Author's Note (If you're uninterested in my Avatar Xover, you can skip this):
I just have to get this off my chest. :P
If you've ever watched and have been a big fan of Avatar, then you probably know about the show called "The Dragon Prince," which is on Netflix. Draws inspiration from Avatar and is also made by the same creators, I think. Anyways, at first I wasn't too interested, but I decided to check it out, see what it's like. Before I knew it I was starting the eighth episode, and actually rather enjoyed it!
Then of course my brain starts wondering if it's possible to incorporate this into the Shaniverse, which while cool, I'm not gonna do. At least not now, for several reasons. Firstly, it just came it, and there's only nine episodes. Second, I already have a lot of other franchises to work on and catch up with, so there would be no need for me to add to the pile. But if you guys are interested in seeing some form of crossover with that eventually (although it wouldn't be for a long time), just say so, and I'll try and make it happen.
An idea I had was that it's on the same planet as Avatar (Reylea) but it's another continent. The Four Nations are on one half of the world, and Xadia is on the other side. But this is merely an idea, and if I do decide to do that, it won't happen for a very, very long time.
Okay, next chapter!
Mara POV...
For the last day or two, I've been spending some time with the Ghost crew, helping out with their errand missions on Garel. Mom and Dad stayed on the Knight Hawk, which continued to fly around the Lothal Sector in order to keep from being in public view for too long. It meant we'd have to buy fuel more frequently, but it was necessary to keep hidden from the Empire, our ship having become too recognizable now. The Ghost was also recognizable, but really just to those who were looking for it, and also due to that model of a ship being much more common than ours.
Also, they were staying on the ship to plan out strategies and future moves against the Empire, as well as worry about Oryx. I'm still a little stunned by that bomb being dropped, and a little hurt that they kept it from me, but I understand their reasoning perfectly for keeping it secret for so long, since it would just make me worry. Which it has. Oh well.
Anyways, today Hera had given me and Sabine a simple assignment, and we were heading over to her right now. I could sense that she was still a little bit mistrustful of me, more so of my Dad, but I suppose that can't exactly change in an instant, so whatever.
"So what do you think we're gonna be doing?" I ask her curiously.
"Hera will tell us, when she tells us," she replies stiffly, giving me a look. "Why is she having you come on this mission anyways? I thought you're at the point of being too recognizable."
"That' mostly my Dad, actually," I replied, and she rolled her eyes.
"Go figure," she muttered.
"Besides, she probably just wants me to help you out for this."
"I don't need any help with my missions," she responds defensively, a small frown on her face.
I sighed, but we eventually came up to Hera, who was standing by Ezra and Chopper. Looks like Ezra wanted in on the mission too. "You said you had another mission; what do you want me to do?" Ezra asks eagerly.
"Actually, this one's for them," Hera said, gesturing to us.
Sabine took a few steps forwards and elbowed Ezra in the gut with a smirk. He yelped in pain and backed up, Chopper beeping in laughter.
"Ow! Hey!" Ezra complained.
"Better luck next time Ez," I said with a grin.
"Ez?" he replied, in confusion and annoyance. "Don't call me-"
"There's a courier coming in who has secret information," Hera interrupts, briefing us on the mission details. "I need the two of you to pick him up, and transport him to Havoc Outpost."
"Sounds easy enough," Sabine says confidently.
"From Mom and Dad's experience, there's always a catch," I say warily.
Hera nods her head in agreement. "If it was easy I'd send someone else, much less Mara along with you. This information is important, and we have to get it through. Make sure to keep a low profile."
"If we're keeping a low-profile then why did you ask Mara to tag along?" Sabine demands, and I frown at her.
"Uh, excuse me; who's the girl that found you guys in a bar for that giant kyber crystal mission?" I recalled with a raised eyebrow, planting my hands on my hips. Sabine stares at me, obviously agitated.
"Ahsoka believes that Mara is perfectly capable of blending into a crowd, and has enough skill to avoid Imperials if necessary." Hera argues calmly. "If she believes Mara can handle it, then I believe her too."
I smile proudly at Sabine, and she sighs, nodding in reluctant agreement. "Fine. Don't worry, you can trust me."
I cough into my hand, and she glares at me.
"Us," she corrects, and Ezra muffles a quiet snicker, which luckily for him she doesn't notice, turning back to Hera. "Whats this courier look like?"
"I don't know. But they'll respond to this code phrase;" she replies, transmitting something through her datapad to Sabine's comlink.
"Got it," Sabine says with determination. She puts on her helmet, and after giving Hera a nod, starts to walk away. I follow after her, clasping my fur cape around my shoulders and pulling my hair into a ponytail. I don't wear my hair in a ponytail often, but I suppose it would suit me better in going undercover. I haven't been seen by Imperials with one before.
Just then, Ezra dashes up to us with his cadet helmet on, Chopper at our heels. "Leader huh? I always kinda figured you for a loner," he comments.
"I can agree with that," I add.
"Not always," Sabine replies stiffly.
"You sure make it seem that way." Ezra argues. "You spend a lot of time in your room, alone. And uh, you actually tend to eat alone, sometimes; and combat practice alone, and, go off to be alone..."
I slowly turn to look at him with a raised eyebrow. Clearly he pays a lot of attention to her, and I could sense Sabine's exasperation and annoyance at the fact. He continues to ramble on, and both me and Sabine share a small glance with each other. If there was something we could both agreed on, it's that Ezra was acting really weird, and wouldn't shut up. Didn't he once tell us he insulted the Seventh Sister; or Vifi as my parents call her, for talking too much?
Ironic.
Anyways, as we continued to walk, Sabine suddenly glanced to the side for some reason, and I followed her gaze, noticing some sort of orange and yellow symbol painted on it. Frowning, I follow her, sensing some recognition from Sabine as she continued to look at the symbol, walking towards it. Ezra and Chopper continued onwards, not noticing us missing as he still continued to ramble onwards. Sabine pulls off her helmet and kneels before it, lightly touching the paint and feeling it.
It was still damp.
"You recognize it," I observe quietly.
I could sense her brief flutter of nervousness before it's quickly squashed away, and besides a brief glance at me, gives no other outside reaction.
"Maybe..." she muttered uncertainly.
"What is that?" Ezra called out, finally having noticed us being gone.
"Nothing," she replies, putting her helmet back on. I stare at her with narrowed eyes, not believing her at all. With one last glance at the painting, I follow after them.
A brief flicker in the Force makes me start a little, and I try to hone in on it. It feels like another Force user is nearby...
As soon as I tried to hone in on the presence it faded away, and I had to wonder if I was imagining things. Maybe I just confused that presence with Ezra, since he's with us. Yeah, that's probably it.
After reaching Bay 22, where the courier was supposed to be, we stopped to look around at all the people milling about. A few shuttles had just arrived to deposit a whole group of civilians, the intercom helpfully telling us they were from Coruscant.
"So how do we find this courier?" Ezra asks.
"The code phrase is; it's a long way to Alderaan." Sabine tells us.
"Huh! One of Senator Organa's favorites," I quietly comment, so that no one else hears.
"Really?" Ezra asks in surprise, and I can sense Sabine's interest as well.
"Hmm hmm," I reply in confirmation.
Ezra then looks over and grins confidently. "I think it's this guy."
He walks over to a blue rodian that just departed from the shuttle, and I shake my head in exasperation, sensing that to not be the case. "Uh, Ezra..."
"Hey, it's a long way to Alderaan!" Ezra tells the guy with a grin.
The rodian just gives him a dull look and turns away in annoyance. "Okay..." he responds sarcastically, walking away.
"Did you really expect that to work?" I ask him.
"What? He seemed like a good candidate," he defends himself, and I roll my eyes with a sigh.
ooo00ooo
We've already been here for about half an hour, maybe more, and there was still no sign of the courier. Ezra and Sabine were continuously walking around the hanger bay, speaking the code phrase to try and get anyone's attention, but it wasn't working. Ezra even tried to tell a woman the code phrase right after watching Sabine told it to her without success. Naturally, she stormed away in annoyance and wariness, with a heavy want to get away from the two. I was just spending my time sitting on top of a pile of Imperial crates, which slowly got smaller as forklifts came by to pick them up.
I sighed in exasperation, picking my nails casually as the two desperately tried to tell the code phrase to anyone they came across. "You guys are not going to get anywhere with this," I told them.
"Yeah? Well I don't see you doing anything!" Sabine retorts angrily, and Chopper beeps in agreement.
"Wrong," I replied instantly, still not looking up. "Nobody that has passed us has been the courier. I know that for a fact."
"How would you know that? Do you know what they look like?" Ezra asks doubtfully.
I gave him a dry look. "No, but there is something else I have that let's me know."
"Like what?" Sabine demands.
I put a hand to my chin in sarcastic thoughtfulness. "Oh let's see, maybe it's the Force? I can't sense anyone who is supposed to be our courier, just a bunch of regular people!" I exclaim in exasperation.
Ezra blinked quickly, and shares a surprised look with Sabine. I send him a dull look. "Ezra, are you seriously gonna tell me that you didn't once think to try and use the Force to figure out who the courier is?"
He rubs his neck sheepishly, and Sabine lowers her head with an irritated sigh, grumbling to herself.
"Well... now that you mention it," he starts to say.
"Hanger 22 is now closed," the intercom states, and it was easy to tell by how the whole place was empty of people.
Ezra walks over and sits down on top of a gonk droid that was sitting next to me, deactivated. "It's gonna be a long way back to the Ghost if we missed that courier," he states.
"We couldn't have! Hera had confirmation he boarded the shuttle!" Sabine protests. "Mara, are you sure you never sensed the courier in here?"
"Positive," I replied immediately, a small frown on my face.
"That just doesn't make sense," she says in frustration. "Ezra, are you sure you were saying the code phrase right?"
"Yes!" he replies in exasperation. "'It's a long way to Alderaan!'" he recites.
He suddenly yelps in surprise as the gonk droid he was under immediately begins moving, causing him to wobble on top of it. "Woah! What's the matter with this thing?!" he exclaims.
I widen my eyes in surprise at the realization. "Oh that is genius!" I exclaimed.
"Wait a minute, that is the courier!" Sabine exclaims, realizing the same thing.
Ezra quickly jumps off the gonk droid, and I stand up as Sabine walks over to us, crouching in front of the droid. "Talk about a low profile. He came in with the cargo payload. He's unit, EG-86."
"Nice to meet you EG." Ezra says, and the gonk droid beeps back at him, Chopper rolling around him. "I don't get why they'd hide such important information in this binary box break."
"The best hiding places are usually the worst," I tell him with a shrug.
"What does that even mean?" Ezra asks in confusion.
"Well, would you suspect that thing of being a spy full of secrets?" Sabine asks.
Ezra frowns, crossing his arms. "No. I guess not," he admits.
"That's too bad," a woman's voice says loudly, and we look up to see someone jump down from on top of the shuttle. "Because I would," she states.
I get into a defensive stance, wary of this new arrival. Apparently it seems like Sabine recognized her. "Ketsu Onyo," she says.
"Oh wonderful," I remark, and the two start to circle each other.
But then there was another person hopping in. "Oh, you two are here as well?!" a woman's voice yells out.
We all glance up in surprise to see a purple skinned Twi'lek jump down from on top of another shuttle, landing a few feet away. She was wearing what appeared to be a smuggler's outfit, appearing to be around Mom and Dad's age, maybe younger, and I narrowed my eyes, feeling something strange about her.
"You?" Ketsu says in distaste.
"Is this just a wonderful meet up for everyone now?" Ezra exclaims sarcastically.
"Rylla?" Sabine questions in surprise.
"Seems like we got the trio back together again huh," Rylla states with a shrug, approaching cautiously. I had the feeling she was set for the capture of the gonk droid as well.
"What a joy," Ketsu says, sarcasm oozing from her voice.
"I saw your mark, old friend," Sabine replies, just as sarcastic.
The trio begin to circle each other, with me, Ezra, and the two droids watching them, unsure of what to do. We both share a look, and Ezra just shrugs, at a loss of our next move. I guess what we should do right now is just make sure that this droid doesn't fall into the wrong hands.
"Friend? That's a generous term considering what happened." Ketsu replied.
"Uh, you three know each other?" Ezra asks, pointing between the three of them.
"Clearly," I say sarcastically.
"Still bounty hunter's I see." Sabine says, ignoring us.
"Tell me you don't miss it," Ketsu replies, before glancing at Rylla. "Although I highly doubt Rylla could considered a bounty hunter," she says, once again with a hint of distaste.
"I have morals Ketsu," Rylla replies. "I don't do jobs for despicable thugs."
"A bounty hunter with morals?" I ask quietly in surprise.
"That's a first," Ezra comments.
"It's a wonder you still make a living." Ketsu retorts.
"Don't forget who helped you hone your skills with wielding a staff." Rylla shot back.
"Wait wait wait wait... You were a bounty hunter?" Ezra asks Sabine in surprise, before looking thoughtful. "Well that explains a lot."
"I don't think Ketsu and Rylla are here for a reunion." Sabine says suspiciously.
"You know me well. I'm just here for the droid." Ketsu responds.
"Well..." Rylla says thoughtfully.
"Oh please, I know you're here for the same thing," Ketsu says stiffly.
Rylla shrugs to herself. "Well, you're not wrong."
Chopper starts to beep in alarm, and Ezra gives him a look. "Not you Chop. Him!" he exclaims, gesturing to EG.
"So, three different parties after the same thing," I mused. "This should be interesting."
"On that, we agree little one," Rylla says with a smirk, and I look at her in distaste, not liking the use of 'little one.'
"So Sabine, how do you know them?" Ezra asks.
"She never told you how we broke out of the Imperial Academy?" Ketsu asked.
"And how I found them both roaming the galaxy to try and become bounty hunters?" Rylla added.
"That was a long time ago!" Sabine protested, glaring at Ketsu. "Before you got greedy and left us for dead!"
Ketsu laughed mockingly. "You would of been better off dead, than joining this band of rebels. Even Rylla never did with her 'oh-so-sweet' morals!"
Rylla rolled her eyes at the comment.
"I didn't believe it until I saw the Empire put a bounty on you." Ketsu finished.
Ezra looked between them with wide eyes, and I tensed up even more, finding Ketsu to be the least trustworthy of the two. Something about Rylla still seemed to be off to me, and I couldn't place it.
"You gonna try and collect on it?" Sabine challenges dangerously.
"I haven't decided yet. And of course your bounty pales in comparison to that of Jarik Shan," she replies, her voice filled with venom at his name. I raised an eyebrow at that, and didn't fail to notice Rylla tensing up slightly as his name as well. Although I guess Ketsu must be a Mandalorian, if she went to the same academy that Sabine did. But why did Rylla get so tense?
"You'd be a fool to try and take the bounty of him." Rylla immediately says with a deep frown.
"Definitely a fool," I quip happily, and she turns her gaze to me, eyes narrowed. I stare back suspiciously, wondering why she was starting to take an interest in that. Hopefully she didn't recognize me...
Ketsu shrugged. "Perhaps, but then again... maybe his red-haired apprentice would be a better target." Ketsu says knowingly, also staring at me.
Everyone's eyes were on me, Rylla's gaze surprised, suspicious, and full of other emotions I couldn't read, but I could sense Ketsu's heavy glare on me before she turned back to Sabine. "The fact that you'd travel with the apprentice of that di'kut is even more insulting to learn."
"Oh kriff it all..." I muttered, hand hovering over my lightsaber.
"You've got to be kidding me..." I hear Rylla say quietly to herself, and stare at her again. Seriously, why did she seem so confusing to me?
"Trust me, it's not by choice!" Sabine responds angrily to Ketsu, and I roll my eyes.
"Wow, that make me feel so good," I drawled sarcastically.
"Whatever," Ketsu replies. "I work for the Black Sun now, and I have another job to finish first."
"I can't let you do that." Sabine declares.
"Neither can I." Rylla adds.
"Who do you even work for anyways?" Ketsu demands.
"Why should I tell you, old friend?" she responds tensely, hand hovering over her blaster.
Ketsu and Sabine are both doing the same thing, as the three of them stare each other down in a three-way face off, Ketsu and Rylla occasionally glancing at me. I had a hand touching my lightsaber on my belt, ready to pull it out if shots were fired at me. Ezra was looking between the four of us nervously.
"How about we all relax before-" he starts to say.
"You there!" a stormtrooper yells, he and a patrol group of several others approaching. I quickly make sure my lightsaber is hidden from their view.
"-that happens." Ezra finished in exasperation.
"Citizens, what's going on here? There's a curfew on this hanger. You need to leave immediately!" the stormtrooper order us.
"Don't interrupt us!" Ketsu yells angrily, whipping out her blaster. She shoots down two stormtroopers, Sabine and Rylla also pulling out their blasters, and we all dash for cover behind the remaining stacks of crates, me. Ezra and the droids with each other. I peek my head out as the stormtroopers open fire, grumbling to myself for not having a blaster on hand.
Sabine peeks out and shoots down a stormtrooper before quickly taking cover again.
"Nice shot! Haven't lost your touch!" Ketsu exclaims, before moving to do the same, and takes down another trooper.
"Good thing you haven't either!" Sabine replied.
"Why don't you try another competition again? You two always seemed to get stuff done that way!" Rylla suggested sarcastically, standing up and aiming her blaster, shooting a few stormtroopers down, but her shots only hit their shoulders, or limbs, putting them out of commission. Wonder if she missed those shots.
"Stay here!" Ezra told the two droids, putting his face shield down and firing at the stormtroopers.
"Aren't you gonna help me out?" Ezra demands, glancing at me.
"Does it look like I have a blaster?!" I shoot back.
"Why not your lightsaber? They already know who you are," he suggests.
"Oh yeah, let me just tell the Empire exactly where the apprentice of Jarik Shan is while I'm at it!" I reply sarcastically.
"How about this kid!" Rylla yells, and I look over to see her toss one of her blasters in my direction.
I catch it in my hands, and peek out from behind the crates, firing back at the stormtroopers, although another, much larger group was approaching. "Thanks!" I yelled to her.
Ezra fired a few more rounds before ducking back behind cover again. "Okay, change of plans Chop. Get boxy here onto that shuttle," he says.
Chopper glanced between EG and the shuttle and grumbled to himself, before moving over to the gonk droid. He bumps into him, and starts to quickly tell him what to do, gesturing wildly with his arms.
Rylla fires off another blast, catching a stormtrooper in the leg, which forces him to fall off the crate he was perched on top of with a pained cry. Me and Ezra let off a few more rounds at the stormtroopers, and the former friends eventually split up from their shared cover, Sabine rushing over to us while Ketsu slides behind another crate, Rylla vaulting over the last one.
Ezra and Sabine glance up to check on EG and Chopper's progress while I let off a few more blasts, taking out two more stormtroopers. "Sabine! Go!" he yells.
She runs for the shuttle, climbing up the ladder and entering the ship while me and Ezra follow after, providing cover fire. The stormtroopers take notice and shift their aim in our direction. I lean my head to the side in order to evade a blaster bolt that gets to close as I climb up the ladder. Once we reach the top, Ezra and I continue to provide cover fire from the doorframe as the ship begins to lift off. From down below, I can see Ketsu and Rylla both watching us take off, the latter with an unreadable expression on her face.
However I thought I could sense a little... sadness?
My confusion at what I appeared to be feeling from Rylla didn't let me see the bolt headed for me and Ezra, and it slammed into the doorframe. It startled us enough to cause Ezra to fall out, inadvertently dragging me along with him. He yelled in alarm, but I reacted appropriately and flipped through the air, landing firmly on my feet thanks to the Force. Ezra managed to catch himself just in time too, stumbling, but landing in a crouch. We watched Sabine fly away, before Ezra pulled out his comlink.
"Hera, the mission's gotten complicated," he told her.
"I thought you were keeping a low profile?!" she replied angrily.
We watched as four stormtroopers moved to surround Ketsu Onyo, who was still down there, although to my alarm there was no sign of Rylla.
"We gotta go Ezra," I told him, and he nodded in understanding.
"Yeah well, it just went high profile!" Ezra exclaims before shutting off the transmission.
We rushed away across the roof, headed back to where the Ghost was supposed to be, while the shuttle Sabine was in moved out of sight, leaving orbit. Not much later, a large yellow starfighter lifted off, following after the direction of Sabine's shuttle.
"I hope she gets that intel secured," I tell Ezra, jumping across to another roof.
"Yeah, tell me about it. I mean, two of Sabine's older friends showing up in a shootout?!" he says back.
We were about to cross another roof, when Rylla flipped up in front of us, cutting us off from moving forwards. We skid to a stop, and she stands up, eyeing us down impassively.
"What do you want?" I demand suspiciously.
"Several things," she replies stiffly, and Ezra scoffs.
"Yeah, well considering that you faced off with us in a shootout, I don't think so," he retorts.
Rylla gives him a hard look, shaking her head. "Firstly, that was mostly Ketsu, I'm a lot less aggressive," she says defensively. "Secondly, I don't want to fight, just talk. And lastly... you still have my blaster."
I look down at the blaster in my hands, realizing she was right and shrug my shoulders. "Ok, I'll give you that," I admitted, tossing it over to her.
She catches her blaster, but then I pull out my lightsaber, holding out in front of me threateningly, as a warning. "So what could you possibly want to talk about?" I ask suspiciously, and Ezra aims his blaster at her as well.
Rylla holds her hands up placatingly, but still walks forwards, and is staring at me in a sense of wonder. "So it is true... you are Jarik's apprentice."
"What of it?" I ask her.
"Yeah, what's with all the interest in this?" Ezra adds suspiciously.
She stops before us, no fear or sign of wanting to attack us in her eyes. "I would like the chance to..." she takes a deep breath. "To talk to him... and Ahsoka. I've heard from Imperial chatter that she's still alive."
Ezra and I share a look, before returning our gaze back to her.
"Why does it sound like you know them?" Ezra questions.
"Because I do know them," she replies stiffly. "Please... can I talk to them?"
I'm surprised by the genuine sincerity in her voice, and what's even more shocking is that there seems to be a glimmer of water shining in her eyes. She seems sad... really longing for this...
After a few moments to scrutinize her, I slowly deactivate my lightsaber, placing it back on my belt. "Ok."
She sighs in relief and happiness, dropping her arms with a small smile on her face. Ezra stares at me in bewilderment. "So, we're really doing this? Just like that?"
"Yes we are," I tell him. "She seems genuine."
"I am," Rylla replies.
"Well, I'll call him up then." I say, pulling out a comlink.
"Thank you..." she replies.
I send a call to Dad; who should still be up in the ship with Mom, Force knows where, and he responds a few moments later.
"Hey kiddo, how's it going down there? Mission doing fine?" he asks me, and I notice how Rylla stares at the comlink with wide eyes, a small, inaudible gasp barely coming forth from her. Ezra takes notice of this as well.
"Yeah, the mission is going fine on Sabine's part, but there is a... complication," I reply seriously.
He takes notice of my tone, becoming concerned. "What happened?" he questions.
"Umm... do you know anyone named Rylla?" I ask him, glancing at said person.
There was silence on his head for a bit, and we were all waiting tensely for a response, Rylla fiddling with her hands.
"This is awkward..." Ezra mutters.
"I do... where is this coming from?" he asks sternly.
"Well, we met a Twi'lek woman, who wants to talk to you. She's a bounty hunter and has purple skin," I tell him, offering the description in the hopes that it's right.
There was even more silence, until he finally replied. "Return to the Ghost. We'll be back soon," he replies tensely, disconnecting not a moment later after saying that.
Jarik POV...
What Mara just told me just now, which Ahsoka heard as well since we were in the same room, was unbelievable! I couldn't believe this, it just... it just can't be possible!
Rylla... is alive!
Ahsoka and I were both speechless, some tears being brought to our eyes as we just stared at each other, sharing our shock. Eventually we managed to pull ourselves together, and not a moment later, sprang up from our chairs and dashed into the cockpit, immediately heading back to Garel.
If Mara was telling the truth, and she must be, as there is no way she could've known about that name, and description of her otherwise, than this is both unbelievable, and wonderful!
Rylla... is alive!
Mara POV..
Once we reached the Ghost, we explained the situation to Hera and Kanan, and then introduced Rylla to them. Hera was obviously interested at seeing another Twi'lek out and about, and as a bounty hunter no less, but both were understandably suspicious at how she knows my Dad. And considering she has yet to tell us how she knows is another big factor.
But still, since Mom and Dad were speeding towards us, they were willing to give her the benefit of the doubt, and let them decide. So we were all sitting down in the common room of the Ghost, Rex and Boil also joining us. Zeb was off on another mission for Hera, so he wasn't currently here. Rylla was sitting in a chair by the game board, really quiet, and gazing either at the floor, or at me for brief moments.
"So you gonna tell us how you know Commander Shan?" Boil asks.
She glances up at him. "It's... complicated," is all she would say.
Boil frowns at her. "I've known him ever since his first mission during the Clone Wars, and don't ever recall seeing you. Unless you met him after the war, but I'm not sure."
"I think I'd know, although at the same time I wasn't around for everything either," I admitted.
"Well, I guess we'll all figure it out when they both get here," Kanan remarks, crossing his arms.
Right on cue, the sound of the door opening down the ship got our attention, as well as two pairs of feet running down the hallways. finally, Mom and Dad both burst through into the common room, looking around until laying their eyes on Rylla, who stares back.
Mom and Dad both let out a gasp as they met eyes with Rylla. All three of them were shocked, just staring, some tears even welling up.
"I... guess you do know each other," Ezra spoke up, trailing off at the end after a look from Kanan.
"Can you-" Dad starts to say, faltering for a moment before taking another breathe. "Can you all give us some time please?" he asks, his voice sounding a little weak.
We all glance around at each other in concern, but do as he tells us, getting up and leaving the room. Rex and Boil both give Mom and Dad a comforting pat on the shoulder before departing, and I stay a little bit longer, concerned as well. But sensing that this was a lot more personal than any of us realized, I decided to leave the room to them.
Jarik POV...
After everybody left the room, Mara leaving last and closing the doors, me and Ahsoka slowly approached Rylla, who got to her feet. She looked so much older than I last remembered her, being a fully grown woman now. Instead of Jedi robes, now she wore an outfit worthy of what a smuggler or a bounty hunter would wear, two blaster pistols strapped to her legs.
"You're... you're alive," she whispers, tears falling from her eyes.
"So are you." Ahsoka replies, just as shocked and full of emotion.
"I can't believe it," I said quietly, approaching her. "But I'm glad."
After a few more moments, the two of us embrace Rylla in a tight hug, our relief, happiness and joy flowing heavily over each other through the Force, and she sobbed happily, into our shoulders. Eventually we parted, taking in each other's appearance.
I managed a small smile, eyes still watery from tears of joy. "After all these years... you really decided to be a kriffing bounty hunter?"
She chokes down a laugh. "Still have your stupid sense of humor I see," she retorts.
"Trust me Rylla, he never lost it. He's always getting us into trouble." Ahsoka remarks with a smile.
"Am not!" I protest, to which they both crack up in laughter. I can't be mad though, and despite my indignation there was still a huge smile on my face.
"I missed you guys so much," Rylla admitted after quieting down.
"We all missed each other," Ahsoka replies.
She nods in agreement. "How did you both survive?" she asks quietly.
I let out a sad sigh. "I was at the Temple when the order came, and we were attacked. Aside from two others, I was the only one to escape."
She looks down sadly at that.
"I'm guessing you probably know about my expulsion from the Order," Ahsoka starts to say.
"Yeah, I figured as much," she admitted in reply.
"What about you Rylla? How did you survive?" I ask her.
She crosses her arms hesitantly before replying. "I was on Agamar with Master Ando when it happened. It was my first mission, so I was terrified. But Master Ando... he sacrificed himself so that I could escape," she explains, eyes welling up slightly.
We both gaze at her sorrowfully. "I'm so sorry Rylla," I told her sadly.
She waves her hand. "Thank you Jarik, but it's all in the past. There was nothing you could've done," she tells me.
We remain in comfortable; but at the same time awkward, silence afterwards. We were all bursting with questions to ask, but at the same time we just didn't know where to start. Eventually it's broken when Rylla takes notice of the ring on Ahsoka's finger, and she widens her eyes in absolute shock.
"Y-you... You're married?!" she practically shrieks.
We wince, and Ahsoka covers her montrals out of reflex. "Not so loud! Are you trying to make me deaf!" Ahsoka exclaims.
"Sorry," she apologized sheepishly. "But you guys, you two got married?!"
"Yeah... we did get married," she replies, looking at me.
"It was great," I say, wrapping an arm around Ahsoka's shoulders with a grin, and she sighs in exasperation.
"That's absolutely shocking..." she trails off.
"Because of the Jedi code?" I ask dryly.
She gives me a look. "What, you kidding me? No! It's shocking how Ahsoka has managed to stand you for so long, much less marry your kriffing butt!"
I gape at her incredulously, while Ahsoka starts to crack up with laughter, Rylla giving me the most mischievous, crap-eating grin on her face.
"What is this, the 'insult-Jarik-reunion?!'" I exclaim.
"I think it's hilarious!" Rylla says happily.
"Well I don't," I retort, retracting my arm from around Ahsoka's shoulder to cross my arms in a pout.
"Oh don't be such a spoil-sport, you've had this coming for years." Ahsoka scolds me.
"Whatever," I grumble, causing both ladies to snicker even more.
Maybe I shouldn't have been so happy for this reunion...
Ohh, a reunion between old friends! I wonder if any of you saw this coming. And of course, poor Jarik gets immediately double teamed by the both of them. Eventually though the mood with be depressing and emotional once they have to reveal what happened to Vifi...
Hoping the next chapter will be real soon! Thank you all so much for your continued support of my stories! :D
