Positions of high alert are well executed, even as Leilani returns to Tython; they check the scanners, they are hyper-aware of the circumstances and analysing every moment and grain-sized subject which goes in and out of the hyperlanes. Yet as days and then even weeks pass, there is no movement; the case of Dooku's new apprentice is soon closed, forgotten, especially after Obi-Wan and Anakin bring news from Toydaria and Dathomir. They don't necessarily cease to look, but bring a wave of calmness and patience to wait - hoping that it won't happen again. As that is something everything is based on during the war. Hope.
Leilani also returns to her duties with a sense of ease. She trains Nia in front of the temple's waterfall, though even she isn't entirely sure why she has her Padawan standing on her hands atop a tower of rocks.
Perhaps, she recalls her own training days with Adi Gallia under the guidance of Masters Yaddle and Windu. On the lush planet of Kashyyyk, she had balanced precariously on top of at least six rocks, her feet steady despite the wobbling stack as Adi, beside her, stood on one hand, her fleshy head-tendrils nearly grazing the ground as she struggled to maintain balance, their shared efforts teetering on the brink of collapse. She could almost reminisce the voice of her old Master and the piercing gaze of Mace Windu as they both trained beside the Great Tree- or how she felt the flow of the Living Force, gliding through with the breeze; how the leaves were whispering around, guiding her, and emboldening her with every minute.
"How much more of this?" Nia asks, lifting her chin slightly, careful not to fall. Yet she knows as well, that impatience is not something Leilani particularly appreciates.
She sighs. "A tad more." Just as the answer is vague, Nia already knows what it means that she has just earned an extra time out in nature, instead of practising her forms.
Nia Rhayme wasn't ungrateful for her Master's teachings, but she viewed physical training as more crucial than the ancient Jedi "banthashit," as she so bluntly put it. Despite her Master's disapproval of such disrespectful terminology and her unnecessary rebelliousness, Nia remained steadfast in her beliefs. Swordsmanship was her top priority, and while Leilani was determined to find a balance, she couldn't completely dismiss everything else even if her Padawan wished it.
Yet, when it is finally time to drop down and stand on two feet once again, she feels more than grateful; not to mention in the moment when Leilani calls for her clone Captain, to gather a few troopers in a circle as Nia rests for more.
Captain Blaze gladly takes the challenge, nothing they haven't done before- they adored to take part in the Padawan's training; Nia's and occasionally Ahsoka's too after General Skywalker approved of the same exact technique for her. Partially stolen from Leilani, yet it proved to be even more effective than they originally thought. So efficient, that it became Nia's favourite training method, as Blaze, Prophet, Connix, Blitz, Xeno and many more gather around her, and she ignites her blue lightsabre, ready to take the first shot. No distractions, just her susceptible senses, waiting for the blue, fading shots to come-usually, that is; however, as she sees the space left between Blaze and Prophet, she has to force herself to be careful and not to think. To dull her feelings while sharpening her senses- and even so, after a mere minute, she takes the hit.
It goes like that for days, if not weeks, Nia feeling cold-blooded from the incident and from losing Skimmer every time she thinks about it or sees a gap; while Leilani senses her feelings and lowers her head just a bit more, each time. Neither talks about it; they close off, as if it would be a sin to do so; they just move forward, as the reality sinks in. As losses are usually like that, for the first moments, easy to accept, where the adrenaline of the arrangements keep you going or in their case, the reckless actions of the war; yet as you have a moment for yourself, and you realise how alone and lonely you are, suddenly everything becomes all too real. That's when you start to mourn for the loss, and the tears will start to prick the corners of your eyes, involuntarily. Crying for them; yet first and foremost, crying for yourself.
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The Countess ━ OBI-WAN KENOBI
FanfikceLEILANI SERENNO bridged the past and the present, born into a family of cruelty and then groomed to fulfil a role in the grand scheme of things. She was a puppet manipulated by her brother, ensnared in a larger narrative orchestrated by the Force. Y...
