Note: Italics is thoughts, unless specified otherwise i.e flashbacks or visions. / is timeskip
— Time Skip: The Next Day —
THIRD POV
"So, what exactly do you want to know?" Alexa asked the curious Dwarf as the pair settled down in the shade under the old oak tree.
"Well, I'm meant to do a whole background on everyone. But, let's start simple. I'll ask a question and we will go from there; you don't have to tell me if it's too..." Ori trailed off, not wanting to finish the sentence. He didn't want to force her to relive and talk about bad memories.
Inhaling deeply, Alexa nodded; agreeing with his terms. "So, starting easy. How old are you?" Ori asked, his book spread on his lap. Quill in hand, ready to begin scribing.
"Thirty," Alexa said, her answer gaining a squeak from Ori.
"What? You're so young" Ori breathed,
"Human," Alexa laughed, causing Ori to chuckle, having momentarily forgotten.
"So, where did you grow up?" Ori asked shyly, hoping for the best outcome.
"Well, ever since I can remember I've lived on Coruscant, in the Jedi Temple. It was massive, bigger than most of the buildings on the planet. There were thousands of rooms; rooms for training, meditation, hanging out, the council, of course, rooms for sleeping, and at the heart of the temple was the library. Oh, Ori, you would've loved it. So, much knowledge. I used to spend almost all of my free time there, reading. It was wonderful," Alexa breathed her eyes glossy. Ori had never heard Alexa speak with so much wonder, so much passion; the thought caused a dejected look to etch on his face. She deserved better.
"Though I loved the library, my favourite room was the room of a thousand fountains. It was so beautiful," Alexa whispered, her words causing a smile to form on Ori's face and he wrote down her words.
"You said Coruscant was a planet, are there more planets in your world?" Ori asked, breaking the woman from her thoughts.
"Yes Ori, there were hundreds upon thousands. Sadly, I only got to travel to a handful of them though I've researched hundreds. Each planet is different; has different terrain, people, languages, beliefs, etc," Alexa told him.
"For example; Coruscant was basically one big city, so lots of artificial lights and traffic. It was also the capital of the Republic," Alexa chuckled softly as she thought of her home. Ori scribed away quickly, not wanting to miss a word.
"Remember the long downpour we had a few days before we encountered the trolls?" Alexa asked, to which Ori hummed remembering the never-ending pouring rain.
"Well, if you think that was bad. I once went to a water-based planet called Kamino which rained constantly. No stops. No sun. Just storms. The waves were massive, could knock you over and drag you to your death if you weren't careful," Alexa said.
Her thoughts flashed back to that mission on Kamino when her and Obi-Wan were left dangling over the crashing waves; she had clung to his body like a baby koala, she couldn't swim after all. She snickered at the thought, he had never let her forget that. It had ended up becoming a sort of inside joke between them, one that had caused mass confusion for everyone when it was mentioned; especially Anakin.
"Is there anything else you want to ask? Cause force knows there isn't enough time to go over all the planets I know," Alexa suggested, which earned a reluctant nod from Ori. He was very intrigued by Alexa's world and the different planets and people.
"Okay we will move on, although I must ask; do you have a preferred planet?" Ori asked.
Alexa pondered over the question for a while. After all, there were so many to choose from and he wanted one? Alexa looked over Beorn's land as she thought over her answer, she had researched many different and interesting planets. But as she stared at the land before her, she knew.
"Naboo," Alexa breathed, a small smile gracing her lips. Upon hearing her answer Ori quickly scribbled it down - he would check with her later to see if he spelt it right. In the meantime, he would continue to learn more about his friend and her mysterious past.
"What's it like?" Ori asked, watching as his friend seemed to shine with happiness.
"It's the most peaceful planet I've been to. Such amazing views. Naboo has swampy lakes, beautiful grassy plains, and rolling hills... A good friend of mine grew up there," Alexa said, letting out a long sigh of despair.
Her hand rose to her clavicle and drifted down to where her necklace lay. The cool metal pressed against her chest as she lay her hand over it. A few moments of somewhat tense silence passed before Ori broke it once more, curious to hear more about Alexa's life.
"So, what abilities do you have?" he asked causing Alexa to remove her hand from her chest and to the ground below. Peering up from under her lashes at the curious Dwarf. A smirk formed on Alexa's lips, he wanted to know about her so might as well start at the beginning.
"Well the force is my ability Ori, the midi-chlorian's inside me allow that," she said, not quite giving him the information, he wanted. Not that he minded, he would quite happily absorb any information she would give him about her world.
"Midi-chlorian's? What's that?" Ori asked, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion.
"In the force are midi-chlorian's which are a microscopic life form that resides within all living cells. The more midi-chlorian's one force user has, the more powerful they are with the force. For instance, my Master Ki-Adi Mundu had the midi-chlorian count of ten-thousand-six-hundred," Alexa said, repeating the words she had told Gandalf so long ago.
"Ah. So, who had the most?" Ori asked, his innocent question made her breath hitch. Her green-grey eyes flickered down to her hands. Tugging at the grass she breathed in deeply and answered.
"My old friend Anakin Skywalker had the most. His count was off the charts, about twenty-seven-thousand-seven-hundred," She sighed, forcing a growing lump in her throat down.
"How many do you have?" Ori asked, not noticing her dampened mood.
"Me? An estimated eighteen-thousand," Alexa said slightly shocked. Having been taken off guard by Ori's question; no one here had asked that before.
"Now as for abilities, I am very good at fighting with a lightsaber – as you have seen," Alexa continued, which earned a nod from Ori who was quickly writing down her words.
"I can lift and stop most objects as well as living things – however, the bigger they are the more it takes out of me. I can force heal, though it's very tiring so I try not to use to very often. With help, I can Force run, and I can jump higher. Oh, and force lightning; though I try not to use it. I certainly shouldn't of that night in Rivendell or the Goblin caves," Alexa said, listing the abilities off on her fingers.
"What do you mean?" Ori asked.
"I can't control it; I've only done it four times, two of them you saw. I'm surprised I haven't hurt anyone yet," Alexa admitted, sheepish.
"Don't be worried Alexa, you would never consciously hurt us," Ori stated, trying to reassure her.
"I know Ori, but I personally know just how much force lightning can hurt. It feels like your being torn apart from the inside out," Alexa breathed, unconsciously brushing against the raised lines on her abdomen.
/
"Okay, now what..." Ori pondered, tapping the end of his quill against his bearded chin.
"What did you ask the others?" Alexa asked, curious.
"Oh, the usual; their childhood, preferred weapon, skills, job oh and about their one – if they have met them of course," Ori listed nonchalantly.
"One?" Alexa asked, confused at the term. She had never heard of it.
"Every Dwarf has a one that Mahal has gifted us to love and cherish, a soulmate you may say. Not that their one is always a Dwarf per se…" Ori replied, a warmth in his eyes.
"One," Alexa softly repeated in a whisper, a forlorn expression on her face.
— Flashback begins —
"Allie?" a deep voice called out in the darkness.
"Yes?" she replied; her eyes not leaving the holo-pad before her.
"What are you doing? It's still dark out," the voice asked, shuffling around in the sheets as they forced themselves to wake up.
"Can't sleep so I'm recording the information we have collected today," Alexa said, her eyes heavy with sleep. At this, the owner of the voice looked outside at the storm and sighed. They should've known.
Pushing the sheets aside, they steadily got up and walked over to Alexa and put a calloused hand on her shoulder. The action caused Alexa to peer up at the person. Lightning flashed outside, illuminating the tired face of a slightly dishevelled man. His baby blue orbs stared deep into her green-grey ones; force she loved his eyes.
"Come back to bed. You can do that other time," the man whispered, trying and failing to stifle a yawn.
"Okay," she murmured, reluctantly looking away from his blue eyes to turn the holo-pad off.
Standing up from the chair, she turned around and stretched her arms in the air. Several pops sounded from her, causing a satisfied sigh to leave her. Before a boom sounded behind her making her jump in fright; before promptly scurrying to the bed.
Alexa leapt onto the other side of the bed beside the man and yanked at the covers until they covered her entire body. Only her head was visible, the sheets tucked under her chin. After hearing a chuckle Alexa turned towards the grinning man who had since opened his arms. Forming a grin of her own she shifted her body into his warm embrace. But not before lightly swatting his bare chest for laughing.
Resting her head on his burly chest, his arms encircled her, embracing her small frame. A hand buried itself in her auburn waves whilst his other hand ventured under her loose tunic; his fingers moved in soothing patterns across her bareback. Soothing her as the storm raged on outside the facility.
After a particularly loud boom of thunder, Alexa tensed her body and clung to the man's figure. Her breaths came in short puffs as the thunder continued. Aware of her phobia, the man pulled her closer till there was no space between them and brought his face down to her ear. Whispering sweet nothings and words of reassurance.
"It's okay. It's okay,"
"I've got you, Allie,"
"Nothing is going to hurt you," and
"I'll protect you," Left his lips in a whisper as he rubbed her back and head soothingly in an attempt to calm her.
Her breathing soon steadied and her heartbeat returned to normal causing a smile to form on the man's lips. Turning his head, he kissed her cheek softly. Before brushing his bearded cheek against her smooth one; the action earning himself a squeal – as the motion had tickled her. The force surrounded the two like a blanket, a calming warmth engulfing them.
"Goodnight Allie," the man whispered as he lay his head back against the pillow.
"Goodnight Ben," Alexa whispered back, snuggling further into his chest, feeling safe in his hold.
— End of Flashback —
"Alexa? Alexa?" Ori said, waving his hand frantically in her face. A worried expression etched on his face.
"Oh, sorry Ori. Got lost in thought," Alexa sniffed lightly, tugging at the ends of her tunic.
"What was that you wanted to ask me?" she continued, the flashes of her memory fading as she forced herself back to the present.
"About your missions were there any interesting things that happened that I can record?" he asked. His question rose a sad smile on her lips.
She stared at Ori for a second or two. Thinking. Lots of things had happened and gone wrong on her missions. She scraped her memory for a funny one – apart from a handful of missions with her Master when she was a Padawan she was drawing a blank. Her missions had taken a swift turn during the Clone Wars, being a General and all; she didn't have many opportunities to have fun.
"Hmm… Well, there was the time that I was once chained to a pillar in an execution arena," Alexa remarked after thinking for a few seconds.
"What?" Ori choked, his brown eyes wide with curiosity and a flicker of fear.
"Oh, that's nothing. I've been in worse positions," Alexa said, laughing off Ori's caution. Ori sat there, staring intently at the chuckling woman with the quill in hand. Ready to write.
"How did that happen?" Ori asked; not missing the way Alexa's eyes briefly glazed over as she inhaled sharply.
"Just before the Clone Wars began, me and... An associate of mine followed this bounty hunter called Jango Fett to a desert planet called Geonosis. Anyway, after being captured and held in force binding cuffs we were led out to four pillars and were chained up. Not too soon after another two of my associates were chained to the remaining two. Then Count Dooku, a Sith Lord, released three creatures to kill us. Lucky me got the Acklay, always had the worst luck..." Alexa mumbled.
"Acklay?" Ori asked, curious.
"Oh, they are a mix of crustacean and reptile," Alexa said nonchalantly as if common knowledge.
After noticing Ori's puzzled expression, Alexa mentally slapped herself. Momentarily forgetting where she was and asked for his book and quill– which Ori hesitantly handed over.
"They are massive green creatures; about the size of this oak tree here. They are very deadly as they can sense the body electricity of its victims and are protected by a hard shell on its back making it very hard to kill - without dying first of course," Alexa added as she attempted to draw the creature from memory on a blank piece of parchment in Ori's book.
"They have three eyes and six skin covered claws with grabbling hands, kind of like this," Alexa said pointing at her drawing to a quickly paling Ori.
"If their sharp teeth don't bite your head off their claws would pierce through your hind like a spear – but much bigger and thicker. They also let out loud shrills that can make your ears bleed," Alexa said, calmly as if she wasn't talking about a deadly carnivorous monster. She stared at a deadly pale Ori who looked as if he were about to faint.
"You don't have those?" Alexa asked
"N-no-no, we-we don-don't" Ori stuttered,
"Well they are repulsive," Alexa said, handing a shaking Ori back his book and quill.
"So… anything else you want to ask?"
"No-no that's enough for today," Ori stammered, unable to peel his brown eyes away from the scary drawing.
