Lia had heard of Jorec's emotional scars before, Jorec had even told her about having to see a psychologist early on in their relationship, but she had never actually experienced them like this before. She was jolted awake from a pleasant sleep by the sudden movements of the man laying next to her. They were accompanied by barely silenced cries of terror. She cautiously rolled over onto her side under the blanket, turning to face him.
Jorec was already awake by the time she had finally faced him, although she couldn't tell whether or not it was the nightmare that had awoken him or her reaction to it. "Jorec?" she asked as she placed a hand upon his shoulder. "Are you okay?"
A temporarily disoriented Jorec drew in a sharp breath, an action that caused Lia to quickly withdraw her hand. He paused for a few seconds, seemingly sensing the entire area using the Force, before answering her. "Yeah," he groggily replied as he sat up in the bed. He rubbed his eyes as they adjusted to the dim light, his fingers feeling tears that had been shed during the dream. "Just a nightmare."
"About the clones?" Lia asked, remembering the story he had told her about the betrayal that had left him on Selvernos ten years previously.
Jorec nodded before turning his head to face her. "They still happen from time to time," he answered. "I'm sorry I woke you up."
"I know you still have them," Lia replied. "You told me that when they were still about your 'father.' And you don't have to apologize for having them or waking me up when you do. I know if I went through what you did, I'd probably have nightmares as well." She hesitated for a moment, wondering if it would be all right to ask her next question. "Do you want to talk about it?"
"I don't know what there is to say that I haven't already told you over the last seven days," Jorec answered. "But yeah, I think it'll be good to talk about it."
The bluish-white view of hyperspace reverted back into the familiar view of stars as the Wayfarer-class transport reverted back into realspace in the Alderaan system. Through the viewport of the bridge, Jorec could barely see the blue and green planet of Alderaan as it slowly began to appear. Jorec had heard from the dying Banth that the ruler of Alderaan, Bail Organa, could be trusted. Even though he had never even met the man, Jorec knew Organa's reputation as a friend of the Jedi and felt that the Senator could be trusted.
"We're almost there," Rinoco said as he punched in commands in the console in front of him. "Where's our destination?"
"Aldera," Jorec replied, remembering the name of the peaceful planet's capital city.
"Good, because they're asking us for our destination right now," Rinoco said. "Push that blinking button to your left," the Xexto told Lia, who promptly replied.
"Wayfarer-class vessel," the monotone voice of a droid reported through the speakers in the bridge of the vessel. "We are picking you up on our sensors. Please input flight data."
Rinoco quickly turned towards another console near him, two of his arms working on relaying the message while the other two made sure that the autopilot was firmly engaged.
"Looks like we've got another message," Rinoco muttered under his breath. "What is it now?"
A prerecorded image of a man that only Jorec recognized appeared on the front vidscreen of the bridge. The current image of the man was different from the holoimages he had seen many years ago but it was still Bail Organa. "Senator Organa, this is Jorec…" his voice trailed off and a wave of embarrassment came over him as the realization dawned on him that he was talking to a recording. Jorec barely saw the young ten-year-old girl on the Senator's knee as he began explaining Alderaan's anti-weapon policies and the low crime of the planet. In Jorec's mind, the law against weapons on the planet was going to be bad. Surely the law didn't apply to Stormtroopers, and if worse came to worse they would be stuck defenseless against a well-armed foe.
He adjusted the crash webbing around his shoulders as the Wayfarer-class vessel entered the atmosphere, watching as the plains near Aldera grew larger in the transparisteel window. In the distance he could see mountains that easily rivaled those of Selvernos, making him slightly homesick. For ten years, Selvernos had been his home and the realization that he would never see the planet again hit him hard. He looked at Lia, knowing that she probably felt the same way. She had actually been born on the planet and had spent her entire life on it. She would probably want to contact her parents as well once they had made contact with the real Bail Organa. They are not going to take this news very well, Jorec thought as he could see the conversation in his head. They hadn't really liked him in the first place, going along with the stereotypes that the hunters had. And now with the story of her running off with a man wanted for treason along with carrying his child… If they ever went back to Selvernos, the Empire wouldn't be the only people he would have to worry about.
Through the viewport, he could see what appeared to be a massive arrangement of flowers as the Dancer's Dream rapidly descended near the plains. From afar, the arrangement of flowers had morphed into a picture of several huge pillars in a desert-like setting. Jorec quickly got Lia's attention and pointed out the grass painting to her. She leaned against her crash webbing, trying to get a good view of the beautiful work of art that was planted in the ground.
"I've seen these in books and Holobroadcasts, but I've never seen one of these in person before," she said as she marveled at the representation of the Castle Lands.
"I've never even seen a representation of them," Jorec replied as the voice of Bail Organa explained the process of the grass paintings, the meticulous work of the artist that also had to have considerable gardening skills. Jorec took another look at Lia as she searched the horizon for any more of the works of art. For the past few days, he had been waiting for a reason, and he considered the present to be the perfect time.
"Lia," he began, hoping to turn her attention away from the grass paintings outside. "I love you."
"I love you, too, Jorec," Lia replied.
"And there's something I need to ask you," he continued. "And I'm not asking you this because you're pregnant. I've wanted to ask you this since even before our child was conceived, and, like a like a lot of things, my capture kind of forced me to ask you this now. Lia, will you marry me?"
Lia looked stunned for a moment, not expecting him to ask her this soon. "Yes, I will," she finally answered.