Private Enemy Within

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

Oh now she stayed silent?

Valery wasn't sure if she should be even more annoyed with Marigold, impressed with Kahlil, or just relieved that all of this was finally going somewhere. She was going to get healed up, hopefully end up understanding where things went wrong for her, and maybe go through some change. Of course, with the necessary punishment as well.

There was no ignoring what had happened.

The medics made their way over to carefully bring Marigold away, finally leaving Kahlil and Valery alone-ish for a moment. She looked up at him, eyes narrowed a little, and let out a sigh. "Thanks for helping with all of this, love. I... don't know why she was so frustrating to me. Maybe just goes to show how much I need to take time to relax and not be so stressed."

She smiled weakly and started walking towards the Temple herself.

"Do you think she'll actually turn things around?"

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil looked after where Marigold was taken, frowning even deeper now that she had opted for silence. Had he gotten through to her? Hopefully. He still wasn't sure how all of this was going to work out.

But he had hope.

He did raise a brow curiously towards Valery though, glancing down towards his wife.

"I'm not sure why either, love. But if the stress is getting to you this much, perhaps it's time for a vacation, mm?" Then he shrugged.

"It's up to her, at this point. If she refuses to see herself for who she's become, she'll never change."

Valery Noble | Marigold

 

[Marigold]

"I can move by myself, you don't have to carry me." She insisted to medics while she was being brought away for healing, sighing in frustration as she had to be supported to even stand up straight. Despite that, however, she spoke very little. During the trip, keeping her thoughts to herself, as the rapture created by conflict grew even bigger, the disparsity between her actions and thoughts, their results and her feelings grew bigger.

She lifted her head and attempted to look behind her, making sure Kahlil and Valery followed along. Perhaps not out of fear that they would be coming along, but out of that, unexplainable paranoidness of them leaving her alone with the medics, or, temple folk at all. She didn't know anyone there. And it'd be totally miserable experience.

...Granted, having the two masters by her side wasn't going to make it better, but at the very least. Bearable.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

"Our vacation will be good for me, but...I am also taking some extra time off to be home with the kids. I was..." she sighed and looked at him with a smile. "I was hoping you could do the same, so we can enjoy family time before war keeps us away from home a lot more." In all honesty, and Kahlil would be able to tell, it frightened her a little.

The last war had caused the Nobles so much pain. From losing their home, to losing him for a long time. That fear it could happen again would always linger, but this time, she was stronger and felt more ready for it.

Still, some family time before the chaos would never hurt.

"You're right," she then said regarding Marigold. "It seems she wants us to stay with her. Good sign?" She smiled weakly and followed after the medics, who escorted her to the Halls of Healing.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil paused, glancing down towards her. And smiled after a moment. He understood. He reached down to ruffle her hair lovingly. "I'd like that, yes." They could talk more in detail about what they'd do when they finished here. Right now his gaze shifted towards where Marigold was. Nodded as he moved to follow after the injured girl.

"Fear makes people irrational. Give her more credit. What she had to go through to think a bomb would be the answer was truly something awful."

Marigold | Valery Noble

 

[Marigold]

While the medics were bringing Marigold inside of Hall of Healing, the two Jedi masters caught up to her with ease. "Sheesh, took you a long while to catch up." She spoke, unable to hide a sigh of relief once they come into her field of vision, she looked around the halls. The girl held tight onto her hood and cloak, which, admittingly was dirty from all the jumping and running and... Yet, she still held onto it. It gave her comfort. Her gaze returned to look at the medics, squinting with mistrust and anxiousness.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

"Hey," Valery grumbled playfully when he ruffled her hair and left it much messier than it already was after being chased through the streets of Coruscant. "Now I have to confront her with my hair all messed up. Tsk~" she chuckled but regained a more serious demeanor when they entered the Halls of Healing and spotted Marigold.

She seemed pretty set on keeping her cloak on, but with the healers wanting to take a better look to make sure she wasn't badly inuured, it became a point of argument.

"We have things to discuss and patients are allowed their privacy too. If you prefer us to leave, we will," Valery assured her before looking at Kahlil for a moment.

"You might also want to remove the hood and cloak so they can help you. You took a serious shot earlier."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"Oh you like fine love. Don't stress too much. And uh, maybe smooth out the back." Was he teasing her? Absolutely. But with everything that happened so far a little humor could go a long way.

"Figured it'd give you a chance to miss us."

Kahlil shrugged nonchalantly, glancing between Marigold and Valery for the moment. He didn't mind sticking by, but until the doctors were done he wasn't about to press any of the other subjects. She was lucky not to be dead or seriously hurt.

Didn't mean the wound didn't sting like all hell.

"We'll see what the doctors say, really."

Valery Noble | Marigold

 

[Marigold]

She stared at them as they approached, her face easing up from intense, serious expression she had while staring at the medics. "I mean... You don't have to leave." She hid her embrassed flush. "If you , uh, are busy though I guess it's fine."

Marigold rolled her eyes at the offer of taking off her cloak, as well as Kahlil's joke. "Ppsh... We've seen each other so much today, that I'm betting you won't miss me." She chuckled, while with a hesitating hand, putting her cloak aside, revealing her scrawny figure and long, but messy curles of golden hair, and green eyes that majorly lost all glint of life that they once had. Her face hinting that she's not that far out of her baby youth, as well as a scar on the side of her cheek which went down beneath her underweave armor, which was slightly worn and torn, with the noticeable burn in the middle from her recent injury.

Speaking of that, the underweave was a bit on the heavier side, but she still undid it much like normal clothing. Putting it aside, revealing her nomadic-esque robes of white and beige colors, as well as bandages wrapped around her hands and wrists, although soaked in dried blood. Marigold, converesely, crossed her hands, as if holding herself. Clearly uncomfortable. "This is embarrassing." She muttered out loud. "Just do it fast and we'll be done here."

Well, as for the injury itself... It wasn't in direst of conditions, but that being said. It was still an injury from a blaster, it left a noticeable second degree burn, itching on the third degree if it wasn't for the underweave armor taking brunt of the blow, even so. It's clear it'd sting for a while. In meanwhile, Marigold would drill the medics with her gaze.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

Smooth out the back, huh?

Valery pulled her ponytail over her shoulder and began to straighten out her hair while she stared at him for a moment. Of all the things he could tease her about, there were two dangerous options — her age and her hair. The former he'd never do because she'd more than likely attack, but the latter seemed to be one he felt more confident with. With a huff, she dropped it for now, choosing to remember it for later instead.

"We're often busy but we're not leaving someone who got shut under our protection," she assured Marigold, who after a moment of hesitation, finally decloaked to make the lives of the medical staff a bit easier. Without the hood especially, Valery got a better look at the woman, and she looked even younger to her than she had anticipated.

It almost made her feel bad for getting so frustrated with her. To Valery, she really was just a kid with problems now. The Healers then got to work and decided to use Force Healing, rather than put her in a bacta tank. She had already shown to not want to remove a simple hood, so being asked to take off even more layers was probably going to be a struggle.

This way, she could keep the rest of her clothes on.

"Hey, love? Once she's patched up, what do you suppose we should do next? The healing shouldn't take too long."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"As I said before, that's up to Marigold." He looked down to the girl now that he could see her. She was about as young as he expected. Young, and already hardened by a cruel fate. But that didn't make what she'd already done any less than the crime it was.

"What do you want to do, kid?"

Valery Noble | Marigold

 

[Marigold]

Marigold hesitated to let the medics work on her, although presence of Force Healing did have a soothing effect on her mind, she calmed down ever so slightly. Taking a deep breath. Looking back up at Kahlil. And Valery, switching her gaze between them as they spoke, then the question came up and she lowered her head, perhaps in defeat.

"I..."

Silence, she was genuinely at loss of words, it took just one question to not only make her go dead silent. But ponder about a few things.

"...i don't know?' She shrugged. Not exactly knowing the answer to the question. She did it for the majority of her life, to the point where it became her only purpose, just... Mindless slaughter.

"I uh... Like. Maybe... Eat and sleep, I guess?" She listed off about the only other activity she does aside from hunting. "Knit, maybe?" She'd remember the times she'd fix her own cloak and hood, as well as robes from the blaster shots, few memories in between some of her hunts and killings, few things that stood out. Aside from that, to her, it felt like she rarely functioned as a living, sentient being.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

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Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

Eat, sleep, and knit?

Valery sighed softly and looked between the two. She really was just a kid, huh? It made Valery feel a little bad for how some interactions had gone today, though she was still going to take this seriously. Just because she was fairly young did not excuse the things she had done, whether they targeted bad people or caught civilians in the crossfire. Jedi honored the law, and she wasn't making exceptions.

She was just going to try and help.

"We'll get you food and a place to sleep, but we'd like to help you more than that." She sighed, glanced at Kahlil, and then turned back to Marigold. "What you've been doing can't continue, Marigold. There are ways to fight against slavery or any form of evil, but I'd like you to think on how you'd want to continue your life from here."

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"You could be a Jedi, basically." Kahlil shrugged his shoulders, glancing between Valery and Marigold. No reason to skirt around the subject, not anymore. "It's not the only path to truly help people, but it is an option. And it's important you know your options now."

Valery Noble | Marigold

 

[Marigold]

"I said I don't know, alright!?" Marigold practically shouted at them as a response to both Kahlil and Valery, simply looking down at the ground. "Hunting people and capturing or killin' em is what I did for about my entire life." She took a deep sigh. "... I, don't know how to do anything else." She'd mumble, looking up at Kahlil. "Jedi, huh?" Marigold paused. "I met one, now that I realize... I think... At a bar, she said a lot of things to me that I wouldn't ever consider. Thought I was on a path to becoming a better person for once, ey?" She'd shrug. "...Then I just went right off and did exactly the opposite of all the things we talked about, great job, Mari." Despite the horrendous implications of these words, she waved her hands as if speaking a grandiose story, with nearly a manic voice, only to immedietly revert to saddened, melancholic tone. "She'll be disappoitned in me, I bet..."

Recognizing that she was going off-topic, the girl looked up at both masters. "I guess we can uh, go with that, since you suggested." She'd mumble. Lost at what to answer. "Sounds like you do a lot fighting, at least that's something I could potentially help with." Marigold gave them a defeated chuckle, crossing her hands. Her crimes couldn't just be forgotten, but other than to hunt or kill, there's very little she knew in life. To her, the path was straightfoward, with no crossroads.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

"You could be a Jedi, basically."

Valery blinked and quickly snapped her fiery gaze to him. At first, it sounded ridiculous after everything that happened. But...then she remembered where Kahlil came from, and so many others. She frowned at herself and looked down at the ground and away from him for a moment. Why was she letting her frustration getting to her so much?

Becoming a Jedi was probably exactly what Marigold needed. Or, perhaps, a path similar to it. One where she could stand up agains slavers and other horrible people, but in the right way.

"Being a Jedi is not about fighting," Valery said after a moment. "But we do fight to defend ourselves and other people." She turned her eyes back to her husband, but this time with a bit of a smile on her lips again.

"Where do we start with her?"

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"The beginning, like anyone else."

Being able to bring her to the Jedi would help a lot in her recovery, but it wasn't the first step for it. Having Marigold face her crimes was the first step. Then they could start her on the better path.

"Are you ready, Marigold?"

Valery Noble | Marigold

 

[Marigold]

Marigold scratched her head. "Defending others, though, is fighting." She responded, with a genuine tone. Her gaze switching between Valery and Kahlil. An ultimate question is asked, which causes her stern, even if innately soft, expression. To sour into pensive thoughts.

"I uh, I'm not sure? What would I need to be ready? Judging from everything I heard about these... Jedi, and what you implied... I think, I'm very far from being one." She'd shrug.

"And... Being one wouldn't mysteriously fix the crushed bones and scars, or bring back corpses to life, now, would it?" Marigold spoke with a sense of guilt, hesitation, which she tried to hide, but at that point, it felt like she had this same conversation so many times, the guilt was starting to fester and eat her up from inside. Gnawing on her back like a thousand little bugs. Her lifeless eyes squinted and a hand nervously tapped the side of the medical bed. Without her hood and cloak, it was difficult for her to hide what she felt, and yet a the same time, she didn't feel like opening up either, not verbally at the very least.

Valery Noble
Kahlil Noble

 

[Valery Noble]

Coruscant

​

Outfit: Factory Link | Wedding Ring
Appearance: Link
Weapons: Lightsaber
Tag: Kahlil Noble Marigold

Valery nodded, "All you really need to be a Jedi is the desire to be one, and the willpower to push yourself through hardships. No matter how easy we may have made some things look today, we only have these abilities because of years of practice and dedication. Both to honing our skills, but also our minds." She briefly glanced at Kahlil and smiled softly.

"It is much easier for a Jedi or Force Sensitive to take a wrong turn. The Dark Side is always a form of temptation we have to overcome." Which wasn't always easy, and Valery did worry that Marigold would struggle with that a lot in the face of certain kinds of opposition.

She'd need good teachers.

"As for being one... you can learn how to heal and fix boned. You can do a lot of things to help other people. But no, you can't bring back the dead." Not without some seriously dark use of the Force anyway, but she decided it was best not to get into that now.

"Love? If she decides to join the Jedi, we can handle her case and perhaps first have her focus on facing the things she has done." She would still have to contact Coruscant authorities to work it all out, but she was confident that they could make it work.

"Maybe we should bring her back to one of the places she hit? Show her what things are like there now?" She had a feeling that it had either gone back to what it was, or that it had gotten worse. As kt always did in those parts of the Galaxy. Either way, it would be a good lesson.

 

[Kahlil Noble]

"No."

Kahlil glanced to Valery, giving quite the stern no at the idea of bringing Marigold back to her old haunts.

"Not until she's ready for that. There's still so much to be done. Getting you fixed up, having you face your crimes. Truly seeing if you can and want to be a Jedi. We can talk at length about what that means, but without experiencing it, there is no way to tell." But bringing her back to face the crimes she'd committed, the emotions that she did them under, it wouldn't be a lesson. It'd be torture.

There was a reason it'd taken Kahlil so long to find his own old haunts to destroy and fix. Facing the darkness of who he once was could help reaffirm him to the light, but it could just as easily have broken his young mind.

"When she can accept herself and all that comes with it, we'll bring her back. Not a moment before."

Valery Noble | Marigold