Chapter 7 – Arrival

Ter'a's eyes fluttered. She didn't want to wake up, she'd been having the most wonderful dream… and she was so comfortable. She'd been dreaming that she and the Mandalorian had fallen asleep in each other's arms. She remembered it so strongly that it could have been real…

She shifted slightly and her eyes opened. It had been real. She listened and she could hear the slow rhythmic breathing of the man behind her. She could feel the gentle rise and fall of his chest against her back. She could smell the earthy soap from Maz's shower on him. Moving her head slightly she saw that his hand was resting limply against her abdomen, fingers loosely intertwined with hers. The kid sleeping just as peacefully next to them. She tilted her head slightly to look up and saw the Mandalorian's helmeted head tilted back in the crook of the wall, oblivious to the world.

She faced forward again, closed her eyes and thought. Yes, they'd been talking about the Force. She'd explained it all and then felt overwhelming sadness. And then he'd comforted her. He put his hand on her back it had felt like his peace was flowing into her, it felt nice. Then when she'd cried… God's, she thought. Why did she have to cry in front of him…? He'd brushed her hair out of her face, and she knew he was looking deep into her eyes. But when he'd sat back and pulled her into his lap, she felt more than comforted; she felt wanted. And it was a feeling she'd never really known. Sure, Maz wanted her around, but that was motherly want. The men that stared had wanted her too, but that was only for her body. This… this felt like a different want. It felt like he'd wanted to be near to her, so near that he'd laid her across him and held her there so that she wouldn't float away. It almost seemed to her that he'd been as lonely as she'd been all these years and never found that one who fit him perfectly. She felt out with the Force. She was so comfortable. She felt her body against his from her toes to the top of her head and it felt like he fit around her like a glove. She let out a sigh. This felt amazing. Opening her eyes again, she realized she was so comfortable that she could fall asleep again despite having caught up on the sleep she'd missed the night before during her nap on the floor. She closed her eyes and decided to live in the moment and enjoy the feeling. She wasn't sure when she'd feel it again. She fell asleep within minutes.

Dyn woke suddenly and his eyes snapped open. After a moment, he remembered where he was, and he looked down. She was still there, lying against him, warm and soft, like the galaxy's best blanket. He smiled. He noticed that their fingers had intertwined in their sleep. He'd never held hands with anyone before, it felt nice. He wished he wasn't wearing his gloves. He stilled for a moment to see if she was still asleep and surely enough, he heard her slow breathing and saw her chest rise and fall along with it. He thought about how they'd gotten here. She'd been crying, thinking about her past. He'd felt so bad for her. He hated seeing her in pain like that. Moments before she'd shown how powerful she was when she showed him her lightsaber and then she was crying…. He decided that he didn't want to see her cry again. He wondered though, if she'd be sad when they arrived at Coruscant. She told him that that had been the last planet she'd been to before Takodana. It was where she lived, at the Jedi Temple with her master and the other padawans. Suddenly, a beeping started above them in the cockpit. They were nearly to Coruscant and he'd need to exit hyperspace in a few minutes' time. Sadly, this meant he'd need to get up and separate himself from Ter'a… he didn't want to, but he also didn't want to die by shooting right through the planet either. He hooked his left leg on the edge of the bed so he could pull himself out from under her. Then slowly he began to scoot to the left while he cradled her neck with his right hand and laid her gently down onto his pillow and stood up.

He was a little surprised that she didn't wake up. He pegged her as a light sleeper like him, but perhaps she, like him, was so comfortable that she didn't want to get up. He remembered his earlier thought about what she would look like asleep on his bed and he smiled to himself as she looked even more beautiful there than he thought she would. He gave her cheek a slight caress before he checked that the kid was still asleep too and turned to go up to the cockpit. Just as he set his foot on the ladder however, she said, "I wish you didn't have to go…"

Dyn looked over at her and instantly regretted getting up. She propped herself up on her elbow to look sleepily at him and she looked so beautiful, he wanted to go back to her and lay back down next to her and let her cuddle against him. "The hyperspace timer is going off… I need to be ready to take us out of hyperspace." He smiled, "Unless, you want to say to hell with it? I'd be more than happy to go back over there…"

She laughed waved him upstairs shaking her head.

Another thing he decided as he climbed the stairs… her laugh was his favorite sound.

As he sat in the pilot's seat, he checked the systems and began to prep them for exiting hyperspace and entering Coruscant's atmosphere. While he was working, he heard a sound and looked behind him as the kid came up the ladder on Ter'a's shoulders. "Anything I can do to help?" she asked as she strapped herself into the copilot's chair and the kid climbed into her arms.

"I don't think so… just taking us out of hyperspace in three… two… one…" The tunnel of light slowed, the stars became dots again, and the bulk that was Coruscant began to fill the viewport as they approached. "Are you alright coming back here?" he asked her. "I know that this is probably hard…?"

No answer. He looked behind him. She was indeed staring out at the planet in the same way that he'd probably stare if one of his parents walked into the room right now. "No," came a small voice. "No, I need to do this… I need closure… I think."

He stopped and turned around. "I'm here with you. Whatever you need."

She looked away from the window at this to stare at him instead. She seemed like she was in another place, but he knew she saw him as she said, "Thank you Mando."

He turned back around and decided to find somewhere near the shopping district to land. That way they'd be close to everything they'd need before setting out again. And based on the look on Ter'a's face, he didn't want to drag this out longer than she was prepared to. They got permission to dock on landing pad ninety-four and once they'd landed and Dyn had shut off the engines, Ter'a unfastened her restraint, stood, and went down the ladder with the kid. Dyn followed. They put the kid in the locker compartment where Dyn usually hid him when he left the ship. He'd be safe in there until their return and he left him with some food and the blanket.

Ter'a didn't stop at the ladder. She seemed determined to rip off the bandage as quickly as possible. She was already lowering the ramp when he got down stairs. He touched her arm and she jumped. "Are you okay?" he asked her, concerned. She definitely looked shaken. Resolved, but still shaken. He also noticed that she was shaking slightly.

She looked up at him. He saw in the deep green pools that were her eyes the words she could not speak. She needed him there with her just like she needed the oxygen she was breathing. She wasn't going to be able to do this alone. He didn't want her to have to. He grabbed her right bicep and pulled her into him and wrapped his arms around her as best as he could while she held the kid. She buried her face in the crook of his shoulder and said, very muffled, "Thank you, Mando."

When he let go and she pulled away, she looked much calmer. At least she stopped shaking. She said, "I didn't realize that even stepping out into the air of Coruscant was going to make me feel like this." She looked at him. "Before we leave, I'd like to try and go to the Jedi Temple… what's left of it. Will you go with me?"

"Of course."

They descended the ramp together.

Ter'a walked down the ramp into Coruscant's breezy afternoon air with the Mandalorian walking silently down with her, shoulder to shoulder. She took a deep steadying breath. She couldn't have been happier to have the Mandalorian with her. Doing this on her own would have been atrocious. She had always planned on coming back here to get the closure she'd always wanted, but not having to do it alone made it ten thousand times easier.

She looked around. Everything seemed completely unchanged. She looked in the direction she knew held the hulking outline of the Jedi Temple…or what it was more recently… the Emperor's Imperial palace. She frowned. It would always be the Jedi Temple to her, no matter what they used it for…

"Well…" she trailed off looking around, "what do you want to do first?"

Like her, he was looking around. "Hm. I think I'd like to get supplies and go shopping… In case we need to make a quick departure."

She looked at him, eyes narrowed. "Are you planning something that may require a quick departure?"

"Not particularly, but I still want to find out how Gideon knew I was on Takodana, and how he had troops there within a couple hours of my own arrival…." He looked at her. "That may lead to something that requires us to get out of here quickly."

She nodded grimly. That was certainly true. They had to shake their spy if they were to ever get any private time to help the kid…

"I'll stock the ship with the normal supplies," he said taking a few steps toward the turbolifts before stopping and turning to her as she followed. "Is there anything specific that you want?"

Ter'a brushed past him into the turbolift and turned to face him, "Not unless you can find some Fringi spice cake."

He followed her into the lift and looked down at her, "Is that all? You know that stuff's hard to find…"

"Is it?" she laughed.

He shook his head as the lift shuddered to life and began to take them down from the landing platform.

"Ok, so we'll restock the ship with more supplies that should last a while longer than what we already have… then we can go to the Temple." He looked carefully at her here and she knew that he was trying to tread lightly. After he'd seen her get nostalgic on the ship, he didn't want to see her upset again. She nodded and looked away. He raised his hand and squeezed her wrist slightly before releasing it. "After we've finished there, I want to track down the guy from the Merenzane job and see what he knows…"

"Do you think he was the one who tipped off the Moff?"

"Hmmm…. I don't think so…" he said slowly. But we know that there were no tracking devices on the Crest, so it had to be him or one of his guys…"

"I guess we'll find out soon enough."

"Yep."

"They stepped off the turbolift into a busy merchant street. They turned left and headed for the vendors and traders that sold bulk supplies for ships but before they reached the end of the block, Ter'a stopped in front of a vendors' console.

"We want to get bulk supplies, right?" he questioned her.

"Yes…" she started. "she looked around at the vendor's wares. "You go ahead, I want to look for something. I'll meet you there in a few minutes."

The Mandalorian looked at her with his head cocked. He was confused, but he nodded and walked down to the corner and out of sight.

Once he'd gone, she looked back at the console and began to sift through the vendor's items. She found what she was looking for… a thick black sleep mask. She selected the item, paid the Neimoidian vendor eight credits, and stuffed the mask in the bag she'd brought with her and slung it across her back before heading around the corner to the shipping vendors.

Dyn wondered vaguely what on Mandalore she wanted to buy from the Neimoidian vendor, but perhaps it was something personal, and so he though no more of it. He needed to be ready to haggle some with these shipping vendors. He looked around before finding a Twi'lek vendor who wasn't busy and went over.

"Heeey a Mandalorian! We don't see many of your people on Coruscant these days! Welcome, to Mekkie's supplies, what can I get for you today?"

"I need to resupply, for about a month's worth of food, drinks, and toiletries for two people…"

"Of course. Any dietary needs? What are the species?"

"Nothing special, just for two humans and…" he paused here. He didn't know the name of the kid's species, and even if he did, he wasn't sure that it wasn't as rare as a Mandalorian was nowadays, so he finished, "a baby."

The Twi'lek looked surprised, "You have a child?" I didn't know Mandalorian's had families?"

"It's her kid… an old friend. I took them in for a while, her village was raided by pirates."

The lie had him convinced. "Ah, I see. Yeah, I've heard that Mandalorians have a soft spot for doing justice… or what they see as the right thing…"

After Mekkie, had him all set with supplies, Dyn looked to the right and saw Ter'a coming around the corner and spotted him. He turned back quickly to Mekkie. "I also need a sleeping mat, blanket, pillow. The softest you can get… And a mess chair."

Mekkie looked at him and nodded happily, "Hey, sure, whatever you need. I'll deliver them to your ship. What's the landing pad?"

"Just around the corner to the right… number ninety-four. Oh, and if you can get your hands on a Fringi spice cake, I'll throw in a little extra…"

"Got it. It'll all be waiting outside the ship in the next…" he looked at his timepiece, "two hours."

He thanked Mekkie, just as Ter'a came up behind him, "Nearly done?"

"Just finished. Everything will be at the ship in about two hours… are you ready to go the Temple?"

"Yes," she said nodding.

"Let's go. Lead the way."

Ter'a turned to head right back down the street and they came back out on the main drag and she hailed a cab to take them to the corner street that ran north and south along the street that the Temple was on. Once they'd gotten out, the Mandalorian paid the driver and he sped off. Ter'a looked up apprehensively at the building that had once been their home. Suddenly, she wasn't sure if she wanted to do this anymore…

The Mandalorian's voice came from behind her, "Are you okay?"

She started slightly and took a step backward and her back bumped against him as he stood behind her. He grabbed he arms to steady her and leaned down to whisper, "Everything's alright, you're not alone… Let's do this together." She nodded a little too earnestly and began to walk across the street, which was painfully emptier than she remembered. The building looked to be in a modest state of disrepair and disuse… apparently, it hasn't been used since the Emperor's departure.

They walked around to the entrance and climbed the steps and entered the atrium, their steps echoing loudly off the walls. She paused and felt out… There was a darkness here that lingered from the previous occupant and it out her ill at ease. She wondered if he felt it too, it seemed so palpable… She led him down corridors and upstairs to the padawan's apartments. She smiled inwardly that she remembered exactly where everything was and that the building was deserted as she felt no one else in the building.

She stopped outside the door that had been her own and put her hand on the door and closed her eyes.

"Was this your room?"

"It was. A long time ago…"

"Do you want to go in? You don't' have to."

"I do…" She took a deep breath. She wasn't sure what she'd find in here… had the Emperor repurposed every space here? Did he purge the entire building of all Jedi artifacts and belongings?

Out of curiosity more than the notion that it would work she slowly put her palm to the biometric reader to see if the door would open. To her absolute surprise, the door swished open, as if she were seven years old again and returning to the room for the evening. Blinking, she stepped inside, and the light sensors triggered, and the room was flooded with light. The door swished closed again as the Mandalorian stepped in behind her.

Ter'a was frozen. The room seemed to be nearly exactly as she'd left it, albeit dusty and scattered. The Emperor had obviously gone through all the rooms looking for anything of value before leaving them to be forgotten to history. There was her bed; her chair; her desk… all of it. She walked slowly to the desk and picked up a picture long forgotten: a little girl holding a blue lightsaber… her eyes filled with tears before one escaped and fell from her eyes and on to the paper. Her brain flooded with memories of sitting at this desk and coloring pictures and reading books. She set the picture down and turned to the mat on the floor near the bed… the mat she'd finally achieved a successful floating mediation on. She heard a deep breath behind her and looked up. She'd nearly forgotten the Mandalorian was there, she'd been so consumed by the memories and ghosts of her past. She also realized for the first time that she was crying. Actually crying. He started towards her. "This was my room," she said turning back to look at the picture, "it's just like it was the day I left." Her voice broke and she began to sob just as he reached her and took her into his arms. She leaned into his chest and cried more than she'd done ever since she could remember. The Mandalorian wrapped his arms around her and held her tightly against him and they didn't move for several minutes.

After a moment, he pulled back and hooked his finger under her chin and tilted her head to look up at him. He said nothing, but still, she felt an understanding pass between them and felt comforted. She smiled slightly through her slowing tears and said, "I want to do one more thing…"

She stepped back from him and pulled him towards the door before finishing, "…I want to try and see the Council Chambers."

Dyn felt so badly for her as she cried into his arms. He saw the moment the first tear fell from her cheeks and he was glad her was there to be with her, but when her voice broke and she began to sob he pulled her into his arms. She would be safe there. She could let it out and fear nothing. If any knew what it meant to lose everything at such a young age, he did. He felt for her in a way that few others could understand. And so, he let her cry. He doubted that she'd ever properly mourned what she'd lost? She'd said herself that she thought her respite on Takodana would be temporary, but that she'd been very, horribly, wrong.

Now, as he followed her ever higher to the top of the tallest spire, he felt that this place was reserved for the highest members of the Jedi Order and knew that deep down, this place was what she'd aspired to achieve as a child. He hoped that she wouldn't be disappointed by what they'd find.

They stopped outside the door and she pressed the key to enter and the door opened just as it had when they'd gone to her room, and he followed her inside. The room was large and open and had a desk near the back but nothing else.

"This isn't how it was," she said. "This was the Jedi Council Chamber once. There was no desk. That must've been his." She said the last word, with a great bitterness. "There were chairs," she pointed in turn to where they would have all been. "The chairs circled the room and they all sat, facing…" she walked to the center of the room, "…here."

He watched her and felt great sympathy and pity.

She sighed and walked to the window and stared out at the expanse of Coruscant's city-scape. "I wanted nothing more as a child, than to be here, on the council. If the Order was still here today, I'd like to think that I might have been…" she turned around and looked spitefully at the desk. "But now I'll never know." She walked towards the door. "It's when I think about what happened here that it becomes hard. I have to work harder than ever at these times, to keep the Dark side at bay… I have to remember that what happened here is because of the temptations of the Dark side… that… is when I remember myself and the ghosts of those who came before me." As she made to walk out the door, a broken data chip caught his eye on the ground near the Emperor's desk. He picked it up and she looked closely at it before her eyes widened hopefully. "Maybe…"

"What?"

She began to walk quickly out the door and called behind her, "Master Yoda and Master Yaddle were the same species as the child! Perhaps there is information on their species in the Archives!"

His eyes widened too, and he followed her into the turbolift. "Do you think that the Emperor would have kept that information? Is it possible that he would've wiped out anything that wasn't Sith related, or related to his plans?"

"I don't think so…" she said thoughtfully. "He still should have been smart enough to keep information on the species of the galaxy. Perhaps the right ones could have been of some use to him? Or at least, their homeworlds."

She led him down to the Archives which turned out to be a huge room filled with the remains of books and research consoles where he expected that the Jedi would have pondered the mysteries of the galaxy. In the middle was what remained of a large galaxial map that had degraded beyond much help.

She approached a console and began to search…

Eventually, she found the information that she had been searching for: information on Master Yoda. "Oh no…"

Dyn leaned over her. "What is it?"

"The information is incomplete… degraded."

"I assume that you mean the name of his species and his home planet…?"

"Yes, much of it's corrupted as well…"

"Maybe we can find someone to help us with that?"

"Do you know anyone?" she asked skeptically.

"Well… no. But I do know someone who might know of someone…" he said lamely. He knew that was hardly much to go on, but they didn't have much of a choice otherwise.

"Alright, I suppose that'll have to do in the meantime. If we come up with a better plan later, we can implement that instead…"

"Sounds good," concluded Dyn, and they marched out of the Archives and towards the Atrium. When they got there, Ter'a stopped and reached out to touch Dyn's arm to stop him before he'd even realized that she'd stopped. She came very close to him and put her hands on his arms near his biceps. She was so close to him that she had to crane her neck completely to look at his visor. When she spoke, it was in a soft whisper. "You'll never know how much it means to me to that you came here with me. I've dreamt about this place, coming here, saying goodbye. It would have been unbelievably more difficult with you here, if I'd have had the courage to come at all." She reached up on her toes and kissed the cheek of his helmet. Inside it, he blushed furiously, and a tingle buzzed from his spine all the way down his body.

She smiled and lowered herself back down. She made to turn and leave but he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. She looked up at him, surprised. He opened his mouth to say something, but looking down at her beautiful face, he found that he didn't have words. Instead, he reached up and put his hands on both sides of her face pulled her close and rested the forehead of his helmet against her forehead. She covered his hands with her own.

Ter'a felt an amazing thrill of energy pass through his body and into hers through their hands. It felt amazing. She felt his appreciation at her trusting him so much. She also knew he was nearly as thankful that they'd found some information that might set them on a good path to finding the child's home. Eventually, they broke their embrace and left the Temple for what Ter'a felt would be the last time and this time, she was prepared for it.