For The Nights I Can Still Remember

[Josh Dragovalor]

On Kashyyyk... There was a small dwelling set in the woods, not terribly far from Silver Rest. It blended in well with the setting, for it was in the trees – quite literally. The treehouse that had once belonged to Grandmaster Valae Kitra-Heavenshield was now in the ownership of the new Master Of The Order, Josh DragonsFlame. He had not really told anyone of the change in ownership and had kept the knowledge of it's existence mainly to himself. It allowed for far more privacy as a home away from home than his quarters at the Rest did, and it wasn't like it was hard to reach him through his datapad number if one needed to get in touch with him. For him, it was a good way to relax along with Jason in a place away from the hustle and bustle of the Rest when he wasn't working and wasn't able to take time off yet to return home.

He had been renovating the place a little though. Not with any help though, he had been using some of his spare time as of late to gather wood from the forests within Kashyyyk, using skills he developed during his years in exile at the compound on Naboo to build his first house, in order to renovate this home away from home. The main reason? Well, aside from the lack of some proper facilities, he wanted Jason to have a room to himself of some sort that he would grow into as he got older. While Valae had lived alone and the treehouse as it had been suited her perfectly during that time, Josh did not live alone. So he had dedicated himself to fixing it up and slowly growing it to give it a bit more function. Not that he minded keeping the project quiet and working on it by himself. It was a fun little pasttime, he had found. And the materials to do so were plentiful in the forest around him. This was far from his first forest home, after all.

While the project was still in progress, in the time that had passed since, Josh had managed to get some rooms going. They weren't huge rooms, no, but they did the job. And he'd gotten doors working, which meant Jason could sleep peacefully while he was in another room.

But today was a different kind of day, and so he had decided to use his spare time today on Kashyyyk for something else, now that he was finished his training Padawans and other duties for the time being. Today was a special day. Today was Jason's third birthday. Thus he'd taken a bit more time to himself today than usual to spend with Jason, though he intended to get back to paperwork and such tonight once Jason had long fallen asleep. He also wanted to invite some people throughout the day to come and visit and hang out, and see the place and see Jason if they wanted. Though it was not something he did lightly. The place was meant to be in order for him to get away when need be, after all. As he was now the Master Of The Order, he was even busier and that privacy now became even more valuable when he needed it.

But... There were some special people he was willing to make the exception for.

The woman formerly known as Scherezade DeWinter, now Madalena Antares was someone that, while a Sith, Josh felt a kinship to. And she was Aunty Porgiana to Jason, as well. He had learned to trust her, and trust her deeply. She would already be at Kashyyyk today, he knew. She had long marked today on her calendar, having him do so for her at her insistence. So he decided to trust her with this. When she would arrive on the planet, he would send directions to her datapad to come to certain coordinates within Kashyyyk... Deep within the forest.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

She was already on the planet. There was no way in hells that she was going to miss Jason’s third birthday party. Three was a big number! Soon enough, he was going to start remembering things for the rest of his life, and hopefully the birthday would be part of that. Madalena had specifically requested a day and a half off so she could fly in and attend the party.

Jason’s birthday gift was secured in her pocket, and she had chosen a white dress for the occasion, hoping it would help soothe Jason since it was more on the playful side rather than the hot and dangerous one. She still remembered his tears and panic at her waking up from her nightmares in screams, and she wanted to do everything within her power to make sure those specific memories didn’t bubble to the surface of his mind.

Still, just because she looked borderline angelic, didn’t mean she wasn’t prepared for whatever may happen; the scars on her arms and legs still showed, and within the combat boots she still insisted on wearing as well as beneath her dress, a dozen Czerka knives were hidden from view. Kashyyk was a Silver Jedi planet, but it had been contaminated by Mandalorians not too long ago, and it was always good to be prepared.

As the Nutcracker landed in the port, Madalena sent word to Josh that she was there, the precise location of the house sent back to her almost immediately.

With a grin, she removed her speeder from the hangar bar and ignited the engine.

It wasn’t much long after that she let it hover in the air near the house’s entrance. Of course, they had to make it a treehouse. Madalena… Was not a fan of this amount of nature. The bugs alone were enough to make her run back to the nearest city. But this was too important to take a raincheck on.

The smile on her face was huge as she knocked on the door three times.


[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

To be quite honest, Josh abhorred insects, especially mosquito's and the like. Luckily for Madalena, that meant that he had a device on him that sent out silent signals to ward them away and usually only turned them off if for some reason there was need for them. More stationary versions were placed already within the home, as Josh had thought ahead on making sure insects didn't get into the house with them being in the forest. It was the same sort of precautions the Jedi had taken with his first built home on Naboo. So Madalena didn't really need to worry once she got in.

As Madalena would rap on the door after being given the coordinates, the Jedi would finish what he had been doing - making tea, as Valae had already left the means to do so here on her way out - and head over to open the door, giving her a big, bright smile.

"Maddy!" Josh would chirp as he would pull the Sithling into a big hug that more or less took her off her feet with his height. "It's great to see you. I love the dress" He spoke warmly as he looked her up and down. It was a bit of a change for her, but he imagined he knew why she had chosen it.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Josh’s bright smile was returned with one of hers, and when he picked her up she yelped, fighting the urge to kick him between the legs. By the time he set her down she was laughing again though, her grin reaching from ear to ear, “thank you!” she said excitedly as she bounced in place and then let herself in.

This house was different than his quarters at the Rest, and much different than the Dragon. “I want a home tour!” she announced, and then looked around, “where’s Jason? I have a birthday gift for him!”

The gift was settled safely in her pocket. She wanted to see what Jason’s reaction to it would be once she showed him how to make it work. It had taken her a few days to come up with the idea, a moment to realize places that sold it were too far from her, and then calling in a few favors with the new contacts she had thanks to her endless missions with the Knights Obsidian. But if Jason loved it, it’d be worth every single moment spent on getting it together.


[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

The yelp got a laugh out of him, but he meant her no harm. He was just a bit large in comparison to her and the tight hug was inevitably going to bring her into the air odds were. He would hold the door open for Madalena then, letting her get a little bit of a look around at the place. Maddy would demand a tour of the house, and Josh laughed a bit in turn. "Truthfully, I'm still working on it. The biggest room, the one we're in now, is more or less a living area mixed with some sort of kitchen. Need to be careful what I make and what tools and such to use though... With the place being wooden and all."

He pointed around. "There's a place for facilities and washing, and two bedrooms. I'm still kind of working on making them a bit bigger, but that'll be for another time. For now, just mainly been working on ironing out the kinks, setting up defenses, all of that."

It seemed Madalena had brought a birthday gift for Jason, which surprised him yet made him smile all the same. "I'm sure he'll appreciate it" He spoke as he would lead Madalena to the smaller of the rooms. Jason could be found stacking blocks that Josh had gotten for him, and the large stuffed Porg was sitting nearby. Porgbert could be seen watching from atop the window.

"Jason, Porgiana is here!" Josh would chirp as they would enter. Jason would gasp as he looked up and held out his arms. "Porgiana!"

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

“So a guy who does pyrotechnics chooses to live inside a wooden and flammable home?” Madalena teased, “How interesting.”

She looked around as he explained about the home and what his plans for it were, emerald green eyes gazing around with curiosity. Madalena couldn’t ever remember designing or working on a home like that. On Coruscant, she and Brayde had their parents’ house, until the crumbling of the Galactic Alliance and the war that ensued flattened it to the ground. Since then, she’d been mostly living on ships. Sure, the Knights Obsidian had offered quarters, but… She liked having her own place. Even if it was one where she could only decorate the insides of.

And she’d done a lot of decorating there. Josh had yet to see the murals that now covered the cold metal walls that were the interior of any ship at first, all the forests and the lakes, all the wolves and the Rose Goblins and the princess… She was excited about showing him, but now was not the time.

When the two entered Jason’s room and Jason held his arms out to her, Madalena’s heart skipped a beat with both joy and relief. So he wasn’t actively remembering the screaming now. The smile on her face never wavered as she closed the distance between them, going down on a knee, and giving him the biggest of bear hugs.

“Jason!” she smiled, “happy birthday, kiddo!”

And then she brought out the gift. It was a simple thing, at first; a little box wrapped with porg wrapping paper and a single ribbon-bow. “C’mon, tear it open!” she encouraged him, and motioning for Josh to come closer as well.

Once Jason was done, a little device was revealed; it was half a sphere, gray, and smooth to the touch.

Madalena giggled, and touched the top of it.

Although it was daylight, it was very easy to understand what the device did; the room flooded with holoprojections of porgs, flying peacefully around the room. At night, each of them would omit a little bit of soft light.

“It’s a porg-night light,” Madalena explained, her eyes searching for both Josh and Jason’s reaction, “so the porgs could watch over you while you sleep.”


[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"It was a gift" He explained. "The last Grandmaster, Valae Kitra wanted me to take ownership of the place when she moved on. The main reason I've been renovating it is, unlike her I haven't really made any plans to spend a lot of time in an office. On top of the fact that I'm living here with a roommate, unlike her. Mainly just been making it more livable for Jason and myself. But... Yeah. I can't use pyrokinesis for cooking here. But it's no big deal, I can always use the ship if I wanted to make meats or anything. Or the kitchen at the Rest. I'm certainly not short on options, but if there's anything a bit more immediate while we're here... Well, what we have here works just fine."

Josh had never inherited a home. His childhood home had been destroyed, though his own compound on Naboo wasn't far from where it was once located. He had lived in an apartment on Coruscant once in order to work on his own projects in privacy while he was on the Jedi Council, but that had been something he'd used his limited wages on and it was never all that much. The Dragon had been his home most of the time regardless. In all of it's incarnations. The first home he had built himself was the compound on Naboo, along with his droids. He'd hired out a group of passing worker droids to design things like a hanger underground as well, though he had the droids' memory of it all wiped once they were finished. As for the rest... Well, as he was in exile at the time, he certainly wasn't lacking in time for he and his droids to work on it by themselves. And he continued to work on and renovate the home as the years had gone by. Having an extra pair of hands in the form of Shmi and more droids as his droid building hobbies continued, helped in ensuring there was a room available for when Jason arrived.

Josh was a little concerned at first when they embraced, but Jason had grown to trust her and so that was good enough for him. When Madalena would motion for him to come closer so he could watch, he did. Jason's eyes lit up at the porg wrapping paper, and at her encouragement he would tear it open. But the next gasp was bigger when Madalena would turn on the porg light. He watched the porgs fly around with his mouth open, just staring at them in complete, utter joy. Seeing this, Josh would kneel down and wrap his arms around Madalena from behind, leaning over to place a long peck on her forehead.

"You are absolutely amazing, Maddy" He whispered as he would look toward Jason again, who was still quite taken with the porgs. Porgbert had started flying around the room, trying to catch the other porgs.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

“Or you can use a stove like a normal person, and add some sprinklers as safety measures,” Madalena laughed.

Her eyes were laser focused on Jason as he opened his gift, little pieces of paper flying in every direction. She stifled a giggle, continuing to watch him, her interest only growing in the seconds before the night lamp was ignited. She could hear an imaginary count down inside of her head, and then…

The look on Jason’s face!

Worth it!

She was still smiling when Josh pulled her in for a hug and kissed her forehead. “And to think I was worried I wouldn’t be able to outdo that big stuffed porg,” she laughed before finally getting up from the floor, pulling Josh as well, “the battery should hold for about three months. After that it’ll be up to you guys to remember to change it.”

Turning around, she raised her eyebrows at Josh. “Where’s the birthday cake?”

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"I could but do you really think a stove is safe in a wooden treehouse?" He retorted quickly, without even a skip of a heartbeat. Josh had clearly very much thought this through. Being a veteran homeowner who at one point had far too much time on his hands, he'd had time to know what tended to work and what didn't. And at one point having a wife who was into home decor certainly helped. The blonde would laugh when Madalena would remark that she couldn't outdo the large stuffed porg. "I think he'd have liked anything you would have given him. But thank you for putting so much thought into it" He whispered toward her as he would let her pull him up.

He nodded his head at her instructions regarding the night light. When Madalena would ask about the cake, he motioned for her to follow. "Jason'll probably be distracted by the porgs for a little while."

He took her by the hand and led her back to the main room, and hidden behind the counter was a cake with three candles on it, with the frosting seemingly done by his own hands in the drawings of porgs the best that he could.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

“An electric stove? Why not?” she asked right back, “or some other form of power source that isn’t fire.”

She shrugged when Josh said Jason would have loved anything she’d have gotten him. The thought was sweet, but she wasn’t sure how right that was. For instance, would Jason really have been this happy with a university book about quantum physics 101? She sincerely doubted that.

Following Josh, Madalena’s eyes still danced around the new home. It would take her a little while to get used to it, assuming Josh intended to invite her there from time to time when they weren’t busy with missions.

When they got to the cake, Madalena grinned. “The porgs are adorable,” she complimented, already knowing that she wouldn’t really be eating from it. But it didn’t matter. What mattered was that it’d make Jason happy.

“What else do you have planned for his birthday?”


[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"Mmm, maybe. Though sparks create fire, and an electric stove is very much capable of generating those sparks depending on wiring..." He mused aloud. It was clear that he was taking this very seriously. Especially as this home once belonged to Valae, and because Jason was living here. Josh would obsess over every detail, it was clear, and make sacrifices as was necessary. And, it was true, Jason probably would have ignored certain gifts but Josh knew that Jason was easily amused too. Case in point the stuffed porg and the holo porgs that were presently keeping him distracted.

He would laugh a little when she complimented the cake. "Thank you" He spoke. When she would ask him what else he intended to do though, he shrugged his shoulders.

"Still thinking about it, to be honest with you. Might take him to see some of his favourite people, which is obviously why I waited for you" He remarked, sticking his tongue at her. "Still deciding what else he'd like to do with his day otherwise, though I intend to make a day out of whatever is decided and everything else. He's still not very clear on that yet. I also tried to get some of his favourite ice cream imported ahead of time from Naboo, so that should be popping in later."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Cake, ice cream, people. “Sounds like a birthday plan,” Madalena said with a smile as she turned to face Josh again. There wasn’t much else for her to do though; other than clearing time off her schedule, she hadn’t actually planned in advance anything of what they’d to today. Jason was the birthday boy, so he got to decide. And with the gift she had given him, he might as well decide to try to catch holo-porgs all day and all night long.

Walking to the nearest couch, Madalena made herself comfortable.

“So how were the last few weeks?” she asked, emerald eyes showing genuine interest, “what have you and the two of you been up to while I was gone?”

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"It does" He spoke with a ginger smile. "I'm sure we'll figure something out. I scheduled time out for this. It's a shame we can't get to the porg petting zoo place in quick fashion without taking the whole day to get there, have the day and come back or I'd take him today instead of tomorrow" He spoke, scratching his chin a little. He wondered if Madalena would want to go. Could they sneak Madalena there without causing a panic? He almost forgot she didn't know what she had done. She wasn't even nearly unstable enough to blow up another porg, that had already been made clear.

"Oh! Right, speaking of. There's this planet, called uhh... Uhh..." Josh trailed off, snapping his fingers a few times as he struggled to remember it. He needed to remember it to go there anyway, right? "Amar! Yeah, that's it. See, I took Jason to go there once, because it has a petting zoo and this girl showed up, got a little panicked... Annnd she may or may not have blown up a porg in plain sight" Josh spoke, biting his lip. "The kicker is, she had a bit of a resemblance to you. Like, a big one. I almost mistook her for you at first but you're a fair bit..." Josh tried to find a word for it. "Cuter, yeah."

Yes, that was the best one in there.

I mean, she did look different enough now to possibly bullchit it... Damn you Scherezade and your instructions. He had to be careful not to panic her by telling her about the existence of Scherezade, but having to walk in circles just to give her some warning was a bit troublesome.

"Hmm... Well, if you ever go there, just be wary, you know? I mean there was enough differences to make a case. She looked like she hadn't showered in ages, and she looked like a ghost. But there was some facial similarities and the like, to where I did have to double take. So... Yeah. Just a warning ahead. Anyway..."

That explanation had been a complete mess. To her question, he thought it over. "Been busy. With the new Grandmaster, there have obviously been some shifts and changes. I've been taking a bit more of a role, trying to step up to give Jyoti as much help as I can while she adjusts to her role. Though to be honest, I don't think she needs it" Josh would admit. "She must have shadowed Valae very closely as Master Of The Order, she seems to be settling in very easily. One would think she's done this before."

But why would Jyoti do that? The Master Of The Order was never the guaranteed successor. Then again, when Valae was away, the MoTo did have to assume the GM's duties... She was either very dedicated to that possibility, or Jyoti knew this would happen eventually.

Of course, these wonderings were mainly because he didn't know the true identity of Grandmaster Nooran...

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

A porg petting zoo? Madalena frowned. Sure, it sounded like it was something Jason would have one hell of a time attending, but… Sometimes there was such a thing as too many porgs. He had a porg cake, two porg presets, an actual porg… Wasn’t he risking getting tired of the porg life?

Josh mumbled something and she turned to him, frowning again. A girl at the petting zoo who blew a porg up because she panicked. And… She looked like her. Madalena knew who he was talking about, even if it was the first time that the description included a physical one like looking like had no showers.

“You’re talking about Scherezade deWinter,” she said, and paused. How many people within the Confederacy had thought it was her, so far? More than she could count. Madalena found herself spending the first few minutes of every conversation with a new person there explaining that she was Madalena Antares, and people looked at her strangely. It was… Worrying. It wasn’t until a little while ago that she’d had the full name at all.

“It’s so weird that you should mention her at all,” she said as she walked to the fridge, and poured herself a tall glass of cold cream, “people in the Confederacy think I’m her. Or at least, think so for a moment or two until I start talking and they realize I’m not her. It looks like she got everywhere, more or less. But the funny thing is, no one’s seen her in weeks. I tried looking up the personnel files, she wasn’t in them. It’s like everyone remembers a ghost that never existed.”

Setting down the empty glass, Madalena gave a shrug. “I’d like to meet her someday. See what she’s like, and stuff. And judge for myself how much we look like each other. That is, if I ever have the time to even go looking for her. I kinda like the name though. Maybe I’ll give it to the princess in my stories. I actually finished painting her on the wall of my ship.”

Smiling, the Sithling hopped to sit on the counter, legs crossed. “So now Jyoti’s officially the Grand-Poobah and I can call her that to her face?” she asked with a wicked grin.


[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Jason? Get tired of the porg life? He was 3, he had maybe two or three things on his mind. If she voiced this, Josh would voice doubt. Jason would probably be fascinated with porgs for his entire life, at this rate.

That, and he owed him a second trip to this petting zoo after someone ruined it last time.

Scherezade DeWinter, she said. Someone that people had mistaken her for. He supposed he should have seen this coming. At least this was an easier way to explain her existence without directly telling her that she was Scherezade.

"Mhm, her. She ruined the SJO's trip there. Jason didn't even get to play with the porgs, and he was so excited to do so that he was shaking from it. I had to promise him a second trip because they had to close the zoo after she blew it up" Josh would explain with a frown. That was still a regret of his, allowing Scherezade to take care of Jason when she clearly was not suitable for the task with all of this life around her that could be in danger if she panicked. It was not his smartest move, but he'd needed Jyoti and Allyson free in case Yuroic's tantrum escalated too far.

She said she wanted to meet her someday. Well, obviously that couldn't happen. Could it?

When she asked about the promotion of [member="Jyoti Nooran"] and gave her thoughts, the Jedi would chuckle and shake his head. Really?

"Sure. If you can handle a Grand-Punch to yours."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

“She blew the zoo up?” Madalena asked, her eyes wide. She couldn’t imagine why anyone would blow a zoo up, or why she’d even been at the SJO trip. Josh’s story felt like it came with a bunch of holes in it, but Madalena didn’t want to dig into it. She preferred to meet this girl on her own and make her mind up, especially about how alike they looked.

The subject quickly changed back to Jyoti though, and Madalena laughed.

“I’ve gotten better at hand to hand combat,” she grinned with satisfaction, “maybe I’ll challenge one of your Jedi friends sooner or later to a spar. I’m sure that even if I don’t win, I could still give at last some of them a proper challenge.”

She hadn’t actually fought Lightsiders before. Most of her enemies had been Darksiders or those who had nothing to do with the Force. Or wild animals. Maybe fighting some Jedi could help her improve her skills. Her training with Josh hardly counted for that; he was only one person, and he was also usually in a teacher mind set about it.

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"She was there same time as us. Blew up a porg. Wasn't pretty. Freaked everyone out. They had to close the zoo down as a result" Josh would clarify when Madalena would ask if she had actually blown the zoo up due to a misunderstanding in his wording. He wasn't sure how solid the story was, really, but hopefully even with the bare bones nature of it, she'd be fine with it. He couldn't really tell her that she was Scherezade DeWinter after all. How the hell would he explain that away? And it might trigger her memories far earlier than she had planned. As she clearly did plan to regain them eventually.

Though he would chuckle a bit at her remarks about hand to hand combat.

"I don't know, many of the Jedi here are very adept at hand to hand. Jyoti herself trains under the Echani style as one of her combat styles, just as I do. She might be quite the challenge."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena didn’t add words to what Josh had to say about this Scherezade. Something inside her tugged and pulled, and she thought the story sounded more like a sad one with holes rather than a sinister one. No one blew a single porg up like that. If she’d wanted to cause damage, blowing a few up would’ve made more sense. But she didn’t want to talk about it anymore either.

At the mention of Echanis, Madalena rolled her eyes.

“The Echani way isn’t always the best way,” she said, “there’s a reason there’s no Echani empire, after all.”

Grinning, she took a box of cream from the fridge now before hopping back up on the counter, emptying it with ease.

“And if the Jedi were so great,” she laughed, “neither the First Order nor the Sith Empire would exist right now. So yeah… maybe a challenge, but not the end all of it.”

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"There is. It's just small. Of their own preference, they'd rather not be another Republic" Josh would correct. "They host some parties here and there. I went to the last one. I am Echani, after all. Half" The Jedi pointed out, shooting her a grin. Ah, yes. He hadn't told either Scherezade or Madalena that little detail yet, finding out the truth about his mother some time ago. It just hadn't crossed his mind to tell her until now.

"As for Jyoti... Well, go ahead and challenge her" He dared, with a smirk. "See what happens."

He kind of wanted to see what would happen if she did.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

“I knew that,” Madalena said absentmindedly as Josh mentioned he was half Echani. She was a- had she ever even told him that? Still, it wasn’t really a revelation. She could smell species and blood lines. Base abilities that she had been born with but had expanded at a nearly alarming rate over the past months. She could be blinded now and would still be able to tell Josh was Jason’s fathers, even if they’d been strangers. Which, thankfully, they were not.

“There are ways to be a kingdom or an empire without being a republic,” she said with a shrug, “if you’re a powerful people, it means chit if all you do with it is keep your head down.”

As for Jyoti… It would be interesting indeed. Madalena had no false sense that she would lose the battle if it happened soon. But she was curious to see just how much of a challenge she could pose to the Grand Poobah of the Jedi before the woman won. Maybe she could gather some friends around to watch it and place bets. Sounded like a good night out.

Wiping her mouth on the back of her hand, Madalena grinned. “We never go to parties,” she mentioned, “how come we never go to parties? Do you know how many the Confederacy hosts?”

[SIZE=11pt][member="Josh DragonsFlame"][/SIZE]