Return to Me

[Ayasha Waya]

It has been said that grief is not a measure of loss but rather, a measure of love. When one has loved much, they grieve much because a heart does not simply stop loving those who pass on from this life to the next. Like the way in which coursing water changes the shape and texture of rocks along the bed of a river so does grief mold those in its current.

A gentle sigh escaped the lips of a dark haired woman as she sat at a small vanity and studied her reflection in the mirror. The fire behind her golden eyes had long been extinguished and in its place were pools of pain. The smile that had once seemed permanent upon her lips was so infrequent, she wondered if it would ever return.

The woman pushed away from the desk and rose to her feet before sliding the chair back into its place. She brushed a few wrinkles from her coal colored tunic that hung over her slate colored leggings. Her typical nearly knee high black boots complimented the outfit and a heavy belt around her waist tied it all together. Ayasha dressed for function and not fashion, though there had been a time when life was different and she had enjoyed shopping.

Nowadays, she hardly enjoyed anything. In fact these days, as it were, still confused and eluded the Jedi Knight. Understanding the idea of a hyperspace malfunction or a wormhole were especially challenging concepts for Ayasha to grasp. Furthermore, attempting to understand where Vu'thari had gone when he had been sitting right beside her just seconds before her entire world shattered was most troubling of all.

Ayasha now lived in an unfamiliar time with unfamiliar people and she considered herself...alone. Sebastian was the closest thing to a friend at this point and the Knight believed she owed him her life as he had gone to great lengths to rescue her from the Apogee when it began to shut down every vital life support system. Had it not been for the Jedi Master, Ayasha knew that the ship would have become her eternal resting place.

Now several weeks had passed and the Knight had been taken in by the Silver Jedi. Upon joining their ranks, she hoped that life would somehow resume and she would carry on where she had left off, in spite of the questions. In spite of the pain. Depression embraced Ayasha instead and she found herself sitting in silence for long hours, watching crowds of passersby. Her golden eyes were always searching for Vu'thari's face in every crowd.

Though the portion of Ayasha's brain responsible for rational thought insisted that the twi'lek was dead, the woman's heart refused to believe it. She was convinced that she could still feel him through their Force Bond though it felt increasingly more like a shadow of what had been. Perhaps, she pondered, the lingering sensations were a result of how deeply attached they once were to each another. Now, the joy that the Jedi Master had brought to the woman's life had been replaced by agony, longing and determination.

As absurd as it may have sounded to anyone willing to listen, Ayasha was absolutely determined to search the entire galaxy for the one she loved...even if such a venture took the rest of her life. The Knight clipped the Brylark hilt of her saber beneath her tunic and slipped her blaster pistol into the leathery holster upon her right thigh. There had been a strange sensation in the Force that the woman had been meditating upon for days. While it did not necessarily feel like Vu'thari's life signature it felt vaguely...familiar.

It was this odd ripple upon the surface of the endless sea of energy that lead Ayasha to an abandoned Mandalorian prison ship. The raven haired woman stepped out of her quarters aboard the borrowed freighter that had carried her to this odd location. “Ready whenever you are, SawDip,” the Knight instructed her droid. “I'm so glad I have you still,” the raven haired woman said warmly as she placed a hand upon the little machine before taking a seat beside him in the cockpit. Ayasha closed her eyes and slipped into a shallow meditation as the craft began to make its descent toward the foreign ship. She prayed to the Force that whatever was aboard the prison ship would not cause the few remaining pieces of her heart to shatter completely.


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[Ashlyna Talmount]

The bed was unusually warm today. That was the first thing that Ashlyna noticed when she woke up today. Odd. The faint light shining through the window alerted her to the fact it was morning, and eventually she'd be forced out of bed. She rolled onto her side and came face to face with her husband. His disheveled hair and light snoring brought a smile to her face, as she pressed her body against his, siphoning off some warmth in the process. She closed her eyes and checked the rest of the house for any sign of change, and was surprised to find that their children were still in bed. Seeing that, she sighed and relaxed. Ever since they had escaped from the Mandalorian invasion, things had never been better. But something still felt off, almost at the edge of her senses she could feel something coming. It reminded her of many years ago, a sensation...like a river. Ashlyna couldn't put her finger on it, but the most familiar presence was poking at the edge of her senses. She had felt this presence, before though, she was certain of that. Those thoughts were shattered though by the loud *boom* of a starship's engines booming over the house. She recognized the sounds of the engines immediately, as Ashlyna shot up and moved for her lightsaber. Mandalorian raiders? This far out? How did they found them? She had been so careful about coming her, they didn't tell anyone they were even here! "Tycho!" She screamed to him, as she pulled out the blaster she kept in the nightstand and threw it on the bed and called her lightsaber to her. He turned over, still half asleep, not understanding what was happening. He was in the process of speaking when their bedroom burst into flame, as a concussion missile punched through the room and slammed into the wall. Ashlyna felt herself be flown out of the room and through a wall, sending her rolling outside her house onto the grass. She scrambled to her feet, only to freeze in horror, as several Mandalorian gunships began to fire down onto her home, the small structure erupting in flames as everything she held dear was being destroyed. She began to tremble, a shill scream escaping her lips as she was again left alone.

But that wasn't real. No of it was real. Ashlyna wasn't at home with her loving husband and children. Rather, she was confined to her carbonite coffin, unable to free herself, unable to understand what was happening. How many times had she relived this nightmare? How long had she been in here, trapped in a dream scape. [member="Ayasha Waya"]

 

[Ayasha Waya]

Several minutes had passed when suddenly the borrowed transport connected with the floating prison. SawDip initiated the sequence that sealed the airlock into place and the rumble of the union between the ships caused Ayasha's eyes to flutter open. The astrogation droid at her side beeped and whistled in a series of tones that told the Knight that it was now safe to make the passage from one craft to the next.

The Jedi pushed up from her seat and swept her lengthy locks of hair into a ponytail at the back of her head, securing the bunch with an elastic band that had been around her wrist. “Stay here and keep your comm on. I should be back soon,” Ayasha said in hollow tones as she ventured down the corridor of the transport, leaving the droid in the cockpit.

As the woman neared the airlock she drew in a deep breath, one she nearly forgot to exhale while stepping through the portal and onto the prison ship. She slipped her hand beneath the folds of her tunic and retrieved the waiting lightsaber. Though the Knight could sense a presence aboard the craft, she felt no danger present within the Force. In fact, it seemed as though apart from this one strangely familiar signature...the floating prison was empty.

Ayasha silently strode through the craft, following the leading of the Force. Suddenly a disturbance crashed over her and without a hint of hesitation, the Knight's thumb flicked the switch upon the hilt of her lightsaber. The weapon hummed to life as the turquoise blade illuminated the dimly lit corridor. She turned quickly on her heal and swung the saber in a sweeping arc, bisecting a battle droid at its midsection. The machine's torso separated from its legs and fell onto the floor at her feet. Ayasha gave the remaining parts a gentle kick and the severed wires sparked as the dismembered droid settled into a heap.

The raven haired woman exhaled the breath she had been holding as her thumb switched the saber off once again. She leaned against a nearby wall and collected her thoughts for a moment, hoping the droid had simply been forgotten when the ship had been abandoned. The Force soon began to tug at Ayasha's heart and mind, urging her to continue. She had never sensed such urgency from the unseen energy before and so, she pushed off from the wall and continued walking into the unknown.

“This ship is huge...” the Knight whispered to herself as her golden eyes searched every corner while turning down yet another hall. It was then and there that Ayasha stopped dead in her tracks. About fifty yards away stood a massive slab at the end of the corridor. Upon it were a series of lights situated on a panel and they cast an eerie green glow over the visage of a figure that appeared to be embossed in the stone.

The Jedi slowly began to cross the distance between her and what she guessed was a strange piece of art. The idea of freezing someone in carbonite was a concept she had no knowledge or understanding of. As Ayasha neared the slab, she paused and studied the figure that unbeknownst to her, was trapped inside. It was clear that the relief was that of a woman. Her expression appeared to be twisted in pain and her hands were raised as if blocking her face from something. The Knight took a few steps forward and placed her hand against the stone. Immediately a wave of anguish swept over her heart and her mind was filled with flashes of images from the moment that this stranger was imprisoned within the slab.

The empath immediately stepped back with a gasp as she placed her hand to her chest. Though she had come looking for Vu'thari, she had not found him...she had found someone else dear to her instead. The moment that Ayasha realized she was looking up at Ashlyna, her eyes filled with tears and she went to work in an attempt to free her padawan and friend. The Knight brushed the moisture away from her cheeks with the back of her hand as she studied the panel of lights on the side of the slab. There were several buttons and a lever with Mandalorian phrases beside each of them. While the Jedi had come to learn a bit of their spoken language Mando'a, she could not read Mandalorian. In a moment of desperation, she pushed all of them, pulled the lever and hoped for the best.

A low tone emanated from the panel and soon she began to notice the top layer of the stone beginning to thin...almost in the way that ice melts atop a body of water. Ayasha stepped back, her eyes wide as she continued to watch the process. The thought never crossed her mind that releasing Ashlyna from her prison after all of this time could possibly kill her...all the Jedi knew was that in this world of endless unknowns and unfamiliarity, she was looking at the most wonderful gift she could possibly receive at this moment.


[member="Algarus"]

 

[Ashlyna Talmount]

There was a pause in the air, as the scene before Ashlyna froze. The fires before her eyes stopped moving, their tendrils of smoke hanging in the air, motionless. Confusion over took her, as she took in the scene, only to find the image was still. Was..she dead? Was this a dream? What was going on? Then, she felt that familiar presence once again, stronger this time, as it rippled through her, and then it all came back to her.

"Ayasha?" She muttered to herself. There was no doubt, it was her old master she was sensing, but that was so long ago....was this a trick? Ashlyna reached back, trying to grab the presence and link with in again, as she had so long ago. Then it was gone. What the hell was happening? Suddenly, everything around Ashlyna disappeared, as if she was plucked away from the world, everything going dark.

She felt herself hit something hard, a dull thud against metal plating, as pain slammed through her body and hammered inside her brain. She couldn't see, she couldn't breath. Was she dying? She didn't know. She curled into a ball, desperately trying to gasp in air, trying to do anything but suffocate. She felt cold, as if she was submerged in Ice and just being pulled out. Her limbs were stinging numb, she could hardly feel anything now, and yet...that presence was close, so close she felt as if it was bearing down on her. She felt her lungs had collected enough air to breath, though her words came out weak, barely above a whisper as she shivered and struggled on the floor.

"A-Ayashaaa?" She didn't know what was going on, her head was foggy and thumping as if a grenade went off between her ears. She wasn't even sure if she was alive. All she knew was that she felt her old master near by.
[member="Ayasha Waya"]

 

[Ayasha Waya]

The moment that Ashlyna fell to the floor, Ayasha was at her side. She lifted the woman's head in her arms and cradled her close to her chest. Seconds later the Knight heard her name and her face broke into a wide smile with tears of joy streaming down her cheeks. “Oh my dear friend...I cannot express to you the spectrum of emotions I'm experiencing right now,” the woman said as she sobbed over the one that had shown so much promise and potential, the one she could see as a great Jedi Knight.

It was clear that Ashlyna was cold and it appeared as though she was struggling to open her eyes. Ayasha did not understand the process that had trapped the woman within the slab, freezing her in time it seemed. “I have so many questions...and eventually you will too,” the Galtean native said with a laugh as she lifted a hand and wiped the tears from her face.

“I need to get you warm. There's a medbay on the transport I've borrowed,” Ayasha said with a grunt as she pushed herself up from the floor and pulled Ashlyna's right arm around her shoulders. “You need to help me get you there though,” she encouraged the woman as the pair began to make their way down the corridor.

Ayasha drew upon the Force to strengthen her and as she did, she sent waves of healing energy through her and into Ashlyna. She hoped that it would be just enough to give her the boost needed to speed up the process of leaving the prison ship behind. “That's it, we're almost there...” It seemed as though the craft had grown in size since the Jedi had wandered through its halls on the way in.

The pair rounded a corner and Ayasha realized they were on the last leg of the journey back to the transport. The women hobbled down the corridor and stepped around the pile of mechanical limbs left by the battle droid that the Knight had decimated within the first minute of being aboard the floating prison. “Okay, step up...careful now...” Ayasha guided her friend into the airlock and the pair soon found themselves entering the borrowed transport.

“SawDip, close the airlock and get us out of here. Head back to Kashyyyk!” the Knight shouted to the astrogation droid in the cockpit. The little machine went to work doing as he was told while Ayasha lead Ashlyna into the medbay. A series of artificial lights flickered on and illuminated the austere surroundings while the Jedi guided her friend to a cot. Once the woman was lying down, the Galtean native went to work to cover her in in several layers of blankets made of a foil type material.

Ayasha found a stash of warming packs and shook them to activate the chemicals within. She placed the gel filled bags in various places across Ashlyna's body and soon she knew that the warmth would raise the woman's body temperature to a healthy degree. “Just rest. Nothing else matters right now except your recovery. I'm here...” the Knight whispered as she collapsed from exhaustion. She laid her head on the edge of the bed and sat beside her friend as the seconds turned into minutes and the minutes turned into hours.


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[Ashlyna Talmount]

Ashlyna tried to stand up, but her legs were too weak. Her muscles ache and stinged, Ashlyna could hear Ayasha's voice, a voice she had long ago given up on hearing again. She tried to find words, to respond back to her long lost friend, but was unable to do so. Breathing was hard enough as is, speaking was damn near impossible. She did her best to help Ayasha, and indeed the small healing she was given helped immensely, but she was still weak. At the moment all she could do was listen and blindly limp along with her friend. Ashlyna could feel that she was crying, only by the sensation of liquid flowing down her cheeks. She reached out and held onto the presence of Ayasha, finding comfort in the woman's presence, it gave some warmth against this bone chilling cold she was feeling stabbing into her body. She had so many questions, and nothing to go off of. Where was she? Where was everyone else? Where had Ayasha been all this time?

She felt they were on a ship, that much should tell. A large ship, and the air was stale...had they been adrift? She couldn't remember what last happened before she woke up. "I....thought...you...died..." She coughed out weakly, but breathing was getting slightly easier now. She felt they were now boarding another ship, the sounds were tighter, the space here felt much more narrow, then they were aboard the Ayasha's ship. Ashlyna let out a groan as she was set down, as the soreness and stinging in her body flared up, but worse yet was definitely the cold. Ayasha had told her to rest, but Ashlyna wanted to do anything but that. She wanted to hug Ayasha, tell her how much she missed her, how bad things had gotten. But she didn't have the strength at the moment. She was getting better though, at least she didn't feel as weak now. Ashlyna struggled to speak again though, as though she couldn't see or talk, she could still communicate with her old master with the force. Ashlyna's voice would echo in Ayasha's mind now: "I missed you."

[member="Ayasha Waya"]

 

[Ayasha Waya]

Ayasha sat quietly beside her friend's bedside listening to the woman's shallow breathing become deeper, fuller breaths. The Knight continued to send healing waves of energy to Ashlyna through the Force. It would likely be days before she had completely recovered from the effects of having been frozen in carbonite for several millennia.

The Knight's thoughts continued to wander until she heard her former student gasp for the breath necessary to form a sentence. The words were not at all surprising to Ayasha, though they were heartbreaking. “I know...I almost did,” the woman began softly. How in the world would she explain this strange time shift to Ashlyna?

To Ayasha it had only felt like a month or so since she last saw her friend. To the other woman...several years had likely passed before she was trapped in the mechanism that would propel her thousands into the future. These were concepts well beyond the Knight's realm of expertise, but she knew the time would come when she and Ashlyna would need to speak of these things and figure them out together.

Ashlyna spoke into Ayasha's mind, this time her words were warm but brought a deep ache over the natural empath sitting beside her. She had missed Ayasha and the Knight could feel the depth of her friend's pain. In a short time, they had become exceptionally close and had formed a Force Bond that tied them together like something akin to sisters.

“Oh sweet friend, I have missed you exceedingly so....though for a far shorter time than you have missed me,” Ayasha knew that her words would likely confuse her fellow Jedi, but she knew that this topic would need to be addressed sooner rather than later. “Shh...keep resting and I will do my best to explain,” the woman continued as she placed a gentle hand upon her friend's arm that was warming beneath the layers of blankets.

Ayasha drew in a deep breath and cleared her mind as she attempted to find an explanation that would satisfy the questions that she knew Ashlyna would have. Sadly, the Knight knew that there would hardly be words to make the situation compute in her mind as even she was still attempting to understand what was happening to her. “Vu'thari...” Ayasha stopped as she immediately felt her throat go dry. Tears began to march toward the ducts at the corners of her almond shaped eyes but the woman fought them and for a moment, claimed victory. With a shaky voice, she continued.

“Vu'thari and I found the temple on Eclipse. The mission was a great success and so we left to return to you and the others. On our flight, something....strange happened. I...” the tears were beginning to make their advance once again and this time, Ayasha gave into them and allowed the tiny salty droplets to run down her cheeks. “There was a hyperspace malfunction...or a wormhole...blackhole...I'm still unsure. Vu'thari disappeared...he had been sitting right besi...right beside me.”

Ayasha collapsed into sobs as she laid her head down on the bed at her friend's side. “I thought that I lost everyone. I almost died but...oh it's such a long story,” the woman drew in a deep breath and attempted to collect herself so that she could continue. “I was saved by a Jedi Master named Sebastian...he rescued me from the Apogee as its systems were failing. He took me to the Silver Jedi Order and they took me in as their own...” and this was where the woman knew she would likely lose Ashlyna's understanding.

“I don't know how...but what happened to me on the ship...thrust me forward in time roughly seven thousand years,” she paused for a moment and lifted her head. Ayasha's golden eyes settled upon Ashlyna's face as she contemplated the next words that needed to be said. “You were frozen in carbonite when I found you...and you had been for just as long. It is truly a miracle of the Force that we have found one another so many millennia from our former lives....” the Knight truly was thankful that she had been reunited with her friend, but there was a deep gulf within her heart where Vu'thari had been...and the pain consumed every fiber of Ayasha's being.


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