to the stars who listen;

   The desserts….what sort of person would put mind alerting substances into a dessert at a fundraiser? Maybe it was an enemy of the New Republic who would do such a thing, that wouldn’t surprise Alton, and frankly he didn’t blame them. This would surely embarrass the leadership gathered. “Well, I thank you for your due diligence, now thanks to you, I am safe from my night being ruined by either some sort of plot, or some attempt at t practical joke.” Raising an eyebrow at the stranger, “You wouldn’t have any idea who did it? Or why would you? Or even better, what exactly was put into the desserts to cause everyone to get like……this.” Waving his hand he motioned at some who was clearly affected by the desserts. 

⭐︎

Something was touching his face. Or rather, someone. Torn between his Imperial-bred reflex to   (get. it. off.)   and pleasant surprise at the sensation against his buzzing skin, Hux turned toward the hand’s owner.

“You.” How could Hux possibly forget the Resistance Vice Admiral who sliced the First Order’s best ship in two? Somehow, he couldn’t muster quite the fury or disdain that it felt like he should. Instead, he   laughed.   “You’re so young.”

Hux listened to Holdo’s words with more consideration than he had ever granted them in the future. Past? Either way, she might very well be rebel scum, but right now she was rebel scum who   appreciated   what Hux was seeing. And they were giving him such a delightful idea. “Yes… yes, you’re so right. It is all connected.” Hux clasped Holdo’s hand between his own, unable to hide a chuckle at when it came so close to the dagger hidden up his sleeve. “You and I can change the future right now, Vice Admiral.”

🌸

a shiver ran down her spine when she heard them say you, but it was quickly pushed towards the back of their mind when the next words were spoken. a scoff followed by “ i’m not that young! ” it sounded like a whine, which was not something that was going to help their case. but the other had laughed, and amilyn bit the inside of her cheek to stop themselves from pouting. 

maybe it was true what people said, that holdo often lacked the ability to read social cues, but the fact that he had not pushed her hand away led her to believe it was alright to take a few steps closer towards him. perhaps if she had been more alert amilyn would’ve questioned why he had called her vice admiral, it was of course a dream of hers to become an admiral in the new republic’s fleet, but they had not even told leia that that was the path they wanted to take. had she not gotten distracted by his next words, she would’ve asked, instead they found themselves tentatively reaching out to place her other hand on his shoulder. 

Having an answer startled Siri. She realised only know that she spoke instead of thinking, and turned towards the stranger. It looked like Senator Amidala had been right after all - people were willing to talk with her. This was new. But she was happy she didn’t have to hide her identity for the night, that she could be herself in a true Jedi Temple. “I did, yes,” she answered with a smile. “Like every Jedi before me.”

the dark side had left its scars on trilla, even if she no longer depended on it in the same way that she had for years. but it was a piece of her soul that she could not leave behind, could not rid herself of, the blur of light and dark. her training doesn’t allow her to miss his presence in the force, but she didn’t tense or look for an exit immediately. “somewhere between too much and not enough,” she responded lightly. “i’m content… right here.”

bastila turned at the call of her name, rising to standing as she pivoted, fingers deftly pushing the text she’d been examining back into the carved shelf. the jedi library here was far smaller than the one she’d studied in on dantooine, and thus only a fraction of the size of the knowledge that had existed on coruscant before the empire had risen, but she’d taken to it nonetheless, tasking herself with paging through the ancient texts in search of knowledge on the eras she’d bypassed, as well as information that could be useful in the training of the younglings. so much had changed, but that was to be expected over the span of three thousand years. 

still, she knew much. that was one of the reasons she’d been asked to greet one of the newer arrivals, she presumed. even with her youth, her experience both in her time and in this new one had provided her with the wisdom - and demeanor - of someone twice her age. 

having risen, she offered the man a hand, small smile touching the very edges of her lips. “it’s a pleasure to meet you, master vos. are you finding everything alright here?”

the answer was likely “no”, as came from the lips from nearly everyone who had been transplanted by the rift, but she asked the question anyway, out of both courtesy and curiousity. she was intrigued by the idea of speaking to someone who obi-wan had informed her shared no wholehearted devotion to the jedi; her youthful idealism had faded with the star maps, and she’d begun to feel many of the same emotions towards the order as she had heard the kiffar did. 

quinlan took her hand and gave it a firm shake, “ pleasure is mine ” he said with a small smile, “ and you can just call me quinlan, i think jury’s still out on what’s gonna happen to our ranks, right? ” he said nonchalantly, of course quinlan had asked obi-wan a lot of questions, but at the moment there had been more pressing matters than the inner workings of the new order. even trying to say the words new order left a bitter taste in quinlan’s mouth.

“ i still can’t wrap my head around what happened, or how it happened ” quinlan said with a shrug, there was no point in keeping his feelings a secret, he was way past masking his emotions, “ but it seems like things are shaping up around here ” he motioned towards their surroundings, it was more than he had expected, more than he was used to, the work he did for the order didn’t usually involved sleeping in his own comfortable bed every night. 

quinlan was not a man who was easily rattled. not in the way that some of his fellow jedi would keep their composure even in the most dire of situations, but in the sense that he had witnessed so much that there was little left that could cause an impression on him. but the conversation he had with obi-wan had left him untethered to reality, he was sure he had gone through the five stages of grief, and he was certain he was mourning himself. but when the only explanation as to what had happened to him on kashyyyk was time-travel or resurrection it could be argued that one was allowed to lose it. 

there was still a lot of information that quinlan needed, but as always obi-wan had to go deal with some assignment, leaving quinlan to find another one of the jedi currently residing in the temple. while quinlan found the idea of rebuilding the order naively foolish, he agreed to stay —if only for obi-wan, if only in hopes that those he felt die would come back, if only so he could remind everyone about the decisions the council had made for the greater good. 

this place felt like a maze, after wandering for a few minutes, quinlan thought he had finally found the jedi he was looking for, he didn’t know much about them, but he prayed to the force they would be able to help him understand what was going on. “ excuse me, are you bastila shan? i’m quinlan vos ”

it was understandable as much as padmé dd not want it to be. hope was something that she clung to, that bled out of every pore of her body. the new republic’s reach was not infinite, was not entirely functional without the support of others –– money was the biggest problem that they ran into with many issues. “cooperation beyond the mid rim is still difficult.” core worlds and the inner and mid rim had been easier, but they had also received the most support from the old republic. “it’s a delicate balance between trying to fix our past mistakes and not having the chance to. planets that we do have the resources for, but don’t have the chance to utilize them on.”

holdo could hardly believe she had been working with padmé amidala. she had read about her in the few records of the senate that managed to be salvaged when the republic fell. passed around in secrecy, like contraband, told the story of the fight for freedom. which was why for someone who always says what’s on her mind, amilyn seemed to be having trouble expressing their opinion on the matter at hand. 

       meditating helped him a lot, reaching into the force was something obi-wan had started doing less and less as the war went on, but now he tried to do it at least once a day. while he sometimes caught some force signatures here and there, this was the first time he felt as if he was being pulled into the force. ❝quinlan❞ obi-wan called into the force, it had been a while since he had talked to his friend, the war had kept them busy, and then another thought crossed his mind how long had it been for quinlan? the empire had listed him as a possible survivor of the purge, but from what he was saying ‘regroup’, and the feelings obi-wan could feel across the force, it was clear this wasn’t old man quinlan, but rather he had been taken out of time like obi-wan. ❝i’m safe. what about you? are you hurt? i’m currently in the outer rim but i can go get you. stay at kashyyyk, i’m coming to get you, get to a safe location, i’ll find you…❞ 

        borrowing one of the smaller ships that the new republic had made available for the order, obi-wan set course to kashyyyk. while he was really good at flying, he wasn’t particularly fond of it, so he was thinking about asking quinlan to fly on the way back. but first he was going to have to find him, and figure out what had happened to him. was he back from the death like siri, or out of time like himself. as soon as he entered the atmosphere obi-wan started trying to locate quinlan’s force signature, it seemed like it had been yesterday when people had to explain obi-wan what had happened, and now he was going to have to do the same for quinlan. after a smooth landing obi-wan got out of the ship and was shocked to see what remained of kashyyyk’s once luscious forest, sure it had started to re-grow, but what was two years compared to the time the empire occupied the planet. ❝quinlan❞ obi-wan called out not wasting any more time, ❝quinlan… it’s good to see you old friend.❞

feeling obi-wan’s presence through the force offered a comfort that quinlan didn’t know he could ever feel again. he wasn’t surprised to learn that obi-wan had survived as well, the force had somehow decided that quinlan would survive his men turning on him, of course it would also protect obi-wan, even from the formidable 212th. quinlan often joked that the force had taken a liking to obi-wan, and whenever he teased his friend he always ended up with ‘let’s be real, who wouldn’t?’ how could he forget that obi-wan was in the outer rim, he had just defeated grievous in utapau, “ i’m not physically hurt. i’ll wait for you. ”

quinlan felt obi-wan before he even heard the ship approaching. perhaps it was because they had grown up together, or because there was no one in the galaxy that quinlan trusted more than obi-wan, but like a light in the vast emptiness of space, obi-wan felt like hope. quinlan knew that his old friend didn’t particularly enjoy displays of affection, but he could not stop himself from wrapping his arms around obi-wan and giving him a tight squeeze “ kenobi, thank the force you are alright ” quinlan said —relief washing over him— before letting go. 

“ i’ve never felt anything like that before, not even when i turned to the dark side. did you feel them? aayla, ploo. how did you escape? something happened, the force it hid me from my troops — ” quinlan had always had a habit of talking too much too fast, but he cut himself short as he noticed something different about obi-wan, while their last meaningful interaction had been at ventress’ funeral, it had been because of obi-wan standing up for him that the council decided to reinstate quinlan to the order. “ obi-wan, what happened to you? ” could this be a trap? no, obi-wan would never. a trick from his dying mind? perhaps. 

they had been through so much together, the first few times when leia and amilyn found themselves facing certain death it had been scary. but the more involved they got with the rebellion the easier it became to be willing to sacrifice their lives for the cause. and that was the scary part now. how much they were ready to give up for the greater good. 

quinlan’s work for the jedi order was a fine thread that the council didn’t seem to mind he was walking, as long as he got results, and in the end it had cost him everything. as force would have it he was actually re-instated just in time to be slaughtered by his own troops. these thoughts accompanied quinlan as he walked across the once green kashyyykian wilds while wondering if perhaps he was in the world between worlds. but if he was one with the force then why did he feel as if something had been ripped from him? that was the thing about being connected to the force, no one truly died alone, and quinlan had felt everything. 

he still had to try, there were very few things he had left, and he was not about to lose hope as well. the force was a whirlwind of emotions, memories, signatures, the light, the dark, and then something familiar. of course, quinlan thought with relief, “ obi-wan ” he called into the force, “ are you safe? we must regroup ” they had done this before, as children, the connection between them stronger that with most other jedi, “ where are you? because kashyyyk seems — in need of more help than me. ”