Chapter Title: Shines Purple in the Sun
Series Title: Unlikely Brothers
Ages in this chapter: Tanner (20) Dashen (26)
POV: Dashen
Chapter Summary: The boys move from their apartment to a house overlooking an area where Dashen and his long dead brother, Kossi, used to enjoy.
The hills. They'd been special in the past. They were special again. Or soon would be. The site of our new home. Our own home. Tanner and me. Finally giving our friend and father-figure his release from our presence. We'd taken up residence in his estate for far too long. I mean, we were both in our twenties now. We held down solid jobs. Tanner hadn't been targeted in at least a year. The Jedi were long off the list of importance when it came to the Empire. And really, with his magic so far progressed, my brother was usually able to sense trouble coming. He'd never truly be out of danger, not as long as that filth Palatine ruled, but the bullseye on his back had definitely shrunken in size. It was time.
Tanner had gotten a recent job offer that he'd turned down. It was in Cinder, not Kaolin. A dream job if there ever was one. But as much as I couldn't bring myself to ever leave my hometown of Kaolin, Tanner was just as determined to not leave me. Not that I hadn't chided him for the decision. He loved teaching more than anything and to turn down the opportunity to teach at at the most premier academy on Terra, I know he hurt.
The thing is, I told him go. To try. He could always come home. Sure we wouldn't see each other every day or maybe for entire weeks, but we'd always be family. We'd always be there.
To his credit, he gave it a solid seven days of thought. Threw himself into meditation, the Force, all that weird magic of his. Each time, he said, it lead him back to here. To me. To Kaolin. Apparently, this is where we were destined to be.
I was relieved. Kaolin was my home. Where I'd spent my life. Where I'd been raised by my beloved parents and where I'd raised my baby brother, Kossi. This was the place I loved and lost that same baby brother. Every memory I ever knew was in Kaolin. Every thing I ever lived for... had been here. To leave this place...
I couldn't do it. I can't do it. Not even for Tanner. So when he decided to stay, it took that impossible decision off my plate. Thank the stars.
"You staying, Mouse, that means everything. I want you to live and follow your cause and be the too-good-for-this-galaxy person that you are, but,
"I nodded slowly, apologetically. "For me, that decision... Just the thought of leaving... it got me last night thinking and trying to convince myself I could leave. But the reality is that I could never leave. Kossi is still here. He died years ago, but he's still here. Yeah, it's stupid, I know, but it's fact and memory and it's me."
"It's not stupid, Dash. It's never been stupid."
"He's been gone a long time now. But I still see him every day. I feel him. If I ever leave Kaolin, I lose him. Forever." My eyes blurred and I tried to shake the annoying tears away. So many damn years later and Kossi still had me broken. "It's not something I can do, Mouse. Not ever. Not even for you."
Tanner moved to me, arms wrapped around and he hugged me tight. Even now in our twenties he was still shorter than average, but he could hug like no other. It always made me feel like I was the most loved person on the planet.
And all of that had part of me hating that the reason he didn't take that academy dream job was because of me. I'd blame myself. It's what I did. Took the burden of so many things and held onto them for far too long. One would think I'd have learned a lesson by now.
Tanner, of course, being who he was, only comforted me. "Don't ever be sorry for family. Dash. And don't even think about blaming yourself for my decision. It was my decision. Mine alone. And as I said, the Force is telling me to stay put. It's telling me the same about you. I mean, we are attached at the hip after all, right? Jobs come and go. Family is forever. Brothers are forever."
Backing away, Tanner's stance was firm. Confident. Relaxed. He'd come to a decision, accepted it and made it part of him. No looking back. It's what I loved about him. He could move on.
—-
So here we were. The hills on the outskirts of town. Colton had a presence here, always had. Technically, he had a presence everywhere, but this location would keep us near town and our current employment. We could build our lives here.
We sat together on this first night. On the terrace overlooking the hills, specifically a certain spot - a certain hill. The one that shines purple in the sun, as Kossi used to say. And on that hill, a tree. A place where Kossi and I had spent many an hour racing and relaxing and loving life. Our parents had introduced us to it and Kossi often said that it was his most favorite place in all the galaxy. Even today, I feel different when I visit the hills. Tanner says I light up emotionally. Colton has seen it too. I guess I'm that transparent.
"Finally, got you two idiots out of my house. Do you know how long I've been dreaming of this day?"
That was Colton. At our side. Where he'd been since taking us in. Broken and needy and pretty damn helpless. The big blonde man had given us safety and security at a time when we had nothing. Really, he'd saved our lives. We'd be grateful forever.
But it wasn't like we were leaving his life. We were just moving a few miles east. I'd see him almost almost daily - I did manage his diner after all. We'd check in each day as we always had. Security would always be protecting us, even if unseen. We were family. Always would be. That he came to spend this first evening with us in the new place, yeah, that got me a bit. He was our dear friend, a father figure and protector all wrapped up into one extra large and grouchy human.
I smiled toward him. "Don't lie, Colt. You know damn well that you'll miss us being annoying and interrupting you with your lady friend and getting in the way of business. You love us, you know you do."
"And you know damn well that Kayvan and I have settled in together. She is not simply a lady friend and my house is mine again. It is officially idiot-less."
"Pretty sure that's not a word, Colt."
"Shut up and enjoy the sunset."
Love love love. That's all there was.
The home wasn't large, but it was bigger than the old apartment. Plain, dome shaped and secure, with two well separated bedrooms for privacy, a decent sized bathroom and small but efficient kitchen to service my brother's culinary skills. Tanner and I would share a common living area as we always had and we'd added in an extra room that would double as exercise area/mediation room/bunker. That particular room was well-stocked with supplies, buried underground and Colton-approved. The common area had a large monitor for us to enjoy our holo-film nights,
but most importantly, the large windows on either side of the room held a spectacular view of the hills and one area in particular. That hill and that tree. Kossi's favorite place and the one that held that special plethora of happy memories.
Still on my mind. Still. Ugh!
You know, any true mind healer would have probably had me committed long ago. My emotionally-charged attachment to my long-dead brother was not the norm. That I could never really shake his death... Now this? Living in a home overlooking the place that was most special to he and I as brothers? Yeah, I was a sure fire candidate for the funny farm one day. But you know what? There was this nagging feeling that this was supposed to be. Tanner kept saying that the Force meant for me to stay in Kaolin and to never let go of Kossi. He didn't know why it lead him to those things. Well, if he did, he never said. And he'd never lie to me about such things. Bottom line, I trusted my brother's feelings more than anything on the planet.
The terrace was just off that window allowing me to watch the sunset over that hill that shone purple in the sun and just beyond that special tree. Maybe the terrace overlook was overkill? Probably. It gave me comfort though and dare I say... happiness? Yup. That was it. I was happy here. Truly happy.
"It's a good place, Dash," said Colton on my right. A place you and your brother - your brothers - deserve. You two here, you're both still idiots, always will be, but you're my idiots and I'm damn proud of both of you."
My face warmed and from the other side, Tanner leaned against me. A habit he'd never lost even as he got older. That simple touch to let me know he was there. "I'm proud of us too." He said and I could feel the unseen smile that accompanied it.
Still on my left, Colton said, "By all rights, you both had every reason to give up a long time ago. Fall into bad ways. The wrong path. Or just give into loss. You didn't. Neither of you. That's because you had each other. I held my tongue on that dream job of yours, Tannerlin, because I wanted the decision to be yours and yours alone. But you leaving here and leaving your brother, I couldn't imagine."
Those words were also code for, he'd have missed us if we'd moved to Cinder and worried for me if Tanner had gone off on his own.
"This here is a good home. A true home. Your apartment was simply a holdover to keep you out of harms way and allow you to find yourselves. This place... this is right. I feel it. But! Rest assured, I will have it scoped for bugs once a month. You may be out of my house but you're family and if I am able, I will always keep you safe. And Dash, if you are late tomorrow morning to open the diner, I'll have Sydenious hang you upside down for the first two hours of your shift and allow customers to flog you with raw bantha steaks."
Damn. Okay. Harsh, but comforting. That was the Colton I knew.
"Come on, Colt. I've got that place running smooth. No worries. I'd never let you down. Well, not on purpose anyway."
The big man glanced over at my brother to my right. "Make sure he doesn't oversleep tomorrow, kid. You remain the responsible idiot of the two. I put his punctuality in your care."
"Don't worry, Colt. I got him."
"Good," he stood, groaning as his large form struggled to get vertical. Recent injuries still healing, he was tired. It meant more that he'd come to visit us here in our home on this first day. "I'm heading home to sleep for three days. Anything pops, call Sy, he'll be on duty."
Tanner and I stood with him as he wrapped a quick arm around our shoulders. "My boys." Then he left.
—-
It was strange, that first night. We finished watching the sunset, I tried hard not to think too much about Kossi - without success. Tanner and I settled on the couch to watch a holo-film. Naturally, we ended up not making it through the entire film and falling dead asleep on the couch. I woke in the middle of the night to find myself tucked into a warm blanket. Shoes removed. Ridiculously comfortable. Our couch was related to Colton's massive galaxy-soft version. He'd bought it for us, a housewarming gift. Hadn't taken me long to fall dead asleep on it. The blanket and shoes were off, courtesy of my brother. I smiled to myself and feel back asleep, knowing he'd wake me early for work. At this point in my life, I really should be my own alarm clock, but Tanner had always been an early riser. Meditation and stretching and all that crap. I'd sleep in through lunch if allowed. We certainly were nothing alike. But I loved my brother with all that I was. Without him around...
—-
Morning. I was up early enough (because Tanner knew me that well) to see the light encroach past the horizon behind us and set first light onto the hills. Kossi was right. That hill really did shine purple in the sun. It was subtle, but it was defiantly purple. First morning. First light. Fond memory.
I hugged my brother before he left for work. Still a teacher, but local. The kids he worked with on a daily basis adored him so he had that. He'd always have that. As I'd always have him.
We were settled now. For who knew how long. But we were happy and content and damn if my life wasn't the best it had been in a very long time.
END
