trust. As time went on, she realized she was wrong – but it was because of knowing Jyoti outside of the Jedi. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Closing her eyes softly, she listened. She remembered hearing from Ember about everything that was happening with the Republic and the Sith, they seemed to have avoided all of that as much as possible knowing that they were meant to fight something else. Once the Republic fell Allyson found herself being drawn in by the Alliance – especially after Corellia. Her nose wrinkled trying not to think about what had happened then. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]“A good run indeed.” Allyson’s hand rested on the bench, she reached out to find Jyoti’s and when it did, she held the woman’s hand and ran her thumb softly against it. “I’m sorry.” She looked towards Jyoti and nodded. “I let bad experiences with the Jedi in the Alliance prevent me from asking about a part of you.” Allyson gave Jyoti a grin as she shrugged. “Good thing you didn’t give up on me.” Usually now Allyson would be her typical pride filled Corellian self, but instead she gave Jyoti’s hand a squeeze. “I wouldn’t get to know how amazing you are. So, if your afternoon and evening are open. How does a walk outside of the Rest sound? A dinner by the lake, I’ll cook.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]With Jyoti having so many hats to wear within the Silver Jedi, there was always something tying up her schedule. They had spent the evening and most of the day together, but maybe she could steal the woman away from her duties a little longer.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt][member="Jyoti Nooran"][/SIZE]

 

[Eugen Aker]

"Mmm." was all she would answer at first as Allyson was showering her with compliments.

Thinking about how she had come from the Republic to the Silver Order, she was reminded that Allyson too had gone to the Galactic Alliance.

"I don't think so," replied, still just staring forward at the well-manicured foliage. "There's work I've been putting off. However, dinner would be lovely."

She patted Allyson on the thigh, then stood. "Surpise me with something tasty. I'll see you later. Keep up the good work."

Jyoti, in fact, slip away to have a walk, but it would be alone.

Unpleasant memories had been stirred, and now she was on a personal journey to find tranquility once more.

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

[SIZE=10pt]Allyson smiled softly as Jyoti mentioned her work, the pat on the thigh and the compliment seemed a little off. “I’ll make something good, don’t work too hard…” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]As the Echani moved past her, Allyson’s smile faded slightly. She picked up on something maybe it as because of the whole being connected to the Force the way she was, but she stood up and followed behind the woman. The joy that had graced them through the morning was gone and Allyson figured it probably had to do with the question she had asked. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Standing from the bench, Allyson wasn’t going to let her walk away feeling like this. Allyson was surprised how quickly the other woman walked, it took her a minute but the Corellian caught up. Arms brushed against each other as she took a place next to Jyoti, matching her stride and walking close she remained quiet for a moment. Remembering times when she was feeling out of sync and the comforting feeling she had felt from other Jedi even Jyoti – Allyson focused on that feeling, hoping it would help. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]She would walk in silence for a moment, Allyson folded her arms loosely across her chest as she nodded. “You don’t have to say anything, I’m here for you, always.” Allyson continue to accompany Jyoti, “At least let me walk you to your office, so you don’t have to be alone.” A slight nudge brushed against the other woman as they continued to walk. [/SIZE]

[member="Jyoti Nooran"]

 

[Eugen Aker]

By then, she was caught up reminiscing about her Republic days with the shocking clarity that came with a digitized brain, so she was taken by surprise as Allyson caught up to her to offer some support. Jyoti would have preferred to be left alone, but she didn't want to hurt Allyson's feelings as the Corellian was making an effort to comfort her.

"It's no big deal, really, but sure, I'd like that."

She let wold memories pass as she focused on the present and took in her immediate surroundings. Her beautiful lover at her side. By the end of her walk, she felt much better, accepting that nothing good would come from lamenting over the past.

Right at the closed door to her office, she stopped and turned to face the smaller woman. "Thank you for coming after me, I needed that. So I'll see you later tonight?"

[member="Allyson Locke"]

 

[Allyson Locke]

[SIZE=10pt]Allyson smiled softly, they had walked the way in silence, but it was perfect. She enjoyed just being around the Jedi, feeling her presence even more now. Having force awakened in her was something incredible and she didn’t know that there was something more she could feel. Jyoti faced her and thanked her. The Corellian nodded and looked up at the face of her love. “Anytime, I’ll chase after you till the end of time.” [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]The urge to pull the woman into a kiss grew but being outside the Echani’s office meant they were around others that could have seen. Eyes fell and stared at the ground for just a moment as Allyson contemplated the upcoming evening. Looking back into the endless silver pools of Jyoti’s eyes, she exhaled softly and nodded. “I’ll have everything ready, our spot tonight. Come hungry. Don’t work too hard, don’t want you to be too tired.” Allyson teased. [/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt]Times like this, Allyson wished she could stop time just to have a moment with the woman who cared for deeply.[/SIZE]

[SIZE=10pt][member="Jyoti Nooran"][/SIZE]