Reunion (#3 Post-Order 66 Series)

Reunion - Part 21

"How do I know when it's working?"

"Talking typically isn't involved, Omega."

The young clone huffed a sigh of annoyance. Senna had to bite back the smile threatening to creep across her face at her padawan's frustration. Meditation hadn't been her strong suit at first either back when she was a padawan, her mind constantly wandering back to her latest engineering project and what she could tweak on it. She wasn't certain what was invading Omega's thoughts, but they'd been at it for nearly an hour, and her padawan hadn't gone more than ten minutes without asking another question.

The silence resumed between them, and whether or not Senna wanted to admit it, she knew she was struggling as well to quiet her mind today. It had been several days since she and Rex had returned from Cantonica, and she'd made a point to not constantly ask Tech how the cells on his arm were progressing despite her eagerness. The thought of a full life with Rex potentially dangling just out of reach was enough to nearly drive her mad, and she'd hardly slept most nights, laying awake next to Rex's sleeping form. She'd spent hours watching his chest rise and fall, wondering how many years it would be before she was no longer able to experience just being next to him. Patience. You have to be patient. Despite her internal chiding, she'd still been unable to think of anything else, leaving her mind racing even now. Before she could steady herself and resume her meditation, her thoughts again were once again interrupted, this time by the hiss of the door behind her opening.

"Oh, I'm terribly sorry," Tech apologized as he realized what he'd intruded upon. "I was just coming to speak with you about..." his voice trailed off as his eyes fell on Omega, who was watching him intently.

Senna'a heart soared as she realized what he was going to say. The treatment. He has news, but not in front of Omega. Thinking quickly, she reached out a hand to him, beckoning him towards them. "It's alright, Tech. We're not having much luck calming our minds today anyway."

Tech blinked at her from behind his goggles before he smirked slightly. "I understand. I too struggle to meditate at times."

That caught Senna off guard, and she couldn't stop her eyebrow from launching into orbit. "You meditate?"

Tech huffed a slight laugh at her reaction. "Not as regularly as you may be thinking. It was something that started during my time on Naboo with Kestia. The first time she tried to get me to meditate with her, I struggled immensely to quiet my mind. I have since improved the practice substantially and find it's a good way to calm my mind when I'm unable to solve a problem. It has occasionally helped me find solutions when there did not appear to be any, although I know my meditation is quite different from what you practice as I am unable to connect to the Force."

Senna chewed her lip for a second before a thought struck her. "Come sit down by me, Tech."

It was his turn to give her a confused look, but she patted the floor next to her insistently until he obliged, crossing his long legs and resting his elbows on his knees as he set his datapad aside on the floor next to him.

Senna turned back to her padawan. "Omega, I want you to reach out to Tech and I through the Force."

Omega's eyes narrowed skeptically. "Why?"

"Your meditation practice is you reaching out to commune with the life around you. I've just added an additional life form to the equation. See if you can sense Tech, feel his presence in the Force and tell me what you perceive. Tech, feel free to join us in our meditation if you wish."

Omega took a deep breath, furrowing her brow and closing her eyes as Senna watched. "Relax. This shouldn't be taxing. It should be as natural as feeling currents and ripples in a pool you're swimming in." Some of the wrinkles in Omega's forehead smoothed out as she attempted to not force the issue, letting her connection do the work for her. Tech bowed his head, allowing his eyes to drift closed behind his goggles.