Private The Doctor Will See You Now

[Amani Serys]

Medical Center

Tython had been something of a wake-up call. But even in the wake of such a climactic event, days continued to pass, the galaxy continued to spin onward. And though the battle remained deeply ingrained in Amani's memory, her more zealous, reactionary impulses had died down in turn. The fire now replaced by practical inspiration; If only because the damage she sustained inevitably forced her onto the sidelines. As it was, charging headlong into the enemy wasn't going to make anything better, but there were other ways to make herself useful to the cause.

She was always a better medic than fighter, anyway.

Which was exactly what had brought her here. The work was familiar, and kept her distracted, if nothing else. Next on the list was a simple check up; A mandated exam to make sure everything was working as intended, following a bit of injury in the field. Easy enough. Amani rapped her knuckles against the door, then stepped into the exam room.

"Hello? Dagon, is it?"

Dagon Kaze​

 

[Dagon Kaze]

Meditation and distractions. The tragedy of Tython had left a void in his heart that only the most, mundane, menial day-to-day activities could keep the lattices of his sanity neatly tied. Fending off the nightmares of sleepless nights with the constant crime-fighting on Denon and surviving the day meditating and busying his mind with various tasks kept his knees from collapsing.

Dagon was staring at an eye exam hanging on the wall when the door rapped and a faintly familiar Mirialan stepped inside. His brow barely furrowed as he dug through countless names and faces buried in memories.

"A...Amani?" he raised a curious brow, tentative in his guess, then shook his head, "Dagon, yeah, can call me Dag -- what's, uh-- not usually the place I'd see a Jedi." the raven-haired Knight remarked.​

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani squinted a little more closely at the sitting figure, "Thought that name sounded familiar." There was a brief pause as the blanks filled themselves in, "Entooine, right? With Master Quill's group? Dunno about you but that feels about two lifetimes ago to me." She managed a soft laugh at the thought.

"Can't say I'm much of a Jedi these days. But even then I was a healer, too." At least one thing had stayed consistent. Still, she didn't carry herself like someone who was just a healer. War, especially one so personal, had a certain effect on a person; There was a betrayal of weariness behind her eyes, and physical markings of conflict still lingered, even if the most grievous of them had since been tended to.

But Amani took no notice of any such observations toward herself, lending her focus to a disorganized selection of supplies instead, "So, 'Dag', mind telling me what you did to yourself this time?"

Dagon Kaze​

 

[Dagon Kaze]

"...Dunno about you but that feels about two lifetimes ago to me."

"Tell me about it." Dagon snorted. He was in his twenties but everything before the War, while vivid in his memories, still felt so, so distant. A time and place he yearned for intensely, yet knew well could never return.

As the investigator he was, the raven-haired Jedi's eyes naturally scrolled over Amani's form. There was a slight bleakness in the glint of her eyes, shoulders barely slumped and the lines of wounds quickly recovering on her green skin. Their recency fell in line with his own -- Tython.

"...hmm?" he blinked as he phased back to the present, "Well, uhh, probably the better question would be what did I not do to myself this time." the signature lopsided smirk pulled his lips, "But, yeah, I think I've torn my shoulder and it's wearing out fast." his shoulder had just decided to give it a rest while he hung on a skyscraper's ledge on Denon earlier. Not the first time, and probably wouldn't be the last. Ever since he was a teenage padawan running wild, Asmundr had warned him about constantly going over the limits of his body.

Obviously, he never listened.

"Wait, hold on -- what do you mean 'much of a Jedi these days'?" he arched an eyebrow, "What happened?"​

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani clicked her tongue, "Worn out shoulder, hm? You're sounding like a much older man." Such was one of the dangers of an exciting lifestyle. The array of medical equipment was set aside in exchange for a simple pair of gloves.

"Just swinging the old lightsaber around too much or what?" She offered a very conversational chuckle. More to it than that, probably, but Amani feigned a level of ignorance on the matter, letting him fill in whatever details he deemed necessary for now. She was more interested in addressing the immediate issue, "I'm just gonna start applying pressure, you tell me when it hurts." The healer stepped behind her patient, and lightly pressed against various muscles in the arm and shoulder, one at a time.

"What happened?"

"Hah. That is a very long story," Amani smiled knowingly, "Ummm, well, for a few years back I cut myself off from the Force. Wasn't really an intentional thing, it kinda just… happened?" Even she sounded a bit perplexed by the details. Many factors brought her to that moment, not all of them easy to clarify in a single sentence. "Anyway, that's why I was on that pilgrimage in the first place, actually. Trying to rebuild that connection. Didn't work, but, eventually I found something that did." She shrugged, "Still, at the end of the day, I'm not attached to any Orders, I'm not bound by any Code. I'm just a woman who happens to have a lightsaber." An obvious oversimplification of things, but evidently Amani did not personally see herself as one anymore regardless. Even if the falter in her voice left room for doubt on that claim. "And that's the short version of events."

Dagon Kaze​

 

[Dagon Kaze]

"Definitely the case, Doc." he chuckled at her quip, although there was a certain dose of truth in it. The Jedi had truly been swinging the saber for as long as he could remember at this point. Daily, hourly even. Amani, on the other hand, had mastered the art of small talk doctors often possessed. It was refreshing, honestly, even if it was clear both were equally artfully eluding their own hefty burdens.

His ears narrowed in interest to her recounting of the past. He remained silent for a moment, pondering over her situation. Not attached to an Order, not bound by the Code -- it oddly felt both extremely foreign and familiar to the raven-haired Knight. His oath to the Jedi Code wasn't simply a vow to a certain framework of actions.

It was what defined him.

It was who Dagon Kaze was.

And yet, beneath the dogmatic layers and complexities, at the very nucleus, it all amounted to doing what was right.

And healing was a core tenet in doing what was right.

"Ow!" a groan escaped his lips as her tender digits found the source of his pain, "Yeah, I can feel the Code's nowhere to be found in that touch." he quipped, softly chuckling.

"Thought about returning to the fold?" he prodded curiously.

Amani Serys ​

 

[Amani Serys]

"There it is," Amani replied with an almost mischievous grin. She released her grip and stepped back. His question received a pregnant pause, then a sigh, "…I dunno. I'm just not sure that's… me, anymore." Was it not? Freedom from the organization aside, her upbringing as a Jedi influenced everything she did. At the end of the day, her morals, her conduct, all could be traced back to the ideals instilled in her all those years ago: that same, inherent belief in good.

It's why she was here now, helping Dagon, was it not?

Her justification continued, but devolved more into a rambling, which only reinforced her lack of commitment, "Don't get me wrong, I've thought about it. And I guess the old ways have influenced some of my work. I mean, what am I supposed to do when a problem, o-or like a 'bad guy', shows up? Just act like I can't do anything to help? I was even at- hm…" Tython. She cut herself off, creating another awkward beat of silence. Amani cleared her throat and put her attention back on the exam.

"Um. Are you able to raise the arm? Move it around? However far you can go before it hurts."

Dagon Kaze​

 

[Dagon Kaze]

Not sure that's me anymore.

There was a strain in her voice, a pain buried deep somewhere in her heart. And understandably so. Dagon could not even imagine what it was not to be part of the Order. It had been all that he is. Sure, he knew a few hermits here and there, like Master Quill, but they seemed distant to an extent. Never left him to wonder.

But with Amani? For some reason, it felt personal. A responsibility that slowly but surely was clawing up on his burdened shoulders. A problem to solve.

So far from Denon and he could hear Yula's lamentations over his naive and truly self-flagellant attitude of taking every problem in the galaxy under his absolute personal responsibility.

Maybe that was the way of the Jedi.

Maybe it was a selfish form of escape disguised as the selfless code of Jedi.

"Uhh--" he raised his arm cautiously then rolled his shoulder back until his shoulder blades came closer, "--this far." he then loosened up, lowering his arm back down as he tilted his head back at Amani, "I don't think you're just a woman with a lightsaber, Amani." he remarked, "I don't know exactly what happened that led to your connection being severed but you've found a way to restore it of your own volition. And you circled back right to what you do best." he jerked his head at their surroundings, "--being a Jedi."

"I guess what I'm trying to say is -- with all the evil we witness, day in, day out -- our vision gets clouded often, y'know, puts your faith in the Force to the test and our faith in ourselves... but we're at our strongest together. "​

Amani Serys

 

[Amani Serys]

As she feared, Dagon wasn't content to let the topic rest. Before Amani could divert attention back to his arm, he was already presenting her with musings on what it meant to be a Jedi. It reminded her of herself, actually, from a time before; So much so that she couldn't help but smile wistfully.

"And I thought I used to be a cheerleader for the Order," Amani forced a laugh, but the smile abruptly faded, "...I've tried, for a long time, to believe in something else. But no matter where I go there's always another reminder, another call to action." She walked back around to face him, and leaned against the nearby counter.

"...Tython is my homeworld. A lot of people died protecting it. I technically died protecting it. And somehow we saved it and for that I'll always be grateful, but what if we hadn't then--" Her voice hitched. Home would have been reduced to cosmic dust. All for some mad vision. If the Maw had succeeded, would their plan have really come to fruition? The galaxy itself undone? Giving any merit to such delusions was poisonous, but every scenario terrorized her thoughts and dreams ever since.

"--It was a wake up call. Maybe I never stopped believing like a Jedi, but… I hid away from all the pain and suffering. Until it affected me." Tython was targeted. It had become personal. But that excuse always felt so selfish; It left a pit in her stomach. "Do you really think I can still be called one?" She sheepishly met his gaze, awaiting an answer.

Dagon Kaze​

 

[Dagon Kaze]

Blue eyes briefly widened when Amani mentioned that her homeworld had been Tython. The world which had come to represent the personal tragedies of the galaxy. Even the whole Stygian Campaign could not amount to the loss the Knight had accrued solely during the Tython catastrophe. They had saved it, defeated the Sith'ari but... but at what cost?

The Jedi's distant stare had lingered away from the doctor before her question raised it back to her. Blinking, he shook the bitter memories away, "Don't think you've ever truly stopped being one, Amani." a soft smile curved Dagon's lips as he placed his palms next on the edge of the bed, "You were there when the galaxy needed you the most."

He stood up and slowly shuffled towards her, "Whatever it is you are running from, Doc -- it's gonna catch up to you." a hand fell softly on her shoulder, "You just don't have to face it alone."

Amani Serys ​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani listened, but found no response. The touch on her shoulder seemed to stir her from the flurry of emotions and doubts, “I…” Her face burned a darker shade of green. In the past, so many times it seemed like whenever she needed someone the most, she ultimately had to go it alone. Whether she wanted to or not. There was still a compartmentalized, self-denying part of herself that was compelled to refute his claim. But Dagon’s words had gotten through to the healer. Maybe this was her chance for something different.

The only way to find out was to seize it.

After what felt like an intense gap of silence, Amani cracked a weary smile, even chuckling a little as she waved him off, “Alright Dag, alright, I’ll think about making it a little more official... Thanks.” She forced herself to break eye contact for a moment, clearing her throat in the transition back to her present duties, “Last I checked you were supposed to be the patient here. And speaking of… shoulder’s definitely torn. But nothing I can’t fix.” The mirialan made a whistling noise, and twirled her finger; A cue for him to turn around so she could heal his injury.

Dagon Kaze​

 

[Dagon Kaze]

Dagon left her to her moment of clarity found in the silence that fell between them. Whatever ruminations were going through her mind were her own and whatever decision she took was going to be of her own volition. His responsibility as a Jedi was only to help her however he could but never enforce his will.

He jokingly sized her up and down, eyes narrowing at her shoulders as if to measure their width before jesting, "Yeah, I think we got a leather jacket your size somewhere..." he tapped his chin as if in thought then stepped back, turning around, "Alright, alright -- let's get this shoulder fixed so I can get back to tearing it again."

Amani Serys ​

 

[Amani Serys]

Amani laughed, then placed her hand against his shoulder. The internal damage began to mend, muscle fibers weaving over at an accelerated rate, all accompanied by a pleasantly soothing sensation. "Kay. Feel any better, now?" She exhaled, dropping her intense focus once the process had finished.

The healer then reached behind her and slid a small container of meds across the counter, "Take one of these every day, for the next two weeks or so. Should keep any lingering pains from cropping up. If you're all out and still having trouble with it, come back to me and we might have to look for another solution." She smirked, "Or take care of whatever else you've done to it between now and then."

Dagon Kaze​