When Kit came to, he was in a garden.
Death was a remarkably quick affair, he reflected. Why, mere seconds ago he had been locked in a desperate duel with the Supreme Chancellor, and then...sai cha, nexu-quick, unavoidable. And now he knew he was dead, for he had seen Agen and Saesee fall in much the same way, yet here they were. They spoke not at all; no words were needed. Moments later, Master Windu arrived, shell-shocked.
"The Chancellor?" Agen asked.
Mace shook his head sadly.
"And...the Jedi?" was Kit's careful query- Force, could he still speak, when he'd left mouth and tongue and vocal cords behind in the unveiled Sith's office?
The former Master of the Order fell to his knees. Kit followed suit, as did the others, for the silence had grown suddenly ponderous, a weight of stony Dark impossible for any sentient to bear. Their reservations no longer mattered, for here there was truly no death. No betrayal, no mortal injury, no stoicism, no detachment. Only the Force.
The friends held each other for a long time.
When she arrived, one of the first, Kit was ready. Her presence placed her in the huge central fountain, half-paralyzed with fear. No reason for it, there was no drowning, only the Force, but he should ease her pain, should he not? Here, in the absence of all that kept them apart, she was the center of his universe.
He dove into the pool without a second thought.
When Aayla came to, she was underwater.
Panic was the first thing she felt. Ever since Kamino she had hated to swim; now, when she was utterly confused anyway, to find herself the victim of a forcible dunk was...well, terrifying. She thrashed in the water, calling with what breath she had for help! Someone get me out of here, tell me what's going on! Please!
And then there was someone there, but no, it couldn't be, she'd felt him die, felt it as she would a saber wound to her own throat. Commander Bly had even asked whether she was okay, since she'd doubled over in agony at the sudden sensation...was she okay, really? Aayla had told him so; had she lied? Where was she? What could possibly explain that last image now burned into her mind, of Bly and the other clones opening fire on her?
His arms encircled her, pinning her flailing arms to her sides. His lekku brushed hers as he spun her around to face him, face him at last, prove the impossible beyond a shadow of a doubt. She barely had time to take in the huge black eyes, the green lips, before those selfsame lips closed around hers.
Let me breathe for you.
Air. Sweet, sweet air, gusting into lungs that ached with deprivation, only there was no pain, not when he was with her. Aayla melted into his touch, his kiss, the kiss of life he'd bestowed on her once before...but that was pointless, now that they were dead. Dead. She knew it, but understanding it was a different matter altogether- she still didn't, quite. It took a little while to get used to being dead.
Her mental giggle at the absurdity of it all must have translated across their bond, since he asked what was so funny, wordlessly. Aayla didn't answer, just reveled in his presence, the way his body felt against hers. After a moment when all he did was the same, their legs stirred simultaneously into action, pushing them upward.
They parted just before their heads broke the surface; she missed the contact instantly. Saesee Tiin and Stass Allie, looking just a bit heartbroken, peered curiously down at them. "So you are here too?" the Tholothian Councillor asked, with more than a little sadness.
Aayla laughed in earnest. "There is no death, there is the Force, Master," she quipped, making for the shore.
"So it would appear," answered Mace, with that deep rich Haruun Kal chuckle of his.
Actually, looking back, none present would be sure whether it was a chuckle or a half-stifled sob. It didn't matter anyway. There was no emotion, no weakness, no grief. Only peace. Only death. Only the Force.
For somehow, the Force was death and life at once, an ever-present song whose substance was...this place. Belatedly Aayla realized where she was: the Room of a Thousand Fountains, except that something was not quite right; if she concentrated hard, she could almost see blaster fire, smell smoke, feel the screams in the plenum as more and more Jedi...for lack of a less impossible word, showed up. Felled by the clones, only to rise again here, confused and fearful as Aayla herself had been.
But there was no fear, just like there was nothing else save for the Force.
Well, and Kit. But...he didn't count anymore, and neither did she. They had just joined the Force, had they not? Become one with it?
Stars, being dead was confusing.
At least he was simple. He was here, she was here, they both had enough of a consciousness to love one another. That was all that mattered. So they kissed, in the middle of a garden full of Jedi, in front of Mace Windu's very face. Attachment posed no threat in an eternal sanctuary. There was no Code, no loss. Only the Force.
The lovers held each other for a long time.
"Master Yoda is not here."
"No, he isn't." The hand caressing his cheek moved into his head-tresses.
"Nor Master Ti, nor Master Kenobi." He returned the favor, still gazing up at the stars.
"A fourth of the Council. Thank the Force. Hopefully we don't see them for a long time."
"Hopefully not."
A pause, in which the Force's bells tolled lazily on around them. She sighed. "I still cannot believe Anakin..."
"...I know. He was your friend, or at least you were both friends with Ahsoka. We were blind, not to have seen it coming and prevented it. A tragedy, and a great one."
The Force gave a shudder, as if in sympathy. Aayla decided to change the subject. "Speaking of Ahsoka, she is not here either. What do you suppose she's up to?"
Kit shrugged, accidentally nudging Aayla's right headtail. "Oh, probably driving the Empire insane. Or at least plotting to."
Aayla laughed lightly. "Knowing her, there's a decent chance of that. I wonder, will Anakin go looking for her?"
"I don't know."
That was another funny thing about this place: on Coruscant, now renamed Imperial Center, you could never see the stars. There was too much pollution, light and otherwise. Here, though, the night sky was full of stars, millions upon millions of them. And there were five moons, though Kit swore there was only one. Then again, Plo Koon swore the sky was violet like on his homeworld, and Luminara swore she could see Mirialan constellations sometimes…
Every sky, every story was different, but they were all bright. As long as this place existed, the light side did too. There would be hope.
They lay there on the Temple roof, holding each other's hands and lekku, for a long time, glad of the ludicrous miracle that they existed.
In the end, there was no self, no other. No defeat, no despair, no chaos, no ignorance, no death. Not really.
Only the Force.