Ask The Boy Who Lived

[Alexandria Voran]

Screams echoed across the walls. Bodies falling limp as their lifeless eyes stared at ruby red blades. Failure spread across the Force like a disease. The horrible stench of utter defeat. Death was all around them. Death and pain and suffering. The lifeblood of the Darkside oozed forth. There would be no peace, only war, only death.

Alexandria Thayless Voran woke in a cold sweat. Her hand tightened around the cold hilt of her lightsaber. When had she called it to her side? She sat in bed, wrapped in a flimsy sheet. Kriff. Her chambers in the Temple on Yavin IV were small, not much larger than quarters on a shuttle. She kept very few personal possessions and the room reflected such. Right now…it felt like a prison. Alex was only thankful the walls were thick enough the others would not hear her screams. She had not been the same since Ajan Kloss. Max had taken the brunt of the corruption, but something had stuck with her. Alex just couldn’t shake the images left in her mind.

Well, there would be no more sleeping tonight. She stood from her bed and quickly dressed. A part of her thought she should leave the saber behind…she didn’t. That was problem. She needed fresh air. She needed to right her mind. Alex had more than herself to worry about. Maiko had lost one Master, she would not allow him to lose another. She had to get herself right.

The Jedi Knight’s feet carried into the humid night. Find your center, Alex. Figure out what you want to be. Do anything. She let her mind go. The Force carried her on waves of Light away from the Temple. Her breathing slowed as she tried to free herself. Show me the way…please.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Sleep was somewhat elusive when he was trying to figure something out on the politics side of things. It was late enough that it was probably early and yet he sat in his office with a tumbler of whiskey held in his left hand as he and his assistant, Isado, went through another of the pieces of paperwork that had been sent over. Something about the proposed budget for senator's expense accounts that Max honestly couldn't give a whomprats backside about but he was expected to vote on.

And if he was going to need to vote on it, Max saw absolutely no reason to do so without doing as much research into the whole thing as he possibly could. But this was getting beyond him and he had already caused some cracks in the base of the tumbler because his distraction was allowing his control over his cybernetic hand to slip up.

"Alright that's enough - get some rest, Isado." he ordered the young Knight turned assistant before picking a cigara out of a small box he kept on the desk, "I'm going for a walk."

Something told him a walk would likely be just what he needed and he knew well enough by now to follow his instincts. When they started leading him out of the Temple, he caught sight of Alexandria making her way out into the night as well. She was armed, saber in hand, but seemed both unhurried and rushing at the same time. He wasn't entirely sure how that worked so he didn't try and figure it out alone by just watching her.

Instead he hurried his own pace up to follow her.

"Alex." he called out to her as they entered the forest of Yavin properly, "It's a bit late for saber practice."

He was concerned but he didn't know how much that same concern was actually warranted so he started with a little bit of humor as he smiled at her.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

Where are you. Her mind raced across a thousand paths…reaching farther and farther from the jungle covered moon. You can’t be this lost. The Morellian Jedi Knight searched for herself. A piece of her that had gone missing. Oren had asked her to return home. She had done as he asked and found nothing but pain since. He fled like a coward. Alex found only suffering at home. Failure in the slums of Corellia with Fiacha. Disgust when the Order gathered following the fall of the Temple. Fear and Darkness flooding all around them. The lone brightness the cleansing of the Temple on Ajan Kloss. Somehow…it was not enough. Someone she had misjudged her path.

So, her mind searched for meaning. Searched for what she was meant to be. A familiar presence hummed against her senses. Her eyes slowly opened as Alex turned to face Max. He always somewhere he wasn’t meant to be. The hilt of her lightsaber was still in her hand. She would not let go. Slowly her mind began to recede from the Force. Still her voice sounded distant as she spoke. “Is it?” She frowned slightly. “I hadn’t noticed.” A lie if there every was one. Alex shook her head slightly, trying to focus on Max. She supposed she owned him some reverence now as he sat upon the Council. It was hard to muster when she barely knew who she was.

“It seems the galaxy demands I hone my skills…I doubt I will be able to keep the blade clean much longer.” Her left hand waved absentmindedly through the air. “Besides, sleep is elusive.” Alex tried to put a smile on her face. She tried very hard to appear normal. There was no reason to worry anyone. “For both of us it seems.” She quirked an eyebrow. There. That was normal.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Never let it be said that Max was someone who knew a whole lot about women but he knew enough to know that running around in the middle of the night with a dangerous weapon wasn't ever a good sign. Usually he might be inclined to think it might be dangerous to others but, well, this was Alex. He liked to think he knew her well enough to know that she wasn't going to be going out of her way to hurt anyone else.

Which was actually somewhat more worrying because he wasn't sure he could honestly say that she wasn't going to hurt herself if she thought she was failing. She was a hard woman to please and that was something that she used on herself as well, holding herself to high standards. Some might say too high but he was of the opinion that that was up to her to discover but still...

"Is it the Galaxy with demands or is it yourself?" he mused, hands resting in his pockets as he looked around the forest at night, enjoying how it seemed both peaceful and colder than he expected, "I've often found that we talk to ourselves more than the Galaxy does, even as Jedi. But regardless - what does it say to you?"

He snorted in amusement, toying with the cigara he'd popped out to actually smoke but making no motions to actually do so as he just lingered with Alex.

"Working on some Senate business; there might be a vote coming up for a military." he admitted with a frown, "Just... trying to research I guess."

Truth was?

He was hopelessly out of his depth and he was still the best choice from the council to play politics. What that said about the Council, politics and himself? Who was to say.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

Her mind spiraled back into itself. Alex tried to focus on Max but kriff she was tired. Sleep had been elusive for more than a few days. She had allowed her mind to be taken too far afield with little regard of caution. Foolish Alex. Suddenly the Jedi Knight was acutely aware of just of the unlit lightsaber in her hand. Oh yes, that seemed terribly normal. She let the larger existential question slide past her. Alex wasn’t quite ready for those just yet. She focused on the more mundane.

“Hmmm…that is good.” Her voice still sounded strangely distant. Not as odd as before but not entirely normal. “You’ll likely be more informed than half the Senate.” She had no use for politics and frankly neither should the Order. Yet, they had no choice. Their repeated blunders had forced everyone’s hands. What a mess. Alex looked down at the saber hilt. Blood dripped from her hands. She shook her head. No…those were the nightmares. Her eyes stayed downcast. “You know Oren asked me to return to the Temples?” Alex was nearly a century old but suddenly felt the anxiety of a child. “He found me on some backwater world and said so many grand things about the purpose of the Order and setting us on the right path…where is he now? Where are any of them?” Dead. Gone. Fled to the edges of the galaxy. Leaving the rest behind to clean up their mess.

“You’re right of course. Our minds twist what we see to make it fit what we want…it is not the Galaxy...or the Force…but our own desires.” Alex lifted her eyes to look at Max. He likely knew her better than any other Jedi. She did not know if it would help. “I have never wanted a war, but I feel the choice has been made for us.” A deep sadness entered her voice. “I was so certain I saw the path the Force meant for me. I know now I saw only what I wished to see, and I am lost, Max.” She had more than herself to worry about. She had Maiko and she worried for the rest of the Order. Yet, she found herself unable to face the challenge.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

He tried hard not to laugh a little bit at her response to his research and the vote that the senate was expecting to have. He tried not to laugh because it was so damned true that it was actually funny. Seriously, he would have thought career politicians were smart enough to do the leg work but, well, it seemed that no one enjoyed researching things so incredibly dry.

"More informed than politicians?" he smirked ever so slightly, "Feel as though that might be the case even if I was armed with nothing more than common sense."

In the end he didn't laugh even at that part of the conversation because it felt wrong to laugh when the tone was shifting so much. Tilting and sliding downward to become more and more serious and, perhaps, worrying. Alex had stood with him on Ajan Kloss against the barrage of the Dark Side and she had been the rock in the storm for him. But now she was in a storm of her own and he wanted to be able to do the same for her as she had for him.

He reached out with his right hand to take her free hand in his own, entwining their fingers loosely as she spoke.

"Oren made many mistakes during his time with the Jedi but I don't ever believe that bringing you back to us was one of them." he told her quietly, looking her in the eyes as he spoke and giving her hand a gentle squeeze, "None of us truly knows the path we need to walk, Alex. Yoda didn't, Rey didn't and neither did Oren... and I sure as hells don't either."

Max managed a small smile as he leaned in to rest his forehead against hers as they had done on Ajan Kloss before.

"We find our path together and we find our way together too." he attempted to reassure her, "What did you see for your Path before this? Is it truly lost to you?"

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

Mere months ago, she could have recoiled at the thought of such a familiar touch. Alex had been alone for a long time before returning to the Temples. There had been a part of her that had forgotten the strength found in others. Max had help remind her of that truth. They knew each other now, especially after the cleansing. Perhaps more than Alex care too admit. The feel of Max’s hand in hers ground her mind. For a moment, her vision was clear again. She almost smiled. Why was every conversation they had so heavy? “It is…difficult to remember we are not perfect beings.” Alex felt herself relax as their foreheads touched. “We are given incredible gifts by the Force but while it is perfect…we are not.” Her breathing slowed. “It is hard to remember.” She repeated. Alex had been alone for so long.

Perhaps her adjustment to returning had not been easy. The vision from the Curse had made it all too real. Get close and watch those close to you burn. Her mind reached out for Max. The connect was easy now. Where once barriers had existed on Corellia, the joining on Ajan Kloss had swept them away. They had managed something truly incredible. Together.

“I was foolish. I thought I would come back to share my wisdom from travels across the galaxy…Alexandria Voran…healer….teacher…” She could not help the sarcasm from creeping into her voice. “Uniter of the Jedi Order.” A sigh escaped her lips. Profound sadness. “I was blind to how deep the division ran…how many mistakes we had made.” Even now she knew Darkness spread across the galaxy. What were they to do in the face of such a threat? The Order could barely stand, let alone wage a war. Alex could not shake the feeling this was the only path. There would be no peace while the Sith reigned freely.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

She didn't pull away from his touch as he feared she might do when he had gone to reach out for her initially. Troubled as she was by recent events, the bond that they had started forming on Chandrilla and solidified on Ajan Kloss still cut through it enough that she welcomed his touch. It was good - he wanted to help her and if he could be the light that helped her through the sea of fog then all the better.

Her touch through the Force was soft and almost hesitant but he welcomed it, embraced it and reached back in turn. His connection to the Force, having returned to what he knew to be his normal state, washed over her as hers did his. Both of them reaching out into the Light and feeling how the other connected to every living thing in the Galaxy.

How they connected to each other along a connection the width of a single string with the strength of durasteel.

"The best Jedi are the people who know they're not perfect and keep trying anyway." he told her with a soft smile, looking her in the eyes across the short distance between them, "The healers... the teachers... the Alexandria Vorans for the Galaxy."

He gently squeezed her hand in his own.

"Lines have been drawn and not by us alone; the Galaxy shapes us and we twist ourselves in knots trying to accommodate those changes." he agreed before smiling a little wider, "We live in interesting, troubled, times. Would I prefer to have lived in peace my whole life? Yes, absolutely. But these trying times are ours, Alex, and we need to face them together. I'm with you Alex, I'm here for you and with you. You know that, right?"

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

The smile on her face was genuine. Max had an earnest nature impossible to fake. She found it endearing from that first meeting on Corellia, to now. It almost made her feel better…almost. Her mind had been torn asunder by the Curse. Together, they had stood strong among the Darkness. Together, they had fought back an impossible evil. Together, they had been a pillar of the Light. Alex had found it easy to stand tall when Max was there to help hold her up. In the depth of the Temple, it had seemed too obvious. Breath in the Light and find salvation.

Alone…it was so much harder. The Darkness crept in. Doubts assailed her thoughts. She put on a brave face because that was what the Order needed. At night, she felt anything but brave. “I know…” Alex tried to will strength in her voice she did not feel. “A part of me knows anyways.” She almost pulled away. Almost. “I became so used to walking alone, it is hard to adjust.” She let her mind lean in closer. “I need to be better…for the good of the Order…I can give more.” A part of her knew she was holding back. Fear gnawed at her core. The Curse had shown her everything she fear.

Obliteration at the hands of the Sith. An utter failure to protect those she loved. That was what waited for her if she threw herself fully into the Order. She would only pain waiting. “I know I need to take those steps.” Alex had returned at Oren’s request, she had even taken a student, but full devotion was still difficult. She held a part of herself back. A part she wished to protect. “But I don’t know how.” Truly, she had wandered alone for so long. Longer than even Max had been alive.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

A part of her knew that he was there for her and a part of her wasn't able to understand it fully. Or accept it, maybe, he wasn't sure which. He could push harder, seek to understand what was in her mind through the use of the Force but he refused. She had opened herself up to him on one of the highest levels and he would do nothing with it but show his support for her and to do the same. They had exposed themselves in a way that no one without the Force would ever be able to understand and that could be abused so very easily; but he refused.

One thing he didn't need knowledge straight from her mind and connection to the Force to know was that she was afraid. Afraid for herself, for others and more besides. It was something he saw often in Jedi, fear for others above any fear for themselves. And her she was, afraid to commit herself fully lest she make a mistake, lest she cause more harm than good by doing something so complete.

"I think..." he hummed slightly with a soft smile, shaking his head slightly, "I think you know exactly how to do it, Alex. You always have you're just... unsure. Frightened to take the last few steps."

His left hand, entirely robotic since their time on Ajan Kloss, came up slowly to brush her fringe out of the way of her right eye. It had slipped during their conversation from it's usual position, obscuring one of her eyes for a moment. He knew his robotic fingers were cold but he couldn't help himself from cupping the side of her face gently as he went to withdraw it.

"You walked the edge of Darkness with me on Ajan Kloss - will you walk back with me now? Away from this loneliness and back to where we can both belong?"

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

What was this? What was she feeling? She did not exactly know. The Force worked in mysterious ways. Cliché but true. No one, no matter how skilled, ever completed understood the Force. Alex was afraid. Afraid of what committing too all of this might mean. Afraid of loss. One step was all it would take, but the pain that might follow paralyzed her. The Jedi Knight had once thought herself brave, wise, and strong. She had been reminded just how insignificant they could all feel.

And yet…

Max felt like home. She had not trusted another person in decades. Even now, Alex was uncertain. She did not know what she wanted. Had she ever? Focus. She tried to will her mind into focus. Why was it so difficult? Goosebumps crept up her arm as Max pushed back her hair. His metallic fingers weren’t that cold. She leaned in slightly while he cupped her face. Focus. She was still afraid. A small part of her would likely always fear losing those closest to her, but Alex was ready to take that step. Fear had pushed her away from the Order. Family would bring her back.

“I am afraid…but not ashamed.” Finally, she began to see clearly. “Our bonds make us stronger because we do have something to lose.” Alex had been so foolish to close herself off. “We have something worth fighting for.” She could almost feel the Force hum with affirmation. Her hand reached up and gripped Max’s metallic finger as he went to withdraw. Alex leaned forward. “I am ready, and we will never be alone.” Their auras shone brightly in the Force. She could not begin to understand where her presence ended, and Max’s began. This was as it was meant to be.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

She was coming around, he could feel it. It wasn't something he felt so much in the Force so much as he felt it in his gut, a twisting and sinking sensation replaced by calm and certainty. A balance in the Force that had been subtly missing or, perhaps, slightly askew when it should have been perfect all along and yet now it was. It was the righting of something he hadn't known, precisely, was wrong and it made him smile.

Well, that and the fact that she refused to be put off by his new robotic arm. Instead of letting him retreating or, worse, pushing his hand away she eased into it. She relaxed into it, into his embrace, and he couldn't help the way his smile tugged at his lips as she did so, couldn't help the way such a casual show of acceptance effected him on the inside.

"Something to hold onto when all else seems lost." he agreed aloud even as his connection to her through the Force hummed with warmth and approval, "There is emotion yet there is peace - these as bonds we choose, not chains to drag us down."

His left hand cupped her cheek, the thumb lightly brushing over the edge of her lips as he glanced down at them for a second before refocusing on her eyes.

"You think I would let you be alone after what we've been through together?" he teased her softly, "Think again, Alex."

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

The Force felt right. For the first time since Ajan Kloss, Alex did not feel alone. No, that was not exactly right. For the first time since returning to the Order, Alex did not feel alone. The Force felt right. Her connection humming in harmony. The Curse had tried to keep the pieces of her apart, but as she knitted them back together, she could feel strength she never knew she had. Strength she never would have found alone. Her eyes went back to Max. His thumb brushed lightly across her lips.

Leaps of faith. Growth was not always a linear path, one small step after the other. Sometimes, it was one terrifying jump. Leaps of faith. Was she ready? Alex felt more herself than she had in a long time. An inner strength she had nearly forgotten. She was more than a forgotten Jedi on the Outer Rim. Leaps of faith Alex…leaps of faith. She smiled. “Idiot…wise…but an idiot.” Alex leapt. She crossed the last distance between them, placing her lips on Max. At least that part of him hadn’t been replaced with metal. She leaned into the kiss. Her heartbeat just slightly faster. Alex pulled back her aura in the Force still shinning brightly.

“Thank you.” Her voice rang with sincerity. “I could never have done this alone.” Her smile grew slightly wider. “I never thought I might feel at home again…anywhere.” It had been a terribly long time since she felt like she belong. “This wasn’t exactly a horrible near-death experience…but still...pretty dramatic.” The laugh that escaped her chest was genuine. It was a welcome feeling.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

It was something that the two of them had been dancing around for some time by this stage he could admit. During their time together they had usually focused on the heavier topics on their lives and righting wrongs that were pervasive on a planetary level. Was it wrong that they had held off exploring the other elements of their relationship when they were so busy picking up the pieces of other things?

When they were fixing things that had been broken for too long?

While it might not have been wrong to focus on those things, Max felt a deep yearning to have done more as soon as their lips touched. Instinctively he threaded his fingers through her hair to hold her close to him and extend the kiss. He chuckled ever so slightly as she pulled away to speak.

“I thought that was my line…?” he teased her gently, his voice soft even as his hand slowly, gently, came free from her hair, “See that’s the thing Alex – you could have done this alone. You’re strong enough and brave enough to have taken every step yourself but…”

This time it was Max who leaned forward to capture of her lips, drawing the kiss out slightly before pulling away to finish his train of thought.

“But you don’t ever have to.” He assured her with a bright smile, “So… I’m going to admit that this wasn’t how I imagined tonight going.”

He squeezed her hand with his right hand, their fingers still entwined.

“Glad one of us took the leap…”

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

Alex was almost surprised when Max kissed her back. She was nearly 90, she wasn’t dead. Still, it had been a long time since she had been this close with anyone. It was impossible to understand just exactly what this was between them. Ajan Kloss had changed things and Alex was now certain of one unfailing truth. She trusted Max completely. The tension melted as her eyes flicked down to their entwined hands. There was no magical fix for what had driven her from the Temple in the middle of the night. But she knew she was not alone. She knew they would face whatever challenges together. Alex smiled again. “I didn’t exactly see things going this way either.” If she set her mind to the task, there may have been some signs. She certainly felt sturdier with Max. More herself.

“Don’t worry, I’ll find some terribly dangerous assignment for us to wander into.” It was her turn to lightly squeeze his hand. “Although you may be too busy with all your new responsibilities.” Alex had nearly forgotten Max was not just a Jedi Master any longer. He was the most public facing Councilor. The face of the Jedi Order. She certainly knew how to pick them. One sigh and her hand running through her hair. “It is probably time I stop avoiding mine.” Alex had been afraid to take those next steps. She conquered whatever foolish fears she felt with Max. It was time she did the same when facing the Order.

“I…I don’t really know what happens next.” Excellent line Alex. Ninety years old managing to sound sixteen. Frankly, it was the truth. She had wandered outside the Temple to find answers to her nightmares. She had found something else entirely. Something she had next expected to find. How delightful.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Definitely not what he had expected walking off into the forest to find out what was wrong with Alex but far from the worst he had feared. Part of him had worried that this was a crisis that she was facing and it would be beyond him. Instead what happened wasn’t beyond him but it still stretched his belief – she was interested in him?

Max knew that Alex was, technically, older than him by some margin but it was very clear that she wore her years far better than he wore his. Even if he ignored the fact that he was a bizarre mash-up of metal and flesh, he was weathered in a way that she wasn’t. He wouldn’t have thought it was real until she kissed him and his connection to her through the Force glowed, warming him as it reassured him of her intentions.

He chuckled low in his throat.

“Maybe someday we’ll do something easy together…” he rumbled with a smirk, “But I like the thought of putting my new responsibilities on hold to go and rush into danger with you, Alex. Such a corrupting influence…”

Had he thought it was a possibility, Max might have thought about what happened next but he knew he wouldn’t have done even then. Max enjoyed focusing on the here and now in the Living Force rather than trying to force himself to run in line with a possible future or a duracrete-clad plan. He squeezed her hand gently.

“What happens next is whatever you want.” He assured her with a smile, “You can jump in as much or as little as you like. Dive in head first? Both feet? Just the toes? However you’d like, we can handle the ripples together.”

He wasn’t even speaking about their relationship so much as he was talking about her journey within the Jedi Order. Max might be a member of the Council but he had never subscribed to the idea that he should direct people, that he should push them in directions of his choosing. Alex was free to immerse herself in the Order to whatever level she felt was right – and only she and the Force would know how much that was.

And she would, indeed, know.

Max himself had felt it, the sensation akin to a puzzle piece finally slotting home exactly where it was always meant to fit. He had been in a bad place for a long time, raging impotently against the idea of him being a Master, of being responsible for others but when he realized what he needed to do? What he needed to become? It all slotted into place and he felt it, he felt completed in a way he had never realized he was missing until it was right there.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

The Force clicked into place. Alex could finally see the path forward. She knew she was exactly where she was meant to be. Her next steps clearly extending before her. The Morellian Knight had not felt such clarity in decades. Finally. The smile never left her face as she looked at Max. He had helped her find a piece of herself long since missing. “No…no…you have research waiting for you.” A shiver ran up her spine. Alex could not imagine locking herself away in the Temple. The Force hummed along with her. “I know what is meant for me.” Her head tilted skyward for a moment. A part of her was still broken. A piece of her mind frayed by the Curse. One talk, no matter how transformative, could heal in an instant. But she knew she was no longer alone in her fight.

“I am ready to be more than a silent participant in the future of the Order.” She smirked. “I’m afraid…but that might be a good thing.” Alex untwined her hand from Max to step back slightly. She motioned at the two of them. “This is a mystery to me…” The smile winded. “One I think we are meant to explore…one I want to explore.” The Force had pushed them together and they had defined tremendous odd. They should have died on Ajan Kloss, but kriff was she bad at this part. “But you have studying to do, and I have a student to teach.” She needed to see Maiko. Her young student had been adrift since she returned. Alex started to walk back towards the Temple. “There’s no chance I’ll end of sleeping tonight.” She had far too much on her mind. The sun was nearly up anyways.

“You can regale me with fascinating facts on the upcoming vote while I figure out how to understand a sixteen your old.” She turned to flash an even wider grin. “Isn’t that exciting?” She had a feeling deep in her bones they would be facing death together sooner rather than later. The boring things would be just fine for now.

@Nefieslab

 

[Maxims Tionson]

Oh she had to remind him of the research that awaited him back in his rooms? Max laughed a little bit at what was, clearly, a high standard of absolute betrayal. If she was going to go there he was going to have to make sure he researched it so damn well that no one could use it against him! Of course that was never going to be the case but he was ready to try at least.

"Keep that up and I'll use my authority, which I apparently have now, to make you come help me with that research." he threatened, wiggling his eyebrows as he did, "I'm going to need you to make sure you annotate with where you found the information! Cite your sources..."

Maybe research and his comparative lack of sleep had something of an effect on his mind because that seemed nonsensical even to himself. In the end, it seemed that she had figured out exactly what she needed and he had helped with that - that was all he really wanted out of the night. The chance to help someone was all he needed to move on. So he smiled and it was warm and it was free from any burdens for what felt like the first time in a truly long time.

"I'm sure I'll get back into the swing of logistical analysis of armed freighters." he agreed with a little chuckle, "Though the mind of a sixteen year old boy? Alex I don't envy you for journeying to such a place - I lived that nightmare once so count me out."

He enjoyed it, the teasing air between the two of them as they headed back toward the Temple, both of them content to do their duties to the Jedi with a smile on their face. There was a contentment that came from it that he found that he hadn't realized he had been missing for so long.

@Valen Pelora

 

[Alexandria Voran]

Alex feigned a grimace. “I sincerely doubt you want my scholarly help.” She laughed lightly. “There is a reason I have been a Jedi Knight for so long.” She made a grand gesture towards the Temple. “Libraries terrify me.” Alex really did fear being stuck in the Temple surrounded by ancient knowledge. She was not well suited to remain in one place for long. Her wisdom was the practical kind. The kind you could not find in a book. Her eyes flicked over Max again. Well, the scared Councilor had more than a little practical experience. As they drew closer to the Temple, she considered being more professional. But she was tired, and it was late, what was the point?

“I’m not sure your mind is much safer now.” Alex turned to flash one last smile. “Maiko is an innocent soul but troubled…his former Master died on Ajan Kloss.” Her face grew serious. “I just need a way to get through to him.” Her young student did have a kind heart. She could see the shape of his future. There was a path for him to do tremendous good for all the galaxy. She just needed a way to get him there. “So, you research, and I’ll contemplate the mysteries of the Force.” She laughed again. There was something about this that felt terribly natural. She liked it.

End Thread

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