Disclaimer: I don't own Victorious or Star Wars. I just borrowed some of their characters and races. No money will be made from this story.
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Eventually Jade and Tori managed to wade through the various people who felt they had to talk to each them, earning a moment or two of relative quiet to face on e another. Jade waited just a bit longer, both to gather her own nerves, and to give Tori that moment of peace, before she approached the expected heartbreak.
"Tori..." Jade started.
"What, no princess?" The singer asked, rounding on the goth in a second. "I'd have thought you'd be waiting to use that, call me a princess, since it turns out I am one."
"Only you could turn that into an insult." Jade huffed.
"No, you were gonna." Tori insisted.
"Well, I didn't." Jade defended herself.
"You were gonna." Tori pushed.
"My god, are we fighting over something I may or may not have thought about calling you?" Jade asked. "Vega, I didn't come here to insult you. I can do it, if you need the continuity, but that's hardly why I'm here."
"Then why are you here?" Tori asked, showing a great deal of impatience.
"Over the last few days, I've had to come to terms with a lot of things, my own feelings being most of them." Jade said, looking around, trying to find the words somehow written in the air around them. "I came to realize that..."
"I'm not after Beck." Tori shut her down.
"Neither am I." Jade retorted. "Look, I get it, I've been horrible to you, and this, us, it's not gonna be easy. I'm not looking for much, maybe we can be friends, except I feel I owe it to you to tell you..." She swallowed, feeling her fear again. This time, the dragon rose tall and proud, and the young Gray Knight had to fight it down.
"God, really?" Tori asked, looking to the sky. "Look, Jade, this, us, it's not that easy, kay?"
"I said friends." Jade tried.
"And we both know that's not how this ends." Tori lectured. "I mean, sure, I've been told your interested, want something more. I've had time to think about my own feelings. Problem is, the double relationship. You're Jedi..."
"Gray." Jade corrected. "Loads of differences."
"Okay, you're Gray, but me, I'm not sure where I'm gonna be, now that I know this world exists." Tori told her. "Gary thinks I may be able to live in this world, maybe even have something, some kind of inheritance, so I have to think about it. I mean, I've spent most of my life preparing for this, only not so much, cause mom, she never once believed the exile would be over. But now with Smyde dead, they're saying I might be able to come back."
"Who's been saying that?" Jade asked, looking around. "Was it Hirani?"
"No, it was misses Oliver, Beck's mom." The Latina pointed out. "She's been in contact with some people in court, and they've been talking. Apparently, due to the war, and a lot of infighting and assassinations, there's quite a bit of land and titles up for grabs. She's been talking about snagging some of that for Trina and me, and if we do decide to go back to Earth, there are all kinds of rules about this neat technology chiz I'd have to deal with. I.. I just don't know yet."
"So you're actually thinking of giving up on being a singer?" Jade wondered.
"No, cause I wouldn't have too." The brown eyed girl said. "They have entertainers here too, and no one would blink an eye at me doing that, in addition to whatever administrative duties I'd have. I can be rich, famous, and a singer, and still hold a title, be a lady."
"Yea, apparently my dad's a lord, has lands and title and everything too." Jade deflated. "That's going to Carl, maybe Baron."
"B-but you're the one he needed to save me, save Trina." Tori said, putting a hand on the pale girls shoulder.
"Yea, and it looks like all I get is duty." Jade answered, ready to walk away.
"Wait, your dad has lands, and title, and all that jazz?" Tori asked. "That means I wouldn't have to worry about you being corrupted by the material things, right?" Her hand tightened on the pale girls arm, suddenly not ready to let her just walk away.
"Yep." Jade nodded.
"So, then maybe we can give this whole romance thingy a go." Tori said.
"Wait, you're actually interested?" Jade felt staggered.
"Yea, have been for years." Tori said. "How do you tell your bully that you wanna do date type things with them? I mean, I was eating enough shit as is.'
"Yea, sorry about that." Jade said, looking away. "The way I was trained, it wasn't fun. Gonna be looking for ways to train the next generation that doesn't hurt so much."
"So, should we tell Trina?" Tori asked.
"Yea, I'm not so sure she'd be on board with this." Jade told the singer.
"You're kidding, right?" Tori asked. "She offered to order you to date me. Wasn't gonna make you do that, but if you are interested, and can behave, then I'm more then willing to date you." Feeling bold, Tori pulled the young gray knight into an embrace, adding a soft kiss as a promise to where things could well end up.
They spent the next couple of hours resting, sitting together, and talking, sharing things that used to be secrets, things that they couldn't trust anyone with. Now, however, the had this whole new world to share, and felt they could face it, with each other on their arms.
The next day, the whole gang gathered in the living room to talk about their options. Gary and Grey sat together, talking, while the kids formed a circle. It was time to go over their options.
"Okay, the beetle is a good ship, and it could hold us all, in a pinch." Malcolm started. "Only it won't have too. A transport is on it's way to convey you back to earth. I'll have Three and Four take the beetle back to the barn, maybe with Jade, and we can meet up later. Just, this whole world, this whole reality, it has to be our secret. Most people on earth are not nearly ready to know about us, and the Vorlons have made it clear to let you guys progress at your own rate."
"Thing is, not everyone is going home, or staying once they get back." Gary added. "Trina…."
The eldest of the kids stood up. "The emperor has agreed to forgive mom, but refuses to put her back in the line of succession." She told the circle. "Instead, he's giving me that honor. Thing is, after the secret wars, they're kinda low on good options, so they've begged me to go to court, be the heir, and eventually rule the empire. I'm in contact with mom and dad, but it looks like I'm probably gonna take him up on that offer. I mean, how else will I ever have this much stuff."
"Plus you were raised for this." Tori added. Then, to the circle. "It's one of the reasons she can be so insufferable. Kinda knew that one day, she'd be empress."
"Goody." Jade fake celebrated.
"I plan on returning to Earth, but only long enough to clean up a whole list of chiz." Tori told the gathering. "Trina asked me to help her out, offered me lands and titles and Jade. How could I refuse an offer like that?"
"She offered you Jade?" Andre asked.
"Families in service." Jade said. "Long story. Point is, my dad, he kinda promised our service, as protectors and chiz, and I think we're gonna have to fulfill that obligation."
"You and Baron and Carl, you'll all have your own titles, your own place at court." Trina filled in. "We wanna reward your family for their services, their friendship. I honestly don't think we'd have won if you hadn't done what you did, so…. welcome back."
"I'll be back, when needed, but I'm planning on staying on earth." Malcolm announced. "At least for a while now. Carl is at that age where a major change might be a bit disruptive to his development. No, better to stay on Earth, where we're happy, and let him have his youth." He smiled. "Baron too, for a while. I mean, he'll take whatever honors you offer, but he'll have to fulfill his duties from Earth. And don't worry, I have a fast ship. I'll be back as soon as I can."
"Not to make too big a point of it, but won't people notice you just disappearing?" Robbie asked.
"We'll cover." Gary said. "Me, I've been thinking about it too, taking up a new life, out here. Only, David, he and Holly wanna stay on Earth a bit longer. I figure I'll just stay there, be Dave's partner, and learn as much as they'll teach me. Then, when I retire, I'll come out, see the stars."
"Count me in." Andre said, shocking everyone. "What? My gran, she's fading. Only a mater of time before I lose her, if this whole ordeal didn't end her already. My family, they really don't care. Music, Tori and I talked, and there are a lot of opportunities out here. Besides, Trina is gonna need a few friends to help her govern, and I think I can adjust."
"You should head back and work things out with school first." Robbie said. "But yea, that can be arranged. Me, I have family, people who expect to see me again, so I'm returning to Earth. Only, I plan on studying with Beck's mom, maybe having one of those jobs where I can be a part of both worlds."
"Me too." Cat added. "I need to stay on Earth, for my brother, but I really wanna see what I can of this world."
"Then don't get famous on Earth." Gary warned. "Too many people will notice if you just disappear."
"Then how will Tori do it?" Cat wondered.
"We'll help her." Gary assured everyone. "But first, she needs to go back, finish school, and we'll make arrangements."
"I'm heading back." Beck told them all. "I don't need to follow my mom into this world, and I like the simple life better. No, with Rob, and Cat, and Dre here offering to take up the tasks I'd have been expected to otherwise, I think I'll move back to Earth, see what I can achieve there."
"Then we're decided." Lord Grey said.
"But people can change their minds." Gary added.
The red skinned Twi'lek spoke. "I've offered my services as a servant and guard to the princess." She looked around. "I think I'd stand out on your world, but in court, I can do that."
"Welcome to the insanity." Trina said. "We inmates run this asylum."
The trip home took a little longer then the trip out, but not that much. It was a fast transport that could handle the numbers being sent. The thing it couldn't handle was the beetle, forcing Jade and her father to take a different ship. That meant two days where she only communicated with her friends via comm units. Gary, out of a need to protect, rode with the royals.
The transports cloaking device was good, better then the beetles, but lacked the maneuverability, or compact size, of the gray knights ship. Further, Jade was a far better pilot then the crew who guided the royal transport to earth. The end result was that the transport needed specific times to land the gang, but was more then willing to work around those limits. They'd be landed someplace safe, and Gary, with Beck's mothers help, would spin a tale of fans of Tori, from her all too brief time as a celebrity, stalking and kidnapping them. This not explained everyone's disappearance, but it set the reason Tori would soon vanish from the public eye. The story was that Tori just wanted a normal life now, away from the crazy.
Jade landed the Beetle back in the same barn she's taken it from, all the while wishing she could have gone with her friends. They'd been taken to her fathers hidden cabin in the mountains. 'There's space there, so the ship can land.' She reminded herself. "Um, dad, we taking your car?"
"We'll meet them back home." Malcolm decided, reading his daughter far easier then she'd have guessed, before she knew what they both were. "My wife, your mother, both women will need a bit of time to relax and enjoy the news that we survived. Then, once we see them, they can expose us to that messy emotion they've been building up. I mean, I'd hope that the good news of our survival would be enough, but you know how some people are."
"Nice to have things back to normal." Jade drolled. 'Dad hates being showered with emotion. The whole way of the dark side is to ride your emotions like a drug, and yet dad hates it. Man, this force use thing is confusing.'
"Help me get the car out of the hold." Her father said, but his attitude was far more relaxed then it had been.
The drive back took longer then Jade would have liked, watching the miles slowly flow by. Her father wanted to drive, almost as if he knew that doing nothing would aggravate his eldest to no end. Jade watched the world go by, and wished she could talk to Tori again. 'We have so many things we need to work out...' She imagined the feel of those Latin lips against her collar bone.
"Jade, when we stop, you can stay in the car." Malcolm told her. Jade, pulled out of her daydreams, looked up to see they were at Beck's home. The man chuckled at the confused look on his daughters face. "I need to check in, make sure no one noticed our return."
"Right." Jade nodded, wondering what else he was gonna do.
Jade chose to go in, just because. "Lord Grey, nice to see you're back." Ashma Oliver greeted the man. "I've heard that Beck's gonna be returning in a couple of days. Until then, I've done what I can to keep things as neat as possible. The house has been cleaned up, and security has been assigned, now that the whole situation's changed." She gave a half bow to Mal, letting him know she still respected his position.
"So, we have a few days, huh?" The elder knight asked. "Well then, I guess we can just try to go back to normal, right?" He smiled. "Or, I can have my girl here training, because she still has areas where she needs to improve."
"Still a ways to go before I'm a knight, huh?" Jade asked.
"No, you've more then earned that title." Her father said. "But that doesn't mean you stop. Quite the opposite. Light, dark or gray, we users of the force are always learning. Knowledge, for us, is always power. Besides, I found some of your moves a bit sloppy. How will you be able to train the next generation if you don't improve?"
"Right." Jade sighed.
Jade found herself back at home, spending a good deal of time making up school work. They'd missed over a week of school, and Jade understood that the others were already making up work, even as they made their way back home.
The door opened, followed by June and Baron entering. "Mom..." Jade rushed forward, hugging her mother.
"Never thought I'd see that." Baron teased.
"You really wanna mess with me right now?" Jade growled, but then she released her mother to smother her brother in a hug of his own.
"Jade, please." Baron said. "We have a lot to talk about before your future wife gets here. See, things worked out far better then I could have hoped. Not that I was the mastermind behind this, that was the spirit, but he relied on my visions, my guidance, and my ability to pierce the veil of time, to see not just what may be but what had been. Jade, I've been studying the ancient raced, the great force using species, and I understand now. I get what so many had missed. I know out roles, my role in the future. You, you've earned some happy, and now you have the easy part from here out. Not saying what you did wasn't hard, cause damn, sis, you got strong. Just saying, the force, it's now my duty. I understand how to train knights of the gray. In time, as I get older, get ready, that's gonna be my job, teaching the young how to live in that precarious space between getting lost in our minds and getting lost in our emotions."
"Wait, what? When? I mean..." Jade felt oddly taken aback. "I'm not good enough?"
"Jade, you're in the gray, and you can live there." Baron explained. "But you won't be able to teach others. Not like I can. I'll handle training, because that was what I was born for, regardless of what dad thought. You, you're the defender, the one who'll keep us safe long enough for me to train these new knights, help them find their way in the world we're creating. I get that. I accept that. I also know, that as much as you did, as much as you struggled, became, hurt and sacrificed in your still young life, this whole mess was set in motion so long ago..." He looked off into eternity. "Jade, we can be happy. Now, tomorrow, you go back to school, and see your girlfriend. When people ask what happened, you just tell them whatever cover story Control set up, and go from there. Life's gonna be such a grand adventure..." He danced a little. "And we get to attend court. In a few months, when they coronate Katrina Vega the new empress, we'll be there, front row."
"I thought she was just the heir." Jade noted.
"Yea, they do the whole coronation thing while the old emperor is still around, so there's no confusion as to the line of succession." Baron said. "Jade, we're done here. I mean, plenty of adventures for you, but the hard part, it's done now. I think the hardest part is gonna be living so far away from everything we one knew. Good thing we won't be alone."
"What are you saying, young man." June asked. "You've got years before I let you go gallivanting around space. You can do your gray Knight things from here."
Jade smiled, Turing her thoughts to Tori, and the fun they'd have while they were still just teenage girls. 'Couple of months, and that changes. But until graduation, we can have us some fun. Thinking we won't wait one hundred days to get busy…' Her thoughts drifted to what she already knew both girls wanted. 'Just, why does she wanna name our children such awful names? I mean, whats wrong with Tawney?'
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Okay, that's where I'm ending it. Hope you enjoyed the story, and I wanna thank my ride or die followers and reviewers. Thanks for taking this ride with me. This story has taken the long way to this sight, but it's here now, and I for one feel better.
Oh, yea, review. Just… review.