Last time: Sasha, Cien, and Kait went dress shopping.

Now: Kyr and Cien go out, and all dolled up.

Chapter 26- First Date

Staring at her reflection, Cien had no idea what to do. She was in the bathroom of the room she was sharing with Kyr while the boys were still out at the museum, but due to arrive back soon. She'd never done her hair before, other than to braid it or put it in a ponytail to keep it out of her way or coiled up under her buy'ce. Her shoulders slumped as she tried to figure out what to do.

Sasha I think I need help. She finally conceded, in a slightly miserable fashion calling her over their mindspace connection.

Everything okay? Sasha answered, worried.

I don't know what to do with hair. She thought, annoyedly.

Okay. I'll be right there. Do you want me to grab Kait to help too? Sasha asked.

Uhhh… Cien thought for a second, that might be a good idea. She said, shrinking into herself a little bit.

Be right there, Sasha said.

Cien stood there in her bathrobe. Looking in the mirror at herself she had no idea what to do. She was vaguely aware of the idea of makeup, but had no idea about it and had never worn any, and then her hair she just saw as a mess. The fine, feathery layers stuck out like a small nebula around her head now that she was conscious of them. Even as an empress she had only ever worn a plain braid with simple adornments stuck into it to add a little more decoration.

A knock came from the door a moment later. Cien looked up at it in the mirror and used the Force to press the control, letting them in. Sasha opened the door letting her and Kait through.

"Help has arrived," Sasha said dramatically as she entered with a few supplies at hand as well as the dress bag with her dress in it over her arm.

"Yep!" Kait said, also bringing her dress bag in. She laid hers down on the bed before walking to the bathroom. "So, what have we got?" She asked.

"I don't know anything about hair." Cien said annoyedly. She noticed Kait had hers done in elaborate, feathery auburn curls that swept down around her face perfectly.

"That's fine. That's why we are here," Sasha assured her as she entered the bathroom after she laid her dress down next to Kait's. Her hair was up in a high ponytail that was also in nice lush curls with a few strands of her bangs neatly framing and falling to one side of her face. She looked at Cien's hair then Kait. "Got any ideas?"

"You usually just wear it in a ponytail or a braid?" Kait asked, thinking. "What about a half-up bridal pull through braid?" She suggested.

"A what?" Cien asked.

"Oh that could work," Sasha agreed. "It's a beautiful braid. You'll love it," she explained a second later.

"Okay." Cien said, unsure.

"Do you have a curling iron?" Kait asked.

"I… I don't know what that is." Cien said.

Kait smiled. "Let me go get mine, be right back." She said as she turned to leave the room.

"Here," Sasha said after Kait left. She stepped into the bedroom and returned with the desk chair. She stopped it right in front of the counter. "Sit," she said as she patted the chair before reaching for Cien's hair brush on the counter.

Cien sat in the chair and swallowed, looking at herself in the mirror. "Thank you." She said quietly.

"Of course," Sasha said, smiling. "May I?" She asked as she waved the brush.

"Please." Cien said.

Sasha gathered all of Cien's hair before slowly taking the brush through it. "You know, this is what Kitsu and Illara did on my wedding day. They sat me in a chair and did my hair and make-up when I knew very little about it. I never thought I'd be doing it for someone else," she said as she gently moved the brush through her hair. "You excited?"

"Yeah." Cien said distantly. "Kyr has, actually, taken me to dinner, we've done things like that before. But… nothing quite like this. And my own wedding day was so terrible, except for that one perfect moment." She said quietly.

Sasha frowned. "I know. I am sorry about all of that. But I am truly happy for you and Kyr. And that's why I'm glad we could do this for you guys tonight," she said as a smile slowly formed. "That's why I want to make this as if today was to be your actual wedding. Get you all dolled up and stun your husband then enjoy a nice dinner together."

"Yeah." Cien said with a small smile. "I wonder if Kyr and I should renew our vows, but be able to make a proper celebration of it this time. And then everyone who wasn't there could attend as well."

"That sounds like a wonderful idea," Sasha said as she continued to brush. "Though we should wait until we can invite the Coppers, otherwise Admiral Sulam might come after you two with pitchforks." She giggled.

"Yeah." Cien smirked, "when we told her about the twins she was so excited for me, and nearly killed Kyr."

Sasha laughed at that. "That sounds like her."

"Back!" Kait said, coming into the room. She was holding up two metallic objects that looked like blasters without the grips, or lightsabers with narrow emitters, and Cien frowned at them.

"What are those?" Cien asked, confused.

"Curling irons." Kait said, trying to keep from laughing at her having no idea what they are. "You clamp the hair in here and then it curls it."

"Don't worry. We will curl it. You just sit and relax," Sasha assured her as she gently patted her shoulder. She then ran the brush once more through her hair, making it silky soft.

Kait and Sasha started working on Cien's hair, clamping it, letting it heat for a moment, then pulling it free. Repeating this process over and over again as her hair turned into a soft blanket of gentle curls, it lulled Cien into a very relaxed state. Some tiny, tiny part of her noted how in another life having two people so close to her, fussing over her hair and going through these motions would have been far, far away from relaxing. But sitting here with her sister and someone that she considered a friend, and probably soon to be a sister, was comforting in a way she hadn't really ever felt before.

"What do you think, Sasha?" Kait asked, as they neared the end of curling Cien's hair. "do a big fluffy loose braid? I think that would look great."

"Definitely," Sasha said as she readied the pins and hair spray.

Kait gathered Cien's now rather voluminous and curled hair on her left side into streamers to start braiding. "You want to work on that side Sasha?" She asked.

Sasha nodded. "Sure." She had never done a braid like this before. But she was willing to try. So she watched Kait do it step by step as she put the braid together on one side and tried following along with it. Surprisingly, she did a pretty good job. Once both were done, Kait used a pin to cinch the two braids together, and made a bit of a braid of the two ends, then fluffed Cien's remaining loose hair a bit under the joined braid.

"What do you think?" Kait said, taking a step back to look.

"It's beautiful," Sasha praised as she clapped her hands together. "Nicely done! You need to see this." She said as she reached for a small mirror for Cien to look.

Cien was craning her neck to try to get a glimpse of the back. She took the mirror from Sasha, and then turned her head this way and that, looking at what the two other women had done. She swallowed, finally finding a good angle. "It is, it's beautiful." She said, blushing a little.

"I'm glad you love it," Sasha said grinning. "Do you want help with make-up? Or are you doing any?" She then asked.

"I… Don't know." Cien said, unsure.

"You'd be fine either way." Kait said. "Though if you want that extra little bit of oomph, it would be a nice, final touch."

Cien frowned, she had never worn makeup before.

"You don't have to. You are already beautiful," Sasha said gently. "But I agree with Kait. Having just a little bit of make-up won't hurt. We could do something that would just bring out your features more. And it can be so light it would be like you are not even wearing it." She then gestured to her own face where there was a very light coating of makeup there. "Like mine."

"Sure, maybe a little bit." Cien agreed after a moment.

"Excellent." Kait said. She glanced up at Sasha, "your kit or mine?"

"Maybe yours. I've just got the bare minimum. You've got a bit more of a selection," Sasha said as she gestured to Kait's larger kit compared to Sasha's small make-up bag.

"Sure thing." Kait said, starting to dig through her kit for a lighter foundation that would go with Cien's skin tone.

"I feel kind of dumb in this." Kyr said, frowning at himself in the mirror.

"You look good." Oppie said. They had stopped at a very nice suit store that Maree had recommended to them when Kyr had asked, unbidden by any suggestion from Viran.

"I can't help but feel like that's a little self serving for my identical twin to say that." Kyr said, throwing Op a sardonic glance as he tugged at his collar.

"Well, just nice to know I'll look good in a suit when I'm as old as you." Oppie said, patting him on the shoulder.

"If it means anything, I think you look really good. You clean up nice, vod," Viran said from the chair he was sitting in, looking at Kyr and Oppie. "Cien is gonna like it."

"I hope so." This was the first time he had the opportunity to take her on a proper date, befitting who and what she was. And especially who she was to him. Even under the multiple layers of the vest, the suit coat, the formal shirt and the undershirt he still felt rather naked without an outer shell of protective beskar. And he felt like he looked rather silly in it. And next to whatever hint they had gotten of what the girls were cooking up, he was sure he would still look like a bumpkin next to his wife.

"You do. And if you won't listen to me or Op, I know Cien will think so," Viran said honestly. "Which, speaking of the girls, what time is your reservation? And shouldn't they be ready?" He asked as he checked the time.

"Six." He said, "I wanted to catch the sunset over the city." Kyr added.

"Ah, very nice," Viran complimented.

"It's about that time, then." Oppie commented, looking at the chrono he kept on his wrist. "Shall we?" He asked.

"Yeah." Kyr said, patting his breast pocket for the upteenth time making sure hadn't forgotten.

Viran stood from the chair and grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair. He shrugged it on as he headed for the door. He opened it and gestured dramatically out the door.

"After you, sir," he said with the same dramatic flare.

"Why thank you my kind fellow." Kyr said, fishing a credit chit out of his pocket and tossing it to Viran as he passed by. Oppie laughed at that as he grabbed his own jacket.

Viran chuckled as he got the credit. "Thanks."

Oppie passed through the door as well. "Thanks Vir, I'll buy you a drink later instead." He said with a salute.

"Sounds good to me," Viran said as he followed after them with a smirk.

Kyr, Oppie and Viran walked into the main living room with nervous energy as they waited patiently for their dates to emerge.

After a few moments, Sasha's voice came from around the corner. "You guys ready?" She asked, keeping herself hidden from their view.

"Yup. Ready when you three are," Viran called back.

"Okay," Sasha responded.

A moment later, Sasha and Kait rounded the corner dressed in nice cocktail club dresses. Sasha was wearing a thigh length purple dress with a halter top look in the front and exposed back with short black heels. Her hair was pulled up into a high, curled ponytail and had the simplest make-up on. She looked so stunning that Viran felt his heart flutter as he stared at his wife before letting out a low whistle.

Kait came out in a black dress with multiple swaths of fabric wrapping up and around her body to a single strap that went up over her left shoulder. There was a high cut slit on her left leg, and she walked in high black heels that clacked on the hard marble flooring. Her feathery curled hair was biased around her right shoulder and framed her face as she smiled at successfully befuddling Oppie again when he swallowed nervously upon seeing her.

"You two look stunning," Viran complimented.

"Thank you," Sasha beamed.

"Absolutely gorgeous." Oppie said in agreement.

"Why thank you." Kait said with a grin.

Sasha looked past them to Kyr. "You look good too. Are you ready to see your wife?" She asked him eagerly.

"Always." Kyr said with a smile.

Cien came around the corner a little nervously, in her new gown, her hair up in the beautiful curled braid. Her gown was made out of an iridescent deep red fabric that shimmered between shades of browns and blacks. It had a slightly ruffled texture about it that accentuated the shimmering effect, and also hid her pregnancy a little, not that that mattered. The top was strapless in a sweetheart style that was cut high and preserved some of the modesty that Cien had insisted upon, and she had a matching wrap over her shoulders. Lacey sleeves adorned her arms, in a pattern that he couldn't help but notice was reminiscent of the oak leaves and vines that covered the pistol he had given her for their first anniversary. Kyr was taken aback seeing her like this, and she smiled and blushed at his reaction.

"You look beautiful, cyar'ika." Kyr said with a genuine smile.

"Thank you cyar'riduur." Cien said, blushing a little deeper.

"You're missing one thing though." He said, stepping forward. She looked at him curiously as he reached into his breast pocket. He uncoiled a beautiful chandelier necklace made out of sunset colored filigree that matched the centerpiece, which was the heart piece from her armor that had been left at home since she had been unable to wear the full suit this trip. "Can't go on a date without our hearts." He said, reaching around her neck to hook the necklace. She looked down at the beautiful necklace with a smile as he stepped back and produced his own heart piece, attached to the leather necklace that also had the kyber crystal she had given him which glowed ever so slightly.

"No, we certainly can't." Cien said, smiling softly, looking up at him.

"You two should probably get going," Sasha spoke up after a moment. "It's about that time."

"Shall we, cyar'ika?" Kyr asked, offering his arm. Cien took it with a smile and walked with him to the elevator.

"We'll catch the next elevator?" Oppie suggested.

"Yeah, we've got the time," Viran said, nodding.

"Have fun you two!" Sasha called after them as they disappeared behind the closing the elevator doors, and were only paying attention to each other. "Damn, we did good," she said once they were out of earshot, raising a hand for a high five from Kait.

"Damn straight." Kait said with a grin, high fiving Sasha. She grinned in response to that.

Viran chuckled. "Well shall we ladies?" He asked them as he offered his arm to Sasha.

"I think we shall," Sasha said, taking his arm.

"The pleasure of your company m'lady?" Oppie asked as he offered his arm for Kait. Who was taken aback for a second before she grinned and hooked her arm around his.

The Maître d' pulled the chair out for Cien as she took her seat, Kyr sitting across from her in a somewhat more private area of the dining room where they had been led. The restaurant slowly revolved at the top of one of the tallest spires of the Coruscant senate district, they looked down on the senate building itself, and just as Kyr hoped they were slowly spinning to view a spectacular sunset that was about ten minutes away. Already the low sun was casting the cityscape and the clouds above in a beautiful orange gleam that washed out any of the grime from the city and made it look like a sparkling garden of jewels, and ships and high altitude speeders gleamed in the direct sun they still saw like fireflies over the incredible vista.

"This is very nice, cyar'riduur." Cien said, looking out the window at the view. Seeing Coruscant, the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she was looking at the stronghold of her enemies was fading away with each passing hour she spent on the world. Especially being able to see it like this, with her husband as part of a wonderful outing while soft music that sounded like something from Naboo played in the background.

He smirked slightly as he glanced at the menu, "it is." He agreed. "One of my friends was able to help me get this setup."

"Not Maree?" Cien asked with a smile.

"Nope." Kyr said, "she just helped with the suit." He said looking down at his sleeves.

"Who is this friend?" Cien asked.

"She's a senator, I met her during the war." He said, taking a sip of ice water from the delicate goblet. "Her brother is a J-"

"Good evening." A kindly waiter said, stepping over to their table. "My name is Barent, I will be your host," he said. "Chef Saluse has prepared a seven course meal this evening, are there any allergies or concerns that I should be aware of?" He asked.

"No." Cien said as Kyr shook his head.

"Excellent." The man said, "I presume that wine or champagne may not be our first choice, may I interest you in a sparkling cider? We have several selections, and we also have a non-alcoholic ice wine from Naboo, made from Alderaanian grapes."

"The ice wine sounds interesting." Cien said.

Barent nodded, "and you sir?" He asked.

"I'll have the same." Kyr replied.

"Very good, your L'Aperitif will arrive shortly." Barent said with a nod as he stepped away.

"Are you okay with this cyar'riduur?" Cien asked with a slight smile.

"With what?" Kyr asked.

"This doesn't exactly seem like the kind of place you might usually go." She replied.

"Oh, you know me, I'm adaptable." He said. "Though I've never seen so many forks before." He said, looking down at the dining set before him. "Are you enjoying it?" He asked, looking back up at her.

"Yes." She replied, looking out at the view, then around the restaurant. "This is a nice change. It's also entertaining to be in this kind of world." She said with a smirk. "I suppose this is appropriate for a Lord or an Empress, retired or not." She said a little absently.

"Oh, I could definitely see Palps hanging out at this place. Vader not so much, he didn't strike me as a restaurant kind of guy the one time I met him." Kyr replied.

"Their loss, then." Cien said with a slight smirk. "Thank you for arranging this." She said, looking back at him.

"Of course, I'm sorry we never got to do something like this before." He replied.

"We didn't exactly need to." Cien replied with a smile, "though it is fun. You look very nice in a suit."

"Well thank you, cyar'ika." He said, tugging on his new coat to straighten out any wrinkles. "And you look beautiful, as you always do."

"Thank you." Cien said with a bit of a blush.

Their conversation quieted as another server carefully delivered a small plate of canape and delicately poured out the ice wine.

Cien took a sip of her wine as the server left. "This is really quite good." She said, looking at it with surprise.

Kyr sampled one of the small puff pastries. "So are these." He said. "I'll definitely need to thank Le-" Kyr started.

"How are we finding everything this evening?" Barent asked, returning to their table.

"Very good." Kyr said.

"Excellent, thank you." Cien answered.

"My pleasure." Their host said with a pleasant smile and a nod, stepping away from the table.

"You will need to thank your friend." Cien nodded. "I had a thought earlier, what would you think of renewing our vows?"

"Anytime cyar'ika." Kyr said with a smile, "though we need to make sure Admiral Sulam is there, all the beskar in the galaxy couldn't protect me from her wrath if she missed out on that again."

Cien chuckled lightly. "I'd protect you cyar'riduur. But I was thinking we could make a proper ceremony of it, and invite all of our friends and family. We've gained so much, even since then."

"We really have." Kyr said, nodding. "Before or after the twins arrive?" He asked.

"Perhaps after." Cien suggested, after a moment. "Then I could wear my… dress." She said, swallowing at the nervousness of being seen in that dress in public. She had only worn it the one time, and for such a short time, at that.

"I love this idea." Kyr said, "especially if we could have Rose'ika and No'ika there with us."

"That will be so strange." She said, looking down at her stomach, at them.

"It'll be great." He said, "they'll be toddling around, spritzing us and all the guests with lightning, running around with their little ad'ika sabers..." He trailed off.

"Kyr." Cien said flatly, looking at him with bemusement she couldn't hide.

"Maybe Op and I can both wear suits, and then people won't know who is who." Kyr continued.

"People can tell." Cien said wryly.

"How?" Kyr asked, a little confused.

"The gray." Cien said, simply as she took a sip.

"What gray?" Kyr asked with mock indignation.

"You know what gray." She said teasingly as she ate one of the canapes. "Don't worry, it just makes you look distinguished." She continued teasing.

"That's code for old." He said, grumpily.

"It's code for dashing, handsome, heroic." Cien said. "And old."

Kyr harumped but he had a glimmer of humor in his eyes so she knew he was just playing. "Xiv's are mean." He grumbled.

"Very." Cien nodded. Just then one of the twins kicked her hard in the kidneys which made her wince.

"You okay?" Kyr asked, he had paused mid sip of wine.

"Yes." Cien said, casting an annoyedly bemused glance down towards the little offender.

"I'll have a talking to with them after dinner." Kyr said.

"Her." Cien said a little absently, they were getting defined enough to tell who was who now, and which one was agitated when there was a little outburst like that.

"Ha." Kyr said, "just like her mom."

She glared at him good naturedly. "You're lucky we're in a nice restaurant." She said with an edge to her voice.

Kyr swallowed and just ate a canape.

"If we were to renew our vows, where might we do it?" She mused, "should we invite everyone to Haven?" She asked.

"We could." Kyr said, "I guess we try to keep Haven a bit of a secret, but I can't imagine us inviting anyone that we can't let know about it." He paused for a second, "we might also consider moving back Home, and having the ceremony there."

Cien looked back at him, "would you ever feel comfortable with that?" She asked quietly.

He was silent for a moment. "If I was back there with my family, again, it seems like it would heal over the last of those wounds. It would be nice to raise the kids somewhere where they could go outside for more than two months of the year." He suggested. "It would be nice to raise them at Home."

Cien swallowed. "That might be nice," she said, "though Haven is our home, now. But I suppose home is where you are." She said with a slight smile.

"And you." Kyr said. They sat quietly for a moment before Kyr spoke again. "I really like the idea of renewing our vows, though, however we do it, wherever we do it."

"Me too." Cien said. "Especially if everyone could be there. Though, honestly, if anyone was going to be there to see our wedding, I'm glad it was Sasha." She finished quietly.

"Yeah." Kyr said. "Though I do wish the Admiral had been there so she wouldn't threaten me so much."

"Well, hopefully this will make amends." Cien said through a soft laugh. She looked out across the sunset that was perfectly framed in the window they sat beside. "Now that is beautiful." She said, wistfully.

"Yeah, it's alright." Kyr said with a smile looking at her.

She blushed when she saw the way he looked at her. She absently brushed her hand across her heart piece. "A perfect match for our hearts." She said.

"Yeah." He said, looking out at the sunset as the bright day faded to night in brilliant display, and something about the analogy didn't sit quite right with him. "Though." He started, "I think our hearts have more of a sunrise sort of color, really." He suggested quietly. "They were the start of a beautiful new day, not the end of one."

"Very, very true cyar'riduur." Cien agreed, looking back up at him from the fading sunlight.

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