Private Destressing

[Valery Noble]

Noble Home

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Tag: Colette

Valery blinked, paused, and turned to carefully hand Adam over to Vera. She already knew Mom needed a moment with Colette, so she took her little brother and gently brought him over to the bedroom. It sparked a brief, but grateful smile from Valery, who turned around and pulled Colette into a more proper hug.

"I love you too, Colette," she said before gently pulling back to look her in the eyes.

"We consider you family here, and no matter what happens, I always want you to feel like you are." It was a bond she had with pretty much all of her Padawans, but Colette and her interest in bonding with the children had definitely made it quite special. "Let's go make some food, hm?"

"Then we'll get some rest, so we have plenty of energy when we visit your homeworld."

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

That hug was appreciated for what it was. Colette was happy about it, ecstatic even, but it was also more of a confirmation of something she instinctively already knew. Valery hadn't ever been shy about sharing the appreciation she had for Colette's efforts to look after the kids, and Colette didn't have a solid idea of what a family was until she began to morph it into the relationship she had with her master and friend.

"Of course," The kid smiled through glossy eyes before she closed them and wiped it away. It was a good time to be emotional right now. "And, that goes for you too. You're important in my family as well."

Which had, well, a single member as far as she knew.

"I think that sounds great." She then added and followed Valery into the kitchen. "Actually, I'm kind of curious if we'll be able to meet my old clan at all, and what they would make of you."

"I think the elder would be happy but displeased too. She always found some small reason to be."

 

[Valery Noble]

Noble Home

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Tag: Colette

Valery smiled in return and felt a lot of warmth, seeing the tears in Colette's eyes. She was a very direct person, very gremlin, but she still had her emotional side too. It really made Valery feel like she was looking into a mirror of time. "I'm very glad to hear that you feel that way. It used to be very uncommon for Jedi to be so open about how they feel about each other, even though the bond between Master and Padawan was strong back then as well."

"But to make it feel like family, and call it for what it is... that's something we couldn't always do." It was a strange thing now, and she could barely remember or imagine things not being the way they were at the moment.

Sometimes, she felt it was important to remind herself.

"Oh yeah?" Valery then asked with a chuckle, "I'm curious to hear what criticism she'll have for me. Maybe my posture? Or is it going to get very philosophical?" Valery joked with a smirk.

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

"Philosophical." Colette rolled her eyes in frustration as if a whole host of memories resurfaced. "Always going on about right and wrong. And sometimes, I wasn't even all that wrong."

The kid let in a deep breath and grabbed a nearby knife so that she could get to work chopping up vegetables. She pulled out a board so that she wouldn't "mark the counter" because apparently that was just what you did in 'civilized' country.

"I think…" The smile faded for a moment as Colette frowned. "Just be ready in case she starts calling you a murderer."

"My people don't look kindly on any sort of violence."

 

[Valery Noble]

Noble Home

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Tag: Colette

"A murderer?" Valery blinked and watched Colette cut up some of the vegetables. "My presence isn't going to create too much friction, I hope?" The last thing she wanted was for Colette to not feel at home among her people anymore because of her. What if Colette ended up being told to leave because of who she had as her Master? Knowing how much Colette wanted to go back, she could imagine that something like that would be pretty devastating.

"Look, you're mature enough to go without me too. So if me being there is going to be a problem for you... then I can let you go alone." That perhaps sounded strange coming from a rather protective Master, but Valery wasn't going to deny Colette a voyage back to her homeworld.

She could not get in the way of it in any way.

"That said, if you think it'll be fine, I'd love to come along. And of course, I won't bring weapons or make them feel like I'm bringing violence there."

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

"No!" Colette exclaimed as a flash of worry wrangled its way across her mind. "I want you there. I need to let them know who is by my side in this."

The kid would suddenly realize that the knife she had used to chop the vegetables was now pointed at Valery. She let out another anxious sigh before she lowered it and rubbed her fingers against her brow.

"They're my past." Colette said and slowly nodded. "And, if they can't accept this new me then I…"

"I'd rather know that if I have no clan to return to, I—" Awfully close to the truth. Colette pivoted. "They know that I have someone else to turn to now."

"... I don't think it will go that badly, but… I want to be prepared for if it does."

 

[Valery Noble]

Noble Home

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Tag: Colette

"No!"

Valery was taken by surprise a little, and turned to her Padawan to see a knife pointing her way. It wasn't worrying in the sense that she believed Colette was about to stab her, but she was worried that this entire situation bothered her. Not even an hour ago, they had hugged and called each other family, and now they were going to meet her old family. If that created friction, it could be very uncomfortable.

But it didn't make it any less important to confront it directly.

"I understand," Valery said after a moment, and once more, her hand settled on Colette's shoulder. "I'd be more than happy to go with you. I hope they accept who you are now, and it would be nice if they accepted me as someone taking care of you now. But if they don't, I'll be there to make sure they know you'll be okay."

Not that she wanted Colette to feel like she desperately needed Valery as her guardian, but she did want her Padawan to feel like she could always lean on her Master if she needed to. That's what made them as close as family, after all. No matter what, Valery would never give up on her or turn her back on her own Padawan.

"Now, before you accidentally stab me... let's finish these veggies and get dinner going, hm?" She asked with a smirk.

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

These last few days had been emotional to say the least. Regret pulsed through the anxiety like a neat little ball. If she kept busy, this usually didn't happen, but Colette also knew that she had to face this uncomfortable truth sooner or later and she'd rather face it on her own terms than have it reach her by accident.

No, meeting the elder or at least someone from her past was a thing she had to do so that she could put it to rest a little bit easier. Not because she wanted to forget it but because she needed to stay focused on her studies to become someone that her people could look up to, like how the Jedi looked up to Valery.

Or, so she told herself.

"Yeah." Colette said and nodded as she finished up the last of the vegetable on her board. "Sorry, I didn't mean to."

"I'm just really scared that they will turn me away for what I did, and I don't want to be alone if they do."

 

[Valery Noble]

Noble Home

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Tag: Colette

"If I can help it, I'll make sure you never feel alone," Valery said, and while she knew it was quite a promise to make, it came straight from the heart. No matter where Colette felt she needed to go, Valery would follow her if she wanted her to. This time, it was going to be her home, where her tribe might be less accepting of who they were now. But this offer would extend into the future, no matter when or where.

"For now, let's sit down and eat up. We can get to some packing after that, and leave tomorrow? Or do you want to stay here for a few more days first?" They'd come back after traveling to her homeworld, but maybe she wanted to spend more time with the little ones before heading out.

It wasn't an easy journey, after all.

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

Few thoughts scared Colette more than the thought of being all alone. There had always been someone else around for most of her life, and that was true even now that she was part of the Jedi Order. Valery was a constant and so were others like Loomi who Colette shared a room with. She needed a group to fall back on.

"I think I want to stay a few more days. Get my head on straight before we go." Colette said with a nod. "Besides, we can't just leave the kids. They, uh…" Colette needed to lift her spirits up. A joke would do. "They need at least another day at the swings before we go."

Yeah, the swings. Or the slides. Or the jungle gym.

 

[Valery Noble]

Noble Home

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Tag: Colette

"Mhm, mhm," Valery chuckled and shot her Padawan a teasing grin, "You really like them, don't you? The little ones." Colette seemed to not just be in her element helping the kids with daily tasks, or whenever she was playing with them — she also seemed genuinely happy whenever Vera, Aris, or the triplets were around. From Valery's perspective, Colette was one of the most, if not the most responsible of the Padawans too, so she was more than happy to allow her a lot of time with the little Nobles.

Even trips away from home now.

"But that sounds like a good plan to me. We'll take a few more days to rest, then we're off to a new adventure." She patted Colette on the shoulder one more time, before bringing two fingers up to her lips to whistle. "Kids! Food is ready!" she called out, and it didn't take long before they were swarming around the dinner table.

All except for Adam, who was still asleep.

 

[Colette]

Valery Noble

"Yeah…" Colette admitted when asked about the kids. "They're easy to understand, and they need our help."

The food was then served. The kids that were awake came to the table and ate, and once they were all fed and lazy from the ensuing feeling of satiation and once the dishes were put away, Colette sat herself down on the couch and fell asleep in a near-instant as the fumes finally evaporated and she was allowed the chance to finally realize just exactly how worn-out she was.

By the time she woke up later in the night she'd found herself wrapped under a blanket and a small glass of water. There was a small drawing on the table that Colette happily pocketed before she drank the water and stood up to get to her bed a few rooms over.

Eventually the days passed. Colette and Valery went for a history trip, Colette caused a bit of a scene, had a talk with a fellow Padawan back at the New Cov home before eventually the day would come that she and Valery would head back home to the sands that Colette had once called home.

But that was a story for later. At this very moment, Colette was fast asleep. Warmed by the love she felt from a family that she had trouble accepting as her own, but honored to live among nonetheless.