Part 2
Chapter 8
A Few Months Earlier
There was a pleasant breeze that drifted lazily along with small and silent waves that neared the shore of one of Alderaan's most beautiful beaches. Kyle lay on the sand, relaxing and just enjoying the quiet, letting his mind find whatever peace it could.
He had to be careful though and maintain at least a little bit of control over his mind, because if he didn't the currents that were in his mind would become more turbulent, the winds picking up more and more until a storm consumed it.
He had to be careful, because if he wasn't, he found it too easy to get lost in that storm, to enjoy the danger in it.
"You know," a female voice said above him, "a Jedi should never let their guard down."
"Appearances can be deceiving," he said, his eyes still closed, but with a small smile forming at the corner of his lips.
"I hope so," the voice continued, "because from here it looks as if you're just being lazy and laying down on a beach."
Kyle simply shrugged, then heard a snap-hiss and felt the familiar warmth and saw the light brushing up against his eyelids.
"If I were a Sith right now you'd be dead," the voice said.
"Then it's lucky for me that there aren't anymore Sith," he said.
Sariss snorted, looking down at Kyle, with only a little bit of annoyance, "there are always Sith, even if there are only one or two, they always exist. Besides, there are still Sith forces in the galaxy."
She found herself studying his features, as she often did. Though he wasn't standing, she knew he was only slightly taller than her, by a few inches, with short black hair, small, black and shrewd eyes as well as a week's worth of stubble which he referred to as a work in progress beard.
His robe had been taken off and he wore a simple black muscle shirt and traditional khaki-coloured pants. His boots and socks had been taken off and his feet unconsciously played with the sand.
He shrugged again, something he was well known for back at the Academy, "would you believe that I'm meditating?"
"If you are you're using one of the most comfortable positions to do it in," Sariss said.
"Yeah I wonder why more Jedi don't do it this way," Kyle said, "at the very least so they don't get bad knees later on."
"I don't think anyone's had to deal with bad knees for hundreds of thousands of years Kyle," Sariss pointed out.
"Oh they've had to deal with it, it's just not really a big deal, still a slight annoyance though," Kyle said.
"Uh-huh, and aren't you supposed to be overseeing the peace talks here?" Sariss asked.
"We're taking a break until tomorrow, to give the two families time to deliberate on the sentence they each feel is appropriate," Kyle said. "There's no death penalty so I figure they'll agree on ten years."
"Ten years for murder?" Sariss said.
"For murder in defense," Kyle said.
"We'll see, and how long have you been here?" Sariss asked.
"Two very pleasant and unobtrusive hours," Kyle said.
"And you don't think that's long enough?" Sariss said. "You are, technically, supposed to be overseeing the final stages of my training."
"And I have been, very closely, I only had to interject a few times, as you might recall, otherwise you're doing a great job mediating the peace talks. Your points have been fair and balanced, you're not rude or condescending, in other words a perfect example of what a Jedi should be," he said, the smile that was at the edges of his mouth was now fully-formed.
"Flatterer," Sariss said.
"I speak only the truth," he replied.
"Ha, anyway I thought this would be a good time to get some dueling practice in, since that is kind of your specialty," she said.
A more mischievous smile filled Kyle's face, and he said, "I guess the practice would be good for both of us," and finally opened his eyes and stood up.
"Wipe that smile off your face, we're only going to practice," Sariss said.
"Sure, I'm ready," he said, even though his double-bladed lightsaber was still lying on top of his robe.
"Not this again," Sariss said.
"Don't worry, I'll bring the lightsaber in eventually," he said.
"It just seems stupid, what if I hit you?" Sariss said.
"There is no fear, remember, trust in the Force and you'll be alright," Kyle said.
"Fine," she said, and launched a horizontal sweep at Kyle, who backflipped just as the blade swept past, landing just after it.
Kyle ducked a second sweep, and dodged her attacks again and again until finally she managed to catch him with a quick thrust, but instead of hitting his chest, an invisible hand caught the blade only a centimeter away.
He pushed the blade away with his mind and the dance continued, and as it did the sun slowly started to set. Sariss' green blade arcing and sweeping, and despite the setting sun, there was still plenty of humidity in the air, causing them to both sweat quite a bit.
Finally Kyle called his lightsaber, the two blades extending as the weapon flew over, one side yellow, the other blue. He caught it and brought it up as Sariss' blade came down, blocking it with the blue blade, spinning around and jumping over another sweep, and then parrying her thrust with the yellow side, spinning the lightsaber around and going on the offensive, driving her backwards, closer and closer to a small group of trees that stood next to the beach.
Along the way he pressed a button that was in the middle of the hilt, which then separated into two, and now with a blade in each hand his style changed completely, forcing Sariss to use different techniques as well. She handled it well, and not for the first time Kyle was impressed by her ability to remain calm despite the constant volley that her blade was meeting and parrying.
They continued to get closer and closer to the trees, Kyle backing Sariss into them, and closer and closer to one with a wide trunk. Kyle managed to catch her blade with his two locked together in an x pattern, forcing her arms up and back against the tree, his own body up against hers.
"You planned this didn't you," she said, but there was fire in her eyes now, and didn't seem particularly angry to find herself in this position.
"Maybe," Kyle said.
"You're an asshole you know that?" she said as his lips neared her own.
"Yep," he said before kissing her fiercely.
The lightsabers were quickly turned off as Sariss tore her robe off and Kyle pushed down his pants, her legs wrapped around his waist as he lifted her up against the tree, entering her as he continued to kiss, Sariss' fingers digging into his back as he thrusted up again and again.
Physical and emotional unions between Jedi were often frowned upon, in many eras they were completely banned due to the emotions involved and how easily they can be distorted and used by the dark side.
The two knew this, but little else seemed to matter at the moment, and other moments similar as well the ones that had led to it. A few hours later, Kyle was thinking about it briefly as he lay on top of his robes, while Sariss' covered them loosely. Sariss' head was on his shoulder and arm, and despite it going numb he decided against moving her.
For a brief moment before he nodded off, the storm returned, and he was grateful she was asleep, because he knew she would feel it, and he didn't want to give her cause for concern, even if, rationally, they were far beyond the point where it was possible to not cause concern.
It had been several years since he'd touched true darkness, walked within it's halls and faced off against it's forces, and still he felt the scars it had left.
Calming the storms was easier than usual, he had to only look down at Sariss' face, it was always the thought of her that brought him out, and it was with that thought that he entered the land of dreams.
Two boys stand in front of a bare room. One is taller and with light brown hair, the other shorter by a head and a half, his hair black and shaggy, it hasn't been cut in quite some time.
Neither of them speaks. The young one has blinded by a myriad of changes and sounds and images that will not make sense for years to come, some he will forget entirely.
The older remembers. He remembers a mother and a father who abandoned him. He remembers fire and death, the loss of innocence, the loss of something inside that will shape his existence and will take years to recover.
The room continues to be silent. The older boy cannot stand it. He walks over to one of the beds and sits down on it, and looks over at the younger boy. The boy's face is familiar, but so much has happened, the past is pain and he ignores it, for now.
"My name's Aries," he says.
The younger boy is shaken out of whatever thought was holding him in place and finally, for the first time, looks at the older boy, the one he'll be living with from now on. The older boy has a smile on his face, and years later he would wonder why, but in that moment, in his new home that was on a strange planet, filled with strange men who carried swords made of light, and had powers beyond anything he could imagine, that smile helped more than he would have imagined.
"I'm Kyle."