Private True Family is Never Far

[Damsy Callat]

Damsy stepped from the house, quietly sighing and closing her eyes as the humidity of the jungle planet's air glommed to her skin. The air did not hang nearly as heavy as it did elsewhere, namely in the rural hamlets, but an aquatic shapeshifter like herself still appreciated the moisture. There was nowhere on Coruscant to go to enjoy a similar effect while she could still walk around on her two legs.

She walked a few strides down the sidewalk leading up to the house, then turned back with her whole body. She squatted down, adjusting the shoulder strap of her duffle bag with one hand and bracing on the ground with the other, to come to the level of a child trailing her into the shaded afternoon sun. "True family ain't neva far, Kit, 'member that," she said before cupping his face on one side. Shuffling forward, she leaned over to kiss his forehead. "Your Mom's got my number. Write me whatever ya fancy, ya'hear?"

So, it was ironic that Damsy herself was the first one to write Aron.

---

Just wanted to let you know personally that I'm back safe and sound, kit.

I know things are hard with your dad gone. I told him that I'd try to make them easier for you and your mom. I don't know when I'll have the chance yet, but I hope I can come to visit again soon. Until then, hang in there. Listen to your mom, eat your veggies, and do all your homework.

Love you until I forget how to swim,
Auntie Dams'

Aron Thress

 

[Aron Thress]

Little Aron, not more than six, beamed up at his beloved Aunt. His eyes shown brightly in the sun a fiery crimson. But he cried once he got back inside. He hated when people left. He just wished Aunt Damsy would stay. And dad, too, whenever he got back.

But at least he knew he could write his Aunt, and daddy would be back…sooner or later.


When her letter arrived, his mother read it out loud for him, and he smiled and asked her to read it again and again until he was ready to sit down and write his response.

——

Dear Auntie Gup,

I am happy you are safe. I miss you. I am doing good in school. The other kids keep making fun of me. It is not nice what they say. They call me names. They call me Sithspawn. Aron Bloodeyes. I do not like these names. I ask them to stop but they don’t. The teachers don’t help me. I think they are scared. I did not do anything wrong. I ask mom why they hate me. She says they don’t. She says I am different. How am I different? I want to be normal.

I miss you. I miss daddy. Please come back soon.

Aron.

Damsy Callat

 

[Damsy Callat]

The day's second week was starting and it was only midday.

Damsy sat down hard in the metal chair in front of her desk in The Reef. If she hadn't been running on an intense mix of adrenaline and desperation, she would have stopped a moment to find it funny, in an ironic kind of way, that the Sithspawn who had once had so much trouble walking down a hallway by herself had been running between planetary levels like a woman gone mad.

But, what she did stop to consider was Aron. His visage flashed across her mind's eye even as she made the risky decision to shelter padawans in the old factory. So, as her People sealed themselves in the Force-masked tunnels below, she grabbed a flimsiplast and began spending time that she definitely didn't have to lose as ink left on the surface. She later smuggled it past the blockade somehow, probably by sheer will to get out what might have been her last words.

---

(Bella: This is for Aron. It's true what you've probably heard. The Sith have come to Coruscant. When you get this, I may well be dead. If I'm not, I'll send word as soon as possible. It's up to you when you let him read this.)

My dearest kit:

Remember that even especially when the galaxy is at its most turbulent, there is hope. Even the strongest current can be swam, and should be for they reveal our greatest potentials and propel us to surmount extraordinary obstacles. That's what I'm doing right now, alongside each and every great Jedi I know.

I will return to you after this storm. Until then, go outside and feel me in raindrops on your skin. I know you can do it, but don't stray too far from home.

Gup

---

After one long week, another letter came. It's contents were not long, but just enough to keep her promise though her muscles hadn't stopped aching since the siege.

---

I'll love you until I forget how to swim.

Aron Thress

 

[Aron Thress]

Dad had left again.

He had been home for a few years. The longest he had ever been home, and Aron had gotten used to seeing his dad every day. Until suddenly, something had come up as it often did, and he was gone again.

Aron, of course, masked devastation behind a strong front. Hugging his dad, telling him to be safe, to come home soon. But as soon as he was alone Aron was inconsolable. Cursing the galaxy, the Force, his Dad, everything.

He still had his mother…but he felt so alone.

Another couple of letters had come in, and his mother sat him down and told him the truth. Damsy was in trouble, the Sith had come to Coruscant. She had read part of the first one, and then waited until she received the second before giving both to him.

Immediately, he was ecstatic. He wondered if that was where his own father had gone, to go save his sister. And he beamed with pride. Tears rolled down his cheek reading his Aunt’s words, and he couldn’t wait to send a reply.

____


Dear Aunt Guppy,

Are you okay? Are you safe? Is dad with you?
I have a hundred things to ask about but I just want to know that you’re okay. I won’t bother you with school stuff, I just want you to know you’re my hero. You and daddy both.

Stay safe,

Kit.
_____

The next time it rained, his mother had to drag him inside.

Damsy Callat

 

[Aron Thress]

It’s been years…

Aron was 16. The letters between him and Damsy have been few and far between.

He didn’t mind, it happens. But he was missing his Aunt. He had a lot of things he wanted to tell her.

_______

Dear Aunt Damsy,

Hey, I hope you’re okay and I miss you. It’s been a while since we last wrote, so I thought I’d just check to see how things were, and give a bit of an update.

Dad’s home again. He’s been home for a while. It makes me feel like he won’t be for much longer. Something will come up, something always does, and he’ll need to go again. It hurts less every time. And I don’t know what that means. I know I’m happy when he’s here, when you both are. But I get it.

You both have responsibilities, you have things that need to be done. It doesn’t make me happy. But I get it.

The kids at school don’t pick on me too much these days. Mostly they just ignore me. Honestly? That kinda feels worse. Nowadays they just see me and turn away. I did have a friend, once. He was kind to me, sat with me, talked with me. But he kept getting picked on for talking with me. I tried to fight for him, literally. They were picking on him and I got in between him and the others. I made them stop. I don’t really remember how, but they were scared. I think that’s when they started ignoring me. I scared him too. He stopped talking to me and I just kept to myself.

The teachers wanted to kick me out. But Dad stopped them. I never seen him defend me like that before. He was mad. Like really mad. And he told me he was proud of me. I stood up for someone who needed someone and he was so happy. He said goodness deserved reward, so we went out as a family.

It was the best night of my life.

It would have been perfect if you were there, too.

Come back soon, I love you.

Your hero,
Kit

Damsy Callat

 

[Damsy Callat]

For a while after the letter came, she did not know what to say.

She couldn't well tell her nephew that the monster in her had caught up to her, could she? That it had made her to do something bad because she had tried to stop it for so damn long that it had gotten resistant to her efforts, like an ornery pathogen?

That she thought all she could do short of ending this game in the one way that she knew she could was to embrace the monster?

She desperately wanted to save the Spawn that she could in spite of hating the Spawn within her. She felt like she had one more chance to be, to do, good, so she just couldn't let it go to try again in vain to join with the Light. How could she explain that? If grown men and women didn't understand her lot in the galaxy, how could a sixteen-year-old boy?

---

To the ocean's sweetest kit:

I'm happiest when I know you're out there happy first.

I think what you describe means that you're getting bitter. Please resist that. Your dad and I couldn't bear it, but that's not the real reason that you shouldn't do it. You won't be able to bear it—not forever. We all change as we live, that's how it goes, but we can guard against too much change if we're clever and careful. People of all sorts can do things to us and those things can hurt us whether they intend to or not, but what we can do, no matter what, is try to control our reactions. It's hard and it's unfair but it does everyone good in the long run, I promise you.

That brings me to your first test in this. However you react, you will not fail and I will continue to love you until I forget how to swim.

I can't come to visit you anymore. I don't know when I will be able to. Something's come up for me too—something big—and I have to chase it because I feel like it's my last chance to be good. Don't worry; I'll find someone to take me out as a reward.

I love you so much,
Aunt Damsy

Aron Thress

 

[Aron Thress]

Aron was now fully grown. And a new padawan in the Jedi Order. He struggled to adjust to the change of scenery, but quickly adapted to his situation, and thrived. Study had consumed him. An endless effort of self betterment had become his personal mission as he trained to become the person he wanted to be.

But still, as always, his thoughts lingered on his family. He enjoyed nightly calls with his mother, and his father had recently arrived on Coruscant for an assignment. The two of them enjoyed dinner together at least once a week, and although Rann couldn’t enter the Jedi Temple, he found the time to spend as much of it with his Son as he could.

But his Aunt…her whereabouts constantly crossed Aron’s mind. Her last letter was…hard to read. And for a time he didn’t know how to respond. One night, though, he had to put his words to paper. He had to write her, even if he didn’t know what to say.


___

Dear Aunt Damsy,

I’m sorry I haven’t written. I don’t want you to think it’s because of anything, it’s not. I just don’t know what to say.

Dad told me he’s seen you recently, and that you’re okay. He says he believes in you, and I do too. I never stopped, I’ll never stop. You’re the best Aunt anyone could ever ask for, and I’m eternally grateful to call you my family.

I’ve left home and joined the Jedi Order on Coruscant. It was time to get out, make my mark. I didn’t want to leave mom until I knew she would be okay, until she knew that I would be…but Dad’s here, too. Not in the Jedi. You know and I know he wouldn’t last a day. But he’s with the GA, and he’s stationed here for now. So it just felt right. I’m still with my family.

I still go outside and sit in the rain whenever it does. It’s where I feel the closest to you. That and the Room of a Thousand Fountains. If you don’t know it’s…what it sounds like. You’d like it a lot. But I still prefer the rain.

I remember what you told me when I was a kid. ‘True family is never far.’

I remember not knowing what you meant. Dad was always far away. You were always far away… but I get it now. You were always right there in my heart. I could always close my eyes and see you both.

I know whatever you’re facing, you’ll take care of it. And don’t ever worry about making me proud, you do. Always.

Life with the Jedi is good. They’re good people. A bit preachy at times…but good people. They say the Sith are evil. And maybe that’s true…most of the time. 99% of the time. But my family? No. My family could never be evil. You could never be evil.

I thought about what you said, and you’re right. I can’t be bitter. I refuse to be. Dad wants me to be better, you want me to be better. And I’m trying. I will continue to strive to be the best me I can be, someone who you can be proud of, someone who makes the galaxy a better place.

I want to save people. All people, like you do. I want to be a hero. Your hero, dads, moms, everyone.

Whenever you need me, I’ll be there. I’ll save you too. No one can stop me.

I love you until Coruscant is green again.
I love you until the fountains run silent.
I love you until Kamino dries up.
I love you until the galaxy ends.

And after.
Your Kit, now always and forever,

Aron, Jedi Padawan.


The End…for now
Damsy Callat