It had been several days since they had arrived at the temple reconstruction site and already Alex felt the soreness in his back from not only sitting on a chair, combing through a pile of what he originally thought was rumble that had turned out to have more of a significance to it on a long table in front of him, but also helping Chava catalog items brought out of the temple itself. There had been a couple of old wall paintings that had been found along the far back corner of what used to be the temple garden, but that had fallen due to age and non-repair. It had taken almost a full day to get most of the wall moved out of the way, what was left of the painting now was placed in a small circle to Alex's left and now he was going through the smaller pieces on the table in front of him to see if he could find anything that was left of it. It was hard work and the pile of stone was what was left of the remainder of the wall, whatever part of the garden wall would not be reused and the painting would be placed at a different location on the temple grounds as a piece of old history. It was too worn for anyone to do much more than that.
This was, so far, the most relaxing task he had been given since he and Zeb came to help; there would be more of them but just looking at the pieces to this puzzle allowed him to relax and replay the last several days in his mind.
He had followed Chava around outside of the front of the temple and a little ways inside the temple itself the day after they had gotten to the temple, having spent that morning getting used to being in a tent and outside of their home while having breakfast cooked on one of the small fires near their tent. Alex and Zeb had brought some eggs and bread from home and gladly shared it with the three others that shared their fire, those three also had shared some of their breakfast food with them in return as well as good conversation to start out the day. Zeb had left an hour later to go into the town to help with the first of several supply runs that the elders would make during the time the volunteers would be there, which left Alex to help out with the first of many small tasks that had already popped up. Chava had him with her for most of the day before and after lunch, more or less as a scribe to help jot down of what needed to be done in order of importance; much of it would be heavy lifting and cataloging things found throughout the temple, while also doing some of the clean up before the masons would come to start the rebuild of the temple. The reconstruction of the temple itself would begin at that time, in which Alex was more than willing to help out with.
She also made sure to not reign Alex in several times when he stepped away while Chava talked with other volunteers or another elder, while he pretended to ignore the smile she gave him while he looked over a few details other had missed. There were little things at the entrance way of the temple that caught his eye, little details that not many would've taken the time out to look at this early stage of the reconstruction; small drawings near the base of the walls that looked like a child or two had made, little holes where rodents might have created their own little haven inside the walls, or long cracks that needed to be addressed sooner rather than later. Alex was secretly thankful that when he pointed out these things to the other elders he wasn't told to ignore it but to add the things he saw to the list on the data pad he had been given; one elder even gave more detail on the chalk doodles on the walls.
"This had been, at one point, an orphanage temple for young kits who's parents couldn't take care of them or who had died. That had been its primary function for many years before the temple's age became unsuitable for the kits and they had to move closer to the town," she had explained while herself, Chava, Alex, and several other volunteers looked through the rest of the entrance way to the temple. "From what I've found out in the last few years, the elders of the temple often allowed the orphan kits to draw here, chalk is one of the easiest things to get out of stone."
"What happens to kits who aren't adopted?" Alex had asked, his mind going directly to the worst possible scenario.
"There is a system here that gives the few who aren't adopted a place to stay until they can find their own way on Lira San, not being adopted doesn't happen as often as you think," one of the volunteers had told him. "I was one of the few who wasn't adopted, and I was given the choice to accept the little help I could get or find my own way without it when I became of age. I took the help, haven't regretted it and now have my own little family – it isn't as bad as some places in the galaxy that I've heard about. Now I give back the help I was given when I younger."
Alex had relaxed some when he heard that, him and the other volunteer – Evander as Alex learned while they helped the elders – had talked during lunch about many things, including about their younger lives. Neither one prodded the other about details, Alex knew from experience that not everyone wanted to be forthcoming about who they were before to a complete stranger, and both were fine by that; if anything, it gave Alex a topic of conversation he wanted to fully have with Zeb once they got home but would offer the idea to him for both to think over before then. Once lunch was finished, and Chava all but dragged Alex back towards the temple, he had no time to think about anything else besides what needed to be done. Several hours later found Alex giving the data pad back to Gron to download and compile the data from that day with other volunteers, who told him that the supply run was successful and that Zeb was back at their tent after helping to distribute the supplies.
He was grateful to be back in his Lasat's arms when Alex had gotten to the tent and they had gone into their tent to look through their supplies that they were given – food, water, caf, and tea rations, along with a list of things they could do at the town when they had downtime. There would be a shuttle three times a week to go to the town so that the volunteers could relax for a few hours before going back, with one of those shuttles getting supplies as needed, and both decided that if they got a chance to go together they would but go into separate directions once they got there and meet up for a small meal before the shuttle took them back. Alex had successfully argued that while there were things both of them wanted to see together while in town, there was plenty both of them wanted to see and do separately and this was a good chance to do as such, they could always come back another time when their budget allowed them more freedom to be less picky. Zeb quickly agreed and they spent some time looking over the list to see what they'd do, even if they weren't able to go together, as well as telling each other about their day up to this point. That was when Alex told him about the conversations he had with Evander and the ideas that stemmed from them.
"This is just an idea, we don't have to do it, and I just wanted to put that idea out there for us to think about," Alex said once he finished telling Zeb about everything. "Even if we don't adopt ourselves, this also has given me the thought of helping those who have lost their family even if it just means volunteering a little."
"I like this idea, there are many kits who don't have a family of their own," Zeb said slowly, letting the idea of possibly adopting kits in the future settle in his head. "You're right, that is something we need to think and talk about and not jump into right away." Then he stared at Alex with a smirk. "Maybe I need to leave you by yourself while volunteering more often, that's two great ideas you've had since this morning."
They had settled in after they ate dinner and conversed during and after their meal while around the fire with others that shared their temporary hearth, looking forwards to what the next several days would bring. Alex smiled at the thought of sharing another meal like that, thankful that he had decided to come after all and, despite his aching back, he continued to help with smaller tasks that needed to be done, which included the one he was currently working on. Other groups of volunteers had filtered in over the course of the last two days and one in particular had given both Alex and Zeb pause: Taiki. Neither one of them had expected the Lasan survivor to be there as well and Taiki had the same thoughts as well once he had taken notice that they were there to help; Zeb had figured he'd see familiar faces within the volunteers, Taiki's was not one of those he had expected to see. Zeb had taken Gron to the side not long after Taiki's group had settled in and all but demanded to know why Taiki was there, Gron telling him that it was not his place to say and that if either Alex or Zeb had a problem with that, there would be a shuttle back home at the end of the week. Neither Alex nor Zeb took that offer.
The three of them decided, separately, to give a wide berth between the two of them and Taiki unless there was no other choice, as the scowl Alex was given made it quite clear that he wasn't quite forgiven for what he had done in the past and wouldn't be for a long time; as long as they did not step out of their own duties and tasks, things would go as smoothly as they could. Even with the best laid plans, things would not always go according to them. Alex's Imperial instincts kicked in as his right hand hovered over a small piece of the mural he was working on, his eyes moving over to one side as a Lasat came over to him and glanced over at what he was doing.
"So you're here, putting things back together," Taiki stated, as he and Alex glanced down at the table in front of them.
"I am," he said, gesturing to the pieces of stone then looks back up at Taiki. "Doing this is better than sitting at home doing nothing."
"True," the Lasat said, inclining his head as he pulled another chair from the table and sat down in it next to Alex. "Why do you want to do this? What is it in for you? Some sort of penance?"
"A part of it is to atone for what I've done, I can't bring back anything from Lasan but I can help here. Zeb and I have already discussed what we could do together if we could." Taking a piece of stone in his hand, he turned it over several times then set it back down onto the table. "I know you don't like me, I can't fault you for it, so go ahead and say what you need to say."
Taiki was silent for a moment, then began to speak in a low, quiet voice. "You're right, I don't like you, but I don't hate you either. I much rather you not be here on Lira San, or anywhere in the galaxy either, but I can't control that. Even if I could, I wouldn't – I want to watch you make amends because you were there, you helped destroy my home even if you weren't the one who made the decisions to start the destruction. I want to understand why Garazeb Orrelios trusts you so much, I barely knew him from our time on Lasan and even then he didn't easily give out his trust. I want to understand the why and the how you're going to earn your redemption here and maybe then I can start to accept you more. But more importantly I want to be there to see you make mistakes and fix them. I just -" Taiki trailed off, looking uncertain as to how to continue talking, yet Alex understood him in what he was trying to say.
"You want to see it for yourself that a former Imperial can change and actually be friendly towards them?" He asked just as quietly, Taiki nodding.
"Yes," he said, focusing on the table more closely. "I had hated humans after Lasan, because all I could see was the Imperial side and not anyone who didn't oppose the Empire. It took me years to stop associating humans with the Empire and only because the few non-humans I knew didn't share that belief. Because they knew that not every human was Imperial. I still struggle with that now even though I know that not every human supported it."
"You and I are more alike than we care to admit." Leaning back in his chair, Alex crossed his arms and gazed out beyond the temple grounds. "My first assignment as a commanding officer in the Empire didn't go exactly as planned, was one of the worst memories I have and the reason why I was part of Lasan. I hated Lasats because one was a mercenary for Saw Gerrera and had wiped out every member of my team besides myself during that assignment. I hated Zeb because of what he reminded me of." Alex closed his eyes briefly, an involuntary shudder going through him at the memory before he opened his eyes again. "As I got to know him and started questioning the Empire, that hatred dissolved and a respect grew from it. When I was able to leave the Empire for good I started working more closely with him and that respect became a friendship then eventually turned into the relationship we have now."
"Why tell me this?" Taiki asked, taking a glance over to Alex.
"Same reason why you told me a little about yourself: to have a better understanding." Both of them looked at each other, Alex then gestured towards the temple then offered his hand for Taiki to shake. "It won't be easy going ahead but maybe we can try to work together while doing this."
Taiki stared towards the temple for a few seconds, then at Alex's outstretched hand and understood the reasoning behind it and his words. "That I can do if you're willing to do it as well." Taking Alex's hand, they shook on the silent agreement that they would both try to work together to help with the temple reconstruction. Once the handshake was over, Taiki looked down at the table more closely to see what Alex had been working on before he had come over. "Need help getting the smaller pieces?"
"Glad you asked," Alex said with a wide smile as they started to work on the stone fragments on the table together, unaware that someone was watching them closely from afar.
Gron had come here to find where Taiki had gone off to, needing to get him so that he could help Chava carry several heavy baskets of tools and supplies within the temple so workers could begin some of the work inside in the next few days and weeks. While he had found Taiki, what he hadn't excepted was for him to engage in conversation with Alex and not end in a shouting match or worse, a fight. Gron stayed where he was just in case the conversation turned into a heated argument – he had stopped two of such arguments already today and was not looking forwards to stopping a third – and was pleased that the two of them had shook hands and started working together instead. It's a rough start but it's something, he thought to himself, smiling a bit at the scene in front of him. It was a far cry from the last survivors meeting and if this was any indication that they were on the right path, then perhaps there was more hope.
"Ah, two children finally starting to get along," Chava said as she hobbled next to Gron and stood, watching them as well; Gron smiled even more deeper, nodding more to himself then towards Alex and Taiki as they put several pieces together and conversed to themselves. The two of them even laughed at something, which relaxed Gron even more.
"I was about to step in but it seems like it's working out, they don't need a watchful eye on them today," he said, clasping his hands behind his back.
"As it should be." Leaning on her walking staff, she looked between the two and then Gron several times. "I wanted to see how the sorting was going yet it's going better than I hoped it would be."
"Yes it is," Gron said, shaking his head then looked down at her. He knew better that Chava wasn't checking in Alex – that was one who rarely needed checking up on, unless it was to get something to eat, drink, or rest – but rather was looking for Taiki. "Still needed Taiki for the baskets?"
"No, I can get another to help me. This is more important and it's a start." Nodding towards the two, she looked up at him and met his gaze; Gron rolled his eyes, which earned him a light thump on his leg from her walking staff as she turned and started to walk away.
"Lead the way," he said, giving one last look towards Alex and Taiki before following Chava.