Private Lost and Found

[Kaila Irons]

Location: Echnos, biodome
Wearing: This
Tag: Kirie

Kaila had changed of late.

The biodome was complete, her personal garden was expanding.

Every direction she looked in this sector was red with the flora of Dathomir and other exotic plants which had finally bloomed under her care after so much work. Even the artificial sun here felt warm against her freckled skin.

But none of it made her happy.

Not since the princess left, and not since Kirie-

Kaila tried not to think of that anymore. She wiped the sweat from her brow on burgundy sleeves, a simplistic shirt which should have been the first layer of more complex raiments from her homeworld. Instead she was here, tearing up the ground with her tools and carefully moving dirt over seedlings. The people of Echnos left her to her own devices as always, not because they had no access to the biodome but because her guards stood at the doorway to this particular section when she wished to be alone.

Until one day, someone approached.

"My lord, there's someone here to see you." said the armored figure.

"Why have they not been sent to the office?"

Her voice was smaller than usual, disinterested.

But when she tossed her gloves aside and turned to see who had come, everything changed.

​

 

[Kirie]

The dome was one of many new additions to Echnos, a planet whose main city had changed drastically since she had last visited, in the immediate aftermath of a Sith power struggle, the air still oozing with the residue of the fear machine that had nearly obliterated its population. That miasma was more faded now, but Kirie knew how to feel it more than she had then. The way it made her already fraught nerves even more jumpy, the way it deepened the valleys of her uncertainty, her hesitation. What would it be like to live in the presence of such a feeling, fading though it was, day-in-day-out? How did Kaila manage it? It hardly seemed worth the effort. Though, Kirie supposed one rarely had their pick of the litter when it came to ruling planets, and Echnos was a hard-won notch in Darth Anathnenous' belt.

Anathemous. Kaila. Just the thought of their imminent reunion made her feel sick with nerves. Part of her was afraid Kaila would blame her somehow, that she'd find her inconsolable, or worse, apathetic. All those realities were unbearable, and yet realistic. That gave Kirie pause, but she knew she had to be brave.

She arrived at the square outside the Governor's building. Fear, war, death. Was it memory or an imprint? Kirie could almost taste the Sangnir's blood on her lips. She ignored the disturbing sensation and took in the scene around her. New towers under construction, fortifications and defences, the concrete palace with its brutal authority and...

A garden.

Instantly, instinctively, Kirie knew that was where she would find her.

In the heated air of the dome, Kirie trudged along the fertile beds, a sheen of sweat breaking out along her forehead. She dutifully followed the solemn instructions of the workers, leading her to a secluded section teeming with unfamiliar red plants, each clearly lovingly tended to by their caretaker. Kaila's refuge, a quiet place for her. And here she was stepping into it uninvited. That felt wrong, but what else could she do? At this point it felt crueller to wait.

The guards barred her entry. At her insistence, one reluctantly went to fetch the Governor. Kirie caught a glimpse of her. Strong and lithe, clad in the simplest clothes Kirie had ever seen her in, bent over in the dirt working. She could see the appeal that might have for someone like Kaila, for whom the rest of the Galaxy was serious, and daunting, and life or death. There was comfort in the mundane, in creating a slice of home. When Kaila rose and brushed herself off, Kirie was so glad to see her, but still all the muscles in her legs tensed, a knot forming in her stomach. She forced a shy smile, slowly raised her hand in greeting.

From behind her shoulder, the small droid rose into the air, splitting the distance between the pair of them. When she signed, it repeated her meaning in a close approximation of her voice built on hours and hours of security footage of Kirie speaking in the Varanin home. It was uncannily close, but someone like Kaila would hear the difference easily.

'Hey Kaila.' Kirie signed. 'Long time no see.'

Kaila Irons ​