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It was his first day of being assigned to work at the Odessen base. Rexis, a young and aspiring Knight of Zakuul dropped the tray of food he was tasked to deliver upon seeing the empty cell. He started trembling–the fearsome Vaylin was on the loose, and the fearsome Rionnic would punish him for an entire unit’s incompetence. But there was someone in mind who would take the news much better.
“She’s… she’s gone?”
“Forgive me! I wasn’t assigned on surveillance–they, they should have contacted you b-but I don’t know why they haven’t!”
“It’s alright, take a deep breath. How about you take the day off?”
“But Vaylin…”
“That’s my problem to worry about. I have just one thing I’m asking of you. Please don’t tell anyone else. We wouldn’t want the base to panic…”
“Y-yessir! Thank you–I think?”
The escape hit him in the nerves. He wanted to find her immediately, but Rionnic would know of this sooner than later. His twin was working on his usual paperwork in the office, seemingly unaware of the breaking news. Before telling it to him, he did confirm the Knight’s word by visiting her cell and retrieving the note she left.
“Red… Vaylin… Vaylin escaped.”
“Mm.” Rionnic acknowledged without glancing at his twin.
“You knew?”
“Surveillance told me.”
His lack of reaction wasn’t what perplexed Riornivo the most, it was his lack of action. He thought Rionnic hated her enough to keep her locked away, as evidenced by his attitude the entire time before this. When asked what he has done about it, nothing. The Jedi couldn’t help but to express his confoundment at Rionnic’s nonchalance towards the situation.
“You go find her, then.”
Deciding to not let the conversation turn into bickering, he exited the office and wasted no time on searching for her. Even though the note stated her intention of returning within a few days, what worried him the most was the possibility of her stumbling upon people and both of their hypothetical reactions towards each other. But he trusted her to not turn to violence, a faith he cultivated not out of naïveté, but something deeper .
His effort started internally. The surveillance team couldn’t produce a clip as Vaylin destroyed every camera from a distance. Another perplexing matter was how she was able to do that, given the cameras were built with Force-resistant material. Perhaps she was just that powerful, or practical. He thanked his employees before proceeding to check the traffic records. It was quite a busy day for the Alliance fleet operating on both military and humanitarian purposes. He tried to narrow down his guesses by comparing the timing of the initial report and travel logs.
Two instances caught his attention. A military and humanitarian run.
The military objective was to intercept a rogue Mandalorian faction aboard the Spirit of Vengeance. The humanitarian destination was Dubrillion. His mind weighed the probability of Vaylin being in either place and decided to choose the humanitarian option. While on the way there, he couldn’t help but to inquire with his twin about the passiveness.
“I’m busy. Vizla needs me elsewhere.”
“But I thought you were… I thought you wanted to stop her?”
“Do you want it to be blunt or sharp?”
“Wha-”
“Blunt it is. You take on a leadership role. You said you’re busy, you have allies to attend to. But this other urgent matter concerned your-”
“Alright, I get it.”
This time, it was the younger twin who ended the call abruptly. It produced a smirk from Rionnic. Perhaps this was his plan all along? But to what end, and for what, exactly?
“Aulia!”
Vaylin exclaimed, hushed yet terrified. She dropped the Knight helmet out of shock, while Aulia remained stiff. The gradual change of the child’s face broke her heart, and both of them started trembling for different reasons.
“You… you did this. Why? Why did our lives not matter to you? Wh-why… Why did you have to take away my leg? My family?” Aulia condemned with fearless tears. Every word out of the child’s mouth felt like blunt force trauma for Vaylin, who finally understood the concept of remorse.
“I… I’m…”
“No reason? For no reason then? Just because you can? If that’s-”
Aulia was cut off by a teenage boy–probably her relative–scooping her up then bolting away, while screaming at her. “Don’t talk to her! Do you want to die?!”
“Wait!”
But that was clearly pointless. Her mind immediately turned to flight response; the two children definitely alerted the others of her presence once they escaped. She needed to do the same, and the Alliance ship wasn’t a good place to hide, lest she would be recaptured. She wasn’t ready to return to her cell yet. Her legs took her to wherever it ran, as long as she disappeared from view. Perhaps she should steal a shuttle to go off-world?
She took a moment to regain her composure, trying to calm her breathing by leaning against a wall. She knew there were people inside of the building, but she believed that she was moving quietly enough. Tears were rolling down her cheeks, but she couldn’t afford to wipe them off by removing her helmet.
Before anyone could see her, she began moving again. Finding a vehicle without too much presence around it was difficult, but eventually she managed to find one. The shuttle had an Alliance emblem on it, but what mattered the most was the lack of security. As she quietly approached her objective, a hand on her shoulder startled her to the point of stopping her heartbeat. “Ahh!”
Immediately she drew her lightsaber after stepping away from the person who caught her. She cancelled everything once she realized who it was. It was that smile again.
“Are you alright? Do you need hel-”
He wasn’t given a chance to finish speaking when she threw herself at him, squeezing tight. The armor pieces hitting his body were moderately painful, causing him to flinch. His pain however, wasn’t a priority compared to how tight her arms were around his ribcage. His mind jokingly thought that he should learn how to get better at catching surprise hugs.
“Yes! I need help!” Vaylin whimpered. She released her grip on his body–her hands were now doing the gripping on both of his arms. “Please take me away from here!”
“Y-yes, um, let’s go to my shuttle then.”
She was ahead of him, running in fear. It saddened him to see her this way, but a part of him knew that it was a natural consequence and what makes the journey difficult. But he was determined to help her. When he boarded the shuttle, she was already in the co-pilot seat. The shuttle departed Dubrillion without a single word exchanged between the two. Being in his presence was such a comforting feeling, proven when she unequipped her helmet to wipe the exhaustion off her face.
“So… where to?” He uttered the first words.
The look in her eyes was empty, finally answering while still zoning out. “Where else… back to prison of course.”
He wanted to question her decision but decided against it. But when he was punching the hyperspace coordinates in, she spoke out again. “Actually, can we go somewhere else first? Anywhere but Odessen…”
“Hmm…” He made a gesture of thinking. Perhaps the waterfalls and beautiful vistas of Makeb could be a calming environment for her? The shuttle jumped to hyperspace shortly after; then landing on a mesa called Frinn. Despite not conversing much, both of them were past the point of awkwardness with each other. What actually silenced Vaylin however, was Aulia’s words repeating in her head.
She was startled into reality again when Riornivo got up from his seat, being stopped in his tracks by her reaction. “Want to explore around?” He softly offered; which was met with her empty gaze. Again, he had to wait for a response. Her eyes wandered around, inspecting the scenery outside, then comparing it to the ship’s interior. Better than to be cooped up inside, she thought.
“Right…”
Reluctantly, she stood up and slid her helmet back on. Both of them proceeded with him carrying a large bag of essentials–as if they were staying or vacationing. He pulled the hood of his robes over, tentatively shrouding his identity. Her sight hung around his hand, wanting to hold it while they walked, but she tightened the grasp around herself instead. The shuttle door opened to the bright weather of Makeb, and the first thing she saw was a house with average reconstruction after the damage caused by the groundquake years ago.
The Jedi entered the house with a greeting to the elderly Zabrak couple living there. Warm conversations and gratitude were heard when he distributed the supplies from his bag to them. Vaylin’s decision to stay outside was challenged when Rio offered her to come inside, which she declined. Minutes later, he bid farewell and brought Vaylin to their actual destination.
“Those were your friends?”
“Yes, I’m just asking for permission to go to the spot nearby. They keep insisting it’s not necessary but it’s better to let them know.”
It didn’t take long to arrive at an abandoned encampment behind a wall of rocks, complete with the waterfall and some juvenile makrins harmlessly crawling around. Vaylin was awed by the beauty of nature, and the fact that it was secluded enough for privacy. Although she has been on this planet before, this hidden paradise was certainly a welcome surprise. She mentally thanked him for providing a healing environment for her heart and mind.
“My sister recently cleared this area of the Exchange. They’ve been troubling the people here, including Tumbleweed over there.” As Rio waved gently at the oldest and largest makrin not far from them.
“Are we not… intruding?”
“Don’t worry, she’s a friendly one. She gets visitors every now and then.”
The Jedi started cleaning around the tent’s vicinity, setting up the site for their camping session once again. In her mind, a new dream of going to all of the camping trips with him was born, immediately becoming unattainable. To cherish in however long this one would be, she began stripping the armor parts, leaving only the dark outfit underneath. She felt so much lighter, and the child’s words temporarily vanished from her mind.
“Thank you for taking me here. I love the scenery… Is this secluded enough?”
“No one should be here since they haven’t been informed of the Exchange's defeat,” as he looked around, when suddenly Vaylin’s stomach performed a crescendo. The stale bread from earlier wasn’t enough to offset the amount of exertion she did using the Force. “It’s my turn to cook now!” Riornivo gushed, while pointing a finger up. Vaylin however, was more embarrassed than hungry.
He began rummaging the supply bag, arranging wrapped vegetables on top of the table on the side of the tent. A small container held the meaty ingredients. Before starting, he washed his hands and vegetables on the nearby creek and flashed her a smile on his way back to cooking. She offered to help, which he tried to decline but ended up assigning her the task of lighting the campfire instead. The part that took long was gathering the wood, while the fire sparked instantly with her force lightning.
Just like old times.
She chose to sit by the small fire, watching the sparks fly. In the figurative sense, she has stopped hoping for the sparks to fly between them, though the feeling was still deep. There was something bigger than the both of them weighing her down. The sight of him cooking on the fire pulled her away from the dark place she was slowly descending to.
“It smells so good.” She complimented quietly.
“I hope it’ll taste just as good, then.”
Her smile was sheepish yet sad; while waiting for the soup to boil and meat to marinate, he fetched her water. She thanked him, then the next moment was just quiet. He didn’t feel the need to ask her anything because he wanted her to feel at ease. As for her, it was a mystery about why she was so nervous trying to talk to him, but she managed anyway.
“How… How did you find me?”
“I was told you escaped. I studied the ship logs and the humanitarian aid one stood out to me. When I arrived, they were recalling every Knight because someone spotted you there. So… yes, you were the only Knight roaming around.” As he lowered his gaze, displaying a reddish tint on his face.
She wanted to say how glad she was that he was the one who found her but decided against it. Her mind couldn’t come up with topics to break the silence–what she wanted the most was physical touches of solace, but that seemed inappropriate. All she could take at that moment was watching him cook, looking so desirable yet so… unattainable.
She shook her head. Riornivo was not an object to obtain, and she already played her hand with a heartbreaking result. But his silence was starting to become unnerving. Her body moved away from the fire, walking towards the rushing waterfall. Before she was too far ahead, he exclaimed;
“I’ll let you know when the food’s ready!”
The sound of waterfalls around her weren’t enough to silence her mind. Her sadistic laughter upon seeing the mangled people in the recording she took of the bombings was echoing in her skull. She wanted to kill the Vaylin who laughed at dead children. Perhaps what the evil twin did to her was more than justified. Her fingers lightly sparked with lightning, contemplating her next action.
“Vaylin?”
That stopped her in her tracks. That gentle yet deep voice calling her name, caught her again from the abyss.
“Let’s eat.”
Without words, she moved ahead of him, enticed by hunger. There was a plate already served for her, consisting of glazed meat, grains, vegetables, and a small bowl of soup. The flavor of the first bite was immaculate, increasing her devouring speed. The Jedi beamed upon seeing her seemingly liking his food, but advised her to slow down. He then joined her lunch experience.
“Thank you for this. It’s delicious.”
Again, he smiled and proceeded to try taking her dishes, to which she declined. “I can wash my own dishes.”
He backed away, the smile replaced with a surprised expression. “Sorry, I didn't mean to be overbearing.”
“You weren’t at all. Don’t take it the wrong way, please.” Her tone was sweeter than usual.
“N-no, of course!”
Watching her eagerly creating a distance between them made him think that she wanted to be left alone, resulting in him choosing the other creek to wash his plates. When they met again by the fire, she quickly put away the dishes before heading towards her previous spot, reinforcing the distant demeanor he was sensing from her. If space was what she wanted, he’d respect that by staying around the campsite in case she needed him.
But the hours passed by without her presence. Concern started growing, as he put down the datapad he was writing with. He had to walk a little further away from the camp to find her.
Her posture indicated distress. She was hugging her knees, burying her face in it. He slowly approached her, sitting next to the woman he loved. When she finally lifted her face up, he noticed tears on her cheeks.
“Do you want to talk about it…?” He coaxed, whispery and tender.
“I do... but I don’t know how.”
“Take your time. I’m here.”
Those simple words were so comforting to hear, reducing the difficulty of her brain to articulate her heart.
“I’m left with two choices, Rio. Either to go back to my old life of imprisonment, or live my life running away from everything…” As she sobbed, choking on her own words.
“And… and do I deserve to even… make those decisions? After all I’ve done? I still want a life for myself… which I don’t deserve! Which I took away from all of those people!”
“Vaylin…”
“I hated her. I hated that I used to rejoice seeing them dead. I hated that I failed to overcome my upbringing–to become something other than… than that. I… I’m ashamed. I’m tired…”
He put a hand on her shoulder, tentatively stroking it. She decided to let go of her self-imposed inhibition to seek shelter in his arms. Whether it was vulnerable or weak, she truly needed his touch and warmth. He was hesitant to close his arm around her, but he too, let go of his inhibition. His fingers lovingly ran through her hair, both of them basking in the wordless moment. The crying took what remained of her energy, steadily drifting off to a slumber.
And he let her rest in his embrace.