Last time: Cien had a nightmare and Sasha sensed a strange presence.
Now; Oppie faces his most challenging mission yet.
Chapter 10- Meet the Parents
"I think it's the next right." Oppie said, looking at his datapad and furrowing his brow.
"You sure?" Kait asked as she drove the speeder they had rented, looking left and right at the identical homes. They were both wearing their sunglasses under the rays of the semi tropical sunlight, around the lush greenery that surrounded lovely little cottages that made up this oceanside neighborhood. It was definitely a bit of a shock to both of them, after they had both gotten acclimated to the meters of snow that Haven had been buried in.
"Pretty sure." Oppie said, trying to understand the map.
"This one?" Kait asked.
"Yes." He said, looking up at the rapidly approaching turn.
"'Kay." She said, as she swung the speeder a little hard in order to make the turn, and Oppie had to brace himself slightly.
"Okay, then this should swing around to the left, and they should be the, uh…" He counted, "they should be the fifth house after that slipway."
Kait counted the houses. "Yep, that's it, 82221." She said, looking at the address number. She pulled to a stop in front of the house and powered down their vehicle. It was open air, so in addition to the glare from the sun, they were able to enjoy the air that was sticky with humidity and heavy with the smell of the ocean, which should, apparently, be just on the other side of her mom and dad's house. She spent a few seconds gathering herself for the coming visit. She loved her parents, she loved spending time with them, but the only other time she had brought someone home to meet them it had been a bit of a disaster. She was sure that Op would meet with the approval, but this was a big step.
"You okay?" Oppie asked, sensing her slightly tense and very nervous countenance. He didn't need the Force to pick up on it.
"Yep." Kait said, letting go a deep breath and getting out of the driver's side of the speeder.
Oppie did the same on his end and went back to the trunk for their bags which were pared down to what they would need for the couple of days that would be spending here, rather than their much larger luggage which was safely aboard their ship back at the spaceport. He grabbed his bag and took hers before she had a chance to grab it, and she looked at him with a good humored glare while he smirked at winning the race to take her bag. She shook her head slightly as she closed the trunk, and started leading off to the house.
"You can definitely feel the ocean." Oppie said, sort of wishing he hadn't worn his jacket.
"Yep." Kait said distractedly, though looking forward very much to finally seeing it, or any other ocean.
"Sure is pretty here, very different from Haven." Oppie observed.
"Yep." Kait said nervously as they walked up the walkway to her parents house.
With her boyfriend beside her.
To meet her parents.
"That would be a great place for a defensive blaster turret." Oppie observed as Kait started knocking on the door.
"Ye-" She stopped and gave him a weird look while he looked studiously ahead and tried not to smirk at her.
The door flung open to reveal a woman a little shorter than Kait with short brown hair that was pulled back into a bun and dressed in a blue sundress. She beamed at the sight of them.
"Kaity!" The woman greeted happily as she rushed forward and hugged Kait.
"Hi Mom!" Kait said as she hugged her back.
"Oh, it's so good to see you, sweetie," Her mother said excitedly as she hugged her tightly before pulling away. She looked over at Oppie. "And hello. You must be Obi?" She tried to say his name correctly.
"Oppie." Kait corrected.
"It's very nice to meet you Mrs. Messan, you can just call me Op." He said.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Op," Her Mom said with a chuckle. "But Mrs. Messan is my mother-in-law. You can call me Halla."
"Nice to meet you, then, Halla." Oppie said with a nod and a slight smile.
Halla beamed. "Come on in. I've just made some fresh iced tea and cookies," she said as she stepped aside to let them enter.
"Thanks mom." Kait said as she stepped through.
"Thank you." Oppie said as he stepped into their home.
"Of course. There's no need to thank me," Halla said, sweetly. "You two are more than welcome. Now come sit, relax for a bit, then I can show you two to your rooms." She closed the front door behind them and led them into the kitchen. As they headed there, they passed a set of stairs that led up and she shouted, "Taren! Kaity is here! Come downstairs!"
"Be there in a minute!" A deep, gruff male voice called back from upstairs.
"Which cookies did you make?" Kait asked as they walked through, following Halla into the kitchen. Oppie dropped the bags in the entryway, figuring they could move them into their rooms later.
"Your favorite," Halla said over her shoulder. "Since it's been so long since I last made them for you."
"Sure has." Kait said. "I love the new place by the way, this is great." She said, looking around and recognizing a lot of the touches from their old home, but pared down since they had gotten rid of quite a bit before they made the move.
"It's so quaint," Halla said as they entered the kitchen. "Plus the view is spectacular." She gestured to the bay window in the kitchen where a breakfast nook sat as she opened a cabinet to pull out glasses for tea.
Kait stepped over to look at the ocean as it spread below the house, "whoa." She said, looking out at the seemingly endless expanse of water.
"This is a beautiful home." Oppie said, looking around. It felt so cozy and filled with warmth.
"Why thank you," Halla said as she set out the glasses and small plates she had just grabbed. "Would you two like some tea?" She asked as she picked up the pitcher.
"Yes, please." Oppie said, "what sort of tea is it?" He asked.
"A local brand. A citrus tea," Halla said as she poured him a glass. "It is very good."
"That does sound great." He agreed.
"Kaity, you want some?" Halla asked as she gently pushed a glass full over to Oppie on the counter as she started pouring another glass.
"Sure, thanks mom." Kait said, stepping away from the view.
"This is really good." Oppie said, after trying some of the iced tea. "We just came from someplace covered in a few meters of snow so we're still acclimated to that." He admitted.
"Oh that sounds cold," Halla said with a slight shiver as if a cold breeze passed. She handed Kait a glass of tea. "I hate the cold. So this move has been a welcome change. But my husband loves the snow. You should tell him about that place when he gets down here."
"Absolutely." Oppie said.
"How have you guys been settling in?" Kait asked as she took a sip of tea. "I'm sorry I haven't been able to come by sooner."
"Don't apologize, sweetie. We know that you have been busy since you've become a Republic Marshal," Halla said as she poured two more glasses. "But we are so happy you could finally stop by. Though, I admit it worries me that you are running around out there on your own."
Oppie coughed slightly and decided to let Kait take that one.
"Well, uh…" Kait started, "Op has actually been with me since near the end of my time on Caranas. He and his family came out there to help with that investigation and, umm, Op has pretty much been with me ever since to help out."
"Really?" She sighed at that. "Well that makes me feel a little bit better knowing you have someone as nice as Oppie with you." Halla smiled.
"Yeah, but all the stuff we've been doing has been pretty low-key, investigative stuff. Nothing too dangerous." Kait assured her mother. Oppie glanced over at her but didn't otherwise react to that little bit of a lie.
"That's good to hear," Halla said. "You know me. I will always worry about you, hun." She took a sip of her tea. "But I am happy that you are making a difference out there."
"She definitely is." Oppie said, "she stopped a major drug cartel that was also a front of an imperial remnant, then we stopped some spice dealers, and after that we just took care of a florist that was moonlighting as a weapons smuggler."
Kait blushed a little at that description and hoped her mom wouldn't read too much danger into all that.
"Oh wow," Halla said, impressed. "Your father would be proud." She then looked up to the entrance to the kitchen. "Which, where is he? TAREN! GET DOWN HERE!" She then yelled.
"COMING!" The voice known as Taren called back.
Kait buried her face behind her palm as Op tried to hide a smirk.
A moment later, a taller man with auburn hair and beard that was greying on the sides appeared. He was dressed in a loose red tunic that had its sleeves rolled up and basic brown trousers. He smiled at Kait as he entered the kitchen.
"There's my baby girl," her father said as he came over to her. "Hey Kaity." He said as he hugged her.
"Hey dad." She said, returning the hug.
He pulled away after a moment and turned to face Oppie. His face, while still pleasant, held a stern gaze that matched that of a man who used to be a cop. "And you must be Oppie. I'm Taren," he greeted as he held his hand out to him.
Oppie shook his hand and tried not to wince at his hand being crushed. "A pleasure to meet you, sir. You can just call me Op though."
The man looked him over for a moment before releasing his hand. "Well it's nice to meet you. So tell us about yourself. Kaity hasn't said much in her calls," Taren said as he walked over to the kitchen nook and took a seat in one of the chairs.
Halla came over and gave him his glass of iced tea. "She said she was with a wonderful young man. Leave him alone," she said, smacking him lightly as she took a seat.
"I just want to get to know the man our daughter is dating is all," Taren said simply.
"Dad!" Kait said, a little mortified.
Oppie was trying desperately to keep a straight face, and trying to figure out how to describe that he had been a fugitive on the run for over twenty years and deciding that wouldn't go over very well. "Oh, no it's fine. I've been in law enforcement mostly doing investigations one way or the other since my teens, started out pretty early. I was even in the same precinct on Nivon as Kait many years ago, we bumped into each other once or twice then. Then last year there was a case my little sister got called in to help with after the Imperial remnant attacked a small medical center there and we met then, briefly. Then we bumped into each other on Caranas when my family and I went to take part in the investigation against the cartel there."
"Really?" Taren asked, a hint of being impressed appearing on his face. "How were you able to do that at such a young age? I don't know many precincts or security offices that hire teenagers. Were you an intern or did your parents work in law enforcement and took you to work?"
"I had a friend who got me a job when I was young, kind of like an internship. He helped me get setup with a small position in the office doing paperwork and stuff like that." Oppie explained. "From there I just sort of moved up the ranks over the years."
"Interesting. Now you mentioned you worked with Kaity years ago on Nivon. May I ask when that was? Because I feel like I should recognize you then," Taren asked as he took a sip.
"It was…" Oppie started, trying to figure out how to explain.
"It was actually during my rookie year." Kait stepped in, "Oppie got caught in something that froze him for like six or seven years, though, which is why he's now about my same age."
Oppie hid a wince at that topic coming up so soon.
"Wait what?" Halla asked, confused. Even Taren looked visibly confused.
"It, umm. We, my little sister and brother and I, we," Oppie started, trying to explain. "I got trapped someplace where time flowed differently." He grasped for straws and borrowed something from Cien, "sort of like how time flows differently around the event horizon of a blackhole. I spent two weeks or so there from my perspective but it was actually about nine months out here. Then several months later the three of us went back there, and we spent a few hours there from our perspective, but it ended up actually being six years. That was all before the Galactic Civil War, we ended up missing out on that." It suddenly struck him how absurd it was, trying to explain everything that had happened. He didn't even know if they would know what a Jedi was, let alone a Sith, especially considering how little Kait knew about all of that.
Halla just stared at him, visibly confused. Taren snorted. "That sounds crazy if I am being honest. It sounds like something those Jedi would do," he said. "At least from what I've heard, they were mystical enough to be involved in something that insane."
"Ah, ha ha, yeah." Oppie said a little uncomfortably.
Kait just buried her face in her palm. "All of it's true." Kait said, vouching for Op. "Though I do admit it is quite a story."
"It's true?" Halla asked, surprised.
"What were you doing that got you and your siblings caught in that?" Taren asked incredulously.
"Op is a Jedi." Kait finally admitted to them. She had been hoping to bring it up in some other way, but dad was being dad. "As are his little sister and brother. They chased a Sith lord that was trying to take over the galaxy from Palpatine into another plane of existence, that was where time flowed differently." She said proudly of her boyfriend.
Op glanced at her and tried to recede a little bit, being stuck full on by the sheer absurdity of it all having to be explained to people who hadn't led such lives.
Both parents stared at him in silent shock. After a moment, Halla spoke up. "Are you really a Jedi? Did you fight in the Clone Wars?" She asked, stunned.
"Yes." He admitted sheepishly. "94th Clone Ranger Battalion, under Master Redika, I was a Padawan Commander."
"Well… I'll be a Gungan's uncle," Taren said, finally speaking after a silence. "An actual Jedi in my kitchen." He then shook his head. "But wait, I thought you were supposed to be monks that didn't get into relationships or something like that. Or am I incorrect?"
Halla, not so subtly, smacked his leg at that. He just shot her a brief narrowed gaze before looking back to Op.
"Sort of." Oppie said.
Kait spoke up. "His little brother and sister were actually two unrelated 'younglings'," she glanced over at Op to make sure that she had used the right term but he was too embarrassed to acknowledge, "that he saved from order sixty-six." She said, with a bit of pride, "and they ended up getting married several years ago. It's worked out well for them."
"Without the order we didn't really see a reason to keep to that teaching," Oppie said, trying to explain, "especially because it made Viran and Sasha's lives so much better and happier than they would have been otherwise. I didn't really have any thoughts on that for myself until I met Kait again after all these years and one thing just led to another." He admitted. "But yes the order forbade that, but our lives have been made immeasurably better evolving those teachings with the times we found ourselves in."
"I see," Taren said, leaning back in his chair. His expression seemed unreadable as he thought to himself.
"Well I'm impressed," Halla said, smiling. "Now I feel even better knowing you're doing all of that Marshal work with a Jedi with you."
"Yeah, though as I said it's been pretty safe work, mostly a lot of investigative research." Kait assured her, again.
"I know, hun," her Mom said. "You know me. I just worry about you is all."
"Oh she's fine," Taren said, glancing at his wife. "She's tough as durasteel and can handle anything. That's why she was such a great captain back home. And I'm proud of her for getting the Republic Marshal job." He looked at Kait. "Though if you are going to be doing this full time now, where will you be living? Please tell me you've at least gotten a ship."
"No, no ship yet but I've started doing research on buying my own." Kait said, "we've been staying in the Republic embassies or local inns they recommend." She said, taking a little sip of her tea.
"That's going to get expensive after a while," Taren stated. "If you need help finding one or purchasing one, we would be more than willing to help."
"And of course, you can always come and move in here," Halla suggested. "So when you are between jobs and such you will always have a place to stay, shower, eat a free home cooked meal, and leave your things without having to lug them around everywhere on a ship."
"Speaking of which, do you still have stuff back at your apartment?" Taren asked.
"Nope." Kait answered, "I got a storage locker on Nivon and moved some things in there, sold a few things, and the rest I've been lugging around in my two big duffels."
"Speaking of duffels," Halla said as if suddenly remembering. "Do you two want to go put your stuff upstairs? And then maybe we can all go for a walk down the beach together before I get dinner started? Also do you need laundry done?" Her mother asked one right after another.
"I can take the bags up if you want to relax here for a moment." Oppie offered, putting his glass of iced tea down on the counter.
"Oh no, why don't you both come with me and I can give you both the grand tour," Halla offered instead as she got up from her seat.
"Okay." Kait said, putting her own glass down. "The pictures you sent didn't do this place justice." She observed with a smile as she moved to follow her mom. Oppie fell in line behind her as they headed back towards the entryway where he had left their bags. Taren followed after a moment.
"So obviously you've seen the kitchen, but this over here is the main living room," Halla started as they passed the entryway to the house. She gestured into the next room that a small, comfortable sized living room compared to Haven. "And down the hall here is the sunroom that I've turned into my own personal reading nook. There is also a refresher down that way too, but just hang a left instead of a right. Now if you will follow me up the stairs." She said as she started climbing up the staircase.
Once upstairs, they entered into a narrow hallway that wasn't all that long. There were five doors that lined the walls up here. One larger set at the end which was most likely the master bedroom to the house. And just like the main level of the house, there were pictures and various decorations that lined the walls.
"Up here, we have the bedrooms," Halla continued. "We have two guest rooms, one with it's own bathroom. Which is this room right here," she gestured to the first door on the left. "The other is across the hall." She pointed to the other door. "Then there is another bathroom right next door to this room, the other room your father has turned into his office, and of course our room at the end of the hall. And there you go. That's the house."
"It's not as big as our house on Nivon, but it does the trick," Taren said from the top of the stairs where he was leaning against the banister. "And there's room for visitors such as you, Kaity, or anyone else from the family."
"It's smaller but you guys have really used it well." Kait said. Noting that her mom had decorated the house with a more seaside feeling than they had at their previous house, for obvious reasons.
Oppie had gotten distracted looking at a collage of pictures on the wall, some of which included a very young, very freckle-faced Kait, or even when she was younger, and some when she was an older teenager, and quite a few included her older brother.
Taren noticed Oppie looking at the pictures. "That's Kaity's older brother, our son, Jaxon. He passed away years ago." He said solemnly.
Oppie nodded, "Kait has told me quite a bit about him, I wish I could have known him."
"Yeah, he was a good kid. Things just… took a turn for the worst," Taren said, frowning. "But we hope he is in a better place now." He then turned and headed back down the stairs after he said that.
Halla frowned as she watched her husband go then looked at Kait and Oppie. "Well you two are welcome to these rooms," she said, smiling gently at them. "I'll leave you two to get settled." She then moved past them and back down the stairs.
Kait cleared her throat, "so which room would you prefer?" She asked Oppie.
"You go ahead and take the one with the bathroom, I don't mind this one." He said, looking in at the comfortably appointed guest room.
"Okay." She said with a nod, as they moved to go downstairs to retrieve their bags.
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