Private Bodyrock

[Colette]

Bap, bap-bap, bap. … Bap!

The wind was stuck in her throat. Colette panted and heaved and her hands latched onto her knees with a death grip as she tried to catch her breath. Two months ago this had been as easy as pie, but now she was just barely past her fifth rep and the exercise got to her as if she was just starting out again.

The frustration had set itself in her bones, her muscles and skin. She could feel the way her jaw clenched itself shut and how her muscles cried for a break and yet demanded that she push against the fatigue.

"I'm—" She exhaled and took a sip of water from a nearby bottle. A groan parted her lips. "I'm good, just need a minute."

"It was just a fuh-hing-" She had to breathe mid-sentence. "Hospital bed. I am better than this."

Valery Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

​

Valery crouched beside her daughter, one hand gently pressing against Colette's back while the other offered the water bottle she'd been sipping from herself. Her dark hair was tied up in a loose bun, and a sheen of sweat clung to her skin — even the Grandmaster worked up a sweat during their runs through the forest trails surrounding their home. She wore dark shorts and a fitted tank top, and some proper boots for a run.

"You're doing great," she said with a soft smile, her tone warm but edged with challenge. "And you're right — it was just a hospital bed." Valery rose back to her full height, hands on her hips, watching Colette with that familiar fiery gleam in her eyes — the one she always got when she was training someone she believed in.

"Which means it didn't break you. Just slowed you down a little." Her smirk deepened. "But you're still here. Still standing. Still pushing."

She gave a small nod toward the trail that disappeared into the treeline.

"So. Here's your choice," she said, and her voice took on a teasing lilt. "One more run through the forest, or we take a detour down to the lake and go for a swim. Both'll help build your strength and endurance back up — and I'm not too old to beat you in a race across the water either."

Her eyebrows rose slightly, daring her daughter to pick. Not as a student. Not even as a Jedi.

But as Colette Noble.

"You choose. But either way…" She grinned. "You're not done yet."

Colette ​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

Her short hair had tangled as sweat poured from Colette's skin. She grabbed the water bottle one more time and gave it a good squeeze before she handed it back to Valery again with a relieved sigh. The kid could feel her heart beating in her throat. She wiped her brow with her arm but it was of no use and if anything just applied even more sweat in its wake.

"Lake." Colette exhaled with a chuckle, lips twisting into a grin as she looked up at Valery from her hunch. "Have to…" She panted. "Give you a fair chance."

"Okay, let's go." She eventually said and lunged back to her feet and into a slow jog. "No point standing around."

 

[Valery Noble]

Valery's grin widened at Colette's answer — not just from the choice, but the sass that came with it. "Oh? A fair chance, huh?" she echoed with a playful scoff, taking the bottle back and screwing the cap on as she rose to her feet. "We'll see about that."

Without another word, she broke into a jog — light on her feet, steady and practiced. Her form cut a smooth line through the trees, ducking beneath low-hanging branches, boots thudding softly along the well-worn trail they'd carved through the woods. Even now, after everything — war, time, motherhood — there was still something wild and alive in her when she ran. The forest knew her rhythm, and she knew its breath.

The trees began to thin. The glimmer of sunlight flickered brighter through the canopy until the world opened up around them in a burst of gold and blue.

The lake. Still and clear, tucked deep in the woods like a secret — its surface catching the afternoon light like glass. Valery slowed to a stop at the edge, one hand on her hip as she turned to glance back at Colette, her breath even, her grin sharp. "There it is," she said, nodding to the far end of the lake, where the trees gathered thick again along the opposite bank. "To the other side and back."

Her eyes narrowed slightly with the challenge. "No Force tricks. No shortcuts. Just you, your muscles, and a whole lot of water." Then, with the same fiery glint she'd worn on battlefields and in training halls alike, she tossed her tank top aside, kicked off her boots, and took a few quick steps forward before diving cleanly into the lake.

The splash was sharp and clean, and in seconds, Valery's head broke the surface again. She turned just enough to shout back, her voice carrying with a laugh:

"Come on then — show me that fire!"

Colette ​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

The tanktop brushed against her skin and exposed it to the blessing of the breeze. She jumped on one leg to tear off her boot and then on the next to rip the other one off as well. The second her feet touched the water it was like the most blessed winter she had ever felt in her life, sending goosebumps along her skin as she waded deeper and deeper until she could let it all envelop her for but a moment before she kicked off into a chain of slow but steady breaststrokes.

It was clear that Colette still wasn't a very proficient swimmer but that she was getting there. Occasionally she would forget to breathe properly and start to sink only to let in a deep breath to rise back up again.

In this moment she wasn't very keen on talking. She needed to get back in the swing of things for that.

 

[Valery Noble]

Valery turned her head just enough to watch Colette wade in, a crooked grin tugging at her lips when she saw the goosebumps form. "Cold water's good for recovery!" she called back teasingly, then flipped back around with a flick of her hand through her soaked hair.

The lake was cold — biting, even — but it didn't slow her. She let the rhythm take her: arms slicing cleanly, legs propelling with the practiced ease of someone who had done this a hundred times. A breath in, a breath out. The splash of her strokes steady and sure. But when she noticed Colette struggling with the rhythm — dropping under, then rising again — she slowed just enough to glance back. Her tone wasn't mocking this time, but firm, encouraging.

"Keep your breathing steady! In through the nose, out through the mouth — don't fight the water. Let it carry you." Then, like flipping a switch, that fiery grin returned.

"…Because if you don't pick it up, I'm going to beat you there and back before you even hit the halfway mark." And just like that, Valery surged forward again — strong, fast, shoulders cutting through the water like she was born to it. A challenge, plain and simple. She wanted Colette to fight for it. To push harder.

To remember what she was capable of.

Colette ​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

Up and down, and up, and down. Colette hated swimming. She loved water, but she hated swimming. She had chosen this exercise because it was something she needed to get better at and Valery knew that all too well. How long had it been since Valery first taught her how to swim?

"Halfway mark." Colette tried to speak but sank beneath the surface. "I'm already there!"

She coughed for a moment as she resurfaced. Her nose burned and itched until it forced a sneeze from her. And then another. And another. Colette shook herself awake and continued swimming again.

"Told you I had to give you a—" She stopped and took a deep breath so that she didn't sink again. "A fair chance!"

 

[Valery Noble]

Valery glanced over her shoulder at the flurry of sneezes and sputters behind her, barely managing to hide the grin spreading across her face. She slowed just a bit, watching Colette push herself forward through the water — messy, chaotic, stubborn as hell. But moving. Refusing to quit.

"That's my girl," Valery murmured under her breath, her voice half pride, half smirk.

She surged ahead once more, pacing herself to reach the far shore just seconds ahead of Colette. As her hands found the muddy shallows, she rose smoothly to her feet, water cascading down her form as she swept her wet hair out of her face with both hands. She turned just as Colette reached the shore, a brow lifting with playful challenge.

"Not bad," she said, tone light but impressed. Valery plopped down onto a sun-warmed rock just at the edge of the water and stretched her arms behind her, legs still half-submerged.

"So..." She gave her daughter a sly, sidelong glance. "You want a break before we swim back? Or—" she leaned forward a little, eyes sparkling, "Should we practice breath control? Maybe a nice little dive to really test those lungs."

A beat. Her smirk curled wider.

"Unless you're too tired, of course."

Colette ​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

She knew that Valery was doing this to poke at her and make Colette just frustrated enough to continue pushing herself, and it damned well worked too. Colette pushed from one side of the lake and then over towards where Valery swept herself over to.

"I'm putting you in a retirement home." Colette grumbled and pushed back into the middle of the lake where the lake would be deep enough for a good dive. "Just give the signal and I'll go."

She glared at Valery until the signal came and quickly dove into the water.

 

[Valery Noble]

Valery gasped — dramatically, hand to her chest like she'd just been struck down by the most vicious betrayal known to Jedi-kind. "A retirement home, huh?" she echoed, scandalized. "For me?" She huffed and leaned forward on the rock, water dripping from her soaked hair as her voice dropped into a very serious tone.

"I will haunt you for the rest of your life if you do that." Smirking now, Valery pushed off from the rock with a splash and joined Colette at the center of the lake. She floated beside her for a beat, letting the moment settle.

"Alright. Deep breath."

One hand came up. The signal.

Then she dove.

The water turned cool and still, sunlight cutting through in long golden beams above them. Valery's form cut gracefully through the depths, her movements fluid, deliberate — but something soon caught her eye. A darker shape below, partially obscured by moss and silt.

A structure.

Stone and metal, old and half-swallowed by time.

Valery paused mid-stroke, glancing sideways toward Colette with a flick of her gaze. She wasn't sure if her daughter had seen it before — she and Kahlil had found it once, tucked beneath the lake like some buried memory. She'd never mentioned it in depth.

But if Colette had noticed it now?

Well… maybe it was time to explore together.

Colette ​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

Valery would haunt Colette no matter what. Perks of being a Jedi and all that. Colette kept herself under the water and counted the time until she had to resurface. Water and her were good friends, but not like this. The deep was vast and unknowing, unseen, and she didn't much care for that. Just like the void of space.

And then a slight shimmer, a flicker caught her eye.

Colette opened her nearly-shut eyes to look at it and immediately regretted it. Pain pressed against her eyes and she had to resurface just to let out the pained grunt that was slowly sucking out all of her remaining air.

She gasped as she came back.

"There's something in the water." She said and plunged her head down just a little to try and see it again. She resurfaced. "Not sure what."

 

[Valery Noble]

Valery surfaced just a few heartbeats after Colette, pushing her wet hair back from her face with a smooth sweep of her hand. Her eyes flicked to her daughter, catching the tension in her shoulders, the way she glanced back toward the deep like it had whispered something to her she didn't quite understand.

"There is," Valery confirmed softly, her voice calm against the hush of the lake.

She treaded water beside Colette and glanced down beneath the surface, as if remembering. "It's an old structure. A Temple built by an old civilization. Kahlil and I found it a few years back. Half-buried, broken in places, but still… alive, in that strange way the Force tends to linger."

Her gaze turned back to Colette, brows lifting slightly. "There are pockets of air inside — places to breathe, to walk. It's safe enough, if you want to explore it. Could be good training, too." She offered a small, almost mischievous smile. "Or we can head back to shore, dry off, and pick up where we left off with your actual training. Up to you."

She smirked faintly. "What's it gonna be?"

Colette ​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

So either go running through the forests same as she always had or find something new? Colette didn't even bother giving an answer. She sunk back into the water and swam for the vague glint she could see reflected from the sun, although it felt more like she was trying to claw and crawl her way towards something on the ground than actually swim.

Eventually she felt her hand drip in the air as water poured from her fingertips. It would seem she reached into the structure below. Colette pulled herself through the barrier only to feel herself fall head-first towards the ground. She spun into a flip to catch herself on her feet but had no energy left to catch as much of herself as she would have wanted.

Her arm met the ground and so did her shoulder and then her stomach.

"Ugh…" Colette groaned. "Fuh-hing…" She exhaled a tired sigh and remained on the floor for a while longer. "Just… Give me a minute, please."

 

[Valery Noble]

Valery broke through the surface a moment later, her movements smooth and unhurried as she followed the trail of bubbles left behind by her daughter. The faint shimmer of the submerged structure welcomed her back like an old memory — familiar in its mystery. She slipped into the entrance moments after Colette, just in time to watch her tumble through the threshold and hit the ground with a less-than-graceful thud.

The sight made Valery pause — not out of concern, but pure, motherly amusement.

With a splash of her own, she pulled herself into the chamber, water cascading from her form as she landed far more softly, feet catching stone in practiced rhythm. Her hair clung to her shoulders, her black tank and shorts soaked through, but she stood tall and grinning.

"Well," Valery drawled, placing her hands on her hips as she looked down at Colette sprawled across the damp floor. "Give me a fair chance, huh?"

Her tone was teasing, light. But there was a twinkle of pride in her eyes all the same.

Colette ​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

"Well?" Colette threw back as she huffed her way back on her feet again. "I'd say I did a pretty good job at it, too!"

She let out a tired chuckle, a quick exhale of a laugh before she stood up straight again.

"Come on, old lady." She said and began to walk further into the structure. "You're-" She exhaled another chuckle. "You're only wasting your fair chance."

 

[Valery Noble]

Valery's smirk deepened as she followed after her daughter, wringing a strand of soaked hair over one shoulder with a casual flick. "So stubborn," she muttered under her breath, just loud enough for Colette to hear. She may not have Noble blood, but she very much was a Noble.

Boots slick against the stone, Valery caught up easily and began walking beside her, eyes flicking over the walls as they moved deeper into the ruin. The deeper they went, the more the temperature dropped — not in a way that chilled the skin, but something colder in the Force.

Faint bioluminescent lcreatures flickered along the walls, casting a green hue that revealed carvings — not in Basic or even Sith, but something older. Spirals and angular designs, etched with impossible precision into the ancient masonry. Some of them pulsed faintly, responding to their presence.

Valery slowed, raising a hand to brush her fingers just barely over one of the symbols. Her brow furrowed slightly, the smirk replaced with quiet reverence, "Kahlil and I found this place when we just got here. We thought it was just another ruin... but there are mechanisms in here — old ones — that react to Force users."

She looked back at Colette, a little more serious now, "Not just doors or traps. A device — something ancient and strange. It doesn't just manipulate matter." She paused. "It moves people. Across space. Worlds. Maybe even more." A beat passed, the silence thick around them.

"We never figured out exactly who built it." She tilted her head, the flicker of a smile returning. "But I was curious if you'd feel it too."

She looked forward again, toward the deeper shadows where the structure dipped into even older corridors.

"Come on, let's see if it's still humming."

Colette ​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

React to force users, huh? Colette raised a brow and looked around her. There was something there, but not something she felt particularly attuned to. Not that she was sure that was a bad thing. If it could move her across space, or possibly time, it would do her good to not do anything stupid.

"Humming?" Colette asked. "And how do you know all this? Did you two do something?"

 

[Valery Noble]

Valery chuckled softly at Colette's question, her fingers slipping away from the stone as she turned to walk deeper into the corridor, "We didn't touch anything," she assured, though her tone hinted at a story there. Her pace was slow now, more thoughtful, her voice lowering as the air grew thicker around them, "But when we found it, we had a vision. Not the usual kind — this was stronger. It showed us someone trying to use the mechanisms here elsewhere to travel here with... less than good intentions."

She paused at a bend in the corridor, glancing over her shoulder at Colette, her expression more serious now, but not troubled. "We stopped it before anything could happen. Then we sealed it off, made sure no one else could use it the wrong way." Valery turned forward again, her hand trailing just above the stone as they walked. "It should be safe now. There's no more threat, just… echoes and a pretty structure."

She smiled a little at that, glancing sideways, "I thought it'd be fun to show you."

Colette ​

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

"Hmm." Colette hummed in slight worry and looked back at the device. Funny thing about the future was how fluid it was. Maybe Valery had prevented one potential reality, but that didn't mean it wouldn't happen. Someone else could find it, fix it, and use it all the same.

It was easy to see the comfort of nihilism. If nothing mattered then nothing was too little or too much. Hospital had given Colette enough time to think about it, and the more she had come to realize that nothing mattered the more she had also realized that just meant she had to work harder to give it meaning instead.

"But what if someone fixes it?" She said and approached the… Thing. She couldn't quite tell what it actually was. "If you can destroy it, can't you fix it too?"

 

[Valery Noble]

"Well," she began, "Technically… we didn't destroy it."

Her amber eyes drifted back toward the mechanism, the ancient structure still faintly pulsing with dormant energy beneath layers of stone and time. "It's been deactivated well enough that it'd take a lot for someone to even find it — let alone repair it. I've checked in on it more than once over the years, and it's remained quiet." She let that reassurance hang for a moment, but then her expression sobered a little, and she turned her full attention back to Colette.

"I'm not too worried about this place," she continued, voice lower now. "What concerns me more is that there could be other structures like this — still active. Still waiting. This one brought someone close to Niv Hani… and if there are more gates like it out there, someone else might try again. Try to reach it."

A beat. A flicker of unease crossed her face.

"Perhaps we should do more to seal it off, but your father is better at that stuff."

Colette ​