FROM THE ASHES

We return to see if Saw and Thias have gotten themselves burnt to a crisp. -LS

...

To Dalla's relief, Thias Blackwell isn't inside the flaming Rash Estate. Instead, he's on the street with Saw and General Tandin, and when he sees her and Lux coming he takes front and center.

"This," he announces, gesturing to the inferno behind him, "Is not my fault."

…

Indeed it isn't Thias' fault, as Tandin and Saw explain while the firefighters work on containing the blaze. The fire started as a simple method to get rid of the Rashes' personal documents: utility bills, junk messages, things like that.

"And then some idiots decided to screw around with lighter fluid," Saw snaps. Dalla almost jumps when he speaks; it's the first time she's heard him talk since Steela died.

"I was not one of them," Thias says quickly.

"The burning turned into a frenzy. People were burning anything they could, not just documents," Tandin explains. "They were spraying the lighter fluid every which way and some of it got on the carpet."

"So the carpet catches on fire," Saw continues. "From that the drapes get lit, and by the time anyone's smart enough to get one of us the whole thing was out of control."

"Is anyone else inside?" Lux asks.

Tandin shakes his head. "I checked, and we're all accounted for."

"Sort of a blessing," Saw grumbles. "The universe torching them away for us."

"General, do you think they can put out the fire?" Dalla asks.

Thias gapes. "Do you want them to?"

"House Rash might deserve it, but the neighbors don't."

Tandin shakes his head. "From the looks of this fire, their best course of action is to contain it and let it burn out."

"That works, I guess," Lux says. "We won't have to worry about what to do with the contents."

The contents. All of a sudden Dalla remembers what they were storing in the Rash Estate. "General, may I speak to you privately? My father wanted me to tell you something and said it was sensitive."

Tandin's BS detector must be flashing, but he just nods and steps off to the side, out of the others' earshot.

"Did you find something in the palace that I need to know about?" he asks once they're far enough away.

"No. It's about Rash's body. Dendup told you...you know we were keeping his body in the estate?"

Tandin checks over his shoulder to make sure no one can overhear them. "I laid him out myself."

Dalla looks up at the smoke rising into the sky toward Dxun. Cremation is anathema to Onderonians for that very reason; no one wants the dead to go up to the demon moon at the mercy of the black magic hosted there. "When this burns out, we need to search for his remains. Do you know of any men who could be trusted to keep this quiet?"

"A few," Tandin considers. "But it'll take more than them to search a site this large. You'll need some of your own people."

"Aye." She drops her voice to a whisper. "But within some limits. I don't think it's a good idea to tell them who it is." She may have feared Sanjay Rash and she may have hated him, but she will not have him desecrated. Salt gods, I'm going to have to check in the mirror and make sure I'm not turning into my father on the outside too.

Tandin nods agreement. "I'll simply tell mine it's someone who died during the siege. That's all they need to know."

"Thank you, General." She changes the subject. "I've been saying that a lot lately. Have you considered what you might like?"

"I have an idea, but I'd still like more time to think on it."

"Of course. Just let me or my father know when you decide."

"I will," he promises and checks back on the blaze behind them. "When the fire burns down, I'll gather my men to search for the body."

…

Shara had seen the billowing black clouds rising as she flew with her children and Cade and the pilot General Tandin had hired for them to fly the family size planet hopper to Iziz. After she had distractedly hugged her husband and her eldest son, she set out on a walk to the place where the smoke was still curling into the sky.

She knew the area. She took the market road that she had travelled down so many times making fruit deliveries. It was unrecognizable now. She had hoped that the time it took on foot might prepare her for the sight of the smoldering ruin but she was sadly wrong.

Part of the wall had come down in the spot where she used to park her cart in the shade. She saw a bit of iron sticking up through the rubble, the picket to which she had sometimes tied Sophia's lead.

She lifted the hem of her skirt as she stepped over the threshold. Then her foot caught on something and she nearly tripped. She bent down to see what it was. She reached out her hand to pick up the twisted piece of black metal and then immediately dropped it again when it burnt her hand. It was the serpent that had once hung on the door and it had just as surely bitten her as if it had been the real living thing.

The hearth of the old kitchen fire was one of the few things still standing, she noticed as she continued further. She was now too assaulted with memories to care much about her long skirt trailing in the ash. And then she saw the the bottom couple of treads of the back stairs. She went and sat and then the dam that had held back her tears burst.

It was here she had sat with Sanjay the first time he had kissed her. It was here a year later that Mel had caught them and realized that Shara the dalgos rider was also Shara the fruit seller's daughter. It was Mel who had then suggested, "How about Shara my sister-in-law?"

It must have been her sobbing that alerted Dalla of her presence. "Aunt Shara?" The girl rushed over to her. "I didn't know you had arrived. Is Cade here? All the cousins?"

Shara wiped at her telltale tears, leaving streaks of black soot across her cheeks. "They're at the Bonteris'. They're fine."

"Are you alright?" Dalla asked her.

Although she nodded shakily, Shara looked anything but alright. "I lived here. It was my home for a year."

"Aunt Shara, you said he didn't love you…" her niece began hesitantly. "But back at the palace we found…"

"His sketchbook?" She asked. "He liked drawing. He was quite good."

"Something like that." Dalla didn't expound on the quantity of artwork.

"He did… love me, in his own way. It was me." Shara sobbed. "I was the one who left. I was the one who broke our vows."

Dalla didn't know how to respond to that but her aunt continued brokenly.

"I told your uncle when we met that I should just come back here, that I shouldn't get your family involved." She pulled the younger woman into a frantic embrace. "I'm so sorry Dalla. All of this is my fault. If I had stayed with him he never would have had reason to…"

"But then you would have never married Uncle Jamos." Dalla countered. "Kason and Emoth and… they would have never been born…" She was at a loss how to help this woman who had always been a rock for their family.

And then a deep voice said, "She's in shock." And someone was shoving past the small group of concerned or just plain curious onlookers.

Shara looked up blearily when he arrived. "Geb?"

"No ma'am, it's Saw." He knelt in front of her.

"Oh Sawyer!" She threw herself at him and they hugged each other tightly in their shared grief. "Steela… I'm so sorry. I held her when she was a baby. I should have kept better in touch. I should have been here for you both when your parents… Edda was so good to me."

"Steela was strong like Momma." He whispered back to her and then told Dalla. "I'll take her back to Bonteri's."

Dalla nodded.

Just then a fourth person pushed their way up to their little group. The militiaman gave Shara a polite smile through his bushy mustache. "Shara, it's good to see you. I trust my pilot delivered you and your children to Iziz safely?"

Shara nodded and wiped her nose with her sleeve. "Thank you, Grigori. You were always at the Summer Fete with us and I knew you were family, but I didn't...I never dreamed you would have to do what you did."

"I would do it again in a heartbeat," Tandin assured her and raised a bushy eyebrow at Saw and Dalla.

"She's in shock," Saw explained, taking Shara's arm. "I was just taking her back to Bonteri's, if you wanted to tag along."

"I can't." Tandin lowered his voice and spoke mostly to Dalla. "My men just recovered a set of human remains. We're still looking for the rest of the bones, but I wanted to let you know we'd found him."

Saw must have known who "he" was. "How can you be sure? It might be some squatter we hadn't found yet or someone who wandered in and got trapped."

Tandin pulled something out of his pocket. "We found this next to the remains. It must have been in his pocket when the fire started."

Shara watched as he held out a necklace. It may have been charred and covered in soot, but she immediately recognized the rubies made to look like seven writhing snake heads. She'd worn it clasped around her neck for a year and she'd watched Sanjay fasten it around Dalla's while her niece was barely conscious enough to open her eyes. He'd centered the pendants around her breastbone with a smile when she'd knocked it aside on those few happy days she spent working in her garden, and he'd straightened it on Dalla while he rubbed her back to quiet her and whispered something the holocams didn't pick up. Shara wouldn't have been able to hear it anyway, Cade was screaming so loud.

Dalla took a half step back like the snake head pendants would spring to life and sink their fangs into her. "So that's where it was," she whispered.

"This is rightfully yours, Shara." Tandin extended the necklace to her. "I already know Dalla doesn't want it, and it was originally meant for you. I'm not a jeweler, but it's worth quite a sum."

Shara stared at the necklace, still half in shock, and then shook her head.

"I don't want it," she said. "Whenever I wore it, it looked like my throat had been cut."

Tandin wasn't expecting that. "Very well. In that case, what would you have us do with it?"

After a moment of thought, Shara took the necklace from him and placed it in Saw's hand.

"You take it," she said. "Sell it offworld, and do something good with the credits. I think that's the best we can do."

Saw blinked, and then nodded and put the necklace back in his own pocket. "I think so too, ma'am. We can work on it when we get back to Bonteri's. We just need to get Lux and Thias."

The last bit was easier done than said. Lux and Thias made their way over to the cluster along with a new person, a young Togruta with a bandaged shoulder.

Dalla raised an eyebrow when she saw her. "Ahsoka?"

"Are you surprised?" Ahsoka asked, flashing a smile that instantly reminded Shara of Melaana.

"Yes, we are," Lux said. "Ahsoka, you're supposed to be back at my home, resting."

"Trust me, Lux. That house is no longer restful."

"How so?"

"Lux?" Shara spoke up and with the speed of light crushed the young man into a hug. "Lux Bonteri, of course! You look just like your father."

Lux turned bright red and patted her back. "Er, nice to meet you, Mrs. Blackwell."

"You call me Aunt Shara," she ordered and squeezed him. "Oh, I haven't seen you since you were a baby! How do you know who I am?"

Lux sputtered. "I, uh, I saw…" I saw things that I can never unsee. He met Dalla's eyes over Shara's shoulder and stared at her. She shook her head. "Dalla told me."

"Of course," Shara released him. "Well, we have a lot of catching up to do. And I suppose we can't go to Bonteri Estate without you."

…

Dalla already knows what Ahsoka meant by "it's no longer restful." Any place holding more than a few of her family members is bound to descend into chaos. With all of House Blackwell there, Bonteri Estate doesn't stand a chance. They can hear the chaos unfolding even before they clear the property line.

"Uncle Marlon, can I use your crutches?" A little boy asks excitedly.

"No one is allowed to use Uncle Marlon's crutches except Uncle Marlon!" Jamos announces for what's probably the tenth time.

"Even just down the hall?"

"Yes Arkon, even just down the hall. Marlon, do not tell him otherwise."

Marlon apparently has other concerns. "Jamos, runner!" There's a scuffle and then he speaks again. "Lana Quay, you need to go easier on your Uncle Marlon here."

"Wan' go out!"

"I know, but there's no one to take you. Let's look at holos."

As Dalla's little group makes its way to the front door she spots Cade and Emoth at the front of the house tinkering with the garden hose, for reasons she'd rather not know. But then again, she doesn't much care about their reasons; she's over Dxun to see her baby brother again. "Cade!"

Thias jockeys past Aunt Shara and Saw to her side. "Cade?"

Cade turns around and his face screws up with emotion when he sees his brother and sister. He drops the hose and runs for them full tilt and Dalla and Thias open their arms in anticipation of the group hug. "Cade!"

Instead of hugging them, Cade stomps on Dalla's foot and then punches Thias in the gut.

"You two suck!" He screams.

Dalla instinctively grabs her foot, hopping around on the other while Thias tries to get his wind back. "What?"

But Cade is only getting started. "'We'll always be there for you, Cade.' 'We're never going to leave you all alone, Cade,'" he says in a high-pitched mockery of their voices. "Well, you lied! You left me all alone at home so you could come down here and join the resistance."

Thias manages to suck some air. "It's not like we were on vacation, Cade."

Cade ignores him. "I thought Rash got you! I thought you were dead! You're the worst brother and sister ever!"

"Cade!" Dalla silences him. "Cade, I'm sorry. We did what we had to do." Except for Thias, who was just being reckless. "But there wasn't a day we didn't worry about you. We were so scared Rash would send someone after you -"

"Then why didn't you tell me where you were? I thought he was hurting you, and all Emoth and I could do was send him stupid mugs!" The little boy's shaking with rage.

"Okay, we suck," Dalla cuts back in. "We're the worst. We're just awful."

"But can you cut us some slack on it?" Thias asks and sticks out a fist.

Cade glares at them a moment longer and then bumps Thias' fist with his own. "Maybe," he pouts and then accepts his brother's hug.

"That's more like it," Thias pats Cade's back. "I'm glad you're okay, little brother."

"Me too." Cade nods and sticks his arm out for Dalla to complete the group hug. He doesn't have to ask her twice. "And I'm glad you're not Dalla Rash."

She kisses the top of his head. "It just doesn't go together, does it?"

Emoth clears his throat and pushes his black hair out of his eyes. "So what am I? Fish bait?"

"Emoth Oron Blackwell." Shara fixes him with a playful glare.

"Get over here, Emoth."

Emoth does. "Missed you guys."

"Missed you too. I take it your brothers and sister are inside?" Dalla doesn't really need to ask.

"We can leave 'em."

"No, we can't." Shara points to Tandin. "We have a new cousin to introduce to everyone, and I'm sure your brothers and sister want to see these two again."

Lux walks ahead and punches in the door code to admit them.

…

"Dawa! Tias!"

A tiny shape races down the hall, her little arms held out to the sides as she zooms at top speed.

Dalla drops to a knee and catches the little girl as she runs at her. "Hi there, Lana!"

"You better!" Her little cousin grins with delight. "Momma an' Daddy say you sick."

"Aye, I'm better." She tickles Lana and turns her to see the others. "So is Thias."

A little procession forms at the end of the hallway, led by the two missing members of the Blackwell brood, Cornel and Arkon.

"Corns! Ark!" Thias waves them over.

"And Kason. We're having a reunion, aren't we Lana?" She asks.

"Well, everyone but Portia," Kason says. "Once we get back, it'll be a complete reunion."

Jamos puts a hand on Kase's shoulder. "Kason, while you were gone… Portia, she was old, and she went on to the salt gods' halls for Norcogs."

Kason blinks. "W-what?"

"We got a new puppy." Jamos can't dwell on sadness for long. "Lana named him Kasey, after you! Maris and Nessa are watching him while we're gone."

Tandin perks up. "Maris? Maris, the pubkeep?"

"The very one," Shara confirms and winks at him. "Kids, I'd like you to meet your cousin General Grigori Tandin. He helped Dalla, Thias, and Kason get better."

Tandin waves at the children. "You all look just like your momma."

Jamos butts in. "Some of them do take after me."

"Especially your Emoth," Tandin agrees.

"And this is Lux Bonteri. He was kind enough to let us stay here, so we all need to say thank you…"

"Thank you!"

"You're all very welcome," Lux shrugs. "It would be lonely if I was by myself in this big house."

Little Lana flashes him a smile with her half-complete set of teeth while Shara introduces the remaining members of their party. "You all remember Ahsoka, and this here is Sawyer. I was friends with his momma and dad."

"Sawyer?" Arkon brightens and makes his way to Saw's side. "My middle name is Sawyer!"

"It's actually Saw," Saw grumbles. If they were here under any other circumstances than arranging Steela's funeral, Lux and Dalla would elbow him.

Arkon either doesn't hear or doesn't care. "Cool!"

Saw shrugs to that. "It was nice meeting you all. I'm gonna go to my room and -." He swallows hard. "And make arrangements."

…

It's been a monster of a last few weeks, and Jamos has learned not to expect much. A complete and utter victory? Too much. His children to all be in the same place for more than thirty standard minutes? Too much. Sanjay Rash to possess both hearing organs and enough decency to not go after a girl young enough to be his daughter after hearing nothing but "no"? Apparently, too much.

However, he felt he could safely bet on having some time alone with his wife after she flew down with all the kids. Unfortunately, that also seems like too much. If he didn't know better, he'd say Shara's avoiding him. Just take the first time this morning, when he'd given her his best seduction gaze and she said she needed to help Saw make funeral arrangements.

Okay, so that's a valid excuse. It had taken Lux, Shara, Dalla, and King Dendup to set up Steela's funeral; Saw was so upset all he could do was sit on the couch and answer questions while working on a drink.

However, Shara's excuse of "I have to help wash the dishes" when confronted with Jamos leaning against the door with a rose between his teeth doesn't sit well with him.

Maybe their argument over the comm was more serious than he thought. Maybe it's just this place and all the memories of Rash (Jamos prefers to think of him as the Hutt Spawn) weighing on her.

But now he can get to the root of the problem. All the arrangements are made. All the chores are done. His older children are watching a holo with Marlon and King Dendup. Arkon and Lana are with Saw, who's warmed up to his shadow considerably whenever the baby is around. The last Jamos heard, the young man was telling them that they can call him Uncle Saw - because he and Dalla were married. Jamos left when Dalla threw a pillow at Saw's head.

He hears Shara punching in the door code and shakes his head to clear it. "Everyone tucked in?"

"Most of them," Shara avoids his gaze and rifles through her suitcase looking for something or other. "Arkon and Lana are still with Saw and Dalla."

"Do we need to go censor Saw and Dalla?" Jamos remembers those two bantering back at base camp, and he doesn't want his kids repeating much of it.

"They'll censor themselves with the little ones."

Okay, enough beating around the bush. "Shar? Is there something you want to tell me?"

Shara rolls her eyes. "I'm not pregnant again, Jamos."

"No, not that. I can tell something's upsetting you. What's wrong? Was it something I did?"

"You? No! It's been a stressful last couple of weeks, and I don't think any of us are really in sorts."

"I agree." He takes a few steps closer and reaches out to put a comforting hand on her shoulder. "I just have a feeling it's more than that."

"I don't want any more!" Shara blurts out.

It takes a second for that to sink in for Jamos. "You don't want any more kids?"

"I can't have any more babies to worry about. I was so worried about Kason and so afraid he'd send someone after the rest of them. The way he looked at Lana..."

"He saw our baby girl." If Sanjay Rash wasn't already dead, Jamos would go kill him. It was disgusting enough he tried to marry Dalla as young as she is, but the thought of Sanjay looking at his baby girl makes Jamos sick as well as enraged. He must be getting a taste of what Marlon went through watching the execution.

"Sanjay placed a comm to the Hold and Lana ran ahead and answered thinking it was you," Shara explains. "He saw the ships go down and thought Dalla had died. I confronted him, and he apologized. To me, to Kason, to Dalla, and to the Harkons. I - we had such a close call this time, with Dalla. This might not have been her choice but what if next time, it is? I can't let her repeat the mistakes I made. And then Emoth and Cade are doing salt gods know what, and I need to keep an eye on Cornel and his issues and on top of all that, Lana apparently has no fear of speeder traffic!" Shara paces and twists her hands in agitation. "I should have been there for Sawyer and Steela when their parents died and I can't even imagine leaving poor Lux alone when we go back to the Hold. And then there's your brother! I know he's never fully gotten over losing Lana. And Thias tries to joke and smile but he and Miranda never even had a chance... And you..."

She turns to face Jamos with silent tears streaming down her cheeks. "Oh Jamos, I can't thank the salt gods enough for sparing your life. I don't know what I would do without you! But I just... I don't have the strength to worry about another baby!"

Jamos relaxes immensely. "Salt gods, Shar, if that's what this is about, I'll go get snipped tomorrow! But sweetheart, you are not going through this alone. I'm right here with you, always!"

She wipes the tears from her eyes.

"I mean, I did make a vow." He holds out his arms as if signalling he doesn't bear weapons and then shrugs. "And I mostly meant it."

His wife strides across the room, the nonnegotiable northern woman look on her face.

"Oh, you meant it," she says and reaches up to stroke his beard. "After six proposals, you meant it."

…

Downstairs, Dalla gives Saw a raised eyebrow from the opposite end of the couch.

"So, what gives?" he asks.

"You're corrupting my cousins with your marriage story, that's what gives."

"Aw, come on." He goes for a bottle of juma on the counter and pours himself a glass. "It's a good story, and little Lana's face was just priceless. Asking if we had a 'big big wedding'."

"You told her we had a wedding in a kitchen. Saw, we can't let that get out! I don't think you understand -."

"I don't think you get that I need to have something good right now." Saw knocks back his juma in one go. "Even if it is just making a little girl happy for a while. I've got to do something to keep my mind off what happened on that cliff." And then he leans back against the couch valiantly fighting another breakdown.

Oh, salt gods. Dalla scoots toward him and places a hand on the couch between them. With Saw, who's ever really sure if he wants to be touched? "I'm sorry."

He doesn't hear her. "Every day, I swear this can't be happening. I keep thinking she's going to walk around the corner and give me flak for that kitchen thing. Or for going to the palace like an idiot. Or for leaving my caf cup in the sink again." He grabs the couch cushions for dear life and catches Dalla's hand. "And the next second I'm deciding what music to play at her funeral."

"It is kind of surreal." She doesn't dare talk about Steela; fearing she'll tip Saw over the edge. "When my mom died, I called out for her all the time. But in a few weeks, it straightens out."

"I don't want it to straighten out." He doubles over and crushes Dalla's hand in his grip. "Like this, there are moments I don't have to think about it."

Not going to lie Saw, I live for the moments I don't have to think about it either, when hearing the intro to Miranda's favorite holo show doesn't open a pit in my stomach or when I think about taking Steela sailing up north. The moments we can pretend it didn't happen.

She doesn't get a chance to say that even if she wanted to: a sob tears from Saw's throat and she instinctively wraps him in a hug.

"Saw, I may not be your wife but I'm your friend," she swears. "And I'm not going anywhere."

…

Aww, it's so sad. But at least there's some happiness coming your way in DK's next chapter. Two new Blackwells!