a face cast in amber crowned by chitinous wings that hailed the sky. kylo knew her with the distant familiarity of a bedtime story. but was it a living memory stolen from a long-dead boy that named the cut of her jawline and the prowess of her poise? or had he met her in a dream long before her silhouette overtook his shadow? the enclosed crescent of her lips said nothing, but the force cascaded outwards with existential fanfare. there was no corona of alien blue or pulse of ambitious red. her signature slipped between aspects of an aurora all her own, each shade outlined by a lifetime of too much too soon.

            but its beauty was made brighter by a scar that stayed close to her skin. there was a trace stuck between the sutures of time. it drummed on the walls of its prison with each heartbeat. love and betrayal seeped like old blood and stained her signature with its story.

            ❝ ahsoka tano. ❞ a purr rumbled from the base his throat.

            the last time ren uttered that name he'd been a boy of four. luke skywalker had arrived at the solo family's residence in hanna city's senatorial apartments with a green-skinned child swaddled by his arms. skywalker introduced the child as grogu whose tooka-ish ears drooped with a sadness far too big for his small body. it permeated the satin breeze that filtered through the balcony from the flourishing terrain beyond the city's borders and clumped into the corners like webbing.

            ben eyed one such clump as he played with a model x-wing that was suspiciously similar to the one that brought grogu to chandrila. it rippled like muscle beneath tissue as it watermarked the walls.

            still holding his x-wing several feet above his extended hands, ben followed the smoke-like trail to its source. grogu's ears perked when ben met his gaze, clearly intrigued by the human boy's make believe dogfight. the children stared at each other in mutually assured silence till ben's x-wing drifted closer to the newcomer and landed in the little one's six fingers.

            ❝ wanna play ? ❞

            what was once a peaceful game erupted into a rambunctious tournament between the pair of force-sensitive younglings. toys were inevitably abandoned as the boys explored what their newfound friend was capable of.

            ben recently discovered an ability to glimpse memories that would one day break minds and the young solo jumped at the chance to show off his new trick. he raised a tiny hand, reached out for grogu bouncing aura, and was immediately rewarded with a flash of spiraling montrals wielding a binary set of white fire sabers.

            the human's eyes expanded into starstruck pools of hazel, ❝ ahsoka ! you saw ahsoka ! ❞

            ben's pale face already flushed from roughhousing turned ruddy with excitement as the boy spun on luke's astromech. artoo — who'd been tasked with making sure no more cambiblocks turned into hurdling projectiles — beeped curiously as ben glowered at him from beneath a shower of dark hair.

            ❝ you said no one knew where she was. ❞

            the droid chirruped and ben did seem to consider the answer before bolting to his feet. artoo warbled a warning as the little solo nearly crashed into his cylindrical body in the boy’s mad dash to reach the droid's side.

            conspiratorially, as if anyone overhearing his secret wish would somehow ruin its chances of coming true, ben whispered into the astromech's nonexistent ear, ❝ uncle artoo, do i get to meet auntie ahsoka too ? ❞

            decades came and went between that question and the answer.

            the knight scoffed. how sacred this meeting had been to that boy. now it intrigued the beast for far more feverish reasons. she was no longer some breathing legend but a living relic. one that held memories of his grandfather before his ascent. what buried treasures would kylo find in the depths of her mind?

            ❝ you're alive. ❞ at what cost? the question hung unspoken between them as ren paced the perimeter of their meeting, ❝ your master taught you well. ❞

@grcyrebcl  :        you’re   braver   than   i   thought.

a   mirthless   chuckle   meets   her   words   as   bail   lowers   a   still  -  smoking   blaster  ,    vaguely   nauseous   as   he   regards   the   scene   before   them.      he   has   long   grown   used   to   such   measures  ,    but   it   never   grows   easier.        “      yes  ,    well  ,    the   empire   has   made   many   of   us   realize   we’re   capable   of   more   than   we   believed.      ”

𝐀𝐋𝐖𝐀𝐘𝐒  𝐓𝐇𝐄  𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐘  𝐎𝐅  𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑,  the  captain  wouldn’t  fail  to  recognize  it  should  a  rank  greater  than  them  both  dictate  a  final  declaration.  Realm  of  Coruscant’s  underworld  was  known  by  most  before  the  name  was  known,  the  haven  for  scampered  lowlives  and  questionable  character.  The  renound  republic  guard  had  echoed  time  and  time  again,  a  repeated  notion  that  skeptic  occurances  were  of  no  concern  for  military  grades.  ❝  General  Skywalker  took  care  of  that  —  ❞  a  subtle  glare  offered  through  opaque  stygian  glass  for  the  dangled  cloth  that  hovered  above  her  bright  azure  iris.  Gloved  palm  uplifed  rather  dense  elongated  cloak  in  smokescreen  effect.  Facial  exposure  the  most  blared  𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙣𝙩  𝙤𝙛  𝙚𝙭𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚  𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙘𝙚𝙙  𝙪𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙧𝙣𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙝  𝙥𝙡𝙖𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙞𝙙,  for  that  a  soldier,  one  out  of  billions  was  not  someone  to  keep  vgilence  at  bay.  Certainly  not  a  spine  to  look  after,  a  comrade  in  debatebale  circumstances  where  his  advised  presences  would  ensure  her  own  effectiveness.  Stubborness  was  part  of  the  deal,  as  much  as  there  was  no  winning  against  the  matter  of  absolute  survival.  One  of  them,  already  valued  higher  than  the  other.

               A moment of pause before the princess shifted, double-checking to make sure that the men that were accompanying herself and her escort were all aboard for the moment. She would admit.. she’d never met a jedi before. It meant that her curiosity was legible. Written over lightly freckled features and posture of the young princess.

              She just had to remember her manners when approaching conversations. “Uhh... Thank you.. for being part of an escort back to Corona for me..” It was the awkward moment of silence.. she had to observe her father and mother working on the senate floor--meaning she was personally.. just a representative at the moment.

              Hands moved together, thumb pressing lightly against her palm as means of calming anxiety. She didn’t know why there had been so much commotion when she was in the meeting with her parents. But the escort home must have meant something was amiss. Usually it was her and Eugene.. but he was currently off doing his own thing. Just trust me.. She did.. which lead to her parents insisting that she go home with a padawan escort and a few troopers.