The unofficial title of this chapter is: How do we explain this to Council.
Lona stood looking into the crowded infirmary. 'I have never seen a man work in the infirmary let alone six, what is going on here?'
"Problem, are you having?" Yoda asked noticing the puzzled look on Lona's face.
"I have worked as a healer under my grandmother and aunt and now my cousin since I was old enough to carry baskets or pick flowers. I have never seen a man, a local man work in an infirmary. Something is going on here." Lona said astonished.
"Called Jedi mind trick, it is. Only works on the weak minded, it does." Yoda said softly.
"Well, that confirms one of my suspicions about the local men." Lona said smiling down at Yoda. "Taryn is suppose to be back by now I wonder what is keeping her?"
Yoda closed his eyes and thought of his Master for a second then his eyes popped open. "Any local customs, unusual customs, about marriage maybe, are there?"
"The wedding ritual is a groom brings a bride to his home, presents her a with a marriage dress and feeds her a meal he cooks himself. This was designed by men since there is no way any man is going to cook around here unless absolutely necessary." Lona sigh, the exhaustion of the last few weeks taking its toll on her. "Why do you ask about that?"
"Just curious about local customs, I was." Yoda explained with a secretive grin. "Interesting custom, it is. Present many predicament, sure I am." 'Much to explain to Jedi Council, he will have.' "Coming, I see them." Yoda said as he saw Moth's ship fly over the trees in the distance and land in the field next to the infirmary. Lona and Yoda walked toward the ship to meet them.
"I hope you have come up with a new combination of medicines. Many patients are getting critical and I have started to run a fever, if Yoda hadn't done that Jedi massage thing to my face I would be in bed myself by now." Lona sighed.
"Yes, we came up with a combination, thanks to Moth's machine. We were able to find out what is throwing the compound off and triggering the hives. I think this will work. Here Taryn said handing Lona a cup with the new combination of teas and escorting her to the bench in the courtyard of the infirmary and watched her drink all the contents. Moth and Yoda carried the containers of medicine into the infirmary and started delivering it to the patients.
"Taste like medicine all right." Lona made a face as she finished it. "Nice dress I don't think I've ever seen it before, have I?" Lona asked.
"No, Moth gave it to me, then he fed me some interesting soup." Taryn said watching the expression change on her cousin's face.
"I know now, what took you so long." Lona smiled a tired but mischievous smile. "I didn't think Jedi married." Lona said puzzled.
"They do, if they don't let you explain why you don't want to come in and eat lunch." Taryn said modestly.
"And the dress?" Lona asked.
"We got caught in a rainstorm." Taryn explained. "He doesn't know what he has done. I tried to explain but he said 'we' would deal with the 'local customs' later and ordered me to eat. So I ate."
"I thought you were never going to marry, especially someone that wouldn't listen to you." Lona said confused at the change in her cousin.
"Let's just say, I want to see how he is going to explain his way out of this." Taryn giggled.
"Since a divorced woman is not allowed to remarry, he has to give you a child to allow you to have an heir. I think I'm getting delirious this can't be real, it's to absurd to be really happening."
Moth, Yoda and Yoda's staff of unwitting male assistants finished giving the patients the new medicine and had a shipment of it sent to the nearby infirmaries along with the recipe for more. Finally, they were able to have a few minutes to talk. "Yoda, you have been grinning like you have some great secret ever since I got back. What is going on?" Moth asked confused at Yoda's strange new mood.
"Question, I should be asking you, that is." Yoda stated pleased with himself for figuring out what was going on and not realizing Moth hadn't.
Moth felt of Yoda's forehead. "No, you don't have a fever but you aren't making any sense."
"Problem explaining to Council, you are going to have. Big trouble, will you be in. Nyla be mad, not get to go to wedding." Yoda made a mock stern face.
"What wedding am I going to have to explain to the Council?" Moth asked exasperated at the confusion of not getting an answer he could understand.
Taryn walked over to the new man in her life and said. "Do you want me to tell you about that pesky little local custom that you dismissed now, Dear?"
Moth heard his words ringing in his ears. 'We will. I will deal with these local customs later.' Suddenly he wished he had asked what customs. He sat, quietly calming himself for a minute then said softly. "Yes, would you please tell me what custom I have to… what did I say? 'Deal with later'."
Yoda excused himself and quietly left them alone.
Taryn said softly and modestly. "When a man invites a woman into his home, offers her a beautiful dress to change into and cooks her a meal they are…" She stopped as she realized he was now aware of what he had agreed to.
"Mrs. Moth I presume," Moth said. "I am going to have some explaining to do when the Council hears about this."
"Don't panic there is a way out. It is probably as bad as the original problem to you but it is still a way out. I didn't set out to…" Taryn tried to reassure him.
"I know, I wouldn't listen. I assumed I knew what the local custom was but…" Moth said taking responsibility for his actions. "You said, 'there is a way out'."
"Yes, a divorce is possible under certain circumstances. They will probably be as bad as the marriage itself but it is an out. I will not contest … it." She said suddenly wonder why she had allowed this to happen.
"Let's deal with the patients for now and we can discuss the options later… unless there is a time limit or something else I should know about." Moth said then clarified his statement.
"No there will be no problem in waiting." Taryn assured him as they started delivering the next round of medicine to the patients.
Moth and Taryn worked into the night and the next few days. People were still coming in but were able to receive the correct medicine quickly so they didn't go critical. Finally the tide was turned and less and less people came in. They had brought enough supplies to make more so they didn't have to go back to restock. Occasionally one would stop and watch the other, weighing the, 'what ifs'.
His, 'If I wasn't a Jedi.'
'Would it really be that bad not to be a Jedi.'
And hers, 'He is handsome.'
'He has a gentle way with the patients.'
'But he would never stay, Never give up his life as a Jedi.'
oOo
Moth woke up from his uneasy sleep to smell something cooking and his stomach growling. He washed up and sheepishly peaked out of his quarters. There was no way it was Yoda doing the cooking. He saw Taryn standing in front of the stove humming softly and scooping some round cakes on to a plate, putting a dollop of butter on them and pouring syrup over them. "Good morning sleepy head, all but two cases are out of the hospital and they are much improved." Taryn said not turning around until she had finished the presentation. "I even delivered a baby boy this morning. Here try this. Yoda announced they 'stank' and ran out carrying a bag of roots. Does he really eat those things?" She said still not looking up at him.
"Yes, you should taste his cooking. It's something you have to smell to believe." Moth said cutting off a piece of the cake with his fork, then pausing. "This isn't going to put us into the next level is it?"
"No, it's safe to eat. There are no strings attached to it." Taryn assured him.
He tasted it, his eyes rolled back and he yummed. "What is this?" He asked still not looking up at her.
"We call them pancakes and maple syrup. I call them comfort food. When I need a mood lift it always helps." Taryn said then realized what she had said.
"I asked one of the local officials about the options you mentioned. They are particularly bad for you. Never being allowed to remarry and having to raise a child on your own. I'm sorry I got you into this mess." Moth paused between bites to say.
"Finish eating, it's better hot. I knew the rules and was willing to except them. I never expected anyone to marry me in the first place, at least this way I will have an heir. I will still have my work and you can still be… a … they will allow you to be a Jedi. Won't they!" She suddenly realized he might be removed from the Jedi Order.
"Yes, Maybe? Yes, I'm sure they will understand and if they don't I can always be a healer. I am not into the lightsaber duels. My former Master a… well let's say I am more of a healer than a fighter." Moth tried to explain the unexplainable.
"Would it help if I come to intercede on your behalf?" Taryn asked.
Moth smiled and looked at her. "That would probably help. I …We need to leave as soon as your patients can spare you." He added.
"I have to go get some things I will need for the trip and then I'll be ready by mid day." She collected the dishes and cleaned up the mess.
"Do you have any more of the maple syrup? Its time I get some pay-back on Yoda for all the roots he has been cooking lately." Moth asked knowing she wouldn't be able to stand Yoda's cooking.
"I will bring some food stuffs, too." She said. "I hate to sound like a girl but what do they wear on Coruscant?"
"I wear what I have on. As to Jedi wives, you will be in a league of your own so wear what you want."
oOo
Taryn and Lona arrived back shortly with the food supplies, a small traveling case that looked like it hadn't been very many places and it hadn't, unlike her medical kit which was well worn and she wore a chocolate brown velvet cloak. Moth met her at the bottom of the ramp and waited for the women to say their good-byes, both looked nervous and talked softly of last minute instructions. "Don't forget Lady Marin is expecting next week, Master Brimel has a treatment scheduled for his lumbago mid week, water my plants, taking care of the house till I get back." Taryn instructed her student.
Then came the inevitable question from Lona. "Are you sure about this?"
Taryn smiled and assured her cousin. "I will be fine."
Moth showed her to the guest quarters. "I think for now this would be best. Would you like to sit up front with me when we leave Verrell?"
"Yes, I would, Thank you?" She said and followed him to the cockpit and sat where he showed her.
As they left the planet Yoda was cooking a stew that could remove paint just from the smell. He looked over the boxes of foodstuffs that Taryn had brought and sniffed and mumbled. "Smells like her cooking, it does. Miss Nyla, I do." Yoda had gotten accustom to the bachelor life, he cooked and Moth ate, usually, there are some things even Moth wouldn't eat. Now there was a woman aboard the ship not a Padawan for him to look up to, metaphorically speaking, but a wife even if in name only for now. The whole dynamic had changed. If Moth got kicked out of the Order he was going to be out a Master and he was just getting this one broken in. 'First musical beds, now musical Masters.' "Emotions there are seeing the future, clouds ones view." He grumbled to himself.
Taryn sat up front with Moth and watched as her planet grew smaller and blackness enclosed their ship. She watch as the sun she had warmed herself by all her life grew smaller and turned into just another point of light in the darkness then vanished completely as they jumped to hyperspace. She gasped as the light changed to streams of light then strange shadows of objects not really visible the sensation was unnerving and caused her to get nauseous. She pulled some ginger cookies out of her pocket and nibbled on them.
"Is this your first time in space?" Moth asked when he noticed her reaction.
"Yes, I heard it could make you ill but I really didn't believe it until now." She said taking another bite.
"I appreciate you coming to Coruscant to intercede on my behalf, I didn't realize it was going to be a sickening experience." Moth smiled. "It usually goes away in a few minutes."
"I'm not sure if it's the hyperspace or Yoda's cooking and we can't open a window." Taryn said as she turned a new shade of green.
"Your cheeks match your eyes." Moth touched her face and soothed her stomach through the Force then she turned a soft pink at his touch. Moth grinned at the affect he had on her.
oOo
Moth called the Council and told them he was coming back to Coruscant and that the mission had been a success, a cure had been found and a catastrophe had been avoided. He told them there was a problem to be presented to the Council but couldn't bring himself to tell them what it was over the Holo-link.
To Taryn as to most people Yoda was an acquired taste and he was annoying at first, he made a terrible noise when he gnawed on his roots. His practicing telekinetic was unnerving for a non-Jedi, then there was the flute playing in the middle of the night that sounded like bugs swarming. Usually she could have dealt with his eccentric ways but knowing that her future was in the hands of a group of strangers on a distant planet made her nervous.
On arriving at Coruscant they were greeted by Nyla, who was bouncing. "I have no idea what is going on but the Force is vibrating that something is happening and it involves you." Nyla said not surprised to see a woman following her former Master off the ship. Jedi transported people all the time so it was nothing new.
Moth smiled at his former Padawan and introduced the two women. "Sage Taryn this is my former Padawan, Jedi Knight Nyla Rian. Nyla this is Sage Taryn Moth, my wife." Nyla stood speechless, mouth open for what seemed like forever to her. Moth reached over and closed her mouth, then spoke for Nyla. "She is very happy to meet you Taryn." Nyla stood, still speechless and nodded.
Finally she recovered. "Yes, I am glad to meet you and please don't take offense at my reaction. I have never met a Jedi's wife before. Any one that could win Moth's heart has to be a special person." Nyla said graciously to the new woman in her Master's life.
"I am not sure I have won his heart but I appreciate you kind welcome. I was almost scared I would be drawn and quartered when I arrived." She sighed in relief.
Nyla looked and saw Moth was still carrying his lightsaber and asked. "Does the Council know about your new status?"
"I imagine they have felt the same vibration you have, so I suspect they do. We were on our way to speak to them. Could you watch Yoda for a while he seems to be taking this hard? He has mumbled and muttered the whole trip back to Coruscant, something about emotions." Moth asked Nyla.
"Sure, I would be glad to and you are having dinner at my place tonight." Then looking at Taryn. "I will tell you about all of his peculiarities."
"Thank you Nyla. I'll return the favor someday." Moth said shaking his head at the thought of these two women discussing his 'peculiarities'. "Come I have a feeling the Council is waiting on us, Taryn." Moth said softly, more husband than Master.
Nyla turned and looked at Yoda and asked. "What are you mumbling about?"
Yoda sighed and said "Emotions there are in the Force, hard to see the future, to much emotions. Will Master resign and will Yoda be untrained?" Yoda sighed again.
"Yoda, you already know how to do more with the Force than most Jedi Knights I know and some Masters. What are you worried about?" Nyla asked confused at his reaction.
"More there is to know, much more. Found holocrons in library, section Padawans not allowed to be in, much more to learn." Yoda stood wide eyed in amazement.
"You do know, you don't have to learn everything before you are knighted or there would be very few knights." Nyla informed her friend.
"Really, relief that is." Yoda closed his eyes and concentrated, then bounced up and said. "Have to go to Council, see you later." Yoda called over his shoulder as he ran toward the Temple, dodging and weaving through the people.
oOo
Moth and Taryn were escorted into the Council Chamber as soon as they arrived, which meant Moth was right, they knew something had happened. As the doors opened and at the sight of the Council members sitting in a circle around the medallion in the floor where they were to stand, Taryn froze and suddenly felt overwhelmed by the weight and prestige of the Council. Moth turned and saw her reaction and remembered how he felt the time he had to tell them he had killed his Master and empathized with her. He reached out and took her hand and said. "You are safe. They won't bite." And smiled reassuringly at her. He could feel the eyebrows of the member's rise in unison. She felt the warmth of his hand and her fears melted. She followed him to the center of the medallion and he said. "I am sure you are aware by now there is an unusual custom on Verrell, one that I …we have fallen prey to. This custom has three parts to keep this from happening. I am sure the local men have no problem avoiding this situation but since I was unaware of it, I assured her that I would deal with the after effects of the custom after the cure to the illness was found. As a result I seem to be in quite an unusual predicament for a Jedi. I would like to introduce you to Sage Taryn, my wife." Moth paused to allow the members to react.
Master Poof sternly started the questioning. "You said you were unaware of the custom."
Moth nodded and said. "Yes, Master Poof, I usually check the references for planet customs before I set down but I was concerned with what I was hearing about the illness and apparently forgot."
"You, may I call you Sage?" Poof asked.
"Sage is my title, Taryn is my given name, Kenoba is my last name. You may call me which ever you like." She answered nervously.
"You were aware of the custom and that Jedi do not marry? Yet you continued…"
Moth interrupted Master Poof, stepping in front of Taryn. "I chose to dismiss her repeated warnings and her attempts to explain what I was getting myself into. I assured her I would deal with the repercussions later, after the cure was found. I am the one responsible for this not her." Moth spoke up protective of her.
"We would still like to hear her reason for allowing the two of you to become one as they say." Master Loren inquired.
"I knew if I went in, changed into this dress and ate the meal he prepared, I … we would be married and that it was against his rules." She said bravely. "I knew he would not stay and there was a way out for him. I would be left to raise our child alone. Most healers raise their children alone since the men on our planet do not become healers. Most do not like their wives leaving in the middle of the night to deliver a baby or treat a sick patient, possible bringing some illness home to them."
She paused and then continued softer. "A male healer who would allow me to do my own work, who wasn't afraid of me having an independent thought. Someone concerned about if I was warm, dry and fed, peaked my interest. Always before if a man ordered me to do anything I came out fighting. This time I obeyed."
She looked down then continued. "I think I was glad I would be his, even if for a little while."
"So the two of you are going to produce a child and divorce…" Master Poof stated, almost ordering.
Moth interrupted. "I can not allow her to raise our child alone and spend the rest of her life alone so…" He reached for his lightsaber.
A/N: how is that for a cliffhanger?