It Comes Full Circle

[Cameron Centurion]

[[OOC: Occurs one week after the events of A Promise is a Promise]]

Apartment of Naedira Darcrath
Geonosis

Aiden's arrival had been...largely uneventful. Given the particular hour in the main section of the city, he was not overly concerned about being confronted or seen by anyone. A great deal had happened in the roughly two months since he'd abruptly departed the forces of the Confederacy during their assault on the Jen'ari Empire. To that extent, Aiden hadn't even bothered to look into the ultimate outcome. In fact...he couldn't really care less. The overwhelming majority of his duties had passed to [member="Alwine Lechner"] and, in no small part, Naedira during his absence. However, short of that, he had no idea if any further steps had been ordered by the Exarchs with respect to Stewjon. Aiden one hundred percent expected the whole of the government to simply go on blatantly ignoring the problems there simply because their pockets were still being filled with tax collections.

Having loaded his vessel with a number of warriors from Endelaan prior to his departure, Aiden had to be very clear they were not to follow him off the vessel. While the Sith Lord did not intend for this to be a particularly long visit, he absolutely did intend for it to be private. For the duration of his one week trip from the far reaches of the Northern Unknown Regions to the Southern Systems, Aiden had contemplated and wrestled with what he would even say to Naedira. How did you tell someone that you cared for deeply...they simply were not the one that seemed to fill your dreams at night as of late. To further complicate matters...it wasn't as if Aiden had been with anyone since leaving Naedira's side. Quite to the contrary he'd been so busy with a budding civil war, missing siblings, and an errant nephew trying to bring back his niece that...he hadn't even had time to think about much of anything else. Yet every single night, when his mind merged with the energies of Endelaan, he was assaulted with vivid dreams. They weren't of the present. In fact, the dreams were of a future that Aiden would have sworn just two months ago...hell...one month ago that he wanted no part of.

Now? Well. The Sith Lord supposed that was why when he was inputting the coordinates to Malagarr...he'd ended up inputing coordinates to Geonosis. Aiden was not an overly emotional man, but he certainly believed in not wasting the time of others. There was no point behind stringing Naedira along. In the end of the day he just... Well it was a conversation they needed to have.

Stepping out into the crisp early morning air, Aiden cast his bright gaze towards the velvet black sky. Following a deep inhale, he reached into his pocket and withdrew a datapad. Before taking even one more step, he transmitted his official resignation to both Exarchs and the Vicelord himself. It was a formality, but one that remained professionally important to Aiden all the same. Stowing the device, the large Sith slipped forward into the residential building. In a matter of minutes, he arrived at Naedira's door. Rather than wake her, he briefly fumbled with the key that she'd given him before slipping into the modest domicile. Silent footfalls carried him towards the bedroom where [member="Naedira Darcrath"] lay sleeping. Kneeling beside the bed, he allowed his unusually restrained presence to wash gently over her own as he placed a hand gently on her arm. The motion was as much out of compassion as it was to enable him just a fraction of an advantage in restraining her should she wake up with a start and immediately defensive.

Knowing Naedira, it certainly was not a crazy presumption.

 

[Naedira Darcrath]

Sleep was hard to find. There were mocking voices that she couldn’t shake. The sound of a female, referring to her as damaged goods, and other things that she simply didn’t understand. For the most part, she had dismissed it as the result of an overactive mind. Nightmares. Dreams of any kind did not explain the metaphysical pull that felt, on occasion, like it was trying to liberate her brain through her nasal cavity. Regardless, work never ended. She’d been back and forth to Stewjon multiple times to uphold the instructions that she had been given.

Even if the Viceroy was missing—Orders were orders. Despite her dedication, the dark-haired Knight had taken a few personal days after the last mission to try and recover when she’d woken up in the floor of her quarters in a heap. She didn’t understand what the drain on her body and mind was and medical droids claimed that she was the picture of health.

The Obsidian didn’t know that she was subconsciously trying to reach across the galaxy, to find someone, to connect in some small way with a man that she sorely missed. She wasn’t strong enough to project her consciousness in that way. In turn, there was a toll, which she paid in full.

When the presence she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about washed over her like a wave, her eyes fluttered open, slowly at first, touched with confusion. He would see her tense before suddenly relaxing. “Aiden?”, she breathed, gently, before blinking again. Was this a dream too? Some figment of her imagination that just wouldn’t go away? Her tired words would pour out slowly as her eyes fell closed again. Her expression was…Resigned, touched with a tinge of sadness. “I keep seeing you…Everywhere…But you’re never there…”

Only, this time, his presence didn’t go away. His touch didn’t go away.

Dark eyes opened again.

“Aiden?”

A flash of green. A dash of silver. That was all it took. The slender woman surged forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. It felt natural. A relief. He still felt solid. Strong. His hair still smelled the same. Felt the same. The typically reserved woman took a moment to bask in the faint glow of his presence. She hadn’t known how much she’d been holding in, how often she’d remained on guard, until the stress slowly drained away. It was if her shoulders hadn’t unclenched since he’d left the Fortressa.

Her head tilted to kiss the side of his neck through his hair. “Y-You should have told me you were coming and I would have gotten up to meet you.”, she murmured softly, sweetly, while not bothering to move. He hadn’t had a problem with her proximity in quite some time. More often than not it was wanted. Encouraged. “Maybe even gotten dressed, brushed my hair.”

Teasing. [member="Aiden"] would feel her heart swell. He would know how she had missed him, with every breath, despite her determination not to. It had taken him quite some time to get past the walls she had defensively raised. He had wanted her. All of her—And so he had it.