R2-D2106…Thanks for reading….

Chapter 7

Ros Horn's Apartment

The blaring of the door buzzer brought Ros reluctantly out of a dream that he really wanted to see through to the end. It buzzed again and he forced an eye open to look at the chrono—0530 blinked mockingly at him.

The blasted buzzer sounded again. Kriff!

There was only one person in the galaxy that insistent.

He whipped the dark sheet off his lanky frame and sat up. Dressed in only a white tee-shirt and dark green CorSec issued gym shorts, he made his way out of his bedroom, through the messy living room, and to the door. Scrubbing his hand over his stubbly face, he opened the door.

Scerra stood there with her finger poised over the buzzer. "If you hit that vapin' thing one more time, I'm not responsible for what I'll do to you."

She dropped her hand and shrugged. Smiling innocently, she said, "I'm sorry, I know how hard it is for you to get out of bed."

He moved out of the way and let her enter, the door swooshing closed behind her. He turned and said dryly, "Yeah, especially when I only got there three hours ago."

For about a second she actually looked contrite. But then she smiled that mischievous grin and he knew he was going to regret something.

"Hot date?"

He had to smile, she just opened herself up and she didn't realize it at first. When she did, she instantly lost the grin and looked away. "Not as hot as yours, I'm afraid. I'm glad that I wasn't a moment later the other day."

Her blush was nearly as dark as her hair. "I'm glad that you weren't a minute later either. Sweet Force, I never was so embarrassed in my life. Talking about sex with you is one thing, but being caught just shy of the act is quite another."

"Yeah," he swallowed and turned away. The last thing he wanted to think about right now was the sight of her nearly undressed in the arms of another man. He sobered then and said, "Scerra, what's going on?"

She didn't look at him, but she moved over to the worn couch and sat down. On the low table before was Ros's collection of holomags—Horticulturist Monthly, Criminal Justice Today, Galaxy Sports. She made a show of thumbing through them.

Ros sat down on the chair across from her, leaning over his knees with hands clasped together. He waited, knowing she'd eventually talk or she wouldn't be here at this unnatural hour to begin with. He could guess it had to do with Nejaa. He had left for Alderaan yesterday afternoon to return the stolen painting back to the royal family.

Finally, she held up a plant holomag datachip and asked, "So, how's the plant hobby going?"

"Fine. I was studying for an exam that I have tonight. That's why I was up late," Ros answered. He had always loved plants. His grandmother had a beautiful garden full of flowers. He had been taking horticultural and botany classes at the university for the past three years. He would never give up CorSec, but his dream was to someday be able to develop his own hybrids.

"Oh…" she laid the disk down and took a deep breath. Sitting back on the old couch she closed her eyes and softly said, "I'm in love with him."

Ros nodded even though she wasn't looking at him. "I figured that much. You wouldn't sleep with him if you weren't."

She met his gaze then and he went on to add, "Question is what does the good Jedi Master feel for you?"

She sat up and sighed. "He loves me."

"I thought they couldn't love."

"They aren't supposed to," she agreed as she stood up and moved over to the apartment's only window. She gently touched a delicate sky blue flower of one of Ros's many plants that somehow he kept alive in the small, windowless apartment. "This is pretty…"

"Yeah, I'm glad that I got it to bloom. It's my first hybrid." He watched her as she gave the plant more attention than his flowers usually commanded from her. "But you haven't really answered my question."

As she continued to look at the flower and her finger twirled in a curl by her ear, she responded quietly, "But he does. Says that it's not uncommon actually. His great-grandfather was a Jedi and his grandfather before him." She turned and looked at Ros, pausing as if she was trying to decide if she wanted to tell him something. He could always tell when she was indecisive. She was playing with a lock of her hair. "Ros, if I tell you something you have to promise never to say anything to anyone else."

He sat up and watched her as she sat before him again on the couch. "You know I would never tell anyone anything you tell me. You know that, Scerra." She nodded and he still could see the indecision in her green eyes.

Kriff, what the hells did that Jedi do to her?

He liked Nejaa, it was hard not to, but he couldn't help the bit of jealousy that suddenly pinched his heart. He and Scerra had always been close. So much so, that she asked him about what to expect for her first time with a boy and he was honest with her. She was only seventeen and the boy in question was her first love. It about broke his heart to listen to her talk about Dak Karlson in that girly, half-worshiping way for almost a year. Then her dad was killed and Dak turned out to be an idiot without a stitch of compassion. She no longer wanted to give him what he wanted and he suddenly had no time for her or her overwhelming grief. Ros was there for her when she was twenty, in college, and thought she was pregnant to another man who wasn't worth her time. He had been the one who held her hand through the medical appointment that relieved them both when the blood test confirmed that she wasn't. No one even knew about that. He knew her deepest, darkest secrets. Now that she was suddenly unsure about telling him anything concerning Nejaa Halcyon, it frightened him. Had he been replaced?

"I know, Rostek," she quietly responded. "It's just…Oh, kriff!" She ran her hand through her hair. And Ros was instantly on alert. First, she called him by his full name, second she swore, another thing she never did. Then she looked up at him with that determined half-frown and declared, "Nejaa and I are getting married when he comes back from Coruscant."

Ros sat back stunned. "Married? But…but…"

"Yes, married. But you have to promise never to tell anyone, Ros. Do you promise?"

Shaking his head, he was still grasping what she was telling him. He wasn't sure if it was because of the sudden sharp ache in his heart, or the fact that he didn't think it was possible. "Wait…I thought Jedi couldn't get married. Is he quitting the Jedi? I didn't think that was possible either."

She sat on the edge of the couch as if she was ready to bolt. "Ros, promise me."

He stared at her. Nodding slowly, he agreed, "I promise."

She took a deep breath and sat back more comfortably into the sofa. "No, Nejaa isn't quitting the Jedi. I won't let him. I know he'd be miserable if he did. But we can't live without each other either. I know it won't be easy. I may go years without seeing him if the Jedi Council decides to pull him from Corellia, but I'm willing to take that chance. I was willing to be his lover, but he wants to marry me. Ros, I love him so much and he did this thing and now we're bonded. I don't know how to describe it. But it's like he's a part of me and I'm a part of him. Even now, with him on his way to Alderaan, I can tell he's thinking about me."

Ros watched her green eyes light up as she spoke of the Jedi. She was so in love and so happy that suddenly Ros couldn't begrudge her happiness. He never could. He would do anything to see her happy, including keeping his truest, deepest feelings from her.

She stood up, suddenly restless as she went on, "Thing is marriage is forbidden for Jedi, but if we do it in secret no one will ever have to know." She peered at him intensely, seriously. "Ros, I'm only telling you and Mom. That's it. No one, not even the Callowins or Yarlett can know that Nejaa Halcyon is more than a friend to me; no one can even suspect that he's my lover. It would be too close to the truth."

Ros swallowed hard and pointedly asked, "What can happen if it gets out? It's damned hard to keep that kind of secret for a lifetime, Scerra."

"I know. But it has to stay secret. As for what can happen, at the very least, we could be criticized and looked down upon by society and the Jedi. At worst, Nejaa could be asked to make a choice between the Jedi or me. I know he'd choose me, but he'd be miserable if it came to that. So, I can't take that chance, ever."

Ros wasn't sure that either Nejaa or Scerra had really thought this thing through. He hoped to all the hells of Corellia it wasn't a proposal made in that desperate heat of passion and that Nejaa would come to regret it before he got back to Corellia. He'd kill the Jedi with his bare hands if he hurt Scerra by taking it back, despite the fact that the hardest thing he'd ever have to do was watch her marry another man.

"Scerra, you know I would never jeopardize your happiness. I'll do anything to make sure it never comes out. I just hope that you aren't making a mistake." He stood up and moved to gently take her into his arms. He hugged her, taking in the sweet scent of the perfume she always wore. It was a fragrance that he had always associated with her. He rested his chin on top of her head and just held on. He would always love her, he knew that. It was a complicated love that he didn't even understand. She was his best friend, most trusted confidante, the sister he never had. But there were times when he wanted nothing more than to kiss her breathless, even though he knew that she never, ever would think of him that way. Nor would he ever want to chance ruining their relationship with letting her know how he dreamt only of her. That when he dated, which was becoming rarer and rarer, he looked for women who could remind him of her, hoping that he could fall in love with them because they were so much like her. He was looking for Scerra, knowing deep down he'd never find her. There was a time over the past year, he thought she'd come to love him. However the fact that she was now in love with another man proved that the thought never crossed her mind. "You've only known him for six weeks, Scerra."

She pulled away and looked up at him, but she didn't move totally from his embrace. "I knew I loved him the moment I saw him, Ros. I've never felt like this for anyone. Not even Dak Karlson." That was saying something. Scerra always measured her relationships with the feelings she had felt for Dak. "In fact, I never even compared the two, because from the beginning I felt more for Nejaa than I ever felt for Dak." She turned out of his arms and he willingly let her go. "I just wanted to tell you first."

He smiled. Of course, she'd tell him first, he thought, she told him everything. "Well, that's something."

"Ros," she gazed up at him so tenderly, it was that look that would have him do anything for her, "I'm not naïve enough to think this will be easy. Please never stop being here for me. Okay?"

He stepped closer and took her into his embrace again, holding tight, he closed his eyes and said without a moment's second thought, "I'll never want to be anywhere else. I love you, Scerra."

She looked up and smiled at him, open and loyal. Just as a sister would, he imagined. "I love you, too."

xxx

Jedi Temple, Coruscant

Nejaa made his way through the Room of a Thousand Fountains. He'd been back at the Temple for three days. His meeting with the Council was later that afternoon. He had made it a point to avoid most of the other Jedi who knew him, but he knew that was impossible for the whole time he'd be here. It was going to be an extremely long month.

Finding a spot on a mat of mossy grass beside one of the smaller fountains, he sat to meditate. He had a lot the think about and amazingly it wasn't only Scerra or the incredible promise he made to her. Though, he could hardly keep his mind off the last few days he spent with her.

"When I get back, I want to marry you," he told her as he held her against his chest. He'd be leaving in less than two hours with the painting.

She leaned over him, pressing her body to his. He was beginning to wonder if he would ever be able to leave her bed to go anywhere. She was just too damned sexy. As if she knew what he was thinking, she grinned wickedly, "Oh, I think you've had quite enough, Master Halcyon."

"Never."

"Yep, besides, I think it's time we both take a shower." She wrinkled her nose and he laughed.

"Well, I suppose that's telling me. But can we do it together. You know, save time and water and all that."

She met his all too innocently expectant expression and laughed. "You've never done that before, have you? Made love in the shower?"

"Nope. But I plan on making up for it, trust me."

"I'm sure you will." She got out of the bed and he followed her into the refresher, holding her hand. As she turned on the spray, letting it get warm, she turned and said, "About the wedding, I'll make the arrangements. Tyrena has always been known for a place of fast, no-questions-asked marriages. I think Gold Beach would be perfect."

He shook the memory of their last time out of his mind. The last thing he needed was for it to leak out and be picked up by one of the several other Jedi meditating in the enchanting indoor garden.

He sighed and instead tried to focus on his other problem. He knew the Council wanted him to take a Padawan, but that was impossible now, at least, until he and Scerra figured out just how being secretly married was going to work. He really doubted that out of over ten thousand Jedi, his was a novel idea. Surely, there were others who were living the same type of life he and Scerra were contemplating entering. But that was the problem; he couldn't ask even those who he could possibly suspect. The Jedi that spent most of their life out on the Outer Rim, away from the Core and the watchful eyes of the Jedi Council. The ones who were known for their string of lovers and the ones who just disappeared for a while; that, however, usually only happened to the females.

He only hoped that he could hide his feelings, which was the one thing he never was good at. His Master used to tell him that he wore his heart on his sleeve. Well, he'd soon have to figure out how not to do that. One thing was for sure, Scerra was right about one thing. He'd have left the Order for her, but he'd always miss it. He only hoped he was able to figure out how to keep the two very distinctly different lives from colliding someday. And hoped to the Hells of Corellia that if it happened he could figure what to do then.