For All The Time We've Missed

[Lief]

A new addition had been added to her little piece of heaven.

The open aired compound featured several huts, each with its own unique purpose. Each built with Asha's own hands. The fourth and final seemed to take the longest time, or maybe it simply felt that way without Azrael for company. Down in the underbrush her eyes were sheltered from the worst of the sun by the vivid green canopy overhead. Breaks had to be taken every thirty minutes or so, and a lot of the time she did what she could with her eyes closed.

Her connection to the Force was slowly returning. Back on Aaris III she'd been able to sense not only Cotan but the student he'd left on his ship in an entirely different clearing; it was the first time she'd truly tested herself since before Nar Shaddaa. Since waking up in Vik's care she had felt utterly apart from it, incapable of reaching out and touching it. Even meditation had proved difficult, though she did not give up trying and eventually it proved to be the only way she could become one with the Force even if only for a short time.

It was getting easier to navigate with now, but at the same time her eyes were also healing up nicely. Far from perfect, but she could open them for a longer period of time and that was a vast improvement to even a week or so ago when she'd reunited with Sar'andor.

Reaching out for a long stick she'd taken to walking around the compound with, for those times when the Aurum sun became too much for her eyes to handle, Asha let out a soft sigh.

As with Aaris III, she had sent out a message upon landing back on Aurum - or more specifically, after being dropped off by Cotan with specific instructions to contact him when she was done - and now she was busying herself with work while waiting for the boys arrival.

Her mind was in turmoil, every so often she would recall all she'd done wrong for him and it would throw her into a tight ball of anxiety until her breathing was ragged and she was forced to lay down. Remorse lay heavy on her soul, and Asha had half a mind to contact Cotan and have him pick her up....

She was certain Caedyn would not be coming.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

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The Prophet.​

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​

Almost six months had passed by since Asha's disappearance on Nar Shaddaa; Back then Caedyn had considered himself to be a Student of the Je'daii Order and slowly working his way towards becoming a steward of the Qigong Kesh Temple on Svivren. Today however, he could not claim to be the same person, or at the least, not walking that same path.

His Master's vanishing had driven a blade between the ribs, a festering inner wound that without answers, time could not heal no matter how much he tried to look for support in other places or aspects of his life. He, now a member of the Silver Jedi Order, had not been able to gain anything from them for this was not a matter of the Jedi and nor did they know nor have any connection to the Je'daii for Caedyn to follow any leads.

He had however, committed himself to the Silver Jedi not long after returning home to Commenor and agreeing to do what he could to help his Mom, [member="Lady Kay"] whom was suffering from the aggression of the Sith Empire blockading their worlds. Once a pacifist by heart, now a sixteen year old Lad who had accepted some very difficult truths of the Galaxy and prepared himself to train and do what was necessary for the greater good, Caedyn's new home had found itself on Kashyyyk.

Still, that had not quenched his thirst for answers nor the love that he had for his Je'daii Master.

Beside him, seated in the Co-Pilots chair were Ashla & Azrael who had curled up alongside each other and were finally coming to terms with their differences. The little critters had been Caedyn's only consistent company outside of the droid, Lexas whom lacked in the way of conversation where tact and social awkwardness were concerned.

"Master Caedyn, we're due to exit hyperspace in approximately twenty seconds..." The Droid announced from behind the Pilots chair, looking over the navigational charts and plotting their further venture to the World of Aurum. Caedyn had been here before, hopefully with the one that was leading him there today, if the Force was with him. His only clue was that there had been a single letter marked at the bottom of the communication. The first letter of Asha's name, his Master and the one he'd been hoping to track down for what felt like an age all of its own.

His stomach had knotted and the tension only grew in his shoulders as the FTL tunnel slowed immensely and the Stars all returned to their normal view blanketing the black space around the now very visible world. Perhaps he was only being hopeful but there were coincidences here, similarities, the biggest being the world he'd been called back to. Aurum had always been close to her heart...

And so the Prophet descended upon the green world, heading to the designated co-ordinates for which it would require a clearing to land within. Caedyn had said nothing of this venture, only stating his absence to those that needed be aware of it until he knew for certain just what he was getting himself into. After all, this could be a trap for all he knew, though somehow he suspected otherwise.

[member="Asha Hex"]​

 

[Lief]

The rumble of a familiar sounding starship drew her from her work.

Rising up from where she had been knelt in the dirt, Asha made a conscious effort to brush as much of the earth from her slate grey robes as she could. She did not rush toward the direction of the ship, in fact she did not even turn toward the clearing it had landed in - just through the trees which encircled the compound - instead she merely stood there.

Her eyes were closed, as they often were these days, and the gentle breeze of Aurum washed over her face, threatening to tear the thin hood from her head. The scar which ran up from the right side of her neck to behind her ear began to sting, no doubt reacting to some of the morning dew which was carried on the wind, yet even that did not break her concentration.

The Force washed over her, over the whole area which had become her domain. It was strong here, so much of the land was alive, and much of it had been planted by her own hand, with the Force as her ally. Beautiful plants with varying degrees of usefulness, vegetables, and berry bushes, and vines holding fruits. The garden had come alive during her absence, fed by the continual downpours which plagued a humid landscape such as this one.

Among it all, she waited.

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn moved down the landing ramp of the Prophet, dressed in the garbs of the Jedi and armed only with his new Lightsaber connected via a magnetic clamp upon the side of his belt. Similar to Asha's own, his Tunic was a series of tones white and gray, though beneath that were hidden layers of greater strength made for the purpose of being battle-ready. The Armor looked every bit the part of a Jedi's taste for tact and tradition, and the weight of it all was something that he had come to grow used to, so much so that it no longer hindered him in his stride. The hood was part of the tunic itself and thus he needed no cloak to deter him, yet it too remained back fallen across his shoulder blades for his identity to be easily noted by whom he hoped would be meeting him in such a place.

The Force here upon Aurum and surrounding the clearing specifically, was especially strong. Vibrant and ever flowing, his senses came alive in such a place, the unseen hand that reached out to touch upon all living things. Caedyn had long ago learned to admire and commune with the natural worlds that he often traveled, nature itself was forever something that he could love for it's purity and provision of strength and guidance to those sensitive to the Force.

Moving away from where the YT-1300 had been parked, Caedyn's eyes lifted to the tree's that loomed over the path of stone that he walked. It was a path not of natural make but someone had taken great care to place each of the pieces of stone into the dirt, a slight trench carving the walk-way into the ground and with time, the grass had recovered to make it all appear so beautiful even in something so simple. In these crucial moments, Caedyn Arenais felt nothing of the forewarning nor fear of threat that typically came with his walking into an ambush or any such thing. The Force called to him in a different way, inspiring only intrigue and uncertainty for what may come.

And that was when he felt it. [member="Asha Hex"] was there after all, against all disbelief and passed days of searching, wondering and fearing for her safety, Caedyn came into line of sight with the hooded one, her back to him though through the Force nothing remained secret for whom he had been summoned there by. Rendered speechless in this revelation, this hope having come to light and revealed true; he offered her no words, the boy of three years her junior simply standing there no longer in approach yet neither knowing her state of mind.

All he knew was that she had called him here, and he had answered.

[member="Asha Hex"]​

 

[Lief]

The moment she felt him him, Asha knew she had failed not only Caedyn but his Father too: he who had hoped to keep his boy away from the conflicts of Light and Dark.

It was alarming to her how apparent it was, the Ashla which had seeped through her student and worked its way into his heart. He dripped with the primordial confidence of a Jedi, the weapon upon his belt was built for battle, not practice, and even from where she stood she could hear the steady slap of fabric as it brushed against something harder than skin. Armour then?

So it was that the boy had been forced into manhood.

Turning on the spot, her head slightly turned toward the ground which forced the cowl of her hood to cast shadows across her expression, Asha simply stood there for a moment taking it all in. Silence stretched between them, as it had with Cotan, and this time it seemed it would not be the one who had made the pilgrimage who would be breaking it, but instead she who had sent for him.

He was wary, and that was a shame. The fact that he had come at all was a genuine surprise, however, in retrospect she could handle his decision to hold back.

"Where is the boy I knew? He who enters this place stands before me a man in his own right."

One step was taken forward, confidence held within it despite the fact it acted alone.

"You bear the markings of a Jedi, child. It seems you are your Father's son."

She did not look up, did not reveal to him those pinched crevices along her skin that had healed as scars not quite as white as they could have been, nor her eyes which no longer glistened and instead had dimmed, this she kept away from his vision for now at least, as she kept her own vision from herself. Still her eyes remained closed.

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Six months gone without a single word and her first words were a gripe against his becoming a Jedi? His reaction came with a mix of surprise and hurt as she seemed to jump into judgments in what he could only describe as an unfair attack on his person. "I'm nothing like my Father..." Caedyn bit back, unable to keep the hurt from sounding in his voice. Caedyn held nothing but resentment towards Veiere for the way things had gone in their lives...-This wasn't the point though, [member="Asha Hex"] had disappeared from his life and left him stranded on Nar Shaddaa waiting for her to get back to The Prophet. He had been there for weeks before he'd been forced to give in and leave the Criminal World.

"You disappeared. You left me on the Prophet and couldn't even tell me why..." He countered her judgments with accusation, "So what if I've joined the Jedi. I had no friends with the Je'daii Order, all I had was you and you left me there!", Caedyn may have only been three years younger than Asha but he still couldn't understand what could have led to her being so unkind right now, let alone why all of this had happened to begin with. She hadn't just been his mentor, she had been the best friend he had.

"Commenor's being blockaded by the Sith Empire, I can't even get back to Mom right now without getting into trouble. I met a friend from the Silver Jedi a while back so I went there...", [member="Asaraa Vaashe"] had been a life saving encounter in the end, she who had first described the Order of the Silver Jedi. "I looked for you for weeks...-No one would help me and Nar Shaddaa is horrible..." He tried to explain himself, suddenly feeling as though he was on trial or something, having to justify his being upset as if he were wrong to be; Jedi or not, he hadn't been with them long enough to know the ins and out of emotional restraint.

[member="Asha Hex"]​

 

[Lief]

Silently, Asha merely stood and took the barrage of emotion-filled words from he who had been her sole student.

No attempt to interject or explain herself was made as the compound became filled with his voice, as he denied her thoughts on who he was becoming, as he accused her of abandoning him back on Nar Shaddaa, as he fought to explain his actions, and his choice to join the Silver Jedi. She watched him calmly from beneath her cowl, barely moving, barely breathing, and then when everything was out on the table, when he had said all he had been wanting to say for the past several months, she merely answered him with one slow nod.

She lifted her head then, hands moving to brush back the hood of her robe just enough so that her eyes were no longer shrouded in shadow. The bright spark they once held was gone, the emerald muted into what appeared to be more of a washed out hue. There was yellow mixed within, though not the typical sulfuric kind which marked corruption. More like the slight tinge found within a meadow of long grass and wildflowers in the spring. Or autumnal leaves. Earthly, golden, but dim.

Much dimmer than they had been.

A few scars lined her face, faded so that they were almost indistinguishable from the rest of her skin, though one which was rather more evident traveled up her neck from around half way, to just beneath her right ear. That one hadn't healed nearly quite so well as the rest.

"The Veiere I knew was a good man," she finally said, as she met his gaze. Even with the shade which crept around them cast by the canopy overhead, Asha was struggling to keep her eyes open for very long. Though she pushed through this time instead of succumbing to it and closing them once more. "I do not associate your Father with that which he became, but with the man I knew on Svivren. A Jedi with an open and curious mind, who did not reject the views of another solely because they did not wholly line up with his own."

She did not address anything else; her disappearance, the fact he was left stranded, there was nothing she could say to make that better, no excuses to be made that would retroactively clear things up. Whether it had all been out of her control or not, whether she had neared the embrace of the void and experienced a genuine dance of death, did not matter.

As with Cotan, she had not called him here to clear her name. Nor ask for immediate forgiveness.

Such was simply not her way.

"Truly," she breathed, as a steady gust of wind blew through the clearing and cleared away some of the cobwebs in her mind, as she closed her eyes under the strain of the light, "You look well."

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn's expression took a shift away from his anger and hurt, and instead to a look of shock and concern as [member="Asha Hex"] lowered her hood and allowed her scars to become visible to him. Her eyes were the most notable however, the color and light in them had faded down to the look of a blind person, grey and soulless. The boys mouth opened to speak though he didn't know what to say and somehow now felt very guilty for the way he had spoken to her. He didn't know what she'd been through but from what he could tell, he wasn't the only one who had suffered in her absence and she had obviously not simply abandoned him. At-least, not without pushing him away from whatever had been done to she, herself.

"...-What happened to you" Caedyn finally found his voice and seemed to approach her by concern more than conscious and deliberate effort; he had always loved his Master as though she were like family. A life long friend who Caedyn never ever wished to hurt or insult or make life hard for. What had come between them was extremely difficult to handle, the months of not knowing and stressing over her safety. Soon enough he was in arms reach of her, his eyes gazing over the healed tissue of her wounds, though she would feel his sudden sadness and too anger for whomever was responsible for so much harm dealt to his Master. All thoughts of his Father were now well and truly behind him as his heart cried for whatever suffering she had been put through.

"Is this why you left...-Who did this to you?", suffice it to say that Caedyn wasn't at all happy despite their being reunited. It wasn't the Jedi way of thinking but whoever did this to her deserved to be put in the ground, for all the care he had for his Mentor.

 

[Lief]

Everything about the boy changed in that moment, though she had not intended for that to be the case.

As he rushed forward and into her path she remained painfully still, watching to see how he'd handle the situation she'd unintentionally placed him in. His emotions came in waves, the anger he'd previously allowed to the surface swallowed in favour of concern. She saw in that a glimpse of the boy she had first taken into her ship back on Commenor, the childish innocence and something akin to naivety at how the world really worked.

Already he was searching for answers, for someone to blame, and Asha knew that he would likely not find her answer satisfying in that sense.

"There is no name to give," she told the boy, "It was a random, senseless act of terrorism. Whoever was responsible perished at their own hands."

No doubt he would have heard about it, being that he was docked in Nar Shaddaa throughout the event even if he wasn't necessarily close to the promenade wherein it took place. News spread fast on worlds like that. He might have initially even presumed she was one of the countless bodies that made the final count, only each had been identified and named and she had not been among them.

She should have been listed with the injured, only somehow Asha had stumbled her way out of the immediate vicinity before collapsing inside the entrance of a hostel. Nobody had reported her as one of the many impacted by the attack, mostly because they couldn't say for sure if that had been the case.

"Let go of your anger; I am alive, and I am well. Mostly, though, I am sorry for the distress I caused you. Had I been able to return to you, I would have. As fate would have it, that was not possible. Not until now."

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

[member="Asha Hex"] sought to explain and sooth the boys emotions, then apologizing for their having been separated. Given the shock of it all however, Caedyn wasn't so willing to just let it go; he chose not to argue of course though the look upon him would be more than enough for his Master to know just how uncomfortable he felt about it all.

"A random act of Violence?" He asked, though the question was rhetorical and more for his own sake, trying to process the answer without much as a way to connect this person's guilt to his Master's tragedy. "I should have come with you like we normally do" his eyes fell once more upon her own; it was very uncommon for Asha to leave Caedyn behind on the Ship while she went off on an endeavor. Most cases, she liked to encourage him to explore and learn as much as he could about the many cultures and peoples dotted across the Galactic Map. "If I had, maybe we could have sensed something..." his words faded off, the thought and expectation that she might point out the equal chance of his being hurt in the process had he accompanied her, hadn't slipped his mind.

With everything that had happened between them, she had now returned into his life and for that he was especially thankful. Of course he'd been angry and upset but that was only because he had worried so much and for so long. Now that she was standing before him again, Caedyn moved to wrap his arms around her sides, hugging her. He had missed her immensely, especially with the way the Galaxy was being shaped.

"Don't leave me behind again" He muttered under his breath, though she would well hear him for it came not as a request but rather an instruction and his wish that he might not lose her once more.

 

[Lief]

"If you had been there," she said, mimicking his thoughts, "I have no doubt there'd have been two more casualties on the death roster."

The only reason that Asha had survived was because she had been 'stupid' enough to walk away from the scene of the explosion, right into the hands of someone willing and able to assist. Had her student been at her side, she had no doubt that she would have focused her delirious efforts on seeking him out, on trying to keep him alive, but the state she'd ended up in was not conducive to helping even herself much less another. Besides, even if they had survived he'd be sharing in her trauma and she was happy not to have that on her conscience.

She was pulled from those thoughts by an embrace she hadn't been fully expecting. All of the emotions he had shown over the past minute or so of conversation had not lent themselves toward any possibility of such an action being drawn from the boy. And yet as she stood there it happened all the same, and without hesitation she returned the gesture.

There was a connection between the two of them, a bond, that transcended time and space, one which was borne from several years of companionship and learning. The relationship between a Master and their Apprentice was sacred, especially when the Force had a part to play in it, and regardless of whether he'd chosen a path away from her that wasn't something that was going to disappear any time soon.

But then he spoke into their embrace, his words setting into motion a confused state which washed over the girl.

"That's not going to be an easy thing to promise, for I am not a Jedi, but I will not disappear again if I can help it."

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn Arenais pulled away from the embrace, feeling a little embarrassed that it'd just happened. He was truly glad to see her again, yet they'd never really shown their feelings in such a blatant expression; At-least she would know that he was glad to see her again. "No...I guess you're not. But you're still my Master" Caedyn's eyes landed upon her own. Against their differences in paths now, he had no intention of letting her off that easily.

"I don't see why I couldn't keep learning from you, while taking classes and stuff from the Silver Jedi as well. Between your teachings and theirs, I'm surely going to learn a lot more about the Force and the Galaxy together", the boy didn't know if such a thing had been done before though he didn't have the experience to presume that it wouldn't work, either.

"Oh and uh...-I brought The Prophet, so you can have her back again now. Just s'long as you can get me back to The Repertoire!" he smiled a little. It had been nice still being able to hold onto his Masters presence through the sentimentality of her starship and Azrael too, though between the Repertoire and the X-Wing that used to be his father's, he already had more than a boy his age probably needed.

"I'm guessing you'll be returning to the rest of the Je'daii, huh?" he still felt a little bad about having stepped away from them himself, though as he mentioned before, he'd struggled to make friends, truly lasting relationships. Perhaps though, that was by fault of his anxiety and general want to protect himself after his Father had proven to be so capable of betraying their family. It was only natural he'd make it difficult for others to get so close to him. Still, there was no one outside of his family whom held his faith and loyalty like Asha did.

[member="Asha Hex"]​

 

[Lief]

For a moment, Asha was speechless.

She had felt certain that the boy would not come, just as she had suspected Cotan wouldn't visit Aaris III, and she'd been proven wrong by the both of them, but when it came to Caedyn's path and their Apprenticeship she had believed that was truly done for. He had chosen the path of a Jedi, which meant he had duties to tend to now, no doubt he'd be assigned a Master, or made to study for his trials by himself, both of which took up valuable time.

Both of which left no room for the influence of a neutral.

But in that moment Caedyn made his true wants known. He wanted to resume their Apprenticeship, he wanted to continue learning from her. It was true, he was not forced to train exclusively under one banner, which was something she'd tried to make a point of before in the past when she was formally among the Je'daii. In fact, in her youth Asha herself had studied from as many different Force Sects as she could, either remotely or in person - as had been the case with the Silvers.

Having the ability to draw from various sources, in order to get a better idea of the whole picture, was an invaluable skill, yet one so few in this Galaxy chose to make use of.

"You remind me of the Veiere I met on Svivren," she whispered, finally breaking the silence, "So willing to find out more, not believing his views to be the only truth, the sole answer."

When he broke their short embrace she settled her hands to his upper arms and held him at arms length, watching his expression She truly meant him no insult by comparing him to his Father, she hoped he understood that.

"I will not be returning to the Je'daii; they do not know of my presence here on Aurum, though I don't doubt Master Sicmus has eyes on this place. After all that has happened, I have a better understanding of my purpose here, of my place in the Force, and that does not completely align with the Order. I'm not meant to be tied down to a couple of worlds."

The fact that the boy had brought her belongings gave her no small amount of happiness, though she did not know what Cotan would make of her having her own ship again so soon after her return. Maybe they could dock it somewhere, until he was sure she wasn't about to disappear.

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

The fact that Asha wasn't going to return to the Je'daii Order was something of a shock to Caedyn, he had expected her to jump right back into business again now that she was back, yet she seemed to have other plans...

...-And again there was the comparison between him and his Father. It seemed bizarre how she could have such a high opinion of his Dad even know with everything that had happened coming out into the public spotlight. "...What exactly was Dad like back then. He never talked to me about the Jedi and only talked about the Force like it was this big dangerous thing. I get there are risks but Lori and I have never really been told much about what he used to do...-And now, well...You know".

He had to admit, the idea of his Father not being such a bad person sounded nice; but nowadays wherever he went, he was tied to Veiere's shameful acts through House Arenais, the royal family of Commenor. Caedyn hadn't seen his father in the longest time now either, not since before his Dad resigned as King actually. Apparently [member="Loreena Arenais"] had spoken to him recently, though when she tried to encourage him, Caedyn wasn't having a bar of it and remained convinced they were better off without him.

"What will you do instead then?" Caedyn soon asked after a slight pause. [member="Asha Hex"] was right to presume that things would be a little difficult between him being in the Silver Order and she be traveling the Galaxy. "If you're gonna be all over the place, we're going to need some really good comlinks and stuff so we can still talk to each other; when I'm not with you, that is!".

 

[Lief]

"He was kind," she began, moving back to take a seat on the ground beside some of the vegetables she'd been growing, happy for the added shade they provided, "Open minded; he never once tried to question what I said due to my age," which was something Asha had experienced more than a few times in her life, "He seemed genuinely at peace within the Force. Whatever drove his actions since then I cannot say, but I feel certain that he will find his way back in time. It is never too late for redemption, Caedyn. This can be fixed."

Patting the ground at her side to encourage him to join her, she looked past him toward the various buildings she'd erected over the years and frowned in thought to his next question. "I have not decided, though I trust that the Force will guide me to where I am meant to be. Where I need to go. It has done so in the past, and I believe it will continue to do so now."

She had lost her way for a while there, she had forsaken her instincts and the Force in favour of so-called duty. Routine.

"Worry not, my Apprentice," - it felt good to use that term again - "The Force will be our anchor. Our bond will stretch the length of the Galaxy, and through it we will be one. With that, communication is easy. You just have to learn how."

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Master..." Caedyn spoke to [member="Asha Hex"] in form of the title without giving much thought to it, perhaps in response to her calling him her Apprentice yet his mind was on the former subject of Redemption; "You say it's never too late for Redemption, yet my Father was labeled 'The Devil of Deneba' because he took others there and cut down the Jedi Enclave, including many of the Jedi that lived there. How can someone be excused of that?" He questioned with clear frustration and still carrying a great deal of resentment for Veiere, the past was a wound that had been left open, to fester.

Naturally, it didn't seem fair for someone to do such a horrible thing and be forgiven for it. Caedyn knew that forgiving others for their wrong-doing's was supposedly a good thing to be able to do, he'd been taught such things from his Mother [member="Lady Kay"] since her was but a child, yet something this large just seemed to extreme to simple wipe away. "What if someone like me had been there, just joined and still young and inexperienced. Just learning what the Jedi are all about only to find their Enclave being attacked like that...", it seemed a fair point to put himself in the position of those whom had been killed, trying to imagine the trauma, though only making him more annoyed in thinking about the things his father was guilty for.

Truthfully, Caedyn didn't yet know the differences between the Jedi and those alike the Je'daii Order. It all seemed very similar, yet without the traditions of the Tho Yor, the ancient temples and forms of discipline like Stav Kesh or Qigong Kesh. What he did know, or atleast what he thought he understood was about on the same level as the rest of the Galaxy. Jedi were known Force Users whom fought against the bad people to try to keep people safe. Wherever there were Jedi, there was supposedly Hope.

 

[Lief]

"Do not mistake redemption for absolution, Apprentice, no crimes will be excused. That does not stop him from finding the Light once more, from beginning the long process of atonement. His actions will live with him for the rest of his life, will no doubt haunt him when he comes back from the darkness he's found himself within. But it is how he deals with that going forward that matters now. The reparations he makes toward those he has harmed."

For a moment there Asha sighed a weighted sigh, and shook her head.

"And I don't think anyone expects you to simply forgive him, or to forget. You are his child, his family, and not only did he fail his people he failed you as a Father. He should have been there, at home with your Mother, and he wasn't. He chose the wrong path; give him a chance to find the correct one, again."

While it was true that Caedyn did not have to forgive his Father, he did have to let go of the hatred which had begun to bubble within. So once again Asha patted the ground, urging him to sit, and closed her sensitive eyes against the sun.

"You have allowed this to fester within you for too long, Apprentice. Sit now, meditate with me... Allow your mind to be free. You should not have to suffer such torment, within a mental prison of his devising. This is not your cross to bear, Caedyn. Let it go."

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn had been so lost in his own thoughts and path of feeling that he had completely neglected to notice nor comply with his Master's gesture to seat himself beside her until she did so a second time and made eye contact least he wouldn't make the same mistake twice. Nodding quickly in compliance this time, the lad moved to take his place next to her, crossing his legs beneath himself and leaning forward, his elbows resting upon either knee as he looked off in continued frustration over his father and the past.

"I'm sorry, Master. It's been difficult not to think about with everything that's been going on" he managed to speak up a little before nodding once again, this time to her suggestion that they both meditate together. Truthfully, it had been some time since Caedyn had simply taken a moment to listen to the world around him. Meditation used to be a daily habit though he had neglected such things since she had disappeared and he had been rather desperate to find his way again.

Exhaling slowly through his mouth, the boy put effort to steady and slow his breathing, soon inhaling calmly through his nose and repeating the cycle over and over in silence. His eyes would gradually drift close as he felt his shoulders relax, his mind distancing itself from the lesser priorities of the Galaxy beyond his present company and instead he listened to only the sounds of nature around them, as well as any instruction that [member="Asha Hex"] might feel the need to provide him. Meditation wasn't necessarily difficult, it simply required time and patience.

 

[Lief]

At least to begin with, Asha did not say a word as she led him in meditation.

Sensing through the Force, she felt him settle down beside her and heard his breathing begin to regulate itself. In and out, calmly as could be, he worked himself toward a state of tranquility there among the vegetable patch, and Asha did the same. It was second nature to her now, as it had been for him before Nar Shaddaa. She could sense, however, the struggle he felt.

How long had it been since he'd meditated? Properly meditated.

She might have frowned, only that would break her focus. Instead she let it go; it was a conversation they could have later. Asha hadn't done the best job of providing him with structure and routine where their Apprenticeship was concerned, and though his attention would be split with the Jedi now involved she hoped she could instill some sort of regimen within him all the same.

"Let it all out, Apprentice," she breathed, "Like water cascading over rocks, allow it to flow from you."

[member="Caedyn Arenais"]

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

[member="Asha Hex"] seemed to be encouraging him to express himself and the feelings he had built up inside over everything that had been going on. At the apex of his inhale, his breathing hitched for a brief moment following her words, soon releasing it in sighing fashion as he exhaled once again through barely parted lips. The Force around them both however shifted as his mental barrier and need to protect that vulnerability within himself was lowered, allowing himself to trust in his Master and show that he need not keep anything from her. Like an open book, Asha would be able to feel all that he was feeling were she to just reach out and touch upon the connection they two had built up together over their time in training and experience over the few years since the Lad had joined the Je'daii.

The current Crisis surrounding the Commenor Systems Alliance wasn't solely down to a family feud, though Caedyn still blamed his Father for weakening Commenor's leadership, resigning as rightful King to instead pursue whatever selfish reasons Veiere might have had to justify his isolating himself away from those that loved him once. Caedyn had always admired his Father as he had always been perceived to be a moral Man. Loreena however idolized their Father and seemed to seek his approval more than anyone else's in their family. Being his Twin Sister, Lori was especially important to Caedyn and that want to protect her and hate his father for how much he had let not just Caedyn down but Lori too. Since the blockade of CSA Space, no one had heard or seen Veiere Arenais at all. This in his Son's mind naturally concluded that his Father no longer cared for any of them nor their Home. Otherwise, the Veiere they had once known would be back and bringing the fight to the Sith Empire for what they were doing.

Whether they were brief images or full-blown flashbacks, Caedyn was reliving the past as he allowed his emotions to be revealed in an attempt to accept what had come to be. He wasn't seeking to deny these feelings but rather accept and overcome them, that he might be able to move forward. Asha Hex, in all her experience in the Force and skills such as flow-walking, would no doubt be able to share in these things with the boy, Caedyn whom held nothing back from her. Again, this was something she need only reach out for, least she worry about his privacy on the matter.