Gift from a New Generation

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She set the box next to him first so that she could climb back up onto the cot. It was tricky, but she managed well enough with his help, and soon she was once again sitting close beside him. The wrapped box was set in his lap, the aged linen still soft to the touch. It was a plain white mostly, except for gentle swirling designs along its' edges.

With careful hands, Tak began unwrapping it, but stopped to look up at him. Whatever was in there belonged to him, and even though she'd always wanted to see what was in the box, she thought it best for him to open it. She pulled her hands back, but still leaned in close.

"It's yours... you open it."

[Zem Vymes]

I took great ease in pulling the linen back, and undoing the metal clasp. I eased the lid open, to see a rolled up piece of paper, and a lightsaber.

My lightsaber. I recognized it instantly.

I sighed a little, my hands running over its familiar contours.

"Your Dama, she's told you stories then, yes?"

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

She nodded, eyes fixed on the lightsabre. "Mmm-hmm. Lots of stories."

She reached out to pluck the rolled paper out. It was new; she'd seen Dama write on it then put it in the box the day after Ssem arrived. With care she unrolled it. The handwriting was the familiar gentle scrawling that belonged to Dama, written in Bast'yr.

Without thinking, Tak began to read.

<"He's got a broken voice and a twisted smile,
Guess he's been that way for quite awhile,
Got blood on his shoes and mud on his brim,
Did he do it to himself or was it done to him?

People think he don't look well,
But all he needs from what I can tell,
Is someone to help wash away all the paint,
From his purple hands before it gets too late.

I saw him stand alone ... under a broke street light,
So sincere ... singing silent night,
But the trees were full ... and the grass was green,
It was the sweetest thing I had ever seen.

He may move slow,
But that don't mean he's going nowhere,
He may be moving slow,
But that don't mean he's going nowhere.">*

She looked up to his face. "Is this about you?"




*Norah Jones - Broken

[Zem Vymes]

"I don't know."

I did, but I wasn't really sure how to talk about these things. I looked at the scrawlings, thinking about what she meant.

"I can only guess so."

My hand started to shake, and I calmed it, gingerly rolling the paper up again.

"It's so different now. Everything has changed since last I seen her."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

The short distraction of her daughter had been enjoyable, but knowing that she and Daani were happily playing on their own allowed her the chance to continue on with her own writing. It was rare that these moments occurred as it was.

It wasn't until after Tak had scampered back out that s'Il stopped. Her brow furrowed as she set down the stylus, and she looked up with a strange expression crossing her features. All of Tak's toys and books were in a single chest; why had she gone under the bed?

Rising stiffly, the Lupine made her way to the bed, kneeling so that she could see what - if anything - Tak had taken. Eye adjusting well enough to the dark, she scanned the covered flooring. A few of her daughter's picture books, a stuffed animal...

With a start she rose up. The box. The box was gone. She'd always kept it tucked away beneath her side of the bed, but now it was nowhere to be seen. Surely Tak knew better than to take something that she knew Dama treasured so dearly?!

Measured footsteps brought her to the doorway of the Cat.

"Teagan!"

Stepping out onto the elevated walkway, the Lupine turned her head first to one side. Not a soul, and she called out again, "Teagan?"

Turning to look the other way, s'Il froze. Sitting on the cot with Zem, Tak stared up at her - visibly startled at the usage of not her normal nickname, but her real name. And there was the box, sitting open in Zem's lap.

The Lupine's hands tightened imperceptibly on the rail at the sight.

[Zem Vymes]

My jawline tightened up a bit as she came into view. I set the paper back into the box with the lightsaber, carefully, and closed the lid. I set it aside and gave Tak a reassuring pat on the shoulder.

"Go on now, little one. Me and Dama are gonna talk."

I mussed her hair again.

[Teagan s'Ilancy]

A worried look was given to Ssem, but the little girl obeyed without a word. Would Dama be angry?

Sliding from her spot, Tak padded quickly away, eyes on Dama as she passed by on her way to find Sanis and Cirr.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

She hit the bottom of the metal stairway, pausing to watch as Tak disappeared from view.

Biting her lip, the Lupine started forward again until she was standing in front of him. She stared down at the box for a few moments, then to Zem. Finally she lowered herself down to sit beside him.

A sigh, and she folded her hands into her lap, eyes closing.

"We've gotten old, haven't we."

It was all she could think of to say.

[Zem Vymes]

"I have, at least."

It wasn't much of a concession. Her race aged well, and she did so particuarly well. The years were harder on me.

"I never thought I'd get to see you dote on a child. You must have found a maternal instinct I didn't see. She's cute. Loves you to death."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

At this she gave a small laugh. "I must have."

Looking in the direction that Tak had gone, s'Il shook her head. "I don't know how it happened. I never thought that... " she trailed off. She didn't need to express her confusion at having a child; he knew well enough.

She changed the subject.

"If I had known I would have stopped her," the Lupine nodded to the box.

[Zem Vymes]

"It's the gundark in the room. I can't pretend it isn't sitting there, staring at us both."

I retrieved the box, and carefully opened it again.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Watching him lift open the lid, s'Il let out a long breath.

"Please don't leave it behind again."

[Zem Vymes]

I paused.

"I did what I did, thinking it was the best for you. I almost destroyed myself, and I couldn't risk doing that to you. I felt something awful, just before I left you. We've both seen what the Dark Side can do to a person. I have to be sure I can carry that burden again."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Her eye grew soft.

"I know you can."

A hand came to rest on the outer edge of the box, close to his own hand. "That's why I kept it.

"Even if I never saw you again, I knew that you would have wanted it eventually."

Her hand came up then, to brush at the back of his neck as she'd done so many times before. Except now there was a degree of control to the touch; no more was there the wild abandon of her youth.

"You told me once that what you were, who you were, was defined by the Jedi. That this... " she gently picked the weapon up from its' resting place and placed it in his hand, "... was a part of your roots."

[Zem Vymes]

"I was ready to die four days ago. Now I'm sitting here with the choice to live again."

I felt the weapon's weight, and it's coolness in my hands. It felt so familiar.

"I spent enough time on my own to know that the galaxy is still dark. I couldn't escape that by shirking my responsibility, and I still grieved. I grieved for them, and for both of us. For what I gave up, and for you. How could I explain myself?"

I stood up, stepped away, and carefully activated the blade.

"There's nothing gained in grief. I have to return."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

She watched him rise and move away before thumbing the actuator. The blade sprang to life, as brilliant as it had ever been.

Looking at him now, though aged and driven hard by their years apart, s'Il couldn't help but smile.

She remained where she was, content to sit and watch him.

"You look the same as the day you left."

She dipped her head in respect. "To me at least."

[Zem Vymes]

I smiled in the light of the blade.

"You have forgiving eyes, and I thank you for that."

Giving the blade a good twirl, I brought it to ready again, and deactivated it.

"As long as you're patient. I'm a little rusty."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Another smile, but this time the Lupine cast her eyes downwards to the open box, the rolled paper waiting to be taken up. She lifted it into her hands.

"You've read this... ?"

His silence was answer enough, and she nodded.

"Then you know how I feel about you; patience was never and will never be an issue."

[Zem Vymes]

I smiled at that.

"You've always seen something in me that baffled me. Thank you."

I placed a hand on her shoulder, drawing into a hug that I'd needed for too long.