[Alsakan] Family Time

[Soran Jace]

It had been longer than Soran cared to admit since he'd last been "home". It was still an odd feeling, that there was a place somewhere, where people waited for him to return, just for the sake of him being there.

Alsakan was a nice place to live and grow up. In the Deep Core it was well developed but still far enough away from the political turmoil of places like Coruscant and Alderaan. As the elevator brought up Soran up towards the upper floor apartment, the young man felt somewhat inadequate, should he have brought something back with him? Rhen Var and Felucia did not have much in the way of gift shops for him to have gotten anything anyway.

As the doors of the elevator platform opened onto the apartment Soran was immediately greeted by the protocol droid that was task with keeping the place clean. "Oh, Master Soran! I am so glade to see you! You see the -" The droid was interrupted mid sentence by a loud "DADDY!!!" Coming from right above Soran's head as a shape dropped onto the Jedi.

Soran grabbed the mass that fell onto him and propped it up. "How in the name of the Force did you get up there Hask?" Soran said as right his two year old son his arm and looked up to door lintel where the boy had jumped from. "Climbed!" Replied the child cheerfully. Well that was an explanation the young father supposed.

Soran scanned the main room of the apartment for another ambush by a pint sized Jace but the coast seemed clear as the he made his way to the sofa. "Where're your mother and sister?" Soran asked as he sat down. "Dunno." Was all the reply he got as Hask was trying to wriggle out of his father's arms and reached towards the lightsaber at his belt. Soran simply shifted the boy further away to his other side as he picked up his weapon and slid it his inside jacket pocket where the two year old would not managed to get to it. Soran did wonder if the boy's namesake had been that much of a terror.

Still the Jedi's mind went back to the door and the space above it. How did a human two year old get up there anyway?

@Algarus

 

[Arial Calvic]

"Momma!" Meera laughed at her mother, seemingly oblivious of the plight of the woman trying to help her. "Yes, I'm Momma." Arial smiled at her little girl, as she worked to get the marker ink off of the girl's face; why was Hask trying to give her Zabrak facial tattoos?. Taking the wash rag, she re soaked it and set to scrubbing the ink off, hoping C3 was able to keep her little hellion at bay. "Why did you let your brother draw on you honey? You need to stand up to him." She muttered, having made some head way by using soap and water in combination, clearly she was catching on to this parenting business. "Daddy's home!" Meera shouted, throwing her arms up and knocking off the concentrated scrubbing power of the former Imperial Agent. "Is he now? What makes you think that honey?" Arial gritted her teeth, as the toddler was not having it. "I just know!" She giggled, throwing her arms up, which prompted Arial to shake her head. "You're just being silly." She had almost gotten all of the ink off now, hopefully when she left the bath room there would still be a house left. "Mistress Arial, the master has returned!" C3 could be heard behind her, as the woman looked back towards the droid, then to Meera. The little girl smiled, one quarter of her face still covered in red marker. "Told you!" Maybe it was just a lucky guess on her little angel's part, but something in the back of Arial's mind was ticking. "Yes you did sweetie, yes you did."

Finishing off the remnants of the ink, Arial would scope her little girl up and carry her out to the living room where she expected to find the two most important men in her life, paying the droid little mind in the process. "C3, can you hold my calls until tomorrow?" She asked, as she would lock her eyes onto Soran and their little boy. "Why, of course mistress, consider it done!" With that C3 would disappear into Arial's study, where hopefully he could let the couple share a moment for once. A smile stretched across her face, as she moved in to kiss her personal jedi, much to the displeasure of their children. "I was just wondering where you had gotten off to," Arial sat down beside Soran, letting Meera go free, as she of course was immediately targeted by Hask, the two wandering off towards their little corner, trying to find whatever toy held their attention for the time being. "Hask is turning out to be a little artist. Drew all over his sister's face today." She shook her head, resting on his shoulder, her arms wrapping around his larger frame as she let her stresses just melt away for the time being. In all her years, she never pictured this would be where her life would lead her.

@z0pu

 

[Soran Jace]

Soran wrapped his left arm around Arial nestling her close while he looked at their children playing. Never would he have imagined this life for himself. But by the Force was he glad to have it. The Jedi remained silent for a moment as he looked at the children, contemplating the past few moments and moving his eyes to the couple centimetres wide ledge that formed the front door's lintel. "He's also growing into a climber. He jumped down on me from above the door. That's not a... an easy climb." Soran said not easy but what he really meant was impossible, especially for a human two year old. Not only that but how did the boy know to wait for him to jump at that moment?

There was of course an easy answer, yet a part of Soran hoped it could be something else. Not because it was not a beautiful thing on it's own; but because a part of him feared the repercussion, was it truly so wrong to have hoped they could have had a normal happy childhood?

Soran kept on looking at the playing children, a serious expression on his face. "Has there been anything else? The kids knowing things they shouldn't have? Doing things they should not be capable off?" Soran was pretty sure Arial knew where he was going with this, but he needed to ask. Arial was the smartest person he knew but her understanding of the Force was academic at best. The signs could be subtle, or even hand-waved away by logic. Perhaps the Jedi was overthinking this as he often did many things, yet his feelings knew what was going on. His mind however needed more details, was it just the Boy? Or did Meera also exhibit the signs?

Most of all Soran was thinking about he would do should the tests reveal what he expects them to. Should the twins be brought to the Order? Perhaps teaching them himself would be better? no, that was probably not a wise idea. So many thoughts and questions formed in his mind. yet none of this would his decision to make alone, Arial and Soran would need to talk about this. But first Suspicions needed to be proven.

@Algarus

 

[Arial Calvic]

Arial's eyebrow perked up at what Soran had said. She glanced towards the door hinge, her smile soured into a scowl. Hearing that Hask had gotten himself in a rather dangerous situation was bad, meant C3 needed an upgrade for his babysitting protocol again, but worse was the feat was impossible for a two year old to pull off. She knew what Soran was hinting at, and she really didn't like it. She had hoped this day would never come, but it was here, and now they were going to have to deal with it.

"Meera knew you were here before I did. I guess that pretty much confirms it, doesn't it?" Arial sighed, burying her face into Soran's shoulder. This was a headache they didn't need. Jedi weren't exactly welcomed in the Republic, even having Soran here with her could threaten her position in the Republic. She spent a moment focusing her thoughts, dismissing the emotions that so often came to the surface at times like this. Once she had done that, she would withdraw herself from Soran's shoulder and look up to him. "If it comes down to it, I'd rather they learn from their father than that Jedi Order. I don't trust them." Arial stated, putting her hand on Soran's knee and squeezed. "Just, some of the reports I've seen indicate dangerous behavior with their GA allies. I don't want them around that." She affirmed, hoping he would understand what she was asking of him. She had never been a fan of jedi, growing up she had been told of how they were cowards and treacherous beings, but meeting Soran had certainly challenged those ideas. Frankly she was always suspicious of force users, being raised under the Sith Empire had helped with that. "The galaxy doesn't need jedi anymore. We need people willing to help restore all the damage done." Arial half stating, half pleading, knowing that Soran probably wouldn't take it well. "They don't have to be jedi, but they can still be good people, they can still help."

The bigger truth was she was terrified of someone learning of this. With Mandalorians out on the prowl, one could only guess how the galaxy would shape out to be, it certainly wasn't a galaxy she wanted her children to be a part of. She tried to keep her tone down, not wanting to get the children's attention. Arial sighed and leaned back into her man, feeling rather helpless with the situation before them. "Maybe I'm over reacting. Maybe this is all a coincidence." She muttered, knowing that Soran didn't believe in coincidence, and truth be told neither did she. She looked up to him, worry plaguing her green eyes. "I guess we should have them tested, right?" She asked, her eyes staying on him, before looking over to the twins. She felt completely and utterly helpless now, knowing that her children were born into a galaxy thought could resent them for their born gifts. To a semi-control freak like Arial, it drove her nuts.

@z0pu

 

[Soran Jace]

Soran just gave a quick nod, not letting his eyes stray away from the children. the young man sighed deeply and reached for the datapad on the coffee table. He simply loaded a few pictures onto the device ready to slid them. "I'll do it. I'm not a seeker but I know the basics. He quickly leaned into Arial and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead before making his way to the children.

The two were playing like two normal two year olds would. Meera was trying to stack toys into some form of tower and Hask had grabbed a toy starfighter and swung it around pretending to fly until of course the toy attacked Meera's tower and destroyed it. Soran braced himself for a crisis as Hask laughed while his sister looked at her destroyed work on the floor. Yet it did not come. Meera simply looked at her brother and said quite calmly "That's not nice." With a disappointed look on her face that reminded Soran very much of the look Arial could have, before the little girl simply went back to rebuilding her tower.

Soran could not help to smile at the two most precious things in the Galaxy to him. In was in those moments he understood why Jedi prohibited possessiveness and tended to discourage such attachments. Some people might not be able to fulfil their duty due to the fear of losing their loved ones. Yet to Soran it only made him want to do it more. He would sacrifice his own life a thousand times over to make this Galaxy a better place for his children.

As he approached the twins looked up at their father expectantly. A tinge of worry on Hask's face as part of him expected rebuttal for being mean to his sister. This was a good thing Soran thought. Hask was too young to really control his impulses in play but he was beginning to understand that what he did was wrong. That was the first step towards growing up.

The father kneeled by the children. "How about we play a little game together? The three of us?" The proposal was met by a resounding "YAY!" from both the twins who immediately dropped whatever toys they were holding. Soran sat down in a more comfortable cross legged position as he propped the datapad. "So the game is this. I'm going to put a picture on the screen and you don't get to see it. You have to tell me what you think the picture is okay?" The two looked a bit confused but did agree with a classic twin unison "Okay."

At first Soran put up the picture of a Starship before telling the children to go and guess. Hask seemed to try and think as he scratched his brown hair and looked up and just as he was to try and formulate something "A... a..." the boy was cut off by a loud and jovial "Spaceship!" from Meera. Hask turned his head towards his sister looking both surprised and slightly frustrated she had given an answer before him but followed right away with "Yeah! Spaceship" At which point the boy grabbed his toy starfighter and propped it up. "Like that but big!"

"Very good." replied Soran before moving onto the next picture. The rest of the game went on much the same. Meera was faster and more precise. While Hask would need to think about it and often be more vague such as when a picture of the family protocol droid was up. Hask did get "Droid" but Meera shouted "C3!" with glee.

The game went on for a solid thirty minutes before the children started to get bored and most noticeably the boy was getting frustrated at his sister "beating" him at this particular game. As Soran was about ready to end it, pretty sure of his results was when Hask's frustration culminated. "I don't like this game." He said pouting as he grabbed as soft foam ball and tossed it at his sister. Meera obviously was not hurt at the foam collided with her head but she puffed up her cheeks and look annoyed at her twin. While she was content to let Hask break her projects and draw on her face it seemed either her patience had run out or she would not abide having balls tossed at her. Meera grabbed the ball on the ground and threw it as hard as she could at her brother.

Soran almost used the Force to stop the ball and end the fight before it began but a brief feeling made him stop, the result being all the more surprising. Hask rather than being bopped in turn just tilted his head slightly and let the ball fly passed him. A precise reaction far beyond the reflex and coordination of a two year old. He was not content to end it there however. With a swift kick he flicked one of the cubes on the ground which hit Meera right in the forehead. While the ball had been soft the cube was a solid lump of plastic and thus the normal two year old reaction took over Meera began crying while holding her forehead.

"Hask!" Shouted Soran, looking as unamused as he could. The father grabbed his daughter and tried to calm her down as he gave a stern look at the boy who had already began to look at his toes in shame.

Still Soran looked at Arial. The results were proving to be obvious. Once the children were put to bed this conversation would need to happen for real now.

@Algarus

 

[Arial Calvic]

Arial wasn't quite sure what Soran had planned, but she would allow him to go through with the test. She sat up, watching as the father of her children moved towards them to start a test that would have life altering consequences for them. She had a complete view of the screen from her place on the couch, and watched as Soran went about the test. Initially, she wasn't sure what it was he was doing, but it soon became obvious that he was testing their senses. She found it rather odd, and in a way she felt a bit alone in the room, as she was the only one in this household that didn't have their gift. Not that she needed it, but it was something she wouldn't be able to share in with her children.

As the test went on, it became more and more apparent to Arial that yes, their kids had the same gift as their father. Hask seemed to be taking his losing streak rather poorly, as was to be expected, while Meera seemed to be thriving with the test. Clearly she took more after her parents, though Hask...well he was living up to his namesake. She wished he could have been here, he would have loved the kids, but the idea of having to deal with three children in a household wasn't something Arial looked forward to. The small smile on her face wavered, but didn't fade. Hask might have been gone, but he had given her this life. She still had the Hurricane stationed in the spaceport, so even though he was gone, he still was having an influence in her life. Strange how that sort of thing worked, but Soran would have told her that was just 'the force in motion'. If not for her time in the military, she might have believed him sooner, but she certainly did now.

When Hask lashed out at his sister, Arial closed her eyes and sighed, knowing she'd have to be the bad parent this time; Soran could at times, but he lacked the 'omph' of what Arial could bring down on the kids. Raising from the couch, she would take Hask, who was on the verge of crying now, and pull him over to the side. The little looked down at the ground, clearly pouting as he knew he messed up big this time. It took a great deal of will power for Arial to not crack a smile, as she was reminded of when a certain pureblood got called out on things. "Hask, that was very wrong." She started, keeping her tone calm and authoritative. "Yes...." He mumbled, still not gracing Arial with some much as a glance. "Hask, look at me." Arial stated, keeping her tone, softening it a touch just to hit that sweet spot of being gentle but firm. She was rewarded by the little boy slowly looking up at her "Hitting your sister is wrong. It doesn't matter if she wins, you can't just hurt people because you don't get your way." "But it's not fair!" He tried to fire back, but Arial was having none of it. She had told Darth Victress to shove off, she could handle a temperamental two year old. "You don't hit. Do I make myself clear?" The soft tone was gone, as Arial laid down her ultimatum. She knew they would have this talk again, he was two after all, but the crisis was handled for the time being. "Now you go and tell her sorry." "Okay..." Hask seemed to shrink an inch or two, before moving back to Soran and pitifully muttered an apology to his sister. Arial looked to Soran, smiling and shaking her head. They were going to have to talk about this tonight.

@z0pu

 

[Soran Jace]

Soran just held and gently shook his daughter as she sobbed into his shoulder covering it in tears and snot. A part of him wanted to use the Force to ease her pain but he knew this was something she would have to learn to deal with, even it was just a little bit at a time. By the time Meera was calming down Hask went back over after having gotten a talk to from his mother and muttered an apology.

Soran bent down and let go of Meera, whose green eyes were still puffy and red from the crying. They both had their mother's eyes but while Meera's were full of life and emotions, Hask's almost seemed to be looking ahead to something else. Soran did wonder, what did the eyes of this two year old saw, that made him want to always push ahead? Would it ever go away or would Hask never stop going forward looking at the horizon? With both his children next to each other Soran felt their little outburst deserved to be addressed.

"Do you know why you are mad each other?" The twins just looked at their feet not sure what to answer. Not that Soran expected anything, in fact the Jedi doubted most adults could answer the question in similar circumstances. With a gentle paternal smile on his face Soran answered his own question. "You are mad because you both feel you lost. That you failed. Hask you don't like Meera was faster than you at our game. Meera You don't like Hask is better than you at fighting." The two just looked at each other in a mix of confusions and still a hint of anger. "You're twins. You feel like if the other can do something you should be able to do it just as well. But that's not how it works children, you will both be good at different things and sometimes one of you will succeed and the other one will fail. Sometimes even, you will both lose." The idea of the two of them losing seemed to rouse their heads in an almost defiant look. They really were their mother's children. "Do not ever be mad you lost or fail. Because it's by doing that you will get better." The words of grandmaster Breaux came to Soran's mind but he held back on reciting Jedi doctrine. Not because he didn't feel it was right but simply because the two were just to young to comprehend. In time they would. But that time was not yet there.

"Anyway. I don't know about you but I could eat!" Hask almost jumped off the ground at the mention of food. "I want PIE!" The boy certainly knew what he wanted in life. Soran looked up at Arial and smiled. the family would go into the kitchen and have dinner after which the children would follow the natural course of life and crash from exhaustion and food, and as they often did fell asleep on top of each other. A part of Soran wanted these moments to last forever, they would not, he knew that, but the idea was just too pleasant not to cross his mind.

Having put the children to bed Soran and Arial were alone in kitchen ready to discuss a more serious matter. "I assume you don't need me to tell you the obvious." The Jedi said to the mother of his children. "They both do it. They are attuned to the Force." Soran looked on through the window at the lights of the city, a part of him touching so many life form in around the building he was standing in. The life of his children in the next room just as real as the sight of Arial in front of him. "They are not quite the same though. Meera... she's just like me. Like I must have been at her age. She feels and experiences the world through the Force, probably just as much as she does with her other senses. You said she knew I was home before you did. She must have felt my presence as I neared. You, see the closer you are to someone, the more clearly you can feel them, and if themselves are attuned the Force it makes it all the more clear. In that regard, after Hask I'm probably the person Meera could recognize the best, followed by you. Though I'm not sure the twins even know how feel each other. they are always together, they don't know a world when they are not with one another. I'm sure they will in time though. There is a story about two Jedi masters that were twins; it said that even across the entire galaxy, they always knew how the other one was feeling and if they were safe." Soran found that thought reassuring, that even across the stars the twins would always be with one another in one way or the other.

The Jedi took a sip of his drink before continuing to explain his findings about the twins. "Hask though... he's different. He's in tune with the physical aspect of the Force and how it affects his body. Strength, speed, reflexes. He lets the Force flow through him so he can do things he shouldn't be able to do." With almost a smirk Soran added "Like climbing over doors and kicking a block with deadly precision without warning." Soran leaned down on the kitchen counter, almost getting lost in his thoughts as he often did. "It makes you wonder, are their personalities guided by their abilities or is the other way around? It's hard to deny the link."

The Jedi walked closer to Arial and wrapped his arms around her. His voice almost shook as he spoke. "I don't know what to do Arial. I don't know if I can help them, or teach them. Would I be able to see it if something is wrong? Can I be objective? The Force is the most wondrous thing, but the Dark Side... it can be so tempting, so dangerous. If one of them started down that path, I'm not sure I could bring them back. I am so scared." Soran felt almost like a hypocrite, hours earlier he told his children to never fear failure but here was fearing that exact same thing. But it was different to fail yourself and fail others. Soran could accept failing himself, but failing his children was not something he was sure could handle or forgive. "What do we do?" He almost whispered as he took a deep breath, the smell of Arial's hair filling his nostrils and comforting him.

@Algarus

 

[Arial Calvic]

Arial watched from her little corner of the room as Soran went into his jedi speech. Arial wanted to interject, maybe remind Soran that he was talking to children. But she couldn't bring herself to do it. Not when he got so passionate about this. he should have been a teacher, or a philosopher, not a jedi; it was a waste of his talents, but then again they might never have met. When the call for pie went out, the former agent could only laugh and shake her head, their pie rations were going to be depleted soon enough. If he kept this up their children would be fatter than a hutt, but least she was there to be the reasonable one. The following events served to provide some manner of relief for the agent, as sharing in the company of their little family distracted from the crushing truth about their children.

After a few hours, Soran had put the children to children to bed, and Arial was already looking for info on handling force sensative children. She was pouring her attention into a datapad as Soran came back to her, her brow furrowed into a look of irritation as she looked through lines of text. "They're both like you." Arial muttered, a small bit of her lamented the fact that she lacked the 'touch' that the rest of the family had. Maybe if she understood it more, she could form some way of helping them. But she couldn't, and it was getting her up in knots. She sighed as Soran went into his explanation, she was listening of course, but he sounded like a doctor explaining a doomed surgery to a patient. "That's not something we can answer, but the important thing is that they are reacting well to their gifts." Arial commented, glancing up at her man for a moment, before going back to work.

As Soran moved closer towards her, she gave up on her efforts, there was nothing out there that was going to help her. Shutting the pad off, she embraced Soran, feeling every hit as concerned as he felt now. She locked her arms around the small of his back, squeezing him tightly, as she felt as if the world was closing in around them. "We are going to love them and be their parents. Just like we always planned to do." She spoke with a firm tone, resting her chin on his shoulder. She had to act like she knew what to do, because the only other option was to throw your hands up and pout in the corner; and she wasn't about to start that now. "This force thing, it doesn't change anything. You are still their father, and I'm their mother. Even if they can move rocks with their minds or know when someone walks in the door, they are still our children." Arial sighed, leaning more into Soran, knowing that despite all the experience she had in the field, this hadn't gotten any easier. She kissed his neck, taking in a breath as she was letting the anxiety leak out. "I don't know about this 'light side' or 'dark side' stuff, but what I do know is you are loving, thoughtful, and caring. If anyone can teach them how to use their gifts responsibly, it would be you." She muttered, her hands breaking the hold as she would trail her hands up his back, trying to soothe him. She didn't know anything about the force, least not to the extent Soran spoke of it, but she was aware that to a jedi the Dark side was like getting addicted to spice and unable to wean yourself off. She understood why he would be so concerned about one of their children giving into that, and if it was anything like what the Sith did she would be terrified of that outcome as well. She would continue to hold him if needed, because frankly she was scared out of her mind too, she just knew how to hide it better.

@z0pu