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Death, Yet the Force

This one is for @ayresis, who requested something for Fria Whitcord, my consular who sees her first action on Yavin 4. I gave the biography yesterday, so today, we have a fic! The story got long fast and it’s off to races in my head as we speak.

For those who haven’t played the smuggler story: Master Sumalee was a Jedi who came to the Order after running around with Risha Drayen and future SIS operative Shariss Kartur as the Triple Threat, a criminal crew. She encounters the Smuggler and Risha on Corellia. Master Sumalee is the person sacrificed by Zildrog if you chose the DS Smug end option: taking control of Voidfleet.

Time: Post-Nathema; Eva and Theron have just returned from eloping. Eva decided to send out a wedding holo to announce the news, as described in “I don’t have to explain myself.”

Rating: PG

Word Count: ~1600

~~

“Lana is going to be so pissed.”

“Well, we didn’t exactly plan to get married.”

“The improvisation or not inviting her: which will annoy her more?”

“We’re about to find out.” Theron gave Eva’s hand a squeeze as they came down the gangplank of Virtue’s Thief together.

Lana waited for them at the edge of the military docks. As they drew closer, it was apparent that Lana was pleased to see them and also relieved that they were finally back. Once Theron and Eva came within hearing range, Lana said to them, with all the warmth and all the annoyance in the world, “You two…”

The pair stood before her, and Lana’s eyes darted between them, as if to check.... Her lip wobbled, and suddenly, she threw her arms around Theron. He only hesitated a moment before returning the embrace. Then she hugged Eva who had no reservations. “I got that bloody holo in a meeting!” Lana teasingly complained.

“I ruined Jace Malcom’s keyboard and monitor, if that’s any consolation to you,” Eva offered into Lana’s shoulder, and the Sith Lord laughed.

The Sith Lord drew back slightly and recomposed herself, a small smile persisting. “Is all well, then?”

“Yeah. All is well, Lana,” Theron replied, wearing a smile of his own. He looked at the datapad in her hand. “But I’m guessing that we’re back to business with no time to settle in?”

Lana nodded, then her brow creased. “We… have a representative here from the Jedi Order. We know her. Kyllfria Whitcord.”

Eva took a sharp breath in. “Fria. She survived.” After a moment of recalling the once 19-year-old Jedi on Yavin 4, Eva asked, “What brings her here?”

Now Lana’s good humor faded. “She… wishes to present you with the lightsaber of Master Sumalee.”

Theron made a face. “Well, this is awkward.” He then explained to Eva, “The Jedi Order disavowed her, not long after you left. I guess that’s why they won’t take the lightsaber. It should be given to the Grand Master of the Order, their former masters, or their next of kin.”

“Nobody will take it, given what she did,” Lana supplied. “And Sumalee wasn’t a Sith, so her saber would not be considered a trophy by another.” Lana looked down at her datapad before returning her gaze to Theron and Eva. “Fria… doesn’t want the burden anymore…”

“Why do you think Fria has it?” Eva asked.

Lana and Theron looked at each other and then shrugged in unison.

Eva pressed her lips into a hard line, thinking hard for a moment, then she started to head back to the gangplank of Virtue’s Thief. She stopped at the foot of it to holler up, “Hey, Risha!”

~~

“Stars and galaxies, Fria. You…. You’re all grown up. And you might actually still be younger than I am.”

Captain Eva Corolastor strolled into the meeting room, and the Jedi immediately brightened up after staring out the viewport in boredom. “Captain. It is good to see you.” She meant it with all her heart. The Captain… had acquired more gravitas, for lack of better description. More weight, not physically but perhaps in her soul, or whatever it was she believed she had as a smuggler. She had changed, but not as obviously as so many of them had.

As Fria herself had. There were still times the scars on her cheeks pulled and phantom sensations caressed up toward her ears.

The Captain held out a hand and gestured toward another familiar figure – older than the Captain now by a fair margin. “Risha. You remember her? She took care of your leg –"

“After Bowdaar shot me out of a tree for following Agent Theron out of camp. Yes, I do remember,” Fria finished. “I trust the crew is all here?”

As Eva nodded and Risha gave her a polite but tight smile, Fria felt a wonderfully warm and happy feeling bob up inside her. A family of sorts, reunited. Not all could claim the same.

“I hear you have a lightsaber…” Eva said slowly.

No, not all could claim that.

Fria dropped her eyes down to her robe pocket and carefully drew out the elegant, thin hilt. Risha let out a sigh, murmuring something about the craftsmanship.

Fria remembered that Sumalee had designed it to match her ceremonial headdress, for the most special of occasions – good things that would come again soon, once the galaxy was all right.

Fria had no idea what she was about to do, that last evening meal before she boarded a freighter for destinations unknown.

“Master Sumalee… was my friend,” Fria began, and stars above, she sounded like she still was that child that fell out of a tree. She swallowed and pressed forward, sounding more like herself, as she was, after the war. “Master Sumalee assisted me in readjusting to life outside of hiding.” Fria flexed her hand around the lightsaber, rotating it to demonstrate that the kyber crystal had been removed; her fidgeting wouldn’t set it off. “I don’t understand why she did what she did.”

Eva grimaced slightly, but she held her ground and looked Fria in the face. “She and I have a history. Back before Yavin. We helped each other on Corellia. Saved the Republic. Then I used her resources to take Voidfleet for myself. Don’t think she ever forgave me for that.” She said it plainly. There was no antagonism or regret.

Fria stared but then reflected. To see the Captain at the head of yet another fleet… lauded as hero of the galaxy again … “She did want good in the galaxy. But I don’t understand how that would have been gained by destroying you. Or your Alliance.”

“Vengeance isn’t logical. It’s short-sighted, and the person doesn’t think beyond the chance to bloody their rival.” Risha’s eyes fixed on the hilt. “But Sumalee probably knew she didn’t need to think beyond that. I don’t think for a second that she didn’t know the cost of assisting the Order of Zildrog.”

Fria brushed against Risha with the Force. She hadn’t thought to use it initially because she knew Eva was profoundly Force-Null. But when she reached for Risha – oh, all Fria could feel was grief. Grief, sliding through her fingers and hair like water, refusing to grasp it, wishing it would just all flow away ---

Fria then straightened up and spoke quickly, not giving Eva or Risha a chance to say anything else. She had to get through this. “I come as a representative of the Jedi Order. I wish to reassure you that the Order does not condone Master Sumalee’s actions, nor do they agree with her assessment of you.”

Risha huffed slightly. “Probably still kept a journal fuming about all the injustices committed against her. She never did forgive easily.”

Fria blinked as all of Risha’s words and feelings seemed to point to one conclusion. “You knew her?”

“Before I ever did.” Eva took a step back and away from Fria. “Risha and Sumalee were friends before Sumalee became a Jedi and before Risha signed on with Virtue’s Thief.” Eva paused, then continued. “If you want to render up the lightsaber as some sort of tribute, I don’t want it. But if you wanted to return it to someone who could remember her from before all this –”

“I’ll take it,” Risha said calmly. “She was my friend too. Before life got even more complicated.”

Fria gently nodded. “Yes. That always seems to be happening, as I grow older. I would hate to think the galaxy is getting worse, though. I just might be more painfully aware of it all.” The three women chuckled lightly at that. Then Fria drew in another breath, hand squeezing the hilt one more time. “I … have also come to offer my service directly to the Alliance.”

Eva startled slightly and looked at her in askance.

“The Jedi have been wanting to approach the Alliance for quite some time. They want to launch something called Task Force Nova to rebuild the order. They need help, honestly. But asking you -- never the right time. Never the right feeling in the Force. And I’m really fed up with waiting around to do something constructive.” Fria drew herself upward. “I’d like to join your enclave here. When they finally get their act together, I’ll volunteer myself as liaison.”

It was when Eva’s brilliant smile appeared that Fria realized she must have been very enthusiastic during the course of her pitch. More like the girl she once had been…

Eva tempered her grin slightly. “How about you spend a few days here? Get to know Sana-Rae and the enclave. Talk to Risha about old friends. See how you feel before any decisions. Including about who should hold onto that lightsaber.”

Fria nodded. “That is reasonable.”

~~

It was far late into the night, after several long walks and very tall drinks, that Fria crept into the small cell that her own private space. She appreciated the size; just large enough to dwell in, but not large enough to hide in. Odessen was quite the busy hive to be a part of, and she doubted she wanted to spend much time in here brooding anyway.

It was a lot brighter here than on Corellia or Coruscant now, for Fria.

As she settled into bed and relaxed, her mind skipped through meditation exercises until she found the one she wanted, like music on a jukebox in the cantina.

Then the voice came.

“Odessen. Perfectly balanced in the Force.”

Fria bolted upright. She’d never thought she’d hear him again – it had been so long. But it had been so long since she had balance.

“I know. I never left you. The Jedi do have it right. There is no death. There is the Force.”

Fria seized upon that weak tendril and tugged it toward her, trying to bring him to her vision.

He finally arrived.

“It’s so good to see you again, Lord Kallig.”

“You’re where you need to be now, Fria. As am I.”