Private Responsibility [Judah Dashiell]

[Balun Dashiell]

Joiol, The Dashiell Family Estate.

The Liberty's Edge descended gracefully onto one of the external landing platforms reserved for family and guests of House Dashiell. Its repulsors hummed softly before cutting out, leaving only the whisper of the evening breeze sweeping across the estate. From the landing platform, a paved pathway stretched towards the grand manor, where Judah Dashiell spent most of his time.

Lately, Makai Dashiell had been present more often, along with Myra and their daughter. Their presence had been a welcome one for Balun, who enjoyed the warmth of family around him. Yet, unlike the others, the youngest of the Dashiells preferred solitude. His own residence lay further back on the estate's grounds, nestled at the forest's edge, where wilderness and shadow wove together in a way that suited him perfectly.

Tonight, Balun had just returned from Naboo, where he had been introduced to the Foundation, a group of Force users that Iona Starchaser had recently brought him into contact with. His journey toward mastering his abilities remained uncertain, but for now, he found reassurance in knowing he had begun to build connections—ones that might shape his future.

On his way home, he decided to stop by the main manor and check in on his father. Stepping through the grand entrance, he took in the familiar surroundings before calling out, his voice carrying through the spacious halls.

"Hey, Dad, you home?"

His words echoed for a moment. Judah Dashiell might not even be in, but it felt wrong to return home without at least saying hello.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Working in his office on the first floor, Judah could hear the voice of Balun Dashiell echo throughout the space. He was only able to get a few things done currently due to using Lia - the nanny his son and daughter-in-law had employed to help them. Having been left with no clue of anything about this child, not even a name, he was doing the best he could. The boy seemed a bit older than Phoeve, which he found odd but again, it seemed to him both Lady Falentra and his son were more secretive than he ever thought Makai and Myra were.

"Hey, Dad, you home?"

Finally.

Judah looked up from his datapad and stood from his desk, stretching a little. He had been reviewing salvage output reports and the potential for new sites - battles that had already happened and may be safe to enter now. Safe to clean up and turn into new metals and products.

"In the office." He spoke as he walked, wanting to intercept Bale and lead him upstairs.

 

[Balun Dashiell]

Balun smiled at the familiar sound of his father's voice, a warmth settling in his chest as he stepped fully into the estate. He pushed the front door shut behind him with a soft click, sealing out the cool evening air.

"Awesome," he replied, his voice carrying easily through the grand foyer. Shrugging off his leather jacket, he hung it over one of the coat hooks with a casual motion before turning toward the hall that led to the office.

"Sorry I haven't been around the past few days," he continued, speaking loudly as he moved. "I ran into an old friend— Iona Starchaser. I don't think you've met her, but she introduced me to a group called the Foundation. I've been out helping them survey a potential new hyperspace route."

By the time he finished speaking, he had reached the threshold of his father's office. But the moment he stepped into the doorway, something shifted. The atmosphere in the room wasn't what he had expected.

A heaviness lingered in the air, thick with unspoken thoughts. His father stood behind his desk, his expression carefully schooled into something neutral, but Balun wasn't so easily fooled. The subtle tension in Judah Dashiell 's shoulders, the way his fingers idly tapped against the desk, the near-imperceptible crease in his brow— something was wrong.

And then there was something else.

A whisper in the Force, a trace of presence left behind, weaving through the fabric of space like a fading scent— familiar, unmistakable. It struck him all at once, the realization settling in his gut before his mind fully caught up.

"Chit…"

The word slipped from his lips as he locked eyes with his father, the truth dawning on him like a breaking storm.

"She's been here, hasn't she?"

His voice was steady, devoid of anger, yet layered with something more complicated— confusion, uncertainty. Concern.

"She goes months without a word, and suddenly, she just shows up? What happened?"

He stood there, waiting—not just for an answer, but for the weight of the moment to make sense.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

"She's been here, hasn't she?"

His voice was steady, devoid of anger, yet layered with something more complicated— confusion, uncertainty. Concern.

"She goes months without a word, and suddenly, she just shows up? What happened?"

"Months? I thought you two were pretty close."

There was a slight touch of sarcasm to his voice, given the fact recent developments seemed to fly right under Balun Dashiell 's nose. Not knowing much of the Force, but inferring enough just from their current interaction, his son could detect a lingering presence of his....former girlfriend? but not his own child? Unless he was picking up on the boy? Without much knowledge, he would be left in the dark for now.

"She was here. Fairly recently."

Being subtle in this situation was beyond him. Beyond the moment. It had been days for himself with no answer, might as well rip off the bandage as it was in this situation.

"She dropped off your son. Well, one of them from what I can infer, insure if the second one's gender. She slipped up and mentioned 'they' once I was handed the boy. First I've heard of you two expecting a young one. She sure as hell didn't look pregnant last we met. Now...I've been left with more questions than answers over several days, I'd appreciate some insights."

Judah was doing his best to stay calm. Yelling at Bale wasn't going to fix anything, plus it might wake and disturb the baby's rest.

 

[Balun Dashiell]

"Months? I thought you two were pretty close."

"Yeah, well…" Balun replied quickly, but his voice trailed off just as fast, the weight of the conversation pressing against him. He had done everything to avoid talking about it—hoped he wouldn't have to—but now, standing here, he found himself cornered by the truth.

His jaw tensed momentarily before he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "Remember the Life Day trip we took? Fishing with Makai? You asked me then what was up with me?" He paused, exhaling sharply before continuing, his voice quieter now. "The night at the family dinner—Nouqai stayed with me. Everything was fine. Better than fine. But later that night… we got into an argument."

He lifted both shoulders in a shrug, though the gesture carried more defeat than indifference. "She killed someone, Dad. In cold blood. And I told her—have always told her—that was something I couldn't stand by." His fingers curled into a fist at his side before he forced them to relax.

"It got too much. We agreed to sleep on it, talk the next day. But when I woke up, she was gone." His voice grew heavier, his brows furrowing under the weight of emotions he couldn't quite put into words. "I haven't seen her since. No returned messages, no holocalls—nothing." Then, as if that wasn't enough, there was the one thing that most unsettled him. "I don't know if we could have worked through it, but in the end, she made the choice for both of us."

His expression darkened, a troubled shadow flickering across his features. "And somehow, I can't even sense her in the Force anymore." He shook his head, looking up at his father, confusion clear in his eyes. "For her and me… that's not normal."

"She dropped off your son. Well, one of them from what I can infer, insure if the second one's gender. She slipped up and mentioned 'they' once I was handed the boy. First I've heard of you two expecting a young one. She sure as hell didn't look pregnant last we met. Now...I've been left with more questions than answers over several days, I'd appreciate some insights."

Nothing his father had just said made sense.

Balun's head snapped up, disbelief flashing across his face as he turned sharply to glare at Judah Dashiell . His eyes narrowed, his expression caught somewhere between shock and outright refusal to accept what he had just heard. He opened his mouth, ready to call the bluff for what it surely had to be—yet the words never came. Something stopped him.

His breath hitched as realization struck, and instinct took over. Without another word, he closed his eyes, reaching out through the Force, letting it flow through him like a current stretching across the vast estate. He expanded his awareness, searching, feeling. It didn't take long. Of course it wouldn't. Judah would never keep a child far from his reach, not even with a caretaker watching over them.

"You can't be serious..." he murmured, but the truth was already settling deep in his bones.

Two distinct presences met his senses. One was a non-Force user—likely the caretaker. The other… small, faint, but unmistakably there. A spark of something raw and untamed, brimming with potential yet still fragile in its infancy. Balun's breath slowed as he delved deeper, threading his awareness through the unseen tapestry that wove all life together. His focus sharpened, honing in on the child's presence. He pushed further, extending his mind toward the boy, reaching out—not just to sense, but to know.

The connection snapped into place instantly, seamless and absolute in a way no one else would ever understand. And in that moment, it hit him like a tidal wave. He felt her. Lady Falentra .

The blood in his veins ran cold, yet at the same time, something undeniable pulled at him. From different rooms of the estate, he felt the child's consciousness respond to him—calm, instinctive, trusting. His presence in the Force had soothed the boy, washing over him like gentle waves against the shore.

It was real. He was real.

Balun's breath caught in his throat, his mind reeling even as the corner of his mouth twitched into a half-smile. He lingered for just a moment longer, as if savouring the unspoken bond now forged between them, before finally withdrawing—severing the connection with a deep, sudden inhale, like a man surfacing from deep waters.

His chest rose and fell once before he exhaled, the weight of it all sinking in.

"Kark."

It was all he could say.

 

[Judah Dashiell]

Judah blinked once, then twice, listening to the news. Was he surprised Lady Falentra killed someone in cold blood? No more surprised than say if Balun Dashiell stated he killed someone in cold blood. Jedi. Sith. Various flavors of the Force users seemed comfortable with killing on one level or another in his eyes. He supposed it came with the territory given their involvement with war and fighting one another often. Much like a solider, how one compartmentalized facing off against a fellow sentient on the battlefield. It was something he had learned how to put out of his mind when he was a fighter pilot.

"So...you fought and now she's cut herself off from you." He paused, struggling to give any relevant advice in this situation. There was a lot he didn't know - dynamics and what not, so what may be solid elsewhere wouldn't apply in this type of situation. "Not to sound,uh, ignorant but maybe she was pregnant and hormonal then. Lot of heightened feelings around that time..."

Doing the math wasn't adding up, but Falentra was a different species and he didn't quite pay close attention to her during life day. Anything could be possible, this was more or less a situation of how much did he really want to know. Surface level may be the best, unless Bale really wanted some deep answers. The way the could sometimes butt heads it wasn't often he tried to give unsolicited advice to his younger son.

"First, are you sure this boy is yours? Two, if so, you've got some big choices to make. Choices I cannot make for you."

There was an element of deja vu, especially considering what had happened between himself and Thessa. Judah distinctly remembered not wanting advice then from anyone. He suspected Bale may be similar, and it was understandable.

"Come on, let's go see him at least."

 

[Balun Dashiell]

If Judah Dashiell had any lingering doubts about whether Balun would open up to him—whether his son would lean on him for guidance—he would soon realize those concerns were misplaced.

Balun exhaled, running a hand through his hair as he tried to gather his thoughts. "Well… nah. I mean—there was that weekend on Naboo, but we used protection. And that was more than a month before the night we had everyone here at the Estate."

He paused, thinking back over every moment, every decision that had led him here.

"It only happened twice. Naboo… and that night, back at mine."

It hadn't been for lack of wanting—far from it. But their lives had always pulled them in opposite directions. With Nouqai bound to the Sith Order and Balun constantly on the move, they spent more time apart than either of them had ever liked. Intimacy had been rare, stolen between duty and distance.

And yet, it had only taken once.

His jaw tightened as he nodded, the weight of certainty pressing down on him. There was no mistaking what he had felt through the Force—the unshakable, undeniable connection he had with the child. But he knew that wouldn't be enough for Judah.

"We can run the same tests you had done on me," he said, his voice steady despite the storm raging inside him. "But yeah… it's going to be a match. For sure."

Judah didn't argue. Instead, they began walking, their steps carrying them toward whichever room his father had chosen for the baby. Balun followed, though with every step, the gravity of what was happening settled deeper into his bones.

This was real.

His world had just changed—permanently.

He wasn't just Balun Dashiell anymore. Not just a fighter, a Force user, or a fledgling entrepreneur trying to carve his own path in the galaxy. Those ambitions, his reckless pursuit of purpose, the wars he had thrown himself into—they all felt different now. Smaller.

Because suddenly, he wasn't just living for himself anymore.

He was a father.

And that changed everything.

"Grist, how am I gonna do this?"