Rey debated with herself about starting over at the first tome, after the five year hiatus in her studying, or moving on to the next.
She had a fairly decent grasp of what she had read already, she figured, and her curiousity had been reignited when she discovered that the next text to be read was the one Ko'da had recommended she save for last among the Halcyon Histories. iThe Fall of the Halcyon Order/i had been written by Je'di himself, and Rey was anxious to read it.
But, on the other hand, it had been five years and she only vaguely recalled what the histories had actually said.
'Just read whatever feels right to you.' Ben advised while guiding Cal through a field of oncoming TIE fighters in a sim based loosely on the Battle of Souls.
'I think maybe we understand them well enough.' Rey thought. 'But I know it took so long to read the previous four tomes that I don't want to waste all that time again before finding out what went wrong.'
'You can always crossreference as you read the new book.' He thought casually as he blew up a pair of TIEs that were on Cal's tail in the sim.
Wordlessly she agreed with that and tapped a spot in the air in front of her to open the final Halcyon tome. It took her only two paragraphs to understand that this book was in fact a diary, not a history... the diary of Je'di, the founder of the Jedi Order who had been a Halcyon. She wondered briefly how the Aaronians had acquired such an intimate piece of Je'di's life.
Rey whiled away several hours reading entry after entry, it started off with basically reports about daily activities, meditations, visions… but by the fourtieth entry Rey noticed a shift in the tone of the writing. Je'di began to add his personal feelings about the things he was experiencing, not just what he did or saw, but how he felt as well.
Rey frowned.
Je'di was clearly unhappy at his fellow Halcyons for refusing to stand up against a tyrranical new ruler who had pulled off a nearly bloodless coup within the galactic government.
As his frustrations had grown, so too had his determination to end the new dictator's brutal regime.
Rey almost felt as if she were inside Je'di's mind as his writing shifted to disturbing snippets of hateful rhetoric aimed at the new Emperor.
She could almost feel his mind unravelling as she read of his increasingly desperate attempts to get the Halcyon Order to come to the aid of a galaxy suffering under the greed and excess of a leader who cared nothing for anything but his own pleasures and enrichment.
Her heart twinged while reading his obviously pained entries detailing a great famine that claimed millions of lives on a daily basis. It hadn't been a famine caused by lack of resources, but instead by massive taxes on anything edible or drinkable… apparently the new Emperor had literally taxed half the galaxy into starvation.
Chills broke out on Rey's skin as entry after entry descended into ever more heinous and murderous thoughts toward the Emperor. It occured to her that she was reading the Darkside's seduction of Je'di.
She was stunned by that realization so much that she had to break off from reading to ponder that.
'The Jedi Order was founded by a Darksider?' Ben's voice crept into her mind.
'I'm not yet halfway through, but… it appears that he may have become unbalanced by his hatred for this new ruler.' She thought while her mind whirled with questions about the implications of that fact.
'Well, you can read more about that after the kids are down.' He suggested. 'It's almost time for Rada to finish up their tutoring for the day.'
Rada was the name of the Twi'lek governess they'd hired to help with the girls after the pair had learned to walk. She had been a primary education teacher on her home planet, and both Rey and Ben had been thrilled to hire the softspoken pale lilac woman to teach their children basic skills like reading and math in addition to her role as assistant caregiver to the rambunctious twins.
'Meet you in the dining room.' She thought, tapping the air in front of her to shut down the terminal before removing her data viewers. She had a few minutes left before supper-time so she headed for the refresher.
The steaming water felt wonderful to her aching muscles. She hated sitting still for long, it always left her sore and tired.
Rey felt him before Ben even entered their quarters. She smiled as he slipped into her mind completely.
'That feels amazing.' He thought tiredly. 'Care for some company?'
'We only have about ten minutes, so…' She trailed off into a memory of the one time they ever showered together without making love.
'Ten minutes is doable.' he sounded less tired. 'Especially after what you did to me at lunch.'
She giggled out loud as he strode into the room stark naked and fully aroused.
"You get naked faster than anybody." She teased as he stepped into the hot spray and wrapped his arms around her.
"I have a damned good reason to." He teased back, lifting her off the floor and sliding into her the moment her legs wrapped around his waist.
Cal Shay was much more animated at supper, his bright blue eyes sparkling with excitement, a flush riding high on his cheeks as he recounted his afternoon in the simcap to Rey.
"…and then his ship blew up!" He grinned, finishing his tale.
"You blew Ben up?" Rey looked impressed as she glanced between her husband and their ward.
"Yeah!" Cal declared triumphantly. "He didn't even see it coming!"
Ben sucked his bottom lip between his teeth to supress a grin. 'It was right as you were getting into the shower.'
"Then it was time for dinner!" Cal said and took a big bite of roasted meat. "I'm gonna do it again tomorrow!"
In the weeks he'd been with them he'd been quiet and reserved, this was the first time Rey had seen the boy so happy and excited. "Well, good luck with that!" She grinned, happy to see him so excited.
"Mmm," Ben hummed then swallowed his bite. "Not tomorrow, we have to make a stop that'll take most of the day."
"We do?" Rey frowned.
"Yep." Ben said, then sipped from the steaming mug in front of his plate before continuing. "We need to speak to Ko'da..."
"We're days from Aaronia." Her frown deepened.
"Which is why we need to pick up a few things for the trip…" He eyed her pointedly.
"Oh!" She caught on. "Yes, now that you mention it, I'm running low on… cosmetics."
Ben looked at her incredulously. 'You could have at least mentioned something you actually use.' He tried very hard not to grin but failed miserably.
'I panicked!' She thought, blushing slightly.
He shook his head with a quiet chuckle while a torrent of gooey soft adoration went zinging through the Force surrounding him.
