Private Come With Me Unto This Lakeshore

[Efret Farr]

Lake Country was quiet, the kind of quiet that reflected one's memories back to them like crystal clear water.

And Efret Farr need that kind of quiet, for she had much to look back upon.

Her encounters with Malva'ikh. Her time as Chief Curator. The relationships that could have been with Astri, with Cailen, with Fenn. With Elias.

She was dwelling on the past, something she often cautioned others not to do, not that she had advised anyone of anything of late. It wouldn't make her a hypocrite even if she had though. She come to understand as an older padawan that it wasn't the dwelling that could break a person's spirit. It was for what reason the dwelling was done.

Was it to yearn in vain for something bygone, to give into despair for the loss? Or was it to shoulder failure just to cast it off before its weight became too much—to feel it so intensely as to disarm it of much of its power—to build it a fence and come to visit so that it didn't feel the need to come visit you?

Though that kind of discipline was hard to teach, it had always served Efret well and continued to as she meditated on the lakeshore. She seemed at peace with her eyes lightly closed, head bowed slightly to the ground, palms upturned on her thighs. Besides the gentle breeze playing with the wisps of her long, loose hair, she appeared entirely undisturbed. The very picture of an idealized stoic Jedi of old.

But her temperature was rising, her heart beginning to thump against her ribs, as she opened herself up to it all: fear, panic, misery, self-loathing, hopelessness. Her breath in was deep but wavered on the exhale. It joined the wind skimming off the water and swirled away, leaving her no calmer but helping her ease deeper into the emotions of her past.

Aiden Porte​

 

[Aiden Porte]

Efret Farr​

Aiden's boots made the softest crunch along the lakeshore, the pebbles shifting underfoot in a way that sounded louder only because everything else out here seemed determined to whisper. The air carried that clean, sharp bite that always came off open water in the colder seasons, and the lake itself lay spread out like polished glass, so still it felt like it could reflect more than sky if you stared too long.

Beside him, Lira looked like she might float away on sheer wonder.

Her gaze kept darting from the distant line of dark pines to the pale horizon and back again, drinking in every shimmer of light on the water's surface as if it was the first beautiful thing she had ever been allowed to keep. She kept close to Aiden's side, not from fear, but she wanted him there to see it with her, to share it the way children shared treasures. Aiden found himself smiling effortlessly. It was the kind of smile that felt older than the day itself, like it came from a place in him that had survived wars, loss, and long nights, and still remembered how to soften when something good dared to exist.

Lira broke into a quick trot toward the water's edge, her boots slipping slightly on the damp stones. She crouched, the hem of her coat brushing the shore, and extended her fingers toward the lake like she was greeting something alive.

The moment her fingertips dipped beneath the surface, she yanked her hand back with a little gasp, eyes going wide.

"Oh it's so cold!"

Aiden's chuckle escaped him, warm and easy, carried away by the wind. "Yes," he agreed, stepping up beside her. "The lake will be a little on the cold side for a few more weeks, probably."

Lira shook her hand dramatically as if the water had personally offended her, then laughed anyway, bright and unguarded, before peering back out across the lake with renewed respect. She looked like she was already planning a rematch with the temperature when spring arrived.

Then her attention seemed to divert just a bit. Her curious mind pointing out anything and everything. She straightened and squinted down the shoreline, head tilting slightly as though she had spotted a detail the rest of the world had missed. "Hey, Aiden… who is that?" Aiden followed her line of sight.

At first it was just a figure seated near the water, still as a statue, hair lifted faintly by the breeze. Then the Force caught up to what his eyes were seeing, brushing against his awareness with a familiar shape, quiet discipline, old steadiness, a presence that felt like history set carefully in order instead of left scattered on the floor. His expression softened. His breath left him in a small, almost disbelieving exhale.

Aiden narrowed his eyes, not with suspicion, but with the instinctive focus not scanning a scene for threads, but now found something he had not expected to find: a kindness the galaxy had not managed to take away. A small, happy sigh slipped from him before he could stop it.

"That," he murmured, voice gentler than before, "is an old friend…."

He rested a hand lightly at the back of Lira's shoulder, steadying, guiding, reassuring, then began to angle them toward the seated woman at an unhurried pace. He did not want to startle the stillness out of the moment. He did not want to come at it like a soldier.

For once, he wanted to approach like a Jedi. And like someone who, against all odds, was genuinely glad to be here.

 

[Efret Farr]

Aiden saw one old friend.

He'd hear another.

A triplet of hoots broke the stillness of the wintery air. If he looked up, he would see a familiar convor. The Force stirred in her, tracing a confusing pattern. Aiden might recognize feelings of excitement to see him again after all of this time, but there was something else there. Something complex and not straightforward.

Nirrah alighted on a boulder half exposed by the lake's current water level. Her big, yellow-green eyes regarded the beings in front of her. As she blinked and her eyelids opened again, purple flecks danced in her irises like ash disturbed by a gust of wind after a forest fire—evidence of her time in the Netherworld. She spread one wing wide over the path Aiden and Lira were cutting.

Another hoot came from her, this one much lower.

Sad? Not quite. Just soft, like she was requesting they be gentle with Efret.

Yes, that was it. It felt right and it made sense. Though Elias had couldn't have done any more, he hadn't saved her that fateful day in Theed. He had pushed her from the Netherworld during by the Second Cataclysm, but, even as her knees hit the cobblestones of the city center, part of her remained on the wrong side of the rift. It had remained trapped with him and Nirrah.

It hadn't returned when they had.

This time, the Force stirred in Efret, pulling tight over her like water tension. Aiden might have felt a tugging, not hard enough to actually move him nor to be quite uncomfortable, though he might also get the feeling that it was quite so for Efret.

But it broke almost as quickly as it had taken form. The Force's hold on both of them relaxed. Efret's memories fell away from her like a discarded robe. As they slumped to the ground around her, she stood and looked over at Nirrah.

A smile that couldn't have been moments before took over the older Jedi's face. She reached down to flick a small switch on the back of her necklace pendant with her thumbnail as she approached them.

"Aiden!" The slightly tinny voice of her relocated interpretation until didn't exclaim, but it was clear that she would if she spoke for herself; her hazel eyes almost glowed and her brows raised in pleasure to see him. She threw her arms around him and gave him a hug that held within it not just two friends but the grief that they shared for a father and for a faction, as well as the gratefulness that those two things had ever existed as to bring them together in the first place. When she pulled and stepped back, she began signing again. "It's so good to see you." She turned her gaze to Lira, still smiling warmly. "Hello, my dear. My name is Efret."

She hoped that Aiden understood her omitting her title of master as intentional rather than a mistake.

"And this is Nirrah," she added, gesturing to the owl. "It's very nice to meet you."

After Lira had made her introduction, Efret and Nirrah's shared focus shifted up to Aiden again. The Jedi master wanted to say plenty more, but much of it was not meant for young ears, so she stayed quiet for now.

Aiden Porte​

 

[Aiden Porte]

Efret Farr​

Aiden's smile lingered, softening the lines that years of responsibility had carved into his face. For a moment, he simply looked at Efret, really looked like he was making sure the Force was not playing a cruel trick on him. The lake wind teased at the ends of his hair, but he barely seemed to notice it. All his attention was on her, on the fact that she was standing here, breathing, here.

His eyes warmed, and a quiet, almost disbelieving laugh slipped out of him. It was not mocking. It was the kind of sound a person made when relief finally found a crack in their composure.

"Efret…" he said again, as if tasting the name made it more real. His voice carried an easy affection that he did not try to hide. "You have no idea how good it is to see you."

He let out a slow breath and shook his head once, the corner of his mouth lifting further. "I thought..." He stopped himself before the thought could turn into something darker, something that belonged behind closed doors and far away from Lira's ears. Instead, he chose the truth that mattered most in this moment. "I hoped. I always hoped. But seeing you standing here is… it is a gift."

Aiden's hand rose, hesitated, then gently settled at Efret's upper arm in a brief, grounding touch, careful, respectful, the way he touched people when he wanted them to know they were safe without making a spectacle of it. His thumb pressed lightly, then released, as their arms wrapped around each other. He was so happy to see her, he finally let her go as he glanced down to Lira.

"This is Lira," he said, his pride understated but unmistakable. "My daughter. She has been making it her personal mission to befriend every beautiful thing she finds, including lakes that are clearly trying to freeze her fingers off."

If Lira laughed or huffed at that, Aiden's eyes crinkled with amusement, and then his gaze returned to Efret, steadier, softer.

"I mean it," he said, quieter now, the sincerity plain in every word. "I am happy you are here. I have missed you." A faint smirk tugged at his mouth, playful but kind. "And I am going to be selfish for a moment and ask that you let me have a little time with you today, if you are willing. Even if it is just a walk."

His eyes flicked once toward Nirrah, and he offered the convor a small, respectful nod, then back to Efret.

 

[Efret Farr]

It was a curious thing that Efret and Aiden considered each other old friends. They had only met each other once—and relatively briefly at that. Normally, their relationship wouldn't be categorized any higher that acquaintance, but given the amount of time that had passed since their meeting, even that could be contentious.

The circumstances that had come to pass during that stretch of time, though, was what elevated their bond to a true friendship. Yes, they didn't know each other on a personal level, but that is not necessary to cultivate a deep level of care for another being. Still, getting to know your friends was always ideal and there would be plenty of time for that for the two Jedi. In fact, perhaps they would start making up for lost opportunities today.

As Aiden introduced Lira, Efret sidestepped a bit so she could still read his downturned lips.

"I am happy you are here. I have missed you."

"And I you," she replied sincerely.

Selfish. Efret couldn't help but scoff at the ridiculous notion. Not that she would even call it selfish herself, there was no harm whatsoever to be found in his request. "Of course I'm willing." Her gaze moved from him to the young girl beside him. "Lira, is it alright if Nirrah keeps you company? She's very friendly." Part of her really didn't want to request that Aiden and Lira separate, but she knew it was needed for the Jedi to speak without holding themselves back—and she felt that would do both Aiden and herself good. "I'd like to discuss some private matters with your father."

If either Aiden or Lira agreed, Efret would loose a small pouch from her saree's belt and hand it to the girl. "Dried mealworms," she explained. "Her favorite treats. She'll do tricks for them. Try it."

Aiden Porte​