Disclaimer: I don't own anything Star Wars. Cerulia and it's people are entirely my own.

A/N: There is an explanation of how the calendar works in the 'Everyone' story if you're curious.

Prologue:

D251/4 ABY, Cerulia

Wayve and Tia trailed behind the young people and the Force Ghost, her hand tucked into the crook of his arm and his hand over hers. He couldn't help but smile at the playful teasing that Link and Raign subjected Ezra to over his inability to keep his hands and lips off of his stunningly beautiful purple haired mate, but his sorrow at the boy's departure was still dominant.

Tia glanced up at her husband and saw the subtle expression of grief under the smile. She squeezed his forearm soothingly. "I'll miss him too," she thought.

Wayve glanced down at his wife of more than two and a half centuries and gave her a sad half smile as they walked towards the beach and the red and white ship that would take Ezra away. "I know. It was inevitable from the day he arrived, but in just five years, he's become such a fixture in our lives. Like another son."

"At least he's bound to come back and visit frequently now that the togrutan and her mate are going to be settling here part time."

"There is that." Wayve hid a sigh as he continued with, "It just won't be the same around here without him. And he's taking our grandson with him."

"Only for half a year at a time."

"It's still too long," Wayve grumbled.

Tia nudged his shoulder with hers playfully as the group came to a stop at the base of the ramp of Ahsoka's shuttle. "Careful, love, or I might mistake you for one of the younglings in need of a lesson on patience."

Wayve slanted his eyes down to her as he snorted mentally in her mind. "I think I'm far too old looking to be mistaken for a youngling, my cheeky Mate."

Tia looked her husband up and down with a frankly approving glance. From his chiseled facial features to his thickly muscled form to his elegantly webbed feet, he still made her wet with desire. "We may be getting up in years, love, but you look just as scrumptious as ever."

Wayve nearly made a rumble of desire in his chest before he remembered they weren't alone. But his liquid obsidian eyes pinned her big brown ones with a pointed gaze. "We'll finish that thought later," he promised.

Tia purred her approval into his mind as she leaned a little bit more into his side. He squeezed her hand gently.

And then he returned his focus to the mixed group of much younger beings, only to find them all locked in an awkward silence. It only took Wayve a moment to figure out that no one knew quite how to handle a goodbye that wasn't even vaguely permanent. He was just about to make a comment along the lines of 'hurry back' when the Force Ghost took command of the situation.

Kanan clapped Ezra on the back and squeezed Sabine's shoulder gently. "You kids can travel the old fashioned way. I'm going by Force Express back to Hera. I'll see you on Lothal in a day or two." Then he ruffled Ezra's hair in parting like he was still a young teenager. Ezra wrinkled his nose at his Master and got a smirk in return before the ghost disappeared.

Wayve chuckled along with the others.

That set the tone of a good natured parting and there was a flurry of see you soons and travel safes. Ezra had just finished thanking Ahsoka and Lux yet again for looking for him for so long when the Force suddenly rang a warning of something incoming.

Instantly tensing, Wayve swept his senses out and found a very large object approaching his planet at a high speed. It felt like it had a purpose but not with malice. It only took him a moment to send a warning call to his entire population of citizens.

Tia, Ahsoka, Raign, and Ezra hadn't needed the warning because they felt and found the possible threat on their own, their eyes already showing wary caution and their muscles were tense.

The hair on the back of Sabine's neck rose in warning at the sudden tension of her companions and she followed where they were looking, but seeing nothing but a pretty blue sky with some fluffy clouds floating by. "What is it?" she asked, glancing at her husband.

"I don't know yet," Ezra said quietly.

The beach behind them was quickly filling with cerulians who had been nearby, all on high alert. Wayve sent a call out to the rest of his people still under the oceans to be ready for anything.

They didn't have to wait long, maybe another minute, before the distinct triangular shape of a Star Destroyer filled the sky above them, hovering just above the atmosphere so as to be visible but not waste fuel fighting with gravity.

Wayve had never seen a Star Destroyer in person, but he knew what they looked like from Tia's and Ezra's memories. He quickly decided that the memories had not done the sheer enormity of the spaceship justice. It was easily twice as big as the one Tia had arrived in.

"There's no way that could be Thrawn, could it?" Sabine asked in shock.

"I think it is," Ezra said grimly. "Who else would care enough to find this planet, or more specifically, me?"

Upon hearing this, Wayve amped up his warning of danger from possible to probable because according to Ezra, the one known as Thrawn was a formidable opponent and was not to be trusted or underestimated.

Most of the gathering crowd behind him immediately dispersed back towards the village or into the ocean to get their swords, since few actually wore them around all day long. (Unlike the elegant lightsabre, their Kyber swords were massive and not exactly user friendly when it came to sitting down or playing.)

Wayve also summoned his retinue of body guards / relatives to his side. (They'd been acting as regular villagers for the morning.) He gladly accepted the sword and sheath that was handed to him by Coran; his second having worn two swords across his back. Wayve felt a little pulse of joy from the emerald green sword at being returned to his possession and returned the sentiment. He slid the leather strap over his head and across his chest, the hilt of the sword sticking up over his right shoulder.

Meanwhile, Sabine exchanged a look with Ezra, took his bag from his hand, and then ran into the ship, followed by Ahsoka and Lux. She emerged a minute later wearing her helmet and blasters, and she tossed Ezra his lightsabre. He caught it with a grim smile, closing his eyes for a moment as he reconnected with his Kyber crystal. It was suddenly like the lightsabre had never left his side, feeling like a missing limb had returned to him.

Ahsoka and Lux came back out as well, she carrying a staff that radiated Kyber energy, and he with his blaster belted on. (She'd already been wearing twin lightsabres on her belt that Wayve was very curious to see her use. None of their training from Zen, Tia, or Ezra had included using two sabres at once.)

The warriors of Cerulia reconvened on the beach quickly. Krystal was minus her daughter, having left Skye with one of the older younglings back at the communal hall, as she stopped beside Raign, who was already back beside Ezra.

"What now?" Wayve thought to Ezra but broadcast the thought to all present so they knew that a conversation was happening.

Ezra shrugged. "I have no idea what's about to happen, but I figure if Thrawn had wanted us dead, he would have blasted us with an orbital attack by now."

"I see. Then we shall simply have to be patient to learn the answer." Wayve shot a quick smirk in Tia's direction as he made a not so subtle jab at her earlier teasing.

His mate rolled her eyes at him even as she stroked the lightsabre hanging off her belt in a gesture of unconscious comfort and her tentacles waved around her head and shoulders in barely visible agitation. Wayve reached over and laced his fingers with hers and drew her closer back to his side.

Tia smiled up at him gratefully. For a Jedi Master, she'd temporarily forgotten her training in the face of such a great unknown. Aside from the descendants of the crashed 'Seeker', Ezra, and the recently arrived Sabine, Ahsoka, and Lux, she hadn't seen anyone from the remnants of the Republic for centuries. The Star Destroyer above her wasn't exactly the same design as the ones the Republic used to employ, but it was close enough to give her chills of remembrance. It represented where she came from in a roundabout way, and there was a part of her that was terrified of the admittedly miniscule possibility that she'd be forced to go back.

"I would never let that happen," Wayve said as he squeezed her fingers tighter, having unabashedly eavesdropped on her thoughts to find out why she was showing signs of upset. "You're my Queen and always will be."

Tia closed her eyes for a moment as she leaned into him. "I love you."

He kissed her forehead gently as she looked up at him. "To my never-ending relief and joy."

After that, the waiting for something to happen was disconcerting, but no one moved or made a sound as the well trained army stood patiently.

When a single, tiny dot appeared from the underside of the Star Destroyer and quickly became recognizable as a Lambda class shuttle, the beach as a whole seemed to exhale in surprise and a little relief.

War was not imminent then.

As one, they drew or ignited their swords anyway.

Thrawn strode to his shuttle with Rulla and Eli on either side and a small contingent of handpicked troopers following behind in formation.

Upon arriving at the sensor, they'd made for the only planet in the vicinity that could support life. It was an ocean planet, but there were enough islands that even someone like Bridger could survive. Scans had confirmed that there were vast numbers of life forms on the planet. There was also an island that had a large amount of durasteel on it. Thrawn found this interesting, curious to know where all the metal had come from. He had a theory, but wasn't about to voice it just yet.

The pilots flew Thrawn and his team to the surface of the planet, landing the Lambda shuttle beside a red and white T-6 that used to be popular with the Jedi about thirty years ago. It was still a beautiful design in Thrawn's opinion and sadly forgotten by most.

They descended the ramp and came to a stop in front of a veritable army of glowing sword wielding amphibious humanoids wearing a minimal amount of clothing, a healthy number of humans, and human hybrids. At least the humans were mostly covered from the neck down. Thrawn didn't have a problem with a culture that clearly swims a lot not wearing much in the way of clothes, but the sheer number of muscle bound males in varying shades of grey to vibrant blue with a few green or aqua shaded ones thrown in the mix made his hackles rise because Rulla could see them. Even he had to admit they were attractive and he had no inclinations towards the opposite sex. Thrawn glanced at his wife, tamping down on his jealousy before she noticed him almost snarling and was gratified to see that she wasn't checking out the males. Instead, her eyes were drawn to the village of mismatched buildings beyond the beach and the children and teenagers that were peeking out from windows and around corners.

Thrawn smiled to himself. She always did have a soft spot for children. Theirs, especially.

Feeling better, he focused on the group in front of him again.

At the front of the pack stood a dark blue haired man that could only be a grown up version of Ezra Bridger dressed in the plain beige tunic and trousers that appeared to be the outfit of choice for the humans here. He was flanked by the unmistakable, overly colourful Mandalorian, Sabine Wren on one side and a dark red sword wielding young amphibian man that looked very fierce on the other. Spread out from there were more amphibians of unknown name, a female nautolan wielding a lightsabre, a man who Thrawn was fairly certain was Lux Bonteri, the Senator of Onderon, and a togrutan female Thrawn had never met but he'd seen holos of when he was researching the Jedi Order. Despite being older, the distinctive facial markings couldn't lie, stating that this was Ahsoka Tano, the padawan of Anakin Skywalker turned Darth Vader. And if he was correct, also the original Fulcrum. She'd disappeared, presumed dead by Darth Vader, just before Thrawn had started hunting the Lothal Rebels, but he wasn't at all surprised to see her back; Jedi / Force Users were constantly doing the unexpected, and thus, in his mind, everything and anything was now to be assumed normal in regards to them.

Ezra stepped forward, green lightsabre ignited in his left hand, his right ready to call his sword off his back if he needed it. "This is unexpected," he said in cautionary greeting. He'd already taken in the average looking human male standing on Thrawn's right and the blue skinned and red eyed female on his left, both wearing high ranking Imperial like uniforms, but not quite exactly as he remembered them. Thrawn also had a dozen dark grey armoured men behind him, all somehow looking much more competent than stormtroopers used to, even just standing still. Thrawn himself was still wearing the uniform of an Imperial Admiral, but again, with a few subtle differences that indicated some sort of change in how they saw themselves. What surprised Ezra the most was the lack of hostility coming from Thrawn's emotions. Yes, the man was exceptionally well skilled at shielding, but today he wasn't bothering, actually radiating a sense of curiosity and closure.

Thrawn nodded ever so slightly at the young man who was definitely not a boy anymore. "Bridger."

"Thrawn." Ezra looked as if he was trying to read the older man's soul with his piercing gem blue eyes.

Thrawn was secretly amused. He glanced at Ezra's lightsabre. "You won't need that."

Ezra raised a brow and turned it off, but kept it in his hand nonetheless. The rest of the warriors stood down as well, but were clearly ready to jump into action at a moment's notice. "Why'd you track me down?" he asked, trying to keep his tone neutral. "That's what you're here for, isn't it?"

Thrawn inclined his head slightly again, hands still resting in the small of his back, stance confident. "I did in fact come here to find you. Believe it or not, Bridger, I have come to thank you. If you hadn't done what you had to my fleet, I would not have found my wife." He glanced fondly at the woman on his left and received a wink before he looked back at Bridger, smiling on the inside to see the wide eyes of the young man who was once his enemy. "Nor would my people exist anymore, as my entire homeworld would have been wiped out by now from an enemy that does not come from this galaxy. We are still fighting them, and may end up doing so for the rest of my life at this rate."

Ezra wasn't the only one gawking and blinking at the blue skinned Chiss at this pronouncement. If you had asked him the very last thing Thrawn would ever say to him, Ezra would have to say, 'Thank You.' And then to top it all off with the bombshells that Thrawn actually seemed to be capable of loving someone and that there was another enemy attacking the galaxy was just a little more than his brain could process at the moment.

Sensing that the stunned silence was going to get awkward, Wayve stepped forward, walking so he was just in front of Thrawn. He sensed a fellow leader in this man and knew that they had similar goals in the safekeeping of their people. "I am Wayve, King of this planet we call Cerulia," he said in Thrawn's mind, getting only a flicker of a raised eyebrow at the intrusion. Someone had apparently encountered telepaths before. "With your permission, I would like to see this enemy for myself."

Thrawn gazed into the large black eyes of the taller being in front of him, sensing his suppressed power. This was not a man to mess with. He also saw a steady bearing of command that came with experience and confidence that could not be faked. He nodded. "I agree," Thrawn thought back.

"Please just think of them," Wayve thought.

So Thrawn did. He thought of the countless battles with the Yuuzhan Vong over the years, how they attacked without mercy on any planet they took a liking to, wiping out the population and taking over the planet for themselves and changing it to suit their needs. He thought of how their biological ships were constantly evolving and changing so that Thrawn's fleet was slowly but surely losing the war as they couldn't keep up with the evolution. He thought of the pure hatred they had for anything mechanical. He thought of how the battles had been creeping ever closer to 'known space' and how the last one hadn't been all that far from here, hyperspace wise.

Wayve narrowed his eyes in steely eyed determination. This new enemy would not come close to his home planet if he had anything to say about it. He now understood why the Force had sent him Ezra. The boy was the catalyst needed to change his people into a fighting force that could help deal with this new threat, and not the Empire, which was being dealt with by others. Wayve sent the images of the new enemy to his entire people in one blast of talent. Within moments a roar of mental readiness flooded his mind and he smiled grimly in satisfaction. "We will help," he thought to Thrawn.

Thrawn raised a brow. "How can you help?" he said aloud, having had enough of the mental speak.

Wayve smirked slightly. "Aside from the fact that most of my people are well trained in hand to hand combat, there's this." Wayve didn't even have to look at his warriors on the beach, he just sent a mental, "Now!" and their strength in the Force was added to his own as they concentrated on the Star Destroyer in orbit. With a mental shove, they pushed the city sized ship so far out into space that it wasn't even in sight anymore.

Thrawn waited for something to happen when he saw the king's expression momentarily go blank with concentration "There's what?" he asked dryly after half a minute and there was no visible change in anything that surrounded them.

Ezra smirked and flicked his eyes up to the sky. "Look up, Thrawn. You might notice something rather large is missing," he said with laughter in his voice.

So Thrawn did, along with his companions. Ezra and everyone else on the beach burst into guffaws at the dumbfounded looks on their faces when they didn't see their precious Chimaera.

Thrawn pulled himself together and closed his mouth with a snap. He pulled his commlink off his belt and barked, "Status!" into it.

It took a couple moments, but someone finally answered. "We seem to be about five hundred kilometres away from our last position, Sir, and no one knows how we got here. All systems are normal."

Thrawn suppressed his surprise. He stared at the king with a coolly raised brow. There's this, indeed. King Wayve smirked, crossing his arms over his all but bare chest. Thrawn almost smiled at being played so handily. He respected others who could one up him. "Fly back," he ordered. "I'll be returning shortly with some guests."

"Yes, Sir," the male voice answered crisply.

Thrawn put his commlink away and glanced at Rulla, lips quirking slightly to see her smiling at him. She was happy with his decision. Good. He met the eyes of the king again. "I think we have much to discuss, Wayve, King of Cerulia." He glanced at Eli and nodded, listening to his footsteps as his friend jogged up into the shuttle. Thrawn looked at Ezra. "I'm assuming, since your friends are here, that you'll be heading back to known space?"

Ezra nodded warily, wondering where Thrawn was going with this.

"As a symbol of my gratitude, I have something that belongs to one of your compatriots."

Ezra looked at Thrawn like he'd lost his mind. First a thank you and now he was giving up something he probably thought of as a treasure? Marriage had certainly mellowed the man. "Okaaaayyy?" he said in confusion.

Eli came back down the ramp carrying a large wrapped bundle and handed it to Ezra. Ezra looked at Thrawn for explanation.

The Chiss smiled ever so slightly. "These belong to Agent Kallus. Tell him he was a worthy adversary and I hope he never regrets the decision he made to change sides. Tell him that I know exactly what it was like to be undercover in an Imperial world."

Ezra gawked at the package in his arms, having a really good idea of what was in it, then at Thrawn. He nodded slowly, his respect for the Admiral growing as he understood what Thrawn was saying; Thrawn had been playing the Emperor the entire time he'd worked for him. Now that took some serious guts. "I will."

Thrawn turned his attention back to the tallest male on the beach. "Would you like a tour of my ship? And perhaps a meal while we discuss the particulars of the war?"

Wayve nodded regally. "I would like that." He summoned Tia and his usual escort to accompany him. (Not that he generally needed actual guards, but the people insisted, and sometimes it was fun to appear important.) He nodded to Tia as she took her place by his side. "This is my Queen, Jedi Master Tia Fisto." He then nodded at the aqua skinned man on his right that bore Tia's long tentacles as opposed to Wayve's short spiky ones. "And this is our eldest son and my second in command, Coran."

Thrawn exchanged nods with the two people indicated, hiding his surprise at the name of the beautiful lime green skinned nautolan female; the looks and surname of Fisto could not be a coincidence. He wasn't surprised by her title, though. (The blue lightsabre was pretty much a dead giveaway.) He was curious to know how two beings that didn't look much older than forty had a full grown son who looked about thirty. (That would be a question for later.) "For the sake of proper introductions, my name is Mitth'raw'nuruodo, not Thrawn as Bridger believes, but you may call me that if you wish." Thrawn ignored the surprised glance Bridger exchanged with Wren. He nodded to his left. "This is my wife, General Rulla'aski'nuruodo. Or Rulla for short." He then nodded to his right. "And this is my second in command, General Eli Vanto."

More nods were exchanged, the females eyeballing each other before smiling warmly in welcome. The men were a little more reserved, but Wayve had a feeling that he would get on just fine with Thrawn and his people.

Which was a good thing, if they were to win a war together against the enemy that was decimating their corner of the galaxy.

A/N: There is more already written about Thrawn and Cerulia in the 'Everyone' story if you're curious.

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