Reflection

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Avalore Eden"]

"If i said no, would you drink the bottle alone or find another poor sap to drink it with you?" he asked before quickly adding: "Yes, I could manage another glass please."

He took a moment to finish the last if his fish, setting the cutlery back on his plate. He supposed she would have a lot of grateful Jedi and soldiers on hand. People with limbs still in place because of the healer. She was basically a battlefield surgeon, setting up shop not that far from the front lines. Took bravery and a whole heap of determination to out herself through that. He'd been in those places enough times to know he wouldn't like to work there.

"So when do you need to leave by and i can work to that?" he asked.

 

[Avalore Eden]

The Healer mock-scowled at her Jedi companion.

"...maybe."

Not really.

Jacen had finished the last bottle so she opened the wine cabinet to pick around for another. Wasn't actually much wine around the Homestead - a few bottles, but [member="Gabriel Sionoma"] had been puttering about with concocting mead out of the extra honey. There was several small bottles of that settled into the shelf notches but she let those be. Avalore wasn't sure he'd even opened the first bottle yet - best to wait for him.

"Riesling. Someone from the Republic gave this to me at the last Convocation. Let's hope it's less bitter than its source, hm?" she smirked and poked about for the corkscrew.

"Flight out is in two days, in the evening. Think the itinerary said it's a three or four day trip to Corellia from here with a couple of stops along the way. Think you can handle being alone with me for that long?" Scar-riddled hands struggled with the corkscrew opener, finer mobility apparently taking the night off, "Oh-ffffff-feathers. That's all you, big guy. Are you done with this?" She set the bottle on the counter before him and motioned to his plate.

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Avalore Eden"]

"Heh, swap then," he said, sliding his plate over and taking the bottle. He frowned in exertion as the stubborn cork refused to give. For a moment he started to worry that he was going to be rather amusingly shamed by the bottle.

Then it gave and he exaggerated a sigh. Her glass was out of reach, so he called it over with a absent wave of one hand and poured a couple of glasses.

"Once knew a man whose party trick was to open a wine bottle with a shoe and a wall. Kind of beat me ability to open bottle caps with bare hands."

Jacen took a sip of wine. "If it's two days, it's two days. [member="Lilin Imperieuse"] can fill in for my classes."

He smiled warmly as a thought hit him. "If I couldn't manage a few I'd probably put more effort into staying out of your care. What was it last time, a week? Anyway, to a pleasant, trip with no Sith interference!" he said, holding up his glass.

 

[Avalore Eden]

"A shoe...really?"

A warm smile did slowly make it's way onto Avalore's face at Jacen's closing statement. Too true, how often he and the others were in her care. She knew that her routine was strict and more often than not an annoyance on their part, but she'd seen her friends healthy and mended if it meant sacrificing all her own creature comforts.

She raised her glass to his, "To smooth sailing."


~~~~


Two days came and went faster than a blink. With Stali and Gabe out on missions, Avalore would see her first true test of faith for the care of her children in another. A local girl by the name of Jessa had helped the Healer out on several short notice occasions by babysitting the boys with the help of Vaet and Dick. Vaet would be back and forth between the Homestead and Sullust, so a more permanent house-sitter was needed. Jessa had proven competent before, but this would be her first gambit on her own.

"Love the new look, Miss Eden," said the girl as she struggled to hold a squirming Destin in her arms and keep Armaud from running after Avalore as she ducked into her taxi, "good luck!"

"Mumum!" Destin was crying, "mummmmmmmmmmaaaaahh-"

Armaud made grabby hands at the taxi.

Avalore bit at her lips and without further ado decided a speedy exit was best. Prolonging the goodbye would only make the boys worse, "Mumum will be back soon! Jessa call me if you need anything. Vaet will be back tomorrow evening."

"Sure thing Miss Eden. We'll be fine!"


Some time later she stepped out of the speeder, hoisting the strap to her duffel bag over her shoulder. The steps into the small starport at Baron's Hed were quickly beneath her feet and she strode in with eyes of pale blue whisking across the myriad people milling about. Avalore wasn't sure what Jacen's disguise was set to be but her own was enough of a change to throw even her off her own trail. Blond hair, a bit of rouge, makeup she hadn't applied since her days at the Corellian Academy, long before Jedi robes had become part of her wardrobe. Civilian clothes took the place of those Healer robes though she couldn't bring herself to break away from the blue. It was her favorite color, after all.

Spoiler

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

Jacen was leaning back on a bench with his hands behind his head. A cap covered most of his face, but he spotted Avalore from beneath it. A half can't of his head to one side followed before he waved her over. Blonde hair suited her well and he couldn't remember a time seeing her out if robes. Conversely he looked as if he'd aged a decade. They beard was more gray than black and it inched something fierce. They'd put small strips under his skin to slightly change the shape of his eyes, but these also deepened the crows feet.

"I think you got the best deal here," he said with a low chuckle. "Blonde suits you well, whilst my beard simply itches"

He swung a bag over his shoulder; Jacen had never been on to pack heavily for a short trip. "So how are we travelling for the first leg?"

http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2015/03/03/260678D000000578-0-image-a-43_1425340877620.jpg

 

[Avalore Eden]

"Ohhh..." an amused grin filled Avalore's features as she stepped over, "how fun. Salt and pepper isn't so bad on you."

She imagined [member="Gabriel Sionoma"] would have gotten a good laugh out of this. If anyone had the S&P look going for him, it was Gabe. Good to know he'd have competition in the future, though she was sure it would be several years before Jacen let himself go enough to maintain a full beard. Military standards, and all.

"We have a charter flight off Sulon that will take us to the Tyrus Cluster, from there we board the Empress Liu Starliner that travels along the Hydian Way. At Denon we have a transfer layover and catch a Corellian Run shuttle that will take us to Corellia. It'll be about two days worth of travel by the time we get planetside. Hope you have a holobook."

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Avalore Eden"]

“I can only imagine that if I grew it myself – not that mine would be so grey obviously – that it wouldn’t itch so damn much,” Jacen complained as adjusted his bag and followed Avalore towards departures.

“First half of the journey sounds like it’ll be nice and comfortable, but my back’ll be in a state after the second half I’m sure,” he said. He glanced at Avalore sheepishly out of the corner of his eye. “Sorry, that was remarkably inappropriate given the nature of the trip sorry. Also didn’t pack a book. Should grab something before we go.”

He hadn’t actually known Avalore before all the drama surrounding Chevu. Often it was easy to fall into the role of parent in the home and then get away only to spend the time talking about children. Hopefully he’d see a bit more of Avalore over the trip. He actually struggled to think of something she might like other than medicine and the twins. That wasn't really an acceptable footing for a friendship.

 

[Avalore Eden]

"I'll be right there complaining with you, no worries," the Healer gave a half grin, "Baron's Hed doesn't have much in the way of shoppes but there should be plenty on the Starliner once we get to it. It has an entire floor devoted to wringing every credit chit out of you, apparently."

They were aboard the Sulon charter flight soon enough and settled into their seats with the baggage stowed beneath. Well, the physical baggage, anyways. There was certainly plenty of mental and emotional baggage being toted along for the trip, but Avalore was attempting to keep things positive for both their sakes.

Avalore didn't want the window seat, so she gave it to Jacen, and sat releasing a slow breath as the ship moved into takeoff procedure.

"I really need to get a full time nanny, I don't think Jessa is up to the task. Thank the Force for Vaet."

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Avalore Eden"]

Jacen shrugged in his seat, manoeuvring it backwards as far as it would go. "Makes sense I suppose. As much as we all try and cycle through those doors there come times when all of us go forwards." He avoided saying why they would all leave together. No point talking loudly about being at the centre of each thrust into One Sith space. "Also if the pair of them ganged up on Vaet they might actually be able to pin him down."

A wry smile on his lips, he turned to look out the window. He didn't feel a thing as the blue turned to navy before affording him a view of the planet below. Inertial dampeners tended to be set to their highest on commercial flights. They could just about crash into an asteroid and he wouldn't feel a thing until he was flattened against the rocks. Canting his head to one side, Jacen was struck by a curious sensation. He was no prophet and wasn't particularly skilled at separating his own thoughts and feelings from warnings in the Force. That was what happened when you spent so much time learning to use it to hit things. However on this occasion he had the growing sensation that he was actually going to put Avalore in danger through his presence and not the other way around.

Without a firm grasp of the possibilities he decided not to concern Avalore with this for now. Nothing was likely to emerge until their run towards Sith space anyway.

"So you grew up on Corellia?"

 

[Avalore Eden]

A smile, a chuckle, the Healer clasped her hands on the armrests of her seat, "Oh poor Vaet..."

It wouldn't be long till the boys could pin the tiny Jedi down on their own, diminutive as he was. Luckily Armaud had little in the way of dominance or aggression issue, but Destin on the other hand... well, she suspected he was going to be a challenge all on his own. Fiesty little green thing that he was.

The break of silence did not bother her as the ship shivered and jittered through takeoff. Inertial dampeners could only smooth the launch so much - especially for a small Baron's Hed transport like this. They weren't exactly living amidst the rich and famous and Baron's Hed certainly was no metropolis. Really, just a dust ball on the dry horizon of Sulon.

"Hm?" she'd been distracted with people-watching and turned to her companion, "Oh...yes, I did. I am a native - born and raised. I knew Coronet City like the back of my hand." Of course what she knew of present Coronet City was a different story. So much of her homeworld had been lost during Netherworld - a loss that only compounded her own personal unfortunates. The thought grew a pinch in her chest somewhere between her two lungs, causing a mild grimace to form on the Healer's face.

"I miss it," she said over strained words before forcibly clearing her throat and looking away, "like many people do, I'm sure."

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Avalore Eden"]

A pang of regret for asking such a blunt question had Jacen turn away as well. A contemplative silence lingered as he thought back to that time. How irrevocably the galaxy changed, yet how little time he spent thinking on those events. Perhaps unwisely, he decided to voice this as the shuttle broke atmosphere.

"Something more powerful than any of us shattered an entire planet, displaced half the people in the Galaxy. Yet we went right back to our wars and squabbles. Who has even spent the time trying to find out how and why?

"Perhaps it's easier not to think of that. We always want to imagine that when a terrible thing falls on someone else that if we been in their shoes we could have done different, that it wouldn't have happened to us. Maybe it's in our nature not to dwell on those times we can't swallow such an outright lie."

Jacen paused, looked back towards Avalore. "Sorry, the last thing you want me to carry on talking about." Now he felt quite foolish. He decided to study the carpet under his feet for the time being and keep idle thoughts to himself.

 

[Avalore Eden]

"You always were a bit of a Todd at conversation."

Avalore didn't smile but she did extend a hand to find one of his own. At first it was simply a gesture of understanding, but she kept it in her own and lifted his hand to inspect it, turning it over slowly with her own scar-riddled fingers. Calloused palms met her study, similar in nature to those of Gabriel's and Stali's hands. The mark of a warrior and a man unafraid to work. She appreciated this about them all.

"What about you? Where did you grow up?"

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Avalore Eden"]

His eyes looked down curiously as she lifted up his hand and flipped it over. There was a barely perceptible cant of his head as he regarded hers in turn. The pads of her fingers were soft. Yet in the time he'd known her he'd never realised quite how scarred her hands were.

Turning back up to meet her gaze a little slower than likely expected, the corner of his lips twitched upwards.

"My family is from Tatooine, hence the ridiculous name. But I was born and raised on coruscant. Stayed there right up until they kicked me out of the academy and I joined the military. See new places, drop proton bombs on them, you know the deal.

"Do you mind if I ask how your hands ended up with quite so many scars? If not, I'm not certain I can dig a deeper hole from down here anyway. Should have brought Dick for company."

There was a wry smile, but as he turned his eyes back to the window briefly he turned his hand from her grip to give hers a comforting squeeze. Carrying on about Corellia had been truly insensitive.

 

[Avalore Eden]

"What, you mean Vodesnoider? Truly that is a most orthodox name..."

A snigger from the Healer, a smirk that died into a waning smile as he squeezed her hand. It was a shame she had never really been able to truly know or appreciate the caring person that he was. Avalore was sure he'd proven it all along but she'd never really paid him enough attention to see it till just now. If he didn't care he certainly wouldn't be on this ship with her.

Withdrawing her hand from his own Avalore turned it over once to inspect the scars that would remain with her until the day she died. She suspect that even in the horribly unfortunate event that she lost both hands, the scars would still be there in her mind.

"I got them treating a Mark of Darkness on a very dear friend before I was truly ready or capable of doing so. I attempted to use Force Light to cleanse him of the corruption and instead it backfired and the corruption spread to my hands. Had it not been for Master [member="Ilias Nytrau"] I doubt I would have hands at all, but he saved them. Unfortunately the damage and the scaring is permanent."

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Avalore Eden"]

His lips twitched as he cast a mock affronted glare at the healer. There were many worse things to prefix 'stalker' with. He had been subjected to most of them in school.

"Someone you know was..." Oh. Of course. The one Kana had gone after for her. Hal. The Dark Lord and his marks had been the glue that bound the One Sith together. Without him they were simply many Sith. They were already fracturing. The next strike at their heart would be their undoing. Jacen would have voiced such had they not been on a public shuttle.

"They say he's dead you know. The Dark Lord. Though such has been said about a great many Sith over the years. Never seems to stick unfortunately."

So many damaged, hurting or downright broken souls in the Alliance. The sith had never faced such unified resistance before. Once it was done they had to ensure they wouldnt be as dreadful as what they had deposed. They would turn soft again, settle down and find peace. That would leave the door open for the next generation of dark jedi. Round and round it went. What was the alternative? An Empire that ruled the breadth of the galaxy with an iron fist like that a thousand years ago? Even that hadn't endured. The tighter the grip, the more grains of sand slipped through the fingers.

He wouldn't return from the dead, of that he was certain. When it happened he would become one with the Force and receive the peace he'd earned.

 

[Avalore Eden]

Fingers curling, hands withdrawing into their sleeves, Avalore fell strangely silent as Jacen changed the subject to the Dark Lord.

A sore, torturous subject if ever there was one. The Healer barely contained a grimace as she looked away and gently cleared her throat.

"Let's talk about something else..."

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Avalore Eden"]

Jacen took in a slow, stuttered intake of breath. He chewed on the inside of his cheek and itched at his beard again. He thought back to a day when she'd cowered from Vexen. Her fingers were nothing; the scars Avalore carried ran far deeper.

"Bet you're wishing I hadn't sent the furball away. I'm sorry Avalore. I don't think I'd realised... So what's the ship like we're getting on next?"

 

[Avalore Eden]

Another deep sigh at the words that followed. A self-deprecating sort of smile flitted briefly across her face, "I am..." replied the Healer to his comment about Stali. She shook her head, brow raising at the golden curls that fell over her shoulder. Nearly scared her - she'd almost forgotten about that.

Jacen persisted, apologetically and in the only way she'd ever known him how to: fumbling.

"It's alright," Avalore looked back slowly, a weary but appreciative look given. He certainly did make an effort and she couldn't fault him for that.

"The Empress Liu Starliners are very nice, at least they were the last and only time I was ever on a starcruise. We'll be riding Econo+, but we might as well be in a 4-star hotel for all the amenities included..." it had originally been intended as a nice little vacation getaway for her and Stali to spend some time alone together. Avalore tried not to think too much about that. There would be more opportunities for that in the future...

"Unfortunately it was too late to switch the room, so you get to deal with my cold feet in the bed."

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Avalore Eden"]

The slow nod at the description of their next transport came to a sudden stop when she explained the sleeping arrangements. It also made his suddenly aware of what he'd robbed the pair of time. Time away from the children could be a precious thing but was often best spent with a 'Do not disturb' sign on the door.

"One day I'll meet a woman with warm feet," he mused. "But it's fine, I can always camp on the floor."

He decided to recite a version of the jedi code in his mind, to keep it from wondering to entirely inappropriate places. He was a Jedi Master with unrivalled self control and discipline after all. At least, that was what he reminded himself. Besides she was a healer who had treated him in various states of undress over the years. Probably didn't see anything more than the clinical in him.

"If you let me know I can get some time off sorted next month if you'd like," he offered. "I'll even babysit to make up for ruining your plans and being dreadful company." Jacen shot her an amused look from the corner of his eye. There was still just a shadow of that cocksure youth hidden down there somewhere.

 

[Avalore Eden]

"Don't get your hopes up, women with warm feet don't exist. They're a myth."

She did appreciate the humor helping to break that tension. Odd talent that was, to be able to create and break tension all in one. Not many people were capable of such things - usually the tension made them awkward.

"And no one is camping on the floor when the bed is big enough for both." Avalore was perfectly capable of sharing sleeping space. Mothering sort of did that to you, you had to be OK with sharing the bed if you wanted any chance of sleep for yourself. Destin had spent a lot of time snuggled at her side during his particularly difficult nights. Armaud? Well, he'd always been a pretty sound sleeper except for during growth spurts. He was growing like a weed and his body sometimes couldn't keep up. Then there were times where she just wanted to spoil him. Armaud was always warm - little guy ran hot, like a tiny human heater.

"That would be nice," she said as she pulled her legs up to curl in front of her, "something more than simply recovery time..." most days Stali was home between missions were only those days granted for recovery of wounds and injuries. Avalore spent her time healing him instead of really enjoying his company. She hadn't found a happy medium between Healer and Mate and she doubted she ever would. It was just too difficult.

"Didn't you once mention a son of your own?"

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]