Last time: Kyr and Cien left on their honeymoon. Lana said her first word.

Now: Everyone enjoys their time off and relaxes.

Chapter 3- A Swim and A Dive

Kyr had to keep himself from chuckling a little bit around his rebreather. Cien's hair was floating around her like a puffy cloud and she was trying to bat it out of the way so she could see the temple.

In the crystal clear water it was a sight to see the familiar shape of the temples from all those years ago. Except with fish swimming around it, and coral and seaweed besieging the stones. They were both wearing rebreathers as they swam around the monoliths. Just like he remembered it when he visited the first time, and had to figure out how to get the scans so Tac could run the calculations. The stela was still there as well, with the scene depicting an armored Mandalorian laying on the beach beside the outline of the Shadow Runner. At the time it had seemed like a great way to end the day, so he had Tac calculate it while he took a break afterwards and slept on the beach.

Cien seemed interested in the stela, and the scenes depicted. He hadn't thought of the temples in a while, and he'd kind of forgotten it was here during their first trip. Now, all these years later, it was interesting to revisit them. The globe exploding, he had a sneaking suspicion that it might have been Alderaan, or perhaps one of the Death Stars. Too many globe shaped objects exploded to really know. Several of the other scenes still remained a mystery.

They swam through the central dias, with a slightly odd feeling from swimming through it rather than walking through it. After an hour or so they went back up to the surface, swimming back to the beach from where the temple was sunken in the cove.

"What did you think?" Kyr asked as they emerged onto the white sands.

"It's interesting, the same as the one on Chikara, or the one that Dracul shattered." She replied as she shook the water out of her hair.

"Wait, shattered?" Kyr asked as they moved back to the blanket. The sun was high in the early afternoon, and they would dry off quickly as they lounged on the cloth.

"Yes." She said, "after we emerged from the blackhole and we had a little time to regroup, he went straight there. It's kind of what started… Everything." She observed. "We ended up finding a Jedi Master there and," she paused, trying to figure out what to say. "Kopesh and I fought him. Then Dracul arrived and finished him." She said quietly.

"So that was the temple Sasha and Viran found?" Kyr asked.

"I guess so." She said laying down on the blanket.

"Did you see the stela there?" As he lay down next to her.

She thought for a moment with her eyes closed. "Yes, I think. In passing while we were moving through it."

"Get a look at the scene?" He asked curiously. He leaned over to rummage through the cooler that was set next to the blanket.

"Not that I can remember. But now I'm curious about it too." She thought out loud.

"If the stones were destroyed, I guess it doesn't matter too much. No way to do the calculation even if we had that as a time marker." Kyr observed as he pulled a cold drink out for him and her, and lay back on the blanket enjoying the sun.

"Yeah." Cien agreed. In the back of her mind she tried to remember what the stela might have been. But so much had happened since then. She had a fleeting thought that Sasha might be able to go with her into mindspace to try to recover the image.

"You did a good job recreating this place." Kyr mused quietly beside her, contently.

"I have a good memory." She said with a smile as she snuggled in closer to him.

"That's a really incredible ability." Kyr observed. "First the dining room, then this place."

"Places that are important to me." She murmured next to him.

"Is that something all Force users can do?" Kyr asked as he took a sip of his drink, a nice tropical juice.

"No, just Sasha and me." Cien said tiredly next to him.

"Just makes you even more special, then." He said with a smile. "I don't know if I prefer your version of the real thing." He mused. When she rendered the beach the colors seemed more saturated, the sand softer, like she was trying to emphasize whatever the most beautiful thing that stuck out to her was, so there were subtle differences. Like when she showed the dining room, how the stars were brighter and the moon shone with a richer light.

"Hmmm." She just said next to them.

He looked down, she was snuggling against him, falling asleep in the warm sun after they had just gotten tired swimming for so long. He smiled and hugged her closer.

"So where's this observatory thing?" Oppie asked, an hour down the trail that led up to the top of the peak behind Haven.

"According to Kyr, it's just up this trail another five kilometers," Viran stated as he led them up the trail. "He said it opens up with a great view of not only Haven, but also the sky at night when the stars are clear to see."

"How romantic." Oppie commented with a smirk. "Now I feel like a chaperone for you two. Sorry about that."

"It's fine, Op," Sasha chuckled lightly as she walked between them. "We haven't had the chance to come out here to see it yet. Let alone hike these trails." She turned her face up to the sky with a smile on her face. "I'm just glad it's a nice enough day for this hike. I just wish we could have brought Lana along."

"I know, but these forests are dangerous," Viran reminded her. "Even on this side of the barrier, there is still a likely chance of running into some dangerous beast."

"Yeah, plus a hike like this might be a bit much, even if she is near to walking." Oppie observed as he enjoyed the thinning forest around them that was opening into a small meadow that abutted the edge of the mountain.

"Fair," Sasha agreed as she looked out at the view. "It's so beautiful up here," she observed after a moment of hiking in silence.

"Yeah. How long have we lived on this planet and not gone hiking?" Oppie asked rhetorically. "Except that one time I had to find Kitsu."

"I honestly have no idea," Viran answered.

"Well let's see. The first time we were here we had just saved Oppie and were still dealing with Dracul. Plus it was in the middle of the winter time here. Then we were missing for six years. Then there was the whole deal with Ikari. Then Lana was born," Sasha listed off.

"Are you trying to say that we've been busy?" Viran asked her over his shoulder with a chuckle.

Sasha narrowed her eyes at him. "Yes, yes I was."

"Not to mention we had to stay home and babysit Kyr." Oppie added, "and make sure he didn't drive Cien nuts over the last year we've had some downtime."

Viran and Sasha chuckled at that.

"I hope they are having a great time," Sasha mused out loud. "When are they due back again?"

"I think in the next couple days is what they said, but who knows for sure," Viran guessed.

"I wonder where that place is?" Oppie asked, to no one in particular. "If it takes a while to get there and come back, a week isn't that long of a trip for them to have a lot of time to enjoy themselves."

"I'm not quite sure," Sasha said with a shrug. "Cien mentioned it was pretty far from here, but even she was unsure of where exactly this place was."

"But she's been there before?" Viran questioned.

"Look if you were to take me somewhere romantic to be alone for a while and it was a surprise, would you tell me where we are going?" Sasha asked hypothetically.

"Point taken," Viran understood with a nod.

"Well if Sasha had to pilot you there then it might be relevant." Oppie observed.

Viran chuckled. "Fair enough," he said.

"So is this the same place where they got their tans before they came home?" Oppie asked Sasha, since she seemed to know more than them.

"Yeah," Sasha said with a smirk. "That's the place."

"How do you know all this?" Oppie looked at her with a bemused look.

"Uh…" Sasha trailed off as scratched the back of her head. "Cien told me about it before. And remember how I said we saw different locations that were important to Kyr when we went to save him?"

"Yeah," Viran answered.

"Well one of the locations was this beautiful beach setting," Sasha explained. "Cien told me that they had visited there once before."

"Ah, okay." Oppie replied. "Wait, so you've seen it? What's it like?"

"White sand that stretched for kilometers. Crystal blue water. And a night sky that looked like it was hand painted as it was full of stars. It looked like the galaxy was opening up before you. And the sky was filled with auroras of every color you can imagine. And the way they reflected off the waves of the ocean and the snow of the mountains..." She described wistfully.

"Hmph." Oppie said. "We need to convince them to do a family vacation there."

"Yeah, I agree. This place sounds amazing," Viran said.

"Well let's wait until they get back before we ask them, okay?" Sasha suggested with an amused smirk.

"Heck no. Let's call them up now and see if we can join them." Oppie suggested with a grin. "I'm sure they wouldn't mind."

Sasha shot him a dirty look before tossing a nearby twig at him with the Force. "No, leave them alone."

"Sheesh." Oppie said, rubbing the spot where the twig hit him with great force.

Viran laughed at that. Sasha just gave Oppie a smile before turning back to the path as they kept walking. They continued up the path for the next two hours until the path opened up to reveal a flat promontory at the very peak of the mountain that had several large sized boulders scattered around. And just on the edge on the opposite side of the trail was a meter tall powered spike that was sticking up from the ground with a series of lights on it.

"What is that?" Sasha asked as they stepped out onto the flatter piece of land.

"I think this is one of those barrier markers Kyr mentioned," Viran stated as he approached it. "You know, that produces the barrier around the house and town to protect us from the wildlife of Artemis."

"Ah, that makes sense," Sasha said with a nod as she took a seat on one of the larger boulders to rest. She then looked out at the view. "Wow. You can see all of Haven up here."

"Yeah." Oppie said, taking a seat. The small boulders were loosely arranged around a ring of rocks with the remnants of scorch marks, making a small sitting area up here to relax at. "This firepit doesn't look like it's been used in years." Oppie observed, "be neat to come up here at night though."

Viran came over and sat down on a boulder next to Sasha. "That would be fun. Maybe a night where we can bring Lana with us so we don't have to call in a babysitter for her," he said.

"I like that idea," Sasha agreed.

They sat there in a comfortable silence as they looked out over the planet, enjoying the view and the comfortable weather. After about ten or so minutes, the sound of a twig snapping was heard. They all turned on high alert to see a herd of what looked like dugar dugar from Batuu, or deer as they were often referred to on other systems.

"Oh, deer." Oppie said under his breath.

Viran chuckled at the pun. Sasha rolled her eyes at him with a smirk as she slowly got to her feet and approached the deer with caution.

"They are so adorable," she said simply.

"Be careful, Sash," Viran warned as she moved closer.

Sasha stopped and looked at him. "They are not dangerous, Viran. They are just curious," she said as she looked back at them. "Besides, I can sense they mean no harm."

She continued to move closer to them. As she got closer, she reached out with the Force towards them. One of the deer, the leader from the looks of it, walked towards her and met her halfway. It bowed its head to her, allowing her to pet it. Sasha gently started to pet it on the top of its head near its antlers. She beamed as she pet the very soft dark brown fur.

"Whoa," Viran gasped as he watched the display.

Oppie looked on in surprise. "She ever done this before?" He asked.

"Not that I can recall," Viran said with a shrug. "I mean I remember the few instances where we were camping back when we were first on the run from the Empire and she was still developing her Force powers. Remember how animals or other creatures reacted to her? Of course she was freaked out back then, but still… This is something else."

Suddenly, there was a distant roar from beyond the barrier. The deer seemed spooked by it as they perked up at the sound and trotted away. Sasha watched them go before turning back to the guys.

"What was that sound?" Viran asked.

"A predator," Sasha said. "We should probably go."

"That was an Arkothrax cat." Oppie said getting up and his hand reached for his saber out of reflex.

"Then I agree, it's time to go," Viran nodded as he got up and started back towards the trail.

Sasha and Oppie right behind him.

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