#though he doesn’t want her to get caught any more than he wanted the Empire to take her on Kamino

[theartgremlin]

He was crying.

You guys, Crosshair was actually crying.

[fic-over-cannon]

Part 2: The Decision

part 1 | part 3 | series masterlist | ao3 link

jason todd x f!reader

summary: jason todd easily sees the potential for something more in his friendship with you but resolves to keep his distance.

tags: fluff, self-loathing, off-screen killing

rated explicit (mdni) | wc: 2.8k

a/n: sooo i had planned to get the second chapter out much sooner, wrote it, realized that what i had planned for chapter 3 worked better, had to rewrite chapter 3 as chapter 2, and ended up here (cue the internal screaming). on the upside, that means you’ll all get an update on chapter 3 (formerly chapter 2) much sooner.

Jason Todd has somehow gotten back on track to graduate university, fallen in with a group of friends, and may have found the first person to truly understand him this side of the Pit. He’d been uncertain about finishing university, already dealing with the hassle of running a criminal empire and the tattered threads of his family relationships. But Talia had suggested, “Better not to be consumed by revenge so that one may properly enjoy its results,” and that had been all it took to convince him. Barbara, for all their problems still unresolved, had helped him hide the decision from the bats and hadn’t that been a lovely conversation to have?

Sitting in class that first day had been strange, a sense of deja vu hitting him of all the times he’d sat in classrooms before. A different person answers now when he’s called on to introduce Jason Todd. As part of his time with the League, Talia had arranged for him to take courses by correspondence but none of that had prepared him for it would be like to be in a classroom with a handful of 20-somethings. It makes him feel old to hear them discuss their plans for the future with the surety of a world that will shape itself to their expectations. If he’s honest with himself, it also makes him envious.

He hadn’t expected to be invited to lunch that first day, though he’d at least seen the blonde’s approach. It had been… nice to be noticed, like he was any other 22 year old new to campus and looking for friends. What had really caught Jason’s eye though was Danika’s (that’s what her name was, right?) friend, standing a few rows back. She’d looked downright mortified by her friend’s antics but had smiled tentatively at him anyway. He’d rushed through his meeting with Dr. Okafor, really just confirming a time to discuss his credit transfers. Clearly he’s interrupted yet another embarrassing moment for you, but you handle it with a grace that rivals only Alfred’s ability to deal with inconvenient situations.

That intrigues him though, your kindness even when uncomfortable. Finding out you’re from home, another Crime Alley kid that defied the odds but never forgot your roots endears you to him even more. You bite back, take the attention away from him when you see how flustered he is by Lina calling him pretty and he’s determined now to make you a friend.

You’re smaller than he thought once you’re finally sitting next to him. He’s acutely aware of how the booth forces the two of you together, the long length of him pressed up against your side. The way your knee knocks into his thigh and the soft cushion of where your hip meets his. You’re one of his already, one of those that the Red Hood has claimed as under his protection, but the reality of you drives home who his work is really helping. Your mention of food pulls him out of his thoughts and scrambling to rectify the situation by offering to share his own. He’s positively delighted by your reaction, the way your compliments freely given still have a bite to them that’s honest. A warmth in his stomach that doesn’t originate from the spices in his meal only makes him want to figure out more ways to draw you out of your shell.

You share another class with him in the afternoon and he’s thanking whichever lucky star is smiling down at him that he’ll get you to himself at least once a week for the next few months. Walking into class with an acquaintance, though maybe it's too soon to call you that, is everything he wanted in the time from Before. Lost day dreams of sharing a desk with a friend in high school, hanging out together after, longings for in-jokes and shared histories are rearing their heads. Class passes quickly, a flurry of information and a hyper awareness of how close his body is to yours. It’s only an introductory class, but already he can tell that you’re clever from the few times you speak up. Makes him look forward to the next class when he’d never planned for academics to be his priority.

Class lets out into the evening air just starting to turn crisp with a hint of dampness. He’ll have to go soon, get started with patrol now that darkness was coating the city. He turns to you and distracts himself from the strip of skin where your shirt rides up as you stretch by asking you about your plans for the evening. Walking you to the bus stop is nice, in a quiet kind of way. He stays until he’s sure you’re safely on the bus, doors closing with a pneumatic hiss. Walks off the path and out of the halo of the street lamp until the shadows have swallowed him whole. Takes care to check that no one’s looking and scales the side of the building, gothic stonework rough under his bare palms. Scans the horizon until he’s found your bus again and goes to follow. Thinks that maybe the paranoia that had persuaded him to pack most of his Hood gear in a school bag isn’t the worst thing to suffer from. It’s overboard yeah, but you’re a pretty girl planning to walk alone at night. He just wants to make sure that you get home all right. You weren’t exaggerating when you said the bus stop was only a block from your apartment, but he still breathes easier when he sees the warm glow of lamp light click on through your apartment window. You should have better locks on your window if it’s looking out onto a fire escape, he thinks idly. But its a problem for later and when he’s got a more solid reason to bring it up.

Patrol is quiet most of the night. Buoyed by the unexpected success of the day, his usual route feels brand new. He takes pleasure in the way the wind picks up his jacket and whips it around him, almost laughs out loud at the way his stomach swoops before the grappling line pulls taut. Jason’s managed a full day of normalcy, something that no one thought he could do. Not after everything. He’d talked to people his age that for once weren’t the victim of some terrible crime and came away with the potential for friendships. It’s been a long time since he’s had more than a work related conversation with his men or a cryptic conversation with Talia he doesn’t count all the arguments with his fath— with Bruce. For the first time in a long time being the Hood isn’t the burden it had become. The peace doesn’t last for long though.

A whisper of black fabric on a rooftop just outside of the territory he’s established brings him crashing back down, a reminder of just how badly his attempts at anything other than solitude have fractured. It’s a bracing kind hurt, like when the air’s too cold after a snowfall and you can practically taste the ice crystals as they tear into the soft heat of your lungs. He needs it though, that reminder that no one who knows him is capable of seeing him without the siren call of suspicion following him. That thought follows him through the rest of patrol and the mechanical motions of getting to bed. It solidifies as he drifts off to sleep just as the first rays of light start to clear the skyline. He’ll grasp at this chance to be someone else for a bit, Jason Todd the fresh faced student, but that’s all it’ll be. A façade to keep everyone else from getting too close. Danika, Will, “call me Lina”, Rei, even you. Friends, but at a distance.

Jason doesn’t have any classes on Tuesday, but he runs into you as he exits his meeting with Dr. Okafor. It’s a new building to him, despite the time he’s spent pouring over all of the campus’ blueprints. He turns a corner on a staircase looking for an exit and almost knocks you back down where you’d just emerged from.

“Hey! Are you blind or— oh. Jason.” Your tone goes from indignant to wondering in a second, eyes wide with recognition.

“Not blind, but definitely not paying enough attention. You good though?” And he should probably be a little more sorry about it, but the glee of not having to wait until the next week to see you again outweighs it.

“Oh after the class I just had, it’d take a lot more than that to ruin my day.” A group tries to pass you two on the stairs, buffets the two of you into the railing.

“You wanna take this somewhere else? Give me another chance to ruin your day?” He grins, lopsided but hopeful.

You nod, and he leads the way, hulking figure cutting through the stream of people. He finds a nook on the first floor, big overstuffed chairs surprisingly empty for this time of day. You throw yourself into a chair dramatically, a sigh on your lips as your head tilts back.

“Class really that bad?” He prompts you.

“God I hate assholes that manage to make the most interesting subject painful. Like, at least wait until the second class before you start telling every single student their interpretation is wrong.” You swipe a hand across your face before visibly trying to pull yourself back together. “But as much as I hate Duvall’s teaching it’s mandatory for my program so I’m just gonna have to put up with his shit until next semester. Get my revenge during prof evaluations.”

“Look we don’t know each other that well, but by my reckonin’ you know what you’re on about. Don’t let him shake you, yeah?”

“Oh I know all about not listening to people that think my opinion isn’t worth the paper it’s written on. It just pisses me off that I still gotta deal with it every week for the foreseeable future.”

“Hey I’m all ears.” He offers, and it’s not entirely altruistic. Jason wants to support you, but it’s also a chance to learn more about you. It’s all a chance to be regular civilian he tells himself, and a civilian would do this for a friend.

“I’d love to but I think it’s right about—“ and the alarm on your phone sounds out, “yep, its about time for me to head to my internship.” You start to gather your things together. “But usually our group gets together on Wednesday afternoons to grab lunch and study together. We usually grab the same table in the student union around noon if you want to join us.”

Jason does join the study session, not that he needs to. But it's nice to spend time with people who like who they think he is. He arrives just as you slide into the booth, secures himself the seat next you (and the rest of the bench for himself). Your hair falls as you spread out your books and Jason’s close enough to smell whatever product you used last. It dazes him for a minute, and its only the arrival of Lina and Rei that shakes him out of his stupor. He starts up a conversation with Rei on the Gotham U swim team and gets roped in to come practice with him sometime next week. Not to be out done, Lina gently starts asking him how he’s settling in. He answers noncommittally, more focused on the way you’ve started to twirl your pen between your fingers as you come across a particularly dense passage. Seeming to understand that she won’t get much more out of Jason, Lina nudges Rei and they turn to their own books, though not without a tight-lipped and knowing smile on her face. The four of you work in silence broken only by the scribbling of pens and clacking of keyboards. Danika and Will turn up just as your stomach starts rumbling, causing you to meet Jason’s eyes in embarrassment.

He winks at you, before pulling out two Tupperware containers with chopsticks. Sliding one over to you he pretends not to notice as at first you protest, then guiltily start digging in as soon as you smell it.

Brandishing your chopsticks at him, you say “Don’t think I’m not keeping score mister. This has got to count as psychological warfare, there’s no way a sane person could turn you down after tasting your food once.”

He tucks a smile away and simply keeps eating. Will drags over some chairs for him and Danika, the one extra person throwing off your previously established seating arrangements. Conversation buzzes at the other end of the table but he can’t tear his attention away from you enjoying the labours of his hands. Eventually the table turns back to studying and you slide the container back to him with murmured words of thanks. Even you can only study for so long, so it's no great surprise when your books softly thump closed. You rest your forehead on the table and groan.

“Why is there so much reading? It’s only the first week back.”

“Ooooh, you know what that means though?” Danika exclaims. “We have to celebrate the first week back and that means going out! We’ll get dressed up, I’ll do your makeup, we can pregame at mine. You know you want to.” She wheedles.

You mock groan at her pronouncement, turn to rest your temple on the table to make eye contact with her. “Lina does my makeup and we’re done by 1 AM.”

“Awe, killjoy,” the blonde pouts.

“Lina does my makeup, Jason’s in charge of picking the post-club takeout, and we’re done by 2 AM. Final offer.”

Lina grins at Jason before shrugging. “Fine by me.”

Jason’s not sure what to expect when he shows up to the address Danika had sent through the group text. It’s a nicer part of town, a part of Gotham Heights he’s had no reason to visit as either of his identities. The doorman lets him in without too much fuss once Danika calls down to confirm he’s expected. She lets him in excitedly, limbs uncoordinated with the help of a few drinks. Rei leans forward to pour Jason a drink and at the same time you turn to look for who had arrived. The first thing Jason notices is the shiny red lip gloss you’re wearing as your lips spread into a smile at the sight of them. Something about the colour, bolder than you usually wear, sends heat straight to his groin. He hadn’t even realized that his hearing had gone muffled until Rei asks him for a second time how many shots Jason wants in his drink. Oh, he thinks distractedly. This could be a problem.

It definitely is a problem when he’s washing blood off his hands in the early hours of the morning and the only thing he can think of is that same cherry red lip gloss wrapped around the straw of your drink under the club’s strobing lights. How you’d looked up at him with pupils dilated from the drink and the heat, lips parted and gloss catching the light. The self-loathing hits then, crippling in its intensity. You’re smart and funny and so pretty it makes his breath catch. The last thing you need is him fantasizing after you less than an hour after he’d taken a life. The colour of a man’s life blood shouldn’t be causing him desperate to see if you’d taste as sweet as you look. It’s selfish and cowardly but he doesn’t want to give you up just yet. Doesn’t want to see the little smiles and commiserating looks turn to fear and hatred just yet. No, he can do this. He can smile and play nice, play at the Jason Todd you deserve. The one that won’t make you worry or hurt you with the truth of himself. Rules, he decides, rules are what he needs because it’s oh so easy to get caught up in you.

He can get close, but he can’t touch. It doesn’t matter how soft your skin looks or how tempting it would be to play with your hair. If he lets himself touch he is lost.

He will never let himself enter your home. He’s already followed you there, it’s a lost cause to pretend that he won’t check up on your safety. Better to decide now to never cross that final threshold.

He won’t let you in. He’ll be the best friend he is capable of being but he won’t let you see the truth of him. After all, it’s what’s sent those that know him running.

He will never tell you that he’s ever thought about anything more than friendship.

Part 3

[mosylufanfic]

5 times Melshi and Cassian talked about Jyn Erso (and one time they didn't have to)

Canon compliant you guys - or at least, it doesn’t directly contradict canon. Whatever you choose to think at the end is up to you.

5 times Melshi and Cassian talked about Jyn Erso (and one time they didn't have to)

1. Before Wobani

Ruescott Melshi was on his way down the hall when a familiar form caught his eye. 

"Keef," he called out. "Briefing's this way."

Cassian didn't even roll his eyes at the fake name, the one Melshi had known him by on Narkina 5 and still used to tease him. "Change of plans."

"Is the mission off?"

"No, it's on. We need this woman. But I'm not going."

They'd been planning this breakout for a week now. "What's up?"

"I have to meet one of my contacts. He's getting - squirelly. But I'll send Kay with you."

"All right," he said. Infiltrations and exfiltrations were his specialty. Cassian was coming because he needed the woman for something important. But he'd never been an intrinsic part of the plan. Kay, yes, Cassian not so much, even if they generally came as a matched set. "I'll bring her back. No problem."

"Good. Ah, listen - I've read her arrest records. Don't underestimate her."

"Because she's in Wobani? You and I both know how people end up in places like that. I'm not worried." He considered. "Maybe I am. She might get a look at this face and fall in love with me."

It coaxed a crook of his lips, a huff of a laugh. Cassian had never been a particularly jolly guy. But lately he'd been getting tired, drained-looking. The spark of rage that burned in his eyes was getting dimmer and dimmer.

Melshi had seen the same in his fellow operatives over the years, usually just before they burned out, either quietly or spectacularly. Worry wormed in his stomach as he watched his friend walk away. 

2. On the Way Back

Melshi cursed long and fluently as the medic fixed his nose. "Crazy fucking woman."

The crazy fucking woman in question was in restraints at the back of the troop transport. They hadn't planned on it, so they were the decoy restraints that they'd used when stopping the Wobani transport, hastily reprogrammed to actually work. She sneered at him. 

"I told you I was getting you out," he said. 

"I don't know you," she snapped back. "Why should you do anything for me?"

"Good question," he muttered. 

"Melshi," one of his team called out. "Captain on the comm."

Cassian frowned at him through the comm screen. The bruises were probably coming in, dark and nasty, visible even through the bluish distortion of the screen. "Trouble?"

"Yeah, from that nutjob you wanted me to pick up."

Cassian's brows rose.

"She hit me in the face with a shovel."

"I told you not to underestimate her. Did you let her know we were getting her out?"

"Yeah, and then she hit me in the face with a shovel!"

His lips quirked. "I guess you're safe from her falling in love with you."

"Kriff you, man," he said, pleased to see a flicker of Cassian's dry humor for once. "What's your ETA?"

They compared notes and found that they'd be back on base about a day before he would. "We'll put her in a holding cell overnight," Melshi suggested, touching the bruises gingerly. "Maybe that'll stop her from assaulting anyone else."

3. After the Interrogation

When Cassian saw him in person, he said, "Damn."

"It was a big shovel," Melshi said grouchily. Not to mention she'd prefaced it by slamming her boot into his nuts. No need to mention that, though.  Now that more people on base had seen Jyn Erso, he and the rest of Extraction Team Bravo were getting a lot of shit about getting beat up by one tiny woman. "Is she going to help?"

"She agreed. She had to be bribed, but she agreed."

Melshi knew better than to ask what Cassian needed her for. "Well, good luck, then. Don't give her any weapons."

Cassian grunted, still looking out over the shuttle bay. 

"What?" Melshi said. "You worried she'll turn you in for the reward or something?"

"Not that," he said. "I didn't get the sense she had any love for the Empire. She just didn't care about anything we had to say."

"Well," Melshi said. "Lot of people don't care." It burned him too, sometimes, how people could look away, look past the Empire and everything it did, as long as it didn't affect them. And then when it did, they were shocked. 

"It's more than that. She seemed determined not to care. No matter what we said." 

"Lot of people like that, too."

Cassian shook his head. "I know that. It just bothered me. That's all."

4. Before the Council Meeting

There was no official announcement, but gossip spread around the base faster than the clap. Andor had come back after weeks out in the stars with something. Something big. Or maybe it was the woman he was hauling around. Or was it one of the strays they'd picked up?

Anyway, it was big enough that they'd called in the Council.

"What's that going to do?" one of Melshi's men grumbled, and he privately agreed. 

Melshi ran Cassian to ground in the datasec room, where he was paging through screens. "What's the project?" he asked, ready to be rebuffed.

"Trying to figure out who's on base," Cassian said. 

"Why?"

He looked up. "We might need to put together a team. Quickly."

"Well, I'm in," Melshi said.

"You don't even know what it is."

He shrugged. "Hasn't stopped me yet. How's the crazy girl? Is our team going to drop her off on some nice safe asteroid somewhere?"

"She's speaking to the council when they get here."

"She," Melshi said. "She's speaking to the council." He'd assumed it would be Draven, with whatever Cassian had brought back. The woman he'd brought back from Wobani hadn't been interested in talking to anybody. 

"Mmhm." He paged through some more screens, brows drawn. He paused, took a note, and paged on. 

"About what?"

He looked up. "Go and see."

The spark behind his eyes was a blaze.

5. After the Council Meeting

The same blaze burned in Jyn Erso's words as she exhorted the Council to do something besides squabbling and doom-saying. It was hard to say which one of them had lit it in the other. 

He was all the way in the back, up against the wall with the other spooks and assassins and saboteurs. The type that the Council didn't like to be reminded existed. Which was fine, because that was where they liked it. 

Melshi looked around the room at who was nodding agreement and who was shaking their head and looking grim, and he knew how it would go in here. He also knew what kind of team Cassian needed.

He glanced around, saw a few of Bravo Team looking at him, and jerked his head toward the door. They followed him out. 

"Andor's getting a team together," he said quietly. "If you're out, that's fine. Won't hold it against you. If you're in, go find anyone else who would be, too."

They scattered. 

It took some searching, but he found Cassian in a storeroom, picking through some boxes for what looked like the most portable weapons, talking on his comm at the same time. 

He hung up and looked at him. "You heard?"

"Yeah." His blood was still chilled at the idea of the Empire with a weapon like that. He went down to check the box. "No, you want these," he said, shoving another one over to him. "They make a lovely boom. Stormtrooper bits all over."

Cassian didn't reach for it. "You still in?"

"More than ever."

"We might not come back. We probably won't come back."

"Keef," Melshi said. "I know. I'm in."

Cassian nodded. 

"Your crazy girl coming with us?" 

"She doesn't know about this. Yet."

"She said that thing you always say. In the meeting."

"What thing?" He checked his messages and nodded to himself, then shot off another one.

"You know the one. About hope."

His hands stilled. He smiled a little. 

+1 In the Shuttle Bay

The team Cassian had scraped together out were clustered in the shuttle bay, getting the details. Some had been in the Council meeting, some hadn't, but everyone knew Cassian, and they all knew he wasn't the kind to go in guns blazing unless there was no other choice. 

Melshi saw Jyn Erso come storming out of the council meeting. He reflexively checked for shovels, then nudged Cassian. "Your girl's here."

He looked over his shoulder to where she was talking to the other strays that had gotten dragged back with them, then turned and started walking toward her. 

Even though the team he'd pulled together was all around him, and their strays were all around her, and the business of the shuttle bay was all around all of them, Cassian Andor and Jyn Erso might have been the only two people in the entire cavernous bay.

"They were never going to believe you," he called out. 

"I appreciate the support," she snarked. 

"I do," Cassian the spy said, simple and true. "I believe you."

Her face went slack with shock, and for the first time it occurred to Melshi to wonder what kind of life she'd had, that her first instinct on getting sprung out of a place like Wobani was to attack her rescuers and try to escape on her own.

Her eyes roved over the team Cassian had brought her as he spoke, more naked truths spilling out of his usually tightly closed lips. His words dug into Melshi's belly, all the ugly realities of the life they lived, and the burning flame of why underneath it. 

She didn't say anything in reply, but the pilot still in his beat-up Imperial uniform did, talking about the practicalities of the shuttle they had to work with. She looked at him, then back at Cassian, with a little smile and the tiniest of nods.

He took that for the agreement it was and dispatched his team - her team, now - with barked orders. 

Melshi looked back as he picked up the carton of grenades he'd recommended in the storeroom. Cassian was standing very close to Jyn, their faces tipped toward each other. It would actually be a little sweet if they weren't all going to almost-certain death.

But when they were inside the shield gate at Scarif, she spoke to them directly. She was no orator. Her words, by themselves, were blunt and a little fatalistic. But it was the flame in her eyes that lent them power.

"We'll find those Death Star plans. We'll find a way to find them."

He believed her, and he could feel the same belief stealing through the veins of all the battle-scarred soldiers in the shuttle with them. 

A dead man's voice whispered in his ears. How long we hang on, how far we get, how many of us make it out, all of that is now up to us.

"We'll take the next chance," Jyn said, "and the next, until we win, or until our chances are spent."

We will never have a better chance than this.

Cassian had always been good at that. Finding a person who could change the tide, who could rouse people to action. Jyn and Kino seemed different on the outside - an angry young woman, a careworn older man - but the blaze in their eyes was the same.  

Ruescott Melshi had been living on borrowed time since the moment his feet had touched the electrified floor of Narkina 5. He'd followed Cassian Andor out of that hell, and now he'd follow him into hell on Scarif.

It felt right that this was how his time would come due.

FINIS

[deepbatched]

The Last Echoes | Obi-Wan Kenobi x Fem!Reader

Part 1 of ? » next part

warnings: none, obi-wan's pov, angst, not y/n (i used she/her instead) villain!reader (sometimes, she's not a sith, more like the gray revengeful character that we all grew to love), mentions of order 66 and death a.k.a. reader (and i supposedly didn’t find any warnings lol). this takes part in the series (idk if it counts as spoilers), but i’ll give little context in flashbacks. w/c: 3.3k.

Summary: On his way to rescue little princess Leia Organa, Obi-Wan Kenobi discovers not only he is one of the last Jedi who survived from the Old Republic as he tried to survive the Inquisitors, but the only lover left alive.

"I'd rather not to fight", her hair strings glowed, framing her face, sweet yet intimidating. Her lightsaber off, letting her arm rest tiredly in the side of her body, allowing herself to relax for once after hours of chasing.

Obi-Wan couldn't believe he found beauty in the gold of her eyes and peace in her intoxicating voice. He almost felt himself dreaming when hearing those words, like he was imagining it all. He pursued the ideal of a peaceful morning with the war being over, welcoming a bright future of service and duty.

Unlike her, who seemed to be drawn to self-destruction and making trouble where she went along with the separatists, now through it all, she could see the differences between them easily. But not today. Today they were the same at the sight of the sunrise, they could feel each other as they really were, no masks.

She paced slowly to be in front of him, to look directly through him, and see herself in the immensity of his blue eyes, to never forget what being gazed upon tenderness was about, and seek that part of herself that wanted peace of mind. He suddenly felt himself panting again though the fight had already been over not so long ago. It was a first time of surprises, a discovery of feelings more than words.

"A Sith who doesn’t want to fight?” He inquired out of curiosity, she disconnected her eyes from him to see the sky.

Now he wished he hadn’t said anything, but found himself incapable of withdrawing his stare.

“I’m not a Sith”, she chuckled, trailing his bold decision of words while taking notice of his lips than his eyes again.

The Sith rule says that if there is an apprentice, there will always be a master, but they were both apprentices who lost their masters, alone in the wild colliding constantly one another, caught in the webs of the Force like loose strings, waiting to be entangled by the other.

★★★

The sheer glow of the capsules were barely seen by his light blue eyes. He had definitely entered the wrong room, or at least that's what he wanted to believe, a room he wished he never in his life had to see. From the cold grayish green in the walls, the dirty floors in the corridor, some boxes all around, the more time he got in there, the more his heart was pounding in anxiety. After years of thinking the Jedi were only mercilessly chased and killed by the Empire had an actually more twisted outcome.

It didn’t matter how strong minded he tried to be, peace was long gone. His palms were cold and sweaty, his walking steady and cautious, his face stern as he witnessed the worst in the long way of Jedi fossils, kept hidden as war treasures, like their existence was a mere trophy for whomever had them there.

Tala's voice was a blurry whisper in the back of his mind while searching for the serene singing echo of his lover, a song the former Jedi heard at last, like a calling melody from the Force; a bond he hadn't felt in ten years. He saw their faces in the corridor, some recognizable, some unknown, and as slowly he began to think relief was getting near, that there was no way to be found, all of his hopeful thoughts escaped his mind.

Because, there she was.

He faltered on his way to meet what was left of her, his legs moved by his own, his memoirs full of her, reminding him of what her lovely face used to look like when she was alive. Obi-Wan Kenobi didn’t know about being a lover opposed to the custom beliefs of his negotiation skills, but he knew about Compassion, and learned to love his friends and some of his enemies by equal, and that included her.

She was not his biggest rivalry, or the most revengeful, yet it pleased him to always have someone around to fight with, someone he could constantly think of outside the Council even if he had to use the "I'm planning my next move" as an excuse when he knew well that wasn't true, he could love her freely only behind closed doors in his more private thoughts and show it to her whenever he let go of her after enduring a tough fight, as he always awaited the moment of an encounter to see her again.

When the Clone Wars ended even that was gone.

He felt no guilt in falling for her, never, but he felt regretful day-dreaming with a life he couldn't have, that he couldn't give. He tried to be faithful to the Code in every aspect, and he mastered his duty, still behind his reputation and recognition, he was just a man. On the other hand, he felt the weight of not being there for her when she needed him; the Jedi Order asked high sacrifices and giving up on love to deny attachments was one of them.

Obi-Wan could imagine with immeasurable pain her cries for help, calling him in hopes of his arrival to save her from the gaits of abyss. Though that never happened.

Or maybe she fought with all her might like she knew so well, trying to stay alive a little longer, to hold on to dear life so they could fight one last time, or not fight at all, just see each other again as much as Obi-Wan awaited. With teary eyes, he looked at the unclean and tarnished glass, the reflection of his face mixed with hers, her figure black and blue, wilt and unmoving, hardly a faint reminiscence of her past self and the long gone tales about her.

He still remembered when he heard stories about her afterwards their first duel.

"Did anything bad happen at the meeting? I thought everything went exactly as expected, Master" Ahsoka asked Anakin, worried by the state of Master Kenobi.

Usually Dex's dining was a place they could go and relax after long missions like the one already passed, yet Obi-Wan sat zoned out with a frown in his face as he lightly touched his beard looking as stressed as ever; figuring out how he could almost lose after this new human-looking woman. Not able to forget her infuriated eyes, her graceful battle movements and the venomous red of her lightsaber. He could think she was atrocious; but that wasn't in his mind.

He was puzzled indeed, on her heavy pull in the Force and his own overthinking.

"Don't worry, everything went just fine. He fought with someone we've never seen and she escaped, I must say I thought she was going to win." Anakin held a grin.

Ahsoka formed an understanding look, in contrast to the General's dazzled expression.

"You know about her, Anakin?" Obi-Wan was intrigued and uneasy, desperate to understand what he had got into.

"She's a former Jedi, born in one of the moons of Iego, if she's good or evil I can't say." The young Skywalker lifted his brow mischievously, curious in the attention drawn from his Master.

"Didn't she attack General Kenobi? She must be a Sith'' concluded Ahsoka, suspicious of the woman's mysterious nature.

"I'm not sure, she helped me with some droids before attacking Obi-Wan," Anakin remembered their brief encounter, "an enemy wouldn't do that, she might be some kind of retired avenger?"

"Your Padawan is right, Anakin. Her techniques reside on the Dark Side." From the way she was holding her saber, her destructive energy and her eyes, an almost imperceptible yellow glow which couldn’t be appreciated properly by far. “Revenge is not the Jedi way”. HIs blue eyes locked with his apprentice's brown ones, reminding him what the titles must be.

"But she's not with the Separatists," Anakin replied, "I've informed the Chancellor and he assured he had never heard of her before. They’re looking out for her, whatever side she is on, she is wanted now".

"We must be careful then, these are difficult times. We mustn't fall into temptation". His tone was calm and seemed authoritative, but on the inside, worry flowed unsteady like the waters of Naboo.

Who knew the great Jedi Master Kenobi would hold such deep emotions towards a woman, that he displayed two faces to the Order he dedicated his life to. Like a hypocrite, he did not follow his own advice, and was slowly tempted by her.

Back in the present time; would it make any difference apologizing about slander behind her back to her now corpse? Undo her death? Or, lastly, make amends for all the lost time?

At first it was disdain and despite. How could she dare to try to go against the Jedi Order after being taught the ways of the Force? Such hatred could only be held by the Dark Side, shattered souls were the only ones who sought revenge, and she was one of those, representing everything he was against. However, after some encounters outside battle, it transformed into interest and appreciation…

He remembered vividly the times he saw her wandering the lowest levels of Coruscant, not with superiority or spreading hate contrary to the customs of the Sith lords, Obi-Wan felt the unextinguished light within her when she helped the people living there who didn't fear her. Unnaturally, he didn't feel disgusted; he had given himself reassurance believing she wholeheartedly wanted to do good still after all the pain she might have caused, he hoped for a small amount of salvation from her wrong doings. Maybe it wasn't too late for her.

She was a carefree spirit, so different to everything he was taught, she had no duties, no compromises, no promises to make, not rules to follow rigorously or set an example to other younglings. Free of do's and don'ts, unlike him who bear liability tattooed on his skin.

The false Freedom that was offered to her from the Dark Side seemed to quickly corrupt —if not completely, then at least,— the better parts of her being.

Eventually, it was expected from him to kill her when the first signs of their rivalry surfaced, everyone feared she would take his life away in the middle of a war where they couldn't afford to lose more Jedi's. Obi-Wan could nearly sense himself again sitting in his chair at the Temple reunited with the Council, listening to master Yoda and master Windu rambling about how daunting and threatening this new enemy was.

Regardless of the order, he did not want to get rid of her. Not when her life could be different; and even then he couldn't realize he was mirroring himself over this antagonized creature.

For his reputation he was glad, and found a certain comfort of fame, not unjustified, he was known around the galaxy as an heroic Jedi Knight, now becoming a Master. Up until now, life seemed to be for him nothing more than battle bad guys and just adventures which he liked yet, meant everything in a literal sense.

He was a strong, well-mannered, skillful and loyal member of the Jedi Council, he was known as stoic and undoubted, still he held thoughts like this, about another life, another path. Ever since Satine, he wasn't certainly the same, he thought about what ifs? instead of what's next? The Duchess opened a door he could never close on his own, eventually someone held it open, unintended of course, but who raises in him all doubts again.

He saw other’s common reality, civilian people living clueless lives, aware of the war but not fighting it; loving and caring like breathing, no vigilance or vows of no attachments, feeling completely with no fear of losing themselves in hatred and wrath; the Force was a gift he learned to accept in exchange for love.

Obi-Wan Kenobi gave everything for the Jedi way, even before Satine, it was his choice to dedicate his life to a greater good, a purpose he didn't regret fulfilling as it was the only that he knew. Although he regretted the emotional damage those feelings provoked, after meeting his hedonistic beloved, he regretted not being able to have both.

Love and peace, attachment and duty, to hold both titles with the same pride. Jedi Master and husband.

Returning his mind where it has to, looking at her one last time, eyes wide open holding pure rage in her face, legs and arms in an attack position, made him think he has lost something again, perhaps her whole being as well. The chance to be different, to renounce one of the last pieces of his past after rescuing Leia and start that long search he didn’t begun ten years ago when the Jedi Order disappeared to restart his life.

The search had ended prior to beginning.

Again, in his way it was proven there was no awaiting love for him, only infinite sadness.

He wished he knew more about her, perhaps, of her other life, the one before all the turmoil and not only the single prism of her scars. Now she was like everything after the Jedi's, an intrusive thought of his old life; the living nightmare before going to sleep.

What would he give to fight her one last time? As in the ardent past that preceded them.

Oh— he could still savor the soft viper tongue of her beloved's words, cocky remarks dripping from her lips like the sweet nectar of a flower, the taste of her sugar-coated sarcasm, even her Force signature was like a field of sassy roses with sharp thorns. To him, she had this lovable side, one that showed in the rarest moments, the essential ones indeed; when malignant forces displayed to attack him, she transformed into a caring ally.

Like one of the last times he saw her.

"Hello there." She mocked Obi-Wan's greeting, like every time they saw each other.

Obi-Wan turned around to face her, admiring once again her features, her dusky skin, thin lips and big golden eyes covered in rough black eyeliner. She ignited her red lightsaber, posturing to defend herself. Obi-Wan mimicked her, his cyan one ready to dance against hers.

“Long time since the last I saw you”, with a sincere tone, waiting for her strike, Obi-Wan wished to just talk with her like two friends that loved the other like lovers do.

“Not long enough”, she attacked first, aware of the hesitant hold of Kenobi’s lightsaber in his hand.

She could see he didn’t want to really harm her. So she settled in the mood for play, like the thousand times before when their brutal encounters had been nothing more than child’s play, a lightsaber dance that lasted as long as the battalions around them were able to.

She liked to win, and just to tease him, from time to time she left Obi-Wan battle marks, at first it was her way to put a symbol on him, so that everyone would see that she had defeated him, over time they became violent kisses that would last burning his skin in the form of scars merely for him, so he could see her headstrong love impregnated in him like poison at every glance to his naked form in the mirror.

The noise of their lightsabers striking each other was quickly lost by their companions on the field and as they moved away from the rest of the opponents, their fight diminished in intensity, barely reducing to a couple of brushes until they reached the edge of a cliff. Obi-Wan thought it was the perfect moment to promise her another fight and let her go, there were enough witnesses of her arrival and their encounter, and they were already too far from the starting point, no one would suspect he set her free.

Until…

She slipped from a rock. He took her hand and then her forearm, lifting her upper body to steady her steps and safe from the fall. He realized she was afraid of heights, and more than surprised or judgmental, he was endeared.

“For someone who jumps a lot, you seem afraid,” he pointed out mockingly at her reaction, both searching for her lightsaber on the ground.

She stayed silent as he inspected the edge of the cliff to check how mortal the fall would have been if he didn’t prevent it. He turned to see her look at the void so terrified, it didn’t produce any satisfaction or joy to see her in a state of trepidation.

“That was close,” breathlessly, she held onto Obi-Wan’s arms fearing to let go.

“Well, you could’ve just pushed me and we would be dead now,” he suggested to test a reaction out from her, her eyes lifted up to interlock with him, thinking he was out of his mind.

She didn’t think of really killing him, not now nor ever, she raised her brows surprised he would say that, but he proved already he wouldn’t do that to her. She composed her demeanor, getting far from his position, to not do something on impulse and not risk herself to slip and fall.

“Maybe I don’t want you completely dead, that would be my dead.” Her cheeks turned into flames, making her self-conscious of her own words. She was not used to being flirty in combat, she hid in aggression, though the feelings Kenobi aroused in her were foreign; she didn’t want to stop feeling them. "Because of the fall, don't get me wrong Kenobi", she justified.

Obi-Wan's reaction was just as neat as hers, a little smile appearing on his face, it was not in amusement.

He cared for her, enough to worry if she was safe wherever she was, to wonder what spending a day with her company must feel like or to talk past life threats or flirty tactics to distract one another. To share knowledge, to share feelings, to share the same space in existence.

His furrowed brow marked the start of some more teasing.

Strangely, she wasn't prepared for order 66 or its repercussions.

Because the very last time Obi-Wan saw her alive they were trying to save the other from the attack, he wanted to turn back time, to take her to Tatooine with him, to restart like she suggested too many times, to please every thought she shared through their bond about life together, but none of it was possible.

Even though he wanted to dedicate his life to her, finding her would have been his biggest obstacle. He made a promise to her, but he had a bigger vow.

Their dreams were impalpable, insane and improper from the moment of their conception, caught in the spectrum of imagination and destined to die in the back of their minds as if they were mere ideas. Crazy, never growing beyond their heads, ideas.

Although contrasting, the life of a Jedi and a Sith boiled down to the same thing, abandoning yourself to choose a life of service. Obi-Wan Kenobi was never a man who escaped from duty, and taking care of Padme and Anakin's children wasn't the exception. He was now voluntarily linked to the boy and his sister.

And her last doings, mysterious, kept with secrecy, remained unconcluded with the clash of the Order 66. So they did what they must and parted ways. Didn't matter how much it hurted them, if no one knew about what they had, they still could pretend they had nothing else to lose.

Notwithstanding the disaster, Obi-Wan Kenobi wasn't prepared to lose her too. He withdrew himself from the glass where the apparent corpse of his hedonistic beloved rested quietly, incapable of staring at it one second more, desperate to feel her. Duty wasn't over and he had to save Leia from the Inquisitors still.

Silently saying goodbye to his key piece, his last ray of fresh sunshine who's illusion served him to endure the burning suns of Tatooine, he caressed with his digits where her name was written in the keypad and stepped out of the tomb, unable to see the last wonder he had done to her. Her hidden vital signals — not traced by him blinded by his wounded emotions — and how her body became one with the Force finally disappearing in relative peace.

He set her free.

A/N: Hello there! ★ english is not my first language, so i apologize if i got anything wrong, i'll do my best to be more precise in the future. i wanted to share this before but didn't find the time to edit it and end it in a way i liked but realized it was going to be too long so i parted it in two. i hope you enjoy<3, please like, comment and reblog if you wish to.

If you want to be tagged in a next part, like this post.

[thunderclaw100]

Bio: This is Jovian. He is an Irken/Vortian hybrid and the son of tallest Red and Eva. He’s the second oldest of his littermates. He’s the snappy one of them all and will not hesitate to show teeth. Jovian holds the most insecurities about himself. Most of it stems from being born a hybrid and is looked down upon by other species. Just like his other siblings, Jovian has no knowledge about his father nor his irken background. When the question is brought up, he mother tends to block it by changing the subject or giving little to no straight answers at all. Seeing as Jovian is half vortian, he has one of their features. The legs are what made him stand out. He and his younger brother are the ones being treated differently because of how irken they look. The people of planet Neutra are weary of them. Believing that their irken side will start to show.

Even though he is the second eldest, Jovian would often be called the runt of the litter because of his small size. Its infuriating to be reminded of this, so while he ages, he constantly makes up for it by improving himself physically and talentedly. Jovian was the one who found out about his father being tallest Red. Soon after that, he learned about the irken empire and it’s goal for universal conquest. It lead him to believe he was meant for greatness and and so much more than what he’s been given on this pitiful planet he’s living in. At the age of ten, Jovian began his self training. Thanks to having vortian blood, he was able to develop his own weapon design for such an occasion. He’s done this in secret because he knows his mother and siblings would condemn his actions. Living on planet Neutra has it’s ups and downs for him. He enjoys some of its quiet and peacefulness, but Jovian is adventurous and always looking for some action. Even if it’s one that get him dragged by the antenna back to his worried mother. Eva scolds him more than any of his siblings.

Jovian and his other littermates, joined the education system. They’ve met other kids from refugees there and learned about other alien races from them. Jovian wasn’t too interested in school. He found out that irkens get all their knowledge from a visualizer device that they plug themselves into. That was when he dug deep into the knowledge of irken technology and found out that their most greatest achievement was inventing the pak. Jovian fell to his knees and begged his mother to recreate the pak for him and his siblings. He manages to convince Eva after pointing out a few things regarding tallest Red and how this could be useful for them.

Jovian, loves inventing things, specifically weapons. This caught the attention of the head Neutralian military control. He was presented to them as a fine inventor and has seen his determination in combat, so they allowed the boy to join their military and helped him improve his battlefield training. Jovian wants to one day leave planet Neutra and explore the galaxy when he grows up. Maybe visit his father’s home world, irk. But his mother told him that it’s not a good idea. Seeing that he’s a mix between two species will have him deemed a defective in their eyes. Eva is keeping closer tabs on her son. His behavior is leaning towards his irken side and it’s showing. Jovian doesn’t even think about his vortian side note asked questions about what happened to his mother’s people. He ignores any questions of it. Jovian likes to spend his time to himself. Even more now that he’s not grouped up with his littermates. He’s either meditating somewhere. Making something while locking himself in his room, snacking or training himself to be the best.

Likes: Cookies(mostly the ones made by his mother) exploring, doing experiments, learning about his irken heritage, advanced technology, tv shows, ships, being loved and praised for his efforts, space, meat.

Dislikes: Being called short, not being taken seriously, being teased by his younger brother, bitter and plain food, being separated from his siblings,boredom, lack of transparency,his trainer.

Personality:Self-disciplined, crafty, reckless, determined, self-conscious, resilient, caring,vague, judgmental, snappy, confident, bold, hot-headed,narcissistic, jealous,cunning, stubborn, rowdy, intelligent, curious, dependable, hardworking.

*RELATIONSHIPS*

Eva: Jovian has good relations with his mother. When he was little, he would often be the one to crawl onto her lap and squeak for some treats, especially cookies. Eva had to keep close watch over her son because of him being more self aware about who he is his need to discover more about his roots. Jovian did press her for more details about his father and want to know the situation about the irken and vortian conflict. Eva tried to keep most secrets to herself about all of that but underestimated her son’s capability and sneakiness. Jovian found out the truth on his own after hacking into his mother’s personal tablet and also learned who fathered him and his siblings. Eva is worried for her son because she fears if he gets too into his irken, he’ll learn the shocking truth about it. Jovian understood this all too quickly and openly admitted that he hates being a hybrid. Eva loves her son but often had to scold him for his misbehavings and back talk. When Jovian pleaded with her to make an irken pak, she told him no, more than once. She eventually gave in after his nonstop begging. It wasn’t easy getting the right materials to recreate an irken pak. Eva was lucky enough to grab some copied blueprints of it back on the massive. Jovian was a mamma’s boy when he was young and would hiss and his brother and sisters if they get too close to her while he’s with her. He loves the attention set on him and being complemented for his achievements. One would think he’s becoming more irken than anything else. Eva can see that clearly.

Bellatrix: His older sister is the person he would go to if their mother isn’t available to talk to. These two have plenty to talk about. Mostly it’s science stuff or what they want to do when they grow up. Bella knows about her brother’s determination to prove himself to be more than what others deemed him to be because of his appearance and who his parents are. She was there when Jovian had an emotional breakdown. Something they agree to keep from their mother. After learning about who their father is and the details about the irken empire, Bella want’s nothing to do with it. She even tries to talk her brother into giving up his interest in wanting to be somewhat a part of that lifestyle. Jovian sometimes can’t tell if he’s arguing with his mom or his sister.

Nixy: Jovian and his younger sister are kind of polar opposites to each other’s lifestyle. Even in appearance. He has an irken look but haves vortian legs. While Nixy looks vortian but has irken legs. These two work together in some areas. One’s a the brain and the other’s the mastermind. Jovian gets to have a lot of stored knowledge data kept because of her. She’s a brainiac in the family. Maybe because Nixy is more in tuned with her vortian half than the others. Jovian like hanging out with her when he’s not busy tormenting his own body during training.

Orieon: He’s the splitting headache out of his littermates. Jovian can’t stand many things about him. One would be the fact that Orieon is taller than him, despite being the youngest. Another is his constant attempt to please others and always being their mother’s little favorite. Jovian had a couple of arguments and fights with his younger brother and it mostly related to him wanting to be more attached to his irken roots. Even after learning all the horrible things that species has done to other planets. Orieon is the only sibling who has a strong enough opinion that actually matters to Jovian. It gets him listening.

Tallest Red: The father he never knew but wants to grow up to be in the future. Jovian hacked into his mother’s tablet and learn what he can about him. The fact that his father is the leader of the irken empire, made him feel like he’s come from a very important bloodline. He wanted to know more about his other half. Disregarding his mother’s warning about it. Jovian is the second person to meet tallest Red and was the most hyped about it. But there was one part of Red that sees a little Zim in his boy and that scares him. Thought they do talk and get along over time. Jovian feels that he favors Orieon more. This kind of favoritism caused Jovian to grow a resentment towards his younger brother. Red can see his son’s persistence to earn his attention and praise. That is why, when tallest Red stayed with Eva on planet Neutra, he helped raise and keep their children from turning out like him. One time, Jovian accidentally said “My tallest” to his father. Red laughed at this because he knew why that happened. Short drones are meant to serve their leader, so when Jovian is around him, his instinct was to call him by his title name. That’s something he has to get out of his system real quick.

Dib: Jovian never saw a human until he met Dib. This was during one of his solo patrols on the outskirts of the city. He found Dib and Zim after they landed. He was curious as to why an irken is traveling with an inferior species. After taking them back to his place, Eva greeted them with open arms. Jovian asked a lot of questions. Few that were a bit rude to bring up. He’s Intrigued by Dib and asked about his home planet. The earth boy told him a lot about it and the adventures he had with Zim. Jovian want’s to study the human in more ways than just talk between them. Dib gave Jovian some insight about him and Zim’s relationship. Lecturing him that he shouldn’t judge them. Considering the fact that Eva and Red are together. Dib and his companion would drop off some supplies and food for Jovian and his family that would last then a month. He’s really grateful and a bit jealous of Zim for having a close human friend.

Zim: Meeting him was a game changer. Jovian never met another Irken other than the two his mother introduced at the refugee camp. Their first encounter was like out of pure instinct. Zim hissed and spoke irken to him. Jovian doesn’t know the language and later on asked Zim to teach it to him. After bringing him and Dib back to his mother’s place, he was greatly interested in knowing about the planet irk and the empire. Zim gave the kid a pep talk. Encouraging the young smeet to do his best out in the world, but also discouraged Jovian to want to be anything like him. Zim gave him and his siblings schismatics that they can use to help the development of the planet Neutra. Dib offered Jovian a free pointers on how to fly an irken voot cruiser. There was a time when tallest Red revealed the true nature of Zim’s past to Jovian, and it almost devastated his hopes to ever become a great soldier.

*EXTRA*

• Jovian stretches a lot in hopes to grow tall one day.

• Has the most conflict with his younger brother.

• Jovian’s currently being trained at the Neutralien military and has passed most test for his young age.

• He’s a mama’s boy and everyone knows it.

•He can’t digest syrup.

•His favorite treats are cookies.

•Jovian and Orieon are the most flexible ones amongst their siblings. They’ve trained together.

•Jovian and Nixy are the mega brains in the family.

• Jovian made the vortian uniform he’s wearing out of the silk thread produced by the neutraliens.

• Due to his vortian legs, Jovian is very agile.

•His first invention was a shock gun.

*DIALOGUES*

“I….AM NOT….LITTLE!”

“Do you have any idea who I am? I’m the son of the almighty tallest Red and you will show me respect!”

“It’s funny that you’d say that, little brother. But we both know who’s the real reject here, and it ain’t me.”

“I just want to be appreciated and taken seriously. Why is it so hard to have that? Am I trying too hard?”

“What do you know about being different, Orieon? You and Bella are spitting images of our parents!”

“Am I the ONLY one who wants to know more about our irken heritage? Why would you ignore this?!”

“Mom? Would you still love me if I wasn’t a hybrid?”

“Are you telling me that the death of two tallest was caused by ONE irken soldier? And he still getting away with it? That’s awesome! Zim’s amazing.”

“I’m in a mood for cookies. Where’s mom?”

“Father, I looked up to you. I wanted to grow tall as you. I even wanted to BE you. But after all you’ve said to mom last night…..I’ve wish I’ve never met you!”

[pearlthebard]

She says goodbye to the dogs in Gobland, and she heads for the path southeast.

The base is rigged six ways to Sunday. Anyone who comes snooping - and she can imagine that a certain familiar face will come snooping sooner or later - is going to get blown up as soon as they touch a single chest, all of which have been trapped and emptied. Her new base is even more of a hole in the ground than the last one, admittedly, but she’s still really not at the point where she wants to make something pretty. Pretty things don’t last. That’s going to be a hard lesson to forget.

Besides, it’s not like she’s going to be spending any time in the new base any time soon. It’s more of a stash - a hideaway for the few belongings she’s managed to gather since she got to Empires. Spare dirt and stone and some of the extra stuff that Sausage has attempted to foist on her every single time he’s seen her in the last three weeks. Nothing she’ll miss, not where she’s going.

Pearl spends the first night of her pilgrimage alone beneath a tree.

Her hoodie will do for a blanket, and combining the cloak which Gem gave her with the propped-up angle of her guitar makes something that you could call a tent if you were feeling charitable. Pearl leans up against rough bark, rips a piece of jerky away with her teeth, and chews with her eyes fixed flatly on the darkness. It’s foggy tonight. That’s rough.

(Not like there’s no fog elsewhere, though. Even if she thinks she’d rather spend a month sleeping in wet grass than risk a few days hiding in the Evermoore. From the little she’s picked up amid Sausage’s endless cheerful rambles, it’s not a place you want to be caught unawares in.)

She wishes the dogs were here. Of course it was a terrible idea to bring them - there’s no point trying to squat undetected in somebody else’s kingdom if you’ve got two huge wolfy babies yapping away beside you - but still. It’s lonely, y’know. Lonely and cold.

Pearl was never cold on red. Her veins sang, then, thrummed with the heat of the hunt, the thrill of the chase and the strength of her stripped-back sanity. When she was red, she was in control. When she was red, she didn’t need to worry about things like sleep or food. When she was red, all she had to do was kill and survive.

And it’s not like she stayed red for long; she has far more memories of nights spent half-asleep on watchful green, barricading herself from the world on paranoid yellow, than anything left of the hot bloodlust blur that is red life. Joel might have been a better source for that sort of thing, or Tim. Shame they don’t seem to be the same people now that they were back then.

(Which raises the question: what the heck is the deal with Scott?)

It doesn’t matter. What matters now is keeping her torch close to her chest and her axe on standby, scanning for mobs in the night, making sure that he hasn’t followed her, because she would not put it past him to pop his head in under her cloak at 3am and beg for answers or forgiveness or whatever is Not-Smajor thinks he wants from Pearl for some godforsaken reason. The black obscurity of the world outside is like an underwater ravine, somehow - she stares into it too long and she gets the dreadful feeling that it’s sucking her towards it, and that maybe she can see her own eyes blink back red out of the darkness at her if she watches it unblinking for long enough.

... Pearl needs sleep. And so she sleeps.

In the morning, she’ll complete her journey, and maybe tomorrow night she’ll have a roof.

[prismartist]

a tma x empires s1 au with desolation roseblings ^^ set post-canon

Ao3

–––

The grass smoulders beneath Gem’s feet. 

She stares down at the blackening blades, the smoke swirling up and pouring into her. It stings in the way that a cold, refreshing glass of juice does and rests like amber coals at the bottom of her lungs; she hates how alive it makes her feel. 

The white dragon lays its head on the ground behind her and snorts, uncaring. 

“You good?” Fwhip asks, and Gem slowly turns to look at him. His brows are furrowed in concern, some of the soot falling off as his face creases. One of his pups, Nova, has started sniffing the circle of burnt grass.

“I don’t like this,” is her answer. The grip on her staff tightens. “I don’t want this.”

Fwhip purses his lips and looks down at where her feet brands the dirt. “You can’t really do much about it. Once a Fear picks you…”

“Yeah, I know, I know, I’m a helpless insect swept up in the whims of an eldritch deity.” Gem sighs, and starts to walk away, hoping the fresh air distracts her from the smoke. Fwhip follows, falling to her side. “I just- I wish I could fight it.”

The place where they’ve landed is a wide plain, far enough from everything that there’s no taste of the apocalypse to be seen. In any direction, Gem can’t see any of the empires, let alone civilization. She’s not sure if she likes that.

She’s not sure of anything, anymore. 

“You can control it, at least,” Fwhip tries to reassure. “Though to be honest, the Desolation is one of the harder ones to uh… pacify.”

“Tell me about it,” Gem huffs, bitterness seeping into her tone. “It’s Desolation. It’s not that subtle of a Power.”

Fwhip looks off into the distance at the endless horizon, and Gem notices the contemplating look in his eyes. Then he says, “I can help you control it. I’ve had more time with it than you.” 

Gem swallows. She’s known about Fwhip’s own connection for a while, and reminds herself of how easily he came into it. For the most part, he did seem to have a good amount of control over it. It’s not like he’s ever hurt her. Still, willingness to blow stuff up does not a good mentor make. 

However, it’s not like she has much choice. 

“Sure,” she says. “I trust you. I’m just worried you’ll end up enabling me.”

Fwhip turns back to her with a smile. “No promises.”

Gem tries to smile back, and fails.

Fwhip’s gaze drifts downwards, and he suddenly frowns. “Are you good?”

“Hm?”

“Your hands.” He nods in their direction, and Gem looks to see that she’s been tugging on her right glove without realising. She also notices, for the first time, that her hands are unbelievably warm. 

“Oh.” She takes off the glove fully and flinches, but not because of the cold air hitting the skin; rather, it’s the fact that she doesn’t feel any change in temperature at all. Her hand is incredibly warm. 

Fwhip sucks in a breath. “Yeah, it’s pretty unsettling. But you didn’t notice, which might be good.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. That means you’ll get used to it quickly.”

Gem stares, for just a second, and the moment something hot and orange pulses under her palm, she shoves a glove over it.

–––

Gem doesn’t know why it takes so long for it to click. Maybe in getting caught up with escaping the apocalypse, she’d completely overlooked how exactly it came to pass. Maybe she hadn’t liked the implications. Maybe she just didn’t want to think about it.

“Fwhip,” she says as they’re flying again, “when you started… everything, were you…”

Fwhip continues to look straight ahead. His back stiffens infinitesimally “Was I what?” he asks, softly.

“Was it on purpose?” 

“What?!” He turns to her, eyes wide like a kicked puppy. His own dogs alert at the sudden movement. “No, Gem, I would never-”

“No I know, I know! But- your patron.” She pauses, then forces out, “Our patron. Did it have anything to do with it? Was it, you know, the reason you…”

Fwhip’s expression draws into itself, and he purses his lips. “Probably,” he says, quiet voice cracking. “I- I didn’t mean to, I really didn’t. I don’t know.”

Gem nods.

“But,” he continues, “I think it… saw an opportunity. Maybe it really thought cod and salmon don’t go together. Or maybe it doesn’t like the Stranger. Or all of the above. I really don’t know. Not a clue.”

Gem shakily breathes in the cool air. It pierces her lungs, like a fire. “We don’t know what we’re dealing with, do we.”

“No.” Fwhip takes her gloved hand into his. “But we’ll figure it out.”

She nods weakly.

–––

It’s much later when Gem starts feeling woozy, and eventually crumples against Fwhip, who yelps in surprise.

“Gem? Are you alright?”

“‘m fine,” she mutters, “Just- really weak all of a sudden?”

“Oh.” Fwhip sighs. “Right, I thought this might happen.”

She frowns up at him. “What might happen?”

“You’re hungry. You haven’t fed on anything in a while. I was hoping that somehow the apocalypse would keep us satisfied for a bit, but…” He winces. “Maybe that was a bit of wishful thinking.”

Gem’s heart sinks. She knows enough about feeding to know what it entails. “Oh.”

Fwhip looks over the side—hunting—and there’s a few moments of silence. “Gem,” he finally pipes up, “can you tell the dragon to put us down, just to the left?”

She does so, despite the ever-heavy dread growing in her gut, and once they land Fwhip helps her slide off the back. Her limbs are jelly, and she feels a headache coming on which is not pleasant at all, but with her staff she manages to walk. Fwhip guides Gem to a smattering of trees that transition into a thicker forest. She stares at the particularly large oak tree she now stands in front of, and realisation dawns on her. 

“You have to feed on it,” Fwhip says, and all of a sudden Gem’s mouth is dry. “Otherwise you’ll keep feeling weak.”

“I—” The words die on her tongue as Gem looks towards the bark. Her palm itches. “Do I have to?”

“It’s just the one tree. Maybe another if we need to, b- but,” Fwhip quickly adds on, “we’re definitely not going to do the entire forest.”

Gem licks her lips. She tells herself it’s just to wet her chapped lips, but the growl in her stomach says otherwise. “What if I lose control?”

“You won’t, you’ll be fine. I’ll make sure of it.”

She looks him in the eye. His expression is one not seen on him often, and Gem would be lying if she says she isn’t startled. His jaw is set, eyebrows furrowed, looking at her with an intense determination. Fwhip gives her a nod, and she turns back to the old tree. Gem breathes in deeply.

“When I did it for the first time,” she says, “and I burnt all those houses… it felt good. It felt great, even.”

Fwhip nods. “You were feeding. It’s not much different to…” he waves a hand around, “like, having a good steak.”

“But it is, isn’t it?” Gem mutters. Fwhip doesn’t respond. She takes another breath. “How do I do it?”

“Whichever is easiest for you. As long as you destroy it.”

Gem raises a hand and removes the glove on it slowly, one finger at a time. It wasn’t uncomfortable per se, but now, Gem can’t help but sigh with relief as it’s freed, and the heat is allowed to breathe. 

It’s easy. Even if she’s only just discovered it not so long ago, she knows the motion, the feeling, what she needs to do. She grips her staff with her naked hand, the touch burning in the infinitesimal gap between the surfaces. She holds it out, as if offering something—or rather, taking—and summons it.

Gem barely makes the command before there’s a spark running through her veins and flames erupt from her, shooting and spitting with a hiss like a wild animal. She stumbles back as the flames envelop the tree completely, faster than even the most ruthless wildfires would. Bit by bit the tree crumbles, blackening and dissipating like sand, like debris, the life yanked away, and Gem knows it’s impossible but she can almost hear it scream.

Or maybe that was just her.

Watching the flames rise higher and higher, Gem collapses to her knees, stomach heavy with sick contentment. Her mouth is watering. She can taste char in the back of her throat. Her skin feels like it’s melting. Gem lets out a watery sob; it looks too familiar. 

“Gem.” Something gently touches her shoulder—honest to Aeor she feels him leave a dent in her skin—, and she sees Fwhip kneeling next to her. “Are you—” He pauses. He already knows the answer.

“No,” she whispers. “But I’m fed.”

Fwhip studies her expression, and pulls her into a hug. Even though the hunger has been satiated, Gem can’t find the strength to return it. Instead, she simply leans into it, burying her face in his cloak. 

“I hate it,” she hisses, almost sobs, shutting her eyes. “Fwhip, I hate it! I don’t want destruction, not after—” She hesitates. “Not after everything.”

“I know,” Fwhip says. “It’s hard.”

“It’s not me.”

“It’s not. But you just have to—” He pauses. Gem thinks she hears him crumbling too. “You have to learn to live with it.”

“How am I supposed to live off this?”

“I… don’t know.” He pulls away, holding Gem by the shoulders. “But we’ll figure it out. I managed years with it; I’m sure you can too.”

“I don’t want to live off destruction,” Gem says. “I don’t want to live off Fear. It’s cruel.”

“There’s always a compromise.”

“What’s ours?”

There’s a beat of silence before Fwhip slowly stands up. Gem looks at him as he offers his hand, and notices tear streaks down his cheeks. He takes a deep, wobbly breath, cocks his head and gives a small, strained smile. “Let’s go and see.”

Gem stares for a while. Then she takes Fwhip’s hand. As they meet, the skin burns between them.

[quarantineddreamer]

Synchronous Scars (click for AO3)

A RebelCaptain centered Andor AU

The night the garrison on Ferrix is blown up, a strange girl arrives on the Andor's doorstep, and Cassian receives a strange, new mark -a scar in the shape of a star. ~~~ When Jyn awakes in an unfamiliar place, a strange boy sleeping by her side, she discovers a scar from a blaster wound she can't remember. ~~~ There's no time to think about any of this when you're always running -chasing after some semblance of peace, desperately searching for a lost fragment of home and a path forward. 

Maybe one day.

I am nervous, crying, screaming, throwing up, and excited to start sharing this fic! It will be updating biweekly on Sundays (though if chapter 1 gets enough of a response I might be tempted to post chapter 2 sooner, because...Jyn ♡). 

I am going to be fully cross-posting the fic here on top of posting on AO3 so people read on whatever platform they prefer. Hope you enjoy! 😱

Chapter 1 

“She was all alone?” 

“There were others –already running by the time I got there- they didn’t look back.”

“Who do you th-…with…” 

Cassian scowled from his hiding place behind the living room wall as Maarva’s voice grew fainter. How was he supposed to know what was going on if Clem and Maarva insisted on speaking so quietly? 

Nevermind that it was late and he was meant to be sleeping and that Maarva had swiftly locked his bedroom door the moment Clem had burst in from the cold, calling urgently for medical supplies. Whatever was happening the couple clearly did not want him involved. 

Which, of course, only intensified the curiosity surging through his fifteen year-old mind. 

As soon as Cassian was sure the entryway was clear, he had made quick work of the lock on his bedroom door –Maarva didn’t yet realize he’d picked up that trick- and crept quietly through the hallway to spy on the action. 

But the brick wall he leaned against was thick and a pile of crates was obscuring his view of the cot Maarva had hurriedly laid out and whatever, whoever was resting on it. 

Cassian knew he needed to get closer if he stood a chance at gleaming anything informative from the hushed conversation Maarva and Clem were having. He eyed the space between himself and the tower of crates, recalling faintly games of lost and found with Kerri back on Kenari. She had forced him to learn quickly how to move silently along the forest floor –she had always been the expert at the game, always craving a greater challenge. ‘Too easy, Kassa, too easy!’ she’d laugh, before dashing away to take her turn to hide. 

Cassian shook his head to clear away the memory, swallowing against the choking sensation that always seemed to settle in his throat when he thought back to his old life. The life of a different person. 

He slowly stepped forward, careful to keep his eyes on the shadows of Clem and Maarva in case they came his way. Several hammering heartbeats later he had made it safely to his new perch behind the crates and was fighting the urge to release a sigh of relief. He knew Clem might hear it. The man had ears like a scurrier. 

“She doesn’t look much younger than Cass,” Maarva was saying. 

Cassian wrinkled his nose at the nickname, but fought a small smile. He hated when Maarva and Clem used it in front of any of the other kids on Ferrix, but a small part of him appreciated the sign of affection, familiarity. 

“She’s not,” Clem agreed, and Cassian thought he caught the posture of the man’s shadow crumple slightly. 

Maarva sighed. “Then how did she get tied up in all of this?”. 

“You’ve heard the stories, it’s becoming more common. Orphans with hatred for the Empire and nothing left to lose make perfect recruits…” 

There was silence for a moment, and Cassian knew Maarva and Clem were probably having one of those strange wordless conversations they sometimes had, where nothing was said aloud, and yet Cassian sensed there was always an exchange of something between them. 

“I’ll go get more bacta pads.” There was the sound of Maarva’s feet scraping the floor. 

“We’re out,” Clem said grimly. “She’ll have to make do with the bandages we have.”

“I could go check with the Caleen’s-”

“No. Too far –the patrols are on edge tonight. They’ll take any excuse…”

“You think that has anything to do with her and her friends?”

“Maybe, I did find her by the wreckage, but I-”

“C-C-Cassian, what are you d-doing?”

Cassian swore and turned, without hope, to shush B2EMO –knowing it was already too late. The droid had not bothered to use any semblance of stealth. At least he did Cassian the courtesy of a low hum of apology as Maarva and Clem rushed over. 

“Cass? How did you-”

Hoping Maarva might not think too much about the implications of a certain bedroom door mysteriously unlocked if he spoke first Cassian cut in, “I heard Clem come home and he sounded worried so I came to see if everything was okay.” Not a complete lie… 

Crossed arms and a quirked eyebrow told Cassian that Clem bought none of this explanation. “Did you see much from down there?” he asked. 

Cassian hurriedly came to his feet, brushing dust from the knees of his pants. “I had just…dropped something?” he offered.

Clem’s mouth twisted in a way that suggested his careful mask of stern disappointment might have had an amused rival. “You’re a terrible spy.”

“Everything’s fine, Cassian, it’s just been a long night. Back to bed you go.” Maarva always was the stricter of the two. Motherly in a way that was both familiar and distant to Cassian –a tickle of a memory that stretched even further back than his days playing lost and found with Kerri.

But as Maarva moved towards him, hands prepared to usher him away, Cassian stepped back and his eyes sought an ally in Clem. “Who is ‘she’?” he asked quietly. 

Clem glanced at his wife, and there it was again, that silent discussion between them. 

Cassian tried to be patient and not feel left out, but out of the corner of his eyes he could see a small, mud-crusted pair of boots curled at the end of the cot. Who did the boots belong to? And why were they here in the Andor household in the dead of night?

Something must have been decided between Clem and Maarva, because when Cassian pulled his eyes back to them, Clem was watching him. “We don’t know her name, and we’re not certain where she’s from,” he told the boy honestly. “But she needed our help, so I brought her here. Do you understand?”

Like you brought me here? Cassian wanted to say, a brief flash of resentment rising in his chest, that familiar desire to tug on the string of what if creeping into him –cold and fierce in such a way that it hurt to resist. What if I hadn’t gone on that ship? What if I had gotten away from Maarva? Would I still be alive? Would Kerri be with me? What if Maarva hadn’t decided to play ‘hero’ and left him alone like he’d wanted…  

His eyes wandered back to the muddy boots. He wondered if the stranger had people waiting for her at home. If Clem’s ‘rescue’ of her had been consensual, or if she would be as confused as he had been to be ‘saved’. Lost and lonely and angry and afraid…

Clem was watching him, Maarva too. Cassian forced himself to set aside his own issues and focus again on the mystery in front of him. Now wasn’t the time for another fight. Besides, they’d all been getting along recently; Clem was even showing him how to refurbish old parts, teaching him the way a father would his own son. And truly, he had no one else. 

When he’d managed to taper his bitterness somewhat, Cassian gave a brisk nod and waited for Clem or Maarva to speak again.

Clem placed a hand on his shoulder and offered a small, sad smile. “She’s hurt, and she won’t be awake for awhile,” he explained. 

“And we’re out of bacta pads,” Cassian murmured regretfully. 

Maarva shook her head and buried a hand in her curls with a chuckle. “You’ll listen when you should be sleeping, but when I ask you to tidy your room you’ve got dust in your ears, huh?”

Cassian shrugged.

Maarva rolled her eyes in mock exasperation, giving in. “I’m going to go get more supplies,” she declared, and B2EMO followed her as she made for the hallway and its storage closet. 

To Cassian’s surprise, Clem also followed, leaving him alone in the room. The faint light of a lantern cast a halo of white onto the figure on the cot. It called to him like a beacon. 

Dark splatters of blood marked the floor, Cassian followed them until he was standing beside the mysterious girl.

Maarva had been right. She looked to be about his age, maybe a year or so younger. Her dark hair was slipping free from a ponytail, errant strands laying across a too-pale face. Dry blood accompanied them, smudged on her cheek, but there was not enough light for Cassian to tell whether or not the blood belonged to her.

Maarva or Clem had placed a blanket over her, but it had slipped, revealing a bandage wrapped tightly around her torso. Blood was already beginning to seep through, a crimson flower blooming on the left side of her thin frame.

The girl’s face began to contort, her brows knitting together, a deep frown settling. She muttered something indistinct –maybe a name. 

Cassian felt a pang of sympathy.  When she began to tremble, he reached to reset the blanket. 

A hand seized his wrist in a vice-like grip. Eyes, green as the trees of Kenari, caught his, wide and panicked. She was upright, panting as though caught mid-sprint, and her skin was clammy and feverish against his. 

“You’re okay –it’s okay,” Cassian murmured, hoping she could understand him, trying to convey as much calm as possible –a challenge, considering his heart had nearly leapt out of his chest when she startled him. 

“Where am I? What’s happened?” The emerald eyes were flicking about the room –assessing, preparing-  settling anywhere but his face. Her fingernails had begun to dig into his arm.

Before Cassian could form a reply, the girl began to tug at his wrist. “Let go of me!” she demanded, spitting fury, an injured animal caught in a trap.

“Careful!” he said forcefully. Then, with more gentleness, “Careful…you’re hurt.” He tapped his fingers against her forearm. “And you’re holding onto me.”

The girl blinked at him, some of the wild confusion beginning to fade from her face, replaced by a deep, deep exhaustion. Her hand loosened somewhat on his wrist. “Who…” She blinked again, her eyes struggling to keep focus on him, stubborn, determined, even as she began to sway. “Can’t st…” 

He could tell her instincts were waging war against the weight of the blood loss and using his free hand, he began to gently guide her backwards so she could rest her head on the cot’s pillow. He could see the helplessness on her face as she looked up at him, the fear. “You’re going to be okay,” he promised. “You’re safe... We’ll take care of you.” 

She shook her head. “That’s a lie,” she muttered. “No one cares…”

“I do,” Cassian insisted, even though he wasn’t sure why he should, just knew that the girl’s hand was still at his wrist as though to anchor herself there, and that, whoever she was, whoever she had been until arriving in Ferrix, she was alone now. He knew what that felt like. To be alone and afraid and forced to put your trust in the hands of strangers. 

She stared at him, and for a few seconds he thought she may hang on to consciousness, as she scanned his face for signs of dishonesty and seemed to decide, with some surprise, that there were none. 

But then her head hit the pillow in earnest and she was gone again. 

Her fingers dragged across his wrist as the last of her muscles relaxed. 

Where her hand had been Cassian felt a sharp chill as night air settled against his skin. 

Her arm dangled off the cot now in a limp, lifeless manner he found upsetting.

“Cass? How’s she doing?” 

Maarva and Clem had returned, fresh bandages, an ancient-looking pharmpac, and sewing kit in hand. 

Cassian glanced at his adoptive parents briefly before turning back to the girl, taking her elbow, and settling her arm in a more comfortable position. “We should hurry,” he murmured, feeling oddly tense. 

He allowed himself to be nudged aside as Clem and Maarva sprung back into action, peeling away bandages and wiping away blood. Cassian watched from a distance, barely hearing Clem when he expressed concerns that the expired pharmpac would not be sufficient to hold the girl under; he caught himself flinching as Maarva set to work stitching the girl’s wound, his stomach twisting until he forced himself to look away. 

When they had done everything they could for their patient, Maarva and Clem stepped away. They didn’t appear confident in their work, and Cassian felt a shiver run down his spine. His skin was prickling. Had been prickling since the moment the girl’s hand had left his skin. 

“We should try and get some sleep. There’s nothing more to be done tonight… I’ll beg a bacta patch off of someone in the morning,” Clem said. 

But what if that’s too late? Cassian shuffled his feet, feeling unsettled. Sleep seemed about as ridiculous an idea as inviting an Imperial officer over for dinner. 

“What’s the matter, Cassian?” Maarva asked. 

He itched at his wrist, feeling as though he had waved it through an electric current. “I want… Can I sleep out here? In case she needs m-us?”

Clem and Maarva shared a glance, confused, but to Cassian’s relief they seemed too tired to argue. “Fine. Grab a spare blanket from the storage closet so you don’t catch a cold,” Maarva instructed.

Cassian nodded mutely, but did not move. Clem squeezed his shoulder good night. 

Minutes later, the room was silent, but for the gentle buzz of the lantern and the shallow breathing of the injured girl. Cassian was still rooted in place.

The problem was, for some strange, irrational, completely insane reason he did not think he could leave the room, could leave her, for even a second. The storage closet was just around the corner, but even that was too far. 

So, instead of the comfort of a blanket, Cassian found his jacket in its usual place –flung over one of the crates. He pulled it over himself as he settled into Maarva’s armchair, directly by the girl on the cot. 

He watched, and waited, and counted every breath. 

Until eventually, sleep pulled him away…

[queen-scribbles]

19, arcann and endrali 👀👀

19. ...for luck --- By the time Arcann heard what was happening, he was only just in time to catch Endrali before she left.

“Off to save the day again?”

She turned with a smile at his voice, lifting one shoulder in a half shrug. “It’s what I do, when someone needs me.”

“I know.” Arcann studied her a moment. “Who is it this time?”

“This time...” Endrali breathed out a soft laugh at the implication despite the sincerity of the question. “There’s a Jedi colony out on Ossus. They’ve been hiding all this time, laying low, but the Empire found them.”

He frowned. “Then... if you suspect there will be battle, would it not be better to bring help?” It did explain the charge back to her familiar white and green robes rather than armor. She looked the quintessential Jedi again, as fit with aiding members of her order.

She wrinkled her nose. “General Daeruun doesn’t want to alert the Imperials we’re on to them and the Jedi have been warned, with how close it is to their space, which means a small ship. And we feel” --her expression said Lana felt-- “it’s smart not to spook the colony by showing up in any decent force when they’ve been isolated for so long and might not know what to make of our arrival.”

“Mm.” He saw the logic, even if he wasn’t sure he agreed. Surely one more person wouldn’t make that much difference in first impressions.

Endrali smiled and reached to squeeze his hand. “I’ll be careful, since I know you’re about to ask.”

“That transparent, am I?” Arcann tried to laugh as he squeezed back.

“About this, yes.” She leaned against one of the landing ramp struts, almost lost her balance when she misjudged where to center herself. Arcann tightened his grip on her hand to keep her upright and she smiled sheepishly.  “On second thought, maybe I should bring you with me.”

He couldn’t deny a preference for that, so didn’t precisely argue against it. “I’m certain you can handle whatever you find there, Commander.”

Endrali grinned. “The title would feel more formal if you weren’t giving me sad puppy eyes when you say it, Arcann.”

He didn’t argue that part, either. “Knowing you can handle whatever awaits doesn’t preclude wishing I could join you.”

She nodded. “And if Lana and Daeruun hadn’t made such good points, I’d bring you along.”

But they had. And though neither said it, there was also the point of not knowing this colony’s opinion of him. Depending on when they’d isolated themselves, he might be the very worst person she could bring along.

So Arcann shrugged and freed his hand to instead run his fingers through her hair. “I’ll see you when you return.”

Endrali nodded, and he felt her sense shift as a hopeful smile tugged her lips.  “I’m... a little excited, despite the circumstances, to be meeting with more Jedi.” She bit her lip. “I haven’t heard anything of Yuon or Syo or... many others in a long time; I can’t help hoping I might see some familiar faces.”

“Then I shall hope that for you as well,” Arcann murmured, letting his hand fall back to his side.

“Thank you,” Endrali said. “Any extra hope or luck is appreciated.” She glanced up into the shuttle, then back to him, and her smile turned grateful.  “I... should get going-”

“Endrali...” He caught her arm and tugged her back as she started up the ramp, his hand curving her jaw to guide her in for a kiss. “For luck,” he said softly, “even if I doubt you’ll need it.”

She gave a quiet, breathless laugh. “I dunno, maybe I could use some more...”

Arcann chuckled and obliged, fingers catching in the silky blue of her hair.

Endrali’s arms went around his neck, steadying herself as she balanced on the balls of her feet so he didn’t have to bend so far. Her thumb rubbed his cheek in a gentle caress when she pulled back. “I’ll see you in a couple weeks.”

Arcann nodded, pressed one last soft kiss to her forehead as she dropped back flat-footed, and let her go.

Off to save the day, as she did so well.

It would feel a long couple weeks.

---

(approximately a week later, all the Force users on Odessen feel the ripple of ecstatic joy when one of the Jedi at the colony turns out to be Endrali’s BFF. :D)

[hythlodaeus-mynewoldfriend]

A confession

Hi there! Thank you for asking. Sorry for the delay but the piece was a bit too long to format the way I like on mobile and keep my sanity. But have one of the bigger revelations in Sib's life. Also a bit of an unrefined piece. Endwalker spoilers though they're a bit vague, so just in case.

Siberite nods, following to the main meeting hall of the Baldesion Annex, her parents sitting around a small table pulled to the center of the room. Khutula locks the door as she meets her mother’s eyes hoping for some indication on what this whole thing was about, instead finding her looking just as clueless.

“Siberite,” her father greets, “good you’re here.” Lord Akagane’s right shoulder moves forward in a move that once would have his arm gesturing to the chair that sits empty on his right. He glances down at the missing limb with a frown, “Have a seat will you?”

She nods, back straight and hands folded in her lap, Khutula sitting next to her, Siberite and her mother sharing a curious look. “Please don’t take this the wrong way Khutula, but I thought you said this was a private family matter?”

Her father nods, sitting, “It is, but Khutula can help in filling in the details.”

“Details about what exactly, dear?”

The old auri sighs, looking down at the table, the lighting bringing out the grey hair that Siberite is sure has doubled since she’d last seen him. “I didn’t go to Doma for business, I went hoping to find Palladium.”

Siberite inhales sharply, having never heard her brother’s name pass her father’s lips since she was a young girl and ordered to not speak of him. She looks at Khutula sitting still, eyes cast down, her mother taking a deep breath, jaw tightening, “What do you mean, ‘find Palladium’?”

“I-. I lied to you initially about what happened with him,” her father shakes his head with a sigh, “I’m sorry.”

“Why,” Lady Akagane grinds out.

“Grief, anger, some combination of the two.”

“What happened to him,” she snaps, voice cracking, “What happened to my boy!”

Her father looks up at Khutula and then to Siberite, frown deepening seeing she has yet to change her position in any way. “Siberite you might remember this, but Khutula came back in the middle of the night bruised, bloodied, and with a broken bone or two.” She doesn’t and even if she did she wouldn’t want to, she considers it luck that the Echo hasn’t taken over. “He came begging for help, wanted me to get a few more capable fighters and go back to Doma as soon as possible.”

“The Garleans were establishing the power they came to hold, we got caught in the crossfire,” Khutula adds, “I started to fight out of self defense, Palladium worked on getting people to safety.” Lady Akagane’s eyes go wide, glazed over with tears, hands clasped to her chest, “He-. He should have stayed where he was, unlike you Sib he was fairly useless in a fight against military men.” The warrior doesn’t look up from her lap, Khutula exhaling slowly, “There was an auri family being separated, the man must have looked like he was good enough to serve in their army or do manual labor, the little girl with him clung to him so fiercely. I guess Palladium worried for the girl, because next thing I saw he was trying to fight with the soldiers.”

“They captured him after that,” her father interjects, “From what Khutula told me he tried to break in and get him back himself, only to be barred by gates that were impossible to get through after the beating he had already taken.”

“So….so he….he was alive,” her mother asks, knuckles growing white, “and you did nothing!”

“The Empire had him! They were making examples of some of their conscripts, even if he was one of the lucky ones he was as good as gone to us. No one ever came back from the Empire.”

“Until Lord Hein,” Siberite whispers, her father nodding.

“After seeing the woman you’ve become and knowing how much you looked up to him, I let myself hope that maybe he was stronger than I gave him credit for.”

“He was,” Khutula says, “He wasn’t the strongest, but he was smart and stubborn, the former saving him from the labor and military.”

“That’s right, my Palladium had just gotten his Archon tattoos,” her mother sniffs, “I had never been prouder of him.”

“From what I was able to find when looking for him, they brought him to the castle to assist in the young prince’s education.” He shakes his head, the ghost of a smile gracing his lips, “It was there his stubbornness….” Khutula glances Siberite’s way wanting to reach out and comfort her as he’d done time and again, “I heard tales you know, of how he still stood up for those he could, helped in messing with plans for a few weapons, even if it only delayed them a few days, and how he refused to teach a young Hein the propaganda the Empire wanted him to learn.”

“The conscript I talked to was in the same legion as him,” Lord Akagane continues, “Sent to the front lines after he got the wrong commander on a bad day. The more I heard about him the more I see how alike you two are….were. He hated fighting and would drop his weapon as soon as he could and help civilians.”

“And let me guess, he died doing just that,” Siberite’s mother stands quickly, eyes shut, “Don’t you dare try to tell me he died a hero when he shouldn’t have died at all,” she hisses, shooting her husband a glare. She clears her throat, smoothing out her dress, “Thank you for your input Khutula. Will you be joining me for breakfast tomorrow Siberite dear?” Siberite stays silent, her mother’s frown deepening, “See that she and Mister Waters join me tomorrow, Khutula.”

He nods, “Of course ma’am.” The woman leaves, turning on her heel and slamming the door shut making the men wince. 

Her father turns to face her completely, “Say something, Siberite. Please just talk to me.”

“And say what exactly? You were the one to dictate that Palladium was never to be spoken of, but now you choose to talk about him? After all this time?”

“Siberite, I-. I was upset, mourning, filled with grief and worry for you.”

“And I wasn’t! Dad I was just a child, a child that was told to forget he ever existed. How do you think I’m going to react?” 

“I don’t know, but it wasn’t this quiet, stoic, and emotionless daughter in front of me. You’ve always had something to say.”

“Even if I did, would it really matter to you? Or are you just trying to justify the way you handled your grief while living with the guilt that you could have done something and didn’t?” He looks at her with his mouth agape, “I don’t know what it was that you found in Doma that prompted you to tell the truth finally, but I wish you hadn’t.”

She stands, looking to follow her mother out with Khutula just behind her when her father slams his hand on the table. “I wasn’t the only one who lied to you, Siberite. I wasn’t the only one to fail him. So I shouldn’t be the only one treated like the bad guy.”

“If you really believe that mom and I are being unfair, then I suggest you take a look at your actions again.” She walks out the doors, Khutula following as she makes her way outside and towards the library. She can feel the chill on her cheeks when she finally stops at the gazebo with a heavy sigh, “You know it's both hard to believe and easy to see my brother using this same spot to study or discuss ideas with others. When you told me that one of his papers was still here in the library I stood here and tried to see if I could hear him like I did on the Steppe.”

“He gave a lesson here once, thought the student would enjoy and listen better while outdoors.” Her lips turn in a small smile, “It didn’t help. He would let me practice with weapons when outside  and the kid had more interest in those than aether sciences.” He looks down at her, “You can blame me if you’d like Siberite. I could have done more, could have easily done more.”

“What happened?”

“He begged me, ordered me to come back to you first.” Siberite shuts her eyes, jaw locking as the fuzzy images come that match Khutula’s story, “He grabbed my arm, looking more determined than I had ever seen him and told me to go home. ‘If they find out who I am they could go after my family. Deciding that they have the right information to try and come for Thavnair next, dragon allies be damned. I need you to make sure Sibby is going to be okay.’, he even made the argument that if I went back and got healed up we could get more people out and back to their families. I really didn’t want to leave him behind, but he kept insisting, telling me that he would be okay. I needed to take care of you.”

“You think he knew that he wasn’t going to make it?”He shrugs, shaking his head, “Maybe. I don’t know. I think he just believed that so long as you were safe then he would be and could make it back to you.” “If you’re safe then I’m safe”, The words she once said to her mother when the skies burned red over their home have her echo with the question on if he said them to her once before or if it was merely an inherited belief. “He truly wanted nothing more at that time than to be the best older brother he could be. Wanted better for you, to see you thrive. So much so that when you were about two he made me swear and promise that should something happen to him that I would watch over you until I felt like you could stand all on your own.”

[xiu-an]

NAME: Xiu An Ren

PRONOUNS: She/They

FACECLAIM: Jessie Mei Li

AGE: 220

SPECIES: Vampire

RANK: None

OCCUPATION: None

BIOGRAPHY: 

The first seven years of Xiu An’s life were full of love, light, and wonder. The lone daughter to a scientist and a noble woman saw the world as a big question mark and she knew that she was destined to find the answers. One night, after her father had presented some of his western gadgets that he had found and tinkered with to the royal court, they were on their way home. Xiu’s head laid in her mother’s lap as she listened to her father excitedly ramble to her mother about the ways they could alter the gadgets, put them to use. Just as they reached the height of their excitement, a loud scream pierced through the air outside followed by a heavy thud right before the carriage came to a sudden stop.

They were attacked by bandits who had heard of the valuable gadgets. Xiu hid behind her mother’s skirts under the seats as they were held at gunpoint and, tragically, saw the blood soak into the fabric as both of her parents were killed. With her mother’s hairpin in hand, tears streaming freely down her face, she wanted to run for help. The men caught her, and after she pierced one of their cheeks with the sharp pin, they decided they would take her and raise her as one of their own, liking the child’s fighting spirit.

For the next decade, they trained Xiu An to be the best criminal they could be. They could sneak, steal, and fight well enough to hold her own by the time she was fifteen. She always held that grudge in her heart though, the desire for revenge bubbled in her chest every single day, and only got more intense with each robbery and murder she witnessed.

One day they sent her on her first solo mission to retrieve a special piece of artwork from an estate. They said it should be an easy in and out job, but they couldn’t be more wrong. She made her way into the large building, prying open the window with shaky hands, and even though her footsteps were swift and silent, she was caught before she made it halfway through the estate. She thrashed in the guard's grasp and pleaded with them as they threatened to kill her, explaining to them through her tears what exactly was happening, and how she didn’t want to be a part of it either. Thankfully, Anna intervened. She offered Xiu a chance, become a vampire and use her skills for something more than petty theft. 

After a decade of learning to control her hunger and adjust to her new life under the close eye of Anna, who had become her new mother of sorts, that vengeful bubbling in her chest still raged on for the men who killed her family and took her from everything she knew. After careful consideration, and a lot of trust in her control, she hunted the men down one by one. To make sure she wouldn’t accidentally massacre them all, along with whoever else was in range, she stalked each of them for a while, made them think she was haunting them from beyond the grave. When they were alone, far away from anyone else who might get caught in the line of fire- she attacked.

Near the end of the 19th century, Xiu found themselves becoming a bit restless. She didn't do well in teams, and most of the missions she went on were with their siblings. She started going on solo missions again, doing anything her mother asked of her, using every mission as a chance to sharpen her skills. And when her mother decided the family should move to New York to build Anna’s empire, she happily followed along. 

Today, she continues to earn the life she was given, feeling indebted to Anna. She doesn’t like to get caught up in the politics of Anna’s empire, her main concern is completing the missions the queen sends her on. It’s a lonely life, the one she leads- but she doesn’t know how to live any other way. 

Wanted Connections:

Friends

Old team mates

Enemies

People they've stolen from

(up for pretty much anything!)

[adportashq]

NAME: Xiu An Ren

PRONOUNS: She/They

FACECLAIM: Jessie Mei Li

AGE: 220

SPECIES: Vampire

RANK: None

OCCUPATION: None

BIOGRAPHY: 

The first seven years of Xiu An’s life were full of love, light, and wonder. The lone daughter to a scientist and a noble woman saw the world as a big question mark and she knew that she was destined to find the answers. One night, after her father had presented some of his western gadgets that he had found and tinkered with to the royal court, they were on their way home. Xiu’s head laid in her mother’s lap as she listened to her father excitedly ramble to her mother about the ways they could alter the gadgets, put them to use. Just as they reached the height of their excitement, a loud scream pierced through the air outside followed by a heavy thud right before the carriage came to a sudden stop.

They were attacked by bandits who had heard of the valuable gadgets. Xiu hid behind her mother’s skirts under the seats as they were held at gunpoint and, tragically, saw the blood soak into the fabric as both of her parents were killed. With her mother’s hairpin in hand, tears streaming freely down her face, she wanted to run for help. The men caught her, and after she pierced one of their cheeks with the sharp pin, they decided they would take her and raise her as one of their own, liking the child’s fighting spirit.

For the next decade, they trained Xiu An to be the best criminal they could be. They could sneak, steal, and fight well enough to hold her own by the time she was fifteen. She always held that grudge in her heart though, the desire for revenge bubbled in her chest every single day, and only got more intense with each robbery and murder she witnessed.

One day they sent her on her first solo mission to retrieve a special piece of artwork from an estate. They said it should be an easy in and out job, but they couldn’t be more wrong. She made her way into the large building, prying open the window with shaky hands, and even though her footsteps were swift and silent, she was caught before she made it halfway through the estate. She thrashed in the guard's grasp and pleaded with them as they threatened to kill her, explaining to them through her tears what exactly was happening, and how she didn’t want to be a part of it either. Thankfully, Anna intervened. She offered Xiu a chance, become a vampire and use her skills for something more than petty theft. 

After a decade of learning to control her hunger and adjust to her new life under the close eye of Anna, who had become her new mother of sorts, that vengeful bubbling in her chest still raged on for the men who killed her family and took her from everything she knew. After careful consideration, and a lot of trust in her control, she hunted the men down one by one. To make sure she wouldn’t accidentally massacre them all, along with whoever else was in range, she stalked each of them for a while, made them think she was haunting them from beyond the grave. When they were alone, far away from anyone else who might get caught in the line of fire- she attacked.

Near the end of the 19th century, Xiu found themselves becoming a bit restless. She didn't do well in teams, and most of the missions she went on were with their siblings. She started going on solo missions again, doing anything her mother asked of her, using every mission as a chance to sharpen her skills. And when her mother decided the family should move to New York to build Anna’s empire, she happily followed along. 

Today, she continues to earn the life she was given, feeling indebted to Anna. She doesn’t like to get caught up in the politics of Anna’s empire, her main concern is completing the missions the queen sends her on. It’s a lonely life, the one she leads- but she doesn’t know how to live any other way. 

[reapcrbunny]

@azem​​    |    from here

It is never easy to achieve peace. Conflicts between the Isalbard Contingent and Gardemald are expected to arise at some point. It would take years for them to be true allies, and even though Jully is attempting to be the perfect negotiator, he can't help but be mistrustful of their 'benefactors.' Sure, most of them have good intentions, but the soldier doubts there aren't a few exceptions waiting for the right opportunity to exact revenge on this Empire. He won't be surprised if some Eorzeans want to dig up the hatchet now that the Apocalypse has passed.

“It’s not what I meant --- gosh, you guys always twist my words! " He groans as he kicks an empty cerruleum barrel. He sighs as he does so; he doesn't want to lose his cool in front of the Warrior of Light, but he despises it when people put words in his mouth —- he knows she'd never do anything bad to him or his countrymen. "I'm talking about other people and —- all I said is that some of my people have been reported missing and I'm worried some assholes might be attacking them. I wasn't referring to you, jeez!" He stops yelling because he realizes it's futile. He eventually takes a deep breath and, after placing one hand on his face to calm down, begins signing an explanation with his fingers that he hopes she will understand. "I think that someone is hunting down garleans and I just wanted to ask for your input. That's it."

(    🐇   )               SHE MISUNDERSTOOD HIM    in the beginning,    already on edge and quietly paranoid of being blamed for things she had nothing to do with.    it was already difficult enough as it was with some of the garlean people still not accepting the help she and the others of the isalbard contingent are trying to provide.    in many ways she could understand the lack of trust between both parties due to the pains and losses that have happened on both sides and distrust that came    DUE TO IT.   

most that    KNEW OF HER    and the personal despair that she had suffered during the war would ask her why she cared so much but    .  .    it was because she felt there was no point to continue the cycle of    VIOLENCE AND DEATH.

it would    SOLVE ABSOLUTELY NOTHING    --    but she knew,    too,    that others out there would not agree with her stance on things and would more than happy cause discourse and gain revenge for    THEIR OWN SAKE.

SHE WINCES AT    his outburst,    unable to be cross with him for it due to her feeling as if his reaction was warrented.    she had accused him of something he more than likely had not been doing in the first place but in her haste she signed in response.    by the green word she was making a fool of herself right now    -    she wished that she did not get confused by intentions sometimes.    her focus does get caught by his signing,    watching intently ‘fore slowly     NODDING IN RESPONSE.

      <      I SEE    .  .   I AM    sorry for my misunderstanding of the intent.   but    .  .    it is possible that someone could be hunting down garleans due to deep    -    rooted resentment due to any number of factors.    either way i would be more than happy to help you find out who might    BE BEHIND IT.    >           

[nach0]

So I've switched brainrots again to Encanto, sorry to any new followers who came from... *checks comically long list of fandoms* Empires, old followers you're used to this by now

So as I do whenever I get brainrot I come up with an AU that will consume my thoughts for a very long time, and Encanto's is:

What if Bruno took Mirabel to live in the walls with him?

very long AU notes are under the cut, about 1250 words!

Bruno still gets his vision about Mirabel but he stays just a little bit longer to watch her get her gift

His heart sinks when she doesn’t get one because she’s probably going to become an outcast like he was

That night when he’s about to disappear he stops by the nursery to se Mirabel one final time but hears her crying

It’s extremely late at night, she should have been asleep, but he can’t just pretend he never heard anything, and so he goes in to comfort her

His heart breaks as his niece sobs under the sheets, knowing that she’d be treated differently just like he was and he makes a choice that will change the future forever.

He offers to take her with him.

Time skip to the events of the movie, Mirabel and Bruno have been living in the walls together for the past 10 years

Mirabel is extremely connected with Casita after leaving only a handful of times and she cares about it a lot, she got extremely worried when the cracks first started appearing

Bruno is a little better mentally now he actually has someone to talk to, neither of them are what you would call healthy though

Neither Mirabel or Bruno are talked about, though there are rumours that Bruno kidnapped Mirabel

Julieta and Pepa won’t stand for anyone insulting their brother though god help anyone caught spreading that rumor because they'll need it

Antonio is even more nervous than he is in canon because the last time someone was going to get their gift not only did it fail but they also disappeared

Mirabel argued with Bruno about her watching the ceremony from the crowd, she’d be disguised and no one would notice her and she had to watch it

Bruno thinks that it’s a bad idea, it wouldn’t be good for her to watch no matter which way it goes, and its an even worse idea to watch it among people, can’t she at least watch it from the walls?

Eventually he relents and she sneaks in to the back of the crowd with Casita’s help, getting nervous as Antonio doesn’t go to his door

Antonio is freaking out and hesitating as he looks out at the massive crowd until he sees someone who looks like the cousin that vanished ten years ago giving him the most supportive look

He blinks and she’s gone again, but it gives him the courage to move forward, he gets his gift as in canon and everyone celebrates

Mirabel is having her Waiting On A Miracle moment (though the song would be very different to canon) in the courtyard when more cracks start appearing

She freaks out and disappears back into the walls and tries to talk to Bruno about it but he doesn’t want to hear about it

She takes it upon herself to try and figure out what’s wrong with Casita because if the cracks are now spreading to the main building then something bad is happening

So the next day she sneaks out with a disguise and follows Luisa from a distance and when Luisa thinks she’s alone she has a mini breakdown Surface Pressure style except there’s no one to comfort her afterwards

Mirabel learns that her family has a lot more struggles than they let on but there was one thing that stuck out to her, Luisa had said something about not being able to protect her (Mirabel) from Bruno’s visions

She heads back to Casita, confused, and overhears Alma talking to herself/ Pedro about the last vision

To get some answers she goes to Bruno’s room, climbs all the stairs and everything goes as canon except the room doesn’t collapse and finds the vision

She puts it all together and sees herself outside a cracked Casita and her heart drops, how could Bruno keep this from her?

She leaves the room and tries to sneak back into the walls while no one is around (they’re all preparing for the dinner) but she gets caught by Bruno who is coming out to come look for her

They have an angry whispered discussion where Bruno scolds her for leaving without telling him and Mirabel gets mad at him for not telling her about the vision

Voices slowly raise in volume and eventually they’re yelling, not noticing the cracks appearing around them, until suddenly Bruno goes silent and Mirabel slowly turns around to find the whole family staring at them in shock

Feelings are mixed, they’ve both been missing for ten years, and some of the family even thinks Bruno kidnapped her, only to find them arguing with damage to the Casita around them

They both look like they want to run back to the walls to hide but then Julieta and Pepa rush forward and wrap them both in hugs

That’s the cue for everyone else to join in and there’s a lot of tears at the reunion

Alma asks why they left and Bruno confesses that he thought they would treat Mirabel like they did him, and that he had a vision about her they would take the wrong way

Mirabel interrupts and says there was only one way to take it, it was pretty clear, but then Bruno gently tilts it and shows her the alternate future, explaining there were two ways it could go

The triplets and Alma start talking and trying to figure it out and Mirabel is left with the others

It’s awkward until Antonio thanks her for being there at his gift ceremony and it starts a round of questions about where they’ve been this whole time and Mirabel says they’ve been in the walls, showing them the painting entrance

They talk a lot and Mirabel notices Luisa trying to hold back tears and reassures her that she’s allowed to cry, she’s allowed to take a break from just being the strong one, basically everything she overheard Luisa worrying about, and the floodgates open up

Isabela also confesses she doesn’t want to marry the other dude (who’s name escapes me) and she wants to try growing things that aren’t perfect

The cracks heal around them as they all bond and when the others come back they tell Alma that there’s too much pressure on them and they’ve been struggling too keep up with all their responsibilities

She apologises for being so hard on them and there’s more hugs, Bruno and Mirabel stand awkwardly to the side before they get pulled in as well

It’s getting late and everyone starts talking about going to sleep and dealing with everything properly in the morning so Mirabel and Bruno start to head back to the walls, only to be blocked by everyone telling them to sleep in a real bed for once

Casita won’t open the painting for them so the pair decide to stay in Bruno’s room for the night (he’s got to have a bed in there that’s not at the top of the stairs because otherwise that would just be mean)

A few days later Mirabel is brought into what was once the nursery but has been turned into her room, filled with things that she likes (Bruno helped pick everything out)

From there everyone slowly gets used to the new situation, Bruno and Mirabel are still a little shy but Mirabel was always energetic and so even if the loud crowds freak her out sometime she adjusts fairly well and helps Bruno as well

So that's the AU! It doesn't have a name yet but I'm really invested in it now, if you have questions/ ideas/ just general thoughts my inbox is open! Come yell at me about this because I need other people to talk about it with haha

EDIT: apparently I've been spelling both Luisa's and Pepa's names wrong, my bad lol

EDIT 2: Now has a name! A boring name but a name nonetheless

Raised In The Walls AU

[shabre-legacy]

Stolen Home Chapter Nine

THE LONG PROMISED CHAPTER NINE

This took forever and I’m sorry for anyone waiting on it.

The Cantina was a welcome sight. A place where she wasn’t known and could get a drink in peace. Sure, she needed to get over to Darmas for the info, but the temptation of a drink and something to eat that wasn’t either crackers or an overly fancy cruise meal was too much to ignore. So, she led the way to the bar. Corso caught on and placed an order alongside her and they sat sipping at their drinks and watching the dancers. She’s quick to ask about a room for them or rooms, they need somewhere to work out of after all, but the rooms here at this cantina are ‘full’. Leikael gets a list of places she might be able to find a place, but decides to call them later, focusing on the hot food and cold whiskey. Eventually a holoscreen near them, previously showing pod-racing and some sport involving a floating ball, switched to news.

The screen showed various battlefields and recent numbers on conflicts, but still proclaimed the treaty of Coruscant was holding. She scoffed when the reporter made that statement. Anyone who left the core worlds knew that wasn’t true. “You think the Republic will stop hiding behind the Treaty of Coruscant and just admit we’re at war already? It doesn’t sit right negotiating with people who want every man, woman and child dead.”

She scowls into a bowl of Ronto stew at Corso’s comment. Corso had recommended the dish, said Ronto was better than Bantha or Nerf any day. She wasn’t so sure, but it wasn’t bad. “I’ll kill the whole empire myself if I have to.” The bitterness in her tone was obvious, as she hoped, was the fact she didn’t want to go into it. She’d already opened up way too much to this farmboy turned bodyguard and she didn’t want to spill anymore of her secrets or kriffing shitty past.

Corso raises his eyebrows at that, able to recognize a story and a past when he hears one, but doesn’t ask. “You got guts, Captain. Hope you don’t mind if I come along to take a few hits for ya.” He takes a long drink, as he sinks back in his chair. “I joined the Peace Brigade when I was fourteen. I know what a world looks like when the empire’s done with it.”

That makes Leikael raise an eyebrow this time. Peace Brigade? Mercenaries? She hadn’t seen that one coming. “The way Skavak talked I thought you were fresh off the farm.”

Corso chuckles a bit “Me and Skavak weren’t as close as he thought. The Brigade’s a relief organization, go into worlds abandoned by the Treaty of Coruscant, help people displaced by the empire. I was a kid looking for an adventure.” He sighs looking down and away as he shakes his head at his own naivety. After two months, well, let’s just say there are no kids in war zones.”

Leikael nods “Learned that lesson myself times over, even when I tried to keep away from the worst of it.” She stops herself there. Staring into her stew as she quickly tries to finish it off, no point in wasted credits. She’d told herself she wouldn’t overshare and here she was doing it again.

 After a few minutes of quiet eating as the news reports wrapped up, she forces on her best grin. “Alright enough wallowing in the past. We got work to do. Let’s find this Darmas friend of yours.

Corso smiles back at her, though not as brightly as before. “Not a friend, more an acquaintance, but sure. His room’s over there.” Corso points towards a group of private rooms near the back. It takes a moment for them to gather up their belongings, or more specifically Corso’s pack and big bag of antique weapons. But it’s not a minute later and Corso follows Leikael into the back to meet their contact.

Darmas was more obvious than a Bantha in his flirting. Sure, the man was charming, smooth, rather attractive and more than willing to help, but she wasn’t sure about him. The cantina he was hanging out in was nice though, like really, really karking nice. The kind of place that was generally kept clean and fighting wasn’t allowed and had private rooms with their own dedicated serving droids. It was much different then the dirty, crowded smoke filled cantinas filled with either drunk mercs and spacers one insult away from a full on brawl, or crowded dance floors and people conducting shady deals through the smoke and noise and occasional blaster fire. The area may be rough, but this cantina most certainly was not. He had money, that much was obvious. Then again, information brokers usually did, and a good one could be pretty powerful in the underworld. After all, they know everyone’s secrets; it’s their job.

He started flirting as soon as he started talking. The smoothness said that he did that a lot. She counters easily before Corso tries to get him to stop. Darmas reminisces for a few minutes on the loss of Viidu and some metaphor about sabbacc that Leikael honestly doesn’t pay attention to. It’s not that she can’t play, she’s really very good. She’s a spacer after all, not too much to do when in space between destinations. But she just doesn’t care about metaphor and professional card playing when HER SHIP IS STILL MISSING!Eventually, though, he gets around to their business.

“Corso says you have troubles and I’m prepared to help.”

Leikael can feel the curl in her lip at that. “I want payback on a man named Skavak.” She shifts slightly against the large holoprojector she was leaning against.

“Corso was equally emphatic about that. Having met Skavak I understand completely.” Darmas leans against the arm of one of his couches crossing his arms. “Skavak is well known in the galactic underworld. He’s earned death sentences across the galaxy.”

Leikael scoffs “Yep, sounds about right for the Jackal of the Stars. Still can’t believe I was so stupid I let that slip past me.”

Darmas made a soft sound of sympathy. “Now don’t blame yourself, my dear. Who would have predicted a galactic criminal of his reputation would go to Ord Mantell? He’s known to be in the Sith Empire’s pocket and he even cheats at cards. I’m happy to help you find him.”

Leikael rolls her eyes internally, but doesn’t let any of that show. “If there’s one thing I hate, it’s a card cheat.”

That seems to make Darmas smile. Always good to keep the information broker happy. “Oh my, beauty, intelligence and fine moral values. What’s not to like about that combination?” He looks over to Corso with a wink. “As soon as Corso mentioned Skavak’s name, I alerted all my best informants. I’m getting some interesting leads.”

Darmas straightens as Corso speaks up again. “What’d I tell you Captain? Darmas can find out anything. We’ll have Skavak in no time.”

Sure, if they could afford his fee. “How much do you want for your information, Darmas?” 

“This information is free of charge, my dear. I would never dream of extorting credits from a beautiful woman in distress. Skavak recently used the services of a data slicer named Kixi in the Migrant Merchants Guild headquarters. Quite talented, I hear.”

Leikael rolls her eyes openly. Stars, Skavak was predictable, finding another woman to work for him. “I’ll say this, the man has a way with women.”

“I don’t think it’s a romantic relationship. Skavak doesn’t convort with aliens -even near-humans like Kixi. Kixi might be able to help flush Skavak out of hiding. Be careful though -The guild is well-armed and doesn’t like outsiders.” He wanders back over to his game table with another “darling” and starts a round with yet another poor soul about to lose his credits. 

She quickly signals to Corso and doesn’t say much until they are out of the cantina and earshot of Darmas. “Nice enough guy. You ready to storm these assholes place and take everything they got until Kixi helps?”

Corso pulls out one of the cheap blasters they’d been able to pick up, frowning as he checks it before running a quick hand over one he’d pulled from his collection. They’d be picking up the rest of their things from the small pile they’d left under Darmas’s care when they got back and got a room somewhere. “As ready as I can be. Hopefully we can make a few credits and upgrade this cheap thing for something better til I can get it fixed into something reliable.”

She’d already offered him Flashy back seeing as his favorite was stolen. But he had refused, insisting that he’d given it to her and where they’d likely end up, she’d need it. He could make due with a cheap one and one of his antiques. He’d yet to show her the full collection, though from what she could tell, most of them were wrapped in old shirts and stored as best he could in his bags and a box, but not an actual case in sight; he must have had to leave them behind. A bit disappointing honestly, seemed he had some nice pieces. “We’ll see what we can pick up. Can’t have the blaster expert running around with second-rate blasters.”

Corso chuckles at her comment as they head into the depths of this part of Coruscant.They got caught by a senator’s aid as they headed deeper towards the area claimed by the Migrant Merchants Guild. The senator was paying good money to retrieve a hijacked shipment, nothing that Kael coudn’t handle and they needed the credits so she agreed. She was glad she’d done so after they talked to the officer and found out they were slave collar chips and slated to be destroyed by security. Getting those things wrecked would be a highlight to the day. So she took the coordinates and with Corso at her side, they dived into the mess that was the republic blockade of the sector and the well armed and violent Migrant Merchant’s Guild.

Getting into the secured base was more frustrating then she’d like, but the guild was ever so polite and left passes with security patrols. Getting one was a simple matter of defending themselves against the attacking patrol and lifting the pass afterwards and the entrance for the base just opened right up. It was surprisingly easy to work with Kixi. The cage that the Migrant Merchant’s Guild kept the poor girl in enraged Leikael as soon as she saw it. Kixi was impressive though, and the note on Skavak’s record of him working undercover and having Bothan Nether Rot would ruin his professional and personal lives. He’d be angry and reckless, easier to find and easier to trap. Of course Leikael made sure to let her out of her cage and handed over some of the last of the credits she had on her and some contact names. It’d be enough to get the girl where she wanted to go, or to hook up with Leikael’s crew or even go to Mirial if she wanted. Though the imperial occupation made that difficult. A quick exchange of comm codes and they escorted her to safer territory. Maybe she’d even look up the slicer and offer her a place on her crew later after she got her ship back. But those were thoughts for another day.

Running back the way they’d come after escorting Kixi out was frustrating. But they manage alright. Leikael rolls her eyes as she deposits the slave collar chips with the security officer. She makes a snarky comment about how she doesn’t understand why they had such trouble when she and Corso had found it easy, making Corso roll his eyes and frown at her.

She does not like that frown.

It doesn’t fit his face at all.

But the credits are nice, even if they aren’t as much as they could have gotten. She tucks the pay into her belt. She’ll split it tonight when they’re not in the open.

It’s not long from there back to the Cantina Darmas is staying in. It’s late enough by that point that the sun has gone down however and even the lower levels were starting to dim their lights, unless they were a cantina or similar night based business which simply turned their lights up for the customers. Darmas is quick to inform them that he’s receiving conflicting information on which gangs Skavak is actually working with and that with Kixi’s information, it shouldn’t take long to sort out, but they really should get a room for the night and get some rest after the long day. He even manages to get them a room in the “fully booked” cantina, one of the fancy ones with two small rooms around a communal lounge area, for a price that doesn’t leave them completely broke. He does end their conversation with an offer to show leikael to her room and have a nightcap. But she manages to turn him down with a quick remark about how it was such a long day traveling and she’s still recovering from an injury on Ord and she really needs to treat it and rest. Hopefully, it’ll be fully healed by morning and they could see what the next day would bring. He’d been gracious in accepting that and didn’t seem to hold it against her. Which was good. She still needed him to get to her ship.

She helps Corso as they carry his bags up to the upper floors where the guest rooms are and only lets the stiffness in her leg and her exhaustion show a little as they drag themselves into the room and both fall onto the couch for a moment, door locked behind them, safely out of sight for now. “I can’t believe these guys. This is just such a weird planet.” she mutters.

Corso makes an inquisitive sound from his spot across from her. “Just all the scanners and the difference between the upper levels and lower ones. It’s normal I guess, amount of credits and all, but I couldn’t live on this planet. Not for long anyways. Too crowded, too many ways to get caught just trying to make ends meet, not enough space for troublemakers and that’s just boring and weird.”

Corso chuckles. “I’ll agree with ya that this rock is way too crowded. Ain’t seen a speck of fresh soil or clean air since we got here. Might be some parks or something, but ain’t enough for me to live somewhere.”

She lifts her head to look at him with a small smile. “Glad you share my distaste.” She pulls out the credit pouch and counts out two piles, sliding one over to Corso and tapping her finger next to the other. “Order in some food, will ya? I’m not picky. I need to get some of this travel grime off me. I hate shuttles and I think we still got imperial dirt sticking around.” She grabs her pack and starts to head over to one of the rooms. Supposedly, they each had their own fresher, which was more then fine with her. Get some space from the Farm boy and his stupid smiles and perfectly appropriate behavior when sharing a bed. He couldn’t just try something sleazy just once so she could hate him properly. That would make everything easier.

Eventually, there’s a knock at the door and she can barely hear Corso over the water saying that food is there, but she doesn’t come out. It’s a nice feeling to be able to scrub off the day without the stink of Ord Mantell or the restrictions of the ships. The creepy eyes of the Sith she’d fought haunt her as soon as it goes quiet. She still has no clue how herself and Corso managed to kill him. When she finally drags herself out of the fresher, she finds that her dinner has been placed by the door and Corso has disappeared into his room. Likely for his own shower.

She is NOT going to think about him wet and naked.

The water running down over those abs and across his arms.

She gives herself a shake and a slap. She knows better then to get involved with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

It’s so late but she doesn’t want to go to bed quite yet. She jumps onto the bed, reclining into the pillows and pulls out her comm, a few seconds and Nuri pops up, the main group of her old crew crowded around. She smiles happily at her family and waves. A few minutes of greetings and reassuring comments that she’s fine, she’s on the trail of her ship, she’s got the situation covered and no she’s not close to a relapse. She’s ok for now and yes she will call if that changes and Nuri is stepping away from the group with a promise from Leikael to call her dads.

It’s only when Nuri reaches a quiet place that she relaxes and drops into Mirialan. She’s always looking for and trying to give Leikael a chance to practice. “rua khoe uchu t'h ní tchhlla- wiachipa? P'u wich'a lo miulu p'u sos.”

Mirialan always makes her slow down, the translation not as easy since she left the crew. “Su p'is dua. Nua d khizchu uas kh's gie khoe guochiñ isochhu'iku khakq ria b't isochhu'iku zilci. Su q'omal sá rapra silu hol! Ku od yacholu Tika! Sá wacha khakdi ulwilon yaochpu du'a tako ol ki cikirtua”

Nuri makes a soft sound of sympathy before switching back to basic. “I get that last part. Only ran into Skavak once. Giant scumsucker. But what do you mean weird?”

Leikael laughs bitterly. “I almost died on the planet I was born on. Some homecoming right? Met a republic soldier who wears my face. Last three cousins I had are dead. I got to travel by luxury cruiser after saving said cruiser from a high ranked imperial and his pet sith who were chasing an ambassador. And then somehow managed to kill said sith and escape. Then when we finally get to coruscant, I end up working out of a NICE cantina with an info broker who’s giving me free information and flirts like it’s how he breaths. And all that while that stupid, hot, farmboy bodyguard mercenary whatever is following me around and shooting people for me and shared a bed multiple times without being the least bit inappropriate and it pisses me off since I can’t find a good reason to hate the guy which would make everything so much easier and This is the first night since I landed on Ord that I have the slightest privacy because of stupid, weird, awful circumstances.”

Nuri looks really concerned as Kael ends her rant. “You sure you’re doing ok, kit? I haven’t heard you like this since Korgran brought you back that day.”

Leikael knew what she was referring to. “I’m fine. I’m not falling off. I’m just stressed and angry and clearly needed to rant a little bit.”

Nuri nods “Ok. If that’s the case, you’ll get your ship. You’ll get everything handled. Congrats on killing a Sith. Your fathers will be so proud of you, ‘specially Kor.” A mischievous smile spreads across her face “Now why don’t you tell me all about this ‘stupid hot farmboy bodyguard mercenary whatever who shoots people for you’!”

Leikael scowls “Shut up.”

Nuri laughs, just laughs at Leikael’s face “Come on Kit! You got it bad. Give me all the details about this guy. I gotta make sure he’s good enough if you’re going to be marrying the guy.”

The corner of Leikael’s mouth wants to twitch upwards at Nuri’s teasing. “Not marrying anyone, not interested in anyone, not talking about this anymore. I’m going to sleep. Good night.”

She hangs up the comm to the sound of Nuri continuing to laugh at her reaction. As soon as the smugglers holo vanishes, she smiles and shakes her head. She really did love that chaotic bunch.

Translations:

rua khoe uchu t'h ní tchhlla- wiachipa? P'u wich'a lo miulu p'u sos - What's going on there star-blossom? You don't seem yourself.

Su p'is dua. Nua d khizchu uas kh's gie khoe guochiñ isochhu'iku khakq ria b't isochhu'iku zilci. Su q'omal sá rapra silu hol! Ku od yacholu Tika! Sá wacha khakdi ulwilon yaochpu du'a tako ol ki cikirtua. - I hate everything. The last bit has been a kriffing pain and just so kriffing weird. I want my ship back! He even took Tika! My poor sweet babies lost all alone in the galaxy.

[carelesswispe]

heya! can I request how Dimitri, Edelgard, Claude, and Yuri would court their crush? headcannons and fluff please :") also if there a character limit? (if you can't do Yuri, please replace him with Ashe) ty in advance </3

- 🍙

thank you for requesting! i had a lot of fun writing this ask and sorry if this took a little longer than expected ;; nevertheless, i hope you enjoyed this, jelly filled donut anon!

>genre: fluff with some angst if you squint (mostly for dimitri and edelgard's part)

>warnings: slight mentions of fighting, slight spoilers for the events of fire emblem three houses, some angst

>pairings: dimitri x reader (gn), edelgard x reader (gn), claude x reader (gn), yuri x reader (gn)

Dimitri

Hh he's the loml

I feel like he would only start to court anyone after the five-year timeskip due to the guilt of the tragedy Duscur and the pent up emotions he’s kept bottled up. The fact that he hasn’t overcome his trauma would probably give him the need to distance himself from the one he has feelings with <\\3

Of course, no one’s able to resist the pull of love and despite his irrational thoughts that tell him to distance himself from you, the thoughts that tell him to stay with you were stronger, the feeling that you give him was like a breath of fresh air in the suffocating miasma of his guilt and trauma which gave him the strength to carry on.

But once the war is finally over and he’s sorted out his feelings for you, the first thing he would do is to see you; to finally let you know how he feels...and maybe even propose you to stay by his side forever--

As for courting you, after so many years of killing and brutal murder, I think that Dimitri would be quite awkward in expressing his feelings for you, after having bottled them up for so long.

He would get flustered easily from the little things you do or say to him but still deliver the smoothest compliments as if it was second nature. Just like he always has in the academy, if not, smoother.

If you were to bring this up to him, he would try to deny it with a flushed face, causing him to be hyper-aware of the little things that he used to say with a nonchalant attitude from then on...how adorable

Dimitri is probably not the most romantic man with having basically no experience with relationships and all and would resort to consulting, albeit after much pestering, Sylvain for relationship advice.

It was quite cute though, seeing this grown man trying to be romantic but failing, looking like a teen with his first crush. Although, that may not be far from the truth.

Of course, after failing to pull off any of the ridiculous date ideas Sylvain proposed to him for the umpteenth time, Dimitri decided to do things his own way, even if it meant stumbling around like a newborn deer.

Dimitri’s idea of a romantic date is probably a bit odd...after all, this is coming from the same man who thought that a dagger is a great parting gift. He would take you to shop around for things you might like, wanting to show you that he would grant you anything you desired. And...while he’s at it, he might buy you a weapon of your liking--

After shopping, he’d treat you to a meal while you’re at it. Although he may not care for the flavours of food, seeing you eat your favorite foods with a delighted expression is enough to make the food that much more appetizing.

Being a king, Dimitri would most likely be very busy, filling up paperwork and all and so going out often isn’t something he could afford to do. In order to make up for that, the free time that he does get is all spent with you. Even for a little while, being with you does take away some of the stress that comes with the amount of responsibility on his shoulders.

Whether it be sharing a cup of tea or simply enjoying yourselves in each other’s company, Dimitri is satisfied to spend any time with you

Edelgard

Similar to Dimitri, I feel like Edelgard wouldn’t want to think about feelings of love so soon as long as she hasn’t fulfilled her mission since she wouldn’t want to let her emotions to obstruct her conquest at all, as baseless as those worries might be

However, this doesn’t mean that she would be able to control these feelings of hers with perfect success. After all, try as she might, she’s still a human

Even though she can deny her feelings for you, she can’t deny the comfort your company gives her

Having tea together or even just spending any amount of time with you gives her the break she needs from her burdens she’s imposed upon herself and in times like these, it reminds her of the people she wants to be stronger to protect

Conversations with her mostly consist of her plans and motivations for her cause but outside of that, she also enjoys being able to indulge herself in some much needed rest and she feels like she could share anything with you.

Well, perhaps not her family history but she finds herself revealing the sides that she hid from the public.

Occasionally, she would vent out her feelings of frustration to you, perhaps impersonating and imitating the words of the person who had irritated her

Even if it’s for a little while, she finds herself being able to act like a child or to let loose without fear of being judged around you and it reminds her that she’s not alone in this conquest of hers. And that fact alone comforts her. If you’re by her side, even the rockiest of roads seem like a cake walk as long as you’re here for her.

After the war, she would subtly propose a future with the two of you where you and her could pave the way for the new future of the empire. And when you don’t get what she’s hinting at, she would just throw whatever inhibitions she had out of the window and just tell you in a more direct fashion

Although she fears rejection, she’d rather say out her feelings than to keep it trapped for any longer.

As the emperor, Edelgard is very busy. Despite this, for some reason, she finds herself sneaking away from Hubert’s unrelenting supervision from time to time just to spend time with you.

She finds herself giving the pettiest excuses to go on a date with you whenever her tight schedule has even the tiniest opening.

To her, spending time with you reminds her that she is not only Edelgard Von Hresvelg, the Emperor but El.

However, on occasions where she is unable to slip away from her aide’s watchful eye or whenever she has to go on a trip where she will be away from you for long periods of time, as soon as she is freed from her duties, she will immediately come see you, hopefully plan a vacation together away from all her responsibilities, even for a little while.

Speaking of vacations, this will be a regular occurrence between the two of you. Such vacations range from going out of the empire for some sightseeing to a simple staycation, relishing in each other’s company.

Claude

Unlike the previous two, I feel like Claude, although not necessarily looking for a relationship before the timeskip, he wouldn’t be too opposed to the idea if he falls in love.

But maybe if it's before the timeskip, the relationship between the two of you would be more casual than anything, just enjoying the moment rather than looking into the future. Of course, he would like to spend the rest of his days with you but it's more of a matter of whether that could be possible or not due to the uncertainty of the future.

Dates before the timeskip would consist of fun little lunch dates in the cafeteria, hanging out to the library afterwards.

Most of your dates together were spontaneous, Claude being the one to initiate it first.

Like you two could be chilling, minding your own business, being content in each others’ presence one minute and pranking the entirety of the monastery in another.

Every time the two of you got together, everyone started to go on full alert mode, fully expecting an explosion somewhere or something along the lines of that. After all, it wouldn’t be the first time…

After the timeskip, dates with him don’t really change much...on the surface. In reality, Claude puts more effort into each date, not that he hadn’t before.

It’s just that now, the more time he spends with you, the more certain he is that he wants you to stay by his side, forever.

These dates were comparatively tame as compared to before the timeskip, with him being more mature and responsible now, not wanting to take unnecessary risks now that he’s seen many of his followers come and go, he wouldn’t want you to be like them.

Expect calm candlelit dinners for most of the dates since he tries to reserve the evening for you, maybe going on a stroll around the kingdom, checking up on the state of his citizens with you.

Right, speaking of dinners, during dinner, he would tell the most interesting stories of times when he left the kingdom for important matters and you weren’t able to come along, often bringing home a trinket of sorts which reminded him of you.

I feel like on these trips, he would just pick up random stuff that caught his eye and thought you’d might like, looking forward to seeing your expression upon receiving his gift to you. He gets a little too excited sometimes and goes...overboard, buying WAY too much. On the bright side, now that you got him all fired up, he’ll do his best to rush home to you.

As much as possible, he invites you to go with him to the many many festivals in the kingdom just so that you wouldn’t get bored with just eating out with him. (not that you ever would) and plus, he enjoys seeing the different stalls and booths set up with you.

Yuri

Yuri is quite hard to get close to since he’s the leader of the underworld and all. And even if you do, he puts up a ridiculously high wall when he feels as if you take an interest in him in something other than a friend.

All these years of distrust had given him no choice but to surround himself with various walls. And should you try to break down these walls, he would panic and distance himself from you, anything to make you realise that he shouldn’t be the one to receive your affection. Classic romance novel moment

Of course, you persist and stay there for him anyway, maybe only just pushing it but not to the point where it gets uncomfortable for him. After the years, going through tough situations with you by his side especially when he needed it the most, without realising it, he had a spot for you on his previously cold heart. Maybe it had always been there, maybe not, he didn’t really know anymore.

When you two finally go out together, it comes out as something that was going to happen anyway to the other members of the Ashen Rats Wolves who, don’t even bother to act surprised, come on, even Constance saw it coming, Yuri, you didn’t fool anybody.

Dates with Yuri are always new and exciting, going out on undercover missions together, travelling across Fódlan. Yuri tries to discourage you from coming along because of the danger of each one of his missions but the more he refuses, the more you insist so after a while, he gets the hint that he won’t be able to stop you and eventually just invites you whenever he has to go on long missions without having you finding out about it on your own.

As much as he cares about each and every single one of his subjects in the underworld, being the lord of the underground isn’t exactly the most relaxing or safest job out there and sometimes he just needs a break from all that. Luckily, you’re there to give him some peace of mind. Just by having you by his side, he feels as if he’s transported into another world, a reverie away from all the dangers of his job. Even a protector needs someone to protect him, you know? And he trusts you. He trusts that you would always be there to protect him. Since you were there for him through thick and thin all this time.

You both got each other’s backs

(i wrote WAY too much for Yuri since man i had a wild Yuri phase and i still do and i am just RELIVING IT as i write this)