Head in the Clouds

[Navaria Tarkin]

Navaria was not surprised at the boldness of his statement. Kale had been wanting to speak freely for some time and now that privacy was secured, he wasted little of it in getting to the meatier questions.

"You have been trained to an extent. You can find the answer you seek yourself." She widened the distance between her arms, palms facing upwards in acceptance. "I hold no secrets. My walls are down."

[Kale]

At first, Kale had no idea what she was talking about - he was thinking like a thief, not a Jedi - but then he remembered what Lorca had taught him about seeing with the Force and not with his eyes. To some extent, Kale did it all the time, but all he got was instincts, gut feelings. Anything more substantial took some effort.

So he took a breath, closed his eyes, and just for support, fingered the shape of whatever-it-was hanging from his neck by a cord underneath his shirt. His mind's eye quickly found the leylines of the force flowing through the room, the strands of energy connecting every living being in the city, at least as far his meager perception extended. Usually it was a chaotic mess, the lines of influence tangling and breaking and binding again, unbalanced energy reflecting unbalanced lives, but here it was all steady orbits, gentle tides, a tranquil ocean. And seated at the center of it all was a tall, luminous figure, glowing just the way Lorca had been, but even brighter.

His eyes snapped open again, and his breath caught. There was Navaria, sitting just as she was a moment ago, unassuming and open. Somehow she looked smaller in person. He was no expert, but he could tell she was way beyond his own abilities - he'd been lucky to run away from her as far as he did.

"Okay," he said, and he felt foolish, because he didn't know what else should be said. "Um, I... I've had some training, but nothin' formal," he admitted, and then he began to pick up steam. "I learned a few things from my friend, the one I told you about, but most of what I know, I learned from my mom. She was a padawan. Y'know, before the Purge. She was at the Temple. Do you think there's any chance you and she mighta..."

[Navaria Tarkin]

delete >_>

[Navaria Tarkin]

Navaria felt a deep sense of regret and lowered her head, shaking it lightly. "No. Unfortunately my training was not at the Temple. The only other Jedi I knew growing up was my Master, Drin."

She paused to wet her lips, thinking about the last day she had saw the Trianii. How Darth Vader was able to locate them was inconsequential, but he had come for Master Kizael, oblivious to the fact that he had a Padawan in training. The Mal Pannis', who were secretly Rebel sympathizers, had smuggled Lianna off world during Vader's distraction. He had sacrificed his own life to ensure she could have escaped ...

"I'm sorry I cannot be more helpful."

[Kale]

Kale deflated slightly, and he nodded, though he hadn't honestly expected otherwise. He'd known it was a longshot; survivors of the Purge were few and far between.

"Well," he said, "she taught me, on Coruscant, secretly. She taught me how to hide myself. How to meditate. Even a little TK. But then the Imperials came for her. And all I had left of her was this."

He cupped his hand just in front of his chest, and the cord around his neck began to snake out from underneath his shirt, pulling with it the unmistakable gleam of an Adegan focusing crystal. It was pure white, and even in the low light it sparkled brilliantly, throwing miniature color spectra on the walls around them. The crystal floated gently down into Kale's open hand.

[Navaria Tarkin]

Navaria leaned forward with renewed interest and smiled lightly at the young man. "I see now why you have been so secretive ..."

If she had something of her mother's, the Jedi would have been equally as protective as Kale had been. He was lucky to have such an item, and not because of what could be made out of it ...

"...And why you wanted to know if I could construct a lightsaber."

He could not hide his discontent. It was plainly written across his face while staring down at the crystal. So she offered some hope. "There might be one amongst us that has met your mother. Her name is Serena, and she was trained at the Temple."

[Kale]

Hope lit up Kale's eyes like a spark. He tried to contain himself, because he knew chances were still slim - there were a lot of Jedi at the Temple...

"Can... can I talk to her? I, uh... promise I won't try to take her wallet."

[Navaria Tarkin]

She laughed, shaking her head lightly with a chuckle. "She'd appreciate that and I'm certain she'll be happy to speak with you. But until then, perhaps we can discuss the dreams you've been having about your mother?"

Kale's suspicions, his mother's death, and the crystal that hung around his neck - there could be no other conclusion.

[Kale]

Kale seemed to freeze for a moment in shock. Then he realized he had given her just about all the pieces. It didn't take a Jedi master to put them all together.

"Yeah, right," he said, and his eyes searched the floorboards for a few moments as he worked up his nerve. "See, I've been havin' these dreams for about a year now. At first it was just a couple images, sorta jumbled together. They didn't make sense, but... y'know, that's how dreams are. But then there were the memories."

He leaned forward, elbows on knees, his fingers lacing nervously in front of him. "Some of them were my memories. Like, as a kid, growing up on Coruscant, livin' in the Chiba district, goin' to the park... But there was a lot I'd never seen before. There's a little girl with dark hair walkin' into a Temple... gotta be the Jedi Temple. And then she's older, and she's runnin' for her life on Corellia. Then she's fightin' someone, a man with yellow hair, and he's laughin'... And then she's falling, in this... dark, deep pit on a dead planet..."

He trailed off and looked nervously in Navaria's direction.

"Look, I know it sounds completely crazy. But these aren't my memories. They're my mom's."

[Navaria Tarkin]

"It's not crazy. You are far from crazy," countered Navaria with a soothing smile. "To extrapolate from what I said in the diner, you and your mother had a strong connection through the Force which would not be severed in her unfortunate death. Now she speaks to you through that bond, giving you glimpses of her past. I would even be bold enough to presume that there might some purpose in the visions, but I can't be absolutely sure."

She wet her lips and continued. "If a Jedi is strong enough, their spirit can still live on amongst the living for some time if they feel there is still work that needs to be done. Usually as a guide or mentor for a friend or ally. You haven't mentioned seeing her in your waking hours, it might be possible she isn't strong enough to speak to directly and does so through your dreams."

[Kale]

That was... a lot to take in at once. Kale looked just a little pale all of a sudden.

"You're tellin' me these dreams might be coming from my... my mom's ghost?"

[Navaria Tarkin]

"Yes," she nodded with certainty, "That's exactly what I'm implying."

[Kale]

Kale wasn't sure what to make of that - he'd have to think about it for a while. In his own thoughts, he'd come up with a few possibilities - maybe his mom had done something to him when he was little so these memories would come out piece by piece, or maybe they were somehow stored in the crystal. He'd even entertained the possibility that maybe she was still out there, alive, waiting for him to find her.

But if she was dead, and yet she was somehow reaching out to him from wherever she was now... What did that even mean? Weren't ghosts dangerous to the living? Wasn't that what those horror holos were all about?

"Well," he said finally, pushing his hair back with one hand, "I know there's something real about 'em. See, I followed one of the dreams to a graveyard outside Coronet City on Corellia. And it led me to this."

He unzipped his backpack, then reached inside and unhooked a flap concealing a hidden pouch on the inside. From the pouch he drew a long, thin box made of dark wood that looked as though it had spent some time underground. There was a hairline seam that marked the lid, but there were no visible hinges or latch - nothing a thief could possibly attack from the outside. There was, as far as Kale knew, only one way to open it.

He waved a hand over the box, and there was a minuscule click of an internal catch twisting open. Kale lifted the lid with a sort of silent reverence.

Inside, nested in a velvet recess, was the unmistakable shape of a lightsaber finished in silver and ebony. It was a smaller than standard, crafted for delicate fingers, thin and with a slight taper to the body. But it was also incomplete. It had no power cell, no emitter array, no focusing crystal, no control mechanism.

Carefully, as if it were made of glass, Kale lifted the saber casing out of its box for Navaria to see. "She buried it there. I know she wanted me to find it. But I haven't found anything else yet. I was kinda hoping by the time I finished fixing it I'd have some more answers."

[Navaria Tarkin]

It was a well crafted lightsaber, custom made instead of a carbon copy of certain schematics for a Jedi to use to construct their first lightsaber. This one was special to the user, otherwise why the specially constructed case with soft velvet to protect the casing from any scratches.

She was not arrogant to ask to touch it or the case, feeling that it was only right for the incomplete weapon to be held by only his hands.

"Your Mother is leading you to her weapon," she said, stating the obvious and noted the control mechanism was missing upon closer scrutiny. "But she not did finish it?"

[Kale]

"That's the thing," Kale said, frowning. "I know she had one, and it worked. I've seen her using it. In my dreams, I mean. She never really showed it to me."

He sighed and carefully tested the weight of the saber in his hand. "Which means she took it apart at some point and buried it. Or maybe she buried this one and built another, I dunno."

Kale shrugged apologetically. "Look, I know this isn't really your problem."

[Navaria Tarkin]

"No, it isn't," the Jedi admitted, "But that doesn't mean I don't want to help. The Force brought us together for a reason. To ignore our meeting as chance would be folly."

[Kale]

Kale stared at the saber casing in his hand for a good, long while. Then he carefully placed it back into its velvet-lined box.

"I was headed to Subterrel," he said, "but, really, I don't know what I was lookin' for there. One way or another, I'm gonna be stuck here for a while."

He lifted his eyes to meet Navaria's. "Can I stay with you?"

And then his brain caught up, and he sputtered. "Uh - I mean, not with you... here... I mean, with you and the other Jedi? I know I'm not much of a Jedi myself, but I'm tryin' to learn what I can."

[Navaria Tarkin]

He was a very sweet young man, but that only hid Kale's desperation in unraveling the mystery his mother had left behind. It wasn't his sole motivation, but it was the dominant driving force behind his actions.

"Of course you can," she replied warmly, "But you will need a place to stay since you just arrived. Until I can arrange a safe meeting with the other Jedi, you may stay here if you like."

[Kale]

He stowed the saber case in his backpack once more. "Thanks," he said. "Beats bein' on the street."

This was beyond uncharted territory. Kale had always tried to avoid depending on people, because he'd been let down too many times. But this felt different. These people were in hiding, like he'd been his whole life. And they were Jedi. This was what his mother had wanted for him. Wasn't it?

Maybe only time would tell.