Private &nbsp; Sorrows Multiplied

"Quinn the Interrogator is not a name I ever expected to utter." chuckled Kaila.

It was a fascinating choice to call upon Quinn Varanin, Princess of Eshan and daughter of The Empress to interrogate a common criminal. On the one hand, a master mentalist of her caliber would surely make short work of it, but on the other, Quinn was not known for the ruthlessness of her fellow sith, and her station oft meant she was quite busy.

Nevertheless they were here, and so Darth Anathemous donned her helmet and walked just slightly behind her smaller princess, just enough that no one would see their laced hands, for fear of breaking her cover as mere knight and protector.

This secret touch was all they had more often then not, and each time they parted, it was reluctantly so.

Their arrival was heralded by the young Darth's unnaturally heavy footfalls, something metallic despite the flesh which gloved her laminanium bones. They were like something out of a twisted fairy tale in that regard; the sith princess and her dark knight, marble skin bound in muscle and black steel from head to toe.

The irony being that her princess might've been the most vicious of the two, at times.

Kaila could feel it through their bond, the way she would have preferred to eat the jedi alive rather than speak, but did her duty to the empire nonetheless. Kaila was nothing if not curious however, and so moved to see the prisoner for herself.

Stepping from behind her however, the sith knight froze...

...And the face of her Ithorian Rose stared back at her.

Her breathing grew heavy, sounding as subtle crackling static behind the mask. What was she doing here? Why would she come back, after so long? The force had already separated them, given her hope only to take it away as punishment, just as she told Ala it would. Why bring her back?

She couldn't hear what they were saying. She couldn't even look away, no matter how badly she wished.

Her modulated voice choked;

"Al..."

"...la?"

Ala Quin | Indra · Monday at 3:39 PM

She had gone peacefully. Also silently. There was no need to give information. She was however bombarded with questions, all of which went unanswered. She was tugged, pulled and pushed until she finally found herself in a cell.

At least she was alive.

Hours passed with the occasional visit, and more questions. There was an injection. The contents of which she had purged from her system with a small degree of focus. She was clearly frustrating her captors. This would mean that they would escalate.

Between rounds of interrogation, Ala filled her mind with hypothesis. Devlak's words haunted her. Her quest for family may have taking a zig when she had longed for the zag.

Escape did not really cross her mind. The Force would allow for that in good time. Or her adopted brother would come crashing through the wall to save her. So far as her future safety, there was nothing at all to worry about.

The self-assurance came to an end when a chill ran up her spine. A cold that was beyond that of the rest of Jutrand, which alone had given her more than a few shivering moments.

Ala smiled softly, trying to hide her caution. It was the ease with which the snow white-haired young woman stepped into a compassionate act that lent Ala to suspicion. Ala noticed the guard outside the door, their mask impenetrably sinister. Her brow wrinkled at a moment of recognition. It was immediately dismissed.

Not now. She is gone. Move on. Do not be distracted by the past. Live in the present.

He gaze fixed on the eerily soft expression of the woman before her. Perhaps it was time to answer some questions. She shrugged. Eyes innocently conveying confusion. "I am a cultural studies major..."

The lie sounded as forced as it was contrived. Lying was not something Ala did. Kaila knew that well.

Don't think about her.

"...I was studying the lives of Dragarian Singers..."

She offered a shrug. Her hands extended with a slight wave.

"...it really is quite fascinating. You see their denotation as Singers is actually given by others not something that they self-identify with. It is a common thing to understand their mating calls as songs when in fact they are..."

Ala paused and smeared her hands across her face. "I am so sorry. This has all made me so nervous. I am just rambling," she said with a flurry of hand gestures to accentuate the concept of 'rambling'.

Quinn Varanin · Monday at 7:23 PM

//: Jutrand Holding Cells //:

//: 

Kaila Irons
//: 

Ala Quin | Indra
//:

//: Attire //:

Ala.

The name rang in Quinn's mind as she could feel the surge of raw emotions from her lover. There was something visceral familiar with this woman. Quinn quickly moved through her memories, ones from the church gardens. Paired with the flow of emotions, Quinn felt her chest tighten and her heart beat against her eardrums as her blood boiled. On the surface, the woman remained calm, listening to the sad tale of the student's misfortune.

Quinn had learned to read Kaila better than anyone. The woman's emotions weren't easily hidden from the Echani. This woman had broken her before they met, and Quinn wanted to hurt her similarly. Still, this wasn't her fight to fight, nor would Ala be allowed to be considered a problem. A semblance of comfort flowed between them through the strengthened bond the Empath and the Knight had created. It was all she could give; her focus remained on the woman.

It seemed the woman, who Quinn now knew to be a Jedi, continued her farce. Only showing a moment of weakness the moment the modulated voice of Darth Anathemous spoke her name. Each word that slipped through Ala's lips only reminded the Echani that they had once been pressed against what was hers. Each lie only fed the fury that burned in her chest. How dare this Jedi return to Sith space - was she here for Kaila?

The smile remained on the Princess' face as she exhaled softly. "Well, that does sound unfortunate." Another step forward till she was directly almost against the holding cell's bars. "Now, stop lying." Her voice, no longer caring, laced with ice, prepared to strike deep into the Jedi's heart. Even if she didn't have the feedback from Kaila, the woman's nerves and tiny muscle twitches, indicating her struggle to lie told the Echani everything she needed to know.

"Let's try again, Ala." Quinn sneered the moment she spoke the Jedi's name. "Why are you here? What did you wish to gain coming to Jutrand?" Fury burned behind the hazel eyes as she stared, unwavering, at the woman. There were protocols that the Sith was bound to, but she was prepared to break them. The pain that Quinn remembered from that night in the Eternalist cathedral to the moment they all shared now. Quinn's heart burned with hatred for this woman.

She had been trusted with her Beloved's heart and tossed it away like nothing. Quinn loved Anathemous, Kaila, and whoever the woman chose to be, unlike the Jedi, who only wished to bring others under their twisted lie of peace.

"Why.Are.You.Here?" Quinn's voice rose as she asked again, her composure loosening as the lies from the Jedi cursed her ears.

I'm never letting go…​

Kaila Irons · Tuesday at 2:20 AM

Wearing: Armor + ~~Mask~~
Tag:

Kaila blinked inside her mask, hoping, deludedly so, that this was some trick.

That when she opened her eyes, Ala Quin would be far from here. Away from her, away from the sith, safe.

She was not.

Hearing her voice all but confirmed it. Soft like Naboo sunshine, accented in a way the young Vahla once found charming in a way. To hear lies from those lips felt unnatural, uncanny even, but this surely was the real Ala sat in a cell before her, pretending as if she did not exist.

Her presence in the force had changed, both since she last shared a room with the jedi, and since entering. The ghosts stirred around her, amplifying her darker emotions. Sorrow for their parting, fear for the elven one's safety, anger that she would return only now when she'd moved on at last. When her heart was so thoroughly claimed by another.

Princess Varanin did not take kindly to such complications. Neither did Anathemous.

The young Darth pulled her helmet away, tucking it beneath her arm as the princess revealed her hand. There was no hiding from either of them, Quinn least of all.

Her eyes were cold, regretful, refusing exit to tears.

"Just..."

"...do what she says." she swallowed.

The once stoic knight turned away, gripping the bars, audibly straining her gloves.

"I can't protect you here. Why would you risk your life so? Why would you do this to me...?" she muttered through grit teeth.

"...you should have stayed away."

Ala Quin | Indra · Tuesday at 5:56 PM

The fact that her latest interrogator saw through her lies immediately was not a surprise. Neither was the immediately cold shift in her countenance. Ala remained wary, with her eyes flicking back and forth from the interrogator and the thug behind her. There was something about the shape of the guard.

Ala dismissed it as grief inducing her to see Kaila everywhere. Ala's focus returned to the now visibly angry interrogator. "OK. No lying," Ala said, with palms offered forward to try and placate the woman. "Never been particularly good at it anyways."

Her attempt to push a calming light based radiance from within her was cut short when her name was dropped in such a cold tone. The aura of peace evaporated. This was personal, why?

"I...ah...I..." Ala stammered, while fixing her gaze upon the interrogator's protector. It felt as though the cold grip of death had wrapped its icy tendrils about her heart. "...no..."

Even before the mask came off, Ala understood who it was. And she understood immediately who this interrogator was. The interrogator was in a position of power over Kaila? Ala had to protect Kaila.

"She has nothing to do with this. I came here as a part of my own investigation into private matters," Ala said, voice squeezing out a blur of apologetically toned words, "we are not working together. I acted alone."

She took a step forward, daring to reach her hand out towards the arm of the interrogator.

"I will leave. Never return. Just. Please. Do not hurt her. Do what you must to me. Just do not hurt Kaila."

Quinn Varanin · Tuesday at 6:32 PM

//: Jutrand Holding Cells //:

//: 

Kaila Irons
//: 

Ala Quin | Indra
//:

//: Attire //:

Listening to the words from both of the women only solidified the suspicions that the Echani had. Quinn caught her breath, but her face betrayed nothing. The weight, mainly in Ala's words, struck her chest sharp and unwelcomed. Despite their previous relationship, Quinn felt the Jedi's words were too personal for her liking. 

Do not hurt her.

She could never hurt Kaila; the woman had stolen a piece of her heart while cherishing it in the same breath. How dare this Jedi think that she could do something to harm her lover. As if she was the villain in this twisted reunion. The sheer audacity of the Jedi's assumptions burned through her veins like ice. 

Quinn's porcelain fingers curled into a fist at her side, dark nails pressing into her palm, leaving crescent moons into her skin. Her chest burned with the urge to lash out, to release the fire in her gut. It was tempting; she wanted to make this problem disappear. How dare Ala reappear now, after all this time, and assume the worst of the Princess. How dare she stand there with that pathetic pleading look, as if she was the one who needed to protect Kaila? Quinn had been at her side through war, fire, and EVERYTHING that weighed upon them in the Empire.

The Princess had seen her Knight in moments of weakness and held her through nights when the weight of the past was too much to bear alone. They had fought together, bled together, and Quinn had loved her for the woman she chose to be. And yet, Ala looked at herself as if she, Quinn, was the threat. 

Quinn exhaled slowly through her nose, attempting to control the storm within her that had begun to take root the moment Ala attempted to make herself Kaila's savior.

"Do you think I would hurt her?" Quinn asked, her voice steady and laced with something more dangerous than anger. Her hazel eyes locked onto Ala's searching and demanding an answer to a question she knew the truth about. This Jedi knew nothing; she didn't know Quinn or Kaila - unlike Quinn.

But no one truly knew the Sith Princess; her name was only whispered in corridors, and she was the daughter of the Empress, the one raised on ice and duty. But Kaila knew her; she knew her as the woman who had comforted her. In return, Quinn learned Kaila, the woman, had become her confidant, who had taught the Princess what it felt like to be chosen - to be loved, not for a title, but for herself. 

And no one would take that from her, primarily Ala. 

"You should have stayed away," Quinn echoed Kaila's words without lingering regrets or hidden care. Hers was final, a cold degree - a sentencing. 

The woman had no right to return, not now. Not when Kaila had crawled out of the pit of sorrow she had become when Ala left. Not after Quinn had embraced what they had, what they will have. Ala was Kaila's miserable past, while Quinn was her present and blessed future. 

"And now that you're here," Quinn continued, her voice softer but no less sharp, "what do you expect me to do?"

Quinn didn't allow the Jedi to answer, not just yet. 

"Do you expect me to let you return to her life? Let you unravel everything we've built?" Quinn felt her voice crack slightly. Almost imperceptibly. But Quinn thought it, and she hated it. Hated that this woman, this ghost, cast such a heavy doubt upon her heart.

She couldn't look at her anymore, her curiosity betraying her as she turned sharply to Kaila. Her eyes softened as she watched her, the pain etched on her face. Kaila was the one who chose her, and Quinn loved her more than any throne, any title. Yet even now, Quinn sensed something akin to hesitation. Ala's appearance had reopened wounds. 

Quinn swallowed the thickness that had filled her throat. She had wanted to believe she wasn't a jealous woman; she had always known about Kaila's past. But there was never a thought to see that past rear its ugly head to cast doubt between them. Knowing this, Quinn's resolve hardened. She would not allow what they had created and fought for to become unraveled by a flicker of the past.

Turning back to Ala, her voice was quiet, sharp, and full of venom. "I don't need to hurt Kaila," she said, her head tilting slightly, "You've already done that enough."

Quinn stepped toward Kaila, towards the one who needed her now and the one thing she was sure of in this galaxy. Her fingers brushed gently against the Knight's gloved hand again, gesturing comfort through the hidden language. She hoped it was enough to remind them of who they were to each other. 

And that the past had no place here, not anymore.​

Kaila Irons · Tuesday at 8:08 PM

Wearing: Armor + ~~Mask~~
Tag:

Do not hurt her...?

Kaila looked over her blackened pauldron, brow risen.

She'd always supposed that Ala cared in her own way, always told herself it was the light that separated them, that if only she she'd truly made the effort to turn Ala, maybe they would not have parted. That was the trick to Kaila, something Quinn might've understood by now, that in her world, it always her own fault, or fate's. Even Ala, she did not blame, not for the longest time.

But she was learning.

She was learning because the princess had taught the knight her own worth, and neither woman appreciated being reminded it had ever come to question.

Even now, with mere words, Quinn was fighting for her, all of her.

Kaila slowly turned around, realizing what was happening. Quinn's words were not only shields in her defense but knives, or spears perhaps, cutting and piercing. She could feel her anger through their bond and the intensity of her possessiveness which she knew from the battle of Woostri could prove lethal.

Would she have the speed to save Ala, if it came to that? To say nothing of the will.

Quinn Varanin said:
"I don't need to hurt Kaila," she said, her head tilting slightly, "You've already done that enough."

She squeezed both jaw and eyes shut, taking the echani's hand as offered.

Their ringed fingers interlaced.

"She won't unravel us, my love..." Kaila whispered.

"...Nothing will."

She opened her eyes, looking into Quinn's with raw dedication, a faint glimmer of resolve returning as she cupped her cheek for but a moment.

Then turned to Ala.

"I started a rebellion for you." she said, almost accusatory.

"Stood up to my former master, alone, for you, because I knew one day He would give orders we'd both regret, and you would leave me."

"...and then I celebrated our victory in an empty room anyway."

Their hands parted, her fingers curling into shaking fists as the cold, calculating persona for which Darth Anathemous was known to many, slowly gave way to the fires which burnt only for those who truly knew what she was.

"Kaila Solus is gone, she died alone, and you have lost your chance to protect her."

She took a half step forward, her once controlled aura beginning to chill the force around her.

"Now answer the frakking question." she demanded.

then pleaded;
"Why are you here, now, after so long??"

Ala Quin | Indra · Tuesday at 8:37 PM

Ala had died three times. Her suppressed subconscious had torn its way free and mentally killed the Ala that had replaced it. She had been dismembered by Hydrocus Venetia and sent to her Jedi Enclave in boxes. She had been reborn in a body without a Force connection, and died on a table as her soul passed into the body that she resided within to this day. But she had never felt so dead inside as in the moment Kaila addressed the other woman as her 'love'.

It had begun to click in place as the vile woman had spit venom from her words. But Ala fought the truth with lies and denial. It was not fair.

Fair. It was fair. She had done this. If she had not ended her whirlwind romance with Kaila, then her love would not be here now. No. It could have been Ala that was beside her, dark and decrepit. Putrified by the dark side into a seething being full of rage.

Ala had known. The path was clear. If they had stayed together, Kaila would not have become worse, but Ala would have. In protecting herself, she had doomed Kaila to the dark side.

"I did what was right," she said, lying to herself as tears threatened to stream.

"It broke me. Kaila. I broke me more than you might think. But..." Her lips curled as she stepped back away from them, "I see who you wanted me to be now."

Her lips turned downward into a grimace that strained at her normally cheery disposition. And her eyes dipped to the ground. There was nothing more to say. This was not her Kaila. It was someone else. Kaila Solus had died the day that Ala Quin had killed her.

"I have nothing further to say."

Quinn Varanin · Tuesday at 9:25 PM

//: Jutrand Holding Cells //:

//: 

Kaila Irons
//: 

Ala Quin | Indra
//:

//: Attire //:

Quinn felt her anger flare, a burning rage that threatened to consume her whole as she watched the pathetic display of self-sacrifice of the Jedi. Ala's words, her weak justifications full of self-pity were unbearable. The hypocrisy disgusted her. She had left her. Quinn thought, her chest tightening. Ala had left Kaila while the woman had given everything up for this Jedi. Kaila needed her then, and yet she was left alone. Everything she had gone through, after all the wounds she bore alone - Ala had the nerve and claimed she'd been 'broken' to pretend she still had some weight in Kaila's life?

The audacity.

Quinn looked to Ala, her eyes narrowed as her voice lowered, fury dripping at the edge of each word. "You talk about doing what's right?" her tone bit, every word filled with disbelief. "You left her. You chose your own path over Kaila. You. Broke. Her." Quinn shook her head with an inkling of trying to understand the woman's thought process. "You don't get to stand here and pretend you have some right to feel sorry for yourself. You don't get to apologize for abandoning her when she needed you the most." 

Hands clenched into fists, but Quinn did her best to breathe and control the violent urge to act. Ala wasn't worth it. Kaila's past didn't belong to Quinn - she couldn't fix it now. The Princess had to respect that and know this was her lover's battle. As much as she wanted to protect her, Quinn knew she needed to let Kaila choose.

Quinn stepped back and inhaled sharply, her gaze never leaving Kaila. Her heart raced, but her voice softened, "This… is yours, love. This is your past to confront, your choice to make." The Princess looked at her beloved Knight, who offered her the space but held nothing back, wanting her to know she stood by her. "I trust you. Whatever you decide… I'm with you." 

The moment weighed heavily on her chest, but Quinn held her ground. She didn't need to speak anymore; everything had been said. Her promise to Kaila long ago, Quinn was here now and always would be. They belonged to each other; no one else would ever take that.

The Princess looked back and gazed upon the pathetic form of the Jedi. Her expression was cold, her heart hardening with each passing moment. "Know this, Ala." Her voice was ice and heavy, carrying the weight of all her promises to Kaila. "She's mine now. I will protect all of her, even from you."

Her gaze dropped, and she looked at Kaila; nothing else mattered then. Her emotions shifted as she reached for Kaila, her hand gently cupping the woman's face. Through her touch, she could feel the years of pain, betrayal, and weight of Kaila's heart. But there was also more, something more potent than anything in her past. Leaning forward, Quinn pressed her lips hard as she kissed the woman deeply, silencing all the doubts that the ghost of her past had dredged up. The kiss was everything. It was love, possession - a promise that Quinn would never leave or abandon. This was no longer about Ala, a horrible memory that lingered in Kaila's past - it was about the future they would build together. A future that Quinn had claimed with every piece of herself.

When Quinn finally pulled away, her forehead rested gently against Kaila's, her voice soft with a gentleness meant only for the Knight. "No one will ever come between us," she whispered. "Not her. Not anyone." 

Without another word, Quinn turned her back to Ala, leaving the woman's fate to Kaila. Again, it wasn't Quinn's place to decide. It was Kaila's, and it had always been. She would leave it there and stand beside Vahla's choice to come next.

At this moment, Quinn knew one thing: Kaila was hers, and no one, especially Ala, would ever take her away.

Kaila Irons · Tuesday at 11:31 PM

Wearing: Armor + ~~Mask~~
Tag:

For the first time, Kaila could not rightly say if Ala was lying.

She thought herself above tears, something she only dared show Quinn and in the privacy of their own home. But for the second time in Ala's life, she shed one last tear for her.

"I... was prepared to leave for you, Ala!" she half cried, half hissed.

"...if I couldn't have you as a sith, I-"

"...but you..."

The watery stream whipped around in a wild arc as Anathemous spun, throwing her mask against the wall with a mighty crack.

The helm rolled at her feet whilst Kaila was left there, clawing at her temples, heart thundering against a chest that rose and fell rapidly. What little composure remained, Ala had crushed in a few words.

Quinn voiced her thoughts when she could not, her voice softer, yet biting.

It provided her an anchor while she caught her breath.

She was still thinking like that girl, she realized that now. So emotional, so vulnerable, even in front of the enemy. These were things only meant for Quinn, and perhaps Kirie or her sister

Tamsin Graves . Ala hadn't been hers to confide in for a very long time, and she needed to stop being Ala's.

Quinn Varanin said:
"This… is yours, love. This is your past to confront, your choice to make." The Princess looked at her beloved Knight, who offered her the space but held nothing back, wanting her to know she stood by her. "I trust you. Whatever you decide… I'm with you."

Kaila took a deep breath as her love approached, nodding to her slowly, appreciatively.

Quinn had changed her, but it had always been Kaila's choice to allow. No tricks, no ultimatums, they'd brought out the best and worst of each other all at once but always by their own will.

Her breath hitched as the princess leaned in, giving up their secrecy just this once, both to comfort and, she had to wonder, hurt the jedi? Their kiss was greedy, and drowning, a way to silence all else much as make a statement. Kaila didn't care what purpose it served, she just needed her close right now.

Even as their lips parted, Kaila leaned to follow her love for a fraction of a second more.

Quinn Varanin said:
"No one will ever come between us," she whispered. "Not her. Not anyone."

"...yes." she reaffirmed with a quick nod, catching her breath.

"I remember our promise."

Kaila took her hand for a moment, placing it atop her own where she may feel the promise ring beneath her glove. A ring that had not left her finger since Woostri, and often served not only to remind her of that promise, but of Quinn's.

Then as she turned away from the cell, Kaila leaned with her palm against the barrier, looking at Ala in disbelief.

"What the hell are we supposed to do with you..."

"...you were just protecting yourself, not me... and I'm supposed to, what, protect you?"

She still didn't even know why she was here.

Ala Quin | Indra · Wednesday at 4:36 PM

Ala shrank. She diminished. Retreating from the pulsating blue barrier, Ala fell into a self-embrace. With each word from her would be interrogator’s lips, Ala was undone.

Her back rested against the wall of the cell. Her knees buckled. The white haired Sith was correct. Ala deserved this. She had loved Kaila with a fervour that convinced the knight that it was forever. And then Ala had used Jedi wisdom as her cover for the fear of where their love could take her.

Ala ‘stood there’ no longer. Slumping down to a crouch, the irrepressibly bubbly Jedi deflated within her spirit. Perhaps she deserved this. She was, after all, a freak of science. The Force might not recognise her as anything more than living dross.

She kept true to her word. She would say no more. Even while she heard the kiss that was a dagger to her already broken heart, Ala said nothing but to offer a tearless whimper. Yes, she deserved this.

Hearing that Kaila would have left served only to deepen Ala’s woe. She could have had it all, but for her insistence on being a good little Jedi. Her mind flashed with images of tender moments she and Kaila had shared. The memories twisted in her mind, replacing Ala with this white haired Sith wench. Ala’s eyes opened. Her pupils dilated. The brightness dusted with a coolness she had rarely had.

“I did not come here because of you,” she whispered.

Her head stayed down, eyes averted. Kaila was no longer the woman Ala had loved. In breaking her, Ala had driven her further from the light.

”l…am…sorry. Do what you must.”

Kaila Irons · Thursday at 1:02 AM

Wearing: Armor + ~~Mask~~
Tag:

"...no, of course not..."

"Why should I be so self centered as to assume this had anything to do with me." she scoffed.

She looked up to the ceiling as if pleading to gods that would not answer, sniffling the last of her grief away, burying it deep down inside her. She'd said all she needed, finally finished mourning a love smothered in the cradle, to which she'd been denied true closure till now.

It wasn't her own fault, not entirely. That was enough to know she could move on at long last.

But that didn't mean her heart, black and burnt as it may be, was lifeless yet.

"Do you at least have a better cover story...?" she muttered, voice dry and dehydrated by her tears.

"I have to tell them something, a half truth even. Enough to satisfy but divert their attention."

Kaila begun to do as she'd always done; analyze so intensely that she hadn't the time to address emotions that might otherwise have eaten her alive.

"If another sith finds you, it won't be long before your true nature is discovered. The labor camps would be the least of your worries then and for all the pain you've caused me, I still can't stomach the idea of you being tortured."

She ran gloved fingers through her tousled hair, exhaling sharply while trying to figure out how she was even supposed to handle this mess.

"Will you at least tell me who killed the man you were found with? Imperial? You...?"

Ala Quin | Indra · Thursday at 10:35 PM

Her fingers dug into her forehead. She couldn't win. And she didn't know if she wanted to win. However, Kaila's manner of speaking finally brought about some manner of defence.

"You are upset when you thought I was here because of you," Ala said, sounding exasperated, "and you are upset when I say you are not the reason. Make up your mind"

Ala pushed herself to her feet, while still holding her arms closely around her chest. Kaila seemed to want to assist Ala in getting lighter treatment. Small mercies were welcomed. Even if they were accompanied by sneers.

"I was investigating a cult...named the Cult of Kardu," Ala said, telling mostly the truth, "the man in the booth was my informant."

She kept her head down at all times. Protecting herself from the glare of the woman she still wanted to love. "The Cult has limited presence on Jutrand...or on any Sith world for that matter...they tend to be underground in more light aligned systems. But there were some leads here. I wanted to follow them up. The Cult has been kidnapping people."

She left out all the parts about their experimentations. It was probably best to leave some of the details unsaid. "I was working on this case before...Stewjon," Ala said, speaking of the place of their first meeting, "it was all I had to go back to...after..."

She dared to glance upwards at Kaila, trying to find some forgiveness in her eyes. All the suffering would be worth it, if she could know that Kaila did not truly hate her. "I should never had done what I did. If I could go back. I would never have let you go. I was a fool."

Kaila Irons · Friday at 3:07 AM

Wearing: Armor + ~~Mask~~
Tag:

"I - " Kaila grit her teeth.

"...you're right.. It's not fair..."

She relented, sad one second, frustrated the next. Everything was wrong and she couldn't even take the time to explain why. Ala was just here, after everything, but not hers. She would never be hers again, and she could not rightly say if it bothered her or not.

"None of this is fair."

Quin—Ala—finally began to explain herself, drawing the young Darth's attention. She'd never heard of this "Cult of Kardu" herself, but then again, there were hundreds of cults running around Jutrand alone, to say nothing of the entire empire which expanded it's borders every day.

At least she hadn't killed the man.

It would make things easier in the long run, so long as the Jedi's true identity never got out. Now she just needed to figure out if this cult sprouted up on it's own or if it belonged to one of the numerous sith lords who dipped their claws into the underworld. Not like she hadn't done so herself, even if her pursuits were far less clerical.

Ala Quin said:
"I was working on this case before...Stewjon," Ala said, speaking of the place of their first meeting, "it was all I had to go back to...after..."

"...fanged god..." she muttered.

Her sad eyes met Ala's finally, the first they'd exchanged in so long that hadn't frozen over.

Ala Quin said:
"I should never had done what I did. If I could go back. I would never have let you go. I was a fool."

. . .

Kaila was silent for a few moments.

"I don't hate you, you know." she sighed, glancing away.

"I just... I hate what you did to us... And I hate that, even though I kept that bloody rose—"

"—thought I'd... finally... moved on,"

It took a deep, steadying breath, just to murmur with what little strength she had;

"...only to see that I hadn't..."

But then a familiar resolve came about her features as the ever dutiful knight stood a little straighter, knowing that she'd since found her way regardless.

"But I can never love you that way again, not anymore."

"I'm happy here, Ala." she choked, clapping a gloved hand over her heart.

"She loves me for who I am, who I've been and may yet become all the same. We are changing this empire for the better as I'd always hoped, and I have purpose here."

"But I saw your face, and I was terrified!" she pressed her forehead to the barrier, eyes squeezed shut.

"Because just for a moment, just seeing you, I feared could complicate something so simple, so pure."

"That is what I hate."

Ala Quin | Indra · Friday at 7:14 PM

Nervously, Ala lifted her hand and laid it against the the force field. Only the energy barrier separating her touch from Kaila's forehead. It may have been the entire galaxy between them though.

Her thumb moved of his own accord as if gently stroking Kaila's face. "I do not understand what you have. Or why you want it," Ala said quietly, "but I am glad you are happy. And I am sorry that I could not be the one to make you so."

"I just want...you...to be happy," she said, eyes closing out the tears that began to well up.

Kaila was happy. This helped. Even though Ala was more desperately alone than ever. Her dream of a someone, of a family, to call her own was never more far away than in this moment. Ala was still glad to know Kaila was going to be alright.

"You don't need to do anything to help me," Ala said quietly, "nothing more than to tell me when the next patrol change will be."

A soft smile rose to her lips. It was pulled down by grief, but the attempt at lightness was noteworthy. "I am not as helpless as I may appear. I never have been."

The elven Jedi hoped that Kaila would understand this more than just that she could escape, but that Ala would be alright too. Even though the second part was a lie. She didn't want to leave Kaila with any lingering sorrow for the Jedi that was her lover.

"It is in one standard hour isn't it?" She said, leaning herself against the barrier, "just a small nod is all I need."

Kaila Irons · Friday at 11:53 PM

Wearing: Armor + ~~Mask~~
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