Too Close to the Stars

Bad Dreams Bad Omens

With a little gasp Ianto wakes up in the morning. He slept badly lately although he doesn't know why. His dreams were confusing.
He sits up and looks at the clock. 4.38 in the morning. Could be worse. He gets up to make himself a coffee.

Ianto was now 25. Only 3 years ago he came here. It was all some kind of fate, coincidence or destiny. For 22 years he lived on a planet in the outer rim. Arcadia. The woodland planet. In his childhood he lived there peacefully with his parents, playing in the woods and going to school... until they got killed by separatists in the war which is already going on for a few years between the republic and the separatists. Only his sister was still alive and for the past years they took care of each other. She's married now and has already two kids. He couldn't believe he's already an uncle. He has to think back ever too often, wondering if she's okay.

He tries to clear his mind and drinks his coffee. He should get rid of those thoughts and tried to stick to this, to let go off the past like his Master told him but it's not so easy not after all those years.

Now he's here at the jedi temple focusing on his new task. Ianto decides to take a shower. After waking up all sweaty and upset it would be the best. He doesn't even finish his coffee before he heads to the bathroom. Ianto takes off his boxers and goes into the "shower". It is uncommon to use water here to clean yourself. Apparently that's old fashioned and a waste of resources. Whatever this is...it rather feels like being in a sauna but wasn't too hot at the same time. Cleaning but still refreshing. He was so surprised when he learned how all of those new things work here and even after two years he always finds new surprises.

In fact he got here quite late..well according to Jedi standards. Usually young padawans would be trained at the age of 5 or 6. The chances for him to become a jedi were almost 0 if there wasn't one jedi who insisted on taking him here. Master Hartman. She was a stunning Jedi. He was so inspired by her that he immediately dreamt of becoming like her. Wielding a lightsaber the way she did. He didn't like thinking about what happened. And how he lost her. The first person he trusted within years and then...she died. He remembered that day so well no matter how hard he tried to forget, he couldn't.
He turns off the shower and gets out and puts on his clothes again, his shorts and a white shirt. Ianto goes back to the living room to finish his coffee and trying to calm down. What should he do now. It's so early. Meditate? Eat something or do some training or just try to go back to sleep again...?

A knock on the door. Ianto turns around, but he can already guess who it is. He heads over and opens it. He smiles a little tiredly as he sees his Master standing right in front of him.

"Are you alright, Ianto?" Jack asks with his soft voice. He is dressed in his usual dark blue robe. It had some fancy stripes on his shoulders, quite uncommon and gave him some military style but it suited him very well. His usual boots and black trousers looked great with this outfit. He gets distracted for a moment until Jack says his name again.

Ianto nods. "Yes, Master. I'm fine."

Jack titls his head a bit, knowing Ianto wasn't honest. He could feel his discomfort by the disturbance in the force around him.
"I heard you take a shower. Already the third day in a row."

"It's nothing, Master. Just...dreams"
Ianto looks down and clearly doesn't want to talk about it.

Jack nods a bit. He could always tell when Ianto was not at peace or upset but he didn't want to push.
"If you want you can tell me about them. But you don't have to."

"It's fine. I'm sorry if I woke you up, Master"

Jack shakes his head a bit "No. It's okay. I usually get up at this time to write my reports. Now try to get some sleep or maybe relax. Meditate. Try to clear your mind, it'll be a long day my padawan. I see you then."

"See you then, Master" Ianto nods and closes the door as soon as Jack left. Hopefully he didn't notice his heart beating ten times faster. After...the incident with Master Hartman...Jack became his new Master with the task to train him. Master Harkness. He was great. Good with the force and unbelievably skilled. He knew so much and taught him so many things he never dreamt of. He was not much older than Ianto actually which is quite surprising for him. Jack was the youngest Master and very popular, yet flirty but didn't start any kind of affair. He was charming but always stuck to the jedi code. But why did he have to be this handsome. With a sigh Ianto sits down at the couch and buries his head in his hands.
For a while now he felt strangely attracted to him. He shouldn't feel this way. Attachments and romantic feelings were no good for a Jedi. He knew that. It's one of the first things he leant but it was so hard. However... The worst thing were his dreams. Three nights in a row...he dreamt of Jack. But not in the way everyone would think or the way he'd like it, no. He dreamt of him dying.