Light
The morning light spread gently over the plains of Naboo, rolling in golden waves across the tall grasses that stretched for kilometers in every direction. At the heart of that endless sea sat the Porte homestead, a small cluster of buildings and structures that seemingly gleamed in the sunlight, their walls warmed by the rising sun. Birds cut across the horizon in slow arcs, their cries blending with the faint whisper of the river that wound its way beyond the fields. The land was alive with quiet industry, bees threading through the blossoms, the rustle of leaves stirred by the breeze, the hum of a world that had no need to rush.
Jedi Knight Aiden Porte was crouched among the flowerbeds, his tunic sleeves rolled to his elbows and his hands darkened with soil. He moved with deliberate care, shifting the earth around the roots of Queen's Heart flowers, their violet petals trembling lightly at his touch. They had been grown here on Naboo for generations, and now a plot here on the homestead that would be nurtured by his family long after he is gone. They carried a scent that could bring him back instantly to childhood, it made him think of all the places he had been, many places he called home. And Naboo, he was pleased that this would be his everlasting.
He straightened for a moment, stretching the ache from his back, and let his gaze travel across the homestead. He inhaled deeply, feeling the weight of his lightsaber at his belt, a reminder that no matter how peaceful this place was, the galaxy beyond would always call him away. Not forced, but a request, and he would always answer that call.
It was in that moment of stillness that he felt it. A subtle tremor in the current of the Force, not sharp, not alarming, familiar. The sensation washed through him like a ripple carried across the surface of a lake, steady and sure. Aiden closed his eyes and allowed it to swell within him, a warmth that resonated deep, and a small smile touched his lips. He knew this presence. He had known it as if he knew her for a generation.
Master Solenne Abraxas
Her approach was unmistakable. Where others might arrive like a flare of power or the shifting of a storm, Solenne's presence was constant, anchored, like the roots of a great tree. Aiden rose from the soil, brushing the dirt from his palms, his heart quickening though not with alarm, with reverence. She was here, at the Porte homestead, where he hadn't expected her to come. There way of communication was via holocall usually as she was incredibly busy in other sectors of High Republic space.
He turned toward the horizon, shading his eyes as a gleam pierced the sky. Her ship broke the line between plain and heaven, descending gracefully against the backdrop of rolling fields. The wind shifted as its engines slowed, carrying with it the scent of stirred grasses. Aiden stood tall among the flowers, the blooms swaying gently around him. For a heartbeat he was both Jedi Knight and son of Naboo's plains, rooted to the land yet reaching for something greater. The garden at his feet, the weight of memory at his back, and his master descending from the sky before him, three pieces of his life converging at once.
He waited, still and watchful, as the ship drew nearer. The hum of its engines joined the song of the morning, announcing the arrival of the woman who had shaped his path more than any other. Soon, he knew, the peace of the garden would give way to conversation, to purpose, to the threads of destiny that always seemed to follow Solenne Abraxes wherever she walked.
But for now, Aiden simply stood there in the fields of his home, the Force alive around him, and welcomed the moment of anticipation.
