Light and Shadows vol 2: Under the Setting Sun Chapter Four: Bonds and Questions, a star wars fanfic

AN: I do not own Star Wars or Star Wars the Old Republic. I own only the OC and plot. General trigger warnings just in case!

"aaaa"-talking out loud. "aaaa" (bold and italics)-talking through a holo or com. 'aaaaa'-inner thoughts. "aaaaa"-talking through a Bond or talking during a Force Vision. aaaa-Force Vision. "aaaa" (bold)-talking in another language. ("aaa") (bold, italics, and parentheses)-talking through a holo or com in another language

Heads up! I start classes on October 31st and they run through December 17th. It might take me longer to write and get chapters posted. Thank you everyone for reading and your support!

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Chapter Four-Bonds and Questions

Jedi Master Gnost-Dural frowned beneath his anti-ox mask. He paused on the landing ramp, reviewing yet again the information he had put together on his datapad. Information that his friend had asked for. Only none of the information could be of any help. All he had found about the topic he had been asked to research had been mostly legends. There was very little factual information to be found. That was because the majority of it had been destroyed by both the Jedi and the Sith.

Here he paused in his review. Jedi and Sith agreeing to something relating to attachments wasn't exactly uncommon. Both saw attachments as a sign of weakness that could easily lead a being down what was, in their mind, the wrong path. But what shocked him was that with this particular topic, both sides had actively searched for and destroyed any information that they could get their hands on. Which meant that was very little for him to find.

"Lost in the past again, old friend?" Gnost-Dural's head jerked up from his datapad. His old friend and sometimes mentor Ngani Zho stood at the bottom of the ramp. He smiled. Before him was the great warrior who encouraged him in his quests for answers and knowledge. Even when that quest might see him walking among the shadows.

Zho greeted Gnost-Dural as he reached him with a warm hug. "That past I was lost in was research you asked me to do," the Kel Dor pointed out. "Though I doubt any of it will be useful or anything you haven't already learned on your own." The pair stepped away from the ship and towards a speeder that Zho had brought.

"Then why come? Why now?" Zho questioned as they settled into their seats. It had been just over a year since Zho had sent his request for help to Gnost-Dural. Zho started the speeder and pulled away from the small space port Gnost-Dural had docked at. With the ease of someone who had done it often, he slipped into the steady stream of Coronet City traffic.

"Your request was one I could not openly research,"Gnost-Dural explained, speaking loudly to be heard over the noise of engines. "The Order only accepts my research of Sith and the Dark Side because they think the information I bring them will help us defeat the Sith once and for all. What you asked me to look into is a topic that both traditional Jedi and Sith feel threatened by. So threatened that they destroyed any records about it that they could." There was a sadness in the Kel Dor's voice that Zho could understand.

The destruction of the past meant that no lessons from it could be learned and they were made weaker from it.

"So since you don't want the Order to learn the truth about what you are doing, what is your excuse for these little trips?"

Zho gave himself a little shake as they passed the massive compound that housed the majority of the Green Order and turned down a smaller side street lined with houses on each side. Walls kept the houses hidden from view with just their roofs peeking up. "A Jedi Master felt that Theron would benefit from some military training combined with Jedi training. Currently the Green Jedi offer the best form of that." What Zho said wasn't a complete lie. Satele had told him, through one of her very rare messages, that she felt Theron would benefit from some sort of military training. A part of him wondered if her request had anything to do with Theron's biological father that he still didn't know the identity of or if Satele knew something about her son's future that he didn't. "I also want Theron to see that there are more Force Users than just the Jedi. I want him to know that there is a life outside our Order."

Zho wanted Theron to know that because there was a small part of him deep inside that would whisper and tell him that the boy he was raising and loved with all his heart would never become a Jedi.

It was a whisper that Zho always did his best to ignore.

The day was nice and so they had been banished to play outside in the garden as they always were when the weather was nice. Nandie had been sent with them of course because their guardians apparently did not trust them on their own. Not that Silas and Zho didn't have a reason to not trust them, it just seemed like overkill to have Nandie with them in a walled garden with eyes upon them from a window.

Theron knew the eyes were on them even now. He could feel them, but he ignored them. At this point he had grown used to it when he and Zho visited Corellia. He and Silas were always watching him and Esther. Waiting to see what new things they might do because of their bond.

Instead of worrying about the eyes upon them, Theron leaned back against a tree. The rough bark of the trunk bit lightly into his back. The teen closed his eyes and smiled as he listened to Esther. She had been moved up a level in her saber combat classes and had bugged him until he agreed to help her work through some of her katas. Though it really hadn't taken that much to get him to say yes. Unless it was something that could be dangerous or get them in a lot of trouble, Theron never said no to Esther.

Without meaning to, Theron's mind drifted back to thinking about the eyes that were watching them. This time there was a new pair. Gnost-Dural the historian was there which meant that a new set of eyes were watching them. That someone new was there, watching and asking questions about their bond.

Zho had told him a little about it. He had told Theron that they were worried about them because their bond was so rare and powerful. That their bond meant that even when they were apart they would never be truly apart. That their bond might that they could and would do impossible things.

But Theron didn't care about the power to do the impossible and he knew that Esther didn't care either. All they had cared about was that having the bond meant that they would no longer be alone. That they would always have someone there for them. They were two outcasts after all, used to being on their own with only their guardians and no friends. They had been outcasts among those who claimed to accept all.

But now they had each other.

'I wonder what Mother would think of this, what Revan would have thought,' Theron thought to himself. 'What would my father think…'

"OMPH!" he grunted and his eyes flew open as a small body flung itself over him and landed on his lap. "Esther!" He was glad that in that moment Esther couldn't see how red his face was when his voice cracked. But she did hear it and she giggled softly, patting his leg. It did help ease his embarrassment.

"I can feel them again," her quiet voice drifted across their bond and into his head. Hearing it in his mind always made him smile. It had been a surprise on her seventh birthday when they discovered that they could talk to each other over their bond. It had been a shock, but one they had quickly gotten over it. Theron loved being able to speak through their bond. It was a reminder that the Force was still with him, that he could touch even if he couldn't fully grasp it like other Jedi.

And his voice didn't crack either when he used it.

"Of course you can feel them," Theron pointed out. "They're always watching us." Esther slowly nodded. Like Theron she had grown used to Zho and Silas watching them, asking questions. Gnost-Dural was the new variable, but so far he had been kind to them and hadn't gone any further than Silas and Zho in his watching and questions. Esther wiggled and Theron chuckled, gently patting down loose strands of hair that had broken free from her braids during her practice. "I thought you were working on your katas?"

"Yes, but you aren't doing them with me." Theron sighed. He knew exactly what Esther wanted. And he also knew that there was a chance that they would be scolded if he helped her. Esther was supposed to be running through them on her own, but sometimes it was hard since she couldn't see the teachers and hadn't fully learned how to use the Force on her own as her eyes yet. If Theron helped her, she could see the katas as they did them, but both Silas and Zho insisted that they not do it after running through a new kata one time. They said it would be cheating if they did it often.

And Esther knew that Theron could never say no to her.

He huffed and gently pushed her from his lap. Esther gave a small cheer and jumped to her feet. She bounced as Theron grabbed the wooden practice saber from where she had tossed to the side before rising to his feet. They moved away from the tree. Theron crouched down a little as he shifted into the ready position. Esther slipped in front of him and brought his arms up, the blade in front of them. Esther reached out, her hands resting on his arms.

Together they took a deep breath. Together they let it go.

And together they moved.

"They speak without speaking and move almost as one," Gnost-Dural spoke as he watched the young pair from the study window. He watched as they flowed through the kata together.

"The telepathy was a surprise," Silas admitted. "As you saw some of the writings mention that telepathy between a bonded pair is possible, but it is not a certainty. Others make no mention of telepathy or the appearance of new and additional abilities. In fact," Silas pressed on, "One of the very few things that all the writers agreed on is that the formation, purpose, and type of relationship is unique to each pair. Which means that even if we did have any factual records with proven evidence they would at best just be guidelines. Very, very basic guidelines."

The Kel Dor Jedi turned away from the window to stare at the two males watching behind him. "We can only guess at what will happen as both they and the bond grow. We continue to watch, to guide, and take notes so that we can help them in the future." Silas nodded along with Gnost-Dural's words. The pair, with their shared love for history, had become very fast friends.

Zho tapped a finger on a nearby side table. "You're both leaving out something else all the writings mention," he pointed out when their focus was on him. "Pairs that have been bonded by the Force bring about salvation or destruction both on a small and large scale. That such pairs only appear when the Force demands change." He gestured to the window. "What tasks does the Force have planned for them? Are they salvation or destruction? And whose?"

Theron and Esther moved as one through the kata and listened to the whispers of the Force that only they could hear.