Private The Lotus Reunion

[Nylea Apollodor]

Welcoming a good friend
Avalonia, Dosuun​

"There, hangar three." Nylea pointed at the terminal in front of her, directing attention to one ship that was to touch down soon in particular. "Come on, she should be landing any minute now." She turned towards Elisea, who stood next to her, and took her hand before beginning to make her way over to the hangar mentioned before. "It has been way too long," she mused, a big smile creeping into the echani's face. This wasn't the place where Nylea had expected their small Lotus reunion to happen, but life took strange turns sometimes. Avalonia had disproved many preconceptions the Jedi had of imperial life and the nervousness she originally felt here was long gone.

The 'she' they were going to be meeting up with was Nora. Nylea had become close friends with the arkanian during the Sacred Lotus days, but it had been quite some time since they had last seen each other. It was where the two had met Elisea as well, and it was because of Nora's constant insisting, and some actions she took for her, that Nylea ended up asking the Avalonian out. Without that push in the right direction, Nylea was sure she and Elisea wouldn't have ended up together. It was one of many reasons why she was thankful to have Nora as a friend. She had pushed her out of her comfort zone more than a few times over the course of their friendship.

Nylea quickly made her way through the spaceport to get to hangar three, where Nora would be landing. Both the duo of Nylea and Elisea as well as Nora had been keeping themselves busy, but it was high time for the three to catch up, especially considering Nora's contributions to bring Nylea and Elisea together. Hopefully the arkanian was happy to see the result of her 'assistance'.

Once inside the hangar, it didn't take long for Nylea to recognize the shuttle that was in the process of landing. "There she is!" she exclaimed, quickly making her way over to it while it landed. "We are right on time!"

Elisea Korrado Nora Lithos ​

 

[Nora Lithos]

Elisea Korrado Nylea Apollodor

The force was still a mystery to her. Although the crystal she had acquired from Jend-Ro Quill continued to help provide her with a measure of calm and connectivity, it still proved far greater to Nora than she could have ever expected. Far from able to manipulate it the artusian crystals at the very least allowed her to siphon some small strands of it to herself and let it wrap around herself when she sought peace in seclusion. Faint as the exposition was, her presence had still multiplied ad infinitum compared to what it had once been.

And so, as her ship continued to hurl through the vast empty void of space, Nora had isolated herself to still her nerves. Something told her that space flight would never feel any better for her, anxiety-inducing as they were. She was a planetborne person through-and-through, and the way she shifted outside of her meditation chamber made it all too obvious. Needless to say, by the time they touched down on the surface of Avalonia there had been a great big sigh of relief that had parted her lips.

Blank, seemingly lifeless eyes peered around the area as she fidgeted away with the last few remnants of her nervosity. There in the distance she saw the white mop of hair that rushed towards her.

It was hard to mistake that mess for anything other than the hottest, bestest mess Nora had ever known. The anxiety was lost seemingly instantly as she dropped her bags and ran up to hug Nylea in a tight hug that threatened to crush the Echani within her embrace.

“Nylea!” She exclaimed and squeezed even tighter before release. “Timely, as always.”

Her eyes set on Elisea, and then Nylea. And then Elisea again with a quick curious glance.

“I see Elisea is here too,” The focus set on Nylea yet again. “Surely, just a coincidence. Not at all because of me or what I’ve done for you, my friend.”

Nora exhaled with a chuckle. “Good to see you again as well, Miss Korrado. Last we met, like met-met, was in that old library, I believe.”

 

[Elisea Apollodor]

It had been quite some time since Elisea had had a chance to meet with Nora. A lot had happened in the interim, and as Elisea walked with Nylea into Armitage Intergalactic she smiled. Nylea was simply over the moon and the Avalonian was glad for it. "It's definitely been a while since we were all together." She agreed with the Echani's statement. Armitage was as busy as ever and being the main port in and out of Avalonia - meant there was always a crowd. In some regard, the brunette was grateful for the experience with the Lotus she learned a lot, grew a lot - and it was how she meant Nylea.​

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Elisea couldn't help but chuckle as Nylea pointed their Arkanian friend out. She watched as the two hugged in the way that long time friends did, and ever so quietly she approached. Another small ball of laughter seemed to roll from Elisea as she snortled, "ah yes, a coincidence indeed." The happenstance of it all she thought inwardly with a jovial tone. "Indeed, it is good to see you well Ms. Lithos, and indeed we did. I hope you'll like the Avalonian Central Library it's truly a great place to study and read."​

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"Why don't we get your things and head out to the speeder?"​

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Perhaps one of the most notable things about Dosuun, the skies were clear. Air traffic aside from emergency vehicles and authorized transports was non-existent. Which meant the roads on the ground were generally about as crowded as Armitage at any time of the day, with the night time being less so usually. "I hope your transport went well," and that void hadn't tossed Nora's shuttle around like a tin can on the street. "Oh, and if you need to exchange currency I believe there's an exchanger down on the ground floor."​

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Nora Lithos | Nylea Apollodor ​

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[Nylea Apollodor]

Seeing Nora's face again lit up Nylea's own, happiness washing over her. While the echani was quick to close the distance, the arkanian was even quicker and she felt Nora's arms wrap around her for a near-rib-crushing hug, the intensity of it taking her by surprise. Nylea knew she had missed Nora, but now she truly realized how much so. Without her friend, she didn't know where she would've been today.

"H-hey," Nylea said, that slight shock still in her voice, though happy. The hug was returned, feeling comfort in the embrace despite how tight it was. Perhaps it was because of how tight it was, something that very typically her. "Of course, I could not wait to see you again! I am sure we have more than enough to catch up on." Knowing Nora, she'd kept herself busy with more than enough interesting projects and explorations to write entire books about, and the echani was looking forward to hearing all of the stories.

Elisea caught up to the two and the attention was turned to the Avalonian, with Nylea joining in on the short moment of laughter. Nora's comment made the echani's cheeks go flush for a moment. This little moment would've never happened in the way that it did without the not-so-little push she had been given. One push that, looking at it now, changed her life quite a bit. "Yes, I do hope you do not mind her coming along," she added rhetorically, her voice tinged in humor.

The trio headed out of the hangar after Nora gathered her things, assisted by Nylea and no doubt Elisea as well, and before Nylea could do so, Elisea asked about Nora's trip. She knew spaceflight wasn't something Nora was particularly fond of, but hopefully it wasn't too bad this time around. Luckily, the arkanian seemed to be fine, considering how enthusiastic she was when she nearly crushed the echani's ribs. "Avalonia is quite different from Sanctuary, of course, but it is quite pretty. You will see." The city was also quite rich in echani culture, which Nylea greatly appreciated. It helped make it feel more like home through strong nostalgia.

Nora Lithos Elisea Korrado ​

 

[Nora Lithos]

Elisea Korrado // Nylea Apollodor

In many ways it differed from space. While Peace had been a good place to stay for an extended amount of time, Nora had ultimately found herself moving on as the desire to get her hands dirty — quite literally so — became too much to contain. She wanted to see the galaxy through these new eyes, witness the good with the bad and truly, truly get herself bogged down in scientific papers again. Sprigleaves to document, swamp monsters to struggle with, the usual except without her premiere guard by her side.

“I… Still travel very light.” Nora spoke with a smile before she glanced back at her bags. “And what I have is… Not entirely valuable.”

She began to approach the bags, picked them up with one in each hand and then looked back at her friends. “I mean, everything is quite different from Sanctuary.” Nora said and gave a gentle shrug. “The good,” Her lips curled into a melancholic frown for a second, “The bad.” Before they set on the road ahead again with a renewed albeit weak smile. “And everything in between.”

“Peace was a nice break, I think some of us were still there last I checked but…” Nora’s frown returned. “We’ve done our time, right?”


“Well!” She suddenly burst with joy. “Enough with that, we’re here to celebrate, have a good time and not hold on to the past.”

“Take me to your home.”

…

“Or your favorite spot. Less’go!”

 

[Elisea Apollodor]

Nora was right, there really wasn't a place like Sanctuary. ​

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Elisea inclined her head in agreement with Nora, they had indeed, done their time. "Apart from the Central Library there are plenty of museums to see on Dosuun, and I hear Laurentia is nearly complete on reconstruction. It should be the new headquarters for the Division of Applied Sciences, if you're ever interested in checking it out." She wasn't sure what Nora's plans were or what they could be, but she certainly hoped that the Arkanian would at least give Dosuun a bit of a look. Then again, Elisea was bias - Dosuun was and had been home for a very long time.​

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She smiled as Nora burst with joy even if it had been sudden. Elisea chuckled, "we can definitely drop your things off at the house and then go grab something to eat."​

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Once on the bottom floor, Elisea led the other two women out of the Starport. Land speeders, hover-vehicles, and the lot in between crowded the arrivals area, traffic was as usual - a headache. The overhang was just enough to block out the sun, but not enough to become potentially blinded by the sunlight that spilled onto the parcade. "We're parked up over here, we just have to get through here." She sighed and waited as the Transport Safety Officer halted traffic so that pedestrians could cross. ​

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After crossing the streets, the three were well within the main parcade with more than a dozen vehicles parked. Elisea stopped at one of the ticketing machines adjacent to a nearby lift and fed it the required number of bills, along with the parking ticket. Once it was punched and spat out, she took it and placed it in her pocket. Eventually, the three would be in the small land speeder, and make it out of the starport. Perhaps the biggest difference in Avalonia as opposed to most cities across the galaxy.​

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The absence of air speeders. A clear sky, and a brick and mortar city as Elisea drove. ​

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"Shouldn't be any more than thirty minutes to get to the house, unless, of course, there's construction or an accident."​

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Nylea Apollodor | Nora Lithos ​

 

[Nylea Apollodor]

Though it went unvoiced, Nylea most certainly agreed with Nora. Ever since leaving Sanctuary things simply weren't the same. For a long time the echani went from place to place, hoping she could call it home. However, from the Praxeum to Peace station, no place truly felt like home. Those who did were good people, fellow Jedi she respected greatly, but she still didn't fit in like the others did. Eventually she would find her home, but it was not a place. She found the home she was looking for in Elisea. She no longer looked for Sanctuary's replacement- she now knew that she didn't need to hold on to the past so much.

"There is an amazing little echani restaurant not to far from our place," Nylea added to Elisea's plan. "It is only a few blocks away, we go there quite often." The owner and herself were from the same city on Eshan, they found out while she was there one day. Now they often shared stories from their time there.

The trio made their way out of the spaceport, crossing some streets to get to their land speeder. Nylea was slowly getting accustomed to the way of transport in Avalonia, even if the busy traffic on the ground meant that delays were much more common. Avalonia was a completely different city compared to any other she'd ever seen.

While Elisea drove, Nylea would have the time to ask something that had been on her mind since Nora landed. "So," the echani opened, "do you have any more expeditions planned in the future? I have some time in the near future and I was thinking, well..." Her voice trailed off somewhat, though what she meant seemed pretty obvious from her end.

"For old times' sake, I would be open to protect you from danger again."

Elisea Korrado Nora Lithos ​

 

[Nora Lithos]

Elisea Korrado // Nylea Apollodor

It was a strange but welcome change to drift so close to the ground again. While the ineffectiveness of the method was evident in the crawl that the speeder eventually found itself stuck in, it was a comfort to know that the furthest they would fall before impacting against the ground was no more than the same height of a dog or a very small-grown person. All in all, a very pleasant experience for those that weren’t any real fans of heights if they could be avoided.

“No joke about traffic.” Nora murmured as she glanced out the front window. “I’d love to see that library.” Nora beamed a smile at the driver through the rear-view mirror. “The pamphlet on the shuttle from Skye mentioned something about an First-Imperial museum. I am not much for history, but hey, when on Naboo and all that.”

Nora leaned back in her seat to look out of the window by her side. The people seemed well-off here, a hint of that aforementioned imperialism lingered in the architecture and design. She wasn’t an architect by any means, but she knew enough to recognize influences when she saw them.

As Nylea spoke, Nora’s pale white and blank eyes honed in on the Echani with a bemused smile.

“Protect me?” She raised her brow to question the choice of words with mirth. “Careful not to make your girlfriend jealous there, Nyls. Last I checked I was the only one who knew how to rid you of that poison ivy rash.” Never mind the fact that Nylea had gotten it while ‘protecting’ Nora from getting it herself. “I am pretty sure it is I who protect you from yourself most of the time.”

She chuckled happily at her own statement. “I don’t have anything planned yet. Karl has been on Peace trying to integrate into the more militant views of the Jedi with some… Very unsuccessful progress. Although last I checked he was traveling across Borleias on a humanitarian mission for a third-party, but that was months ago.”

“Mina and Tina eloped on Kashyyyk and seem to work as translators there now.”

“My usual go-to’s beyond — well, you — are all gone. It just hasn’t been the same since. Why? Do you two have any good ideas of where to go?”